Women’s hockey squad ventures on in playoffs
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| The Huskies celebrate a goal earlier this season. |
A year ago
at this time, players were focusing on university assignments and exams. They
never even got to play a game in the 2020-21 campaign as it was cancelled due to
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that still grips the world.
On top of
that, they were kicked out of their home rink as Merlis Belsher Place was serving
as a potential field hospital in waiting and was being used to administer
COVID-19 vaccine shots.
Now fast
forward to this past Saturday. The Huskies were playing in Winnipeg, Man., and
they blanked the host University of Manitoba Bisons 3-0 in Game 2 of a Canada
West quarter-final playoff series.
That win
allowed the Huskies to sweep the best-of-three set 2-0 to advance in the U
Sports playoffs. They overcame an opponent they weren’t able to beat in the
four head-to-head encounters in the regular season.
The Bisons
finished fourth in the Canada West regular season standings with a 13-7 mark
just ahead of the Huskies who were 11-7-2.
Thanks to
those playoff wins over the Bisons, the Huskies were back in Merlis Belsher
Place this week conducting practices preparing for their best-of-three Canada
West semifinal series against the Mount Royal University Cougars in Calgary,
Alta.
The Cougars
topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 16-2-2 mark.
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| Bailee Bourassa led the Huskies in scoring this season. |
Going into
the 2021-22 campaign, the Huskies likely didn’t know what to expect. In late
August of 2021, they moved back into Merlis Belsher Place, so they had at least
the security of knowing they were going to be in their home rink.
Still, they
never knew if the rug was going to be pulled out from under them on the
COVID-19 front and the season would grind to a halt. With that noted, there was
a sense of purpose from the Huskies and the rest of the teams in the conference
to push through with the campaign to keep the Canada West Conference relevant.
That was
true for the teams in men’s hockey along with that teams that play in all the various
other sports under the conference’s umbrella.
With that
noted, you have to suspect long time Huskies head coach Steve Kook had some
sleepless nights navigating the program through the unique ups and downs of the
COVID-19 pandemic since the middle of March of 2020. Kook would collect his 200th
career win in the 2021-22 campaign.
Going into
the season, the Huskies would also be searching for a new identity on the ice
since last playing a game in February of 2020, when they were eliminated from the
U Sports playoff picture. Following the 2019-20 campaign, the Huskies lost
eight players due to graduation.
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| Camryn Drever earned her first two U Sports playoff wins. |
She elected
to pursue her master’s degree in nursing, while taking on the role of captain
for the Huskies.
Forward Abby
Shirley is the only player on the Huskies roster skating in her fourth year of
eligibility.
The
presence of Bourassa and Shirley helped give a steady hand to a younger
generation of players looking to make their mark with the program.
Bourassa
led the team in scoring with seven goals and four assists appearing in all of
the Huskies 20 regular season games. Shirley skated in 18 regular season games
collecting five goals and four assists.
Last
Friday, Shirley arguably had her greatest on ice moment with the Huskies
netting her first career U Sports hat trick in a 4-2 victory over the Bisons in
Game 1 of their Canada West quarter-final series in Winnipeg.
The younger
generation stepped up too as third-year forward Kennedy Brown had the Huskies
lone other tally that proved to be the game winner breaking a 2-2 tie with four
minutes remaining in the third period.
In the
Huskies 3-0 series clinching victory in Game 2 against the Bisons this past Saturday,
the U of S side received singles from third-year forward Sophie Lalor, rookie
defender Brooklyn Stevely and Brown.
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| Abby Shirley picked up her first career U Sports hat trick. |
The Huskies
also have an ace card to play in third-year netminder Camryn Drever. While she
didn’t have any U Sports playoff starts going into the 2021-22 season, the
Edmonton, Alta., product is an experienced post-season performer.
Before
joining the U Sports ranks, Drever was the star goaltender for the St. Albert
Slash, and she backstopped them to two straight Esso Cup titles as national
under-18 AAA hockey champions in 2017 and 2018. She earned a reputation as a
clutch player in those runs.
The Huskies
series sweep over the Bisons marked Drever’s first two post-season wins at the
U Sports level. She made 18 saves in the Huskies Game 1 victory and 21 stops
for the shutout in the Huskies Game 2 win.
During the
regular season, Drever appeared in 16 games posting an 8-7-1 record, a 1.49
goals against average, a .939 save percentage and two shutouts.
The 2021-22
campaign has been kind of a mulligan type of season, because no one could truly
know what to expect when a whole league comes back after a season off.
At the
moment, the Huskies have a legit shot to create more post-season magic. The
Cougars won both regular season encounters between the two sides, but both
games were only decided by respective 1-0 final scores.
The winner
of this series will advance to the Canada West Championship series and lock up
a berth in the U Sports final eight championship tournament, which is set for
March 24 to 27 in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
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| The Huskies want to have more victory celebrations. |
Even if the
championship trophies don’t come, the program accomplishments this season
already have to be viewed as a major victory.
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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