Saskatchewan trio finds welcome homes with CFL deals

Colton Klassen has been signed by the Alouettes.

They didn’t receive a Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday, but a trio of Saskatchewan products got to do some celebrating on the CFL front this week.

Three popular Saskatchewan products in Colton Klassen, Evan Johnson and Jon Ryan all cemented CFL homes for the potential 2021 campaign by signing contracts. While there is still legitimate worry about what the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world will do to the 2021 campaign after the CFL was unable to take the field in 2020, the signings provide a moment of joy, celebration and optimism.

On Monday, which was a day before free agency opened, the Alouettes announced they signed Colton Klassen, who is a star utility offensive player for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team in the U Sports ranks. The Alouettes selected Klassen in the eighth round and 69^th overall in the 2020 CFL Draft.

The 25-year-old had been looking forward to playing a 2020 campaign either in the CFL or using his final year of U Sports eligibility with the Huskies to show how well he has bounced back from a major injury.

On October 26, 2019, Klassen went down with a gruesome dislocated right ankle near the end of the first quarter of 22-9 victory over the University of Alberta Golden Bears at Griffiths Stadium. The contest closed the regular season for both sides, which meant Klassen wasn’t able to play in the Huskies two post-season games.

Miraculously at the beginning of March of 2020, he recovered to the point he was ready to attend CFL scouting combines.

At that point, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic took hold in North America causing massive shutdowns to occur starting on a big scale on March 11 and 12 of 2020, especially in the sports world.

Ignite Athletics held testing in late March of 2020 and Klassen ran the 40-yard dash in under 4.6 seconds which showed the incredible progress he had made.

During the Huskies eight regular season games in 2019, Klassen caught 37 passes last season for 456 yards and two touchdowns and was named a Canada West Conference all-star. 

Evan Johnson (#64) has signed with the Roughriders.

Before joining the Huskies in 2016, Klassen, who is a graduate of Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School, was the offensive player of the year of the Prairie Football Conference with the CJFL’s Regina Thunder as a running back in 2015.

After joining the Huskies, Klassen made explosive plays as a running back, receiver and kick returner. The Alouettes will like the he can be used in various roles.

While Klassen got his deal done on Monday, the opening of free agency on Tuesday was a big day for U of S Huskies football grad Evan Johnson.

The 26-year-old offensive lineman and Regina product signed with his hometown team in the Saskatchewan Roughriders. After graduating from the Huskies in 2016, Johnson was selected in the first round and ninth overall in the CFL Draft by the Ottawa Redbacks.

With the Redblacks from 2017 to 2019, Johnson, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 280 pounds, played in 52 regular season games becoming a starter part way through his rookie campaign. He started games at left tackle, right tackle and left guard.

Johnson’s versatility as a starter will be the biggest asset he brings to the Roughriders. The graduate of Regina’s Campbell Collegiate is also the Tom Brady of offensive linemen in the looks department, so he might get some endorsement deals that could potentially attract causal fans and those that might not normally have an interest in football.

On Wednesday, the Roughriders announced they were bringing back all-time punting great Jon Ryan back for a second season signing him for the 2021 campaign.

The graduate from the University of Regina Rams football team in the U Sports ranks played for the Roughriders in 2019. He appeared in all 18 of the Roughriders regular season games punting the ball 107 times for 5,222 yards for an average of 48.8 yards per punt.

The 39-year-old is best remember for his time in the NFL where he played with the Green Bay Packers in 2006 and 2007 before spending 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks from 2008 to 2017. Ryan, who stands 6-feet and weighs 217 pounds, helped the Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII following the 2013 season.

With the Packers and Seahawks, Ryan appeared in 191 career regular season games punting the ball 914 times for 40,895 yards and averaging 44.7 yards per punt.

Before making the NFL, Ryan had two stellar seasons with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2004 and 2005.

Jon Ryan (#9) has inked another contract with the Roughriders.

The graduate of Regina’s Sheldon-Williams Collegiate is still fondly remember for his time with the Rams from 2000 to 2003, where he handled all the team’s punting and place kicking duties and became a star receiver too.

In 2000, he helped the Rams get to the U Sports championship game, the Vanier Cup, where they fell 42-39 to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. 

In his final season with the Rams in 2003, Ryan was named the all-star punter in the Canada West Conference and a first team U Sports all-Canadian all-star averaging 45.9 yards per boot on 67 attempts. Ryan also had 27 catches in eight regular season games to lead the Rams with 501 receiving yards with four of those catches going for touchdowns.

While these current days in the COVID-19 pandemic often feel like tough sledding, it is great to have the chance to celebrate the signings of Saskatchewan products like Klassen, Johnson and Ryan.

Bucs don’t win Super Bowl without Brady

Tom Brady raising the Super Bowl on TV is a beautiful sight.

This past Super Bowl Sunday produced a regular beautiful sight on your television screen of Tom Brady raising the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Even the fact the world is in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t stop Brady from winning a seventh Super Bowl title. Of course, the big difference was Brady was quarterbacking the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 thumping of the Kansas City Chiefs, who were the defending Super Bowl champions at the time, at Raymond James Stadium.

Of course, Brady had a divorce from the New England Patriots following the 2019 season. After 20 seasons together, the Patriots decided they wanted to go in a different direction.

On March 20, 2020, Brady signed a two-year contract with the Buccaneers. He ultimately brought best friend in tight end Rob Gronkowski with him to Tampa Bay.

“Gronk” came out of retirement to rejoin the legendary signal caller on the field.

Brady convinced some other friends to join him with the Buccaneers. Running back Leonard Fournette signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers in early September 2020 after being waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Brady was able to talk beleaguered receiver Antonio Brown into joining the Buccaneers on a one-year deal in late October of 2020. Brown had been cut in early 2019 by the Patriots.

The newcomers accounted for all the Tampa Bay touchdowns this past Sunday. Gronkowski caught two touchdown passes from Brady, and Brady hooked up with Brown for a third TD toss.

Fournette had a 27-yard touchdown run in the romp.

Before the arrival of Brady and company, the Buccaneers were a team on the rise. With a younger roster, they posted a 7-9 record in 2019.

The Buccaneers defence had a good mix of youngsters with some solid veterans.

Tampa Bay was looking for a way to get over the hump.

Buccaneers management decided they weren’t going to wait anymore for signal caller Jameis Winston to keep developing. In 2019, Winston played his fifth season for the Buccaneers at age 25 completing 380 of 626 passes for 5,109 yards, 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.

The turnovers from the quarterback position ultimately caused the Buccaneers to have a losing record in 2019.

In 2020 with Brady at age 43, the Buccaneers posted an 11-5 regular season record, and Brady completed 401 of 610 passes for 4,633 yards, 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

As the season went along, all facets of the Buccaneers team in offence, defence and special teams began to jell together that much better. They finished the regular season winning four straight and extended that streak to eight straight victories on the way to the second Super Bowl title in franchise history.

By the sounds of things, this Buccaneers team could return pretty much as a whole for next season. They have to be considered the favourites to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Brady seems to have a good sense of humour when it comes to dealing with haters too. In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to read some mean tweets, and in the process, Brady produced a classic piece of television.

#BellLetsCut aims at all-sports radio, other notes

It was a dream come true at 24 to get the phone call telling me I would be joining the team at TSN 1290. Can’t say I worked much since then...talking sports with all of you and sharing laughs in the studio wasn’t much “work” at all. Thank you all for the messages and kind words.

— Ryan Brandt (@Ryan_Brandt) February 9, 2021

TSN all-sports radio stations in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Hamilton are no more.

On Tuesday, TSN 1040 AM in Vancouver, TSN 1290 AM in Winnipeg and TSN 1150 AM in Hamilton went off the air while broadcasting their morning programming. All three stations are owned by Bell Media.

Later that day, Bell Media announced the Vancouver station is being converted to a BNN Bloomberg station covering business, innovation, technology and sports.

News also leaked out the stations in Vancouver and Winnipeg will be converted to comedy stations. That sounds like an interesting choice on that front considering it is harder to do comedy in the current day because you always have someone objecting to jokes saying they are offended, but I digress.

The Province newspaper story in Vancouver written by Scott Brown and Patrick Johnson listed a lengthy list of names of on-air personalities who lost their jobs due to the change at TSN 1040 AM.

The story stated TSN 1040 AM morning hosts Mike Halford and Jason Brough started their morning show like normal at 6 a.m. on Tuesday only for the show to get yanked at the start of the third hour to be replaced with U.S. radio programming from ESPN.

During those hours, the Twitter account for TSN 1040 AM was deactivated.

As Tuesday went on, there were more stories of staffers from the three stations in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Hamilton telling stories they found out they lost their jobs that day without any notice.

Included in the cuts was Ryan Brandt of TSN 1290 AM in Winnipeg. Before moving to Winnipeg, Brandt was a sports reporter for 650 CKOM in Saskatoon.

The cuts were done in a heartless way, and Bell is making a habit of making cuts.

The week prior, Bell Media made a huge number of layoffs, which included letting go 210 staffers at Bell outlets in Toronto and area.

Walking papers were given to four prominent TSN staffers in Brent Wallace, Dan O’Toole, Natasha Staniszewski and Tim Moriarty, who was best known as “Producer Tim.”

All those cuts came after Bell Media held its annual Bell Let’s Talk day fundraising campaign for mental health charities and to promote mental health awareness on Jan. 28.

Bell was also recently criticized by Ontario-based regional rival Teksavvy for taking more than $122-million in government aid through the form of wage subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic even as it was raising its payout to shareholders and cutting jobs.

Last week, BCE Incorporated announced its quarterly profit rose to $889-million in the fourth quarter of 2020 up from $672-million the year before.

In the end, these cuts will ultimately hurt Canada’s sports scene, which will even less media coverage than it was getting before.

• In a bit of news that was missed, Tom Schnitzler, who is a defensive lineman and a graduate of the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops, signed with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Jan. 21. Schnitzler, who is 25-years-old, played for the Hilltops from 2013 to 2017 and spent the 2018 and 2019 campaigns with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the U Sports ranks. The Tiger-Cats are looking for Schnitzler to potentially become the team’s new long snapper. On Feb. 1, the Tiger-Cats released veteran long snapper Aaron Crawford, who signed a one-year deal with the Calgary Stampeders one day later.
• I helped produce new content for the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex early this week. The new content went live on Tuesday. I put together a feature on the Sentinels Lacrosse Club and a photo post that contains a number of my pictures around the complex. The Sentinels are an elite program that aims to expand the horizons of the sport for young players. The story on the Sentinels can be found by clicking right here, and the photo post can be found by clicking right here.
• Tickets are now on sale for the February 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. One prize will be drawn per month, and the remaining draw dates are Sunday, February 28, 2021, March 31, 2021, April 30, 2021 and May 31, 2021. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• On Monday, the World Curling Federation announced the 2021 women’s world curling championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was slated to be held March 19 to 28 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. This marks the second straight year the women’s world curling championship has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On Tuesday, the Sask East Hockey League senior circuit announced it has cancelled the rest of the 2020-21 campaign due to time constraints caused by restrictions from Public Health Orders that have been put in to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The circuit has decided to plan for the 2021-22 campaign. The league has been on pause since late November of 2020.
• On Wednesday, Hockey Alberta announced all remaining competitive seasons for junior and senior hockey in the province in the 2020-21 campaign were cancelled due to restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Alberta Junior Hockey League junior A circuit was exempted from that decision. The last competitive games on Alberta were played in November of 2020 before all circuits went on pause.
• In the realm of sports entertainment, a scary situation is unfolding involving WWE superstar Alexa Bliss, whose real name is Alexis Kaufman, having to deal with an online stalker since June of 2020. Authorities have been notified, but the situation with the online stalker, whose current Twitter account handle is @AlbertLittle666, is getting more and more disturbing. The stalker has threatened to kill Bliss’s fiancé, Ryan Cabrera, and made false statements claiming to be married to Bliss. The stalker account has made threats to visit Bliss’s home in Orlando, Florida, and threatened Bliss fan accounts that have been reporting and continue to report his online activities. Bliss didn’t make an appearance on WWE’s Monday Night RAW program this past week as the most recent disturbing messages poured in at times coming in five-minute intervals. On Wednesday, the offending stalker account sent a disgusting message to another female WWE star in Sonya Deville, who escaped a kidnapping attempt from a stalker in her own home in August of 2020. Deville’s attempted kidnapping incident is still being dealt with in court. It is easy to find the play-by-play of these stories from the media outlets that cover the WWE via a Google search. These celebrity stalker situations are a couple of the worst I’ve heard of, and I can’t believe things like this are allowed to happen. People like these stalker types need to be taken off the streets immediately and locked up forever.

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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U Sports backtracking on age cap welcome development in COVID-19 world

Yol Piok heads downfield after a big catch for the Huskies.

    It was a headache that wasn’t needed in the U Sports world.

    When the dust settled, it was good cooler heads prevail in the U Sports ranks with regards to the age cap rule for football.

    Under the age cap rule, players who turn 25 before Sept. 1 age out of U Sports football. Football players have seven years to complete their five years of eligibility in U Sports upon graduating from high school.

    On Monday, U Sports announced a review had been launched with regards to the eligibility policies relating to football. The anticipated completion of the review is slated for February of 2021.

    U Sports stated that due to the time frame of the review, it will provide a one-time exception to Policy 40.10.4.3.1.1 permitting all currently eligible student-athletes to participate in the 2021 football season even if they exceed the current policy before the start of the 2021 campaign.

    To put it in simple terms, any athlete that turns 25-years-old before Sept. 1, 2021 will be eligible to play in the 2021 U Sports football campaign.

Colton Klassen piles up the yards after the catch for the Huskies.

    This is important due to the fact U Sports cancelled all its fall national championships due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic back on June 8.

    The football cancellation included the Vanier Cup national title game and the semifinal contests in the Mitchell Bowl and Uteck Bowl. The Vanier Cup had been contested in every year starting with 1965.

    The Canada West Conference, Atlantic University Sport and Ontario University Athletics have all nixed plans to play regular seasons in 2020-21.

    The Reseau du sport etudiant du Quebec (RSEQ) is the only conference under the U Sports umbrella holding out hope of having a regular season in football in the 2020-21 campaign.

    Back on June 8, U Sports said student-athletes without U Sports national championships this season will not be charged eligibility and will remain eligible for athletic scholarships. At the time, there was no word regarding the age cap for football.

    That all changed on July 9, when  TSN broadcaster Farhan Lalji reported over Twitter that U Sports had voted against extending the age cap rule for football by a year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Kyler Mosley (#85) secures a catch for the Rams.

    That initial tweet caused a surge of stories to come out of various media outlets in the mainstream and non-mainstream that were almost all of the uproar variety.

    University of Alberta Golden Bears head coach Chris Morris stepped down as the head of both a university football coaches’ committee and a technical subcommittee over the initial decision regarding the age cap.

    With U Sports announcing its review of football eligibility and giving a one-time exception to the current age cap policy, it allows around 300 athletes to know their U Sports football careers won’t come to a sudden end due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    On the University of Saskatchewan Huskies front, that means star utility offensive player Colton Klassen, running back Jace Peters, receiver Yol Piok, offensive right tackle Nick Summach and receiver Joseph Trumpy will all be eligible to play in 2021.

    On the University of Regina Rams front, that means linebackers Robbie Lowes and Cody Peters, defensive lineman Cameron Cross, fullback Colton Hippe and receivers Sam Mike and Kyler Mosley can suit up in 2021.

Nick Summach (#62) leads a running play downfield for the Huskies.

    Of course, U Sports announced their decision in a way via political speak to try and show they weren’t reversing course on the original decision to hold firm with the age cap.
    At this moment, it is a waste of time to get emotionally worked up with regards to the political speak.

    Ultimately, U Sports made the right decision. Those that couldn’t play their final season of U Sports football due to the 2020 campaign being cancelled will be able to hit the field in 2021. That is the big thing right now.

    The overall work in progress debate of eligibility for football in U Sports is something that can be worked on over the next seven or so months.

    When the COVID-19 pandemic ends, it will be a huge benefit to U Sports to return as many veteran players as possible in every sports league under its umbrella. The familiarity will be needed in an attempt to bring back fans.

Bubble visit will be short for some NHL teams, other notes

A Carey Price card.

    For eight NHL teams, their restarts will be a just blip on the radar.

    On Saturday, the NHL begins its 2020 playoffs with a 24-team tournament playing in the bubble cities of Edmonton and Toronto. The Western Conference teams play in Edmonton, while the Eastern Conference teams skate in Toronto.

    The first round features eight play-in series that are best of five in length and will feature 16 out of the 24 teams in the post-season. The other eight teams will be playing round robin games against each other for playoff seeding for what is termed the official first round, where the 16 remaining teams will play in eight series that are best of seven in length.

    At the moment, the final day for the qualifying round of games is Aug. 9. That means eight teams will have left or be leaving their bubble cities on Aug. 10 to head into the off-season.

    Those clubs will have been back together for the period of a month considering training camps began for the 24 NHL teams taking part in post-season play in July 10.

    The NHL paused its 2019-20 campaign on March 12 due to the world falling in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pause, it was decided the circuit would try to finish the 2019-20 campaign with a 24-team playoff tournament starting on Aug. 1.

    For the teams that will be eliminate in the play-in series round, the modified playoffs provided a month reprieve for what is an extend off-season. Those players went four months without being together, got together for a month and then resumed off-season activities until possibly going to training camp for the 2020-21 campaign.

A Jonathan Toews card.

    At the moment, the 2020-21 campaign is slated to start with training camps opening on Nov. 17 depending how the pandemic plays out.

    Actually, the 24-team tournament is going to go by very rapidly reducing the number of teams that are staying in the bubble cities.

    After the play-in series wrap up, the 16 remaining teams begin the official first round of the playoffs on Aug. 11 and action in that round is expected to be wrapped up by Aug. 24 eliminating another eight teams. Those eight clubs will have been together for a month and a half.

    For the clubs that advance to the quarter-final round, the conference finals and the Stanley Cup final, the post-season will feel like more of a marathon grind.

    For the teams that are eliminated in the play-in round and the official first round, the post-season provides just a quick reprieve away from off-season activities.

    Even a hub city will be eliminated as the playoffs progress. The conference finals are slated to open on Sept. 8, and all action in that round and the Stanley Cup final will be played in Edmonton.

    Of course, only four teams will still be in action when the conference finals round takes place.

    For most players in the NHL, the playoffs will end seemingly as quickly as they began. For a lot of fans, they might find the post-season will go by in the blink of an eye assuming there are no complications from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• If you haven’t seen it, this story from CBC Saskatchewan raised a tonne of uproar this week. On Tuesday, Fiona Odlum and Bonnie Allen from CBC released a story that said five hockey teams from Saskatchewan with players aged seven to 12 traveled to Winnipeg for a tournament that ran July 16 to 19. The Government of Saskatchewan has said there is to be no interprovincial travel for sports teams. A number of the Saskatchewan hockey teams that attended the Winnipeg tournament changed their name, concealed the identity of players and told parents not to post anything on social media. One team coach that was contacted said he was on a fishing trip at the time of the tournament, but the CBC story stated there was a photo that showed that team coach was indeed in Winnipeg. The CBC story can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, CBC’s Alex Soloducha wrote a story about how Saskatoon attorney David Samuel trained to get into the best shape of his life, when COVID-19 cases began popping up in Canada. After someone infected with the virus passed through his law office, Samuel is now battling the COVID-19 virus. The CBC piece on Samuel can be found by clicking right here.
• In the MLB, the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies haven’t return to action since completing a three-game series against each other this past Sunday in Philadelphia. That series opened the respective regular seasons of both clubs. The season was stopped for both clubs after a COVID-19 breakout on the Marlins roster. As of Thursday, 17 players and two coaches from the Marlins had tested positive for COVID-19. The Phillies have had one coach and one clubhouse staffer test positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday. Both teams aren’t slated to play again until this coming Tuesday, when they are scheduled to face each other in Miami.
• On Thursday, Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province reported the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks gave a written termination notice to 49 people employed on a full-time basis in its business operations staff on Wednesday. It is estimated roughly 200 people work in the Canucks business office. Johnston’s story can be found by clicking right here.
• On Tuesday, Gregg Drinnan put together another round up about how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the sports world in his Taking Note blog. As usual, Drinnan provides a sobering reality check. His piece can be found by clicking right here.

    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.

Age cap rule hurts U Sports football in COVID-19 times

Nick Summach (#62) leads a running play downfield for the Huskies.

    It was a tough to digest piece of news that dropped for football players in U Sports.

    On Thursday, TSN broadcaster Farhan Lalji reported over Twitter that U Sports had voted against extending the age cap rule for football by a year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. That initial tweet caused a surge of stories to come out of various media outlets in the mainstream and non-mainstream.

    University of Alberta Golden Bears head coach Chris Morris stepped down as the head of both a university football coaches’ committee and a technical subcommittee over this move.

    Of course, this became a big story in U Sports circles, because back on June 8, U Sports cancelled all its fall national championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The football cancellation included the Vanier Cup national title game and the semifinal contests in the Mitchell Bowl and Uteck Bowl. The Vanier Cup had been contested in every year starting with 1965.

    The Reseau du sport etudiant du Quebec (RSEQ) is the only conference under the U Sports umbrella holding out hope of having a regular season in football in the 2020-21 campaign.

Colton Klassen heads up field for the Huskies.

    The Canada West Conference, Atlantic University Sport and Ontario University Athletics have all nixed plans to play regular seasons in 2020-21.

    Back on June 8, U Sports said student-athletes without U Sports national championships this season will not be charged eligibility and will remain eligible for athletic scholarships. At the time, there was no word regarding the age cap for football.

    Under the age cap rule, players who turn 25 before Sept. 1 age out of U Sports football. Football players have seven years to complete their five years of eligibility in U Sports upon graduating from high school.

    Any player who would have gone into their final year of eligibility for U Sports football in the cancelled 2020 season will see their career come to an end. According to U Sports, this affects approximately 300 out of 2,335 athletes.

    On top of that, a large number of veteran players will also lose a year of eligibility under this decision.

    While discussions have come up regarding concerns of more physically mature older athletes going up against younger not as physically mature recent high school graduates, all that talk takes away from the issue in the current day.

Yol Piok heads downfield after a big catch for the Huskies

    The athletes that are getting slighted are being slighted by a factor outside of anyone’s control in the COVID-19 pandemic.

    When U Sports does resume action after the pandemic, it will be in a rebuilding state. That goes for all sports operating under the U Sports umbrella.

    On the football side, you don’t want to be casting aside veteran players, who could help trigger name recognition whenever action resumes.

    At the moment, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team is looking at not being able to return star utility offensive player Colton Klassen, running back Jace Peters, receiver Yol Piok, offensive right tackle Nick Summach and receiver Joseph Trumpy.

    In the CFL Draft that was held on April 30, Summach was selected in seventh round and 57^th overall by the Edmonton Eskimos. Klassen was picked in the eighth round and 69^th overall by the Montreal Alouettes.

    All five of those players are fairly well known in the football community of Saskatoon. Klassen is one of the best known Huskies.

Jace Peters rumbles downfield on a run for the Huskies.

    Their returns to the Huskies could bridge action before and after the stoppage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The University of Regina Rams face the same challenges on this front. They are looking to be without linebacker Cody Peters, who should be able to play one more season but is going to age out.

    Peters had a stellar five-year career winning five straight CJFL titles with the venerable Saskatoon Hilltops. He was named the CJFL’s defensive player of the year in 2018.

    Before rejoining the Hilltops for his final CJFL season 2018, Peters attended training camp for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. Following his time with the Hilltops, Peters joined the Rams.

    Peters is known in the football community in Regina and throughout Saskatchewan.

    Due to the fact there won’t be a 2020 season for U Sports football thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, some U Sports football players will be making critical life decisions about whether they will continue to play football or move on to another phase of their lives.

    For recruits that just graduated from high school and were planning to join a U Sports football team as a rookie in 2020, those recruits might ultimately decide not to play and focus on other educational or working world opportunities.

Joseph Trumpy makes a big catch for the Huskies.

    Taking a year away from playing meaningful games throws a wrench into the plans of every player. They don’t need to be given any extra incentive to not play.

    On top of all that, football is the only sport under the U Sports umbrella that has to follow an age cap rule. Just from that perspective, it would be fair to eliminate the age cap rule and make football eligibility mirror that of the other sports in U Sports.

    When these pandemic times come to an end, it is likely you won’t see the U Sports football teams filled with veterans in the starting ranks who are aged 26 and 27. That was a trend in the late 1990s and early to mid 2000s.

    This time around concern has to centre on just getting the sport of football going again just like any other sport that is governed by U Sports.

NHL will provide good distraction if show goes on, other notes

The Oilers, seen here in a 2017 pre-season game, are hub city NHL hosts.

    Fan chatter on the NHL is starting to trickle through on social media lines.

    If the circuit can execute its return to play out in two hub cities in Edmonton and Toronto, it will provide a good distraction for sports fans in Canada in these COVID-19 pandemic times.

    The NHL is resuming the paused 2019-20 campaign with a 24-team playoff tournament. Teams are slated to report for training camps on July 13.

    The post-season is scheduled to begin on Aug. 1 with five games that open five different best-of-five play-in series. A total of 16 teams are taking part in the play-in round to determine eight clubs that will advance to the main 16-team post-season bracket.

    The Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars have been placed in the main 16-team bracket.

    All of the post-season games will be played in Edmonton and Toronto. Both the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs held off until Friday before making official announcements that their centres would indeed be hub cities.

    That development is convenient for Canadian sports networks that dump tonnes of resources into television coverage of these games.

    Those networks don’t have to fear dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic border restrictions between Canada and the United States due to all the post-season games being played in Canada.

    Over the past couple of days, you are starting to see a social media post two coming from fans who believe the team they support will win the playoff tournament and capture the Stanley Cup.

    If the playoffs can progress to crowning a Stanley Cup champion, fan chatter will likely increase to the point where you won’t know that a pandemic is indeed going on.

    If the playoff tournament gets derailed by positive COVID-19 tests that results in a team or teams dropping out or the post-season not get completed, the fans that want to watch the league for the distraction will likely just go silent.

    Critics that don’t want the NHL to jump back into action will likely become more vocal and might even gloat over the failure.

    For the moment, fans that just want to see games just to have a distraction have something to look forward to.

• On Wednesday, Sportsnet announced it was trimming its six-stop Grand Slam of Curling circuit to just two events next season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first slam event will be the Players’ Championship set for Toronto from April 13 to 18 in 2021. The second event will be the Champions Cup set for Olds, Alta., starting on April 27, 2021 running to May 2, 2021. The Grand Slam of Curling stops are part of the World Curling Tour seasonal calendar.
• Gregg Drinnan has been doing ace work in rounding up the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic is playing on the sports world, especially in the hard hit United States, in his Taking Note blog. His round up from Friday can be found by clicking right here, and the round up from Thursday can be found by clicking right here. The amount of positive tests, postponements and cancellations keep piling up.
• On a sobering note, the United States has hit the point where just over one out of every 100 persons in that country has contracted COVID-19 at some point this year. At the time this post went live, the United States had 3,355,646 total COVID-19 cases this year for a country that has a population of just over 331,060,000. Worldwide deaths this year from COVID-19 at 567,628 at the time of this post have passed total deaths by suicide, which sit at 566,508.
• While U Sports decision to hold firm on the football age cap was disappointing for many, Dick White, who is the U Sports interim Chief Executive Officer, is still the right person to lead that sports body through these trouble current pandemic days. White has a strong passion for U Sports and has experience dealing with tough financial times as the director of athletics for the University of Regina. Like most sports bodies in Canada, U Sports is in for a tough road ahead.
• Baseball and softball got going at the house and city league levels this past week in Saskatoon. It was a great site to see various diamonds in action around the city. Many have their figures crossed that this great development continues.

    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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Reconnecting for training helps mental health for sports world

Huskies DT Evan Machibroda pressures and opposing quarterback.

    It is safe to say those in the sports community aren’t taking for granted the chance to get out and train in the current day.

    Of course, athletes all over North America had to go through a lengthy stretch of not being able to train together due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In North America, massive shutdowns took place from March 11 to 13.

    When those shutdowns took effect, athletes and those in the general public who wanted to stay in shape had to find ways to do workouts and exercise on their own.

    In most places in North America, reopening plans started taking shape throughout May.

    In Saskatchewan, athletes and those in the general public looking to stay in shape have been able to train together at gyms and fitness centres since Phase 3 of the provinces reopening plan took place on June 8.

    Since June 8, further restrictions have been lifted in Saskatchewan, but life hasn’t returned to what it was before the shutdowns occurred due to COVID-19.

    Still, some sports like golf have been able to once again hold competitive events in Saskatchewan.      The sports of softball and baseball are expecting to start playing games at the house and city league levels in a matter of days.
    While there hasn’t been a lot of mingling at training centres, those attending sessions at training centres are visibly happy when they get to see others they haven’t seen for sometime due to the lockdown.

David Solie (#15) boots a field goal for the Huskies.

    A number of the athletes have jobs in the working world. In these present days, these athletes go through long stretches where they just see people from their work environments.

    When gyms and fitness centres opened up, those athletes had an avenue to see people outside of their work worlds.

    I’ve seen that play out first hand, when I wear my hat working as the communications coordinator at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I’ve seen athletes from various sporting communities usually take part in workouts with Ignite Athletes with a little extra jump in their steps.

    The majority that I know come from the football world.

    From the U Sports world, one of the first persons I saw on the grounds was University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team kicker David Solie. When Solie saw me, he smiled.

    When we got talking, he said he was happy to get out of his house after being cooped up for so long.

    He works as one of the staffers at the complex too, but you could tell he had a new appreciation for being able to get out and about.

    I saw Brant Morrow, who is a defensive back for the six-time defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops, shortly after June 8 passed and had a catch up chat with him. He appeared really happy to see familiar faces again.

    One of the best visits I had was a chance encounter with Huskies offensive utility player Colton Klassen and now graduated Huskies defensive tackle Evan Machibroda at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

Ryder Klisowsky (#61) locks up on a block for the Hilltops.

    Klassen was selected by the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL Draft held on April 30. Machibroda was selected by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2019 CFL Draft and signed a contract with the club from the Alberta capital on Jan. 28.
    Both are training and staying ready for a CFL season they hope takes place in 2020. We hung out for about 20 minutes catching up and telling all sorts of old stories.

    I also crossed paths with now graduated Saskatoon Hilltops left guard Ryder Klisowsky. Klisowsky is training to join the University of Manitoba Bisons football team for the 2021 U Sports season since the 2020 U Sports football campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    He admitted he was happy to see familiar faces, when he went out to train.

    While most sports are still trying to navigate a return to play, it can’t be understated how much of a breath of fresh air it is to go out and train.

    For athletes, a new appreciation appears to have been built for that aspect of their lives.

Andrews departs as Pats play-by-play voice, other notes

Thank you Regina! pic.twitter.com/d2pmLNmrxD

— Phil Andrews (@Phil_Andrews_) June 29, 2020

    Phil Andrews’ successor is going to have monster shoes to fill as the play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Regina Pats.

    On Monday, Andrews resigned his posts as the Pats play-by-play voice and director of media and communications effective July 31, 2020. Andrews has been the Pats play-by-play voice for the past nine seasons and added the role of director of media and communications in 2016.

    The 31-year-old had quite the run as the Pats play-by-play voice. Andrews called the rise of the great Pats teams that had the likes of Adam Brooks, Sam Steel, Austin Wagner, Connor Hobbs, Jake Leschyshyn, Nick Henry, Robbie Holmes, Chase Harrison, Josh Mahura and Tyler Brown.

Adam Brooks had lots of highlight moments called by Phil Andrews.

    That group came up under the guidance of head coach and general manager John Paddock, who shed the head coach role before the start of the 2018-19 campaign, and assistant coach and assistant general manager Dave Struch, who became the head coach and assistant general manager before the 2018-19 season.

    Andrews called games with professionalism, class and flair. He saw the Pats win first round playoff series in 2015 and 2016.

    The 2016 post-season saw the Pats fall 2-1 in a series deciding Game 7 to the Rebels in Red Deer in the second round. At the time, the Pats hadn’t played in a WHL final semifinal series since 1993 and were heartbreakingly close when they bowed out to the Rebels.

    That set the stage for the Pats to top the WHL in 2016-17 with a 52-12-7-1 record. In the 2017 playoffs, the Pats advanced all the way to the WHL final for the first time since 1984.

    They fell in the 2017 WHL final to the Seattle Thunderbirds, where the Thunderbirds closed out the series with a 4-3 win in overtime in Game 6 played at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

    In May of 2018, the Pats hosted the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Pats made the final of the 100^th edition of the Memorial Cup falling 3-0 to Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan, who are based out of Bathurst, New Brunswick.

    Over all that time, Andrews became engrained as the Pats play-by-play voice making iconic calls of big plays made by Brooks, Steel, Hobbs, Brown and company.

Sam Steel seemed larger than life thanks to Phil Andrews’ calls.

    Anytime you saw the Pats stars making a highlight, you could hear Andrews’ voice.

    It was a cool development considering Andrews grew up in Saskatoon. A lot of fans of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades hate the Pats more than any other team in the league including the Blades archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders.

    Combining Andrews’ talent and his relative youth, I felt he would be the one guy out of all the current WHL play-by-play voices who would find his way into being the play-by-play voice of an NHL team.

    Andrews said the time has come to be more present with his wife, Megan, and their three children. Phil mentioned over Twitter they would be returning to Saskatoon.

    Andrews will be a winner in life no matter what he does. The impact he made calling plays for the world’s oldest major junior team in the Pats, whose history dates back to 1917, will not be forgotten in “The Queen City.”

• Last Saturday, the MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates signed right-handed pitcher and Muenster, Sask., product Logan Hofmann to a rookie contract. The Pirates selected Hofmann in the fifth round and 138^th overall in the MLB Draft held on June 11.
• In the CHL Import Draft held on Tuesday, the Prince Albert Raiders selected forward Uladzislau Shyla from Minsk, Belarus, in the first round and 45^th overall. The 17-year-old, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 147 pounds, had 10 goals and nine assists in 55 games for Belarus’s under-18 team this past season. With the selection of Shyla, the Raiders released 19-year-old Belarusian centre Daniil Stepanov on Tuesday. Stepanov had six goals and five assists in 49 games last season split between the Raiders and Moose Jaw Warriors.
• In the CHL Import Draft held on Tuesday, the Saskatoon Blades picked centre Brad Lambert from Lahti, Finland, in the first round and 33^rd overall. Lambert, who will turn 17-years-old in December, picked up 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points in 42 games last season with the HIFK Helsinki-U20 team. Lambert, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 172 pounds, did spend some years growing up in Saskatoon before his family relocated to Finland for the start of the 2017-18 season.
• The North Bay Battalion of the OHL had the first overall selection in Tuesday’s CHL Import Draft. The Battalion used that pick to take winger Matvei Petrov from Moscow, Russia. The 17-year-old, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 163 pounds, had five goals and four assists in 21 games with MHK Krylia Sovetov from Russia’s top junior circuit.
• On Wednesday, Saskatchewan Rush defender Kyle Rubisch was named a first team National Lacrosse League all-star. In the Rush’s 10 games last season, Rubisch had two goals and six assists.
• The Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame located in Regina is targeting to open on Sept. 1. The museum is undergoing renovations which were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Museums were allowed to reopen in Saskatchewan on Monday according to the province’s reopening plan.
• With how the number of cases of COVID-19 have spiked in the United States, people in Saskatoon and the province of Saskatchewan might feel better about the decision that the Merlis Belsher Place hockey rink facility on the University of Saskatchewan grounds is a field hospital in waiting. The Merlis Belsher Place field hospital in waiting might be termed a “Linus blanket” field hospital in waiting as everyone hopes it never needs to be used for that purpose.
• It was 10 years ago today the Saskatchewan Roughriders downed the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes 54-51 in double overtime as both teams opened their respective 2010 CFL regular season schedules. Roughriders star quarterback Darian Durant connected with star receiver Weston Dressler on a three-yard touchdown pass for the winning score on Saskatchewan’s second overtime possession. A sellout crowd of 30,048 spectators at Regina’s historic Taylor Field celebrated in raucous style after Dressler’s winning score. Seems weird to think it has been a decade since that all-time CFL classic contest was played.  

    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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“Two claps and a Ric Flair” – Filteau’s memory lives on with Huskies

Justin Filteau in action with the Huskies in 2016.

    It is a cheer that has extra meaning with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team.

    When they are on the field for practice and during games, someone will yell, “Give me two claps and a Ric Flair.”

    The players on the field clap their hands twice and follow that up with a loud, “Woo!”

    The cheer was brought to the team by linebacker Justin Filteau in 2015, when he came over to the Huskies from the Saskatoon Hilltops, who are a powerhouse in the Canadian Junior Football League.

    Filteau did that cheer in Saskatchewan’s judo scene, which he was heavily involved in.

    Filteau played for the Huskies in 2015 and 2016 and helped the coaching staff in 2017, when he suffered a season ending injury in training camp tearing his pectoral muscle. He departed from the team after the 2017 campaign.

Justin Filteau pursues a play in 2016.

    On June 1 of this year, Filteau died tragically in a plane crash at age 26.

    The Huskies have continued doing the Ric Flair cheer this season, and its extra meaning isn’t lost on anyone with the team.

    “It is fun,” said fourth-year utility offensive star Colton Klassen. “It gets the guys going.

    “That is the main reason we do it. Justin used to love to do it with the defence. He did it when he did judo, so that was definitely one of the reasons it carried over.

    “It is just another little subtle thing that just continues over for what Justin did and how he impacted the program. He is still in our thoughts, and he is still in our prayers, so that is the main reason we do it.”

    The cheer will be something spectators hear when the Huskies (0-1) host their home opener on Friday at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (0-1). The contest is the Huskies annual homecoming game.

    Besides doing the cheer, the Huskies are wearing #45 decals on their helmets this season in memory of Filteau, because #45 was the number he wore with the Huskies and the Hilltops. A number of players on the Huskies current roster were teammates with Filteau.

Justin Filteau (#45) and the Huskies defence purse a ball carrier in 2016.

    Klassen was a member of Huskies for two of Filteau’s seasons. They coached inner city six-man youth football together.

    The skilled pass catcher still thinks about Filteau’s passing. Filteau, who was from Moose Jaw, was in Medicine Hat along with Moose Jaw residents Jim Wilk and Kerry DePape for a bachelor party. The three were flying back to Moose Jaw in a small plane shortly after takeoff.

    “It is definitely on the back of everybody’s mind,” said Klassen. “It is definitely something none of us are going to forget.

Colton Klassen coached minor football with Justin Filteau.

    “We’re dedicating this season a lot to Justin too. We have a 45 on our helmets this year. I only played two years with Justin, but he would have done anything for this team.

    “If that meant playing, if that meant being on the scout team, Justin did anything that he was asked.”

    Filteau seemed to anything that was asked of him from the football community in the province. After his playing days wrapped up, he coached minor football at different levels, the Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints and the Saskatoon Valkyries of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League.
    Filteau was planning to meet up with the Valkyries for a WWCFL regular season game on June 2 against the Riot after landing in Moose Jaw on the night of his ill-fated fight. The Valkyries dedicated the rest of their season to their defensive position coach winning the WWCFL title going 9-0 overall in their 2019 campaign.

    Huskies fifth-year defensive tackle Evan Machibroda was around for all of Filteau’s years with the team.

Evan Machibroda (#54) said the Huskies talk a lot about Justin Filteau.

    Machibroda, who was a first team U Sports all-Canadian all-star last season, said his team knows how special Filteau’s efforts were in giving back to the game.
    “He is definitely still talked about in the locker room,” said Machibroda. “I don’t think he ever won’t be, because he was just a really influential guy in Saskatoon and the football community in Saskatchewan as well.

    “You can’t have a bad word to say about the guy.”

    Machibroda thinks about Filteau every time his team does the Ric Flair cheer.
    “It is just a way to remember him,” said Machibroda. “That would be a little way of doing it.”

    Huskies defensive coordinator Warren Muzika said the Ric Flair cheer has extra meaning for the team now, because everyone thinks about Filteau. 

Huskies DC Warren Muzika had a tough time with Justin Filteau’s passing.

    Muzika believes the Huskies players are still at different stages in dealing with Filteau’s passing.

    “A few guys in the locker room have a #45 tattooed on their bodies in different places,” said Muzika. “Filteau meant a lot to a lot of people.

    “The guys cared a lot about Justin, and they felt really obviously just terrible when it happened. We think positively of him all the time, and we are reminded of him often around here.”

Justin Filteau in action for the Saskatoon Hilltops in 2014.

    When Muzika became the Huskies defensive coordinator in 2017, he said Filteau was big in helping him coach the other players.
    Filteau suffered his season ending injury in the Huskies 22-10 exhibition loss to the McMaster University Marauders in Hamilton, Ont., on Aug. 25, 2017 but he elected to be around the team as much as possible looking for ways to help.

    “He was at every practice once he was done his surgery,” said Muzika. “He helped us with scripts.

    “He was almost like an assistant coach that year. He was just a tremendous help and a positive energy around the room.”
    Before joining the Huskies, Muzika was an assistant coach with the Hilltops for a lengthy stretch and was their defensive line coach and specialty teams coordinator during Filteau’s first four years with the team from 2010 to 2013.
    Filteau graduated from the Hilltops following the 2014 campaign earning four CJFL championship rings.

Justin Filteau ready for action in 2016.

    Muzika, who played five seasons in the CFL from 1999 to 2003 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, enjoyed coaching Filteau. 

    The defensive coordinator, who built a reputation as one of the toughest players to step on a football field in Saskatchewan when he was a linebacker with the Hilltops and Huskies, said he had a tough time with Filteau’s passing.

    “It is always terrible when you see young people pass too soon,” said Muzika. “It’s a tremendous loss, but at the same time, we focus on the positives that he brought to the world and try to emulate the way Justin lived his life.”

    In conjunction with remembering Filteau, Klassen said doing the Ric Flair cheer gives the Huskies extra jump. 
    So when the breaks are beating the Dogs, it is time for “two claps and a Ric Flair.”

    “You definitely have it in the back of your mind a memory of Justin doing it,” said Klassen. “The nice thing is you know about Justin is he is watching down.

    “He is watching over us. He is happy we are doing it. He is happy that it passed over.

A  “J.F #45” sticker on a helmet of a Huskies player.

    “We’re just hoping to keep doing it, and we hopefully can give him a good winning season.”

    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.