Drever’s presence give Dogs shot at major
upset
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| The Huskies aim to enjoy some good moments hosting nationals. |
They face a big one in the quarter-final round at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament, which runs Thursday through to Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place. The eighth seeded Huskies will take on the top seeded Concordia University Stingers as the feature game at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at Merlis.
“I think we just have to come out strong and play our game,” said Drever, who is playing out her fifth and final year of U Sports eligibility. “When we shy away from doing the things that we’re really good at is when teams kind of take advantage of that.
“I think we just have to come out with a good forecheck and hopefully pop one first would be ideal for us. We just have to come out and do our things and run line by line, and I think we will be OK.”
The Huskies finished fourth in Canada West Conference with a 19-7-2 mark and fell in a best-of-three conference quarter-final series in a series deciding Game 3 to the U of Calgary Dinos 2-0. The Stingers posted a perfect 25-0 regular season record and captured the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec title with a 4-2 post-season mark.
Concordia University has also appeared in the title game of the last two U Sports Championship tournaments. In 2022 in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Stingers blanked the Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 to capture the Golden Path Trophy in the championship final.
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| Camryn Drever is a second team all-Canadian all-star. |
At last year’s tournament held in Montreal, the Stingers dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker in overtime to the eighth seeded Mount Royal University Cougars.
During the 2023-24 regular season with the Huskies, Drever posted a 15-4-2 record, a 1.33 goals against average, a .954 save percentage and five shutouts. She was named the player of the year and goaltender of the year for the Canada West. On Wednesday night, Drever was named a second team all-Canadian all-star.
Huskies head coach Steve Kook has a tonne of faith that Drever can give the host side a chance to get past the Stingers.
“You see the firepower these teams bring, I think it is a comfort having Cam (Drever) back there,” said Kook. “We’ve asked Cam to be a stalwart for our program over the last three years.
“We’ll ask her to do it one more time for three days.”
Forward Emilie Lussier had a head turning rookie year for the Stingers topping the team in regular season scoring with 34 points coming off 18 goals and 16 assists. She was named a second team all-Canadian all-star and was named to the U Sports all-rookie team.
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| Sophie Lalor breaks into the offensive zone for the Huskies. |
Stingers head coach Julie Chu said the experience her side gained in their previous two trips to the U Sports Championship tournament helps, but she added each season writes its own story.
“I think like everything we build off what we accomplished in the past,” said Chu, who was named the U Sports coach of the year. “For those players that lived that, they are going to build off of it.
“For those players that lived the loss last year, they are going to build off of that. Those that weren’t a part of our program are going to build of their experiences. I think for us the great thing is when you have a veteran crew that has experienced nationals at least know what is the rhythm of going to a hotel (and) being surrounded by other incredible teams and athletes.
“Like anything, this is our new team. That was really important to us in training camp is to make sure we weren’t stuck in last year and make sure we weren’t stuck in the previous years. (It is) what are we going to do this year with this group that is different.”
Fifth-year forward Sophie Lalor led the Huskies in regular season scoring with 22 points coming off 12 goals and 10 assists. Fifth-year forward Kara Kondrat was second in team scoring with 18 points coming six goals and 12 assists.
Third-year forward Mallory Dyer recorded 10 goals during the regular season for the Huskies. Defender Isabella Pozzi, who is in her fifth year, topped the Huskies in defence scoring in the regular season with 13 points coming off four goals and nine assists.
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| Kara Kondrat finished second in team scoring for the Huskies. |
“This was our vision when we first opened the place,” said Kook, who team was off for 24 days heading into Thursday’s quarter-final. “This would be a perfect hosting spot for a national championship.
“It doesn’t always work. You try to get timely bids for when your team is right and you have a veteran squad. It is fortunate for us that it worked out this way.
“For us, we just excited to host the country and be able to show off the building. Like I said, I think this building is perfect for hosting events just like this.”
Drever, who helped the St. Albert Slash win two Esso Cup titles as national under-18 AAA female hockey champions in 2017 and 2018, wants to finish her time with the Huskies on a high note. The Edmonton product did add that no matter what happens at nationals she will always reflect fondly on her time with the Huskies.
“I get emotional thinking about it,” said Drever. “It has been like a heck of a six years.
“There have been lots of ups and downs and just trusting the process I think has been the biggest thing for me. Just to kind of see it all come together and to end off hosting nationals is a pretty incredible feeling.
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| Isabella Pozzi controls the back end for the Huskies. |
NOTE – I put together an advancer piece on the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament for The Canadian Press. That story can be found by clicking right here.
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