Normal playoff time makes U Sports absence even more eerie

The Huskies enjoy a players series OT win in 2019.

While whole world has been in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic for a little more than 11 months, it doesn’t prevent getting a weird feeling due to the absence of events that occur regularly on the calendar.

In Canada’s sports scene, post-season action in U Sports would normally be well underway right now. Sports like football, rugby and soccer would normally play their nationals in the fall semester, so everyone with connections there would have felt that absence.

The winter semester usually sees sports conclude that run year round. Sports like basketball, hockey, track and field, volleyball and wrestling would have started their post-season paths.

Usually by this time of year, first round action would have taken place in basketball, hockey and volleyball. 

Kirsten Chamberlin tightly identifies with the Pandas.

Playoff fever would be well in the air and it would usually wrap up around the middle of March, when the last scheduled national championship tournaments are played.

At the moment, U Sports arenas and gyms sit empty across Canada on regular post-season game days.

On the grounds of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, the Butterdome multi-purpose sports complex is a field hospital in waiting. It was recently turned into a field hospital in waiting due to urgency created due to a big spike of new COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alberta.

On the grounds of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, the twin pad hockey rink facility in Merlis Belsher Place, which has two basketball courts, has been a field hospital in waiting for a number of months. It is being used to help process COVID-19 tests and be a centre to administer COVID-19 vaccinations.

Those are the realities of the pandemic, which in Canada has pushed U Sports to the backburner.

While some will argue how relevant U Sports is on Canada’s overall sporting scene, the truth is it still has sizable relevance.

Golden Bears players have deep links to their team.

Just ask members of the University of Alberta Golden Bears men’s hockey team and the University of Alberta Pandas women’s hockey team how deeply imbedded their identification is to their programs along with the alums of each squad. Wherever those players go, they will be Golden Bears and Pandas for life.

In Saskatoon, current players and alums have strong identifications with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies programs on campus. It seem like you could always find someone wearing gear with the Huskies logo on it anywhere in Canada or seemingly around the world.

Over the last decade, it has become common for the Huskies men’s and women’s basketball and hockey teams to host home playoff games. At the start of the post-season, there was always great anticipation when the first of these contests came around.

Right now, the start of that playoff fever is missing. It is noticeable because this is the time the intensity level gets dialed up another notch.

The Huskies claimed a U Sports women’s basketball title in 2020.

Over the past 10 years, the Huskies women’s basketball team and the Huskies men’s hockey team have hosted a number of Canada West Conference championship games and series.

On February 28, 2020, a standing room crowd of 2,515 saw the Huskies women’s basketball team down the Pandas 62-51 in a winner take all Canada West Championship game at the Physical Activity Complex. 

No one at that game figured that would be at the moment the last time they saw a Huskies basketball team play at home.

Of course guided by their brilliant head coach Lisa Thomaidis, the Huskies women’s basketball team advanced to win the U Sports title. 

Levi Cable came up big for the Huskies in the 2020 post-season.

The Huskies thumped the Brock University Badgers 82-64 in the U Sports title game at TD Place in Ottawa, Ont.

Following that win, the Huskies returned home to enjoy an on campus victory rally on March 11, 2020 right before shutdowns and restrictions started to take root to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

On February 29, 2020, a record standing room crowd of 2,667 watched the Huskies men’s hockey team down the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 3-1 in Game 2 of the Canada West Championship series to sweep the best-of-three set 2-0.

As the Huskies raised the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy as Canada West champions, no one at Merlis that night could have imagined that was the last time to this day they would see a Huskies hockey team play at home.

The Huskies were able to play their quarter-final game at the University Cup in Halifax, N.S., before the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Fans cheer the Huskies at Merlis Belsher Place on Feb. 29, 2020.

With a number of players legitimately down with the flu, the Huskies fell 3-2 to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs.

No one knew that would be the last contest Dave Adolph would work as the Huskies legendary and one of a kind character head coach. 

Adolph will officially retire as Huskies head coach on May 1 of this year.

Willie Desjardins, who was the captain of the Huskies men’s hockey team that won the U Sports national title in 1982-83, said as head coach and general manager of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers on a frequent basis that legends are made in the playoffs.

In 2020-21, there were no opportunities for legends to be made as there is no U Sports action at all due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Huskies celebrate a Canada West title in 2020.

Anyone with attachments to U Sports has to hold on to hope that things will be different in 2021-22.

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

-------                                     

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.