ROBSERVATIONS: Celebrating a Grey Cup title and Memorial Cup champion Sheldon Kennedy … bravo to Benoit! … and the weekly shout-outs
In another life, I was a full-time hockey writer who followed the Saskatchewan Roughriders exclusively as a season-ticket holder.
One of the perks of my one-time vocational obsession at the Regina Leader-Post was the honour of watching the Broncos — junior hockey teams representing Swift Current and Humboldt — and getting to know people who were integral to the success of the community-owned franchises.
In that spirit, Humboldt beckons. Get me there!
Tonight at Elgar Petersen Arena, the SJHL’s Broncos will oppose the Estevan Bruins during an event that will feature assorted Roughriders luminaries and, yes, the Grey Cup.
The Roughriders, also a community-owned team, are honouring a promise made to the Humboldt Broncos shortly after the tragic bus crash in 2018: “The next time we win the Grey Cup, we’re bringing the trophy to Humboldt.”
Accordingly, the CFL team’s Grey Cup Community Tour begins today at Elgar Petersen Arena.
“Fans will have the unique opportunity to see the Grey Cup up close, take photos, and be part of an unforgettable game-night experience,” read a portion of a Broncos-issued media release.
“The Roughriders will be on-site with their official Grey Cup display, staff, and special guests, including members of their entertainment team and players.
“Throughout the evening, they’ll be interacting with fans on the concourse and helping create an electric atmosphere inside the rink.”
The Grey Cup will be on the concourse until the conclusion of warmups. Roughriders receivers Samuel Emilus and Mitch Picton will then take the trophy to the Broncos’ locker room for a special announcement of the starting lineup. A pre-game ceremony and puck-drop will follow.
After the 7:30 faceoff, the Grey Cup will return to the concourse and remain there for the rest of the game. Gainer the Gopher and members of the Harvard Media Rider Cheer Team will also be present.
Over the next week, the Grey Cup Community Tour will also include stops in Nipawin (Sunday), Melfort (Monday), James Smith Cree Nation (Tuesday), Prince Albert (Tuesday), Saskatoon (Thursday) and Regina’s Cornwall Centre (Friday). For more information, CLICK HERE.
AN UNFORGETTABLE HIGH-FIVE
One week ago, the gleaming trophy was in Saskatoon for the Roughrider Foundation Winter Classic charity hockey game.
The Bridge City was the ideal location for Sheldon Kennedy’s return to the ice.
A veteran of 310 NHL games, the former Swift Current Broncos standout was among the participants in the fourth annual hockey game, which raised money for and awareness of the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation’s initiatives promoting mental health (Win With Wellness) and literacy (Rider Reading).
For yours truly, the highlight of the game took place shortly after the on-ice proceedings, when Kennedy introduced me to his three-year-old son.
Nolan Kennedy was resplendent in a Swift Current Broncos jersey that included his father’s surname and number (12). As Sheldon held his son, I gave this sure-fire 2041 NHL Draft pick a high-five.
As a bonus, I was able to enjoy a long phone chat with Kennedy leading up to the Winter Classic.
It was an interview, ostensibly, but we spent most of the time catching up and shooting the breeze.
My wife, who was downstairs with the entitled dog at the time, inquired after the interview: “Who were you talking to and why were you laughing so hard?”
That’s Sheldon for you.
“We live in Saskatoon now and my oldest boy is seven,” Lochlin Kennedy’s proud father said. “He plays with the Aces and they had a jamboree at the SaskTel Centre. It was called the Big Show at the Big Barn. It was a tournament-style event for the day and they got to come in and play in the big barn.
“My partner Jen and I were sitting there with our little three-year-old. It’s my boy’s first year playing hockey and he had never scored a goal all year. We were watching his second game and he scored a goal!
“Then I got thinking: Uncle Troy, my brother, was with the Brandon Wheat Kings against the Saskatoon Blades and he scored the first-ever goal at SaskTel Centre in a 4-3 loss. I scored my last-ever junior goal in that building and we won the Memorial Cup.”
That, too, was a 4-3 game.
“What are the odds of that?” Kennedy marvelled. “There he is, scoring his first goal!
“He has been online, so he has watched the 1989 Memorial Cup. When we went in there, he knew where the benches were. It was just surreal.
“And none of us are from here. We just moved here two years ago. It’s not like we played 1,000 games in there. That’s the first time Lochlin had gone in there to play. My brother played there in junior with the visiting team. We came in there for the Memorial Cup.
“For everything to line up for that to happen is quite ironic.”
For the record, Troy Kennedy scored his ice-breaking goal — at an edifice then known as Saskatchewan Place — on Feb. 9, 1988.
Like his older brother, Sheldon opened the scoring in a game of note at SaskPlace. He tallied at 17:55 of the first period in the 1989 Memorial Cup final against the host Blades.
Swift Current won it all when Tim Tisdale scored at 3:25 of overtime. As part of the post-game celebrations, Kennedy was named the CHL championship tournament’s all-star right winger.
Most of his life is now outside the limelight. He operates North Shore Farms Inc., with an emphasis on growing potatoes on an expanse of land near Lake Diefenbaker.
For the most part, his skates have been tucked away. An exception was made in 2019, when he and ice dancer Kaitlyn Weaver were the winning pair on CBC-TV’s Battle of the Blades.
But there he was on Saturday in Saskatoon, playing his favourite sport once more with his family in the stands.
“I brought it up with my family (after receiving the invitation) and Lochlin’s at the age now where he can appreciate it,” Kennedy said. “When I was doing Battle of the Blades, he was too young to remember.
“But he’s seven now and he was like, ‘You’ve got to play, Dad!’ Nolan is three and if you ask him what his name is, he’ll say, ‘My name is Connor McDavid and I’m the best goalie in the world.’
“They were just pumped about (Dad playing in the Winter Classic). I don’t think they would care if it was just men’s league on a Tuesday. They just wanted to see Dad skate. I don’t think it’s because Dad was in the NHL. They just wanted to see their dad get out and give ’er.
“They see their dad farm and they see their dad water ski and they see their dad do all this other stuff. Jen just gave me the look and I thought, ‘Yeah, I’ve got to play.’
“What an opportunity to go and play and include the family and let them experience it. The Grey Cup was there and an old teammate from Detroit (Mike Sillinger) was there.
“One of the things Jen and I are committed to in Saskatoon is making sure we’re involved and connected in the community. We give back and that’s what we want to do.”
Sheldon and Troy became familiar with several nearby communities while growing up on a farm near Elkhorn, Man.
“Our farm was right on the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border, so you could be a Rider fan or a Bomber fan,” Kennedy recalled. “If we went shopping in Moosomin, we were Rider fans. If we went shopping in Virden, we were Bomber fans.
“We were kind of like that song: Stuck in the middle with you.”
MARION’S A MARVEL
Benoit Marion, a newly re-signed member of the Roughriders, is coming off a rare regular season.
Since special teams tackles were first recorded in 1984, there are 200 instances of a Roughriders player registering at least 10 such stops in a season. A defensive lineman, such as Marion, is responsible for only 11 of those 200 examples.
The frequency rate: 5.5 per cent.
Among those 11 defensive linemen, Marion has the fourth-most special teams tackles in a season. Here is the list:
17 — Dylan Ainsworth, 2014.
17 — Chad Geter, 2018.
16 — Shomari Williams, 2011.
13 — Benoit Marion, 2025.
12 — Wayne Drinkwalter, 1990.
12 — Dylan Ainsworth, 2015.
12 — Jordan Reaves, 2018.
11 — Chris Hoople, 2003.
11 — Levi Steinhauer, 2013.
10 — Wayne Drinkwalter, 1989.
10 — Fred Perry, 2005.
Marion is also fourth among defensive linemen in special teams tackles per game:
.944 — Dylan Ainsworth, 2014 (17 special teams tackles, 18 regular-season games).
.944 — Chad Geter, 2018 (17 STT, 18 GP).
.889 — Shomari Williams, 2011 (16 STT, 18 GP).
.867 — Benoit Marion, 2025 (13 STT, 15 GP).
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Jack Semple, Kevin Garinger, Sheldon Kennedy, Nolan Kennedy, Lochlin Kennedy, Brandon Hansen, Jen Fehr, Joyce Torrie, Kerri Michell, Laila Haus, Corbin Senchuk, Benoit Marion, Allan Pulga, Dylan Ainsworth, Shomari Williams, Ainsley Remple, Carol LaFayette-Boyd, Angie Reed, Jessica Gelowsky, Blake Tiedeman, Kim Greenman, Gerry Harris, Buck Martinez and Troy Casper.
