Veteran besties put special cap on Stingers U Sports title win

Concordia downs Varsity Blues 3-1 in championship tilt

The Stingers celebrate winning a U Sports championship.

Rosalie Begin-Cyr and Emmy Fecteau added a fairy tale capper to their U Sports careers.

On Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the pair were on the ice for a third period power-play as their Concordia University Stingers held a 2-0 lead over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the title game of the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. Fecteau, who is the Stingers 24-year-old captain, got the puck to third-year centre Zoe Thibault.

Thibault drove to the net with the puck and made a drop pass to Begin-Cyr, who wired home a power-play goal through a screen to put the Stingers up 3-0 at the 5:10 mark of the frame. That tally allowed the Stingers to cruise to a 3-1 victory to take the Golden Path Trophy as U Sports champions in a contest played before 1,196 spectators.

The Stingers raise the Golden Path Trophy.

“I think it is the best way to finish your career as a university (player) and as a senior,” said Begin-Cyr, who is the Stingers star right-winger. “We had a great team, and I think it was like we expected from the beginning.

“We wanted to finish better than last year, so it was perfect.”

Fecteau was pleased to Begin-Cyr score her power-play goal in the third period as the two have been basically forever hockey teammates dating back before their time with the Stingers.

“I’m very happy,” said Fecteau, who is a star centre for the Stingers. “It has been 15 years that I have been playing with Rosalie (Begin-Cyr).

Rosalie Begin-Cyr had a goal and an assist for the Stingers.

“She is also my roommate. We’ve been living together for seven years, so I was really pumped for her.”

The Stingers appeared in the U Sports title for the third straight year on Sunday. The Stingers won the championship in 2022 downing the Nipissing Lakers 4-0 in the event’s final, when the tournament was held in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Last year, the Stingers fell 4-3 in overtime in the U Sports title game to the Mount Royal Cougars, when the tournament was held in Montreal.

Begin-Cyr, who is 25-years-old, and Fecteau were part of the winning experience in 2022 and the disappointment in 2023. Playing in their final campaign with the Stingers, they did not want to repeat the experience from a year ago.

Emmy Fecteau had an assist for the Stingers.

Begin-Cyr exhausted her U Sports eligibility playing her fifth-year in 2023-24. Fecteau is in her fourth-year of eligibility, but she will be completing her teaching English as a second language program and is planning to move on to the next step in her life whether it be with the PWHL or the working world.

Both players said the loss to the Cougars helped drive the team to return to the U Sports title game and win it this season.

“It was a good motivation,” said Begin-Cyr, who had an assist to go along with her goal. “From the beginning of the year, it was really like our motivation.

“It was a tough loss.”

Emilie Lussier scored the Stingers first goal on Sunday.

“I think we wanted to show who Concordia is, and we worked so hard to be here today in the final of the championship and to win,” said Fecteau. “We worked for each other.

“It was team first all the way, and it paid off.”

The Stingers posted a perfect 25-0 record in the regular season in 2023-24 and captured the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec title. They entered the U Sports championship tournament as the top seed.

At the title tourney, the Stingers blanked the host and eighth seeded U of Saskatchewan Huskies 4-0 in a quarter-final on Thursday and slipped past the OUA champion and fourth seeded University of Waterloo Warriors 3-1 in a semifinal on Saturday.

Jessymaude Drapeau (#15) banks home the Stingers second goal.

In Sunday’s final, the Stingers got out to a hot start. Just 69 seconds into the opening frame, Stingers first-year left-winger Emilie Lussier collected the rebound of her own shot at the left side of the Varsity Blues goal. She quickly tucked home a second shot to give the Stingers a 1-0 lead.

At the 8:19 mark of the First, Stingers third-year left-winger Jessymaude Drapeau skated just below the icing line at the right side of the Varsity Blues net. Drapeau, who would be named tournament MVP, deflected the puck from that spot off the pads of Varsity Blues netminder Erica Fryer into the Toronto net to push the Stingers lead out to 2-0.

Jessymaude Drapeau celebrates scoring for the Stingers.

Varsity Blues head coach Vicky Sunohara thought the Stingers game speed at the start might caught her squad a little off guard.

“I think that we were pretty surprised with the pace,” said Sunohara, whose squad was playing their third game in three days. “I thought that we had a slower start, which we talked about that they are a strong team, a fast team, and they transition well and that we need to go from the drop of the puck.

“Playing three games in three days is tough. Our team was ready, but I thought that we were back on our heels a little bit for the first few shifts.”

In the second, the Stingers had a glorious chance to increase their lead while working on the power play. Lussier received a backdoor feed at the right side of the Varsity Blues goal, but Fryer slid across the crease to rob the Concordia forward.

Taylor Delahey had a big chance to score early in the third.

With about two minutes remaining in the second, the Stingers broke into the Varsity Blues zone on a three-on-one break. Lussier came up the left wing with the puck and passed it across the face of the Toronto goal to linemate Zoe Thibault. Fryer again slid across the crease of her net to rob Thibault.

Early in the third, the Varsity Blues had a big chance to get a traction goal when first-year centre Taylor Delahey got in along on the Stinger goal. She tried to put a low shot into the net, but Stingers netminder Jordyn Verbeek came up with a kick save.

Shortly after Verbeek’s save on Delahey, Begin-Cyr potted her power-play goal for the Stingers to increased Concordia’s lead to 3-0.

Erica Fryer, right, makes a big stop for the Varsity Blues.

The Varsity Blues kept trying to battle back. With Fryer pulled for an extra attacker, third-year defender Emma Potter scored for the Varsity Blues with 46.8 seconds remaining in the third to cut the Stingers lead to 3-1. Potter’s tally proved to be too little, too late as the 3-1 score in favour of the Stingers held up as the contest’s final outcome.

Verbeek stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Stingers. Fryer turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Varsity Blues.

Stingers HC Julie Chu shouts instructions from the bench.

“Getting to nationals itself is hard,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “We talked about how honoured we are to be here to have earned that opportunity.

“Getting to win is definitely something we don’t take for granted. We know there are tremendous teams that are here at nationals. For us, it is a huge accomplishment.

“It is something that we take a lot of pride in. If we would have lost today, there is a lot of pride in that locker room and a lot of pride for the journey that we took to be able to be the team that we are today win or lose. That is what we try to focus on with our players.”

The Stingers enjoy a goal from Rosalie Begin-Cyr, centre.

The Varsity Blues were making their first appearance in the U Sports title game since losing the 2003 championship final 5-4 in overtime to the University of Alberta Pandas, when the championship tourney was held in Regina.

Toronto went into this year’s tournament as the sixth seed. The Varsity Blues placed second in OUA East at 19-8-1 and fell in OUA final 2-1 in overtime to the visiting Warriors on March 9.

At the U Sports championship tournament, the Blues slipped past the AUS champion and third seeded University of Brunswick Red 2-1 in a quarter-final on Friday. In a semifinal on Saturday, the Varsity bested the Universite de Montreal Carabins 2-1 after taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0.

The Stingers faithful cheer on their team.

“It is amazing that we are playing, and we’re still playing on March 17th,” said Sunohara. “We talked about that.

“It means you have had a pretty successful season. We have a lot veterans that really, really work hard and put their heart and soul into coming to the rink and competing every day. They’ve started something special.

“We have 13 graduating this year, so they’ve really contributed and put the program in a great place for first years and young ones to come in and say, ‘Hey, this is what the expectations are.’ This is the culture that they’ve built.”

Sunday’s win marked the fourth time the Stingers have won the U Sports championship. Concordia also captured the U Sports title the first two times it was contested in 1998 and 1999, when U Sports was known as the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU). 

Captain Emmy Fecteau receives the Golden Path Trophy.

The first win in 1998 also came against the Varsity Blues by a 4-1 final score, when the Stingers claimed the national title as the host squad.

Begin-Cyr and Fecteau said it was special to win the U Sports title once again.

“Winning is always great,” said Begin-Cyr. “We like winning, and that is part of hockey.

“It is not easy to win, but at the end of the way that is why we play hockey to win.”

“It feels great,” said Fecteau. “I have no words to describe it.

“I’m so happy. I’m so proud of my teammates. I’m very happy.”

In Sunday’s bronze medal game, the Carabins slipped past the Warriors 2-1 after taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0 in Sunday’s bronze medal game.

The Stingers enjoy lifting up the Golden Path Trophy.

Sunday’s consolation final saw the Canada West Conference champion and second seeded UBC Thunderbirds down the host Huskies 4-1.

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 put impressive cap on season at U Sports nationals

Women’s hockey squad takes home bronze medal

The Huskies had an impressive showing at U Sports nationals.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team penned a happy ending to the most unique chapter in team history.

On Sunday at the MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Huskies blanked the University of New Brunswick Reds 2-0 in the bronze medal game at the U Sports elite-eight women’s hockey championship tournament. The bronze medal win equaled the Huskies best result at U Sports nationals matching what the team accomplished in 2014.

The Huskies have made four trips to U Sports nationals in team history, and in a normal sports campaign, advancing that far in the post-season would be a success story in itself.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, things in the sports world and outside the sports world haven’t operated like normal since the first stoppages in North America started back on March 11, 2020.

The 2020 U Sports men’s and women’s hockey tournaments along with the men’s and women’s volleyball tournaments got their first day of action in on March 12, 2020 before the rest of the action at those events was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

U Sports didn’t hold any national championships in the 2020-21 campaign. The Canada West Conference that the Huskies play out of didn’t take part any meaningful games in 2020-21.

On the Huskies front, no one knew what to expect out of the 2021-22 campaign after the whole conference had a season off. No one knew if there were going to be any stops or starts as the campaign went along.

The Huskies lost Jordyn Holmes to a broken leg at nationals.

Actually, there was no guarantee that the season would be played to a completion.

Still, the Huskies marched through the regular season posting an 11-7-2 record to finish fifth in the Canada West Conference standings. In the Canada West playoffs, the Huskies swept the University of Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in a best-of-three quarter-final series in Winnipeg and swept the Mount Royal University Cougars 2-0 in a best-of-three semifinal series in Calgary, Alta., to advance to the Canada West Championship Series and earn a spot at U Sports nationals.

In the Canada West final, the Huskies were swept 2-0 in the best-of-three set by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Vancouver. The series closed with the Thunderbirds taking Game 2 of the series 1-0 in overtime.

After that bump in the road, the Huskies reset and ventured off to Charlottetown for U Sports nationals with a sizable contingent of supporters in family and friends. The Huskies were so good at nationals that it is possible they could have possibly won the whole thing, if two or three breaks went their way.

They opened play on the event’s second day on Friday taking on the Ontario University Athletics champion Brock University Badgers in a quarter-final contest. The fifth- seeded Huskies played arguably their best game of the season in that outing blanking the fourth-seeded Badgers 4-0.

At the 6:12 mark of the second period of that contest, rookie forward Sara Kendall ran it back to her days with the Swift Current Innovation Credit Union Wildcats under-18 female AAA team opening the contest’s scoring on a sweet backhanded wraparound.

The Huskies surged for three goals in the third with singles coming off the sticks of rookie defender Brooklyn Stevely and third year forwards Kara Kondrat and Nicole Fry. Kondrat picked up an assist on Fry’s empty-net tally and was named the Huskies player of the game in what might have been her best game at the U Sports level.

Kendra Zuchotzki turned heads as a rookie on defence.

Star third-year netminder Camryn Drever made 27 saves to pick up the shutout win for the Huskies. Netminder Tiffany Hau stopped 29-of-32 shots sent her way to take the setback in goal for the Badgers.

While the win over the Badgers was a great game for the Huskies, they did face adversity. Before Kendall scored her goal to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead, the team’s gritty, speedy, heart and soul third-year forward Jordyn Holmes broke her left leg on a crash into the boards and was lost for the rest of the tournament.

She had to have surgery on Saturday in Charlottetown to help start her injury recovery process.

In a semifinal on Saturday, the Huskies faced the top seeded Concordia University Stingers, who were the champions of the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec. Before the game, Holmes standing ovation from the crowd, when she arrived to cheer on her team.

In the semifinal contest, the Stingers came away with a 2-0 victory with Audrey Belzile and Maria Manarolis potting singles in the second period. Stingers netminder Alice Philbert made 20 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal.

Drever turned away 37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. The Huskies put up a big fight but weren’t able to find a traction moment to start a comeback.

They almost got that traction moment with four minutes remaining in the third, when Kendall rang an in close shot off the post of the Stingers goal.

Camryn Drever cemented herself as a top goalie in U Sports.

The Stingers would advance on to blank the sixth seeded Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 in the U Sports championship game on Sunday to capture the Golden Path Trophy.

Before the tournament’s title game was played, the Huskies took the ice for the bronze medal game against the second seeded Reds, who were the Atlantic University Sport conference champions.

At the 7:51 mark of the first, the Huskies jumped ahead 1-0 on a blast from the left point by rookie defender Kendra Zuchotzki. 

At the 14:08 mark of the second, rookie forward Jasper Desmarais ran it back to her days with the Prince Albert Northern Bears under-18 AAA scoring a beauty goal on a three-on-one rush that ultimately sealed the 2-0 victory.

Desmarais blew down the right wing, got in close and roofed home a shot past Reds netminder Kendra Woodland.

Woodland made 23 stops to take the setback in goal for the Reds.

Drever turned aside all 17 shots she faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies. The alumna of the St. Albert Slash female under-18 AAA team posted four shutouts in the Huskies nine total post-season games.

When Drever joined the Huskies, she came with the reputation of being a clutch goaltender having backstopped the Slash to Esso Cup titles in 2017 and 2018 as national female under-18 AAA hockey champions. Following this post-season run, Drever has cemented her place as one of the top goaltenders in all of U Sports.

Following the win over the Reds, Huskies veteran head coach Steve Kook got to put the first bronze medal around the neck of the team’s fifth-year captain in Bailee Bourassa. Bourassa is the lone fifth-year player on the squad.

Bailee Bourassa is a golden role model on and off the ice.

After receiving her medal, Bourassa presented the rest of the bronze medals to the rest of the team. 

Bourassa finished her degree in nursing and returned to the Huskies after deciding to pursue her master’s degree in nursing taking on the role of captain.

Having helped her hometown Weyburn Gold Wings in and Esso Cup title in 2014, Bourassa wanted to help the Huskies get a good restart this season after a season off in 2020-21. 

She played a big part in helping the Huskies stay relevant and show you can play high-level hockey in Canada’s U Sports ranks and get a sound education that can take you on to a great career when the playing days come to a close.

Bourassa has become the perfect example of the golden role model on and off the ice. She has always represented the team in the community with class and grace.

Forward Abby Shirley, who is the long fourth-year player on the team, was another key returnee who helped show the way and be a leader for the Huskies young generation.

Third-year defender Isabella Pozzi provided a steady hand to the Huskies back end, and she was named to the U Sports championship tournament all-star team. The Huskies have a rookie group on the back end who came into their own in the post-season and have the potential to be even better in future seasons in Stevely, Zuchotzki, Larissa Bohlken and Emily Holmes, who is Jordyn’s younger sister.

While she didn’t get any goals at U Sports nationals, third-year forward Kennedy Brown came through in clutch moments in the Canada West playoffs. She had her chances at nationals and will be another key returnee in future seasons.

Kennedy Brown came through with clutch post-season goals.

Overall, the journey the Huskies took to win a bronze medal at U Sports national on Sunday was unlike any season the Huskies have played to date. 

All the time players spent training on their own or as a team in a 2020-21 campaign that didn’t happen seemed worth it for sure after Sunday’s win.

During training time when there was no certainty of when the next game was going to be, some players had to be questioning if it was time to close the book as far as competitive hockey was concerned.

Credit has to go to all teams in U Sports for making the season happen and able to be played to a conclusion where a national champion was crowned.

After the NCAA still crowned a national women’s hockey champion in the Division I ranks in 2020-21, minor hockey players in the female game in Canada had to wonder if going down to the United States was ultimately going to be the place where they could play high-level hockey at the post-secondary level in the future.

Now, U Sports is back as a destination female players in Canada’s minor hockey system that want to continue playing high-level hockey at the post-secondary level.

The Huskies have shown they will continue to be a place where good things can happen in the classroom and on the ice whether you come from the province of Saskatchewan or any other community in Canada.

The Huskies renewed their legacy of being a great team to play for.

Ultimately, that reminder might be the lasting legacy of the 2021-22 Huskies team.

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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Expect Huskies to reset in chase for U Sports championship

Bailee Bourassa leads the Huskies to U Sports nationals.

The Canada West Championship series didn’t go their way, but the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team still has a chance to claim an even bigger prize.

On Sunday and Monday, the Huskies traveled from Saskatoon all the way to Charlottetown, P.E.I., for the U Sports elite-eight women’s hockey championship tournament. The Huskies were given the fifth seed on Sunday in the quest for the Golden Path Trophy.

They will open the tournament taking on the Ontario University Athletics champion Brock University Badgers on Friday at the MacLauchlan Arena. The game will be webcast on cbcsports.ca and CBC Gem, or fans can listen to the call from Huskies Women’s Hockey play-by-play voice Daniella Ponticelli on HuskieFAN.ca at 12 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

The U Sports championship tournament opens on Thursday with the event’s first two quarter-final contests.

The Huskies head to U Sports nationals having to reset after being swept 2-0 by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the best-of-three Canada West Championship series. Heading into the Canada West Final, the Huskies were 4-0 in the post-season having swept a pair of best-of-three playoff series on the road.

Both the Huskies and Thunderbirds already locked up berths to the U Sports championship tournament due to advancing to the Canada West Final.

In Game 1 of the Canada West Championship series held on March 11 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C., the Thunderbirds jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period with Grace Elliott, Mia Bierd and Ashley McFadden netting singles.

Sophie Lalor had 10 points in 20 regular season games.

From the point, the Huskies found themselves chasing the game. Shay-Lee McConnell scored a short-handed goal for the Thunderbirds in the second period to round out the scoring in a 4-0 victory.

Huskies star goaltender Camryn Drever made 39 saves in that Game 1 loss. Thunderbirds rookie netminder Elise Hugens made 13 saves to pick up the shutout victory.

In Game 2 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on March 12, the Huskies and Thunderbirds went to overtime locked in a 0-0 tie. Just 98 seconds into overtime, Thunderbirds forward Chanreet Bassi scored the contest’s only goal in a 1-0 victory for the host side that allowed UBC to capture the Canada West title.

Drever made 34 saves to give the Huskies a chance to steal the win in that contest. Hugens made 14 saves to pick up a second straight shutout victory.

The Huskies head into their U Sports quarter-final having posted an 11-7-2 record in the regular season and a 4-2 mark in the post-season. The Badgers posted a 7-5-3-1 record in regular season play and a 3-0 mark in the post-season.

The most exciting thing about the U Sport championship tournament is the fact it is played in a single-elimination format. Anything can happen in a single game situation.

With Drever between the pipes, the Huskies have the goalie that can win them three straight games to capture a U Sports national title.

Camryn Drever, right, is a clutch post-season performer.

Before joining the U Sports ranks, Drever was the star goaltender for the St. Albert Slash, and she backstopped them to two straight Esso Cup titles as national under-18 AAA hockey champions in 2017 and 2018. She earned a reputation as a clutch player in those runs.

While the offensive dried up for the Huskies against the Thunderbirds in the Canada West Final, they have for the most part been able to get enough scoring by committee through the regular season and the first four games of the post-season to pull out wins.

Huskies lone fifth-year player in forward Bailee Bourassa topped the team in regular season scoring with 11 points coming on seven goals and four assists playing in all the Huskies 20 contests. Bourassa returned to the Huskies after deciding to pursue her master’s degree in nursing and took on the role as the team’s captain.

She will be playing her final U Sports games this weekend, and with all that she has done for the team, it would cool if the Huskies team could help her graduate on a big high note.

Forward Abby Shirley is the Huskies lone fourth-year player and she led the way in post-season scoring with five points coming on three goals and two assists in six games. She also had nine points in the regular season coming off five goals and four assists appearing in 18 games.

Bourassa and Shirley are the only players remaining on the Huskies roster from the last time they went to nationals back in the 2017-18 campaign.

Third-year forward Kennedy Brown has emerged as one of the Huskies newest heroes during the post-season. In the Huskies six post-season games to date, Brown has four points coming on three goals and one assist. Out of Brown’s three goals, two of them have been game winners.

Sophie Lalor, who is a third-year forward, hit double digits in regular season scoring picking up 10 points on five goals and five assists appearing in all of the Huskies 20 regular season games. In the Huskies six post-season games, Lalor has one goal that was a game winner and one assist.

Rookie Larissa Bohlken is part of a strong group of young defenders.

Third-year defender Isabella Pozzi has been the veteran rock on the back end. On the blue-line, the Huskies have relied on a group of rookies to come through with big minutes in Larissa Bohlken, Kendra Zuchotzki, Brooklyn Stevely and Emily Holmes.

With being at nationals, the Huskies are going to have to work their way through a challenging field. 

If they win their quarter-final game, the Huskies will face the winner of the Friday’s other quarter-final between the top seeded Concordia University Stingers and the eighth seeded and host University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in one of Saturday’s two semifinals.

The Stingers were 11-3-1 in the regular season and 4-0 in the post-season, while the Panthers were 13-7-0-2 in the regular season and 0-1 in the post-season. The Stingers were the champions of the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec.

The field also contains the second seeded University of New Brunswick Reds, who are the champions of the Atlantic University Sport conference. The Reds posted a 15-3-1-2 record in the regular season and a 5-0 mark in the post-season.

The Thunderbirds are the tournament’s third seed having posted a 14-6 record in regular season play and a 4-0 mark in the post-season.

The event’s bronze medal and championship games will be held on Sunday.

The Huskies are making their third appearance and U Sports nationals since 2014 and fourth appearance all-time in team history. Current Huskies head coach Steve Kook has been with the team for three out of four runs to the U Sports championship tournament.

The Huskies aim to hold a few goal celebrations at nationals.

Kook missed the first appearance in 2004 joining the team as an assistant coach before the start of the 2004-05 campaign. He was the head coach for the appearances in 2014 and 2018 along with this season. He provides steady guidance for the team.

These trips to nationals are never a guaranteed thing, even if a team has a good season. In the three previous appearances, the Huskies medaled just once capturing a bronze in 2014.

Of course, the current campaign comes on the heels after all 2020-21 U Sports nationals were scrapped and most U Sports teams didn’t take the ice for games due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

If the Huskies were able to win it all, it would provide the icing on the cake for all the ups and downs they have gone through since March of 2020.

Raiders fall to Ice 3-2 in OT, stay in thick of WHL playoff chase

Reece Vitelli scored for the Raiders on Tuesday.

The Prince Albert Raiders are down to a 10-game sprint to try and make the WHL playoffs.

On Tuesday night, the Raiders dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime to the visiting Winnipeg Ice before 2,120 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre. With 15.3 seconds remaining in overtime, Ice 19-year-old power forward Jack Finley potted his 20^th goal of the season to win the game for the Winnipeg side.

With the extra time setback, the Raiders picked up one standings point. They sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 24-29-4-1 record for 53 standings points with 10 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Raiders are in the thick of the race for the final two playoff berths in the Eastern Conference.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes sit seventh overall in the Eastern Conference and hold the conference’s second last playoff berth with 56 standings points coming on 26-28-3-1 record. They have 10 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Swift Current Broncos are positioned one point behind the Hurricanes in the standings with 55 points sitting eighth overall in the Eastern Conference and hold the conference’s final playoff berth with a 24-30-5-2 record. The Broncos have seven games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Regina Pats are 10^th overall in the Eastern Conference with 51 points coming on a 23-29-3-2 record. The Pats have 11 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Calgary Hitmen sit 11^th overall in the Eastern Conference with 50 points coming on a 21-30-6-2 record. The Hitmen have nine games remaining on their regular season schedule.

On Tuesday, the Broncos won their fourth game in a row downing the visiting Regina Pats 5-3 at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current.

Between the Raiders and Ice on Tuesday, the Prince Albert side jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by captain Reece Vitelli. The Ice took a 2-1 lead scoring twice in the second with goals coming from the sticks of Cole Muir and Alessandro Segafredo.

At the 7:22 mark of the third, import rookie right-winger Vladislav Shilo netted his sixth of the season for the Raiders to even the score at 2-2 and force overtime.

That set the stage for Finley to come through with his winner.

Import rookie netminder Tikhon Chaika turned away 39 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Raiders. Daniel Hauser stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Ice.

The Ice have picked up points in their last 12 straight games with 10 wins, one overtime loss and one shootout loss. They improve to 44-9-3-2 and tied the 45-12-2-1 Edmonton Oil Kings for first overall in the WHL with 93 standings points.

Winnipeg has two games in hand on Edmonton.

The Ice return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the 33-21-3-1 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders get back into action on Friday when travel to Brandon to face the 28-24-3-2 Wheat Kings (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 900 CKBI).

Albers signs minor league deal with Mariners, other notes

Andrew Albers signed a minor league contract with the Mariners.

It looks like Andrew Albers will get to enjoy one more season throwing pitches under the sun.

On Monday, the 36-year-old left-handed pitcher and North Battleford, Sask., product signed a minor league deal with the MLB’s Seattle Mariners. After playing three seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan from 2018 to 2020, Albers return to North America last season throwing in AAA baseball with the St. Paul Saints and seeing time at the MLB level with the Minnesota Twins.

At the AAA level, Albers was a starter and saw action in 18 total games posting an 8-4 record, a 3.88 earned-run average, 88 strikeouts and 11 walks.

At the MLB level, Albers made five appearances with the Twins posting a 1-2 record, a 7.58 ERA, 12 strikeouts and nine walks.

Albers, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 200 pounds, saw time with the Mariners MLB side back in the 2017 campaign. During that season, he appeared in nine games posting a 5-1 record, a 3.51 ERA, 37 strikeouts and 10 walks.

Albers is one of the true good guys to come not only out of the baseball scene but the sports scene in Saskatchewan. During this past off-season, he spent countless hours at the Indoor Training Centre on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds coaching young pitchers to help them get better at the game.

He decided to live in Saskatoon in order to train for this upcoming season and to give back to the local and provincial baseball scene.

Albers has a lot of people in the province pulling for him to have his best season yet.

• On Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania, the Ohio State University Buckeyes downed the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 3-2 in the NCAA Division I women’s hockey championship game. The win marked the first time the Buckeyes won the NCAA Division I women’s hockey title. Nadine Muzerall turned the Buckeyes into a powerhouse after becoming the team’s head coach before the start of the 2016-17 campaign. In the semifinal round, the top ranked Buckeyes took out the fifth seeded Yale University Bulldogs 2-1. The Yale roster contains rookie defender and Saskatoon product Emma DeCorby, who is an alumna of the Regina Rebels female under-18 AAA team. Minnesota Duluth downed the Northeastern University Huskies in the other semifinal 2-1. The Huskies roster contained veteran defender Brooke Hobson, who is an alumna of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 AAA team. Hobson has now exhausted her NCAA eligibility. In the quarter-final round, the Huskies downed the University of Wisconsin Badgers 4-2. The Badgers roster contains Saskatoon products, forwards and sisters Sophie and Grace Shirley, who are alumnae of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA team. In the first round, the Syracuse University Orange fell 4-0 to the Quinnipiac University Bobcats. The Orange roster contains forward and Saskatoon product Anna Leschyshyn, who is an alumna of the Stars.
• Ilya Usau, who is an alumnus of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, signed an NHL entry-level contract with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The 20-year-old forward from Minsk, Belarus, spent this past season with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL posting nine goals and 17 assists in 40 regular season games. Usau spent one season with the Raiders in 2019-20 recording 22 goals and 30 assists in 58 regular season games.
• On Monday, Zack Hayes, who is a former captain of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, made his NHL regular season debut for the Vegas Golden Knights as they dropped a 3-0 decision to the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul, Minn. The 22-year-old defenceman suited up for his second NHL regular season contest on Tuesday as the Golden Knights dropped a 4-0 decision to the Jets in Winnipeg. Hayes played 272 WHL regular season games for the Raiders from 2015 to 2020 recording 15 goals, 64 assists and a plus-97 rating in the plus-minus department.
• On Tuesday, Hockey Canada announced it was moving this year’s Esso Cup female under-18 AAA championship tournament and the Telus Cup under-18 AAA championship tournament. Hockey Canada said both tournaments will be held May 16 to 22 in a centralized location in Alberta. Host centres were not named for either event and no reasons were given for the move. The Prince Albert Northern Bears were supposed to host the Esso Cup from April 17-23. The Sydney Mitsubishi Rush were supposed to host the Telus Cup in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, from April 18 to 24. The Bears and Rush are slated to play in the host team spots, when the Esso and Telus Cups are played in their new Alberta host centre or centres.
• Moose Jaw Warriors centre and Saskatoon area product Brayden Yager, who is playing his 16-year-old sophomore season in the WHL, has 54 points on 32 goals and 22 assists in 56 games this season. He broke the Warriors record for most goals by someone in their 16-year-old season of eligibility. The old record of 29 goals was held by Theo Fleury set back in the 1984-85 campaign. Fleury went on to become one of the NHL’s most famous star players most notably with the Calgary Flames.
• A total of five WHL teams were listed in the latest CHL Top 10 rankings that were released on Tuesday. The Edmonton Oil Kings were ranked first, the Winnipeg Ice were rated second, the Kamloops Blazers were listed fifth, the Everett Silvertips were ranked sixth and the Portland Winterhawks took the seventh spot.
• Left-winger Arshdeep Bains and centre Ben King of the Red Deer Rebels have become the front runners to win the WHL scoring title. Bains, who is in his overage season, leads the WHL scoring with 94 points coming off of 34 goals and 60 assists appearing in all the Rebels 60 games. King, who is in his 19-year-old season, sits second in the scoring race with 93 points coming off 47 goals and 46 assists appearing in all of the Rebels 60 games. Saskatoon Blades veteran star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, who had led the WHL in scoring at times this season, sits third in the WHL scoring race with 87 points coming on 35 goals and 52 assists.

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 drive for U Sports nationals upsets wraps up

Danielle Nogier scored her first U Sports goal on Saturday.

    The effort was there, but the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team couldn’t string together a run of upsets at the U Sports elite eight national championship tournament.

    On Thursday, the seventh seeded Huskies downed the second seeded Saint Mary’s University Huskies 3-2 in a quarter-final match at the U Sports women’s hockey nationals in London, Ont., at the Thompson Arena. Saint Mary’s entered the tournament as the Atlantic University Sport conference champions.

    On Saturday, U of S faced the host and third seeded University of Western Ontario Mustangs, who are the Ontario University Athletic conference champions, in a semifinal match. The Huskies looked ready to pull off another upset.

    While killing a penalty with 2:07 to play in the first period, Huskies defensive forward Danielle Nogier blocked a point shot with her stick and shot out on a breakaway chance into the Mustangs zone. She fired home a shot between the legs of Mustangs netminder Carmen Lasis to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

    The goal was Nogier’s first in U Sports play including the regular season and playoffs.

    The Mustangs jumped ahead 2-1 in the second period on a pair of power play goals. At the 5:06 mark, Mustangs forward Amanda Pereira found linemate April Clark with a beauty backdoor pass and Clark potted the equalizer to force a 1-1 tie.

    At the 10:20 mark of the second, Mustangs defender Emma Pearson fired a shot on goal from the point and the rebounded landed in front of Huskies star netminder Jessica Vance. Mustangs forward Alyssa Chiarello beat Vance to the loose puck and knocked home the tally that would win the game for the Mustangs.

    The Huskies came out hard on the Mustangs in the third period outshooting the host side 9-4, but the U of S shooters couldn’t solve Lasis.

    The contest ended with Huskies defender Morgan Willoughby firing a shot over top of the Mustangs net.

    Huskies fifth-year star captain Kaitlin Willoughby had a number of strong scoring chances in the semifinal loss but couldn’t find the back of the net.

    Vance turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. Lasis turned away 24 shots to pick up the win in net for the Mustangs.

Kaitlin Willoughby’s U Sports career has come to a close.

    The loss put the Huskies into Sunday’s bronze medal game against the Quebec Student Sport Federation champion and fourth seeded Concordia Stingers.

    The Huskies threw everything including the kitchen sink at Stingers netminder Katherine Purchase in the first period holding a 14-5 edge in shots on goal in the frame. Thanks to the play of Purchase, the game’s score remained tied 0-0 after 20 minutes.

    Concordia scored twice in the second and twice in the third to pull out a 4-0 victory. Forward Claudia Dubois scored twice including the Stringers first goal 39 seconds into the second period on the power play and her squad’s final goal into an empty net with 2:39 to play in the third period.

    Sophie Gagnon and Brigitte Laganire had singles for the Stingers coming in the second and third periods respectively.

    Purchase made 37 saves to pick up the shutout. Vance turned away 24 of 27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

    When Sunday’s game concluded, it brought an end to the U Sports careers of Huskies fifth-year players in Willoughby, defender Kira Bannatyne, defensive forward Kennedy Harris and speedy forward Kori Herner.

    The Huskies posted a 19-7-2 record to finish second in Canada West. In the playoffs, they swept the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 2-0 in a best-of-three semifinal series before being swept by the University of Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in a best-of-three Canada West championship series.

    For most of the season, the Huskies weren’t able to crack the U Sports top 10 rankings, so they defied expectations outside of the inner circle of the team in making the “frozen four” semifinal portion of the U Sports national championship tournament.

    The Bisons defeated the Mustangs 2-0 in the tournament’s gold medal game to claim their first U Sports championship in women’s hockey and capture the Golden Path Trophy.

Overtime bits underdog Huskies men’s team at University Cup

Parker Thomas scored for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Overtime wasn’t kind to the underdog University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team at the University Cup.

    After upsetting the third seeded and Ontario University Athletics conference champion McGill University Redmen 4-1 in a quarter-final game on Friday, the sixth seeded Huskies concluded the tournament by dropping a pair of overtime heartbreakers at the Aitken University Centre in Fredericton, N.B.

    On Saturday, the Huskies faced their “forever rivals” for the 504th overall time in the second seeded University of Alberta Golden Bears and saw a 2-0 lead fade into a 3-2 overtime setback. Including play in the regular season, Canada West championship series and nationals, the Golden Bears won six of seven head-to-head matches with the Huskies.

    In the semifinal encounter at nationals, the Huskies jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 12:13 mark in the first period, when gritty right-winger Parker Thomas banged home a loose puck at the left side of the Golden Bears net.

    The Huskies extended their lead to 2-0 at the 17:46 mark of the second, when left-winger Alex Forsberg popped home a power-play goal from the front of the Golden Bear’s net.

    The Dogs ran into penalty trouble in the third, which allowed the Golden Bears to rally back with a pair of power-play goals. First, high-scoring forward Luke Philp scored at the 6:41 mark to cut the U of S lead to 2-1.

    U of A potted the equalizer on a bit of a positive bounce power-play tally with 4:43 to play in the third. Defenceman Graeme Craig fired a point shot that deflected off the glove of Huskies goaltender Taran Kozun, looped high in the air and fell into the U of S net to force a 2-2 tie.

    In overtime, Golden Bears forward Stephane Legault blocked a point shot from Huskies defenceman Jordan Fransoo causing the puck to deflect into the centre ice zone. Golden Bears winger Trevor Cox zipped into the centre ice zone, grabbed the loose puck, burst down the right wing and fired the winner past Kozun to give the Golden Bears the victory at the 3:15 mark of the extra frame.

Kendall McFaull’s U Sports career has come to a close.

    Kozun turned away 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. Zach Sawchenko turned away 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Golden Bears.

    In Sunday’s bronze medal game, the Huskies faced the first seeded host team and Atlantic University Sport conference champion University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds. The Huskies took a 3-1 lead in the second period, fell behind 4-3 before forcing a 4-4 tie heading into the second intermission.

    After a scoreless third, Varsity Reds rookie forward Alexandre Goulet scored his second goal of the contest at the 4:14 mark of overtime to deliver his team to a 5-4 victory.

    Levi Cable, Jaimen Yakubowski, MacKenzie Johnston and Carson Stadnyk had singles for the Huskies.

    Matt Murphy, Tyler Boland and Olivier LeBlanc replied with singles for the Varsity Reds.

    Kozun turned away 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. Alex Dubeau turned away 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Varsity Reds.

    Entering the University Cup, the Huskies were pegged as a team that could be eliminated in one game due to the fact they were playing without star goaltender Jordon Cooke due to a knee injury. Cooke was named the U Sports goaltender-of-the-year and a first team U Sports all-Canadian in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns.

    Cooke claimed honours as the Canada West goaltender of the year for a third straight season this past campaign and he was named a second team U Sports all-Canadian.

    Kozun played really well in place of Cooke.

    When Sunday’s game concluded, it brought an end to the U Sports careers of Huskies fifth-year players captain Kendall McFaull, defenceman Connor Cox, hard-working centre John Lawrence and high-scoring centre Josh Roach.

    The Golden Bears won the University Cup championship game for the 16^th time in team history downing the fifth seeded St. Francis Xavier University X-Men 4-2.

Bears return to SFMAAAHL title series

Hannah Koroll scored for the Bears on Saturday.

    The Prince Albert Northern Bears are returning to the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series.

    On Saturday, the Bears, who are the defending SFMAAAHL champions, traveled to Wilcox, Sask., looking to eliminate the Notre Dame Hounds from the SFMAAAHL playoffs in Game 4 of a best-of-five semifinal series. They stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first period with singles coming from the sticks of captain Hannah Koroll, Kailee Peppler and Alli Soyko.

    The Hounds battled back in the second with Anna-Liese King and Lyndsey Janes netting singles to cut the Bears lead to 3-2.

    The Bears hung on to claim a 3-2 victory in the game and 3-1 victory in the series.

    Ryan Fontaine turned away 27 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bears on Saturday. Kaitlyn Ross turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hounds.

    The Bears now advance to the best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series to face the Saskatoon Stars for a second straight year. Prince Albert swept away Saskatoon in last year’s title series 3-0. The Stars won the SFMAAAHL championship in 2015 and 2016.

    The Stars have home ice advantage for the series finishing first in the SFMAAAHL regular season standings with a 24-3-1 mark. The Bears finished second in the league standings with a 22-5-1 record.

    The dates and times for the SFMAAAHL titles series have yet to be announced.

    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.