The Pandas return to Merlis Belsher Place
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“It’s a bye week, it’s not an off week.” That was the message from the Huskie women’s hockey coach Steve Kook to his team following the November 8th-9th weekend. After having November 15th and 16th off, Saskatchewan returns to home ice to face the Alberta Pandas on November 22nd and 23rd at Merlis Belsher Place.
Searching for the team’s first regulation win of the season, Kook is counting on the U of S veterans to lead the way. “Our fourth-year group is going to have dig down a little bit, lead by example and make a difference”, Kook said. The Huskies have four points in 12 games so far this season and have only scored a total of 13 goals. “I told our group we have to go out and take our swings.”
While the results haven’t necessarily gone the team’s way, Kook has been encouraged by the tenacity of his players. “I thought our compete level has done well. We haven’t won all the puck races, we haven’t won on the scoreboard, but our puck battles are the things we focus on. We think if we have offensive possession, at least that will lead to some chances.”
The Pandas top the Canada West east division standings with a 9 and 3 record. The Huskies lost a pair of one goal games to Alberta (2-1 and 4-3 in a shoot-out) on October 18th and 19th at Merlis Belsher Place. Kook believes a strong forecheck could be a key to success. “They are young back there”, Kook said. “If we can create some chances from pressure, that would be big for us.”
