Reider has been the difference for Hilltops in 2023

Trey Reider has quarterbacked the Hilltops to a 10-0 mark in 2023.

Trey Reider has gotten the Saskatoon Hilltops over the hump.

During the 2023 CJFL season, Reider has given the Hilltops consistent play at quarterback. With that consistent play, the Hilltops have posted a 10-0 record and captured the Prairie Football Conference championship.

The Hilltops close out their home schedule on Sunday, when they host the Ontario Football Conference champion St. Clair Saints (10-0), who are based out of Windsor, in a CJFL semifinal contest at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

The winner advances to the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – which will be played on November 11 against the British Columbia Football Conference champion Westshore Rebels (12-0) in Victoria, B.C. The start time to the game is still to be announced.

During the Hilltops eight regular season games, Reider has completed 108-of-167 passes for 1,571 yards and 16 touchdowns, while throwing five interceptions during the regular season. He topped the PFC with a 114.6 quarterback efficiency rating, was named a PFC all-star and took honours as the PFC’s Most Outstanding Quarterback.

Thanks to the fact the Hilltops have a strong running game behind star power running back in PFC MVP Boston Davidsen and the Hilltops defence has given up just 66 points in the club’s 10 outings, Reider hasn’t had to go out and gun the football all over the field like Warren Moon.

The 21-year-old signal caller has done his job in making good decisions and being efficient in the passing game in order to compliment the Hilltops running game, defence and the squad’s special teams unit, which has had a good campaign too.

After returning to action after the 2020 CJFL campaign was cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world, the Hilltops didn’t get consistent enough play from the quarterback position in 2021 and 2022. The quarterbacks had some great games in those campaigns, but they also had outings where things stalled out.

Trey Reider has been efficient at QB for the Hilltops.

In 2021, Doug Fleming started the first three regular season games at quarterback for the Hilltops before he got benched after he struggled for a stretch. Damon Dutton took over as the starting quarterback for the rest of that campaign starting with the team’s fourth regular season contest.

The Hilltops finished 6-2 in the regular season and finished with an 8-3 record overall after falling in a CJFL semifinal to the Rams in Langley, B.C., 17-14 after turning the ball over 12 times.

In 2022, Dutton began the campaign as the Hilltops starting quarterback, but after he struggled for a stretch, Reider was inserted at the starting spot for the last three regular season games and both of the club’s post-season contests. The Hilltops made it to the PFC final falling to the Thunder in Regina 39-21.

The Hilltops posted a 5-3 record in the regular season due to a three-game skid and went 6-4 overall. That 6-4 overall mark was the worst record the Hilltops had posted since going 6-4 overall in 1993.

Fleming departed from the Hilltops following the 2021 campaign, and Dutton exhausted his CJFL eligibility with the completion of the 2022 season.

Saskatoon was good but not good enough in 2021 and 2022.

Reider is showing was the storied CJFL club can do with consistent play at quarterback. When the Hilltops won nine CJFL titles in a 10-year period from 2010 to 2019, they never had questions at the quarterback spot.

When the Hilltops won three straight CJFL titles from 2010 to 2012, the late Chase Bradshaw played quarterback with great athleticism and humbleness in the 2010 and 2011 title wins, and Matt Karpinka held down the controls under centre for the 2012 championship win.

In the Hilltops run of winning six straight CJFL titles from 2014 to 2019, Jared Andreychuk quarterbacked the Hilltops in expert fashion to championships in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Jordan Walls was the master at the controls in the title wins in 2017 and an 11-0 perfect season 2018.

Tyler Hermann had the opportunity to call signals as the starting quarterback for one season as a fifth-year senior in 2019, and he put together a memorable campaign that saw the Hilltops go 12-0 in winning the CJFL championship.

Trey Reider (#3) is pictured with the PFC championship trophy.

Over that 10-year run from 2010 to 2019, the Hilltops were spoiled with great play at quarterback, and it went so long that you could almost take it for granted. When the quarterback play was a step under from the level of what those Hilltops signal callers performed to from 2010 to 2019, the drop was noticeable.

In 2023, Reider has given the Hilltops their best play at the quarterback spot since the 10-year run from 2010 to 2019. As a result, the Hilltops record in 2023 has been better than it was in 2021 and 2022.

With Reider at the controls, you have to like the Hilltops chances at potentially getting two more wins to capture a 23^rd CJFL title in the team’s history that dates back to 1947.

Hilltops first CJFL title came against Saints club in 1953

The Saskatoon Hilltops saw one of their defining moments as a team come to pass against the St. Clair Saints franchise.

On Sunday at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the PFC champion Hilltops host the OFC champion Saints, who are based out of Windsor, in a CJFL semifinal final. The Saints first trip to Saskatoon came way back in 1953, when they were known as the Windsor AKO Fratmen.

Back in 1953, the modern day current version of the Hilltops were in their seventh year of existence, and they were playing host to the AKO Fratmen in the CJFL title game. The AKO Fratmen entered the contest as defending CJFL champions having defeated the visiting Edmonton Wildcats 15-12 in Windsor in the previous year’s national final.

The Hilltops made it to the CJFL championship game in their second year of existence, but they dropped a 23-10 decision to the Wildcats in Hamilton.

Excitement was high for the 1953 title game in Saskatoon, and the first 4,300 tickets for the contest at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus sold out quickly. Another 2,900 tickets were sold for the game bringing the attendance to 7,200, which was a record at the time for a CJFL title game played on the Prairies. The large gathering circled the field at Griffiths Stadium.

Hilltops quarterback Ron Adam hooked up with Bill Trout on a sleeper play for the game’s first touchdown and the hosts never looked back. The Hilltops stormed to a 34-6 victory on a -1 C day to capture the then league championship trophy the Leader-Post Trophy, which was also known as “the Little Grey Cup,” as CJFL champions.

For historical references, touchdowns in 1953 were worth five points instead of six points before teams tried to tack on a one or two-point conversion.

In the 1953 CJFL title game, Adam’s arm was golden in that contest as he completed 12-of-20 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns. At the time, football was way more geared to the run, and it was common for the offensive line to contain seven players. It was very rare for quarterbacks at that time to eclipse 300 yards in passing in those days as Adam did.

Adam also ran home a major score from 13 yards out.

At that time, the CJFL drew big crowds as the main feeder for the CFL. Following the 1953 CJFL title game, Adam, who passed away in 2014, went on to play seven seasons with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders mainly as a defensive back.

At the Canadian university level, the first Vanier Cup to declare a national champion wasn’t played until 1965.

The Hilltops and AKO Fratmen met in a CJFL title game in 1996 in a neutral site clash in Oshawa, Ont. Saskatoon romped to a 39-7 victory. The two sides collided in the 2017 CJFL title game in Windsor, which the Hilltops claimed 56-11.

The Saints/AKO Fratmen franchise last won the CJFL championship in 1999, when they defeated the visiting Kelowna, B.C., based Okanagan Sun 32-29 in Windsor.

The St. Clair College Student Athletic Association bought the Fratmen in February of 2020. The club played as the St. Clair Fratmen in 2021 and took on the St. Clair Saints name before the start of the 2022 campaign.

Rebels knock off Sun for BCFC title, other notes

The road to the Canadian Bowl will lead to Starlight Stadium in Langford, which is a suburb of Victoria, B.C.

On Saturday at that venue, the host Westshore Rebels downed the defending CJFL champion Okanagan Sun 33-19 to capture the Cullen Cup as British Columbia Football Conference champions. With the win, the Rebels, who improved to 12-0 overall, advance to host the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – on November 11 at Starlight Stadium.

The Rebels will play the winner of the CJFL semifinal between the PFC champion Saskatoon Hilltops and OFC champion St. Clair Saints. The CJFL semifinal between the Hilltops and the visiting Saints is set for Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field at 1 p.m. Both squads enter that contest with 10-0 overall records.

In Saturday’s BCFC title clash between the Rebels and the Sun, the Sun took a 12-4 lead into halftime. The Rebels proceeded to score 29 unanswered points in the third quarter to hold a comfortable 33-12 advantage. The Sun answered back with a touchdown in the fourth quarter to round out the 33-19 final in favour of the Rebels.

The Kelowna based Sun concluded the 2023 campaign with a 9-2 overall record.

• Rob Vanstone, who is the senior journalist and team historian of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, wrote a great piece on the Saskatoon Hilltops PFC championship win. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
• The Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears won the Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate’s 5A Football City Final with a 41-14 victory over the Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints on Friday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.
• The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team concluded their U Sports regular season with a 43-11 victory over the University of Regina Rams on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. The Huskies finished third in the Canada West Conference with a 5-3 record, while the Rams were last in the six-team Canada West with a 1-7 mark. Attendance for Saturday’s game between the Huskies and Rams at Mosaic Stadium was 1,599.

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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Hilltops will be back

Venerable CJFL club will continue positive impact in Saskatoon

Austin Thorarinson raises the Canadian Bowl for the Hilltops in 2015.

     The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic became a tough more real for the followers and all those involved with the Saskatoon Hilltops.
    While the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the North American sports scene since March 11, the reality of it hits teams and leagues to a more elevated degree when normal events of an entire season stop happening. That includes missing training camp activities and games.

    On Thursday, the CJFL announced the cancellation of the entire 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of regulations regarding travel and large gatherings that needed to be eased for football activities were just a couple of factors that were too much for the CJFL to overcome.

Tom Sargeant gets the ice bucket shower after the 2015 CJFL title win.

    Many other leagues in Canada are dealing with similar hoops the CJFL is trying to overcome. On Friday, the Prince Albert Minor Football Association cancelled all its fall programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    On the CJFL front, the Hilltops have won the last six straight league title and nine out of the 10 CJFL championships. The Canadian Bowl trophy has comfortably resided in the trophy display located at the entrance way of the Hilltops clubhouse.

    For the Hilltops, Thursday’s announcement would have been the latest shoe drop for this week. For those involved with the team, events that were missed in annual timelines had to be running through everyone’s minds.

Justin Filteau in action for the Hilltops in 2014.

    Monday would have normally be the start of Hilltops training camp. Thursday would have been the usual time for the team’s Alumni Game.

    The Alumni Game is an annual event alums look forward to, because it is often the one time every year the old players get to come back and see each other again. The alums often take part in some social gatherings after the game.

    There were likely a few times this week where those involved with the Hilltops thought, “Wow, we actually aren’t doing this for this year.”

    At this point in time, it is apparent the whole sports scene in Canada is going to go through a reset due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No one can predict what that reset will look like outside of the fact things will look a lot different than they did on March 10, which was seemingly the last normal sports calendar day in North America.

    The Hilltops will be there when the pandemic ends and the reset runs its course. In a current world that has very few certainties, this is one you can bank on.

Jordan Walls fires a pass downfield for the Hilltops in 2018.

    The current modern day version of the Hilltops first hit the field in 1947 and won the provincial title that year. They made it to the CJFL title game in 1948 falling 23-10 to the Hamilton Wildcats.

    In 1953, the Hilltops won their first CJFL championship hammering the Windsor AKO Fratmen 34-6 in front of 7,200 spectators at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon on the golden arm of quarterback Ron Adam, who completed 12-of-20 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns. Adam’s throwing was complimented by powerful and tough rushing attack.

    Since that first CJFL championship win, the Hilltops have gone on to win a total of 22 CJFL titles hoisting three different league championship trophies in the Leader-Post Trophy, the Armadale Cup and the Canadian Bowl in the process.

Jadyn Pingue in action for the Hilltops in 2019.

    Since 1998, the Hilltops have been guided Tom Sargeant as head coach and have won 13 CJFL championships under his direction. Sargeant also experience CJFL title wins one as a player and twice as an assistant coach with the Hilltops.

    He holds the record for most career post-secondary head coaching football wins in Canada posting a 210-30-2 mark in the CJFL regular season and post-season. Sargeant is cemented on the Mount Rushmore of amateur football coaching greats in Saskatchewan.
    Tonnes of his former players credit him for being one of their biggest life influences.

    Besides “Sarge,” the Hilltops have a legacy of stellar people hold executive and coaching roles with the team who have had big impacts in the community. The list includes people like Ed Henick, Len Richardson, Don McDonald, Bob Arn, Al Ledingham and Dave Hardy.

Rylan Kleiter makes a tough catch for the Hilltops.

    Due to the great leadership the club has had over the years, the Hilltops have build a vast network of alums and people that identify with the team in the community.

    If Saskatoon is having a year where seemingly everything is going on in the world is bad, the Hilltops inevitably seem to be the one thing that rises up and shows you can still do great things by doing things the right way.
    Any time the Hilltops go on a CJFL championship run, people in Saskatoon can recall warm memories the team produced in the past and relive those memories in the present.

The Hilltops celebrate winning the Canadian Bowl in 2018.

    The memories include players like Ron Atchison, Steve Molnar, Wayne Shaw, Gord Barwell, Ted Dushinski, Warren Muzika, Sheldon Ball, Brian Guebert, Jorgen Hus, Andre Lalonde, Justin Filteau, Jordan Walls and Jadyn Pingue leaving everything on the field for the team.

    The amount of people that have positive emotional investment in the Hilltops seems endless. You can bet the Hilltops will continue to leave a positive and inspirational mark on Saskatoon sports scene when North America and the world gets rolling after the tough part of these current pandemic times end.

Huskies’ Vance, Drever to coach one day female goalie camp

Information on Solid Goaltending’s all-girls one day camp.

    If you are a young female goaltender that is looking to get out of the house, Solid Goaltending has an offer that is too good to pass up.

    On Sunday, Aug. 16, Solid Goaltending will be running a one day girls’ only camp featuring Jessica Vance and Camryn Drever as instructors at the Jemini Arena. Vance and Drever make up the dynamic goaltending tandem for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.

    Solid Goaltending is run by Sheldon Goertzen, who is the goaltending coach for the Huskies women’s team.

    The camp has six spots open for goalies in the under-18 age group and six sports for the under-15 age category.

    For young female netminders, this camp will be well worth their time. Vance and Drever are outstanding goalies and are both personable and approachable.

Jessica Vance in action for the Huskies.

    Odds are quite high those attending the camp will come away feeling they had a great experience.

Vance just finished her fourth season of U Sports eligibility and third campaign with the Huskies. The Prince Albert, Sask., product has appeared in 59 career regular season games with the Huskies posting a 38-14-6 record, a 1.17 goals against average, a .947 save percentage and 20 shutouts.

    In the 2017-18 U Sports campaign, Vance was the most valuable player of the Canada West Conference and a U Sports first team all-Canadian all-star. She starred for five seasons with the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 AAA team from 2010 to 2015.

    Drever just finished her second U Sports campaign with the Huskies. She has appeared in 14 career regular season games posting an 8-5-1 record, a 1.56 goals against average, a .928 save percentage and four shutouts.

Camryn Drever makes a stop for the Huskies.

    The Edmonton product backstopped the Alberta based St. Alberta Slash to Canadian female Under-18 AAA championships capture the Esso Cup in 2017 and 2018.

    Together, Vance and Drever bring a vast amount of experience that they can pass on to a younger generation and give the camp attendees an upbeat break from the stress of the current COVID-19 pandemic world.

    Those interested in registering for the camp can call (306) 371-6008 or email solid.goaltendingsk@gmail.com.

    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.

Fischer was born to play for CJFL’s storied Hilltops

Star running back aims for final big game in Canadian Bowl

Logan Fischer (#21) leads the Hilltops on to SMF Field.

    Since the day he was born, it seemed like destiny that Logan Fischer would one day play for the Saskatoon Hilltops.

    His father, Axel, was a star tight end and kicker for the Hilltops, and Axel helped the Hilltops win a Canadian Junior Football League title in 1978 with a 24-4 victory over the Ottawa Sooners at Saskatoon’s Gordie Howe Bowl. The Hilltops captured the Armadale Cup, which was the league championship trophy at the time, with that win. Following his playing career, Axel spent some time with the Hilltops as an assistant coach and was part of the coaching staff of the 1985 CJFL championship winning team.

    Logan, who is currently a star fifth-year running back with the team, remembers being enamoured with his father’s links to the venerable CJFL team from a very young age.

    “I remember when I was a little kid I would always play with his rings,” said Logan. “I’d look at them and be like, “Oh, one day I’m going to win one of these.”

    “Sure enough, I have three on my hand and am looking for that fourth.”

Logan Fischer is the ultimate “big game” player.

    Logan has helped the Hilltops win the last three straight CJFL titles, and he was named the offensive player of the game in the league championship game in each of the past two years. He will finish off his junior eligibility playing in one final CJFL title game on Saturday in Windsor, Ont., when the Hilltops (10-1) battle the host AKO Fratmen (9-1).

    The Hilltops are trying to become the first team in the history of the CJFL to win four straight league titles. They won three straight league titles on two other occasions from 2001 to 2003 and 2010 to 2012.

    Going into his final career CJFL game, Logan remembered how proud his father was of his playing days with the Hilltops and hearing the stories of those days growing up.

    “He showed me lots of the film on VHS,” said Logan. “He would be like, “Oh, that’s me right there” catching a nice touchdown pass as the tight end or putting the ball deep punting.

    “He was a very versatile guy I heard. I guess I got to see a little bit of it, which was nice.”

    After graduating from Saskatoon’s Bethlehem Catholic High School in 2013, Logan joined the Hilltops. During his rookie season, he enjoyed the fact the team’s older directors recognized him as Axel’s son.

Logan Fischer was named to the PFC all-star team.

    In year two with the Hilltops, the son started to make his mark with team after then star fifth-year running back Wayndel Lewis injured his ankle in a Prairie Football Conference semifinal playoff game and was out for the rest of the 2014 post-season. Logan Fischer stepped into the starting spot and ran the ball 28 times for 183 yards in a 27-7 PFC final victory over the Calgary Colts.

    The Hilltops advanced to that year’s Canadian Bowl in Langley, B.C., and they dumped the host Rams 39-14. In his first CJFL title game, Fischer carried the ball 19 times for 94 yards and scored one touchdown. He also hauled in four passes for another 37 yards.

    Fischer’s big games kept coming.

    During a regular season game on Sept. 5, 2015 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, Fischer ran the ball 32 times for 293 yards and scored a touchdown and caught two passes for 26 yards as the Hilltops downed the Regina Thunder 35-17 in a downpour of rain.

    In that season’s Canadian Bowl, Fischer earned his first most outstanding offensive player of the game award in a CJFL title clash as the Hilltops got past the Okanagan Sun 38-24 at SMF Field. 

Logan Fischer (#21) piled up the yardage in the 2015 Canadian Bowl.

    He ran the ball 23 times for 102 yards and scored two touchdowns and caught seven passes for 107 yards.

    At the 2016 Canadian Bowl in Langford, B.C., Fischer ran the ball 28 times for 202 yards and caught four passes for 43 yards and two majors as the Hilltops downed the host Westshore Rebels 37-25. He claimed his second most outstanding offensive player of the game award in a CJFL title clash.

    Fischer said all those big games blend together as one great experience over the years. He didn’t really know how to react to the realization he will play the final game of his CJFL career before exhausting his junior eligibility on Saturday.

    “It is quite the feeling,” said Fischer, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 220 pounds. “You don’t really know if you are going to win.

    “I’m sure there are a lot of guys out there that feel really confident, and I’m amongst them. We have a good team. I think this is the year we are going to get the job done and get that four-peat.”

Logan Fischer takes top offensive player honours in the 2015 Canadian Bowl.

    Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant said Fischer hits another gear when the games get bigger and the spotlight gets brighter.

    “He thrives in those situations,” said Sargeant. “He loves being the guy. He loves getting the ball.

    “He makes everyone around him better. The thing that we love is he is a great runner, tough and physical, but he is also a great pass catcher out of the backfield.

    “He certainly creates mismatches for defences and allows us to open up a game plan that includes him in both the run and the pass, which is why he gets featured so much and why he sees the ball so much.”

    Sargeant added Fischer plays with a high competitive edge and has been a good leader for the team’s younger running backs including third-year tailback Adam Machart and sophomore ball carrier Joshua Ewanchyna.

Logan Fischer (#21) muscles his way into the end zone for the Hilltops.

    “He (Fischer) is an uncommon football player for his frame how physical he is, how aggressive he runs the ball,” said Sargeant. “He has an intensity that is tough to match.

    “When he is on, there is no one else you want making plays for you. Why do you think the other two running backs are running so great? He has certainly helped to motivate them and be a good mentor for them and has taught them how to play the game and play running back for the Saskatoon Hilltops, so we are thankful for that.”

    Before joining the Hilltops for his final CJFL campaign, Fischer attended the training camp for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. During the CJFL season itself, he had battled a nagging leg injury all season, but he still ran the ball 121 times for 804 yards and scored 11 touchdowns over the eight-game regular season. He was named a PFC all-star and the PFC’s most outstanding offensive back.

Logan Fischer (#21) has three CJFL title rings.

    If he received another invite to a Roughriders training camp, Fischer said he would take it. If a CFL avenue doesn’t work out, Fischer doesn’t plan to continue playing football in the Canadian university ranks.

    “I’m more of a trades guy,” said Fischer, who turns 22-years-old in December. “I’m getting ready for my third year apprenticeship with plumbing.

    “I’d don’t see why I would kind of step away from that. I’m making good money. School is only two months versus four years.”

    Knowing he has a good post-playing life to transition on to, Fischer’s current focus is on having one final great game playing for the team he always wanted to play for. He wants to be a factor in helping the Hilltops prevail over the AKO Fratmen.

    “I think the guys are ready,” said Fischer. “Sarge (Sargeant) gets us in the right mindset, and we are just ready to go.

    “He makes us focus up for practice, and we have to respect the opponent. He can’t stress that enough. They have good athletes.

    “I think ultimately, we are a team of perseverance really. We’ve come back in the past, and I don’t think we are going to let it slip this year.”

Back in the Express with Simonsen

Kirk Simonsen (#51) locks up on a block for the Hilltops.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature on Saskatoon Hilltops right tackle Kirk Simonsen.

    Simonsen is part of a group of 11 players in their fourth year of eligibility with the team looking to go four-for-four in seasons played with CJFL championship victories. Adam Benkic, Bobby Ehman, Connor Guillet, Logan Kelsey-Stern, Liam Murphy, Sam Mike, Cody Peters, Jason Price, James Vause and Jordan Walls are the other Hilltops are trying to be part of a fourth straight CJFL championship win in four years of eligibility.

    A total of six players in their fifth and final seasons of eligibility are trying to lay claim to being part of a fourth straight CJFL championship victory including Logan Fischer, Luke Melnyk, Cameron Schnitzler, Tom Schnitzler, Colin Stumborg and Ryan Turple.

    Centre Jack Sloboda is in his final year of junior eligibility, but he joined the Hilltops at the start of the 2016 season after spending time with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team.

    Simonsen has a cool individual story. He came to the Hilltops after playing six-man high school football in Hanley, Sask., with the Hanley Compsite School Sabres.

    In six-man high school football, Simonsen got to do something most offensive linemen don’t normally do. He talked about what the transition was like going from the six-man game to the 12-man game.

    The story on Simonsen can be found right here.

Hilltops first CJFL title came versus Windsor in 1953

    The Saskatoon Hilltops try to win their 20^th CJFL title in team history against the team their first national junior title came against way back in 1953.

    Back in 1953, the modern day current version of the Hilltops were in their seventh year of existence, and they were playing host to the Windsor AKO Fratmen in the CJFL title game. The AKO Fratmen entered the contest as defending CJFL champions having defeated the visiting Edmonton Wildcats 15-12 in Windsor in the previous year’s national final.

    The Hilltops made it to the CJFL championship game in their second year of existence, but they dropped a 23-10 decision to the Wildcats in Hamilton.

    Excitement was high for the 1953 title game in Saskatoon, and the first 4,300 tickets for the contest at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus sold out quickly. Another 2,900 tickets were sold for the game bringing the attendance to 7,200, which was a record at the time for a CJFL title game played on the Prairies. The large gathering circled the field at Griffiths Stadium.

    Hilltops quarterback Ron Adam hooked up with Bill Trout on a sleeper play for the game’s first touchdown and the hosts never looked back. The Hilltops stormed to a 34-6 victory on a -1 C day to capture the then league championship trophy the Leader-Post Trophy, which was also known as “the Little Grey Cup,” as CJFL champions.

    Adam’s arm was golden in that contest as he completed 12-of-20 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns. At the time, football was way more geared to the run, and it was common for the offensive line to contain seven players. It was very rare for quarterbacks at that time to eclipse 300 yards in passing in those days as Adam did.

    Adam also ran home a major score from 13 yards out.

    At that time, the CJFL drew big crowds as the main feeder for the CFL. Following the 1953 CJFL title game, Adam, who passed away in 2014, went on to play seven seasons with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders mainly as a defensive back.

    At the Canadian university level, the first Vanier Cup to declare a national champion wasn’t played until 1965.

    The Hilltops and AKO Fratmen last met in a CJFL title game in 1996 in a neutral site clash in Oshawa, Ont. Saskatoon romped to a 39-7 victory.

    The AKO Fratmen last won the CJFL championship in 1999, when they defeated the visiting Kelowna, B.C., based Okanagan Sun 32-29 in Windsor.

Ridley set to call 3,800^th game

Bob Ridley has called 3,799 games for the Tigers.

    Bob Ridley, who is the iconic play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, once admitted to me the day would come when he would bid listeners a “good night” for the final time.

    “One of these days I am going to have to retire,” said Ridley. “You can’t do it forever.

    “But, it has been a great ride. I hope to stay on as long as I can.”

    The talk I speak of occurred way back in August of 2006, when I was doing an interview for my first feature story on Ridley, who was 62-years-old at the time.

    These days at age 73, Ridley is still the only play-by-play voice in the history of the WHL’s Tigers. He gave up driving the team bus about three years back, but he is still going as strong as ever calling games on the radio, as the Tigers play through their 48^th season of existence.

    On Friday when the Tigers (10-6) travel to Calgary to take on the Hitmen (6-10-1) at the Scotiabank Saddledome, Ridley will call his 3,800^th game as the Tigers play-by-play voice. His total of 3,799 games called to date includes 3,379 of the Tigers 3,380 regular season contests, one standings tiebreaker game, all 399 contests the Tigers have played in the WHL playoffs and all 20 contests the team has played in the Memorial Cup tournament.

    If someone called an average of 80 games between the regular season and playoffs each season for 47 seasons, that person would still fall short of the total number of games Ridley has called.

    It is extremely likely no one in the Canadian media industry will ever come close to Ridley’s still growing games called total as the play-by-play voice of one team.

Blades should be in a barnburner with Broncos, other notes

Cameron Hebig and the Blades could be in for a shootout.

    The SaskTel Centre should be the site of a pretty good WHL clash on the day before Remembrance Day.

    The Saskatoon Blades (7-8-1) return home after four straight road games to tangle with the Swift Current Broncos (11-3-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades have won four of their last five games, while the Broncos have been one of the WHL’s best teams in the early going of the 2017-18 campaign. Both sides have players that can light up the scoreboard.

    Broncos right-winger Tyler Steenbergen leads the WHL in scoring with 23 goals and 15 assists. Finnish import left-winger Aleksi Heponiemi is second in the WHL scoring race potting 12 goals and 25 assists playing on Swift Current’s top line with Steenbergen.

    Swift Current captain Glenn Gawdin, who centres the line with Steenbergen and Heponiemi, is fourth in the WHL scoring race piling up 11 goals and 22 assists.

    Defenceman Colby Sissons had quarterbacked the offence from the back end for Swift Current recording four goals and 14 assists.

Tyler Steenbergen (#17) and the Broncos have been on fire.

    Centre Cameron Hebig and left-winger Braylon Shmyr have paced Saskatoon’s offence in their overage seasons. Hebig leads the Blades in scoring with 14 goals and eight assists, while Shmyr is second in team scoring with seven goals and 10 assists.

    Czech import defenceman Libor Hajek has helped pace Blades offence from the back end picking up four goals and seven assists.

    Overager Logan Flodell is having an outstanding start to the season playing goal for the Broncos posting a 10-2-1 record, a 2.68 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and two shutouts. He was with the Blades, but was traded to the Broncos right before the start of the regular season.

    Ryan Kubic, who is the Blades 19-year-old starting goalie, is beginning to play stronger after a slow start to the season. So far this season, Kubic has posted a 7-6-1 record, a 3.76 goals against average and a .880 save percentage. The St. Andrews, Man., product has started every contest of the stretch where the Blades have won four of their last five games stopping 152 of 164 total shots for a .927 save percentage.

    The Broncos, who are rated second in the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 rankings, have won two of the three head-to-head meetings with the Blades this season. The Blades took the last encounter between the two squads 4-3 back on Oct. 27 in Swift Current.

    Friday’s game will be the Blades “Salute Our Forces” night contest due to the fact Remembrance Day falls on Saturday.

• It has been great getting to have short visits with brothers Jeff and Dean Chynoweth during the early part of the WHL campaign. Jeff is the general manager of the Calgary Hitmen, and he is the former general manager and owner of the Kootenay Ice. Dean is an associate coach with the Vancouver Giants. Before joining the Giants, Dean had been the head coach of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage. The sons of the late Ed Chynoweth, who playing an integral part in building the WHL, have had a long and great history with the WHL. It is great they are still part of the circuit.
• Defensive end Riley Pickett and defensive back Colton Holmes of the Saskatoon Hilltops were named to the CJFL’s all-star team on the defensive side of the ball on Wednesday. Pickett had 15 solo tackles and nine sacks in eight regular season games. Holmes had 22 solo tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery during regular season play. Defensive lineman Adam Slikboer of the Windsor AKO Fratmen was also named to the CJFL’s defensive all-star team.
• Saskatoon Express editor Cam Hutchinson wrote a great column about how media moguls don’t deserve handouts and the changes that occurred at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix over the years as that publication has slipped in stature. It can be found here.
• Former CTV Regina sports broadcaster Bianca Millions deserves to be working in a mainstream outlet in a big centre. It is a shame that she isn’t working in the mainstream media in Canada somewhere. When working sporting events in Regina, she made a great duo with Arielle Zerr of CJME. Millions and Zerr always lifted the atmosphere wherever they appeared together. Millions took time to speak about her career as a female sports reporter and the obstacles she has faced with the University of Regina’s School of Journalism magazine publication. The magazine with the story about Millions can be found here.
• On Wednesday, it was announced the last edition of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald would be published on Dec. 7 and the media outlet’s website would also be shut down. The Times-Herald still provided beat coverage for the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors, so that will come to an end too, as the WHL beat writer becomes an even more endangered species in Canada’s media landscape. The Times-Herald was founded as a weekly newspaper in 1889 and became a daily in 1906. Like a lot of media outlets, questionable management helped bring the Times-Herald to an end, but you will likely hear spin on how the changing media industry brought down an outlet that was in kind of a monopoly situation in Moose Jaw. The Times-Herald was the home to the late great Rick Moore, who passed away from cancer in 2008 and was the publication’s legendary sports editor. The content produced in the sports section when Moore was the editor was outstanding, and the local sports scene was treated like prime time. His celebration of life attracted close to 1,000 people in April of 2008. It will be sad to see the Times-Herald fall by the wayside.

    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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