Dogs get wake-up call entering playoffs
Outworked by Regina at Rutherford Rink; Cougars seem to have their number Cougars 5, Huskies 4
—ZARY
Cat-nip!
In what could be a sneak preview of the Great Plains Division men’s hockey final March 3-5, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies got bad reviews from their showing Saturday against the University of Regina Cougars.
Not only did the poor effort get two thumbs down from the likes of Ebert and Roper, the principal actors were even critical of themselves.
Pick any trailer from the game and the Dogs were indeed trailing, from start to finish.
The shocking ending had the Cats humbling the Dogs 5-4 at Rutherford Rink.
“Obviously, it wasn’t (a good message),” said third-year Huskies winger Mason Wallin. “We could be facing those guys in the next round. They worked hard. I’ll give them credit. We were short some guys, too, but we’ve got to come out with a full effort. I don’t think it was a good game at all.
“They’ve got their style. They work hard and they’re on you. I don’t know if it’s something about that and we just pucker up. I don’t know what it is, but we’ve got to figure it out if we play them in the playoffs.”
The Dogs were without leading scorer Dean Beuker, Matt Girling, Garett Soparlo and D-man Dean Serdachny.
Still, no excuses.
“It’s a team effort,” said U of S assistant captain Curtis Austring. “We didn’t get the puck out. We were creating headaches for ourselves just by missing plays. This time of the year, every shift’s going to make a big difference. The game is made of inches and you’ve got to find them all over the ice.”
U of S goalie Thomas Vicars, who entered Saturday’s game with a solid 2.39 goals-against average and 92.2 save percentage, had probably his worst game of the season.
He fought the puck all night in the crease and the Huskies, collectively, floundered.
Saskatchewan (17-7-4) dropped its third game of the season to Regina (10-16-2).
Austring — who, despite being minus-4 on the night, was named the game’s No. 2 star by announcer Bruce Gordon’s parody of a Danish cartoonist — wasn’t going to let his goalie take the fall alone.
“It was no fault of the goaltender,” Austring said. “I was minus-4 and I’ve got to be better than that. It was no fault of Vicars; we’ve got to give him some help.”
Chad Anderson, with two, Blair Stengler, Cane Pearpoint and Jason Weitzel scored for Regina, outshot 35-29.
“It’s nice to get the win under our belt before we go to Winnipeg (for the first round of playoffs),” said Regina captain Lee Schaefer, who collected two assists. “I don’t know what it is (playing against the Dogs). We just work hard. They definitely got skill and talent and they do work hard, as well, but we seem to work hard and grind it out and score those goals when we need them.”
Keegan McAvoy, Evan Folden, Brent Twordik and Austring replied for Saskatchewan, which converted two of five power-play chances. Regina was 0-for-5.
The Huskies get a bye this week and await the winner of a best-ofthree series this weekend in Winnipeg between Regina and the University of Manitoba.
“We were in their barn last weekend for the first time and we lost both,” noted Schaefer, “so we’ve changed a few things.”
The Dogs have two weeks to get their act together.
“At this time, you can’t hope or wish to play anybody,” said Austring. “Whoever wins (between Manitoba and Regina) is going to be the team we play. Either team is fine with us. If we’re going to make it to the end, we’re going to have to beat all the good teams along the way.”
Added Wallin: “Guys are looking forward to playoffs. We’re going to have to work hard in practice for two weeks and come ready for whoever we face.”
Alberta finishes first
The Alberta Golden Bears, who stared the season 4-3-1, went 17-2-1 the rest of the way to finish first overall in the Canada West conference.
The Golden Bears were undefeated at home at the Clare Drake Arena (13-0-1).
