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LT Noah Zerr locks up RE Riley Pickett (#91). |
Are the
University of Saskatchewan Huskies really the top dogs of the Canada West
Conference with regards to football?
Or, does
the conference still belong to the U of Calgary Dinos or the Blake Nill coached
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
A year ago,
the Huskies had a magical campaign going places they hadn’t gone in a long
time. They finished third in the Canada West Conference with a 5-3, slipped
past the Thunderbirds 31-28 in overtime in a Canada West semifinal and dumped
the Dinos 43-18 in the Canada West final to capture the Hardy Cup as conference
champions.
The Huskies
proceeded to travel to London, Ont., for a U Sports semifinal bowl game falling
47-24 to the U of Western Ontario Mustangs in the Mitchell Bowl.
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Highly touted Mason Nyhus leads the Huskies at quarterback. |
U of S
ended a one year absence from the post season, won a playoff game for the first
time since 2009 and captured a conference title for the first time since 2006.
The 2018 season was a resounding success for the Huskies.
Now, they
are faced with the challenge of trying to make these runs through the
post-season more of a habit.
Before last
year’s playoff run, the Huskies had lost eight straight post-season games, and
that skid is now an afterthought.
Still, the
Dinos have played in the last 11 Canada West title games and won eight of those
contests. For three straight years from 2015 to 2017, the Dinos faced the
Thunderbirds in the conference title game.
The
Thunderbirds took the 2015 Canada West championship and marched on to win the
Vanier Cup as U Sports national champions.
Since the
start of the 2008 season, the Thunderbirds in 2015 are the only team in Canada
West that has captured a national title.
In the
initial U Sports Top 10 rankings released on Tuesday, the Huskies were rated
fourth, and they were the highest ranked team from Canada West.
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Carter Dahl, right, makes a touchdown grab for the Huskies. |
The Dinos were
rated fifth and the Thunderbirds were 10th.
In the
Canada West football pre-season coaches poll released on Wednesday, the Dinos were rated first, the
Huskies second, the U of Manitoba Bisons third, the Thunderbirds fourth, the U
of Alberta Golden Bears fifth and the U of Regina Rams sixth.
Nationally,
it seems the Huskies have a touch more respect compared to how their conference
rivals believe they will stand up. That should seem natural as the Huskies are
a long way from matching the Dinos in consistently qualifying for the Canada
West final.
Also, the
Dinos return star quarterback Adam Sinagra, who won the Hec Crighton trophy as
the most valuable player in U Sports football and was a first team U Sports all-Canadian
all-star.
With all
that said, the Huskies have the pieces to duplication and potentially go
further than they did last season. They return 10 starters on offence and 10
starts on defence from last year’s squad.
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RB Adam Machart is looking to have a big year as a starter. |
Mason
Nyhus, who is in his third year of eligibility, takes over as the starting
quarterback from Kyle Siemens, who has exhausted his U Sports eligibility.
Nyhus is a highly touted recruit who has been waiting in the wings as a backup
the past two seasons and as a redshirt in 2016.
The Huskies
still have star offensive utility player Colton Klassen in the fold, and he led
the team last year in receiving yards (676) and all-purpose yards (981). They
have other playmakers at receiver in Jesse Kuntz, Yol Piok and Carter Dahl.
The running
back position is in the sure hands of two former stars with the CJFL’s
Saskatoon Hilltops in Adam Machart and Josh Ewanchyna along with first-year
runner Keagan White.
As has been
the tradition with the Huskies, their strength on offence likely runs through
the offensive line. The Huskies have one of their best offensive lines in
recent years return all five starters from a season ago in left tackle Noah
Zerr, left guard Mattland Riley, centre Connor Berglof, right guard Tanner
Secord and right tackle Nick Summach.
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DT Evan Machibroda was a first team all-Canadian last year. |
Riley was a
Canada West all-star and a second team U Sports all-Canadian a year ago.
The defence
is anchored by fifth-year defensive tackle Evan Machibroda, who had 14 total
tackles and three sacks last season. Machibroda was a Canada West all-star and
a first team all-Canadian all-star.
He was
selected in the fifth round and 41st overall in the CFL Draft held
last May by the Edmonton Eskimos.
Riley
Pickett and Nicholas Dheilly can cause all sorts of havoc off the defensive
end.
Brothers
Tom and Ben Whiting anchor the linebacking corps, while rookie Ramsey Derbas could be inserted to make big plays. Ben Whiting topped the
Huskies with 44 tackles last season and was selected in the seventh round and
57th overall in the CFL Draft by the Montreal Alouettes last May.
David Solie
returns to the Huskies after helping the Hilltops win their 21st
CJFL title last season, and he will likely take over the place kicking and
punting duties.
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HC Scott Flory and his staff give the Huskies strong guidance. |
Scott
Flory, who is in his third year as head coach, has kept his solid staff intact.
The Huskies
are taking the right approach just worrying about getting better each day in
the present and each game as it comes. They believe and live that approach too
for real.
This is a
team that can take another step building off what happened last season. Off the
field, they are a good group of respectable young men. They have a team you can
rally around.
The Huskies
open the regular season on Friday in Winnipeg against the Bisons. U of S then
returns home to host the Thunderbirds on Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. at Griffiths
Stadium.
A new
golden age for Huskies football could very well be at hand.
Rattlers end first storybook season in style
as CEBL champs
It looks
like the Saskatchewan Rattlers are carving their niche in the province’s sports
scene.
On Sunday
at the SaskTel Centre, the Rattlers downed the Hamilton Honey Badgers 94-83 in
the inaugural title game of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. The Rattlers
finished third in the regular season standings of the six-team circuit with an
11-9 record and were the host team of the CEBL’s final four championship
tournament at the SaskTel Centre.
The Rattlers
slipped past the second place Edmonton Stingers 85-83 in one of two semifinal
games on Saturday. The Stingers had a 14-6 record in the regular season.
The Honey
Badgers, who finished fourth in the regular season at 10-10, upset the first
place Niagara River Lions 104-103 in Saturday’s other semifinal. The River
Lions had a 15-5 mark during the regular season.
In the CEBL
title game, the Rattlers jumped out to a 48-41 lead at halftime ultimate coming
away with an 11-point win before 3,119 spectators. Guard Alex Campbell topped
the Rattlers in scoring with 20 points.
Saskatoon
has seen its share of fly-by-night professional basketball leagues, and in the
immediate aftermath of one season, it feels like the CEBL will be around for
the longer term.
The Rattlers
gained instant credibility by bringing on Greg Jockims as head coach and
general manager. Jockims rebuilt the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s
basketball team into one of the strongest programs in U Sports as the squad’s
head coach from 1998 to 2011.
He guided
the Huskies Canada West conference and U Sports national championships in the
2009-10 campaign.
Jockims is
well-respected in Saskatchewan’s basketball community and can coach the game in
top form at any level.
The
Rattlers benefitted from having Lee Genier as team president. Genier also
doubles as the president and chief operation officer, western operation for the
CEBL.
He is
veteran sports management executive having stints with the CFL’s Calgary
Stampeders, Bobsleigh Canada Skelton and the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush. Genier
seems to collect championship rings wherever he goes.
Sunday’s
title game was also the last competitive game played by hometown hero in
36-year-old guard Michael Linklater. Linklater has been a star and ambassador
on Saskatchewan basketball scene for years. He was a member of the Huskies U Sports
national championship team in 2009-10.
Before the
FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters stop held this past July, Linklater said he would
be retiring from competitive basketball after the Rattlers season ended.
He scored
four points and had one rebound and one assist seeing six minutes and 10
seconds of court time on Sunday.
For this
season, it is cheers to the Rattlers on a successful campaign. Hopefully this
is the start of bigger things.
Thom Trojans football takes leave, stirs up
media attention
The Trojans
football program at Regina’s Thom Collegiate hasn’t stirred up this much media
attention since the heyday of Gerry Thompson’s era as head coach.
On Tuesday,
the Regina High Schools Athletic Association and Regina Public Schools
announced Thom Collegiate will not be fielding its Trojans football team this
season. The release said not enough students showed interest in playing
football in the spring of the 2018-19 school year and in the fall of the
current school year that is about to begin.
Football
Canada recommends high schools have at least 24 players to ensure player
safety.
Thom has
taken a one-year leave of absence from the Regina Intercollegiate Football
League.
The Trojans
football program has produced a number of players that have gone on to play
with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders including Jim Hopson, Neal Hughes, Stu
Foord, Kennedy Nkeyasen and Dan Clark.
Thom
students who wish to play football this season will be able to join the Winston
Knoll Collegiate Wolverines. As of Tuesday, three students had decided to play
with Regina Minor Football.
While the
development at Thom is disappointing, it has been crazy how much media coverage
it has received from mainstream outlets.
Arguably,
the Trojans taking a leave of absence from the Regina high school league has
received more coverage than the powerhouse Holy Cross High School Crusaders
football team in Saskatoon has received combined in the past two years.
While a
number of reasons likely cause low registration for football at Thom, you could
argue the Trojans would still be playing if high school football in
Saskatchewan as a whole received the coverage that the Trojans received for
taking a year leave of absence.
There was a
time mainstream media outlets had much larger sports staffs. In those days, the
Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix had sports staffers dedicated to
covering high school sports and produced high school sports pages.
It should
be noted the high school beat traditionally results in the most sports coverage
complaints usually revolving around one school, which is always winning,
receiving more coverage than other schools. The top bosses at mainstream media
outlets prefer to not spend any time dealing with those types of complaints and
that is usually achieved by not covering high school sports.
Of course
when a football team stops playing due to low numbers, the spectre of fear
involving concussion injuries often comes up. Because of the concussion fears,
any time it is decided a football program stops operating becomes a story
mainstream media outlets flock to. That is just the way it is.
Add on top
of that, North America is a changed world where people of all ages spend
countless hours on mobile phones and social media.
Hopefully,
Thom’s football program, which is full of tradition, returns a year from now.
The great NFL Winnipeg ripoff, other notes
I know this
is beating a dead horse, but the NFL exhibition game held in Winnipeg, Man.,
between the Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders was a joke.
Last
Thursday, the Raiders beat the Packers 22-21 before 21,992 spectators at
IG Field, which is home to the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The field
was shrunk from 100 to 80 yards due to concerns on the part of the field where
the CFL uprights are located for Bombers games. End zones were marked at the 10
yard line, and there were no kickoffs in the game.
The Packers
proceeded to announce they would not dress 33 players including two-time NFL
MVP and Super Bowl XLV MVP Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers alone was the marquee draw
for this game.
The Raiders
sat out starting quarterback Derek Carr and receiver Antonio Brown.
The biggest
lesson to come out of this game is that any event will flop, if it is
overpriced. This one was priced to the point it was reasonable to ask ticket
buyers, if they were out of their mind.
A day
before the game, mountains of tickets were available, but you had to shell out
to get them.
You could
sit in Section 108P, row 12, seat 10, which was at midfield, but you had to pay
$439.25 including fees and taxes for that seat.
How about
near midfield in the upper deck of the east side in Section 209, row 26, seat
22? That seat way up there would set you back $243.75 including fees and taxes.
You could
sit in the corner of one end zone in Section 143, row 4, seat 3. That ticket
would cost you $266.75 including fees and taxes.
In that
same section, you could sit in the back in row 23, seat 15, and that seat would
cost you $94.25 including fees and taxes.
The $94.25
price point was the lowest I could find the day before the game. Most tickets
were over $240.
Winnipeg is
known as a frugal town, and most football followers there know you could travel
to Minneapolis, Minn., and see a Minnesota Vikings NFL regular season game for
$240 including travel expenses. There have been tour companies offering that
type of package for years.
The Packers
also play in Minneapolis once every season, so you could see Rodgers play for
four quarters in a game that counts for the price you paid to see the Winnipeg
pre-season game.
The
Winnipeg NFL pre-season game was a dud, and those that paid money to see it
received the lemon they deserved. When you saw the inflated ticket prices, that
already stamped bad vibes on the game.
- The Saskatoon Blades opened camp this
week, and star centre Kirby Dach wasn’t there. The 18-year-old was
selected in the first round and third overall in the NHL Entry Draft last
June and has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Chicago
Blackhawks. The Blades and their fans have to figure that this might be a
bigger sign that Dach will likely make the Blackhawks and not be rejoining
the Blades this season.
- The Blades signed their two picks from
last June’s CHL Import Draft in Czech defencemen Libor Zabransky and Radek
Kucerik before training camp started on Sunday. Both are expected to play
key minutes this season.
- Feisty forward Riley McKay has looking
outstanding in a series of team scrimmages on Monday and Tuesday played in
a tournament format called the Kirkness Cup. McKay, who is a 20-year-old
left-winger, took part in the tournament final with Team Holtby. McKay,
who arguably the WHL’s best agitator, had a pair of goals, including the
double overtime winner, and an assist to power Team Holtby past Team
McLellan 4-3. Could McKay be the Blades version of Derek Dorsett, when
Dorsett played for the Medicine Hat Tigers?
- On Monday, the defending WHL champion
Prince Albert Raiders signed 17-year-old forward Ivan Kechkin to a WHL
standard player agreement. The Raiders selected the Russian in last June’s
CHL Import Draft. Raiders training camp opens on Friday at the Art Hauser
Centre.
- Saskatoon hockey fans will get to see
former Blades in centre Josh Paterson and offensive defenceman Dawson
Davidson pass through town in enemy colours in the U Sports ranks. Both
have signed on to play with the University of Alberta Golden Bears men’s
hockey team. Paterson finished last season as a member of the Portland
Winterhawks after being dealt there before the WHL trade deadline on Jan.
10.
- Former U of Regina Rams linebacker Jon
Cormier passed away over the weekend suddenly from natural causes. Cormier
was from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, and he played for the Rams in 2000, when
they appeared in the U Sport national title game the Vanier Cup, through to 2003.
He was a popular player amongst his teammates during his time with the
Rams. The 40-year-old was a police officer with the RCMP.
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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