Competitive greatness on a different level

Hilltops run of six straight CJFL title wins a spectacular era

The Hilltops celebrate their Canadian Bowl win in 2015.

From 2014 to 2019, the Saskatoon Hilltops had a run that even the most optimistic person involved with the storied CJFL club wouldn’t have thought possible.

Since the modern version of the team hit the field in 1947, the Hilltops have become one of the most fabled teams in all of Canadian sport having won 22 CJFL championships. With all the accolades the Hilltops have collected over the past 75 years, the most impressive high point might have been the team’s run at winning six straight CJFL titles from 2014 to 2019.

The run was capped with the Hilltops posting two straight perfect seasons going 11-0 in 2018 and 12-0 in 2019.

“It was amazing,” said Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, whose 218 career wins entering this season are the most in Canada’s amateur post-secondary football ranks. “I guess you remember the championship teams a little bit different than the other teams, and it is too bad.

“I’m not saying that is right, but you have that tendency to do that. It was just a great energy and a great confidence. These guys knew when they showed up in big games they were going to play their best football, and that is what championship caliber football is all about is playing your best when your best is needed.”

From left, Justin Filteau, Tom Sargeant and Jeff Yausie in 2014.

While the Hilltops strive to hit new levels of competitive greatness which they did during the run of six straight CJFL title wins, the run actually had an auspicious start.

Going into the 2014 season, the Hilltops were looking to bounce back after falling 21-16 in the PFC final against the Regina Thunder at Griffiths Stadium. The Thunder went on to win the Canadian Bowl to become CJFL champions for the first time in team history.

The Hilltops and Thunder opened the 2014 campaign playing each other at Taylor Field in Regina, and the Thunder prevailed in that contest 19-16 in overtime. After rebounding with a 19-13 victory over the Edmonton Huskies in Week 2 at Griffiths Stadium, the Hilltops hit a low point that seemingly came out of nowhere.

On Sept. 6, 2014, the Hilltops were set to play at their long time home park, which was newly renovated and rechristened Saskatoon Minor Football Field, against the Thunder. A lot of extra functions took place around that contest to commemorate the improvements at the park.

It appeared it was going to be a great day for the Hilltops as they held a 25-3 lead at one point in the contest and were up 25-6 going into the final two minutes of the game. Before those final two minutes elapsed, the Thunder scored three touchdowns to pull out a shocking 26-25 victory.

Justin Filteau sets to make a tackle in the PFC final in 2014.

Sitting with a 1-2 record, the Hilltops were in a soul searching position, and they were looking to just win a game.

“We had lost at Griffiths to Regina at the end of the year (in 2013),” said Sargeant. “They kicked the door down, and they were rocking and rolling.

“The next year they showed up with a lot of confidence, and they took us down. I wasn’t worried about them. I was just worried about us.

“I remember meeting with our leadership group, and I said, ‘Guys, you keep playing like this at the end of the day I’m going to have to play young guys, and we’re going to have to move forward.’ I said, ‘If this isn’t ground zero then we are in trouble.’”

The Hilltops in 2014 were a younger team with only five fifth-year players. One of those was linebacker Justin Filteau, who got a read on what needed to be done.

Filteau, who passed away in a plane crash on June 1, 2019, called a players’ only meeting in the basement of the Hilltops old clubhouse building. He spoke to the team about coming together as a family and working on the brotherhood within the squad.

Wayndel Lewis, right, takes a handoff in 2014.

In unique Filteau fashion, he was able to pull on the heartstrings of his teammates.

“That is one of the things we ended up writing on our rings was the brotherhood,” said Hilltops safety James Vause, who was in his rookie year in 2014. “I think it probably stemmed from that players’ only meeting that we had downstairs after we were 1-2 there.

“He (Filteau) definitely did bring the guys together. We had a good chat and the leaders all spoke. It was mostly Filteau speaking, but it was good to have something without the coaches around.”

Jordan Walls, who was a first-year quarterback with the Hilltops in 2014, said it was perfectly accurate to say that the players’ only meeting Filteau called was the point the team that season truly came together.

“It was a bunch of strangers that came in the first couple of weeks and then kind of after that meeting we all bought in,” said Walls. “We started doing things a lot more together as a team and going out as a group and making sure everyone was feeling included.

“As a first year guy, I definitely felt that way.”

After an intense week of practice, the Hilltops traveled to Edmonton and crushed the Huskies 68-17, which started a run where they closed the campaign with eight straight wins. The 2014 season culminated on November 8 with a 39-14 victory over the Rams in Langley, B.C. in the Canadian Bowl to become CJFL champions.

The Hilltops celebrate winning the PFC final in 2014.

Hilltops fifth-year star running back Wayndel Lewis, whose season came to an end with a left ankle injury in the team’s first playoff game, was named the CJFL’s offensive player of the year. Filteau took home individual honours as a CJFL all-Canadian all-star. Vause said you couldn’t overstate the impact Filteau had on the team.

“He was super important,” said Vause. “He definitely led by example.

“Being a young guy and kind of seeing his stature for a linebacker and how many plays he made and how much heart he showed on the field, he really put his heart and soul into every single practice and game. As a young guy seeing that, it was something that I definitely wanted to try and emulate as well. There wasn’t too many fifth years on the team, but they were definitely great leaders and players that we looked up to.

“A huge mantra on the Hilltops is to always try to help our fifth years leave as champions. With only having a few of them on our team, we really wanted to do it for them. Being a young guy, you really played for them, so they could leave the program as national champions.”

The Hilltops returned most of their roster in 2015, which in a lot of ways made it feel like a continuation of the 2014 season. A total of 16 players were playing out their final campaign of junior eligibility.

Jared Andreychuk, right, throw a pass in the 2015 Canadian Bowl.

It could be argued the Hilltops in 2015 were the most talented group out of the teams that won six straight CJFL titles from 2014 to 2019.

Jared Andreychuk was the cool and calm leader at quarterback. Logan Fischer was the star all-purpose running back, who could run hard through the tackles or make catches and big plays in space in the passing game. Des Vessey started at fullback, but he could carry the load at tailback if needed.

At receiver, Andreychuk seemingly had five or six number one receivers to throw to in Chad Braun, Evan Kopchynski, Davis Mitchell, Preston Njaa, Tyson Sawatzky and Evan Turkington.

On defence, outside linebacker Cole Benkic would be named the CJFL’s defensive player of the year, and he was joined by a highly talented duo in middle linebacker Cam Schnitzler and outside linebacker Quinn Pierce. The secondary was loaded with playmakers in Vause, Dylan Larson, Arnold Osam, Austin Thorarinson and Derek Sadownick.

The most remembered part of the 2015 Hilltops team were the starting offensive and defensive lines, which were arguably the best the team ever had. The starting offensive line featured Jordan Hydomako at centre, Tyler Hoath at right tackle, Terry Thesen at left tackle, Drayke Unger at right guard and Nathan Heide at left guard. The defensive line benefited from the stellar play of Blake Adams and Matt Kozun at the inside tackle spots and Tom Schnitzler and Blake Hermann at the defensive end positions.

Cole Benkic, right, sets to make a hit in the 2015 Canadian Bowl.

“(Matt) Kozun and (Blake) Adams were probably two of the best interior D-linemen that I’ve ever played with,” said Vause. “They were a force.

“Of course, you add the athleticism of (Tom) Schnitzler and (Blake) Hermann on the side, it was really fun to watch. You sit back and watch them play.”

The Hilltops rolled to a 7-0 start before having a hiccup and dropping their last regular season game to the Calgary Colts 34-4 at SMF Field. Saskatoon quickly reset for the post-season holding homefield advantage through the entire CJFL playoffs.

The “Blue and Gold” downed the Winnipeg Rifles 49-21 in the PFC semifinal and rocked the Colts in the PFC final 38-16. In the Canadian Bowl on November 7, 2015, the Hilltops battled the Okanagan Sun in a tightly contested game.

The 38-24 victory was only sealed when Andreychuk hit Turkington with a 33-yard touchdown pass with under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter to give the Hilltops their 14-point lead. Fischer ran the ball 23 times for 102 yards and two touchdowns, and he caught seven passes for 107 yards.

“Probably, my greatest memories as a Hilltop were that season,” said Vause, who became the Hilltops starting safety late in the regular season after Thorarinson went down to injury. “Winning at home in front of that crowd, it was an incredible experience.

Blade Adams kisses the Canadian Bowl in 2015.

“I still sort of think that 2015 team is one of the most dominant teams ever to play, which is a huge credit to Okanagan as well, because they gave us a really good game in that final. That 2015 team from top to bottom had a loaded roster. When I sort of think about Hilltop football, it was that season.”

After a mass amount of graduations, the Hilltops looked to be in a reloading phase in 2016, but one of their key fifth-year players was Andreychuk. While Andreychuk was throwing to a younger group of receivers outside of Sawatzky, who was also in his fifth year, the signal caller’s leadership showed through as the younger Hilltops grew.

 The Hilltops took it on the chin in an early season loss to the Colts but pulled out a number of close games to again finish first in the PFC with an 8-1 mark.

With Andreychuk calling the signals, the Hilltops got past the Colts 43-31 in the PFC final and advanced to the Canadian Bowl to play the Westshore Rebels in Langford, B.C. In the Canadian Bowl played on November 12, 2016, the Hilltops trailed the Rebels 19-16 late in the third quarter before hitting high gear to pull out a 37-25 victory.

Tom Sargeant eyes up the action in the 2015 Canadian Bowl.

Andreychuk finished his CJFL career posting a 9-0 record as a starting quarterback in the post-season and became just the third starting quarterback in CJFL history to lead his team to three straight CJFL championships.

“It was very eye-opening about how you need to play,” said Walls, who backed up Andreychuk from 2014 to 2016. “He (Andreychuk) was so good, so dialed in with everything he did.

“I really fed off of him. We did a lot of things together during the season. We always sat together at films and roomed together on the road.

“Every rep he took in practice I was watching and just trying to soak everything in from him, because he is one of the all-time great quarterbacks for the Hilltops. (It was big) getting the front row seat to see how he performed and how he acted and prepared and just ultimately on game day went out and performed at a very high level every single game. I can’t remember a game where he was ever bad.”

Walls took over the starter’s role at quarterback in 2017, and the Hilltops machine kept rolling. Their only loss came on September 9 of that year, when they dropped a 29-26 decision to the Thunder at SMF Field. That ultimately would be the last game the Hilltops would lose until 2021.

The Hilltops finished first in the PFC with a 7-1 record in the regular season. In the PFC final, a one-yard touchdown plunge from defensive tackle Garth Knittig with 96 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter sealed a 36-24 victory over the Thunder. Saskatoon proceeded to host the Nanaimo, B.C., based Vancouver Island Raiders in a CJFL semifinal contest and romped to a 48-0 victory.

Logan Fischer runs the ball in the 2016 PFC final.

On November 11, 2017, the Hilltops became the first club to win four straight CJFL championships overwhelming the host Windsor AKO Fratmen 56-11 in the Canadian Bowl. For Vause, the Canadian Bowl win over the Fratmen marked an end to his playing career with the Hilltops.

“I would have done anything to have another year with the Hilltops,” said Vause. “I still think that those years playing football were some of the best years of my life.

“(There were) so many memories during those times. Aside from even the football aspect, it is just the relationships you build. It is the brotherhood that really makes you love the program.”

The 2018 campaign might have been one of the most dominant statistical seasons the Hilltops ever had. They opened the regular season on August 18 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina and thumped the host Thunder 41-7. The Hilltops took off and never looked back.

They went 8-0 in the regular season outscoring their opponents 402-70. Between the regular season and playoffs, the Hilltops trailed on the scoreboard for a combined 81 seconds. The Thunder held a 17-16 lead for an 81-second span in the second quarter in a regular season game against the “Blue and Gold” at SMF Field September 22, which the Hilltops took by a 48-24 final score.

“We played a lot as rookies, because the old guys would get up so much,” said Hilltops linebacker Konner Johnson, who was a rookie in 2018. “I think every home game we got the rookies in for at least the fourth quarter and some of the third quarter sometimes.

Rylan Kleiter holds up the PFC Championship Trophy in 2016.

“That is huge in getting the young guys developed. It has definitely paid dividends for us.”

Saskatoon’s closest margin of victory came in the PFC final with a 28-9 triumph over the Edmonton Huskies. In the Canadian Bowl played on November 17 at SMF Field, the Hilltops stormed out to a 28-0 lead and cruised to a 58-21 victory over the Langley Rams.

“Reflecting back on that season, I think we all just had the most fun not necessarily because we were winning, but because we were such a developed team at that point,” said receiver Jason Price, who was a CJFL all-Canadian all-star in 2018. “We were such a brotherhood.

“We always talk about the Hilltops brotherhood. It was just like that was our family. We just had the most fun with our family kind of thing.”

With the Hilltops becoming the first team to ever win five straight CJFL titles, Sargeant had the team’s eight fifth-year players take the field for the final knee down snap of the Canadian Bowl. The group included Walls, Price, receiver Adam Ewanchyna, right tackle Kirk Simonsen, defensive end Connor Guillet and linebackers Cody Peters, who was the CJFL’s defensive player of the year in 2018, Bobby Ehman and Adam Benkic.

All eight players played their entire CJFL careers from 2014 to 2018 with the Hilltops.

Garth Knittig scores a touchdown in the 2017 PFC final.

“That was probably one of my fondest memories as a Hilltop just being out there with the guys that you had been through it all with from year one to year five,” said Walls. “It was a nice gesture of ‘Sarge’ to do that and put us out there and make sure that we were all bonded over that thing and we were kind of remembered for that.”

The Hilltops returned a veteran roster in 2019 that would see 15 players graduate at the end of the campaign. The club had a different dynamic as a number of fifth-year players were starting for the first time due to how deep the team was in previous seasons.

Some of the Hilltops first time fifth-year starters who had stellar campaigns included quarterback Tyler Hermann, receiver Connor Graham, and linebackers Jadyn Pingue and Riley Keating. Pingue was named the CJFL’s defensive player of the year for the 2019 campaign, and he said winning that award, which is named after Hilltops all-time great Larry Wruck, was life changing in opening doors in the sport.

Going into the 2019 campaign, Pingue said he wasn’t on anyone’s radar when it came to staying in football after his time with the Hilltops was complete, because he had been a backup. He just wanted to have a good season in his final campaign with the Hilltops to show he could be at a league best level as a player.

“I didn’t just want to be an all-star,” said Pingue, who is still playing football with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds with aspirations to make the professional ranks. “I wanted to be the best.

James Vause runs back and interception in the 2017 PFC final.

“I knew I was going to be doubted a lot, because not a lot of people have seen me play, and it was my first year as a starter. I put my heart into that season to be the impact player and a leader immediately. I knew that they needed to count on me to make it in the defence and to help our team win.

“I spent the off-season working, training, watching film of NFL players that I knew, and I took time to manifest on how I could be the best player possible and a national champion again. That award and season were really special for me, because it set a new standard for me that I knew how to achieve.”

The Hilltops were in tight battles in the first four weeks of the season. In Week 3, they downed the Huskies in Edmonton 24-22, and in Week 4, they outlasted the Thunder 28-21 at SMF Field. 

In both those games, the Hilltops needed rushing touchdowns from star power running back Ben Abrook to erase deficits inside the final two minutes of play.

“Those games were down in the final two minutes, and it took a drive to kind of come back and win,” said Hermann. “To me, that showed a lot of character in the team including myself.

Jordan Walls throws a pass in 2018.

“That gave me the kind of confidence that you know what it is not always sunshine and roses in the Hilltop world. There is adversity, and it is nice to know that when were facing that we can rise above it and rally around each other.”

Saskatoon proceeded to roll from there. In the PFC final, the Hilltops downed the Huskies 30-14 at SMF Field and bombed the Beefeaters on London, Ont., 51-1 in a CJFL semifinal contest.

In the Canadian Bowl played on November 16, 2019, the Hilltops took on the Rams for a second straight year with this clash taking place McLeod Stadium in Langley, B.C. 

Saskatoon claimed the defensive slugfest 11-6 thanks to three field goals coming from receiver/kicker Rylan Kleiter.

“I hadn’t cried like that in five years before or five years after,” said Hermann. “That was the most special moment being able to enjoy it with my parents and those coaches and specifically with one of my best friends Connor (Graham), and we able to do this whole thing together.

“I just remember hugging him on the field after and just crying. All that hard work and all those times when we were like questioning if it was worth it, we were just putting in so much time. We were just kind of buried in the depth chart.

“At the end of the day, feeling that moment at the end of the game, and it wasn’t the most beautiful game from an offensive standpoint, but I didn’t even care at the time. I was just so happy to climb that mountain and done it with my brothers and all the people that believed in me and really supported me throughout.”

Jason Price runs downfield after a catch in 2018.

Johnson hopes he can help the Hilltops defence emulate this year what they did in 2019, when he was a sophomore with the team.

“It was unreal, and that is what we are trying to get back to this year,” said Johnson. “Close games like that where it is low scoring and defences are kind of ruling the field both ways, it is super exciting as a defensive player.

“You’re kind of the star of the show out there and what everyone is watching. Hopefully our defence can stand up like that again this year.”

The 2019 season had extra special meaning for Pingue due to Filteau’s passing before that CJFL campaign began. Pingue was wearing the same #45 number that Filteau wore, and he was aware of the impact Filteau had on the program.

Pingue said the Hilltops played that season to honour Filteau, and one of his best memories was Sargeant being lifted on the shoulders of the Hilltops players while raising the Canadian Bowl to the sky to Filteau after the CJFL title win in Langley.

Jadyn Pingue in action for the Hilltops in 2019.

“Wearing the #45 that season had a new meaning for me,” said Pingue. “I had that number since my rookie season right after Filteau graduated from the program.

“After Justin’s passing, it turned into a number that meant more than my own, and it became one that I needed to honour as it had another legacy that needed to be respected. Back in that season, I went to ‘Sarge’ and the coaches in their office before the season kicked off to offer his number up for retirement, and I was open to changing my number. In my head at that time, it was the right thing to do, and I was open to changing my number.

“‘Sarge’ had a better idea and said that it would be better to honour it by wearing it for him, not by retiring it at that time. We added the JF45 decal on the back of our helmets to keep the memory alive of our Hilltop brother. We wanted to win not only for ourselves but for him too.”

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world caused the cancellation of the 2020 CJFL season.

In 2021, the Hilltops finished second in the PFC with a 6-2 regular season record, but traveled to Regina and downed the Thunder 29-9 in the PFC final at Mosaic Stadium. 

Saskatoon proceeded to fall in a CJFL semifinal contest 17-14 to the Rams in Langley, B.C., on November 20 to end the quest to win a CJFL title for the seventh straight year.

Tyler Hermann throws a pass in 2019.

During the run of winning six straight CJFL championships, the Hilltops won a CJFL record 22 straight post-season games. 

The 2021 season saw an overall winning streak of 33 games and a road winning streak of 31 contests including play in the regular season and post-season come to an end for the Hilltops. It is believed both of those streaks are CJFL records.

For many of the team’s followers, the Hilltops run of winning six straight CJFL titles is arguably the most memorable era of the modern version of the club that first took the field in 1947. 

Walls said he was humbled by any type of praise that comes the way of the Hilltops teams of that era.

“You’re honoured to be a part of it,” said Walls. “You’re honoured to be involved with the entire team.

“For the guys that had been around for the majority of the years and they’ve seen a lot of football, for them to say that six year stretch out of the all years they’ve been there is the one of the most memorable, that means a lot. You just start to think about all the teams and all the guys you’ve played with.

The Hilltops celebrate their Canadian Bowl win in 2018.

“We’ve all kind of gone our separate ways now, but when you get together for things outside of football or you see them at the field and you are coaching against them, that is one thing you always think back to. There were just so many guys that were involved with it. It was a good time for sure a good time.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. This piece originally ran in the Saskatoon Hilltops game program for their home game on August 14, 2022. A huge thanks goes out to Louis Christ for supplying a large number of photos for this feature.

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Young ones leaders in protests against racism in Saskatoon

Protesters march at the “Justice for George Rally” on Thursday in Saskatoon.

    “I understand that I will never understand. However, I stand.”

    I wish I could say I thought that up.

    That is a message I’ve seen on a handful of social media accounts of young friends usually aged 18 to 24 over the last handful of days as protests against racism continue across North America and dare I say the world.

    The demonstrations were triggered due to the death of African-American George Floyd on May 25 after he was arrested by police in Minneapolis, Minn.

    Video of the arrest showed Floyd being pinned on the ground with a police officer identified as Derek Chauvin driving his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck.

Young adults made up most of the crowd at the “Justice for George Rally.”

    Four officers were fired over the incident including Chauvin, and at first, Chauvin, who is Caucasian, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter over Floyd’s death. The charges against Chauvin were increased to second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday.

    The three other officers - Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao – were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

    Being a middle aged person who can get jaded from time to time due to seeing my share of bad happening to good people in this world, I thought this would be another one of those things that would blow over, which is awful to admit. I didn’t think it would get the momentum that it did.

Some of the protesters who took a knee at Kiwanis Park - North.

    That changed on Tuesday after I opened up my person Instagram account in the morning. The first thing I saw on my newsfeed was a post from Ryan Fontaine, who was a star goalie for the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 team from 2015 to 2018.

    Her post was a blacked our screen with the hashtag phrase #blackouttuesday.

    The next thing that crossed my mind was, “Wow, I didn’t know she was engaged with that.”

    Right after seeing that posts, I saw similar posts from Parker Kelly, who is an alumnus of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders and forward with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, and Tristen Robins, who is a star centre with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.

A protester with a bike takes a knee at Kiwanis Park - North.

    As I continued to go through all my social media accounts, I found similar posts from current players from the Raiders, Blades, six time defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops, defending WWCFL champion Saskatoon Valkyries, members of various teams of the SFU18AAAHL, from the various University of Saskatchewan Huskies teams in U Sports and Saskatchewan based players who play in the NCAA.

    At that point, I decided to follow the lead of my young friends on my social media accounts hoping to be a show of support that they were doing the right thing.

Thursday’s “Justice for George Rally” in Saskatoon had a massive turnout.

    Clavet product Willow Slobodzian, who stars on defence for the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team, was constantly upgrading her Instagram story feed with education items regarding racism and news items about what various people were trying to do to address the issue.

    One of the best social media posts came from Jadyn Pingue, who finished up his five-year career playing linebacker for the Hilltops being named the CJFL’s most outstanding defensive player. On Thursday, Pingue, who is African-American, put together a well written post about black men building up other black men.

    The post included a strong portrait type picture of Pingue.

View this post on Instagram

WE are BLACK MEN!..... We BUILD .... We NEVER TEAR DOWN other BLACK MEN! .... We have felt the pain of being torn down and we have decided we will be deliberate about building others! All too often, we men find it easier to criticize each other, instead of BUILDING each other UP. With all the negativity going around let's do something POSITIVE!🌟 Upload 1 picture of yourself...ONLY YOU. Then tag as many brothers as you need to do the same. Let's BUILD ourselves UP, instead of tearing ourselves down. Be PROUD of who you are, PEACE & LOVE. 🖤✊🏾🙏🏾✊🏾🖤 COPY AND PASTE 🖤 📸: @dankaroundtheworld Agency: @masalamodeltalent

A post shared by 𝑷𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑼𝑬 (@pinguexo) on Jun 4, 2020 at 4:47pm PDT

    I found out later on Thursday the care and passion for this issue wasn’t limited to young athletes on my social media feed.

The crowd at the “Justice for George Rally” begins to march again.

    At 6 p.m., I saw two different newscasts doing live video of a rally against racism, where everyone was gathered at Saskatoon City Hall. I decided to head downtown to check things out.

    When I got to downtown, I met up with the rally as it had moved to the Saskatoon Police Station. I was floored by how many people I saw.

    A couple of reports said the gathering included about 2,000 people, but it seemed larger than that. The next thing I noticed was how young the crowd seemed to be.

    I estimate that at least 95 per cent of the people at the rally were aged 18 to 24, and it seemed like a lot of those were U of Saskatchewan students and students from out of town universities, who were home for the summer.

Thursday’s “Justice for George Rally” contained a diverse cultural crowd.

    I noticed some in the crowd were members of Huskies teams. It was visible to see the crowd contained high school students too.

    I later found out the rally was organized by Braydon Page, who is an African-America young man, and the rally was called the “Justice for George Rally.”

    On a Facebook page, Page invited people from all cultural backgrounds to attend. Canada has had challenges to say the least with racism issues with First Nations, and there were a number of signs in the crowd that referenced that fact too.

    The crowd that gathered was as culturally mixed as I’ve seen from any gathering in Saskatoon.

The protesters at the “Justice for George Rally” near Saskatoon City Hall.

    The young ones were passionate too, and it was obvious they believed they could make a difference.

    They had a Kevin Garnett “Anything is possible!” feeling to them.

    It was a feeling I could relate to thinking back to my university days at the University of Regina from 1995 to 2001.

    Most in the crowd were wearing protective masks due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has engulfed the world and certainly North America since around March 11.

    The crowd knelt at the police station for eight minutes and 46 seconds, which was the time Floyd was pinned on the ground before he died.

The crowd at Saskatoon City Hall shouts a number of chants.

    The crowd proceeded to do a march looping south to Midtown Plaza before heading east on 22^nd Street to Kiwanis Park – North. Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark marched with the young crowd too.

At the park, the crowd once again took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

    After that knee, the march returned to city hall, where the people took another knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

    The rally continued for a bit with speeches and chants including “black lives matter,” “I can’t breathe” and “no justice, no peace.”

At least 2,000 turned out for Thursday’s “Justice for George Rally.”

    The whole event was peaceful. The Saskatoon Police Service ensured streets were blocked off, when the crowd marched.

    A few police officers took a knee with the protesters at the police station. I think they came away being impressed with the youngsters too.

    When it comes to the issue of racism, it felt like the young adults and the teenagers that took part in the “Justice for George Rally” were the adults in the room.

    All of us in the older generations bluntly haven’t got the job done on this front, if the past two weeks have shown us anything.
    For myself, I am ill-equipped if I tried to put together a column regarding racial issues.

In Saskatoon, the young generation leads in the protests against racism.

    Back in my university days, I saw my friends from different races and cultures as buds. Looking back, I think I had a naïve quality that everyone would somehow live together in harmony.

    The protest that took place on Thursday night in Saskatoon was ultimately a civil rights type rally.      In my lifetime, that was the first time I saw one of those live and in person.

    It was cool to see the young people take the initiative to lead the way. The rest of us would be wise to follow.

    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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Hermann will always cherish year as Hilltops starter

Club celebrates 2019 CJFL title season with ring day

Tyler Hermann, left, shows his championship ring to his father, Craig. 

    Tyler Hermann’s one campaign as the Saskatoon Hilltops starting quarterback turned into a dream season.
    After being a reserve quarterback for four years, Hermann was tabbed with taking the controls of the Hilltops offence for his fifth and final campaign with the club. While there were growing pains in the first four weeks of the season, Hermann signal called the Hilltops to a perfect 12-0 record to capture the Canadian Bowl and become CJFL champions for a sixth straight year.

    The Hilltops downed the host Langley Rams 11-6 last November in the CJFL title game to win a 22^nd national title.

    Hermann had a good personal campaign too in 2019 completing 123-of-192 passes for 1,908 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions appearing in all of his club’s eight regular season games.

Tyler Hermann, left, receives his championship ring.

    “It was awesome,” said Hermann, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 205 pounds. “That is something I will have for the rest of my life.

    “It is one of those priceless memories that I will look back, and I will just cherish every moment of it. I remember at the end of the season I was almost sad thinking back. I should have been happy.

    “I remembered that this was the end of something that was such a big part of my life and all friendships I made along the way. This was a spectacular year.”

    On Saturday on the practice field outside the Hilltops clubhouse, Hermann received his championship ring at the team’s ring ceremony.

Tyler Hermann, left, and Jesse McNabb show off their rings.

    Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Hilltops ring ceremony was a modified one.

    Usually, the Hilltops ring ceremony is a social event that brings together their CJFL championship team from the previous season as part of a reunion night.

    With government regulations currently in place to combat COVID-19, the Hilltops ultimately did a ring ceremony to give a nod to their 2019 season with a group of six players, who were in their final campaign with the team in 2019.

    The graduating players that made it out included Hermann, Connor Graham, Tristan Hering, Logan Kelsey-Stern, Ryder Klisowsky and Jesse McNabb.

    Team officials will distribute the rest of the championship rings to the 2019 title winning team.

    With that noted, Hermann was happy with the reunion that did happen considering the circumstances that surround the current day.

Jesse McNabb, left, gets his championship ring.

    “We usually do it right after May camp too, so there is a little buzz around the new season,” said Hermann, who recently turned 23-years-old. “Everyone is kind of chatting.

    “It is definitely different. I like the way they did it having the fifth year guys here. Those are the guys we traveled our whole five years together with, and we shared such similar experiences kind of starting as that rookie and then finishing the way we did.

    “That is good enough for me. That is really all you can expect in times like this is something like that.”

Jesse McNabb checks out his championship ring.

    McNabb’s eyes got really big, when he opened his ring box and saw his championship ring. The star defensive tackle, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 245 pounds, said a big part of the 2019 campaign was gutting out a 4-0 start.

    The Hilltops had a huge turnover in their starting ranks, and many players were adjusting to new roles.

    The venerable CJFL club opened the season with three straight road victories. The Hilltops took their home opener 28-21 over their provincial rivals the Regina Thunder thanks to a touchdown with under a minute to play.

    The home win over the Thunder and a 24-22 win in Week 3 over the Huskies in Edmonton required fourth-quarter comebacks.

    “It was big, because it really showed the character of the team,” said McNabb, who recorded 26.5 total tackles and three sacks for the Hilltops in the 2019 regular season. “We weren’t just rolling through everyone like some teams in the past have.

Jesse McNabb shows off his championship rings.

    “It was more hard fought games. It was really good for the group morale to see that we could get through the tough times together. As the season went on, things developed better, and it was good.”

    On Aug. 25, 2019 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Hilltops legendary head coach Tom Sargeant picked up his 200^th career victory in a 34-16 win over the host Thunder.

    Sargeant later moved past retired Regina Rams head coach Frank McCrystal to become the all-time leader in head coaching victories in Canada’s amateur post-secondary football ranks.

    After the Hilltops won their sixth straight CJFL championship, Sargeant’s career record sat a 210-30-2 including action in the CJFL regular season and post-season.

Ryder Klisowsky shows off his five championship rings.

    McCrystal had a 208-104-2 record in the regular season and post-season in both the CJFL and U Sports. He was the head coach of the Regina Rams from 1984 to 2014, and they played 15 seasons in the CJFL and 16 campaigns in U Sports over that time as the University of Regina Rams.

    McNabb said helping Sargeant get those milestones was a sweet part of the campaign.

    “It was great just to be able to do that for him and get things done right and then be able to lift him up in B.C. at the end of the year and give him the trophy,” said the 22-year-old McNabb.

    Hilltops linebacker Jadyn Pingue was named the CJFL defensive player of the year for his efforts during the 2019 season.
    The Hilltops have also captured the Canadian Bowl in nine out of the last 10 seasons to become CJFL champions.

Ryder Klisowsky, left, and Logan Kelsey-Stern enjoy ring day.

    The 12-0 campaign in 2019 followed up the Hilltops posting an 11-0 overall mark in their 2018 CJFL title winning season.

    The Hilltops 2019 CJFL championship rings have the initials “J.F.” written on the side to honour late former star Hilltops linebacker Justin Filteau. Filteau, who played for the Hilltops from 2010 to 2014, passed away in a plane crash on June 1, 2019.

    The 2019 rings, which were designed by the Hilltops graduating players, contain 22 sapphires symbolizing the club’s 22 CJFL championships. The word “trust” is written on the underside of the ring to recognize the trust the Hilltops players had in their teammates over the course of the season.

    There are six Canadian Bowl trophies on the side and six sapphires on the top of the ring to symbolize the Hilltops sixth consecutive Canadian Bowl championship win.

    “Obviously, it is beautiful, and it is something to be proud of,” said Hermann. “When I look at it, I just kind of think of the comradery of the team.”

Soyko takes her talents to the Pandas, other notes

@PandasHockey is proud to announce that @abbysoyko_10 has committed and will be wearing green and gold in 2020/21. Welcome to the PHamily Abby! pic.twitter.com/1IP4dlwTTe

— UofA Pandas Hockey (@PandasHockey) May 28, 2020

    Abby Soyko has found a new hockey home with the most storied women’s program in the history of U Sports.

    On Thursday, the University of Alberta Pandas, who have won the most U Sports national women’s hockey championships at eight, announced Soyko has committed to joining the Edmonton-based squad for the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
    The Prince Albert, Sask., product originally committed to joining the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey team in January along with her sister Alli. Abby and Alli are two parts of triplet siblings.

Abby Soyko in action with the Bears in October of 2018.

    On April 20, the University of Lethbridge cut both the men’s and women’s Pronghorns hockey teams citing a lack of provincial government funding.

    Due to that development, the two 18-year-olds became free agents with the ability to join any other post-secondary team of their choosing.

    On Thursday, it became official that Abby was going to be a member of the Pandas.

Alli found a new hockey home too. On Thursday, the Red Deer College Queens women’s hockey team, who play out of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association ranks, announced Alli had committed to joining their program.

    Both Abby and Alli played major roles in helping the Prince Albert Northern Bears win the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League championship in 2016-17 and win a Western Regional playdown series to advance to the Esso Cup national championship tournament.

    Abby would be viewed as the big catch due to her scoring prowess. She is the quintessential power forward.

    She played for the Bears for five seasons from 2014 to 2019 appearing in 136 regular season games piling up 65 goals and 63 assists for 128 points. She is the ninth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFU18AAAHL and the Bears all-time leader in goals and points.

    Abby is tied for the Bears all-time regular season record in career assists with Kaitlin Willoughby, who went on to star and become the second all-time leading scorer for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks.

    Abby was also the Bears captain in her final season with that team.

Queens Hockey is proud to introduce our newest member: @allisoykoo of @NAXHockey. Alli joins us from Prince Albert, Sask. We are excited to see you wear the Crown to start your college hockey career! Welcome to the family @rdcathletics! #mykingsmyqueens

— 🏒 RDC Queens Hockey (@rdcqueenshockey) May 29, 2020

    Last season, Abby and Alli played for the Northern Alberta Xtreme Female Prep team in Devon, Alta.

    Due to their late October birthday, they had exhausted their under-18 AAA eligibility, but still needed to finish their Grade 12 studies in high school.

    Abby was the leading scorer for the Xtreme this past season posting 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 23 games.

Alli Soyko in action for the Bears in November of 2018.

    She will be a big addition to the Pandas, who won the Canada West title last season. The Pandas didn’t get a chance to play a game at the U Sports national championship tournament in Charlottetown, P.E.I., which was called off after two games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Alli will be a strong addition to a team at the Canadian college level, and she also has all the physical tools to play at the university level possibly one day.

    In her final season with the Bears in 2018-19, Alli recorded career highs in all offensive categories with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 26 regular season games.

    She had another solid campaign this past season with the Xtreme posting five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 23 games.

    Last season, the Queens fell 3-2 in double overtime in a series deciding Game 3 to the NAIT Ooks in an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference semifinal series.

    Both Abby and Alli will be great additions to their respective teams.

• On Thursday, the Boston Marathon, which was scheduled for Sept. 14, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has originally been slated for April 20 before being pushed back to Sept. 14. This will mark the first time in history the Boston Marathon has been cancelled after running for 124 consecutive years.
• On Friday, the DUBNetwork, which is a website platform dedicated to covering the WHL, announced it was taking a step back and stopping coverage due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Run by chief executive officer Paul Figler, the DUBNetwork has been in operation since 2015.
• On Friday, long time Medicine Hat, Alta., radio broadcaster Jim Duce announced he will be retiring. Duce has been on the radio waves for 47 years. He currently works for CHAT 94.5, and his final day on air will be Friday, June 26.

    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.