Huskies goaltender Camryn Drever warms up in net at Merlis Belsher Place on Oct. 23, 2021. (Daniella Ponticelli/HuskieFAN)

By HuskieFAN Staff

WOMEN'S HOCKEY GOES WEST

Huskies women’s hockey ready to forge ‘new rivalry’ with Trinity Western Spartans

Nov 4, 2021 | 2:53 PM

The first road series of the season for University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey will also set the tone for future on-ice battles against the Trinity Western University Spartans.

“We get a chance to create a new rivalry, and that will take its course over the next couple of days and next few years,” Huskies head coach Steve Kook told HuskieFAN.

The Huskies have a 2-2 record on the season coming off back-to-back losses at home to the University of Manitoba Bisons last weekend.

Despite their ancient namesake, the 0-4 Spartans are the new team on the U Sports block—and hungry to record their first win.

Women’s hockey is the latest team from the private university in Langley, B.C. to elevate to the top tier of university sports, playing their first U Sports game on Oct. 15. Previously, the Spartans operated as a non-varsity team in the South Coast Women’s League.

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“There’s really good pockets on their team and I think if we’re complacent and not really urgent in the things that we do, they can sneak up on you,” Kook said.

With a trimmed road roster, the Huskies face a more robust phalanx of Spartan players.

Thirty people including coaching staff, equipment manager Dave Westbury, trainer Emma Link and HuskieFAN play-by-play announcer Daniella Ponticelli, will fly direct from Saskatoon to Vancouver before boarding a team bus to Langley Thursday evening.

“It’s like a little rock concert we’re going to take on the road here,” said Kook, who is quick to credit Westbury for his efforts to get all the gear out west.

“He’s getting things into smaller packaging so we can take it on the plane. We can’t take the big bins we normally take on the road,” Kook said.

Twelve first-year players will be making the trip including Mallory Dyer, Bronwyn Boucher, Jordyn Holmes, Jasper Desmarais, Paris Oleksyn, Kelsey Hall, McKenna Bolger, Larissa Bohlken, Kendra Zuchotzki, Emily Holmes, Brooklyn Stevely and Colby Wilson.

The last time Huskies women’s hockey travelled to B.C. was Jan. 24-25, 2020, when they swept a weekend series in Vancouver against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

Both Kook and Huskies captain Bailee Bourassa recall the trip as being where they first heard whispers of the novel coronavirus.

“We were talking about it in the airport wondering, ‘is this going to affect us? Is this going to affect how we travel? Should we be worried?’ All those sorts of things,” said Kook, who admits this weekend’s trip is a welcome reality check.

“It actually doesn’t hit home until you get on a bus and you go somewhere for a long trip or you stay overnight with the team. That’s when it sort of seems, ‘okay, this is a little back to normal’.”

Bourassa agrees, telling HuskieFAN after last Saturday’s game road trips are the ultimate bonding experience.

“You’re forced to spend more time together throughout the day. You’re doing homework or maybe the girls go for coffee,” she said. “It’s really important we make those tight connections going forward.”

HuskieFAN will broadcast and podcast the weekend series from Langley. Friday’s game at the George Preston Recreation Centre starts at 8:15 p.m. CST. Saturday’s game at the Langley Event Centre starts at 2 p.m. CST.

Follow HuskieFAN on Facebook and Twitter for behind the scenes updates throughout the weekend.

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