Courtesy: Electric Umbrella/Huskie Athletics

By Wray Morrison

huskies in east division first place tie

Bear taming

Jan 24, 2026 | 11:20 PM

Mission Accomplished. The Huskie men’s hockey team has pulled into a first-place tie with the Calgary Dinos and the Mount Royal Cougars in the Canada West, east division. USask downed the Alberta Golden Bears 6-2 on Saturday night at Merlis Belsher Place to put the finishing touches on a two-game sweep and improve to 16-4-1-1 on the season.

Saskatchewan took control of the game with three first period goals in a 4:41 span to open a 3-1 lead in the early going. Josh Pillar, Ethan Regnier and Logan Bairos struck in short order after Noah Boyko put Alberta on the board four and a half minutes into the game.

Chase Bertholet of the Huskies scored 1:20 into the second period to make it a 4-1 game, which seemed to limit any chances of an Alberta comeback. “We (coaching staff) challenged the (Chantz) Petruic, (Rafael) Pelletier and Bertholet line to play a little bit heavier”, said Huskie head coach Brandin Cote. “They did that and got rewarded. They had the puck more because they were playing on top of it.”

After a Sam Popowich, Golden Bear marker late in the second period, Liam Keeler and Dawson Holt rounded out Saskatchewan’s scoring in the final minute and a half of the third period.

Nolan Maier, who joined the Huskies earlier this month, is now 4 and 0 with his new team. The Yorkton product turned aside 18 of Alberta’s 20 shots. Maier made 28 saves in his home debut on Friday in a 7-4 win over the U of A. Maier was quick to credit his teammates after Saturday’s win. “It’s fun to watch”, he said. “They are a great group of guys. Those are some amazing players that we have. The guys have been scoring over five goals a game. It makes my job easy.”

Listen: Coach's Show with Brandin Cote

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The Mount Royal Cougars, the Calgary Dinos and the Huskies all have 33 points. The Dinos and Huskies have six games remaining, while MRU has four. After a January 30-31 home-and-home series with the Regina Cougars, the Huskies host Calgary on February 6^th and 7^th before visiting Mount Royal on February 13^th and 14^th in two crucial series to end the regular season.

Cote says there is no chance his team take a U of R team that has just three wins this season lightly. “We can’t look past Regina. Those are going to be crucial points next weekend.” The Huskies host the Cougars on Friday night at 7:00 PM at Merlis Belsher Place before visiting the provincial capital on Saturday.

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wray.morrison@pattisonmedia.com

X: @wraymorrison