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Augustana's Joel Danyluk during Game 1 of the ACAC men's hockey final March 16. |
EDMONTON - The Augustana Vikings men’s hockey team is hoping that goaltender Joel Danyluk has one more big game in him.
After a pair of victories over the NAIT Ooks last weekend, Augustana can wrap up its first Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference title in more than three decades when the teams continue their best-of-five series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Encana Arena in Camrose.
Snipers Torrie Dyck, Matthew Foster and Adam Johnson have been the offensive catalysts during the Vikes’ playoff run, which started with a four-game series win over the SAIT Trojans in the semifinals.
But it’s been the goaltending of Danyluk that has been key to Augustana’s five-game post-season winning streak.
“I think that Game 1 of the playoffs against SAIT when we ended up losing 6-5, I know that he gave up six goals on 24 shots, but realistically, that’s been the only blip on the radar for Joel all season,” said Augustana head coach Blaine Gusdal. “He’s been our backbone since Day 1. We’ve gotten great goaltending from all three of our goalies, but Joel, in particular, has had an exceptional season.”
Danyluk, a conference first-team all-star in his rookie season, led the ACAC in both goals-against average (1.77) and save percentrage (.937). His excellent play has carried over into the post-season, besides his sub-par outing against SAIT to start the playoffs.
The Yorkton, Sask., product earned a reputation as a playoff performer during a four-year career in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. He backstopped the La Ronge Ice Wolves to their first league championship in 2010.
“His track record is that he’s a big-game goaltender. Every coach I talked to that either coached him, or coached against him, said that he was the type of guy who, over the course of a long season in junior, would maybe have some ups and downs,” Gusdal said. “He always seemed to play big in the big games.”
With only 28 games in the regular season games, it would seem difficult to have enough games to go around among Danyluk and fellow Augustana goalies Paul Kolida and David Ritz. But allowing Danyluk to play only 14 regular-season games allowed the chemistry student to save his best for the key moments.
“We were able to spread it out with the three goaltenders, so he wasn’t expected to carry us for six or seven nights in a row like a lot of times you have to do in junior,” Gusdal said. “I felt that college hockey would be a perfect fit for Joel. With fewer games, you don’t have to be on for as long or as many nights in a row.
“He’s a really good student,” Gusdal continued. “He’s a really focused individual and college has been a great fit for him. We’re pleasantly surprised by his success, but at the same time, I know recruiting him in here I expected him to be this type of guy for us.”
Gusdal is as close as he’s ever been to winning an ACAC championship with the Vikings.
“For me, it would be very special. I played here from 1986 to 1990 and we hosted nationals in the spring of ’87 and came really close, but I’ve met a lot of the players from that ’74-75 team that won and they’ve been great alumni here with what I’ve been trying to do here and been very supportive,” said Gusdal, who’s in his fourth season as head coach.
“I think right now our guys are focused on just taking care of business, and we’re looking at it right now as trying to win one more hockey game this season and, if we can do that, all the other special things will fall into place.”
Meanwhile, the Ooks find themselves in a familiar spot down 2-0 in games. After dropping the first two games of their semifinal series against the defending champion Mount Royal Cougars, NAIT raced back with a trio of wins to win the series.
“We can draw on their experience, we don’t want to live in the past, but we can draw on the experience of the previous series against Mount Royal and Game 3, they’re looking to win the game and clinch the series and we’re just looking to put our best performance on the ice and, hopefully, that’s enough to get us into Game 4,” NAIT head coach Serge Lajoie said. “We’ll deal with the games as they come.”
Game 4, if necessary, is slated for 7 p.m. Friday at NAIT. If the Ooks can force a fifth and deciding game, that contest will go 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Camrose.
Griffins fall short
The MacEwan University Griffins women’s basketball team fell just short of perfection at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championship last weekend at Lethbridge.
The Griffins breezed through the ACAC with an undefeated record in the regular season and playoffs, and headed into the championship as the top seed.
They got off to a fast start with an 87-65 win over Seneca College, but then lost to the eventual national champions from Ste. Foy by a score of 67-61.
With a shot at a bronze medal still up for grabs, MacEwan earned a win over the University of Northern British Columbia but, a few hours later, lost 73-56 to the St. Thomas Tommies.
Another season in the books
High school hoops also concluded during the weekend.
A trio of Edmonton-area teams in both senior men’s and senior women’s competed at the Alberta 4A championships in Cardston and Raymond, who co-hosted both tournaments.
The Harry Ainlay Titans men’s team was the city’s lone medallists, with a bronze-medal win over the Jasper Place Rebels.
The weekend proved to be a success for the host teams, with Cardston winning the men’s title and Raymond getting a women’s bronze medal by beating the championship’s second seed, the Spruce Grove Panthers.
Spotlight on Andy Willigar
Fourth-year defencemen
NAIT men’s hockey
The ACAC’s top-scoring defenceman in the regular season hasn’t slowed down in the post-season.
Willigar, who played two seasons with the Concordia Thunder before transferring to NAIT, scored 26 points during thi season to edge Augustana Vikings blue-liner Harrison Tribble by a single point.
The Innisfail product is also lead the Ooks defencemen in scoring in the playoffs with five goals and a trio of assists.
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