Completed seasons major victory for football in Canada

Andrew Harris (#33) and the Bombers are champs again.

Those involved with football in Canada should be popping the champagne corks to toast the completion of the 2021 season.

That has to be considered a major victory.

The campaign was capped in spectacular fashion on Sunday when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-25 in overtime to capture the Grey Cup as CFL champions. A sellout crowd of 26,324 spectators at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont., were treated to a highly entertaining contest, even though their hometown Tiger-Cats weren’t able to win.

Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros was named the Grey Cup MVP. He forever cemented himself as a hero in Winnipeg having quarterbacked the Bombers to Grey Cup wins the last two times the trophy was awarded.

Bombers receiver Nic Demski was named the Grey Cup’s most valuable Canadian player, and it seemed fitting that award went to a Winnipeg product who is a proud grad of the University of Manitoba Bisons football team.

Had the Tiger-Cats made one or two more plays, they would have been walked away with the Grey Cup. With six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Tiger-Cats kicker Michael Domagala booted a 13 yard field goal to create a 25-25 tie and force overtime.

One play before Domagala’s kick, a pass to the end zone that was tipped by Bombers defensive back Deatrick Nichols and still found its way to the hands of Tiger-Cats receiver Jaelon Acklin. Acklin was unable to make a catch, which would have allowed the Tiger-Cats to win the game.

In overtime, Collaros threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to veteran receiver Darvin Adams. Winnipeg sealed victory on an interception by linebacker Kyrie Wilson on Hamilton’s ensuing OT possession.

The Roughriders could host games without capacity limits.

Of course in a contest that was as thrilling as Sunday’s Grey Cup, people could point to a handful of other plays that could have changed the outcome of that game.

In the overall big picture, it was incredible the football season in Canada got to this point. With the world coming into the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with the first shutdown occurring in North American in March of 2020, the entire CFL season was lost in 2020.

The Bombers had beaten the Tiger-Cats 33-12 in the 2019 Grey Cup before the 2020 CFL campaign was nixed.

Actually, there was a decent amount of speculation thinking that the CFL might not comeback at all.

The Vanier Cup game, which crowns the U Sports football champion, was cancelled in 2020, and most U Sports conferences didn’t take the field. The CJFL campaign in 2020 was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tackle football was played in Canada in 2020, but those contests happened in pockets here and there mainly at the high school level.

When the CFL season kicked off on August 5 with the Bombers beating the Tiger-Cats 19-6 in Winnipeg, there were no guarantees the season would be completed.

When the Saskatchewan Roughriders downed the British Columbia Lions 33-29 on August 6, a sellout crowd of 33,350 was on hand at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Sask. Up to that point in time, that gathering was the largest crowd that had watched a sporting event in Canada since March of 2020.

Mason Nyhus and the Huskies went to the Vanier Cup.

The CFL was the first league in Canada where some teams were able to start hosting games at the start of the season without capacity limits since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020.

By the end of the campaign, most teams played without capacity limits, but showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination was standard practice.

The CFL successfully completed a season where each team played a 14-game regular season and the circuit held playoffs in its standard format where champions of the East and West Divisions met for the Grey Cup.

In U Sports, the Vanier Cup was handed out on December 4 in Quebec City, Quebec, when the University of Western Ontario Mustangs downed the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 27-21 at Stade Telus – Universite Laval.

Out of the four conferences that make up U Sports, three played a shortened six game regular season as opposed to an eight-game regular campaign, but the season got done. The football for the most part was outstanding.

Also on December 4, the CJFL crowned a champion as the Langley Rams blanked the London Beefeater 37-0 to win the Canadian Bowl at Western Alumni Stadium in London, Ontario. 

The CJFL had many exciting contests and the Prairie Football Conference and Ontario Football Conference held their usual eight-game regular seasons.

The Saskatoon Hilltops 33-31 victory over the Edmonton Huskies in a PFC semifinal played on November 7 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field will always be an all-time CJFL classic. Hilltops receiver Dillan Heintz caught the winning touchdown with 21.3 seconds to play in that contest.

Dillan Heintz scores the winning TD in a PFC semifinal.

With all that said, there are warts and worries when it comes to the game in Canada. In the CFL, attendances across the league for most of the season have to be a concern outside of the draws that came for a handful of games.

Adverse weather still seems to push a lot of fans away for games late in the campaign, and this had been a pre-existing problem for about five to six years at all levels of the sport.

There are other concerns, but those can be bantered about on another day.

After the exciting Grey Cup that was played on Sunday, those involved in football in Canada get to feel like they are with the WWE faction The New Day, where everything is coming up rainbows and unicorns and it is all about the power of positivity.

The fact the football season in Canada was played from start to completion should be celebrated.

Ochs takes final bow at Hilltops team awards banquet

Mason Ochs picked up Hilltops team awards on Saturday.

Mason Ochs took one last hurrah with the Saskatoon Hilltops during the team’s annual awards banquet which was held around the lunch hours on Saturday at the Delta Marriott Hotel.

The Hilltops all-time great took home the team’s Courtice Inspiration Award and the Drs. Landa-Doig Awards as the club’s most outstanding graduating player. Ochs was also awarded the Sadownick Family Scholarship and a Hilltop Club Scholarship.

The star left tackle was both a PFC all-star and a CJFL all-Canadian all-star in the last four straight CJFL seasons.

The graduate of Saskatoon’s Tommy Douglas Collegiate Tigers football team was named the PFC’s most outstanding offensive lineman for this past season.

Defensive end Riece Kack captured the Past President’s Trophy as the team’s rookie of the year. Boundary corner Jared Giddings claimed the Blue and Gold Award for outstanding commitment to the team.

Graduating right tackle Jonathan Chisholm won the Ron Atchison “True Grit” award, Konner Johnson claimed the Don and Jim Seaman Memorial Award as the club’s top linebacker and defensive tackle Jaxon Funk captured the Ray Syrnyk Trophy as the team’s top lineman.

The Hilltops handed out a number of scholarships on Saturday too.

Funk took the Harold Mitchelmore Memorial Scholarship and the Carl Hoath Memorial Affinity Credit Union Scholarship.

Lachlan Horsley and Wade Keating were recipients of the Bill Trout Memorial Scholarship and Boston Davidsen was awarded the TCU Financial Group Scholarship.

Jonathan Chisholm won the Ron Atchison “True Grit” award.

The Don McDonald Memorial Scholarship went to Brady Fossen, the EY Scholarship was awarded to Ben Marce, the Dr. Gryba Academic Scholarship was given to Brant Morrow and the Rempel Brothers Construction Scholarship went to Matt Wist.

Ethan Paslowski and Jayson Kehler were recipients of the SMF Joe Baier Memorial/Tundra Electric Scholarship.

The recipients of the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation Scholarships were Dillan Heintz, Evan Mantyka, Dylan Cook and Presley Peterson.

Football Saskatchewan Scholarships went to Giddings, Ethan Godson, Erik Barsness and Noah Flaman.

Evan Mantyka claimed the Ignite Conditioning Scholarship.

The Evan Kyba Memorial Scholarship went to Josh Wiebe and Carter Wingert.

Kinsmen Club Scholarships were awarded to Johnson, Boden Marley and Daylen Hartz.

Along with Ochs, Hilltops Club Scholarships went to Johnson, Funk, Giddings, Godson, Morrow, Wist, Matt Turple, Justin Adamko, Connor Bevans, Trent Kehrig, Pavel Lalonde, Jordan Levesque, Reace Michnik, Zach Moehler and Andy Scrivens.

The Hilltops posted a 6-2 regular season record in 2021, won the PFC title and concluded their campaign falling in a CJFL semifinal contest to the Langley Rams 17-14.

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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Huskies implosion disappointing

The Huskies tackle Bisons tailback Kienan LaFrance.

            Even after a couple of days, the implosion by the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team is still a head scratcher.

            During a Canada West semifinal playoff match on Friday night at Griffiths Stadium, the Huskies took a 37-18 lead over the visiting University of Manitoba Bisons, and then the wheels fell off. The Bisons rallied for an improbable 47-39 victory.

            What made the rally a head shaker was the fact the Bisons offence didn’t really play a part in the comeback.

            Just 2:59 into the second half, Huskies tailback Tyler Chow hauled in an 18 yard pass from quarterback Drew Burko to put the hosts up 37-18. Manitoba proceeded to drive down to the Saskatchewan one yard line, but the Huskies came up with a huge goal-line stand on a third down gamble.

            Everything was going the Huskies way. A trip to the Canada West final seemed like just a matter of time.

            When momentum jumped sides, it did so in a big way.

            On the ensuing Saskatchewan possession, Bisons defensive back Jayden McKoy returned an interception 54 yards for a major and the collapse was on. After that score, the Huskies fumbled away the ensuing kickoff to Manitoba.

            Saskatchewan’s defence held, but a 32-yard field goal by Bisons kicker Ryan Jones cut the lead to 37-28. The troubles didn’t stop there.

            McKoy would block a punt and teammate Jordan Linnen recovered the ball and ran it 21 yards for another Bisons touchdown to make the score 37-35 before the third quarter ended.

            At the start of the fourth quarter, a bad long snap on a Huskies punt resulted in a safety that tied the score 37-37.

            The Bisons then put together an offensive drive that resulted in a 24-yard field goal to go up 40-37. Manitoba later conceded a safety to allow the Huskies to close to 40-39.

            That set the stage for the final Huskies mistake with just over two minutes to play in the fourth. After driving down to the Manitoba nine yard line, Burko tried to throw an out pass to the wide side of the field, which really wasn’t the smartest play call for a first and goal situation in that part of the field.

            Linnen made the pick and returned it 98 yards up field. Manitoba quickly scored the insurance touchdown on a gadget play pass as receiver Nic Demski hit quarterback Jordan Yantz for a major from nine yards out to make the score 47-39.

            At that point, a number of the 3,013 spectators at Griffiths Stadium began to leave. Some were harping criticism at the Huskies, which was similar to the jabs fans for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders level on that squad when things are going bad.

            The pain of the team’s recent playoff struggles were up at the forefront. The setback marked the sixth straight playoff loss for the Huskies, and they are 1-9 in their last 10 post-season matches. When momentum turned on Friday, one wonders of those ghosts returned to haunt the Huskies again.

            With that in mind, the Huskies were a solid 6-2 in the regular season and entered the playoffs on the strength of two convincing wins and hosted their first playoff home game since 2010. The notion was bantered around about making wholesale changes, but that would be a mistake.

            They have a solid core slated to return next season. The best option for the Huskies is to keep building on that core going forward.

            Thanks to the recent post-season struggles, that might not be what some fans want to hear.

Goals finally pour in

Huskies celebrate a goal against the Mount Royal Cougars.

            The Huskies men’s hockey team finally found the goal gusher they were so desperately seeking.

            With a 4-1 loss to the visiting Mount Royal University Cougars on Friday at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the Huskies saw their losing skid grow to seven games. During that stretch, they scored a total of nine goals.

            A goal gusher came during a rematch on Saturday at the Rutherford Rink, where the Huskies score a season high six times rolling off a 6-3 victory. The best looking tally was a tick-tack-toe short-handed marker that saw Craig McCallum and Michael Sofillas combine to set up rearguard Connor Cox late in the second to make the score 4-2.

            Sofillas, Cameron Blair, Matthew Spafford, McCallum and Jesse Ross netted singles for the Huskies (5-7). Jordon Cooke made 26 saves to earn the win in goal.

            Cody Cartier had a hat trick for the Cougars (7-5), while Cam Lanigan made 22 saves taking the loss in goal.

            The Huskies will try to fight back to the .500 mark this coming weekend with a home-and-home series with the University of Regina Cougars. The two clubs play this coming Friday in Regina and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink. 

Flinton is just too good

Julia Flinton wheels with the puck for the Huskies.

            It is just plain fun watching Julia Flinton play hockey for the Huskies women’s hockey team.

            The smooth skating defender had a pair of goals including the double overtime winner for the Huskies on Saturday in Calgary against the Mount Royal Cougars. Chelsey Sundby also had a goal and an assist in the 3-2 win by the Huskies, while Cassidy Hendricks made 29 saves to earn the win in goal.

            Sarah Weninger and Jocelyn Froehlich had singles for the Cougars (1-7-2), while Jess Ross made 23 saves taking the loss in goal.

            The Huskies look to Flinton to provide an offensive spark from the backend and the fourth-year agricultural and bioresources student hasn’t disappointed with three goals and three assist in 10 games. Out of her three tallies, two have been game winners.

            In late October, Flinton was named to the Canadian team that will play 2015 Winter Universiade in Granada, Spain. The Winter Universiade runs from Feb. 4-14 in 2015, which means Flinton won’t be available for the Huskies final four regular season games.

            The Canadian team selection is deserved. Flinton has a natural ability to quarterback the play from the back end, which is a very rare quality. When she is in control of the play, it is beautiful sight to see.

            Flinton has helped the defending Canada West champion Huskies win five in a row to improve to 7-3. The Huskies also beat the Cougars 3-1 last Friday at Mount Royal in Calgary.

            They return to action this coming weekend with a home and home series with the Regina Cougars, which marks a rematch of last season’s Canada West final. The two clubs battle Friday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink and on Saturday in Regina.

If you have any feedback on this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.