Murphy’s versatility benefits Valkyries for almost a decade

Saskatoon closes WWCFL regular season with perfect 4-0 mark

Kelsey Murphy returns a kick for the Valkyries.

Becoming part of the Saskatoon Valkyries family allowed Kelsey Murphy to become a better supporter of the football exploits of her two younger brothers.

Murphy joined the Valkyries way back in their 2014 WWCFL championship season and has been with the powerhouse women’s football squad ever since. The veteran defensive back has spent the most consecutive seasons with the team out of anyone on the current roster at nine, which is also good for the most total campaigns spent on the squad as a player with the club’s current lineup.

When Murphy joined the Valkryies in 2014, she fell in love with the game of football quickly. The now 29-year-old admitted she actually didn’t have any warm feelings for the sport until she became a member of the Valkyries.

“Before that, I didn’t like football,” said Murphy. “I didn’t want to watch it, when my family wanted to watch it.

“I regret missing a lot of my brother’s football games early on, because I wasn’t interested in it. Then, Valkyries made that space for women to be in football. For me, that is when I fell in love with it.

“Now, I’m at every game I can get to.”

By the end of Murphy’s first season with the Valkyries, her brother Liam, who is two years younger than her, had just graduated from Aden Bowman Collegiate. By that time, Liam had played tackle football for a lengthy stretch starting in Saskatoon Minor Football’s Six-A-Side program, the KFL and in the high school ranks with the Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears.

After Kelsey played her first season with the Valkyries, Liam joined the Saskatoon Hilltops as a running back and helped them win CJFL championships in all four seasons he played with the club from 2014 to 2017.

Kelsey Murphy looks to blitz from the halfback position.

The elder sister didn’t ignore all her brother’s games before she joined the Valkyries, but she was a regular in the stands at all his games with the Hilltops.

“I would go to his games, but I wasn’t watching it because I didn’t know the sport,” said Murphy, who stands 5-foot-5. “I felt like a big outsider to football.

“Once I started playing Valks, I was at every game watching him, because I was like, ‘This is so cool and exciting.’ I have an idea of what is going on now and feel like it is a space that I can be in and be excited about.”

Liam is currently a running backs coach with the Valkyries. On top of trying to get to all Liam’s games when he was with the Hilltops, Kelsey made it to as many of the high school games as she could of their youngest sibling in brother Jacob at Aden Bowman. Jacob’s tackle football days came to an end when he joined the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Track and Field team in September of 2017.

Kelsey has continued suit up to play in tackle football games for almost a half decade since Liam or Jacob last suited up to play. She is also one of the oldest active players on the Valkyries roster, and she finds the experience she has gained has become a valuable asset.

“I think there is like a big sense of comfort,” said Murphy. “I know what is coming and can do my best to welcome other people into it.

“I think that is one of my favourite things about being at this stage in football.”

On Sunday at Leibel Field in Regina, the Valkyries stormed out to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter and cruised to a 41-0 victory over the host Riot in the final regular season contest for both sides. With the win, the Valkyries officially wrapped up first place in the Prairie Conference with a 4-0 record. The Riot place second in the Prairie Conference with a 2-2 mark.

So far this season, Murphy has interceptions in each of the Valkyries two regular season home games. She returned one of those interceptions 45 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring in the Valkyries 59-0 romp over the Winnipeg Wolfpack on May 28 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

Kelsey Murphy (#85) returns an interception for the Valkyries.

Overall, Murphy loves how the Valkyries have come together this season.

“I do feel like we’ve got a lot of really new young players who are doing amazing and coming up with such skill and talent with all the development that Football Sask and all those people have been putting into women’s football,” said Murphy. “We have a great core as well of vets like Sarah (Wright) and everybody and Woj (Alex Wojcichowsky) that have been around for quite a while and are just like such good players.

“I think it is a really exciting mix.”

Murphy had seen her role with the team change quite a bit over the years. She started out as a running back in 2014 but didn’t see the field a whole lot due to how deep the club was at that position at that time.

Murphy switched over to receiver for a number of years before becoming a defensive back. On special teams, Murphy has returned kicks for a lengthy part of her career.

“I don’t think running back was necessarily the best place for me to start,” said Murphy, who has helped the Valkyries win four WWCFL titles over her playing career. “It was good, because I learned a lot about how to hold a ball going into contact and learning how to get tackled.

“Just for my size, it was like they could just push me over. Receiver was really fun, and I loved it. I’m so happy to be at DB now.

“I wish I had started there from the start, but then I wouldn’t have gotten as much practise catching and carrying the ball.”

Valkyries head coach Pat Barry came on board with the program as a position coach the same year Murphy joined the squad in 2014. At the end of the Valkyries championship campaign last season, Barry asked Murphy if she was coming back for another campaign, and Murphy said she would be back as she was having too much fun.

“She (Murphy) is just a positive person,” said Barry. “Kelsey is a great person, and she does so much for our team, and people just gravitate towards her.

Kelsey Murphy starts into a backpedal for the Valkyries.

“We always wanted the best for her. We thought she would get more playing time as a DB. She has really emerged as a great defensive back, so it is exciting.”

Away from football, Murphy has been involved in various community endeavors. On May 14, 2021, Murphy was recognized by the Saskatoon YWCA Women of Distinction Awards being named the winner of the 29 and Under Award.

Barry said Murphy has a gift when it comes to leading by example.

“Having that leadership that transfers or translates is kind of unique on our team, because as adults, they can keep playing,” said Barry, whose team has won 24 straight games overall. “It is essential.

“It really helps. It sort of teaches the younger players how we do things around here. She is great at that.”

Murphy said she has great memories of her first year coming in with a rookie group that included Ehjae Chan, Sam Matheson, Danielle Haughian and Kelsey Dick. She is still enjoying the game as much as ever now in her ninth year with the team.

Murphy wants to help the members of this year’s team create many more amazing memories. She would love to help the Valkyries win another WWCFL title also to give a nod to the coaches for all the work they’ve put in this season.

“It would be amazing,” said Murphy. “It would be awesome to win with this coaching staff that has worked so hard to kind of get us to where we are.”

The Valkyries are expecting to open the WWCFL playoffs this coming weekend with a Prairie Conference semifinal with the day and time of that contest still to be announced. They will have home-field advantage throughout the post-season including if they reach the WWCFL Championship Game.

Looking beyond this season, Murphy is expecting to continue to play with the Valkyries, but she isn’t sure how many years down the road that will continue for.

“That is a tough question, because it does just get like harder on your body,” said Murphy. “It is tough to say.

Kelsey Murphy (#85) visits some Valkyries alum after a game.

“I think a few, but I don’t know for sure.”

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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Titan clash with Pats proves Memorial Cup up for grabs

Pats LW Robbie Holmes (#32) battles Titan D Elijah Francis for the puck.

    REGINA, Sask. – There are no guarantees at the 2018 Memorial Cup, if Sunday’s clash between the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the Regina Pats is any indication.

    Just 13 seconds into the round robin clash, Pats overage right-winger Cameron Hebig lifted a shot over top of a sprawled out Titan netminder Evan Fitzpatrick to give his side a 1-0 lead. The Titan proceeded to rally back to take a 6-2 lead after the second period chasing Pats starting 17-year-old netminder Max Paddock from the Regina goal stopping 26-of-32 shots fired his way.

    Veteran Ryan Kubic came in at the start of the third and was beaten on the first shot he faced as Titan right-winger Ethan Crossman fired home his second goal of the contest to put the QMJHL champions up 7-2. 

The Pats celebrate a goal 13 seconds in from Cameron Hebig.

    At that point, it looked like the Titan were about to put the final stamp on a statement game to show they might be the best club in the four-team field.

    The tournament hosting Pats proceeded to counter with four straight goals to pull to within 7-6. The last tally was a long seeing-eye point shot from overage centre Matthew Bradley with 1:57 to play in the third bringing the crowd of 5,832 spectators at the Brandt Centre into a frenzy.

    Following Bradley’s goal, the Titan look fragile, and it felt like the next Pats shot could force overtime.

    After the Pats had an offensive zone faceoff with 18.4 seconds to play, Titan captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel made a desperate diving stab to knock a Pats pass attempt along the blue-line into the centre ice zone.

Defenceman Noah Dobson had two goals and two assist for the Titan.

    Titan offensive defenceman Noah Dobson raced up ice, tracked down the puck and fired it into an empty Pats cage with one second to play to seal an 8-6 victory for Acadie-Bathurst. Dobson finished the contest with two goals and two assists.

    The Titan, who were playing on back-to-back nights, improved to 2-0 and locked up a berth into the tournament’s semifinal contest on Friday. The Pats fell to 1-1 with the setback.

    The clash between the two sides was a thriller for the fans. By the looks of the stands at the Brandt Centre, it appeared there were very few no-shows in the event’s third round robin game.

    It was an aggravating one for the coaches. Both sides had to consider the possibility of delating the video on this one.

    With the WHL champion Swift Current Broncos set to battle the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs in a battle of 0-1 squads on Monday at 6 p.m. at the Brandt Centre, the Memorial Cup is up for grabs.

Pats C Matthew Bradley (#77) steers the puck away from trouble.

    It is hard to declare any team a favourite. As the overused sports cliché goes, the club that shows up and makes the most plays on any given day is going to win.

    In the battle between the Titan and Pats, the goaltending on either side did not inspire confidence. The skilled players on both squads did net some nice goals, but a number of soft shots made it through for each side too.

    Fitzpatrick looked good over the opening 40 minutes, but in the third period, it looked like at times he wouldn’t have been able to stop a beach ball.

Captain Sam Steel had four assists for the Pats.

    Paddock looked like a rookie sensation making 31 saves in the Pats 3-2 tournament opening victory over the Bulldogs on Friday. On Sunday, he looked like a deer in the headlights type rookie, where the stage seemed to overwhelm the youngster from Brandon, Man.

    After being beat on the first shot he faced, Kubic, who is eligible to return for an overage campaign, almost mishandled a shot just seconds later nearly allowing that puck to go into the Regina goal. It took a video review to ensure the Titan did not score at that moment.
    Kubic stopped three of four shots sent his way.

    Besides getting a huge night from Dobson, Truchon-Viel and Liam Murphy had big nights for Acadie-Bathurst. Truchon-Viel had a pair of goals and an assist, while Murphy had a goal and two assists. Samuel Asselin had Acadie-Bathurst’s lone other tally.

Noah Dobson, left, and Jeffrey Truchon-Viel enjoy a Titan empty-net goal.

    On the Pats side, their top line of Hebig, captain and star centre Sam Steel and left-winger Nick Henry did most of the damage. Steel had four assists, Hebig had a pair of goals and an assist, while Henry had a goal and an assist.

    Offensive defenceman Josh Mahura had a goal and an assist to help out the Pats cause as well.

    Going forward, the Titan will close out their round robin schedule taking on the Bulldogs on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. With a win in that contest, the Titan would lock up a berth in the Memorial Cup championship game this coming Sunday.

    The Pats close their round robin schedule taking on the Broncos at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Brandt Centre. If the Pats pull out a win in that contest, they will lock up a spot in Friday’s semifinal.

    It remains to be seen if the Titan or the Pats can make good on the upcoming opportunities they have.

Steenbergen watch on for the Broncos

Broncos star Tyler Steenbergen, left, is listed as day-to-day due to injury.

    The anticipation is on to see if star right-winger Tyler Steenbergen will be in the Swift Current Broncos lineup on Monday.

    Steenbergen was lost in the Broncos opening game of the Memorial Cup on Saturday, when the WHL champions fell 4-3 in overtime to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

    Early in the second period, Titan captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel hit Steenbergen from the side and sent the Sylvan Lake, Alta., product flying awkwardly into the boards. Steenbergen was assisted off the ice by Broncos athletic trainer Jamie LeBlanc and did not return to the contest.

    Daniel Nugent-Bowman, who writes for Sportsnet.ca and is a former Saskatoon StarPhoenix beat writer who covered the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, caught up with Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros on Sunday. Nugent-Bowman asked Viveiros about Steenbergen’s status, and Viveiros said Steenbergen is listed as day-to-day.

    The Broncos face the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs on Monday at 6 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in a key clash between two teams who are 0-1 in the round robin.

Tyler Steenbergen has been a dynamic player for the Broncos.

    Steenbergen plays on the Broncos dynamic top line with captain Glenn Gawdin at centre and Finnish import Aleksi Heponiemi at left wing.

    During the past two regular seasons, Steenbergen had been outstanding. In the 2016-17 campaign, Steenbergen appeared in all of the Broncos 72 regular season games piling up 51 goals, 39 assists and a plus-26 rating in the plus-minus department. Thanks to those efforts, he was selected in the fifth round and 128^th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes.

    In the 2017-18 regular season, Steenbergen appeared in 56 regular season games with the Broncos piling up 47 goals, 55 assists and a plus-52 rating. During the Broncos record 26-game run through the WHL playoffs to capture the league title, Steenbergen had 12 goals, 15 assists and a plus-seven rating.

    At the last world junior hockey championship, Steenbergen scored the winning goal for Canada late in the gold medal game in a 3-1 victory over Sweden on Jan. 5 in Buffalo, New York.

On March 6, Steenbergen signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Coyotes.

    In Saturday’s game with the Titan, Steenbergen scored once before departing due to injury.

    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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Broncos drop OT heartbreaker at Memorial Cup

Titan might take up villain status at CHL tourney

Giorgio Estephan had a pair of goals on Saturday.

    Swift Current Broncos will have another chance to show off their perseverance after suffering a deflating loss to open play at the Memorial Cup tournament.

    The WHL champions opened the CHL title tournament on Saturday watching leads of 2-1 and 3-2 disappear due to short-handed goals from the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The two clubs went to overtime locked in a 3-3 draw.

    At the 2:58 mark of the extra session, Titan defenceman Noah Dobson deflected a centring pass from behind the icing line of the Swift Current zone off a Broncos defender to Acadie-Bathurst left-winger Liam Murphy in front of the Swift Current goal. Murphy directed the puck around the right pad of Broncos star netminder Stuart Skinner into the goal to give the Titan a 4-3 victory before an announced crowd of 6,237 spectators at the 6,484 seat Brandt Centre in Regina.

    While the Titan are known for scoring short-handed goals, it is almost unheard of for the Broncos to give up two short-handed tallies in one game. That ultimately turned out to be the difference that allowed Acadie-Bathurst to pull out victory.

    The Titan scored first on Saturday, when centre Samuel Asselin deflected home a point shot from defenceman Olivier Galipeau at the 8:02 mark of the first period.

    The Broncos stormed back before the opening frame ended. With 7:42 remaining in the first, Broncos star right-winger Tyler Steenbergen deflected home a backhand shot during a net scramble working on a power play to tie things up at 1-1. With 61 seconds to play in the first, Broncos centre Giorgio Estephan took a cross-ice feed from offensive defenceman Colby Sissons and buried a shot to give Swift Current a 2-1 edge.

    Early in the second period, Titan captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel hit Steenbergen from the side and sent the Sylvan Lake, Alta., product flying awkwardly into the boards.

Colby Sissons had a key assist for the Broncos.

    Steenbergen was assisted off the ice by Broncos athletic trainer Jamie LeBlanc and did not return to the contest.

    Max Patterson finished the game playing on the Broncos top line with captain Glenn Gawdin at centre and Finnish import Aleksi Heponiemi at left wing.

    Still, the Broncos seemed to be control and were working on a power play late in the frame. With 1:53 remaining in the second, Truchon-Viel chipped the puck out of his own zone up the boards to spring Asselin on a short-handed breakaway. Asselin tucked home a shot between Skinners legs to tie things up at 2-2.

    Swift Current quickly answered back at even strength. Working down low in front of the Acadie-Bathurst goal, Estephan backhanded home the rebound of his own shot to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead with 48.5 seconds to play in the second. He had an assist on the Broncos first goal for a three-point night.

    If there were any thoughts that Estephan’s second goal might hold up as the winner, those thoughts changed at the 5:51 mark of the third with the Broncos working another power play. An errant Swift Current pass sprung the Titan on the rare three-on-one short-handed break.

    Titan defenceman Adam Holwell drove hard to the net and knocked home the rebound of a shot from Acadie-Bathurst centre German Rubtsov to force a 3-3 tie. That set the stage for Murphy’s overtime winner.

    Skinner turned away 35 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos. Evan Fitzpatrick stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Titan.

    The Broncos had some missed opportunities where they could have taken better control of the contest. Leading 2-1 early in the second, Steenbergen fired a shot off the crossbar before leaving the contest due to injury.

    Shortly after the start of the third with the Broncos holding a 3-2 edge, Gawdin had a breakaway, and he was turned away on his first shot and on a rebound chance by Fitzpatrick.

Tyler Steenbergen left Saturday’s game after being injured on a hit.

    The Titan played with good speed and skill and also brought a real pest type edge to their game trying to get under the collective skins of the Broncos players. It was the type of edge that would be loved by those that are fans of the Titan and would be hated by those that were fans of the Titan’s opponents.

    Asselin, a 19-year-old who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 181 pounds, resembled former NHL great Theo Fleury, who was also a former star of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors, during Saturday’s game. Fleury was well-known for putting up points and stirring up tensions on the ice.

    Due to the fact the Memorial Cup is a neutral tournament, it is unlikely the host Regina Pats will be able to bring back Senator Denise Batters to play “Pop Goes the Weasel,” when Asselin takes the ice to play the Regina squad. In the late 1980s, Batters was a Pats organist and played that very tune when Fleury would step on the Brandt Centre ice surface as a member of the Warriors.

    The round robin portion of the Memorial Cup continues on Sunday, when the Titan battle the Pats at 5 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in a clash of 1-0 teams.

Silvertips overagers gave their all to Everett

Matt Fonteyne graduated as a standout leader for the Silvertips.

    When the Everett Silvertips fell in the WHL Championship series, it brought an end of an era for the club.

    On Sunday at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current, the Silvertips fell 3-0 in Game 6 of the WHL title series to the host Broncos before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators. The Broncos took the best-of-seven set 4-2.

    The loss brought an end to the major junior careers of Silvertips overagers Matt Fonteyne, Patrick Bajkov and Kevin Davis. All three were drafted by the Silvertips and spent their entire WHL careers in Everett playing there for five complete seasons.

    The trio helped Everett finish third overall in the WHL with a 47-20-2-3 record. They were key players in the Silvertips run to the WHL Championship series for the first time since the club’s inaugural campaign in 2003-04.

    In the process, the Silvertips advanced past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Patrick Bajkov led the Silvertips in regular season scoring this past season.

    Thanks to the work of that trio, the Silvertips still have never missed the playoffs during the franchise’s 15 seasons of existence.

    Fonteyne, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 170 pounds, was selected in the third round and 66^th overall by the Silvertips in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft. The strong two-way centre was the team’s captain this past season, where he appeared in all 72 regular season games netting 35 goals, 53 assists and a plus-27 rating in the plus-minus department. During his career with the Silvertips, Fonteyne, who is from Wetaskiwin, Alta., appeared in 340 regular season games piling up 82 goals, 127 assists and a plus-42 rating.

    Bajkov, who stands 6-feet and weighs 185 pounds, was selected in the sixth round and 128^th overall in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, and the skilled right-winger was the Silvertips leading scorer this past season appearing in all of the team’s 72 regular season games collecting 33 goals, 67 assists and a plus-19 rating. During his career with the Silvertips, Bajkov, who is from Nanaimo, B.C., appeared in 342 regular season games collecting 112 goals, 176 assists and a plus-44 rating.

Kevin Davis became a standout offensive-defenceman with the Silvertips.

    Davis, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 185 pounds, was selected in the first round and 11^th overall in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, and he developed into a sound offensive-defenceman. He led all Silvertips defencemen in scoring this past season appearing in 71 regular season games piling up 10 goals, 55 assists and a plus-29 rating. During his career with the Silvertips, Davis, who is from Kamloops, B.C., appeared in 347 regular season games collecting 26 goals, 148 assists and a plus-42 rating.

    Being based in an area covering teams in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, I don’t get to deal with clubs from the Western Conference often, where the Silvertips play out of. During the course of the WHL Championship series, I was pretty impressed with how the Silvertips overagers carried themselves, and you could tell they cared about their team. It makes you wish you could have dealt with them more.

    Here is hoping Fonteyne, Bajkov and Davis all have the best of luck as they move on to the next steps of their lives.

Getting first win key at Memorial Cup, other notes

Jake Leschyshyn and the Pats are sitting pretty at 1-0 at the Memorial Cup.

    So far at the Memorial Cup, the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the host Regina Pats are sitting pretty.

    Both teams won their opening games at the 100^th Memorial Cup tournament, which is a big thing with the way the four-team tournament in structured. The four clubs play each other in a round robin, which means each team will play three games at this stage of the event.

    As soon as a team wins a game, the club is guaranteed to play at least a standings tiebreaker contest in the playoff round. For the competing clubs, a win helps remove the anxiety of knowing if you will be playing after Wednesday. When a team gets eliminated from the event, the eliminated squad packs up and immediately departs for home and doesn’t stay to watch the rest of the tourney.

    Due to the fact this event feature three league championship teams and a sound host squad, it is hard for a club to work its way back, if it falls to 0-2. A lot of emotional energy along with physical energy gets burned pulling out of a hole that is 0-2.

    The Titan and Pats are both 1-0 and play each other on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. The winner will be guaranteed a berth into Friday’s semifinal game.

    The WHL champion Swift Current Broncos and the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs are both 0-1 and play each other on Monday at 6 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. The winning club in that contest will lock up a berth in at least a tiebreaking game, while the losing club will fall to 0-2 and need to win out to stay alive at the event.

• The 100^th edition of the Memorial Cup has some pretty cool honourary captains in Dennis Sobchuk and Guy Lafleur. Sobchuk was a star centre on the Regina Pats 1974 Memorial Cup championship team,  and he went on to play 348 regular season games in the now defunct WHA and 35 contests in the NHL. Lafleur helped the Quebec Remparts win the Memorial Cup in 1971 and he achieved star status in the NHL playing on five Stanley Cup winning teams with the Montreal Canadiens. Legendary Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster and former Boston Bruins head coach Don Cherry is honourary chairman of the Memorial Cup.
• The Pats are auctioning of the special jerseys they wore for Friday’s opening game of the Memorial Cup. The jerseys paid tribute to the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, which was a privately funded regiment founded at the outbreak of the First World War. The Pats were named after the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Proceeds from the auction go to support the Dominion Command Poppy Trust Fund. The bids close on May 28 at 9 p.m. eastern time. Those looking to take part in the auction can do so by clicking here.
• It seems like a lot of people are showing up as empty seats during the first two games of the Memorial Cup. Attendance was announced at 5,678 on Friday night and 6,237 on Saturday night at the 6,484 seat facility. It is possible a lot of people no showed as part of corporate ticket packages. There has been a lot of social media and sports talk radio chatter about how ticket prices are too high. Tournament ticket packages were on sale for $700 to $750 for the general public, which was an increased from the $595 at last year’s tournament in Windsor. Ticket packages for next year’s tournament in Halifax are pegged at $320 for season ticket holders, which is the lowest price to attend the Memorial Cup in years. Former Halifax Mooseheads play-by-play voice John Moore trumpeted next year’s Memorial Cup ticket prices in a tweet.

#Mooseheads buck the #MemorialCup trend of rising ticket prices. Average price per game for past 4 years.
Quebec City 2015 $65
Red Deer 2016 $66
Windsor 2017 $74
Regina 2018 $93
Halifax 2019 $40 season ticket holders / $56 general public #CHL #SportsandMoore

— John Moore (@rinkrant) May 17, 2018

    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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Family feeling keeps pushing Hilltops forward

The Hilltops storm out of the gate for the CJFL national semifinal on Sunday.

    The Saskatoon Hilltops love winning in the playoffs because it means the team stays together.

    For the fourth straight year, the Hilltops are heading to the Canadian Junior Football League championship game – the Canadian Bowl. Saskatoon is trying to become the first team in the history of the CJFL, which dates back to 1908 with its national championship game, to win four straight league titles and claim seven championships over an eight-year span.

    The Hilltops (10-1) will face the host AKO Fratmen (9-1) in Windsor, Ont., on Nov. 11 in this year’s Canadian Bowl.

    While winning is always great, the Hilltops will be pumped that for a fourth straight season they will go on to play in the last possible game they can play in. 

The Hilltops defence celebrates a big play on Sunday.

    Over the next couple of weeks, they will get to enjoy dressing for the final times in the team’s old clubhouse at Ron Atchison field before heading off to practice. Next year, the team will be operating out of a new state of the art clubhouse facility.

    The team gets to practice for another couple of weeks, enjoy a plain flight to Windsor, Ont., take in the sites of another CJFL awards banquet and get to take the field for the chance to win a 20^th national title overall for the club.

    Above everything, the best part of the next two weeks is the Hilltops family gets to stay together. That has been a huge intangible over the club’s current run of 12 straight playoff victories.

Hilltops receiver Ryan Turple, left, tries to push out of a tackle.

    Even this year, that feeling of family helped drive the Toppers through a tight 28-21 Prairie Football Conference semifinal win over the Winnipeg Rifles and earn a hard fought 36-24 PFC final victory over their provincial rivals, the Regina Thunder. Had two plays been changed in each of those games, the Hilltops players likely would have cleared their gear out of the old clubhouse facility for the final time.

    In a CJFL national semifinal on Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Hilltops left no doubt they would play for another national title hammering the Nanaimo, B.C., based Vancouver Island Raiders 48-0.

    Had the Hilltops lost in any of those three playoff outing, the players would have kept in contact, but it wouldn’t be the same. Real life factors like school work at the University of Saskatchewan or Saskatchewan Polytechnic, work, family matters and girlfriends would all be pushed to the forefront in hampering the players’ ability to get together.

    Every playoff win allows more practices and film sessions to be held, which means there are scheduled times when everyone gets together. While the Hilltops constantly improve they are good at focusing on the task at hand, the players enjoy all the social aspects that come with the team’s game preparations.

Hilltops players get good family support like James Vause (#24) right here.

    On top of that, the players blood families get to stay connected with the team as well. It is common to see parents, brothers and sisters line up to watch practice at Ron Atchison Field or SMF Field. Besides coming out in large numbers for home games, family members and friends follow the Hilltops on the road in big numbers.

    When the Hilltops played for the first time at the new Mosaic Stadium in Regina back on Aug. 12, they came out to huge ovation from the large Saskatoon contingent that followed them down for the game. After the Hilltops downed the host Thunder 37-20, the players met their family and friends that lined the first row of the west side stands of the stadium.

    Alums from all sorts of years also frequent all the home games and appear at a few road contests.

    The importance of staying together was seen from a couple of veteran running backs who battled through injuries.

The Hilltops celebrate a Logan Fischer (#21) TD on Sunday.

    Star fifth-year running back Logan Fischer was hampered with a nagging leg injury all season and still managed to carry the ball 121 times for 804 yards and 11 touchdowns over eight regular season games. He was named a PFC all-star and the PFC’s most outstanding offensive back.

    He wasn’t able to dress for the PFC final, but he was a jovial presence on the Hilltops bench. He saw spot duty in the CJFL national semifinal win over the Raiders and still managed to catch two passes for 44 yards and carry the ball nine times for 57 yards and score one touchdown.

    One could easily create an NFL Films style top 10 list of the best big games Fischer has had in his five seasons with the Hilltops, and you can bet the team’s coaches and staff will do their best to ensure Fischer finishes his junior eligibility in a full game uniform.

    Fourth-year running back Liam Murphy missed significant stretches of last season due to injury, and he was out the entire regular season this year with injury until returning at full health for the start of playoffs.

Liam Murphy battled injury to return for the playoffs.

    Before his injury troubles, Murphy had significant playing time returning kicks and being a change of pace back on offence throughout the 2015 CJFL championship campaign.

    When he returned for playoffs this season, Murphy, who is a running backs coach with the Saskatoon Valkyries Western Women’s Canadian Football League team, was blocking and tackling on special teams because others had taken on the roles he used to fill and cemented their status there.

    Still, Murphy wanted to be back in uniform to be around the team. In the romp over the Raiders, Murphy was inserted at running back in the fourth quarter and ripped off 45 yards rushing on nine carries. 

    If needed, he showed he can contribute in a bigger role in the Canadian Bowl.

    The family feeling the Hilltops have is something very few sports teams across Canada actually have. 

    That intangible has always been and will continue to be a key factor in the blue and gold’s success.

“Off the Leash Luncheon” nears fast

An “Off the Leash Luncheon” puck.

    This year’s “Off the Leash Luncheon” is nearing fast, but there is still time to get a ticket to attend this major fundraiser for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    The ninth “Off the Leash Luncheon” will be held on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at Prairieland Park, and the guest speaker will be former NHL star left-winger Brendan Shanahan, who is currently the president and alternate governor for the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. From 1987 to 2009, Shanahan played in 1,524 NHL regular season games split between the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers piling up 656 goals, 698 assists and 2,489 penalty minutes.

    He was with the Red Wings teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998 and 2002 and was part of Canada’s gold medal winning men’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics in 2002.

    Following his playing days, Shanahan moved on to being a hockey executive first with the NHL office before joining the Maple Leafs.

    Saskatchewan comedian Kelly Taylor will be back for another year as the master of ceremonies for this event, which is commonly well attended by the alumni of the Huskies men’s hockey team.

    The doors open for the “Off the Leash Luncheon” at 11 a.m. Individual tickets are $125 each. Sponsorship packages are available for a children’s table at $750, a Friend of the Dogs table of eight for $1,250 and a Power Play package table of eight with major sponsor privileges and recognition for $3,500.

    Tickets can be purchased through picatic.com by clicking 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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UFC impresses in Saskatoon visit

A UFC title belt on display at the UFC Experience.

    When it came to making a first impression, the UFC brought its A-game to Saskatoon.

    Going into UFC Fight Night 74, I had never dealt with mixed martial arts top professional circuit in any form. To be honest, I don’t really follow the action in UFC at all. I knew basics like who Dana White, Tom Wright, Brock Lesnar, Georges St-Pierre and Ronda Rousey are, but that was about it.

    I covered mixed martial arts to a small level in the past, but I entered a new sporting world over the last three days that finished with the Fight Night 74 card on Sunday at the SaskTel Centre. As a first impression, I think the UFC has a really great thing going on.

    In early July, I received a call from Julie Scott, who is the senior editor for sports, arts and lifestyles, at The Canadian Press, and she asked if I wanted to cover the UFC’s first ever stop in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan for the national wire service. I jumped at the chance mainly because I had never done anything relating to the UFC before.

    Knowing it was followed by legions of fans and veteran sports reporters, I went into the experience with an open mind. I didn’t want anyone to taint what was my first experience with the circuit. I also ended up writing stories for the Saskatoon Express and this blog, so I was going to have a busy time.

    While there was an initial press function on Thursday, I jumped into covering the stop at the open workout held on Friday at O’Brians Event Centre. Very quickly, I was impressed by the professionalism of the UFC staffers, and that didn’t change at all during the Saskatoon stop. I ended up befriending the trio of Carolyn Blakely, Neil Springer and Stephanie Ura, and they were all so courteous and made life so much easier.

    Things ran so smoothly on the fight night itself. Usually when you cover a new sporting organization for the first time, there are usually some hiccups.

    On fight night, I really had to stretch my memory to recall any problems. In all honesty, that was the best first night out I ever had, when it came to covering a new sporting event.

    It was also cool to see how accessible Wright, who is the UFC’s executive vice-president and general manager for Canada, Australia and New Zealand, was. Wright, who is also a former commissioner of the CFL, wasn’t just accessible to the press, but he spent lots of time meeting fans, who were visibly pumped to talk to the organization’s top Canadian boss.

Max Holloway chats with reporters.

    The fighters themselves were really engaging. They all have cool individual background stories, and you could quickly see why the beat reporters want to stay hooked into the circuit.

    You could also tell the fighters also have a genuine mutual respect for each other. One example of that respect came at the weigh-ins.

    After the fighters for each match were weighed in and did the press fight photo pose, they pretty much all gave each other the brother hug. In the case of Montreal lightweight fighter Olivier Aubin-Mercier, he presented sugary treats to his opponent in Tony Sims of Denver, Colorado.

    Stereotypically, one expects the weigh-ins to break down into a series of trash talk taunts, where the fighters appear set to throw chairs at each other. That was far from the case at the UFC weigh-ins.

    The respect aspect was reinforced during the post-fight press conference. Hawaiian Max Holloway (14-3) had a bittersweet main event win over fellow featherweight Charles Oliveira (20-5) of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Oliveira came away favouring his right shoulder after an exchange forcing him to retire at 1:39 of the first round. 

    Holloway, who was the UFC’s fifth ranked featherweight, was given a knockout victory, while Oliveira, who was the UFC’s seventh ranked featherweight, fell to the ground holding his shoulder and was carried away on a stretcher.

    In a post-match interview live from the ring, Holloway asked the fans to pray for Oliveira. Holloway made certain to show his concern for his opponent at the press conference, when asked about how the win came.

    “It sucked,” said Holloway. “I train super hard, but it comes with the territory. My prayers go out to Charles (Oliveira).

    “At the end of the day, these guys have to understand that he is ranked number seven in the world, so he probably only does this, and he gets money probably only fighting. Injuries set you back.

    “If you can’t fight, you can’t pay your bills. It is sad to see.”

    Out of the 12 bouts on the UFC card, the first 10 were really good, with the last of that stretch being the welterweight fight between Patrick Cote and Josh Burkman, which was given fight of the night honours. The back and forth physical battle ended at 1:26 of the third round, when Cote, who is from Rimouski, Quebec, knocked out Burkman, who is from Salt Lake City, Utah. The crowd of 7,202 at the SaskTel Centre rose to their feet to give their loudest ovation of the night.

Two girls take part in a jousting game at the UFC Experience.

    Overall, the first 10 fights overshadow boring co-main event split decision welterweight victory of Denver, Colorado’s Neil Magny over Brazilian Erick Silva and the bad luck of Oliveira’s injury in the main event.

    Besides the fights, fans also enjoyed the UFC Experience, which was set up in the SaskTel Centre parking lot on Saturday and Sunday. The UFC Experience contained sport specific fun physical tests and games. One of the most popular features was the chance to have you picture taken with the title belt.

    On Friday, the UFC also donated $10,000 to local Special Olympics programs though UFC Community Works.

    In making a good first impression, the UFC’s first stop in Saskatchewan was a success. Hopefully, the organization’s next fight card won’t be too many years away.

CP story Free Press style

    If you are interested in checking out the story I did for The Canadian Press on UFC Fight Night 74, it can be found on the Winnipeg Free Press website here.

    When I saw my story on the Free Press site, I was hoping they might allow me to cover the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets as a beat writer. It was just a thought. (Lol).

Hilltops roll Rifles

    The venerable Saskatoon Hilltops made short work of the Rifles in Winnipeg on Sunday.

    The defending Canadian Junior Football League champions blasted the host Rifles 50-9 at Investors Group Field to improve to 2-0. The Rifles fell to 0-2.

    Hilltops running back Logan Fischer gained 172 yards on the ground, which included an 80-yard TD run. Fischer had two scores on the ground in the romp.

    Saskatoon’s biggest play came from Liam Murphy, who returned a missed field goal 125 yards for a major in the third quarter. The defence got in on the scoring act thanks to a long interception return touchdown coming from defensive back Luke Melnyk.

    The Hilltops and Rifles go at it again, when Saskatoon hosts its regular season home opener this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

    If you have any comments about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.