Hilltops have unique vibe so far in 2023 campaign

In season experiences feel new for young squad

The Hilltops charge on to the field to start their season on August 13.

Winning feels new again for the Saskatoon Hilltops.

Actually, all the experiences that go into a football season feel new for a mainly youthful squad. That might sound strange for a Hilltops program that has won 22 CJFL championships in the club’s storied history.

The Hilltops have started 3-0 in the current CJFL regular season and everyone has kind of lived in the moment.

Right now, the focus for this practice week is to get better in order to prepare to face the Regina Thunder this coming Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium. Both squads head into that contest with identical 3-0 records, and the clash is already getting the vibe of a heavyweight tilt.

The two clubs last met in the PFC final on October 30, 2022 at Mosaic Stadium, where the Thunder pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 39-21 victory. Regina hosted the CJFL championship game on November 12, 2022 and fell 21-19 to the Kelowna, B.C., based Okanagan Sun.

Both the Hilltops and Thunder experienced significant turnover when their respective 2022 campaigns came to a conclusion.

For the Hilltops, a little more time has passed since their last CJFL championship season in 2019. Saskatoon’s CJFL title win in that campaign capped a run of six straight championship wins and also closed a stretch where the Hilltops won nine CJFL championships over a 10 year period.

Riece Kack has 4.5 sacks in three games.

The Hilltops roster in 2023 contains seven players in their fifth and final campaigns of CJFL eligibility, and five of those players were with the team in 2019. The five holdovers from that 2019 Hilltops club that posted a 12-0 record to win the CJFL title include middle linebacker Matt Wist, outside linebacker Wade Keating, defensive back Carter Wingert, running back Boston Davidsen and defensive lineman Craig Torgerson.

Linebacker Jordan Levesque and offensive lineman Justice Walker round out the group of seven playing out their final CJFL campaigns.

Unlike pass seasons in recent times, the Hilltops don’t have a sizable group of fourth and fifth year players who already sport three of four CJFL championship rings. 

Hilltops teams in those seasons did an admirable job of staying in the moment, but there was a feeling back in everyone’s mind that the team would make it to the CJFL title game and capture the Canadian Bowl trophy as CJFL champs.

There was a feeling that no matter what happened with the ups and downs of the season the Hilltops were going to be in the CJFL title game. The focus on being in the presence came from a place where the players wanted to embrace each moment of the campaign knowing time was going to fly by way to fast.

In 2023, Wist, Keating, Wingert, Davidsen and Torgerson are the only Hilltops players who have CJFL championship rings. No one has really thought about being in the Canadian Bowl to play for a CJFL title.

Before the current CJFL campaign got underway, the 2023 Hilltops were hit with a reality check. In the Hilltops Alumni Game played on August 3 at Ron Atchison Field, the current Hilltops were hammered 32-1 by the Alumni Team.

Trey Reider has 716 yards passing in three games.

While the PFC as a conference is going through a “great reset” this season, there was early concern about how 2023 could possibly go for the Hilltops. Over their first three games, they’ve outscored the opposition 149-20.

They wiped out the Edmonton Wildcats 50-2 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on August 13. The Hilltops then traveled to Winnipeg and ran over the Rifles 49-0 on August 20. Back at SMF Field on August 27, the Hilltops corralled the Calgary Colts 50-18.

Davidsen tops the PFC with 458 yards rushing coming on 49 carries and scoring three touchdowns along the ground. He is on track to surpass 1,000 yards rushing in the regular season for a second straight year. In 2022, Davidsen topped the PFC in rushing piling up 1,037 yards on 149 carries to go with seven touchdowns.

Hilltops receiver Drake Douglas sits second in the PFC so far this season with 254 yards receiving having caught 18 passes with one of those going for a touchdown.

Quarterback Trey Reider has been an outstanding signal caller for the Hilltops so far in 2023 completing 45-of-68 passes for 716 yards and eight touchdowns, while throwing one interception.

Hilltops defensive ends Riece Kack and Kai Kukurudza have 4.5 and three quarterback sacks respectively. Wist, Keating, Justin Adamko, Andy Scrivens, Dalton Urban and Denym Mantyka all have single interceptions for Saskatoon this season.

Place kicker Teijon Abel-Douglas has made 9-of-10 field goal attempts for the Hilltops this season. Wist have averaged 39.5 yards per punt on 15 punt attempts.

Xavier Sabo jets upfield on a 33-yard TD run on August 13.

Hilltops legendary head coach Tom Sargeant and his veteran coaching staff seems to be enjoying tackling the type of challenge they haven’t had in about 13 years. They likely revisited how they handled the team in the past when CJFL title didn’t pile up in consecutive years in order to help guide the current squad.

For the coaches, it seems like coaching a more youthful team has become new again.

As the campaign goes on, the Hilltops focus on allowing their graduating players to go out on a high note, which has been a continuing theme for the club certainly since Sargeant became head coach in early December of 1997.

Still, it is cool that the grind of a season can feel new again even for a storied, historic and venerable team like the Hilltops.

’Toppers Davidsen gets player of the week nod, other notes

Boston Davidsen has 458 yards rushing in three games.

This past Wednesday Saskatoon Hilltops star power running back Boston Davidsen picked up his first PFC player of the week honour for the 2023 campaign.

Davidsen was named the PFC’s offensive player of the week for his efforts in his team’s 50-18 win over the visiting Calgary Colts on August 27 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. In that contest, Davidsen carried the ball 15 times for 190 yards and one touchdown.

A graduate of the Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints Football Team, Davidsen is playing out his final season of CJFL eligibility for the Hilltops. He is on pace to surpass 1,000 yards rushing in the regular season for a second straight year.

Regina Thunder linebacker Stephen Smith was named the PFC’s defensive player of the week this past Wednesday for his efforts in his club’s 45-21 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Rifles on August 27 at Leibel Field in Regina. Smith had five solo defensive tackles and nine defensive tackle assists in his team’s win.

He leads the PFC with 48 defensive points coming on 14 solo defensive tackles, 13 defensive tackle assists, one solo special teams tackle, one quarterback sack and one blocked kick.

Thunder kicker Shawn Green took honours as the PFC’s special teams player of the week this past Wednesday for his efforts in the August 27 win over the Rifles. Green made all three of his field goal attempts coming from 32, 31 and 17 yards out, and he hit on all five of his convert attempts.

He kicked off five times for 307 yards for an average of 61.4 yards per kick and recorded a rouge on an 80-yard kick. Green punted the ball nine times for 249 yards for an average of 27.7 yards per punt.

• Thunder receiver Isaiah Woodley leads the PFC with 383 receiving yards. Woodley has piled up his yardage on 14 catches and has scored three touchdowns.
• Thunder quarterback Carter Moberg has completed 51-of-91 passes for 1,025 yards and 10 touchdowns while throwing two interceptions this season. His passing yard and touchdown pass totals sit first in the PFC.
• It appears Gregg Drinnan is walking away from the sports writing game after about 52 years and this time it might be for good. He had taken breaks before and cut down on writing only to fire up full steam like he did before those breaks. On a post this past Wednesday on his Taking Note blog, Drinnan wrote he was stepping away from his blog and didn’t know when or even if he would return. He wrote he wanted to get away from social media in the worst way and was looking forward to not turning on a computer. On Sunday, Drinnan posted a picture of a typewriter on his blog that has just finished typing out the phrase, “The end.” Drinnan has been in the sports writing game since 1971 having worked with the Brandon Sun, the Winnipeg Tribune, Regina Leader-Post and Kamloops Daily News. He was a sports editor at both the Leader-Post and the Daily News. After the Daily News folded in January of 2014, Drinnan had mainly produced pieces for his blog. He is best known for his coverage of the WHL, but he has covered sports of all sorts during his career. Here is hoping he can get out and enjoy more time with family and friends.

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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Wenatchee biggest winner in Ice off-ice saga in WHL

The Ice celebrate a goal in Game 1 of the WHL final on May 12.

The Winnipeg Ice are no more and the Wenatchee Wild era has begun.

On Friday, the WHL announced that the Winnipeg Ice franchise was sold to David and Lisa White of the Shoot the Puck Foundation. The Shoot the Puck Foundation is a non-profit organization based in California. The franchise has relocated to Wenatchee, which is located in the state of Washington in the United States.

The Whites through the Shoot the Puck Foundation own the junior A Wenatchee Wild franchise that had played in the British Columbia Hockey League since 2015. The Wild won the Fred Page Cup as BCHL champions in the 2017-18 campaign and the Doyle Cup as the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s Pacific region champion.

The Wild appeared in the Canadian Junior A national championship tournament in 2018 known at the time as the Royal Bank Cup, which was held at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack, B.C. Wenatchee posted a 2-2 record in round robin play and fell in a tournament semifinal 2-1 to the Wellington Dukes from Ontario.

Wenatchee was the only U.S. centre to have a team playing in the BCHL.

With the purchase of the Ice WHL franchise, the Whites own what was once Winnipeg’s membership in the major junior circuit. A relocation of a franchise was executed without the use of any moving trucks.

Zach Benson in action for the Ice in the WHL final on May 13.

The Wild as an entity will be promoted up from junior A to major junior. As part of the WHL, they will play in the U.S. Division that will now have six teams.

The division will provide the Wild instantly with four in-state rivals in the Everett Silvertips, the Seattle Thunderbirds, the Spokane Chiefs and the Tri-City Americans. The Portland Winterhawks, who have been one of the circuit’s elite clubs for the past 14 seasons, round out the U.S. Division.

The Wild hockey operations and business staff that is already in place will now operate the club in the WHL. The hockey operations staff is under the direction of general manager Bliss Littler, and Chris Clark is the club’s head coach and assistant general manager. After the announcement that Wenatchee was in the WHL was made, the Wild on Friday put up job postings for a full-time athletic trainer and a full-time equipment manager.

Wenatchee will play out of the Town Toyota Centre that has a seating capacity of 4,300.

The Ice roster and protected list is transferred to the Wild. The fate of the Wild’s BCHL franchise is still to be determined outside of the fact the BCHL said it won’t operate in 2023-24.

As for the players that were part of the Wild’s junior A roster, BCHL commissioner Steve Cocker told Castanet on Friday there won’t be a dispersal draft and the players are now free agents.

Matthew Savoie in action for the Ice in the WHL final in May 12.

As of June 1, the BCHL began governing its teams outside of Hockey Canada’s system. With the departure of Wenatchee, the BCHL has 17 teams all operating in British Columbia. It hasn’t been addressed if the BCHL’s decision to leave Hockey Canada’s system played a part in the Wild owners electing to leave that circuit for the WHL.

While the community of Wenatchee was the biggest winner in this development, it wasn’t a positive development on a tonne of other fronts. If you check out social media on Friday and Saturday, you can find a boatload of disappointment and hurt feelings over the sale of the Ice franchise.

In the 2010s, the WHL pursued a vision of having a team in each capital city in Western Canada. That vision was realized when the Ice franchise under the ownership of 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Incorporated headed up by Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell began playing at the 1,600 seat Wayne Fleming Arena on the University of Manitoba campus at the start of the 2019-20 campaign.

Fettes served as the Ice’s governor, and Cockell was the club’s president, general manager and alternate governor.

The Ice franchise had been relocated from Cranbrook, B.C., where the club was known as the Kootenay Ice. The Ice franchise was sold to Fettes and Cockell on April 27, 2017 by the Chynoweth family.

Carson Lambos in action for the Ice in the WHL final on May 12.

Fettes and Cockell moved the Ice to Winnipeg with the promise they would be able to build a new arena for the team to play in that was up to WHL standards.

The Ice put out a statement by Fettes on Friday and part of that statement regarding building a new arena said, “Unfortunately, we were just never able to get the project on solid footing due to the changing landscape (during and post-pandemic). Simply put, we ran out of time.”

While there has been criticism Fettes and Cockell took the WHL for a ride, it is possible to say it was true the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world causing massive shutdowns in March of 2020 caused any efforts to build a WHL sized arena that would seat 4,500 to 5,000 spectators to go up in flames.

If anyone has seen the news cycle, stories on economic inflation dominate it, so anyone who lives in reality knows the chances of getting the funding together to build a new WHL size rink in Winnipeg were remote. It is safe to say Fettes and Cockell don’t have those types of assets in the bank to build a rink on their own.

Still, how the WHL’s situation played out in Winnipeg will invite heaps of criticism, and the criticism is deserved. The WHL does come out of this saga sporting a look that it got suckered.

Gregg Drinnan, who is still the all-time dean of WHL sportswriters, took a deep dive on his Taking Note blog of the many levels of how ugly the Ice saga is, and that piece can be found by clicking right here. He could probably wrote a longer piece than he did, and that is crazy to think about.

HC James Patrick mans the Ice bench in the WHL final on May 12.

While the Ice were a mess off-ice with their arena situation, the Ice’s on ice product was far from a mess. In fact, the Ice were one of the WHL’s best teams on ice in the four seasons they played in Winnipeg posting a 166-49-6-2 mark in regular season play.

In 2021-22, the Ice topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 53-10-3-2 mark and advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series falling in five games to the eventual league champion Edmonton Oil Kings. This past season, the Ice again topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and advanced to the WHL Championship Series falling in five games to the Thunderbirds.

If you were able to travel to Winnipeg, you would have found out the Ice developed a following. On the coverage priority of the local sports media, the Ice were buried well behind the NHL’s Jets, the CFL’s Blue Bombers and the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

While the majority of the attention was on those three professional teams, it is a disservice to say the Ice had no fans in Winnipeg. They had a fan following, and that fan following got burned.

Ice head coach James Patrick is one of top first class hockey guys you will find in hockey. He is now living in his hometown without a team to coach. If the Jets do decide to go in the direction of a total rebuild, Patrick would be a perfect candidate for a potential future new head coach in a start over scenario.

Fans watch the Ice play in Winnipeg in the WHL final on May 12.

The Ice had good people on their hockey operations and business staff, and now they will all be out of work.

The Ice players will still have a chance to play in the WHL, but now they have to adjust to a new community.

The community of Cranbrook, which was home to the Ice from 1998 to 2019, still feels burned by the WHL. The Ice were successful for most of their years in Cranbrook having won WHL championships in 2000, 2002 and 2011 and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 2002.

During the Ice’s final season in Cranbrook in 2018-19, they finished last in average attendance in the WHL averaging 2,214 spectators per game for their 34 regular season home dates, but there were people there who still felt the team could turn around and experience brighter days again in that community.

In October and November of 2015, there was a local based group in Cranbrook that talked to Chynoweth family about possibly purchasing the Ice, but nothing came out of those talks. It is likely failure of that attempt to purchase the team and keep it in Cranbrook hurt some in the community there.

Jeff Chynoweth, who oversaw the Ice’s operations, and his family began trying to sell the Ice in 2011 and the team stayed for sale until the deal was reached with Fettes and Cockell in April of 2017. It should be noted that Cranbrook is a tourist industry town and the Chynoweth family was faced with the constant task of reintroducing the game to new fans during the Ice’s time in that centre.

Daniel Hauser in action for the Ice in the WHL final on May 12.

Life also changed for the Chynoweth family with the passing of patriarch Ed Chynoweth in April of 2008. Ed played an instrumental role as a builder in the history of the WHL. Ed’s passing and the unique challenges to marketing the team in Cranbrook had Jeff and his family looking to get out of the WHL ownership game.

Still, there were a lot of Ice supporters in Cranbrook who hold ill will toward Jeff Chynoweth over when his family sold the Ice.

Along with that, the City of Cranbrook has a lawsuit against the Winnipeg Ice and the WHL that is still before the courts regarding the arena deal the Ice had with the B.C. centre that was to run through to June of 2023.

On a sentimental front, other group that lost out in this saga are the alums of the Ice franchise. The alums especially the ones that played for the Ice during their days in Cranbrook often have great memories of the B.C. centre.

It is common for alums of other WHL clubs to return to their former teams when they are older and have families for visits. Those visits often include alums getting pictures taken with their families in their old dressing room stalls during the summer months. There are Ice alums that lament they can’t partake in doing something like that.

On top of that, the Ice franchise identity will now cease to exist on the WHL landscape. While the Wenatchee owns the Ice WHL franchise, the Wild team identity will continue to be used, and it will go on as continuation from that club’s junior A days in the BCHL.

In the end, the WHL’s experiment with the Ice in Winnipeg failed. Had True North Sports and Entertainment the parent company that owns the Jets and Moose had interest in owning a WHL franchise, the major junior circuit might still be in the Manitoba capital.

The Ice salute their fans after Game 1 of the WHL final on May 12.

Overall, at least the franchise transfer was done at this early juncture of the off-season, so all parties that have a stake in what is going on know where they stand. From an “it is what it is” perspective, the ugly is there.

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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Don't you forget about me

Contacts alum Heidt rolling with WHL’s Cougars

Riley Heidt in action for the Contacts in 2020.

In case you hadn’t heard, Riley Heidt of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars is pretty good at hockey.

It seems like a lifetime ago that Heidt was an underage ace player along with best friend Brayden Yager on the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 AAA team. Back in the 2019-20 campaign, Heidt and Yager were 14-year-old forward with the Contacts.

Playing in the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League, Heidt appeared in all of the Contacts 44 regular season games in 2019-20 posting 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points. Yager also appeared in all of the Contacts 44 regular season games in that season recording 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points.

When the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft came around, Heidt went second overall to the Prince George Cougars and Yager went third overall to the Moose Jaw Warriors. The only player selected ahead of the two Saskatoon area products was phenom centre Connor Bedard, who went first overall to the Regina Pats.

Fast forward to the current campaign, and Heidt is still rolling on the ice in his 17-year-old season. After picking up an assist for the Cougars on Tuesday night in their 5-2 setback to the Tigers in Medicine Hat, Heidt, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 182 pounds, has appeared in all 40 of Prince George’s regular season games collecting 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points.

Heidt currently sits fifth in the WHL’s scoring race. Everett Silvertips 18-year-old centre Austin Roest also has 57 points, but he sits ahead of Heidt on the scoring list due to netting 25 goals.

Riley Heidt played for the Contacts as a 14-year-old.

When NHL Central Scouting’s Mid-Term Rankings were announced this past Friday, Heidt was listed 26^th among North American Skaters. It could be argued that Heidt could have been rated higher on that list, but it is safe to say odds are high he will be a great player for any team that selects him in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

The upcoming NHL Entry Draft will be held June 28 to 29 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Heidt will play in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game to be held on January 25 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.

One of the biggest challenges to why Heidt might not be higher up on NHL Central Scouting’s Mid-Term Rankings might revolve around the opportunities scouts have to see him. On the WHL circuit, the Cougars closest road trip is a six-hour bus ride to Kamloops to face the Blazers.

In the current days when it seems flights get cancelled frequently and the lengthy drive it takes to get to Prince George, it is easier for scouts to wait for Heidt to get to a major centre or a WHL city along the Trans-Canada Highway before seeing him play.

When it comes to development, Heidt is in good hands with the Cougars, who have Mark Lamb as head coach and general manager, Josh Dixon as associate coach and Carter Rigby as an assistant coach.

Still, the upcoming NHL Entry Draft is expected to be one of the deepest in decades and the talent level among the 17-year-olds in the WHL is arguably the strongest it has been in the last 30 years. In the WHL scoring race, four of the top five leading scorers are in their 17-year-old campaigns, and that list of four includes Heidt in the fifth spot.

Contacts alum Riley Heidt is having a great season in the WHL.

Bedard has league highs in goals (36), assists (42) and points (78) appearing in 31 regular season games with the Pats. Kelowna Rockets 17-year-old left-winger Andrew Cristall sits second in the WHL scoring race with 62 points coming off 26 goals and 36 assists in 36 regular season games. Winnipeg Ice 17-year-old centre Zach Benson sits third in WHL scoring with 58 points coming off 23 goals and 35 assists in 35 regular season games.

Yager sits 16^th in WHL scoring with 52 points coming off 20 goals and 32 assists in 43 regular season games with the Warriors.

Due to how deep the 17-year-old talent pool is in the WHL, the number of times one of those players can been seen by NHL scouts becomes even more important as to where they will be taken in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Heidt is a lock to be selected in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. He will be hoping NHL scouts won’t forget about him when it comes to where he will be picked in that draft.

Warriors slip past Blades 3-1 for third straight win

Egor Sidorov scored for the Blades on Tuesday night.

The Moose Jaw Warriors appear to be heating up.

On Tuesday night, the Warriors won their third straight game downing the visiting Saskatoon Blades 3-1 in a WHL regular season clash played before 2,488 spectators at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. With the win, the Warriors improve to 27-14-0-2 to sit one point back of the Blades for third overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Blades fell to 27-9-2-1 with the setback, but they have four games in hand on the Warriors.

The Warriors got on the board at the 7:20 mark of the first period when left-winger Eric Alarie tapped in a backdoor pass at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Warriors star overage centre Ryder Korczak made a beauty feed across the face the Blades net to set up Alarie for the game’s opening tally.

At the 9:34 mark of the second, Warriors 19-year-old left-winger Josh Hoekstra fired a seeing-eye point shot through a screen into the Saskatoon goal to increase the host’s advantage to 2-0.

Just under three minutes later, the Blades scored on the power play to trim the Warriors lead to 2-1 on a blast form the right slot by import Belarusian right-winger Egor Sidorov. Sidorov blew home a backdoor feed from linemate Trevor Wong for his 23^rd goal of the season.

The Warriors were able to hold off the Blades from that point and sealed victory with a short-handed empty-net goal by star centre Brayden Yager with 1:07 remaining in the third period. The empty-net goal was Yager’s 20^th tally of the campaign. Korczak picked up his second assist of the contest on Yager’s marker.

Connor Ungar turned away 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors. Austin Elliott turned away 28-of-30 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

The two sides will go at it again on Wednesday in Saskatoon at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Vanstone tracks Bedard’s statistical pursuits, other notes

Connor Bedard is chasing many statistical feats.

So how good is Regina Pats 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard?

Forever Regina Leader-Posts sports columnist and scribe Rob Vanstone is tracking Bedard’s statistical exploits, and Bedard is on pace to do things that haven’t been seen in some time. After being held without a point in the Pats first regular season game, Bedard has netted at least one point in each of the 30 games he’s suited up for the Pats since piling up a league high in goals (36), assists (42) and points (78).

Vanstone, who is a lifelong resident of Regina, noted that Bedard is in pursuit of the Pats team record for longest point scoring streak. The current Pats record in that department stands at 47 contests, and it is shared by Jock Callander and Wally Schreiber both set in the 1981-82 campaign.

Bedard is on pace to become the first Pats player to score 50 goals in 50-or-fewer games since Dale Derkatch back in the 1983-84 campaign.

Vanstone is one of the few veterans that is left on the WHL beat, and WHL followers are able to enjoy knowing about these statistical gems due to Vanstone’s experience.

Vanstone has listed more statistical gems with regard to Bedard in a column that can be found by clicking right here.

• The Winnipeg Ice topped the latest installment of the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday. Three other WHL club’s cracked the list with the Seattle Thunderbirds coming in at third, the Kamloops Blazers at seventh and the Saskatoon Blades at eighth. The Blazers will host the Memorial Cup tournament that crowns an annual CHL champion. The Portland Winterhawks were an honourable mention for this week’s rankings.
• Gregg Drinnan’s latest post in his Taking Note blog is a good one. It leads with a controversy swirling around Russian defenceman Ivan Provorov, who is a grad of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, not taking warm-ups on Tuesday night for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. That post can be found by clicking right here.
• On January 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a piece on the John Sands Classic Long Track Meet hosted by the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club returning to the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval for the first time since January of 2019. That piece can found by clicking right here. I also created a photo roundup that shows the beauty sites that can be seen during the winter season on the Complex grounds, and that piece 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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Not all backburner items done in pandemic times

A Roughriders scoreboard clock that has never been used.

Maybe my Saskatchewan Roughriders scoreboard clock needs to be more out of sight out of mind.

Every time I open my closet, I look up to the top shelf, and it just seems to stare down at me. The scoreboard clock was a Christmas gift I received around 2010, when I was still living in Medicine Hat, Alta, working as a sports reporter for the Medicine Hat News.

Back at my old home in Medicine Hat, it sat in its box in my closet unused. I always vowed I was going to hang it up somewhere, but that never seemed to happen with my busy schedule in “the Gas City.”

In the summer of 2014, I moved to Saskatoon to be closer to family. That scoreboard clock has sat on the top shelf of my bedroom closet of my Saskatoon home since that time.

I actually don’t have a place in Saskatoon to hang it. As a result, my plans for the scoreboard clock changed.

One day, I was going to take the time to actually plug it in to see if it still worked. If it still worked, I was going to put it for sale on Facebook Marketplace or eBay.

I figured it would be worth $20 to someone.

Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit, I was visiting a sports memorabilia store at Market Mall in Saskatoon. I was talking with the store owner, when he answered a phone call.

The phone call was a quick one, where the store owner told the person on the other end of the line he didn’t have what that person was looking for. After hanging up the phone, the store owner told me the caller was looking for a Saskatchewan Roughriders scoreboard clock.

My old basement fun room in Regina back in 2000.

If the store owner took that person’s name and number, I could have sold that person the one I had.

When the restrictions for the COVID-19 pandemic started to increase in intensity in March of 2020, I made a list of things I wanted to do in my head as my schedule got lighter.

The list in my head including a number of backburner projects along with revisiting some old fun pastimes I haven’t engaged in for years.

I have been able to tackle some backburner projects and revisit some old fun pastimes.

With that said, I have been able to keep busy during the COVID-19 pandemic with my work as the communications coordinator with the Gordie Howe Sports Complex and writing stories and columns for this blog.

Sports related freelance reporting opportunities still pops up here and there too.

Before the pandemic hit, I would say I was at a state where I was life-consumed busy.

These days, I am comfortably busy, which does allow me to have free time.

Even with the free time, I haven’t had a chance to tackle all the backburner projects or old fun pastimes.

One backburner project is dealing with the Roughriders scoreboard clock. Actually looking in my basement, I have a whole bunch of old sports collectables I really should clear out.

Some of the collectables are old posters and pictures that used to line the walls of my basement fun room, when I lived in Regina and went to school at the University of Regina.

Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby in collectable form.

One of the posters is like a wall sized one of Joe Montana from the 1980s, when he played for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ERS. That hasn’t seen the light of day in two decades.

Other collectables I need to find a new home for include an extra Mario Lemieux bobblehead doll from when Canada’s men’s hockey team won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics, an extra McFarlane figure of Sidney Crosby celebrating his golden goal for Canada’s men’s hockey team at the 2010 Winter Olympics and extra Roughriders gear from their Grey Cup wins in 2007 and 2013 as CFL champions.

I have a handful of old toys I should try and clear out too.

Of course, the Transformers I have from the 1980s stay.

I should make time and set up posts for one or two items just to get started.

When the pandemic ends, it is possible some of those items could be donated to be used as silent auction items for sports fundraisers.

If I had to, I know of stores in Saskatoon that could resell those collectables. The worry is always there about dealing with a move all of a sudden, which would mean selling those items off at 10-cents on the dollar.

I understand business. Those stores have to cover overhead somewhere. Best part is they are run by good people.

On the fun pastime side, I still haven’t fired up the old Sega Genesis to play NHL 94. I even have the adapter to allow four players to play the game at once, when the Public Health Orders change to allow friends to gather inside homes again.

An NHL 94 cartridge.

I actually have two cartridges for NHL 94, because I fried the memory on my original due to playing it so much back in the day.

Of course, Teemu Selanne is in that game and his attributes were based fresh of his NHL record 76-goal rookie season with the Winnipeg Jets. Of course, I would use the Jets.

When I want to beat friends, I would usually use the Montreal Canadiens. While that game was made fresh off the Canadiens winning the 1993 Stanley Cup, they weren’t the most talented team in the game outside of the fact Patrick Roy was a cheat code in goal.

I did get really good with using the Canadiens and being able to set up one-times with every line on that team. When I played against friends, I usually won when I used the Canadiens.

As the pandemic goes on, who knows if I will revisit these items. If I had already revisited these items, it would have meant my work front was really dead.

In the grand scheme of things for me, it is good to be comfortable busy.

Shortened WHL season to show off players, other notes

Chase Wouters has been a career member of the Blades.

It appears a shortened 2020-21 WHL campaign might just be a showcase event for the players.

Late Friday night, the WHL announced that the circuit’s board of governors has made a commitment to play a 2020-21 WHL regular season. The start date for the 2020-21 regular season has been pushed back a number of times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, a start date for the 2020-21 WHL campaign hasn’t been made due to current restrictions the four provinces in Canada and two states in United States have in place to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020-21 WHL regular season will consist of 24 games for each team. Competition will be limited regionally inside each of the circuit’s four divisions.

Starting on Monday, various executives in the WHL have been making the rounds on the media circuit to talk about the potential 2020-21 campaign.

Pat McKay of CTV Saskatoon talked with Saskatoon Blades general manager Colin Priestner for a story that appeared on Monday on CTV’s web platform.

Priestner said there won’t be any fans in the stands. Following the regular season, Priestner said there could be a divisional playoff, but he couldn’t see a post-season that would see the Ed Chynoweth Cup handed out to a league champion.

The Blades GM added nothing has been decided on the post-season front and noted there are a lot of other variables that still need to be worked out including protocols, safety, insurance, logistics, roster sizes and what happens if things get shut down after starting up.

Gregg Drinnan put out a couple of media round up pieces on his Taking Note blog regarding the developments around the WHL at the start of this week. On Tuesday, Drinnan came across a report from Travis Lowe of CHBC-TV in Kelowna, B.C.

Lowe had interviewed Bruce Hamilton, who is the general manager and owner of the Kelowna Rockets and the chairman of the WHL’s board of governors. Hamilton said the new season probably wouldn’t get started until the end of February or early March.

Drinnan also wrote he heard from a source the Prince George Cougars could play the season out of Kamloops, while the Victoria Royals could play their campaign out of Kelowna. The league is looking at cutting down on travel in B.C.

Cole Sillinger in action for the Tigers in 2020.

There were also a couple of other developments.

On Tuesday, the Lethbridge Hurricanes sent out a release saying they will be issuing full refunds to everyone who purchased season tickets for the 2020-21 campaign.

On Wednesday, the Medicine Hat Tigers announced they were releasing their star NHL Entry Draft eligible 17-year-old centre Cole Sillinger to the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. Sillinger is slated to return to Medicine Hat the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.

Last season, Sillinger had 22 goals, 31 assists and a plus-19 rating in the plus-minus department in 48 regular season games with the Tigers.

“Each situation is unique and with Cole having dual citizenship, it was felt that this option would give him the best ability to showcase his talent for the upcoming NHL Draft,” said Tigers general manager and head coach Willie Desjardins in a release.

If the WHL does pull off a 2020-21 season, it will basically allow players to put their talents on display for NHL clubs or put together film for other professional opportunities or to show off for U Sports teams.

It would also allow players like Blades 20-year-old captain Chase Wouters to give the circuit and his team a farewell. Wouters has been with the Blades for his entire WHL career becoming a full-time member of the club as a 16-year-old.

At this point in these pandemic times, the WHL is trying to salvage something for the 2020-21 campaign.

• Drinnan had two great round-up pieces regarding the developments in the WHL on Taking Note. His post from Monday can be found by clicking right here, and his post from Tuesday can be found by clicking right here.
• On Monday, the Red Deer Rebels announced Cam Moon, who has been the team’s play-by-play voice since 1998, has joined the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers as their radio announcer for the 2020-21 campaign. Moon’s first game will be Thursday, when the Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks for a second straight night. Moon called the Rebels 2001 Memorial Cup title win, and he held the role as the team’s director of broadcasts and media. Greg Meachem wrote a farewell piece on Moon for the Red Deer Rebels website, which can be found right here.
• On Monday, Skate Canada cancelled its 2021 National Skating Championships and Skate Canada Cup due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Skating Championships were slated to run Feb. 8-14 in Vancouver, B.C. The Skate Canada Cup was planned to be a virtual event in replacement of pre-novice and novice competitions at the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge.
• On Monday, defenceman Jay Bouwmeester announced his retirement from playing hockey in an interview he gave Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic. The 37-year-old Edmonton, Alta., product played 17 seasons in the NHL from 2002 to 2020 for the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. He appeared in 1,240 regular season games collecting 88 goals and 336 assists for 424 points. Bouwmeester was a member of the Blues Stanley Cup winning team in 2019. Before joining the WHL, Bouwmeester starred for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers from 1998 to 2002 appearing in 194 regular season games posting 40 goals and 111 assists for 151 points. Nearly a year ago, Bouwmeester collapsed on the Blues bench during a game due to a cardiac episode. He had surgery to install a defibrillator to restore his heart’s normal rhythm.
• I went live with a couple of posts for the Howe Happenings blog, which promotes the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, on Saturday. I wrote a post about the Saskatoon Short Mat Club moving to the facility, and that piece can be found by clicking right here. I included a piece on the Going Yard Training Centre, and it 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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WHL pushing back start date was to be expected

Spencer Moe and the Prince Albert Raiders wait for action.

With the way the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was going in Western Canada and the United States, it seemed inevitable that the WHL was going to have to push back the start of its 2020-21 campaign.

Coming into this week, both Manitoba and Alberta were engaged in strict lockdown measures to battle the pandemic that are at the moment slated to last until January 8, 2021 and January 10, 2021 respectively.

On Monday, the Government of Saskatchewan announced current pandemic restrictions would be extended to January 15, 2021 and added some new tweaks that come in on Thursday at 12:01 a.m. The tweaks include limiting all private indoor gatherings to members who live in the same household and limiting all outdoor private gatherings to 10 people.

On Tuesday, British Columbia Premier John Horgan was vowing there would be tighter enforcement for the strict lockdown measures in that province.

The measures that are in place in all four Western Canadian provinces have prevented games and competitions in the sports world from happening at all. Where athletic activities can occur, training has been limited to groups of eight.

New COVID-19 case numbers are still rising at a concerning rate in both Canada and the United States.

On Tuesday, the WHL announced that due to public health restrictions in place across Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest U.S., the major junior hockey circuit is not in position to begin its upcoming regular season on January 8, 2021.

All Brandon Wheat Kings head bump celebrations are on hold.

The WHL announced that following further consultations with regional health authorities the league’s board of governors will meet in January to consider potential start dates. The circuit said it would continue to work with governments and health authorities in the region it operates out of to consider schedule options for the 2020-21 campaign.

“We continue to make every effort to get our season started, but our first priority has always been the healthy and safety of our players and everyone associated with the WHL,” said WHL commissioner Ron Robison in a release. “Given the public health restrictions that are currently in effect, we are not in a position to determine a new target date for our season.

“We will continue to consult with health authorities to determine when it is safe and responsible to get our season started.”

Of course, vaccinations for COVID-19 have started in Canada on a very limited scale. It is expected vaccination rollout for the general public won’t happen until at least April of 2021.

If all goes well on the vaccination front, there is optimism that things could be back to normal by September of 2021. Again, that assumes everything goes well.

Still, the world is well in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic in the current day. According to Worldometer, which is pretty accurate in accumulating daily totals on COVID-19 cases and deaths, the United States went through a 24-hour period within the past two days experiencing 246,996 new COVID-19 cases and 3,486 deaths.

Kyle Crnkovic and the Saskatoon Blades are still sidelined.

If those weren’t new highs for a single 24-hour period in the United States, they are in the top 10 for the worst daily totals that country has faced so far in this pandemic.

As a result, it is unclear what will happen to major junior hockey for the 2020-21 campaign or how all other levels of hockey and winter sports will get going in the 2020-21 campaign.

At the moment, the only junior hockey that will be played will be the action from the upcoming world juniors in Edmonton, Alta., which will be played in a bubble environment at Rogers Place.

Unless you are a big money professional circuit or the top tier of the NCAA, most winter sports in North America might be wise to throw in the towel for 2020-21 and start gearing up for the 2021-22 campaign.

Politicians can’t win in pandemic, other notes

Politicians like Scott Moe can’t escape criticism.

Politicians can’t win in the COVID-19 pandemic.

No matter where on the political spectrum you sit, politicians who make decisions during these COVID-19 pandemic times will be criticised for either doing too much or not doing enough. No matter what decision is made, it seems both types of criticism inevitably come.

It seems like you don’t have to work hard to find people on social media crapping on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The same goes for Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.

Actually, you likely can find all sorts of venom directed at any provincial premier in Canada on social media.

Too much of the venom is downright hateful and personal.

Of course, there was one clown who fired off remarks that were racist towards Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab at a so-called “freedom rally” on Saturday in Regina.

When you see all the vile comments, it makes you ask, “Why would anyone get into public service or become a politician?”

Even when the COVID-19 pandemic hits a conclusion, I don’t think anyone would want to be rushing to get into public service of become a politician due to the garage that would come their way. No matter what you do, you are never going to get a break on anything and people are going to take out a personal hate on you.

During the pandemic, it seems politicians of all political stripes can only do wrong.

The COVID-19 pandemic is definitely the worst time to be a politician.

• As of Wednesday night, the 50/50 jackpot for the Hockey Harvest Lottery sat at $297,520. The lottery is being used to raise money for the player scholarship education funds of Saskatchewan’s five WHL teams in the Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and the Swift Current Broncos. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• As of Wednesday night, the December jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery sat at $5,650. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the draw dates are December 31, 2020, January 31, 2021, February 28, 2021, March 31, 2021, April 30, 2021 and May 31, 2021. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• From what I can tell, the start date for the NHL’s upcoming season is still January 1, 2021. There have been speculation stories that said that start date has been moved to January 13, 2021 for a little over a week now. With that noted, I can’t find anything official from the NHL saying the start date has been pushed back. In reality, it doesn’t seem likely the NHL can actually start its upcoming season on that January 1, 2021 date.
• I haven’t done this in a while, so I figured I would add these again for a marker to look back on. According to Worldometer at the time this post went live 1,655,282 people have died so far this year in the world due to the coronavirus even with varying restrictions that have been imposed around the world. Also this year, Worldometer has reported 1,616,515 people in the world so far this year have died of HIV/AIDS, 1,298,066 died by road traffic accidents, 1,031,175 died by suicide, 809,776 people have died by water related diseases, 471,051 died by seasonal flu, and 297,221 mothers have died during birth. The skeptics of the COVID-19 pandemic always want to know the deaths from cancer it seems. Worldometer said 7,897,603 people have died of cancer this year.
• On Tuesday, Gregg Drinnan had some ponderings about the COVID-19 pandemic in his Taking Note blog. The ponderings made good points, but they were of the sad variety. Even though they were of the sad variety, they were still good points to ponder. That piece 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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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.

2001 Rams/Huskies game provided release in rough time

Some crave similar release from respective local sports scenes

Neal Hughes is off to the races for the Rams.

It was a day like no other when you didn’t realize how good it would feel to be at a football park.

That day for me happened to be Saturday, September 15, 2001, when I arrived at Taylor Field to see the U Sports football clash between the University of Regina Rams and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in a contest that was newly dubbed the Hall of Fame Game.

This game provided a significant memory for me because it occurred just four days after the terrorist attacks in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Those attacks saw the fall of the World Trade Center towers after hijacked airplanes crashed into them.

Jason Clermont, left, rumbles upfield after a catch for the Rams.

It was safe to say everyone who saw the images of what happened in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001 was affected emotionally by them.

A third plane had crashed into the Pentagon that day. A fourth plane in United Airlines Flight 93 was initially flying to Washington, D.C., but it crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania after passengers thwarted the hijackers.

It seemed most were in a fog for most of that week after the terrorist attacks happened, and I was one of those that was in a fog. On top of that, I was going through some changes that were the biggest in my life up to that point in time.

Darryl Leason (#8) steps up in the pocket to make a pass.

In May of that year, I had moved away from Regina to work as the sports writer in Prince Albert at the Prince Albert Daily Herald almost a year after graduating from the University of Regina. I had covered the University of Regina’s athletic teams from 1996 to 2001, and most of my old friends from those days were still at the U of R, when I returned from the Hall of Fame Game.

After the terrorist attacks happened, all I wanted to do was go to Regina and see all my old friends again and be around something that felt normal.

It seemed a lot of other people wanted to be around something that felt normal that day as 7,238 spectators attended this clash between the Rams and Huskies. At that time, there pretty tight friendships among most of the members of all the athletic teams at the U of R, and a large sizable contingent from the rest of those teams was at this contest.

Jarrod Livingston watches his Rams from the sidelines.

The U of R was coming off arguably its most memorable season as an athletics program in 2000-01, where the Rams made the Vanier Cup falling 42-39 to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, the Cougars women’s hockey team made the U Sports title game coming up short on a 4-3 decision against the U of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Cougars women’s basketball team won the U Sport championship game 94-85 over the U of Alberta Pandas.

Adding in extra fun from my side was I took pictures of the Hall of Fame Game from the sidelines. I wasn’t planning on that, but Brad Woods, who was the U of R’s sports information officer, saw me before the game and set me up with a field pass.

Rams head coach Frank McCrystal evaluates play.

I later enlarged five photos from that contest, got them autographed and gave them to be used for the silent auction at the Rams annual fundraising dinner.

When I got to the sidelines, it was great to see Jarrod Livingstone was out on the field keeping tabs on the Rams. Jarrod, who is the grandson of legendary Rams builder Scotty Livingstone, has spina bifida and has to get around in a wheelchair.

For a lengthy stretch of years, he attended every Rams game and practice. He was the focal point of a lot of fun for everyone involved with the team, and he would give some locker room post-game addresses too from time to time.

The Rams faithful at Taylor Field were jacked up.

As for that contest itself, the cheers during the player pre-game introductions for that contest had a distinctly different feel to them. It seemed like everyone was happy to be out at a football game due to what had happened that past week in the world.

The fans seemed to get a little more engaged into the game when Rams star quarterback Darryl Leason gave a little pump up motion with his arms during pre-game introductions to make everyone remember a pretty big rivalry game was about to take place. Leason at the time was arguably viewed by those in Saskatoon’s sports scene as their greatest villain adversary at that point in time.

Rams LB Jeff Zimmer hits Huskies RB Tyler Siwak.

He loved to get verbal jabs out there that star Huskies defensive end and former Rams team member Brent Dancey would never be able to touch him among a number of other lines that would stir the emotions in the rivalry.

The Rams three key stars in Leason, slotback Jason Clermont and running back Neal Hughes put on a show, and the Rams came away with a 31-21 victory.

One of the game’s signature moments came when six Huskies defensive players were unsuccessfully trying to bring Clermont down, and one of those defensive players came at Clermont with a high flying tackle attempt grabbing the receiver around his neck. Clermont still didn’t go down, but the play was blown dead as his forward progress was stopped.

Darryl Leason ran for 64 yards and threw for 376 yards.

He caught five passes for 113 yards in the win.

Hughes was the night’s MVP. He ran the ball 17 times for 141 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns, and he caught six passes for 80 yards and one receiving major score.

Leason completed 23-of-39 passes for 376 yards and one touchdown, while running the ball 10 times for 64 yards and a major score.

The Huskies did manage to gleefully intercept Leason three times including one pick that was run back 31 yards by defensive back Eric Duchene.

U of S did have other highlights in the game. The Huskies led 7-0 after the first quarter thanks to a 12-play, 89-yard drive that finished with star quarterback Sheldon Ball hitting slotback Greg Meikle with a 16-yard touchdown pass.

Jeff Zimmer made 12 tackles for the Rams.

Huskies powerback Tyler Siwak ran the ball 16 times for 131 yards and scored one touchdown. With the Rams leading 21-7 early in the fourth quarter, Siwak ran his major in from 42 yards out to cut the U of R lead to 21-14 with 9:51 remaining in the frame.

The Rams answered that score with a monster 13-play drive that covered 100 yards that ate up over five minutes and 30 seconds on the clock. On that march, the Rams converted three third down gambles.

The march ended when Leason hit Hughes with a 19-yard touchdown pass to put the hosts up 28-14 with 3:58 remaining in the game.

U of R was able close out the contest from that point.

Linebacker Jeff Zimmer topped the Rams with 12 tackles. Dancey had four tackles for the Huskies, but wasn’t able to come close when it came to trying to register a sack.

Neal Hughes (#36) ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Jon Ryan punted the ball twice for the Rams averaging 49.5 yards a kick.

On the legendary coaches’ front, Frank McCrystal patrolled the sidelines as the Rams head coach, and Brian Towriss worked the opposing sidelines as Huskies head coach.

After the Rams received the Hall of Fame trophy, everyone from the U of R side slipped off to their favourite long time night spot in Checkers for a joyful and spectacular post-game victory party. The festivities ran well into the early hours of the morning.

During the celebrations, you could tell everyone was feeling a release from being bombarded with what happened that week in world events on top of enjoying the Rams victory.

The U of Regina Cheer Team does their thing.

In the current world that is gripped by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many right now would love to revel in a similar experience following sports teams in their respective local centres.

It doesn’t matter the sport. 

If you are involved with or follow football, hockey, basketball, curling, baseball, softball, racing or any sport that holds the heart of a town or centre, you would like to be able to go to a game and try to relive an experience you have had many times before.

It makes you feel good.

Back when that clash between the Rams and Huskies was played in September of 2001, a lot of the sporting world in the United States had paused in order to come to terms with what happened with 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The anxiety of those events spilled into Canada, and the battle between the Rams and the Huskies gave a break from all that tension.

The Rams get the Hall of Fame Game trophy.

That break and being able to feel good are partial reasons why some sports and leagues have gotten back into action in modified forms. 

In North America, nothing is running exactly like it did on March 10 of this year, which was last real normal day on the calendar before massive restrictions happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will likely be some time before sports events in North America are held exactly like they were back on March 10.

When the day comes sports events can go ahead without restrictions again, you will likely see a lot of joy along with relief at various venues.

COVID-19 caution in local curling, hockey?

CurlSask is throwing caution to the wind in the curling scene.

It appears caution regarding the COVID-19 pandemic has hit a new gear in Saskatchewan when it comes to curling and the under-18 AAA hockey scene.

On Friday, stories came out over various mainstream media outlets that CurlSask postponed a provincial men’s curling tour stop at the Highland Curling Club in Regina and a women’s curling tour stop in Martensville. Both events were originally slated to begin Friday and run through to Sunday.

CurlSask said the decisions were reached based on the advice of the Government of Saskatchewan’s Business Response Team and the recent increases of COVID-19 cases.

On Saturday, the Government of Saskatchewan reported there were 78 new COVID-19 cases in the province, which was a new record for the province over a 24-hour period. Saskatchewan currently has 574 active COVID-19 cases, which is also an all-time high.

Gregory Strong of The Canadian Press put out a story on Friday showing that Matt Dunstone’s Regina-based rink and Colton Flasch’s Saskatoon-based rink are frustrated with Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 restrictions.

In the story put out by The Canadian Press, the Dunstone team hinted they were thinking about moving to Alberta in order to have the chance to get more competition in these COVID-19 pandemic times. At the moment, CurlSask won’t allow Saskatchewan curling teams to participate in events outside Saskatchewan and is barring teams from outside the province from coming into the province to play games.

Add caption

The Canadian Press story was posted on CBC’s website, and some of the reader comments directed towards the curlers weren’t that nice. The Canadian Press story on the CBC site can be found by clicking right here.

There has also been a trio of cancellations on the under-18 hockey front including two male exhibition games and one female pre-season contest on Friday and Saturday in Saskatchewan. COVID-19 wasn’t named as the reason for the cancellation, but “unforeseen circumstances” seemed to be the buzz words.

On Friday, the Saskatoon Blazers announced their exhibition home again that night against the Warman Wildcats was cancelled in male under-18 AAA play.

On Saturday, the Saskatoon Contacts announced their exhibition home clash that night against the Battlefords Stars was cancelled also in male under-18 AAA play.

Also on Saturday, the Prince Albert Northern Bears announced their pre-season home game against the Saskatoon Stars on Sunday was cancelled in female under-18 AAA play.

Bedard hits the ice in Sweden for games, other notes

Connor Bedard is seeing game action, and business is picking for other players on WHL rosters.

On Wednesday, Gregg Drinnan was the first in North America to report in his Taking Note blog that Bedard, who turned 15-years-old on July 17, played his first game that night with HV71 in Sweden’s U-20 league. HV71 is based in Jonkoping.

HV71 fell 2-1 to Farjestad, and Bedard was held pointless in that contest.

Bedard, who is from North Vancouver, B.C., was given exceptional player status to allow him to play in the WHL on a full-time basis at age 15. The Regina Pats selected the skilled centre first overall in the WHL Bantam Draft back in April.

Dave Struch, who is the Pats head coach and assistant general manager, told Drinnan the Pats released Bedard to HK71 with the understanding Bedard will return to the Pats when the WHL get back into action.

The WHL regular season is targeted to start on January 8, 2021.

Bedard has a goal and an assist in his first two games with HV71.

On Friday afternoon, the WHL announced it has granted temporary transfers for WHL roster players to play at the junior A, junior B and under-18 levels in order to continue their development.

On the same day, the Everett Silvertips announced they had loaned five players to the junior A ranks with the loans slated to expire on Dec. 20.

One of those players includes overage left-winger Cole Fonstad, who joined his hometown Estevan Bruins in the SJHL. Fonstad was a member of the Prince Albert Raiders until he was dealt to the Silvertips in October of last year.

Overall, a number of WHL players are now on rosters of junior A, junior B and under-18 teams.

All of these moves would not have come to pass at this point in time had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic.

• On Thursday, TSN’s Rick Westhead reported on Twitter a judge in Quebec and a judge in Ontario have rejected the $30-million settlement in the CHL’s minimum-wage class-action lawsuit. There is no telling when this legal proceeding may actually conclude.
• Back on August 25, Forbes put out a piece stating the five biggest threats the COVID-19 pandemic poses towards the future of sports. The piece is geared towards a more United States viewpoint. The first threat mentioned is the financial threat noting the sports industry in the United States is worth US$750-billion. Some will see some parallels to the sports industry in Canada. The Forbes piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, Greg Harder put out a story in the Regina Leader-Post catching up with Connor Hobbs, who was a great with the WHL’s Regina Pats. The 23-year-old defenceman said he had retired from professional hockey after playing three injury riddled seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears. The Bears are an affiliate with the NHL’s Washington Capitals, who selected Hobbs in the fifth round and 143^rd overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Hobbs is taking business classes online at the U of Saskatchewan and has been practicing with the Huskies men’s hockey team with younger brother, Declan, who is a goalie. From 2013 to 2017, Hobbs played in 180 WHL regular season games split between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Pats posting 53 goals, 94 assists and a plus-36 rating in the plus-minus department. Harder’s story on Hobbs can be found by clicking right here. Hobbs arguably most hilarious moment in the WHL is contained in the tweet below.

Connor Hobbs thinks you should come enjoy games 1 & 2 and get in on the BRAND NEW pulled pork sandwich at @BrandtCentre! #JoinTheRegiment pic.twitter.com/uyENVUdTi9

— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) March 22, 2017

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.