Hermann will always cherish year as Hilltops starter

Club celebrates 2019 CJFL title season with ring day

Tyler Hermann, left, shows his championship ring to his father, Craig. 

    Tyler Hermann’s one campaign as the Saskatoon Hilltops starting quarterback turned into a dream season.
    After being a reserve quarterback for four years, Hermann was tabbed with taking the controls of the Hilltops offence for his fifth and final campaign with the club. While there were growing pains in the first four weeks of the season, Hermann signal called the Hilltops to a perfect 12-0 record to capture the Canadian Bowl and become CJFL champions for a sixth straight year.

    The Hilltops downed the host Langley Rams 11-6 last November in the CJFL title game to win a 22^nd national title.

    Hermann had a good personal campaign too in 2019 completing 123-of-192 passes for 1,908 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions appearing in all of his club’s eight regular season games.

Tyler Hermann, left, receives his championship ring.

    “It was awesome,” said Hermann, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 205 pounds. “That is something I will have for the rest of my life.

    “It is one of those priceless memories that I will look back, and I will just cherish every moment of it. I remember at the end of the season I was almost sad thinking back. I should have been happy.

    “I remembered that this was the end of something that was such a big part of my life and all friendships I made along the way. This was a spectacular year.”

    On Saturday on the practice field outside the Hilltops clubhouse, Hermann received his championship ring at the team’s ring ceremony.

Tyler Hermann, left, and Jesse McNabb show off their rings.

    Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Hilltops ring ceremony was a modified one.

    Usually, the Hilltops ring ceremony is a social event that brings together their CJFL championship team from the previous season as part of a reunion night.

    With government regulations currently in place to combat COVID-19, the Hilltops ultimately did a ring ceremony to give a nod to their 2019 season with a group of six players, who were in their final campaign with the team in 2019.

    The graduating players that made it out included Hermann, Connor Graham, Tristan Hering, Logan Kelsey-Stern, Ryder Klisowsky and Jesse McNabb.

    Team officials will distribute the rest of the championship rings to the 2019 title winning team.

    With that noted, Hermann was happy with the reunion that did happen considering the circumstances that surround the current day.

Jesse McNabb, left, gets his championship ring.

    “We usually do it right after May camp too, so there is a little buzz around the new season,” said Hermann, who recently turned 23-years-old. “Everyone is kind of chatting.

    “It is definitely different. I like the way they did it having the fifth year guys here. Those are the guys we traveled our whole five years together with, and we shared such similar experiences kind of starting as that rookie and then finishing the way we did.

    “That is good enough for me. That is really all you can expect in times like this is something like that.”

Jesse McNabb checks out his championship ring.

    McNabb’s eyes got really big, when he opened his ring box and saw his championship ring. The star defensive tackle, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 245 pounds, said a big part of the 2019 campaign was gutting out a 4-0 start.

    The Hilltops had a huge turnover in their starting ranks, and many players were adjusting to new roles.

    The venerable CJFL club opened the season with three straight road victories. The Hilltops took their home opener 28-21 over their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder thanks to a touchdown with under a minute to play.

    The home win over the Thunder and a 24-22 win in Week 3 over the Huskies in Edmonton required fourth-quarter comebacks.

    “It was big, because it really showed the character of the team,” said McNabb, who recorded 26.5 total tackles and three sacks for the Hilltops in the 2019 regular season. “We weren’t just rolling through everyone like some teams in the past have.

Jesse McNabb shows off his championship rings.

    “It was more hard fought games. It was really good for the group morale to see that we could get through the tough times together. As the season went on, things developed better, and it was good.”

    On Aug. 25, 2019 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Hilltops legendary head coach Tom Sargeant picked up his 200^th career victory in a 34-16 win over the host Thunder.

    Sargeant later moved past retired Regina Rams head coach Frank McCrystal to become the all-time leader in head coaching victories in Canada’s amateur post-secondary football ranks.

    After the Hilltops won their sixth straight CJFL championship, Sargeant’s career record sat a 210-30-2 including action in the CJFL regular season and post-season.

Ryder Klisowsky shows off his five championship rings.

    McCrystal had a 208-104-2 record in the regular season and post-season in both the CJFL and U Sports. He was the head coach of the Regina Rams from 1984 to 2014, and they played 15 seasons in the CJFL and 16 campaigns in U Sports over that time as the University of Regina Rams.

    McNabb said helping Sargeant get those milestones was a sweet part of the campaign.

    “It was great just to be able to do that for him and get things done right and then be able to lift him up in B.C. at the end of the year and give him the trophy,” said the 22-year-old McNabb.

    Hilltops linebacker Jadyn Pingue was named the CJFL defensive player of the year for his efforts during the 2019 season.
    The Hilltops have also captured the Canadian Bowl in nine out of the last 10 seasons to become CJFL champions.

Ryder Klisowsky, left, and Logan Kelsey-Stern enjoy ring day.

    The 12-0 campaign in 2019 followed up the Hilltops posting an 11-0 overall mark in their 2018 CJFL title winning season.

    The Hilltops 2019 CJFL championship rings have the initials “J.F.” written on the side to honour late former star Hilltops linebacker Justin Filteau. Filteau, who played for the Hilltops from 2010 to 2014, passed away in a plane crash on June 1, 2019.

    The 2019 rings, which were designed by the Hilltops graduating players, contain 22 sapphires symbolizing the club’s 22 CJFL championships. The word “trust” is written on the underside of the ring to recognize the trust the Hilltops players had in their teammates over the course of the season.

    There are six Canadian Bowl trophies on the side and six sapphires on the top of the ring to symbolize the Hilltops sixth consecutive Canadian Bowl championship win.

    “Obviously, it is beautiful, and it is something to be proud of,” said Hermann. “When I look at it, I just kind of think of the comradery of the team.”

Soyko takes her talents to the Pandas, other notes

@PandasHockey is proud to announce that @abbysoyko_10 has committed and will be wearing green and gold in 2020/21. Welcome to the PHamily Abby! pic.twitter.com/1IP4dlwTTe

— UofA Pandas Hockey (@PandasHockey) May 28, 2020

    Abby Soyko has found a new hockey home with the most storied women’s program in the history of U Sports.

    On Thursday, the University of Alberta Pandas, who have won the most U Sports national women’s hockey championships at eight, announced Soyko has committed to joining the Edmonton-based squad for the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
    The Prince Albert, Sask., product originally committed to joining the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey team in January along with her sister Alli. Abby and Alli are two parts of triplet siblings.

Abby Soyko in action with the Bears in October of 2018.

    On April 20, the University of Lethbridge cut both the men’s and women’s Pronghorns hockey teams citing a lack of provincial government funding.

    Due to that development, the two 18-year-olds became free agents with the ability to join any other post-secondary team of their choosing.

    On Thursday, it became official that Abby was going to be a member of the Pandas.

Alli found a new hockey home too. On Thursday, the Red Deer College Queens women’s hockey team, who play out of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association ranks, announced Alli had committed to joining their program.

    Both Abby and Alli played major roles in helping the Prince Albert Northern Bears win the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 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.

    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 SFU18AAAHL 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.

    Abby was also the Bears captain in her final season with that team.

Queens Hockey is proud to introduce our newest member: @allisoykoo of @NAXHockey. Alli joins us from Prince Albert, Sask. We are excited to see you wear the Crown to start your college hockey career! Welcome to the family @rdcathletics! #mykingsmyqueens

— 🏒 RDC Queens Hockey (@rdcqueenshockey) May 29, 2020

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

    Due to their late October birthday, they had exhausted their under-18 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.

Alli Soyko in action for the Bears in November of 2018.

    She will be a big addition to the Pandas, who won the Canada West title last season. The Pandas didn’t get a chance to play a game at the U Sports national championship tournament in Charlottetown, P.E.I., which was called off after two games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Alli will be a strong addition to a team at the Canadian college level, and she also has all the physical tools to play at the university level possibly one day.

    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.

    Last season, the Queens fell 3-2 in double overtime in a series deciding Game 3 to the NAIT Ooks in an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference semifinal series.

    Both Abby and Alli will be great additions to their respective teams.

• On Thursday, the Boston Marathon, which was scheduled for Sept. 14, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has originally been slated for April 20 before being pushed back to Sept. 14. This will mark the first time in history the Boston Marathon has been cancelled after running for 124 consecutive years.
• On Friday, the DUBNetwork, which is a website platform dedicated to covering the WHL, announced it was taking a step back and stopping coverage due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Run by chief executive officer Paul Figler, the DUBNetwork has been in operation since 2015.
• On Friday, long time Medicine Hat, Alta., radio broadcaster Jim Duce announced he will be retiring. Duce has been on the radio waves for 47 years. He currently works for CHAT 94.5, and his final day on air will be Friday, June 26.

    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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Borbandy aims to catch on with U of S Huskies blue-line

Defender Teagan Borbandy hopes to catch on with the Huskies.

    Teagan Borbandy doesn’t want to hang up her skates just because she had to switch schools.

    For the past two seasons, Borbandy was a defensive defender with the Red Deer College Queens of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. Over two seasons, she appeared in 29 regular season games with the Queens posting an assist and 22 penalty minutes, and she helped Red Deer College win an ACAC title in 2016.

    The Langdon, Alta., product is pursuing studies in bio-chemistry and knew she would have to transfer out of Red Deer College to a University to finish her degree. Borbandy wanted to transfer to the University of Saskatchewan for academics, and her thoughts started to drift towards the Huskies women’s hockey team, who play in the U Sports ranks.

    “I love Saskatchewan, and I love this school,” said Borbandy. “It is beautiful.

    “They have a really good program, so I thought I would come. I decided about two months ago that I wanted to continue to playing hockey, so I came out as a walk on.”

    Borbandy found a phone number for Huskies head coach Steve Kook and called about trying out as a walk on. From that conversation, Borbandy joined the Huskies for their training camp.

Huskies AC Brian McGregor, left, talks with Teagan Borbandy.

    She made the trip with the Huskies to Athabasca, Alta., for the Athabasca College Hockey Challenge last weekend and dressed for one of two exhibition games U of S split against the defending U Sports champion U of Alberta Pandas. The Huskies fell 3-2 after a tiebreaking shootout last Friday and won 2-1 last Saturday.

    As for Borbandy’s status with the team, things are progressing a day at a time.

    “We don’t have an idea of how many defencemen that we are going to take if it is seven, if it is nine,” said Kook, who returned to the Huskies after a one-year professional leave of absence. “If we think you are going to help us, we’ll carry you.

    “We agreed to take it day by day. At the end of every practice, we have a chat, and we’ll let her know if we like to see her another day. It is how it has been.”

    Borbandy, who stands 5-foot-4, comes to the Huskies with a solid hockey background. Besides playing for the Queens, she suited up for three seasons from 2012 to 2015 with the Rocky Mountain Raiders based in De Winton, Alta.

Teagan Borbandy listens to instructions at practice.

    Traditionally, the Raiders have been one of Alberta’s stronger female midget AAA programs, and Borbandy was an assistant captain with that club before finishing her time with that squad as captain.

    She always loved the comradery she had with her teammates and being active on the ice. Her first interactions with the Huskies players and coaches have built a desire to want to stay.

    “They are great,” said Borbandy. “They are such nice girls. They are very opening and helpful.

    “I’ve never seen so many girls that want help each other. It is not a competition within the team. It is a competition to make everybody better.

    “The coaches are great, very nice, encouraging and very supportive. They are always telling me things to improve on which is great. I love feedback.”

    Borbandy’s love for hockey hasn’t diminished over her career. She said it was great to join the Huskies having come from a good situation of having played with the Queens, who were 14-7-3 last season. The Queens fell in a best-of-three ACAC semifinal series to the MacEwan University Griffins 2-1.

    “It was a good step out of midget,” said Borbandy. “I enjoyed my team.

    “I had a great set of girls. I enjoyed the opportunity to continue playing. The school is a great school.”

Teagan Borbandy starts a rush out of her own zone.

    The Huskies had a strong campaign last season posting a 15-10-3 record. They fell in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. The Dogs fell 3-1 in a series deciding Game 3, but had they prevailed, they would have earned a berth to the U Sports final eight national championship tournament.

    When Borbandy talked to Kook about joining the Huskies, the bench boss advised the young defender, who will turn 20 on Sept. 20, to not leave anything behind.

    “We had a chat with her early in the summer, and I said if you are going to come to this thing and if you are going to come to tryouts, don’t come halfway be all in,” said Kook. “Whether it lasts one day or three days, you have to just make sure there are no regrets.

    “What I told her today is you are having a good camp so far. Comeback tomorrow, we want to see more. The way it works is pretty soon you are going to be coming back enough days that you are going to find yourself on a bus with us somewhere.”

Teagan Borbandy moves the puck up ice in a transition drill.

    The Huskies are returning five defenders from last year’s team, so ice time will be at a premium for any newcomers. Going forward, Borbandy can gain further motivation from another hockey development in her family.

    Last Friday, her younger sister, Emma, who is current playing defence for the Raiders, signed a letter of intent to play for the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds women’s hockey team for the start of the 2018-19 campaign. If Teagan stays with the Huskies, it is possible the two siblings might face each other on the ice one day.

    With all that in mind, Teagan said she just wants to work on getting better in the present.

    “My hopes are to work on things I know I need to work on, to improve and get to where some of their top defencemen are and maybe play a few games,” said Borbandy. “It would be awesome.”

    The Huskies resume their pre-season schedule this coming Saturday and Sunday, when they travel to Calgary to face the Mount Royal University Cougars on each of those days. The green and white open the regular season on Oct. 6 against their provincial rivals the U of Regina Cougars at 7 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

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