Unfortunately, sports and politics do collide

Expect trend to increase with Trump as US President

Has anybody in Canada seen much of Steven Guilbeault in recent weeks?

From 2021 to 2024, it seemed like the famed former member of Greenpeace was a regular on Canadian news networks serving as Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, which is a position he still holds. Guilbeault seemingly spoke as Prime Minister of Canada 1A creating policies to force Canada to move towards a green economy. He was the star shown all over the place as it seemed to be Canada was positioned to be the hero that was going to save the world from climate change under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Guilbeault was seen regularly in early January 2025 until January 20 rolled around and Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States of America for a second term taking over from Democrat Joe Biden, who beat Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election. Since becoming the President of the United States again, Trump signed off on an avalanche of executive orders changing numerous aspects of life in that country and using the threats of tariffs to declare economic war on first Canada and Mexico along with seemingly the rest of the world.

Of course, he keeps repeating that line about making Canada the “51^st state.”

All of that has thrown Canada’s political scene in a crisis mode with the country’s economy being very dependent on what has traditionally been a good relationship with the United States. Under the specter of this current political climate, it seems like there is a fear that Canada could turn into a third world country overnight, if Trump makes good on his plans.

All of a sudden, you don’t hear much about Guilbeault and talk about Canada’s environmental policies has become muted. If they are talked about, they seem out of place in dealing with the economic challenges Canada now faces.

Shifting to the sporting world, Trump appeared at Super Bowl LIX on February 9 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. He received big cheers, but left early as the Philadelphia Eagles stormed to a 34-0 lead and hammered the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. The Chiefs scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter to make the final score look better cosmetically.

On Sunday, Trump appeared at the Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Air Force 1 took a flyby of the track and Trump road in his armoured Cadillac limousine nicknamed “The Beast” and lapped the track with his presidential motorcade leading the field of cars.

In Canada, the national anthem of the United States has been booed before NHL and NBA games hosted in Canadian cities and the two 4 Nations Face-Off games the United States team played at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The booing is done to show displeasure with Trump’s tariff threats.

On Monday, Bill Guerin, who is the Team USA general manager for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, said on Fox News he would be very happy to see Trump in the crowd for Thursday’s championship game. The USA will face Canada in the final to be played at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts (7 p.m. Saskatchewan time, Sportsnet). At the moment, it does not look like Trump will be attending this contest.

Trudeau was in attendance for the preliminary round game between Canada and the USA taken 3-1 including an empty-net goal by the Americans last Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal. That game started with three fights in the first nine seconds of the opening frame.

If the United States wins the 4 Nations Face-Off title game, you can be sure you will see messaging on social media that Canada was put in its place and that the USA owns Canada. You will likely hear messages from the folks in the United States that Canada has become an embarrassment in the game it loves and that Canada really isn’t a real country and should become a state.

When it comes to sport on the international scene, sport has become the place where a sizable number of countries use that space as the spot that proves their country and culture is superior that of another country and its culture.

When the Soviet Union existed, it often used both Summer and Winter Olympic Games along would world championships to declare being the world’s most superior nation state. Russia would do that under the rule of Vladimir Putin before their sports bodies were banned at Olympic and various other international sporting events following their invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

When Canada’s NHL players face the Soviet Union in the famed eight-game Summit Series of 1972, it became a tribalistic battle between cultures and peoples out on a hockey rink. Canada claimed that series with four wins, three losses and one tie on Paul Henderson’s famed Game 8 winner that broke a 5-5 tie and gave Canada a 6-5 victory with 34 seconds remaining in the third period.

Unfortunately, I believe the politics of the current day has devolved into a clown show and that has happened over the last 15 years.

To me, the extreme left that is seen as the woke left follows Trudeau. To me, it seems like that group of people believes concerns about the environment and climate change surpass all other issues, people are not born with a gender and can chose their gender, the Christian religion is evil, religion has no place in government, diversity, equity and inclusion is important, people are citizens of the world and should work toward a good of the globe view, the media should be controlled, the right wing voices should be silenced and the education system should conform to the leftist view that were listed.

To me, the extreme right follows Trump and the idea of Trumpism. To me, it seems like that group of people believes the economy is the issue of greatest concern, being hired on merit is more important than diversity, equity and inclusion, the Christian religion is good, religion has a place in government, there are only two sexes in male and female, women’s sports are for biological women, concerns about the environment and climate change have gone too far, those on the left wing are crazy, being combative with the media and those that don’t share your views is an acceptable behaviour and the education system should conform to the rightist view that were listed.

For both the extreme left and extreme right, I feel like if you don’t follow the dogmas I listed for each side those on each side believe you are an evil person that should be destroyed or at minimal cancelled.

Both sides have had their surprises.

In Canada especially Western Canada, the Liberals climate agenda when fully implemented would see only electric vehicles being used in Canada and all structures would be warmed by electric heat pumps. If you lived in Saskatchewan the last 10 days and experienced the extended extreme cold weather, those policies would mean no one would go anywhere and people would be freezing to death as electric heat pumps quit when it is colder than -25 C. In already following a green economic policy that has partially been put into action, tent cities and homeless has become the norm in Canadian centres of all sizes due to job losses and increased poverty.

Also if only electric vehicles were used, people at the moment would need to pay $31,000 to $75,000 to replace a battery on an electric vehicle. You are not likely to get three years out of a battery of an electric vehicle. The battery in an electric vehicle like all batteries declines in efficiency every time it is used, and electric vehicle batteries decline faster due to the size of the charge they need to hold.

Also, it does way more environmental damage to mine for the lithium for electric batteries for vehicles, and as my mechanic told me, the electric vehicle graveyard is already bigger than the gas vehicle graveyard. The world also doesn’t have enough lithium for there to be a full conversion to electric vehicles.

In the United States, President Trump’s second term so far has been more than anyone expected on the surprise front with all the executive orders he has signed. He is trying to change how government there operates, clear out senior executives in the FBI, send buyout offers to the entire CIA workforce, threaten economic war with Canada and Mexico and seemingly most other parts of the world and has seemingly sided with Russia in its war with Ukraine falsely saying that Ukraine started that war.

To me, both those on the far left and far right are trying to work things on the financial front to profit themselves and their buddies. If they do actually want to help the people they govern, they don’t truly know how to do that.

I said this before, but I personally have no use for Trudeau and Trump. I also believe there is value in trying to understand why people vote for either side, especially if their views are moderate or centralist. I believe it helps to figure out why we got to where we are in the world.

I believe the strong centralist voice has been lost. I believe good democracy comes from doing the art of the compromise well.

I also believe there are too many lies told in this world being both “white” lies and straight out lies. Those lies make trust hard to achieve and gives conspiracy theories traction.

I believe I don’t fit with either the far left or the far right, which means those on both spectrums will hate me. I understand that is an “it is what it is” thing, and I am fine with it.

Things will play out however they play out, and I will adjust to those factors when the effect me the best I can using the cards that are dealt my way. I feel like I have constantly said that since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic started in March of 2020.

For myself, I personally wish sports and politics did not mix. Unfortunately, the reality is sports and politics do mix, and they have mixed pretty much for all time. The intensity of how sports and politics mix constantly changes as the years go on and can rage for a small to no mix up to a big mix.

With the way the world is currently especially in North America, the sports and politics mix appears set to happen on a more regular and intense basis going forward. Buckle up.

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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Covering sports in 2023 was a grind but still fun

Connor Bedard jets past a checker from the Blades in April.

Boxing Day proved to be a perfect day to repair drawers on a dresser that sat broken since the first week of October.

Often, these types of projects break into a four hour or even a total day ordeal. The repair in this instance went easy and only took an hour.

Next brings the question of why it took so long to get to that repair?

Welcome to life when you are involved in the sports world in Canada.

The schedule was so busy on that front the repairs to the dresser kept always being dropped on the priority list. I finally got to the repair on Boxing Day.

This isn’t a new phenomenon in the sports world. I’ve got friends involved in that world who have had like a load of lumber and sheets of drywall sitting in their basements for three years waiting to be used for renovations that never seem to get done.

You start to wonder if there were any regrets about buying the building materials in the first place.

When you are involved in sports in Canada, it becomes a life consuming thing. Schedules are never normal with that world either outside of the fact there are set phases to the seasons in sports.

When pressures build to focus more on aspects outside of life in the sports world when you are involved in the sports world, it can make being in the sports world a grind.

For me, 2023 was a grind being in the sports world. I still enjoyed it, but it was a grind.

Things were going smoothly for the first two and a half months of 2023. About eight days into March, I ended up getting COVID-19, and it spread to the whole household. I missed covering the last two weeks of the 2022-23 WHL regular season.

The Blades enjoy a Game 7 series winner from Spencer Shugrue (#26).

The best part for my household and myself was the fact the COVID-19 battle was like dealing with a bad flu with extreme fatigue at the start. For the first five days after getting COVID-19, I slept 19 hours each day, and I had never felt that exhausted in my life.

Unfortunately, that seemed to set an ominous tone that prevailed for the rest of the year.

After the battle with COVID-19 wrapped up, I was ready to cover the WHL Playoffs, and I was ready to go when the post-season arrived. When I am covering WHL games, I am in my happy place.

The 2023 playoffs were memorable. I worked the exciting seven game series between the Saskatoon Blades and at the time 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats.

The Blades claimed the series deciding Game 7 at home 4-1 before a sellout crowd of 14,768 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. Bedard was outstanding in the series recording 10 goals, 10 assists and a plus-eight rating.

In the second round of the post-season, the Blades dropped the first three games of their series with the Red Deer Rebels and proceeded to rally back to take the set 4-3. They took Game 7 of the series at home by a 5-2 score before 9,489 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

In the process, the Blades became the third team in the history of the WHL to fall behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series only to rally back and take it 4-3. The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before rallying back to claim that series 4-3.

Utility player Spencer Shugrue became “Mr. Game 7” for the Blades collecting three goals and an assist in Saskatoon’s two series deciding Game 7 wins.

The Blades would be swept by Winnipeg Ice 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Championship Series. In the WHL Championship Series, the Ice fell 4-1 to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Spencer Shugrue (#26) became “Mr. Game 7” for the Blades.

The Thunderbirds made it to the title game of the Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion, which was held in Kamloops, B.C. Seattle was blanked 5-0 in the championship game by the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts, who were guided head coach, general manager and hockey legend Patrick Roy.

I piled up the road kilometres working games in Regina, Red Deer and Winnipeg. In working the first two games of the WHL final in person in Winnipeg, I saw the Ice win their final game as the Winnipeg Ice. They beat the Thunderbirds 3-2 in the opening game of the WHL Championship Series held before 5,531 spectators at the Canada Life Centre, and the Ice weren’t able to get another win for the rest of that set.

That was the first time I was in the building to work games in the WHL Championship Series since 2019. It was also the first time I’ve been in the building to work games in the WHL Championship Series since the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the sports schedules in 2020 and the first half of 2021 and hung ominously over the sports world for the second half of 2021 and the first half of 2022.

When I was in Regina, Red Deer and Winnipeg in the 2023 WHL Playoffs, it felt great, because the focus was on hockey. I also got good extended family time in during my stay in Winnipeg.

When I got off the road, it seemed there would be a mini-crisis in my life away from the sports world. There were times I was asking myself if I should have even left Saskatoon for the road. Looking back, the road was a reprieve.

After returning home from Regina covering Games 3 and 4 of the series between the Pats and Blades, I was immediately jumped with something after getting off the road in my life away from the sports world.

My reaction was, “I was only gone two days! How can life be so terrible?”

The Blades attracted massive home crowds during 2023 WHL Playoffs. 

The best part was all these mini-crisis would pass after two days and seem like nothing two weeks later, but going through those day after day with those around you freaking out was draining.

The football front was fun as the Saskatoon Valkyries won their eighth WWCFL title in June and the Saskatoon Hilltops claimed their 23^rd CJFL championship in November.

The Valkyries blanked the Calgary Rage 40-0 in the WWCFL title game played at Griffiths Stadium to conclude the campaign with a perfect 8-0 record. The pressures of life outside the sports world seemed to subside during the Valkyries season. The Valkyries have a great bunch, and I enjoyed being around that bunch.

Shortly after Hilltops season got going in August, it seemed the uncontrollable pressures from outside the sports world cranked up again. The Hilltops as always were outstanding to deal with. I’ve covered them and the Valkyries regularly since moving to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014.

The Hilltops posted a perfect 12-0 campaign and won the Canadian Bowl contest that determines a CJFL champion 17-10 over the host Westshore Rebels at Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria. The contest was played in rains that fell in Biblical proportions.

The Hilltops had a historic campaign. In 12 games, they gave up just 76 points, which was their lowest total overall for a season dating back to 1949.

Hilltops defensive end Riece Kack had a memorable performance in the CJFL semifinal win over the OFC champion St. Clair Saints, who are from Windsor, Ont., in October at SMF Field. Kack pile up six sacks to set a new record for a CJFL playoff game. He actually became the first player to register six sacks in any CJFL contest be it regular season, playoffs or CJFL championship game.

Emmarae Dale (#45) makes a big hit on defence for the Valkyries

Still in the department of being honest, the pressures from life outside the sports world affected the fun I had covering the Hilltops during their season. If felt like a greater grind than covering the WHL Playoffs. The factors that were there had nothing to do with the team and were out of my control.

I know there were at least three times for me covering games I actually drifted to looking forward to the season being over. That had never happened to me in any time in my life when I was dealing with football. It did happen in the first full WHL season in 2021-22 with regular play after navigating the wrenches of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that came from mental fatigue from the pandemic.

Anyways, I just gutted and grinded all that out.

When the Hilltops played the Rebels for the 2023 CJFL title, I covered that contest remotely watching it online at the home office. I knew the Hilltops were going to come back that night, and I was hoping to go to the social function to celebrate that night when they got home.

The best I felt for that season was the 30 minutes after the Hilltops won the CJFL title. The pumped up elation of a championship win was there.

Unfortunately, technical problems with the computer, social media and the Internet threw a bucket of water on my joy. All of that was out of my control, and I was ready to punch a few computer screens.

I got a short write thru up before midnight that the Hilltops had won. By the time I posted the finished version of my column on the Hilltops winning their 23^rd CJFL title, it was 8 a.m. the next morning. I gutted and grinded through getting that done, but enjoying the Hilltops accomplishment lasted for 30 minutes after the CJFL title game wrapped up.

The Valkyries raise the WWCFL championship trophy.

Life away from the sport world saw the stress become much lower starting a week after the Hilltops season ended and has continued as I write this piece.

Trigger warning: politics

The next part of this column I have to throw up the trigger warning as I will be talking about politics.

Living in Canada these days, talking politics can get you fired from jobs and has gotten people fired from jobs.

Be it world, national, provincial or civic politics, I have never talked more about politics in my life away from the sports world as I have in this past year. To be honest, I don’t like the political world, and I don’t like the extremes on both the right and the left that seem to dominate that world. I see myself as the “common sense” Canadian that appears to no longer have a place and is no longer wanted in that world.

The Government of Canada has gotten their hands into tinkering with the sports and media worlds that have both been my life since 1996. That actually hasn’t bothered me that much in the grand scheme of things, and I find you just adjust to things as they come up like with the various government policies that came up in the COVID-19 pandemic.

I believe the next election federally and elections on the provincial and civic levels will be one issue referendums. 

To me, that referendum will be do you believe issues with the environment are bad enough that elected governments must be given basically a blank cheque to run up deficits as big as they want to handle this issue.

Homes and gasoline vehicles in Canada are way more efficient than they were in the 1970s and 1980s. I know for those on the extreme left that will never be enough, and they would like to see the elimination of gasoline vehicles of all sorts and gas in general in Canada.

The Government of Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his minister of environment and climate change in Steven Guilbeault are in my judgment “all in” on tackling the environment issue to the point they should be allowed to do everything and anything on that front.

Riece Kack (#47) makes a record sack for the Hilltops.

According to Statista, Canada had the 10^th highest carbon tax rate in the world as of March 31, 2023 among the 25 countries at that time that were listed with carbon taxes with Iceland having two rates. The United States, India, Russia and China were not listed as having any carbon taxes at that time. China runs a Chinese national carbon trading scheme.

Guilbeault has been a climate activist since age five and was a member of Greenpeace Canada from 1997 to 2007. In 2001, Guilbeault and British activist Chris Holden scaled Toronto’s CN Tower.

After getting to a height of 340 metres, the pair unfurled a banner that read, “Canada and Bush Climate Killers.”

Guilbeault and Holden were arrested and charged with mischief. The stunt cost the CN Tower Corporation an estimated $50,000, and Guilbeault was sentenced to one year’s probation and the court ordered him to pay a portion of the costs.

To me, Guilbeault is an activist with an agenda, and I doubt very much he would or will consider anyone with a viewpoint that is opposite his. Anyone with an opposing view would be dismissed as being wrong.

In my view, the city government in Saskatoon views the environment issue as being the big issue.

In the end, I believe all this will add up to continuing inflation and putting lots of financial pressures on everyone in Canada in 2024. I don’t see the political world getting better in 2024, and if you don’t believe me, just search any political issue on Platform-X formerly known as Twitter to see the nasty keyboard fights.

Even if you don’t have an interest in the political world, the decisions made in that world will influence and change the worlds you interact in.

Getting pictured with the Canadian Bowl was a highlight in 2023.

For myself as I have done since March of 2020, the goal will be to try and adjust the best I can and stay as healthy physically and mentally as I can. There is only so much I can control, and everything else is going to play out as it is going to be.

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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WHL pushing back start date was to be expected

Spencer Moe and the Prince Albert Raiders wait for action.

With the way the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was going in Western Canada and the United States, it seemed inevitable that the WHL was going to have to push back the start of its 2020-21 campaign.

Coming into this week, both Manitoba and Alberta were engaged in strict lockdown measures to battle the pandemic that are at the moment slated to last until January 8, 2021 and January 10, 2021 respectively.

On Monday, the Government of Saskatchewan announced current pandemic restrictions would be extended to January 15, 2021 and added some new tweaks that come in on Thursday at 12:01 a.m. The tweaks include limiting all private indoor gatherings to members who live in the same household and limiting all outdoor private gatherings to 10 people.

On Tuesday, British Columbia Premier John Horgan was vowing there would be tighter enforcement for the strict lockdown measures in that province.

The measures that are in place in all four Western Canadian provinces have prevented games and competitions in the sports world from happening at all. Where athletic activities can occur, training has been limited to groups of eight.

New COVID-19 case numbers are still rising at a concerning rate in both Canada and the United States.

On Tuesday, the WHL announced that due to public health restrictions in place across Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest U.S., the major junior hockey circuit is not in position to begin its upcoming regular season on January 8, 2021.

All Brandon Wheat Kings head bump celebrations are on hold.

The WHL announced that following further consultations with regional health authorities the league’s board of governors will meet in January to consider potential start dates. The circuit said it would continue to work with governments and health authorities in the region it operates out of to consider schedule options for the 2020-21 campaign.

“We continue to make every effort to get our season started, but our first priority has always been the healthy and safety of our players and everyone associated with the WHL,” said WHL commissioner Ron Robison in a release. “Given the public health restrictions that are currently in effect, we are not in a position to determine a new target date for our season.

“We will continue to consult with health authorities to determine when it is safe and responsible to get our season started.”

Of course, vaccinations for COVID-19 have started in Canada on a very limited scale. It is expected vaccination rollout for the general public won’t happen until at least April of 2021.

If all goes well on the vaccination front, there is optimism that things could be back to normal by September of 2021. Again, that assumes everything goes well.

Still, the world is well in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic in the current day. According to Worldometer, which is pretty accurate in accumulating daily totals on COVID-19 cases and deaths, the United States went through a 24-hour period within the past two days experiencing 246,996 new COVID-19 cases and 3,486 deaths.

Kyle Crnkovic and the Saskatoon Blades are still sidelined.

If those weren’t new highs for a single 24-hour period in the United States, they are in the top 10 for the worst daily totals that country has faced so far in this pandemic.

As a result, it is unclear what will happen to major junior hockey for the 2020-21 campaign or how all other levels of hockey and winter sports will get going in the 2020-21 campaign.

At the moment, the only junior hockey that will be played will be the action from the upcoming world juniors in Edmonton, Alta., which will be played in a bubble environment at Rogers Place.

Unless you are a big money professional circuit or the top tier of the NCAA, most winter sports in North America might be wise to throw in the towel for 2020-21 and start gearing up for the 2021-22 campaign.

Politicians can’t win in pandemic, other notes

Politicians like Scott Moe can’t escape criticism.

Politicians can’t win in the COVID-19 pandemic.

No matter where on the political spectrum you sit, politicians who make decisions during these COVID-19 pandemic times will be criticised for either doing too much or not doing enough. No matter what decision is made, it seems both types of criticism inevitably come.

It seems like you don’t have to work hard to find people on social media crapping on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The same goes for Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.

Actually, you likely can find all sorts of venom directed at any provincial premier in Canada on social media.

Too much of the venom is downright hateful and personal.

Of course, there was one clown who fired off remarks that were racist towards Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab at a so-called “freedom rally” on Saturday in Regina.

When you see all the vile comments, it makes you ask, “Why would anyone get into public service or become a politician?”

Even when the COVID-19 pandemic hits a conclusion, I don’t think anyone would want to be rushing to get into public service of become a politician due to the garage that would come their way. No matter what you do, you are never going to get a break on anything and people are going to take out a personal hate on you.

During the pandemic, it seems politicians of all political stripes can only do wrong.

The COVID-19 pandemic is definitely the worst time to be a politician.

• As of Wednesday night, the 50/50 jackpot for the Hockey Harvest Lottery sat at $297,520. The lottery is being used to raise money for the player scholarship education funds of Saskatchewan’s five WHL teams in the Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and the Swift Current Broncos. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• As of Wednesday night, the December jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery sat at $5,650. 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 draw dates are December 31, 2020, January 31, 2021, 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.
• From what I can tell, the start date for the NHL’s upcoming season is still January 1, 2021. There have been speculation stories that said that start date has been moved to January 13, 2021 for a little over a week now. With that noted, I can’t find anything official from the NHL saying the start date has been pushed back. In reality, it doesn’t seem likely the NHL can actually start its upcoming season on that January 1, 2021 date.
• I haven’t done this in a while, so I figured I would add these again for a marker to look back on. According to Worldometer at the time this post went live 1,655,282 people have died so far this year in the world due to the coronavirus even with varying restrictions that have been imposed around the world. Also this year, Worldometer has reported 1,616,515 people in the world so far this year have died of HIV/AIDS, 1,298,066 died by road traffic accidents, 1,031,175 died by suicide, 809,776 people have died by water related diseases, 471,051 died by seasonal flu, and 297,221 mothers have died during birth. The skeptics of the COVID-19 pandemic always want to know the deaths from cancer it seems. Worldometer said 7,897,603 people have died of cancer this year.
• On Tuesday, Gregg Drinnan had some ponderings about the COVID-19 pandemic in his Taking Note blog. The ponderings made good points, but they were of the sad variety. Even though they were of the sad variety, they were still good points to ponder. That 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.

WHL rolls out some plans, still lots out of major junior circuit’s control in return to play

The Medicine Hat Tigers soak up an extra time win on Jan. 25.

The WHL is taking some baby steps when it comes to a return to play.

While some progress has been made, the major junior circuit still has to do a lot of work and hope for some luck when it comes to going ahead with a 2020-21 season with the world in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Most sports leagues are in the same boat, but the WHL has some unique hoops to navigate.

First, the WHL has to try and get four provincial governments and four provincial health authorities in Canada and two state governments and two state health authorities in the United States to pull in the same direction for a return to play to occur. The WHL has 17 teams located across Western Canada and five clubs located in the states of Washington and Oregon in the United States.

Second, the WHL has to navigate the issue of the border between Canada and the United States being closed to non-essential travel. At the moment, the border is slated to be closed through to this coming Wednesday.

This past Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in an interview with a Winnipeg radio station the border would remain closed until the United States can get its COVID-19 case count under control.

Isaac Poulter and Broncos are going to the East Division.

At the time this post went live, Worldometer, which gives really accurate statistics, reports there have been 8,342,665 COVID-19 cases and 224,282 deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States this year. On most days since the start of September, the United States usually surpasses 50,000 new COVID-19 cases a day.

Over the last four days, the United States added 71,688 new cases in one 24-hour period and 66,132 new cases in another 24-hour period.

With new COVID-19 case numbers trending upward in Western Canada along with Ontario and Quebec over the past week, it is safe to assume the border between Canada and the United States won’t be open any time soon.

Also, Ontario and Quebec have increased lockdown measures over the past week.

In this current climate, the WHL is trying to do what it can to get back on the ice. On Wednesday, the circuit announced January 8, 2021 as the start date for the upcoming regular season.

The WHL had two previous tentative start dates originally slated for October 2 and then December 4 of this year.

Connor Zary in action for the Kamloops Blazers.

The league said all regular season games will be played exclusively within the boundaries of each of the four divisions. Under this set up, the Swift Current Broncos will be moved out of the Central Division to the East Division to play the WHL’s other four Saskatchewan teams and two clubs located in Manitoba.

All the WHL players are slated to report to their teams after the Christmas break. They will train in preparation for the opening of the regular season.

Also on Wednesday, the WHL announced Dr. Dhiren Naidu of Edmonton has been appointed as the league’s chief medical advisor. Dr. Naidu served as the NHL’s medical director for that league post-season hub location in Edmonton.

On Thursday, WHL commissioner Ron Robison held an online media conference to expand on Wednesday’s announcements.

Robison said the January 8, 2021 regular season start date is a firm one, and the regular season will run through to May 2, 2021. That scenario would allow each club to play a maximum of 50 games in the regular season.

During a normal campaign, WHL teams play 68 regular season games each.

Tristen Robins in action for the Saskatoon Blades.

Details of the format for the WHL playoffs would be announced at a later date.

Robison said there are no plans for teams to play in a bubble environment, which the NHL and NBA did to finish their 2019-20 campaigns.

There are hopes the Memorial Cup tournament to determine the CHL champion can be held in the middle of June of 2021 either in Oshawa or Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Robison added the league is currently working with public health agencies on how to manage the entry of players from the United States and Europe to cross back into Canada.

At the moment, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is the only circuit under the CHL that has started to play regular season games, and that return has been a rough one since the regular season started on Oct. 2.

The Blainville-Broisbriand Armada encountered at least 18 COVID-19 cases and the Sherbrooke Phoenix had at least eight COVID-19 infections. Both teams had to suspend team activities.

This past Wednesday, the QMJHL announced the 12 teams located in the province of Quebec have had their games postponed until October 28. At the time of that announcement, six of those clubs in Quebec were located in red zones that have been shut down by government restrictions.

Bowen Byram in action for the Vancouver Giants.

As for the six teams in the Maritime provinces, the Moncton Wildcats weekend games have been postponed due to government authorities in New Brunswick declaring Moncton an orange zone. The Wildcats are limited to practising.

The OHL is still targeting Dec. 1 as tentative date for their regular season to start.

The WHL’s plan to have teams concentrate playing regular seasons in regional areas is a good one. As the consistency between governments and health authorities in handling the pandemic is all over the map, it was easier to get sports going in some areas as opposed to others.

At the Junior A level of hockey, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League has been playing regular season games.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League announced on Friday that teams can play exhibition games immediately with attendance capped at 150 people. Everyone inside arenas for SJHL games has to wear face masks.

The SJHL is targeting to start its regular season on Nov. 2, and is still working on how many spectators will be allowed into arenas for those contests.

Still, circuits like the MJHL and SJHL are mainly focused on playing games inside the boundaries of one province.

The Prince Albert Raiders celebrate a goal on March 3.

The WHL covers multiple regions, and it is uncertain how many fans that circuit will be allowed to have for games when the regular season does start. The WHL needs to have fans in the stands or the teams on that circuit will experience monumental losses.

There are no guarantees the WHL will hit the ice for any games.

At the moment, WHL has given as much clarity as it can about its future. It is a future the circuit as well as all other sports leagues have no control over due to these COVID-19 pandemic times.

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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Blazers’ Zary earns all-star and NHL Central Scouting accolades

Connor Zary is one of the WHL’s top players.

    Connor Zary had a great week when it came to collecting accolades.

    The skilled 18-year-old centre had a stellar 2019-20 WHL campaign with the Kamloops Blazers piling up 38 goals, 48 assists and a plus-30 rating in the plus-minus department in 57 regular season games.

    On Tuesday, Zary was named a WHL Western Conference first team all-star. On Wednesday, Zary was rated 15^th among North American skaters in the final ranking released by NHL Central Scouting, which means the Saskatoon product could potentially be a late first round selection in the NHL Entry Draft.

    Zary, who stands 6-feet and weighs 180 pounds, is eligible for this year’s NHL Entry due to his late September birthday. The NHL Entry Draft was originally slated to be held June 26-27 in Montreal, Quebec, but it has been postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to a date that has yet to be announced.

    Back in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, the Blazers selected Zary in the second round and 37^th overall. He played his 15-year-old season in 2016-17 with the Saskatoon Contacts in the midget AAA ranks piling up 27 goals and 18 assists in 36 regular season games.

Connor Zary had 86 points in 57 games with the Blazers.

    Zary proceeded to crack the WHL ranks with the Blazers as a 16-year-old rookie in 2017-18. Skating through a campaign where he dealt with living away from home for the first time and juggling his high school studies in a new school, Zary had sound numbers posting 11 goals and 18 assists in 68 regular season games.

    He proceeded to have a breakout campaign as a 17-year-old sophomore in 2018-19 recording 24 goals, 43 assists and a plus-18 rating in 63 regular season games.

    After falling 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Victoria Royals, Zary played for Canada at the world under-18 hockey championships held in April of 2019 in Ornskoldsvik and Umea, Sweden.

    He had four goals and three assists in seven games at that event.

    In his third campaign with the Blazers in 2019-20, Zary took another step upwards in his game.

    He was invited to take part in the main training camp for Canada’s world junior team last December as an injury replacement player. While he was cut from Canada’s final roster, Zary is still eligible to play at world juniors for the upcoming season, so he gained valuable experience from last year’s invite.

    On top of having great personal numbers, Zary helped the Blazers mathematically lock up first place in the WHL’s B.C. Division with a 41-18-3-1 record before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the last 11 days of the WHL regular season and the entire post-season for all major junior clubs under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella.

Connor Zary could be a late first round NHL Entry Draft pick.

    That marked the first time the Blazers had won the B.C. Division title since the 2011-12 campaign.

While the Blazers and Zary won’t have a chance to put together a special post-season run, he left no doubt he is one of the WHL’s top players.

    Zary wasn’t the only Saskatoon product to be named a Western Conference first team all-star. Adam Beckman, who is a Saskatoon product that is an 18-year-old left-winger with the Spokane Chiefs, cracked the Western Conference first all-star team after a stellar campaign.

    Beckman, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 174 pounds, topped the WHL in goals (48) and points (107) appearing in 63 regular season games. He had a plus-44 rating to go along with his point totals.

    Last year, Beckman was selected in the third round and 75^th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL Entry Draft, and he has signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Wild.

    Rounding out the Western Conference first all-star team was Seth Jarvis of the Portland Winterhawks at forward, Ty Smith of the Spokane Chiefs and Johnny Ludvig of the Winterhawks on defence and Everett Silvertips netminder Dustin Wolf in goal.

    Prince Albert Raiders Belarusian import centre Aliaksei Protas was named a WHL Eastern Conference first team all-star. Protas posted 31 goals, 49 assists and a plus-37 rating in 58 regular season games.

Braden Schneider was a first team WHL Eastern Conference all-star.

    He was selected in the third round and 91^st overall in last year’s NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals and has signed an NHL entry-level contract with that club.

    Prince Albert product Braden Schneider made the Eastern Conference first all-star team playing defence for the Brandon Wheat Kings. Schneider had seven goals, 35 assists and a plus-nine rating skating in 60 regular season games with the Wheat Kings.

    Schneider is rated ninth among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings.

    Also named to the Eastern Conference first all-star team are James Hamblin of the Medicine Hat Tigers and Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes at forward, Calen Addison of the Hurricanes on defence and Jiri Patera of the Wheat Kings in goal.

    On Monday, the WHL announced is its second team all-stars for the Eastern and Western Conference.

    Prince Albert Raiders netminder Max Paddock cracked the second all-star team for the Eastern Conference. 

Max Paddock was a second team WHL Eastern Conference all-star.

    In 48 regular season games split between the Regina Pats and Raiders, Paddock posted a 23-16-8 record, a 2.65 goals against average, a .915 save percentage and five shutouts.
    The Pats traded Paddock to the Raiders on Jan. 9.

    Prince Albert product and overage Edmonton Oil Kings centre Riley Sawchuk was named a second team Eastern Conference all-star as well. Sawchuk topped the Oil Kings in scoring with 25 goals and 51 assists in 64 regular season games.

    Rounding out the second all-star team for the Eastern Conference were Mark Kastelic of the Calgary Hitmen and Peyton Krebs of the Winnipeg Ice at forward, and Alex Cotton of the Hurricanes and Matthew Robertson of the Oil Kings on defence.

    The WHL Western Conference second team all-stars were Eli Zummack of the Chiefs, Bryce Kindopp of the Silvertips and Zane Franklin of the Blazers at forward, Jake Christiansen of Silvertips and Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants on defence and Joel Hofer of the Winterhawks in goal.

    The NHL Central Scouting final rankings included healthy representation from the Raiders and Saskatoon Blades.

Kaiden Guhle could be a first round NHL Entry Draft selection.

    Raiders defenceman Kaiden Guhle was rated eighth among North American skaters and was the highest rated WHL player on that list. Raiders right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt was ranked 19^th, defenceman Landon Kosior was listed 98^th and centre Ilya Usau came in at 108^th among North American skaters.

    Right-winger Tristen Robins was the highest rated Blades player among North America skaters coming in at the 86^th spot. The Blades were also represented on the North American skaters list by defenceman Rhett Rhinehart at the 151^st spot, rearguard Aiden De La Gorgendiere at the 197^th spot and left-winger Kyle Crnkovic at the 208^th spot.

    Blades netminder Koen MacInnes rated 22^nd among North American goalies.

NLL cancels remainder of regular season, playoffs up in air

Rush captain Chris Corbeil raises the Champion’s Cup in 2016.

    It will be a longer wait before fans of the Saskatchewan Rush can enjoy the energy of one of their games again.

    On Wednesday, the National Lacrosse League cancelled the remainder of its regular season games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NLL first suspended regular season play back on March 12.

    A released put out by the NLL on Wednesday said the league is looking at a number of scenarios to return to play when all stakeholders and health officials deem to possible.

    The NLL is still hoping to get a post-season in. The Calgary Roughnecks won the National Lacrosse League Cup as NLL champions last season.

    When the NLL suspended play, the Rush sat first in the West Division with a 7-3 record. They last played on March 7, when they thumped the Vancouver Warriors 17-7 at the SaskTel Centre.

Mark Matthews raises the National Lacrosse League Cup in 2018.

    The Rush began playing in Saskatoon at the start of the 2016 campaign after moving from Edmonton, Alta.

    Since they began calling Saskatchewan home, the Rush had won the NLL title on two occasions including their first campaign based out of Saskatoon in 2016 and 2018. The Rush locked up the NLL championship on both occasions at home.
    They won the Champion’s Cup in 2016, which was the NLL’s old championship trophy. The Rush captured the National Lacrosse League Cup in 2018, when it was awarded as the league’s title trophy for the first time.

    The Rush have provided loads of excitement and sports highlights during their time in Saskatchewan. It would be uplifting if they can find away to provide more thrills later this year in some sort of post-season.

Trudeau’s “normality” quote anxiety inducing, other notes

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a statement during his morning address that will likely be anxiety inducing for many people regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Trudeau said early on the shutdowns that are in place around the country will be the new normal until a vaccine is found for COVID-19. There have been various mainstream media reports that have said a vaccine for COVID-19 could be a 12 to 18 months away.

    A reporter questioned Trudeau if he envisioned multiple waves of shutdowns and how can the country handle the multiple waves of shutdowns. The response did not help with regards to anxiety over how the world is right now over COVID-19.

    “Normality as it was known before will not come back full on until we get a vaccine for this,” said Trudeau. “That could be a very long way off.”

    Trudeau did try to close his answer to that question with a thought that might be a little more upbeat.

    “Once we get through this first wave, we will have developed both tools and habits that will allow us to be much more resilient and resistant to further outbreaks and spreads,” said Trudeau.

    The way Trudeau gave his answers it does put the thought into the mind that the current lockdowns could be in place for some time. It greatly increases the fear that life before all the shutdowns started happening in North American on March 11 might not come back at all.

    If there are shutdowns for 12 to 18 months, life will be vastly different on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic than it was before it and the sports world is included in that. That normal that was known on March 10 will likely be gone forever in that scenario.

    When something like that Trudeau quote comes up in these times, one has to take a step back and take a deep breath. You do have to have something like Trudeau said in the back of your head, because there is some truth to that statement.

    Still, you can’t dwell on it, because there is so much uncertainty with regards to COVID-19.

    You have to remember to take things one day at a time. Even dwelling on how things could be two months from now is not healthy.

    It was also a reminder to set limits on how much time one spends checking out news programs and social media lines. Spending too much time follow those platforms is not good for mental health either.

    With that noted, that quote provided a huge bump in the road to my morning on top of some computer problems. I believe I was able to get over it quickly as I ventured into projects for the day.

• The Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association executive council met on Sunday to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the programs and activities run by the sport body. The SHSAA produced a frequently asked questions and COVID-19 response document that said all SHSAA schedule sports that were to take place until the end of June 30 have been cancelled. That brings an official end to the SHSAA’s 2019-20 season. The SHSAA had been slated to run championships in badminton and track and field. The spring portions of golf and cross country running were also brought to an end along with all spring football camps. The SHSAA document said further update on fall activity programs would be available at the end of June.
• On Wednesday, the WHL announced Portland Winterhawks centre Jake Gricius was named the Western Conference humanitarian of the year and Calgary Hitmen centre Riley Fiddler-Schultz was the Eastern Conference humanitarian of the year. The WHL is rolling out its player awards online and on its web platform.
• On Thursday, the WHL announced Kamloops Blazers netminder Dylan Garand was named the Western Conference scholastic player of the year and Regina Pats left-winger Jacob Brook was named the Eastern Conference scholastic player of the year.
• Saskatoon Blades overage feisty left-winger Riley McKay signed a one-year AHL contract with the Rockford IceHogs on Thursday. The IceHogs are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. McKay posted 19 goals, 19 assists, 93 penalty minutes and an even rating in the plus-minus department in 62 regular season games with the Blades. McKay’s goals and assists totals were career highs for his time in the WHL.

    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.