SASKATOON — The puck has yet to drop for the fourth annual Roughrider Foundation Winter Classic and Mike Commodore already has an assist.

He basically wrote this column’s lead item for me.

Thanks for the help!

Commodore was featured in a Friday night panel discussion that also included a fellow NHL alumnus — Regina-born Mike Sillinger — and Saskatchewan Roughriders receivers Kian Schaffer-Baker and Samuel Emilus.

The yak session took place during a VIP reception held in advance of Saturday’s charity hockey game, which raises funds for the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation.

Early in the roundtable, it was noted that Commodore’s father tried out for the Roughriders.

Wayne Commodore, who was born in Val Marie, attended training camp with the Green and White in 1969 after starring at linebacker with the Regina Rams.

“My dad was a very good baseball player and, at the time, a very good football player,” Mike Commodore told a well-entertained audience at the Saskatoon Alt Hotel. “He had a big decision — whether to try out for the Riders or try out for the Chicago White Sox.

“He said, ‘I love football, Mike. I went with the Riders.’ I said, ‘That’s great, but how did that turn out?’ To this day, he says, ‘Mike, maybe I should have tried out for the White Sox.’

“I made this team, anyway.”

Mike Commodore didn’t don official Roughriders colours until Friday, when he was presented with the No. 22 jersey he will wear on Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place.

The Winter Classic, presented by McDougall Auctioneers Ltd., begins at 1 p.m. (Tickets are available HERE.)

Commodore is to play on Team Co-op alongside its captain, Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther. A conversation between Lauther and Roughrider Foundation Executive Director Cindy Fuchs was the impetus for an event that was first held in 2023.

Lauther and friends will oppose Team Hamm and its captain, former Roughriders receiver Chris Getzlaf. His brother, former Anaheim Ducks star Ryan Getzlaf, played in the Winter Classic two years ago.

“Chris is here. Ryan ain’t,” Commodore observed. “We’re going to be just fine.”

Wayne Commodore was just fine, thank you, following the Riders’ training camp in 1969.

One memorable day in 1973, he homered on four consecutive at-bats to help the Lethbridge Lakers win a baseball tournament in Lacombe, Alta.

Also in 1973, he played for the Canadian national team at the world championship in Nicaragua.

Wayne Commodore’s excellence on the diamond was recognized when he was enshrined in the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Based in Sherwood Park, Alta., he also scouted for the Regina Pats.

Sherwood Park is a short drive from Mike Commodore’s birthplace: The well-named Fort Saskatchewan.

STEVE DENNIS (1951-2026)

Steve Dennis, a 2007 Plaza of Honour inductee, passed away last Saturday. He was 74.

The 6-foot-3½, 165-pound cornerback spent all or parts of eight seasons with the Roughriders during a period that spanned 1977 to 1984.

“He was what they call a shut-down corner,” former teammate Steve Mazurak remembered. “It didn’t matter if you were on the short side of the field or the wide side of the field, he would shut you down. He did that time and time again.”

The Stickman, as he was known, starred at Grambling State University before making his pro football debut in the short-lived World Football League in 1974. He suited up for the New York Stars and Charlotte Hornets that season, making five interceptions in 20 games.

He added 12 more picks over the next two seasons, spent with the Toronto Argonauts. He was an Eastern Conference All-Star in 1976.

On May 19, 1977, Dennis and tight end Dave Hadden were awarded to the Roughriders as compensation after Toronto signed free-agent defensive backs Lorne Richardson and James Marshall.

Dennis was sent to the Ottawa Rough Riders in a May 18, 1979 deal that brought future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Clements to Saskatchewan. The Roughriders reacquired Dennis on Aug. 24 of that year.

He remained a Roughrider until August of 1984. The following year, he was named to the club’s 75th-anniversary dream team.

Dennis was a guest coach at the Roughriders’ training camp in 1987 and 1988.

He settled in his hometown of Shreveport, La., where he enjoyed a long and successful tenure as the head football coach at Green Oaks High School. He was later the athletics director and secondary coach at Green Oaks.

Dennis returned to Regina in 2007 to be inducted into the Plaza. He entered the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, when his school-record 27 interceptions were celebrated.

As a Roughrider, Dennis registered 23 interceptions — including a team-high six in 1981. He played in the second-last CFL All-Star Game, held on Dec. 3, 1983 in Vancouver, and helped the West defeat the East 25-15.

“Stick was one of those guys who commanded a lot of respect, both on the field and in the locker room, and it wasn’t just on the defensive side of the ball,” legendary Roughriders kicker Dave Ridgway said. “He wasn’t a big in-your-face talker, so if he had something to say, everybody usually listened — on either side of the ball.”

TRIVIA TIME

Who was the last Roughrider to score a touchdown on an onside kick recovery?

Scroll waaaay dowwwwwn for the answer!

THE NAME GAME

• The recent signing of linebacker Vi Jones increased the Roughriders’ all-time Jones count to 45. Other popular surnames include Smith (54), Thomas (47), Johnson (45), Williams (43), Brown (42), Robinson (25), Davis (23), Taylor (23) and Miller (21).

• Nobody captured the spirit of the thing better than receiver Davis Smith Jr., who was with the Roughriders during training camp and the pre-season in 1989.

• Smith Jr., at 5-foot-4, may be the shortest player in franchise history. The other candidate is running back Antonio Whitney, who tried out for the Green and White in 2002. He is either 5-foot-4 or 5-foot-5, depending on the source.

• Surname surprise: There is only one Hunt in Roughriders history. That would be linebacker Reggie Hunt (2002 to 2007) — a 2012 Plaza of Honour inductee.

• Another surprise: Only two players named Richards. Linebacker Nick Richards signed with Saskatchewan in 1997 but failed his medical. Randy Richards started two games on the offensive line in 2015.

CANADIANS + CATCHES

• The Winter Classic will include three participants who have been named the Most Valuable Canadian in a Roughriders Grey Cup victory — Getzlaf (2013), Emilus (2025) and Andy Fantuz (2007).

• Canadians have accounted for 50.3 per cent of the Roughriders’ receiving yards over the team’s five Grey Cup wins. The list of pass-catchers consists Fantuz (2007), Getzlaf (2013), Emilus (2025), Schaffer-Baker (2025), Gord Barwell (1966), Alan Ford (1966), Ray Elgaard (1989), James Ellingson (1989), Jeff Fairholm (1989), Corey Grant (2007), Michael Palmer (2007), Rob Bagg (2013), Neal Hughes (2013), Ajou Ajou (2025) and Tommy Nield (2025).

SHORT SNORTS

• Kerfalla Exume, whose re-signing was announced by the Roughriders on Wednesday, has long been an elite special teams player in the CFL. Prowess in that facet of the game was one reason Exume received a game ball following a 21-13 victory in Winnipeg on Sept. 6. He also contributed to a stout defence after cornerback Marcus Sayles was injured with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. There’s a reason why Exume is a three-time Grey Cup champion.

• The Roughriders’ last four full-time Head Coaches have had a first name beginning with C. See: Corey Chamblin (2012-15), Chris Jones (2016-18), Craig Dickenson (2019-23) and Corey Mace (2024-present). Bob Dyce was the Interim Head Coach for the latter half of the 2015 campaign.

• Another training camp flashback: In 1968, the Roughriders signed a defensive lineman (Danny Williamson) who played high school football in Triadelphia (West Virginia) and was drafted by Philadelphia (Eagles, 1968).

• Memo to all head coaches: When the opportunity is there, take the points! It has become all too fashionable to eschew field goals in favour of third- or fourth-down gambles. For a clinic on how to do it right, revisit Mace’s winning strategy in the 2025 Western Final.

TRIVIA ANSWER

Steve Dennis was the last Roughrider to score on an onside kick.

He caught teammate Paul Watson’s high, arcing kickoff and sprinted 37 yards for a touchdown against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Oct. 4, 1981.

ROLL CREDITS …

• Nice people who deserve a plug: Mike Commodore, Wayne Commodore, Mike Sillinger, Karla Sillinger, Kia Schollar, Sarah Fedirko, Andy Fantuz, Chris Getzlaf, Shawn Bane Jr., Sheldon Kennedy, Cindy Fuchs, Drew Ryhorchuk, Kerfalla Exume, Alan Ford, Sally Ford, Cleveland Vann, Connie Vann, Heather Mazurak, Steve Mazurak, Nick Mazurak, Don Hewitt, Arlene Syrota, Wes Cates, Edmund Bellegarde, Dave Pettigrew, Craig Reynolds and Arielle Zerr.