WHL Bantam Draft made me feel normal in COVID-19 times

All set to cover the WHL Bantam Draft last Wednesday in the home office.

    It is a different question to be asked, “What is it like to feel normal?”

    I remember being asked that very query about seven years ago during a rough stretch when I was feeling better again.

    My obvious response was, “It feels good.”

    If you go through a period of time where you don’t feel normal, it is an odd different good feeling when the light bulb goes on when you realize you are feeling normal.

    The part that sticks out in your head at that sort of time is the thought that, “This is how it should be.”

    In the current day under the spectre of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it seems like the days are never normal.

    Actually, the common term that is thrown around is “the new normal” to basically insinuate that what used to be normal will never return again.

    Back when the shutdowns first started to happen on March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed like the only thing that felt different was adjusting to daily change in society. Eventually going into the fourth week of shutdowns, it seemed like a new daily routine had unfolded in life at least for me.

Some of the pictures I’ve taken on recent WHL playoff trails.

    Still, I had a moment where I felt normal. Actually, it was a run of time where I felt normal.

    The run of time centred around covering the WHL Bantam Draft, which was held last Wednesday. I did pre-draft work the day before WHL Bantam Draft for this blog.

    Last Wednesday, I was covering the WHL Bantam Draft for the Davidson Leader and this blog. The pieces on both platforms focused around highly skilled forwards Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager, who played midget AAA last season for the Saskatoon Contacts and lived for a time in Dundurn, Sask.

    Both were selected in the first round with Heidt going second overall to the Prince George Cougars and Yager going third overall to the Moose Jaw Warriors.

    I’ve covered the WHL for 21 seasons and have worked my share of past WHL Bantam Drafts.

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHL Bantam Draft was held in an online form. Over the years, that never mattered to me.
    I haven’t attended any WHL Bantam Draft in person, because usually you would be busy trying to phone team officials and players who were selected in the draft.

I try to have some fun when I work from home.

    Only a handful of players in the past have attended the WHL Bantam Draft in person, so it only made sense to follow it online.

    This year it likely felt really different for team officials, because they usually gather in one location for a live in person draft as opposed to conducting a draft online.

    Last Wednesday, I was tracking the WHL Bantam Draft online, made some social media posts in the morning and did a phone interview near the lunch hour with Marc Chartier, who recently stepped down from being the Contacts head coach. I later did a second interview in the early afternoon with Yager.

    After the interview with Yager, it hit me that this was what I was supposed to be doing. I felt normal.

    The only thing that made that moment different was the realization that I felt normal. I was doing exactly what I have done on many WHL Bantam Draft days in the past.
    I should note that from 2016 to 2019 I usually covered off the WHL Bantam Draft with note type items, because I was on the road covering the WHL playoffs.
    A number of other things would be going on too that captured my attention like the Dogs’ Breakfast, which is an annual scholarship fundraiser for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team, and the Saskatoon Valkyries starting a Western Women’s Canadian Football League season.

I enjoyed catching up with Marc Chartier, back row right.

    Still, I was working a day last Wednesday that was pretty much identical to days I worked covering the Prince Albert Raiders for the Prince Albert Daily Herald or the Medicine Hat Tigers for the Medicine Hat News.

    After transcribing interviews with Chartier and Yager, I got in touch with Heidt. After the interviews were done, we had short visits over the phone afterwards, and it was great to catch up like you normally would.

    The longest visit was with Chartier, who noted it felt like it was the right time for him to leave the Contacts after 13 seasons. He stepped down after this past season concluded.

    I hadn’t talked with him since the season concluded, and I was wondering how he was doing.

    You could tell he felt comfortable with his decision. Of course, we shared a bunch of old hockey stories too.

    On Monday, reality hit again, when you go back to living your lockdown life. That included doing work in the home office and not going to any sports events or anywhere in fact.

I look forward to return to live WHL games when normal times return.

    There is no place to go as everything is shutdown.

    Usually at this point in the year, I would be life consumed busy with the WHL playoffs going on. I am still busy, but it is a controlled busy.

    I actually have time to help around the home and enjoy down time things like movies, YouTube videos and video games. I have gotten it into my mind I will allow myself to enjoy these things.

    With all that said, it was great to feel like I was living my life before the COVID-19 shutdowns during the WHL Bantam Draft week, even if it was just a seemingly short period of time.

Money, economics elephant in COVID-19 days, other thoughts

Will people have cash to go to sports events after the COVID-19 pandemic?

    I feel like money and economics are the elephant in the room during these shutdown times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Of course, the top priorities have to be health and safety. It is cool to see that it feels like everybody is on board with saving as many lives as possible.

    I think new compassion has developed with regards of caring for the elderly.

    After the shutdowns started to occur on March 11 due to COVID-19, it seems like for me people try to shy away from talking about money or economics. To be honest, I have lots of days were I do the same thing.

    Still, questions go through my head every now and then. I wonder how businesses will stay open as the time span increases where they are bring in a lot less income than they used to?

    How will sports teams continue without money coming in from ticket sales and dealing with decreased sponsorships?

    How will minor sports organizations keep going without being able to conduct the fundraisers they used to while also dealing with a decrease in sponsorships?

    How will everyone be able to keep paying their bills, especially those that are dealing with a reduction in pay, reduction in hours or have been laid off?

Will the paused businesses in downtown Saskatoon survive COVID-19?

    I know the Government of Canada has rolled out a number of emergency measures, but you have the gut feeling there will be a catch there in the tax department. Nothing is ever free.

    On top of that, how much debt will governments at various levels take on, and how will that affect things going forward?

    It feels like the Canadian thing to do is throw everything on credit and expect your life insurance to pay for everything once you pass on. I kind of had that jaded view about Canada for a least the last 10 years.

    My head also proceeds to ask, “When will the bottom fall out when it comes to throwing everything on credit?”

    Over the past week, I have heard one economist on news talk radio say more damage has already been done to the economy than what occurred in the years of the first half of the “Great Depression” spanning 1929 to 1934.

    To me it seems like the defence mechanism that all walks of life use is to not talk about money at all and proceeded with your day as normally as possible.

    As for me, I just take things one day at a time, and I have said that lots before.

    My gut feeling that when it comes time to eventually pay the piper, there will be a lot of people that forget what happened in the COVID-19 pandemic with regards to saving lives, and they will constantly say how upset they are.

• It seems like it is pretty easy to find a COVID-19 conspiracy theory out there or find people who believe a conspiracy theory. I believe conspiracy theories take root because there is a distrust of politicians and world leaders that has hung around for a number of years. I believe that distrust helps feed conspiracy theories.
• For what it is worth, I think most of the politicians and leaders in Canada have handled themselves well and have handled the COVID-19 pandemic well. To me, it seems like you those with different political views are all pulling in the same direction to gain the best result possible in navigating this crisis.
• When I have made a supply run to the grocery store and I see someone wearing a mask, I always keep thinking of Canada’s criminal mask law. Of course, that doesn’t apply to shoppers and those out an about in public. They are trying to protect themselves from COVID-19. The mask law introduced by the Government of Canada in Bill C-309 that became law on June 19, 2013 bans the use of wearing masks during a riot or other unlawful assembly, and those convicted could face up to 10 years in prison. Canada’s Criminal Code, Section 351(2) covers “Disguise with Intent” that makes it an indictable offence to wear a mask or disguise to commit an indictable offence. I can’t see those laws having to be enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• It was four years ago today on April 28, 2017 the ground-breaking ceremony was held for Merlis Belsher Place, which is the new hockey rink facility on the grounds of the University of Saskatchewan campus. At the moment, Merlis Belsher Place sits in waiting to see if it will become a field hospital for overflow COVID-19 patients. Hopefully, that day never comes. My old story on the ground-breaking ceremony day can be found by clicking right here.
• A Twitter fan account has been created for Dr. Saqib Shahab, who is Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer. The Twitter handle is @ShahadFanClub and followers call themselves the #ShahabSquad. To me, it feels like Shahab is the best out of all the Chief Medical Health Officers who has been shown in the media dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. It does feel like Dr. Shahab is becoming a celebrity. I can already see him doing a ceremonial kickoff of home game for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders when the COVID-19 pandemic ends. If you haven’t been following the account, it is worth your time to do it.

It's the weekend! It's time to sit back, relax, and admire Dr. Shahab's best knits.

Pictured: March 17 and April 24 Press Conferences pic.twitter.com/I57Q8VbTYP

— Dr. Shahab Fan Account (@ShahabFanClub) April 25, 2020

    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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Heidt, Yager expect smooth fits with their new WHL teams

Riley Heidt is pumped for his future with the Cougars.

    They were wanted by many WHL teams, and when the dust settled, Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager said they ended up with the clubs that they had maybe a little extra connection with.

    Going into Wednesday’s WHL Bantam Draft, the two skilled 15-year-old forwards were highly touted to go in the top three.

    With the first overall selection, the Regina Pats picked phenom forward Connor Bedard, who became the first person to be granted exceptional player status to play full time in the WHL at age 15. The league allowed the Pats to sign Bedard to a WHL Standard Player Agreement the day before the draft.

    Heidt was picked second overall by the Prince George Cougars. Yager went third overall to the Moose Jaw Warriors. The WHL Bantam Draft was held in an online format due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    On Thursday, Heidt signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Cougars. Yager followed signing his WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Warriors.

    In both cases, there is a mutual expectation on the sides of both player and team that these unions are going to work out in a big way.

Brayden Yager is excited about his future with the Warriors.

    Both Heidt and Yager played as 14-year-old underagers with the Saskatoon Contacts helping the Contacts finish third overall in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League with a 30-12-2 record. WHL scouts came out in droves to Contacts games to see Heidt and Yager perform.
    Heidt, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 160 pounds, appeared in all of the Contacts 44 regular season games posting 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points. He suspected he might be chosen by the Cougars feeling just a little extra upbeat in his dealings with the Prince George side.

    The Cougars happened to win the WHL Bantam Draft lottery on March 25, which allowed them to move up two positions to pick in the second overall spot in the first round.

    “I was obviously talking with teams before that,” said Heidt. “I talked to Prince George, and I had a pretty good clue that I was going there.

    “I was very excited. Just hearing my named called so it was official was an awesome feeling.”
    Yager, who stands 6-feet and weighs 163 pounds, also appeared in all of the Contacts 44 regular season games piling up 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points. 

Riley Heidt, centre, sets to take a draw for the Contacts.

    He thought he hit it off really well with Warriors management and felt they would do what they could to get him to Moose Jaw.

    “I talked to a lot of those teams,” said Yager. “Moose Jaw was kind of one that kind of stuck to our family.

    “They have such a good group with (general manager) Alan Miller and (assistant general manager) Jason Ripplinger and (director of hockey administration) James Gallo and all of the rest of the support staff and trainers. It was a team that kind of stuck out to us. It is close to home, which is pretty important to us.”
    Heidt and Yager have been best friends since first playing spring hockey together at age eight. They have played together on the same team since that time and believe they are ready to skate out on their own when that time comes.
    Now that they have been drafted and officially committed to WHL teams, they both know they have more work to do in order to make an impact on the major junior circuit.

    Heidt believes he will get good guidance on that front from Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb and his staff in Prince George.

Brayden Yager can play a strong two-way game.

    “It is going to be awesome,” said Heidt. “It is obviously going to be a learning curve, and you are going to have to go through bumps on the way.

    “I’m very excited to get going here, and I think it is going to be a great challenge. I’m ready for it. I think coach Lamb he is obviously going to help me along the way. He is a great coach, and obviously, all the other people involve in their organization.

    “I am very excited.”
    Yager is looking forward to working with Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary and his staff. The gifted two-player said he has already been working hard to prepare for life in major junior hockey, and he said he didn’t let the daily situation the COVID-19 pandemic affect the thrill of WHL Bantam Draft day or his training.

    “It is unbelievable,” said Yager. “This is just one of those days that will stick with you for the rest of your life.

    “It is what your future is going to be like. I’m super excited. Moose Jaw is obviously an unbelievable program.

    “With the pandemic going around, it has been a little tough. Most of us are still working out at home and shooting pucks and doing all that kind of stuff just to stay engaged in the game and get ready for next year.”

Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager celebrate a goal last season.

    When it comes to transitioning to the WHL, both Heidt and Yager received high praise from Marc Chartier, who worked with both as head coach of the Contacts last season. Chartier stepped down from his position with the Contacts after working 13 seasons with the club.

    Chartier said both Heidt and Yager have the drive to earn positive outcomes in the sport.

    “They are very mature players, and they took the right approach coming in,” said Chartier. “They were first year players, and we had some older players on our team too.
    “They earned their position of where they played on that team. It is one thing to have the skill that they did, but they are pretty committed to the game, and they are always looking to get better. There are no shortcuts with them.

    “They are both a lot of fun to watch. They are very skilled hockey players. You put two skilled players together like that and there are positive outcomes all the time.”

Soykos become prized free agents with ’Horns demise

Abby Soyko in action with the Bears in 2018-19.

    If you are a university level women’s hockey team and you haven’t called Abby and Alli Soyko, you better be picking up that phone.

    The two sisters and two parts of triple siblings had committed to play for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks back in January. The Prince Albert, Sask., products are now free agents due to the fact the University of Lethbridge cut both the men’s and women’s Pronghorns hockey teams citing a lack of provincial government funding.

    Both Abby and Alli would be great additions for any women’s hockey team. Both played major roles in helping the Prince Albert Northern Bears win the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship in 2016-17 and win a Western Regional playdown series to advance to the Esso Cup national championship tournament.

    Abby would be viewed as the big catch due to her scoring prowess. She is the quintessential power forward coming from a city in Prince Albert that is home to the WHL’s Raiders, which is a club that prides itself on its scoring and toughness.

    Actually, Abby made a huge name for herself in her hometown playing for the Northern Bears in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.

    She played for the Bears for five seasons from 2014 to 2019 appearing in 136 regular season games piling up 65 goals and 63 assists for 128 points. She is the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL and the Bears all-time leader in goals and points.

    Abby is tied for the Bears all-time regular season record in career assists with Kaitlin Willoughby, who went on to star and become the second all-time leading scorer for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks.

    On top of all that, Abby was the Bears captain in her final season with that team.

Last season, Abby and Alli played for the Northern Alberta Xtreme Female Prep team in Devon, Alta.

Alli Soyko in action with the Bears in 2018-19.

    Due to their late October birthday, they had exhausted their midget AAA eligibility, but still needed to finish their Grade 12 studies in high school.

    Abby was the leading scorer for the Xtreme this past season posting 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 23 games. She has the combination of strength, power, speed and explosiveness few female players have.

    Before being cut, the Pronghorns women’s team, which had struggled in recent years, took a huge step to being more respectable posting a 9-16-1-2 regular season record this past campaign.

    In his one full season with the team, head coach Doug Paisley was set to bring in a strong recruiting class for his second campaign, and Abby was at the top of that class.

    She was viewed as a major land for that program and someone who could have potentially turned the balance of power in the Canada West Conference.

    Abby could have easily played for a top women’s program in the NCAA ranks.

    I believe Abby has the potential to have a better career in the U Sports ranks than Willoughby had with the Huskies.

    If a program is able to successfully recruit Abby, that program will likely get Alli as an addition as a package deal.

    Alli has all the physical tools to play at the university level. She will likely be pegged to play a more defensive and energy role at forward, but has the potential to be a sound two-way player.

    In her final season with the Bears in 2018-19, Alli recorded career highs in all offensive categories with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 26 regular season games.

    She had another solid campaign this past season with the Xtreme posting five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 23 games. Like Abby, Alli still has more potential to reach in the game.

    Besides their exploits on the ice, Abby and Alli are the perfect players you want in your dressing room. They have the ability to bring their teammates up and believe that the impossible is possible.

    They are able to bring their teammates up while still always giving off that best friend type feeling.

    If you are a university hockey women’s team coach in Canada and the United States and you want win and bring your program up to the next level, you need to have Abby and Alli Soyko on your team, and that is the bottom line.

NWHL lands in Toronto, won’t go away, other notes

Words can’t express how proud I am of this pivotal moment for the NWHL.

Everyone in the Toronto hockey community can be sure that this first-class team of professionals will make bold strides for the women’s game.

Let’s go @TorontoNWHL!! https://t.co/GQnyrXG6lN

— Dani Rylan (@DaniRylan) April 22, 2020

    It looks like the National Women’s Hockey League won’t go away.

    I know I likely will upset friends or potentially end friendships with individuals in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association by saying that.

    In a world that has a lot of fear and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NWHL announced on Wednesday it was expanding to Toronto. The Toronto squad will be the sixth team in the NWHL and the first squad located in Canada.

    The release announcing the new Toronto team included a statement from Mayor John Tory. The NWHL is looking towards playing its sixth season.

    The NWHL used to have a competitor in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League that was founded in 2007 and folded on May 1 of last year.

    After the CWHL folded, the PWHPA was formed as a non-profit, and its members include most of the high-profile players that skate for senior national teams in Canada, the United States and Europe.
    The PWHPA said it was boycotting the NWHL and any other women’s professional hockey league in North America until players received health insurance and a livable salary.

    Basically, the PWHPA would like to see the NHL come in and have the same relationship the NBA has with the WNBA, where the NBA fully backs the WNBA.

    In the process of this standoff between the PWHPA and NWHL, the PWHPA appears to have encountered an extremely tough foe in NWHL founder and commissioner Dani Rylan.

    While the NWHL doesn’t have the world’s best female players that are part of the PWHPA, Rylan is showing she might be the Kelly McCrimmon of women’s hockey when it comes to the business side of the game.

    McCrimmon is the general manager of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and the owner of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, and he is well respected for his ace skills in the business world.

    Rylan founded the NWHL in 2015 from nothing and the fledging circuit keeps getting stronger and keeps adding more sponsors even when encountering down points. Its momentum just keeps going and going.

    Rylan, who is 32-year-old product of Tampa, Florida, is proving that she is not someone you can easily push around.

    As a player, she was a 5-foot-3 grinder type forward who was told she would never make it in the NCAA Division I ranks. She played one season in the Division II ranks for the Metro State University of Denver men’s team in 2009-10 just to keep playing the game.

    Rylan made the Northeastern University Huskies women’s hockey team in the NCAA Division I ranks as a 23-year-old junior walk-on in 2010-11. She became a scholarship athlete and the Huskies captain in her senior and final season in 2011-12.

    This was impressive as Northeastern is traditionally a top eight program in the women’s NCAA Division I ranks. During her career with the Huskies, Rylan was known by her teammates as being a gritty grandma.

    Rylan comes off as one of those who sleeps just four hours a night and works and works and works at building her be all and end all life consuming venture in the NWHL. She is like a fictional Terminator robot that will not stop.

    She comes off as being gifted in business and has become a mini celebrity in building her league.

    At the moment, the NWHL splits its revenues 50 per cent with the players on the circuit. When the COVID-19 pandemic passes, it is possible the NWHL could grow to the point revenues coming in will see the players making more than just a living wage.

    If the NHL was smart, they would make an alliance with Rylan to expand the women’s game. Actually, I am surprised the Golden Knights haven’t brought her on board and cut her in as a part owner of the team.

    By expanding to Toronto, Rylan and her NWHL are showing they will not go away.

    It will be interesting to see how the standoff between the best female players in the game unfolds against Rylan, who is the best and most driven business person on either side of this standoff.

    Sportsnet put together a solid long form story on Rylan, which can be found by clicking right here.

• The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey announced a trio of strong recruits from the WHL ranks on Friday. The recruits include Saskatoon product and defensive defenceman Parker Gavlas, who played for the Medicine Hat Tigers, Saskatoon product and defenceman Ty Prefontaine, who was the captain of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Lloydminster, Alta., product and forward Jaxan Kaluski, who was the captain of the Swift Current Broncos.
• On Thursday, Baseball Canada announced it was cancelling all its national championship tournaments in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Baseball Canada was set to hold 11 different national championship tournaments.
• On Thursday, the Calgary Stampede’s board of directors announced the Calgary Stampede was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Calgary Stampede was slated to run July 3 to 12.
• On Wednesday, the British Columbia Hockey League, which is a junior A circuit, put out a release asking for financial assistance from the Government of British Columbia to offset major losses from the circuit’s member teams suffered due to the shutdown of the league from the COVID-19 pandemic. The release cited loss of revenue due to teams not being able to hold spring camps and uncertainty regarding ticket sales and sponsorship support in the 2020-21 campaign due to COVID-19.
• On Thursday, the Government of Saskatchewan released a five phase plan open the province up for business again. Most of Canada has gone about six weeks observing massive shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following that announcement, Baseball Saskatchewan released a frequently asked questions document on Friday noting the organization was still hoping to hold a season. That frequently asked questions document can be found by clicking right here.
• The University of Alberta Pandas women’s hockey team put out a fun pass the puck video on Twitter as part of a #SocialDistancingChallenge. The Pandas players were inventive in how they passed the puck along.

#SocialDistancingChallenge Thanks @WesternWHKY for the nomination! The gals had to get a little creative as a lot of our equipment is still locked up at the Drake! We nominate @DinosWHKY and @HuskiesWHKY !! pic.twitter.com/VyAnBOOk8l

— UofA Pandas Hockey (@PandasHockey) April 24, 2020

    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.