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| Roughriders S Mike Edem closes in on a hit. |
The
feelings of positivity in Saskatchewan are so good, when the CFL’s Saskatchewan
Roughriders are on a roll.
On Friday,
the Roughriders downed the Alouettes in Montreal on Friday 17-10 to record a
fourth straight win. The game was called with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter
at Molson Stadium due to an hour long delay caused by lightning.
The
officials invoked a new weather protocol that was put into the new collective
bargaining agreement between the CFL and CFL Players’ Association in the
off-season. A game is considered official after the midway point of the third
quarter and can be called for a weather delay of at least an hour.
While this
was a backdoor way to get a win, all that does matter was the win was the
fourth straight for the Roughriders.
The pundits
will downplay the Roughriders 5-3 record noting only one of those victories
came against a team with a winning record. That was a 24-19 victory over the
Hamilton Tigers-Cats on Aug. 1. The Tiger-Cats lead the East Division with a
6-2 record.
One of the
Roughriders victories came against the 1-6 Toronto Argonauts, two against the
1-7 British Columbia Lions and the Alouettes fell to 3-4 with their setback on
Friday.
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| Shaq Evans, left, has made a number of big plays. |
Still, most
Roughriders fans won’t care who the win came against. They just care they happened.
When you
see four wins in a row, you have to start dreaming that this team might round
into a form that could win the Grey Cup this season.
You look at
the CFL standings and see the Roughriders have the same record as the Calgary
Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos and sit in a tie for the second to fourth place
spots in the West Division. All three of those teams are a win behind the 6-2
Winnipeg Blue Bombers for first place in the division.
When the
Roughriders have won four in a row, you really have an extra spring in your
step, if you live in Saskatchewan. It seems like everyone around you is in a
better mood, and you can’t wait to get to go to another game.
The
Roughriders are on a bye week now and won’t return to action until Saturday, Aug.
24, when they host the Ottawa RedBlacks at 5 p.m. local time at Mosaic Stadium.
While you
wish the Roughriders could get back on the field right away, as a fan you look
forward to the fact you can feel good over the next two weeks.
It will
feel like every day is a good weather day. It will feel like everything you eat
will taste that much better.
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| Charleston Hughes (#39) keeps crunching quarterbacks. |
The person
you are attracted to or your better half will look that much hotter.
When you
get into casual conversations, it will revolve around how well the Roughriders
are doing.
Talk will
revolve around how well new starting quarterback Cody Fajardo has picked up the
game. Optimism will be high that he is the franchise signal caller the club was
looking for since moving on from Darian Durant following the 2016 campaign.
People will
be upbeat about how well running back William Powell is running the ball and
that he is on pace to surpass 1,000 yards rushing for a third straight season. He
broke 1,000 yards rushing each of the past two campaigns running for the
RedBlacks.
Discussion
will move to the big plays receiver Shaq Evans is making as he has 31 catches
for 607 yards over the team’s first eight games. You will talk about how the
Roughriders will utilize the speed of receiver Kyran Moore, who is known as “Swerve.”
The offensive line looks solid
behind veteran centre Dan Clark and first-year right guard Dakota Shepley.
People will
be upbeat Regina product and punter Jon Ryan has returned to his top and he is
booming the ball for miles.
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| The roar of Rider Nation is always great to hear. |
Also on the
provincial products front on special teams, Saskatoon product Jorgen Hus is
still holding it down at long snapper.
On defence,
old man Charleston Hughes is still a beast at age 35. You just jump with
excitement over that.
He has
already piled up 10 quarterback sacks and scored defensive touchdown off a
fumble recovery in Friday’s win over the Alouettes.
After
Hughes, a host of defensive players are making plays including linebackers
Derrick Moncrief, Solomon Elimimian and Cameron Judge and defensive backs Ed
Gainey, Nick Marshall and Loucheiz Purifoy.
In the here
and now, the Roughriders are winning, and it is good. It is just so good.
All hail Andreescu as the new Canadian hero
Canada’s
sports world this past weekend was all about Bianca Andreescue.
The
19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is a rising star in the tennis world, and
she stepped into the national conscious in a huge way winning the Rogers Cup on
Sunday in basically her backyard of Toronto.
Andreescu
became the first Canadian to win the Rogers Cup since Faye Urban of Windsor,
Ont., took the title in 1969. When Urban won, the event was played on a clay
surface and was called the Canadian Open.
Andreescu
jumped into the national spotlight over the past week winning four straight grueling
three-set matches to make the Rogers Cup semifinal.
In a
semifinal match on Saturday, Andreescu outlasted Sofia Kenin of the United
States with a straight-sets victory 6-4 and 7-6 that lasted two hours and 11
minutes. She celebrated by kissing the court at the Aviva Centre.
In Sunday’s
final, Andreescu faced the player she idolized growing up in Serena Williams of
the United States. Williams is regarded as one of the greatest players ever as
her 23 Grand Slam singles titles are the most in the Open Era.
She is
viewed as still being on top of her game at age 37.
The final
didn’t go long in duration. After Andreescu went ahead 3-1 in the first set,
Williams called a medical timeout.
Williams
sat in her chair and had to retire from the match due to back spasms and broke
down.
After
hearing Williams was retiring from the final, Andreescu came over to console
the tennis legend and the two hugged twice.
That moment
of empathy combined with her gritty play during the week help shoot Andreescu’s
star into the stratosphere for the short term.
It also
might be the start of something big.
The win at
the Rogers Cup was her second Women’s Tennis Association Premier title of the
season.
With the
home country spotlight shining on her, Andreescu showed that she had some
pretty good power to her game and could tactically change up her attack using a
variety of shots.
Andreescu
showed off some great speed and agility to go along with her power.
She is now
the 14th ranking singles player on the WTA, and with the power game
she has, Andreescu might be visible on the scene for some time to come.
Shirley, Hobson, Messier to play for Canada
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| Brooke Hobson in action with the Bears in 2017. |
A trio of
Saskatchewan athletes will represent Canada on the ice in taking on the United
States.
Sophie
Shirley and Brooke Hobson, who have built a reputation play for Hockey Canada’s
national women’s team system, will skate for Canada’s National Women’s
Development Team. Ashley Messier will play for Canada’s under-18 women’s team
in her first appearance wearing Canadian colours.
Both teams
will take on their respective foes from the United States in a three game
series that starts Wednesday and runs through Saturday in Lake Placid, New
York.
The two
Canadian squads were made after selection camps that were help and wrapped up
in Calgary, Alta., on Sunday as part of the Team Canada Summer Showcase.
Shirley,
who is a graduate of the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team, had a huge
freshmen campaign helping the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey
team win the NCAA championship. The skilled forward appeared in 41 games
posting 20 goals, 18 assists and a plus-36 rating and was named the Western
Collegiate Hockey Association conference rookie of the year.
Shirley has
been a member of Canada’s under-18 team, been on the national development team
for some time and has played in games with Canada’s senior national women’s
team.
Hobson, who
is a former captain with the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA
team, posted six goals, 22 assists and a plus-27 rating in 38 games with the
Northeastern University Huskies women’s team. The talented offensive-defender
helped the Huskies advance to a quarter-final match in the NCAA championship
tournament.
Hobson is a
former member of Canada’s under-18 women’s team.
Messier,
who is from Wilcox, Sask., had another stellar campaign playing on the Stars
blue-line last season appearing in all of her team’s 28 regular season games
setting new career highs in goals (five), assists (27) and points (32). For her
efforts, Messier captured the SFMAAAHL’s Colleen Sostorics Top Defenceman award
and helped the Stars win the SFMAAAHL title and advance to the Esso Cup female
midget AAA national championship tournament.
In three
campaigns with the Stars, Messier has appeared in 84 regular season games
posting 11 goals and 58 assists.
Last year,
Messier went to camp with the United States under-18 women’s team and played
against Canada in a three-game exhibition series.
Messier is
eligible to return for her 17-year-old season in the midget AAA ranks but will
play for the Selects Girls Hockey Academy at Bishop Kearney High School in
Rochester, N.Y., for her Grade 12 year. She has committed to play for the
Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks starting in
the 2020-21 campaign.
Askarov stones Canada in Hlinka Gretzky Cup
final
Yaroslav Askarov
slammed the door on Canada’s quest to win a third straight Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
On
Saturday, Askarov made 35 saves to back Russia to a 3-2 victory over Canada in
the championship game of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Canada outshot Russia 37-13 in
the title game played at the Ice Bors Arena in Breclav in the Czech Republic.
Alexandr
Pashin gave Russia a 1-0 lead early in the first period.
Quinton
Byfield scored the equalizer for Canada on a power-play chance early in the
second to force a 1-1 tie.
Russia
exited the second frame holding a 2-1 lead after getting a goal from centre
Vasili Ponomaryov. Pashin added his second of the contest at the 8:38 mark of
the second to give Russia a 3-1 advantage.
Jean-Luc
Foudy replied for Canada with 4:59 to play in the third to cut Russia’s lead to
3-2.
Dylan
Garand made 10 stops to take the setback in goal for Canada. Canada had won the
two previous Hlinka Gretzky Cups.
Canada posted
a 4-1 overall record at this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Russia posted a 5-0
overall mark.
Defenceman Kaiden
Guhle and right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt of the WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders
were members o f the Canadian squad.
Guhle had
an assist in five games, while Wiesblatt wasn’t able to pick up any points in
five games.
Last
season, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 186 pounds, appeared in 65
regular season games with the Raiders posting three goals, 14 assists and a
plus-17 rating in the plus-minus department.
Wiesblatt,
who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 187 pounds, skated in 64 regular season games
with the Raiders posting 15 goals, 24 assists and a plus-30 rating.
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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