Martin comes up clutch for Rebels

Career WHL backup goalie becomes playoff star in Red Deer

Goalie Trevor Martin celebrates a win with his Rebels teammates.

    RED DEER, Alta. - Not that long ago, the idea that Trevor Martin would be a money goaltender in the WHL playoffs was unthinkable.

    At best, it seemed like he would hold a career backup role in the major junior ranks. Entering this season, Martin has played in 20 career regular season games all coming in his 18-year-old campaign with the Saskatoon Blades and Red Deer Rebels.

    Back on Jan. 5, 2015, the Blades traded Martin to the Rebels in exchange for defenceman Kolton Dixon. In 19 appearances with the Blades, Martin posted a 3-10-2 record, a 4.16 goals against average and a .886 save percentage. Anyone familiar with major junior hockey knows those type of numbers usually don’t help a goaltender last long at that level of play, especially when the individual is slated to be a 19-year-old sophomore.

    Fast forward to Sunday night in Red Deer, Martin came through with a huge 35-save performance to back the Rebels to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Regina Pats before 4,802 spectators at the Enmax Centrium in Game 2 of a second round playoff series. The win allowed the Rebels to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 3 in Regina on Tuesday night.

    The only tally Martin could have been faulted on came on Regina’s third goal. With the Rebels trying to kill off a Pats power play, Martin fumbled a point shot from Pats defenceman Connor Hobbs, and WHL scoring champ Adam Brooks potted home the rebound with 0.3 seconds to play in the second period.

Trevor Martin makes a shoulder save on Cole Sanford.

    Brooks’ goal forced a 3-3 tie, but Martin made a number of key stops on odd man rushes to allow the Rebels to win the game.

    “He (Martin) was solid,” said Rebels head coach, general manager and owner Brent Sutter. “In the third period, he just shut the door.

    “He made some big saves in the third as he did throughout the whole night. You need that. You have to have goaltending at this time of year.

    “You have to have good goaltending. There is a lot of parity in this league. You get to this stage teams are good hockey teams, and you are going to need saves from your goalies.”

    Martin was the Rebels backup until a lower body injury knocked 19-year-old starter Rylan Toth out of the line-up back in the middle of February. Toth was in a walking boot just before the playoffs started. With Toth out for an extended time, Martin became the man for the Rebels, and he has made the best of his opportunity.

    In the regular season, he posted an 18-8-2 record, a 2.63 goals against average and a .911 save percentage in 38 appearances. The Ardrossan, Alta., product has been even better in his seven post-season starts posting a 6-1 record, a 2.29 goals against average, a .924 save percentage and one shutout - the first in his WHL career.

    Martin played a key part in the Rebels 3-2 victory over the Pats in Game 1 of their series on Saturday. He made 20 saves to pick up that win, and almost half of the stops were high quality. Red Deer’s defenceman made a number of giveaways in that contest, which resulted in Martin making a number of bailout saves.

Trevor Martin holds the fort during a net scramble.

    In Game 2, Martin was still making bailout and game changing stops. Early in the second, he turned away Pats left-winger Austin Wagner with a kick save on a breakaway chance. Martin late stoned Pats star sniper Cole Sanford from in close later on in the frame with a shoulder stop.

    During the third period, Martin was key in helping the Rebels kill off a double minor penalty assessed to star defenceman Haydn Fleury for high-sticking. Martin also made a robbery stop on Pats standout Sam Steel and denied Brooks in the final seconds of the frame to preserve the Rebels fifth consecutive win in the post-season.

    Rebels 18-year-old defenceman Josh Mahura gave Martin huge credit for the success the team has had.

    “When (Rylan) Toth came out there, he (Martin) stepped in and has been unbelievable for us,” said Mahura. “He is a backbone obviously in the net there. He has been playing unbelievable this playoffs.”

    When Toth went down, one had to wonder what the Rebels fate would be in the post-season and what their chances would be as hosts of the Memorial Cup tournament in May.

Trevor Martin makes a sprawling kick save on Riley Woods.

    Martin has become that clutch goalie every team needs to have success in the playoffs. When a netminder comes through with bailout saves like Martin has, it energizes a team.

    With Toth nearing a possible return to the Red Deer line-up, Sutter has told the Red Deer media that Martin will remain the team’s starter for the foreseeable future. At the moment, Martin has the Rebels two wins away from their first WHL Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2004.

    In Sunday’s clash, the Rebels went ahead 4-3 at the 11:18 mark of the third, when Adam Musil deflected home a point shot from Mahura. Mahura, Michael Spacek and Adam Helewka all netted singles for the Rebels, who were 2-for-4 with the power play.

    The Pats netted all their goals with the man advantage going 3-for-6 on the power play. Steel and Sanford had the other power-play markers for Regina. Tyler Brown made 28 stops to take the loss in goal for the Pats.

Trevor Martin makes a glove save in the Rebels goal.

    In Martin, the Rebels found their clutch playoff goaltender in an unexpected way. He has become one of the most uplifting individual stories in the league. When the dust settles, Martin might be the piece that allows the Rebels to go all the way in possibly winning both a league title and the franchise’s second Memorial Cup championship.

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

Rebels rally past Pats

Nelson Nogier (#6) and goalie Trevor Martin protect the Red Deer net.

    RED DEER, Alta. - It wasn’t a textbook victory by any stretch for the Red Deer Rebels, but when it comes to the WHL playoffs, all that matters is finding a way win.

    On Saturday night at the Enmax Centrium, the Rebels stumbled out of the gate falling behind 2-0 on a pair of power-play goals scored by the visiting Regina Pats. The Rebels netted a pair of power-play goals of their own in the second to tie things up at 2-2 and bring to life the crowd of 5,845 spectators.

    In the third, Evan Polei roofed home the winner at the 7:51 mark to give the Rebels a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of a best-of-seven second round playoff series with the Pats.

    “It was a game of speciality teams probably on the positive and negative side,” said Rebels head coach, general manager and owner Brent Sutter. “There were too many penalties.

    “We took some bad penalties in the first period that put us down. We took a couple of penalties 200 feet from out net. They capitalized on two power plays, and then our penalty killing was good after.

Cole Sanford had a big power-play goal for the Pats.

    “We got a break there in the second, where they took two minors in one shift, and we capitalized on both of those. It seemed to give us some momentum and got us thinking the right way and we started skating and getting a feel for the game.”

    Red Deer committed four minor infractions in the opening 20 minutes, which helped tilt the ice in favour of the Pats. At the 2:14 mark, Pats overage defenceman Colby Williams slipped home a point shot on a power play to give Regina a 1-0 lead.

    The Pats proceeded to go up 2-0 on their second power-play chance, when Sam Steel and Adam Brooks worked the puck over to skilled sniper Cole Sanford, who made no mistake burying his fourth of the post-season into an open cage.

    The Rebels defencemen also committed a handful of bad giveaways in the first and missed a few big hit attempts, which allowed Regina to have a couple of extra odd-man rushes. The Pats held a 10-4 edge in shots going into the first intermission.

    Red Deer started carrying the play more in the second and caught a break at the 12:04 mark, when Pats left-winger Robbie Holmes and Williams were both sent off for hooking and slashing minors respectively at the same time.

    On the ensuing two-man advantage, the puck slid over to Rebels left-winger Adam Helewka at the right side of the Regina goal during a net scramble situation. Helewka lifted home a shot over fallen Pats goaltender Tyler Brown to cut Regina’s lead to 2-1.

Colton Bobyk had a goal and an assist to power the Rebels comeback.

    Just 28 seconds later, Rebels defenceman Colton Bobyk fired home a shot from the point for another power-play goal to pull Red Deer even with Regina at 2-2.

    Sutter said the Rebels focused on coming out with more intensity in the second period.

    “I just think the emotion level had to pick up,” said Sutter. “I think that we were playing on our heels, and that is not taking anything away from Regina, because I thought they had a heck of a first period.

    “I thought we needed to get ourselves into the game.”

    In the third, the Rebels netted the winning goal, when Bobyk fed the puck down the right wing to Polei putting him in the clear. Polei drove to the net and fired home a shot to the top right corner of the Regina goal.

    “It was a good play by (Colton) Bobyk giving me the puck there, and I got an opportunity and it was nice to capitalize,” said Polei. “I was thinking about cutting to the middle and putting it low blocker.

    “Then I decided he was going to be cheating that way, so I just had a quick shot and put it upstairs.”

    The Rebels, who host the Memorial Cup in May, still had to kill off a couple of late minor penalties in the third, which resulted in Regina having a two-man advantage for 48 seconds. The penalty killing trio of Adam Musil, Grayson Pawlenchuk and Nelson Nogier did a great job collapsing down low around the goal to keep the Pats at bay and preserve the win.

Evan Polei (#10) fires home the winning goal for the Rebels.

    Red Deer still made some big giveaways after going ahead on the scoreboard, but the Pats could turn those chances into an equalizing tally.

    Trevor Martin made 20 saves to earn the win in goal for the Rebels. Brown turned away 28 shots to take the loss in the Regina net.

    As the series moves forward, Polei said his side can’t continue to play from behind like in Saturday’s series opener.

    “We definitely need to start better to beat this team in the upcoming games for sure,” said Polei. “They (the Pats) are a great hockey team. They play hard and physical every game every night.

    “We need to be on the ball for the start of the game.”

    Game 2 of the series is set for Sunday at 5 p.m. Red Deer time at the Enmax Centrium.

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

Hurricanes were WHL's feel good story

Lethbridge might have more bright days ahead

The Hurricanes celebrate scoring a goal in Medicine Hat.

    In some ways, it felt like the Lethbridge Hurricanes playoff exit was too soon.

    Having missed the WHL post-season for the six previous years, a first round playoff series loss in five games to the Regina Pats would have seemed like a huge step forward for the Hurricanes at the start of the 2015-16 campaign. It still was considering a couple of years ago at this time it seemed like there was a death watch surrounding this team after it posted a 12-55-2-3 record in 2013-14.

    Things were so bad at times during the playoff drought that the Hurricanes were having trouble securing a radio broadcast deal at one point, which is highly unusual for a WHL franchise. There were also times the Hurricanes existence in Lethbridge was also called into question.

    Before the 2014-15 campaign started, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel, when the Hurricanes hired Peter Anholt as the club’s assistant general manager. Those that were familiar with the league over an extended period of time knew that would be an inspired move. If the Hurricanes went the next step and gave Anholt the keys to drive the car, the move would be even more inspired, because Anholt was a smart hockey man with the ability to build confidence in those that had been trampled on.

    About half way through the 2014-15 season, the Hurricanes board of directors did just that naming the veteran bench boss as the team’s head coach and general manager. The Hurricanes still finished second last in the league with a 20-44-5-3 mark, but they were no longer pushovers to play against under Anholt’s guidance.

Peter Anholt, left, played a big role helping revive the Hurricanes.

    Anholt used his time behind the bench to gain a better grasp of what he was dealing with. During the 2015 off-season, he set to work to help the Hurricanes take another step upwards. Deciding concentrate on the role of general manager, Anholt made a brilliant decision to hire Brent Kisio as head coach.

    Kisio, who was 32-years-old when he joined the Hurricanes, had spent eight seasons with the Calgary Hitmen mainly as an assistant coach and finished his tenure in Calgary as an associate coach and assistant general manager. Kisio was more than ready to run his own team as a head coach.

    Under Anholt, the Hurricanes proceeded to put together a roster that no one expected would create a dream season. The ‘Canes shot out of the gate and finished first in the WHL’s Central Division for the first time in 19 seasons with a 46-24-1-1 record. They also had spurts where they sat first in the entire WHL.

    With Kisio calling the shots behind the bench, the Hurricanes played with sound structure and were exciting offensively. The 304 total goals they scored in the regular season were second most in the league.

Cory Millette had 34 goals this season for the Hurricanes.

    Left-winger Brayden Burke was spectacular leading the team in scoring with 27 goals and 82 assists for 109 points. Captain Tyler Wong fired home a team-high 43 goals and added 46 assists to finish second in team scoring. Centre Giorgio Estephan had an amazing 30 goals and 44 assists in 59 regular season games.

    Red Deer product and 19-year-old defenceman Andrew Nielsen quarterbacked the power play and piled up 18 goals and 52 assists from the back end. Russian left-winger Egor Babenko had 29 goals and 40 assists as an 18-year-old rookie in the league.

    Overall, the Hurricanes had seven players score 20-or-more goals. Cory Millette, Ryley Lindgren and Justin Gutierrez rounded out the 20 goal men with 34, 27 and 22 tallies respectively.

    In goal, Jayden Sittler, who was in his 19-year-old season, and 17-year-old Stuart Skinner split time and played well. Sittler posted a 19-14-1 record, a 2.94 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and one shutout. Skinner was better recording a 27-10-1 record, a 2.73 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and three shutouts.

Brent Kisio worked magic being the Hurricanes bench as head coach.

    Skinner also made all sorts of highlight reels, when he scored a goal on March 18 at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge during a 9-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. The hoarse and excited local radio call of that moment also made a number of comedy shows both in Canada and the United States.

    After six consecutive seasons of mostly misery, it seemed like everything was lining up to go right in Lethbridge. Anholt was named the executive of the year and Kisio took home honours the coach of the year for the WHL's Eastern Conference. One had to wonder how far could this Hurricanes run go. Could they win a WHL title and possibly the franchise’s first Memorial Cup championship?

    In their opening playoff game at home on March 25, the Hurricanes doubled up the Pats 6-3. From that point, the Pats proceeded to ruin Lethbridge’s party by winning the next four games to take the series. The Hurricanes saw their campaign come to an end on April 1 after a 7-2 loss at home to Regina.

Brayden Burke and the Hurricanes have a bright future.

    During the post-season, the Hurricanes might have learned a lesson about the will it takes to win at that stage of the game. The Pats made the second round of the playoffs last season and will begin a best-of-seven second round series on Saturday taking on the Rebels in Red Deer.

    The playoff elimination doesn’t change the fact that Lethbridge’s pride has been restored in the Hurricanes. It was common to see fan buses following the team out on the road.

    With the leadership the Hurricanes have in the front office and behind the bench, Hurricanes fans might want to start planning future road trips to follow the team besides renewing or purchasing new season tickets. It is highly likely that the Hurricanes will learn from the playoff loss and write an inspiring sequel to build on the accomplishments of the 2015-16 campaign.

    The ride on the Hurricanes train looks like it is just beginning.

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

DeCorby, Johnson blast Stars back into Esso Cup

The Saskatoon Stars celebrate Rayah DeCorby's game-winning goal.

    SHOAL LAKE, Man. ­-- Rayah DeCorby has developed a habit of scoring timely post-season goals for the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA hockey team.

    The 18-year-old defender drove home a point blast through a screen with 6:41 to play in the third period to give the Stars a 2-1 edge on the host Yellowhead Chiefs at the Shoal Lake Communiplex on Saturday. DeCorby followed that up by firing home an empty-net tally with 38.7 seconds to play to cement a 3-1 victory for the Stars in Game 2 of best-of-three Western regional playdown series.

    The win allowed the Stars to sweep the series 2-0, claim the Lanchbery Family Trophy and advance to the Esso Cup national championship tournament for a second straight year. Saskatoon took Game 1 of the series with the Chiefs by a 2-1 score on Friday in Shoal Lake. This year’s Esso Cup runs from April 17 to 23 in Weyburn. 

    In Saturday’s victory over the Chiefs, DeCorby was pleasantly surprised to find out her point blast to put the Stars up 2-1 found its mark.

Stars goalie Emma Johnson kicks away a shot on goal.

    “I didn’t know it went in at first,” said DeCorby. “I was just trying to get shots on net, get it through hoping to create some options for everyone else in front of the net.”

    She was elated to be able to help her squad return to the Esso Cup.

    “I am beyond excited,” said DeCorby, who is playing out her final year of midget eligibility. “It is a great way to finish it off.”

    Back on March 26, DeCorby netted the first tally that sparked a three-goal surge to allow the Stars to rally from a 3-1 deficit to down the Diamond Energy Wildcats in Swift Current 4-3 in overtime to clinch the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series.

    On Saturday, the Yellowhead Chiefs scored first, when forward Sam Geekie fired home a power-play goal top corner through a screen at the 11:14 mark of the second period. The Chiefs outshot the Stars 19-8 over the first 40 minutes and could have had a larger lead if not for the stellar play of Saskatoon goaltender Emma Johnson. Johnson made 32 saves on Saturday, which included a series of nice glove stops.

Rayah DeCorby wheels with the puck behind her net.

    For large stretches of Saturday’s contest, the Chiefs had the Stars pinned in their own zone. The hosts were good at chipping the puck in deep and coming in hard on the forecheck to create turnovers. On average, the Chiefs were a little bit physically bigger than the Stars, which helped the hosts win a lot of one-on-one battles down low.

    Despite the pressure, Johnson stayed composed making big save after big save.

    “She’s been absolutely stellar,” said Stars head coach Greg Slobodzian. “We’re a little bit worried about workload.

    “She’s never played this much before, because we’ve always rotated through the season. We’ve been running with her, and she’s handled it so well.

    “She’s had a few ups and downs, and she’s handled everything like a professional. She’s just been outstanding.”

    Despite all the Chiefs chances, Saskatoon tied things up just 18 seconds into the third, while working on the power play. Mackenna Parker and Julia Rongve combined to set up gifted 14-year-old forward Anna Leschyshyn, who popped home the equalizer to knot the score at 1-1.

    That set the stage for DeCorby to come through with her two late tallies in the third.

    “We didn’t play extremely well in the first two periods, but I think after the second period we knew that we had a lot more to give,” said Johnson. “It was nice to come out and come together as a team and be able to pull that off.”

    Emma Greenwood turned away 13-of-15 shots taking the loss in goal for the Chiefs.

Stars forward Abby Shirley (#18) tried to battle her way down the boards.

    While Saturday’s game was a tough one for the Stars to win, Slobodzian was pleased with the resilience his players showed.

    “The girls, I just can’t say enough about them,” said Slobodzian. “They just find ways to do it, and it is just a sign of a great team.

    “Even though we didn’t play pretty hockey, we did all the little things that we needed to do, and we got it done. It felt great.”

    Slobodzian was pumped the Stars will return to the Esso Cup for a second straight year.

    “As soon as that buzzer rang, I looked at the coaches and it was like we’re going back boys,” said Slobodzian. “To be able to do it two years in a row from our league, that is saying a lot.

    “We come from such a great league, and Manitoba is a great league. Whoever comes out of this region has such a good chance, and it is because the league is such a good league.”

The Stars celebrate with Lanchberry Family Trophy and banner.

    The Stars won a bronze medal at last year’s Esso Cup. For the returning players, the sting of a 2-1 extra time semifinal loss after a tiebreaking shootout to the host Red Deer Chiefs still remains. Johnson said the aim was to go all the way this time.

    “I think we want a bit of redemption,” said Johnson. “Last year, we didn’t like the way that we went out losing in a shootout, so it is nice to go back and have a chance to set things right.”

    If you have any comments to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. Check out Stars game and celebration photos on Twitter @StanksSports.

Huskies celebrate special season

The Huskies women's basketball team's fifth year players and coaches.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies athletic program had a season they will never forget.

    The 2015-16 campaign saw the Huskies capture four Canada West championships coming from men’s track and field, men’s wrestling, men’s hockey and women’s basketball. The women’s hoops team capped the campaign claiming a national championship, when they downed the Ryerson University Rams 85-71 for a Canadian Interuniversity Sport title on March 20 in Fredericton, N.B.

    On Friday, the current class of all the Huskies teams gathered together at TCU Place to celebrate their accomplishments at the Huskie Salute, where the U of S athletics program hands out its seven major team awards.

    Members of the women’s basketball team took three of the honours. Lisa Thomaidis, who is one of the best bench bosses in any sport in Canada, was named the coach of the year, guard Laura Dally was the female athlete of the year and post Dalyce Emmerson was named the all-around female athlete of the year. Wrestler Kiera Prior took home honours as the female rookie of the year.

    The men’s awards included one individual from each of the Canada West title winning teams. CJ Gavlas was named the male rookie of the year, goaltender Jordon Cooke took home honours as the male athlete of the year and Jared Olson of the track and field team was the all-around male athlete of the year.
    The trainers of the year were Lisa Rystephanuk from Huskies wrestling and Stephen Hutton from Huskies track and field.

    The team awards were a capper to a campaign that saw 17 individuals win major CIS awards or be named all-Canadians along with members of the men’s 4 X 200-metre and 4 X 400-metre relay teams, who won CIS championship gold medals. The Canada West honours on top of that were big time numerous.

    The gathering at the Huskie Salute is one of those rare opportunities where all the athletes from all U of S teams can assemble in one place. All the teams on campus are elite programs and a lot times athletes can get locked into their own world of their own sport and their studies.

    During the season, players are good at getting out to see and support their peers on other clubs, but there usually isn’t a whole lot of time to get to see each other on a social basis. With how advanced year-round training has become for elite athletes, it is likely harder and more time consuming right now to be a CIS athlete than it ever has been compared to the past.

    Before the Huskie Salute, a large number of the athletes attended the school’s athletic wall of fame reception. The University of Saskatchewan Athletic Wall of Fame inductees included athletes Andrew Spagrud from men’s basketball and Karlyn (Serby) Wells from track and field, the 1998-99 CIS champion Huskies men’s volleyball team, and builders Michael PJ Kennedy and Gil Wist. Kennedy wrote two editions of the history book on the Huskies hockey teams and Wist spent over 30 years supporting the wrestling program.

    The main message echoed by all of those inductees was how much they enjoyed their time with the Huskies and how time has gone by so fast.

    During the Huskie Salute, the fifth-year athletes that won awards told the younger athletes to enjoy their time with the teams, because it goes by too fast. In the end, the athletes, coaches and staff will remember all sorts of other memories that occurred around practices and games. Those memories are the things that always stick with you.

    While the Huskie Salute was a time to celebrate, it was also a moment of finality. What the athletes might not realize that starting now there is a chance years and even decades may pass before they see some of the of the faces they saw on Friday night again. That was the last moment the 2015-16 Huskies would be together in one place.

    Before the awards were handed out, a moment of silence was held for former Huskies men’s hockey player Cody Smuk and former wrestling coach Todd Hinds, who both passed away last June. That was a small reminder of how finite life can be.

    When an athlete looks to join a post-secondary program, they are looking for a place where they feel they can belong. The Huskies over the decades have managed to accomplish that. Their athletes were and still are making memories they will carry with themselves forever.

Catching up with Clark for the Express

    I was back in the Saskatoon Express this week with a cool cover story.

    I caught up with Saskatoon product Emily Clark, who is playing forward for Canada at the women’s world hockey championships on right now in Kamloops, B.C. At age 20, Clark is the youngest player on Canada’s senior national women’s team.

    Clark joined the Canadian team right after her University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s team fell 3-2 in overtime to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in a National Collegiate Athletic Association semifinal game.

    She was also once a star on the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team. The story on Clark 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.

Shirley shines in OT, Stars repeat as Saskatchewan champs

The Saskatoon Stars celebrate back-to-back SFMAAAHL title wins.

    SWIFT CURRENT – At age 14, Grace Shirley showed she is ready for the big moments.

    On Saturday night, the skilled forward blasted home a goal at the 4:08 mark of overtime to deliver the Saskatoon Stars to a 4-3 victory over the host Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats in Game 4 of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series. The win at the Fairview Arena in Swift Current allowed the Stars to take the best-of-five series 3-1 and capture the Fedoruk Cup for a second straight year.

    “It was really overwhelming,” said Shirley after scoring her OT winner. “It was crazy. I was just kind of happy to see it squeak in there at the last point there.

    “It couldn’t be better with these girls by my side. I have so much respect for them. We’ve build such good friendships, so it is just amazing.”

    For a while, it looked like the series was going to head back to Saskatoon for a series deciding Game 5 on Sunday. The Wildcats led 3-1 with 4:39 to play in the second period, before the Stars cued the comeback.

Grace Shirley blasts home the OT winner for the Stars.

    Just 58 seconds after the Wildcats went up 3-1, Stars defender Rayah DeCorby fired home an accurate long distance off-speed shot to cut the gap to 3-2.

    Saskatoon tied the contest up at 3-3 at the 9:03 mark of the third, when Anna Leschyshyn potted home the rebound from a shot taken by linemate Julia Rongve.

    “To be able to come back after that game and come out on the right end of it, I am so proud of the girls,” said Stars head coach Greg Slobodzian. “They worked so hard, and then to go down like that in a game when you’re outplaying them, that is tough.

    “They didn’t change anything. They didn’t mope. They didn’t pout. They just as we say believed in the process and came through in the end.”

    The Stars took a 1-0 with 38.81 seconds to play in the first, when 14-year-old rookie forward Joelle Fiala converted a tick-tack-toe passing play from linemates Grace Shirley and Abby Shirley. Saskatoon had Swift Current pinned in its own end during the opening 20 minutes holding a 13-1 edge in shots on goal.

Stars captain Danielle Nogier is stopped by Wildcats goalie Jacey Book.

    The game’s momentum turned in the second, when the Wildcats surged ahead on three straight markers. First, Josee Casavant scored from in close, and just 1:42 later, Merissa Zerr slipped a beauty pass across the face of the Saskatoon goal to allow linemate Janessa Fournier to pop in a tally to give the hosts a 2-1 edge.

    Right-winger Taylor Kirwan tipped home a power-play goal with 4:39 to play in the second to give the Wildcats a 3-1 edge.

    Saskatoon proceeded to rally back. Stars captain Danielle Nogier said taking the series clincher in come-from-behind style was sweet.

    “That felt extra special, because for a minute there, we were starting to question,” said Nogier. “We pulled together. We didn’t have any doubt, and it feels so good.”

    Emma Johnson made 17 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Jasey Book turned away 35 shots to take the loss in net for the Wildcats.

Janessa Fournier, left, celebrates scoring for the Wildcats.

    The Stars topped the SFMAAAHL regular season standings with a 24-4 record, while the Wildcats were second in the eight-team circuit with a 19-6-3 mark. Every game in the SFMAAAHL championship series was decided by one goal.

    Nogier, who will join the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team next season, was proud her team was able to repeat as SFMAAAHL champs.

    “I can’t explain it,” said Nogier, who was an assistant captain last season. “Words can’t describe how amazing this feeling is just winning this with my girls, my family.

    “This was so special just knowing that I helped lead the girls to this victory, and they worked their butts off. I don’t take credit for anything they did.”

    Entering the season, the Stars were not considered a sure thing, when it came to repeating as champions. In the off-season, they lost superstar forwards Sophie Shirley, who is Grace’s older sister, and Nara Elia to the Notre Dame Hounds Junior Women’s Hockey League team. Both Sophie Shirley and Elia were eligible to return to the Stars as 16-year-olds.

Anna Leschyshyn breaks into the offensive zone for the Stars.

    When the Stars claimed their first SFMAAAHL title in 2014-15, they had one of those rare special campaigns. They posted a 45-5 overall record, which included a 25-3 mark in the regular season. Saskatoon also won the prestigious Mac’s tournament in Calgary and a bronze medal at the Esso Cup national championship tournament.

    In 2015-16, the Stars had to prove they were still a good team without their two superstars, but they were viewed a beatable club.

    Slobodzian, who was head coach for both SFMAAAHL title wins, didn’t want to rate one as being more special than the other, but he noted they were enjoyable for their own unique reasons.

    “They’re different,” said Slobodzian. “The first one obviously was special.

    “This one, I don’t think a lot of people in the province thought we would do it this year. We built a new identity, and we believed in the new identity and it just worked. Because of that, it has a real special feeling to it.”

    The Stars advance to a best-of-three regional final against the Manitoba champion Yellowhead Chiefs, who are based out of Shoal Lake. All three of those contests will be played in Shoal Lake from April 1-3.
    The winner of the regional series qualifies for the Esso Cup national championship tournament, which runs April 17 to 23 in Weyburn.

    If you would like to pass along any comments about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. Check out Stars game and celebration photos on Twitter @stankssports.

Warriors down Raiders in thriller

Warriors F Noah Gregor scores on Raiders G Rylan Parenteau.

    PRINCE ALBERT - If all games between the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Prince Albert Raiders are going to be as good as this one, here is hoping their opening round WHL playoff series goes the distance to Game 7.

    The Warriors downed the Raiders 3-2 in a thriller in Game 1 on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre before 2,782 spectators. Both teams engaged in frantic action up and down the ice. Shaw television had to be thanking their lucky stars they decided to broadcast that contest for its entertainment value, and the WHL head office staffers had to felt they hit a jackpot.

    Goaltenders Rylan Parenteau of the Raiders and Zach Sawchenko of the Warriors each stood on their heads making 36 and 32 stops respectively. The consensus among NHL scouts has been that the quality of goaltending on average had been down in the WHL this season, but you wouldn’t have known that the way the series opener between Moose Jaw and Prince Albert played out.

    After a scoreless opening frame, the Raiders drew first blood in Friday’s clash at the 8:17 mark of the second, when Reid Gardiner blasted home a shot on the power play to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

    The Warriors countered just seconds into their first power play at the 14:17 mark of the frame on a tally from star captain Brayden Point. The Art Hauser Centre crowd that had worked their way into a frenzy had the wind momentarily knocked out of their sails.

    Moose Jaw dealt the home side faithful two more gut shots going ahead 3-1 in the third.

Jesse Lees missed a late chance to tie the game.

    First, Point and linemate Noah Gregor broke in on a two-on-one break, and Point fed a perfect pass across the face of the Raiders goal to Gregor, who knocked home the puck past Parenteau.

    At the 13:51 mark, Gregor potted his second goal of the night on a turnaround shot. The Warriors first unit of Point, Gregor and Dryden Hunt came out against a tired Raiders unit after an icing call on the offensive faceoff that eventually resulted in the third goal. Prince Albert elected to not use a timeout.

    The Warriors weren’t able to enjoy the two-goal cushion for long. Just 34 seconds after they went ahead 3-1, Raiders right-winger Austin Glover knocked home a shot from the left side of the Moose Jaw goal to cut the visitors edge to 3-2. The tally reignited the gathering at the Art Hauser Centre.

    The Raiders proceeded to make a big push in the game’s final moments. With under two minutes to play, overage defenceman Jesse Lees had a golden chance to pick up the equalizer down low, but he fired a shot over top of the Warriors goal.

    In the final seconds of the third, the puck slid over to Gardiner down in the left slot of the Moose Jaw zone, but the veteran, who netted 43 goals in the regular season, fanned on his shot.

Simon Stransky (#23) steals the puck from Dryden Hunt (#29)

    The Warriors were elated at the end of the game to skate away with a victory. The only drawback for them in the contest was losing Russian forward Nikita Popugaev to a right leg injury after he received a hit along the boards in the first period.

    Both clubs also picked up the physical play throwing a handful of good hits each.

    While Prince Albert supports left disappointed about the end result on the scoreboard, Game 1 of the Raiders series against the Warriors was a hit.

    And you know what the best part is? Both teams go at it again in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Art Hauser Centre.

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