Willoughby will always be an all-time champ in life

Huskies defender under appreciated in her playing career

Morgan Willoughby skates out for a game on Feb. 8.

    Morgan Willoughby might have been one of the most popular players on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team who never got her full due.
    Last Saturday, the fifth-year defender played the final game of her U Sports career when her Huskies fell 1-0 in double overtime in Game 2 of a Canada West quarter-final series to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Having lost Game 1 of the set 3-2 in overtime one night earlier, the Thunderbirds swept the best-of-three series 2-0 in two epic clashes between archrivals.

Morgan Willoughby (#9) in action for the Huskies last Saturday.

    The loss on Saturday by the Huskies brought an end to the careers of eight fifth-year players who gave their heart and soul to the program in Willoughby, Leah Bohlken, Courtney Cormack, Shyan Elias, captain Brooklyn Haubrich, Rachel Lundberg, Emma Nutter and Elizabeth Salyn. Fourth-year defender Kayla Kirwan, who emptied the tank during her time with the team, is finishing her agricultural and bioresources studies and has elected at the moment to not return for her fifth year.

    Willoughby always puts others before herself and would hate to be put above any teammates she ever played with. I believe in this case an exception can be made, because she always seemed to do the right thing, and I feel we all took advantage of that characteristic.

Morgan Willoughby in action for the Huskies in October of 2015.

    You got so used to her be reliable you would never ask how she was doing on any particular day. It was like you never questioned Willoughby was going to come to the rink every day and be an effective physical defensive defender.

    When the opposing team’s top line hits the ice, you put Willoughby and Nutter, who is her long time defensive partner, on the ice, and you just expect them to handle it.

    If there are misunderstandings with the players in the dressing room or between coaches and players, it was like Willoughby will handle it and nothing will be a problem.

Morgan Willoughby (#28) enjoys a Huskies win in October of 2015.

    When the players from the Huskies go out to community events where they wear their jerseys, Willoughby is the first to return the jersey or any team items that were brought out to be used as the event. Other players often would do the young person thing and forget their jerseys in laundry piles at home for a couple of days.

    Willoughby was fiercely competitive, but she was always under control to never let that competitive streak make her go over the line on the ice or off the ice. That said, if there was something that had to be taken care of on the ice due to an underhanded play and a figurative bell needed to be answered, Willoughby would take care of that.

Morgan Willoughby pictured with teammates at 2016 Huskie Salute.

    With all that said, Willoughby only had 28 penalty minutes in her U Sports regular season career, and her presence alone lessened the motivation for anyone to start trouble.

    All these intangibles allowed Willoughby to be named an assistant captain for her final two seasons for the Huskies. While in that role, you never worried about what she was thinking or feeling. She would make the team go and that was never questioned.

    Physically, Willoughby, who stands five-foot-eight, had all the tools to be a solid defensive defender. Few could skate as well as she could.

Morgan Willoughby works the point in October of 2016.

    Of course with being a defensive defender, her statistics won’t blow anyone away. In 117 career U Sports regular season games, Willoughby had six goals, eight assists and a minus-four rating in the plus-minus department. The minus rating was due to the fact she consistently played against the opposition’s top forward units.

    This season, Willoughby appeared in 26 regular season games collecting one goal, two assists and a plus-five rating.

    If she had the scoring touch of former Huskies great offensive defender Julia Flinton to go with her current skill set and personality make up, Willoughby would have been on Hockey Canada’s radar to be brought into camps for Canada’s national women’s team system.

    Actually, it always seemed Willoughby would be destined to be underappreciated in some form, because the 22-year-old came up through the sport in the shadow of sister Kaitlin, who is two years Morgan’s senior.

    Kaitlin was the talented high scoring forward who could play with grit, and everyone marvelled at what she could do.

Morgan Willoughby in action in October of 2016.

    Morgan was often greeted with, “Oh, you’re Kaitlin’s sister, how sweet.”
    Kaitlin, of course, played five seasons for the Huskies from 2013 to 2018 and finished as the program’s second all-time leading scorer piling up 50 goals and 61 assists for 111 points in 132 career regular season games. Kaitlin was a plus-30 during her regular season career too.

    Kaitlin and Morgan played together on the Huskies for three seasons from 2015 to 2018.

    Good luck to anyone trying to find one time where Morgan ever got upset or jealous about Kaitlin being in the spotlight at any time. I am pretty sure it never happened with the Huskies or at any time in the respective lives of both young ladies.

    Morgan was always super proud of Kaitlin and tried her best to be viewed as her older sister’s biggest supporter.

    Believe it or not, I had been planning to write a column about Morgan Willoughby after her career ended for about the last four months.

    In my view, our interactions have had their bumps over the years, and it was never her fault.

    I never saw our interactions being in an outstanding, straight line fashion with no adversity like my interactions have been with a number of female players from Saskatoon, Prince Albert and surrounding areas who have been popular and have had a sizable impact in the local game.

Morgan Willoughby controls the puck in February of 2017.

    Some of those players include Jordan Ashe, Kianna Dietz, Ashley Messier, Mackenna Parker, Sophie Shirley, Willow Slobodzian, Abby Soyko and Cami Wooster.

    From my side, the bumps started and quickly peaked in the 2016-17 campaign, which was Morgan’s second season with the Huskies. At the moment, 2016-17 campaign still goes down as my least favourite covering the Huskies program as a whole, and that came about due to a number of things that happened that season.

    First from my view, I ended up getting on bad terms with Kaitlin. As usual, Morgan ended up being the go-between that helped navigate the rough waters. That navigation went partially into the 2017-18 campaign as well.

    Morgan didn’t have to play that role, but I am thankful on my side that she did. As time went on, I felt really bad on my side that Morgan was placed in that spot at all.

    That situation had the unfortunate timing of developing at around the same time when the awkward separation occurred where legendary Huskies football head coach Brian Towriss retired from the team and working at the U of S. 

Morgan Willoughby, right, moves in on a check in February of 2017.

    That whole situation when it developed in December of 2016 wasn’t handled well by the U of S and Huskie Athletics, and it was largely viewed in the public the Huskies had heartlessly cut Towriss adrift.

    There was a time the story on Towriss’s departure was the number two trending national story in Canada.

    That situation even consumed my life for the two-week period around the Christmas season that year when it went down. I have always respected Towriss a tonne having known him for a long time, and I was feeling a lot of pressure to do something to hold the Huskie Athletics accountable.

Morgan Willoughby (#9) salutes a home crowd with sister Kaitlin (#17).

    I was overwhelmed by messages that said anyone associated with Huskie Athletics was basically dirt and scum. I had alums from various Huskies programs including women’s hockey message me saying they were embarrassed to have ever been part of the overall Huskie Athletics program.

    With all that negative messaging happening and negative emotions swirling around Huskie Athletics at an all-time high, I ended up by chance attending the same public New Year’s Eve social function as both the Huskies women’s and men’s hockey teams. I didn’t know the two Huskies hockey teams were going to be at that function, which I was given an invite to.

Morgan Willoughby (#9) celebrates a goal in November of 2017.

    I don’t think they realized I was there, but I thought the two Huskies hockey teams got a little too rambunctious on that night out. Looking back now, I believe the teams acted in a more normal young person rambunctious manner that night, but with all that was going on at that time, I didn’t take it that way.

    I remember seeing Morgan out that night, and she was as always being the responsible one.

    I remember her looking absolutely stressed trying to ensure no one got really out of hand. The Huskies hockey teams left that social function a short time after I discovered them there.

    At that time, I hadn’t learned the lesson to let things sit for a day and then proceed to reflect on them.

    That night I sent Morgan a bad email saying she had no honour and the Huskies hockey teams she deeply cared about had no honour. I knew saying that would be the worst thing you could ever say to Morgan to hurt her.

Morgan Willoughby (#9) in action for the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

    Morgan is an alumna of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team and was a captain of that team for two seasons.

    In Prince Albert, those that play hockey in that centre try to live up to the romantic vision of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in being the team of Mike Modano and Dave Mansion – the franchise where honour still matters.

    To think that Morgan had a point at any time in her life where she didn’t have honour is totally ridiculous. She has so many characteristics and traits in common with Manson it is actually crazy to think about.

Morgan Willoughby jets up ice in January of 2018.

    She always had honour and always lived up to that romantic vision – Kaitlin too, who happens to be another former Bears captain.

    I apologize to both thinking otherwise even for the shortest span of time that anyone can imagine.

    Thinking the Huskies hockey teams don’t have honour is dumb too, and I apologize for thinking that as well.

    Even with being that mean, Morgan still worked to be the one to bring everyone together, and as usual, she succeeded.

    My dealings with Kaitlin improved and approximately all four times we’ve crossed paths since her Huskies career ended have been outstanding.

    (*Side note – big props to current Huskies football head coach Scott Flory for bringing the family back together there and growing the family over the years since that rough time on the football side.*)

Morgan Willoughby, middle, walks to the ice in February of 2018.

    Still, it kept crossing my mind, “Don’t be mean to Morgan.”

    There are times I still feel like I slipped up on that front, and I feel ashamed of myself every time it happens even in the smallest instance.

    I believe I unintentionally made life hard on her during what turned out to be her final weekend with the Huskies.

    Leading up to the Huskies series with the Thunderbirds, I wrote a rivalry column about the two teams and inserted some old school Western Hockey League showmanship used to sell tickets by taking some jabs at the Thunderbirds.

    The Huskies had a strong regular season finishing third in the Canada West Conference with a 17-7-2-2 record, and they looked to have the potential to win the conference and possibly U Sports nationals.

Morgan Willoughby in action in January of 2019.

    The Thunderbirds underachieved during the regular season with a stellar and skilled roster finishing sixth in Canada West with a 10-13-4-1. They were 2-11-3 in their last 16 regular season games.

    In the emotional aftermath of the series, it is only human nature to think that there were players on the Huskies roster that felt that rivalry column cost the Huskies the series and post-season glory. There has been a big surge in page views for that rivalry column after the Thunderbirds claimed that Canada West quarter-final.

    The jabs in that column towards the Thunderbirds and Saskatoon product, Thunderbirds defender and former Bears captain Hannah Koroll, who has the potential to be one of the best players the Thunderbirds have ever had, was poking the bear, and that was very clear to see in that series.

Morgan Willoughby celebrates her final U Sports goal on Feb. 8.

    While the two games of that set were phenomenal, that was likely little consolation to the Huskies. Knowing how competitive Morgan is, I suspect those sort of thoughts have to cross her mind over the past few days as she has reflected on things.

    As usual, Morgan played like a warrior despite the outside noise. She did everything in her power to help her team.

    After the shock of the double overtime heartbreaking loss in Game 2, Morgan’s only focus was caring for and coming to the emotional aid of her teammates despite her career being over. That was clearly visible on the ice.

    Once again what she was feeling was secondary to helping her teammates.

Morgan Willoughby (#9) hugs Emma Nutter after last Saturday’s game.

    I apologize for every moment I made life slightly hard for Morgan and for taking her for granted.

    More importantly, I want to thank Morgan Willoughby for everything she did for me during her hockey career and especially during her time with the Huskies. 
    I also want to thank her for her leadership over the years and for being the perfect example of being a leader.

    I deeply appreciate everything she has done for me.

    She deserved to get a national championship ring throughout her hockey playing career, and it is one of the unfair aspects of sport that will never happen. Still, she will always be a champion in the game of life.

    With saying that, I suspect there are others out there that have taken Morgan Willoughby for granted too.

Morgan Willoughby will always be an all-time champ in life.

    I hope you all will correct that oversight and thank her and tell how much she truly is appreciated.

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

------                                      

    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Nutter hits special first in Huskies seventh straight win

The Huskies celebrate a power-play goal from Emma Nutter.

    Defensive defender Emma Nutter hit a milestone moment scoring one of her rare goals in her U Sports career.

    On Friday at Merlis Belsher Place, Nutter slipped home a point shot through traffic for a power-play goal for her University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team. That goal came at the 10:27 mark of the first period of a U Sports regular season game against the University of Manitoba Bisons to give the host side a 1-0 edge.

    The fifth-year veteran’s tally held up to be the game winner in a 3-0 victory for the Huskies in a contest played before 401 spectators.

    The marker was the fifth regular season goal of Nutter’s U Sports career. It was the Cochrane, Alta., product’s first game winning goal in 126 career regular season games.

Emma Nutter scored her first career U Sports game winner on Friday.

    “It feels pretty special,” said Nutter. “It is the first one.

    “It is not that common for me, but I have my team behind me. We had practised that kind of formation on the power play all week. It was working for me then.

    “I was not expecting it, but I was hopeful that would happen.”

    Nutter’s goal pushed the Huskies winning streak to seven games as they improved to 16-6-2-1. They have 49 points to sit third in the Canada West Conference standings coming on 14 regulation wins, two extra time wins and three extra time setbacks.

    In Canada West women’s hockey, teams earn three points in the standings for winning in regulation, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time setbacks.

Emma Nutter is best known for playing physical in her own zone.

    The Huskies trail the U of Calgary Dinos by one point for second in the conference. The Dinos dropped a 2-1 double overtime decision to the Mount Royal University Cougars on Friday in Calgary.

    With that result, the Dinos saw their record move to 16-7-1-2. They have 50 points in the standings coming off 15 regulation wins, one extra time win and three extra time setbacks.

    The Huskies have a game in hand on the Dinos that will be made up on Saturday, when the U of S side goes at it again with the Bisons at 5 p.m. at Merlis.

    The U of Alberta Pandas (18-7) top the Canada West standings with 53 points coming on 17 regulation wins and one extra time win.

Emma Nutter is one of eight fifth-year players on the Huskies.

    The Huskies, Dinos and Pandas are guaranteed to finish in the top three of the Canada West standings and the first and second place squads will have byes to host best-of-three Canada West semifinal playoff series.

    With the Huskies having just three regular season games left on their schedule, Nutter said she knows her squad is close to sitting in a position to gain a playoff bye, but she doesn’t try to get caught up in the possible math involving the standings. She just focuses on winning each game as it comes.

    “Without sounding uninterested, I don’t tend to look at the stats a lot,” said Nutter. “I think for me every game is as important as the next.”

    Individually, Nutter has two goals, two assists and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department appearing in all of the Huskies 25 regular season games in the current campaign. Both of her goals this season have come on the power play.

Emma Nutter has scored both her goals this season on the power play.

    She is one of eight fifth-year players who are skating through their final campaign with the Huskies. Rounding out the group of eight is captain Brooklyn Haubrich, forwards Elizabeth Salyn, Shyan Elias, Rachel Lundberg and Courtney Cormack and defenders Leah Bohlken and Morgan Willoughby.
    Willoughby is Nutter’s regular defensive partner.

    “It hasn’t hit me yet, and I don’t know when it will,” said Nutter about the notion she is playing through her final season. “I know that when it does it is going to hit me hard, and that is not going to be fun for me.

    “This whole experience I honestly don’t have any words for it. It has been so rewarding in that I get to play alongside 23 or 24 of my best friends. This team this year I would consider pretty close.

Camryn Drever made 22 saves in a shutout win for the Huskies.

    “The group of eight of us is very close. It is going to be sad, when we part ways. It has been a special year this year for sure.”

    On her power-play goal, Nutter said she just trying to get her point shot on net looking for one of her teammates to get a stick on the puck to deflect it home.

    “I tend to shoot pretty low and on the ice just for either a rebound so someone in front can get it or someone can get a stick on it for sure,” said Nutter, who is best known for overpowering opponents in the defensive zone with her physical play. “We worked with that in practice.

    “(Huskies head coach) Steve (Kook) kind of said to me we want you to be the shooter on that side. I was hitting them in practice.”

Jordyn Holmes scored her first U Sports regular season goal on Friday.

    Nutter’s goal was the highlight of a first period controlled by the Huskies, who outshot the Bisons 10-3 in the frame.

    The Bisons made a push back in the second outshooting the Huskies 9-8, but the Huskies exited the stanza still holding their 1-0 edge.

    With 2:58 remaining in the third, Huskies sophomore centre Kennedy Brown fired home a goal to the top left corner of the Bisons goal while being hooked down to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

    Sophomore right-winger Jordyn Holmes rounded out the scoring with an empty net tally for the Huskies. The tally was the first career U Sports regular season goal for Holmes.

    Camryn Drever stopped 22 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies. The sophomore more has three shutouts this season and four in her U Sports regular season career.
    Erin Fargey turned away 25-of-27 shots in goal for the Bisons, who fell to 8-16-1 to remain last in the eight-team Canada West Conference.

The Huskies celebrate their seventh straight win on Friday.

    Nutter was pleased with how Friday’s game went for her side.

    “All things considered, we could have come out a lot stronger, a lot faster and a lot quicker,” said Nutter. “As the game progressed, we put our heads down and went to work.”

    With the post-season just around the corner, Nutter said she wants to help the Huskies win a second Canada West title in team history and help the program capture its first U Sports title.

    She has a firm belief that this will be the year those things will happen for her team.

    “Between the eight of us fifth years and the rest of the team honestly, that has been the goal from day one,” said Nutter. “It always has been every year.

    “It is the same goal and same mindset. I think all the younger girls have bought in. They bought in early (and) that is a good sign.”

McVeigh’s OT winner pushes Huskies win streak to eight

Logan McVeigh scored the double OT winner for the Huskies.

    Logan McVeigh’s overtime heroics ensured the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team stayed on fire.

    On Friday at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, Man., McVeigh scored at the 2:26 mark of a second overtime period to give the visiting Huskies a 3-2 victory over the host U of Manitoba Bisons in a U Sports regular season contest. The fifth-year centre’s winner in the three-versus-three session allowed the Huskies to improve their winning streak to eight games and stay in the race for first place in the Canada West Conference.

    The Huskies and their “forever rivals” the U of Alberta Golden Bears both have 40 standings point to sit in the top two spots in Canada West. The Golden Bears (20-5) sit first in the conference over the Huskies (19-4-2) due to winning three out of the four head-to-head regular season meetings between the two sides.

    Both teams have three games remaining in their respective regular season schedules.

    The Mount Royal University Cougars sit third in Canada West with a 17-7-0-2 record.

Taran Kozun made 34 saves in goal for the Huskies on Friday.

    In Friday’s encounter between the Huskies and Bisons, Donovan Neuls and Carson Stadnyk netted singles for the Huskies in regulation. McVeigh picked up an assist on Stadnyk’s goal for a two-point night.

    Sean Christensen and Devon Skoleski replied with singles for the Bisons in regulation.

    Taran Kozun made 34 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Tyler Brown turned away 24 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Bisons (9-12-2-2).

    The Huskies and Bisons face each other again on Saturday in Winnipeg.

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

-------                                     

    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Forsberg hits stride with Huskies

Skilled winger gets in groove after returning from injury

Alex Forsberg (#29) celebrates scoring for the Huskies.

    Alex Forsberg is in his element when he is on the ice playing hockey.

    The 23-year-old rookie left-winger with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team showed that fact off in one shining moment at the ancient Rutherford Rink on Friday night. 

    With his Huskies locked in a 1-1 tie with the visiting University of Calgary Dinos, Forsberg stormed down the right wing on a rush and wired home a shot to the top right corner of the U of C goal to give his side a 2-1 lead at the 4:22 mark of the second period.

    That tally held up to be the winner in a 4-1 Huskies victory in a U Sport regular season clash before about 500 spectators.

Alex Forsberg works rush in the offensive zone.

    “It was good,” said Forsberg of his goal. “I didn’t have the greatest weekend last weekend.

    “I knew I need to be better. It was good to get that one out of the way. It was good to get a win all around.”

    Forsberg came to the Huskies after a stellar overage season playing with the WHL’s Victoria Royals, where he piled up 31 goals and 60 assists in 71 regular season games. He sat out the entire 2016-17 campaign nursing an injured shoulder.

    The Waldheim, Sask., product said being out of the lineup helped from the fact he focused more on adjusting to his classroom studies in the arts and science program. Usually, rookie athletes at the university level go through a period of shock, when they initially start balancing their classroom studies with their sport.

    Still, Forsberg admits he would have liked to have experienced that adjustment last season.

    “I hadn’t actually been in school for three years playing junior, so I was a little bit rusty,” said Forsberg. “Obviously if I could go back, I would play last year no doubt in my mind.

    “I’m happy everything is all healed up, and I am back.”

    In 18 regular season appearances this season with the Huskies, Forsberg has piled up eight goals and nine assists. He is still expecting to be better.

Jesse Forsberg helped his younger brother, Alex, with university life.

    “It is a little bit of an up and down season, but it is kind of expected out of a first year guy,” said Forsberg. “I think I just need to be more consistent, and good things will happen.”

    Forsberg said it was a big help coming to the Huskies with older brother Jesse already on the team. Jesse is in his fourth year with the Huskies, and he has established himself as a star offensive defenceman and an assistant captain.

    The two were teammates during the 2011-12 WHL season with the Prince George Cougars.

    “It is just (like having) another friend on the team,” said Alex. “We live together. We do everything together. It is good that way.

    “Obviously, he has been here for a long time, so he can kind of show me the ropes. He is a leader on our team, so if I get out of line, it is better coming from him than it is from someone else.”

    As for Friday’s game, the Dinos jumped out to a 1-0 at the 2:41 mark of the second period, when right-winger Mitch Cook netted his fifth goal of the season. Just 28 seconds later, sophomore left-winger Carson Stadnyk netted the equalizer for the Huskies.

Levi Cable potted a pair of goals for the Huskies on Friday night.

    Forsberg put the Huskies ahead for good scoring 73 seconds after Stadnyk’s goal.

    Third-year right-winger Levi Cable rounded out the scoring for the Huskies scoring twice early in the third period. Cable netted his first goal on a short-handed breakaway sniping a shot to the top right corner of the Dinos goal.

    He picked up his second tally on a U of S power play. A shot from Huskies defenceman MacKenzie Johnston hit the post of the U of C goal and slid to a stop in front of the goal-line in the crease of the net. Cable snuck in and tapped the loose puck home.

    Huskies star netminder Jordon Cooke turned away 37 shots to pick up the win in goal. Rookie puck stopper Jordan Papriny stopped 38 shots to take the setback in goal for the Dinos.

Netminder Jordon Cooke fires a pass up ice for the Huskies.

    The Huskies, who have won their last three straight and nine of their last 11 games, improved to 17-3-1 to remain tied for first in the Canada West Conference with the University of Alberta Golden Bears (17-3-1).  The Dinos fell to 6-12-3 to remain seventh in Canada West and three points behind the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns (8-11-2) for sixth place and the conference’s final playoff berth.

    Last year, the Huskies lost in a series deciding Game 3 in the Canada West championship to the Golden Bears and fell in the U Sports national championship game 5-3 to the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds.

    Forsberg would like for the current campaign to turn into a special one for the Huskies, but he doesn’t want to take his mind off the moment.

    “Obviously you look at the team, we have a lot of returning players,” said Forsberg. “I don’t want to look too far into the future.

    “We’re just focusing right now and the rest will come.”

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

Huskies women’s hockey team pulls out eighth shutout victory

Jessica Vance picked up her fifth shutout of the season for the Huskies.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team pulled out their eighth shutout victory of the season on Friday night in Calgary.

    The Huskies blanked the host U of Calgary Dinos 2-0 in a U Sports regular season clash before 161 spectators at the Father David Bauer Arena. Captain Kaitlin Willoughby netted her eighth of the season at the 11:21 mark of the second period with Kayla Kirwan and Brooklyn Haubrich drawing assists.

    Defender Emma Nutter sealed the win with an empty-net goal, which was her first of the campaign, in the final seconds of the third.

    Dinos netminder Kelsey Roberts did her best to try and steal a victory turning away 38-of-39 shots fired her way.

    Huskies netminder Jessica Vance made seven stops to pick up the shutout win in goal for her side. The Huskies lead the Canada West Conference with eight shutouts on the season as a team. Vance has five of those shutouts, and she is tied for the season individual lead with Roberts.

    The Huskies improved to 13-7-1 with the win, while the Dinos fell to 6-13-2.

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday in Calgary.

Huskies football lands Hilltops’ Pickett

Rush end Riley Pickett (#43) is taking his talents to the Huskies.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team landed a major recruit on Friday, and they hope a pile of sack celebrations result because of it.

    The Dogs landed a commitment from Saskatoon Hilltops star rush end Riley Pickett. The 20-year-old helped the Hilltops win the Canadian Junior Football League title in each of the last three years.

    Last season, Pickett, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 240 pounds, was named a CJFL all-star recording 15 solo tackles and nine sacks in eight regular season games. The graduate of Saskatoon’s Centennial Collegiate combined with star fifth-year veteran Tom Schnitzler to wreak havoc on opposing offensive lines.

    Pickett will give the Huskies a big piece when it comes to solidifying their defence at the U Sports level.

Back in the Express with Shmyr

Overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr has been stellar for the Blades.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express recently with a feature story on Saskatoon Blades overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr.

    The Calgary product came to the Blades in a trade with the Brandon Wheat Kings part way through the 2015-16 WHL campaign. Over 46 games this season, Shmyr has piled up 24 goals and a career high 38 assists to lead the Blades in scoring.

    The Blades (22-21-2-1) return to action on Saturday for their “Local Heroes Night” game when they host the Regina Pats (24-20-4) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Before the game, the Blades will be honouring the men and women of the army, navy, air force, RCMP, Saskatoon Police Service and first responder force.

    On Sunday, the Blades host the Moose Jaw Warriors (37-7-1-2) at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Against the Warriors, the Blades are hosting their “Welcome the World” game, which will feature a citizenship ceremony for about 30 people.

    The story on Shmyr appeared in the Express before the WHL’s trade deadline, and it can be found right here.

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

-------

    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.