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| Kayla Kirwan, right, celebrates scoring for the Huskies. |
It was a good night to be connected to Swift Current.
Out in Buffalo, New York, on Friday night, Swift Current
Broncos star right-winger Tyler Steenbergen had a golden moment playing for
Canada at the world junior hockey championships. Locked in a 1-1 tie with
Sweden in the gold medal game, Steenbergen tipped home a point shot from Conor
Timmins with 1:40 to play in the third period to give Canada a 2-1 edge. Canada
added an empty-net goal to pull out a 3-1 victory before 17,544 spectators at
the KeyBank Centre.
In Saskatoon on Friday night, a pair of alums from the Swift
Current Diamond Energy Wildcats female midget AAA team came through in the clutch
for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team before a cozy gathering
of 235 spectators at the ancient Rutherford Rink.
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| Kayla Kirwan controls the puck at the point for the Huskies. |
Defender Kayla Kirwan and
centre Chloe Smith each netting singles to power the Huskies to a 2-0 U Sports
regular season victory in their “Play For a Cure” game against the University
of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
The Huskies were raising money for breast cancer research in their 10th annual match, where
they fundraise for a cancer fighting charity.
Wearing special pink
jerseys for the contest, Smith said the fact that this was her squad’s cancer
fundraising game wasn’t far from the minds of the Huskies players, so the night
was a special one.
“It feels good,”
said Smith, who is in her rookie season with the Huskies. “Our coaches were
talking about it at the start of the game here.
“We weren’t playing
just to win the game. We were playing for a cure for cancer, so it was pretty
cool that we got all dressed up in these jerseys and represented that and
raised some money for a great cause.
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| Chloe Smith, right, drives a shot on goal for the Huskies. |
“Plus on the good
side, we won. It was a good night overall.”
The Huskies came
storming out of the game outshooting the Pronghorns 17-2 over the opening 20
minutes of the contest. Pronghorns netminder Alicia Anderson was doing her best
to give the visitors a chance. She made a number of big stops including robbing
Huskies left-winger Emily Upgang with a glove grab on a perfectly executed
backdoor set up.
Anderson was
eventually beat with the Huskies working the power play with nine seconds to play
in the first period. A shot from Huskies star captain Kaitlin Willoughby
rebounded to an open area in front of the Pronghorns’ net to provide a
second-chance opportunity.
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| Kayla Kirwan charges up ice for the Huskies. |
Kirwan swooped in
from the point and popped home her second goal of the season over a fallen
Anderson to give the Huskies a 1-0 edge. Brooklyn Haubrich, who is another
Wildcats alum, picked up a second assist on Kirwan’s tally.
“We’ve struggled
pretty hard with the power play, but the second half we have a new system, and
it seems to be working,” said Kirwan, who team was 3-for-55 on the power play
on the season entering Friday’s contest. “We are getting more shots off, and
that seems to be our focus.”
Kirwan said the
Huskies coaches have been telling the defenders make some calculated aggressive
plays on the power play, so the 19-year-old sophomore from Gull Lake, Sask.,
decided to pinch down, when she saw a loose puck.
“They (the Huskies
coaches) always tell us to get ready to shoot down,” said Kirwan. “You always
want to make it a three-on-two or a four-on-two, whatever it takes.
“I saw the
opportunity, and I buried it.”
Netminder Jessica
Vance, who is having an outstanding season for the Huskies, wasn’t tested often
over the first 40 minutes, but she came through with some big stops. Early in
the second, the Pronghorns entered the Huskies zone on a three-on-one rush, and
Vance walled off Pronghorns left-winger Alli Borrow from potting a feed that came
across the face of the Huskies net with the help of a backchecking Willoughby.
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| Huskies goalie Jessica Vance makes one of her 18 saves in a shutout win. |
At the 7:45 mark of
the third, Smith charged down the left wing on a rush and floated a beauty shot
over Anderson’s shoulder to the top right corner of the Pronghorns goal to give
the Huskies a 2-0 edge. The tally was Smith’s third goal of the campaign.
“It feels good,”
said Smith. “I was kind of waiting for another chance.
“To shoot the puck a
little bit more, that is my goal the second half. I did that today, and it paid
off for me so it was exciting. I was just shooting it on net, saw the open
corner and that is where it went.”
Traditionally, the
Wildcats players who have come to the Huskies have been able to step in and
play well. Kirwan gave credit to a veteran bench boss for that development.
“I think I’d have to
credit (Wildcats head coach) Terry Pavely,” said Kirwan. “He has been an unreal
coach. He has helped us get here.”
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| The Huskies begin celebrating their win over the Pronghorns. |
While Kirwan and
Smith were teammates on the Wildcats, Smith said the overall minor hockey
system in the Swift Current area has been key in helping the Wildcats grads.
“We have good
coaching, and Swift Current is a pretty big hockey town and all the towns
around it,” said Smith. “We kind of grew up together playing against each
other, and we just have a good development program.”
Vance turned away 18
shots to pick up her fourth shutout win in goal for the Huskies (10-6-1).
Anderson turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Pronghorns
(5-10-2).
The two teams go at
it again on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.
Wildcats grads pumped for Steenbergen
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| Broncos RW Tyler Steenbergen had a golden moment for Canada. |
Kayla Kirwan and
Chloe Smith were all focused on helping their U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s
hockey team blank the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns 2-0 on Friday night at the
Rutherford Rink, but they were pumped to hear special news linked to their
hometown area.
Shortly after they
stepped off the ice, the two alums of the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats
female midget AAA team found out Tyler Steenbergen of the WHL’s Swift Current
Broncos had scored the gold medal winning goal for Canada at the world junior
hockey championships.
Steenbergen tipped
home a point shot from Conor Timmins with 1:40 to play in the third period to
break a 1-1 tie and put Canada up 2-1 on Sweden. Canada rounded out a 3-1 win
with an empty-net goal in the title game at world juniors played before 17,544
spectators at the KeyBank Centre in Buffalo, New York, on Friday night.
During his time in
Swift Current, Steenbergen has blossomed into a star right-winger for the
Broncos, and the 19-year-old is in his fourth season with the team. Before
joining Canada for world juniors, Steenbergen had piled up 35 goals and 26 assists
in 27 regular season games with Broncos in the current campaign.
While Steenbergen is
from Sylvan Lake, Alta., Kirwan said Steenbergen’s gold medal winning goal at
world juniors looks good on Swift Current, because he has played there for his
whole WHL career.
“It is really cool,”
said Kirwan. “I think it is pretty awesome that he’s coming from such a small
town, and I know we kind of take pride in that too.”
Smith said athletes
in Swift Current are pretty good at supporting each other, so the emotions got
immediately pumped up hearing about Steenbergen’s big goal.
“It is pretty cool,”
said Smith. “It always nice to hear that guys from your hometown are doing good
in their hockey careers.
“It is exciting,
good for him (and) good for Canada.”
Steenbergen, who is
an NHL Draft selection of the Arizona Coyotes, has 111 goals and 97 assists in
238 career regular season games with the Broncos.
Dillon Dube scored
Canada’s first goal early in the second period, while Tim Soderlund tallied for
Sweden to force a 1-1 tie before the second frame ended.
That set the scene
for Steenbergen’s winner. Alex Formenton rounded out the scoring for Canada
with an empty-net goal.
Carter Hart turned
away 35 shots to pick up the win in goal for Canada, who went 6-0-1 at the
tournament. Filip Gustavsson stopped 24 of 26 shots to take the setback in goal for
Sweden, who finished the event with a 6-1 record.
Huskies men’s team takes thriller against
Pronghorns
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| Alex Forsberg scored twice for the Huskies. |
The U of
Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team sure likes to engage in thrillers with
the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
The two sides
engaged in another standout contest that saw the Huskies prevail 3-2 in a U
Sports regular season match before a gather of 273 spectators at the Nicholas
Sheran Arena in Lethbridge. The win was a sixth straight victory for the
Huskies.
Winger Alex Forsberg
scored twice in the first period to give the Huskies a 2-0 edge. At the 4:14
mark of the second, forward Russell Maxwell scored for the Pronghorns to cut
the Huskies edge to 2-1.
Forward Jordan
Tkatch potted his second of the season shortly after the midway point of the
second to give the Huskies a 3-1 edge. Forward Connor Sanvido tallied with 1:46
remaining in the second period for the Pronghorns to cut the Huskies edge to
3-2. The Pronghorns were unable to net the equalizer in the third.
Jordon Cooke turned
away 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies (14-2-1). Garret
Hughson turned away 37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Pronghorns
(7-9-1).
Defenceman Colby
Harmsworth and forward Parker Thomas each picked up a pair of assists for the
Huskies in the win.
The two teams go at
it again on Saturday in Lethbridge.
Kustra caps Blades comeback
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| Jake Kustra scored the winning goal for the Blades on Friday night. |
Defensive defenceman
Jake Kustra picked a great time to go for it offensively for the Saskatoon
Blades.
Locked in a 2-2 draw
with the visiting Red Deer Rebels, Kustra pinched low to the left side of the
Rebels goal on an offensive rush, and he knocked home a sweet backhand feed
from overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr that came across the front of the Red
Deer goal to give the Blades a 3-2 lead with 9:25 to play in the third period.
Kustra’s second goal of the season held up to be the winner to delight most of
the 3,169 spectators at the SaskTel Centre on Friday night.
Shmyr potted his 20th
of the season late in the first period to give the Blades a 1-0 lead. The
Rebels stormed back going ahead 2-1 in the second period on singles from the
sticks of Reese Johnson and Alex Morozoff.
With 3:18 remaining
in the second period, Bradly Goethals netted his ninth goal of the season to
pull the Blades even at 2-2. That set the stage for Kustra’s winner in the
third.
Nolan Maier, who is
a 16-year-old rookie, turned away 22 shots to win his ninth straight start in
goal for the Blades. Riley Lamb turned away 24 shots to take the setback in
goal for the Rebels.
The Blades, who had
won six straight, improved to 20-17-2-1. They hold one of the two wildcard
playoff spots in the WHL’s Eastern Conference along with Regina Pats (20-18-3).
Both the Blades and Pats have 43 points in the standings and are seven points
ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders (14-17-6-2), who are in pursuit of one of
those two post-season spots.
The Blades return to
action on Saturday when they host the Kootenay Ice (18-20-3) at 7 p.m. at the
SaskTel Centre.
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to stankssports@gmail.com.
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