Soyko takes long and winding road back to hockey

P.A. Bears all-time great makes strong comeback with Pandas

Abby Soyko is putting up points with the Pandas.

Abby Soyko was never going to give into the setbacks in her hockey career even when they came in bunches and were often out of her control.

The 21-year-old alumna of the Prince Albert Northern Bears under-18 AAA female hockey team experienced enough downs over a two-year period that would have knocked most out of the sport and into another stage of their lives. The string of adversity for Soyko started in earnest in April of 2020.

Having finished playing one season with the Northern Alberta Xtreme under-18 female prep team in Edmonton, Soyko was finishing up her Grade 12 studies in high school and looking forward to joining the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Women’s Hockey Team in September of 2020 along with one of her triplet sisters in Alli. The two sisters had played together on the Xtreme and the Bears.

On April 20, 2020, the University of Lethbridge axed the Pronghorns Men’s and Women’s Hockey team’s due to budget cuts. On May 28, 2020, Abby found a new team and she officially joined the storied University of Alberta Pandas Women’s Hockey Team.

Abby Soyko went over two years between competitive games.

With the world in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Pandas weren’t able to take the ice for game action in 2020-21 due to the Canada West Conference cancelling its season and U Sports cancelling all its national championships.

 In June of 2021, Soyko tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee and had to undergo reconstructive surgery. Due to the one year long rehabilitation to it took to comeback from that injury, Soyko was forced to miss the 2021-22 campaign, when all leagues under the U Sports umbrella returned to action.

Even during the worst of the down times, Soyko was not going to give up on playing hockey.

“I just always knew that hockey is what I wanted to do,” said Soyko, who also took part in lacrosse and track and field growing up in P.A. “I just kind of looked at this as more opportunity to just focus on my school and just rebuild myself kind of from the ground up.

Abby Soyko missed the 2021-22 season rehabbing a knee injury.

“I just kind of changed from how I was from (under-18 hockey) to how I am now, because in my opinion, I think I’m a more well-rounded player than I was in (under-18). I just kind of tried to rejuvenate myself.”

These days, Soyko is well into her first season playing full-time with the Pandas. In 20 regular season games with the Pandas, the power forward sits fifth in team scoring with seven goals and six assists for 13 points.

Taking up position on the right wing, Soyko had a goal Saturday helping her Pandas down the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies 3-1 in a U Sports regular season game played before 626 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place. In skating through her first campaign with the Pandas, Soyko is focused on improving and admits she still had to go through her on-ice growing pains with regards to adjusting to the game at the university level.

“I feel like I’ve had my ups and downs,” said Soyko, who stands 5-foot-4. “I expected that completely.

The first U Sports team Abby Soyko committed to folded.

“My coach Howie (Draper) has been really understanding and just really pushing me to be better. That has been really helpful in my mental block. He made it kind of easy for me actually.”

Draper, who has been the Pandas head coach since U Sports started awarding national titles for women’s hockey in the 1997-98 campaign, said one of Soyko’s biggest moments this season was when she scored in the team’s first regular season game back on September 30, 2022. Soyko netted the Pandas first goal of a 3-2 overtime victory over the Mount Royal University Cougars at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

The tally was a nice one too. Soyko took a drop pass from linemate Megan Wilson at the top of the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, passed the puck to herself around a Cougars checker and roofed home a shot short side to the top left corner of the Mount Royal goal.

Soyko came to the Pandas with a reputation for putting up points. She is the all-time leading scorer with her hometown Bears piling up 128 points on 65 goals and 63 assists in 136 career regular season games played over five seasons from 2014 to 2019. Soyko is still the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League.

Abby Soyko scored a goal in her first U Sports game.

During her one season with the Xtreme, Soyko topped her team in scoring posting 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 23 games.

When Soyko scored her first goal with the Pandas, she had gone over two-and-a-half years without playing in a competitive regular season or post-season contest. Draper said you could tell it meant a lot for Soyko to get that first goal after all that she had been through.

“It was great to see her score the goal,” said Draper, who has guided the Pandas to all eight of their U Sports national championship wins. “She hadn’t done it in a while.

“She kind of mimicked pulling the monkey off her back. That is the kind of person she is. She got really excited, and we all got excited for her.

“She is going to have a great career here.”

Abby Soyko is the P.A. Northern Bears all-time leading scorer.

When Soyko was dealing with her two-year stretch of multiple adversities, Draper was certain she would be playing full time for the Pandas one day. Draper said Soyko’s passion for the game is too strong to give up on it.

Last season when she was rehabbing her knee, Draper said Soyko was as locked into the game as the players that were on the ice for the Pandas were. The legendary Pandas bench boss said he could feel Soyko’s energy coming from the stands.

Draper said Soyko helped out with statistics and gave good feedback to her teammates trying to help guide them towards a win.

Now that Soyko is on the ice playing for the Pandas, Draper said she aids the team in so many ways.

The Pandas celebrate Abby Soyko’s first period goal on Saturday.

“I think one of the things that we were missing last year was just an extra threat offensively, and she provides that threat,” said Draper. “You can see how she can drive the puck to the net.

“She has tremendous power and the ability to explode just from a standstill and get around the corner. She has a great shot. She is tough and rugged.

“When she plays the game, she doesn’t play it in a dirty way by any stretch. It wasn’t lucky what happened down in Lethbridge with them losing their program, but we were extremely lucky to have her come to us.”

Soyko is happy she has landed on her skates with the Pandas. The opportunity to join U of A’s perennial powerhouse women’s hockey squad kind of came out of the blue.

After the Pronghorns folded, Soyko said things were quiet on the hockey front as restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic had shut down large aspects of life in North American and the world. One day, Soyko got a call from her head coach with the Xtreme in Tyrel Spitzer asking if she wanted to go to the U of A and play for the Pandas.

Abby Soyko has seven goals and six assists in 20 games this season.

The wheels were put in motion from there, and Soyko officially joined the Pandas about a couple of days later. She said it meant a tonne to have her teammates around when she was coming back from her knee injury.

“Everyone was there for me when I was struggling with just not being on the ice,” said Soyko, who is an arts major looking to get into the education at U of A. “They didn’t treat me any different from any other player.

“I was just as included as everyone else. My coach made sure that I knew I was still part of everything. We’re a really tight knit group.

“I live with a couple of girls on the team. I didn’t feel left out at all, and they just made me feel really a part of the team still.”

Abby Soyko aims to keep improving her game with the Pandas.

In Saturday’s game with the Huskies, Soyko opened the scoring in the first period and a single from second-year centre Jadynn Morden allowed the Pandas to exit the opening 20 minutes with a 2-0 edge.

Second-year defender Emily Holmes scored on the power play for the Huskies at the 4:48 mark of the second to cut the Pandas lead to 2-1. Before the second period ended, Pandas second-year right-winger Kallie Clouston netted a single to put the visitors ahead of what would be the 3-1 final score.

Halle Oswald stopped 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pandas, who improved to 18-5-1 with their ninth straight win. Colby Wilson turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies, who fell to 12-9-3.

The Pandas return to action this coming Friday, when they travel to Regina to take on the University of Regina Cougars at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre.

Abby Soyko loves how her Pandas are playing overall.

The Huskies are off until Saturday, February 4, when they host U of R at 5 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

Soyko said she loves how the Pandas are playing overall as a team and is pumped for what the rest of the season has in store for her squad.

“Coming back from Christmas break, I can say we’re definitely a different team,” said Soyko. “Everyone is on the same page.

“Everyone knows their roles. Everyone has bought in. We’re just kind of flowing right now.

“Everyone is just super excited.”

When her playing days with the Pandas are done, Draper believes Soyko will continue to be in hockey in some capacity.

That led to asking Soyko if she could see herself returning to Prince Albert one day to coach her old Bears team she won a SFU18AAAHL title and earned an appearance at the Esso Cup national female under-18 AAA championship tournament with in the 2016-17 campaign. Soyko enjoyed playing for long time former Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby, and the idea taking on his former role has crossed her mind.

Abby Soyko hugs Huskies centre Kate Ball.

“I don’t know, maybe,” said Soyko with a chuckle. “I have definitely thought about coaching.

“I’m not sure if I’ll go back to P.A., but if need be, I know I could probably make that happen. I have started doing some coaching and on-ice instructing in Edmonton. I definitely could see myself coaching in the future.”

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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“Babs” coming home to coach Huskies and it is good

Mike Babcock pictured in a Sports Illustrated from 2010.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies blew up the Internet and some social media lines early Saturday afternoon.

As the lunch hour started in Saskatchewan, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that all-world coach Mike Babcock was expected to be announced as the new head coach for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team in the coming week.

Just short of an hour later, Huskie Athletics put out a release that Babcock, who grew up in Saskatoon and is a graduate of Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School, will indeed become the Huskies next head coach.

Babcock will lead the Huskies on a full-time volunteer basis for the next two seasons.

Babcock will be taking over for legendary Huskies head coach Dave Adolph, who announced on Dec. 7, 2020 that he would be retiring. Adolph, who holds the U Sports career record for coaching victories at 488, will officially retire on May 1, and Babcock will take over the head coach role from that point.

In an interview with Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Babcock said he was a transfer coach and his goal was to work with Dave King, who is still the greatest coach the Huskies men’s team has ever had, and a hiring committee to find a new long-term head coach for the program.

Babcock, who has been working as a studio analyst for NHL broadcasts produced by NBC Sports, also stressed to Mitchell that he wants to win in the short term.

Babcock’s coaching career is long and distinguished. It began back in 1988, when he was head coach of the Red Deer College Kings men’s hockey team that plays out of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association.

The highlights of the 57-year-old’s time behind the bench include guiding the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings to a Stanley Cup title in 2008.

Mike Babcock shown in a Sports Illustrated from 2010.

He coached Canada’s men’s hockey team to gold medal wins at the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014. In 2018, Babcock became a member of the Order of Hockey in Canada.

Babcock played one season on defence for the Huskies way back in 1981-82 and received an honourary doctor of Laws from the U of S in 2016.

As impressive as all those accomplishments are, Babcock’s best work as a coaching likely took place during the 1993-94 season, when he was the head coach of the now defunct University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team.

With the Pronghorns not having that much success in their history, Babcock guided them to a first place finish in the Canada West Conference with a regular season record of 19 wins, seven losses and two ties. The Pronghorns moved on to down the University of Guelph Gryphons 5-2 in the U Sports national championship game to capture the David Johnston University Cup at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

Babcock and his wife, Maureen, have often returned to Saskatoon and visited the Emma Lake area during summer months in the off-season. The bench boss was often involved in community fundraisers including one for the Leslie & Irene Dube Urology Centre of Health at St. Paul’s Hospital in 2014 and the One Voice fundraiser to raise money for the Neural Health Project at the U of Saskatchewan in 2015.

The hope of the Neural Health Project is to develop a more complete approach to the treatment of mental illness through a combination of conventional and alternative therapies. Babcock had a big hand in helping raise over $1-million at the One Voice fundraiser held on July 24, 2015 at TCU Place.

Collin Shirley is tabbed to return to the Huskies.

When Babcock comes back to town to take over the Huskies, it is safe to say the residents in Saskatoon and area and dare I say the province of Saskatchewan will be treating the return like a homecoming.

It was also noticeable that the last team Babcock coached in the NHL was the Toronto Maple Leafs for four complete seasons and a partial fifth campaign from 2015 to 2019. The Leafs fired Babcock on Nov. 20, 2019 with the team having lost six straight games to sit at 9-10-4.

In the aftermath of the firing, media reports came out that Maple Leafs right-winger Mitch Marner was asked to rank his teammates in order of how hard he though they worked back in his rookie campaign in 2016-17 by Babcock. Babcock later revealed the list to Marner’s teammates.

Babcock confirmed that report, expressed regret asking Marner to participate in something like that wasn’t a good idea and apologized to Marner at the time.

Shortly after the situation with Marner’s rookie season became public, Swedish right-winger Johan Franzen, who played for Babcock in Detroit, accused the bench boss of verbally abusing him. Chris Chelios, who is one of the all-time top defencemen to play in the NHL and one of Franzen’s former teammates, said the verbal abuse to Franzen did happen.

Chelios believed Babcock didn’t treat some of the Red Wings veterans well and dropped criticism there.

Within 50 minutes of the Huskies posting a Twitter post on Babcock’s hiring, the post attracted 65 responses and 151 quote retweets. Most of the responses had harsh words for the hiring, but most didn’t appear to come from Twitter handles from Saskatoon and area.

Evan Fiala is expected to return to the Huskies back end.

Some of the handles seemed to campaign to get Babcock fired before he even arrives in Saskatoon.

Other harsh responses were troll type comments putting down the quality of play in U Sports. On that front, the truth is U Sports is indeed a high-quality league when it comes to competition and the level of play in men’s and women’s hockey is quite outstanding.

Usually in most cases, Huskie Athletics might get five replies at most to a Twitter post.

The quote retweets on the Babcock post were more split in reaction.

On the Huskies Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, a sizable number of the likes were from accounts I recognize from Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.

I personally believe those situations that were talked about in the aftermath of Babcock’s firing from the Maple Leafs are not that big of a deal. I believe a lot of the troll comments are from ultra-passionate Maple Leafs fans who can’t get over the fact their team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967.

Babcock apologized in the Marner case and it is impossible for any coach to be liked by every single player he or she has coached.

In the case of Chelios, he built a reputation for running his mouth over his hockey career, so him not having anything nice to say is not new.

On a personal front, Babcock has always been great to me. I moved to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014, and we had lengthy visits at the fundraiser for St. Paul’s Hospital in 2014 and the One Voice fundraiser in 2015.

Our talks mostly revolved around stories regarding mutual friends in hockey. Even in our first meeting, I was comfortable enough to talk with him about the issues with anxiety I dealt with, when they arose when I worked as a sports reporter with the Medicine Hat News in 2012.

Layne Young was a breakout forward with the Huskies in 2019-20.

When I first met Babcock, I didn’t talk to a lot of people about that subject. He was very empathetic and understanding, which led to me attending the One Voice fundraiser.

The One Voice fundraiser in 2015 was one of the best and most positive energy nights out I’ve ever had in my life.

For anyone that battled mental health issues, that night at the One Voice fundraiser was basically the night out we needed.

I believe Babcock has come to help the Huskies out of the goodness of his heart.

Let me repeat myself, I believe Babcock has come to help the Huskies out of the goodness of his heart.

Saskatoon is a community he cares a lot about, and he has a lot of ties to this community. He wants to help get the Huskies going with some positive momentum, when U Sports returns from its pause that started in March of 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The ultra-passionate fan type trolls elsewhere can say what they want, but I am confident enough to say that view isn’t shared by most of those in Saskatoon or Saskatchewan as a province.

Babcock coming to coach the Huskies is a great homecoming moment for “The Bridge City.”

When he gets here, I believe he will enjoy working with some quality returnees and high-character players like Collin Shirley, Evan Fiala and Layne Young. It should be noted the last time the Huskies skated on home ice they won the Canada West Conference title back on Feb. 29, 2020 at Merlis Belsher Place.

The Huskies celebrate their 2020 Canada West title win.

Right now, all that needs to be said on Babcock’s front is, “Welcome home coach, and we wish you the best of luck.”

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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Retirement brings Adolph era of Huskies hockey to a close

U Sports wins leader brought dry humour, honesty

Dave Adolph, centre, makes adjustments from the Huskies bench.

In talking about an injury to one of his players, Dave Adolph decided to show some leg.

Following a playoff win by the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team this past season, Adolph, who is Huskies head coach, was asked in a post-game media scrum about left-winger Collin Shirley leaving the contest early after favouring one of his legs.

The bench boss said his standout player was fine. Adolph proceeded to pull up one of his pant legs to point out the area of the leg Shirley sustained a big bruise to reinforce the skilled forward would be fine from that minor ding.

At times, you almost never knew when the dry humour from Adolph was going to surface. Often, the right situation presented itself to bring it out.

During a Thursday practice this past February, the Huskies were having one of their energetic practices to music, which is a weekly tradition on that day. Adolph is always excited and energetic in a fun way during those sessions.

He would blow his whistle to begin the next drills in that session, and he allowed the players to take control of what was happening on the ice.

Adolph looked like he was going to jump into one of the drills but never did.

Dave Adolph behind the Huskies bench at the Rutherford Rink.

I was able to call him over to the bench to fire off a fun interview question. When Adolph was a defenceman with the Huskies, he helped the Huskies win a national title in 1983 in his fifth and final year of eligibility alongside high scoring captain Willie Desjardins, who is a former NHL bench boss and head coach and general manager of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

I mentioned to Adolph that if the Tigers were having a high energy practice like the one the Huskies were having, Desjardins would be trying to score to prove he still had it.

I asked Adolph why he wasn’t trying to score?

“I scored a hat trick once, and I am good,” said Adolph. “There is no need to over-extend it.”

On another occasion back in 2017, the Huskies advanced to the U Sports title of the University Cup national championship tournament to face the host University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in Fredericton, N.B.

A reporter asked Adolph, who had already been named the U Sports coach of the year for men’s hockey that season, what it would mean if the Huskies could win that title game.

Adolph responded in a matter of fact tone that it would allow him come back and coach next season.

He often would give jabs to long time Saskatoon StarPhoenix sportswriter Darren Zary, and Zary could dish it right back and those exchanges never became personal. Of course, the two have seemingly known each other forever and those exchanges were always seen as fun at the end of the day and created a memory.

Dave Adolph eyes up the on ice action.

U Sports is set to lose one of its all-time biggest beauties, who happens be the circuit’s all-time leader in career regular season victories for men’s hockey at 488.

On Monday, the Huskies announced Adolph would be retiring from his position effective May 1, 2021. Due to the fact all U Sports hockey action has been cancelled for the 2020-21 campaign due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, the 61-year-old veteran bench boss has already coached his final game with the team.

“After a lot of self-discussion, I’ve decided that now is the right time to step back as the men’s hockey coach,” said Adolph in a release. “Over the last 28 years, the team has accomplished more than I could have imagined, and my family and I are all proud to be members of the Huskie men’s hockey program.”

Overall, Adolph has put in 37 complete seasons with the Huskies men’s hockey team.

He patrolled the blue-line for five seasons. Adolph skated in the 1977-78 campaign, took a season off and returned for four straight campaigns from 1979 to 1983. In total, Adolph appeared in 117 regular season games collecting 10 goals and 34 assists.

The defenceman’s playing days were capped in 1983 by the Huskies winning the U Sports – then known as the CIAU - title game 6-2 over the Concordia University Stingers at the University Cup tournament held in Moncton, N.B.

Following his playing days, Adolph became a teacher at Saskatoon’s Aden Bowman Collegiate and rejoined the Huskies as an assistant coach for five seasons from 1984 to 1989.

The Swift Current, Sask., product then left “The Bridge City” to become the head coach of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team for four seasons from 1989 to 1993.

Adolph returned to his alma mater becoming the Huskies head coach before the start of the 1993-94 campaign.

Between his time with the Pronghorns and Huskies, Adolph coached in 1,016 games including action in the U Sports regular season, Canada West Conference playoffs and University Cup tournament collecting 568 wins, 402 losses including extra time setbacks and 46 ties.

The Huskies team picture from their 2016 Canada West title win.

In U Sports regular season action, Adolph has coach in 868 games posting a U Sports career record 488 wins, 334 losses including extra time setbacks and 46 ties.

With just the Huskies, Adolph has coached in 904 games including action in the U Sports regular season, Canada West Conference playoffs, and University Cup tournament collecting 536 wins, 330 losses including extra time setbacks and 38 ties. He was named the Canada West coach of the year for men’s hockey on four occasions.

In U Sports regular season action as Huskies head coach, Adolph has been behind the bench for 756 games posting 456 wins, 262 losses including extra time setbacks and 38 ties.

All those wins were piled up with the Huskies calling the ancient Rutherford Rink and then Merlis Belsher Place home.

After the Huskies missed the post-season in the first two seasons under Adolph’s watch, he has guided the Huskies to their current active streak of making the playoffs for 25 campaigns in a row. Adolph has coached the Huskies to seven Canada West titles and 16 appearances in the U Sports championship tournament - the University Cup.

A quote on Twitter from one of Adolph’s former captains in star offensive-defenceman Jesse Forsberg gives a glimpse into why Adolph was successful.

What a legend! Not an easy gig coaching guys with big egos out of junior. Won’t find a more passionate or loyal guy. Believed in me to grow from an average junior player with a hot temper to an All-Canadian..with a hot temper. Going to be tough to replace. What a career! #3types

— Jesse Forsberg (@jbforsberg) December 7, 2020

Forsberg wrote, “What a legend! Not an easy gig coaching guys with big egos out of junior. Won’t find a more passionate or loyal guy. Believed in me to grow from an average junior player with a hot temper to an All-Canadian with a hot temper. Going to be tough to replace. What a career! #3types.”

Dave Adolph, back row right, focuses on the play on ice.

To be fair, Forsberg might have been a bit too hard in describing what the players were like when they came to the Huskies. What Forsberg’s comment did get at was the managing that Adolph had to do.

The players that came to Adolph out of the junior ranks were guided by a wide variety of coaches like Desjardins, Peter Anholt, Michael Dyck, Marc Habscheid, Don Hay, Lorne Molleken and Brent Sutter.

Players that arrive to a new team after being under the tutelage of those bench bosses have a programmed set idea of what things are supposed to look like when they are going right. Each of those visions will be slightly different from each other.

Adolph was able to mold the commonalities to get everyone to bond and jell together, while dealing with regular university politics too.

All of sudden, mottos like “no one outworks the Dogs” or “we all play the Cody Smuk way” became part of who the players were.

The “we all play the Cody Smuk way” motto came in tribute to hard-working, team-first, glue guy forward Cody Smuk, who passed away from cancer at age 26 in June of 2015. The players aspired to continue to hold those qualities high.

The players also learned pretty quickly that Adolph knows the game of hockey real well too.

Dave Adolph, back row left, keeps cool during a timeout.

It was common to see players that weren’t maybe viewed as professional prospects in junior develop into professional prospects by the end of their time with the Huskies. In a number of cases, those players should have been catching the eye of the NHL, but that will have to go down as the NHL’s loss.

Upon arrival, players learned they had become part of a new family in Huskies hockey that dated back to 1910. For players who had a strong identification with their junior teams like Brennan Bosch and Ryan Holfeld did with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and Derek Hulak did with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, they learned they could have that same strong identification with the Huskies.

Adolph will always be proud to note the players took care of their school work in the classroom too, which set them up for life after hockey.

Of course, the toughest pill to swallow on the wins and losses front was the fact the Huskies made the U Sports title game three times with Adolph as head coach and fell in all three appearances.

The most heartbreaking was arguably in 2005. The Huskies held a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes and ended up in a 4-3 overtime loss to the host University of Alberta Golden Bears, who are the Huskies “forever rivals,” at the rink once known as the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alta.

Adolph deserved to win at least one U Sports national title as Huskies head coach. The fact that didn’t happen leans more to the lesson that life and sports isn’t fair sometimes.

You can a major number of things right, but the big team goal might still be never achieved.

Molleken as Blades head coach and general manager and Jack Brodsky as Blades owner went through a similar fate in the major junior ranks never being able to win a WHL title or a Memorial Cup title as CHL champions. They both did a large amount of things right and deserved to achieve those big accomplishments in WHL and Memorial Cup titles at least once.

The Huskies team photo from the 2020 Canada West title win.

Adolph did things the right way and had his own dry sense of humour spin on things while doing them. He was one of kind, and the head coach that takes the Huskies men’s hockey team into the era after the COVID-19 pandemic will have monster shoes to fill.

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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Yager, Heidt to step into WHL Bantam Draft spotlight

Bedard signs WHL Standard Player Agreement with Pats

Brayden Yager had an outstanding season with the Contacts.

    WHL Bantam Draft is lining up to be a special day for Brayden Yager and Riley Heidt.
    The two skilled forwards met in spring hockey at around age eight and have played together in Saskatoon and the surrounding area ever since. Last season, they both gained special permission from the Saskatchewan Hockey Association to play as 14-year-old underage players in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League with the Saskatoon Contacts.

    Due to an SHA rule change, the pair had to go through an application process to enter the midget AAA level as underage players, where they were interviewed by officials from the SHA, and SHA officials also interviewed some of their school teachers.

    Yager and Heidt were both prospects to be tagged for exceptional player status to play in the WHL on a full-time basis as 15-year-olds. Their applications for that status were denied.

    Still, they are pegged to potentially to be selected second and third overall in the Wednesday’s WHL Bantam Draft after phenom forward Connor Bedard, who is the first player to be granted exceptional player status to play in the WHL. The WHL Bantam Draft will be held online starting at 10 a.m. Saskatchewan time. 

Riley Heidt had a stellar season with the Contacts.

    This year’s WHL Bantam Draft is being held online due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    After obtaining the first overall selection in the WHL Bantam Draft after the WHL Bantam Draft Lottery held on March 25, the Regina Pats let it be known they were going to select Bedard, who was granted exceptional player status on March 24.

    Bedard, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 165 pounds, played for West Vancouver Academy’s under-18 team this past season in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. He piled up 43 goals and 41 assists for 84 points in 36 games.

    For his efforts, Bedard was named the MVP of the CSSHL’s under-18 division.

    Due to having the first overall pick, the Pats were permitted to negotiate with Bedard before selecting him in the WHL Bantam Draft.

    On Tuesday, the Pats signed Bedard to a WHL Standard Player Agreement before even formally selecting him first overall in the WHL Bantam Draft. That allowed the Pats and the WHL to announce the signing on Tuesday and gain a sizable media hit both locally and nationally that including holding an online media press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The 2019-20 Midget Prep Division Most Valuable Player:

Connor Bedard, @WestVanWarriors pic.twitter.com/qiFIExpsL2

— CSSHL (@CSSHL) March 4, 2020

    “Obviously, it is a dream come true,” said Bedard, who will turn 15-years-old in July. “When I was a young guy growing up watching the WHL, I always had dreams of playing there.

    “Getting the chance to be with the oldest organization in the league and such a great organization, I’m obviously couldn’t be happier, and I am very excited to get started.”

    On a marketing front, this turned out to be gold for the WHL as a league. They got a big media hit on Tuesday the day before the Bantam Draft with Bedard officially signing with the Pats, who are the oldest franchise in major junior hockey dating back to 1917.

Brayden Yager will be a great addition to any WHL roster.

    The circuit will get another big hit on Wednesday with the Bantam Draft itself.

    With Bedard’s signing out of the way, that allows Yager and Heidt to step into the spotlight for Wednesday’s proceedings.

    They had outstanding campaigns as underage players helping the Contacts finish third overall in the tough SMAAAHL with a 30-12-2 regular season record.

    Yager, who stands 6-feet and weighs 163 pounds, appeared in all of the Contacts 44 regular season games piling up 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points. Heidt, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 160 pounds, also appeared in all of the Contacts 44 regular season games posting 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points.

    Both players have turned 15-years-old.

    Before joining the Contacts, Yager and Heidt lived in Dundurn, Sask., and played two seasons of bantam AA hockey with the Martensville Marauders. With the Marauders in 2018-19, Yager piled up 44 goals and 59 assists for 103 points in 31 regular season games.

    Heidt was also impressive that same season with the Marauders compiling 36 goals and 63 assists for 99 points in 31 regular season games.

    This past season, WHL scouts flocked to Contacts games to see Yager and Heidt in action.

Riley Heidt displayed a maturity beyond his years.

    They gave midget AAA spectators huge bang for their buck, because the onlookers got to see something special performance wise night in and night out.

    They both have a maturity way beyond their years, and when you talk to them, you wouldn’t realize how young they actually are outside of their baby faces being a giveaway.

    While they weren’t granted exceptional player status, Yager and Heidt are as close to sure bets as you can get that they will be stars in the WHL. On and off the ice, they are two individuals you don’t see come along very often at age 15.

    At the moment, the Prince George Cougars hold the second overall selection, the Moose Jaw Warriors the third overall pick and the Tri-City Americans hold the fourth overall selection.

    The Saskatoon Blades will pick fifth overall in the first round and usually in the 11^th spot in subsequent rounds.

    The Prince Albert Raiders have the 15^th overall selection in the first round and will usually select in the 15^th spot in subsequent rounds.

    On Wednesday, Yager and Heidt will step into the WHL’s bright lights for the first time, and you can expect it is a moment they are ready for and will be the continuation of their special stories.

Pronghorns hockey gets chopped, other notes

Russell Maxwell in action for the Pronghorns men’s hockey team last season.

    The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns hockey teams fell victim to the financial numbers game.

    On Monday, the U of L announced both the men’s and women’s Pronghorns hockey teams were discontinued due to sizable post-secondary budget cuts from the Government of Alberta.

    A total of 52 student-athletes were affected by the decision including several recruits and coaches for the two U Sports teams.

    The U of L said it will continue to honour scholarship commitments to the Pronghorns athletes for the axed programs, if they elect to continue their studies at the institution.

    Both Pronghorns hockey teams finished last in their respective eight-team circuits in the Canada West Conference. The men’s team posted a 5-20-2-1 record, while the women’s team had a 9-16-1-2 mark.

    A number of Pronghorns players and alums of both teams expressed surprise by the move via social media saying it came out of the blue. A number of critics said via social media there should have been discussions about alternative ways to fundraise to support the teams.

    Unfortunately in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic causing massive shutdowns to occur across Canada, I suspected you could find more announcements like this one happening.

    It should be noted that COVID-19 was not referenced in the released issued by the U of L stating the Pronghorns hockey teams were being cut. I believe it is fair to say that the current COVID-19 situation likely hastened the decision to cut the Pronghorns hockey teams.

Kyra Greig was a Pronghorns women’s team standout.

    If there was not COVID-19 pandemic situation, you could safely argue the cuts were heartless. With COVID-19 hanging like a specter over the world, most businesses have experienced massive cuts to revenue, and to be realistic, the sponsorship dollars aren’t out there.

    Right now, businesses are doing what they can to hold on to money and assets.

    Due to the uncertainty about how long the COVID-19 pandemic could go on, the odds to successfully fundraise to keep the Pronghorns hockey teams going would not be good.

    It is sad to see the Pronghorns hockey teams become a casualty here. The men’s hockey team debuted in the 1984-85 campaign.

    In the 1993-94 season, the Pronghorns men’s team won their only Canada West championship and U Sports national title in the lone season the squad had Mike Babcock as head coach. Babcock would go on to rise to star status as an NHL head coach.

    The Pronghorns women’s team debuted in the 1997-98 campaign, which was the inaugural season for U Sports women’s hockey. The Pronghorns women’s hockey team appeared in U Sports nationals in 2003.

    Unfortunately going forward, the Pronghorns hockey teams might not be the only programs in Canadian sports that cease to exist during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• On Friday, Gerry Moddejonge of Postmedia did a story on letter his media organization obtained from University of Alberta athletic director Ian Reade to Golden Bears and Pandas coaches, sponsors, donors, volunteers and alums outlining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the school’s sports and recreation programs. That goes on top of cuts the Government of Alberta is making to post-secondary institutions. Overall, the U of A athletics program is one of the most storied in U Sports and has diversified revenue sources under normal circumstances. Reade wrote in his letter, “As you can see, however, we could not plan for a situation where every revenue source is eliminated or threatened.” Moddejonge’s story can be found by clicking right here.
• On Tuesday, Saskatoon Youth Soccer Incorporated cancelled the outdoor season for May and June for all under-5 and under-19 leagues registered with its member zones and community associations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures that have been put in place by various governments to fight that pandemic.
• TheWHL continued to announce its player awards online. On Monday, Calen Addison of the Lethbridge Hurricanes was named the Eastern Conference defenceman of the year. Playing through his 19-year-old season, Addison appeared in 50 regular season games recording 10 goals, 42 assists and a plus-seven rating in the plus-minus department. Ty Smith of the Spokane Chiefs was named the Western Conference defenceman of the year. Smith appeared in 46 regular season games with the Chiefs recording 19 goals, 40 assists and a plus-49 rating. On Tuesday, centre Dylan Cozens of the Hurricanes was named the Eastern Conference player of the year. Skating through his 18-year-old season, Cozens appeared in 51 regular season games recording 38 goals, 47 assists and a plus-23 rating. Adam Beckman, who is an 18-year-old left-winger with the Chiefs and a Saskatoon product, was named the Western Conference player of the year. Beckman appeared in 63 regular season games with the Chiefs recording 48 goals, 59 assists and a plus-44 rating. He was the leading scorer in the WHL.
• The Prince Albert Raiders continued to roll out their team awards online. On Monday, overage captain and star defenceman Zack Hayes was named the winner of the Players Choice Award, which is voted on by the players for their teammate who best exemplifies what it means to be a Prince Albert Raider. Also on Monday, Hayes and sophomore import centre Aliaksei Protas, who was playing through his 18-year-old season, were named the co-winner of the Orland Kurtenbach Award as the team’s most valuable player.
• The Saskatoon Blades put out a fun video on Twitter on Monday. They did a pass the puck challenge, where fans submitted videos that the Blades out together to make it look like their faithful were passing the puck to each other. The final product was enjoyable to watch.

We're connecting the hockey world together, one pass at a time.

Stick taps go out to all of our fans who've submitted videos using the hashtag #BladesPassThePuck 🏒

How will you keep the puck moving? pic.twitter.com/ZiGn5tBzG4

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) April 21, 2020

    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’ Shirley gains new confidence with first goal

Abby Shirley jets up the ice for the Huskies.

    The old saying that good things can happen if you put the puck on goal paid off for Abby Shirley.

    The 18-year-old rookie right-winger with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team netted her first career U Sports regular season goal on a play that looked rather unassuming. Early in the third period of Saturday’s clash against the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns at the ancient Rutherford Rink, Shirley fired a shot from a bad angle along the left boards in the offensive zone, and the puck found its way past netminder Alicia Anderson.

    The goal gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead and held up as the game winner in a 3-1 victory.

    “I was actually going to go for a line change, but then the puck game right in front of me,” said Shirley. “I was like I might as well get it on net. It slipped in somehow.

    “It was a good way to get my first one I guess.”

    Shirley admitted to being startled when she saw the red light go on behind the Pronghorns goal.

    “I actually didn’t even know it went in,” said Shirley. “I don’t know what was going through my mind, and then I just threw my hands up in the air.

    “It is just a feeling I guess.”

    Shirley, who stands 5-foot-5, has seen a bit of everything in her first campaign with the Huskies. The Delisle, Sask., product has been in and out of the Huskies lineup appearing in 13 of the team’s 18 regular season games to date collecting one goal, two assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department. Those types of experiences are often common for rookies at the U Sports level.

    When she has played, Shirley has mainly been a defensive forward, but she has had her opportunity to play all sorts of different roles. One of her assignments that isn’t common for a rookie forward has been playing the point on the power play.

    “I was quite nervous actually,” said Shirley about the power play duty. “Then, I got into the groove a bit with lots of practice, and it felt pretty good.”

    Huskies head coach Steve Kook said Shirley’s confidence has improved as the season has gone on, and that was noticeable in Saturday’s win over the Pronghorns.

Abby Shirley reacts to scoring her first goal with the Huskies.

    “I didn’t see any hesitation in her game, so that is a little bit of maturity on her part,” said Kook. “That is what is helping her game a little bit, and that is what is making me feel a little bit more comfortable to put her in those situations (like playing the power play).

    “As a rookie, you worry about making so many mistakes. It just seems like she is just playing hockey right now and not thinking so much. That is what has allowed her ability to come out.”

    Kook said Shirley has some natural talents she can rely on as her career with the Huskies progresses.

    “First year is pretty good here,” said Kook. “We will see how she handles getting a little bit more playing time in the second and third year.

    “Her natural ability is to be able to shoot the puck even though she is just pint sized. Her natural ability is to see open ice, and that is why we have her on the top end on our power play.”

    Shirley came to the Huskies after a solid career with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team. She played three seasons for the Stars from 2014 to 2017 collecting 31 goals and 32 assists in 77 career regular season games. The speedy winger played a key part in helping the Stars win Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championships and appear in the Esso Cup national championship tournament in 2015 and 2016.

    Last season with the Stars, she had a breakout campaign netting 14 goals and 18 assists in 25 regular season games. Shirley quickly noticed all the players at the university level were stronger and bigger, so that created an obvious adjustment.

    “It is a lot different,” said Shirley. “You don’t have as much time.

    “It is a lot more just pucks to the net and shots other than just like having time with it and trying to make nice plays. It is just really like quick plays.”

    Shirley said one of her easier adjustments was fitting in with her teammates, when she got over some initial moments of being star struck. She went through times of just being in awe of star fifth-year captain Kaitlin Willoughby.

Abby Shirley (#27) was all smiles after scoring for the Huskies.

    “I love this group of girls,” said Shirley. “There are lots of girls I look up to like Willo (Kaitlin Willoughby) of course.

    “She is such a good offensive player. Her hands are unbelievable, and I look up to her for sure.

“We’re like a family. I’m really close with everyone, and I just love them.”

    While she knows she has been more of a defensive forward so far this season, Shirley would like to have a few other goal celebrations as the campaign progresses.

    “It feels really good actually just knowing that like you are helping out the team,” she said.

    The Huskies (11-6-1) return to action on Friday, when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the University of Manitoba Bisons (13-4-1).

North Stars captain commits to Huskies men’s team

    On Tuesday, the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team Battlefords North Stars captain Layne Young has committed to play for the green and white starting in the 2018-19 campaign.

    Young, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 200 pounds, has been a standout for the Stars since joining the junior A club on a full-time basis at the start of the 2014-15 campaign. In 145 regular season career games with the Stars, Young has 73 goals and 138 assists.

    The 20-year-old leads the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in scoring this season with 22 goals and 43 assists in 33 appearances. The Frenchman Butte, Sask., product helped the Stars with the SJHL championship last season.

    “We are thrilled to have Layne join our program,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph in a release. “He understands that we place a significant value on elite junior A players from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

    “They all are extremely dedicated to getting better, and Layne knows he will have to earn his way here. He is hardworking with a boat load of skill and drive.”

    Young will enter the College of Agriculture to study in Ag-Business.

    “I saw a lot of positives joining the Huskies,” said Young in a release. “The University of Saskatchewan has a great agriculture program as well as a new rink that will help make the Huskies continue to be a top program in Canada.”

    Young refers to the brand new Merlis Belsher Place that is being constructed at the U of S and is scheduled to open for Young’s rookie campaign.

    The Huskies (14-3-1), who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, return to action on Friday, when they host the U of Manitoba Bisons (11-5-2), who are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

    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.