COVID-19 pandemic forces world to face mental health

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I did a lot more biking around Saskatoon in 2020.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The situation in the current day includes wear more facemasks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have missed fun moments like this in the WHL.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Out of sight out of mind fear drives COVID-19 sports world

Andrew Harris runs the ball for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

    If you don’t play, you don’t exist.

    It is that type of fear that is driving the sports world right now in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    Teams, leagues and minor sports bodies fear the old cliché, “out of sight, out of mind.”

    A cliché becomes a cliché, because it is grounded in truth. The teams, leagues and minor sports bodies don’t want to be forgotten.

    There is a fear that if people stop interacting with their favourite team, league or the minor sports body they are involved with, those people will find other ways or focus on other interests to occupy their time and forget about the sports world.

    As a result, there are many inside these teams, league and minor sports bodies who feel they need to find some way to play at all costs.

    That line of thinking often results in pressure to throw good money after bad money.

    At the moment in North America, the big four professional leagues have returned to play or are about to return to play in the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB. UFC and the NASCAR Cup Series have been motoring along since May.

    The WNBA has also hit the court, and out in Germany, the pro soccer Bundesliga completed its campaign in early July.

Most leagues in Canada have no where near the NHL’s resources.

    One thing all these circuits have is major resources noting that the WNBA is backed by the NBA. That doesn’t mean these professional circuits are immune to the impacts of COVID-19.

    In the MLB, the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies are still dealing with the after effects of being rocked by positive COVID-19 tests. Both clubs were last in action when they played each other in Philadelphia this past Sunday and haven’t seen the field since.

    There are fears the MLB season won’t be played to a conclusion.

    On the economic side, the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks gave a written termination notice to 49 people working full time in business operations. As it is unknown as to when the Canucks will host home games, they couldn’t keep those employees on staff. That story came out in the Vancouver Province on Thursday.

Will gate-driven circuits like the WHL find the conditions to play?

    The Canadian Elite Basketball League is in the process of conducting a month long Summer Series tournament to crown a league champion playing out of a bubble environment at the Meridian Centre in St. Catherines, Ont.

    The CEBL isn’t flush with cash, so Mike Morreale and that circuit’s leaders deserve big credit for getting that circuit going. Still, running a basketball league isn’t the same as getting a football league back in action in Canada.

    If the storied CFL takes the field in 2020, it will do so in the bubble city of Winnipeg. That league is still facing numerous hurdles as far as playing games go including getting players living in the COVID-19 ravaged United States into Canada and getting the CFL and CFL Players’ Association to come to terms on a deal to play this season.

    The CFL is still seeking money from the Government of Canada to take the field again and no results have occurred on that front. The CFL was looking for $44-million to play this year and was seeking $150-million in federal government assistance if the 2020 season is lost.

CFL great Charleston Hughes (#39) is focusing more on the working world.

    At the moment, players from the United States that live in Canada like Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive end Charleston Hughes are focusing more on opportunities in the working world. Hughes lives year round in Regina.

    On the minor sports front, minor sport bodies are content to get registration that reaches just 25 per cent of recent years in order to spring into action. Still, those bodies are facing the reality of needing like three years to recover economically from 2020.

    Even with that in mind, people are thinking about you, if you are out there playing.

    No one knows what the future will be like for gate driven leagues like the CHL major junior hockey circuit that includes the WHL, OHL and QMJHL.

    Same goes with junior A hockey that includes the SJHL or the professional NLL circuit.

    U Sports could look drastically different after the pandemic as opposed to before the pandemic. That circuit won’t hold any national championships in fall, and most of its conferences have shuttered fall competition. The odds aren’t great action will resume in January of 2021.
    The Government of Canada wouldn’t allow the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays to play out of Toronto in front of no fans, so what are the odds that gate driven leagues will be able to operate with fans.

Will U of Saskatchewan Huskies football be hurt by not playing in 2020?

    Governments in Canada at the federal, provincial and municipal level don’t seem to be in a rush to allow sports events where around 1,000 people attend let alone attendances that surpass 10,000. In Saskatchewan, stock car circuits are racing in front of gatherings that are allowed to top out at 150 people.

    I have been thinking what my father, the late Dan Steinke, would do when it comes to the business side of the sports world, because he had his share of success in the business world.

    I suspect he would treat the COVID-19 pandemic like the world was in the grips of a world war.  

    Concluding that governments in Canada don’t have a will to allow sports teams to play in front of mass gatherings of people and most avenues to generate revenue have been significantly hurt, my late dad, if he was the owner of a sports team, would likely layoff all the staff and cut everything down to the point where he held just the intellectual property of the team.
    He would put the intellectual property of the team into storage ready for it to be brought back when the pandemic ends.
    My dad would suggest owners of sports teams to follow that course of action, because he would see no value in continually throwing money into a black hole as the end date of the pandemic is uncertain.

What will Makena Kushniruk and the Saskatoon Stars see in 2020-21?

    He wouldn’t like following this course of action, but he would do what needed to be done. If you think about it, 143 days have passed since the sports world in North America proceeded like normal.

    With that in mind, the leaders of teams, leagues and minor sports bodies are working their hardest to figure out the best path in this uncertain time. No one knows what the correct answer will be to get through these pandemic days.

    A bigger than major reboot for the sports world especially in Canada might be unavoidable.

    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.

Does a reality check wait as pro sports ramps up in N.A.?

A Sidney Crosby card.

    Business is hitting a higher gear for pro sports in North America as we are only days away from seeing Sidney Crosby and the NHL crew play actual games.

    Actually, we are just three days away from that moment. On Tuesday, Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins face their archrivals the Philadelphia Flyers in an exhibition tilt in Toronto, which is the NHL’s hub city for all Eastern Conference action.

    Following that contest, the Toronto Maple Leafs will battle the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto.

    Out in Edmonton on Tuesday which will be the hub city for Western Conference teams, the Edmonton Oilers take on their archrivals the Calgary Flames.

    The post-season official begins on Aug. 1 with five contests that will open the play-in round, which contains eight series that are best-of-five in length.

    The NHL was last in action with five regular season games on March 11. On March 12, the league suspended play due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    Now about four-and-a-half months later, the 2019-20 NHL campaign is set to resume with games played in arenas without fans in Toronto and Edmonton. The players and team staffs are being kept in nice hotels away from the general public in a bubble type situations.

    The NHL isn’t the only circuit that has gotten going. Major League Baseball held its opening day on Thursday with a pair of games. The New York Yankees downed the Nationals in Washington 4-1 in a game that was shortened to six innings due to weather and the host Los Angeles Dodgers thumped the San Francisco Giants 8-1.

A Carey Price card.

    In Canada on Friday, there was some excited online chatter as the Toronto Blue Jays slipped past the Rays in Tampa Bay 6-4 in the opening regular season game for both those clubs.
    The Blue Jays will be playing the majority of their home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y., after they were unable to get approval from the Government of Canada to get around COVID-19 restrictions to host games in Toronto.

    The WNBA regular season tipped off Saturday with six games at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. That circuit is set to play its entire campaign at that facility.

    The Canadian Elite Basketball League started its month long Summer Series tournament with a pair of games at the Meridian Centre in St. Catherines, Ont., marking the first professional sports action in Canada since March 11. The entire CEBL tournament will take place at the Meridian Centre.
    On July 30, the NBA resumes its regular season with a pair of games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.

    NFL players are slated to report to training camps on Tuesday.

A Bo Horvat card.

    The NASCAR Cup Series season and UFC cards have been going full speed ahead since May.

    Those in the amateur sports world in Canada and United States will have their figures crossed looking to see how life unfolds in North America’s pro sports world.

    If these pro sports circuits can finish their seasons with as few hiccups as possible, it increases the optimism the amateur sports world can get going more in full swing.

    In Saskatchewan, sports like golf, baseball and softball are taking part in meaningful competitions on the amateur side.

    If action in the North American pro sports circuits gets derailed by a surge of positive COVID-19 tests, that scenario could cause action that is already going on the amateur sports world to get rolled back. A surge in positive tests is possible as the amount of new COVID-19 cases in the United States seems to increase by an average of 60,000 a day at the moment.

    In Germany, the pro soccer Bundesliga restarted on May 16, and Bayern Munich won an eighth straight league crown. The Bundesliga officially wrapped up on July 6, when Werder Bremen played Heidenheim to a 2-2 draw in a relegation game and avoided being knocked out of Germany’s top professional tier.

    The Bundesliga proved what could be done if focus is maintained regarding virus testing and medical protocols.

    Even with the success the Bundesliga had and the momentum the pro sports circuits in North America have, there is still uneasiness on the amateur side of sports in North America.

A Brendan Gallagher card.

    This past Monday, the Southwestern Athletic Conference postponed all fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic including football, and it is an NCAA Division I conference. The SWAC still aims to get football going with a seven-game conference schedule for football starting with an eight-week training period in January 2021.
    The QMJHL has started to adjust its plans for the 2020-21 campaign. That circuit will shorten its regular season from 68 to 60 regular season games with the regular season slated to start Oct. 1. The league’s 18 teams will be split into three divisions of six clubs each and squads will only play in-division games.

    At the moment, fans of professional sports in North America have to be pumped action has already started to happen or will happen. In Canada, there will be lots of excitement for the NHL as the Oilers, Flames, Leafs, Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets will all be part of the play-in round.

    Still, could there be a COVID-19 reality check waiting around the corner that could bring everything to a halt?

    That is the big fear as things play out.

Winterton will always be linked to Raiders, other notes

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The Raiders are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Team President and Wall of Honour inductee Doug Winterton. The organization offers its condolences to Doug's family and friends.

A post shared by Prince Albert Raiders (@paraidershockey) on Jul 22, 2020 at 1:41pm PDT

    It is hard to imagine going to a Raiders hockey game in Prince Albert without Doug Winterton in attendance.

    Whenever the Raiders do resume playing home games with fans at the Art Hauser Centre in a world that is caught in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, Winterton won’t be sitting his is seat located in the first row of the west end of the facility a couple of sections north of goal on that side of the building.

    He sat in that spot of the Art Hauser Centre next to his wife, Joan, for as long as anyone can remember.

    This past Monday, Doug Winterton passed away of natural causes at age 91. He was born on December 23, 1928 and moved to Winnipeg at age 21, where he met Joan.

    They lived in Manitoba and Alberta before settling in Prince Albert in 1972.

    Upon arriving in Prince Albert, Winterton became involved with the Raiders, who were still playing in the Junior A ranks in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League at that time, and the Cooke Municipal Golf Club.

    Winterton served as the Raiders secretary for seven years and was the club’s president from 1978 to 1980. He was a charter member of the Raiders booster club, and he and Joan were billets for a lengthy stretch during the club’s time in the SJHL.

    Doug Winterton’s involvement and support of the Raiders continued when the club moved to the major junior hockey ranks joining the WHL in 1982.

    This past season, Winterton could still be found volunteering his time to help out in the media and scouts lounge even after he celebrated his 91^st birthday. He was inducted to the Raiders Wall of Honour on September 27, 2013.

    Winterton could tell you stories about the Raiders recalling the team’s entire history for hours and hours. While he had fond memories of the Raiders past, he was really proud of the players coaches and staff of the organization in recent years.

Doug Winterton enjoyed watching the Raiders win the WHL title in 2019.

    When Brayden Pachal, Sean Montgomery, Parker Kelly, Cole Fonstad, Spencer Moe, Zack Hayes, Max Martin and netminder Ian Scott first began playing together in 2016-17 going through growing pains as youngsters posting a 21-44-5-2 regular season record, Winterton saw something special.

    During that 2016-17 season, he would tell anyone that came into the Raiders media and scouts lounge about how much he enjoyed watching how hard that group worked and how much that group was improving as the campaign went on. Winterton said he believed that group of players could do something special.

    On May 13, 2019, Winterton was in his seat to see that core group of eight players help the Raiders as veteran team members win the WHL title. The Raiders claimed Game 7 of the WHL Championship series with an epic 3-2 overtime win over the Vancouver Giants with Dante Hannoun scoring for the Prince Albert side in the extra session.

    Doug and Joan were on their feet cheering and stayed to witness the on-ice post-game celebrations with the Ed Chynoweth Cup for a lengthy amount of time.

    Doug Winterton will be remembered as one of the Raiders most passionate supporters. In spirit, you get a sense he will still be a fixture at their games.

• On Thursday, the Prince Albert Raiders announced they have signed CHL Import Draft selection Uladzislau Shyla to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. Shyla, who is from Minsk, Belarus, was selected by the Raiders in the first round and 45^th overall in the CHL Import Draft held on June 30. The 17-year-old, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 147 pounds, had 10 goals and nine assists in 55 games for Belarus’s under-18 team this past season.
• Veteran Regina Leader-Post sports columnist Rob Vanstone was featured in a CTV story in his quest to lose weight and improve his health. CTV’s sports reporter Claire Hanna produced an uplifting piece and that story can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, 15-year-old Brooklin Fry won the Saskatchewan women’s amateur golf championship at The Legends Golf Course in Warman. The Shell Lake product posted a 7-over-par 223 to take the title. Fry, who is set to enter her rookie season with the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 hockey team, had won the Saskatchewan junior girls’ golf title on July 16 in Swift Current. The Saskatchewan men’s mid-amateur golf championship also wrapped up at The Legends Golf Course on Thursday with Danny Klughart of Prince Albert taking that title for a second straight year. On Friday, Saskatoon product Ty Campbell captured the Saskatchewan men’s amateur golf championship at The Legends Golf Course.
• On Friday, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who is from Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., announced he was opting out of the NFL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic via Twitter. The 29-year-old is the starting right guard for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. He has played for the Chiefs since 2014. Duvernay-Tardif graduated from McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine in May 2018 with a doctor of Medicine and a master of surgery. He began working at a long-term care facility in April in Montreal and remained in that role through June. Duvernay-Tardif has decided to continue to work in the health care system and is waiting for another role. Before joining the Chiefs, Duvernay-Tardif played in the U Sports football ranks for the McGill University Redmen.
• Gregg Drinnan continues to do an ace job rounding up how the COVID-19 pandemic has hammered the sports world in his Taking Note blog. His latest offering 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.

Will some sports be left out in 2020-21 due to COVID-19?

A campus rec game at Merlis Belsher Place on March 14.

    As the shutdown measures due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic enter a 12^th week, even the greatest optimist in the sports world has a tough thought cross the mind.

    Will there be a winter sports season in 2020-21 let alone a sports season in the summer of 2020?

Of course, UFC and NASCAR have returned to action in North American. UFC runs in a continuous fashion, while NASCAR resumed its 2020 campaign in May with a very hectic schedule.

    Still most sports leagues and organizations in North America have remained shuttered since a mass wave of shutdowns occurred on March 11 and 12.

    For myself, I last attended a live sports event on March 12, when the Saskatoon Contacts fell 5-3 to the Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 3 of a best-of-five Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League series at Merlis Belsher Place. The Warriors swept the series 3-0, but with Hockey Canada cancelling all its sanctioned activities starting on March 13, the Moose Jaw side would not play any further games.

    That was the last competitive hockey game held at Merlis and will likely be the last such contest held there for some time. After hosting University of Saskatchewan campus recreation games on March 14 and 15, Merlis was closed up.

    It now sits as a COVID-19 field hospital in waiting with 250 beds, and that facility is expected to stay that for the foreseeable future likely up to a year.

The Warriors and Contacts go at it in Merlis on March 12.

    It is now June 1, and this will mark the 81^st day without a competitive sporting event being held in Canada. While professional leagues like the NHL and NBA are deep into plans about returning to action and local baseball and softball organizations in Saskatchewan are hoping to hold games in July, no dates for any games have been set.
    On Friday, MLB teams released over 200 minor league players due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    As the days without sports keep accumulating, one wonders how long this could possibly go on?

    First, I wonder how deep the fear factor regarding COVID-19 pandemic goes and that will affect the return of sports?

    HIV/AIDS has been considered a pandemic for decades, but orders haven’t gone out making it illegal for humans to have sex.

    I admit I am not a scientist, but my mind keeps drifting to two theories about how COVID-19 started.

    It seems the largely accepted theory is that COVID-19 mutated naturally before it finally became a virus that could infect humans. Proponents argue that the virus likely originated in a bat and found its way to a number of intermediate hosts before jumping to humans. This jump seems to have occurred in China.

    The world has had lots of pandemics arise from developments in nature, but this is the first one that has caused humans in most areas of the globe to shutdown all non-essential parts of the economy and activities. There is a fear factor here, but it doesn’t make all the dots connect.

    The other theory is that COVID-19 is a “gain of function” experiment gone wrong.

Facilities like Athletic Park in Medicine Hat, Alta., will sit empty.

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

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

    The Wuhan Institute of Virology lab in the Jiangxia District, Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province was working on “gain of function” type experiments. It has strong ties to the Galveston National Laboratory in the United States, the Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie in France and the National Microbiology Laboratory in Canada.

    It is speculated COVID-19 escaped the lab in Wuhan.

    While most researchers lean towards the theory of COVID-19 jumping from animals to humans naturally, both theories are just that – theories. In science terms, they haven’t been proven as laws, so that leads to questions about them being true.

    The theory of the “gain of function” experiment gone wrong seems to connect the dots better regarding the shutdowns that have occurred across the world.

    You can almost see the question of fear of, “What did we do?”

    Then in the panic of battling the unknown, you shut everything down.

    If the “gain of function” gone wrong theory is true, you can’t see anyone admitting to it. If that was the truth and it became public, it would likely cause 10-times more fear than there is now.

Mosaic Stadium in Regina will be devoid of action for a while.

    There would be a call for questions to be answered and a wider call to end “gain of function” type of research.

    No matter where the fear came from, it is obvious it is there from medical officials and governments. How they deal with the pandemic can be widely debated.

    As for the sports world, that fear will affect its attempts to start up again, and most other aspects of society will have to deal with that fear as well.

    Since the shutdowns in North America occurred on March 11 and 12, one constant most governments have done is issued limits on mass gatherings often to less than 30 people.

    In recent days, those limits have been pushed in many places in the world especially in the United States due to protests against racism stemming from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 25. Floyd, an African-American, died after being arrested by police.

    Video has surfaced with Floyd being pinned on the ground with a police officer identified as Derek Chauvin driving his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck.

    Four officers were fired over the incident including Chauvin, and Chauvin, who is Caucasian, has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter over Floyd’s death.

The SaskTel Centre has sat unused for a lengthy stretch.

    In Canada, there was a protest against racism in Toronto on Saturday that drew 3,500 to 4,000 people. On Sunday, a protest against racism occurred in Vancouver that drew 3,500 people.

    Also on Sunday, another protest was held against racism in Montreal, which police later declared as illegal and included acts of violence.

    With people wearing protective masks to guard against COVID-19, one wonders if Canada’s criminal mask law will come into play with the Montreal protests.

    The mask law introduced by the Government of Canada in Bill C-309 that became law on June 19, 2013 bans the use of wearing masks during a riot or other unlawful assembly, and those convicted could face up to 10 years in prison.

    Canada’s Criminal Code, Section 351(2) covers “Disguise with Intent” that makes it an indictable offence to wear a mask or disguise to commit and indictable offence.

    These protest stories have actually pushed COVID-19 coverage to the back of news reports.

The Canalta Centre sits empty in Medicine Hat, Alta.

    With large gatherings occurring for the sake of having a protest, it will be interesting to see if that actually pushes the bar to actually allow mass gatherings in other walks of life or how these events will affect the interpretation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    For the sports world, teams and leagues are at the mercy of medical health officials when it comes to getting going again. I could see the United States going ahead with sporting events a lot quicker than Canada, because sports is a billion dollar industry in the United States.

    Outside of hockey, Canada just doesn’t have the same attachment to sport despite having elite athletes on par with those in the United States.

    It is possible some sports might get going and others don’t.

    Last Thursday to Saturday, the six time defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops had a fundraising bottle drive, but they didn’t canvas neighbourhoods at the advice of health officials. They received items at three different drop off points, with director and volunteers accepting recyclables wearing gloves and masks.

    Team supporters could arrange for pickup from team officials, but the recyclables had to be left on the curve or an outside walkway.

People in Canada rallied for the Raptors NBA title win in June of 2019.

    Businesses can tell you all about hoops health officials make you go through. Many stores have arrows to guide traffic flow, social distance indicators for checkout lines and hairstylists have to get dressed like they will perform open heart surgery.

    When you see medical health officials keep putting up hoops like this, you wonder how long it will be until sports will comeback in Canada.

    One thing sports can do is create unity in communities. Just remember the Toronto Raptors run to the NBA title a year ago.

    If you’ve seen mainstream media news reports regarding protests over the last few days, society needs a lot of help in the unity department right now.

Huskies mourn passing of the “Voice of the Rutherford Rink”

For many, many years Bruce Gordon has been the voice and wit booming around first Rutherford and then MPB. Huskie hockey has truly lost a part of what makes it so special with the passing of Bruce. We will miss him and our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/qpYGJ1TIvl

— USask Huskie Men's Hockey (@HuskiesMHKY) May 31, 2020

    He brought part of the charm of the old rink into the new rink.

    When the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team is next introduced to the ice for whenever their next home game will be played during these COVID-19 pandemic times, the “Voice of the Rutherford Rink” won’t be making that call.

    On Friday, Bruce Gordon, who has been the public address announcer for the Huskies men’s hockey game since 1985, passed away of natural causes.

    Born in 1961, Gordon’s involvement with the Huskies began in 1979, when he was the team’s radio play-by-play voices as the Dogs surged to prominence in the era when Dave King was the team’s head coach.

    Gordon became the team’s public address announcer in 1985 and also served as the chief of off-ice officials.

    With his bilingual humour, he added a flare to Huskies men’s hockey teams home games that stood the test of time and was unmatched.

    When the Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams left their old home in the ancient Rutherford Rink for Merlis Belsher Place before the start of the 2018-19 season, Gordon remained the public address announcer for the Huskies men’s hockey team. He performed that role for the Huskies for their only two seasons at Merlis to date before passing away.

    In the book “Dogs On Ice: A History of Hockey At the University of Saskatchewan,” Gordon stated how much the team meant to him.

Bruce Gordon’s last game was the Huskies Canada West title win on Feb.29.

    “When Dave King asked me to help with Huskie hockey, it was like I had died and gone to heaven,” said Gordon. “I have been treated so well.

    “The Huskies are a class organization, everybody shows appreciation for the work we do. I love the game, and I love being part of this organization and its loyalty. I buy into the values that say ‘nobody is going to outwork is.’

    “Ultimately, it’s not what I have done for the program, it is what the Huskie program has done for me.”

    The last game Gordon worked as the Huskies public address announcer was on February 29, when they downed the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 3-1 in Game 2 of the Canada West Championship series before a record crowd of 2,667 spectators at Merlis. The Huskies won the Canada West title that night sweeping the best-of-three series 2-0.

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

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Sports will be “the wild west” when action resumes

Will the Hilltops get to enjoy another CJFL title win in 2020?

    The sports world will likely have a “wild west” look when leagues and teams return to action in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    In North America, we’ve received a small glimpse of the differences with the return of UFC and NASCAR. The UFC has held fight cards in venues without fans and NASCAR had held race nights at tracks without fans.

    Also during NASCAR races, it is easy to see most of the people in the pit crews and working around the track are wearing protective masks. Even drivers don protective masks after they remove their race car helmets after the night’s action wraps up.

    Both circuits seem to be trying to squeeze as much action in on a tightened schedule. The NASCAR Cup Series is closing the month of May running five races in a period of 15 days.

    The five race run started on May 17 with The Real Heroes 400 at the Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C., and will conclude on Sunday with the Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn.

    Some of the premier soccer leagues are going in Europe and the Korean Baseball Organization is running in South Korea. The KBO is starting to collect a North American following.

Will Brendon LaBatte (#57) and the Roughriders fire fast out of the gate?

    In North America, tentative plans have come out to see restarts of the 2019-20 NHL and NBA campaigns, while MLB is working to get its season off the ground.

    Outside of the professional leagues, sports like minor baseball and softball are looking to have modified seasons running likely in July and August. Much of that return to action depends on the loosening of regional restrictions.

    The CFL is hoping to hit the field in September with a shortened season.

    The Canada West Conference in U Sports has already put forward tentative plans for modified shortened schedules. The CJFL is hoping to play a modified shortened slate.

    Junior hockey at the major junior and junior A ranks might ultimately end up playing shortened schedules.

    The NHL said on Tuesday it will jump right into playoffs with a 24-team format to be played in hub cities. With the NHL having paused action on March 12, it is wide open how this post-season could play out.

    The dates of these games haven’t been determined, but there is hope of a return in August.

    With that extended break, any trends from the regular season have to be thrown out the window. Whoever jells first will have the advantage.
    It will become clear quickly which players stayed in shape over the break and which did not.

How will Jesse Kuntz and the Huskies looking in 2020?

    Maybe goaltending will make the difference. This might be the perfect set up for a team like the Montreal Canadiens who had a 31-31-9 regular season record to ride star netminder Carey Price to a title run.

    Montreal is slated to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a best-of-five qualifying round series.

    The NBA is talking about returning to play in July at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida. The plans of how play is to resume are still more on the loose side.

    There has been talk of a 16-team playoff format or group stage play like World Cup soccer involving 20 to 24 teams followed by playoffs.

    It is still possible all of that circuit’s teams could return. The NBA was the first league in North America to pause its season back on March 11.

    All of the teams would be housed in hotels near the complex. Again, any trends from the regular season can be thrown out the window with that long of a layoff.

    The teams with the most talented players will likely have the edge, which means LeBron James might lift the Los Angeles Lakers, who had the second best regular season record at 49-14, to the NBA crown.

    At the moment, MLB is hoping to play an 82-game regular season, but the league and the MLB Players Association can’t agree on the issue of player compensation. Thanks to that deadlock, no one is predicting a start date.

How will Collin Shirley and the Huskies fair in a shortened season?

    In Canada, the football seasons are looking like they will be a sprint. The CFL is hoping for an eight-game regular season while Canada West is hoping for a five-game regular season and the CJFL wants to get in a four or five game regular season.

    The team that can catch fire fast will do well. Teams that bring back most of their rosters from the previous season might have a head start in doing well.

    That could favour teams like the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers or the Calgary Stampeders. On the Stampeders front, you know star quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell will be ready to go.

    The CFL is looking to play their game in hub cities, which adds a new dimension to the mix too.

    Due to the shortened seasons, it is possible there will be players in the CFL, Canada West Conference and the CJFL who decide not to play.

    In the CFL, players coming from either the United States or across Canada have to question if the shortened season is worth the travel.

    In the Canada West Conference and the CJFL, players might elect to sit out a season to stay home and help their families ride out the COVID-19 pandemic. They might elect to work at a place of employment and continue to train for the prospects of a full season in 2021.

    Of course, the prospects of work are hampered by the self-imposed recession/depression created by the world to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. With that noted, a player might definitely take a year off, if they have a job.

Will Jessica Vance get to show her greatness again in 2020-21?

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies and University of Regina Rams football teams might not see some of their out of province recruits this season. Some of the out of province returnees might elect to not return this season too.

    The six-time defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops and their main rivals the Regina Thunder mainly recruit in Saskatchewan. Still, some players on both of those squads may elect not to show due to the current state of the world.

    If players know they are going to be down on the lower end of a practice roster in a shortened 2020 campaign, those player might use that reason to elect to pass on this season and comeback in 2021.

    The teams in other sports in the Canada West Conference are in the same boat. Just looking at the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams, basketball teams, soccer teams and volleyball teams, you wonder which veterans will elect not to return this season due to how world events have played out.

    You wonder which recruits will elect to come this season or hold off for a better world outlook in 2021.
    Of course, all athletes can do in any league is train for now. At the moment, the medical health officials have all the power as to when sports will return.

Will the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders battle in 2020-21?

    That alone produces constant chronic stress for athletes and all those involved with leagues and teams along with minor sports bodies.

    Heck, media outlets don’t know how they will be covering these events when they return to action. There might be a lot of press conferences done online via Zoom.

    Still, it would be great if things worked out that “the wild west” frontier in sports could play out. Just think about all the unpredictable storylines that could be remember for years from a sports season that would be unlike any other.

Bears slated to get Esso Cup in 2021, other notes

The Bears have been named the hosts of the 2021 Esso Cup.

    The heartbreak the Prince Albert Northern Bears experienced in March was alleviated a bit on Wednesday.

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hockey Canada elected effective March 13 to cancel all its sanctioned activities for the rest of the 2019-20 campaign. That meant the cancellation of all Hockey Canada sanctioned national championship tournaments including the Esso Cup female AAA under-18 national championship tournament slated to be held in Prince Albert in April.

    Of course, the Bears were set to play in that event as the tournament’s host. The Bears deserved to host nationals as they have been one of the strongest female under-18 programs in Saskatchewan dating back to the inaugural season of the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League in 2006-07.

    The Bears won league titles in 2009 and 2017 and appeared in the 2017 Esso Cup. They also have a loyal following in “Hockey Town North.”

    On Wednesday, Hockey Canada announced the Bears will be the host team for the 2021 Esso Cup. Lloydminster was originally slated to host the tournament in 2021, but the centre that sits on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan will now host the Esso Cup in 2022.

    The Lloydminster Steelers, who play out of the Alberta Female Hockey League under-18 ranks, will be the host team for the 2022 Esso Cup.

Jessie Herner, left, and Brooklyn Anderson won’t play in the 2021 Esso Cup.

    Big kudos should go to Hockey Canada for making this decision. The Bears lost the chance to host the Esso Cup through no fault of their own in 2020.

    In this case, it feels like justice will be served, if Prince Albert hosts Esso Cup in 2021. Of course, there is still an uncertain fear the COVID-19 pandemic could wipe out a 2020-21 winter sports season.

    With that noted, five Bears players exhausted their under-18 eligibility after last season came to an abrupt end in captain Brooklyn Anderson, Jasper Desmarais, Jessie Herner, Tori MacDonald and Lauren Willoughby. On top of that, defender McKenzie Mayo, who could play one more year for the Bears, is slated to join the Trinity Western University Spartans women’s hockey team for the 2020-21 campaign.

    That group of six was denied of the chance to play at the Esso Cup in their home rink this past April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They won’t get that opportunity back, and that is unfortunate.

    Still, it is a great thing that the Bears will get another chance to host Esso Cup, and you can be sure their organization and the Prince Albert community will put on a great show.

• Hockey Canada also announced on Wednesday all its summer camps for national teams have been cancelled through to Sept. 1 due the COVID-19 pandemic. Hockey Canada will offer virtual camps for prospects for the under-18 women’s team, the national women’s development team, the goaltender development camp, the national male under-17 programs, and the national men’s junior team. The Program of Excellence coach seminar will be delivered in an online format too.
• With the NHL officially declaring an end to the regular season for the 2019-20 campaign, Edmonton Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl became the winner of the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer. The 24-year-old product from Germany appeared in 71 regular season games with the Oilers piling up 43 goals and 67 assists for 110 points. Draisaitl became the first alumnus of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders to become the NHL’s regular season scoring champion and the first player from Germany to capture the NHL’s scoring title. Draisaitl played two seasons for the Raiders from 2012 to 2014.
•  Jackson Caller, who is a former defenceman with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, has committed to play for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds men’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks. Caller played about two-and-a-half seasons with the Blades from 2016 to 2018. Last season, he played as an overage in the junior A ranks with the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League. In 55 regular season games with the Vipers, Caller netted five goals and 12 assists.
• On Tuesday, it was announced the Prince Albert Exhibition Summer Fair won’t be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was slated to run July 28 to Aug. 1.
• On Tuesday, it was announced Prince Albert’s Polkafest won’t be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Polkafest is usually held in late August.
• On Wednesday, the Western Canadian Baseball League announced its 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to cancel the campaign was a unanimous one from the league’s board of governors. The WCBL is a wood bat summer league that consists of teams in Saskatchewan and Alberta who are made up of players from the university ranks in the United States and Canada.
• With having to work from home due to all the shutdowns with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic starting on March 11, the data I’ve used on my mobile phone from the start of March up to today has been my lowest usage since I have ever owned a mobile phone.
• On Wednesday, the Walt Disney Co. announced plans to reopen its Walt Disney World theme park in Florida in phases beginning on July 11. The reopening plan awaits the approval of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• On Sunday, the Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatoon announced it is still hoping to hold a local stock car racing season with hopes of a season opening race in early August.
• The University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team took up the #SocialDistancingChallenge. Spread out seemingly all over the place, the Cougars players put together a fun pass the puck video from a number of different locations.

Hey @HuskiesWHKY thanks for the #socialdistancingchallenge. Sorry it took a while . . . We had some distance to cover. Sending the challenge to more Cougs - @MRUWomensHockey @UofRMensHockey pic.twitter.com/rx9TgWAO7P

— U of R Hockey (@URWomensHockey) May 26, 2020

    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.