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| The Gordie Howe statue in front of the SaskTel Centre. |
The Saskatoon Blades have mastered the art of the emotional
tribute since coming under the ownership of Mike Priestner, and their upcoming
regular season home opener might provide the biggest challenge to date in this
department.
The brain trust of the local WHL franchise is planning a
“Thank You, Mr. Hockey” day, when the Blades open their home regular season
schedule against the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. at the
SaskTel Centre. Of course, the Blades will be honouring one of the greatest
hockey players of all time in the late Gordie Howe. Howe, who was born in a
farmhouse in Floral, Sask., and moved to Saskatoon at age 9, passed away
earlier this year on June 10 at age 88.
It is expected that cremated remains of Gordie and his wife,
Colleen, will be interred in front of the SaskTel Centre by the Gordie Howe statue. This will occur if the Government of
Saskatchewan approves designating the Gordie Howe statue and a small piece of land around it a cemetery. Colleen Howe passed
away on March 6, 2009.
Saskatoon city council has begun the process of applying to
the province regarding the special designation for the Gordie Howe statue.
Currently, the plan for the festivities on Sept. 25 will see
the cremated remains of both Gordie and Colleen be interred during a private
ceremony at the statue. From there, the Howe family will make their way to the
newly built Circle Drive South Bridge, which is being renamed the Gordie Howe
Bridge.
The day’s events will then shift back to the SaskTel Centre
for a special pre-game ceremony. All four of Gordie and Colleen’s children will
be in the city for all the day’s activities.
At the moment, the pre-game ceremony is slated to be 25
minutes in length. The Blades will also unveil other special initiatives closer
to Sept. 25, and some will be kept a surprise until game day.
This will be a must attend Blades game. Anytime they have
hosted a special pre-game ceremony with an emotional component it has been a
hit.
Some of the more notable ones include honouring former team
member Nelson Nogier when he played is first game back in Saskatoon as a member
of the Red Deer Rebels, rallying for La Loche this past January after a
shooting occurred in that community and supporting Grade 2 student Naomi
Lendvay, who is fighting stage four pediatric cancer.
If you have seen the Blades host other pre-game ceremonies
in the past, you can expect the one they hold to honour Gordie Howe will be
pretty cool and emotional in a good way.
The Blades have hinted a couple of former rivals and other
special guests will be in attendance. For citizens in Saskatoon and area, this
provides a chance to recognize a Canadian icon who really put the city on the
map. When you bring up Gordie Howe’s name, there is no shortage of great
stories and the ones that have already been told never lose their lustre when
they are told again.
Hilltops get past first bump, face big
challenge in Colts
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| RB Logan Fischer zips upfield for the Hilltops. |
On Sunday, the Hilltops traveled to Edmonton to face the
Huskies jumping out to a 22-0 lead after the first quarter before the offence
dried up for a bit. The defending Canadian Junior Football League champions
held a commanding 22-3 at halftime, before the Huskies closed to within 22-20
early in the fourth quarter.
Just when things looked in doubt, a couple of steady
veterans came through. With 9:59 to play in the fourth quarter, fourth year
running back Logan Fischer ran in his third touchdown of the day to put the
Hilltops up 29-20. Fifth-year quarterback Jared Andreychuk added a rushing
major of his own with under 30 seconds to play in the contest to give the
Hilltops a 35-20 victory.
Andreychuk completed 20 of 28 passes for 218 yards and one
touchdown coming on a trick play throw to defensive lineman Tom Schnitzler.
Defensive lineman Blake Hermann had a huge game with six tackles and three
sacks in being named the defensive player of the week for the Prairie Football
Conference.
Normally, the Hilltops usually romp over the Huskies, but an
improved Edmonton side was ready for a battle. When the dust settled, Saskatoon
found a way to improve to 2-0, while the Huskies fell to 0-2.
Now the Hilltops head into a showdown for first place in the
PFC with the Calgary Colts (2-0) this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon
Minor Football Field. This coming weekend will be a big one for the Hilltops as
they celebrate their 70th anniversary.
The Toppers will be hold special functions in the days
leading up to the game with the Colts, where all the Hilltops alumni in
attendance will be introduced at halftime.
When the Hilltops hit a rough stretch, you have to love how
Tom Sargeant says first the coaching staff, including himself, have to find
ways to be better in order to help their players be better. You can bet the
Toppers intensity will be up at practice to ensure the team adds a capper to what
will be a memorable weekend.
Huskies QB of the future looks good
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| QB Mason Nyhus slings a pass for the Huskies. |
On Saturday at Griffiths Stadium, rookie Mason Nyhus, who
just graduated from Regina’s Riffel High School, was firing lasers all over the
field, when his turn came up to take snaps under centre for the Huskies in a controlled
scrimmage against the University of Alberta Golden Bears. The youngster looked
fairly composed and showed off some good chemistry with fellow rookie receiver
in Ben Getzlaf, who just graduated from Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School.
Nyhus comes to the Huskies as a highly touted prospect. He
quarterbacked Saskatchewan’s provincial team to a bronze medal win at the 2015
Football Canada Cup in Saint Jean, Que.
At the International Bowl series that ran Jan. 31 to Feb. 1
in Arlington, Texas, Nyhus was calling signals for Canada’s under-18 team. In
July, Nyhus was a member of Canada’s Junior National Team that won the International
Federation of American Football under-19 World Championship in Harbin, China.
With the Huskies, Nyhus won’t be thrown to the fire right
away. The training camp battle for the starting quarterback spot is between
Drew Burko, who is in his fifth year, and Kyle Siemens, who is in his third
year.
A year ago, Burko was the incumbent starter for the Huskies,
but he lost job as the team struggled. Burko threw nine interceptions in six
starts.
Siemens finished the year starting the Huskies final two
regular season games and their Canada West Conference semifinal playoff loss to
the University of Calgary Dinos. The Huskies were 3-5 in regular season play in
2015 after going 6-2 in 2014.
The Huskies open the 2016 regular season against the
University of Regina Rams on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.
Nyhus will be able to learn the ropes at the Canadian
Interuniversity Sport level playing behind Burko and Siemens, which will
include learning how to balance school work with athletes. The first day of
classes is usually a shocker for first-year students. Under a different set of
circumstances, Nyhus might even be able to start as a rookie.
With that said, rookie starting quarterbacks usually get
beat up at the CIS level. During Saturday’s controlled scrimmage, Nyhus wasn’t
going to see all the different looks the Golden Bears defence has or face all
of U of A’s starters at once.
Nyhus will have the benefit of being able to become a successor
in two to three years. If the business major puts in his work getting
physically stronger, becoming a student of the game and tackling his studies in
the classroom, he will shine one day.
If the unthinkable happens that both Burko and Siemens are
lost to injury at the same time, Nyhus will likely be a capable fill in.
Hockey Huskies load up on WHL grads
On Wednesday, the Huskies announced they have added 10
former WHL veterans to their roster. The additions include forwards Alex Forsberg,
Connor Gay, Wyatt Johnson, Elliott Peterson, Carson Stadnyk, Colton Stephenson
and Jordan Tkatch. On defence, the Huskies added Colby Harmsworth and Tanner
Lishchynsky, while goaltender Daniel Wapple rounds out the recruiting class.
Before Wednesday’s announcement, a prominent alumnus of the
Huskies men’s hockey team told me this class was going to be really good, and
he wasn’t kidding. At forward, the Huskies could easily create a new first line
from their first-year players.
Forsberg’s addition will likely turn out to be a huge one.
The brother of Huskies defenceman Jesse Forsberg, Alex’s major junior career
started out on a slow pace being shouldered with prodigy status as the first
overall selection in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft by the Prince George Cougars.
He was eventually picked up by the Saskatoon Blades for the
start of the 2014-15 campaign and regained his confidence recording 13 goals
and 20 assists with “the Bridge City Bunch” in 36 games before being dealt to
the Victoria Royals.
Last season with the Royals, Forsberg finished ninth in
league scoring collecting 31 goals, 60 assists and a plus-22 rating in the
plus-minus department in 71 regular season games. The Waldheim, Sask., product’s
best hockey is likely still ahead of him and not behind him.
Gay finished up his WHL career last season leading his
hometown Blades in scoring with 25 goals and 47 assists in 70 regular season
games. That marked the second straight season he has 20 or more goals in a WHL
campaign.
Stadnyk will join the Huskies after participating in Edmonton
Oilers rookie camp. Last season, Stadnyk, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 185
pounds, had 21 goals, 28 assists and a plus-13 rating in 71 regular season
games with the Everett Silvertips.
Harmsworth was the Hitmen’s overage captain last season,
when he collected two goals, 11 assists and a plus-three rating in 67 regular
season games. During his four seasons with the Hitmen, the Saskatoon product,
who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 193 pounds, was a steady defensive defenceman.
Wapple, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 174 pounds, played
for both the Regina Pats and Vancouver Giants last season as an overager before
finishing up the 2015-16 campaign in junior A with the Estevan Bruins of the
Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Saskatoon product’s most memorable WHL
season came in 2014-15 when he posted a 29-15-10 record, a 3.03 goals against
average and a .906 save percentage in 56 appearances with the Pats.
He will provide a solid goaltending partner with starting
netminder Jordon Cooke. If Cooke ends up being lost due to injury for a lengthy
stretch, Wapple provides a strong insurance policy.
With these additions, the ancient Rutherford Rink will
likely be rocking, when the Huskies open their regular season against the
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
Slobodzian commits to UND
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| Willow Slobodzian has committed to the Fighting Hawks. |
On Sunday via Twitter, the 16-year-old announced her
commitment to join the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks women’s team.
The Clavet, Sask., product still isn’t eligible to play at the university level
for another two years.
Last season, Slobodzian won the Colleen Sostorics award as
the top defender in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League recording
six goals and 13 assists in 28 regular season games. Slobodzian was a key part
in helping the Stars win back-to-back league titles in 2015 and 2016, which
included advancing to the Esso Cup national championship tournament in both
years. The Stars captured a bronze medal in 2015 and finished fourth in 2016.
Slobodzian attended the selection camp for Canada’s under-18
women’s team early this month, and she suited up for Canada in a three game
series against the United States picking up one assist.
The Fighting Hawks definitely landed a gem with Slobodzian’s
commitment. Very few players even in the university ranks can equal her smooth
skating stride, her accurate blast from the point, her uncanny playmaking
ability and her sound play in the defensive zone.
If she keeps improving, she definitely has the potential to
play at the highest level one day on the international stage.
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