Huskies get outside to re-energize for the stretch drive

The Huskie men’s hockey team switched up the routine on Wednesday afternoon. Players skated at Brunskill school in a 3 on 3 tournament. Students, staff and fans enjoyed watching the action on a mild day at the outdoor rink. “Our guys really enjoy it”, said head coach Brandin Cote. “Anything you can do in the community is great. The students love it…they look up to our guys.”

After this weekend’s bye, the Huskies will be in an intense situation for the final four games of the Canada West regular season. A four game losing skid has dropped Saskatchewan to fifth place in the conference standings, two points back of UBC. One of the goals set out by the team was to have a top four finish and host a playoff series. In order to achieve that goal the team needs to do something it hasn’t done since January 7^th…get a win. “We have the mindset that we have four games left…we should win all four”, said Cote.

The Huskies have had a depleted line up, however there is help on the way. Starting goaltender Roddy Ross and centre Jared Dmytriw have returned from a gold medal performance for Canada at the FISU Games in New York State and will now return to Saskatchewan’s roster. “It was an unbelievable experience”, Dmytriw said. “Our group came together so fast.”

Dmytriw’s offensive contributions will be welcome for a Huskie team, eager to return to winning form. The third year forward, who has 27 points in 18 games, knows there is urgency for the team to produce. “Those are must win games”, he said. “We are going to use this bye week to get on the right track. At this point teams are dialing their games in, if we don’t have our game dialed in we are going to suffer some losses here. We can’t do that.”