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.

Christmas comes early for Blades

Double Blue earns huge upset victory over Rockets

The SaskTel Centre scoreboards flashes the final of the Blades upset win.

    The Saskatoon Blades gave themselves an early Christmas present.

    On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades entered their final contest before the WHL’s Christmas break as huge underdogs against the league leading and defending league champion Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets were also rated fourth in the Canadian Hockey League's top ten rankings. After falling behind 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes, the hosts side roared back to pull out a well-earned 5-3 victory before an appreciative crowd of 3,997 spectators.

    “They are a pretty phenomenal hockey team,” said Blades overage right-winger Connor Gay. “They are team that is quite offensive, and I think we stuck to our game tonight.

    “We played good defence, and I couldn’t be happier that we won tonight.”

    The Rockets came into “the Bridge City” with two big absences as centres Nick Merkley and Rourke Chartier were both in Finland trying to crack the final roster for Canada’s world junior team. Kelowna was also without forward Tomas Soustal, who is trying to earn a spot on the Czech Republic’s team for world juniors, and left-winger Calvin Thurkauf, who will be part of Switzerland’s team at the world juniors.

    Despite the fact that foursome was overseas, the Rockets jumped ahead 2-0 on a pair of tallies coming off the stick of WHL scoring leader Tyson Baillie, who potted his first marker on a breakaway. While Kelowna held a 2-0 edge after first frame, Blades played at an even pace with the visitors.

Blades rearguard Mitch Wheaton, right, helps with the teddy clean up.

    Just 67 seconds into the second, the Blades were finally rewarded for their effort, as centre Wyatt Sloboshan scored to cut the gap to 2-1. Sloboshan’s goal triggered a flood of stuffed animals to get thrown on to the ice surface due to the fact Saskatoon was holding its teddy bear toss promotion.

    After the stuffed animals were cleared away, the Blades momentum continued to roll with goals coming from the sticks of captain Nick Zajac and stand out centre Cameron Hebig, which gave the hosts a 3-2 edge.

    The lead didn’t last long as five seconds later Rockets left-winger Justin Kirkland put a floater past Saskatoon netminder Evan Smith, who was making his first start with the Blades after being acquired in a trade with the Victoria Royals on Dec. 10.

    Before the second period ended, the Blades jumped back ahead 4-3. While working on a power play, Sloboshan got the puck down low by the right side of the Kelowna goal after a greasy bounce off the boards, and Vanscoy product made no mistake potting his second of the contest.

    After jumping out to a 7-4-3 start, the Blades hit a big slide starting on Nov. 15. Saturday marked the fifth time Saskatoon has won since that date as their record improved to 13-17-3. During the skid, they often couldn’t recover after giving up the first goal of a game, so Gay was pleased his side erased a two-goal deficit on Saturday.

    “There has been lots of talk about us obviously deflating after the first couple of goals get let in,” said Gay. “Lately, I think we’ve been really trying to stay positive and fighting back in games. Lately, it has been working out.

    “You never want to be down in a hockey game. If you are down, you have to stay positive and you have to work hard to get back in the game, and that is what we did.”

    Gay added another power-play goal at the 7:31 mark of the third to put Saskatoon up 5-3. Smith made 27 stops to pick up the win in goal.

    Star netminder Jackson Whistle turned away 28 shots taking the loss in goal for the Rockets, who fell to 25-9-1 but remain first overall in the WHL.

Evan Smith made 27 saves to earn his first win in goal for the Blades.

    “Our guys believe they can win any game,” said Blades head coach and general manager Bob Woods. “Last year we probably didn’t think that way. Now, we believe that.

    “We probably put a little bit more pressure on ourselves, because our expectations are higher than they have been. There is nothing wrong with that. I think that is a great step for our guys.

    “We want to have success, and we are not happy if we don’t. That to me is the type of environment you want to have especially with your young guys.”

    The Blades sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, and they trail the 14-19-3 Edmonton Oil Kings by two points for eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth. Saskatoon finished last in the entire WHL each of the past two seasons after hosting the 2013 Memorial Cup.

    Woods said wins like the one his squad earned over the Rockets help his players gain confidence, but he cautioned his squad still has a lot of room for improvement.

    “We are the type of team that still has a lot of growing pains,” said Woods. “We are the youngest team in the league, and I hate always bringing that up, but it is a fact.

    “There are lots of things for us to learn. We just have to keep going and take in every experience and build on it. The second half is going to be a tough go.

    “Hopefully, we are in some meaningful games and have a chance to battle for that last playoff spot.”

    The Blades and Rockets both return to action on Dec. 27. Saskatoon travels to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders, while Kelowna heads to Kamloops to take on the Blazers.

    NOTES – In the second period of Saturday’s game, Rockets defenceman Cal Foote received a major penalty and a game misconduct for a head check. That play will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a suspension.

    Whistle stopped Blades right-winger Mason McCarty on a penalty shot late in the third period.

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