Kook returns to Huskies bench as women’s hockey squad seeks title

Steve Kook spent last season on the sidelines after being granted a professional leave made available for head coaches with Huskie Athletics.

“They told me to leave,” Kook joked this week, “so I left.”

Kook is back as head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, which returns 19 players to go along with a crop of newcomers led by rookie Chloe Smith.

“I missed being around the team and the competitiveness and all that, the every day stuff,” Kook says. “But it was good to step away and get a little bit bigger of a picture, see what we have, where we’re going and see what other teams are doing.

“It’s good to get away from the bench a little bit and get a view of everything — the player bias, the game bias and all that stuff.”

Last season under interim head coach Robin Ulrich, the Huskies placed fourth in the conference with a 15-10-3 record and lost in the Canada West semifinals.

Here are five things to know about the team, which opens the Canada West season at home Friday (7 p.m., Rutherford Rink) against the University of Regina:

1 DÉJÀ VU DOGS

“All of sudden, we’re young again,” Kook says of the women’s squad.

Kook says it’s funny to see that the team has the same sort of makeup that it had when it won its Canada West women’s hockey title a few years back.

“We’re real close to the same sort of mixture — almost exactly,” he says. “We were mostly first-, secondand third-years that season. No fourth-years and a handful of fifth-years and Cass (Cassidy Hendricks) was a second-year goalie.” Kook expects to ice a quick team. “That’s sort of how we model ourselves,” he says. “We always look for kids that can move. Eventually, we’ll move over to Merlis Belsher Place and we’ll have a bigger ice surface and that’ll actually help us one day. Our game, you’ve got to be able to skate.

“Our challenge as coaches this season is to get out of their way a little bit and let them play. Some structure, but let them play.”

2 CROP OF NEWCOMERS

Smith, from Swift Current, stands out among the newbies.

“She plays a game that exemplifies Huskie hockey pretty much,” offers Kook. “Lot of grit, lot of hustle, a lot of hard work.”

“She’s probably going to be one of the ones who’ll make an impact,” adds assistant coach Brian McGregor.

Chelsea Broadhead, a forward from Keg River, Alta., is a transfer who will be entering her fourth year of eligibility after playing one season down south with the NCAA Division 3 Plattsburgh Cardinals and a year with the Olds College Broncos.

Other newcomers include rookies Ava Thiessen, a blue-liner from De Winton, Alta., and former Stars forward Abby Shirley of Delisle, as well as transfers Chloe Marshall, a goalie from Northland College, Madison Colbow, a defenceman from SAIT, and Teagan Borbandy, a blue-liner from Red Deer College.

3 PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kaitlin Willoughby is “always a player to watch,” Kook says of the new team captain.

The fifth-year forward was selected as a participant in Hockey Canada women’s development camp in August. In four seasons with the Huskies, she has tallied 42 goals and 50 assists.

Kook also expects bigger things from the supporting cast of Kori Herner, Bailee Bourassa, Emily Upgang and Brooklyn Habrich as well as fifth-year veterans Kennedy Harris and Kira Bannatyne.

4 STRONG ON D

Kook points out the Huskies have five returnees among their D corps, including three third-years, a fifth-year and a second-year.

“Just solid in the back end,” he says. “We’ve got five solid D for sure and there’ll be three others fighting to see who gets into the lineup.”

“Our D is going to be fairly strong and mobile,” suggests McGregor.

5 MOVING ON

Graduates include G Cassidy Hendriks, D Alyssa Dobler, F Lauren Zary and F Rachel Johnson. Zary was the team captain.