Huskies grease out 2-1 win in Game 1 of Canada West semi

Cable plays 172^nd consecutive game, scores for U of S

Levi Cable (#10) celebrates his first period goal for the Huskies.

    Levi Cable was pumped his teammates ensured he didn’t have to lament the one that got away.
    With his University of Saskatchewan Huskies holding a slim 2-1 lead over the University of Calgary Dinos in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West men’s hockey playoff semifinal series, Cable had a chance to ice the contest skating in on an empty opposition net inside the final two minutes of the third period.

    Uncharacteristically, the fifth-year right-winger fired the puck wide of the mark on that golden chance. The missed opportunity didn’t come back to haunt the Huskies, who ensured the 2-1 score in their favour held up before 1,480 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place.

Levi Cable played in his 172nd consecutive game on Friday.

    “It made it a little more stressful than it needed to be,” said Cable about the missed chance. “The rest of the guys all came together and made sure it wasn’t one that I was feeling for a long time.”

    With the win, the Huskies lead the series 1-0. They will attempt to close things out in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    Friday’s game marked the 172^nd straight contest Cable has played for the Huskies including action in the U Sports regular season and post-season.

    The 25-year-old Hudson Bay, Sask., product has never missed a game playing with the Huskies suiting up for 140 regular season game, 20 contests in the Canada West playoffs and 12 games in the U Sports national men’s hockey championship tournament – the David Johnston University Cup.

Levi Cable has never missed a game in his U Sports career.

    He netted the game’s first goal on Friday.

    “I’ve just been lucky to play that many games in a row,” said Cable. “The trainers are keeping me together.

    “It was nice to come out here and score the first one. It is always good to get that one out of the way. The boys played well.

    “I’m just glad we came out with a win.”

    With seven minutes remaining in the first period, Cable took a short pass from fifth-year centre Kohl Bauml and wired home a shot from the front of the Dinos goal to put the host side up 1-0. Cable and Bauml have played together on the same line on a consistent basis since joining the Huskies before the start of the 2015-16 campaign.

    “We know were each other is lots of times without even having to look,” said Cable. “It just makes it easy.

    “We know where the other guy will be at all times.”

Ryan Graham scored for the Dinos on Friday.

    Just 2:48 later, the Dinos evened the score at 1-1, when third-year left-winger Ryan Graham fired home a shot from the front of the Huskies goal shortly after an offensive zone faceoff.

    With 41.5 seconds remaining in the first, Huskies third-year left-winger Collin Shirley potted a tally in close at the right side of the Dinos goal to put the Huskies up 2-1.

    The contest became a gritty slugfest from that point in time over the final two frames resulting in a lot of hits from physical play and very few scoring chances. Overall in the contest, the Huskies held a 19-12 edge in shots on goal.

    In the final seconds of the third, sophomore defenceman James Shearer had the final chance to score for the Dinos to force overtime, but his shot from the right slot was turned away by Huskies star netminder Taran Kozun.

Collin Shirley (#11) celebrates putting the Huskies up 2-1.

    “I knew that it was going to be an absolute grease match,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph. “We’ve been talking about it for two weeks.

    “They are a big strong team that likes to be physical and wear you down. We knew that we had to try and answer that bell. I thought the first 10 minutes of the third period we got outplayed pretty bad, and then somehow we found a way to grease ourselves back in it.”

    A big key to the Huskies victory on Friday was keeping the Dinos top forward unit of centre Matt Alfaro, right-winger Kaden Elder and left-winger Coda Gordon in check.  That trio combined for no points and only one shot on goal.

    The Huskies would often counter that unit with the fourth-year defensive pairing of captain Tanner Lishchynsky and Colby Harmsworth.

    “Obviously, you have to match strength on strength when you are playing a good team like Calgary,” said Adolph. “That Alfaro line is as dangerous as any that I have seen in probably 10 years in U Sports.

A scrum develops after Collin Shirley scored for the Huskies.

    “You have to throw some guys out there and trust that they can get the job done. (We got) the first check mark tonight.”

    With his goal on Friday, Cable has collected 13 goals, three assists and a plus-seven rating in his 20 games in the Canada West playoffs. In his 12 games at the University Cup, Cable has six goals and five assists.

    In his 140 career regular season games, Cable posted 51 goals, 64 assists and a plus-50 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Before joining the Huskies, Cable played in 267 career WHL regular season games with the Kootenay Ice from 2010 to 2015 posting 55 goals, 62 assists and a plus-13 rating.

Taran Kozun (#31) made 11 saves to back the Huskies to victory.

    When the dust settled on Friday, Cable was pleased his team came out victorious in his 172^nd consecutive game for the Huskies as they battled against a quality opponent.

    “It was tough,” said Cable. “They are a really good team.

    “They are good defensively, and they have a couple of lines who can score. They made it tough on us, and it was a close game right till the end. The greasy ones are sometimes fun, and they are fun to win.

    “I’m just glad we won.”

    Kozun stopped 11 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Matthew Greenfield turned away 17 shots to take the setback in goal for the Dinos, who are rated eighth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

The Huskies celebrate their win on Friday night.

    The Huskies finished second in the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-2 record, while the Dinos were third in Canada West with an 18-7-3 mark.

    As is the nature of a best-of-three Canada West playoff series, the Dinos will have last line change for Game 2, and Adolph expects Dinos head coach Mark Howell will shorten his bench a little.

    “You have to be real careful,” said Adolph. “I can’t tell you exactly what we are going to do.

    “We did it I think to execution tonight that if we didn’t quite get the match or a late change that there were two guys out there that were ready to go. We will be fine.

    “It will be another one-goal game tomorrow night.”

If a series-deciding Game 3 is necessary, it will be held on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

Huskies’ Bohlken and Bourassa named Canada West all-stars

Leah Bohlken was named a first team Canada West all-star.

    A pair of veterans from the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team were recognized among the best in the Canada West Conference.

    On Wednesday, fifth-year defender Leah Bohlken was named a first team Canada West all-star, and fourth-year right-winger Bailee Bourassa was honoured as a Canada West second team all-star.

    Bohlken was named a first team conference all-star for the second year in a row. This past season in her final campaign of U Sports eligibility, Bohlken played in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games posting five goals, six assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department.

    The 22-year-old product of Moose Jaw, Sask., was a member of Canada’s women’s hockey team that won a silver medal last year at the FISU Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Bailee Bourassa was named a second team Canada West all-star.

    Bourassa cracked the Canada West all-star team for the first time in her career. The 21-year-old Weyburn, Sask., product played in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games posting 12 goals, seven assists and a plus-five rating.

    Bourassa’s 12 goals and 19 points were both career highs.

    With the contributions of Bohlken and Bourassa, the Huskies finished third in the Canada West Conference with a 17-7-2-2 record.

    They were swept in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series 2-0 by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who claimed an overtime win and a double overtime victory to get the sweep.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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