Huskies face monster test in Stingers to start nationals

Drever’s presence give Dogs shot at major upset

The Huskies aim to enjoy some good moments hosting nationals.

Camryn Drever and her University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team will never back down from a challenge.

They face a big one in the quarter-final round at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament, which runs Thursday through to Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place. The eighth seeded Huskies will take on the top seeded Concordia University Stingers as the feature game at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at Merlis.

“I think we just have to come out strong and play our game,” said Drever, who is playing out her fifth and final year of U Sports eligibility. “When we shy away from doing the things that we’re really good at is when teams kind of take advantage of that.

“I think we just have to come out with a good forecheck and hopefully pop one first would be ideal for us. We just have to come out and do our things and run line by line, and I think we will be OK.”

The Huskies finished fourth in Canada West Conference with a 19-7-2 mark and fell in a best-of-three conference quarter-final series in a series deciding Game 3 to the U of Calgary Dinos 2-0. The Stingers posted a perfect 25-0 regular season record and captured the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec title with a 4-2 post-season mark.

Concordia University has also appeared in the title game of the last two U Sports Championship tournaments. In 2022 in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Stingers blanked the Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 to capture the Golden Path Trophy in the championship final.

Camryn Drever is a second team all-Canadian all-star.

Before downing the Lakers, Concordia blanked the Huskies 2-0 in a semifinal match, where Drever came up with 37 saves in the setback. The Huskies rebounded to blank the University of New Brunswick Reds 2-0 in the bronze medal game.

At last year’s tournament held in Montreal, the Stingers dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker in overtime to the eighth seeded Mount Royal University Cougars.

During the 2023-24 regular season with the Huskies, Drever posted a 15-4-2 record, a 1.33 goals against average, a .954 save percentage and five shutouts. She was named the player of the year and goaltender of the year for the Canada West. On Wednesday night, Drever was named a second team all-Canadian all-star.

Huskies head coach Steve Kook has a tonne of faith that Drever can give the host side a chance to get past the Stingers.

“You see the firepower these teams bring, I think it is a comfort having Cam (Drever) back there,” said Kook. “We’ve asked Cam to be a stalwart for our program over the last three years.

“We’ll ask her to do it one more time for three days.”

Forward Emilie Lussier had a head turning rookie year for the Stingers topping the team in regular season scoring with 34 points coming off 18 goals and 16 assists. She was named a second team all-Canadian all-star and was named to the U Sports all-rookie team.

Sophie Lalor breaks into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

A pair of third year forwards in Emilie Lavoie and Jessymaude Drapeau each recorded 27 points for the Stingers in the regular season. Lavoie collected her 27 points on 15 goals and 12 assists, while Drapeau piled up her 27 points on 11 goals and 16 assists.

Stingers head coach Julie Chu said the experience her side gained in their previous two trips to the U Sports Championship tournament helps, but she added each season writes its own story.

“I think like everything we build off what we accomplished in the past,” said Chu, who was named the U Sports coach of the year. “For those players that lived that, they are going to build off of it.

“For those players that lived the loss last year, they are going to build off of that. Those that weren’t a part of our program are going to build of their experiences. I think for us the great thing is when you have a veteran crew that has experienced nationals at least know what is the rhythm of going to a hotel (and) being surrounded by other incredible teams and athletes.

“Like anything, this is our new team. That was really important to us in training camp is to make sure we weren’t stuck in last year and make sure we weren’t stuck in the previous years. (It is) what are we going to do this year with this group that is different.”

Fifth-year forward Sophie Lalor led the Huskies in regular season scoring with 22 points coming off 12 goals and 10 assists. Fifth-year forward Kara Kondrat was second in team scoring with 18 points coming six goals and 12 assists.

Third-year forward Mallory Dyer recorded 10 goals during the regular season for the Huskies. Defender Isabella Pozzi, who is in her fifth year, topped the Huskies in defence scoring in the regular season with 13 points coming off four goals and nine assists.

Kara Kondrat finished second in team scoring for the Huskies.

When the Huskies moved into Merlis Belsher Place for the start of the 2018-19 campaign, they wanted to host a U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. Kook said his players are as ready as they will ever be.

“This was our vision when we first opened the place,” said Kook, who team was off for 24 days heading into Thursday’s quarter-final. “This would be a perfect hosting spot for a national championship.

“It doesn’t always work. You try to get timely bids for when your team is right and you have a veteran squad. It is fortunate for us that it worked out this way.

“For us, we just excited to host the country and be able to show off the building. Like I said, I think this building is perfect for hosting events just like this.”

Drever, who helped the St. Albert Slash win two Esso Cup titles as national under-18 AAA female hockey champions in 2017 and 2018, wants to finish her time with the Huskies on a high note. The Edmonton product did add that no matter what happens at nationals she will always reflect fondly on her time with the Huskies.

“I get emotional thinking about it,” said Drever. “It has been like a heck of a six years.

“There have been lots of ups and downs and just trusting the process I think has been the biggest thing for me. Just to kind of see it all come together and to end off hosting nationals is a pretty incredible feeling.

Isabella Pozzi controls the back end for the Huskies.

“There are really no words to kind of capture the last six years and all the memories in the dressing room and road trips and everything. It has just been like a phenomenal six years. I couldn’t thank the coaching staff and the team and Huskie Athletics enough for the last six years.”

NOTE – I put together an advancer piece on the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament for The Canadian Press. That story can be found by clicking right here.

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

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Cougars blank Huskies 2-0 in playoff type encounter

Huskies LW Kenzie Lausberg (#22) shields off a Cougars defender.

University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team got a tune up for the post-season.

On Saturday, the Huskies finished out hosting a two-game regular season set against the defending U Sports champion Mount Royal University Cougars before 711 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place. In that clash, the smallest moment in time proved to be the difference when it came to earning a victory and taking a defeat.

The two sides entered the third period locked in a 0-0. The Huskies, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, started the frame working on the power play, and during that opportunity, star left-winger Sophie Lalor rang a shot off the crossbar.

The Cougars celebrate a goal from Athena Hauck (#29).

After that power play expired, Cougars fourth-year left-winger Athena Hauck found herself alone in front of the Huskies net. She wired home a midrange shot to the top left corner of the Huskies goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the 5:26 mark of the frame.

With 12.9 seconds remaining in the third, Cougars fourth-year centre and team captain Lyndsey Janes popped home an empty-net goal that cemented a 2-0 victory for the visitors, who are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings.

“The margin of error tonight was we had a centre who lost an assignment for like three seconds, and that is the margin of error,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook. “That would be playoff hockey.

“Outside of that, it was a solid game. Outside of that, we are going to overtime. Outside of that, we are going to a shootout.”

Athena Hauck had the winning goal for the Cougars.

While the Huskies came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard, Kook thought Saturday’s game as a big bounce back one for his squad after they dropped a 4-1 decision to the Cougars on Friday night at Merlis Belsher Place. In Saturday’s regular season clash, Kook said the Cougars ultimately showed the pedigree which saw them win the U Sports championship last year.

“Given our performance last night which I thought was terrible with the exception of (Huskies star netminder) Cam (Camryn Drever), it was a 180 degree turnaround,” said Kook. “We just totally got off script yesterday.

“Today, we played on script. Kudos to them, I think they blocked probably about 10 or 12 shots in the last five or six minutes, and a couple of them had to crawl off the ice. They’re a national champion, and that is what they are willing to do.

Paris Oleksyn jets into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

“They block shots right in the gut and the chest and crawled off the ice.”

The setback saw the Huskies fall to 17-7-1-1. With two games left on their regular season schedule, the Huskies are locked into fourth place in the Canada West Conference standings. They will open the post-season hosting a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series against either the 11-13-2 U of Calgary Dinos or the 10-15-1 U of Manitoba Bisons.

U of S has lost three straight, and the skid started on Jan. 27 with a 2-0 setback against the U of Alberta Pandas in Edmonton. The Pandas, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, sit second in the Canada West Conference with a 19-3-1-3 mark.

Camryn Drever stopped 24-of-25 shots in goal for the Huskies.

The Cougars improved to 20-6 with the win over the Huskies to sit third in Canada West just two standings points behind the Pandas. Both the Cougars and Pandas have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

The defending Canada West champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, have first place in Canada West locked up with a 22-1-1-2 mark. They will have home ice advantage throughout the Canada West playoffs in the U Sports post-season.

The Thunderbirds, Pandas, Cougars, Huskies, Dinos and Bisons will be the six teams taking part in the Canada West playoffs.

Scout Anderson (#30) makes one of her 15 saves for the Cougars.

Huskies third-year left-winger Paris Oleksyn said Saturday’s clash with the Cougars was a game where her squad had to battle for everything. She said those types of games will be the norm for her squad in the post-season.

“This game was definitely a good stepping stone going into playoffs,” said Oleksyn. “It kind of taught us what to expect in playoffs.

“I really thought like we battled like a playoff game. We worked hard. It sucks that we didn’t get the lucky bounces our way.

“We hit a few posts and stuff like that. I think as a team we played a lot better today, and we played like a playoff game.”

Sophie Lalor wired a shot off the crossbar early in the third.

Saturday’s encounter started out a tight checking one. The Huskies first shot on goal in the contest came at the 13:50 mark of the opening frame from defender Kendra Zuchotzki, and at that point in time, the Cougars only held a 4-1 edge in shots on goal. Mount Royal held a 7-2 edge in the shots on goal department after 20 minutes.

In the first half of the second period, the Huskies had a pair of power plays. With a one skater advantage, the Huskies had great puck movement and set up some strong scoring chances. They did everything they could right on the power plays but weren’t able to crack on to the scoreboard due to solid work from Cougars second-year netminder Scout Anderson.

Kendra Zuchotzki brings the puck up ice for the Huskies.

Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play on Saturday. The Huskies seemingly had the stronger chances to score on their power plays, which played a factor in the game’s final outcome.

“On the power play in the second period, (McKenna) Bolger hits the top of Scout Anderson’s stick, and it goes out the other way,” said Kook. “(Sophie) Lalor puts one off the crossbar here (in the third period).

“They blocked probably more shots than we got through.”

After the Cougars went ahead, the Huskies best chance to get the equalizer might have come when second-year right-winger Jayde Cadieux was denied from point-blank range at the right side of the Mount Royal net.

The Cougars celebrate an empty-net goal from Lyndsey Janes (#12).

Drever stopped 24-of-25 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies. Anderson turned away all 15 shots she faced to pick up her third shutout win of the campaign.

The Huskies close their regular season schedule traveling to Winnipeg to take on the Bisons this coming Friday and Saturday at the Wayne Fleming Arena. Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m. local time and Saturday’s clash is tabbed for 3 p.m. local time.

Oleksyn said her Huskies will be focused on getting back into the win column before the post-season rolls around.

“We know what we need to do to get the job done,” said Oleksyn. “We know what we don’t have to do.

“We just have to focus on capitalizing on the important parts of the game and work together as a team.”

Huskies captain Kennedy Brown will soon graduate from the team.

NOTES – Saturday’s game was “Seniors Night” as the Huskies honoured their graduating players presenting them with jerseys in a pre-game ceremony. The Huskies graduating players include Drever, Lalor, captain Kennedy Brown, Isabella Pozzi, Kara Kondrat, Kenzie Lausberg and Kate Ball. Ball still has one more season of U Sports eligibility remaining, but she is slated to graduate from the Kinesiology program at the U of S and plans to move on to her next life chapter. The Huskies held a kids skate following Saturday’s game.

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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Lalor hits milestone, Huskies win sixth straight

Sophie Lalor scored her 10th goal of the regular season on Saturday.

Sophie Lalor became a member of “Club 10.”

On Saturday night, Lalor became the first member of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team to hit the 10-goal plateau in regular season play in four years. The fourth-year winger scored the Huskies first goal in a 2-1 U Sports regular season victory over the visiting MacEwan University Griffins before 450 spectators are Merlis Belsher Place.

The win was the sixth straight for the Huskies, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings.

Lalor netted her milestone goal with a power-play marker at the 11:18 mark of the first period, which gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the contest. With the tally, Lalor finished the night having recorded 10 goals and eight assists to go with a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department appearing in all of the Huskies 22 regular season games.

The Penticton, B.C., product’s 10 goals and 18 points are career highs. Her eight assists equals a career high set back in the 2019-20 season.

Before Lalor hit the 10-goal mark, the last Huskies player to score 10-or-more goals in one regular season was heart-and-soul forward Bailee Bourassa back in the 2019-20 campaign. In 2019-20, Bourassa appeared in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games recording 12 goals, seven assists and a plus-five rating.

Offensive-defender Isabella Pozzi, who is in her fifth season of U Sports eligibilty, picked up the lone assist on Lalor’s power-play goal against the Griffins. With the helper, Pozzi now has career highs in goals (four), assists (eight) and points (12) this season to go along with a plus-six rating.

The Huskies outshot the Griffins 18-7 in the opening 20 minutes, but the visitors managed to send the contest into the first intermission locked in a 1-1 draw. At the 14:41 mark of the first period, forward Joie Simon netted the equalizer for the Griffins with rookie defender Ali Macaulay picking up the lone assist on the play.

Sophie Lalor has career highs in goals (10) and points (18).

The teams played through a fairly even second period with the Huskies holding a 12-11 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

At the 9:13 mark of the third, Huskies third-year winger Kelsey Hall potted her seventh goal of the season that held up as the winner in the Huskies 2-1 victory. The tally was Hall’s third game winner of the campaign.

On the season, Hall has career highs in goals (seven), assists (six) and points (13) to go with a plus-four rating appearing in all the Huskies 22 regular season games.

Rookie forward Ava Bergman picked up the lone assist on Hall’s goal. The helper was Bergman’s first career regular season point in U Sports play. She has appeared in six regular season contests for the Huskies in the current campaign.

Colby Wilson made 20 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Brianna Sank turned away 34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Griffins.

With the win, the Huskies improve to 16-4-1-1 to sit fourth in the Canada West Conference. The lowest they can finish in the Canada West standings is fourth, which means they will have home ice advantage for at least one series in the conference playoffs. The Huskies will host the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship Tournament from March 14 to 17 at Merlis Belsher Place.

The Huskies sit two standings points behind the defending U Sports champion Mount Royal University Cougars (18-4) for third in the conference and four standings points back of the U of Alberta Pandas (18-2-1-1) for second in the conference. The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds top the Canada West standings with a 20-1-1-2 mark.

The Griffins fell to 3-20-1 with the loss and sit last in the nine-team Canada West.

Isabella Pozzi picked up an assist on Saturday.

The Huskies return to action on Friday when they travel to Edmonton to take on the Pandas (7 p.m. local time, Clare Drake Arena).

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 slip past Huskies 2-1 after tiebreaking shootout

Kara Kondrat, left, makes a pass in the offensive zone.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team went stride for stride with the top team in the Canada West Conference but just couldn’t get the win.

On Friday night at Merlis Belsher place, the Huskies played the Canada West leading University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a 1-1 draw through regulation and a three-on-three overtime period forcing the U Sports regular season contest to go to a tiebreaking shootout. In the shootout, Thunderbirds standout right-winger Chanreet Bassi scored the only goal in the tiebreaking session coming in the fourth round to give her side a 2-1 overall victory in the game played in front of 300 spectators.

Elise Hugens made 24 saves for 65 minutes for the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, improved to 11-0-1-1 with the win. The Huskies, who are rated 10 in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, saw their record move to 8-3-1-1.

“It was as advertised,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook. “It was physical.

“It was fast. I thought we played the right way. We were trying to get pressure, and I thought we did that.

“I thought our young ‘D’ played well again against a team that put a lot of pressure on our D-zone. Our kill did a heck of a job.”

Camryn Drever made 37 saves over 65 minutes for the Huskies.

The two sides played a fairly structured and tight checking game. Through the structure, both sides would have momentum surges that were turned away by the goalies on each side.

Huskies all-world netminder Camryn Drever made 37 saves through regulation and overtime, and she turned away three-of-four shooters in the shootout. She turned away shots that came in on goal off deflections and somehow found pucks that came in through screens in front of the net.

Thunderbirds netminder Elise Hugens made 24 saves through regulation and overtime, and she turned away all four shooters she faced in the shootout. She made her fair share of difficult saves too.

Mackenzie Kordic scored in regulation for the Thunderbirds.

The two sides played through a scoreless tie over the first 40 minutes of the contest.

Just 34 seconds into the third, the Thunderbirds broke though on the scoreboard as second-year right-winger Mackenzie Kordic potted her 10th goal of the season. Kordic drove down the right wing, cut to the right faceoff dot and snapped a shot past Drever to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 edge.

The lead didn’t last as the Huskies pulled even at 1-1 just over six minutes later. While working on the power play, Huskies left-winger Sophie Lalor fed a pass to defender Isabella Pozzi. Pozzi one-timed a rocket shot to the top left corner of the Thunderbirds net for the equalizer.

Isabella Pozzi scored on the power play in regulation for the Huskies.

The Huskies went 1-for-5 on the power play in the contest, while the Thunderbirds failed to score on five power-play opportunities.

Kook said Drever was outstanding on Friday night, and he was impressed with his team’s work on the penalty kill. The bench boss said his netminder is driven to stop everything.

“Cam (Drever) red all of those cross ice and even that one that went the other way for the one-timer,” said Kook. “Cam feels bad about the loss right now.

“Her and the kill were the stars of the game for us.”

Sophie Lalor fires a shot on goal for the Huskies.

With standout veteran defender Brooklyn Stevely out due to injury, the Huskies went with a younger look on defence. Rookies Jacquelyne Chief and Makenna Stevens dressed as one pair.

Sophomore Shelby Williamson and third-year McKenna Bolger made up another defensive pair. Pozzi, who is in her fifth year, and Kendra Zuchotzki, who is in her third year, were the veteran pair on the back end.

Kook is showing faith in the youngsters too. When the Thunderbirds went on a power play in overtime, Chief was sent out to start the penalty kill on the four-on-three situation.

“I think for me, my nerves definitely like come up a bit,” said Chief. “When we’re like in overtime, it is like, ‘OK, go kill.’

Huskies D Jacquelyne Chief, left, battles UBC LW Cassidy Rhodes.

“I’m like, ‘You want me out there?’ It is kind of a surprise. I feel like since they have that trust in me I just have to live up to it.

“I think I do my part.”

The Thunderbirds had scoring chances, but the Huskies were able to come away with a successful kill.

After the kill, the Huskies got momentum. Near the end of the overtime frame, Lalor and Pozzi both had prime scoring chances, but they were turned away by Hugens.

Huskies third-year centre Mallory Dyer had a chance in close for a buzzer beater, but she drove the puck over top of the net.

Jasper Desmarais circles in the offensive zone with the puck.

In the shootout, Bassi put on a few fakes in her approach to the net before firing home the winner.

The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. Kook said he offered encouragement to his squad looking ahead to Saturday’s encounter.

“I said we played the right way,” said Kook. “Our job right now is to make sure that we get our nutrition and do the right things, so that we are ready to go tomorrow.

The Thunderbirds celebrate their shootout victory.

“That is the beauty of this league. You get another kick at it. We played the right way.

“If we do this again tomorrow, I’d be happy with our effort.”

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 find magic in unique and special season

Women’s hockey squad ventures on in playoffs

The Huskies celebrate a goal earlier this season.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team is leaving a mark on a season that is like no other.

A year ago at this time, players were focusing on university assignments and exams. They never even got to play a game in the 2020-21 campaign as it was cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that still grips the world.

On top of that, they were kicked out of their home rink as Merlis Belsher Place was serving as a potential field hospital in waiting and was being used to administer COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Now fast forward to this past Saturday. The Huskies were playing in Winnipeg, Man., and they blanked the host University of Manitoba Bisons 3-0 in Game 2 of a Canada West quarter-final playoff series.

That win allowed the Huskies to sweep the best-of-three set 2-0 to advance in the U Sports playoffs. They overcame an opponent they weren’t able to beat in the four head-to-head encounters in the regular season.

The Bisons finished fourth in the Canada West regular season standings with a 13-7 mark just ahead of the Huskies who were 11-7-2.

Thanks to those playoff wins over the Bisons, the Huskies were back in Merlis Belsher Place this week conducting practices preparing for their best-of-three Canada West semifinal series against the Mount Royal University Cougars in Calgary, Alta.

The Cougars topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 16-2-2 mark.

Bailee Bourassa led the Huskies in scoring this season.

Game 1 of the series is set for Friday (8 p.m. Saskatchewan time, HuskieFAN.ca), and Game 2 follows on Saturday (7 p.m., Saskatchewan time, HuskieFAN.ca). If necessary, Game 3 will be held on Sunday (7 p.m. Saskatchewan time, HuskieFAN.ca). All of those contests will be played at the Flames Community Arena.

Going into the 2021-22 campaign, the Huskies likely didn’t know what to expect. In late August of 2021, they moved back into Merlis Belsher Place, so they had at least the security of knowing they were going to be in their home rink.

Still, they never knew if the rug was going to be pulled out from under them on the COVID-19 front and the season would grind to a halt. With that noted, there was a sense of purpose from the Huskies and the rest of the teams in the conference to push through with the campaign to keep the Canada West Conference relevant.

That was true for the teams in men’s hockey along with that teams that play in all the various other sports under the conference’s umbrella.

With that noted, you have to suspect long time Huskies head coach Steve Kook had some sleepless nights navigating the program through the unique ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic since the middle of March of 2020. Kook would collect his 200^th career win in the 2021-22 campaign.

Going into the season, the Huskies would also be searching for a new identity on the ice since last playing a game in February of 2020, when they were eliminated from the U Sports playoff picture. Following the 2019-20 campaign, the Huskies lost eight players due to graduation.

Camryn Drever earned her first two U Sports playoff wins.

After losing a whole season, the Huskies had players contemplating life decisions, which including moving on from playing the sport of hockey. Out of the four players from the 2019-20 campaign who were playing their fourth years of eligibility on the team, only forward Bailee Bourassa came back to play her fifth and final season of U Sports eligibility.

She elected to pursue her master’s degree in nursing, while taking on the role of captain for the Huskies.

Forward Abby Shirley is the only player on the Huskies roster skating in her fourth year of eligibility.

The presence of Bourassa and Shirley helped give a steady hand to a younger generation of players looking to make their mark with the program.

Bourassa led the team in scoring with seven goals and four assists appearing in all of the Huskies 20 regular season games. Shirley skated in 18 regular season games collecting five goals and four assists.

Last Friday, Shirley arguably had her greatest on ice moment with the Huskies netting her first career U Sports hat trick in a 4-2 victory over the Bisons in Game 1 of their Canada West quarter-final series in Winnipeg.

The younger generation stepped up too as third-year forward Kennedy Brown had the Huskies lone other tally that proved to be the game winner breaking a 2-2 tie with four minutes remaining in the third period.

In the Huskies 3-0 series clinching victory in Game 2 against the Bisons this past Saturday, the U of S side received singles from third-year forward Sophie Lalor, rookie defender Brooklyn Stevely and Brown.

Abby Shirley picked up her first career U Sports hat trick.

During those two playoff wins, rookie defenders Larissa Bohlken, Kendra Zuchotzki and Emily Holmes have each picked up a pair of assists.

The Huskies also have an ace card to play in third-year netminder Camryn Drever. While she didn’t have any U Sports playoff starts going into the 2021-22 season, the Edmonton, Alta., product is an experienced post-season performer.

Before joining the U Sports ranks, Drever was the star goaltender for the St. Albert Slash, and she backstopped them to two straight Esso Cup titles as national under-18 AAA hockey champions in 2017 and 2018. She earned a reputation as a clutch player in those runs.

The Huskies series sweep over the Bisons marked Drever’s first two post-season wins at the U Sports level. She made 18 saves in the Huskies Game 1 victory and 21 stops for the shutout in the Huskies Game 2 win.

During the regular season, Drever appeared in 16 games posting an 8-7-1 record, a 1.49 goals against average, a .939 save percentage and two shutouts.

The 2021-22 campaign has been kind of a mulligan type of season, because no one could truly know what to expect when a whole league comes back after a season off.

At the moment, the Huskies have a legit shot to create more post-season magic. The Cougars won both regular season encounters between the two sides, but both games were only decided by respective 1-0 final scores.

The winner of this series will advance to the Canada West Championship series and lock up a berth in the U Sports final eight championship tournament, which is set for March 24 to 27 in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

The Huskies want to have more victory celebrations.

The Huskies might ultimately bring home a couple of championship trophies.

Even if the championship trophies don’t come, the program accomplishments this season already have to be viewed as a major victory.

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 drop 3-2 heartbreaker to Cougars after shootout

Second place and bye in Canada West playoffs eludes U of S

It is on to UBC for captain Brooklyn Haubrich and the Huskies.

    One rival leaves and another one is on the way.

    On Saturday before 735 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team closed out the U Sports regular season falling to their provincials rivals the University of Regina Cougars 3-2 after a tiebreaking shootout.

    The Cougars took the shootout 1-0 after star captain Jaycee Magwood scored in the fourth round.

    The clash between the two sides had the intensity of a playoff tilt. As both clubs look towards their respective upcoming post-season runs, Huskies fifth-year captain Brooklyn Haubrich said it was good for her team to get the feel of a high-intensity game before the post-season comes around, even though the setback stung.

The Cougars third period equalizer gets past Huskies goalie Jessica Vance.

    “It hurts,” said Haubrich. “Obviously, we didn’t want to lose.

    “We didn’t want to end our regular season on a losing note. I think there are a lot of positives that we can take into playoffs. There are good battles out there.

    “Any time you play Regina, everyone is hyped up and ready to go. I’m hoping we can bring that energy into playoffs and put this one behind us. It is a new season next weekend, so move forward.”

    The Huskies were hoping to move into second place in the Canada West Conference at the start of Saturday’s game. They finished third with a 17-7-2-2 record.

    Had the Huskies won on Saturday, they still wouldn’t have been able to move into second place due to the fact the U of Calgary Dinos got past the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns 3-1 on Saturday in Calgary, Alta. 

The Cougars celebrate a third period equalizer from Paige Hubbard.

    The Dinos finished second with an 18-7-1-2 mark, while the Pronghorns placed last in the eight team conference and missed the post-season with a 9-16-1-2 record.

    The U of Alberta Pandas, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, finished first in Canada West with a 20-8 record after blanking the U of Manitoba Bisons 4-0 in Winnipeg, Man.

    The Bisons finished seventh in Canada West with a 10-17-1 record and will miss the post-season.

    The Pandas and Dinos both have byes past the first round of the Canada West playoffs.

    The Huskies will host their archrivals the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series, and Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Merlis. 

Sophie Lalor scored for the Huskies in the third period.

    The Thunderbirds finished sixth in Canada West with a 10-13-4-1 record.

    The Huskies and Thunderbirds have been frequent playoff foes and last met in the post-season in 2018, when the Huskies swept a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series 2-0 at the ancient Rutherford Rink. The end of the Huskies 2-1 series clinching victory in Game 2 included a huge scrum in front of the U of S net that nearly turned into a brawl.

    Haubrich admitted the ill will from past games with the Thunderbirds hasn’t been forgotten by her side.

    “I think we are just going to have to be mentally tough,” said Haubrich. “I think we are going to have to keep our head on our shoulders.

Morgan Willoughby scored for the Huskies in the third period.

    “We know what it is like to play them. Lots of us have been around long enough that we know what they are like. It is going to be a gong show.

    “There are going to be lots of penalties. We’re just going to have to keep our head on straight so that we can push through that adversity.”

    As for Saturday’s game against the Cougars, the star goaltenders took centre stage over the opening 20 minutes making a number of tough stops. Jessica Vance stopped 11 shots for the Huskies, while Jane Kish turned away nine shots for the Cougars.

    The Cougars jumped ahead 1-0, when left-winger Merissa Zerr netted a gritty in close power-play goal at the right side of the Huskies net at the 3:59 mark of the second. 

Jaycee Magwood recorded her 100th career U Sports regular season point.

    The host side protested that the whistle had blown on the scramble play, but the protests fell on deaf ears.

    In the third, the Huskies evened the score 1-1 at the 11:47 mark, when left-winger Sophie Lalor wired home a power-play goal with her team working on a two-person advantage. Lalor potted her goal from the right boards after receiving a great backdoor pass from Huskies star right-winger Bailee Bourassa.

    With 5:41 remaining in the third, Huskies fifth-year defender Morgan Willoughby fired home a post shot through a screen for her first goal of the campaign to put the host side up 2-1.

    Just when the Huskies appeared they would skate away with a victory, the Cougars tied the contest up at 2-2, when rookie right-winger Paige Hubbard netted her fifth goal of the season during a net scramble with 40.6 seconds remaining in the third. That tally forced the contest to go to overtime.

Jane Kish was stellar in goal for the Cougars.

    Hubbard and Zerr both picked up assists on each other’s goals in the contest. 
    Magwood, who is in her fifth and final year of eligibility, picked up assists on both U of R goals in regulation. That allowed her to surpass 100 points for her U Sports regular season career.

    In 130 career regular season games with the Cougars, Magwood has 48 goals and 53 assists for 101 points.

    The two sides weren’t able to break the deadlock after a five minute overtime period of four-on-four play and a five minute extra session of three-on-three play.
    During the extra sessions, the goalies on either side were knocked down once by opposing players.

    All that dramatics set the stage for Magwood to score the only goal in the tiebreaking shootout.

    “It felt like we were in the playoffs already,” said Haubrich. “You get that desperate feeling when you are in playoffs, and that is kind of how we felt tonight.

    “We were playing desperate hockey, and we were hungry. It is just tough it didn’t turn out for us.”

Huskies RW Abby Shirley, right, tries to escape tight checking.

    Vance stopped 26 shots in goal for the Huskies over 70 minutes of play and three out of four shooters in the shootout. Kish turned away 34 shots in goal for the Cougars and all four shooters she faced in the shootout.

    The Cougars were a perfect 4-0 this season in games that went to a tiebreaking shootout.

    With the win, the Cougars finish fifth in Canada West with a 14-13-1 record with 38 points in the standings. They will travel to Calgary, Alta., to face the Mount Royal University Cougars in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series with Game 1 of the series slated for Friday.

The Cougars celebrate their win on Saturday.

    Mount Royal finished fourth in Canada West with a 14-14 record with 40 points in the standings.
    In Canada West women’s hockey, teams receive three points for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time setbacks. Mount Royal earned 40 points on 12 regulation wins and two extra time victories.

    U of R earned 38 points on nine regulation wins, five extra time wins and one extra time setback.

Haubrich said Saturday’s loss left her side with a hollow feeling, but she expects her squad will refocus quickly.

    “Talking to lots of friends and family here, they are like, ‘You know what, it is over with, and you have a brand new season,’” said Haubrich. “It is fun and exciting.

    “In playoffs, you always feel like it is a brand new fresh start. I’m excited for us to get rolling. I think we have a lot to prove come playoffs, so I’m excited.”

Huskies thump Cougars, finish second in Canada West

Taran Kozun picked up his 41st career regular season win on Saturday.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team controlled what they could control, but first place in the Canada West Conference didn’t come their way.

    On Saturday playing before 543 spectators at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, won their 11th straight game romping over the host U of Regina Cougars 6-2 in a U Sports regular season clash. That win allowed the Huskies to finish the regular season with a 22-4-2 record to place second in the Canada West standings.

    In Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday, the host U of Alberta Golden Bears, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, dumped the U of Manitoba Bisons 5-2. The Golden Bears improved their winning streak to four straight games finishing the regular season with a 23-5 record, while the Bisons finished sixth in Canada West with a 9-15-2-2 record.

    Both the Huskies and Golden Bears had 46 points in the standings, but the Golden Bears took first place having won three out of four head-to-head encounters with the Huskies.

Against the Cougars on Saturday, the host side took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal from fourth-year centre Tristan Frei.

    The Huskies jumped ahead 3-1 in the second period with goals coming off the sticks of Layne Young, Kohl Bauml and Gordie Ballhorn.

    At the 4:05 mark of the third period, right-winger Connor Odelein scored for the Cougars to cut the Huskies lead to 3-2.

Levi Cable has played 174 consecutive games for the Huskies.

    The Huskies thwarted any thoughts of a comeback by the host side closing the contest with three straight goals coming from the sticks of Logan McVeigh, Carter Folk and Andrew Johnson.

    Young, who is a sophomore left-winger, had two assists to go with his goal. McVeigh had a helper to go with his tally.

    Fifth-year right winger Levi Cable had three assists to help pace the Huskies offence. Cable played in all 140 regular season games he could possibly appear in during his U Sports career.

    Currently, Cable is the Huskies current ironman appearing in 174 consecutive games between the regular season and post-season.

    Taran Kozun stopped 11 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Kozun picked his 41^st career regular season victory which moved him to sixth on the Huskies career regular season wins list.

    The Nipawin, Sask., product passed Ross McKay, who won 40 regular season games for the Huskies from 1984 to 1987.

    Dawson MacAuley turned away 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars. The Cougars finished seventh in the Canada West standings missing the playoffs with an 8-17-2-1 record.

    The Huskies and Golden Bears have byes past the first round of the Canada West playoffs.

    Both teams are slated to host best-of-three Canada West semifinal series expected to be slated for Feb. 21 to 23.

Huskies’ great George saluted at Merlis

Breanne George, centre, drops the ceremonial faceoff on Saturday.

    One of the all-time greats in the history of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team made her way back to Saskatoon to receive a much deserved salute.

    Former Huskies star forward Breanne George received her Canada West Hall of Fame plaque before Saturday’s U Sports regular season game between her former squad and the U of Regina Cougars. George received a rousing ovation from the 735 onlookers in attendance.

    The 30-year-old dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff between the two sides.

    The Cougars would claim the contest 3-2 after a tiebreaking shootout.

    In a crazy twist, George never actually played a regular season game for the Huskies at Merlis. She played her whole U Sports career during a time when the Huskies still called the ancient Rutherford Rink home.

Breanne George, centre, receives her Hall of Fame plaque.

    Huskies women’s and men’s hockey teams moved into Merlis Belsher Place before the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

    George was inducted as part of the inaugural class to the Canada West Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

    She played for the Huskies women’s team from 2007 to 2012 and is still the squad’s most prolific scorer. George holds the Huskies career records for most regular season goals (86) and points (149).

    Her 63 career regular season assists ranks third in Huskies team history.

    George holds the Huskies record for most goals in one regular season at 28 and points at 46. Those marks were achieved in the 2009-10 campaign.

    She topped the Canada West Conference in goals and points in the 2009-10 season and was named the Canada West MVP.
    The Saskatoon product was a first team Canada West all-star in 2010 and 2011 and a second team Canada West all-star in 2012. She was a first team U Sports all-Canadian in 2010 and 2011.
    George was the first member of the Huskies women’s hockey team to be named the MVP of the Canada West Conference and a U Sports all-Canadian.

    In 2011, George played for Canada’s women’s team at the FISU Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey. She had seven goals and 12 points in seven games helping Canada win gold.

Breanne George, left, visits some of her old teammates.

    George is currently a physiotherapist in Sherwood Park, Alta.

    Along with saluting George, the Huskies saluted their eight players who are in their fifth-years of eligibility and are set to graduate after this season in Leah Bohlken, Courtney Cormack, Shyan Elias, Brooklyn Haubrich, Rachel Lundberg, Emma Nutter, Elizabeth Salyn and Morgan Willoughby.

    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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