2 U of S Huskies teams search for CIS Championships

Two University of Saskatchewan Huskies teams begin their quests for CIS national championships starting Thursday.
 
The women’s basketball championship is taking place in New Brunswick.

The Canada West champion Huskies come in as the number two seed still seeking that first national championship. Their first game is against the number seven ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Head coach Lisa Thomaidis says the Gee-Gees will pose a number of problems for her team.

“They’re just a tough, physical team,” said Thomaidis. “We have to be prepared.  We can’t just get into a finesse game with them.  We’re going to have to get down and dirty in the trenches to do well.”

Tip off is 10:00 a.m. Saskatchewan time.

As for the men’s hockey team, they’re in Halifax.

Their one and only CIS championship came back in 1983.

For head coach Dave Adolph, he’s no stranger to this tournament. This will be his 12th appearance as head coach of the Huskies.

“I’m always on my tippy toes when I come to this tournament because as much experience as I have, I have a lot of heart break,” said Adolph.

With the tournament switching to a one and done format, Adolph believes it will play in his teams favour.

“From a psychological side we have an extremely young team,” said Adolph.  “They don’t know anything about our past and they’re young enough not to have any fear.”

The Huskies first game is Thursday against the number seven ranked Carleton Ravens.  Puck drop is 1:00 p.m. Saskatchewan time.