Huskies first Canada West title at Merlis a
lasting memory
Collin Shirley (#11) and family celebrate a Canada West title win.
Had anyone known how the world was going to change in the
three proceeding weeks, maybe the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s
hockey team and their supporters would have soaked in the Canada West title win
a little longer?
Likely, that goes down as 20-20 vision thinking.
On February 29, 2020, the Huskies downed the University of
British Columbia Thunderbirds 3-1 in Game 2 of the Canada West Championship
series to sweet the best-of-three set 2-0. The series clinching game was played
before a standing room record crowd of 2,667 spectators at Merlis Belsher
Place.
The Huskies pour off their bench after their Canada West title win.
The best place to be was on the ice surface with the Huskies
family and friends following the win, which was the first conference title the
team won since moving to Merlis before the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
Laughter and jokes filled the air and smiles could be seen all over the place.
People were racing to get photos taken by mobile phone
cameras posted on their social media accounts most notably on Instagram. A lot
of the pictures included the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy and the Canada West championship
banner.
The Huskies raise the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.
A lot of other photos were pictures filled with all sorts of
combinations of Huskies players, Huskies coaches, Huskies staff members, family
members and friends.
It was as joyful a Saturday night as anyone could have asked
for. Looking back on that night, everyone who had a link with the Huskies
soaked in and enjoyed that night like they should have.
No one knew how the world would change.
After a full week of practices at home, the Huskies departed
for Halifax, N.S., for the David Johnston University Cup, which is the U Sports
men’s hockey national championship tournament.
Tanner Lishchynsky takes the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy for a spin.
On the U Sports awards night on March 11, 2020, Huskies
netminder Taran Kozun was named the recipient of the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan
Trophy as the U Sports player of the year, and he took honours as the U Sports
goaltender of the year.
Huskies fifth-year right-winger Levi Cable captured the R.W.
Pugh Fair Play Award as the most sportsmanlike player in U Sports. Huskies
centre Jared Dmytriw was named to the U Sports all-rookie team.
Before the awards night took place, talk of a coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic was starting to filter into conversations. Teams at the
David Johnston University Cup were told there would be no post-game handshakes
during the tournament and players to use their own personal water bottle during
practices and games.
Jeff Faith, left, and Evan Fiala ham it up.
On March 12, 2020, the Huskies got to play their
quarter-final game falling 3-2 to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs.
The Huskies were missing a number of players including Cable as a flu bug
worked through the team.
At the end of the
night, word came down that the rest of the U Sports men’s hockey championship
has been cancelled due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. In other
locations, the remainder of the U Sports women’s hockey national championship
tournament and the U Sports men’s and women’s volleyball national championship
tournaments were also cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic fears.
On March 13, 2020, a large number of sports governing bodies
in Canada had halted sanctioning of events including Hockey Canada due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
In a crazy twist, pretty much all of the Huskies who were
battled the flu recovered by the morning of March 13, 2020. Due to the fact
they couldn’t return to Saskatoon until taking their scheduled return flights
after the tournament was supposed to end on March 15, 2020, the Huskies
players, coaches, staff and families took in some site seeing before journeying
back west.
Levi Cable was the most sportsmanlike player in U Sports.
At the moment, the Huskies still haven’t returned to the ice
for any games since that Canada West title clinching win over the Thunderbirds
and that quarter-final U Sports tournament loss to the Mustangs.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grip the world, all U
Sports nationals for the 2020-21 campaign were cancelled and all regular season
play for the Canada West Conference in 2020-21 was cancelled. Ultimately, all
four conferences that play under the U Sports umbrella cancelled their 2020-21
campaigns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For almost a year now, the world has experienced various
levels of restrictions brought on to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Merlis Belsher Place has been turned into a COVID-19 field
hospital in waiting. The processing of some COVID-19 tests and COVID-19
vaccinations take place there now.
Jared Dmytriw made the U Sports all-rookie team.
The developments in the world make those that were at Merlis
Belsher Place on February 29, 2020 look even more fondly back on that day. On
that day and night, no one was really even thinking about a COVID-19 pandemic.
That day and night played out like most championships
winning game days would.
During the 2019-20 campaign, the Huskies men’s hockey team
had a season where it seemed the intangibles all fell into place.
The Huskies actually stumbled out of the gates going 0-3-1
over their first four regular season games in 2019-20. They roared back to
finish second in the Canada West Conference with a 22-4-2 record.
U of S ended up hosting the Canada West Championship series
after the first place University of Alberta Golden Bears, who were 23-5 in the
regular season, were upset in their Canada West semifinal series by the
Thunderbirds, who were fifth in Canada West with a 9-14-5 regular season
record.
Taran Kozun was the U Sports player of the year.
With Merlis being the site of the Canada West Championship
series, the Huskies faithful came out in droves. The Huskies slipped past the
Thunderbirds 3-2 in Game 1 of the series on February 28, 2020 playing in front
of 2,281 spectators.
That set the stage for the record gathering of 2,667
spectators in the Huskies series clinching win in Game 2 on February 29, 2020.
The Huskies came out flying in Game 2 going ahead 2-0 after
20 minutes on goals from Carson Stadnyk and Cable. Cable, who was playing in
his 175th consecutive game for the Huskies including action in the U
Sports regular season and post-season, netted his second of the contest with 2:37
remaining the second period, while U of S was working on the power play.
Carson Stadnyk came through with key goals.
The hosts took that 3-0 lead into the second intermission
holding a 23-13 edge in shots on goal.
Thunderbirds left-winger Jake Kryski scored to put the
visitors on the board with a power-play goal with 3:16 remaining in the third
to round out the 3-1 final in favour of the Huskies.
Kozun made 17 saves to pick up the win in goal for the
Huskies. Saskatoon product Rylan Toth turned away 26 shots to take the setback
in goal for the Thunderbirds.
Pandemonium filled the ice after time expired on the third
period clock.
One of the most heartwarming scenes from the post-game
celebration was when legendary Huskies head coach Dave Adolph gave his gold
medal to Ben Bauml, who is the younger brother of Huskies fifth-year centre
Kohl.
Ben, who has Down syndrome and is non-verbal, has been Kohl’s
biggest fan throughout Kohl’s hockey career. The brothers have a tight bond.
Huskies fans cheer after their team scores a goal.
Ben attended all of the Huskies home games and became a big
part of the team’s culture. He joined the Huskies in the dressing room for
post-victory celebrations, and he was in the front row for the on-ice team
picture after the Canada West title game victory.
Adolph wanted to make the night a little extra special for
Ben with the gift of the Canada West gold medal.
No one knew at the time that would ultimately be Adolph’s
last victory behind the bench as Huskies head coach. He announced on December
7, 2020 that he would be retiring.
Adolph’s retirement becomes official this coming May 1. All-world
hockey bench boss, Mike Babcock will be coming home to Saskatoon to take over
as the Huskies head coach for the next two seasons.
Looking back, all those linked with the Huskies wished those
celebrations on the night of February 29, 2020 could have gone on a little
longer.
The Huskies pose for a team photo after a Canada West title win.
With how the world changed following that night, the Huskies
first Canada West title win at Merlis is treasured that much more.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
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.
The Huskies celebrate winning the Canada West title on Feb. 29.
Have I seen my last U Sports and WHL games for an
undetermined lengthy stretch?
That question has passed through my mind the last four days
or so. With the world in the grip of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it
has crossed my mind it could be some time before I see action in either
circuit.
When they resume, life might take me to a point, where I won’t
have involvement in either circuit. It is possible life could take me out of
the city of Saskatoon.
Actually, I try not to think about what the mid to long term
future might look like, because I find I engage in mental gymnastics that eats
up time and raises the anxiety.
With that said, it seems pretty obvious the sports scene in
Canada will look a lot different and potentially unrecognizable when the
pandemic ends. If the shutdowns and restrictions in North American last to next
year and even just two years, you can already see a number of teams, leagues
and minor sports organizations fold.
Levi Cable scored twice for the Huskies in their Canada West title clincher.
Add in all the businesses that are struggling and closing,
it is hard to conceive there would be enough government money to hand out to
keep everything afloat. All of these entities would be healthy, if it wasn’t
for the COVID-19 pandemic which can cripple daily revenue streams by 50 to 90
per cent.
While the province of Saskatchewan is undergoing phases of a
reopening plan, I had an eerie feeling all is still not well, when I stopped at
an intersection between the Saskatoon Inn and Heritage Inn on Saturday.
At each hotel, I saw just two cars in the parking lot. This
has gone on for three months. I know that is not a good sign.
Usually, those hotels are starting to rock with the wedding
season in summer.
Even with the shutdowns and restrictions that have been in
place since the middle of March, there has already been unprecedented damage
done to the economy, and things won’t be what they were for a very long time.
Unfortunately, the only options to navigate the pandemic are
all bad and difficult.
There is a great and legitimate fear about how contagious
and how fast COVID-19 can spread.
One of the most recent reminders came Monday when reports
surfaced a number of members from the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texas
tested positive for COVID-19 including Cowboys star running back Ezekiel
Elliott.
Carson Stadnyk scored in the Canada West title clincher.
The government and medical health officials are trying to
find the least crappy option through all this, but there isn’t a good option.
Still, the mind drifts back to a naïve time that was not
that long ago.
Back on Feb. 29, I was at Merlis Belsher Place when it was
still serving its original purpose of being a hockey rink as opposed to a
COVID-19 field hospital in waiting.
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies downed the University
of British Columbia Thunderbirds 3-1 in Game 2 of the Canada West Championship
series in men’s hockey before a record crowd of 2,667 spectators. The Huskies
swept the best-of-three series 2-0 to capture the title.
Levi Cable scored twice for the Huskies, and Carson Stadnyk
had a single in the win. Netminder Taran Kozun, who would be named the U Sports
player of the year and goaltender of the year in March, made 17 saves to earn
the win in goal.
The crowd at Merlis might have been the loudest it had ever
been for a Huskies game in the new facility. The Huskies moved to Merlis before
the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
No one at the Huskies Canada West title winning game
envisioned U Sports coming to a halt. There will be no national championships
in fall or no to possibly limited action in three conferences.
If hockey gets
off the ground, it won’t be until January of 2021, and the Huskies men’s and
women’s hockey teams will have to play in different digs.
A crowd of 2,667 saw the Huskies win the Canada West title at Merlis.
If that Canada West title win was the last time I
potentially work a Huskies game, at least the departure was a memorable one.
In dealing with U Sports since moving to Saskatoon in the
summer of 2014, I realize there is a political spectrum you have to accept and
deal with on that circuit that wasn’t always fun and did in some years make me
not want to hang around on that sports body.
I found I had a good natural chemistry dealing with the
Huskies football team the past two seasons and the Huskies men’s hockey team
this past season that brought the fun back.
I know my February playoff rivalry pieces regarding the
Huskies women’s hockey team and the Thunderbirds women’s team weren’t the most
popular things I typed out. After the Huskies women’s team was swept 2-0
falling twice in extra sessions, I know I wasn’t the most liked person with
some in that camp.
I have passed a couple of email messages with graduated
captain Brooklyn Haubrich and graduated star defender Leah Bohlken since that
time.
With all that has happened in the world over the last three
months, those rivalry pieces don’t even look like that big of a thing to me
anymore.
Aliaksei Protas and the Raiders rolled to an 8-3 win on March 3.
Overall, I regained my joy being on the U Sports circuit,
and just when that happens, it stalls out because of factors beyond the circuit’s
control.
March 3 marked the last time I was in the Art Hauser Centre
in Prince Albert. The defending WHL champion Raiders hammered the visiting
Calgary Hitmen 8-3 before 2,481 spectators.
The Raiders sat first in the WHL’s East Division, and there
was optimism in “Hockey Town North” about there being another long playoff run.
I remember the post-game interview with Raiders head coach
Marc Habscheid rolled really great that night. Prince Albert products and
Huskies women’s hockey team members Morgan Willoughby and Jessica Vance were
saluted before that contest during the ceremonial puck drop.
No one envisioned the Raiders would only play three more
games in the 2019-20 campaign before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season.
March 6 marked the last time I worked a live WHL game as the
Regina Pats faced the Saskatoon Blades at the SaskTel Centre. Just 29 seconds
into overtime, left-winger Kyle Crnkovic scored off a backdoor setup from
Tristen Robins to give the Blades a 2-1 victory before 4,478 spectators.
That win officially locked up a WHL playoff berth for the
Blades, and the mood was upbeat and vibrant on the Saskatoon side during
post-game interviews. Little did anyone know, that would be the Blades final
home game for the 2019-20 campaign.
Kyle Crnkovic celebrates his OT winner for the Blades on March 6.
About eight days later, the Blades players were bound for
their off-season homes as the shutdowns started to occur due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
During the Huskies Canada West title winning game, the last
Raiders game I was at or that final Blades home game, it never occurred to me
to soak in the night, because it was going to be awhile before these things
happened again.
Today, the WHL put out a release targeting Oct. 2 as a potential
start date for the 2020-21 campaign with hopes each team will play a standard
68-game regular season. Due to the league’s 22 clubs playing in four provinces
and two states in the United States, I realize there are a lot of hurdles to go
before any meaningful hockey games are played on the circuit.
For now, at least my final recollections of being at home
games involving the Huskies men’s hockey team, the Raiders and the Blades were
good ones. If that is the end of chapter for me, at least it went out on a high.
Money crunch hammers U of Alberta athletics, other
notes
Trevor Cox and the Golden Bears won’t be on the ice in 2020-21.
It was a move that will send shock waves through not just the
scene in U Sports but Canada’s national sports scene as a whole.
On Wednesday, the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas
athletics program announced it will not be participating in men’s and women’s
hockey, volleyball and basketball in the upcoming 2020-21 U Sports season due
to a lack of financing.
The U of A athletics program is viewed as one of the
greatest in all of U Sports. The Golden Bears and Pandas teams in men’s and
women’s hockey, volleyball and basketball have combined to win a total of 43 U
Sports national titles.
Back on June 8, U Sports cancelled all of its fall national
championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On top of
those announcements on June 8, the conferences of Atlantic University Sport and
Ontario University Athletics announced all varsity sports will shut down for
the remainder of 2020.
Also on
June 8, the Canada West Conference, which U of A plays out of, cancelled play
in all team sports through to the end of 2020. Canada West will determine the
fates of conference championships in men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s
cross-country running and men’s and women’s swimming to be held in fall by July
15.
Men’s and
women’s hockey, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s volleyball
are targeted to start in early January of 2021. A decision on the fate of those
sports will be made by Oct. 8.
Kirsten Chamberlin and the Pandas won't play in 2020-21.
Due to a budget crunch, the U of A athletics program decided
to pull the plug on those programs now.
In a release, the Golden Bears and Pandas program cited cuts
to the Campus Alberta Grant, the demand from the Government of Alberta that
universities balance their budgets and reduce expenditures in year and the
reduction to the University of Alberta Athletics and Recreation student fee in
causing a major shortfall.
The University of Alberta Athletics and Recreation student
fee was completely waived for the spring and summer semesters.
“This scenario has brought most of our diverse revenue
streams to a complete halt, and the athletics budget is no longer able to
support participation for the 2020/2021 season,” said U of A athletics director
Ian Reade in a release. “While this is an extremely hard decision for us, it is
in the best interest of the student-athletes that we make this decision now, so
their future is somewhat more clear.”
Reade said the U of A athletics department will remain
committed to those student-athletes who have written commitments to receive
Athletic Financial Assistance.
At the moment, the Golden Bears and Pandas teams still plan
to participate in tournament sports including wrestling, cross-country running,
track and field, rugby sevens, curling and swimming at the Canada West
Conference level.
U of A is slated to host the U Sports nationals for men’s
and women’s wrestling on Feb. 26-27, 2021.
In an interview with The Gateway, which is the U of A
student newspaper, Reade said the school’s athletic programs is budgeting for University
of Alberta Athletics and Recreation student fee will be reduced by 70 per cent
for the fall term by the U of Alberta Students’ Union due to an expected
reduction of access because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cole Sanford created lots of excitement for the Golden Bears.
Reade told the student newspaper U of A athletics lost
$1-million, when it couldn’t run its summer sports camps due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He told The Gateway he expects an estimated $1.2-million
loss in base funding for the U of A athletics program.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it would have been hard to
imagine the Golden Bears and Pandas sitting out a sports season.
The Golden Bears have won the most titles in U Sports
national titles in men’s hockey at 16 and the Pandas are the all-time leaders
in most national championships in U Sports women’s hockey at eight.
The Golden Bears men’s volleyball team has captured eight U
Sports national titles, and the Pandas women’s volleyball team has won seven U
Sports national championships.
The Golden Bears men’s basketball team has earned three U
Sports national titles, and the Pandas women’s basketball team has won one U
Sports national crown.
The Golden Bears and Pandas teams are so storied you would
think their unofficial theme songs would be “The Best” by Tina Turner and “We
are the Champions” by Queen.
Their exploits alone should cause Edmonton to restore the “City
of Champions” signs at all entrances to the Alberta capital.
Overall, the Golden Bears and Pandas student-athletes have
the right type of good confidence and swagger. Along with winning a lot, the
Golden Bears and Pandas team member carry themselves well.
They epitomize winning with class and losing with class.
Autumn MacDougall of the Pandas led Canada West in scoring last season.
If the U of A teams aren’t able to go in 2020-21 due to
financial reasons, one wonders how many other U Sports programs might decide to
pack it in and not play during that campaign as well.
Across Canada, a number of teams, leagues and minor sports
organizations are having talks regarding decisions to play or not to play, and
if those teams, leagues and minor sports organizations do play, those bodies
have to figure out if they will be throwing good money after bad money.
Despite all that gloom, the U of A athletics program is
aiming to return to regular participation in U Sports in 2021-22.
Reade and the U of A decision makers are doing their best to
ensure the Golden Bears and Pandas teams will add to their epic exploits in the
future after the 2020-21 campaign.
On Monday, Golf Canada
cancelled all of its amateur competitions for the duration of the 2020
season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It previously announced the
cancellation and postponement of a number of its junior and amateur competition
scheduled through mid-June.
On Wednesday, Golf
Saskatchewan announced it will go ahead with eight individual
championships but will not host the Women’s Rosebowl or the Mixed
Championship, which operate in shotgun start formats. The first event is
the 102nd Saskatchewan Women’s Amateur Championship set for the
Willows Golf and Country Club in Saskatoon from July 9 to 11. The dates
for all the tournaments can be found by clicking right here.
On Sunday, the Assiniboia
Southern Rebels junior B team announced they had requested and been
approved of a one-year leave of absence from the Prairie Junior Hockey
League. The Rebels cited uncertainty created due to the COVID-19 pandemic
as reason for the move.
On Tuesday, the University
of Saskatchewan Huskies announced their Dogs’ Breakfast fundraiser set for
Sept. 3 has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is an
annual fundraiser for the Huskies football team. Those who bought a ticket
can donate the purchase to the Huskies football team, defer the ticket to
the 2021 Dogs’ Breakfast, receive a partial refund or a full refund. More
info on how to deal with a Dogs’ Breakfast ticket can be found by clicking right here.
On Tuesday, Medicine Hat
Tigers right-winger Lucas Svejkovsky was invited to the United States
World Junior Summer Showcase slated for July 24 to Aug. 1 in Plymouth,
Mich. In 52 regular season games split with the Vancouver Giants and
Tigers last season, Svejkovsky, who will turn 19 in November, netted 18
goals, 20 assists and a plus-27 rating in the plus-minus category. The
camp is used by the United States to evaluate players for the upcoming
world juniors slated to start Dec. 26, 2020 and run to Jan. 5, 2021 in
Edmonton and Red Deer. Svejkovsky came to the Tigers from the Giants last
season via a trade.
On Tuesday, Prince Albert
Raiders defenceman Kaiden Guhle was invited to be part of Hockey Canada’s
virtual national junior team development camp, which runs July 27 to 31.
Prince Albert product Braden Schneider, who plays defence with the Brandon
Wheat Kings, will also take part in the virtual camp. The virtual camp
also includes two Saskatoon products in Adam Beckman, who plays left wing
with the Spokane Chiefs and Connor Zary, who plays centre for the Kamloops
Blazers.
On Tuesday, Saskatoon
Blades head coach Mitch Love was named an assistant coach for Canada world
junior team for a second straight year. Love helped Canada win gold at
last season’s tournament.
On Wednesday, the
Saskatoon Blades released popular utility player Randen Schmidt, who is
set to enter his overage season. Schmidt played three season for the
Blades appearing in 129 regular season games collecting three goals, 17
assists and a plus-one rating.
Over recent weeks, I know
there has been a call for police departments across North America to do
better. I believe any local calls from Saskatoon to defund the Saskatoon
Police Service are misguided. I do have family and friends who are members
of the Saskatoon Police Service. If you ask members of the police service,
they would agree more funds should go into social programs, because it
would prevent the chances of those growing up in not the best social
circumstances cycling into the justice system as an offender. Defunding
the police right now would create a lot of problems. While you can always
improve, all one needs to do is talk to retired Saskatoon Police Service sergeant
Ernie Louttit about how much the Saskatoon police have improved from the
1980s until now. Also, the Saskatoon Police Service put out this music video
back in September of 2018, which allows people in Saskatoon to say their
police service is better than yours.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
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.
Bo Levi Mitchell fires a pass downfield for the Stampeders in 2018.
So how much work does the CFL have to do if it hopes to get
financial assistance from the Canadian federal government?
Outside of showing the circuit is in peril due to the
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie didn’t seem to
help the cause with his presentation to a House of Commons standing committee
on finance last Thursday.
In football terms, Ambrosie fumbled the opening kickoff on
his own one yard line, and the opposition took that gift into the end zone for
a touchdown. From that moment, the opposition expanded its edge to 28-0 by the
end of the first quarter.
The CFL might still get financial assistance from the
Canadian federal government. At the moment, the circuit is far behind the
8-ball in achieving success on that front.
After Ambrosie’s presentation on Thursday, he was grilled by
MPs Kevin Waugh (Conservative, Saskatoon), Peter Julian (NDP, New
Westminster-Burnaby) and Peter Fragiskatos (Liberal, London North Centre).
Saskatchewan Roughriders fans cheer during a game in 2018.
Ambrosie came away not looking good after that grilling.
Once the dust settled, it seemed like the only message that
was out there from the league was, “The CFL is a Canadian institution, so give
us money.”
While the CFL has a lot of supporters that believe that
line, it isn’t going to go far in helping the circuit obtain financial
assistance.
During the final week of April, news came out that the CFL
was looking for $30-million in Canadian funds now to manage the impact of
COVID-19. The circuit is asking for additional assistance for an abbreviated
regular season and up to another $120-million in Canadian funds for a
completely lost season.
In other words, the CFL is looking for $150-million in
financial assistance if its nine teams are unable to play the 2020 regular
season and playoffs.
Cody Fajardo in action for the Saskatchewan Roughriders last season.
On Thursday,
Ambrosie told a House of Commons standing committee on finance the CFL’s best
scenario was holding a very shortened season in 2020, but the most likely
scenario was there would be no season at all.
He said the
league’s future was very much in jeopardy.
The biggest
grenade hurled Ambrosie’s way on Thursday came from Julian. Julian asked why
Ambrosie’s presentation didn’t include any presence from the CFL’s Players’
Association and how much of the financial support would go directly to the
players of the CFL.
Ambrosie
said in his response, “As for how much will go to the players, we have to work
that out.”
That sentence
alone could undermine any pitch the CFL makes for financial aid. In public
relations speak, that was a question the CFL didn’t want to answer and avoided
like a poisonous snake that was ready to strike.
It would be
safe to speculate one thing the CFL is worried about getting grilled over is
the idea that tax payer dollars will be going to players born in the United
States.
Roughriders OL Dakota Shepley, right, locks up on a block last season.
British
Columbia Lions quarterback Mike Reilly is slated to go into the second year of
a four-year contract that pays an average of $725,000 a season, while Calgary Stampeders
quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is entering the second year of a four-year
contract that is paying him an average of $700,000 a season.
Both
players are products of the United States. Opponents of the CFL getting financial
assistance from Canadian federal government will likely rage against the
thought of seeing Canadian tax payer dollars going into the pockets of players
from the United States, who take those funds south of the border to spend it
there.
At least in
Mitchell’s case, the Stampeders and the CFL can argue the signal caller and his
wife, Madison, make their home year round in Calgary, and they are involved in
a lot of community functions in that centre.
With that
noted, it will become an issue regarding how many of the CFL’s players from the
United States reside in Canada year round and are planning to make their home
north of the border.
Shaq Evans, right, secures a catch for the Roughriders last season.
There will
be talk about how only 21 players have to be “nationals” on a 46 active player
CFL roster and “nationals” only need to have a minimum of seven out of 24
starting positions.
Waugh
pointed out the CFL’s three community franchises all turned profits in 2018 and
the remaining six franchises are owned by people or corporations with deep
pockets.
Fragiskatos had Ambrosie dancing around regarding questions
about banks supporting the CFL. Ambrosie just kept bringing up a line that said
the CFL owners were losing a total of $20-million a year already.
Out of the presentation, Ambrosie never came with any hard
specifics about how the CFL would use the financial assistance.
The optics that went down looked bad. They even looked worse
when you consider Waugh is a former sports broadcaster and would likely lean
towards giving the CFL financial assistance.
The Roughriders celebrate a touchdown last season.
Ambrosie didn’t give any extra reasons why that assistance
should come with his responses. It appeared he hoped he could get the CFL to a
place where it would be business as usual with very few changes. With the
challenges currently facing the world, that is likely not realistic.
As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, there will be a lot of
other entities coming to the government looking for financial assistance. The
CFL’s arguments for aid will be graded against other presentations that ask for
help.
For those
that don’t have a rooting interest or care for the CFL, they will likely harden
their stance the circuit should not gain financial assistance from the Canadian
federal government with what happened last Thursday.
It is
conceivable the CFL might get financial assistance possibly up to $150-million
from the Canadian federal government. At the present time, the mountain to get
that type of aid is a very tall one to climb.
Canada West formats change due to
COVID-19, other notes
Adam Machart jets downfield for the Huskies last season.
The Canada West Conference announced a revised regular
season sports format for the upcoming 2020-21 campaign that attempts to work
around the COVID-19 pandemic.
This could potentially be the first crack at providing a
revised regular season sports format for the conference that plays under the overall U Sports league banner. The fate of the Canada West campaign in
2020-21 is contingent on the clearance from health authorities in all four
western provinces, member universities permitting sport competition and the
availability of venues.
Playoff formats and regular season schedules slated to be
released at a later date.
The new formats will be in place for a one-year period and
will be revisited before the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
The revised schedules will focus more on regional play that
reduces travel for most squads.
The regular season for football shrinks from eight games to
five. The six member teams including the University of Saskatchewan Huskies
will play each other once.
In men’s and women’s hockey, teams will see their respective
regular season schedules shrink from 28 games to 20 games.
Hockey had to also deal with the fact the University of
Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s and women’s teams folded.
Collin Shirley cuts up ice for the Huskies last season.
While the Pronghorns exited hockey competition, the MacEwan
University Griffins, who are based in Edmonton, and the Trinity Western
University Spartans, located in Langley, B.C., enter Canada West in both men’s
and women’s hockey.
As a result, Canada West will have respective nine team
circuits in both men’s and women’s hockey. Teams will play each other twice and
make up the balance of the schedule adding up to 20 contests with regional
play.
The Huskies will play the University of Regina Cougars and
the University of Manitoba Bisons a total of four times each and will face the
other six Canada West squads twice each.
Men’s and women’s basketball will see their respective regular
season schedules shrink from 20 to 16 games. The 17 teams that compete in the respective
men’s and women’s basketball leagues will be split into three divisions and
regular season schedules will be limited to within division play.
The Huskies will be part of a Saskatchewan-Manitoba Division
comprised of the U of R, the Brandon University Bobcats, the University of
Manitoba Bisons and University of Winnipeg Wesmen. The Huskies will play their
division foes four times each.
The release for the revised sports format for Canada West
that outlines how the 2020-21 campaign will looking in each of its member
sports can be found by clicking right here.
Hilltops HC Tom Sargeant, right, contemplates a play call last season.
A big happy birthday goes
out to legendary Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, who turned
55-years-old on Monday. Sargeant’s Hilltops have won the last six straight
CJFL championships and also captured nine of the last 10 CJFL national
titles. He is the all-time wins leader in Canadian amateur post-secondary
football posting a 210-30-2 record in the CJFL regular season and
playoffs.
On Monday, Prairieland
Park announced the Saskatoon Exhibition, which was slated to run Aug. 4-9,
has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It marks the first time
in 135 years the Saskatoon Exhibition has been cancelled.
On Thursday, Saskatoon
Folkfest board of directors announced its 2020 Saskatoon Folkfest scheduled
for Aug. 13 to 15 has been indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
On Monday, the American Hockey League announced it was officially cancelling remainder of its regular season and all of its post-season for the 2019-20 campaign. The AHL had been on pause since March 12. This will mark the first time Calder Cup won’t be award to the league champion since the circuit first took the ice for the 1936-37 campaign.
Williamsport, Penn., will
be a lot more silent this year without its “August Classic.” Back on April
30, the Little League World Series baseball tournament, which was set for
Aug. 20 to 30, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Little
League World Series had been held every August since 1947. The Championship
tournaments in six other Little League divisions were also cancelled.
On Friday, Baseball
Alberta announced it has cancelled all sanctioned events and activities
through to Aug. 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Government imposed
restrictions to fight COVID-19 were cited for the reasons for this move.
On Thursday, University of
Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team goaltender Taran Kozun was named
the male athlete of the year for the entire Canada West Conference for the
2019-20 campaign. Swimmer Kelsey Wog from the University of Manitoba
Bisons was named the female athlete of the year for the Canada West
Conference.
On May 4, the Medicine Hat
Tigers signed Saskatoon product and offensive-defenceman Reid Andresen to
a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The Tigers selected Andresen in the first
round and 11th overall in the WHL Bantam Draft held in April.
The WHL started handing
out its overall league awards via an online format starting on May 4. For
the awards that have been handed out so far, left-winger Adam Beckman was
presented the Bob Clarke Trophy as the league’s leading scorer, referee
Jeff Ingram took the Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy as the top official,
the Lethbridge Hurricanes claimed the WHL’s Business Award, Swift Current
Broncos alum Sheldon Kennedy received the WHL Governors Award for his
community work after retiring from the game, Edmonton Oil Kings head coach
Brad Lauer took the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as coach of the year,
Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt claimed the Lloyd Saunders
Memorial Trophy as executive of the year and the Kamloops Blazers were
awarded the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy as the scholastic team of the
year.
On Saturday, Jeff Manning of The Oregonian
reported the Portland Winterhawks Incorporated, the parent company that
owns the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in
Portland on Thursday. William Gallacher, who is a Calgary-based oil man,
bought the Winterhawks in 2008 and has owned the club since that time. The
Oregonian story said several other Gallacher companies filed for Chapter
15 bankruptcy as well. The Oregonian story can be found by clicking right here.
On Friday, CTV Regina’s
Claire Hanna caught up with former Saskatchewan Roughriders Chief Executive
Officer Jim Hopson. Hopson said COVID-19 could be the greatest threat the
CFL has ever faced. Hanna’s story can be found by clicking right here.
UFC 249 was held in
Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday to mark the first professional sports
athletic event held in North America since shutdowns started to occur on
March 11 and 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of rave reviews were
given for UFC 249, which was held in a venue without fans. During UFC 249,
it was announced former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges
St-Pierre is headed to the UFC Hall of Fame. St-Pierre is from St-Isidore,
Quebec.
To end with some fun, an online
documentary just over 23 minutes in length was produced a handful of years
back on the electrifying Henry “Gizmo” Williams, who is the legendary kick
return and receiver for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos. Williams last played
for the Eskimos in 2000. The documentary can be found by click 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.
-------
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.
Taran Kozun was named the Huskies male athlete of the year.
Taran Kozun might have to expand where his trophies are
displayed at his place.
The star netminder for the University of Saskatchewan
Huskies men’s hockey team has collected an array of honours over his three full
seasons in the U Sports ranks. On Wednesday, the 25-year-old product of
Nipawin, Sask., added another accolade to his already lengthy list.
Kozun was
named the winner of the E. Kent Phillips Trophy as the male athlete of the year
for Huskie Athletics for the second straight year.
The Huskies
held their Huskie Salute and announced their Major 7 Awards in a series of
social media posts on Wednesday. The original Huskie Salute was scheduled for
last Friday, but it was cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The puck stopper
collected a lengthy number of awards this season. Kozun, who stands 6-feet and
weighs 175 pounds, won the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy as the U Sports
player of the year, and he took honours as the U Sports goaltender of the year.
He became
the first player in U Sports history to claim both awards in the same season.
On top of those honours, the graduate of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers and Seattle
Thunderbirds was named a U Sports first team all-Canadian all-star.
Taran Kozun was the U Sports player of the year for men’s hockey.
Kozun also
captured honours this season as the Canada West Conference player of the year, Canada
West goaltender of the year and a first team Canada West all-star.
He had an
outstanding campaign for the Huskies appearing in 22 regular season games posting
a 17-3-2 record, a 1.87 goals against average, a .931 save percentage and five
shutouts. He also became the second goalie in the history of the Canada West
Conference to score a goal as well during those regular season appearances.
Kozun was
first goal goalie in the Canada West Conference to be awarded a goal after
shooting the puck into the net.
He topped
the Canada West Conference in wins and save percentage, while posting the
lowest goals against average. His five shutouts equalled a record for regular
season play in Canada West which he set last season along with U of Alberta
Golden Bears goalie Zach Sawchenko.
Thanks to
Kozun’s efforts, the Huskies finished second in the Canada West Conference with
a 22-4-2 record.
Taran Kozun was the Canada West Conference player of the year.
In the
Canada West playoffs, the Huskies swept the University of Calgary Dinos in a
best-of-three semifinal series 2-0 and pulled out the brooms again for the
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds taking the best-of-three Canada
West Championship series 2-0.
Kozun won
all four of those starts posting a 1.84 goals against average and a .907 save
percentage.
At the
David Johnston University Cup held in Halifax, N.S., the second seeded Huskies
fell in a 3-2 upset to the seventh seeded University of Western Ontario
Mustangs in a quarter-final match on March 12. The rest of that event was cancelled
due to the COVID-19 pandemic later that same night.
Last
season, Kozun was named both the Canada West goaltender of the year and the U
Sports goaltender of the year as well as a U Sports first team all-Canadian
all-star and a first team Canada West all-star.
Kozun beat
out a tough field to be named the Huskies male athlete of the year.
Taran Kozun scored a goal in the 2019-20 campaign.
The three
other nominees included defensive back Nelson Lokombo from the Huskies football
team, who was the U Sports defensive player of the year, Hunter Lee from the
Huskies men’s wrestling team, who won gold medals at the Canada West Conference
tournament and the U Sports nationals, and Huskies men’s track and field team
sprinter Karson Lehner, who was named the Canada West Conference and U Sports
male track athlete of the year.
At the
Canada West Championships, Lehner ran the 300-metre race in a meet record time
of 33.07 seconds breaking a 35-year-old record set former Huskies track athlete
Cyprian Enweani, who ran 33.50 seconds in 1985.
Michelle
Harrison of the Huskies women’s track and field team claimed the Mary Ethel
Cartwright Trophy as the female athlete of the year for Huskie Athletics.
Harrison was named the U Sports female track athlete of the year.
She won
gold medals in the 60-metre hurdles at the Canada West Championship and U
Sports nationals. Harrison set a new U Sports nationals record in the 60-metre
hurdles running in a time of 8.15 seconds and was named the female athlete of
the meet.
Evan Machibroda was named the all-around male athlete for the Huskies.
Evan
Machibroda, who is a fifth-year defensive tackle with the Huskies football
team, was named the winner of the Rusty MacDonald Cup as the all-around male
athlete for Huskie Athletics. The award is given to the male Huskie athlete
that shows excellence in sport, the classroom and citizenship.
Machibroda
piled up 22 total tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble
recovery helping the Huskies football team post a 5-3 regular season record.
Fifth-year
guard Megan Ahlstrom of the Huskies women’s basketball team took home the
Valerie Girsberger Trophy as the top all-around female athlete for Huskie
Athletics. The award is given to the female Huskie athlete that shows
excellence in sport, the classroom and leadership.
Ahlstrom
helped the Huskies women’s basketball team win U Sports national titles in 2016
and this past season.
Wrestler
Carson Lee took the Howard Nixon Trophy as the male athlete of the year for
Huskie Athletics. He was named the Canada West and U Sports rookie of the year
for men’s wrestling. Lee captured gold in the 82-kilogram weight class at the
Canada West Championships and U Sports nationals.
Megan Ahlstrom, left, was the Huskies top all-around female athlete.
Halle
Krynowsky from the Huskies women’s soccer team won the Patricia Lawson Trophy
as the female rookie of the year for Huskie Athletics. The defender scored a
pair of goals and was named to the Canada West Conference all-rookie team.
The Colb
McEwon Trophy as the coach of the year for Huskie Athletics went to Huskies
women’s basketball team head coach Lisa Thomaidis. Thomaidis led the Huskies
women’s basketball team to their fourth Canada West title in the past five
years and second U Sports national title in team history.
She led the
Huskies women’s hoopsters to their first U Sports national crown in 2016 as
well.
The Dr. Walter
Hader Award as student trainer of the year went to Ben Taylor from the Huskies
track and field teams and cross country teams.
The 2019-20
campaign was a great season for the Huskie Athletics program that included four
Canada West team championships and one U Sports national title.
Lisa Thomaidis was named the coach of the year for Huskie Athletics.
The Huskies captured conference titles in men’s
wrestling, women’s track and field, men’s hockey and women’s basketball. The
women’s basketball team captured the Bronze Baby Trophy as U Sports national
champions.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
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.
Carson Stadnyk scored for the Huskies on Thursday.
It was an
upset that should have been the story of the day at the David Johnston
University Cup.
By the time
Thursday came to the end, the upset was a footnote in the day’s events.
The
University Cup opened on Thursday in Halifax, N.S., with the seventh seeded University
of Western Ontario Mustangs downing the second seeded University of
Saskatchewan Huskies 3-2 in a quarter-final match. After the opening day’s action
came to a conclusion, U Sports cancelled the rest of its elite-eight men’s
national hockey championship due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Late in the
day Thursday, Hockey Canada announced it was cancelling all its sanctioned
activities including national championships affective Friday due to the outbreak
of coronavirus. Due to this announcement, U Sports called off its men’s
national championship tournament and the U Sports women’s elite eight national
championship tournament, which was being held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Island.
Both events
were slated to hold their bronze and gold medal matches on Sunday.
A national
champion in U Sports men’s hockey won’t be crowned for the first time in 58
years, and a national champion in U Sports women’s hockey won’t be crowned for
the first time in 22 years.
That means
the David Johnston University Cup and the Golden Path Trophy will be unclaimed
this season.
Sam Ruopp had a goal for the Huskies on Thursday.
The
encounter between the Mustangs and Huskies was a battle, and due to the fact it
was played early Thursday afternoon, everyone believed the winner would get to
play in a semifinal contest on Saturday.
Defenceman
Reed Morison game the Mustangs a 1-0 lead scoring on the power play with 2:51
remaining in the first period.
Huskies
fourth-year right winger Carson Stadnyk evened the score at 1-1 scoring at the
5:37 mark of the second period.
Before the
second period ended, the Mustangs jumped ahead 3-1 with a short-handed marker
from centre Cordell James and an even-strength marker from defenceman Stephen
Desrocher.
Sean
Montgomery, who was a career five-season member of the WHL’s Prince Albert
Raiders, picked up assists on the Mustangs first and third goals.
The Huskies
didn’t go quietly. Third-year defender Sam Ruopp scored with 43 seconds
remaining in the third period to cut the Mustangs lead to 3-2.
U of S was
unable to find the equalizer in the time that remained.
Luke
Peresinni made 26 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Mustangs. Taran
Kozun, who was named the U Sports player of the year and goaltender of the year
on Wednesday, turned away 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.
Ironman
Levi Cable was scratched from Thursday’s game with an undisclosed ailment that
brought his consecutive games streak to an end at 175 contests for the Huskies including
action in the U Sports regular season and post-season.
Kohl Bauml played his final game for the Huskies on Thursday.
Thursday’s
events brought an end to the U Sports careers of four forwards in their
fifth-years with the Huskies in Cable, Kohl Bauml, Andrew Johnson and Logan
McVeigh.
Dave Adolph
guided the Huskies into the University Cup for the 16th time, and a
national title has eluded the U of S side in each visit. Even had the Huskies
won, fate would have ultimately prevented a championship win with the coronavirus
scare.
The Huskies
posted a 22-4-2 record in the regular season to finish second in the Canada
West Conference and went 4-0 in the Canada West playoffs to win the conference
title.
The
Mustangs finished eighth in the Ontario University Athletics West conference with
an 11-13-4 record. In the post-season, the Mustangs went on a Cinderella run
upsetting the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, who finished first in the
OUA West, and Ryerson University Rams, who finished second in the OUA West.
Both of those
best-of-three series went the distance.
The
Mustangs fell to the Guelph University Griffins in a best-of-three series in
the OUA West final that went the distance. Western proceeded to down the
Concordia University Stingers 5-2 in the OUA bronze medal game to earn a berth
at nationals.
Taran Kozun made 22 saves in goal for the Huskies on Thursday.
Following
the clash with the Mustangs and Huskies, the third seeded Saint Mary’s
University Huskies upset the Guelph University Griffins 5-1 in another
quarter-final encounter.
At the
women’s nationals in Charlottetown, the seventh seeded Mount Royal University
Cougars upset the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 2-1 in overtime in the
first quarter-final. The second quarter-final saw the third seeded Saint
Francis Xavier University X-Women slip past the University of Montreal Carabins
3-2 in overtime.
In the end, all teams had their hearts broken
as both U Sports hockey nationals were called off. It was an unprecedented end
coming out of an unprecedented time in history as the world reacts to the
coronavirus pandemic.
Contacts fall in last meaningful hockey game
in Saskatoon
Riley Girod, right, jets up ice for the Contacts.
It was a
game where the celebrations were muted.
On Thursday
at Merlis Belsher Place, the Moose Jaw Warriors took on the Saskatoon Contacts
in Game 3 of a Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series. The
Warriors led the best-of-five series 2-0 and were looking for the sweep.
Late in the
evening Thursday, Hockey Canada put out a release saying it was cancelling all
its sanctioned events including national championships effective on Friday due
to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Both teams
were told before they took the ice that this would be the final game of their
respective seasons.
The
Warriors won 5-3 to sweep the series 3-0.
Alex
Bernauer gave the Contacts a 1-0 lead scoring 61 seconds into the contest.
Atley
Calvert netted the equalizer for the Warriors just 3:36 later, and Warriors
forward Ben Wourms-Rowe scored twice to give the visitors a 3-1 edge heading
into the first intermission.
With 2:25
remaining in the second, the Contacts cut the gap to 3-2 with a goal from forward
Riley Girod.
The
Warriors extended their edge to 5-2 in the third with power-play goals coming
from the sticks of Ethan Peters and Maximus Wanner.
Contacts
rookie forward Tye Spencer rounded out the game’s scoring netting a buzzer
beater with 0.1 seconds remaining on the third period clock.
The Warriors and Contacts do fist bumps in the traditional handshake line.
Chase Hamm
made 39 saves to take the setback in goal for the Contacts. Dylan Ernst turned
away 41 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors.
The two
sides took part in the handshake line giving fist bumps with their gloves on.
The Contacts finished third in the SMAAAHL regular season standings with a
30-12-2 record, while the Warriors were fourth with a 30-13-0-1 record.
While the
Warriors technically advanced to the SMAAAHL championship series, there wasn’t
much celebrating due to the fact they won’t play another series.
At game’s
end, it seemed both side were still processing the finality.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
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.
