Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

NHL Three Stars Of Week

 Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly and Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Dec. 23.



FIRST STAR – SERGEI BOBROVSKY, G, COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Bobrovsky stopped 130 of the 134 shots he faced, compiling a 4-0-0 record, 1.00 goals-against average, .970 save percentage and two shutouts to power the Blue Jackets (21-12-3, 45 points) to a perfect week. Bobrovsky earned his 25th career shutout with 28 saves in a 1-0 triumph over the Vegas Golden Knights Dec. 17. He then turned aside 29 shots in a 2-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils Dec. 20 and 34 attempts in a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Dec. 22. Bobrovsky capped the week with his second shutout of the season, making 39 saves – including 19 in the third period – in a 3-0 triumph against the Devils Dec. 23. The 30-year-old Novokuznetsk, Russia, native shares third place in the NHL with 16 victories in 27 appearances this season (16-10-1, 2.68 GAA, .913 SV%, 2 SO). The two-time Vezina Trophy winner also paces the League with 94 victories and 14 shutouts since the start of the 2016-17 campaign.



SECOND STAR – MORGAN RIELLY, D, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Rielly led the NHL with 3-6—9 and a +10 rating in four games to propel the Maple Leafs (25‑10-2, 52 points) to a perfect week and into second place in the overall League standings. Rielly scored once in a 7-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils Dec. 18. He then matched a career high with four assists in a 6-1 triumph against the Florida Panthers Dec. 20. Rielly finished the week with two more multi-performances, collecting 1-1—2 in both a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers Dec. 22 and 5-4 overtime victory against the Detroit Red Wings Dec. 23. The 24-year-old Vancouver native paces NHL defensemen in goals (13), assists (t-31) and points (44) through 37 contests this season; his 13 goals already are a career high, while his 44 points are eight shy of his personal best set in 76 games in 2017-18 (6-46—52). Rielly also leads the entire League (defensemen and forwards) with a +26 rating in 2018-19.



THIRD STAR – NIKITA KUCHEROV, RW, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Kucherov posted an NHL-best seven assists and ranked second overall with 2-7—9 in three outings to help the League-leading Lightning (28-7-2, 58 points) extend their point streak to 12 games (11-0-1). He began the week with consecutive multi-point performances, picking up 1‑1—2 in a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks Dec. 18 and two helpers in a 5-4 shootout victory against the Calgary Flames Dec. 20. Kucherov then established career highs with four assists and five points (1-4—5) in a 6-3 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers Dec. 22, becoming the ninth different player in franchise history to register a five-point game. The 25-year-old Maykop, Russia, native – who reached the 100-point milestone for the first time in 2017-18 (39-61—100 in 80 GP) – sits second in the NHL with 57 points and third with 41 helpers through 37 contests this season (16-41—57).

Something To "Mitch" About

--Never doubt Russell when the lights are on at home.  It's what I have said for years.  Russell Wilson and the Seahawks are going to the playoffs despite what many thought at the start of the season.  It even looks as if they may have a first-round playoff date in Dallas against the Cowboys.  Oh, that will be fun!

Sunday Night Football from C-Link was what I thought it would be.  Two of the game's most creative quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson going at it in what was a classic. I wonder if Mahomes sat on the KC bench, looked on the field to see what Wilson was doing and went so that's what its like to play me. 

--The Philadelphia Eagles are once again getting it done with Nick Foles under center.  As I watched the Eagles thrilling last-play win over Houston yesterday, I wondered if the defending Super Bowl champs would even consider trading Carson Wentz for something.  Nothing against Wentz, but this is two straight years that he hasn't been able to finish the season.  Foles has stepped in and has led the team to wins over the playoff bound Rams and Texans.  Many think Foles will be elsewhere next season, and I understand that thought process.  I just wonder if the Eagles would even think of peddling Wentz.  We'll see

--Still with QB's, the biggest question for Rider Nation going into Christmas is who will the quarterback be.  I think many would like that information underneath their tree Tuesday morning, but I can't shed any light on the situation.   Like everyone else, I can throw out a name or two but that's it. 

Jonathan Jennings seems to be the clubhouse leader right now.  Everyone realizes Mike Reilly is probably too expensive, but are holding out hope he could call Saskatchewan home. I threw it out there that maybe you make a call to see what Jeremiah Masoli's price-tag is in a trade.  I don't even know if the Riders have finalized their plans yet.  If anyone knows, they certainly aren't saying. 

I don't even know if Zach Collaros is completely out of the equation, but I would have to think he is.  I wonder if he has thrown his last CFL pass.  With all this quarterback talk circulating, you would think his agent would let it be known his client is 100 percent after a concussion-filled 2018 and is ready to get back at it.   That hasn't happened making me wonder if Collaros has made what would be a smart decision and hang up the helmet.    If he does come back,  there may be more questions about him going into this season than there was last.  One thing is for sure.  If he comes back, it has to be at a salary that is at least half of what it was in 2018. 

--Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson is getting two games for a head-shot on former Pat and current L-A King Austin Wagner on the weekend.   Some defended the hit which sent Wagner to silly street.  If that had been Washington's Tom Wilson delivering the hit, the outrage would have been far and wide with calls for a minimum 10 game suspension.  There is no difference. In this NHL, that type of play won't be tolerated.  Karlsson is I believe a first-timer so I'm OK with two games.

--Since a study came out earlier this month saying the climate is right for a return of MLB to Montreal, there has been a lot of chatter.  The big question remains a stadium and who pays for it   Hey, maybe we will be the ones paying for it with some of the 13 billion Quebec is getting from JT and the Liberals!

If that issue can get hammered out, MLB will return to Montreal.  It is a story that would be welcomed by many baseball fans in this country. It is one worth watching in 2019. 

--At the Christmas break, the Edmonton Oilers are a playoff team.  They are clinging to the second wild-card spot in the West.  I still don't know if Ken Hitchcock can get this team in, but at least Oiler fans like me go into Christmas with some hope.  

Saturday night, the Oilers showed though that they can't really hang with the top teams as the Tampa Bay Lightning skated circles around them.  Its not like Tampa doesn't do that against other teams though.  Kucherov, Point, Stamkos, Johnson. etc. etc.  They just keep coming at you like waves.  They are fun to watch.  Someone suggested last week that a Lightning-Jets Stanley Cup would be watching two similar teams go up and down the ice.  I don't disagree, but there a lot of teams you could throw in that mix.   Speaking of the Jets, why is it Mark Schiefele doesn't get more attention on the national stage.  If he were in Toronto, he would the golden boy.   He is one of a few Winnipeg players that don't get the attention they deserve. 

--The evening of April 6 was one no one in this province and this country will forget.  The Humboldt Broncos bus crash and the rebuilding of the team is certainly the story of the year in Canada for many different reasons.  As I end this, I ask you one question.. Take the Broncos story out of the equation and 

A) What was the biggest sports story of the year?

B) What was the biggest Saskatchewan sports story of the year?

I will have my top 10 Saskatchewan stories out later this week. 

That's all I got.  May your Christmas shopping be done,  may your time with family be well-spent, may you stuff your belly with turkey or whatever.   Merry Christmas and if you are travelling, be smart and stay between the lines!

Atlantic Schooners News

The City of Charlottetown has thrown its support behind Halifax’s bid to land a Canadian Football League  team.

Council unanimously backed a resolution inviting the Atlantic Schooners organization to visit Charlottetown to provide a public presentation of their plans and the potential spinoffs for the region.

“This would be a tremendous shot in the arm for amateur football in Atlantic Canada,’’ said Coun. Mitchell Tweel, adding that he’d love to see a training camp and exhibition game held in Charlottetown.

“The opportunities are endless when it comes to training camps, being mentors to Islanders that are aspiring to play not only varsity football but professional football.’’

Tweel added that the city should reach out and invite CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie to the city for a state of the union address as to where the game is today.

*****

HALIFAX - Proponents for Halifax's proposed CFL team say they have now sold more than 6,000 season-ticket applications - and will present more business details to city hall as early as today.


Atlantic Schooners founding partner Anthony LeBlanc says that level of ticket sales is in line with what the organization expected.

He says the group expected to submit a business analysis to the Halifax Regional Municipality as early as today.

LeBlanc also announced that his group plans to unveil drawings for a proposed stadium in the Halifax area by the middle of next month.

On Thursday, the Canadian Football League announced a regular-season game will be played somewhere in Atlantic Canada in 2019, as part of the Schooners franchise drive.

LeBlanc said the Toronto Argonauts will face the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 25, probably at a temporarily expanded stadium in Halifax, Moncton, N.B., or at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S.

“It adds significant wind to our sails,” LeBlanc said in an interview.

This and That

--Welcome to Friday and the usual thoughts running through my muddled mind. As always, they are in no particular order.

--Holy crap, Christmas is here! Is it just me or has 2018 flown by? What a year it was in Regina.  It was a year that had perhaps more high-profile sporting events in the city than what we have ever seen.  The Grand Slam of Curling, the Memorial Cup, Skate Canada, the Brier and the USports Women's Basketball Championship all came to YQR.  It was very cool on the weekend of the basketball and Brier to see Sportsnet and TSN both broadcasting live from Regina with both venues being packed. 2019 won't have the same volume of events, but it will be fun to be around.

--Rider Nation goes into Christmas singing a happy tune and why shouldn't they be.  The team is working on its Canadian content by getting Zack Evans and Patrick Lavoie to sign contract extensions.  In all my years covering the green-and-white, I don't know if there has been a more enjoyable scrum with a player than the one we had with Evans on Tuesday morning.  He pulled up behind me in his truck as I got to the stadium Tuesday so I had a chance to talk to him before the actual grilling started and the smile on his face was ear-to-ear.  He's a Saskatchewan boy enjoying success with Saskatchewan's team.  Life is good for the former Thunder player.  He is a key part of the puzzle moving forward. 

Patrick Lavoie did not do anything spectacular when coming here from Montreal, but his presence on the field was noted.  You don't have to make catches and score touchdowns to be noticed and Lavoie certainly was noticed.  Compare him to a 4th line grinder that makes the most of his minutes and gets rewarded with a goal or assist every now and then.

I wondered what the Lavoie signing would mean when it came to Spencer Moore and we all found out on Wednesday as he was dealt to Montreal.   He was an asset the Riders could use to build their squad and while frankly I think they could have gotten a lot more for him than what they did, he does have a chance to carry on with his football career in a place where he can do for the Alouettes what he did here.  Moore was a great community guy and he will be missed.

--With the loss of Moore, the only Riders left still in green from the 2013 Grey Cup team are Evans, Dan Clark, Rob Bagg, Brendon Labatte and Sam Hurl.  I'm not sure on this one, but I think Weston Dressler is the only player from that team still playing in the CFL today.

--The topic of "Who Will Be the Riders Starting QB in 2019" is still the hot-button topic and will be until an announcement is made.  The names of Reilly, Glenn, Franklin, Streveler, Jennings and even Manziel are being thrown about.  I threw it out there on the Sportscage Wednesday asking the question "What would it take to get Jeremiah Masoli out of Hamilton?".  Yes, I think the odds of that happening are slim unlike me, but Eric Tillman has been known to trade his starting QB's---right Kerry Joseph? Right Ricky Ray?  It's worth Chris Jones making a phone call isn't it?

--Why do some in Rider Nation want Manziel? Are you looking for a trainwreck? Would you rather see a trainwreck happen than take a shot at the Grey Cup which they are seemingly close to?  Some of you are answering yes! I don't get it!  Unless you are buying into the Rod Black narrative, Manziel is not the answer.  I would cringe quite a bit if he were the guy.  I'm not sold on Jonathan Jennings either.  Yes, he needs a reset, but I say signing him means you are once again rolling the dice on your starting QB.  If you are going to do that, see if Zach Collaros gets a clean bill of health,sign him to a 225,000 deal and let's go.  No, I am not advocating a return of Collaros.  That ship has sailed and frankly for his own sake, I hope the CFL has seen the last of Collaros.  One can't help but notice there has not been a peep from the Collaros camp since he skulked out of town following the WSF loss to Winnipeg.  There has been no mention from his camp about how he is feeling.  I wouldn't take that as a good sign when there is a lot of quarterback talk out there.

--When you're a "me, me, me" person, don't be surprised if people want nothing to do with "you, you, you". Sadly, there are many out there who think they are wayyyyyyy more important than they actually are.  I've run into wayyyyy too many of those people over the last few weeks. I don't get it!

--The World Juniors are here.  Do you care?  This tournament used to really get me revved up, but the past few years I have not had that feeling.  The tournament starts for me when the playoffs come.  Canada taking teams out to the woodshed in the preliminaries is not hockey I want to watch.  I think I'd rather watch Finland-Sweden on opening night than Canada-Denmark.    That being said, I will be tuned in for Canada-Russia on New Year's Eve and playoff games.   This tournament is not a cake-walk anymore so there will be good hockey, but its a tournament that will take me a few days to get into.

--When does Saskatchewan throw its hat into the ring for the World Juniors to return? We've done it twice so when do we do it for a 3rd time?

--The Regina Pats are having a tough year and I think many of us expected that.  Did we expect them to have just nine wins at the break.  Truthfully, I thought they would have had a couple more.  They would have had a couple more if it weren't for 3rd period meltdowns.  Many are down on the team, but despite their 9-24-0-1 record, they are not getting blown out.  The team has had some games where they have been on the short-end of a one-sided score but the losses have not been ugly in nature. Its a process that started right back at square one this year and that was to be expected.  This year will be a year where the team doesn't make the playoffs and maybe next year is too, but the rebuild to get this team back into the playoff and fighting for a championship is underway.  Get onboard!

--I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned with what was happening with Cougar Athletics.  Having one ineligible athlete is bad enough, but two?  What is going on here?  As director of sport Lisa Robertson said Monday, this could have had disastrous consequences if it had not been caught when an audit was done following what happened to the Rams.  The question I have is why is this even happening at all?  I realize there are complexities and obstacles when it comes to student-athletes, but the fact there is no standardized system in Canada for this issue is not good.  There is a lot of blame to go around on this one, but if USports would wake the h-e double hockey sticks up and see what is happening, they could look for a solution.   Robertson says she has ideas as to how to correct this but she has to first go the conference table and then see what the appetite is at a national level before proceeding.  Hopefully there is enough support to get change happening.

Someone asked the other day in the wake of this latest incident why they should tell their son or daughter to become a member of Cougar Athletics if they have the opportunity.  I just laughed and pointed out the fact that almost a quarter of those representing the U of R in the 2017-18 academic year ended up being academic all-Canadians.  There are some other universities in this fine land where a number of nearly 25 percent is a pipe-dream and there are some other universities that could care less about having an academic all-Canadian if it meant wins.   While I think some things have to be done to eliminate these mistakes and that the removal of the men's volleyball and wrestling programs were handled terribly, I still think the U of R is a fine place to continue an athletic and academic career.  Oh yeah, this comes from a guy who isn't an alumnus either so I'm not blowing the horn of the almamater.

--Congrats to former Rams RB Atlee Simon.  He announced on Locker Talk this week that he has signed a contract with the Calgary Stampeders.   I'm looking forward to see how he performs at the next level.   There is a spot for him in that Calgary offense for him.

--Week 16 NFL Lock of The Week -- Titans over Redskins
--Week 16 NFL Upset of The Week -- While I would like it to be Seahawks over Chiefs, let's go with Raiders over Broncos in what could be the NFL's last game in Oakland.

--I am in three fantasy football leagues.  The finals are this weekend and I am in one of them.  In all three leagues, one of the teams in the final has Patrick Mahomes as QB.  I do not have Mahomes so may the Seahawks do their best in trying to limit his points.

--That's all I got.  Have a great weekend.  If you have to go to the malls to finish Christmas shopping this weekend, I pray for you and make sure you stop at the cold beer store at the end of the day because chances are you will need at least one!

Riders 2019 Sked

Riders Trade Spencer Moore; Re-Sign Loucheiz Purifoy

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have traded national fullback Spencer Moore to the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for a conditional selection in the 2020 CFL Draft.

Moore played 81 regular-season games through six seasons with the Riders after originally being selected by the team in the 5th round (44th overall) of the 2013 CFL Draft.

The 28-year-old Hamilton native added four career playoff games and was a member of the Riders’ 2013 Grey Cup championship team.

---

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed international defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy to a one-year contract extension, keeping with the club for 2019.               

Purifoy (5’11 – 190) was acquired by the Riders in a trade with the Ottawa Redblacks in August of 2018. The 25-year-old played 10 regular-season games and the Western Semi-Final for the Green and White. 

Purifoy was originally signed by the B.C. Lions in March of 2016 where he played two CFL seasons before joining the Ottawa Redblacks as a free agent in February, 2018. 

Through three CFL seasons, Purifoy has registered 148 defensive tackles, 12 special-teams tackles, eight interceptions and five quarterback sacks in 53 regular-season games. 

He was eligible to become a free agent on February 12, 2019.