Hockey Dogs prepare for pesky Pronghorns
Playing the winless Lethbridge Pronghorns may be just what the doctor ordered. Or maybe not. In the past, the pesky Pronghorns have proven to be bad medicine for the University of Saskatchewan men’s hockey squad, for whatever reason.
“They give us fits,” admits U of S coach Dave Adolph, whose team (2-4) plays host to the Pronghorns (0-4) on Friday and Saturday (7 p.m.) at Rutherford Rink.
“They have our number every year, whether it’s in their barn or ours. They play us extra-hard every time.”
The Huskies are coming off a two-game sweep at the hands of the visiting Alberta Golden Bears. The Dogs kept it close against the No. 1 - ranked team in the country but came out with no points.
“Edmonton’s a really good team and they’ve been playing with most of that group for the last few years,” says U of S captain Brennan Bosch. “We’ve got a lot of new faces (seven newcomers) coming in. I felt we played really well as a team and we can definitely take that out of it.
“We’ve played well for 40 minutes or 50 minutes for a lot of games and we’re right there near the end where it’s a one-goal game and they (Bears) kind of had that extra push in the end.”
The Huskies could once again short of bodies up front. Shayne Neigum is away dealing with family issues. Ryan McDonald and Josh Roach have been sidelined by injury.
“No. 1, it would be nice to get some guys back and healthy,” admits Bosch. “That’s a big thing that we have a full roster. And we’ve got to be a better third-period team right now. It seems like a lot of games we’re in it but can’t seem to find that killer instinct to put them away or get back in games. We’ve got to be a little better that way.”
Adolph stresses that playing time is not an issue at the U of S. As for the Pronghorns?
“We don’t take the University of Lethbridge lightly,” he says. “We prepare for Lethbridge as well as we prepare for anybody.”