Sunday 17 March 2024

Veteran besties put special cap on Stingers U Sports title win

Concordia downs Varsity Blues 3-1 in championship tilt

The Stingers celebrate winning a U Sports championship.
Rosalie Begin-Cyr and Emmy Fecteau added a fairy tale capper to their U Sports careers.

On Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the pair were on the ice for a third period power-play as their Concordia University Stingers held a 2-0 lead over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the title game of the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. Fecteau, who is the Stingers 24-year-old captain, got the puck to third-year centre Zoe Thibault.

Thibault drove to the net with the puck and made a drop pass to Begin-Cyr, who wired home a power-play goal through a screen to put the Stingers up 3-0 at the 5:10 mark of the frame. That tally allowed the Stingers to cruise to a 3-1 victory to take the Golden Path Trophy as U Sports champions in a contest played before 1,196 spectators.

The Stingers raise the Golden Path Trophy.
“I think it is the best way to finish your career as a university (player) and as a senior,” said Begin-Cyr, who is the Stingers star right-winger. “We had a great team, and I think it was like we expected from the beginning.

“We wanted to finish better than last year, so it was perfect.”

Fecteau was pleased to Begin-Cyr score her power-play goal in the third period as the two have been basically forever hockey teammates dating back before their time with the Stingers.

“I’m very happy,” said Fecteau, who is a star centre for the Stingers. “It has been 15 years that I have been playing with Rosalie (Begin-Cyr).

Rosalie Begin-Cyr had a goal and an assist for the Stingers.
“She is also my roommate. We’ve been living together for seven years, so I was really pumped for her.”

The Stingers appeared in the U Sports title for the third straight year on Sunday. The Stingers won the championship in 2022 downing the Nipissing Lakers 4-0 in the event’s final, when the tournament was held in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Last year, the Stingers fell 4-3 in overtime in the U Sports title game to the Mount Royal Cougars, when the tournament was held in Montreal.

Begin-Cyr, who is 25-years-old, and Fecteau were part of the winning experience in 2022 and the disappointment in 2023. Playing in their final campaign with the Stingers, they did not want to repeat the experience from a year ago.

Emmy Fecteau had an assist for the Stingers.
Begin-Cyr exhausted her U Sports eligibility playing her fifth-year in 2023-24. Fecteau is in her fourth-year of eligibility, but she will be completing her teaching English as a second language program and is planning to move on to the next step in her life whether it be with the PWHL or the working world.

Both players said the loss to the Cougars helped drive the team to return to the U Sports title game and win it this season.

“It was a good motivation,” said Begin-Cyr, who had an assist to go along with her goal. “From the beginning of the year, it was really like our motivation.

“It was a tough loss.”

Emilie Lussier scored the Stingers first goal on Sunday.
“I think we wanted to show who Concordia is, and we worked so hard to be here today in the final of the championship and to win,” said Fecteau. “We worked for each other.

“It was team first all the way, and it paid off.”

The Stingers posted a perfect 25-0 record in the regular season in 2023-24 and captured the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec title. They entered the U Sports championship tournament as the top seed.

At the title tourney, the Stingers blanked the host and eighth seeded U of Saskatchewan Huskies 4-0 in a quarter-final on Thursday and slipped past the OUA champion and fourth seeded University of Waterloo Warriors 3-1 in a semifinal on Saturday.

Jessymaude Drapeau (#15) banks home the Stingers second goal.
In Sunday’s final, the Stingers got out to a hot start. Just 69 seconds into the opening frame, Stingers first-year left-winger Emilie Lussier collected the rebound of her own shot at the left side of the Varsity Blues goal. She quickly tucked home a second shot to give the Stingers a 1-0 lead.

At the 8:19 mark of the First, Stingers third-year left-winger Jessymaude Drapeau skated just below the icing line at the right side of the Varsity Blues net. Drapeau, who would be named tournament MVP, deflected the puck from that spot off the pads of Varsity Blues netminder Erica Fryer into the Toronto net to push the Stingers lead out to 2-0.

Jessymaude Drapeau celebrates scoring for the Stingers.
Varsity Blues head coach Vicky Sunohara thought the Stingers game speed at the start might caught her squad a little off guard.

“I think that we were pretty surprised with the pace,” said Sunohara, whose squad was playing their third game in three days. “I thought that we had a slower start, which we talked about that they are a strong team, a fast team, and they transition well and that we need to go from the drop of the puck.

“Playing three games in three days is tough. Our team was ready, but I thought that we were back on our heels a little bit for the first few shifts.”

In the second, the Stingers had a glorious chance to increase their lead while working on the power play. Lussier received a backdoor feed at the right side of the Varsity Blues goal, but Fryer slid across the crease to rob the Concordia forward.

Taylor Delahey had a big chance to score early in the third.
With about two minutes remaining in the second, the Stingers broke into the Varsity Blues zone on a three-on-one break. Lussier came up the left wing with the puck and passed it across the face of the Toronto goal to linemate Zoe Thibault. Fryer again slid across the crease of her net to rob Thibault.

Early in the third, the Varsity Blues had a big chance to get a traction goal when first-year centre Taylor Delahey got in along on the Stinger goal. She tried to put a low shot into the net, but Stingers netminder Jordyn Verbeek came up with a kick save.

Shortly after Verbeek’s save on Delahey, Begin-Cyr potted her power-play goal for the Stingers to increased Concordia’s lead to 3-0.

Erica Fryer, right, makes a big stop for the Varsity Blues.
The Varsity Blues kept trying to battle back. With Fryer pulled for an extra attacker, third-year defender Emma Potter scored for the Varsity Blues with 46.8 seconds remaining in the third to cut the Stingers lead to 3-1. Potter’s tally proved to be too little, too late as the 3-1 score in favour of the Stingers held up as the contest’s final outcome.

Verbeek stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Stingers. Fryer turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Varsity Blues.

Stingers HC Julie Chu shouts instructions from the bench.
“Getting to nationals itself is hard,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “We talked about how honoured we are to be here to have earned that opportunity.

“Getting to win is definitely something we don’t take for granted. We know there are tremendous teams that are here at nationals. For us, it is a huge accomplishment.

“It is something that we take a lot of pride in. If we would have lost today, there is a lot of pride in that locker room and a lot of pride for the journey that we took to be able to be the team that we are today win or lose. That is what we try to focus on with our players.”

The Stingers enjoy a goal from Rosalie Begin-Cyr, centre.
The Varsity Blues were making their first appearance in the U Sports title game since losing the 2003 championship final 5-4 in overtime to the University of Alberta Pandas, when the championship tourney was held in Regina.

Toronto went into this year’s tournament as the sixth seed. The Varsity Blues placed second in OUA East at 19-8-1 and fell in OUA final 2-1 in overtime to the visiting Warriors on March 9.

At the U Sports championship tournament, the Blues slipped past the AUS champion and third seeded University of Brunswick Red 2-1 in a quarter-final on Friday. In a semifinal on Saturday, the Varsity bested the Universite de Montreal Carabins 2-1 after taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0.

The Stingers faithful cheer on their team.
“It is amazing that we are playing, and we’re still playing on March 17th,” said Sunohara. “We talked about that.

“It means you have had a pretty successful season. We have a lot veterans that really, really work hard and put their heart and soul into coming to the rink and competing every day. They’ve started something special.

“We have 13 graduating this year, so they’ve really contributed and put the program in a great place for first years and young ones to come in and say, ‘Hey, this is what the expectations are.’ This is the culture that they’ve built.”

Sunday’s win marked the fourth time the Stingers have won the U Sports championship. Concordia also captured the U Sports title the first two times it was contested in 1998 and 1999, when U Sports was known as the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU). 

Captain Emmy Fecteau receives the Golden Path Trophy.
The first win in 1998 also came against the Varsity Blues by a 4-1 final score, when the Stingers claimed the national title as the host squad.

Begin-Cyr and Fecteau said it was special to win the U Sports title once again.

“Winning is always great,” said Begin-Cyr. “We like winning, and that is part of hockey.

“It is not easy to win, but at the end of the way that is why we play hockey to win.”

“It feels great,” said Fecteau. “I have no words to describe it.

“I’m so happy. I’m so proud of my teammates. I’m very happy.”

In Sunday’s bronze medal game, the Carabins slipped past the Warriors 2-1 after taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0 in Sunday’s bronze medal game.

The Stingers enjoy lifting up the Golden Path Trophy.
Sunday’s consolation final saw the Canada West Conference champion and second seeded UBC Thunderbirds down the host Huskies 4-1.

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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Saturday 16 March 2024

Stingers down resilient Warriors 3-1 in U Sports semifinal

Concordia advances to third straight U Sports title game

Zoe Thibault (#7) scored the Stingers first goal on Saturday.
For a third straight year, the Concordia University Stingers will play for a U Sports women’s hockey title.

On Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Stingers, who are the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec champions, outlasted a resilient University of Waterloo Warriors squad 3-1 in the first of two semifinals at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. The Warriors, who are the OUA champions, road a 37 save performance from netminder Mikayla Schnarr to stay in the game.

The Warriors were down 2-1 and went on the power play with 2:39 remaining in the third when Stingers defender Camille Richard was penalized for body checking. With 1:20 remaining in the third, Stingers third-year right-winger Jessymaude Drapeau took the puck from a pair of Warriors players in the centre ice zone and jetted down the right wing into the Waterloo zone.

Drapeau cut across the front of the Warriors net, put on a deke and tucked home a short-handed goal that sealed the 3-1 victory for the Stingers in a contest played before 647 spectators.

With the win, the Stingers advance to the gold medal final to face the sixth seeded University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Merlis. The Stingers are making their third straight appearance in the U Sports championship game. The Stingers captured the U Sports title in 2022 downing the Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 in the event’s final, when the tournament was held in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

The Stingers faithful cheers on their team on Saturday.
Last year, the Stingers fell 4-3 in overtime in the U Sports title game to the Mount Royal University Cougars, when the tournament was held in Montreal.

With Saturday’s setback to the Stingers, the Warriors will play in tournament’s bronze medal game against the seventh seeded University de Montreal Carabins set for 2 p.m. at Merlis.

The Stingers came storming out of the gate in Saturday’s semifinal jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period while holding a 12-6 edge in shots on goal. Third-year centre Zoe Thibault and second-year left-winger Courtney Rice netted singles for the Stingers in the opening frame.

Concordia pressed to get further ahead on the scoreboard in the second holding a 14-6 edge in shots on goal, but they were held at bay by the heroics of Schnarr.

Working on a power play to start the third, the Warriors came up with a big traction moment. Holding the puck at the right side boards, Warriors fourth-year centre Leah Herrfort passed the puck across the front of the Stingers net backdoor to skilled third-year left-winger Tatum James. James tucked home her fourth goal of the tournament to cut the Stingers lead to 2-1.

The Stingers celebrate their win on Saturday.
James’ goal energized the Warriors, but the Stingers were able to stay composed and protect their lead. That set the stage for Drapeau to ice the victory for Concordia with her short-handed tally.

Jordyn Verbeek stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Stingers.

Going into Sunday’s championship final, the Stingers will be trying to win their fourth U Sports title in team history having won the U Sports women’s hockey crown the first two times it was contested in 1998 and 1999.

The Warriors were trying to make the U Sports title game for the first time in team history.

Varsity Blues claim Cinderella battle with Carabins, other notes

Erica Fryer (#30) makes a save in goal for the Varsity Blues.
The glass slippers proved to be a better fit for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.

In the second semifinal of the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament played on Saturday night at Merlis Belsher Place played before 817 spectators, it was a battle of Cinderella teams between the sixth seeded Blues and the seventh seeded University de Montreal Carabins. Neither team wanted to see the clock strike midnight in their respective quests to win a national title.

The two squads went to overtime locked in a 1-1 tie, and the 1-1 tie remained after the two squads played through a 10-minute overtime period of four skaters versus four skaters hockey. In the sixth round of the tiebreaking shootout, Varsity Blues first-year right-winger Ashley Delahey tucked home a shot past Carabins fifth-year netminder Aube Racine.

Third-year right-winger Amelie Poire-Lehoux came up net to shoot for the Carabins, and she was turned away by Varsity Blues netminder Erica Fryer. That stop by Fryer allowed the Varsity Blues to take the tiebreaking session 1-0 and the game 2-1.

With the win, the Varsity Blues advance to play in Sunday’s U Sports championship game against the top seeded Concordia University Stingers set for 6 p.m. on Sunday at Merlis.

The Carabins will take part in Sunday’s bronze medal game against the fourth seeded University of Waterloo Warriors at 2 p.m. at Merlis.

Ashley Delahey scored the tiebreaking shootout winner.
For the Varsity Blues, they will be playing in the U Sports title game on Sunday for the first time since 2003. In the 2003 U Sports championship tournament played in Regina, the Varsity Blues fell 5-4 in overtime to the University of Alberta Pandas.

The Varsity Blues lone U Sports title win came in the 2001 U Sports championship tournament held in Calgary, when they downed the University of Regina Cougars 4-3. The Varsity Blues went up 3-0 in that contest, but the Cougars rallied to tie the score at 3-3 in the third. Later in the third, the Varsity Blues netted the winning goal.

In Saturday’s clash between the Varsity Blues and Carabins, third-year defender Kalie Chan gave the U of T side a 1-0 lead firing home a shot from just above the top of the left faceoff circle at the 9:55 mark of the opening period. Delahey picked up the lone assist on Chan’s tally.

It appeared for the longest time Chan’s lone tally would stand up as the only goal of the contest.

At the 5:01 mark of the third, the Carabins found the equalizer that forced a 1-1 tie score. Carabins fifth-year centre and captain Jessika Boulanger had the puck on the right faceoff dot in the Varsity Blues zone.

She passed the puck across the face of the goal for a backdoor setup to first-year left-winger Juliette Rolland at the left side of the net. Rolland made no mistake knocking home the equalizer. Defender Jade Picard picked up a second assist on Rolland’s goal.

The Varsity Blues start to celebrate a berth in the U Sports title game.
That set the stage for the game to go to overtime and a tiebreaking shootout, where Delahey scored the only goal in the tiebreaking session in the sixth round.

Fryer stopped 25 shots over 70 minutes and all six shooters she faced in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Varsity Blues. Racine turned away 23 shots over 70 minutes and five out of six shooters in the shootout.

The Varsity Blues are appearing in the U Sports title game for the fourth time in team history.

The Carabins last appeared in the U Sport championship contest in 2016 blanking the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 8-0, when the national championship tournament was held in Calgary. The Carabins have appeared in four U Sports championship games winning twice.

  • The host University of Saskatchewan Huskies downed the Saint Xavier X-Women in the first consolation semifinal on Saturday 3-1 at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament at Merlis. Defender Brooklyn Stevely had a goal and an assist for the Huskies. Netminder Camryn Drever made 37 saves to pick up the win in goal for U of S.
  • The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds blanked the University of New Brunswick Red 4-0 in the second consolation semifinal on Saturday 4-0 at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament at Merlis. Chanreet Bassi scored twice for the Thunderbirds, while Joelle Fiala and Sierra LaPlante netted singles.
  • The consolation final between the Huskies and Thunderbirds at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament is set for 10 a.m. Sunday at Merlis.
  • Stingers captain Emmy Fecteau might be the best two-way player at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament going on at Merlis. Fecteau has one goal in the Stingers two wins, and she is able to play in all situations for her squad.
  • Stevely returned to the Huskies for the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament after she missed the entire 2023-24 campaign to that point battling and beating ovarian cancer. A trio of Saskatoon media outlets did great work on Stevely’s story. Darren Zary’s piece in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix on Stevely can be found by clicking right here. A story by Brooke Kruger and Scott Roblin of Global News Saskatoon on Stevely can be found by clicking right here. Shane Clausing’s story for 650 CKOM on Stevely can be found by clicking right here.
  • Sunday’s U Sports title game features two teams in the Concordia University Stingers and the University of Toronto Blues that appeared in the U Sports championship contest held back in 1998. In that game, the Stingers, who were the host squad, claimed a 4-1 victory.

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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Friday 15 March 2024

Grawbarger makes Varsity Blues dreams come true

Sophie Grawbarger scored the winner for the Varsity Blues.
“You Make My Dreams (Come True)” may never have sounded sweeter for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s hockey team.

With the NHL’s Toronto Maples Leafs have dropped the famous Hall and Oates tune early in the 2023-24 campaign as their goal song after five full seasons, the Varsity Blues decided to pick the medley as their goal song, and they are two victories away from winning a national championship with it. Being two wins away from winning a championship is something the Maple Leafs have only dreamt about since 1967.

On Friday night at Merlis Belsher Place, the Varsity Blues were locked in a 1-1 tie with the University of New Brunswick Reds in the fourth quarter-final of the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. With 2:21 remaining in the third, Varsity Blues third-year left-winger Sophie Grawbarger elected to take control of the contest in her own hands.

After getting the puck in the centre ice zone, Grawbarger drove hard down the middle of the ice into the UNB zone. She got in close to the Reds goal and put a backhand shot over the shoulder on the stick side of Reds netminder Kendra Woodland into the UNB net to give U of T a 2-1 lead.

That 2-1 score held as the final in front of a gathering of 771 spectators to allow the sixth seeded Varsity Blues to advance to the tournament’s semfinal round. They will face the seventh seeded University de Montreal Carabins in Saturday’s second semifinal slated for 7 p.m. at Merlis.

The first semifinal on Saturday sees the top seeded Concordia University Stingers take on the fourth seeded University of Waterloo Warriors at 4 p.m. at Merlis.

The Reds will play a consolation semifinal against the second seeded University of British Columbia Thunderbirds set for 1 p.m. at Merlis on Saturday.

In the clash between the Varsity Blues and Reds, the two sides played a fairly even first period.

The Reds were denied an equalizer with 18.9 seconds left in the third.
First-year right-winger Ashley Delahey scored at the 12:32 mark of the first to put the Blues up 1-0. Second-year defender Mackenzie Keenan tallied just 49 seconds later for the AUS champion Reds to even the score at 1-1.

The shots on goal between the two sides were tied 9-9 after 20 minutes. The Varsity Blues and Reds skated through a fairly tight checking contest from that point with U of T holding a 7-4 edge in shots on goal in the second period and 6-4 advantage in shots in the third frame.

After the Blues went up 2-1, the Reds made a last gasp push with Woodland pulled for an extra attacker looking for an equalizer that would force overtime. The Reds were successful in creating a hectic mad scramble where Varsity Blues netminder Erica Fryer was able to cover up the puck with 18.9 second remaining in the frame.

Fryer stopped 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Varsity Blues. Woodland turned away 20 shots to take the setback in net for the Reds.

The Varsity Blues are searching for their first U Sports crown since winning their lone title in 2001, when they down the University of Regina Cougars 4-3, when the national championship tournament was held in Calgary.

Unfortunately if the Varsity Blues are able to win the U Sports title, they won’t be able to celebrate the accomplishment at one time famed Saskatoon night hotspot in Beily’s Ultra Lounge, which closed in February of 2015. The famed closing tune at Beily’s was “You Make My Dreams (Come True).”

T-birds nationals jinx continues, Carabins take quarter-final

The Carabins enjoy an empty-net goal from Laurie-Anne Ethier (#10).
It seems like a black cloud hangs over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds when it comes to playing in the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament.

The Thunderbirds jinx at nationals continued even with entering this year’s event having won the Canada West Conference title for a third straight year and being the tournament’s second seed. They fell 4-2 to the seventh seeded Universite de Montreal Carabins in the third quarter-final played on Friday at Merlis Belsher Place before 2,150 spectators.

The teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes and were locked in a 2-2 early in the third before the Carabins scored twice more to secure victory. The Carabins were third in Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec at 13-10-2 and went 3-3 in post-season falling to the Concordia University Stingers in the RSEQ final.

In 2022, the Thunderbirds entered nationals held in Charlottetown, P.E.I., as the third seed and fell in the quarter-final 1-0 to the Nipissing University Lakers. Last year, the Thunderbirds entered nationals held in Montreal as the second seed. They fell 3-1 to the Stingers in the semifinal and rebounded to claim the bronze medal game 3-2 over the Carabins.

Friday’s clash between the Thunderbirds and Carabins was tightly contested. Carabins fourth-year centre Mylene Lefebvre scored at the 6:58 mark of the opening frame to give her squad a 1-0 lead. Thunderbirds second-year forward Cassidy Rhodes potted the equalizer at the 13:45 mark of the first to even the score at 1-1.

With 11:01 remaining in the second, Thunderbirds third-year left-winger Grace Elliott was awarded a penalty shot, but she was turned away by Carabins fifth-year netminder Aube Racine.

After the two sides played through a scoreless second, Carabins fourth-year left-winger Joannie Garand wired home a shot from the right wing into the Thunderbirds net to put Montreal up 2-1.

Jade Picard had a goal and two assists for the Carabins.
A short time later, Carabins defender Rose-Michelle Cardin was given a double minor penalty for head contact. On the first part of the double minor, Thunderbirds third-year defender Sophia Gaskell slipped home a smart shot from the point to once again even the score this time at 2-2 just 90 seconds after Garand’s tally.

With 6:10 remaining in the third, Carabins second year defender Jade Picard popped collected the rebound at the left side of the Thunderbirds net from a Garand shot and popped home a tally that gave the Carabins a 3-2 lead. Carabins second-year right-winger Laurie-Anne Ethier scored into an empty-net with 2:01 remaining in the third to round out the Carabins 4-2 victory.

Racine made 24 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Carabins. Third-year goalie Elise Hugens turned away 18-of-21 shots to take the setback in net for the Thunderbirds.

Picard had a pair of assists to go with her goal and was a plus-three in the plus-minus department. Garand and Lefebvre both had an assist to go with their respective goals.

The Carabins went 0-for-7 on the power play, while the Thunderbirds were 1-for-3 with a one skater advantage.

The Carabins advance to play in a tournament semifinal against the sixth seeded University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

The Thunderbirds will take part in a consolation semifinal against the University of New Brunswick Reds on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Merlis.

Blades close in on clinching first overall in WHL

Alexander Suzdalev scored twice for the Blades on Friday.
With first place in the WHL’s East Division and Eastern Conference locked up, the Saskatoon Blades have turned their full focus towards finishing first overall in the WHL.

On Friday, the Blades took a big step in getting closer to finishing first overall when they won their fifth straight downing the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 6-3 in a regular season clash before 6,257 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. With the five straight wins, the Blades improve their WHL leading record to 47-12-2-3.

“The Bridge City Bunch” needs to collect five standings points over their last four games to lock up first place overall in the WHL. Only the B.C. Division champion Prince George Cougars (45-15-1-3) and the U.S. Division leading Portland Winterhawks (45-15-2-1) could pass the Blades in the overall WHL standings.

The last time the Blades finished first overall in the WHL was back in the 2010-11 campaign when they posted a 56-13-1-2 record. The 56 victories are a Blades franchise record for wins in one regular season.

In Friday’s contest with the Warriors, the two sides engaged in a back-and-forth struggle over the first 40 minutes. The two sides were locked in a 2-2 draw after the first period and a 3-3 tied after the second before the Blades exploded for the only three goals in the third.

Blades star import winger Alexander Suzdalev blew up Platform-X when he scored a power-play goal on a Michigan style lacrosse shot with four seconds remaining in the opening frame to force a 2-2 tie. Suzdalev finished the night having scored a pair of goals.

Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky had a big night recording a pair of goals and an assist in the win. With 38 goals on the season, Lisowsky is trying to hit the 40-goal plateau for the first time in his WHL career.

Steady left-winger Tyler Parr has a goal and an assist for the Blades, while overage left-winger Easton Armstrong netted a single, which allowed him to hit 30 goals scored for one season for the first time in his WHL career. Blades captain Trevor Wong, star centre Fraser Minten and offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk each recorded two assists in the win.

Wong leads the WHL with 83 assists to go along with 13 goals for 96 points. The Vancouver product is trying to hit the 100-point plateau for the first time in his WHL career.

Blades import right-winger Egor Sidorov was held off the scoresheet as he sits on the cusp of a big milestone. Sidorov had scored 49 goals so far this season, which is good for fourth best in the WHL. Along with trying to hit the 50-goal plateau, Sidorov is trying to become the first Blades player to score 50-or-more goals in a season since the 1995-96 campaign.

In the 1995-96 season, both Frank Banham and Mark Deyell hit the 50-goal plateau for the Blades. Banham record 83 goals in that campaign, which is still a franchise record for most goals in a season, and Deyell posted 61 goals.

In the setback to the Blades, offensive-defenceman Denton Mateychuk, Atley Calvert and Jagger Firkus all netted single for the Warriors. Mateychuk had an assist to go with his goal, and Brayden Yager had a pair of assists for the Moose Jaw side.

Rookie netminder Evan Gardner made 26 saves to earn the win in goal for the Blades, who are rated fifth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings. Jackson Unger turned away 36 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors, who fell to 41-20-0-3 to sit second overall in the Eastern Conference.

The Blades and Warriors go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

Raiders fall to Pats, inch closer to playoff berth

Justice Christensen scored for the Raiders on Friday.
The Prince Albert Raiders stumbled in Regina but got closer to locking up a playoff berth due to an assist from the Edmonton Oil Kings.

On Friday night at the Brandt Centre in Regina, the Raiders dropped a 5-2 decision in a WHL regular season clash to the host Pats before 3,782 spectators despite having a 34-19 edge in shots on goal. The Pats improved to 22-36-4-2 to remain last in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

Out in Edmonton, the host Oil Kings downed the visiting Calgary Hitmen 6-2, which allowed the Raiders to get closer to locking up a berth in the WHL Playoffs. The Oil Kings improved to 25-36-3-1 to sit second last in the Eastern Conference.

With the loss to the Pats, the Raiders fell to 30-29-2-3, but they still sit in eighth place and hold the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. The Hitmen fell to 26-30-7-1 with the loss to the Oil Kings. Calgary sits ninth in the Eastern Conference five standings points behind the Raiders.

At the moment, the Raiders need to collect four more standings points in their final four games to lock up a berth in the WHL Playoffs. The Lethbridge Hurricanes (31-28-5) and the Brandon Wheat Kings (30-28-6-1) both sit two standings points ahead of the Raiders.

The Hurricanes hold sixth place in the Eastern Conference over the Wheat Kings due to having a greater number of wins.

In Friday’s encounter between the Raiders and Pats, Tye Spencer gave the Pats a 1-0 lead at the 10:13 mark of the opening frame. Just 77 seconds later, overage centre Turner McMillen tallied for the Raiders to even the score at 1-1.

Anthony Wilson and Jaxsin Vaughan netted singles for the Pats in the second to give the host side a 3-1 edge going into the second intermission. Pats captain Tanner Howe scored just 10 seconds into the third to increase Regina’s advantage to 4-1.

Raiders offensive-defenceman Justice Christensen potted a power-play goal with 4:46 remaining in the third to trim Regina’s lead to 4-2.

Braxton Whitehead popped home an empty-net goal with 1:42 remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final in favour of the Pats.

Kelton Pyne stopped 32 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pats. Max Hildebrand turned away 14-of-18 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

The Raiders return to action on Saturday when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Pats return to action on Sunday when they host their archrivals the 41-20-0-3 Moose Jaw Warriors (4 p.m., Brandt Centre).

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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Thursday 14 March 2024

Huskies put up fight, Stingers take victory 4-0

Top seeded Concordia advances to U Sports tourney semifinal

Emilie Lussier celebrates her second of two goals for the Stingers.
The Concordia University Stingers winning pedigree came through.

On Thursday night in a quarter-final contest at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament, the top seeded Stingers absorbed the best shot from the pesky eighth seeded host University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Stingers proceeded to play skilled and physical and slowly took the contest away from the Huskies causing a raucous crowd 2,364 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place to fall quite.

When the dust settled, the Stingers blanked the host Huskies 4-0 to advance to the semifinal round. Concordia will play the fourth seeded University of Waterloo Warriors in Saturday’s first semifinal set for 4 p.m. at Merlis. That clash will see the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec champions in the Stingers face the OUA champions in the Warriors.

Emmy Fecteau scored the Stingers first goal on Thursday.
The Huskies will take on the St. Francis Xavier X-Women in consolation semifinal set for 10 a.m. on Saturday.

“That one stings for sure,” said Huskies captain Kennedy Brown, who is in her fifth and final year of U Sports eligibility. “I mean it didn’t feel like a 4-0 game on our part.

“I think the girls battled really hard. We knew we were coming up against some steep competition them being ranked number one in the country coming off an undefeated regular season. To instill a little bit of fear in them early on and get a couple of chances, I mean that is all we can ask for from our team.

“We pop a couple of those early on, and it is a completely different game for us. For them to get a lucky bounce on that first one, it was definitely not the outcome we wanted. I mean I couldn’t have asked for more of an effort from the girls.”

Isabella Pozzi brings the puck up ice for the Huskies.
The Stingers came into Thursday quarter-final with a history of having won the U Sports title in 2022 and having fallen in the U Sports championship game a year ago to the Mount Royal University Cougars. This season, the Stingers posted a perfect 25-0 record in the regular season and a 4-2 mark in the post-season that saw them capture the RSEQ title.

The Huskies finished fourth in the Canada West Conference with a 19-7-2 mark and fell in a best-of-three conference quarter-final series in a series deciding Game 3 to the U of Calgary Dinos 2-0.

Backed by a vocal home crowd that was the largest to see a women’s hockey game in Saskatchewan’s history outside of contests involving Canada’s Senior National Women’s team, the Huskies came flying out of the gate. They had numerous quality scoring chances in the first period holding a 11-7 edge in shots on goal.

Part of the crowd of 2,364 cheers on the Huskies.
The Stingers exited the frame with the only goal coming from the stick of captain Emmy Fecteau. On a delayed penalty call situation, Fecteau took a shot from the right faceoff dot in the U of S zone, and the puck deflected off a Huskies skater, flipped high in the air and floated over top of Huskies star goaltender Camryn Drever into the net to give the Stingers a 1-0 lead.

Huskies head coach Steve Kook said it was tough to exit the opening 20 minutes down 1-0 on the scoreboard with his side having played well in the frame.

“The plan was to always take our swing at these guys,” said Kook. “We had nothing to lose.

Camryn Drever made 37 saves in goal for the Huskies.
“You look at the first period, we hit a post on an empty net. (Bronwyn) Boucher hits a crossbar. On the power play, SK (Sara Kendall) slides it through their goalie’s five-hole, hits the back leg and comes back out.”

Kook said he could sense the crowd at Merlis really wanted to erupt with noise, and he thought the outcome of the contest could have gone a different way had the Huskies scored in that frame.

“I think if we get one we get multiples, especially with the crowd the way it was,” said Kook. “We haven’t played in front of this size of a crowd, and I don’t think they’ve played in front of this size of a crowd either.

Rosalie Begin-Cyr scored the Stingers second goal on Thursday.
“I seriously thought if we would have got one we would have got more.”

The Stingers began to take control of the contest coming out of the first intermission. At the 3:12 mark of the second, fifth-year right-winger Rosalie Begin-Cyr popped home an insurance goal that gave the Stingers a 2-0 edge.

In the third, first-year left-winger Emilie Lussier scored to push the Stingers advantage out to 3-0. She added an empty-net goal to round out the 4-0 final in the Stingers favour with 40.6 seconds remaining in the frame.

“I think it was a really, really fun game to play and be a part of,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu, who was named the U Sports coach of the year on Wednesday. “We have some experience in that locker room, but we also have a really young team in other aspects of it.

Kara Kondrat brings the puck up ice for the Huskies.
“I think for us we know that we dodged a bullet in that first period. I think we needed to start on time. They definitely started on time.

“We were lucky that (netminder) Jordyn Verbeek did a great job for us in that first period. We know that we were lucky to come out 1-0 out of that. I liked our response in the second and in the third period.”

Verbeek stopped all 26 shots she faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Stingers. Centre Justine Yelle and left-winger Emilie Lavoie each had a pair of assists for Concordia.

Drever turned away 37 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies.

A group of youngsters cheer on the Stingers.
Chu said her squad will turn their attention to the task at hand in the semifinal round, but her club was going to take in the spoils of victory on Thursday night.

“I think for us we’re going to enjoy this one for today,” said Chu. “It is not easy to win, and it is not easy to win against that team.

“It is a battle, and it was a battle tonight. They played really, really well. I know that we are really grateful to play here and then to be able to earn the win and have an opportunity to play in the semis on Saturday against Waterloo.

“I think for us we will enjoy it for now and do the right things in our rest and our recovery. Once we wake up, we are going to turn the page and start our preparation and our focus towards what we need to do on Saturday to be successful.”

The Stingers celebrate their win on Thursday night.
While the Huskies can’t play for a national title, Brown said she still wants to do what she can to play two more games with the U of S side before graduating from the U Sports ranks. The emotion of how tough it was to fall to the Stingers was visible in the tears in Brown’s eyes, but she still wants to press on.

“That is kind of our focus now is just to if can draw out our season a little bit more, especially us as six years, us super vets,” said Brown. “We don’t want to be done by any means, so if we can play one more on Sunday, that would be a dream come true.

“We didn’t want to be on the consolation side of things, but that is the reality of a tournament like this. It is win or die. When you are ranking eighth and you know you are coming up against number one, those are some stiff odds to fight against.

“Our focus is to come out Saturday fresh and again just leave a mark, leave it all in the ice and hope to play on Sunday.”

James’ hat trick powers Warriors to 6-1 win

Tatum James (#88) celebrates her second goal on Thursday.
Tatum James was on fire for the University of Waterloo Warriors.

The third-year left-winger had a hat trick and one assist to power her Warriors to a 6-1 victory over the St. Francis Xavier X-Women in Thursday’s first quarter-final of the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. The contest started out as a tight one with the fourth-seeded Warriors holding a 1-0 edge after 40 minutes before avalanching offensively in the third period.

James scored just 27 seconds into the contest to give the Warriors a 1-0 edge. After a scoreless second, the Warriors scored three straight goals to surge their advantage out to 4-0 before cruising to the 6-1 win at Merlis Belsher Place.

Defender Sarah Bestic scored at the 7:36 mark of the third to put the Warriors up 2-0. James added her second of the contest at the 11:33 mark of the third and completed her hat trick scoring a short-handed empty-net goal at the 16:20 mark of the frame.

Centre Ireland McCloskey tallied on the power-play for the X-Women at the 17:29 mark of the third to trim the Warriors lead to 4-1.

Tatum James had a hat trick and an assist on Thursday.
Left-wingers Carly Orth and Madison Pritchard rounded out the scoring with singles for the Warriors. James picked up an assist on Pritchard’s power-play tally.

Mikayla Schnarr stopped 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors, who are the OUA champions. Amaya Giraudier turned away 22-of-27 shots to take the setback in net for the X-Women, who are the tournament’s fifth seed. Giraudier, who is in her third year with the X-Women, is an alumna of the Swift Current Innovation Federal Credit Union Wildcats under-18 AAA team.

The X-Women play in a consolation semifinal at 10 a.m. at Merlis against the eight seed and host University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Warriors advance to play in a semifinal against the top seeded Concordia University Stingers at 4 p.m. at Merlis. The Stingers are the champions of Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec.

The second set of the quarter-finals are set for Friday at Merlis. The Canada West champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who are the second seed, face the Universite de Montreal Carabins, who are the seventh seed, at 1 p.m.

The Warriors celebrate their win on Thursday.
The AUS champion University of New Brunswick Reds, who are the third seed, take on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, who are the sixth seed, at 7 p.m.

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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Wednesday 13 March 2024

Huskies face monster test in Stingers to start nationals

Drever’s presence give Dogs shot at major upset

The Huskies aim to enjoy some good moments hosting nationals.
Camryn Drever and her University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team will never back down from a challenge.

They face a big one in the quarter-final round at the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament, which runs Thursday through to Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place. The eighth seeded Huskies will take on the top seeded Concordia University Stingers as the feature game at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at Merlis.

“I think we just have to come out strong and play our game,” said Drever, who is playing out her fifth and final year of U Sports eligibility. “When we shy away from doing the things that we’re really good at is when teams kind of take advantage of that.

“I think we just have to come out with a good forecheck and hopefully pop one first would be ideal for us. We just have to come out and do our things and run line by line, and I think we will be OK.”

The Huskies finished fourth in Canada West Conference with a 19-7-2 mark and fell in a best-of-three conference quarter-final series in a series deciding Game 3 to the U of Calgary Dinos 2-0. The Stingers posted a perfect 25-0 regular season record and captured the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec title with a 4-2 post-season mark.

Concordia University has also appeared in the title game of the last two U Sports Championship tournaments. In 2022 in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Stingers blanked the Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 to capture the Golden Path Trophy in the championship final.

Camryn Drever is a second team all-Canadian all-star.
Before downing the Lakers, Concordia blanked the Huskies 2-0 in a semifinal match, where Drever came up with 37 saves in the setback. The Huskies rebounded to blank the University of New Brunswick Reds 2-0 in the bronze medal game.

At last year’s tournament held in Montreal, the Stingers dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker in overtime to the eighth seeded Mount Royal University Cougars.

During the 2023-24 regular season with the Huskies, Drever posted a 15-4-2 record, a 1.33 goals against average, a .954 save percentage and five shutouts. She was named the player of the year and goaltender of the year for the Canada West. On Wednesday night, Drever was named a second team all-Canadian all-star.

Huskies head coach Steve Kook has a tonne of faith that Drever can give the host side a chance to get past the Stingers.

“You see the firepower these teams bring, I think it is a comfort having Cam (Drever) back there,” said Kook. “We’ve asked Cam to be a stalwart for our program over the last three years.

“We’ll ask her to do it one more time for three days.”

Forward Emilie Lussier had a head turning rookie year for the Stingers topping the team in regular season scoring with 34 points coming off 18 goals and 16 assists. She was named a second team all-Canadian all-star and was named to the U Sports all-rookie team.

Sophie Lalor breaks into the offensive zone for the Huskies.
A pair of third year forwards in Emilie Lavoie and Jessymaude Drapeau each recorded 27 points for the Stingers in the regular season. Lavoie collected her 27 points on 15 goals and 12 assists, while Drapeau piled up her 27 points on 11 goals and 16 assists.

Stingers head coach Julie Chu said the experience her side gained in their previous two trips to the U Sports Championship tournament helps, but she added each season writes its own story.

“I think like everything we build off what we accomplished in the past,” said Chu, who was named the U Sports coach of the year. “For those players that lived that, they are going to build off of it.

“For those players that lived the loss last year, they are going to build off of that. Those that weren’t a part of our program are going to build of their experiences. I think for us the great thing is when you have a veteran crew that has experienced nationals at least know what is the rhythm of going to a hotel (and) being surrounded by other incredible teams and athletes.

“Like anything, this is our new team. That was really important to us in training camp is to make sure we weren’t stuck in last year and make sure we weren’t stuck in the previous years. (It is) what are we going to do this year with this group that is different.”

Fifth-year forward Sophie Lalor led the Huskies in regular season scoring with 22 points coming off 12 goals and 10 assists. Fifth-year forward Kara Kondrat was second in team scoring with 18 points coming six goals and 12 assists.

Third-year forward Mallory Dyer recorded 10 goals during the regular season for the Huskies. Defender Isabella Pozzi, who is in her fifth year, topped the Huskies in defence scoring in the regular season with 13 points coming off four goals and nine assists.

Kara Kondrat finished second in team scoring for the Huskies.
When the Huskies moved into Merlis Belsher Place for the start of the 2018-19 campaign, they wanted to host a U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. Kook said his players are as ready as they will ever be.

“This was our vision when we first opened the place,” said Kook, who team was off for 24 days heading into Thursday’s quarter-final. “This would be a perfect hosting spot for a national championship.

“It doesn’t always work. You try to get timely bids for when your team is right and you have a veteran squad. It is fortunate for us that it worked out this way.

“For us, we just excited to host the country and be able to show off the building. Like I said, I think this building is perfect for hosting events just like this.”

Drever, who helped the St. Albert Slash win two Esso Cup titles as national under-18 AAA female hockey champions in 2017 and 2018, wants to finish her time with the Huskies on a high note. The Edmonton product did add that no matter what happens at nationals she will always reflect fondly on her time with the Huskies.

“I get emotional thinking about it,” said Drever. “It has been like a heck of a six years.

“There have been lots of ups and downs and just trusting the process I think has been the biggest thing for me. Just to kind of see it all come together and to end off hosting nationals is a pretty incredible feeling.

Isabella Pozzi controls the back end for the Huskies.
“There are really no words to kind of capture the last six years and all the memories in the dressing room and road trips and everything. It has just been like a phenomenal six years. I couldn’t thank the coaching staff and the team and Huskie Athletics enough for the last six years.”

NOTE – I put together an advancer piece on the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament for The Canadian Press. That story can be found by clicking right here.

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

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