Stars fall in Esso Cup semi again

Ice Cats power play too much for Saskatoon to handle

The Stars skate in to console goaltender Emma Johnson.

    WEYBURN, Sask. - The Saskatoon Stars weren’t able to capture the happy ending they so sought in the semifinal of the Esso Cup, because the Brantford Ice Cats power play wouldn’t let them.

    Saskatoon saw its national title hopes in female midget AAA hockey come to a crashing end on Friday afternoon at Crescent Point Place in Weyburn. The Ice Cats cashed in on three of five power play chances to post a sound 4-0 victory to advance to Saturday’s national championship game set for 3:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time. For a second straight year, the Stars were relegated to the bronze medal game, which is slated for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Saskatchewan time.

    The Stars troubles on the penalty kill started unassumingly late in the first period and late on Brantford’s first power-play chance.

    A point shot from defender Emily Rickwood found its way through a screen and past Stars goaltender Emma Johnson with 6.8 seconds to play in the opening frame giving the Ice Cats a 1-0 edge.

Ice Cats goalie Emma Verbruggen stops a high shot.

    Brantford capitalized on its second power-play chance just 56 seconds in the second period, when defender Paige Cohoon fired home another point shot through a screen to give the Ice Cats a 2-0 edge.

    Saskatoon had a chance to get back in the game shortly after that tally. While on the power play, Stars defender Hollie Coumont swooped in down low and fired a shot that deflected off the post. The Stars failed to score on their three chances with the power play in the contest.

    The Ice Cats went up 3-0 with a third power-play goal coming at the 13:17 mark of the second. During a net scramble, Brantford centre Lauren Martin lifted a shot over top of a fallen Johnson to give the Ice Cats a decided edge.

    While the Stars were still reeling, Ice Cats winger Brooklyn Gemmill potted an even-strength marker just over two minutes after her squad’s third power-play goal to round out Brantford’s 4-0 victory. Ice Cats captain Paige Rynne picked up assists on her team’s final three goals.

The Ice Cats celebrate a power-play goal from Emily Rickwood.

    In the third, the Ice Cats were content to play the trap and just dump the puck in the Stars zone every time they gained possession in the centre ice area.

    Saskatoon did try to find some sort of ground to try and start a comeback attempt. With 5:21 to play in the third, head coach Greg Slobodzian kept pulling Johnson for an extra attacker when the opportunity allowed, but the Stars weren’t able to generate any serious offensive threats. The shots on goal for the final frame were even at 6-6.

    Johnson stopped 22 shots fired her way. Emma Verbruggen made 27 saves to earn the shutout in goal for the Ice Cats.

    The Stars did have a lot of jump in an evenly played opening 20 minutes. Rynne was unable to put a puck behind Johnson on a breakaway opportunity.

    Shortly after that chance by Brantford, Stars winger Abby Shirley had a breakaway opportunity to score. She deked out Verbruggen, but slipped a backhander wide of an open cage.

Stars winger Abby Shirley (#18) tries to poke a puck into the Ice Cats goal.

    A year ago at the Esso Cup in Red Deer, the Stars dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker after a tiebreaking shootout to the host Chiefs. Saskatoon rebounded in the bronze medal game downing the Portage la Prairie based Central Plains Capitals 5-1.

    This year there was no dramatic defeat in the semifinal. The Stars had to painfully soak in finality of their 4-0 loss to the Ice Cats as the final minutes ticked away.

    In a one game showdown to make a championship game, a team can’t slip in any area of its play. Unfortunately for the Stars, their normally strong penalty kill struggled at the wrong possible time, and their national championship hopes were dashed as a result. In a preliminary round game on Wednesday, the Ice Cats just slipped past the Stars by a 3-2 score to show how even these two clubs can match up.

Captain Danielle Nogier will play her final game with the Stars on Saturday.

    While it would be hard for the Stars players accept in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s loss, one tough game doesn’t ruin what was a spectacular season. Even with Friday’s setback, the Stars have a 45-12 overall record in 2015-16.

    On Saturday, Stars captain Danielle Nogier and defenders Rayah DeCorby, Danielle Girolami and Coumont will play their final games of their midget AAA careers. They can’t win a national title, but they can still go out on a good note and make one last memory.
    The Stars will face the De Winton, Alta., based Rocky Mountain Raiders in the bronze medal match. On Friday, the Raiders dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision after a tiebreaking shootout to the Express du Richelieu in the other semifinal match.
    Floriane Dion, Camille Fleury and Joannie Garand scored for the Express in regulation, while Marithe Levesque made 31 stops in goal in regulation and overtime.
    Hailey McCallum, Paige Russell and Kara Kondrat replied with singles for the Raiders in regulation. Kate Lloyd made 28 stops in goal over 70 minutes.
    The Express took the shootout 2-0 getting goals on their first two shots from Eloise Dube and Garand. Levesque turned away both shooters she faced.
    Richelieu will take on Brantford in the gold medal game on Saturday.

   If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Stars still among Canada's best

Depth of Saskatoon’s female midget AAA squad shines through

Mackenna Parker gets set to drive home a goal for the Stars.

    The Saskatoon Stars are trying to emulate the 1989-90 Edmonton Oilers by showing they still have a great team despite the loss of their superstars.

    Back in the 1989-90 NHL campaign, the Oilers ventured on a surprising run that saw them capture their fifth Stanley Cup title. At the time, that victory was supposed to be unthinkable, because two years early they traded the icon of all hockey icons in Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings.

    When Gretzky was dealt, many believed a very long time would pass before the Oilers would every again win the Stanley Cup. By winning it all in 1990, the Oilers proved they were still a great team.

    The Stars female midget AAA team entered the 2015-16 campaign with two crippling superstar departures. Gone were forwards Sophie Shirley and Nara Elia who left to play their 16-year-old seasons with the Notre Dame Hounds club that plays out of the Junior Women’s Hockey League, which is made up of prep school teams.

    As 15-year-old sophomores with the Stars in 2014-15, Shirley and Elia were the two most exciting players in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League. Elia topped the league in scoring with 23 goals and 17 assists, and Shirley, who was named the league’s most valuable player, was second in the scoring race with 22 goals and 17 assists.

Anna Leschyshyn cuts hard to the net for a Stars scoring chance.

    Together, they helped the Stars post an unprecedented 25-3 regular season record and a 45-5 mark after including action at the Mac’s tournament, the SFMAAAHL playoffs and the Esso Cup national championship tournament. The Stars also claimed the Mac’s title, the SFMAAAHL championship and bronze at nationals.

    While five players from that team exhausted their eligibility after playing out their 17-year-old seasons, one had to think the Stars would do great things in 2015-16 returning a great core of players. Shirley, who was recently named to Canada’s under-18 team for the women’s worlds in January, and Elia would have been the jewels among the returnees. Their presence alone would have made the Stars huge favourites to hang a few more banners at the Agriplace Arena.

    When Shirley and Elia departed to Wilcox, Sask., one had to wonder if the Stars would fall back to the pack with the rest of the teams of the SFMAAAHL.

    It looked that way for a very short time at first. The Stars opened the regular season falling 3-1 to the Prairie Fire in Melville on Oct. 3. After that setback, they proceeded to win their next 15 straight regular season games.

Defender Willow Slobodzian is arguably the Stars most exciting player.

    When there are big departures, it also creates opportunities for others to step up. That is what has happened in Saskatoon.

    Heading into Saturday’s action, 15-year-old forward Mackenna Parker has netted 10 goals and 11 assists in 13 games to sit in a tie with Chloe Smith of the Swift Current Wildcats for top spot in the SFMAAAHL scoring race. In her sophomore season, Parker has already surpassed her assists and points totals from a season ago.

    Grace Shirley, who is Sophie’s younger sister, sits third in league scoring with 11 goals and six assists as an underage 14-year-old rookie.

    While Parker and Grace Shirley have put up the biggest numbers, the Stars are getting solid production spread out through the rest of their team.

    The Stars most exciting player is arguably Willow Slobodzian, who is a smooth skating, puck moving offensive defender. She was spectacular as a 14-year-old rookie last season quarterbacking the power play netting six goals and 13 assists in 28 games. The Clavet product has been better this year netting two goals and 10 assists, while seemingly seeing a game that is three to four steps ahead of anyone on the ice.

    Emma Johnson is back for her third season between the pipes as a 16-year-old, and she still possesses the ability to steal a game. She has posted a 7-1 record, a 1.12 goals against average, a .955 save percentage and two shutouts.

Emma Johnson has been consistently stellar in goal for the Stars.

    Up and down the lineup, all the Stars veterans are good, and they could get big performances from any of them at any time. Grace Shirley is part of a crop of six rookies, who have all stepped in and made impacts. 

    Included in that group of six is a rookie with a familiar last name in Saskatoon hockey circles in Anna Leschyshyn, whose father and team assistant coach Curtis had a lengthy playing career in the NHL. As a 14-year-old rookie, Anna, who stands 5-foot-10, has eight goals and six assists.

    Grace Shirley and Anna Leschyshyn both suited up with the Stars last season as associate player call ups.

    From Dec. 10 to 13, the Stars were invited down to the Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament in Wilcox, Sask., which contained 16 very strong female midget AAA teams and JWHL squads. The Stars opened by blanking the defending JWHL champion Warner Hockey School Warriors 2-0. Saskatoon beat Edmonton’s St. Francis X-treme 5-2 before closing round robin action with a 2-0 setback to the Westman Wildcats from Hartney, Man.

    The Stars split their two consolation playoff games falling 1-0 to Northern Capitals of Prince George, B.C., and slipping past Winnipeg’s Balmoral Hall 3-2 in overtime.

Grace Shirley has lit up the scoreboard for the Stars.

    Saskatoon’s roster is still considered young as captain Danielle Nogier and defenders Hollie Coumont, Danielle Girolami and Rayah DeCorby are the only players in their 17-year-old and final seasons of midget eligibility.

    They will still face some tough competition in their league, which includes traveling to Prince Albert for Saturday and Sunday clashes with the 13-5 A & W Bears. The Stars swept the Bears in last season’s SFMAAAHL best-of-five title series.

    With all that in mind, the Stars keep proving game in and game out they still have a great team without their two superstar talents from a season ago. They might just find a way to win another SFMAAAHL title and maybe make another appearance in the Esso Cup.

    If you have any comments you would like pass along about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Stars write inspiring story

Brittany Heuchert, left, and Hollie Coumont celebrate with the Fedoruk Cup.

    The Saskatoon Stars can do no wrong.
    It seems like everything the Bridge City based female midget AAA hockey club does turns to gold.
    Coming into the 2014-15 campaign, the Stars have traditionally been a strong club in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League. They won a Mac's tournament title in 2011. They made three straight league finals appearances from 2010 to 2012, but an SFMAAAHL title eluded them.
    The Stars were a respectable 13-11-4 in 2013-14, but they were swept away in the first round of the playoffs by Swift Current.
    It was reasonable to assume they would contented to appear in the league finals in 2014-15. Not even the most bright-eyed optimist could have seen the dream season that was to come.
    During the regular season, they topped the SFMAAAHL standings with a franchise best 25-3 record. They were 6-0 at the Mac's tournament winning the event's title game for the second time in team history. In the SFMAAAHL playoffs, the Stars brought their game up another level downing three determined opponents in posting a 9-0 record to win the Fedoruk Cup.
    They will play in their first ever appearance at the Esso Cup national championship tournament, which runs April 19-25 in Red Deer, Alta.

Kianna Dietz celebrates scoring a goal for the Stars.

    As the journey through the season progressed, it looked the Stars enjoyed every moment of it. No matter what point in the season it was, you could see there was a special pure love for the game. When the playoffs came around, there was an excited and maybe even innocent attitude from the players that if they won this big game they would get to play in another big game and it was all great.
    When it was game time, they were the determined and focused team, where everyone stepped up to contribute. When they won trophies celebrating the Mac's and league title wins, they were your classic energetic and excited group of teenage girls aged 14 to 18. They were almost bouncing off the walls due to just being pumped up because they won.
    Another cool thing is there was no arrogance either, when they claimed victory. They acted with a legitimate belief that it was super cool they were experiencing success, and they should feel that way.
    Offensively, they were led Nara Elia and Sophia Shirley, who played for the team as 14-year-old rookies in 2013-14 and blossomed into superstars in 2014-15 as sophomores.
    Elia, who was the SFMAAAHL's most sportsmanlike player, led the league in scoring with 23 goals and 17 assists, while Shirley, who was the SFMAAAHL's most valuable player, came in second in league scoring with 22 goals and 17 assists. They raised their respective games to another level in the SFMAAAHL playoffs.
    In the league championships series against the Prince Albert A & W Bears, they were key. Game 1 of the best-of-five series went to overtime, and Shirley set up Elia, who always seems to be in the right place at the right time, for the winner to give the Stars a 3-2 victory.

Emma Johnson covers up a loose puck for the Stars.

    Shirley put the team on her back in Game 2 in Prince Albert scoring twice and adding an assist in a 3-0 victory. In the nine SFMAAAHL playoff games the Stars participated in, Shirley had 12 goals and 12 assists.
    Julia Rongve has found her niche being a nice fit as the third forward on the line with the dynamic duo of Elia and Shirley. Rongve picked up six goals and seven assists in nine post-season games.
    Every championship playoff run also needs some X-factors to emerge, and Saskatoon received key contributions from the supporting cast in big moments.
    During the SFMAAAHL championship clinching victory over the Bears, the Stars went ahead 1-0 in the second period, when 15-year-old rookie forward Kianna Dietz set up fellow rookie Jordyn Gerlitz. Just 14 seconds later, Dietz potted a key insurance goal to give Saskatoon a 2-0 victory. Due to how their birthdays fell, both Dietz and Gerlitz still have three more years of eligibility at the midget AAA level, so big moments like these are not necessarily expected at this point in their careers.
    Thanks to how strong the team has played, the Stars goaltenders often can be overlooked. During the post-season, 15-year-old sophomore Emma Johnson carried most of the workload and made a number of big saves in the semifinal and championship rounds.

Courtney Cormack clears the puck out of her own zone.

    In the SFMAAAHL title clinching win, Johnson ensured the 2-0 lead her team held didn't evaporate in the third period. The Bears came on with a serious third-period push and outshot the Stars 8-1 through about the first eight minutes of the frame. Johnson turned away every big challenge to help her side withstand the Prince Albert surge of pressure to ensure the shutout would hold.
    Karlee Fetch, the Stars 17-year-old veteran goalie, came through with a big 25-save performance, when Saskatoon swept away the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats in the league semifinal series with a 3-2 victory in Game 3 of that best-of-five set.
    The team's second line of Brittany Heuchert, Danielle Nogier and Courtney Cormack have become the defensive shutdown unit. When the Stars are holding a one or two goal edge in the final minute of the third period, that trio hits the ice to seal up the final result. They also added timely offence combining for 12 goals and 11 assists in the team's nine playoff games.
    When veteran defender Jenna Nash, who recently turned 18, was lost for the season tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee playing for Saskatchewan at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C., in February, it appeared the Stars would have a big hole on their back end. While no one person could replace Nash, the Stars defenders Paige Michalenko, Willow Slobodzian, Hollie Coumont, Rayna Jacobson and Danielle Girolami as a collective all brought their play to a higher level to make up for the loss of Nash.
    The team's coaching staff of head coach Greg Slobodzian and assistant coaches Patrick Nogier, Don Rongve and Jason Schneider have all done a stellar job working with this group of young athletes. The fact the chemistry on the team is so good has to go to the fact the coaches have created an environment that allows their players to reach their potential.

The Stars celebrate a goal by Hollie Coumont, second from left.

    Away from the rink, the Stars have been supported by a spectacular group of parents. They are there positively supporting their daughters but have never been pushy.
    The parents have enjoyed watching their children have success but have never demanded attention due to that success. The fathers and mothers have been humble in victory.
    At times, they had to go beyond the call of duty in support, which included driving their kids to Calgary on Christmas day to take part in the Mac's tournament. Money can be tight for female midget AAA hockey teams, and this move allowed the Stars to save some funds.
    The Stars have enjoyed a season to remember, but all good things do come to an end. If they make the final of the Esso Cup, they will play a maximum of seven more games together over a period of seven days. If the rest of this season is any indication, you can bet they will enjoy every day of that national championship tournament.
    They have bested every obstacle they have faced. It is not that far-fetched to see them playing at an even higher level and taking part in one more championship trophy winning celebration as the top female midget AAA hockey team in Canada.

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