Expect Huskies to regroup for University Cup tournament

The Huskies digest losing Game 3 of the Canada West championship series.

    The funeral atmosphere was on for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team on Sunday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, but you can bet that feeling was limited to that night.

    In a winner take all Game 3 of the Canada West championship series, the Huskies fell to their forever rivals the University of Alberta Golden Bears 6-3. The two teams entered the third period locked in a 2-2 draw. The visiting Golden Bears scored three times in a span of two minutes and 16 seconds to extremely change the complexion of the contest on their way to their 14^th conference title in the last 17 years.

    The Rutherford Rink, which was shoehorned packed to the rafters with a crowd of 845 spectators, emptied after the final whistle in what seemed like record time.

Kendall McFaull is the Huskies steady captain.

    The look in the eyes of the Huskies players appeared like they were digesting a season ending defeat. The Dogs were aiming to win a second straight Canada West title, and with an improved roster from a season ago, a repeat conference championship win was expected in the U of S dressing room. 

    The Huskies players are competitive and expect success, so in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s loss, the disappointment of not getting the result they wanted was tough to take.

    With all that in mind, those emotions get compartmentalized quickly, because there is a tomorrow. By making the Canada West championship series, both the Huskies and Golden Bears earned berths at the eight-team University Cup national championship tournament for U Sports men’s hockey.

    The University Cup runs March 16 to 19 at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.

    In 2015, the University Cup moved from a six-team format to an eight-team single elimination style one. With that move, the event truly mirrored most university championship formats used in Canada and the United States.

    Before that change was made, a team’s season could end, if a conference championship wasn’t won. Now with the eight-team format, you need to earn a berth to the dance and proceed to go from there. Of course, the single elimination format plays towards the upset, but that is also why that format is exciting.

Jordan Fransoo has been a big part of the Huskies leadership group.

    Most of the Huskies players come from the WHL and the remainder from the junior A ranks. At both levels especially in the WHL, you have to shelf disappointments quickly and regroup for a game that is often played the next day.

    The Huskies can replay in their minds and will see on video various aspects that could have changed the outcome of their Game 3 loss to the Golden Bears or the 4-3 setback the Huskies suffered in Game 1 to U of A. U of S took Game 2 of the Canada West championship series 2-0.

    The Dogs have strong leadership coming from captain Kendall McFaull and assistant captains Josh Roach, Jordan Fransoo and Jesse Forsberg. They had to play a big hand in bringing this year’s Huskies team together due to the fact the squad had nine first-year additions from various WHL clubs.

Jesse Forsberg has developed into a player that has led by example.

    All the additions came from being key cogs on the teams that they were on, and only talented forward Alex Forsberg wasn’t able to play all season due to injury.

    The Huskies took big steps in coming together as a team, and the players took professional approaches to filling the roles they were placed in.
    Veteran head coach Dave Adolph and his staff have to be given big credit too for helping everything flow forward.

    The fact the mix came together was one of the reason Adolph was named the Canada West coach of the year for a third time in his career and the Huskies topped the regular season conference standings with a 21-5-2 mark.

    When you move into a single elimination format, the Huskies still have star goaltender Jordon Cooke in net to steal games, and he was named Canada West’s goaltender of the year for a second straight season.

Josh Roach has always given maximum effort for the Huskies.

    He heads to nationals looking to take that honour at the U Sports level for a second straight season.

    Odds are pretty high he will likely have a big performance in the Huskies quarter-final game of the University Cup coming off the Canada West final loss.

    The Huskies finished fourth in last year’s University Cup. They can still finish things off this season winning the University Cup for the second time in team history. Their only national title win came in 1983.

    The Dogs have accomplished a lot this season. The result of the Canada West final can be remembered as a bump in the road.

Can the Huskies women’s hoops squad do it again?

Sabine Dukate has had a spectacular season for the Huskies.

    So how far can the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team take their run?

Coming into the 2016-17 campaign, the Huskies were supposed to be in a reloading year. They lost four fifth-year players to graduation and returned only one starter in guard Sabine Dukate from a season ago.

    In total, the Huskies carried a roster that contained six rookies and four second-year players. The team grew by leaps and bounds finishing 15-5 during the regular season and winning what seemed like an improbable second straight Canada West championship.

    The Huskies won the Canada West championship game over the visiting U of Regina Cougars 64-53 last Saturday at the Physical Activity Complex. Dukate led the way for the Huskies scoring 25 points, while standout rookie post Summer Masikewich chipped in 14 points.
    Masikewich came into the campaign having to do her part to help fill the shoes of Dalyce Emmerson, who graduated after last season as the greatest post player in the history of the Huskies women’s program.

    Besides getting big seasons from Dukate and Masikewich, sophomore guard Megan Ahlstrom and fourth-year forward Megan Lindquist contributed with nice campaigns averaging 11.5 and 10.0 points per game respectively.

    Rookie point guard Libby Epoch has also shown a flair for distributing the ball.

Everything rolled for the Huskies due to the incredible job done by head coach Lisa Thomaidis and her staff.

    The Huskies begin play at the U Sports national championship tournament in Victoria as the event’s second seed. They face the seventh seeded Universite Laval Rouge et Or in a quarter-final match on Thursday.

    U of S is playing with house money at this point. If the Huskies found their way to play in Sunday’s championship game and won it, that development would be an accomplishment that would be beyond impressive and memorable.

Shirley comes through in OT for Stars again in Speedy Creek

Grace Shirley netted another OT winner for the Stars.

    Grace Shirley seems to love to score big overtime winners in Swift Current.

    Last year, the standout forward with the Saskatoon Stars scored in double overtime in Swift Current over the host Diamond Energy Wildcats to deliver her team to a 4-3 Game 4 victory to clinch a second straight Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series.

    On Wednesday night in Swift Current, Shirley was up to her heroics again for the Stars in Game 2 of a SFMAAAHL semifinal series against the Wildcats. With 9:45 to play in a second overtime period, Shirley scored to deliver the Stars to a 2-1 victory.

    Thanks to the win, Saskatoon takes a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series with Swift Current. The Stars will try to sweep the series at home on Saturday, when they host Game 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

    Kianna Dietz scored in regulation for the Stars on Wednesday, while Arden Kliewer made 15 stops to earn the win in goal for Saskatoon.

    Taylor Kirwan scored for the Wildcats. Netminder Harper Davey was sensational making 42 saves taking the loss in goal for Swift Current.

    The Stars topped the regular season standings with a 25-2-1 record, while the Wildcats finished fifth with an 11-10-7 mark.

    In the other SFMAAAHL semifinal series, the Prince Albert Northern Bears lead the Melville Prairie Fire 2-0. The Bears will try to sweep the series hosting Game 3 on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Back in the Express with Parker

Mackenna Parker had a big season for the Stars.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature on Saskatoon Stars forward Mackenna Parker.

    Parker had a spectacular third season with the Stars piling up 24 goals and 44 points in 28 regular season games. The 16-year-old’s point total was the highest for a Stars player since current Canadian national team member Emily Clark piled up 60 points in her final season in midget in 2011-12. Parker’s goal total was also the most for a Stars player since Clark and Kennedy Harris each had 26 goals in Clark’s final season with the team.

    Back in 2014-15, Parker played her rookie season with the Stars as an underage 14-year-old. In 81 career SFMAAAHL regular season games, Parker has piled up 49 goals and 49 assists.

    So far in the post-season, she has four goals and four assists in five games. The story on Parker can be found right here.

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

Broncos’ Steenbergen crushes Raiders hopes of victory

Winger’s 47^th goal in final minute lifts Swift Current past P.A.

Raiders G Nicholas Sanders shuts the door on Broncos C Lane Pederson.

    PRINCE ALBERT - Tyler Steenbergen’s 47^th goal of the season drove a dagger into a spirited effort by the Prince Albert Raiders.

    Entering play on Tuesday, the Raiders, who have one of the younger rosters in the WHL, sat second last in the league, but they have been on an upswing posting a 10-7-2 record in their previous 19 games. Steenbergen’s Swift Current Broncos had a playoff spot already locked up and were looking to solidify their positioning in the standings.

    In a tightly contest affair at the Art Hauser Centre, the Broncos and Raiders entered the final minute of the third period locked in a 2-2 draw. At that point, Steenbergen broke into the Prince Albert zone and ripped home the winning goal for the visitors top corner glove side on Raiders netminder Ian Scott with 57.9 seconds to play in the frame.

Tyler Steenbergen potted the winning goal for the Broncos.

    Overage winger Ryley Lindgren added an empty-net tally with 17.5 seconds to play to cement a 4-2 win for the Broncos before an announced crowd of 1,886 spectators.

    While the Raiders won’t be part of the WHL playoff picture, Steenbergen said his Broncos spoke about not taking the Prince Albert side lightly.

    “We know they are out of it, but we know they are going to work their hardest to be spoilers,” said Steenbergen. “We knew that coming in.

    “They have been on a little bit of a roll lately, so we wanted to come out hard and play them physical. We know they are a physical team. We pushed back, and we got the outcome we wanted.”

    Steenbergen was both relieved and pumped to net the winning goal.

    “It was awesome,” said Steenbergen. “I had a couple of changes earlier in the game and didn’t quite go in for me.

    “Getting the win in this point in the year that is all we need. Now, we want to clinch that third place spot, so getting that win in regulation was huge for us.”

Parker Kelly scored twice on Tuesday for the Raiders.

    The win allowed the Broncos, who have won five straight, to improve to 35-20-4-5. They sit 12 points ahead of the idle Brandon Wheat Kings (29-27-7-3) for third place in the East Division with a game in hand. Swift Current needs to earn just one more point in the standings to lock up a third place finish.

    In Tuesday’s game, sophomore winger Parker Kelly scored at the 8:57 mark of the opening frame to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
    The hosts appeared to go ahead 2-0 crashing into the Swift Current net, but a goal from centre Sean Montgomery was waived due to the officials ruling the puck was kicked in.

    Before the opening frame ended, standout centre Lane Pederson netted his 20^th goal of the season for the Broncos to force a 1-1 tie.

    After a scoreless second, the Broncos went ahead 2-1 just pass the midway point of the third, when winger Kaden Elder one-timed home a shot.
    The edge held up for less than three minutes as Kelly potted his second of the contest to force a 2-2 tie. That set the stage for the dramatics in the final minute.

Ian Scott stops a high shot for the Raiders.

    Scott turned away 30-of-33 shots taking the loss in goal for the Raiders, who fell to 18-42-5-2. Backup Nicholas Sanders turned away two shots during a short appearance in the first period, when Scott left the contest to get an equipment issue fixed.

    Jordan Papirny, who was acquired in a trade earlier this season with the Wheat Kings, turned away 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos.

    Steenbergen is having a huge season for the Broncos leading the team in scoring with 47 goals and 35 assists.
    The Sylvan Lake, Alta., product said he has received a lot of help in piling up the points.

    “I’ve been getting a lot of good chances,” said Steenbergen. “I have to give credit to my teammates.

    “I am playing with some great players right now in Lindy (Lindgren) and Gawdz (Glenn Gawdin). Before, I played with Hepo (Aleksi Heponiemi) and Peedy (Pederson) too and Elds (Kaden Elder) even.

    “I am playing with great players and they are getting me the puck. I’ve been fortunate enough to put the puck in the net this year.”

    The Broncos appeared destined to face the Moose Jaw Warriors in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Broncos celebrate their win on Tuesday.

    With Papirny having backstopped the Wheat Kings to a WHL title last year, Steenbergen believes his Broncos can make some noise in the post-season, which is about three weeks away.

    “I think we can surprise some people,” said Steenbergen. “We are going to do some damage against Moose Jaw, and hopefully, we keep that up in the second round if we get past Moose Jaw.”

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

Crooks breaks out for U of A in Canada West title clincher

Golden Bears third period surge does in Huskies

Jamie Crooks celebrates scoring his first of three goals for U of A.

    In what had been a forgettable run on a personal level through the U Sports playoffs, Jamie Crooks finally had a banner night for the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

    During U of A’s 28-game regular season, Crooks led the Golden Bears men’s hockey team with 15 goals and he equaled rookie teammate Tyson Baillie with a team-high 26 points. Through the Golden Bears first four games in the Canada West conference playoffs, Crooks had just one assist and was searching for his first goal.

    On Sunday at the ancient Rutherford Rink in a winner take all Game 3 of the Canada West championship series with the host U of Saskatchewan Huskies, Crooks came alive to deliver the Golden Bears a conference title.

    With the teams locked in a 2-2 draw entering the third period of Sunday’s clash, Crooks converted a nifty passing set up from linemates Stephane Legault and Tyson Baillie to put the Golden Bears up 3-2. That started a surge, where the Golden Bears scored three times in two minutes and 16 seconds to build a 5-2 edge.

Tyson Baillie looks to set up a play in the offensive zone for U of A.

    Taylor Cooper got the second goal in that surge and Crooks capped the outburst with his second of the night.

    After Huskies centre Jordan Tkatch scored to cut the gap to 5-3 with 8:04 remaining in the third, Crooks sealed the win potting his hat trick goal into an empty cage with 30 seconds to play in the frame. The 6-3 victory by the Golden Bears allowed them to take the best-of-three Canada West championship series 2-1 and disappoint most of a packed crowd of 845 spectators.
    The win marked the 14^th time in the last 17 years the Golden Bears captured the Canada West championship.

    A year ago, U of S swept the conference final 2-0 held at Rutherford against U of A.

    “It feels good,” said Crooks. “I was a little bit frustrated before that not having any (goals) in the playoffs yet.

    “I trusted in (Golden Bears head coach) Serge (Lajoie). He told me to shoot the puck, and I trusted that. I just put it on net, and it went in.”

Huskies forward Josh Roach (#7) drives a shot on the U of A net.

    For a lengthy time on Sunday, it seemed like the Huskies were going to repeat as conference champs. At the 4:56 mark of the first period, Golden Bears netminder Brendan Burke lost track of the puck behind his net, and Huskies rookie forward Carson Stadnyk dumped the puck into an open right side of the U of A goal to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

    The Huskies appeared to go ahead 2-0 a few minutes later, but a goal by captain Kendall McFaull was ruled to have been knocked home with a high stick. After 20 minutes, the Huskies were rolling and outshooting the Golden Bears 13-6.

    Just 90 seconds into the second, the Golden Bears tied things up at 1-1, when rookie centre Luke Philp scored on a short-handed breakaway chance to the blocker side of Huskies star goalie Jordon Cooke.

Huskies goalie Jordon Cooke turns away a wraparound chance.

    The Huskies went back in front 2-1 working on a power play just before the midway point of the frame, when rookie winger Connor Gay scored off a rebound.

    The hosts appeared they would head to the second intermission with a lead, but the Golden Bears had other ideas working on a power play of their own. With 1:49 to play in the second, a U of A point shot deflected off a Huskies player to Golden Bears winger Cole Sanford in the slot. Sanford buried a shot to force a 2-2 tie.

    That set the stage for the visitors to surge ahead in the third.

    Cooke turned away 29-of-34 shots to take the loss in goal for the Huskies, who were rated second in the U Sports top 10 rankings. Burke made 32 stops to earn the win in net for the Golden Bears, who are rated fourth in the U Sports top 10 rankings.

Defenceman Dylan Bredo leads a rush up ice for U of A.

    “I think we knew coming in here it would be very difficult,” said Lajoie. “We have the utmost respect for the Huskies, the program, the tradition of excellence that they have here under (head coach) Dave Adolph.

    “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We knew this third game was going to be difficult. I thought both team played extremely hard.

    “Our compete level was exactly where it needed to be. We were just hopeful we would get rewarded for all the hard work.”

    The Huskies topped the Canada West standings in the regular season with a 21-5-2 mark. The Golden Bears finished second with an 18-8-2 record.

    “There is not a whole lot of difference between these two teams,” said Crooks. “I guess our shots went in, and theirs didn’t.

    “It was a tight fought series, one of the best series I have been a part of, and it was really good to play in.”

    Both the Golden Bears and Huskies qualified for the University Cup national championship tournament, which will be held March 16 to 19 at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. Crooks said any possible encounter with the Huskies in that event would be a hard match.

The Golden Bears enjoy the spoils of their Canada West title win.

    The 25-year-old Vermilion, Alta., product said his team is focused on capturing another national title. U of A captured the University Cup for the 14^th and 15^th time respectively in 2014 and 2015 but got knocked out in the quarter-final round last year.

    As a sense of superstition, Golden Bears captain Brennan Yadlowski wouldn’t touch the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy, which is given to the Canada West title winner, after Sunday’s game.

    “It feels good, but we are not done yet,” said Crooks. “It is not our ultimate goal.

    “We still want to go to Fredericton and win there. We have a ways to go yet, but it does feel pretty good.”

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

Yakubowski pushes Huskies into series deciding Game 3

Canada West final with Golden Bears tied 1-1

Jaimen Yakubowski, right, celebrates his first of two goals.

    It is Jaimen Yakubowski’s world, and the University of Alberta Golden Bears are living in it.

    On Saturday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the second-year winger scored both of that night’s goals for University of Saskatchewan Huskies to deliver them to a 2-0 victory over U of A in Game 2 of the Canada West men’s hockey championship series. 

    With the win, the Huskies, who are the defending conference champions, tie the best-of-three series 1-1 and force a series deciding Game 3 for Sunday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

    Both teams already have berths locked up at the University Cup national championship tournament, which runs March 16 to 19 at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.

    Besides hitting the scoresheet offensively, Yakubowski played his feisty forward role perfectly. The 22-year-old competed hard and did his part to agitate U of A players with some verbal jabs during and after the play. The Dalmeny, Sask., product also absorbed some shots like a butt end to the face in the third period when he wasn’t able to draw any penalties.

Jaimen Yakubowski brought a feisty edge to the Huskies game.

    “In the moment, I am just here to contribute in whatever way I can,” said Yakubowski. “I don’t really think about it at that moment. It definitely does feel good to get on the scoresheet and muck it up at the same time.”

    The Golden Bears roster contains players that have reputations of being able to trash talk and pull a few physical jabs to draw penalties. A number of U of A players have been trying to do just that in both games of the series so far with the Huskies.

    Yakubowski’s forward line, which also contains centre Jordan Tkatch and winger Parker Thomas, have been the Huskies counter point to that aspect of the Golden Bears game. Yakubowski, Tkatch and Thomas have at times struck first and initiated getting under the skins of the Golden Bears, but the tactic has been something that has come in the moment.

    “I wouldn’t say it was planned or anything,” said Yakubowski, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 205 pounds. “We’ve been a very disciplined team. It started since last year.

The Huskies and Golden Bears engaged in a number of scrums.

    “I think we understand that in order to put ourselves in the best position to win we don’t need to take those stupid penalties. At the same time, we have to stand up for ourselves and for our teammates.

    “(You are) just riding the line that you try not to go over it so much. We’ve been really good at that all playoffs.”

    Besides being feisty, Yakubowski showed the packed rink of 845 spectators that he has some pretty good skill. After the Huskies came out of the gate with a strong first period, Yakubowski got the puck in close of the U of A goal just three minutes into the second, and he tucked his first marker past Golden Bears goalie Brendan Burke. Thomas and offensive defenceman Jesse Forsberg combined to get the puck to Yakubowski down low.

    At the 8:59 mark of the third, Wyatt Johnson and Forsberg combined to get the puck to Yakubowski down low again, and he put a backhand shot past Burke after a deke move to give the Huskies a 2-0 edge.

Jesse Forsberg (#5) had two big assists for the Huskies.

    During the regular season, Yakubowski had four goals and six assists in 20 games for the Huskies. While he wasn’t one of U of S’s top scorers, Huskies head coach Dave Adolph wasn’t surprised to see the feisty winger score twice noting Yakubowski had 32 goals and 18 assists in 66 regular season games with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes as an 18-year-old in 2012-13.

    In 247 career WHL regular season games with the Hurricanes, Seattle Thunderbirds and Moose Jaw Warriors, Yakubowski picked up 67 goals, 56 assists and 507 minutes in penalties.

    “He is hard to play against,” said Adolph. “He has been (hard to play against) his whole career in the Western League, and he has here.

    “He had a bit of a shoulder issue, when he first got to us. He has always had the ability to score.

    “That second goal he scored, those are nice hands. That was a goal-scorer’s goal.”

Huskies goalie Jordon Cooke makes one of his 26 saves in a shutout win.

    Star netminder Jordon Cooke made 26 saves to earn the win in goal for the Huskies, who are rated second in the U Sports top 10 rankings. Burke turned away 40 shots taking the loss in net for the Golden Bears, who are rated fourth in the U Sports top 10 rankings.

    The Huskies topped the Canada West standings with a 21-5-2 record, while the Golden Bears finished second with an 18-8-2 mark.

    On Sunday, the Huskies will try to repeat what they did when they hosted the 2012 Canada West final against the U of Calgary Dinos. In that year, the Huskies lost the opening game and rallied back to take the series 2-1.

    The Huskies won Game 3, when Brett Ward scored at the 6:33 mark of the third overtime period to give U of S a 2-1 victory.

The Huskies celebrate their Game 2 victory.

    Yakubowski didn’t want to venture a guess who could possibly be the Game 3 goal-scoring hero for the Huskies this year against the Golden Bears.

    “I’m hoping my linemates each get one,” said Yakubowski. “That is the best-case scenario.

    “I don’t care who gets them as long as somebody does, and we put up a good battle tomorrow. That is all we are looking forward to.”

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

Golden Bears X-factors put Huskies on the ropes

Dogs fall 4-3 in exciting Canada West final opener

The Golden Bears celebrate Taylor Cooper’s second goal.

    You wish these forever rivals could go at it in best-of-seven final.

    On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and the University of Alberta Golden Bears staged another classic match in the opening game of their best-of-three Canada West championship series. Both sides had their spots where they carried momentum would have been pleased with their play at certain times. The also would have been disappointed in how other areas in their game went.

    When the dust settled, the Golden Bears cashed in on a couple of more positive bounce breaks and came away with a 4-3 win to put the Huskies, who are the defending Canada West champions, on the ropes in the short set. The Golden Bears will look to close out the series in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford. If a Game 3 is necessary, it will be played on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Ruthy.

    U of A took the game relying on three X-factors in the line of Taylor Cooper, Cole Linaker and Lucas Nickles, who powered the visitors combining for three goals and six assists. Cooper and Linaker are both rookies, while Nickles is in his second year of eligibility.

Connor Gay paced the Huskies with two goals and an assist.

    During the regular season, they weren’t a trio U of A relied on for offence. Cooper, Linaker and Nickles played a combined 66 regular season games recording six goals and nine assists.

    The Golden Bears came out flying in Friday’s contest getting the first 10 shots on goal. They finally put a puck past Huskies star netminder Jordon Cooke with their 12^th shot on net coming at the 10:44 mark of the opening frame, when the X-factors went to work.

    Cooper and Nickles got the puck to Linaker who cut to the U of S goal and tucked a shot home to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

    A short time later, the Huskies thought they tied a game, but a goal by winger Levi Cable was called off due to the officials ruling he scored knocking a puck home with a high stick. The hosts did exit the opening frame forcing a 1-1 tie on a goal from rookie winger Connor Gay.

U of A goalie Brendan Burke makes one of his 31 saves.

    At the 7:21 mark of the second, Cooper scored his first of two of the night to put the visitors up 2-1. The goal came after the Huskies turned the puck over in their own end.

    That lead lasted only 38 seconds as Gay broke in to the U of A zone on an individual effort, cut into the right slot and roofed home a shot past Golden Bears rookie goalie Brendan Burke.

    Momentum shifted back to the visitors at the start of the third. Cooper tipped in his second goal of the game on a chance that seemed to come out of nowhere, and defenceman Graeme Craig blasted home an insurance goal from the point to put U of A up 4-2 with 11:24 to play in the frame.

    The Huskies didn’t go away as rookie forward Wyatt Johnson scored down low with 5:39 to play in the third to cut U of A’s lead to 4-3. Gay picked up an assist on that tally for a three-point night. The local product and graduate of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades had the best game of his university career, but his effort was overshadowed by the end result on the scoreboard.

The Huskies try to find an equalizer in the dying seconds of the third period.

    In the dying seconds of the third, the Huskies tried to find the equalizer on a scramble around the Golden Bears net, but the officials blew the play down, when the puck was loose and open by the left side of the U of A net. It was a bitter pill for the Huskies to swallow along with the packed crowd of 845 people that were in the rink.

    Cooke made 28 saves to take the loss in goal for the Huskies, who entered the contest rated second in the U Sports top 10 rankings. Burke made 31 stops to earn the win in goal for the Golden Bears, who are rated fourth in the U Sports top 10 rankings.

The Golden Bears celebrate their Game 1 Canada West final win.

    The Huskies topped the Canada West standings with a 21-5-2 record, while the Golden Bears finished second with an 18-8-2 mark. Both teams already have spots locked up at the University Cup national championship tournament, which will run March 16 to 19 at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, but you would never know it by the way they played on Friday.

    Both the Huskies and Golden Bears played for keeps, and it will likely be no different in Game 2 on Saturday. The Huskies are hoping to capitalize on a couple of extra positive bounces on Saturday to force a series deciding Game 3 on Sunday.

Huskies women’s hoops team earns berth at nationals

Point guard Sabine Dukate (#5) drives to the hoop for the Huskies.

    Head coach Lisa Thomaidis and her coaching staff have worked wonders again, and they have their young U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team heading back to nationals.

    Last year, the Huskies won their first U Sports national championship title, but that squad graduated four extremely key fifth-year players. Entering this season, the Huskies, who have six first-year and four second-year players on their roster, appeared to be a long shot to return to nationals.

    On Friday night at the Physical Activity Complex, the Huskies, who are rated eighth in the U Sports top 10 rankings, trailed the U of Alberta Pandas, who are rated ninth in the U Sports top 10 rankings, 29-26 in a semifinal match at the Canada West women’s final four tournament. The Huskies proceeded to rally with a huge second half to pull away with a solid 72-62 victory.

Huskies guard Megan Ahlstrom, centre, drives through the Pandas defence.

    Second-year point guard Sabine Dukate, who is the only returning starter from last season, led the way with 25 points. Second-year guard Megan Ahlstrom and rookie post Summer Masikewich each netted 13 and 10 points respectively to power the host side.

    Fifth-year guard Maddie Rogers led the Pandas with 19 points.

    On Saturday at 7 p.m. at the PAC, the Huskies will try to win their second straight Canada West title in a rematch of last year’s conference final with the U of Regina Cougars. The Cougars took the other semifinal match 81-70 over the U of Winnipeg Wesmen. The Wesmen and Pandas will face each other in a bronze medal match set for 5 p.m. on Saturday at the PAC.

    The Huskies and Cougars will advance to the U Sports championship tournament which will be held March 9-12 at the University of Victoria.

Stars down Wildcats in Game 1 of SFMAAAHL semi series

Grace Shirley had a goal and an assist Friday for the Stars.

    The Saskatoon Stars outlasted a spirited effort by the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats to take Game 1 of a best-of-five Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series between the two squads on Friday night at the Agriplace Arena.

    The Stars led 3-2 after two period of play and pulled away for a 5-2 victory. Grace Shirley and Joelle Fiala both had a goal and an assist to pace the Stars, who received big efforts from what seemed like everyone on their roster. Jayda Sachs, Mackenna Parker and Jordyn Gerlitz all netted singles for Saskatoon.

    Chloe Smith, who has been recruited to join the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team in the fall, and Janessa Fournier paced the Wildcats offence each picking up a goal and an assist.

    Jordan Ivanco made 21 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Harper Davey turned away 21 shots taking the loss in the Wildcats net.

    The Stars and Wildcats have a bit of a break before going at it again for Game 2 on Wednesday in Swift Current. Game 3 is set for Saturday, March 11 at the Agriplace Arena.

    Saskatoon and Swift Current met in last year’s SFMAAAHL championship series, and the Stars took the best-of-five set 3-1.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along 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.

Late Regina Rams head coach cared about the person first

Gordon Gray Currie 1923-2017

A picture of Gord Currie from his celebration of life.

    REGINA - “You win by not looking at the scoreboard at the end of the field but the scoreboard in your heart.

    “When you walk off the field, that is great when you look at the scoreboard in your heart. You walk away with something with substance, and it adds to the rest of your life to what you are.

    “It goes far beyond moving a football up and down the field. It is difficult to measure this type of growth. It is an amazing thing to witness in life.”

    Gordon Gray Currie spoke those words to me back in November of 2000, when I was putting together a history feature on the Regina Rams for the official website for university sports in Canada called at the time CIAU.ca. The piece ran days before the Rams, who were in their second season as a university team, appeared in that year’s Vanier Cup championship game. They ultimately fell 42-39 to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in that contest.

    Currie, who was the Rams head coach in their Canadian Junior Football League days from 1965 to 1976, was describing the intangibles as to why the Rams won. He followed these words during his whole coaching career, which included guiding teams in football, baseball and hockey.

    Currie passed away at age 93 on Feb. 22, 2017. He was in remarkably good health and active in his late 80s and his 90s. It was only in recent years he battled with medical issues.

    A massive group of family and friends gathered at the Conexus Arts Centre on Wednesday in Regina to pay tribute the legendary coach, who is best remember for guiding the Rams to six CJFL championships, at a celebration of his life.

    Currie was also an educator, school principle and a member of the legislative assembly in Saskatchewan for one term. He was named to the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (1978), a member of the Order of Canada (1979) and to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a builder (2005).

A memorial set up at Gord Currie’s celebration of life.

    On the little known fact side, the sport Currie pursued and played at a high level was hockey, which was the first sport he coached.

    Everyone remembered that his greatest gift was his ability to make people feel important and special. The star running back for the Rams played that much better because of Currie’s influence. That Grade 12 student from Campbell Collegiate that was just scraping by and looking to drop out stayed in school and graduated at Currie’s request.

    People “upped their game” due to Currie no matter what walk of life they were in.

    What was more amazing was the fact Currie coached and taught at a time through the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s when it was unheard of to inspire people by treating them with respect. He inspired people to be better persons at a time when most coaches motivated through intimidation and fear. Currie never dipped into the intimidation and fear tactics that were prominent in his time.

    As a result of Currie’s approach, the results did look after themselves, as his coaching career resulted in numerous championships. One of those championships included his last game as Rams head coach in 1976, when he guided them to a CJFL title with 45-23 victory over the Hamilton Hurricanes before over 10,000 spectators at Taylor Field.

An old Leader-Post page paying tribute to Gord Currie.

    Everyone that came to his celebration of life had some memory of meeting Currie and feeling better about themselves. Even if you only dealt with him two or three times in your life, Currie still remembered you, and you came away feeling better about yourself.

    If you wanted to write a tribute about all the great things Currie did in his life, you could spend an endless amount of time doing that.

    Those that knew Currie would know the best tribute you could give to the late coach is just working to be the best person you can be every day and do your best to make a positive impact on your community and in life.

    That is also a great lesson everyone can follow and an enduring one coming from arguably the most legendary amateur coach in Saskatchewan.

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