Blades set to hit another homer with home opener

Team to honour former captain with return of the Pac-Man

Dave Chartier, left, speaks to reporters about Bruce Gordon.

    On an emotional level, the Saskatoon Blades appear to be set to match the spectacle of last year’s home opener at this year’s home opener.

    Almost a year ago, the Blades opened the 2016-17 campaign with “Thank You, Mr. Hockey Day” where the club saluted hockey icon in the late Gordie Howe and interred his and the ashes of his late wife, Colleen, at the base of the Gordie Howe statue that resides in front of the SaskTel Centre.

    This year in a campaign where the Blades return to their famous Pac-Man look from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the club will honour a former captain who wore that logo and made a lasting impact on Saskatoon after his hockey days. 

    When the Blades open their regular season schedule on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre against the Swift Current Broncos, the blue and gold will honour Bruce Gordon, who was well-known for his career with the Saskatoon Police Service that spanned 28 years, in a pre-game ceremony.

One of the Blades team pictures featuring Bruce Gordon.

    The Marsden, Sask., product came to the Blades in a trade with the Medicine Hat Tigers early in the 1980-81 campaign, and the grinding winger quickly became the Saskatoon club’s captain. He would leave the major junior ranks following the 1981-82 campaign having collected 17 goals, 53 assists and 552 penalty minutes in 112 regular season games with the Blades.

    Following his time playing hockey, Gordon moved on to build a distinguished career with the police starting out on regular patrol, becoming a detective sergeant in the sex crimes unit and then to major crimes. Gordon became well-known for cracking cases that appeared to be unsolvable.

    At age 50, he retired from policing to study law at the University of Saskatchewan with the goal to become a defence lawyer. Gordon graduated from law school last spring, but on June 8, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. On June 29, a special ceremony was held at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon to call the 54-year-old to the bar.

    This ceremony is traditionally held in autumn, but an exception was made in Gordon’s case to hold the ceremony earlier due to his cancer diagnosis.

Bruce Gordon’s old Blades uniform on display.

    The Blades announced their plans to honour Gordon, who also coached minor hockey and volunteered at local road races, during a press conference on Monday at the SaskTel Centre. A fitting trio of characters who have character were brought in to speak at the presser who all have links to both the Saskatoon Police Service and the WHL.

    The trio included Dave Chartier, who was one of Gordon’s former teammates with the Blades and a former partner with the police service, and he talked about his deep friendship with the hard-working forward. Long time veteran Blades assistant coach Jerome Engele, who was a former Blades defenceman from 1966 to 1971 and built his own distinguished career with the Saskatoon Police Service, also delivered a short but heartfelt tribute. Both Chartier and Engele are retired from the police service.

    The third member to speak was Patrick Nogier, who played goal for two seasons in the WHL from 1985 to 1987 split between the Kamloops Blazers and Broncos and is still an inspector for the Saskatoon Police Service, and he spoke about Gordon’s never give up characteristics.

    Chartier was a 17-year-old rookie defenceman when he became teammates with Gordon in 1981-82, when the latter was embarking on what would be his final season in junior hockey. They developed a lifelong friendship and actually live next door to each other in the current day.

Inspector Patrick Nogier speaks about Bruce Gordon.

    Chartier will be one of a number of former teammates on hand for Friday’s festivities including Brian Skrudland, Daryl Stanley, Todd Strubey, Roger Kortko and Ron Dreger. Dennis Beyak, who is the voice of the Winnipeg Jets and the Blades assistant general manager during Gordon’s years, will be the emcee for the ceremony. Jackie McLeod and Daryl Lubiniecki, who both had long runs in the roles of head coach and general manager of the Blades, will also be on hand.

    During the presser, Chartier recalled one of the many recent talks he had with Gordon.

    “I asked him if he was scared,” said Chartier. “He said he was not scared.

    “He was just sad. He was sad for things that he won’t see his grand kids (and) his great relationship with his wife (Chris). It doesn’t surprise me one bit that he said he is not scared.

    “As a young guy going to training camp, I saw the determination and the lack of fear that he had as a leader for the Blades.”

    Engele spoke about how members of the police service are held to a higher standard than what is expected of the general public and that the Blades players are expected to hold themselves at a higher level away from the rink and treat everyone with respect. 

Long time Blades assistant coach Jerome Engele talks about Bruce Gordon.

    He said Gordon fit those expectations perfectly.

    “Bruce (Gordon) was a very good example of that as a police officer,” said Engele. “You couldn’t ask for a better person to work with - a harder working person.

    “I would call him a police officer on the ice. He was a hard-nosed hockey player who did his job and worked extremely hard.

    “You would put him more in terms of a plumber level player when he was on the ice. When he was on the ice, he carried a lot of respect.”

    Nogier, whose son Nelson played defence for the Blades from 2012 to 2014, worked with Gordon in the sex crimes unit for a couple of years. The former netminder spoke that the members of the police service think of Gordon when evaluating potential new officers noting the former Blades captain’s integrity and work ethic.

    “When we are looking to hire new prospective young individuals that want to join our police service, we are looking for people that bring certain characteristics with them,” said Nogier. “We look for the person that we know is going to be put into a situation and take those situations on head on.

Blades president Steve Hogle outlines the festivities for Friday night.

    “I heard that there was only six degrees of separation from talking about the sporting world and the policing world. What I’ve learned that when it comes to hockey there is only 1.5 degrees of separation when it comes to that.

    “When I met Bruce (Gordon), I knew quite quickly that this was an individual that for obvious reasons had all those characteristics.”

    Besides former teammates, police officers from Saskatoon and Regina will be attending Friday’s game along with lawyers, triathletes and cross fit athletes. Gordon completed as a triathlete and also took part in ironman competitions.

    During Friday’s game, the Blades will be raising money for cancer research at the Royal University Hospital with the auction of a Kelly Chase signed jersey, the sale of “Be Like Bruce” t-shirts and the proceeds from the night’s 50/50 draw.

A display of some of the Blades Pac-Man jerseys.

    “He (Gordon) exemplified at the rink what a teammate was all about,” said Chartier. “He didn’t want any glory.

    “He took care of each and every one of us. I think we all owe him the respect of coming back this Friday and saying thank you.”

    Blades president Steve Hogle expects few tears will be shed during the festivities on Friday night for Gordon.

    “Everybody he came into contact with was absolutely blown away about how he put others first,” said Hogle.

    “The impact he has had on people is made obvious to us by the reaction that we’ve seen with the alumni, with the police, with the triathlon community, with the legal community, with the cross fit community and they are all rallying and coming out on Friday night.”

    The tribute for Gordon is more than justified. You would be hard pressed to find anyone else that wore the team’s old Pac-Man logo that went on to have bigger impact on the Saskatoon community than Gordon did.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Blades nail it with “Thank You, Mr. Hockey Day”

Gordie Howe's four children take part in a ceremonial faceoff.

    The Saskatoon Blades got it right when it came to remembering Gordie Howe.

    On Sunday morning, the hockey icon’s ashes and those of his wife, Colleen, were interred at the base of the Gordie Howe statue that sits in front of the SaskTel Centre. Gordie passed away earlier this year on June 10 at age 88. Colleen passed away on March 6, 2009 at age 76.

    A private interment ceremony open to 61 members of the Howe family started off a day a festivities to honour Gordie in his hometown area in what the Blades dubbed as “Thank You, Mr. Hockey Day.”

    The makings of what happened on Sunday started when Blades president Steve Hogle contacted members of the Howe family over the summer looking for permission to hold a special day to honour Gordie in Saskatoon. Gordie was born in a farmhouse in Floral, Sask., which is just south of Saskatoon, and moved to “the Bridge City” at age 9.

A fan gets her picture taken with the Gordie Howe statue.

    While talking to Gordie and Colleen’s children, Hogle discovered that one of Gordie’s wishes was to have his and Colleen’s ashes interred at the base of the Gordie Howe statue at the SaskTel Centre. Hogle made the offer to make that happen setting the wheels in motion for a tribute day, which also led into the Blades WHL regular season home opening game against the Swift Current Broncos.

    Following the ceremony, the Howes were taken to Lookout Point in Diefenbaker Park to see the name of the Circle Drive South Bridge was renamed the Gordie Howe Bridge. They then proceeded to visit King George School, which Gordie attended, and one of Gordie’s childhood homes.

    Everything shifted back to the SaskTel Centre from there. A tailgate party started in the parking lot at 12 p.m., and the doors to the rink opened at 1 p.m.

Logan Flodell and the Blades warm up in Gordie Howe jerseys.

    Spectators flocked around the Gordie Howe statue in the two hours leading up to the game, and many had their pictures taken with the statue. Inside the rink, fans checked out a Hockey Hall of Fame exhibit that featured a number of Howe items including one of his Detroit Red Wings jerseys from his NHL days and a Houston Aeros jersey from his WHA days.

    Some Howe family photos were also on display at various locations on the main concourse area.

    The Blades players also took the ice for warm up all wearing #9 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings jerseys.

    At 2 p.m., the Blades started into a stirring 25-minute pre-game tribute ceremony for Gordie. Fans got to see an impressive tribute video featuring a whole bunch of archival footage of Gordie’s playing days and also interviews that were done on local television. In some instances, it was surprising to realize that some of that footage still existed.

    Legendary Hockey Night In Canada play-by-play voice Bob Cole was the emcee for the tribute. Former NHL players in Hockey Hall of Fame member Bryan Trottier, Morris Lukowich and Gerry Pinder all took attention grabbing Gordie stories.

Bryan Trottier speaks to the SaskTel Centre crowd.

    All three had deep Saskatchewan roots as Trottier is from Val Marie, Lukowich was born in Speers and played his minor hockey growing up in Saskatoon and Pinder is a Saskatoon product.

    Howe's children in sons Mark, Marty and Murray and daughter Cathy all took part in dropping the puck for a ceremonial faceoff.

    “I think a reflection on Saskatoon and the province of Saskatchewan is absolutely magnified because of Gordie Howe,” said Trottier in a media scrum after the ceremony. “All of us who know the name Gordie recognize what he meant to the game of hockey.

    “For the kids that have ever played hockey, for all the hockey that is going on in Canada in and around these little small communities, there is a belief. There is a belief that you can make it. Gordie provided that for all of us. “

    Due to playing a combined 32 seasons in the NHL and WHA, Howe was idolized by a few generations of hockey players, and Trottier, Lukowich and Pinder all looked up to “Mr. Hockey.”

    No matter where Gordie went or how famous he became, he returned to Saskatoon on a regular basis, and the citizens of Saskatoon always saw Gordie as one of their own.

    “This is his hometown,” said Trottier. “This is our guy that grew up here in Saskatchewan.

    “He reflects well on all the values that are from Saskatchewan whether it is family (or) whether it is hockey.”

Centre Jesse Shynkaruk zips up ice for the Blades.

    The only thing that didn’t go right was the fact the Blades, who wore special Gordie Howe themed jerseys, dropped a 6-0 decision to the Broncos before 6,359 onlookers. Calvin Spencer scored twice for the Broncos, while Noah King, Brandan Arnold, Tyler Steenbergen and Tyler Adams had singles. Travis Child made 28 stops to earn the shutout in goal for Swift Current, while Brock Hamm turned away 25 shots suffering the loss in goal for the Blades.

    The result of the clash between the Blades and Broncos seemed secondary, because everyone was caught up in Gordie Howe fever.

    As you walked out the door, the Blades had one more surprise. Everyone that left received a Gordie Howe poster, and three of the pictures on the bottom came from the festivities of the day. Somehow, the Blades were able to put the mechanics in motion to the point you were able to go home with an unexpected cool keepsake.

    The Blades hit all the positive checkmark points, which included ones you didn’t even think of.

    Somewhere, you had to think Gordie was grinning. For those that came to the SaskTel Centre, they got to enjoy a day they will always remember, as Saskatoon’s biggest hero came home to rest forever.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass on about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Howe's legend will always be larger than life

The Gordie Howe statue that sits outside the SaskTel Centre.

    Gordie Howe.

    When you mention the late hockey icon’s name, you almost don’t know where to start.

    Along with Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, Howe was one of those first hockey stars that was idolized by children. Due to the fact he played 32 seasons in the NHL and WHA, children that idolized “Mr. Hockey” grew up to be parents and watched their children also look up to Howe.

    Growing up in the 1980s, I remember getting into debates and arguments with my late father about who was the greatest hockey player of all-time. For me, the obvious answer was Wayne Gretzky due to the scoring records and ridiculous offensive point totals he was putting up at that time with the Edmonton Oilers.

    My dad would always say I was wrong, and that Howe was the best. Howe was my dad’s childhood hero. The debate always turned to the fact that Howe played most of his years with the Detroit Red Wings in the “Original Six” era of the NHL where the competition wasn’t as watered down as a league that contained 21 teams like the 1980s NHL did.

    Also, no other player had the offensive grace and toughness that Howe possessed, which gave the “Gordie Howe hat trick” life of getting a goal, an assist and a fighting major in the same game.

    Sunday will be “Thank You, Mr. Hockey Day” in Saskatchewan. During a private family ceremony in the morning, the ashes of Gordie and his late wife Colleen Howe will be interred at the Gordie Howe statue that sits outside the SaskTel Centre.

    Gordie, who was born in a farmhouse in Floral, Sask., and moved to Saskatoon at age 9, passed away earlier this year on June 10 at age 88. Colleen passed away on March 6, 2009 at age 76.

    After the ceremony, Howe’s family will make their way to the newly built Circle Drive South Bridge, which has been renamed the Gordie Howe Bridge.

    From there, everything shifts back to the SaskTel Centre, where Howe will be honoured in a pre-game ceremony at 2 p.m. before the Saskatoon Blades hit the ice for their WHL regular season home opener against the Swift Current Broncos.

A Gordie Howe card from the 1980s.

    A tailgate party starts in the parking lot at 12 p.m. and the doors to the rink open at 1 p.m.

    It should also be noted the WHL’s Vancouver Giants will also be honouring Howe in a pre-game ceremony before their home opener on Friday against the Everett Silvertips. Howe was a former minority owner of the Giants, and his family members will be in Vancouver before making the journey to the right-winger’s hometown area.

    Both the Giants and Blades games will be shown on Shaw.

    There will be a lot of emotions on both nights. It seems everyone has a Gordie Howe story to tell.

For me, my father’s stories of Howe danced in my head the first and only time I interviewed him.
    The interview occurred in December of 1999, when I was an intern general assignment reporter for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. I was working with fellow interns Jillian MacPherson and Vanessa Lee compiling a list of what Saskatchewan’s movers and shakers were doing to ring in the new millennium.

    When I got on the phone with Howe, I was so nervous. I had to keep from freaking out that I was actually talking to Gordie Howe. It was one of the rare times I was caught being in awe of the celebrity of a person.

    The quote I used from Howe was, “Well, we won’t be doing a heck of a lot of anything. If our grandson is playing on New Year’s, I’ll go watch him play. And that’s Nolan Howe. That’s Mark’s son.

    “Nothing concrete. We’re just laid back, like we were in Saskatchewan.”

    To me, the quote was cool, because it came from Howe.

    The other time I encountered Howe was at the 2007 Memorial Cup tournament, when I was a beat writer covering the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers for the Medicine Hat News. At that time, I wasn’t awestruck, but I felt it was cool to see Howe at the tournament.

    My big memory came from the CHL awards ceremony that year. A bunch of the high rollers that sponsored the Memorial Cup were in attendance. They were nice to talk to, but the mingling had an upper class feel to it.

    I looked at Howe, and he looked like the lost prairie boy. He was being polite and courteous to everyone, but you almost could see a vibe that he wasn’t with his crowd. I totally identified with him at that moment, because I was feeling that way too.

A Gordie Howe card from the 1990s.

    The thing that put Howe over the top for being great was the fact he was ordinary. He did all these limitless spectacular things on the ice, but off of it, he was that kind next door neighbour.

    The public viewed him as being like “you and me.”

    Over the years, I have heard a number of other cool stories featuring Howe. A couple of my favourites were told to me by former NHL players Morris Lukowich and Bryan Maxwell. Those I will pass on via word of mouth otherwise this column would go on forever.

    While hockey took Howe all over the map, he always managed to return to Saskatoon. His last public appearance was at the 55^th annual Saskatoon Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner back in February 2015, when a huge number former hockey stars flocked into town.

    It just seems fitting that Howe’s remains will be laid to rest in his hometown area.

    The Blades are expecting 61 members of Howe’s family to be in Saskatoon on the weekend. There will never be a better chance locally to give a heartwarming salute and thanks for all the good things Howe did in his life and the recognition he brought for Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Siemens is top football dog

Huskies make right move in going with third-year pivot

Kyle Siemens stays cool in the pocket for the Huskies.

    Kyle Siemens was the obvious choice to lead the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team as the starting quarterback, which should come as no surprise seeing his short sampling of work on the field.

    Going into this Canadian Interuniversity Sport season, Siemens, who is in his third year of eligibility, was in a battle for the Huskies starting quarterback position with fifth-year veteran Drew Burko. Both happen to be graduates of Saskatoon’s Aden Bowman Collegiate in Saskatoon.

    Burko was the starting pivot from 2012 to the Huskies sixth regular season outing in the 2015 campaign.

    Sitting at 2-4 last season, the Dogs needed a spark to make a playoff push. In went Siemens for the second last regular season game, and he proceeded to push the Huskies into the post-season going 1-1 in his two starts. The wins gave the Dogs a 3-5 regular season mark.
    U of S fell in a Canada West quarter-final playoff contest 37-29 in Calgary to the University of Calgary Dinos.

    In the Huskies regular season opener last Friday, Siemens had a strong outing completing 28-of-42 passes for 338 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a thrilling 41-39 overtime victory over the University of Regina Rams. He also rose up in one big key moment before a packed crowd of 7,735 spectators at Griffiths Stadium, which showed why he had to handle the starting reins.

    The Rams had scored a touchdown and added a two-point convert to go up 31-28 with 1:36 to play in the fourth quarter.

    On the ensuing U of S series, the Huskies were at their own 20 yard line facing a third and 20. The situation favoured the defence, and the Huskies needed a big play to avoid bowing out in defeat.

    Siemens proceeded to hook up with receiver Yol Piok on a deep throw to pick up 35 yards and get the Huskies to midfield. The game’s momentum changed, and Siemens guided the Huskies into position to hit a short 20-yard field goal to tie things up at 31-31 and send the contest to overtime.

Kyle Siemens fires a pass downfield for the Huskies.

    As an encore, the Rams would go up 38-31 getting a touchdown in their first possession of the shootout overtime format, and Siemens came back hitting Colton Klassen with a 29-yard TD toss to tie things up at 38-38.

    The Rams proceeded to get a single from a missed field goal on their second OT possession to go up 39-38, and Huskies kicker Sean Stenger followed with a short 10-yard field goal to give his side a 41-39 win.

    Under Burko in 2015, the Huskies didn’t make enough key plays like the ones Siemens did inside the final 90 seconds of the fourth quarter and in overtime on Friday. In the always tough Canada West conference, making those types of plays separates good teams from average teams and great teams from good ones.

    The other thing that hurt Burko was the fact he got in a rut last season of turning the ball over. In 2015, Burko completed 117 of 206 passes for 1,725 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. He threw a combined five pics in back-to-back blowout losses to the Dinos, where the Huskies were outscored 103-34 and dropped to 2-4.

    When Siemens came in, he did a better job at taking care of the ball, which drastically improved the Huskies chances to win. In his first start last season, Siemens completed 44-of-67 passes for 520 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in a 41-36 loss at Griffiths Stadium to the eventual Vanier Cup champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. The 44 completions were a single game Huskies record.

    Needed a win on the road in Regina against the Rams to make playoffs, Siemens rallied the Huskies from a 34-11 late third quarter deficit to pull out a 38-37 win. He completed 23-of-41 passes for 422 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in that contest.

    In the playoffs, Siemens had the Dogs up 22-19 early in the fourth quarter against the Dinos, before the Dinos pulled out a 37-29 victory. Siemens completed 29-of-46 passes for 356 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in that loss.

Kyle Siemens calls a play in the huddle for the Huskies.

    With the way Siemens finished the 2015 campaign, it was going to be hard not to name him the starter. He gives the Huskies their best chance to win.

    Burko did have a longer sampling as a starter. From a physical stature, he has all the tools you look for in a quarterback standing 6-foot-4, weighing 225 pounds and having a gun of an arm.

    Siemens stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 195 pounds and has a stature more comparable to CFL legend Doug Flutie. Like Flutie, Siemens isn’t your sexy pick to be quarterback, but also like Flutie, Siemens makes plays.

    Veteran Huskies head coach Brian Towriss and his staff know they have to make tough the decisions to help their team win, and this was one of them.

    Now it is up to Siemens to continue his magic this coming Friday on the road, when the Huskies travel to Edmonton to face the University of Alberta Golden Bears (0-1), who have a habit of playing the Dogs tough.

Thunder have hit at Leibel Field

Over 1,500 spectators packed Leibel Field in Regina to watch the Thunder.

    The Canadian Junior Football League’s Regina Thunder might have discovered that bigger isn’t always better.

    On Saturday, the Thunder packed over 1,500 fans into the cozy confines of Leibel Field to watch the host side post a 43-29 victory over the Winnipeg Rifles. For the Thunder’s hometown players, the move was a return to the roots type one.

    Leibel Field is home to a large majority of Regina’s minor football games. A lot of the Thunder’s Regina born players likely got their first taste of the tackled game at the park suiting up at age eight.

    The facility is also home to a number of clashes for the city’s various men’s and women’s touch and flag leagues.

    Leibel Field was renovated a few years back, which allowed the Thunder to experiment with the concept of playing there.

Tailback Victor St. Pierre-Laviolette tears downfield for the Thunder.

    Normally, the Thunder play at Mosaic Stadium, which is home to the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Thunder usually draws crowds of around 1,000, which look very spread out at Mosaic Stadium, which can seat over 33,000.

    At Leibel Field, it felt like the Thunder game had a better atmosphere, as there were no empty seats in the bleachers. The beer garden was a little small, but it was equipped with a big flat screen television, which allowed spectators to keep track of what was going on out on the field.

    Overall, the Thunder had a big hit with the concept of going to a smaller park. Hopefully, they will keep coming back to this novelty in the future.

    If they even just had one game a year at Leibel Field per season, it would be a good thing.  

Hilltops back on track

Joshua Ewanchyna piled up 178 yards rushing.

    As expected, the venerable Saskatoon Hilltops earned their big bounce back victory, and they got big contributions from a couple of youngsters.

    On Sunday, the Hilltops traveled to Edmonton and flattened the Wildcats 53-16 in CJFL action to improve to 3-1. The Wildcats fell to 0-4.
    Before downing the Wildcats, the Hilltops dropped a 36-21 decision to the Calgary Colts at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on Aug. 28.

    In the win over the Wildcats, rookie tailback Joshua Ewanchyna piled up 178 yards rushing on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns. Second-year running back Adam Machart picked up 118 yards rushing on 17 carries and one major.

    Fifth-year veteran quarterback Jared Andreychuk connected on 13-of-18 passes for 244 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Receiver Jason Price hauled in six passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

    Defensive back Logan Bitz topped the Toppers with seven tackles, while safety James Vause had an interception and a fumble recovery.

    On Saturday, the Hilltops return to action with a key battle against the Regina Thunder (3-1) at 7 p.m. at SMF Field. Both teams are chasing the Colts (4-0) for first in the Prairie Football Conference.
    Before tangling with the Thunders, the Hilltops are hosting their Potashcorp Scholarship Dinner at SMF Field. Gates open at 4:15 p.m. and dinner follows at 5:15 p.m. with Saskatchewan Roughriders great George Reed as the guest speaker and a pre-game address by Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

    Following Saturday’s game, the Hilltops play three of their final four games on the road. That stretch includes traveling to Kelowna, B.C., on Sept. 17 for a clash that counts in the regular season standings with the Okanagan Sun, who the Hilltops beat 38-24 in last year’s Canadian Bowl. The Sun currently top the British Columbia Football Conference with a 6-0 mark.

Blades announce more Howe day details

The Gordie Howe statue in front of the SaskTel Centre.

    During a press conference on Tuesday, the Saskatoon Blades announced more details of their “Thank You, Mr. Hockey” day.

    Before their regular season home opener on Sept. 25 against the Swift Current Broncos, the Blades will honour one of the greatest hockey players of all-time in the late Gordie Howe. Howe passed away on June 10 at age 88.

    Hockey Night in Canada broadcasting legend Bob Cole will serve as host of a special 25-minute pre-game ceremony, which is slated to begin at 2 p.m. The Blades will wear special Howe themed jerseys for the contest and stickers on their helmets bearing Howe’s signature.

    The Blades are also bringing in trophies Howe won from the Hockey Hall of Fame to be put on display. The first 6,000 people inside the rink will get special Howe themed items.

    The day begins with a private ceremony at the Howe statue outside the SaskTel Centre for his family at 9:30 a.m. The cremated remains of Gordie and his wife Colleen Howe will be interred at the statue. City officials and the provincial government pushed through special approval to allow the statue to serve as a cemetery.

    After the ceremony, the Howe family will make their way to the newly built Circle Drive South Bridge, which is being named the Gordie Howe Bridge.

    All four of Gordie and Colleen’s children will be in the city for all the day’s activities.

    Blades president Steve Hogle has and is working extremely hard to pull the special events on this day together. This will definitely be the must-see Blades game of the year.

    If you have any comments you would like to make about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Expect Blades to hit homer with Howe day

The Gordie Howe statue in front of the SaskTel Centre.

    The Saskatoon Blades have mastered the art of the emotional tribute since coming under the ownership of Mike Priestner, and their upcoming regular season home opener might provide the biggest challenge to date in this department.

    The brain trust of the local WHL franchise is planning a “Thank You, Mr. Hockey” day, when the Blades open their home regular season schedule against the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Of course, the Blades will be honouring one of the greatest hockey players of all time in the late Gordie Howe. Howe, who was born in a farmhouse in Floral, Sask., and moved to Saskatoon at age 9, passed away earlier this year on June 10 at age 88.

    It is expected that cremated remains of Gordie and his wife, Colleen, will be interred in front of the SaskTel Centre by the Gordie Howe statue. This will occur if the Government of Saskatchewan approves designating the Gordie Howe statue and a small piece of land around it a cemetery. Colleen Howe passed away on March 6, 2009.

    Saskatoon city council has begun the process of applying to the province regarding the special designation for the Gordie Howe statue.

    Currently, the plan for the festivities on Sept. 25 will see the cremated remains of both Gordie and Colleen be interred during a private ceremony at the statue. From there, the Howe family will make their way to the newly built Circle Drive South Bridge, which is being renamed the Gordie Howe Bridge.

    The day’s events will then shift back to the SaskTel Centre for a special pre-game ceremony. All four of Gordie and Colleen’s children will be in the city for all the day’s activities.

    At the moment, the pre-game ceremony is slated to be 25 minutes in length. The Blades will also unveil other special initiatives closer to Sept. 25, and some will be kept a surprise until game day.

    This will be a must attend Blades game. Anytime they have hosted a special pre-game ceremony with an emotional component it has been a hit.

    Some of the more notable ones include honouring former team member Nelson Nogier when he played is first game back in Saskatoon as a member of the Red Deer Rebels, rallying for La Loche this past January after a shooting occurred in that community and supporting Grade 2 student Naomi Lendvay, who is fighting stage four pediatric cancer.

    If you have seen the Blades host other pre-game ceremonies in the past, you can expect the one they hold to honour Gordie Howe will be pretty cool and emotional in a good way.

    The Blades have hinted a couple of former rivals and other special guests will be in attendance. For citizens in Saskatoon and area, this provides a chance to recognize a Canadian icon who really put the city on the map. When you bring up Gordie Howe’s name, there is no shortage of great stories and the ones that have already been told never lose their lustre when they are told again.

Hilltops get past first bump, face big challenge in Colts

RB Logan Fischer zips upfield for the Hilltops.

    The venerable Saskatoon Hilltops showed a bit of a hiccup regarding the after effects of losing 16 players to graduation after last season.

    On Sunday, the Hilltops traveled to Edmonton to face the Huskies jumping out to a 22-0 lead after the first quarter before the offence dried up for a bit. The defending Canadian Junior Football League champions held a commanding 22-3 at halftime, before the Huskies closed to within 22-20 early in the fourth quarter.

    Just when things looked in doubt, a couple of steady veterans came through. With 9:59 to play in the fourth quarter, fourth year running back Logan Fischer ran in his third touchdown of the day to put the Hilltops up 29-20. Fifth-year quarterback Jared Andreychuk added a rushing major of his own with under 30 seconds to play in the contest to give the Hilltops a 35-20 victory.

    Andreychuk completed 20 of 28 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown coming on a trick play throw to defensive lineman Tom Schnitzler. Defensive lineman Blake Hermann had a huge game with six tackles and three sacks in being named the defensive player of the week for the Prairie Football Conference.

    Normally, the Hilltops usually romp over the Huskies, but an improved Edmonton side was ready for a battle. When the dust settled, Saskatoon found a way to improve to 2-0, while the Huskies fell to 0-2.

    Now the Hilltops head into a showdown for first place in the PFC with the Calgary Colts (2-0) this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. This coming weekend will be a big one for the Hilltops as they celebrate their 70^th anniversary.

    The Toppers will be hold special functions in the days leading up to the game with the Colts, where all the Hilltops alumni in attendance will be introduced at halftime.

    When the Hilltops hit a rough stretch, you have to love how Tom Sargeant says first the coaching staff, including himself, have to find ways to be better in order to help their players be better. You can bet the Toppers intensity will be up at practice to ensure the team adds a capper to what will be a memorable weekend.

Huskies QB of the future looks good

QB Mason Nyhus slings a pass for the Huskies.

    While all eyes are focused on who the University of Saskatchewan Huskies will start at quarterback in the present, their likely signal caller of the future showed the team doesn’t have to worry about depth at that position.

    On Saturday at Griffiths Stadium, rookie Mason Nyhus, who just graduated from Regina’s Riffel High School, was firing lasers all over the field, when his turn came up to take snaps under centre for the Huskies in a controlled scrimmage against the University of Alberta Golden Bears. The youngster looked fairly composed and showed off some good chemistry with fellow rookie receiver in Ben Getzlaf, who just graduated from Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School.

    Nyhus comes to the Huskies as a highly touted prospect. He quarterbacked Saskatchewan’s provincial team to a bronze medal win at the 2015 Football Canada Cup in Saint Jean, Que.

    At the International Bowl series that ran Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 in Arlington, Texas, Nyhus was calling signals for Canada’s under-18 team. In July, Nyhus was a member of Canada’s Junior National Team that won the International Federation of American Football under-19 World Championship in Harbin, China.

    With the Huskies, Nyhus won’t be thrown to the fire right away. The training camp battle for the starting quarterback spot is between Drew Burko, who is in his fifth year, and Kyle Siemens, who is in his third year.

    A year ago, Burko was the incumbent starter for the Huskies, but he lost job as the team struggled. Burko threw nine interceptions in six starts.

    Siemens finished the year starting the Huskies final two regular season games and their Canada West Conference semifinal playoff loss to the University of Calgary Dinos. The Huskies were 3-5 in regular season play in 2015 after going 6-2 in 2014.

    The Huskies open the 2016 regular season against the University of Regina Rams on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.

    Nyhus will be able to learn the ropes at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport level playing behind Burko and Siemens, which will include learning how to balance school work with athletes. The first day of classes is usually a shocker for first-year students. Under a different set of circumstances, Nyhus might even be able to start as a rookie.

    With that said, rookie starting quarterbacks usually get beat up at the CIS level. During Saturday’s controlled scrimmage, Nyhus wasn’t going to see all the different looks the Golden Bears defence has or face all of U of A’s starters at once.

    Nyhus will have the benefit of being able to become a successor in two to three years. If the business major puts in his work getting physically stronger, becoming a student of the game and tackling his studies in the classroom, he will shine one day.

    If the unthinkable happens that both Burko and Siemens are lost to injury at the same time, Nyhus will likely be a capable fill in.

Hockey Huskies load up on WHL grads

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey is loading with some major WHL talent as they attempt to defend their Canada West title.

    On Wednesday, the Huskies announced they have added 10 former WHL veterans to their roster. The additions include forwards Alex Forsberg, Connor Gay, Wyatt Johnson, Elliott Peterson, Carson Stadnyk, Colton Stephenson and Jordan Tkatch. On defence, the Huskies added Colby Harmsworth and Tanner Lishchynsky, while goaltender Daniel Wapple rounds out the recruiting class.

    Before Wednesday’s announcement, a prominent alumnus of the Huskies men’s hockey team told me this class was going to be really good, and he wasn’t kidding. At forward, the Huskies could easily create a new first line from their first-year players.

    Forsberg’s addition will likely turn out to be a huge one. The brother of Huskies defenceman Jesse Forsberg, Alex’s major junior career started out on a slow pace being shouldered with prodigy status as the first overall selection in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft by the Prince George Cougars.

    He was eventually picked up by the Saskatoon Blades for the start of the 2014-15 campaign and regained his confidence recording 13 goals and 20 assists with “the Bridge City Bunch” in 36 games before being dealt to the Victoria Royals.

    Last season with the Royals, Forsberg finished ninth in league scoring collecting 31 goals, 60 assists and a plus-22 rating in the plus-minus department in 71 regular season games. The Waldheim, Sask., product’s best hockey is likely still ahead of him and not behind him.

    Gay finished up his WHL career last season leading his hometown Blades in scoring with 25 goals and 47 assists in 70 regular season games. That marked the second straight season he has 20 or more goals in a WHL campaign.

    Stadnyk will join the Huskies after participating in Edmonton Oilers rookie camp. Last season, Stadnyk, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 185 pounds, had 21 goals, 28 assists and a plus-13 rating in 71 regular season games with the Everett Silvertips.

    Harmsworth was the Hitmen’s overage captain last season, when he collected two goals, 11 assists and a plus-three rating in 67 regular season games. During his four seasons with the Hitmen, the Saskatoon product, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 193 pounds, was a steady defensive defenceman.

    Wapple, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 174 pounds, played for both the Regina Pats and Vancouver Giants last season as an overager before finishing up the 2015-16 campaign in junior A with the Estevan Bruins of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Saskatoon product’s most memorable WHL season came in 2014-15 when he posted a 29-15-10 record, a 3.03 goals against average and a .906 save percentage in 56 appearances with the Pats.

    He will provide a solid goaltending partner with starting netminder Jordon Cooke. If Cooke ends up being lost due to injury for a lengthy stretch, Wapple provides a strong insurance policy.

    With these additions, the ancient Rutherford Rink will likely be rocking, when the Huskies open their regular season against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.

Slobodzian commits to UND

Willow Slobodzian has committed to the Fighting Hawks.

    Saskatoon Stars gifted offensive defender Willow Slobodzian has already found a home for her university career.

    On Sunday via Twitter, the 16-year-old announced her commitment to join the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks women’s team. The Clavet, Sask., product still isn’t eligible to play at the university level for another two years.

    Last season, Slobodzian won the Colleen Sostorics award as the top defender in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League recording six goals and 13 assists in 28 regular season games.     Slobodzian was a key part in helping the Stars win back-to-back league titles in 2015 and 2016, which included advancing to the Esso Cup national championship tournament in both years. The Stars captured a bronze medal in 2015 and finished fourth in 2016.

    Slobodzian attended the selection camp for Canada’s under-18 women’s team early this month, and she suited up for Canada in a three game series against the United States picking up one assist.

    The Fighting Hawks definitely landed a gem with Slobodzian’s commitment. Very few players even in the university ranks can equal her smooth skating stride, her accurate blast from the point, her uncanny playmaking ability and her sound play in the defensive zone.

    If she keeps improving, she definitely has the potential to play at the highest level one day on the international stage.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.