What an NCAA rule change might mean for junior hockey in Sask.
Nov 18, 2024
Previously, WHL players were declared ineligible to play NCAA hockey in the U.S.
Extreme cold warnings remained in effect across Saskatchewan on Wednesday, but warmer temperatures are expected to reach the province by the weekend.
The cold warnings from Environment Canada blanketed almost all of the province in the morning, with the exception of the southwestern corner. That region was added just after 3 p.m.
Regina’s forecast for Wednesday predicted a high of just -25 C, while Saskatoon was expected to reach just -27 C.
People in Regina were dealing with the extreme cold as they waited to get on and off the bus at stops along Rae Street behind Real Canadian Superstore.
While waiting for the bus to arrive, Elizabeth Alice said she would rather be at home staying warm.
“(It’s very) cold. Even with my big jacket on, I’m still cold,” Alice said. “We don’t have any choice. (We) just have to wait.”
Harman Preet, who just finished her overnight shift at work, said she was freezing after she got off the bus. Asked where she’d rather be, she replied: “In my bed.”
Other people were thinking about taking a trip somewhere with warmer weather.
One man said he’d rather be in Aruba and another said he’d like to travel to British Columbia to escape the cold.
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, told the CKOM Morning Show that the above-normal temperatures seen in the province recently didn’t mean spring had arrived.
“We still have a month or so to go,” Phillips said. “You can’t write the obituary on winter-like weather in Saskatoon, or the province, in early February.”
The current cold snap, Phillips said, is dropping temperatures below the seasonal norms by as much as 22 degrees C. If Wednesday’s forecast for Saskatoon is correct, Phillips said it could mark the coldest Feb. 22 the city has seen in more than 100 years.
“It’s really inhuman, in a way, these kind of temperatures at this time of the year,” Phillips said. “My advice is to stay indoors.”
Phillips said he expects the cold snap to end by Friday, and suggested the return to more-normal temperatures could feel like a vacation.
“Come Sunday, when I say to you the high is going to be -4 C, it’ll feel like a tropical heat wave compared to what you’ve had,” Phillips said with a laugh.
Despite the cold temperatures, Phillips said the sun will still be shining this week, and noted that March temperatures are expected to climb above seasonal norms for Saskatchewan.
— With files from 980 CJME’s Nicholas Iatropoulos