Fun with photos

Garth Knittig (#59) dives in for a TD for the Hilltops.

    Defensive lineman touchdowns always make great photos.

    Anyway how saw big old Garth Knittig fly through the air like a bird in the 2017 PFC final for the Saskatoon Hilltops would know that was true. 
    The defensive tackle, who was dubbed “the Delisle Destroyer,” looked like a stout thick building standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 285 pounds getting some serious air time taking the ball on a short-yardage plunge and diving in over top of the Regina Thunder defence from a yard out.

    Knittig’s score came with 96 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and it put the Hilltops up 36-24 over the Thunder. The score would be cemented as the final outcome of the contest at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on Oct. 22, 2017.

    Before Knittig’s touchdown, the Hilltops were holding on to a 29-24 lead against their Regina rivals late in the fourth quarter and wanted to ensure the Thunder didn’t have a chance to pull out any last minute heroics.

    On Knittig’s goal-line short-yardage score, he actually wasn’t supposed to get the ball. He was in the Hilltops short-yardage offensive package to be a blocking fullback.

    Hilltops star quarterback Jordan Walls didn’t hear the play call correctly and was supposed to hand off to a regular ball carrier. He also didn’t question what he heard, because Knittig was a strong, tough and hard-working defensive tackle.

    Everyone in the Hilltops huddle would have been in favour of getting Knittig into the end zone. Little did anyone know, Knittig could run the one-yard dive play as well as Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen, who was an all-time NFL great with the Los Angeles version of the Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Garth Knittig gets set on defence in the 2017 PFC final.

    After that win, the Hilltops advanced on to win a fourth straight CJFL title.

    The image of Knittig’s score in that PFC final is one of the many photos I have captured over the years I enjoy looking at. Since I started this blog in late August of 2014, readers have constantly said they like the photos I have posted.

    Readers might not always like what I have to write, but I don’t think I have ever received a bad word regarding a picture I have posted. Most of those pictures have been from sports events that I have covered.

    Actually, I have usually received great feedback from my picture taking at sporting events. The first photos I ever took came from the second school year I worked at the University of Regina student news paper, The Carillon, in 1997-98.

    I shot a tonne of photos during my time at the Prince Albert Daily Herald from 2001 to 2004.

    I then went through a period of time where I didn’t shoot extensively. When I joined the Medicine Hat News in September of 2004, I was brought on to be a WHL beat writer that covered the Medicine Hat Tigers.

    While I did write about other sports, my main focus was on the Tigers and stories on the WHL league front.

    When I first got to the news, we had a deep editorial staff with three talented photographers. I wasn’t needed to fill that role.

The Hilltops celebrate winning the PFC title in 2017.

    During my time there, the News was sold to Glacier Media and the budget cut era began to take hold at that outlet. I took up shooting photos once again during the 2010-11 hockey season and have kept doing that craft since then.

    I actually like shooting photos more than I do writing.
    During these days that pass under the cloud of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it seems doom and gloom can overcome life.

    I figured I would share 10 more photos in no particular order I have taken over the years that look cool. I saw on my Instagram account I have posted at the moment 1,299 photos I have taken that I really like.

    That volume makes it hard to cut down to a handful of favourities. I figured this could be a fun post I could do on continuing basis even after the pandemic ends.

    With all that said, I hope you enjoy the first batch of photos I have collected for this post. 

Hannoun’s Game 7 OT winner gives WHL title to Raiders

    This will go down as the most iconic photo I have ever taken.

    Overage centre Dante Hannoun (#17) reacts to scoring the overtime winner for the Prince Albert Raiders in Game 7 of the WHL Championship series played on May 13, 2019 at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    Hannoun’s goal gave the Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. It also gave the defining moment in the history of the Raiders legendary home rink in the Art Hauser Centre.

Rams’ Hughes the Huskies in the dust

    University of Regina Rams running back Neal Hughes was one of that program’s all-time top playmakers before going on to a 10-year CFL career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

    Before he won two Grey Cup rings with the Roughriders, Hughes blasts away from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies defence in this photo take on Sept. 15, 2001. He ran the ball 17 times for 141 yards and scored two touchdowns and caught six passes for 80 yards and a major score.

    The Rams won the Hall of Fame game 31-21 before 7,238 spectators on the frozen concrete of Taylor Field.

Smith’s joyful Ruthy moment with Huskies

    Chloe Smith only played two seasons for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, but that was enough time to carve out a memorable moment.

    In this photo taken on Feb. 24, 2018, Smith (centre) celebrates scoring the winning goal for the Huskies who downed the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 2-1 in Game 2 of a Canada West semifinal series. She was in her rookie season with the Huskies when she scored this goal.
    The win allowed the Huskies to sweep the best-of-three series 2-0.

    Smith’s tally goes down as the final U Sports women’s playoff series winner scored at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

Shirley so good at age 15 with Stars

    So good, so young.

    Sophie Shirley is pictured in action here for the Saskatoon Stars at age 15 during a Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League semifinal series against the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats at the Agriplace Arena.
    At the time standing just 5-foot-4, Shirley weaved her magic piling up 12 goals and 12 assists helping the Stars win all nine of their league playoff games in 2015 and capture their first Fedoruk Cup as SFU18AAAHL champions.

    She finished second SFU18AAAHL regular season scoring with 22 goals and 17 assists in 27 games.

    Now standing 5-foot-9, Shirley is a star centre with the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team and a member of Canada national women’s development team. She helped the Badgers win an NCAA national title in 2019 and has a decorated list of accomplishments in hockey having just turned 21-years-old.

Huskies’ Machart follows Riley to the end zone

    Running back Adam Machart rocked and rolled for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in 2019.

    In this picture taken on Sept. 6, 2019, Marchart follows the block of left guard Mattland Riley in the Huskies homecoming game against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at Griffiths Stadium.

    Machart had a big night carrying the ball 15 times for 134 yards and scoring two touchdowns. He caught an additional five passes for 39 yards in a 40-7 Huskies victory before 6,278 spectators.

    That was the beginning of a huge campaign for Machart. He set a new Huskies team record for most rushing yards in a season piling up 1,334 yards on 156 carries, where he scored eight touchdowns.

    Machart also caught 20 passes for 204 yards and scored three majors through the air. His 1,538 all-purpose yards were a new Huskies team record for one regular season.

    Riley would be selected in the first round and seventh overall by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL Draft held this past April 30.

Cornwall blows roof of SaskTel Centre for Rush

    Jeff Cornwall gave the Saskatchewan Rush a dream finish to their first campaign playing out of the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

    On June 4, 2016, Cornwall, who is a Rush defender, scored a on a coast-to-coast rush with 12 seconds to play in the fourth quarter to break a 10-10 tie with the Buffalo Bandits and put the Rush ahead 11-10 sending 15,182 spectators into delirium. That 11-10 score held up as the final in Game 2 of the National Lacrosse League Championship Series.

    The Rush swept the best-of-three set 2-0 to capture their second NLL title in team history. Their first came the previous season in what was their final campaign based in Edmonton.

    This photo shows the Cornwall (centre in front) celebrating his winning goal in 2016. I like the zoomed out photos of this moment the best, because they show how crazy the SaskTel Centre crowd was.

Moskaluke performs on Canada in 2017

    Just to show I can take pictures of happenings outside of the sports world, I had to throw in this picture of Jess Moskaluke.

    In this picture, Moskaluke is performing at Diefenbaker Park in Saskatoon on Canada Day of 2017. I guess it wouldn’t be much of an admission to say I love taking pictures of Jess Moskaluke performing in concert.

    I’ve only done that twice in my life. I hope I will have another opportunity to take pictures of her in action in the future.

    She has quite the stage presence, and of course, a fantastic singing voice.

Steel’s all-heart goal celebration for the Pats

    Sam Steel represented everything that was good about the WHL’s Regina Pats.

    The star centre gave his heart and soul to the historic major junior team every time he stepped on the ice.

    This picture was taken on April 17, 2017, and it was of Steel’s celebration in scoring the Pats first goal in a series deciding Game 7 of a second round playoff series against the Swift Current Broncos.      This picture shows Steel was locked into performing heroics with the Pats.

    He finished the night with two goals in a 5-1 Pats victory. The Pats trailed in the series 3-1 before pulling out three straight wins to take the set.

    It still marks the only time in the post-season the Pats have rallied back to win a series in which they trailed 3-1.

Caller versus Loewen

    This at the moment goes down as my best photo from a hockey fight, but the fight actually wasn’t as good as the photo was.

    On Dec. 9, 2017, the Saskatoon Blades hosted the Kamloops Blazers in a WHL regular season game at the SaskTel Centre. At the 11:45 mark of the first period, Blades 18-year-old defenceman Jackson Caller fought Blazers powerhouse 19-year-old left-winger Jermaine Loewen.

    Moments before this fight, Loewen had driven Caller’s defensive partner, Evan Fiala, hard into the boards.

    Caller, who stood 6-foot-2 and weighed 189 pounds, hung in a little bit with Loewen, who stood 6-foot-4 and weighed 221 pounds. Loewen overpowered Caller and won the fight without dispute.

    The fight was one-sided, but an early still made the bout look more competitive than it was. The Blazers took the game 4-1.

Willoughby plays hero for Huskies

    Kaitlin Willoughby had a number of big moments for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, but one picture I took of her goes down as an all-time classic.

    This photo taken on Jan. 21, 2017 shows Willoughby celebrating her overtime winner that gave the Huskies a 5-4 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a U Sports regular season game at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

    Willoughby’s tally was a highlight reel one that saw her speed down the left wing in the Thunderbirds zone, cut to the net and snipe the winner top corner past diving Thunderbirds defender Kelly Murray and netminder Amelia Boughn.

    Willoughby, who was in her fourth season with the U of S at the time of this photo, finished as the Huskies second all-time leading scorer with 50 goals and 61 assists for 111 points in 132 regular season games.

    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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Blazers bully Blades

Blades D Jackson Caller, left, fights Blazers LW Jermaine Loewen.

    The Kamloops Blazers made the boards at the SaskTel Centre shake harder than at any point in the current WHL season.

    Just seconds into Saturday’s regular season contest against the host Saskatoon Blades, the Blazers dumped puck into the Saskatoon zone, and Kamloops left-winger Jermaine Loewen, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 221 pounds, hammered a Blades defenceman into the boards behind the Saskatoon goal. Loewen’s thunderous check set the tone for the evening before 4,024 spectators.

    As is the case with any team that is guided by Don Hay as head coach, the Blazers came to assert themselves physically. They finished their checks way harder than any opponent the Blades have likely faced all season.

    The physical play of the high tension Blazers was definitely on the edge, and at times it appeared to be over the edge. There were a few instances where a Blades player got hit a second or two after he passed the puck up ice.

Jermaine Loewen threw high-tension hits for the Blazers.

    When the dust settled, the visiting Blazers hammered out a 4-1 victory.

    Due to seeing the Blazers only once a season, the Blades didn’t seem to know what they were in for and played on their heels for most of the game. There aren’t too many teams in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, which the Blades are part of, who play a hard hitting style like the Blazers do coming out of the Western Conference.

    Saskatoon missed feisty forward Caleb Fantillo, whose agitating type style would have helped counter some of the Blazers play. Fantillo is out six-to-eight weeks with a knee injury.

    Kamloops cranked up the physical play in the first period, and the boards seemed like they were shaking the whole frame. Loewen, whose play was reminiscent of former Vancouver Giants high tension power forward and former Hay charge J.D. Watt, threw a large share of the thunderous checks with a style that was very on the edge.

    At the 11:45 mark of the first period, the 19-year-old Arborg, Man., product hammered Blades overage captain Evan Fiala into the boards drawing the attention of Fiala’s teammate Jackson Caller, who is an 18-year-old defenceman. 

The Blazers and Blades engage in a second period scrum.

    Caller, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 189 pounds, engaged Loewen in a fight, while Fiala slowly left the ice under his own power.

    Caller hung in with Loewen for a little bit, but the larger Blazers forward overpowered the Blades rearguard and worked him pretty good in the bout. Loewen received a charging minor for hitting Fiala and a fighting major, while Caller was given an unsportsmanlike minor penalty and a fighting major.

    With 1:05 to play, Kamloop’s pressure resulted in a goal from 19-year-old right-winger Luc Smith.

Nolan Maier stopped 25-of-28 shots fired his way in goal for the Blades.

    Blades 16-year-old rookie netminder Nolan Maier had a sensational opening 20 minutes robbing Blazers 17-year-old left-winger Brodi Stuart twice on rushes. After the Blazers scored, Maier turned away Blazers Czech import defenceman Ondrej Vala and made a big glove stop on utility player Tylor Ludwar.

    The Blazers switched to a different part of their game in the second. While Hay’s teams traditionally bring the physical game, they can play with speed and skill and get up and down the ice as well.

    At the 1:43 mark of the second, the Blazers buzzed in the Blades zone causing a net scramble situation. The puck popped out to Blazers 17-year-old defenceman Luke Zazula at the left side of the Saskatoon goal, and he popped home his second goal of the season past a fallen Maier to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.

Dylan Ferguson kicks out a shot for the Blazers.

    The Blazers went ahead 3-0 at the 11:53 mark of the second, when captain Nick Chyzowski scored on the power play.

    Kamloops netminder Dylan Ferguson, who saw action in one game with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights this season, was at the top of his game in the second, where the Blades had seven shots but four quality scoring chances.

    With the Blazers holding a 2-0 lead, Ferguson made a stop on a dangerous drive by Blades Czech import defenceman Libor Hajek.

    After the Blazers went ahead 3-0, Ferguson kept the Blades at bay making a glove save on overage star centre Cameron Hebig, denying rookie 16-year-old centre Kirby Dach on a screen shot and turning back star overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr in close before heading into the second intermission.

Libor Hajek had the Blades lone goal on Saturday night.

    The Blazers resumed their physical work in the third. Ludwar nailed Blades 18-year-old right-winger Josh Paterson from behind into the boards in the Saskatoon end, but the hit didn’t result in a penalty.

    Shortly after that collision, Blazers 19-year-old right-winger Quinn Benjafield wiped out Blades Russian import defenceman Mark Rubinchik.

    Saskatoon got life at the 11:21 mark of the third, when Hajek blasted home a mid-range drive to cut the Blazers lead to 3-1.

    The physical play didn’t stop. Blazers 18-year-old defenceman Nolan Kneen nailed Dach with a high hit, and Fiala took down Loewen.

    Fiala was penalized for tripping with 2:06 to play, but the Blades pulled Maier to ice five skaters in order to push for the tie. 

Garrett Pilon, right, celebrates scoring the Blazers fourth goal.

    That allowed Saskatoon product Garrett Pilon to score the rare empty-net, power-play goal for the Blazers with 1:43 to play to round out the final outcome.

    The contest’s tension still seemed high, where the Blazers looked to be going for high hits on three separate occasions but laid off for no contact in the final 1:43.

    Maier turned away 25-of-28 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades (11-16-2-1). Ferguson stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blazers. The Blazers, who opened the campaign with nine straight losses, are now 14-15-0-1.

    The Blades return to action on Sunday for their annual “Teddy Bear Toss” game, when they host their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders (12-11-5-2) at 2 p.m. at that SaskTel Centre.

    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.