Is the CFL a place you should or shouldn’t be?

Great Grey Cup game doesn’t erase uncertain feelings

Mosaic Stadium at pre-game of the 2019 Labour Day Classic.

Is the CFL good and feeling alright?

It feels like those who are overseeing the operations of Canada’s professional football circuit want you to believe the answer to that question is yes. The CFL has a solid backing of ultra-passionate fans who believe the answer to that question is yes, and the league doesn’t have any problems at all. Those fans believe the only problem the league has are negative people that want to talk bad about the CFL, and those negative people aren’t real fans.

One step removed from the ultra-passionate fans are passionate fans who have loved the league for a long time, but aren’t sure what their current relationship is with the circuit. Some of those fans that have been season ticket holders for decades are planning to not be ticket buyers in any form in 2023.

As the 2022 CFL season concluded with the playing of the Grey Cup game on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina with the Toronto Argonauts ousting the two-time defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-23, it didn’t feel like the campaign finished off as the normal love in that it usually does.

 No matter what challenges the CFL deals with, it always seems the bad stuff is forgotten during Grey Cup week, and everyone bonds over the circuit’s great attributes. The Grey Cup is often a compelling contest, and when it is completed, fans come away thinking the CFL game is great no matter who won.

The CFL is this league that seems to survive through sheer stubbornness. While I myself have loved the league, the realist in me was surprised the circuit was able to survive financially after the 2020 campaign was completely cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

When the CFL returned in 2021, some of the festivities surrounding the Grey Cup played in Hamilton, Ont., were limited as there were still various restrictions in place across Canada to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bombers downed the host Tiger-Cats 33-25 in overtime before 26,324 spectators at Tim Hortons Field in that contest.

This year marked the first time the CFL could host a full out Grey Cup week since the shutdowns that occurred in 2020. The circuit also ran its first full regular season where each club played 18 games for the first time since 2019.

By all accounts, the Grey Cup Festival events that started last Tuesday and ran through to Sunday were a success. CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s state of the league address on Friday mainly received a warm reception. It looked the 2022 CFL campaign was going to conclude with the classic love in the Grey Cup week brings.

The Grey Cup game delivered with lots of thrills. At the start of the fourth quarter, Bombers returner Janarion Grant returned a punt 102 yards for a touchdown. The run back was the longest punt return in Grey Cup history.

The previous record was held by Terry Williams of the Calgary Stampeders, who returned a punt 97 yards for a touchdown in his team’s 27-16 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks in the 2018 Grey Cup played in Edmonton.

The Bombers missed the extra point after Grant’s return score to make their lead at the time stand at 23-14. The Argonauts rallied for 10 straight points to win the game 24-23.

When Toronto closed the gap to 23-17, they had to finish the rest of the comeback behind backup quarterback Chad Kelly as starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson dislocated his thumb on his throwing hand.

Cody Fajardo (#7) slings a pass in the 2019 Labour Day Classic.

After the Argonauts got ahead 24-23, the Grey Cup ended with a wrinkle I had never seen happen in the countless number of football games I’ve watched live in person or on television. The contest ended with blocked field goals on back-to-back series in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

First Argos kicker Boris Bede attempted a 37-yard field goal attempting the increase his team’s 24-23 advantage, but his kick was blocked by Bombers defensive back Nick Hallett. The Bombers had the ball at their own 29 yard line with two minutes remaining in the frame after the block.

Bombers star quarterback Zach Collaros drove his team into position to attempt a 47-yard field goal to go back ahead on the scoreboard. Winnipeg kicker Marc Liegghio’s kick was blocked by Argonauts defensive lineman Robbie Smith.

The Argonauts got the ball on their own 19 yard line with 45 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. They were able to bring the contest to an end with three kneel downs before going off to celebrate their one-point championship victory.

Even with the exciting finish, there was a visible sign that all was not good. Looking at the game on TV, it was easy to see Mosaic Stadium was about 40 per cent empty. A sellout attendance of 33,350 was announced by the CFL.

Way back on September 28, the CFL and the Roughriders jointly announced the Grey Cup game was a sellout. On Grey Cup game day on Sunday, you could have easily gone on to Ticketmaster’s website and bought tickets for the contest.

During the week leading up to events like the Grey Cup, it is common that tickets that are reserved for dignitaries that won’t be used for that purpose are released for sale to the public. Still, there seemed to be about 1,000 tickets on the Ticketmaster site that were coloured in blue meaning they had yet to be bought by someone in the public.

You could purchase upper deck tickets for $296.85 each or tickets five rows behind a team bench for $546.60 each.

There were a sizable number of tickets available in the resale red, which means people who originally purchased the tickets were trying to unload them.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the NFL had a practice of announcing an actual attendance figure of people who actually entered the stadium and a no show figure. The no show figure was for people who purchased tickets but didn’t go to the game.

It is unlikely a no show figure will ever be released for Sunday’s Grey Cup game.

In the 2000s, it was common for tickets anywhere in CFL stadiums to cost between $40 and $60. The focus was to get the average working person into the stadium.

At least for Saskatchewan Roughriders games this past season, about 70 per cent of the seats at Mosaic Stadium cost at least $100 per seat. In 2019 which was the CFL’s last year operating before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the ticket prices in the lower sections between the 20 yard lines was anywhere between $55 to $155 before fees and taxes in eight of the nine CFL stadiums.

Patrick Neufeld (#53) sets to make a block for the Bombers.

Price point is a big problem in the CFL. It is an even bigger problem in 2022, when inflation in Canada has seen seemingly every product in Canada increase in price. Travel costs are higher, and it seems taking a flight to travel anywhere in Canada via airlines becomes a bigger gamble by the day.

The CFL’s solid backing of ultra-passionate fans don’t seem to mind the increased costs. They see rising ticket costs as a tax increase you pay to show your loyalty to your team. If it means you go into debt to support your team, you do it.

Judging by how many people didn’t show up for the Grey Cup, it appears all the inflationary costs do actually matters to a sizable amount of people these days.

During the regular season, 3DownNation reported the Bombers led the CFL in attendance for the first time in league history averaging 28,652 fans per game. The Roughriders were second averaging 27,431 spectators per game according to 3DownNation, which the first time attendance dropped below 28,000 per contest since 2006.

The Bombers record for average regular season attendance was 30,637 spectators per contest in 2013. The Roughriders record for average regular season attendance was 37,503 spectators per contest in 2013.

The Argonauts had the worst average attendance during the 2022 regular season averaging 11,874 spectators per game. Believe it or not, the Argonauts record for average attendance per contest is 47,355 spectators per game set back in 1976.

It is a fact that attendance in the CFL isn’t what it used to be.

For myself, I often struggle with the notion that the CFL is a place for me when it comes to any form of a role. The last game I attended in person was the Labour Day Classic contest on September 1, 2019, when the host Roughriders downed the Bombers 19-17 at Mosaic Stadium.

I didn’t go to any CFL games in 2021 due to the fact I was covering the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades on a regular basis. The teams in the CJFL and WHL were doing frequent COVID-19 testing and it was still common for teams and leagues to be shut down due to positive tests. No matter what, those three teams elected to interact with the media in person.

I personally didn’t want to be the one that accidentally brought in a COVID-19 case to get the Hilltops, Raiders or Blades shutdown, which meant no CFL games for me. Since March of 2020, I’ve only been out to four big fun social gatherings that included a family wedding in September 2021 and a WWE house show this past October.

I was planning to go to a CFL game this season, but work related projects prevented that from happening.

In Saskatchewan, I felt the negativity when things go bad for the Roughriders has been way worse since they returned to play in 2021 than it had before the shutdowns in 2020. That had been a factor in killing the motivation to go to games even with having a couple of friends on the Roughriders roster. Cost also became a factor too this season as I’ve elected to spend money elsewhere to adjust to various price inflations that are currently seen in Canada.

I also feel the CFL isn’t as connected to the fans as it once was. It seems like the decision makers on that circuit are comfortable with getting by on the support of the ultra-passionate fans who will spend huge amounts of money on the league no questions asked.

Dan Clark calls signals for the Roughriders in 2019.

The rules and the CFL game itself are as awesome as always. This past week I caught the re-airing ESPN broadcast of the 1981 Grey Cup.

Famed NFL analyst Paul Maguire did the analyst work on the 1981 Grey Cup, and he went into great lengths about how great the various unique rules are for the Canadian game. It felt like the ESPN broadcast was an advertisement for the Canadian game.

No matter what happens in Canada or the world, it feels like the CFL will somehow always be around. The Grey Cup game has been awarded in Canada since 1909. Again by sheer stubbornness, the Canadian version of pro-football never goes away.

Will it have another golden age when it comes to fan interest? Being a realist, the jury is out on the answer to that question, but it doesn’t seem possible in the short term or midterm.

Johnson gets final salute at Hilltops team awards banquet

Konner Johnson was named the Hilltops most outstanding grad.

Konner Johnson received one last hurrah with the Saskatoon Hilltops during the team’s annual award banquet, which was held Saturday night at the Delta Marriott Hotel.

The weak side linebacker, who established himself as one of the storied CJFL club’s all-time greats, took home the Drs. Landa-Doig Award as the club’s most outstanding graduating player. During the Hilltops eight regular season contests, Johnson piled up 31 solo defensive tackles, 13 defensive tackle assists, four special teams solo tackles, two special teams tackle assists, two quarterback sacks, five pass knockdowns and four interceptions.

Individually, Johnson picked up a lot of accolades this season. The 22-year-old was named a PFC all-star, the PFC’s most outstanding linebacker, the PFC’s most outstanding defensive player, a CJFL first team all-Canadian all-star and the CJFL’s most outstanding defensive player. This past May and June, Johnson attended the training camp of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Past President’s Trophy as the team’s rookie of the year went right tackle Davin Johnson. Davin was a true first year player having graduated from Saskatoon’s Walter Murray Collegiate this past June.

He became the Hilltops starting right tackle about halfway through this past season and started the Hilltops two post-season games. It is rare for any rookie straight out of high school to earn a starting spot as a rookie with the Hilltops, so Davin accomplished big things with the Hilltops in 2022.

Jaxon Funk was named the Hilltops top lineman.

Graduating centre Luciano Jolly took home the Blue and Gold Award for outstanding leadership and commitment to the team. Graduating receiver Dillan Heintz captured the Courtice Inspiration Award.

Defensive back Evan Mantyka, who also exhausted his CJFL eligibility, was given the Ron Atchison “True Grit” award. Middle linebacker Matt Wist, who has one year of CJFL eligibility remaining, claimed the Don and Jim Seaman Memorial Award as the team’s top linebacker.

Graduating defensive tackle Jaxon Funk captured the Ray Syrnyk Trophy as the team’s top lineman.

The Hilltops posted a 5-3 record in regular season play to finish second in the Prairie Football Conference. They advanced to the PFC final, where they dropped a 39-21 decision to the host Thunder in Regina at Mosaic Stadium back on October 30.

The Hilltops graduate 20 players from their 2022 roster including Connor Green, Matt Turple, Mantyka, Damon Dutton, Carter McLean, Steve Gilewicz, Tanner Szakacs, Konner Johnson, Jayson Kehler, Dylan McNutt, Mitchell Clarke, Jordan Bisson, Jolly, Aidan Connoly, Ethan Paslowski, Daylen Hartz, Funk, Presley Peterson, Heintz and Lachlan Horsley.

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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Completed seasons major victory for football in Canada

Andrew Harris (#33) and the Bombers are champs again.

Those involved with football in Canada should be popping the champagne corks to toast the completion of the 2021 season.

That has to be considered a major victory.

The campaign was capped in spectacular fashion on Sunday when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-25 in overtime to capture the Grey Cup as CFL champions. A sellout crowd of 26,324 spectators at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont., were treated to a highly entertaining contest, even though their hometown Tiger-Cats weren’t able to win.

Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros was named the Grey Cup MVP. He forever cemented himself as a hero in Winnipeg having quarterbacked the Bombers to Grey Cup wins the last two times the trophy was awarded.

Bombers receiver Nic Demski was named the Grey Cup’s most valuable Canadian player, and it seemed fitting that award went to a Winnipeg product who is a proud grad of the University of Manitoba Bisons football team.

Had the Tiger-Cats made one or two more plays, they would have been walked away with the Grey Cup. With six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Tiger-Cats kicker Michael Domagala booted a 13 yard field goal to create a 25-25 tie and force overtime.

One play before Domagala’s kick, a pass to the end zone that was tipped by Bombers defensive back Deatrick Nichols and still found its way to the hands of Tiger-Cats receiver Jaelon Acklin. Acklin was unable to make a catch, which would have allowed the Tiger-Cats to win the game.

In overtime, Collaros threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to veteran receiver Darvin Adams. Winnipeg sealed victory on an interception by linebacker Kyrie Wilson on Hamilton’s ensuing OT possession.

The Roughriders could host games without capacity limits.

Of course in a contest that was as thrilling as Sunday’s Grey Cup, people could point to a handful of other plays that could have changed the outcome of that game.

In the overall big picture, it was incredible the football season in Canada got to this point. With the world coming into the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with the first shutdown occurring in North American in March of 2020, the entire CFL season was lost in 2020.

The Bombers had beaten the Tiger-Cats 33-12 in the 2019 Grey Cup before the 2020 CFL campaign was nixed.

Actually, there was a decent amount of speculation thinking that the CFL might not comeback at all.

The Vanier Cup game, which crowns the U Sports football champion, was cancelled in 2020, and most U Sports conferences didn’t take the field. The CJFL campaign in 2020 was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tackle football was played in Canada in 2020, but those contests happened in pockets here and there mainly at the high school level.

When the CFL season kicked off on August 5 with the Bombers beating the Tiger-Cats 19-6 in Winnipeg, there were no guarantees the season would be completed.

When the Saskatchewan Roughriders downed the British Columbia Lions 33-29 on August 6, a sellout crowd of 33,350 was on hand at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Sask. Up to that point in time, that gathering was the largest crowd that had watched a sporting event in Canada since March of 2020.

Mason Nyhus and the Huskies went to the Vanier Cup.

The CFL was the first league in Canada where some teams were able to start hosting games at the start of the season without capacity limits since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020.

By the end of the campaign, most teams played without capacity limits, but showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination was standard practice.

The CFL successfully completed a season where each team played a 14-game regular season and the circuit held playoffs in its standard format where champions of the East and West Divisions met for the Grey Cup.

In U Sports, the Vanier Cup was handed out on December 4 in Quebec City, Quebec, when the University of Western Ontario Mustangs downed the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 27-21 at Stade Telus – Universite Laval.

Out of the four conferences that make up U Sports, three played a shortened six game regular season as opposed to an eight-game regular campaign, but the season got done. The football for the most part was outstanding.

Also on December 4, the CJFL crowned a champion as the Langley Rams blanked the London Beefeater 37-0 to win the Canadian Bowl at Western Alumni Stadium in London, Ontario. 

The CJFL had many exciting contests and the Prairie Football Conference and Ontario Football Conference held their usual eight-game regular seasons.

The Saskatoon Hilltops 33-31 victory over the Edmonton Huskies in a PFC semifinal played on November 7 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field will always be an all-time CJFL classic. Hilltops receiver Dillan Heintz caught the winning touchdown with 21.3 seconds to play in that contest.

Dillan Heintz scores the winning TD in a PFC semifinal.

With all that said, there are warts and worries when it comes to the game in Canada. In the CFL, attendances across the league for most of the season have to be a concern outside of the draws that came for a handful of games.

Adverse weather still seems to push a lot of fans away for games late in the campaign, and this had been a pre-existing problem for about five to six years at all levels of the sport.

There are other concerns, but those can be bantered about on another day.

After the exciting Grey Cup that was played on Sunday, those involved in football in Canada get to feel like they are with the WWE faction The New Day, where everything is coming up rainbows and unicorns and it is all about the power of positivity.

The fact the football season in Canada was played from start to completion should be celebrated.

Ochs takes final bow at Hilltops team awards banquet

Mason Ochs picked up Hilltops team awards on Saturday.

Mason Ochs took one last hurrah with the Saskatoon Hilltops during the team’s annual awards banquet which was held around the lunch hours on Saturday at the Delta Marriott Hotel.

The Hilltops all-time great took home the team’s Courtice Inspiration Award and the Drs. Landa-Doig Awards as the club’s most outstanding graduating player. Ochs was also awarded the Sadownick Family Scholarship and a Hilltop Club Scholarship.

The star left tackle was both a PFC all-star and a CJFL all-Canadian all-star in the last four straight CJFL seasons.

The graduate of Saskatoon’s Tommy Douglas Collegiate Tigers football team was named the PFC’s most outstanding offensive lineman for this past season.

Defensive end Riece Kack captured the Past President’s Trophy as the team’s rookie of the year. Boundary corner Jared Giddings claimed the Blue and Gold Award for outstanding commitment to the team.

Graduating right tackle Jonathan Chisholm won the Ron Atchison “True Grit” award, Konner Johnson claimed the Don and Jim Seaman Memorial Award as the club’s top linebacker and defensive tackle Jaxon Funk captured the Ray Syrnyk Trophy as the team’s top lineman.

The Hilltops handed out a number of scholarships on Saturday too.

Funk took the Harold Mitchelmore Memorial Scholarship and the Carl Hoath Memorial Affinity Credit Union Scholarship.

Lachlan Horsley and Wade Keating were recipients of the Bill Trout Memorial Scholarship and Boston Davidsen was awarded the TCU Financial Group Scholarship.

Jonathan Chisholm won the Ron Atchison “True Grit” award.

The Don McDonald Memorial Scholarship went to Brady Fossen, the EY Scholarship was awarded to Ben Marce, the Dr. Gryba Academic Scholarship was given to Brant Morrow and the Rempel Brothers Construction Scholarship went to Matt Wist.

Ethan Paslowski and Jayson Kehler were recipients of the SMF Joe Baier Memorial/Tundra Electric Scholarship.

The recipients of the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation Scholarships were Dillan Heintz, Evan Mantyka, Dylan Cook and Presley Peterson.

Football Saskatchewan Scholarships went to Giddings, Ethan Godson, Erik Barsness and Noah Flaman.

Evan Mantyka claimed the Ignite Conditioning Scholarship.

The Evan Kyba Memorial Scholarship went to Josh Wiebe and Carter Wingert.

Kinsmen Club Scholarships were awarded to Johnson, Boden Marley and Daylen Hartz.

Along with Ochs, Hilltops Club Scholarships went to Johnson, Funk, Giddings, Godson, Morrow, Wist, Matt Turple, Justin Adamko, Connor Bevans, Trent Kehrig, Pavel Lalonde, Jordan Levesque, Reace Michnik, Zach Moehler and Andy Scrivens.

The Hilltops posted a 6-2 regular season record in 2021, won the PFC title and concluded their campaign falling in a CJFL semifinal contest to the Langley Rams 17-14.

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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Bombers’ Grey Cup win is a welcomed development

Videos of the Bombers’ Grey Cup wins in 1988 and 1990.

    The Winnipeg Blue Bombers actually won the Grey Cup?

    While never can be a long time, a Bombers Grey Cup win just seemed like something that would never happen again. You almost thought the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets had better odds of winning the Stanley Cup in a 31 team league that the Bombers would have in a nine team league.

    That was exactly what happened on Sunday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta. Playing before 35,439 spectators, the Bombers hammered the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 to become CFL champions for the first time in 29 years.

    In the win, a proud graduate of Winnipeg’s Oak Park High School Raiders football team in running back Andrew Harris picked up most outstanding player and most outstanding Canadian honours helping his hometown Bombers win the title.

    Harris ran the ball 18 times for 134 yards and one touchdown, and he caught five passes for 35 yards and one touchdown.

Andrew Harris (#33) became a Grey Cup hero for the Bombers.

    Online, emotion was pouring out from Bombers fans who couldn’t contain their joy as they were brought to tears they were so happy.
    It was weird to think that actually happened.

    Once upon a time, that wasn’t the case.

    Way back in 1990, the Bombers were guided by the tandem in general manager “Kindly” Cal Murphy and head coach “Smiling” Mike Riley. Both are still revered figures to this day in the Manitoba capital.

    Under their guidance, the Bomber topped the CFL standings that year with a 12-6 record and hammered the Edmonton Eskimos 50-11 to capture the Grey Cup at B.C. Place in Vancouver, B.C.

    It was joked the Grey Cup game that year was like a Super Bowl, as the NFL title games around that era were usually blowouts. The Bombers win in the 1990 Grey Cup goes down as one of greatest blowouts in the history of the CFL title game.

    The defense containing the likes of Greg Battle, Tyrone Jones, James West, Rod Hill and Less Browne hammered the Eskimos into submission.

A Tom Burgess player card.

    Bombers quarter back Tom Burgess, who was acquired in a trade with the Saskatchewan Roughriders before the 1990 campaign began, had an up and down season. Against the Eskimos in the 1990 Grey Cup, Burgess had one of his finest days in the league as he guided the Bombers offence like he was NFL legend Joe Montana, or Bombers icon Ken Ploen.
    The 1990 win marked the third time the Bombers won the Grey Cup over a second year period and was the 10^th CFL championship victory for the Winnipeg franchise.

    At that time, no one knew it would take 29 years for the Bombers to win their 11^th Grey Cup.

Between the 1990 and Sunday’s Grey Cup wins, the Bombers advanced to the Grey Cup game five times and came up empty handed in each of those tries.

    Their most hard luck setback arguably came in 2007, when they fell 23-19 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ont.

    Winnipeg went into that contest without star quarterback Kevin Glenn, who broke his arm in the team’s victory one week earlier in the East final.

    Over that span of time, the Bombers had sensational years like their 14-4 campaign in 2001. They had campaigns where they were dreadful going a combined 7-29 in the 1997 and 1998 seasons and 3-15 in the 2013 campaign.

A Less Browne player card.

    Winnipeg fans stayed loyal to their club, but it seemed like a Grey Cup win would be something that just wouldn’t happen. It seemed like fate was against the Bombers, when it came to winning another CFL crown.

    Bombers fans that remembered the Grey Cup wins in 1984, 1988 and 1990 were aging and did their best to pass down stories from those glory days.

    A much smaller amount of Bombers fans remember a previous run of glory years under legendary head coach Bud Grant that saw the Bombers win Grey Cup titles in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962.
    Before Sunday’s Grey Cup win, the Bombers had a whole generation of fans that had never seen their team win a CFL title.

    Murphy became a Bombers icon serving as the team’s head coach and general manager during his time with the club from 1983 to 1996. Still, he had a bitter departure from the team following the 1996 campaign.

    Some said for a handful of years after his departure the Bombers were haunted by the “Curse of Cal.”

    I was fortunate enough to become friends with Murphy, after he started residing in Regina, Sask.

    I remember a visit around 2009 where he said he didn’t like that “curse” notion. He had a fond spot in his heart for Winnipeg, and he liked getting back there to do good things in that centre.

A Bombers Grey Cup shirt from 1990.

    Murphy told me any ill feelings were buried in the past long ago, and he wanted to see the Bombers win the Grey Cup again. The Bombers have been handing out the “Cal Murphy Heart of a Legend Award” since 2002.

    While scouting for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, Murphy always took time to visit with the Bombers fans at the Labour Day Classic games between the Bombers and Roughriders in Regina.

    Murphy passed away in February of 2012 at age 79, but you can bet somewhere out there he was happy giving off his trademark cackle laugh to go along with his huge grin after the Bombers finally won it all again.

    Even this season, it appeared the Bombers jinx when it came to winning the Grey Cup would continue. They entered the campaign as favourites to make and win the Grey Cup, but you were waiting for things to unravel.
    During a 32-16 home win over the B.C. Lions, Bombers star quarterback Matt Nichols was lost for the season due to a shoulder injury, and it seemed like Winnipeg’s title hopes would go down with him.

    Before the CFL’s trade deadline on Oct. 9, the Bombers acquired veteran quarterback Zach Collaros in a trade with the Toronto Argonauts.

Late Bomber GM and HC Cal Murphy.

    Collaros actually began the campaign as the Roughriders starting quarterback. On the Roughriders fourth play of their regular season opener, he suffered a concussion injury on a cheap hit by Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence.

    The Roughriders fell in that June 13 encounter 23-17.

    With Collaros down, Cody Fajardo had a meteoric rise to the pedestal of Roughriders star starting quarterback. Deemed expendable, Collaros was traded to the Argonauts in late July.

    He never took a single snap in Toronto. It seemed like his football days might be over, because he had a history of concussion injuries.

    Unexpectedly, Collaros became the savour of the Bombers season. He was inserted as the starting quarterback in their final regular season game, when they slipped past the Calgary Stampeders 29-28 at I.G. Field in Winnipeg on Oct. 25.

    That allowed the Bombers to finish the regular season with an 11-7 record. Collaros played well in all three of the Bombers post-season victories, which included downing the Roughriders 20-13 in the West final in Regina on Nov. 17.

    Inconceivably, he became a Grey Cup champion with the Bombers completing 17-of-23 passes for 170 yards in Sunday’s CFL championship game. In the process, Collaros prevented the Tiger-Cats, who topped the CFL regular season standings with a 15-3 mark, from winning their first Grey Cup since 1999.

Bombers fans like “The Golden Boy” can soak in their Grey Cup win.

    Overall, the 29 year drought between Grey Cup titles for Bombers fans just wasn’t fair for the support they have shown their club.

    The Bombers and their supporters very much deserved this long awaited Grey Cup title win.

    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.

’Riders lose frustrating West final, surprise season still fun

Cody Fajardo was the breakout star for the Roughriders.

    No matter how well things go for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, fans always have to fear one of those moments is just around the corner where you ask yourself, “Why do I cheer for this team?”

    The latest installment of asking that very question went down on Sunday, when the Roughriders fell 20-13 to their archrivals the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL’s West final before a near capacity crowd of 33,300 spectators at Mosaic Stadium.

    With the Bombers holding their 20-13 edge, they turned away the Roughriders on two defensive stands inside the Winnipeg 10 yard line to preserve victory.

    The last play of the game saw Roughriders breakthrough star quarterback Cody Fajardo wire a pass intended for open receiver Kyran Moore off the upright in the Winnipeg end zone. With that thud, the Roughriders magical 2019 campaign came to an end.

    Winnipeg advances to the Grey Cup this coming Sunday in Calgary, Alta., to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the CFL championship. The Tiger-Cats romped to a 36-16 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL’s East final on Sunday in Hamilton, Ont.

    For Roughriders fans, the West final loss to the Bombers was a painful way to season come to an end that far exceeded expectations.

Shaq Evans led the Roughriders with 1,334 receiving yards.

    When training camps opened for CFL clubs back in late May, most pundit predictions had the Roughriders posting a record that would allow them to just scrap into the playoffs as a best case scenario.

    Only those on the inside with the team would have had higher hopes.

    During the off-season, the Roughriders went through a head coaching change with Chris Jones leaving his head coach and general manager duties behind to bolt or an assistant coach position with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

    Craig Dickenson, who is a player’s coach type that everyone likes, took over as the Roughriders head coach, and Jeremy O’Day became the club’s new general manager.

    At the start of the campaign, the Roughriders were bringing back Zach Collaros as the team’s starting quarterback. Fans feared Collaros might potentially suffer another concussion injury, and the season would go down the drain.

    That fear played out as a reality on the fourth play of the Roughriders regular season opener on June 13 against the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton. Collaros ran for a seven-yard gain and gave himself up on a feet first slide only to have Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence drive his shoulder into the signal caller’s head.

Charleston Hughes, right, led the CFL with 16 sacks.

    Collaros left the game due to a concussion, and the Roughriders ultimately dropped that contest 23-17.

    After the first four weeks of the regular season, the Roughriders had a 1-3 record. No one could have seen they would turn their campaign around in a big way topping the West Division for the first time since 2009 with a 13-5 record.

    The 13 victories were the most for the Roughriders in the regular season since finishing 14-2 in 1970.

    The surprising first place campaign resulted due to the emergence of Fajardo as a star. Before signing with the Roughriders, the Brea, Calif., product spent about two-and-a-half seasons as a reserve quarterback with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts and British Columbia Lions.

    The 27-year-old had an out of nowhere fantastic season completing 338-of-473 passes for 4,302 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He became the West Division nominee for the CFL’s most outstanding player award.

William Powell led the Roughriders with 1,093 yards rushing.

    Thanks the Fajardo’s meteoric rise, Collaros was deemed expendable. The Roughriders traded Collaros to the Toronto Argonauts in late July.

    Before the CFL’s trade deadline on Oct. 9, the Argonauts dealt Collaros to the Bombers. The Bombers were looking for more consistent quarterback play after star signal caller Matt Nichols was lost for the season due to shoulder injury in the Bombers 32-16 victory over the B.C. Lions on Aug. 15 in Winnipeg, Man.

    Roughriders 35-year-old defensive end Charleston Hughes played like an ageless wonder leading the league with 16 sacks and piling up 50 defensive tackles.

    Linebacker Cameron Judge is the West Division’s nominee for the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian player award. Judge posted 61 defensive tackles, 11 special teams tackles, five sacks and two interceptions for the Roughriders.

    Pass catcher Shaq Evans topped the Roughriders in receiving catching 72 passes for 1,334 yards and five touchdowns.

    Running back William Powell came over from the Ottawa Redblacks and broke the 1,000-yard barrier in rushing for a third straight season. He carried the ball 215 times for 1,093 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Cameron Judge is up for the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian award.

    Dickenson is the West Division’s nominee for CFL coach of the year.

    Just when all things seem great for the Roughriders, adversity strikes. In a practice leading to their final regular season game, Fajardo suffered an oblique muscle injury. He revealed after the West final loss he tore two oblique muscles.

    In another crazy twist, Collaros was healthy entering the West final with the Bombers. The Bombers had many pundits predicting in training camp they would make the Grey Cup game, but they finished third in the West Division still with a solid 11-7 mark.

    Had the Bombers overcome their injury bug, they could have had more wins. Still, Collaros’s arrival and strong play restored Grey Cup hopes in the Manitoba capital.

    In leading the Bombers to their West final win over the Roughriders, Collaros completed 17-of-25 passes for 267 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

    Fajardo had a strong game despite his injuries completing 27-of-41 passes for 366 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

Makana Henry (#74) had a solid campaign at DT for the Roughriders.

    The Roughrider struggled inside of the Winnipeg 10 yard line, and those struggles were costly.

    On the first of two defensive stands the Bombers made inside of the final 2:30 of the fourth quarter, the Roughriders gambled on a third and goal from the one on a Fajardo quarterback run. He was stopped creating a turnover on downs, but knowing his injury status, the play call was a curious one.

    When Fajardo rang his final pass off the crossbar of the goalpost on the game’s final play, it was the final sign to show this wasn’t the Roughriders day.

    The Bombers will try to win their first Grey Cup since 1990 going in as underdogs against the Tiger-Cats, who finished first in the East Division with a 15-3 regular season record.

    When the Roughriders host the Grey Cup next season, hopes will be high they can win it all at home like they did in 2013 downing the Tiger-Cats 45-23 at Taylor Field.

    Going into the 2019 campaign, the Roughriders had a lot of question marks, and those question marks have disappeared.

Craig Dickenson, middle, is up for the CFL coach of the year award.

    There will be questions and chances this off-season too. On the local front, one wonders if 37-year-old Regina product Jon Ryan will return as the punter and 33-year-old Weyburn, Sask., product Brendon LaBatte will be back on the offensive line.

    Age and life pursuits could play part in decisions on those fronts.

    The Roughriders have a franchise quarterback in Fajardo, who has the potential to play for a large number of years. That instils a bigger belief it is possible to build on the club’s meagre total of four Grey Cup titles.

    While it seems something always happens to dampen hopes of Roughriders fans, Rider Nation continues to find reasons to keep believing the best is still possible.

    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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Who is this guy? – Will Fajardo become the CFL’s Warner?

QB Cody Fajardo has impressed as the Roughriders starter.

    Could Cody Fajardo be living out a football story that was famously seen once before?
    The Brea, Calif., product has experienced a meteoric rise since becoming the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Fajardo’s chance came after spending about two and a half seasons as a reserve quarterback in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts and British Columbia Lions.
    Before joining the Argos in October of 2015, Fajardo attended training camp with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders before being cut.
    His attempt to make the Raiders came after wrapping up a star career with the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack Football Team in the top tier of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ranks in 2014.

    Joining the Roughriders this season, Fajardo was pegged to be a reserve quarterback.

    When the Roughriders opened their regular season on June 13 against the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton, Saskatchewan’s starting quarterback Zach Collaros was knocked out of the game with a concussion injury. Collaros made a feet first slide and was hit in the head by Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence on the fourth overall play of the contest.

    Since that moment, Fajardo, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 215 pounds, became the Roughriders main man under centre. The 27-year-old has completed 132 of 177 passes for 1,705 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions over the team’s first seven games.

Cody Fajardo fires a pass from behind protection.

    He has surpassed 300 yards in passing three times and has the Roughriders riding a three-game winning streak to sit with a 4-3 record heading into a Friday showdown with the Alouettes (3-3) in Montreal (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).
    Thanks to Fajardo’s play, the Roughriders traded Collaros to the Toronto Argonauts last Wednesday for a conditional fourth round selection in the 2020 CFL Draft.

    Last Thursday, Fajardo left Rider Nation in adulation running in from five yards out to score the winning touchdown with 24 second remaining in the fourth quarter to deliver the Roughriders to a 24-19 victory over the Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium.

    In that contest, Fajardo completed 25-of-31 passes for 313 yards and ran the ball nine times for 56 yards, which included his winning touchdown run.

    His right ankle was sore after taking a sack early in the third quarter, but he said in post-game interviews that he was able to continue thanks to “a sprinkle of Jesus.”

    He celebrated the win eating a corn dog at the Queen City Ex next to the statue of George Reed outside Mosaic Stadium. Fajardo posted the picture of that moment on Twitter.

    A practicing Catholic who is strong in his Christian faith, the phrase “a sprinkle of Jesus” is starting to become a catch phrase for Fajardo.

My victory carnival corn dog. This is what it’s all about! @sskroughriders great team win! pic.twitter.com/1eQusRdowH

— Cody Fajardo (@CodyFajardo17) August 2, 2019

    The rise of the likable and personable signal caller has parallels to the rise of a legendary NFL pivot.

    Way back on Aug. 28, 1999, the St. Louis Rams were playing a pre-season game at home, when they lost starting quarterback Trent Green to a season ending knee injury on a hit from San Diego Chargers safety Rodney Harrison.

    Green tore the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments and also sustained cartilage damage in his left knee.

The SI cover from when Kurt Warner made his rise.

    Rams head coach Dick Vermeil, who was known for being ultra-optimistic, said his team would rally around backup quarterback Kurt Warner and play good football.

    At that time, the Rams were trying end a streak where they had posted nine straight losing seasons. Pretty much no one knew who Warner was, and there wasn’t much hope outside of the Rams organization that they would have a good season.

    Warner, who stood 6-foot-2 and weighed 214 pounds, became an NFL starter at age 28. All of a sudden, Warner shocked the league.

    He stormed out of the gates in 1999 leading the Rams to a 6-0 start completing 118-of-162 passes for 1,531 yards, 18 touchdowns and three interceptions.

    The sad sack Rams morphed into “The Greatest Show on Turf.”

    Warner kept putting up crazy passing numbers finishing the campaign completing 325-of-499 passes for 4,353 yards, 41 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He led what was arguably the most exciting offence in the history of pro football that seemingly could score a touchdown on any play from any point on the field.

    Warner let the ball fly to talented receivers Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl. For a change up, Warner could hand the ball off or toss it to dynamic running back Marshall Faulk.

    The Rams posted a 13-3 record to finish first overall in the NFC, and Warner was named the NFL’s MVP. From there, the Rams marched on to win Super Bowl XXXIV on Jan. 30, 2000.

The SI cover of the St. Louis Rams’ Super Bowl win.

    In Super Bowl XXXIV, Warner hit Bruce on a 73-yard touchdown bomb with 1:54 to play in the fourth quarter that broke a 16-16 tie and gave the Rams a 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
    Warner, who was born in Burlington, Iowa, was named MVP of the Super Bowl having completed 24-of-45 passes for 414 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

    During that fairytale season, Warner’s back story came out. After playing for the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Warner was cut by the Green Bay Packers in the summer of 1994.

    He returned to Cedar Falls and worked out at his old college practice field by day and stocked shelves at a local Hy-Vee grocery store at night. Warner played three seasons with the Iowa Barnstormers in the Arena Football League from 1995 to 1997, one season in NFL Europe in early 1998 with the Amsterdam Admirals before joining the Rams for the 1998 NFL season as their third string quarterback.

    The 1999 NFL season wasn’t the only high point in Warner’s career. The Christian gunslinger guided the Rams back to Super Bowl XXXVI following the 2001 season, where they fell 20-17 to quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

    Warner played for the New York Giants in 2004 before finishing his NFL career playing for the Arizona Cardinals from 2005 to 2009. He gunned the Cardinals into the Super Bowl XLIII following the 2008 season, where they fell 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kurt Warner had a Pro Football Hall of Fame career.

    Over his career in the NFL, Warner established a reputation as being personable and likeable. During stints where he wasn’t the starting quarterback on the teams he played for, he was eager to be the best and most supportive teammate on the squad he was on.
    In his 12 NFL seasons, Warner completed 2,666-of-4,070 passes for 32,344 yards, 208 touchdowns and 128 interceptions in regular season play. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

    With that noted, Fajardo has a long way to go if he does have a career even in the CFL that matches what Warner did in the NFL. At the moment, Fajardo is a better scrambler than Warner was but is not at a Pro Football Hall of Fame level when it comes to controlling the game from the pocket.

    Still, the early part of Fajardo’s career as the Roughriders starter does have a lot of similarities to Warner’s beginning as a starter with the Rams.

    This might be a blessed season for Fajardo and the Roughriders.

    The season could still go south for Fajardo and the Roughriders, when they finally play the likes of the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos. The Stampeders have been the year in and year out powerhouse since 2008 in the CFL.

    Still, the Roughriders and their Rider Nation fanbase can dream. Fajardo will put in the work.

The Roughriders hope to enjoy more victory scenes like this.

    He might put together a success story that no one saw coming that goes beyond anyone’s imagination.

    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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CFL needs to walk the talk in removing cheap shots

Lawrence suspension a small step forward, more work needed

Zach Collaros throws a pass at Roughriders training camp in June.

    The message isn’t getting through regarding cheap shots in the CFL.
    In the league’s regular season opener last Thursday between the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders and host Hamilton Tiger-Cats, two obvious dirty hits went down in the first six plays of the game. For a league and a CFL Players’ Association that talked lots in the off-season about player safety, the start of the regular season opener showed there wasn’t any more respect for player safety on the field than there was last year.

    On just the fourth play of Thursday’s contest, Roughriders quarterback Zach Collaros ran for a seven-yard gain and gave himself up on a feet first slide.

    Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence dove and drove his left shoulder into Collaros’s head. Collaros left the game and didn’t return after he failed to pass the CFL’s concussion protocol.

    Lawrence received a Grade 2 roughing the passer penalty resulting in a 25-yard gain for Saskatchewan.  

    Two plays later, Roughriders backup quarterback Cody Fajardo overthrew a sideline pass to running back William Powell.

    After the ball had long sailed over Powell’s head, he was decked by Tiger-Cats defensive back Delvin Breaux. Breaux received a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.

    The hits thrown by Lawrence and Breaux didn’t need to be delivered. They were both plays that were brainless and needless.

    The Roughriders would score a touchdown on that opening series and ultimately lost the contest 23-17.

    In the aftermath, the Roughriders moved Collaros to the six-game injured list on Sunday. While the Roughriders didn’t confirm what Collaros’s injury was, he does have a history of concussion injuries, and it is pretty easy to draw an educated guess on what his exact injury is.

    On Monday, the CFL suspended Lawrence two games for his hit on Collaros. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie stressed the importance of player safety in Monday’s press release sent out by the league regarding Lawrence’s suspension.

    Lawrence can appeal the CFL’s ruling under the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players. The 30-year-old hasn’t been previously suspended or fined for dangerous play since joining the league in 2012.

    First, I will admit the suspension is a good start, if it holds up. As a general observation on how these situations were dealt with in past seasons, it always felt like discipline handed out by the CFL was toothless.

Brandon Bridge was a head shot victim last season.

    There would usually be a one-game suspension, which would disappear after an appeal was made. It always seemed more weight was thrown behind ensuring an offending player didn’t miss a game paycheque.

    It seems like the only way to get discipline is to handle things an old school way, where your offensive line basically act as enforcers.

    In the old days of football, it was common for an offensive team to run a running play at a defensive player that threw a cheap shot. The focus of the play wasn’t to gain yards but to go after and hurt the defensive player that threw the cheap shot.

    In the modern era, I’m not sure how that type of tactic would be received, if it was utilized.

    The officials in Thursday’s game between the Roughriders and Tiger-Cats called those penalties as they should. They could have elected to eject Lawrence from the game, and that is the only other thing they could have done.

    Still, the CFL as a league and the players have to make it a priority amongst themselves to get the cheap shots out of the game.

    One way the CFL could do more is adopting a targeting penalty that is used in the United States by the football teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

    The penalty in the NCAA is 15-yards with an automatic ejection from the game. If the penalty occurs in the second half of a contest, the offending player is automatically suspended for the first half of the next game.

    With the CFL field being larger, the yardage for the penalty could be 25-yards with those ejection stipulations.

    Amateur football in Canada has a targeting rule that contains a 25-yard penalty, but there are no automatic ejections. In U Sports, the infraction is automatically reviewed for further discipline, and if the targeting infraction is upheld, the offending player is suspended for his squad’s upcoming game.

    A number of pundits were calling for Lawrence to be suspended for three to five games. The CFL and its players have to look at these longer suspensions too.
    There are likely some Roughriders fans looking for the old school enforcer response. Going back to last season, Saskatchewan has gone three straight games losing its starting quarterback in a game due to a head shot.

    In a 23-18 West semifinal playoff loss on Nov. 11, 2018 to the Bombers, Roughriders starting quarterback Brandon Bridge was hit helmet to helmet on the game’s second last play by Bombers defensive lineman Jackson Jeffcoat. Bridge was knocked out of that contest.

    During the Roughriders final regular season game in 2018 on Oct. 27, Collaros was lost as starting quarterback due to a helmet-to-helmet shot from British Columbia Lions defensive lineman Odell Willis in a 35-16 Saskatchewan victory.

    The needless cheap shots need to go in the CFL. Unless is a steady enforcement of ejections and suspensions for those fouls, they will always remain a major problem in the game.

Is CFL football overpriced?

Fans at the 2013 West final in Calgary.

    Is there a lack of interest or a pricing problem, when it comes to CFL football?

    Since at least the start of the 2016 season, it seems a lot of fans show up at CFL game dressed as empty seats. It seems like there are a lot of no shows in the stadium even when a strong attendance figure is announced.

    Announced attendance figures from Week 1 weren’t anything to write home about. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced 22,287 spectators attended their 23-17 victory over the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders at the 23,218 seat Tim Hortons Field.

    On Friday, the Edmonton Eskimos attracted 25,263 announced spectators to their 32-25 victory over the visiting Montreal Alouettes at the 55,819 seat Commonwealth Stadium.

    On Saturday, the Calgary Stampeders drew 26,301 announced spectators to their 32-28 setback to the visiting Ottawa Redblacks at the 35,400 seat McMahon Stadium.

    Also on Saturday, The British Columbia Lions drew an announced crowd of 18,058 spectators to their 33-23 setback to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the 54,500 seat B.C. Place stadium in Vancouver.

    None of those figures are even close to what those clubs could draw in their heydays.

    Way back in 1972, the Tiger-Cats drew an average of 32,129 spectators to each of their regular season home games, and that mark still stands as a team record.

    The Eskimos set their team record for average regular season attendance in 1982, when they attracted 57,899 spectators for each of their regular season games.

    The Stampeders team record for average regular season attendance isn’t that old. Back in 2009, the Stampeders drew an average of 36,502 spectators in each of their regular season home games.

    The Lions record for average regular season attendance came back in 1986, when they attracted 46,526 spectators per game.

    While numerous factors have to be considered for why fans stay away, one wonders how big of a factor ticket prices play.

    If you are looking to purchase single game tickets in the lower part of each team’s stadium between the 20 yard lines, be prepared to shell out. Those are the sections you can see the most on television and often they seem empty.

    Thanks to Ticketmaster information, here is what you can expect to play for single game tickets in the following eight CFL markets, if you sit in the lower sections between the 20 yard lines. All of these prices come before fees and taxes.

• Calgary - $99 to $120.25.
• Edmonton - $66.75 to $99.75.
• Hamilton - $95 to $110.25.
• Ottawa - $55 to $131.
• Saskatchewan - $106 to $127.
• Toronto - $57.25 to $76.25.
• Vancouver - $90 to $94.
• Winnipeg - $99 to $155.

    I couldn’t find single game ticket sales online for the Montreal Alouettes. Using calculations from their regular season pricing plans on their website, it will cost you $54.37 to $88.91 to sit between the 20 yard lines in the lower sections at Alouettes home games before fees and taxes.

    For the casual fans that attend games, it is safe to say these prices are too high to make an impulse decision to go to a game. You could sit in the end zones or the upper decks where the cheaper tickets are, but casual fans are more tempted to pass on that.

    If it becomes popular to head to a game to be seen, then casual fans will pay higher ticket prices.

    In cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, CFL clubs have to compete against other options for the sports entertainment dollar like Major League Soccer. Also, weather conditions will influence a ticket buyer, and those prices will drive people away from bad weather games.

    Even for ultra passionate fans, one wonders how close the CFL is to pricing itself out of the market.

Clouston joins Blazers as head coach

Shaun Clouston, centre, is the new Kamloops Blazers head coach.

    It didn’t take long for Shaun Clouston to resurface in the WHL.

    On Monday, the Kamloops Blazers announced Clouston would be the team’s new head coach and Darryl Sydor, who was a Blazers assistant coach last season, has moved up to the role of associate coach. Sydor is one of the Blazers part owners.

    Clouston was the head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers, but he and the Tigers parted ways on May 30.

    One day later, the Tigers announced Willie Desjardins had returned to the team to retake his former roles of head coach and general manager, which he left being in 2010 moving up to the professional ranks.

    Clouston has been with the Tigers for 16 seasons. He joined the club as an assistant coach before the start of their WHL title winning campaign in 2003-04.

    The Viking, Alta., product was promoted to associate coach before the start of the 2005-06 campaign and helped the Tigers win another WHL in 2006-07.

    He became the club’s head coach in 2010 and took on the role of general manager in August of 2012.

    Clouston became the all-time leader in regular season head coaching wins with the Tigers. The 51-year-old put together a stellar 375-241-46 regular season coaching record with the team.

    The Tigers reached the WHL Eastern Conference championship series in 2011 and 2014 with Clouston as head coach.

    Adding in his time as head coach of the Tri-City Americans from the 2002-03 season, Clouston has 391 career regular season victories as a head coach.

    The Tigers put up a solid 35-27-4-2 record last season under Clouston despite suffering some key injuries down the stretch. They fell 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

    The Blazers parted ways with former head coach Serge Lajoie in April after one season. Under Lajoie, the Blazers posted a 28-32-6-2 record in the regular season and won a standings tiebreaking game 5-1 over the Kelowna Rockets to make the playoffs.

    Kamloops fell in a best-of-seven first round playoff series 4-2 to the Victoria Royals.

    Sydor played defence for the Blazers when they won the WHL and Memorial Cup titles in the 1991-92 campaign. He also played his first games in the NHL ranks that season with the Los Angeles Kings.

    Sydor is best remember for his time in the NHL playing 1,291 career regular season games from 1991 to 2010 recording 98 goals and 409 assists with the Kings, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.

    He won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999 and the Lightning in 2004.

    Under Clouston, you can be sure the Blazers players will be hearing a lot about playing as a unit of five in all three zones on the ice. In a team press release, Clouston said his family is planning to make Kamloops their new home.

Raptors celebration looked crazy

Speechless. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/Ulb7MtDnK9

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) June 17, 2019

    The NBA champion Toronto Raptors held their victory parade in the Ontario provincial capital on Monday, and the images show on television and social media looked pretty crazy.

    It is estimated over two-million people turned out to see the parade in downtown Toronto. The Raptors clinched their first NBA crown downing the two time defending champion Golden State Warriors 114-110 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals last Thursday in Oakland, Calif.

    The images of the celebration showed Toronto engulfed by a mass of humanity. The pictures and video showed people from all sorts of cultures getting along together and being happy.

    Unfortunately, the celebrations were marred by a shooting that left four people wounded and three people were taken into custody.

    Hopefully, the good the Raptors did in bringing people together with their run will outlast an idiotic incident.

    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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