Saturday 15 August 2020

Possible Hilltops, Thunder football friendlies could have unique potential

The Hilltops and Thunder go at it last season in Regina.
    If the powers that be gave their approval, it would be great to see the Saskatoon Hilltops and the Regina Thunder face each other in a series of exhibition games.
    On Aug. 6, the CJFL officially cancelled its 2020 campaign due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Hilltops have won the last six straight CJFL titles and nine out of the last 10 league championships.
    The one title the Hilltops didn’t take out of that run was claimed by the Thunder in 2013.
    In recent days, there has been banter about the two sides going head-to-head in a series of exhibition games or scrimmages.
    The Hilltops and Thunder have developed an intense and high level provincial rivalry over the last decade. If the two sides could get together for a series of friendlies, it would provide a much needed familiar sight in the fall.
The Thunder defence wraps up Hilltops RB Carter McLean, middle.
    Of course, the biggest hurdle is those clubs would have to come up with a plan that would need to be approved by the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Considering the Saskatchewan Health Authority hasn’t approved a start date for the Saskatchewan Hockey Association to begin playing sanctioned games, getting football off the ground seems like an enormous task.
    One way the Hilltops and Thunder might be able to satisfy health authorities might be to shelf playing 12-versus-12 football for now. If they want to get some football action in, maybe the two teams should pitch playing games in the six-man or nine-man format.
Hilltops R Keegan Dicks, right, looks to get past a Thunder defender.
    In rural Saskatchewan, six-man and nine-man football is big. It is common for Saskatchewan towns to shut down in order to allow everyone to turn out for the six-man and nine-man high school games that take place in the fall.
    Of course, high school is the highest level you can play the six-man and nine-man games. At the post-secondary level, you can only play the 12-man game.
    Still, the six-man and the nine-man games have a deep history in Saskatchewan.
    It would be neat if the province’s two junior teams attempted to plays those types of games in an exhibition setting. Of course, the drawback is you are not creating a chance to gain more experience at the 12-man game.
Thunder QB Blake Scherle fires a pass downfield under pressure.
    On the other side, the novelty of seeing the Hilltops and the Thunder play six-man or nine-man games would be something that could peak people’s curiosity.
    The biggest selling point to the Saskatchewan Health Authority would be these types of games would cut down on the size of traveling parties.
    Unfortunately, another drawback is the Government of Saskatchewan has capped crowds for outdoor sporting events at 150 spectators.
    On the plus side, you could possibly get Regina’s Access Communications to broadcast those six-man or nine-man games between the Hilltops and Thunder on television.
    The Access feed could be shown on the Shaw community channel in Saskatoon.
    Even if the games rotated between cities, you might be able to convince Access Communications to broadcast the games Saskatoon.
It is always intense when the Hilltops and Thunder collide.
    Access Communications does that same thing when the WHL’s Regina Pats face the Blades in Saskatoon. 
    You would have to think a few football starved fans would check out those encounters between the Hilltops and Thunder on television. They would likely be popular among the football communities of both cities.
    You could make the broadcasts more fun by getting Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant and Thunder head coach Scott MacAuley to wear microphones for the game, since these are exhibition tilts.
    Even without microphones, both can still be heard from the sidelines by spectators in the stands.
    The Hilltops and Thunder could play a best-of-three series that could build up to play a 12-man contest.
The Hilltops and Thunder have a compelling rivalry.
    The first contest could be a six-man game, the second a nine-man encounter and the third could be a 12- man match.
    That type of progression might increase the confidence of the Saskatchewan Healthy Authority for allowing a 12-man contest.
    With all that noted, it still seems like a pipe dream of seeing the Hilltops and Thunder face each other on the field in 2020.
    However, everyone is permitted to dream.

Thumbs up to CEBL for crowning champ, other notes


    The Edmonton Stingers were over the moon this past Sunday.
    Guard Xavier Moon sank a game-high 31 points to power the Stingers to a 90-73 victory over the Abbotsford, B.C., based Fraser Valley Bandits in the Canadian Elite Basketball League championship game in St. Catherines, Ont. Moon was named the CEBL Championship Finals MVP.
    The Stingers title victory capped the CEBL Summer Series tournament that saw all seven teams on the circuit play in a bubble environment at the Meridian Centre. All of the CEBL Summer Series games were played without spectators.
    Chief executive officer Mike Morreale, who was once a star receiver in the CFL, and the crew running the CEBL deserve major applause.
    The CEBL was only in its second season of existence and the professional circuit managed to hand out its championship trophy despite the fact the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the sports world.
    The CEBL used the Elam ending rule to add intrigue.
    The rule sees the game clock turned off at the first stoppage of play inside of the final four minutes of the fourth quarter. At the CEBL Summer Series, nine points is added to the total of the winning team at the time, and both squads push to hit that target score to end the contest.
    The rule was designed to prevent stoppages with fouling by the team that trails on the scoreboard inside of the final four minutes of the game.
    At the moment, the CEBL is the only team sports league that exists within Canada’s borders to crown a champion during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    The tournament was broadcast by CBC either through live television or on an online stream.
    The fact the CEBL was able to pull this off is a big win for that circuit. It builds huge confidence that CEBL is going to be here to stay over the long term.
    It was able to play through a set of obstacles that are capable of crushing a fledgling league and has tripped up established and storied sports leagues.
    The CEBL had a great inaugural season in 2019 that saw the Saskatchewan Rattlers win the league title at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. It would have seemed unfair if that turned out to be the end of the CEBL’s story.
    Now, it appears the CEBL has a high likelihood of being with us whenever the COVID-19 pandemic comes to a close. Here is hoping the CEBL will have a long and prosperous run.

  • On Monday, longtime TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie announced over Twitter he was heading into semi-retirement. He joined TSN in 1986 after starting his media career working for print publications including stops with the Toronto Star and The Hockey News. McKenzie, who will turn 64-years-old on Sunday, will still be doing draft rankings for TSN and working as part of the crew that covers the World Junior Hockey Championships.
  • On Tuesday, the NCAA’s Big 10 and Pac-12 conferences each voted to postpone football and other fall sports season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both conferences are holding out hope about having their fall sports play in the spring of 2021 but action at that time is far from guaranteed. That means there will be no November football clash between Michigan and Ohio State, who are storied Big 10 rivals.
  • On Wednesday, the Regina Leader-Post reported the Regina Intercollegiate Football League high school circuit won’t begin regular season play any earlier than Sept. 28 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally, the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association was going to allow practices to start Aug. 20, but that has been moved back to Sept. 14.
  • On Thursday, 37-year-old Nashville Predators defenceman Dan Hamhuis announced he was retiring from the NHL. Hamhuis played in 60 regular season games for the Predators this past season posting eight assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department. The Smithers, B.C. product played in 15 NHL seasons from 2005 to 2020 appearing in 1,148 regular season games split between the Predators, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars posting 59 goals and 297 assists. He played in the WHL for four seasons for the Prince George Cougars from 1998 to 2002 appearing in 247 regular season games collecting 34 goals and 122 assists. Hamhuis was named the WHL’s player of the year for the 2001-02 campaign. In the current day, Hamhuis is a co-owner of the Cougars.
  • On Friday, the QMJHL announced it still intends to start its regular season on Oct. 1. The circuit said games in the province of Quebec would be played without fans and details were still being worked out for teams in the Maritime provinces.
  • The tweet of the week goes to Canada track and field star hurdler Sage Watson. Known for her trademark ruby red lips on race day, Watson is pitching a new shade of red lipstick for L’Oreal Paris.
    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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