SASKATOON – In the competitive Canada West conference, the difference between winning and losing is razor-thin. Just ask the Saskatchewan Huskies, who have seen nine out of their 14 games decided by a single goal.
Seven of the conference’s eight women’s hockey teams still have a shot at first and judging by the action that went down in Saskatoon this past weekend, the race will likely come right down to the wire.
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“They just know to expect this. This is going to be our life for the next few months and this is just how it is in the west,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook.
“We always know whoever comes out of the west has a pretty good chance to win the national championship because they go through these things every weekend.”
Over the weekend, the Huskies took on the Manitoba Bisons twice at Rutherford Rink.
Saskatchewan’s ninth one-goal contest came Friday night in a double overtime victory over Manitoba 3-2. This was the fifth time this season they’ve needed more than 60 minutes to decide a game.
“I would way rather have games like that where you’re grinding every game and you’re pushing every game and you’re getting better every game, rather than just blow-outs,” said Huskies forward Julia Flinton.
“Games like this will make us better and last weekend made us better … and we’re going to be better next weekend and that’s what counts.”
Despite dropping Saturday’s rematch 3-1 with the Bisons and losing four of their last five games, the Huskies still feel pretty good about where they’re at. At the season’s halfway point, the dogs are two points out of first place.
“I thought we played a couple of good games in B.C. and didn’t come away with the points that I thought we should have had, but it was more important for us to make sure that we kept playing good,” said Kook.
However, the Huskies also know that with such a short season, they can’t afford an extended slump. The team’s final two games of the calendar year next weekend are against the Mount Royal Cougars in Calgary.
“They’re definitely important but we’ve been on the road this whole semester, it feels, so it’s nothing new to us and we’re going to go out there and do what we do and hopefully come back with six points,” said Flinton.
Ryan Flaherty contributed to this story
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