Cougars put series into perspective
Jan. 28, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
The University of Regina Cougars have had nearly two weeks to stew over a disastrous Canada West women's hockey series in Calgary.
Much to their credit, they haven't.
"They're still a little bit peed off, but they're not dwelling on it," Regina head coach Sarah Howald said Wednesday in reference to her players, who had a bye week after a two-game series with the host Dinos on Jan. 15-16.
"They've come back and worked hard. They've done some good things in practice and prepared well for Saskatchewan. We're moving forward."
The Cougars had a 5-5-4 record entering the series with the Dinos, who were 1-13-0 after losing 13 straight games.
Calgary won in a shootout on Jan. 15 and prevailed 3-0 the next night.
"It was definitely tough," Regina goalie Lisa Urban recalled. "Going into games you're hoping to win and coming out with only one point (for the shootout loss) is definitely tough, but those games are in the past now. We're moving on. We're going into this weekend not thinking about the past."
Regina is to meet the Saskatchewan Huskies (10-5-3) in Saskatoon on Saturday before playing host to the Huskies on Sunday (7 p.m.) at the Sherwood Ice Sports Centre.
Howald said the Cougars weren't prepared for some of the things that went along with playing in Calgary.
The game Jan. 15, for example, was played at the Olympic Oval -- which also was the site of a speed skating event at the same time.
"We didn't handle the distraction very well," said Howald, whose squad played the Dinos at the Father David Bauer Arena the following night.
"It was a reminder that you have to be prepared when you go on the road. It's a tremendously difficult league to win road games in, no matter where you are. Step No. 1 is that you have to be prepared for things. You have to be ready for different ice surfaces, for different officiating -- you have to be ready for every circumstance."
Urban said the series with Calgary taught the Cougars lessons they have to use down the stretch. She said Regina "sunk to (the Dinos') level and didn't control the things we need to control" -- things like winning one-on-one battles, being strong in front of both nets, burying chances and so on.
But the Cougars didn't get to put those lessons into practice right away, thanks to the bye. However, the time off wasn't at all a concern to Urban.
"It helped us refocus from our losses the previous week," she said. "It was extra time for us to regroup and get our confidence back.
"I like going into this series after a bye because games against Saskatchewan are always tough, they're always gritty and we usually get banged up a bit. This will be a hard weekend for us, so coming in full strength is going to help."
Some points in the standings would help, too. Regina (5-6-5) is tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with the UBC Thunderbirds (7-10-1), who take on the second-place Manitoba Bisons this weekend.
UBC split with the Alberta Pandas on the weekend that the Cougars were in Calgary and followed that with a split with the Lethbridge Pronghorns during Regina's bye week. Losing to the Dinos, then, cost the Cougars a chance to get some breathing room in the standings.
"The positive is we have control of our own destiny, but you can't take a break," Howald said. "Maybe we thought Calgary was a gimme, I don't know. I do know our last eight (regular-season) games are all important and we have to get points out of as many of them as we can."