Canadian Bowl will be my last ride for football on this blog

The Hilltops and Thunder take part in a prayer circle on Sept. 27.

REGINA, Sask. - Earlier this season, CJFL provincial rivals the Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder could be found taking part in what those in some parts of the world and political spectrum would say is the most controversial moment of their rivalry – a prayer circle.

Back on September 27, the Thunder edged the Hilltops 24-21 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Following that contest at centre field, a sizable contingent from both the Hilltops and Thunder got together in a circle, took a knee and said a prayer.

If anybody on the far left wing saw this, they would say this is an injustice toward humanity. Religion and especially the Christian religion have no place in sports. Those extreme leftists would view both of those teams as evil.

For those on the right wing, those players would be viewed as athletes who are not afraid to show their faith in the Lord. They would be viewed as having extreme courage and being heroes.

Those on even the further right use this display as those players taking a step towards being part of the maple version of the Make America Great Again movement, which brought Donald Trump into power as the President of the United States of America.

Those on that right wing spectrum might even use it as an example of the influence late American right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk had on the youth of the world and helping move the world towards what they viewed as a better place.

The truth is the Hilltops and Thunder players formed a circle, took a knee and said a prayer to show their faith in a Higher Power. Football teams are multicultural, and some of those players might not believe in Christianity and were praying to the Higher Power they believed in. There was nothing more, nothing less about that prayer circle than what I just wrote.

Everything that I wrote about those on the extreme left and further right wings is all spin doctoring 101. These are traps teams in the United States are falling into by doing nothing else than being themselves. That also includes activities like walks to the rink for hockey teams, because players on both the men’s and women’s side of the sport are well dressed during those walks to the rinks when they are posted on social media or regular media channels.

At the moment, the Hilltops and Thunder haven’t fallen into any of these traps to my knowledge, but they very well could have.

For myself on the political spectrum, I find these days I don’t fit in either with the right or left wings. I am not a Trump fan, and the same goes for former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has acted as part of the extreme left in his career in my view.

I actually think Kirk is a sympathetic figure. When I have seen videos of him interacting with others and interacting with his family, I just see him as a Christian good guy.

I don’t agree with everything he said, but he struck me as the type of guy you can agree to disagree with and then go off and have a pop or two together. I think it would be easy for a friendship to form with someone like him, even when you have differing views.

That unfortunately in this world has become a lost art. The fact Kirk was gunned down on September 10 is an example that agreeing to disagree and forming friendships with someone with a different view is a lost art.

All of this serious talk actually makes anything that has occurred in the football rivalry between Saskatoon and Regina seem small and insignificant. For the older veterans of that football rivalry, we are all just old men telling old tales, and if you are in the right mindset, humour can be found in the old tales.

That brings us today’s championship final of the CJFL’s Prairie Football Conference, where the Hilltops downed the Thunder 30-27 in overtime at Mosaic Stadium. When kickoff happened shortly after 1 p.m., I wasn’t there.

I was on a spot at the edge of the north shore of Wascana Lake visiting my dad’s resting place for the first time since the summer of 2020. God, family, and then football. My late friend in CFL icon Cal Murphy would say I had my priorities in the right place, if that is where a Higher Power says you are meant to be at that place in time.

For me, it felt like I was in the right place at the right time as I contemplate a bigger than football and sports moment for myself. That is resulting in a longer column here and a lot of contemplation over the last three days.

After visiting my dad’s resting place, I ventured over to the University of Regina to start typing this piece. If you needed to find me, I was in the spot where the old University of Regina Rams table existed in the main food court. Again, it felt like the right place at the right time to be as I feel a significant part of me when I am at my best was formed at my time at the U of Regina living here from 1995 to 2001.

The trigger of my challenge came when I messaged the Thunder about getting a media pass to work the PFC final at Mosaic Stadium, because the staff at Mosaic Stadium, while friendly, is tight with security there.

At 6:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, I received this message from Thunder president Murad Al-Katib, “I am sorry. We are unable to provide you with field and media floor access. This access is limited to accredited media as per PFC policies.

“As for stats access, I suggest you request from your Hilltops contacts. Greg (Peacock), team president, is on copy.”

I received a media pass to work Thunder hosted games at Taylor Field and later Mosaic Stadium with no problems or questions asked in the past. Because of responsibilities covering hockey with regards to the WHL and by extension the CHL, I didn’t make any CJFL road games in 2023 and 2024. The response from Al-Katib in my mind is spin doctoring.

I went through the CJFL code of conduct and social media policies online and didn’t find anything regarding media accreditation. I can’t find any PFC policies online. Maybe I looked in the wrong place.

I’ve had CHL accreditation for almost three decades working either for mainstream media outlets or as an independent. Any time I work Hockey Canada events, I get accreditation pretty much immediately.

So that brings us to what changed on the Thunder’s side.

I give the straight goods, and I don’t blow smoke up anyone’s asses to be old school. I know that is no longer the common practice in today’s world. Here is the thought process from my side.

On October 20, 2024, the Thunder downed the Hilltops 24-19 in that year’s PFC final. On the second last play of that contest, Thunder middle linebacker Stephen Smith nailed Hilltops quarterback Trey Reider with a blatant and illegal helmet-to-helmet head shot that was not flagged for penalty. Had a penalty been called, the Hilltops would have had maybe one or two plays to score the winning touchdown from about the Thunder 12 yard line or closer depending on the call.

The Hilltops ran a trick play on that play, which likely resulted in the foul being missed. The play happened right in front of me along with Shane Clausing of then 650 CKOM in Saskatoon, who also got the smoking gun video of that play.

The smoking gun video had been viewed about 999 times on Platform X. I thought it was more that that.

I actually found that video today on Platform X and double checked it. It is right here for anyone that is interested.

I along with Clausing wrote about the missed call in our game pieces. In old school style game reporting, that is what you do when there is an obvious call of a dangerous play late in a contest that is missed by the officials that could have changed the result of that game. You do that because that goes down as something that sticks in the memory of those who watched the game in the stadium that day.

When I posted the link on my Facebook page to the story on my blog, John Tokar, who was the athlete development coordinator of the Thunder at the time and now their leadership development coordinator, wrote a comment that I spread disinformation about Smith and that the play never happened.

When I first saw the comment, my mind quickly switched to my experiences in the WHL.

My first thought was, “Wow. If this happened in the WHL, their communications department would see it in quick order, hand the screenshots over to their department of discipline and a fine or fines would likely be given out within a period of two days for violating that circuit’s social media policy.”

When I talked with Clausing, he said he hadn’t heard anything on his side from the Thunder. He couldn’t believe I took all the heat, because he took the smoking gun video of the play from the sidelines.

I also realized the WHL has a sizeable league office staff of paid full-time employees. The CJFL is a volunteer run league. I believe the only person in the CJFL who is compensated with a full-time wage for the months the season goes on is Ryan Watters, who is in charge of communications and digital media.

Being a volunteer run league with limited resources compared to the WHL and the overall CHL, I was under the impression the CJFL didn’t have a code of conduct or a social media policy. That would be due to the fact they wouldn’t have the resources to enforce those policies like in the WHL and CHL.

I contacted CJFL commissioner Jim Pankovich asking if the CJFL had a code of conduct or a social media policy.

He said the CJFL did have code of conduct and social media policies. He asked what I came across and to send all the information I had his way. I sent him some screenshots that included Tokar’s comments and stills from Clausing’s video and the link to Clausing’s video on Platform X.

Pankovich thanked me for the information and said the league would review and investigate further if necessary.

A couple of days later, I was contacted by Tokar. He apologized, and we had a really great back and forth.

He was brave enough to ask if all the comments under my Facebook post could be deleted. As a show of good faith and to show it was all water on the bridge, I said that wouldn’t be a problem, and I deleted all the comments under my Facebook post.

During my almost three decades covering the WHL and CHL, I have had times where I have dealt with very passionate coaches and general managers that would say to my face they didn’t agree with something I wrote or said.

Red Deer Rebels general manager and owner Brent Sutter, who often served as his team’s head coach, is notorious for his fire-type passion, and I consider him a best friend in the game even after the times we had disagreements. It has actually only been one or two times we have really disagreed with each other as I believe Sutter and I view a lot of things in a similar way.

If a situation came up where we agreed to disagree, we agreed to disagree, and I believe in every one of those cases each side had a better understanding of where the other was coming from.

The next time I would meet with anyone in the WHL and CHL after a disagreement, it was all water under the bridge and you forged ahead in a positive manner. That is the way in that level of hockey.

While my contact with Tokar was outstanding, I had contacts and talks with various folks in the football community connected to the Thunder and Hilltops. When that all wrapped up, I came away with a feeling that this whole situation wasn’t over, and I got a gut feeling that ill will was going to be held against me.

I have been doing media work since 1996, so I believe I have some type of ability to read humans. Plus, we live in the age of Trump, where society is more filled with division and hatred than ever before casting a shadow over all parts of life.

With social media and all the communication tools at our disposal, we are more connected and disconnected with each other at the same time. This is due to the lack of face-to-face interactions especially interactions in a social setting.

Also in my personal life then at the time of the 2024 PFC final and now, I deal with pressures from my 80-year-old mom and my family to be in the sports world less and to be more present at home. Everyone on the family front was full support with my pursuits covering the sports world and my activities in, but once the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit, the dynamics and expectations on the family front changed.

I am not stating this as a complaint. I am stating this as a part of life.

As a result, I went into this CJFL season really with one foot out the door. I actively wouldn’t be covering it on this blog, if the Hilltops hadn’t requested more help from me to put pieces together for their game program. I have been doing that since 2017.

In relation to the CJFL, I have been what you would old school call a Hilltops beat writer since I moved back to Saskatoon after a 10-year stay in Medicine Hat, Alta. During my years in the Hat, I had only here and there interactions with high-level football above the high school level. Believe it or not, most of those interactions were with the NFL due to Medicine Hat product and Medicine Hat High School grad Dan Federkeil playing four years on the offensive line with the Indianapolis Colts and having to block for “the” Peyton Manning.

With that said, I had gone 10 years without being heavily involved with high level football above high school until I returned to Saskatoon in 2014.

During summer, I went to a couple of Saskatchewan Roughriders games at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. I ran into a handful of Thunder staffers, and our interactions, while cordial, were awkward.

I would say since October of 2024 the only Thunder staffer I have encountered face-to-face that was jovial and legitimate extremely happy to see me was receivers coach and long time old Rams bud Chris Ashman. That was at the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame induction night when my old Regina Rams from 1997 and 1998 along with long time friend and Rams alum Jon Ryan went into the Hall.

On one Roughriders game in August, I ran into one Thunder staff, who have I have known for about a decade and has the purest heart you could know. We had a great chat about baseball, but it felt like that staffer was torn to be talking to me and was holding back wanting to tell me something.

To add to everything, since 2024 I felt like from the CJFL office it would be kind of better if I silently went away. There seemed to be a fear of what to do if anything else happened that needed to be checked into.

That thinking doesn’t come from a malicious place. It comes from a place of worry about all the time that gets spend dealing with these types of issues. They really are time sucks.

I wrote all of that to be able to add background for where I am coming from, when I saw Al-Katib’s response early Thursday morning.

I will admit my first reaction came from my influence of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders side of my life. Starting a game by putting your five toughest players on the ice to instigate a five-versus-five line brawl to send a message is the obvious road that wouldn’t lead anywhere and make things worse. In today’s age, that would get you a lifetime suspension from the sport.

Same would go with my old late friend Donn Clark who as the Raiders head coach in the 1993-94 season challenged Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Bob Loucks to fight behind the Zamboni at The Arena in Medicine Hat, Alta., late in a WHL game on January 15, 1994, when Clark felt the Tigers were taking advantage of his younger team. Just to be clear, that is how that night is remembered on the Prince Albert side of things where the Raiders players loved the fact their coach had their collective backs.

The Hilltops did give me a team personnel field pass to be used for today’s game. I decided against using it and going just to avoid a bitter Thunder staffer from finding a code of conduct issue to be used against the Hilltops and myself. I didn’t feel like putting any more time into bitter issues.

During my thoughts, I reflected on the last time I went into a season covering a team where one foot was out the door. In this case, it was a pair of teams.

I went into the 2016-17 U Sports campaign covering the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams with one foot out the door due to some issues that arose late in the previous campaign that were also unresolved that were far different from the one I have been writing about regarding the CJFL.

There came a point early in that Huskies campaign, where I just decided the best course of action was for me to divorce the two Huskies hockey teams. The divorce turned into a marriage separation, and I will give the Coles notes version of why that was.

Kaitlin Willoughby - the ultimate professional and leader.

Kaitlin Willoughby, who was an assistant captain of the Huskies women’s team and would later become their full-fledged captain, rose up like a phoenix and became the ultimate professional and leader. She handled it. When I reflect on that, it comes as no surprise she is still playing these days in the PWHL with the Montreal Victoire.

I was back covering the Huskies hockey teams full time, and was doing regular stories on the Huskies football team until I got knocked off course by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the COVID-19 pandemic, I never really got any momentum again on that front outside of working like one to three overall Huskies events a season.

With all that said, the overall point here was Willoughby showed the type of leadership that is extremely lacking in today’s world.

Now with all of that background established, I have made a decision.

Leading up to and working the upcoming CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl, it will be my last ride in covering football for this blog. I will go into a marriage separation status with the game of football after the Canadian Bowl when it comes to writing about it on this blog and that goes for all levels of the game in Canada. I will leave myself leeway for writing about the NFL and NCAA Division I for fun whenever rare times come that I feel like doing that.

I have decided that the whole is greater than the one, which means myself. I have also decided the whole is greater than the one team, being the Hilltops. To be honest, the Hilltops are like the children in caught in the marriage separation thing in my eyes out of this whole thing.

I have come to the conclusion there are maturity issues with some inside the Thunder team, but I admit I can’t pinpoint who those folks are. I am judging from the body language of their staffers I have encountered in more fun settings that those issues are there.

I am kind of old school, and I will not apologize for covering the head shot hit late in the 2024 PFC final in an old school way. I know my type is a breed that is near extinction, but for better or worse, I stick to my guns in the old school way on that front.

Actually to be truthful, I’ve had folks tell me in the WHL, while I cover things in the old school way I am still a homer and I am pulling for the best for the main teams I am covering at the time. Even with that, those folks say I can still take a step backwards and be objective with regards to the main teams I cover, and I can write stories on any team on the circuit and those stories are as good as the one on the main teams I cover.

Jeff Chynoweth, who is the former owner and general manager of the franchise that was one the Kootenay Ice, said pretty much those exact words to me many years ago, and I have never forgotten them. Those types of words rank as the greatest compliments I have ever received on my work.

I might not be like my long ago University of Regina School of Journalism classmate Merelda Fiddler-Potter who has a long list of well-earned awards and a whole host of degrees, but I cherish the compliments like the ones Chynoweth gave me. Side note, I decided to mention Fiddler-Potter, because I saw a poster at the U of R listing her accomplishments and I did have a crush on her when we first met. We formed a pretty decent friendship in our school years.

Now remember, we are in the age of Trump, and that is also considered in the decision making. With all the division and hatred that is prevalent in way too many parts of the world, I am not into getting into fights over what I consider petty issues in the big picture of things.

On the football front, I know how intertwined the game is in Canada, and Thunder personnel are involved in the game at the provincial level in various facets. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t have to be in that world. If my departure will help everyone in the game being more comfortable in the future, again, I believe in this case the needs of the many are greater than the needs of the one, and the time has arrived for the many to go forward without this one.

Being in the sports world, we all have expiry dates when comes to teams and leagues, and my gut feeling is my expiry date with the CJFL came after the 2024 campaign.

I will still allow myself freedom to do fun football posts on the Canadian game on my own social media channels. If there are paid requests through entities like The Canadian Press and the Prince Albert Daily Herald to cover the game in Canada, I will fulfill those requests, unless my busy life has me committed to other things.

Now that the Hilltops have advanced, I have had previous talks with the staffers at the Daily Herald about doing a story on brothers Ryan Adamko and Scott Adamko, who are graduates of the Prince Albert Carlton Comprehensive High School Crusaders program. I will do a double check on the need there, but I expect I will be doing a story on that front for the Daily Herald.

I will still do stories on football in Canada for the platforms overseen by the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I work there as a communication coordinator, and that is part of my job there.

For the first time in my dealings with the CJFL, the upcoming Canadian Bowl that the Hilltops will be hosting at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on November 9 will be a suit game for me. Like when I work covering games in the WHL and CHL, I will be bringing out the suit and tie to cover the upcoming CJFL title game, which means I will be in a more heightened business state.

Again, this is my last ride like Ray Lewis with the Baltimore Ravens in the 2012 NFL season. Of course in life, I have learned to “never say never,” so it will never be written in stone how long the marriage separation from the sport of football in Canada will last on this blog.

I have already thought about paying more attention to things I haven’t with the extra time I will have. That includes being more present in the home and being around for my 80-year-old mom, being more focused on my work on the WHL circuit, hopefully getting out to a Winnipeg Blue Bombers home game wearing Bombers gear in memory of Murphy, and hopefully seeing Prince Albert product Abby Soyko play with the University of Alberta Pandas Women’s Hockey Team in their storied and historic home barn of the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, Alta. She has been a super special person and supremely good influence that I have dealt with in the sports world.

Oh, as far as possible controversies go from today’s PFC final, I don’t know what happened as far as the blow by blows of the contest went. If there was a controversy, I am perfectly fine if this one played out.

That controversy would be that the players on the Hilltops and Thunder, if they felt moved to do so, would have once again gathered at centre-field after the game to take part in a prayer circle to show their faith in the Lord or the Higher Power that they believe in.

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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Shooting from the hip on Bell Let’s Talk day

A display featuring a Bell Let’s Talk toque.

Forget getting out of the starting block, I wasn’t even in the starting block waking up this morning when it came to writing my annual column for Bell Let’s Talk day.

Usually, I have column done ready to go live with pictures when Bell Let’s Talk day begins. After checking messages and taking care of some other work related tasks, I am getting down to work on a piece in earnest at 3 p.m. All of sudden, I am having trouble with my printer/scanner system, and I spend three hours dealing with that to delay things further.

As they say, better late than never.

As a result of those things, this is will be more kind of a “shoot from the hip” type piece.

On my own front, I have known I have battled with issues dealing with anxiety since 2012. I write about my experiences on the mental health front in hopes it will help others.

Since 2016, I’ve kept up with a tradition where I write a post regarding mental health on Bell Let’s Talk day.

There is still a stigma around mental health issues, and they are unfortunately still treated as the elephant in the room in too many circles.

On my own front, I am in a way better place than I was 10 years ago. I am in a way better spot than I was six years ago.

Abby Soyko heads down ice on a rush for the Pandas.

Actually in the current day, my day to day dealings on the mental health front are likely not that sexy or exciting. I am kind of in the place where I deal with the issues of the day as they come up.

Basically, it often comes from prioritizing what I believe needs to be done and just handling things one day at a time. If something expected comes up that is out of your control that you need to adjust to, you make adjustments.

My world since Thursday has been consumed with putting together hockey stories and columns that had deadlines that needed to be met. All of that work was fun, but I had to push back typing this column out.

I got to see a long time friend in Prince Albert product and University of Alberta Pandas Women’s Hockey Team right-winger in Abby Soyko on Saturday. Due to how the world has played dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world in earnest in March of 2020, I hadn’t seen her since crossing paths at a Raiders WHL hockey game in Prince Albert in late December 2019.

We had a great visit after the Pandas downed the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies 3-1 in a U Sports regular season contest at Merlis Belsher Place, and I put together a catch up feature story on her. That piece has been the most viewed post I’ve created on this blog for the last two years.

I also got to chat with Raiders all-time great Dan Hodgson for a story for the Prince Albert Daily Herald about him getting a licensed NHL hockey card. The chat with Hodgson was great, and it is always a highlight any time I can talk to members of the Raiders 1984-85 WHL and Memorial Cup championship team.

As I type this, I wonder what will await me when I tackle messages related to work on the non-hockey front I’ve checked minimally the last few days. I am hoping to get the remainder of the photos I took at the Pandas/Huskies hockey game edited and a small grouping of photos edited for another work-related project done.

I’ve been busy the last few days writing hockey stories and columns.

Those types of things provide what I would grade as standard anxiety for me, but I am confident I will get to them in due time.

One of the things I’m still bad with in day-to-day happenings is shutting out outside noise. If I have phones and social media lines turned off, it usually means I am focusing on work I feel I really need to get done but haven’t due to interruptions. Outside of that, I am likely working out.

As far as shooting from the hip goes, I didn’t really know what I was going to say for this column. A lot of years I have a focused theme as opposed to just going in random directions as I type.

I like today a lot, because I see it gives people freedom to come forward to share their own stories of challenges on the mental health front. I find that part to be extremely helpful and educational for me.

Having worked in the mainstream media, I know this isn’t a great day for a lot of people. In recent years, Bell Canada, which is the telecommunications company that run Bell Let’s Talk day, has had a habit of releasing employees in the months after the company’s mental health awareness and fundraising day.

Any time Bell Canada cuts jobs, the term “Bell Let’s Cut” is inevitably brought up.

I’ve had friends who have been axed by Bell Canada as part of the cuts that have come shortly after Bell Let’s Talk Day in recent years. I saw a post on Twitter from former TSN broadcaster Dan O’Toole asking people to not include him in anything regarding Bell Let’s Talk day due to that day being hard. Bell Canada runs TSN, and O’Toole was released following Bell Let’s Talk day in January of 2021.

Me stationed up in my work perch at the SaskTel Centre.

I met O’Toole along with Jay Onrait at a Saskatchewan Rush NLL home game in April of 2017. 

I had a long visit with them, and you wouldn’t have known we just met. They were outstanding with everyone they met that night.

I decided to keep writing posts on this day, because of the awareness it brings to mental health issues. I know this can be a painful time for friends that used to work for Bell Canada. 

Those cuts have caused people that used to support Bell Let’s Talk day to find other avenues to support charities that assist with mental health causes.

For me, it is fine if you choose to participate in some way on Bell Let’s Talk day, and if you chose not to participate, that is fine too. I am not going to judge anyone.

Since the earnest onset of the COVID-19 pandemic March of 2020, I found the overall toxicity and just plain meanness in the world to have been increased to the highest levels I’ve ever seen in my life. The Twitter social media platform is by far the worst when it comes to encountering people who are toxic.

I try to avoid that type of noise as much as possible, but it is only human to be dragged into it from time to time.

I just hope you are all trying your best to find your way. I am always open for talks about mental health, and I am willing to listen. I know that is not for everyone too.

A picture of myself after finishing a workout.

For myself, I just try to get a little better each day. I hope everyone out in the world can find positive ways to navigate their respective mental health journeys.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. My Bell Let’s Talk post from last year called “Riding hamster wheel is not always good for mental health – Excusing yourself even for a short time is good for soul” can be found by clicking right here. A piece from 2021 called “COVID-19 pandemic forces world to face mental health” can be found by clicking right here. A piece from 2020 called “A big mental health challenge is learning to take a break” can be found right here. A piece from 2019 called “Those facing mental health challenges can still be great in all parts of life” can be found right here. A piece from 2018 called “Being content can become a mental health challenge” can be round right here. A piece from 2017 called “Recognizing and respecting triggers is key for mental health” can be found right here. A piece from 2016 called “Feeling connected calms the mental health seas” can be found right here. A piece called “My Mental Health Story” can be found right here. Another post I like that I wrote in February of 2015 about my mental health journey call “Huskies hockey was good for me” can be found right here.

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Soyko takes long and winding road back to hockey

P.A. Bears all-time great makes strong comeback with Pandas

Abby Soyko is putting up points with the Pandas.

Abby Soyko was never going to give into the setbacks in her hockey career even when they came in bunches and were often out of her control.

The 21-year-old alumna of the Prince Albert Northern Bears under-18 AAA female hockey team experienced enough downs over a two-year period that would have knocked most out of the sport and into another stage of their lives. The string of adversity for Soyko started in earnest in April of 2020.

Having finished playing one season with the Northern Alberta Xtreme under-18 female prep team in Edmonton, Soyko was finishing up her Grade 12 studies in high school and looking forward to joining the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Women’s Hockey Team in September of 2020 along with one of her triplet sisters in Alli. The two sisters had played together on the Xtreme and the Bears.

On April 20, 2020, the University of Lethbridge axed the Pronghorns Men’s and Women’s Hockey team’s due to budget cuts. On May 28, 2020, Abby found a new team and she officially joined the storied University of Alberta Pandas Women’s Hockey Team.

Abby Soyko went over two years between competitive games.

With the world in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Pandas weren’t able to take the ice for game action in 2020-21 due to the Canada West Conference cancelling its season and U Sports cancelling all its national championships.

 In June of 2021, Soyko tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee and had to undergo reconstructive surgery. Due to the one year long rehabilitation to it took to comeback from that injury, Soyko was forced to miss the 2021-22 campaign, when all leagues under the U Sports umbrella returned to action.

Even during the worst of the down times, Soyko was not going to give up on playing hockey.

“I just always knew that hockey is what I wanted to do,” said Soyko, who also took part in lacrosse and track and field growing up in P.A. “I just kind of looked at this as more opportunity to just focus on my school and just rebuild myself kind of from the ground up.

Abby Soyko missed the 2021-22 season rehabbing a knee injury.

“I just kind of changed from how I was from (under-18 hockey) to how I am now, because in my opinion, I think I’m a more well-rounded player than I was in (under-18). I just kind of tried to rejuvenate myself.”

These days, Soyko is well into her first season playing full-time with the Pandas. In 20 regular season games with the Pandas, the power forward sits fifth in team scoring with seven goals and six assists for 13 points.

Taking up position on the right wing, Soyko had a goal Saturday helping her Pandas down the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies 3-1 in a U Sports regular season game played before 626 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place. In skating through her first campaign with the Pandas, Soyko is focused on improving and admits she still had to go through her on-ice growing pains with regards to adjusting to the game at the university level.

“I feel like I’ve had my ups and downs,” said Soyko, who stands 5-foot-4. “I expected that completely.

The first U Sports team Abby Soyko committed to folded.

“My coach Howie (Draper) has been really understanding and just really pushing me to be better. That has been really helpful in my mental block. He made it kind of easy for me actually.”

Draper, who has been the Pandas head coach since U Sports started awarding national titles for women’s hockey in the 1997-98 campaign, said one of Soyko’s biggest moments this season was when she scored in the team’s first regular season game back on September 30, 2022. Soyko netted the Pandas first goal of a 3-2 overtime victory over the Mount Royal University Cougars at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

The tally was a nice one too. Soyko took a drop pass from linemate Megan Wilson at the top of the left faceoff circle in the offensive zone, passed the puck to herself around a Cougars checker and roofed home a shot short side to the top left corner of the Mount Royal goal.

Soyko came to the Pandas with a reputation for putting up points. She is the all-time leading scorer with her hometown Bears piling up 128 points on 65 goals and 63 assists in 136 career regular season games played over five seasons from 2014 to 2019. Soyko is still the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League.

Abby Soyko scored a goal in her first U Sports game.

During her one season with the Xtreme, Soyko topped her team in scoring posting 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 23 games.

When Soyko scored her first goal with the Pandas, she had gone over two-and-a-half years without playing in a competitive regular season or post-season contest. Draper said you could tell it meant a lot for Soyko to get that first goal after all that she had been through.

“It was great to see her score the goal,” said Draper, who has guided the Pandas to all eight of their U Sports national championship wins. “She hadn’t done it in a while.

“She kind of mimicked pulling the monkey off her back. That is the kind of person she is. She got really excited, and we all got excited for her.

“She is going to have a great career here.”

Abby Soyko is the P.A. Northern Bears all-time leading scorer.

When Soyko was dealing with her two-year stretch of multiple adversities, Draper was certain she would be playing full time for the Pandas one day. Draper said Soyko’s passion for the game is too strong to give up on it.

Last season when she was rehabbing her knee, Draper said Soyko was as locked into the game as the players that were on the ice for the Pandas were. The legendary Pandas bench boss said he could feel Soyko’s energy coming from the stands.

Draper said Soyko helped out with statistics and gave good feedback to her teammates trying to help guide them towards a win.

Now that Soyko is on the ice playing for the Pandas, Draper said she aids the team in so many ways.

The Pandas celebrate Abby Soyko’s first period goal on Saturday.

“I think one of the things that we were missing last year was just an extra threat offensively, and she provides that threat,” said Draper. “You can see how she can drive the puck to the net.

“She has tremendous power and the ability to explode just from a standstill and get around the corner. She has a great shot. She is tough and rugged.

“When she plays the game, she doesn’t play it in a dirty way by any stretch. It wasn’t lucky what happened down in Lethbridge with them losing their program, but we were extremely lucky to have her come to us.”

Soyko is happy she has landed on her skates with the Pandas. The opportunity to join U of A’s perennial powerhouse women’s hockey squad kind of came out of the blue.

After the Pronghorns folded, Soyko said things were quiet on the hockey front as restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic had shut down large aspects of life in North American and the world. One day, Soyko got a call from her head coach with the Xtreme in Tyrel Spitzer asking if she wanted to go to the U of A and play for the Pandas.

Abby Soyko has seven goals and six assists in 20 games this season.

The wheels were put in motion from there, and Soyko officially joined the Pandas about a couple of days later. She said it meant a tonne to have her teammates around when she was coming back from her knee injury.

“Everyone was there for me when I was struggling with just not being on the ice,” said Soyko, who is an arts major looking to get into the education at U of A. “They didn’t treat me any different from any other player.

“I was just as included as everyone else. My coach made sure that I knew I was still part of everything. We’re a really tight knit group.

“I live with a couple of girls on the team. I didn’t feel left out at all, and they just made me feel really a part of the team still.”

Abby Soyko aims to keep improving her game with the Pandas.

In Saturday’s game with the Huskies, Soyko opened the scoring in the first period and a single from second-year centre Jadynn Morden allowed the Pandas to exit the opening 20 minutes with a 2-0 edge.

Second-year defender Emily Holmes scored on the power play for the Huskies at the 4:48 mark of the second to cut the Pandas lead to 2-1. Before the second period ended, Pandas second-year right-winger Kallie Clouston netted a single to put the visitors ahead of what would be the 3-1 final score.

Halle Oswald stopped 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pandas, who improved to 18-5-1 with their ninth straight win. Colby Wilson turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies, who fell to 12-9-3.

The Pandas return to action this coming Friday, when they travel to Regina to take on the University of Regina Cougars at 7 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre.

Abby Soyko loves how her Pandas are playing overall.

The Huskies are off until Saturday, February 4, when they host U of R at 5 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

Soyko said she loves how the Pandas are playing overall as a team and is pumped for what the rest of the season has in store for her squad.

“Coming back from Christmas break, I can say we’re definitely a different team,” said Soyko. “Everyone is on the same page.

“Everyone knows their roles. Everyone has bought in. We’re just kind of flowing right now.

“Everyone is just super excited.”

When her playing days with the Pandas are done, Draper believes Soyko will continue to be in hockey in some capacity.

That led to asking Soyko if she could see herself returning to Prince Albert one day to coach her old Bears team she won a SFU18AAAHL title and earned an appearance at the Esso Cup national female under-18 AAA championship tournament with in the 2016-17 campaign. Soyko enjoyed playing for long time former Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby, and the idea taking on his former role has crossed her mind.

Abby Soyko hugs Huskies centre Kate Ball.

“I don’t know, maybe,” said Soyko with a chuckle. “I have definitely thought about coaching.

“I’m not sure if I’ll go back to P.A., but if need be, I know I could probably make that happen. I have started doing some coaching and on-ice instructing in Edmonton. I definitely could see myself coaching in the future.”

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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Epic comeback caps Bears most memorable night at Hauser

The Bears celebrate clinching a berth to the Esso Cup in 2017.

It was a game where it appeared the Prince Albert Northern Bears were going to have to rely on a second chance to nail down an Esso Cup berth.

After capturing their second Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League title in team history in March of 2017, the Bears hosted the Hartney, Man., based Westman Wildcats in a best-of-three female midget AAA Western regional playdown.

The Bears took Game 1 of the series 6-4 on March 31, 2017 at the Art Hauser Centre.

Brooklyn Anderson (#7) had the late third period winner.

In Game 2 of the series on April 1, 2017, the Bears found themselves down 6-3 with 13:24 remaining in the third period. At that point in time, it appeared the two sides would play in a series deciding Game 3 the next night.

All of a sudden, the Bears made a frantic comeback. With exactly two minutes to play in the third, rookie forward Brooklyn Anderson tipped home a point shot from tough as nails defender Jordan Ashe to give the Bears a 7-6 lead.

Prince Albert held on from there to ensure that score would be the final result in order to capture the Lanchbery Family Trophy. The Bears swept the series 2-0 to qualify for the Esso Cup – the female under-18 AAA championship tournament – for the first time in team history.

The Bears celebrate Brooklyn Anderson’s late third period winner.

“It feels amazing,” said Anderson after the game. “I know the team was really excited to get there.

“We weren’t losing this. We wanted to get there, and we got there, so that is awesome.

“I saw Jordan (Ashe) had it on the point, and I knew that I just needed to get in front of the net. It is exactly what I did, and it just went off my stick and in.”

The Bears in 2016-17 were the carbon copies of the romantic image of their WHL cousins the Prince Albert Raiders, when the Raiders are at their best.

If you wanted to play run and gun, the Bears could run and gun. If you wanted to get down in the trenches, the Bear would get down in the trenches.

Captain Brooke Hobson was the Bears best player.

While fighting is technically banned in the female game of hockey, the Bears had the toughness to take care of things in a flat out brawl, if their opponents chose to play that way. The Bears had a team that was built for any type of game.

Overall, head coach Jeff Willoughby liked the high tempo offensive games the best being a fan of the 1980s NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. It seemed fitting the Bears most memorable home game turned out to be a 7-6 shootout that saw a championship trophy and banner handed out at the end of the contest.

The Bears finished second overall in the SFU18AAAHL with what was at the time the best record in team history at 22-6.

When they got to the best-of-five SFU18AAAHL championship series, the Bears swept away their archrivals the Saskatoon Stars 3-0. The Stars had topped the league standings with a 25-2-1 mark.

Camryn Amundson (#9) jets up ice for the Bears.

The Bears had a well-rounded roster, but their best player was captain and ultra-talented offensive-defender Brooke Hobson. Hobson was a member of Canada’s under-18 national women’s team and turned heads with a shot that seemed to be gifted to her from a Higher Power.

Veteran forward Camryn Amundson skated through an inspired season in 2016-17. She played in 27 regular season games setting career highs in goals (13), assists (14) and points (27).

Her older sister Shaye had passed away tragically in a single-vehicle accident in June of 2016. On the ice, it seemed like Shaye was still there helping her younger sister play.

Abby Soyko had the equalizer for the Bears.

The Bears roster had some classic Prince Albert hockey elements.

 They had the great power forward in Abby Soyko. At age 15 that season, Soyko topped the Bears in scoring with 18 goals and 13 assists for 31 points in 27 regular season games.

The Bears had players that could put up points with a finesse offensive game like Kate Ball, who had 15 goals and 15 assists appearing in all of the Bears 28 regular season games.

They had gritty checkers like centre Ireland South, who also showed some offensive touch netting 11 goals and 10 assists in 26 regular season games.

Finesse defender Hannah Koroll was solid and made the game look easy to play at both ends of the ice.

Of course, the Bears had Ashe on the back end, and she was the Bears version of Raiders legend Dave Manson on defence.

Kate Ball had a big offensive season for the Bears in 2016-17.

In goal, the Bears had the reliable duo of Ryan Fontaine and Brooklyn Elek, and the team couldn’t go wrong playing either in big games.

Overall, the Bears had their own unique collective personality, where it seemed it was always a good day to go to the rink. Ultimately, everyone on the roster stepped up with big performances and moments at different points in the campaign to make it a special one.

When the Bears showed up for Game 2 of their series with the Wildcats, they had an estimated 1,200 supporters waiting for them at the Art Hauser Centre.

A sweep in the short set wasn’t guaranteed as the Wildcats had some star players like forward Ashton Bell, who was the captain of Canada’s under-18 national women’s team.

Hannah Koroll made playing the game look easy.

The Wildcats scored on their first two shots of the game to go ahead 2-0, but the Bears stormed back to take a 3-2 lead early in the second period.

The visitors proceeded to score four straight goals to go ahead 6-3 with 13:24 remaining in the third.

Josee Casavant and Bell had each scored twice for the Wildcats, while Camryn Clyne and Haley Wickham had singles.

Ball, Amundson and Story Navrot replied with singles for the Bears up to that point in time.

With 12:22 remaining in the third, the Bears got traction when forward Miranda Heidt slipped a pass across the front of the Westman goal to Hobson. The Bears captain potted a tally to cut the Wildcats edge to 6-4.

Hobson struck again with 7:54 remaining in the third, when she blew home a point shot to further trim the Wildcats lead to 6-5.

Jordan Ashe brought grit and toughness to the Bears.

Soyko proceeded to even things up at 6-6 with a power-play goal with 3:13 remaining in the frame. That set the stage for dramatics on Anderson’s winner.

Elek made 24 stops to pick up the win in goal. Kaitlyn Slator turned away 19 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wildcats.

“Both teams kind of just let it loose,” said Willoughby after the game. “It was kind of run and gun and fun to play in and fun to coach.

“I’m sure all the fans got more than their money’s worth here. It was incredible to coach in I will say that first of all. There was lots of intensity on the bench.

“The girls didn’t get down too low, didn’t get up too high. It was very good.”

The Bears raise the Lanchbery Family Trophy.

The win marked the first time the Bears accepted a championship trophy and banner on home ice. 

The two times they clinched the SFU18AAAHL title were both on the road.

The Bears on ice celebration with their parents and fans seemed to last a good two hours after their series clinching win ended.

Later that same month, the Bears finished fifth overall in the round robin standings at the Esso Cup tournament, which was held in Morden, Man. They just missed out making the playoff round with a 2-3 record.

The Bears are all smiles after their epic comeback win.

Looking back now, the excitement Prince Albert that season had for the Bears in 2016-17 seemed to be a prelude in “Hockey Town North” for the huge excitement that followed for the Raiders in their special 2018-19 campaign.

Of course in 2018-19, the Raiders topped the WHL standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and went on to win the WHL title thanks to Dante Hannoun’s overtime winner of Game 7 of the league championship series at the Art Hauser Centre.

In 2016-17, it was Anderson’s late third period goal and the Bears that took centre stage at the Art Hauser Centre. Prince Albert rallied around the Bears as they collected championship trophies and banners.

Camryn Amundson enjoys her moment with the trophy.

The Bears crafted a story in 2016-17 which will be passed down through generations in P.A.

That season, the Bears truly embodied the romantic image of “Hockey Town North.”

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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Hermann will always cherish year as Hilltops starter

Club celebrates 2019 CJFL title season with ring day

Tyler Hermann, left, shows his championship ring to his father, Craig. 

    Tyler Hermann’s one campaign as the Saskatoon Hilltops starting quarterback turned into a dream season.
    After being a reserve quarterback for four years, Hermann was tabbed with taking the controls of the Hilltops offence for his fifth and final campaign with the club. While there were growing pains in the first four weeks of the season, Hermann signal called the Hilltops to a perfect 12-0 record to capture the Canadian Bowl and become CJFL champions for a sixth straight year.

    The Hilltops downed the host Langley Rams 11-6 last November in the CJFL title game to win a 22^nd national title.

    Hermann had a good personal campaign too in 2019 completing 123-of-192 passes for 1,908 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions appearing in all of his club’s eight regular season games.

Tyler Hermann, left, receives his championship ring.

    “It was awesome,” said Hermann, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 205 pounds. “That is something I will have for the rest of my life.

    “It is one of those priceless memories that I will look back, and I will just cherish every moment of it. I remember at the end of the season I was almost sad thinking back. I should have been happy.

    “I remembered that this was the end of something that was such a big part of my life and all friendships I made along the way. This was a spectacular year.”

    On Saturday on the practice field outside the Hilltops clubhouse, Hermann received his championship ring at the team’s ring ceremony.

Tyler Hermann, left, and Jesse McNabb show off their rings.

    Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Hilltops ring ceremony was a modified one.

    Usually, the Hilltops ring ceremony is a social event that brings together their CJFL championship team from the previous season as part of a reunion night.

    With government regulations currently in place to combat COVID-19, the Hilltops ultimately did a ring ceremony to give a nod to their 2019 season with a group of six players, who were in their final campaign with the team in 2019.

    The graduating players that made it out included Hermann, Connor Graham, Tristan Hering, Logan Kelsey-Stern, Ryder Klisowsky and Jesse McNabb.

    Team officials will distribute the rest of the championship rings to the 2019 title winning team.

    With that noted, Hermann was happy with the reunion that did happen considering the circumstances that surround the current day.

Jesse McNabb, left, gets his championship ring.

    “We usually do it right after May camp too, so there is a little buzz around the new season,” said Hermann, who recently turned 23-years-old. “Everyone is kind of chatting.

    “It is definitely different. I like the way they did it having the fifth year guys here. Those are the guys we traveled our whole five years together with, and we shared such similar experiences kind of starting as that rookie and then finishing the way we did.

    “That is good enough for me. That is really all you can expect in times like this is something like that.”

Jesse McNabb checks out his championship ring.

    McNabb’s eyes got really big, when he opened his ring box and saw his championship ring. The star defensive tackle, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 245 pounds, said a big part of the 2019 campaign was gutting out a 4-0 start.

    The Hilltops had a huge turnover in their starting ranks, and many players were adjusting to new roles.

    The venerable CJFL club opened the season with three straight road victories. The Hilltops took their home opener 28-21 over their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder thanks to a touchdown with under a minute to play.

    The home win over the Thunder and a 24-22 win in Week 3 over the Huskies in Edmonton required fourth-quarter comebacks.

    “It was big, because it really showed the character of the team,” said McNabb, who recorded 26.5 total tackles and three sacks for the Hilltops in the 2019 regular season. “We weren’t just rolling through everyone like some teams in the past have.

Jesse McNabb shows off his championship rings.

    “It was more hard fought games. It was really good for the group morale to see that we could get through the tough times together. As the season went on, things developed better, and it was good.”

    On Aug. 25, 2019 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Hilltops legendary head coach Tom Sargeant picked up his 200^th career victory in a 34-16 win over the host Thunder.

    Sargeant later moved past retired Regina Rams head coach Frank McCrystal to become the all-time leader in head coaching victories in Canada’s amateur post-secondary football ranks.

    After the Hilltops won their sixth straight CJFL championship, Sargeant’s career record sat a 210-30-2 including action in the CJFL regular season and post-season.

Ryder Klisowsky shows off his five championship rings.

    McCrystal had a 208-104-2 record in the regular season and post-season in both the CJFL and U Sports. He was the head coach of the Regina Rams from 1984 to 2014, and they played 15 seasons in the CJFL and 16 campaigns in U Sports over that time as the University of Regina Rams.

    McNabb said helping Sargeant get those milestones was a sweet part of the campaign.

    “It was great just to be able to do that for him and get things done right and then be able to lift him up in B.C. at the end of the year and give him the trophy,” said the 22-year-old McNabb.

    Hilltops linebacker Jadyn Pingue was named the CJFL defensive player of the year for his efforts during the 2019 season.
    The Hilltops have also captured the Canadian Bowl in nine out of the last 10 seasons to become CJFL champions.

Ryder Klisowsky, left, and Logan Kelsey-Stern enjoy ring day.

    The 12-0 campaign in 2019 followed up the Hilltops posting an 11-0 overall mark in their 2018 CJFL title winning season.

    The Hilltops 2019 CJFL championship rings have the initials “J.F.” written on the side to honour late former star Hilltops linebacker Justin Filteau. Filteau, who played for the Hilltops from 2010 to 2014, passed away in a plane crash on June 1, 2019.

    The 2019 rings, which were designed by the Hilltops graduating players, contain 22 sapphires symbolizing the club’s 22 CJFL championships. The word “trust” is written on the underside of the ring to recognize the trust the Hilltops players had in their teammates over the course of the season.

    There are six Canadian Bowl trophies on the side and six sapphires on the top of the ring to symbolize the Hilltops sixth consecutive Canadian Bowl championship win.

    “Obviously, it is beautiful, and it is something to be proud of,” said Hermann. “When I look at it, I just kind of think of the comradery of the team.”

Soyko takes her talents to the Pandas, other notes

@PandasHockey is proud to announce that @abbysoyko_10 has committed and will be wearing green and gold in 2020/21. Welcome to the PHamily Abby! pic.twitter.com/1IP4dlwTTe

— UofA Pandas Hockey (@PandasHockey) May 28, 2020

    Abby Soyko has found a new hockey home with the most storied women’s program in the history of U Sports.

    On Thursday, the University of Alberta Pandas, who have won the most U Sports national women’s hockey championships at eight, announced Soyko has committed to joining the Edmonton-based squad for the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
    The Prince Albert, Sask., product originally committed to joining the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey team in January along with her sister Alli. Abby and Alli are two parts of triplet siblings.

Abby Soyko in action with the Bears in October of 2018.

    On April 20, the University of Lethbridge cut both the men’s and women’s Pronghorns hockey teams citing a lack of provincial government funding.

    Due to that development, the two 18-year-olds became free agents with the ability to join any other post-secondary team of their choosing.

    On Thursday, it became official that Abby was going to be a member of the Pandas.

Alli found a new hockey home too. On Thursday, the Red Deer College Queens women’s hockey team, who play out of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association ranks, announced Alli had committed to joining their program.

    Both Abby and Alli played major roles in helping the Prince Albert Northern Bears win the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League championship in 2016-17 and win a Western Regional playdown series to advance to the Esso Cup national championship tournament.

    Abby would be viewed as the big catch due to her scoring prowess. She is the quintessential power forward.

    She played for the Bears for five seasons from 2014 to 2019 appearing in 136 regular season games piling up 65 goals and 63 assists for 128 points. She is the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFU18AAAHL and the Bears all-time leader in goals and points.

    Abby is tied for the Bears all-time regular season record in career assists with Kaitlin Willoughby, who went on to star and become the second all-time leading scorer for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks.

    Abby was also the Bears captain in her final season with that team.

Queens Hockey is proud to introduce our newest member: @allisoykoo of @NAXHockey. Alli joins us from Prince Albert, Sask. We are excited to see you wear the Crown to start your college hockey career! Welcome to the family @rdcathletics! #mykingsmyqueens

— 🏒 RDC Queens Hockey (@rdcqueenshockey) May 29, 2020

    Last season, Abby and Alli played for the Northern Alberta Xtreme Female Prep team in Devon, Alta.

    Due to their late October birthday, they had exhausted their under-18 AAA eligibility, but still needed to finish their Grade 12 studies in high school.

    Abby was the leading scorer for the Xtreme this past season posting 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 23 games.

Alli Soyko in action for the Bears in November of 2018.

    She will be a big addition to the Pandas, who won the Canada West title last season. The Pandas didn’t get a chance to play a game at the U Sports national championship tournament in Charlottetown, P.E.I., which was called off after two games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Alli will be a strong addition to a team at the Canadian college level, and she also has all the physical tools to play at the university level possibly one day.

    In her final season with the Bears in 2018-19, Alli recorded career highs in all offensive categories with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 26 regular season games.

    She had another solid campaign this past season with the Xtreme posting five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 23 games.

    Last season, the Queens fell 3-2 in double overtime in a series deciding Game 3 to the NAIT Ooks in an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference semifinal series.

    Both Abby and Alli will be great additions to their respective teams.

• On Thursday, the Boston Marathon, which was scheduled for Sept. 14, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has originally been slated for April 20 before being pushed back to Sept. 14. This will mark the first time in history the Boston Marathon has been cancelled after running for 124 consecutive years.
• On Friday, the DUBNetwork, which is a website platform dedicated to covering the WHL, announced it was taking a step back and stopping coverage due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Run by chief executive officer Paul Figler, the DUBNetwork has been in operation since 2015.
• On Friday, long time Medicine Hat, Alta., radio broadcaster Jim Duce announced he will be retiring. Duce has been on the radio waves for 47 years. He currently works for CHAT 94.5, and his final day on air will be Friday, June 26.

    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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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.