Every kicker can use a tee — or some tea, if need be.
Consider the case of Brett Lauther, who will captain one of the teams on Feb. 3 in Saskatoon at the second annual Roughrider Foundation Winter Classic charity hockey game — for which tickets can be purchased by visiting Riderville.com
Lauther, whose idea was the inspiration for the inaugural Classic in 2023, is preparing to oppose a team that will be led by former Roughriders receiver Chris Getzlaf.
Ryan Getzlaf — who amassed 1,019 points over 17 NHL seasons with the Anaheim Ducks — will suit up for his older brother’s team.
Lauther acknowledges that his side will be an “underdog” against a Getzlaf squad that boasts someone who has won championships at the world junior (2005), NHL (2007) and Olympic (2010, 2014) levels.
So what to do?
“I might have to put Sleepytime tea in their water bottles or something,” Lauther muses.
“I don’t know right off the spot what I could think of, but I’ve got a couple of weeks here to try to rig something up to win back-to-back here.”
Lauther is 1-0 as a captain, thanks to a 7-6 shootout victory over a Rob Bagg-led opponent on March 18 at Merlis Belsher Place.
The same venue has been booked for the Feb. 3 Winter Classic, which is to begin at 12:30 p.m.
“I feel like I get a lot more credit than I deserve with this,” Lauther says. “There’s so much hard work behind the scenes from everyone.
“This is the vision that we had all along. Now that we’ve had Year 1, we can actually show sponsors videos and pictures and spread the word of mouth about how fun the game was. I think that has made it a little easier this year to kind of convince some people (to support the event).
“Last year, some people might have said ‘no’ who had no idea what it was about. With the money going back to kids in the province, I think that’s a big thing as well.
“This is Round 2 and hopefully it’ll get bigger and better every year. Before you know it, we’ll be playing against Wayne Gretzky or something.”
This year’s event promises to be a great one, thanks in part to the NHL star power possessed by the Regina-born Getzlaf.
“It’s definitely surreal for me,” Lauther marvels. “I grew up watching him play and what he did in the league, not only as a player but off the ice with being the captain of the same team for so long, it’s truly a privilege that he’s willing to come up here and be a part of this.
“I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Now, can he be resourceful while exercising, say, an organizer’s prerogative?
“The teams haven’t been decided yet and I don’t necessarily get to pick them,” Lauther says.
“Last year, the Number 1 goal was that we didn’t really want to have a blowout. To have a tie game and go to a shootout couldn’t have been better for Year 1.
“It might be a little bit tougher this year with the competition of the Getzlaf brothers on the other side.”
Could some strategic scoreboard manipulation be the answer?
Perhaps each goal scored by Lauther could have the equivalent value of a field goal.
“Hmmm,” the Roughriders’ placement specialist muses.
“I might have to put a few over the crossbar and into the stands so we can get three points and even it up.”
