Marshall’s surprising rise results in first shutout with Huskies

Sophomore goalie had no guarantees arriving at U of S

Goalie Chloe Marshall celebrates a shutout with her teammates.

    Chloe Marshall is enjoying a start that wasn’t supposed to happen with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.

    A year ago, the Neilburg, Sask., product was tending goal in her rookie post-secondary season with the Northland College Lumberjills women’s hockey team, who are based out of Ashland, Wis. The Lumberjills were playing their inaugural season in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division three ranks and posted a 4-21 overall record.

    After that one campaign, Marshall, who had an .893 save percentage with the Lumberjills, elected to return to her home province and join the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.

Chloe Marshall made 25 saves for the the Huskies on Friday night.

    “It was really expensive last year, and I thought financially it would be a better option to be here,” said Marshall, who stands 5-foot-7. “Hockey wise it is better.

    “I just knew it would get me farther academically and athletically.”

    Marshall came to the Huskies without any guarantees. The U of S women’s team had two solid sophomore netminders on their roster in Jasey Book and Jessica Vance, who were expected to be the odds on favourite options to replace graduated star veteran Cassidy Hendricks as the Huskies starting goalie.

    Instead of dwelling on the situation that was, Marshall went to work to prove herself. On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, she picked up her first career U Sports regular season shutout making 25 saves in a 1-0 victory over the U of Manitoba Bisons, who were rated eighth in the U Sports top 10 rankings.
    Including action in the regular season and playoffs, the Bisons had won six straight head-to-head encounters with the Huskies entering Friday’s game.

Goalie Chloe Marshall gets some help protecting the Huskies goal.

    “It is obviously a good confidence boost,” said Marshall. “It doesn’t mean that it is always going to be like that, but it is always a good like motivation to keep pushing and keep trying harder and just never stop.”

    The 19-year-old has won all three of her regular season starts with the Huskies, who improved to 3-1-1, posting a 1.33 goals against average and a .948 save percentage. She won all three of her starts in the pre-season, which included backstopping the Huskies to a 2-1 victory over the defending U Sport champion U of Alberta Pandas on Sept. 9 in a neutral site game in Athabasca, Alta.
    Marshall’s other two pre-season victories were shutouts.

    She admitted the early going with the Huskies has exceeded her expectations.

Defender Leah Bohlken had the Huskies lone goal on Friday.

    “It is definitely a surprise,” said Marshall. “I had a mentality where I didn’t really know what the situation was going to be like, but I just told myself to like fight for your spot and just never stop pushing and hope for the best.”

    The Huskies only goal on Friday came from defender Leah Bohlken at the 3:52 mark of the second period. Bohlken received a giveaway from a Bisons player in the U of M zone and promptly blasted the gift past Bisons rookie netminder Lauren Taraschuk.

    Taraschuk had a stellar outing herself making 20 stops as her team fell to 2-3.

    With the Huskies holding a slim edge, Marshall went to work to protect the lead against a Bisons roster that contains some very dangerous offensive players including forward Venla Hovi, who plays on Finland’s national women’s team.

Rookie Lauren Taraschuk made 20 saves for the Bisons.

    Near the halfway point of the second period, Bisons star fourth-year forward Alanna Sharman, who has averaged over a point a game in her U Sports career, cut through the Huskies skaters on a dangerous rush only to be turned away by Marshall.

    After Sharman’s chance, the Bisons manufactured a breakaway from fifth-year forward Alana Serhan, and she was turned away by Marshall. In the final seconds of the second period, Marshall denied a close in chance from a Bisons player to bailout a teammate who gave the puck away.

    Marshall admitted she gets pumped up when the pressure is on.

    “I love it,” said Marshall. “The more the pressure the better I play almost. I like thrive off of it.”

Huskies netminder Chloe Marshall covers up a loose puck.

    The pressure continued to come in the third, and Marshall made two close in saves late in the frame on Hovi.

    The Huskies puck stopper also had some luck, as the Bisons rang a shot off the post with just over four minutes to play in the third. Hovi also deflected a shot off the crossbar of the Huskies goal inside of the final two minutes of the third, when the visitors were working on a power-play. The Bisons failed to score on four power-play chances.

    Huskies head coach Steve Kook couldn’t say enough good things about Marshall’s performance

Chloe Marshall tracks a puck she deflected into the corner.

    “They (the Bisons) started to spring players out of the zone, and we started to watch the puck a little bit,” said Kook. “She (Marshall) saved us there and kept us in the game. It was fantastic for her.”

    Before moving to the post-secondary ranks, Marshall played two seasons with the Battlefords Sharks female midget AAA team from 2014 to 2016.
    She got shelled on a nightly basis, because the Sharks were one of the weaker teams in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.

    Over her career with the Sharks, she posted a 6-24 record and managed to put up a respectable 3.27 goals against average, an impressive .914 save percentage and earn one shutout.

    While Marshall stopped a lot of pucks with the Sharks, Kook said his team didn’t keep strong tabs on her.

    “We didn’t really have a chance to watch a lot of her play,” said Kook. “I got some video tape from her coach down in the States.

Chloe Marshall pictured with a shutout game puck.

    “You can only tell so much from videotape. I had a good chance to meet with her in the summer. She was doing some goaltending camps and getting ready for the (Huskies training) camp.

    “That alone impressed me in the fact that she was willing to put that much work in and get herself prepared for the fall not knowing exactly what her role was going to be on this team. She’s earned and deserved what she has gotten so far.”

    For Marshall, she is just enjoyed every day as it comes.
    She said she loves the positive energy her teammates bring to the rink, and she is having fun playing alongside a large number of players she used to face in midget AAA.

    “It is pretty different going from being not enemies but not teammates to being teammates,” said Marshall. “It is kind of cool feeling to get to know other people and finally play with them.”

    The Huskies and Bisons go at it again on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Rutherford.

Stovin, Bisons rally past Huskies men’s team

Kohl Bauml gave the Huskies a third period lead.

    Brett Stovin, a former captain of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, helped back the U of Manitoba Bisons men’s hockey team to a surprising 4-3 come-from-behind overtime victory over the U of Saskatchewan Huskies.

    At the Wayne Fleming Arena on Friday night in Winnipeg, the Huskies, who are rated third in the U Sports top 10 rankings, led the Bison 3-2 late in the third period. The hosts potted the equalizer to tie things up at 3-3 with 15 seconds to play in the third as Stovin combined with Zach Franko to set up Kamerin Nault for a power-play goal.

    At the 3:07 mark of overtime, Stovin set up Franko to net the winner for the Bisons. Stovin finished the contest with three assists. His first helper came in the opening frame, when he set up former Blades teammate Nick Zajac to give the Bisons a 1-0 lead.

    John Lawrence and Josh Roach replied with singles before the opening 20 minutes expired to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead.

    Bisons forward Shawn Bowles scored the only goal in the second period to force a 2-2 tie.

    Just 92 seconds into the third, star centre Kohl Bauml scored to put the Huskies up 3-2, which set the stage for the dramatics at the end of the contest.

    Taran Kozun made 19 stops to take the loss in goal for the Huskies (4-0-1). Byron Spriggs turned away 34 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bisons (2-3).

    The two team go at it again on Saturday night in Winnipeg.

Hilltops players take four major PFC awards

RT Kirk Simonsen, centre, protects Hilltops QB Jordan Walls, right.

    Saskatoon Hilltops players captured four major Prairie Football Conference awards on Friday.

    Right tackle Kirk Simonsen, who is also a fourth-year captain with the Hilltops, was named the PFC’s most outstanding lineman. Star fifth-year running back Logan Fischer took home honours as the most outstanding offensive back running the ball 121 times for 804 yards and scoring 11 rushing touchdowns during the 2017 regular season.

    Riley Pickett, who is in his third year with the Hilltops, was named the most outstanding defensive lineman leading the PFC with nine sacks. The graduate of Saskatoon’s Centennial Collegiate had 15 tackles, eight assisted tackles and one pass knockdown.

    Cody Peters, who is a fourth-year captain with the Hilltops, claimed the award for being the most outstanding defensive linebacker piling up 30 tackles, 12 assisted tackles and pass knockdown this season.

    The Hilltops (8-1) host the PFC final on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field against their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder (6-3).

    Thunder fourth-year veteran Levi Paul took home honours as the PFC’s most outstanding receiver hauling in 41 passes for 575 yards and scoring six touchdowns. The Thunder’s Eric Maximuik was named to the PFC’s all-rookie team on Friday as both a place kicker and punter. Maximuik made 9-of-15 field goal attempts and punted the ball 32 times for an average of 31.3 yards per kick.

    Edmonton Huskies head coach Iain McLean was named the PFC’s coach of the year for a second straight campaign guiding his team to a 7-1 regular season record. 

    Huskies quarterback Brad Launardt was named the PFC’s most outstanding quarterback, most outstanding offensive player of the year and most valuable player. Huskies linebacker Jassen Brown claimed honours as the most outstanding defensive player of the year.

    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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Football Huskies salvage respect

Kyle Siemens calls out signals for the Huskies.

  It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team was expected to content for a championship. Instead, the Dogs found themselves battling to finish their 2015 Canadian Interuniversity Sport campaign in a respectable fashion.

    Coming off posting a 6-2 mark during the 2014 regular season, the Huskies entered the 2015 campaign returning a large number of players and hopes were high the Green and White would make the Canada West championship game, the Hardy Cup, and advance to the CIS title game, the Vanier Cup.

    The 2015 campaign came to a close for the Huskies on Saturday, when they traveled to Calgary and fell 37-29 to the University of Calgary Dinos in a hard fought Canada West semifinal playoff battle. The Dinos, who were 8-0 in the regular season, ensured their quest for perfection continued. The Huskies, who were 3-5 in the regular season, saw their post-season losing skid grow to seven games.

    To the Huskies credit, they managed to finish on a high. During the final week of the regular season, they were on the brink of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2000.

    On Oct. 30, the Huskies traveled to Regina to play the winless University of Regina Rams in the final regular season contest for both teams. The Huskies had lost three straight to fall to 2-5 entering that match and would be eliminated from the post-season picture with another setback.

    The Rams held a 34-11 lead late in the third quarter of that tilt at Mosaic Stadium, and it looked like the party was over for the Dogs. Miraculously, the Huskies rallied for a 38-37 victory, when running back Jarvis James ran in from a yard out with about 20 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.

    In the playoffs, the Huskies looked for the longest time that they could pull off a huge upset against the Dinos. The Dogs held a 16-8 lead at halftime and a 22-19 edge early in the fourth quarter before the Dinos offence hit high gear and took the game away.

Donovan Dale gets a sack for the Huskies.

    U of S showed heart at the end. That likely dampened some of the critics that watch Saskatoon’s most followed sports team.

    The critics in the stands became vocal last year at Griffiths Stadium, when the Huskies held a 37-18 lead over the University of Manitoba Bisons in a Canada West semifinal match only to fall 47-39.
    Some of the spectators started heaping jabs at the Huskies in a style similar to the jabs some of the fans of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders fire at that club when things are not going well.

    The Huskies started 2015 by stumbling out of the gates dropping their first two regular season games. The first setback was a 34-28 decision at Griffiths to the Bisons, and the second was a 38-26 loss in Edmonton to the University of Alberta Golden Bears. In the home opening loss, the critics in the crowd could be heard again and a couple of voices said that legendary Huskies head coach Brian Towriss, who is the all-time leader in CIS victories, should retire.

    U of S rebounded to even its mark at 2-2, but fell to 2-4 after being bombed twice by the Dinos.

    At that point, the 59-year-old Towriss and his staff showed they still have the ability to right the ship. Veteran fourth-year quarterback Drew Burko lost his starting position to sophomore Kyle Siemens. Burko had thrown nine interceptions over his six starts and a number of those were not of the good variety.

    Siemens completed 44 of 67 passes in his first start for 520 yards, three touchdown passes, while being intercepted once in a 41-36 loss to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at Griffiths. That defeat before the campaign’s smallest home crowd of 3,179 spectators, dropped the Huskies to 2-5 but hope started to be restored.

Huskies receiver Mitch Hillis tries to burst past a tackler.

    In the rally over the Rams, Siemens completed 23-of-41 passes for 422 yards, two touchdown passes and no interceptions. Against the Dinos in the playoffs, Siemens continued his solid play completing 29 of 46 passes for 356 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

    With Siemens at the controls, the Huskies offence appeared less likely to self-destruct. Actually, Siemens was throwing at the level of a franchise quarterback, and his rise might help restore high aspirations for the team in the future. In the off-season, the Huskies need to find some recruits to strengthen a defence that was extremely leaky throughout the campaign.

    Things are not all bad for the Huskies, but they are also not all good.

    Some big work needs to be done in the off-season, but on the bright side, wholesale changes are not needed.

The rewarding life of a Blades billet family

Blades captain Brett Stovin battles Medicine Hat's Steven Owre for a faceoff.

    I was back in the Saskatoon Express this week, with a cool behind the scenes feature.

I caught up with recently graduated Saskatoon Blades captain Brett Stovin, and he talked about what it was like to live in the home of Scott and Mel Frey during his years with the WHL franchise. The Freys just became a Blades billet family, when they welcomed Stovin, who now players for the University of Manitoba Bisons men’s hockey team, into their home shortly before his 17^th birthday. 

    He played four full seasons with the Blades, which included being part of the squad that hosted the 2013 Memorial Cup.

    The experience was rewarding for both Stovin and Freys. You can check out that story right here.

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

Frustration mounts for Huskies

Kandace Cook (#21) tries to bury a shot for the Huskies.

   The frustration and disappointment spread out all around for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team.
   The defending Canada West champs saw their losing skid extend to six games dropping both games of a series last weekend against the University of Manitoba Bisons at the ancient Rutherford Rink. The setback that moved the slide to six proved to be the most disappointing, which saw the Bison pull out a 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday night.
   Following that loss, the Huskies' players tried their best to still appear upbeat, but the emotions of being sombre pretty much took over. Having sat first overall in the Canada West Conference going into the Christmas break, they were stunned and speechless to have fallen to 11-8-3 to sit fifth overall in the conference. It was obvious to tell the group as a whole isn't used to an extended losing stretch.
   On Friday, the Huskies had a few defensive zone breakdowns and fell 5-2 to the Bisons. Chelsey Sundby and Lauren Zary had singles for the Huskies, while Cassidy Hendricks turned away 22 of 26 shots taking the loss in goal.
   Alana Serhan had a hat trick for the Bisons, while Lauryn Keen and Kayleigh Wiens had singles. Rachel Dyck made 17 stops to pick up the win in goal.
   On Saturday night, the Huskies played their best game since returning from the break and led 2-1 after the first period thanks to a pair of goals by Zary, while Cassandra Taylor had the reply for the Bisons. The edge held up going into the second intermission.
   In the third, the Bisons went ahead 3-2 thanks to tallies by Serhan and Maggie Litchfield-Medd. Marley Ervine potted the equalizer for the Huskies to force a 3-3 tie and send the contest to overtime.
   Just 65 seconds into the extra session, Alanna Sharman scored the winner for the Bisons, who improved to 16-5-1 to sit second overall in Canada West. Dyck made 20 saves to pick up the win in goal for Manitoba.
Rookie Jerrica Waltz made her first career start in goal for the Huskies and made 29 stops taking the loss for her side.

Marley Ervine drives a shot on goal for the Huskies.

   In Saturday's match, both side basically manufactured their goals by driving hard to the net and potting gritty type tallies. The Bisons also blocked a huge number of Huskies shots, especially in the third, to add to the frustration for the host squad.
   The Huskies played technically better for longer stretches on Saturday than they had during any other of their outings during the skid. In the end, it wasn't enough to break back into the win column.
   U of S has been hurt by injuries in attempting to break their skid. On the weekend, the Huskies returned defender Hanna McGillivray, who missed three games due to a concussion. Forward Rachel Johnson is walking around Rutherford sporting a serious knee brace. She suffered that injury in the Huskies 1-0 home loss to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Jan. 16.
   Rookie forward Chelsea Wilson left the team due to family reasons having last played in the Huskies 5-2 road loss to the U of Calgary Dinos in Calgary on Jan. 10. Johnson had five goals and four assists in 19 games, while Wilson had a goal and seven assists in 18 games. In a Canada West Conference where goals have come at a premium, losing that offensive production is a blow to the Green and White.
   Had the Huskies split with each of their first three weekend series since the break, they would be in the thick of possibly challenging for first overall in the conference. The overtime loss to the Bisons allowed the Huskies to officially lock up a playoff berth, but they would need to win most of their final six games to have a chance to host an opening round playoff series.
   They now head on the road for five straight games. The first two of those contests will be this coming Friday and Saturday in Edmonton against the Canada West leading U of Alberta Pandas (16-6). The Pandas lead the Bisons by two points in the standings due to a 15-12 edge in regulation wins.
   The Huskies will head into those clashes with the Pandas as underdogs. In the glass half full analogy, the Dogs also have nothing to lose and everything to gain in those clashes.

Unfamiliar territory for Huskies men's hockey team

Josh Roach rushes up ice for the Huskies.

   The U of S Huskies men's hockey team ended up with a distinction they would have loved to have avoided.
   After dropping two games to the University of Manitoba Bisons in Winnipeg on the weekend, the Huskies fell to 10-14-2. With two games to play in the regular season, the Huskies will finish with a losing record for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign, when they posted an 11-14-3 mark. The Huskies had gone 18 straight seasons without posting a losing record, which had to be commended for being impressive.
   Thanks to having a roster that contained 12 first year players, the Huskies were unable to extend that run to an 19^th straight campaign.
   On Friday, the Huskies dropped a 2-1 decision to the Bisons in double overtime. Craig McCallum gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead early in the first period. In the closing seconds of the second period, the Bisons tied things up with goal from Jordan DePape.
   The game advanced through a four-on-four overtime session still tied 1-1. In the final seconds of a three-on-three overtime session, Taylor Dickin potted the winner for the Bisons.
   Ryan Holfeld made 44 stops taking the extra time loss in goal for the Huskies. Byron Springs made 30 saves picking up the win in goal for the Bisons.
   Manitoba drilled Saskatchewan 6-2 on Saturday night. Aaron Lewadniuk, Brett Dudar, Jory Coates, Jesse Paradis, Joel Schreyer and DePape netted singles for the Bisons. Springs made 27 stops to earn the win in goal helping the Bisons improve to 14-12.
   Josh Roach and Michael Sofillas had singles for the Huskies. Jordon Cooke turned away 11 of 15 shots taking the loss in goal. Holfeld turned away 11 of 13 shots in relief.
   The Huskies locked up a berth in the Canada West playoffs, when the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds blanked the U of Regina Cougars 1-0 on Saturday night in Vancouver. U of S is also locked into finishing sixth overall in the conference, which means the Huskies won't host a home playoff series this year. Playoff home games are normally a fixture at the Rutherford Rink.
   The Dogs host their final two home contests of the 2014-15 campaign this coming Thursday and Friday at Rutherford against the U of Alberta Golden Bears to close out the regular season for both clubs. Game time is 7 p.m. both nights. The Golden Bears have locked up first overall in Canada West currently sporting a 22-3-1 mark.
   Those games will also mark the 85^th anniversary of the Huskies playing at the Rutherford Rink.

Dogs help battle cancer

The Play For The Cure table at the Rutherford Rink.

   The Huskies hockey teams are both involved in fundraising games to help battle cancer.
   The women's team held their seventh annual Play For The Cure game on Friday. This year the proceeds went to Choc 'la Cure in honour of Cody Smuk, who is an alumnus of the men's hockey team and is battling cancer. The women's team also wore jerseys donated by the family of second-year forward Kennedy Harris. They were worn in memory of Harris's grandmother, Yvette Marie Hyatt, who passed away of cancer.
   The jerseys were auctioned off through a silent auction, and a number of items were available through a raffle on a table set up in the concession area at the Rutherford Rink. The silent auction raised over $2,500.
   Smuk wasn't able to be at Friday's game, because he was in hospital undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Smuk's parents, Marty and Darla, and fiancée, Stephanie Vause, were in attendance.
   This coming Thursday and Friday, the men's team will be raising funds for their former team member in their final home games of the season against the Golden Bears. Funds are being raised for "Marty's Men," which is the Relay for Life team for Smuk. His nickname is "Marty."
   Smuk helped the Huskies win silver at last year's University Cup national championship tournament. His cancer diagnosis came a couple of months later.

Blades on a roll

Nik Amundrud, left, and Josh Uhrich celebrate Uhrich's goal.

   The young Saskatoon Blades might be giving local WHL fans a glimpse of the future.
   On Sunday night, the Blades rolled off their fifth straight win blanking the Prince Albert Raiders 3-0 before 4,136 spectators at the Sasktel Centre. Currently the run is the longest winning streak the Bridge City Bunch has had during a rebuilding 2014-15 season.
   Goaltender Nik Amundrud made 24 saves to earn his second shutout of the season. Overage captain Brett Stovin potted his 19^th of the season on a breakaway in the first period. Garrett Armour and Josh Uhrich added singles in the third.
   Nick McBride turned away 35 shots suffering the loss in goal for the Raiders (19-27-1).
   The Blades are going with a young roster for the rest of the season that contains just two overagers and four players in their 19-year-old seasons. They still sit second last in the entire WHL, but have improved to 14-29-2-1.
   Work ethic has not been a problem for the Blades this season, and head coach and general manager Bob Woods and rest of the team's coaches have to be happy to see some wins are finally happening as a result of the hard work.
   The Blades have also played an open and aggressive style of offensive game during the winning stretch, which has resulted in 23 goals being scored over those five victories. The success has been earned.
   For most of the season, opposing teams could believe they would be pushed by the Blades but would eventually get a character-building victory. With what the Blades have been able to accomplish, opposing teams can't just expect that victory will eventually come in a head-to-head encounter. Saskatoon has to be viewed as a worrisome opponent.
   The Blades will try to extend their winning streak on Wednesday, when they travel to Prince Albert to face the Raiders.

   If you have any feedback about this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.