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| The Cougars and Huskies in action on Saturday. |
Three-versus-three overtime is a
winner, even if it didn’t decide Saturday’s Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s
hockey game between the Saskatchewan Huskies and Regina Cougars at the ancient
Rutherford Rink.
Both the CIS men’s and women’s
hockey leagues have a unique overtime format for the regular season. If a game
is tied after regulation, both teams play a five minute overtime period with
four skaters per side. If the contest is still tied after that frame, the two
clubs play through another five-minute overtime stanza with three skaters per
side.
If the game is still tied after the
second five-minute overtime period, you advance to a shootout format that is
used in the NHL and major junior ranks.
The theory of having the three-on-three
overtime frame is it doesn’t totally eliminate the team aspect of hockey like
the shootout does, which becomes a skater against a goaltender duel, and it
also could be as or even more exciting than the shootout.
The three-on-three overtime frame
between the Huskies and Cougars was definitely more exciting than the shootout.
If you saw that extra session live in person, you would not be able to come
away with an observation other than that.
The Huskies played about 1:30 of the
frame on the power play, but pretty much the rest of the time was
three-on-three hockey. With only three skaters per side, there was a whole
bunch of open ice available and the skaters used.
There were piles of good scoring
chances created, and the forwards and defenders that hit the ice showed whole piles
of imagination. Skilled and aggressive offensive play was the name of the game.
The game should have ended with a goal in that period but credit the work of
Huskies goaltender Jordon Cooke and Cougars goaltender Lucas Gore for keeping
the pucks out of their respective nets.
Both puck stoppers had to make way
more difficult saves in the three-on-three overtime session than they did in
the first 65 minutes of the game. You came out more in awe of how well both
goaltenders did.
During that extra period, it was
hard to stay in your seat that night at the Rutherford Rink.
When the shootout took place, the
Huskies took that tiebreaker 2-0 with goals coming from Jesse Ross and Parker
Thomas for 2-1 overall victory in the contest. Craig McCallum scored for the
Huskies in the first period, while Miguel Pereira scored for the Cougars to tie
things up at 1-1 with two seconds to play in the second.
Cooke made 40 stops through 70
minutes and turned back both shooters he faced in the shootout for the win.
Gore made 37 stops over 70 minutes, but failed to make a save in the shootout
in the setback.
The three-on-three overtime period
is used in a few other hockey leagues, but it is not used in the NHL of in
hockey’s major junior ranks. It would be cool of those loops would correct that
oversight.
If draws are not part of the game,
the three-on-three overtime period would be great to have in the extra time
format as another opportunity to keep team play involved, while still opening
up play.
On Saturday night in the Western
Hockey League, the host Brandon Wheat Kings downed the visiting Medicine Hat
Tigers 3-2 after a shootout at Westman Place. Both squads are sitting in the
top four of the WHL’s overall standings at the moment, and they are loaded with
offensively talented players, who would put on quite the show in a
three-on-three overtime frame.
If the Tigers talented forwards of
Cole Sanford and Trevor Cox along with offensive defenceman Tommy Vannelli
could face their Wheat Kings counterparts in forwards Rihards Bukarts and Jayce
Hawryluk and offensive defenceman Ivan Provorov in a three-on-three situation,
you can’t even imagine the plays that could be made.
Until the NHL and the major junior
ranks visit the idea of a three-on-three overtime frame, it will be a hidden
gem in leagues like the CIS.
Expect the Huskies to bounce back
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| The Cougars and Huskies faceoff on Friday. |
The Huskies women’s hockey team
might have dropped two overtime heartbreakers on the weekend to the Regina
Cougars, but you get the feeling they will get past that obstacle.
When bad things happen to the Huskies,
they keep showing they have the ability to rebound and push forward. That was
seen during Friday’s clash with the Cougars at the Rutherford Rink.
The Cougars jumped in front 2-0 with
power-play goals from Brooklyn Moskowy and Caitlin Dempsey. The Huskies
rebounded with power-play markers from the sticks of Kaitlin Willoughby and a
point blast from rearguard Julia Flinton.
Regina bounced on a bad line change
in overtime by the Huskies resulting in Emma Waldenberger netting the winner in
a 3-2 Cougars victory.
Toni Ross made 18 stops to pick up
with win, while Cassidy Hendricks turned away 20 shots in the loss.
On Saturday in Regina, Kylie Gavelin
scored early in overtime to give the Cougars a 1-0 decision over the Huskies.
Jennifer Schmidt made 27 stops in net for the win for the Cougars (8-3-1),
while Hendricks turned away 36 shots in goal for the Huskies (7-3-2).
The Huskies play their last four
games before the Christmas break at home, so they have a good opportunity to
get another other roll before the focus switches to the classroom and final
exams.
Roughriders’ loss continues season of CFL stinkers
The Saskatchewan Roughriders loss in
the West Division semifinal seemed to mirror all that was wrong with the CFL this
season.
During the campaign, many fans
groaned that way too many games lacked excitement, lacked offence and games
were dragged down due to inconsistent penalty calling by the officials.
Struggling offence was a theme in 2014, because of bad execution as opposed to
stellar defensive play.
On Sunday in Edmonton, the host
Eskimos downed the Roughriders 18-10 in a contest that was hardly a classic. In
a group effort, everyone was bad in that game. The Eskimos won because they
performed less poorly than the Roughriders and the officials.
To be blunt, the Roughriders were
the worst team on the field, the officials the second worst and the Eskimos
third worst. It felt like fans of the Roughriders and Eskimos would be the only
people that could stay hooked watching this game. Any casual football watcher
would have flipped to see what was happening in the NFL.
The East semifinal in Montreal wasn’t
much more to write home about as the host Alouettes destroyed the visiting B.C.
Lions 50-17. The Alouettes put up 50 points with 291 yards of offence. To be
fair, Montreal’s defence did play well.
Management in CFL offices has to be
cringing a little as to how Sunday’s playoff games went. They also have to be
praying the East and West finals this coming Sunday end up being better
contests.
The Als travel to Hamilton to play the Tiger-Cats, while the Esks head
to Calgary to take on the Stampeders.
If you have any feedback on this
blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.
