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| Carson Stadnyk (#16) scored in the first period for the Huskies on Friday. |
On Friday playing
before 1,355 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies scored twice on
the power play and once short-handed to down the Bisons 4-1 in a U Sports regular
season clash. The win was the third straight for the Huskies, who improved to
6-3-2.
The Huskies
could have won in even more convincing fashion had it not been for the work of
Brown, who turned away 47-of-50 shots fired his way. The final U of S tally
came into an empty net.
Brown, who
stands 6-feet and weighs 182 pounds, starred for the WHL’s Regina Pats from
2014 to 2018, and he backstopped them to the WHL championship series in 2017,
where they fell 4-2 in the best-of-seven set to the Seattle Thunderbirds.
 |
| Donovan Neuls scored a short-handed goal for the Huskies. |
He joined his
hometown Bisons before the start of last season but was a medical redshirt for the
campaign after undergoing surgery to fix a nagging injury from his time in the
WHL.
Against the
Huskies on Friday, Brown looked ever y bit the netminder that helped the Pats
finish first overall in the 2016-17 WHL regular season and come up two wins short
of a WHL title.
Early in
the first period, Huskies winger Carson Stadnyk burst off the right wing across
the face of the Bisons net, but his shot was turned away by a kick save from
Brown.
 |
| Tyler Brown makes one of his 47 saves for the Bisons. |
Friday’s
game also got off to a really rough start.
Shortly
after Brown’s save on Stadnyk, Bisons defenceman Carter Doerksen drove his
shoulder into the jaw of Huskies forward Carter Folk in open ice in the U of M
zone. The hit started a scrum.
Doerksen
was given a major penalty for checking to the head and a game misconduct. The
hit will automatically be reviewed by the Canada West Conference for a possible
suspension.
Folk was
helped off the ice and didn’t return.
 |
| Taran Kozun makes one of his 19 saves in goal for the Huskies. |
The Huskies
proceeded to go up 2-0 with 24.1 seconds remaining in first when centre Donovan
Neuls sped into the Bisons zone on the left wing and ripped a shot top corner
of Brown.
The host side
needed both of those tallies.
In the
second period, Brown turned away all 14 shots fired his way. He stopped Huskies
left-winger Collin Shirley, who had a chance all alone in front of the U of M
goal.
Brown also
robbed Huskies centre Kohl Bauml on a backhand chance and sucked up a shot from
the left slot coming from Huskies second-year left-wing Layne Young.
Brown’s heroics allowed the Bisons to put a scare into the Huskies in the third period.
Brown’s heroics allowed the Bisons to put a scare into the Huskies in the third period.
 |
| Logan McVeigh, left, and Taran Kozun mark the Huskies win on Friday. |
Moments
after that tally, Bisons forward Geordie Keane was given a double minor for
high sticking which helped kill momentum for the visitors. Near the start of
the second half of that power play, the Bisons went down two men as forward
Jonah Wasylak was penalized for throwing his stick.
On the
ensuing two-man advantage, Huskies right-winger Levi Cable roofed home an
insurance goal to put the Huskies up 3-1.
Huskies
centre Kohl Bauml rounded out the game’s scoring with an empty-net tally with
2:13 remaining in the third.
Taran Kozun
stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Brown’s stellar
play couldn’t prevent the Bison from falling to 5-5-0-1.
The two
sides go at it again Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.
Young cancer survivor drops ceremonial
faceoff with Smuks
 |
| Joel Bachman, centre, drops the puck for the ceremonial faceoff. |
A 10-year-old goalie named Joel Bachman took part in a team
practice this week. Bachman was diagnosed with a brain tumour at age six, and
he underwent extensive treatments and is now cancer free.
At practice, Bachman took part in drills along with Huskies
star starting goalie Taran Kozun and second-year backup Travis Child.
On Friday, Bachman got to go to centre ice to drop the puck
for the ceremonial faceoff before the Huskies clash with the U of Manitoba
Bisons at Merlis Belsher Place. He was joined by parents of late Huskies
hard-working glue-guy forward Cody Smuk in Marty and Darla Smuk.
Cody passed away in June of 2015 after a lengthy battle with
cancer.
Before Bachman dropped the puck, the 1,355 spectators in
attendance and players, coaches and staffers from the Huskies and Bisons
displayed signs that had the words, “I Fight For” written on top.
Below those words was a white space to allow everyone to
write a name on their respective sign.
After those signs were displayed, Bachman dropped the puck
for the Faceoff.
During the game, the Huskies had a number of fundraisers going
on to raise funds for Choc ’La Cure, which raises funds for equipment at the
Saskatoon Cancer Centre.
The Huskies claimed a 4-1 victory in Friday’s contest with
the Bisons.
Vance hits rare heights with 30 career wins
with Huskies
 |
| Jessica Vance picked up her 30th career regular season win on Friday. |
On Friday night at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg,
Man., Vance made 14 saves to back the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey
team to a 1-0 victory over the host U of Manitoba Bisons. With Friday’s
victory, Vance became the third netminder in the history of the Huskies women’s
program to win 30 career regular season games.
Vance, who is from Prince Albert, Sask., spent the 2015-16
campaign with the Bisons as a medical red shirt before sitting out a year to
join the Huskies for the 2017-18 campaign. She never played a game in goal with
the Bisons.
Since joining the Huskies, the graduate of the Prince Albert
Northern Bears female midget AAA team quickly rose to star status being named
the Canada West player of the year in 2017-18 helping the Huskies earn a berth
at U Sports nationals.
Vance is still the all-time leader for the Saskatchewan
Female Midget AAA Hockey League in career wins (48) and games played (91) in
regular season action.
In the history of the Huskies women’s hockey program,
Vanessa Frederick and Cassidy Hendricks both hit the 30-career win barrier with
the squad.
Frederick played for the Huskies from 2007 to 2010 and in
2011-12 posting a 31-21 record, a 2.30 goals against average, a .914 save
percentage and five shutouts in regular season play.
Hendricks suited up for the Huskies from 2012 to 2017
posting a 57-44-13 record, a 2.04 goals against average, a .922 save percentage
and 12 shutouts in regular season play.
Vance, who is in her third season with the Huskies, has
posted a 30-12-5 record, a 1.10 goals against average, a .952 save percentage
and 17 shutouts in regular season play.
The 22-year-old is the Huskies all-time leader in career regular
season shutouts, and she is tied with former Bisons goaltender Stacey Corfield
for the third most career regular season shutouts in the history of the Canada
West Conference. Corfield collected her 17 shutouts playing five seasons for
the Bisons from 2005 to 2010.
Offensive defender Leah Bohlken scored on a second period
power play for the Huskies to account for the lone tally in the contest.
Vance made a diving paddle stick stop with a 60 seconds to
play in the third period on Bisons rookie forward Kate Gregoire to preserve the
win.
The Huskies improved to 6-3-2 with the victory.
Erin Fargey turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal
for the Bisons (2-8-1).
The two sides go at it again on Saturday at the Wayne
Fleming Arena .
Hilltops’ Pingue named CJFL defensive player
of the year
 |
| Jadyn Pingue was named the CJFL’s top defensive player. |
At the CJFL’s awards banquet on Friday in Langley, B.C.,
Pingue took home the Larry Wruck most outstanding defensive player of the year
award. Wruck was one of the Hilltops all-time greatest linebackers suiting up
for the club in the early 1980s before moving on to be a standout with the CFL’s
Edmonton Eskimos from 1985 to 1996.
Pingue’s award win marks two straight years a Hilltops player
has taken the CJFL’s Larry Wruck most outstanding defensive player of the year
award. Last year, Hilltops linebacker Cody Peters won the CJFL’s most
outstanding defensive player honours in his final year of junior football
eligibility.
The 2019 campaign has been an outstanding one for Pingue. On
Wednesday, he was named a CJFL all-Canadian all-star. The fifth-year veteran
was named the most outstanding defensive player and most outstanding linebacker
for the Prairie Football Conference earlier in the post-season.
Appearing in seven out of the Hilltops eight regular season
games, Pingue posted 33.5 total tackles, one pass knockdown, one fumble
recovery and one interception
On Saturday, the Hilltops, who are 11-0 overall, will face
the host Langley Rams, who are 12-0 overall, in the CJFL championship game –
the Canadian Bowl – at McLeod Stadium (3 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 92.9 The
Bull).
The Hilltops are trying to win an unprecedented sixth
straight CJFL title, and they thumped the Rams 58-21 in last year’s Canadian
Bowl in Saskatoon.
Stars alum Messier officially inks with
Cornell
 |
| Ashley Messier in action with the Stars last April. |
In September of 2017 at age 15, Messier verbally committed
to play for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks. At that time,
Messier was entering her second season with the Saskatoon Stars female midget
AAA team.
Now playing for the Selects Hockey Academy in Rochester, New
York, for her Grade 12 year, Messier officially signed with the Big Red on
Friday, and will join the powerhouse NCAA program at the start of next
season.
From 2016 to 2019, Messier played three seasons with the
Stars piling up 11 goals and 58 assists for 69 points in 84 regular season
games as an offensive defender.
She helped the Stars reach the championship game of the Esso
Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament in April of 2018. The Stars
fell 2-1 to the Alberta-based St. Albert Slash, but Messier was named the top
defender of the tournament.
Last season with the Stars, Messier, who is from Wilcox,
Sask., recorded five goals and 27 assist to help the Stars post their best
regular season record ever at 27-1 to top the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA
Hockey League standings.
The Stars again advanced to Esso Cup and finished fourth. Messier again captured honours as the event’s top defender.
Messier was
named the Colleen Sostorics top defender of the SFMAAAHL last season and a
first team SFMAAAHL all-star. She was a second SFMAAAHL all-star in 2017-18.
Messier,
who stands 5-foot-3, helped Team Saskatchewan advance to the final of the
National Women’s under-18 Champion held last Saturday in Winkler, Man. Team
Saskatchewan fell in the title game to Team Ontario Red 3-1.
The silver
medal win was Saskatchewan’s best finish at the event that contains provincial
under-18 women’s hockey teams from across the country. The 17-year-old Messier
was named the most valuable player of the tournament.
The Big Red roster contains Messier’s former Stars teammate in offensive defender Willow Slobodzian.
The Big Red roster contains Messier’s former Stars teammate in offensive defender Willow Slobodzian.
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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