OchoCinco To Work Out With Alouettes

Former NFL star Chad Johnson will work out this week with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

Alouettes general manager Jim Popp released a statement Saturday confirming that contract talks "have escalated" recently between the team and Johnson, who has not played in the NFL since the 2011 season.

"We do expect to meet with Chad Johnson and work him out in Vero Beach, Fla. this week," Popp said in the statement. "Talks did take place and have escalated over the last week."

Johnson, 36, was released by theMiami Dolphins in August 2012 after the six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver was arrested for allegedly head-butting his then-wife, Evelyn Lozada.

In June, Johnson was released from jail after serving a week of a 30-day term for a probation violation.

The flamboyant player formerly known as Chad Ochocinco has not landed with another team since being cut by Miami, despite his continued attempt to resurrect his NFL career. He had seven 1,000-yard seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and also was a member of the New England Patriotsteam that reached Super Bowl XLVI following the 2011 season.

The Alouettes went 8-10 last season and are seeking their first Grey Cup since 2010, when they won their second consecutive championship.

Another Member of GC Winning Team Won't Be Back

There are now three Riders who will try their luck in the NFL next season,

The Carolina Panthers have signed defensive end Alex Hall. He joined the team late in the season after a trade with Winnpeg.

Hall joins Weston Dressler and Kory Sheets as members of the green-and-white trying to make the cut in the NFL.

Charity Basketball Game For Crystal McGregor

Winnipeg based Athlete Initiative Sports Program is organizing and hosting a fundraising charity basketball game in support of ex- Regina Cougar Women’s basketball player Crystal McGregor (Heisler). The “Battle of the Border” All-Star fundraising basketball game is set for Saturday, April 19th, 6pm at the University of Regina, (CKHS) Gym.


This event will feature Saskatchewan and Manitoba’s past CIS female all-stars who took the stage between 2000-2014. All-stars include Cymone Bouchard, the most decorated women’s player from Saskatchewan alongside ex - U of R cougar Leah Anderson, Gabby Gheysenn and Brittany Reid. Manitoba will also boast a few national team players on their roster, adding Uzo Asagwara, Amy Ogidan and 6’5 power house Alexandria MacIver to the list of superstars.
This dynamic collection of athletes will hopefully attract the Regina community to support Crystal Heisler who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, a year and half ago. The all-stars will represent their province and battle it out in hopes to raise money toward Heisler’s own battle.


Athlete Initiative’s goal is to raise more than $ 10, 000 from the both Manitoba and Saskatchewan communities and local businesses. Join us for an incredible evening as the two teams play for bragging rights as well as supporting our very own ex-Cougar, Crystal Heisler. Tickets can be purchased at the door, Adults $15, Students $10. The event will also feature silent auction, draws, and a 3pt competition at half time. Full roster and complete details can be found by visiting www.athleteinitiative.com.

This event is still in search for business sponsorship opportunity as well as prize donations. Please contact Suki at 204-990-8582 or suki@athleteinitiative.com.

Ryan Smyth Calls It A Career

Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Smyth announced his retirement from the National Hockey League today, in front of family and friends at a news conference at Rexall Place. Number 94 will play his final NHL game tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks.


The native of Banff, Alberta, will retire after playing 1,270 career NHL games, accumulating 842 points (386G, 456A), 974 penalty minutes, 56 game winning goals and 159 power play goals, including 126 with the Edmonton Oilers, which leaves him tied for the club record with former Oiler Great Glenn Anderson.


The veteran left winger is in his 20th NHL season and his 15th season with the Oilers. Smyth has dawned the Oilers sweater for 970 games posting 631 points (296G, 335A), 771 penalty minutes and 45 game winning goals.


Smyth says, “I have been truly blessed to play this game for as long as I have and will cherish the memories forever. After some difficult discussions over the past week, I felt it was best to make this decision and move on with life after hockey and enjoy every minute I have with my family.”


Smyth appeared in 68 playoff games with the Oilers, recording 43 points (22G, 21A), 76 penalty minutes, three game winning goals and eight power play goals. He played a key role in the Oilers Stanley Cup run in 2006, tallying 16 points (7G, 9A), 22 penalty minutes, four power play goals and one game winning goal in 24 games.


The Oilers drafted Smyth in the 1st round, 6th overall, in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft and he made his NHL debut on January 22nd, 1995 at the Great Western Forum against the Los Angeles Kings. He played his first full season with the Oilers in 1995-96 and registered his first career NHL goal on November 24th, 1995 on the power play against the Calgary Flames.

General Manager Craig MacTavish says, “We would like to thank Ryan for being a great Oiler. Ryan and his family are ambassadors for both the Oilers and the City of Edmonton and we cannot thank them enough for their dedication. Ryan truly exemplifies what it means to be an Oiler and I am extremely proud to have had him as key part of our hockey club for so many years.”


Smyth holds several Oilers’ club records, including the fastest hat trick which was scored in 2:01 on October 12th, 2006 versus San Jose, breaking the previous record held by Wayne Gretzky.


The Oilers recognized Smyth for his community involvement in 2012-13, awarding him the Oilers community service award. He was also voted the Oilers Most Popular Player numerous times (2002-03, 03-04, 05-06) and won the Molson Cup Three Stars Award twice (2003-04, 05-06).


“Smytty” ranks in several Oilers all-time leader categories including second in games played (970), sixth in points (631), fifth in goals (296), seventh in assists (335), fifth in hat tricks (5), fourth in game winning goals (45) and first in power play goals (126).


The 38-year old Smyth has represented Canada several times internationally, most recently at the 2012 Spengler Cup, where he captained the team to a championship. He is Canada’s all-time leader in games played at the World Hockey Championship and has served as Captain for six Championships (2001-05 and 2010). Captain Canada has won gold on several occasions, most notably the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Kindersley Awarded World Jr A Challenge

Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League, announced Friday that Kindersley, Sask., will host the 2014 World Junior A Challenge from Dec. 14-20, 2014.
The 2014 tournament will mark the return of the World Junior A Challenge to the province of Saskatchewan for the first time since Yorkton and Humboldt hosted the inaugural event in 2006.
The 2014 World Junior A Challenge will follow the same format as previous years – two Canadian entries will be joined by four international teams, with two groups of three teams. The group winners will receive an automatic bye to the semifinals, while the second-place and third-place teams will crossover for the quarter-finals. The 2014 World Junior A Challenge will be based out of the West Central Events Centre, home of the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers, with surrounding communities also hosting games.

Ticket information for the 2014 World Junior A Challenge will be announced in the coming months.
“Few provinces in Canada have a Junior A hockey history like Saskatchewan, and we’re thrilled to be taking the World Junior A Challenge back to the Prairies,” said Bob Nicholson, president and CEO of Hockey Canada. “We’re confident Kindersley will put on a world-class event and show our international visitors just what hockey means to small-town Canada.”

“The CJHL continues to produce elite-level prospects and players, and the World Junior A Challenge is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the exciting talent developing at the Junior A level,” said CJHL president and chairman Kirk Lamb. “Saskatchewan and the SJHL have a rich history of Junior A hockey and we are excited for our players, parents, scouts and fans to be able to take this world-class event to such a proud and storied hockey province and league.”

“We are thrilled to host the 2014 World Junior A Challenge and look forward to welcoming the best Junior A players for an exciting week of hockey,” said Rocky Perkins, chair of the host committee. “We are proud to welcome the players, their families and hockey fans from across Western Canada to our community during this exciting week. Along with the Klippers organization, other community and hockey partners and our dedicated Kindersley volunteers, we want to create an amazing experience for all fans and participants.”

Since the first World Junior A Challenge in 2006, more than 100 NHL draft picks have played in the tournament, including 18 first-round selections (Beau Bennett, Alexander Burmistrov, Joe Colborne, Nikita Filatov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Dmitri Kulikov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, John Moore, Vladislav Namestnikov, Riley Nash, Valeri Nichushkin, Dylan Olsen, Jordan Schmaltz, Jaden Schwartz, Brendan Smith, Kyle Turris, Alexander Wennberg, Andrei Vasilevski and Nail Yakupov).

Six of the seven gold medal games at the World Junior A Challenge have featured at least one Canadian team. Canada West won gold at the first two tournaments, in 2006 and 2007, before taking the top prize in 2011; it also earned silver in 2008, 2009 and 2012, and won bronze in 2013. Canada East was silver medallist in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011, and claimed bronze in 2008.

Kindersley joins Yorkton and Humboldt, Trail and Nelson, B.C. (2007); Camrose, Alta. (2008); Summerside, P.E.I. (2009); Penticton, B.C. (2010); Langley, B.C. (2011); and Yarmouth, N.S. (2012, 2013) as host cities for the World Junior A Challenge.

This And That

The usual weekly assortment of thoughts running through my muddled mind-----at least those safe enough to put in print


--Why doesn't the CFL do a better job of marketing its championship football team. I say this as I watch the DVD of the Seahawks Super Bowl season. Where is the Riders one? You can't tell me this wouldn't be that tough of a thing to do. Are you going to tell me Rider fans wouldn't put down 40 bucks for a DVD featuring season highlights along with the Western final and Grey Cup game. This is something the CFL has dropped the ball on for a long time. Its a project that is way overdue. The league should also be doing other things on DVD as well. The greatest Grey Cups, the greatest quarterbacks, the list goes on and on and on.

--Congratulations to Brendan Taman for a much deserved contract extension---one that means he will now be alongside Corey Chamblin until the team moves into its new digs. This is just a smart move, but what else would you expect from the organization. There is some talk perhaps Jim Hopson won't be around as president and CEO when it comes time to move. I laugh at that. The man who has transformed this club into one of the elite franchises in all of professional sport will leave when he wants to leave and with a new stadium at the end of the tunnel I don't see him taking an off-ramp into retirement anytime soon.

--Hard to believe that I was hearing about the Ultimate Warrior's speech at the WWE Hall of Fame last weekend and then seeing him speak to the WWE universe Monday night and then 24 hours later hearing of his death. The Warrior was one of the more interesting characters the WWE has had in and out of the ring. It seemed as if Jim Hellweg (Warrior's real name) had perhaps just come to peace with everything and that he had a role within the WWE yet he had no time to enjoy it. RIP Warrior!

--Congrats to Thunder quarterback Asher Hastings for being named the Canadian Junior Football player of the year on Thursday. Hastings will likely be put on what is a long list of Canadian kids who don't get a chance to try their luck out in the CFL because the CFL won't do anything to help develop Canadian QBs. That has to change and change yesterday

--Aging sucks!

--Ryan Smyth will play his last NHL game on Saturday night when Edmonton plays Vancouver. Smitty's legacy took a hit in Edmonton when he was traded to the Islanders (what a great deal that was) a few years ago over what basically was 100-thousand dollars. Its great to see "Captain Canada" end his career with Edmonton, but is his time there deserve a sweater retirement.  I can't see it, but ya never know. His career with the Oilers was a great one, but he never got the chance to hold the Cup.

--Saskatchewan's team in the NHL playoffs should be the Flyers. Unless I am missing something, the Flyers have 4 Saskatchewan players on their roster (Luke Schenn, Brayden Schenn, Braydon Coburn and Scott Hartnell). In the Sportscage on Wednesday, we thought L-A had four players as well but Linden Vey is not on the Kings active roster meaning Jarrett Stoll, Robyn Regehr and Dwight King are the Saskie contingent there. Is there any other team that has 3 or more Saskies on it?

--Not the first round Graham DeLaet wanted at the Masters. He will have to have a nice bounceback round on Friday if he is to play on the weekend. He wouldn't be the first golfer to have an 80 in his first crack at Augusta National and he won't be the last. It can't be easy for the confidence when you go out and start with 5 straight bogeys.

--Who had the worst season? Randy Carlyle, John Tortorella or Dallas Eakins

--That's all I got. Looks like its going to be a great weekend to get comfy with the couch and watch the Masters. Have a great one!

Riders Extend Taman

Saskatchewan Roughrider President/CEO Jim Hopson announced today the contract extension of General Manager Brendan Taman. The two year extension will see Taman continue in his role with the organization through the 2017 season. In addition to the extension, Taman will now be positioned as the Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager.

 

“Brendan has proven to be a key contributor to the recent accomplishments of our football club. This extension, along with Corey Chamblin’s current extension, creates stability and continuity within the Riders Football Operations which is a key ingredient to long term success,” stated Hopson. “We are pleased to come to an agreement with Brendan as these two gentlemen work extremely well together and constantly challenge each other to find ways to continuously improve the on field product.” 

 

Taman enters his fifth year as General Manager of the Green and White and sixth season since returning to the Riders in June of 2009. In his current role, Taman manages all aspects of the Roughriders roster and Football Operations. 2014 will mark the 27^th season working in the CFL for the Saskatoon native.

 

In January 2013, Taman orchestrated a trade acquiring Geroy Simon, the CFL’s All-Time Leading Receiver and then locked up free agents Tyron Brackenridge, Dwight Anderson, Ricky Foley and Renauld Williams in February. Setting the stage for what would be a memorable 2013 season. The team went on to finish with an 11-7 regular season record before beating B.C. and Calgary in the playoffs, earning a birth in the 101^st Grey Cup Game. The Green and White went on to win the franchises fourth championship, 45-23 in front of 44,710 spectators at Mosaic Stadium.