(Courtesy: Liam Richards/Electric Umbrella/Huskie Athletics)

By Wray Morrison

2024 U SPORTS WOMEN'S HOCKEY PREVIEW

‘Go out and take your swing!’ – Huskie head coach, Steve Kook

Mar 14, 2024 | 5:30 AM

The schools have arrived. The coaches and players have met the media. The teams are going through their final preparations. The 2024 GFL U SPORTS women’s hockey championships, presented by Connect Energy, begin on Thursday at Merlis Belsher Place and all involved are ready.

“I can’t wait”, said Huskie captain Kenedy Brown. “I wish we could drop the puck right now. I’m chomping at the bit to get going.” The eighth-seeded Huskies face the top-ranked Concordia Stingers at 7:00 pm on Thursday at Merlis Belsher Place. The Stingers put together a perfect 25 and 0 regular season, then defeated Ottawa and Montreal in the RSEQ playoffs to win the Quebec title.

The host Huskies, who won 19 of 28 in the regular season and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, don’t have any objections to being the underdog according to Brown. “The expectation is on (Concordia) in a lot of ways”, she said. “The Quebec style of game is a little different than here. We are gritty and we will run teams into the ground. I think our forecheck is so aggressive. If we can break up the finesse that they play with, we can take advantage by driving a knife into the style of game that they are used to.

Julie Chu, the head coach of the Stingers since 2016, won five world championships as a player with the USA and represented her country at the Olympic Games, winning three silver and one bronze medal. The Stingers won the U SPORTS championship in 2022 and lost in the championship game last season. Despite being favoured, Chu is experienced enough to know that the Huskies can pose a threat. “They (U of S Huskies) are a well-coached team”, she said.

Saskatchewan enjoys the benefit of having one of the best goaltenders in the country. Camryn Drever, a fifth-year Huskie from Edmonton, led U SPORTS with a .954 save percentage and was named the Canada West women’s hockey player of the year. “She is just phenomenal in what she does for our team”, said Brown. “It gives us a lot of confidence going into a weekend like this. If we can play our game up front and help her in every way we can, we are setting ourselves up for success.”

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Huskie coach Steve Kook was asked how he would like to see his team approach Thursday night’s game. “We have to come out with a lot of fire in the first 20 minutes”, he said. “You can’t worry about what happened yesterday, and you don’t have the luxury of worrying about what’s going to happen in the future. You’ve got one game. Go out and take your swing.”

The tournament starts at 1:00 pm on Thursday at Merlis Belsher Place as Waterloo (4) takes on St. FX (5), followed by the Concordia (1) – Huskie (8) match-up at 7:00 pm. On Friday, the Canada West champion, UBC Thunderbirds (2) face the Montreal Carabins (7) at 1:00 pm, followed by the UNB Reds (3) – Toronto Varsity Blues (6) quarter-final at 7:00 pm.

The semi-finals are at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm on Saturday. On Sunday the bronze medal game starts at 2:00 pm. Puck drop for the gold medal game is set for 6:00 pm.

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wray.morrison@pattisonmedia.com

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