Over the past 11 years the ruling
storyline in CIS football is the Vanier Cup is Laval’s to lose. The Rouge et Or
have won it seven times during that time span including the last two straight
seasons.
The Canada West Conference has
almost become as predictable. The once ultra competitive loop has seen the Hardy
Trophy almost become the permanent possession of the Calgary Dinos. The Dinos
have won the last six straight conference titles.
When the initial top 10 CIS football
rankings came out on Tuesday, Laval topped the list and Calgary was ranked
second. Coming in at the 10th spot was the University of
Saskatchewan Huskies.
A thought then crosses the mind. Why
not the Huskies? Why can’t there be a flashback to the 1990s?
The U of S finished last season with
a 5-3 record before bowing out to the University of Manitoba Bisons in a Canada
West semifinal game. The two teams open their respective regular season
campaigns with a head-to-head match on Friday at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.
While every season sees a whole host
of new recruits join the Dogs’ roster, a glance at the roster shows there is a
core of players who are hitting their mid years of university eligibility and
have been together for three years.
Head coach Brian Towriss and his staff
always seems to field a well-prepared team. Even in contests where the Huskies
get creamed, they always seem to bounce back the next week.
With all that said, a lot of time
has passed, where the Huskies have been the top dog. Their last Canada West
title win came back in 2006 and their last Vanier Cup victory was in 1998.
Going in the current campaign, the
Huskies could conceivably play role of a wildcard. The ride through the season
will have its bumps, but it would be nice a nice change to see them knock off a
couple of current day powerhouses.
Besides, Laval always winning Vanier
and Calgary always capturing the Canada West title is getting boring.
Dogs’ drug testing
turns heads
Towriss caught the attention of CIS
football followers back in March, when he had his entire team tested for banned
substances.
The man who holds the record for
all-time victories in CIS football took this step after one of his former
players was arrested on drug charges.
Rick Westhead, a senior TSN
correspondent, put together a lengthy story about drug testing in CIS football,
which is right here.
Rival week at Gordie
Howe Bowl
For an early season CJFL game,
things don’t get any bigger than they do Saturday, when the Saskatoon Hilltops
make their return to Gordie Howe Bowl.
Fieldturf was installed at the
Hilltops storied park, and they reopen the facility with a 1 p.m. showdown
against the defending CJFL champion Regina Thunder. Both teams are 1-1.
Back on Aug. 17 at Mosaic Stadium in
Regina, the Thunder prevailed 19-16 in overtime over the Hilltops in an intense
early season match.
The fires in the Regina/Saskatoon
football rivalry are sure to be stoked in this contest and it should prove to
be very entertaining for fans.
This meeting also marks the only
time Saskatoon fans will get to show how much they don’t like their football
rivals from Regina in the regular season, because the University of Regina Rams
aren’t slated to play the Huskies at Griffiths this year.
Soccer squads could be
strong
The Huskies men’s soccer team aims
to show their appearance in last year’s CIS championship tournament wasn’t a
once-shot deal.
They start the season rated sixth in
the CIS top 10 rankings. They return nine starters from last year’s 8-5-2 season
and open by hosting the Calgary Dinos at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at
Field 7 in PotashCorp Park.
The Huskies women’s team posted an
8-2-2 record last season and fell in the conference quarter-final 2-0 to the eventual CIS champion Trinity Western Spartans. Co-head
coaches Jerson Barandica-Hamilton and Janine Harding guide the Huskies this
season.
During
exhibition titles last Saturday and Sunday on home turf, they downed the ACAC’s
Medicine Hat College Rattlers by scores of 9-0 and 6-0 respectively each day.
In Saturday’s win, the Huskies looked impressive tactically, and if they keep
that up, will be tough to deal with in the Canada West season.
The
Huskies head to Winnipeg this weekend to face the University of Winnipeg Wesmen
on Friday and the University of Manitoba Bisons on Saturday.
Rutherford Rink needs
to go
The Huskies hockey teams had a big
surprise on Tuesday.
A leaky pipe at the ancient
Rutherford Rink wreaked that day’s on-ice activities. Men’s team forward
Matthew Spafford tweeted a photo of water shooting out of one goalposts holes
where a net is suppose to sit. For all the weird sites you can see at the old
barn, that one takes the cake.
If any more reason is needed to show
the Rutherford Rink needs to be replaced besides graduated women’s team captain
Cami Wooster telling stories about how rust from the roof falls on the ice to
cause delays and other problems, this is it.
Both Huskies teams are supposed to
be gearing up for exhibition action that believe it or not is quickly
approaching.
The women’s team is slated to travel
to Swift Current on Saturday to play the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
After that match with the Pronghorns, the defending Canada West champs are
slated to host the Red Deer College Queens at the Rutherford Rink on Sept. 13
and 14 in exhibition action.
The men’s team is slated to travel
to Regina on Sept. 10 to begin play at the University of Regina’s tournament
against the host Cougars.
There hasn’t been any further word what is happening with the leaky
pipe.
If you have any feedback on this
blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.
