Flashback Friday – 2000 Rams were unbelievable

Magical playoff run highlights second CIAU season

Darryl Leason sets fire a pass for the Rams in 2000.

    (*NOTE – I originally wrote this piece in December of 2000 at the request of University of Regina Rams head coach Frank McCrystal. I believe it originally ran in a provincial football publication. I recently rediscovered it and decided to share it once again.*)

    The 2000 Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union season was almost a script out of a Disney movie for the University of Regina Rams.

    After going 0-8 in their inaugural year in the university league, the Rams, the former 15-time national champions in junior football, played in the last game they could possibly play in 2000. They made a miraculous playoff run which culminated in a 42-39 loss in the Vanier Cup to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

    “I think at the start of the season people didn’t give us much of a chance,” says Rams quarterback Darryl Leason, who led the CIAU with 2,277 yards passing. “I was confident right from the start of the season it was going to be something special.

Head coach Frank McCrystal guided the Rams to a Vanier Cup appearance.

    “The Rams have a rich history of playing in championship games. It doesn’t surprise anybody in the Rams organization the team made it to the Vanier Cup.”

    The Rams began their journey to the Vanier Cup by opening the regular season with a 31-25 home win over the University of Calgary Dinosaurs. It was Regina’s first regular season win over a CIAU opponent.

    However, a three game losing streak at mid-season dropped the Rams to 2-4. Most football experts were writing them off, but Regina maintained its confidence heading into their final home game against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

    “I think we were doing the right things, but there was a miscue here or there to make us not succeed,” says Rams head coach Frank McCrystal. “We knew, that if we stayed to the course, we were eventually going to succeed.”

Jason Clermont (#11) jets up field after making a catch in 2000.

    After falling behind 14-0 to the Thunderbirds, the Rams scored 30 straight second quarter points on route to a 47-37 victory.

    “That is when we felt we knew what kind of weapons we had on offence,” says Rams slotback Jason Clermont, who was named a second team CIAU all-Canadian. “We knew what we could do.”

    Regina’s win over the Thunderbirds was the start of a five game winning streak. The Rams would defeat the University of Alberta Golden Bears, Dinosaurs, University of Manitoba Bisons and the Saint Mary’s University Huskies on the road to the Vanier Cup.

    The Rams did not bow out of the Vanier Cup without a fight. After trailing the Gee-Gees 35-10 at halftime, Regina made a furious rally to lose by three.

Jon Ryan unloads a punt for the Rams in 2000.

    While the loss hurt at first, the Rams have been able to appreciate their success as the weeks have gone on.

    “The defence came up big in the third and fourth quarter,” says Clermont. “We were in a position where we could come back and win the football game.

    “It is a big accomplishment (to get to the Vanier Cup). There have been guys that don’t go there their whole career.”

    While the Rams enjoyed success in the football field in 2000, the Regina community and the province of Saskatchewan came around the team to support it. This included a sold out fundraising luncheon at Regina’s Delta Hotel and a huge Vanier Cup party at the U of R’s campus bar, the Owl.

Darryl Leason (#8) marks a Rams touchdown in 2000.

    “It was a great accomplishment for the university and the community as a whole that they could support a team that achieved the success we’ve achieved,” says McCrystal. “It was just a great partnership between institution and community that allowed this type of success to take 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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Huskies’ Kozun gets big double honours at U Sports awards

Cable captures most sportsmanlike player honour

Taran Kozun was named the U Sports player of the year.

    Taran Kozun achieved a significant first when it came to winning U Sports men’s hockey awards.

    On Wednesday at the men’s hockey awards gala in Halifax, N.S., the third-year netminder from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies was named the recipient of the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy as the U Sports player of the year, and he took honours as the U Sports goaltender of the year.

    Kozun became the first player in U Sports history to claim both awards in the same season. On top of those honours, he was named a U Sports first team all-Canadian all-star.

    The 25-year-old had an outstanding campaign for the Huskies appearing in 22 regular season games posting a 17-3-2 record, a 1.87 goals against average, a .931 save percentage and five shutouts. He also became the second goalie in the history of the Canada West Conference to score a goal as well during those regular season appearances.

    The Nipawin, Sask., product topped the Canada West Conference in wins and save percentage, while posting the lowest goals against average. His five shutouts equalled a record for regular season play in Canada West which he set last season along with U of Alberta Golden Bears goalie Zach Sawchenko.
    Thanks to Kozun’s efforts, the Huskies finished second in the Canada West Conference with a 22-4-2 record.

Levi Cable was named the most sportsmanlike player in U Sports.

    In the Canada West playoffs, the Huskies swept the University of Calgary Dinos in a best-of-three semifinal series 2-0 and pulled out the brooms again for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds taking the best-of-three Canada West Championship series 2-0.

    Last season, Kozun was named both the Canada West goaltender of the year and the U Sports goaltender of the year as well as a U Sports first team all-Canadian all-star.

    Kozun wasn’t the Huskies only major award winner.

    The team’s ironman in fifth-year right-winger Levi Cable captured the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award as the most sportsmanlike player in U Sports.

    The 25-year-old appeared in all the Huskies 28 regular season games posting 10 goals, 14 assists, a plus-13 rating in the plus-minus department and didn’t record a single minute in the penalty box.

    The Hudson Bay, Sask., product has appeared in 175 consecutive games for the Huskies including the U Sports regular season and post-season. Cable has appeared in every game he could possibility suit up for with the Huskies.

    He is the third player in the history of the Huskies to play in 140 career regular season games, and he collected 51 goals, 64 assists and a plus-50 rating in those outings.

    Huskies centre Jared Dmytriw was up for the Clare Drake Award and the rookie of the year for U Sports, but that honour went to Saint Mary’s University Huskies forward Mitchell Balmas.
    Dmytriw was named to the U Sports all-rookie team. He led the Huskies in scoring this season appearing in all of the team’s 28 regular season games posting 10 goals, 18 assists and a plus-20 rating.

Jared Dmytriw was named to the U Sports all-rookie team.

    The Huskies begin play at the David Johnston University Cup U Sports elite-eight national championship tournament on Thursday in Halifax as the event’s second seeded team. They will face the seventh seeded University of Western Ontario Mustangs, who were the bronze medalist of the Ontario University Athletic conference.

    The semifinals of the University Cup will be held on Saturday and the gold and bronze medal matches are slated for Sunday.

    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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Former Stars shine for Huskies in U Sports quarter-final win

Kennedy Harris scored the winning goal for the Huskies on Thursday.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team turned to their Saskatoon Stars to get through the first round of U Sports’ “March Madness.”

    Trailing the second seeded Saint Mary’s University Huskies 2-1 in the second period of U Sports elite eight national championship quarter-final match on London, Ont., the alumnae of the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA hockey team took turns in making plays to help seventh seeded U of S rally for a 3-2 victory on Thursday.

    With 2:18 to play in the second period at the Thompson Arena, rookie winger Abby Shirley slipped home a shot from a bad angle past Saint Mary’s netminder Rebecca Clark to force a 2-2. Before joining U of S, Shirley helped the Stars win Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championships in 2015 and 2016 and earn appearances in the Esso Cup national female midget AAA hockey championships in both of those years. The Stars won a bronze medal in 2015.

    Shirley played three seasons with the Stars from 2014 to 2017.

Abby Shirley scored the equalizer for the Huskies.

    After Shirley, who is the youngest Stars grad on the U of S roster at 18 years of age, netted the equalizer for U of S, the Dogs wearing the green and white turned to their eldest Stars grad for the game winner.

    With 8:22 to play in the third period and working on a power play, Shirley got the puck to fifth-year checking centre Kennedy Harris in front of the Saint Mary’s net, and Harris quickly fired the winning goal past Clark to give U of S a one-goal victory.

    Harris played for the Stars for two seasons from 2011 to 2013 and helped them reach the SFMAAAHL championship series in 2012. At age 22, Harris is the oldest grad from the Stars on the U of S roster by 23 days over fifth-year speedy winger Kori Herner.

    Herner had a chance to pot an insurance goal late in the third, but she was stopped on a short breakaway by Clark. Herner played two seasons for the Stars from 2011-13 and helped the reach the SFMAAAHL title series in 2012.

    Holding their one-goal edge, U of S faced adversity late in the third taking a penalty with about 11 seconds to play creating a defensive zone faceoff. Saint Mary’s pulled Clark for another attacker to hold a six-on-four advantage with the number of skaters on the ice.

Kori Herner just missed scoring for the Huskies late in the third.

    U of S lost the defensive zone faceoff, but sophomore defensive forward Danielle Nogier broke after the puck and sent it into the centre ice zone to prevent Saint Mary’s from having any scoring chances. Nogier played for the Stars for three seasons from 2013-16, which included helping the midget AAA club reach the Esso Cup tournament in her final two seasons with the squad.

    In the first period, U of S came at Saint Mary’s hard holding an 18-9 edge in shots on goal. The green and white jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a highlight reel goal from fifth-year star captain Kaitlin Willoughby, who is a graduate of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team.

    On a one-on-one rush, Willoughby got an angle on a Saint Mary’s defender and roofed a backhand shot past the defender and Clark.

    The game’s momentum changed at the 1:44 mark of the second period, when Saint Mary’s scored on a positive bounce goal to tie things up a 1-1. Defender Beatrice Harrietha shot a puck that deflected off feisty U of S centre Brooklyn Haubrich to Saint Mary’s forward Caitlin Pejkovic, who deflected the puck into the U of S net.

    Just past the midway point of the frame, Saint Mary’s went ahead 2-1 on a beautifully executed two-on-one rush. Fifth-year winger Laura Polak sent a beauty pass across the front of the goal to star Saint Mary’s captain Breanna Lanceleve, who knocked the puck into an empty cage.

Danielle Nogier made the last defensive play to seal the Huskies win.

    That set the stage for the U of S comeback.

    Jessica Vance, who was a first team U Sports all-Canadian all-star, turned away 29 shots to pick up the win in goal for U of S. Clark turned away 35 shots to take the setback in the Saint Mary’s net.

    Saint Mary’s University posted a 20-3-1 record during the regular season and a 4-1 mark in the Atlantic University Sport playoffs on route to winning a conference title.

    U of S finished second in the Canada West standings with a 19-7-2 record and were 2-2 in the Canada West playoffs. U of S fell to the University of Manitoba Bisons in the Canada West championship series.

    U of S advances to the “frozen four” portion of the U Sports national championship tournament to play in a semifinal match on Saturday. The green and white will face the host and third seeded University of Western Ontario Mustangs, who blanked the sixth seeded Universite de Montreal Carabins 4-0 in Thursday’s other quarter-final.
    The Mustangs posted a 17-5-2 record in the regular season and went 5-0 in the Ontario University Athletics conference playoffs to win the OUA conference title.  

Saskatchewan's @HuskieAthletics have beaten the @SMUHuskies, and advance to the Semi-Finals!

Les Huskies de la Saskatchewan ont vaincu les Huskies de Saint Mary's 3-2 et accèdent à la demi-finale de hockey féminin U SPORTS! Regardez-la en direct sur https://t.co/sy4IIJnkfs pic.twitter.com/nTCbfD05l4

— U SPORTS Hockey (@USPORTS_Hockey) March 15, 2018

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

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Upbeat and personable Herner closes out time with Huskies

Kori Herner celebrates scoring a goal for the Huskies.

    Kori Herner admitted the finality of the fact her U Sports career is nearing an end has become more real to her.

    The fifth-year speedy winger for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team has taken in the 2017-18 campaign in similar fashion to her first four seasons with the team. 

    With the Huskies about to play their first game at the U Sports final eight national championship tournament in London, Ont., the Kindersley, Sask., product said things felt different knowing she has at most three games to play in her university career.

    “It actually just settled in (on Saturday) that these last couple of practices are my last practices ever,” said Herner. “It gives me more motivation to be the best I can be out there and finish my hockey career strong.”

Kori Herner (#10) wins a battle for the puck

    The Huskies, who are seeded seventh, face the second seeded Saint Mary’s University Huskies, who won the Atlantic University Sport conference title, in the first of two quarter-final games on Thursday. The tournament semifinal games are slated for Saturday and the bronze and gold medal games are set for Sunday. The tournament winner will capture the Golden Path Trophy.

    For Herner, it seems like yesterday she was a rookie helping the U of S Huskies win a Canada West title and a bronze medal at the U Sports nationals, which were held in Fredericton, N.B., in March of 2014.

    “We were watching the video of Can West on the bus,” said Herner, who stands 5-foot-5. “It literally seems like it was a couple of days ago that we were in that final.

    “It is just surreal how fast time actually goes like from being a rookie and hearing the fifth-years saying like just take it all in and enjoy every moment, because time does go by fast. It flies by.”

Kori Herner (#10) makes her way to the Rutherford Rink ice surface.

    The 22-year-old is one of four fifth-year players on the Huskies this season including star captain Kaitlin Willoughby, checking centre Kennedy Harris and defensive defender Kira Bannatyne. Herner has always been an uplifting presence in the Huskies dressing room and viewed as one of the squads most approachable players among her teammates.

    With that said, she added it was strange being one of the older players on the team this past season.

    “It is weird, because you always have those girls you look up to that are older than you, and now it like our time,” said Herner, who had five goals and five assists appearing in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games. “We are the ones being looked up to compared to the young girls on the team.”

Kori Herner zips into the offensive zone with the puck.

    The former captain of the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team was arguably the Huskies best player when it came to interacting with children and young fans. During summer breaks, Herner could usually be found coaching children in summer hockey activities or softball.

    “I’ve always coached kids and worked with kids, and that is what I am planning to do in the future is become a teacher,” said Herner. “I get along with them well and love to make them laugh and have fun with them.”

    Herner said she enjoyed working the Huskies summer hockey camps and goofing around with the kids and making them laugh. Some of those fun sessions included having kids drag on her arms as she skated around the rink.

Kori Herner is hugged by teammate Chloe Smith.

    Coaching has allowed Herner to be move involved in the life of her younger sister Jessie, who is a defender with the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team. Kori has been involved coaching Jessie for about the last seven years in hockey and the last five years in softball.

    Jessie, who wears #10 like her older sister, turned 16-years-old in early January and has two more seasons of midget AAA eligibility to use.

    “She (Jessie Herner) wants to follow through and play with Huskies, so I think that is pretty cool,” said Kori. “Seeing her developing and coaching her, it is a lot different seeing her come up.

    “I think she can be a better hockey player than me.”

    Herner said it is an adjustment going from midget AAA to the university level. Playing two seasons for the Stars from 2011 to 2013, Herner appeared in 56 regular season games collecting 23 goals and 38 assists. In 125 regular season games with the Huskies, she netted 18 goals and 14 assists.

Kori Herner sets to make a pass in the offensive zone.

    “I guess I don’t have the puck luck like I used to like I’ve had with a couple of spurts here and there,” said Herner. “Goaltending is better.

    “The hockey girls are better. It is just harder hockey.”

    There have been times with the Huskies that Herner turned back the clock to her Stars days. In her final regular season home game on Feb. 3, she scored two beauty goals in a 3-2 victory over the University of Alberta Pandas. 
    On her second goal of that night, Herner blew down the left wing past a Pandas defender, cut to the front of the U of A goal and tuck home a shot between the legs of netminder Dayna Owen.

    Herner hopes to create some magical moments like that at nationals.

    “I hope I pot a couple of goals to get the team on top,” said Herner. “I just want to play my best, and hopefully, our team ends up winning.”

    She said it will be hard to hang of the skates for good as far as playing competitive hockey is concerned when nationals comes to an end.

    “(I will miss) the team aspect and being around the girls all the time,” said Herner. “I think it will be weird not coming to the rink every day.

    “(I will miss) a little bit of the competition wise with hockey. There is no more competitive hockey for me anymore.”

Kori Herner sets up to fire a shot on goal.

    At nationals, the Huskies will be led by Willoughby, who topped the team in scoring with nine goals and 10 assists in 26 regular season appearances. 
    Over her five seasons, the Prince Albert, Sask., product has cemented her legacy as one of the Huskies most dynamic players ever.

    Bannatyne and third-year defender Emma Nutter topped the Huskies blue-liners in scoring each netting two goals and four assists appearing in all of the squad’s 28 regular season games.

    Canada West player-of-the-year and first team all-Canadian all-star Jessica Vance was sensational in goal posting a 14-3-1 record, a 0.77 goals against average, a .964 save percentage and nine shutouts in 18 regular season appearances.

Kori Herner gets ready to drive a shot on goal.

    The Huskies finished second in the Canada West standings with a 19-7-2 record and were 2-2 in the Canada West playoffs.

    Fifth-year forward Breanna Lanceleve topped Saint Mary’s University in scoring recording 10 goals and 18 assists in 24 regular season games. 
    Fourth-year defender Hannah Askin led all Saint Mary’s University defenders in scoring with three goals and 13 assists in 23 regular season appearances.

    Rebecca Clark is expected to start in goal for Saint Mary’s University, and she posted a 14-3-1 record, a 1.15 goals against average, a .945 save percentage and six shutouts in 19 regular season appearances.

    Saint Mary’s University posted a 20-3-1 record during the regular season and a 4-1 mark in the AUS playoffs.

    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.