Veterans power Huskies to second Bronze Baby win

U Sports national women’s basketball title returns to U of S

Sabine Dukate hit eight three-pointers for the Huskies.

    The veterans ensured the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team would reach the ultimate U Sports high.

    On Sunday at TD Place in Ottawa, Ont., the Huskies road huge performances from fifth-year guard Sabine Dukate, fourth-year post Summer Masikewich and fourth-year guard Libby Epoch to post a convincing 82-64 victory over the Brock University Badgers in the title game of the U Sports elite-eight women’s basketball national championship tournament.

    The win marked the second time the Huskies captured the Bronze Baby as U Sports national champions with the first title coming in 2016 with an 85-71 victory over the Ryerson University Rams in Fredericton, N.B.

    Way back in 2016, Dukate was a rookie who made her presence known. The Latvian point-guard hit four shots from three-point range recording 22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the first U Sports national title victory over the Rams.

    On Sunday as a fifth-year veteran, Dukate had one of those amazing outings that you start to wonder how much the Huskies will miss her.

    She nailed 8-of-12 shots from three-point range and led the Huskies in scoring with 24 points. 

Summer Masikewich scored 20 points for the Huskies.

    Dukate also collected three rebounds, three assists and one steal to be named the tournament MVP and a tournament all-star.
    Dukate, guard Megan Ahlstrom and forward Vera Crooks all graduate from the Huskies program as U Sports national champions.

    Masikewich, who was a first-team all-Canadian all-star, posted 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal.

    Epoch was on the court for almost the entire game. She collected nine points, nine rebounds that were all defensive, seven assists and two steals in her contribution to the winning effort.

    Third-year guard Katriana Philipenko came off the bench to chip in 11 points to the Huskies cause.

    Forward Samantha Keltos topped the Badgers with 21 points.

    The Huskies once again got to this point under the guidance of head coach Lisa Thomaidis, who you could make a strong argument is the best coach in any sport in Canada. She is also the head coach of Canada’s senior national women’s basketball team.

Libby Epoch was dynamic for the Huskies.

    Under Thomaidis, the Huskies have always hit the court with a driven, hard working, fun and likeable group. The personalities of the Huskies players that have played for Thomaidis are so warm and welcoming that you can’t help but cheer for them.
    When the Huskies host the Canada West championship game, the team’s alums flock back to the Physical Activity Complex in big numbers like on Feb. 28, when the Huskies downed the University of Alberta Pandas 62-51 in the conference title game.

    This season, the Huskies posted a 30-2 overall record that includes an 18-2 mark in the regular season and a 6-0 record in the post-season.

    At the U Sports championship tournament, the Huskies downed the Carleton University Ravens 73-59 in a quarter-final contest on Thursday and thumped the Universite Laval Rouge et Or 76-57 in a semifinal on Saturday.

    The Huskies women’s basketball team under Thomaidis leadership has always been great ambassadors representing the U of S and Saskatoon as a city on the national stage. They are a treasure to be taken to heart.

    Once again, you have to love it when good people become national champions, and the Huskies deserve to stand on the U Sports mountaintop.

The Bronze Baby is coming back to the Bridge City.

The Huskies are @USPORTSca National Champions for the second time in school history!@HuskieAthletics 82, Brock 64#HuskiePride pic.twitter.com/j7tFX4rnr6

— Huskie Athletics (@HuskieAthletics) March 8, 2020

Bears, Stars to collide in first round of SFMAAAHL playoffs

Jessie Herner, left, and Brooklyn Anderson will mean business in playoffs.

    It seems like the Prince Albert Northern Bears and the Saskatoon Stars are destined to meet in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs.

    After the results came down from the final day of SFMAAAHL regular season play on Sunday, a Bears versus Stars match up in the post-season was cemented for the fourth time in six years.

    The clubs closed the regular season playing each other at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert on Sunday. The Stars were cemented into fifth place in the SFMAAAHL standings regardless of the outcome of that clash.

    The Bears had an opportunity to vault into third place with a regulation win, which would negate a match up with the Stars.

    In the SFMAAAHL, teams receive three points in the standings for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time setbacks.

    The Bears got an early first period goal from 16-year-old forward Paris Oleksyn to go ahead 1-0. For the longest time, it appeared Oleksyn’s tally would be the only goal of the contest.

    With 53.7 seconds remaining in the third period, 16-year-old defender Bridget Rezansoff netted the equalizer for the Stars to force a 1-1 tie.

    Knowing they needed a regulation win to finish higher in the standings, the Bears pulled their goalie for an extra attacker looking for the go-ahead marker. The 1-1 tie held up as the third period expired causing the game to go to overtime.

    With their goalie back between the piles for the extra session, the Bears scored in overtime to claim a 2-1 victory off a wraparound goal by captain Brooklyn Anderson.

The Bears have won four straight games.

    Dani Day made 22 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Bears, who will host the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament from April 19 to 25. Kaitlyn Cadrain turned away 34 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Stars.

    Prince Albert won all five head-to-head regular season meetings with Saskatoon.

    The win was the fourth straight for the Bears, who finished the regular season with a 15-13-2 record. They had an identical record with the Notre Dame Hounds, but the Hounds took third place having won all five head-to-head regular season meetings with the Bears.

    The Stars finished with a 12-14-4 regular season record. Saskatoon has won the last two straight SFMAAAHL title, but Stars roster and coaching staff underwent a massive turnover at the end of last season.

    Unlike past years when SFMAAAHL playoff series were contested in best-of-five formats, all SFMAAAHL post-season series will be contested in best-of-three formats starting this season.

    The Bears will have home ice advantage for a best-of-three SFMAAAHL quarter-final series against the Stars. The dates and times of those games are still to be announced.

CBC Sports vows commitment to gender balanced coverage

    CBC Sports likely raised an eyebrow or two over the weekend.

    In an online story released on the CBC Sports website on Friday, the network said it was committing to gender balanced coverage across all its platforms. The hope of the network is to give more exposure to women’s sports, which are extremely under-covered in Canada.

    In 2016, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity released a study regarding the connection between women and sport in Canada. A couple of facts revolved around media coverage.

    An analysis was done on Canada’s primary national sports networks in English and French in 2014. The study said only four per cent of the coverage on those networks was dedicated to women’s sports and over half of that number was dedicated to coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

    A study was done on the Saturday sports section front page in two of Canada’s highest circulated national newspapers from June 2008 to May 2010 and June 2013 to May 2015. Over those time frames, 5.1 per cent of the coverage was dedicated to women’s sports.

    Of course, that study only considered a small sampling size of the print industry.

    It can be argued since that time the coverage of women’s sports in Canada has decreased thanks to massive cuts in the mainstream media, which has often targeted sports departments. Sports coverage seems to get more and more focused on just the NHL, which causes everything else in the sports scene to be out of luck.

    What CBC is trying to do isn’t unheard of. Way back when I covered sports for the University of Regina student newspaper, the Carillon, in the late 1990s and a short time into 2000, that outlet followed a policy of dedicating the same amount articles and space to men’s and women’s sports.

    If I remember correctly, that was tried in a number of university student media outlets.

    In Regina, the University of Regina Cougars women’s basketball team rose to new heights of popularity due the massive amounts of coverage they received from all media outlets in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Cougars won the U Sports national title in 2000-01.

    CBC’s venture is a noble one, and it is highly unlikely the rest of Canada’s mainstream media outlets will follow that venture. Some in those outlets will likely note CBC didn’t talk specifics of how it will reach this idealistic hope.

    With Sunday having been International Women’s Day, here is hoping CBC’s initiative finds traction and creates change for the better. The announcement story from CBC Sports 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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Stars, Bears off to start SFMAAAHL finals at the Ruthy

The Stars and Bears are set to battle in the SFMAAAHL finals.

    If the Saskatoon Stars and Prince Albert Northern Bears are lucky (or unlucky), they might get to experience an infamous Rutherford Rink “rust break.”

    On Friday at 8:30 p.m., the Stars and Bears will open their best-of-five Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series at the ancient Rutherford Rink on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan. It is believe this will be the last competitive playoff hockey encounter at the 88-year-old home of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies hockey teams, which will be replaced by the new twin pad rink complex being constructed on campus named Merlis Belsher Place.

    During Huskies games, it is common for rust from the ceiling beams to fall on the ice, if a puck hits the roof. The cleanup of the rust on the ice creates a “rust break.”

    The Stars actually experienced a “rust break” in their current home the Agriplace Arena back on March 11, 2017, when they defeated the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats 4-0 to sweep a best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series 3-0.

Abby Soyko topped the Bears in scoring with 38 points.

    When this year’s SFMAAAHL championship series starts, the Stars and Bears might experience this stoppage that has become infamous with the Ruthy.

    As for the series itself, the Stars and Bears are battling in the SFMAAAHL title series for the right to claim the Fedoruk Cup for the second straight year and the third time in four years. The Stars swept the Bears 3-0 to take the title series in 2015, while the Bears turned the tables and swept the Stars 3-0 in last year’s championship set.

    During the regular season, the Stars won three of the four head-to-head encounters between the two clubs. The Bears claimed the final meeting 2-1 coming back on Dec. 20, 2017 at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    The Stars finished first overall in the SFMAAAHL regular season with a 24-3-1 mark, while the Bears were second overall with a 22-5-1 record.

    Stars captain Mackenna Parker topped the SFMAAAHL in scoring with 33 goals and 27 assists in 23 regular season games. She equaled the Stars team record for most points scored in one regular season at 60 first set by Emily Clark, who is a member of Canada’s senior national team, in the 2011-12 campaign.

Mackenna Parker led the Stars in scoring with 60 points.

    Stars forward Anna Leschyshyn finished second in SFMAAAHL scoring with 24 goals and 29 assists appearing in all 28 regular season games. Skilled centre Grace Shirley was fourth in SFMAAAHL scoring recording 30 goals and 18 assists in 23 regular season games with the Stars.

    Winger Joelle Fiala piled up 18 goals and 22 assists to finish seventh in league scoring appearing in all 28 regular season games for the Stars.

    Sophomore 15-year-old defender Ashley Messier was the Stars power-play quarterback leading all the team’s rearguards in scoring with three goals and 23 assists.

    Jordan Ivanco is the odds on favourite probable starter in goal for the Stars posting a 12-1-1 record, a 1.76 goals against average, a .917 save percentage and one shutout in 14 regular season appearances.

    For the defending SFMAAAHL champion Bears, forward Abby Soyko topped the team in scoring recording 21 goals and 17 assists appearing in all of her team’s 28 regular season games to sit eighth overall in the league.

The Stars and Bears have good respect for each other.

    Jasper Desmarais was second in Bears team scoring with 10 goals and 16 assists. Camryn Amundson and Kate Ball each recorded 25 points this season to sit right behind Desmarais.

Amundson recorded 11 goals and 14 assists, while Ball had seven goals and 18 assists.

    On the back end, physical defender Jordan Ashe keeps improving as an all-around player and led all Bears rearguards in scoring with seven goals and 13 assists. She also topped the team with 42 penalty minutes.

    Captain Hannah Koroll was second in scoring among all Bears defenders recording three goals and 14 assists in 26 regular season games.

    Ryan Fontaine is the probable starter in the Bears goal posting a 13-3 record, a 1.70 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and three shutouts in 17 regular season appearances.

    Game 2 of the series is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. Game 3 will be on Tuesday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

    If necessary, Game 4 will be held on Saturday, March 31 at the Art Hauser Centre, and Game 5 will be on Sunday, April 1 at 7 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

Huskies’ Masikewich named to Commonwealth Games team

Summer Masikewich (#11) is Commonwealth Games bound.

    Summer Masikewich is receiving a welcome extension to her basketball season.

    On Tuesday, the star forward with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team was named to the roster of Canada’s women’s team that will play at the Commonwealth Games, which will run April 4-15 in Gold Coast, Australia. The 19-year-old Calgary, Alta., product completed her second season with the Huskies finishing second in team scoring averaging 16.1 points per game, and she topped the Huskies averaging 6.9 rebounds per game.

    Masikewich, who stands 6-foot-2, helped the Huskies finish second overall in the Canada West Conference with a 17-3 record during the regular season. She was key in helping the Huskies make the Canada West title game on March 2 in Regina, which they fell 75-55 to the host University of Regina Cougars.

    At the U Sports nationals elite eight tournament in Regina, Masikewich aided the Huskies run to the title game on March 11, where they dropped a 69-48 decision to the Carleton University Ravens.

    On the international stage, Masikewich was a member of Canada’s Junior Women’s National team in 2016 and 2017.

Back in the Express with feature on Rush coach

Rush HC and GM Derek Keenan speaks at a rally in 2017.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature story on Saskatchewan Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan.

    Keenan is the all-time leader in career head coaching victories in the history of the National Lacrosse League, and he is basically the circuit’s Scotty Bowman.

    The bench boss is pretty personable, and the 56-year-old showed his sense of humour when he was asked to reflect on his wins record.

    “I’m old,” said Keenan with a laugh. “I’ve been doing it a long time.”

    Keenan has the Rush leading the entire NLL at the moment with an 11-2 record. Local area fans will be pumped to know the Rush play four of their final five regular season games at home. That final stretch of games begins on Saturday when the Rush host the Rochester Knighthawks (6-7) at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    I found my one-on-one interview with Keenan to be real enjoyable, and I came away thinking the Rush were lucky to have him as their head coach and general manager.

    The story on Keenan can be found 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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    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.

Huskies women’s hoopsters are set for a bright future

The Huskies pose for a team photo with their U Sports national silver medals.

    You almost forget how young the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team actually is, because they play so well.

    On Sunday, the Huskies appeared in the championship game at the U Sports national championship tournament in Regina falling 69-48 to the top seeded Carleton University Ravens. The Ravens had a 29-0 record between the regular season and playoffs and a 38-2 overall record for the 2017-18 campaign when exhibition matches were added in.

    It was obvious the Huskies fell to a formidable foe.

    The Huskies had a successful season posting a 25-7 overall record. They finished second overall in the Canada West regular season registering a 17-3 mark.

Summer Masikewich (#11) has become a star post for the Huskies.

    In the Canada West playoffs, they won two elimination contests and made it to the conference championship game falling to the host University of Regina Cougars 75-55 on March 2.

    At the U Sports championship tournament, the Huskies turned the tables on the Cougars prevailing in a semifinal encounter 74-71 on Saturday.

    There shouldn’t be any disappointments for the Huskies this season. It is obvious to point out that if you reverse the results of just two games - the Canada West Conference title game and the U Sports national championship game - the Huskies would be feeling over the moon about the 2017-18 campaign.

    When you step back and look at the big picture, it is amazing to see what the Huskies accomplished this season.

    Back in 2016, the Huskies won the title game at the U Sports national championship tournament held in Fredericton, N.B., over the Ryerson University Rams by a score of 85-71. Following that game, the Huskies graduated fourth players in their fifth-years of eligibility in Laura Dally, Dalyce Emmerson, Kelsey Trulsrud and Taya Keujer.

Guard Sabine Dukate has piled up the points for the Huskies.

    Dally and Emmerson go down as two of the greatest to ever play for the Huskies.

    Fourth-year guard Desarae Hogberg also left the team to focus on life after basketball following that U Sports title win. All five of those players provided the heart of the Huskies team that also claimed the Canada West title in 2015-16.

    It was expected the Huskies would go through a reloading stage and have a drop off.

    In the two seasons since that national title win, the Huskies won a Canada West title in 2017, appeared in the conference final this past season, and made two trips to nationals winning a silver medal on Sunday.

    The Huskies have made 10 trips to nationals over the last 11 years. Their status as a powerhouse is cemented.

Point guard Libby Epoch, right, has become the Huskies floor general.

    They graduated fifth-year veterans in guard Madeline Humbert and forward Megan Lindquist but are loaded with stars who were in their first and second years of eligibility.

    Two of those stars played with significant injuries at nationals in Regina. Third-year shooting guard Sabine Dukate, who is the only remaining starter from the 2016 U Sports national championship winning team, will need shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum, but she was still a threat to score at all times.

    In the semifinal win over the Cougars, she hit 5-of-11 shots from three-point range to lead the Huskies with 20 points.

    Sophomore point guard Libby Epoch, who stands 5-foot-7, was hampered by a bad ankle, but she still played 114 out of the 120 minutes of total court time the Huskies saw at nationals. She had eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in the loss to the Ravens.

Guard Megan Ahlstrom has been key at both ends of the floor.

    When you talk to Epoch, you wouldn’t have guessed she is just 19-years-old, because she speaks and acts with a maturity well beyond her years. The Moose Jaw, Sask., product, who has been a member of Canada’s national team system, has already become one of the key public faces in representing the entire Huskie Athletics program. She is the person you want representing your entire athletics program.

    Sophomore post Summer Masikewich, who has also been part of Canada’s national team program, has done a remarkable job is being a star successor to Emmerson.
    Third-year guard Megan Ahlstrom has been a sound contributor at both ends of the floor.

    Sophomore guard Kelsey Lalor has a bunch of untapped potential and rookie forward Kyla Shand improved drastically as the campaign progressed joining the Huskies from Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School.

Guard Kelsey Lalor will play a bigger role for the Huskies in the future.

    The Huskies played well beyond their years thank to the work of their coaching staff led by head coach Lisa Thomaidis, who is one of the best you will find in any sport in Canada.

    The only time youth caught up to the Huskies was against the Ravens. Leading 25-24 at halftime, the Huskies struggled in the second half rushing shots when the composed Ravens were pulling away.

    The Ravens started three fifth-year and two fourth-year players and substituted in another fifth-year player from the bench. Those six veterans accounted for 50 of the Ravens 69 points, and they stayed steady when the waves were rough in the early going for their team.

    With that said, the Huskies are still playing in conference and national championship games as a young team.

The Huskies are poised to be a U Sports powerhouse for some time to come.

    You know their players are going to put in the work to be that much better in the off-season, and Thomaidis and her staff have to be excited to see what everyone will look like when they all return to school in late August.

    That alone has to get you excited for the upcoming season.

    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.

Huskies women’s hoopsters aim for more post-season glory

Head coach Lisa Thomaidis, left, and her Huskies continue to impress.

    It has become a special late February to the middle of March tradition in the sports scene of Saskatoon.

    Guided by head coach Lisa Thomaidis, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team is winning games in the post-season, and they will make a serious push for a Canada West Conference title and a U Sports national title. It seems like every generation that plays for the Huskies is hard working, talented and extremely likable.

    Fans can take the current generation of players to heart like group that won the program’s first U Sports national title in the 2015-16 campaign headed by fifth-years Laura Dally, Dalyce Emmerson, Kelsey Trulsrud and Taja Keujer. The same goes for the generations of players that came before the national title win under Thomaidis’s watch.

    Last year, the Huskies were supposed to take a step back due to having a younger squad with the turnover of the fifth-years that powered the team’s first national championship win. After posting a 15-5 record in the regular season in 2016-17, the Huskies won a second straight Canada West title, which wasn’t expected by most observers outside of the program.

    This season, the Huskies 17-3 regular season record was good enough to ensure the team was the seeded second in the Canada West playoffs. The Huskies are also rated seventh in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    In a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen held at U of S’s Physical Activity Complex, the Huskies took Game 1 last Thursday 76-58 but were given a slight scare after the Wesmen took Game 2 a day later 93-85.

Guard Sabine Dukate (#5) can do it all for the Huskies.

    In a series deciding Game 3 last Saturday, the Huskies showed the scare was minimal. They jumped out to a 28-14 lead after the first quarter and stormed to a 52-29 edge by halftime. The Huskies cruised to a 97-64 victory.

    Third-year guard Sabine Dukate, who is the only remaining starter from the national championship team, hit 6-of-11 shots from three-point range to lead the Huskies with 21 points. Star sophomore post Summer Masikewich added 17 points to aid the host side.

    Third-year guard Megan Ahlstrom and fifth-year forward Megan Lindquist chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively. Standout sophomore point guard Libby Epoch dished out eight assists to round out a strong night from the starting five.

    Third-year guard Maya Olynyk came off the bench to pitch in 12 points for the Huskies. Rookie post Kyla Shand and sophomore guard Kelsey Lalor added eight and seven points respectively play reserve roles as well for the host side.

    Teams that go far in the post-season usually get key contributions from everyone at different times, and the Huskies seemed to get contributions from everyone they dressed to prevail by a convincing margin in an elimination game.

    It is believed the win was the 400^th overall victory for Thomaidis as head coach of the Huskies in matches against U Sports opponents. The Huskies have won five Canada West titles with Thomaidis as head coach.

    In players like Dukate, Epoch, Masikewich, Lalor, Ahlstrom and Shand, the Huskies have a core that is going to be good for two to three more seasons.

Kelsey Lalor (#12) is one of the many stellar young players on the Huskies.

    While the Huskies core is young, the future is now for this team as well.

    Their next task is to get past the Trinity Western University Spartans in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series. The Spartans will provide a big test finishing the regular season with a 16-4 record, and they are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    Game 1 of that series is set for this coming Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Physical Activity Complex on the U of S campus. The Huskies and Spartans split their two regular season meetings.

    If the Huskies win that series, they will advance to the Canada West title game for a fifth straight year and earn a berth at U Sports nationals for a fifth straight year.

    Odds are high that the Huskies will add to what is becoming a storied playoff legacy.

Playoff opponents set for Huskies hockey teams

The Dinos and Huskies men’s hockey teams will meet in the playoffs.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies hockey teams found out who their respective playoff foes will be over the weekend.

    Both Huskies squads earned byes to host best-of-three Canada West semifinal series thanks to respective second place finishes in the conference standings.

    On the men’s side, the Huskies, who were 20-7-1 in the regular season, will take on the U of Calgary Dinos, who had a 12-13-3 regular season record to finish fifth in Canada West. The Dinos forfeited their first six games in October due to using an ineligible player, which they self-disclosed as an error on their part.

    The Huskies took three out of the four head-to-head meetings with the Dinos, and none of those results came via forfeit.

    Game 1 of the series between the Huskies and Dinos is set for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink. Game 2 will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Rutherford, and if necessary, Game 3 is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Rutherford.

The T-birds and Huskies women’s hockey team will meet in the playoffs.

    The Huskies women’s hockey team will battle the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series in what should be a heated rivalry type encounter. This will mark the third time in the last five years the Huskies and Thunderbirds have met in the post-season.

    The Huskies posted a 19-7-2 record for 58 points in the standings to sit second in Canada West, while the Thunderbirds recorded a 19-5-4 record for 56 points in the standings to sit third in Canada West.

    In the Canada West women’s hockey standings, teams earn three points for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time losses. The Huskies earned their 58 points on 18 regulation wins, one extra time win and two extra time losses. The Thunderbirds earned their 56 points on 14 regulation wins, five extra time wins and four extra time setbacks.

    Game 1 between the Huskies and Thunderbirds is set for 1:30 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink. Game 2 is slated for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Rutherford, and if necessary, Game 3 will be held on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Rutherford.

    The winners of the Canada West semifinals will advance to their respective best-of-three Canada West Conference championship series and earn berths in their respective U Sports national champion tournaments.

Kustra delivers OT win in Edmonton to Blades

Jake Kustra had the overtime winner for the Blades on Monday night.

    Jake Kustra ensured his Saskatoon Blades concluded their four-game road trip on a winning note and with a winning record.

    On Monday night in Edmonton, the 18-year-old defenceman scored at the 1:37 mark of overtime on a beauty setup pass by overage winger Braylon Shmyr to lift the Blades to a 3-2 victory over the host Oil Kings in a WHL regular season match before 9,913 spectators at Rogers Place. The tally was Kustra’s fourth goal and second game-winner of the season.

    Shmyr scored late in the third period and centre Chase Wouters tallied at the 7:20 mark of the third to give the Blades a 2-0 lead.

    The Oil Kings received singles from Kobe Mohr at the 11:58 mark of the third and Trey Fix-Wolansky at the 16:44 mark of the third to force a 2-2 tie and send the contest to overtime. That set the stage for Kustra to come through with his heroics.

    Nolan Maier turned away 13 shots to pick up his 22^nd win of the season in goal for the Blades.

    Todd Scott turned away 18-of-20 shots starting in goal for the Oil Kings. He was forced to leave the game after being injured trying to stop Wouters’ goal. Josh Dechaine turned away two-of-three shots in relief for the Oil Kings, who saw their record move to 18-33-6-2.

    The Blades won three out of the four games on their road trip. They improved to 31-27-2-1 to hold the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with an eight-point edge over the Prince Albert Raiders (23-25-9-2). The Raiders have two games in hand on the Blades.

    Saskatoon is two points behind the Brandon Wheat Kings (31-23-3-2) for the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. The Wheat Kings have two games in hand on the Blades.

    The Blades have 11 games remaining on their regular season schedule, and they will play seven of those games at home. They return to action taking on the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre on Friday.

    A fundraising effort is underway to have Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk sing the national anthem before that encounter with the Pats. Funds being raised will be donated to the Saskatchewan Red Cross to support Pink Day, which is set for February 28, and the anti-bullying initiatives backed by that program. Anyone looking to support that cause can do so by clicking 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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Huskies start running with next generation

Summer Masikewich is one of the Huskies bright young players.

    Lisa Thomaidis can already see the light at the end of the tunnel for her young team.

    The veteran head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team knows her squad this season is much different than the one that claimed a U Sports national title in March. Last season, the Huskies hit the court with a veteran roster that included four key players in their fifth and final years of eligibility in Dalyce Emmerson, Laura Dally, Kelsey Trulsrud and Taya Keujer.

    This season, the Huskies take the court with a roster that contains six players in their first years of eligibility. On Friday at the Physical Activity Complex, they dropped their regular season home opener 66-63 to the University of Winnipeg Wesmen, who have three players in their fifth year of eligibility, two players in their fourth year of eligibility and no rookies.

    The Huskies were scrappy, and you got a glimpse of their potential, but the Wesmen’s experience showed through.

    In defeat, Thomaidis found a number positives to build on against a foe that likes to press on defence and pointed out her side isn’t too far off from being really good again.

Libby Epoch is turning heads as a rookie.

    “I didn’t think we did a terrible job handling their pressure,” said Thomaidis. “I thought we did a good job with that.

    “It was just a matter finishing. We had a number of open looks that we couldn’t knock down. We missed a number of free throws.

    “We had our opportunities. The game was right there in hand.”

    If the Huskies had shot just a little better of a percentage from the free-throw line, they would won Friday’s encounter with the Wesmen. U of S went 20-of-32 from the charity stripe, and that small detail played a big factor in the end result.

    During the setback, the Huskies, who fell to 1-2, still received strong outings from a number of players. Third-year guard Sascha Lichtenwald led the Dogs with 17 points and came up with three steals.

    Rookies Summer Masikewich and Libby Epoch, who both played for Canada’s under-18 women’s basketball team, showed they are ready for the university level chipping in 14 and 12 points respectively. They looked like they were just scratching the surface of their potential.

    Second-year point guard Sabine Dukate was playing her first game after returning from injury, and she did show some rust. Dukate, who is from Latvia, was a standout last season, and you can expect it won’t take her long to return to top form.

    Fourth-year guard Antoinette Miller led the way for the Wesmen, who improved to 3-0, with 26 points and seven rebounds.

Sascha Lichtenwald topped the Huskies with 17 points on Friday.

    “She (Miller) was great tonight,” said Thomaidis. “She made a lot happen for them.

    “She scored a lot at the rim. She got high percentage shots. We need to do a better job of taking care of her.”

    Overall, Thomaidis knew her team would experience some bumps.

    “It was kind of what I expected,” she said. “Having said that, the game was right there for the taking. We weren’t able to finish it off.

    “Hopefully, we have a better effort tomorrow and better efficiency in terms of finishing around the hoop.”

    The Huskies and Wesmen go at it again at 6:15 p.m. at the Physical Activity Complex.

Forbes back in the fold

Matt Forbes nails a three for the Huskies.

    Welcome back Matt Forbes.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball team missed you.

    In Friday’s 76-68 regular season win over the U of Winnipeg Wesmen at the PAC, Forbes showed how important an experienced big man can be. He didn’t led the way statistically but had sound numbers scoring 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. With Forbes on the court, the Huskies seemed to be a little more settled in their overall team game improving to 2-1.

    Originally, Forbes was supposed to play out his fifth year of eligibility last season, but he was sidelined for the whole campaign after suffering a foot injury in the Huskies first pre-season game. Without Forbes, the Huskies posted an 8-12 regular season record and missed the playoffs.

    In 2014-15 with Forbes in the lineup, the Huskies finished with a 15-5 regular season record, made it to the Canada West championship game falling to U of Victoria Vikes 70-67 and made an appearance at nationals.

    While Forbes often faces forwards who are bigger than his 6-foot-6 and 235-pound frame, he wins the physical battle inside on a regular basis. Unlike most big men, Forbes can also stretch the defence due to his ability to hit the three-point shot. He nailed two baskets from beyond the arch on Friday.

    Forbes’s presence on the floor helps take pressure off the rest of his teammates and allows them to take advantage of more favourable one-on-one match ups.

Matt Forbes (#13) organizes a post-game huddle for the Huskies.

    Against the Wesmen, sophomore guard Chan De Ciman led the way with 21 points. Fourth-year forward Shane Osayande netted 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while point guard Alex Unruh chipped in 14 points.

    Rookie guard Narcisse Ambanza led the Wesmen with 23 points as they dropped to 2-1.

The Huskies and Wesmen face each other again at 8 p.m. at the PAC.

    With Forbes back in the fold, the Huskies chances of winning on any single night got a whole lot better.

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