Saturday 16 March 2024

The Rundown - Semifinals

Eight teams would start the day, but only six teams would move on to Sunday to compete in the three final series at the 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship. By the end of the day, we'd know who would be competing for the three different medals and for fifth-place while the bottom-two teams would see their tournaments end as there is no seventh-place game. In saying that, let's get into the action on Semifinal Saturday as the 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship continues here on The Rundown!

The fifth-seeded StFX X-Women and the eighth-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies met at 10am on Saturday morning as the first consolation semifinal went earlier than the usual game times at which these women play. Would that affect their play? Neither wanted to go home early, so they'd need to show up for this one! Camryn Drever was between the pipes for the Huskies while the X-Women went back to Amaya Giraudier for their puck-stopping needs.

StFX and Saskatchewan had never met prior to this game at a National Championship, and it seemed like both sides were looking for breakdowns as the first period was played. Neither side would find that needed space in the first period as both goalies were perfect in the opening 20 minutes, but both sides had chances.

A late penalty in that opening frame was the difference that the Huskies needed as Kelsey Hall punched a power-play goal home at 1:13 to put Saskatchewan up 1-0. It became 2-0 just 2:09 later when Sophie Lalor dented twine, and Brooklyn Stevely made it 3-0 on the power-play when she teed up a puck at the 6:06 mark. The Huskies were rolling in the middle frame and looked to take the three-goal cushion to the room, but Ashlyn Garnett wasn't happy about that so she made it 3-1 with 45 seconds to play, giving StFX some life as they looked to the third period.

The Huskies decided they were happy with the score as they locked down their defensive zone while seeking more chances, but neither side would find the back of the net in the final frame. As the final horn sounded, the Saskatchewan Huskies had defeated the StFX X-Women by that 3-1 score. Camryn Drever stopped 37 shots in the win while Amaya Giraudier made 18 saves as her season comes to a close.

Saskatchewan advances to the consolation final on Sunday while the StFX X-Women saw their tournament comes to an end.

CBC refuses to do highlights, so here's the full game once again.


The second-ranked UBC Thunderbirds likely never expected to be playing in the consolation semifinal, but the same could be said for the third-seeded UNB Reds. After both teams were upset on Friday, they met on Saturday midway through the day to determine who play one more game this season. Kendra Woodland got the start for the Reds while Elise Hugens was guarding the UBC net in this one.

This game was decidely in one team's favour, and the Canada West champions were firing on all cylinders as Joelle Fiala opened the scoring at the 13:06 mark of the first period to put UBC up 1-0. Chanreet Bassi would announce her arrival with a power-play goal at 2:14 and an even-strength goal at 11:30 in the second period to push this game to a 3-0 score. Sierra LaPlante would add a fourth UBC goal at 2:49 of the third period.

I'm not here to pile on UNB because they have certainly won their way to Nationals in three-straight seasons, but one has to wonder what goes through goaltender Kendra Woodland's head after a game like today. More on this below, but UBC defeated UNB by that 4-0 score in this game. Elise Hugens stopped 17 shots for the win and the shutout while Kendra Woodland made 40 stops in her final game of her university career.

UBC advances to the consolation final on Sunday while the UNB Reds saw their tournament comes to an end.

Again, no highlights, so here's the full game.


The top-seeded Concordia Stingers were looking to take one step closer to their ultimate goal of winning the Golden Path Trophy while the fourth-seeded Waterloo Warriors were looking to make a little more magic happen in their first visit to Nationals in program history. Obviously, there's no history between these two teams at the big dance, but I can say that Concordia is 10-2 against OUA teams so it seems like Concordia should be the favorite in all statistical measurements. Mikayla Schnarr was guarding the Waterloo net while Jordyn Verbeek was in the Concordia blue paint.

The Stingers got on the board first when Zoe Thibault found the back of the net at 5:15 to put Concordia up 1-0, and they'd take a 2-0 lead into the break when Courtney Rice dented twine with 1:48 to play in the frame. I know Waterloo is the new kid on the block in this tournament, but there were certainly times where you could see the polished play of a three-time Nationals finalist compared to how the Warriors looked, but credit to Schnarr for keeping Waterloo in this one when it seemed like it might get away.

The second period was much better for Waterloo as they seemed to find their confidence once again, but a couple of penalties allowed Concordia to flex their offensive muscles. The Warriors would deny them, though, and we'd head to the third period with that 2-0 score intact. Tatum James made things very interesting when she scored a power-play goal after a Concordia penalty carried over from the second period, and Waterloo was back in the game as they cut the deficit in half at 2-1.

That goal seemed to lift Waterloo as they looked for an equalizer, but it wasn't to be on this night as Jessymaude Drapeau netted a shorthanded goal with 1:20 to play as the Concordia Stingers shut down the Waterloo Warriors for the majority of the third period in defeating them 3-1. Jordyn Verbeek made 19 saves to send her team back to the gold-medal final while Mikayla Schnarr stopped 37 shots as Waterloo will play for the third-place honours.

The Concordia Stingers advance to the gold-medal final on Sunday while the Waterloo Warriors will move to the bronze-medal game.

CBC and highlights are like oil and water. Here's the full game between Concordia and Waterloo for your enjoyment.


With Hockey Night in Canada being an institution on Saturday nights in Canada, it's only fitting that we get a Montreal-Toronto game on this night. The sixth-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues met the seventh-seeded Montreal Carabins for the right to play in the big game, but there isn't much history between these two teams outside of a 2013 game where Montreal won 1-0. A chapter was to be written with Aube Racine in net for the Carabins while Erica Fryer took the crease for the Varsity Blues.

These two teams played with a solid pace early on, and Toronto would be the first to capitalize when Kalie Chan found room for a goal as Toronto went up 1-0 at 9:55. Both sides settled into their defensive structure after that as neither side gave up a lot of room despite chances being seen. We'd have to move to the latter stages of the third period before Montreal pulled Racine to add an attacker, and it would be a good move as Juliette Rolland scored with seconds remaining to tie the game at 1-1!

Overtime was needed, but it solved nothing. As you may know if you've followed these tournaments for a while, the berth in the final would be determined by a shootout which is pretty much the dumbest rule enforced by U SPORTS. Because of this rule, the teams organized themselves for the skills competition which saw Toronto shoot first. Five rounds of shooters would come up empty before Toronto's Ashley Delahey beat Racine over the glove, and that meant that Amélie Poiré-Lehoux had to score. She could not, and the Toronto Varsity Blues claimed the 2-1 shootout win over the Montreal Carabins to advance to the gold-medal final. Erica Fryer stopped 25 shots plus six more in the shootout for the victory while Aube Racine made 23 saves while stopping five of six in the shootout loss.

The Toronto Varsity Blues advance to the gold-medal final on Sunday while the Montreal Carabins go to the bronze-medal game.

Here's the full game including the shootout from CBC.

The Bracket

Here are Sunday's matchups and the stakes for each team.

The Rankings

I mentioned above about Kendra Woodland and her game today, but we really should take a closer look. After she wins a FISU gold medal, was named the 2023 U SPORTS Player of the Year, and has gone 36-13 in AUS play over the last three seasons in helping UNB get to Nationals three times, she arrives at Nationals where she and her UNB teammates are a combined 1-6 while being outscored 24-8 in those games. Her AUS numbers would put her among the best to have ever protected a net, but I'm not here to question how good of a player Kendra Woodland is because she clearly can win on the big stage as evidenced by her work at the FISU Universiade Games.

What I do question, though, is the stupidity of the national ranking system that U SPORTS employs each and every year when AUS teams that have appeared at Nationals since 1998 - UNB, Dalhousie, Moncton, UPEI, St. Thomas, Saint Mary's, and StFX - are a collective 24-81 against the rest of Canada. That's a .229 winning percentage at Nationals, yet U SPORTS expects me to believe that StFX was better than Toronto and Montreal this year?

To make matters even worse, would you believe that the AUS team with the best winning percentage hasn't played at a National Championship since 2015? The Moncton Aigles Bleues are the AUS team with the best record at Nationals, and they can't even get out of their conference any longer. Since 2015 when the field expanded to eight teams at Nationals, Saint Mary's is the AUS team with the best record, yet they haven't played on the big stage since 2018 when they finished in seventh-place.

Here's a thought: stop ranking the teams throughout the year unless you organize more interconference tournaments because the current format should never see an AUS team ranked in the weekly top-ten rankings ever again. The AUS champion has been upset in four of the last five completed tournaments, so putting them as a top-four team is virtually asking for an upset to occur just as it did this year. Either fix the system or stop ranking teams because it's very clear that the system is broken.

The Goal

There may be goals that win championships this season, but I'm not sure you'll ever see a goal as important as this one.
That's Brooklyn Stevely scoring on the power-play in her second game after returning to the Huskies' lineup following treatments for ovarian cancer. If that doesn't move the heart strings just a little to see Brooklyn score that goal after battling cancer and returning for Nationals, you may want to see a cardiac surgeon.

Forget game-winners because Stevely's goal was the biggest win this season in my books. I love this moment for Brooklyn and her teammates, and it might be my favorite moment from this year's tournament just because of how personal it is for her and knowing how much she loves the game. You can't keep a kid like her down, so congratulations, Brooklyn, and here's hoping you've beat cancer like the Huskies have beat so many teams over the years!

The People In Charge

All you'll hear on this one is a long sigh while I shake my head.

The Last Word

The same two teams who decided the very first National Championship in 1998 will decide this year's event in 2024. In that game, Concordia defeated Toronto 4-1, so we'll see which side prevails in this year's tournament. Clearly, the Stingers are on a mission to capture the Golden Path Trophy after losing in overtime last season to Mount Royal and being ranked as the top team for the majority of the year this year, but the Varsity Blues have shown themselves to be plucky while scoring timely goals. Tomorrow's final should be a good one.

The other two contests should be fun as well as a Canada West rivalry will heat up one last time in this 2023-24 season as UBC and Saskatchewan tangle while the bronze-medal contest will see Waterloo attempt to bring home its first-ever medal in women's hockey against a Montreal team that has two bronze-medal finishes since 2015.

Catch all the action tomorrow at Merlis Belsher Place or on CBC Sports' website as the final day of action for the 2023-24 season is played in Saskatoon!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Friday 15 March 2024

The Rundown - Quarterfinals

Normally, you'be come to expect recaps on The Rundown, but it's a different tournament this year because I'm volunteering at it. That doesn't make the games any different, but there has been a change in my perspective in getting to see and hear some of the conversations surrounding the tournament and its participating teams. I normally just watch games through a streaming service - Canada Waste TV, for example - but I had the chance to watch games live and in-person where the best eight teams in Canada were battling for hockey supremacy. Today, you're going to get condensed recaps with reviews on everything offered at the 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship here on The Rundown!

Waterloo's first visit to a National Championship saw them enter as the fourth-ranked team while the StFX X-Women came into the tournament as the fifth-ranked team having qualified sixteen times prior to this season's event. Needless to say, the new kids on the block were looking to cause the oft=seen AUS squad a few headaches. Amaya Giraudier was between the pipes for the X-Women while Mikayla Schnarr got herself setup in the Warriors' crease.

It seems like this appearance for Waterloo will resonate with them because Tatum James made sure the Warriors started on the right foot by scoring the opening goal of this year's event just 33 seconds into the game. Both goalies were strong for the next 39:27 following that early tally, but the third period is where things went crazy.

Sarah Bestic scored at 7:36 to make it 2-0, and Tatum James added her second goal at 11:33 to make it 3-0. StFX head coach Ben Berthiaume knew that a loss would send them to a consolation side, so he opted to pull Giraudier when Waterloo was whistled for a late penalty. That allowed James to cash in an empty-netter while shorthanded for her hat trick goal at 16:20, and it was 4-0 for Waterloo as it appeared they had this game under control.

Ireland McCloskey would score on the power-play at 17:29 to make it 4-1, but Carly Orth added a fifth goal at 17:45 and Madison Pritchard scored a late power-play goal to cap off a very impressive first appearance at a National Championship as the Waterloo Warriors prevailed 6-1 over the St. Francis-Xavier X-Women. Mikayla Schnarr stopped 20 shots for her first Nationals win while Amaya Giraudier made 22 saves in the setback.

Waterloo advances to the semifinal on Saturday while StFX moves to the consolation semifinal on Saturday.

Apparently, CBC Sports isn't doing highlights for these games which is pretty ridiculous considering the media staff that U SPORTS has at the tournament. Instead, here's the full game as posted by CBC.


The top-ranked Concordia Stingers were in enemy territory as they faced off against the eighth-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies. 2346 people plus a vast number of the employees and volunteers working on Friday night wanted nothing more than for the home team to take down the top-seeded team, but it was going to be a tough task. Camryn Drever was in net for the Huskies while Jordyn Verbeek was tasked with stopping pucks for the Stingers.

An early push by the Huskies was weathered by the Stingers as the home side seemed to feed off the crowd's energy, but that energy faded a little when a weird deflection off an Emmy Fecteau shot went up and over Drever, landing behind the netminder in the Saskatchewan net for the 1-0 lead at 8:13. The Huskies were keeping pace with the Stingers, but the Stingers would double their lead early in the second period when Rosalie Bégin-Cyr found the back of the net at 3:12, and Concordia held the 2-0 lead.

Despite having several glorious chances at scoring, the Huskies simply could not dent twine on those chances. Émilie Lussier would make the hole a little deeper when she punched a loose puck home from a scramble in front of the net at 12:33 as Concordia went up 3-0, and they'd ice the game when Lussier put an empty-netter on the record at 19:19 as the Concordia Stingers defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies 4-0 in their quarterfinal game. Jordyn Verbeek stopped 26 shots for the win and shutout while Camryn Drever was spectacular at times in her 37-save effort.

Concordia advances to the semifinal on Saturday while Saskatchewan moves to the consolation semifinal on Saturday.

Again, no highlights, but a full game from CBC. I can't explain it.


The UBC Thunderbirds came in as the second-ranked team in the tournament as they squared off against the seventh-seeded Montreal Carabins. UBC defeated Montreal in the bronze-medal game in Montreal's rink last season, so there may be some lingering dislike between these two, particularly on the Montreal side. Would we see some payback? Aube Racine was in the Montreal crease while UBC had Elise Hugens in their net.

The teams traded goals in the opening frame as Mylène Lefebvre found the back of the net at 6:58 for the Carabins before Cassidy Rhodes replied at 13:45 for the Thunderbirds to keep things even at 1-1. After a goalless second period, the teams traded goals early in the third period as Joannie Garand found the back of the net 68 seconds into the frame before Sophia Gaskell scored a power-play goal at 2:38 to make it 2-2.

The funny thing is that Montreal seems to match up well with UBC in how they approach the game, and that became more and more evident as the game progressed. With just over six minutes remaining, Jade Picard struck for the Carabins as her shot beat Hugens at 13:50, and Montreal went up 3-2. Montreal simply gave the Thunderbirds no room for them to attack, and they'd close this game out with a Laurie-Anne Ethier empty-net goal at 17:59 to make it 4-2. When the final horn sounded, the Montreal Carabins had defeated the UBC Thunderbirds for the first upset of the tournament. Aube Racine stopped 23 shots for the win while Elise Hugens was on the wrong side of an 18-save performance.

Montreal advances to the semifinal on Saturday while UBC moves to the consolation semifinal on Saturday.

Highlights are so easy to make, yet CBC just wants to give you full games. Use the time markers above to find the goals.


The third-seeded UNB Reds tangled with the sixth-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues in the final quarterfinal game this week, and this one was expected to be a defensive battle as both teams featured solid goaltending, a commitment to the defensive zone, and a handful of stars who could break open a game if they were given time and space. Erica Fryer was in the Blues' net while Kendra Woodland was between the pipes for the Reds.

These two squads spent the opening ten minutes trying to figure out the other's defensive system unsuccessfully, but things would change in the latter half of the period. Ashley Delahey would find space past Woodland at 12:32 to put Toronto up 1-0, and that lead lasted all of 49 seconds before Mackenzie Keenan's shot from the slot found the back of the net to make it 1-1. From there, the chess match continued as players fought to get to the middle of the ice, but pucks were few and far between when it came to finding those spaces.

It would take 44 minutes for one of these teams to find a wrinkle in the other's defence, but Sophie Grawbarger might have scored the prettiest goal in the quarterfinals when she went one-on-one with a defender, juked right, and sent a backhander to the opposite post where it landed inside the net with 2:21 to play. UNB couldn't find an answer to Grawbarger's tally in the final 141 seconds, and the Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the UNB Reds as both Friday games ended in upsets. Erica Fryer stopped 16 shots for the win while Kendra Woodland made 20 saves in her crease.

Toronto advances to the semifinal on Saturday while UNB moves to the consolation semifinal on Saturday.

Highlights of this game don't exist, but you can find them in the video below with the times above. Simply unbelievable.

The Bracket

Here are the four games that will be played on Saturday based on the results from Thursday and Friday. Count me in as excited!
As you can see, the Golden Path Trophy will reside in either Quebec or Ontario for next season after both Canada West and AUS teams fell in their quarterfinal matchups. Mount Royal's reign as National Champion officially ends on Sunday!

The Merchandise

I'm no economist, but $22 for a ticket to these games is a little pricey considering the hotel next door is very expensive thanks to this event and the flights coming into Saskatoon were extortionary. However, the hoodies, crew necks, and t-shirts that have the National Championship logo heat-pressed onto them as people wait is a new low when it comes to having merchandise available for purchase.

Shirts come in one colour - black - and mistakes were seen as there were several "50% off this shirt" shirts available where the logo was slightly askew or off-center. In short, preprinted merchandise costs U SPORTS money if they don't sell everything, so they'll heat-press the logo on as you wait for it so they can re-use the unsold clothing next year when they hold the tournament in Waterloo.

Again, I'm no economics major, but that's pretty sketchy when it comes to "high-quality merchandise", folks. Welcome to U SPORTS where it's always amateur hour.

The Food

Merlis Belsher Place doesn't have anything that's overly unique or impressive when it comes to their main concession stand. It does help if they have everything available that they advertise, but everything is edible and tastes fairly good. Passing marks for the concessions.

The Drink

Being that I spent most of time in Merlis Belsher Place as a volunteer, I wasn't doing a lot of imbibing. I will say that Original 16 has a very clear presence in the rink, and the folks that were enjoying adult beverages were buying that brand. Caesars were also a very popular choice among those who were of age to purchase them, and it seems that coffee and water was being sold at a good pace. Again, nothing overly unique, but definitely some crowd-pleasers.

The People

I have to say that everyone who I encountered in my experiences at Merlis Belsher Place has been ready to cheer, ready to have fun, and certainly as welcoming as anyone I've met. There have been a lot of "why are you here?" conversations in terms of coming to volunteer, but everyone is supportive when they find out that I'm a women's hockey fan. Concordia fans have offered to buy me a beer, Saskatchewan fans love that other prairie folks are helping them put this tournament on, and both parents and alumni of the Huskies have welcomed me with open arms.

I can't deny it: the crowds at the games have been awesome, and the passion for university women's hockey has been incredible!

The Last Word

The reviews above are all surface-level things that a fan would experience in coming to the games, and the overall aesthetic can't be denied in that Merlis Belsher Place is doing a fantastic job with this tournament. Compared to other tournaments that I've been at, this year's edition has been the best in terms of layout as the concourse has everything one could want, and nothing is more than a few minutes away.

The games on the ice have been good with some moments of brilliance, and the fans from each of the teams who have played have been loud and raucous in their support. It's been fun over the two days of quarterfinal games, and I'm hoping the games only get better before we see the tournament come to a close on Sunday.

If you can make it down, I highly recommend visiting Merlis Belsher Place to experience the 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship in Sasaktoon! It's been a blast so far, and there's more to come!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Thursday 14 March 2024

The Hockey Show - Episode 599

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, made its way out to Saskatoon for the 2024 GFL U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy, and it's been a whirlwind of hockey fun so far. Teebz was lucky enough to watch the practices that the Concordia Stingers ran, the Waterloo Warriors ran, and was midway through watching UBC practice before sitting down with our esteemed guest tonight. Frankly, getting settled in Saskatoon was the easy part, and seeing the StFX X-Women shopping in the same grocery store was pretty awesome. That all changes at 1pm Saskatchewan time (Mountain Time), though, as the 2024 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship gets underway at Merlis Belsher Place!

Tonight, Teebz sits down with one of the pioneers of Saskatchewan Huskies hockey as former Huskies defender Robin Ulrich joins the show! Robin's hockey experiences have been extensive as Teebz and Robin discuss her humble beginnings in small-town Saskatchewan, being recruited before the days of internet and social media, some of the schools who wanted her to play for them, her days as a Huskies player, her days as a Huskies assistant coach, her extensive coaching career, and much more! Robin's passion for the game shines through in this interview, and both she and Teebz are excited to see the Huskies get a shot at the top-ranked Concordia Stingers tonight! Make sure you get settled in for the interview prior to the start of the 7:00pm MT game between Saskatchewan and Concordia by hearing Robin's fantastic interview on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. If you use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz chats with Huskies assistant coach Robin Ulrich about small-town life, suiting up for the Huskies, big moments in her career, coaching opportunities elsewhere, returning to the Huskies, and much more live from Sasaktoon, Saskatchwan at the 2024 GFL U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy, exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Practice Day In Saskatoon

Having arrived successfully in Saskatoon, credentials for the 2024 GFL U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy, were obtained, granting me access to Merlis Belsher Place in a limited capacity. Because I didn't apply for media credentials, I don't have the same freedom as some of the reporters who will be spending time at the rink, but it's weird in that me, a volunteer, was one of the few people who was at the arena on Wednesday to watch the practices of a few teams. One of those teams I was lucky enough to watch practice was the Concordia Stingers, and I'll make the case right now that the Stingers appear to be ready for their game on Thursday evening against the host Saskatchewan Huskies.

I'm not here to pump any teams' tires, but watching Concordia practice was pretty incredible because it didn't feel like a practice as much as it looked like a confident team having fun. There were some basic drills and reinforcement of systems, but it was fun to watch the players partake in a breakaway contest where they showed all sorts of moves and skills as the goalies were left to fend for themselves.

Some of the players stood out regarding those skills. Justine Yelle, known more for her defensive play, sent two lasers by the Concordia netminders with her wrist shot - the first when she went off the left post while breaking in on the right side, and the second was a rocket over the glove of the goaltender just under the bar. I was completely unaware of how strong and how accurate her shot was because she plays in a more defensive style, but Yelle's ability to pick her spots with her shot was quite impressive.

Émilie Lavoie was having too much fun with her breakaway moves, deking and weaving down the ice before showing her quick hands. She went between the legs for one attempt that was stopped that resulted in her her looking to the sky, but her attempt down the other end of the ice saw her deke in, drag the puck on her backhand to the far post, and shelf the puck over the stretched goalie across the ice. Needless to say, Lavoie looks like she could be dangerous if she finds some room to skate.

Jessymaude Drapeau was the other player having way too much fun with the breakaways as she was deking, juking, and weaving all over the offensive zone as she pulled out her bag of tricks. Her method seemed to be to get in tight to the crease before showing off her incredible hands, leaving the netminders very little time to react. It worked once, but it seemed that Jordyn Verbeek may have known what to expect as she deked Verbeek to one side of the net before moving the puck to her backhand where it seemed like she had a yawning cage. I say that because Verbeek reached back and absolutely robbed Drapeau with the glove, denying her an incredible goal which resulted in a pad tap from Drapeau.

Clearly, the Stingers were having a good time, but there was some other work being done. Defenders, when not using their skills competition moves, were working on rimming the puck around the boards to the point where a second defender was playing the bounce to get a sense of the kick off the boards. They did that a number of times both along the ice and up along the glass, and it seemed like they had a good idea on how the puck would move if they used the boards to find a player at the point.

Meanwhile, Stingers head coach Julie Chu was chatting with the defenders at the blue line while throwing pucks in at the yellow kickplate behind the net to see how it would kick into the slot area based on her angle. It was rather amazing to watch for the US Olympian testing the kickplate at various spots for how it would send the puck back out front, and you got the sense that she's discussed the idea of purposely missing the net with a low shot with her defenders just to get that kick off the end boards for her forwards battling in front of the net. Will this come into play against the Huskies? I can't say for sure, but I feel like that's something very few coaches spend time discussing with their teams.

Overall, there was a good discussion at the end with the team tightly-huddled near Chu at the boards, and it was cool to see and hear her talking about taking care of the puck, knowing where you have to be on the ice, supporting each other, and having fun. That last part seemed to be the important part to her as there were some laughs and a lot of smiles as she spoke, and you get the sense that the top-ranked team is where they are because they do have fun playing the game. Yes, they're loaded with skill and talent, but hockey is fun for them as well - a point some coaches seem to forget.

Will they win tomorrow? I'm not making that prediction here because the field seems pretty open when it comes to the eight teams competing at the 2024 GFL U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship, presented by Connect Energy, but the top-ranked team in Canada seems to be ready for the battle that looms. If they bring the same energy and fun they had today to their game tomorrow, I feel like the Huskies will have their hands full, but it seems pretty clear that the Stingers are pretty confident heading into the National Championship tournament.

It all gets started tomorrow, so make sure you tune in on CBCSports or get your bottom to Merlis Belsher Place for all the action!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Tuesday 12 March 2024

Thanks For Doing The Bare Minimum

I struggle with the idea that one person can call all the shots when it comes to a mainstream media outlet. It would seem that one particular news outlet that rhymes with "Jockey Clues" has a women's hockey section that's controlled entirely by one person, and his efforts in reporting stories from the Canadian university game are subpar at best. Forget that he rarely pays attention to what's happening at the U SPORTS level in Canada because that's not why I'm here tonight. Instead, the reason is because when he does decide to pound out an article about the Canadian university game, it feels like doing the bare minimum is the effort he gives. Frankly, I'm tired of it.

I've tried to ignore some of the disrespect this particular media outlet gives U SPORTS women's hockey, but it's becoming much harder for me to bite my tongue when I see the types of mistakes made when it comes to spelling players' names wrong. The first rule we had when broadcasting was get a player's name correct. They earned the right to wear the jersey and be on the ice, so the very least we could do was pronouncing and spelling a player's name correctly. The outlet in question, however, seems not to care for this particular detail.

I can forgive an accent left off a name as we still know who that player is thanks to the name being spelled correctly. Should the accent be there? Absolutely since the player includes it when she signs her name. I'll overlook the accents missing on a number of players' names in this article published today, but we need to have some serious discussions about the effort of this writer to cover Canadian university women's hockey with any sort of knowledge about the teams and players.

Let's start with the general numbers. Since February 1, the author in question has published 28 NCAA stories compared to just six U SPORTS stories. Four of those U SPORTS stories were who won each conference, so it's a question as to why it was posted on "The Jockey Clues" without some actual coverage of the playoffs for each of the teams. The other two was a piece on Concordia finishing their season 25-0-0 while the second was the piece linked above and here again. In none of the pieces was anything more than a simple recap given with a few player stats mixed into the paragraphs.

Effort aside, what bothers me the most is the disrespect shown by Ion Keddeny in misspelling names that are easily verifiable and absolutely crucial for his stories. Again, accents aside on Concordia's Émilie Lussier's and Rosalie Bégin-Cyr's names, how on earth does UBC netminder Elise Hugens have her name misspelled so badly?
Perhaps Ioan Kennedee doesn't watch Canada West hockey enough to know it's Elise HYOU-GINS (hard G), but you'd think he'd make the effort to know how Elise's last name is spelled if he was writing articles about women's hockey, right? Perhaps not.

Of course, knowing that a player won a FISU gold medal last season would mean he likely knows her name, but it seems Waterloo's Leah Herrfort doesn't even get her name right in multiple articles. Below is the article from today (Heffort???) and the second example is from Iain Kokomo's March 11 article about Waterloo winning the OUA championship where he wrote the same name. How does this happen?
Leah Herrfort's name isn't unknown to U SPORTS hockey fans as the dynamic forward has been Waterloo's standout player for a couple of seasons. Her efforts at the FISU Universiade put her on the map in Canadian university hockey as one of the best players in the game, and she's followed that up with Waterloo's first appearance at Nationals. Yet, according to the guy writing all these women's hockey articles for a major publication, "Leah Heffort" is the player to watch.

He was at it again when talking about UBC's victory in Canada West as Eion Kennebunkport was naming key players in UBC's run to the banner this season on March 4. Former McGill Martlets and current T-Birds forward Makenzie McCallum - no "C" in her first name - is playing her fifth and final year at UBC, and she was a key contributor all season long. Our author, though, decided that "C" was necessary.
I'll be honest in saying that I've made the same mistake, but I verify those names before hitting "publish" because I hold these women in high regard. Regarding Miss McCallum's name, I've made a point to get it right whenever she's lightning the lamp for the Thunderbirds which was often this season, and it shouldn't be hard for a journalist working for one of the major publications to verify the players' names he's used in his stories. But that seems just theoretical here.

Of course, publishing accurate information would also be in Ean Kenedi's best interest. He made a bold claim that, while partially true, needed one word to make it entirely accurate. On February 17, he wrote about the Concordia Stingers finishing their season at 25-0-0, and he made this bold statement to begin the article.
The only problem with that statement is that the UNB Reds men's team went 30-0-0 this season. Being that UNB is in Canada, that would blow a hole through that statement. Had the author simply qualified his statement by adding "No women's team in Canada," this statement would be true. However, his lack of a qualifier on his statement is proven false by that powerhouse team in Fredericton coached by Gardiner MacDougall.

I had mentioned earlier that Iann Kinidee's effort in writing some of these articles was rather terrible, and he went back to that level of effort for the U SPORTS National Championship preview he published today. Most of the examinations of these teams are simply statistical reviews of their top players, but it seems he opted to do even less when he got to the Toronto Varsity Blues.
How does Toronto lack individual star power? Taylor Trussler led the team in goals (10) and points (23), and she's their legitimate offensive star. Alongside her, you'll find Taylor Delahey, Sophie Grawbarger, and Kaitlyn McKnight who finished the season with 9, 8, and 7 goals, repsecively. On the blue line, Emma Potter is a standout player, and her return to the lineup in Saskatoon will boost the Varsity Blues immensely. Yes, Toronto's strategy is based on sound defence, but don't claim there aren't star players in the lineup, especially when Trussler finished tied for second in playoff scoring. That's just terrible research being done for this article.

Of course, there's this line that Aeon Fluxitty decided to write in setting up Montreal's preview that is woefully misinformed.
For those who aren't aware, Montreal finished in third-place in the RSEQ this season. They went 0-4-1 against the Stingers, so they did pick up a point in their first meeting of the season in a 2-1 overtime loss before recording a win over the Stingers in the playoffs. A couple of notes would include that while Montreal surrendered the fewest goals (16) when playing the Stingers of all RSEQ teams, they also scored the fewest (3) while being shutout three times.

The reason I'm pointing this out is that the Ottawa Gee-Gees went 0-3-2 against the Stingers this season while beating them once in the playoffs as well. Ottawa scored nine times in those games and was not shutout by the Stingers this season while allowing 20 goals in those games. That -11 goal differential is better than Montreal, and those two points earned in the overtime losses is better than what Montreal earned. Again, doing the research matters when writing matter-of-fact statements, and it seems that research is the last thing our author does. Assuming it's done at all.

You can't claim to a news outlet for women's hockey if you can do the basics like getting names and simple facts correct. Masquerading as "a supporter for women's hockey" when you're misspelling players' names and publishing incorrect information isn't doing the game any help, and those of us who know better aren't paid to be your editor. If you're going to lead the push for women's hockey media, then do it. Otherwise, get out of the way and let those of us who know these players tell their stories correctly.

On behalf of the above writer's poor effort, I apologize to all of the teams and players at this year's U SPORTS National Championship. You all deserve better than a half-assed article written by a guy who makes it clear he doesn't care about U SPORTS women's hockey.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

***UPDATE:*** I tweeted at the author to, at the very least, get players' names right, and it seems he went back and fixed one of the more egregious errors he made with a player's name.
Based on that fix, I had hoped that Elise Hugens would see her name fixed, but that didn't happen. I'm hopeful he'll go back and review his article once more since I tweeted at him again, but it seems the UBC netminder will play as "Huggins" as per this author.