Contacts’ grad begins WHL journey with bonus
time
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| Brayden Yager in action with the Contacts in 2019-20. |
The skilled forward, who turned 16-years-old in early January, will suit up with the Moose Jaw Warriors, when they begin their 24-game regular season playing East Division foes in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina.
The Warriors start off action in the Regina bubble taking on the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday at 4 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
Yager, who stands 6-feet and weighs 160 pounds, came up through the minor hockey system in Saskatchewan as highly touted player. He was so highly touted that he became a candidate for exceptional status to play in the WHL on a full-time basis as 15-year-old.
While he has a maturity that is beyond his youthful years, Yager wasn’t able to obtain exceptional player status.
The only player in the history of the WHL to earn exceptional player status is phenom forward Connor Bedard. The North Vancouver, B.C., was taken first overall in the last WHL Bantam Draft that was held in late April of 2020.
Centre Riley Heidt, who is a longtime friend and teammate of Yager’s, went second overall to the Prince George Cougars. Heidt was also a candidate for exceptional player status, but he wasn’t able to land that tag.
Yager went third overall to the Warriors.
Bedard, Heidt and Yager provided an unbelievably strong top three to lead off the last WHL Bantam Draft.
Yager and Heidt played the 2019-20 campaign as 14-year-old underage players with the Saskatoon Contacts of the Saskatchewan Male Under-18 AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL).
Yager appeared in all 44 of the Contacts regular season games piling up 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points. Heidt, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 161 pounds, also appeared in all 44 of the Contacts regular season games recording 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points.
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| Brayden Yager went third overall in the last WHL Bantam Draft. |
No team in the SMAAAHL has hit the ice for game action since Nov. 22, 2020.
Yager and Heidt helped the Contacts get out to a 5-1 start. Yager had four goals and seven assists for 11 points in those contests, while Heidt posted three goals and seven assists for 10 points over that same period.
With the Telus Cup male under-18 AAA national hockey championship tournament having been cancelled for a second straight year and the SMAAAHL campaign getting called off on Feb. 26, Yager and Heidt were able to join their respective WHL teams.
The Cougars open their season on March 27 taking on the Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops playing out of the two-city bubble used by the B.C. Division. Prospera Place in Kelowna will also hold B.C. Division games.
While Yager and Heidt are highly touted prospects, this shortened WHL campaign is house money time for both players. They weren’t expected to be in major junior hockey on a full-time basis at this point in time.
The shortened 24-game regular seasons they will play allow them to get a first taste about what playing in the WHL will be like. It does give them a key opportunity for development playing against older players they wouldn’t normally have.
They will be that much more ready to play in the league in what should be a longer campaign in 2021-22 in their regular 16-year-old seasons.
Yager will have more eyes on him due to being a Saskatchewan product playing on a Saskatchewan team.
His Warriors have a longstanding rivalry with the Pats, which is often viewed as major junior hockey’s greatest rivalry.
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| Brayden Yager is expected to be a star in Moose Jaw. |
In regular times, these meetings should have likely first taken place in the 2021-22 season.
While spectators won’t be allowed into WHL rinks for the shortened 2020-21 campaign, you can bet there will be a little more interest in seeing online streams of games between the Warriors and Pats due to the Yager versus Bedard aspect.
If Yager is able to outperform Bedard, you will likely get Warriors fans smack talking Pats supporters on the lines of, “Our young star is better than your young star.”
To be honest, the smack talk is all good.
Yager’s future is now with the Warriors, even with it coming a little earlier than expected.
Blades play for Kirkness in Regina, other
notes
The Blades are slated to begin their WHL regular season on Saturday taking on the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL’s East Division bubble located at the Brandt Centre in Regina at 4 p.m. Saskatchewan time. The East Division teams are playing in a bubble environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world.
Kirkness wasn’t able to join the Blades in Regina, because he was recently diagnosed with stage 4 liver and pancreatic cancer.
Back in 2016, Kirkness won his first fight against cancer, when he had leukemia. This time around, things are a little more serious.
Kirkness’s liver and pancreatic cancer can’t be operated on.
Doctors presented Kirkness with two options. He could take chemotherapy treatments, which would give him an estimated nine to 12 months to live, or he could opt out of chemotherapy and have an estimated six to nine months to share with family and friends.
After discussing things with family and friends, Kirkness elected to try an alternative treatment. The treatment is not covered, and it will cost Kirkness and his family about $1,000 per month.
Being his positive self, Kirkness vows he will win this battle with cancer too.
He is so beloved by the Blades the team created “The Kirkness Cup” after he returned to the club after beating leukemia in 2016. The winning squad in the Blades training camp tournament consisting of teams of players looking to make the main roster is presented with “The Kirkness Cup.”
If you are hanging around the Blades dressing room area, the first person you usually see is Kirkness offering a big smile and a warm “hello.”
This season, the Blades are wearing special “BK” decals on their helmets. The decal includes a purple ribbon and the Blades classic blue and gold Pac-Man logo.
Tyler Wawryk, who is the Blades director of business operations, and Brennan Kirkness, who is Bobby’s son, set up a GoFundMe page to help the Kirkness family with expenses.
The page has already passed its $10,000 goal by raising $18,000. If you would like to contribute to the GoFundMe campaign, you can do so by clicking right here.
- Tickets are on sale for the March jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the remaining draw dates are Wednesday, March 31, April 30 and May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
- The WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries are morning the passing of former player Nichole LaVallee. On Sunday, LaVallee, who was 26-years-old, died in a two-vehicle collision driving a small car on Highway 3 between Weldon and Birch Hills. She played on the Valkyries from 2016 to 2018 as a receiver and on the defensive line. LaVallee helped the Valkyries win a WWCFL title in 2016. She could brighten any room she entered. Her obituary notice can be found by clicking right here.
- I helped produce new content for the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex that went live on Tuesday. I put together a story that focuses on the off-season work Saskatoon Minor Softball League’s A-programs are doing right now at the Indoor Training Centre and a photo post that contains a number of my pictures around the complex. The softball story can be found by clicking right here, and the photo post can be found by clicking right here.
- On Tuesday, it was announced the RBC Canadian Open has been nixed from the PGA Tour schedule for a second straight year due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian Open was scheduled for June 7-13 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Ont., with the nearby Islington Golf Club acting as the practice facility.
- On Wednesday night, Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reported Shaun and Gavin Semple have reached a tentative deal to buy out their partners and become the sole owners of the WHL’s Regina Pats, and the WHL is set to review that deal. The Pats are the world’s oldest major junior hockey franchise. Harder’s story can be found by clicking right here.
- I was checking out the memories part of my Facebook page from a year ago today. I had a few posts that didn’t age well with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those posts show I originally didn’t think the pandemic would be as problematic as it turned out to be. One of the posts showed dismay over the fact people were hording toilet paper. Those old posts look so naïve, when you look back on them now.
- James Shewaga, who was the former standout Brandon Sun sportswriter who wrote about the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, wrote about how Merlis Belsher Place will play a role as a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic for University of Saskatchewan communications. Shewaga’s piece can be found right here.
- The Canadian football world and definitely the football world in Saskatchewan was shaken up on Wednesday when both the CFL and XFL revealed they’re poised to begin serious discussions about a potential partnership. Of course, many have speculated this could be the beginning of the end for the three-down game. Had I been working at a mainstream media outlet, I could have seen myself having to run around and localize the story for Saskatoon. That would have meant tracking down University of Saskatchewan Huskies football head coach Scott Flory, Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, officials from Football Saskatchewan and officials from Saskatoon Minor Football on what they thought of that CFL and XFL development. You would be also asking all those parties how they would be affected, if football in Canada at the professional level was played with United States rules. I admit I am happy I didn’t have to do any of that. At this point, it is likely too early to play the speculation game.
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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