Oh how sweet it is – Huskies capture Canada West title

Dogs claim first conference championship since 2020

Justin Ball goes for a spin with the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

It was the spark that helped the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team surge to a Canada West championship.

On Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies found themselves in a scoreless deadlock in the third period with the Mount Royal University Cougars in a series deciding Game 3 of the Canada West Championship series. The Cougars had gotten the record crowd of 3,013 spectators at the Huskies state of the art rink to fall into a hush.

At the 10:09 mark of the frame, the Huskies got a rush that turned the game around. 

Vince Loschiavo scored the winning goal for the Huskies.

Second-year offensive defenceman Landon Kosior got the puck to fourth-year left-winger Chantz Petruic at the left side of his own blue-line. Petruic made seeing-eye pass up the centre of the ice to fifth-year right-winger Vince Loschiavo to spring him into the Mount Royal zone on a one-on-one rush.

Loschiavo jetted up the left wing, took a shot that deflected off the stick of Cougars defenceman Michael Ladyman into the Mount Royal net to put the Huskies up 1-0 and almost blow the roof off Merlis. That started a three-goal surge that allowed the Huskies to take the game 3-0. With the win, the Huskies claimed the best-of-three set 2-1 to capture their first conference crown since 2020.

Vince Loschiavo reacts to score at the 10:09 mark of the third period.

Both Huskies and the Cougars will play in the U Sports Championship Tournament – the David Johnston University Cup. It is slated to be held at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, from March 20 to 23, and it will be played in elite-eight format.

“I’m so happy for our guys,” said Huskies head coach Brandin Cote, who was named the Canada West Conference coach of the year this season. “They put in so much work.

“They bought in, and that is what good teams do. They are so close and so tight. We’re going to enjoy this, but we also got nationals to be ready for as well, so we’re not done yet.”

The Huskies celebrate a third period goal from Vince Loschiavo (#18).

The Huskies captured the Canada West title for the 19^th time in team history with 12 of those wins coming in the conference’s modern era that started in 1972.

For the first 40 minutes in Sunday’s game, it seemed like the Huskies were stuck in a mud bog. While they had their spurts of offence, the Cougars pinned the hosts in their own zone for extended stretches.

Mount Royal had a 12-4 edge in shots on goal after the first period and 24-11 advantage in the same department heading into the second intermission. While the Cougars had their chances, they couldn’t solve Huskies fourth-year netminder Roddy Ross, who claimed honours as the Canada West goaltender of the year for the current campaign.

Part of the crowd of 3,013 spectators cheer the Huskies first goal.

Kosior said Ross’s performance helped give the Huskies traction.

“Roddy (Ross) was making saves,” said Kosior. “I think that just gave us so much belief.

“We knew that he is not letting anything in. We just knew that we had to get one. Once we got it, it was all gas.”

Huskies second-year right-winger Keaton Sorensen thought his team’s effort was there for the first 40 minutes and the intensity of the contest was high. He said all his squad had to do was get a touch more composure.

Roddy Ross made 30 saves to pick up the shutout win on Sunday.

“We just took it period by period every five minutes,” said Sorensen. “Sometimes, we got revved up.

“We just got calm and collected. We just got it done today.”

The game’s momentum shifted drastically in the third when Loschiavo got the Huskies on the scoreboard. Kosior was pumped to see the rush that he started get finished off by Loschiavo.

“That was unbelievable,” said Kosior. “That was a feeling I won’t forget.

“We celebrated, and then knew there was nine minutes left or whatever it was. We had to refocus and finish the game out.”

Shane Farkas stopped 24-of-26 shots in goal for the Cougars.

Following Loschiavo’s goal, the Huskies got the puck deep in the Mount Royal often and were hard on the forecheck. That pressure resulted in a key insurance goal with 5:55 remaining in the third.

Cougars third-year defenceman Remy Aquilon had the puck deep in his zone, and he was forced to cough it up after he was floored by a big hit from Huskies fourth-year right winger Jarrett Penner. After the hit, the puck squirted to Huskies third-year centre Ethan Regnier, who was all alone in front of the Mount Royal net.

Regnier tucked a shot between the legs of Cougars netminder Shane Farkas to push the Huskies lead out to 2-0.

“Penn (Jarrett Penner) is my linemate there,” said Regnier. “He is always hard on the puck, so you always have to be ready.

Ethan Regnier scored the Huskies second goal on Sunday.

“You never know what is going to happen. It just came out to me. I tried to make a quick move, and luckily, it went in.”

Regnier was pumped his Huskies prevailed in Game 3 to capture the conference title.

“I’m pretty speechless,” said Regnier. “To do it in front of the crowd and the support we have here, it is awesome.”

With 1:16 remaining in the third, fourth-year defenceman Ty Prefontaine sealed the victory with an empty-net tally that rounded out the 3-0 final score.

Ross stopped all 30 shots sent his way to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies. Farkas turned away 24-of-26 shots to take the setback in net for the Cougars.

During the regular season, the Huskies topped the Canada West standings with a 23-5 record, and they were rated second in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings. 

The Huskies pour off their bench after winning the Canada West title.

The Cougars were second overall in Canada West at 22-6, and they were rated fourth in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings.

Kosior was elated his squad claimed the conference title.

“It feels unreal,” said Kosior. “At the start of the year, this was our goal.

“To accomplish it, it is the best feeling in the world.”

Sorensen contributed some gritty minutes to help the Huskies cause. With 3:34 remaining in the third, he drew a tripping penalty from Cougars rookie right-winger Justin Lies that help keep the momentum on the Huskies side.

Ty Prefontaine (#9) reacts to getting his Canada West gold medal.

When the third period clock expired, Sorensen was over the moon excited about the fact his team won the conference title.

“It is awesome,” said Sorensen. “There is no better feeling than winning.

“It is just awesome. We have a great group of guys. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys.”

The 3,013 spectators the Huskies drew for Game 3 matched the record total they attracted for Game 2 of the series on Saturday at Merlis, which the Cougars claimed 2-1 in overtime. In the Huskies 6-3 victory in Game 1 of the series on Friday, 2,980 spectators packed into Merlis, which was the attendance record for the building until Games 2 and 3 of the series were played.

Landon Kosior raises the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

Kosior played before some lively crowds during his WHL career as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in “Hockey Town North.” He loved how the Huskies faithful brought the noise and the energy in the Canada West final.

“The crowd has been amazing,” said Kosior. “It is unbelievable.

“I can’t even put it into words. We’re just so thankful with how good our crowd was.”

Now the Huskies turn their attention to trying to win their second U Sports championship in team history. Their lone U Sports title came from their legendary 1982-83 squad that was coached by Dave King and captained by Willie Desjardins.

Kosior said his squad is looking forward to what awaits then at the David Johnston University Cup.

The Huskies celebrate their Canada West title win on Sunday.

“We’re excited,” said Kosior. “We will celebrate this, and then, we will come back and be ready to go and be looking forward to nationals.”

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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Retirement brings Adolph era of Huskies hockey to a close

U Sports wins leader brought dry humour, honesty

Dave Adolph, centre, makes adjustments from the Huskies bench.

In talking about an injury to one of his players, Dave Adolph decided to show some leg.

Following a playoff win by the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team this past season, Adolph, who is Huskies head coach, was asked in a post-game media scrum about left-winger Collin Shirley leaving the contest early after favouring one of his legs.

The bench boss said his standout player was fine. Adolph proceeded to pull up one of his pant legs to point out the area of the leg Shirley sustained a big bruise to reinforce the skilled forward would be fine from that minor ding.

At times, you almost never knew when the dry humour from Adolph was going to surface. Often, the right situation presented itself to bring it out.

During a Thursday practice this past February, the Huskies were having one of their energetic practices to music, which is a weekly tradition on that day. Adolph is always excited and energetic in a fun way during those sessions.

He would blow his whistle to begin the next drills in that session, and he allowed the players to take control of what was happening on the ice.

Adolph looked like he was going to jump into one of the drills but never did.

Dave Adolph behind the Huskies bench at the Rutherford Rink.

I was able to call him over to the bench to fire off a fun interview question. When Adolph was a defenceman with the Huskies, he helped the Huskies win a national title in 1983 in his fifth and final year of eligibility alongside high scoring captain Willie Desjardins, who is a former NHL bench boss and head coach and general manager of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

I mentioned to Adolph that if the Tigers were having a high energy practice like the one the Huskies were having, Desjardins would be trying to score to prove he still had it.

I asked Adolph why he wasn’t trying to score?

“I scored a hat trick once, and I am good,” said Adolph. “There is no need to over-extend it.”

On another occasion back in 2017, the Huskies advanced to the U Sports title of the University Cup national championship tournament to face the host University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in Fredericton, N.B.

A reporter asked Adolph, who had already been named the U Sports coach of the year for men’s hockey that season, what it would mean if the Huskies could win that title game.

Adolph responded in a matter of fact tone that it would allow him come back and coach next season.

He often would give jabs to long time Saskatoon StarPhoenix sportswriter Darren Zary, and Zary could dish it right back and those exchanges never became personal. Of course, the two have seemingly known each other forever and those exchanges were always seen as fun at the end of the day and created a memory.

Dave Adolph eyes up the on ice action.

U Sports is set to lose one of its all-time biggest beauties, who happens be the circuit’s all-time leader in career regular season victories for men’s hockey at 488.

On Monday, the Huskies announced Adolph would be retiring from his position effective May 1, 2021. Due to the fact all U Sports hockey action has been cancelled for the 2020-21 campaign due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, the 61-year-old veteran bench boss has already coached his final game with the team.

“After a lot of self-discussion, I’ve decided that now is the right time to step back as the men’s hockey coach,” said Adolph in a release. “Over the last 28 years, the team has accomplished more than I could have imagined, and my family and I are all proud to be members of the Huskie men’s hockey program.”

Overall, Adolph has put in 37 complete seasons with the Huskies men’s hockey team.

He patrolled the blue-line for five seasons. Adolph skated in the 1977-78 campaign, took a season off and returned for four straight campaigns from 1979 to 1983. In total, Adolph appeared in 117 regular season games collecting 10 goals and 34 assists.

The defenceman’s playing days were capped in 1983 by the Huskies winning the U Sports – then known as the CIAU - title game 6-2 over the Concordia University Stingers at the University Cup tournament held in Moncton, N.B.

Following his playing days, Adolph became a teacher at Saskatoon’s Aden Bowman Collegiate and rejoined the Huskies as an assistant coach for five seasons from 1984 to 1989.

The Swift Current, Sask., product then left “The Bridge City” to become the head coach of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team for four seasons from 1989 to 1993.

Adolph returned to his alma mater becoming the Huskies head coach before the start of the 1993-94 campaign.

Between his time with the Pronghorns and Huskies, Adolph coached in 1,016 games including action in the U Sports regular season, Canada West Conference playoffs and University Cup tournament collecting 568 wins, 402 losses including extra time setbacks and 46 ties.

The Huskies team picture from their 2016 Canada West title win.

In U Sports regular season action, Adolph has coach in 868 games posting a U Sports career record 488 wins, 334 losses including extra time setbacks and 46 ties.

With just the Huskies, Adolph has coached in 904 games including action in the U Sports regular season, Canada West Conference playoffs, and University Cup tournament collecting 536 wins, 330 losses including extra time setbacks and 38 ties. He was named the Canada West coach of the year for men’s hockey on four occasions.

In U Sports regular season action as Huskies head coach, Adolph has been behind the bench for 756 games posting 456 wins, 262 losses including extra time setbacks and 38 ties.

All those wins were piled up with the Huskies calling the ancient Rutherford Rink and then Merlis Belsher Place home.

After the Huskies missed the post-season in the first two seasons under Adolph’s watch, he has guided the Huskies to their current active streak of making the playoffs for 25 campaigns in a row. Adolph has coached the Huskies to seven Canada West titles and 16 appearances in the U Sports championship tournament - the University Cup.

A quote on Twitter from one of Adolph’s former captains in star offensive-defenceman Jesse Forsberg gives a glimpse into why Adolph was successful.

What a legend! Not an easy gig coaching guys with big egos out of junior. Won’t find a more passionate or loyal guy. Believed in me to grow from an average junior player with a hot temper to an All-Canadian..with a hot temper. Going to be tough to replace. What a career! #3types

— Jesse Forsberg (@jbforsberg) December 7, 2020

Forsberg wrote, “What a legend! Not an easy gig coaching guys with big egos out of junior. Won’t find a more passionate or loyal guy. Believed in me to grow from an average junior player with a hot temper to an All-Canadian with a hot temper. Going to be tough to replace. What a career! #3types.”

Dave Adolph, back row right, focuses on the play on ice.

To be fair, Forsberg might have been a bit too hard in describing what the players were like when they came to the Huskies. What Forsberg’s comment did get at was the managing that Adolph had to do.

The players that came to Adolph out of the junior ranks were guided by a wide variety of coaches like Desjardins, Peter Anholt, Michael Dyck, Marc Habscheid, Don Hay, Lorne Molleken and Brent Sutter.

Players that arrive to a new team after being under the tutelage of those bench bosses have a programmed set idea of what things are supposed to look like when they are going right. Each of those visions will be slightly different from each other.

Adolph was able to mold the commonalities to get everyone to bond and jell together, while dealing with regular university politics too.

All of sudden, mottos like “no one outworks the Dogs” or “we all play the Cody Smuk way” became part of who the players were.

The “we all play the Cody Smuk way” motto came in tribute to hard-working, team-first, glue guy forward Cody Smuk, who passed away from cancer at age 26 in June of 2015. The players aspired to continue to hold those qualities high.

The players also learned pretty quickly that Adolph knows the game of hockey real well too.

Dave Adolph, back row left, keeps cool during a timeout.

It was common to see players that weren’t maybe viewed as professional prospects in junior develop into professional prospects by the end of their time with the Huskies. In a number of cases, those players should have been catching the eye of the NHL, but that will have to go down as the NHL’s loss.

Upon arrival, players learned they had become part of a new family in Huskies hockey that dated back to 1910. For players who had a strong identification with their junior teams like Brennan Bosch and Ryan Holfeld did with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and Derek Hulak did with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, they learned they could have that same strong identification with the Huskies.

Adolph will always be proud to note the players took care of their school work in the classroom too, which set them up for life after hockey.

Of course, the toughest pill to swallow on the wins and losses front was the fact the Huskies made the U Sports title game three times with Adolph as head coach and fell in all three appearances.

The most heartbreaking was arguably in 2005. The Huskies held a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes and ended up in a 4-3 overtime loss to the host University of Alberta Golden Bears, who are the Huskies “forever rivals,” at the rink once known as the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alta.

Adolph deserved to win at least one U Sports national title as Huskies head coach. The fact that didn’t happen leans more to the lesson that life and sports isn’t fair sometimes.

You can a major number of things right, but the big team goal might still be never achieved.

Molleken as Blades head coach and general manager and Jack Brodsky as Blades owner went through a similar fate in the major junior ranks never being able to win a WHL title or a Memorial Cup title as CHL champions. They both did a large amount of things right and deserved to achieve those big accomplishments in WHL and Memorial Cup titles at least once.

The Huskies team photo from the 2020 Canada West title win.

Adolph did things the right way and had his own dry sense of humour spin on things while doing them. He was one of kind, and the head coach that takes the Huskies men’s hockey team into the era after the COVID-19 pandemic will have monster shoes to fill.

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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Fiala perfect fit for Huskies

Evan Fiala brings the puck up ice for the Huskies.

    Home is where the heart is for Evan Fiala.

    After he graduated from the WHL as the captain of the Saskatoon Blades at the end of the 2017-18 campaign, Fiala, who resides just outside of Saskatoon in Calvet, Sask., didn’t want to stray too far from his stomping grounds.

    The defensive defenceman signed on to play with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, who are based in North Charleston, South Carolina, to finish off the 2017-18 campaign after the Blades failed to make the WHL playoffs. Fiala skated in 10 regular season games scoring one goal in that stretch and four post-season games with the Stingrays.

Evan Fiala controls the puck behind his own net.

    For the 2018-19 campaign, Fiala wanted to play close to home, and he was hoping the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team would come calling. The Huskies came calling, and Fiala jumped at the chance to join the storied and historic U Sports squad.

    “The fact they were in my hometown pretty much is huge,” said Fiala, who still skates in almost every situation with a big smile on his face. “I’ve got family, and I’ve got a good fanbase here that has always supported me.

    “It made the decision pretty easy.”

    As a rookie in 2018-19, Fiala played in 25 regular season games for the Huskies posting four assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department. U of S finished first in the Canada West Conference with a 25-3 record.

    Fiala had a plus-five rating playing in all five of the Huskies games in the Canada West Conference playoffs.

    At the University Cup national championship tournament last March, he played in all three of the Huskies games in that event posting a goal and a plus-three rating.

Evan Fiala (#27) had two assists on Friday night.

    On Friday night before 1,064 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the 22-year-old collected a pair of assists and a plus-two rating helping the Huskies blank the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns 5-0. The victory was the first for the Huskies in the 2019-20 regular season helping them improve to 1-3-1.

    Fiala has played in all five of the Huskies games in the current campaign posting four assists and a minus-one rating.

    When he joined the Huskies, Fiala knew they had graduated their captain in Kendall McFaull at the conclusion of the 2017-18 campaign. McFaull was a stellar defenceman who was strong in his own zone.

Evan Fiala’s mom Julie Fiala, left, watches Friday night’s game.

    Fiala was aware there was a spot open to get on the ice right away, but he knew that spot wasn’t just going to be given to him.

    “You have to prove yourself no matter what situation you are in,” said Fiala, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds. “Thankfully, things have worked out that I’ve been able to play the games I have.

    “Hopefully, I can keep that spot.”

    During his WHL career that ran from 2014 to 2018, Fiala appeared in 266 regular season games split between the Spokane Chiefs and the Blades posting 17 goals, 53 assists, 500 penalty minutes and a plus-21 rating. He said the U Sports game is played at a higher pace than what is seen in the WHL due to the fact the players are more experienced being aged usually anywhere from age 19 to 26.

Evan Fiala passes the puck to a teammate.

    “It is definitely a step up,” said Fiala. “It is faster.

    “Everyone is bigger. It is a tonne of fun also. Everyone is usually where they need to be.

    “Everyone has been through it. They understand situations, and that is what makes the guys in there good. Everyone is on the same page.”

    Fiala enjoyed playing with the Huskies veteran players last season, and he said they played a big role in helping him get used to the U Sports league. He said star offensive defenceman Jesse Forsberg really made him feel like he belonged.

    Forsberg was the Huskies captain last season in his fifth and final campaign of eligibility.

    “We had a fantastic veteran group last year Jesse (Forsberg) especially,” said Fiala. “He is definitely missed.

    “He was a good role model also. You’re not going to see a more passionate guy.”

    Going into this season, the Huskies appeared to have strong defensive unit on paper, but the injury bug decided to wreak havoc on things in the early going. 

Evan Fiala (#27) can be a presence when things get rough.

    The Dogs were short four defencemen at one time due to injury and are still without third-year rearguard Sam Ruopp and fourth-year blue-liner Colby Harmsworth.

    Fiala said the players currently dressing for games on the Huskies back end are starting to find their groove in filling the void left by Ruopp and Harmsworth.

    “Those are two big sets of shoes to fill,” said Fiala. “Spags (Cody Spagrud) and Franny (Kendall Fransoo) have done an amazing job.

    “They are great D-men to play with. It definitely helps our squad.”

    In Friday’s game, the Huskies opened the scoring at the 8:01 mark of the first period, when left-winger Carter Folk blew home a shot from in front of the Lethbridge goal after taking a drop pass from Fiala.

    Just over five minutes later, the Huskies went up 2-0, when centre Logan McVeigh tipped home a point shot from Spagrud.

    Working on a power play 87 seconds into the second frame, Huskies right-winger Carson Stadnyk took the puck at the right side of the Pronghorns goal, did a spin-o-rama and tucked home a shot past Pronghorns starting netminder Taz Burman. The tally gave the host side a 3-0 edge.

Evan Fiala monitors action in the offensive zone from the point.

    The Pronghorns elected to pull Burman after the Huskies third goal. He turned away 13-of-16 shots fired his way.

    Backup Nik Amundrud turned away 22-of-24 shots in relief.

    At the 3:16 mark of the second, Huskies defenceman Shane Collins wired home a shot from in front of the Pronghorns for a 4-0 lead.

    Before the second period ended, the Huskies went ahead 5-0, when Stadnyk netted his second of the contest on shot coming off a rush up the left wing. Fiala picked up his second assist of the contest on Stadnyk’s second tally.

    Taran Kozun stopped 18 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies.

Evan Fiala (#27) and the Huskies celebrate Friday’s win.

    Fiala was happy the Huskies broke through on the win column. The education major could potentially play three more seasons at U of S, but he said he doesn’t look past what is happening in the present day.

    “I’m right here right now, and it has been so far so good,” said Fiala. “I will focus on this season and see what happens in the future.”

    The Huskies and Pronghorns (3-2) go at it again on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    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.

King to add Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame to accolades

Dave King is a coaching legend in hockey.

    He is already a member of the Order of Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame, so it would stand to reason Dave King would one day become a member of the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame.

    On Wednesday at a media conference at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, King was announced as a member of the 2019 class that will head to the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame as a builder. The 34^th annual induction ceremonies will be held Nov. 2 at TCU Place.

    King heads a class that includes five builders, four athletes and two teams, while the 1989 Jeux Canada Games Foundation is honoured as the Sports Organization of the Year.

    King has built a legendary career as a hockey head coach that has spanned decades. He has already been inducted to a number of sports hall of fames.

    Still, King always get humbled by these types of accolades, and it was special to learn he would be going into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame.

    “I’ve been a citizen of Saskatoon for a long time, although I haven’t lived here for a long time,” said King. “It is a real honour.

    “When I was given the word that this was going to happen, my first thoughts were for all the minor coaches when I was playing minor football and hockey and basketball and baseball, all those guys that created that interest in sport. I’m a pretty lucky guy.”

    The 71-year-old got his start in coaching way back in the 1960s, when he helped his father, Robert, coach the Greystone Heights community hockey team.

Dana Kidd, left, shakes hands with Dave King.

    From that start, Kings coaching career has taken him through the Saskatoon Minor Hockey ranks, the WHL, U Sports, the Canadian national team system, the NHL, the Olympics, Japan, Germany, Sweden and the Russian Super League.
    Most recently, he was one of the co-chairs of the Home Ice Campaign that raised funds to get the new Merlis Belsher Place twin pad hockey rink built on the U of Saskatchewan campus. The 2018-19 hockey campaign marked the first season Merlis Belsher Place was in operation.

    Overall in Saskatoon, King is best remembered for his work from two specific seasons. The first was the 1981-82 campaign, when he took on the role of head coach of Canada’s national junior team along with his duties as head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    That season marked the first campaign of Hockey Canada’s program of excellence, where the national junior team would be made up a junior aged all-star players from across the country.

    Before that, the defending Memorial Cup championship team represented Canada at world juniors.

Guiding a team that included a star centre from the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades named Marc Habscheid, King oversaw Canada’s first gold medal victory at the tournament.

The Huskies 1982-83 national championship team picture.

    In the 1982-83 campaign, King guided the Huskies to a first place finish in the Canada West Conference with a 16-8 record and a third straight Canada West title. At the University Cup national championship tournament in Moncton, N.B., the Huskies won the U Sports national title with a 6-2 victory in the event’s title game over the Concordia University Stingers.

    At that time, U Sports was known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union.

    Before winning the national title in 1983, the Huskies fell in the University Cup title game in 1981 and 1982.

    During King’s time as Huskies head coach from 1979 to 1983, the terms “Hustlin’ Huskie” and “no one outworks the Dogs” became synonymous with the program.

    “That team, the majority of those guys I would say over 90 per cent of those guys played together for three years or four years, and we got to the national finals three times in a row,” said King. “Finally, the third time we won it.

A Dave King picture on display at Merlis Belsher Place.

    “We were a close group. We’ve all stuck together. We started alumni association with the University of Saskatchewan Hockey program, and all of us have stayed really in touch with it.”

    King said the bonds have never faded that everyone has from those Huskies years. When the 1982-83 national championship team had a reunion in the mid to late 2000s, almost everyone made it back.

    “When we had our reunion, we all showed up all but a couple of guys,” said King. “It was wonderful.

    “That team won, and when I look at the team picture, they won because they were a group of high achieves. What those guys have done with their careers since that time has been amazing.”

    A number of Kings former players from his time with the Huskies have gone on to successful coaching careers.

Dave King has a few pictures displayed at Merlis Belsher Place.

    The list includes Mike Babcock, who is the head coach of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Willie Desjardins, who is the head coach and general manager of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, Peter Anholt, who is the general manager of the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, Marc Chartier, who is the head coach of the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts and current Huskies men’s hockey team head coach Dave Adolph.

    Desjardins was the captain of the 1982-83 championship team.

    On the international level, King guided Canada’s senior national team for a number of years, and Habscheid played for him on a number of those teams. Habscheid went on to an extremely successful coaching career, and he guided the Prince Albert Raiders to their second WHL championship this past season.

    “When you coach guys that go on to coach, that is the biggest compliment you will get out of coaching,” said King. “You might win a championship and you might not.

    “When the guys you coach, your athletes go back in and coach themselves, that is a terrific thing, and they are all such great coaches. I’ve been lucky Mike Babcock and Willie Desjardins, guys like that who played for us at the university, they’ve all gone into coaching and been very successful.”

Dave King, right, meets an Optimist Twirling Connection member.

    Also going into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in the builders category is Gordie Howe Sports Complex operations manager Johnny Marciniuk.

    Marciniuk has been a consultant and co-ordinator with elementary and high school sports for more than 30 years, and he has had a hand in many sport endeavors.

    In recent years, he is best known for being one of the founding members of the Friends of the Bowl Foundation, which formed with the goal to raise funds to refurbish what is now known as Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

    Once that football stadium was refurbished, that initial project expanded to refurbishing on the sports facilities in what was formerly known as the Holiday Park sports park to become what is now known as the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

    Being inducted to the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame didn’t cross Marciniuk’s mind as he has overseen the ongoing construction at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

Dana Kidd, left, shakes Johnny Marciniuk’s hand.

    “It is an incredible honour for me,” said Marciniuk. “There are between two to three thousand members when you look at the individual members and the teams and the members of those teams.

    “To be a part of that is breathtaking for me. I always say that I am a grunt, and I like to make things happen behind the scenes and those type of things. To be even considered with that group is an honour for me.”

    While construction is still ongoing, Marciniuk marvels at what has already been completed.

    “It has been a labour of love here for us and whole Friends of the Bowl committee,” said Marciniuk. “We’re a little over halfway there, and there is lots more to come.

    “I am very proud of what the community has provided here for us. All the people of the community own this facility, so we’re very proud to be a part of it.”

    Also entering the hall in the builders category are Lawrence Beatty in softball, Dale Clancy in wrestling and Al Mitchell in football.

Johnny Marciniuk, left, and Al Mitchell left marks as sports builders.

    The athletes being inducted in the Fiona Cribb in triathlon, Terry Lehne in football, Donna Saworski in fencing and Jake Wetzel in rowing.

    The teams heading to the hall include the 2012 and 2014 Merle Kopach masters women’s curling teams and the 2005 Optimist Twirling Connection baton twirling team.

    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 drive for U Sports nationals upsets wraps up

Danielle Nogier scored her first U Sports goal on Saturday.

    The effort was there, but the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team couldn’t string together a run of upsets at the U Sports elite eight national championship tournament.

    On Thursday, the seventh seeded Huskies downed the second seeded Saint Mary’s University Huskies 3-2 in a quarter-final match at the U Sports women’s hockey nationals in London, Ont., at the Thompson Arena. Saint Mary’s entered the tournament as the Atlantic University Sport conference champions.

    On Saturday, U of S faced the host and third seeded University of Western Ontario Mustangs, who are the Ontario University Athletic conference champions, in a semifinal match. The Huskies looked ready to pull off another upset.

    While killing a penalty with 2:07 to play in the first period, Huskies defensive forward Danielle Nogier blocked a point shot with her stick and shot out on a breakaway chance into the Mustangs zone. She fired home a shot between the legs of Mustangs netminder Carmen Lasis to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

    The goal was Nogier’s first in U Sports play including the regular season and playoffs.

    The Mustangs jumped ahead 2-1 in the second period on a pair of power play goals. At the 5:06 mark, Mustangs forward Amanda Pereira found linemate April Clark with a beauty backdoor pass and Clark potted the equalizer to force a 1-1 tie.

    At the 10:20 mark of the second, Mustangs defender Emma Pearson fired a shot on goal from the point and the rebounded landed in front of Huskies star netminder Jessica Vance. Mustangs forward Alyssa Chiarello beat Vance to the loose puck and knocked home the tally that would win the game for the Mustangs.

    The Huskies came out hard on the Mustangs in the third period outshooting the host side 9-4, but the U of S shooters couldn’t solve Lasis.

    The contest ended with Huskies defender Morgan Willoughby firing a shot over top of the Mustangs net.

    Huskies fifth-year star captain Kaitlin Willoughby had a number of strong scoring chances in the semifinal loss but couldn’t find the back of the net.

    Vance turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. Lasis turned away 24 shots to pick up the win in net for the Mustangs.

Kaitlin Willoughby’s U Sports career has come to a close.

    The loss put the Huskies into Sunday’s bronze medal game against the Quebec Student Sport Federation champion and fourth seeded Concordia Stingers.

    The Huskies threw everything including the kitchen sink at Stingers netminder Katherine Purchase in the first period holding a 14-5 edge in shots on goal in the frame. Thanks to the play of Purchase, the game’s score remained tied 0-0 after 20 minutes.

    Concordia scored twice in the second and twice in the third to pull out a 4-0 victory. Forward Claudia Dubois scored twice including the Stringers first goal 39 seconds into the second period on the power play and her squad’s final goal into an empty net with 2:39 to play in the third period.

    Sophie Gagnon and Brigitte Laganire had singles for the Stingers coming in the second and third periods respectively.

    Purchase made 37 saves to pick up the shutout. Vance turned away 24 of 27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

    When Sunday’s game concluded, it brought an end to the U Sports careers of Huskies fifth-year players in Willoughby, defender Kira Bannatyne, defensive forward Kennedy Harris and speedy forward Kori Herner.

    The Huskies posted a 19-7-2 record to finish second in Canada West. In the playoffs, they swept the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 2-0 in a best-of-three semifinal series before being swept by the University of Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in a best-of-three Canada West championship series.

    For most of the season, the Huskies weren’t able to crack the U Sports top 10 rankings, so they defied expectations outside of the inner circle of the team in making the “frozen four” semifinal portion of the U Sports national championship tournament.

    The Bisons defeated the Mustangs 2-0 in the tournament’s gold medal game to claim their first U Sports championship in women’s hockey and capture the Golden Path Trophy.

Overtime bits underdog Huskies men’s team at University Cup

Parker Thomas scored for the Huskies on Saturday.

    Overtime wasn’t kind to the underdog University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team at the University Cup.

    After upsetting the third seeded and Ontario University Athletics conference champion McGill University Redmen 4-1 in a quarter-final game on Friday, the sixth seeded Huskies concluded the tournament by dropping a pair of overtime heartbreakers at the Aitken University Centre in Fredericton, N.B.

    On Saturday, the Huskies faced their “forever rivals” for the 504th overall time in the second seeded University of Alberta Golden Bears and saw a 2-0 lead fade into a 3-2 overtime setback. Including play in the regular season, Canada West championship series and nationals, the Golden Bears won six of seven head-to-head matches with the Huskies.

    In the semifinal encounter at nationals, the Huskies jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 12:13 mark in the first period, when gritty right-winger Parker Thomas banged home a loose puck at the left side of the Golden Bears net.

    The Huskies extended their lead to 2-0 at the 17:46 mark of the second, when left-winger Alex Forsberg popped home a power-play goal from the front of the Golden Bear’s net.

    The Dogs ran into penalty trouble in the third, which allowed the Golden Bears to rally back with a pair of power-play goals. First, high-scoring forward Luke Philp scored at the 6:41 mark to cut the U of S lead to 2-1.

    U of A potted the equalizer on a bit of a positive bounce power-play tally with 4:43 to play in the third. Defenceman Graeme Craig fired a point shot that deflected off the glove of Huskies goaltender Taran Kozun, looped high in the air and fell into the U of S net to force a 2-2 tie.

    In overtime, Golden Bears forward Stephane Legault blocked a point shot from Huskies defenceman Jordan Fransoo causing the puck to deflect into the centre ice zone. Golden Bears winger Trevor Cox zipped into the centre ice zone, grabbed the loose puck, burst down the right wing and fired the winner past Kozun to give the Golden Bears the victory at the 3:15 mark of the extra frame.

Kendall McFaull’s U Sports career has come to a close.

    Kozun turned away 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. Zach Sawchenko turned away 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Golden Bears.

    In Sunday’s bronze medal game, the Huskies faced the first seeded host team and Atlantic University Sport conference champion University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds. The Huskies took a 3-1 lead in the second period, fell behind 4-3 before forcing a 4-4 tie heading into the second intermission.

    After a scoreless third, Varsity Reds rookie forward Alexandre Goulet scored his second goal of the contest at the 4:14 mark of overtime to deliver his team to a 5-4 victory.

    Levi Cable, Jaimen Yakubowski, MacKenzie Johnston and Carson Stadnyk had singles for the Huskies.

    Matt Murphy, Tyler Boland and Olivier LeBlanc replied with singles for the Varsity Reds.

    Kozun turned away 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. Alex Dubeau turned away 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Varsity Reds.

    Entering the University Cup, the Huskies were pegged as a team that could be eliminated in one game due to the fact they were playing without star goaltender Jordon Cooke due to a knee injury. Cooke was named the U Sports goaltender-of-the-year and a first team U Sports all-Canadian in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns.

    Cooke claimed honours as the Canada West goaltender of the year for a third straight season this past campaign and he was named a second team U Sports all-Canadian.

    Kozun played really well in place of Cooke.

    When Sunday’s game concluded, it brought an end to the U Sports careers of Huskies fifth-year players captain Kendall McFaull, defenceman Connor Cox, hard-working centre John Lawrence and high-scoring centre Josh Roach.

    The Golden Bears won the University Cup championship game for the 16^th time in team history downing the fifth seeded St. Francis Xavier University X-Men 4-2.

Bears return to SFMAAAHL title series

Hannah Koroll scored for the Bears on Saturday.

    The Prince Albert Northern Bears are returning to the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series.

    On Saturday, the Bears, who are the defending SFMAAAHL champions, traveled to Wilcox, Sask., looking to eliminate the Notre Dame Hounds from the SFMAAAHL playoffs in Game 4 of a best-of-five semifinal series. They stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first period with singles coming from the sticks of captain Hannah Koroll, Kailee Peppler and Alli Soyko.

    The Hounds battled back in the second with Anna-Liese King and Lyndsey Janes netting singles to cut the Bears lead to 3-2.

    The Bears hung on to claim a 3-2 victory in the game and 3-1 victory in the series.

    Ryan Fontaine turned away 27 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bears on Saturday. Kaitlyn Ross turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hounds.

    The Bears now advance to the best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series to face the Saskatoon Stars for a second straight year. Prince Albert swept away Saskatoon in last year’s title series 3-0. The Stars won the SFMAAAHL championship in 2015 and 2016.

    The Stars have home ice advantage for the series finishing first in the SFMAAAHL regular season standings with a 24-3-1 mark. The Bears finished second in the league standings with a 22-5-1 record.

    The dates and times for the SFMAAAHL titles series have yet to be announced.

    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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No one outworks the Dogs – Huskies upset Redmen 4-1

Josh Roach returned from injury to the Huskies.

    The underdog role seems to fit the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team just fine.

    On Friday at the University Cup in Fredericton, N.B., the Huskies never trailed as they put together one of their best performances of the season to down the third seeded McGill University Redmen 4-1 in a quarter-final match before 2,739 spectators at the Aitken University Centre. With the win, the Huskies advance to the “frozen four” semifinal round of the U Sports elite eight national championship tournament for a third straight year.

    Entering the University Cup, the Huskies were pegged as a team that could be eliminated in one game due to the fact they were playing without star goaltender Jordon Cooke due to a knee injury. Cooke was named the U Sports goaltender-of-the-year and a first team U Sports all-Canadian in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns.

    The Leduc, Alta., product claimed honours as the Canada West goaltender of the year for a third straight season this past campaign and he was named a second team U Sports all-Canadian.

    Taran Kozun started his fifth straight post-season game, and the rookie, who was the WHL goaltender of the year in the 2014-15 campaign while playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds, was stellar making 33 saves to pick up in goal for the Huskies.

    The Huskies had injuries to three key forwards in sophomore Wyatt Johnson, who is battling a concussion, and first liners Josh Roach and Michael Sofillas were pegged to possibly return from undisclosed ailments. Roach, who is in his fifth and final season with the Huskies and was the team’s scoring leader with 13 goals and 24 assists in 27 regular season games, had a higher likelihood of returning than Sofillas.

Connor Cox had a goal for the Huskies on Friday.

    Roach, who was a second team all-Canadian all-star, and Sofillas played and helped the Huskies go up 1-0 with a power-play goal at the 12:42 mark of the first period.

    Working the point, Roach fed the puck down low on the right side of the Redmen zone to centre Logan McVeigh. McVeigh passed the puck out front to Sofillas who knocked home the game’s first  goal.

    Just 63 seconds into the second, the Huskies entered the Redmen zone on a three-on-two rush. Defenceman Connor Cox drove down low to the left side of Redmen goal and fired home the rebound from a shot taken by right-winger Levi Cable to put the Huskies up 2-0.

    With 2:23 to play in the second, the Redmen cut the Huskies lead to 2-1, when forward Antoine Dufort-Plant potted the rebound from the point shot from defencemen Maximilian Daigle for a power-play goal.

    Huskies extended their lead to 3-1 at the 9:58 mark of the third on a bit of a positive bounce goal. A point shot from defenceman Jordan Fransoo deflected off the stick of Andrew Johnson, off Redmen defenceman Nathan Chiarlitti, flipped high in the air and as it was coming down was knocked into the Redmen goal by Huskies left-winger Carson Stadnyk.

Carson Stadnyk scored for the Huskies.

    Skilled centre Kohl Bauml iced the win for the Huskies scoring into an empty net with 65 seconds remaining in the third.

    Louis-Philip Guindon turned away 29-of-32 shots to take the setback in goal for the Redmen.

    The Redmen posted a 22-4-2 record in the regular season and a 7-2 mark in the OUA playoffs. The Huskies posted a 20-7-1 record during the regular season and 2-3 mark in the Canada West playoffs.

    The Huskies now advance to play their “forever rivals” in the second seeded University of Alberta Golden Bears in a semifinal on Saturday (1 p.m. Saskatchewan time, Sportsnet 360).
    Between the regular season and playoffs, the Golden Bears have won five of the six head-to-head meetings with the Huskies including sweeping the best-of-three Canada West championship series 2-0.

    The Golden Bears prevailed in their quarter-final match earlier on Friday 8-6 over the seventh seeded Acadia University Axemen.  

    Saturday’s earlier semifinal features the top seeded tournament host and defending University Cup champion University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds taking on the fifth seeded St. Francis Xavier University X-Men. The Varsity Red came into the tournament having won the Atlantic University Sport conference title.

Kohl Bauml had an empty-net goal for the Huskies.

    Last year, the Varsity Reds as the host squad defeated the Huskies 5-3 in the championship final of the University Cup.
    For the first time since the championship tournaments in both men’s and women’s hockey in U Sports switched to an elite eight format in the 2014-15 campaign, the Huskies have both their men’s and women’s teams qualified for the semifinal round in the same year.

    At the women’s tournament in London, Ont., the seventh seeded Huskies will take on the host and third seeded University of Western Ontario Mustangs in one semifinal on Saturday, while the other semifinal sees the top seeded University of Manitoba Bisons battle the fourth seeded Concordia University Stingers.

    The bronze medal and champion games for both elite eight tournaments are slated for Sunday.

@HuskiesMHKY have beaten @McGillAthletics 4-1, and advance to the @USPORTS_Hockey Semi-Finals! Watch it live on Sportsnet 360, and on Sportsnet NOW‼️

Les @HuskieAthletics ont battu les @HockeyRedmen 4-1 et accèdent à la demi-finale de hockey masculin U SPORTS! ✨#ChampSZN 🏆 pic.twitter.com/HGS24MD3AE

— Coupe U Cup (@coupeUcup) March 17, 2018

    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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