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| Parker Thomas (#24) tries to set up offence for the Huskies. |
Could the unthinkable happen? Could
the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team actually finish a
regular season with a losing record?
Unless the Dogs can roll off a big
win streak over their last six games, it appears likely a losing record will
happen. On the weekend, it became really apparent the Huskies are a bit of a
distance away from being one of the top teams in the Canada West conference.
The Huskies battled the University
of Calgary Dinos at the ancient Rutherford Rink and fell 6-3 on Friday night
and 5-2 on Saturday night. With the wins, the Dinos improved to 15-7 to sit
alone in second place in the conference.
U of S fell to 9-12-1 and dropped to sixth overall in the conference.
The Huskies sit five points up on the seventh place U of Regina Cougars (6-14-2)
for the final playoff berth in the conference.
The last time the Huskies finished with a losing record in regular
season play was way back in the 1995-96 campaign, when they posted an 11-14-3
record. Over the past six seasons, the Huskies have been an impressive
105-52-11, which includes winning a Canada West title in 2012 and a second
place finish at last year’s University Cup.
Roster turnover has definitely caught up with the Dogs. They have 12
players in their first year of eligibility, with the bulk of those newcomers
coming on the forward lines. The Dinos in contrast have five first year
players.
Calgary also has more higher end former Western Hockey League players on
its roster than Saskatchewan does.
With all that said, the Dinos only pulled out respective 2-0 and 2-1
victories early on in the season in Calgary. The notion that the Huskies could
pull out two win in their home rink wasn’t unthinkable.
Friday’s tilt was back-and-forth. Craig McCallum scored 55 second into
the third period to cut the Dinos two-goal lead to 4-3.
Shortly after that tally, Calgary put the contest away going up by the
final of 6-3 scoring goals 28 seconds apart from each other. David Vandane had
the first marker, while Colton Grant had the second marker.
Philip Tot, Alex Dzielski, Chris Collins and Brooks Myers had the other
singles for the Dinos, while Kris Lazaruk made 35 saves to earn the win in
goal.
Zak Stebner and Jesse Ross also netted singles for the Huskies, while
Ryan Holfeld made 23 stops taking the loss in goal.
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| Dinos goalie Jacob DeSerres holds down the fort. |
On Saturday, the Huskies played the Dinos close and trailed 3-2 heading
into the final two minutes of the third. Dinos forward Ryan Harrison then
potted an empty netter and added another tally in the final seconds to seal a
5-2 victory.
During that contest, the Dinos had the Huskies pinned in their own zone
for extended periods of time.
Danny Gayle, Elgin Pearce and Kevin King also had singles for the Dinos,
while Jacob DeSerres made 14 stops to earn the win in goal.
Tayler Thompson and McCallum netted singles for the Huskies, while
Jordon Cooke turned away 25-of-29 shots suffering the loss in goal.
Huskies head coach Dave Adolph is holding at 377 career conference wins,
which ties him with University of Alberta Golden Bears head coach Clare Drake
for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport record for conference victories. Adolph
will have to hope the fourth attempt at getting the record will be a charm.
U of S heads on the road to Vancouver for two key games against the
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds hold down fourth
overall in the conference with a 10-9-3 record, which means they would host a
first round playoff series if the regular season ended right now.
If the Huskies still hope to host a home playoff series, they needed to
win at least one of those games to keep those hopes alive. With that said, one
win might not be enough. A sweep is likely needed.
With the Huskies in a rebuild, a home playoff series and a winning
regular season record might not be in the cards for the current campaign.
Paparazzi picture a good sign
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| Huskies ace picture taker Kandace Cook. |
The volume of the laughs and the mischievous
giggles gave away that something was up.
During the Huskies men’s hockey game
on Jan. 3 at the Rutherford Rink against the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns, I went
over behind the Pronghorns net to shoot pictures in the second period. The
Pronghorns were in the end that contained the box seats at the Rutherford and
most of the members of the Huskies women’s hockey team were up there.
As I was getting ready to shoot, I
could hear the laughter, and I knew something was going on. When I returned
home that night, I saw fifth-year forward Kandace Cook took a picture of me
doing my thing and put it on Twitter.
I am all cool with that. If that
helps the Huskies have fun at the rink and win, it is all good. The Rutherford
is their home rink, and it should always be a fun place for them to be at.
Actually, to me that is a good sign. If they have the comfort level to
do something like that, it is just another signal that shows me how together
the Huskies women’s team is and that they have another intangible to help them
be successful.
I don’t mind getting made fun of or
being the victim of a prank. Pretty much all the women’s sports teams I have
dealt with that have won have done something along those lines.
It is just too bad the Cook’s
Huskies took one on the chin in their first weekend back. They traveled to
Calgary and were swept by the Dinos by respective scores of 4-1 and 5-2 on
Friday and Saturday.
The Dinos roster contains Canadian National team icon Hayley Wickenheiser and Russian national
team standouts Iya Gavrilova and Alexandra Vafina. All three were not with the
Dinos last season because it was Olympic year.
Back
in October, the Huskies swept the Dinos, who had all those stars on the ice,
4-3 in overtime and 3-1 at the Rutherford Rink. After those results, you can
bet the Dinos, who are guided by head coach and former Canadian national team
star Danielle Goyette, played the
revenge card in an old school style way like how head coach Bill Belichick
prefers to see his New England Patriots bury opponents in the NFL.
In Friday’s encounter in Calgary, Heather
Berzins, Wickenheiser, Janelle Parent and Kate Lumley netted singles for the
Dinos, while Carissa Fischer made 23 stops to earn the win in goal.
Cook had the Huskies lone goal,
while Cassidy Hendricks made 44 stops taking the loss in the Huskies net.
A day later, Erica Mitschke scored
twice for the Dinos, while Megan Grenon, Gavrilova and Vafina netted singles.
Fischer made 13 stops to earn the win in goal.
Captain Paige Anakaer and Hailey
Tyndall picked up singles for the Huskies. Hendricks turned away 15-of-20 shots
starting in goal for the Huskies. Jerrica Waltz stopped all 14 shots she faced
in a relief appearance.
The Dinos vaulted into first in
Canada West improving to 11-3-4. The Huskies dropped from first to fifth in the
tight contested conference with an 11-5-2 mark.
The Huskies return to action this
coming Friday and Saturday when they host the Thunderbirds (10-4-4) at 7 p.m.
on both nights at the Rutherford Rink.
The losses to the Dinos were likely a
big learning experience for the Huskies in dealing with a revenge minded team.
Knowing the character of the players
on the Dogs, expect them to bounce back and move on.
If you have any feedback on this
blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.
