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.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have wisely locked up head coach Mike O’Shea and general manager Kyle Walters for an extended period of time on the heels of the 2019 Grey Cup victory.
President and CEO Wade Miller, O’Shea and Walters give the Bombers a competitive edge similar to the one that the Saskatchewan Roughriders enjoyed with former Riders president and CEO Jim Hopson. Miller, like Hopson, is a former CFL player who knows business and football.
The Bombers’ dream of winning a Grey Cup took a little longer to realize than it did in Saskatchewan. Hopson, who was given ultimate authority of the Riders in 2006, made the hires that made a 2007 Grey Cup championship possible.
In Winnipeg, Miller was named president and CEO in 2013, and later that year he hired Walters and approved the hiring of O’Shea. It took some time, but a championship was realized.
It’s not always popular to compare the Bombers and Riders inside these borders, but Winnipeg’s road to success looks a lot like Saskatchewan’s did over a decade ago.