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Hall of Fame press release
The board of directors of the
Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame are pleased to announce that four builders, five
athletes and four teams will be inducted into the hall during the annual
ceremonies dinner on Nov. 1 at TCU Place.
BUILDERS
Ed Chynoweth rose from
Saskatchewan roots to become one of the most influential men in Canadian hockey.
Originally from Dodsland, he came to Saskatoon where he became active in hockey
and softball. In hockey, he was president of the Saskatoon Minor Hockey
Association, the Saskatoon Referees Association and joined the Saskatoon Blades
as assistant general manager in June, 1970. In softball, he played for the
College Lads, appeared in four national playoffs, and was considered the driving
force behind the building of the Gordie Howe Park. He joined the Western Hockey
League in 1972. He was its commissioner until 1996 and for 20 of those 23 years;
he was also Canadian Hockey League president.
He played leading roles in the
guaranteed education program and the development of Canada’s world junior team
program. As a team owner, he led Kootenay Ice to a Memorial Cup victory in 2002.
Bill Gordon has contributed to
Saskatoon basketball since 1983, starting as president and administrator of the
Saskatoon Senior Men’s League, which has grown from 18 to 72 teams. He started
the Wildwood summer camps and continues to organize them for players from Grade
5 to Grade 12. He has coached numerous community and high school basketball
teams, serving as an assistant with Evan Hardy’s provincial champions in 1992. .
He was a referee at Bedford Road’s Hoopla from 1976 to 1984, and in Canada West
men’s and women’s basketball from 1976 to 1983. He won a Canadian Association of
Basketball officials award in 2002. He has been an elementary school
co-coordinator of Voyageur and Orienteering clubs, a recreational canoeing
instructor, a Huskie football player and later a coach at Evan Hardy’s
provincial champions, as well as participating in soccer, lacrosse and
half-marathons.
Noreen Murphy played softball
for Harmony Centres from 1980 until 1984, sharing in a Canadian championship
victory in 1980 and a silver medal finish in 1983. She has devoted herself to
coaching ever since. She coached Saskatoon’s Lorne Lazers, one year as midgets,
two years as juniors and five years as seniors. They won five provincial
titles. She was assistant coach for six years of the Canadian junior women’s
team, which included an appearance in the world championships in Australia in
1991. She coached Team Saskatchewan at Western Canada and Canada Games. She was
on the coaching staff of two Canadian teams at the Olympic Games – 1996 and
2004. She was head coach of Canada’s Elite team in 2004 and 2005 and assistant
coach in 2006, each of the teams playing in the Canada Cup. She remains on the
coaching staff of Softball Canada.
Ross Wilson was active in
basketball and soccer, most notably, during his days at Nutana Collegiate and
the University of Saskatchewan. From there, he began a long career as a coach in
basketball, soccer, track and field and volleyball and officiated in basketball.
He was an executive member and president of the Saskatoon Senior Men’s
Basketball League, Basketball Saskatchewan Inc. and Canada Basketball. He was
Canada’s head of delegation at international games, including three Olympics. He
was only the second Canadian to be an executive member of the International
Federation of Basketball Associations. He was athletic director of the
University of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2006, leading the bids to bring at a
number of CIS championships to Saskatoon, including three hockey tournaments and
the Vanier Cup in 2006. He was vice-president of sport for Canada West level
from 2002 to 2006.
ATHLETES
Jerry Friesen came out of
Bedford Road Collegiate as an offensive lineman. But it was while he was with
the Saskatoon Hilltops in 1973 and 1974, he was converted to linebacker. It was
a position he’d play for three years with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies
and then three years with Montreal Alouettes and six years with Saskatchewan
Roughriders. While with the Huskies, he was voted All-Canadian in both 1976 and
1977. He joined the Alouettes in 1978 and played in Grey Cup games during his
first two seasons with them. With the Roughriders, he was honored with the CFL’s
Tom Pate award in 1986. He became defensive co-coordinator with the Huskies in
1988, sharing in a Vanier Cup win in 1990.
After a year as a coach with
the Roughriders in 1996, he became assistant coach with University of Calgary in
1997 and head coach of University of Alberta in 2001. He was CIS coach of the
year in 2004.
Shannon Kekula Kristiansen was
dominant among women in shot put through a career from 1981 until 1996. She won
10 gold medals in shot put, discus, high jump and long jump at Saskatchewan high
school championships. She joined the University of Saskatchewan team, winning
two bronze, a silver and two gold at Canada West and a bronze, silver and three
gold at the CIAU finals. She was female athlete award winner twice at the U of S
and Sask Sport female athlete of the year in 1990. As well, she was a medallist
at Saskatchewan Open championships, winning gold in the shot put the last 11
years she competed. At the National Open, she was a medallist in shot put nine
times. She participated internationally five times, including the Francophone
Games and World Universiade Games in 1989 and was eighth in shot put at the
1994 Commonwealth Games at Victoria, B.C.
Jacqueline Lavallee came out of
Holy Cross High School, where she won three provincial soccer titles, and played
three other seasons. She became ighHighwas a
two-sport star with the University of Saskatchewan. She played for the women’s
soccer team from 1996 until 2001, was a three-time Canada West all-star
midfielder and an All-Canadian in 1999. In basketball, she also played five
seasons, was a three-time Canada West point guard and an All-Canadian in the
2001-2002 season. In her senior year, she was second in Canada West scoring and
third nationally. She was a regional recipient of the Tom Longboat award,
recognizing outstanding aboriginal ability in 2000, and the national Sylvia
Sweeney award in 2002.
She played internationally for
Canada at three tournaments, twice at World University Games. She has also
played Division 1 basketball in a German professional league.
Brian Skrudland played his
Saskatoon minor hockey with the Red Wings, midget with the Contacts and joined
the Saskatoon Blades for three seasons, 1980 through 1983. During his days at
Evan Hardy Collegiate, he shared in one Saskatchewan high school football
championship. He turned professional with Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the fall of
1983 and made his NHL debut with Montreal Canadiens in 1985. He played seven and
a half seasons with Canadiens and also played with Calgary Flames, Florida
Panthers, New York Rangers and Dallas Stars. He twice won the Stanley Cup, once
with Montreal in 1986 and then with Dallas in 1999. He still holds the record
for the fastest overtime goal, nine seconds, scored for Montreal in a 1986 game
against Calgary. He was the first captain of the Florida expansion team in 1993.
Marshall Toner participated in
football, track and field and cross-country running at Evan Hardy while at the
same time, playing with the AAA midget Blazers and Junior B Canadians. He was
with provincial high school football championship teams at Evan Hardy in 1978
and 1979. He played football as a five-year starter and four-year captain with
the Huskies, winning Canada West all-star honors in 1984 and 1985 and
All-Canadian in 1985. He is the Huskies career leader in receptions, 138, and
once caught 12 passes in a game. He also ran on a winning Canada West relay team
and on the Canadian silver medallists in 1985. He joined the Calgary Stampeders,
played slotback for six years, 1986 through 1991, and was a captain for four
years. He caught 140 passes 2,095 yards and eight touchdowns with the Stampeders,
playing in the Grey Cup final in 1991
TEAMS
Gary Thode, Gary Cooper, Orest
Hryniuk and Roy Husfmith became the first team from Saskatoon to ever win the
Canadian schoolboys curling championship, beating Alberta in the final game of
the 1951 tournament at Nelson, B.C. Thode, Cooper and Hufsmith were holdovers
from a Saskatoon Tech team which lost in the provincial finals in 1950. Hryniuk
joined them for the 1951 season. They won the city championship, went through
the northern playoffs undefeated and beat Chuck Day of Grand Coulee two straight
in the provincial final. Going into the final draw at Nelson, Thode’s
Saskatchewan team and Alberta were tied at the top of the standings, each with
seven wins and one loss. Down one after eight ends, Thode counted three on the
ninth and then held Alberta to one for a 9-8 victory. It was the first of two
Canadian titles for Thode, Cooper and Hufsmith and the first of four for their
coach, Ken Moir.
Tom Paterson, Jack Walsh, Phil
Smith, Don Johnson, Larry Boehr and Roy Shepperd were the top qualifiers in the
Saskatoon Open men’s five-pin bowling trials in 1983. It was their first step
towards becoming the first Saskatoon men’s team to win a Canadian Open
championship. The team, coached by Tony Bula, won the provincial championship in
a close call. Saskatoon and Regina finished in a tie for first place but
Saskatoon won the title because of a better for-and-against total in games
against Regina. The national finals were held in Thunder Bay where Saskatoon won
17 out of 21 matches and had the title locked up with two games to go. The 1983
finals were also significant because Paterson won the Canadian men’s singles
with a 310-256 victory over Wayne Hein of Whitby, Ont.
Phil Smith was the only
holdover from the 1983 Canadian Open champions but the Saskatoon men put
together a second straight national championship run in 1984. Chris Bonany, Tom
Walter, Lloyd Wiens, Tim Cuthbert and Dale Boothman qualified for the team along
with Smith. Bonany, who came to Saskatoon from North Bay, Ont., shot a perfect
450 in the 12th game of the city trials. The team, coached by Cecil Irvine, then
went to the provincial finals in Moose Jaw, coasting to victory with 74 ½
points, 10 more than their rivals from Moose Jaw. The Canadian finals were held
at Saskatoon’s Eastview lanes and Saskatoon won with 105 points, well ahead of
Ontario with 97 ½ points and Alberta with 96. The men’s team averaged 26 years
of age, considered young at Canada’s elite level.
Saskatoon also produced the best women’s
five-pin team in Canada in 1984. Val Touet, Terry Stewart, Cathy Daku, Michele
Fosty, Jennie Irvine and Shirley Quayle qualified from the Saskatoon city
trials. The team, coached by Jack Walsh, went to the provincials in Moose Jaw,
was challenged to the final frame of the final game but their 6-2 victory over
South Saskatchewan clinched the title. They won with 81 ½ points. With the
Canadian Open finals at Eastview, the Saskatoon women were in control, using a
stretch of 10 straight wins at one point, and building a winning total of 118.5
points. They won by 6 ½ points over Alberta. It was the second time Saskatoon
had won the national women’s title, the first coming in 1967, when Shirley
Quayle was also a member of the team.
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