Durant trade ends era for Roughriders

The Roughriders traded Darian Durant to Montreal.

    Darian Durant couldn’t play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders forever, but his departure is something most fans in Rider Nation are still digesting.

    Early Friday morning, news spread quickly that the Roughriders traded Durant’s CFL rights to the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for a fourth round selection (32^nd overall) in this year’s CFL Draft and a conditional selection in next year’s draft. Montreal has until Feb. 14 to sign Durant, or the veteran franchise quarterback can become a free agent.

    Durant, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 214 pounds, had been with the Roughriders for 11 seasons and became the club’s unquestioned starter in 2009. He was part of the Roughriders 2007 Grey Cup championship team as a backup to Kerry Joseph and powered the Roughriders to a Grey Cup championship at home as a starter in 2013. The Florence, South Carolina, product also started for the Roughriders in heartbreaking Grey Cup losses in 2009 and 2010.

    Injuries also kept Durant off the field for significant time in 2014 and 2015.

    Way back on July 12, 2008, Durant made his first start with the Roughriders and threw them to a thrilling 33-28 road victory over the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton. From 2009 to 2014, he was part of a core group of players that powered the “green and white” to success year after year including Weston Dressler, John Chick, Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg, Mike McCullough and Neal Hughes.

    Out of that group, only Bagg remains. Last season, Durant and Bagg were the two lengthy veteran mainstays.

Darian Durant runs in a winning overtime TD for the Roughriders.

    Other key figures that passed through the Roughriders during Durant’s era included Gene Makowsky, Ben Heenan, Ty Brackenridge, Andy Fantuz, Tristan Jackson, Eddie Davis, Lance Frazier and Ricky Foley. At the moment, the Roughriders don’t have a face for the franchise. Arguably, veteran offensive linemen Brendon LaBatte and Chris Best are the team’s two most recognizable players.

    Outside of the past two seasons, most of Durant’s time with the Roughriders is linked with winning. It seems like only yesterday that Durant hooked up with Getzlaf on a long touchdown toss with less than two minutes to play to beat the Stampeders in Calgary 24-23, but that game was actually played on Aug. 1, 2009.

    Later that season, Durant watched from the sidelines when the Roughriders fell 28-27 to the Alouettes due to the infamous too many men call at the end of the game. That penalty gave a second chance for the Als to kick a winning field goal after the first attempt was missed. Had the miss stood, the Roughriders would have won that contest.

    The 34-year-old leaves the Roughriders sitting second in team history for career pass attempts (3,584), completions (2,226), yards (28,507) and touchdown passes (152).

    Durant’s legacy is more than just numbers. Being the starting quarterback of the Roughriders might be the hardest job in the CFL due to intense fan scrutiny, and Durant exceled at it. He became a fan favourite despite still having a few vocal detractors.

    In social settings, he always put his teammates in front of himself ensuring they were having a good time. During Durant’s years with the team, I had a few buds that played with the Roughriders over the years, and I got to see that part up close. That is a big sign of a good leader.

Darian Durant fires a pass downfield for the Roughriders.

    At the moment, the Roughriders don’t seem to have a successor in place for Durant. Saskatchewan head coach and general manager Chris Jones needs to find the team’s next franchise quarterback.

    Set to begin play at new Mosaic Stadium, the Roughriders need to surpass their 5-13 record from 2016, or the heat Jones feels now will really get out of control. If you are going to make a move to unload a player of Durant’s status and quality, you better have a guy waiting in the wings to do the job.

    When the NFL’s Green Bay Packers parted way with Brett Favre in 2008, Aaron Rodgers was ready to become the Packers starting quarterback. The Roughriders are not in that type of situation.

    With the way Jones has handed roster moves during his first season with the team, he doesn’t inspire confidence like a Wally Buono, John Hufnagel or the late Cal Murphy.

    It appears more rough times still await the Roughriders.

Wickenheiser calls it a career

A story on Hayley Wickenheiser from the 2013 Medicine Hat News.

    It was a low-key retirement announcement that was classic Hayley Wickenheiser.

    On Friday, the Canadian hockey icon announced over Twitter she was leaving the game. The Tweet included a photo of her relaxing on a bench by an outdoor rink.

    The 38-year-old wrote, “Dear Canada. It has been the great honour of my life to play for you. Time to hang em up!! Thank you! #grateful #graduationday #canada.”

    You would expect someone of Wickenheiser’s stature to announce her retirement at a huge news conference at the headquarters of Hockey Canada in Calgary. With that said, that isn’t her style. When news of Durant’s trade broke, you almost think Wickenheiser went into action to make her retirement announcement now in order to try and avoid being the centre of attention.

    The Shaunavon, Sask., product first made Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team at age 15 in 1994, and was part four Olympic gold medal winning squads and one Olympic silver medal winning team.

    I remember catching up with her for a story in the Medicine Hat News in October of 2013, when Canada’s women’s team was preparing for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. It was conceivable that Wickenheiser might play in the 2018 Winter Olympics, but it was highly realistic 2014 could be her last run. Canada’s national team system was being filled with numerous talented young players.

    At that time, Wickenheiser said she hadn’t made any decisions on her future but admitted to having little nostalgic moments.

    I asked her what it was like to be idolized by girls across Canada, and I received a unique response. Wickenheiser said she was glad female athletes in Canada have a lot of role models to look up to in sport.

    “When I grew up, I didn’t have female role models really in sport,” said Wickenheiser at the time. “Now there is myself and all the girls that I play with and players like Christine Sinclair in soccer.

    “You’ve got a lot of different female athletes that are high profile now in Canada, and that is really good for young girls that are coming up in sports.”

    Words aren’t enough to describe the impact Wickenheiser has had on the sporting scene in Canada. Here is hoping the next step of her life is as successful and rewarding as her playing days, and she gets into the Hockey Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

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

Huskies impress with sweep

Defending Canada West champs down Wickenheiser and Dinos

Goalie Cassidy Hendricks kicks out a shot for the Huskies.

Well that was definitely the definition of team effort.

            The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team was in top form on the weekend and passed a big early season test. Sitting with a 3-3 record going into the weekend, the defending Canada West champs faced a University of Calgary Dinos team that had some big additions from a season ago.

            The Dinos roster contained Canadian National team icon Hayley Wickenheiser and Russian national team standouts Iya Gavrilova and Alexandra Vafina. All three were not with the Dinos last season because it was Olympic year. Wickenheiser and Gavrilov helped the Dinos win a Canadian Interuniversity Sport title in 2012, while Vafina is in her first year of eligibility on the Calgary side.

            With that trio in the fold, the Dinos entered the weekend leading the Canada West standings with four wins and two overtime losses.

            Even with all those additions, the Huskies pulled out a sweep in a two-game series at the ancient Rutherford Rink. On Friday, the Huskies rallied from a 3-1 deficit to pull out a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory. Brown University transfer Lauren Zary potted the winner at 2:52 into extra time.

            On Saturday, the Huskies scored three times in the second period to go up 3-0 and cruised to a 3-1 victory.

            All of the Huskies forward lines and defensive pairings played strong system wise, forechecked hard and took away a lot of the passing lanes the Dinos thought they had, when they tried to work up ice.

            The hosts also played physical too. That was best shown when Huskies defenceman Brooke Mutch crushed Dinos forward Jenna Smith in the second period of Friday’s encounter.

            Mutch was given an elbowing penalty, but her team killed off the infraction. It also seemed to spark a turn of momentum in that contest.

            The Dinos led 3-1 at the time of the hit. When Mutch’s penalty was killed, the Huskies closed the second period scoring on a power play of their own, when fifth-year forward Kandace Cook tallied to make it 3-2.

Edmonton product Rachel Johnson scored another Huskies power-play goal early in the third to knot things up at 3-3 as a prelude to Zary’s heroics in the extra session.

            Kaitlin Willoughby, who was the CIS rookie of the year last season, was huge for the Dogs offensively on Friday netting her team’s first goal and collecting two assists.

The Huskies celebrate a Kandace Cook goal on Saturday.

            Cook and Zary scored again on Saturday, while Chelsey Sundby had her team’s third goal.

            Cassidy Hendricks kept adding to her reputation as a money goalie turning away 69-of-73 shots in the two contests. She also had a couple of key bailout saves on the weekend too.

            Dinos netminders Hayley Dowling and Carissa Fischer combined to turn away 60-67 shots over the two contests.

            Now 5-3, the Huskies have a bye week before traveling to Calgary to face the Mount Royal University Cougars on Nov. 7 and 8.

            NOTE – The women’s Canada West conference is using a news system for tallying points in the standings this season, which is similar to one used in the Olympics. Regulation time wins are worth three points, extra time wins two points and one point is awarded for an extra time loss. Under that system, the Huskies are currently fifth in the eight-team Canada West with 13 points.

            The same system is being utilized in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League. 

 

Football team locks up home playoff date

Keegan Arnyek (#16) returns a missed field goal for a TD.

            The U of S Huskies football team has a home playoff game in the bag.

            On Saturday, the Huskies locked up second place in Canada West with a 41-23 victory over the University of Alberta Golden Bears before 3,605 spectators at Griffiths Stadium. The win was a huge bounce back game for the Huskies, who were trounced 41-8 in their previous outing at the hands of the University of Manitoba Bisons in Winnipeg.

            The contest against the Golden Bears was close for a lengthy time, before the Huskies pulled away. Just past the midway point of the fourth quarter and the Huskies leading 27-17, the Golden Bears were attempting a field goal to cut the U of S lead to seven.

            The field goal was missed, and Keegan Arnyek returned the miss 116 yards for a spectacular touchdown. The return was aided by some huge blocks from Geoffrey Hughes and Mark Ingram.

            With the win, the Huskies improve to 5-2 and close the regular season traveling to Vancouver to take on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds this coming Saturday.

            The Huskies will host a Canada West semifinal playoff game on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.

Soccer team makes history 

 

 

Erica Hindmarsh in action for the U of S Huskies.

           The U of S Huskies Women’s Soccer team made history on Sunday.

            The Huskies captured their first playoff win downing the MacEwan University Griffins 2-1 at PotashCorp Park. Carmen Gorlick and Erica Hindmarsh scored for the Huskies, while Cara Santaga picked up the win in goal.

            With the win, the Huskies advance to the women’s Canada West final four tournament, which opens this coming Friday in Langley, B.C. The Trinity Western University Spartans host the tourney, which will include the University of Alberta Pandas and the Fraser Valley Cascades.

            The Huskies men’s soccer team cruised to a 5-1 Canada West quarter-final victory over the University of Winnipeg also on Sunday at PotashCorp Park. Brett Levis scored twice for the Huskies, while Garrett Peters, Bobbi Nicholat and Sam Whiting all had singles. Michal Bandula picked up the win in goal.

            With the win, the Huskies will host the men’s Canada West final four tournament this coming Friday and Saturday. The tourney will include the U of A Golden Bears, the UBC Thunderbirds and the University of Victoria Vikes.

           

If you have any feedback on this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.

Huskies finally light lamp

Kandace Cook takes a draw for the Huskies.

            The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team was definitely fond of red for one night.

            The Huskies players might never have felt so relieved than to see the red lap behind the opposition net light up three times like it did Saturday night.

            During the early portion of the regular season, the defending Canada West champs struggled to put the puck in the net. Those struggles continued during their home opener on Friday night, when they raised their conference championship banner at the Rutherford Rink. The Dogs fired 31 shots on goal and came away falling 4-0 to the University of Alberta Pandas.

            After that loss to the Pandas, the Huskies had scored six goals in five games.

            On Saturday night, the Pandas took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Ashley Morin early in the first period. The Huskies then broke their jinx around the opposing goal scoring twice to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

            Rookie Chelsea Wilson popped home the first goal, while Kandace Cook slid home the second tally on a nice individual rush. Those goals really seemed to give a lift to the Huskies side.

            Jessica Kampjes scored for the Pandas at the 8:09 mark of the second to force a 2-2 tie. Cook put the Huskies ahead for good scoring on the power play before the second ended putting her side up 3-2, which stood as the final outcome.

            Lindsey Post stopped 32 shots suffering the loss in goal for the Pandas (4-2), while Cassidy Hendricks made 36 stops earning the win in goal for the Huskies (3-3).

            While three goals isn’t a huge number to post on the scoreboard, it is a big number to put up on the Pandas, who are a traditional CIS powerhouse in women’s hockey. The surge marked the most goals the Huskies put in the back of the net since downing the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 5-4 in a shootout in the season opener for both teams on Oct. 3 in Vancouver.

            The surge against the Pandas doesn’t totally eliminate the Huskies scoring woes. Only six different players have found the back of the net so far this season, so there is still a whole host of other players in search of their first tally of the season. As a collective, the team has to feel a gorilla was slammed to the ground.

            Now the task is to duplicate and improve on Saturday’s effort this coming weekend against another tough opponent.

            The Huskies host the 4-0-2 University of Calgary Dinos at 7 p.m. on both this coming Friday and Saturday nights. The Dinos roster contains Hayley Wickenheiser, who is an icon on Canada’s national women’s team.

            Wickenheiser, who is in her fourth year of eligibility, completed her kinesiology degree last year and is enrolled in graduate studies. She had been attempting to get into medical school. 

Victory costly for Hilltops

Wayndel Lewis (#22) on the run for the Hilltops.

            Let the Wayndel Lewis watch begin.

            The Saskatoon Hilltops blasted the Winnipeg Rifles 43-13 on Sunday in what was a costly playoff victory at the Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Toppers advanced to host the Prairie Football Conference final against the Calgary Colts this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. at SMF.

            In the win over the Rifles, the Hilltops lost Lewis, who is their star tailback, on their first offensive series of the second half. Lewis rushed for 90 yards on 14 carries before leaving with an injured left ankle.

            He had an outstanding regular season leading the PFC with 1,063 yards rushing on 130 carries, while scoring nine touchdowns.

            If Lewis in unable to go against the Colts, Logan Fischer will likely carry the bulk of the load at tailback against the Colts. 

Home sweet home for Huskies soccer

Jenelle Zapski of the Huskies.

            It will be playoff Sunday on the soccer pitch at PotashCorp Park.

            Both U of S Huskies soccer teams will host Canada West single-elimination quarter-final matches. The men’s team entered the final weekend of regular season play already guaranteed first place in the Prairies Division.

They closed the regular campaign on a stumble falling 2-1 and drawing 2-2 against the Mount Royal University Cougars last Saturday and Sunday respectively. The Huskies posted their best regular season finish ever at 9-1-2, while the Cougars were tied with Thompson Rivers for last overall in Canada West at 2-8-2.

The women’s team finished up posting 3-0 and 3-1 victories over the U of Regina Cougars on Saturday and Sunday respectively at PotashCorp Park. The wins vaulted the Huskies to second in the Prairies Division with a 7-2-3 mark.

In the two wins, third year Huskies striker Jenelle Zapski scored four goals to finish the regular season with a team record 14 tallies. The previous regular season record for goals was 11 scored by Elizabeth Hudon in the 2010 campaign.

This coming Sunday, the Huskies women’s team hosts the MacEwan Griffiths (7-3-2) at 12 p.m., and the Huskies men’s team takes on the University of Winnipeg Wesmen (4-7-1) at 2:15 p.m.

Riders looked better with Joseph

Kerry Joseph (#5) calls signals for the Roughriders.

            Oh, the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

            The CFL team everyone in Saskatchewan loves, and a team that appears to also have a million general managers, when you read various social media feeds or listen to call-in shows.

            There was definite dejection by the green and white faithful, when the Riders dropped their fourth in a row, with the latest setback being a 24-19 decision to the Edmonton Eskimos on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium.

            The Roughriders dropped to 9-7, but the offence looked better with 41-year-old veteran quarterback Kerry Joseph at the controls. Joseph’s statistics weren’t going to blow you away. He was 17-for-36 passing for 213 yards, two touchdown throws and two interceptions.

            The starting signal caller for the team’s 2007 Grey Cup championship season looked a lot more in control and poised compared to Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege.

            The Roughriders lost starting quarterback Darian Durant due to an arm injury in a 30-24 road victory over the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg on Sept. 7. Saskatchewan was 8-2 after that victory.

            Since Durant went down, the quarterback position was influx, which lead to Joseph’s signing. The loss to the Eskimos was Joseph’s first start this season, and his stats would have been a lot better outside of a number of drops by the receivers. The drop problem also occurred this season with Durant throwing pinpoint passes as well.

            Joseph, who had originally retired in the off-season having last suited up for the Eskimos, gives the Roughriders their best chance to win now. If Durant can’t return this season, the Roughriders would be best advised to go with Joseph, who was the CFL’s most outstanding player in 2007, the rest of the way. With Joseph, the Roughriders have a more realistic shot of making a championship run this season as an underdog as opposed to Sunseri and Doege, who have been inconsistent.

           

If you have any feedback on this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.