Huskies Football

It's time to "Prove It" - the road to the Vanier Cup starts in less than 19-hours as the University of Saskatchewan Huskies take to the field against the defending Hardy Cup Champion Calgary Dinos.

With an expected sellout, members from the 1959 Huskies Football team, a dynamic fireworks display, a pep band and of course those crazy singing cows with "Sweet Caroline" - it'll be an experience like no other in the Canada West.

I'll talk more about the Huskies in the coming days, weeks and months but for now, here's a series of stories I did for the Shark Club Huskies Training Camp Report.

Before I get to that, here's a quick little video the Huskies put together with help from Five Stones Films. Fantastic! Just proves once again that the Huskies are the class of the CIS.

Tuesday's Thoughts

I'll admit I've been slacking in the ole blog department - but with that out of the way, there's lots to talk about on this fine Tuesday Afternoon.

So I'm flipping through the channels and what do I see? A dude eating a placenta. Yes... you just read that right. A dude eating a placenta. He said it tasted pretty good but it was a bit "leathery" (is that even a word?). Honestly - who does that?!?!

Still on "The Doctors" - they showed people getting stung by bees for acupuncture, eating sushi off a naked woman, and a device that allows women to pee standing up. It was like watching a car wreck, I couldn't take my eyes off the TV.

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Still with TV, we all know that there are some trashy programs but wow, there are some pretty crazy shows out there.

16 and Pregnant: Exploiting sixteen year old pregnant girls is bad enough but some of the crap on this show just makes you shake your head. Like it's the White Trash of White Trash. So this one chick was preggers and credit to her, she decided to put the child up for adoption because she couldn't provide a stable home for it. She came from a home with a cracked out mother, and at one point had to live with her grandparents for seven months because it was "unsafe" to live at home with her mom. Yep - riviting television at its finest. If anything it reinforces the idea that we need more birth control in this country and people should have to write tests before they can have kids or something.

Hoarders: The whole act of hoarding fascinates me. It boggles my mind that someone could live in such filthy conditions and be perfectly ok with it. This one guy was beyond dirty though - they went into his room and lifted his bed... from under the bed to about half of the room - there was a small mountain of 2L bottles of pop. Like I'm pretty sure there was more in that room than some supermarkets have on their shelves. It was shocking yet sad at the same time. Though let's be honest, is it really that difficult to walk two steps and throw that bottle into the garbage or recycle bin? Lazy!

So You Think You Can Dance Canada: I watched this show only because I was told that I had to see Emanuel Sandhu (3x Canadian Figure Skating Champion). I only have one thing to say ... Emanuel, please eat a sandwich. Even half a sandwich would be a start.

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Let's talk sports... rapid fire style...

- Dany Heatley's news conference was a joke. Saying it's nothing against Edmonton but that he knows there are other options out there make things worse in my opinion. It's like being asked out to Grad and telling the person "Thanks for the offer, but I know there are other options out there. But if no one wants me and I'm desperate enough, I'll take you up on the offer". Tool.

- Fred Reid set a single game rushing record for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers - 260 yards! Unreal. I never thought I'd see that in the CFL. Well done.

- In all likelyhood, Jim Balsillie will fail in his bid to purchase and re-locate the Phoenix Coyotes. It's a shame in the sense that I think Balsillie would be good for the league with his money and business sense. The NHL needs to end this silly "old boys club" and become more progressive. A new Commissioner would be a great start in that direction.

- Let the debate begin... Who should be Captain Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics? I'll tell you who it shouldn't be - Sidney Crosby. I like Sid the Kid but he's not ready to Captain this team. Jarome Iginla would be my choice.

- The U of S Huskies Football Team opened Training Camp on Friday. The team is looking pretty good and maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a different feel to this team. There's renewed confidence and a determination to "Prove It". It has me thinking of their magical run to the Vanier Cup in 2006.

- Sporting will have their hands full on Wednesday when they visit Fiorentina in the 2nd Leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff. The first leg finished in a 2-2 draw, giving the Violas the "away goal" advantage of two goals. In other words...

Sporting Win: Sporting advances to Champions League, Fiorentina drops to Europa League
Fiorentina Win: Fiorentina advances to Champions League, Sporting drops to Europa League
0-0 or 1-1 Draw: Fiorentina advances to Champions League, Sporting drops to Europa League
2-2 Draw: They play extra time and possibly penalty shots.
3-3 or more Draw: Sporting advances to Champions League, Fiorentina drops to Europa League

The game will be broadcast LIVE on Rogers Sportsnet East.

- The Rise and Fall of WCW is out on DVD. I really want to pick that up - it'll be interesting to see how the WWE portrays their once mighty competitor.

- And finally... Brett Favre, get over yourself. You've so tarnished your legacy.

Random Thoughts

I've been away for a week (as you can tell by the lack of updates) so here's some of the things on my mind on this beautiful Monday Morning in the City of Champions.

Edmonton may be the City of Champions but if there was a championship for stellar customer service that award would have to go to the City of Calgary. From the Hose and Hound, to the Bear Kilt Pub and some bar on 17th (can't remember the name) the customer service was wicked awesome. Friendly staff who gave quick service, liked to make conversation and were just pleasant to deal with. Well done Calgary - finally something to be proud of haha.

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Speaking of Calgary, what the heck is up with all the one way streets in downtown? Trying to navigatge through there, especially during rush hour, is quite the experience. Wow.

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How long until we hear "Who let the dogs out" during a Philadelphia Eagles game this year? In all seriousness, it's a great move by the Eagles to pick up Michael Vick. It doesn't take a scientist to realize what he did was wrong. He paid his duty to society by spending 18-months in prison and now is ready to redeem himself and start a new and hopefully positive chapter in his life.

Some people are up in arms over the signing - they're still so angry over the fact he killed some dogs. Again, what he did was wrong - but where's all the uproar when sexual predators or drunk drivers who have killed people are out on the streets in no time - only to re-offend time and time again. That, to me, is the biggest tragedy in society.

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Is that not one of the best commercials on TV right now? And honestly, who wouldn't want a walk in closet filled with beer... though I'd perfer Alexander Keith's or Corona.

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Can someone please tell me what's wrong with the Saskatchewan Roughriders? How is it possible that this team can play so well in the first half but stink up the joint in the second half? Is it a conditioning problem? Lack of motivation? Youth? Whatever the answer, they need to figure it out and fix it if they hope to hoist the Grey Cup high above their heads in Calgary this November.

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A busy week in Saskatoon - the Blades open training camp Thursday while the University of Saskatchewan Huskies open training camp on Friday. It's a sure sign that summer is coming to an end, though wouldn't that mean summer would have had to arrive first? This was probably one of the worst summers I can remember here in Canada.

That's all I got for now... so while I enjoy the final couple days of my mini-vacation, here's some TJ to listen to and enjoy. Cheers!

Canada's World Jr. Development Camp: Wrap

Forty Four Players, Five days, Ten Practices, Two Games... An early glimpse at what Team Canada may look like come December. The World Junior Summer Development Camp is officially in the books and by all accounts it was a huge success.

The players were split into two groups: Red and White. The focus was mainly on Team White, which had a stacked team that featured six of the eight returning players from last year's Gold Medal winning team. So it came as no surprise when Team White got past Team Red in Saturday's Red vs. White Game. But it was a much different story on Sunday Night... thanks to three goals in 4:18, the Red team got its revenge with a hard fought 5-3 win.

Shawn Lalonde was named player of the game after two goals in 43-seconds - both of which were tremendous slapshots from close range. Lalonde was rewarded by wearing a watermelon and even got some shaving cream in the face.

"You just bond with the guys, you get to know them really well. There's a lot of good guys here, I had a lot of fun here as you can tell." When asked if it was shaving cream, he responded "Yea it is shaving cream, it's actually burning my eyes right now." A great sport for finishing post game interviews.

I'll put the scoring summary at the bottom of this entry - but right now, let's focus on the camp as a whole. I'm no hockey expert so I'll let Head Coach, Willie Desjardins, break down the camp.

"I was quite impressed. I thought we had a good five days, I thought guys battled hard, I thought we we wanted to make sure we had intensity in camp and we did have that. I thought we wanted to get a good look at guys in different situations and I thought we had the opportunity to do that as well."

He hopes that everyone at the camp gave it their all and left nothing behind, giving the coaching staff and scouts everything they need for their evaluations. When asked who most impressed him during the camp, he didn't want to single any one player in particular saying hockey is a team game. Though there was one guy who stood out throughout the five days - Ryan O'Reilly. He's a guy who can score, he's a solid set up man, and isn't afraid to get his nose dirty.

"I thought he had a really good weekend. He's a guy that came in that was maybe a little under the radar but he certainly moved himself up in the lineup."

O'Reilly, Saturday's Player of the Game, was happy with his efforts. He came into camp with lots to prove.


" I didn't play here last year. I missed that - I didn't really have a good year last year. So coming to camp I knew that I needed to perform if I had any shot of making this so I just gotta give it everything I had. I got a little lucky, I had some bounces go my way, and capitalize on that. I thought I did well."

Nazem Kadri is another player who certainly left an impression. He was out to prove he belongs after missing last year's cut due to a broken jaw. His speed and soft hands should make him a lock for this year's squad.

"I think so, I've been working pretty hard this summer and I think I got a good crack at making this team. I'm pretty happy with how I've played here this camp and unfortunately last year I didn't really get the shot I wanted from the injury. I'm just trying to regroup this year and try my best."

Saskatoon's Brayden Schenn also missed out last year. He had a decent weekend and should definitely earn an invite to December's main camp.

"I think you always feel you could do a little bit more. For me, it's just mid-august - still got a lot of time to regroup before camp and hopefully I get an invite back to the Christmas camp and take it from there."

I did expect a bit more from Schenn but let's face it, it's the beginning of August so let's cut him some slack. Let's also remember that Jordan Eberle was ranked last after last year's summer camp and look how well he turned out for Canada. Let's reserve any judgement on Schenn until we see how he does with the Brandon Wheat Kings or the LA Kings.

I do wonder if there has even been a time where a player who made Team Canada the year before, was cut the following year. They say there's a first for everything so maybe Evander Kane will be that guy. He had tons of turnovers and seemed to just be floating out on the ice over the five days. If I were picking this team based solely on this camp, Kane would be on the outside looking in.

Goaltending wise, I think Jake Allen is by far the best netminder on Team Canada's radar. He was head and shoulders above the other three. I'd put Martin Jones behind him... and have Matt Hackett and Olivier Bellavance-Roy fight for the third spot.

Guys I was most impressed with...

1. Ryan O'Reilly
2. Colten Teubert
3. Nazem Kadri

Guys I was disappointed with...

1. Evander Kane
2. Matt Duchene
3. Brayden Schenn

With Matt Duchene, I'll admit I don't know much about the guy other than he was drafted third overall this year by the Colorado Avalanche. I just wasn't impressed - he didn't stand out to me in the camp. Sure he had fancy stick work but he just didn't seem very effective in game situations. Just my two cents.

So that's about it. It was an awesome experience covering the camp and the players really looked good out there. Disappointing to see Cody Hodgson and Jordan Caron leave with injury but such is the nature of the beast. Props to Colten Teubert who really played hard and let's just say if he plays like that for the Regina Pats this season - watch out!

TEAM RED VS. TEAM WHITE
Credit Union Centre - Sunday, August 9, 2009
Attendance: 2400+

1st Period

(1-0) 19:40 WHITE Ryan O’Reilly (Dylan Olsen, Tyler Myers) PP

2nd Period

(2-0) 03:02 WHITE Cameron Gaunce (Ryan O’Reilly, Louis Leblanc)
(2-1) 05:15 RED Brandon Kozun (Adam Henrique, Patrick Wiercioch)
(3-1) 06:51 WHITE Luke Adam (Alex Pietrangelo, Kelsey Tessier)
(3-2) 12:17 RED Cody Eakin (Charles-Olivier Roussel)
(3-3) 15:52 RED Shawn Lalonde (Patrice Cormier, Brandon Kozun)
(3-4) 16:35 RED Shawn Lalonde (T.J. Brodie, Josh Brittain)

3rd Period

(3-5) 19:58 RED Joe Colborne EN

Caron Update

I wasn't able to hit the morning practices but according to TSN (who by the way, have done a stellar job covering this development camp) Jordan Caron has suffered a broken collarbone after that vicious open ice hit by Colten Teubert.

I'll have a recap of tonight's Red vs. White Game later tonight.

Canada's WJHC Development Camp: Red vs. White Game 1

A glorified intra-squad scrimmage turned ugly tonight as Jordan Caron was taken to hospital with what's being called an "upper body" injury.

Minutes into tonight's Red vs. White Game, Regina Pats defenceman Colton Teubert laid out Caron with a bone jarring open ice hit at centre ice. A check that was very much like one that Scott Stevens used to dish out. From my vantage point in the press box it looked clean but I've been unable to see film on it so I can't say for certain.

To no one's surprise, the hit dominated the post game interviews and here's what Head Coach Willie Desjardins had to say.

"I think he caught him with a tough check. Caron didn't see him coming at all which is the hard part. If he would have saw him, he wouldn't have been hit that hard for sure. It is something - we all play physical but it's disappointing that he got hurt on the play."

Meanwhile, Colton Teubert had no regrets over the hit.

"It's unfortunate but it's part of the game right? I'm just doing my job and that's what I do. It sucks for him but hopefully he has a quick recovery." He went on to say, "We're Canadians. We're all going to compete out there. It just shows how competitive we all are and everybody's trying to make the team. Everyone's trying to make the most of their opportunity."

There's no word on Caron's condition - we hope to hear something from Hockey Canada officials sometime Sunday morning.

Speaking of opportunity, Ryan O'Reilly made the most of his tonight. The 18-year old (Erie - OHL), a 2009 second round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche, wasn't afraid to get his nosy dirty in the corners and worked really hard around the net. His efforts were rewarded when he stormed the back of the net, took the puck away from the d-man, came back out to the front of the net to beat Martin Jones. For his efforts, O'Reilly was named "Player of the Game" and in true Saskatchewan fashion wore a watermelon on his head following the game.

Louis LeBlanc is another player that caught my eye. He was speedy and always a threat when around the net. He scored a beauty of a goal - soft hands, nice deke, nice goal - let's just say Montréal Canadiens fans will be happy with his performance. LeBlanc will be attending Harvard next year and while he knows some people aren't happy with his decision, all that matters is that he is happy with it - and he is. If LeBlanc makes Team Canada, he'll be the first non-Major Jr Canadian Player to crack the roster since Paul Kariya in 1992.

All four goaltenders looked decent tonight but if we were choosing Team Canada based on the summer camp, I think the hands on favorite to be the starter would be Jake Allen (Montréal - QMJHL). He looked really good in between the pipes, coming up with some stellar saves including two in rapid fire succession with Team Red on the powerplay.

The two teams hit the ice Sunday morning for their final practices of this development camp before one last shot to impress the coaching staff in the Red vs. White Game at 6pm.

TEAM RED VS. TEAM WHITE
Credit Union Centre - Saturday, August 8, 2009
Attendance: 2635

1st Period

(1-0) 00:48 RED Patrice Cormier (Calvin de Haan, Travis Hamonic)
(1-1) 15:13 WHITE Ryan O’Reilly (Gabriel Bourque)
(1-2) 18:08 WHITE Alex Petrangelo (Kelsey Tessier, Ryan O’Reilly)

2nd Period

(1-3) 13:21 WHITE Louis Leblanc (Luke Adam)

3rd Period

(1-4) 08:53 WHITE Jordan Eberle (Eric O’Dell)
(2-4) 14:20 RED T.J. Brodie (Greg Nemisz) PP
(2-5) 19:30 WHITE Evander Kane (Jordan Eberle) – empty net.

Riders Struggle in BC

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are in trouble and this isn't an over-reaction to tonight's 35-20 loss in B.C.. Things looked to be going right for the Green and White as they forced four Lions turnovers in BC's first four possessions - one of which led to Rob Bagg's first career touchdown. From there, however, it turned into a comedy of errors and once again Darian Durant failed to step up to the plate.

In this Province it's normal for fans to jump on a quarterback after a poor performance and a lot of times it's more of a knee jerk reaction. This time - there's no doubt about it - Durant just will not get the job done and as long as he's the starting pivot, the Riders hopes for a Grey Cup will diminish.

Darian Durant: 10/19, 189 yards, 2 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions
Steven Jyles: 7/13, 96 yards, 1 Interception

I sure can't wait for Graham Harrell to get off the nine game injured list - learn the Canadian game - and come in as the saviour for this club.

The other glaring problem is their lack of production in the second half. I'm not sure if it's poor conditioning or lack of motivation or the fact that the Riders just aren't good enough - but the fact is, their offence is firing blanks once halftime rolls around. Through six weeks of this CFL season, the Riders have scored ten points in the second half just once (Week 5 in a 24-23 win in Calgary). That's pathetic.

Week 1: 28-24 win vs BC --- 3 second half points
Week 2: 46-36 win at Tor --- 9 second half points
Week 3: 43-13 loss vs Mtl --- 2 second half points
Week 4: 38-33 loss vs Edm --- 8 second half points
Week 5: 24-23 win at Cgy --- 10 second half points
Week 6: 35-20 loss at BC --- 6 second half points

That's an average of 6.3 points in the second half per game. You're not going to win very many football games with a stat like that.

They'll have over a week to go over film and work on their mistakes before hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats next Sunday.