Hurricanes rock Blades with third period surge

Berge nets two in 4-2 win to end 12-game road skid

The Hurricanes celebrate a second goal from Owen Berge (#29).

Matt Anholt just wants his Lethbridge Hurricanes to win the day.

The Hurricanes first-year head coach, who has been with the team since the 2018-19 campaign, knows his squad is in a rebuilding stage after making it to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series last year. In the 2024-25 campaign, the Hurricanes finished sixth overall in the WHL with a 42-21-3-2 record and loaded up with trades to make their long post-season run.

Due to massive graduations on their roster, the Hurricanes have taken their lumps in 2025-26 as they go through a rebuild. They are looking for good signs and breakthroughs like the one they had on Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre against the host Saskatoon Blades.

Owen Berge had a pair of goals for the Hurricanes.

The two teams entered the third period of a WHL regular season clash locked in a 1-1 tie, and the Hurricanes exploded for three straight goals. Owen Berge, who is a 19-year-old centre, started the surge with a pair of tallies and left-winger Gavin Lesiuk, who turned 18-years-old near the middle of January, potted a single to give the visitors a 4-1 lead.

The Hurricanes would proceed to pull out a 4-2 victory before 4,397 spectators. The win allowed Lethbridge to improve to 16-35-0-1 and also end a 12 game losing skid on the road.

Before Saturday’s win over the Blades, the Hurricanes last road win came on November 18, 2025, when they slipped past the Royals in Victoria 4-3. Lethbridge entered Saturday’s game having been blanked 6-0 one night earlier against the powerhouse Raiders in Prince Albert.

Gavin Lesiuk celebrates scoring a goal in the third period.

“I think, when wins are hard to come by, every win is good,” said Anholt. “I think our guys really dug in tonight after losing a hard game last night in P.A.

“As good as P.A. is, it is still no fun to get blown out, obviously, in any sort of game. It was a really good job by our guys, but especially our leadership group to get the guys back in order and come in and get a greasy road win.”

At the 5:59 mark of the third, the Hurricanes started their surge working on the power play and pouncing on a Blades miscue. Blades 18-year-old defenceman Isaac Poll had the puck behind his net and threw a clearing attempt up the centre of the ice.

Berge intercepted the clear, skated down in front of the Blades net, and wired home a shot to the top right corner of the cage to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead. He proceeded to score his second of the night at the 11:32 mark of the third potting home a rebound at the left side of the Saskatoon net that came from a long distance drive from 17-year-old rookie right-winger Easton Daneault. That tally pushed the Hurricanes lead out to 3-1.

Matteo Fabrizi, left, and Tyler Parr engage in a fight.

Just 50 seconds after Berge’s second tally, Lesiuk was forechecking the Saskatoon zone, and he stole the puck from Blades 19-year-old defenceman Tristen Doyle. Lesiuk jetted into the left faceoff circle and drove a shot to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net to make the Hurricanes advantage stand at 4-1.

With 5:54 remaining in the third, Blades defenceman Jack Kachkowski, who turned 19-years-old near the middle of January, drove into the Lethbridge zone down the left wing and put a pass across the face of the Hurricanes net to Blades overage captain Tyler Parr positioned by the right post. Parr tapped the puck home into an empty cage to trim the Hurricanes lead to 4-2.

The Blades thought they had a goal with 1:14 remaining in the third coming off the stick of 20-year-old star right-winger Rowan Calvert. Calvert put a shot on net that was stopped by the left pad of Hurricanes 18-year-old netminder Koen Cleaver, but then Cleaver was driven into the net by a mass of bodies that surrounded the net. The officials blew the play dead and ruled no goal.

Hudson Kibblewhite (#22) scored the Hurricanes first goal.

Saskatoon was not able to score in the 74 seconds that remained on the clock, which allowed Lethbridge to pick up the win.

Anholt said his Hurricanes didn’t do anything fancy in the third period surge.

“I would say it was just the overall battles,” said Anholt. “We just probably won maybe a little more than we were winning in the second and the first, especially at the end of the first more so.

“Just some of those simple little battles, especially between the blue lines, you win those battles and you usually are going to lead to O-zone time. You look at any of our goals, even our power-play goal, there is always maybe a little sequence of events that led to that. It is just those little battles that lead to good stuff, and I think our guys dug in a little more in the third.”

Koen Cleaver made 33 saves in goal for the Hurricanes.

The contest began with a spirited fight just 22 seconds into the opening frame between Parr and Hurricanes 20-year-old defenceman Matteo Fabrizi. Parr, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 192 pounds, and Fabrizi, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 240 pounds, engaged in a long and feisty bout that finally ended with Fabrizi getting a takedown.

At the 7:32 mark of the first, the Hurricanes opened the scoring of Saturday’s game on a goal from 18-year-old centre Hudson Kibblewhite. Kibblewhite, who is a former member of the Blades, tipped home a point shot in front of the Saskatoon net that came off the stick of 18-year-old defenceman Carsen Adair.

Kazden Mathies had the Blades first goal on Saturday.

With just under nine minutes to play in the first, the Blades just missed getting the equalizer as Calvert drove a shot off the post.

Saskatoon came out flying in the second holding a 14-3 edge in shots on goal for the frame. The Blades evened the score at 1-1 scoring on the power play at the 10:23 mark of the second period.

Blades star 17-year-old centre Cooper Williams had the puck at the left side boards in the Lethbridge zone and passed the puck across the face of the Hurricanes net to 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies. Mathies controlled the puck at the right side of the Lethbridge net and quickly potted his 15^th of the campaign for the equalizer.

Cooper Williams set up the Blades first goal.

That set the stage for the third period to play out as it did starting with the Hurricanes three-goal surge.

Evan Gardner turned away 16 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades (26-22-3-1). Cleaver stopped 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Hurricanes.

“Honestly, the biggest goal for us is just trying to win the day and try to get better every day as an individual and then hopefully that makes us better collectively,” said Anholt. “Every practice, that has kind of been the mentality and just being competitive, being even competitive against yourself and trying to improve every day in the gym, on the ice and all that stuff.

The Blades thought they scored with 1:14 remaining in the third.

“I think we’ve seen some really good strides by a lot of guys, and Gavin Lesiuk is one of those young guys that has obviously had a really good game tonight. He is one of many on our team right now, because we’re so young. (We’re focused on) just winning the day and trying to compete every day.”

The Blades get back at it on Saturday when they host the Regina Pats (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Hurricanes are off until Friday when they return home to host the Everett Silvertips (7 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

Anholt said he reminds his players on his young team that the experiences they are picking up will be valuable down the road.

The Hurricanes celebrate their win on Saturday.

“That is kind of the ebbs and flows of the WHL,” said Anholt. “We’re a young team right now, but we won’t be a young team soon.

“All of a sudden, we’ll be an old team, because a lot of these guys will grow up together. Right now, we’re just trying to take lessons. For example P.A., you take lessons from even how good they are and what makes them successful.

“Everett has got a lot of similarities to that P.A. team, where they play fast and they’re deep and they get on you. It is going to be a really hard challenge on Friday. I’m happy that we’re at home, so we can at least set some matchups.”

Blades great Maracle fighting cancer, funds being raised

A Norm Maracle hockey card.

Saskatoon Blades all-time great netminder Norm Maracle is fighting Burkitt Lymphoma, which is a very aggressive and fast-moving cancer of the B cells – a type of white blood cells.

Maracle, who is 51-years-old, recently received this cancer diagnosis. A GoFundMe page was set up about five days ago to raise funds to help him and his family through this challenging time.

Maracle played goal for three seasons for the Blades from 1991 to 1994. He was with the club for arguably the team’s most memorable three-year stretch.

As a 17-year-old rookie in the 1991-92 campaign, Maracle appeared in 29 games with the Blades posting a record of 13 wins, six losses and three ties, a 3.41 goals against average, a .946 save percentage and one shutout. In the post-season, Maracle started the majority of the Blades games as they advanced to the WHL Championship Series falling in seven games to the Kamloops Blazers, who moved on to capture the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

Maracle, who stood 5-foot-10 and weighed 205 pounds in his playing days, went into his second season with the Blades as their main starter in the 1992-93 campaign. During the regular season, Maracle appeared in 53 games posting a 27-18-3 record, a 3.27 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and one shutout. The Blades fell in a best-of-seven conference semifinal series to the Regina Pats in five games.

The 1993-94 campaign was a stellar 19-year-old season for Maracle. He appeared in 56 regular season games for the Blades posting a 41-13-1 record, a 2.76 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and two shutouts. He proceeded to once again backstop the Blades into the WHL Championship Series where they again fell in seven games to the Blazers, who went on to win the Memorial Cup.

For the 1993-94 campaign, Maracle was named the winner of the Del Wilson Trophy as the top goaltender in the WHL and he claimed honours as the CHL’s goaltender of the year along with being named a CHL first team all-star.

During Blades games, it was common for Blades fans to scream out “Norm” like in the television show Cheers, when Maracle took the ice.

After his time with the Blades, Maracle moved on to a lengthy professional career that ran from 1994 to 2012 that included playing in 66 NHL regular season games split between the Detroit Red Wings and the Atlanta Thrashers.

For those looking to help Maracle in his battle with Burkitt lymphoma, the link for his GoFundMe page 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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Yager’s Warriors future is now

Contacts’ grad begins WHL journey with bonus time

Brayden Yager in action with the Contacts in 2019-20.

Brayden Yager is embarking on some bonus time in the WHL.

The skilled forward, who turned 16-years-old in early January, will suit up with the Moose Jaw Warriors, when they begin their 24-game regular season playing East Division foes in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The Warriors start off action in the Regina bubble taking on the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday at 4 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

Yager, who stands 6-feet and weighs 160 pounds, came up through the minor hockey system in Saskatchewan as highly touted player. He was so highly touted that he became a candidate for exceptional status to play in the WHL on a full-time basis as 15-year-old.

While he has a maturity that is beyond his youthful years, Yager wasn’t able to obtain exceptional player status.

The only player in the history of the WHL to earn exceptional player status is phenom forward Connor Bedard. The North Vancouver, B.C., was taken first overall in the last WHL Bantam Draft that was held in late April of 2020.

Centre Riley Heidt, who is a longtime friend and teammate of Yager’s, went second overall to the Prince George Cougars. Heidt was also a candidate for exceptional player status, but he wasn’t able to land that tag.

Yager went third overall to the Warriors.

Bedard, Heidt and Yager provided an unbelievably strong top three to lead off the last WHL Bantam Draft.

Yager and Heidt played the 2019-20 campaign as 14-year-old underage players with the Saskatoon Contacts of the Saskatchewan Male Under-18 AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL).

Yager appeared in all 44 of the Contacts regular season games piling up 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points. Heidt, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 161 pounds, also appeared in all 44 of the Contacts regular season games recording 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points.

Brayden Yager went third overall in the last WHL Bantam Draft.

In normal times, Yager and Heidt would be trying to help the Contacts enjoy a long playoff run in the respective sophomore seasons with that club. Due to the government restrictions that have been brought in place to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, the Contacts haven’t played since Nov. 20,2020, when they fell 4-3 to the Saskatoon Blazers at the SaskTel Centre.

No team in the SMAAAHL has hit the ice for game action since Nov. 22, 2020.

Yager and Heidt helped the Contacts get out to a 5-1 start. Yager had four goals and seven assists for 11 points in those contests, while Heidt posted three goals and seven assists for 10 points over that same period.

With the Telus Cup male under-18 AAA national hockey championship tournament having been cancelled for a second straight year and the SMAAAHL campaign getting called off on Feb. 26, Yager and Heidt were able to join their respective WHL teams.

The Cougars open their season on March 27 taking on the Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops playing out of the two-city bubble used by the B.C. Division. Prospera Place in Kelowna will also hold B.C. Division games.

While Yager and Heidt are highly touted prospects, this shortened WHL campaign is house money time for both players.  They weren’t expected to be in major junior hockey on a full-time basis at this point in time.

The shortened 24-game regular seasons they will play allow them to get a first taste about what playing in the WHL will be like. It does give them a key opportunity for development playing against older players they wouldn’t normally have.

They will be that much more ready to play in the league in what should be a longer campaign in 2021-22 in their regular 16-year-old seasons.

Yager will have more eyes on him due to being a Saskatchewan product playing on a Saskatchewan team.

His Warriors have a longstanding rivalry with the Pats, which is often viewed as major junior hockey’s greatest rivalry.

Brayden Yager is expected to be a star in Moose Jaw.

When the Warriors and Pats go at it, those battles will have the added dynamic of being Yager versus Bedard clashes. The first of which will take place this coming Tuesday at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time at the Brandt Centre.

In regular times, these meetings should have likely first taken place in the 2021-22 season.

While spectators won’t be allowed into WHL rinks for the shortened 2020-21 campaign, you can bet there will be a little more interest in seeing online streams of games between the Warriors and Pats due to the Yager versus Bedard aspect.

If Yager is able to outperform Bedard, you will likely get Warriors fans smack talking Pats supporters on the lines of, “Our young star is better than your young star.”

To be honest, the smack talk is all good.

Yager’s future is now with the Warriors, even with it coming a little earlier than expected.

Blades play for Kirkness in Regina, other notes

The Saskatoon Blades will carry Bobby Kirkness in their hearts, even though the team’s long time volunteer dressing room attendant can’t be with them in person.

The Blades are slated to begin their WHL regular season on Saturday taking on the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL’s East Division bubble located at the Brandt Centre in Regina at 4 p.m. Saskatchewan time. The East Division teams are playing in a bubble environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world.

Kirkness wasn’t able to join the Blades in Regina, because he was recently diagnosed with stage 4 liver and pancreatic cancer.

Back in 2016, Kirkness won his first fight against cancer, when he had leukemia. This time around, things are a little more serious.

Kirkness’s liver and pancreatic cancer can’t be operated on.

Doctors presented Kirkness with two options. He could take chemotherapy treatments, which would give him an estimated nine to 12 months to live, or he could opt out of chemotherapy and have an estimated six to nine months to share with family and friends.

After discussing things with family and friends, Kirkness elected to try an alternative treatment. The treatment is not covered, and it will cost Kirkness and his family about $1,000 per month.

Being his positive self, Kirkness vows he will win this battle with cancer too.

He is so beloved by the Blades the team created “The Kirkness Cup” after he returned to the club after beating leukemia in 2016. The winning squad in the Blades training camp tournament consisting of teams of players looking to make the main roster is presented with “The Kirkness Cup.”

If you are hanging around the Blades dressing room area, the first person you usually see is Kirkness offering a big smile and a warm “hello.”

This season, the Blades are wearing special “BK” decals on their helmets. The decal includes a purple ribbon and the Blades classic blue and gold Pac-Man logo.

Tyler Wawryk, who is the Blades director of business operations, and Brennan Kirkness, who is Bobby’s son, set up a GoFundMe page to help the Kirkness family with expenses.

The page has already passed its $10,000 goal by raising $18,000. If you would like to contribute to the GoFundMe campaign, you can do so by clicking right here.

• Tickets are on sale for the March jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the remaining draw dates are Wednesday, March 31, April 30 and May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• The WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries are morning the passing of former player Nichole LaVallee. On Sunday, LaVallee, who was 26-years-old, died in a two-vehicle collision driving a small car on Highway 3 between Weldon and Birch Hills. She played on the Valkyries from 2016 to 2018 as a receiver and on the defensive line. LaVallee helped the Valkyries win a WWCFL title in 2016. She could brighten any room she entered. Her obituary notice can be found by clicking right here.
• I helped produce new content for the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex that went live on Tuesday. I put together a story that focuses on the off-season work Saskatoon Minor Softball League’s A-programs are doing right now at the Indoor Training Centre and a photo post that contains a number of my pictures around the complex. The softball story can be found by clicking right here, and the photo post can be found by clicking right here.
• On Tuesday, it was announced the RBC Canadian Open has been nixed from the PGA Tour schedule for a second straight year due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian Open was scheduled for June 7-13 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Ont., with the nearby Islington Golf Club acting as the practice facility. 
• On Wednesday night, Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reported Shaun and Gavin Semple have reached a tentative deal to buy out their partners and become the sole owners of the WHL’s Regina Pats, and the WHL is set to review that deal. The Pats are the world’s oldest major junior hockey franchise. Harder’s story can be found by clicking right here.
• I was checking out the memories part of my Facebook page from a year ago today. I had a few posts that didn’t age well with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those posts show I originally didn’t think the pandemic would be as problematic as it turned out to be. One of the posts showed dismay over the fact people were hording toilet paper. Those old posts look so naïve, when you look back on them now.
• James Shewaga, who was the former standout Brandon Sun sportswriter who wrote about the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, wrote about how Merlis Belsher Place will play a role as a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic for University of Saskatchewan communications. Shewaga’s piece can be found right here.
• The Canadian football world and definitely the football world in Saskatchewan was shaken up on Wednesday when both the CFL and XFL revealed they’re poised to begin serious discussions about a potential partnership. Of course, many have speculated this could be the beginning of the end for the three-down game. Had I been working at a mainstream media outlet, I could have seen myself having to run around and localize the story for Saskatoon. That would have meant tracking down University of Saskatchewan Huskies football head coach Scott Flory, Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, officials from Football Saskatchewan and officials from Saskatoon Minor Football on what they thought of that CFL and XFL development. You would be also asking all those parties how they would be affected, if football in Canada at the professional level was played with United States rules. I admit I am happy I didn’t have to do any of that. At this point, it is likely too early to play the speculation game.

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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In a world juniors like no other, Canada had a good run

It can be easy to cannibalize of over-dissect a loss in the world of sports, especially if it happens with a program that has constant success.

On Tuesday, Canada entered the gold medal game at world junior men’s hockey championships, which were being held in a bubble environment at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta., in impressive fashion.

Though the preliminary, quarter-final and semifinal rounds, Canada had a 6-0 record outscoring its opponents 41-4. The record grows to 7-0, if you add in Canada’s 1-0 victory in exhibition play over Russia.

Canada, which topped Group A in the preliminary round, hadn’t trailed in any of its game at world juniors until hitting the gold medal game.

Throughout the day on Tuesday on various Canadian sports talk stations and media outlets, there was discussion that this was the best team Canada had ever sent to world juniors including the gold medal winning team featuring Sidney Crosby in the 2004-05 campaign.

The excitement all came down to a crashing thud with Canada falling 2-0 to the U.S.A. in a contest that had a huge following on Canadian television over the TSN airwaves.

Due to the fact there were no fans in the stands and no other hockey was taking place in Canada due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that had gripped the world, the Canadian side that took the ice at this edition of the world juniors had arguably way more attention paid to it than any other Canadian team in the history of that tourney.

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A post shared by Kaiden Guhle (@kguhle_4)

Opinions seemed to fly around everywhere about why Canada wasn’t able to win.

In all reality, the result of Tuesday’s gold medal game likely came from the fact Canada was playing in a one-game showdown. The United States did what it needed to do to win on that day.

During the first half of the game, the players on the United States side showed they weren’t afraid of the pedigree on the Canadian side and came out and played the game tenaciously. You could tell it truly meant a lot to the players on the United States side to win that contest.

In a one-game showdown, I think that whole aspect caught the Canadian side off guard. After the U.S. got ahead 2-0 early in the second, Canada had a lot of good chances in the final 10 minutes of the second to get back in the game.

The images of Canadian offensive-defenceman Bowen Byram hitting the post on a short-handed rush shortly after the midway point of the second likely won’t escape the minds of most of Canada’s supporters.

Canada could never get that traction goal to trigger a comeback. While Canada held a 15-1 edge in shots on goal in the third, the U.S. played a textbook defensive game in that frame and kept most of those chances on the outside.

Had both teams played another game 24 hours later, it can be argued that Canada might have won. If the battle for the gold medal was a best-of-three, best-of-five or best-of-seven series, Canada’s odds of gaining victory would be very good.

Still, star forward Trevor Zegras, netminder Spencer Knight and the rest of the U.S.A. side took the one-game showdown with Canada fair and square. The United States gets full marks for playing a great 60-minute game to claim victory.

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A post shared by Kaedan Korczak (@kaedan.korczak)

On a side note, the officiating in the tournament had to grade out as being great in the tournament, so huge kudos to the crew there.

Canadian netminder Devon Levi couldn’t be faulted on any of the two goals the United States scored, and he was more than worthy of being a tournament all-star.

Canadian forward Dylan Cozens, who stars with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, topped Canada in scoring with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in seven games. He had a sensational tournament being named a tournament all-star.

Byram, who is a star of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, was stellar at both ends of the ice and was also more than worthy of being named a tournament all-star.

On a Saskatchewan front, Kaiden Guhle, who is a defenceman for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, had a solid tournament. Saskatchewan products in Prince Albert’s Braden Schneider, who plays defence for the WHL Brandon Wheat Kings, Yorkton’s Kaedan Korczak, who plays defence for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, and Saskatoon’s Connor Zary, who plays centre for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, all had strong tournaments.

Going back to the selection camp held in Red Deer, Alta., the Canadian side spent about 52 days together in a bubble environment. That included the fact the team had to go through a 14-day quarantine period in hotel rooms early in the selection camp due to positive COVID-19 tests.

In the exhibition game win over Russia, Canada lost captain and centre Kirby Dach with a fractured right wrist. Dach is a member the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and an alumnus of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.

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A post shared by Connor Zary (@connorzary7)

Canada’s coaching staff led by head coach Andre Tourigny, who is the head coach of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s, did a remarkable job that included dealing with pandemic induced factors no other Canadian world junior coaches had to deal with.

The assistant coaches should get big credit for ensuring thing kept going forward.

The assistant coaches included Mitch Love, who is the head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, Tyler Dietrich, who is an assistant coach with the Blades, Michael Dyck, who is the head coach of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, and goaltender coach Jason LaBarbera.

LaBarbera was the goaltending coach of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, but he moved over to become a full-time goalie coach for the NHL’s Calgary Flames before world juniors started. The Flames own the Hitmen.

Over a period of 14 days beginning on Dec. 23, 2020 with the exhibition game against Russia, Canada’s entry at the world juniors provided numerous thrills for a host country with most regions experiencing lockdown conditions to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Team Canada provided a welcomed breath of fresh air. It was just a winning result in the event’s gold medal game was not to be.

Canadian pride 🍁@mlovehockey | #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/OsUBj6x4e6

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) January 8, 2021

Original Hardy Trophy sits in Sask. Sports Hall of Fame

Thank you to @EvanDaum for bringing the Hardy Trophy to the SSHF for us to display. The Trophy was retired in 1996 after going through a lot in its 75 years of use. After being rediscovered at the @USask, the trophy has been repaired and we are looking forward to displaying it. pic.twitter.com/gzbSTr9PWT

— SaskSports H of F (@SaskSportsHF) January 8, 2021

The original Hardy Trophy has a new home.

On Friday, the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame showed pictures of the Hardy Trophy being dropped off on their grounds by Evan Daum, who had been the associate director of communications and marketing for the Canada West Conference.

The original Hardy Trophy was presented from 1922 to 1996 to the conference’s championship team in football. It pre-dates the U Sports national championship trophy for football – the Vanier Cup.

U Sports, which is the national umbrella the Canada West Conference plays under, first awarded the Vanier Cup in 1965 to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.

The original Hardy Trophy was named in honour of Evan Hardy, who was the former head of the agricultural engineering department at the University of Saskatchewan. The trophy was first presented to the University of Alberta Golden Bears in 1922.

It was last presented on November 9, 1996 at Griffiths Stadium to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies after they downed the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 37-16 in the Canada West title game.

The Huskies would move on to win that year’s Vanier Cup 31-12 over the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men.

The Huskies had a dynasty in the 1930s winning the original Hardy Trophy on five occasions in 1930, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1938. The 1930 championship marked the Huskies first Canada West title win.

When the Huskies won the Canada West title in 1996, the original Hardy Trophy fell apart during the on field celebrations. It was replaced by the current trophy in 1997.

The original Hardy Trophy was forgotten at the U of Saskatchewan until finally being unearthed under a pile of storage boxes in 2008. Daum, who became the director of brand marketing and communications with the WHL’s Regina Pats this past November, had been the keeper of the original Hardy Trophy for the last four years after it was reassembled.

It is a sweet piece of Canadian sports history that the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame now has.

Funds raised to help “Woodsy” on COVID-19 recovery trail

Long time friend & past co-cost of @GlobalTV Sportsline needs big time help. Battling Covid-19 since end of November and a mountain to climb. You got this @WoodsyCJME ❤️🙏 https://t.co/u6afa2X54c

— Craig Adam (@craigadam_) January 7, 2021

Warren Woods is best known as a warm feeling sports broadcaster in Regina, but he is now riding a lengthy comeback trail recovering from COVID-19.

“Woodsy,” who is 66-years-old, contracted COVID-19 in early this past December and has been fighting the virus and its effects at Regina General Hospital ever since.

Woods is in the recovery process and a GoFundMe campaign was started by 10 of his friends four days ago to help him with his medical needs. It is expected Woods will be needing physical therapy for the next year.

The campaign has a goal of $50,000 and has raised $52,513 at the time this post went live. Anyone who wants to donate to the campaign can do so by clicking right here.

Woods was an original member of the sports department with STV Regina when it first went on the air in 1987 and later became Global Regina. He became one of the hosts of Regina’s first half-hour nightly sportscast when Sportsline went on the air.

Woods is best remembered for hosting the show with the show’s other original host in Ron Rimer and later with Craig Adam.

In 2013, Woods moved to radio working in several roles for CJME.

Woods has covered sports of all sports and is best known for being around the football and curling circles or enjoying himself hitting numerous rounds of golf during the summer months. He is also a lifelong fan of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

Woods has always been a guy everyone enjoys socializing with, and it is safe to say all who know him wish him well on the recovery trail.

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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2017-18 Humboldt Broncos still bring out best in humanity

The Elgar Petersen Arena set for a vigil on April 8, 2018.

    The tributes came in early and often over social media lines on Monday for a team seemingly everyone still takes to heart.

    Monday marked the second anniversary of the tragic bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior A hockey team on April 6, 2018. 
    The bus carrying the Broncos, who are one of Canada’s most storied junior A teams, was traveling to Nipawin to play a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game, and it collided with a semi-truck just north of Tisdale.

    The crash resulted in the deaths of 10 Broncos players including captain Logan Schatz, Logan Boulet, Adam Herold, Logan Hunter, Jaxon Joseph, Jacob Leicht, Conner Lukan, Evan Thomas, Parker Tobin and Stephen Wack.

    Head coach and general manager Darcy Haugen, assistant coach Mark Cross, play-by-play voice Tyler Bieber, stats expert Brody Hinz, athletic therapist Dayna Brons and bus driver Glen Doerksen were all among the total of 16 people who were killed.

A Saskatchewan farm yard display supporting the Broncos in April of 2018.

    The 13 survivors in players Graysen Cameron, Brayden Camrud, Kaleb Dahlgren, Bryce Fiske, Xavier LaBelle, Matthieu Gomercic, Derek Patter, Nick Shumlanski, Tyler Smith, Ryan Straschnitzki, Jacob Wassermann, Layne Matechuk and Morgan Gobeil have all ventured on in life with various physical injuries and emotional battles.

    Camrud and Patter were in the Broncos lineup when they opened the 2018-19 SJHL regular season on home ice at the Elgar Petersen Arena falling 2-1 to the Hawks.

    In the months after the crash, support poured in for the Broncos from seemingly everywhere including the province of Saskatchewan, the rest of Canada and the entire world.

    A GoFundMe campaign for Broncos players and staffers raised over $15.1-million with donations coming from over 141,900 individuals and entities in just under two weeks.

    It is crazy to think Humboldt residents Sylvie Kellington and Caitlin Hergott originally had the small goal of raising funds to cover parking costs for the families visiting hospitals with the GoFundMe campaign.
    Their efforts became the largest GoFundMe campaign ever in Canada and is still the fourth largest in the world.

A Swift Current fan with a Humboldt Broncos support sign in April of 2018.

    In Canada, the Broncos bus crash became one of those “where were you when” moments, because at the time it happened, no one wanted to believe it was true.

    In a lot of ways, it became the ultimate one degree of separation moment, because it seemed like everyone interacted with someone who was a family member or had a personal connection with the 29 individuals on the bus.

    In Swift Current, the Humboldt Broncos bus crash took on extra meaning. The WHL’s Swift Current Broncos suffered through a single-vehicle team bus crash on December 30, 1986 resulting the deaths of players Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff.

    The Swift Current bus flew off the highway having hit a patch of black ice shortly after leaving town on route to a road game in Regina to play the Pats.

    In April and May of 2018, the sticks were out for Humboldt at the Swift Current Broncos bus crash memorial. Inside of Swift Current and the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex during playoff games for the WHL’s Broncos, you didn’t have to look far to see a sign of support for Humboldt.
    The WHL’s Broncos would win the WHL title in May of 2018. In the season the WHL Broncos had their bus accident in 1986-87, the Humboldt Broncos captured the SJHL title.
    At the moment, the current day hasn’t been the greatest of times for the world.

#SticksOutForHumboldt at the Swift Current Broncos bus crash memorial.

    The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has a number of countries in the world including Canada observing lockdown measures.

    At the time this post went live, over 81,000 people in the world and 375 individuals in Canada have died due to complications related to COVID-19.

    In Canada and the United States, shutdowns started to happen on March 11, when the NBA elected to postpone play causing a series of dominoes of postponements, cancellations and shutdowns to follow.

    For about four weeks now, the population of the world has been bombarded with anxiety inducing news regarding COVID-19.

    As strange as it sounds, it seemed like a ray of light to turn on the social media accounts on Monday morning and see tributes posted from various people and entities for the 2017-18 SJHL Broncos team. There were pictures of people once again leaving their sticks outside their doors for the Broncos players who have passed on to use.

    People are still holding those that were part of that Broncos team close to their hearts.

    A few of the surviving Broncos players posted gracious notes as well thanking the support they received throughout the world and noting they still miss their buds who passed away in that crash. A number of parents of Broncos players posted heartwarming notes too.

A Humboldt Broncos tribute jersey and puck from 2018.

    Tuesday is “Green Shirt Day” for organ donor awareness and registration in honour of the “Logan Boulet Effect.” Boulet, who was one of the players that passed in the Broncos bus crash, wanted his organs donated if he passed away, and his actions resulted in six lives being saved.

    Boulet succumbed to his injuries and passed away on April 7, 2018.

    As news of Boulet’s actions spread, over 100,000 people signed their organ donor cards in the days and weeks that followed.

    Over the course of Monday and Tuesday, the hashtag phrases of #SticksOutForHumboldt, #HumboldtStrong, #BroncosStrong and #LoganBouletAffect were shown to be alive and meaningful.

    Even as time passes, that Broncos team from that tragic bus crash in early April of 2018 is still bringing out the best in humanity.

CFL postpones start of regular season, other notes

CFL action has been put on hold until at least the start of July.

    The CFL is still hoping to play a full regular season, but its start has been postponed until the beginning of July.

    On Tuesday, the CFL released a statement from commissioner Randy Ambrosie stating the regular season won’t begin until at least the start of July due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The regular season was slated to start on June 11 with the B.C. Lions traveling to Edmonton to face the Eskimos.

    In part of the statement, Ambrosie said, “Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. We salute the heroic efforts of those on the front lines of our health care system and our supply chain.

    “And, we are grateful for the leadership being shown by all levels of government. We respect the decisions being made by the federal government, provinces and municipalities on behalf of our safety, and we will continue to follow their directives. These include indications from Canadian cities that they will not allow sporting event to take place before the end of June.”

    On Friday, Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi said that Calgary’s ban on all public events until June 30 includes CFL and NHL games should those leagues resume before then.

    Toronto mayor John Tory announced last week his city is cancelling events through June 30 that require city permission. That ban did not extend to sporting events, but Ontario provincial gathering bans would factor in.

RB Andrew Harris (#33) and the Blue Bombers are the Grey Cup champions.

    Ambrosie also said in Tuesday’s statement, “While it is now clear that the 2020 CFL season won’t start before the beginning of July, we are committed to working with our teams, the Players’ Association, TSN and RDS to play a full season or as close as we can come to one. We recognize this may require creativity, and we are preparing for multiple scenarios.”

    The CFL previously announced on March 30 that training camps would be postponed until further notice.

    The last time the Grey Cup was not awarded was 1919 due to a lack of interest along with a rules dispute between the leagues that competed for the trophy at the time. The game was cancelled from 1916 to 1918 due to Canada’s participation in the First World War.

    The Winnipeg Blue Bombers downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 in last year’s Grey Cup held at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta.

    This year’s Grey Cup is slated for Nov. 22 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

    In wrapping up Tuesday’s statement Ambrosie said, “We realize there are more important things on Canadians’ minds right now than games of any sort. But we also know Canadian football has long been a source of pride and unity for our country and – when the time is right – we can play an important role in its recovery.

    “Until then, let’s all be pragmatic enough to do what we need to do to stop the spread of this virus and protect one another.”

Jayda Sachs with the Fedoruk Cup in 2019.

• Jayda Sachs has elected to bring her hockey career close to home. After playing one season with the University of Waterloo Warriors women’s hockey team, the 19-year-old forward, who is from Warman, Sask., decided to leave the Warriors to join the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team. The Huskies announced the addition of Sachs on Monday. Last season, Sachs played 23 regular season games with the Warriors collecting one goal and four assists. Due to the fact she is transferring between U Sports programs, Sachs has to sit out a full year before playing for the Huskies. From 2014 to 2019, Sachs played five seasons in the SFMAAAHL split between the Prince Albert Northern Bears and Saskatoon Stars appearing in 138 regular season games collecting 30 goals and 61 assists. She was a member of the Stars teams that captured the Fedoruk Cup as SFMAAAHL champions in 2018 and 2019.
• On Monday, Prince Albert Raiders captain Zack Hayes signed an AHL contract for the 2020-21 campaign to play with a new team in Henderson, Nevada, which will be the AHL affiliate for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. The defenceman appeared in 60 regular season games for the Raiders this past season posting seven goals, 16 assists and a plus-37 rating in the plus-minus department. From 2016 to 2020, Hayes appeared in 272 career regular season games with the Raiders posting 15 goals, 64 assists and a plus-97 rating.
• Tyrell Schroeder of the Saskatoon female midget A Comet Predators was named the Evan Thomas Memorial Sportsperson of the Year by the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association on Tuesday. The 15-year-old forward has played in the SMHA for the last 10 seasons all in the Comets system. Schroeder has maintained a 90 per cent average in her Grade 10 studies, and she also played on her school’s volleyball team. She will receive a $500 scholarship award. Thomas, who this award was named after, was one of the players that passed away tragically in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash on April 6, 2018.

    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.