Here’s hoping hype of U Sports national champion Bisons doesn’t fade away

Jordyn Zacharias celebrates a goal in the Canada West finals.

    They were played up as the feel good story last February and March in Winnipeg.

    During that time, the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey team went on a historic run. They accomplished a lot of firsts.

    The Herd topped the Canada West standings for the first time in team history with a 22-5-1 mark, hosted the best-of-three Canada West Championship Series for the first time in team history sweeping away the U of Saskatchewan Huskies 2-0 and captured the U Sports national title for the first time in team history. 

    In the elite-eight style national championship tournament held in London, Ont., last March, the Bisons blanked the host University of Western Ontario Mustangs 2-0 in the tournament’s final game.

    Over that period of time, the Bisons were given a big push from the media outlets in the Manitoba capital. It seemed like their players were appearing everywhere.

Venla Hovi came from Finland to star for the Bisons.

    The NHL’s Winnipeg Jets were a backer before the Bisons national title win. They showed the Bisons score on the MTS Place scoreboard when the Herd won Game 1 of the Canada West Championship Series 1-0 in overtime over the Huskies.

    After winning the national title, congratulations poured in for the Bisons from various sports teams and groups in Winnipeg. The team was honoured before a Jets game in late March.

    The Bisons visited City Hall and were given Outstanding Achievement Award Medals from the City of Winnipeg.

    They were on the cover of various local publications.

    They were the toast of the town.

    Bisons head coach Jon Rempel, who was named the U Sports coach of the year for the first time in his career, guided a crew on the ice that you had to like. They were approachable and sociable. On an obvious front, they played the game extremely well.

Caitlin Fyten led the Bisons to a national title as captain.

    They had a star winger from Finland in Venla Hovi, and it seems Finnish players always do well in Winnipeg considering the time Teemu Selanne spent with the original NHL Jets and Patrik Laine is enjoying with the current NHL Jets.

    Hovi was complimented with a strong group of forwards in Alanna Sharman, Jordyn Zacharias, Lauryn Keen, Alana Serhan, Sheridan Oswald and Courtlyn Oswald. The defence was anchored by captain Caitlin Fyten and Regina, Sask., product Erica Rieder, who was a second team all-Canadian all-star.

    In goal, rookie Lauren Taraschuk rose to prominence winning Canada West rookie of the year honours and being named to the U Sports all-rookie team.

    Still when a women’s team has success like the Bisons did, it seems their accomplishments disappears too quickly from the minds of the general public.

Lauren Taraschuk rose to star status as a rookie playing goal for the Bisons.

    In 2016, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity released a study regarding the connection between women and sport in Canada. A couple of the facts revolved around media coverage.

    An analysis was done on Canada’s primary national sports networks in English and French in 2014. The study said only four per cent of the coverage on those networks was dedicated to women’s sports and over half of that number was dedicated to coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

    A study was done on the Saturday sports section front pages in two of Canada’s highest circulated national newspapers from June 2008 to May 2010 and June 2013 to May 2015. Over those time frames, 5.1 per cent of the coverage was dedicated to women’s sports.

Erica Rieder was a second team all-Canadian on defence.

    Of course, that study only considered a small sampling size of the print industry.

    It can be argued since that time the coverage of women’s sports in Canada has decreased thanks to massive cuts in the mainstream media, which has often targeted sports departments. Sports coverage seems to get more and more focused on just the NHL, which causes everything else in the sports scene to be out of luck.

    The Bisons national championship victory over the Mustangs wasn’t even broadcast on television.

    Despite those numbers, it would be sweet to see the Bisons women’s hockey team buck that trend and have some staying power. They rocked at the sport Canada as a country loves the most.

    They created excitement for the U of Manitoba campus that hasn’t been seen for some time.
    During the Canada West Championship Series, the Wayne Fleming Arena on the U of Manitoba campus was a smaller version of the Jets home rink atmosphere wise.

Bisons fans created a crazy atmosphere at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

    Overall, Bisons teams have combined to win 44 U Sports national titles, but only five of those have come since the start of the 2003-04 campaign. The national title win by the Bisons women’s hockey team was a first for the school since the 2013-14 campaign, when the Bisons women’s volleyball team won a U Sports national crown.

    The Bisons women’s hockey team will undergo some transition going into next season. In July, assistant coach Sean Fisher was elevated to interim head coach as Rempel received a six-month reassignment of duties to allow for professional development. Rempel had been the head coach of the Bisons women’s hockey team for the past 14 seasons.

Alanna Sharman (#24) is one of the Bisons star forwards.

    The Herd lost Fyten, Serhan, Charity Price, Karissa Kirkup and goalie Rachel Dyck to fifth-year graduation. Hovi, who arguably had the best Twitter account in U Sports, still had a year of eligibility remaining, but she has returned home to Finland, where she has been a member of that country’s senior national women’s team for a number of years.

    Despite those changes, the Bisons women’s hockey team possesses a kick butt street cred in Winnipeg. If any of the players from the Bisons women’s hockey team are seen around town wearing their team gear, they are automatically deemed as cool.

    Winnipeg has some independent media outlets, so here is hoping the ongoing story of the Bisons women’s hockey team doesn’t fade away.

📷 This is how it feels to win a @USPORTSca championship. pic.twitter.com/nBCWsx4jjA

— U of Manitoba Bisons (@umbisons) March 18, 2018

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

-------

    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Bisons bounce back, tie series

Huskies team play disintegrates when adversity hits

The Bisons celebrate a second period goal by Venla Hovi (#9).

    It is amazing in hockey how momentum can shift when a team that is down gets some traction.

    After posting a solid 3-0 win in Game 1 of their best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series on Friday night, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team looked early like they would post a repeat performance in Game 2 Saturday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink. Instead, the visiting University of Manitoba Bisons turned the tide of the whole series with one play to skate away with a convincing 5-1 victory to even the series 1-1. 

    The teams will play a series deciding Game 3 on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

    Huskies came out buzzing on Saturday night riding the wave they created from their Game 1 victory. They had golden chance early on to go ahead, when a point shot from fifth-year defender Hanna McGillivray rattled off the post.

    The hosts did draw first blood, when star offensive defender Julia Flinton popped home an off-speed point shot with 1:17 to play in the opening frame to give the Huskies what would be a short-lived 1-0 lead.

    With 13 seconds to play in the first, the series turned on a play that seemed to come out of the blue. The Bisons broke into the Huskies zone on a 2-1 and a set up pass from Alanna Sharman was deflected home in the air at about knee level by Venla Hovi, who is an import player from Finland. 

    The Bisons bench came alive on the tally that tied things up at 1-1, and the visitors played like a different team than they had the whole series.

Huskies goalie Cassidy Hendricks faced a lot of breakaways.

    Just before the 10-minute mark of the second period, the Bisons worked the puck around well down low causing the Huskies to lose focus on their positional play. Lauryn Keen slipped the puck over to Hovi, who was left open at the right side of the Huskies goal. She netted her second of the contest to put U of M ahead 2-1.

    At that point, the Huskies team play unraveled. Players would zip up ice individually with the puck hoping to make something happen instead of trying to create a play with their teammates.

    During other stretches, the Huskies would try to make a fancy pass in areas like the centre ice zone, when the more prudent decision would have been to get the puck deep in the offensive zone and charge in hard on the forecheck.

    The Bisons continued to play with sound structure, which helped create even more golden scoring chances. After a Huskies turnover, Keen,  while being taken down, sent Sharman in on a breakaway, and she deked out Huskies netminder Cassidy Hendricks to make the score 3-1 for U of M. Hendricks had thwarted Sharman on an earlier breakaway when the contest was still tied.

    After drawing assists on the first three U of M goals, Keen scored at the 5:03 mark of the third on another breakaway to put the visitors up 4-1. Kayleigh Wiens rounded out the scoring for the Bisons with a third breakaway goal, which came unassisted after a U of S turnover.

Alanna Sharman had a breakaway goal for the Bisons.

    Hendricks made 19 stops to take the loss in goal for the Huskies. Amanda Schubert, who was making her first start of the playoffs, stopped 22 shots to earn the win in goal for the Bisons.
    Heading into Game 3 on Sunday, the Huskies will be able to see on video everything they did wrong is easy to correct. Individually, the players have to keep their focus up.

    They also have to concentrate on playing as a group of five in all three zones. When the puck goes into the defensive zone, everyone has to dart back. When they bring the puck up ice through the centre ice zone, they have to attack that area with speed and together as a unit.

    In the offensive zone, they have to worry about making smart decisions, which means deciding at times to not thread a pass through three or four bodies, but get the puck down low and work a cycle. Those that don’t have the puck in the offensive zone need to move into an area to offer an outlet to support the puck carrier.

    The series is there for the taking. If the Huskies stay focused and play as a unit of five in all three zones, they will give themselves a chance to advance. They have done that in the past, and they have to remember they have the ability to do it again.

Cougars advance to face Thunderbirds

Bailey Braden had a series winning goal for the Cougars.

  In Regina on Saturday night, the University of Regina Cougars swept away the University of Calgary Dinos in the other Canada West women’s hockey best-of-three quarter-final series.

    Bailey Braden scored on a first period power play and Toni Ross made 29 saves to power the Cougars to a 1-0 victory over the Dinos. Hayley Dowling stopped 27 shots to take the loss in the U of C net.

    The Cougars took the best-of-three series 2-0. In Game 1, they dumped the Dinos 4-1, while holding a 45-14 edge in the shots on goal department.

    The Dinos, who finished sixth in the Canada West standings, had stormed into the playoffs winning nine of their last 11 regular season games before bowing out. They will play in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship tournament as the host squad. The eight-team national championship event runs March 17-20 in Calgary.

    The Cougars, who were third in Canada West, advance to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

    The winner of Game 3 between the Huskies and Bisons on Sunday advances to face the first place University of Alberta Pandas in the other Canada West best-of-three semifinal series. Sunday’s Game 3 with the Bisons will mark the final time the Huskies play at home in the 2015-16 campaign.

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

Powerless power play costs Huskies

Bisons goalie Rachel Dyck holds off the Huskies.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team needed to be a little more opportunistic on Saturday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

    In a Canadian Interuniversity Sport clash against the University of Manitoba Bisons, the Huskies had a number chances to pull out victory, as the visitors made some frequent trips to the penalty box. The hosts had six chances to score on the power play, which included a stretch of playing with a two man advantage for almost two minutes, but they failed to score on any of those opportunities.

    The Bisons, on the other hand, cashed in on three of their four power-play chances to pull out a 3-1 victory.

    The Huskies did get out to a quick start going ahead 1-0 just 2:23 into the first period on a goal from veteran offensive defender Julia Flinton.

    After that tally, the Bisons countered with a big push back causing the Huskies to take a couple of obstruction type penalties. Third-year forward Karissa Kirkup netted goals on both of those chances to put the Bisons ahead 2-1.

    While the visitors held the edge in territorial play over the first 20-minutes, Huskies fourth-year forward Lauren Zary rang a shot off the crossbar of the Bisons goal late in the opening frame. Had her shot been an inch lower, the Huskies, who are rated eighth in the CIS top ten rankings, would have exited the first period with an even score.

    The second period proved to be very frustrating for the Dogs. They went on the power play on five different occasions in that stanza and outshot the Bisons 12-3.

    Bisons goaltender Rachel Dyck was the difference making a number of tough saves to preserve her side’s lead. The Huskies had lots of good puck movement working on the power play, but they couldn’t finish any of their chances.

Lauren Zary was one of many Huskies who had bad luck around the net.

    In the third, the Huskies continued to pepper Dyck with shots, but the host side’s momentum started to fizzle with about seven minutes to play in the frame. The Bisons started to clamp down defensively and prevent the hosts from getting a shot on goal during that stretch.

    With 1:49 to play in the frame, third year Huskies forward Kori Herner was set to the penalty box for a bodychecking infraction, and the Bisons sealed victory, when sophomore forward Alanna Sharman scored an empty-net power-play goal with 42 seconds to play.

    Cassidy Hendricks turned away 18 of the 20 shots taking the loss in the Huskies (8-4-2) goal. Dyck made 30 stops to earn the win in goal for the Bisons (8-5-1).

    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday and Saturday when they travel to Calgary to take on the Mount Royal University Cougars (7-6-1). Those matches will be the final two contests for the Dogs before they head into their semester break.

Youth powers Huskies men’s team to another win

Rookie forward Kohl Bauml has been key to the Huskies success.

    The youth movement just keeps on delivering for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team this season.

    In a back-and-forth match on Saturday in Winnipeg, the Huskies, who are rated third in the CIS top ten rankings, downed the host U of Manitoba Bisons 4-3 in CIS action to improve their Canada West conference leading record to 12-2.

    The Huskies went ahead 1-0, fell behind 2-1, rallied to go up 4-2 and held on for a 4-3 final.

Second-year forward Cameron Blair put the Huskies up 1-0, but the Bisons exited the opening 20 minutes with a 2-1 edge on singles coming from the sticks of Jesse Paradis and Rene Hunter.

    The Dogs went ahead 3-2 in the second as rookie forward Kohl Bauml scored on the power play, and sophomore forward Parker Thomas added an even-strength tally.

    Rookie forward Levi Cable picked up a much needed insurance goal in the third to put the Huskies up 4-2. Shaq Merasty scored with 1:44 to play in third for the Bisons, but the hosts couldn’t find the equalizer.

    Second-year netminder Jordon Cooke made 26 stops to earn the win in goal for the Huskies. Justin Paulic turned away 32 shots to take the loss in goal for the Bisons (5-7-2).

    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday and Saturday when they host the Mount Royal University Cougars (8-4-2) at 7 p.m. on both nights at the Rutherford Rink. The Cougars are riding a four-game winning streak.

    Those clashes will be the last outings for the Huskies before they depart on their semester break.

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