The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team celebrate one of their 11 goals against the University of Regina Cougars on Saturday night at Merlis Belsher Place. (Katie Brickman-Young/HuskieFAN)

By Katie Brickman-Young

Ball and Kaluski score hat tricks in victory

Huskies men’s rout Cougars

Jan 15, 2022 | 10:56 PM

The message was received loud and clear by the University of Saskatchewan men’s hockey team.

After a lacklustre performance in Regina on Friday to the University of Regina Cougars, the Huskies showed up and dominated, routing the Cougars 11-3 on Saturday evening at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon.

“We showed how we can actually play. After losing like that, it’s not fun. We came with everything we had and that’s what happens,” said Huskies forward Justin Ball. “We had a bit of a talk after Friday’s game, and it was pretty clear that it not how we play. We came out ready to go tonight.”

Donovan Neuls got the Huskies on the board mid-way through the first period and Ball scored late in the frame to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

The Huskies started strong on Friday night as well, going up 3-1, but didn’t sustain any pressure, something Mike Babcock, head coach of the Huskies, wanted to see differently from his team at home.

Season wrap up

HuskieFAN partners hosts USask women's hockey team

Mar 31, 2026

St. Mary's pulls out OT win over USask

Huskies eliminated at University Cup

Mar 20, 2026

University Cup preparations continue

Roulette named U SPORTS men's hockey rookie of the year

Mar 18, 2026

“Work ethic for sure,” Babcock said of the difference between the games. “Friday night, we started fine, but we didn’t sustain anything, and it got bad for us. The bottom line is the game is fair if you work hard and we didn’t work hard last game. Tonight, we worked hard.”

The Huskies continued to pour on the pressure in the second frame, scoring four more goals. Ball scored just 48 seconds into the frame. Chantz Petruic notched his fifth of the season and Connor Hobbs scored on the power play. Ball got his second of the night, also on the man advantage.

Ball’s third tally of the night chased Regina’s goaltender Curtis Meger from the crease and Donovan Buskey came in relief. Meger made 16 saves on 22 shots.

“I just had to trust my instincts with each goal. Things just worked out,” said Ball. “On Friday, I had my chances, but no luck. Tonight, it just worked out in my favour.”

The line of Ball-Neuls-Franklin have been together all season long and handle heavy minutes for the Huskies. They are expected to produce for the team, and they finished with a combined 13 points.

“It’s good when something clicks like that. It is always good to keep it going and some lines just works and that’s what we have,” said Ball.

The Cougars got on the board midway through the second frame on a goal from Riley Krane that beat Huskies goaltender Roddy Ross. Ross finished the game with 17 saves on 20 shots.

“Roddy gave us some big saves early on and we were allowed to get our feet under us and get going tonight,” said Babcock.

The focus and energy were high throughout the game, and the Huskies continued to find the back of the net in the third period.

Jaxan Kaluski returned to the lineup after missing Friday’s game and scored a third period hat trick. His first came on the power play. He followed up on his second of the night just four minutes later. He would score his third tally with less than a minute left in the game with another power play marker.

“It was good to just to get Jax back in the lineup – he is an important player for us,” said Babcock.

Zane Franklin finished the night with one goal and five assists. Hobbs had four points this game and was dominant on the man advantage from the point.

“Franklin and Hobbs were stars tonight, to say the least,” said Babcock.

The Huskies were perfect on the power play – going six-for-six on the advantage. Using their transition game to create chances on offence was a key to their success on Saturday night.

“Friday night, we didn’t have any transition because we weren’t connected and working together,” said Babcock. “Tonight, we skated and were connected and came after them with speed and in the end, we scored six power play goals. The power play was real good for us tonight.”

The Huskies now have six games left in the regular season and will face a tough competitor in the University of Alberta next weekend at Merlis Belsher Place. The UofA Bears are ahead of them in the standings and the teams split the exhibition series earlier this season.

“It is an important weekend. Any time you get to play good teams, you are excited to play them. We will be looking forward to it,” said Babcock. “The UofA and the UofS has been a long rivalry and our guys will be amped up for that. Our guys just need to keep getting better and that’s our priority. If we play well, everything else will fall into place.”

For the Huskies, they wanted to use Saturday night’s rout as a message to the rest of Canada West – they are here to compete and win and they look to prove that over the next six games.

“This game was very important to show who we are,” said Ball. “We wanted to send a message and it was important to show that we are definitely a contender this year and that’s the way we play.”