The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team opened up their 10-game pre-season campaign on Friday night, falling 7-2 to the visiting Calgary Dinos.
The game served as the Huskies first opportunity to retake the ice at Merlis Belsher Place in 566 days — with the last game being Saskatchewan's 2019-20 Canada West Championship win over the UBC Thunderbirds back on Feb. 29, 2020.
But this rendition of the Huskies roster looks a lot different than the one that hoisted the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy on home ice.
The change at the forefront of everyone's minds is behind the bench. Head coach Mike Babcock is helping usher in a new era of Huskies hockey, alongside associate coach Brandin Cote, who collectively replace Dave Adolph, who spent 27-years at the helm among the program.
Also among the new faces are the 16 new players — three goaltenders, five defensemen and eight forwards.
But on a night when the pregame narrative focused about newcomers rather than the 12 holdovers, it was Jared Dmytriw, one of the 12 returnees, who opened the scoring. Dmytriw, the 2019-20 Canada West Rookie of the Year, provided the icebreaker and the Dogs with their first tally of the pre-season.
After the Dinos tied up the contest, the Huskies entered the second all square with the visitors, until third-year forward Donovan Neuls found twine to re-establish the lead for the homeside.
But that lead was short-lived. Calgary responded less twenty seconds later, before adding two more in the frame to take a 4-2 lead into the third.
The final 20 was much of the same, as the visitors went on to tally two quick ones to begin the third, which was all they would need to record the win.
Travis Child got the start between the pipes for the Huskies, before both teams changed goalies halfway through the contest, with Adam Evanoff replacing Child earning his first action as a Huskie.
The Huskies will look to split the pre-season series, as they take the ice for the second time in as many nights on Saturday with puck drop slated for 2:00 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.
