Regnier, fellow P.A. connections power Huskies to Canada West title

Ethan Regnier takes a lap with the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

Not so long ago, Ethan Regnier believed that his opportunities to score big goals in the U Sports post-season had flown by the wayside.

The Prince Albert product had been playing with the Mount Royal University Cougars Men’s Hockey Team. He decided that direction in life at that time wasn’t for him after his second season with the team wrapped up after the 2022-23 campaign. He left Calgary and returned to Saskatchewan playing senior hockey closer to home with the Rosthern Wheat Kings in 2023-24.

After Regnier left the Cougars, Brandin Cote, who is the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, came calling. The two were part of the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos together from 2018 to 2020 with Regnier playing forward and Cote serving as an assistant coach.

Regnier elected to join the Huskies. Last Sunday, Regnier found himself playing centre for the Dogs against the visiting Cougars in a series deciding Game 3 of the Canada West Conference Championship Series at Merlis Belsher Place on the U of S campus.

With 5:55 remaining in the third period, Regnier, who is a Prince Albert Minor Hockey product, potted a key insurance goal to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage. The Huskies would go on to post a 3-0 victory before a record tying attendance of 3,013 spectators at their state of the art home rink.

This story of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Oh how sweet it is – Huskies capture Canada West title

Dogs claim first conference championship since 2020

Justin Ball goes for a spin with the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

It was the spark that helped the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team surge to a Canada West championship.

On Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies found themselves in a scoreless deadlock in the third period with the Mount Royal University Cougars in a series deciding Game 3 of the Canada West Championship series. The Cougars had gotten the record crowd of 3,013 spectators at the Huskies state of the art rink to fall into a hush.

At the 10:09 mark of the frame, the Huskies got a rush that turned the game around. 

Vince Loschiavo scored the winning goal for the Huskies.

Second-year offensive defenceman Landon Kosior got the puck to fourth-year left-winger Chantz Petruic at the left side of his own blue-line. Petruic made seeing-eye pass up the centre of the ice to fifth-year right-winger Vince Loschiavo to spring him into the Mount Royal zone on a one-on-one rush.

Loschiavo jetted up the left wing, took a shot that deflected off the stick of Cougars defenceman Michael Ladyman into the Mount Royal net to put the Huskies up 1-0 and almost blow the roof off Merlis. That started a three-goal surge that allowed the Huskies to take the game 3-0. With the win, the Huskies claimed the best-of-three set 2-1 to capture their first conference crown since 2020.

Vince Loschiavo reacts to score at the 10:09 mark of the third period.

Both Huskies and the Cougars will play in the U Sports Championship Tournament – the David Johnston University Cup. It is slated to be held at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, from March 20 to 23, and it will be played in elite-eight format.

“I’m so happy for our guys,” said Huskies head coach Brandin Cote, who was named the Canada West Conference coach of the year this season. “They put in so much work.

“They bought in, and that is what good teams do. They are so close and so tight. We’re going to enjoy this, but we also got nationals to be ready for as well, so we’re not done yet.”

The Huskies celebrate a third period goal from Vince Loschiavo (#18).

The Huskies captured the Canada West title for the 19^th time in team history with 12 of those wins coming in the conference’s modern era that started in 1972.

For the first 40 minutes in Sunday’s game, it seemed like the Huskies were stuck in a mud bog. While they had their spurts of offence, the Cougars pinned the hosts in their own zone for extended stretches.

Mount Royal had a 12-4 edge in shots on goal after the first period and 24-11 advantage in the same department heading into the second intermission. While the Cougars had their chances, they couldn’t solve Huskies fourth-year netminder Roddy Ross, who claimed honours as the Canada West goaltender of the year for the current campaign.

Part of the crowd of 3,013 spectators cheer the Huskies first goal.

Kosior said Ross’s performance helped give the Huskies traction.

“Roddy (Ross) was making saves,” said Kosior. “I think that just gave us so much belief.

“We knew that he is not letting anything in. We just knew that we had to get one. Once we got it, it was all gas.”

Huskies second-year right-winger Keaton Sorensen thought his team’s effort was there for the first 40 minutes and the intensity of the contest was high. He said all his squad had to do was get a touch more composure.

Roddy Ross made 30 saves to pick up the shutout win on Sunday.

“We just took it period by period every five minutes,” said Sorensen. “Sometimes, we got revved up.

“We just got calm and collected. We just got it done today.”

The game’s momentum shifted drastically in the third when Loschiavo got the Huskies on the scoreboard. Kosior was pumped to see the rush that he started get finished off by Loschiavo.

“That was unbelievable,” said Kosior. “That was a feeling I won’t forget.

“We celebrated, and then knew there was nine minutes left or whatever it was. We had to refocus and finish the game out.”

Shane Farkas stopped 24-of-26 shots in goal for the Cougars.

Following Loschiavo’s goal, the Huskies got the puck deep in the Mount Royal often and were hard on the forecheck. That pressure resulted in a key insurance goal with 5:55 remaining in the third.

Cougars third-year defenceman Remy Aquilon had the puck deep in his zone, and he was forced to cough it up after he was floored by a big hit from Huskies fourth-year right winger Jarrett Penner. After the hit, the puck squirted to Huskies third-year centre Ethan Regnier, who was all alone in front of the Mount Royal net.

Regnier tucked a shot between the legs of Cougars netminder Shane Farkas to push the Huskies lead out to 2-0.

“Penn (Jarrett Penner) is my linemate there,” said Regnier. “He is always hard on the puck, so you always have to be ready.

Ethan Regnier scored the Huskies second goal on Sunday.

“You never know what is going to happen. It just came out to me. I tried to make a quick move, and luckily, it went in.”

Regnier was pumped his Huskies prevailed in Game 3 to capture the conference title.

“I’m pretty speechless,” said Regnier. “To do it in front of the crowd and the support we have here, it is awesome.”

With 1:16 remaining in the third, fourth-year defenceman Ty Prefontaine sealed the victory with an empty-net tally that rounded out the 3-0 final score.

Ross stopped all 30 shots sent his way to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies. Farkas turned away 24-of-26 shots to take the setback in net for the Cougars.

During the regular season, the Huskies topped the Canada West standings with a 23-5 record, and they were rated second in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings. 

The Huskies pour off their bench after winning the Canada West title.

The Cougars were second overall in Canada West at 22-6, and they were rated fourth in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings.

Kosior was elated his squad claimed the conference title.

“It feels unreal,” said Kosior. “At the start of the year, this was our goal.

“To accomplish it, it is the best feeling in the world.”

Sorensen contributed some gritty minutes to help the Huskies cause. With 3:34 remaining in the third, he drew a tripping penalty from Cougars rookie right-winger Justin Lies that help keep the momentum on the Huskies side.

Ty Prefontaine (#9) reacts to getting his Canada West gold medal.

When the third period clock expired, Sorensen was over the moon excited about the fact his team won the conference title.

“It is awesome,” said Sorensen. “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.”

The 3,013 spectators the Huskies drew for Game 3 matched the record total they attracted for Game 2 of the series on Saturday at Merlis, which the Cougars claimed 2-1 in overtime. In the Huskies 6-3 victory in Game 1 of the series on Friday, 2,980 spectators packed into Merlis, which was the attendance record for the building until Games 2 and 3 of the series were played.

Landon Kosior raises the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

Kosior played before some lively crowds during his WHL career as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in “Hockey Town North.” He loved how the Huskies faithful brought the noise and the energy in the Canada West final.

“The crowd has been amazing,” said Kosior. “It is unbelievable.

“I can’t even put it into words. We’re just so thankful with how good our crowd was.”

Now the Huskies turn their attention to trying to win their second U Sports championship in team history. Their lone U Sports title came from their legendary 1982-83 squad that was coached by Dave King and captained by Willie Desjardins.

Kosior said his squad is looking forward to what awaits then at the David Johnston University Cup.

The Huskies celebrate their Canada West title win on Sunday.

“We’re excited,” said Kosior. “We will celebrate this, and then, we will come back and be ready to go and be looking forward to nationals.”

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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CFL keeps on keeping on with CFL Draft

Circuit faces unprecedented questions, uncertainty

Andrew Harris in action for the Bombers in 2017.

It will be a CFL Draft like no other, because the Canadian professional football circuit is facing uncertainty the likes it has never seen before.

On Tuesday, the CFL will hold a CFL Draft that will last six rounds. The first two rounds will be shown on TSN at 5 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

Normally for a prospect player that is selected in the CFL Draft, they take a step towards playing in a CFL game one day. A likelihood still exists drafted prospects will attend a CFL camp, but not make a roster to play in a CFL game.

For the prospects that are selected in Tuesday’s CFL Draft, they might not even get to see a CFL training camp let alone a regular season game.

That is the reality of the CFL as it attempts to operate with a world having been stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic dating back to about March 11, 2020.

The CFL already has one full draft class that has never seen the field at a CFL training camp. The players who were selected in the 2020 CFL Draft in late April of that year saw the entire CFL season get cancelled.

The league’s nine teams ultimately never did bring players together for any training camp activities.

The CFL pushed for government funding to be able to hold a season in 2020, but the funding the circuit sought never game.

Actually, post-secondary football wasn’t played anywhere in U Sports or the Canadian Junior Football League in 2020, so most of the players from Canada that could be drafted haven’t played a season since 2019.

On top of the pandemic this year, there is another elephant in the room that looms over everything the CFL does – the XFL.

On March 10, news broke that saw the CFL and XFL reveal they’re poised to begin serious discussions about a potential partnership. The XFL is the spring start up league in the United States that was bought out of bankruptcy in August of 2020 by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital.

According to the XFL’s website, RedBird Capital managers US$4-billion in assets.

There is speculation that these potential partnership discussions are moving in the direction of full merger.

How real this speculation is can be debated.

On April 26, The Canadian Press reported U Sports, the CJFL, the Canadian Football Officials Association and Football Canada sent a joint policy letter to CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie for consideration.

The letter requested the CFL remains committed to essential rule components of Canadian Football in Canada.

This includes traditional field width and length between goal-lines and having 12-players per side. The letter requested the CFL maintains the current mandate of starter and roster positions for national players.

The joint policy letter wouldn’t have been sent, if there wasn’t concern for how far the discussions between the CFL and XFL have gone.

Brendon LaBatte (#57) in action for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2017.

On March 29, the community owned Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced an overall loss of $6,982,217 for 2020.

The Bombers won the Grey Cup in 2019, which was the last time the CFL held a season. For 2019, the Bombers posted a $3.5-million operating profit.

The Winnipeg franchise is viewed as one of the healthiest clubs in the CFL. If the Bombers lost close to $7-million in 2020, one wonders what the losses were for the eight other CFL teams.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Edmonton Football Club will eventually have to present their financial statements for 2020 being both community owned franchises.

It should be noted that no new ownership groups or entities in Canada have shown any interest in stepping up to take stewardship of the CFL.

On top of all that, the CFL has to deal with the spectre of the NFL.

In November of 2020, Ambrosie told the Rod Pedersen Show he had talked with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, but there wouldn’t be financial support from the NFL to help the CFL work through its losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1997, the NFL provided a US$3-million interest free loan to the CFL, which was struggling financially at the time. In return, the NFL was granted access to CFL players entering a two-month window in the option year of their contracts.

The CFL turned the corner financially and repaid that loan and the agreement with the NFL expired in 2006.

That agreement was done when Paul Tagliabue was the commissioner of the NFL. It was viewed that this move by the NFL helped give a boost to the game of football and the CFL in Canada.

On March 30, the NFL announced it would be looking at hosting neutral site regular season games in Canada along with Europe, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom as the league increases its regular season schedule from 16 games per team to 17 games per team starting this coming campaign.

Does that mean the NFL is looking to get more of a footing in Canada?

While three-down football is played at all levels in Saskatchewan, the four-down version of the game is played at the grassroots level in other locations like the greater Toronto area and the greater Vancouver area. Together, both those areas make up a sizable portion of Canada’s population.

Noting that, the joint policy letter from U Sports, the CJFL, the Canadian Football Officials Association and Football Canada didn’t make mention about games using either three or four downs.

Ultimately, the CFL might not take the field again in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even though it is still trying to conduct business as normal as possible.

On April 21, the CFL announced it was pushing the start of its regular season back from June 10 to August 5. Each club is slated to play a 14-game regular season as opposed to an 18-game regular season.

In 2020, the CFL went through scenarios regarding shortened campaigns before the season was cancelled.

Due to the fact there is no certainty mass gatherings will be allowed in Canada in the size that will allow the CFL to have a strong enough income from ticket sales to go ahead despite vaccine rollouts for COVID-19, the CFL is looking at repeating 2020 in 2021.

Evan Johnson (#64) locks up on a block for the Ottawa Redblacks in 2019.

Thanks to the fact the 2020 season was lost and the 2021 campaign might not go ahead, some CFL veterans have already decided to retire from the game and move on to the next part of their life.

For the players that are taken in the 2021 CFL Draft that will be held Tuesday, the draft selection will still be a great accomplishment. Those prospect players will work hard to play, but there is a very real chance they won’t have a CFL league to play in.

As it stands right now, the last CFL game that was played was the Bombers 33-12 Grey Cup win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Nov. 24, 2019 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta.

That might go down as the last game ever played in the storied history of the CFL.

Cote joins Huskies, other notes

Brandin Cote will be reuniting with first WHL head coach.

On April 26, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies announced Cote will be the new associate coach for the athletic program’s men’s hockey team. Cote had been an assistant coach with his hometown WHL in the Swift Current Broncos since the start of the 2018-19 season.

The Broncos closed their developmental 24-game regular season this past Wednesday falling 6-5 in overtime to the Prince Albert Raiders playing in the WHL East Division bubble at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The 40-year-old Cote will begin his new position with the Huskies on July 1.

Cote will join legendary head coach Mike Babcock on the Huskies bench. Babcock, who is famous from his time in the NHL and leading Canada’s men’s Olympic team to two gold medal wins, is serving as the Huskies interim volunteer head coach for two seasons taking over for long time and legendary Huskies head coach Dave Adolph, whose retirement became official on Saturday.

Cote played for Babcock as an associate player call up in 1996-97 and three seasons from 1997 to 2000 with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, when Babcock finished up his time as Chiefs head coach.

Cote was a career member of the Chiefs serving as the team’s captain after Babcock moved on to the professional ranks. From 1996 to 2002, the shifty centre played in 352 career regular season games with the Chiefs collecting 101 goals and 154 assists.

In the 2001-02 campaign, Cote won the Humanitarian of the Year awards for the WHL and CHL.

He went on to a career spanning eight seasons in the professional ranks playing in the AHL, the East Coast Hockey League as well as leagues in Germany, Italy and England.

Cote was an assistant coach of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in 2016-17 and was an assistant coach with the Red Deer College Kings men’s hockey team in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association ranks in 2013-14. He served as the Kings associate coach in 2017-18.

With this move, it is believed Cote could take on the role of becoming the Huskies head coach one day.

• On Friday, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies posted a heartfelt piece regarding long time and legendary men’s hockey team head coach Dave Adolph. Adolph’s retirement became official on Saturday. The piece the Huskies posted on their website on Friday contains interviews from the 17 players that served as captains during Adolph’s time as head coach from 1993 to 2021. The captains talked about how much Adolph meant to the program and themselves personally. The piece can be found by clicking right here.
• Last Wednesday, the Formula 1 announced the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Quebec, has been cancelled for a second straight year due to public health protocols brought in to battle COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s race had been scheduled for June 13. The Turkish Grand Prix will replace the Canadian Grand Prix for the weekend of June 11 to 13.
• Last Wednesday, Softball Canada announced it has cancelled all 10 of its Canadian fast pitch and slo-pitch championships for a second consecutive year. Softball Canada made the decisions due to the public health protocols and travel restrictions that are in place in Canada to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On Friday, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced the 2021 women’s world hockey championship has been rescheduled for Aug. 20 to 31 at a location to be announced. The IIHF will evaluate venues with Hockey Canada. Women’s worlds were originally scheduled for May 6 to 16 in Halifax and Truno, Nova Scotia. On April 21, Nova Scotia premier Iain Rankin pulled the plug on the tournament over concerns of rising COVID-19 cases in the province.
• Tickets are on sale for the May jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. The draw date will be May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.

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.