Huskies men’s hockey team claims 12th Canada West title

For the first time since 2020, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team has claimed the Canada West championship.

The Huskies defeated the Mount Royal University Cougars 3-0 on Sunday night at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon to win the best-of-three series 2-1 and claim the program’s 12th Canada West title.

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“All I’ve wanted since we won in 2020 was to be back here hoisting that cup again,” said Huskies captain Justin Ball.

“We went through some tough seasons the last four years, but it was all worth it in the end because we did it now.”

The Huskies were starved for offence heading into a scoreless third period in Game 3. The Dogs had been held off the score sheet for five consecutive periods after Trevor Wong last scored the opening goal in the first period of Game 2 on Saturday night.

Fifth-year student Vince Loschiavo opened the scoring with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third period after his wrist shot up the ice took a weird bounce off a Mount Royal defender into the back of the net.

MHKY | VINCE LOSCHIAVO OPENS THE SCORING IN GAME THREE 🚨

A top corner 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘶𝘱 off the defender's stick.@HuskieMHKY have taken the lead midway through the third period!@HuskieAthletics x @USPORTSca pic.twitter.com/G1Owlb8Wmu

— Canada West (@CanadaWest) March 10, 2025

He admitted his goal was a lucky one.

“I was pretty gassed, but I saw an opportunity there. Honestly, I just tried to shoot it through the D-man, caught a lucky bounce, hit a stick and found its way into the net,” Loschiavo said.

The Huskies added to their lead a couple minutes later, when Jarrett Penner was able to bully two Cougars defenders off the puck and slip it to Ethan Regnier, who slid his shot by Mount Royal goaltender Shane Farkas to make it a 2-0 lead with six minutes remaining in the third.

Ty Prefontaine added an empty net goal to make it 3-0 for the Huskies in the final minutes, giving the Dogs the win.

Although offence was hard to come by, a 30-save shutout from Huskies goaltender Roddy Ross was able to keep the team in the game and allowed them to find their scoring touch.

Ross felt that despite his team’s offensive struggles, the team didn’t quit and kept working hard.

“I was feeling good. When you have a team like this, everyone buys in. There’s some brotherhood in here, and we play solid. We stick together,” Ross said.

“We knew we weren’t playing our best that we could, but we also knew we were still in the game and still had more to give,” Loschiavo added.

“But I just think we took it up a little bit – a notch higher – and we knew we wanted to get that first goal. We did, then we just locked it down for the rest of the game.”

Huskies head coach Brandin Cote gave his team credit for sticking with it through the tough series.

“At times we sat back on our heels a little bit too much. They were pushing, but we had to just sort of weather the storm,” Cote said. “Roddy stood tall, and then we took advantage of some opportunities and they broke. That’s what good teams do – they find a way. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You just got to find a way.”

Cote said his team was actually having a laugh in the dressing room during intermission to ease the pressure.

“You just get a feel for your group. They want it so bad, and when you want it too much, you tense up. So I just asked the guys if they had a good joke, and we had a little laugh,” Cote explained.

“I just said ‘It’s just a game; it’s not life or death.’ After that, you can sort of see they can take a breath and, as the game wore on, you can see where you’re just playing more free.”

MHKY | THESE DOGS ARE BEST IN THE WEST 🏆

The Saskatchewan Huskies are Canada West Champions, defeating Mount Royal 3-0 in Game 3!

What a series. What a battle.

The party is ON at Merlis Belsher Place 🐶@HuskieAthletics x @HuskieMHKY x @USPORTSca pic.twitter.com/zBllFSGciV

— Canada West (@CanadaWest) March 10, 2025

Up next for the Huskies is a trip to Ottawa for nationals. Ball said he can’t wait to get back there.

“I’m so pumped. I remember nationals back then. It was so much fun, so cool to see,” he said. “I’ve been waiting to go back for five years, so here we go.”