Huskies teams fired up for four finals this weekend

Huskie teams will have an opportunity to win an unprecedented four Canada West conference titles on the same weekend when the University of Saskatchewan (USask) men’s hockey, women’s basketball and men’s and women’s volleyball teams take to the ice and the courts.

“Playoffs are the most exhilarating time of the season,” said Huskies Chief Athletics Officer Shannon Chinn. “It doesn’t matter where you’re ranked, once you’re in everyone has an opportunity to compete in a national championship. We have four teams playing for Canada West titles and two of them you can cheer on at home. Both the PAC (Physical Activity Complex) and MBP (Merlis Belsher Place) are going to be unbelievable this weekend and you don’t want to miss out on the action.”

The Huskie men’s hockey team will battle the Mount Royal University Cougars on Friday and Saturday at 7 pm (and Sunday at 6 pm, if necessary) at USask’s Merlis Belsher Place in the best-of-three conference final, while the Huskie women’s basketball squad will clash with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a one-game finale for the Canada West conference title on Saturday at the Physical Activity Complex at 5 pm. Both Huskie teams have already clinched their spots in the upcoming national championships with semifinal victories last weekend.

“We are so excited to be competing for another Canada West banner and to have earned another berth to the national championship tournament in Vancouver,” said Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis, whose team went 18-2 in the regular season and was ranked second in the country to begin the playoffs. “Getting to a conference final and getting to nationals is incredibly difficult, so to have done it for 10 of the last 11 years really speaks to our players’ commitment to excellence. Our program’s sustained success is something we are very proud of and it represents over two decades of hard work and support from a number of people who care deeply about our program.”

Led by Thomaidis - the Canada West coach of the year - and guard Gage Grassick - the Canada West player of the year - the Huskies topped the University of Fraser Valley Cascades 63-45 in last Saturday’s semifinals at the PAC for a remarkable 19th straight victory to clinch a spot in nationals (March 13-16 in Vancouver) and earn the right to host the conference final this Saturday at USask. Meanwhile, after dropping the opening game of their best-of-three semifinal series to the 10th-ranked UBC Thunderbirds last weekend, the No.2-ranked Huskie men’s hockey team (23-5 in the regular season) battled back to win two straight to earn a spot in the national championship March 20-23 in Ottawa, and the right to host the fourth-ranked Cougars in the best-of-three Canada West final at MBP this weekend.

“It’s fantastic. This is what we’ve been working for,” Huskie men’s hockey coach and Canada West coach of the year Brandin Cote told reporters after knocking off UBC 4-2 in last Sunday’s semifinal series finale. “Since I’ve been here, there’s been lots of learning and there’s been me putting my own flavour on things and getting to know people. The community and Huskie Athletics have been super, super supportive. I’ve been able to go and do my thing and bring in the people that we needed to and have the core leadership group that we’ve had to bring it along. We don’t want to stop here, though, so we’re really excited to have that opportunity at nationals.”

Meanwhile, both Huskie volleyball teams will hit the road this weekend to chase conference championship titles, with USask’s men’s team travelling to Winnipeg for the Canada West Final Four, while the Huskie women’s squad is off to Edmonton for the other Final Four finale.

The Huskies men’s squad – ranked sixth in the country with a 14-6 record entering the playoffs – clashes with the No.2-ranked Wesmen at the University of Winnipeg in Friday’s conference semifinal, with the No.1-ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears and fifth-ranked UBC battling in the other semifinal. USask needs to serve up at least one win in their two games this weekend to qualify for the men’s volleyball nationals March 21-23 in Brandon, Man.

Meanwhile, with their stunning upset on the road over the third-ranked University of Fraser Valley Cascades in a straight sets sweep last weekend in Abbotsford, B.C., the unranked Huskie women’s volleyball team (10-10 in the regular season) has now secured a spot in the U Sports national championship in Winnipeg on March 14-16. This weekend, they will try to go to nationals as conference champions as they face the No.5-ranked UBC Thunderbirds in the Canada West semifinal on Friday in Edmonton, with No.1-ranked Alberta and No.2-ranked University of Manitoba Bisons battling in the other semifinal. The gold and bronze medal games are set for Saturday.

In other action this week, Huskie track and field athletes are off to Windsor, Ont., to compete in the U Sports national championships from March 6-8. USask’s women’s track team goes to nationals ranked No.3 in the country after winning a Canada West record seventh straight conference championship title in Regina on Feb. 22, while the unranked Huskie men’s track team will look to build on a fourth-place conference finish at nationals this weekend.