Thursday, 13 May 2021

Unique WHL season put to bed

Developmental campaign allowed games to return

Connor Zary had 24 points for the Blazers.
There were some bumps, but the WHL’s developmental regular season for 2020-21 accomplished its goal.

The major junior circuit, which plays under the CHL umbrella, was looking to get a shortened regular season in for the 2020-21 campaign for developmental purposes. With the world stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the WHL faced a huge challenge trying to get games back on the ice with its member clubs located across four Canadian provinces and two states in the United States.

The WHL put in constant work dealing with four different provincial governments and four different provincial health authorities and long with two state governments and two state health departments trying to get back on the ice.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHL wasn’t able to complete its 2019-20 campaign with the regular season getting paused on March 12, 2020 before the rest of that campaign was ultimately cancelled.

As the months of September to December in 2020 came and went with no game action, one had to wonder if the WHL would take the ice at all. The OHL, which also plays under the CHL umbrella, never had a season of any kind in 2020-21.

From late January through February to March 2 of this year, the WHL succeed in getting return to play plans approved. Originally, each of the 22 member teams were scheduled to play 24 regular season games each.

Teams would only play against their division rivals, and no spectators were allowed to attend games.

The circuit experienced come hiccups with positive COVID-19 tests. Last Friday, the WHL announced it had conducted 9,735 tests for COVID-19 from February 12 to last Friday and only 14 results came back positive.

Still, the WHL regular season came to a successful end Wednesday, when the Kamloops Blazers blanked the Prince George Cougars 4-0 in Kamloops and the Kelowna Rockets slipped past the Victoria Royals 3-2 in Kelowna.

The WHL crowned champions for each of its four divisions and nine out of the 22 teams successfully played a 24-game regular season schedule.

The East Division contained all five of the WHL’s teams based in Saskatchewan and the two clubs located in Manitoba. Those seven clubs got all their regular season games in playing in a true bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

When those seven clubs weren’t playing games, the players and staff all lived in the dorms at the University of Regina and Luther College, which is on the grounds of the U of R.

The East Division had the tightest divisional race, so in might have been huge all clubs in the division completed the entirety of their schedules.

The Brandon Wheat Kings topped the division with an 18-4-2 record edging out the Winnipeg Ice (18-5-1) by one standings point and the Saskatoon Blades (16-5-2-1) by three standings points. For their efforts, the Wheat Kings captured the Subway Cup.

Left-winger Ben McCartney led the Wheat Kings in scoring with 13 goals and 24 assists, while posting a plus-18 rating in the plus-minus department playing in all of Brandon’s 24 games.

Ice star centre Peyton Krebs led the entire WHL in scoring with 13 goals and 30 assists for 43 points in all of Winnipeg’s 24 games.

Jake Neighbours led the Oil Kings with 33 points.
Of course, 15-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats gained most of the attention. He recorded 12 goals, 16 assists and a plus-nine rating in 15 games. The North Vancouver, B.C., product left the Pats early to help Canada win gold at the under-18 world hockey champions, which ran in late April and earlier this month in Frisco and Plano, Texas.

In the Central Division, the Lethbridge Hurricanes were able to play all of their 24 regular season games.

Positive COVID-19 test troubles with the Calgary Hitmen impacted the schedules of all the other teams. Still, the Hitmen played 21 regular season games, while Edmonton Oil Kings, Medicine Hat Tigers and Red Deer Rebels each played 23 regular season games.

The Oil Kings were the class of the division finishing first with a 20-2-0-1 record. Edmonton actually collected enough points in the standings to lock up top spot overall in the WHL even if every other team completed their originally scheduled 24-game regular seasons.

Star Oil Kings left-winger Jake Neighbours topped all Central Division players in scoring collecting nine goals and 24 assists for 33 points in 19 games played to go with a plus-29 rating.

In the U.S. Division, the Portland Winterhawks successfully completed their 24-game regular season. Positive COVID-19 test troubles involving the Tri-City Americans caused some cancellations in the U.S. Division schedule.

The Americans themselves still played 19 regular season games.

The Everett Silvertips topped the division with a 19-4 record. The Silvertips had enough points in the standings that they would have still finished first even if all the scheduled games in the U.S. Division were successfully completed.

Star netminder Dustin Wolf had an outstanding season with the Silvertips posting an 18-3 record, a 1.80 goals against average, a .940 save percentage and four shutouts.

Both the Central and U.S. Divisions played with teams playing out of their home rinks and players staying with their billet families.

The B.C. Division operated in a modified bubble playing games in Kamloops and Kelowna. The Royals, Prince George Cougars and Vancouver Giants all stayed in hotels, while the Blazers and Rockets stayed will billet families.

A major COVID-19 outbreak on the Rockets dented the B.C. Division’s schedule. The Rockets played the fewest games out of any WHL team at 16, and the other four B.C. Division teams each got 22 games in.

The Blazers topped the division with an 18-4 record allowing them to capture the RE/MAX Cup. Kamloops was the only repeat division winner from a year ago.

The Rockets only had a 10-lateral, 99-yard touchdown play chance of ending up with more standings points than the Blazers, if both teams made it to 24 games played.

The Rockets would have had to win all of their last eight games and hope the Blazers were limited to just picking up one point in the standings over their final two games.

Kelowna was awarded second place in the division due to its winning percentage coming from a 10-5-1 record.

Centre Josh Pillar topped the Blazers in scoring collecting 11 goals and 18 assists to go with a plus-11 rating playing in all of his team’s 22 games.

The Blazers ended the campaign winning six straight and were missing star captain Connor Zary for the last seven of their contests. He was injured on April 28 after taking a high hit from Cougars left-winger Jonny Hooker in a game the Cougars won 5-1 in Kamloops.

Hooker served a four game suspension for that hit.

Peyton Krebs led the WHL with 43 points this season.
Zary had six goals, 18 assists and a plus-nine rating in the 15 games he played for the Blazers.

For about three months from February 26 to this past Wednesday, WHL fans were able to enjoy following their team’s exploits, which may have included watching games online.

The fact the circuit got the games in it did is a major accomplishment.

Now league followers have to wait and see what an upcoming 2021-22 campaign will look like. At the moment, the start date is still foggy, but it could still potentially be in September or October.

The WHL will try to conduct as season that is as normal as possible, but in these COVID-19 times even with vaccines rolling out, there are still no guarantees.

Chinn named Huskies chief athletics officer

The Shannon Chinn era is beginning for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

On Tuesday, the University of Saskatchewan and Huskie Athletics announced Chinn as the incoming chief athletics officer. She will begin her new position on June 15.

Chinn replaces outgoing chief athletics officer Dave Hardy, who is retiring. Hardy joined the Huskies in August of 2019 for what was originally set to be a two-year interim basis.

Born and raised in Regina, Chinn has most recently been working as the director of Look Sports, which is the Ontario-based Look Company. That company is responsible for the signing and branding at many large stadiums and sporting events in Canada.

In Saskatchewan, Chinn became well connected after holding the role of manager of corporate partnerships and game day operations with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders from 2006 to 2010, which included their Grey Cup championship year in 2007.

Chinn, 45, is an elected Football Canada board member, on the business development committee, the female development committee and co-chair of the diversity task force.

She has also worked for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and TSN.

Before embarking on her sports administration career, Chinn was a player with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s basketball team and played for Saskatchewan’s women’s provincial team program. She has a bachelor’s degree in human kinetics from the University of Ottawa.

“I am appreciative of all of the previous leaders, coaches and athletes who have laid the strong and successful foundation here,” said Chinn in a release. “I look forward to building on their hard work to improve the student-athlete experience, amplify the high-performance culture, and raise the pride and profile through student and community engagement to take Huskie Athletics to the next level.”

Hulak returns to Huskies as assistant coach, other notes

Derek Hulak is coming home.

On Thursday, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies announced Hulak will be joining the men’s hockey team as an assistant coach. Hulak is popular in the Saskatoon and area hockey community, and he has a long history of being a skilled forward for many programs.

From 2004 to 2006, Hulak played two seasons for the Saskatoon Contacts male under-18 AAA team appearing 76 regular season games piling up 34 goals and 53 assists.

The Saskatoon product started his WHL career with the Regina Pats playing one game as an associate player call up in 2005-06 and 19 games to start the 2006-07 campaign with the Regina Pats. In his 20 games with the Pats, Hulak had six goals and four assists.

He was traded to his hometown Saskatoon Blades and remained with the Blades through the end of the 2009-10 campaign. Hulak was the Blades captain in his final season with the team.

In 247 career regular season games with the Blades, Hulak recorded 89 goals, 143 assists and a plus-23 rating in the plus-minus department.

Following his time with the Blades, Hulak started the 2010-11 season with the Tulsa Oilers in the Central Hockey League before joining the Huskies halfway through that campaign.

Derek Hulak pictured in 2015.
Hulak remained with the Huskies through the end of the 2013-14 campaign appearing in 87 career regular season games recording 34 goals, 89 assists and a plus-29 rating.

He was the Canada West Conference scoring champion during the 2011-12 campaign, when the Huskies won the conference title, and in his final season in 2013-14. Hulak was named the MVP of the Canada West Conference in his final season with the Huskies and the MVP of the U Sports championship tournament that was hosted in Saskatoon where the Huskies fell in the final to their “forever rivals” the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

On top of playing for the Huskies, Hulak moved back to the professional ranks in 2013-14 joining the Texas Stars of the AHL, and he helped them win the Calder Cup as league champions.

Hulak would play seven more seasons professionally before finishing with HC Thurgau this past season in Switzerland. The 31-year-old Hulak has kept strong with the former programs he played for in Saskatoon.

Hulak’s addition to the coaching staff of the Huskies men’s hockey team under the direction of head coach Mike Babcock will be popular in Saskatoon and area.

  • I created a couple of new posts that went live on Sunday for the Howe Happenings blog, which supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. The first piece was an enjoyable one to write on Derek Rope, who is one of the newest Board of Directors members for the Friends of the Bowl. Rope is a long time coach and administrator in track and field, where he has had a focus on indigenous athletes. He was once a member of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s track and field team too. The story on Rope can be found by clicking right here. I also put together another photo round of happenings at the Complex. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
  • On Tuesday, the Western Canadian Softball Association cancelled all its western championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WCSA stated it ultimately felt the championships were no longer viable while ensuring the health and well-being of all athletes, coaches, volunteers and spectators.
  • Tickets are on sale for the May jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. The draw date will be May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
  • On Wednesday, five members from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team and three members of the University of Regina Rams were given roster recognition for the U Sports East-West Bowl. The Huskies named to the roster included defensive lineman Nathan Cherry, running back Adam Machart, defensive back Charlie Ringland, kicker David Solie and offensive lineman Noah Zerr. The Rams named to the roster included defensive back Jaxon Ford, receiver Bennett Stusek and linebacker Ryder Varga. The U Sports East-West Bowl won’t be played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • On Wednesday, power forward Parker Kelly, who is an alumnus of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, made his NHL debut for the Ottawa Senators. He scored the Senators third goal in their 4-3 overtime victory on home ice at the Canadian Tire Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kelly played four seasons for the Raiders from 2015 to 2019 appearing in 273 career regular season games posting 93 goals, 95 assists and a plus-50 rating. He helped the Raiders win the WHL title in 2018-19. The Senators finished the 2020-21 regular season with a 23-28-5 record.
  • On Thursday, organizers of the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo in Calgary, Alta., are postponing this year’s event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The expo was planned tentatively to run July 30 to August 2. No new dates for the expo were announced.
  • On Thursday, the WHL announced it raised $19,455 for the Canadian Mental Health Association in Western Canada through the Goals for Mental Health campaign presented by RE/MAX. RE/Max donated $15 for every goal scored by the 17 WHL clubs in Western Canadian markets this past season.
  • On Thursday, the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts signed University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team defensive back Josh Hagerty. The Argonauts selected the U Sports standout in the sixth round and 47th overall in the CFL Draft on May 4.
  • Two years ago today, the Prince Albert Raiders won the WHL Championship  in an epic Game 7 league title clash against the visiting Vancouver Giants at the Art Hauser Centre. Dante Hannoun scored the winner in overtime to give the Raiders a 3-2 victory. I was in the building live that night, and my blog post about that came can be found by clicking right here.
  • Taking a cue from sites and platforms that cover and comment on sports entertainment’s professional wrestling, please feel free to like and share this blog post on social media. It does help this blog.
  • Speaking of professional wrestling, there is no question that Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada’s own Chris Jericho has reached legend status in that industry. At age 50, he still performs at a high level. Jericho will always be remembered as one of the greatest on the microphone. At AEW shows, the fans show respect for Jericho by singing his theme song “Judas,” when he comes out for matches. Jericho’s rock band, Fozzy, created that theme song. It is a moment that gives you chills. You can see that moment on the AEW Dynamite show on May 5, when he headed to the ring with his Inner Circle stable for a War Games style “Blood and Guts” match. That entrance is shown in the tweet below.

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

-------

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.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, 10 May 2021

Urban passes Rush torch to Priestner family

Blades ownership buys NLL powerhouse club

The Rush celebrate winning the NLL title in 2018.
Shockwaves were sent through Saskatoon’s sports scene, and it would be safe to say Saskatchewan’s sports scene on Monday.

During the morning hours, news broke that the NLL’s powerhouse Saskatchewan Rush had been sold by Bruce Urban to the Priestner Sports Corporation, which has owned the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades since 2013. Mike Priestner leads the Priestner Sports Corporation along with owing the Go Auto automotive dealership chain.

The official announcement of the sale of the Rush was made Monday afternoon.

Colin Priestner becomes the new president and governor of the Rush while continuing his role as the president and general manager of the Blades. Jared Priestner takes on the role as the alternate governor for the Rush, and Steve Hildebrand, who is the associate general manager of the Blades, will be part of the Rush’s leadership team.

The Rush enjoy an NLL title winning goal by Jeff Cornwall, centre.
All of the lacrosse operations of the Rush will continue to be run by the team’s current all-world general manager in Derek Keenan.

Following the official announcement, Colin Priestner made the media rounds talking about the sale.

A thank you letter by the Urban family to the fans of the Rush was released on the team’s website. It was signed by Bruce, his wife Cindy and son, Brandon.

Brandon served as the director of media relations for the Rush Since January of 2017 and added the title of director of business development in September of 2017. He held those roles until the Rush were sold.

A crowd of 15,182 celebrate a Rush NLL title win in 2016.
He was very active during game days ensuring everything ran smoothly behind the scenes.

Until the sale was announced, it wasn’t really on anyone’s radar. It came out of the blue.

For anyone that has interacted with Bruce Urban, you always got the feeling that the Rush were his baby. He had owned the Rush since they were born as an expansion franchise in 2005 and first began playing in Edmonton.

The Rush won an NLL title in 2015, while calling Edmonton home. Playing out of Rexall Place, the Rush ran into issues where they were unable to promote their branding in that facility by the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, who also called that building home.

The Rush celebrate winning the NLL title in 2016.
Unable to secure a long term lease deal for the brand new Rogers Place in Edmonton, Urban relocated the Rush to Saskatoon and the club was branded as the Saskatchewan Rush for the 2016 campaign.

The Rush won NLL titles in 2016 and 2018 and gained massive popularity. 

In the four complete seasons and a fifth partial campaign played in Saskatoon, the Rush have averaged 13,482 fans per game during the regular season and 13,425 fans per game in the post-season.

The Rush got to play 10 games in 2020 before the rest of the NLL campaign that year was cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The 2020-21 campaign ultimately got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic too.

Captain Chris Corbeil raises the Champion’s Cup in 2016.
Like the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Rush draw fans from all across the province of Saskatchewan.

The Rush also had the best game day presentation out of any sports team in Saskatchewan. Going to a Rush game was an event and a party.

Music played throughout the game by a DJ. The Rush had an extremely talented dance team that performed during stoppages, an official mascot in Bruiser the Bulldog, an unofficial mascot in Rush Hulk and tonnes of fun things happening around the game to add to the entertainment aspect.

All the fun elements allowed the fans to even be more engaged in the game, and they gave the Rush an incredible home floor advantage.

Their most famous fan in Joyce Souka, who is best known as “Grandma Rush,” is one of the club’s diehard fans from Edmonton who traveled to Saskatoon for every Rush home game.

Tailgating at Rush playoff games was a common sight.
Captain Chris Corbeil, high scoring forward Mark Matthews and gritty transition player Jeremy Thompson have all become household names in “the Wheat Province.”

Urban enjoyed every perk that came with owning the Rush while the team called Saskatchewan home.

Both the Urban and Priestner families are from the Edmonton area. The Urbans call Calgary their home base now with Bruce owning the Western RV Group of Companies.

With both the Rush and Blades calling the SaskTel Centre home, personnel from both teams would converse from time to time.

Over the past year, Urban and the Priestner family had a series of friendly conversations.

Mark Matthews is a top scorer for the Rush.
During an online media conference on Monday, Colin Priestner said his family reached out to Urban asking if there ever might be a desire to retire or move on from owning the Rush. Things progressed organically from that point to where the Priestner Sports Corporation ultimately bought the Rush.

As the owners of the Blades, the Priestner Sports Corporation entered a massive rebuild with that team, which was devoid of prospects and WHL Bantam Draft picks after hosting the 2013 CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.

After missing the playoffs for five straight seasons, the Blades finished fourth overall in the 2018-19 WHL regular season with a 45-15-8 record. The Blades have remained one of the WHL better franchises posting a 16-5-2-1 mark in their recently completed developmental regular season.

Now, the Priestner Sports Corporation owns a team in the Rush that is responsible for one of the most iconic moments in the history of the SaskTel Centre.

“Grandma Rush” is the Rush’s most famous fan.
On June 4, 2016, the Rush were looking to win Game 2 of the NLL championship series at the SaskTel Centre against the Buffalo Bandits and sweep the best-of-three set to take the league title.

Locked in a 10-10 tie with under 25 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, the Bandits had possession in the Rush zone. A hard point shot from a Bandits player rebounded high into the air off the back boards and was collected by Rush defenceman Jeff Cornwall near the edge of exiting the defensive zone.

With a clear path to the Buffalo goal, Cornwall dashed down the rink on a breakaway. He tucked home a shot low stick side with 12 seconds to play to put the Rush in front 11-10.

Derek Keenan has led the Rush to three NLL titles.
At that point, the SaskTel Centre became a madhouse going bonkers in a good way. The cheers might have been the loudest the building had experienced in its history.

The final 12 seconds ticked away allowing that 11-10 score to hold up as the final as the Rush swept the series 2-0 to capture the Champion’s Cup.

Cornwall’s goal would go down as one the most iconic moments in the history of the SaskTel Centre along with John Slaney’s golden goal that won Canada top spot at the world junior hockey championship on Jan. 4, 1991 and Bret “The Hitman” Hart capturing the WWE heavyweight title on Oct. 12, 1992.

One key thing Urban did to allow the Rush to have success was bring in someone who knew the lacrosse game well and let them run the team. After not being able to win more than six games in each of team’s first four seasons, Urban brought Keenan in to be the Rush’s head coach and general manager in June of 2009.

Captain Chris Corbeil lifts the NLL Cup in 2018.
With Keenan as head coach and general manager, the Rush franchise posted a 116-66 record during the regular season and a 15-8 mark during the post-season.

After the 2020 campaign was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Keenan turned over the head coach role to Jeff McComb, who has been the Rush assistant coach responsible for offence for seven seasons.

The Priestners plan to follow that same blueprint.

“Our goal is to continue that winning culture with the same great group of people who made it happen,” said Colin Priestner in a statement. “Derek Keenan is a big reason we made this investment.

“His track record is simply unparalleled, and we want him running this franchise for years to come. To any Rush fan reading this: we’re keeping the players you love and the people who worked so tirelessly to build this organization.”

Bruce Urban raises the National Lacrosse League Cup in 2018.
Colin and his wife, Alanna, live in Saskatoon, which will allow the new ownership group to be a little more hands on locally with the business side of things. The Urban family continued to live in Calgary, while the Rush played in Saskatoon.

While the NLL is hoping to return to play in the upcoming 2021-22 season, an era has come to an end for the Rush franchise.

Bruce Urban and his family set the bar incredibly high when it came to operating the team.

Now it is the turn of the Priestner family carry the Rush franchise torch. They have learned a lot when it comes to running a sport franchise in owning the Blades, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them carry the Rush torch well.

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

-------

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.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, 8 May 2021

Raiders’ Allan brings boom at finish of hockey season

Nolan Allan in action for the Raiders in 2019-20.
Nolan Allan finished his hockey season with a bang.

On Thursday, the Davidson, Sask., product, who turned 18-years-old in late April, completed his 2020-21 campaign playing defence for Canada in the gold medal game against Russia at the men’s under-18 world hockey championships in Frisco, Texas.

Just under two minutes into that contest, Allan made the first head turning play hammering Russian captain Nikita Chibrikov into the Canadian bench. Canada would win the contest 5-3 to capture their first goal medal at the under-18 worlds since 2013.

Allan’s hit made numerous highlight reels and the still photograph of the collision showed up on various social media accounts. It was arguably the most talked about play from the game that didn’t feature Canada’s 15-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard.

Bedard did score Canada’s first goal and assisted on the fifth tally in the victory.

Allan’s hit and gold medal win provided a sweet cap to a unique hockey campaign. It was a campaign that provided an opportunity for Allan to experience sizable growth.

In 2019-20, Allan, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 189 pounds, had a sound 16-year-old rookie season with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. He appeared in 58 regular season games posting two goals, six assists and a plus-16 rating in the plus-minus department before the campaign was permanently halted in March of 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

In November of 2019, Allan took part in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge held jointly in Swift Current, Sask., and Medicine Hat, Alta., picking up an assist in five games with Team Canada Red.

Due to government restrictions that were brought in to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Allan didn’t have a clear roadmap on how the 2020-21 hockey campaign would unfold.

The alumnus of the Saskatoon Blazers Under-18 AAA Hockey Team started the 2020-21 season playing in the junior A ranks with the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League via a loan agreement with the Raiders.

Allan had two goals and three assists in five games with the Ice Wolves before the SJHL campaign was put on ice late this past November due to increased government restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

From that point, he spent much of his time training back home in Davidson to hopefully get ready for some sort of WHL campaign.

Eventually, the dust settled where the WHL was able to get back into action with divisional play with a shortened regular season held for developmental purposes.

Allan’s Raiders would join the WHL’s four other Saskatchewan representatives in the Moose Jaw Warriors, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and Swift Current Broncos along with the two Manitoba clubs in the Brandon Wheat Kings and Winnipeg Ice in an East Division bubble.

Nolan Allan logged a lot of minutes on defence for the Raiders.
Each club in the East Division bubble would complete a 24-game regular season playing all contests at the Brandt Centre in Regina in the months of March and April. Teams would stay at the dorms at the University of Regina and Luther College, which is on the grounds of the U of R campus.

When the Raiders lost captain and star defenceman Kaiden Guhle to a season ending hand injury in their second contest and dealt with a number of other minor injuries throughout that campaign, Allan found himself logging a lot more minutes than he normally would have.

He focused on controlling the action in the defensive zone. Allan appeared in 16 games in the Regina bubble posting one goal, one assist and a minus-three rating before departing to play for Canada.

The Raiders finished fourth in the East Division with a 9-11-3-1 record.

With Canada’s under-18 team, Allan joined forces with two Regina bubble foes in Bedard, who had 12 goals, 16 assists and a plus nine rating in 15 games with the Regina Pats, and 16-year-old defenceman Denton Mateychuk, who had two goals, seven assists and a minus-eight rating in 16 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

In the seven games Canada played at the under-18 worlds in Frisco and Plano, Texas, Allan had a strong tournament anchoring the back end for Canada posting one goal, one assist and a plus-seven rating.

The hit on Chibrikov in the gold medal contest will go down as Allan’s signature play from that event.

As far as the number of games played goes, Allan’s season was nowhere as long as it would have normally been, but he got a tonne of quality experience in the contests he did play.

The experience he gained should serve him well in the future.

Canada West intends to return in 2021-22, other notes

The Huskies football team takes the field for a game in 2019.
The Canada West Conference will try to play a campaign in 2021-22.

The conference, which plays under the U Sports umbrella, had all member institutions affirm their commitment to return to play at a virtual Canada West annual general meeting held this past Tuesday and Wednesday. The Canada West Conference includes the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and University of Regina athletics programs.

Canada West wasn’t able to hold a season in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world. Government and individual university institutional restrictions in a lot of cases prevented programs from training together at various points in time.

Before the 2020-21 campaign was called off, Canada West was hoping to get its various sports back in action with modified regular seasons and possible post-season play.

The conference is once again looking at modified formats for the upcoming 2021-22 regular season, which will include a greater emphasis on regional play wherever possible.

In a release that was sent out on Wednesday, Canada West said the alternative formats may require further adjustments which will be addressed as permissions and approvals for return to competition are known.

The conference’s member programs will still need to receive permission to return to sport competition from their institutions and clearance from the health authorities in their respective provinces.

At the moment, the conference’s football league that contains six teams will each play six regular season games. The teams will play each other once along with one more additional game.

The top four teams advance to playoffs, where the semifinals and Hardy Cup conference championship game would be played like normal.

For the men’s and women’s hockey leagues that contain nine teams each, each team is slated to play a 20-game regular season. The top six teams advance to the post-season and the quarter-final, semifinal and championship rounds are slated to be played in best-of-three formats like they would in any normal campaign.

The Canada West release on the conference’s return to play plans can be found by clicking right here.

  • On Friday, Lacrosse Canada canceled nine of its 2021 national championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The minor box lacrosse nationals for under-12, under-14 and under-17 boys and under-14 and under-17 girls have been cancelled. The Founders’ Cup Junior B National Championship has been cancelled. The field lacrosse nationals for under-15 boys, under-18 men’s and senior men’s were also cancelled.
  • I was in the pages of the Your Saskatoon News monthly publication with a story on star hockey playing sisters Sophie and Grace Shirley, who are both alums of the Saskatoon Stars Female Under-18 AAA Team. The Shirleys talked about their experiences this past season helping the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team win a sixth NCAA title. The story on the Shirleys can be found by clicking right here.
  • Greg Harder is no longer the Regina Leader-Post’s beat writer that covers the WHL’s Regina Pats. Harder has been promoted to be that publication’s arts and features editor. Harder joined the Leader-Post sports department in 1998. He took on duties as the Pats beat writer before the start of the 2000-01 campaign. He performed those duties with great distinction. With the way the media is these days in Canada, it is unlikely the Leader-Post will replace Harder in the sports department. He was one of the few mainstream media outlet beat writers that was still on the WHL circuit. Long time Leader-Post sports scribe Rob Vanstone penned a tribute piece on Harder’s time in the Leader-Post sports department that can be found right here.
  • On Friday, paNOW.com ran a great story on one of the top behind the scenes guys on the WHL’s circuit in Prince Albert Raiders manager of team services Kim Jackson. Jackson fills numerous roles in the Raiders organization. The piece on Jackson written by Jeff D’Andrea can be found by clicking right here.
  • University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team forward Collin Shirley is currently playing in the ECHL with the Allen Americans. He had a goal in his first five games. Shirley still has two seasons of eligibility left to use with the Huskies.
  • Prince Albert Raiders right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt and Saskatoon Blades centre Tristen Robins are both with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda now that the seasons of their respective WHL teams have come to an end.
  • Tickets are on sale for the May jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. The draw date will be May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
  • On Thursday, the Medicine Hat Tigers finished their developmental WHL regular season falling 3-0 at home to the Edmonton Oil Kings at Co-Op Place. The Tigers hit the ice for 23 games posting a 14-8-0-1 record. With the season coming to a conclusion for the Tigers, Bob Ridley, who has been the franchises only play-by-play voice since the modern version of the team hit the ice in 1970-71, has called 4,021 of the clubs 4,022 games. Ridley’s total includes 3,589 of the 3,590 games the Tigers played in the regular season, one standings tiebreaker game, 411 games in the WHL playoffs and 20 contests in the Memorial Cup tournament. If you called 80 games a season for 50 seasons, you would still fall short of Ridley’s total for games called. Ridley has called the most games as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team at all levels of the sport.

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

-------

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.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, 7 May 2021

Celebration is deserved for CFL Draft selections

Nelson Lokombo in action for the Huskies in 2019.
They’ve worked their butts off and deserve a moment of celebration.

On Tuesday, the annual CFL Draft was held by the beleaguered Canadian professional football circuit which wasn’t able to hit the field for a season in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

Due to public health orders and restrictions that are still in place to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of a possible 2021 CFL season has been pushed back from June 10 to August 5. Each team is slated to play 14 regular season games each as opposed to the normal length of 18 regular season games.

As it stands right now, the last CFL game that was played was on Nov. 24, 2019 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta., when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers thumped the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 to win the Grey Cup.

While the CFL wasn’t able to hit the field in 2020, players who were selected in Tuesday’s CFL Draft should take every opportunity to enjoy the moment. They put in a lot of hard work and made a tonne of sacrifices to get to this point.

The draftees that play out of Canada had to preserver though an unprecedented 2020, where the football league in U Sports and the CJFL weren’t able to hold campaigns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Connor Berglof in action for the Huskies in 2019.
Football has been a passion for a long time for the draftees. Being selected in the CFL Draft is still a huge accomplishment.

The latest CFL Draft was a good day for both the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and the University of Regina Rams.

The Huskies had three players taken in the draft including defensive backs Nelson Lokombo and Josh Hagerty along with centre Connor Berglof.

The Rams had two players selected in linebacker Robbie Lowes and running back Kyle Borsa.

On the Huskies front, Lokombo was the most well-known CFL prospect as he was named the U Sports defensive player of the year and a first team all-Canadian all-star in 2019.

That season, Lokombo, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 pounds, topped the Huskies with four interceptions, and he returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns during the regular season.

The Abbotsford, B.C., product posted 23.5 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and four pass breakups during the regular campaign, which saw the Huskies post a 5-3 record.

Josh Hagerty in action for the Huskies in 2019.
The 22-year-old, who has played three complete seasons with the Huskies, can play every position in the defensive secondary and could likely slide into an outside linebacker spot if needed.

Connor Berglof kept up the Huskies reputation as being “O-line U” getting selected in the third round and 24th overall by the Ottawa Redblacks. 

The graduate of Saskatoon’s Tommy Douglas Collegiate Tigers high school football team was the Huskies starting centre in 2019 and picked up all-Canadian all-star honours in his third campaign of U Sports eligibility.

The 24-year-old Berglof, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 300 pounds, became the third starter from the Huskies O-line in 2019 to be selected in the CFL Draft.

In the 2020 CFL Draft, left guard Mattland Riley was picked in the first round and seventh overall by the Roughriders, and right tackle Nick Summach was selected in the seventh round and 57th overall by the Edmonton Football Club.

Hagerty rounded out the Huskies that were picked in the 2021 CFL Draft going in the sixth round and 47th overall to the Toronto Argonauts.

Robbie Lowes (#32) recovers a fumble for the Rams in 2018.
The 22-year-old, who is a graduate of Regina’s Campbell Collegiate Tartans high school team, had 13.5 tackles and one interception playing six regular season games for the Huskies in 2019. Hagerty, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 200 pounds, has played three seasons for the Huskies and has a huge upside.

He has the potential to be one of those players where people will look back and not believe he was a sixth round CFL Draft selection.

On the Rams side of things, both Lowes and Borsa were selected by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Lowes was the first to go off the board being taken in the fourth round and 34th overall. The 25-year-old, who is a graduate of Regina’s Michael A. Riffel High School Royals football team, collected 35 total tackles, two forced fumbles, two blocked kicks, one interception and one fumble recovery helping the Rams post a 3-5 record in 2019.

Lowes, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 205 pounds, played two complete seasons with the Rams after spending three seasons in the CJFL split between the Regina Thunder and the Langford, B.C., based Westshore Rebels.

Kyle Borsa in action for the Rams in 2018.
The Bombers picked Borsa in the fifth round and 39th overall. The 22-year-old last played for the Rams in 2018 and was forced to miss the 2019 U Sports football season serving a 16-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

In the 2018 campaign, Borsa, who stands 6-feet and weighs 185 pounds, appeared in all eight of the Rams regular season games carrying the ball 96 times for 613 yards scoring six touchdowns. He caught 16 passes for 227 yards with one of those receptions going for a major score.

Borsa piled up 1,340 all-purpose yards in 2018, which was the second highest total for a Rams player in one season in the team’s U Sports history.

Also, former Rams linebacker Nick Cross, who played the 2019 campaign with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, went in the first round and ninth overall to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The 21-year-old Cross, who stands 6-feet and weighs 182 pounds, appeared in all eight regular season games for the Thunderbirds in 2019 piling up 66.5 tackles and returned one interception 17 yards for a touchdown.

Cross is a graduate of Regina’s Dr. Martin Leboldus High School Golden Suns football team.

Nick Cross, left, with Nicholas Dheilly in 2019.
For the players that were selected in Tuesday’s CFL Draft, their hard work resulted in the realization of a dream.

No matter what is happening in the world outside of the control of these players, their draft selections are an accomplishment they have every right to savour and enjoy.

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

-------

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.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, 3 May 2021

CFL keeps on keeping on with CFL Draft

Circuit faces unprecedented questions, uncertainty

Andrew Harris in action for the Bombers in 2017.
It will be a CFL Draft like no other, because the Canadian professional football circuit is facing uncertainty the likes it has never seen before.

On Tuesday, the CFL will hold a CFL Draft that will last six rounds. The first two rounds will be shown on TSN at 5 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

Normally for a prospect player that is selected in the CFL Draft, they take a step towards playing in a CFL game one day. A likelihood still exists drafted prospects will attend a CFL camp, but not make a roster to play in a CFL game.

For the prospects that are selected in Tuesday’s CFL Draft, they might not even get to see a CFL training camp let alone a regular season game.

That is the reality of the CFL as it attempts to operate with a world having been stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic dating back to about March 11, 2020.

The CFL already has one full draft class that has never seen the field at a CFL training camp. The players who were selected in the 2020 CFL Draft in late April of that year saw the entire CFL season get cancelled.

The league’s nine teams ultimately never did bring players together for any training camp activities.

The CFL pushed for government funding to be able to hold a season in 2020, but the funding the circuit sought never game.

Actually, post-secondary football wasn’t played anywhere in U Sports or the Canadian Junior Football League in 2020, so most of the players from Canada that could be drafted haven’t played a season since 2019.

On top of the pandemic this year, there is another elephant in the room that looms over everything the CFL does – the XFL.

On March 10, news broke that saw the CFL and XFL reveal they’re poised to begin serious discussions about a potential partnership. The XFL is the spring start up league in the United States that was bought out of bankruptcy in August of 2020 by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital.

According to the XFL’s website, RedBird Capital managers US$4-billion in assets.

There is speculation that these potential partnership discussions are moving in the direction of full merger.

How real this speculation is can be debated.

On April 26, The Canadian Press reported U Sports, the CJFL, the Canadian Football Officials Association and Football Canada sent a joint policy letter to CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie for consideration.

The letter requested the CFL remains committed to essential rule components of Canadian Football in Canada.

This includes traditional field width and length between goal-lines and having 12-players per side. The letter requested the CFL maintains the current mandate of starter and roster positions for national players.

The joint policy letter wouldn’t have been sent, if there wasn’t concern for how far the discussions between the CFL and XFL have gone.

Brendon LaBatte (#57) in action for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2017.
On March 29, the community owned Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced an overall loss of $6,982,217 for 2020.

The Bombers won the Grey Cup in 2019, which was the last time the CFL held a season. For 2019, the Bombers posted a $3.5-million operating profit.

The Winnipeg franchise is viewed as one of the healthiest clubs in the CFL. If the Bombers lost close to $7-million in 2020, one wonders what the losses were for the eight other CFL teams.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Edmonton Football Club will eventually have to present their financial statements for 2020 being both community owned franchises.

It should be noted that no new ownership groups or entities in Canada have shown any interest in stepping up to take stewardship of the CFL.

On top of all that, the CFL has to deal with the spectre of the NFL.

In November of 2020, Ambrosie told the Rod Pedersen Show he had talked with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, but there wouldn’t be financial support from the NFL to help the CFL work through its losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1997, the NFL provided a US$3-million interest free loan to the CFL, which was struggling financially at the time. In return, the NFL was granted access to CFL players entering a two-month window in the option year of their contracts.

The CFL turned the corner financially and repaid that loan and the agreement with the NFL expired in 2006.

That agreement was done when Paul Tagliabue was the commissioner of the NFL. It was viewed that this move by the NFL helped give a boost to the game of football and the CFL in Canada.

On March 30, the NFL announced it would be looking at hosting neutral site regular season games in Canada along with Europe, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom as the league increases its regular season schedule from 16 games per team to 17 games per team starting this coming campaign.

Does that mean the NFL is looking to get more of a footing in Canada?

While three-down football is played at all levels in Saskatchewan, the four-down version of the game is played at the grassroots level in other locations like the greater Toronto area and the greater Vancouver area. Together, both those areas make up a sizable portion of Canada’s population.

Noting that, the joint policy letter from U Sports, the CJFL, the Canadian Football Officials Association and Football Canada didn’t make mention about games using either three or four downs.

Ultimately, the CFL might not take the field again in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even though it is still trying to conduct business as normal as possible.

On April 21, the CFL announced it was pushing the start of its regular season back from June 10 to August 5. Each club is slated to play a 14-game regular season as opposed to an 18-game regular season.

In 2020, the CFL went through scenarios regarding shortened campaigns before the season was cancelled.

Due to the fact there is no certainty mass gatherings will be allowed in Canada in the size that will allow the CFL to have a strong enough income from ticket sales to go ahead despite vaccine rollouts for COVID-19, the CFL is looking at repeating 2020 in 2021.

Evan Johnson (#64) locks up on a block for the Ottawa Redblacks in 2019.
Thanks to the fact the 2020 season was lost and the 2021 campaign might not go ahead, some CFL veterans have already decided to retire from the game and move on to the next part of their life.

For the players that are taken in the 2021 CFL Draft that will be held Tuesday, the draft selection will still be a great accomplishment. Those prospect players will work hard to play, but there is a very real chance they won’t have a CFL league to play in.

As it stands right now, the last CFL game that was played was the Bombers 33-12 Grey Cup win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Nov. 24, 2019 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta.

That might go down as the last game ever played in the storied history of the CFL.

Cote joins Huskies, other notes

Brandin Cote will be reuniting with first WHL head coach.

On April 26, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies announced Cote will be the new associate coach for the athletic program’s men’s hockey team. Cote had been an assistant coach with his hometown WHL in the Swift Current Broncos since the start of the 2018-19 season.

The Broncos closed their developmental 24-game regular season this past Wednesday falling 6-5 in overtime to the Prince Albert Raiders playing in the WHL East Division bubble at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The 40-year-old Cote will begin his new position with the Huskies on July 1.

Cote will join legendary head coach Mike Babcock on the Huskies bench. Babcock, who is famous from his time in the NHL and leading Canada’s men’s Olympic team to two gold medal wins, is serving as the Huskies interim volunteer head coach for two seasons taking over for long time and legendary Huskies head coach Dave Adolph, whose retirement became official on Saturday.

Cote played for Babcock as an associate player call up in 1996-97 and three seasons from 1997 to 2000 with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, when Babcock finished up his time as Chiefs head coach.

Cote was a career member of the Chiefs serving as the team’s captain after Babcock moved on to the professional ranks. From 1996 to 2002, the shifty centre played in 352 career regular season games with the Chiefs collecting 101 goals and 154 assists.

In the 2001-02 campaign, Cote won the Humanitarian of the Year awards for the WHL and CHL.

He went on to a career spanning eight seasons in the professional ranks playing in the AHL, the East Coast Hockey League as well as leagues in Germany, Italy and England.

Cote was an assistant coach of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in 2016-17 and was an assistant coach with the Red Deer College Kings men’s hockey team in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association ranks in 2013-14. He served as the Kings associate coach in 2017-18.

With this move, it is believed Cote could take on the role of becoming the Huskies head coach one day.

  • On Friday, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies posted a heartfelt piece regarding long time and legendary men’s hockey team head coach Dave Adolph. Adolph’s retirement became official on Saturday. The piece the Huskies posted on their website on Friday contains interviews from the 17 players that served as captains during Adolph’s time as head coach from 1993 to 2021. The captains talked about how much Adolph meant to the program and themselves personally. The piece can be found by clicking right here.
  • Last Wednesday, the Formula 1 announced the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Quebec, has been cancelled for a second straight year due to public health protocols brought in to battle COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s race had been scheduled for June 13. The Turkish Grand Prix will replace the Canadian Grand Prix for the weekend of June 11 to 13.
  • Last Wednesday, Softball Canada announced it has cancelled all 10 of its Canadian fast pitch and slo-pitch championships for a second consecutive year. Softball Canada made the decisions due to the public health protocols and travel restrictions that are in place in Canada to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • On Friday, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced the 2021 women’s world hockey championship has been rescheduled for Aug. 20 to 31 at a location to be announced. The IIHF will evaluate venues with Hockey Canada. Women’s worlds were originally scheduled for May 6 to 16 in Halifax and Truno, Nova Scotia. On April 21, Nova Scotia premier Iain Rankin pulled the plug on the tournament over concerns of rising COVID-19 cases in the province.
  • Tickets are on sale for the May jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. The draw date will be May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.

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

-------

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.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)