The Huskies men’s hockey squad defeated Manitoba 4-1 to move on to the Canada West Final for the second straight year.

After defeating the Manitoba Bisons two games to one in a best-of-three semifinal playoff series at Rutherford Rink Feb. 22-24, the Huskies men’s hockey team will now get a chance to play for the Canada West championship for the second year in a row.

Thanks to their second-place finish in the regular season standings, the Dogs received a bye through the opening round of playoffs and were matched up against the Manitoba Bisons for the semifinals.

The Bisons were coming off a two-game series sweep of Regina in the quarter-final round. Manitoba’s goaltender Jesse Deckert allowed only two goals on 61 shots for a .967 save percentage in that series.

Deckert’s impressive stats didn’t last long against the Huskies, however. In game one the Dogs came out flying and bombarded the Bisons’ zone early, scoring four goals in the opening period and going on to win the first game 7-1.

Huskies captain Brennan Bosch led by example with a hat trick while forward Derek Hulak put up two goals and three assists in the win.

It was a different story in game two. The Dogs’ offensive prowess evaporated and they struggled to solve the Bisons netminder.

Ian Duval put the Bisons on the board first by scooping up a loose rebound let out by Huskies netminder Ryan Holfeld and flicking it past the goalie into the back of the Dogs’ net. Manitoba would add three more goals in the final frame, going on to win game two 4-1 and shocking the Huskie faithful at Rutherford Rink.

Huskies head coach Dave Adolph felt Manitoba got the lucky bounces in the match.

“I thought we played really hard, we just didn’t score,” Adolph said. “We had four or five chances that just didn’t go in.”

His message to the players going into the third and deciding game was to return to basics and get shots on goal.

Hulak certainly heard the message. He posted another two-goal performance and tipped the scales in the Huskies’ favour. The Dogs went on to win game three with a score of 4-1.

The series win means the Huskies will now face the Alberta Golden Bears in the conference championship final. The Dogs won the trophy last year in triple overtime of game three versus the Calgary Dinos.

Both the Huskies and the Golden Bears have already guaranteed spots in the national tournament at Credit Union Centre Mar. 14-17. But Hulak, who finished the semifinal series with eight points, says that will not keep the Huskies from playing hard to make sure the league banner stays in their rink.

“We’ve had a good series with the Bears so far this year,” Hulak said. “Although both [teams] have a berth to nationals there is still going to be a lot on the line. We want to make sure we go in there and repeat our title.”

“They have to contend with us. We’re still going back for a [conference] trophy. The first thing our guys said was that it’s our trophy and we’re not giving it up,” Adolph added.

The Huskies and Golden Bears split their games 2-2 in regular season play this year. Each game was decided by a single goal, with the home side winning every match. The Dogs will have to play in Alberta’s rink at the Clarke Drake Arena in Edmonton. Game one is scheduled for Friday, March 1, with game two going the following night and game three on Sunday, March 3 if necessary.

Updated and expanded on Feb. 27, 2013 to include interviews.
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Photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf