SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies made history last Friday. By defeating the Regina Cougars 5-3 at Rutherford Rink, the dogs secured their 22nd win of the campaign, tying a program record for most victories in a single season.
Saskatchewan had a chance to break that record on Saturday, but the last place Cougars played their role of spoiler, handing Saskatchewan a 4-3 defeat.
Are the Huskies bitter about it? Kind of, but setting records isn’t Saskatchewan’s top priority.
“It’s just a record,” said Huskies captain Kendal McFaull.
“Everybody remembers championships. That’s what we’re going for.”
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Saskatchewan enters playoffs as the team to beat. The Huskies earned a bye week by finishing the regular season in first place in the Canada West. So while the Cougars, Bisons, Dinos and Thunderbirds battle it out in the quarter-finals this weekend, the dogs will be resting.
“It’s going to be greasy this weekend,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph.
“Usually what happens in a hard-fought best of three, is somebody is worn out and beat up. So you get an opportunity to go in fresh against a team that may be down a player or two.”
The dogs have three possible opponents for next week’s semifinal series: the Thunderbirds, Dinos, and Bisons. Adolph doesn’t care which team his Huskies play, at least, not in the semifinals.
“I want to play Alberta. That’s who I want to play. And for us to play Alberta, we need to get to the league championship, so in order to do that we have a number of steps that we have to take care of.”
The Huskies will host game one of their Canada West semifinal series on Feb. 26 at Rutherford Rink.