Zamboni puts damper on Huskies in Lethbridge

The only thing that could stop the Huskies men’s hockey team in Lethbridge this past weekend was the Zamboni.

Saskatchewan defeated the Pronghorns 5-2 in their league opener on Sept. 30 and were ahead 3-0 after two periods of play on Oct. 1 when a hydraulic hose broke in the ice resurfacing machine. As a result, the machine was left on the playing surface and the ice was over-flooded with water.

Head coaches for both teams, the referee and the Canada West president determined that even if the machine could be removed from the ice, the surface was still unsafe to play on.

The third period will be rescheduled at a later date.

In the first game, Lethbridge got off to a good start with goalie Scott Bowles stopping all 14 of the Huskies’ shots and Taylor Gal burying a rebound past Dogs goalie David Reekie to give the Pronghorns a 1-0 lead going into the intermission.

The second period was a different story, however, as the Huskies scored three quick goals right off the bat. Brennan Bosch scored about one minute into the period to tie up the game while Brendan Dowd’s goal one minute later gave the Dogs the lead. Craig McCallum scored the insurance marker three minutes after that.

Rookie Cass Mappin’s goal late in the period put Lethbridge back on the board, but it was not enough to spark a comeback.

Bosch scored his second of the night early in the third period while Derek Hulak scored the Huskies’ final goal with less than five minutes to play.

Bosch was awarded first star of the game for his performance, Hulak was named second star and Mappin, who scored his first goal in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, earned third spot for his effort.