It took three full games and a whole lot more to determine a winner in the Canada West quarter-final series between the University of Manitoba Bisons and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. In the end, the Bisons prevailed, using a 2–1 win in quintuple-overtime in game three to end the Huskies’ season.

It turned out to be the longest hockey game in CanWest history, as the teams played into Monday morning before a winner was finally determined. Mercifully, after 139:02 of action, the Bisons finally broke through, ending the game on a well executed two-on-one. It was a tremendous showing by the hometown Dogs, who vastly outplayed Manitoba for a majority of the game and most of the overtime periods.

Getting underway at 6:59 p.m. and not wrapping up until 12:01 a.m., the Huskies gave everything they had and more, well-deserving of a better fate. Firing 67 shots at the Bisons’ goal — compared to just 41 by Manitoba — shows the effort put forth by a squad who overcame a one-goal deficit late in the third period to force overtime.

In an absolutely wild game, head coach Steve Kook says a lot of credit has to go to the trainers of the team, who put in a ton of extra effort behind the scenes to ensure the players could perform at their best.

“As the overtimes start to collect, a lot of the credit needs to go to our trainers,” Kook said. “They’re making sure we have enough Gatorade, they’re making sure we have enough electrolytes, that there is enough food, they’re rubbing legs and making sure they’re refueling and have enough energy to keep going. As the overtimes continued, I really didn’t have to say a whole lot, our trainers did an excellent job making sure our players were ready.”

In the end, it just wasn’t meant to be, as nearly eight periods of hockey was required before a goal was found. Amanda Schubert was remarkable in net for Manitoba, making 66 saves in the win. Cassidy Hendricks was no slouch in goal for the Dogs, making 40 stops, including a number of difficult ones as she did everything she could to get her team the win.

Kook recognizes the emotional roller coaster that playoff hockey can be — even more so after such a heartbreaking defeat.

“Regardless of win or loss after a game like that, the players are emotionally drained and there’s not much to be said. And that’s how it was in the locker room — the emotions were just coming out because literally two minutes before that, they’re in the thick of things and on the verge of moving on to the next round — then all of a sudden, your season is over. Those are the extremes of playoffs,” Kook said.

In game one on Feb. 19, the Huskies took the series lead with a convincing 3–0 victory. Star forward Kaitlin Willoughby netted a hat-trick, with two goals coming late in the third to ice the game. Cassidy Hendricks was solid as usual and posted a 21-save shutout.

With a chance to complete the sweep at home, the Bisons had other plans, as game two was a different story. Manitoba got the bounces and outworked the Huskies en route to a 5–1 win. Defensively, there were multiple breakdowns, as Hendricks was forced to face four breakaways in the game — a tough task for any netminder. With the series evened up at one apiece, it set the table for a memorable third game.

Although the loss will sting players and fans alike for quite some time, one day down the road they will look back, smile and remember being part of such a memorable evening of hockey. It was a superb showing by both teams and the Huskies can be extremely proud of their performance.

With a historic conclusion to his 10th year behind the Huskies bench, Kook won’t look back on this season as a failure. With a solid group of young players, he believes this was only a small setback for the team.

“I’m pretty happy how we finished our [regular] season. Over a season, you’re going to have ups and downs, but we came into the last four games and we needed all the points we could get. And we took four of six points down the stretch from two very good teams, which allowed us to host a playoff game, which is very important,” Kook said. “Our conference is the toughest in the country and for us to battle and have a chance to be top two means we showed pretty well. We have lots of young players too, so we’ll be okay.”

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Photos: Liam Delparte