Huskies head coach talks nationals, growth of young team

“We have 13 new players, there was a lot of learning going on. A lot of getting used to the league, getting used to the competition and the travel.”

LISTEN: Huskies head coach Steve Kook joins HuskieFAN’s Daniella Ponticelli in Charlottetown, PEI to talk about Saskatchewan’s road to nationals with a young team.

As a Canada West finalist, the University of Saskatchewan earned a berth to its fourth U Sports championship appearance.

The 2022 event marks Kook’s third shot at bringing home the program’s first national title.

The head coach sat down with HuskieFAN on Wednesday morning, before the team’s second practice of the week, to talk about the growth of the scrappy team from Sask.

“We’re here at a national championship and all they know is that they are competing on Friday,” said Kook.

“We’re young, we don’t know any better. We’re just going to play.”

Kook’s first nationals’ experience was with the 2013-14 Huskies, who won the program’s only Canada West title to date. The team went on to win bronze at the U Sports championship held in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

The head coach returned to nationals for a second time in 2017-18, as a Canada West finalist, to end up just shy of the podium in fourth place.

Current fifth-year captain Bailee Bourassa and fourth-year forward Abbey Shirley were on that team, as second and first years respectively.

Kook said the two have pulled the young team together, and made it clear what’s at stake.

“What Bailee and Abbey have done really well coming into playoffs and into this national championship, is let (the team) know that you don’t know when you’re going to get back,” he said.

“It’s so hard to come out of our conference, that’s the thing. You don’t know if you’re going to get back, so let’s make sure we embrace it and enjoy it and give it the best shot that we can.”

Kook and this year’s fifth-seed Huskies face the fourth-seed, OUA champions Brock University Badgers in the quarter-final Friday at 3 p.m. EST, noon Saskatchewan time.

The Huskies first appearance at nationals, formerly known as the CIS Championship, came in 2003-04 under head coach Donna Raeburn.

The Huskies also entered that tournament as the No. 5 seed. They exceeded expectations finishing fourth after losing in the bronze medal game 1-0 to the University of McGill.

HuskieFAN’s Daniella Ponticelli is broadcasting all Saskatchewan nationals games from Charlottetown PEI on the HuskieFAN app and at huskiefan.ca.

by Daniella Ponticelli

Huskies head coach talks nationals, growth of young team

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