Mike Commodore<\/a>, Mike Sillinger, Sheldon Kennedy and Ryan Bayda brought NHL credentials to the event. Commodore also has a connection to one of sport\u2019s cherished trophies, having helped the Carolina Hurricanes win a Stanley Cup in 2006.<\/p>\n\u201cI went for a brunch at the Saskatoon Club yesterday and the Grey Cup was there, so that was a first,\u201d Commodore said shortly before the Winter Classic. \u201cI did hold it. I didn\u2019t know what the rules were. I haven\u2019t had a drink out of it yet. I\u2019m assuming that\u2019ll probably happen later today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the oldest trophies around, so it was cool looking at names and teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
There wouldn\u2019t have been any argument from the hundreds of people who lined up during the Winter Classic to be photographed alongside the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my second time,\u201d noted Brandon Hansen, who grew up in Saskatchewan\u2019s far north before moving to Hague (near Saskatoon). \u201cThe first time I got to see the Cup was after the Riders won in 2013. They came up to Stony Rapids on a Cup tour, so I got to hold the Cup there.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time around, Hansen renewed ties to the Grey Cup alongside his girlfriend (Jen Fehr) and aunt (Joyce Torrie).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt good to finally get to see the Cup again,\u201d Hansen said with a smile.<\/p>\n
Another prestigious trophy was on the premises on Saturday \u2014\u00a0the gleaming Winter Classic Cup.<\/p>\n
Team Lauther won the Winter Classic in 2023 and 2024. The opposing squad, captained by former Roughriders receiver Chris Getzlaf, entered the win column last year, before Team Lauther turned the tables on Saturday.<\/p>\n
In a typically close game, Team Lauther won 7-6 on the strength of three goals from Bayda.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came in, gave everything we had, and came up short against Team Lauther,\u201d said Roughriders receiver Samuel Emilus, a guest coach with Team Getzlaf. \u201cI think it was a great event that we put together and I\u2019m excited to be back next year and get my first W in this Winter Classic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Would the \u201cW\u201d have materialized this year if Emilus had been playing instead of coaching?<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure,\u201d he stated a few feet away from victorious guest coach Kian Schaffer-Baker. \u201cWe\u2019re winning by at least four or five goals and I\u2019d be talking \u2018ish\u2019 to Schaff the whole time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll joking aside, it was a great event. I think everybody in the building had fun. Congrats to Team Lauther.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schaffer-Baker was pleased to accept the congratulations on behalf of the captain. A few minutes earlier, the popular pass-catcher had performed a Conor McGregor-like victory strut on the ice after accepting the championship trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the next three months, I\u2019m going to be hitting that strut,\u201d Schaffer-Baker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we go on the Grey Cup tour, these two trophies are going to be sitting side by side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t give any of the credit to myself. It was all the guys out there working hard. Those guys busted their tails from the moment the puck dropped. You could see the hunger and determination. They wanted this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do anything today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet, he still got to carry the trophy off the ice. Where is the fairness in that?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a great point you make right there,\u201d Schaffer-Baker acknowledged with all due contrition. \u201cI\u2019m about to bring it into the dressing room so the boys can celebrate and drink some champagne with it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SASKATOON \u2014\u00a0A 117-year-old visitor was welcomed to the Roughrider Foundation Winter Classic on Saturday. The Grey Cup, first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-446318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}