Golden Bears still have Huskies number, three-peat as Canada West champions

The Golden Bears celebrate their Canada West title win.

    When the championship trophies are on the line, it always seems to be the University of Alberta Golden Bears time.

    In a classic series deciding Game 3 of the Canada West final, the Golden Bears men’s hockey team once again found a way to prevail over their “forever rivals” the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

    On Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Golden Bears downed the Huskies 1-0 to claim the Canada West title for a third straight year to the disappointment of a packed crowd of 2,614 spectators. With the win, the Golden Bears locked up the best-of-three series 2-1.

    The Huskies claimed Game 1 of the series on Friday 4-2, but the Golden Bears rebounded to take a 3-0 victory in Game 2 on Saturday.

    Sophomore Golden Bears netminder Zach Sawchenko made 20 saves to earn the shutout win in Game 2, and he turned away 29 shots to pick up a second consecutive shutout in Game 3.

Luke Philp had the only goal in Game 3 on Sunday.

    The Huskies had their share of quality chances to take Game 3, which included a last gasp opportunity off an offensive zone faceoff to the left of the U of A goal with 1.1 seconds remaining in the third period. Huskies rookie centre Donovan Neuls won the draw back to rookie defenceman Gordie Ballhorn, who rang a shot off the post of the U of A net.

    “It is a game of inches,” said Sawchenko. “It has been a crazy weekend.

    “There has just been bounces. I can’t stress enough. It has been a game of inches this weekend.

    “There was a post in Game 2, post in Game 1 and post in Game 3. It really could have gone either way. We’re just happy to be on this end of it.”

    The win allowed the Golden Bears, who are the defending U Sports national champions, to capture the Canada West title for a third straight year.

Gordie Ballhorn (#3) skates away after hitting a post with a last second shot.

    The Golden Bears and Huskies have met in the conference final for four straight years, and U of S took the first of those meetings back in 2016.

    Dating back to the 1996-97 season, the Golden Bears and Huskies have clashed 17 times in the Canada West Championship series, and U of A has won 12 of those encounters.

    Still on Sunday when the teams met for the 511th overall time, it appeared the Huskies might get some breaks to take this round. U of S started Game 3 holding a 6-1 edge in shots on goal, but the Golden Bears, who are rated first in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, thought they took the lead with 9:26 remaining in the opening frame.

Goalie Zach Zawchenko makes one of 29 saves in a shutout performance.

    Huskies sophomore netminder Taran Kozun was playing the puck behind his own net, and he had it stolen off his stick by Golden Bears left-winger Taylor Cooper. Cooper got the puck to right-winger Cole Sanford, who slid it into an empty right side of the U of S goal.

    The tally was disallowed as the officials ruled the net was knocked ajar.

    In the second period, the Huskies had a glorious chance to go ahead, when right-winger Parker Thomas centred a pass from the right side of the U of A goal to left-winger Alex Forsberg. Forsberg was denied at point blank range by Sawchenko.

Taran Kozun makes one of his 27 saves in goal for the Huskies.

    The Golden Bears netted the game’s lone tally with 2:16 remaining in the second period while working on the power play. Golden Bears left-winger Trevor Cox had the puck along the left side boards in the U of S zone and fed a pass to centre Steven Owre, who was sitting beside the left post of the Huskies net.

    Owre slipped a backdoor pass across the face of the U of S goal to Luke Philp. Philp, who claimed Canada West player of the year honours for a second straight season, fired the puck in an empty right side of the Huskies cage. He said he felt relieved to see the puck go in.

    “It was about time I think,” said Philp. “We had our fair share of chances.

    “We did a good job with both units getting chances, but we couldn’t seem to find the net for a while there. That felt great to get that first one. We did a good job sticking with it.”

Steven Owre had an assist on the Golden Bears lone goal.

    The Huskies didn’t go away.

    Moments after Philp’s goal, Huskies fourth-year right-winger Levi Cable had a breakaway into the U of A zone, but he fired his shot attempt over top of the goal.

    In the third period, Forsberg was sent in alone on the U of A goal, but his rolling shot attempt was turned away by Sawchenko.

    Huskies left-winger Collin Shirley had a big scoring chance too on the doorstep at the left side of the Golden Bears net, but he was stoned by Sawchenko.

    Then came the dramatics when Ballhorn wired his shot off the U of A goal.

    Philp had lost the game’s final faceoff to Neuls and admitted he had a moment of panic.

    “I was thinking, ‘What the heck just happened?,’” said Philp. “I didn’t know what happened.

    “I thought he was going to go forward with it on the faceoff. Last second, he won it back. He did a good job there, but thank God it didn’t go in.”

    Kozun turned away 27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. 

Golden Bears D Jason Fram battles Huskies LW Collin Shirley.

    Huskies captain Jesse Forsberg left Sunday’s game late in the third period with an injury.

    Both the Golden Bears and Huskies have earned berths to the David Johnston University Cup national championship tournament slated for March 14 to 17 in Lethbridge, Alta.

    The Canada West final was expected to be tight. The Huskies topped the conference standings in the regular season with the best record in team history at 25-3. The Golden Bears were second sitting one point back in the standings with a 24-3-1 mark.

The Golden Bears receive their Canada West gold medals.

    U of A head coach Ian Herbers said his team wanted to back to nationals as conference camps and was pleased his team captured the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy on Sunday. The Golden Bears have won the U Sports national title 16 times.

    “That was one of our steps,” said Herbers. “We wanted to make sure we came in here, and we win a Canada West (title).

    “We knew it would be a tough challenge. They are a very good team over there. They play hard, and we knew it would be a good challenge.

    “It is another step for us to help in our development and get us ready for nationals.”

The Golden Bears are all smiles during their post-game team picture.

    Sawchenko was in goal as a rookie last season for the Golden Bears Canada West title clinching win and their national championship win. He said he is looking forward to playing more hockey at the upcoming David Johnston University Cup in Lethbridge.

    “It is a good feeling,” said Sawchenko. “At the end of the day, it is not the end of the road for us.

    “Canada West is great, but we have our eyes on the big prize now, and that is a national title.”

    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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The Ruthy will be a rockin'

Huskies and Golden Bears to battle in a take no prisoners Canada West final

Huskies captain Kendall McFaull, left, checks U of A's Brett Ferguson.

    Right now, nationals mean as much as manure produced by the USask Cows.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies and the University of Alberta Golden Bears have berths locked up for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s hockey championship tournament, but the University Cup will seem far away for these “Forever Rivals” over the next two to three days. The Huskies and Golden Bears are set to lock horns for the 481^st, 482^nd and possibly the 483^rd time, when they battle in a best-of-three Canada West championship series at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

    Game 1 is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Game 2 follows on 7 p.m. Saturday and Game 3, if necessary, will be held at 7 p.m. on Sunday. These teams will not coast to save themselves for the CIS final-eight tournament, which runs March 17-20 in Halifax. Their series battle for the Dr. W. G. Hardy Trophy will resemble a battle for the Stanley Cup.

    Out all the rivalries that exist in Canadian university sports, Huskies versus Golden Bears in men’s hockey is arguably the granddaddy of them all, and it is definitely the granddaddy rivalry out of all leagues in Canada West. No other Canadian university teams have met more often and consistently since their first encounter in the 1910-11 campaign, when the Golden Bears dumped the Huskies 16-0 in Saskatoon on Feb. 27, 1911.

U of A's Kruise Reddick, left, battles Huskies centre Kohl Bauml for a draw.

    This is one of those rivalries that is still real, and all one has to do is look at the four regular season encounters between these two clubs in the 2015-16 campaign to see that is true.

    The Huskies topped the Canada West standings with a 22-6 mark, and their 22 victories matched a team record set in both 1987-88 and 1999-2000. They are rated third in the CIS top ten rankings.

    The Golden Bears finished second with a 19-7-2 record, are rated fourth in the CIS top ten and have won the last two straight University Cup titles. While they returned most of their roster from a season ago, the Golden Bears had some stumbles this season losing games to opponents they don’t usually drop game to.

    When it came to encounters with the Huskies, the Golden Bears peaked up their effort like they were about to take on the Soviet Union national team from 1972 that contained Vladislav Tretiak and Valeri Kharlamov. U of A’s best four efforts of the campaign came in games against the U of S.

    In the first battle on Oct. 30, 2015, the Huskies rode a 44 save performance by goaltender Jordon Cooke to a 3-2 victory at the Ruthy. The Huskies captured momentum near the end of the second period and controlled the third to erase a 2-1 deficit to pull out victory.

U of A's James Dobrowolski is stoned by Huskies goalie Jordon Cooke.

    One night later at the Rutherford Rink, the Golden Bears hit another gear to pull a 4-2 victory, while outshooting the Huskies 55-22. Cooke, who won Canada West’s most outstanding player and goaltender of the year awards on Wednesday, was spectacular in that setback.

    The rivalry went up another level when the two team met at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton on Feb. 5 and 6. The Huskies entered those matches with first place locked away in the Canada West standings, but the Golden Bears seemed to be out to send a message.

    They claimed the Feb. 5 contest 3-0, and the game featured 96 minutes in penalties. On Feb. 6, the Golden Bears skated away with a 5-2 win, while the chippy stuff continued as the clubs combined for 42 penalty minutes.

    There was also some gloating by some members of the Edmonton-based sports media on Twitter regarding the sweep by the underdog Golden Bears against the powerhouse Huskies. It seemed weird to consider a team like the Golden Bears, who have won 15 national titles, as underdogs.

    Going into the weekend, both teams can try and find ways to justify that they are somehow an underdog. The Golden Bears have to be given a slight edge due to the fact they have won the last two University Cups and have played their best when the Huskies have been the opposition. 

Huskies forward Michael Sofillas, left, tries to zip past U of A's Dylan Bredo.

    U of A’s roster is loaded with fifth-year players who have gotten it done in both the CIS and Western Hockey League in forwards Brett Ferguson, Kruise Reddick, Jordan Hickmott, James Dobrowolski and Levko Koper, as well as defencemen Thomas Carr and Jordan Rowley.

    The Huskies are a younger team as far as average age is concerned, but they have a group that is mentally tough and can get the job done. Cooke is a goaltender that should have an NHL contract, and the only reason that item didn’t come his way is because he stands 5-foot-10.

    Their defensive group of captain Kendall McFaull, Connor Cox, Jesse Forsberg, Jordan Fransoo, Zak Stebner, David Stumborg and Tyler Borstmayer match up well with the best the CIS has to offer. The forward group including Canada West rookie of the year Kohl Bauml, Levi Cable, Andrew Johnson, Logan McVeigh, Michael Sofillas, Jesse Ross and Cameron Blair are more than capable of providing enough offence to make it happen.

    You can also expect the crowd that will stuff into the Ruthy will be looking to explode the first time fifth year all-heart forward Matthew Spafford does something special.

Huskies forward Josh Roach slips past a couple of U of A checkers.

    The most vocal component of the home crowd will likely be the members of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, who will be looking to give their classmates another intangible edge.

    The 2016 Canada West championship series will likely mirror the 2007 WHL championship series, which was a seven game classic featuring the Medicine Hat Tigers and Vancouver Giants. The Tigers and Giants raged a war even though they both had berths secured for that year’s Memorial Cup tournament. 

    That WHL title series ended when the Tigers took Game 7 in double overtime at their long time storied home rink in The Arena on a winning goal from Brennan Bosch, who went on to become a Huskies captain and hero.

    The current Huskies don’t have Bosch in their lineup, but they would love it if the 2016 Canada West championship series had a similar finish to the one Bosch’s junior team had in the 2007 WHL final.

Blades fun in the Express

    I was back in Saskatoon Express this week with a fun story regarding the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.

    On Saturday when the Blades host the Kootenay Ice at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre, they will hold their Home Grown Hockey Heroes night. The Blades hope this will be the first of an annual tradition, where they celebrate home-grown hockey heroes who could either be from Saskatchewan or former members of the Blades.

    For the first Home Grown Hockey Heroes night, the Blades are bringing in Hockey Hall of Fame member Bryan Trottier, who played for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1975 to 1994. Trottier, who is from Val Marie, has a special connection with Blades account executive/hockey advisor Dustin Kohn, who played in the WHL from 2003 to 2007 with the Calgary Hitmen and Brandon Wheat Kings.

    Anyone who has ever met Trottier knows Saturday will be a cool night to be at the SaskTel Centre. The story about Kohn and Trottier and the night’s events can be found here.

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