Huskies face monster test in Stingers to start nationals

Drever’s presence give Dogs shot at major upset

The Huskies aim to enjoy some good moments hosting nationals.

Camryn Drever and her University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team will never back down from a challenge.

They face a big one in the quarter-final round at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament, which runs Thursday through to Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place. The eighth seeded Huskies will take on the top seeded Concordia University Stingers as the feature game at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at Merlis.

“I think we just have to come out strong and play our game,” said Drever, who is playing out her fifth and final year of U Sports eligibility. “When we shy away from doing the things that we’re really good at is when teams kind of take advantage of that.

“I think we just have to come out with a good forecheck and hopefully pop one first would be ideal for us. We just have to come out and do our things and run line by line, and I think we will be OK.”

The Huskies finished fourth in Canada West Conference with a 19-7-2 mark and fell in a best-of-three conference quarter-final series in a series deciding Game 3 to the U of Calgary Dinos 2-0. The Stingers posted a perfect 25-0 regular season record and captured the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec title with a 4-2 post-season mark.

Concordia University has also appeared in the title game of the last two U Sports Championship tournaments. In 2022 in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Stingers blanked the Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 to capture the Golden Path Trophy in the championship final.

Camryn Drever is a second team all-Canadian all-star.

Before downing the Lakers, Concordia blanked the Huskies 2-0 in a semifinal match, where Drever came up with 37 saves in the setback. The Huskies rebounded to blank the University of New Brunswick Reds 2-0 in the bronze medal game.

At last year’s tournament held in Montreal, the Stingers dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker in overtime to the eighth seeded Mount Royal University Cougars.

During the 2023-24 regular season with the Huskies, Drever posted a 15-4-2 record, a 1.33 goals against average, a .954 save percentage and five shutouts. She was named the player of the year and goaltender of the year for the Canada West. On Wednesday night, Drever was named a second team all-Canadian all-star.

Huskies head coach Steve Kook has a tonne of faith that Drever can give the host side a chance to get past the Stingers.

“You see the firepower these teams bring, I think it is a comfort having Cam (Drever) back there,” said Kook. “We’ve asked Cam to be a stalwart for our program over the last three years.

“We’ll ask her to do it one more time for three days.”

Forward Emilie Lussier had a head turning rookie year for the Stingers topping the team in regular season scoring with 34 points coming off 18 goals and 16 assists. She was named a second team all-Canadian all-star and was named to the U Sports all-rookie team.

Sophie Lalor breaks into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

A pair of third year forwards in Emilie Lavoie and Jessymaude Drapeau each recorded 27 points for the Stingers in the regular season. Lavoie collected her 27 points on 15 goals and 12 assists, while Drapeau piled up her 27 points on 11 goals and 16 assists.

Stingers head coach Julie Chu said the experience her side gained in their previous two trips to the U Sports Championship tournament helps, but she added each season writes its own story.

“I think like everything we build off what we accomplished in the past,” said Chu, who was named the U Sports coach of the year. “For those players that lived that, they are going to build off of it.

“For those players that lived the loss last year, they are going to build off of that. Those that weren’t a part of our program are going to build of their experiences. I think for us the great thing is when you have a veteran crew that has experienced nationals at least know what is the rhythm of going to a hotel (and) being surrounded by other incredible teams and athletes.

“Like anything, this is our new team. That was really important to us in training camp is to make sure we weren’t stuck in last year and make sure we weren’t stuck in the previous years. (It is) what are we going to do this year with this group that is different.”

Fifth-year forward Sophie Lalor led the Huskies in regular season scoring with 22 points coming off 12 goals and 10 assists. Fifth-year forward Kara Kondrat was second in team scoring with 18 points coming six goals and 12 assists.

Third-year forward Mallory Dyer recorded 10 goals during the regular season for the Huskies. Defender Isabella Pozzi, who is in her fifth year, topped the Huskies in defence scoring in the regular season with 13 points coming off four goals and nine assists.

Kara Kondrat finished second in team scoring for the Huskies.

When the Huskies moved into Merlis Belsher Place for the start of the 2018-19 campaign, they wanted to host a U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. Kook said his players are as ready as they will ever be.

“This was our vision when we first opened the place,” said Kook, who team was off for 24 days heading into Thursday’s quarter-final. “This would be a perfect hosting spot for a national championship.

“It doesn’t always work. You try to get timely bids for when your team is right and you have a veteran squad. It is fortunate for us that it worked out this way.

“For us, we just excited to host the country and be able to show off the building. Like I said, I think this building is perfect for hosting events just like this.”

Drever, who helped the St. Albert Slash win two Esso Cup titles as national under-18 AAA female hockey champions in 2017 and 2018, wants to finish her time with the Huskies on a high note. The Edmonton product did add that no matter what happens at nationals she will always reflect fondly on her time with the Huskies.

“I get emotional thinking about it,” said Drever. “It has been like a heck of a six years.

“There have been lots of ups and downs and just trusting the process I think has been the biggest thing for me. Just to kind of see it all come together and to end off hosting nationals is a pretty incredible feeling.

Isabella Pozzi controls the back end for the Huskies.

“There are really no words to kind of capture the last six years and all the memories in the dressing room and road trips and everything. It has just been like a phenomenal six years. I couldn’t thank the coaching staff and the team and Huskie Athletics enough for the last six years.”

NOTE – I put together an advancer piece on the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament for The Canadian Press. That story can be found by clicking 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.

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Huskies good enough when they need to be in 3-0 win

Drever makes 30 saves in victory over Cougars

Goalie Camryn Drever dives on a loose puck during a net scramble.

Some good moments and a stellar outing by star netminder Camryn Drever allowed the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team to overcome some holiday season rust.

On Friday playing before 511 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies blanked their provincial rivals the University of Regina Cougars 3-0 in the first U Sports regular season contest for both sides since returning from their respective Christmas breaks. Drever made 30 saves to pick up her 12^th career U Sports regular season shutout.

The fifth-year’s performance allowed the Huskies to overcome a determined Cougars side that carried play for a good two thirds of the contest.

Camryn Drever made 30 saves to pick up a shutout win on Friday.

“It wasn’t a very good game for us,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook, whose team improved to 11-4-1-1. “It was a good thing that Cam was on her game tonight.

“We fought the puck the whole night. The plays were there. We just didn’t pull the trigger.

“We were lucky that we got a couple early, and I thought that we played the right way for about eight or nine minutes there. We took some stupid penalties – undisciplined stuff that we didn’t need to. We almost killed ourselves there tonight.”

The two sides started out Friday’s game playing fairly even. The Huskies, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, appeared to break things open scoring two goals 73 seconds apart inside the final four minutes of the opening frame.

Mallory Dyer scored the Huskies first goal on Friday.

With 3:58 remaining in the first, Huskies third-year centre Mallory Dyer potted her sixth goal of the season to give the host side a 1-0 lead. Positioned at the right side of the Cougars net, Dyer got her stick on a rebound from a shot taken by linemate Kara Kondrat and quickly popped the puck into an empty cage.

Just 73 seconds later, the Cougars turned the puck over in their own zone. The puck came to Huskies rookie defender Jacquelyne Chief, who wired home her second goal of the campaign to put the Huskies up 2-0.

When it seemed the Huskies had all the momentum after Chief’s goal, the Cougars found another gear. The visitors closed out the first period with a flurry of five shots to hold a 12-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

Jacquelyne Chief had the Huskies second goal on Friday.

With 10.1 seconds remaining in the first, Drever made a key glove save off Cougars winger Lauren Focht to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

“I think it is tough maybe coming back from the break,” said Huskies third-year centre Desmarais. “It was our first game we got under our belt.

“It was a little rough off the start, but I think we got our legs under us just jumping back into it.”

The Cougars controlled play throughout the second period holding a 16-10 edge in shots on goal for the frame, which was a total that seemed to flatter the host side.

The Huskies had a huge chance to expand their lead, when star fifth-year centre Kennedy Brown, who is the squad’s captain, had a short-handed breakaway. Brown was denied by Cougars standout netminder Arden Kliewer.

Lauren Focht had a big first period chance to score for the Cougars.

A short time later, the Cougars had a huge chance to crack on to the scoreboard. Winger Makena Kushniruk centred the puck from behind the Huskies goal to linemate Paige Hubbard, who was positioned right in front of the home side’s net. Hubbard quickly fired a shot on goal, but the puck was swallowed up by Drever.

“Most of the first and just about all of the second, it was the Cam (Drever) show,” said Kook. “The thing about Cam’s game that is so good is that they get one (shot), but they don’t often get a second or a third.

“When we’re fighting the puck, it is important that Cam doesn’t give them that second or third, and that is what she does so well.”

Makena Kushniruk controls the puck in the offensive zone.

The Huskies proceeded to play a fairly strong shutdown style third period, where they outshot the Cougars 6-2. One of the two Cougars chances came on a Hubbard breakaway late in the frame, but Drever stoned the fourth-year winger keeping the visitors off the scoreboard.

Kondrat finished out the game’s scoring firing the puck into an empty net with 1:45 remaining in the third to round out the 3-0 win for the host side.

“I think we kind of noticed, yeah, that we did a little bit better in the third,” said Huskies fourth-year centre Kate Ball. “(It was) a rough start, but at least we got the win.”

Kara Kondrat had a goal and an assist for the Huskies.

Desmarais said her squad started to focus on playing more of a shutdown game in the third due to holding a two-goal advantage for most of the frame before Kondrat added her empty-net tally.

“I know when we are up in the third we like to focus on getting the pucks deep and getting fresh legs out there,” said Desmarais. “I think rather than getting a bunch of pucks on net like we want to in the first and second I think focused on getting the puck deep.”

Kliewer turned away 21-of-23 shots to take the setback in net for the Cougars, who fell to 5-12-1-1.

The Huskies and Cougars will go at it again on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The Huskies begin to celebrate their win on Friday.

“I think moving forward it will be a little bit better now,” said Desmarais. “We had to get that one out of the way.”

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

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Huskies will be strong hosts for U Sports women’s nationals

Dogs fall 2-1 in OT to Pandas in glimpse of the future

The Huskies take the ice for their game on Saturday.

Believe it or not, it is possible in the world of sports to play well and lose.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team lived out that notion on Saturday night in a U Sports regular season contest at Merlis Belsher Place. The Huskies took on the University of Alberta Pandas, who are always in contention for Canada West Conference and U Sports championship titles.

The Huskies led 1-0 thanks to a second period goal from right-winger Kelsey Hall, and they took that advantage well into the third period. With 6:23 remaining in the third, centre Allison Reich potted the equalizer for the Pandas that evened the score at 1-1. Pandas captain Izzy Lajoie knocked home the winner 2:36 into overtime to give the visitors a 2-1 victory in a game played before 350 spectators.

Captain Izzy Lajoie scored the OT winner for the Pandas.

The Pandas improved to 8-2 with the win, while the Huskies record moved to 7-2-1.

In defeat, the Huskies showed they are worthy of being the host team for this season’s U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship Tournament, which runs March 14 to 17, 2024 at Merlis Belsher Place. At that event, the Huskies will face teams that are the same caliber as the Pandas.

No matter who you cheer for, Saturday’s clash between the Huskies and Pandas will be the types of games you will see U Sports nationals. That means ticket buyers are going to see a lot of great hockey at that championship tourney.

The Huskies and Pandas entered their encounter on Saturday after the two side met one night earlier where U of S pulled out a 2-0 victory at Merlis Belsher Place. In that clash on Friday, Huskies all-world netminder Camryn Drever made 35 saves to pick up her 11^th career shutout in regular season play.

The Pandas celebrate their OT win on Saturday.

Due to the fact the Pandas came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard on Friday, it was safe to think they would come out with a big push at the start of Saturday’s clash. The Huskies were the ones that came flying out of the gate.

After the first 6:03 of the opening frame, the Huskies recorded the game’s first eight shots on goal. They also had the Pandas pinned in their own zone for much of that time.

Shortly after that first surge, the Huskies looked like they were about to get the game’s first goal. Pandas second year netminder Misty Rey had troubles playing the puck in her own end, and a panic scramble ensued around the U of A net that kept the puck out of the goal.

Rey and the Pandas proceeded to settle down after that near mishap and worked their way back into the game. After the first period, the game was scoreless with the Huskies holding an 11-9 edge in shots on goal.

Kelsey Hall gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the second period.

When two good teams are playing each other, there are going to be momentum swings. While the coaching staffs on both sides would be making adjustments in the first intermission, the coaches on both sides had to be OK with the scoreless tie.

At the 8:19 mark of the second, the Huskies broke through on the scoreboard, when Hall put home a shot to the top right corner of the net on a rush down the left wing. Defender Shelby Williamson picked up an assist on the play.

The Huskies proceeded to control the majority of the play from that point in time until the end of the frame. The Pandas had stretches were they got trapped in their own zone.

Misty Rey stopped 29 shots in goal for the Pandas.

The hosts continued to hold an edge in play for the first 14 minutes of the third.

The Pandas gained traction thanks to a positive bounce break that resulted in Reich’s equalizer. As the visitors started to apply pressure in the U of S zone, the puck to a strange bounce off the boards behind the Huskies net right to Reich, who was alone in close at the right side of the U of S goal.

Reich popped home the equalizer, which was her first goal of the campaign, to even the score at 1-1. From that point, the Pandas had extra life and controlled play for the rest of the frame.

Hall did have a chance to put the Huskies back out in front with a drive from the right slot only to be denied by Rey.

Camryn Drever makes one of her 28 saves for the Huskies.

The two sides would head into a three-versus-three overtime period. In overtime, the Pandas converted a difficult play to get the winner on Drever.

Pandas centre Natalie Kieser had the puck at the left boards in the Huskies zone. She floated a pass to the front of the U of S net and Lajoie ended up deflecting that pass out of the air into the Huskies net to win the game.

Usually to get a goal past Drever, teams are going to have to convert a difficult or special type of scoring play. That was what the Pandas did to obtain victory.

Drever turned away 28 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Huskies. Rey stopped 29 shot to pick up the win in net for the Pandas.

Isabella Pozzi is the Huskies steady fifth-year defender.

The Huskies now head on the road to face the U of Calgary Dinos in Calgary this coming Friday.

The Pandas return home this coming Friday to host the defending U Sports champion Mount Royal University Cougars.

Besides being a worthy host for the U Sports championship tournament, the Huskies are contenders to with the Canada West Conference title. They made the Canada West Conference championship series in 2022 falling to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

The Huskies proceeded to capture a bronze medal at the U Sports Championship Tournament held that year in Charlottetown, P.E.I. They still have a large number of veterans that were part of that post-season run in 2022. 

Fifth-year winger Kara Kondrat plays with poise and control.

That includes steady fifth-year players in winger Kara Kondrat and defender Isabella Pozzi. 

The Huskies have been without fifth-year forward Kennedy Brown due to injury so far this season, and Brown has developed a history of coming up clutch in post-season games.

Of course, the Pandas and Cougars will be considered contenders for the Canada West title too. At the moment, the 10-1-1 Thunderbirds have to be the clear favourites to win the Canada West championship for a third straight season.

The Thunderbirds have outscored their opposition 59-16, and their roster currently contains the top eight scorers in the conference.

The Huskies will have a say in how the 2023-24 campaign plays out.

Still, the Huskies are a battle tested bunch. They play with some pretty good poise and togetherness. The Huskies will play a role in determining how the 2023-24 campaign ultimately unfolds.

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

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Huskies put impressive cap on season at U Sports nationals

Women’s hockey squad takes home bronze medal

The Huskies had an impressive showing at U Sports nationals.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team penned a happy ending to the most unique chapter in team history.

On Sunday at the MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Huskies blanked the University of New Brunswick Reds 2-0 in the bronze medal game at the U Sports elite-eight women’s hockey championship tournament. The bronze medal win equaled the Huskies best result at U Sports nationals matching what the team accomplished in 2014.

The Huskies have made four trips to U Sports nationals in team history, and in a normal sports campaign, advancing that far in the post-season would be a success story in itself.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, things in the sports world and outside the sports world haven’t operated like normal since the first stoppages in North America started back on March 11, 2020.

The 2020 U Sports men’s and women’s hockey tournaments along with the men’s and women’s volleyball tournaments got their first day of action in on March 12, 2020 before the rest of the action at those events was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

U Sports didn’t hold any national championships in the 2020-21 campaign. The Canada West Conference that the Huskies play out of didn’t take part any meaningful games in 2020-21.

On the Huskies front, no one knew what to expect out of the 2021-22 campaign after the whole conference had a season off. No one knew if there were going to be any stops or starts as the campaign went along.

The Huskies lost Jordyn Holmes to a broken leg at nationals.

Actually, there was no guarantee that the season would be played to a completion.

Still, the Huskies marched through the regular season posting an 11-7-2 record to finish fifth in the Canada West Conference standings. In the Canada West playoffs, the Huskies swept the University of Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in a best-of-three quarter-final series in Winnipeg and swept the Mount Royal University Cougars 2-0 in a best-of-three semifinal series in Calgary, Alta., to advance to the Canada West Championship Series and earn a spot at U Sports nationals.

In the Canada West final, the Huskies were swept 2-0 in the best-of-three set by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Vancouver. The series closed with the Thunderbirds taking Game 2 of the series 1-0 in overtime.

After that bump in the road, the Huskies reset and ventured off to Charlottetown for U Sports nationals with a sizable contingent of supporters in family and friends. The Huskies were so good at nationals that it is possible they could have possibly won the whole thing, if two or three breaks went their way.

They opened play on the event’s second day on Friday taking on the Ontario University Athletics champion Brock University Badgers in a quarter-final contest. The fifth- seeded Huskies played arguably their best game of the season in that outing blanking the fourth-seeded Badgers 4-0.

At the 6:12 mark of the second period of that contest, rookie forward Sara Kendall ran it back to her days with the Swift Current Innovation Credit Union Wildcats under-18 female AAA team opening the contest’s scoring on a sweet backhanded wraparound.

The Huskies surged for three goals in the third with singles coming off the sticks of rookie defender Brooklyn Stevely and third year forwards Kara Kondrat and Nicole Fry. Kondrat picked up an assist on Fry’s empty-net tally and was named the Huskies player of the game in what might have been her best game at the U Sports level.

Kendra Zuchotzki turned heads as a rookie on defence.

Star third-year netminder Camryn Drever made 27 saves to pick up the shutout win for the Huskies. Netminder Tiffany Hau stopped 29-of-32 shots sent her way to take the setback in goal for the Badgers.

While the win over the Badgers was a great game for the Huskies, they did face adversity. Before Kendall scored her goal to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead, the team’s gritty, speedy, heart and soul third-year forward Jordyn Holmes broke her left leg on a crash into the boards and was lost for the rest of the tournament.

She had to have surgery on Saturday in Charlottetown to help start her injury recovery process.

In a semifinal on Saturday, the Huskies faced the top seeded Concordia University Stingers, who were the champions of the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec. Before the game, Holmes standing ovation from the crowd, when she arrived to cheer on her team.

In the semifinal contest, the Stingers came away with a 2-0 victory with Audrey Belzile and Maria Manarolis potting singles in the second period. Stingers netminder Alice Philbert made 20 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal.

Drever turned away 37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. The Huskies put up a big fight but weren’t able to find a traction moment to start a comeback.

They almost got that traction moment with four minutes remaining in the third, when Kendall rang an in close shot off the post of the Stingers goal.

Camryn Drever cemented herself as a top goalie in U Sports.

The Stingers would advance on to blank the sixth seeded Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 in the U Sports championship game on Sunday to capture the Golden Path Trophy.

Before the tournament’s title game was played, the Huskies took the ice for the bronze medal game against the second seeded Reds, who were the Atlantic University Sport conference champions.

At the 7:51 mark of the first, the Huskies jumped ahead 1-0 on a blast from the left point by rookie defender Kendra Zuchotzki. 

At the 14:08 mark of the second, rookie forward Jasper Desmarais ran it back to her days with the Prince Albert Northern Bears under-18 AAA scoring a beauty goal on a three-on-one rush that ultimately sealed the 2-0 victory.

Desmarais blew down the right wing, got in close and roofed home a shot past Reds netminder Kendra Woodland.

Woodland made 23 stops to take the setback in goal for the Reds.

Drever turned aside all 17 shots she faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies. The alumna of the St. Albert Slash female under-18 AAA team posted four shutouts in the Huskies nine total post-season games.

When Drever joined the Huskies, she came with the reputation of being a clutch goaltender having backstopped the Slash to Esso Cup titles in 2017 and 2018 as national female under-18 AAA hockey champions. Following this post-season run, Drever has cemented her place as one of the top goaltenders in all of U Sports.

Following the win over the Reds, Huskies veteran head coach Steve Kook got to put the first bronze medal around the neck of the team’s fifth-year captain in Bailee Bourassa. Bourassa is the lone fifth-year player on the squad.

Bailee Bourassa is a golden role model on and off the ice.

After receiving her medal, Bourassa presented the rest of the bronze medals to the rest of the team. 

Bourassa finished her degree in nursing and returned to the Huskies after deciding to pursue her master’s degree in nursing taking on the role of captain.

Having helped her hometown Weyburn Gold Wings in and Esso Cup title in 2014, Bourassa wanted to help the Huskies get a good restart this season after a season off in 2020-21. 

She played a big part in helping the Huskies stay relevant and show you can play high-level hockey in Canada’s U Sports ranks and get a sound education that can take you on to a great career when the playing days come to a close.

Bourassa has become the perfect example of the golden role model on and off the ice. She has always represented the team in the community with class and grace.

Forward Abby Shirley, who is the long fourth-year player on the team, was another key returnee who helped show the way and be a leader for the Huskies young generation.

Third-year defender Isabella Pozzi provided a steady hand to the Huskies back end, and she was named to the U Sports championship tournament all-star team. The Huskies have a rookie group on the back end who came into their own in the post-season and have the potential to be even better in future seasons in Stevely, Zuchotzki, Larissa Bohlken and Emily Holmes, who is Jordyn’s younger sister.

While she didn’t get any goals at U Sports nationals, third-year forward Kennedy Brown came through in clutch moments in the Canada West playoffs. She had her chances at nationals and will be another key returnee in future seasons.

Kennedy Brown came through with clutch post-season goals.

Overall, the journey the Huskies took to win a bronze medal at U Sports national on Sunday was unlike any season the Huskies have played to date. 

All the time players spent training on their own or as a team in a 2020-21 campaign that didn’t happen seemed worth it for sure after Sunday’s win.

During training time when there was no certainty of when the next game was going to be, some players had to be questioning if it was time to close the book as far as competitive hockey was concerned.

Credit has to go to all teams in U Sports for making the season happen and able to be played to a conclusion where a national champion was crowned.

After the NCAA still crowned a national women’s hockey champion in the Division I ranks in 2020-21, minor hockey players in the female game in Canada had to wonder if going down to the United States was ultimately going to be the place where they could play high-level hockey at the post-secondary level in the future.

Now, U Sports is back as a destination female players in Canada’s minor hockey system that want to continue playing high-level hockey at the post-secondary level.

The Huskies have shown they will continue to be a place where good things can happen in the classroom and on the ice whether you come from the province of Saskatchewan or any other community in Canada.

The Huskies renewed their legacy of being a great team to play for.

Ultimately, that reminder might be the lasting legacy of the 2021-22 Huskies team.

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New heroes lift Huskies to Canada West Final

Camryn Drever has been beyond stellar in the post-season.

Legends are made in the playoffs, and the new generation from University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team is leaving their mark.

The Huskies advanced to the Canada West Conference Championship Series sweeping the Mount Royal University Cougars 2-0 in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series this past weekend in Calgary, Alta. The Cougars had topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 16-2-2 record, while the Huskies finished fifth with an 11-7-2 mark.

Mount Royal won the two regular season encounters with the Huskies, but both victories came by 1-0 scores.

On top of advancing to the Canada West Final, the Huskies earned a berth at the U Sports Championship Tournament for the fourth time in program history with the previous appearances coming in 2004, 2014 and 2018.

The biggest star in the Huskies series upset win over the Cougars was third-year goaltender Camryn Drever. In the two wins over the Cougars, Drever turned away 85-of-86 shots to allow the Huskies to post a 1-0 victory in Game 1 and a 2-1 overtime triumph in Game 2.

Drever has made her first four U Sports post-season starts this year, and she won all four of those contests. She came to the Huskies as an experienced post-season performer.

Before joining the U Sports ranks, Drever was the star goaltender for the St. Albert Slash, and she backstopped them to two straight Esso Cup titles as national under-18 AAA hockey champions in 2017 and 2018. She earned a reputation as a clutch player in those runs.

In Game 1 against the Cougars played this past Friday played before 265 spectators at the Flames Community Arena, third-year forward Kara Kondrat scored at the 3:08 mark of the first period to account for the contest’s only goal in the Huskies 1-0 win.

Kennedy Brown scored the OT series winner for the Huskies.

The tally was Kondrat’s third career U Sports goal including play in the regular season and playoffs and her first marker in U Sports post-season play. It was also a career highlight as Kondrat is from Cochrane, Alta., which is a small city located on the northwest border of Calgary.

Rookie forward Mallory Dyer and rookie defender Brooklyn Stevely picked up assists on the play.

Kondrat’s goal was all the offence the Huskies would need as Drever made 32 saves to pick up her second shutout win of the post season, which matched her shutout total from the regular season.

Zoe De Beauville made 12 stops in goal for the Cougars.

In Game 2 last Saturday played before 250 spectators at the Flames Community Arena, Huskies rookie defender Larissa Bohlken scored on the power play at the 1:50 mark in the second period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The tally was Bohlken’s first career U Sports goal including action in both the regular season and playoffs.

Third-year forwards Sophie Lalor and Jordyn Holmes picked up assists on the play.

Before the second period ended, third-year forward Breanne Trotter scored for the Cougars to even the score at 1-1. From there, the contest went to overtime.

At the 3:42 mark of overtime, Huskies third-year forward Kennedy Brown popped home the rebound from a shot taken from linemate Bailee Bourassa to count for the game and series winner. The tally was Brown’s second winning goal of the post-season.

For Bourassa, the assist was the first point of the post-season for the Huskies captain. As the team’s lone fifth-year player, Bourassa, who is pursuing her master’s degree in nursing, has faced tighter checking from opposing teams as a known scoring threat.

Brooklyn Stevely had an assist for the Huskies this past Friday.

Bourassa topped the Huskies in regular season scoring with 11 points coming on seven goals and four assists appearing in all 20 of the Huskies games. She along with the Huskies lone fourth-year player in forward Abby Shirley have provided a steady had to guide the team’s new generation.

Shirley picked up a second assist on Brown’s series winning goal.

Drever had a spectacular night making 53 saves to backstop the Huskies to victory. De Beauville turned away 22 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Cougars in what would be her final U Sports game as she completed her fifth-year of eligibility.

The Huskies will now face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West Championship series. The Cougars swept the other best-of-three Canada West semifinal 2-0 against the University of Alberta Pandas.

The Thunderbirds finished second in Canada West regular season standings with a 14-6 mark. UBC will host the Canada West Final at the Doug Mitchell Sports Centre on Vancouver, B.C.

Game 1 is this coming Friday (9 p.m. Saskatchewan time, HuskieFAN.ca), Game 2 follows this coming Saturday (9 p.m. Saskatchewan time, HuskieFAN.ca), and if necessary, Game 3 is set for this coming Sunday (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, HuskieFAN.ca).

This will be the fifth time since 2014 the Huskies and Thunderbirds have met in the post-season and the first time a post-season clash between the two sides will be for the Canada West title. Both sides sport two series wins each from the previous four post-season meetings.

Before the 2020-21 campaign was lost due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, the Huskies and Thunderbirds had developed a rivalry in the style fitting the WHL from the 1980s.

Both teams experienced sizable turnover since the Thunderbirds swept a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series between the two clubs 2-0 in February of 2020.

The Huskies aim to keep the victory celebrations coming.

The Huskies and Thunderbirds split their two encounters in the 2021-22 regular season with the two squads playing intense but straight up. The current Huskies and Thunderbirds are in position to add their own unique spin to what has been a storied set of post-season battles that have happened in the past.

Both teams will play in the U Sports Championship Tournament, which is set for March 24-27 in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

For this new generation of the Huskies, they have really nothing to lose and everything to gain. A priceless challenge lies ahead to keep adding pages to this special and unique chapter in team history they are currently writing.

KENNEDY BROWN SAYS GOOD NIGHT IN CALGARY!#HuskiePride #PowerOfThePack https://t.co/jE8AkqrVUQ pic.twitter.com/3b1uITfSB2

— USask Huskie Women's Hockey (@HuskiesWHKY) March 6, 2022

D-man breakaway gives Raiders OT win, other notes

Nolan Allan scored a breakaway OT winner on Saturday.

A defenceman breakaway proved to be one of the top highlights of this past weekend in the WHL.

On Saturday, the host Prince Albert Raiders found themselves locked in a 2-2 in overtime with the WHL East Division leading Winnipeg Ice in the friendly confines of the Art Hauser Centre. The Ice were buzzing in the Prince Albert zone until Raiders defenceman Nolan Allan picked off a drop pass from Winnipeg rearguard Benjamin Zloty.

Allan chipped the puck past Ice centre Chase Wheatcroft to spring himself on a breakaway. Wheatcroft fell when he turned to chase Allan allowing the Raiders blue-liner a clear unchallenged path to the Winnipeg goal.

Allan broke into the Winnipeg zone and sniped home the winning goal low glove side on Ice netminder Gage Alexander to give the Raiders 3-2 victory and allow the 2,339 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre to try and blow the roof off the legendary rink with their raucous response.

The tally was Allan’s third goal of the season and his second winner on the campaign. The first round NHL Entry Draft selection who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks has 24 assists to go with his three goals for 27 points in 49 games with the Raiders this season.

Power forward Jack Finley scored to give the Ice a 1-0 lead late in the first period of Saturday’s contest.

Offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior scored on the power play for the Raiders in the second period to even things up at 1-1. Early in the third, Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders scored to put the host side up 2-1.

With 8:57 remaining in the third, Ice star left-winger Mikey Milne scored the equalizer to force a 2-2 tie and send the contest to overtime.

That set up the dramatics for Allan’s winner.

Import netminder Tikhon Chaika turned away 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (21-28-2-1). Alexander turned away 36 shots to take the extra time setback in net for the Ice (36-9-3-2).

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the 23-25-2-1 Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

A defensemen? On a breakaway?

What else can you expect in WOAH-VERTIME!@PARaidersHockey | @NHLBlackhawks pic.twitter.com/MtMRKEmRwf

— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 6, 2022

• It is official, Prince Albert Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid sits alone in fifth place on the WHL’s all-time career regular season head coaching wins list. Habscheid did indeed pick up his 573^rd victory to move alone into fifth spot, when the Raiders downed the Hitmen in Calgary 1-0 on February 23. The Raiders current run of two straight wins has pushed Habscheid’s career regular season win total to 575 victories. Lorne Molleken sits fourth on the WHL’s career regular season head coaching wins list with 626 victories. Molleken piled up his win total working stints behind the bench with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Saskatoon Blades, Regina Pats and Vancouver Giants from 1989 to 2016. Brett Smith, who is the Raiders manager of communications and community relations, double checked to confirm Habscheid’s win total.
• A monster season allowed Regina Rebels forward Alexis Petford to vault into 10^th place on the all-time career regular season scoring list for the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League. Petford led the league in regular season scoring with 76 points coming on 38 goals and 38 assists appearing in 29 games with the Rebels. All of those point totals were career highs for Petford, who is skating in her final campaign of under-18 AAA eligibility. In her career with the Rebels, Petford has appeared in 91 regular season games piling up 127 points coming on 63 goals and 64 assists. Petford overtook Lauren Zary for 10^th place on the career scoring list. Zary now sits 11^th on the SFU18AAAHL career regular season scoring list with 126 points. She collected her 126 points on 44 goals and 82 assists playing 103 career regular season games with the Saskatoon Stars from 2008 to 2012.
• On Saturday, the University of Wisconsin Badgers Women’s Hockey team dropped a 2-1 decisions to the Ohio State University Buckeyes in a WCHA semifinal contest. Sophie Shirley, who is an alumna of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA hockey team, had the lone goal for the Badgers. Shirley’s sister, Grace, is also on the Badgers roster and is also a Stars alumna. The Badgers still qualified for the NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. On Thursday, the Badgers will play the Clarkson University Golden Knights in an opening round match in Boston, Massachusetts. The winner moves on to the elite eight quarter-final round against the third seeded Northeastern University Huskies. The Huskies roster contains star defender Brooke Hobson, who is an alumna of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 AAA team.
• On Saturday, the Cracovia Krakow from Poland downed the host Aalborg Pirates in Denmark 4-0 to win the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Continental Cup. The Krakow locked up a spot in the Champions Hockey League in Europe for the upcoming season. The Krakow roster contains Collin Shirley, who is an alumnus of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers and U Sports’ University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey team. Shirley had a goal in the Krakow’s win over the Pirates.
• On Monday, the Swift Current Broncos removed the interim tag on Devan Praught’s job title as the team’s head coach. The 34-year-old Praught’s is now the Broncos full-time head coach. Praught originally joined the Broncos as an assistant coach on July 30, 2021. He became the club’s interim head coach on October 14, 2021 after Dean Brockman stepped down as the Broncos head coach and general manager. The Broncos posted an 18-25-5-2 record after Praught became in the interim head coach. Chad Leslie became the Broncos general manager after Brockman’s departure.
• On Monday, the WHL named Brandon Wheat Kings overage defenceman Chad Nychuk as the player of the week for the week ending this past Sunday. Nychuk had three goals and seven assists in three games for the Wheat Kings to pick up player of the week honours. Also on Monday, the WHL named Kamloops Blazers netminder Dylan Ernst as the goaltender of the week for the week ending this past Sunday. Ernst won all three of his starts for the week in question posting a 1.97 goals against average and a .930 save percentage.
• The Edmonton Oil Kings are riding an 11-game winning streak to lead the WHL’s overall standings with a 41-11-2-1 mark.
• If you are looking for stories on the U Sports playoff run of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team, you need to check out huskiefan.ca. Huskies women’s hockey play-by-play voice Daniella Ponticelli has filed great stories about the playoff run accompanying the team on the road. HuskieFAN has provided beat coverage of the Huskies Football team and the Huskies Men’s Hockey team.

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

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Huskies squeak out ninth win in a row, nail down playoff bye

Jared Dmytriw had the winning goal for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Riley Lamb nearly robbed the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    The first year netminder for the University of Manitoba Bisons came up with an incredible 42 save performance on Saturday night at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, Man. The 21-year-old gave his Bisons a prime opportunity to steal a victory, but his effort wasn’t enough to keep the Huskies at bay.

    The Huskies overcame an early 2-0 first period deficit and ultimately rallied for a 4-3 victory in the U Sports regular season clash to pull out a ninth straight victory. The win allowed the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, to improve to 20-4-2 to ensure they will have a bye through the first round of the Canada West playoffs and will host a best-of-three semifinal series.

    The Huskies and their “forever rivals” the U of Alberta Golden Bears (21-5) are guaranteed to finish in the top two positions of the Canada West Conference standings. Both squads have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

    Both teams have 42 points to hold down the first and second spots in the Canada West standings. The Golden Bears hold the standings tiebreaker having won three out of the four head-to-head meetings between the two sides.

Kohl Bauml scored for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Against the Bisons on Saturday, the Huskies fell behind 2-0, when Bisons defenceman Ryan Carlson scored 48 seconds into the first period and again at the 3:15 mark of the opening frame.
    The Huskies battled back to even the score at 2-2 heading into the first intermission with goals coming from the sticks of rookie winger Justin Ball and fifth-year winger Kohl Bauml.

    U of S held a 16-5 advantage in shots on goal after the opening 20 minutes.

    In the second, fifth-year centre Logan McVeigh scored 65 seconds into the frame to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead. The Huskies were unable to add to their advantage despite holding a 19-3 edge in shots on goal.

    At the 7:01 mark of the third, Bisons fifth-year offensive defenceman Adam Henry netted his 10th goal of the season to even the score at 3-3.

    Rookie centre Jared Dmytriw potted his 10^th of the season and the game winner with 2:58 remaining in the third to put the Huskies ahead for good at 4-3.

    Sophomore netminder Travis Child turned away 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies.

    The Bisons fell to 9-13-2-2 to sit fifth in the Canada West standings.

    After starting 0-3-1, the Huskies have rolled off a 20-1-1 record over their past 22 outings. 

Logan McVeigh scored for the Huskies on Saturday.

    They have battled the injury bug throughout the campaign including a rash of injuries at the start of the season on defence.
    The Huskies can still finish first in Canada West, if the Golden Bears, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, suffer a loss in one of their final two games.

    The Huskies close their regular season schedule with a home-and-home series with the University of Regina Cougars, who sit seventh in Canada West with an 8-15-2-1 record. The Cougars need to win both games against the Huskies to give themselves the best shot to move into the top six of the Canada West standings and earn a playoff berth.

    The two sides meet this coming Friday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place and again this coming Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

    The Golden Bears close out their regular season schedule hosting the Bisons this coming Friday and Saturday in Edmonton.

Major third period collapse costly for Huskies women’s team

Elizabeth Salyn had a goal and an assist for the Huskies on Saturday.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team saw a golden opportunity to move into second in the Canada West Conference standings slip through their fingers.

    On Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies built a 3-0 victory over the U of Manitoba Bisons after 40 minutes of play. With star fourth-year netminder Jessica Vance playing goal and the Huskies carrying the reputation of being one of the best defensive teams in the conference, it seemed like that lead would be insurmountable.

    Unexpectedly, the Bisons rallied for four straight goals in the third period to skate away with a 4-3 victory in the U Sports regular season contest.

    The Bisons improved to 9-16-1 with the win but still remained last in the eight-team Canada West Conference. Due to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds slipping past the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns 2-1 in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday, the Bisons were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

    The Huskies entered Saturday’s clash with the Bisons riding a seven-game winning streak. With the loss, the Huskies fell to 16-7-2-1 to sit third in the Canada West standings with 49 points coming off 14 regulation wins, two extra time wins and three extra time setbacks.

    U of S trails the U of Calgary Dinos (16-7-1-2) by one point for second place. The Dinos have 50 points in the standings coming off 15 regulation wins, one extra time win and three extra time setbacks.
    In Canada West women’s hockey, teams are awarded three points in the standings for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time setbacks.
    The top two teams in Canada West earn byes past the first round of the playoffs and the opportunity to host best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

Shyan Elias had an assist for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Both the Huskies and Dinos have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules. The Huskies hold the standings tiebreaker over the Dinos having won all four head-to-head encounters between the two sides.

    The Huskies can’t finish any lower than third or any higher than second in Canada West.

    The U of Alberta Pandas (19-7) top the Canada West standings with 56 points coming off 18 regulation wins and one extra time win. The Pandas, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, need to earn one more point in the standings to lock up first in Canada West.

    The Dinos hold the standings tiebreaker against the Pandas having one three out of four head-to-head encounters between the two sides.

    In Saturday’s clash between the Huskies and the Dinos, fifth-year centre Elizabeth Salyn scored to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the first period with fifth-year veteran left-winger Shyan Elias and third-year right winger Abby Shirley picking up assists. 
    Fifth-year left-winger Rachel Lundberg and sophomore forward Kara Kondrat each netted their first goals of the campaign in the second period to put the Huskies up 3-0.
    Salyn had an assist on Lundberg’s goal to finish with a two-point night.

    At that point, things fell apart for the host side. Just 1:42 into the third, third-year left-winger Mekaela Fisher scored for the Bisons to cut the Huskies lead to 3-1.

    At the 10:44 mark of the third, fourth-year right-winger Sheridan Oswald tallied for the Bisons to cut the Huskies edge to 3-2.

    With 1:26 remaining in the third, Bisons fifth-year captain Jordyn Zacharias scored the equalizer to force a 3-3 tie. Just seven seconds after that tally, Bisons rookie right-winger Kate Gregoire scored the winner for the visitors to cement the final score a 4-3.

    Zacharias had two assists to go with her goal.

    Vance turned away 16 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. Fifth-year veteran Amanda Schubert turned away 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bisons.

    The Huskies also failed to score on three third period power-play chances as the Bisons roared back on the scoreboard to add to the collapse for the host side.

Kara Kondrat had a goal for the Huskies on Saturday.

    The Huskies close their regular season with a home-and-home series against the U of Regina Cougars, who sit fourth in Canada West with a 13-13 record. The two sides meet this coming Friday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

    They then go at it on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    The Dinos close their season with a home-and-home series with the Pronghorns (9-14-1-2). They go at it this coming Friday in Lethbridge and again this coming Saturday in Calgary.

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

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    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.