Huskies versus Golden Bears – A classic rivalry

Huskies forward Michael Sofillas battles two Golden Bears for the puck.

    You might not even know the whole background story, but games between the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and University of Alberta Golden Bears in men’s hockey can still get the blood running.

    Their first clash came back on February 27, 1911 and longevity alone is enough to make this rivalry interesting. No one really knows how many times these two teams have met at the ancient Rutherford Rink, which has been the Huskies home for the last 85 years.
    Going into this weekend, they have faced off 476 times including the non-conference, regular season and post-season encounters. The Golden Bears hold a 312-140-24 edge in those meetings.

    These “forever rivals” go at it again at 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night at the Ruthy. The Huskies are off to a 6-0 start, while the Golden Bears, who have won the last two Canadian Interuniversity Sport titles, are 4-1-1.

    Throughout the years, both these teams have usually hovered together around the top of the Canada West standings. That fact is one of the things that instantly draws people to their clashes.

Every year, it seems a new generation of fans heads out to the see the battles between the Huskies and Golden Bears expecting to see an epic encounter. They would expect the generation of fans that saw the two clubs play in previous years and decades saw the same thing.

    One of the more unfortunate truths in Canada is that Canadians are bad at tracking the history of sports in their country, with the NHL being the lone exception. For that reason, it is hard to remember the battles of the past. On the university campus, the continuity of the story gets lost as each generation changes.

    The two clubs had a couple of memorable encounters in the University Cup championship game over the past 11 years, and the Golden Bears claimed victory on both occasions. Those triumphs included a 4-3 overtime decision in 2005 at now Rexall Place in Edmonton, and a 3-1 win in 2014 at now the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

Huskies rearguard Zak Stebner battles a Golden Bear in front of the net.

    If you are lucky, you might hear an urban legend story of a past encounter. One of the more humourous ones involved Dave King and Clare Drake. King is recognized as the greatest head coach in the history of the Huskies program, and Drake holds the distinction of being the best head coach the Golden Bears have seen.

    Apparently after a period one night at the Ruthy, King wasn’t pleased with the decisions his players were making offensively, when it came to shooting puck. He walked out on to the ice and spray painted a circle in the slot of the offensive zone to show where he wanted his players to shoot from.

    Drake immediately protested saying King couldn’t do that and asked that the Zamboni be brought on the ice to scrape off the spray painted circle.

    Current Vancouver Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins, who was the captain of King’s 1982-83 national championship Huskies team, confirmed that the spray paint story was true. All Desjardins could do was smile and chuckle when that story was brought up.

    The most heartwarming moment of the rivalry came back on Jan. 30 involving the late Cody Smuk, who was the Huskie heart and soul glue guy forward. Smuk was battling cancer, and that contest was a fundraising game for him as well as the night the 85^th birthday of the Rutherford Rink was celebrated.

    Smuk dropped the puck for a ceremonial faceoff after undergoing five straight days of chemotherapy treatment. Both teams lined up to shake hands with him.

    The fact the Golden Bears skated away with a 4-2 win was mostly forgotten.

Cody Smuk shakes hands with the Golden Bears on Jan. 30.

    Everyone remembers that Smuk was incredibly upbeat that night, and he was energized to be at the rink. No one suspected that would be the last Huskies hockey home game he would see as he passed away just under five months later in late June. Smuk’s number 24 was retired by the Huskies last Saturday in a 6-2 home ice win over the U of Regina Cougars and a huge banner of his adorns the wall of one of the rink’s buildings.

    When the Huskies, who are ranked second in the CIS top ten rankings, and Golden Bears, who are rated third in the CIS top ten, clash on Friday and Saturday, it will be interesting to see if the new recruits the Huskies have added who have increased their pace of play can knock off an older and established Golden Bears side. The Golden Bears will be hoping to show they are still the top university team in the country.

    For great early season hockey, the Ruthy will be the place to be this weekend.

Huskies vault to ninth

Julia Flinton, left, has played at an all-world level for the Huskies.

    The Huskies women’s hockey team vaulted to ninth in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport top ten ranks this week with their 6-1-1 start.

    They head to Edmonton for road clashes against the University of Alberta Pandas on Friday and Saturday night. The Pandas (4-4) are 10^th in the CIS top ten ratings. Last week, the Pandas were ranked ninth and the Huskies were rated 10th.

    Marley Ervine and Julia Flinton, who are both fifth year veterans, lead the Huskies in scoring with eight points. Ervine has three goals and five assists, while Flinton, who is one of the best offensive defender in the country, has a goal and seven assists.

    Alex Poznikoff and Janelle Froehler both lead the Pandas with six points. Poznikoff has five goals and one assist, while Froehler has three goals and three assists.

    Both clubs have won their last three straight.

    The Huskies are in the middle of a stretch, where they play five straight road games. Their next home date is Nov. 20, when they host the University of Manitoba Bisons at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

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

Roughed up at Rutherford

Kaitlin Willoughby gets in a scrum with two UBC players.

    It was an odd sight to see Kaitlin Willoughby exchanging punches with opponents, but it was something you could see coming.
    On Saturday night at the Rutherford Rink, the Huskies were trailing the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 5-1 late in the third period of a Canada West women's hockey game. The clash featured constant exchanges of chirps and pushes and shoves between whistles. The 5-1 score would be the final outcome, but before the game concluded, the frustration of last season's Canadian Interuniversity Sport rookie of the year took over.
    As she drove to the Thunderbirds net late in the third, you could see in her eyes she was driving to the goal motivated by rage, which isn't uncommon at that point in a chippy contest. You either suspected Willoughby would score on that rush, drive goaltender Danielle Dube into the net or get involved in an altercation.
    Willoughby's shot was stopped as she went to the net hard, and then she got involved with a UBC forward Rebecca Unrau and defender Madison Patrick. Both sides got off two to three serious punches each in the scrum, before the officials broke things up without handing out penalties.
    With that setback, the Huskies dropped their fourth game in a row. They also dropped a 1-0 decision at the Rutherford Rink on Friday. Having sat first overall in Canada West at the semester break, the Huskies have dropped to fifth in the conference and face the biggest stretch of adversity they have encountered all season.
    In the losses to the Thunderbirds (12-4-4), the Huskies (11-7-2) visibly got dragged down over time by all the extra-curricular activities that occurred between the whistles. Out of all the teams the Huskies faced in the tight Canada West conference this season, the Thunderbirds arguably are the best skating team they have encountered. UBC also has a lot of talented players like Rafter and Unrau.
    The Thunderbirds also came into the games playing with a high tension edge, which is similar to that of the NHL's Boston Bruins or Philadelphia Flyers. That was a characteristic you hadn't seen to that extent in any other team in the Canada West women's league.
    During Saturday's game, a lot of words were exchanged between whistles. As players went off for line changes, they would usually bump into or shoulder each other as a way to pester each other. A few times, the odd slashes would get traded.
    The Thunderbirds also ran over Huskies netminder Cassidy Hendricks a couple of times early in the contest, which resulted in goaltender interference calls. That also added to the frustration for the home side.
    In some form or other, the exchanges between whistles, be it verbal or physical, will always be part of hockey. The Huskies have to do their best to skate away from that type of activity, because it takes the focus of what they should be doing in the game.

Kandace Cook takes a draw for the Huskies.

    By the sounds of things, that type of activity was even more prevalent in Friday's setback than it was in Saturday's loss.
    Besides the on ice distraction factor, the Huskies need to contend with the fact their offence has dried up, as they have scored only four goals in their four-game skid. Defence has also been the name of the game in the Canada West ranks as only five players are averaging a point or more per game.
    In Saturday's contest Unrau and Tatiana Rafter each scored twice for the Thunderbirds, while Nicole Saxvik had a single. Dube made 27 stops to earn the win in goal for UBC.
    Kandace Cook had the lone goal for the Huskies, while Hendricks made 25 saves suffering the loss in goal for the defending conference champs.
    On Friday night, Thunderbirds forward Stephanie Schaupmeyer had the lone goal of the contest, while Samantha Langford made 25 stops to earn the shutout win in the UBC goal. Hendricks made 25 stops in goal for the Huskies.
    Going forward into their final eight games, the Huskies need to focus on having a good outing in their next outing against the University of Manitoba Bisons (14-5-1). Those two teams meet this coming Friday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink. There is still lots of time for them to get their game back to the level it was in the first semester before playoffs roll around.

Fourth time a charm for Adolph

Head coach Dave Adolph works the Huskies bench. 

    Dave Adolph finally got the record.
    The head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team became the Canadian Interuniversity Sport leader in career conference wins on Friday night, when his Huskies down the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 4-3 in double overtime in Vancouver. Friday's victory gave Adolph his 378^th career conference victory, which passed the old mark of 377 held by legendary University of Alberta Golden Bears head coach Clare Drake. Adolph also holds the record for career games coached in the CIS, which stood at 722 after Friday's action.
    "There's only one Clare Drake," said Adolph to UBC sports information assistant Tim Huebsch. "In my mind, he's responsible for the success of CIS men and women's hockey. I've been fortunate to have coached for a long time, and although records are meant to be broken, Clare Drake remains in a league of his own."
The veteran bench boss had to wait for the record breaker. The Huskies lost their previous three games before pulling out the double overtime victory over the Thunderbirds.
    For a while, it appeared Friday's game would be a fourth straight setback. The Thunderbirds led 3-0 on goals from Nick Buonassisi, Luke Lockhart and David Robinson. Robinson's tally came at the 6:51 mark of the third, and it appeared the game was over.
    The Huskies, who have had trouble scoring goals in bunches this season, stormed back to force a 3-3 tie to send the contest to overtime. Craig McCallum scored for the Huskies on a power play, and Jesse Ross added another goal for the visitors just 33 seconds later to cut the lead to 3-2. Defenceman Connor Cox picked up the equalizer with 5:27 to play in the frame.
    After playing a scoreless four-on-four first overtime period, McCallum scored in the three-on-three second overtime frame to give the Huskies a 4-3 win.
    Ryan Holfeld made 30 saves to earn the win in goal. Eric Williams turned away 22 shots in net for the Thunderbirds.
    The Huskies weren't able to duplicate the comeback heroics one night later falling 5-0 to the host Thunderbirds. Buonassisi, Greg Fraser, Brad Hoban, Joe Antilla and Anthony Bandaro netted singles for the Thunderbirds (11-9-4). Matt Hewitt made 22 saves for the shutout win in the UBC goal.
    Jordon Cooke made 32 saves suffering the loss in goal for the Huskies (10-13-1).
    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday and Saturday, when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the University of Manitoba Bisons (12-12). U of S needs to earn four more points in the standings to lock up a playoff berth.

Mistaken identity

Tigers forward Trevor Cox celebrates a goal. 

    So it appears Connor Cox was in two places at the same time on Friday night.
    Out in Vancouver, Cox had the equalizer for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team to tie the UBC Thunderbirds 3-3 in the third period. The Huskies would win that contest 4-3 in double overtime.
    Back in Saskatoon, a Blades online game story from their 5-4 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers in a WHL clash at the Sasktel Centre gave the Tigers fourth goal to Connor Cox.
    The line in the game story said, "Connor Cox would add to his league-leading points total, scoring just seconds after a Tiger power play ended."
    The story meant to say Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL in scoring, picked up the Tigers fourth goal.

The real Connor Cox manning the Huskies blue-line

    To be fair, I understand how easily the mistake could happen. During his career in the WHL, Connor Cox played 121 regular season games with the Blades from 2010 to 2012. Over that time, Connor became extremely popular in the Blades' dressing room, with the team's staff and the local media that covered the hockey club. He also became a fan favourite as he developed his strong reputation as being a team-first guy.
    You can be sure the staffers with the Blades have a bunch of good memories of Connor, and his name was likely ingrained in the head of the person writing the game story for the web.
    I know for myself I have made my share of errors during my years writing stories. You don't want them to happen, but they do.
    As for the one from the online story, it allows those that know and are friends with Connor to engage in some humour with him.

Blades looking good

The Saskatoon Blades celebrate Friday's win.

    Speaking of the Saskatoon Blades, they played their first home games since the WHL trade deadline and Jan. 10, and the team's young roster impressed.
    Stuck near the bottom of the league standings, the Blades made a bunch of moves leading up to the deadline to build a more youthful roster. Currently the Blades only have two overage players and four players in their 19-year-old seasons.
    On Friday night, they pulled off a major 5-4 upset of the Medicine Hat Tigers, who are once again a powerhouse club in the league. The contest was a back-and-fourth affair, where the Blades ultimately overcame a 4-3 deficit to pull out a one-goal victory.
    Rookie defenceman Nolan Reid scored the winner near the midway point of the third.
    Best part about that win for Saskatoon was the fact the Blades played aggressive the whole game and weren't afraid to make plays offensively. They also received some much needed breaks getting a pair of goals to go in off the skates of Tigers defencemen and capitalized on a giveaway on a short-handed situation.
    On Saturday night, the Blades slipped past the Kootenay Ice 3-2 at the Sasktel Centre. Wyatt Sloboshan played the role of hero scoring the winner for Saskatoon with 10.8 second to play in the third to break a 2-2 tie.
    With three wins in a row, the Blades improve to 12-29-2-1. While the win column has been dry for long stretches of the season, the work ethic has been there for the Blades. The wins should supply some confidence and help the team to continue to set building blocks for the future.

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

Outmatched: Dinos too much for Huskies

Parker Thomas (#24) tries to set up offence for the Huskies.

            Could the unthinkable happen? Could the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team actually finish a regular season with a losing record?

            Unless the Dogs can roll off a big win streak over their last six games, it appears likely a losing record will happen. On the weekend, it became really apparent the Huskies are a bit of a distance away from being one of the top teams in the Canada West conference.

            The Huskies battled the University of Calgary Dinos at the ancient Rutherford Rink and fell 6-3 on Friday night and 5-2 on Saturday night. With the wins, the Dinos improved to 15-7 to sit alone in second place in the conference.

U of S fell to 9-12-1 and dropped to sixth overall in the conference. The Huskies sit five points up on the seventh place U of Regina Cougars (6-14-2) for the final playoff berth in the conference.

The last time the Huskies finished with a losing record in regular season play was way back in the 1995-96 campaign, when they posted an 11-14-3 record. Over the past six seasons, the Huskies have been an impressive 105-52-11, which includes winning a Canada West title in 2012 and a second place finish at last year’s University Cup.

Roster turnover has definitely caught up with the Dogs. They have 12 players in their first year of eligibility, with the bulk of those newcomers coming on the forward lines. The Dinos in contrast have five first year players.

Calgary also has more higher end former Western Hockey League players on its roster than Saskatchewan does.

With all that said, the Dinos only pulled out respective 2-0 and 2-1 victories early on in the season in Calgary. The notion that the Huskies could pull out two win in their home rink wasn’t unthinkable.

Friday’s tilt was back-and-forth. Craig McCallum scored 55 second into the third period to cut the Dinos two-goal lead to 4-3.

Shortly after that tally, Calgary put the contest away going up by the final of 6-3 scoring goals 28 seconds apart from each other. David Vandane had the first marker, while Colton Grant had the second marker.

Philip Tot, Alex Dzielski, Chris Collins and Brooks Myers had the other singles for the Dinos, while Kris Lazaruk made 35 saves to earn the win in goal.

Zak Stebner and Jesse Ross also netted singles for the Huskies, while Ryan Holfeld made 23 stops taking the loss in goal.

Dinos goalie Jacob DeSerres holds down the fort.

On Saturday, the Huskies played the Dinos close and trailed 3-2 heading into the final two minutes of the third. Dinos forward Ryan Harrison then potted an empty netter and added another tally in the final seconds to seal a 5-2 victory.

During that contest, the Dinos had the Huskies pinned in their own zone for extended periods of time.

Danny Gayle, Elgin Pearce and Kevin King also had singles for the Dinos, while Jacob DeSerres made 14 stops to earn the win in goal.

Tayler Thompson and McCallum netted singles for the Huskies, while Jordon Cooke turned away 25-of-29 shots suffering the loss in goal.

Huskies head coach Dave Adolph is holding at 377 career conference wins, which ties him with University of Alberta Golden Bears head coach Clare Drake for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport record for conference victories. Adolph will have to hope the fourth attempt at getting the record will be a charm.

U of S heads on the road to Vancouver for two key games against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds hold down fourth overall in the conference with a 10-9-3 record, which means they would host a first round playoff series if the regular season ended right now.

If the Huskies still hope to host a home playoff series, they needed to win at least one of those games to keep those hopes alive. With that said, one win might not be enough. A sweep is likely needed.

With the Huskies in a rebuild, a home playoff series and a winning regular season record might not be in the cards for the current campaign.

Paparazzi picture a good sign

Huskies ace picture taker Kandace Cook.

            The volume of the laughs and the mischievous giggles gave away that something was up.

            During the Huskies men’s hockey game on Jan. 3 at the Rutherford Rink against the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns, I went over behind the Pronghorns net to shoot pictures in the second period. The Pronghorns were in the end that contained the box seats at the Rutherford and most of the members of the Huskies women’s hockey team were up there.

            As I was getting ready to shoot, I could hear the laughter, and I knew something was going on. When I returned home that night, I saw fifth-year forward Kandace Cook took a picture of me doing my thing and put it on Twitter.

            I am all cool with that. If that helps the Huskies have fun at the rink and win, it is all good. The Rutherford is their home rink, and it should always be a fun place for them to be at.

Actually, to me that is a good sign. If they have the comfort level to do something like that, it is just another signal that shows me how together the Huskies women’s team is and that they have another intangible to help them be successful.

            I don’t mind getting made fun of or being the victim of a prank. Pretty much all the women’s sports teams I have dealt with that have won have done something along those lines.

            It is just too bad the Cook’s Huskies took one on the chin in their first weekend back. They traveled to Calgary and were swept by the Dinos by respective scores of 4-1 and 5-2 on Friday and Saturday.

            The Dinos roster contains Canadian National team icon Hayley Wickenheiser and Russian national team standouts Iya Gavrilova and Alexandra Vafina. All three were not with the Dinos last season because it was Olympic year.

            Back in October, the Huskies swept the Dinos, who had all those stars on the ice, 4-3 in overtime and 3-1 at the Rutherford Rink. After those results, you can bet the Dinos, who are guided by head coach and former Canadian national team star Danielle Goyette, played the revenge card in an old school style way like how head coach Bill Belichick prefers to see his New England Patriots bury opponents in the NFL.

            In Friday’s encounter in Calgary, Heather Berzins, Wickenheiser, Janelle Parent and Kate Lumley netted singles for the Dinos, while Carissa Fischer made 23 stops to earn the win in goal.

            Cook had the Huskies lone goal, while Cassidy Hendricks made 44 stops taking the loss in the Huskies net.

            A day later, Erica Mitschke scored twice for the Dinos, while Megan Grenon, Gavrilova and Vafina netted singles. Fischer made 13 stops to earn the win in goal.

            Captain Paige Anakaer and Hailey Tyndall picked up singles for the Huskies. Hendricks turned away 15-of-20 shots starting in goal for the Huskies. Jerrica Waltz stopped all 14 shots she faced in a relief appearance.

            The Dinos vaulted into first in Canada West improving to 11-3-4. The Huskies dropped from first to fifth in the tight contested conference with an 11-5-2 mark.

            The Huskies return to action this coming Friday and Saturday when they host the Thunderbirds (10-4-4) at 7 p.m. on both nights at the Rutherford Rink.

            The losses to the Dinos were likely a big learning experience for the Huskies in dealing with a revenge minded team.

            Knowing the character of the players on the Dogs, expect them to bounce back and move on.

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

Sprint to the finish

Huskies will attempt to surge up Canada West standings

Jordon Cooke tends goal for the Huskies.

            It might be now or never time for clubs looking to make noise in the regular season of Canada West men’s hockey.

            Every one of the conferences eight teams will play their final 10 regular season games during what will be a busy month of January. The hectic schedule is due in part because players from the Canada West conference will make up the entire Canadian roster for the men’s team that will compete at the 2015 Winter Universiade, which will run Feb. 3-14 in Granada, Spain.

            As a result, there are no Canada West games scheduled, when the Universiade is on. The three conferences that make up the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s hockey league represent Canada at the Universiade on a rotating basis.

            The University of Saskatchewan Huskies enter the final stretch sitting fourth overall in the conference with an 8-9-1 record. They are nine points behind the second place Calgary Dinos, but only four points ahead of the Regina Cougars, who sit seventh overall.

            The top six teams in the conference make the post-season, while the first and second place clubs earn byes into the second round of the playoffs.

            The story for the Huskies this season is they have been able to keep the puck out of the net, but they haven’t been able to put the puck into the net.

            The Huskies roster contains 12 players in their first year of eligibility, with the bulk of those newcomers playing on the forward lines.

            After finishing second at last year’s University Cup, the Huskies graduated their top four scorers in Derek Hulak, Kenton Dulle, Andrew Bailey and Brennan Bosch. Hulak was the most valuable player of the Canada West conference last season and the MVP of the University Cup tournament. He has since moved on to play with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.

            At the moment, the Huskies haven’t replaced the offence from those key departures.

            Hulak topped the Huskies in scoring with 13 goals and 35 assists in 28 games. Fifth-year forward Craig McCallum leads the team in scoring with season with five goals and 10 assists in 18 games. No player on the Huskies is averaging a point a game this season, while three players averaged over a point a game last season including Hulak, Dulle and McCallum.

Josh Roach (#7) speeds through a check for the Huskies.

            While the goals haven’t come in bunches, goaltending has allowed the Huskies to always challenge for victory.

            Fifth-year veteran Ryan Holfeld has posted a 3-5-1 record, a 2.18 goals against average, a .929 save percentage and one shutout. Rookie Jordon Cooke has been equally as strong recording a 5-4 record, a 2.20 goals against average, a .930 save percentage and one shutout.

            A veteran crew on defence has also helped the netminders. With that said, the Huskies can’t ask for anything more in the goals against department.

            The Huskies have forwards that have piled up the points at various other levels of the game. If two or three forwards can have a hot last stretch, that might be the difference in ensuring the Huskies will once again host a home playoff series.

             U of S starts its stretch run hosting the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. on both nights at the ancient Rutherford Rink. The Pronghorns sit last in the conference with a 3-15 record and have lost their last seven straight regular season games.

            If the Huskies can pull out a couple of wins, that might help spark a strong final stretch.

Adolph nears record

            Huskies head coach Dave Adolph is one win away from equaling the Canadian Interuniversity Sport for most conference wins.

            Adolph has 376 wins, which is one shy of the record of 377 held by legendary Alberta Golden Bears head coach Clare Drake.

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