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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Huskies grind out win on Vance’s third shutout

The Huskies congratulate goalie Jessica Vance on her shutout.

    Steve Kook hopes the low scoring nail-biter isn’t the norm for his University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.

    The veteran head coach watched his side squeak out a gritty 1-0 victory over the University of Regina Cougars on Saturday night in a U Sports regular season clash at the ancient Rutherford Rink. So far this season, low scoring battles have been the norm for teams playing head-to-head in the Canada West Conference. Venla Hovi, who is a star forward for the University of Manitoba Bisons, is the only player averaging a point a game with four goals and eight assists in 12 appearances.

    In building a 9-6-1 record to sit fourth in Canada West, the Huskies and the University of Calgary Dinos are tied for giving up the fewest goals in the circuit at 23. The Huskies have only scored a combined 26 goals which ranks fifth in the eight-team conference.

    Kook said grinding out the low-scoring win isn’t the easiest thing to do.

    “I think it is hard on teams to do this every weekend,” said Kook. “I don’t think it is any different than what we’ve gone through every year.

Jessica Vance makes a glove save for the Huskies.

    “The challenge for us is to try to find a way to get more than one person at the net. Goalies are so good in this league you have to find a way to get two people at the net or attack in multiples.”

    The Cougars came at the Huskies hard in the opening 20 minutes outshooting the host side 16-8. Thanks to the stellar goaltending from Jessica Vance, the Huskies entered the first intermission locked in a 0-0 tie.

    Vance’s two best saves in the opening frame included robbing Cougars captain Kylee Kupper on a backdoor play and making a glove stop on fourth-year forward Emma Waldenberger.
    “They came on strong, and it was important to make those first few saves to keep my team in it,” said Vance. “Luckily, my team did a good job by keeping most of the shots to the outside to make it a little easier for me.”

    At the start of the second, Vance made a trio of big saves first on Cougars star forward Jaycee Magwood, then on Kupper and another on Jenna Grube.

    The Huskies found traction, when they went to work on their fourth power-play of the contest. During a net scramble, Huskies star captain Kaitlin Willoughby, who had a solid lunch pail type game, got the puck from a crowd at the left side of the Cougars goal and drove home her fifth tally of the season.

Kaitlin Willoughby scored for the Huskies on this net scramble.

    That goal ultimately turned the tide of the contest in favour of the Huskies. The hosts held a 12-5 edge in shots on goal in the second period.

    The third period was a calm one with both sides not have a whole lot in the way of scoring chances. Vance made a big late save on Magwood in a 27 save shutout performance.
    In six starts this season, Vance has posted a 4-2 record, a 1.18 goals against average, a .955 save percentage and three shutouts.

    “It feels good to have the shutouts, but the most important part is for my team to get the win,” said Vance. “I try not to think about my stats too much and just focus on working together with my team to get the win.
    “A lot can be said for my team’s defence as well for my shutouts as that is a key part of the game.”
    Jane Kish stopped 23 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars, who fell to 7-8-1 to remain fifth overall in Canada West.

    During their first 16 games, the Huskies held the edge in shots on goal in six of the seven games they lost.

Kaitlin Willoughby drives into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

    A lot of the times, they have outshot their opponents by a comfortable edge, but that work hasn’t resulted in a gusher of goals.

    On the power play, the Huskies are 3-for-55 with a 5.5 per cent success rate on the campaign. Kook said his team is getting chances on the power play, and it is a challenge to keep the confidence up with everyone.

    “The natural thing is to want to try and change something,” said Kook. “I’d be more concerned if we weren’t getting good looks and good scoring chances off the power play.

    “We need to get better at the things we do. We need to tweak a little bit maybe some strong net front presence and a more committed net front presence. For us to make a wholesale change I think is wrong.

Goalie Jessica Vance makes one of her 27 saves on Saturday.

    “We’re getting good scoring looks.”

    The Huskies now head into their exam and Christmas break. They return to action on Jan. 5 in the new year, when they host the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns (7-9-2) at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

    Kook liked how his team won puck battles on Saturday and wants to see that continue in the second half. He would also like to see his side manage the puck better.

    The bench boss thought his team had lapses in Friday’s 2-0 loss to the Cougars in Regina, where the Huskies did have a 31-19 edge in shots on goal.

    “Literally in the second half, it is a sprint,” said Kook. “We have 12 games over six weeks. Before you know it, it is over.

    “You just have to make sure we are in games like this right off the bat. (Friday night), I thought we didn’t play a very good 40 minutes, and we played a good 20 minutes. That is what we are going to try and focus on.”

Cooke sits alone in second on Huskies career wins list

Jordon Cooke picked up his 54th career regular season win for the Huskies.

    Jordon Cooke hit another major milestone before his U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team departed into the semester break.

    On Saturday at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, Cooke made 23 saves to back the Huskies to a 6-5 victory over the host U of Regina Cougars before 1,020 spectators. The victory was the 54^th of Cooke’s regular season career with the Huskies, which places him alone in second spot on the team’s all-time regular season win’s list.

    Cooke sits one victory ahead of former teammate Ryan Holfeld, who won 53 games playing goal for the Huskies from 2010 to 2015.

    Jeff Harvey sits first on the team’s all-time wins list picking up 60 victories playing goal for the Huskies from 2005 to 2010.

    As for Saturday’s contest itself, the Huskies and Cougars battled in a seesaw affair. With the two sides locked in a 5-5 draw, feisty forward Jaimen Yakubowski scored the winner with 1:32 to play to lift the Huskies to a one-goal win.

    Andrew Johnson scored twice for the Huskies, while John Lawrence, Tanner Lishchynsky and Alex Forsberg had singles.

    Corwin Stevely, Colton Sparrow, Zach McPhee, Cody Fowlie and Ian McNulty replied with singles for the Cougars.

    Michael Herringer started in goal for the Cougars turning away 5-of-8 shots before being pulled at the 5:36 mark of the first period. Dawson MacAuley stopped 36-of-39 shots going the rest of the way in relief for the U of R.

    The Huskies, who have won five straight, sit second in Canada West with a 13-2-1 mark. The Cougars fell to 3-11-2 to sit in the basement of the eight-team Canada West Conference.

    The Huskies return to action on Jan. 5 in the new year, when they travel to Lethbridge to face the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns (6-9-1).

    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 need someone to play hero role offensively

Kish’s 31 saves backs Cougars to 2-0 victory

The Huskies and Cougars scramble in front of the U of Regina net.

    REGINA - The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team needs someone to throw on the superhero cape.

    So far during regular season play, the Huskies have lacked the scoring punch needed to pull off any comebacks. As soon as the opposition gets ahead, it seems like the final outcome is cemented on the scoreboard.

    On Friday night at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, the Huskies put in an effort to get a positive result against the host U of Regina Cougars. Collectively, it seemed like everyone was holding on to their sticks too tightly on the Dogs side and there was no finish.

    The visitors failed to score on four power play chances and fell victim to a 31 shutout performance from Cougars star netminder Jane Kish. That was enough to allow the Cougars to skate away with a 2-0 victory in a U Sports regular season clash.

Tamara McVannel had a power-play goal for the Cougars.

    The Huskies, who have lost four of their last five games, fell to 8-6-1 with the loss to remain fourth in the Canada West Conference. The Cougars improved to 7-7-1 to sit fifth in Canada West and four points back of the Huskies.

    The Cougars scored early when Czech import right-winger Martina Maskova flipped a shot past Huskies netminder Chloe Marshall at the 2:42 mark of the first period. The hosts picked up an insurance marker at the 11:45 mark of the second, when defender Tamara McVannel slid home a power-play goal from the point through a screen.

    Those tallies proved to be enough to cement the Cougars second win in their last eight games.

    Marshall was solid making 17 saves including a breakaway stop on Maskova in the third to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

    In their seven losses, the Huskies have fallen three times by a single goal and four times by two goals. In 15 games, the Huskies have allowed 23 goals against which ties the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds for the third fewest goals against in Canada West. The Dogs have also outshot the opposition in six of the seven games they have lost this season.

Netminder Jane Kish made 31 saves to pick up the shutout win.

    U of S has scored just 25 goals on the campaign, so offence has been the Huskies biggest struggle.

    In Friday’s loss, the Huskies showed that their power play has been a huge weakness all season. On the campaign, the Huskies are connecting on 2-of-49 power-play opportunities for a 4.1 per cent success rate, which ranks last in the eight-team Canada West. They have allowed one short-handed goal against.

    At any level of hockey, that is just not good enough. To make matters worse for the Huskies, their power play struggles date back to last season.

    To be fair to the Huskies, no one is scoring in the women’s Canada West hockey conference this season.

    The U of Lethbridge Pronghorns have giving up the fewest goals in the Canada West at 21, and the U of Calgary Dinos have given up the second fewest goals at 22. Both those squads sit outside the top five in the conference standings. 

Emily Upgang had some dangerous offensive chances.

    The total goals given up by the Pronghorns are two less than the Huskies have surrendered.

    Venla Hovi, who is a star forward for the U of Manitoba Bisons, is the only player averaging at least a point a game in the conference with three goals and eight assists in 11 appearances.

    When the Huskies have been down, star fifth-year forward Kaitlin Willoughby, who is the third all-time leading scorer in team history, was able to put on the superhero cape and deliver a number of victories in the past.

    The Prince Albert product missed two games due to injury and admitted during a recent mainstream media interview that she has been playing hurt this season. Inside of the final minute of Friday’s loss, she had a glorious chance to score on a net scramble with Kish down but flipped the puck over an open goal.
    It was the type of chance Willoughby, who has four goals and five assists in 13 appearances, usually scored on in the past.

    Willoughby still entered the offensive zone with speed, but she didn’t look like herself in the opposition end often electing to pass the puck and getting only one shot on goal. At the moment, it feels like Willoughby isn’t the threat in the offensive zone that she once was.

Kaitlin Willoughby struggled in the offensive zone on Friday.

    Forwards Emily Upgang, Bailee Bourassa and Brooklyn Haubrich along with defenders Leah Bohlken and Morgan Willoughby, who is Kaitlin’s younger sister, all had effective chances in the offensive zone, but couldn’t bury any of their opportunities. Rookie centre Chloe Smith had a number of strong rushes up ice and seemed to have success creating plays despite not registering a shot on goal.

    At some point in time, the Huskies will need one or two of these players to step into the hero role in close games, if they want to make waves this season.

    Right now, the Huskies are stuck in a funk where basically the first goal of the game wins, and that is a recipe that doesn’t invite long term success.

    The Huskies and Cougars go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink in Saskatoon.

Third period rally boosts Huskies win streak to four

Jordon Cooke picked up his 53rd career win on Friday.

    In Saskatoon on Friday night, the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team needed a third period rally to extend their winning streak to four games.

    The Huskies entered the third period of a U Sports regular season clash locked in a 1-1 tie with the visiting U of Regina Cougars at the Rutherford Rink. At the 3:57 mark of the third, Zak Zborosky scored for the Cougars to give them a 2-1 lead.

    U of S wasted little time in responding. Just 19 seconds after Zborosky’s goal, Jordan Tkatch scored his first of the season for the Huskies to tie the contest up at 2-2.

    Huskies star centre Logan McVeigh netted the winner at the 9:01 mark of the third to deliver his team to a 3-2 victory.

    Jordan Burns scored for the Cougars in the first period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead, while Collin Shirley tallied in the second period for the Huskies to tie the contest up at 1-1.

    Jordon Cooke made 21 saves to pick up his 53^rd career regular season win playing goal for the Huskies (12-2-1). Cooke is now tied with former teammate Ryan Holfeld for second all-time on the Huskies career wins list. Holfeld won 53 games playing for the Huskies from 2010 to 2015.

    Dawson MacAuley turned away 34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars (3-10-2).

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

    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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Cooke wins 50th with Huskies

Kendall McFaull, left, gives congrats to Jordon Cooke on his 50th win.

    Jordon Cooke further cemented his status as one of the best goalies to ever play for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team with a unique accomplishment.

    On Saturday at the ancient Rutherford Rink, Cooke made 26 saves as his Huskies, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, downed the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 5-2. With that effort, Cooke became the third goalie in the history of the Huskies men’s hockey team to win 50 career regular season games.

    The other two netminders who have pulled off that feat are Ryan Holfeld, who won 53 games playing for the Huskies from 2010 to 2015, and Jeff Harvey, who picked up 60 wins playing for the Huskies from 2005 to 2010.

    During his career with the Huskies, Cooke has been phenomenal. Currently during regular season play with the team, the Leduc, Alta., product has posted a 50-19-2 record, a 2.38 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and eight shutouts.

    The 24-year-old has been the U Sports goalie of the year and a U Sports first team all-Canadian in each of the past two seasons.

Jordon Cooke makes a glove stop for the Huskies.

    He was instrumental in helping the Huskies win the Canada West title in the 2015-16 campaign and make an appearance in the U Sports championship game – the University Cup – last season.

    Cooke was a prized recruit for the Huskies back at the start of the 2014-15 season have been named the Canadian Hockey League’s goaltender of the year back in the 2013-14 campaign while with the Kelowna Rockets.

    Standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 185 pounds, Cooke was passed over in the NHL Entry Draft as those clubs are hooked on finding netminders who stand at least 6-foot-2.

    With that said, Cooke can flat out stop the puck making key bailout saves, and he should be in the professional ranks. Numerous pears that he played with and against in major junior and the university ranks believe Cooke should be playing in the professionally now.

    What can’t be denied is Cooke has made his mark with the Huskies. He is arguably the most recognizable player on an extremely talented Huskies men’s team.

    He is the type of player you want representing your team out in the community. Cooke is well-mannered, personable and approachable, and he has a pretty slick sense of humour too, which makes him a beauty.

    Cooke has held his own in the classroom too. Before the start of the season, he was named one of many recipients of the Huskie Athletics All-Academic Second Team award for having an average of at least 74.5 per cent on a minimum coarse load of 24 credit units last season.

Jordon Cooke, left, and Levi Cable chat during a stoppage in play.

    For players coming out of major junior hockey, they always face initial anxiety about the classroom work, when they join a university squad. A lot of times, those players will have been out of school for two or three years. Academic achievements are gratifying for those players.

    While Cooke had a solid night on Saturday, Michael Sofillas scored twice for the Huskies, while Kohl Bauml, Parker Thomas and Logan McVeigh all had singles helping the Huskies improve to 8-1-1.

    Manraj Hayer and Tyler Sandhu replied with singles for UBC. Saskatoon product Rylan Toth turned away 36-of-40 shots taking the setback in goal for the Thunderbirds (5-4-1).

    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday when they host their forever rivals the U of Alberta Golden Bears (10-0) at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

Proud to be 3rd Huskie goalie to hit 50 wins in a Huskie uniform. Thanks boys, aiming for 61! #thedogs

— Jordon Cooke (@jordoncooke32) November 12, 2017

Vance still in prime form after layoff

Jessica Vance in her last game with the Bears on March 25, 2015.

    Jessica Vance showed a layoff of about two and a half years didn’t diminish any of her skills when it comes to play goal.

    On Saturday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C., Vance made her second consecutive start for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team. She made 17 stops to back the Huskies to a 2-1 victory over the host University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

    One night earlier, Vance made 33 saves to pick up a 2-0 shutout victory for the Huskies against the Thunderbirds in her U Sports regular season debut. UBC had been ranked first in the U Sports Top 10 rankings heading into the weekend.

    Before stepping in goal for the Huskies on the weekend, Vance’s last competitive hockey start came way back on March 25, 2015 for the Prince Albert Northern Bears in Game 3 of that year’s Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series. She made 20 saves in that game, but the Bears fell to the host Saskatoon Stars 2-0 at the Agriplace Arena and were swept out of that series 3-0.

    Playing for the Bears from 2010 to 2015, Vance became one of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League’s all-time greatest goalies posting a 48-36 record, a 2.27 goals against average, a .926 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 91 career regular season games. Her 48 wins, 16 shutouts and 91 games played are all SFMAAAHL career regular season records.

    After exhausting her midget AAA eligibility, Vance committed to play for the U of Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey team, but she was forced to sit out the 2015-16 campaign as a medical redshirt after suffering a major leg injury playing competitive softball in the summer of 2015.

    Vance dressed for one game as a backup goalie very early last season for the Bisons before electing to play closer to home. Due to dressing for that one game, she wasn’t eligible to play for the Huskies until Nov. 1 of this year.

Kayla Kirwan scored her first U Sports goal on Sunday.

    Against the Thunderbirds, Vance didn’t show any rust. The 20-year-old played up to her star reputation from the past stopping 50-of-51 shots over two games against a powerhouse Thunderbirds side.

    With those two wins, the Huskies improved to 7-2-1 to sit first in the Canada West Conference by a single point over the Bisons (7-3).

    U of S built that record playing three goalies who have all delivered strong performances in Vance, Jasey Book and Chloe Marshall. Huskies head coach Steve Kook has a good problem of having to make a tough decision of who starts, who dresses and who sits among the trio on any given night.

    In Saturday’s win, Emily Upgang had a goal and an assist for the Huskies, and the assist came from helping set up defender Kayla Kirwan’s first career U Sports regular season goal.

    Hannah Clayton-Carroll had the lone reply for UBC. Amelia Boughn made 26 saves to take the loss in goal for the Thunderbirds, who fell to 6-4.

    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday, when they travel to Edmonton to take on the defending U Sports champion U of Alberta Pandas (6-2-2).

Thompson stones Blades

Jake Kustra scored for the Blades on Saturday.

    The Saskatoon Blades couldn’t overcome a hot goaltender against the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Saturday night.

    Overager Logan Thompson made 36 saves to allow the Wheat Kings to slip past the Blades 3-1 before 4,804 spectators at Westman Place.

    The two teams played through a scoreless opening frame. Baron Thompson scored the only goal of the second period to give the Wheat Kings a 1-0 lead.

    At the 13:45 mark of the third period, Stelio Mattheos potted his 11^th goal of the season to give Brandon a 2-0 edge. Blades defenceman Jake Kustra got the visitors on the board with a short-handed goal with 1:15 to play in the third period.

    Saskatoon pressed for the equalizer, but Evan Weinger closed out the Wheat Kings victory with an empty-net goal right before the third period buzzer.

    Ryan Kubic turned away 21-of-23 shots taking the setback in goal for the Blades.

    The Wheat Kings improved to 11-6-1 with the win, while the Blades fell to 7-10-1.

    The Blades return to action Wednesday, when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Get ready for Roughriders hysteria to crank even higher

Quarterback Kevin Glenn led the Roughriders to a playoff win in Ottawa.

    Now that the Saskatchewan Roughriders have won the East semifinal, you can expect the excitement for the CFL club to hit an even higher fever pitch in the province that boasts the “Land of the Living Skies.”

    The excitement in warranted. After missing the CFL’s playoffs for two straight seasons, the Roughriders have exceeded expectations in the current campaign posting a 10-8 regular season record. It has been enjoyable to watch this team come together over the course of the season. Going into the playoffs, the Roughriders had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

    On Sunday before 24,107 spectators at TD Place in Ottawa, the Roughriders downed the host and defending Grey Cup champion Redblacks 31-20. Thanks to that win, Saskatchewan advances to the East Final this coming Sunday against the Argonauts in Toronto.

    In the win over the Redblacks, Roughriders ageless 38-year-old quarterback Kevin Glenn completed 18-of-28 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown to pace the visitors. Glenn carried the ball three times for 10 yards and scored one touchdown.

    Running back Marcus Thigpen carried the ball 15 times for 169 yards and scored on an electrifying 75-yard touchdown run.

    Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris did his best to try and keep his side’s post-season alive. He completed 37-of-60 passes for 457 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

    Listening to the radio call of Roughriders play-by-play voice Rod Pedersen was fun, when he described Thigpen’s 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Pedersen goes right out there being excited for the Roughriders, and the entertainment value of his call was priceless. As a fan, you come away thinking your team is number one, if you are a Roughriders backer like I am.

    At that moment, I was thinking too hard on a serious subject, and that touchdown call came at a perfect time to lighten the mood. I had a good chuckle.

    On the Roughriders front, the figures are crossed for this upcoming Sunday.

    The Edmonton Eskimos dumped the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg 39-32 in the West semifinal. The Eskimos advance to face the Stampeders in Calgary this coming Sunday in the West Final.

    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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Feeling connected calms the mental health seas

Ryan Holfeld, left, and myself during a social time.

    When he coached the Medicine Hat Tigers, Willie Desjardins often told his players one of the best places to be was at the rink.

    For me, that can expand to the football field, a basketball court, volleyball court, soccer pitch or even a UFC octagon ring. The reason those places are the best places to be are the people that are there.

    The athletes, coaches, trainers, staff, facility attendants and even the fans in the stands make those places enjoyable.

    In my life, I have found the athletes, coaches and staffers to be the most genuine and real people I know. It is the main reason I continue to be a regular at the Rutherford Rink and the Physical Activity Complex on the University of Saskatchewan campus, Saskatoon Minor Football field and so far a handful of WHL rinks.

    Since November of 2012, I have known I have had issues dealing with anxiety. The issues rose due to a mental health issue I discovered in my workplace at the time, which was the Medicine Hat News, and that resulted in a whole host of spinoff problems.

    There is still a stigma around mental health issues, and they are unfortunately still treated as the elephant in the room in too many circles.

    From the start of my mental health journey, the one constant group of forward thinking backers I have had have been the young athletes that have played either in the WHL, the Canadian Interuniversity Sport ranks or the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association. I have found they have always been the most open minded and genuinely positive in helping on the mental health front.

    I remember talking about a few of these young adults with former Medicine Hat College Rattlers men’s volleyball head coach Steve Russell during a coffee chat, and he said their support on the mental health front is fitting because these are our future leaders.

    If I tried to make a list of all the people I have leaned on, I fear I might leave someone out.

    The first group of people that knew about what I was going through included Tigers grads Brennan Bosch, Ryan Holfeld and David Schlemko. From Bosch and Holfeld, the group quickly expanded to the members of the 2012-13 University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team. Bosch and Holfeld were in the middles of their CIS careers with the Dogs at that time.

    The early list also included Talayna Tremblay and Kelsey Konihowski, who were both still with the Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s volleyball team at the time. All of five of those people were key in helping me make my initial steps forward.

The Hilltops win in the Canadian Bowl was a good time.

    Since those beginnings, the list has greatly expanded. Over the past eight months the conversations haven’t been about mental health, when I have been at sporting venues or visiting my friends that are involved in high-level sports. The visits mainly revolve around regular talks you have every day on a variety of topics.

    When I am in those moments, I feel most normal. Actually, I usually don’t even think about my anxiety battles until I am home or I am spending time alone.

    Connectivity is the main reason I remain around the sports scene.

    That connectivity can be viewed at an obvious time like when the Saskatoon Hilltops won their 18^th Canadian Junior Football League title back on Nov. 7, 2015. I think everyone that was at Saskatoon Minor Football Field that day felt connected to what went on at that Canadian Bowl championship game.

    Connectivity also comes during a more quiet time like last Sunday at the Agriplace Arena. After watching the Saskatoon Stars fall 3-2 to the Prince Albert A & W Bears in a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League game, I spent a lengthy time visiting with University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team members Kaitlin and Morgan Willoughby and their mother, Dinah.

    Our conversation ventured through all sorts of subjects including mutual friends, memories from sports and the Edmonton Oilers from Wayne Gretzky’s days.

    This season, I decided I would get my Canadian Hockey League pass in order to work a little more on the major junior circuit again. In those travels, I have felt a renewed connectivity to a vast network of people I got to know covering the WHL as a beat reporter for 15 seasons. Even Red Deer Rebels head coach, general manager and owner Brent Sutter smiled when he saw me during pre-game before his squad took to the ice to face the Saskatoon Blades at the SaskTel Centre. (Side note: Sutter does smile and he does so more than you think).

Being on the WHL trail allowed me to have a great visit with Jaeger White.

    On Saturday night, I had a great visit and talk with Brandon Wheat Kings centre Jaeger White, who is the step son of current Medicine Hat Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston. I’ve known White since his bantam hockey days, and I was impressed with how mature he was during our talk that I almost forgot he is 17-years-old.

    Connectivity is the thing for me that makes all the bad stuff with anxiety wash away.

    Actually, the more connected someone with a mental illness feels connected with their community and surroundings the better off he or she will be. As this is Bell Let’s Talk day, I hope everyone remembers how powerful connectivity can be.

    When you have visits with someone who is battling a mental illness, the talk doesn’t necessarily have to be about that subject. It can be about any topic of mutual interest.

    The key is to visit and to visit in person, because those visits can go a long way to improving your overall mental health.

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

Huskies hammer Dinos 8-3

Jaimen Yakubowski celebrates scoring a Huskies goal.

    No overtime dramatics were needed in this outing.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team proved to be too much for the University of Calgary Dinos to handle on Saturday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink. The Dogs scored early and often and skated away with a convincing 8-3 victory. One night earlier, the Huskies needed double overtime to slip past the Dinos 4-3.

    In Saturday’s contest, eight different players accounted for the eight Huskies tallies. The route started when Huskies captain Kendall McFaull tipped in a point shot from Josh Roach for a power-play goal at the 6:44 mark of the opening frame.

    Rookie forward Daylan Gatzke potted his first career Canadian Interuniversity Sport regular season goal to put the Huskies up 2-0 before the first period ended. Just 84 seconds into the second period, rookie forward Andrew Johnson netted his ninth goal of the season to put the hosts up 3-0.

    Johnson’s tally chased Dinos starting goalie Myles Hovdebo from the U of C net. He stopped eight-of-11 shots fired his way. Steven Stanford played the rest of the way in relief and stopped 18 of the 23 shots he faced.

    Actually, the Huskies netted their first goal on Stanford just 94 seconds after he entered the contest, when gritty rookie Jaimen Yakubowski popped his first career CIS regular season goal. The Dinos proceeded to use a timeout to try and regroup after that tally.

    The stoppage worked for a short time, as Kevin King scored for the Dinos to cut the Huskies lead to 4-1. The Dogs’ edge ballooned to 6-1 before the second period ended thanks to a short-handed marker by Kohl Bauml and a point shot power-play blast by rearguard Jordan Fransoo.

    Dylan Busenius and Chris Collins netted singles for the Dinos in the third, which cut the Huskies lead to 6-3 for a short moment. Cameron Blair and Parker Thomas replied with singles for the Huskies to round out the game’s scoring.

Jesse Forsberg had four assists and a plus-six rating on Saturday.

    Jordon Cooke made 27 saves to earn the win in goal for the Huskies, who improve their Canada West Conference leading record to 17-3. Cooke also has 15 goaltending wins on the campaign, which are three shy of equaling the Huskies team record for goaltending victories in a season. The team record of 18 goaltending wins in a season is held jointly by Jeff Calvert (1998-99) and Ryan Holfeld (2012-13).

    The Dinos fell to 7-9-4 with the setback.

    While it seemed everyone that hit the ice for the Huskies was on a roll Saturday, their best player might have been sophomore defenceman Jesse Forsberg. Known for being a defensive defenceman, Forsberg quietly collected four assists on Saturday and was a plus-six in the plus-minus department.

    Saturday’s victory also allowed the Huskies, who are rated third in the CIS top ten rankings, to officially clinch a berth in the Canada West playoffs for the 20^th straight year.

    U of S leads the overall Canada West standings with 34 points. The Mount Royal University Cougars and the University of Alberta Golden Bears sit tied for second place with 28 points coming from identical 13-5-2 records. All Canada West teams have eight games remaining in their respective regular season schedules.

    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday and Saturday, when they travel to Vancouver to take on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (9-8-3).

OT heartbreaker in Calgary

Brooklyn Haubrich had the Huskies lone goal in Calgary on Saturday.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team dropped an overtime heartbreaker in Calgary on Saturday night.

    The Huskies, who are rated sixth in the Canada West top ten rankings, fell 2-1 to the host University of Calgary Dinos at the Father David Bauer Arena despite holding a 31-20 edge in shots on goal.

    The Dinos jumped out in front 1-0, when defender Stephanie Zvonkovic scored on the power play at the 7:50 mark of the opening frame. The Huskies evened things up at 1-1, when rookie winger Brooklyn Haubrich scored with 3:45 to play in the third period.

    At the 3:07 mark of overtime, Russian import Sasha Vafina scored the winner for the Dinos shortly after getting out of the penalty box having served a minor infraction for body checking.

    Cassidy Hendricks turned away 18 shots taking the overtime loss in goal for the Huskies. Hayley Dowling stopped 30 shots to earn the win in goal for the Dinos.

    With the overtime setback, the Huskies record moves to 11-6-3, which is good for fourth overall in the very tight Canada West standings. The Dinos, who have won three straight, still sit last in the eight-team Canada West Conference, but they improve to 6-10-4.

    The Huskies return home this coming Friday and Saturday, when they host the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (12-6-2) at 7 p.m. on both nights 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.

My mental health story

Me trying to be calm about the day ahead.

    Don’t talk about it. Pretend it doesn’t exist.

    At times, the silence can be painful. I have no problem admitting I have issues dealing with anxiety, and I have known about these issues since 2012. These are issues and not a full out disorder, but it is something that has affected my life.

    I have no problem talking about it.  I find the more I talk I actually gain allies that want to help. Talking also makes me feel better.

    During my journey with a mental health issue, I have found that isn’t the case with everyone. I have met people that still hide their mental health problems and issues.

    I have run into a couple of friends with issues on the mental health front that have warned me to not talk about my issues. They say if you do so you will be blackballed out of life. They said that since I have long gone public with my issues the high point of my life will have been covering the Medicine Hat Tigers WHL hockey team for the Medicine Hat News.

    Now that I am home in Saskatoon, I can forget about doing anything else of significance with my life. I will no longer be able to get a good job, because I have baggage that will scare employers away. I will never be able to hold a romantic relationship because of the stigma that still surrounds mental health.

    For all intents and purposes, my life is over.

    There is a big part of me that doesn’t believe this. During the early years of my career as a sports reporter, I had a habit of proving people wrong. There is still part of me that believes I will persevere. I will find a way. My mental health issue will be part of my life story, but it won’t be the thing that defines me.

    There was a time not so long ago I never thought mental health would play a part of my life. I can pin the last time I was normal on a day-to-day basis for an extended period as the 2010-11 hockey season, or more accurately, the winter sports season.

    On a personal level entering that season, I was trying to distance myself from residue that remained from a couple of relationship situations. Due to budget cuts at the News, the winter sports season was very busy.

    My plan to get on the rebound included not engaging in anything on the relationship front. I was just going to enjoy covering the Hat’s sports scene, and my focus revolved around the Tigers, Medicine Hat College Rattlers and high school football.

    I had long befriended a number of people in all those walks of life, and I gained a lot of joy covering their journeys through their respective campaigns. In 2010-11, The Tigers had a strong season, and most of the Rattlers teams had successful campaigns.

    As the calendar turned to March in 2011, the Rattlers seasons closed and the Tigers were gearing up for a playoff run. I was looking forward to the WHL post-season and was feeling really good.
    Every day was a great day, and even the day-to-day challenges that caused some extra stress didn’t feel like a problem. Little did I know, my life path was going to change drastically over the next few years.

    This is the part where the story gets tough to tell. I do have to play politics a bit in order to protect good people that meant well but didn’t know how to handle the situations that came up.

    While covering the Tigers post-season run, I discovered a mental health issue inside my workplace. Before arriving in the Hat in September of 2004, I worked three years at the Prince Albert Daily Herald, and from my training there, I remembered we had the ability to dial a 1-800 number if you discovered something on this front that might be concerning. A number of workplaces have this option in place for their employees, but the News did not.

    My memory also vaguely recalled an incident in 2001 back in Regina, where a former CTV employee fired a shot through the entrance of his old workplace after being let go. My mind seemed to recall that was linked to mental health, but I wasn’t sure. I had a couple of friends that worked at CTV at that time, and they were freaked.

    My educated gut feeling was that my discovery at the News should be treated seriously.

    When playoffs concluded, I told my mom what had happened, and I consulted a small group of three people for advice. Looking back now, I should have expanded the group, but worked to keep some details like names and places vague. That group should have also included my older sister, Michelle Stephen, who has been a social worker for over two-and-a-half decades.

    I also have to admit my concern at this time was tempered. The summer of 2011 was looking to be an exciting time, as I was pursuing opportunities to make a career move upwards in Calgary and Saskatoon.

    I was excited, because up to that point in my life, it seemed a break upwards in my career seemed to always work out at the appropriate time. I figured the appropriate time had come again.

    Unfortunately over a two-week vacation late that summer, it became clear those opportunities wouldn’t work out. I had a good break watching the University of Regina Rams play their season opener and the Saskatchewan Roughriders play in the Labour Day Classic, which included some great social time around those games. I also kept a promise I made to an old friend from Prince Albert in Elizabeth Hudon, and I watched her play for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s soccer team in her fifth and final season of eligibility.

    Looking back now, the first bad sign for me came up, when it came time to return to the Hat. I remember getting in my car to leave my mom’s place, and I started crying. That had never happened on a return trip to the Hat.

    I admitted to her I didn’t want to go back, because I worried about what awaited me. I had kicked the tires about living in Saskatoon in the summer of 2010 for family reasons, but this was totally different. I feared my return to Medicine Hat wouldn’t be good.

    When I returned to the Hat, I told a member of the senior management at the News about the mental health issue I discovered. I figured that would make everything better. Unfortunately, I think this whole situation was new for the senior manager too, which further complicated things.

    I was left to manage the issue, and if people say otherwise, I definitely felt like it fell on my shoulders to manage it. To make matters worse, I wasn’t in a position to manage that situation.

    As the months went on, things kept getting worse, incidents piled up and my mental well-being went down the tube. It seemed like those in the small group that knew about the situation and my mom didn’t think the situation was as serious as I thought it was.

    This became another lesson I learned on the mental health front. If a mental health situation is discovered and no one acts on it, it becomes way worse.

Hanging out with Elizabeth Hudon in 2011 before the tough times.

    For the longest time, I soldiered on convincing myself everything was in my head. I kept thinking God and life wouldn’t throw anything in my path that I couldn’t handle.

    With that said, I got to the point where I would shut off my cell phone and disconnect my land line when I was on days off. I basically did what I could do to isolate myself.

    Things disintegrated to the point in 2012 that I considered suicide, which will likely come as a revelation to my family members let alone my friends. In my mind, I was sick of being the pawn that was shouldered with making everyone else’s life easier.

    Other thoughts that ran through my mind was that no one outside of my mom would miss me, if I no longer existed. The paper would still come out and each Tigers season would come and go whether I was there or not. I wasn’t in any relationship, so no one would care from that front.

    I also reasoned that I had a good run at life, as being a sports reporter allowed me to have a number of unique experiences most will never have. I was thinking that it was better to burn out than to fade away.

    It was around this time my mom arrived for an extended visit, and couldn’t believe the bad shape I was in. Another lesson I would learn is that this journey was extremely hard on my mom. With her arrival, I never did attempt suicide.

    It was also round this time my social working sister Michelle became more active in the picture. She would drop hints about courses of action to take. I guess she figured I would follow them, when I was ready.

    One of the actions included going to see my doctor, telling him everything that was going on and getting help that way. I had no clue you could do such a thing.

    After a couple of incidents at the start of the 2012-13 season, I decided I would see a doctor, but not just any doctor. I was going to go see the team doctor of the Medicine Hat Tigers, Bill Ruzycki. My mind was made up that he would be able to make me better.

    The thinking came from the fact the Tigers former long-time head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins, who is currently the head coach of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, had his master’s degree in social work, and I felt very confident mechanisms were put in place with the Tigers medical staff to deal with mental health issues. With that in mind, I didn’t want to see anyone else other than Dr. Ruzycki.

    To be honest, I did not have the greatest faith in the staff at the News at that point in time to be able to handle things.

    I was put on medical leave for November of 2012. Dr. Ruzycki set me up with a really good councellor and a plan was put in motion to help me get better. I wanted to get better without the use of drugs.

    I found out I developed issues dealing with anxiety due to my situation at work. I started to learn about how breathing exercises and meditation could help.

    I also tried to do my best to learn more about mental health. That is still an ongoing process.

    Talking also helped.
    My best listeners during my medical leave included former Tigers Brennan Bosch, Ryan Holfeld and David Schlemko, as well as Kelsey Konihowski and Talayna Tremblay. Konihowski and Trembley were still members of the Rattlers women’s volleyball team at the time, and I felt secure talking to them due to the fact they had been in nursing at one point in time.

    Schlemko, an NHL veteran defenceman who finished last season with the Calgary Flames, came back to town when I was on leave for a funeral, and he has always been genuine and trustworthy. I also went to see Bosch and Holfeld play with the Huskies men’s hockey team, and going to those games became a regular tradition for me to get into a different but good world for a short time.

    When I was gone, the News brought in the human resources department to handle the issues that were in place. I returned and had a good 19 months. There were still a lot of changing stresses due to budget cuts at work, which no one could really control.

    A pile of 30 reasons built up, where I thought it would be best to switch scenery. At the end of June of 2014, I resigned from the News to move to Saskatoon to be close to family. I was giving a heartfelt and unreal great going away.

    No matter what happened in that building, I still see everyone there as being good. I believe everything that went down was a learning experience for everyone as it was for me. It wasn’t one anyone always liked, but it was a learning experience none the less. I will go out for pops with anyone from that place at any time.

    Now in Saskatoon, I have to be honest and admit some residual effects from what I encountered in my last three years in the Hat still surface. From time to time, my anxiety will get heightened due to triggers I would never suspect. On the bright side, I have become more mindful in recognizing what is happening, which has helped to get me settled down.

    It has also been great for me to reconnect with Cam Hutchinson, who is the editor of the Saskatoon Express and former long-time managing editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. He has gone public with his battles with anxiety, and when I talk to him, it feels like someone else actually does know what I am going through.

    I tell my mental health story in hopes people can learn just how quickly things can go downhill, even if you were at an awesome and healthy place at one point in time.

    On Friday night, I will be heading to the One Voice fundraiser at TCU Place here in Saskatoon, which supports the Neural Health Project at the U of Saskatchewan. From what I understand, the hopes of this project are to develop a more complete approach to the treatment of mental illness.

    Mike Babcock, who is the head coach of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, and Dr. DeeDee Maltman are the ones behind the idea of the One Voice fundraiser. The idea for the project and fundraiser came about after the deaths of Saskatoon products Ian Buckwold and Jordan Chartier in July of 2013 at the hand of mental illness. Their deaths were hard on their family and friends.

Out watching a Huskies hockey game with Howler.

    I plan to learn more about the Neural Health Project, and I am hoping it will create an avenue to better treat mental illness. The fact Babcock is involved in this fundraiser increases my optimism for the project.

    I will see a lot of people I have met from the sports world again on Friday night, and I expect to make some new friends. A lot of the people attending the One Voice fundraiser have had their own mental health battles.

    I expect I will learn some new lessons about mental health on Friday night, but I plan to go for all intents and purposes to have a good time.

    I hope I can add to the conversation and gain another reminder I am not alone in my mental health journey.

    If you have any comments about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. Feel free to check out the other post I wrote back in February about my mental health journey entitled, “Huskies hockey was good for me.”