Hodgson night showed Raiders past cherished in P.A.

Dan Hodgson signs an autograph for a young fan on Saturday.

Some of the most fun sights of Dan Hodgson’s jersey retirement night occurred during his second intermission autograph session.

Last Saturday, the Raiders retired the #16 of their iconic centre during a pre-game ceremony before a 6-3 WHL regular season setback against the Moose Jaw Warriors before 2,504 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre. During the second intermission, Hodgson signed autographs for fans in the hallway that runs alongside the Ches Leach Lounge.

The lengthy line contained a number of children under the age of 10, who were super excited to get an autograph from the 58-year-old Raiders legend. At that moment, the thought that crosses the mind that these kids could be the children or possibly grandchildren of people who watched Hodgson play for the Raiders from 1982 to 1985.

Those children likely learned about Hodgson’s exploits from their parents or grandparents. If their parents or grandparents didn’t see Hodgson play, those children likely learned about Hodgson’s days with the Raiders from someone in Prince Albert.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Hodgson will always feel home sweet home in Prince Albert

Raiders retire #16 of iconic high-scoring centre

Dan Hodgson, right, holds up a wall mount he was presented with.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - Dan Hodgson lives the mantra “Once a Raider always a Raider.”

On Saturday night before 2,504 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Prince Albert Raiders retired Hodgson’s #16 in a pre-game ceremony before their WHL regular season clash with the Moose Jaw Warriors. The skilled centre played for the Raiders in their first three seasons in the WHL from 1982 to 1985, and he set numerous club records that still stand to this day including most career goals (188), assists (305) and points (493) that were collected playing 202 career regular season contests.

He was the WHL rookie of the year in 1982-83 and finished off as the CHL player of the year and MVP of the Memorial Cup tournament, when the Raiders won the CHL’s biggest prize in 1984-85. In 1984-85 with Hodgson as captain, the Raiders swept the Kamloops Blazers 4-0 in the best-of-seven WHL championship series.

Dan Hodgson’s #16 is raised to the roof of the Art Hauser Centre.

On May 18, 1985, the Raiders won the Memorial Cup to become CHL champions downing the host Shawinigan Cataracts 6-1 in the title game of the CHL championship tournament that was completed in Drummondville, Que.

When Hodgson spoke to the Raiders faithful at the Art Hauser Centre after his #16 was hoisted to the building’s rafters, he closed with a comment that drew huge roars from the crowd.

“I just want to leave you with one thing – I am a Raider, and I will always be a Raider,” said Hodgson.

Hodgson joined the Raiders after they left the junior A ranks closing out their time at that level of hockey winning the Centennial Cup in the 1981-82 campaign becoming national champions for a fourth time.

Dan Hodgson address the crowd at the Art Hauser Centre.

While Hodgson had personal success in 1982-83, the Raiders posting a record of 16 wins, 55 losses and one tie. They improved to 41-29-2 in 1983-84 and 58-11-2 in their WHL and CHL championship season in 1984-85.

Hodgson played on Canada’s world junior team in his final two seasons with the Raiders, and that included winning gold in 1984-85, when Raiders iconic head coach and general manager Terry Simpson was head coach of the Canadian squad. Hodgson credited Simpson for being a huge influence on him in hockey and life during his address to all who were present in the Raiders storied home rink on Saturday.

“When I first got here, little did I know that I would play for one of the greatest mentors that I would ever have in my life,” said Hodgson, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 179 pounds. “(Raiders assistant coach) Rick (Wilson) and Simpso (Simpson) would shape me on and off the ice into the man I am today with how they were and how they treated me with respect and dignity and a lot of positive energy.

The video scoreboard shows newspaper clipping of Dan Hodgson.

“But more specifically with Simpso, I can’t express enough Simpso what you meant to me those three years we spent together and all the memories and thoughts you left me with for many years. Right up to this day, words can’t express Simpso what you mean to me. I held you in my heart all these years.

“I held you as a father figure. Simpso, I just want to really thank you for everything that you gave me, and let you know that you still mean the world to me, and Simpso, I love you very much. Thank you for everything.”

Terry Simpson walks to the ice at the Art Hauser Centre.

During Hodgson’s number retirement ceremony, a number of video messages were played in the building from Hodgson’s family members, former teammates and coaches. Simpson, who was at ice level for the number retirement ceremony, gave one of the video messages.

While Simpson did joke about the shenanigans that Hodgson got into off the ice or that he sometimes needed to be reintroduced to the squad’s defenceman and goalies due to being a mainly offensive focused player, the bench boss listed a number of Hodgson’s major accomplishments in junior before closing with a crowd-pleasing comment.

Curtis Hunt address the crowd at the Art Hauser Centre.

“Hodgy had a tremendous career in Prince Albert, and in my opinion, he was one of the best players to ever play in the Western Hockey League,” said Simpson.

Current Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt was a rookie defenceman with the club during the Memorial Cup winning season. Hunt said Hodgson was an outstanding person along with being and outstanding player.

“You invested in the young players to make us better,” said Hunt. “When the stakes were highest, you performed at your best.

“Whether it was one week between when I saw you or a decade, every time we met it was, ‘Hello brother.’ There was the same infectious smile, and in an instant, we were laughing about the times that were.”

Dan Hodgson, centre, sets to drop the ceremonial faceoff puck.

Unfortunately, the current Raiders, who wore special Hodgson tribute jerseys during warm-ups, couldn’t cap the night’s festivities by pulling out a win on the ice. The Warriors jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period and would go on to post a 6-3 victory.

The Raiders cut the Warriors lead to 3-2 early in the third and were down 4-3 with 9:48 remaining in the third before the visitors sealed the win.

Import left-winger Martin Rysavy netted a hat trick for Moose Jaw potting his third goal into an empty net with 45.8 seconds remaining in the third to round out the scoring in the contest. Rysavy had an assist to go along with his four goals, and he was a plus-four in the plus-minus department.

Ryder Ritchie wears a Dan Hodgson tribute jersey in warm-ups.

Ethan Semeniuk, Lynden Lakovic and Atley Calvert netted singles for the Warriors. Jacob Hoffrogge, Cole Peardon and Krzysztof Macias replied with singles for the Raiders.

Max Hildebrand turned away 25-of-30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders (13-11-0-2). Jackson Unger stopped 52 shots to pick up the win in net for the Warriors (14-10-0-1).

The Raiders return to action on Sunday when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings (10-11-4-1) at 6 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Warriors return to action on Tuesday when they host the Swift Current Broncos (12-10-1) at 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

While the current Raiders weren’t able to get the win on the ice, Saturday night still belonged to Hodgson. Following his time with the Raiders, Hodgson would play parts of four seasons in the NHL from 1985 to 1989 with the Toronto Maple Leafs for one campaign and the Vancouver Canucks for three seasons.

A look at the backside of the Dan Hodgson tribute jerseys.

In total, Hodgson suited up for 114 career regular season games collecting 29 goals and 45 assists including playing 40 regular season games as a rookie with the Maple Leafs in 1985-85 posting 13 goals and 12 assists. Following the 1988-89 season, Hodgson would go on to play 16 more seasons professionally in Europe with most of that time being spent in Switzerland.

In January, Hodgson was one of eight players featured on an Indigenous hockey card set put out by Upper Deck dubbed, “First Peoples Rookie Cards.”

The now 58-year-old, who is Cree, resides in Fort McMurray, Alta. His return to the Art Hauser Centre to have his number retired was a triumphant homecoming to “Hockey Town North.”

During the second intermission of Saturday’s game, Hodgson signed autographs in meeting a lengthy line of well wishers. That moment showed how junior hockey heroes can live forever and never be forgotten in junior hockey towns.

Martin Rysavy (#19) had a hat trick for the Warriors.

Hodgson is a larger than life figure in the history of the Raiders. When you take into account what players were able to accomplish in Prince Albert, Hodgson is the greatest Raiders player of all-time.

It just felt right to see his #16 hanging in the rafters of the Art Hauser Centre between the #4 of Dave Manson and the #9 of Mike Modano.

The Raiders organization did an outstanding job making a special night in honouring Hodgson on Saturday. When giving his address, Hodgson spoke about how great the support from the fans was during his years with the Raiders as the team grew into the WHL and Memorial Cup championship winner in 1984-85.

He said the team in 1984-85 was the epitome of what it was to be a Raider for him.

Dan Hodgson, left, poses for a picture with a young fan.

“We handled ourselves on the ice, and I believe off the ice the way Raiders should be,” said Hodgson. “We were respectful.

“We were proud, and we always were proud to walk the streets of Prince Albert and be known as Raiders.”

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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Sudden interest surge shows how sport can link community

Supporters come out of closet for football title games

The Hilltops charge out to the SMF Field turf on Oct. 29.

The phenomenon of “sudden interest” has likely been around in the sports world since there has been a sports world.

Even with that being a trend that seemingly repeats itself, it still always comes as a surprise when it happens. When it does happen, it shows how sports can link a community.

In Saskatoon over the past four weeks, the “sudden interest” phenomenon repeated itself in the football scene for the CJFL’s storied Saskatoon Hilltops along with the Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears and the Holy Cross High School Crusaders in the high school football scene. “Sudden interest” perked up as all three teams took part in championship games on November 11 on Remembrance Day, which fell on a Saturday.

The Hilltops were playing in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – against the Westshore Rebels at Starlight Stadium in Langley, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria.

The Bears traveled to Weyburn to take on the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles in the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association 5A provincial championship game at Darold Kot Field.

The Crusaders stayed home to host Regina’s Miller Comprehensive Catholic High School Marauders in the SHSAA’s 6A provincial title contest at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

Bears receiver Brady Blackburn, right, sprints past a defender.

As the time approached for those three squads to play in their respective title games, a flood of messages from well wishers came their way. A lot of the positive messages for the teams came could be seen in the comments section of posts make on the Facebook page for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

It seemed a lot of the people passing on good luck messages followed the teams only casually, but stronger connections from the past were hinted at. The connections could have included being former players, coaches or staffers of those squads, or you could have had family members on those teams.

Some of the people were more engaged fans at one point in time of their lives maybe in childhood, or in the case of the Bears and Crusaders, when they were students at those respective schools. No matter where the link came from, it turned out to be a positive link.

The Hilltops, Bears and Crusaders have existed for decades and all have their own storied histories. The current Hilltops in their modern day era were formed in 1947.  Aden Bowman Collegiate opened in 1958, and Holy Cross High School opened in 1963.

Due to being in existence for a lengthy span of time, it shouldn’t come as a surprise people will reconnect with these squads, when they make an appearance in a championship game. People who are reconnecting with these teams aren’t able to follow them on an avid basis, because life has a tendency in the current day to keep people busy.

Some of the people passing on “good luck” messages to the Hilltops wanted to know if the CJFL championship game was going to be on national television. Those folks have been so involved in their own lives they didn’t realize how much the media - especially the sports media - has been cut in Canada, which meant the CJFL title game would not be on television.

Elias Flory slings a touchdown pass for the Crusaders.

Those asking about the game being on television had to settle for the CJFL’s online broadcast, which was really good.

For the Bears and Crusaders, people did ask if their championship games were going to be streamed online. Unfortunately as far as I could find, there were no online streams of those contests, and they weren’t picked up by the community channels of SaskTel or Access 7.

People didn’t realize the majority of the sports world in Canada depends on volunteers. In the United States, there is a much larger chance paid professionals will make those broadcasts happen.

Ultimately, it was cool to see these teams get their surges of “sudden interest” even for a short time.

The “sudden interest” phenomenon was seen in Saskatchewan in the professional football world in recent days as former Saskatchewan Roughriders star quarterback Cody Fajardo was playing in the Grey Cup in Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Alouettes prevailed 28-24 in the CFL title clash at Tim Hortons Field with Fajardo executing a game-winning scoring drive that ran seven plays and covered 83 yards.

He concluded the drive throwing the winning touchdown pass from 19 yards out to Canadian receiver Tyson Philpot with 13 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Following the Alouettes win, Roughriders fans poured out congratulations messages for Fajardo on various social media networks.

Cody Fajardo raises the Grey Cup.

The Hilltops would see congratulations messages too. On Nov. 11, they downed the Rebels 17-10 to capture the Canadian Bowl and their 23^rd CJFL championship in team history.

The Bears fell 35-15 in their 5A provincial championship game to the Eagles. The Crusaders dropped a 12-10 heartbreaker to the Marauders, who won the 6A provincial title for a third straight year.

It was a great thing that these “sudden interest” moments materialized in Saskatoon. If these moments continue to happen in the future, it would be a welcomed thing.

U.S. road trip was good one for Raiders

The Raiders bang their sticks on the boards prior to a faceoff.

One of the toughest challenges in the WHL is to make a road trip through the U.S. Division.

For the Prince Albert Raiders, their jaunt through the U.S. Division was one that saw them make strides forward. In total, the Raiders played seven games on the trip make a stop in Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes on November 8 before venturing into the United States.

The Raiders took the clash with the Hurricanes 4-2 to get some good vibes going. The Raiders posted a 4-2-0-1 record on the trip to allow their overall regular season mark to sit at 13-10-0-2.

On the jaunt, the Raiders downed the Chiefs in Spokane 3-2 on November 10 before falling to the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., 5-4 on Remembrance Day. The Raiders proceeded to down the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 in Kent, Wash., on November 14 before dropping a 4-3 decision to the Silvertips in Everett one night later.

The biggest moment of the trip came this past Friday, when the Raiders slipped past the Winterhawks in Portland 2-1. It is huge challenge for any visiting squad to pull off a win in Portland.

Raiders netminder Max Hildebrand stole the show in that contest making 42 saves in the win. Oli Chenier and import left-winger Krzysztof Macias potted single for the Raiders.

The trip ended this past Sunday with a 4-3 loss after a tiebreaking shootout to the Wild in Wenatchee.

Now the Raiders get to enjoy being back at the Art Hauser Centre for a couple of nights. This coming Saturday, they host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7 p.m. on a night the #16 jersey of Raiders all-time great centre Dan Hodgson will be retired.

This coming Sunday, the Raiders host the Brandon Wheat Kings at 6 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

I wrote a column in the Prince Albert Daily Herald talking about how the Raiders would get a significant test on the U.S. Division trip. That piece that ran on November 15 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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Redemption for Fajardo as ragtag Alouettes win Grey Cup

Cody Fajardo raises the Grey Cup.

It was supposed to be career over for Cody Fajardo.

About a year ago at this time, Fajardo was taking flack as the scapegoat of a Saskatchewan Roughriders season that went off the rails. Entering the 2022 CFL campaign as the Roughriders star starting quarterback, Saskatchewan got out to a 4-1 start, and the season fell off the rails at that point.

The Roughriders would proceed to win just two of their last 13 games and finished the campaign with a 6-12 record closing the season out on a seven game losing streak. Fajardo was a reserve quarterback for the club’s final two regular season games as the Roughriders missed the playoffs.

Due to become a free agent on February of 2023, it was safe to say the Roughriders brain trust gave up on Fajardo, and veteran signal caller made it known he felt that way.

While Fajardo had lots of supporters among Rider Nation, there was a sizable loud minority that viewed the quarterback was finished. They said Fajardo would never win a Grey Cup as a starting quarterback.

The Roughriders needed to get rid of Fajardo. He was a flash in the pan and not a good quarterback.

Those might have been the nicest things the detractors said. There were a lot of comments that were downright cruel.

It seemed the detractors were intent on not just driving Fajardo out of town. They wanted him to leave town strapped to the front of a locomotive, and if the locomotive hit a wall or ran into a cliff it was all the better.

Forgotten was Fajardo’s 27-17 career record as the Roughriders starting quarterback or that he signal called them to two West Division final appearances in 2019 and 2021. The Roughriders fell both times to the eventual Grey Cup champion and their traditional rivals the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Cody Fajardo throws a pass for the Roughriders in 2019.

Also forgotten was Fajardo’s magical 2019 season, where he was the West Division’s nominee for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award. During the 2019 campaign, Fajardo started 16 games for the Roughriders posting a 12-4 record, and he completed 338-of-473 passes for 4,302 yards and 18 touchdowns, while throwing eight interceptions. He also ran the ball 107 times for 611 yards and 10 touchdowns.

He was and still is a practicing Catholic who is strong in his Christian faith, and he made “a sprinkle of Jesus” his catch phrase.

With his coming out of nowhere to be a star quarterback story, Fajardo looked like he was going to be the CFL’s version of Kurt Warner. Warner was quarterback who came out of nowhere to light the NFL on fire quarterbacking the St. Louis Rams to a magical 1999 campaign that resulted in a Super Bowl win. He had a career that saw him be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Warner was the picture of what it looked like to be the star quarterback who was strong in his Christian faith.

As for Fajardi, it looked like there would be no more glory for him following the 2022 CFL season.

The signal caller wasn’t the only Roughriders scapegoat. Roughriders offensive coordinator Jason Maas’ contract wasn’t renewed following the 2022 campaign. He had been Fajardo’s offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022.

On December 17, 2022, Maas was hired to be the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes. On the first day of CFL free agency this past February, Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia and Maas elected to sign Fajardo to a two-year contract and install him as the club’s starting quarterback.

At the start of the CFL season, the Alouettes were ridiculed for their moves. Most pundits were predicting the Alouettes to finish last and be the laughing stock of the nine-team circuit.

The Alouettes were viewed as a team of castoffs and misfits. The castoffs included defensive end Shaun Lemon, who led the CFL with 14 sacks in 2022 playing for the Calgary Stampeders.

Cody Fajardo (#7) was a CFL MOP nominee in 2019.

The Stampeders elected to not resign Lemon. He signed with the B.C. Lions and was cut during their training camp on May 22. 

Lemon signed with the Alouettes on July 23^rd and showed he was pretty motivated getting nine sacks in 13 regular season games.

Still, Fajardo was the overall symbol of how the Alouettes were going to be the CFL’s sacrificial lamb in 2023. The sacrificial lamb turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

As it turned out, Maciocia actually built a really good roster that came together to become a great football team as the 2023 campaign marched on. 

On top of that, the Alouettes were a driven football team as everyone with the club came together due to having a chip on their collective shoulders on being left for dead. That ultimately made the Alouettes a very dangerous football team.

On Sunday at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont., Fajardo, who is 31-years-old, had his finest hour in the CFL. He completed 21-of-26 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing one interception, in a 28-24 upset victory over the Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup.

Fajardo, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 223 pounds, wrote a storybook finish in front of a sellout crowd of 28,808 spectators. On Montreal’s final offensive possession with the Bombers holding a 24-21 advantage, Fajardo drove the Alouettes 83 yards in seven plays for the winning touchdown.

He concluded the drive throwing the winning touchdown pass from 19 yards out to Canadian receiver Tyson Philpot with 13 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. 

The Bombers were unable to come out with a miracle play in the final 13 seconds causing the 28-24 score in favour of the Alouettes to hold up as the final outcome of the game.

Fajardo had a championship moment worthy of all the all-time great quarterbacks who played the game in either the CFL or NFL. He was named the MVP of the Grey Cup, and Philpot took honours as the Most Valuable Canadian.

The Alouettes celebrate a Grey Cup championship.

The Alouettes finished the 2023 campaign posting an 11-7 record in the regular season and a 14-7 mark overall, which saw the club close out the season with eight straight wins.

On Sunday, Fajardo showed the good guy can finish first. As a true good guy, he didn’t have to get the girl, because the girl was already there. Laura, his wife who is a doctor of physical therapy, convinced the signal caller in the off-season his playing days were not finished and he still had it.

Cody, Laura and their one-year-old son, Luca, were all together celebrating the Grey Cup win on Sunday. The redemption story ultimately finished as a fairy tale that came true.

Grads haul in Hilltops major team awards

Boston Davidsen, right, is named the Hilltops top grad.

The Saskatoon Hilltops graduating players cleaned up capturing five out of the club’s seven major team awards.

On Saturday, the Hilltops held their team awards ceremony in a new format for the club. Having held an annual awards banquet in past years, the Hilltops hosted the Saskatoon Hilltops Football Club Honors awards ceremony in a live theatre style show at the Roxy Theatre. The event was similar in nature to awards shows hosted by the NFL and NHL.

Graduating star power running back Boston Davidsen was named the winner of the Drs. Landa-Doig Award as the club’s most outstanding graduating player. Davidsen was a first team CJFL all-Canadian all-star had a monster campaign leading the PFC in carries (170), rushing yards (1,184) and rushing touchdowns (nine) during the regular season.

In the Hilltops 17-10 victory over the Westshore Rebels on Nov. 11 in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl, Davidsen carried the ball 25 times for 157 yards and one touchdown. His major score ultimately held up as the winning score of the contest played at Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria.

Graduating middle linebacker Matt Wist captured the Courtice Inspiration Award. Wist was named a second team CJFL all-Canadian at linebacker and a first team CJFL all-Canadian at punter.

During the Hilltops eight regular season games, Wist recorded 22 solo defensive tackles, 17 defensive tackle assists, two pass knockdowns, two forced fumbles and three interceptions. He punted the ball 47 times for a gross average of 37.7 yards per kick, a net average of 32.2 yards per kick and three singles.

Matt Wist, right, wins the Courtice Inspiration Award.

Graduating defensive tackle Craig Torgerson claimed the Blue and Gold Award for outstanding leadership and commitment to the team.

Defensive back Carter Wingert, who has exhausted his CJFL eligibility, was given the Ron Atchison “True Grit” Award.

Outside linebacker Wade Keating, who has completed his CJFL career, took the Don and Jim Seaman Memorial Award as the team’s top linebacker.

Defensive end Riece Kack was the only other veteran player outside of the grads to capture a major award. Kack, who has one season of CJFL eligibility remaining, took the Ray Syrnyk Trophy as the team’s top lineman.

Receiver Datiel Fountaine claimed the Past President’s Trophy as the team’s rookie of the year.

The Hilltops won all eight of their regular season games en route to posting a perfect 12-0 record in 2023. Their CJFL championship victory over the Rebels marked the 23^rd time in team history the Hilltops have captured the CJFL title.

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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Thunderbirds slip past Huskies 2-1 after tiebreaking shootout

Kara Kondrat, left, makes a pass in the offensive zone.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team went stride for stride with the top team in the Canada West Conference but just couldn’t get the win.

On Friday night at Merlis Belsher place, the Huskies played the Canada West leading University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a 1-1 draw through regulation and a three-on-three overtime period forcing the U Sports regular season contest to go to a tiebreaking shootout. In the shootout, Thunderbirds standout right-winger Chanreet Bassi scored the only goal in the tiebreaking session coming in the fourth round to give her side a 2-1 overall victory in the game played in front of 300 spectators.

Elise Hugens made 24 saves for 65 minutes for the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, improved to 11-0-1-1 with the win. The Huskies, who are rated 10 in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, saw their record move to 8-3-1-1.

“It was as advertised,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook. “It was physical.

“It was fast. I thought we played the right way. We were trying to get pressure, and I thought we did that.

“I thought our young ‘D’ played well again against a team that put a lot of pressure on our D-zone. Our kill did a heck of a job.”

Camryn Drever made 37 saves over 65 minutes for the Huskies.

The two sides played a fairly structured and tight checking game. Through the structure, both sides would have momentum surges that were turned away by the goalies on each side.

Huskies all-world netminder Camryn Drever made 37 saves through regulation and overtime, and she turned away three-of-four shooters in the shootout. She turned away shots that came in on goal off deflections and somehow found pucks that came in through screens in front of the net.

Thunderbirds netminder Elise Hugens made 24 saves through regulation and overtime, and she turned away all four shooters she faced in the shootout. She made her fair share of difficult saves too.

Mackenzie Kordic scored in regulation for the Thunderbirds.

The two sides played through a scoreless tie over the first 40 minutes of the contest.

Just 34 seconds into the third, the Thunderbirds broke though on the scoreboard as second-year right-winger Mackenzie Kordic potted her 10th goal of the season. Kordic drove down the right wing, cut to the right faceoff dot and snapped a shot past Drever to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 edge.

The lead didn’t last as the Huskies pulled even at 1-1 just over six minutes later. While working on the power play, Huskies left-winger Sophie Lalor fed a pass to defender Isabella Pozzi. Pozzi one-timed a rocket shot to the top left corner of the Thunderbirds net for the equalizer.

Isabella Pozzi scored on the power play in regulation for the Huskies.

The Huskies went 1-for-5 on the power play in the contest, while the Thunderbirds failed to score on five power-play opportunities.

Kook said Drever was outstanding on Friday night, and he was impressed with his team’s work on the penalty kill. The bench boss said his netminder is driven to stop everything.

“Cam (Drever) red all of those cross ice and even that one that went the other way for the one-timer,” said Kook. “Cam feels bad about the loss right now.

“Her and the kill were the stars of the game for us.”

Sophie Lalor fires a shot on goal for the Huskies.

With standout veteran defender Brooklyn Stevely out due to injury, the Huskies went with a younger look on defence. Rookies Jacquelyne Chief and Makenna Stevens dressed as one pair.

Sophomore Shelby Williamson and third-year McKenna Bolger made up another defensive pair. Pozzi, who is in her fifth year, and Kendra Zuchotzki, who is in her third year, were the veteran pair on the back end.

Kook is showing faith in the youngsters too. When the Thunderbirds went on a power play in overtime, Chief was sent out to start the penalty kill on the four-on-three situation.

“I think for me, my nerves definitely like come up a bit,” said Chief. “When we’re like in overtime, it is like, ‘OK, go kill.’

Huskies D Jacquelyne Chief, left, battles UBC LW Cassidy Rhodes.

“I’m like, ‘You want me out there?’ It is kind of a surprise. I feel like since they have that trust in me I just have to live up to it.

“I think I do my part.”

The Thunderbirds had scoring chances, but the Huskies were able to come away with a successful kill.

After the kill, the Huskies got momentum. Near the end of the overtime frame, Lalor and Pozzi both had prime scoring chances, but they were turned away by Hugens.

Huskies third-year centre Mallory Dyer had a chance in close for a buzzer beater, but she drove the puck over top of the net.

Jasper Desmarais circles in the offensive zone with the puck.

In the shootout, Bassi put on a few fakes in her approach to the net before firing home the winner.

The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. Kook said he offered encouragement to his squad looking ahead to Saturday’s encounter.

“I said we played the right way,” said Kook. “Our job right now is to make sure that we get our nutrition and do the right things, so that we are ready to go tomorrow.

The Thunderbirds celebrate their shootout victory.

“That is the beauty of this league. You get another kick at it. We played the right way.

“If we do this again tomorrow, I’d be happy with our effort.”

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Saskatoon’s 6A high school football title curse hits biggest heartbreak in latest loss

The Crusaders lost the 6A provincial title on this safety.

Saskatoon’s 6A football title curse added one of the toughest “did that just happen” moments.

Last Saturday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School Crusaders were facing Regina’s Miller Comprehensive Catholic High School Marauders in the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s 6A provincial football championship game. The Marauders entered the Remembrance Day contest have won the 6A title the previous two years.

With the teams locked in a 10-10 tie inside the final 40 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Crusaders were scrimmaging on a first down from their own one yard line. At that point, disaster struck for Holy Cross.

Elias Flory had a strong Grade 12 season for the Crusaders.

A handoff between Crusaders quarterback Elias Flory and running back Aulain Penner was mishandled. Penner dived on the loose ball in the end zone, and he was downed there for a safety that gave the Marauders a 12-10 lead with 32.5 seconds remaining in the game.

That 12-10 score held up as the final outcome as the Marauders claimed a third straight 6A provincial football championship.

The loss by Holy Cross meant that another year was added on to the drought of when a Saskatoon team last won the 6A title. The last Saskatoon school to claim that distinction was the Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears back in 2009, when they downed Regina’s Winston Knoll Collegiate Wolverines 20-19. At that time, the 6A level was known as 4A until the levels of high school football were reclassified in Saskatchewan following the 2018-19 school year.

The loss last Saturday felt disheartening for the Crusaders and their supporters. After the winning safety happened, it seemed like everyone supporting Holy Cross and those who were checking out the contest as neutral observers had a moment where they were all collectively staring out on to the field in disbelief of what happened.

Aulain Penner (#26) makes tonnes of big plays for Holy Cross.

The Marauders and their supporters started whooping it up. They seemed to be overjoyed on the stroke of good fortune that happened to go their way.

In sports, curses become curses because they seem like the appropriate way describe unusual trends like the inability of a Saskatoon team to win the 6A high school football title since the Bears victory in 2009. A lot of great teams from Saskatoon have played in the 6A title game over that time and have continued to come up empty handed.

Holy Cross has unfortunately been the team that has felt the most heartbreak in that drought. Saturday marked the ninth time during the drought the Crusaders made the 6A championship game only to come out on the losing end.

Actually, Holy Cross’s last provincial title win in football came way back in 1995. The Crusaders have lost all 10 of their provincial championship game appearances since their last title triumph.

Brady Vindevoghel threw for 188 yards for the Marauders.

For the Crusaders, Saturday’s game goes down as one of those lessons where you win as a team and lose as a team. You could go through all sorts of moments in that contest to find spots where the Crusaders could have made a play where that safety wouldn’t have been a factor in the final outcome.

The Crusaders were at their one-yard line due to the fact Marauders quarterback and punter Brady Vindevoghel made a coffin corner punt that went out at the one yard line. Crusaders returner Talon Coquet maybe could have fielded the ball as it rolled out of bounds, because Holy Cross needed to run out the game clock to get to overtime at point in the afternoon’s proceedings.

Flory and Penner both had outstanding seasons for the Crusaders. Both are great ambassadors for their school and the community.

In the game, Flory, who is in Grade 12, completed 19-of-29 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown. When he was playing at his highest level during the season, Flory emulated retired CFL all-time great Damon Allen.

Tanner Donovel caught six passes for 110 yards and a TD.

Flory is the son of University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team head coach and three time Grey Cup champion with the Montreal Alouettes in Scott Flory, who is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. With that noted, young Elias has played well enough he should have the chance to play post-secondary somewhere next season. He is making his own name locally in the game.

Penner is in Grade 11 at Holy Cross, and he has already made tonnes of electrifying plays to easily fill a few highlight reel films. He is one of the most exciting players in high school football in Saskatchewan, and it will be fun to see him play his Grade 12 season at Holy Cross.

The Marauders came in with a defensive game plan to key on Penner, which saw Penner carry the ball 21 times for 79 yards.

For a time, it didn’t seem like there would be drama at the end of the game. In the first half, the Marauders took a 10-0 on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Vindevoghel to star receiver Tanner Donovel and a field goal. Vindevoghel completed 12-of-19 passes for 188 yards and the one touchdown pass, and Donovel caught six passes for 110 yards including his major score.

Britton Tabler caught 11 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown.

The Crusaders were battling hard as the Marauders slowly built their lead. One wondered if the Marauders were just that one step better and would close out a solid win at a steady pace. At halftime, the Marauders supporters were jacked up, and the Crusaders faithful had fallen into silence.

Holy Cross got some traction in the second half with a field goal to trim the Marauders lead to 10-3.

With 2:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, Flory hit Crusaders receiver Britton Tabler with an eight-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 10-10. Tabler finished the contest with 11 catches for 148 yards to go with his major score.

When Tabler scored, the Crusaders faithful in the stands came to life in a big way. It felt at that point in time that this would be Holy Cross’s day.

On the ensuing Marauders series, it appeared Holy Cross got a defensive stop with the Marauders facing a third down situation from their own 34. The visitors ran a fake punt run off a direct snap to get a first down.

The Marauders lift the 6A SHSAA championship trophy.

That allowed the Marauders to flip the field position and pin the Crusaders at their one after later punting on a third-and-long situation.

When the Marauders got the ball at their own 35 after Holy Cross gave up a safety, the Crusaders still had a chance to make a defensive stop and get the ball back holding two timeouts. Vindevoghel hit Donovel for a 52-yard completion, which allowed the Marauders to run out the clock to obtain victory.

Marauders head coach Jason Duczek and his squad got to celebrate a memorable season that resulted in a third straight 6A title. The post-season road included a thrilling 27-20 win over the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Catholic High School Golden Suns in the Regina Intercollegiate Football League’s Schwann Conference title game on November 3 at Mosaic Stadium.

Crusaders head coach Scott Hundseth and his team had to cope with falling in the provincial final in a tough and unforeseen way. As the Crusaders have always done, you can expect they will get up and fight again in 2024.

The Marauders enjoy the spoils of winning three straight 6A titles.

For now, Saskatoon’s 6A high school football title drought continues. Saskatoon team’s will try hard to end it, but one wonders when good fortune will shine on a Saskatoon side to cause this curse to come to an end.

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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CJFL title capped rebound season for Hilltops in 2023

The Hilltops celebrate a TD from Drake Douglas, right.

Do you remember the Saskatoon Hilltops going 6-4 in 2022?

That season feels long forgotten after the Hilltops posted a perfect 12-0 record in 2023 culminating in the team’s 23^rd CJFL championship and sixth perfect season. The Hilltops closed out the 2023 campaign last Saturday downing the host Westshore Rebels 17-10 in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl.

The Saskatoon side persevered through Biblical type rains to capture their first CJFL title since 2019 at Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria. It was a familiar sight seeing the Hilltops raise the Canadian Bowl as CJFL champions.

A year ago at this time disappointment was the prevailing feeling around the Hilltops. Their 2022 campaign came to an end on October 30 of that year with a 39-21 loss to their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder in the PFC final at Mosaic Stadium in the Saskatchewan capital city.

Boston Davidsen ran for 1,184 yards in the regular season.

Saskatoon was 5-3 in the regular season and 6-4 overall. Before 2022, the last time Hilltops experienced those records was 1993. Between 1993 and 2022, the Hilltops had never lost more than two games in the regular season and won the CJFL title 14 times.

The Hilltops graduated 20 players from their roster following their loss to the Thunder in the 2022 PFC final. With the PFC going through a massive reset with all of its six teams experiencing sizable graduations, there was no certainty about where the Hilltops would stand going into the 2023 campaign.

The biggest thing for the venerable CJFL squad was the team’s legendary head coach in Tom Sargeant was back along with his long time defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jeff Yausie. Actually, all the members of the Hilltops coaching staff had been working with the team for a number of years.

The coaches were determined to get the Hilltops back playing up to their lofty standards of their CJFL championship seasons. Being good but not good enough like in 2022 wasn’t going to cut it.

MLB Matt Wist was a second team CJFL all-Canadian all-star.

The Hilltops had one of their more youthful rosters in 2023. Out of the eight players suiting up in their final seasons of CJFL eligibility, six of those players were holdovers from the team’s previous CJFL title winning season back in 2019, when the Hilltops posted a perfect 12-0 record at that time.

The six holdovers included middle linebacker Matt Wist, outside linebacker Wade Keating, defensive back Carter Wingert, defensive lineman Craig Torgerson, power running back Boston Davidsen and receiver Evan Ward. Linebacker Jordan Levesque and offensive lineman Justice Walker were the other two graduating players who joined the Hilltops following the 2019 campaign.

Due to the fact only six players had CJFL championship rings, the journey through the 2023 season for the Hilltops had a newness feeling to it. The coaches had experience guiding more youthful rosters in the past, and they were able to draw on that experience and apply it this past season.

Trey Reider was named the PFC’s Most Outstanding Quarterback.

One of the biggest differences between 2022 and 2023 was the Hilltops defence rose to a higher level to achieve some historical accomplishments. The Hilltops allowed just 51 points through their eight regular season games posting the team’s lowest point against total in regular season play dating back to 1949.

The ’Toppers gave up just 25 points in four playoff games for a total of 76 points over 12 contests, which was the lowest points against total for the team including play in the regular season and post-season since 1949. In 1949, the Hilltops gave up 70 points in 10 overall games that season falling in the Western Canada Championship game 16-12 to the Vancouver Blue Bombers.

When you break things down to average points allowed per game, the 2023 Hilltops in overall play gave up an average of 6.3 points a game, which is the lowest total in team history.

Wade Keating returns an interception for a TD for the Hilltops.

The defence was anchored by first team CJFL all-Canadian all-stars in defensive end Riece Kack and defensive tackle Johnathon Stevens. Wist and hard hitting and ball hawking safety Dalton Urban were named second team CJFL all-Canadian all-stars.

The second biggest thing that happened in 2023 was the Hilltops got their most consistent play at the quarterback position since winning the CJFL title in 2019. After the 2020 CJFL campaign was lost due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world, the Hilltops had campaigns in 2021 and 2022 that saw them change the starting quarterback near the midpoint of the regular season.

In the sixth game of the regular season in 2022, the Hilltops inserted Trey Reider into the starting spot at quarterback. He started the Hilltops final three regular season games and both their post-season games.

Noah Flaman jets downfield on a long TD reception.

Playing his 21-year-old season in 2023, Reider went the distance as the Hilltops starting signal caller. During the Hilltops eight regular season games, Reider has completed 108-of-167 passes for 1,571 yards and 16 touchdowns, while throwing five interceptions during the regular season.

He topped the PFC with a 114.6 quarterback efficiency rating, was named a PFC all-star and took honours as the PFC’s Most Outstanding Quarterback. With the 2023 season in the books, Reider is currently 16-1 overall as the Hilltops starting quarterback.

Reider’s favourite targets in 2023 included receiver Drake Douglas, who took first team CJFL all-Canadian honours after catching 42 passes for 591 yards and four touchdowns in regular season play, and pass catcher Noah Flaman, who caught 21 passes for 422 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season earning the nickname “TD Noah” in the process.

Davidsen was a first team CJFL all-Canadian having had a monster campaign leading the PFC in carries (170), rushing yards (1,184) and rushing touchdowns (nine) during the regular season. Hilltops right tackle Cody Shumanski captured a first team CJFL all-Canadian spot on the offensive line.

Erik Barsness (#60) and Davin Johnson (#71) set the edge on a run play.

Saskatoon’s group of starters on the offensive line were all standouts with Davin Johnson at left tackle, Erik Barness at left guard, Matt Noble at centre and Victoire Bikulo at right guard. 

When Bikulo was lost for the season in the Hilltops seventh regular season game due to a leg injury, Quinton Pike filled in the rest of the way admirably at the starting right guard spot to ensure the Hilltops offensive line did not lose a step.

The Hilltops had to slug it out and persevere in some tough games. In the contest where Bikulo went down on September 30 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Hilltops had to grind out a 19-10 victory over the Thunder in the pouring rain that came down for the entire contest. 

When those same two squads met in the PFC final on October 22 at SMF Field, the Hilltops entered the fourth quarter trailing 13-9 before rallying back for a 21-13 victory.

Riece Kack makes a sack for the Hilltops.

In the CJFL championship game, they had battle it out against the Rebels in a game where the rain came down intensely. The Rebels also had the CJFL marquee player in quarterback Te Jessie, who was named a first team all-Canadian and claimed the CJFL’s Peter Dalla Riva Outstanding Offensive Player award.

While the contest was tied 7-7 early in the third quarter, the Hilltops scored the next 10 points to go up 17-7 and would close out a 17-10 victory. Wist and Davidsen both had big games.

Wist was named the defensive player of the game recording three interceptions, nine solo defensive tackles, four defensive tackle assists and one pass knockdown. With those defensive statistics, Wist accumulated 36 defensive points, which is a new record for a CJFL championship game. His three picks equaled the record for most interceptions in a CJFL championship game.

Davidsen claimed honours as the offensive player of the game. He carried the ball 25 times for 157 yards and one touchdown. His major score ultimately held up as the winning score of the contest.

The Hilltops celebrate with the Canadian Bowl. (CJFL photo)

From an uncertain beginning, the Hilltops wrote another brilliant chapter to the storied legacy of the team. They ultimately finished off in a familiar spot standing tall on the CJFL mountain top.

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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