Golden Bears visit Huskies in men’s hockey this weekend
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As the Alberta Golden Bears and Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey teams prepare to clash in a weekend series at Merlis Belsher Place, one can’t help but to think about the history of this rivalry. Going back to 1997 there have only been two Canada West men’s hockey champions, the Golden Bears and the Huskies. (The Golden Bears have 17 championships, while the Huskies have 7.) “There is something about this U of S/U of A rivalry that our guys are fired up about” said head coach Mike Babcock.
There is a lot at stake in this 2022 weekend series. UBC enters the January 21-22 weekend with 21 points, the second place Huskies have 20, while Alberta has 19 points in third place. The top two teams in the standings get a first round bye, and there are just six regular season games remaining.
Like his players, Babcock is also looking forward to this weekend’s series against the Golden Bears. “I love these games, we get to test ourselves.” The Huskies’ final two weekend series’ are against two teams sitting on the outside of the playoff picture, (MacEwan and Manitoba) so this is the final regular season series against a top three team in the conference. “This weekend, (against Alberta) it’s a measure to see where we are, to see if we progressed, to see if we can hang in there.”
Last weekend the Huskies settled for a split against the Regina Cougars, losing 7-4 on January 14th, before rallying for an 11-3 win on the 15th. The Friday night loss in Regina didn’t sit well with Babcock. “We were no good, let’s cut to the chase.” The Huskies’ eight goal rebound win on Saturday featured six power play goals, something that the Huskies coaching staff dedicates a lot of time to.
