“Babs” coming home to coach Huskies and it is good

Mike Babcock pictured in a Sports Illustrated from 2010.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies blew up the Internet and some social media lines early Saturday afternoon.

As the lunch hour started in Saskatchewan, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that all-world coach Mike Babcock was expected to be announced as the new head coach for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team in the coming week.

Just short of an hour later, Huskie Athletics put out a release that Babcock, who grew up in Saskatoon and is a graduate of Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School, will indeed become the Huskies next head coach.

Babcock will lead the Huskies on a full-time volunteer basis for the next two seasons.

Babcock will be taking over for legendary Huskies head coach Dave Adolph, who announced on Dec. 7, 2020 that he would be retiring. Adolph, who holds the U Sports career record for coaching victories at 488, will officially retire on May 1, and Babcock will take over the head coach role from that point.

In an interview with Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Babcock said he was a transfer coach and his goal was to work with Dave King, who is still the greatest coach the Huskies men’s team has ever had, and a hiring committee to find a new long-term head coach for the program.

Babcock, who has been working as a studio analyst for NHL broadcasts produced by NBC Sports, also stressed to Mitchell that he wants to win in the short term.

Babcock’s coaching career is long and distinguished. It began back in 1988, when he was head coach of the Red Deer College Kings men’s hockey team that plays out of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association.

The highlights of the 57-year-old’s time behind the bench include guiding the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings to a Stanley Cup title in 2008.

Mike Babcock shown in a Sports Illustrated from 2010.

He coached Canada’s men’s hockey team to gold medal wins at the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014. In 2018, Babcock became a member of the Order of Hockey in Canada.

Babcock played one season on defence for the Huskies way back in 1981-82 and received an honourary doctor of Laws from the U of S in 2016.

As impressive as all those accomplishments are, Babcock’s best work as a coaching likely took place during the 1993-94 season, when he was the head coach of the now defunct University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team.

With the Pronghorns not having that much success in their history, Babcock guided them to a first place finish in the Canada West Conference with a regular season record of 19 wins, seven losses and two ties. The Pronghorns moved on to down the University of Guelph Gryphons 5-2 in the U Sports national championship game to capture the David Johnston University Cup at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

Babcock and his wife, Maureen, have often returned to Saskatoon and visited the Emma Lake area during summer months in the off-season. The bench boss was often involved in community fundraisers including one for the Leslie & Irene Dube Urology Centre of Health at St. Paul’s Hospital in 2014 and the One Voice fundraiser to raise money for the Neural Health Project at the U of Saskatchewan in 2015.

The hope of the Neural Health Project is to develop a more complete approach to the treatment of mental illness through a combination of conventional and alternative therapies. Babcock had a big hand in helping raise over $1-million at the One Voice fundraiser held on July 24, 2015 at TCU Place.

Collin Shirley is tabbed to return to the Huskies.

When Babcock comes back to town to take over the Huskies, it is safe to say the residents in Saskatoon and area and dare I say the province of Saskatchewan will be treating the return like a homecoming.

It was also noticeable that the last team Babcock coached in the NHL was the Toronto Maple Leafs for four complete seasons and a partial fifth campaign from 2015 to 2019. The Leafs fired Babcock on Nov. 20, 2019 with the team having lost six straight games to sit at 9-10-4.

In the aftermath of the firing, media reports came out that Maple Leafs right-winger Mitch Marner was asked to rank his teammates in order of how hard he though they worked back in his rookie campaign in 2016-17 by Babcock. Babcock later revealed the list to Marner’s teammates.

Babcock confirmed that report, expressed regret asking Marner to participate in something like that wasn’t a good idea and apologized to Marner at the time.

Shortly after the situation with Marner’s rookie season became public, Swedish right-winger Johan Franzen, who played for Babcock in Detroit, accused the bench boss of verbally abusing him. Chris Chelios, who is one of the all-time top defencemen to play in the NHL and one of Franzen’s former teammates, said the verbal abuse to Franzen did happen.

Chelios believed Babcock didn’t treat some of the Red Wings veterans well and dropped criticism there.

Within 50 minutes of the Huskies posting a Twitter post on Babcock’s hiring, the post attracted 65 responses and 151 quote retweets. Most of the responses had harsh words for the hiring, but most didn’t appear to come from Twitter handles from Saskatoon and area.

Evan Fiala is expected to return to the Huskies back end.

Some of the handles seemed to campaign to get Babcock fired before he even arrives in Saskatoon.

Other harsh responses were troll type comments putting down the quality of play in U Sports. On that front, the truth is U Sports is indeed a high-quality league when it comes to competition and the level of play in men’s and women’s hockey is quite outstanding.

Usually in most cases, Huskie Athletics might get five replies at most to a Twitter post.

The quote retweets on the Babcock post were more split in reaction.

On the Huskies Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, a sizable number of the likes were from accounts I recognize from Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.

I personally believe those situations that were talked about in the aftermath of Babcock’s firing from the Maple Leafs are not that big of a deal. I believe a lot of the troll comments are from ultra-passionate Maple Leafs fans who can’t get over the fact their team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967.

Babcock apologized in the Marner case and it is impossible for any coach to be liked by every single player he or she has coached.

In the case of Chelios, he built a reputation for running his mouth over his hockey career, so him not having anything nice to say is not new.

On a personal front, Babcock has always been great to me. I moved to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014, and we had lengthy visits at the fundraiser for St. Paul’s Hospital in 2014 and the One Voice fundraiser in 2015.

Our talks mostly revolved around stories regarding mutual friends in hockey. Even in our first meeting, I was comfortable enough to talk with him about the issues with anxiety I dealt with, when they arose when I worked as a sports reporter with the Medicine Hat News in 2012.

Layne Young was a breakout forward with the Huskies in 2019-20.

When I first met Babcock, I didn’t talk to a lot of people about that subject. He was very empathetic and understanding, which led to me attending the One Voice fundraiser.

The One Voice fundraiser in 2015 was one of the best and most positive energy nights out I’ve ever had in my life.

For anyone that battled mental health issues, that night at the One Voice fundraiser was basically the night out we needed.

I believe Babcock has come to help the Huskies out of the goodness of his heart.

Let me repeat myself, I believe Babcock has come to help the Huskies out of the goodness of his heart.

Saskatoon is a community he cares a lot about, and he has a lot of ties to this community. He wants to help get the Huskies going with some positive momentum, when U Sports returns from its pause that started in March of 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The ultra-passionate fan type trolls elsewhere can say what they want, but I am confident enough to say that view isn’t shared by most of those in Saskatoon or Saskatchewan as a province.

Babcock coming to coach the Huskies is a great homecoming moment for “The Bridge City.”

When he gets here, I believe he will enjoy working with some quality returnees and high-character players like Collin Shirley, Evan Fiala and Layne Young. It should be noted the last time the Huskies skated on home ice they won the Canada West Conference title back on Feb. 29, 2020 at Merlis Belsher Place.

The Huskies celebrate their 2020 Canada West title win.

Right now, all that needs to be said on Babcock’s front is, “Welcome home coach, and we wish you the best of luck.”

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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Canada West champion Huskies have the right mix

Will this group win an elusive second U Sports nationals?

Jeff Faith, left, and Evan Fiala ham it up.

    Could the intangible characteristic of chemistry be the thing that pushes the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team to a U Sports national title?
    As of right now, the Huskies have that characteristic in spades. They have the right mix.

    Due to the fact it is almost impossible to measure intangibles by statistics, someone might say it is totally bonkers to outright say a team has the right mix or chemistry to win a national title.

    Still on a gut feeling, things just feel right with this Huskies team. It seems every player, coach and staffer is where they are supposed to be in the here and now.

    When the Huskies travel to Halifax, N.S., for the David Johnston University Cup that runs March 12 to 15, they will encounter a number of powerhouse U Sports squads from Eastern Canada that can prove having the right mix might not be enough to win a U Sports national title.

Evan Fiala is popular in Saskatoon’s hockey community.

    The David Johnston University Cup is played in an elite-eight format to determine the U Sports national champion. In a one-and-done event, any number of factors on any given day can do in a team like a hot goaltender, a hot scorer or a positive bounce for the opposition.

    With all that in mind, you have to feel excited about this Huskies team.

    Their perseverance showed early after starting the regular season 0-3-1 due to a number of injuries on defence. At that point, thoughts about the Huskies finishing first or second in Canada West to earn a first round series bye seemed distant.

    It seemed reasonable to think they could rally to earn the right to host a first round playoff series.

    Despite other injuries that came up during the campaign, the Huskies rolled off a 22-1-1 run over 24 games to finish the regular season with a 22-4-2 record to place second in Canada West. 

Collin Shirley is a big favourite in Saskatoon’s hockey community.

    Had they earned just one more point in the standings, they would have finished on top of the conference.
    They are currently rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    The Huskies got healthy as the post-season drew near. Currently, the only player still out due to a long term injury is fourth-year forward and assistant captain Wyatt Johnson, who has a past history of battling concussion injuries. He still tries to be a source of support for the team

    The Dogs rolled off 11 straight wins to close the regular season and have extended that streak to 15 games after sweeping their Canada West semifinal and championship series.

    On Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies completed a 2-0 sweep of the best-of-three Canada West final with a 3-1 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Game 2. Merlis was rocking as 2,667 spectators jammed into the main rink, which was a record crowd for the facility.

Levi Cable has played 175 consecutive games for the Huskies.

    The win marked the first time the Huskies captured the Canada West title since 2016.

    The Huskies are heading back to U Sports nationals for a fifth straight year. The overall depth in talent on the Huskies might have been a touch greater the three previous campaigns.

    They still have good talent this season, but it also seems to be the right amount of talent. They have balanced scoring from all four of their forward lines.

    They have a strong shutdown defensive unit playing in front of a star netminder in Taran Kozun, who was named both the Canada West player of the year and goaltender of the year.

    It seems like everyone on this Huskies team fits into their roles. They know who will be scorers, the defensive forwards, the power play quarterbacks on defence, the shutdown rearguards and Kozun holds the last line of defence.

Merlis Belsher, second from left, greets Huskies goalie Taran Kozun.

    Actually, the Huskies have another great goaltender as their backup in Travis Child, but in this case, he is performing the role of supportive goaltending partner exceptionally well.

    These Huskies don’t get derailed by those who play the role of agitator on opposing squads.

    This Huskies team just has some good old guys you have to like.

    Canada West second team all-star forward Collin Shirley and sophomore defensive defenceman Evan Fiala are arguably two of the team’s most popular players in minor hockey rinks across Saskatoon.

    Both are local products as Shirley grew up in Saskatoon and Fiala comes from the bedroom community of Clavet, which is located just outside the southeast corner of the city limits.

The noisemakers came out at Merlis on Saturday.

    Other that seem to subjectively be favourites around local area rinks are Johnson, Kohl Bauml and Carson Stadnyk.

    The Huskies have a strong fifth-year group who have been key contributors to the team and strong in the classroom in Bauml, Levi Cable, Andrew Johnson and Logan McVeigh. Cable has played in 175 consecutive games with the Huskies in the U Sports regular season and post-season showing unmatched durability.

    Fourth-year left-winger Jordan Tkatch can played skilled or grease it up, and that style of play has allowed him to still have a strong backing in Prince Albert, where he played for the WHL’s Raiders.

Carson Stadnyk has been clutch for the Huskies.

    Sophomore left-winger Layne Young seems just happy to be on the team, and he has become a key offensive contributor. Rookie centre Jared Dmytriw transitioned from being the captain of the Vancouver Giants, who appeared in last season’s WHL final, to playing like a natural with U Sports veteran experience on the Huskies.

    Captain Tanner Lishchynsky and fellow fourth year veteran Colby Harmsworth might be one of the best shutdown defensive pairings in amateur hockey in Canada.

    Sophomore rearguard and second team Canada West all-star Gordie Ballhorn and third-year blue-liner Sam Ruopp bring strong offensive skill to the back end.

    Rookie Jeff Faith plays a utility role and has a fun goofy side to his personality as well.

    You can keep going down the roster, but the Huskies are a team that is made up of guys that are just good guys. They have guys that have a bit of character too.

Tanner Lishchynsky leads a group that has a good vibe.

    The right tone around that team is just there.

    It would be sweet if they were able to bring home the Huskies second U Sports national title. The Huskies have a storied history winning the Canada West championship 18 times, and 12 of those title wins have come since the first U Sports national title was awarded in 1963.

    When they get to nationals, it seems like the unfairness of sports takes frequent bites out of the Huskies. They have had a number of teams stocked with talented good guys, and all but one have been unable to win the big prize.

    Since winning a national title in 1983, the Huskies have fallen in the U Sports championship game on four occasions in 1987, 2005, 2014 and 2017.

Layne Young, right, shares a special moment with his parents.

    Huskies head coach Dave Adolph, who is the U Sports leader in all-time career victories, had guided his team to the University Cup 15 times and still hasn’t seen his squad win the championship game. The man who has one of the best senses of humour in U Sports and is a stellar coach deserves to have experienced victory in at least one U Sports championship game as a coach.

    He was a player on the 1982-83 Huskies team that won both the Canada West title and the U Sports national championship.

    The 1982-83 Huskies lived the saying, “Win today and walk together forever.”

The Huskies hope to repeat this scene at U Sports nationals.

    When that team has a reunion, only one or two players are usually not able to attend. The members of that Huskies squad are well-known for their tight bonds.

    You can bet the current Huskies team will do everything that they can control to have that bond too.

    If the hand of fate decides to give them a break or two that most past Huskies teams haven’t had at this stage of things, that would be a good thing too.

    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.

“Ironman” delivers, Huskies regain Canada West crown

The Huskies raise the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy as Canada West champs.

    The “Ironman” came up clutch for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    Fifth-year right-winger Levi Cable fired home a pair of power-play goals to give the Huskies a 3-1 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Game 2 of the Canada West Championship series before a record crowd of 2,667 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place on Saturday.

    With the win, the Huskies swept the best-of-three series 2-0. They captured their first Canada West title since 2016 and 18^th conference title in team history, with 11 of those wins coming in the conference’s modern era that started in 1972.

Levi Cable scored twice for the Huskies on Saturday.

    “It was big,” said Cable. “Going into this year that is all we wanted.

    “This was our goal. I’m glad we have another one coming up, but this one was a stop on the way. I’m glad we got it.”

    After raising the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy as Canada West champions, the next one coming up that Cable refers to is of course the U Sports men’s hockey nationals.

    Both the Huskies and Thunderbirds are guaranteed berths to the David Johnston University Cup, which is the U Sports men’s hockey national championship tournament. The U Sports national championship tournament is played in an elite-eight format, and it runs from March 12 to 15 in Halifax, N.S.

    In the series clinching win over the Thunderbirds, Cable played in his 175^th consecutive game for the Huskies including action in the U Sports regular season and post-season. He has never missed game in his career with the Huskies.

Levi Cable celebrates his first of two goals on Saturday.

    The 25-year-old’s streak includes 140 regular season games, 23 contests in the Canada West playoffs and 12 games at the David Johnston University Cup.

    Besides skating in a milestone contest in his streak, Cable was pumped to exit his final home U Sports game with a win in front of a loud and appreciative crowd, which included a raucous student section. The Huskies have been playing out of Merlis since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

    “This was the loudest I have heard this place,” said Cable. “The student section was really going.

    “It was a lot of fun to play in front of. I’m glad my last game here was in front of these guys.”

    The Huskies drew first blood at the 7:33 mark of the opening frame when right-winger Carson Stadnyk popped home the rebound from his own shot after receiving a pass from Jared Dmytriw.

Part of the record crowd at Merlis reacts to a Huskies goal.

    The host side expanded their edge to 2-0 about five minutes later when Cable popped home a power-play goal from the left side of the Thunderbirds net. Cable benefitted from a little luck as he received a backdoor pass from Stadnyk that was ticked off the stick of left-winger Collin Shirley.

    The Huskies could have exited the first period with a bigger advantage had it not been for a number of stellar saves from Thunderbirds star netminder Rylan Toth, who made 13 stops in the opening 20 minutes.

    Huskies star goalie Taran Kozun, who was named both the Canada West player of the year and goaltender of the year, gave huge props to his counterpart in Toth.

Carson Stadnyk scored the Huskies first goal.

    “He (Toth) played one heck of series,” said Kozun. “I have to give him credit.

    “If he does that at nationals, he is going to give the other teams there lots of troubles. It is a big battle (going head-to-head with Toth), and it is fun coming out on the winning side.”

    In the final 10 minutes of the second, the Thunderbirds started to melt down taking 28 minutes in penalties in that span of time including two misconducts 10 minutes in length.

    The Huskies looked to have gone ahead 3-0 with 3:31 to play in the second on goal from rookie forward Jeff Faith, but that goal was disallowed due to incidental contact on the netminder as a player was pushed into Toth.

    The Thunderbirds had to argue to get the goal disallowed. The argument included someone from the Thunderbirds bench throwing a water bottle on to the ice.

    While Faith’s goal was disallowed, the Thunderbirds team bench was given a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Rylan Toth jumps on a loose puck for the Thunderbirds.

    On that power-play opportunity, Cable netted his second goal of the contest firing home the rebound of a shot taken from Huskies defenceman Gordie Ballhorn with 2:37 remaining in the second stanza.

    “The emotions of the game sometimes they get the better of you, and sometimes it doesn’t,” said Kozun. “It has happened to us in the past, where the emotions take over.

    “It was nice to see us not on that side this time.”

    As the game went along, Kozun said the home crowd gave his side an edge.

    “Winning it today in front of all these fans, it is surreal,” said Kozun. “It is going to be a fun night, and I hope the boys enjoy it.”

The Huskies bench reacts to winning the Canada West title.

    The Thunderbirds finally got on the scoreboard with 3:16 remaining in the third period thanks to a power-play marker coming from the stick of left-winger Jake Kryski. While that tally cut the Huskies lead to 3-1, it was too little too late for the visitors.

    Kozun made 17 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Toth turned away 26 shots to take the setback in net for the Thunderbirds.

    Huskies head coach Dave Adolph was pleased his team’s four players in their fifth-years of eligibility in Cable, Kohl Bauml, Andrew Johnson and Logan McVeigh were able to win on conference title in their final home game.

The student section reacts to the Huskies Canada West title win.

    “Andrew Johnson, Logan McVeigh, Kohl Bauml and Levi (Cable), they have had five special years,” said Adolph. “These kids have gone to the Canada West final all five years they’ve played.

    “They’ve had dynamic goals each and every year I think with the exception of maybe A.J. He has been more of a penalty killer the last two years. He was on the forefront when he first started.

    “You live and die with your seniors, and I don’t care what sport it is. Ours have been good.”

    Adolph said it doesn’t come as a surprise that Cable, Bauml, Johnson and McVeigh were members of the last Huskies team to win a Canada West title at the squad’s former long time home in the ancient Rutherford Rink and are members of the first Huskies team to win a conference title in the squad’s new home in Merlis.

Merlis Belsher, second from left, presents the championship trophy.

    “That is just the character of those kids,” said Adolph. “They’ve been good since they’ve been here in everything.

    “They’re outstanding students. They are what Huskies should be, really they are.”

    The Huskies entered the series with the Thunderbirds as decided favourites finishing second in the Canada West Conference with a 22-4-2 record and being rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. U of S has won 15 straight games including action in the regular season and playoffs.

    The Thunderbirds have enjoyed a Cinderella run to get to this point after finishing fifth in Canada West with a 9-14-4-1 mark. They cracked the U Sports Top 10 rankings this week at the ninth position.

Captain Tanner Lishchynsky takes a spin with the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

    While the Huskies were the favourites, they did stumble out of the gates to start the regular season posting an 0-3-1 record. Cable said he was impressed with how his Huskies have persevered through the tough stretches to put together a great season to date.

    “At the beginning of the year when we went 0-3-1, it was looking a little bit different than years previous,” said Cable. “I’m just glad the group came together, and we put together a good run to finish the season.”

    With that in mind, Cable said he doesn’t want the run of success to end here.

The Huskies celebrate winning the Canada West championship.

    “We still have a bigger goal in mind,” said Cable. “I would like to end my five years winning a national championship.”

    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.

Dinos killer – Huskies’ Stadnyk does in U of C in double OT

Carson Stadnyk, right, reacts to his double OT winner on Saturday.

    Who else would you expect to do in the University of Calgary Dinos but Carson Stadnyk?

    On Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place, Stadnyk and his University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team went into double overtime against the Dinos locked in a 4-4 tie in Game 2 of a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series.

    Just 77 seconds into the second overtime frame, Stadnyk got the puck in the Dinos zone off a turnover, circled across the front of the U of C net and fired home the winning goal through a screen to give the Huskies a 5-4 victory.

    The goal from the fourth-year right-winger sent the crowd of 1,647 spectators at Merlis into bedlam and allowed the Huskies to sweep the best-of-three series 2-0.

    “We were all getting tired and so were they,” said Stadnyk. “We just got the one extra bounce.

Carson Stadnyk is mobbed by his teammates after his double OT winner.

    “We just couldn’t be more happy right now.”

    With the win, the Huskies advance to the best-of-three Canada West champions series to play the winner of the other best-of-three Canada West semifinal series between the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the University of Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton, Alta.

    The Thunderbirds and Golden Bears are tied in 1-1 in their best-of-three set with Game 3 slated for Sunday in Edmonton. The Golden Bears, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 23-5 record, while the Thunderbirds finished fifth with a 9-14-4-1 mark.

The celebration continues after Carson Stadnyk’s double OT winner.

    U of S also earns a berth for the fifth straight year to the U Sports elite eight national championship tournament – the David Johnston University Cup. The David Johnston University Cup runs March 12 to 15 in Halifax, N.S.

    Saturday’s game wasn’t the first time Stadnyk broke the hearts of the Dinos in the post-season. When the Huskies and Dinos previously met in the post-season in a Canada West semifinal series in 2018, a series-deciding Game 3 was required.

    With the two squads locked in a 1-1 tie in that Game 3 played at the Huskies former home in the ancient Rutherford Rink, Stadnyk broke the deadlock scoring the game and series winner with 24 seconds remaining in the third period. The Huskies added an empty-net goal to seal a 3-1 victory in that contest.

Merlis Belsher Place was feeling good after Carson Stadnyk’s winner.

    In the latest clash on Saturday, the Huskies held a 4-1 lead at one point in the second period before the Dinos rallied to even things up at 4-4 and force overtime.

    “When we were up by three, they worked their way back and made a comeback,” said Stadnyk, who had an assist to go with his goal. “That was pretty tough on us.

    “We just had to do what we do best. We just had to watch their top players, because they have a lot of good players over there. Our guys who had that responsibility did their job.

    “We just came out lucky, and we are just happy to be moving on.”

Carson Stadnyk had a goal and an assist for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Huskies head coach Dave Adolph was pleased to see Stadnyk net the winner after giving a strong effort on Saturday night. The veteran bench boss was reminded about the 2018 series with the Dinos at game’s end.

    “That was the first thing the guys said it was Stadnyk that got it two years ago,” said Adolph. “He had about four or five great looks tonight that didn’t go in, and I thought Shirls (Collin Shirley) had a couple too.

    “That is the way hockey goes. I am glad we are on the right end of it.”

    As for the rest of the game itself, the Huskies jumped ahead 1-0 at the 3:47 mark of the first period thanks to a gaff by Dinos sophomore defenceman James Shearer. Shearer had the puck behind his own net, and he tried to fire a pass up the centre of the ice.

    He put the puck right on the tape of the stick of Huskies right-winger Jeff Faith, who quickly fired home the gift for the contest’s opening goal.

The Huskies celebrate a first period goal from Jeff Faith (#5).

    At the 9:22 mark of the opening frame, the Dinos evened things up at 1-1, when rookie right-winger Kaden Elder scored on a two-man advantage.

    The Huskies caught a break 50 seconds into the second when Dinos defenceman Jake Kearley received a double minor for spearing.

    At the 2:18 mark of the second, the Huskies scored on the power play to go ahead 2-1, when second-year centre Donovan Neuls fired home a shot from the right slot after receiving a beauty set up pass from linemate Kohl Bauml.

    Shirley, who is a standout left-winger, extended the Huskies advantage to 3-1 tucking home a goal close in at the left side of the Dinos net at the 5:57 mark of the second.

    Just under three minutes later working again in the Dinos zone, Shirley slipped a pass across the face of the U of C goal to rookie centre Jared Dmytriw, who popped a tally to put the host side up 4-1.

Collin Shirley had a goal and an assist for the Huskies on Saturday.

    If it appeared the issue was sealed, the Dinos pushed back with goals coming from the sticks of Dane Gibson and Tim Vanstone to cut the Huskies lead to 4-3 heading into the second intermission.

    With 1.7 seconds remaining in the second, a huge scrum developed after one of the Huskies players was dropped with an elbow by one of the Dinos players. The Huskies came out of that with a two-minute power play but were unable to score on that man advantage.

    In the third, Dinos defenceman Ryan Gagnon worked his way in front of the net, and he netted the goal that created a 4-4 tie and forced overtime.

    “Tip your hat to the University of Calgary,” said Adolph. “That is a really good team.

Some of supporters for Huskies D Evan Fiala in the crowd on Saturday.

    “I don’t know that there is anybody that is as physical and greasy as they are. That is a team that is pretty worthy of probably playing in a national championship.”

    In the first overtime period, both sides had solid chances to end the game. Huskies start goaltender Taran Kozun robbed Vanstone with a glove save.

    Huskies fifth-year right winger Levi Cable looked like he would snipe the winner, but Dinos goalie Matthew Greenfield got his glove hand on a piece of Cable’s shot to direct the puck just wide of the goal.

Ryan Gagnon had the equalizer for the Dinos on Saturday.

    Cable was playing in his 173^rd consecutive game for the Huskies on Saturday including action in the U Sports regular season and post-season. He has never missed a game with the Huskies.

    Everything that happened in the contest to that point set the stage for Stadnyk to get the winner in the second overtime.

    Kozun stopped 29 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Greenfield turned away 26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Dinos.
    Saturday’s win was the 13th straight for the Huskies including action in the regular season and post-season.

    The Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, finished second in the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-2 record, while the Dinos, who are rated eighth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, were third in Canada West with an 18-7-3 mark.

Levi Cable (#10) almost had the winner in the first overtime period.

    Adolph thought the series with the Dinos would be a good one and the two teams delivered.

    “There are ice bags everywhere,” said Adolph. “I think both teams were just absolutely punished here.

    “I really respect (Dinos head coach) Mark Howell as a coach, and I really respect the Dinos as a program. I just hope that we always finish on the winning side, because that one could have gone either way tonight.”

    Stadnyk said his team is excited to be returning to U Sports nationals for a fifth straight year. Before that rolls around, Stadnyk would love it if the Huskies could win their first Canada West title since the 2015-16 campaign.

    If the Thunderbirds win against the Golden Bears on Sunday, the Huskies would host the Canada West championship series. If the Golden Bears win on Sunday, the Huskies would travel to Edmonton to play the Canada West final.

The Huskies salute the crowd at Merlis Belsher Place.

    “Hopefully, we get that chance to do it this time around,” said Stadnyk. “Whoever we play going forward, hopefully, we have a good chance.”

    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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Huskies grease out 2-1 win in Game 1 of Canada West semi

Cable plays 172^nd consecutive game, scores for U of S

Levi Cable (#10) celebrates his first period goal for the Huskies.

    Levi Cable was pumped his teammates ensured he didn’t have to lament the one that got away.
    With his University of Saskatchewan Huskies holding a slim 2-1 lead over the University of Calgary Dinos in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West men’s hockey playoff semifinal series, Cable had a chance to ice the contest skating in on an empty opposition net inside the final two minutes of the third period.

    Uncharacteristically, the fifth-year right-winger fired the puck wide of the mark on that golden chance. The missed opportunity didn’t come back to haunt the Huskies, who ensured the 2-1 score in their favour held up before 1,480 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place.

Levi Cable played in his 172nd consecutive game on Friday.

    “It made it a little more stressful than it needed to be,” said Cable about the missed chance. “The rest of the guys all came together and made sure it wasn’t one that I was feeling for a long time.”

    With the win, the Huskies lead the series 1-0. They will attempt to close things out in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    Friday’s game marked the 172^nd straight contest Cable has played for the Huskies including action in the U Sports regular season and post-season.

    The 25-year-old Hudson Bay, Sask., product has never missed a game playing with the Huskies suiting up for 140 regular season game, 20 contests in the Canada West playoffs and 12 games in the U Sports national men’s hockey championship tournament – the David Johnston University Cup.

Levi Cable has never missed a game in his U Sports career.

    He netted the game’s first goal on Friday.

    “I’ve just been lucky to play that many games in a row,” said Cable. “The trainers are keeping me together.

    “It was nice to come out here and score the first one. It is always good to get that one out of the way. The boys played well.

    “I’m just glad we came out with a win.”

    With seven minutes remaining in the first period, Cable took a short pass from fifth-year centre Kohl Bauml and wired home a shot from the front of the Dinos goal to put the host side up 1-0. Cable and Bauml have played together on the same line on a consistent basis since joining the Huskies before the start of the 2015-16 campaign.

    “We know were each other is lots of times without even having to look,” said Cable. “It just makes it easy.

    “We know where the other guy will be at all times.”

Ryan Graham scored for the Dinos on Friday.

    Just 2:48 later, the Dinos evened the score at 1-1, when third-year left-winger Ryan Graham fired home a shot from the front of the Huskies goal shortly after an offensive zone faceoff.

    With 41.5 seconds remaining in the first, Huskies third-year left-winger Collin Shirley potted a tally in close at the right side of the Dinos goal to put the Huskies up 2-1.

    The contest became a gritty slugfest from that point in time over the final two frames resulting in a lot of hits from physical play and very few scoring chances. Overall in the contest, the Huskies held a 19-12 edge in shots on goal.

    In the final seconds of the third, sophomore defenceman James Shearer had the final chance to score for the Dinos to force overtime, but his shot from the right slot was turned away by Huskies star netminder Taran Kozun.

Collin Shirley (#11) celebrates putting the Huskies up 2-1.

    “I knew that it was going to be an absolute grease match,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph. “We’ve been talking about it for two weeks.

    “They are a big strong team that likes to be physical and wear you down. We knew that we had to try and answer that bell. I thought the first 10 minutes of the third period we got outplayed pretty bad, and then somehow we found a way to grease ourselves back in it.”

    A big key to the Huskies victory on Friday was keeping the Dinos top forward unit of centre Matt Alfaro, right-winger Kaden Elder and left-winger Coda Gordon in check.  That trio combined for no points and only one shot on goal.

    The Huskies would often counter that unit with the fourth-year defensive pairing of captain Tanner Lishchynsky and Colby Harmsworth.

    “Obviously, you have to match strength on strength when you are playing a good team like Calgary,” said Adolph. “That Alfaro line is as dangerous as any that I have seen in probably 10 years in U Sports.

A scrum develops after Collin Shirley scored for the Huskies.

    “You have to throw some guys out there and trust that they can get the job done. (We got) the first check mark tonight.”

    With his goal on Friday, Cable has collected 13 goals, three assists and a plus-seven rating in his 20 games in the Canada West playoffs. In his 12 games at the University Cup, Cable has six goals and five assists.

    In his 140 career regular season games, Cable posted 51 goals, 64 assists and a plus-50 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Before joining the Huskies, Cable played in 267 career WHL regular season games with the Kootenay Ice from 2010 to 2015 posting 55 goals, 62 assists and a plus-13 rating.

Taran Kozun (#31) made 11 saves to back the Huskies to victory.

    When the dust settled on Friday, Cable was pleased his team came out victorious in his 172^nd consecutive game for the Huskies as they battled against a quality opponent.

    “It was tough,” said Cable. “They are a really good team.

    “They are good defensively, and they have a couple of lines who can score. They made it tough on us, and it was a close game right till the end. The greasy ones are sometimes fun, and they are fun to win.

    “I’m just glad we won.”

    Kozun stopped 11 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Matthew Greenfield turned away 17 shots to take the setback in goal for the Dinos, who are rated eighth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

The Huskies celebrate their win on Friday night.

    The Huskies finished second in the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-2 record, while the Dinos were third in Canada West with an 18-7-3 mark.

    As is the nature of a best-of-three Canada West playoff series, the Dinos will have last line change for Game 2, and Adolph expects Dinos head coach Mark Howell will shorten his bench a little.

    “You have to be real careful,” said Adolph. “I can’t tell you exactly what we are going to do.

    “We did it I think to execution tonight that if we didn’t quite get the match or a late change that there were two guys out there that were ready to go. We will be fine.

    “It will be another one-goal game tomorrow night.”

If a series-deciding Game 3 is necessary, it will be held on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

Huskies’ Bohlken and Bourassa named Canada West all-stars

Leah Bohlken was named a first team Canada West all-star.

    A pair of veterans from the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team were recognized among the best in the Canada West Conference.

    On Wednesday, fifth-year defender Leah Bohlken was named a first team Canada West all-star, and fourth-year right-winger Bailee Bourassa was honoured as a Canada West second team all-star.

    Bohlken was named a first team conference all-star for the second year in a row. This past season in her final campaign of U Sports eligibility, Bohlken played in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games posting five goals, six assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department.

    The 22-year-old product of Moose Jaw, Sask., was a member of Canada’s women’s hockey team that won a silver medal last year at the FISU Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Bailee Bourassa was named a second team Canada West all-star.

    Bourassa cracked the Canada West all-star team for the first time in her career. The 21-year-old Weyburn, Sask., product played in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games posting 12 goals, seven assists and a plus-five rating.

    Bourassa’s 12 goals and 19 points were both career highs.

    With the contributions of Bohlken and Bourassa, the Huskies finished third in the Canada West Conference with a 17-7-2-2 record.

    They were swept in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series 2-0 by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who claimed an overtime win and a double overtime victory to get the sweep.

    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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