Huskies good enough when they need to be in 3-0 win

Drever makes 30 saves in victory over Cougars

Goalie Camryn Drever dives on a loose puck during a net scramble.

Some good moments and a stellar outing by star netminder Camryn Drever allowed the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team to overcome some holiday season rust.

On Friday playing before 511 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies blanked their provincial rivals the University of Regina Cougars 3-0 in the first U Sports regular season contest for both sides since returning from their respective Christmas breaks. Drever made 30 saves to pick up her 12^th career U Sports regular season shutout.

The fifth-year’s performance allowed the Huskies to overcome a determined Cougars side that carried play for a good two thirds of the contest.

Camryn Drever made 30 saves to pick up a shutout win on Friday.

“It wasn’t a very good game for us,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook, whose team improved to 11-4-1-1. “It was a good thing that Cam was on her game tonight.

“We fought the puck the whole night. The plays were there. We just didn’t pull the trigger.

“We were lucky that we got a couple early, and I thought that we played the right way for about eight or nine minutes there. We took some stupid penalties – undisciplined stuff that we didn’t need to. We almost killed ourselves there tonight.”

The two sides started out Friday’s game playing fairly even. The Huskies, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, appeared to break things open scoring two goals 73 seconds apart inside the final four minutes of the opening frame.

Mallory Dyer scored the Huskies first goal on Friday.

With 3:58 remaining in the first, Huskies third-year centre Mallory Dyer potted her sixth goal of the season to give the host side a 1-0 lead. Positioned at the right side of the Cougars net, Dyer got her stick on a rebound from a shot taken by linemate Kara Kondrat and quickly popped the puck into an empty cage.

Just 73 seconds later, the Cougars turned the puck over in their own zone. The puck came to Huskies rookie defender Jacquelyne Chief, who wired home her second goal of the campaign to put the Huskies up 2-0.

When it seemed the Huskies had all the momentum after Chief’s goal, the Cougars found another gear. The visitors closed out the first period with a flurry of five shots to hold a 12-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

Jacquelyne Chief had the Huskies second goal on Friday.

With 10.1 seconds remaining in the first, Drever made a key glove save off Cougars winger Lauren Focht to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

“I think it is tough maybe coming back from the break,” said Huskies third-year centre Desmarais. “It was our first game we got under our belt.

“It was a little rough off the start, but I think we got our legs under us just jumping back into it.”

The Cougars controlled play throughout the second period holding a 16-10 edge in shots on goal for the frame, which was a total that seemed to flatter the host side.

The Huskies had a huge chance to expand their lead, when star fifth-year centre Kennedy Brown, who is the squad’s captain, had a short-handed breakaway. Brown was denied by Cougars standout netminder Arden Kliewer.

Lauren Focht had a big first period chance to score for the Cougars.

A short time later, the Cougars had a huge chance to crack on to the scoreboard. Winger Makena Kushniruk centred the puck from behind the Huskies goal to linemate Paige Hubbard, who was positioned right in front of the home side’s net. Hubbard quickly fired a shot on goal, but the puck was swallowed up by Drever.

“Most of the first and just about all of the second, it was the Cam (Drever) show,” said Kook. “The thing about Cam’s game that is so good is that they get one (shot), but they don’t often get a second or a third.

“When we’re fighting the puck, it is important that Cam doesn’t give them that second or third, and that is what she does so well.”

Makena Kushniruk controls the puck in the offensive zone.

The Huskies proceeded to play a fairly strong shutdown style third period, where they outshot the Cougars 6-2. One of the two Cougars chances came on a Hubbard breakaway late in the frame, but Drever stoned the fourth-year winger keeping the visitors off the scoreboard.

Kondrat finished out the game’s scoring firing the puck into an empty net with 1:45 remaining in the third to round out the 3-0 win for the host side.

“I think we kind of noticed, yeah, that we did a little bit better in the third,” said Huskies fourth-year centre Kate Ball. “(It was) a rough start, but at least we got the win.”

Kara Kondrat had a goal and an assist for the Huskies.

Desmarais said her squad started to focus on playing more of a shutdown game in the third due to holding a two-goal advantage for most of the frame before Kondrat added her empty-net tally.

“I know when we are up in the third we like to focus on getting the pucks deep and getting fresh legs out there,” said Desmarais. “I think rather than getting a bunch of pucks on net like we want to in the first and second I think focused on getting the puck deep.”

Kliewer turned away 21-of-23 shots to take the setback in net for the Cougars, who fell to 5-12-1-1.

The Huskies and Cougars will go at it again on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The Huskies begin to celebrate their win on Friday.

“I think moving forward it will be a little bit better now,” said Desmarais. “We had to get that one out of the way.”

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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Cononavirus scare results in weird and eerie week

At work in the home office on Saturday night.

    If I need a quick reminder of how the world has changed, all I have to do is turn on my mobile phone.

    The first thing that comes up is an emergency services warning stating that due to the COVID-19 pandemic anyone who has returned to Saskatchewan from outside the country must mandatorily self-isolate for 14 days and failure to do so will result in a $2,000 fine.

    A short time ago back on Friday, March 6, I was covering a WHL regular season game that saw the host Saskatoon Blades down the Regina Pats 2-1 in overtime at the SaskTel Centre. Sophomore left-winger Kyle Crnkovic scored the winner 74 seconds into the extra session to allow the Blades to lock up a berth in the WHL playoffs.

    At that time, life was proceeding as normal.

    Tuesday, March 10 seemed like the last normal day. From that day until now, you will likely be able to find a number of posts on social media lines that didn’t age well due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
    Because of the scare it has created, most people in Saskatoon are virtually living in lockdown and self-isolating at the time I am making this post go live.

The Huskies sign autographs for little fan on March 11.

    Looking back at March 10, I suspect I’m not the only one who has made social posts that said things that didn’t age well. I stumbled on a CBC timeline story about COVID-19, and it showed a Saskatchewan provincial government press conference from Wednesday, March 11.

    During that press conference, it was said the party was on for the Juno Awards, which are Canada’s national music awards, slated for this past Sunday in Saskatoon. Words of reassurance were offered noting there was low risk in Saskatchewan with regards to COVID-19.

    The conference occurred before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and the NBA suspended play that same day.

    The Junos were cancelled the next day as cancellations and postponements poured in across the sports world.
    On March 11, there were a total of 110 COVID-19 cases in Canada and one death. At the time of making this post go live, there were 1,328 COVID-19 cases in Canada and 19 deaths.

    On March 12, the Saskatchewan government confirmed its first presumptive case of COVID-19. As of today, Saskatchewan has 25 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 19 presumptive cases.
    The Saskatchewan government declared a state of emergency this past Wednesday. Since that time, more and more measures have been taken to shut down society in the province, which has been mirrored in the rest of the country.

The Huskies pose for a picture at the March 11 rally.

    Over the past 10 days, it is safe to presume most in Canada have seen video of what has taken place in Italy, where that country of just over 60-million people has seen its health care system overrun by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    At the time this post went live, Italy leads the world in COVID-19 deaths at 4,825. In a 24-hour period on Saturday, Italy had 793 deaths due to COVID-19.
    The drastic measures in Canada and Saskatchewan have been taken to try and prevent the health system from being overrun like Italy’s has.

    In my view, we are faced with the options of bad and less bad. The decision makers in Canada have decided to go the less bad route and try and not let COVID-19 run wild through the country.

    When this scare does ultimately pass, it will likely leave behind a devastating economic toll. At the moment, we are all in this together, so we will all face that reality when it comes.

    Knowing how it seems a lot of people have short memories, I can already see people being upset when we are in economic shambles when the COVID-19 pandemic passes. The fact death was escaped all of sudden gets forgotten.

    If you search hard enough, you will likely find a person or two that prefers to die now than face life after the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The reality is the world will be a much different place after the COVID-19 pandemic passes. Still, it is unhealthy to dwell on what the future can be even a month or two down the road.

I made Thursday a hockey jersey day.

    As for me, I have really only started to full out process what has gone on since March 11 starting on Friday. I had to get caught up on work related projects that were started before all the craziness began to occur.

    Strange as it sounds, this past Monday and Tuesday were basically normal work days for me. I had been tracking the developments of closures and cancellations and new restrictions brought in by governments during those normal work days too.

    As of Thursday night after I was all caught up, I began to wonder what Friday would be like, when I had more time to think about what all has happened.
    My mind began to worry for old friends I made over my life who have gone into the nursing profession.

    I remembered how fun it was to attend the celebration rally for the U Sports national champion University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team at the Physical Activity Complex during the lunch hour on March 11. The gold medal winners from the Huskies track and field and wrestling teams were also honoured.

    All that occurred before the NBA suspended play.

    I do wonder what different things I would have done had the COVID-19 pandemic not happened. For a short time when cancellations or postponements happened, there were other things on the go that filled the time that was committed to what I was originally going to go to.
    On Saturday, March 14, I was to have been in Medicine Hat, Alta., to celebrate Bob Ridley calling his 4,000^th game as the play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

    Tonight was to have been a special night in Saskatoon, as the Blades were to honour their long time former head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken, who always treated my family unbelievably well. I had been looking forward to tonight at the SaskTel Centre.

I have been working out in my basement dungeon.

    I don’t think I have totally comprehended how odd and eerie the world is at the present time in the shadow of COVID-19.

    I have spent more down time with my mom. We took a drive to downtown Saskatoon, and it was unsettling to see that part of the city be basically abandoned.

    As downtown Saskatoon neared, there seemed to be less and less life out in the street.

    I’ve had moments where I was thankful I was no longer working in the mainstream media, because I know reporters would be working 18-hour days when something like the COVID-19 pandemic breaks out. The sports staffers all of sudden end up helping the news staffers.

    I’ve had moments where I’ve gone emotionally in the tank. I’ve had other moments where I have felt good thinking about all the special moments I have covered in my career covering sports.

    In a lot of ways, I have had way more good experiences than most will ever have in their lives.

    I am glad there are things that have run their normal course. The NFL has been business as usual with that league’s free agency period underway.

    I will note it feels uncomfortable to hear all-time great quarterback Tom Brady signed a two-year $50-million US guaranteed contact with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at age 42. You could divide that figure and give out $50,000 US to 1,000 persons in these challenging times and it would be more of a benefit to society than giving all that cash to one person to throw a football.

Some of my mementos that have been collected over the years.

    With that noted, the NFL is not immune to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sean Payton, who is the star head coach of the New Orleans Saints, has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, and he is self-isolating at home.

    At the moment, the only certainty is uncertainty.

    As I said before, all anyone can do is take things one day at a time and remember we are all going through this difficult time right now together.

    Hopefully by following self-isolation and other directions by the governments in Canada, we will get to the other end of this sooner than later.

Watson goes Rocky IV training in self-isolation, other notes

View this post on Instagram

Today I put my at home gym together in my family’s shop! Had to get creative with some of my exercises but I got the workout done! Currently I am in self-quarantine after traveling home last week and since all the gyms are closed I thought it would be a great time to finally buy/make the at home gym I always wanted. I’m still preparing and training no matter what happens. Sending love and positivity to everyone, let me know if you want more workout videos! ⁣ #higherlove #positivity #training #weights #athome #quarantine

A post shared by Sage Watson (@sagewatson) on Mar 17, 2020 at 6:02pm PDT

    One of the most inspiring videos I saw this week came from the Instagram account of elite Canadian track and field athlete Sage Watson.

    The 25-year-old, who holds the Canadian record for the women’s 400-metre hurdles, returned home to her family ranch near Seven Persons, which his just southwest of Medicine Hat in Alberta. Watson came back home after training in Arizona and has put herself in self-isolation for 14 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    Watson is currently training to go to the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, which are slated to start on July 24 and run through to August 9.

    At her family ranch, Watson has been running on gravel roads and working out in a gym she created.

    She posted one of her gym workouts, which included doing box jumps on hay bales. That scene was reminiscent of the fictional character in boxer Rocky Balboa training in the snowy countryside of Russia in the movie Rocky IV.

    Watson does a great job of creating a lot of inspiring posts on her Instagram account, and I would encourage you to give her a follow @sagewatson like more than 55,300 others already have.

• When the SFMAAAHL handed out its league awards on March 13, Regina Rebels forward Neena Brick was named the winner of the league’s Hayley Wickenheiser Most Valuable Player award, the Kelly Bechard Top Scorer award and a first-team all-star. Brick piled up 30 goals and 28 assists for 58 points to help the Rebels top the SFMAAAHL regular season with a 27-2-1 record. The female midget AAA playoffs across Canada were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Saskatoon Stars graduating goaltender Arden Kliewer was named a second team SFMAAAHL all-star. On a young rebuilding Stars team, Kliewer posted a 6-10-1 record, a 2.78 goals against average, a .921 save percentage and one shutout. Over her four seasons with the Stars, Kliewer posted a 44-13-2 record, a 1.91 goals against average, .923 save percentage and 11 shutouts. She sits second in the history of the SFMAAAHL for career regular season wins. Kliewer helped the Stars win the SFMAAAHL title and appear in the Esso Cup national female midget AAA hockey championship tournament in 2018 and 2019. The 18-year-old will join the University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team next season.
• With the WHL having cancelled the rest of its regular season game due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 18-year-old Spokane Chiefs left-winger Adam Beckman won the regular season scoring title. The Saskatoon product appeared in 63 games with the Chiefs piling up 48 goals and 59 assists for 107 points. He posted a plus-44 rating in the plus-minus department.
• The Dog’s Breakfast fundraiser for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team originally scheduled for April 30 has been postponed until Thursday, September 3 at Prairieland Park. The Huskies made the postponement announcement on Friday. Jim McMahon, who was the quarterback of the NFL’s famed 1985 Chicago Bears that won the Super Bowl, will be the guest speaker. Glen Suitor, who was a safety with the CFL’s 1989 Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders, will be the master of ceremonies. Tickets for the Dog’s Breakfast can be found by clicking right here.
• Now graduated Saskatoon Hilltops left guard Ryder Klisowsky has elected to continue his post-secondary football career in the U Sports ranks joining the University of Manitba Bisons, Klisowsky, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 310 pounds, played with the Hilltops for the past five seasons helping the storied club win the CJFL national title in each of those campaigns. The Hilltops have won the last six straight CJFL titles overall.

    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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    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.

Goal a constant talking point for Huskies’ Kozun

Dogs open Canada West semi against Dinos on Friday

Taran Kozun scored a goal by shooting the puck into an empty net.

    Taran Kozun’s goal has become a never ending conversation piece for the 25-year-old goaltender.
    On Jan. 18, Kozun made 22 saves backing the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team to a 3-0 U Sports regular season shutout win over the University of Calgary Dinos at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary, Alta. Normally, the shutout win would be the highlight of the night for a puckstopper.

    On this outing, Kozun netted his team’s final goal of the contest scoring into an empty net with 2:49 remaining in the third period. With that tally, Kozun became just the second goalie in the history of the Canada West Conference to score a goal.

    “Everybody likes talking about it, so you kind of got to go with it,” said Kozun, who is still fielding questions about the tally over a month later. “If a goalie scores, talk is going to come with it.

Taran Kozun has been a first team Canada West all-star two straight years.

    “I’d kind of like to (keep it) a secret a little bit, but what are you going to do. Everybody wants to talk about it. Even when you go back home, everybody has to mention it and talk about it and see what happens.

    “I tell the story lots, and it is all not that bad. It would be nice to just be able to go home and not talk about it, but it is alright.”

    Kozun was actually the first goalie in the history of the Canada West Conference to score a goal by shooting the puck into the opposing net.

    Way back on October 26, 2012, U of Alberta Golden Bears netminder Curtis Mucha was credited with his team’s first goal in a 7-1 victory over the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns in Lethbridge, Alta. In that instance, a member of the Pronghorns accidentally passed the puck the length of the ice into his own empty net during a delayed penalty call.

Taran Kozun was the Canada West goaltender of the year last year.

    Since Mucha was the last Golden Bears player to touch the puck, he was credited with the goal.

    Kozun admitted he tried in the past to score a goal during his days playing in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers and Seattle Thunderbirds from 2011 to 2015.

    “I probably tried about five times throughout my junior career,” said Kozun, who is in his third season of U Sports eligibility. “I think I missed the net four times and hit my D-man in the back on one other one.

    “I figured I’d try it again. You never know what is going to happen.”

    Kozun will once again be facing the team he victimized for his goal. The Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, will take on the Dinos, who are rated eight in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

Taran Kozun was the U Sports goaltender of the year last year.

    The Huskies finished second in the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-2 record, while the Dinos placed third with an 18-7-3 mark. U of S won three out of the four head-to-head encounters in the regular season between the two sides.

    The Dinos swept the U of Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series to get to this point, while the Huskies had a bye into the semfinal set.

    Game 1 between the Huskies and Dinos is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. Game 2 is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis, and if necessary, Game 3 follows on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    Of course, Kozun, who is from Nipawin, Sask., is best known for stopping the puck. During his final major junior campaign in 2014-15 with the Thunderbirds, Kozun was named a first team WHL Western Conference all-star and he claimed the WHL’s Top Goaltender award.

Taran Kozun had five shutouts in each of the past two seasons.

    Last season in his first full campaign as the Huskies starting goalie, Kozun was named a first team Canada West all-star, the Canada West goaltender of the year, a first team U Sports all-Canadian and the U Sports goaltender of the year.

    On Wednesday, he was named a first team Canada West all-star once again. 
    Kozun appeared in 22 regular season games posting a 17-3-2 record, a 1.87 goals against average, a .931 save percentage and five shutouts.

    He topped Canada West in wins, goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. 
    The five shutouts equal a record he set last year along with Golden Bears netminder Zach Sawchenko.

Collin Shirley was a second team Canada West all-star.

    Kozun helps the Huskies maintain a strong presence in goal that started in 2002 with Thomas Vicars, who gave way to Jeff Harvey, was passed on to Ryan Holfeld, who handed down to Jordon Cooke and was inherit by Kozun. 
    All five of those netminder have won 40 or more career regular season games stopping pucks for the Huskies.

    “The smartest coach has the best goaltender,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph with a sly grin.

    To say Adolph was happy to bring Kozun on board before the start of the 2017-18 campaign is a sizable understatement. 
    Kozun took over the starter’s roll that season when Cooke was injured in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series against the Dinos, which the Huskies claimed 2-1.

    “Taran Kozun has been one of the top goalies in the country since he has been 18,” said Adolph. “We are real fortunate to have him in terms of the progression after Jordon Cooke.”

    Kozun was happy he was named a first team Canada West all-star for a second straight campaign.

Gordie Ballhorn was a second team Canada West all-star.

    “It is a huge honour just for me, but it also shows that the team played in front of me,” said Kozun. “I feel like for a goalie getting an all-star and doing well a lot of it comes down to the D in front of him and the forwards coming out to help me out and making my job as easy as possible and being able to play as a team in the D-zone.

    “It makes your goalie look pretty good.”

    Things didn’t look good for the Huskies at the start of the campaign, when they stumbled to an 0-3-1 start after their first four regular season games. A large number of injuries – specifically on defence – hurt the Huskies in the early going.

    The Huskies posted a 22-1-1 mark from there and have won 11 straight heading into the playoffs.

    “It was a tough start for everybody myself included,” said Kozun. “It was a long summer off.

    “Getting back into things, we just quite weren’t ready to go as a team. It is the way it goes some years. Some years you come out flying, and the next year you might come out a little slower than in other years.
    “It got us into the mindset right off the start that if we play the wrong way we are not going to win. Throughout the second half, we proved to ourselves that if everybody buys into the system that is going on out on the ice that we have a good chance to win every night.”

Jared Dmytriw was named to the Canada West all-rookie team.

    Kozun was joined on the Canada West all-star team by left-winger Collin Shirley and defenceman Gordie Ballhorn, who were both named second-team all-stars.

    Shirley had nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-16 rating appearing in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games. Ballhorn has four goals and 15 assists skating in 24 regular season contests.

    Centre Jared Dmytriw was named to the Canada West all-rookie team after leading the Huskies in scoring with 10 goals and 18 assists appearing in all 28 regular season games.
    Matthew Alfaro, who is a third-year forward with the Dinos, took home first-team Canada West all-star honours after leading the conference in regular season scoring with 15 goals and 21 assists.

    Dinos fifth-year forward Coda Gordon was named a second team Canada West all-star finishing second in U of C team regular season scoring with eight goals and 20 assists.

Taran Kozun (#31) hopes to enjoy a number of post-season wins.

    Dinos forward and Saskatoon product Kaden Elder and netminder Brodan Salmond were placed on the Canada West all-rookie team.
    Elder had 13 goals and eight assists in 25 regular season games with the Dinos. Salmond played in 15 regular season games posting a 9-2-3 record, a 2.40 goals against average, a .900 save percentage and one shutout.

    The Dinos like to utilize fourth-year veteran Matthew Greenfield in a platoon-type fashion with Salmond.

    Kozun said his Huskies will have their work cut out for them.

    “It is going to be a really close series,” said Kozun. “Every time we play them even last year and this year, it is usually a one or two-goal game.

    “We have to make sure that we are ready to go to play full 60, because they play a full 60. They play a hard full 60. They have three or four lines that are really good, and they have six D that can play.

    “They have two of the better goalies in the league over there too, so we are really going to have to make sure that we buy in. If we are not ready to go, they can take it to us pretty quickly.”

Young Stars on the rise

Emily Holmes scored the winning goal for the Stars on Thursday.

    The Saskatoon Stars have caught fire during a season where they have undergone a massive rebuild under an entirely new coaching staff.

    On Thursday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Stars scored three times in the third period to down the visiting Battlefords Sharks 4-1 in a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League regular season contest. The win was a third in a row for the Stars, who have posted a 7-1-1 record in their last nine games.

    Thanks to that surge, the Stars have improved their record to 12-12-0-3 to sit fourth in the SFMAAAHL just two standings points back of the 14-11-2 Notre Dame Hounds.

    In the SFMAAAHL, teams earn three standings points for regulation wins, two for extra time wins and one point for an extra time setback.

Arden Kliewer makes one of her 29 saves in goal for the Stars on Thursday.

    The Hounds have 41 standings points coming on 11 regulation wins, three extra time wins and two extra time setbacks.

    The Stars have 39 points with all their wins coming in regulation and three extra time setbacks.

    In Thursday’s clash with the Sharks, Sydney Mercier scored early in the first period to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Madison Glynn replied for the Sharks with 3:02 remaining in the third to even the score at 1-1.

    Defender Emily Holmes score 46 seconds into the third to put the Stars up 2-1. Mercier scored on the power play to complete a two-goal night to give the Stars a 3-1 advantage.
    Ava Metzger sealed the win with an empty-net tally with less than 35 seconds to play in the third to round out the game’s scoring.

The Stars celebrate their win on Thursday.

    Arden Kliewer made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Yelena Zaleschuk turned away 18-of-21 shots to take the setback in goal for the Sharks (9-17-1).

    The Stars finish out the regular season playing three times on the road. If they can finish fourth or higher in the league standings, the Stars will have home ice advantage for a best-of-three SFMAAAHL quarter-final series.

    The highest Saskatoon can finish in the SFMAAAHL standings is third and the lowest is fifth.

    The Stars return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Regina to face the SFMAAAHL leading Rebels (22-1-1).

    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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Pedersen takes charge for SFMAAAHL leading Rebels

Late grandfather a big influence for standout defender

Sydney Pedersen weaves her way to a highlight goal for the Rebels.

    Sydney Pedersen always sees herself a “granddaddy’s girl.”
    The 16-year-old star defender for the powerhouse Regina Rebels of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League still thinks a tonne about one of her biggest supporters and influences in her late grandfather, Jim Pedersen.

    Jim had a lengthy career as a hockey scout, which included working for 26 years with the NHL’s Dallas Stars and being part of their Stanley Cup winning team in 1999. He was part of Prince Albert Raiders organization when they won the WHL title and Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 1985. He passed away in July of 2018 at age 81.

    Growing up in Milestone, Sask., Sydney felt destined to play the sport. Her father, Lee, played the sport as well as her uncles, Reid and Rod. Reid would work for a time in management with the WHL’s Regina Pats, while Rod worked as a play-by-play voice for about two decades in the WHL with the Raiders for two seasons and the Pats for a very lengthy stretch.

Sydney Pedersen, right, cuts past a Stars defender.

    When it comes to lacing up the skates herself, Sydney said the reasons she started out in hockey will lead back to her late grandfather in Jim.

    “It was kind of almost decided before I was even born that I would play hockey,” said Sydney, who is skating through her third full season with the Rebels. “I am the second oldest grandchild.

    “I am the only one that decided to play hockey, and that is kind of how my grandpa and I’s relationship built too.”

    Sydney likely would have gotten high grades from her late grandfather with her play on Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place. She has a huge outing collecting a goal and four assists as the Rebels blanked the host Saskatoon Stars 7-0 in a SFMAAAHL regular season clash.

Sydney Pedersen rushes the puck up ice with confidence.

    After 16-year-old defender Emma DeCorby scored to give the Rebels a 1-0 lead in the first period, Pedersen picked up assists on all four of the Rebels goals in the second frame as the visitors increased their edge to 5-0.

    She picked an assist on Neena Brick’s goal just 49 seconds into the second. Pedersen teamed up with Brick to set up Alexis Petford for a power-play on a backdoor setup.

    Following that tally, Pedersen combined with Tavia Terry to send Hanna Bailey into the Stars zone on a rush that resulted in Bailey netting a short-handed goal.

    Pedersen picked up her fourth assist feeding a point shot through a maze of players that was tipped home by Rebels sophomore 15-year-old forward Molly Flynn.

Sydney Pedersen, right, is having a career season with the Rebels.

    With 6:24 remaining in the third, Pedersen scored her goal by taking the puck in the centre ice zone, weaving through Stars defenders on an individual rush and smartly tucking the puck home from tight quarters in front of the Saskatoon net. That tally gave the Rebels a 6-0 lead.

    Petford rounded out the scoring with her second tally of the contest a short time after Pedersen’s goal.

    Besides the offensive fireworks, Pedersen turned some heads finishing one of her checks hard in the defensive zone in the third period.

    Jim was able to see Sydney play for the Rebels during her rookie season. She said it felt different when she hit the ice for her second season in Regina knowing Jim wouldn’t physically be in the crowd anymore.

Sydney Pedersen, left, is strong close out opposition player in the D-zone.

    “We were extremely tight,” said Sydney, who stands 5-foot-7. “When he passed on, it was really hard to get used to that with him not being there all the time.

    “He hardly ever missed a game, and he would be at the rink every practice and everything, when I played in Milestone in my younger years. I was the only grandchild to play, so that even made it more of a relationship kind of thing.”

    Before embarking on her third season, Sydney verbally committed to playing for the Robert Morris University Colonials women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks for the start of the 2021-22 campaign.

Sydney Pedersen, left, celebrates a goal from Molly Flynn (#16).

    After making that commitment, she has followed with a stellar campaign netting career highs in goals (six), assists (12) and points (18) appearing 13 out of the Rebels 14 regular season games. Pedersen has helped Rebels rise to first in the SFMAAAHL with a 13-0-1 record.

    Pedersen was named one of the Rebels two main captains along with 17-year-old star forward Lauren Focht. During road games, Pedersen serves as the club’s captain, and Focht takes up those duties during home games.

    Rebels head coach Mike Merk said Pedersen was named one of the club’s captains due to her character and the fact she leads by example.

    “She shows up every game,” said Merk. “I think that was one thing for me.

    “I like to look at players that are going to kind of take my lead and reiterate the messages going in. Early in the season when we made the decision, she was one that kind of stood out. She does a really good job with that leadership role.”

Sydney Pedersen is an anchor on the back end for the Rebels.

    Merk said Pedersen is a pretty consistent performer on the ice too and is pretty fun to watch. She came through on both those fronts in Saturday’s win.

    “She (Pedersen) had a really good game,” said Merk. “Sydney is strong defensively, but she also had a lot of offensive punch to her game as well.

    “She is really an anchor on the back end. I’ve got a good defensive corps right now that we can either play a run and gun style or we can actually sit back and shut down. It is nice having girls like her back there.

    “Her confidence right now with the puck and ability to rush the puck I think is where I am seeing her growth happen.”

    Pedersen said she had to come out with a little more jump on Saturday. She didn’t think she was at her best, when the Rebels rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit to down the Stars 4-3 on Friday at Merlis Belsher Place.

Hanna Bailey had a short-handed goal for the Rebels.

    “I didn’t have a great game yesterday, so I knew that I have to come out and play better today,” said Pedersen. “I think as a whole we played better today, and it is way easier to get going, when you have good forwards and good D-partners beside you.”

    Arden Kliewer turned away 32-of-37 shots starting in goal for the Stars (5-11-2). Kaitlyn Cadrain played the third period in relief turning away 14-of-16 shots sent her way.

    Chantel Weller turned away all 11 shots she faced to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels and earn her fourth shutout of the season.

    The Stars now head off on their Christmas break, and they will return to regular season action on Jan. 11 in the new year, when they host the Weyburn Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings at 1:45 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    The Rebels travel to Prince Albert on Sunday to take on the Northern Bears at 1 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. After that contest, both of those squads will head out on their respective Christmas breaks.

Alexis Petford watches her power-play goal find its way home.

    Last season, the Rebels finished second overall in the SFMAAAHL regular season standings with a 17-7-4 mark. They advanced to the best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series and were swept 3-0 by Stars squad that had a lot of veteran star players.

    Pedersen believes her team learned a lot from that experience.

    “Last year we were actually really young, so I think coming into playing the Stars in the final we were quite immature towards that,” said Pedersen. “I think that just gave us that much more experience for this coming up year in playoffs.

    “Our younger players now know what it is like. Playoff hockey is completely different from league, so they have a little taste of what it is.”

    This season, Pedersen is trying to enjoy each moment as much as possible. She felt privileged the coaches named her the captain for road games, and she believes she is surrounded by a special bunch of teammates out on the ice.

The Rebels celebrate their win on Saturday.

    “There is a super great group of girls in there,” said Pedersen. “We’re all tight-knit and were all equal, so it is awesome to be part of that.”

    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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Surreal night for Clark as Stars retire her #13

Emily Clark waves to the crowd at Merlis Belsher Place.

    It seemed like fate played a hand when it came to Emily Clark wearing #13 for the Saskatoon Stars.

    When the skilled forward joined the female midget AAA team before the start of the 2009-10 campaign, she was still 13-years-old due to having a birthday in late November. As an underage rookie player, Clark remembers she didn’t have many options when it came to picking a number.

    “I ended up wearing it (#13) because when I played on the Stars I was 13-years-old, and I was the youngest,” said Clark. “I had last pick of jerseys and #13 and #21 were up for grabs.

    “I think #13 might have been a smaller jersey, so I ended up in #13. I made it my own, and it ended up being one of my favourite numbers.”

    Wearing #13, Clark became one of the Stars all-time greats. 

Emily Clark, left, is greeted by her father, Del.

    After graduating from the team, she played four seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks winning an NCAA championship last season in her final campaign with the squad.

    The 24-year-old has been a fixture in Canada’s national team system first playing with the under-18 women’s team for two seasons before joining the senior national women’s team. Clark skated with the national women’s development team too.

    Last year, Clark played for Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She had a goal in Canada’s 5-0 semifinal win over the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

    Canada fell 3-2 to the United States in the gold medal game after a tiebreaking shootout.

    Due to all her accomplishments, the Stars honoured Clark on Friday night by retiring her #13 before their SFMAAAHL regular season encounter at Merlis Belsher Place with the league leading Regina Rebels. The Stars led 3-1 in the third period before the Rebels rallied for a 4-3 victory.

Emily Clark, second from left, receives gifts from two Stars players.

    Clark found it hard to describe what it was like to see her old number with the Stars raised up at Merlis Belsher Place standing next to her parents in father, Del, and mother, Tracy.

    “It is hard to put into words,” said Clark. “I think surreal is definitely what comes to mind.

    “I was told about it about a month ago. I’m super humbled and super honoured. They made the night special.

    “It was super fun to see a lot of old teammates and old coaches. Some of my favourite moments were with the Stars. To be able to celebrate with them again was pretty special.”

    Last season, Clark was on hand when the University of Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team retired the #10 of Mark Johnson, who was one of their all-time player greats.

    She never imagined that her number with the Stars would be retired less than a year after attending the ceremony to retire Johnson’s number.

Emily Clark watches her number get raised up Merlis Belsher Place.

    In a crazy twist on the Stars front, Clark was actually the last player to wear #13 for her hometown female midget AAA squad. No one from the Stars has worn #13 since Clark last played for the club in the 2011-12 campaign.

    “To think that no one has worn it I guess is pretty special,” said Clark. “With some of the national team players, it is just like a respect thing that you don’t take certain people’s numbers.

    “To know that girls had that kind of respect to hold me in that regard is pretty special.”

    Clark played three seasons for the Stars from 2009 to 2012 appearing in 82 regular season games collecting 45 goals and 46 assists for 91 points.

Emily Clark’s number is raised up at Merlis Belshler Place.

    Her best season came in her final campaign in 2011-12. During that season with the Stars, Clark appeared in 26 regular season game collecting 26 goals and 34 assists for 60 points.

    Clark’s 34 helpers are still a Stars record for most assists in one regular season. Her 60 points is still a team record for most points in one regular season, but it was matched in the 2017-18 campaign by Mackenna Parker, who tallied a club record 33 goals and 27 assists in 23 regular season games.

    Clark said one of the things she loved the most about being part of the Stars was getting to experience the social aspect of the dressing room. Before joining the Stars, Clark played boys hockey in Saskatoon in the Flyers zone.

    When she played boys hockey, Clark, of course, suited up for games on her own in a separate dressing room.

Emily Clark, centre, drops the puck for a ceremonial faceoff.

    “I always loved hockey, but I was missing that part of being a part of the team was that locker room stuff,” said Clark. “When I started to play with the Stars, I fell in love with hockey that much more just because of all the fun I was having with the girls.”

    Clark said the veterans nicknamed her “recess” during her rookie campaign, because she was still in elementary school, while most of the veterans were in high school. During her time with the Stars, Clark skated with a number of teammates who were characters that had character, which helped provide many fun times.

Emily Clark, centre, greets the captains of the Stars and Rebels.

    “I got to play with some amazing people like Marley Ervine, Lauren Zary, Sara Greschner and Brooke Mutch,” said Clark, who helped the Stars advance to the SFMAAAHL championship series in 2010, 2011 and 2012. “For me, I looked up to them, because they were so much older than me.

    “They took me under their wing and took care of me. They shaped a lot of who I was in high school, so I am really grateful for all the girls I got to play with.”

    Following the 2011-12 campaign, Clark left the Stars to join the Okanagan Hockey Academy female prep junior team in Penticton, B.C., for two seasons from 2012 to 2014. In those two campaigns, Clark appeared in 57 games collecting 34 goals and 35 assists for 69 points.

    Clark then joined the storied Badgers women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks and played four seasons for them spread out from 2014 to 2019.

Emily Clark is pictured with some young fans at Friday’s game.

    She appeared in 147 overall games with the Badgers posting 70 goals and 76 assists for 146 points. Clark helped the Badgers win their fifth NCAA title in team history last season.

    The Badgers blanked the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 2-0 in the NCAA title game last March.

    On the international stage, Clark helped Canada win goal at two straight under-18 women’s championships in 2012 and 2013.

    She suited up for Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team for four women’s world champions winning silver medals in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and a bronze medal this past April in Finland to go with her silver medal from the Winter Olympics.

Arden Kliewer makes one of her 55 saves in goal for the Stars.

    Looking back on her career so far, Clark said there weren’t that any female players from Saskatchewan joining the NCAA ranks, when she joined the Badgers.

    “Playing for Wisconsin was kind of like a dream that I didn’t even know I had once I got down there and got treated the way I did there,” said Clark. “There is nothing like university hockey whether it is (U Sports) or NCAA.

    “Playing on the national team and being able to get in at such a young age is something that is really special to me. Obviously, I am lucky to still be around and still be playing and living my dream.”

    With that said, Clark still plans to be in the game for some time to come.

Lauren Focht netted the equalizer and winner for the Rebels.

    “I still have a lot of story left to be written,” said Clark. “As much as I have been excited about the career I have been able to have, I am excited for the future too.”

    As for Friday’s game itself, Hanna Bailey gave the Rebels 1-0 lead early in the first period, but the Stars exited the opening frame with a 2-1 advantage with goals coming from captain Makena Kushniruk and Anica Gauthier.

    The Stars extended their lead to 3-1, when Kushniruk netted her second of the contest early in the third.

    The Rebels closed the third with three straight goals to post the come-from-behind 4-3 victory. Bailey netted her second of the contest, while Lauren Focht scored the equalizer and winner for the visitors.

Emily Clark, centre, is pictured with some of her old Stars teammates.

    Arden Kliewer turned away 55 shots to take the setback in goal for the Stars (5-10-2). Payton Schlamp stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels (12-0-1).

    The Stars and Rebels go at it again on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    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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    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.