Huskies run winning streak to 10 straight games

U of S still alive in race for first in Canada West

Huskie C Logan McVeigh, right, collides with a Cougars player.

    The end is coming fast at Logan McVeigh.

    The fifth-year centre with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey seems to keep experiencing finalities every time he steps on the ice. On Friday, the Kenaston, Sask., product played his final U Sports regular season home game, and he ensured it had a memorable moment.

    At the 4:53 mark of the second period in a clash against the University of Regina Cougars, McVeigh blasted home his seven goal of the campaign from the front of the visitor’s net. That goal was the final tally in a 4-0 Huskies victory before a season high 1,889 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place.

    “It was weird,” said McVeigh. “It is weird to be in my fifth year to begin with.

    “Now, I scored my last goal at Merlis in a regulation game. It was different, but it was exciting. I managed to sneak one in, and we managed to get the win which makes it even sweeter.”

Logan McVeigh (#14) enters the ice for the start of Friday’s game.

    The win allowed the Huskies to run their current winning streak to 10 games. They improved to 21-4-2 to remain in the hunt for first place in the Canada West Conference.

    They weren’t able to get ahead of the U of Alberta Golden Bears, who thumped the U of Manitoba Bisons 8-0 on Friday in Edmonton, Alta. The Golden Bears improved to 22-5 with the win.

    Both the Huskies and Golden Bears have 44 points in the standings to hold the first and second spots in Canada West. The Golden Bears hold the standings tiebreaker having won three out of the four head-to-head games with the Huskies.

    Both squads have locked up byes past the first round of the Canada West playoffs and will host best-of-three semifinal series.

Logan McVeigh scored the Huskies fourth goal on Friday.

    The Cougars fell to 8-16-2-1 with the setback. After the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds downed the Mount Royal University Cougars 3-2 in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, the U of R Cougars were officially eliminated from Canada West playoff contention.

    The U of R Cougars and Huskies will close their respective regular season schedules against each other on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

    The Golden Bears host the Bisons again on Saturday in Edmonton in the final regular season contest for both of those squads.

    McVeigh said the cards will fall where they will fall as far as the first place race goes.

    “It would be nice to be in first place,” said McVeigh, who stands 6-feet and weighs 190 pounds. “It doesn’t looking like it is going to happen here with Alberta playing Manitoba.

The Huskies celebrate Logan McVeigh’s second period goal.

    “Maybe Manitoba can squeak a win out tomorrow. If second place does come, it is OK.”

    Against the U of R on Friday, the Huskies jumped ahead 1-0 at the 6:09 mark of the first period on a goal from sophomore defenceman Gordie Ballhorn.

    The lead expanded to 2-0 at the 13:50 mark of the opening frame, when left-winger Andrew Johnson put a backhand shot past Cougars netminder Brandon Holtby.

    Before the opening frame ended, rookie right-winger Jeff Faith netted his fourth of the season to put the Huskies up 3-0.

    If there were thoughts of a Cougars comeback, the Huskies landed a knockout blow with McVeigh’s second period tally.

Gordie Ballhorn scored for the Huskies on Friday.

    McVeigh thought it was great his Huskies had offensive contributions from multiple sources. Rookie centre Jared Dmytriw was the only U of S player to have a multiple point night with two assists.

    “It is nice playing a team like that where everyone can contribute offensively,” said McVeigh. “We have a well rounded team.

    “I think it showed tonight. Hopefully, we can carry that on and get the goals and assists and everything going into playoffs as well.”

    During the season, the Huskies had to play through a number of injuries resulting in everyone on their roster seeing ice time. McVeigh said that experience that was gained through the campaign is showing off now.

Taran Kozun made 20 saves for his fifth shutout of the season.

    “Everyone had to get their ice time in,” said McVeigh, who has seven goals, eight assists and a plus-seven rating in the plus-minus department appearing in all of the Huskies 27 regular season games. “Now that everyone is starting to get healthy, it shows on the ice.

    “Everyone is contributing, and everyone is there to step up. If the next guy goes down, there are always players coming in.”

    Taran Kozun stopped 20 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies, and he hit a trio of milestones as well. The Nipawin, Sask., product has five shutouts on the campaign, which equals the single Canada West regular season record, which he set in the 2018-19 campaign.

    Kozun shares that record with former Golden Bears netminder Zach Sawchenko, who also had five shutouts in the 2018-19 campaign.

The Huskies celebrate a 10th straight win on Friday.

    Friday’s shutout win was the 11^th of Kozun’s U Sports regular season career which is a new Huskies team record. The old record of 10 was shared by Jeff Harvey, who played for the Huskies from 2005 to 2009, and Jordon Cooke, who played for the Huskies from 2014 to 2017.

    Kozun’s 11 career regular season shutouts are tied for the second most in the history of the Canada West Conference. Dustin Schwartz had 11 career regular season shutouts playing for the Golden Bears from 2001 to 2005.
    Kozun picked up his 40^th career regular season victory as well on Friday, and he is the seventh netminder in the history of the Huskies to accomplish that feat.

    Brandon Holtby turned away 35 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars.

    Looking forward, McVeigh is happy he will get to enjoy a weekend off before the Huskies start their run in the post-season. The 25-year-old hopes his last playoff run will be a long one.

    “It was nice to get that second place locked up, so we know we have this weekend off here,” said McVeigh. “We have nice break here, get some practises in and get ready for playoffs.

    “It is the best time of the year. Hopefully, we can carry on this winning streak and keep going.”

Bourassa’s double OT winner lifts Huskies over Cougars

Bailee Bourassa scored the double OT winner for the Huskies.

    Bailee Bourassa broke the hearts of the U of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team and their followers on Friday night.

    Playing in front of 877 spectators at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, Bourassa scored in double overtime time to give her U of Saskatchewan Huskies a 2-1 victory over the U of Regina Cougars in a U Sports regular season contest. Linemate Abby Shirley and offensive defender Leah Bohlken picked up assists on the winning goal.

    The Cougars had a large number of their alums in attendance as they honoured their fifth-year players in Jaycee Magwood, Tamara McVannel and netminder Jane Kish.

    The host side led 1-0 after second-year forward Jenna Merk scored at the 15:22 mark of the second period.

    Shirley potted the equalizer for the Huskies at the 9:55 mark of the third with Shyan Elias and Sophie Lalor picking up assists.

    That set the stage for Bourassa to win it in overtime with her 12^th goal and 18^th point of the campaign, which are both career highs.

    Bourassa’s 12 tallies are the most goals any player on the Huskies women’s team has scored in one regular season since Kandace Cook posted 13 goals in the 2014-15 campaign.

    Jessica Vance stopped 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies, who improved to 17-7-2-1. Jane Kish turned away 19 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars, whose record moved to 13-13-1.

Abby Shirley had a goal and an assist for the Huskies.

    The win allowed the Huskies, who are third in the Canada West Conference, to have a shot to vault into second place and earn a bye through the first round of the Canada West playoffs to host a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

    The Huskies have 51 standings points coming off 14 regulation wins, three extra time wins and three extra time setbacks.

    In Canada West women’s hockey, teams earn three standings points for regulation wins, two standings points for extra time wins and one standings point for extra time setbacks.

    The U of Calgary Dinos (17-7-1-2) sit second in Canada West with 53 standings points with 16 regulation wins, one extra time win and three extra time setbacks.

    The Huskies hold the standings tiebreaker against the Dinos having won all four head-to-head encounters between the two sides.

    Both squads have one game remaining on their respective regular season schedules. If the Huskies win their final game in regulation and the Dinos lose their final regular season contest in any fashion, the Huskies will finish second.

    If the Dinos lose their final regular season game in regulation and the Huskies win their final game in any fashion, the Huskies would finish second in that scenario too.

    The Huskies close their regular season schedule against the Cougars on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. That game will conclude the Cougars regular season schedule.

Jessica Vance made 16 saves in goal for the Huskies on Friday.

    The Dinos finish their regular season schedule hosting the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns (9-15-1-2) on Saturday in Calgary. The Pronghorns, who have been eliminated from post-season contention, will close their campaign with that Saturday clash against the Dinos.
    The Dinos could still top the Canada West standings with a regulation win combined with a regulation loss by the U of Alberta Pandas (19-8) in their final regular season game.

    The Pandas top the Canada West standings with 56 points coming on 18 regulation wins and one extra time win. The Dinos hold the standings tiebreaker against the Pandas having one three out of the four regular season encounters between the two sides.

    The Pandas close their regular season schedule on Saturday taking on the U of Manitoba Bisons (10-16-1) in Winnipeg, Man. The Bisons have been eliminated from playoff contention and will close their 2019-20 campaign on Saturday.

Canada West Hall of Fame calls Huskies’ great Desjardins

Willie Desjardins’ picture at Merlis Belsher Place.

    Willie Desjardins, who was arguably the greatest captain out of any U of Saskatchewan Huskies teams, was officially named to the inaugural class for the Canada West Hall of Fame on Friday.

    Desjardins had an outstanding career with the Huskies men’s hockey team playing five seasons for the squad from 1978 to 1983. During that time, he appeared in 121 regular season games piling up 68 goals and 121 assist for 189 points. Desjardins career offensive totals were all Huskies team records at the time of his graduation.

    Over Desjardins final three seasons, the Huskies won three straight Canada West titles from 1981 to 1983.

    During his final season in 1982-83, Desjardins was the Huskies captain when they won the David Johnston University Cup as U Sports national champions. The Huskies downed the Concordia University Stingers 6-2 in the U Sports championship tournament title game, which was held in Moncton, N.B.

    In three tournament games, Desjardins posted four goals and seven assists for 11 points. The star forward’s 11 points is still a record for one tournament. He was named the MVP of the 1983 U Sports championship tournament.

    Desjardins was a Canada West all-star on four occasions during his career with the Huskies, and he was the Canada West MVP during the 1982-83 campaign. He was a U Sports all-Canadian all-star in the 1980-81 campaign.

    On top of the conference honours, Desjardins was twice awarded the E. Kent Phillips Trophy as the overall male athlete of the year for U of S. In 1983, Desjardins claimed the Rusty McDonald Cup as the U of S all-around male athlete for being outstanding in the characteristics of leadership, sportsmanship, athletics and academics.

    Following his playing days with the Huskies, Desjardins embarked on an outstanding coaching career that include time in U Sports, the WHL, the NHL, the AHL and Canada’s national team program.

    He is currently the head coach and general manager of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

As a head coach, Desjardins led the U of Calgary Dinos to a Canada West title in 1990.
    Desjardins guided the Tigers to WHL titles in 2004 and 2007. He won an AHL championship as head coach of the Texas Stars in 2014.

Members of the Huskies 1980 to 83 teams at Merlis Belsher Place on Friday.

    In 2018, Desjardins was at the helm when Canada’s national men’s hockey team won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

    As an assistant coach, Desjardins helped Canada’s world junior team win a gold medal in 2009.

    Last October, the Huskies squads that won three straight Canada West titles from 1981 to 1983 were named to the inaugural class of the Canada West Hall of Fame. Members from those Huskies teams were honoured before the Huskies 4-0 victory over the U of Regina Cougars in a U Sports regular season game on Friday at Merlis Belsher Place.

Huskies’ George named to Canada West Hall of Fame

Breanne George pictures in the Huskies hockey history book.

    The high-scoring Breanne George had a decorated career with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, and she picked up a huge honour in her post-playing days.

    On Tuesday, George was inducted as part of the inaugural class to the Canada West Hall of Fame.

    George played for the Huskies from 2007 to 2012 and is still the squad’s most prolific scorer. The star forward holds the Huskies career records for most regular season goals (86) and points (149).

    Her 63 career regular season assists ranks third in Huskies team history.

    George holds the Huskies record for most goals in one regular season at 28 and points at 46. Those marks were achieved in the 2009-10 campaign.

    She topped the Canada West Conference in goals and points in the 2009-10 season and was named the Canada West MVP.
    The Saskatoon product was a first team Canada West all-star in 2010 and 2011 and a second team Canada West all-star in 2012. She was a first team U Sports all-Canadian in 2010 and 2011.

    In 2011, George played for Canada’s women’s team at the FISU Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey. She had seven goals and 12 points in seven games helping Canada win gold.

    George is currently a physiotherapist in Sherwood Park, Alta.
    For a flashback to the past, check out this interview George did for the Huskies YouTube channel back in October of 2010 at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

    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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