The Saskatchewan Roughriders are about set to embark on a new season and it appears as though there may be a few veterans who will have to take a good look over their respective shoulders. Fullback Chris Szarka has already been released and receiver Robb Bagg suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a knee injury and is expected to be lost for the entire season. Running back Wes Cates, who was on the hot seat last year, seems like he will be forced to prove himself in training camp all over again. It looks like it will be another hotly contested West Division as Calgary and British Columbia both look to be either improved, or at least, no worse than last year. The Edmonton Eskimos are the wild card with General Manager Eric Tillman preaching patience. Of course, he preached patience his first year in Saskatchewan too and they ended up winning the Grey Cup.
Count me as one of the people who are pleasantly surprised to see ticket prices for the NHL team in Winnipeg as being somewhat affordable. It looks like fans can get an okay seat for as low as $69, but I wonder what it will cost to buy refreshments and also to park your vehicle. Still, Winnipeggers answered the call loud and clear over the weekend as they hit the 13,000 season ticket goal in minutes. If you are like me and are hoping to hit a single game or two during the 2011-12 campaign, you may have to pay an over inflated price as available tickets are likely to be at a premium.
Just what are fans going to watch in Winnipeg anyway? Are they going to see a sad sack team that struggles to make the playoffs every year, or are they going to see a team that hangs on to its superstars and builds for a Stanley Cup run? It remains to be seen. I'm not suggesting they dip into the free agent market next month and grab Brad Richards, but I would like to see them hang on to the likes of Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien, and Ondrej Pavelec as their contracts come due.
It wasn't long ago when Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa carried the Canadian flag to the Stanley Cup finals and the rest of the country got behind them. This year, I sense quite a bit of jealousy when it comes to the Vancouver Canucks. Suck it up. Yes, they are the pretty girl in class that the boys all want to date. That's Vancouver. Great city. Get over the jealousy and be happy that the Canucks stand a real good chance of bringing Lord Stanley back to the country it belongs. For what it's worth, most of this jealousy seems to come from Toronto.
The Yorkton Terriers will host the SJHL Hall Of Fame weekend this year. Here's to hoping Darrell Spelay finally gets inducted.
Is the PVR not the greatest invention for television ever? Sunday night, I was sitting at home flipping through the 400 channels I have and couldn't find a single thing on. It was the first night in about twelve that I had some spare time to watch. How depressing. Then I remembered I have a few episodes of Blue Bloods and Breakout Kings waiting for me
Saskatchewan highways are in terrible shape. I drove south to Carlyle last week and my alignment is, surely, a mess. Then, on Saturday I headed to Nipawin and discovered just past Archerwell that the highway south of Yorkton may not be the worst road in the province after all. Unfortunately, I don't know that there is a whole lot that can be done at the moment as far as fixing them up.
This is the season for high school graduations and with that come high school parties. If you are a participant or have someone close to you associated with such a social gathering; please remember to use caution as well as your brain during this period, which is designed to be a whole lot of fun.
Do not drink and drive. Further, if you are driving, you have to remember to drive responsibly. For those that already feel as though you are driving responsibly, don't forget the person coming towards you may not. Just be careful, please.
Nice person mentions this week to Barry Butler, Lisa Strongquill, Joel Martinuk, and Warren Shymko.
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