Short-staffed men’s hockey Huskies ready to face Alberta
It hadn’t even dawned on Dave Adolph.
Last weekend, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies played their last playoff game at Rutherford Rink to cap off what has been billed as a farewell season for the Dog House, where a table was set up in the lobby with souvenirs for sale.
At some point next season, the Huskies will move into the new Merlis Belsher Place.
“Haven’t even thought about it,” Adolph said with a shrug after his team eliminated the University of Calgary Dinos with a 3-1 victory Saturday to take their Canada West conference semifinal 2-1 and earn a spot in the upcoming University Cup national tournament in Fredericton, N.B.
“Haven’t bought a mug, haven’t bought a T-shirt or anything. Just playing the game.”
Adolph is still searching for that elusive souvenir ring, a first University Cup national championship as a coach.
Right now, the Hockey Dogs are scratching and clawing their way with a short-staffed crew. Their depth has been crucial to earning a berth at nationals.
“That was our plan,” said Adolph, whose team will be in Edmonton starting Friday for a best-of-three Canada West final against the University of Alberta. Both teams are guaranteed a spot in the University Cup.
“Our plan was to use our bench, go to the bullpen as much as we could. We got real lucky. When you lose that kind of quality players in a short series like that, guys step up. Carson Stadnyk stepped up. Colin Shirley had a great (Saturday) night. Kozy (Taran Kozun) is a really good player. Man, does he handle the puck. Sam Ruopp stepped in. That’s what it’s all about. It’s all the unsung heroes who now get an opportunity to see what it’s all about.”
For a while, the season looked to be in doubt with U Sports goalie of the year Jordon Cooke going down with an injury, joining all-stars Josh Roach and Logan McVeigh on the sidelines along with Michael Sofillas and Wyatt Johnson.
“Guys step up. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
Adolph also credited to longtime assistant Troy Walkington.
“Troy wasn’t going to coach this year and we asked him to come back and run our power play and our power play has been spectacular the last three weeks. There’s a lot of guys who deserve a big heartfelt thank you.”