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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Beware of online sports streaming site scams

Scammers want money from Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears supporters.

This in one of those cases where it should be common sense, but common sense isn’t that common anymore.

Please SHARE this post. If you don’t normally share anything I write, please SHARE this one.

If an online sports streaming site looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true. I am finding particularly with Facebook that someone will create a post being at a sporting event, and within a few minutes to perhaps a day, a link will show up in the comments section saying you can watch that event by clicking on this link.

If you click on that link, you can be sure nothing good will happen. If you are asked once you are in that link for credit card or banking information, you can then expect your credit card or bank account will be cleaned out.

If that happens, good luck in recovering funds. Usually, they go to an entity outside of Canada, and at that point, the police departments in Canada can do very little to help you. At that point, you have to deal with any insurance channels you have on your credit card or bank accounts.

Countries like Russia and China have office towers full of computer techs that work to cause havoc with online networks in other countries. That will include scams that drain your credit card or bank account to fund a foreign government. There are numerous other countries outside of Russia and China that engage in these types of activities too, and if a country gets on bad terms with Canada, you can expect that country’s hackers will target Canada’s online network to create havoc.

Often if you click on this link, you will go somewhere that will do something malicious to your computer system or your phone. There are cases where you will go to porn site that will implant something really bad on your computer or phone.

Again, if a link looks suspicious, it likely is suspicious. It is common sense in the online world, but that sense doesn’t appear to be common.

If a link to a site is posted on a social media page and the account posting it has less than 10 followers or is less than two months old, that should be a warning sign. If the link posted on a social media account doesn’t go to a known media company like CBC or TSN or a sports league like the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL, that is a warning sign.

I have found it is common for these malicious links to be in the comments section of a Facebook post be it a personal page or pages operated by sports organizations. Often, those creating the links target Facebook pages of minor sport organizations, especially not for profit ones that have limited resources to have someone moderating their social media lines.

I first ran across this about May of 2022, and the hackers targeted the social media accounts of the Saskatoon Valkyries and other WWCFL teams.

Due to the fact a lot of these sports organizations don’t stream their games, hackers will attempt to leave their malicious sports streaming links in the comments sections of the posts made by these sports organizations. Even some that have streaming services like Saskatoon Minor Football get these malicious sports streaming services links placed in the comments sections of their posts too.

I’ve seen that happen with the sports of minor baseball and minor softball too in Saskatoon. I also once saw one of these links on a post on the Facebook account of the SFU18AAAHL’s Saskatoon Stars.

These hackers are directly preying on parents. They know parents are so invested in their kids in sports they will do anything to see their kids games they can’t be at.

The hackers create sites to take money from these parents, and they love it when parents just pour open their wallets with “donations.”

I am making this post now because in Saskatchewan we are heading on to a week where the high school sports scene is heading towards football championship games. In Saskatoon, the Holy Cross High School Crusaders will play host to the 6A provincial final on Saturday, while the Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears will head to Weyburn for the 5A provincial final on Saturday.

The parents and followers of the Crusaders and Bears teams will be TARGETS by these hackers. These hackers really like Saskatchewan high school sports because streaming services are hit and miss on this front.

I have found these malicious sports streaming links often don’t appear for posts with Canada’s three leagues under the CHL umbrella in the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL or teams in U Sports. Those entities have well-known streaming services for their games. The same goes for the CJFL, but I have found malicious sports streaming links on CJFL posts.

I have found some tactics that work that prevent the frequency of these links. If you want advice on that front, please feel free to send me a direct message or email.

Online fraud with the sports industry is nothing new. I would say for at least 10 years fraud in selling fake sports merchandise has occurred.

Full disclosure, I almost fell for one of those sites in 2018. I decided to sleep on the purchase I was going to make.

The next morning I decided to do research to find out where the supposed “company” I was going to do a purchase with was located. I eventually tracked an address down to Russia. The site for that supposed “company” was eliminated a long time ago.

I’m glad I didn’t hit the purchase button, but I can see how easy it is to do.

I wish I didn’t have to write this post. It is taking away time from writing a feature story for the Prince Albert Daily Herald on University of Alberta Pandas forward Abby Soyko, working on a Saskatoon Hilltops feature on defensive tackle Craig Torgerson for my blog and working on Howe Happenings content for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I will still be completing all of these pieces, so watch for them.

Anyways, I am posting all of this because the idea of not talking about this subject is doing nothing. I want to use this as a reminder that these online malicious sports streaming sites are out there. I might post periodic reminders about this.

During my life when I have done work on the new side for media companies and even the sports side, I have taken part in seminars put on by police departments regarding fraud, where you learned things in an enjoyable way. They were good, and I remember one RCMP seminar was really good at helping you learn to spot counterfeit money.

One thing all these agencies said is usually only 1-in-10 persons falls for a fraud scam. Unfortunately, that 1-in-10 ratio brings in tonnes of money for fraudsters. You can get money from a lot of population with a 1-in-10 ratio.

Sometimes it is hard to find out how widespread this is too. If someone is taken for $40,000 by a fraud scam, they usually don’t want to talk about it over the shame of being taken by a fraud.

It might not be with money, but we all get taken by a fraud at some point in our lives. If you have avoided that, that is great to hear.

Again, please be aware of malicious online sports streaming sites. They will give you more than you bargained for, if you let them.

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.

Will Rams “all in” Super Bowl win set a trend in sports?

A miniature Los Angeles Rams helmet.

Will teams all over the sports world strive to be like the Los Angeles Rams?

The NFL’s Rams pushed all their chips to the centre of the table for the 2021 campaign. On Sunday, that move culminated in the Rams winning Super Bowl LVI in front of their hometown fans at SoFi Stadium 23-20 over the Cincinnati Bengals.

During the off-season leading up to the 2021 campaign, the Rams acquired star quarterback Matthew Stafford in a trade from the woeful Detroit Lions in exchange for standout signal caller Jared Goff, a third-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, a first round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and a first round choice in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Rams acquired Stafford with the promise that they now had the quarterback that could take them to the Promised Land.

Stafford delivered on Sunday. With the Rams trailing the Bengals 20-16 in the fourth quarter, Stafford led the Rams downfield on a touchdown drive that covered 79 yards on 15 plays and ate four minutes and 48 seconds off the clock.

The drive culminated with Stafford hitting star receiver Cooper Kupp with a one-yard touchdown toss with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to put the Rams in front by the 23-20 final score.

The ensuing Bengals drive ended after Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald forced Cincinnati star quarterback Joe Burrow to throw and errant incomplete pass on a fourth down play. The Rams were able to run out the rest of the fourth quarter clock with Stafford taking a knee.

Stafford completed 26-of-40 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing two interceptions. He enjoyed a championship moment that seemed impossible to accomplish with the Lions.

Back in the 2009 NFL Draft, the Lions selected Stafford first overall. He played 12 seasons for the Lions making them look more respectable than they should have qualifying for the post-season three times.

Stafford put up passing numbers with the Lions that alone should get him elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also took a physical beating with the Lions, who never had the supporting cast to help him win an NFL title.

The Rams gave up key draft picks to get Stafford along with a quarterback in Goff who they selected first overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Goff guided them to the Super Bowl following the 2018 season.

The NFL could see team copy the Los Angeles Rams.

On February 3, 2019, the Goff led Rams fell 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII to the Tom Brady led New England Patriots in Atlanta, Georgia. Los Angeles wasn’t able to return to the Super Bowl following the 2019 and 2020 campaigns.

Stafford was viewed as the quarterback that could take the Rams that next step to being a Super Bowl winner.

Part way through the 2021 campaign, the Rams acquired star linebacker Von Miller via a trade with the Denver Broncos. Los Angeles further stacked its roster signing star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. after he was released by the Cleveland Browns.

While a lot of the Rams roster was built through the NFL Draft that included players like Kupp and Donald, lots of football followers will focus on the trade to bring in Stafford along with the acquisitions of Miller and Beckham. Those moves allowed the Rams to win a tough NFC West Division with a 12-5 regular season record and win four post-season games to capture the Super Bowl at home.

Traditionally, the NFL has been a copycat league, so you can expect there will be teams in the short term that will attempt to do what the Rams have done.

Since the NFL is the most popular sports league in North America, the Rams road to Super Bowl success will likely make teams across the rest of the world of sports try to emulate that road to success.

In North America’s four big professional leagues in the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, fans and speculative media will put pressure on the teams they follow to go “all in” and win right now like the Rams did. In those leagues, fans are paying hundreds of dollars in single game tickets, so if teams are viewed as not trying the utmost to win, the fans will be super mad.

For teams that do go “all in,” it seems worth it during the moment of a championship win.

If a championship isn’t won or a team has to suffer through five bad years thanks to going “all in,” fans and media will moan about the losing and criticize their teams for going “all in.”

Even in a circuit like the CFL there will be pressure to go “all in.” For most stadiums, about 70 per cent of the seats cost over $100, so fans expect a bang for their buck.

Back in 2013, the Saskatchewan Roughriders went “all in,” when they hosted the Grey Cup at their former legendary home park in Taylor Field. They didn’t need to find a star quarterback as Darian Durant was already there to fill that role.

Before the season began, they made a trade to acquire CFL all-time great receiver Geroy Simon from the British Columbia Lions. They signed defensive end Ricky Foley and defensive backs Dwight Anderson and Weldon Brown as free agents.

Will QB Cody Fajardo (#7) and the Roughriders go “all in” for 2022?

After defensive end John Chick was released by the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, the Roughriders were able to bring him in before the start of the regular season. Chick was a key member of the Roughriders 2007 Grey Cup winning team.

The Roughriders proceeded to post an 11-7 regular season record and win all three of their post-season games including a 45-23 romp over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup played on November 24, 2013 to cash in on their “all in” move.

Saskatchewan hosts the Grey Cup in 2022 at their new home park in Mosaic Stadium. After what the Rams did in the Super Bowl along with the precedent the Roughriders set in 2013, current Roughriders management will be under a lot of pressure to go “all in” this season.

Unfortunately, that strategy doesn’t work the majority of the time as only one team in each sports league can win a championship.

In the 2012-13 season, the Saskatoon Blades went “all in” with a number of trades to win the WHL championship and the CHL’s championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Blades were the Memorial Cup hosts that season.

The Blades finished first in the WHL’s East Division. They were swept out of the first round of the WHL playoffs by the Medicine Hat Tigers and won one game at the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Blades proceed to miss the post-season for the next five straight years going through a rebuild after going “all in.”

The WHL’s Swift Current Broncos and Regina Pats did the same thing in the 2017-18 season. The Pats were the Memorial Cup hosts in that campaign.

The Broncos won the WHL championship that season, but went winless in the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Pats were eliminated in the first round of the WHL playoffs by the Broncos, but did make the championship game of the Memorial Cup tournament. Regina was blanked 3-0 in that championship game by the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

It took the Broncos four seasons to reach the form to be a contender for a lower seed WHL playoff berth and Pats returned to that spot slightly quicker in three seasons.

The 2017-18 Pats went “all in” and didn’t win any championships.

Still, going “all in” will likely be a short-term fad due to the fact the Rams won the Super Bowl. While the Rams had success with their “all in” venture, the risk is often way greater than the reward.

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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Sports world needs to continue to keep grinding

Motivation gets tougher as COVID-19 pandemic continues

A Prince Albert Raiders goal celebration from May 2019.

“Trust the process.”

For the majority of the sports world seemingly all over the world, that tried and true cliché seems to get harder and harder to follow.

As February of 2021 starts today, North America is just a short time away from observing the one-year anniversary of falling into the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In North America, the various shutdowns, restrictions and lockdowns had their start on March 11, 2020 when the NBA elected that day to pause its 2019-20 season.

That started the domino effect of various shutdowns, restrictions and lockdowns that continue to this day. Different parts of the world have already or are about to experience their respective one-year anniversaries of falling in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic between now and March 11, 2021.

In Canada, it seems all the sports world can do is keep plugging along with plans to play or resume action. Administrators and staffers will have to continue to keep drawing up and redrawing up plans to get back into action.

Coaches have to keep doing their best to plan for whatever a season may look like.

Athletes have to keep training attempting to prepare like a season could be around the corner.

Here in Saskatchewan at the moment, groups of athletes can practice in a team environment limited to groups of eight, if they are age 18 or under.

The Prince Albert Northern Bears last played Nov. 21, 2020.

The rest have to do their best to continue training individually to keep up their conditioning.

As the pandemic keeps dragging on, the longer the sports world goes without the return of regular competitions it gets harder and harder to keep the motivation up to continue on.

At this point in time in Canada if you are involved in sports in any way, you have likely asked yourself, “Why do I keep doing this?”

That goes for administrators, staffers, coaches and athletes across the board including if you play minor sports at the novice level, at the highest level in an age group or are playing in elite leagues like the WHL, CJFL, WWCFL, U Sports and the CFL.

As seasons keep getting pushed back and events get cancelled, you start to wonder what the point is.

In some circuits like the SFU18AAAHL, the SMAAAHL and the SJHL, teams got to experience regular season game action for a short time only to have the rug pulled out from under them. All of those circuits haven’t seen the ice for competitive games since late November 2020.

For the high performance athletes in Canada, you hit the point where you are lost.

These days once you reach Grade 9, high performance athletes in Canada mostly specialize in only one sport of choice.

About 20 years ago, that was the last era where top level athletes might play three or four sports throughout the year at a high level. Shortly after that point, year round sports specific training took off.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders last player in November of 2019.

Most in the general public believe the era from 20 years ago still exists, but that is far from the case.

High performance athletes commit to their sports like year-round 40-hour a week jobs. It does become a lifestyle.

As a result of this singular focus, high performance athletes don’t really dabble in other interests. You don’t pick up interests like playing musical instruments like a guitar, doing photography, dabbling in various artistic pursuits or even following a series on television.

When games and sport aren’t there, it does leave a hole and effects mental health.

Of course, there was optimism in December of 2020 when news arrived that vaccines were going to be rolled out for COVID-19. With that said, vaccine rollout takes time, and judging by the stories from mainstream media outlets, there appears to be some rollout delays as far as Canada is concerned.

There are stories of new variants of COVID-19, which adds another hurdle in the pandemic situation.

Like in society, the sports community has been wedged due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

You have people who believe playing sports outweighs the needs of the pandemic. You have others who believe the needs of the pandemic outweigh playing sports.

A third group also believes you have to put your best foot forward to get the sports world back into action, but if the health officials say you can’t go, you respect and follow the decisions of the health officials.

Outdoor sports like softball motored in Sask. in 2020.

Of course, some that are in the group that believe playing sports outweighs the needs of the pandemic get testy with people in the other two groups.

Patience is in short supply, but is it something that is needed.

 It is known that the virus does transmit easily, which is a big fear as far as health officials go. 

Worries of filling hospitals too fast continue to be there.

In the sports world, it seems as far as Saskatchewan was concerned that sports that were played outside in summer and fall weren’t as disrupted as when everything moved indoors when winter hit.

In summer, there was a panic if Saskatchewan hit 300 active cases. 

On Sunday, there were 2,534 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and there have been many days over the past two months where the active case count was over 3,000.

There is also still a real worry that COVID-19 is a “gain of function” experiment gone wrong. That theory has never been fully discounted.

In a “gain of function” experiment, a researcher takes a virus and makes it a superbug in a lab. The researcher proceeds to develop medical defences against this superbug.

It is viewed this type of research keeps humans one step ahead of nature. There are critics against this type of research, who often ask what happens if one of these superbugs escapes the lab?

Chase Wouters plays for the Saskatoon Blades on March 6, 2020.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology lab in the Jiangxia District, Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province was working on “gain of function” type experiments. It is speculated COVID-19 escaped the lab in Wuhan, but it is highly likely the truth might never come out on that front.

That theory does help make all the shutdowns, restrictions and lockdowns that have happened around the world make sense.

For anyone involved in the sports world, all you can do is focus on controlling what you can control and administrators, staffers, coaches and athletes are all in the same boat.

All you can do is continue to put your best foot forward each day, have patience and “trust the process.”

Words of wisdom from Huskies’ Piok

Yol Piok in action for the Huskies in 2019.

Yol Piok, who is a sure handed receiver with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team, shared some pretty good words of wisdom on Bell Let’s Talk day this past Thursday.

Piok, who has used up four seasons of U Sports eligibility with the Huskies, has had his battle with mental health over the years dealing with severe anxiety.

The graduate of Regina’s Archbishop M.C. O’Neill High School has made huge strides in his mental health journey over the years. He has become an ambassador when it comes to speaking on the subject.

He put together a great video message that was just under one minute in length that was shared on all the Huskies social media channels. In a calming way, he talked patience as well as saying other calming words.

The video, which is below, is a good one to reflect on as time marches on.

📢 An important message that we all could use courtesy of @ypiok81 from @skhuskies. #BellLetsTalk pic.twitter.com/FLLWgloMn0

— Huskie Athletics (@HuskieAthletics) January 28, 2021

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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COVID-19 pandemic forces world to face mental health

A Bell Let’s Talk toque with sports items I’ve collected over the years.

Over this past year, people have been forced to meet the elephant in the room face to face.

Those meetings aren’t equal for everyone. For some, the elephant has been a small problem that causes frustration like replacing a rim of a car tire after encountering a pot hole.

For others, it feels like the elephant is Brock Lesnar who has you cornered in a UFC octagon cage, and he is coming to smash the crap out of you.

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it seems unavoidable that everyone in the world has faced a mental health challenge or adversity at this point. The extent of those challenges seems to go all over the map.

Everyone is dealing with the fact their lives are not like they once were.

On my own front, I have known I have battled with issues dealing with anxiety since 2012. Actually, I have to admit I see myself doing a lot better on that front than I did six years ago.

I’ve spent more time in my home office than in past years.

I write about my experiences on the mental health front in hopes it will help others. Since 2016, I’ve kept up with a tradition where I write a post regarding mental health on Bell Let’s Talk day.

There is still a stigma around mental health issues, and they are unfortunately still treated as the elephant in the room in too many circles. Over the past year, people have had to face the elephant more so than likely at any time in the past.

In North America, shutdowns and restrictions started to come into play in a serious way on March 11, 2020. That was the day the NBA paused its 2019-20 regular season, and it seemingly started a domino effect with shutdowns and restrictions.

In Canada, the restrictions in some parts of the country are the tightest they have ever been. In Saskatchewan, a provincial government announcement was made on Tuesday extending the current tight Public Health Orders for a slowdown through to February 19.

Residents in Saskatchewan have a little more freedom to do things in their daily lives compared to the other three provinces in Western Canada. Alberta and Manitoba are experiencing fairly strict lockdown measures.

My life in 2019 talking up Brett Leason (#20). (Photo by Darryl Leason)

With that noted, life in Saskatchewan is far from what it was a year ago at this time.

One of my friends in Rod Pedersen, who does work in the addictions and recovery field on top of his more famed sports broadcasting roles, has consistently stated he has learned of two definitions for the word “trauma” in his dealings on the mental health front. Trauma situations are “any situation your brain can’t comprehend” or “a deeply distressing or disturbing event.”

The shutdowns and restrictions that have happened during this pandemic have been something that most in the world likely would never conceive happening a year ago at this time.

Even at this time, the COVID-19 pandemic fits in the descriptions of “a situation your brain can’t comprehend” or “a deeply distressing or disturbing event.”

When I step back and look at the big picture, I believe I have been in a better situation than most.

I did a lot more biking around Saskatoon in 2020.

I feel my past experiences on the mental health front have helped me navigate the seemingly everyday changes that have come with the pandemic.

Since March 12, 2020, I have only covered two hockey games. I do miss covering football and hockey games in no particular order the CJFL, SFU18AAAHL, SMAAAAHL, U Sports, WHL and WWCFL. I’ve really missed seeing my friends on all those circuits.

In recent days, my mind often thought about people I haven’t seen in a while now on the WHL front. My life on the sports media front has pretty much disappeared.

In response as cliché as it sounds, I have focused on one day at a time.

I’ve continued to work as the communications coordinator at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex on part-time hours. That has kept my mind active and busy and given me something to look forward to.

I’ve also used that pandemic to rediscover other recreational pursuits I used to do like playing Madden football, watching WWE or checking out old 1980s episodes of G.I. Joe, Transformers and Robotech. In summer, I did way more biking than I have done in past years.

The situation in the current day includes wear more facemasks.

I’ve spend more time with my mom, because I’ve worked from home quite a bit and haven’t been on the road. To me, I’ve felt that has been a huge bonus and blessing.

My line of work involves checking out social media lines on a daily basis. I see every day others are not doing as well as I am.

In my mind over the last few days, I have been struggling with what I want to say in this annual post, because I can see others are not doing as well as I am.

One of the toughest parts over the past year was hearing news from my old 10-year home in Medicine Hat, Alta., of friends having taken their own lives. There were days I did feel absolutely gutted.

I know the first time I return to Medicine Hat will be emotional for me knowing what has happened on that front.

At the beginning of my mental health journey, I always believed that if I just continued to grind and work hard on a day to day basis, be a good person and do the right things that good things in life would ultimately unfold in my favour despite difficulties. That would be especially true, if I was in the right on the big issues.

I have missed fun moments like this in the WHL.

I ultimately learned that you can do everything right and still fail. I also learned that life isn’t fair, and it won’t bend to make you happy even when you do everything right or are in the right.

When I check out social media lines, I see a lot of people in the spot where I was at the beginning of my mental health journey. They are to different extents learning that life isn’t fair.

I also know I am not counsellor, psychologist or social worker. I can lend an ear and listen.

When it comes to mental health, you need different games plans for each individual.

In order to figure out that plan, I will advise friends to seek out the help of a professional. In some cases, you might need to actually see a professional just once or twice to figure that plan out.

In other cases, it might take more visits with a professional to figure out the best path in the journey.

For myself, I have a lot more awareness. I am lot more alert to when I am off and what triggered me to being off. That alertness helps me pull myself out of funk.

My look at the Art Hauser Centre on November 21, 2020.

With that said, what works for me isn’t what is going to work for everyone.

There is so much in life that can’t be controlled.

I pray everyone that is struggling can find their path to navigate the waters in their mental health journeys.

If that first step requires someone to lend an ear, I will do my best to stop and listen.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. My Bell Let’s Talk post from last year called “A big mental health challenge is learning to take a break” can be found right here. A piece from 2019 called “Those facing mental health challenges can still be great in all parts of life” can be found right here. A piece from 2018 called “Being content can become a mental health challenge” can be round right here. A piece from 2017 called “Recognizing and respecting triggers is key for mental health” can be found right here. A piece from 2016 called “Feeling connected calms the mental health seas” can be found right here. A piece called “My Mental Health Story” can be found right here. Another post I like that I wrote in February of 2015 about my mental health journey call “Huskies hockey was good for me” can be found right here.

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Buckle up – we’re still in for a long pandemic ride in 2021

Circuits like the SFU18AAAHL are in a holding pattern.

We’re only nine days into the new year, but it already feels like the bloom has come off the 2021 rose.

When the calendar changed from 2020 to 2021, there seemed to be big celebrations among the general public and high hopes with a symbolic new beginning. Most couldn’t wait for the year 2020 to be over.

Of course, 2020 will always be the year that will be associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that saw massive restrictions and lockdowns take place all over the world. That resulted in numerous annual events getting canceled along with special festivities like weddings.

Along with the cancellations, annual events like high school graduations didn’t occur in traditional fashion. The sports world was thrown into havoc with seasons being cancelled, while some sports played modified seasons.

North America got caught firmly in the grips of the coronavirus on March 11, 2020, when the NBA elected to pause its season and domino effect of shutdowns began to occur in all walks of life.

Due to the upheaval created by the COVID-19 pandemic, most could wait to kiss 2020 goodbye.

A stick tape job to cover an event in a pandemic.

The only problem was the pandemic didn’t go away when the calendar flipped over to 2021. As the days go on, it seems like the people who test positive for COVID-19 are starting to become more and more people I know.

Vaccines for COVID-19 started to roll out in December of 2020, but the rollout is still a long way away from returning society to a pre-pandemic state.

When vaccines appeared, it seemed to be a realistic optimistic expectation that things might return to normal by September of this year.

With that said, there were media reports this week that vaccination of the general population in Alberta and Saskatchewan might not start until September of 2021.

According to Worldometer over the last three days, the United States had a 24-hour period where it experienced 279,204 new COVID-19 cases and 4,245 deaths due to COVID-19 and a following 24-hour period that saw 307,579 new COVID-19 cases and 4,010 deaths due to COVID-19.

In Saskatchewan, there were still 3,186 active COVID-19 cases as of Saturday. Alberta still had 14,437 active COVID-19 cases on Saturday and detected Canada’s first case of the South African variant of COVID-19.

On Thursday, Alberta announced its tight COVID-19 restrictions would stay in place until Jan. 21, and British Columbia extended its gathering restrictions until Feb. 5.

Over the first nine days of 2021, there has been so much noise coming on the COVID-19 front that it still feels like 2020.

A house decorated for Christmas in Saskatoon.

Despite the pandemic, good feelings from the Christmas holiday season in 2020 did come into existence, but it feels like those happy holiday feelings are already long gone.

Besides the noise around the COVID-19 pandemic, we haven’t even gotten into the coup insurrection attempt that happened in the United States on Wednesday, when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

Before the calendar flipped from 2020 to 2021, any realist would know that 2021 was going to be far from a normal year. It is already playing out as being far from a normal year.

People all over the world are still going to have to navigate the daily noise that has occurred for almost the last 10 months during the COVID-19 pandemic possibly through the entire calendar year of 2021.

The challenge seems to get tougher and tougher for individuals to focus on what they can control and try not to go overboard emotionally with the news that comes out on a daily basis. People are still going to have to self-regulate the amount of time they spend consuming the news or the seemingly continuous toxicity that occurs on social media.

In the sports world, you can expect constant changes and will likely continue to see governance decisions that have no consistency.

The NFL is in playoffs, the NBA has started a regular season and the NHL is slated to begin a regular season this coming Wednesday on Jan. 13.

A classic movie viewing during the pandemic.

In the United States, some NCAA sports have resumed including regular season action involving the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey that features Saskatoon sisters in forwards Sophie and Grace Shirley. Both are alums of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA hockey team.

The Badgers were only able to play two regular season games before Christmas due to positive COVID-19 tests on the team.

In Canada, most sports have been mothballed unless you play NHL hockey. In Saskatchewan, sports teams and groups can conduct training in groups of eight, but there are provinces that have been shut down on that front all together.

This past week in Saskatchewan both the 53^rd Bedford Road Invitational Tournament in Saskatoon and the 69^th Luther Invitational Tournament in Regina have been cancelled for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both are extremely prestigious events on the high school basketball calendar in Saskatchewan.

Late Friday night, the WHL announced a renewed commitment to play the 2020-21 campaign with each club playing 24 games. A new start date still hasn’t been announced for the season.

The start date for the 2020-21 WHL campaign has already been pushed back a handful of times.

There has been speculation in hockey circles that major junior and junior A leagues might be willing to push campaigns back to the point games will be played in June or July in order to get playoff champions crowned.

Each WHL team hopes to play a 24 game regular season.

Who knows how well that will go over as there could potentially be huge season creep with spring and summer sports like baseball, golf, softball and soccer. That just scratches the surface with sports schedule conflicts that could happen, and there are a number of other sports that get going in spring and summer.

There has also been speculation that all hockey seasons in Canada that aren’t NHL campaigns might not ultimately continue their 2020-21 campaigns.

For myself, I covered two Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League games this past November. Those are the only two live hockey games I’ve covered since March 12, 2020.

Going forward, I will continue to try let things develop as they develop without putting any expectations on them. Whenever sports do get going again, I will start feeling my way through when it comes to covering or just being involved with events again.

I was in the process of doing that with the two SFU18AAAHL games I got out to this past November before the season got halted.

As hard as it is, I will try not to immediately act emotionally to how events evolve around me. I find for myself dealing with others acting out emotionally to evolving events makes it harder to take things as they are.

I hope those in society will try and take deep breaths before reacting to how the world unfolds moment by moment.

Me pictured at the Art Hauser Centre on Nov. 21, 2020.

I have also accepted people in general are selfish. In general, most in society expect the world to bend to their selfish needs. I also have to remember that humanity as a collective never learns from past mistakes.

However the cards get dealt my way, I just have to play them the best I can and hope one or two others do the same.

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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Raptors two-year elite run was good for the soul

One missing link makes difference in NBA

A Kawhi Leonard card.

    The Toronto Raptors had a great run over the past two seasons, but even they weren’t immune to the difference one special player can make.
    On Friday, the Raptors 2019-20 campaign came to an end when they fell 92-87 to the storied Boston Celtics in Game 7 of an NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Celtics took the best-of-seven set 4-3 with all games being played in the NBA bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.

    The Raptors were unable to repeat all their exploits from the 2018-19 campaign.

    During the 2018-19 campaign, the Raptors had the second best record in the NBA regular season with a 58-24 mark. In the 2019 playoffs, they went on to win their first NBA title in team history.

    The Raptors first hit the court in the 1995-96 NBA season.

    As the Raptors advanced through the 2019 post-season, there were massive watch parties held across Canada including quaint gatherings of 300 people that packed Civic Square in downtown Saskatoon for Games 5 and 6 of the NBA final.

    On June 13, 2019, the Raptors knocked off the powerful Golden State Warriors 114-110 in Game 6 of the NBA final at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., to capture the NBA title winning the best-of-seven series 4-2.

    The Warriors had a championship pedigree having won the NBA crown in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
    The Raptors did all that with star guard Kawhi Leonard in the fold, who is considered one of the top five players in the league and its best defensive player.
    After that one season in Toronto, Leonard decided he wanted to return home to Los Angeles and signed as a free agent with his hometown Clippers. Leonard had arrived in Toronto in a blockbuster trade with the San Antonio Spurs on July 18, 2018.

A Kyle Lowry card.

    In that deal, Leonard and guard Danny Green were sent to the Raptors in exchange for small forward DeMar DeRozan, centre Jakob Polti and a protected 2019 first round NBA Draft selection.

    After Leonard moved to L.A., many wondered if the Raptors would remain one of the NBA’s elite clubs and continue to contend for a league championship.

    Of course, no one could imagine how crazy the 2019-20 season would be due to the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Raptors completed the bulk of their regular season schedule, when the NBA decided to pause its campaign on March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    That was the first domino that saw the rest of the sports world in North America follow suit.

    The NBA resumed play in August, and when the dust settled, the Raptors again had the second best regular season record in the league at 53-19. The team’s regular season schedule was ultimately shortened by 10 games.

    The last eight games of the Raptors 2019-20 regular season was played in the NBA bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort.

    Still, the Raptors finished first in the Atlantic Division for the sixth time in last seven seasons, and they won 48 or more games in each of the last seven campaigns.

    Into the NBA playoffs the Raptors went, where they promptly swept the Brooklyn Nets 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series.

    The Raptors were riding all sorts of momentum going into their next series, which was the set with the Celtics. The Celtics won the first two games to go up 2-0, but the Raptors showed their championship heart.

    In Game 3, Raptors star point guard Kyle Lowry fired a smart pass to small forward OG Anunoby, who hit at three-point shot at the fourth-quarter buzzer to give the Raptors a 104-103 victory and a new life.

An OG Anunoby card.

    The Raptors tied the series up 2-2 with a victory in Game 4. After the Celtics posted a convincing 111-89 victory in Game 5, the Raptors evened the series at 3-3 taking Game 6 in overtime 125-122 last Wednesday.

    In Game 7 on Friday, the Raptors led 68-67 with 1:45 to play in the third quarter. The Celtics proceeded to get momentum and built an 88-78 lead with 4:45 remaining in the fourth quarter.

    The Raptors went on a 9-1 run to cut the Celtics edge to 89-87 with 1:21 remaining in the fourth. Toronto had one possession to try and tie the contest but couldn’t. The Celtics closed the 92-87 victory on free throws.

    During the series, the Celtics were more consistent than the Raptors in executing in the half-court game. Too often in key moments, the Raptors would get the ball offensively, spread the floor and settle for a jump shot. 

    That scenario played out in Friday’s Game 7 loss.

    If the Raptors still had Leonard in the fold, they likely would have won the series against the Celtics. Offensively, Leonard draws double teams which cause more favourable match ups for his teammates on the floor.

    Defensively, Leonard causes all sorts of havoc when the opposing side tries to execute offensively.
    Leonard is a special type of player you can’t replace, and in the game of basketball, your team’s chances of winning a championship increase greatly when you have a special player like Leonard.

    Still, the Raptors had a great campaign in 2019-20, but one wonders if this is the end this particular chapter of success in team history.

    Other key players like guard Fred VanVleet, centre Marc Gasol and forward Serge Ibaka are all set to enter free agency. An end of an era might be coming for the Raptors.

Fans in Civic Square in Saskatoon enjoy the Raptors NBA title win in 2019.

    For basketball fans, the rest of the NBA playoffs are intriguing. The best-of-seven Eastern Conference championship series between the Celtics and Miami Heat sees two clubs looking to add another league title to their storied past histories.

    The Los Angeles Lakers with all-time great in forward LeBron James have a berth in the Western Conference championship series. They will face the winner of a Tuesday Game 7 Western Conference semifinal series encounter between Leonard’s Clippers and the Denver Nuggets.

    No matter how the NBA post-season plays out, the Raptors left their mark on Canada. Over the past two seasons, the Raptors drew support from people of all cultures.

    Their ability to be a unifying force should not be overlooked, and it was great they could perform that role for a short time.

Huskies lucky to have Hardy for time they did

Dave Hardy.

    The ageless Dave Hardy is someone who could be involved in Saskatoon’s sports scene at a high level forever if he so desires.

    With that said, the 73-year-old, who doesn’t seem like he should be that old, has well earned the right to do whatever he chooses in his life.

    Last Wednesday, the University of Saskatchewan announced a search had started to find Hardy’s successor as the chief athletics officer for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies athletic program. Hardy will stay on as the CAO until his replacement is found.

    He officially stepped into the role on August 12, 2019 for a term of up to two years that could possibly be extended. Of course, the changes in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic played a part in this decision.

    “The world has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and university athletics was by no means spared,” said Hardy in a release. “The road to recovery is going to be a long one, and I feel it is in the best interest of Huskie Athletics to have long-term leadership in place.

    “I have been proud to have had the chance to contribute to the university’s storied athletic program during these challenging times, however I feel that it is the right time to begin the search for a new CAO.”

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

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

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

    Hardy posted a 70-18-1 regular season record guiding the Hilltops as head coach. In 1995, Hardy was named the coach of the year for the entire CJFL.

    When he departed from the Hilltops, Hardy was at that time the team’s longest serving head coach.

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

    To use a cliché, Hardy has done his part for king and country. If he decided to continue to play a part in Saskatoon’s sports community, everyone in Saskatoon’s sports community would be better for it.

    The Huskies were blessed to be able to have him on board for a little over a year. Even Huskies football head coach Scott Flory, who has been able to draw from a lot of mentors, said he has learned a lot from Hardy.

    Still, these COVID-19 pandemic times have been hard on the sports world in Canada. The sports world in Canada is likely at the start of a major reset.

    At the U of Saskatchewan, Huskie Athletics will likely be trying to navigate waters on how it will keep all 15 of its varsity teams. Preserving teams is likely a concern for every program across U Sports as multiple sources of revenue dry up that normally wouldn’t dry up due to the pandemic.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams don’t have a home as Merlis Belsher Place has been taken over by the Saskatchewan Health Authority and turned into a “Linus blanket” COVID-19 field hospital in waiting.

    The Huskies hockey teams are currently operating out of the SaskTel Centre, which is home to the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush.

    Merlis Belsher Place will not be available as a sports facility for the 2020-21 sports campaign, and it is highly possible it won’t be a sports facility for some time after that. Even if it was green lighted for use as a sports facility in 2021-22, there are rumblings it is going to needed some decent work to rebuild the inside for it to become a sports facility again to undo modifications that made it a field hospital.

    Those are just some of the things the incoming CAO for Huskie Athletics will have to navigate through.

    Of course when Hardy became the CAO for Huskie Athletics in August of 2019, no one expected a pandemic would throw the world into flux.

    With all that considered, Hardy has done mammoth world in the sports world in Saskatoon. If he decides to go into retirement, he deserves to enjoy all the perks that part of life offers.

Huskies football to hold passing showcase

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies football team is planning to hold a passing showcase.

    The Huskie Football Passing Showcase is open to all high school students in Grades 10 to 12. 
    The showcase runs from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on five Saturdays including September 19 and 26 and October 3, 10 and 17 on Fields 10 and 11 north of the Education Building.
    The sessions include practices and games.
    The passing showcase is for quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, linebackers and defensive backs.

    Anyone looking to sign up for those camps can do so by clicking right here.

Hilltops to hold evaluation camp

    This coming Saturday, the Saskatoon Hilltops are holding an evaluation camp for players who recently graduated high school and are under the age of 22.

    The Hilltops, who have won 22 CJFL titles, will run the camp from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. this coming Saturday at their clubhouse. All current COVID-19 protocols the team has put in place will be followed.

    The camp is also free to all who register.

    All the players need to bring to the camp is a helmet. Registrations are being accepted by Wednesday, and those looking to register are asked to email allisonwalker1616@gmail.com.

    There are a limited number of spots available for the camp.

Valkyries to hold fall camp, new players welcomed

    The Saskatoon Valkyries of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League are slated to hold a one-day fall camp this coming Saturday for new and returning players.

    The camp is slated to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The cost to attend the camp is $50 and all the equipment that is required are running shoes or cleats and a water bottle.

    Those looking to register for the camp can do so by clicking right here. All questions can be sent via email to saskatoonvalkyries@gmail.com.

Pats’ phenom Bedard going to train in Sweden

    Connor Bedard is going to Sweden – just to train.

    On Monday, the WHL’s Regina Pats announced the 15-year-old phenom forward from North Vancouver, B.C., is heading to Sweden to train and practice with the HV71 junior program until the start of the 2020-21 WHL campaign.

    Bedard is the first player in the history of the WHL to be granted exceptional status, which allows him to play in the major junior ranks as a 15-year-old on a full-time basis. The Pats selected Bedard first overall in the WHL Bantam Draft that was held last April.

    “I’m really looking forward to this unique opportunity,” said Bedard in a release. “I look forward to being able to develop in Sweden with HV71 and prepare myself for when I arrive in Regina.

    “Hopefully, we can be playing in front of the fans in December.”

    Bedard, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 165 pounds, played for West Vancouver Academy’s under-18 team this past season in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. He piled up 43 goals and 41 assists for 84 points in 36 games.

    For his efforts, Bedard was named MVP of the CSSHL’s under-18 division.

    At the moment, the WHL’s start date is slated for Dec. 4 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On a side note, Sweden is the only country in Europe that has not enacted any COVID-19 lockdown measure.

    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.