FB: The extended road to the 84th Hardy Cup
November 17, 2021
Making it to the Hardy Cup in any given year is an accomplishment of huge proportions.
Doing so in a pandemic scenario, with a lost year under your belt and being mired in uncertainty, protocols and restrictions, is remarkable to be sure.
So as the Manitoba Bisons and Saskatchewan Huskies prepare to square off in the 2021 Canada West football championship on Saturday, it bears looking into what these teams went through during these challenging times.
Every team in the country was affected; they all endured similar trials. But only a few have emerged to vie for victory and, as far as the Bisons and the Huskies were concerned, it was something they never experienced and hope never to experience again.
In the third quarter of the opening game they lost fifth-year quarterback Des Catellier to a year-ending knee injury. ("You could feel the season vanishing before our eyes," sighs Dobie.) Shortly thereafter, their 29-year-old receivers' coach Scott Naujoks passed away after a bout with cancer.
There were other difficult issues, as well, that put a distinctive stamp on 2021.
"Those things trumped the pandemic," Dobie admits.
"When I think back when Covid hit and nobody knew what it was all about and everything was being shut down if you're in Manitoba, we were the most stringent of all the provinces," he continues. "Literally, I met player after player after player at IGF and they signed out equipment, they signed out barbells and medicine balls guys that could work out in their garages and their basements.
"We kept saying to our guys that some teams are going to come out of this stronger than others. They just are. There's no magic formula. The silver lining for us is we delved into our culture. We never had that opportunity to be so thorough and complete. We reformed our leadership group, expanded it; it was like a wave."
"It was really challenging," acknowledges Catellier, who now works as a mentor to rookie QB Jackson Tachinski. "We had to find very creative ways to get it done during Covid. We'd go throw the ball around outside, depending on what numbers were allowed. I feel like, as a group, we really came together, became stronger. We didn't stop working and found ways to get better.
"Even my whole life, I've taken football for granted. I'd never gone a season since I was five of not playing sports. So when we're all sitting at home, we missed it a lot and we all felt the same way, we connected."
The inactivity in 2020 affected every football team's line-up. Perhaps an opportunity came up for a fourth- or fifth-year that meant he wouldn't be back at school or perhaps the chance to turn pro was too enticing. For the Bisons, one area severely affected was the offensive line, with none of their starters having taken a snap in U Sports football at the start of the season. Then, when their two starting offensive tackles were lost for the season, they had to dig even deeper into the roster.
Virtual coaching became a thing, one that Dobie would rather do without, But they did it early on so that Coach Naujoks would not be compromised and continue it now.
"It's far more difficult and far less effective," he points out. "Coaching and implementing offence and defence, special teams, even having meetings, and getting your point across and creating dialogue and discussion and interaction all of that is extremely difficult to attain virtually.
"That is our norm. We respect the science and we respect the necessity for appropriate protocols. We thought it's the right thing for our kids and our staff."
The Bisons also had three players who didn't want to be vaccinated and thus are no longer part of the squad.
"The roadblocks were necessary and appropriate in order to keep everyone safe," says Dobie.
"There wasn't much choice," adds Catellier. "We had to do what we had to do to play football; it's tedious and annoying but it's for a bigger cause."
Catellier, who has had surgery and will play next year, believes it's the Bison culture, one of resilience, that sees the squad where it is today.
"We may not have had the most talented teams, but being a part of the Bisons there's never quit," he says. "We're going to compete and give everything we have, no matter what. Families really bond through adversity."
"Do I think this is an exceptional and special year?" Dobie opines. "Absolutely. I'm proud that we're one of those teams, there's eight left in the country, that we were able to forge the best we could out of the worst of circumstances. We're not the only team, obviously, but we're one of those teams.
"To come out of the tunnel into the light at the other end I think it's a great accomplishment for any of the teams that are left right now that includes us."
"Everyone's in the same boat, in the same situation during the pandemic," he points out. "We just wanted to be in the best position coming out of it that we can. Is it bigger or more so than any year? I don't know about that. It's an important step for us but it's also a mindset for us that we expect to win every time we take the field. We expect to be in this game and we have a vision for ourselves and our program that's pretty cemented."
Just as Dobie bemoaned virtual coaching, Flory, too, saw that as an unfortunate part of the restrictive measures.
"Just the lack of face-to-face connection, to be honest with you.," he explains. "We all know the texting, Zoom, FaceTime they're not the same as actually being in a room with somebody. So that lack of time not only from a peer-to-peer standpoint, coach-to-coach standpoint, then coach-to-player standpoint, it's just that connectivity. To me that was the biggest problem. Our guys love football, they love being around each other and we love being around them."
That term 'leadership' once again bursts to the fore.
"Our leadership group did an outstanding job making sure that guys were connected not only within their group but in the bigger picture, from a team standpoint," Flory says. "Whatever the restrictions were allowed by the university, to make sure we were as connected as possible, always following the rules and regulations and parametres from government and the institution regarding workouts.
"I leaned on them and those guys responded."
"Our quarterback coach Jeremy Long is fantastic, a great guy and role model," adds fourth-year starter Mason Nyhus. "He had us all locked in. He did a good job of keeping us engaged and focusing on football."
Which, understandably, was sometimes hard to do, especially in the early days of the pandemic.
"Honestly, it was pretty difficult," concedes Nyhus, who spent some of that first locked down summer in B.C. with his girlfriend. "It was probably harder being away from your friends and that normalcy.
It was difficult to stay in shape but everyone was feeling the same struggle."
Flory says his team had no issues with individuals not wanting to get vaccinated. But the Huskies did experience the inevitable loss of players due to graduations and getting on in a world without football, unwilling to wait out another season.
"That happens every year. Life happens, right?" he says. "We lost players, a guy decided to join the military, a guy decided to go to chiropractic school out of Portland. Things like that happen with these young men. At the end of it, we wish nothing but the best for every one of them. I don't think it was amplified at all just because of the pandemic but it solidified our commitment from a team side of things to the group and their commitment to this football team."
When the Huskies finally took to the Griffiths Stadium field for a pre-season game on Sept. 18 against, ironically, the Bisons, it was a bit surreal just for a moment.
"It was taken away so I was a little bit unsure that it was going to happen," Flory recalls. "I remember talking to Coach Dobie and saying 'Is this actually happening? We're really playing, right?' Once you get past that, it gets back into football. We all adapt, that's part of sport and life and we move forward."
As to the meaning of the 2021 Hardy Cup, Nyhus admits it does mean even more than typically.
"I say it does because it's been such a struggle," he relates. "It's been two years since the Hardy Cup was played. Everyone's been battling for a long time. Practising was difficult and only a six-game season everyone knew each game was very important. We've basically been playing playoff football the entire season.
"So, yeah, I would say it's definitely nice to be playing in a Hardy Cup again for sure."
Doing so in a pandemic scenario, with a lost year under your belt and being mired in uncertainty, protocols and restrictions, is remarkable to be sure.
So as the Manitoba Bisons and Saskatchewan Huskies prepare to square off in the 2021 Canada West football championship on Saturday, it bears looking into what these teams went through during these challenging times.
Every team in the country was affected; they all endured similar trials. But only a few have emerged to vie for victory and, as far as the Bisons and the Huskies were concerned, it was something they never experienced and hope never to experience again.
MANITOBA BISONS
The Bisons, coached by the loquacious Brian Dobie, underwent a season like no other and that's even without the pandemic. The adversity seemed to follow Manitoba like a bad smell.In the third quarter of the opening game they lost fifth-year quarterback Des Catellier to a year-ending knee injury. ("You could feel the season vanishing before our eyes," sighs Dobie.) Shortly thereafter, their 29-year-old receivers' coach Scott Naujoks passed away after a bout with cancer.
There were other difficult issues, as well, that put a distinctive stamp on 2021.
"Those things trumped the pandemic," Dobie admits.
"When I think back when Covid hit and nobody knew what it was all about and everything was being shut down if you're in Manitoba, we were the most stringent of all the provinces," he continues. "Literally, I met player after player after player at IGF and they signed out equipment, they signed out barbells and medicine balls guys that could work out in their garages and their basements.
"We kept saying to our guys that some teams are going to come out of this stronger than others. They just are. There's no magic formula. The silver lining for us is we delved into our culture. We never had that opportunity to be so thorough and complete. We reformed our leadership group, expanded it; it was like a wave."
"It was really challenging," acknowledges Catellier, who now works as a mentor to rookie QB Jackson Tachinski. "We had to find very creative ways to get it done during Covid. We'd go throw the ball around outside, depending on what numbers were allowed. I feel like, as a group, we really came together, became stronger. We didn't stop working and found ways to get better.
"Even my whole life, I've taken football for granted. I'd never gone a season since I was five of not playing sports. So when we're all sitting at home, we missed it a lot and we all felt the same way, we connected."
The inactivity in 2020 affected every football team's line-up. Perhaps an opportunity came up for a fourth- or fifth-year that meant he wouldn't be back at school or perhaps the chance to turn pro was too enticing. For the Bisons, one area severely affected was the offensive line, with none of their starters having taken a snap in U Sports football at the start of the season. Then, when their two starting offensive tackles were lost for the season, they had to dig even deeper into the roster.
Virtual coaching became a thing, one that Dobie would rather do without, But they did it early on so that Coach Naujoks would not be compromised and continue it now.
"It's far more difficult and far less effective," he points out. "Coaching and implementing offence and defence, special teams, even having meetings, and getting your point across and creating dialogue and discussion and interaction all of that is extremely difficult to attain virtually.
"That is our norm. We respect the science and we respect the necessity for appropriate protocols. We thought it's the right thing for our kids and our staff."
The Bisons also had three players who didn't want to be vaccinated and thus are no longer part of the squad.
"The roadblocks were necessary and appropriate in order to keep everyone safe," says Dobie.
"There wasn't much choice," adds Catellier. "We had to do what we had to do to play football; it's tedious and annoying but it's for a bigger cause."
Catellier, who has had surgery and will play next year, believes it's the Bison culture, one of resilience, that sees the squad where it is today.
"We may not have had the most talented teams, but being a part of the Bisons there's never quit," he says. "We're going to compete and give everything we have, no matter what. Families really bond through adversity."
"Do I think this is an exceptional and special year?" Dobie opines. "Absolutely. I'm proud that we're one of those teams, there's eight left in the country, that we were able to forge the best we could out of the worst of circumstances. We're not the only team, obviously, but we're one of those teams.
"To come out of the tunnel into the light at the other end I think it's a great accomplishment for any of the teams that are left right now that includes us."
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES
As far as the Huskies are concerned, head coach Scott Flory doesn't exactly see playing for the Hardy Cup during a pandemic as being a greater achievement. Just being in the game, under any circumstance, is achievement itself."Everyone's in the same boat, in the same situation during the pandemic," he points out. "We just wanted to be in the best position coming out of it that we can. Is it bigger or more so than any year? I don't know about that. It's an important step for us but it's also a mindset for us that we expect to win every time we take the field. We expect to be in this game and we have a vision for ourselves and our program that's pretty cemented."
Just as Dobie bemoaned virtual coaching, Flory, too, saw that as an unfortunate part of the restrictive measures.
"Just the lack of face-to-face connection, to be honest with you.," he explains. "We all know the texting, Zoom, FaceTime they're not the same as actually being in a room with somebody. So that lack of time not only from a peer-to-peer standpoint, coach-to-coach standpoint, then coach-to-player standpoint, it's just that connectivity. To me that was the biggest problem. Our guys love football, they love being around each other and we love being around them."
That term 'leadership' once again bursts to the fore.
"Our leadership group did an outstanding job making sure that guys were connected not only within their group but in the bigger picture, from a team standpoint," Flory says. "Whatever the restrictions were allowed by the university, to make sure we were as connected as possible, always following the rules and regulations and parametres from government and the institution regarding workouts.
"I leaned on them and those guys responded."
"Our quarterback coach Jeremy Long is fantastic, a great guy and role model," adds fourth-year starter Mason Nyhus. "He had us all locked in. He did a good job of keeping us engaged and focusing on football."
Which, understandably, was sometimes hard to do, especially in the early days of the pandemic.
"Honestly, it was pretty difficult," concedes Nyhus, who spent some of that first locked down summer in B.C. with his girlfriend. "It was probably harder being away from your friends and that normalcy.
It was difficult to stay in shape but everyone was feeling the same struggle."
Flory says his team had no issues with individuals not wanting to get vaccinated. But the Huskies did experience the inevitable loss of players due to graduations and getting on in a world without football, unwilling to wait out another season.
"That happens every year. Life happens, right?" he says. "We lost players, a guy decided to join the military, a guy decided to go to chiropractic school out of Portland. Things like that happen with these young men. At the end of it, we wish nothing but the best for every one of them. I don't think it was amplified at all just because of the pandemic but it solidified our commitment from a team side of things to the group and their commitment to this football team."
When the Huskies finally took to the Griffiths Stadium field for a pre-season game on Sept. 18 against, ironically, the Bisons, it was a bit surreal just for a moment.
"It was taken away so I was a little bit unsure that it was going to happen," Flory recalls. "I remember talking to Coach Dobie and saying 'Is this actually happening? We're really playing, right?' Once you get past that, it gets back into football. We all adapt, that's part of sport and life and we move forward."
As to the meaning of the 2021 Hardy Cup, Nyhus admits it does mean even more than typically.
"I say it does because it's been such a struggle," he relates. "It's been two years since the Hardy Cup was played. Everyone's been battling for a long time. Practising was difficult and only a six-game season everyone knew each game was very important. We've basically been playing playoff football the entire season.
"So, yeah, I would say it's definitely nice to be playing in a Hardy Cup again for sure."