SASKATOON – The tournament host University of Saskatchewan Huskies dominated the Windsor Lancers 9-0 Saturday night in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 7,241 at Credit Union Centre to qualify for the CIS men’s hockey national final for the first time since 2005.
The University Cup will be on the line Sunday at 1:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. ET) when the fifth-seeded Huskies (2-0) face their archrivals, the top-ranked Alberta Golden Bears (2-0), live on Sportsnet and on the web at www.cis-sic.tv.
Alberta holds the all-time mark of 13 CIS men’s hockey titles and will skate in the 19th championship match, another record, while Saskatchewan claimed its lone banner in 1983 and will compete for CIS gold for the sixth time.
The two Canada West opponents have faced off in the title game only once in the past, on March 28, 2005, when the Bears erased a 3-1 third period deficit in front of the third-largest crowd in University Cup history – 10,133 – at Rexall Place in Edmonton to prevail 4-3 in overtime. In was also the only previous final between CWUAA rivals.
“The guys really wanted it tonight. If we offer this kind of performance tomorrow, you never know, anything can happen. We’ll have to be at our best, that’s for sure. Alberta is a formidable opponent,” said Saskatchewan head coach Dave Adolph, who was part of the Huskies’ triumph as a player in 1983 and whose troops are 0-5 overall this season against the Bears.
Eight different players scored for the Huskies, including Canada West player of the year Derek Hulak with a pair, and Kendall McFaull, Andrew Bailey, Craig McCallum, John Lawrence, Ryan McDonald, Joshua Roach and Cody Smuk with singles.
Hulak (2-1-3) and McCallum (1-2-3) had three-point nights, while Jesse Ross picked up four assists.
Ryan Holfeld made 19 saves to earn the shutout. At the other end of the ice, Parker Van Buskirk turned aside 25 pucks.
Saskatchewan led 2-0 after the first period and 6-0 after 40 minutes.
The Huskies opened the scoring at 8:42 of the first. Ross controlled the puck in the corner and centered a pass that found the stick of McFaull whose wrist shot from the point beat Van Buskirk through a screen.
Ross set up the Huskies third goal by using his speed to beat a Lancer defenceman down the left wing. He cut hard to the net and created a rebound opportunity that Hulak calmly put away for his second goal of the night. Ross also drew assists on Saskatchewan’s fifth and sixth goals.
“It’s certainly not the outcome we had hoped for,” said Windsor bench boss Kevin Hamlin, whose OUA champion Lancers were making their first CIS championship appearance since 1999. “To be perfectly honest we probably had several guys in our dressing room who had this been a regular season game wouldn’t have played due to injury. It’s been a real grind for our guys the last several weeks and I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
Hulak was named the Huskies player of the game for the second straight night.
“[I am] Just trying to do whatever I can to help the team win,” said Hulak, the tournament leading scorer heading into the final with three goals and two helpers.
“This is what you dream about when you come to university,” said Bailey. “I’ve always wanted to play for a national championship and now I have the opportunity.”
GAME NOTES: Saskatchewan, which finished first in Pool B, had defeated Acadia 3-2 on Friday, while Windsor (1-1) beat Acadia 4-2 on Thursday… In Pool A, Alberta edged McGill 3-2 in double overtime on Saturday afternoon after defeating Carleton 3-2 on Thursday.