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

Mike Babcock pictured in a Sports Illustrated from 2010.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mike Babcock shown in a Sports Illustrated from 2010.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Collin Shirley is tabbed to return to the Huskies.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Huskies celebrate their 2020 Canada West title win.

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

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

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Young’s tip puts Huskies a win away from Canada West title

Layne Young, middle, celebrates his winning goal for the Huskies.

    Layne Young’s first career U Sports post-season goal ended up being a huge one for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    On Friday before a season high crowd of 2,281 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the sophomore left-winger tipped home a mid range shot from linemate Levi Cable to give the Huskies a 3-1 lead over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at the 3:57 mark of the third period.

    The Thunderbirds cut the cap to 3-2 with a turnaround shot from sophomore left-winger Maxwell James right in front of the U of S net with 31.1 seconds to play in the third, but the visitors couldn’t find the equalizer.

    The Huskies held on to make the 3-2 score hold up as the final in Game 1 of the Canada West Championship series between the two teams. Young was pumped he could net the winner for his side.

    “It feels really good,” said Young. “It is an unbelievable feeling.

Layne Young has had a breakout season with the Huskies.

    “The atmosphere was great here tonight, so it was awesome. It was 3-1 at the time, but I guess just the way it worked out it ended up being the game winner.”

    Thanks to their victory in Game 1, the Huskies will try to close out the best-of-three set in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis. If necessary, Game 3 is slated for Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    After pulling to within 3-2, any further last second heroics by the Thunderbirds were stifled, when star netminder Rylan Toth was given a minor penalty for boarding inside of the final 20 seconds of the third.

    The Thunderbirds were starting out of their own zone on a rush shortly after the ensuing faceoff that resulted after cutting the Huskies edge to 3-2. Toth started skating out of his net for an extra attacker, when the puck was turned over to Cable along the right wing boards.

Layne Young is playing in lots of different situations for the Huskies.

    Toth, who is a Saskatoon product, was the closest Thunderbirds player to Cable and the puck stopper turned and nailed the fifth-year right-winger from behind into the boards. Toth was given a boarding penalty for his actions.

    Cable was playing in his 174th consecutive game for the Huskies including action in the U Sports regular season and post-season, and Young said Toth’s hit on the veteran provided some comic relief for the U of S side.

    “We were poking fun at Levi a little bit,” said Young. “It is not too often you get hit by a goalie, especially from behind, so it was kind of funny.

    “I was on the ice. I saw it. It was quite the thing that is for sure.

    “I had never seen that before.”

    During the opening 20 minutes of Friday’s game, Toth, who is in his third year with the Thunderbirds, was doing what he does best in keeping his squad in the game as the Huskies held a 14-2 edge in shots on goal over that span of time.

Jordan Tkatch, left, celebrates scoring the first goal for the Huskies.

    The Huskies took a 1-0 edge at the 7:38 mark of the opening frame when right-winger Jordan Tkatch tapped in a backdoor feed from centre Jared Dmytriw.

    As for Huskies star netminder Taran Kozun, he had to be extremely sharp on one of the two shots he faced in the opening frame. The Nipawin, Sask., product had to make a key stop on a tipped shot from James on a UBC power play.

    The Huskies expanded their edge to 2-0 at the 12:06 of the second period, when right-winger Carson Stadnyk tapped home a backdoor feed from centre Logan McVeigh on an offensive zone rush.

Rylan Toth was penalized for making a big hit for the Thunderbirds.

    With less than four minutes to play in the second, Thunderbirds rookie left-winger Jake Kryski snuck home a shot from the left side of the Huskies goal to cut the host side’s edge to 2-1.

    That set the stage for the dramatics in the third.

    While U of S had a strong start, Huskies head coach Dave Adolph thought his side had to ultimately gut out the win.

    “It wasn’t a Picasso, and it never usually is in the playoffs,” said Adolph, whose team was outshot 21-17 through the second and third periods. “I thought that once we got the lead we started playing tentative.

    “We started playing cautious. I think every team when you get to this point you are so worried about the next five minutes. You can’t think that way.

 

Levi Cable played in his 174th consecutive game for the Huskies.

  “We learned and we lived. We will be better tomorrow.”

    Adolph was pleased to see Young net the winner.

    “He (Young) is a really skilled player,” said Adolph. “It is good.

    “Some of our young guys the more times they get out there in these situations that is just going to help our program. Layne (Young) is going to be a goody.”

    Before joining the Huskies, Young was a star in the junior A ranks piling up 86 goals, 167 assists for 253 points in 169 regular season games playing with the Battlefords North Stars from 2014 to 2018. The Frenchman Butte, Sask., product was named the MVP of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in his final campaign with the North Stars in 2017-18 after posting 35 goals and 72 assists in 57 regular season games.

    Adolph was happy Young elected to join the Huskies enrolling Agriculture and Bioresources program at the U of S.

Carson Stadnyk had the Huskies second goal on Friday.

    “He (Young) had like four or five NCAA offers,” said Adolph. “He chose to go into agriculture, because that is what his family does.

    “He is a third generation dairy farmer and farmer. It is no different than (Huskies rookie forward) Justin Ball, who is going to be a star in our league too, when he gets his chance. Junior A guys don’t get overlooked.

    “Sometimes they chose an academic route rather than a hockey route.”

    After netting one goal in six regular season games as a rookie, Young recorded eight goals, 11 assists and a plus-10 rating in the plus minus department in 27 regular season games with the Huskies as a sophomore.

Jake Kryski had the Thunderbirds first goal on Friday.

    Throughout this season, Young has played on a line with Cable and fifth-year veteran Kohl Bauml at centre. Young, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 205 pounds, has enjoyed that opportunity.

    “It has been huge,” said Young. “We’ve been together since game one of this year, so our chemistry has just built all year.

    “It is has been awesome. They are great guys to play with, and it has just been great.”

    The 22-year-old said he would love to see the Huskies four fifth-year players in Bauml, Cable, McVeigh and Andrew Johnson graduate from the program hoisting championship trophies.

    “All four of our fifth years are just unbelievable people,” said Young. “I think they deserve a championship.”

    Kozun made 21 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Toth turned away 28 shots to take the setback in net for the Thunderbirds.

Jared Dmytriw set up the Huskies first goal on Friday.

    The Huskies entered the series as decided favourites finishing second in the Canada West Conference with a 22-4-2 record and being rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. They have won 14 straight games including action in the regular season and playoffs.

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

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

The Huskies celebrate their victory in Game 1 of the Canada West final.

    Before looking forward to nationals, Young said he would like to see his team lock up the Canada West title series on Saturday.

    “I think the nerves might hit a little bit tomorrow,” said Young. “We just have to play our way, and I think we will be OK.”

    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.

Vance picks up 18th career shutout for Huskies

Jessica Vance makes one of her 21 saves in goal for the Huskies.

    Jessica Vance just continues to cement herself as one of the all-time greats in the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey program.

    On Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place, Vance turned away all 21 shots she faced to back the Huskies to a 1-0 victory over the Mount Royal University Cougars before 556 spectators. The fourth-year netminder earned her 18^th career regular season shutout with the win.

    Besides holding the team record for career regular season shutouts with the Huskies, Vance now sits alone in third spot for the most career shutouts in the history of the Canada West Conference. 

Jessica Vance has 18 career regular season shutouts for the Huskies.

    Vance is one shutout ahead of former University of Manitoba Bisons goalie Stacey Corfield, who collected 17 shutouts over five seasons from 2005 to 2010.

    “It is pretty good I guess,” said Vance, who is in her third season with the Huskies. “Just going into every game, my goal is to get the team the win.

    “It is nice to have that individual side along with it. All that matters is we get the wins, and hopefully, our team can go far this year.”

    During her career with the Huskies, Vance has appeared in 51 regular games posting a 33-12-5 record, a 1.11 goals against average and a .951 save percentage to go with her 18 shutouts. The 22-year-old Prince Albert, Sask., product has the second most regular season victories in the history of the Huskies women’s hockey program.

Cougars LW Tianna Ko and Huskies G Jessica Vance collide.

    She has the fifth most regular season career saves in team history at 1,095 and has played the fourth most career minutes in goal in regular season action at 3,071.

    “I know about it, but I just try not to play attention,” said Vance about her milestones. “I think knowing it just gives me confidence.

    “I try not to think about it during the game or anything like that. I just want to get the win for my team.”

    In Saturday’s win over the Cougars, Vance showed how good her focus was as the only shot she had to face in the first period came off a breakaway.

Leah Bohlken had the Huskies only goal on Saturday.

    With just under five minutes to play in the opening frame, the Huskies first power play of the contest expired, and the Cougars were able to pass the puck up to defender Tori Williams as she stepped out of the penalty box. She was serving a minor infraction for holding.

    Williams jetted up ice, but was stoned by Vance on the scoring opportunity.

    Huskies fifth-year offensive defender Leah Bohlken said that bailout stop was big for her team. The Huskies held a 12-1 edge in shots on goal over the opening 20 minutes and the domination would have gone for naught has the Cougars scored on their one breakaway chance.

    “If the puck ends up in the back of the net, it kind of takes your momentum right down,” said Bohlken. “To have her (Williams) pop out of the box there and get the puck and Vance made that huge save, that just continues on the momentum and makes it even stronger.

The Huskies celebrate Leah Bohlken’s goal.

    “That is like a huge pick me up for everyone after she makes a save like that. It was a good chance that Jess stopped.”

    Just 14 seconds into the second, Bohlken wired home her fourth of the season on a midrange drive to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

    After Bohlken’s goal, the Cougars hit another gear trying to find the equalizer.

    Vance stopped 12 shots in the second period and eight shots in the third to preserve the shutout win for the Huskies. She said she didn’t expect the game to swing like it did.

    “I’ve never played in a game like that before,” said Vance. “That was pretty crazy.

    “You just have to stay focused. That is obviously something that I work on. It worked out good for me today.”

    Bohlken said she has been impressed with the milestones Vance continues to accumulate with the team.

Bailee Bourassa jets into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

    “She has been a huge part of this team obviously,” said Bohlken. “With her getting shutouts, it means we only have to score one goal.

    “That is huge for anybody in our league. Goals are hard to come by. With her getting those shutouts, that helps us each and every game, because it means we don’t have to score as many goals to win.

    “Watching her through her successes, everybody is behind her. Every time she does well, I know she always gets a tap on the pads from everyone, and we are all really supportive and happy that she is doing so well.”

    Zoe DeBeauville turned away 21 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars, who fell to 8-8 to sit fifth in the Canada West Conference.
    The Huskies have won three straight games to improve to 9-4-2-1.

Zoe DeBeauville makes one of her 21 stops in goal for the Cougars.

    They are tied with the University of Alberta Pandas (10-6) for second and third in the Canada West standings with 29 standing points.

    The Pandas compiled their 29 points on nine regulation victories and one extra time win. The Huskies collected their 29 points on eight regulation victories, one extra time win and three extra time losses.

    The two squads sit four standings points behind the University of Calgary Dinos for first place and are only seven standings points ahead of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns for sixth place.

    The Huskies are departing on that note for their exam and Christmas break.
    “Knowing that the conference is so tight, if we keep playing how we can, it is in our hands basically,” said Vance. “It is how tight it is.

The Huskies celebrate their win on Saturday.

    “We come away with a couple of wins on lots of the weekends we can finish first. It is anyone’s hands.”

    Bohlken believes her team has to be happy with how things have gone leading up the exam and Christmas break.

    “I think it has been really good,” said Bohlken. “Going into the Christmas break, this is definitely what we wanted was to come off the weekend with a sweep.

    “Any weekend where you can get a sweep is huge. Sitting tied for second, honestly right now, that doesn’t mean a whole lot, because you lose two games and you can fall to sixth. We know that after the break we have to pick up right where we left off here.

    “It is a really nice momentum builder here, and as long as we keep going the way that we are going, I think we are going to peak at the right time.”

    The Huskies return to action on Jan. 3 in the new year, when they travel to Edmonton to face the Pandas.

Banged up Huskies win eight straight

Andrew Johnson had a goal and two assists for the Huskies on Saturday.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team have mastered overcoming the injury bug as well as their opponents.

    On Saturday, the Huskies won their eighth straight game downing the Mount Royal University Cougars 3-2 at the Flames Community Arena in Calgary, Alta.

    The Huskies won Saturday’s game dressing just 17 skaters, which is one under the full complement of 18. Those out of the lineup with various ailments included defencemen Colby Harmsworth and Cody Spagrud along with forwards Jordan Tkatch, Donovan Neuls, Kohl Bauml and Wyatt Johnson.

    Fifth-year forward Andrew Johnson was in on all of the Huskies goals collecting one goal and two assists in the win.

    He gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the first period and setup linemate Levi Cable for the squad’s second goal at the 2:07 mark of the second to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.

Taran Kozun made 26 saves in goal for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Rookie forward Sean Richards scored for the Cougars before the second period ended to cut the Huskies lead to 2-1.

    At the 7:27 mark of the third, Johnson set up linemate Layne Young to put the Huskies up 3-1.

Richards set up linemate Chris Gerrie for a Cougars goal that cut the Huskies lead to 3-2 with 1:42 remaining in the third period. The Cougars were unable to net the equalizer after that tally.

    Taran Kozun made 26 saves to pick up with win in goal for the Huskies. The Huskies are tied with the U of Calgary Dinos for the second and third place spots in the Canada West Conference with identical 11-3-2 records.

    Wyatt Hoflin turned away 34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars, who drop to 10-4-0-2 and sit fourth in Canada West.

    The Huskies will now have lots of time to try and get healthy as they head into their exam and Christmas break. They return to action on Saturday, Jan. 3 in the new year when they host the U of Alberta Golden Bears (14-2) at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

Machart named overall MVP for Huskies football

Adam Machart was named the Huskies overall team MVP.

    If you are in the running for the Hec Crighton Trophy, it is almost an automatic you will be the team MVP for your U Sports football program.

    After a record season, running back Adam Machart was named the overall most valuable player for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team at the team’s award banquet held Friday night at the Hilton Garden Inn.

    Machart carried the ball 156 times for 1,334 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 20 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns.

    He set a Huskies team record for most rushing yards in a regular season and most combined yards in one regular season at 1,538.

    He was a Canada West all-star, a unanimous selection as the Canada West player of the year and a U Sports all-Canadian all-star. Thanks to being the Canada West player of the year, Machart was in the running for the Hec Crighton Trophy as the most outstanding player in U Sports football.

    The Hec Crighton ultimately went to University of Western Ontario Mustangs quarterback Chris Merchant.

    The Huskies team offensive most valuable player award went to quarterback Mason Nyhus. In his third year of eligibility and first year starting for the team, Nyhus completed 138-of-228 passes for 1,739 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions during the regular season.

Nelson Lokombo, right, was the Huskies defensive MVP.

    Defensive back Nelson Lokombo claimed the Presidents’ Trophy as the U Sports defensive player of the year this season. Naturally, Lokombo was named the Huskies defensive player of the year.

    Lokombo topped the Huskies with four interceptions, and he returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns during the regular season.

    The Abbotsford, B.C., product posted 23.5 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and four pass breakups during the regular campaign as well.

    Lokombo was a Canada West all-star, the Canada West defensive player of the year and a first team all-Canadian all-star.

    Defensive tackle Evan Machibroda claimed the Huskies team award as lineman of the year. The fifth-year veteran piled up 22 total tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery during the regular season.

    Machibroda was a Canada West all-star, the most outstanding lineman in Canada West and a first team all-Canadian all-star.

Ramsey Derbas was the Huskies freshman of the year.

    Outside linebacker Ramsey Derbas was a unanimous selection for rookie of the year in Canada West, and he took the Huskies freshman of the year award. The 18-year-old led the Huskies with 43 total tackles to go along with an interception and a half sack.

    Fourth-year running back Jace Peters captured honours as the Huskies special teams play of the year.

    Fourth-year defensive back Clovis Lumeka was named the Huskies most improved player.

    Outside linebacker Ben Whiting captured the Huskies coaches award. In his fifth and final season with the Huskies, Whiting finished third on the team with 39.5 total tackles.
    The Huskies finished second in the Canada West Conference regular season standings this season with a 5-3 record.
    They downed the U of Alberta Golden Bears 28-23 in a Canada West semifinal match before falling 29-4 to the eventual Vanier Cup champion U of Calgary Dinos in the Canada West final.

    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’ Shirley gains new confidence with first goal

Abby Shirley jets up the ice for the Huskies.

    The old saying that good things can happen if you put the puck on goal paid off for Abby Shirley.

    The 18-year-old rookie right-winger with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team netted her first career U Sports regular season goal on a play that looked rather unassuming. Early in the third period of Saturday’s clash against the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns at the ancient Rutherford Rink, Shirley fired a shot from a bad angle along the left boards in the offensive zone, and the puck found its way past netminder Alicia Anderson.

    The goal gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead and held up as the game winner in a 3-1 victory.

    “I was actually going to go for a line change, but then the puck game right in front of me,” said Shirley. “I was like I might as well get it on net. It slipped in somehow.

    “It was a good way to get my first one I guess.”

    Shirley admitted to being startled when she saw the red light go on behind the Pronghorns goal.

    “I actually didn’t even know it went in,” said Shirley. “I don’t know what was going through my mind, and then I just threw my hands up in the air.

    “It is just a feeling I guess.”

    Shirley, who stands 5-foot-5, has seen a bit of everything in her first campaign with the Huskies. The Delisle, Sask., product has been in and out of the Huskies lineup appearing in 13 of the team’s 18 regular season games to date collecting one goal, two assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department. Those types of experiences are often common for rookies at the U Sports level.

    When she has played, Shirley has mainly been a defensive forward, but she has had her opportunity to play all sorts of different roles. One of her assignments that isn’t common for a rookie forward has been playing the point on the power play.

    “I was quite nervous actually,” said Shirley about the power play duty. “Then, I got into the groove a bit with lots of practice, and it felt pretty good.”

    Huskies head coach Steve Kook said Shirley’s confidence has improved as the season has gone on, and that was noticeable in Saturday’s win over the Pronghorns.

Abby Shirley reacts to scoring her first goal with the Huskies.

    “I didn’t see any hesitation in her game, so that is a little bit of maturity on her part,” said Kook. “That is what is helping her game a little bit, and that is what is making me feel a little bit more comfortable to put her in those situations (like playing the power play).

    “As a rookie, you worry about making so many mistakes. It just seems like she is just playing hockey right now and not thinking so much. That is what has allowed her ability to come out.”

    Kook said Shirley has some natural talents she can rely on as her career with the Huskies progresses.

    “First year is pretty good here,” said Kook. “We will see how she handles getting a little bit more playing time in the second and third year.

    “Her natural ability is to be able to shoot the puck even though she is just pint sized. Her natural ability is to see open ice, and that is why we have her on the top end on our power play.”

    Shirley came to the Huskies after a solid career with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team. She played three seasons for the Stars from 2014 to 2017 collecting 31 goals and 32 assists in 77 career regular season games. The speedy winger played a key part in helping the Stars win Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championships and appear in the Esso Cup national championship tournament in 2015 and 2016.

    Last season with the Stars, she had a breakout campaign netting 14 goals and 18 assists in 25 regular season games. Shirley quickly noticed all the players at the university level were stronger and bigger, so that created an obvious adjustment.

    “It is a lot different,” said Shirley. “You don’t have as much time.

    “It is a lot more just pucks to the net and shots other than just like having time with it and trying to make nice plays. It is just really like quick plays.”

    Shirley said one of her easier adjustments was fitting in with her teammates, when she got over some initial moments of being star struck. She went through times of just being in awe of star fifth-year captain Kaitlin Willoughby.

Abby Shirley (#27) was all smiles after scoring for the Huskies.

    “I love this group of girls,” said Shirley. “There are lots of girls I look up to like Willo (Kaitlin Willoughby) of course.

    “She is such a good offensive player. Her hands are unbelievable, and I look up to her for sure.

“We’re like a family. I’m really close with everyone, and I just love them.”

    While she knows she has been more of a defensive forward so far this season, Shirley would like to have a few other goal celebrations as the campaign progresses.

    “It feels really good actually just knowing that like you are helping out the team,” she said.

    The Huskies (11-6-1) return to action on Friday, when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the University of Manitoba Bisons (13-4-1).

North Stars captain commits to Huskies men’s team

    On Tuesday, the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team Battlefords North Stars captain Layne Young has committed to play for the green and white starting in the 2018-19 campaign.

    Young, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 200 pounds, has been a standout for the Stars since joining the junior A club on a full-time basis at the start of the 2014-15 campaign. In 145 regular season career games with the Stars, Young has 73 goals and 138 assists.

    The 20-year-old leads the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in scoring this season with 22 goals and 43 assists in 33 appearances. The Frenchman Butte, Sask., product helped the Stars with the SJHL championship last season.

    “We are thrilled to have Layne join our program,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph in a release. “He understands that we place a significant value on elite junior A players from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

    “They all are extremely dedicated to getting better, and Layne knows he will have to earn his way here. He is hardworking with a boat load of skill and drive.”

    Young will enter the College of Agriculture to study in Ag-Business.

    “I saw a lot of positives joining the Huskies,” said Young in a release. “The University of Saskatchewan has a great agriculture program as well as a new rink that will help make the Huskies continue to be a top program in Canada.”

    Young refers to the brand new Merlis Belsher Place that is being constructed at the U of S and is scheduled to open for Young’s rookie campaign.

    The Huskies (14-3-1), who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, return to action on Friday, when they host the U of Manitoba Bisons (11-5-2), who are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

    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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