Thursday, 12 November 2020

Sask. WHL clubs, Great Western team up on fundraising lottery

The Raiders and Blades in action last season.
Thanks to the fact most of Saskatchewan was digging out from a weekend snowstorm, you might have missed that the Hockey Harvest Lottery was coming.

On Monday when a lot of Saskatchewan was deep in the dig out, the province’s five WHL franchises in partnership with Great Western Brewing Company announced that the Hockey Harvest Lottery was going to be launched on Monday, November 16.

The lottery will be used to raise money for the player scholarship funds of the Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and the Swift Current Broncos.

The money will be raised through a progressive 50/50 lottery that will start on November 16 and run through to December 20. December 21 will be the lottery’s grand prize draw date, and the draw will be conducted in Saskatoon.

The Great West Brewing Company has assured that the 50/50 jackpot will begin at $75,000.

Isaac Poulter makes a stop for the Broncos.
“We are thrilled to have Great Western Brewing presenting the Hockey Harvest Lottery,” said Great Western Brewing vice-president of sales Scott Henbury in a release. “We value and appreciate our relationships with all of the Saskatchewan-based WHL teams, and this gives us a unique opportunity to continue our support.”

Tickets will be available for purchase to anyone over the age of 19 that is physically in the province of Saskatchewan at the time of purchase regardless of their home residence.

The grand prize winning ticket will receive a cash prize of 50 per cent of the final jackpot. The remaining funds will be split evenly between the five Saskatchewan WHL teams and be placed into their respective player scholarship funds.

Tickets purchased prior to 11:59 CST on November 27 will also be entered into a draw to win a Saskatchewan WHL team jersey prize package featuring a jersey from all five Saskatchewan WHL teams. The early bird draw will be made on November 28 in Saskatoon.

“The Western Hockey League takes pride in providing a world class player experience, which includes the most comprehensive scholarship available in North America today,” said WHL commissioner Ron Robison in a release. “What better way for our Saskatchewan-based WHL clubs to come together than with the creation of the Hockey Harvest Lottery presented by Great Western Brewing Company in support of the WHL Scholarship program.

Drew Englot works in the offensive zone for the Pats.
“By purchasing tickets, Saskatchewan residents will have a chance to win big, and they will also be supporting the academic endeavours of their favourite WHL players.”

Ticket prices are one for $20, five for $50, 20 for $100, 150 for $500 or 500 for $1,000.

For each season played in the WHL, players are awarded a one-year post-secondary scholarship, which includes tuition, textbooks and other compulsory fees. More than 400 players took advantage of their WHL Scholarship during the 2019-20 academic year, and many of those competed for a Saskatchewan based team.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a major financial shortfall for teams across the WHL. A bulk of the funding for the post-secondary scholarships usually comes from 50/50 ticket sales on game day.

Of course, the WHL hasn’t hosted any games so far in the 2020-21 campaign due to the pandemic and has set January 8, 2021 as a start date for the upcoming campaign.

 The Hockey Harvest Lottery will help make up some of the funds that weren’t able to be raised from 50/50 ticket sales on game day.

The Warriors celebrate a goal last season.
Tickets will be on sale on starting November 16 online through the website of each Saskatchewan-based WHL team and the WHL’s main website.

Hockey Harvest Lottery rules and regulations can be round at www.whl.ca/hockeyharvestlotto.

Daily jackpot updates and Hockey Harvest Lottery news will be available daily on Twitter at @HockeyHarvest.

Overall, this is a pretty sound idea to help the post-secondary scholarship programs of each of the five WHL clubs in Saskatchewan.

Buckle up as COVID-19 restrictions get tighter, other notes

Devon Skoleski and the U of Manitoba Bisons can’t do anything.
In Western Canada, business is picking up when it comes to increasing restrictions to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, Manitoba went into a strict lockdown similar to the ones most places in Canada and I dare say North America observed in March and April.

Social gatherings are limited to five persons indoor or outdoor unless everyone lives in the same household.

Non-essential retail stores, gyms, places of worship, theatres, hair salons and recreational centres have to remain close during the lockdown.

Essential retailers such as grocers and pharmacies may remain open at 25 per cent customer capacity. Restaurants may only serve delivery and takeout customers.

Dental clinics and other therapeutic businesses may remain open along with schools and child-care services.

Winnipeg, which is Manitoba’s capital city, has been under stricter lockdowns since Nov. 2, which saw restaurants and bars, theatres and recreational facilities all closed down at that time with retail outlets moving to 25 per cent of customer capacity.

The restrictions brought in on Thursday for the entire province of Manitoba are set at the moment to last four weeks. The Government of Manitoba has declared the entire province is under a Code Red.

On Thursday, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League junior A circuit announced it was pausing all hockey activities until the start of 2021. The MJHL is targeting January 1, 2021 as the tentative date to resume hockey activities.

The MJHL had gotten comfortably into its regular season, when the entire league had to pause due to the Manitoba public health order.

Manitoba announced it had 474 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and nine deaths due to COVID-19. There are currently 6,030 cases of COVID-19 that are considered active.

New COVID-19 restrictions are coming to Saskatchewan. A press conference is slated for 11:30 a.m. on Friday. Saskatchewan had 111 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday with 15 recoveries with for a total of 1,459 active cases.

The active case count is a daily high for the province.

On Thursday, Alberta reported it had 860 new COVID-19 cases and a total of 8,305 active cases in the province. Alberta government officials had been saying they did not want to return to any large lockdown measures.

With that noted, Alberta added some new restrictions that are slated to last for two weeks. Starting on Friday Alberta will suspend indoor group fitness programs, team sports, group performance activities and reduce operating hours for restaurants, bars and pubs.

The U of Alberta Golden Bears can still train.
The measure will apply to Edmonton and surrounding areas, Calgary and its area, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Fort McMurray and Red Deer.

Sports restrictions are specifically for recreational teams or group activities that occur indoors. Outdoor sports are not affected and neither are individual sports or exercise.

Junior, collegiate, university and professional sports are also exempted.

All licensed restaurants, bars, lounges and pubs in those areas that were listed must stop liquor sales by 10 p.m. and close their doors by 11 p.m.

With the restrictions that have been brought to life in Manitoba and Alberta, the sports community in Saskatchewan has to be wondering if activities on the sports front will be coming to a halt.

Hockey at the junior A and under-18 AAA levels are underway skating in regular season contests. The Manitoba-based Flin Flon Bombers played out of the junior A Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League circuit.

On Thursday, the Bombers games slated for Friday and Saturday against the Kindersley were postponed. Those games were originally set to be held in Flin Flon, but were announced on Wednesday as being rescheduled for Kindersley before Thursday’s postponement came down.

So far, the Government of Saskatchewan has tried to avoid restrictions that will further hamper the activities of sports teams and leagues.

Still, there has to be a feeling that even targeted restrictions on the sports front might be coming down the line.

Those in Saskatchewan’s sporting community will likely be waiting anxiously to see what is announced by the provincial government on Friday.

  • In Manitoba, serious heat is coming in the direction of 50 Below Sports and Entertainment. On Nov. 2, lockdown orders were enacted in Winnipeg to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted sports of any kind. Hockey Manitoba stated on Nov. 2 that hockey teams and individuals in the Winnipeg  Metropolitan Region were ineligible to participate in hockey programming. The junior A Winnipeg Blues and Winnipeg Freeze, which are both owned by 50 Below Sports and Entertainment, conducted a practice in Warren, Manitoba, which is 45-kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. Those teams went against the COVID-19 restrictions that were in effect. Situations like this have the potential to get the entire sports community unfairly painted with a broad brush and be viewed in a bad way. Gregg Drinnan rounded up some of the Manitoba media reaction in his Taking Note blog, and that piece can be found by clicking right here.
  • On Monday, I went live with a couple pieces on the Howe Happenings blog, which supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. Both pieces were connected to the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club. I put together a feature on Lions standout speed skater Bon Lowe, which can be found by clicking right here. I also posted a story on the history of the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club, which can be found by clicking right here.
  • As the United States election went along, there were a handful of people in Saskatchewan’s sports community that wanted to see Donald Trump re-elected as president of the United States on Nov. 3. The thinking was that if Trump was re-elected as president it would force the government in Canada to allow the sports industry to operate without restrictions and allowing full venue capacities in a quicker time frame. Of course, Joe Biden won the presidential race and was officially tabbed as the president-elect this past Saturday. Those in Saskatchewan’s sports community are free to say who they want electing in a political race, but you have to be ready to take the heat. When an election is on, it is always wise for those in sports to not divulge or hint at who you would want to win. This is another situation that has the potential to get the entire sports community unfairly painted with a broad brush and be viewed in a bad way.
  • On Wednesday, Ryan Flaherty of Global Saskatoon did a sweet feature piece on Dave Westbury, who is the equipment manager of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team. Westbury is one of the best in hockey to serve in that role. The piece on Westbury can be found by clicking right here.

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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