Top 10 Tuesday

MEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. UNB (20-5-0) / 179 pts (17) / (1)
2. McGill (22-2-2) / 142 (1) / (2)
3. Alberta (15-5-2) / 130 / (4)
4. Western Ontario (20-2-4) / 117 / (3)
5. Saint Mary’s (16-9-1) / 111 / (6)
6. Saskatchewan (15-7-0) / 107 / (5)
7. St. Francis Xavier (15-10-1) / 74 / (7)
8. Carleton (17-7-2) / 45 / (NR)
9. Calgary (13-8-2) / 30 / (NR)
10. Acadia (14-8-3) / 21 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: UPEI (10), Manitoba (10), Guelph (6), Nipissing (5), Wilfrid Laurier (3).

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I'm not sure how the Huskies fall this week but they'll have a chance to move up with a good showing against Alberta. My thought is the Huskies would hold steady at #5 but that's not the case.

The women's team entered the top 10 and sits at #10.

Monday morning water cooler

SASKATOON -- It's a cold one this morning in the bridge city but don't worry there is sunny skies on the horizon. Guess what? It's supposed to get up towards zero by the weekend. Hang in there.

For your enjoyment here are some notes I've collected over the past week, mostly from the fabulous world of Twitter.

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The dust has settled in Texas and emerging as Super Bowl champions are the Green Bay Packers.

I wasn't extremely excited for this one as I didn't really care who won but I watched and I am of the belief that in order to watch a game of any kind you need to have a rooting interest.

Am I right? Can you actually watch a game (and be genuinely interested) without cheering for one team or another?

So, I took the Steelers, and for a while I thought they were gonna do it. It ended up being a pretty entertaining game. Brian Lee will enjoy this Packer victory for a while.

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The half-time show left a little something to be desired. Yes it was refreshing to know the Black Eyed Peas were actually singing and there were a ton of lights and choreographed moves but that was about it.

It just left you asking yourself: was that it?

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The Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team had a very successful weekend sweeping the UBC Thunderbirds. Alberta also put a sweep together against Regina setting up a massive weekend at Rutherford.

Alberta will be in town for a pair of games that will go a long way to determining who finishes first in Canada West. Look for a preview sometime later in the week leading up to the big series.

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Congrats are in order for Mike Linklater and the Huskies men's basketball team for winning 2010 Kinsmen sport athlete and team of the year.

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While I didn't have too much interest in who won the Super Bowl, I was watching the Canadian Jr. Curling championships with interest. Congrats to the Moskowy rink for winning the championship.

Skip Braeden made a great shot with the final stone in the 10th end to win by one. It was good TV.

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Here are some quick notes from the week:

- Apparently, Ron Artest would play in the CFL. Check it out: http://natpo.st/fhW3fm

- A piece of advice from Wired 96.3 morning host Brandy:

@Bbbbbrandy: "Just cause you're not expecting company doesn't mean you shouldn't mow the lawn"

- Happy Birthday to Don Cherry (Feb. 5).

- Denis Kulyash one ups Zedeno Chara in the KHL skills competition by blasting a record breaking shot of 110.343 mph. WOW!

- Congrats to LaRonge Ice Wolves forward and former Klipper Travis Eggum for scoring his 50th goal of the season this past week. He becomes the first player to hit 50 since 2002/2003.

- How about former Rider QB Graham Harrell? He goes from practice roster to winning a super bowl as Packers 3rd string QB. Not a bad deal.

- Miss the Super Bowl commercials? Check out this link on YouTube: youtube.com/user/adblitz

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That's it for this morning. Have a great week!

dd

Champs!

TSN.ca ALERT: Green Bay Packers defeat Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 to win Super Bowl XLV in Dallas.
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George and Canada win gold

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2011 Winter Universiade

Women's hockey: Canada makes it back-to-back gold

Feb. 5, 2011

ERZURUM, Turkey (CIS) – Canada successfully defended its Winter Universiade title in women's hockey on Saturday afternoon defeating Finland 4-1 in the gold-medal final, a Cemal Gursel Arena.

IIHF game summary: http://www.erzurum2011.gov.tr/pdfts/IHW400101/C74 Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter

2011 Winter Universiade website: http://www.erzurum2011.gov.tr/english

Canada also won gold in 2009 when the sport made its Universiade debut in Harbin, China, thanks to a 3-1 win over the host team.

The red-and-white squad comprised exclusively of Canadian Interuniversity Sport all-stars finished the 2011 tournament with an unblemished 7-0 record including a 2-1 shootout victory over Finland (5-1-1) in their preliminary round opener on Jan. 27.

"It's a great moment for us. We didn't play of best game today. We did a lot of good things but we struggled a little bit in our zone. But in the end, we're a team that came together over the two weeks and we accomplished what we came here to do," said Team Canada head coach Les Lawton. "After we took a three-goal lead we felt pretty comfortable. I didn't think they could score four on us."

"Over the past two weeks, we tried to do things that would help develop the game in other countries and I think we were successful. Our players did a great job of stepping up and embracing the other teams. You could see we have the respect of the other countries and that's very rewarding," added the Concordia University bench boss.

"Finland came out really strong today. It was a tough game all the way through. We came here with a goal and we knew what we wanted to do. We're really excited to come out of this game on top. It's an unbelievable feeling right now," said team captain Andrea Ironside.

"We came in as defending champs so we had some pressure on ourselves but we played through it all. I think we did a great job of stepping up to the challenge," added the Wilfrid Laurier rearguard from Collingwood, Ont., one of six returnees from the 2009 championship team. "We are overjoyed with everything, from the organizing committee to the facilities and the people. Turkey has been truly phenomenal."

Four different players scored for Canada including University of Montreal's Kim Deschênes of Saint-Quentin, N.B., Guelph's Jessica Zerafa of Mississauga, Ont., as well as McGill teammates Ann-Sophie Bettez of Sept-Îles, Que., and Carly Hill of Dorval, Que.

Wilfrid Laurier netminder Liz Knox of Stoufville, Ont., made 20 saves to earn her fourth win in as many starts.

Canada fired 34 shots at Finnish goalie Anna Vanhatalo including a 13-7 advantage in the first period and a 12-4 edge in the second.

Deschênes, who found the back of the net for a fifth straight match, opened the scoring with 91 seconds left in the first frame when she beat a defender, kicked the puck to her stick and beat Vanhatalo up top. It marked the third time in the competition that Deschênes scored the game's first goal.

Zerafa tallied what would be the game-winner 4:01 into the middle stanza. She took advantage of traffic in front of the net to roof a rebound over Vanhatalo's right shoulder for her fourth of the tourney.

After Bettez made it 3-0 late in the second period with her fifth goal of the event, Finland came back to within two 2:19 into the third when Venla Hovi buried a rebound past Knox during a power play.

Hill, who was also part of the 2009 gold-medal team, put the game away with a power-play marker with 3:33 left on the clock.

GAME NOTES: In addition to Ironside and Hill, other 2009 returnees included University of Alberta's Andrea Boras of Calgary, York's Kelsey Webster of Duncan, B.C., Moncton's Mariève Provost of Laval, Que., and York's Courtney Unruh of Fort St. John, B.C... Wilfrid Laurier forward Candice Styles of Orangeville, Ont., who picked up an assist in the final, and Saskatchewan's Breanne George of Saskatoon both finished with a team-leading 12 points, good for sixth in the tournament scoring race... Styles finished third in goals with eight, while George was tied for fourth with seven... Brock goalie Beth Clause of Hamilton, who was Knox's backup in the final, didn't allow a goal on 25 shots in 200 minutes of action in the tournament to finish first in goals against average (0.00), save percentage (1.000) and shutouts (3)... Know, who allowed three goals in 225 minutes of play, finished second in GAA (0.80) and save% (.921)...

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Huskie hockey and basketball sweep

Saskatchewan 3 UBC 0 (men's hockey)

Steven DaSilvs's first period goal was all the offense the Huskies would need as goaltender David Reekie turned aside 32 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Huskies opened the weekend with a 3-0 win over UBC.

Andrew Bailey and Brett Ward added singles for the Huskies who picked up their fourth consecutive win to improve to 14-7-0 on the season. The two teams hit the ice Saturday night for the second game of the weekend series in Vancouver.

Elsewhere in Canada West the Calgary Dinos did the Huskies a favor beating the Manitoba Bisons 6-2 while Alberta beat Regina by a 5-3 score.

Saskatchewan's win combined with Manitoba's loss moves the Huskies into sole position of second place in Canada West with 28 points while Calgary and Manitoba become tied for third with 26 points each. Alberta is able to remain alone in first place with 30 points and are just two points ahead of Saskatchewan.

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Saskatchewan 3 UBC 2 (women's hockey)

The women's Huskies hockey team was successful at home against UBC Friday night picking up a 3-2 win in front of a boisterous 284 at Rutherford Rink.

Chelsey Sundby scored the winner late in the third period in game where emotions ran high. Teegan Heintz and Julie Paetsch also added singles for the Huskies while Kaylee Chanakos and Amanda Asay replied for UBC.

The Huskies remain in fourth place and will be hard pressed to move up with just three games left in the regular season.

UBC and Saskatchewan meet again Saturday night at Rutherford Rink with puck-drop scheduled for 7:00pm.

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Huskies basketball results at the PAC:

Saskatchewan 98 Alberta 73 (men's basketball)

Saskatchewan 82 Alberta 70 (women's basketball) *Kim Tulloch career-high 28 points.

Blades 6 Pats 2

The Blades found themselves lacking against the Pats this season, falling behind in the season series 2 games to 1. Saskatoon worked hard tonight to bring up those stats with a 6-2 win and a now even versus the Pats as they look forward to two more regular season games with the Queen City.

Right off the hop Teigan Zahn and Shayne Neigum set the pace for the first period; 15 seconds in they dropped gloves for the first of two battles tonight. Following that the two Blades imports, Marek Viedensky and Matej Stransky, scored 24 seconds apart. Jake Trask notched another goal for Saskatoon and the Blades went into the dressing room with a 3-point lead, outshooting the Pats 23-11 in the first.

Point-leader in the Blades-Pats series, Jordan Weal, put the visiting team on the board at 13:16 of the second period. Duncan Siemens scored on the powerplay and one minute later Curtis Hamilton picked up his 17th goal of the season as Schenn received his third assist of the night. Stanford made another 11 saves, including some impressive acrobatics as he stacked the pads and kicked away a sure thing.

Mid-way through the third period Neigum was given credit for a Pats goal, after a shot that rebounded from a save by Stanford was pushed in by Siemens as he uncontrollably slid into the net. Trask continued to rack up the points with another Blades goal to top off the night and the home team dominated 6-2.

The Blades continue their 5-game homes stand on Saturday when they take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes at 7:05 in Credit Union Centre.

(courtesy SaskatoonBlades.om)
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On the air tonight!

I'm back! I'll be in the booth tonight working alongside Dan Plaster for the Pats and Blades tonight from CUC.

I'll be on the Pats broadcast which begins at 6:35pm with the Press Box Sports Bar pre-game show and puck drop at 7:05pm on 620 CKRM and online at www.620ckrm.com.

Talk to you then!

Blades game day: vs Regina

(courtesy SaskatoonBlades.com)

Tonight’s game is the fourth of six regular season meetings between the Saskatoon Blades (39-10-0-2) and the Regina Pats (18-25-6-1). Despite their wide gap in points and positioning in the Eastern Conference, the Pats have beaten the Blades in 2 of the 3 previous meetings this season, including a 4-3 Shoot-out win over Saskatoon in the last meeting back on Jan 13^th in Regina. That night the Pats jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead and then relied on goaltender Matt Hewitt to secure them the win as he was forced to make 59 saves on 62 shots in order to pick up the “W”.

The Blades are lead offensively against the Pats by Marek Viedensky who has collected five points (3G 2A) in the three games vs. Regina this year. After Viedensky; Stefan Elliott (1G 2A), Curtis Hamilton (1G 2A), and Josh Nicholls (3A) round out the top 4 scorers against the Rebels. For the Pats; Jordan Weal has 6 points (4G 2A) vs. the Blades this season.

Blades Last Game

The Saskatoon Blades won a wild-scoring and wildly-entertaining contest Tuesday…out-scoring the Red Deer Rebels 7-5 in front of 5,184 fans at Credit Union Centre. The top two teams in the Eastern Conference squared off in a see-saw struggle that included a couple of first period fights while scoring goals from all lengths and angles off beleaguered netminders Steven Stanford of the Blades and Darcy Kuemper of Red Deer. Brayden Schenn scored twice, including a power play goal 58 seconds into the third period that broke a 3-3 tie. Josh Nicholls followed that up 16 seconds later and the Bridge City Bunch would not be caught the rest of the way in winning their sixth straight game and ending the Rebels’ 11-game winning streak. Darian Dziurzynski, Dalton Thrower, Chris Collins and Jake Trask also tallied for the 39-10-2 Blades who, with 80 points, now lead the Eastern Conference by five points over Red Deer. Saskatoon also holds two games in hand.

Blades Banter

- King Size Match-up – tonight’s game will be of interest to the LA Kings who will have 2009 first round pick Brayden Schenn and 2010 third round pick Jordan Weal facing off against each other for the first time this season. Weal and Schenn finished 3^rd and 4^th respectively in WHL scoring last season giving the Kings a tremendous pair of prospects for the future of their club. Weal is currently ranked 9^th in the league in scoring this year with 63 points and Schenn is putting up an average of 1.875 points a game which is tops in the WHL this season.

- Last Wednesday, the CHL announced their week 18 Top 10 rankings which are voted upon by a panel of NHL Scouts. This week’s rankings have the Blades ranked 3^rd in the CHL behind the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Mississauga St. Mike’s Majors.

By The Numbers

- Brayden Schenn’s 2^nd goal last night was the 100^th regular season goal of his WHL career. The 19 year old LA Kings prospect has 273 points in 203 career games. Since joining the Blades, Schenn has been held off the score sheet just once and has 11 points (5G 6A) in 6 games played.

- The Saskatoon Blades enter tonight’s game on a season high six game winning streak. During that time, the Blades have outscored their opponents 33 to 17. The Blades PP has also seen a dramatic turnaround and has been clicking at a 31.0% success rate over the last 6 games (9 for 29).

- With 63 points, Josh Nicholls has moved into a 10^th place tie for scoring in the WHL. The 18 year old Toronto Maple Leaf prospect, who will be playing in his 185^th career game tonight, also leads the Blades in goals scored (25) and power-play goals scored (7).

- Stefan Elliott was a +2 in last night’s 7-5 win over Red Deer which raised his season total to an impressive +40 mark. Elliott is ranked 2^nd in the league in +/- this season behind only Brendon Kichton of the Spokane Chiefs.

Blades 7 Rebels 5

The final regular season meeting between the top two teams in the Western Hockey League was a back and forth struggle. In the end it was a physical battle en route to the Blades 7-5 win and 3-1 domination of the season series against the Rebels.

The first period between the two rivals lived up to the expected intensity level. Darian Dziurzynski opened up the scoring, with a short-handed slap shot from the Blades’ side of centre ice that beat goaltender, Darcy Keumper. 23 second later, the Rebels’ Andrej Kudrna put a PP goal in from the mouth of the Blades’ net. Schenn scored directly before back-to-back scraps took place off the next two face-offs. The fights featured Dziurzynski taking on Josh Cowen and Lukas Sutter battling the Rebels’ Locke Muller. Ness evened up the score to finish off the eventful period at 2-2.

In the second, top prospect, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, scored to give the Rebels their first and only lead of the night. Saskatoon D-man, Dalton Thrower, picked the right time to score his sixth goal of the season; he tied the game at 3-3. The Rebels had an opportunity with a 2-man advantage in the final minutes of the period but couldn’t get past goaltender, Steven Stanford.

The Blades jumped out to a 2-point lead at the beginning of the third with Schenn scoring his second goal of the night and Josh Nicholls chipping in with one 16 seconds apart. Colin Archer closed in the gap with another Rebels goal. The back-and-forth continued as Chris Collins scored his 15^th goal of the season, followed by Daulton Siwak for the Rebels. Still one point behind in the last minute, the Rebels pulled their netminder, Kuemper, and Jake Trask found the open net to put the game on ice. The Blades outshot the Rebels 37-23 and beat the top contender 7-5.

The Blades play the Regina Pats tomorrow night at home in the CUC, puck drops at 7:05.

Huskies move up in CIS Top 10

MEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. UNB (19-4-0) / 179 pts (17) / (1)
2. McGill (22-1-2) / 143 (1) / (2)
3. Western Ontario (19-1-4) / 135 / (3)
4. Alberta (13-5-2) / 124 / (4)
5. Saskatchewan (13-7-0) / 98 / (7)
6. Saint Mary's (14-9-1) / 97 / (5)
7. StFX (14-9-1) / 77 / (NR)
8. UPEI (12-8-3) / 45 / (6)
9. Manitoba (11-5-4) / 43 / (8)
10. Nipissing (16-7-3) / 12 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Carleton (11), Calgary (10), Wilfrid Laurier (7), Acadia (3), Lakehead (3), UQTR (3).

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Other Huskie Top 10 notes:

- Men's basketball remains steady at #3 while women's basketball received every first place vote to remain at #1.

- Women's track and field is at #7 for another week while the men's team moved into #7 after previously being ranked 10th.

- The women's hockey team remains outside the top 10 again this week.