2013 Grey Cup was Rider Nation’s best day at Taylor Field

Me, left, next to Chris Schultz on TV.

Thanks to looking over Chris Schultz’s shoulder, I had my moment at the 101^st Grey Cup.

Following the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 romp over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to win the Grey Cup at home on the frozen concrete of Taylor Field on November 24, 2013, I found myself heading to the booth on the north side of the legendary facility that was hosting TSN’s game day panel.

I was part of the group that got to look in through the window as the members of the panel gave their final thoughts on the contest. I was looking over the shoulder of Schultz, who was a former offensive tackle and 1991 Grey Cup winner with the Toronto Argonauts.

Later on that night, I noticed my TV appearance was captured on photo by a couple of buds in Mike Kaye and Jeff Urkevich, who posted the images on Facebook. I laughed when I saw them, and they are still a good keepsake memory.

This past Sunday, the CFL wrapped up a Grey Cup Unite promotion that began on Monday, Nov. 16. It marked a week long virtual celebration of the CFL and its iconic title game that dates back to 1909.

Grey Cup Unite ran during the same time this year’s Grey Cup festival was to be held in Regina, and the championship contest was to be played on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium.

With the world locked in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the 2020 CFL campaign got outright cancelled.

Rider Nation mingled in the streets before the 2013 Grey Cup.

There was talk about playing a shortened CFL season in a hub city format in Winnipeg, Man., but the entire campaign was officially terminated on August 17.

During the Grey Cup Unite week that just wrapped up, my mind drifted back to that seasonably pleasant day and night in Regina on November 24, 2013. That game was played seven years ago today, and it feels like some kind of other lifetime ago.

Still, I wish something could make me go back in time to relive that day again. Even just being seven years younger that I am today, I felt I was able to truly soak in and enjoy that day.

At that time, I was still working at the Medicine Hat News as a beat writer that covered the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. I had booked a vacation week that started on that Grey Cup Sunday.

With how the stresses were in the workplace at that point in time, I aimed to use my vacation weeks as tools to give myself strategic breaks. Looking at the CFL schedule, I thought the Roughriders could be in that game.

Fans walk to Taylor Field for the 2013 Grey Cup.

Even if they weren’t, I expected to attend a Grey Cup party in Medicine Hat and had plans to enjoy the day that way.

I was actually in Calgary a week earlier on November 17, 2013 at McMahon Stadium, when the Roughriders hammered the host Calgary Stampeders 35-13 in the CFL’s West Final.

When I got home, I did check Ticketmaster’s website to see if there were tickets available for the Grey Cup. Of course, the game was a sellout.

During my career as a sports reporter, I knew usually at big events like the Grey Cup a portion of tickets are set aside for dignitaries and special guests. Tickets that are set aside for those purposes that aren’t used usually go back on sale to the general public.

On the Tuesday just two days after the West Final, I was able to buy one of those tickets that were put back up for sale to the public.

The Saturday before the Grey Cup game, I actually worked a WHL regular season contest, where the host Tigers downed the visiting Regina Pats 5-1 at The Arena in Medicine Hat. The Tigers crew knew I was heading to the Grey Cup game, and they all told me they hoped I had fun.

Fans gather outside Taylor Field before the 2013 Grey Cup.

I believe I only slept five hours that night and began my jaunt to Regina at 7 a.m. on Grey Cup Sunday.

When I arrived in Regina, it was like everywhere I went in town was a joyful, feel-good party. After wandering the streets around Taylor Field enjoying festivities with the rest of Rider Nation, I made my way to the stadium to ensure I got to see the pre-game show.

During pre-game show, the sellout crowd of 44,710 spectators was already in a walking on air mood when the Saskatoon-based band the Sheepdogs was on the field playing. As game time neared, you believed this would be the perfect dream night for Rider Nation.

This belief was backed up when the Roughriders charged the field in their traditional “Bring ‘Em Out” style.

The game’s signature moment came early in the first quarter, when Roughriders franchise quarterback Darian Durant scrambled up field, got hit and fumbled the ball high into the air to be pulled down by star running back Kory Sheets.  Sheets rumbled off a magical 39-yard game for the home side.

Fans line up to get into Taylor Field for the 2013 Grey Cup.

As a Roughriders fan, you had a big gut feeling that this game was going to go your way after seeing that play.

That drive eventually resulted in a diving 15-yard touchdown reception by legendary CFL receiver Geroy Simon that put the Roughriders up 7-3. Saskatchewan scored 24 points in the second quarter to take a 31-6 lead into halftime.  The outburst included another beauty 42-yard touchdown catch by Simon.

After Hedley’s entertaining halftime show, Hamilton scored the first 10 points of the second half to create a little worry for the Roughriders fans cutting Saskatchewan’s lead to 31-16. That was as close as the visitors got.

A four-yard touchdown run by Sheets and a 26-yard touchdown reception by receiver Weston Dressler put the Roughriders up 45-16, and the victory celebration in Saskatchewan started in earnest.

Sheets had two major scores along the ground and piled up a Grey Cup record 197 yards rushing on 20 carries to be named the game’s MVP. He ran with power and authority.

The inside of Taylor Field at the 2013 Grey Cup.

Durant completed 17-of-24 passes for 245 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Slotback Chris Getzlaf was the contest’s most outstanding Canadian player hauling in three passes for 78 yards.

The game was also highlighted by two big sacks from Roughriders defensive lineman John Chick.

On a fan front, I was pumped to see the Roughriders run over Tiger-Cats star quarterback Henry Burris, who once played for the Roughriders in the early 2000s. Crazy part was I would met Burris about four years later after he quarterbacked the Ottawa Redblacks to a Grey Cup win in 2016.

I learned Burris was a gem of a person, and also having a better understanding of the business of sports, I regretted the fan heckles I sent his way over the years at CFL games including the 2013 Grey Cup.

Even with that noted, I still relish and have the greatest memories of the Roughriders Grey Cup win in 2013, which was fourth Grey Cup victory in team history. It felt like the right outcome for the final Grey Cup ever played at Taylor Field.

Taylor Field shortly after the Roughriders win the 2013 Grey Cup.

When the clock ticked to zero, people were hugging their neighbours all around them. The image of Durant hoisting the Grey Cup with a huge smile on his face will also live forever. The green and white confetti raining down on the Roughriders players was also a site to behold.

For the longest time after that game ended, I remember just sitting in the stands and soaking everything in. On the fan front, it was the greatest day.

I also had four buds who were University of Regina Rams football team grads on that Roughriders team in Neal Hughes, Brendon LaBatte, Getzlaf and Jordan Sisco. Thanks to those connections, I actually spent some good social time with a number of players on that Roughriders team over the years including Durant.

They are all great guys, and I was really proud that they got to achieve that moment in their careers.

Actually, the idea of the Roughriders winning the Grey Cup at Taylor Field wasn’t even something that seemed conceivable for the bucket list.

The final scoreboard of the 2013 Grey Cup.

After reveling in the moment, I made my way to the booth where the TSN panel was to get my TV moment.

From there, I disappeared to “the Green Mile” and into the Regina night to enjoy the celebration, which went well into Monday morning.

For like a 24-hour period, it really felt like life was just truly good. Even now, I feel fortunate I got to enjoy that feeling.

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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Conference finals berths finally come for Pats and ‘Canes fans

A young Pats fan holds up a Sam Steel big head.

    There had to be a time when fans of the Regina Pats and Lethbridge Hurricanes had to wonder if their teams would ever make a long playoff run again.

    This year, those runs finally happened. The Pats and Hurricanes have advanced through the first two rounds of the WHL’s post-season to qualify for the league’s final four.

    To make things even more compelling, they will face each other in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference championship series that begins on Friday in Regina (7 p.m. local time, Brandt Centre).

    Both teams have storied pasts when it comes to the post-season, but those times seem like a distant memory. The Pats last qualified for the Eastern Conference championship series back in 1993, and the Hurricanes haven’t been that far in the post-season since 2008, when they made the WHL championship series and fell to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Spokane Chiefs.

Members of the “Canes Train” have been loud and proud all season.

    When the Pats and Hurricanes won their respective WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series, the way the players on each team poured off their bench to celebrate made it obvious they knew they accomplished something significant.

    Over the past two seasons, the fan bases in Regina and Lethbridge got behind their respective teams in a big way as both clubs experienced resurgences. While excitement was high, the idea of either the Pats or Hurricanes making a long playoff run had to be foreign one.

    During the past 15 seasons, long playoff runs seemed to be reserved for teams like the Brandon Wheat Kings, Kelowna Rockets, Medicine Hat Tigers and Portland Winterhawks, who all had many extended post-season forays over that time. There had to be doubt that the Pats or Hurricanes could ever belong with those upper echelon clubs.

Sam Steel has been all-world good for the Pats.

    For the Pats, they did have high finishes in the regular season standings since 1993, but would be bounced mostly in the first round of the playoffs and the odd time the second round.
    When the 2012-13 season came to an end, they had missed qualifying for the post-season for the fourth time in five years.

    While they have a storied past being the oldest major junior team in the world and having won three Memorial Cups, they were often mentioned in passing in recent times as one of those other teams that are out there.
    In Late April of 2014, Russ and Diane Parker sold the club to Queen City Sports and Entertainment headed by Regina businessman Anthony Marquart to signal change.

    In August of 2014, the Pats hired veteran bench boss John Paddock as head coach, and he later took on the duties of general manager.

    The Pats advanced to the second round of the post-season in 2015 and 2016, and fan interest started to build.
    In 2016-17, they finished first overall in the WHL with a 52-12-7-1 mark and were rated as the top team in the final Canadian Hockey League rankings that came out on March 22.

    Regina also topped the CHL top 10 ranking for much of the 2016-17 campaign. When the Swift Current Broncos led the Pats 3-1 in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series, Regina fans had to worry if the second round would be where Regina’s run would end again.

Tyler Wong has done it all for the Hurricanes.

    The Pats rallied back to take that series with Swift Current 4-3, which marked the first time in team history Regina erased a 3-1 series deficit.
    A berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series gave the Pats’ top spot in the CHL top 10 rankings street cred.

    For the Hurricanes, they bottomed out hard after making the WHL championship series in 2008.
    Lethbridge made the second round of the 2009 post-season and proceeded to miss the playoffs for six straight years after that.

    Following the 2013-14 campaign when the Hurricanes finished last in the entire WHL with a 12-55-2-3 record, it seemed there was a death watch surrounding the team. There were times the Hurricanes existence in Lethbridge was questioned.

    Before the 2014-15 campaign started, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel, when the club hired Peter Anholt as an assistant general manager.
    Those that followed the league for an extended period of time knew that this would be an inspired move.

    About half way through the 2014-15 season, the Hurricanes board of directors named the veteran bench boss the team’s head coach and general manager. The Hurricanes finished second last in the league with a 20-44-5-3 mark, but they were no longer pushovers under Anholt’s guidance.

Austin Wagner (#27) has scored goals at key times for the Pats.

    Still, there was talk that the community-owned team should be sold.

    However, golden hockey days in Lethbridge soon arrived. Anholt made a brilliant decision to hire Brent Kisio as the club’s new head coach before the start of the 2015-16 campaign.
    Kisio, who was 32-years-old when he joined the Hurricanes, had spent eight seasons with the Calgary Hitmen mainly as an assistant coach and finished his tenure in Calgary as an associate coach and assistant general manager.

    Under Kisio’s guidance, the Hurricanes rocketed up to finish first in the WHL’s Central Division in 2015-16 with a 46-24-1-1 record. They fell in a best-of-seven first round series to the Pats 4-1.

    This season the Hurricanes again were one of the league’s top clubs posting a 44-21-4-3 record.
    During the playoffs, they showed they might be the WHL club that has the most heart. Despite being plagued by numerous injuries, the Hurricanes rallied from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round to eliminate the Red Deer Rebels 4-3.

Giorgio Estephan has been a standout for the Hurricanes.

    Lethbridge proceeded to take out the Medicine Hat Tigers in another gutty seven-game series to earn a berth in the conference finals.
    Hurricanes overage captain Tyler Wong forever became a team legend, when he scored the overtime winner short-handed in Game 7 against the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Tuesday to deliver the Hurricanes a 5-4 victory.

    As the Hurricanes hit stride, fans in Lethbridge jumped on the “Canes Train” and flooded the Enmax Centre and neighbouring opposition city rinks when their team played there. Hockey glory days are back in Lethbridge.

    Now as the Pats and Hurricanes get set to battle in the Eastern Conference championship, fans get to watch two clubs that feature stars that appear to be almost superheroes.

    The Pats have centre Sam Steel, who topped the WHL in regular season scoring with 50 goals and 81 assists, to lead their side. Regina’s roster is filled with stars like speedy winger Austin Wagner, defenceman Connor Hobbs and netminder Tyler Brown.

    The “Pats Regiment” is hopeful heart and soul captain Adam Brooks might return to action from his knee injury at some point in the series.

Connor Hobbs provides an offensive kick from the back end for the Pats.

    Wong is the Hurricanes larger than life hero taking the club’s fan favourite award in each of his five seasons with the team. The Cochrane product topped the Hurricanes in scoring with 51 goals and 58 assists.

    Lethbridge compliments Wong with a number of other stars including centre Giorgio Estephan, defenceman Brennan Menell and netminder Stuart Skinner.

    If both teams were healthy, this series would have the potential to go to overtime in Game 7.
    While the Pats haven’t been able to utilize Brooks and centre Jake Leschyshyn is out for the entire post-season with a knee injury, the Hurricanes are still way more hurt on the injury front.

    In the final two games of the series with over the Tigers, the Hurricanes scratched five regulars including forwards Matt Alfaro, Zak Zborosky, Ryan Vandervlis and Zane Franklin along with rearguard Calen Addison.

Stuart Skinner has been spectacular in goal for the Hurricanes.

    The Hurricanes dressed three associate players in their Game 7 win over Medicine Hat.

    Due to the Hurricanes injuries, the Pats are the favourites in this series. With that said, it wouldn’t be surprising for the Hurricanes extend the set to five or six games with their heart.

    For the fans on both sides, the Pats and Hurricanes runs have been successful no matter what happens after puck drop in Game 1 on Friday.
    Everything will be about enjoying a moment that about three years ago looked to be impossible.

Back in the Express with Burris

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week having written a catch up piece with recently retired star CFL quarterback Henry Burris.

    On May 4, Burris will be the special guest speaker for this year’s Houghton Boston Dogs’ Breakfast, which starts at 7 a.m. at Prairieland Park. Since guiding the Ottawa Redblacks to a 39-33 upset overtime victory over the Calgary Stampeders in last November’s Grey Cup, Burris had settled into a life of being a co-host of CTV Morning Live, and he has enjoyed being a hockey dad.

    One thing I didn’t include was asking Burris how tight he was with veteran Regina Leader-Post columnist Rob Vanstone. Burris played with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2000 and 2003 and 2004, which allowed a friendship to grow.

    “Rob (Vanstone) was always a fan of mine before I even came to Saskatchewan it felt like,” said Burris over the phone from Ottawa. “When him and I first met, we just started talking and getting to know each other just everything just took off.

    “I’m looking forward to seeing him soon. We have to sit down and talk about business, but more so just catch up.

    “I’m looking forward to getting out there and catching up with a good gentleman like him (Vanstone) and just thanking him personally for everything that he has done for me in my career. Hopefully, we can continue to do things together.”

    Burris will also be in Regina on May 26 as the guest speaker for the Regina Thunder’s Dinner of Champions to be held at the Regina Delta hotel.

    My Express story on Burris 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.