Blades’ Maier, Dach and Love deserve roles with Canada’s under-18 squad

Blades netminder Nolan Maier is going to play for Canada’s under-18 team.

    It might be hard for fans in “The Bridge City” to believe this, but the Saskatoon Blades will likely be a good team this season.

    If the selections for Canada’s under-18 team this summer are any indication, the future is now for this year and the next couple of seasons afterwards for the Blades. Saskatoon is one of two franchises in the Canadian Hockey League to have two representatives on the Canadian team in goaltender Nolan Maier and centre Kirby Dach.

    Joining those two is Blades head coach Mitch Love as an assistant coach for the Canadian side. Love was hired by the Blades this past May.

    The trio will try to help Canada win the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which starts Monday and runs through to Aug. 11 in Edmonton and Red Deer. Canada opens play taking on Switzerland on Monday at 7 p.m. at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Blades C Kirby Dach will play for Canada’s under-18 team.

    In a pre-tournament game on Saturday at the Servus Arena in Red Deer, Canada dropped a 4-3 decision to the Czech Republic.

    Canada won last year’s event, when it was known at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, when it was held in Breclav and Bratislava in the Czech Republic.

    Maier and Dach played a big part as 16-year-old rookies last season helping the Blades post a solid 35-33-3-1 record playing out of an incredibly tough East Division in the WHL. Saskatoon posted an 18-17-2-1 mark against its East Division rivals in falling three points shy of the Prince Albert Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second wildcard playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

    The Blades had the seventh best record in the 12-team conference in missing the post-season.

    Maier turned heads becoming the Blades starting goalie posting statistics you don’t normally see from a 16-year-old rookie with a 23-17-2 record, a 3.31 goals against average, a .895 save percentage and two shutouts. The Yorkton, Sask., product claimed the team awards for rookie of the year and most valuable player.

    Maier, who stands 6-feet and weighs 168 pounds, stole a number of games for the Blades last season. His play equaled that of any of the league’s top established puck stoppers.

Nolan Maier was named the Blades rookie of the year and MVP last season.

    Dach came to the Blades with big expectations after they selected him in the first round and second overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. The Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., product received his first extended stay with the Blades in his 15-year-old season in the 2016-17 campaign.

    With the Blades dealing with a number of injuries, they made a special request to have Dach called up from Fort Saskatchewan Rangers midget AAA team on an emergency basis near the end of the regular season. The request was accommodated by Hockey Alberta, Fort Saskatchewan Minor Hockey and the WHL.

    Dach appeared in 19 regular season games in 2016-17 collecting six goals, four assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

    Last season as a 16-year-old rookie, Dach, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 181 pounds, appeared in 52 regular season games recording seven goals and 39 assists. While he was a rookie, Dach already started to attract special attention from opponents, who tried to agitate him, trash talk him and give him extra shots after the whistle to knock him off his game. Those tactics are usually received for established veteran stars.

Kirby Dach turned heads as a point producer.

    In November of 2017, both Maier and Dach played for Canada Black at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge held jointly in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C.

    At that tournament, Maier posted a 1-2 record, a 3.02 goals against average, a .917 save percentage and one shutout in three appearances. Dach had a goal and six assists in five games.

    Both players are humble, don’t skip any steps and put in the time to get better as players and persons. They are two players you never have to worry about, because they are very self-motivated when it comes improving.

    Love joined the Blades after spending seven seasons on the staff of the Everett Silvertips. He came on board with the Silvertips in 2011 as an assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach. He was an assistant coach and an assistant to the general manager this past season.

    As one of the Silvertips bench bosses, Love helped Everett finish third overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-20-2-3 mark this past season. 
    In the playoffs, the Silvertips advanced all the way the WHL Championship series, where they fell 4-2 in the best-of-seven set to the Swift Current Broncos.

    During his years with the Silvertips, Love was also an assistant coach for a couple of Canadian teams at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge in 2015 and 2016. 
    The under-17 tournament saw Love earn a gold medal working with Team Canada White.

Mitch Love introduced as the new Blades head coach in May.

    Love was a guest coach at Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp in 2017.

    The 34-year-old product from Quesnel, B.C., is a younger coach who has worked his way up and is ready to take on the head coach role. When Love was in Everett, the Silvertips played with a lot of poise and discipline.

    You can expect Love will try to make the Blades mirror the positive characteristics the Silvertips had during his time there.

    When this trio is done at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, it is possible to foresee that they will help the Blades end their playoff drought that spans back to 2013 this season. It feels like “The Bridge City Bunch” is set to finally see good times once again.

Huskies’ alum McFaull to honour late Gasper as a pro

Kendall McFaull is going to honour a friend in the pros.

    For his first season in the professional hockey ranks, University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey alum Kendall McFaull is going to honour a friend who tragically passed away.

    This coming season, McFaull is going to play for the Stena Line Belfast Giants, who play out of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. For one season, the 26-year-old defensive defenceman is going to wear #27 in honour of Troy Gasper the Giants announced on Tuesday. The two grew up together in Rosetown, Sask.

    Gasper, 26, his 28-year-old wife, Carissa, and their three children, Kael, Shea and Maks, were killed on June 29, 2018 when their SUV collided with another SUV on Highway 4 near Elrose. Gasper played junior A hockey with the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League from 2009 to 2011.

    McFaull was originally going to wear #2 for the Giants as #27 has been retired by the team in 2004 in honour of former Giants left-winger Paxton Schulte. Schulte agreed with bringing #27 out of retirement for one season to allow McFaull to honour Gasper.

    Last season with the Huskies in U Sports, McFaull, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 209 pounds, appeared in 27 regular season games collecting four goals, five assists and a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department. In 139 career regular season games with the Huskies from 2013 to 2018, McFaull recorded 13 goals, 26 assists and a plus-36 rating.

Words can't describe how much it means to be able to wear #27 in honour of my good friend and his beautiful family! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Paxton Schulte and the Belfast Giants! I won't take a game for granted everytime I put on that jersey! https://t.co/kYEc7VKU9u

— Kendall McFaull (@kmcfaull) July 31, 2018

    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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Ethier loved being a standout in both softball and hockey

Former elite athlete a Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame inductee

Trevor Ethier starred in both softball and hockey.

    Trevor Ethier was happy he never had to choose to play just either softball or hockey.

    Growing up in Saskatoon, he played both sports at an elite level. As a pitcher and third baseman in softball, Ethier advanced in his career to become a member of the Canadian national team from 2003 to 2009.

    He helped Canada win gold at the 2003 Pan-American Games and bronze at the 2009 International Softball Federation World Men’s Championships.

    As a right-winger in hockey, Ethier became a member of the Saskatoon Blades playing the compete 1993-94 season with his hometown WHL club helping them advance to the WHL championship series, where they fell in seven games to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.

    Ethier was best remembered for playing four complete seasons with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team from 1996 to 2000. In the history of the Huskies men’s team, Ethier ranks third in all-time goals (75), 14^th in all-time assists (82) and seventh in all-time points (157) in regular season play.

    He helped the Huskies win three straight Canada West championships from 1998 to 2000 and appear in three straight U Sports national championship tournaments.

    “I really enjoyed that switch, that transition,” said Ethier. “At that point in time when I was doing both of those sports my entire life, I never wanted to play either one all year round.

    “I was always ready to move on to the next one. I really encourage people to be multi-sport athletes, if they can do that. If it works out for them to continue that as long as they can, I think that is a great way of doing it.”

    On Wednesday at a press conference at the Saskatoon Fieldhouse, the 42-year-old was announced as an inductee for the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame class of 2018 in the athlete category. It marks the first time Ethier has been named to any sports Hall of Fame.

    “I’ve just been very excited,” said Ethier. “I’m extremely honoured to be part of such a special group.

    “I’m really thankful to be part of something so special. To be able to play two sports in our great city with all these great people and volunteers, I just think we have always been an amazing host here in Saskatoon.

    “Just the relationships and the friendships that you have built along the way, it has just been pretty special. You take that with you forever.”

    Ethier said he felt fortunate he came up in an era where it was still common for athletes to play multiple sports. These days, specialization is more the norm, where an athlete at an elite level picks one sport and plays it all year round.

Dan Asham, Keith Cote and Dave Elder will enter the hall as builders.

    “During that season whether it was hockey or softball, that was my favourite sport,” said Ethier. “All of a sudden when I was finished, I was ready to switch to the other one and that became my favourite sport at that time.”

    Ethier hopes there will still be some high level athletes in the current day that try to play multiple sports. As far as his career goes, he wouldn’t have made as many memories, if he had specialized.

    In softball, his greatest memory was playing with the Canadian national team for as long as he did.

    In hockey, his best memories were being part of the Blades in the 1993-94 campaign and his career with the Huskies.

    During each of the three straight Canada West championships wins from 1998 to 2000, the Huskies defeated their “forever rivals” the University of Alberta Golden Bears in the conference title series. The Golden Bears bounced back to win the U Sports national title in 1999 and 2000.

    The Huskies hosted U Sports nationals after each of those Canada West title wins, but were never able to capture the University Cup. Looking back, Ethier said there were no regrets in the fact the Huskies weren’t able to capture the top prize in U Sports men’s hockey.

    “Those were fantastic years,” said Ethier. “We had great teams, great coaches.

    “We always had some great rivalries. I think it was just an awesome experience right from the get go to be able to host those championships here and have all those battles with the Bears. It was great.”

    These days, Ethier is heavily involved in coaching softball. On top of coaching at various levels, he has a teaching position at Tommy Douglas Collegiate and a major part of his teaching assignment is working as an instructor at the Tiger Softball Academy.

    “Coaching is great,” said Ethier. “I love to be able to be able to give back in this great game.

    “I get to teach and coach softball all day at my job at Tommy Douglas in the softball academy program. I am also coaching with the junior national team. I am also coaching the Selects U-19 midget team here in Saskatoon as well.

    “I keep pretty busy with all those aspects. Just getting the opportunity to do that is pretty special.”

    Other athletes that are part of the 2018 Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame class include Mike Anderson, who was an offensive lineman with the 1989 Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders and a Saskatoon Hilltops grad, Kris Odegard in racquetball and Viola Yanik in wrestling.

Bob Kinzel, right, helped start the Saskatoon 50-Plus Hockey League.

    Those entering the hall in the builders category include Dan Asham in baseball, Keith Cote in volleyball, Dave Elder in multiple sports, Kerry Tarasoff in curling and Irene Wallace in basketball.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s teams for track and field that won the U Sports national title in 2003 and 2004 will be inducted under the team category. Those were the last two national championship track teams guided by legendary Huskies track and field head coach Lyle Sanderson, who passed away in February.

    The Saskatoon 50-Plus Hockey League was named the Sports Organization of the Year by the local Hall of Fame.

    The Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame 33^rd annual induction ceremonies will be held on Nov. 3 at TCU Place.

Ring day for 2017 CJFL champion Hilltops

From left, Ryan Turple, James Vause and Jason Price show off their rings. 

    The smiles at the Saskatoon Minor Football Field clubhouse were as wide as they could be.

    On Wednesday, the members of the 2017 Saskatoon Hilltops received their championship rings for winning their fourth straight Canadian Junior Football League championship. The Hilltops posted an 11-1 overall record in the 2017 campaign and dismantled the Windsor AKO Fratmen 56-11 to win the Canadian Bowl as league champions on November 11, 2017 in Windsor, Ont.

    James Vause, who completed his final year of CJFL eligibility playing safety and kicking for the Hilltops in 2017, couldn’t believe how big the new ring looked.

    “It was honestly so big it almost fell out of the box when I opened it,” said Vause. “This is a 5XL. We’ve typically gone 4XLs in the past, so it is pretty massive.

    “I got it on my pinky, and it is basically as big as my pinky right now. It is an unbelievable ring. It is probably my favourite so far.”

    Besides winning the last four straight CJFL championships, the Hilltops have claimed seven out of the last eight league crowns. Overall, the Hilltops have won 20 national junior football titles, with their first championship coming back in 1953 also downing the Fratmen 34-6 at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon.

    Vause wore his three rings from the 2014 to 2016 CJFL championship wins to Wednesday’s ceremony, and the 22-year-old marveled looking at his right hand putting the 2017 ring on his pinky finger to accompany the rings from the previous wins.

Tom Sargeant, right, picks up his 14th CJFL championship ring.

    “It is really cool looking back down on my hand,” said Vause. “We’re the only team that has won four straight.

    “That is even cool in itself the fact that they are all in a row and we broke the record there, where we made history with that championship win. It is just incredibly special.”

    This coming season, Vause and defensive lineman Tom Schnitzler, who also exhausted his CJFL eligibility last season, will travel to Vancouver, B.C., and suit up for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds football team in the U Sports ranks. Vause said the ring ceremony was a special way to cap his time with the Hilltops.

    “It is incredible to go four years and win four,” said Vause. “I’m really blessed that I had that opportunity, and we had such great teams and coaches.

    “I had such a great time with the Hilltops. To come and see the guys again tonight, it just reminded me of how amazing my time there was, and I am really appreciative of that. To end off with a ring is even more special.”
    Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant picked up his 14th CJFL championship ring with the team. He won 11 rings as a head coach, two as an assistant coach and his first as a player back in 1985.

Blades round out coaching staff hiring Marsh

    On Monday, the Saskatoon Blades rounded out their coaching staff hiring Ryan Marsh as an associate coach.

    The 43-year-old from Quesnel, B.C., spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings. Before joining the WHL ranks with the Oil Kings, Marsh spent time as an assistant coach with the University of Alberta Golden Bears men’s hockey team (2012-2014) in U Sports and the junior A ranks with the Spruce Grove Saints (2006-2010, 2011-12) and the Fort Saskatchewan Traders (2003-06).

    The Golden Bears won the David Johnston University Cup as U Sports national champions in 2014.

    Marsh and first-year Blades head coach Mitch Love are familiar with each other having worked together as assistant coaches with Team Canada Red at the 2016 World under-17 Hockey Challenge.

    “I wanted a guy that the players wanted to play for, a guy the players want to come to work for every day,” said Love in a release. “In all my research from former players that Ryan (Marsh) had coached in Edmonton, everyone had nothing but good things to say about Ryan as a person and a hockey person.

    “That was important because for the last month I’ve been talking about what kind of group we want to be, the culture we want to instill here, and Ryan fit that mold.”

    During his playing days, Marsh was a defenceman in WHL for the Tri-City Americans from 1992 to 1995 appearing in 186 regular season games collecting 16 goals and 29 assists.

    He also played four seasons for the Golden Bears from 1997 to 2001 helping them win U Sports national championships in 1999 and 2000. In the classroom, Marsh picked up his bachelor’s degree in physical education.

    Marsh played his final season of professional hockey in 2001-02 with the Louisiana Ice Gators of the East Coast Hockey League collecting three goals and three assists in 60 regular season games.

    The Blades coaching staff is rounded out by three returning members in assistant coaches Ryan Keller and Jerome Engele, who is a Blades lifer, along with goaltending coach Tim Cheveldae.

Huskies’ grads McFaull and Roach to play pro overseas

Kendall McFaull is set to play hockey overseas.

    Kendall McFaull and Josh Roach are going to get their first taste of playing professional hockey overseas.

    On Tuesday, the MacBeth Report announced McFaull signed a one-year contract with the Belfast Giants (Northern Ireland, U.K. Elite). Last season, the-26-year-old defenceman played his final campaign with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team recording four goals, five assists and a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department in 27 regular season games.

    McFaull, who has been the Huskies captain for the past three seasons, won the U Sports Dr. Randy Gregg Award for student-athlete community service.

    Away from the rink, McFaull, who graduated from U of S’s mechanical engineering program, has volunteered for various organizations including the Huskie Athletics Academic Council, Huskie homeroom, Saskatoon Minor Hockey and Recess Guardians, which is a program that helps elementary school students learn to interact and develop leadership skills through games and social interaction.

    He was an academic all-Canadian in the 2016-17 campaign.

    During his five seasons with the Huskies from 2013 to 2018, McFaull, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 210 pounds, appeared in 139 regular season games collecting 13 goals, 26 assists and a plus-36 rating.

    Before joining the Huskies, McFaull played four seasons in the WHL with the Moose Jaw Warriors from 2009 to 2013, and he was the team’s captain in his final campaign. He appeared in 269 regular season games with the Warriors recording 16 goals, 39 assists and a minus-one rating.

Josh Roach has also signed on to play overseas for the Giants.

    McFaull will be joined on the Giants by Roach, who was a Huskies teammate. Roach, who also signed a one-year contract with the Giants, finished second overall in scoring for the Canada West conference last season piling up 13 goals and 24 assists in 27 regular season games to go with a plus-19 rating.

    He was a first team Canada West all-star and a second team U Sports all-Canadian all-star. Roach was the sportsmanship and ability award winner for Canada West last season.

    In five complete seasons with the Huskies from 2013 to 2018, Roach, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 190 pounds, appeared in 130 regular season games recording 36 goals, 75 assists and a plus-34 rating.

    Before joining the Huskies, Roach, who will turn 26 in July, spent four seasons playing defence in the junior A ranks from 2009 to 2013 split between the Humboldt Broncos and Flin Flon Bombers. In 203 regular season games divided between the Broncos and Bombers, Roach collected 43 goals and 105 assists.

    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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Track and Field teams clean up at Huskie Salute

The track teams hauled in the hardware at the Huskie Salute.

    Could another golden age for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Track and Field teams have been foreshadowed?

    On Friday night at TCU Place, Huskie Athletics handed out its Major 7 Awards at the annual Huskie Salute, and four of those honours were claimed by members of the school’s track and field teams. Julie Labach, who was part of both the women’s track and field and soccer teams for her fourth season, claimed the Mary Ethel Cartwright Trophy as the female athlete of the year.

    Kieran Johnston, who completed his second season of eligibility with the men’s track and field team, captured the E. Kent Phillips Trophy as male athlete of the year. Kendra Farmer from the women’s track and field team was named the winner of the Patricia Lawson Trophy as female rookie of the year. Jason Reindl, who was in his first year as head coach of both track squads, won the Colb McEwon Trophy as coach of the year.

Julie Labach, left, was the female athlete of the year.

    The Huskies women’s team won their 22^nd Canada West championship this past season, while the men’s team finished fifth in the conference. At their respective U Sports nationals, the Huskies women’s team finished fifth, while the men’s team finished 13^th.

    Looking back on the campaign, Labach said the highlight was helping the women’s team win the Canada West title for the first time since 2012.

    “Winning that Canada West banner with the team was really, really special,” said Labach, who stands 5-foot-7. “That was the first banner that we won since I have been on the team.

    “Coming from soccer, that is what I miss sometimes about track. You don’t really get that whole team atmosphere. It really felt like we were all in it together and like every point counted and that was really great.”

Julie Labach gives a speech at the Huskie Salute.

    Labach had a memorable campaign personally. As a striker, she helped the Huskies women’s soccer team finish second in the Prairie Division of the Canada West Conference with a 7-3-4 record before falling in a quarter-final match in the playoffs 3-0 to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

    The 21-year-old graduate from Saskatoon’s Aden Bowman Collegiate had a stellar season on in track and field. At the Canada West championships, she claimed gold in the 1,000-metre and 600-metre races and won silver medals in the 1,500-metre race and the 4 X 400-metre relay.

    At the U Sports nationals, Labach won gold in the 1,000-metre race and bronze in the 600-metre race.

    Before the U Sports campaign started, Labach won gold in the 800-metre race and silver in the 1,500-metre race at the Canada Summer Games, which ran July 28, 2017 to August 13, 2017 in Winnipeg, Man.

Kieran Johnston, right, was the male athlete of the year.

    “It was honestly like a dream year,” said Labach. “The momentum kind of started in the summer when I was at Canada Games. I won a gold and silver medal there.

    “It just carried forward into the soccer season. The soccer team had a really great regular season. Unfortunately, we didn’t really go as far as we wanted to in playoffs, but that happens sometimes.

    “Coming into track right off the bat from that first meet, everything just kind of fell into place. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

    She said her most memorable individual moment came winning gold in the 1,000-metre race at the U Sports nationals, which were held in March in Windsor, Ont.

    “I do a lot of different events, but the 1,000, which is the one I won gold in, is one of my favourites,” said Labach. “I couldn’t have written that race better than it went.

    “It was like magic. It was really special.”

    Being named the Huskies female athlete of the year provided an unexpected topper.

Kendra Farmer, right, was the female rookie of the year.

    “It was amazing,” said Labach. “I got a little bit nervous when I got up there and saw everyone.

    “It was really, really special. It is really just an honour. There are so many great girls nominated. I means a lot.”

    Labach said she wasn’t sure if she would return to use her fifth year of eligibility. The business student has been accepted into the law school program at both the U of S and the University of Toronto.

    No matter what she decides, she believes the track team can relive its storied past. The women’s team has won seven national titles and the men’s team has claimed five national titles. The last U Sports national championship win for both track teams came in 2005.

    “I think the future is really looking good,” said Labach. “Jason Reindl, this is his first year as our head coach.

    “He has really brought a lot of like life and energy back into the team. We said that our goal like at the beginning of the season was to win a Canada West banner, and we accomplished that (on the women’s side).

    “I think next is a national title. That is what we are aiming for so figures crossed.”

Kendra Farmer gives a speech to the crowd at the Huskie Salute.

    Kaitlin Willoughby, who is the graduating fifth-year star captain of the Huskies women’s hockey team, captured the Valerie Girsberger Trophy as the all-around female athlete of the year for excellence in sport, in the classroom and for leadership. Willoughby likely delivered the night’s most stirring speech highlighting the other nominees for the award she won and telling how much her time at the U of S meant to her emotionally and how important her support system was that surrounded her in family and friends. The speech ended with a bit of humour.

    The humour part included giving a shout out to her boyfriend from the Huskies men’s hockey team in Parker Thomas, who is a fourth-year grinding forward. The two have dated for the majority of their time at U of S. Willoughby, who is the second all-time regular season leading scorer in the history of the Huskies women’s team, said the pair always had a bet on who would score the most points each season and that she always won that bet.

Jason Reindl, right, was the coach of the year for Huskie Athletics.

    Kendall McFaull, who is the graduating fifth-year captain of the Huskies men’s hockey team, claimed the Rusty MacDonald Cup as the all-around male athlete of the year for excellence in sport, in the classroom and citizenship.

    Dylan Mortensen of the Huskies men’s volleyball team won the Howard Nixon Trophy as the male rookie of the year. The recipient of the Dr. Walter Hader Award as student trainer of the year was Rachel Mamer from the football team.
    A tribute video was shown for Lyle Sanderson, who was the legendary Huskies track and field coach who passed away in February.

    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’ resilience tested in second half of 2017-18 season

Injured goalie Jordon Cooke is helped off the ice on February 22.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team showed they can still keep plugging along even when things aren’t going smoothly.

    Like most years, the Huskies entered the 2017-18 campaign as a team pegged to contend for Canada West and U Sports national championships. With that said, the uncontrollable variables of a season can always throw a wrench into any lofty hopes.

    The Huskies entered the Christmas break sitting second in the Canada West Conference holding a 13-2-1 record. The first sign that foreshadowed the second half of the campaign could be a rough one occurred on Jan. 6, when the Huskies lost sophomore forward Wyatt Johnson to a concussion injury in a 4-2 road setback to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns. Johnson ultimately missed the rest of the campaign.

The Huskies suffered a big blow when star goalie Jordon Cooke was injured.

    After Johnson went down, the Huskies kept motoring on, and they sat in a tie for first place with their “forever rivals” the University of Alberta Golden Bears when play concluded on Jan. 20. Both team were posting 18-3-1 records at that time.

    From that point, the injury bug started taking more and more bites out of the Huskies roster and players fell in and out of the lineup. At one point in the post-season, the Huskies entire first line of left-winger Michael Sofillas, centre Logan McVeigh and right-winger Josh Roach were all on the shelf.

    Veteran Huskies head coach Dave Adolph usually carries a 26 player roster just in case injuries strike. He ultimate needed to use everyone on his roster out of necessity as opposed to rotating players in through games.

Right-winger Josh Roach led the Huskies in scoring.

    The Huskies finished the regular season sitting second in Canada West with a 20-7-1 mark.

    Their biggest obstacle came in the first game of the playoffs on Feb. 22 against the University of Calgary Dinos at the ancient Rutherford Rink. On the Dinos first goal at the 6:59 mark of the first period, a scrum of players crashed into star netminder Jordon Cooke.

    He suffered a knee injury that knocked him out for the rest of the post-season and likely clouds his immediate hockey future. In that moment, the Huskies lost the goalie that is second on their team’s all-time career list for regular season wins (59) and regular season saves (2,358).

    Cooke was the U Sports goaltender of the year and a U Sports first team all-Canadian in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns. The Leduc, Alta., product was named a Canada West first team all-star, the Canada West goaltender of the year and a second team U Sports all-Canadian this past season.

Captain Kendall McFaull won the U Sports community service award.

    Shortly after Cooke departed that contest with the Dinos, the Huskies found themselves down 3-0. At that point, one had to wonder if the Dogs were going to quickly fall out of the post-season picture.

    The Huskies rebounded that night to pull out a 6-4 victory. The Dinos took Game 2 by a 2-1 final to force a deciding Game 3 in the best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

    U of S claimed a 3-1 victory in Game 3 with sophomore left-winger Carson Stadnyk scoring the winning goal with 24 seconds to play in the third period to break a 1-1 tie. The Huskies added an empty-net tally a short time later to round out the victory.

    The Dogs proceeded to limp into the best-of-three Canada West championship series in Edmonton and was swept away by the Golden Bears 2-0.

    The Huskies moved on to the David Johnston University Cup elite eight U Sports men’s hockey championship for the sixth time in the last seven years. At this year’s tournament in Fredericton, N.B., they were a sixth seed that was expected to make an early exit.

John Lawrence gave a gritty effort every night for the Huskies.

    Sofillas, McVeigh and Roach all played in the quarter-final, where the Huskies knocked off the McGill University Redmen 4-1. Sofillas was knocked out of the lineup again after that win and didn’t return for the rest of the tournament.

    That set the scene for the Huskies to face the Golden Bears in their 504^th all-time encounter in a semifinal contest. U of S built a 2-0 lead after two periods before running into penalty trouble in the third frame.

    The Golden Bears rallied for a pair of power-play goals to force a 2-2 tie and send the contest into overtime. Trevor Cox scored for the Golden Bears in overtime causing the Huskies to fall 3-2. Between the regular season, Canada West championship series and University Cup tournament, the Golden Bears won six of their seven head-to-head encounters with the Huskies in 2017-18.

Puck moving rearguard Connor Cox wrapped up his time with the Huskies.

    On Sunday, U of S fell in the bronze medal game to the host University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds 5-4 in overtime.

    The Golden Bears claimed their 16^th national title in team history and third championship in the last five years downing the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men 4-2 in the tournament’s championship game.

    During the post-season, rookie Taran Kozun played admirably and picked up a lot of experience playing goal for the Huskies in place of the injured Cooke. Kozun was the WHL goaltender of the year in the 2014-15 campaign playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds. Besides stopping the puck, Kozun turned heads with his ability to play the puck and gives the Huskies stability in that position going forward.

    Roach, who led the Huskies in regular season scoring with 13 goals and 27 assists, claimed the Canada West sportsmanship and ability award, was a first team Canada West all-star and a second team U Sports all-Canadian. McVeigh, who was second in Huskies regular season scoring with seven goals and 22 assists, was a second team Canada West all-star.

Taran Kozun performed admirably in the playoffs for the Huskies.

    Captain Kendall McFaull was a second team Canada West all-star, a University Cup tournament all-star and claimed the Canada West and U Sports Student-Athlete Community Service awards.

    The Huskies graduate McFaull, Roach, gritty centre John Lawrence and puck moving defenceman Connor Cox, with them all completing their fifth-years of eligibility.

    They still have all sorts of depth going into the future. Defenceman Jesse Forsberg, who recorded five goals and 15 assists to lead all Huskies rearguards in regular season scoring, Jordan Fransoo, Colby Harmsworth and Tanner Lishchynsky are some of the steady blue-liners who are eligible to return.

    At forward, the Huskies could potentially return the likes McVeigh, Sofillas, Stadnyk, Kohl Bauml, Alex Forsberg, Parker Thomas, Levi Cable, Andrew Johnson, Jaimen Yakubowski, Jordan Tkatch, Connor Gay and Collin Shirley.

Carson Stadnyk had the playoff series winner versus the Dinos.

    The Huskies remain one of the top men’s hockey programs in U Sports, but they would probably like to have a little more success at U Sports nationals. 

    Since winning their lone national title in 1983, the Huskies have appeared in the University Cup 15 times, advanced to the championship game on four occasions and haven’t been able to capture an elusive second national title.

    The Golden Bears sit at the other end of the spectrum making the University Cup championship game 21 times in their history coming away with 16 wins to keep piling up national championship banners.

    When fall comes around, you can be sure the Huskies will give it their best shot to win it all controlling everything they are able to control. If the factors they can’t control finally decide to fall in their favour, that dream of an elusive second national title might just be realized.

    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’ McFaull wins U Sports community service award

Huskies captain Kendall McFaull won a major U Sports award.

    Kendall McFaull is the unquestioned leader of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team on the ice, and this year he has been rewarded for his leadership off the ice.

    On February 28, the 25-year-old standout defenceman was named the winner of the Student-Athlete Community Service Award for the Canada West Conference. On Wednesday at the U Sports men’s hockey awards gala in Fredericton, N.B., McFaull claimed that same honour on a national level being named the winner of the U Sports Dr. Randy Gregg Award for student-athlete community service.

    McFaull, who is completing his fifth and final season with the Huskies, appeared in 27 regular season games recording four goals, five assists and a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department. He was named a second team Canada West all-star. In his U Sports career, the Rosetown, Sask., product has played 139 career regular season games recording 13 goals, 26 assists and a plus-36 rating.

    Away from the rink, the mechanical engineering student has volunteered for various organizations including the Huskie Athletics Academic Council, Huskie homeroom, Saskatoon Minor Hockey and Recess Guardians, which is a program that helps elementary school students learn to interact and develop leadership skills through games and social interaction.

Huskies captain Kendall McFaull has been a leader on and off the ice.

    McFaull was an academic all-Canadian last season and entered his final semester with an 88 per cent average during the current academic year.

    Also at the men’s hockey awards gala, Huskies fifth-year winger Josh Roach and fourth-year netminder Jordon Cooke were named second team All-Canadian all-stars.

    The Huskies open play at the University Cup elite eight U Sports national championship tournament taking on the McGill University Redmen in a quarter-final match on Friday. The Huskies are seeding sixth, and the Redmen are seeded third.

    At the U Sports women’s hockey awards gala held on Wednesday in London, Ont., University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team sophomore netminder Jessica Vance was named a first team all-Canadian all-star.

    The Huskies open play at the U Sports women’s national championship elite eight tournament in a quarter-final match on Thursday against the Saint Mary’s University Huskies. U of S is seeded seventh and Saint Mary’s University is seeded second.

Dach line lights up scoreboard for Blades

Kirby Dach netted four points for the Blades on Wednesday.

    The line of Kirby Dach, Eric Florchuk and Max Gerlach powered the Saskatoon Blades to an upset victory over the Broncos in Swift Current on Wednesday.

    The trio combined for three goals and five assists to push the Blades to a 5-2 regular season win over the Broncos before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators at the Credit Union i-Plex. Dach picked up one goal and three assists centring a line with Gerlach at right wing and Florchuk at left wing. Gerlach had a pair of goals and an assist, while Florchuk had one assist.

    Dach scored on a give-and-go with Florchuk with 14.2 seconds to play in the first period to give the Blades a 1-0 lead. Overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr potted his 37^th of the season to give the Blades a 2-0 edge at the 4:47 mark of the second period.

    Kaden Elder and Matteo Gennaro, who potted his 41^st goal of the season, replied with singles for the Broncos to tie things up at 2-2 in the second.

    Inside of the final 10 seconds of the second, winger Michael Farren scored to put the Blades back out in front 3-2.

Eric Florchuk had an assist on Wednesday.

    Gerlach netted his 30th and 31^st goals of the campaign in the third to round out the win for the visitors. The 19-year-old Flower Mound, Texas, product has scored 30-or-more goals in all three of his seasons in the WHL.
    Overage netminder Tyler Brown turned away 42 shots to pick up the win making his first start in goal for the Blades since February 16, when Saskatoon dropped a 5-4 decision on the road against the Hurricanes in Lethbridge. Stuart Skinner turned away 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos.

    The Blades, who have been eliminated from WHL playoff contention, improved to 33-33-3-1. They are 2-6-1 in their last nine games. The Broncos fell to 47-17-4-2 and are cemented to finish second overall in the WHL regular season standings.

    Saskatoon closes its regular season schedule with a home-and-home series with the Prince Albert Raiders (32-25-9-4). The two teams face each other on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. They will go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Saskatoon at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Raiders have clinched a berth in the WHL post-season earning the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

Ball delivers in double OT for Bears

Kate Ball scored a double OT winner for the Bears on Wednesday night.

    Kate Ball’s goal in double overtime capped a critical playoff comeback win for the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

    The 16-year-old centre scored at the 11:39 mark of a second overtime period to give the Bears a 3-2 victory over the Notre Dame Hounds in Game 3 of a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert on Wednesday night. With the win, the Bears take a 2-1 lead in a best-of-five set with the Hounds.

    The Bears, who are the defending SFMAAAHL champions, will try to close out the series in Game 4 on Saturday in Wilcox, Sask. If the Hounds prevail in Game 4, a series deciding Game 5 will be held on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Raine Smith gave the Hounds a 1-0 lead in the first period, and gritty forward Brooklyn Anderson replied for the Bears inside of the final minute of the opening frame to force a 1-1 tie.

    Jenna MacLean scored the lone goal in the second period to give the Hounds a 2-1 advantage.

    Veteran forward Camryn Amundson scored for the Bears to force a 2-2 tie with 1:48 remaining in the third period and force overtime. That set the stage for Ball to net the game winner.

    Ryan Fontaine turned away 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bears. Kaitlyn Ross turned away 47 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hounds.

    The winner of the series between the Bears and Hounds will advance to face the Saskatoon Stars in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series. The Stars swept away the Regina Rebels 3-0 in the other SFMAAAHL semifinal series.

    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 ice skid with 4-2 win, clinch playoff bye

Huskies goalie Jordon Cooke (#32) holds off a third period Cougars push.

    Captain Kendall McFaull admitted his University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team was feeling some urgency to get a win.

    Entering play on Friday, the Huskies entered their U Sports regular season clash with the Mount Royal University Cougars having lost four straight games, which all happened to come on the road. In university hockey in the Canada West Conference, that type of skid can seem like an eternity, because teams play two regular season games every weekend.

    The Huskies had gone 19 days without experiencing a win with their last victory coming on Jan. 20, when they blanked the University of Calgary Dinos 2-0 at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

    Against the Cougars on Friday at Rutherford, the Dogs built a 3-1 lead early in the third period, but they seemed to be just trying to hang on at times after the Cougars closed to within 3-2.

The Huskies celebrate a goal from Alex Forsberg, centre.

    Inside of the final two minutes of the third, Huskies star goaltender Jordon Cooke held the fort during a couple of dicey net scramble situations. Standout winger Josh Roach sealed the issue scoring into an empty net with 15 seconds to play in the third to deliver the Huskies to a 4-2 victory.

    The win allowed the Huskies, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, to improve to 19-7-1 and clinch second place in the Canada West Conference and earn a bye in the playoffs to host a best-of-three conference semifinal series.

    “It was huge,” said McFaull, who is in his fifth and final season with the Huskies. “Obviously, I don’t remember the last time we lost four in a row.

Josh Roach scored twice for the Huskies.

    “We knew we wanted to clinch a bye, and we knew we needed to do it tonight. I think the guys came out pretty hard, and I was pretty impressed with the effort.”

    The Huskies came firing out of the gate outshooting the Cougars 20-7 in the opening period. The teams exited the frame locked in a 0-0 tie due to the stellar play of Cougars fifth-year goalie Cam Lanigan.

    Lanigan made a number of key saves including stopping Huskies star offensive defenceman Jesse Forsberg and turning away first year winger Collin Shirley on in close chances.

    Just 17 seconds into the second period, the Huskies broke through on the scoreboard, when first-year left-winger Alex Forsberg fired home a laser shot to the top right corner of the Cougars goal to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

    During their four-game skid, the Huskies scored a total of four goals, and McFaull said it was important to get that first tally.

    “Honestly, we didn’t put a full 60 together on the road ever it seemed,” said McFaull. “We had spurts of where we were playing well.

Cam Lanigan made 34 stops playing goal for the Cougars.

    “We also had some breakdowns. We also weren’t getting the puck luck. I think that (puck luck) is kind of what we saw tonight with that first goal.

    “That was huge for us to have that go in, and that wasn’t happening before.”

    Right-winger Levi Cable helped push the Huskies lead out to 2-0 scoring on a turnaround shot at the 10:29 mark of the second.

    With eight minutes to play in the second, winger Jamal Watson got the Cougars on the board scoring in close to cut the Huskies edge to 2-1.

    The Huskies seemed to grab firm control of the contest, when Roach wired home his first goal of the contest short-handed to the top right corner of the Cougars net to give the hosts a 3-1 edge at the 3:41 mark of the third.

Kendall McFaull settings things down in the defensive zone.

    Watson netted his second of the game before the midway point of the third to trim the Huskies lead to 3-2. That created a number of anxious moments down the stretch until Roach sealed the game with his empty netter. Roach had an assist to go along with his two goals for a three-point night.

    “When you haven’t won in a while, everybody definitely kind of gets a little tight towards the end of the game,” said McFaull, who had an assist on the empty-net goal. “When we are on a bit of winning streak, that doesn’t usually happen.

    “We found a way to win, and I think we were happy with it.”

    Cooke turned away 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. The win was the 59^th of Cooke’s regular season career with the Huskies and moves him to within one victory of equalling Jeff Harvey for the team career regular season wins record of 60. Harvey collected his 60 career regular season wins playing goal for the Huskies from 2005 to 2010.

    Lanigan stopped 34 of 37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars. The Cougars, who have already clinched a playoff berth, fell to 12-13-2 to sit fifth in Canada West standings.

The Huskies celebrate their win on Friday night.

    The Huskies and Cougars close their respective regular season schedules playing each other again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford. The University of Alberta Golden Bears, who are rated first in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, already have first in Canada West locked up with a 23-3-1 record.

    While the Huskies can’t finish first in Canada West, McFaull said it was still big to earn a bye in the post-season and avoid playing a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series.

    “That is huge,” said McFaull. “Anytime you get guys rested up after the season and kind of have that extra week to prepare for playoffs, it is pretty big.”

    NOTE – Before Friday’s game, a moment of silence was held to remember legendary University of Saskatchewan Huskies Track and Field head coach Lyle Sanderson, who passed away on Thursday at age 79.

Bannatyne ensures Huskies stay alive in chase for bye

Kira Bannatyne scored a pivotal power-play goal for the Huskies.

    Kira Bannatyne’s first career U Sports power-play goal might be the biggest tally of her post-secondary career.

    On Friday night at the Flames Community Arena in Calgary, the fifth-year defender for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team slid home a shot five-hole on Mount Royal University Cougars netminder Zoe De Beauville at the 10:19 mark of the third period. Bannatyne’s power-play goal held up as the different to deliver the Huskies to a 1-0 victory in the U Sports regular season clash.

    Netminder Jessica Vance made 15 saves to earn her eighth shutout of the season playing goal for the Huskies. Vance has tied former U of Alberta Pandas netminder Lindsey Post for the third most shutouts ever recorded in one Canada West regular season.

    Post had eight shutouts in the 2015-16 campaign, and she also holds the Canada West record of most shutouts recorded in one regular season at 10 collected in the 2014-15 campaign.

    De Beauville turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars.

    With the win, the Huskies improved to 18-7-2 to sit in a tie for second place in the Canada West Conference standings with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (19-5-3) with 55 points. In the Canada West women’s hockey standings, teams earn three points for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time losses.

    The Huskies recorded their 55 points from 17 regulation wins, one extra time win and two extra time setbacks. The Thunderbirds, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, collected their 55 points from 14 regulation wins, five extra time wins and three extra time setbacks.

    The Thunderbirds downed the U of Alberta Pandas 3-2 in overtime on Friday night in Edmonton.

    The Pandas saw their record move to 18-5-4, and they sit two points back of both the Huskies and the Thunderbirds with 53 points in the standings. The Pandas, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, posted their 53 points on 13 regulation wins, five extra time wins and four extra time setbacks.

    The Thunderbirds and Pandas close their respective regulation season schedules playing each other once more on Saturday in Edmonton.

    The University of Manitoba Bisons, who are rated first in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, dumped the U of Calgary Dinos 6-0 in Winnipeg on Friday night to improve to 21-5-1 and clinch first place in the Canada West standings.

    The top two teams in Canada West earn byes to host best-of-three conference semifinal playoff series.

    The Cougars fell to 10-16-1 to remain sixth in Canada West. They need to earn one more point in the standings to lock up a playoff berth.

    The Huskies and Cougars close their respective regular season schedules playing each other on Saturday in Calgary.

Wheat Kings surge past Blades

Dawson Davidson scored for the Blades on Friday night.

    A five goal surge pushed the Brandon Wheat Kings past the visiting Saskatoon Blades.

    On Friday night in Brandon, the Blades took a 3-1 lead shortly after the midway point of the second period only to see the host Wheat Kings storm back with five answered goals to pull out a 6-3 WHL regular season victory before 4,210 spectators at Westman Place.

    Cole Reinhardt scored his first of two goals on the night at the 3:11 mark of the first period to give the Wheat Kings a 1-0 lead.

    Right-winger Max Gerlach scored for the Blades to tie things up at 1-1 heading into the first intermission. Bradly Goethals and Dawson Davidson netted singles for Saskatoon in the second period to give the Blades a 3-1 lead.

    With 3:44 to play in the second, Luka Burzan scored for the Wheat Kings to cut the Blades edge to 3-2. Wheat Kings overage defenceman James Shearer netted his first of the season at the 2:38 mark of the third to force a 3-3 tie.

    Reinhardt’s second tally of the contest gave the Wheat Kings a 4-3 lead with 6:08 to play in the third period. Chase Hartje and Evan Weinger sealed the victory for the host side scoring empty-net goals late in the third.

    Overage netminder Tyler Brown turned away 19-of-23 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Overage goalie Logan Thompson stopped 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings.

    The Blades fell to 26-26-2-1 to sit percentage points behind the Prince Albert Raiders (22-21-9-2) for the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Both teams have 55 points in the standings, but the Raiders have a game in hand on the Blades.

    The Wheat Kings improve to 30-19-3-2 to remain third in the WHL’s East Division.

    The Blades return to action on Saturday, when they host the Raiders at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Saskatoon will be celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the opening of the SaskTel Centre that night and two game tickets will cost $30. A total of 30 bonus prizes will be given out during the contest and Murray Howe, who is one of the sons of late hockey icon Gordie Howe, will be on hand to sign his recently released book.

    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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