Captain Christensen will forever cherish his Raiders days

Justice Christensen salutes the Art Hauser Centre faithful on Friday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Justice Christensen didn’t want to think about his time ending with the Prince Albert Raiders until that moment actually happened.

That moment came to pass on Friday before a sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the storied and historic 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders dropped a 7-2 decision to the visiting Everett Silvertips in Game 5 of the WHL Championship Series. With that win, the Silvertips took the best-of-seven set 4-1 and will play in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.

Christensen wanted the final goodbyes to come after a WHL title win, a trip to Kelowna, B.C. for the Memorial Cup and a championship win at that event. Instead, Christensen took a final lap in front of the Raiders faithful being named to the game’s three stars along with Raiders overage star forwards Brayden Dube and Aiden Oiring.

“It has been incredible,” said Christensen, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 191 pounds. “I think the reason why I’m so emotional right now is because of the memories and the journey I’ve been through to get here.

Justice Christensen played all four of his WHL seasons with the Raiders.

“To spend four years on the same team is something not many people get to say. That I was able to spend four years here and be a captain for two and just have so many memories, it was great. I couldn’t say a bad thing about my time in P.A.”

Christensen arrived with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent before the start of the 2022-23 campaign. The reliable defenceman was named the team’s captain before the start of the 2024-25 season.

The Red Deer, Alta., product played four full seasons with the team appearing in 263 career regular season contests recording 148 points off 55 goals and 93 assists to go with a plus-22 rating in the plus-minus department. Christensen suited up for 36 career games in the WHL Playoffs recording 20 points coming off six goals and 14 assists to go with a plus-one rating.

In the 2025-26 campaign, Christensen skated in 63 regular season contests posting 48 points off 18 goals and 40 assists to go with a plus-36 rating. His totals in assists, points and plus-minus were all career highs. Christensen suited up in all the Raiders games in the 2026 WHL Playoffs recording 14 points coming off five goals and nine assists to go with a plus-seven rating.

Justice Christensen marks scoring his final WHL goal on Friday.

As captain, Christensen helped the Raiders win an East Division title in 2024-25 posting a 39-23-5-1 mark in the regular season. In 2025-26, Christensen played a key role in helping the Raider win another East Division title and place second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark in the regular season. In the post-season, the Raiders won their first Eastern Conference title since 2019, but they were unable to duplicate the WHL championship win from that campaign.

Christensen said the Raiders returning players will come back with a tremendous experience from the deep run in the 2026 WHL Playoffs.

“It is a huge thing to learn from,” said Christensen. “Obviously, right now, we’re experience the heartbreak.

“Everything in this championship series from media and all the kind of perks and flying to the games in Everett, things like that, it is something you’ll never forget. It is a really good experience for the guys. To get through here to the fourth round is pretty special for those guys, and they’ll be able to build on that for sure.”

The Art Hauser Centre faithful cheer Justice Christensen’s final goal.

For Christensen, his best memories of the run came from beating the then defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tiger in six games in the Eastern Conference final. The Tigers swept the Raiders in an Eastern Conference semifinal series in the 2025 WHL Playoffs. The rearguard said one unique aspect from the WHL final stands out for him.

“I think being able to fly to Everett,” said Christensen. “That is kind of what we’ve always talked about.

“We bus all year, and then, we get to fly in the finals. To go through that, I think that is a huge memory and beating out Medicine Hat. They took us out last year and went on to win it.

“For us to beat them in the third round to get into the finals was a big one as well.”

Justice Christensen had 148 points in 263 career regular season games.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald appreciates everything Christensen brought to the team. McDonald was a Raiders assistant coach when Christensen joined the team and got to see the blue-liner become a career WHL member with the team.

“He is the ultimate warrior,” said McDonald. “He is a tremendous leader.

“His compete level is second to none. The way he prepares, the way he treats his body, recovers, the way he plays the game out there, he plays extremely honest. It has just been a pleasure to coach him for the last four years.

“He is just an absolute tremendous young man. He is going to continue to do bright things in the future.”

Justice Christensen starts a final lap at the Art Hauser Centre.

On April 9, Christensen signed a two-year contract with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, who are an affiliate with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. He attended Red Wings training camp in the fall of 2025 before returning to the Raiders for his final major junior campaign.

As his hockey journey will continue in the professional ranks, Christensen will always have a soft spot for the Raiders faithful. Prince Albert picked up the “Hockey Town North” nickname thanks to the support the Raiders got from their fans and that nickname spread to all levels of the game in that northern Saskatchewan centre.

“The support that you guys have, the community that is built here in P.A. and the way you guys rally around our team, it has been incredible,” said Christensen, who scored his final WHL goal in Friday’s loss. “Thank you guys.”

Christensen said he wanted to take some time making some final rounds in Prince Albert before departing to Red Deer.

“I’ll spend some time here,” said Christensen. “(I have) lots of memories and stuff with billet families and all the teammates that have been here and lots of friends and family and whoever will still be here.

Justice Christensen gives fist bumps to young fans along the glass.

“I’ll definitely stick around for a couple of days to see them.”

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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Christensen’s return brings extra poise to Raiders back end

Justice Christensen in action for the Raiders on October 4.

Isn’t it great to have Justice Christensen back.

The 20-year-old captain and star defenceman returned to the Raiders on September 30 after attending training camp with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. While the Raiders have been playing strong in the early going posting a 6-0-1 record, Christensen’s poise has been so noticeable in the three games he has played this season.

While he isn’t the biggest player on the back end standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 191 pounds, Christensen has been a presence along the Raiders blue line, and it feels like there is an extra sense of security when he is back there. Of course, the best aspect of having Christensen back is his ability to score goals.

On October 8, all Raiders fans would have to admit it was a tonne of fun seeing Christensen score a pair of power-play goals off point shot blasts 23 seconds apart from each other in a 6-0 home ice victory over the Vancouver Giants. “Juice” had the “Juice Bomb” going once again at the Art Hauser Centre.

Last Friday, Christensen netted his third goal of the season joining in on an offensive rush against the Kamloops Blazers. He tipped home a shot from Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead, and they would claim a 5-2 victory at the Hauser on that night.

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

“Babs” coming home to coach Huskies and it is good

Mike Babcock pictured in a Sports Illustrated from 2010.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies blew up the Internet and some social media lines early Saturday afternoon.

As the lunch hour started in Saskatchewan, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that all-world coach Mike Babcock was expected to be announced as the new head coach for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team in the coming week.

Just short of an hour later, Huskie Athletics put out a release that Babcock, who grew up in Saskatoon and is a graduate of Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School, will indeed become the Huskies next head coach.

Babcock will lead the Huskies on a full-time volunteer basis for the next two seasons.

Babcock will be taking over for legendary Huskies head coach Dave Adolph, who announced on Dec. 7, 2020 that he would be retiring. Adolph, who holds the U Sports career record for coaching victories at 488, will officially retire on May 1, and Babcock will take over the head coach role from that point.

In an interview with Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Babcock said he was a transfer coach and his goal was to work with Dave King, who is still the greatest coach the Huskies men’s team has ever had, and a hiring committee to find a new long-term head coach for the program.

Babcock, who has been working as a studio analyst for NHL broadcasts produced by NBC Sports, also stressed to Mitchell that he wants to win in the short term.

Babcock’s coaching career is long and distinguished. It began back in 1988, when he was head coach of the Red Deer College Kings men’s hockey team that plays out of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association.

The highlights of the 57-year-old’s time behind the bench include guiding the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings to a Stanley Cup title in 2008.

Mike Babcock shown in a Sports Illustrated from 2010.

He coached Canada’s men’s hockey team to gold medal wins at the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014. In 2018, Babcock became a member of the Order of Hockey in Canada.

Babcock played one season on defence for the Huskies way back in 1981-82 and received an honourary doctor of Laws from the U of S in 2016.

As impressive as all those accomplishments are, Babcock’s best work as a coaching likely took place during the 1993-94 season, when he was the head coach of the now defunct University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team.

With the Pronghorns not having that much success in their history, Babcock guided them to a first place finish in the Canada West Conference with a regular season record of 19 wins, seven losses and two ties. The Pronghorns moved on to down the University of Guelph Gryphons 5-2 in the U Sports national championship game to capture the David Johnston University Cup at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

Babcock and his wife, Maureen, have often returned to Saskatoon and visited the Emma Lake area during summer months in the off-season. The bench boss was often involved in community fundraisers including one for the Leslie & Irene Dube Urology Centre of Health at St. Paul’s Hospital in 2014 and the One Voice fundraiser to raise money for the Neural Health Project at the U of Saskatchewan in 2015.

The hope of the Neural Health Project is to develop a more complete approach to the treatment of mental illness through a combination of conventional and alternative therapies. Babcock had a big hand in helping raise over $1-million at the One Voice fundraiser held on July 24, 2015 at TCU Place.

Collin Shirley is tabbed to return to the Huskies.

When Babcock comes back to town to take over the Huskies, it is safe to say the residents in Saskatoon and area and dare I say the province of Saskatchewan will be treating the return like a homecoming.

It was also noticeable that the last team Babcock coached in the NHL was the Toronto Maple Leafs for four complete seasons and a partial fifth campaign from 2015 to 2019. The Leafs fired Babcock on Nov. 20, 2019 with the team having lost six straight games to sit at 9-10-4.

In the aftermath of the firing, media reports came out that Maple Leafs right-winger Mitch Marner was asked to rank his teammates in order of how hard he though they worked back in his rookie campaign in 2016-17 by Babcock. Babcock later revealed the list to Marner’s teammates.

Babcock confirmed that report, expressed regret asking Marner to participate in something like that wasn’t a good idea and apologized to Marner at the time.

Shortly after the situation with Marner’s rookie season became public, Swedish right-winger Johan Franzen, who played for Babcock in Detroit, accused the bench boss of verbally abusing him. Chris Chelios, who is one of the all-time top defencemen to play in the NHL and one of Franzen’s former teammates, said the verbal abuse to Franzen did happen.

Chelios believed Babcock didn’t treat some of the Red Wings veterans well and dropped criticism there.

Within 50 minutes of the Huskies posting a Twitter post on Babcock’s hiring, the post attracted 65 responses and 151 quote retweets. Most of the responses had harsh words for the hiring, but most didn’t appear to come from Twitter handles from Saskatoon and area.

Evan Fiala is expected to return to the Huskies back end.

Some of the handles seemed to campaign to get Babcock fired before he even arrives in Saskatoon.

Other harsh responses were troll type comments putting down the quality of play in U Sports. On that front, the truth is U Sports is indeed a high-quality league when it comes to competition and the level of play in men’s and women’s hockey is quite outstanding.

Usually in most cases, Huskie Athletics might get five replies at most to a Twitter post.

The quote retweets on the Babcock post were more split in reaction.

On the Huskies Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, a sizable number of the likes were from accounts I recognize from Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.

I personally believe those situations that were talked about in the aftermath of Babcock’s firing from the Maple Leafs are not that big of a deal. I believe a lot of the troll comments are from ultra-passionate Maple Leafs fans who can’t get over the fact their team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967.

Babcock apologized in the Marner case and it is impossible for any coach to be liked by every single player he or she has coached.

In the case of Chelios, he built a reputation for running his mouth over his hockey career, so him not having anything nice to say is not new.

On a personal front, Babcock has always been great to me. I moved to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014, and we had lengthy visits at the fundraiser for St. Paul’s Hospital in 2014 and the One Voice fundraiser in 2015.

Our talks mostly revolved around stories regarding mutual friends in hockey. Even in our first meeting, I was comfortable enough to talk with him about the issues with anxiety I dealt with, when they arose when I worked as a sports reporter with the Medicine Hat News in 2012.

Layne Young was a breakout forward with the Huskies in 2019-20.

When I first met Babcock, I didn’t talk to a lot of people about that subject. He was very empathetic and understanding, which led to me attending the One Voice fundraiser.

The One Voice fundraiser in 2015 was one of the best and most positive energy nights out I’ve ever had in my life.

For anyone that battled mental health issues, that night at the One Voice fundraiser was basically the night out we needed.

I believe Babcock has come to help the Huskies out of the goodness of his heart.

Let me repeat myself, I believe Babcock has come to help the Huskies out of the goodness of his heart.

Saskatoon is a community he cares a lot about, and he has a lot of ties to this community. He wants to help get the Huskies going with some positive momentum, when U Sports returns from its pause that started in March of 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The ultra-passionate fan type trolls elsewhere can say what they want, but I am confident enough to say that view isn’t shared by most of those in Saskatoon or Saskatchewan as a province.

Babcock coming to coach the Huskies is a great homecoming moment for “The Bridge City.”

When he gets here, I believe he will enjoy working with some quality returnees and high-character players like Collin Shirley, Evan Fiala and Layne Young. It should be noted the last time the Huskies skated on home ice they won the Canada West Conference title back on Feb. 29, 2020 at Merlis Belsher Place.

The Huskies celebrate their 2020 Canada West title win.

Right now, all that needs to be said on Babcock’s front is, “Welcome home coach, and we wish you the best of luck.”

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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The time I psyched myself out interviewing “Mr. Hockey”

A Gordie Howe card from the 1980s.

Till this day, the only time I really psyched myself out for an interview as when I talked to “Mr. Hockey.”

That day came way back 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.

The assignment was something each of us worked on between the daily stories we typed out. Between working on daily stories, you phoned some of the most well-known persons in the province and asked what their plan was for New Year’s Eve.

I tracked down a number of person’s from the sports world including Saskatchewan Roughriders greats Don Narcisse and Bob Poley. At that time, I already knew both personally.

 I decided to see if it was possible to track down all-time hockey icon Gordie Howe, who was nicknamed “Mr. Hockey.”

Howe was born just outside of Saskatoon in Floral and grew up in “The Bridge City.”

He has since passed away on June 10, 2016 at age 88.

Through the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, I got contact info for Howe’s publicist, who set up the interview. The publicist gave me a time for when Howe was to call.

I had never talked to Howe in my life. As the time neared for the phone call, 23-year-old me, who sometimes felt indestructible at that age, started to get nervous.

A Gordie Howe card from the early 1990s.

The whole star stuck thing started to happen and I kept repeating in my head, “Oh my God. I am going to talk to Gordie Howe.”

With Howe having played 32 seasons of professional hockey in the NHL and the defunct WHA from 1946 to 1980, he was looked up to by hockey fans from a number of generations. That included my father, Dan Steinke, who passed away in January of 2004.

A number of my dad’s hockey stories about Howe danced through my head.

Normally when I interview athletes from the sports world including those that have significant profiles, I usually act like I already know them, and I act pretty much like you would see me on the street.

In this case, the star profile got to me.

I kept thinking in my head, “I have to refer to him as Mr. Howe to show respect.”

Howe called at the time the publicist said he would.

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.

This was the one time I most remember being in awe of the celebrity of a person.

In late November of 1999, Howe had surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his left shin. Since only a handful of weeks had passed since that had happened, I vaguely remember starting the interview making joke about that.

A Gordie Howe card from the 1990s.

I don’t think I knew how to act to that, and I remember being caught off guard.

Whatever I said, Howe chucked and proceeded to give the more serious answer. The way he talked just had the best tone to it that it made you feel all good and tingly inside.

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.

“Nothin concrete. We’re just laid back, like we were in Saskatchewan.”

I remember thanking him for doing the short interview. It felt like I could have actually talked to him for way a lot longer than I did.

I was so awestruck and wanted to be polite about his time that I didn’t. Looking back now, I wish I would have kept the interview going.

I kept that interview tape for some time. It is possible it is still buried with the old interview tapes I have stored away.

I crossed paths with Howe at the 2007 Memorial Cup in Vancouver, B.C., when I was a beat writer covering the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers for the Medicine Hat News. I was so life consumed with covering the Tigers at that event that I didn’t get to talk to Howe.

I met a number of his family members in September of 2016, when the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades hosted a “Thank You, Mr. Hockey Day” for their home opener.

The ashes of Gordie and those of his wife, Colleen Howe, were interred at the base of the Gordie Howe statue that sits outside the SaskTel Centre.

The StarPhoenix from December 31, 1999.

I spent the whole second period of that hockey game visiting with Mark Howe and Morris Lukowich in one of the SaskTel Centre dressing rooms at ice level after a media event held during the first intermission.

I got to visit with Corey Howe and the Saskatoon lady he would later marry in Davis (Parkinson) Howe a couple of times that weekend. Corey was raised in Ohio and relocated to Saskatoon due to his romance with Davis.

All the Howe family members were down to earth and had pretty good senses of humour too. It really made me wish I hadn’t psyched myself out over the phone with Gordie all those years back.

Still, the memory of how awestruck I was during that short phone chat with Gordie in December of 1999 makes me smile and chuckle to this day.

Raiders’ Guhle signs with Les Canadiens, other notes

Kaiden Guhle has signed with the Canadiens.

Kaiden Guhle didn’t have to wait long after the NHL Entry Draft to sign his first contract in the big league.

On Tuesday, the 18-year-old defenceman with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens. Just two weeks earlier on October 6, the Canadiens selected Guhle in the first round and 16^th overall in the NHL Entry Draft.

The NHL Entry Draft was held via video conference call from the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, as opposed to being live in an NHL centre due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Last season as a 17-year-old sophomore, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 184 pounds, appeared in all of the Raiders 64 regular season games piling up 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-23 rating.

The Sherwood Park, Alta., product appeared in 65 regular season games in 2018-19 as a 16-year-old rookie posting three goals, 14 assists and a plus-17 rating. He focused more on playing a defensive role on a defensive starting six where the other five members were all 19-year-old veterans helping the Raiders with a WHL Championship.

As a blue-liner, Guhle has a special blend of talents very few have.

Back in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft, the Raiders selected the gifted offensive-defenceman first overall in the first round.

Guhle was one of the two players the Raiders had selected first round in this past NHL Entry Draft and proceeded to sign three-year NHL entry-level contract.

This past Friday, Raiders right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks selected Wiesblatt in the first round and 31^st overall in the NHL Entry Draft.

• Nelson Nogier, a graduate of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and Red Deer Rebels, resigned with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets inking a two-year, two-way contract on October 14. The defensive-defenceman has played his four career seasons in the professional ranks in the Jets system. Last season, Nogier spent the entire campaign with the Jets AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, appearing in 58 regular season games collecting one goal, eight assists and 45 minutes in penalties.
• Rugged right-winger and Regina product JC Lipon recently wrote an article in The Park Journal detailing the journey of his hockey career. The Park Journal is a first-person account media platform similar to The Players’ Tribune. Lipon talked about his rise to star status with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers and how he got shuffled and slotted in the AHL ranks skating in the system of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets for seven seasons. Lipon is now playing in the KHL with Dinamo Riga. The piece he wrote can be found by clicking right here.
• Kevin Nastiuk, who is a former star goaltender with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and was a member of their 2004 WHL Championship team, has started a new goaltender training company called Nastiuk Goaltending. Nastiuk had a lengthy career in the North America’s minor professional ranks and in the professional game in Europe. His goaltender training company website can be found at NastiukGoaltending.com.
• On Monday, Lethbridge Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt celebrated his 60^th birthday. Since joining the Hurricanes in June of 2014, Anholt has twice won the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Executive of the Year including taking that honour for this past season.
• On Monday, Evan Hardy Collegiate Souls football team linebacker Zach Zary committed to joining the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team. Zary is an athlete who is talented in many sports. When he was a child, he wanted to play one of football, hockey or soccer for the Huskies. Zary’s father, Darren, is a long time ace sportswriter for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. As good as Darren is as a sportswriter, he is an all-star dad and his ability to be a good father exceeds his abilities as a sportswriter.
• On Wednesday, the University of Calgary Dinos football team announced Bailey Taylor had joined their program as a defensive back. Taylor was a rookie running back with the Saskatoon Hilltops last season, and he helped them win a sixth straight CJFL title.
• On Wednesday, the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association cancelled all its winter championships in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in June, the CCAA cancelled all its fall championships and last month the CCAA/Curling Canada championship was cancelled. The CCAA won’t host any national championships for the 2020-21 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• News surfaced over the last two days that the Boston University Terriers athletics program has paused all in person practices and training due to an increase of COVID-19 cases on campus. The pause will be re-examined next week. The Terriers women’s hockey team include captain and Saskatoon product Nara Elia and Clavet, Sask., product and third-year forward Mackenna Parker. Elia and Parker are graduates of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA hockey team.

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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“No brainer” – Fiala named Blades new captain

Captain Evan Fiala, left, and HC Dean Brockman show off a third Pac-Man jersey.

    When it came time to speak to reporters about being named the new captain of his home area Saskatoon Blades, Evan Fiala was hit with a case of the nerves.

    “My stomach is still not settled here,” said Fiala. “Obviously, it feels good that is for sure.”

    The 20-year-old product of Clavet, Sask., which is located just outside of Saskatoon, was named the 58^th captain in Blades team history during a press conference at Merlin Ford Lincoln on Tuesday, where the club also unveiled their new third alternate Pac-Man jersey. The gritty, stay-at-home defenceman became the first to put on and wear the new alternate jersey during the press conference’s festivities.

    The Blades acquired Fiala in a trade last December shortly before the WHL Christmas break from the Spokane Chiefs. In 70 games split between the Chiefs and Blades last season, Fiala recorded four goals, 15 assists, a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department and 139 penalty minutes.

    Growing up in the Saskatoon area and being well liked in the community, Fiala said it was special to be named captain of the Blades.

    “It is a huge honour that is for sure,” said Fiala, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 212 pounds. “Every guy would love to have that.

    “With our team, it is not a big deal that is for sure. We have a lot of good guys who are more than capable. It is a pleasure to wear it that is for sure.”

New Blades captain Evan Fiala puts on the team’s new Pac-Man jersey.

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman said his team did a complete evaluation when it came to deciding who would be the club’s captain. The bench boss noted his squad has some younger players who were deserving and had been with the Blades longer than Fiala.

    Even with that fact in mind, Brockman said Fiala was the obvious choice for the role.

    “When you are picking a captain, you want to check the boxes,” said Brockman. “He has certainly checked more than other guys.

    “He just plays the game with a lot of passion. He wears his heart on his sleeve all the time.

    “When you are watching him in practice or whether you are watching him in the gym or whether you are talking to him, it is just you can have that adult conversation and the tough conversation with him, and he never takes it the wrong way. When you are on the same page, it makes things a lot easier.”

    While Fiala was short-spoken during the press conference due to nerves, Brockman said the rugged rearguard does command the Blades dressing room, and the other players listen when he says something. The veteran coach said Fiala leads by example in showing strong traits for other players to emulate.

Evan Fiala shows off the front of a new jersey.

    “We talk about the passion that we want to play with and show our fans that we want to have a work ethic second to none,” said Brockman. “(Fiala) is just one example.

    “He is that contagious kind of guy. When you have a contagious kind of guy like that, you need him to be your leader and to do things right and do it every day, and that is the toughest part.

    “We just found that the connections that he makes with his teammates were second to none.”

    Fiala’s community links were another characteristic that led to him being named the captain of the Blades. Since arriving in Saskatoon, Fiala has been active in making all the Blades community appearances.

    “He knows the Saskatoon Blades,” said Brockman. “He knows the area. He knows how important it is for us to have this team bigger in the community, bigger in events.”

    The Blades haven’t had a captain since they sent centre Wyatt Sloboshan to the Chiefs in the deal to acquire Fiala. Sloboshan was subsequently traded to the Regina Pats on Jan. 2, after electing to not rejoin the Chiefs after the WHL Christmas break.

    Saskatoon finished the 2016-17 campaign with three players as assistant captains in now graduated defenceman Bryton Sayers, import defenceman Libor Hajek, who is now in his 19-year-old season, and winger Braylon Shmyr, who is now in his overage year. Hajek is taking part in training camp activities with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Brockman said the Blades are still deciding who their assistant captains will be for the 2017-18 campaign.

Evan Fiala shows off the back of a new jersey.

    Last season, the Blades posted a 28-35-7-2 record to sit five points behind the Calgary Hitmen (30-32-8-2), who finished eighth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and earned the conference’s final playoff berth.

    “I know everyone from last year saw that we were that close,” said Fiala. “If we have a whole year like we did that second half, we will be just fine.”

    The rearguard described what type of passion he would like his side to play with to earn their first playoff appearance since 2013.

    “We’re coming out every game, and we are going to take that win from you that is for sure,” said Fiala.

    Besides being named the Blades captain, Fiala departs for the main training camp of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. He heads to camp as an undrafted and unsigned invite. Wings camp starts Friday and runs through to Tuesday in Traverse City, Mich., and Fiala heads to that camp with some positive momentum.

    “I felt it was important to send him off on a good note and to tell everybody whether it is Detroit or whoever is watching that he is a great leader,” said Brockman. “Those are the attributes you have to look forward to seeing.

    “I think he is the type of kid that if he goes there and plays well we feel we want him to stay there. Internally, I don’t want him to, but for his sake, we hope he goes there and does well. This is just a step in the direction to playing where we think he can play.”

    Fiala attended Wings development camp back in July, and he is looking forward to main camp, where he will attempt to turn heads to earn an NHL contract.

New Blades captain Evan Fiala speaks to reporters during a scrum.

    “It is a lot coming at me at once,” said Fiala. “I’m excited for it all. I’m ready for it.

    “Everyone who is there is obviously a good hockey player, so I am trying to take a little bit from everybody.”

    Fiala is one of four overage players the Blades have on their roster including centre Cameron Hebig, Shmyr and goaltender Logan Flodell. WHL clubs have to cut down to three overage players on Oct. 10.

    The Blades, who have a 3-2 record in the pre-season, close their exhibition schedule on Saturday, when they travel to Edmonton to take on the Oil Kings. They open their regular season schedule on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre against the Swift Current Broncos. The Blades plan to celebrate their return to their Pac-Man look at their home opener.

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

Expect Blades’ Fiala to get real look from Red Wings

Evan Fiala zips down the ice for the Blades.

    The Saskatoon Blades man with the giant smile might be sitting on a giant opportunity.

    On Friday, the team announced rugged defensive defenceman and local area product Evan Fiala received an invite to the development camp of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. The camp start this coming Friday and runs through to July 11 in Traverse City, Michigan.

    There are a number of cases where an NHL development camp invite means a player is showing up to be a camp body. When you show up at a Red Wings camp, that isn’t the case.

    The Red Wings are one NHL team that has a reputation for finding players all over the map. Those that show up at a Detroit camp will receive an honest evaluation and have an actual shot to make that organization.

    Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 205 pounds, Fiala has the physical gifts most scouts look for in a defensive defenceman. After spending about two-and-a-half seasons with the Spokane Chiefs, Fiala came to the Blades last season in a trade around the middle of last December.

    Playing just over half a season with the Blades, he logged a lot of minutes, and he really helped “the Bridge City Bunch” play a lot more sound in their own zone. Between the Chiefs and the Blades, Fiala appeared in 70 regular season games posting four goals, 15 assists, 139 penalty minutes and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Fiala rarely gets flustered on the ice. Actually, he seems to always carry a huge smile no matter what he is doing, which includes battling in the corner or in front of the net. He even wears his big grin in fights.

Evan Fiala controls the puck at the point for the Blades.

    The 20-year-old is one of those old school character players that always feels it is great day to be at the rink. It is fun attitude the mirrors former enforcers like the late Dave Semenko of the Edmonton Oilers, who recently passed away of pancreatic cancer, Grant McNeill of the Prince Albert Raiders or Blades tough guy Darcy Hordichuk.

    Fiala is one of those players that is front and centre in doing community appearances for the Blades. He has made a few of those in the off-season along with teammate Gage Ramsay, who is another local product.

    The development camp invite won’t be a new experience for Fiala. He attended the development camp for the NHL’s Florida Panthers in 2015, so that experience should help a little going into the Red Wings development camp.

    If Fiala can earn a rookie camp invite or a main training camp invite, that would be another huge bonus.

    No matter what happens on the NHL front, the likelihood if fairly high Fiala will be one of the Blades three overage players next season as a key part of the club’s blue-line. At the moment, the Blades don’t have any other defencemen who are entering their 20-year-old season, which makes Fiala’s presence that much more valuable.

    Fiala is a strong character player who has worked hard at his game, so it is always good when that work and positive outlook results in any NHL opportunities.

Canada put up fight in final in football women’s worlds

Canada earned silver on home soil in Langley on June 30 #WWC17ca https://t.co/yHoj6zotcO pic.twitter.com/FpBQAiNyzv

— Football Canada (@FootballCanada) July 1, 2017

    Canada’s National women’s football team didn’t get the upset win they were seeking, but they gained a measure of respect.

    On Friday in Langley, B.C., the Canada took on the powerhouse United States in the gold medal game of the International Federation of American Football Women’s World Championship tournament. Canada put up a big fight, before the United States pulled away 41-16 victory.

    The Canadian side led 3-0 for a short time when Carly Dyck, who plays for the Saskatoon Valkyries, booted a 38-yard field goal in the game’s first quarter. The United States stormed back to score the next 21 straight points to push ahead 21-3.

    Right before halftime, Canadian quarterback Aimee Kowalski hit sister Alex Kowalski with a 39-yard bomb pass for a touchdown to pull Canada to within 21-9. Both are members of the WWCFL champion Regina Riot.

    Early in the third quarter, the United States push its lead out to 27-9. Canada answered back with a defensive score, when U.S. quarterback Lisa Horton fumbled the ball, and Canadian defensive back Becky Heninger, who plays for the Calgary Rage, recovered it and ran 76 yards for a major to cut the United States lead to 27-16.

    The United States rounded out the scoring with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away for good.

    Canada opened the tournament with a 31-6 victory over Australia on June 24. They blanked Great Britain 35-0 last Tuesday to advance to the gold medal game.

    A total of seven members from the Valkyries were members of the Canadian team including Dyck, Julene Friesen, Samantha Matheson, Alyssa Funk, Jaime Lammerding, Shaylyn de Jong and Beth Thomson. A total of nine members from the Riot were part of the Canadian side including the two Kowalski sisters, Carman Agar, Ashley Viklund, Claire Dore, Katie Hungle, Emilie Belanger, Artemis Kouropoulou and Adrienne Zuck.

    The United States claimed the other two world tournament held in 2013 in Finland and 2010 in Sweden.

    Mexico downed Great Britain in Friday’s bronze medal game 19-8.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along 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.

Gordie’s legend lives on

A Gordie Howe card from the early 1990s.

   Gordie Howe keeps finding a way to elbow Father Time to the ground.
   "Mr. Hockey" was back in his hometown area on Friday as the guest of honour for the 55^th annual Saskatoon Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner. He is from Floral, Sask., which is a small town just south of Saskatoon. The crowd at TCU Place gave him a warm and loud standing ovation, when he appeared to take his seat at the head table.
   For a moment in time, the people were engaged in hero worship of an 86-year-old hockey icon who always seemed larger than life. In all accounts, it was a miracle Howe was in Saskatoon at all on Friday.
   Late last year, Howe, who is already battling dementia, suffered two strokes that physically hampered his ability to do anything. The legendary right-winger with the Detroit Red Wings was taken to Mexico for stem-cell treatments, which involved spinal injections to help fine tune his motor skills. Howe's health improve dramatically, and he was able to get moving around well enough physically to be cleared to travel to Saskatoon.
   While his recovery to this point is amazing, a realistic awareness still existed of Howe's own mortality on this visit. The Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner was billed as Howe's final public appearance. Hockey legends like Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Hull and Brett Hull all flocked to the Bridge City.

A Gordie Howe card from the 1980s.

   A whole pile of national medial also descended on Saskatoon for the festivities. Most media were barred from the dinner itself, which also proved to be another sign that Howe's health wasn't the greatest.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The StarPhoenix in Saskatoon was one of the few media members allowed into the dinner. He wrote that Howe appeared overwhelmed by the mob of people that clamoured around him looking for the perfect mobile phone picture, when the man who played 32 professional seasons in both the NHL and WHA first appeared.
   Nugent-Bowman said Howe stumbled slightly and his son Murray took hold of him. Howe regained his balance and flashed a quick smile.
   If Howe had some difficulties there, you can only imagine what it would have been like had a horde of media followed his every move.
   Howe was looking good from pictures and videos that are available over various platforms from that night, but he also looked frail too. He definitely did not look like the man who took the ice in his final full professional season in 1979-80 to thunderous ovations dressing for the NHL's Hartford Whalers. Those ovations often turned to boos in opposing rinks, when at age 51 he would elbow an opponent and start an incident.
   He also collected 15 goals and 26 assists, while playing all 80 regular season games in that campaign for the Whalers, which is also mind-boggling to think about.

A Gordie Howe card from the 1990s.

   That was also the beauty of Gordie Howe. In fantasy, he was ageless. He was named the NHL's most valuable player six times, and after two years of his first retirement, he returned to play in the rebel WHA league for the 1973-74 season with the Houston Aeros to be teammates with sons Mark and Marty.
   After piling up 31 goals and 69 assists in 70 regular season games in that campaign, Gordie Howe was named the WHA's most valuable player. He helped the Aeros win the Avco Cup as league champions in 1974 and 1975.
   The visit in Saskatoon was a big nostalgia trip. For one night, all those that idolized Howe still saw him lighting up the scoreboard offensively, sticking up for his teammates when the going got rough and winning four Stanley Cup titles with the Red Wings. The night also saw Howe gain another honour as the Kinsmen Arena was renamed Gordie Howe Kinsmen Arena.
   It also seems everyone has their own story about meeting Gordie Howe.
   He might not be his best as far as health is concerned, but that hasn't diminished how he is viewed.
   As was seen on Friday night in Saskatoon, the image of Gordie Howe – the larger than life hero – lives on.

   If you have any feedback about this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.