Wyant Group Raceway ready for green flag to drop

The Wyant Group Raceway opens its season on Saturday.

    For members of the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association, they might feel like kids opening presents on Christmas morning, because they will begin racing for real.

    On Saturday, the green flag is ready to drop to start an abbreviated season at the Wyant Group Raceway. Normally, the stock car racing season in Saskatoon starts near the last weekend of May.

    Of course, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic wreaked havoc on the local automotive racing season like it has the entire sports world.

    The SSCRA has had a racing season of some sort every year since 1954, and that streak will go on despite the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

    The front gates are set to open at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the national anthem and invocation will follow at 6 p.m. to kick off the night’s main program.

    Racing is slated to take place in the super late model, bandolero, sportsman, baby grand and mini cup classes.

    Due to Government of Saskatchewan COVID-19 pandemic regulations, the SSCRA was only able to sell 150 tickets for Saturday’s race program, and those tickets were all scooped up a short time after going on sale on Tuesday.
    The fans won’t have any problems when to comes to physical distancing as the Wyant Group Raceway has a capacity of 3,319 spectators, and the track also has 15 corporate chalets that act as box seating.

Racers from the sportsman class head down the front straightaway. 

    With 150 spectators coming to the track, it will almost feel like you could have one fan per every section of stands.

    Still, those in attendance will likely be excited to once again take in one of Saskatoon’s long time summer traditions. The tradition goes back to 1954, when the unincorporated Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Club, which became the SSCRA, operated on the 8^th Street Racing Oval called the Motordrome.

    The track moved to the grandstand area at Prairieland Park for a couple of years in 1970 and 1971. The action shifted to the Bridge City Speedway from 1972 to 2005 before the City of Saskatoon annexed that land to build the residential neighbourhood of Evergreen.

    Since 2006, the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association has called the immaculate Wyant Group Raceway home. For those that have never been there, Wyant Group Raceway feels like a piece of race car heaven, and you almost can’t believe a stock car racing facility that nice is located in Saskatoon.

    When the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t on, the Wyant Group Raceway hosts an annual NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop. The NASCAR Pinty’s Series is a minor league circuit that prepares drivers to compete one day at NASCAR’s top level – the Cup Series.

    Still, the racing in Saskatoon’s local classes is top notch and gets the adrenaline pumping. SSCRA supporters will once again be able to see the exploits of various standout drivers in local classes like Aaron Anderson, Neil Schneider, Kevin Dyck, Lachlyn Anderson, Sam Howlett, Blake Erb, Mike Rea, Matthew Shirley and Jim Gaunt.

The super late model class produces tonnes of thrilling races. 

    Prince Albert, Sask., product Shantel Kalika is another track standout, but it is uncertain she will take part in any 2020 races as she is on maternity leave.

    Some of the Saskatoon drivers have been entertaining fans online with a series of iRacing virtual events. While the broadcasts of the virtual events are cool, they can’t replace the feel of live action.

    The shortened SSCRA race season is schedule to run over seven spread out over August and September.

    Considering it seemed possible there wouldn’t be a race season at all in these pandemic times, the 2020 SSCRA season is a special and much welcomed gift.

Could the Saskatoon Field House come back to action?

The front entrance of the Saskatoon Field House.

    It appears the Saskatoon Field House might not be used for any field hospital type purposes at all.

    In early April, the Saskatchewan Health Authority said the Saskatoon Field House was going to be used to stage staff for the field hospital that has been built inside neighbouring Merlis Belsher Place for a surge of COVID-19 cases.

    Merlis Belsher Place was opened on the University of Saskatchewan campus on October of 2018 mainly to serve as the home of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams. Housing two hockey rinks, Merlis Belsher Place was also home to the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 AAA hockey team and the Saskatoon Stars under-18 female AAA hockey club.

    At the moment, Merlis is a “Linus blanket” field hospital in waiting, and for those that have seen the surge of COVID-19 cases in the United States, it is likely a good thing Merlis is a field hospital in waiting.

    It is well known in the Saskatoon sports community that Merlis won’t be available to be a sports facility for the 2020-21 campaign, and it is uncertain when it will ever serve as a sports facility again.

    With that noted, it appears the Saskatoon Field House might escape having to serve the field hospital at Merlis.

    I went biking through that area on Sunday, and there is no Saskatchewan Health Authority signage on the Saskatoon Field House. There are still signs on the doors of the Saskatoon Field House from the City of Saskatoon stating that sports facility is still closed.

    When you go to the back of the Saskatoon Field House, it feels kind of abandoned as some of the weeds by the back door are about three feet high.

    The City of Saskatoon’s website says the Saskatoon Field House is still closed and there are no notes about when it possibly could reopen. Most of Saskatoon’s leisure centres are close with the exception of the Lakewood Civic Centre and the Shaw Centre, which are partially open.

    The Saskatoon Field House in the main practice facility for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s and women’s track and field teams and for the local track and field community. If it isn’t being reserved to assist with the field hospital at Merlis, the optimism that the Saskatoon Field House could be opened for sports purposes at some point in the future has to increase.

    The outside of Merlis has various Saskatchewan Health Authority signs placed all over it. The main entrance has a label for staff to enter and door for couriers bring packages to the building.

    The back side Merlis has a pair of doors labeled for patients to enter, and both doors lead to the hockey rink area.

    While Merlis won’t be a sports facility for some time, it would be a huge bonus for the Saskatoon sports community to get the Saskatoon Field House back.

Softball Saskatchewan cancels provincials, other notes

Saskatchewan softball players will just play in local area leagues in 2020.

    Softball Saskatchewan couldn’t hold out any longer.

    On Wednesday, the minor sport governing body cancelled all of its provincial championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While most minor sport governing bodies that oversaw teams sports during the spring and summer hand cancelled their respective provincials some time ago, Softball Saskatchewan was holding out hoping some positive developments would break with regards to the pandemic.

    Softball Saskatchewan cited Government of Saskatchewan restrictions and guidelines for the cancellation. The Government of Saskatchewan still has a ban regarding tournament play for team sports due to the pandemic.

    Only Golf Saskatchewan was able to run provincial championship tournaments this summer due to golf being an individual sport.

    Softball Saskatchewan and Baseball Sask were allowed to get game action going in city and house leagues starting in early July. Those games are continuing throughout August.

    While it is disappointing Softball Saskatchewan won’t be able to host provincial championship tournament, the crew with that organization should be commended for the work they did to try and make those title events a reality.

• On Tuesday, the AHL announced it has cancelled the AHL All-Star Classic for the 2020-21 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Laval Rocket was set to host the AHL All-Star Classic on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in 2021. Laval will host the event for the 2021-22 campaign on dates that are still to be determined. The AHL hopes to start its 2021-22 regular season on Dec. 4.
• On Tuesday, the Saskatoon Blades announced former captain Ralph Klassen passed away at age 64. Klassen, who is from Humboldt, Sask., played 300 regular season games at centre over five seasons for the Blades from 1970 to 1975 piling up 81 goals and 194 assists for 275 points. Following his time with the Blades, Klassen skated for nine seasons in the NHL from 1975 to 1984 playing for the California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Blues. He appeared in 497 career NHL regular season games collecting 52 goals and 93 assists for 145 points. Klassen passed away after a battle with cancer.
• On Wednesday, the OHL announced it hopes to start its regular season on Dec. 1. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the OHL is reducing the length of its regular season from 68 games to 64 games for each team. The OHL plans to hold playoffs in a 16-team format slated to start on April 29, 2021. The OHL hopes to host the Memorial Cup tournament to crown a CHL champion from June 17-27, 2021 in either Oshawa with the Generals as hosts or Sault Ste. Marie with the Greyhounds as hosts.
• On Wednesday, Phil Andrews announced via Twitter he was remaining with the WHL’s Regina Pats as the team’s director of media and communications. He was set to step down from that post on July 31. Andrews said he will be remaining with the Pats to bridge the gap in that position until the WHL season starts.
• On Thursday, the WHL announced it is moving the start of its regular season for the 2020-21 campaign to Dec.4 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The circuit is still planning to play a full 68 game regular season for each team and four rounds of playoffs.
• On Thursday, the CJFL cancelled its entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The venerable Saskatoon Hilltops have won the last six straight CJFL titles and have taken the league crown in nine of the last 10 years. The Regina Thunder had the lone other CJFL title win during that span of time coming in 2013.
• On Thursday, the University of Alberta Golden Bears men’s hockey team and the University of Alberta Pandas women’s hockey team were reinstated as members of the Canada West Conference for the 2020-21 U Sports season. On June 17, the U of Alberta athletics program suspended play in a number of sports for the 2020-21 season due to financial constraints brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Golden Bears and Pandas hockey teams requested to be reinstated following new financial support from donors. At the moment, regular season play in the Canada West Conference is slated to start in Jan. 2021 depending how the COVID-19 pandemic plays out. The Golden Bears have won the most U Sports national men’s titles with 16, and the Pandas have won the most U Sports national women’s titles at eight.
• Gregg Drinnan continues to do solid work tracking how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the sports world in his Taking Note blog. His post from Thursday can be found by clicking right here.

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

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“Kickstart My Heart” – Let action at the Wyant Group Raceway go green flag!

The SSCRA’s super late model class jets into action in 2017. 

    Right now, there is a sizable community inside Saskatoon that feels “the need for speed!”

    Usually, the Saturday of last weekend would have marked the start of the new Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association season. Normally, that would mean you could look forward to Saturday nights at the Wyant Group Raceway watching a mix of racers in seven different classes ripping around the track like their hair is on fire.

Aaron Anderson zips around the track in the pro truck class in 2017.

    These racers are good too, and they are running around the track in pricey toys that can go at high speed comparable to what see with NASCAR races on television. Some of the cars in Saskatoon’s super late model class cost around $34,000, and they perform just as good as or even better than NASCAR cars.

    Unfortunately due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we are robbed of seeing the exploits of Aaron Anderson, Neil Schneider, Kevin Dyck, Lachlyn Anderson, Sam Howlett, Blake Erb, Mike Rea, Matthew Shirley and Jim Gaunt.

Matthew Shirley in super late model action in 2017.

    The Wyant Group Raceway is home of drivers from Saskatoon and mid to northern parts of Saskatchewan.

    It is also the home track for Prince Albert, Sask., product Shantel Kalika. Kalika has made appearances the past two seasons on the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, which is a minor league series that prepares drivers to compete one day at NASCAR’s top level – the Cup Series.

    While competing on the Pinty’s Series, Kalika has continued to race in the pro truck class at the Saskatoon track.

The Wyant Group Raceway can pack in the fans.

    The best part about the crew at the Wyant Group Raceway is that they are all good people and there are countless names of drivers you could include in this column that are fun to watch. Even if you only have a casual interest in racing, it is a blast being out there.

    When you head out there, it is pretty obvious there is a sizable segment of the community that has found the charm of that track. It is common to see a gathering of at least 1,500 on most race nights.

    The Wyant Group Raceway is a NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop, and that has become the local annual two-day Super Bowl type spectacle at that track during a Tuesday and a Wednesday night in late July.

The Wyant Group Raceway enjoys healthy support in Saskatoon.

    The local classes take centre stage on the first day. On the second day, it is common to see the stands that can pack in 3,319 spectators full to check out two 125-lap NASCAR Pinty’s Series with a local Saskatoon class holding a feature race of its own between the two Pinty’s Series runs.

    Unfortunately, this year’s NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop set for July 28 and 29 in Saskatoon has become a COVID-19 casualty.

    At the moment, Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association isn’t throwing in the towel as far as the 2020 campaign is concerned. It hopes to start its season at the beginning of August.

Shantel Kalika, left, is one of the SSCRA’s best known racers. 

    The NASCAR Cup Series has already restarted its 2020 campaign in the United States racing in events without fans.

    The top professional level has shown it is possible to hold stock car racing in these COVID-19 pandemic times.

    The racers are shielded from coming into physical contact with each other, because they are inside their cars. The pit crew teams are all spaced out from each other.

    Inside each team, you do work together in close quarters, but the Cup Series races have shown the pit crew teams can get things done just with wearing protective masks.

    On top of that, the drivers at the Wyant Group Raceway are putting a tonne of their own money into their cars and operations. Of course, most of the racers have sponsors, but they are not bringing in big paydays.

Shantel Kalika (#49) races in the pro truck class in 2017.

    Usually the top prize for winning a local class feature race on the NASCAR Pinty’s Series race days is $1,000, which isn’t a whole lot of money in the race world.

    These drivers are out there, because they love what they are doing and they love being at the track.

    If the races have to go on without fans, it would be wise to see of Access7 in Regina could come up to Saskatoon and broadcast the races from the Wyant Group Raceway on the community channels run by Access7 and the stripped Shaw cable company.

Neil Schneider in action in the sportsman class in 2017.

    These races are something the SaskTel Network could look into showing province wide too. The action at the Wyant Group Raceway is a product made for television.

    Actually, if the province could lax up on the restrictions for mass gatherings to allow the Wyant Group Raceway to operate at half its spectator capacity, the track could rock and roll with that.

    Last weekend in Canada, you had gatherings of 3,500 in three cities rightfully protesting to bring an end to racism, and the Wyant Group Raceway’s capacity comes in just under that.

Jim Gaunt is the steady veteran at the Wyant Group Raceway.

    Stock car racing is a long time summer tradition in Saskatoon. The tradition goes back to 1954 when the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association started out as the unincorporated Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Club operating on the 8^th Street Racing Oval called the Motordrome.

    The track moved to the grandstand area at Prairieland Park for a couple of years in 1970 and 1971.      

    The action moved to the Bridge City Speedway from 1972 to 2005 before the City of Saskatoon annexed that land to build the residential neighbourhood of Evergreen.

Kevin Dyck (#10) makes a charge in a super late model race in 2017.

    Since 2006, the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association has called the immaculate Wyant Group Raceway home, which has 15 corporate chalets on its grounds.

    Stock car racing is something that is doable in these COVID-19 pandemic days. Come on medical health and government officials, let’s make this happen.

White named interim CEO of U Sports, other notes

Dick White, right, with Christine Stapleton in 2001.

    Dick White couldn’t stay retired and has answered the call from Canada’s university sports scene once again.

    On Tuesday, White was named the interim Chief Executive Officer for U Sports. White takes over from departing president and CEO Graham Brown, who had served in that role since October 2015.

    White is best known for being the director of athletics for the University of Regina from 1995 to his retirement on Dec. 31, 2014. He served as the president of U Sports for two stints including from 2005 to 2009 and the 2013-14 season.

    He graduated from the U of R in 1974 with bachelor of education. White initially joined the U of R’s athletics program in 1981 as administrative assistant and would continue to work in a variety of roles at the university before becoming the director of athletics in 1995.

    White was inducted into the Regina Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 as a builder. Since his retirement, he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (2015), the U of Regina Sports Hall of Fame (2019) and the inaugural class of the Canada West Hall of Fame (2019).

    “I am pleased to take on this role and am committed to working with our teams and membership in navigating the current environment and positioning the Canadian university sport delivery system to achieve best-case outcomes,” said White in a release. “I strongly believe U Sports will further its important role as a progressive facilitator and advocate for university sport and to advance future opportunities for athletes.”

Dick White, right, with Ralph Nilson in 2002.

    White helped navigate U of Regina athletics out of tough economic times in the early to mid 1990s. Under his watch, U of Regina athletics grew from its original six varsity teams to 16 teams.

    That include having the CJFL’s Regina Rams join the U Sports ranks as the U of Regina Rams in 1999 to play alongside the rest of the varsity teams that operate as the U of Regina Cougars.

    White had a big hand in allowing a new gym in the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport to be built and open on the U of Regina campus grounds in 2004.

    With the world gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lot of uncertainty.

    White has vast experience in dealing with government officials during his career, and this will be a huge asset for U Sports as it tries to get itself through these crazy current days.

    White has a great passion for U Sports, and you can bet he is coming into this position to make a huge positive difference.

    In all reality, White has done his part for “king and country” when it comes to Canada’s university sports scene, and he could have deservedly gone on enjoying the retired life. He still regularly attended as many U of Regina athletics events as he could just to enjoy things as a spectator.

    It is pretty big for U Sports that he has come back to action in these unprecedented days.

• On Tuesday, Country Thunder pulled the plug on its festival for Craven, Sask., set for July 9 to 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The big tripping was the uncertainty regarding continued restrictions for large public gatherings. Country Thunder said everything was postponed for until July 8 to 11, 2021, when the next festival was planned for Craven.
• On Monday, Baseball Manitoba announced it has been given clearance by medical health and government officials to start executing a return to play plan during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Manitoba, sanctioned baseball training is slated to resume this coming Monday. The start date for when competitions may resume hasn’t been determined, but a July 1 target date has been set.
• On Sunday, members of the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association took part in an iRacing virtual event that was broadcast online. Many of the cars the Saskatoon racers used included their real life paint jobs. The video of that race was posted on Youtube and can be found by clicking right here.
• Phase 3 of the Government of Saskatchewan’s reopen plan is slated for this coming Monday. If you drove through downtown Saskatoon on Wednesday night, you would notice the staff at Hudsons Canada’s Pub was preparing the establishment’s patio area for the reopening. It was a site that helps increase things in the hope department.

    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.

Hoping Shirley cracks pro radars again with U Sports all-stars

Collin Shirley is off to play for a U Sports all-star squad.

    Collin Shirley takes being tabbed as “the other Shirley” in Saskatoon area hockey circles with a chuckle.

    At one time, Collin was a star winger for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. Now in his third season as a standout winger with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team, the 23-year-old’s exploits are often overshadowed by those of his 20-year-old sister, Sophie, who plays centre with the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks.

    This week, Collin will likely take on the role as the Shirley family member that gains the most attention. He will be in Oakville, Ont., playing for a U Sports all-star squad that will face the final group of hopefuls looking to crack Canada’s world junior team as part of festivities for the selection camp for the world junior team.

    Collin will be playing for the U Sports all-star squad for a second straight year against Canada’s world junior hopefuls.

Collin Shirley has 13 points in 16 games for the Huskies.

    The camp starts Monday and runs through to Thursday. The U Sports all-stars will face the national junior team hopefuls in exhibition contests on Wednesday and Thursday.

    The world junior hockey championships run Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in the new year in Ostrava and Trinec in the Czech Republic.

    Back in the 2012-13 campaign, Collin played on the Team West squad that was one of the Canadian entries that took part at the world under-17 hockey challenge in Drummondville and Victoriaville, Quebec.

    Still, Collin’s exploits are often being dwarfed by those of Sophie’s.

    As a rookie with the Badgers last season, Sophie, who stands 5-foot-9, collected 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points in 41 overall games. She also got her hands on the beautiful and shiny NCAA national championship trophy as the Badgers blanked the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 2-0 in title game of the women’s Frozen Four tournament.

Collin Shirley is popular with the hockey community in Saskatoon and area.

    Sophie has hit bigger heights as a sophomore piling up 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points in 20 overall games.

    She has played on Canada’s under-18 women’s team, has been a mainstay on Canada’s national women’s development team and has seen limited action with Canada senior national women’s team.

    Collin and Sophie’s youngest sister, Grace, is skating through her rookie campaign with the Badgers as an 18-year-old forward.

    In the current day, Sophie yields the majority of the attention.

    Collin has solid numbers appearing in 59 career U Sports regular season games collecting 22 goals and 27 assists for 49 points. He has four goals and nine assists for 13 points this season appearing in all of the Huskies 16 regular season games helping them post an 11-3-2 record.

Collin Shirley (#11) joined the Huskies after five seasons in the WHL.

    Still, those numbers seem small, when your younger sister is lighting up the scoreboard south of the border and is skating with Canada on the international stage.

    With all that said, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Collin is quite the accomplished hockey player and a super person with a fun sense of humour. The local product is extremely popular around the minor hockey rinks in Saskatoon and area along with Huskies sophomore defenceman Evan Fiala, who resides just outside of Saskatoon in Clavet.

    When Collin, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 195 pounds, joined the Huskies for the start of the 2017-18 campaign, his return was viewed as a much welcomed and anticipated homecoming.

Collin Shirley has 49 points in 59 regular season games with the Huskies.

    For five full seasons, he played out in British Columbia in the WHL from 2012 to 2017 first in Cranbrook with the Kootenay Ice and then for the Blazers.

    Over three and a half seasons of that time was spent in Kamloops. The Ice franchise proceeded to move to Winnipeg, Man., before the start of the current campaign.

    Collin appeared in 344 career WHL regular season games collecting 114 goals and 119 assists. Collin’s final two campaigns in the WHL with Kamloops were very strong.
    In 2015-16, Collin was a Blazers assistant captain and piled up 37 goals and 42 assists for 79 points in 72 regular season games.

    In 2016-17, he was the Blazers captain and collected 28 goals and 34 assists for 62 points in 70 regular season games.
    He did enough to warrant interest from the professional side of the game. 

Collin Shirley is a reliable left-winger for the Huskies.

    Knowing how tough a business professional hockey can be, Collin elected to join the Huskies and major in business studies.

    In the process, Collin joined a U Sports men’s hockey league that is often severely underrated for its very high quality hockey product.

    The U Sports men’s teams are mostly filled with former major junior players who were solid contributors on their major junior clubs and a number of those players reached star status.

    Players on U Sports men’s teams still train at an elite level. Due to the fact these teams only play games on weekends, players in U Sports are more focused at refining their skills at practice sessions during the week leading up to weekend games.

    They often have more time to refine their skills than players do in major junior or the professional levels. With the work done by U Sports players in practice sessions, you see a more polished product on the ice for games.
    Players in the U Sports game improve over the course of their careers, and are usually more ready for the professional ranks at the end of their university careers than at the end of their major junior careers. Their maturity is also a lot higher as well.

Collin Shirley had 233 points in 344 career WHL regular season games.

    Often, the experience among the players with the U Sports all-stars provides a huge challenge for the hopefuls for Canada’s world junior team to deal with. Those head-to-head contests are extremely competitive.

    With the Huskies, Collin has improved as a hockey player and is a better player now than he was with the Blazers. He is a better professional prospect now than he was when he was in major junior.
    Still, it seems NHL teams are addicted to focusing their time on youngsters. Players that haven’t kicked down the door by the end of their first three-year entry-level contract are usually cycled out of the professional game.

Collin Shirley (#11) has celebrated a number of wins with the Huskies.

    A lot of players find their careers wrap up at age 23 or 24.

    That is crazy to think about considering athletes usually hit their physical peak around age 27.

    It would be cool to see if Collin can capture the attention of even one professional scout to allow him to have a realistic shot at that level.

    Taking a chance on Collin would be much less of a gamble than the large number of players that are taken annually in the NHL Entry Draft.

    If Collin gets that chance, he might be able to on the fun front overshadow Sophie in Saskatoon and area hockey circles.

“Girls Rock Night” a home run again for Blades

The ceremonial faceoff for the Blades “Girls Rock Night.”

    The “Girls Rock Night” is still a hit out of the park for the Saskatoon Blades.

    The Blades have been holding the “Girls Rock Night” promotion for a handful of years now, and they had good mix for this year’s promotion that went with Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Kelowna Rockets.

    Before the game, the team holds a pre-game empowerment speech for various girls groups.

    A number of speakers took part in this year’s speech including NASCAR Pinty’s Series Shantel Kalika. Kalika, who is from Prince Albert, has been a star racer at the Wyant Group Raceway as part of the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association for a number of years too.
    Her NASCAR Dodge Challenger was on display in the concourse.

    Safety Rienna Rueve and left tackle Alyssa Funk from the WWCFL champion Saskatoon Valkyries took part in the speaking festivities.

NASCAR Pinty’s Series driver Shantel Kalika, left, received big cheers.

    The speaking festivities also included Katriana Philipenko from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team and Elizabeth Salyn, Leah Bohlken, Shyan Elias and Courtney Cormack all from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.

    They all took part in a pre-game ceremonial faceoff.

    The host side had 11-year-old Taylor Hanley doing some of the public address duties as well.

    The Blades attracted 4,215 spectators for Saturday’s contest, and the representation from the various girls groups was obvious. They made some pretty good noise too, which added to the atmosphere for the night.

    Saskatoon led 3-2 until Kelowna scored the equalizer late in the third and ultimately took the contest in extra time.

    The Blades may have come up just short on the ice, but they netted a win again with their “Girls Rock Night” off the ice.

    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.

WHL loses one of its “good guys” as Blades’ Fantillo retires

Caleb Fantillo announced he is leaving major junior hockey.

    For all those that play in the WHL, they will face the fact that their days of hitting the ice will come to an end, but when the departure is a “good guy” like Saskatoon Blades right-winger Caleb Fantillo, a bit of sadness lingers for a while.

    On Wednesday, Fantillo announced via Twitter he was retiring from junior hockey. The 20-year-old Coquitlam, B.C., product was eligible to return for an overage campaign.

    During a WHL career that was split between the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Blades, Fantillo, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 183 pounds, established a reputation of being a high energy forward. Blades fans saw that trait quickly, when Fantillo arrived in Saskatoon via a trade on Oct. 13, 2016.

    He wasn’t afraid to go anywhere on the ice, and he was feisty in battling for the puck. For opponents, Fantillo became one of those pest types because he worked hard in a feisty way.

Blades LW Caleb Fantillo, right, takes a shot from Tigers G Michael Bullion.

    Even if you delivered a physical shot or said something to Fantillo, he wouldn’t go away. 
    He always gave the best he could on any given night.

    Thanks to those efforts, Fantillo was named the Blades fan choice award winner for the 2016-17 campaign. Last season, Fantillo shared the Blades community minded award with captain Evan Fiala.

    Unfortunately, injures piled up for Fantillo over the past two seasons due to the high intensity style he played. Between his time with the Tigers and Blades in 2016-17, Fantillo appeared in 55 regular season games collecting five goals and six assists.

    He was limited to 38 regular season games this past campaign due to injuries, where he managed to put up seven goals and three assists. His goal total was a career high for one season.

Blades LW Caleb Fantillo (#39) battles for the puck in the offensive zone.

    As a 17-year-old rookie with the Tigers in 2015-16, Fantillo dressed for 63 regular season games posting six goals and six assists. He netted a goal in a standings tiebreaker game, which the Tigers dropped by a 6-4 margin to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

    Thanks to being in and out of the lineup because of the injury bug, Fantillo never really had the chance to reach his full potential on the offensive side of the game.

    During his final campaign in the midget AAA ranks with the Vancouver North East Chiefs in 2014-15, Fantillo piled up 35 goals, 26 assists and 114 penalty minutes in 38 regular season games.

Caleb Fantillo makes a cut with the puck in the offensive zone.

    He was called up to play two WHL regular season games with the Tigers that season and recorded his first assist in the major junior ranks.

    Fantillo was always an upbeat personality and a fan favourite during his time in the WHL. He was a great representative for the Blades at community events, and he was key in keeping the mood in the dressing room light and fun.

    When he returned from injury, it was easy to pull for him to do well. You hoped he would hit a gusher in offensive statistics, because he is a good guy.

    At the WHL level, it seemed like great offensive seasons just weren’t destined to happen for Fantillo due to things out of his control.

Caleb Fantillo celebrates scoring a goal for the Blades.

    It isn’t the first time something like that happened to a hockey player, and it won’t be the last time either.

    Going forward, the Blades are slated to head into training camp with four returning players set to battle for three overage spots in forwards Max Gerlach, Brad Goethals and Gage Ramsay along with defenceman Dawson Davidson.

    Fantillo will focus on his future moving away from playing in the major junior ranks. The Blades stated in a release on Thursday that Fantillo plans to get a jump start on a career in the health and fitness industry.

    Over the past two seasons, Fantillo experienced a lot of bad luck on the ice. He is due and deserves to encounter some good luck in his post-playing WHL days.

Blades make a couple of July deals

Tyler Lees has been traded to the Royals.

    The Saskatoon Blades haven’t been totally in summer holiday mode tinkering with their roster making a couple of trades in July.

    On Thursday, the Blades dealt 18-year-old winger Tyler Lees to the Victoria Royals for a conditional seventh round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. Last season, Lees, who is from Regina, Sask., appeared in 32 regular season games in his rookie WHL campaign collecting two goals and one assist.

    It was likely the Blades made this deal, because they felt Lees wouldn’t have a big role in the team’s forward group going into the future. The deal allows Lees to get a look from another WHL club.

    On July 12, the Blades acquired rugged 19-year-old left-winger Riley McKay from the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for a fourth round selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft and a seventh round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.

    McKay, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 215 pounds, appeared in 62 games last season collecting four goals, nine assists and a league leading 152 minutes in penalties. During his rookie campaign with the Chiefs in 2016-17, McKay appeared in 51 regular season games collecting three goals, six assists and 123 minutes in penalties.

    McKay’s addition gives the Blades a much needed boost in the toughness department. Saskatoon lost a big part of its physical edge with the graduation of captain Evan Fiala.

    There are still a lot of teams in the WHL that play a physical and heavy game. McKay’s presence will help create more open ice for the Blades high-end forwards in Kirby Dach, Eric Florchuk, Max Gerlach and Josh Paterson.

    While Dach made waves as a 16-year-old rookie last season, he was on the receiving end of a lot of physical abuse from opponents often behind the play. A lot of the extra attention Dach received was geared to get him off his game.

    Besides playing tough, McKay did put up points coming up through the minor hockey ranks in his younger years, so the Swan River, Man., product does have the potential to possibly score a little more in the WHL than he has in the past.

    Also on the Blades front, the team announced on Monday prospect forward Colton Dach, who is Kirby’s younger brother, and defenceman Charlie Wright were among 35 players named to Hockey Alberta’s shortlist roster for the 2019 Canada Winter Games, which run Feb. 15 to March 3, 2019 in Red Deer, Alta.

    The Blades selected Colton Dach in the first round and sixth overall in the WHL Bantam Draft held in May. Saskatoon picked Wright in that same Bantam Draft in the fourth round and 70^th overall.

    On Monday, the Blades and Saskatoon Media Group announced a four-year contract extension that will see the Saskatoon Media Group remain the official Blades radio broadcast rights holder. The radio broadcasts will transition from 92.9 The BULL FM to 98 COOL FM.

    Les Lazaruk will enter his 25^th season as the Blades play-by-play voice. When the Blades travel to Swift Current to open the 2018-19 regular season against the Broncos, Lazaruk will call his 1,800^th game that night.

    In another development, Maclean Nelson recently rejoined the Blades office staff as an account executive. Nelson was with the Blades from 2011 to 2016 and held the role of manager of communication and community relations at the end of that stint. He was a pretty upbeat guy to have around the rink.

    Time will tell if Nelson will reprise his role of in-game host, where he went by the alias of “Ricky McGinty.”

Express cover story with Kalika

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a cover story on Shantel Kalika, who is set to become the first female driver from Saskatchewan to race in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series.

    The 28-year-old Prince Albert, Sask., product is in her eight season of racing and calls Saskatoon’s Wyant Group Raceway her home track. She is set to make her NASCAR debut, when the Pinty’s Series makes its annual stop in “The Bridge City.”

    The two-day race event is set for this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. The action on Tuesday, which starts at 7 p.m., features 75-lap main event races for the local pro truck class and the sportsman class and heat races for the super late model class.

    Wednesday’s action, which starts at 6 p.m., includes two 125-lap NASCAR races as well as a feature race from the local super late model class, which is expected to run 75 laps. The annual Pinty’s Series stop is the Super Bowl event on the yearly calendar for the Wyant Group Raceway.

    The Pinty’s Series is a minor league circuit that prepares drivers to compete one day at NASCAR’s top level – the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

    Kalika has experienced her share of success at the Wyant Group Raceway. She raced in the local pro truck class during her first seven seasons and won the class points championship in 2016.

    Besides winning the points title, Kalika was named the fan favourite driver in 2014 and 2015.

    Kalika’s presence in the NASCAR races is sure to give an added buzz from a local interest standpoint.

    The cover story on Kalika can be found by clicking right here.

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

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Anderson posts biggest stock car victory of his career

Veteran racer claims Pro Truck Tint Centre 75 and $1,000 prize

Aaron Anderson takes a victory lap at the Wyant Group Raceway.

    Aaron Anderson never had a better day at the Wyant Group Raceway.

    The veteran driver went into the opening day of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop in Saskatoon on Tuesday having won his last four pro truck feature races. With the local classes of the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association taking centre stage on the first day of the annual two-day event, Anderson was aiming to claim the Pro Truck Tint Centre 75 feature race and a $1,000 first place prize.

    The Martensville product jumped into second place during the early portion of the race. After a restart following a caution flag with 21 laps to go, Anderson bolted past leader Alex Leschenko for top spot and held on for victory. The two-day NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop is the local track’s premier show.

Aaron Anderson won a heat race and Tuesday’s pro truck feature run.

    “This is the Super Bowl for us,” said Anderson. “This is the biggest race of the year for us.

    “I’ve been racing 20 years, and this is the biggest win of my career. I’ve never won a race as big and important as this one. I’ve never won $1,000 in one shot.

    “This is my biggest win I have ever had, so I am over the moon.”

    Driving a Toyota Tundra, Anderson trailed Leschenko, who was driving a Ford F-150, by a half straightaway length in the early portion of the race but slowly gained ground on the Saskatoon product. When a caution came out with 21 laps remaining, Anderson was in striking distance of the lead.

    About a couple of laps after the restart, Anderson got ahead of Leschenko and never looked back to win a fifth straight pro truck feature race. Leschenko finished second and Shantel Kalika of Prince Albert came in third.

Aaron Anderson (#19) holds the edge on two pursuers.

    Anderson said his pit crew headed by crew chief Cory Ernst and head mechanic Kelly Voss played a key part setting up the truck for Tuesday’s feature run.

    “We had a big long discussion me and the guys, and it was decided that we were going to tighten it up a little bit more than we would normally have it tight,” said Anderson, who also won a heat race on Tuesday. “We gave it a little bit more wedge than we normally would.

    “As the fuel load burns off, it loosens it up a touch, and it makes it better for the long run. With 21 laps to go on that restart, I managed to have enough tire leftover.”

Aaron Anderson speeds to the checkered flag.

    Upon arriving back in the pits, Anderson was greeted by a huge contingent of family.

    “It makes me feel good I get all this support here,” said Anderson. “My dad, my mom, my uncle, my three daughters, my step son and my step daughter and everybody else, it is just phenomenal to have everybody out here supporting me.

    “I just want to give them a big shout out and a big thanks and tell them I love them all.”

    The Pro Truck Tint Centre 75 wasn’t the lone big local race on Tuesday. Neil Schneider took top spot in the 75-lap sportsman class feature in his 2016 Chevrolet Camero.

    Starting from the third position on the grid, he passed Nicole Sheetka for the lead about 15 laps into the race and remained in front the rest of the way. Matt Neufeld finished second, and Damen Meier came in third. Sheetka ended up finishing sixth.

Neil Schneider (#93) pulls away from the sportsman field.

    Schneider had a small moment of worry after a caution flag with four laps to go wiped out a comfortable lead he had on the field. After getting a quick jump on the restart, he held on for victory. Schneider was pleased a handful of cautions weren’t able to slow his momentum down in his feature race win.

    “We were able to get good restarts,” said Schneider. “The car was really good mid corner, so we were able to turn it.

    “We were able to get a good lead and then coast a bit and save the equipment.”

Schneider was pumped to get his feature victory.

    “Every chance you win you cherish every one, because you never know if it might be your last one,” said Schneider. “(To win) in front of the NASCAR crowd, it is a little extra more special.”

Neil Schneider does a victory lap after winning the sportsman class feature.

    The local super late model class also held a couple of heat races on Tuesday. Matthew Shirley won the first heat race, while Kevin Dyck took the second heat race.

    The NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop concludes with a race program set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Wyant Group Raceway. Wednesday’s races include a 100-lap feature for the local super late model class and two NASCAR Pinty’s Series feature races each lasting 100-laps in duration.

    The Pinty’s Series is a minor-league circuit that prepares drivers to compete one day on NASCAR’s top level – the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

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