‘Full hearts’: Shirley, Bourassa ready for second shot at Canada West title

The Weyburn product was in her second year — Shirley, her first — when the University of Saskatchewan played the University of Manitoba Bisons in the 2017-18 Canada West Final.

The Bisons went on to sweep the Huskies in Winnipeg for the championship.

It was in that same barn, against the higher-seeded Bisons, that Saskatchewan finally swept a playoff series against Manitoba two weeks ago.

The wins set the Huskies on a path to this weekend’s Canada West final against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Vancouver.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations throughout the week, just to make sure the focus is on this weekend … it’s just such a big opportunity,” said Bourassa.

Huskies captain Bailee Bourassa prepares to take the ice for a shortened practice at the UBC Thunderbirds arena on March 10, 2022. (Daniella Ponticelli/HuskieFAN)

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s program has claimed the Canada West title once before, in 2013-14.

Current head coach Steve Kook lead the team through a heated three-game final series at home against the University of Regina Cougars, in which all contests went into overtime.

Saskatchewan entered this postseason as the fifth-seed, meaning every series en route to the Canada West championship would play out on the road.

“(Travelling) forces us to be together, bond a little bit more and make those connections with each other. Our team has just become so tight-knit and close,” said Bourassa.

“We’re in a routine: we’re eating meals together, we’re doing video together and it plays at our advantage.”

UBC, meanwhile, enters the championship series fresh off a semifinal sweep of the University of Alberta Pandas at home. As the second seed, the T-Birds earned a buy into the semifinal round.

But in the first round they rested, Saskatchewan gained momentum.

Shirley, from Delisle, Sask., scored her first career hat trick in Game 1 of the quarter-final. She is the current Huskies postseason points leader with three goals, two assists.

“The past two weekends have been huge for us and it’s definitely been a confidence booster sweeping those very skilled and talented teams,” she said.

“We know that (UBC is) a skilled team too, and they try to get into your head a lot … but we’re just going to stick to what we do best and play as we have been. Go in there with full heads, full hearts.”

Shirley added that looking back on the four games that lead to her second Canada West final, the team has truly come together to bring them to this moment.

“People are scoring their first goal in the playoffs, so it’s nice to see people stepping up,” Shirley said.

“In the space we are in now, it’s thinking bigger picture. More team mentality than individual success.”

Drever ready for first Finals test

Aside from Bourassa and Shirley, every other player is stepping into the Canada West final series for the first time — including steadfast netminder, Camryn Drever.

“I’m feeling pretty good, I’m pretty excited — never been in this position before in U Sports, so it’s a little nerve-wracking,” said Drever.

“But I think I’m just going to take that confidence piece, that swagger piece that (goaltending coach) Sheldon Goertzen and (goaltender) Colby Wilson have been talking about all season, into these games, and give the team the best opportunity that I can.”

The third-year Edmonton product had all four postseason starts leading up to the Canada West final, which included two shutout wins.

Drever enters this weekend with a .976 save percentage and 0.74 goals against average for the postseason. She has only allowed three goals on 130 shots against in the last four games.

Saskatchewan split its regular season series at home against British Columbia on Nov. 26-27, 2021.

The Huskies beat the T-Birds 4-2 in Game 1 with goals from Isabella Pozzi, Kennedy Brown, Abby Shirley and Jordyn Holmes.

UBC avenged its loss with a 2-0 shutout win on Nov. 27. Ashley McFadden and Hannah Koroll both beat Drever in the first period.

Worth noting, however, is that the Huskies had not won a 2021-22 regular season game against Manitoba or Mount Royal University, the opponents they swept to reach the Canada West final.

Games 1 and 2 of the championship are Friday and Saturday, respectively, at 7 p.m. local time, 9 p.m. CST.

If needed, Game 3 will play out Sunday at 2 p.m. local, 3 p.m. CST, as daylight saving time takes effect.

Listen to all Huskies women’s hockey broadcasts live and archived on the HuskieFAN app and at huskiefan.ca.

by Daniella Ponticelli

‘Full hearts’: Shirley, Bourassa ready for second shot at Canada West title

Drever ready for first Finals test

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