SASKATOON, SK. - A Hockey Tradition

Although Regina holds the history in Saskatchewan of being the oldest Major Junior Hockey franchise in the world (The Regina Pats founded in 1917), the city just a few hours North of the Queen City is often overlooked in the hockey community, and it really shouldn't be.

Benjamin and Toppings may be a tad bit biased to Regina, as they currently live in the Queen City and are huge supporters of the Regina Pats, particularly Canadian World Junior Gold Medalists Jordan Eberle and Colton Tuebert, but Saskatoon is still an important city to the PrairiePuck, and to the rest of Saskatchewan.

Recently, Saskatoon has been recognized on many levels in both Junior and Major hockey on both the Professional and International levels. Last year, PrairiePuck writers Toppings and Benji travelled up to Saskatoon in September, to take in the action of the Summit Series remake between Team Canada and Team Russia for the 2007 Canada/Russia Super Series. Canada won a thrilling game 4-1, which featured current NHL youngstars Sam Gagner, Kyle Turris, Saskatoon-native Luke Schenn, Drew Doughty, Brandon Sutter, Milan Lucic, and a stellar performance in net by Columbus BlueJackets netminder Steve Mason.

Perhaps the result of Saskatoon hosting just one of the 4 Super Series games in Canada gave Bob Nicholson and the rest of Hockey Canada an idea of the loyal, hockey-crazed, and completely insane hockey fans of Saskatchewan, and maybe this game foreshadowed what would come in a few short years:

On December 26, 2009, Saskatoon and Regina will host the 2010 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, in which Canada will attempt to break the all-time consecutive Gold Medal winning streak with their 6th in a row. Not only are they in prime shape to do so, we may just see a hometown Regina boy Jordan Eberle wear the Captain's "C", and another hometown Saskatoon boy Brayden Schenn suit up for his country. If you have the opportunity to get your hands on any tickets, don't think about buying them. JUST BUY THEM! The experience alone of being in that type of atmosphere would be unreal, and if the Superseries game was any indication of how crazy the atmosphere can get, take it from us, it will be a hell of a time, and a great opportunity to show your Canadian colours and support the team.

On the professional level, we can not talk about Saskatoon without mentioning the name William Dickenson Hunter. Hunter was born in 1920 in Saskatoon, and spent the duration of his education at Notre Dame College in Wilcox, SK. He was one of the greatest sports promoters in Canadian history, and among a small group of Team owners, he had a huge part in forming the Western Hockey League, which now develops some of the best NHL prospects each year. Hunter attempted to purchase an NHL franchise twice in his career, the first being the Pittsburgh Penuins, which failed. After the bid's failure, Hunter teamed with two American hockey promoters to form the WHA (World Hockey Association)

One particular teamin the WHA, owned by Hunter, was the Alberta Oilers, who would eventually merge into the NHL and are known to most of us as the Edmonton Oilers. Yes the same "City of Champions" Edmonton Oilers that brought so many fantastic seasons, huge superstars, and so many championships in the 80s, and who are currently celebrating their 30th anniversary.

The second and final bid for an NHL franchise could have seen the green and gold fields of Saskatchewan rubbing elbows with elite Original 6 teams like the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, and The New York Rangers. I know what you're thinking.. "Why"??.....You wanna know why? Cause Fuck the Leafs....That's why. The bid, by Hunter and a group of promoters was to move the struggling St. Louis Blues franchise from Missouri to Hunter's old stomping grounds of Saskatoon. It was almost a done deal too, except the League did not see it to be a good idea to move the franchise to a smaller hockey market like Saskatoon. Needless to say, the bid failed, and this was the closest that Saskatchewan has come to an NHL team. Do we need one though? Not exactly at the moment. We are still content with harbouring some of the greatest players in the world in our province.

The city of Saskatoon is not completely out of the woods in the professional hockey sense. Prior to the next NHL Season, Saskatoon will play host to the New York Islanders' annual training camp, and 2 Exhibition games between the Calgary Flames and Islanders, and the Edmonton Oilers and Islanders. Unfortunately, for you Islanders, Flames, or Oilers fanatics, these two games are in fact sold out. Although the Islanders are absolutely brutal this season, the city of Saskatoon will get the opportunity to see some of the future superstars of the game in training camp, including Kyle Okposo, and possibly even the great Jon Tavares. Don't miss the chance to see some good players on a brutal team in action prior to next season.

It is pretty clear to see that Saskatoon, and the rest of Saskatchewan for that matter has the ability to host, and potentially could have been home to, and in the future will be home to some of the greatest games ever played.



PP