KADE GATES

The undefeated number two ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team looks to maintain their perfect season as they host the number three ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears on Oct. 30 and 31.

The Dogs have been on fire to start the year as they are 6–0–0 with wins at home against the University of Lethbridge. On the road against the University of Calgary and last weekend, they swept a home-and-home with their arch rivals the University of Regina Cougars.

Head coach Dave Adolph had a pretty clear idea of what he thinks has been helping the Huskies off to their great start, and what will help them continue winning down the road.

“Depth — in the next three weeks we are going to play teams with equal depth as ours. What I think is important is having the ability to play three or four lines. If we can do that, we are going to have some success; depth in this league is huge,” Adolph said.

Offensively, Saskatchewan has been led by Andrew Johnson who has six goals in six games and began the season on a four-game goal streak. The Huskies have gotten great secondary support from forwards like Kohl Bauml and Michael Sofillas. Bauml has been the set-up man for the Dogs, leading the team with six assists in six games. Sofillas has six points thus far and has already scored twice for the Dogs on the power play. Josh Roach and Sean Aschim have also added to the Huskies offence.

Adolph has been proud of his team’s effort so far, but one player in particular stands out through the first six games of the year.

“I’m most impressed with the way Andrew Johnson has stepped in here and played like he used to be. He’s always been a skilled player and he got cast in a role he couldn’t get out of in the WHL. We knew about Bauml’s speed, we knew about the consistency of Levi Cable and Logan McVeigh. I’m just most proud of the way AJ is playing for us right now,” Adolph said.

The Huskies backend has been extremely potent early this season. Zak Stebner and Kendall McFaull come into this weekend’s series fourth and fifth on the team in scoring. Stebner has six points and is plus-6, which leads the team and the Canada West in the plus/minus category. McFaull has five points and has also contributed a power play goal.

Goaltending responsibilities for the Huskies have been given to Jordon Cooke, who boasts 2.33 goals against average and a record of 5–0 with a shutout. Cooke was 0–2 last season against the Golden Bears, allowing nine goals and stopping 76 of 85 shots. He is expected to get both of the starts this weekend for the Dogs.

Alberta is led by fifth-year forward Jordan Hickmott, who has eight points in the early going of the season. Kruise Reddick and Levko Koper have been the main supports for Hickmott. Reddick has seven points and is plus-3 on the season, while Koper also has seven points so far this season including five assists. Shutting down these players will be a key to stopping the Golden Bears offence.

In goal for the Golden Bears this weekend will most likely be Luke Siemens, as he has started all six games for Alberta this year. He holds a record of 4–1–1 with a GAA of 1.63 and has only allowed 10 goals in six games. Siemens is one of the top goalies in the conference and the Huskies will look to test him early and often.

It will be tough for Saskatchewan to remain undefeated after the weekend, as the Golden Bears have long been the powerhouse of the CanWest. The Huskies do have the firepower to beat their rivals this year, however, as their depth is the best they’ve had in years. 

Adolph is aware of the passionate rivalry and is ready for his team to take the next step against a team they haven’t had much success with in the past few years.

“Alberta still has the best depth out of anyone in the country and they have arguably six of the best seniors in the CIS. Obviously, we’re going to have to contend with them but it’s always been us and Alberta, so it’s just about finding a way to overcome the jitters and understanding you can be a big dog too.”

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Image: Jeremy Britz / Graphics Editor