Huskies drop 3-2 heartbreaker to Cougars after shootout

Second place and bye in Canada West playoffs eludes U of S

It is on to UBC for captain Brooklyn Haubrich and the Huskies.

    One rival leaves and another one is on the way.

    On Saturday before 735 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team closed out the U Sports regular season falling to their provincials rivals the University of Regina Cougars 3-2 after a tiebreaking shootout.

    The Cougars took the shootout 1-0 after star captain Jaycee Magwood scored in the fourth round.

    The clash between the two sides had the intensity of a playoff tilt. As both clubs look towards their respective upcoming post-season runs, Huskies fifth-year captain Brooklyn Haubrich said it was good for her team to get the feel of a high-intensity game before the post-season comes around, even though the setback stung.

The Cougars third period equalizer gets past Huskies goalie Jessica Vance.

    “It hurts,” said Haubrich. “Obviously, we didn’t want to lose.

    “We didn’t want to end our regular season on a losing note. I think there are a lot of positives that we can take into playoffs. There are good battles out there.

    “Any time you play Regina, everyone is hyped up and ready to go. I’m hoping we can bring that energy into playoffs and put this one behind us. It is a new season next weekend, so move forward.”

    The Huskies were hoping to move into second place in the Canada West Conference at the start of Saturday’s game. They finished third with a 17-7-2-2 record.

    Had the Huskies won on Saturday, they still wouldn’t have been able to move into second place due to the fact the U of Calgary Dinos got past the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns 3-1 on Saturday in Calgary, Alta. 

The Cougars celebrate a third period equalizer from Paige Hubbard.

    The Dinos finished second with an 18-7-1-2 mark, while the Pronghorns placed last in the eight team conference and missed the post-season with a 9-16-1-2 record.

    The U of Alberta Pandas, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, finished first in Canada West with a 20-8 record after blanking the U of Manitoba Bisons 4-0 in Winnipeg, Man.

    The Bisons finished seventh in Canada West with a 10-17-1 record and will miss the post-season.

    The Pandas and Dinos both have byes past the first round of the Canada West playoffs.

    The Huskies will host their archrivals the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series, and Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Merlis. 

Sophie Lalor scored for the Huskies in the third period.

    The Thunderbirds finished sixth in Canada West with a 10-13-4-1 record.

    The Huskies and Thunderbirds have been frequent playoff foes and last met in the post-season in 2018, when the Huskies swept a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series 2-0 at the ancient Rutherford Rink. The end of the Huskies 2-1 series clinching victory in Game 2 included a huge scrum in front of the U of S net that nearly turned into a brawl.

    Haubrich admitted the ill will from past games with the Thunderbirds hasn’t been forgotten by her side.

    “I think we are just going to have to be mentally tough,” said Haubrich. “I think we are going to have to keep our head on our shoulders.

Morgan Willoughby scored for the Huskies in the third period.

    “We know what it is like to play them. Lots of us have been around long enough that we know what they are like. It is going to be a gong show.

    “There are going to be lots of penalties. We’re just going to have to keep our head on straight so that we can push through that adversity.”

    As for Saturday’s game against the Cougars, the star goaltenders took centre stage over the opening 20 minutes making a number of tough stops. Jessica Vance stopped 11 shots for the Huskies, while Jane Kish turned away nine shots for the Cougars.

    The Cougars jumped ahead 1-0, when left-winger Merissa Zerr netted a gritty in close power-play goal at the right side of the Huskies net at the 3:59 mark of the second. 

Jaycee Magwood recorded her 100th career U Sports regular season point.

    The host side protested that the whistle had blown on the scramble play, but the protests fell on deaf ears.

    In the third, the Huskies evened the score 1-1 at the 11:47 mark, when left-winger Sophie Lalor wired home a power-play goal with her team working on a two-person advantage. Lalor potted her goal from the right boards after receiving a great backdoor pass from Huskies star right-winger Bailee Bourassa.

    With 5:41 remaining in the third, Huskies fifth-year defender Morgan Willoughby fired home a post shot through a screen for her first goal of the campaign to put the host side up 2-1.

    Just when the Huskies appeared they would skate away with a victory, the Cougars tied the contest up at 2-2, when rookie right-winger Paige Hubbard netted her fifth goal of the season during a net scramble with 40.6 seconds remaining in the third. That tally forced the contest to go to overtime.

Jane Kish was stellar in goal for the Cougars.

    Hubbard and Zerr both picked up assists on each other’s goals in the contest. 
    Magwood, who is in her fifth and final year of eligibility, picked up assists on both U of R goals in regulation. That allowed her to surpass 100 points for her U Sports regular season career.

    In 130 career regular season games with the Cougars, Magwood has 48 goals and 53 assists for 101 points.

    The two sides weren’t able to break the deadlock after a five minute overtime period of four-on-four play and a five minute extra session of three-on-three play.
    During the extra sessions, the goalies on either side were knocked down once by opposing players.

    All that dramatics set the stage for Magwood to score the only goal in the tiebreaking shootout.

    “It felt like we were in the playoffs already,” said Haubrich. “You get that desperate feeling when you are in playoffs, and that is kind of how we felt tonight.

    “We were playing desperate hockey, and we were hungry. It is just tough it didn’t turn out for us.”

Huskies RW Abby Shirley, right, tries to escape tight checking.

    Vance stopped 26 shots in goal for the Huskies over 70 minutes of play and three out of four shooters in the shootout. Kish turned away 34 shots in goal for the Cougars and all four shooters she faced in the shootout.

    The Cougars were a perfect 4-0 this season in games that went to a tiebreaking shootout.

    With the win, the Cougars finish fifth in Canada West with a 14-13-1 record with 38 points in the standings. They will travel to Calgary, Alta., to face the Mount Royal University Cougars in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series with Game 1 of the series slated for Friday.

The Cougars celebrate their win on Saturday.

    Mount Royal finished fourth in Canada West with a 14-14 record with 40 points in the standings.
    In Canada West women’s hockey, teams receive three points for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time setbacks. Mount Royal earned 40 points on 12 regulation wins and two extra time victories.

    U of R earned 38 points on nine regulation wins, five extra time wins and one extra time setback.

Haubrich said Saturday’s loss left her side with a hollow feeling, but she expects her squad will refocus quickly.

    “Talking to lots of friends and family here, they are like, ‘You know what, it is over with, and you have a brand new season,’” said Haubrich. “It is fun and exciting.

    “In playoffs, you always feel like it is a brand new fresh start. I’m excited for us to get rolling. I think we have a lot to prove come playoffs, so I’m excited.”

Huskies thump Cougars, finish second in Canada West

Taran Kozun picked up his 41st career regular season win on Saturday.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team controlled what they could control, but first place in the Canada West Conference didn’t come their way.

    On Saturday playing before 543 spectators at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, won their 11th straight game romping over the host U of Regina Cougars 6-2 in a U Sports regular season clash. That win allowed the Huskies to finish the regular season with a 22-4-2 record to place second in the Canada West standings.

    In Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday, the host U of Alberta Golden Bears, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, dumped the U of Manitoba Bisons 5-2. The Golden Bears improved their winning streak to four straight games finishing the regular season with a 23-5 record, while the Bisons finished sixth in Canada West with a 9-15-2-2 record.

    Both the Huskies and Golden Bears had 46 points in the standings, but the Golden Bears took first place having won three out of four head-to-head encounters with the Huskies.

Against the Cougars on Saturday, the host side took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal from fourth-year centre Tristan Frei.

    The Huskies jumped ahead 3-1 in the second period with goals coming off the sticks of Layne Young, Kohl Bauml and Gordie Ballhorn.

    At the 4:05 mark of the third period, right-winger Connor Odelein scored for the Cougars to cut the Huskies lead to 3-2.

Levi Cable has played 174 consecutive games for the Huskies.

    The Huskies thwarted any thoughts of a comeback by the host side closing the contest with three straight goals coming from the sticks of Logan McVeigh, Carter Folk and Andrew Johnson.

    Young, who is a sophomore left-winger, had two assists to go with his goal. McVeigh had a helper to go with his tally.

    Fifth-year right winger Levi Cable had three assists to help pace the Huskies offence. Cable played in all 140 regular season games he could possibly appear in during his U Sports career.

    Currently, Cable is the Huskies current ironman appearing in 174 consecutive games between the regular season and post-season.

    Taran Kozun stopped 11 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Kozun picked his 41^st career regular season victory which moved him to sixth on the Huskies career regular season wins list.

    The Nipawin, Sask., product passed Ross McKay, who won 40 regular season games for the Huskies from 1984 to 1987.

    Dawson MacAuley turned away 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars. The Cougars finished seventh in the Canada West standings missing the playoffs with an 8-17-2-1 record.

    The Huskies and Golden Bears have byes past the first round of the Canada West playoffs.

    Both teams are slated to host best-of-three Canada West semifinal series expected to be slated for Feb. 21 to 23.

Huskies’ great George saluted at Merlis

Breanne George, centre, drops the ceremonial faceoff on Saturday.

    One of the all-time greats in the history of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team made her way back to Saskatoon to receive a much deserved salute.

    Former Huskies star forward Breanne George received her Canada West Hall of Fame plaque before Saturday’s U Sports regular season game between her former squad and the U of Regina Cougars. George received a rousing ovation from the 735 onlookers in attendance.

    The 30-year-old dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff between the two sides.

    The Cougars would claim the contest 3-2 after a tiebreaking shootout.

    In a crazy twist, George never actually played a regular season game for the Huskies at Merlis. She played her whole U Sports career during a time when the Huskies still called the ancient Rutherford Rink home.

Breanne George, centre, receives her Hall of Fame plaque.

    Huskies women’s and men’s hockey teams moved into Merlis Belsher Place before the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

    George was inducted as part of the inaugural class to the Canada West Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

    She played for the Huskies women’s team from 2007 to 2012 and is still the squad’s most prolific scorer. George holds the Huskies career records for most regular season goals (86) and points (149).

    Her 63 career regular season assists ranks third in Huskies team history.

    George holds the Huskies record for most goals in one regular season at 28 and points at 46. Those marks were achieved in the 2009-10 campaign.

    She topped the Canada West Conference in goals and points in the 2009-10 season and was named the Canada West MVP.
    The Saskatoon product was a first team Canada West all-star in 2010 and 2011 and a second team Canada West all-star in 2012. She was a first team U Sports all-Canadian in 2010 and 2011.
    George was the first member of the Huskies women’s hockey team to be named the MVP of the Canada West Conference and a U Sports all-Canadian.

    In 2011, George played for Canada’s women’s team at the FISU Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey. She had seven goals and 12 points in seven games helping Canada win gold.

Breanne George, left, visits some of her old teammates.

    George is currently a physiotherapist in Sherwood Park, Alta.

    Along with saluting George, the Huskies saluted their eight players who are in their fifth-years of eligibility and are set to graduate after this season in Leah Bohlken, Courtney Cormack, Shyan Elias, Brooklyn Haubrich, Rachel Lundberg, Emma Nutter, Elizabeth Salyn and Morgan Willoughby.

    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 romp over Cougars

The Huskies celebrate a goal from Abby Shirley, second from left.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team landed the knockout blows early in this one.

    Playing before 563 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place on Friday, the Huskies stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first period over their provincial rivals the University of Regina Cougars. The hosts expanded their lead to 4-0 in the second and cruised to a 4-1 victory in the U Sports regular season encounter.

    A total of 11 players recorded at least one point for the Huskies in the dominant performance. The Huskies have faced their challenges when it comes to scoring goals this season, so Friday’s outburst was a welcome one.

Abby Shirley had a goal and an assist for the Huskies on Friday.

    “It felt really good to come out like that strong, and have a good start to it and then continue it all throughout the game,” said Huskies winger Abby Shirley, who had a goal and an assist in the win. “These are some huge games playing against Regina, obviously, and tensions are pretty high every time we meet.

    “It felt really good to come out on top.”

    The Huskies jumped in front 1-0 at the 6:56 mark of the opening frame, when captain Brooklyn Haubrich knocked home a rebound in front of the Cougars net. The tally was Haubrich’s first goal of the season, and it was a welcome development for the feisty forward.

    “That was a sigh of relief,” said Haubrich. “That was a long time coming for me.

Brooklyn Haubrich scored her first goal of the season on Friday.

    “It felt good just to get the monkey off my back.”

    Just 44 seconds later, Shirley collected the puck at the point and hit winger Bailee Bourassa with a long backdoor pass alone at the left side of the Cougars goal, and Bourassa tucked in her fifth goal of the season to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

    While those goals sent the Cougars reeling, the visitors were knocked down to the mat with 66 seconds remaining in the first.

    At that point in the contest, fourth-year Huskies standout defender Leah Bohlken sprung energetic rookie forward Kennedy Brown in on a breakaway, and Brown slipped home a backhander to give the hosts a 3-0 advantage.

    “We haven’t had a game like this all season,” said Haubrich. “I would say it was fun to just get ahead and get some good feeling.

    “A lot of good things were happening on the ice. It was fun to put together a full 60 on our part.”

The Cougars and Huskies engaged in a handful of scrums.

    The Cougars pulled starting goaltender Jane Kish after the first period. She turned away 11-of-14 shots sent her way to take the setback in goal. Morgan Baker stopped 21-of-22 shots playing the final two periods in relief.

    The Huskies lead grew to 4-0 at the 16:22 mark of the second, when Shirley potted her fifth goal of the season in close on the Cougars net.

    As the Huskies took command of the game, Haubrich believed her side played with fairly even emotions, which helped lead to the final outcome.

    “I think the reason we were successful tonight is we didn’t get too high on the score,” said Haubrich. “We just said it was a 0-0 period, and we wanted to win the period.

Jessica Vance makes one of her 26 stops in goal for the Huskies.

    “I think we were able to keep our intensity just by not getting too ahead of ourselves.”

    With 66 seconds remaining in the second period, Cougars star forward Jaycee Magwood roofed a shot to the top corner of the Huskies goal to cut the U of S lead to 4-1. Magwood’s goal wasn’t enough to provide a spark to trigger a comeback.

    Huskies star netminder Jessica Vance made 26 saves to pick up the win in goal. She turned away Magwood on an early second period breakaway, when the Cougars were trying to find any type of momentum at that point in the game.

The Huskies celebrate their win over the Cougars on Friday.

    The Huskies improved to 12-6-1 with their third straight win.

    The Cougars fell to 8-8-3 with the setback.

    The two sides will go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

Shirley said her team is expecting the Cougars to make a big push back in Saturday’s encounter.

    “The coaches were just saying in the room we can’t get too excited now,” said Shirley. “The job isn’t done.

    “Tomorrow, we really have to play like we did today and not let them get in our heads. Just coming out strong like we did today I think is a really huge key thing for tomorrow.”

Back in the Express with Lieffers

Cianna Lieffers has developed into an elite level referee.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a cover story on elite hockey referee Cianna Lieffers.

    The 24-year-old worked the 4 Nations Cup women’s hockey tournament last November in Saskatoon. That event featured the senior national teams from Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden.

    Lieffers, who graduated with two degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, resides in Saskatoon, and she took up officiating at age 11 in her hometown of Cudworth.

    She is a regular on the U Sports women’s hockey and Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League circuits.

    My story on Lieffers can be found by clicking here.

    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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Tigers clash with Raiders a stellar display for WHL

Max Gerlach (#16) centres a pass for the Tigers.

    The WHL got a gem of a game on Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    Before 1,750 spectators, the host Raiders fell 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers in a thrilling contest where both sides jetted up and down the ice. 

    In the immediate aftermath, you miss the fact WHL games are no longer shown on Shaw across Western Canada, because Wednesday’s contest between the Raiders and Tigers was a prime example of how great and entertaining that major junior circuit can be.

    The 2017-18 campaign was supposed to be the final season Shaw showed WHL games under a contract the two bodies had, but the television network bought itself out of showing games in what is now the current campaign.

Goalie Jordan Hollett had a stellar game for the Tigers.

    While the Raiders versus Tigers game wasn’t on television, it should be referred to as a selling feature of how great games in the WHL can be. Whether news of the game spreads by word of mouth or by fans over social media channels, it was a game that is worthy of water cooler chat.

    That contest had so many turning points you could point to almost anything in being the difference in the game.

    Besides the teams getting up and down the ice, the biggest talking point would have been the goalies, who were both outstanding. Ian Scott, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 168 pounds, had a solid night making 34 saves over 65 minutes before the game went to a shootout, where he was beaten twice. The quality of saves Scott made were high, and the Calgary product showed he is one of the circuit’s elite goalies.

Ian Scott of the Raiders showed he is one of the WHL’s elite goalies.

    Tigers netminder Jordan Hollett, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 210 pounds, was even better turning away 49 shots over 65 minutes and both shooters he faced in the shootout. The Langley, B.C., product, who was the Regina Pats backup goalie last season, proved he is ready for a primetime starting role.

    If video of Hollett’s performance made it down to Regina, you would likely have some Pats fans gripping the 18-year-old puck stopper should have been the goalie the Pats kept in a season where that team hosts the Memorial Cup this coming May.

    The star players came out to play on both sides. Overage centre Jordy Stallard, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 179 pounds, potted a pair of goals to continue to lead the Raiders in scoring with 21 goals and 20 assists in 29 games. Stallard’s play was complimented by Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid post-game.

Jordy Stallard tops the Raiders in scoring.

    “He (Stallard) plays quality minutes,” said Habscheid, whose team is 11-11-5-2 so far this season. “He plays a lot of minutes, but he responds.

    “He has scored some big goals for us, and he has been a good player for us.”

    Tigers overage captain Mark Rassell, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 186 pounds, scored twice, picked up an assist and potted his team’s first goal in the tiebreaking shootout. He leads the Tigers in scoring with 27 goals and 12 assists in 29 games. Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston said Rassell has been another one of those skilled and speedy players the team seems to constantly find that overlooked.

    “He is such a great story for so many young players, and we’ve had a few of them,” said Clouston, whose team is 17-11-1. “He is the next guy who didn’t play at (age) 16.

    “He wasn’t drafted. He was a list player and undersized. He just happened to grow, and now he is one of our bigger guys.

    “He just stayed the course, stayed positive. He was in and out of the lineup at 17 and became a full-time player at 18 and then at 19 tore it up. He has picked up where he left off last year and even taking it up a notch.”

    There were key performances by others. Eric Pearce, who is a 16-year-old rookie centre, tipped home the Raiders fourth goal of the game.

Captain Mark Rassell has been lighting it up offensively for the Tigers.

    The Raiders showed they have a couple of players that can move the puck well from the defence in Vojtech Budik and Max Martin.

    Tigers rearguard David Quenneville might be the best offensive-defenceman in the WHL. The 19-year-old veteran picked up his 10^th goal of the season on Wednesday to go with his 24 assists in another outstanding campaign.

    Right-winger Max Gerlach showed he still has one of the best shots in the league, when he wired home the shootout winner.

    No matter who you cheered for on Wednesday night, the clash between the Raiders and the Tigers was a showstopper, and it is always worthy of discussion.

Goalies rule Canada West women’s hockey

Huskies goalie Jessica Vance has a .955 save percentage so far  this season.

    The goalies have to be give their due in the Canada West Conference in U Sports women’s hockey.

    With a little over half of the regular season now in the books, goal scoring has been a challenge for the eight teams in the Canada West Conference. Only star forward Venla Hovi of the University of Manitoba Bisons is averaging a point a game with four goals and eight assists in 16 appearances.

    On the other end, five of the conference’s goalies have a save percentage that is .950 or better. Kelsey Roberts of the University of Calgary Dinos has the best save percentage in the conference at .959 to go with her 6-7-1 record, 1.46 goals against average and five shutouts.

    The goalies are straight out just getting it done.

    The Dinos are tied with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies for giving up the fewest goals in the conference at 23.

    The Huskies have three second-year goalies who have combined for six shutouts. Jessica Vance has three shutouts, Chloe Marshall has two shutouts and Jasey Book has one shutout.

Vance has the third best save percentage in Canada West at .955 to go with her 4-2 record and 1.18 goals against average.

    To further show just how tough it has been to score in Canada West, Kaitlin Willoughby, who is the third all-time leading scorer in the history of the Huskies, has five goals and five assists in 14 appearances, but sits only four points back of Bisons forward Jordyn Zacharias for the conference’s scoring lead.

    There are a tonne of good goalies in the Canada West Conference in women’s hockey and right now they are a step ahead of the conference’s point producers.

Kish makes a step up with Cougars

Jane Kish has brought her game up another level playing for the Cougars.

    Jane Kish is one of those elite performers who keeps getting better.

    The third-year goalie with the University of Regina Cougars women’s team has brought her game up another level from the previous season. While she had a great campaign in her sophomore season, Kish, who stands 5-foot-4, had a tendency to go down a little early playing the butterfly style and due to her short height, the top part of the net was exposed.

    The book to beat Kish was to shoot the puck high and put it over her shoulders.

    This season, Kish is still playing the butterfly style but is staying upright to take away the top part of the net. Now, the Weyburn, Sask., product has become that much more of a difficult goalie to beat.

    During the Cougars last two games against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, Kish was beaten only once by a gritty net scramble power-play goal. She turned back 54-of-55 shots in those two contests.

    On the season, Kish has posted a 6-4-1 record, a 1.26 goals against average, a .951 save percentage and two shutouts. Her goals against average is the third lowest in the conference and her save percentage is the fourth highest.

    Back in 2014, Kish backstopped her hometown Weyburn Gold Wings to an Esso Cup title for female midget AAA hockey national supremacy. She has the mental toughness to take a team all the way. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she repeated what she did in midget AAA at the university level.

    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.

Huskies grind out win on Vance’s third shutout

The Huskies congratulate goalie Jessica Vance on her shutout.

    Steve Kook hopes the low scoring nail-biter isn’t the norm for his University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.

    The veteran head coach watched his side squeak out a gritty 1-0 victory over the University of Regina Cougars on Saturday night in a U Sports regular season clash at the ancient Rutherford Rink. So far this season, low scoring battles have been the norm for teams playing head-to-head in the Canada West Conference. Venla Hovi, who is a star forward for the University of Manitoba Bisons, is the only player averaging a point a game with four goals and eight assists in 12 appearances.

    In building a 9-6-1 record to sit fourth in Canada West, the Huskies and the University of Calgary Dinos are tied for giving up the fewest goals in the circuit at 23. The Huskies have only scored a combined 26 goals which ranks fifth in the eight-team conference.

    Kook said grinding out the low-scoring win isn’t the easiest thing to do.

    “I think it is hard on teams to do this every weekend,” said Kook. “I don’t think it is any different than what we’ve gone through every year.

Jessica Vance makes a glove save for the Huskies.

    “The challenge for us is to try to find a way to get more than one person at the net. Goalies are so good in this league you have to find a way to get two people at the net or attack in multiples.”

    The Cougars came at the Huskies hard in the opening 20 minutes outshooting the host side 16-8. Thanks to the stellar goaltending from Jessica Vance, the Huskies entered the first intermission locked in a 0-0 tie.

    Vance’s two best saves in the opening frame included robbing Cougars captain Kylee Kupper on a backdoor play and making a glove stop on fourth-year forward Emma Waldenberger.
    “They came on strong, and it was important to make those first few saves to keep my team in it,” said Vance. “Luckily, my team did a good job by keeping most of the shots to the outside to make it a little easier for me.”

    At the start of the second, Vance made a trio of big saves first on Cougars star forward Jaycee Magwood, then on Kupper and another on Jenna Grube.

    The Huskies found traction, when they went to work on their fourth power-play of the contest. During a net scramble, Huskies star captain Kaitlin Willoughby, who had a solid lunch pail type game, got the puck from a crowd at the left side of the Cougars goal and drove home her fifth tally of the season.

Kaitlin Willoughby scored for the Huskies on this net scramble.

    That goal ultimately turned the tide of the contest in favour of the Huskies. The hosts held a 12-5 edge in shots on goal in the second period.

    The third period was a calm one with both sides not have a whole lot in the way of scoring chances. Vance made a big late save on Magwood in a 27 save shutout performance.
    In six starts this season, Vance has posted a 4-2 record, a 1.18 goals against average, a .955 save percentage and three shutouts.

    “It feels good to have the shutouts, but the most important part is for my team to get the win,” said Vance. “I try not to think about my stats too much and just focus on working together with my team to get the win.
    “A lot can be said for my team’s defence as well for my shutouts as that is a key part of the game.”
    Jane Kish stopped 23 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars, who fell to 7-8-1 to remain fifth overall in Canada West.

    During their first 16 games, the Huskies held the edge in shots on goal in six of the seven games they lost.

Kaitlin Willoughby drives into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

    A lot of the times, they have outshot their opponents by a comfortable edge, but that work hasn’t resulted in a gusher of goals.

    On the power play, the Huskies are 3-for-55 with a 5.5 per cent success rate on the campaign. Kook said his team is getting chances on the power play, and it is a challenge to keep the confidence up with everyone.

    “The natural thing is to want to try and change something,” said Kook. “I’d be more concerned if we weren’t getting good looks and good scoring chances off the power play.

    “We need to get better at the things we do. We need to tweak a little bit maybe some strong net front presence and a more committed net front presence. For us to make a wholesale change I think is wrong.

Goalie Jessica Vance makes one of her 27 saves on Saturday.

    “We’re getting good scoring looks.”

    The Huskies now head into their exam and Christmas break. They return to action on Jan. 5 in the new year, when they host the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns (7-9-2) at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

    Kook liked how his team won puck battles on Saturday and wants to see that continue in the second half. He would also like to see his side manage the puck better.

    The bench boss thought his team had lapses in Friday’s 2-0 loss to the Cougars in Regina, where the Huskies did have a 31-19 edge in shots on goal.

    “Literally in the second half, it is a sprint,” said Kook. “We have 12 games over six weeks. Before you know it, it is over.

    “You just have to make sure we are in games like this right off the bat. (Friday night), I thought we didn’t play a very good 40 minutes, and we played a good 20 minutes. That is what we are going to try and focus on.”

Cooke sits alone in second on Huskies career wins list

Jordon Cooke picked up his 54th career regular season win for the Huskies.

    Jordon Cooke hit another major milestone before his U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team departed into the semester break.

    On Saturday at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, Cooke made 23 saves to back the Huskies to a 6-5 victory over the host U of Regina Cougars before 1,020 spectators. The victory was the 54^th of Cooke’s regular season career with the Huskies, which places him alone in second spot on the team’s all-time regular season win’s list.

    Cooke sits one victory ahead of former teammate Ryan Holfeld, who won 53 games playing goal for the Huskies from 2010 to 2015.

    Jeff Harvey sits first on the team’s all-time wins list picking up 60 victories playing goal for the Huskies from 2005 to 2010.

    As for Saturday’s contest itself, the Huskies and Cougars battled in a seesaw affair. With the two sides locked in a 5-5 draw, feisty forward Jaimen Yakubowski scored the winner with 1:32 to play to lift the Huskies to a one-goal win.

    Andrew Johnson scored twice for the Huskies, while John Lawrence, Tanner Lishchynsky and Alex Forsberg had singles.

    Corwin Stevely, Colton Sparrow, Zach McPhee, Cody Fowlie and Ian McNulty replied with singles for the Cougars.

    Michael Herringer started in goal for the Cougars turning away 5-of-8 shots before being pulled at the 5:36 mark of the first period. Dawson MacAuley stopped 36-of-39 shots going the rest of the way in relief for the U of R.

    The Huskies, who have won five straight, sit second in Canada West with a 13-2-1 mark. The Cougars fell to 3-11-2 to sit in the basement of the eight-team Canada West Conference.

    The Huskies return to action on Jan. 5 in the new year, when they travel to Lethbridge to face the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns (6-9-1).

    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 need someone to play hero role offensively

Kish’s 31 saves backs Cougars to 2-0 victory

The Huskies and Cougars scramble in front of the U of Regina net.

    REGINA - The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team needs someone to throw on the superhero cape.

    So far during regular season play, the Huskies have lacked the scoring punch needed to pull off any comebacks. As soon as the opposition gets ahead, it seems like the final outcome is cemented on the scoreboard.

    On Friday night at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, the Huskies put in an effort to get a positive result against the host U of Regina Cougars. Collectively, it seemed like everyone was holding on to their sticks too tightly on the Dogs side and there was no finish.

    The visitors failed to score on four power play chances and fell victim to a 31 shutout performance from Cougars star netminder Jane Kish. That was enough to allow the Cougars to skate away with a 2-0 victory in a U Sports regular season clash.

Tamara McVannel had a power-play goal for the Cougars.

    The Huskies, who have lost four of their last five games, fell to 8-6-1 with the loss to remain fourth in the Canada West Conference. The Cougars improved to 7-7-1 to sit fifth in Canada West and four points back of the Huskies.

    The Cougars scored early when Czech import right-winger Martina Maskova flipped a shot past Huskies netminder Chloe Marshall at the 2:42 mark of the first period. The hosts picked up an insurance marker at the 11:45 mark of the second, when defender Tamara McVannel slid home a power-play goal from the point through a screen.

    Those tallies proved to be enough to cement the Cougars second win in their last eight games.

    Marshall was solid making 17 saves including a breakaway stop on Maskova in the third to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

    In their seven losses, the Huskies have fallen three times by a single goal and four times by two goals. In 15 games, the Huskies have allowed 23 goals against which ties the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds for the third fewest goals against in Canada West. The Dogs have also outshot the opposition in six of the seven games they have lost this season.

Netminder Jane Kish made 31 saves to pick up the shutout win.

    U of S has scored just 25 goals on the campaign, so offence has been the Huskies biggest struggle.

    In Friday’s loss, the Huskies showed that their power play has been a huge weakness all season. On the campaign, the Huskies are connecting on 2-of-49 power-play opportunities for a 4.1 per cent success rate, which ranks last in the eight-team Canada West. They have allowed one short-handed goal against.

    At any level of hockey, that is just not good enough. To make matters worse for the Huskies, their power play struggles date back to last season.

    To be fair to the Huskies, no one is scoring in the women’s Canada West hockey conference this season.

    The U of Lethbridge Pronghorns have giving up the fewest goals in the Canada West at 21, and the U of Calgary Dinos have given up the second fewest goals at 22. Both those squads sit outside the top five in the conference standings. 

Emily Upgang had some dangerous offensive chances.

    The total goals given up by the Pronghorns are two less than the Huskies have surrendered.

    Venla Hovi, who is a star forward for the U of Manitoba Bisons, is the only player averaging at least a point a game in the conference with three goals and eight assists in 11 appearances.

    When the Huskies have been down, star fifth-year forward Kaitlin Willoughby, who is the third all-time leading scorer in team history, was able to put on the superhero cape and deliver a number of victories in the past.

    The Prince Albert product missed two games due to injury and admitted during a recent mainstream media interview that she has been playing hurt this season. Inside of the final minute of Friday’s loss, she had a glorious chance to score on a net scramble with Kish down but flipped the puck over an open goal.
    It was the type of chance Willoughby, who has four goals and five assists in 13 appearances, usually scored on in the past.

    Willoughby still entered the offensive zone with speed, but she didn’t look like herself in the opposition end often electing to pass the puck and getting only one shot on goal. At the moment, it feels like Willoughby isn’t the threat in the offensive zone that she once was.

Kaitlin Willoughby struggled in the offensive zone on Friday.

    Forwards Emily Upgang, Bailee Bourassa and Brooklyn Haubrich along with defenders Leah Bohlken and Morgan Willoughby, who is Kaitlin’s younger sister, all had effective chances in the offensive zone, but couldn’t bury any of their opportunities. Rookie centre Chloe Smith had a number of strong rushes up ice and seemed to have success creating plays despite not registering a shot on goal.

    At some point in time, the Huskies will need one or two of these players to step into the hero role in close games, if they want to make waves this season.

    Right now, the Huskies are stuck in a funk where basically the first goal of the game wins, and that is a recipe that doesn’t invite long term success.

    The Huskies and Cougars go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink in Saskatoon.

Third period rally boosts Huskies win streak to four

Jordon Cooke picked up his 53rd career win on Friday.

    In Saskatoon on Friday night, the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team needed a third period rally to extend their winning streak to four games.

    The Huskies entered the third period of a U Sports regular season clash locked in a 1-1 tie with the visiting U of Regina Cougars at the Rutherford Rink. At the 3:57 mark of the third, Zak Zborosky scored for the Cougars to give them a 2-1 lead.

    U of S wasted little time in responding. Just 19 seconds after Zborosky’s goal, Jordan Tkatch scored his first of the season for the Huskies to tie the contest up at 2-2.

    Huskies star centre Logan McVeigh netted the winner at the 9:01 mark of the third to deliver his team to a 3-2 victory.

    Jordan Burns scored for the Cougars in the first period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead, while Collin Shirley tallied in the second period for the Huskies to tie the contest up at 1-1.

    Jordon Cooke made 21 saves to pick up his 53^rd career regular season win playing goal for the Huskies (12-2-1). Cooke is now tied with former teammate Ryan Holfeld for second all-time on the Huskies career wins list. Holfeld won 53 games playing for the Huskies from 2010 to 2015.

    Dawson MacAuley turned away 34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars (3-10-2).

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

    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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Cougars gut out road win over energized Huskies

Bailey Braden (#8) celebrates her winning goal with Jane Kish (#31).

    In sports, you can play well and lose, and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team got a lesson in that fact during their regular season opener.

    The Huskies came out with a very strong effort on Friday night against their provincial rivals the University of Regina Cougars and outshot the visitors 44-18 at the ancient Rutherford Rink. Powered by a 42-save effort from third-year goaltender Jane Kish, the Cougars skated away with a 3-2 victory in the opening game of the Canada West regular season for both sides.

    The Cougars played the perfect gritty defensive road hockey game, took advantage of their scoring opportunities when they came and skated away with victory.

    U of S fired a steady barrage of shots on Kish and tried to go high on the netminder that stands 5-foot-4. Kish stood tall in a stellar effort.

Chloe Smith (#13) celebrates her first career U Sports goal.

    The Huskies were unable to score on four power play chances despite have good puck moment. One positive bounce for the Cougars resulted in a short-handed goal from fifth-year winger Bailey Braden, who scored the winning goal to break a 2-2 tie at the 16:14 mark of the second period. The Cougars also managed to cash in on their lone power-play chance.

    U of S jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 79 seconds into Friday’s game, when rookie centre Chloe Smith banged home her first career regular season U Sports goal during a net scramble situation. Moments later, the Huskies thought they had a goal from winger Courtney Cormack, but it was waved off after the officials determined the puck didn’t cross the goal-line.

    Around the midway point of the opening frame, the Cougars surged ahead 2-1 scoring two goals 1:56 apart from each other. First, Cougars fourth-year forward Emma Waldenberger scored in close on the U of R’s lone power-play chance to tie things up at 1-1.

Chloe Smith (#13) breaks into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

    After that tally, Shaelyn Vallotton had the Cougars second goal of the surge taking a perfect pass from linemate Jordan Kulbida across the face of the U of S goal, and tucked the puck into an open caged to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

    The Huskies gained momentum scoring early in the second, when sophomore winger Bailee Bourassa wired home a wrist shot to the top left corner of the Cougars goal to force a 2-2 tie. A short time after getting the equalizer, U of S had a big chance to go ahead but star captain Kaitlin Willoughby was denied in close twice by Kish.

    With 3:46 to play in the second, the Huskies were working on a power play, but they were caught on a line change, when the puck took a bounce off the boards resulting in an odd person situation favouring the Cougars in the Huskies zone.

Goalie Jane Kish made 42 saves to back the Cougars to a gutty road win.

    Cougars rookie Czech winger Martina Maskova won a race to a loose puck and slid a pass while on her butt to an open Braden in front of the Huskies net. Braden snapped a shot past Book to put the Cougars up 3-2.

    In the third, the Huskies held a 14-2 edge in the shots on goal department, but the Cougars kept a lot of those chances to the outside. The visitors keyed on protecting their lead defensively by dumping the puck into the Huskies zone and trapping the host side as they came up the ice.

    The Huskies thought they scored with 7:19 to play in the frame during a net scramble, but the officials quickly waved off that tally saying the puck didn’t go into the net.

    The Huskies had two solid chances inside of the final minute of the third to try and get the equalizer. A screen shot by Willoughby was turned aside by Kish.

Kayla Kirwan (#11) misses a last attempt to get the equalizer for the Huskies.

    With about 15 seconds to play, Huskies sophomore defender Kayla Kirwan pinched in deep to the left side of the Cougars goal and had Kish falling down leaving the top of the goal exposed.

    Kirwan lifted a backhander over top of the Cougars goal ending the Huskies last real chance to force overtime.

    Book turned away 15 shots to take the loss in the Huskies net.

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

McVeigh’s three helpers power Huskies to win

    Logan McVeigh was the main setup man and eight different players found the back of the net to power the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s team to a season opening win on Friday night in Regina.

    McVeigh, who topped the Huskies in scoring last season, had three assists to back the Huskies to an impressive 8-2 victory over the U of Regina Cougars at the Co-operators Centre in Regina in the Canada West regular season opener for both sides.

    Just past the midway point of the first period, the Huskies scored three goals 59 seconds apart from each other coming from the sticks of Andrew Johnson, Alex Forsberg and Levi Cable. Wyatt Johnson and fifth-year captain Kendall McFaull potted singles in the second to give the visitors a 5-0 lead.

Carson Stadnyk, Parker Thomas and Josh Roach rounded out the scoring for the Huskies in the third. Zachary Zborosky and Tyler King responded with singles on the power play for the Cougars in the third.

    Jordon Cooke made 20 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Michael Herringer turned away 37 shots to take loss in goal for the Cougars.

    The team teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

Steenbergen on fire early for Broncos

Tyler Steenbergen (#17) has 10 goals in four games.

  It seems like no one can stop Swift Current Broncos star winger Tyler Steenbergen in the early part of the WHL season.

    On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, Steenbergen had an impressive night firing home four goals and collecting an assist powering the Broncos past the host Blades 6-2 before 3,536 spectators. In helping the Broncos vault out to a 4-0 start, the 19-year-old Sylvan Lake, Alta., product has 10 goals, six assists and is a plus-12 in the plus-minus department. He also took home Canadian Hockey League player of the week honours for the week ending Oct. 1.

    Against the Blades on Friday night, the Broncos jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to singles coming from captain Glenn Gawdin and centre Kaden Elder. Steenbergen proceeded to score three straight in the second to give the Broncos a 5-0 lead and added his fourth goal of the night in the third.

    Braylon Shmyr and Bradly Goethals netted singles for the Blades in the third.

    Logan Flodell turned away 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos. Joel Grzybowski stopped 18 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades (1-3).

    The Broncos return to Swift Current on Saturday to host the Kootenay Ice (2-3-1) at 7 p.m. at the Credit Union i-plex. The Blades travel to Regina to face the Pats (2-3-1) at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

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