Two new goaltenders will grace the crease for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team next season.

Tehnille Gard and Cassidy Hendricks signed with the Huskies in May along with four other new recruits who are expected to fill the seven roster spots left open by last season’s graduating players.

Alyssa Dobler will lace up on the blueline and Cassandra Jorgenson, Carlee Hrenkiw and Rachel Johnson will suit up as forwards.

All of the recruits are new to Canadian Interuniversity Sport competition, with five of the six hailing from midget AAA leagues across Western Canada.

Huskies head coach Steve Kook said that goaltending was his top priority following the graduation of netminders Mackenzie Rizos and Vanessa Frederick.

Gard is expected to fill the starting role in net for the Dogs next season. She joins the Huskies after two seasons with the South Alberta Institute of Technology Trojans in the Alberta College Athletics Conference.

Hendricks, who will likely back Gard, played 18 games last year with the Vancouver Fusion midget AAA team and helped lead them to the playoff semi-finals.

Dobler, the only defensive player recruited, is also the only Saskatoon product among the recruits. Dobler played with the Saskatoon Stars in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League last season. She tallied four goals and 17 assists on the season and helped land her team a spot in the league final.

“Alyssa is one of the strongest skating defencemen in the Saskatchewan league,” Kook said in a press release following the signing of the new players. “We’re very pleased to be able to have Alyssa stay in Saskatoon and be a big part of the strong defence core we have already.”

Jorgenson, Hrenkiw and Johnson will look to fill the large gap left by the departure of forwards Julie Paetsch, Breanne George, Kelsey Tulloch and Sara White. The four graduating players led the Huskies to a 16-6-2 regular season record and a third place finish in the Canada West standings last year.

Jorgenson is a centre that the Huskies are excited about. She led the Winnipeg Avros to the Manitoba midget AAA league finals last season and finished third in regular season scoring with 22 goals and 17 assists.

Hrenkiw joins the Huskies after four seasons with the Prince Albert Bears in the SFMHL. The Melfort native became the Bear’s leader in all-time points (111) and games (106) last season following a 25-point year.

Johnson, who rounds out the Huskies offensive recruits, is a left winger who played three seasons with the Edmonton Thunder. At only 17 years old Johnson was a key player in the team’s bronze medal finish at the 2011-12 ESSO National Midget AAA Championship.

“We are excited to add these players to our program and look forward to seeing what kind of impact they can make in the tough Canada West conference,” said Kook who, along with the Huskie faithful, hopes the new recruits can help the team bounce back after losing so many key players at the end of last season.

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file photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf