SASKATOON, Sask. - The 2024-25 season saw the University of Saskatchewan Huskies establish themselves as the team to beat in Canada West, capturing their 12th conference title in program history before finishing as the third team in the nation with a bronze medal at the University Cup. Now with much of their championship core intact and several exciting new additions to the roster, the Dogs will look to keep it that way, beginning with their 2025-26 season-opener against the Mount Royal Cougars.
 

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2024-25 Recap
Regular Season: 23-5-0 / 1st Overall
Canada West Playoffs: 4-2 / CW Champs
U-Cup Championship: 2-1 / U SPORTS Bronze
CW Team Ranks
    Offence: 120 GF, 3rd / 31.1 PK%, 1st
    Defence: 61 GA, 1st / 89.4 PK%, 1st
Season Leaders (RETURNING)
    Goals: 20 - Chantz Petruic
    Assists: 25 - Dawson Holt
    Points: 37 - Chantz Petruic
    Wins: 12 - Jordan Kooy
    Save%: .915 - Jordan Kooy
 

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The 2024-25 regular season was one of the most successful in recent memory, with the Huskies finishing 23-5-0 and taking the top spot in the conference standings. From there, the Dogs went on to defeat the UBC Thunderbirds and Mount Royal Cougars en route to the programs 12th Canada West title. In the nation's capital, the team then captured the program's first national medal since the 2016-17 season thanks to a pair of wins at the University Cup.

With just three graduating players, the Huskies have returned several of their key performers from a season ago including Chantz Petruic, Dawson Holt, Josh Pillar, Liam Keeler, Landon Kosior, Gunner Kinniburgh, and Jordan Kooy. Joining this core for the 2025-26 campaign and beyond is an exciting and talented group of newcomers featuring Conner Roulette (ECHL), Ben Saunderson (WHL), and Bryan Thomson (ECHL) among others, leaving Saskatchewan poised for another deep run.

"It's exciting to have the opportunity to defend our championship, but we know it won't be easy and there is a lot of hard work ahead," said 2024-25 Canada West Coach of the Year Brandin Cote, who is entering his fourth season as head coach of the Men's Hockey program. "This is an exciting group who are ready to embrace that challenge though and are focused on putting their best foot forward every day. Our goal remains the same—to be a premier program in both our conference and across the country, and to compete for another Canada West championship and a national title."

There will be no easing into the challenge this season, with the Huskies set to host Mount Royal in a matchup of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Canada West coaches poll. The Dogs, ranked first, received seven of the nine first place votes available while the Cougars received one. Friday's season-opener will be the first of six meetings between Saskatchewan and Mount Royal this season thanks to the latest divisional rotation in the conference which saw Alberta and MacEwan head to the West Division while Mount Royal and Calgary move to the East.

Saskatchewan officially drops the puck on the 2025-26 season at 7:00 PM Friday night at Merlis Belsher Place.
 

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2025-26 Canada West Coaches Poll (First Place Votes)

1. Saskatchewan Huskies - 71 points (7)
2. Mount Royal Cougars - 61 (1)
3. UBC Thunderbirds - 58 (1)
4. Alberta Golden Bears - 49
5. Calgary Dinos - 48
6. MacEwan Griffins - 36
7. Manitoba Bisons - 31
8. Regina Cougars - 23
9. Trinity Western Spartans - 16
 

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2025-26 Huskie Men's Hockey Recruiting Class
(Name / No. / Position / / Ht. / Major / Hometown / Previous Team)

Ben Saunderson / #4 / D / 6-1 / Agriculture & Bioresources / Brandon, MB / Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
Zach Somers / #8 / F / 5-11 / Business / Melfort, SK / Melfort Mustangs (SJHL)
Eric Johnston / #12 / D / 6-0 / Arts & Science / Regina, SK / Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
Conner Roulette / #14 / F / 5-11 / Arts & Science / Winnipeg, MB / Tulsa Oilers (ECHL)
Karter Prosofsky / #25 / D / 5-10 / Arts & Science / Corman Park, SK / Gherdeina (ALPSHL)
James Venne / #31 / G / 6-3 / Arts & Science / Saskatoon, SK / Sherwood Park Crusaders (BCHL)
Bryan Thomson / #32 / G / 6-4 / Arts & Science / Moose Jaw, SK / Idaho Steelheads (ECHL)
Nicholas Andrusiak / RS / F / 5-11 / Business / Tisdale, SK / Melfort Mustangs (SJHL)
 

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FORWARDS
The Huskies return a potent group of forwards for the 2025-26 season, including three student-athletes who, for the majority of last season, made up the Dogs' number one line in Chantz Petruic (Moose Jaw, SK), Dawson Holt (Saskatoon, SK), and Josh Pillar (Warman, SK). Petruic enters his fifth season in green & white coming off another outstanding campaign which saw the winger lead the team in scoring for a second consecutive season with 37 points (20 G, 17 A), resulting in his second Canada West All-Star nod. The Business student was also the Dogs' top playoff performer, recording eight points in six contests. Opposite Petruic on the wing is Holt, who also returns for his fifth season after finishing top-5 in conference scoring a season ago with a career-best 36 points (11 G, 25 A). Down the middle is Pillar, a third-year student-athlete coming off a career season after recording 24 points (7 G, 17 A) while appearing in all 28 regular season games. Former Red Deer Rebel, Liam Keeler (Edmonton, AB) joins Pillar as another productive centre for the Huskies. Totaling 13 points (7 G, 6 A) last season, Keeler left for a significant stretch of the season after being selected to represent the nation at the 2025 FISU Winter Games where he helped Team Canada capture gold.

Finally, freshman Conner Roulette (Winnipeg, MB) joins the lineup out of the ECHL's Tulsa Oilers and, while technically a rookie, brings a veteran presence to the lineup thanks to 59 career games of professional hockey. A skilled play maker with high end offensive ability, Roulette recorded 34 points and 17 goals before being named the Oilers Rookie of the Year. A fourth-round draft pick in 2021 to the Dallas Stars, Roulette also brings over 300 games of WHL regular season and playoff experience with him after spending time with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Saskatoon Blades, and Spokane Chiefs. 

DEFENCEMAN
On the blueline the Huskies welcome back 2024-25 Canada West Second Team All-Star Landon Kosior (Regina, SK). A third-year defenceman with a impressive ability to control play at both ends of the ice, Kosior finished his sophomore season as the fourth-highest scoring defenceman in the conference with 25 points (4 G, 21 A). The former Iowa Star was also a key contributor on Canada West's best powerplay unit, where he recorded 11 assists. Joining Kosior in his return to green and white is defensive partner and 2025-26 captain Gunner Kinniburgh (Saskatoon, SK). Returning for his fifth season, Kinniburgh brings a calming presence on the back end in addition to his leadership qualities both on and off the ice. A season ago, the local product was +20 through 27 regular season games, good enough to finish the campaign as the team leader and sixth in the conference. Also, set to patrol the Huskie blue line is fourth-year defenceman Rhett Rhinehart, who is poised for a strong year after appearing in 22 games and recording 11 points (11 A) a season ago.

Unlikely to be a new face to hockey fans is Ben Saunderson, who has traded in his Saskatoon Blades blue and gold for Saskatchewan green and white. A 6-foot-1 blueliner from Carberry, Manitoba, Saunderson joins the Dogs following a five-year WHL career with the Blades in which the 2024-25 captain appeared in 259 games, recording 87 points (10 G, 77 A). A stay-at-home defenceman, Saunderson was named the 2024-25 recipient of the Baldes' Tanner Molendyk Award for Defenceman of the Year. 

GOALTENDERS
Between the pipes, fifth-year netminder Jordan Kooy (Bradford, ON) returns after a fantastic season a year ago. The former OHLer finished the 2024-25 season as one of the top goalies in the conference, recording 12 wins with a 2.13 goals against average and .915 save percentage, both top-3 in Canada West. Along with former Saskatchewan goalies Roddy Ross and Ethan Chadwick, Kooy helped the Huskies secure the Adam Kryczka Memorial Trophy, awarded to the goaltenders on the Canada West team with the fewest goals allowed in the regular season.

In what will be another tandem effort in the crease in 2025-26, Kooy is joined by Bryan Thomson (Moose Jaw, SK), who last appeared on the ice for the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads. A 6-foot-5 netminder who takes advantage of both his size and mobility, Thomson saw action in 60 regular season games, recording a 31-18-5 record while owning a .907 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average. The Huskies will be relying on the ECHLer to make a quick transition to Canada West hockey following the loss of 2024-25 Canada West Goaltender of the Year Roddy Ross. 
 

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