A.J. Ouellette spent part of a recent bye week saying hello to a Canadian sporting legend.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ star running back met figure skating great Elvis Stojko last week in Lucan, Ont.
“We got to talking and he’s a great guy,” Ouellette said on Thursday. “When it comes to the one per cent of the one per cent of professional athletes, he definitely has the mindset of that one per cent.
“It is crazy and cool to see.”
Ouellette, a former Toronto Argonauts standout who signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent in 2024, had a connection that brought him back to Ontario while the 7-1 Roughriders had a one-week respite earlier this month.
“There’s Segway Powersports partnered with Demon Powersports,” Ouellette explained. “The guy who does Demon Powersports used to work for MLSE, which owns the Argos, so he knew me that way.
“He asked if I wanted to make a guest appearance at one of their events. (Stojko) was also one of the guest-appearance people.”
The two made an immediate connection.
“We talked about a little bit of everything — how to get into the zone, how to manage your emotions if you’re too high or too low before competition, and how similar we have to be emotionally and mindset-wise, even though our sports are very different,” said Ouellette, 30.
“It’s physical versus technical and all that stuff. It was cool to pick his brain as a younger athlete myself, I like to think, learning the stuff that he said he wished he would have known earlier in his career.”
What a career it was!
A three-time world champion, Stojko won silver medals in men’s singles at the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympic Games.
He earned the latter medal in Nagano, Japan despite suffering an excruciating groin injury. Pain tolerance is also a prerequisite for anyone who plays the gruelling game of professional football.
“Obviously, you get through stuff with adrenalin, but there’s also the passion you have for the sport that you play and you want to participate every chance you get,” Ouellette said.
“That (silver-medal skate in 1998) was pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most people. You’re not going to let an injury stop you from at least trying your best.”
As much as he enjoyed talking with Stojko, listening was the best part.
“I kind of let the athletes talk and where they lead the conversation is probably where they’re more comfortable or what they know,” Ouellette said. “So if there’s an athlete who starts talking about strength and conditioning, I’m going to pick their brain about that, obviously.
“His sport is so technical. A minor error costs you points. His mindset is, by far, the most important thing. Obviously, he’s going to be fine-tuned on that, so I’m going to pick his brain on that as much as I can.”
And who knows? There may be future opportunities.
“In the off-season, if I can get approval, we might set up a skating thing where he teaches me how to skate, because I’ve never been on ice,” said Ouellette, who hails from Covington, Ohio.
“He said, ‘Yeah, as long as you teach me how to throw a football,’ so I’m going to have to have one of these quarterbacks teach me how to throw a football first.”
It should be noted that Ouellette’s impressive CFL resume does include a touchdown pass — a 26-yarder he threw to Dejon Brissett for the Argonauts against the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sept. 4, 2023.
BEST VERSUS BEST
The Roughriders/Tiger-Cats game is a collision of the CFL’s two division leaders.
Hamilton and Saskatchewan are also the highest-scoring teams in the league.
The Tiger-Cats lead the way in total points per game (32.3) and offensive points per game (28.8). The Roughriders are second in both categories (29.1; 26.9).
Balance is a buzzword for the Roughriders, who have had four different receivers (KeeSean Johnson, Dohnte Meyers, Joe Robustelli and Samuel Emilus) exceed 100 yards in a game at least once this season.
Meyers leads the way with three 100-yard games. Emilus, currently on the six-game injured list, has two.
Six different receivers — Johnson, Meyers, Robustelli, Emilus, Tommy Nield and Dhel Duncan-Busby — have reached the end zone. Ouellette and fellow running back Thomas Bertrand-Hudon have each chipped in with a touchdown catch.
“We’ve got a lot of guys on the offence,” Johnson told reporters after Thursday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium.
“You never know who can have a game. That’s kind of our motto: You never know. We’ve got a bunch of guys who can make plays.”
Saturday’s game features five of the top nine receivers in the CFL, yardage-wise.
Johnson and Meyers are tied for seventh at 565.
Hamilton’s Kenny Lawler, who is second with 783 yards, leads the league in touchdown receptions (eight).
The Tiger-Cats’ Tim White is first in receptions (50) and fifth in yards (596). Kiondre Smith is ninth in receiving yards (549) and tied for third in TD catches (five).
Lawler and Johnson both had massive games when their teams last met.
Johnson caught eight passes for 124 yards and one touchdown to help Saskatchewan win 28-23 at Hamilton Stadium on June 14. Lawler amassed 162 yards on his eight catches.
The key to stopping Lawler?
“Make him uncomfortable. No freebies,” Roughriders defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. told reporters. “That’s really the big thing.
“The last game we played them, Lawler had a few freebies, so we’ve got to make him earn everything.”
Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell leads the league in
passing yards (2,856) and aerial touchdowns (21).
Mitchell has been intercepted only three times. One of those picks, by Milligan Jr., was returned for a 64-yard touchdown.
BIG PLAY BONANZA
In terms of big plays on offence or special teams, Saskatchewan leads the league (with 29) and has allowed the fewest (15).
The CFL defines a big play as a:
Rush of 20-plus yards.
Completion, kickoff return or missed field goal return of 30-plus.
Kickoff return of at least 40 yards.