Young ones leaders in protests against racism in Saskatoon

Protesters march at the “Justice for George Rally” on Thursday in Saskatoon.

    “I understand that I will never understand. However, I stand.”

    I wish I could say I thought that up.

    That is a message I’ve seen on a handful of social media accounts of young friends usually aged 18 to 24 over the last handful of days as protests against racism continue across North America and dare I say the world.

    The demonstrations were triggered due to the death of African-American George Floyd on May 25 after he was arrested by police in Minneapolis, Minn.

    Video of the arrest showed Floyd being pinned on the ground with a police officer identified as Derek Chauvin driving his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck.

Young adults made up most of the crowd at the “Justice for George Rally.”

    Four officers were fired over the incident including Chauvin, and at first, Chauvin, who is Caucasian, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter over Floyd’s death. The charges against Chauvin were increased to second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday.

    The three other officers - Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao – were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

    Being a middle aged person who can get jaded from time to time due to seeing my share of bad happening to good people in this world, I thought this would be another one of those things that would blow over, which is awful to admit. I didn’t think it would get the momentum that it did.

Some of the protesters who took a knee at Kiwanis Park - North.

    That changed on Tuesday after I opened up my person Instagram account in the morning. The first thing I saw on my newsfeed was a post from Ryan Fontaine, who was a star goalie for the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 team from 2015 to 2018.

    Her post was a blacked our screen with the hashtag phrase #blackouttuesday.

    The next thing that crossed my mind was, “Wow, I didn’t know she was engaged with that.”

    Right after seeing that posts, I saw similar posts from Parker Kelly, who is an alumnus of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders and forward with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, and Tristen Robins, who is a star centre with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.

A protester with a bike takes a knee at Kiwanis Park - North.

    As I continued to go through all my social media accounts, I found similar posts from current players from the Raiders, Blades, six time defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops, defending WWCFL champion Saskatoon Valkyries, members of various teams of the SFU18AAAHL, from the various University of Saskatchewan Huskies teams in U Sports and Saskatchewan based players who play in the NCAA.

    At that point, I decided to follow the lead of my young friends on my social media accounts hoping to be a show of support that they were doing the right thing.

Thursday’s “Justice for George Rally” in Saskatoon had a massive turnout.

    Clavet product Willow Slobodzian, who stars on defence for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team, was constantly upgrading her Instagram story feed with education items regarding racism and news items about what various people were trying to do to address the issue.

    One of the best social media posts came from Jadyn Pingue, who finished up his five-year career playing linebacker for the Hilltops being named the CJFL’s most outstanding defensive player. On Thursday, Pingue, who is African-American, put together a well written post about black men building up other black men.

    The post included a strong portrait type picture of Pingue.

View this post on Instagram

WE are BLACK MEN!..... We BUILD .... We NEVER TEAR DOWN other BLACK MEN! .... We have felt the pain of being torn down and we have decided we will be deliberate about building others! All too often, we men find it easier to criticize each other, instead of BUILDING each other UP. With all the negativity going around let's do something POSITIVE!🌟 Upload 1 picture of yourself...ONLY YOU. Then tag as many brothers as you need to do the same. Let's BUILD ourselves UP, instead of tearing ourselves down. Be PROUD of who you are, PEACE & LOVE. 🖤✊🏾🙏🏾✊🏾🖤 COPY AND PASTE 🖤 📸: @dankaroundtheworld Agency: @masalamodeltalent

A post shared by 𝑷𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑼𝑬 (@pinguexo) on Jun 4, 2020 at 4:47pm PDT

    I found out later on Thursday the care and passion for this issue wasn’t limited to young athletes on my social media feed.

The crowd at the “Justice for George Rally” begins to march again.

    At 6 p.m., I saw two different newscasts doing live video of a rally against racism, where everyone was gathered at Saskatoon City Hall. I decided to head downtown to check things out.

    When I got to downtown, I met up with the rally as it had moved to the Saskatoon Police Station. I was floored by how many people I saw.

    A couple of reports said the gathering included about 2,000 people, but it seemed larger than that. The next thing I noticed was how young the crowd seemed to be.

    I estimate that at least 95 per cent of the people at the rally were aged 18 to 24, and it seemed like a lot of those were U of Saskatchewan students and students from out of town universities, who were home for the summer.

Thursday’s “Justice for George Rally” contained a diverse cultural crowd.

    I noticed some in the crowd were members of Huskies teams. It was visible to see the crowd contained high school students too.

    I later found out the rally was organized by Braydon Page, who is an African-America young man, and the rally was called the “Justice for George Rally.”

    On a Facebook page, Page invited people from all cultural backgrounds to attend. Canada has had challenges to say the least with racism issues with First Nations, and there were a number of signs in the crowd that referenced that fact too.

    The crowd that gathered was as culturally mixed as I’ve seen from any gathering in Saskatoon.

The protesters at the “Justice for George Rally” near Saskatoon City Hall.

    The young ones were passionate too, and it was obvious they believed they could make a difference.

    They had a Kevin Garnett “Anything is possible!” feeling to them.

    It was a feeling I could relate to thinking back to my university days at the University of Regina from 1995 to 2001.

    Most in the crowd were wearing protective masks due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has engulfed the world and certainly North America since around March 11.

    The crowd knelt at the police station for eight minutes and 46 seconds, which was the time Floyd was pinned on the ground before he died.

The crowd at Saskatoon City Hall shouts a number of chants.

    The crowd proceeded to do a march looping south to Midtown Plaza before heading east on 22^nd Street to Kiwanis Park – North. Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark marched with the young crowd too.

At the park, the crowd once again took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

    After that knee, the march returned to city hall, where the people took another knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

    The rally continued for a bit with speeches and chants including “black lives matter,” “I can’t breathe” and “no justice, no peace.”

At least 2,000 turned out for Thursday’s “Justice for George Rally.”

    The whole event was peaceful. The Saskatoon Police Service ensured streets were blocked off, when the crowd marched.

    A few police officers took a knee with the protesters at the police station. I think they came away being impressed with the youngsters too.

    When it comes to the issue of racism, it felt like the young adults and the teenagers that took part in the “Justice for George Rally” were the adults in the room.

    All of us in the older generations bluntly haven’t got the job done on this front, if the past two weeks have shown us anything.
    For myself, I am ill-equipped if I tried to put together a column regarding racial issues.

In Saskatoon, the young generation leads in the protests against racism.

    Back in my university days, I saw my friends from different races and cultures as buds. Looking back, I think I had a naïve quality that everyone would somehow live together in harmony.

    The protest that took place on Thursday night in Saskatoon was ultimately a civil rights type rally.      In my lifetime, that was the first time I saw one of those live and in person.

    It was cool to see the young people take the initiative to lead the way. The rest of us would be wise to follow.

    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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Champs again! - Stars capture third SFMAAAHL title with sweep

Stars captain Mackenna Parker, right, raises the Fedoruk Cup.

    The Saskatoon Stars weren’t going to be denied in their quest to recapture the Fedoruk Cup.

    A year ago, the Stars were swept away 3-0 by the Prince Albert Northern Bears in the best-of-five Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League Championships Series, which the Stars had won in 2015 and 2016. This year, the Stars returned the favour.

    On Tuesday night at the Agriplace Arena, the Stars scored twice late in the first period of Game 3 of the SFMAAAHL title series to erase an early 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead on the Bears. 

    Saskatoon held on over the next two frames to cement that 2-1 score as the final outcome for Game 3 to sweep the series 3-0 to claim the SFMAAAHL championship banner and the Fedoruk Cup.

The Stars celebrate winning the SFMAAAHL title and the Fedoruk Cup.

    “It feels amazing,” said Stars captain Mackenna Parker. “I have been waiting for it for two years now.

    “Finally, we came together and did it. It is so exciting.”

    For a lengthy stretch of the opening frame, it appeared the Bears were going to force the series to go to a Game 4. They took a 1-0 lead on a well-executed power-play goal at the 5:25 mark of the first.

    Bears physical defender Jordan Ashe passed the puck from the point down to the Jadyn Kushniruk at the right side of the Saskatoon goal. Kushniruk passed the puck across front of the Saskatoon net to skilled centre Kate Ball, who tucked home the opening tally of the contest.

Kate Ball scored to give the Bears an early lead.

    Stars netminder Arden Kliewer had to make a number of big stops to keep the Bears from extending their advantage, which included turning away Ball on a backdoor opportunity later in the frame.

    With 2:58 remaining in the first, Stars forward Kaitlin Jockims took a pass from Anna Leschyshyn to pot the equalizer to tie things up at 1-1.

    Parker proceeded to net the series winner with 12.5 seconds to play in the first period, when she swooped across the front of the Prince Albert goal and tucked home a backhand shot between the legs of Bears netminder Ryan Fontaine. Leschyshyn picked up an assist on that tally as well.

    “I didn’t know if it was going to go through or not, but it did,” said Parker. “It just ended up going five-hole.”

    After 20 minutes, the shots on goal were even at 14-14 thanks to the Stars push in the final three minutes of the frame. Stars head coach Greg Slobodzian said the two goals his side scored at the end of the first was the turning point of Game 3.

Kaitlin Jockims had the equalizer for the Stars on Tuesday night.

    “P.A. came out hard,” said Slobodzian. “We knew they were going to come out hard. You have a team like that which plays hard all the time and then you back them into a corner, they really sent it.

    “We weathered the storm. As soon as we scored those two goals, I was like to play that hard and come out down one goal that is sort of disheartening. They continued to push for sure, but they didn’t have the same jump that they had.”

    The Stars carried play for much of the second period outshooting the Bears 13-5. Netminder Ryan Fontaine made a number of big saves for the Bears to ensure the Stars didn’t get any further ahead on the scoreboard.

    In the third, Bears captain Hannah Koroll likely had the best chance to net the equalizer for her side firing a hard mid-range drive on goal in the second half of the frame, but Kliewer turned away the shot. Outside of Koroll’s opportunity, Saskatoon clamped things down defensively to close out the victory.

Captain Mackenna Parker celebrates her series winning goal for the Stars.

    “It is awesome,” said Jockims of the win. “It is a great feeling to share with all my friends and family.”

    Kliewer made 25 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Fontaine turned away 33 shots to take the setback in the Bears net.

    In Game 2 in Prince Albert on Sunday, Kliewer had a huge outing turning away 30 shots to back the Stars to a 4-2 win. After experiencing what it was like to be swept out of the SFMAAAHL title series a year ago by the Bears in her rookie campaign with the Stars, Kliewer was pumped to be on the winning side this time around as second-year player.

    “It feels great to comeback this year and sweep them the same as they did to us last year,” said Kliewer. “It is an amazing feeling.”

Goalie Ryan Fontaine makes one of her 33 saves for the Bears.

    As for her play in net, Kliewer said she was riding a good vibe.

    “I was just feeling the puck having a good game,” said Kliewer. “I had a good team in front of me. I was just feeling it.”

    Tuesday’s victory marked the third time in four years the Stars captured the SFMAAAHL championship. Parker along with forwards Kianna Dietz, Jordyn Gerlitz and Jordyn Holmes played for the Stars in all three league championship seasons.

    This year’s league championship series had been pegged as another big showdown as the Stars finished first in the SFMAAAHL regular season with a 24-3-1 record, while the Bears were second with a 22-5-1 mark.

Goalie Arden Kliewer makes one of her 25 stops in goal for the Stars.

    Slobodzian said the run by his team has been a remarkable one.

    “I’ve always said I have been blessed with really, really good athletes who are eager to get better and want to play the right way,” said Slobodzian. “These are the outcomes that you get.

    “I’m just happy for them. We work those girls so hard in practice, and they are so committed in their dryland. To get rewarded for all that work, it means a lot.”

    The Stars now advance to play in a best-of-three female midget AAA Western regional playdown series versus the Manitoba female midget AAA champion.

Jordyn Holmes, left, and Jordyn Gerlitz enjoy the Fedoruk Cup.

    The best-of-five Manitoba championship series is still going on as the Eastman Selects, who are based in Ste. Anne, have a 2-1 edge in the set on the defending champion Pembina Valley Hawks, who are based in Morden. The latest that series is slated to go on is Friday.

    The winner of the Manitoba championship series will host the Stars for the entire Wester regional playdown series.

    “Everyone on this team gets along so well,” said Jockims. “It is just awesome to have a couple of more weeks together.”

    The club that takes the playdown series advances to the Esso Cup national female midget AAA championship tournament, which runs April 22 to 28 in Bridgewater, N.S.

The Stars celebrate their third SFMAAAHL title in four years.

    Parker, Dietz, Gerlitz and Holmes are all playing out their final campaign of midget AAA eligibility along with defender Dana Wood and netminder Jordan Ivanco. The Stars captain was happy that her team’s season will continue in April.

    “I don’t have to worry about hockey being done,” said Parker. “We can just keep going.

    “I don’t want leave that great group of girls that we have here.”

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

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Fiala, Jockims surge Stars to Game 2 win over Bears

Saskatoon takes 2-0 lead of SFMAAAHL title series

Joelle Fiala celebrates her game winner for the Stars.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - Joelle Fiala and Kaitlin Jockims drove home two big blows to knock the Prince Albert Northern Bears on the ropes.

    On Sunday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert, it appeared overtime was on tap for Game 2 of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League Championship series. With 5:40 to play in the third period, Bears star forward Abby Soyko zipped into the Saskatoon zone on the left wing to get in alone on a breakaway and scored on a coast-to-coast rush to lock the Bears in a 2-2 tie with the visiting Saskatoon Stars.

    Just 17 seconds later, the Stars responded when defender Abby DeCorby found Fiala in the low right slot, and Fiala drove home a shot to the top right corner short side on Bears goaltender Ryan Fontaine to give the Stars a 3-2 lead.

    Building off the momentum from Fiala’s goal, the Stars went up by two goals just 2:10 later when forward Kaitlin Jockims was sprung on a breakaway, and she popped home a tally to the left corner of the Prince Albert goal.

Stars F Joelle Fiala, left, battles Bears D Jordan Ashe for the puck.

    Those markers proved to be the difference as the Stars took the contest 4-2 and a 2-0 commanding lead in the best-of-five series against the Bears, who are the defending SFMAAAHL champions. Saskatoon will try to close things out at home in Game 3 on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena and win their third league title in four years in the process.

    “It was exciting to get another goal since they just scored,” said Fiala about her game winner. “I think it was pretty big whether it was me or anyone else scoring.

    “We needed another goal just to get up a little bit since they just scored.”

    Jockims was pumped to add the insurance tally.

Kaitlin Jockims had a key insurance goal for the Stars.

    “I just kind of went to the net and shot it,” said Jockims. “It kind of put the game away, and the team felt more secure.

    “I thought we showed what kind of team we were. They kept scoring, and we kept scoring right after like keeping the momentum in like our favour.”

    The Stars ability to respond quickly after the Bears scores proved to be the difference in Sunday’s clash.

    The Bears opened the scoring when captain Hannah Koroll fired home a shot from the point through a screen to give her side a 1-0 lead with 4:54 to play in the first period. At that point in the contest, the Bears were controlling play having just worked on two straight power plays.

    Momentum changed with 1:22 to play in the opening frame, when Stars captain and SFMAAAHL regular season scoring leader Mackenna Parker netted a goal from close in to force a 1-1 tie. Just 37 seconds after her goal, the Stars took a 2-1 advantage, when the rebound of a point shot from defender Ashley Messier was knocked home by standout centre Grace Shirley at the left side of the Prince Albert goal.

    Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby pointed towards those two Stars tallies as being a big turning point in the contest.

Abby Soyko had the third period equalizer for the Bears.

    “The biggest key I think was the first period maybe,” said Willoughby. “They had two late goals in the first.

    “If we could have been 1-0 or even tied going into two, it is a different ball game.”

    The Bears had a big chance to force a tie in the second, when forward Haley Kicia tried to knock home a puck Stars netminder Arden Kliewer was having trouble controlling. Kliewer finally froze the puck to stop play and ultimately made 30 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Stars.

    Fontaine turned away 19 shots to take the setback in goal for the Bears.

    “As a team, I think we played hard,” said Fiala. “We pushed back.

    “P.A. played really well. They always give us a hard game. We maybe didn’t play our best, but that goes to show you how much better we can be.”

    With the Bears having the edge in scoring chances on Sunday, Willoughby said it was tough to see Game 2 slip away.

    “It is hard pill to swallow obviously,” said Willoughby. “The task of winning three games in a row seems like it is a hard thing to do too.

Stars goalie Arden Kliewer gathers in a loose puck in traffic.

    “You just have to look at it as one game at a time and one period at a time, and you break it down to one shift at a time and that is the only way you can look at it. If you look at it winning three games, it is too much to concentrate on.

    “That was the message we gave the girls. We just told them it happened in 2009 when the Bears won the league.”

    When the Bears won their first league title in team history in 2009, they dropped the first two games of the best-of-five title series to the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats before winning three straight to take the series 3-2.

    The Stars would like to flip the script from last season, when they were swept away by the Bears in the SFMAAAHL finals 3-0. Fiala said her team is aiming to finish things off in Game 3.

The Stars celebrate their Game 2 victory over the Bears.

    “We definitely want our broom back,” said Fiala. “We’re not going to play to lose.”

    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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Stars power play too hot for Bears in Game 1

Saskatoon downs Prince Albert 5-3 in SFMAAAHL finals opener

Mackenna Parker, right, hugs a teammate after scoring on the power play.

    The Saskatoon Stars power play was on fire, and that spelled trouble for the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

    On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the Stars cashed in on all three of their power play opportunities to down the Bears 5-3 in the opening game of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series. The best-of-five series shifts to Prince Albert for Game 2 on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

    In Friday’s encounter, the Stars final three goals all came on the power play with star centre Grace Shirley scoring twice and star captain Mackenna Parker getting the other goal with the numbers advantage.

    “I feel like just going into it we were kind of all on the same page,” said Shirley about the power-play success. “We were talking in between shifts just like making sure that we all knew what we were doing out there.

    “We just worked hard when we were out there, and things went our way.”

Joelle Fiala had the Stars first goal on Friday.

    Joelle Fiala and Anna Leschychyn both scored for the Stars at even strength to give the host side a 2-0 lead in the first period.

    At the 12:13 mark of the second, defender Ashley Messier fed the puck down low to Shirley at the right side of the Prince Albert goal, and she sniped her first marker past Bears netminder Ryan Fontaine.

    After the Bears cut the Stars lead to 3-2, Shirley struck again on the power play at the 3:50 mark of the third taking a beauty feed from Leschyshyn in the left slot and burying her second goal of the contest to give the Stars a 4-2 lead.

    Shirley said the play of her teammates was the reason she was able to score twice.

    “They were both just really good passes,” said Shirley. “The first one Ashley (Messier) just made a really good pass, and I had time to shoot. It was just kind of a lucky goal that went in there.

    “The second one Anna (Leschyshyn) obviously just like made a really nice pass and found me in the slot. It was just great plays.”

Stars captain Mackenna Parker eludes Bears defender Jordan Ashe.

    The Bears, who enter the series as defending SFMAAAHL champions, always kept battling back ensuring no Stars lead was safe.

    After Shirley netted her first goal to give the Stars a 3-0 lead, Bears star winger Abby Soyko responded with a goal just 1:27 later to cut Saskatoon’s lead to 3-1.
    Before the second period ended, the Bears further trimmed to Stars edge to 3-2, when Jadyn Kushniruk passed the puck across the front of the Saskatoon net from the left wing and linemate Camryn Amundson tapped the puck into an empty right side of the goal.

Abby Soyko had the Bears first goal on Friday.

    When Shirley scored her second power-play marker in the third to give the Stars a 4-2 edge, Bears winger Jasper Desmarais responded just 60 second later to trim the Saskatoon lead to 4-3.

    With 5:41 to play in the third, Leschyshyn found Parker with a backdoor feed, and the Stars captain fired home a power-play goal to round out the scoring in the contest. Shirley also picked up an assist on Parker’s goal for a three-point night.

    “Obviously, they are a good team,” said Shirley. “No matter how much you are up, they are always going to go hard.

    “It is important that we play a whole 60 minutes, because we know they are going to do the same.”

    The Bears got on the power play with 1:54 to play in the third, and they pulled Fontaine with a minute to play to get a six-on-four advantage with the number of skaters on the ice. Prince Albert wasn’t able to find any more offence.

    Jordan Ivanco turned away 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Fontaine turned away 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Bears.

The Stars celebrate their Game 1 series win.

    The Bears failed to score on their two power-play chances.

    While Prince Albert swept last year’s SFMAAAHL championship series 3-0, the Stars won the league title in 2015 and 2016.
    Saskatoon swept Prince Albert 3-0 in the 2015 SFMAAAHL championship series.

    Shirley was pleased her team could take Game 1 this year and against the Bears.

    “It was a good feeling to get the first one,” said Shirley. “We just have to focus on the next game and just keep playing hard.”
    After Game 2 on Sunday in Prince Albert wraps up, the two teams will play in Game 3 on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

Sophie Shirley named CWHL rookie of the year

    Saskatoon Stars alumna Sophie Shirley took home a big honour at the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s annual awards show on Friday.

    The skilled 18-year-old centre was named the CWHL’s rookie of the year after a solid campaign with the Calgary Inferno. Shirley recorded eight goals and 11 assists in 26 regular season games to help the Inferno finish third in the seven-team league with a 17-7-1-3 mark, while also finishing third in team scoring.

    The Saskatoon product, who has been part of Canada’s under-18 women’s team and Canada’s national women’s development team, has committed to join the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team next season. Sophie is Grace Shirley’s older sister.

2018 Rookie of the Year - Sophie Shirley! (@InfernoCWHL) #WeAreTheGame #ClarksonCup2018 pic.twitter.com/3JIZ9dqAZ7

— CWHL (@TheCWHL) March 24, 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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Bears edge Stars in marquee SFMAAAHL showdown

Bears goalie Ryan Fontaine tracks the action around her net.

    PRINCE ALBERT – Jeff Willoughby didn’t want any doubt to linger in his players’ heads, when it came to taking on the Saskatoon Stars.

    So far this season, the head coach of the Prince Albert Northern Bears saw his side fall three times in regulation to the Stars. On Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Bears, who are the defending Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League champions, pulled out a 2-1 victory in a tight checking battle with their biggest rival.

    “It means more than the three points in the standings,” said Willoughby. “It gives confidence for the girls.

Goalie Arden Kliewer makes a stop for the Stars.

    “We’ve play everybody up until this point, all seven other teams. Heading into playoffs, I’ve seen it happen before where a team hasn’t had success against another team and it spills over to the playoffs. Getting this win for us is huge.”

    The victory gives the Bears some breathing room on the Stars with regards to the race for first place in the SFMAAAHL standings. The Bears improved to 17-3 to sit in top spot with the win and hold an 11-point edge over the second place Stars, who fell to 14-2.

    Prince Albert has recorded all its wins in regulation time for 51 standings points, while Saskatoon has 40 standings points recorded on 12 regulation victories and two overtime wins. The Stars, who have topped the SFMAAAHL standings in each of the past three seasons, have four games in hand on the Bears.

Captain Hannah Koroll had two assists for the Bears.

    In Wednesday’s clash, the two sides entered the third period locked in a 0-0 tie. Arden Kliewer turned away 17 shots over the first two frames for the Stars, while Ryan Fontaine stopped 14 shots over the opening 40 minutes for the Bears.

    Tough as nails 17-year-old Bears defender Jordan Ashe was pleased with how her side handed the Stars vast number of high flying forwards like captain Mackenna Parker, Grace Shirley, Anna Leschyshyn and Joelle Fiala.

    “I think we did pretty good,” said Ashe. “I think we need to work on our head manning the puck, (and) being more firm on the blue-line making sure we don’t fumble pucks.

    “Overall, we were pretty solid. (Bears captain) Hannah (Koroll) was really solid as well.”

    Koroll ultimately picked up helpers on both Bears goals.

    At the 3:07 mark of the third, the Bears went ahead 1-0, when 14-year-old rookie forward Rhea Peterson flipped home the puck into the Saskatoon goal over top of Kliewer.

    With 7:22 to play in the third, the Bears capitalized on another break to go ahead 2-0 after killing off a Stars power play. Kliewer mishandled the puck resulting in a goal from Bears forward Alli Soyko.

Joelle Fiala (#27) scored the Stars lone goal on Wednesday.

    Saskatoon came with a hard push back. With 5:44 to play in the third, Fiala scored on the power play to cut the Bears lead to 2-1.

    Shirley thought she collected the equalizer during a net scramble with 1:37 to play in the third, but the officials waved off her goal saying she knocked the puck into the Prince Albert net with a high stick.
    Inside of the final minute of the third, Stars defender Chace Sperling wired a shot off the crossbar of the Prince Albert goal to just miss netting the equalize for Saskatoon.

    Fontaine made 22 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Bears. Kliewer turned away 20 shots to take the setback in goal for the Stars.

    Ashe said she like the atmosphere in her team’s dressing room, when the Bears were getting ready before the game.

Defender Jordan Ashe played her 100th regular season game for the Bears.

    She believes her side did a good job in not getting over-hyped to play the Stars and came with the same approach they would for any opponent.

    “In all honesty, it is not a big difference,” said Ashe. “We need to treat them like everyone else and not put extra expectations on top of that.”

    Overall, Willoughby thought this fourth and final meeting between the two sides in the 2017-18 regular season would be a competitive one, and the veteran bench boss said both sides delivered a tight contest.  

    “I thought there was a lot of back and forth play, not a high shot amount,” said Willoughby. “There was lots of blocked shots. There was lots of tight checking.

    “Those teams were tight gap all over the place, and that is what we expected. It was just a battle back and forth. Our second goal came with good timing.”

Defender Chace Sperling just missed scoring the equalizer for the Stars.

    Both teams now have to wait a bit for their next respective regular season games.

The Stars return to action on Jan. 6 in the new year, when they travel to Wilcox, Sask., to face the Notre Dame Hounds (10-3).

    The Bears head to Calgary for the prestigious Mac’s Tournament, which begins this coming Tuesday. They return to regular season play on Jan. 13 in the new year, when they travel to Melville to face the Prairie Fire (7-11).

    100-CLUB – A combined four players in Wednesday’s contest hit the ice for their 100^th career SFMAAAHL regular season game. Ashe and forward Abby Soyko played their 100^th career regular season games with the Bears, while forward Jordyn Gerlitz skated in her 100^th career regular season contest with the Stars.

The Bears celebrate their 2-1 victory over the Stars.

    Stars forward Jayda Sachs also played her 100^th career regular season game, and her total included making 56 appearances with the Bears in her first two campaigns in the league.

    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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Ball finds home with Northern Bears in Prince Albert

Kate Ball was a perfect fit with the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

    Kate Ball and the Prince Albert Northern Bears ended up being a match made in heaven.

    Before the season started, the 15-year-old Saskatoon product was kicking tires looking for a female midget AAA team where she would have a chance to contribute in an offensive role. On a whim, she decided to attend a tryout camp with the Bears, and head coach Jeff Willoughby asked if she wanted to play.

    Ball had a choice of playing with either the Saskatoon Stars in her hometown and the Bears. With the Stars returning almost all of their key offensive players from the previous campaign, the skilled centre decided to go play for the Bears.

    “It has actually been so exciting,” said Ball. “I love my team. They are just all like really awesome.

    “The room is just filled with like positive. We’re all like really nice to each other. It is just like really great.”

Kate Ball celebrates a goal with Jasper Desmarais and Camryn Amundson.

    With the Bears, Ball, who stands 5-foot-5, had a spectacular rookie season finishing second in team scoring with 15 goals and 15 assists in 28 regular season games. Prince Albert finished with its best record in team history going 22-6.

    In the post-season, the Bears won their first 11 straight contests sweeping the Stars in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series in three games and taking out Hartney, Man., based Westman Wildcats in a two-game sweep in a Western regional playdown series in Prince Albert.

    Those victories allowed the Bears to earn a berth in the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament for the first time in team history. The Esso Cup started on Sunday and runs to Saturday in Morden, Man.

Kate Ball (#21) battles for the puck behind the net in the offensive zone.

    While big goals were established on personal and team fronts before the season started, Ball was still a bit awestruck that those goals were realized.

    “I wasn’t expecting myself to do that good,” said Ball. “I guess just really good teammates just helped me a lot.

    “I actually never thought we would like come this far. I am just so proud of my team coming this far. It is just an amazing feeling.”

    Willoughby said the Bears were fortunate Ball decided to come to Prince Albert to play.

    “She’s been playing very consistent for us,” said Willoughby. “We’ve asked her to play an offensive role, and she jumped right into that.

    “She is always around the puck. She definitely knows where the net is. Her effort she has given is second to none.

    “Getting a point a game as a rookie is a pretty outstanding feet.”

Kate Ball, left, enjoys the Bears SFMAAAHL title win.

    Willoughby said it was cool seeing Ball improve on the ice and off the ice. Away from the game, the bench boss was impressed with how quickly Ball found a high comfort level with the rest of her Bears teammate.

    “At the start of the year, I think she was maybe a little bit to herself and shy like a lot of rookies would be,” said Willoughby. “I think she’s come along.

    “She’s really opened up. I think she is no different than the rest of them. They are all such good teammates, and they care about each other, and they care about what the other person is doing.

    “They want to help each other out, and that is exactly what Kate (Ball) has been doing.”

    Ball’s move to the Bears was also made easier by the fact nine other players from the Saskatoon area were also on the team. The Bears roster contains fellow Saskatoon products Jadyn Kushniruk, Kassidy Kicia, Kate Wagner, Sierra Parenteau, Hannah Koroll and Miranda Heidt.

    Also on the team are Warman products Jordan Ashe and Jasper Desmarais and Martensville’s Story Navrot.

Kate Ball cuts into the offensive zone for the Bears.

    Ball said she actually knew more players on the Bears than she did on the Stars due a lot to her experiences playing spring hockey. On the ice, she found magic playing on a line with Desmarais and speedy Debden product Camryn Amundson.

    “I’ve played with Jasper for four years, so we have like good chemistry,” said Ball. “Camryn, me and her just like clicked right away, so it was really great.”

    As for her start in the sport, Ball followed in the footsteps of her two older brothers Daylon and Justin. Daylon, who is now 21, finished his competitive playing days at age 16.

    Justin was with the Saskatoon Contacts last season, who played in the Telus Cup midget AAA national championship tournament, and he recently finished his 18-year-old rookie season in junior A with the Melfort Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

    Kate’s brothers weren’t her only family members that made waves as competitive athletes. Her uncle Sheldon was a star quarterback first with the Saskatoon Hilltops and then the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. He has been the offensive coordinator of the Hilltops for the past 11 seasons.

Kate Ball piled up 30 points in 28 regular season games with the Bears.

    While she has had a lot of good influences to help her along in hockey, Ball found her own love for the sport.

    “I love skating,” said Ball. “Skating is my passion. I just love it.

    “I like the playmaking. It is just really fun.”

    Ball admitted beating the Stars in the SFMAAAHL championship series was a big highlight this season along with winning the Western regional over the Wildcats with a thrilling come-from-behind 7-6 series clinching victory in Game 2. The Bears were down 6-3 with 13:24 to play in the third period and closed the contest with four unanswered goals.

    She was pumped to go to Esso Cup and is also looking forward to playing two more seasons with the Bears. 

Kate Ball, left, and her teammates enjoy the Bears Western regional win.

    This season she continued to live in Saskatoon, and her parents drove to her to Prince Albert for practices and her games.

    Next season, Ball is planning to live with a billet family in Prince Albert.

    “I’m actually real excited to think about two more years,” said Ball. “I just love this group of girls and just being here. I think it will be good.”

    After her midget AAA playing days are done, Ball has a wish of where she would like to play on the post-secondary front.

    “Hopefully, I get to play with University of Saskatchewan, because it is like a mile from my house,” said Ball. “That would be really convenient.

    “If that doesn’t work out, then NCAA or college in the States that would be really good too.”

Bears pick up first win at Esso Cup

Camryn Amundson (#9) scored twice for the Bears on Tuesday at Esso Cup.

    On Tuesday in Morden, Man., the Bears picked up their first win at Esso Cup dumping the Summerside, P.E.I., based Mid-Isle Wildcats 6-1 at the Access Events Centre.

    Camryn Amundson and Jadyn Kushniruk both scored twice for the Bears, while Story Navrot and Miranda Heidt each netted singles. Ryan Fontaine turned away 13 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bears.

    Madison Vincent had the lone reply for the Wildcats. Maggie Johnson turned away 57 shots to take the loss in goal for the Wildcats.

    The win allowed the Bears to improve to 1-2, while the Wildcats fell to 0-3.

    The Bears opened the Esso Cup on Sunday falling 2-1 to the host and Manitoba champion Pembina Valley Hawks. On Monday, the Bears dropped a 5-1 decision to the Pickering, Ont., based Durham West Lightning.

    Prince Albert returns to action on Wednesday taking on the Alberta-based St. Albert Slash. The Bears close their round robin schedule at Esso Cup on Thursday, when they face the Sherbrooke, Que., based Harfangs du Triolet.

    The top four teams in the round robin standings qualify for the playoff round. The semifinal round for the Esso Cup is set for Friday. The bronze and gold medal games will be held on Saturday.

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