Huskies heroic in defeat, but the sting hurts all the same

The Bisons and Huskies shake hands after their playoff series.

    Overtime in hockey is called sudden death for a reason, and the initial sting of losing hurts worse the longer it goes.

    On Sunday night, the ancient Rutherford Rink featured another classic game, but unfortunately for the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, they were able to come out on the winning side. At the 9:02 mark of a fifth overtime period, University of Manitoba Bisons standout forward Venla Hovi broke the hearts of the host Huskies and their supporters scoring the winning goal to deliver her side to a 2-1 victory in a match that finished at approximately 12:01 a.m. Monday.

    Hovi’s goal also ended the Huskies season as the Bisons took a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final playoff series between the two clubs 2-1. The Bisons advance on the Canadian Interuniversity Sport playoff trail to take on the University of Alberta Pandas in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

    The Huskies were left to digest the end of their season, which was not an easy thing to do. They dropped what was the longest game ever in Canada West women’s hockey history spanning 139 minutes and two seconds.

    The Dogs were also involved in the match that formerly held the record, which was also another 2-1 setback at the Ruthy coming back on March 1, 2014 against the University of Regina Cougars in Game 2 of the Canada West championship series which lasted 122 minutes and 30 seconds.

    That loss drew that series even at 1-1. The Huskies had an opportunity to bounce back the next night, which they did defeating the Cougars 2-1 on a Kaitlin Willoughby double overtime winner to take the Canada West title.

The Bisons celebrate Venla Hovi's winner in the fifth overtime period.

    In the loss to the Bisons, there is no chance to come back and play another game, because it was a series deciding Game 3.

    The effort the Huskies put up in defeat was valiant and heroic.

    They could have folded early on. Just 11 seconds into the contest, the Bisons went up 1-0 on a two-on-one break caused by a Huskies turnover. Hovi set up linemate Lauryn Keen, who put the Bisons up 1-0.

    The early U of M goal seemed to stun everyone in attendance.

    The Huskies push back was incredible. They peppered Bisons goaltender Amanda Schubert with shot after shot, while also playing some of their best hockey of the season. Their team game was solid, and they worked as a unit of five in all three zones.

    Finally at the 10:38 mark of the third period, centre Lauren Zary finally popped home the equalizer to knot the score up at 1-1. When the third period drew to a close, the two teams were going to overtime with the Huskies holding a 30-12 edge in the shots on goal department. In all reality, they deserved to have the edge on the scoreboard at that point.

    Off the two teams went into overtime. In extra time, the Huskies had to overcome some stormy seas. They killed off two Bisons power plays, where each came in the first and second overtime respectively.

Marley Ervine played in her 155th straight game for the Huskies.

    In the third overtime, the Huskies had their chance with the man advantage, but they could not find the winner. They failed to score on five power-play opportunities on Sunday night and were scoreless on 13 total power plays in the post-season. Those misfires came back to ultimately haunt the Dogs.

    The contest had become a duel of goaltenders, with experienced fourth-year veteran Cassidy Hendricks turning away shot after shot for the Huskies and the heart on her sleeve Schubert holding her ground in the Bisons’ goal.
    Hendricks would make 40 stops in the contest, while Schubert turned away 66 shots.

    On the U of S side, everyone had top grade efforts. The future is bright with rookies like defender Leah Bohlken and energetic forwards Rachel Lundberg and Brooklyn Haubrich. In that trio, you can see part of the heart and soul of the team over the next four seasons.

    Veterans who were part of the Canada West winner in 2014 like Alyssa Dobler, Kira Bannatyne, Kori Herner, Kennedy Harris, Rachel Johnson, Hailey Tyndall and Willoughby emptied the tank.

    The now graduating fifth-years in Brooke Mutch, Hanna McGillivray, Julia Flinton, Paige Anakaer and Marley Ervine did everything they could to extend their careers. Ervine, the feisty forward who appeared in all 155 regular season and post season games in her five seasons with the team, was still firing lasers in what was the final overtime frame.

Captain Paige Anakaer battles along the boards for the Huskies.

    Flinton’s end-to-end rushes as an offensive defender were as smooth as ever. Captain Anakaer battled with a heart that was unmatched and made her an inspiration to her teammates. Mutch and McGillivray were rocks as usual on the back end, and they created their own chances to net the winning goal.

    Maybe in a few days, the Huskies will reflect on how special their effort was in the series-deciding Game 3 against the Bisons. They left everything out there and have nothing to be ashamed of. To put it bluntly, “They brought it.”

    In the immediate aftermath of the marathon OT loss, the hurt is real and gut wrenching. When one sees the tears of the fifth year grads upon leaving the rink, even the hardest and most cynical of hearts had to melt.

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

Bisons bounce back, tie series

Huskies team play disintegrates when adversity hits

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Huskies goalie Cassidy Hendricks faced a lot of breakaways.

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

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

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

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

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

Alanna Sharman had a breakaway goal for the Bisons.

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

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

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

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

Cougars advance to face Thunderbirds

Bailey Braden had a series winning goal for the Cougars.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Huskies dominate on the ground

The Huskies defence stuffs Rams tailback Atlee Simon.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies weren’t going to get beaten on the ground this time.

    In opening the Canada West football season with two straight losses, the Huskies gave up an average of just over 260 yards rushing in each of those contests. On Friday night at Griffiths Stadium, the Dogs game up only 53 yards rushing to the visiting University of Regina Rams in earning a 33-18 victory before 6,476 spectators.

    Rams star tailback Atlee Simon, who ran for 396 yards in his club’s first two games, only managed 33 yards running on 11 carries against the Huskies. The U of S starting defensive line of Evan Machibroda, Liam Graham, Tristian Koronkiewicz and Donovan Dale needed to answer the bell, and they did.

    On offence, the Huskies hit top gear with their running attack piling up a season high 230 yards rushing as a team. Feature back Tyler Chow collected 124 yards on 15 carries, while change of pace back Shane Buchanan ran the ball 14 times for 87 tough yards between the tackles scoring one touchdown.

    The effectiveness of the Huskies rushing attack allowed fourth-year quarterback Drew Burko to have his most effective game of the season completing 19-of-30 passes for 243 yards, three touchdown strikes and no interceptions. Receiver Mitch Hillis was the main target catching nine passes for 135 yards and two scores.

    The Huskies (1-2) weren’t perfect and did make mistakes, but Friday’s effort was a total team victory, which caused the Rams to remain winless at 0-3.

    Early on, it appeared the Huskies struggles were going to continue. The Rams opened the scoring in the first quarter on a nine play, 95-yard drive culminating in a two-yard TD run by Simon. The score was set up when Rams quarterback Noah Picton hit Riley Wilson on a 31-yard post pattern that set the visitors up on the Huskies two.

Shane Buchanan rumbles downfield for the Huskies.

    The Dogs cut the gap to 7-5 on a field goal and safety before the game’s momentum really swung in their favour. On the ensuing kickoff after the Rams gave up a safety to make the contest a two-point game in the second quarter, Yol Piok had a monster return for the Huskies to set the hosts up at the Rams 15. Two plays later, Burko hit Hillis for a 15-yard scoring strike to put the Huskies up 12-7.

    A short time later, Huskies defensive back Chris Friesen intercepted Picton and returned the pick 42 yards to the Rams 15. Two plays later, Burko hit Piok for a 13-yard scoring toss to put the Huskies up 19-7.

    The Rams kicked a field goal just before halftime to cut the Huskies edge to 19-10. That set the stage for the Huskies to overcome another bad trend.

    In their first two contests, the Dogs scored a total of 14 combine points in the second halves of both those outings. They matched that total in the second half against the Rams.

    After U of S linebacker Dane Bishop recovered a Rams fumble in the third quarter, the Huskies manufactured a seven play, 65-yard scoring drive that was capped by a two-yard Buchanan TD run.

The Huskies kick cover unit takes down Ryan Schienbein of the Rams.

    Early in the fourth quarter, the Huskies recovered a Rams fumble on a punt return and turned that gift into another seven points, when Burko hit Hillis for a nine-yard scoring strike to put the hosts up 33-10.

    The Rams closed the game’s scoring when Noah Picton hit Mitchell Picton on a 37-yard scoring strike, and the two proceeded to connect on a two-point convert attempt.    

    Noah Picton had success through the air completing 28 of 43 passes for 422 yards, which included hitting Wilson six times for 141 yards. The Rams couldn’t survive the turnovers they committed and the fact they couldn’t run the ball.

    The Huskies looked better than they had all season and took a big step forward. They will try to keep taking steps forward in the current Canadian Interuniversity Sport season this coming Friday, when they travel to Vancouver to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

    Following that clash, the Huskies face the powerhouse U of Calgary Dinos (3-0) in a home and home series. The Huskies and Dinos meet on Oct. 3 in Calgary and again on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.

    If you want to pass along any comments about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. Check out Twitter for more game photos @StanksSports.

It's must win time for Huskies football

Huskies RB Tyler Chow  breaks away from the Bisons.

    It may only be Week 3 of the Canada West football season, but the University of Saskatchewan Huskies have to play with some urgency now.

    After dropping a 38-26 decision to the University of Alberta Golden Bears last Friday in Edmonton, the Huskies, who entered the 2015 campaign with expectations of challenging for the Vanier Cup, fell to 0-2. If they fall to the University of Regina Rams (0-2) this coming Friday on home turf at Griffiths Stadium (7 p.m. start) in a battle of winless teams, the Huskies would be an unthinkable 0-3.

    It is hard for anyone to recall the last time the Huskies opened a football campaign at 0-3. They last missed the post-season in 2000 with a 2-6 mark but started out 2-2 before closing out on a four-game skid in the final season with star Vanier Cup winning quarterback Ryan Reid calling signals.

    It is still possible for a team to dig itself out of an 0-3 hole, win Canada West and challenge for a Canadian Interuniversity Sport title, but that is a very hard road to travel. It is more optimal to be 1-2 going into the final five games of the Canada West regular season.

    After going 6-2 in 2014 and hosting a home playoff game for the first time since 2010, big things were expected of the Huskies this season. They improved as the 2014 campaign moved on and returned a large number of veterans for the 2015 campaign.

    Unfortunately, it seems like the hangover from last year’s post-season loss to the University of Manitoba Bisons in the Canada West semifinal round is still present. In that contest, the Huskies held a 37-18 third quarter lead before falling 47-39.

    The comeback came because the Bisons scored 14 points off a pair of interceptions including a pick-six, a major off a blocked punt, a field goal off a fumble and a safety caused by a bad snap. The setback was also the sixth in a row in the post-season for the Dogs.

The Huskies have had big troubles making run stops like this.

    The Huskies began 2015 by thumping the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks 33-10 in an August exhibition tilt at Griffiths Stadium. U of S proceeded to open the Canada West regular season dropping a 34-28 decision at home on Sept. 4 to the Bisons before losing last Friday in Edmonton. A couple of disturbing trends could be seen in both games.

    In the opening week loss to the Bisons, the Huskies only scored six points in the second half, and they surrendered 514 yards of total offence in the contest including 246 yards on the ground. Fourth-year quarterback Drew Burko threw four costly interceptions for the Huskies, which turned out to be the key factor in the loss.

    Burko was up front saying he had to learn from his mistakes during various media interviews leading up to the clash with the Golden Bears. He handled the aftermath of the loss to the Bisons better than most professional quarterbacks.

    Huskies head coach Brian Towriss was also great with the media in his classic and accountable tell it like it is style, which included pointing out the Bisons made a couple of outstanding plays on two of Burko’s picks.

    Burko couldn’t be faulted in the setback to the Golden Bears. He completed 30 of 51 passes for 333 yards without throwing an interception. The Huskies led 18-0 at halftime before the wheels fell off.

    Playing before 3,200 spectators at Foote Field, the Golden Bears outscored the Huskies 38-8 in the second half in a surprising comeback win. U of A also piled up 583 yards of offence including 283 yards on the ground.

    The Huskies inability to score in the second half and the fact they are allowing opponents to gain way too many yards – especially on the ground – is startling. The huge rushing totals the Dogs are giving up basically means their defensive line is being dominated at the line of scrimmage. If they don’t get tougher on the defensive side of the ball, the 2015 campaign will become a long one on the adversity front.

    When the offence hits a rut, they might want to take a page out of their past to get out of it. In the early 2000s when the offence stalled, the Huskies would give the ball to power back Tyler Siwak, who ran through people gaining five and six yards in a cloud of dust. So impressive were Siwak’s power runs that the crowds at Griffiths routinely rose to their feet and saluted with loud ovations.

Power runner Andre Lalonde has been a seldom used option by the Huskies.

    The Dog have that type of back in Andre Lalonde, who was nicknamed “The Bowling Ball” during his time with the Canadian Junior Football League’s Saskatoon Hilltops. Lalonde has four touches over two games, and he needs to be utilized more. Tyler Chow is a great feature back, but Lalonde brings a change of pace that is much needed.

    The Huskies need to get the bad trends turned around now in their next game against the Rams. If they don’t, the Dogs may face an avalanche they won’t be able to recover from.

    In a twist, the Rams fell by close margins in their first two games, so they need to be feeling some urgency as well. The U of R fell at home in Week 1 to the Golden Bears 29-22 and dropped a 27-20 decision in Week 2 to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Vancouver.

    U of S needs to be the more desperate team on Friday, if they hope to take the first step to turn things around and start meeting high expectations.

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

CIS fights an uphill battle for exposure

Jon Ryan launches a punt for the U of Regina Rams in 2000.

    Canadian Interuniversity Sport is uniquely Canadian – it is a league that contains a large number of the country's most talented athletes, but it is also a circuit no one talks about.
    Actually, there are people that talk about the CIS, but they usually are a stakeholder being a program's staff member, a player or a friend or family member of a stakeholder. There is a niche audience that follows the teams in the CIS. Those audiences can be bigger in centres like Saskatoon or Thunder Bay, but are smaller in bigger cities like Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver.
    One of the disappointing things about the CIS on a subjective level is it appears its audience hasn't grown over the last 20 years.
    If an athlete from Canada does something special in the United States in the big old National Collegiate Athletic Association, it seems Canadians are more likely to take notice of that person as opposed to if someone does something great in the CIS. It seems to go back to the notion that Canadians don't like to brag about great moments inside of their borders.

Jesse Ross speeds down ice for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies.

    There was a time in the 2000s a CIS all-star team would take on an all-star team of NCAA players in men's hockey. When the CIS teams earned some victories in those clashes, there were observers who would try to wave it off saying the CIS team was stacked with older players from the major junior ranks. In an attempt to make that put down, there was also a concession made that the players in CIS men's hockey are actually pretty good.
    For an example of lack of attention, the Carleton University Ravens men's basketball team make for a prime case. Out of all the CIS teams in the league's various sports, the Ravens are the most successful program having won 11 of the last 13 CIS men's hoops titles. If you go out on any street in Canada outside of Ottawa where Carleton University is situated, how many people could name one let alone two members of the Ravens.
    The most known post-secondary hoops player in Canada likely comes from the Medicine Hat College Rattlers of the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association, which is a league that is a step under the CIS. The Rattlers men's basketball team roster contains a 6-foot-6 third year forward, who has drawn national attention due to the fact his last name that is spelled exactly like a swear word.
    Guilherme Carabagiale Fuck (pronounced "Foo-key") became an all-Canadian all-star in the CCAA ranks. The Brazilian product, whose last name is of German origin, has been featured in numerous media outlets in Canada due to the spelling of his last name. Big award winning credit should be given to Medicine Hat News sports staffers in editor Sean Rooney and reporter Ryan McCracken for how well they handled this story.

Matthew Busse hammers a kill for the Huskies.

    As a result of the national attention, a random person on any Canadian street has a better chance knowing there is a college level player in Medicine Hat whose last name is Fuck as opposed to naming one player on the Ravens roster. On the plus side, all the staffers from Medicine Hat College who have been interviewed about Fuck say he is a first rate individual.
    A CIS athlete would draw the same attention of he or she was the subject of this type of unique story. It is unfortunate a CIS athletes' stellar exploits wouldn't draw the same attention.
    Players from the CIS's football league might get a little more exposure due to the fact those athletes are trying to earn spots in the CFL.
    The most famous CIS football grads made their names in the NFL in current Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan, who is a grad of the University of Regina Rams, and former veteran Chicago Bears defensive lineman Israel Idonije, who is a grad of the University of Manitoba Bisons.
    The status of both was elevated due to the fact they played in the biggest professional league in the United States, which has huge media exposure. As a result, the attention they received when they return to Canada is heightened, which as a by-product did give more attention to the CIS football programs they came from.
    The CIS can't rely on Canadian media outlets for increased exposure, because those outlets have been significantly slashed for staff and resources over the last two decades. Also, those in Canada in independent media also have a limited number of hours in a day to cover anything, which results in those outlets focusing on subjects of interest.
    The mainstream media outlets in bigger centres will focus resources towards covering the NHL, because that is where you get the most bang for the buck due to the fact that league has a huge captive audience.

Dalyce Emmerson drives for a score for the Huskies.

    Overworked media outlets like weekly publications in small towns might pick up a feature here and there of a CIS athlete from the geographical area of the small town, but that is also a hit and miss proposition.
    In order to increase its own brand, the CIS likely has to take their media relations and sports information departments up another level.
    The NFL was a leader in the late 1990s, when its teams began hiring print and broadcast media professionals for the various websites run by each club. In 2003, the NFL also launched its own television network.
    Of course, the CIS does not have anywhere near the billions in revenue the NFL draws. If the CIS tried to start a television network, there would be a lot of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hoops to jump through let alone of satisfying the logistics of running a station, but it would still be a good idea to strive for.
    Currently, the media relations and sports information departments in the CIS can't even stack up resource wise to their counterparts in the NCAA.
    You quickly glance at the website of the Florida State University Seminoles, and you can see a number of the Seminoles teams have their own exclusive media contact person.
    Even programs that don't have the resources like a program as big as the one the Seminoles run have multiple people in their media and sports information departments. A few of these programs have the ability to send regular updates to media outlets from the home regions its players might be from.
    For some NCAA programs, if they have a player from Brandon, Man., that NCAA program might send regular updates to the media outlets in the Brandon region about the athlete from that area.

Tyler Chow rumbles downfield for the Huskies

    Too many of the CIS teams have media and sports information departments that might have one or even two people dealing with a program that has anywhere from six to 20 varsity teams. 
    Those staffing levels were about the same about 15 years ago before social media exploded.
    It is quite easy to see those in media and sports information departments in the CIS will quickly run out hours in the day to do anything.
    Over the past 20 years, the product on the fields, courts and ice surfaces in the CIS has increased greatly. Players train like professionals year round. The number of full-time coaches and coaches that are paid by CIS programs is also at all-time high.
    The league is not some over glorified recreation league. It is major league at the amateur level.
    In major junior hockey in Canada, a number teams have put more resources into media relations departments, which has seen an increased number of staffers producing video and print features on players for websites. The mantra of even community owned clubs is they must step up like that to promote the team.
    The programs in the CIS have to do the same and employ more media professionals, which could start with even just two or three extra people. The players and coaches in that league have come up a level, and the media relations and sports information departments have to do the same. If not, the profile of the CIS won't have a chance to increase.
    
    If you have any comments about this blog, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Huskies hockey was good for me

The Huskies men's hockey team salutes the fans at the Rutherford Rink.

    Believe it or not, there were times this season I was scared with a paralyzing fear about to going to the Rutherford Rink.
    When I was there, I didn't want to be anywhere else on during the 2014-15 Canadian Interuniversity Sport hockey season.
    For those that follow my posts on Twitter, they know I have battled with issues regarding anxiety. I went public with this realization when I discovered it in late 2012.
    My battles with anxiety were one of the 30 reasons that went into a big decision I made with my family. I would move away from my home of 10 years in Medicine Hat, where I had no family members, to Saskatoon, which contains a large number of relatives from my mom's side of the family.
    When I arrived as a permanent resident in late July, I had my heart set on going to most of the home games involving the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's and women's hockey teams. I big time thank the players and staffs of both teams for being good about me being around the rink writing blogs and taking pictures. As the season went on, I really feel I got better with a lot of my issues on the anxiety front.
    The members of the Huskies men's hockey team know my story the best. I met most of those players through my time covering the WHL as a beat writer, which included covering the Medicine Hat Tigers for 10 seasons.
    I have long friendships with former Huskies captain Brennan Bosch, who graduated after last season, and goaltender Ryan Holfeld, who played his final game with the Huskies last weekend. Both were former members of the WHL's Tigers, and they know my story fairly in depth.
    When I was in Saskatoon on a medical leave in November of 2012, I visited with them at length regarding how I ended up in the situation I was in. I have always felt extremely safe in my friendships with them, but I never envisioned leaning on them in this way. I later discovered Holfeld's brother, Troy, has had battles with anxiety and depression, which I think also helped when I talked with the veteran netminder about my anxiety issues.

The Huskies women's team salutes the fans at the Rutherford Rink.

    I watched Bosch and Holfeld play with the Huskies on about four different occasions on visits from Medicine Hat. Through the Huskies men's team, I started meeting players from the Huskies women's hockey team. I watched them win their first Canada West title on March 2 of last year with a 2-1 double overtime victory over the U of Regina Cougars.
    Those visits were always so good for me, because I arrived at the rink just to watch the Huskies play without any worries about covering the game. I enjoyed going to games again, and some of that love of just going to the games was lost in my final years in Medicine Hat.
    While I worked with great people in the Hat at the Medicine Hat News, my troubles developed thanks to changing stresses in the workplace that affected everybody. As a result, the joy I had in going out to cover events wasn't always there.
    When I started watching Huskies hockey home games as a Saskatoon resident, there were a number of times my sense of anxiety would heighten, and I did not expect that would happen. I was always fine when the games themselves were in progress, but I did have shaky moments before and after the games.
    The first moment of slight fear came from actually encountering players from the Huskies women's team. The player I knew the best was Cami Wooster, who was the team's captain in the Canada West championship season, and she had graduated and was no longer around.
    She knew about my battles, but the other players didn't. I had a bit of a fear the players would look at me as being some sort of weak person or a life failure due to what happened to me.
    Marley Ervine and Brooke Mutch were two remaining players from the 2013-14 season I talked with a bit in the past. When I saw them for the first time this past season, I made sure to tell them my anxiety story. I always felt it was best to be up front with this.

Goaltender Ryan Holfeld gets set in the Huskies' net.

    I also thought their coaches had to be concerned that their players were befriending this dude that has had battles with mental health. All good coaches constantly worry about their players, but I have long ago learned it is more of a good type worry. The only coach I had dealt with before this season was assistant coach Julie Paetsch and those meetings occurred during a couple of social occasions involved with the Saskatoon Valkyries women's football team.
    As the season went on, I got to meet and befriend more of the players and staff from Huskies women's team, so those fears went away.
    At first, I only went to the Huskies games to watch. I then started to write blog posts. After I purchased a new digital SLR camera body, I began taking pictures and posting them on Twitter.
    As I became more comfortable, I would get brave and experiment with doing some of the things I would normally do once again.
    I would still have weird other type fears come out of nowhere. In November, I almost stopped straight out going to games. Out of the blue, I had this fear people would see me as this sad old sports reporter that was trying to hold on to a past life and should forget about writing blog posts or shooting games.
    My mind would reason only few people cared about what was going on with the Huskies hockey teams as the men's team would average just over 600 spectators per game and the women's team attracted about 200 spectators per game, who were mostly family and friends. It was far from what seemed like the endless amounts of people that gave their opinions on the three different WHL teams I covered over 15 seasons.
    When I was at the Rutherford Rink, all those fears were gone.

Brooke Mutch follows through on a shot for the Huskies.

    Also, a couple of other turning points helped in November. I ended up going out with the Huskies men's team on a social occasion during a time my mind was really troubled, and that helped a lot. I also learned the players on the women's team really liked the action pictures I took of them, and that really raised my spirits.
    As the second semester arrived, the road blocks in my mind weren't showing up. I decided that if I enjoyed going to the games I would keep going to them. If I enjoyed writing the blog posts and taking pictures, I would keep doing those things. Flat out, I just liked being there.
    I was feeling like my normal self throughout all of game day again. At the start of the week, I actually began looking forward to going to games on Friday and Saturday nights on a consistent basis again for the first time in years.
    The friendships I was making at the rink were helping me get better. I know in my life I will always have to deal with anxiety in some way, but you have to try and keep making baby steps every day.
    Thanks to the relationships I developed with the Huskies hockey teams, I believe I made a lot of baby steps in the 2014-15 season. Day to day, I feel like myself again on a more consistent basis.

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

Canadian media loves easy NHL money

An NHL exhibition game held in Saskatoon in September.

            When it comes to sports media in Canada, it is all about the NHL.

            The only place that might not be true is Saskatchewan, where the CFL’s Roughriders are number one. In the consolidated media world that marks the landscape in Canada, the NHL is where it is at as far as sports coverage goes. As a result, coverage for all other sports ultimately suffers.

            As the media in Canada continues to consolidate, the various outlets end up looking to gain the biggest bang for the buck. The industry for all intensive purposes has been in a negative economy cycle for two decades going back to before the Internet became big, which has created the need to get the biggest bang for the buck.

When it comes to covering sports, the NHL has a huge captive audience in Canada that isn’t going anywhere. If you produce anything on that league, you can be sure someone will read it, listen to it, or watch it.

            If media outlets in Canada really wanted to, they could likely get away with just running sports stories on the NHL. In Western Canada, you would still have to acknowledge the CFL, but the NHL rules the roost.

            I remember a conversation I had with an elite level goalie coach in summer. He said there seemed to be more media than ever circling around Canada’s NHL teams. That is likely true.

            Besides having the regular print, radio and television media following the team, you have personnel from NHL clubs themselves putting together stories and videos for websites. You also have people there from the league itself putting together items for various NHL run media platforms.

            Due to the overwhelming attention the NHL gets in Canada, regular media companies are hesitant to cut back coverage in that area. It is giving you the biggest bang for your buck. If you take away coverage in this area, you will lose a big amount of followers and the advertising bottom line gets hurt.

            When cuts do come down, it is usually at the expense of all other local sports. That is seen in various mid-market centres like Kelowna, Red Deer or Lethbridge where papers that once had sports staffs of three or four are shrunk to one or two. As most know, advertising dollars are usually sucked out of those communities to the head office of the consolidated media company.

            Red Deer actually once had a Global station, but that is gone. In Kamloops, you don’t even have a daily newspaper there anymore.

            The reason it is easy to cut sports coverage on the local level is because it takes a lot of resources to go out there and keep followers. Covering things like sports at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport level or sports at the high school level takes a lot of effort to get followers and keep them. In all reality, you are catering to a niche audience that doesn’t have a whole lot of room for expansion.

            In a ratio sense, a set amount of resources that would be used to cover the NHL will yield a much greater return than the same set amount of resources used to cover sports at the local level.

             With Postmedia Network Canada Corporation’s $316-million deal announced earlier this month to buy 175 newspapers and digital publications where the bulk of the deal included former Quebecor Media Inc. assets, local sports coverage will ultimately take another hit.

            Despite the cuts, almost all those that are actually on the front lines covering the local sports scenes in their various communities work very hard at what they do. In a lot of cases, they push themselves too hard to bring those stories to light and suffer burnout.

            In Saskatoon, the work that the sports media does in the city has to be rated as outstanding. The numbers in the sports media in town have shrunk, which seems strange for centre that has witnessed a population increase of about 50,000 people in the last eight years.

            It would be nice if media companies would increase the number of front line reporters in order to bring more local sports stories to the readers, or at least get numbers up to what they used to be a decade ago. There are a lot of good athletes with great stories working hard at what they do, and people don’t realize they are there.

            Unfortunately, it costs money to bring in more reporters and add resources to cover these stories. No consolidated media company would want to do that, when you can turn to the cash cow that is the NHL to make some easy coin.

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

An appreciation for CIS men’s hockey and the Huskies

Huskies goaltender and law student Ryan Holfeld in action.

            In Canada, it can be called the forgotten circuit or a hidden treasure on the ice.

            The Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s hockey league will showcase arguably some of the best hockey at a non-professional level in the country. For a nation that considers the sport of hockey as No. 1, the men’s game at the university level will draw little attention nationally until the University Cup championship tournament takes place.

            In some pockets of the country, it gains big attention on campus when the league’s various conference playoffs hit the ice.

            On Friday, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies begin another regular season hosting their provincial rivals the University of Regina Cougars at the ancient Rutherford Rink for a 7 p.m. faceoff locally.

            The Huskies get fairly good support as about 800 to 1,000 people pack their small home barn for regular season contests. They also get fairly good coverage from the Saskatoon media outlets, who are pretty much calling this the season of change with 11 departures from last year’s squad.

            While the Huskies will contain a whole host of new players, you can beat they will be entertaining to watch.

            See players in the CIS ranks are usually made up of graduates from mainly the major junior game and also the junior A levels. The Huskies are made up of players from the Western Hockey League major junior circuit and also the junior A leagues in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

            Every season, the junior levels of hockey in Canada graduate a huge amount of talented players, who are still looking for opportunities to play. As maybe only about three players on any major junior team on any given season will have the chance to play in an NHL regular season game, you are usually looking at about 20 guys on each team that won’t make the show.

            When junior ends, players have to decide if it is worth pursuing contacts in minor professional circles like the American Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League and Central Hockey League or pursuing a backup plan.

            The reality of professional hockey is it is a business. You might play two or three seasons in the minor professional ranks and be done with playing the game at a competitive level. For that matter, there are numerous players that play out their three-year NHL entry-level contracts in the minor professional ranks and end up calling it a career.

            With that in mind, a lot of players choose to play on a Canadian university team and get their degree. The dream of playing professionally isn’t totally dead, but you are taking steps to move on in life.

            For those that join the CIS ranks, they are told the level of play won’t be a step down from what they experienced in junior. They are told to expect it to be on the same level of what they experienced in junior or even a step up.

The step up comes from the fact the players are smarter, as the veterans have the benefit of experience in the university classroom behind them, and they are also more mature given the fact they are older. Actually, it is pretty common for CIS rookies to encounter veterans who are on the path to marriage in their personal lives.

            The one thing the CIS level doesn’t have are the superstars from the major junior ranks that are first round selections in the NHL Entry Draft like Jordan Eberle, Tyler Ennis, Emerson Etem and Nikita Scherbak.

            Skilled players do go through CIS. Last year, Derek Hulak completed a four-year career with the Huskies being named the Canada West MVP, a CIS first team all-Canadian and the CIS tournament MVP.

            He proceeded to join the Texas Stars of the AHL and helped them with the Calder Cup as league champions. Hulak is back with the Stars this season with an AHL deal. Before joining the Huskies, he was a standout scorer and captain with his hometown WHL team the Saskatoon Blades.

            The Huskies former captain Brennan Bosch is best known in hockey circles for scoring the Game 7 double overtime winning goal that deliver a WHL title to the Medicine Hat Tigers in 2007. He moved on from playing on a potent scoring line with Ennis to a successful five-year career with the Huskies. Bosch graduated as the team’s captain and also with his degree in pharmacy.

            Current Huskies fifth-year forward Craig McCallum was the leading scorer for the Prince Albert Raiders in his final WHL campaign. Huskies rookie forward Rhyse Dieno averaged over a point a game in his final two WHL seasons with the Red Deer Rebels.

            Fifth-year standout goaltender Ryan Holfeld has stolen a few games in his time for the Huskies and posted a .918 save percentage and a 2.42 goals against average last season. In the classroom, this former member of the WHL’s Tigers is kept busy with his studies in law.

            With Holfeld on the verge of exhausting his eligibility, the Huskies were able to recruit Jordon Cooke, who was the named the CHL’s goalie of the year last season as a member of the Kelowna Rockets.

            The team is loaded with good character guys like Sean and Kyle Aschim, Connor Cox, Matt Delahey, Kendall McFaull and Matthew Spafford and the names can go on from there.

            When these players are done at the CIS level, you would like to see them get another professional shot. They are usually around the age of 25 by that time, and their maturity level is high enough that you don’t have to worry about them away from the ice.

            With that said, it is money well spent to see these players perform in the CIS league.

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