Lunch bucket effort lifts Huskies past Thunderbirds 4-2

The Huskies celebrate a third period goal from Abby Shirley.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey showed they can win gaining three yards in a cloud of dust.

On Friday night at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies brought out their steel toed boots and work gloves to down the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 4-2 in a U Sports regular season clash played before 538 spectators.

The Huskies got two of their tallies from the gritty area in front of the net. Another tally was a smart point shot that found its way through a screen.

The effort allowed the Huskies to win their fourth straight improving to 6-1-2, while the Thunderbirds fell to 6-3.

Jordyn Holmes scored the winning goal for the Huskies.

While the Huskies goals were more of the gritty type tallies, the two sides got up and down the ice quite well after a bit of a slow start over the first 10 minutes.

During the first 10-minutes Thunderbirds offensive-defender Hannah Koroll likely had the best scoring chance going coast-to-coast on a rush only to be turned away Huskies third-year netminder Camryn Drever.

The teams hit another gear in the final 10-minutes of the opening frame. The Huskies were denied by Thunderbirds netminder Elise Hugens on two solid chances that included a slot drive from Huskies captain Bailee Bourassa and close in chance by left-winger Sophie Lalor.

The Huskies held a 10-9 edge in shots on goal after the opening 20 minutes.

Sophie Gaskell had the Thunderbirds first goal on Friday.

Just 81 seconds into the second period, the Thunderbirds got on the scoreboard first when rookie defender Sophia Gaskell floated home a point shot through a screen that deflected off the post of the Huskies goal into the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies evened things up at 1-1 just over five minutes later when third-year defender Isabella Pozzi slipped a point shot through a screen into the Thunderbirds net. The tally was Pozzi’s first career U Sports goal.

U of S proceeded to catch a break at the 11:23 mark of the second, when Thunderbirds left-winger Grace Elliott and Thunderbirds defender Rylind MacKinnon received minor penalties for a head hit and bodychecking respectively.

Isabella Pozzi scored her first career U Sports goal on Friday.

On the ensuing two-person advantage, Huskies third-year centre Kennedy Brown shoveled home a power-play goal during a net scramble in front of the Thunderbirds net to put the host side up 2-1.

The Thunderbirds proceeded to respond just over two minutes later working on a power play of their own, when right-winger Mackenzie Kordic potted her third of the season to even things up at 2-2.

The Huskies were able to go into the second intermission with the lead. With 3:31 remaining in the second period, gritty right-winger Jordyn Holmes banged in a goal from the front of the UBC net to give the host side a 3-2 advantage.

Holmes picked up an assist on Pozzi’s goal to finish the contest with two points.

At the 5:54 mark of the third, the Huskies potted a key insurance goal on a rare four-versus-three power play. 

The Thunderbirds celebrate a goal from Mackenzie Kordic.

Bourassa and centre Kate Ball teamed to set up Abby Shirley in the left slot, who drove home her fourth of the season to increase the Huskies edge to 4-2.

From that point in the game, Drever slammed the door in the Huskies net. She made 29 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies.

The Edmonton product, who helped the St. Albert Slash win two Esso Cups as national female under-18 AAA champions in 2017 and 2018, has had a strong start this season for the Huskies. In her seven starts, Drever has a 5-1-1 record, 1.42 goals against average, a .943 save percentage and one shutout.

Captain Bailee Bourassa had an assist for the Huskies on Friday.

Elise Hugens turned away 27 shots to take the setback in net for the Thunderbirds, who are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Left-winger Ireland Perrott picked up assists on both UBC goals.

The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

NOTES – After the entire 2020-21 U Sports hockey season was lost due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, the Huskies and Thunderbirds iced kind of younger teams compared to when they last met in the Canada West Conference playoffs in February of 2020, when the Thunderbirds swept a best-of-three quarter-final series 2-0 with two overtime wins.

Kennedy Brown scored the Huskies second goal on Friday.

The Huskies have one fifth-year player and one fourth-year player. The Thunderbirds have one fifth-year player and four fourth-year players.

In the 2019-20 campaign, the Huskies had eight fifth-year players and four fourth-year players, while the Thunderbirds had three fifth-year players and five fourth-year players.

Following Friday’s game, both teams lined up on their respective blue-lines and saluted the crowd at Merlis Belsher Place. After that salute, the Thunderbirds left the ice and the Huskies did their traditional end of game salute to the crowd at centre ice.

The Thunderbirds roster contained third-year centre Joelle Fiala, who made a homecoming to Merlis Belsher Place. Fiala was playing at Merlis since last suiting up with the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA team helping them win a Western regional playdown series in April of 2019.

The Huskies celebrate their win over the Thunderbirds.

The Clavet, Sask., product played two seasons in the NCAA Division I ranks with the Robert Morris University Colonials women’s hockey team from 2019 to 2021. She joined the Thunderbirds after Robert Morris University folded both its men’s and women’s hockey teams following the 2020-21 campaign.

Fiala is still the eighth all-time leading scorer in the history of the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey league piling up 47 goals and 83 assists in 112 regular season games from 2015 to 2019. She is the Stars career leader in regular season assists.

Toth holds Huskies men’s team at bay

Rylan Toth backstopped the Thunderbirds to victory on Friday.

University of British Columbia men’s hockey team netminder Rylan Toth slammed the door on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

On Friday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C., Toth made 24 saves that included turning away a first period penalty shot to backstop the Thunderbirds to a 4-1 victory before 750 spectators.

Toth, who is from Saskatoon, helped the Thunderbirds, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, improve to 7-1-1, while the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, fell to 7-2.

The Huskies won their first seven straight games before dropping their last two outings.

Just 65 seconds into the contest, Toth turned away Huskies forward Zane Franklin on a penalty shot.

Fourth-year forward Tyler Sandhu gave the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Huskies first-year forward Dawson Holt evened the score at 1-1 with a power-play goal going into the first intermission.

Matt Revel, Cyle McNabb and Scott Atkinson netted singles in the second to pace the Thunderbirds to their 4-1 victory. Atkinson’s tally came short-handed.

Roddy Ross turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

The two sides go at it again in Vancouver on Saturday.

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.

Esso Cup gold eludes Stars as Slash repeat as champs

Ashley Messier was named the Stars play of the game in the Esso Cup final.

    The tears became visible in the faces of the Saskatoon Stars seconds after the third period of the Esso Cup final expired.

    Despite pressing in a frantic final minute on Saturday at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre in Bridgewater, N.S., the Stars couldn’t find an equalizer to send the contest to overtime and the reality that the St. Albert Slash had prevailed 2-1 started to sink in.

    At one end of the rink, the Slash were celebrating history. The Alberta club became the first team to win the Esso Cup twice and in consecutive years in the 10-year history of the female midget AAA hockey national championship tournament.

    The Slash defeated the Quebec based Harfangs du Triolet 1-0 in overtime in last year’s Esso Cup championship game held in Morden, Man., and 10 players from that Slash team returned to be part of this year’s squad.

    The Stars were processing the emotional hurt. They were making their third appearance in the last four years at the Esso Cup and there was a steadfast believe that this would be their season to win it all.

    Saskatoon was 14-0 in the post-season entering Saturday’s game and was riding a 24 game winning streak dating back to the regular season. The Stars last loss before Saturday came back on Jan. 7, when they fell 4-3 to the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, Sask.

    Saskatoon was 6-0 at the Esso Cup and had outscored the opposition 28-4 in the process heading into the event’s gold medal game. The Stars had beaten the Slash 4-1 in a round robin contest on Tuesday.

A couple of Stars players console each other after Saturday’s loss.

    In the Esso Cup championship game, the Stars played well in a contest that was tightly contested. The Slash held an 18-15 edge in shots on goal and blocked a large number of other Saskatoon shots.

    During the frantic final minute, Stars standout centre Grace Shirley and slick defender Ashley Messier had prime scoring chances and their shots were blocked by skilled Slash left-winger McKenzie Hewett. The Stars players will likely be replaying those moments in their minds in the hours following the end of Saturday’s contest.

    In the first half of the first period, the Stars came wheeling out of the gate pretty good. Gritty left-winger Jordyn Holmes was stoned by Slash star netminder Camryn Drever on an early chance, and Shirley and standout centre Joelle Fiala fired shots from good positions just wide of the St. Albert goal.

    The Slash started executing their game plan, forechecked the Stars hard and pinned them in their own zone. At the 17:11 mark of the first period, a turnover in the Saskatoon zone landed on the stick of Slash captain Tyra Meropoulis.

    Meropoulis fired a shot on goal, followed the rebound of her own shot, deked around Stars netminder Jordan Ivanco and slid the puck into the Saskatoon cage to give St. Albert a 1-0 lead.

    The Slash kept up their forechecking pressure and trapped the Stars fairly well when the Saskatoon side entered the centre ice zone funneling the advancing skaters to the boards. Stars right-winger Anna Leschyshyn had three shots on goal from solid chances, but she was turned away by Drever.

The Slash celebrate with the Esso Cup.

    Inside of the final minute of the second, the Slash went up 2-0 as a result of their tough forecheck. Meropoulis caused a turnover in the Saskatoon zone and got puck down to linemate Jayme Doyle at the left side of the Saskatoon goal.

    Doyle slid the puck across the face of the Saskatoon net to winger Madison Willan, who put home a backhander to give her side a 2-0 lead.

    Just seconds into the third, the Slash missed the Saskatoon goal on a scoring chance and Stars netminder Jordan Ivanco made a big stop on Willan.

    A short time after that save, Shirley stole the puck from a Slash player at the St. Albert blue-line creating a two-on-run rush. She fed a pass across the face of the St. Albert goal to hard-working forward Kianna Dietz, who knocked the puck into an empty part of the net to cut the Slash lead to 2-1 just 47 seconds into the third.

    With Dietz’s goal coming after a couple of big saves by Ivanco, it felt like the comeback was going to be on. A short time after Dietz’s tally, Stars superstar captain Mackenna Parker, who was named the MVP and was the leading scorer of the Esso Cup, was stopped in close.

    The Stars controlled play for most of the third period holding a 6-2 edge in shots on goal. Saskatoon had a number of other shots get blocked.

    Slash centre Shyla Kirwer came up with two key shot blocks on Shirley and Messier, when the Stars were working on the power play in the second half of the third.

    Defender Mackenzie Butz was named the player of the game for the Slash, while Messier took that same honour for the Stars.

Grace Shirley set up the Stars goal on Saturday.

    Drever made 14 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Slash. Ivanco made a number of quality stops turning away 16 shot taking the setback in goal for the Stars.

    Earlier in the day, the Pionnieres de Lanaudiere from Quebec slipped past the Brampton Canadettes from Ontario 2-1 in the bronze medal game.

    The Stars finished the 2017-18 campaign with a 44-7-1 overall record, and one of their losses was a tight one to a good team in a national final. The Slash finished the 2017-18 campaign with a 43-11-1 overall record and sport a 13-1 mark over the last two years at the Esso Cup.

    For the Stars, the hurt is there at the end of the game because the journey to get to the national championship contest was meaningful. Saturday marked the Stars 52^nd game, and the team stated on Twitter they have been together for eight months, 143 days and 82 practices.

    When the season ends, you reflect on everything that happened over that period of time. With the success the Stars had, the team gets pulled that much closer together.

    Entering the national final, everyone on the team believed they were going to win that game. When the win doesn’t happen, it is tough to take, because you reflect on the journey to get there.

    Overlooked is the fact the season was extremely successful, and it is a major accomplishment in any campaign to play in a national championship game. That in itself makes the season a success.

    For most of the Stars, their bonds go beyond what happened this season. Parker, Dietz, Holmes, Jordyn Gerlitz, Jordan Ivanco and Dana Wood all exhausted their midget eligibility with the end of Saturday’s game.

    Parker, Dietz, Holmes, Gerlitz, who wasn’t able to play in this year’s Esso Cup due to a broken collarbone, and Shirley were with the Stars in all of their Esso Cup appearances. Shirley was an associate player call up in the 2015 Esso Cup in Red Deer, Alta.

    Gerlitz will go down as the first Stars player to score a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series clinching goal, when the Stars won their first SFMAAAHL title in 2015. That group grew up before your eyes over the last four years from all the experiences they went through together.

Captain Mackenna Parker and the Stars had a memorable season.

    Ivanco, Wood, Leschyshyn and Fiala have been with the Stars since the start of the 2015-16 season. Messier, Kaitlin Jockims, Grace Tam, Chace Sperling, Jayda Sachs, Abby DeCorby and Arden Kliewer all finished their second complete season with team.

    Calli Arnold, Makena Kushniruk and Emily Holmes, who is Jordyn Holmes’ younger sister, were the fresh faced rookies who were quickly adopted into the Stars family by the veterans. They all played big roles on the team as the season progressed.

    The Stars came up just short in basking in the euphoria of a national championship win. At some point in time, the hurt over the disappointment of the setback will lessen.

    The memories and experiences that came from the accomplishments made along the way to get there can never be taken away.

    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.

Could third time be a charm for Stars at Esso Cup?

Jordyn Holmes, left, and Mackenna Parker hope to enjoy an Esso Cup title.

    Captain Mackenna Parker believes this might the best chance her Saskatoon Stars have of winning the Esso Cup.

    The Stars are making their third appearance in the last four years at the national female midget AAA hockey championship tournament. The Stars open play at this year’s six-team tourney at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre in Bridgewater, N.S., in the event’s first game on Sunday against the Brampton Canadettes from Ontario.

    Saskatoon has a lifetime 8-6 record at the Esso Cup winning a bronze medal in 2015 and falling in the bronze medal game in 2016. Parker, who is in her 17-year-old and final season of midget eligibility, was with the Stars in their previous two visits to nationals and is pumped to return for a third time.

    “I’m so excited,” said Parker, who topped the Stars in scoring with 33 goals and 27 assists in 23 regular season games. “This time I think that we can actually win or if we are doing our best, we actually have a shot at the gold medal.

    “I wanted it last year too. It is more exciting this year.”

    The Stars have an advantage in the experience. Along with Parker, forwards Jordyn Holmes and Kianna Dietz played in the 2015 Esso Cup along with centre Grace Shirley, who was an associate player call up.

Mackenna Parker will go down as one of the Stars all-time greats.

    Winger Jordyn Gerlitz also suited up for the Stars that season at nationals, but she will be unavailable this year due to breaking her collarbone in the Stars 6-2 win in Game 2 of their Western regional playdown series on April 7 against the Eastman Selects in Steinbach, Man.

    Parker, Holmes, Dietz, Gerlitz and Shirley were all part of the Stars team that appeared in the 2016 Esso Cup along with standout forwards Anna Leschyshyn and Joelle Fiala, defensive defender Dana Wood and standout netminder Jordan Ivanco. Parker, Holmes, Dietz, Gerlitz, Wood and Ivanco are all playing out their final midget AAA campaigns.
    On top of that experience, Parker and Shirley were members of Canada’s team that won a bronze medal at the under-18 women’s worlds in Dmitrov, Russia, in January.

    Holmes believes her squad’s experience factor will be a calming influence at Esso Cup.

    “It is going to help a lot, especially with the young ones,” said the gritty defensive forward. “We’ll be able to like show them along and teach them what to do.

    “If they are nervous, we can like help them like try to calm it and know what to do with it.”

    Parker believes the fact that her team has a large group of players that have played together for an extended period of years will be a benefit at Esso Cup as well.

    “I think it will help a lot, because we all know each other and we all like have such good chemistry,” said Parker. “There is so many of us graduating this year that we all want it so bad too.

Jordyn Holmes (#44) has been a standout defensive forward for the Stars.

    “We want to go out with that win and doing the best that we can. Especially being able to do it with them the past four years, I think that will be great.”

    For the 10 members of the Stars who will make their first appearance at the Esso Cup, Holmes said the biggest advice she will pass on is to look after yourself physically. If the Stars make the playoff round, they will ultimately play seven games over seven days.

    “With all the hockey, I would say keep your fluids up and make sure you are stretched out and your body is feeling good every day,” said Holmes. “After cooldown at the rink, do it then, but then also back at the hotel.

    “I suggest like that is what I would think would be better for us.”

    Head coach Greg Slobodzian has guided the Stars to their two previous appearances at the Esso Cup. He noted his team has a calm going into this year’s tournament that didn’t necessarily exist in the previous two visits.

    “It is exciting every time you get to go to anything that is hosted by Hockey Canada,” said Slobodzian. “They do such a good job.

    “The first time obviously you go in wide eyed not knowing what to expect excited and giddy. The second time I think we’re like, “Yeah, you know we can do this.” This time, sure there are a few girls that haven’t been to it, but the whole attitude is like, “Yeah, let’s just go there and do it and take care of business.”

Defensive defender Dana Wood is closing out her career with the Stars.

    “It is a little bit different. We’re not going to be as not necessarily awestruck.”

    While the Stars will only be able to use 16 skaters each game due to the injury to Gerlitz, Slobodzian his players can handle the big volume of games.

    “I’m not really worried about our conditioning,” said Slobodzian, whose team is 8-0 in the post-season and 38-6-1 overall this season. “The girls are in really great shape right now. The layoffs that we’ve had in between series have really helped that.

    “It is not as if we are worn out by no means. It is still a lot of hockey, and we have to make sure that you manage the girls’ minutes properly.”

    Of course with a national tournament like the Esso Cup, the Stars will see teams they haven’t played in the current campaign like the Canadettes. Holmes said the big key will be to adjust on the fly.

    “It is going to be difficult not being able to watch on film and know exactly what they are doing,” said Holmes. “We’ll just have to play our game and adapt.”

    The Esso Cup field is rounded out by the defending champion St. Albert Slash from Alberta, the Pionnieres de Lanaudiere from Terrebonne, Quebec, the Northern Subway Selects from New Glasgow, N.S., and tournament hosts Metro Boston Pizza.

The Stars hope to keep the victory celebrations going at Esso Cup.

    The six teams will play each other in a round robin with the top four clubs advancing to the tournament’s two semifinal games, which will be held on Friday, April 27. The bronze and gold medal games will be held on Saturday, April 28.

    Both Parker and Holmes would love to close out their midget AAA careers with a win in the Esso Cup’s championship game.

    “It would mean so much to me,” said Parker.  “I’ve wanted it for the past four years since I’ve played with Stars.

    “I just want to be able to celebrate and throw my hands into the air and like say that I won the Esso Cup with my team. That would be amazing. I hope we can do it.”

    “It would be indescribable what it would feel like to be able to go out with a win my last year,” said Holmes. “It would just be amazing. I just hope so bad.”

    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.

Stars’ Parker bangs home tally #75, sits second in career SFMAAAHL goals

Mackenna Parker (#11) celebrates her 75th career regular season goal.

    Mackenna Parker’s 100^th career Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League regular season game turned into a bigger major milestone night.

    On Thursday at the Agriplace Arena, the 17-year-old captain of the Saskatoon Stars captured another lofty career league accomplishment. With the Stars holding a 4-3 lead over the visiting Battlefords Sharks, Parker banged home a goal in front of the visiting net to put her squad up 5-3 at the 3:26 mark of the third period.

    That tally was Parker’s 75 career regular season goal, and it allowed her to sit alone in second on the SFMAAAHL’s all-time career regular season goals list. Saskatoon product Alyssa Wiebe, who played for the Notre Dame Hounds in the SFMAAAHL’s first two campaigns of existence from 2006 to 2008, now sits third on the SFMAAAHL’s all-time career regular season goals list with 74 tallies.

Stars captain Mackenna Parker (#11) battles a Sharks player.

    Parker’s goal on Thursday sparked a surge that allowed the Stars to skate away with a 7-3 victory.

    The Clavet product was pleasantly surprised to hear she now sat alone in second place on the SFMAAAHL’s career regular season goals list.

    “I think it is amazing,” said Parker, who stands 5-foot-5. “It is nice to know that all my work has paid off.

    “It is my teammates too over the past four years. It is not just me that is putting in the work, so yeah, it is an amazing feeling.

    “I just kept banging on it in front of the net. I got my own rebound. It is pretty much what happened.”

    The skilled centre’s night got off to an upbeat start. She picked up assists on the Stars first two goals coming from the sticks of 14-year-old rookie Calli Arnold and 17-year-old veteran Jordyn Holmes to give the host side a 2-0 first period lead.

Mackenna Parker sets up to shoot a backhanded shot.

    Thanks to the three-point night, Parker has piled up 26 goals and 25 assists in the current campaign for 51 points to become the second player in the history of the Stars to score 50-or-more points in one regular season.

    Emily Clark, who is playing for Canada’s women’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics that are just starting in PyeongChang, South Korea, is the only other player to score more points for the Stars in one regular season than Parker. Clark piled up 26 goals and 34 assists in 26 regular season games for the Stars in the 2011-12 campaign.

    “It is so cool,” said Parker about doing something only Clark had done with the Stars. “I don’t even know.

    “It is so amazing. It is my goal to be the best that I can be, and it is nice to know that is paying off.”

    Earlier this season, Parker became the SFMAAAHL’s second all-time career leading scorer in the regular season. She has 74 career assists to go with her 75 career goals to total 149 points.

    With four games remaining in her regular season career at the midget AAA level, she is way out of range to jump into the top spot for career regular season goals or points in the SFMAAAHL.

Mackenna Parker has scored 51 points so far this season.

    Moose Jaw product Olivia Howe, who played 106 career regular season contests over four seasons with the Hounds from 2008 to 2012, is the SFMAAAHL’s all-time career leader in regular season goals (107), assists (100) and points (207).

    In what has been a memorable current campaign, Parker played for Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Under-18 Women’s World Championship that wrapped up Jan. 13 in Dmitrov, Russia. Parker helped Canada win a bronze medal, and she was joined on the Canadian squad by current Stars teammate Grace Shirley and former stars teammate Willow Slobodzian, who plays for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ranks.

    “It is an amazing feeling to go to Russia,” said Parker. “It is a once in a lifetime experience, so I have to take it in.

Grace Shirley scored a pair of goals for the Stars.

    “It was so much fun. It was so nice knowing that I had friends with me by my side the entire time and making friends there too. I am so glad that they (Shirley and Slobodzian) were both able to go.”

    The Sharks stayed tight with the Stars for much of Thursday’s contest. Sharks forward Ensley Fendelet scored on the power play before first period ended to cut the Stars lead to 2-1.

    Early in the second, Joelle Fiala tallied for the Stars to increase their edge to 3-1, but Sharks defender Cassidy Carlson fired home a goal with 7:27 remaining in the second to cut Saskatoon’s advantage to 3-2. Shirley scored on a backhand shot with 9.3 seconds remaining in the second to give the Stars a 4-2 lead.

    Defender Keera Tiringer tallied for the Sharks 92 seconds into the third to trim the Stars edge to 4-3.

    Parker scored a short time later to put the Stars up 5-3. Saskatoon’s scoring was rounded out by a single from Kaitlin Jockims and Shirley’s second tally of the contest.

    Arden Kliewer made 16 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Chloe Burt turned away 38 shots to take the setback in goal for the Sharks.
    Centre Kianna Dietz played her in 100th career SFMAAAHL regular season contest with the Stars on Thursday picking up one assist.

Calli Arnold (#9) scored the Stars first goal on Thursday.

    “I think we came out maybe a bit slow in the first and second,” said Parker. “We can’t take teams for granted either.

    “We have to keep going. I think in the third that is when we started to go, and that is what paid off on the scoreboard.”

    The Stars improved to 20-3-1 to move into first place in the SFMAAAHL with 58 points in the standings to hold a one-point edge over the Prince Albert Northern Bears (19-4-1). In the SFMAAAHL, three points are awarded in the standings for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time setbacks.

    The Stars, who had won six straight, earned their 58 points from 17 regulation wins, three extra time victories and one extra time setback. The Bears have 57 points in the standings coming off 18 regulation wins, one extra time win and one extra time setback.

The Stars celebrate a goal and moved into first in the SFMAAAHL.

    Both teams have four games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

    Parker enters her team’s final four regular season contests needing to record one point for 150 in her regular season career. She is also two goals away from equaling the Stars team record for goals in one regular season at 28, which was set by Sara Greschner in the 2010-11 campaign.

    The Stars return to action on Saturday, when they host the Regina Rebels (16-6-3) at 7:45 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

    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.

Dietz - the Stars unsung hero

Kianna Dietz gets set to wire a shot on goal for the Stars.

    Kianna Dietz is the “glue gal” who helps the Saskatoon Stars go.

    The 17-year-old centre has been a member of the Stars since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, and has quietly gone out and given her best on a nightly basis. A number of her teammates have piled up the points offensively and received more recognition, but Dietz, who stands 5-foot-9, has been a regular filling a gritty checking role and chipped in points when needed.
    She has displayed soft hands in the offensive zone on occasion either making plays or scoring goals.

    Dietz has played a key role in helping the Stars win Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championships in 2015 and 2016 and subsequently appear in the Esso Cup national championship tournament.

Kianna Dietz celebrates scoring in Game 3 of the 2015 SFMAAAHL finals.

    The Hanley, Sask., product was an important contributor to the Stars posting their best regular season record ever last season at 25-2-1 and making it to a third straight league championship series, where they fell to the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

    On Sunday at the Agriplace Arena, Dietz happened to be in a key place again helping set up a third period goal by Joelle Fiala to give the Stars a 5-2 lead on the visiting Melville Prairie Fire. That tally turned out to be the winning goal, as the Stars held on for a 5-4 victory.

    Dietz is part of a group of six playing out their final season of midget eligibility with the Stars including Mackenna Parker, Jordyn Gerlitz, Jordyn Holmes, Dana Wood and Jordan Ivanco, and she wouldn’t trade her time with the team for anything.

    “It has been great,” said Dietz, who had nine goals and six assists in 28 regular season games last season for the Stars. “It is a great four years with lots of memories.

Kianna Dietz breaks into the offensive zone for the Stars on Sunday.

    “I just want to finish with like a good year. There are six graduating, so we definitely want to finish strong.”

    Dietz has had a couple of signature moments with the team as well. In the female final of the prestigious Mac’s Midget Tournament in Calgary in January of 2015, Dietz had a goal in the Stars 4-2 victory over the Calgary Fire at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

    On March 25, 2015 at the Agriplace Arena, Dietz set up the Stars first ever SFMAAAHL championship winning goal, which was scored by Gerlitz. Dietz proceeded to net the insurance marker to help the Stars down the Bears 2-0 in Game 3 of the SFMAAAHL series and sweep the best-of-five set 3-0.

    Dietz said playing for the Stars has had a big impact on her life, and that she has been lucky to have Greg Slobodzian as her head coach for a fifth straight season. Slobodzian was Dietz’s head coach on the Saskatoon Comets bantam AA team during the 2013-14 campaign.

Joelle Fiala had a pair of goals for the Stars on Sunday.

    “It has definitely made me the player that I am today,” said Dietz, who has a goal and a career high nine assists in 12 appearances this season for the Stars. “With Greg especially coaching me for five years now, it has helped me so much.

    “My game has definitely improved a lot.”

    Slobodzian said Dietz is one of those players that can deliver insight to the coaches. The two often have a lot of conversations about what they saw watching NHL games on television. Dietz will watch as many NHL games as she can during a hockey season.

    “She is a real smart kid who gets and understands the game,” said Slobodzian. “There are often times she will be like, ‘Hey coach, look at what they are doing.’

    “She will pick something out before I see it.”

    The bench boss said that even before Sunday’s game Dietz visited the coach’s office and asked how her game was and what she needed to improve on.

Captain Mackenna Parker had the Stars fourth goal on Sunday.

    “If you have every athlete like that sort of taking ownership of like, ‘OK, how am I doing and how can I help,’ it would be great to have 19 girls putting that kind of thought process into it,” said Slobodzian. “That is the type of girl she is.

    “She has great hands, a great shot and is super smart. Unfortunately, she has to get just a little bit quicker, and that is often the case with some players.

    “She is great. I have always enjoyed coaching her. She really, really cares.”
    Dietz came away a bit disappointed with how her team played on Friday. The Stars jumped ahead 3-0 in the first period with goals from Anna Leschyshyn, Gerlitz and Fiala.

    In the second period, Erin Armstrong scored for the Prairie Fire and Mackenna Parker replied for the Stars to allow Saskatoon to head into the second intermission with a 4-1 edge.

Anna Leschyshyn scored the Stars first goal on Sunday.

    Kailey Ottenbreit scored for Melville at the 6:43 mark of the third to cut Saskatoon’s edge to 4-2.

Dietz proceeded to set up Fiala’s second of the night to give the Stars a 5-2 edge.

    Saskatoon had to hold on as Jordan Fry and Jaydea Guenter-Belte netted singles for the Prairie Fire to cut the host’s edge to 5-4, but that was as close as the visitors would get.

    Ivanco made 26 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Stars, who improved to 13-0. Taylor Nagy turned away 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Prairie Fire, who fell to 5-9.  

    “We know we can be better than that, so we have to really work harder and put in a whole 60 minutes for a game,” said Dietz. “They work really hard that team, and we kind of didn’t keep our foot on the pedal the whole game.”

The Stars celebrate their win on Sunday.

    Due to the fact the Stars have experience so much success, Dietz said her team has to fight the false sense of security feeling that the wins are just going to happen.

    “We have to know that each game we have to come prepared to work our hardest,” said Dietz. “Even in practice, we have to work to keep up that tempo we know we can play with.

    “We just have to make sure we work hard for it.”

    The Stars resume their regular season schedule on Dec. 16, when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Diamond Energy Wildcats.

    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.