Wherever my life travels have taken me, I have found
outstanding individuals.
For
just a plain feel good exercise, I thought I would list a few people who are
“beauties” and make life just so much better. By no means is this list complete
or even in any sort of order. I am just hoping it creates some good, upbeat and
positive energy.
Kabree Howard
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| Kabree Howard in action for the Huskies. |
For
five seasons, Howard was more than just a point guard on the Huskies women’s
basketball team. She just made life better for everyone at the U of
Saskatchewan.
The
Regina product was the heart of the Huskies program, who was everyone’s best
friend and always knew the right thing to say to pick up someone’s spirits and
motivate them. She also seemed to get out to every community event the Huskies
held, and volunteered to help out numerous other community projects.
When
her final season was complete, Howard won the Huskies team award as the
program’s all-around female athlete of the year. The 23-year-old has also
excelled in the classroom being constant academic all-Canadian.
While
she has exhausted her playing eligibility, the Huskies would be wise to find a
permanent position for her within their athletic department. All Howard has
done is make the Huskies look good, and you can’t put a price on that.
Bob Ridley
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| Bob Ridley calls a Tigers game at The Arena. |
Les Lazaruk,
who is the play-by-play voice of the Saskatoon Blades, called Ridley the dean
of all WHL broadcasters, and the label fits.
Between
the regular season and post-season, Ridley has called all but one of the Tigers
games. He has worked 3,219 of the team’s 3,220 regular season contests, all 388
of the club’s contests in the WHL playoffs and all 20 games the team has played
in at the Memorial Cup tournament for a total of 3,627 contests.
Ridley,
70, is a WHL legend and icon. Back in 2006, he was the recipient of the WHL’s
Distinguished Service Award. There is hope that one day he will find his way
into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and he is deserving of a spot with the game’s
all-time greats.
The
best part about Rids is he has always taken all the accolades that have come
his way in a humble manner, and he has never made himself that big of a deal. The
press box in the new Medicine Hat Regional Event Centre, which is nearing
completion, will be named after Ridley.
Last
season was the first campaign Ridley wasn’t the full-time bus driver for the
Tigers since the early 1970s. He does admit he is getting older, and he needed
to depart from that role.
Ridley
has been blessed with great health for his whole life, and here is hoping he
will still be calling Tigers for a few more season’s in the future. When the
day comes you no longer get to hear “he scooorrrreeeesss” on the radio, it will
feel like something is missing.
Cody Smuk and Stephanie Vause
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| Cody Smuk and Stephanie Vause watch a Huskies men's hockey game. |
When
Smuk was diagnosed with cancer just over a year ago, the resolve this young
couple has displayed has been breathtaking. Smuk, who was a forward with the
Huskies men’s hockey team, has always been a hard-working and ultimate team
guy. Vause, who was a member of the Huskies track and field team, never wavered
as a source of outstanding support for Smuk.
She started
the Gofundme page to raise money to help Smuk in cancer battle. The funds have
been used to send Smuk to Germany for an alternative vaccine treatment. The
doctors took a sample from the cancerous tumour in Smuk’s chest and created a
vaccine for it, and the initial news is that the treatment is working.
Smuk
proposed to Vause in late December of last year. In February, the couple won a
Dream Wedding Contest, which was organized by Crystal MacLeod of RSVP Event
Design.
Smuk
and Vause have impressed all of their supports throughout Smuk’s cancer battle.
They deserve nothing but good things to keep coming their way.
Steve Hogle
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| Steve Hogle, right, works the card table at the Blades Vegas night. |
Hogle
arrived in Saskatoon in September of 2013 and became Blades president under the
club’s new owner Mike Priestner. Since landing in the Bridge City, Hogle hit
the ground running to do his best to become part of his new community.
Any
time the Blades are engaged in a community event, Hogle is front and centre
ensuring that everything is organized. He has represented the team in all sorts
of forums, and on game nights, he can always be found on the concourse level
interacting with fans.
He has
developed a reputation for being fun and energetic, and he helps add a lot of
spark to the club’s various nightly promotions. That includes have a very noticeable
joy of being part of the hoopla during the club’s Las Vegas night, where Hogle
can be found working a card table.
Away from
the Blades, Hogle can be found wandering Saskatoon doing various other
activities like taking in other sporting events like the Canadian
Interuniversity Sport Men’s Volleyball Championships at the U of Saskatchewan
or checking out a Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan play performance.
Once
thought to be a lifer with CTV News in Edmonton, Hogle has found a home in
Saskatoon.
Kandace Cook
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| Kandace Cook zips down the ice for the Huskies. |
She
stands only 5-foot-2 but played the game like she was 6-foot-2. The
Lloydminster product was spectacular in her fifth and final season with the U
of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team. For the third straight season,
Cook appeared in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games, and she had career
highs in goals (13) and points (22).
For her
efforts, Cook was named the most valuable player of the Huskies women’s hockey
team.
When
she is on the ice, you can tell Cook loves the game. She is not afraid to go in
front of the net or into the corners, where players do still take a physical
beating in the women’s game. Away from the rink, she is energetic, outgoing and
is very popular with the rest of her teammates.
Now
that she has exhausted her university eligibility, the Huskies will definitely
miss Cook next season, and could only wish to find five more players just like
her.
Away
from the rink, you don’t have to know Cook long to learn that her other big
passion is farming, and she can usually be found helping out the family farm
operation.
Peter Anholt
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| Peter Anholt. |
The Naicam, Sask., product was a
respected, accountable and personable career coach in the WHL for much of his
life. After guiding the Prince Albert Raiders to the playoffs in the 2006-07
campaign as head coach, Anholt parted ways with the club when his contract was
allowed to expire in the off-season.
Anholt had huge ties to the
Raiders and to the Prince Albert community, and it was strange that he was no
longer the team’s head coach. He was a defenceman on two national championship
teams with the Raiders in 1979 and 1981, when the club was still a member of the
junior A ranks. It seemed like he was meant to coach that team forever.
The former defenceman with the U
of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team 1983 University Cup national
championship team was hired by the struggling Lethbridge Hurricanes as an
assistant general manager in June of 2014. The Hurricanes last made the WHL
playoffs in 2009. Anholt’s arrival was the first huge positive step forward the
team took in some time.
In December of last year, the
Hurricanes cleaned house firing general manager Brad Robson and head coach
Drake Berehowsky.
Anholt became the club’s new head
coach and general manager. For the rest of the 2014-15 regular season, the
Hurricanes were no longer an easy win for every other team in the league. The
Hurricanes played inspired hockey and started rolling off some winning streaks.
The coaching veteran treated the players with
respect but still held them accountable. His biggest strength is his ability to
instill confidence, and that could be seen when the Hurricanes took the ice.
They still finished second last in the league at 20-44-5-3, but hope had
returned to Lethbridge.
In May, the Hurricanes signed
Anholt to a three-year extension as the team’s general manager. On Thursday,
Anholt hired long time Calgary Hitmen assistant coach Brent Kisio as the
Hurricanes new head coach. The hire was a forward thinking move by Anholt
bringing in an eager 32-year-old bench boss, who had been part of a winning
program.
Not so long ago, the Hurricanes
were a franchise players wanted to leave. Under Anholt, players are now excited
about the prospect of joining the Hurricanes.
Kris Russell
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| A Kris Russell card from his Tigers days. |
During
his major junior days with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Russell was viewed as one
of the most exciting players in the entire Canadian Hockey League helping
Canada win gold at the world junior championships in 2006 and 2007 and being
named the WHL’s MVP in the 2006-07 campaign. He also accumulated numerous other
accolades in his four seasons with the Tigers from 2003 to 2007, and he was key
in helping Medicine Hat win WHL championships in 2004 and 2007.
Russell
started his NHL career with an extended stay with the Columbus Blue Jackets
before being dealt to the St. Louis Blues. The Blues built a deep back end, and
traded Russell to the struggling Calgary Flames in July of 2013.
With
the Flames, the dynamic Russell was given a full out shot to excel, and he didn’t
disappoint. This past season, Russell cemented a reputation for being a
standout on the blue-line at the NHL level.
In
helping the Flames make the playoffs for the first time in six years, Russell
established a new NHL record for most blocked shots in a season at 283, which
broke the old mark of 274 set back Anton Volchenkov in the 2006-07 campaign
with the Ottawa Senators.
Russell,
who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 173 pounds, also set career highs in assists
(30), points (34) and plus-minus rating (plus-18) playing 79 regular season
games with the Flames. In the playoffs, Russell netted two goals, seven assists
and blocked 54 shots in 11 games.
Away
from the rink, Russell has always been well mannered and has treated others
with lots of respect. He is a good guy, and it is great to see success at the
NHL level come to a good guy.
David Schlemko
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| David Schlemko back in 2007. |
The
Edmonton product was never selected in the NHL Entry Draft, but he made it to
the professional ranks after signing an NHL entry-level contract with the
Arizona Coyotes in 2007. An offensive defenceman in his major junior career
with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Schlemko was being molded into a power-play
specialist as a member of the Coyotes franchise.
He
started in the Central Hockey League ranks, worked his way up through the
American Hockey League ranks and joined the Coyotes on a full-time basis for
the 2010-11 campaign.
For a
time, it seemed like Schlemko would be a career member of the Coyotes
franchise. That all changed this season, when the Coyotes decided to go in another
direction dumping a number of veterans to get younger.
With
his contact set to expire at the end of the season, he was placed on waivers
after playing 20 regular season games with the Coyotes and claimed by the
Dallas Stars in January. He played five games with the Stars before again being
placed of waivers, and he was claimed by the Calgary Flames in early March.
Joining
his third team in the final year of his contact, you had to wonder if Schlemko
would be cycled out of the NHL. He turned 28 in May, but lots of players get
cycled out of the league at that age to make room for younger prospects.
Schlemko
has a good understanding of the realities of the business side of hockey, but
he showed he still has a lot to offer at the NHL level in his time with the
Flames. He made an immediate impact in his first game with the Flames.
Locked in a 2-2 draw against the
Bruins in Boston on March 5, the Flames sent Schlemko on the ice to win the
contest in the eighth round of a tiebreaking shootout.
He
scored on a sick move to give the Flames a 3-2 victory. He appeared in 19
regular season games with the Flames posting a plus-six rating helping the club
earn a post-season berth for the first time in six years.
With
star defenceman and captain Mark Giordano gone for the season with a torn
biceps tendon, Schlemko provided a calming influence on the Flames back end. He
also suited up for all 11 of Calgary’s post-season games posting an assist and
a plus-one rating.
Between
the Coyotes, Stars and Flames, Schlemko appeared in 44 regular season games
last season posting one goal, three assists and a plus-one rating. He is
reliable on the back end, and the Flames would be wise to resign him. If the
Flames believe they will have depth on defence, they could convert Schlemko
into a forward. He has play making skills that would allow his to flourish at
that position.
Schlemko
can still contribute at the NHL level, and hopefully he will get another
contract with some team in the show. If he does get cycled out, he would depart
on a high note.
Valkyries eye up playoffs
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| Julene Friesen runs to daylight for the Valkyries |
On
Sunday in Winnipeg, the Valkyries closed the regular season dumping the
Manitoba Fearless 36-15. Saskatoon finished at 3-1, while Manitoba closed out
at 0-4. Valkyries running back Julene Friesen had one of the biggest plays of
the contest scoring on a 49-yard romp.
The
Valkyries finished second in the WWCFL’s Prairie Conference to the 3-1 Regina
Riot. The Valkyries and Riot split their two head-to-head meetings, but the
Riot held the standings tiebreaker outscoring the Valkyries 68-37 in their two
regular season tilts.
Regina
closed the regular season by dumping the Wolfpack in Winnipeg 47-3. The
Wolfpack finished off at 2-2.
After a
bye week, the WWCFL Prairie Conference semifinal games are slated for June 21.
The Valkyries will host the Wolfpack, while the Riot host the Fearless. The
start times for those matches are still to be announced.
On June
13 at 7 p.m., the Valkyries are hosting a fundraising cabaret at the #38
Anavets – Army, Navy and Airforce Veterans club. It is an 18+ event. Tickets
are $20 and can be purchased from any Valkyries player.
If you have any comments you would like to
pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
