Hockey Dogs win Division Final, earn berth to nationals!
SASKATOON SK - The No. 3 University of Saskatchewan Huskies have two reasons to celebrate tonight. The first: a 5-4 victory over the University of Manitoba Bisons means that they are the 2006 Great Plains Division champions, defeating the Bisons two games to none in the best-of-three series. The second: the No. 1 University of Alberta Golden Bears defeated the University of Calgary Dinos for the second straight night in the Mountain Division final, which means the Huskies earn the Canada West berth for the University Cup CIS National Championship in Edmonton March 23-26 (while the Bears have an automatic berth as the host).
But first, the Bears and the Huskies will face off in the Canada West Final. The best-of-series is set for March 10-12 in Edmonton.
Tonight at Rutherford, there was no score until halfway through the first period when the Huskies were one man down and assistant captain Keegan McAvoy put one past Bisons netminder Krister Toews. One minute later, Garett Soparlo cut off a Bison pass back in Huskie territory, taking it over the Bisons blue line for the shot. Goaltender Krister Toews deflected it right to the stick of Evan Folden, who passed across to Mason Wallin for the goal.
The 2-0 Huskie lead would last until 19:13 of the period, when the Bisons rebounded for two goals on goaltender Thomas Vicars: one from David Brown and the second on the powerplay from Warren McCutcheon, his third of the weekend.
Jeff Schmidt got a quick goal for the Huskies not even three minutes into the second period. The score would stay at 3-2 until 13:59, when Second Team All-Star Paul Deniset would score shorthanded. The Huskies would respond one and a half minutes later, on a shorthanded Dean Serdachny goal. Kevin Saurette tied up the game just over 30 seconds later on a Bison powerplay, but the Huskies Trent Adamus responded for the game-winner 47 seconds after that.
Both Vicars and Toews made 23 saves in net for their respective teams. Manitoba was 2-7 on the power play, while Saskatchewan was 1-6. The three game stars were all Huskies: Trent Adamus, Stephen Mann and Dean Beuker.
GAME STORY: Tera Schneider, Sports Information Officer, University of Saskatchewan Huskies
