Forward pumped to play in U Sports nationals
By Darren Steinke
Special to the Herald
For Keaton Sorensen, the province of Saskatchewan has become home.
When the Red Deer, Alta., product wrapped up his WHL career at the end of the 2022-23 campaign with the Prince Albert Raiders, he was hoping to find a way to stay in Saskatchewan. Sorensen played two seasons with the Raiders from 2021 to 2023 with his final 20-year-old season being the most memorable. In the 2022-23 campaign, the steady forward appeared in 64 regular season games with the Raiders posting 25 goals, 28 assists and a plus-five rating in the plus-minus department.
Before his WHL days began, Sorensen spent three seasons at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask., playing for that school’s hockey programs from 2016 to 2019.
When the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team came calling following the completion of his WHL career, Sorensen elected to join the storied U Sports program.
“I love Sask (Saskatchewan),” said Sorensen, who is majoring in Agriculture and Bioresources. “I just wanted to be a Dog.”
At the moment, it is turning out that Sorensen’s current second season with the Huskies is turning out to be one of his most memorable in hockey. He helped the Huskies top the Canada West Conference standings with a 23-5 record. The Huskies were also rated second in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings.
In the post-season, Sorensen aided the Huskies in claiming the Canada West title for the 19th time in team history with 12 of those wins coming in the conference’s modern era that started in 1972. The Huskies will finish the campaign playing in the U Sports Championship Tournament – the David Johnston University Cup. It is set to be held at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, starting on Thursday and running through to Sunday, and it will be played in elite-eight format.
The Huskies enter the tournament as the second seed and will play the seventh seeded Queen’s University Golden Gaels in a quarter-final on Friday (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, CBC Sports digital platforms).
Before advancing to nationals, the Huskies played the Mount Royal University Cougars in a best-of-three Canada West Championship Series that went to a series deciding Game 3. The Huskies took that contest 3-0 in front of a record tying crowd of 3,013 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place on the U of S campus back on March 9.
When the third period clock of that game expired, Sorensen was over the moon excited about the fact his team won the conference title.
“It is awesome,” said Sorensen, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 165 pounds. “There is no better feeling than winning.
“It is just awesome. We have a great group of guys. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys.”
During his hockey career, Sorensen developed a reputation for taking on any role a team that he plays for sends his way. After the Huskies took a 2-0 lead in Game 3 against the Cougars, the 23-year-old drew a solid tripping penalty from Cougars right-winger and former Saskatoon Blades rival Justin Lies with 3:34 remaining in the third period. Sorensen was trying to get out to a defensive assignment after a faceoff in his own zone when Lies took him down.
“I was doing my job right there,” said Sorensen. “It felt great just to get out of the zone there and to get another chance to score another goal.”
The ability to bring intangibles has helped Sorensen get more ice time in the post-season. Due to the fact U Sports teams can’t add affiliate players to cover for injuries like WHL squads can, the Huskies actually carry 10 extra players who sit in the stands when they don’t dress.
When everyone is healthy, the coaches try to work all the players into games as the regular season goes on. Due to that fact, Sorensen played 18 out of the Huskies 28 regular season games in 2024-25 recording five goals, six assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department.
He has played in five of the Huskies six post-season contests to date including the entire Canada West Conference Championship series collecting a pair of assists and a plus-one rating. Huskies head coach Brandin Cote, who was a Raiders assistant coach in the 2016-17 campaign, said Sorensen has been a trooper for the team this season.
“Soro (Sorensen) has been great,” said Cote. “He had to be patient.
“There were times this year he was sort of in and out just based on numbers and what not. When he got his opportunity, he made the most of it. I can’t say enough about his performance.”
Now Sorensen is hoping to help the Huskies capture their second U Sports championship in team history. The Huskies lone U Sports title came from their legendary 1982-83 squad that was coached by Dave King and captained by Willie Desjardins. Sorensen is pumped for the chance to win a national title.
“It is awesome,” said Sorensen. “It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, so we’re just going to make the best of it.
“We’re just going to play our hardest and take every game period by period.”
Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer. He blogs frequently at stankssermon.blogspot.com.
