SASKATOON, SK - You know you're in for some incredible hockey when the matchup is the Alberta Golden Bears and the Saskatchewan Huskies. Tonight was no different as over 1,500 fans packed into Merlis Belsher Place to watch these teams go head to head for the first time in the 2022-23 Canada West Season.
 
The Huskies starting lineup included some familiar faces as Jared Dmytriw, Vince Loschiavo, Connor Hobbs, Jaxan Kaluski, and Gunner Kinniburgh got the start for the Dogs. Alberta's Dawson Davidson, Josh Prokop, Eric Florchuk, Matt Fonteyne and Dilan Savenkov started on the ice for the Golden Bears. Starting in net for Saskatchewan was Meadow Lake's Roddy Ross.  
 
From the first whistle, these teams were here to play aggressive hockey. The first penalty of the game was just over a minute into the first, with Tate Olson headed to the box for roughing after a bit of a skirmish between these two rival teams. Cael Zimmerman opened scoring for the Huskies, slipping one past Alberta goaltender Nick Schneider 6:22 into the first period. Saskatchewan's Liam Keeler nabbed a power play goal at 11:37 in the first, with the assist from Connor Hobbs. Just over ten seconds later, Alberta's Dylan Plouffle answered with a goal of his own, bringing the score to 2-1 Huskies at the end of the first period. 
 
Saskatchewan opened scoring in the second period with a great shot from Shane Collins, assisted by Justin Ball and Liam Keeler at 4:32 in the second. Not to be outdone, Alberta's Matt Fonteyne drove to the net on a power play to fire one past Roddy Ross, bringing the score to 3-2 Huskies. 
 
The third period belonged to Saskatchewan's Jared Dmytriw, as he scored an incredible unassisted goal, picking up his seventh of the season. He later added an assist to Ty Prefontaine's goal late in the third period to give the Dogs a 5-2 victory over the Alberta Golden Bears.
 
"It was a great team effort, our guys played really well. We had solid goaltending when we needed it, I thought we played our best game of the year in terms of our structure and our detail," commented Head Coach Brandin Cote. 
 
When asked how he felt about taking control of Saskatchewan's goaltending, Roddy Ross said "That's my job. I have to be prepared every night and I hope to do some damage in this league this year. It seems like we're going that way and we have to keep doing what we're going and stick to our game plan."
 
With tonight's win, the Huskies improve to 6-1 and currently sit on top of the Canada West standings. Tomorrow night's rematch against the Alberta Golden Bears starts at 7:00 pm at Merlis Belsher Place. Tickets available at www.huskietickets.com and is available to stream on CanadaWest.TV.