There was no lacking excitement in Saskatoon sports during 2019.
From championships to a return to the playoffs, teams in the city and province provided fans with plenty of reasons to cheer throughout the year.
Here are the Top 5 sports stories for 2019.
Saskatoon Blades make playoffs, Dach heads to NHL
A coaching change and a highly ranked NHL prospect helped propel the Saskatoon Blades to the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2013.
The Blades started the 2018-19 season with a new bench boss after Mitch Love was brought in to become the 21st head coach in team history.
Saskatoon had a banner year, posting a 45-15-8 record and home-ice advantage in the first round. They swept the Moose Jaw Warriors in four games, their first playoff series win since 2011.
Arch-rivals Prince Albert Raiders (more on them later) bounced Saskatoon from the playoffs in the second round.
One of the key players for the Blades during the 2018-19 season was forward Kirby Dach, who had 25 goals and 48 assists in 62 regular-season games. He added five goals and three assists in 10 playoff games.
Dach was selected third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2019 NHL entry draft and was kept by the Hawks after impressing the coaching staff during training camp.
Cody Fajardo leads Saskatchewan Roughriders to first place
Cody Fajardo was the backup quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders when the 2019 CFL season started.
Three plays into the season, Fajardo was pressed into action when starting QB Zach Collaros suffered a concussion and placed on a six-game injured list.
Fajardo was named the starter the following week and when Collaros was traded to the Toronto Argonauts on July 31, he became the Riders’ number one quarterback.
Fajardo responded, leading the team to 13 wins and its first west division title since 2009.
Along the way, Fajardo led the league in passing yards with 4,302 yards and threw for 18 touchdowns while rushing for 611 yards and 10 touchdowns.
He was the west division nominee for most outstanding player, losing out to Hamilton Tiger-cat Brandon Banks, and was a three-time CFL top performer during the season.
While the season ended with a loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the west final, fans can look for Fajardo to be back behind centre when the 2020 season starts after the Riders signed him to a two-year extension.
Saskatoon Hilltops win unprecedented 6th-straight Canadian Bowl
Winning one title in any sport is hard, and back-to-back championships are virtually unheard of.
The Saskatoon Hilltops did the unthinkable when they won an unprecedented sixth-straight Canadian Bowl as the best junior football team in the country.
The Hilltops have now won a record 22 Canadian Bowl Championships out of their 25 appearances.
What makes the streak more remarkable is that no player on the current team played for the Hilltops when the streak started.
One constant for the Hilltops is head coach Tom Sargeant, who has been a coach with the team for 30-straight years, the last 23 as head coach.
Added to the titles is the Hilltops winning streak — 31 in a row, including playoffs. The Hilltops have not lost a game since September 2017.
Prince Albert Raiders crowned WHL champions
The Prince Albert Raiders gave fans in the northern Saskatchewan city plenty to cheer for during the 2018-19 Western Hockey League (WHL) season.
The team spent most of the year ranked as one of the top clubs in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), and ended the year with a 54-10-2-2 record, good for first in the WHL.
The Raiders went on to the WHL final for the first time since 1985 — which happened to be the year they won the Memorial Cup.
They punched their ticket to the 2019 Memorial Cup with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over the Vancouver Giants in Game 7 of the WHL final to hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
The Raiders continued the struggles of WHL teams at the Memorial Cup when they were eliminated in three-straight games. WHL teams have lost 13-straight games at the four-team competition, dating back five tournaments.
Prince Albert is off to another strong start in 2019-20, leading the East Division with a 20-9-3-1 record.
Saskatchewan Rattlers win inaugural CEBL championship
Professional basketball returned to Saskatoon for the first time since 2002 when the Saskatchewan Rattlers took to the hardwood at SaskTel Centre.
Greg Jockims was named the team’s first general manager and head coach and was tasked with assembling a roster that had to be made up of at least 70 per cent Canadian players.
Jockims is no stranger to basketball fans in the city, having led the Saskatchewan Huskies from 1998 to 2011.
The Rattlers went 11-9 in the CEBL’s inaugural season, good for third place in the six-team league.
As host, Saskatchewan was guaranteed a spot in championship weekend — which involves the top four teams in the league in a tournament-style format and the league’s award ceremonies.
They downed the Edmonton Stingers 85-83 in a close semi-final game and then went on to beat the Hamilton Honey Badgers 94-83 to clinch the championship trophy.
Nine of the 10 players on the team were Canadian.
It’s not the first time a team from Saskatoon has won a professional basketball championship.
The Saskatoon Slam won a National Basketball League title in 1993. The league folded after the 1994 season.
The Rattlers tip-off the 2020 season on May 8 when they travel to Abbotsford, B.C., to take on the Fraser Valley Bandits.
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