Huskies grease out 2-1 win in Game 1 of Canada West semi

Cable plays 172^nd consecutive game, scores for U of S

Levi Cable (#10) celebrates his first period goal for the Huskies.

    Levi Cable was pumped his teammates ensured he didn’t have to lament the one that got away.
    With his University of Saskatchewan Huskies holding a slim 2-1 lead over the University of Calgary Dinos in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West men’s hockey playoff semifinal series, Cable had a chance to ice the contest skating in on an empty opposition net inside the final two minutes of the third period.

    Uncharacteristically, the fifth-year right-winger fired the puck wide of the mark on that golden chance. The missed opportunity didn’t come back to haunt the Huskies, who ensured the 2-1 score in their favour held up before 1,480 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place.

Levi Cable played in his 172nd consecutive game on Friday.

    “It made it a little more stressful than it needed to be,” said Cable about the missed chance. “The rest of the guys all came together and made sure it wasn’t one that I was feeling for a long time.”

    With the win, the Huskies lead the series 1-0. They will attempt to close things out in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    Friday’s game marked the 172^nd straight contest Cable has played for the Huskies including action in the U Sports regular season and post-season.

    The 25-year-old Hudson Bay, Sask., product has never missed a game playing with the Huskies suiting up for 140 regular season game, 20 contests in the Canada West playoffs and 12 games in the U Sports national men’s hockey championship tournament – the David Johnston University Cup.

Levi Cable has never missed a game in his U Sports career.

    He netted the game’s first goal on Friday.

    “I’ve just been lucky to play that many games in a row,” said Cable. “The trainers are keeping me together.

    “It was nice to come out here and score the first one. It is always good to get that one out of the way. The boys played well.

    “I’m just glad we came out with a win.”

    With seven minutes remaining in the first period, Cable took a short pass from fifth-year centre Kohl Bauml and wired home a shot from the front of the Dinos goal to put the host side up 1-0. Cable and Bauml have played together on the same line on a consistent basis since joining the Huskies before the start of the 2015-16 campaign.

    “We know were each other is lots of times without even having to look,” said Cable. “It just makes it easy.

    “We know where the other guy will be at all times.”

Ryan Graham scored for the Dinos on Friday.

    Just 2:48 later, the Dinos evened the score at 1-1, when third-year left-winger Ryan Graham fired home a shot from the front of the Huskies goal shortly after an offensive zone faceoff.

    With 41.5 seconds remaining in the first, Huskies third-year left-winger Collin Shirley potted a tally in close at the right side of the Dinos goal to put the Huskies up 2-1.

    The contest became a gritty slugfest from that point in time over the final two frames resulting in a lot of hits from physical play and very few scoring chances. Overall in the contest, the Huskies held a 19-12 edge in shots on goal.

    In the final seconds of the third, sophomore defenceman James Shearer had the final chance to score for the Dinos to force overtime, but his shot from the right slot was turned away by Huskies star netminder Taran Kozun.

Collin Shirley (#11) celebrates putting the Huskies up 2-1.

    “I knew that it was going to be an absolute grease match,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph. “We’ve been talking about it for two weeks.

    “They are a big strong team that likes to be physical and wear you down. We knew that we had to try and answer that bell. I thought the first 10 minutes of the third period we got outplayed pretty bad, and then somehow we found a way to grease ourselves back in it.”

    A big key to the Huskies victory on Friday was keeping the Dinos top forward unit of centre Matt Alfaro, right-winger Kaden Elder and left-winger Coda Gordon in check.  That trio combined for no points and only one shot on goal.

    The Huskies would often counter that unit with the fourth-year defensive pairing of captain Tanner Lishchynsky and Colby Harmsworth.

    “Obviously, you have to match strength on strength when you are playing a good team like Calgary,” said Adolph. “That Alfaro line is as dangerous as any that I have seen in probably 10 years in U Sports.

A scrum develops after Collin Shirley scored for the Huskies.

    “You have to throw some guys out there and trust that they can get the job done. (We got) the first check mark tonight.”

    With his goal on Friday, Cable has collected 13 goals, three assists and a plus-seven rating in his 20 games in the Canada West playoffs. In his 12 games at the University Cup, Cable has six goals and five assists.

    In his 140 career regular season games, Cable posted 51 goals, 64 assists and a plus-50 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Before joining the Huskies, Cable played in 267 career WHL regular season games with the Kootenay Ice from 2010 to 2015 posting 55 goals, 62 assists and a plus-13 rating.

Taran Kozun (#31) made 11 saves to back the Huskies to victory.

    When the dust settled on Friday, Cable was pleased his team came out victorious in his 172^nd consecutive game for the Huskies as they battled against a quality opponent.

    “It was tough,” said Cable. “They are a really good team.

    “They are good defensively, and they have a couple of lines who can score. They made it tough on us, and it was a close game right till the end. The greasy ones are sometimes fun, and they are fun to win.

    “I’m just glad we won.”

    Kozun stopped 11 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Matthew Greenfield turned away 17 shots to take the setback in goal for the Dinos, who are rated eighth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

The Huskies celebrate their win on Friday night.

    The Huskies finished second in the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-2 record, while the Dinos were third in Canada West with an 18-7-3 mark.

    As is the nature of a best-of-three Canada West playoff series, the Dinos will have last line change for Game 2, and Adolph expects Dinos head coach Mark Howell will shorten his bench a little.

    “You have to be real careful,” said Adolph. “I can’t tell you exactly what we are going to do.

    “We did it I think to execution tonight that if we didn’t quite get the match or a late change that there were two guys out there that were ready to go. We will be fine.

    “It will be another one-goal game tomorrow night.”

If a series-deciding Game 3 is necessary, it will be held on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

Huskies’ Bohlken and Bourassa named Canada West all-stars

Leah Bohlken was named a first team Canada West all-star.

    A pair of veterans from the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team were recognized among the best in the Canada West Conference.

    On Wednesday, fifth-year defender Leah Bohlken was named a first team Canada West all-star, and fourth-year right-winger Bailee Bourassa was honoured as a Canada West second team all-star.

    Bohlken was named a first team conference all-star for the second year in a row. This past season in her final campaign of U Sports eligibility, Bohlken played in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games posting five goals, six assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department.

    The 22-year-old product of Moose Jaw, Sask., was a member of Canada’s women’s hockey team that won a silver medal last year at the FISU Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Bailee Bourassa was named a second team Canada West all-star.

    Bourassa cracked the Canada West all-star team for the first time in her career. The 21-year-old Weyburn, Sask., product played in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games posting 12 goals, seven assists and a plus-five rating.

    Bourassa’s 12 goals and 19 points were both career highs.

    With the contributions of Bohlken and Bourassa, the Huskies finished third in the Canada West Conference with a 17-7-2-2 record.

    They were swept in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series 2-0 by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who claimed an overtime win and a double overtime victory to get the sweep.

    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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Gardiner relishes Raiders rise

Reid Gardiner celebrates after scoring a goal for the Raiders.

    Reid Gardiner is having a lot more fun playing in the WHL this season.

    Now in his fourth full season with the Prince Albert Raiders, the 19-year-old right-winger has enjoyed the fact his club is battling amongst the league’s best. As the league wrapped up play to go into the Christmas break, the Raiders have surprised posting a 20-11-2-1 record to sit two points back of the Brandon Wheat Kings (21-11-1-2) for first in the WHL’s East Division and fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    Actually, the Raiders, who have relied on a strong work ethic and an attention to detail, are only five points shy of first place in the Eastern Conference trailing another surprise team in the Lethbridge Hurricanes (24-11).

    When the season started, the Raiders, who missed the playoffs last season with a 31-37-2-2 mark, were expected to battle for a playoff spot at best. At times, they have sat first overall in the Eastern Conference and the East Division. First place in the East Division was supposed to be conceded to the Wheat Kings, so Gardiner is pretty pleased his team is in the mix.

    “It is obviously a lot more fun,” said Gardiner. “Nobody likes losing obviously. It is not very fun.

    “To kind of be in the top five or six in the east is a pretty good feeling for our group. I think we have a good group. We’ve got a close team, and that has helped kind of propel us kind up in the standings.”

    The Humboldt, Sask., product, who has always had good offensive skill, is also having what might be his best campaign in the league. Having appeared in all of the Raiders 34 games, he has posted 20 goals, 26 assists and so far a career best plus-15 in the plus-minus department.

    In his first two seasons, the Raiders had decent records posting a 37-28-3-4 mark in 2012-13 and a 35-32-3-2 record in 2013-14, when the club needed to down the Red Deer Rebels in a tiebreaking game to make the post-season. The Green, White and Gold were swept out of the post-season in both of those campaigns.

    Gardiner said there has been a better overall atmosphere with the team this season compared to past campaigns that he played with the club.

    “I think just changing the culture of our group and the overall attitude of playing in Prince Albert,” said Gardiner, who is the Raiders scoring leader. “I think back in the late 80s and early 90s it was a kind of a dynasty like team.

    “P.A. is a hockey town. I think lots of guys had a sour taste in their mouths coming into this year after not making playoffs last year. Everybody made a point of working hard over the summer and coming in with the right attitude. Things have worked out thus far.”

Reid Gardiner (#19) breaks up ice with Raiders teammate Vojtech Budik.

    Part of the atmosphere change occurred after Marc Habscheid took over as the team’s head coach about a third of the way into last season, when the Raiders relieved Cory Clouston of those duties. Coming to Prince Albert, Habscheid has a lengthy resume of being a star coach who is best remember for guiding the Kelowna Rockets to a WHL title in 2003 and a Memorial Cup championship as the tournament’s host squad the following campaign. He also guided Canada’s world junior team in 2002-03 as head coach.

    Habscheid said the key to his the Raiders strong start so far is the fact the players have stayed focused on the present.

    “In this league, it is a day to day thing,” said Habscheid. “You look at it overall, and you never want to be satisfied.

    “There are ebbs and flows throughout the season, and you just have to look at realistically and not get too high or too low. Overall, we are OK.”

    The Raiders signed Habscheid to a four year contract extension in the off-season and brought in Curtis Hunt, who was a former player on the clubs 1984-85 Memorial Cup championship  team, as general manager on a four-year contract after former GM Bruno Campese and the club mutually parted ways.

    Habscheid and Hunt have combined with associate coach Dave Manson, who was also a player on the Raiders Memorial Cup winner and a veteran coach with the club, to make the Art Hauser Centre a good place to be for the players. Habscheid, who is a former player with the Saskatoon Blades, and Manson also had lengthy playing careers in the NHL.

    Gardiner said the additions of Habscheid and Hunt have been big for the team.

    “They are willing to put their time in with us and make us better people and players,” said Gardiner. “It is definitely a benefit to us to have former players coaching us, and being a general manager for sure.

    “I think it was a smart move by the organization to sign Marc Habscheid for another four years and Curtis Hunt for four years.”

    The Raiders return to action on Sunday, when they host their archrivals the Blades at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Blades aim to make second half waves

Right-winger Ryan Graham, right, sets a screen in the offensive zone.

    Connor Gay wanted to maintain a balance of enjoying family time while still having some focus on hockey.

    The overage right-winger wants to push his Saskatoon Blades back into the post-season after a two-year absence. The Blades finished last in the entire WHL each of the past two campaigns after hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013. After the 2013 Memorial Cup wrapped up, the Blades have been going through an extensive rebuild phase.

    They went into the Christmas break of the current campaign with a 13-17-3 record to sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and two points back of the Edmonton Oil Kings (14-19-3) of the conference’s final playoff berth with three games in hand.

    Gay was pretty aware of the opportunity that was before his club.

    “You have to keep it in the back of your mind,” said Gay, who has 11 goals and 22 assists in 31 games. “If you totally let go from it, you are not going to have a very good start of the second half.

    “It is a time to relax. It is time to let go and have some fun, obviously. You have to be able to come back in the second half and be ready for a tough second half of the season.”

    After jumping out to a 7-4-3 start, the Blades hit a slide starting on Nov. 15. They proceeded to go 3-12 from that date before winning three of their last four contests before the Christmas break.

    With the Blades having the youngest roster in the league, a November skid could have been expected, because that is the time the grind of the season kicks in. That grind is always a challenge for any young player to adjust to.

    Often during the losing stretch, the Blades would give the first goal and not be able to rally.

With that in mind, Saskatoon gained a nice boost after rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat the league leading and defending WHL champion Kelowna Rockets 5-3 in the last contest before the break on Dec. 19.

    “We didn’t allow it to affect us,” said Blades head coach and general manager Bob Woods. “I thought our older guys kind of took charge and led by example.”

    Gay was happy to see the down stretch come to an end, and he can’t wait to get the second half going.

    “It is definitely frustrating to find a way out of it,” said Gay. “Right now, it is going well.

“We need to have a good Christmas break, have some fun, but when we get back on Boxing Day it is time to get back to work.”

Merry Christmas to everyone

    I hope all the readers out there have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year, and I also a big thank-you to you all for stopping by here to read my posts.

    I hope everyone was able to spend some quality time with friends and family. I have been able to enjoy a couple of sizable family gatherings in the Saskatoon area.

    While it has been for me to live in a centre with a large number of family members, I do miss being in Medicine Hat for the holiday season having lived there for 10 years from 2004 to 2014. One of the highlights was always attending the late night Christmas Eve mass at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church. It always felt like those nights were magical.

    Wherever you are, I hope you all were able to enjoy the annual traditions you partake in over the holiday season. Have a great one.

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

Owre redemption equals Tigers victory

The Medicine Hat Tigers celebrate Steven Owre's overtime winner.

    Steven Owre went from goat to hero in a matter of minutes for the Medicine Hat Tigers.

    The 19-year Rocklin, California, product had what appeared to be a costly interference penalty in the final seconds of third period, with his club locked in a 2-2 draw in a WHL clash with the host Saskatoon Blades on Friday night. The infraction also wiped out the final seconds of a Medicine Hat power play.

    As the two clubs went into overtime, Owre had to wait for 97 seconds in the sin bin, as his team killed off a Blades four-on-three man advantage.

    Right after his penalty expired, the Tigers gained possession of the puck in their own zone. On a breakout, Ty Stanton and Cole Sandford teamed up to spring Owre into the Blades zone, and he slipped home a backhand shot to give the Tabbies a 3-2 victory before 3,550 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

    Owre’s first goal of the season put a damper on a spectacular outing by Blades goaltender Brock Hamm, who made 35 saves in the setback. Hamm’s play was extremely key in getting the Blades to overtime, as he turned away 13-of-14 shots in the third period as the hosts found themselves pinned in their own zone for lengthy stretches.

Brock Hamm made 35 saves for the Blades.

    Saskatoon jumped out to a 2-0 in the first. Russian left-winger Nikita Soshnin netted his first of the season potting a power-play goal off a rebound from a Libor Hajek shot to give the Blades a 1-0 edge. With 1:33 to play in the opening frame, the Blades centre Cameron Hebig forced a turnover in the centre ice zone creating a two on nothing break into the Medicine Hat end. He fed a pass overtime linemate Ryan Graham, who put the host side up 2-0.

    The Tigers, who have made the WHL playoffs for 13 straight years and have advanced to at least the second round in 12 of those campaigns, began the rally in the second. They got on the scoreboard just past the midway point of the frame, when centre Matt Bradley slipped a pass across the front of the Saskatoon goal to linemate Chad Butcher, who fired the puck into an empty cage to cut the Blades lead to 2-1.

    After a fairly even first 40 minutes, the Tigers took over territorial play in the third outshooting the Blades 14-3 in the third. Just 2:32 into the third, 17-year-old centre Mason Shaw potted the equalizer for the Tigers deflecting home a pass from Max Gerlach to lock the contest into a 2-2 draw.

    Medicine Hat continued to press for the go-ahead goal, but couldn’t get the winner past Hamm until overtime.

Blades winger Ryan Graham tries to screen Tigers goalie Nick Schneider.

    During a four-on-three penalty kill in overtime, the Tigers did a strong job collapsing around their net preventing the Blades from getting a decent shot on goal.

    Nick Schneider made 20 saves to earn the win for the Tigers, who improved to 2-1. The Blades record moved to 1-0-2.

    The Tigers return to action Saturday, when they travel to Prince Albert to face the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). The Blades host the Vancouver Giants on Sunday (2 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

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