Retirement brings Adolph era of Huskies hockey to a close

U Sports wins leader brought dry humour, honesty

Dave Adolph, centre, makes adjustments from the Huskies bench.

In talking about an injury to one of his players, Dave Adolph decided to show some leg.

Following a playoff win by the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team this past season, Adolph, who is Huskies head coach, was asked in a post-game media scrum about left-winger Collin Shirley leaving the contest early after favouring one of his legs.

The bench boss said his standout player was fine. Adolph proceeded to pull up one of his pant legs to point out the area of the leg Shirley sustained a big bruise to reinforce the skilled forward would be fine from that minor ding.

At times, you almost never knew when the dry humour from Adolph was going to surface. Often, the right situation presented itself to bring it out.

During a Thursday practice this past February, the Huskies were having one of their energetic practices to music, which is a weekly tradition on that day. Adolph is always excited and energetic in a fun way during those sessions.

He would blow his whistle to begin the next drills in that session, and he allowed the players to take control of what was happening on the ice.

Adolph looked like he was going to jump into one of the drills but never did.

Dave Adolph behind the Huskies bench at the Rutherford Rink.

I was able to call him over to the bench to fire off a fun interview question. When Adolph was a defenceman with the Huskies, he helped the Huskies win a national title in 1983 in his fifth and final year of eligibility alongside high scoring captain Willie Desjardins, who is a former NHL bench boss and head coach and general manager of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

I mentioned to Adolph that if the Tigers were having a high energy practice like the one the Huskies were having, Desjardins would be trying to score to prove he still had it.

I asked Adolph why he wasn’t trying to score?

“I scored a hat trick once, and I am good,” said Adolph. “There is no need to over-extend it.”

On another occasion back in 2017, the Huskies advanced to the U Sports title of the University Cup national championship tournament to face the host University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in Fredericton, N.B.

A reporter asked Adolph, who had already been named the U Sports coach of the year for men’s hockey that season, what it would mean if the Huskies could win that title game.

Adolph responded in a matter of fact tone that it would allow him come back and coach next season.

He often would give jabs to long time Saskatoon StarPhoenix sportswriter Darren Zary, and Zary could dish it right back and those exchanges never became personal. Of course, the two have seemingly known each other forever and those exchanges were always seen as fun at the end of the day and created a memory.

Dave Adolph eyes up the on ice action.

U Sports is set to lose one of its all-time biggest beauties, who happens be the circuit’s all-time leader in career regular season victories for men’s hockey at 488.

On Monday, the Huskies announced Adolph would be retiring from his position effective May 1, 2021. Due to the fact all U Sports hockey action has been cancelled for the 2020-21 campaign due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, the 61-year-old veteran bench boss has already coached his final game with the team.

“After a lot of self-discussion, I’ve decided that now is the right time to step back as the men’s hockey coach,” said Adolph in a release. “Over the last 28 years, the team has accomplished more than I could have imagined, and my family and I are all proud to be members of the Huskie men’s hockey program.”

Overall, Adolph has put in 37 complete seasons with the Huskies men’s hockey team.

He patrolled the blue-line for five seasons. Adolph skated in the 1977-78 campaign, took a season off and returned for four straight campaigns from 1979 to 1983. In total, Adolph appeared in 117 regular season games collecting 10 goals and 34 assists.

The defenceman’s playing days were capped in 1983 by the Huskies winning the U Sports – then known as the CIAU - title game 6-2 over the Concordia University Stingers at the University Cup tournament held in Moncton, N.B.

Following his playing days, Adolph became a teacher at Saskatoon’s Aden Bowman Collegiate and rejoined the Huskies as an assistant coach for five seasons from 1984 to 1989.

The Swift Current, Sask., product then left “The Bridge City” to become the head coach of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team for four seasons from 1989 to 1993.

Adolph returned to his alma mater becoming the Huskies head coach before the start of the 1993-94 campaign.

Between his time with the Pronghorns and Huskies, Adolph coached in 1,016 games including action in the U Sports regular season, Canada West Conference playoffs and University Cup tournament collecting 568 wins, 402 losses including extra time setbacks and 46 ties.

The Huskies team picture from their 2016 Canada West title win.

In U Sports regular season action, Adolph has coach in 868 games posting a U Sports career record 488 wins, 334 losses including extra time setbacks and 46 ties.

With just the Huskies, Adolph has coached in 904 games including action in the U Sports regular season, Canada West Conference playoffs, and University Cup tournament collecting 536 wins, 330 losses including extra time setbacks and 38 ties. He was named the Canada West coach of the year for men’s hockey on four occasions.

In U Sports regular season action as Huskies head coach, Adolph has been behind the bench for 756 games posting 456 wins, 262 losses including extra time setbacks and 38 ties.

All those wins were piled up with the Huskies calling the ancient Rutherford Rink and then Merlis Belsher Place home.

After the Huskies missed the post-season in the first two seasons under Adolph’s watch, he has guided the Huskies to their current active streak of making the playoffs for 25 campaigns in a row. Adolph has coached the Huskies to seven Canada West titles and 16 appearances in the U Sports championship tournament - the University Cup.

A quote on Twitter from one of Adolph’s former captains in star offensive-defenceman Jesse Forsberg gives a glimpse into why Adolph was successful.

What a legend! Not an easy gig coaching guys with big egos out of junior. Won’t find a more passionate or loyal guy. Believed in me to grow from an average junior player with a hot temper to an All-Canadian..with a hot temper. Going to be tough to replace. What a career! #3types

— Jesse Forsberg (@jbforsberg) December 7, 2020

Forsberg wrote, “What a legend! Not an easy gig coaching guys with big egos out of junior. Won’t find a more passionate or loyal guy. Believed in me to grow from an average junior player with a hot temper to an All-Canadian with a hot temper. Going to be tough to replace. What a career! #3types.”

Dave Adolph, back row right, focuses on the play on ice.

To be fair, Forsberg might have been a bit too hard in describing what the players were like when they came to the Huskies. What Forsberg’s comment did get at was the managing that Adolph had to do.

The players that came to Adolph out of the junior ranks were guided by a wide variety of coaches like Desjardins, Peter Anholt, Michael Dyck, Marc Habscheid, Don Hay, Lorne Molleken and Brent Sutter.

Players that arrive to a new team after being under the tutelage of those bench bosses have a programmed set idea of what things are supposed to look like when they are going right. Each of those visions will be slightly different from each other.

Adolph was able to mold the commonalities to get everyone to bond and jell together, while dealing with regular university politics too.

All of sudden, mottos like “no one outworks the Dogs” or “we all play the Cody Smuk way” became part of who the players were.

The “we all play the Cody Smuk way” motto came in tribute to hard-working, team-first, glue guy forward Cody Smuk, who passed away from cancer at age 26 in June of 2015. The players aspired to continue to hold those qualities high.

The players also learned pretty quickly that Adolph knows the game of hockey real well too.

Dave Adolph, back row left, keeps cool during a timeout.

It was common to see players that weren’t maybe viewed as professional prospects in junior develop into professional prospects by the end of their time with the Huskies. In a number of cases, those players should have been catching the eye of the NHL, but that will have to go down as the NHL’s loss.

Upon arrival, players learned they had become part of a new family in Huskies hockey that dated back to 1910. For players who had a strong identification with their junior teams like Brennan Bosch and Ryan Holfeld did with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and Derek Hulak did with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, they learned they could have that same strong identification with the Huskies.

Adolph will always be proud to note the players took care of their school work in the classroom too, which set them up for life after hockey.

Of course, the toughest pill to swallow on the wins and losses front was the fact the Huskies made the U Sports title game three times with Adolph as head coach and fell in all three appearances.

The most heartbreaking was arguably in 2005. The Huskies held a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes and ended up in a 4-3 overtime loss to the host University of Alberta Golden Bears, who are the Huskies “forever rivals,” at the rink once known as the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alta.

Adolph deserved to win at least one U Sports national title as Huskies head coach. The fact that didn’t happen leans more to the lesson that life and sports isn’t fair sometimes.

You can a major number of things right, but the big team goal might still be never achieved.

Molleken as Blades head coach and general manager and Jack Brodsky as Blades owner went through a similar fate in the major junior ranks never being able to win a WHL title or a Memorial Cup title as CHL champions. They both did a large amount of things right and deserved to achieve those big accomplishments in WHL and Memorial Cup titles at least once.

The Huskies team photo from the 2020 Canada West title win.

Adolph did things the right way and had his own dry sense of humour spin on things while doing them. He was one of kind, and the head coach that takes the Huskies men’s hockey team into the era after the COVID-19 pandemic will have monster shoes to fill.

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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Fun with photos with the ancient Rutherford Rink

Logan McVeigh celebrates scoring in the 2016 Canada West final.

The Rutherford Rink was the place its inhabitants loved to hate and also hated to love.

The old home of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams was a vastly out of date facility that needed to be replaced for at least the final 30 years of the close to 89 years it was in operation.

It made the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, which was also known as “the Crushed Can,” look like the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

The ancient Rutherford Rink invented the terms “rust break” and “rust delay.”

Those delays happened when a puck was fired into the rook of the facility causing rust to rain down from the corroded support beams on to the ice surface. The Huskies trainers would leap on to the ice to clean up the mess in record time to allow games to proceed.

The building had a seemingly endless list of surprises. In September of 2014, water shot out from a goalpost hole where the net sat on the south end of the rink.

The Huskies had to adjust training until that little surprise was fixed.

Still, the ancient and cramped facility produced lots of memories. Being contained in such close quarters, everyone inside the rink from players, coaches, staffers and maintenance personnel got to know each other real well.

The Huskies also had lots of memorable moment on the Ruthy’s sheet of ice. One of those is the lead picture of centre Logan McVeigh celebrating his goal in Game 2 of the 2016 Canada West Championship series against the Huskies “Forever Rivals” the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

McVeigh’s third period goal gave the Huskies a 2-1 edge in the game, which they would win 3-2 to sweep the best-of-three series 2-0. The Huskies were playing that season to honour the memory of the team’s gritty, glue-guy forward in Cody Smuk, who passed away from cancer in June of 2015 at age 26.

Having moved to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014, I only got to see a small portion of the Rutherford’s history. It opened in late 1929, and the official grand opening was held on January 23, 1930 with a men’s hockey game between the Huskies and the University of Manitoba Bisons.

The 2017-18 campaign was its last full season. The Huskies men’s team closed it out with one last U Sports exhibition game on September 23, 2018, when they downed the York University Lions 5-2.

The Huskies proceeded to move to Merlis Belsher Place for two seasons, before Merlis was converted into a field hospital in waiting to help with the battled against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

The Ruthy sits empty with a significant amount of decommission work carried out on the inside of the building.

The Rutherford Rink was a dump, but for those who got to inhabit it, it was affectionately our dump.

Without further ado, here are some photos I shot at the Rutherford Rink from 2014 to 2018.

Smuk’s night in January of 2015

On January 30, 2015, the 85^th birthday of the Rutherford Rink was held but the star of the night was Huskies men’s hockey team gritty, glue-guy forward Cody Smuk.

Smuk, who was fully engaged with a battle with cancer that would take his life in late June of 2015, was honoured before the Huskies men’s hockey game against their “Forever Rivals” the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

Smuk dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff and all the member of both the Golden Bears and Huskies came over to shake his hand before the game.

“Willo” drives home her hatty

Huskies women’s hockey team star winger/centre Kaitlin Willoughby drives home her hat trick goal on February 17, 2017 to power her side past the University of Regina Cougars 4-3 in Game 1 of a Canada West quarter-final series.

I could have made an album of just Willoughby’s moments alone at the Rutherford Rink.

#24 shines brightly on the Huskies

Huskies men’s hockey team forward Carson Stadnyk celebrates scoring with 24 seconds remaining in the third period of a series deciding Game 3 of a Canada West semifinal series on February 24, 2018 against the University of Calgary Dinos.

The goal gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead. They added an empty-net goal in the 3-1 win. Of course, #24 was the number worn by late Huskies men’s hockey team gritty glue-guy forward Cody Smuk.

Stadnyk’s goal was the last playoff series winner scored at the Rutherford Rink.

Cable slides home Canada West title winner

Huskies men’s hockey team right-winger Levi Cable slides home what would be the winning goal of the 2016 Canada West Championship series in the third period on March 5, 2016.

The Huskies swept the best-of-three series against their “Forever Rivals” the University of Alberta Golden Bears 2-0 with a 3-2 victory in Game 2 of the set where Cable scored his series winner.

“Rust break” for referees

The officials clear up “rust break” or “rust delay” during a Huskies women’s hockey game in the 2015-16 season.

I could do a whole picture post on “rust breaks” from the Rutherford Rink.

Regular “rust break” clean up

In this photo, the trainers for the Huskies men’s hockey team show off a regular clean up for a “rust break” or “rust delay” during the 2016-17 campaign.

Spafford’s goal celebration with Alm

Huskies men’s hockey team forward Matthew Spafford celebrates scoring a goal with Huskies ardent supporter Rod Alm celebrating on the other side of the glass in a game on January 15, 2016.

In the picture, it appears the two are about to high-five each other.

Stars’ Parker fired up over post-season goal

Saskatoon Stars captain Mackenna Parker (#11) is all fired after scoring for the Saskatoon Stars in Game 1 of the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League championship series on March 23, 2018.

The Stars, who played a handful of games at the Rutherford Rink in their history, downed the Prince Albert Northern Bears 5-3 on this night.

Huskies women’s team takes 2014 Canada West title

The Huskies women’s hockey team celebrates winning their first Canada West Championship with a team photo here on March 2, 2014.

Cook drives to the goal

Huskies women’s hockey team “Mighty Mouse” centre Kandace Cook, who stands 5-foot-2, wouldn’t be denied driving to the goal for a scoring chance against an army of University of Regina Cougars players.

Faithful cheer on the Huskies

A sellout crowd cheers a goal by the Huskies men’s hockey team in Game 2 of the Canada West Championship series on March 5, 2016.

Roommate joy

Huskies women’s hockey team “Mighty Mouse” centre Kandace Cook celebrates a goal with netminder Cassidy Hendricks on January 17, 2015.

The two were roommates during the 2014-15 campaign.

Herner goes super fan

Huskies women’s hockey team forward Kori Herner goes super fan cheering on the Huskies men’s team in Game 2 of the Canada West Championship series on March 5, 2016.

Wrap up of another game day

Rutherford Rink maintenance staffer Calvin Rempel floods the ice at the end of the night after a playoff win by the Huskies men’s hockey team on February 25, 2017.

Smith celebrates Canada West semi series winner

Huskies women’s hockey team centre Chloe Smith, centre, celebrates scoring what would be the winning goal of the Canada West semifinal series on February 24, 2018.

Smith’s tally allowed the Huskies to pick up a 2-1 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Game 2 of the series and sweep the best-of-three set 2-0. Her goal was that last women’s playoff series winner at Rutherford.

Broken glass delay

Another Rutherford Rink surprise saw a pane of glass break during a Huskies men’s playoff game on February 23, 2018.

All hands were on deck to fix the glass. Huskies women’s hockey team equipment manager Dave Westbury and long time Huskies men’s hockey team equipment manager Peter Herd are in the middle of the action fixing the glass.

On a side note, the replacement pane of glass had a sticker on it that said the glass pane was made in 1989.

The sweetest of title sweeps

The Huskies men’s hockey team celebrates winning the Canada West Championship with a team photo on March 5, 2016.

The Huskies were playing to honour the memory of gritty, glue-guy forward Cody Smuk, who passed away from cancer at age 26 in June of 2015. Members of Smuk’s family were part of the team picture including his father, Marty, mother, Darla, and fiancée Stephanie Vause.

Yours truly with McVeigh

To close the photo fun from the Rutherford Rink, a picture of myself with Huskies men’s hockey team centre Logan McVeigh during the celebrations of winning the Canada West Championship on March 5, 2016.

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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Will fate finally fall way of Huskies men’s hockey team?

U of S faces “forever rivals” in Canada West final again

Parker Thomas (#23) jets down the wing for the Huskies.

    Will the 2018-19 campaign finally be the year of the Dog?

    Or more accurately, will the 2018-19 campaign finally be a dream season for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team where they go all the way.

    Formed in 1910, the Huskies are one of the most storied programs in the history of U Sports. Year in and year out, they are one of the powerhouse squads in Canadian university hockey.

    The Huskies, who have won 17 Canada West titles, are backed by a sizable fanbase and a very large and loyal group of alumni. For the alums, being part of the Huskies holds a special meaning they take to their souls from the fact the program has had such a positive impact on their lives.

    For coaches, staffers and supporters, they hold the Huskies dear to their hearts.

Golden Bears F Stephane Legault battles Huskie D Tanner Lishchynsky.

    Despite the special history the Huskies have, fate has only allowed U of S to win the University Cup, what is now known as the David Johnston University Cup, just once as U Sports national champions in 1983. The Huskies have appeared in the David Johnston University Cup national championship tournament 19 times and advanced to the event’s title game on seven occasions.

    Since winning the their only national title in 1983, the Huskies have make the U Sports final four times in 1987, 2005, 2014 and 2017 and come up on the short end of the scoreboard on each of those occasions.

    Part of both excitement and cruelty in university sports is one loss can do you in at a national championship tournament. With U Sports switching to a final-eight format that is played through single elimination for both the men’s and women’s national hockey championship tournaments, Canadian university hockey teams began to experience the pure form of “March Madness.”

Huskies G Taran Kozun was named Canada West’s goaltender of the year.

    Ultimately, one loss at a national championship tournament doesn’t take away from the fact a team that appeared there had a strong season. It is hard to get to nationals.

    When you look at the Huskies “forever rivals,” the University of Alberta Golden Bears, it really feels like the Huskies have be short changed by the hand of fate.

    The Huskies and Golden Bears are the first two university men’s hockey teams to be formed in Western Canada, and they first met head-to-head on February 27, 1911.

    The Golden Bears have won the David Johnston University Cup 16 times. They claimed both the Canada West and U Sports national titles last season. Over the last five seasons, the Golden Bears have won three national titles.

    Over the years, it seems the Golden Bears have always been there to crush the Huskies hopes. Last year, the two sides met in U Sports national semifinal contest that saw the Huskies take a 2-0 lead only for the Golden Bears to rally back for a 3-2 overtime victory as skilled forward and agitator Trevor Cox netted the winner.

Golden Bears F Trevor Cox scored a big playoff goal against the Huskies.

    In 2018-19, the Huskies had a dream regular season posting a 25-3 record to finish first in the Canada West Conference. The Huskies regular season win total and standings points total of 50 were team records.

    Despite the outstanding campaign by the Dogs, the Golden Bears were right at their heels finishing second in Canada West with a 24-3-1 record.

    The two sides split their four regular season encounters and will face each other in the best-of-three Canada West Championship series for a fourth straight year. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    Game 2 is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis, and if necessary, Game 3 will be held on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    The Huskies and Golden Bears have combined to win the last 22 straight Canada West titles.

Golden Bears F Luke Philp was the Canada West player of the year.

    You can be sure Cox will be reminding the Huskies players of past post-season heartbreaks as part of trash talking sessions on the ice.

    One wonders if the Huskies dreams of winning conference and national titles will again be dashed by the Golden Bears.

    By making it to the conference final, both teams will play in the David Johnston University Cup national championship tournament slated for March 14 to 17 in Lethbridge, Alta.

    The last time the Huskies won the Canada West title might have been their most memorable conference championship to date. On March 5, 2016 at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the Huskies swept the Golden Bears in the Canada West title series 2-0 with a 3-2 victory in Game 2.

    That year, it felt like the Huskies were ordained to win it all.

Logan McVeigh (#14) celebrates a goal in the 2016 Canada West final.

    They were playing to honour the memory of gritty forward and alumnus Cody Smuk, who passed away due to cancer in June of 2015. Smuk, who played for the Huskies from 2010 to 2014, was known for his hard work and being the ultimate glue guy in the dressing room.

    The Huskies brought Smuk’s jersey on to the ice for the post-game celebrations and his family on to the ice for the team picture with the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy and the Canada West championship banner. A number of Smuk’s teammates were still with the Huskies at that time.

    Unfortunately, a 2-1 triple overtime loss in a national semifinal contest to the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men dashed the hopes of winning a U Sports national title. The X-Men’s winning goal came on a power play from a borderline weak checking from behind penalty on Huskies winger Levi Cable.

    Those events made the Huskies 2016 foray to the David Johnston University Cup one of the most heartbreaking ever.

Kendall McFaull shows Cody Smuk's jersey to the crowd in 2016.

    This year, the Huskies will again give it their best shot to win the Canada West and U Sports national titles. Huskies head coach Dave Adolph was named the Canada West coach of the year for the fourth time in his 26 seasons with the team.

    Sophomore Huskies netminder Taran Kozun was named the Canada West goaltender of the year for a sensational season.

    The Golden Bears captured four major individual Canada West awards. Third-year forward Luke Philp was named the player of the year for a second straight campaign after leading Canada West in scoring with 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points.

Carson Stadnyk was a first team Canada West all-star.

    Third-year rearguard Jason Fram claimed defenceman of the year honours, forward Grayson Pawlenchuk was the rookie of the year and fifth-year forward Riley Kieser captured the student-athlete community service award.

    As far as Canada West all-star selections went, Kozun, forward Carson Stadnyk and defenceman Jesse Forsberg picked up first team selections from the Huskies, while forward Kohl Bauml was a second team all-star. Huskies defenceman Gordie Ballhorn made the all-rookie team.

    The conference all-stars from the Golden Bears included Philp and Fram on the first team and netminder Zach Sawchenko, Kieser and forward Cole Sanford named to the second team. Pawlenchuk was named to the all-rookie team.

    The Huskies have won 12 straight games including action in the regular season and playoffs and are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    The Golden Bears have won 15 straight games including action in the regular season and playoffs and are rated first in the U Sport Top 10 rankings.

The Huskies and Golden Bears will faceoff for the Canada West final.

    These teams have one of the best pure rivalries in sports and the Canada West title series will be hotly contested.

    While both sides are deserving of going all the way, the Huskies wouldn’t mind a little help from the hand of fate for once.

    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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    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.

Bauml regains top offensive form with Huskies

Kohl Bauml scored twice for the Huskies on Friday night.

    Kohl Baum has found the groove that has eluded him since his rookie season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    On Friday at Merlis Belsher Place, Bauml potted a pair of goals in the second period to lift the Huskies to a 4-0 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a U Sports regular season clash before 1,998 spectators. With those goals, Bauml has recorded points in his last five straight games posting four goals and four assists over that span of time.

Kohl Bauml, right, has points in his last five straight games.

    The fourth-year forward had nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points appearing in all of the Huskies 23 regular season games to date. The Saskatoon product is having his best season since he led the Huskies in scoring as a rookie in the 2015-16 campaign posting 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points appearing in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games.

    Last season, Bauml, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 170 pounds, posted his lowest offensive totals in a U Sports campaign recording four goals and nine assists for 13 points. His work ethic was there, but the offensive numbers didn’t come.

The Huskies celebrate Kohl Bauml’s first goal on Friday night.

    The Huskies have a deep and talented squad, so when Bauml wasn’t able to contribute offensively on the scoresheet, others did.

    Now that Bauml has rediscovered his top offensive form, he helps make the Huskies that much more of a contender for the Canada West Conference title and the U Sports national championship.

    U of S is currently riding a five game winning streak and sits first in Canada West with a 20-3 record holding a one point lead over the 19-3-1 University of Alberta Golden Bears, who are the defending Canada West and U Sports champions. The Huskies are also rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

Collin Shirley scored the Huskies fourth goal on Friday night.

    Against the Thunderbirds on Friday night, Bauml, who has built a reputation as being one of the Huskies best ambassadors in the community, scored one goal off of grit and another off of finesse.

    With the Huskies holding a 1-0 lead thanks to a first period goal from sophomore defenceman Sam Ruopp, Bauml extended the host side’s edge to 2-0 potting the rebound of a shot taken by linemate Levi Cable at the 6:57 mark of the second frame.

    Just under four minutes later, Bauml scored a power-play goal to put the Huskies up 3-0 converting a backdoor feed from a beauty set up pass from centre Logan McVeigh.

    From that point, Bauml’s Huskies teammates ensured the Thunderbirds weren’t able to get up off the ground.

    With 40.6 seconds remaining in the third period, sophomore forward Collin Shirley tipped home an Alex Forsberg shot from the right side boards on another power play to give the Huskies a 4-0 advantage.

Evan Fiala was sound on defence for the Huskies.

    During the course of the contest, the Huskies had the Thunderbirds pinned in their own zone for extended periods and had the potential to really bury the visitors. The score could have looked worse had it not been for a stellar 37-save performance from UBC netminder and Saskatoon product Rylan Toth.

    The Thunderbirds fell to 11-10-2 with the loss, but they still sit fifth in the Canada West standings and have a playoff berth locked up.

    Sophomore goalie Taran Kozun, who has become a star this season between the pipes for the Huskies, stopped all 17 shots sent his way to pick up his third shutout of the campaign.

    The two teams go at it again tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    Bauml is one of the Huskies top good guys, and it is always great to see good things happen to good people.

    Hopefully, he will have a lot more big offensive moments as the season and the upcoming post-season rolls along.

Taran Kozun made 17 saves to pick up the shutout in goal for the Huskies.

    NOTE – Friday’s game was the “Huskies Fight Cancer Game” for the men’s hockey team. Money was raised for equipment purchases for the Saskatoon Cancer Centre through Choc ’la Cure. The Huskies had superkid Roan, who is battling leukemia, drop the puck for a pre-game ceremonial faceoff. 

    He was joined at centre ice by Marty and Darla Smuk. Marty and Darla are the parents of Huskies alum Cody Smuk, who passed away from cancer in June of 2015.

    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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#24 shines brightly on Huskies in thrilling Game 3 playoff win

Carson Stadnyk reacts to scoring his Game 3 series winning goal for the Huskies.

    When the dust settled, it seemed like the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team was ordained to win their final playoff game at the ancient Rutherford Rink.
    On Saturday night, the Dogs were locked in a 1-1 tie late in the third period with the University of Calgary Dinos in a series deciding Game 3 of a Canada West best-of-three semifinal set. Inside of the final 30 seconds, Huskies offensive defenceman Jesse Forsberg flipped a smart pass into the Dinos zone to spring sophomore left-winger Carson Stadnyk on a breakaway.

Carson Stadnyk (#16) pots his series winning goal for the Huskies.

    Stadnyk broke towards the U of C goal and flipped a shot past Dinos rookie goalie Jordan Papirny with exactly 24 seconds remaining to play in the frame to give the Huskies a 2-1 edge. Third-year right-winger Levi Cable added an empty-net goal with three seconds to play to round out a 3-1 victory for the Huskies.

    The win allowed the Huskies to take the best-of-three series with the Dinos 2-1.

    “I just blacked out,” said Stadnyk about his series winning goal. “I didn’t even know what was going on.

    “Jesse (Forsberg) just flicked it to the middle, and it just went off my hand twice. It just quickly went past their D-man. I had no time to shoot, so I just flicked it.

Carson Stadnyk rushes up ice for the Huskies.

    “Just from there, I had no idea what happened.”

    U of S advances to the best-of-three Canada West championship series to face the defending conference champion University of Alberta Golden Bears. Game 1 of that series is expected to start on Friday in Edmonton, Alta. That means all futures Huskies men’s hockey playoff games will be held at Merlis Belsher Place, which is the new twin pad rink being constructed at the U of S.

    The Huskies, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, also earned a berth in the U Sports national championship tournament, which runs March 15 to 18 and is being hosted by the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in Fredericton, N.B.

    When Stadnyk scored, the time remaining in the third period matched the #24 worn by the late Cody Smuk, who was the Huskies hard-working, glue guy and heart and soul forward who passed away from cancer in June of 2015.

Alex Forsberg scored the first goal on Saturday for the Huskies.

    Only four players remain on the Huskies roster that were teammates with Smuk during his final season in 2013-14 in captain Kendall McFaull, Connor Cox, Josh Roach and John Lawrence.

    Smuk would have definitely smiled seeing the current Huskies enjoying a final playoff Rutherford memory.

    After Stadnyk scored, he was buried under a dogpile by the four other Huskies skaters on the ice.

    “I just remember running to Jesse (Forsberg), and I had no idea,” said Stadnyk. “I just got pounded on, and it was awesome.

    “Even coming to the bench, we were all loving it.”

    Alex Forsberg scored for the Huskies at the 2:52 mark of the first period to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. A tight checking and very physical contest ensued from that point with both teams throwing a number of big hits.

The Game 3 clash between the Huskies and Dinos was physical.

    When centre Logan Fisher scored for the Dinos at the 6:38 mark of the third to tie things up at 1-1, it appeared Saturday’s clash could head for overtime. All that tally did was set up the dramatics at the end of the third period.

    “They have a hell of a team over there,” said Stadnyk. “It just came down to one play, and we were on the right side of the one play.

    “We got the luck there. We’re a tight group of guys here. It was just awesome to win that and just go from here now with these guys.”

    Rookie netminder Taran Kozun made 23 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. The Nipawin, Sask., product has been playing in place of star netminder Jordon Cooke, who was injured early in the Huskies 6-4 victory over the Dinos in Game 1 on Thursday.

Goalie Taran Kozun catches a high dump in for the Huskies.

    Cooke is on crutches and his return during the rest of the Huskies playoff run is uncertain.

    Kozun, who was named the WHL goaltender of the year in the 2014-15 campaign when he was with the Seattle Thunderbirds, was solid playing in relief of Cooke.

    “It is a huge opportunity and a huge win,” said Kozun. “I’ve battled with Cookie all year (in practice).

    “He is one hell of a goalie, (and) one hell of a leader. Everything I’ve done out there today is all from watching him all year (like) how calm he stays all the time.

    “I’m just trying to do my best to be like him. I just have to thank the boys for stepping up big too. They made my night a lot easier just playing hard every night.”

    Papirny turned away 29-of-31 shots to take the setback in goal for the Dinos, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    Huskies head coach Dave Adolph had some fun in the post-game media scrum saying his team designed the dramatic finish.

Netminder Jordan Papirny makes a stop for the Dinos.

    “A good NFL coach they run it down,” said Adolph. “They run the clock down to the last 10 seconds and work it inside the five yard-line and make sure the opposition doesn’t have any time left on the clock to run a play, and that is what we did.

    “That was our plan was to get the rolling bouncing puck to Connor McDavid, and then watch him dribble it in.”

    On the more serious front, Adolph said depth was key in helping his Huskies get past the Dinos. The Huskies entire first line of Michael Sofillas, Roach and Logan McVeigh were all out due to injury along with sophomore centre Wyatt Johnson.

    The U of S bench boss hopes to have a few of his injured players back by the time U Sports nationals comes around, but he was pleased with how the team’s talented reserves filled in.

The Huskies celebrate an empty-net goal from Levi Cable (#10).

    “Guys step up,” said Adolph. “Carson Stadnyk stepped up.

    “I thought Collin Shirley had a great night. Kozie (Taran Kozun) is a really good player. Man does he handle the puck.

    “Sam Ruopp stepped in tonight. That is what it is all about. It is all the unsung heroes that now get an opportunity to see what it is all about.”

    Adolph said another big thing that helped the Huskies was the return of one of his long time assistant coaches who stepped away at the end of last season.

    “We brought Troy Walkington back,” said Adolph. “Nobody ever talks about that.

    “He wasn’t going to coach this year. He was just going to be around. We asked him to come back and run our power play, and our power play has been spectacular the last three weeks.

    “There are a lot of guys that deserve an awful big thank you.”

The Huskies celebrate their Canada West semifinal series win.

    Now the Huskies turn their attention to the next step in the playoff trail. Stadnyk said his team can be excited about earning a berth at U Sports nationals, but the squad’s first focus has to be the Canada West Conference championship series.

    “We still have one more series to go here,” said Stadnyk. “We are going to go there as hard as we can and be a tight knit group and do what we do best.”

    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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    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.