Supporting cast seals sweep

Huskies head to nationals for fourth time in five years

Huskies defenceman Tyler Borstmayer celebrates his first career CIS goal.

    The unsung heroes delivered when the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team needed them the most.

    All season, the Huskies prided themselves on the fact they had more depth and balance throughout their lineup than they did a season ago. That showed when the team topped the Canada West standings with a 22-6 mark.

    During the clutch moments, the rookie line of Levi Cable, Kohl Bauml and Andrew Johnson seemed to lift the Dogs to another level. Their ability as a unit to flat out create offence has been a game changer.

    In a long playoff run, teams can’t just rely on their top offensive line. The deeper you go in the post-season the harder it becomes to score. Others need to step up and deliver on the scoreboard.

    Others did just that on Saturday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, as the Huskies posted a 5-3 victory over the U of Calgary Dinos to sweep a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series 2-0. U of S’s high scoring rookie line accounted for one goal, which Cable dumped into an empty net with 12 seconds to play to lock up the final outcome.

    With the Dinos doing their best to limit the Huskies top unit, U of S had to look towards other sources to score and pull out victory.

Cameron Blair has three assists for the Huskies on Saturday.

    The challenge to have others score also got that much bigger, when the Dinos jumped out to a 2-0 just 5:44 into the contest on singles from Ryan Suchorab and Danny Gayle. The tallies silenced a packed Ruthy for a short time, and one had to wonder if a series deciding Game 3 was going to be needed on Sunday.

    Despite the Dinos fast start, the Huskies, who are rated third in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport top ten rankings, gained some traction when gritty rookie forward Jaimen Yakubowski, who had three points in 15 regular season games, tallied at the 11:50 mark of the opening frame. Yakubowski’s goal re-energized the packed and raucous crowd at the Rutherford Rink and was an early momentum changer.

    While the Huskies continued to mount pressure, Dinos netminder and former Saskatoon Blades star Steven Stanford was doing his best to keep the host side at bay. U of S broke through again on the scoreboard at the 13:49 mark of the second, when an on ice point shot from sophomore defenceman Tyler Borstmayer found its way to the back of the Dinos goal. Borstmayer’s first ever CIS goal pulled the Huskies even at 2-2.

Parker Thomas played a strong energy game for the Huskies.

    With 3:43 to play in the second, Kendall McFaull, who is earning a reputation as the Huskies “Captain Clutch,” put home an accurate off-speed point drive to put the Dogs up 3-2. Early in the third, the Huskies lead expanded to 4-2, when Connor Cox, who is a former Saskatoon Blades blue-liner, laser beamed home another point shot through a screen.

    In the four-goal outburst, sophomore forward Cameron Blair quietly helped set up three tallies. He almost matched his regular season total of assist in one game. Blair played in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games collecting seven goals and four assists.

    The Dinos still didn’t go quietly. U of C star forward Elgin Pearce potted his sixth of the post-season with 1:17 to play in the third to cut the Huskies edge to 4-3. U of S clamped things down defensively from there, and Cable’s goal ensured a comeback was not to be.

    Stanford, who stopped 77 shots in a 4-3 double overtime loss to the Huskies in Game 1 on Friday, turned aside 38 of 42 shots to take the loss in goal for the Dinos in Game 2.

    Cooke made 21 stops to earn the win in goal for the Huskies, who took all six of their encounters with the Dinos this season.

The crowd at the packed Rutherford Rink cheers a Huskies goal.

    Besides the offence, the Huskies also received strong contributions from players like energy forward Parker Thomas, who was key for the green and white on the forecheck.

    U of S advances to host the best-of-three Canada West championships series against their forever rivals - the U of Alberta Golden Bears. The Golden Bears, who have won the last two CIS titles, swept their semifinal series slipping past the Mount Royal University Cougars 4-3 in Edmonton on Saturday. Game 1 of the Canada West championship series will start this Friday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

    The Huskies also earned a berth to the eight-team CIS championship tournament, which runs March 17-20 in Halifax. That will mark their fourth appearance at nationals in the last five years.

    If the Huskies want their playoff success to continue, they need the X-factors to keep producing along with their top players. If that keeps happening, they might just win it all for the second time in team history.

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

Luck falls Huskies way

The Huskies celebrate an overtime winning goal.

    Lady Luck was on the side of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    For a short time, it appeared the Huskies would fall victim to a comeback by the visiting University of Calgary Dinos on Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink. The Dogs led 3-1 after two periods of play only to see the Dinos rally back to force overtime after tying things up 3-3.

    After a scoreless five minute four-on-four overtime period, the Huskies received a huge break during the five-minute three-on-three session that followed. Sophomore Huskies forward Michael Sofillas fed the puck to linemate John Lawrence who proceeded to break towards the Dinos net for a scoring chance.

    Lawrence’s initial shot was stopped, but Dinos forward Elgin Pearce accidentally knocked the puck into his own goal while attempting to sweep it out of harm’s way.

    The Huskies themselves looked stunned for a moment before realizing they had pulled out a 4-3 victory at the 1:53 mark of the second overtime frame. The home side’s bench proceeded to empty out for a victory celebration in the offensive zone, while the crowd at Rutherford gave one of their loudest ovations of the season.

    For a while, it appeared the Huskies wouldn’t need any overtime goals to extend their current winning streak to four games. After playing through a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Huskies drew first blood, when sophomore forward Cameron Blair sniped a shot past Dinos goaltender Steven Stanford to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

John Lawrence picked up the Huskies OT winning goal.

    The Dinos tied things up at 1-1 just three minutes later, when Spencer Edwards potted a goal from in close off a scramble type situation.

    The Huskies jumped back out front 2-1 working on a power play, when Michael Sofillas slipped home his fourth goal of the season.

    Before the second period ended, Huskies centre Sean Aschim stole the puck from a Dinos defenceman in the University of Calgary zone and immediately fed a pass to his linemate Matthew Spafford, who was alone in front of the goal. The fifth-year forward wasted little time in tucking home his second tally of the campaign to put the Huskies up 3-1.

    While play though the first 40 minutes was fairly even, the Dinos came with a huge push back in the third period outshooting the Huskies 12-5. At the 5:55 mark, Dinos rookie forward Mitch Cook picked up his first goal of his Canadian Interuniversity sport regular season career to cut the gap to 3-2.

    With 29 seconds remaining in the third, Dinos fourth-year forward Dylan Walchuk deflected home a point shot from defenceman Drydn Dow to force a 3-3 tie. The Huskies protested that Walchuk’s goal was knocked home with a high stick, but the officials ruled the goal was good.

    The Dinos carried play in the first overtime period recording the only five shots on goal in the frame.

    The Huskies lone shot on goal in the second overtime period eventually led to Pearce’s accidental own goal.

    Jordon Cooke made 35 saves to earn the win in goal for the Huskies (16-3), who are ranked third in the CIS top ten rankings. Stanford, who is a graduate of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades, turned away 19 shots in goal for the Dinos (7-8-4).

    The Huskies and Dinos will go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

Russians power Dinos past Huskies

Iya Gavrilova had a goal and two assists for the Dinos on Friday night.

    Iya Gavrilova and Sasha Vafina came through when the University of Calgary Dinos women’s hockey team needed them the most.

    The two members of Russian’s 2014 Olympic team combined for three goals and two assists to push the Dinos past the visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies 4-2 at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.

    Gavrilova, who has two assists, netted the winner at the 12:59 mark of the third period, which broke a 2-2 tie. Vafina scored twice, while Stephanie Zvonkovic had the Dinos other tally.

    Feisty forward Marley Ervine and Lauren Zary replied with singles for the Huskies.

    Hayley Dowling made 24 saves to earn the win in goal for the Dinos. Jerrica Waltz turned away 21 shots to take the loss in goal for the Huskies.

    The Huskies, who are rated sixth in the CIS top ten rankings, fell to 11-6-2. The Dinos improved to 5-10-4, but they still sit last in the eight team Canada West Conference.

    Both squads go at it again on Saturday in Calgary.

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

Huskies' Cooke closes out Cougars

Jordon Cooke deflects a shot away from the Huskies goal.

    Jordon Cooke’s toughness definitely matches his skills at stopping the puck.

    The sophomore netminder for the University of Saskatchewan men’s hockey team was stellar making 40 saves to back his club to a 4-2 victory over the Mount Royal University Cougars on Saturday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink. At times, it seemed like Cooke was trying to stop the Cougars players from going into the goal along with the puck.

    The graduate of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets was run over on about three or four occasions. The toughest hit Cooke took arguably came early in the third period, when he was bowled into by Cougars forward Tyler Fiddler.

    Despite all the physical play, Cooke never got flustered, and he was key in ensuring his squad improved to 13-3 remain first in the Canada West conference. The Cougars five-game winning streak came to an end in the process, as they fell to 9-5-2 to sit third in Canada West.

    In the first, it appeared the Huskies, who are rated first in Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s top ten rankings, wouldn’t need to rely on Cooke’s stellar play in goal to earn victory. The hosts rolled in the first period storming out to a 3-0 lead.

    Rookies Logan McVeigh and Kohl Bauml potted singles just over two minutes apart from each other. Sophomore Cameron Blair capped the surge with a fall one-timer on a nice set up pass from linemate Josh Roach.

    The Huskies outburst saw the Cougars, who are rated 10^th in the CIS top ten rankings, pull starting goaltender Colin Cooper after the opening 20 minutes. The rookie netminder stopped five of eight shots sent his way. Cam Lanigan played the rest of the way turning aside all 10 shots he faced in relief.

    From the start of the second, the Cougars started to drive to the U of Saskatchewan net hard, and they fired 33 shots at the Huskies goal over the final two frames.

Cougars forward Tyler Fiddler crashed into Huskies goalie Jordon Cooke.

    With that said, not all the contact around the Huskies net was result of the visitors’s decision to crash the crease. Close to the midway point of the second, Huskies defenceman Zak Stebner accidentally cross-checked Cougars forward Jamie King into Cooke during a hectic net scramble. Stebner was given a two-minute minor penalty over that action, and the Cougars capitalized with a power-play goal coming off the stick of Cam Maclise.

    The Cougars kept up the pressure and scored on another power play with 4:08 to play in the third, when sophomore Jamie King lifted a falling shot past Cooke to cut the host’s edge to 3-2.

Despite the pressure from the visitors, the Huskies sealed victory when Levi Cable score into an empty net with 1:28 to play in the frame.

    In his first full season as the team’s starting goalie, Cooke, who was the Canadian Hockey League’s goalie of the year in 2014, has been stellar posting an 11-3 record, a 2.56 goals against average, a .923 save percentage and one shutout. The Leduc, Alta., product always ensures the Huskies have a chance to earn victory, even when they are not at their best.

    With Saturday’s game in the books, the Huskies head into the semester break for final exams and the Christmas holidays. They resume their regular season schedule on Jan. 8 of the new year, when they travel to Lethbridge to take on the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns (6-9-1).

Vets push Huskies women’s squad to victory

Kaitlin Willoughby had two points in Saturday's Huskies win.

    The veterans stepped up to ensure the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team headed into their semester break on a high.

    The forward unit of Marley Ervine, who is in her fifth year, Lauren Zary, who is in her fourth year, and Kaitlin Willoughby, who is in her third year, combined for five points as the Huskies slipped past the Mount Royal University Cougars 2-1 in Calgary on Saturday night. The Cougars were riding a four-game winning streak.

    Ervine scored on a power play 19 seconds into the second to give the Huskies a 1-0 edge. Rookie defender Leah Bohlken and Willoughby picked up assists on that tally. With under 30 seconds to play in the second, Willoughby put the Huskies up 2-0, and Ervine and Zary picked up assists on that marker.

    Kate Hufnagel scored on the power play with 5:17 to play in the third for the Cougars, but Huskies clamped things down defensively the rest of the way to close out the win.

    Cassidy Hendricks made 26 saves to pick up the victory in goal and boost her Huskies women’s team career record for regular season goaltending wins to 41. Jessica Ross made 22 stops to take the loss in the Cougars goal.

    With the win, the Huskies, who are rated seventh in the CIS top ten rankings, improve to 9-5-2 to sit fourth overall in the Canada West conference. The Cougars fall to 8-7-1 to sit in a tie for sixth and seventh overall in Canada West with the 8-7-1 University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.

Cassidy Hendricks picked up her 41st regular season career win.

    Due to the fact three points are awarded for a win in regulation time in Canada West women’s play, the Huskies enter the semester break two points back of both the University of Alberta Pandas and University of Manitoba Bisons, who are tied for first and second overall with identical 9-6-1 records. The Huskies have 26 points coming of six regulation wins, three extra time wins and two extra time setbacks. All of the wins for the Pandas and Bisons have come in regulation.
    The Huskies are also only three points up on the Cougars and Pronghorns, who have 23 points coming off six regulation wins, two extra time wins and one extra time setback. Only the top six teams in the conference make playoffs.

    The Huskies resume their regular season schedule on Jan. 8 in the new year, when they host the Pronghorns at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

    If you would like to pass along any comments about this blog 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.