Repeat not in cards for Huskies

Huskies forward Kandace Cook inspired with her heart and determination.

    Winning a championship is hard and repeating as champ is even harder.
    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team learned how true that statement is. Their 2014-15 campaign officially came to an end on Saturday, when they were swept out of the Canada West playoffs by the U of Calgary Dinos. The Dinos claimed a best-of-three quarter-final series 2-0 thanks to a 5-1 victory on Friday and a 3-2 win on Saturday in Calgary.
    The Dogs season wrapped up about a month earlier than it did a year ago, when they won their first Canada West title and a bronze medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship tournament. The medal win at nationals was also a first for the program.
    Entering the 2014-15 season, the Huskies returned a large number of players from that championship squad. Even with the returnees, the majority of pre-season predictions had them finishing around third in the conference. As far as the team went, hopes were high that the accomplishments from 2013-14 could be matched or improved upon.
    The Huskies built an 11-3-2 record to sit first overall in Canada West heading into the Christmas break. They started the second semester getting swept by the Dinos in Calgary dropping two games by a combined score of 9-3.
    The players on the U of S squad admitted they weren't very good in those outings. The result seemed to set a tone for the semester, as those setbacks were the start of a seven-game skid.
    Over the final five regular season games, the Huskies showed signs of coming out of their funk posting three wins to finish at 14-10-4 good for fifth overall in Canada West. Their confidence appeared to have returned heading into the post season.

Huskies defensive forward Chelsey Sundby was a heart and soul player.

    Just 61 seconds into Game 1 of their quarter-final series with the Dinos, Janelle Parent scored to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Erika Mitschke scored on a power play just under six minutes late to increase the Dinos' lead to 2-0.
    Parent added her second of the game in the second, and Bronwyn Stevens and Iya Gavrilova potted singles to give the host a 5-0 lead at the 4:43 mark of the third.
    Following the fifth goal, the Huskies pulled starting netminder Cassidy Hendricks, who stopped 25 of 30 shots fired her way. Jerrica Waltz turned aside all five shots she faced in relief.
    Carissa Fischer made 24 saves in goal for the Dinos and her bid for a shutout was stopped thanks to a third period goal by Huskies defender Kira Bannatyne in the 5-1 final.
    In Game 2 on Saturday, Jenna Smith put the Dinos up 1-0 in the first, but standout sophomore Kaitlin Willoughby potted the equalizer for the Huskies to knot things up at 1-1. Gavrilova put the Dinos up 2-1 before the second period ended, and Smith added her second of the contest early in the third to put the hosts up 3-1.
    Canada West first team all-star defender Julia Flinton scored with under a minute to play in the third to pull the Huskies to within 3-2. The Dogs couldn't net the equalizer in the final seconds.
    Hendricks made 26 saves in the loss, while Fischer made 17 saves in the win.
    A lack of scoring depth proved ultimately to be the biggest thing that hurt the Huskies in the second semester. Forward Rachel Johnson was lost with a knee injury during a Jan. 16 home contest at the Rutherford Rink, where the Huskies dropped a 1-0 decision to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Rookie forward Chelsea Wilson left the team due to family reasons having last played in a 5-2 road loss to the Dinos on Jan. 10.
    When those two players were playing in the first semester, the Huskies had an easier time creating offence. After they left, the Huskies became essentially a one-line team offensively relying on the forward unit of Willoughby, fifth-year forward Kandace Cook and Marley Ervine for goals.
    As a whole, the Huskies scored 58 goals over their 28 game regular season, which ranked sixth in the eight team Canada West. The graduation of Cami Wooster, who was the captain of the Canada West title team, also was a big blow when it came to offensive production, as she led that club with 16 goals and 31 points.

Defender Julia Flinton was a first team Canada West all-star.

    Besides the difficulties with putting the puck in the net, the Huskies also went through a lot of stretches in the second semester where they had trouble breaking out of their own zone, when opponents were in hard on the forecheck.
    When next season rolls around, the Huskies will be without Cook and fifth-year forward Chelsey Sundby due to graduation. Cook had a breakout year offensively with career highs in goals (13) and points (22). Sundby, who is more of a defensive forward, picked up a career high five goals this season and matched her career high in points with seven.
    Both were heart and soul members of the team, whose compete level was always high game in and game out. They will be missed going forward.
    The Huskies will return a key base of players, but they need to find recruits at forward to help them on the offensive end of the rink. They can build around players like Willoughby, who had 10 goals and 16 assists for a team high 26 points. It is possible players currently on the roster could have breakout seasons in 2015-16 with another year of experience under their belts.
    While the way the 2014-15 campaign finished was far from what the Huskies envisioned, the returning players should still shoot for the bar that was set in the 2013-14 Canada West title season. The first CIS title for women's hockey was awarded in 1998, and since that time, the Huskies have only won one conference title.
    When the 2014 Canada West title win happened, it was really special for all those involved. The players that continue to wear the Huskies jersey in the future should strive to one day experience that same feeling and maybe one day exceed that with a first national title win.

    If you have any comments about this blog, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Huskies turning the corner?

An army of U of R Cougars try to stop Kandace Cook of the U of S Huskies.

    The smiles and the good-natured personalities were back.
    The players on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team are starting to look more and more like themselves. After starting the second semester with seven straight losses, the Huskies have won three of their final five regular season contests entering the Canada West Conference playoffs.
    The Huskies closed regular season splitting a home-and-home series with the U of Regina Cougars. The Cougars took Friday's encounter 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout at the Co-operators Centre in Regina. The Huskies rebounded taking Saturday's encounter at the ancient Rutherford Rink on the U of Saskatchewan campus 2-1.
    After the contest, it was pretty obvious the defending Canada West champs had the spring back in their steps. To put things simply, they looked like themselves.
    The positive vibes on the weekend started during Friday's loss. While the Cougars took the win, the Huskies did a lot of good things and could have stolen a victory on the road.
    The Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Carleen Meszaros and Kylie Gavelin. From the point, the Kandace Cook show took over.
    Before the first period ended, Cook, who is playing with a broken finger, scored to pull the Huskies to within 2-1. The fifth-year forward scored twice on the power play in the second period to put the visitors up 3-2. Individually, she was putting on arguably the best individual performance seen by a player on the Huskies women's team this season.

The Huskies celebrate a Kaitlin Willoughby equalizer in Regina on Friday.

    While the Cougars were holding a 24-10 edge in the shots on goal department after 40 minutes, the Huskies didn't appear to be in trouble holding a one-goal edge. That changed in the third.
    The hosts pushed back in a huge way, and the Huskies were pinned in their own zone for large parts of the third. The Cougars outshot the Huskies 17-5 in the frame and went ahead 4-3 on goals by Stephanie Sawchuk and Gavelin's second tally of the contest.
    It didn't appear the Huskies would get a chance to pick up the equalizer until the Cougars made an error late in the third. With 3.5 seconds to play in the third, the hosts iced the puck at a point in time they didn't really need to.
    On the offensive zone faceoff, the Huskies perfectly executed a play they had been working on for some time. Cook won a draw back to second-year standout Kaitlin Willoughby, who blasted home the equalizer to tie things up 4-4.
    The Huskies controlled play for the majority of the four-on-four and three-on-three overtime periods. They had a number of chances to net the winning goal. The best one came when feisty forward Marley Ervine wasn't able to find defender Hanna McGillivray, who was open for a backdoor pass during the three-on-three session.
    Cougars forward Kylee Kupper scored the only goal in the tie-breaking shootout in session's seventh round to win the contest for the hosts.
    Cassidy Hendricks made 39 saves over 70 minutes for the Huskies. Toni Ross turned away 17 shots over 70 minutes in goal for the Cougars.
    On Saturday in Saskatoon, fifth-year forward Chelsey Sundby scored in the final seconds of the first to put the Huskies up 1-0. On a power play at the 4:52 mark of the second, Ervine knocked home a loose puck near the Cougars goal to put the Huskies up 2-0. Cook and Willoughby picked up assists on the play.
    Before the second ended, Meghan Sherven scored for the Cougars to cut the Huskies lead to 2-1, but that score would hold up as the final outcome.

Jerrica Waltz makes a save for the Huskies.

    In her second start, rookie Jerrica Waltz picked up her first career win for the Huskies making 28 saves in a solid performance. Jennifer Schmidt turned away 23 shots in goal for the Cougars.
    As far as team play and executing systems went, the Huskies had arguably their best outing in those departments on Saturday. Their forecheck proved to be really effect in the third.
    With a 14-10-4 record, the Huskies also edged the 15-11-2 Cougars for fifth overall in Canada West. The Huskies topped the Cougars by four points in the standings due to having a 10-6 edge in regulation wins. Regulations wins are worth three points as opposed to two points in the Canada West women's standings this season.
    After Saturday's victory over the Cougars, the Huskies began to turn their sights towards the Canada West playoffs. They will face the 14-9-5 U of Calgary Dinos in a best-of-three quarter-final series. Game 1 is set for this coming Saturday in Calgary.

Dream Wedding Contest goes to Smuk and Vause

Cody Smuk and Stephanie Vause, centre, watch a Huskies game.

    It might go down likely as a Valentine's Day that may never be topped for Cody Smuk and Stephanie Vause.
    On Saturday in Saskatoon, Smuk, a former member of the Huskies men's hockey team, and Vause, a former member of the Huskies track and field team, found out they won a Dream Wedding Contest, which was organized by Crystal MacLeod of RSVP Event Design. MacLeod started the contest after her fiancé died of cancer.
    Smuk has been battling cancer since May of last year. He is currently undergoing 43 weeks of chemotherapy treatment. He proposed to Vause in late December, and she said, "Yes."
    The total package won is valued at $28,000, and the value is going up as more companies add contributions.
    Global News in Saskatoon did a great story on this contest, which is right here.

Hockey Huskies capture Universiade medals

Craig McCallum in action for the Huskies.

    A few shiny medals might make their rounds at various practices at the Rutherford Rink this week.
    A total of five players and one coach from the Huskies hockey teams were part of the Canadian squads at the 2015 Winter Universiade held in Granada, Spain.
    Defender Julia Flinton was part of Canada's women's team that won a silver medal. On Thursday, Canada fell 3-0 in the gold medal game to Russia.
    On the men's side, goaltender Ryan Holfeld, forward Craig McCallum, and defencemen Matt Delahey and Kendall McFaull helped Canada win bronze. Canada's men's team was guided by Huskies men's head coach Dave Adolph. Canada dumped the Czech Republic 6-2 in Saturday's bronze medal contest.
    The women's team was made up of players throughout Canadian Interuniversity Sport. The men's team was made up of players just from the Canada West Conference.
    With players away in Spain, the regular season for the Canada West Conference in men's hockey concluded on Jan. 30.
    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday when they travel to Calgary to take on the Mount Royal Cougars in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final playoff series.

Nogier homecoming on Wednesday

Nelson Nogier when he was with the Blades.

    The Saskatoon Blades are rolling out the red carpet for local product Nelson Nogier, who is a former member of the Blades.
    Nogier, who is an 18-year-old defenceman, spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Blades. Shortly before this season's Christmas break, the Blades dealt Nogier and 18-year-old right-winger Austin Adamson to the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for 17-year-old winger Mason McCarty, a first round selection in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft and a second round selection in the 2015 Bantam Draft.
    The Rebels visit Saskatoon on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match against the Blades at the Sasktel Centre. The contest will mark Nogier's first game back in Saskatoon since the trade.
    In connection with the return, the Blades are giving away 2,500 Nelson Nogier bobblehead dolls to those in attendance. The doll shows Nogier in his old #55 Blades jersey.
    As a lot of people know, Nogier is one my young cousins, so I find the promotion cool. I never thought I would see the day a bobblehead doll would be made of a member of my family.

    If you have any comments about this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.   

Defensive “Ds” key for Dogs

Brooke Mutch controls the puck for the Huskies.

    They are a group you almost forget about.
    When comes to the defenders on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team, Julia Flinton is easiest rearguard to notice. The member of Canada's women's team at the 2015 Winter Universiade in Granada, Spain, has a unique skill set on the offensive end, which has allowed her to collect five goals and nine assists in 23 regular season games with the Dogs.
    Going pretty much unnoticed are the team's five defensive defenders in fourth-year veterans Brooke Mutch and Hanna McGillivray, third-year vet Alyssa Dobler and sophomores Kira Bannatyne and Brooke Patron. When it comes to locking down the action the action in their own zone, they are as good as any group in the Canada West Conference. They are also durable having only lost a combined three games to injury, when McGillivray sat out three contests with a concussion early in the second semester.
    As group, they have helped the Huskies give up the fourth fewest goals in the conference with 61 tallies against in 26 games. That equates to a team 2.35 goals against average.
    That stat is even more impressive given the fact the Huskies have scored the third fewest goals in the conference at 52. The struggles on the offensive end means there is that much more pressure placed on the defenders and the goaltenders to ensure the team still has a chance to win game in and game out.
    When the Huskies do get ahead by scores of 3-1 or 4-2, the defensive defenders are able to lock things down to ensure victory will be obtained.
    Mutch might be arguably the toughest of the defensive defenders. Her minus-10 rating in the plus-minus department is more of a product of her squad's offensive struggles and the fact she usually faces the top forwards of every opponent the Huskies face.
    While bodychecking isn't legal in the women's game, the Nokomis, Sask., product has thrown the odd hit that has helped turn the momentum of the game around. She is also very solid, when it comes to calmly bringing the puck out of defensive zone to transition the play up ice.
    McGillivray is a must player you have to have on the ice when you are protecting a one-goal lead in the final minute of the third period. The Saskatoon product has a plus-one rating in 23 regular season games.
   The Huskies missed McGillivray's consistency when she was injured. The Dogs gave up 11 goals in the three game they played without McGillivray.

Alyssa Dobler has played 94 straight games for the Huskies.

    Dobler has never missed a game in her career playing in 94 straight contests for the Huskies counting action in the regular season, the Canada West playoffs and last year's Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship tournament. It almost seems automatic that she will step in and play big minutes.
    Both Bannatyne and Patron have seen their roles increase on the team as sophomores. They have stepped to the challenge knowing they won't be healthy scratched due to the fact the Huskies only have six rearguards on their roster.
    If the Huskies can shake their collective jinx around the net on the offensive end, it will make their defensive defenders that much more effective. It will decreased the pressure of giving up just one goal and make it easier to play that much more calm and in control.
    With Mutch, McGillivray, Dobler, Bannatyne and Patron controlling things on the back end, the Huskies have to feel secure about things in their own zone.
    NOTES -- The Huskies (13-10-3) close the regular season with a home-and-home series with the U of Regina Cougars (14-10-2). The two teams meet Friday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina and on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink on the U of Saskatchewan campus. Saturday's tilt will be senior's night for the Huskies, which means there will be some pre-game honours headed the way of fifth-year forwards Kandace Cook and Chelsey Sundby.

Ridley hits another milestone

Bob Ridley calls a Tigers game at The Arena.

    In what might be one of the best feel-good stories periods in sports, Medicine Hat Tigers legendary play-by-play voice Bob Ridley hit another milestone.
    On Wednesday, Ridley called his 3,600^th game as the WHL team's play-by-play voice, when the Tigers dropped a 6-3 decision to the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C. The total includes 3,202 regular season games, 378 games in the WHL playoffs and 20 games in the Memorial Cup tournament. Over most of that stretch, Ridley has also driven the Tigers bus on road trips.
    With the Tigers trailing 6-1 heading into the third period, Ridley still called his classic upbeat game. When German forward Markus Eisenschmid scored for the Tabbies to cut the Ice lead to 6-3, Ridley's call made it sound like the orange and black could still make a comeback. Ridley quickly followed with the fact that there was basically less than 30 seconds to play, so you knew a rally wasn't possible.
    You can't help but be in awe of the total of games Ridley has called. That feeling of awe grows with every Tigers contest Ridley continues to call in the future.

Farewell to Beily's

    Saskatoon's night life will never been the same after this weekend after Beily's Ultralounge on 8^th Street closes its doors forever.
    This will be the last weekend Beily's will be open, as it will be shut down after a 10-year run. For most of that run, it was the hotspot to be at in Saskatoon, before a whole bunch of different pubs opened up in downtown. NHL players often stopped in at Beily's. For a number of years, there was often an annual impromptu gathering there during the weekend NHLers came to town to support the annual fundraising golf tournament for the Royal University Hospital.
    For the longest time, it was one of the places that even as a male you would dress up classy to go out to. During most of the 10 years Beily's was open, it also was one of the few night establishments that had regular staff work there over long stretches of years. That helped attract regulars.
    Beily's industry nights on Sunday nights were legendary, as large numbers of staffs from the other night clubs in the Bridge City would meet for fun nights out. There will be one more of those fun nights this coming Sunday.
    For myself, I had a lot of memorable nights there, and I appreciated how great the staff always was. I also appreciated the fact cabs always seemed to be available at the end of the night.
    I think the night I was best known for being out there was a Sunday back in 2012 when I bought about 25 members of the Saskatoon Valkyries shots to celebrate one of their victories in Western Women's Canadian Football League playoffs.
    Cheers to Beily's. Thanks for all the great times.

    If you have any comments about this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.