Rush spectacle still there

NLL squad’s game nights remain a tonne of fun  

The Rush head to the SaskTel Centre turf for pre-game intros.

Saskatchewan Rush game nights are still the most entertaining put out by any sports organization in the province.

When the Rush franchise first came over from Edmonton and set up shop in the SaskTel Centre before the start of the 2016 NLL season, their game nights became a spectacle that you had to see. From performances from the dance team, various pre-game festivities with videos and pyrotechnics, fun in game promotions and theme nights, Rush contests had it all.

Plus, the style of box lacrosse played by the NLL is fast paced, and an in house DJ is always pumping tunes that match and add to the hectic pace of the action.

In the current day, Rush games are still the best time out. They are sitting there waiting to be rediscovered by fans.

This past December 28, the Rush hosted their second home game of the current campaign, and it was the team’s “Sask Vegas Night” that was presented by the Dakota Dunes.

Fans play casino games during the Rush’s“Sask Vegas Night.”

The O16 Lounge in the SaskTel Centre was set up with various casino style games, where those attending the contest got to play for prizes. Singer, songwriter and guitar player Kris Klyne was on hand to provide music that created an upbeat mood.

Leading up to game time, everything you have come to expect from Rush games is still there. The O16 Electric Crew dance team started all the pre-game festivities with an energetic dance routine. It can’t be understated how good those ladies really are, and they perform a couple of other times as the night goes on.

The Rush had their classic pyrotechnics and light show going as they came out for pre-game introductions. They also had a “burn song” to introduce the visitors, who happened to be the Philadelphia Wings on this night.

The O16 Electric Crew performs before opening faceoff.

The rink also had a couple of party zones to watch the contest from including the “Outlaws Corral.” The “Outlaws Corral” has been the traditional party zone for Rush games set up in the Zamboni entrance in the southwest corner of the facility. That area includes the DJs who play music throughout the action of the game.

The NLL game itself is still as fast paced as ever. Of course, fans in attendance love getting to do the trademark chest thumping celebration that is performed every time the Rush score a goal. They also have unique food items at their concessions like bison burgers.

 The Rush ultimately fell 12-11 in overtime on this night with Wings forward Holden Cattoni potting the winner 95 seconds into extra time. Even with the loss, fans could come away from the contest feeling both their time and their money was well spent.

Following the contest as has been a tradition since the Rush arrived in Saskatoon, fans could go down to field level and autographs from various players that night. The Rush also have a cool mascot to mingle with in Rowdy the Bison.

Ryan Keenan is the veteran captain of the Rush.

Despite the fact Rush game nights are still a great time, their games haven’t had the hype they have had in the past. One of the big factors for that comes from the fact the Rush haven’t been winning like they did when the first came to Saskatchewan.

The Rush arrived in Saskatoon after winning the NLL championship during their final season as the Edmonton Rush playing out of the Alberta capital city in 2015. Unable to secure a long term lease deal for the brand new Rogers Place in Edmonton, then owner Bruce Urban relocated the Rush to Saskatoon and the club was branded as the Saskatchewan Rush for the 2016 campaign.

The Rush arrived in Saskatchewan with one of the best teams the NLL had ever seen. They were in one of the best runs the circuit had ever seen too.

Another NLL title followed for the Rush in their first season calling Saskatchewan home in 2016. They fell in the league final in 2017 and reclaimed the NLL title in 2018.

Zach Manns is one of the top scorers on the Rush.

Over that time, players like Zack Greer, Aaron Bold, Mark Matthews, captain Chris Corbeil, Jeff Cornwall, Jeremy Thompson, Robert Church, Ryan Keenan, Jeff Shattler and Evan Kirk all became household names along with head coach and general manager Derek Keenan. Thanks to the fan following around Thompson, most Rush supporters, who had never seen box lacrosse until the NLL came to Saskatchewan, picked up an eye-opening appreciation for all the little gritty things a good transition player does for a team.

The party was seemingly going on every night as an average of over 13,400 spectators regularly came out per game.

On a provincial level, the Rush truly became a provincial team and were like a miniature version of the province’s CFL franchise in the Saskatchewan Roughriders based out of the province’s capital city of Regina. It was common for Rush games to be covered by nine to 15 media members from various communities around the province.

The town of Chamberlain located on Highway 11 between Saskatoon and Regina used to have a billboard that stated, “This highway flows; south for the Riders, north for the Rush.”

Rush fans do their traditional chest bump celebration after a goal.

A very small number of folks might have wondered at the time how things would look when the franchise had to undergo an inevitable rebuild. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten, and it was easy to get wrapped up in the success of the time.

Everything got disrupted when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit in March of 2020. The Rush were 7-3 at the time and looked poised to make a run at another NLL title. The rest of that NLL campaign was cancelled along with the 2021 season.

On May 10, 2021, Urban sold the Rush to the Priestner family, who owned the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. The Rush, Blades and WCBL’s Saskatoon Berries are operated under the umbrella company of the Sask Entertainment Group.

The sale of the Rush allowed the Urban family, who are based in Calgary, to focus on running the Western RV Group of Companies. The Priestners had more staffers living in Saskatoon including Colin Priestner, who is best known as general manager and president of the Blades. The presence of staffers helped with a restart after the pandemic.

Mike Messenger in one of the Rush’s long time veterans.

When the NLL got going again for the 2022 campaign, the rebuild started for the Rush. Actually, it was more like a reload as the club never bottomed out and posted 8-10 regular season marks in each the 2022, 2023 and 2024 campaigns, where they just missed out on the playoffs.

Average attendance fell to 8,743 in 2022, 8,606 in 2023 and 8,085 in 2024. In three home dates in the current campaign, the Rush have attracted attendances of 5,661, 6,016 and 5,558 spectators.

The media gatherings have shrunk to about two or three persons outside of Rush team staff and the staff of the visiting squads on game night.

The holdovers from the 2018 championship team include Church, now captain Ryan Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt Hossack. Derek Keenan is still the general manager and is a co-head coach along with Jimmy Quinlan. The Rush have new stars who are turning heads in Zach Manns, Austin Shanks and Brock Haley.

Two youngsters lead a Rush autograph session happy.

They have gotten out to a 4-2 start and host the 2-5 Albany Firewolves on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Rush will be hosting a retro night promotion where the team wears special jerseys, and there will be retro arcade games, a photo booth and tattoos from tattoo artists available on the concourse. Overall, another fun night out should be on tap.

The Rush are waiting to be rediscovered. Their game days continue to be worth the price of admission.

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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U Sports backtracking on age cap welcome development in COVID-19 world

Yol Piok heads downfield after a big catch for the Huskies.

    It was a headache that wasn’t needed in the U Sports world.

    When the dust settled, it was good cooler heads prevail in the U Sports ranks with regards to the age cap rule for football.

    Under the age cap rule, players who turn 25 before Sept. 1 age out of U Sports football. Football players have seven years to complete their five years of eligibility in U Sports upon graduating from high school.

    On Monday, U Sports announced a review had been launched with regards to the eligibility policies relating to football. The anticipated completion of the review is slated for February of 2021.

    U Sports stated that due to the time frame of the review, it will provide a one-time exception to Policy 40.10.4.3.1.1 permitting all currently eligible student-athletes to participate in the 2021 football season even if they exceed the current policy before the start of the 2021 campaign.

    To put it in simple terms, any athlete that turns 25-years-old before Sept. 1, 2021 will be eligible to play in the 2021 U Sports football campaign.

Colton Klassen piles up the yards after the catch for the Huskies.

    This is important due to the fact U Sports cancelled all its fall national championships due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic back on June 8.

    The football cancellation included the Vanier Cup national title game and the semifinal contests in the Mitchell Bowl and Uteck Bowl. The Vanier Cup had been contested in every year starting with 1965.

    The Canada West Conference, Atlantic University Sport and Ontario University Athletics have all nixed plans to play regular seasons in 2020-21.

    The Reseau du sport etudiant du Quebec (RSEQ) is the only conference under the U Sports umbrella holding out hope of having a regular season in football in the 2020-21 campaign.

    Back on June 8, U Sports said student-athletes without U Sports national championships this season will not be charged eligibility and will remain eligible for athletic scholarships. At the time, there was no word regarding the age cap for football.

    That all changed on July 9, when  TSN broadcaster Farhan Lalji reported over Twitter that U Sports had voted against extending the age cap rule for football by a year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Kyler Mosley (#85) secures a catch for the Rams.

    That initial tweet caused a surge of stories to come out of various media outlets in the mainstream and non-mainstream that were almost all of the uproar variety.

    University of Alberta Golden Bears head coach Chris Morris stepped down as the head of both a university football coaches’ committee and a technical subcommittee over the initial decision regarding the age cap.

    With U Sports announcing its review of football eligibility and giving a one-time exception to the current age cap policy, it allows around 300 athletes to know their U Sports football careers won’t come to a sudden end due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    On the University of Saskatchewan Huskies front, that means star utility offensive player Colton Klassen, running back Jace Peters, receiver Yol Piok, offensive right tackle Nick Summach and receiver Joseph Trumpy will all be eligible to play in 2021.

    On the University of Regina Rams front, that means linebackers Robbie Lowes and Cody Peters, defensive lineman Cameron Cross, fullback Colton Hippe and receivers Sam Mike and Kyler Mosley can suit up in 2021.

Nick Summach (#62) leads a running play downfield for the Huskies.

    Of course, U Sports announced their decision in a way via political speak to try and show they weren’t reversing course on the original decision to hold firm with the age cap.
    At this moment, it is a waste of time to get emotionally worked up with regards to the political speak.

    Ultimately, U Sports made the right decision. Those that couldn’t play their final season of U Sports football due to the 2020 campaign being cancelled will be able to hit the field in 2021. That is the big thing right now.

    The overall work in progress debate of eligibility for football in U Sports is something that can be worked on over the next seven or so months.

    When the COVID-19 pandemic ends, it will be a huge benefit to U Sports to return as many veteran players as possible in every sports league under its umbrella. The familiarity will be needed in an attempt to bring back fans.

Bubble visit will be short for some NHL teams, other notes

A Carey Price card.

    For eight NHL teams, their restarts will be a just blip on the radar.

    On Saturday, the NHL begins its 2020 playoffs with a 24-team tournament playing in the bubble cities of Edmonton and Toronto. The Western Conference teams play in Edmonton, while the Eastern Conference teams skate in Toronto.

    The first round features eight play-in series that are best of five in length and will feature 16 out of the 24 teams in the post-season. The other eight teams will be playing round robin games against each other for playoff seeding for what is termed the official first round, where the 16 remaining teams will play in eight series that are best of seven in length.

    At the moment, the final day for the qualifying round of games is Aug. 9. That means eight teams will have left or be leaving their bubble cities on Aug. 10 to head into the off-season.

    Those clubs will have been back together for the period of a month considering training camps began for the 24 NHL teams taking part in post-season play in July 10.

    The NHL paused its 2019-20 campaign on March 12 due to the world falling in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pause, it was decided the circuit would try to finish the 2019-20 campaign with a 24-team playoff tournament starting on Aug. 1.

    For the teams that will be eliminate in the play-in series round, the modified playoffs provided a month reprieve for what is an extend off-season. Those players went four months without being together, got together for a month and then resumed off-season activities until possibly going to training camp for the 2020-21 campaign.

A Jonathan Toews card.

    At the moment, the 2020-21 campaign is slated to start with training camps opening on Nov. 17 depending how the pandemic plays out.

    Actually, the 24-team tournament is going to go by very rapidly reducing the number of teams that are staying in the bubble cities.

    After the play-in series wrap up, the 16 remaining teams begin the official first round of the playoffs on Aug. 11 and action in that round is expected to be wrapped up by Aug. 24 eliminating another eight teams. Those eight clubs will have been together for a month and a half.

    For the clubs that advance to the quarter-final round, the conference finals and the Stanley Cup final, the post-season will feel like more of a marathon grind.

    For the teams that are eliminated in the play-in round and the official first round, the post-season provides just a quick reprieve away from off-season activities.

    Even a hub city will be eliminated as the playoffs progress. The conference finals are slated to open on Sept. 8, and all action in that round and the Stanley Cup final will be played in Edmonton.

    Of course, only four teams will still be in action when the conference finals round takes place.

    For most players in the NHL, the playoffs will end seemingly as quickly as they began. For a lot of fans, they might find the post-season will go by in the blink of an eye assuming there are no complications from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• If you haven’t seen it, this story from CBC Saskatchewan raised a tonne of uproar this week. On Tuesday, Fiona Odlum and Bonnie Allen from CBC released a story that said five hockey teams from Saskatchewan with players aged seven to 12 traveled to Winnipeg for a tournament that ran July 16 to 19. The Government of Saskatchewan has said there is to be no interprovincial travel for sports teams. A number of the Saskatchewan hockey teams that attended the Winnipeg tournament changed their name, concealed the identity of players and told parents not to post anything on social media. One team coach that was contacted said he was on a fishing trip at the time of the tournament, but the CBC story stated there was a photo that showed that team coach was indeed in Winnipeg. The CBC story can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, CBC’s Alex Soloducha wrote a story about how Saskatoon attorney David Samuel trained to get into the best shape of his life, when COVID-19 cases began popping up in Canada. After someone infected with the virus passed through his law office, Samuel is now battling the COVID-19 virus. The CBC piece on Samuel can be found by clicking right here.
• In the MLB, the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies haven’t return to action since completing a three-game series against each other this past Sunday in Philadelphia. That series opened the respective regular seasons of both clubs. The season was stopped for both clubs after a COVID-19 breakout on the Marlins roster. As of Thursday, 17 players and two coaches from the Marlins had tested positive for COVID-19. The Phillies have had one coach and one clubhouse staffer test positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday. Both teams aren’t slated to play again until this coming Tuesday, when they are scheduled to face each other in Miami.
• On Thursday, Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province reported the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks gave a written termination notice to 49 people employed on a full-time basis in its business operations staff on Wednesday. It is estimated roughly 200 people work in the Canucks business office. Johnston’s story can be found by clicking right here.
• On Tuesday, Gregg Drinnan put together another round up about how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the sports world in his Taking Note blog. As usual, Drinnan provides a sobering reality check. His piece can be found by clicking right here.

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

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Age cap rule hurts U Sports football in COVID-19 times

Nick Summach (#62) leads a running play downfield for the Huskies.

    It was a tough to digest piece of news that dropped for football players in U Sports.

    On Thursday, TSN broadcaster Farhan Lalji reported over Twitter that U Sports had voted against extending the age cap rule for football by a year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. That initial tweet caused a surge of stories to come out of various media outlets in the mainstream and non-mainstream.

    University of Alberta Golden Bears head coach Chris Morris stepped down as the head of both a university football coaches’ committee and a technical subcommittee over this move.

    Of course, this became a big story in U Sports circles, because back on June 8, U Sports cancelled all its fall national championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The football cancellation included the Vanier Cup national title game and the semifinal contests in the Mitchell Bowl and Uteck Bowl. The Vanier Cup had been contested in every year starting with 1965.

    The Reseau du sport etudiant du Quebec (RSEQ) is the only conference under the U Sports umbrella holding out hope of having a regular season in football in the 2020-21 campaign.

Colton Klassen heads up field for the Huskies.

    The Canada West Conference, Atlantic University Sport and Ontario University Athletics have all nixed plans to play regular seasons in 2020-21.

    Back on June 8, U Sports said student-athletes without U Sports national championships this season will not be charged eligibility and will remain eligible for athletic scholarships. At the time, there was no word regarding the age cap for football.

    Under the age cap rule, players who turn 25 before Sept. 1 age out of U Sports football. Football players have seven years to complete their five years of eligibility in U Sports upon graduating from high school.

    Any player who would have gone into their final year of eligibility for U Sports football in the cancelled 2020 season will see their career come to an end. According to U Sports, this affects approximately 300 out of 2,335 athletes.

    On top of that, a large number of veteran players will also lose a year of eligibility under this decision.

    While discussions have come up regarding concerns of more physically mature older athletes going up against younger not as physically mature recent high school graduates, all that talk takes away from the issue in the current day.

Yol Piok heads downfield after a big catch for the Huskies

    The athletes that are getting slighted are being slighted by a factor outside of anyone’s control in the COVID-19 pandemic.

    When U Sports does resume action after the pandemic, it will be in a rebuilding state. That goes for all sports operating under the U Sports umbrella.

    On the football side, you don’t want to be casting aside veteran players, who could help trigger name recognition whenever action resumes.

    At the moment, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team is looking at not being able to return star utility offensive player Colton Klassen, running back Jace Peters, receiver Yol Piok, offensive right tackle Nick Summach and receiver Joseph Trumpy.

    In the CFL Draft that was held on April 30, Summach was selected in seventh round and 57^th overall by the Edmonton Eskimos. Klassen was picked in the eighth round and 69^th overall by the Montreal Alouettes.

    All five of those players are fairly well known in the football community of Saskatoon. Klassen is one of the best known Huskies.

Jace Peters rumbles downfield on a run for the Huskies.

    Their returns to the Huskies could bridge action before and after the stoppage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The University of Regina Rams face the same challenges on this front. They are looking to be without linebacker Cody Peters, who should be able to play one more season but is going to age out.

    Peters had a stellar five-year career winning five straight CJFL titles with the venerable Saskatoon Hilltops. He was named the CJFL’s defensive player of the year in 2018.

    Before rejoining the Hilltops for his final CJFL season 2018, Peters attended training camp for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. Following his time with the Hilltops, Peters joined the Rams.

    Peters is known in the football community in Regina and throughout Saskatchewan.

    Due to the fact there won’t be a 2020 season for U Sports football thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, some U Sports football players will be making critical life decisions about whether they will continue to play football or move on to another phase of their lives.

    For recruits that just graduated from high school and were planning to join a U Sports football team as a rookie in 2020, those recruits might ultimately decide not to play and focus on other educational or working world opportunities.

Joseph Trumpy makes a big catch for the Huskies.

    Taking a year away from playing meaningful games throws a wrench into the plans of every player. They don’t need to be given any extra incentive to not play.

    On top of all that, football is the only sport under the U Sports umbrella that has to follow an age cap rule. Just from that perspective, it would be fair to eliminate the age cap rule and make football eligibility mirror that of the other sports in U Sports.

    When these pandemic times come to an end, it is likely you won’t see the U Sports football teams filled with veterans in the starting ranks who are aged 26 and 27. That was a trend in the late 1990s and early to mid 2000s.

    This time around concern has to centre on just getting the sport of football going again just like any other sport that is governed by U Sports.

NHL will provide good distraction if show goes on, other notes

The Oilers, seen here in a 2017 pre-season game, are hub city NHL hosts.

    Fan chatter on the NHL is starting to trickle through on social media lines.

    If the circuit can execute its return to play out in two hub cities in Edmonton and Toronto, it will provide a good distraction for sports fans in Canada in these COVID-19 pandemic times.

    The NHL is resuming the paused 2019-20 campaign with a 24-team playoff tournament. Teams are slated to report for training camps on July 13.

    The post-season is scheduled to begin on Aug. 1 with five games that open five different best-of-five play-in series. A total of 16 teams are taking part in the play-in round to determine eight clubs that will advance to the main 16-team post-season bracket.

    The Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars have been placed in the main 16-team bracket.

    All of the post-season games will be played in Edmonton and Toronto. Both the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs held off until Friday before making official announcements that their centres would indeed be hub cities.

    That development is convenient for Canadian sports networks that dump tonnes of resources into television coverage of these games.

    Those networks don’t have to fear dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic border restrictions between Canada and the United States due to all the post-season games being played in Canada.

    Over the past couple of days, you are starting to see a social media post two coming from fans who believe the team they support will win the playoff tournament and capture the Stanley Cup.

    If the playoffs can progress to crowning a Stanley Cup champion, fan chatter will likely increase to the point where you won’t know that a pandemic is indeed going on.

    If the playoff tournament gets derailed by positive COVID-19 tests that results in a team or teams dropping out or the post-season not get completed, the fans that want to watch the league for the distraction will likely just go silent.

    Critics that don’t want the NHL to jump back into action will likely become more vocal and might even gloat over the failure.

    For the moment, fans that just want to see games just to have a distraction have something to look forward to.

• On Wednesday, Sportsnet announced it was trimming its six-stop Grand Slam of Curling circuit to just two events next season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first slam event will be the Players’ Championship set for Toronto from April 13 to 18 in 2021. The second event will be the Champions Cup set for Olds, Alta., starting on April 27, 2021 running to May 2, 2021. The Grand Slam of Curling stops are part of the World Curling Tour seasonal calendar.
• Gregg Drinnan has been doing ace work in rounding up the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic is playing on the sports world, especially in the hard hit United States, in his Taking Note blog. His round up from Friday can be found by clicking right here, and the round up from Thursday can be found by clicking right here. The amount of positive tests, postponements and cancellations keep piling up.
• On a sobering note, the United States has hit the point where just over one out of every 100 persons in that country has contracted COVID-19 at some point this year. At the time this post went live, the United States had 3,355,646 total COVID-19 cases this year for a country that has a population of just over 331,060,000. Worldwide deaths this year from COVID-19 at 567,628 at the time of this post have passed total deaths by suicide, which sit at 566,508.
• While U Sports decision to hold firm on the football age cap was disappointing for many, Dick White, who is the U Sports interim Chief Executive Officer, is still the right person to lead that sports body through these trouble current pandemic days. White has a strong passion for U Sports and has experience dealing with tough financial times as the director of athletics for the University of Regina. Like most sports bodies in Canada, U Sports is in for a tough road ahead.
• Baseball and softball got going at the house and city league levels this past week in Saskatoon. It was a great site to see various diamonds in action around the city. Many have their figures crossed that this great development continues.

    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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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Oh what a Rush

The Rush's Crush Dance Team has been very visible in Saskatoon.

    If you live in Saskatoon, it almost seems impossible to escape the hype surrounding the Saskatchewan Rush.

    On Friday, the province’s National Lacrosse League team opens its much anticipated home schedule hosting the Vancouver Stealth at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. That SaskTel Centre will be the place to be on Friday night. The anticipation level was upped a few notches when the Rush posted a thrilling 10-8 comeback victory over the Roughnecks in Calgary on Jan. 2.

    The Rush enter the current NLL campaign as defending league champions having won the Champion’s Cup last season in Edmonton. After spending 10 seasons in the Alberta capital, the Rush were forced to relocate after they were unable to secure a home venue.

    As the NLL is a well-established league, people in Saskatoon have been jumping on the bandwagon to support a club that has the makings to be a league power for some time. After the club opened its business office on 2^nd Avenue South across from Midtown Plaza, more and more residents have been spotted around “The Bridge City” sporting Rush gear. The excitement over the team is also trickling throughout the province.

    After seeing their season opener broadcast on TSN, it looks like the Rush will be a whole lot of fun to watch. It really seems like the hype is warranted.

    Actually, the Rush has a huge opportunity to really build a fan base rapidly in Saskatchewan. Out of the club’s 18 regular season games, it is possible to view 13 of them, if you attend all nine home games and the four road contests that are shown on TSN. If the Rush repeat their accomplishments of a season ago, their players will become household names.

    If all goes well, TSN might be showing post-season games from the SaskTel Centre.

    For now, feel free to enjoy the fact that the hype is likely very real. Allow yourself to enjoy the Rush.

Huskies Saskatoon’s most exciting hockey team

The Huskies celebrate a goal at the Rutherford Rink.

    While the Rush have a lot of hype, a well-established local team that dates back to 1910 is having a pretty good season to say the least.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team has been Saskatoon’s most exciting hockey club this season, and the Dogs have reclaimed a spot as one of the premier teams in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. After posting an uncharacteristic 10-15-3 last season, the Huskies top the Canada West standings with a 15-3 mark so far this season.

    With an infusion of a number of talented young forwards, the Huskies have returned to playing a real up tempo style this season that has been fun to watch. Everyone has been chipping in too, as 10 players have 10 or more points so far in the current campaign.

    The dynamic rookie line of Kohl Bauml, Levi Cable and Andrew Johnson are first, second and third respectively in team scoring. Bauml has five goals and 13 assists, Cable 11 goals and five helpers and Johnson has popped home eight goals and seven assists.

    Defence was a strong spot for the Huskies last season, and that hasn’t changed with a veteran group including Zak Stebner, Kendall McFaull, Connor Cox, Jordan Fransoo and Jesse Forsberg leading the way.

    Sophomore goalie Jordon Cooke, who is a graduate of the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets, has been spectacular recording a 13-3 record, a 2.43 goals against average, a .926 save percentage and one shutout. He has shown the ability to steal games, which helped him be named the Canadian Hockey League’s goalie of the year back in 2014.

    Cooke has been overlooked for a serious professional shot due to the fact he stands only 5-foot-10, but there is no denying he has professional level talent.

    The Huskies host the University of Calgary Dinos (7-8-3) on both Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the ancient Rutherford Rink. If you haven’t seen the Huskies men’s team play in a while, now would definitely be a good time to check out a game and get reacquainted with the team.

Releases of Dressler and Chick tough to swallow

    Saskatchewan residents received a reminder of how cruel the business of professional sports can be.

    On Thursday, the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders released beloved veterans John Chick and Weston Dressler, which caused immediate shock and dismay among “Rider Nation.” The move was made to give the club’s new management group - led by new head coach and general manager Chris Jones - more room to work with under the salary cap.

    The moves caused the Roughriders to be the province’s biggest sporting news story on a cold day on Jan. 14. Actually, it is quite common for the Roughriders to be the biggest sports newsmakers on any given winter day.

    Chick and Dressler are two of the team’s biggest stars, who have been long established as premier players in the CFL. What makes their respective releases that much more tough to swallow is the fact they have been entrenched in the province’s community since joining the “Green and White.”

    Both are the perfect examples of players you want representing your team in the community. They are personable and friendly guys who are very approachable. While they are not from Saskatchewan originally, they are basically viewed as neighbours.

    Their release is almost the equivalent of watching a close family member go work in a country far away.

    Roughriders fans have experienced this same gut punches in the past, when the team released other popular stars that had reputations just like Chick’s and Dressler’s like Don Narcisse, Bobby Jurasin and Dan Farthing. All of those departures were emotionally hard to take. Unfortunately, that is the dark side of professional sports.

    With that in mind, Chick was a key part of the Grey Cup championship teams in 2007 and 2013, and Dressler also earned a Grey Cup ring in 2013. Both will be future member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and they will always be Roughriders legends.

Golf allows Nelson to travel the world

Wyatt Nelson-Zook, left, hangs with his father Gerry Nelson.

    One of my big recent thrills was getting the opportunity to write a long feature story Canadian blind golf champion Gerry Nelson for the Saskatoon Express.

    The 52-year-old Saskatoon resident lost his sight due to complications from diabetes at the age of 25. From that huge setback, Nelson built as storied career as a blind golfer.

    When you get the chance to sit down and visit with Nelson, he can captivate you with the vast amount of stories he can tell like the late great iconic CFL head coach and general manager Cal Murphy could.

    Nelson can often be found at the SaskTel Centre as a regular in the crowd at Saskatoon Blades WHL games along with his 12-year-old son Wyatt Nelson-Zook. Wyatt gives his father the play-by-play of the contest.

    Gerry Nelson’s amazing story can be found right here.

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