Bauml regains top offensive form with Huskies

Kohl Bauml scored twice for the Huskies on Friday night.

    Kohl Baum has found the groove that has eluded him since his rookie season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    On Friday at Merlis Belsher Place, Bauml potted a pair of goals in the second period to lift the Huskies to a 4-0 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a U Sports regular season clash before 1,998 spectators. With those goals, Bauml has recorded points in his last five straight games posting four goals and four assists over that span of time.

Kohl Bauml, right, has points in his last five straight games.

    The fourth-year forward had nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points appearing in all of the Huskies 23 regular season games to date. The Saskatoon product is having his best season since he led the Huskies in scoring as a rookie in the 2015-16 campaign posting 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points appearing in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games.

    Last season, Bauml, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 170 pounds, posted his lowest offensive totals in a U Sports campaign recording four goals and nine assists for 13 points. His work ethic was there, but the offensive numbers didn’t come.

The Huskies celebrate Kohl Bauml’s first goal on Friday night.

    The Huskies have a deep and talented squad, so when Bauml wasn’t able to contribute offensively on the scoresheet, others did.

    Now that Bauml has rediscovered his top offensive form, he helps make the Huskies that much more of a contender for the Canada West Conference title and the U Sports national championship.

    U of S is currently riding a five game winning streak and sits first in Canada West with a 20-3 record holding a one point lead over the 19-3-1 University of Alberta Golden Bears, who are the defending Canada West and U Sports champions. The Huskies are also rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

Collin Shirley scored the Huskies fourth goal on Friday night.

    Against the Thunderbirds on Friday night, Bauml, who has built a reputation as being one of the Huskies best ambassadors in the community, scored one goal off of grit and another off of finesse.

    With the Huskies holding a 1-0 lead thanks to a first period goal from sophomore defenceman Sam Ruopp, Bauml extended the host side’s edge to 2-0 potting the rebound of a shot taken by linemate Levi Cable at the 6:57 mark of the second frame.

    Just under four minutes later, Bauml scored a power-play goal to put the Huskies up 3-0 converting a backdoor feed from a beauty set up pass from centre Logan McVeigh.

    From that point, Bauml’s Huskies teammates ensured the Thunderbirds weren’t able to get up off the ground.

    With 40.6 seconds remaining in the third period, sophomore forward Collin Shirley tipped home an Alex Forsberg shot from the right side boards on another power play to give the Huskies a 4-0 advantage.

Evan Fiala was sound on defence for the Huskies.

    During the course of the contest, the Huskies had the Thunderbirds pinned in their own zone for extended periods and had the potential to really bury the visitors. The score could have looked worse had it not been for a stellar 37-save performance from UBC netminder and Saskatoon product Rylan Toth.

    The Thunderbirds fell to 11-10-2 with the loss, but they still sit fifth in the Canada West standings and have a playoff berth locked up.

    Sophomore goalie Taran Kozun, who has become a star this season between the pipes for the Huskies, stopped all 17 shots sent his way to pick up his third shutout of the campaign.

    The two teams go at it again tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    Bauml is one of the Huskies top good guys, and it is always great to see good things happen to good people.

    Hopefully, he will have a lot more big offensive moments as the season and the upcoming post-season rolls along.

Taran Kozun made 17 saves to pick up the shutout in goal for the Huskies.

    NOTE – Friday’s game was the “Huskies Fight Cancer Game” for the men’s hockey team. Money was raised for equipment purchases for the Saskatoon Cancer Centre through Choc ’la Cure. The Huskies had superkid Roan, who is battling leukemia, drop the puck for a pre-game ceremonial faceoff. 

    He was joined at centre ice by Marty and Darla Smuk. Marty and Darla are the parents of Huskies alum Cody Smuk, who passed away from cancer in June of 2015.

    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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