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| The Valkyries and Riot will tangle for the WWCFL title. |
For the
second straight year, the two squads will square off in the championship game
of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League. This year’s contest is slated
for Saturday at 4 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.
Lalonde is
a veteran linebacker who has been a career member of the Valkyries since the
club first hit the field in 2011. She expects Saturday’s game to be another
battle.
“Last year,
we were the underdogs and fighting for the win,” said Lalonde. “It was a really
good championship game.
“Now, it
has kind of switched. We have the two (head-to-head) wins under our belt, and
we just want to get that last one just to show them that we were the dominant
team this year. We want to go out with the win.”
 |
| Mallory Starkey (#7) is a key veteran for the Riot. |
The Valkyries
last captured the league crown in 2016.
Last
season, the Riot entered the championship game as the favourites and completed
the 2018 campaign with a 7-0 overall record with the victory in the league
final.
The
Valkyries finished with a 4-3 overall mark, and all three of those losses came
to the Riot.
This
season, the Valkyries are pegged as favourites posting a 7-0 overall record
heading into the title game. The Riot are 3-3 overall and won two straight
playoff games on the road to get to the final.
Saskatoon
claimed both head-to-head meeting posting a 38-13 victory at Saskatoon Minor
Football Field on May 11 and a 22-7 triumph on June 2 in Regina.
 |
| Sam Matheson (#22) is back in top gear for the Valkyries. |
“Playing
Regina is always a tough game,” said Lalonde. “We know they are a tough team.
“They are
hungry for this win. They have those two wins under their belt. They are going
hard, and they are at home.
“They are
going to have new plays in. They are going to have defensive strategies that we
haven’t seen yet. We just have to react and play and listen to our coaches.”
Valkyries
head coach Pat Barry said Riot like his squad have a shuffled deck with rookies
mixed in with established veterans.
The
sideline boss noted the Riot still have veteran star quarterback Aimee
Kowalski, who is a career member of the Regina club since it was formed in
2011. Barry said Kowalski is finding her groove with her new teammates.
 |
| Aimee Kowalski continues to lead the Riot at quarterback. |
“It looks
like their quarterback, who is an excellent quarterback in Aimee (Kowalski), is
starting to throw on time. She is starting to trust her receivers. She is an
excellent quarterback.
“That is
something that is a concern for us. Defensively, they have a lot of real
experienced people who have won a lot. We have to be aware of that.”
Both teams
have their slate of star players who have been to this point many times before.
For the Riot, that list includes Kowalski, her younger sister and receiver Alex
Kowalski, running back Mallory Starkey, Taline Blakley on the offensive line,
linebacker Adrienne Zuck and Katie Hungle on the defensive line.
The Valkyries
counter with quarterback duo of Alex Eyolfson and Reed Thorstad, running back
Samantha Matheson, left tackle Alyssa Funk, Lalonde, linebacker Emmarae Dale
and Jaime Lammerding on the defensive line.
 |
| Alex Eyolfson (#15) will aim to fire lazers downfield for the Valkyries. |
“It is
terrible to go up against them in the game, but it is actually really nice to
see them,” said Murphy. “Some people will even help you up, when you are down
like after they push you over.
“Once the
whistle blows, you are friends again. With some of them, you just don’t have
that yet. They are just enemies all the time.”
 |
| Valkyries LB Beth Lalonde (#2) meets Riot R Alex Kowalski. |
Still,
Murphy expects Saturday’s came to be the most intense encounter of the season
between the two sides.
“I think it
will be a lot tougher,” said Murphy. “It is the championship game.
“They’ve
had two wins. We’ve beaten them twice, so that is definitely going to like fuel
them. It will be tougher, but we’re working harder too.”
The
Valkyries have their share of emotional motivation heading into the WWCFL title
game. The most obvious is playing for their late defensive position coach
Justin Filteau, who passed away in a plane crash on June 1.
Filteau joined the Valkyries coaching staff in 2017.
Saskatoon wants to reclaim the WWCFL title for the first time since 2016, and a large number of players on the Valkyries have never experienced a league title win.
 |
| Sarah Wright wants to experience her first WWCFL title win. |
Saskatoon wants to reclaim the WWCFL title for the first time since 2016, and a large number of players on the Valkyries have never experienced a league title win.
One of
those players is third-year running back Sarah Wright, who joined the team in
2017 and vaulted to standout status.
“I really
want a ring,” said Wright. “All the girls are super excited to help some of the
rookies as well and the people that haven’t been on a winning team before.
“They are
all willing to help us out. I think we are going to go for it pretty hard.”
Murphy
would love to see the Valkyries players that have never experienced a WWCFL
title win gain that feeling on Saturday.
“We want to
get it for them, and we want to get it for (Justin) Filteau,” said Murphy. “For
those two reasons, we are just going to work even harder.
“There are
so many people on this team now who haven’t gotten a ring. We want to bring
that home for them.”
Blades pick two defencemen in CHL Import
Draft
On
Thursday, the Blades selected two blue-liners from the Czech Republic in the
Import Draft. In the first round and 55th overall, the Blades picked
19-year-old Libor Zabransky.
In the
second round and 115th overall, the Blades selected Radek Kucerik,
who will turn 18-years-old in December.
Zabransky,
who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 190 pounds, started last season with the Kelowna
Rockets appearing in 35 regular season games posting two goals, seven assists
and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.
Due to have
a surplus of defencemen, the Rockets released Zabransky on Jan. 12 just a
couple of days after the WHL’s trade deadline. Zabransky joined the Fargo Force
of the United States Hockey League posting four goals, 12 assists and a
minus-eight rating in 30 regular season games.
The Blades
were able to draft Zabransky due to the fact he was released by the Rockets.
In 2017-18,
Zabransky played his first season season in the WHL for the Rockets appear in
all of the team’s 72 regular season games posting two goals, 17 assists and a
plus-seven rating.
Kucerik,
who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 209 pounds, was captain of the HC Kometa Brno
under-19 team last season. With that squad, Kucerik appeared in 43 regular
season games posting six goals, 17 assists and a plus-nine rating.
The Blades
confirmed that their two imports from last season in Norwegian left-winger
Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen and Swedish defenceman Emil Malysjev won’t be back
with the team this year.
Last
season, Roykas-Marthinsen appeared in 62 regular season games with the Blades
posting 13 goals, 16 assists and a plus-12 rating. He was selected in the
seventh round and 213th overall by the Washington Capitals in the
2017 NHL Entry Draft and went unsigned by the team.
Roykas-Marthinsen,
who is entering his overage season, is looking to play somewhere in the
professional ranks this coming season.
As a
17-year-old rookie last season, Malysjev, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 187
pounds, turned heads appearing in 63 regular season games recording three
goals, 14 assists and a plus-13 rating.
After going
unselected in the NHL Entry Draft, Malysjev informed the Blades he won’t be
returning for his 18-year-old season, and he is electing to play in Sweden.
Raiders take Russian forward in CHL Import Draft
In the
first round with the 60th overall pick, the Raiders selected
17-year-old Russian forward Ivan Kechkin. Kechkin, who stands 5-foot-7 and
weighs 143 pounds, played for the Rus Moskva under-17 and under-18 teams last
season.
With the
under-17 team, Kechkin appeared in 23 regular season games collecting six goals
and nine assists. With the under-18 team, he skated in 15 regular season games
posting six goals and 12 assists.
“Ivan
(Kechkin) has good vision, a high skill level and skates well,” said Raiders
general manager Curtis Hunt in a release. “His coach is the father of Denis
Tolpeko, who played for me in Regina.”
With the
addition of Kechkin, the Raiders have three import players on their roster.
Belarusian left-winger Aliaksei Protas posted 11 goals, 29
assists and a plus-24 rating in 61 regular season games last season. The
18-year-old had a head turning WHL playoffs posting 12 goals, 10 assists and a
plus-12 rating in 23 games helping the Raiders win the WHL championship.
Protas was selected in the NHL Entry Draft that recently
wrapped up in Vancouver, B.C., in the second round and 91st overall
by the Washington Capitals.
Belarusian defenceman Sergei Sapego posted 10 goals, 33
assists and a plus-42 rating last season for the Raiders. Sapego, who will
enter his overage season, is currently attending the NHL development camp of
the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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