Raiders down Wheat Kings 2-1, stay in playoff chase

Carson Latimer scored twice for the Raiders on Wednesday.

The Prince Albert Raiders are still on the outside looking in when it comes to making the WHL playoffs, but they picked up a key win to stay in the post-season race.

On Wednesday night playing before 2,430 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders downed the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 2-1. The win allowed the Raiders to halt a four-game losing streak that include one overtime and three regulation setbacks.

The WHL leading Winnipeg Ice were responsible for giving the Raiders the one overtime and two regulation setbacks over that four-game skid.

In Wednesday’s win over the Wheat Kings, left-winger Carson Latimer scored twice in the first period to give the Raiders a 2-0 edge. That proved to be all the offence the Raiders needed as they eventually held on for a one-goal win.

With 5:33 remaining in the first, Latimer potted his first goal of the contest after collecting the rebound from a shot taken by linemate Evan Herman.

Latimer struck for his second tally with 3:27 remaining in the third scoring from a bad angle to the left side of the Brandon net after collecting a crossbar rebound from a shot taken by import linemate Vladislav Shilo.

The Wheat Kings cut the Raiders lead to 2-1 with 6:40 remaining in the second on a goal from associate player call up Charlie Elick. The defenceman, who turned 16-years-old in January, took a shot from the point that was going wild of the goal, but the puck bounced off Raiders defenceman Eric Johnston into the Prince Albert net.

The marker was Elick’s first career WHL regular season goal. The Calgary, Alta., product joined the Wheat Kings after playing for the Edge School’s under-18 prep team.

Tikhon Chaika made 34 saves for the Raiders on Wednesday.

After that positive bounce goal by the Wheat Kings, Raiders import netminder Tikhon Chaika slammed the door the rest of the way making 34 total saves in the contest to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders, who improved to 25-32-4-1.

Ethan Kruger turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings, who fell to 30-25-3-2.

The Raiders sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 55 points in the standings. They trail the Lethbridge Hurricanes (27-30-3-1) by three points for eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth.

The Hurricanes fell to eighth place after dropping a 6-4 decision at home on Wednesday to the Swift Current Broncos. The Broncos have won six out of their last seven games to improve to 26-31-5-2 to sit seventh overall in the conference one point ahead of the Hurricanes and four points ahead of the Raiders.

Also on Wednesday, the Calgary Hitmen downed the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 3-2. The Hitmen improved to 23-31-6-2 to sit 10^th overall in the Eastern Conference standings one point behind the Raiders and four points behind the Hurricanes.

The Regina Pats are staying in the congested playoff push having downed the visiting Saskatoon Blades 3-2 on Wednesday. The Pats improved to 24-31-3-2 to sit 11^th overall in the Eastern Conference five points behind the Hurricanes.

The Broncos have four games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Raiders and Hitmen have six games remaining on their respective slates, the Hurricanes have seven contests left on their schedule and the Pats have eight regular season contests remaining.

The Raiders and Wheat Kings go at it again on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Blades rally comes up short in 3-2 loss to Pats

Kyle Crnkovic scored for the Blades on Wednesday.

The Saskatoon Blades came up just short in attempting to rally past the host Regina Pats.

On Wednesday night at the Brandt Centre, the Pats built a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 victory to delight most of the 3,713 spectators in attendance.

Rookie 17-year-old right-winger Borya Valis gave the Pats a 1-0 lead in the first period. Tanner Howe, the Pats 16-year-old star right-winger, and Connor Bedard, the Pats 16-year-old phenom centre, combined to set up linemate Logan Linklater for a second period tally to put the Pats up 2-0.

Just 91 seconds into the third, Pats overage offensive-defenceman Ryker Evans netted his 14^th goal of the season to give the Pats a 3-0 advantage.

With 8:34 remaining in the third, Blades star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic netted his 36^th goal of the season to cut the Pats lead to 3-1. Blades rookie import right-winger Egor Sidorov deflected home a shot from Blades star overage centre Tristen Robins to further trim Regina’s edge to 3-2 with 2:06 remaining in the third.

Saskatoon had pulled overage star netminder Nolan Maier for an extra attacker on Sidorov’s goal.

The Blades were unable to get the equalizer at that point.

Right before the third period ended, Sidorov and Evans engaged in a fight.

Drew Sim stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pats (24-31-3-2). Maier turned away 26 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades (34-24-3-1).

Wednesday’s clash marked the sixth and final time the Blades and Pats faced each other in the regular season, and the Blades had won the previous five clashes between the two sides.

The Blades sit fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and sit three points behind the 35-22-3-2 Moose Jaw Warriors for fourth overall in the conference. The fourth place team in the conference will have home ice advantage over the fifth place club in the first round of the WHL playoffs.

The Blades and Warriors face each other on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

The Pats also return to action on Friday hosting the WHL leading 48-9-3-2 Winnipeg Ice (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the Blades announced Robins will be the captain for the rest of the 2021-22 campaign as regular captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere is set to have season ending shoulder surgery. The standout defenceman is expected to return for the start of next season for his overage campaign.

The Blades injury list is a lengthy one. Centres Trevor Wong, Jayden Wiens and Lukas Hansen, right-winger Noah Boyko and defenceman Rhett Rhinehart are all out with upper body injuries. Hansen and Rhinehart are listed as out week to week, while Wong, Wiens and Boyko are labeled as day to day.

Saskatoon/Regina make pitch as joint world juniors host

The 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation’s world junior tournament might be hosted in Saskatchewan.

On Wednesday, Tourism Saskatoon and Tourism Regina announced in a joint release that Canada has been asked by the IIHF to come up with a plan to host the 2023 world juniors, and as a result, a joint bid is being planned from Saskatoon and Regina.

The tournament was originally scheduled to start Dec. 26, 2022 and run through to Jan. 5, 2023 in Novosibirsk, Russia. 

Back on Feb. 28, the IIHF announced it was stripping Russia of its hosting rights among other sanctions due to that country’s military invasion of Ukraine.

If the Saskatchewan bid is successful, the communities of Humboldt, Swift Current, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw could also host games for world juniors.

Saskatchewan played host to the tournament in the 1990-91 and 2009-10 campaigns.

The city councils in both Saskatoon and Regina will hold special meetings on Friday to discuss a joint bid.

The SaskTel Centre, Regina Exhibition Authority Limited and the Saskatoon Destination Marketing Hotels are collaborating with Tourism Saskatoon and Tourism Regina on this venture.

Cities are required to have a business plan and event bid in to Hockey Canada by this coming Monday. A final decision is to be made on April 25 or 26.

Sharks grad Marshall gets U Sports silver

Chloe Marshall in action for the Sharks in December 2015.

Battlefords Sharks female under-18 AAA hockey team grad Chloe Marshall had the biggest three games of her playing career this past weekend at the U Sports women’s hockey championship tournament.

At the elite-eight style event, the 24-year-old Neilburg, Sask., product backstopped the North Bay, Ont., based Nipissing University Lakers to a silver medal finish at the U Sports nationals that were held at the MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

In a quarter-final contest held last Thursday, Marshall made 41 saves to allow the sixth-seeded Lakers to pull out a 1-0 overtime victory over the Canada West champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Defender Madi Solie, who is a graduate of the Weyburn Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings female under-18 AAA team, scored the overtime winner for the Lakers.

Solie played three seasons for the Gold Wings from 2013 to 2016 and was a member of their 2013-14 squad that won the Esso Cup as female national under-18 AAA hockey champions.

Last Saturday, Marshall proceeded to make 16 saves to back the Lakers to a 4-0 victory in a semifinal contest over the second seed University of New Brunswick Reds, who were the Atlantic University Sport conference champions. Solie had a goal in the victory over the Reds.

In the gold medal final last Sunday, Marshall stopped 33-of-36 shots in a 4-0 loss to the top-seeded Concordia University Stingers, who were the champions of the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec. The Stingers netted their final tally into an empty net.

Marshall played two seasons for the Sharks from 2014 to 2016. Before joining the Lakers, Marshall  played one season for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in 2017-18 and one campaign for the now defunct University of Lethbridge Pronghorns in 2019-20.

The Lakers roster also contained defender Allison Hayhurst, who is a graduate of the now defunct Melville Prairie Fire female under-18 AAA team. Hayhurst played for the Prairie Fire for five seasons from 2014 to 2019.

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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Tigers clash with Raiders a stellar display for WHL

Max Gerlach (#16) centres a pass for the Tigers.

    The WHL got a gem of a game on Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    Before 1,750 spectators, the host Raiders fell 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers in a thrilling contest where both sides jetted up and down the ice. 

    In the immediate aftermath, you miss the fact WHL games are no longer shown on Shaw across Western Canada, because Wednesday’s contest between the Raiders and Tigers was a prime example of how great and entertaining that major junior circuit can be.

    The 2017-18 campaign was supposed to be the final season Shaw showed WHL games under a contract the two bodies had, but the television network bought itself out of showing games in what is now the current campaign.

Goalie Jordan Hollett had a stellar game for the Tigers.

    While the Raiders versus Tigers game wasn’t on television, it should be referred to as a selling feature of how great games in the WHL can be. Whether news of the game spreads by word of mouth or by fans over social media channels, it was a game that is worthy of water cooler chat.

    That contest had so many turning points you could point to almost anything in being the difference in the game.

    Besides the teams getting up and down the ice, the biggest talking point would have been the goalies, who were both outstanding. Ian Scott, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 168 pounds, had a solid night making 34 saves over 65 minutes before the game went to a shootout, where he was beaten twice. The quality of saves Scott made were high, and the Calgary product showed he is one of the circuit’s elite goalies.

Ian Scott of the Raiders showed he is one of the WHL’s elite goalies.

    Tigers netminder Jordan Hollett, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 210 pounds, was even better turning away 49 shots over 65 minutes and both shooters he faced in the shootout. The Langley, B.C., product, who was the Regina Pats backup goalie last season, proved he is ready for a primetime starting role.

    If video of Hollett’s performance made it down to Regina, you would likely have some Pats fans gripping the 18-year-old puck stopper should have been the goalie the Pats kept in a season where that team hosts the Memorial Cup this coming May.

    The star players came out to play on both sides. Overage centre Jordy Stallard, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 179 pounds, potted a pair of goals to continue to lead the Raiders in scoring with 21 goals and 20 assists in 29 games. Stallard’s play was complimented by Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid post-game.

Jordy Stallard tops the Raiders in scoring.

    “He (Stallard) plays quality minutes,” said Habscheid, whose team is 11-11-5-2 so far this season. “He plays a lot of minutes, but he responds.

    “He has scored some big goals for us, and he has been a good player for us.”

    Tigers overage captain Mark Rassell, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 186 pounds, scored twice, picked up an assist and potted his team’s first goal in the tiebreaking shootout. He leads the Tigers in scoring with 27 goals and 12 assists in 29 games. Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston said Rassell has been another one of those skilled and speedy players the team seems to constantly find that overlooked.

    “He is such a great story for so many young players, and we’ve had a few of them,” said Clouston, whose team is 17-11-1. “He is the next guy who didn’t play at (age) 16.

    “He wasn’t drafted. He was a list player and undersized. He just happened to grow, and now he is one of our bigger guys.

    “He just stayed the course, stayed positive. He was in and out of the lineup at 17 and became a full-time player at 18 and then at 19 tore it up. He has picked up where he left off last year and even taking it up a notch.”

    There were key performances by others. Eric Pearce, who is a 16-year-old rookie centre, tipped home the Raiders fourth goal of the game.

Captain Mark Rassell has been lighting it up offensively for the Tigers.

    The Raiders showed they have a couple of players that can move the puck well from the defence in Vojtech Budik and Max Martin.

    Tigers rearguard David Quenneville might be the best offensive-defenceman in the WHL. The 19-year-old veteran picked up his 10^th goal of the season on Wednesday to go with his 24 assists in another outstanding campaign.

    Right-winger Max Gerlach showed he still has one of the best shots in the league, when he wired home the shootout winner.

    No matter who you cheered for on Wednesday night, the clash between the Raiders and the Tigers was a showstopper, and it is always worthy of discussion.

Goalies rule Canada West women’s hockey

Huskies goalie Jessica Vance has a .955 save percentage so far  this season.

    The goalies have to be give their due in the Canada West Conference in U Sports women’s hockey.

    With a little over half of the regular season now in the books, goal scoring has been a challenge for the eight teams in the Canada West Conference. Only star forward Venla Hovi of the University of Manitoba Bisons is averaging a point a game with four goals and eight assists in 16 appearances.

    On the other end, five of the conference’s goalies have a save percentage that is .950 or better. Kelsey Roberts of the University of Calgary Dinos has the best save percentage in the conference at .959 to go with her 6-7-1 record, 1.46 goals against average and five shutouts.

    The goalies are straight out just getting it done.

    The Dinos are tied with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies for giving up the fewest goals in the conference at 23.

    The Huskies have three second-year goalies who have combined for six shutouts. Jessica Vance has three shutouts, Chloe Marshall has two shutouts and Jasey Book has one shutout.

Vance has the third best save percentage in Canada West at .955 to go with her 4-2 record and 1.18 goals against average.

    To further show just how tough it has been to score in Canada West, Kaitlin Willoughby, who is the third all-time leading scorer in the history of the Huskies, has five goals and five assists in 14 appearances, but sits only four points back of Bisons forward Jordyn Zacharias for the conference’s scoring lead.

    There are a tonne of good goalies in the Canada West Conference in women’s hockey and right now they are a step ahead of the conference’s point producers.

Kish makes a step up with Cougars

Jane Kish has brought her game up another level playing for the Cougars.

    Jane Kish is one of those elite performers who keeps getting better.

    The third-year goalie with the University of Regina Cougars women’s team has brought her game up another level from the previous season. While she had a great campaign in her sophomore season, Kish, who stands 5-foot-4, had a tendency to go down a little early playing the butterfly style and due to her short height, the top part of the net was exposed.

    The book to beat Kish was to shoot the puck high and put it over her shoulders.

    This season, Kish is still playing the butterfly style but is staying upright to take away the top part of the net. Now, the Weyburn, Sask., product has become that much more of a difficult goalie to beat.

    During the Cougars last two games against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, Kish was beaten only once by a gritty net scramble power-play goal. She turned back 54-of-55 shots in those two contests.

    On the season, Kish has posted a 6-4-1 record, a 1.26 goals against average, a .951 save percentage and two shutouts. Her goals against average is the third lowest in the conference and her save percentage is the fourth highest.

    Back in 2014, Kish backstopped her hometown Weyburn Gold Wings to an Esso Cup title for female midget AAA hockey national supremacy. She has the mental toughness to take a team all the way. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she repeated what she did in midget AAA at the university level.

    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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Huskies need someone to play hero role offensively

Kish’s 31 saves backs Cougars to 2-0 victory

The Huskies and Cougars scramble in front of the U of Regina net.

    REGINA - The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team needs someone to throw on the superhero cape.

    So far during regular season play, the Huskies have lacked the scoring punch needed to pull off any comebacks. As soon as the opposition gets ahead, it seems like the final outcome is cemented on the scoreboard.

    On Friday night at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, the Huskies put in an effort to get a positive result against the host U of Regina Cougars. Collectively, it seemed like everyone was holding on to their sticks too tightly on the Dogs side and there was no finish.

    The visitors failed to score on four power play chances and fell victim to a 31 shutout performance from Cougars star netminder Jane Kish. That was enough to allow the Cougars to skate away with a 2-0 victory in a U Sports regular season clash.

Tamara McVannel had a power-play goal for the Cougars.

    The Huskies, who have lost four of their last five games, fell to 8-6-1 with the loss to remain fourth in the Canada West Conference. The Cougars improved to 7-7-1 to sit fifth in Canada West and four points back of the Huskies.

    The Cougars scored early when Czech import right-winger Martina Maskova flipped a shot past Huskies netminder Chloe Marshall at the 2:42 mark of the first period. The hosts picked up an insurance marker at the 11:45 mark of the second, when defender Tamara McVannel slid home a power-play goal from the point through a screen.

    Those tallies proved to be enough to cement the Cougars second win in their last eight games.

    Marshall was solid making 17 saves including a breakaway stop on Maskova in the third to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

    In their seven losses, the Huskies have fallen three times by a single goal and four times by two goals. In 15 games, the Huskies have allowed 23 goals against which ties the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds for the third fewest goals against in Canada West. The Dogs have also outshot the opposition in six of the seven games they have lost this season.

Netminder Jane Kish made 31 saves to pick up the shutout win.

    U of S has scored just 25 goals on the campaign, so offence has been the Huskies biggest struggle.

    In Friday’s loss, the Huskies showed that their power play has been a huge weakness all season. On the campaign, the Huskies are connecting on 2-of-49 power-play opportunities for a 4.1 per cent success rate, which ranks last in the eight-team Canada West. They have allowed one short-handed goal against.

    At any level of hockey, that is just not good enough. To make matters worse for the Huskies, their power play struggles date back to last season.

    To be fair to the Huskies, no one is scoring in the women’s Canada West hockey conference this season.

    The U of Lethbridge Pronghorns have giving up the fewest goals in the Canada West at 21, and the U of Calgary Dinos have given up the second fewest goals at 22. Both those squads sit outside the top five in the conference standings. 

Emily Upgang had some dangerous offensive chances.

    The total goals given up by the Pronghorns are two less than the Huskies have surrendered.

    Venla Hovi, who is a star forward for the U of Manitoba Bisons, is the only player averaging at least a point a game in the conference with three goals and eight assists in 11 appearances.

    When the Huskies have been down, star fifth-year forward Kaitlin Willoughby, who is the third all-time leading scorer in team history, was able to put on the superhero cape and deliver a number of victories in the past.

    The Prince Albert product missed two games due to injury and admitted during a recent mainstream media interview that she has been playing hurt this season. Inside of the final minute of Friday’s loss, she had a glorious chance to score on a net scramble with Kish down but flipped the puck over an open goal.
    It was the type of chance Willoughby, who has four goals and five assists in 13 appearances, usually scored on in the past.

    Willoughby still entered the offensive zone with speed, but she didn’t look like herself in the opposition end often electing to pass the puck and getting only one shot on goal. At the moment, it feels like Willoughby isn’t the threat in the offensive zone that she once was.

Kaitlin Willoughby struggled in the offensive zone on Friday.

    Forwards Emily Upgang, Bailee Bourassa and Brooklyn Haubrich along with defenders Leah Bohlken and Morgan Willoughby, who is Kaitlin’s younger sister, all had effective chances in the offensive zone, but couldn’t bury any of their opportunities. Rookie centre Chloe Smith had a number of strong rushes up ice and seemed to have success creating plays despite not registering a shot on goal.

    At some point in time, the Huskies will need one or two of these players to step into the hero role in close games, if they want to make waves this season.

    Right now, the Huskies are stuck in a funk where basically the first goal of the game wins, and that is a recipe that doesn’t invite long term success.

    The Huskies and Cougars go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink in Saskatoon.

Third period rally boosts Huskies win streak to four

Jordon Cooke picked up his 53rd career win on Friday.

    In Saskatoon on Friday night, the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team needed a third period rally to extend their winning streak to four games.

    The Huskies entered the third period of a U Sports regular season clash locked in a 1-1 tie with the visiting U of Regina Cougars at the Rutherford Rink. At the 3:57 mark of the third, Zak Zborosky scored for the Cougars to give them a 2-1 lead.

    U of S wasted little time in responding. Just 19 seconds after Zborosky’s goal, Jordan Tkatch scored his first of the season for the Huskies to tie the contest up at 2-2.

    Huskies star centre Logan McVeigh netted the winner at the 9:01 mark of the third to deliver his team to a 3-2 victory.

    Jordan Burns scored for the Cougars in the first period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead, while Collin Shirley tallied in the second period for the Huskies to tie the contest up at 1-1.

    Jordon Cooke made 21 saves to pick up his 53^rd career regular season win playing goal for the Huskies (12-2-1). Cooke is now tied with former teammate Ryan Holfeld for second all-time on the Huskies career wins list. Holfeld won 53 games playing for the Huskies from 2010 to 2015.

    Dawson MacAuley turned away 34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars (3-10-2).

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

    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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Harris, Huskies women’s hockey team wins the hard way

Kennedy Harris (#22) battles for a loose puck.

    Kennedy Harris admits her University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team never seems to win the easy way.

    On Saturday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the chips all seemed to be in place for her squad to get a weekend sweep of the visiting U of Calgary Dinos. After the Huskies took a 3-0 victory over the Dinos on Friday night at Rutherford, a large number of the U of C players came down with a case of food poisoning on Saturday.

    The Dinos took the ice with 14 skaters and rookie Kira Wasylak, who was technically U of C’s third goalie, made her first career U Sports regular season start. 

    Wasylak sported a #1 Dinos jersey that had the name bar covered up with tape and wore the #30 mask of sophomore netminder Kelsey Roberts, who didn’t dress on Saturday.

    Just 64 seconds into the contest, Harris fired home her first goal of the season top corner over Wasylak’s glove hand to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. 

    Wasylak proceeded to make 40 saves, and the 1-0 scored ultimately held up as the final outcome in favour of U of S.

Kennedy Harris (#22) drives hard to the net for the Huskies.

    “We never make it easy,” said Harris, who is a fifth-year centre with the Huskies. “It is always an interesting game for us.

    “We battled through the whole game, so that was good. I think this was our best 60 minutes yet on the season. It was good for us.”

    The Kindersley, Sask., product liked her team’s effort overall. At the other end of the rink, sophomore netminder Chloe Marshall made 12 stops to earn her second shutout of the season.

    Harris also tackled the obvious observation adding it would have been nice had her Huskies scored a few more goals on a short-staffed Dinos side.

    “We struggle to put the puck in the net,” said Harris. “It is something we have to work on, and we have been working on.

Kennedy Harris, right, is all smiles after scoring her first of the season.

    “It should start coming right away. They (the Dinos) battled hard. They definitely faced a lot of adversity today.

    “I am a little disappointed we didn’t come away with it (more convincingly), but we won and that is all that matters in the end.”

    The 22-year-old was happy to finally get her first goal of the campaign in the Huskies eighth regular season outing. She always likes to chip in offensively but knows that is not her role on the team.

    Since joining the Huskies as a rookie in the squad’s 2013-14 Canada West championship winning season, Harris has been a defensive forward who is tough in the faceoff circle. In 117 career regular season games, she has potted eight goals and 19 assists.

Bailee Bourassa is one of the many young players Kennedy Harris likes.

    Her role with the Huskies is vastly different from the one she had during her two seasons with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team from 2011 to 2013, when she piled up 44 goals and 29 assists in 56 regular season games.

    In her rookie season with the Stars in the 2011-12 campaign, Harris fired home 26 goals to tie Emily Clark for the team lead. Clark is currently on the centralized roster for Canada’s national women’s team and is battling for spot to play for that squad in the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics, which will be held Feb. 9-25, in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

    Harris knew that when she stepped up to the university level that she might not have the same role she once held with the Stars, because all the players are that much better. She did find it tough at first when the points didn’t come in bunches.

    “It is always pretty frustrating, but you have to take on a role that you are given and kind of try and work with it and take it in stride,” said Harris. “If the goals start coming, that is great.

    “If not, I just have to be good and sound defensively.”

Rookie Kira Wasylak was thrown into the fire for the Dinos.

    Harris believes the rookies and the younger players on the Huskies roster are adjusting well to the university level.

    “The transition is always pretty hard,” said Harris. “I know I spent a lot of time on my butt my first year.

    “It is a pretty tough transition, but they seem to take it in stride. They are doing pretty well so far, so it is good to see.”

    With the Huskies, Harris is well known for her grit and her hard work. She said she gained those characteristics from her father, Cory, and mother, Janet.

    Due to those traits, she became one of the team’s assistant captains at the start of her fourth year. While she is part of the Huskies leadership group, Harris sees those types of qualities in the younger players on the Huskies roster.

    “The girls that came in they are all good leaders,” said Harris. “They can push pretty hard and lead the way in many ways.

    “For me, it is just a matter of being like positive on the bench and leading like by working hard and making things happen.”

Kennedy Harris (#22) and her teammates salute the Rutherford crowd.

    With Saturday’s win, the Huskies improved to 5-2-1 to move into second place in the Canada West standings. Those standings can change in an instant, because four points separates the top five squads in the eight-team conference. The Dinos dropped to 1-6-1 to occupy the basement of the conference’s standings.

    The Huskies are off until Nov. 10, when they travel to Vancouver to face the Canada West leading University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (6-2).

    Harris said her fifth year is flying by. At the annual wrap up dinner the team usually has, Harris always heard from previous Huskies grads that the fifth-year zips past quickly, and now she is really believing those words.

    She plans to keep enjoying the time she has left with the Huskies. Harris said she truly values the lifelong friendships she has made with the team and added there is one more wish she would like to see come true.

    “I’d love to win another championship,” said Harris. “That would be a good memory for sure.”

Franson’s big night does in Dogs

Jesse Forsberg had a goal for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Cain Franson’s strong effort helped send the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team to their first regulation defeat of the current U Sports regular season.

    On Saturday at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary, Franson had a pair of goals and an assist to help his U of Calgary Dinos, who are rated eighth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, earn a 4-2 win over the Huskies, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    With the two teams locked in a 2-2 draw, Franson teamed up with linemate Luke Harrison to set up defenceman Dylan Busenius for a power-play goal to put the Dinos up 3-2 at the 14:54 mark of the second period.

    Franson scored the Dinos first goal of the contest and added his second marker in the third period to give his side a 4-2 edge that held up as the final score. Rookie Tim Vanstone picked up a single for the Dinos, while netminder Matthew Greenfield made 24 stops to pick up the win in goal for U of C.

    Levi Cable and Jesse Forsberg replied with singles for the Huskies. Jordon Cooke turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

    U of S falls to 6-1-1 with the loss to sit second in the Canada West standings just two points ahead of the third place Dinos, who improved to 4-1-3.

    The Huskies are off until Nov. 10, when they host the UBC Thunderbirds (5-3) at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

Kubic backs Blades to second straight win

Ryan Kubic made 32 stops in goal for the Blades on Saturday.

    Netminder Ryan Kubic is starting to find his groove with the Saskatoon Blades.

    On Saturday night before 3,058 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Kubic made 32 saves to back the Blades to a 4-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in a WHL clash. The Wheat Kings fell to 9-5-1 with that loss, while the Blades improved to 5-7-1.

    One night earlier in Swift Current, the 19-year-old Kubic, who was acquired right before the start of the regular season in a trade with the Vancouver Giants, turned away 33 shots to help the Blades best the host Broncos 4-3. The Broncos currently have a 10-2-1 record and are rated second in the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 rankings.

    Kubic had some tough outings before those two wins replacing former Blades starting goalie Logan Flodell. Flodell, who is an overager this season, was traded to the Broncos on the same day Kubic was acquired by Saskatoon.

    Against the Wheat Kings on Saturday, the Blades jumped out to a 4-0 with a pair of goals from star centre Cameron Hebig and singles from Tyler Lees and Chase Wouters.

    Tanner Kaspick scored inside of the final minute of the third period for the Wheat Kings. Logan Thompson turned away 19 shots to take the setback in goal for Brandon.

    The consecutive wins over the Broncos and Wheat Kings mark the first time the Blades have won two straight in the current campaign.

    The Blades will try for their third win in a row on Wednesday, when they start a three-game road trip traveling to Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes, who are currently 7-5.

    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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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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Smith brings rare blend of skill and toughness to Huskies

Power forward Chloe Smith is a welcome addition to the Huskies.

    Chloe Smith loves the fact her rivals have become her friends.

    The 18-year-old centre, who is a rookie with University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, arrived in Saskatoon having built a reputation as being one of the fiercest competitors in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League. For the past four seasons, Smith rose to prominence with her hometown Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats possessing a rare combination of skill and toughness.

    Her game hit new heights over her final two campaigns with the Wildcats, where she piled up 31 goals and 50 assists in 54 regular season games. Smith played with a physical edge that many couldn’t match, but it was also a smart physical edge. She only took 42 minutes in penalties over the past two campaigns making her an almost perfect power forward.

    Arriving in Saskatoon in late August to join the Huskies, Smith, who stands 5-foot-7, became teammates with many players she used to battle against in the midget AAA ranks, while also being reunited with former Wildcats teammates in Brooklyn Haubrich, Kayla Kirwan and Jasey Book. Smith is enjoying the fact she is playing beside her former rivals, but she is quick to note nothing was ever taken personally when it game to the battles on the ice.

Chloe Smith jets into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

    “We chuckle a little bit,” said Smith. “We talk about it, we talk about the games.

    “Honestly, it is fine. When you are on the ice, it is different. You are playing.

    “Off the ice, we are all friends and get along. We kind of laugh about things back in AAA. It is funny to talk about it, talk about the close games. It is good too.”

    Smith was quick to add she played with a number of her current Huskies teammates in Saskatchewan’s provincial team program and the bonds remain from those days. Off the ice, Smith is personable and outgoing, and she also exudes a presence in a good way wherever she is. On the ice, her competitive side dominates, and she doesn’t hide what type of player she strives to be.

    “I want to be strong,” said Smith. “I don’t want to be known as the kid that gets knocked off the puck easy.

Chloe Smith built a reputation for being a fierce competitor.

    “I want to get in there and make things happen. That creates offence when you are winning your battles, and you are strong. I’m not going to lay down to no one.

    “I try my best to get involved and to make contact. I grew up playing boys hockey, so that helps me out a little bit.”

    Smith took up hockey at the novice level playing on boys’ teams when her family still resided in Paradise Valley, Alta. She kept playing the sport when her family relocated to Swift Current when she was in Grade 3.

    When her family moved to Swift Current, Smith continued playing on boys’ team until her first year in bantam, when she actually played for the city’s female midget AA team. As 14-year-old bantam aged player, she made the Wildcats as an underage player. Smith glows when she talks about her four seasons with the Wildcats.

Chloe Smith looks to make a pass.

    “Those were the times of my life,” said Smith. “I had so much fun with that time.

    “The community was awesome. They always supported us, and we all did events for them every year. We got along really well with the school.

    “We had good fans coming out and supporting our games. We would do the same for the school teams. It was really fun.”

    During her second season with the Wildcats, Smith became well-known across the SFMAAAHL for one play that occurred on March 10, 2015. The Wildcats were in Saskatoon facing the host Stars in Game 1 of a best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series.

    Smith knocked out Stars star forward Nara Elia, who would later go on to play for Canada’s under-18 women’s team, with a hit. For that collision, Smith received a major penalty for a head hit, a game misconduct and had to sit out a one-game suspension. Reflecting on what happened, Smith said the hit happened by accident.

    She said she was skating backwards at first as her Wildcats were regrouping in their own zone for a breakout, and Elia swung through the Swift Current zone on the forecheck. As Smith turned to skate forward, she saw Elia at the last second coming towards her and the two collided. Smith braced for the collision in order to protect herself, and Elia had her head turned and didn’t see she was about to run into Smith.

    The two ended up being teammates in Saskatchewan’s provincial team program. Smith said they talked about what happened and have become good friends. Besides the competitive part of the game, Smith said she loves making friendships in the sport, and she has done that easily with every team she has been part of.

Chloe Smith sets up position on the forecheck.

    While Smith became known for that collision with Elia, she had a decent campaign offensively in her second season with the Wildcats netting 10 goals and nine assists in 28 regular season games. As a result, Smith became a figure to watch in the SFMAAAHL going into her 16-year-old season, and she closed out her midget AAA career by exploding offensively.

    “I got a lot more confident with the puck, and that was actually huge,” said Smith, who was the Wildcats captain in her final season with the team. “I started carrying it more and shooting it more.

“I realized that I actually maybe have a shot of playing high level hockey.”

    Huskies head coach Steve Kook saw Smith’s hit on Elia, and while the images of that play were ingrained on his mind, the bench boss was impressed with how well the Wildcats star played afterwards. Kook went to work on the recruiting front and succeeded in getting a commitment from Smith.

    “Chloe fits our style the way that we want to play,” said Kook. “She is physical. She is skilled. Smitty skates well.

Chloe Smith, left, is always ready to battle in the corners.

    “She needs to get up to speed a little bit here, but that will come as she gets more games under her belt and gets used to the program and the league. She shoots the puck so well. The grittiness of her it fits who we are.”

    On Saturday afternoon at the ancient Rutherford Rink, Smith wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet, but she was a presence during a 2-0 pre-season win against the MacEwan University Griffins of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.

    Centring a line with Shyan Elias and fifth-year veteran Kori Herner on the wings, Smith skated with a lot of energy and intensity. It seemed like she didn’t lose any battles in the corners.

    In the third period, she created two solid scoring chances. On the second of those changes, she drove hard to the net, and the play ended with her having a stare down against two Griffins players before the officials directed everyone away.

Chloe Smith has befriended old rivals upon joining the Huskies.

    Smith wants to keep playing for as long as she can. She admits she would love to get a chance to be part of Canada’s national team program one day but adds that a lot of things have to materialize for that to happen.

    She wants to get her education degree, but also plans to keep doors open to get into firefighting, when her time with the Huskies concludes. For now, she is focused on enjoying every moment of her rookie campaign and believes her Huskies can make noise in the Canada West Conference and the overall U Sports ranks.

    “We’re fast, (and) we’re smart with the puck,” said Smith. “We still have a lot of improvement that is coming.

    “I think we’re going to be real competitors in the league this year. I think we have a good team, good goaltending.

    “Everyone is getting along. I think it is going to be a good year for us.”

    In Saturday’s win over the Griffins, sophomore forward Bailee Bourassa scored with 20 seconds to play in the second period to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead, and she assisted on a third period goal from defender Madison Colbow.

The Huskies celebrate their 2-0 pre-season win on Saturday.

    Chloe Marshall turned away 14 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies, who finish their pre-season schedule posting a 5-1 record. Sandy Heim turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Griffins.

    The Huskies are now off until Oct. 6, when they open their regular season schedule hosting their provincial rivals the University of Regina Cougars at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

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