Veterans power Huskies to second Bronze Baby win

U Sports national women’s basketball title returns to U of S

Sabine Dukate hit eight three-pointers for the Huskies.

    The veterans ensured the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team would reach the ultimate U Sports high.

    On Sunday at TD Place in Ottawa, Ont., the Huskies road huge performances from fifth-year guard Sabine Dukate, fourth-year post Summer Masikewich and fourth-year guard Libby Epoch to post a convincing 82-64 victory over the Brock University Badgers in the title game of the U Sports elite-eight women’s basketball national championship tournament.

    The win marked the second time the Huskies captured the Bronze Baby as U Sports national champions with the first title coming in 2016 with an 85-71 victory over the Ryerson University Rams in Fredericton, N.B.

    Way back in 2016, Dukate was a rookie who made her presence known. The Latvian point-guard hit four shots from three-point range recording 22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the first U Sports national title victory over the Rams.

    On Sunday as a fifth-year veteran, Dukate had one of those amazing outings that you start to wonder how much the Huskies will miss her.

    She nailed 8-of-12 shots from three-point range and led the Huskies in scoring with 24 points. 

Summer Masikewich scored 20 points for the Huskies.

    Dukate also collected three rebounds, three assists and one steal to be named the tournament MVP and a tournament all-star.
    Dukate, guard Megan Ahlstrom and forward Vera Crooks all graduate from the Huskies program as U Sports national champions.

    Masikewich, who was a first-team all-Canadian all-star, posted 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal.

    Epoch was on the court for almost the entire game. She collected nine points, nine rebounds that were all defensive, seven assists and two steals in her contribution to the winning effort.

    Third-year guard Katriana Philipenko came off the bench to chip in 11 points to the Huskies cause.

    Forward Samantha Keltos topped the Badgers with 21 points.

    The Huskies once again got to this point under the guidance of head coach Lisa Thomaidis, who you could make a strong argument is the best coach in any sport in Canada. She is also the head coach of Canada’s senior national women’s basketball team.

Libby Epoch was dynamic for the Huskies.

    Under Thomaidis, the Huskies have always hit the court with a driven, hard working, fun and likeable group. The personalities of the Huskies players that have played for Thomaidis are so warm and welcoming that you can’t help but cheer for them.
    When the Huskies host the Canada West championship game, the team’s alums flock back to the Physical Activity Complex in big numbers like on Feb. 28, when the Huskies downed the University of Alberta Pandas 62-51 in the conference title game.

    This season, the Huskies posted a 30-2 overall record that includes an 18-2 mark in the regular season and a 6-0 record in the post-season.

    At the U Sports championship tournament, the Huskies downed the Carleton University Ravens 73-59 in a quarter-final contest on Thursday and thumped the Universite Laval Rouge et Or 76-57 in a semifinal on Saturday.

    The Huskies women’s basketball team under Thomaidis leadership has always been great ambassadors representing the U of S and Saskatoon as a city on the national stage. They are a treasure to be taken to heart.

    Once again, you have to love it when good people become national champions, and the Huskies deserve to stand on the U Sports mountaintop.

The Bronze Baby is coming back to the Bridge City.

The Huskies are @USPORTSca National Champions for the second time in school history!@HuskieAthletics 82, Brock 64#HuskiePride pic.twitter.com/j7tFX4rnr6

— Huskie Athletics (@HuskieAthletics) March 8, 2020

Bears, Stars to collide in first round of SFMAAAHL playoffs

Jessie Herner, left, and Brooklyn Anderson will mean business in playoffs.

    It seems like the Prince Albert Northern Bears and the Saskatoon Stars are destined to meet in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs.

    After the results came down from the final day of SFMAAAHL regular season play on Sunday, a Bears versus Stars match up in the post-season was cemented for the fourth time in six years.

    The clubs closed the regular season playing each other at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert on Sunday. The Stars were cemented into fifth place in the SFMAAAHL standings regardless of the outcome of that clash.

    The Bears had an opportunity to vault into third place with a regulation win, which would negate a match up with the Stars.

    In the SFMAAAHL, teams receive three points in the standings for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time setbacks.

    The Bears got an early first period goal from 16-year-old forward Paris Oleksyn to go ahead 1-0. For the longest time, it appeared Oleksyn’s tally would be the only goal of the contest.

    With 53.7 seconds remaining in the third period, 16-year-old defender Bridget Rezansoff netted the equalizer for the Stars to force a 1-1 tie.

    Knowing they needed a regulation win to finish higher in the standings, the Bears pulled their goalie for an extra attacker looking for the go-ahead marker. The 1-1 tie held up as the third period expired causing the game to go to overtime.

    With their goalie back between the piles for the extra session, the Bears scored in overtime to claim a 2-1 victory off a wraparound goal by captain Brooklyn Anderson.

The Bears have won four straight games.

    Dani Day made 22 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Bears, who will host the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament from April 19 to 25. Kaitlyn Cadrain turned away 34 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Stars.

    Prince Albert won all five head-to-head regular season meetings with Saskatoon.

    The win was the fourth straight for the Bears, who finished the regular season with a 15-13-2 record. They had an identical record with the Notre Dame Hounds, but the Hounds took third place having won all five head-to-head regular season meetings with the Bears.

    The Stars finished with a 12-14-4 regular season record. Saskatoon has won the last two straight SFMAAAHL title, but Stars roster and coaching staff underwent a massive turnover at the end of last season.

    Unlike past years when SFMAAAHL playoff series were contested in best-of-five formats, all SFMAAAHL post-season series will be contested in best-of-three formats starting this season.

    The Bears will have home ice advantage for a best-of-three SFMAAAHL quarter-final series against the Stars. The dates and times of those games are still to be announced.

CBC Sports vows commitment to gender balanced coverage

    CBC Sports likely raised an eyebrow or two over the weekend.

    In an online story released on the CBC Sports website on Friday, the network said it was committing to gender balanced coverage across all its platforms. The hope of the network is to give more exposure to women’s sports, which are extremely under-covered in Canada.

    In 2016, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity released a study regarding the connection between women and sport in Canada. A couple of facts revolved around media coverage.

    An analysis was done on Canada’s primary national sports networks in English and French in 2014. The study said only four per cent of the coverage on those networks was dedicated to women’s sports and over half of that number was dedicated to coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

    A study was done on the Saturday sports section front page in two of Canada’s highest circulated national newspapers from June 2008 to May 2010 and June 2013 to May 2015. Over those time frames, 5.1 per cent of the coverage was dedicated to women’s sports.

    Of course, that study only considered a small sampling size of the print industry.

    It can be argued since that time the coverage of women’s sports in Canada has decreased thanks to massive cuts in the mainstream media, which has often targeted sports departments. Sports coverage seems to get more and more focused on just the NHL, which causes everything else in the sports scene to be out of luck.

    What CBC is trying to do isn’t unheard of. Way back when I covered sports for the University of Regina student newspaper, the Carillon, in the late 1990s and a short time into 2000, that outlet followed a policy of dedicating the same amount articles and space to men’s and women’s sports.

    If I remember correctly, that was tried in a number of university student media outlets.

    In Regina, the University of Regina Cougars women’s basketball team rose to new heights of popularity due the massive amounts of coverage they received from all media outlets in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Cougars won the U Sports national title in 2000-01.

    CBC’s venture is a noble one, and it is highly unlikely the rest of Canada’s mainstream media outlets will follow that venture. Some in those outlets will likely note CBC didn’t talk specifics of how it will reach this idealistic hope.

    With Sunday having been International Women’s Day, here is hoping CBC’s initiative finds traction and creates change for the better. The announcement story from CBC Sports can be found by clicking right 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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Huskies women’s hoopsters are set for a bright future

The Huskies pose for a team photo with their U Sports national silver medals.

    You almost forget how young the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team actually is, because they play so well.

    On Sunday, the Huskies appeared in the championship game at the U Sports national championship tournament in Regina falling 69-48 to the top seeded Carleton University Ravens. The Ravens had a 29-0 record between the regular season and playoffs and a 38-2 overall record for the 2017-18 campaign when exhibition matches were added in.

    It was obvious the Huskies fell to a formidable foe.

    The Huskies had a successful season posting a 25-7 overall record. They finished second overall in the Canada West regular season registering a 17-3 mark.

Summer Masikewich (#11) has become a star post for the Huskies.

    In the Canada West playoffs, they won two elimination contests and made it to the conference championship game falling to the host University of Regina Cougars 75-55 on March 2.

    At the U Sports championship tournament, the Huskies turned the tables on the Cougars prevailing in a semifinal encounter 74-71 on Saturday.

    There shouldn’t be any disappointments for the Huskies this season. It is obvious to point out that if you reverse the results of just two games - the Canada West Conference title game and the U Sports national championship game - the Huskies would be feeling over the moon about the 2017-18 campaign.

    When you step back and look at the big picture, it is amazing to see what the Huskies accomplished this season.

    Back in 2016, the Huskies won the title game at the U Sports national championship tournament held in Fredericton, N.B., over the Ryerson University Rams by a score of 85-71. Following that game, the Huskies graduated fourth players in their fifth-years of eligibility in Laura Dally, Dalyce Emmerson, Kelsey Trulsrud and Taya Keujer.

Guard Sabine Dukate has piled up the points for the Huskies.

    Dally and Emmerson go down as two of the greatest to ever play for the Huskies.

    Fourth-year guard Desarae Hogberg also left the team to focus on life after basketball following that U Sports title win. All five of those players provided the heart of the Huskies team that also claimed the Canada West title in 2015-16.

    It was expected the Huskies would go through a reloading stage and have a drop off.

    In the two seasons since that national title win, the Huskies won a Canada West title in 2017, appeared in the conference final this past season, and made two trips to nationals winning a silver medal on Sunday.

    The Huskies have made 10 trips to nationals over the last 11 years. Their status as a powerhouse is cemented.

Point guard Libby Epoch, right, has become the Huskies floor general.

    They graduated fifth-year veterans in guard Madeline Humbert and forward Megan Lindquist but are loaded with stars who were in their first and second years of eligibility.

    Two of those stars played with significant injuries at nationals in Regina. Third-year shooting guard Sabine Dukate, who is the only remaining starter from the 2016 U Sports national championship winning team, will need shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum, but she was still a threat to score at all times.

    In the semifinal win over the Cougars, she hit 5-of-11 shots from three-point range to lead the Huskies with 20 points.

    Sophomore point guard Libby Epoch, who stands 5-foot-7, was hampered by a bad ankle, but she still played 114 out of the 120 minutes of total court time the Huskies saw at nationals. She had eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in the loss to the Ravens.

Guard Megan Ahlstrom has been key at both ends of the floor.

    When you talk to Epoch, you wouldn’t have guessed she is just 19-years-old, because she speaks and acts with a maturity well beyond her years. The Moose Jaw, Sask., product, who has been a member of Canada’s national team system, has already become one of the key public faces in representing the entire Huskie Athletics program. She is the person you want representing your entire athletics program.

    Sophomore post Summer Masikewich, who has also been part of Canada’s national team program, has done a remarkable job is being a star successor to Emmerson.
    Third-year guard Megan Ahlstrom has been a sound contributor at both ends of the floor.

    Sophomore guard Kelsey Lalor has a bunch of untapped potential and rookie forward Kyla Shand improved drastically as the campaign progressed joining the Huskies from Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School.

Guard Kelsey Lalor will play a bigger role for the Huskies in the future.

    The Huskies played well beyond their years thank to the work of their coaching staff led by head coach Lisa Thomaidis, who is one of the best you will find in any sport in Canada.

    The only time youth caught up to the Huskies was against the Ravens. Leading 25-24 at halftime, the Huskies struggled in the second half rushing shots when the composed Ravens were pulling away.

    The Ravens started three fifth-year and two fourth-year players and substituted in another fifth-year player from the bench. Those six veterans accounted for 50 of the Ravens 69 points, and they stayed steady when the waves were rough in the early going for their team.

    With that said, the Huskies are still playing in conference and national championship games as a young team.

The Huskies are poised to be a U Sports powerhouse for some time to come.

    You know their players are going to put in the work to be that much better in the off-season, and Thomaidis and her staff have to be excited to see what everyone will look like when they all return to school in late August.

    That alone has to get you excited for the upcoming season.

    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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Blades’ Hajek expects to play sizable role with Czech world junior team

Libor Hajek is at the Czech Republic’s world junior training camp.

    A new head coach likely equals a new opportunity for Saskatoon Blades defenceman Libor Hajek, when it comes to cracking the Czech world junior team.

    Hajek departed from Saskatoon early Wednesday morning for the training camp of the Czech Republic’s world junior team, which is being held in Niagara Falls, Ont. The 19-year-old was cut from the Czech Republic’s world junior team roster last season, but he is optimistic about having a good role with the squad this season under new head coach Filip Pesan.

    “I talk with the coaches, and I’m probably going to be more leader there,” said Hajek, who had eight goals and 16 assists in 32 regular season games with the Blades in the current campaign. “This is my last year for playing world juniors, so I’ll be a leader and show my experience from the NHL (and) from Canadian Hockey League.”

    Hajek, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 210 pounds, has deep roots with hockey in his home country. Like many Canadians, Hajek took up hockey at an early age, and his biggest influence in helping him along was his father, David.

    “I was like four-years-old,” said Hajek, who is in his third full season with the Blades. “My dad just play hockey, and he was a hockey player.

    “He just put me on ice pushing a chair. He is like my biggest coach in my life. He still is watching my every game.

Libor Hajek has had a strong season with the Blades.

    “We always talk about the game after the game. He is like the best for me. He is like my best coach.”

    Hajek said he grew up watching good hockey in his local area and enjoyed playing for HC Kometa Brno.

    He relished playing for the Czech Republic’s national team at the under-16, under-17 and under-18 levels. One of his biggest disappointments was failing to make the Czech world junior team last season.

    “It was kind of sad,” said Hajek. “I didn’t make the team there. It was kind of frustrating, mad.”

    At last season’s world juniors held in Montreal and Toronto, the Czech team posted a 1-1-2 record in round robin play suffering overtime losses to Switzerland and Denmark. The Czech team’s run at the tournament ended with a 5-3 setback to Canada.

    The performance of the Czech team was met with disappointment. As a result, Pesan was installed to replace Jakub Petr as the head coach of the Czech team for the upcoming world juniors, which begin Dec. 26 in Buffalo, New York. The Czech Republic opens the tournament against Russia.

    Hajek said there was excitement back in the Czech Republic hockey circles now that Pesan is the head coach of the world junior team, and the skilled two-way rearguard’s hopes to be with the team were heightened.

    “It is always my pleasure to play for the Czech national team,” said Hajek. “Hopefully this year we’ll make (it) better.” 

Libor Hajek works the point on the power play for the Blades.

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman would love to see Hajek crack the Czech world junior roster.

    “He (Hajek) wants to play his best right now and kind of peak towards that event,” said Brockman. “We certainly think he has a real good chance to make it, but you never know.”

    Hajek, who was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round and 37^th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, believes he handled being cut from the Czech Republic world junior team in a mature manner. He focused on his return to the Blades, and for his efforts, he signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Lightning last March.

    “I just play harder and better here in Saskatoon, and it helps,” said Hajek. “I went home to take some rest. I played better here (in Saskatoon).”

Kubic back in the fold to create crease dilemma

Goalie Ryan Kubic has returned from injury for the Blades.

    Veteran 19-year-old goalie Ryan Kubic is back in the Saskatoon Blades fold, and his return has created a good problem for the team.

    Kubic last started a game for the Blades on Nov. 18, when he turned away 31-of-36 shots in a 6-3 setback against the Warriors in Moose Jaw. The St. Andrews, Man., product was forced out of the team’s lineup after that game due to a knee injury.

    On Tuesday, Kubic returned to the Blades lineup, but he served as the backup goalie in the team’s clash with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Blades went with the hot hand of 16-year-old Nolan Maier for a 10^th straight start in goal, and he turned away 28 shots in a 5-3 victory.

    The Yorkton, Sask., product’s play has constantly improved every time he has been given a start in Saskatoon’s goal. With Maier playing at a high level, Blades head coach Dean Brockman plans to use both netminders in the team’s last three games before getting embarking on the WHL’s Christmas break.

    “Nolan (Maier) is on a little bit of a role here, but he is not going to be able to play all three,” said Brockman. “We will have a practice or two to decide on it.”

    Currently, the Blades have two 19-year-old forwards on their injury list in Gage Ramsay (groin, slated to return after Christmas break) and Caleb Fantillo (knee, 5-to-7 weeks).

    The Blades (13-16-2-1) travel to Regina on Friday to take on the Memorial Cup host Pats (16-15-2) at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. On Saturday, the Blades return home to host the Kelowna Rockets (18-11-2-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    On Sunday, the Blades host the Pats at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in their Secret Santa game. Fans are invited to bring a new unwrapped toy to the contest as a donation to the Secret Santa Foundation.

“Pats Regiment” feeling uneasy in Regina

Sam Steel and the Pats face doubters this season.

    If you follow social media or hear the noise from sports talk radio shows based in Regina, a number of fans of the Regina Pats, who are known as the “Pats Regiment,” are starting to feel really worried.

    The Pats host the 100^th edition of the Memorial Cup from May 17-27, 2018, and the team is hovering around the .500 mark with a 16-15-2 record. At the moment, the Pats, who have six sellouts this season, hold the first wildcard position in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    If the Pats lose their last three outings in regulation before they go on their WHL Christmas break, it is possible they could be sitting out of a playoff position.

    Last season, the Pats had a dream campaign finishing first in the WHL’s regular season standings for the first time since 1974 with a 52-12-7-1 record. The 52 wins set a franchise record for the regular season.

    They were rated first in the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 rankings for most of that campaign and topped the final ratings released on March 22.

    In the playoffs, the Pats made the WHL Championship series for the first time since 1984, but fell 4-2 in the best-of-seven set to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Thunderbirds import centre Alexander True scored the overtime winner in Game 6 of the WHL title series to give his side a 4-3 victory in that contest.

    The Pats were a team that was built to have a special campaign last season. Going through a sizable turnover in key players including the loss of star overage captain Adam Brooks, the Pats should have been tagged for a reload or a rebuilding type season in the current campaign.

Josh Mahura was one of the standouts the Pats got back from the pros.

    With the Pats celebrating their 100^th anniversary as an organization in 2017-18, they decided to make a bid for the 100^th Memorial Cup. They were awarded that event on February 18.

    For Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock, he was really put in a bind, when it game to preparing the club’s roster to be a Memorial Cup host. The Pats were locked in to make their run through the 2017 playoffs.

    The host announcement came way after the WHL trade deadline of Jan. 10. Even if the announcement came before the trade deadline, you couldn’t see the Pats blowing up their chances to win it all in 2016-17 by dealing away players like Brooks and fellow overagers Dawson Leedahl and Chase Harrison to gain strong 1998 born players to prepare for the current campaign.

    In the Pats defence, Memorial Cup host squads are usually given favours from NHL squads, who like to see their drafted and signed prospects playing important games in May. The Pats have received almost no favours on that front outside of getting 19-year-old star centre Sam Steel and 19-year-old defenceman Josh Mahura back from the Anaheim Ducks.
    Steel, who was the WHL’s most valuable player and scoring champion last season, has been a target for fan criticism this season. The 19-year-old star centre has collected 14 goals, 21 assists and a plus-seven rating in 27 games, but he isn’t scoring at the same rate as last season.
    The Sherwood Park, Alta., product is at the training camp to try and make Canada’s world junior team along with Mahura, and some fans say Steel doesn’t deserve to make that squad.

    Regina could have had defenceman Connor Hobbs and left-winger Austin Wagner back for their overage seasons in theory. Hobbs, who is signed by the NHL’s Washington Capitals, is playing in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears.

    Wagner, who is signed by the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, is playing for the AHL’s Ontario Reign.

At the WHL level, Hobbs was a star defenceman who stood out in the offensive and defensive zones, and Wagner had speed few could match in the major junior ranks.

Connor Hobbs was a player the Pats didn’t get back from the pros.

    The Pats had traded for the WHL rights of 19-year-old centre Tyson Jost, but he is playing in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche.

    If the Pats had Hobbs, Wagner and Jost, they would likely have seven to eight more wins. With that said, that trio was ready for the professional ranks.

    At the moment, the worry among fans in Regina is reminiscent of the worry that surrounded the Pats when they last hosted the Memorial Cup back in the 2000-01 campaign. In that season, the Pats were hovering around .500 near the WHL Christmas break before executing a number of deals before the WHL trade deadline.

    It might be tougher for the Pats to make a string of deals this time around, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the club over the next four weeks. The WHL trade deadline is slated for Jan. 10, 2018.

Watch out for the Blazers

Right-winger Garrett Pilon, right, has piled up the points for the Blazers.

    The Kamloops Blazers have done a stellar job to make their 0-9 start look like a fade memory.

    Since dropping their first nine straight games, the Blazers have gone 15-7-0-1 to hold the second wildcard playoff spot in the WHL’s Western Conference at 15-16-0-1. With the type of hockey the Blazers are playing, they might end up being a major threat to make a run when the WHL playoffs roll around.

    At the moment, the Blazers are showing they can play a skilled game on top of playing a hard hitting and physical game.

    Saskatoon product and star right-winger Garrett Pilon tops the Blazers in scoring with 17 goals and 23 assists. Power forward Jermaine Loewen, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 221 pounds, is a wrecking ball on the ice, but he can score as well. The 19-year-old has 13 goals and 11 assists in 26 appearances this season.

    The Blazers are also getting stellar goaltending from Las Vegas Golden Knights draft selection Dylan Ferguson.

    Blazers head coach Don Hay has 735 career regular season victories, and he is closing in on former Portland Winterhawks head coach Ken Hodge for the WHL record in career regular season victories at 742.

    If the Blazers keep up their pace from their last 23 games, Hay will become the WHL’s all-time leader in career regular season wins and should be a favourite to win the WHL’s coach of the year award.

Back in the Express with Epoch

Libby Epoch has rocked for the Huskies.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express with a story on Libby Epoch, who is the star point-guard of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team.

    Epoch, who stands 5-foot-7, is a 19-year-old product from Moose Jaw, Sask., who is in her second year with the Huskies. Besides playing for the Huskies, she has been part of Canada’s national team program and played for Canada at the U-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup last July in Italy winning a bronze medal.

    As a rookie, she helped the Huskies win the Canada West championship last season.

    This season, Epoch has helped the Huskies roar out to a 9-1 start to be rated sixth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    Epoch has started in all of the Huskies 10 regular season games and is averaging 8.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

    The story on Epoch can be found 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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New University of Saskatchewan rink finally becomes a reality

Ground-breaking ceremony held for Merlis Belsher Place

Dignitaries break ground at the site of Merlis Belsher Place.

    It was actually happening, and you were surprised it didn’t fall through.

    On Friday afternoon just south of the fieldhouse on the University of Saskatchewan campus, the ground breaking ceremony was held for Merlis Belsher Place, which will be the new twin-pad hockey rink facility that will replace the ancient Rutherford Rink. It is estimated the multi-sport complex will be open for the start of hockey season in October of 2018.

    One of the ice pads will be used by the Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams for games and practices. The second rink will mainly be used by the Saskatoon Minor Hockey association, which will gain 1,500 additional hours of ice time per year.

    Two NBA-length practice gymnasiums, which are also part of the project, will be ready for the Huskies basketball teams in 2019.

Merlis Belsher hangs with a couple of young hockey players.

    While the benefits of the new facility are many, there was still doubt in the back of the mind that it was going to be a reality. Even on the drive to the campus for the ground-breaking ceremony, you almost thought something was going to happen to call everything off.

    Back in 1997, then Huskies athletic director Ross Wilson said he was actively pursuing a new rink for the U of S campus, and the Rutherford Rink needed to be replaced at that time. Since that time, the process to replace Rutherford has had many stops and starts. Those stops and starts provide ample justification for doubt.

    Upon arriving at the ground-breaking site, it was clear the new rink was really going to happen this time. Members of the Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams were play street hockey with youngsters on a paved stretch of road beside the ground-breaking site.

    Many dignitaries were there including Fred Sasakamoose, who was the first First Nations player to play in the NHL, Saskatoon mayor Charlie Clark, U of S president Peter Stoicheff, Ken Cheveldayoff, who is the MLA for Saskatoon Silver Springs and Kelly Boes, who is the executive director of the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association.

Members of the Huskies women’s hockey team took in the ground breaking.

    Merlis Belsher was also there and his leading gift and largest donation from an alumnus or individual in the university’s history of $12.25-million kick started the fundraising efforts for the facility. Thanks to Belsher’s donation and leadership, it was determined the new facility would be named after him.

    The list of dignitaries included Ron and Jane Graham, who have been long time supporters of the university and donated $4-million for the gymnasiums to be added to the facility last December.

    Beauty speeches were also given by Kohl Bauml, who is a star forward with the Huskies men’s hockey team, and Libby Epoch, who is the standout point-guard for the Huskies women’s basketball team.

Kohl Bauml, right, speaks to the dignitaries at the ground breaking.

    When you saw the gathering of many individuals from all walks of life, you realized that this was actually going to happen. The choreographed photo opportunity for the sod turning seemed surreal. For the gathering of just over 100 alums and stakeholders, there was pure joy in the moment.

    At this moment in time, everything finally fell into place to allow the new rink on campus to be built. The Huskies hockey teams will only have to play through one more season of “rust breaks” at the Rutherford Rink, which is approaching its 88^th birthday, before finally skating in a state of the art new home.

    Some current and even former players at the gathering joked that Huskies men’s hockey head coach Dave Adolph often promised a new rink was coming when he recruited new players, and now that recruiting ploy would finally have some real staying power.

Mascot Howler meets the people at the ground-breaking ceremony.

    In total, the new facility will cost $42.9-million. Originally, the cost was pegged at $41-million, but the architectural plans for the main rink at Merlis Belsher Place have been enhanced to increase seating. The original plans called for 2,357 seats, while the new one allows for 3,437 seats creating the increased cost.

    The Home Ice Campaign to raise funds for the new facility was looking to hit a goal of $29-million. Currently, $28.4-million has been raised in the last year to meet the fundraising goal. That included a donation of $2.51-million from the Huskie hockey alumni in early April and the City of Saskatoon’s additional $3-million commitment in February.

Courtney Cormack (#16) plays street hockey with some youngsters.

    Home Ice Campaign chairs Dave King, who is a former legendary coach of the Huskies men’s hockey team, and Tim Hodgson, who is a men’s hockey alumnus, have to be given credit for bringing individuals of various backgrounds together to help make the new rink a reality. All the individuals that contributed to the effort to build this new facility should be applauded for their leadership and for seeing a vision of the future.

    Besides having a rink to benefit the Huskies, Saskatoon will now be able to hold national events like the Telus Cup midget AAA hockey championship, the Esso Cup female midget AAA hockey championship and the U Sports women’s hockey national championship tournament. The city had been without a mid-sized facility that could accommodate these events.

    A lot of wheels had to work together to make Merlis Belsher Place a reality. When its construction comes to a completion, it will leave a legacy to be enjoyed by generations for decades to come.

Bears make impact with Esso Cup trip

So like this girl came up to me and told me... "You are Jordan Ashe, and you are my favourite bear" #4thekids pic.twitter.com/TSs2CDkDKA

— Jordan Ashe (@jordanashe04) April 21, 2017

    The Prince Albert Northern Bears were already winners before they went to Esso Cup, and all one had to do was look at the Twitter account of defender Jordan Ashe to confirm that observation.

Jordan Ashe follows through on a shot for the Bears.

    During a fundraising and send off barbecue that was held for the team in Prince Albert before leaving for Morden, Man., Ashe, who turned 17 in March, posted a Tweet that a little girl came up to her and recognized her. The little girl said Ashe was her favourite Bear. Ashe posted a picture of the pair.

    That moment showed the power that the Bears playoff run had. In capturing their second Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship and winning their first Western regional playdown series, little girls in Prince Albert and area saw what they could possibly do one day.

    In this particular case, this little girl saw a hero she could watch play in her own home city in Ashe, who is a tough stay-at-home defender that can chip in key points offensively.

The Bears had many memorable moments this season.

    During the post-season run, the Bears players will always remember the huge crowds they played in front of at the Art Hauser Centre when they swept the best-of-three Western regional playdown series against the Hartney, Man., based Westman Wildcats. An estimated crowd of 1,000 showed up for the Bears 6-4 win in Game 1 on March 31, and an estimated crowd of 1,200 watched the Bears 7-6 victory in Game 2 on April 1.

    On Thursday, the Bears closed play at Esso Cup downing the Sherbrooke, Que., based Harfangs du Triolet 3-2.
    Captain Brooke Hobson, Jadyn Kushniruk and Alli Soyko each had singles for the Bears. Brooklyn Elek turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in goal.

The Western regional win was a first for the Bears.

    Megan Bureau-Gagnon and Sandrine Veillette replied with singles for the Harfangs, while Melyann Daigneault turned away 36 shots to take the loss in goal.

    The Bears closed the round robin portion of the tournament with a 2-3 mark to finish fifth in the round robin standings and just miss qualifying for the playoff round.
    The Pickering, Ont., based Durham West Lightning finished fourth with a 2-3 mark, but they claimed the standings tiebreaker with the Bears posting a 5-1 win in a head-to-head match on Monday.

    The Harfangs won their semifinal game on Friday 2-1 over the host Pembina Valley Hawks and will face the Alberta based St. Albert Slash in Saturday’s championship game.

Camryn Amundson and the Lanchbery Family Trophy.

    The Bears had their most memorable campaign in team history which included posting a team record 22-6 mark in the regular season, and an 11-0 run through the SFMAAAHL playoffs and their regional series win.
    In the SFMAAAHL title series, they swept the Saskatoon Stars, who were the two-time defending league champions and had defeated the Bears in the 2015 league championship series.

    They graduate Hobson, Elek and forwards Ireland South and Sierra Parenteau, who all left big impacts on the team.

    On top of everything else, the Bears allowed little girls from Prince Albert and area to dream big dreams.

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

Huskie Salute honour caps Nyame’s golden season

Astrid Nyame, right, is named the Huskies top female athlete.

    Astrid Nyame graduated winning one final award she didn’t quite expect.

    On Friday night at the Huskie Salute at TCU Place, the fifth-year track and field standout with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies was named the program’s female athlete of the year. She becomes the first track athlete to have her name inscribed on the Mary Ethel Cartwright Trophy since Sharai Siemens in 2012.

    “It is just really the cherry on top of my five years competing with the Huskies,” said Nyame. “It has just been a real blessing and an honour to wear the green and white for five years.”

    Nyame entered her final campaign looking to win U Sports gold. At last year’s U Sports nationals, she won a bronze medal in the pentathlon and a silver medal in the weight throw. She was focusing on the 60-metre hurdles and the 50 and 60-metre sprint races this season and expected to dabble in the long jump.

    She won gold in the 60-metre hurdles at this year’s Canada West championships in Regina. At the U Sports nationals in Edmonton that ran March 9-11, Nyame claimed gold again in the 60-metre hurdles clocking in at a time of 8.31 seconds. She also placed fifth in the long jump with a leap of 5.73 metres.

    Those results marked a dream finish to her university career.

    “It is definitely the way I wanted to go out in my fifth year,” said Nyame. “It has been a long five years of hard work.

    “It is really awesome to be recognized for that.”

    While she enjoyed winning a gold medal, Nyame said her best memories will be the fun times she had with her track teammates both men and women.

Astrid Nyame speaks to the crowd at TCU Place.

    “I think my favourite memories with my teammates would be the road trips,” said Nyame. “Over the past five years we’ve really grown together, and we are like a family.

    “I’m really going to miss going on those road trips with them.”

    The Maidstone, Sask., product said she didn’t think about the finality of her university career, when nationals finished. She could feel a chapter closing in her life, when the Huskie Salute came to an end.

    “I think tonight was the night that it actually really sunk in,” said Nyame. “This is the last Huskie Athletics thing of the year.

    “I am just really going to miss it.”

    The Huskie Salute in the annual event, where the U of S athletics program hands out its major seven awards.

    Libby Epoch from the women’s basketball team captured the Patricia Lawson Trophy as the female rookie of the year, and fifth-year women’s soccer standout Meagan Manson won the Valerie Girsberger Trophy as the all-around female athlete of the year for leadership, sportsmanship, academic ability and athletic prowess.

    Star men’s hockey team netminder Jordon Cooke took home the E. Kent Phillips Trophy as the male athlete of the year for a second straight year. Derek Epp of the men’s volleyball team claimed the Howard Nixon Trophy as male rookie of the year, and Andrew Johnson, who is a fifth-year standout of the men’s wrestling team, captured the Rusty MacDonald Cup as the all-around male athlete of the year.

The Huskies major seven award winners.

    Dave Adolph, who is the head coach of the men’s hockey team, won the Colb McEwon Trophy as the coach of the year for Huskie Athletics.
    The Dr. Walter Hader Student Trainer of the Year Award went to Chelsey McEwen from women’s volleyball.

    During the Huskie Salute, the women’s basketball and women’s wrestling teams were recognized for their Canada West championship wins.
    A tribute video was also played for former Huskies football head coach Brian Towriss, who stepped down Dec. 19, 2016 and will be inducted to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame on Sept. 14. Towriss wasn’t on hand for Friday’s Huskie Salute.

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

In Cooke the Huskies trust

Netminder gives Dogs edge in Canada West final against U of A

Jordon Cooke had another spectacular season for the Huskies.

    On Thursday, Jordon Cooke was a repeat winner as the goaltender of the year in the Canada West conference, and this weekend he gives a distinct edge to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team in their quest to repeat as conference champions.

    The Huskies host their forever rivals the University of Alberta Golden Bears for the second straight year in a best-of-three Canada West final at the ancient Rutherford Rink. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m.

    Game 2 follows on Saturday at 7 p.m., and if necessary Game 3 will be held Sunday at 7 p.m. The Huskies finished first in Canada West with a 21-5-2 record, while the Bears were second with an 18-8-2 mark.

    Last year, the Huskies swept the Golden Bears 2-0.

    Both teams will ice four solid forward lines and three strong defensive pairs. When it comes to goaltending, the Huskies have the edge thanks to Cooke, who was also named the top netminder in U Sports last season.

Jordon Cooke plays the puck behind his net.

    The 23-year-old Leduc, Alta., product was a prized recruit for the Huskies back at the start of the 2014-15 campaign. He arrived on campus having won the Canadian Hockey League’s goaltender of the year award. Cooke was overlooked by the NHL ranks being deemed too small standing at 5-foot-10 and weighing 180 pounds.

    In recent years, NHL scouts lean towards goaltenders that stand a least 6-feet tall in height or taller.

    Since Cooke joined the Huskies, he has displayed the form that allowed him to be named the top goalie in the major junior ranks. Cooke hasn’t rested on past accomplishments, and has improved as his university career has progressed. He admits he strives for constant improvement.

    “I definitely set my goals to be better,” said Cooke during a media scrum Thursday at the Rutherford. “I constantly want to get better. I want to be recognized, and hopefully down the road, pursue a pro career.

    “If I could repeat from the previous year, that would be a big achievement. We didn’t really loose a whole lot of guys on our team. A lot of our team is a young group of players.

    “When you have a team like this, it is pretty to have good success.”

    Cooke turned away 56 of 58 shots in last year’s Canada West championship series with U of A. In four encounters from the current campaign, Cooke turned away 126 of 132 shots he faced from the Golden Bears in four games, and the Huskies won three of those encounters. The last of those games saw Cooke post a beauty 45-save shutout performance in a 4-0 Huskies win on Dec. 3, 2016.

Jesse Forsberg had a breakout campaign.

    At the moment, Cooke has U of A’s number. With him in goal, you would think the confidence of the rest of his team has to be fairly sound. During the regular season, Cooke posted a 19-4-2 record, a 1.94 goals against average, a .929 save percentage and four shutouts.

    Cooke wasn’t the only conference award winner from the Huskies this season. Third-year rearguard Jesse Forsberg captured the Mervyn “Red” Dutton Trophy as the top defenceman in Canada West. Huskies head coach Dave Adolph was named the Canada West coach of the year for the third time in his career, with the last two wins coming back in the 1997-98 and 1999-2000 campaigns.

    Cooke and goaltending partner Daniel Wapple also claimed the Adam Kryczka Memorial Trophy for the lowest goals against average posted a duo in the conference at 2.11.

    Centre Logan McVeigh topped the Huskies in regular season scoring with 13 goals and 18 assists, while Forsberg led the conference in defencemen scoring with 27 points coming on 11 goals and 16 assists.

    Forward Jamie Crooks and Tyson Baillie, who took the U of A Hockey Alumni trophy as the Canada West rookie of the year, each topped the Golden Bears with 26 points. Crooks had 15 goals and 11 assists in 27 regular season games, while Baillie had 13 goals and 13 assists playing in all 28 regular season games.

    Dylan Bredo topped all U of A defencemen in scoring with three goals and 17 assists.

    Rookie Brendan Burke and fourth-year veteran Luke Siemens split time in the U of A net. Burke posted an 8-3 record, a 1.70 goals against average, a .934 save percentage and three shutouts. Siemens posted an 8-4-1 record, a 2.82 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.

Former Regina Pats winger Cole Sanford could be a wildcard for U of A.

    One wildcard in the series might be the fact the Golden Bears added Cole Sanford after the Christmas break. Sanford had two goals and five assists in 12 games with U of A, but he was a prolific goal scorer in the WHL netting over 30 goals a season in each of his last three major junior campaigns. In 260 career regular season games with the Medicine Hat Tigers and Regina Pats from 2012 to 2016, Sanford had 126 goals and 123 assists.

    In their semifinal series sweep of the Mount Royal University Cougars, the Huskies did a good job staying out of all the little chippy and trash talking battles that happened behind the play or after the whistle. They will have to repeat that behaviour against U of A.

    This series has the potential to go the distance, but when the dust settles, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Golden Bears went down to defeat again due to heroics of Cooke.

Huskies hoops women’s team underdogs

Huskies guard Libby Epoch speaks to the media on Thursday at U of S.

    In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team has found itself hosting the Canada West final four championship tournament for the second year in a row, but the defending U Sports champions are not the clear cut favourite.

    When it comes to wins and losses, the Huskies finished with in Canada West with a solid 15-5 record, but were given the conference’s top seed in playoffs due to having the most difficult schedule out of the 12 teams that made the post-season. The top 12 teams in the 17 club conference made playoffs, and they were seeded by a strength of schedule index number.

    The Huskies face the U of Alberta Pandas, who were 17-3 in the regular season in one semifinal match set for 6:15 p.m. on Friday at the Physical Activity Complex. In two regular encounters that were held at the PAC, the Pandas took the first game 72-50 on Feb. 3, while the Huskies claimed a 72-62 victory one night later.

    The Huskies, who graduated four players in their fifth-year of eligibility last season, can never be counted out due to the fact Lisa Thomaidis guides them as their superstar head coach.

    Huskies rookie guard Libby Epoch likes her team’s chances of making noise at home.

    “I think our team has just been getting better about working off each other and having that team chemistry,” said Epoch. “It has been getting even better all year.”

    “On the road, you kind of feel a sense of like pressure and urgency to kind of win. At home, you have a more comfortable feeling. I think we know what we need to do this weekend, and we will hold ourselves accountable for that.”

    The other semifinal on Friday features the U of Winnipeg Wesmen, who had a Canada West best 18-2 regular season record, taking on the U of Regina Cougars, who were 17-3 in the regular season, at 8:15 p.m. at the PAC.

    The winners of the semifinal games advance to the U Sports championship tournament, which runs March 9 to 12 in Victoria, B.C.

    The bronze medal game of the Canada West final four is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday, and the gold medal match follows at 7 p.m. It is possible the winner of the bronze medal contest could earn the one wildcard berth to nationals.

Dobler quietly sets Huskies games played record

Alyssa Dobler leads the Huskies in games played.

    Alyssa Dobler quietly worked her way into the record books for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team in her final university campaign.

    The fifth-year defender played her final game at the U Sports level, when the Huskies dropped a 3-1 decision in a deciding Game 3 of best-of-three Canada West semifinal series against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Vancouver. Dobler scored the Huskies lone goal in that contest, which was also her first and only tally at the university level.

    The defensive defender will be more remembered as the Huskies leader in career games played. In her five seasons, Dobler appeared in 137 career regular season games breaking the old mark of 136 contests set last year by feisty forward Marley Ervine. At one time, Ervine’s career regular season games played mark was a Canada West record.

    Including action in the regular season, Canada West playoffs and U Sports championship tournament played, Dobler hit the ice for a Huskies team record 159 games breaking the old mark of 155 games which was also held by Ervine. Ervine played in all her games consecutively, while Dobler’s stretch was broken up sitting out three games due to injury in her fourth season.

    Thunderbirds fifth-year forward Stephanie Schaupmeyer holds the Canada West record for career regular season games played at 139. She is finishing her final playoff run with UBC.

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