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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carson Stadnyk rushes up ice for the Huskies.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Netminder Jordan Papirny makes a stop for the Dinos.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Huskies celebrate their Canada West semifinal series win.

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

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

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

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Dinos bite back to force Game 3 with Huskies

Adam Kambeitz (#9) celebrates scoring the winning goal for the Dinos.

    For much of Friday night, the University of Calgary Dinos men’s hockey team mimicked the NHL’s New Jersey Devils during the era when the Devils won Stanley Cups.

    Needing a win to stay alive in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series against the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the Dinos clutch, grabbed, held and trapped their opponents. The tactics worked as the Dinos grinded out a 2-1 victory to even the series up at 1-1.

    A series deciding Game 3 will be held between the two sides on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

Netminder Jordan Papirny makes one of his 27 saves on Friday.

    In order to survive Friday’s elimination game, the Dinos, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, elected to start rookie Jordan Papirny in goal in place of sophomore Matthew Greenfield. Papirny comes to the Dinos as no ordinary rookie carrying a pedigree from his WHL days as being a money goalie come playoff time.

    The Edmonton, Alta., product won nine playoffs series during his time in the major junior ranks, backstopped the Brandon Wheat Kings to an appearance in the WHL championship series in 2015 and to a WHL title in 2016. As an overager last season, Papirny almost powered the Swift Current Broncos to a surprising second round upset of the Regina Pats forcing the Pats to rally from a 3-1 series deficit to take the set in a deciding Game 7.

Dinos LW Ryan Graham (#23) ties up Huskies D Tanner Lishchynsky.

    Papirny’s calm was evident in the Dinos goal, and he was solid making 27 saves. While Papirny did his part, the skaters in front of him ensured the netminder had to just be solid and not spectacular to get the win.

    The Dinos started out grinding down the contest in the opening 20 minutes holding a slim 7-6 edge in shots on goal. In that frame, they utilized a lot of clutching, grabbing and tight checking tactics to prevent the Huskies from getting up ice with speed. The first period was full of little one-on-one hand fighting matches between the two sides.

    With 46 seconds to play in the first period, Dinos fifth-year centre Chris Collins circled around from behind the Huskies net and roofed a shot to the top left corner of the U of S goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Huskies D Jordan Fransoo (#6) battles Dinos D Dylan Busenius for the puck.

    In the second period, it appeared the Huskies, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, were going to take over the game. Just 13 seconds into the frame, left-winger Alex Forsberg ripped a shot off the post of the U of C goal.

    From that point, the Huskies were constantly in the Dinos zone during the second period holding a 14-4 edge in shots on goal. At the 6:37 mark of the frame, third-year right-winger Levi Cable knocked home a gritty power-play goal from in front of the Dinos net to tie things up at 1-1.

    After Cable scored, Papirny ensured the Huskies weren’t able to jump ahead. Late in the frame, he made a huge glove stop to deny Huskies centre Jordan Tkatch on a breakaway. The save on Tkatch came during a period of time when the Huskies were coming at the Dinos in waves.

Netminder Taran Kozun stops a high shot for the Huskies.

    In the third, the Dinos gained the upper hand by playing the trap for most of the frame. They were able to get the puck deep in the Huskies zone, sent in one forechecker and had their other four skaters clog up all the space in the centre ice zone.

    The visitors broke through with the winning goal to go up 2-1 at the 7:53 mark of the third, when fifth-year centre Adam Kambeitz scored after getting about two or three whacks at the puck in front of Huskies netminder Taran Kozun.

    Following Kambeitz’s goal, the Huskies appeared to be fighting to get out of quicksand, when they attempted to work their way up ice. The hosts turned the puck over a number of times in the third allowing the Dinos to hold a 12-8 edge in shots on goal.

    The Huskies had a chance to regroup with an extended 16-minute timeout to replace a broken pane of glass in the Dinos end with 3:23 remaining in the third. The pane of glass broke when Huskies captain Kendall McFaull missed a hit and his elbow shattered it.

Levi Cable scored a power-play goal for the Huskies.

    When play resumed, the Dinos continued to successfully muddy of the centre ice zone to prevent the Huskies from getting the equalizer.

    Kozun had a solid outing making 21 saves to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. The Nipawin, Sask., product played admirably in place of injured starter Jordon Cooke.

    Cooke went down in the first period of the Huskies 6-4 win over the Dinos in Game 1 on Thursday when he was hit by a scrum of players. He is on crutches forcing the Huskies to dress U of S student Brett Lewchuk of the Kenaston Blizzard of the Sask Valley Hockey League as the backup goalie. The Sask Valley Hockey League is a rural senior league.

The Dinos celebrate their Game 2 win over the Huskies.

    In the end, goaltending didn’t make the different in Friday’s encounter. The Dinos won, because they did a better job of executing their overall team game plan.

    The best part of the Canada West Conference in U Sports men’s hockey is all the teams are mostly made up of standout former WHLers as well as stars from the junior A ranks. These players are good at making adjustments, so there is never a certainly a result will repeat on a following night.

    In a series deciding Game 3, the deciding factor will likely hinge on who wants the game more.

    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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Resilient Huskies rally past Dinos 6-4

Star goalie Cooke leaves Game 1 of playoff series with injury

Jordan Tkatch, second from left, celebrates a short-handed goal.

    For a moment, it looked pretty dark for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    On Thursday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the Dogs found themselves trailing the University of Calgary Dinos 3-0 at the 14:01 mark of the first period in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West semifinal playoff series. On the Dinos first goal, a scrum of players crashed into Huskies netminder Jordon Cooke, who was recently named a first team Canada West all-star for a third straight year.

    Cooke had to be helped to the dressing room after stopping 6-of-7 shots sent his way, and Leduc, Alta., product didn’t look to be in very good shape. He didn’t return to the game. It seemed like everything that could go wrong was going wrong for the U of S side.

Jordan Tkatch scored twice for the Huskies on Thursday night.

    After falling behind 3-0, the Huskies proceeded to catch fire, rolled off five straight goals to go ahead 5-3 and took the opening game of their playoff series with the Dinos 6-4. U of S will try to close out the series in Game 2 on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Rutherford.

    “Your starting goalie goes down and not much worse can happen,” said sophomore Huskies centre Jordan Tkatch, whose team is rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. “We showed our character.

    “When we play our game, that is all that matters. When we play our game, we know what we can do, and it showed tonight.”

    Fifth-year defenceman Brayden Sherbinin scored the Dinos first goal at the 6:59 mark of the opening frame to give the visitors a 1-0 edge. Cooke was injured after Sherbinin’s goal went into the Huskies net.

Parker Thomas scored 23 seconds into the second to spark the Huskies.

    U of C’s edge increased to 3-0 when centre Chris Collins potted his first of two markers in the contest and right-winger Riley Sheen added a single.

    With 3:16 to play in the first period, Tkatch tipped home a point shot from Huskies captain Kendall McFaull to cut the Dinos edge to 3-1.

    Just 23 seconds into the second period, right-winger Parker Thomas potted the rebound from an Alex Forsberg shot to further trim U of C’s lead to 3-2. Just 57 seconds after Thomas’s goal, fifth-year right-winger Josh Roach scored for the Huskies to force a 3-3 tie.
    At that point, the Dinos, who are rated 10th in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, called timeout to try and halt the host side’s momentum.

    Tkatch said the Huskies hit another gear after Parker scored.

Goalie Jordon Cooke, centre, is helped off the ice after being injured.

    “Everyone talks about momentum in playoff hockey,” said Tkatch. “We didn’t stay too high.

    “We kept going. When we got the third goal, we thought we had the game in control, and we just kept it all the way through.”

    The Huskies surge kept going. At the 6:24 mark of the second, Huskies star offensive defenceman Jesse Forsberg worked a give and go in the centre ice zone to get sprung on a breakaway. He beat Dinos goaltender Matthew Greenfield on a deke to give the Huskies a 4-3 lead.

    At the 8:59 mark of the second, Tkatch scored his second of the contest blowing home a short-handed goal to the top left corner of the U of C net to give the Huskies a 5-3 lead.

Jesse Forsberg celebrates his second period goal for the Huskies.

    “It was a two-on-two and the puck kind of poked back, and I was the late trailer and picked it up,” said Tkatch. “I just walked the blue-line and I shot through a screen, and it happened to go in.”

    Greenfield was pulled from the game after Tkatch’s short-handed goal turning away 22-of-27 shots to ultimately take the setback in the Dinos net. Rookie Jordan Papirny stopped all nine shot fired his way playing the rest of the way in relief for the Dinos.

    Shortly after entering the game, Papirny stopped Tkatch on a breakaway.
    Tkatch admitted he would have liked to have scored a hat trick marker on that play.

    “Obviously, who wouldn’t want to score another one,” said Tkatch. “At the end of the day, you can’t let that hold you back.

    “You just have to keep going and just worry about the game. We got the “W,” and that is all that mattered.”

The Huskies and Dinos engage in a third period scrum.

    Collins scored his second of the contest at the 6:30 mark of the third to cut the Huskies lead to 5-4 to create some suspense for the rest of the contest. Left-winger Alex Forsberg scored an empty-net goal for the Huskies with 96 seconds to play to seal the final outcome.

    Huskies rookie netminder Taran Kozun was beaten on the first shot faced taking over in the U of S goal after Cooke’s departure. Kozun found his groove and had a solid rest of the game turning away 19-of-22 shots fired his way to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies.

    Cooke’s status for Friday and possibly the rest of the U Sports men’s hockey playoffs, which conclude on March 18, is uncertain.

Taran Kozun made 19 saves to back the Huskies to victory.

    Tkatch was proud that his Huskies rebounded after their disastrous start on Thursday.

    “You can take that part of the game and go one way, and our team decided to go the other way,” said Tkatch. “Koz (Kozun) went in and we probably left him dry for the couple first goals against.

    “I think it was after the second goal our team really turned around and showed our character.”

    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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Pats paste Broncos in Game 7

Regina gets rolling early and cruises to 5-1 victory

Goalie Tyler Brown and Austin Wagner embrace after the Pats Game 7 win.

    REGINA – The Regina Pats proved to be too much for the Swift Current Broncos to handle, when it became a winner take all situation.

    On Monday night at the Brandt Centre, the Pats hit stride scoring two goals before Game 7 of their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Broncos was even five minutes old.  
    With a raucous sellout crowd of 6,484 fans behind them, the Pats steamrolled to a 5-1 victory.

    The win allowed the Pats, who were playing their first Game 7 at home in 45 years, to erase a 3-1 series deficit to win the set 4-3. Regina also advanced to the Eastern Conference championship series for the first time since 1993.

Sam Steel had two big goal for the Pats in Game 7.

    Finishing first overall in the WHL with a 52-12-7-1 record and being rated first in the final Canadian Hockey League top 10 rankings that came out on March 22, the Pats were big favourites to beat the Broncos.

    Swift Current posted a solid 39-23-4-6 record during the regular season and gave the Pats all they could handle.

    When the dust settled, Pats star centre Sam Steel, who paced his side with a pair of goals, was pumped his club pulled off the comeback in the series.

    “We showed a lot of character,” said Steel, who was a first round NHL Entry Draft selection of the Anaheim Ducks last year. “I am really proud of the guys.

    “I don’t think we have a lot of doubt in there. We’re really happy to come out on the right side of this series. You learn that you are never out of it,”

Import winger Filip Ahl (#61) wins a battle in the corner for the Pats.

    Steel struck for his first of the night popping home a rebound from a shot taken by linemate Nick Henry to give the Pats a 1-0 lead just 2:19 into the game. Pats import winger Filip Ahl followed that up with a breakaway goal at the 4:57 mark of the first period to send the Regina faithful into a frenzy and force the Broncos to call a timeout.

    Swift Current did have an opportunity to get back into the contest closing out the final nine minutes of the opening frame with three power-play chances. Pats netminder Tyler Brown stoned Broncos star winger Tyler Steenbergen on a golden opportunity in close and robbed Broncos import rearguard Artyom Minulin with a huge glove save on a rocket shot through a screen from the point.

Rearguard Connor Hobbs had three assists in the Pats win.

    Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros said his side needed to pick up some traction at that juncture of the contest.

    “I thought if we could have capitalized on a couple of power plays that we had in the first period we could have changed things,” said Viveiros. “We simply just didn’t have it tonight for whatever reason.

    “We just didn’t have the game that we normally have throughout this whole series. Against a team like that which is going like that, you have to be at your best. If you are not at your best, you are not going to win.

    “The momentum was just going, and we just couldn’t get out of it. We dug ourselves out of holes throughout these playoffs, but today, we just couldn’t do it.”

    Shortly before the midway point of the second period, Steel bagged his second marker of the contest swatting home a loose puck in the crease of the Swift Current goal during a net scramble to put the hosts up 3-0. Before the second period ended, Pats speedy winger Austin Wagner tipped home a point shot from star offensive defenceman Connor Hobbs to increase Regina’s edge to 4-0.

Jordan Papirny makes one of his 38 saves in goal for the Broncos.

    With 5:27 remaining in the third period, Broncos centre Conner Chaulk scored on the power play to cut Regina’s lead to 4-1. Swift Current pulled star netminder Jordan Papirny for that power play chance to give the visitors six skaters to go against the Pats four skaters.

    Swift Current had another power-play chance with under five minutes to play and again pulled Papirny, but Wagner ended all hopes of a miracle comeback scoring a short-handed marker into an empty net for his second tally of the night.

    Brown made 23 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Pats. Papirny turned away 38-of-42 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos.

Nick Henry picked up an assist for the Pats.

    Hobbs had three assists and was a plus-four in the plus-minus department for the home side.

    Last year, the Pats fell in Game 7 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-1 to the Rebels in Red Deer.

    This year, Brown was proud his team could rally from a 3-1 series deficit and advance to the conference championship series.

    “We knew we weren’t ready to go home yet,” said Brown. “We knew we could do it.

    “We persevered as best we can. It was a real fun series.

    “There was a lot of energy in the building, and that does maybe play a factor in the game. It was real good out there.”

    The Pats will host Game 1 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference championships series on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. They will face the winner of Game 7 of the other Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Lethbridge Hurricanes.
    The Tigers and Hurricanes go at it in that Game 7 on Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time at the Canalta Centre in Medicine Hat.

    Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock said his team will face a tough opponent in the conference final.

The Pats faithful celebrate during the final seconds of a Game 7 win.

    Looking at what his team accomplished, Paddock did admit it was significant for the Pats to finally go back to the conference championship series for the first time in 24 years.

    “I think for the organization it is important to go for it and have a run when you have an opportunity to,” said Paddock. “The organization probably understands you can’t do this every year, but you don’t fall very far.

    “I think a goal would be for it to be a habit within every three or four years, (or) two or three years to advance and have the seats full.”

Brooks the good luck charm

Injured Pats captain Adam Brooks mans the door on his team’s bench.

    Injured captain Adam Brooks proved to be a good-luck charm for the Pats.

    The overage Winnipeg product suffered a knee injury in the Pats win in Game 2 over the Broncos. With Regina trailing Swift Current 3-1 in the best-of-seven set, Brooks dressed for the final three games of the series, but he didn’t see any on ice action.

    With Brooks as a cheerleader and door bench opener, the Pats won three straight with him on the bench. Due to the fact Brooks is in his final season of major junior eligibility, Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock felt Brooks deserved to be in uniform, if the Pats were eliminated.

    The gesture was a classy one by Paddock towards one of the team’s heart-and-soul members for the past five seasons. In five complete WHL campaigns, Brooks appeared in 317 regular season games collecting 119 goals, 216 assists and a plus-89 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Brooks has 14 goals, 26 assists and a plus-11 rating in 34 post-season games. The playoff games played total includes the three outing Brooks dressed, but didn’t see the ice.

    With the Pats and Broncos often cutting down to three forward lines during their series, it didn’t hurt to have Brooks just hanging out on the bench with what is basically a spare parts fourth line.

    On the superstition side, the Pats are winning when Brooks is on the bench, so they might as well keep doing it.

    Now that Regina has advanced, it is possible Brooks might return at some point in the Eastern Conference championship series.

Regina should be blue, white and red

It would be cool if Regina was painted more in Pats colours.

    With the Pats creating a lot of excitement with their post-season runs over the last three years, you would think the team’s colours would be all over the place in Regina.

    Outside of a sprinkling of signs, that isn’t the case. Actually, you don’t see a lot of people out and about wearing Pats merchandise like you do the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

    Pretty much the only place you can purchase Pats merchandise or clothing is at the Pats store at the Brandt Centre.
    The team, which has sold out 20 games between the regular season and playoffs, has a lot of good gear at its store.

    Due to business hang ups, I can see the problem with red tape in getting Pats gear out to local stores.
    Still with how popular the Pats are in Saskatchewan’s capital city, it would be nice if the town was painted blue, white and red.

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

Pats lunch pail effort forces Game 7 with Broncos

Pats winger Dawson Leedahl (#71) muscles his way out of a crowd.

    SWIFT CURRENT – The Regina Pats became the lunch pail crew to stay alive in the post-season.

    Having finished first overall in the WHL regular season 52-12-7-1 mark and being rated first in the final CHL top ten rankings released on March 22, the Pats are commonly pictured as a team that wins on finesse. On Saturday night at the Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current against the host Broncos, the Pats didn’t abandon their skill.

    With that said, their greasy goals of just diving to the net proved to be the difference in a 5-3 victory in Game 6 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Pats, who trailed the best-of-seven set 3-1 at one time, evened the series up at 3-3. A winner take all Game 7 is set for Monday at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

Austin Wagner had two goals and an assist for the Pats.

    The Pats hit the scoreboard first at the 7:24 mark of the first period, when standout winger Austin Wagner scored on a shift where his club buzzed around the Broncos net. The Broncos evened things up at 1-1 heading into the first intermission on a goal from Russian defenceman Artyom Minulin.

    The host side proceeded to jump ahead 3-1 with two early goals to open the second period. Just 29 seconds into the frame, winger Arthur Miller knocked home the rebound of a shot from Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin to put Swift Current up 2-1.

    At the 2:27 mark, Gawdin converted a nifty setup pass from winger Tyler Steenbergen to put the Broncos up 3-1 and the sellout crowd of 2,890 almost blew the roof off the team’s home rink.

    For the longest time, it appeared the Broncos were going to advance to the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series for the first time since 2001. They were sent reeling after the Pats scored twice inside of the final 90 seconds of the second to force a 3-3 tie.

Winger Filip Ahl zips into the offensive zone for the Pats.

    With 1:24 to play in the frame, Pats star centre Sam Steel fed a setup pass across the face of the Broncos goal to pinching rearguard Josh Mahura, who popped home the puck to cut the Broncos lead to 3-2. Regina tied the score up at 3-3 with 25 seconds to play in the second, when centre Wyatt Sloboshan tipped home a point shot from Mahura.

    The Pats continued to jump on the Broncos early in the third. Just 75 seconds into the frame, Wagner scored his second goal of the night by just driving hard to the net. At the 5:48 mark, Swedish winger Filip Ahl added a greasy insurance goal to put the Pats up 5-3.

    In between those Regina tallies, the Broncos had a chance to get the momentum back in their favour, but Swift Current centre Kaden Elder ended up ripping a shot off the crossbar of the Pats goal.

Pats centre Wyatt Sloboshan (#13) forechecks Broncos rearguard Max Lajoie.

    After the Pats vaulted ahead by two goals, they proceeded to sit back defensively and were successful in closing out the contest. Netminder Tyler Brown was steady in the Regina net making 34 stops to pick up the win.

    Jordan Papirny turned away 23 shots to take the loss in goal for the Broncos.

    The Pats needed to resort to a more greasy effort as captain Adam Brooks dressed but was limited to cheering on his teammates and opening the door on the bench for a second straight game. Brooks hasn’t seen a shift since being on the receiving end of a knee-on-knee hit in his team’s victory in Game 2 of their series with the Broncos.

The Pats celebrate Austin Wagner’s goal in the first period.

    Regina’s on ice chemistry seemed to have taken a step up when Ahl returned for their victory in Game 5 after missing three contests to undergo tests for the mumps.

    For the second straight contest, Sloboshan took Brooks’ regular spot centring a line that contains Ahl on left wing and Wagner on right wing. Everyone on that unit was a plus-four in the plus-minus department.

    Sloboshan, who is a former captain of the Saskatoon Blades, has mainly played a defensive forward role with the Pats, but he arguably had his best outing wearing Regina’s colours on Saturday night. Besides collecting a couple of assists to go along with his goal, Sloboshan was tough in the faceoff circle and came in hard on the forecheck.

Glenn Gawdin had a goal and two assists for the Broncos.

    Wagner had an assist to go along with his two goals, while Ahl had a pair of helpers.

    The Broncos, who were 39-23-4-6 in the regular season, were without star winger Lane Pederson, who left the first period of his team’s loss in Game 5 due to injury. His status for Game 7 is likely uncertain.

    Heading into Game 7, the Pats now look poised to make their first appearance in the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series since 1993. In order to succeed in playoffs, teams will have to find gutty ways to win at times, and the Pats have done that for two straight games.

    If the Pats put on a gritty effort for a third straight contest, they will increase their chances of advancing. On the other side, the Broncos aren’t going away, so there are no guarantees on how Game 7 will play out. 

    The drama in how that contest unfolds should be fun to watch.

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

WHL playoffs at its best – Pats stay alive in electric affair

Robbie Holmes (#32) shows his excitement after a goal from Connor Hobbs.

    REGINA – If you live in Regina and weren’t at the Brandt Centre on Friday night, you missed out.

    In one of the best playoff major junior playoff battles you might see anywhere, the host Regina Pats outlasted the visiting Swift Current Broncos 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 6,484 energetic spectators.     

    The win allowed the Pats to stay alive in the best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the two clubs cutting the Broncos edge in that department 3-2.

    The Broncos will try to close things out again on Saturday when the series switches back to Swift Current for a 7 p.m. start at the Credit Union i-Plex. The way things played out on Friday in Regina, the Broncos could have been heading home with a series win, if they were able to make just a couple of more plays.

Connor Hobbs controls the puck on the point for the Pats.

    Friday’s battle at the Brandt Centre was a raucous one. While the large majority of the rink were cheering for the host Pats, the Broncos arrived in the Saskatchewan capital with a healthy contingent of supporters that made a lot of noise.

    The action before the Pats 19^th sellout crowd of the 2016-17 campaign on the ice was a seesaw battle that was filled with a number of story lines. The Pats, who were rated first in the final Canadian Hockey League rankings that were released on March 22, stormed out of the gate getting the first eight shots on goal.

    The Broncos didn’t get their first shot on net until the 7:10 mark of the opening frame, when Pats netminder Tyler Brown turned away Broncos winger Lane Pederson from the slot.

Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin scored a power-play goal in the third period.

    Momentum turned in the second half of the opening 20 minutes when the Pats paraded to the penalty box on a trio of minor infractions. On the third of those chances, Broncos defenceman Colby Sissons blasted home a shot from the point to give the visitors a 1-0 edge with 2:44 to play in the first. You could feel a hush fall over the Regina faithful, when that tally went in.

    The hosts came back to life on a power-play opportunity late in the frame, and Pats star centre Sam Steel snipped the equalizer through a screen with 13.5 seconds remaining in the opening 20 minutes.

    Early in the second, the Pats jumped ahead 3-1 scoring a pair of goals 38 seconds apart from each other. First, Pats star defenceman Connor Hobbs scored to give the hosts a 2-1 edge putting a puck home during a net scramble in front of the Swift Current goal.

Tyler Brown makes one of his 30 saves for the Pats.

    After that marker, the Pats went up 3-1 scoring a more finesse goal as Steel found linemate Nick Henry on a backdoor feed on a rush, and Henry made no mistake scoring into an empty cage.

    The Broncos had a big chance to cut the gap at the 8:52 mark of the third, when Pats winger Austin Wagner was given a major penalty for a knee-on-knee hit to Broncos overage centre Ryley Lindgren.     The infraction will trigger an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

    Pats fans loudly showed their displeasure at the call during the ensuing Broncos power play. A few booed Lindgren, who remained in the game, every time he touched the puck.

    Near the end of that power-play chance, Swift Current pulled to within 3-2, when Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin tipped home a shot from the wall by star winger Tyler Steenbergen.

    In the final 90 seconds, the Broncos pulled netminder Jordan Papirny for the extra attacker, had pressure in the Regina zone, but couldn’t generate a solid scoring chance.

    Brown made 30 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Pats. Papirny turned away 33 shots including a third period penalty shot by Pats centre Braydon Buziak to take the loss in the Broncos net.

    The injury front also provided some dramatics also on Friday night. On the Swift Current side, Pederson left the contest in the first period with an injury and did not return.

Pats captain Adam Brooks dressed but didn’t play Friday.

    Pats import winger Filip Ahl returned to the lineup after missing three games undergoing tests for the mumps. 

    Pats captain Adam Brooks dressed for the first time after taking a knee-on-knee hit in his team’s Game 2 win over the Broncos. 

    He was pretty much pinned to the Regina bench and opened the gate occasionally for his teammates.

    Whether Brooks or Pederson plays in Game 6 on Saturday remains to be seen.

    With that said, Game 5 in Regina was a barnburner. Both sides look like they are far from finished in this set.

    Now see what the next chapter will look like in less than 24 hours, because it appears anything can happen.

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

How ‘bout them Broncos

Ryley Lindgren (#18) and the Broncos have surprised in the WHL playoffs.

    If you live in Swift Current, Sask., and you don’t know the Broncos are in a playoff series, you are living under a rock.

    During the current WHL post-season, the Swift Current Broncos players have been wearing t-shirts that ask why can’t it be their team that does special things in the playoffs and makes a long run. Every time the Broncos hit the ice, you start to wonder how far they can take their run.

    At the moment, the Broncos are on the cusp of manufacturing a monumental upset. They lead a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Regina Pats 3-1 and can close things out in Game 5 on Friday night in a game that starts at 7 p.m. local time at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

    The Pats, of course, finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 52-12-7-1 record, and they were rated first in the final CHL top 10 rankings, which were released on March 22.

    Regina was often ranked first in the CHL top 10 rankings throughout the 2016-17 campaign.

Jordan Papirny picked up his 40th career WHL playoff win on Tuesday.

    Going into the post-season, the Broncos were one of those teams you had to be aware of. They finished 10^th overall in the WHL standings with a solid 39-23-4-6 mark and finished the regular season winning seven of their last 10 games.

    Swift Current boasts two top forward lines that are as good as any of the elite teams in the WHL. The Broncos also have a sound group of defencemen and a proven playoff winner in goal. One of the few things the Broncos didn’t have was high expectations to go far in the post-season by the pundits that follow the league.

    The Broncos are proving what the pundits think doesn’t matter as long as they believe in themselves.

    After taking out the powerful Moose Jaw Warriors in an exciting seven-game first round series, the Broncos added to their playoff magic. They won two overtime games to take a 2-1 series lead against the Pats, and extended that series edge to 3-1 with an epic triple overtime victory on Tuesday in Swift Current.

    In Game 4 on Tuesday, the Broncos erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to go ahead 4-3. After the Pats tied things up at 4-4 in the dying seconds of the third period, both clubs embarked on a marathon march through extra time.

    At the 9:54 mark of the third overtime frame, Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin knocked home the winner on a power play from the front of the Regina goal. Most of the sellout crowd of 2,890 at the Credit Union i-Plex remained in the rink and exploded in joy when the winning tally went in.

The Broncos fans have been excited for their team.

    The two guys you had to feel sorry for were Pats netminder Tyler Brown, who made 64 saves in the setback, and Pats left-winger Dawson Leedahl, who had a gritty four-goal night.

    The biggest star had to be Broncos overage netminder Jordan Papirny, who made 65 stops to pick up his 40^th career WHL playoff victory. Papirny was acquired by the Broncos in a trade with the Brandon Wheat Kings on the WHL’s trade deadline day back on Jan. 10. He backstopped the Wheat Kings to a WHL title a year ago and into the WHL championship series in 2015.

    In 60 career WHL playoff starts, Papirny has posted a 40-20 record, a 2.71 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and two shutouts.

    Lots of the Broncos reliable standouts came up with big nights in the Game 4 overtime win over the Pats. Overage centre Ryley Lindgren had two goals and two assists and standout winger Tyler Steenbergen had a goal and an assist.

    Defencemen Artyom Minulin and Colby Sissons, who are both in their 18-year-old seasons, kept coming into their own. Minulin, who is an import from Russia, had a goal and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department. Sissons had a couple of helpers and was a plus-one.

    The Pats have been hurt due to losing captain Adams Brooks to injury in Game 2 of the series with the Broncos. It is believed Brooks’s status is day to day.

Glenn Gawdin had a big triple OT winner for the Broncos.

    Pats standout centre Jake Leschyshyn is out for the post-season with a knee injury. Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post is reporting that Pats import winger Filip Ahl is being tested for the mumps, so Ahl’s status hinges on those results.

    Without that trio, the Pats haven’t looked the same, and their offensive success has come from grit as opposed to finesse.

    On the other side, the Broncos have been road warriors going 18-13-1-4 away from home in the regular season and posting a 4-2 mark on the road during playoffs. 

    At home in Swift Current, the Broncos are a respectable 3-2 playing in front of unreal raucous crowds. 

    Visitors are going to be hard pressed to win in the Credit Union i-Plex from here on out.

    The Broncos have been the story so far of the 2017 WHL post-season. 

    At the moment, you can expect they will do their best to make their story more memorable.

Beware the Thunderbirds

Mathew Barzal in action in last year’s WHL title series.

    The Seattle Thunderbirds have to be the favourites to make the WHL championship series out of the Western Conference for a second straight year.

    During the regular season, the Thunderbirds posted the second best record in the Western Conference with a 46-20-4-2 mark. They swept the Tri-City Americans 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series and are on the cusp of sweeping the Everett Silvertips in a best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

    The Thunderbirds lead their set with the Silvertips 3-0 and will try for the sweep in Game 4 on Friday at 7:30 p.m. local time at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. Everett topped the Western Conference in the regular season with a 44-16-9-3 mark.

    With 14 skaters on their roster from last year’s squad, you have to think Seattle had visions of returning to the WHL final and winning it. The biggest returnee is dynamic 19-year-old centre Mathew Barzal.

    A reminder of that was seen in the Thunderbirds 5-4 overtime win in Game 3 over the Silvertips on Tuesday in Kent, Wash. With the Silvertips holding a 4-3 lead, Barzal scored early in the third period to force a 4-4 tie and scored the winner 90 seconds into overtime to deliver Seattle to victory.

    Barzal missed part of the end of the regular season and Seattle’s first round series with what the team is saying was an illness. The Thunderbirds said Barzal was being tested for the mumps in early March.

    In three playoff games against the Silvertips, Barzal has three goals and three assists. After being returned by the NHL’s New York Islanders, Barzal recorded 10 goals, 69 assists and a plus-32 rating in 41 regular season games with the Thunderbirds.

    Seattle has been powered by other key returnees like forwards Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar and Nolan Volcan along with star defenceman Ethan Bear.

    The biggest surprise during Seattle’s playoff run is that fact it has been backed with rookie Carl Stankowski playing goal, who is still in his 16-year-old rookie season. Stankowski has won all seven of his playoff starts posting a 2.42 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.

    Thunderbirds overage starting netminder Rylan Toth hasn’t appeared in the post-season due to a lower body injury.

    Seattle is definitely a club you can’t overlook.

Will Hurricanes run out of steam against Tigers?

John Dahlstrom had a big overtime winner for the Tigers.

    One has to wonder if fatigue will become a nemesis for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

    On Wednesday, the Hurricanes dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge to their Highway 3 rivals the Medicine Hat Tigers in Game 4 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. With the win, the Tigers even the best-of-seven set 2-2 with Game 5 set for Friday in Medicine Hat at 7:30 p.m. local time at the Canalta Centre.

    The Hurricanes were up 2-0 after the first period in Game 4 thanks to goals coming from the sticks of Giorgio Estephan and Egor Babenko. Medicine Hat worked back to even terms with a second period goal from Chad Butcher and a third period power-play tally from Max Gerlach. Swedish import John Dahlstrom snipped the winning goal for the Tigers at the 11:32 mark of the extra session.

    Michael Bullion turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers to disappoint most of the 4,920 spectators in attendance. Stuart Skinner was spectacular in the Hurricanes goal turning away 56 shots in the setback.

    The Tigers swept their best-of-seven first round series with the Brandon Wheat Kings, while the Hurricanes rallied from being down 3-1 in their best-of-seven opening round series with the Red Deer Rebels to pull out a 4-3 win.

    Wednesday’s game was the 11^th contest in 19 days for the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes didn’t seem to have the same jump as the Tigers did in Game 4. Fatigue might be setting in on the Lethbridge side, which might mean Wednesday’s setback could prove to be very costly.

    Instead of being up in the series 3-1 and having a chance to close things out on Friday, the Hurricanes know they are now locked in a long series with the Tigers that will require at least a Game 6. That situation plays in Medicine Hat’s favour.

    The Tigers have to like where they are sitting in the series going forward. The Hurricanes will have to really dig down to pull out a couple of wins on will.

Rockets on verge of dumping Winterhawks

Cole Kehler’s Winterhawks are on the ropes versus the Rockets.

    Another playoff year means another long run for the Kelowna Rockets.

    The Rockets are on the verge of advancing to the WHL’s Western Conference championship series for a fourth straight year. On Wednesday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, the Rockets thrashed the host Winterhawks 7-2 in Game 4 of a best-of-seven WHL Western Conference semifinal series.

    With the win, the Rockets lead the set 3-1 and will try to close things out in Game 5 on Friday at Prospera Place in Kelowna, which will start at 7 p.m. local time.

    Reid Gardiner had two goals and two assists for the Rockets, while Calvin Thurkauf added two goals and an assist to the visitor’s efforts. The Rockets received singles form Carsen Twarynski, Nick Merkley and Rodney Southam. Michael Herringer turned away 35 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rockets and disappoint most of the 4,469 in attendance.

    Cody Glass and Caleb Jones replied with singles for the Winterhawks. Cole Kehler turned away 26-of-32 shots taking the loss in goal for the Winterhawks. Shane Farkas turned away seven-of-eight shots finishing the game in goal for Portland in relief.

    The Rockets lost out in last year’s Western Conference championship series to Seattle.

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