Canadian Bowl hosts deserving of extra
attention
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| The Thunder storm on to the field at Mosaic Stadium on Oct. 30. |
Regina’s powerhouse junior football club is hosting the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium. The Thunder are facing the Kelowna, B.C., based Okanagan Sun in a battle of teams looking to complete a perfect season.
Regina enters the contest with a 10-0 overall record, while the Sun are 13-0 overall.
This is only the second time the Thunder are in the Canadian Bowl. The last time the Regina side was in the CJFL title game was back on November 9, 2013, when they hosted that contest at historic Taylor Field downing the Vancouver Island Raiders 55-26.
While that victory was a high point in the Thunder’s history, it was moment overshadowed the Saskatchewan Roughriders run to winning the Grey Cup at that historic park with a huge contingent of popular stars like Darian Durant, Weston Dressler, Kory Sheets, Chris Getzlaf, Neal Hughes, Ricky Foley, Tyron Brackenridge and Craig Butler. Thunder grad and offensive lineman Dan Clark was a youngster on that team who made a name for himself catching a touchdown pass on a lineman eligible play.
The players on that Roughriders team were strongly connected to the Saskatchewan community and are held closely in the hearts of football fans in “the Wheat Province.”
On November 24, 2013 just 15 days after the Thunder’s Canadian Bowl win, the Roughriders stormed on to the frozen concrete of Taylor Field and flattened the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 to complete what is often viewed as the greatest sports moment to occur inside Saskatchewan’s provincial borders.
This year the Roughriders are again hosting the Grey Cup, but they won’t be in the CFL’s championship game, which will be held at Mosaic Stadium on November 20 at 5 p.m. Saskatchewan time. The Roughriders failed to make the CFL playoffs with a 6-12 record.
That means the media machine that usually covers the Roughriders will turn their attention to the Thunder as they go for their second national title. The Thunder are viewed as the feel good story, and their championship clash helps bring an unofficial start to the Grey Cup week, where the Canadian version of football is celebrated.
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| Carter Shewchuk calls signals for a dynamic Thunder offence. |
While the Roughriders are having a down year, it is a good thing that spotlight that would normally be on them will be on the Thunder even for a short time.
In Canada, the sports media industry is a severely cut one. Top rate coverage is reserved for the Canada’s seven NHL franchises, the country’s three MLS teams, the Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
High level amateur teams like the Thunder used to get top rate coverage when there were more staffers in Canada’s sports media industry. That top rate coverage happened back when the Thunder won their lone CJFL title to date in 2013.
Since that 2013 season, skeleton crews staff the sports departments of mainstream media outlets. It is common for cities with populations of 300,000 in Canada to only have three dedicated sports reporters among all mainstream outlets in those centres.
In Saskatoon on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies (8-1) will face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (5-4) in the Canada West Conference title game – the Hardy Cup. If it wasn’t for the fact this contest was being broadcast on television on the SaskTel’s MaxTV Local On Demand channel and Huskie Athletics made a deal with Pattison Media for coverage, it is possible you might not hear much about the Hardy Cup.
Regina has the Roughriders media machine, which means the all the mainstream media outlets in the Saskatchewan capital will always keep at least one dedicated sports reporter to cover the CFL club. The presence of the Roughriders has allowed three daily sports talk shows to have their broadcasts originate out of Regina, and one of those programs in The Rod Pedersen Show gets filmed in various locations across North America.
Saskatoon has 50,000 more residents than Regina and doesn’t have a single sports talk show originating out of it.
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| Ryland Leichert is a game breaker on the ground for the Thunder. |
Daniella Ponticelli, who is the Roughriders game day radio host, will be reporting on the sidelines for the radio broadcast of the Canadian Bowl.
It should be noted that the Thunder are also receiving extra attention due to the fact the University of Regina Rams campaign in the U Sports ranks has come to an end. The Rams had a solid season finishing second in the Canada West Conference regular season standings with a 5-3 record but fell last Saturday in a Canada West semifinal 28-14 to the visiting Thunderbirds at Mosaic Stadium.
The Thunder are deserving of the extra attention. Under Scott MacAulay, who has been the team’s head coach since the start of the 2013 campaign, the Thunder have cemented themselves as one of the CJFL’s first class teams and constantly hit new heights in professionalism.
Regina has also been an exciting CJFL club to watch too. The Thunder are powered on offence by their triplets in quarterback Carter Shewchuk, running back Ryland Leichert and receiver Rylan Sokul.
You almost forget the fact Isaac Ford and Isaiah Woodley have also built reputations as dynamic playmakers for the Thunder.
Regina’s starting offensive line of left tackle Riley Schick, left guard Noah Steinley, centre Max McFadden, right guard Nicholas Makowsky and right tackle Connor Klassen have been playing lights out.
The defence is full of star playmakers too in defensive ends Reece McCormick and Reed Rabbetz, linebackers Stephen Smith and Matthew Schill, cornerback Justin McKerracher and safety Adam King.
Place kicker and punter Eric Maximuik may go down as the best the Thunder ever had at those positions.
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| Rylan Sokul is a clutch receiver for the Thunder. |
For the Canadian Bowl on Saturday, Environment Canada is predicting a high of -15 C with a mixture of sun and cloud. Here is hoping those conditions don’t keep the fans away.
In Canada’s sports media cut era, the Thunder are in position to receive a big push in the spotlight. If they can shine brightly with the added attention, they will create a memory that could last a lifetime in local Saskatchewan football circles.
Hilltops nab three CJFL all-Canadian awards,
other notes
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| Konner Johnson is a first team CJFL all-Canadian all-star. |
On Thursday, weak side linebacker Konner Johnson, defensive end Riece Kack and left tackle Jayson Kehler were all named first team all-Canadian all-stars by the CJFL.
Johnson had a stellar season with the Hilltops playing out his final campaign of CJFL eligibility. The 22-year-old Melfort, Sask., product piled up 31 solo defensive tackles, 13 defensive tackle assists, four special teams solo tackles, two special teams tackle assists, two quarterback sacks, five pass knockdowns and four interceptions appearing in all eight of the Hilltops regular season games.
Kack topped the PFC with 7.5 quarterback sacks in regular season play. The 20-year-old Saskatoon product also posted 20 solo defensive tackles, five defensive tackle assists, three special teams solo tackles, one fumble recovery and one interception.
Kehler’s final CJFL campaign was his best one with the Hilltops. The 22-year-old Saskatoon product has been with his hometown CJFL club since 2017, but the 2022 campaign was his first season as a starter with the venerable CJFL club.
With Kehler anchoring the offensive line at left tackle, the Hilltops topped the PFC with 1,818 rushing yards and placed second with 3,364 total offensive yards in regular season play. Hilltops power running back Boston Davidsen led the PFC with 1,037 individual rushing yards due to the play of Kehler and the Hilltops offensive line.
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| Jayson Kehler, left, is a first team CJFL all-Canadian all-star. |
The Thunder had six player named first team CJFL all-Canadian all-stars on Thursday. The Thunder first team all-Canadian all-stars included receivers Rylan Sokul and Isaac Foord, right tackle Connor Klassen, defensive end Reece McCormick, cornerback Justin McKerracher and Eric Maximuik at punter.
On Wednesday, the Thunder had five players named second team CJFL all-Canadian all-stars. The Thunder’s second team all-Canadian all-stars included quarterback Carter Shewchuk, receiver Isaiah Woodley, left tackle Riley Schick, linebacker Stephen Smith and safety Adam King.
The Thunder host the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium against the Okanagan Sun.
- On Monday, the CJFL announced London Beefeaters right guard Kevin Ricard will receive the Past Commissioners Community Service Award, when the CJFL hands out its major awards on Friday in Regina.
- On Thursday, the players from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team walked away with three major Canada West Conference awards. Quarterback Mason Nyhus was named the player of the year, right tackle Jack Warrack captured rookie of the year honours and running back Ryker Frank was given the nod as the Student-Athlete Community Service Award winner.
- On Thursday, the University of Regina Rams claimed two major Canada West Conference awards. Linebacker Ryder Varga was named the conference’s most outstanding defensive player and head coach Mark McConkey captured coach of the year honours.
- On Wednesday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on Taz Smith-Windsor, who is a graduating star with Prince Albert’s Carlton Comprehensive High School Crusaders Football Team and has played a number of games at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Smith-Windsor will be joining the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team in 2023. The piece on Smith-Windsor can found by clicking right here. I also created a photo round up that is heavy on showing football in crunch time, and that piece 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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