Sunday 11 August 2019

Love that Roughriders bubble when they are on a roll

Roughriders S Mike Edem closes in on a hit.
    The feelings of positivity in Saskatchewan are so good, when the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders are on a roll.
    On Friday, the Roughriders downed the Alouettes in Montreal on Friday 17-10 to record a fourth straight win. The game was called with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter at Molson Stadium due to an hour long delay caused by lightning.
    The officials invoked a new weather protocol that was put into the new collective bargaining agreement between the CFL and CFL Players’ Association in the off-season. A game is considered official after the midway point of the third quarter and can be called for a weather delay of at least an hour.
    While this was a backdoor way to get a win, all that does matter was the win was the fourth straight for the Roughriders.
    The pundits will downplay the Roughriders 5-3 record noting only one of those victories came against a team with a winning record. That was a 24-19 victory over the Hamilton Tigers-Cats on Aug. 1. The Tiger-Cats lead the East Division with a 6-2 record.
    One of the Roughriders victories came against the 1-6 Toronto Argonauts, two against the 1-7 British Columbia Lions and the Alouettes fell to 3-4 with their setback on Friday.
Shaq Evans, left, has made a number of big plays.
    Still, most Roughriders fans won’t care who the win came against. They just care they happened.
    When you see four wins in a row, you have to start dreaming that this team might round into a form that could win the Grey Cup this season.
    You look at the CFL standings and see the Roughriders have the same record as the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos and sit in a tie for the second to fourth place spots in the West Division. All three of those teams are a win behind the 6-2 Winnipeg Blue Bombers for first place in the division.
    When the Roughriders have won four in a row, you really have an extra spring in your step, if you live in Saskatchewan. It seems like everyone around you is in a better mood, and you can’t wait to get to go to another game.
    The Roughriders are on a bye week now and won’t return to action until Saturday, Aug. 24, when they host the Ottawa RedBlacks at 5 p.m. local time at Mosaic Stadium.
    While you wish the Roughriders could get back on the field right away, as a fan you look forward to the fact you can feel good over the next two weeks.
    It will feel like every day is a good weather day. It will feel like everything you eat will taste that much better.
Charleston Hughes (#39) keeps crunching quarterbacks.
    The person you are attracted to or your better half will look that much hotter.
    When you get into casual conversations, it will revolve around how well the Roughriders are doing.
    Talk will revolve around how well new starting quarterback Cody Fajardo has picked up the game. Optimism will be high that he is the franchise signal caller the club was looking for since moving on from Darian Durant following the 2016 campaign.
    People will be upbeat about how well running back William Powell is running the ball and that he is on pace to surpass 1,000 yards rushing for a third straight season. He broke 1,000 yards rushing each of the past two campaigns running for the RedBlacks.
    Discussion will move to the big plays receiver Shaq Evans is making as he has 31 catches for 607 yards over the team’s first eight games. You will talk about how the Roughriders will utilize the speed of receiver Kyran Moore, who is known as “Swerve.”
    The offensive line looks solid behind veteran centre Dan Clark and first-year right guard Dakota Shepley.
    People will be upbeat Regina product and punter Jon Ryan has returned to his top and he is booming the ball for miles.
The roar of Rider Nation is always great to hear.
    Also on the provincial products front on special teams, Saskatoon product Jorgen Hus is still holding it down at long snapper.
    On defence, old man Charleston Hughes is still a beast at age 35. You just jump with excitement over that.
    He has already piled up 10 quarterback sacks and scored defensive touchdown off a fumble recovery in Friday’s win over the Alouettes.
    After Hughes, a host of defensive players are making plays including linebackers Derrick Moncrief, Solomon Elimimian and Cameron Judge and defensive backs Ed Gainey, Nick Marshall and Loucheiz Purifoy.
    In the here and now, the Roughriders are winning, and it is good. It is just so good.

All hail Andreescu as the new Canadian hero


    Canada’s sports world this past weekend was all about Bianca Andreescue.
    The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is a rising star in the tennis world, and she stepped into the national conscious in a huge way winning the Rogers Cup on Sunday in basically her backyard of Toronto.
    Andreescu became the first Canadian to win the Rogers Cup since Faye Urban of Windsor, Ont., took the title in 1969. When Urban won, the event was played on a clay surface and was called the Canadian Open.
    Andreescu jumped into the national spotlight over the past week winning four straight grueling three-set matches to make the Rogers Cup semifinal.
    In a semifinal match on Saturday, Andreescu outlasted Sofia Kenin of the United States with a straight-sets victory 6-4 and 7-6 that lasted two hours and 11 minutes. She celebrated by kissing the court at the Aviva Centre.
    In Sunday’s final, Andreescu faced the player she idolized growing up in Serena Williams of the United States. Williams is regarded as one of the greatest players ever as her 23 Grand Slam singles titles are the most in the Open Era.  
    She is viewed as still being on top of her game at age 37.
    The final didn’t go long in duration. After Andreescu went ahead 3-1 in the first set, Williams called a medical timeout.
    Williams sat in her chair and had to retire from the match due to back spasms and broke down.
    After hearing Williams was retiring from the final, Andreescu came over to console the tennis legend and the two hugged twice.
    That moment of empathy combined with her gritty play during the week help shoot Andreescu’s star into the stratosphere for the short term.
    It also might be the start of something big.
    The win at the Rogers Cup was her second Women’s Tennis Association Premier title of the season.
    With the home country spotlight shining on her, Andreescu showed that she had some pretty good power to her game and could tactically change up her attack using a variety of shots.
Andreescu showed off some great speed and agility to go along with her power.
    She is now the 14th ranking singles player on the WTA, and with the power game she has, Andreescu might be visible on the scene for some time to come.

Shirley, Hobson, Messier to play for Canada

Brooke Hobson in action with the Bears in 2017.
    A trio of Saskatchewan athletes will represent Canada on the ice in taking on the United States.
    Sophie Shirley and Brooke Hobson, who have built a reputation play for Hockey Canada’s national women’s team system, will skate for Canada’s National Women’s Development Team. Ashley Messier will play for Canada’s under-18 women’s team in her first appearance wearing Canadian colours.
    Both teams will take on their respective foes from the United States in a three game series that starts Wednesday and runs through Saturday in Lake Placid, New York.
    The two Canadian squads were made after selection camps that were help and wrapped up in Calgary, Alta., on Sunday as part of the Team Canada Summer Showcase.
    Shirley, who is a graduate of the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team, had a huge freshmen campaign helping the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team win the NCAA championship. The skilled forward appeared in 41 games posting 20 goals, 18 assists and a plus-36 rating and was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association conference rookie of the year.
    Shirley has been a member of Canada’s under-18 team, been on the national development team for some time and has played in games with Canada’s senior national women’s team.
    Hobson, who is a former captain with the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team, posted six goals, 22 assists and a plus-27 rating in 38 games with the Northeastern University Huskies women’s team. The talented offensive-defender helped the Huskies advance to a quarter-final match in the NCAA championship tournament.
    Hobson is a former member of Canada’s under-18 women’s team.
    Messier, who is from Wilcox, Sask., had another stellar campaign playing on the Stars blue-line last season appearing in all of her team’s 28 regular season games setting new career highs in goals (five), assists (27) and points (32). For her efforts, Messier captured the SFMAAAHL’s Colleen Sostorics Top Defenceman award and helped the Stars win the SFMAAAHL title and advance to the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament.
    In three campaigns with the Stars, Messier has appeared in 84 regular season games posting 11 goals and 58 assists.
    Last year, Messier went to camp with the United States under-18 women’s team and played against Canada in a three-game exhibition series.
    Messier is eligible to return for her 17-year-old season in the midget AAA ranks but will play for the Selects Girls Hockey Academy at Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester, N.Y., for her Grade 12 year. She has committed to play for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team in the NCAA ranks starting in the 2020-21 campaign.

Askarov stones Canada in Hlinka Gretzky Cup final

    Yaroslav Askarov slammed the door on Canada’s quest to win a third straight Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
    On Saturday, Askarov made 35 saves to back Russia to a 3-2 victory over Canada in the championship game of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Canada outshot Russia 37-13 in the title game played at the Ice Bors Arena in Breclav in the Czech Republic.
    Alexandr Pashin gave Russia a 1-0 lead early in the first period.
    Quinton Byfield scored the equalizer for Canada on a power-play chance early in the second to force a 1-1 tie.
    Russia exited the second frame holding a 2-1 lead after getting a goal from centre Vasili Ponomaryov. Pashin added his second of the contest at the 8:38 mark of the second to give Russia a 3-1 advantage.
    Jean-Luc Foudy replied for Canada with 4:59 to play in the third to cut Russia’s lead to 3-2.
    Dylan Garand made 10 stops to take the setback in goal for Canada. Canada had won the two previous Hlinka Gretzky Cups.
    Canada posted a 4-1 overall record at this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Russia posted a 5-0 overall mark.
    Defenceman Kaiden Guhle and right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt of the WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders were members o f the Canadian squad.
    Guhle had an assist in five games, while Wiesblatt wasn’t able to pick up any points in five games.
    Last season, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 186 pounds, appeared in 65 regular season games with the Raiders posting three goals, 14 assists and a plus-17 rating in the plus-minus department.
    Wiesblatt, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 187 pounds, skated in 64 regular season games with the Raiders posting 15 goals, 24 assists and a plus-30 rating.

    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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