Sask. sports community dodges COVID-19 bullet, for now

The Prince Albert Mintos and Saskatoon Contacts can keep playing.

In Saskatchewan, the games will go on.

The question remains for how long?

On Thursday, new restrictions became active in Manitoba to battle the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and those restrictions are slated at the moment to last four weeks. Recreational centres have to remain closed in the province during those restrictions bringing sports in Manitoba to a halt.

On Friday, Alberta added new restrictions to battle the COVID-19 pandemic that are slated to last two weeks at the moment.

Alberta suspended indoor fitness programs and team sports. Sports restrictions are specifically for recreational teams or group activities that occur indoors. Outdoor sports are not affected and neither are individual sports or exercise.

Junior, collegiate, university and professional sports are also exempted.

Those restrictions have caused the slowdown in that province’s sports scene.

At 11:30 a.m. on Friday, the Government of Saskatchewan held a press conference to introduce new restrictions. You can bet the sports community in Saskatchewan was wondering if there would be any clamp downs in the sports scene.

During that press conference, it was announced new restrictions were coming in Monday and would remain in place for 28 days.

A mandatory indoor mask rule that was already in place for Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert was expanded to all communities with populations over 5,000.

The Saskatoon Stars can stay in action.

Communities that surround Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert are included in the mask mandate, even if their populations are less than 5,000.

Licensed liquor establishments will have to stop serving alcohol at 10 p.m. and consumption must end by 11 p.m.

The use of hookah and water pipes in lounges won’t be allowed.

Gyms and fitness centres can stay open, but group aerobic classes are limited to eight people, and they must maintain at least three metres of distance between each other.

Saskatchewan high schools with at least 600 students were recommended to move to level three of the province’s Safe Schools plan. The amount of in class learning is reduced at that level.

At the press conference, Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said the government has considered sports restrictions, and some could come next week.

It was noted the spread of COVID-19 during sports activities has been low risk unless someone is participating who is sick. Shahab said virus transmission usually spreads before and after games when people are socializing.

Saskatchewan also reported it had 81 new COVID-19 cases on Friday with 108 recoveries. The province’s active case count dropped from 1,459 on Thursday to 1,427 on Friday.

From the press conference, it was apparent the Government of Saskatchewan is sticking to its plan in dealing with the pandemic. The provincial government is trying to balance battling the pandemic, while trying to keep the economy going.

By the sounds of things, it is looking more and more that “Linus blanket” field hospitals in waiting like the converted Merlis Belsher Place sports facility might be put more into action. Merlis Belsher Place and the field hospital at Evraz Place in Regina have some minor action with regards to the pandemic.

The Prince Albert Northern Bears can keep rolling.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority announced Thursday it will reopen its emergency operations centre, and that reopening will go into action on Monday. The emergency operations centre coordinated the health system’s pandemic response in spring.

For now, the Saskatchewan sports community dodged a bullet. Minor hockey and junior A hockey games will continue to be played in the province.

Activities in various other sports will be able to continue as well.

It should be noted that those in Saskatchewan’s sports community have been doing their best to follow public health guidelines and protocols.

If the games, practices and training sessions do indeed stop, it might be something that is ultimately out of the control of the sports community.

Huskies’ Humbert picked for coach mentorship program

Emily Humbert serves for the Huskies in 2015.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies brought a sweet ray of sunshine to the day on Friday.

The Huskies announced that Emily Humbert, who is an assistant coach with the Huskies women’s volleyball team, was chosen for the University Female Coach Mentorship program, which is run by the Coaching Association of Canada.

The program aims to support the increased recruitment and retention of female coaches through financial and human resource support.

Besides being a coach, Humbert played five seasons for the Huskies women’s volleyball as a middle blocker from 2012 to 2017.

“It is truly and honour to be part of a program that aims to increase the presence of female coaches in the Canadian university system,” said Humbert in a release. “Throughout my time as a U Sports athlete, I was fortunate to learn from incredible female coaches such as Tiffany Dodds-Little, Lindsey Mehler and Shelly Dodds.

“The impact these women had on my development as a player and person was incredible. I hope I can have a similar impact on the athletes that I coach.”

During her time as a Huskies player, Humbert, who stands 5-foot-10, ranks in the top 10 in modern program history in kills, aces, blocks and points. The Saskatoon product received U Sports academic all-Canadian honours multiple times during her playing career.

Humbert took on an assistant coaching role with the Huskies Volleyball Club program in 2013. She went on to head coaching roles with the Huskies Volleyball Club program and at Bedford Road Collegiate.

Humbert currently teaches and Bedford Road and coaches the school’s senior girls volleyball team.

Before the start of last season, Humbert joined the Huskies women’s volleyball team as an assistant coach under head coach Mark Dodds. In the 2019-20 campaign, the Huskies finished sixth in the Canada West Conference with a 14-10 record and earned a playoff berth for the first time in 18 years.

The Huskies fell 2-1 in a best-of-three opening round playoff series to the University of Alberta Pandas, who won a silver medal in the conference post-season.

Humbert is a deserving choice for the University Female Coach Mentorship program.

Ivy League cancels winter sports

Willow Slobodzian skates during a summer session in 2019.

On Thursday, the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Ivy League cancelled all winter sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ivy League had already cancelled its fall season for the 2020-21 campaign.

That means the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I hockey teams at Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University won’t take the ice for any meaningful games in 2020-21.

The Rochester Institute of Technology had previously cancelled its 2020-21 campaigns for its NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey teams.

The Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team features three grads of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA hockey team.

They include senior defender Willow Slobodzian, rookie defender Ashley Messier and rookie forward Kaitlin Jockims.

All Ivy League competition has been officially halted until March 1, 2021.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------                                     

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.

U Sports, NCAA athletes make tough choice to head back

Josiah Joseph, left, and the U of Calgary Dinos were 2019 U Sports champs.

    If you go, odds are high you might not play.

    Even if you do play, there is a chance your season might still not get completed and even then you are playing a shortened campaign. You will also spend a lot of money in the process.

    These are the realities that face athletes in U Sports in Canada and the NCAA in the United States for the 2020-21 campaign due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Even with that in mind, athletes on both sides of the border have flocked back to many of their campuses to train for a campaign that has a big risk of not happening.

    Even for teams whose sport or season has been cancelled for the 2020-21 campaign, athletes have returned to many campuses to resume training.

    For the top level of NCAA football, the season is still a go, but many conferences have cancelled play for the fall. The Big Ten, Pac-12, Mid-America Conference and Mountain West are some of the conferences that have cancelled fall play.

    However, CBS was reporting Tuesday that United States President Donald Trump talked to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren about reversing course and getting football back on the field in that conference in fall.

    The conferences and independents that are already committed to playing are doing so with various start times and various modified schedules. A pair of top level NCAA football games are slated for Thursday and a number of NCAA football contests are set to take the field on Saturday.

Willow Slobodzian missed her friends at Cornell.

    Back on Aug. 13, NCAA president Mark Emmert said there won’t be any fall NCAA championships because there are not enough schools participating due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision impacts 22 championships not including the Football Bowl Subdivision or the top level of NCAA football.

    Before that announcement was made, the NCAA had already said all fall championships in Division II and Division III had been cancelled and would not be rescheduled for spring.

    In U Sports in Canada, the Reseau du sport etudiant du Quebec is still pushing to get fall sports back in action including football. There is a hope football will start in the middle of September but work is still going on with provincial health officials in Quebec to bring post-secondary sports back to action with September 14 targeted as a potential decision day.

    U Sports has cancelled all its fall national championships. Atlantic University Sports and Ontario University Athletics conferences have shut down all varsity sports for the remainder of 2020.

    Canada West Conference has cancelled all fall sports with a couple of exceptions. The Canada West Golf Championships are still slated for Oct. 2-4 to be hosted by UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, B.C.

    The Canada West Swimming Championships were to be hosted by the University of Calgary in November, but that event is being pushed back to a date to be determined in early 2021.

Colton Klassen enjoys seeing his Huskies teammate at Ignite Athletics.

    The biggest plus for the athletes that get back together is it does improve mental health, and it even helps the mental health of the coaches and support staffs.

    Many of these groups haven’t been together for six months.

    Clavet, Sask., product Willow Slobodzian returned to train with the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team in Ithaca, New York. The star defender, who is eligible to play one more NCAA campaign, desperately wanted to see her friends from her team again.

    In Saskatoon, members of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team that live in town have been doing workouts at Ignite Athletics on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds since June 8. Those gatherings have boosted optimism and positivity.

    Huskies star offensive utility player Colton Klassen said training at Ignite Athletics has helped his well-being in a big way.

    Despite the plus of seeing all your teammate, there are a few other drawbacks that go along with the potential of not playing.

    The top drawback is cost.

    Even with scholarships that get paid on both sides of the border, athletes and their families will be dropping some cash to return to their respective institutions, especially if they live out of town.

    While the NCAA Division I ranks are stereotypically viewed as the place that gives full scholarships and takes care of all accommodations, that isn’t always the case. There are a number of cases where athletes are only getting partial scholarships and they and their families have to spend money on living expenses.

Nelson Lokombo (#25) was the 2019 U Sports defensive player of the year.

    In U Sports, all the athletes and their families are responsible for their own living expenses. For those who are hoping to see their basketball, hockey or volleyball seasons start in January of 2021, those campaigns still have a high likelihood of being cancelled. That means dishing out eight months of living expenses for no season.

    Most U Sports institutions are conducting classes online unless you have to head to campus for a lab, so the living expenses are a big factor. In Saskatchewan, most buildings at the U of Saskatchewan and University of Regina are still locked up.

    On the scholarships front, there are a number of partial scholarships in U Sports, which means athletes and their families and paying on that front too.

    For Canadian athletes that head back to NCAA schools, they have another hoop. They likely won’t return for Christmas break, because they will have to self-isolate for 14 days upon returning from the United States to Canada.

    The other peril NCAA athletes have to dodge is the temptation to go to off-campus parties. Many NCAA school brought back their entire student bodies, which meant there were a lot of options to go out and party.

    On Aug. 16, The Daily Tar Heel, which is the student newspaper for the University of North Carolina, wrote an editorial condemning the school for bringing students back and went so far to use the word “clusterf*&%.” The editorial said there were numerous reports of parties on the first weekend after the first full week of school.

Summer Masikewich helped the Huskies win a U Sports title in March.

    On Aug. 18, the U of North Carolina announced it would not hold in person classes after about 130 students tested positive for COVID-19.

    There have been constant reports of positive coronavirus tests within NCAA teams and one of the themes sees these positive tests get traced back to parties.

    Of the most notable cases here came on Aug. 7, when the University of Louisville dismissed three members of its men’s soccer team and suspended three others for hosting a party that lead to the spread of COVID-19.

    The Auburn University Tigers were slated to resume practice today and were without 16 players due to COVID-19 concerns. Multiple practices were cancelled at Auburn last week.

    Parties were not linked to any COVID-19 concerns in this case.

    Things on the NCAA landscape keep changing so much that ESPN is running a ticker on developments, and the latest ticker can be found by clicking right here.

    The COVID-19 concerns aren’t going away in the United States any time soon.

    As of Tuesday night, Worldometer, which gives pretty accurate statistics, said the United States has had over 6.2-million COVID-19 cases this year. That means 1.8 per cent of the United States population has had COVID-19 at one time this year.

    In Canada, U Sports athletes will be the only groups of students that will get together on a regular basis due to the focus of online classes. Getting COVID-19 at parties is less of a concern in Canada as 0.3 per cent of the population has tested positive for the virus this year according to Worldometer.

    Still, try and tell those in the 18 to 24 age group to not party seems like an impossible task.

The U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team on March 12.

    For the U Sports and NCAA athletes, it is an enormous decision to return to campus to train. Overall, the biggest risk is a lot of money will be spent to not play.

    When the dust settles, it all comes down to how the athletes and their families want to spend their money and if they are comfortable with the unique factors that have risen up in these current times.

    If you can navigate all those variables, the athletes are free to do as they please.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------                                     

    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.

Huskies specials teams deny steal attempt by Bisons’ Brown

Carson Stadnyk (#16) scored in the first period for the Huskies on Friday.

    The special teams of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team ensured University of Manitoba Bisons rookie netminder Tyler Brown didn’t commit highway robbery.

    On Friday playing before 1,355 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies scored twice on the power play and once short-handed to down the Bisons 4-1 in a U Sports regular season clash. The win was the third straight for the Huskies, who improved to 6-3-2.

    The Huskies could have won in even more convincing fashion had it not been for the work of Brown, who turned away 47-of-50 shots fired his way. The final U of S tally came into an empty net.

    Brown, who stands 6-feet and weighs 182 pounds, starred for the WHL’s Regina Pats from 2014 to 2018, and he backstopped them to the WHL championship series in 2017, where they fell 4-2 in the best-of-seven set to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Donovan Neuls scored a short-handed goal for the Huskies.

    On Jan. 10, 2018, Brown was dealt to the Saskatoon Blades in a blockbuster trade and finished out his last half season in the WHL playing for “The Bridge City Bunch.”

    He joined his hometown Bisons before the start of last season but was a medical redshirt for the campaign after undergoing surgery to fix a nagging injury from his time in the WHL.

    Against the Huskies on Friday, Brown looked ever y bit the netminder that helped the Pats finish first overall in the 2016-17 WHL regular season and come up two wins short of a WHL title.

    Early in the first period, Huskies winger Carson Stadnyk burst off the right wing across the face of the Bisons net, but his shot was turned away by a kick save from Brown.

Tyler Brown makes one of his 47 saves for the Bisons.

    That was the first of many stellar saves that came from the 22-year-old Bisons puck stopper.

Friday’s game also got off to a really rough start.

    Shortly after Brown’s save on Stadnyk, Bisons defenceman Carter Doerksen drove his shoulder into the jaw of Huskies forward Carter Folk in open ice in the U of M zone. The hit started a scrum.

Doerksen was given a major penalty for checking to the head and a game misconduct. The hit will automatically be reviewed by the Canada West Conference for a possible suspension.

    Folk was helped off the ice and didn’t return.

Taran Kozun makes one of his 19 saves in goal for the Huskies.

    Near the end of that five minute power play at the 10:46 mark of the opening frame, Stadnyk netted his seventh of the campaign from the right side of the Bisons goal on a net scramble.

    The Huskies proceeded to go up 2-0 with 24.1 seconds remaining in first when centre Donovan Neuls sped into the Bisons zone on the left wing and ripped a shot top corner of Brown.

    The host side needed both of those tallies.

    In the second period, Brown turned away all 14 shots fired his way. He stopped Huskies left-winger Collin Shirley, who had a chance all alone in front of the U of M goal.

    Brown also robbed Huskies centre Kohl Bauml on a backhand chance and sucked up a shot from the left slot coming from Huskies second-year left-wing Layne Young.
    Brown’s heroics allowed the Bisons to put a scare into the Huskies in the third period.

Logan McVeigh, left, and Taran Kozun mark the Huskies win on Friday.

    The visitors broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:10 mark of the third period, when winger Devon Skoleski tucked home a shot from close in to cut the Huskies edge to 2-1.

    Moments after that tally, Bisons forward Geordie Keane was given a double minor for high sticking which helped kill momentum for the visitors. Near the start of the second half of that power play, the Bisons went down two men as forward Jonah Wasylak was penalized for throwing his stick.

    On the ensuing two-man advantage, Huskies right-winger Levi Cable roofed home an insurance goal to put the Huskies up 3-1.

    Huskies centre Kohl Bauml rounded out the game’s scoring with an empty-net tally with 2:13 remaining in the third.

    Taran Kozun stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Brown’s stellar play couldn’t prevent the Bison from falling to 5-5-0-1.

    The two sides go at it again Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

Young cancer survivor drops ceremonial faceoff with Smuks

Joel Bachman, centre, drops the puck for the ceremonial faceoff.

    Friday’s U Sports regular season game at Merlis Belsher Place was the annual “Huskies Fight Cancer” night for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team, and they had a special young guest on hand.

    A 10-year-old goalie named Joel Bachman took part in a team practice this week. Bachman was diagnosed with a brain tumour at age six, and he underwent extensive treatments and is now cancer free.

    At practice, Bachman took part in drills along with Huskies star starting goalie Taran Kozun and second-year backup Travis Child.

    On Friday, Bachman got to go to centre ice to drop the puck for the ceremonial faceoff before the Huskies clash with the U of Manitoba Bisons at Merlis Belsher Place. He was joined by parents of late Huskies hard-working glue-guy forward Cody Smuk in Marty and Darla Smuk.

    Cody passed away in June of 2015 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

    Before Bachman dropped the puck, the 1,355 spectators in attendance and players, coaches and staffers from the Huskies and Bisons displayed signs that had the words, “I Fight For” written on top.

    Below those words was a white space to allow everyone to write a name on their respective sign.

    After those signs were displayed, Bachman dropped the puck for the Faceoff.

    During the game, the Huskies had a number of fundraisers going on to raise funds for Choc ’La Cure, which raises funds for equipment at the Saskatoon Cancer Centre.

    The Huskies claimed a 4-1 victory in Friday’s contest with the Bisons.

Vance hits rare heights with 30 career wins with Huskies

Jessica Vance picked up her 30th career regular season win on Friday.

    Jessica Vance had a huge milestone night playing against her former U Sports squad.

    On Friday night at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, Man., Vance made 14 saves to back the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team to a 1-0 victory over the host U of Manitoba Bisons. With Friday’s victory, Vance became the third netminder in the history of the Huskies women’s program to win 30 career regular season games.

    Vance, who is from Prince Albert, Sask., spent the 2015-16 campaign with the Bisons as a medical red shirt before sitting out a year to join the Huskies for the 2017-18 campaign. She never played a game in goal with the Bisons.

    Since joining the Huskies, the graduate of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team quickly rose to star status being named the Canada West player of the year in 2017-18 helping the Huskies earn a berth at U Sports nationals.

    Vance is still the all-time leader for the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League in career wins (48) and games played (91) in regular season action.

    In the history of the Huskies women’s hockey program, Vanessa Frederick and Cassidy Hendricks both hit the 30-career win barrier with the squad.

    Frederick played for the Huskies from 2007 to 2010 and in 2011-12 posting a 31-21 record, a 2.30 goals against average, a .914 save percentage and five shutouts in regular season play.

    Hendricks suited up for the Huskies from 2012 to 2017 posting a 57-44-13 record, a 2.04 goals against average, a .922 save percentage and 12 shutouts in regular season play.

    Vance, who is in her third season with the Huskies, has posted a 30-12-5 record, a 1.10 goals against average, a .952 save percentage and 17 shutouts in regular season play.

    The 22-year-old is the Huskies all-time leader in career regular season shutouts, and she is tied with former Bisons goaltender Stacey Corfield for the third most career regular season shutouts in the history of the Canada West Conference. Corfield collected her 17 shutouts playing five seasons for the Bisons from 2005 to 2010.

    Offensive defender Leah Bohlken scored on a second period power play for the Huskies to account for the lone tally in the contest.

    Vance made a diving paddle stick stop with a 60 seconds to play in the third period on Bisons rookie forward Kate Gregoire to preserve the win.

    The Huskies improved to 6-3-2 with the victory.

    Erin Fargey turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Bisons (2-8-1).

    The two sides go at it again on Saturday at the Wayne Fleming Arena .

Hilltops’ Pingue named CJFL defensive player of the year

Jadyn Pingue was named the CJFL’s top defensive player.

    The individual accolades keep piling up for fifth-year Saskatoon Hilltops middle linebacker Jadyn Pingue, and latest award bears the name of one of the team’s all-time great.

    At the CJFL’s awards banquet on Friday in Langley, B.C., Pingue took home the Larry Wruck most outstanding defensive player of the year award. Wruck was one of the Hilltops all-time greatest linebackers suiting up for the club in the early 1980s before moving on to be a standout with the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos from 1985 to 1996.

    Pingue’s award win marks two straight years a Hilltops player has taken the CJFL’s Larry Wruck most outstanding defensive player of the year award. Last year, Hilltops linebacker Cody Peters won the CJFL’s most outstanding defensive player honours in his final year of junior football eligibility.

    The 2019 campaign has been an outstanding one for Pingue. On Wednesday, he was named a CJFL all-Canadian all-star. The fifth-year veteran was named the most outstanding defensive player and most outstanding linebacker for the Prairie Football Conference earlier in the post-season.

    Appearing in seven out of the Hilltops eight regular season games, Pingue posted 33.5 total tackles, one pass knockdown, one fumble recovery and one interception

    On Saturday, the Hilltops, who are 11-0 overall, will face the host Langley Rams, who are 12-0 overall, in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – at McLeod Stadium (3 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 92.9 The Bull).

    The Hilltops are trying to win an unprecedented sixth straight CJFL title, and they thumped the Rams 58-21 in last year’s Canadian Bowl in Saskatoon.

Stars alum Messier officially inks with Cornell

Ashley Messier in action with the Stars last April.

    Ashley Messier made her university hockey intentions official on Friday.

    In September of 2017 at age 15, Messier verbally committed to play for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks. At that time, Messier was entering her second season with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team.

    Now playing for the Selects Hockey Academy in Rochester, New York, for her Grade 12 year, Messier officially signed with the Big Red on Friday, and will join the powerhouse NCAA program at the start of next season.

    From 2016 to 2019, Messier played three seasons with the Stars piling up 11 goals and 58 assists for 69 points in 84 regular season games as an offensive defender.

    She helped the Stars reach the championship game of the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament in April of 2018. The Stars fell 2-1 to the Alberta-based St. Albert Slash, but Messier was named the top defender of the tournament.

    Last season with the Stars, Messier, who is from Wilcox, Sask., recorded five goals and 27 assist to help the Stars post their best regular season record ever at 27-1 to top the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League standings.

    The Stars again advanced to Esso Cup and finished fourth. Messier again captured honours as the event’s top defender.

    Messier was named the Colleen Sostorics top defender of the SFMAAAHL last season and a first team SFMAAAHL all-star. She was a second SFMAAAHL all-star in 2017-18.

    Messier, who stands 5-foot-3, helped Team Saskatchewan advance to the final of the National Women’s under-18 Champion held last Saturday in Winkler, Man. Team Saskatchewan fell in the title game to Team Ontario Red 3-1.

    The silver medal win was Saskatchewan’s best finish at the event that contains provincial under-18 women’s hockey teams from across the country. The 17-year-old Messier was named the most valuable player of the tournament.
    The Big Red roster contains Messier’s former Stars teammate in offensive defender Willow Slobodzian.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------                                     

    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.

Bourbonnais deserving of captain’s tag with Canada

Young defender’s star continues to rise in hockey

Jaime Bourbonnais, right, gets an award at last year’s 4 Nations Cup.

    It seems like fate has Jaime Bourbonnais destined for big things on the international hockey stage.
    She’s suited up with Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team to play at a 4 Nations Cup and a women’s worlds all before her 21^st birthday this coming September 9. The day is coming when Bourbonnais will become a household name across Canada, because this young lady from Mississauga, Ont., will make it happen.

    Throughout her hockey career, Bourbonnais, who stands 5-foot-7, is a rarity being a skilled and elite offensive-defender. She is already one of the top female players in the world at her position.

    Last Sunday, she was named to the roster for Canada’s national development team for a three-game series against the United States, and she named captain of the Canadian side. Canada closed out the series in Lake Placid, N.Y., winning Game 3 by 2-1 final on Saturday. The U.S. took the series 2-1.

    The captain “C” is a great nod of respect for how far Bourbonnais has come and shows how much of a positive influence she has on her teammates.

Jaime Bourbonnais in action at last year’s 4 Nations Cup.

    At the 4 Nations Cup in Saskatoon last November, it seemed like the atmosphere automatically went up no matter what room Bourbonnais walked into. You all of a sudden got this fuzzy feeling that good things would happen the way her personal and perky demeanour came out.

    It was great to see Hockey Canada entrusted her with a leadership role, and you already believe that she is going to run with it.

    One of the old clichés in sports is hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

    However, when talent works hard you get Peyton Manning or Warren Moon. That notion was told to me by legendary CFL coach and general manager the late Cal Murphy, who is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

    Bourbonnais fits the description of talent working hard to become Peyton Manning or Warren Moon.

Jaime Bourbonnais is an elite offensive-defender.

    At last year’s 4 Nations Cup, Bourbonnais collected a goal and an assist in four games helping Canada to silver medal finish. Statistics only told part of the story.

    In her first games with Canada’s senior national women’s team, Bourbonnais was the most noticeable player on the ice for Canada, and it can be argued she was Canada’s best player at that event.

    While Canada fell 5-2 to the United States in the tournament final of that event, Bourbonnais left one final big impression blasting home a power-play goal in the third period to account for Canada’s second tally.

Jaime Bourbonnais (#25) celebrates a goal at last year’s 4 Nations Cup.

    Last season for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team, Bourbonnais appeared in 32 overall games recording nine goals, 20 assists and a plus-29 rating in the plus-minus department.

    She helped Cornell, which is located in Ithaca, N.Y., advance to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Frozen Four women’s hockey championship tournament in Hamden, Connecticut. The Big Red fell 2-0 in a semifinal match to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

    Along with piling up numerous all-star accolades, Bourbonnais was nominated for the Patty Kaizmaier Award, which is given annually to the top female college ice hockey player in the United States.

Jaime Bourbonnais is destined for big things on the international stage.

    In three complete seasons with Cornell, Bourbonnais has posted 17 goals, 52 assists and a plus-51 rating in 94 overall games. At worlds last April in Espoo, Finland, she had a goal and two assists in helping Canada to a bronze medal finish.

    Bourbonnais is following in family footsteps suiting up for Canada. Her grandfather, Roger, played centre for Canada’s senior men’s national team in the 1960s and helped Canada win bronze medals at the world championships in 1966 and 1967 and a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics in 1968.

    He turned down chances to join the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings in order to pursue a career as a lawyer.

    Jaime has a big chance of likely eclipsing her grandfather’s accomplishments on the international stage before her career is finished.

    Jaime Bourbonnais is a great player and you can bet she will still find a way to get better than she already is. When she hits her peak in the game, it will be marvellous to behold.

View this post on Instagram

Great end to a great week 🍁 honoured and excited to be heading out to Lake Placid 🔜

A post shared by Jaime Bourbonnais (@jaimebourb) on Aug 11, 2019 at 12:58pm PDT

Gordie Howe Sports Complex a winner in IBA deal

Joe Gallagher Field at Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

    The Gordie Howe Sports Complex is one of the winners regarding the Integrated Bilateral Agreement (IBA) between Canada’s federal government and Saskatchewan.

    On Monday, Francois-Philippe Champagne, who is the federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, announced with a tweet that included a letter to SaskBuilds that 13 of 25 projects submitted through the Integrated Bilateral Agreement (IBA) have been approved.

    This deal could potentially bring $896-million into Saskatchewan for infrastructure projects over the next 10 years.

    The minister added approvals for 11 other projects are expected shortly.

    One of the 13 approved projects will see more money go toward the revamp of the Gordie Howe Sports Complex in Saskatoon. The Gordie Howe Sports Complex is the area of town that contains numerous sports facilities like Saskatoon Minor Football Field, Cairns Field, the Geoff Hughes Minor Baseball Complex, Bob Van Impe Stadium and Gordie Howe Kinsmen Arena.

    A multi-sport indoor athletic training facility and a track and field are the newest additions to the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

    The amount of money that will flow into the Gordie Howe Sports Complex wasn’t divulged. The master plan for the facility said that $62-million would be spent on improvements, and as of July of last year, $42-million was raised towards that goal.

    Since July of last year, fundraising has continued and construction has continued to proceed as funds came in.

    Overall, this is a win for Saskatoon.

    Another win for Saskatoon on the cultural and arts front is the fact funding for a new site for Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan has been approved through the IBA deal. Again, no figures were released regarding what will go to this project.

    With that said, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan has become an important staple in Saskatoon, so that is another win for the city with regards to the IBA deal.

Expect new WHL rink talk to heat up in Sask.

The Raiders raise the Ed Chynoweth Cup last May at the Art Hauser Centre.

    One of the interesting revelations regarding the Integrated Bilateral Agreement (IBA) between Canada’s federal government and Saskatchewan was the fact funding for a new multi-sport complex was proposed for Prince Albert.

    The proposed multiplex would include an aquatics centre, two smaller rinks and a larger rink that would be the new home of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.

    This project was not approved as the federal government deemed the Raiders to be a semi-professional sporting franchise.

    In a post on Thursday, I wrote that Prince Albert deserves such a facility. If you want to see that piece again, you can do so by clicking right here.

    Going forward into the future, it will be interesting to see how the various levels of government treat building rinks for WHL teams in Saskatchewan.

    It is safe to say over the last four years the idea of building new rinks in three other Saskatchewan WHL centres in Regina, Saskatoon and Swift Current has been test floated out there.

    In August of 2011, Mosaic Place opened in Moose Jaw giving the WHL’s Warriors a new 4,414 seat rink to play out of plus standing room.

    Since there have been notions to build new rinks in Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon and Swift Current, one wonders how those notions will evolve going into the future.

    Not like my two cents really matters, but I would like to see government money used to help Prince Albert and Swift Current get new facilities first before the two bigger centres. In Prince Albert and Swift Current, you can get their WHL clubs and midget AAA teams all located in one building creating a great sports centre for those communities and surrounding areas.

    The people in Prince Albert and Swift Current have shown strong support for their respective WHL and midget AAA teams.

    With that said, just because I have those thoughts doesn’t mean they will become a reality.

Will IBA influence CHL class action lawsuits?

    One has to wonder if the Integrated Bilateral Agreement (IBA) between Canada’s federal government and Saskatchewan will have an effect on the CHL class action lawsuits?

    Charney Lawyers PC, a firm specializing in class action lawsuits, has filed lawsuits on behalf of former CHL players against the CHL and its member major junior leagues in the WHL, OHL and QMJHL. The lawsuits content the players of major junior hockey teams are employees of their member clubs and should be entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay.

    The IBA deal between the federal government and Saskatchewan views major junior teams as semi-professional teams. That could be interpreted as a tidbit that could help those making the class action lawsuits against the CHL and its member leagues.

    Don’t expect decisions on this front to be made any time soon. Litigation has been ongoing since these lawsuits were filed in October of 2014.

    I don’t want to speculate what type of decisions could be made. I know in Canada’s court system that anything can happen even if it is viewed as remote.

    Typically in Canada’s court system, nothing happens fast. If this comes to an end within the next five years, I would be very surprised.

What will happen with Board of Trustees for Huskie Athletics?

    One of the hanging questions around Saskatoon’s sports scene is what will happen with the Board of Trustees that was developed for Huskie Athletics at the University of Saskatchewan?

    During the final week of June of this year, five out of the six external community member resigned from the board that was part of a governance model for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies teams.

    The resignations included David Dube, who was the board’s chairperson, Diane Jones Konihowski, David Sutherland, Tom Anselmi and Ken Juda.

    The Board of Trustees includes five representatives from the university. The creation of the board was announced in September of 2016, and it became active on Nov. 1, 2016.

    Under a new governance model that saw the Board of Trustees become a reality, the board was to advice and guide Huskie Athletics, who play out of U Sports, and report to U of S president Peter Stoicheff.

    The external members resigned over a feeling of frustration regarding the influence they had on the athletic program.

    Since the details came out via mainstream media outlets during the first week of July, all has been quiet on the Board of Trustees front.

    To me, I just see it as a university political squabble. I think the board members who resigned had good intentions towards Huskie Athletics.

    I believe Stoicheff has good intentions towards Huskie Athletics. Stoicheff is also tasked as part of his job with ensuring the university has proper oversight over anything that has the institution’s name.

    This whole concept hasn’t really been around long enough to judge if it is good or bad.

    The board was around when the departure of legendary Huskies football head coach Brian Towriss was mishandled in December of 2016, but Stoicheff took responsibility and apologized for how that news came down.

    That episode has long since blown over, and Towriss is a regular visitor at various events involving Huskies football.

    It will be interesting to see how the U of S as an institution proceeds from here.

Hardy a welcome addition for Huskies

    One spot where the U of Saskatchewan Huskies hit a massive home run was when Dave Hardy was named the chief athletics officer on Aug. 7.

    He officially started his new position last Monday.

    At age 71, Hardy takes over the top job with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies program from Shawn Burt, who recently stepped down to be closer to family in Ontario.

    Hardy has a storied career in the Saskatoon school system as a teacher, principle and school superintendant. He is a former president of Vancouver College, and he led that institution to new heights in academic and athletic excellence.

    That included facilitating a capital fundraising campaign that exceeded $20 million.

    In Saskatoon, he is widely remember for guiding the Saskatoon Hilltops as head coach for 10 seasons from 1988 to 1997. The Hilltops won two Canadian Junior Football League titles in 1991 and 1996 under Hardy’s guidance.

    He is an alumnus of the Huskies men’s basketball team, and coached basketball for extended stints during his time in the Saskatoon school system.

    Hardy has made a big positive impact on the community of Saskatoon during his life. It is safe to say the news that he has become the Huskies CAO has been well received in Saskatoon.

    Optimism is high the Huskies program will accomplish great things under his watch.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

    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.

Slobodzian back in Hockey Canada groove with Summer Showcase invite

Stars grad looks to earn time with national development team

Willow Slobodzian takes part in a skating session in Saskatoon.

  Willow Slobodzian will never take an invite to a Hockey Canada camp lightly.
    The 19-year-old defender, who is a graduate of the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team, is one of 45 players slated to skate at the National Women’s Development Team Selection Camp, which runs Aug. 2 to 11 in Calgary, Alta.
    Athletes at this camp are playing for the chance to compete against the United States in a three-game series from Aug. 14 to 17 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

    The development team selection camp is part of Team Canada Summer Showcase that features more than 240 of Canada’s top men’s and women’s players. 
    Camp action is already underway on the men’s side.

Willow Slobodzian has played two seasons with the NCAA’s Big Red.

    Slobodzian was a member of Canada’s under-18 women’s team in the 2017-18 campaign, and she helped Canada win bronze at the under-18 women’s worlds in Dmitrov, Russia, in January of 2018.
    Last summer, she didn’t receive invites to any of Hockey Canada’s summer camps, so the Clavet, Sask., product is pumped to be going back this year.

    “I’m excited,” said Slobodzian, who stands 5-foot-7. “To say I am not a little nervous, I would be lying.

    “I wasn’t there last year, so it will fun definitely to go play with some old teammates and some teammates that I currently have. Overall, it will be a great time. I’m just really excited.”

    Slobodzian is coming off a successful sophomore campaign with the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team, where she appeared in all of her squad’s 36 games posting four goals, eight assists and a plus-22 rating in the plus-minus department.

Willow Slobodzian played for Canada’s under-18 women’s team.

    Cornell, which is located in Ithaca, N.Y., advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Frozen Four women’s hockey championship tournament in Hamden, Connecticut.
    The Big Red fell 2-0 in a semifinal match to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

    Slobodzian plays on a deep defensive unit at Cornell that includes Jamie Bourbonnais and Micah Zandee-Hart, who have both skated with Canada’s senior national women’s team. Both are eligible to return for their senior years with the Big Red.

    Bourbonnais will be at national development team selection camp along with Big Red forwards Grace Graham and Kristin O’Neill, who will both be seniors next season. O’Neill has skated with Canada’s senior national team as well.

    While Slobodzian enjoys the fact she will see some familiar faces at the national development team selection camp, she is focusing on her mental game heading into that event.
    “I think what is important for me personally is just going in there believing in myself and knowing that I was invited for a reason and that I belong there,” said Slobodzian. “I’ve prepared myself all summer, and whatever happens, happens.

Willow Slobodzian played in the NCAA’s Frozen Four.

    “It is very controllable. It is up to me to see how I do. I know if I put my mind to it I can do as well as I can.”

    Slobodzian said it has helped her game playing in a Cornell team that has a deep defensive unit and is well coach. She said her hockey smarts have improved during her two seasons with the Big Red.

    “Working with Jaime (Bourbonnais) and Micah (Zandee-Hart) and all the other girls, we all push each other in practices,” said Slobodzian. “We all push each other during games as well.

    “It is just amazing. We push each other, and we are always getting better. It is great to work with them, because everyone has like high goals in mind.”

    Slobodzian will also see some familiar faces from her midget AAA days. The list of invites includes her former Stars teammates in sisters Sophie and Grace Shirley, who are both skilled forwards and regulars in Hockey Canada’s system.
    Sophie had a huge freshmen campaign helping the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team win the NCAA championship. She appeared in 41 games posting 20 goals, 18 assists and a plus-36 rating and was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association conference rookie of the year.

Willow Slobodzian had a memorable sophomore season with the Big Red.

    Grace captained the Stars last season. In her final midget AAA campaign, she led the Stars in scoring with 27 goals and 21 assists in 25 regular season games.

    Grace helped the Stars win their fourth Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League title in the last five years. The Stars appeared in the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament in each of those seasons.

    Slobodzian is looking forward to seeing the Shirley sisters again.

    “It will be awesome,” said Slobodzian, who helped the Stars win SFMAAAHL titles in 2015 and 2016. “It will feel like old times I think.

    “I love those girls. We have great friendships. It will make the camp that much more fun and enjoyable.

    “Being on the ice with them too, I’ll definitely enjoy it. They are great players. It is fun to play with them.”

    Brooke Hobson, who is a former captain with the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team, rounds out the Saskatchewan representation at the national development camp. 

Willow Slobodzian in action with the Stars in 2016.

    Hobson posted six goals, 22 assists and a plus-27 rating in 38 games helping the Northeastern University Huskies women’s team advance to a quarter-final match in the NCAA championship tournament.
    The Big Red downed the Huskies 3-2 in overtime in that quarter-final encounter in Boston, Mass. Slobodzian had an assist in that encounter.

    She enjoyed her sophomore campaign with the Big Red.

    “The season was unreal,” said Slobodzian. “It was so much fun.

    “Being able to go as far as we did was an amazing experience. Throughout the whole season, our team just got better and better and came closer together. It was just a really great year overall.

    “I loved it.”

    In 2017-18, Slobodzian joined the Big Red for her freshman campaign, while she was still eligible to play a 17-year-old season in the midget AAA ranks. Slobodzian appeared in 25 games with the Big Red that season posting three goals, five assists and a plus-13 rating.

    She said she entered her second season with the Big Red with more confidence, because she felt more comfortable balancing the rigours of school as an arts and sciences major and hockey.

Willow Slobodzian, sitting, enjoys the Stars SFMAAAHL title win in 2016.

    Looking towards her junior season after Hockey Canada activities wrap up, Slobodzian believes special things can be in store for her Big Red squad.

    “Returning for my junior year, personally I want to see our team start right we ended off as a great close group and continue to move on from there and not have to take any steps backwards with the incoming freshmen and losing some seniors,” said Slobodzian, who was the Stars captain in 2016-17. “I really hope that we can just start off where we left.

    “To not go as far as we did last year would be a huge disappointment, because I know we have a very special group of girls that can do the same thing we did last year even if not more. I’m really excited. I’m hoping for the best for our team.”

Lind, Messier highlight invites to under-18 women’s camp

Taylor Lind is the SFMAAAHL’s second all-time leading scorer.

    Two of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League’s all-time bests will be featured at Hockey Canada’s National Women’s under-18 Selection Camp.

    Now graduated Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats captain Taylor Lind and now graduated Saskatoon Stars star offensive-defender Ashley Messier are among the 44 players slated skate at the under-18 camp from Aug. 2 to 11 in Calgary, Alta. The under-18 camp is part of the Team Canada Summer Showcase that is going on right now with men’s camps.

    The players at the under-18 women’s camp are competing for the chance to go up against the United States in a three-game series from Aug. 14 to 17 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

    Last season with the Wildcats, Lind topped the SFMAAAHL in scoring for the second time in three years posting 29 goals and 31 assists for 60 points appearing in all of her team’s 28 regular season games.

    The skilled centre is the second all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL posting 93 goals and 77 assists for 170 points in 83 career regular season games.

    The Shaunavon, Sask., product is eligible to return to the Wildcats to play her 17-year-old season in the midget AAA ranks. Lind will be moving up to the NCAA ranks in the fall suiting up for the St. Cloud State University Huskies women’s hockey team in St. Cloud, Minn.

    The star forward originally committed to play for the Lindenwood University Lions women’s hockey team in St. Charles, Missouri, but after the Lions head coach was released by the team, Lind entered the transfer portal and joined St. Cloud State.

Ashley Messier was a stellar offensive-defender for the Stars.

    Messier, who is from Wilcox, Sask., had another stellar campaign playing on the Stars blue-line last season appearing in all of her team’s 28 regular season games setting new career highs in goals (five), assists (27) and points (32). For her efforts, Messier captured the SFMAAAHL’s Colleen Sostorics Top Defenceman award and helped the Stars win the SFMAAAHL title and advance to the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament.

    In three campaigns with the Stars, Messier has appeared in 84 regular season games posting 11 goals and 58 assists.

    Last year, Messier went to camp with the United States under-18 women’s team and played against Canada in a three-game exhibition series.

    Messier is eligible to return for her 17-year-old season in the midget AAA ranks but will play for the Selects Girls Hockey Academy at Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester, N.Y., for her Grade 12 year. She has committed to play for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks starting in the 2020-21 campaign.

    Rounding out the Saskatchewan invites for the under-18 camp is feisty defender Brooklyn Stevely. Stevely had a solid campaign last season for the Regina Rebels. She appeared in all of her team’s 28 regular season games collecting one goal and 15 assists.

    Stevely helped the Rebels advance to the SFMAAAHL championship series and was named a first team SFMAAAHL all-star.

    She is eligible to return to the midget AAA ranks for her 17-year-old season but has elected to play for the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy women’s prep team in Kelowna, B.C.

Bohlken, Bourassa join U Sports all-stars at Summer Showcase

Leah Bohlken had a breakout season for the Huskies.

    Two of the top players from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team will have a chance to further cement a place on Hockey Canada’s radar.

    Defender Leah Bohlken and forward Bailee Bourassa are among the 21 players who will suit up for the U Sports women’s all-star team as part of activities involving the selection camp for Canada’s National Women’s Development team.

    The U Sports team will take part in training camp activities and take part in a series of five exhibition games from Aug. 2 to 11 in Calgary, Alta. The five exhibition games include one contest against France, two against Japan and two against Canadian national development team hopefuls.

    Last year, the U Sports squad won three out of four exhibition games including two contests against Canadian national development team hopefuls.

    Last season in her fourth year with the Huskies, Bohlken had a breakout campaign appearing in 27 regular season games posting career highs in goals (nine), assists (seven) and points (16). The Moose Jaw, Sask., product posted plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

    Bohlken was a first team Canada West all-star.

    Last March, Bohlken helped Canada’s women’s team win a silver medal at the FISU Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Canada fell in a 2-0 heartbreaker in the gold medal final to the host Russian side.

    Bourassa completed her third year with the Huskies appearing in 27 regular season games posting career highs in goals (five), assists (11) and points (16). The Weyburn, Sask., product posted a plus-one rating.

Bailee Bourassa had a career season with the Huskies.

    Before joining the Huskies, Bourassa played for her hometown Weyburn Gold Wings female midget AAA team. She scored the winning goal in the championship game to allow the Gold Wings to down the Edmonton Thunder 2-1 in the 2014 Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament in Stoney Creek, Ont.

    Also suiting up for the U Sports squad is Saskatoon product Hannah Koroll, who plays for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds women’s hockey team. Koroll, who is an alum of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team, completed her rookie season with the Thunderbirds appearing in 28 regular season games posting two goals, five assists and a plus-one rating.

    Regina product Miranda Hatt rounds out the Saskatchewan born players on the U Sports team. Hatt finished her rookie season with the Saint Mary’s University Huskies appearing in 25 regular season games posting four goals, 14 assists and a plus-six rating.

    The U Sports squad is led by forward Alex Poznikoff of the University of Alberta Pandas. Poznikoff was named the U Sports player of the year last season and topped the Canada West Conference in scoring with 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 27 regular season games.

    Poznikoff had a plus-34 rating and helped the Pandas win their 13^th Canada West title.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

    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.