Lunch bucket effort lifts Huskies past Thunderbirds 4-2

The Huskies celebrate a third period goal from Abby Shirley.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey showed they can win gaining three yards in a cloud of dust.

On Friday night at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies brought out their steel toed boots and work gloves to down the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 4-2 in a U Sports regular season clash played before 538 spectators.

The Huskies got two of their tallies from the gritty area in front of the net. Another tally was a smart point shot that found its way through a screen.

The effort allowed the Huskies to win their fourth straight improving to 6-1-2, while the Thunderbirds fell to 6-3.

Jordyn Holmes scored the winning goal for the Huskies.

While the Huskies goals were more of the gritty type tallies, the two sides got up and down the ice quite well after a bit of a slow start over the first 10 minutes.

During the first 10-minutes Thunderbirds offensive-defender Hannah Koroll likely had the best scoring chance going coast-to-coast on a rush only to be turned away Huskies third-year netminder Camryn Drever.

The teams hit another gear in the final 10-minutes of the opening frame. The Huskies were denied by Thunderbirds netminder Elise Hugens on two solid chances that included a slot drive from Huskies captain Bailee Bourassa and close in chance by left-winger Sophie Lalor.

The Huskies held a 10-9 edge in shots on goal after the opening 20 minutes.

Sophie Gaskell had the Thunderbirds first goal on Friday.

Just 81 seconds into the second period, the Thunderbirds got on the scoreboard first when rookie defender Sophia Gaskell floated home a point shot through a screen that deflected off the post of the Huskies goal into the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies evened things up at 1-1 just over five minutes later when third-year defender Isabella Pozzi slipped a point shot through a screen into the Thunderbirds net. The tally was Pozzi’s first career U Sports goal.

U of S proceeded to catch a break at the 11:23 mark of the second, when Thunderbirds left-winger Grace Elliott and Thunderbirds defender Rylind MacKinnon received minor penalties for a head hit and bodychecking respectively.

Isabella Pozzi scored her first career U Sports goal on Friday.

On the ensuing two-person advantage, Huskies third-year centre Kennedy Brown shoveled home a power-play goal during a net scramble in front of the Thunderbirds net to put the host side up 2-1.

The Thunderbirds proceeded to respond just over two minutes later working on a power play of their own, when right-winger Mackenzie Kordic potted her third of the season to even things up at 2-2.

The Huskies were able to go into the second intermission with the lead. With 3:31 remaining in the second period, gritty right-winger Jordyn Holmes banged in a goal from the front of the UBC net to give the host side a 3-2 advantage.

Holmes picked up an assist on Pozzi’s goal to finish the contest with two points.

At the 5:54 mark of the third, the Huskies potted a key insurance goal on a rare four-versus-three power play. 

The Thunderbirds celebrate a goal from Mackenzie Kordic.

Bourassa and centre Kate Ball teamed to set up Abby Shirley in the left slot, who drove home her fourth of the season to increase the Huskies edge to 4-2.

From that point in the game, Drever slammed the door in the Huskies net. She made 29 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies.

The Edmonton product, who helped the St. Albert Slash win two Esso Cups as national female under-18 AAA champions in 2017 and 2018, has had a strong start this season for the Huskies. In her seven starts, Drever has a 5-1-1 record, 1.42 goals against average, a .943 save percentage and one shutout.

Captain Bailee Bourassa had an assist for the Huskies on Friday.

Elise Hugens turned away 27 shots to take the setback in net for the Thunderbirds, who are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Left-winger Ireland Perrott picked up assists on both UBC goals.

The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

NOTES – After the entire 2020-21 U Sports hockey season was lost due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, the Huskies and Thunderbirds iced kind of younger teams compared to when they last met in the Canada West Conference playoffs in February of 2020, when the Thunderbirds swept a best-of-three quarter-final series 2-0 with two overtime wins.

Kennedy Brown scored the Huskies second goal on Friday.

The Huskies have one fifth-year player and one fourth-year player. The Thunderbirds have one fifth-year player and four fourth-year players.

In the 2019-20 campaign, the Huskies had eight fifth-year players and four fourth-year players, while the Thunderbirds had three fifth-year players and five fourth-year players.

Following Friday’s game, both teams lined up on their respective blue-lines and saluted the crowd at Merlis Belsher Place. After that salute, the Thunderbirds left the ice and the Huskies did their traditional end of game salute to the crowd at centre ice.

The Thunderbirds roster contained third-year centre Joelle Fiala, who made a homecoming to Merlis Belsher Place. Fiala was playing at Merlis since last suiting up with the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA team helping them win a Western regional playdown series in April of 2019.

The Huskies celebrate their win over the Thunderbirds.

The Clavet, Sask., product played two seasons in the NCAA Division I ranks with the Robert Morris University Colonials women’s hockey team from 2019 to 2021. She joined the Thunderbirds after Robert Morris University folded both its men’s and women’s hockey teams following the 2020-21 campaign.

Fiala is still the eighth all-time leading scorer in the history of the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey league piling up 47 goals and 83 assists in 112 regular season games from 2015 to 2019. She is the Stars career leader in regular season assists.

Toth holds Huskies men’s team at bay

Rylan Toth backstopped the Thunderbirds to victory on Friday.

University of British Columbia men’s hockey team netminder Rylan Toth slammed the door on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

On Friday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C., Toth made 24 saves that included turning away a first period penalty shot to backstop the Thunderbirds to a 4-1 victory before 750 spectators.

Toth, who is from Saskatoon, helped the Thunderbirds, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, improve to 7-1-1, while the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, fell to 7-2.

The Huskies won their first seven straight games before dropping their last two outings.

Just 65 seconds into the contest, Toth turned away Huskies forward Zane Franklin on a penalty shot.

Fourth-year forward Tyler Sandhu gave the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Huskies first-year forward Dawson Holt evened the score at 1-1 with a power-play goal going into the first intermission.

Matt Revel, Cyle McNabb and Scott Atkinson netted singles in the second to pace the Thunderbirds to their 4-1 victory. Atkinson’s tally came short-handed.

Roddy Ross turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

The two sides go at it again in Vancouver 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.

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“Ironman” delivers, Huskies regain Canada West crown

The Huskies raise the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy as Canada West champs.

    The “Ironman” came up clutch for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    Fifth-year right-winger Levi Cable fired home a pair of power-play goals to give the Huskies a 3-1 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Game 2 of the Canada West Championship series before a record crowd of 2,667 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place on Saturday.

    With the win, the Huskies swept the best-of-three series 2-0. They captured their first Canada West title since 2016 and 18^th conference title in team history, with 11 of those wins coming in the conference’s modern era that started in 1972.

Levi Cable scored twice for the Huskies on Saturday.

    “It was big,” said Cable. “Going into this year that is all we wanted.

    “This was our goal. I’m glad we have another one coming up, but this one was a stop on the way. I’m glad we got it.”

    After raising the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy as Canada West champions, the next one coming up that Cable refers to is of course the U Sports men’s hockey nationals.

    Both the Huskies and Thunderbirds are guaranteed berths to the David Johnston University Cup, which is the U Sports men’s hockey national championship tournament. The U Sports national championship tournament is played in an elite-eight format, and it runs from March 12 to 15 in Halifax, N.S.

    In the series clinching win over the Thunderbirds, Cable played in his 175^th consecutive game for the Huskies including action in the U Sports regular season and post-season. He has never missed game in his career with the Huskies.

Levi Cable celebrates his first of two goals on Saturday.

    The 25-year-old’s streak includes 140 regular season games, 23 contests in the Canada West playoffs and 12 games at the David Johnston University Cup.

    Besides skating in a milestone contest in his streak, Cable was pumped to exit his final home U Sports game with a win in front of a loud and appreciative crowd, which included a raucous student section. The Huskies have been playing out of Merlis since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

    “This was the loudest I have heard this place,” said Cable. “The student section was really going.

    “It was a lot of fun to play in front of. I’m glad my last game here was in front of these guys.”

    The Huskies drew first blood at the 7:33 mark of the opening frame when right-winger Carson Stadnyk popped home the rebound from his own shot after receiving a pass from Jared Dmytriw.

Part of the record crowd at Merlis reacts to a Huskies goal.

    The host side expanded their edge to 2-0 about five minutes later when Cable popped home a power-play goal from the left side of the Thunderbirds net. Cable benefitted from a little luck as he received a backdoor pass from Stadnyk that was ticked off the stick of left-winger Collin Shirley.

    The Huskies could have exited the first period with a bigger advantage had it not been for a number of stellar saves from Thunderbirds star netminder Rylan Toth, who made 13 stops in the opening 20 minutes.

    Huskies star goalie Taran Kozun, who was named both the Canada West player of the year and goaltender of the year, gave huge props to his counterpart in Toth.

Carson Stadnyk scored the Huskies first goal.

    “He (Toth) played one heck of series,” said Kozun. “I have to give him credit.

    “If he does that at nationals, he is going to give the other teams there lots of troubles. It is a big battle (going head-to-head with Toth), and it is fun coming out on the winning side.”

    In the final 10 minutes of the second, the Thunderbirds started to melt down taking 28 minutes in penalties in that span of time including two misconducts 10 minutes in length.

    The Huskies looked to have gone ahead 3-0 with 3:31 to play in the second on goal from rookie forward Jeff Faith, but that goal was disallowed due to incidental contact on the netminder as a player was pushed into Toth.

    The Thunderbirds had to argue to get the goal disallowed. The argument included someone from the Thunderbirds bench throwing a water bottle on to the ice.

    While Faith’s goal was disallowed, the Thunderbirds team bench was given a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Rylan Toth jumps on a loose puck for the Thunderbirds.

    On that power-play opportunity, Cable netted his second goal of the contest firing home the rebound of a shot taken from Huskies defenceman Gordie Ballhorn with 2:37 remaining in the second stanza.

    “The emotions of the game sometimes they get the better of you, and sometimes it doesn’t,” said Kozun. “It has happened to us in the past, where the emotions take over.

    “It was nice to see us not on that side this time.”

    As the game went along, Kozun said the home crowd gave his side an edge.

    “Winning it today in front of all these fans, it is surreal,” said Kozun. “It is going to be a fun night, and I hope the boys enjoy it.”

The Huskies bench reacts to winning the Canada West title.

    The Thunderbirds finally got on the scoreboard with 3:16 remaining in the third period thanks to a power-play marker coming from the stick of left-winger Jake Kryski. While that tally cut the Huskies lead to 3-1, it was too little too late for the visitors.

    Kozun made 17 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Toth turned away 26 shots to take the setback in net for the Thunderbirds.

    Huskies head coach Dave Adolph was pleased his team’s four players in their fifth-years of eligibility in Cable, Kohl Bauml, Andrew Johnson and Logan McVeigh were able to win on conference title in their final home game.

The student section reacts to the Huskies Canada West title win.

    “Andrew Johnson, Logan McVeigh, Kohl Bauml and Levi (Cable), they have had five special years,” said Adolph. “These kids have gone to the Canada West final all five years they’ve played.

    “They’ve had dynamic goals each and every year I think with the exception of maybe A.J. He has been more of a penalty killer the last two years. He was on the forefront when he first started.

    “You live and die with your seniors, and I don’t care what sport it is. Ours have been good.”

    Adolph said it doesn’t come as a surprise that Cable, Bauml, Johnson and McVeigh were members of the last Huskies team to win a Canada West title at the squad’s former long time home in the ancient Rutherford Rink and are members of the first Huskies team to win a conference title in the squad’s new home in Merlis.

Merlis Belsher, second from left, presents the championship trophy.

    “That is just the character of those kids,” said Adolph. “They’ve been good since they’ve been here in everything.

    “They’re outstanding students. They are what Huskies should be, really they are.”

    The Huskies entered the series with the Thunderbirds as decided favourites finishing second in the Canada West Conference with a 22-4-2 record and being rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. U of S has won 15 straight games including action in the regular season and playoffs.

    The Thunderbirds have enjoyed a Cinderella run to get to this point after finishing fifth in Canada West with a 9-14-4-1 mark. They cracked the U Sports Top 10 rankings this week at the ninth position.

Captain Tanner Lishchynsky takes a spin with the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

    While the Huskies were the favourites, they did stumble out of the gates to start the regular season posting an 0-3-1 record. Cable said he was impressed with how his Huskies have persevered through the tough stretches to put together a great season to date.

    “At the beginning of the year when we went 0-3-1, it was looking a little bit different than years previous,” said Cable. “I’m just glad the group came together, and we put together a good run to finish the season.”

    With that in mind, Cable said he doesn’t want the run of success to end here.

The Huskies celebrate winning the Canada West championship.

    “We still have a bigger goal in mind,” said Cable. “I would like to end my five years winning a national championship.”

    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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Young’s tip puts Huskies a win away from Canada West title

Layne Young, middle, celebrates his winning goal for the Huskies.

    Layne Young’s first career U Sports post-season goal ended up being a huge one for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    On Friday before a season high crowd of 2,281 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the sophomore left-winger tipped home a mid range shot from linemate Levi Cable to give the Huskies a 3-1 lead over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at the 3:57 mark of the third period.

    The Thunderbirds cut the cap to 3-2 with a turnaround shot from sophomore left-winger Maxwell James right in front of the U of S net with 31.1 seconds to play in the third, but the visitors couldn’t find the equalizer.

    The Huskies held on to make the 3-2 score hold up as the final in Game 1 of the Canada West Championship series between the two teams. Young was pumped he could net the winner for his side.

    “It feels really good,” said Young. “It is an unbelievable feeling.

Layne Young has had a breakout season with the Huskies.

    “The atmosphere was great here tonight, so it was awesome. It was 3-1 at the time, but I guess just the way it worked out it ended up being the game winner.”

    Thanks to their victory in Game 1, the Huskies will try to close out the best-of-three set in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis. If necessary, Game 3 is slated for Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    After pulling to within 3-2, any further last second heroics by the Thunderbirds were stifled, when star netminder Rylan Toth was given a minor penalty for boarding inside of the final 20 seconds of the third.

    The Thunderbirds were starting out of their own zone on a rush shortly after the ensuing faceoff that resulted after cutting the Huskies edge to 3-2. Toth started skating out of his net for an extra attacker, when the puck was turned over to Cable along the right wing boards.

Layne Young is playing in lots of different situations for the Huskies.

    Toth, who is a Saskatoon product, was the closest Thunderbirds player to Cable and the puck stopper turned and nailed the fifth-year right-winger from behind into the boards. Toth was given a boarding penalty for his actions.

    Cable was playing in his 174th consecutive game for the Huskies including action in the U Sports regular season and post-season, and Young said Toth’s hit on the veteran provided some comic relief for the U of S side.

    “We were poking fun at Levi a little bit,” said Young. “It is not too often you get hit by a goalie, especially from behind, so it was kind of funny.

    “I was on the ice. I saw it. It was quite the thing that is for sure.

    “I had never seen that before.”

    During the opening 20 minutes of Friday’s game, Toth, who is in his third year with the Thunderbirds, was doing what he does best in keeping his squad in the game as the Huskies held a 14-2 edge in shots on goal over that span of time.

Jordan Tkatch, left, celebrates scoring the first goal for the Huskies.

    The Huskies took a 1-0 edge at the 7:38 mark of the opening frame when right-winger Jordan Tkatch tapped in a backdoor feed from centre Jared Dmytriw.

    As for Huskies star netminder Taran Kozun, he had to be extremely sharp on one of the two shots he faced in the opening frame. The Nipawin, Sask., product had to make a key stop on a tipped shot from James on a UBC power play.

    The Huskies expanded their edge to 2-0 at the 12:06 of the second period, when right-winger Carson Stadnyk tapped home a backdoor feed from centre Logan McVeigh on an offensive zone rush.

Rylan Toth was penalized for making a big hit for the Thunderbirds.

    With less than four minutes to play in the second, Thunderbirds rookie left-winger Jake Kryski snuck home a shot from the left side of the Huskies goal to cut the host side’s edge to 2-1.

    That set the stage for the dramatics in the third.

    While U of S had a strong start, Huskies head coach Dave Adolph thought his side had to ultimately gut out the win.

    “It wasn’t a Picasso, and it never usually is in the playoffs,” said Adolph, whose team was outshot 21-17 through the second and third periods. “I thought that once we got the lead we started playing tentative.

    “We started playing cautious. I think every team when you get to this point you are so worried about the next five minutes. You can’t think that way.

 

Levi Cable played in his 174th consecutive game for the Huskies.

  “We learned and we lived. We will be better tomorrow.”

    Adolph was pleased to see Young net the winner.

    “He (Young) is a really skilled player,” said Adolph. “It is good.

    “Some of our young guys the more times they get out there in these situations that is just going to help our program. Layne (Young) is going to be a goody.”

    Before joining the Huskies, Young was a star in the junior A ranks piling up 86 goals, 167 assists for 253 points in 169 regular season games playing with the Battlefords North Stars from 2014 to 2018. The Frenchman Butte, Sask., product was named the MVP of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in his final campaign with the North Stars in 2017-18 after posting 35 goals and 72 assists in 57 regular season games.

    Adolph was happy Young elected to join the Huskies enrolling Agriculture and Bioresources program at the U of S.

Carson Stadnyk had the Huskies second goal on Friday.

    “He (Young) had like four or five NCAA offers,” said Adolph. “He chose to go into agriculture, because that is what his family does.

    “He is a third generation dairy farmer and farmer. It is no different than (Huskies rookie forward) Justin Ball, who is going to be a star in our league too, when he gets his chance. Junior A guys don’t get overlooked.

    “Sometimes they chose an academic route rather than a hockey route.”

    After netting one goal in six regular season games as a rookie, Young recorded eight goals, 11 assists and a plus-10 rating in the plus minus department in 27 regular season games with the Huskies as a sophomore.

Jake Kryski had the Thunderbirds first goal on Friday.

    Throughout this season, Young has played on a line with Cable and fifth-year veteran Kohl Bauml at centre. Young, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 205 pounds, has enjoyed that opportunity.

    “It has been huge,” said Young. “We’ve been together since game one of this year, so our chemistry has just built all year.

    “It is has been awesome. They are great guys to play with, and it has just been great.”

    The 22-year-old said he would love to see the Huskies four fifth-year players in Bauml, Cable, McVeigh and Andrew Johnson graduate from the program hoisting championship trophies.

    “All four of our fifth years are just unbelievable people,” said Young. “I think they deserve a championship.”

    Kozun made 21 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Toth turned away 28 shots to take the setback in net for the Thunderbirds.

Jared Dmytriw set up the Huskies first goal on Friday.

    The Huskies entered the series as decided favourites finishing second in the Canada West Conference with a 22-4-2 record and being rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. They have won 14 straight games including action in the regular season and playoffs.

    The Thunderbirds have enjoyed a Cinderella run to get to this point after finishing fifth in Canada West with a 9-14-4-1 mark. They cracked the U Sports Top 10 rankings this week at the ninth position.

    Both teams are guaranteed berths to the David Johnston University Cup, which is the U Sports men’s hockey national championship tournament. The U Sports national championship tournament is played in an elite-eight format. It runs from March 12 to 15 in Halifax, N.S.

The Huskies celebrate their victory in Game 1 of the Canada West final.

    Before looking forward to nationals, Young said he would like to see his team lock up the Canada West title series on Saturday.

    “I think the nerves might hit a little bit tomorrow,” said Young. “We just have to play our way, and I think we will be OK.”

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

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

T-birds upset Golden Bears

UBC to face Huskies in Canada West final in Saskatoon

Thunderbirds G Rylan Toth stoned the Golden Bears. 

    A veteran from two Memorial Cup tournaments did in the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
    On Sunday before 1,408 spectators at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, Alta., third-year netminder Rylan Toth made 40 saves to back his University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a 2-1 victory over the host Golden Bears in a deciding Game 3 of a Canada West semifinal series.

    With the win, the Thunderbirds take the best-of-three set 2-1 in a monumental upset.

    The Golden Bears finished first in the Canada West Conference in the regular season with a 23-5 record and were rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. They had won the last three straight Canada West titles and the David Johnston University Cup as U Sports national champions in 2018.

    The Thunderbirds were fifth in Canada West with a 9-14-4-1 record. They upset the Mount Royal University Cougars 2-1 in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series to set up the semifinal series with the Golden Bears.

    Mount Royal was fourth in Canada West with an 18-8-0-2 record.

    On Friday, UBC posted a 3-2 overtime victory over U of A in Game 1 of that Canada West semifinal. Toth made 51 saves in that surprising outcome.

    The Golden Bears rebounded on Saturday taking Game 2 of the series by a convincing 6-1 final.

    That set the stage for Sunday’s series deciding Game 3. In that encounter, Golden Bears forward Steven Owre scored in the opening frame to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

    With 5:17 remaining in the second period, Thunderbirds third-year forward Austin Glover scored to put his squad on even terms at 1-1.

    Just 2:18 into the third period, third-year forward Tyler Sandhu tallied to put the Thunderbirds up 2-1. The visitors held tough to ensure that score would be the final outcome.

    The Golden Bears outshot the Thunderbirds 21-6 in the third and 41-19 over the entirety of the contest.

    Matt Berlin turned away 17 shots to take the setback in goal for the Golden Bears.

Tyler Sandhu scored the upset series winner for the Thunderbirds.

    Toth has started all six of UBC’s games in the post-season posting a 4-2 record, a 2.83 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.

    Before joining UBC, the 23-year-old Saskatoon product played three seasons in the WHL from 2015 to 2017 with the Red Deer Rebels and Seattle Thunderbirds.

    Toth was the Rebels starting goaltender when they hosted the 2016 CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. He backed the Rebels into that year’s WHL Eastern Conference Championship series, where they fell to the eventual WHL champion Brandon Wheat Kings.

    In the Memorial Cup, Toth backstopped the Rebels into the semifinal contest, where they fell 3-1 to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

    Following that season, Toth was traded to Seattle for his overage campaign. He helped Seattle win the WHL title in the 2016-17 campaign on a roster that contained star centre Mathew Barzal, who is now a member of the NHL’s New York Islanders, and defenceman Ethan Bear, who is a member of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.

    Toth played in the 2017 Memorial Cup in Windsor, Ont., where Seattle bowed out with an 0-3 record.

    Having shocked the Golden Bears, the UBC Thunderbirds advance to the best-of-three Canada West Championship series to face the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

    The Huskies finished second in Canada West with a 22-4-2 record and are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. U of S won all four head-to-head regular season encounters with UBC.

    The Huskies will host all three games of the Canada West title series. Game 1 is slated for this coming Friday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. 
    Game 2 follows this coming Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis, and if necessary, a series-deciding Game 3 is set for this coming Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    U of S last won the Canada West title in 2016. UBC has never won the Canada West crown in men’s hockey.

    Both teams are guaranteed berths to the David Johnston University Cup, which is the U Sports men’s hockey national championship tournament. The U Sports national championship tournament is played in an elite-eight format. It runs from March 12 to 15 in Halifax, N.S.

Focht on verge of becoming Rebels all-time leading scorer

Lauren Focht is on the cusp of the Rebels all-time scoring record.

    Regina Rebels co-captain Lauren Focht captured a major team record and is on the cusp of getting another.

    On Saturday at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, Focht collected a goal and an assist as her Rebels blanked the visiting Saskatoon Stars 4-0 in a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League regular season game. With her tally, the skilled forward, who turned 18-years-old in January, became the Rebels all-time leader in career regular season goals.

    Focht had 64 career regular season goals at the end of that contest to put herself one clear of the total of 63 posted by former Regina career goals leader Kennedy Bobyck, who played for the Rebels from 2014 to 2017.

    Allee Gerrard, Emma DeCorby and Tavia Terry all had singles for the Rebels on Saturday. Terry tallied into an empty net.

    Payton Schlamp made 26 saves to earn her fourth shutout of the campaign for the Rebels.

    Kaitlyn Cadrain turned away 34-of-37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Stars (12-13-3).

    On Sunday at the Co-operators Centre, Focht had a goal and an assist as the Rebels blanked the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats 5-0 in another SFMAAAHL regular season clash.

    The win allowed the Rebels to lock up first place in the SFMAAAHL with a 24-1-1 record. The Wildcats fell to 19-6-1 and are guaranteed to finish second.

    Alexis Petford had a goal and three assists for the Rebels. Neena Brick had a pair of goals and an assist for Regina. Shaelyn Myers had a single for the host side.

Lauren Focht is the Rebels all-time leader in career goals.

    Chantel Weller made 23 saves to pick up her fifth shutout win of the season for the Rebels.
    Cheyenne Jamieson turned away 27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wildcats.

    With her performance over the Rebels last two games, Focht has 65 goals and 55 assists for 120 points in 101 career regular season games. She is tied for second on the Rebels all-time regular season scoring list with Bobyck.

    Bobyck had 63 goals and 57 assists for 120 points in 80 career games with the Rebels.

    Focht needs one more point to equal Emma Waldenberger as the Rebels all-time leading scorer in regular season play and two points to sit alone as the Rebels all-time leading scorer.

    Waldenberger piled up 60 goals and 61 assists for 121 points playing in 109 career regular season games with the Rebels from 2010 to 2014.

    Focht, who is a Regina product, has committed to play for the University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team in the fall. Waldenberger played five seasons for the Cougars from 2014 to 2019.

    On Tuesday, Focht will have her first chance to become the Rebels all-time leading scorer, when they travel to Weyburn to face the 5-21-2 Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings at 7:30 p.m. at Crescent Point Place.

    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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Bauml regains top offensive form with Huskies

Kohl Bauml scored twice for the Huskies on Friday night.

    Kohl Baum has found the groove that has eluded him since his rookie season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    On Friday at Merlis Belsher Place, Bauml potted a pair of goals in the second period to lift the Huskies to a 4-0 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a U Sports regular season clash before 1,998 spectators. With those goals, Bauml has recorded points in his last five straight games posting four goals and four assists over that span of time.

Kohl Bauml, right, has points in his last five straight games.

    The fourth-year forward had nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points appearing in all of the Huskies 23 regular season games to date. The Saskatoon product is having his best season since he led the Huskies in scoring as a rookie in the 2015-16 campaign posting 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points appearing in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games.

    Last season, Bauml, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 170 pounds, posted his lowest offensive totals in a U Sports campaign recording four goals and nine assists for 13 points. His work ethic was there, but the offensive numbers didn’t come.

The Huskies celebrate Kohl Bauml’s first goal on Friday night.

    The Huskies have a deep and talented squad, so when Bauml wasn’t able to contribute offensively on the scoresheet, others did.

    Now that Bauml has rediscovered his top offensive form, he helps make the Huskies that much more of a contender for the Canada West Conference title and the U Sports national championship.

    U of S is currently riding a five game winning streak and sits first in Canada West with a 20-3 record holding a one point lead over the 19-3-1 University of Alberta Golden Bears, who are the defending Canada West and U Sports champions. The Huskies are also rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

Collin Shirley scored the Huskies fourth goal on Friday night.

    Against the Thunderbirds on Friday night, Bauml, who has built a reputation as being one of the Huskies best ambassadors in the community, scored one goal off of grit and another off of finesse.

    With the Huskies holding a 1-0 lead thanks to a first period goal from sophomore defenceman Sam Ruopp, Bauml extended the host side’s edge to 2-0 potting the rebound of a shot taken by linemate Levi Cable at the 6:57 mark of the second frame.

    Just under four minutes later, Bauml scored a power-play goal to put the Huskies up 3-0 converting a backdoor feed from a beauty set up pass from centre Logan McVeigh.

    From that point, Bauml’s Huskies teammates ensured the Thunderbirds weren’t able to get up off the ground.

    With 40.6 seconds remaining in the third period, sophomore forward Collin Shirley tipped home an Alex Forsberg shot from the right side boards on another power play to give the Huskies a 4-0 advantage.

Evan Fiala was sound on defence for the Huskies.

    During the course of the contest, the Huskies had the Thunderbirds pinned in their own zone for extended periods and had the potential to really bury the visitors. The score could have looked worse had it not been for a stellar 37-save performance from UBC netminder and Saskatoon product Rylan Toth.

    The Thunderbirds fell to 11-10-2 with the loss, but they still sit fifth in the Canada West standings and have a playoff berth locked up.

    Sophomore goalie Taran Kozun, who has become a star this season between the pipes for the Huskies, stopped all 17 shots sent his way to pick up his third shutout of the campaign.

    The two teams go at it again tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    Bauml is one of the Huskies top good guys, and it is always great to see good things happen to good people.

    Hopefully, he will have a lot more big offensive moments as the season and the upcoming post-season rolls along.

Taran Kozun made 17 saves to pick up the shutout in goal for the Huskies.

    NOTE – Friday’s game was the “Huskies Fight Cancer Game” for the men’s hockey team. Money was raised for equipment purchases for the Saskatoon Cancer Centre through Choc ’la Cure. The Huskies had superkid Roan, who is battling leukemia, drop the puck for a pre-game ceremonial faceoff. 

    He was joined at centre ice by Marty and Darla Smuk. Marty and Darla are the parents of Huskies alum Cody Smuk, who passed away from cancer in June of 2015.

    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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Thunderbirds gut out series opening 2-1 overtime win

Pats face an uphill battle losing third straight Game 1

Thunderbirds winger Donovan Neuls celebrates his OT winner.

    REGINA – The Regina Pats seem to like doing things the hard way in the post-season.

    For the third straight series, the Pats, who topped the WHL standings with a 52-12-7-1 mark, dropped an opening Game 1, and this time they face a different obstacle.
    On Friday night in the opening contest in the best-of-seven WHL Championship series, the Pats fell 2-1 in overtime to the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds.

    Just 14 seconds into the extra session, Thunderbirds winger Donovan Neuls knocked home a loose puck in front of the Regina net to send most of a sellout crowd of 6,484 home disappointed.

    Thanks the setback, the Pats will have to fight another uphill battle to pull out a series victory, but this time the challenge is different for the club the was rated first in the final CHL top 10 rankings released on March 22.

Donovan Neuls breaks up ice for the Thunderbirds.

    In the second round of the playoffs, the Pats dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to the Swift Current Broncos at home. The Broncos eventually took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven set before the Regina battled back with three straight wins to take the series 4-3 to advance to the WHL Eastern Conference championship series.

    In the opener of the Eastern Conference title series, the Pats again fell on home ice this time by a 3-1 decision to the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Lethbridge took a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven set before the Pats rallied back with three straight wins to claim the series 4-2.

    The Broncos, who posted a 39-23-4-6 mark in the regular season, and the Hurricanes, who had a 44-21-4-3 record in the regular season, were both strong clubs, but both also hadn’t made far ventures in the post-season for some time.
    The Broncos were looking to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2001 when they fell to the Pats. The Hurricanes were making their first conference final appearance since 2008 when they fell to the Pats.

    Regina is also making its first long run in the playoffs in some time. When the Pats won the conference final, it marked the first time they appeared in the league championship series since 1984.

Ethan Bear had a goal in his return from injury.

    Between 1984 and the current campaign, they only had one other conference final appearance coming back in 1993, when they were swept by the Broncos.

    In the Thunderbirds, the Pats are facing an experienced opponent when it comes to the post-season.

    Seattle made it to last year’s league title series dropping the best-of-seven set 4-1 to the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Thunderbirds dropped three straight overtime games to make things really hard to try and win that set.

    This season, the Thunderbirds returned 14 skaters and posted the league’s fourth best record at 46-20-4-2. You have to think they were heading into the playoffs looking to take care of unfinished business.

    Still, Seattle entered the playoffs with some adversity. They haven’t had the services of star overage goaltender Rylan Toth, who missed the entire post-season with a lower body injury. Carl Stankowski, who in his 16-year-old rookie season, has been spectacular in Toth’s place posting impressive stats in the post-season with a 13-2 record, a 2.39 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.

    He was solid on Friday making 31 stops, which included turning away Pats captain Adam Brooks on a first-period wraparound and stopping speedy Pats winger Austin Wagner on a short-handed breakaway in the third period.

Thunderbirds goalie Carl Stankowski stones Pats centre Braydon Buziak.

    The Pats finally beat Stankowski on a spectacular power-play goal from star offensive-defenceman Connor Hobbs with 7:49 to play. Hobbs snuck in the point and potted a backdoor feed from winger Dawson Leedahl which tied the contest up at 1-1 and eventually forced overtime.

    The Thunderbirds also started the playoffs without spectacular star captain Mathew Barzal with what the team said was an illness. The Thunderbirds said Barzal was being tested for mumps in early March. Barzal missed the Thunderbirds first round series swept of the Tri-City Americans and returned for the start of the Thunderbirds second round series with the Everett Silvertips.

    In 11 post-season games, Barzal has been on fire piling up five goals and 14 assists. He had helpers on both his team’s goals in Game 1 against the Pats.

Connor Hobbs, left, celebrates his game-tying goal for the Pats.

    The Thunderbirds also had questions going into the series opener with Regina as right-winger Keegan Kolesar was sitting out a one-game suspension for receiving a major for checking from behind in Seattle’s Western Conference series clinching 3-1 Game 6 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna on Sunday.

    Ethan Bear, who was named the WHL’s top defenceman, was returning to action after missing three games with a hand injury. The Ochapowace product blew home a power play goal from the top of the faceoff circle at the 4:55 mark of the second period to give Seattle a 1-0 edge and answer questions about his effectiveness.

    On top of all of those obstacles, the Thunderbirds got rid of some demons with regards to losing overtime games in the league title series from a year ago.

    To make matters worse for the Pats, they lost Brooks who was nailed in the open ice after cross the Seattle blue-line by Thunderbirds rugged defenceman Turner Ottenbreit early in the second period when the game was still scoreless. Brooks was held off the ice, had a cut on his head, looked groggy and didn’t return.

Pats captain Adam Brooks is tended to by trainer Greg Mayer.

    In a post-game press conference, Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock compared Ottenbreit’s hit to one thrown by former NHL Hall of Fame defenceman Scott Stevens. Paddock also didn’t give an update on Brooks’s future status.

    On replays, Ottenbreit’s hit appeared clean, and Brooks was at a size disadvantage in the collision, which helped cause the injury. Ottenbreit stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds, while Brooks stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 177 pounds.

    The Pats won their second round series against the Broncos with Brooks missing the last five games of that set with a knee injury. He dressed for the last three outings of the series but stayed on the bench.

    Regina netminder Tyler Brown did his best to give the Pats a chance to win on Friday making 24 saves to take the loss in goal.

The Thunderbirds celebrate their overtime victory.

    The Pats now have their backs to the wall against an experienced opponent. They claimed Game 2 at home in both of their series wins against the Broncos and Hurricanes to put themselves in the fight in those sets.

    The pressure is on Regina to repeat recent history in Game 2 against the Thunderbirds on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Brandt Centre before going back for three straight games at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.

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