Michael P. J. Kennedy, Ph.D.
In 2023-24, Huskie goaltenders Roddy Ross and Jordan Kooy put up excellent numbers in Canada West. Ross posted a stellar 11-3-0-1 won-loss-overtime loss-shootout loss record, with a goal against average (GAA) of 1.96 and a .922 save percentage. Kooy was 9-3-1-0, had a 2.33 GAA, and a .916 save percentage. Together their performance ranked number two in Canada West in GAA at 2.20 in the 28-game regular season.
Outstanding performance between the pipes is nothing new for the Huskie men’s hockey programme. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries there have been a number of exceptional net-minders who have led the way for the Green and White.
St. Albert, Alberta native Jeff Harvey toiled for Huskies from 2005-06 to 2009-10. His 60 regular season victories rank him number one among all who have suited up in goal for University of Saskatchewan. Currently sharing his knowledge and experience as goalie coach with the highly successful Saskatoon Blades in the Western Hockey League (WHL), “Harv” had a lifetime 2.47 GAA and a .911 save percentage. He shared the Canada West best team goals against average in both 2006 (with Thomas Vicars) and 2008 (with Russel Monette). He was a Canada West first team all-star in 2008 and a second team member in 2007.
Second in lifetime Canada West wins among Huskie goalies is Jordon Cooke who tended net for the Dogs during the 2014-15 to 2017-18 seasons. He notched 59 wins, had a 2.38 GAA, and .922 save percentage. The former Kelowna Rocket was honoured as U Sports Goaltender of the Year in 2015-16 and 2016-17 as well as Canada West Goaltender of the Year in 2016, 2017, and 2018. He was a Canada West all-star three consecutive years (2016, 2017, 2018) and was named winner of the University of Saskatchewan’s E. Kent Phillips Trophy as Male Athlete of the Year in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Named an All-Canadian in 2016, 2017, and 2018, he played professionally in France and Romania and senior hockey in Alberta following his successful Huskie career.
Number three among Huskie goaltenders in victories is Ryan Holfeld, who toiled in nets for University of Saskatchewan from 2010-11 to 2014-15. Currently a lawyer with MLT Atkins, the LeRoy-born puck-stopper accumulated 53 wins for the Dogs. His goals against average was 2.43 and his save percentage .923. The former Medicine Hat WHL alumnus had an outstanding University Cup run with Saskatchewan in 2014 when he posted a 1.67 GAA and had a .940 save percentage in the three games he played. He held Acadia to two goals in a Huskie 3-2 victory, and then shut out Windsor before ending up on the wrong side of a 3-1 verdict against University of Alberta.
Thomas Vicars (2002-2005) holds down the number four position in wins with a 46-21-9 won-lost-tied ledger. This was accompanied by a 2.94 GAA and .901 save percentage. As a rookie, he was named to the Canada West All Rookie squad. Beyond a solid lifetime regular season record in Canada West, the Kelowna native will forever be part of Huskie history for his performance at national championships in Edmonton in 2005. He posted a 3-0 shutout against Université de Moncton and then a second 3-0 whitewash of University of Western Ontario. In the final for the national university championship, Vicars faced 41 shots and held University of Alberta to a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation time. Unhappily for Huskies, the host Alberta squad broke the tie in overtime for a 4-3 national championship win. Yet his performance in the final tournament was truly remarkable since he played following an extended absence from the late regular season schedule because of a dislocated shoulder sustained in January.
The fifth most lifetime wins by a Huskie between the pipes is 43, garnered by Jeff Calvert (1994-95 to 1998-99). In his five seasons, the Moose Jaw native fashioned a 3.30 GAA and a .893 save percentage. Led by Calvert (and Jody Lehmann in 1998), Huskies finished first in the Eastern Division of Canada West in 1997-98 and 1998-99. In both seasons the team took home the Canada West title as well. The former WHL goalie with Moose Jaw and Tacoma, was a Canada West all-star first team goalie and was named Canada West’s top goaltender in his final season. He was also named to the CIAU (U Sports) All-Canadian squad as well. Of note is the fact that Jeff’s sons Atley and Rowan faced off against each other in this year’s WHL playoffs for Moose Jaw and Saskatoon respectively, carrying on the Calvert tradition of excellence in hockey.
No list of top Huskie goalies would be complete without mentioning Taran Kozun. The Nipawin native played only three seasons (2017-2019) with the Dogs but he earned 41 regular season wins with 11 shutouts in only 50 games. His lifetime save percentage was a sparkling .928 with a 1.85 GAA. Named U Sports Goalie of the Year in 2019, he repeated as Goaltender of the Year in 2020 and was named Player of the Year as well. He was an All-Canadian first team member in 2019 and 2020. In these same years, he was a first team Canada West all-star and Huskie Athletics’ Male Athlete of the Year. Canada West named him Goaltender of the Year in both 2019 and 2020 as well. Following his university career, Kozun played professionally in the ECHL and the English Elite League with Cardiff and Coventry.
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