Riders beat B.C. in OT!

For the second straight week, the Riders went into OT but this time they came away with a victory. James Patrick's interception sealed the win on B.C.'s OT possession. Luca Congi kicked a field goal earlier to put the Riders up by three, to make the final score 33-30 Riders! The green machine now will face Hamilton next week and then will have a 1st place showdown, on November 7th, when Calgary comes to town!

Darian Durant threw for 319 yards in a less than perfect outing but went 6 for 6 on the game tying drive, including a 29 yard TD to Johnny Quinn, late in the 4th quarter. Durant did throw two picks in the game but followed both with long touchdown drives.

Don't ever count this kid out. He's a leader, warrior, and his teammates look to him when they are down. Durant told the Leader Post that during the game tying drive he told the guys in the huddle, "look at me.........we're going to score!" Love it! This kid is a winner folks.

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The Bonnyville Pontiacs have started the year 12-4-0 and are ranked 9th in the country. They are lead by 20 year old defenseman Matthew Register, who has 21 points on 15 games. Yes, he is a d-man!

The Pontiacs are looking for more from Balgonie native Tyler Henry, six points in 15 games, after his point-per-game rookie season last winter.

Keep it going Pontiacs!

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Well i guess i better mention that my Toronto Maple Leafs are off to a franchise worst 0-7-1 start and are the only winless team in the NHL. It doesn't look like things are going to change anytime soon either. Phil Kessel is going to have to be the second coming of a young Mats Sundin, for the Leafs to have any chance at making the playoffs.

It's not a recipe for success when you take a lot of penalties and also have the worst penalty kill in the league. This isn't rocket science. You can still be big, bad and tough but just don't take stupid penalties.

One man who is loving the Leafs poor start is Boston GM Peter Chiarelli. The Leafs traded their first round picks in the next two drafts to get Phil Kessel so it looks as if the Bruins will be picking fairly high next spring. Can you imagine the backlash Brian Burke would feel if the Leafs finished dead last and missed out on a chance to get Kingston, ON native Taylor Hall! Some NHL scouts say Hall is better then last years first overall pick, John Tavares.

I'm still holding out hope that the buds can turn it around.

Let's go Leafs!

Later dudes.

Riders back in 1st!

The Riders got back in the winning column this past weekend with a 32-22 victory over the hapless Toronto Argonauts. Darian Durant had one of his best games of the year with a 3 touchdown, no interception, effort.

After todays game, in which Montreal rolled over the Stampeders 32-11, the Riders and Stamps are again tied for first in the Western Division.

The Riders travel to Calgary next weekend, looking to take the season series from their western rivals and also take a strangle hold on first, with three games to play.

The Riders will be without Weston Dressler for 4-6 weeks as he broke a leg, late in the fourth quarter. Hopefully he can be back in time for playoffs. Shades of last season........

After 14 games this season, who would you rather have as your quarterback?

They both have 8-6 records.

% YDS TD INT

Burris 58.2 3673 18 14

Durant 59.0 3243 18 18

I take Durant in a heartbeat. Maybe it's because i can't stand Burris and his blame game when things aren't going well. Even at his young age, I think Durant manages the game better then Burris does. Hank seems to turn into Frank way to often lately and IMO, it couldn't happen to a better guy! ;)

Robyn and I will get to see Burris and Durant go head to head, as we'll attend our first away game next weekend in Cowtown. I think it's just an excuse for Robyn to spend my money at Ikea. Ha! I can't wait!

Happy Thanksgiving

Later

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Good Day!
Thank God the long weekend is here. I need three days off badly! I haven't been able to shake the feeling of being tired all the time. Hopefully the kids and dogs let me sleep in this weekend. Although, sleeping in for me is usually about 0730.

As of now, the boys don't have hockey this weekend but that could change as we'll find out what teams they will be playing for today or tomorrow.
My oldest, Isaac, had his last try-out last night. He is still in the running for Atom Tier II but most likely will be playing Atom House, which is fine because he is all about having fun and just hopes there are friends on the team.
My other boy, Jackson, is going into his first year of Novice and his first full season as a goalie (just like Dad). He will be playing Novice Tier II. Now, going into the Novice try-outs, we were leaning towards just telling Prairie Storm that we didn't want Jackson to play Tier I because we thought he could take this year and get his feet wet and see how playing goal is for him. That changed after we saw him play. For a 7 year old, he is way ahead of where i thought he would be as far as understanding the little things and the nuances that come with playing goal. He had three sessions and in my opinion, was the best or one of the top two goalies, at worst. There is two Tier I teams so i thought (and so did about 10 other parents that came up to me) Jackson was a shoe-in for one of the two spots. Well, that didn't happen and i must say i was a little disappointed. It doesn't change anything for Jackson though, as he just "wants to play" but it makes you wonder what these "independent evaluators" are looking at. I have a lot of other things i would like to say about the way things are done behind the scenes but i won't. Not on here anyways.
I'm done with that rant!

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The Riders will be entertaining Toronto on Saturday night and it looks like it will be a less than an ideal night for football. By the time kick off rolls around, it will be below zero with a bit of a windchill. I don't believe it will be a factor though as i think the Riders will be rolling tomorrow night.

There is just something about the Riders, that after last weeks stinker, they will come back with a chip on their shoulders and lay a beating on the CFL's worst team.

There has been alot of talk (nothing good) about the performances of Wes Cates and Darian Durant this past week. Well, i have no doubt that both of them come back and have one of their best games of the year. We will win by at least three TD's and the defence will keep Toronto's offence under 10 points. Take it to the bank.

Go get em' boys!

Later