Huskies heroic in defeat, but the sting hurts all the same

The Bisons and Huskies shake hands after their playoff series.

    Overtime in hockey is called sudden death for a reason, and the initial sting of losing hurts worse the longer it goes.

    On Sunday night, the ancient Rutherford Rink featured another classic game, but unfortunately for the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, they were able to come out on the winning side. At the 9:02 mark of a fifth overtime period, University of Manitoba Bisons standout forward Venla Hovi broke the hearts of the host Huskies and their supporters scoring the winning goal to deliver her side to a 2-1 victory in a match that finished at approximately 12:01 a.m. Monday.

    Hovi’s goal also ended the Huskies season as the Bisons took a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final playoff series between the two clubs 2-1. The Bisons advance on the Canadian Interuniversity Sport playoff trail to take on the University of Alberta Pandas in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

    The Huskies were left to digest the end of their season, which was not an easy thing to do. They dropped what was the longest game ever in Canada West women’s hockey history spanning 139 minutes and two seconds.

    The Dogs were also involved in the match that formerly held the record, which was also another 2-1 setback at the Ruthy coming back on March 1, 2014 against the University of Regina Cougars in Game 2 of the Canada West championship series which lasted 122 minutes and 30 seconds.

    That loss drew that series even at 1-1. The Huskies had an opportunity to bounce back the next night, which they did defeating the Cougars 2-1 on a Kaitlin Willoughby double overtime winner to take the Canada West title.

The Bisons celebrate Venla Hovi's winner in the fifth overtime period.

    In the loss to the Bisons, there is no chance to come back and play another game, because it was a series deciding Game 3.

    The effort the Huskies put up in defeat was valiant and heroic.

    They could have folded early on. Just 11 seconds into the contest, the Bisons went up 1-0 on a two-on-one break caused by a Huskies turnover. Hovi set up linemate Lauryn Keen, who put the Bisons up 1-0.

    The early U of M goal seemed to stun everyone in attendance.

    The Huskies push back was incredible. They peppered Bisons goaltender Amanda Schubert with shot after shot, while also playing some of their best hockey of the season. Their team game was solid, and they worked as a unit of five in all three zones.

    Finally at the 10:38 mark of the third period, centre Lauren Zary finally popped home the equalizer to knot the score up at 1-1. When the third period drew to a close, the two teams were going to overtime with the Huskies holding a 30-12 edge in the shots on goal department. In all reality, they deserved to have the edge on the scoreboard at that point.

    Off the two teams went into overtime. In extra time, the Huskies had to overcome some stormy seas. They killed off two Bisons power plays, where each came in the first and second overtime respectively.

Marley Ervine played in her 155th straight game for the Huskies.

    In the third overtime, the Huskies had their chance with the man advantage, but they could not find the winner. They failed to score on five power-play opportunities on Sunday night and were scoreless on 13 total power plays in the post-season. Those misfires came back to ultimately haunt the Dogs.

    The contest had become a duel of goaltenders, with experienced fourth-year veteran Cassidy Hendricks turning away shot after shot for the Huskies and the heart on her sleeve Schubert holding her ground in the Bisons’ goal.
    Hendricks would make 40 stops in the contest, while Schubert turned away 66 shots.

    On the U of S side, everyone had top grade efforts. The future is bright with rookies like defender Leah Bohlken and energetic forwards Rachel Lundberg and Brooklyn Haubrich. In that trio, you can see part of the heart and soul of the team over the next four seasons.

    Veterans who were part of the Canada West winner in 2014 like Alyssa Dobler, Kira Bannatyne, Kori Herner, Kennedy Harris, Rachel Johnson, Hailey Tyndall and Willoughby emptied the tank.

    The now graduating fifth-years in Brooke Mutch, Hanna McGillivray, Julia Flinton, Paige Anakaer and Marley Ervine did everything they could to extend their careers. Ervine, the feisty forward who appeared in all 155 regular season and post season games in her five seasons with the team, was still firing lasers in what was the final overtime frame.

Captain Paige Anakaer battles along the boards for the Huskies.

    Flinton’s end-to-end rushes as an offensive defender were as smooth as ever. Captain Anakaer battled with a heart that was unmatched and made her an inspiration to her teammates. Mutch and McGillivray were rocks as usual on the back end, and they created their own chances to net the winning goal.

    Maybe in a few days, the Huskies will reflect on how special their effort was in the series-deciding Game 3 against the Bisons. They left everything out there and have nothing to be ashamed of. To put it bluntly, “They brought it.”

    In the immediate aftermath of the marathon OT loss, the hurt is real and gut wrenching. When one sees the tears of the fifth year grads upon leaving the rink, even the hardest and most cynical of hearts had to melt.

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

Brooms put on hold for Huskies

Dinos prevent sweep as Canada West looks unpredictable

Huskies forward Marley Ervine, left, battles Dino Iya Gavrilova for a draw.

  The University of Saskatchewan Huskies got a feel for just how unpredictable the Canada West women’s hockey ranks could be this season.

    Hosting the University of Calgary Dinos who limped into a pair of games at the ancient Rutherford Rink with an unexpected 0-2 mark, the Huskies picked up a solid 3-2 win on Friday night, but the Dinos collected their first victory of the season with a 3-2 comeback effort on Saturday.

    In Friday’s encounter, the Dogs led 2-0, 3-1 before holding to a 3-2 victory. Paige Anakaer, Marley Ervine and Hanna McGillvray scored for the Huskies. Chelsea Court and Stephanie Zvonkovic replied for the Dinos.

    Cassidy Hendricks made 18 saves to earn the win in goal for the hosts, while Sarah Murray turned away 27 shots taking the loss in goal for the visitors.

    The Huskies held the advantage in territorial play for lengthy stretches on Friday night and appeared strong. The Dinos didn’t looked like they would get a chance to make a rally until Zvonkovic pulled them to within 3-2 scoring with 63 seconds to play in the third.

    Despite the late goal to cut their edge to one, the hosts shut things down defensively to close out Friday’s victory in solid fashion.

Kori Herner gets set to wire home a goal for the Huskies.

    With having won their first three regular season games, the Huskies got out of the gate slow on Saturday. The Dinos took a 1-0 at the 6:02 mark of the first on a power-play goal from Iya Gavrilova, who was a member of Russia’s team at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

    As the opening 20 minutes came to a close, the Huskies started string together a series of strong back-to-back shifts to turn the tide.

    The hosts came out flying in the second and constantly crashed the Dinos net with solid scoring chances holding a 14-7 in the shots on goal department. Anakaer, who is the Huskies captain, tied things up at 1-1 just past with midway point of the frame with a gritty positive bounce goal.

    Kori Herner put the Dogs up 2-1 late in the second breaking down the left wing into the Calgary zone and wiring a shot past Dinos goaltender Hayley Dowling.

    The Huskies couldn’t hold the momentum as the Dinos answered back with two goals that seemed to come out of nowhere to go up 3-2. Court potted the equalizer at the 5:17 mark and Cheyann Newman picked up the winner at the 11:37 mark.

    The home side tried to push back, but the rally attempt was big time hampered when Huskies star defender Julia Flinton was tagged with a double minor for checking to the head with 5:49 to play in the third. The Huskies killed off the penalties, but couldn’t find the equalizer despite mounting pressure in the Dinos over the contest’s final 90 seconds.

Captain Paige Anakaer, middle, celebrates scoring for the Huskies.

    Jerrica Waltz made 26 stops to get tagged with the loss in the Huskies net, while Dowling turned away 29 shots to earn the win for the Dinos (1-3).

    While Saturday’s setback to the Dinos might have been a bit disappointing, the Huskies have to be happy they are off to a 3-1 start.

    Their next challenge should be an interesting one. This coming Friday and Saturday, they travel to Lethbridge to face the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, who are off to a surprising 4-0 start with a pair for road sweeps over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Vancouver and the University of Alberta Pandas in Edmonton.

    The Huskies have played fairly sound structurally in their first four outings. Going forward, they just have to keep finding ways to improve on a day-to-day basis, because it appears the Canada West conference is going to be up for the taking.

Sweet opening sweep

Jordon Cooke backstopped the Huskies to a pair of victories.

    The Huskies men’s hockey team seem to like variety when it comes to victory.

    The Dogs opened the regular season on the road in Calgary and swept away the Dinos, who are expected to be a powerhouse this season.

    On Friday, rookie forward Andrew Johnson scored 53 seconds into overtime to lift the Huskies to a 6-5 victory. Zak Stebner, Levi Cable, Michael Sofillas, John Lawrence and Kendall McFaull all netted singles in regulation for the Huskies. Spencer Edwards, Chris Collins, Kevin King, Dylan Walchuk and Elgin Pearce replied with singles for the Dinos.

    Jordon Cooke made 25 stops to earn the win in goal for the Huskies, while Steven Stanford turned away 23 shots taking the loss in the Dinos net.

    The wild affair saw the Dinos lead 2-0 after the first, and the Huskies hold leads of 3-2 and 4-3 in the second. The Dinos took a 5-4 edge in the third, before the Huskies forced overtime.

    On Saturday, Johnson scored a short-handed goal at the 11:36 mark of the second, and that proved to be the difference in a 1-0 victory. Cooke made 27 stops for his second career CIS shutout, while Myles Hovdebo turned away 21 shots taking the setback in the Dinos goal.

    The Huskies open their home schedule this coming Friday and Saturday when they host the Lethbridge Pronghorns (1-1) at 7 p.m. both nights at the Rutherford Rink.

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

Defensive “Ds” key for Dogs

Brooke Mutch controls the puck for the Huskies.

    They are a group you almost forget about.
    When comes to the defenders on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team, Julia Flinton is easiest rearguard to notice. The member of Canada's women's team at the 2015 Winter Universiade in Granada, Spain, has a unique skill set on the offensive end, which has allowed her to collect five goals and nine assists in 23 regular season games with the Dogs.
    Going pretty much unnoticed are the team's five defensive defenders in fourth-year veterans Brooke Mutch and Hanna McGillivray, third-year vet Alyssa Dobler and sophomores Kira Bannatyne and Brooke Patron. When it comes to locking down the action the action in their own zone, they are as good as any group in the Canada West Conference. They are also durable having only lost a combined three games to injury, when McGillivray sat out three contests with a concussion early in the second semester.
    As group, they have helped the Huskies give up the fourth fewest goals in the conference with 61 tallies against in 26 games. That equates to a team 2.35 goals against average.
    That stat is even more impressive given the fact the Huskies have scored the third fewest goals in the conference at 52. The struggles on the offensive end means there is that much more pressure placed on the defenders and the goaltenders to ensure the team still has a chance to win game in and game out.
    When the Huskies do get ahead by scores of 3-1 or 4-2, the defensive defenders are able to lock things down to ensure victory will be obtained.
    Mutch might be arguably the toughest of the defensive defenders. Her minus-10 rating in the plus-minus department is more of a product of her squad's offensive struggles and the fact she usually faces the top forwards of every opponent the Huskies face.
    While bodychecking isn't legal in the women's game, the Nokomis, Sask., product has thrown the odd hit that has helped turn the momentum of the game around. She is also very solid, when it comes to calmly bringing the puck out of defensive zone to transition the play up ice.
    McGillivray is a must player you have to have on the ice when you are protecting a one-goal lead in the final minute of the third period. The Saskatoon product has a plus-one rating in 23 regular season games.
   The Huskies missed McGillivray's consistency when she was injured. The Dogs gave up 11 goals in the three game they played without McGillivray.

Alyssa Dobler has played 94 straight games for the Huskies.

    Dobler has never missed a game in her career playing in 94 straight contests for the Huskies counting action in the regular season, the Canada West playoffs and last year's Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship tournament. It almost seems automatic that she will step in and play big minutes.
    Both Bannatyne and Patron have seen their roles increase on the team as sophomores. They have stepped to the challenge knowing they won't be healthy scratched due to the fact the Huskies only have six rearguards on their roster.
    If the Huskies can shake their collective jinx around the net on the offensive end, it will make their defensive defenders that much more effective. It will decreased the pressure of giving up just one goal and make it easier to play that much more calm and in control.
    With Mutch, McGillivray, Dobler, Bannatyne and Patron controlling things on the back end, the Huskies have to feel secure about things in their own zone.
    NOTES -- The Huskies (13-10-3) close the regular season with a home-and-home series with the U of Regina Cougars (14-10-2). The two teams meet Friday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina and on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink on the U of Saskatchewan campus. Saturday's tilt will be senior's night for the Huskies, which means there will be some pre-game honours headed the way of fifth-year forwards Kandace Cook and Chelsey Sundby.

Ridley hits another milestone

Bob Ridley calls a Tigers game at The Arena.

    In what might be one of the best feel-good stories periods in sports, Medicine Hat Tigers legendary play-by-play voice Bob Ridley hit another milestone.
    On Wednesday, Ridley called his 3,600^th game as the WHL team's play-by-play voice, when the Tigers dropped a 6-3 decision to the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C. The total includes 3,202 regular season games, 378 games in the WHL playoffs and 20 games in the Memorial Cup tournament. Over most of that stretch, Ridley has also driven the Tigers bus on road trips.
    With the Tigers trailing 6-1 heading into the third period, Ridley still called his classic upbeat game. When German forward Markus Eisenschmid scored for the Tabbies to cut the Ice lead to 6-3, Ridley's call made it sound like the orange and black could still make a comeback. Ridley quickly followed with the fact that there was basically less than 30 seconds to play, so you knew a rally wasn't possible.
    You can't help but be in awe of the total of games Ridley has called. That feeling of awe grows with every Tigers contest Ridley continues to call in the future.

Farewell to Beily's

    Saskatoon's night life will never been the same after this weekend after Beily's Ultralounge on 8^th Street closes its doors forever.
    This will be the last weekend Beily's will be open, as it will be shut down after a 10-year run. For most of that run, it was the hotspot to be at in Saskatoon, before a whole bunch of different pubs opened up in downtown. NHL players often stopped in at Beily's. For a number of years, there was often an annual impromptu gathering there during the weekend NHLers came to town to support the annual fundraising golf tournament for the Royal University Hospital.
    For the longest time, it was one of the places that even as a male you would dress up classy to go out to. During most of the 10 years Beily's was open, it also was one of the few night establishments that had regular staff work there over long stretches of years. That helped attract regulars.
    Beily's industry nights on Sunday nights were legendary, as large numbers of staffs from the other night clubs in the Bridge City would meet for fun nights out. There will be one more of those fun nights this coming Sunday.
    For myself, I had a lot of memorable nights there, and I appreciated how great the staff always was. I also appreciated the fact cabs always seemed to be available at the end of the night.
    I think the night I was best known for being out there was a Sunday back in 2012 when I bought about 25 members of the Saskatoon Valkyries shots to celebrate one of their victories in Western Women's Canadian Football League playoffs.
    Cheers to Beily's. Thanks for all the great times.

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

The right mix

Huskies women’s hockey team has intangibles to make another memorable season

           

The U of S Huskies pose with the Canada West banner and trophy.

They are a group that is hard to dislike, and they appear to have the “it” factor to create another memorable season. 

            The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team had a historical campaign in 2013-14 winning their first Canada West title and capturing a bronze medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship tournament.

            Most of that team returns for the 2014-15 campaign. Watching them interact with each other during and after their two exhibition wins last weekend against the Red Deer College Queens of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, it was obvious to see a strong bond exists between the Huskies players.

            They like being together, and they like hitting the ice at the Rutherford Rink or any other rink. They are confident in their abilities on the ice, and they are confident and comfortable with themselves are as persons on the ice and away from the rink.

            When any team has all those attributes, that club becomes a very difficult opponent to face and defeat.

             On the ice this season, the Huskies will face their share of challenges. As the defending conference champ, every one of their opponents will view a match against them as a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

            Even the Queens came out in last weekend’s exhibition series at the Rutherford Rink looking to prove something. On Saturday, the visitors came out with a big initial push, and their effort didn’t waver.

            The composure of the Huskies showed through. Even when they didn’t have the momentum, it didn’t seem like they were in trouble. They built a 2-0 lead and held off a late Queens charge for a 2-1 win.

            During Sunday’s rematch, the Huskies took their game to another level. After giving up an early power-play goal, they kept the Queens contained in their zone with an aggressive forecheck. The hosts rolled to a 5-1 win, and they were buzzing all over the place.

            Individually, the Huskies have a lot of players that can be difference makers. Kaitlin Willoughby, last year’s CIS rookie of the year, looks physically stronger and more powerful on the ice than a season ago. She also has an offensive skill set that very few players have.

            Forward Marley Ervine provides a lot of feistiness and grit, which seems to be a trademark of players regardless of gender that come from her hometown of Kindersley.

            Fifth year forward Kandace Cook can seemly be set up with a variety of linemates up front, and she makes herself and her linemates shine through.

            Veteran rearguards Brooke Mutch, Hanna McGillivray and Julia Flinton are super solid on the back end. They can both shut things down on the defensive side, and control play when they have the puck. Flinton, a second team Canada West all-star, has the best playmaking ability and vision offensively out of that group.

            Third-year netminder Cassidy Hendricks was a second team Canada West all-star last season, and she proved she doesn’t get fazed when it comes time to play in the clutch. During the 2-1 best-of-three Canada West championship series win over the University of Regina Cougars, Hendricks made a huge amount of key stops with all three games going to overtime resulting in 17 periods and 296 minutes of hockey.

            Rookie forward Chelsea Wilson also showed flashes against the Queens, which could mean she could potentially come through in key moments as the season progresses.

            I have seen few teams personally in my time that had the veteran presence, the intangibles and overall “it” factor the Huskies have.

The Medicine Hat Tigers in 2006-07 had it in the major junior ranks and went on to win a WHL title and earn a berth in the Memorial Cup final.

            The 2000-01 U of  R Cougars women’s basketball team had it and went on to win a conference and a CIS title. The 1998 Regina Rams had it and went on exit the Canadian Junior Football League as national champs before joining the university ranks.

            For the Huskies to have success, the focus can’t be on the end result. All the players on the three other teams I mentioned just enjoyed where they were at that moment of time in their everyday lives in their respective campaigns.

            The Huskies just need to enjoy going to the rink with the aim of getting better each day, because at the end of a long stretch they will be a lot better.

            They have to enjoy and cherish the everyday interactions with their friends and buds on the ice, because that helps make the rink one of the best places to be.

            Also, they have to enjoy the game. At one point in time, they all got into hockey because it is a fun game where you simply score more goals than the other team, and that must be something that is never lost.

            When they do all those things, the Huskies will arrive at the end of the season before they know it, and they shouldn’t be surprised if they are in a lot of important post-season games as a result. They will have a chance to accomplish all their end goals.

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