Riders and Ti-Cats Make Trade

The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced the acquisition of non-import linebacker Shomari Williams, non-import punter Josh Bartel and the eighth overall selection in the 2014 CFL Canadian Draft in exchange for the ninth overall selection and the eleventh overall selection.   

 

Williams (6’1 – 232) returns for his second stint with the Green and White after originally being selected by the team in the first round (1^st overall) in the 2010 Canadian Draft. The Toronto native spent three seasons with the Riders before signing with the Tiger-Cats as free agent prior to last season. In 2013 the Queen’s product played just six games, missing the majority of the season due to injury.

 

For his career, the 28-year-old Williams has registered 89 defensive tackles, 33 special teams tackles, five quarterback sacks and one interception in 60 regular season games. 

 

Bartel (6’3 – 200) will be entering his third CFL season after joining the Tiger-Cats ahead of the 2012 season. The Australian born kicker has appeared in 36 career regular season games punting 229 times for 9,904 yards – a 43.2 yard average.

 

The 27-year-old was named a 2013 East Division All-Star after punting 112 times for 4897 yards (43.7) including a 69 yard long.

 

 

To Saskatchewan:

NI – Shomari Williams

NI – Josh Bartel

1^st Round (eighth overall) pick in 2014 CFL Canadian Draft

 

To Hamilton:

1^st Round (ninth overall) pick in 2014 CFL Canadian Draft

2^nd Round (eleventh overall) pick in 2014 CFL Canadian Draft

 

Something To Mitch About

Happy Family Day!! The first long weekend of 2014 is upon us. How did we ever get to April before a long weekend in the past?

A lot of nail-biting Sunday as Canada beat Finland to finish off pool play. Just some thoughts

--It doesn't matter how wide the ice is, teams still find a way to clog things up. Will we ever see free-wheeling open hockey for an entire 60 minutes again. That effort by the Finns was one of a team scared not to make a mistake and they showed it.

--Glenn Healy is as annoying on a Sunday afternoon from Sochi as he is on a Saturday night from Toronto. I don't know what the plan is when Rogers starts producing HNIC, but I hope Healy isn't a part of it. At least, the CBC didn't take PJ Stock over to Russia. If they have, I haven't seen him.

--Any coincidence that in the first big game of the tournament, Mike Babcock elects to sit PK Subban. Best defenceman in the league my ass. A guy who knows the game knows the liability Subban could have been so he sits.

--Drew Doughty is this decade's Scott Niedermayer. The Kings blueliner has been unreal in Sochi.

--Where's Sid? Canada's best forward has either been John Tavares or Jeff Carter. Carter is getting the points, but Tavares has been more noticable to this blogger. As for Canada's best player through three games, it has to be Doughty or Shea Weber.

--The Russia/US game is getting a lot of attention because of TJ Oshie's shootout prowess. My thoughts on the shootout are well known, but its proven even more when Americans like Kessel,  Parise, Van Riemsdyk, Kane, etc. etc etc don't have a hand in how the game ends. Oshie should have gotten one shot and that's it.-----yes that's the same way I felt when Jonathan Toews did his thing in the World Juniors as well.

--Oshie and Toews are both from the University of North Dakota which begs the question if having calm nerves in a shootout is a class there or something

Other thoughts

  --I've watched a lot of Cougars basketball over the years thanks to me doing play-by-play for Access and doing public address for them for the past two years. I don't know if in that time I have seen a better 2nd year player than Katie Polischuk. She is so good now and she has three years to go. There have been a lot of great players to go through that program and I highly expect Polischuk to be one of those if she keeps going.

 --It was a tough year for Steve Burrows and his mens team, but I actually think there's some light at the end of the tunnel for next year. They had a lot of games where I think inexperience showed and that inexperience shouldn't be a factor next season. I'm not saying this team will win Canada West next year, but with guys like Brendan Hebert,. Brandon Tull, Kade Marra and Jeremy Zver back, they should be an entertaining product. Burrows will also start forming the type of team he wants as he had to inherit a lot of what was left from James Hillis because of the timing of his hiring.

--I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Mark McMorris for the first time on Saturday as he returned to the Regina airport. I don't think that kid even realizes how big of a celebrity he is. He just reeks of cool and might be one of the most laid back guys I've seen. I was surprised when he asked him if he had his medal on him and he said it was in his bag that was coming through on the conveyor belts.  With all due respect, there is NO way that if I had something like an Olympic medal that I would be putting it in my bag and letting it sit underneath. There are too many horror stories of lost luggage and losing a piece of luggage with that in it would send me over the wall.

 --Why do people at grocery stores stop to have a conversation and become oblivious to the world around them thus blocking aisles with their carts and not caring? This happened at Costco three times Sunday afternoon. MOVE IT!!! Would we do that in our cars.....well wait a minute, I have seen people stop in the middle of main street before to have a conversation.

 --Just a hunch, but I'm guessing Richie Incognito will never play on the same team as Michael Sam!

 --Thanks to Torchy Simpson for providing me with not only a one of a kind Seahawks Super Bowl champions shirt, but for sewing a Super Bowl 48 patch on my jersey for me. I had hoped to have the patch to wear it on Super Bowl Sunday, but it got delayed at the border for some reason. Torchy does a great job in sewing numbers and letters on jerseys and he usually has the authentic numbers. You can find him right behind Bushwakkers.

--As I thought it would be, the NBA all-star game was a joke. That's not the way basketball is played and its a joke to try and pass the game off that way. The same can be said of the NHL all-star game and the Pro Bowl. Get rid of these games and just the keep league going.

--Its great to see spring training has started as soon it will be opening day.

--Congratulations to Saskatoon Blades broadcaster Les Lazaruk. On Saturday night, Les did his 1500th WHL game. That's a lot of miles on the old iron lung. Les is a true professional and is one of the best behind the mike that there is. I always have fun yakkin it up with him whether it be at the rink or on the Sportscage. Congrats again Les!

--The Pats are home on this holiday Monday to take on Brandon. It looks  like the Pats, Wheaties and Swift Current will be fighting for first in the East for the final six weeks of the season. It would be great to see a big crowd at the Brandt Centre this afternoon. My plan is to get down there so hopefully I see ya down there.

--Enjoy the holiday Monday!

Canada 2 Finland 1 (OT)

Drew Doughty's 4th goal of the Sochi games and his 2nd of the day was the winner in overtime as Canada beat Finland 2-1 Sunday afternoon. It means Canada gets the 3rd seed going into the playoffs and will play the winner of the Switzerland-Latvia game.

It also means we will not see a repeat of Canada-USA for gold like we saw in Salt Lake City and Vancouver as the two teams would meet in the semi-finals if both were to get through.

Finnish goalie Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots while Carey Price was less busy making 14 saves.

The next Canadian game is Wednesday.

Canada 6 Austria 0

Jeff Carter had almost as many goals as he did ice time on Friday.
The L.A. Kings forward scored a second-period natural hat trick, and Team Canada’s blue-line continued its offensive outburst as the Olympic men’s hockey squad routed Austria 6-0 Friday at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome.
Defenceman Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf each had a goal and an assist, while blue-liner Drew Doughty also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0.
Goalie Roberto Luongo (1-0), getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. It’s not immediately clear who will get the call between the pipes for Canada’s next game against Finland on Sunday – a battle for top spot in Group B (streaming live on cbc.ca/Olympics at 12 p.m. ET).
It was the first natural hat trick by a Canadian men’s Olympic hockey player since Paul Knox accomplished the feat in 1956, also against Austria. The kicker? Carter did it in just 8:46 of ice time.

(cbc.ca)

This And That

WOW!!!! It hasn't even been two months since we put the 2013 CFL season to bed with the Riders winning the Grey Cup and now many are writing the obituary for this squad with 4 1/2 months to go until the 2014 season starts.

The loss of Keith Shologan and Zach Evans in the Ottawa dispersal draft hurt this team tremendously and so has the loss of Weston Dressler to the NFL, but it would seem as if the loss of Kory Sheets and Craig Butler has a lot of the fanbase throwing in the towel already while sharpening those knives I thought perhaps they had put away for good with the aim once again being GM Brendan Taman.

I won't sit here and tell you the loss of Sholo, Sheets. Butler and Dressler aren't huge because they are, but this team still has a lot of quality on it and the core is still there. Durant, Getzlaf, Taj Smith, the o-line, Chick. Brackenridge, Rey Williams, Milo, etc. etc. This team still has a lot of talent on it and no one knows what Taman has up his sleeve. This negative talk with so much time to go until training camp is laughable as far as I'm concerned. They did what they wanted in 2013 and that is win the Grey Cup on home turf. The desire is there to repeat, but its not as strong thus the team isn't as active in free agency as they were last year. Relax and have some faith. Everything will be fine.

The question now is what one of the three who have left creates the biggest hole. Is it Sheets, Dressler or Butler and I say the answer is Butler. You can find a one thousand yard American receiver in this league (albeit not one as popular and as dynamic as Dressler) and you can find an American one thousand yard running back, but you can't find a replacement right away for a guy who did what Butler did in green and white. He was an impact player and more importantly, he was Canadian! You don't find Canadians as talented as Butler. While I think you can replace Dressler and Sheets, I don't think you find another Canadian as valuable to a team as what Butler was.

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Surprisingly, there isn't a lot of negativity being shown after the Canadians 3-1 mens hockey win over Norway. I thought there would be some seeing the game wasn't one-sided, but there hasn't been a lot. That's good! The pressure is still there to win, but its not as immense as it was for Canada four years ago when the weight of the whole games and their success seemingly came down to whether Canada won gold in mens hockey or not. That pressure has shifted over to Ovechkin and the Russians. I'd love to beat them in their own rink and I hope they get the opportunity, but I just think Ovechkin won't be denied on home soil much like Sid wasn't denied in Canada.

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How much of the Olympics are you watching and what events are you watching? Like it is every Winter games for me, I watch the downhill, the speedskating, the bobsled and luge, the curling and the hockey but that's it. I watched Paige Lawrence and her partner do their thing in figureskating because she's local and I did caught up in watching Mark McMorris and some of the freestyle skiing. I should perhaps be watching more of the freestyle skiing when it comes to some of the female competitors. No wonder, young men in their 20's love that sport. There are some big time cuties in that sport. There was an Australian girl on the halfpipe the other day who was just stunning. OK, I'm starting to sound like Brent Musberger........moving on!!!!
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Guys, its Valentines Day. Treat that woman in your life right today and this weekend!
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Its a joke the Argos won't play a home game in September. They need to get to BMO Field right now.
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So much for going to Dierks Bentley at Craven. How could the Riders schedule a night game on the same weekend as the jamboree? As Curtis Hunt said on Wednesday's Sportscage, perhaps the Riders can get him to do the anthem or maybe a little pre-game concert.
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I had a lot of fun doing MAACO Hockey Wednesday with Curtis this week. The weekly gig on the show has really made him open up compared to the days when he was coaching the Pats and Warriors when it was tough to get a good 12-15 second soundbite out of him. I've never had a problem with Curtis and I'm glad he gets to share his hockey wisdom with us on the show each week. He's just another of the top-notch analysts that we have at our disposal.
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The Blue Jays have been way too quiet this off-season after last. Are they afraid of getting burned again or did they just smarten up. Some think this team will be better this year with the same cast of characters. I see another 75-80 win season and that won't be good enough.
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If there has been a classier athlete in any sport over the past 15 years than Derek Jeter, I'd love to know who it is. I don't know if I'll  have the chance, but I would love to see him do his thing one time before he rides off into the sunset.
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The BC Lions sent out a tweet Thursday night mocking the Riders for losing who they have in the off-season and adding Khari Jones. This from the same BC Lions team who tweeted out Tuesday they have made offers to Nick Moore, Craig Butler, Josh Bourke, Wayne Smith and Shea Emry. I have two things to say to that. 1) Wayne Smith is still playing? 2. You're 0-4 having struck out on that wish list. Nexttttttt!!!
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NBC Sports and CNNSI columnist Peter King recently tweeted he wants to go to a CFL game this summer and he asked where he should go. Does he really have to ask? Peter doesn;t read this blog and if he does he's tremendously bored, but there is no other place to go to catch the true essence of our game than right here at Mosaic. Peter's Twitter handle is  @SI_PeterKing. You may want to send him a message.
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I haven't watched many NBA games this year, but Wednesday's game between Miami and Golden State which was won on a Lebron James three pointer at the buzzer was a dandy!
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I have to try and get to L-I-T this weekend seeing its the last tournament in the old gym. If you have never been, you have no idea what its like in that building. If you have, you do! Its second to none.
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Big weekend for the Cougar womens basketball team. They should beat Brandon twice, but they need the Huskies to knock off Alberta once to finish first. I won't be surprised if that scenario plays itself out. It would be nice to see some good crowds for the games this weekend. I know they start a little earlier than one might like, but its a good nite at the University ---especially if you ignore the public address announcer.
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I have no clue what the  main event at WrestleMania will be, but it can't be Batista vs Randy Orton. I am now hearing word Hulk Hogan is coming back to WWE. If this is true, god help us wrestling fans one and all especially if he wins some gold. Oh yeah, don't give me a Hulk-Cena match at WM either.
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We're two weeks away from my High Impact wrestling TV debut as I sit alongside the Polish Hammer Pete Paczko. Get ready Regina---especially some of you Rex Roberts loving gronks that sit front row!
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Have a great weekend!!! A great LONG weekend that is! We deserve one don't we.

Canada 3 Norway 1

The Canadian mens hockey team has opened the Olympics with a 3-1 win over Norway.

Jamie Benn, Shea Weber and Drew Doughty had the Canadian goals while Carey Price stopped 19 of 20 shots sent his way.

Canada will play Austria Friday morning at 11 AM our time. Roberto Luongo will get the start for Team Canada.

Kory Sheets Is An Oakland Raider

The Oakland Raiders have signed RB Kory Sheets, General Manager Reggie McKenzie announced Wednesday.

Sheets entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with San Francisco in 2009 and spent time on the 49ers’ practice squad before being signed to the active roster of the Miami Dolphins later that season. Sheets was with Miami from 2009-10, appearing in two games and totaling one rush for five yards. After being waived by the Dolphins, the 5-foot-11, 208-pounder spent time on the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers in 2011.

Following his first NFL stint, Sheets played two seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League from 2012-13. In his two years in the CFL, Sheets totaled 2,875 rushing yards on 516 attempts (5.6 avg.) and 23 touchdowns. He also added 781 receiving yards on 86 receptions and two touchdowns. Sheets was named the 2013 Grey Cup Most Valuable Player after rushing for a Grey Cup-record 197 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns in a win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Sheets played four years at Purdue (2005-08), finishing his collegiate career ranked second in school history with 3,341 rushing yards on 664 carries, and holding the school record with 48 rushing touchdowns.