Schafer logs in plenty of ice time
By Darren Zary of The StarPhoenix
The way Evan Schafer is racking up miles during his rookie season with the University of Huskies, one must wonder if he comes with some sort of parts warranty.
So far, this guy’s engine appears to be maintenance free.
The Dogs, with a depleted blue-line corps, needed somebody just like that. Their depth was thinned out by the pre-season departure of holdovers Bryce Thoma and Colin Johnson, plus an injury to Scott Roy. As well, the team awaits Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) clearance for Mark Hinz, a former NCAA D-man.
“He (Schafer) is a high-miler,” says U of S head coach Dave Adolph, whose team plays its Canada West home-opener Saturday night, 7 p.m., against the rival University of Regina Cougars at Rutherford Rink. “He can play a lot of minutes. He has also spent some time on the power play because of our departure of Thoma and Johnson and he’s done very well. He has stepped in immediately.”
Schafer — who spent four seasons with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders — is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound D-man from Mankota, located south of Swift Current.
“It’s been going really great,” he said. “I’ve been getting a lot of ice time. Playing with the older guys, they’re really helping me along.”
Along the way, he has been impressed with CIS hockey.
“A lot of people don’t know about this kind of hockey,” Schafer said. “It’s not played up as much as the WHL, but, the way I think, it’s a much better league than the WHL. The guys are older, stronger and mature, so it’s a lot better.
“I went and played a little bit of pro at the end of last season. I went down to Long Beach and made my decision from there. My family is really big into school (education) so I decided to take my (WHL scholarship) money and come here.”
Here, he is joined by a pair of fellow former Raiders, Brett Novak and Brad Erickson, along with former Saskatoon Contacts midget AAA teammate Jason Wagar.
“It’s good that you know the guys that you’re coming to play with from before,” Schafer said. “I played with a few of the guys and all other guys I pretty much played against through the years.”
Schafer has helped out the Huskies, who, in recent years, lost out in their bid to land two other former Raider D-men, Chris Schlenker and Luke Fritshaw.
Schafer was a lock.
“Given the fact, too, he’s an 85-per-cent-average student in Agriculture, school is an easy adjustment for him,” Adolph said. “He’s a strong physical presence. He’s very consistent. He’s not big and agile; he’s big and steady — and he’s into it.
“He and Brett Novak second-guess themselves a little bit. It’s OK to make mistakes in our league; we’ll fix it and keep throwing you back out there. Both of them are outstanding.”
And “outstanding” is what Schafer thinks of the Huskies as a whole.
“We have a great chance here,” he said. “We have a great group of guys, good group of forwards who can put the puck in the net and defence that is really solid back there and will get the job done, so we should have a good chance of going all the way this year.”
DOG TALES: The Huskies are in Regina tonight for the first game of their two-game weekend series. Meanwhile, the U of S and Regina women’s hockey teams are in Saskatoon tonight (7 p.m., Rutherford Rink) and Regina on Saturday for a Canada West home-and-home series . . . The Huskie men are still without F Trent Adamus (out indefinitely, abdomen) and they have lost a top recruit, Jon Bubnick, who has left the team, also indefinitely. “It’s a big loss,” said Adolph. “He’s got school concerns and he just wants to make sure it’s solid that way. He made an adult decision and we have to live with it.”
dzary@sp.canwest.com
