Creating productive citizens of Saskatchewan - that is one of the aims of the partnership bidding to host the North American Indigenous Games in 2014.

Members of the partnership include The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
(FSIN), Saskatchewan's Metis Nation, our province and the City of Regina.

"From its humble beginnings, with the Saskatchewan First Nation and winter and summer games over twenty-five years ago, we have (seen) tremendous growth and a lot of young people," said Morley Watson, vice-chief of the FSIN, at a media conference on Tuesday.

The Twin Arenas east of Regina are slated to close at the end of the summer. Joey St. Aubin with Canlan Ice Sports says the opening of the city's six ice surface area, the co-operator's center is to blame. "We, being private, are mandated to be profitable so with six additional ice pads on the marketplace it's going to make it really difficult for us to remain profitable," said St. Aubin. Thirty-five full and part time staff will lose their jobs because of the closure. The last day will be August 31, to accomodate the hockey season. The site will be put up for sale.

It continues to be a good week for Graham DeLaet at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas.

After firing an opening round 6-under 64, the Weyburn native followed that up with a 3-under 67, good enough to leave him one shot back of leader Matt Kuchar, who is at 10-under par.

Play has been suspended because of darkness because play was suspended earlier in the day because of rain. Kuchar will finish his 2nd round Saturday morning. 

Nothing could stop the bleeding for the Saskatoon Blades, after falling behind early in the tiebreaker game against the London Knights at the Mastercard Memorial Cup.

“We just didn’t have the energy. I think some guys were just worn down and we’ve been through three wars in the last three games,” said Blades’ captain Brenden Walker.

After a hard fought loss against the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday, the Saskatoon Blades had nothing left in the tank, falling to the London Knights in an elimination tiebreaker, 6-1.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have dealt with their lack of depth at defensive end with a trade. They also released two veterans.

The Riders picked up veteran Jermaine McElveen from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in exchange for prospect receiver Lyle Leong Junior.

"He can play end and he can play the three technique," said head coach Corey Chamblin when asked what he liked avout McElveen. "The big thing is the value of being able to play both."

The final round-robin game at the Mastercard Memorial Cup didn’t end the way Saskatoon fans wanted to, but it ended with two notable storylines.

Late in the second period, Blades forward Michael Ferland took a double-minor high-sticking penalty, giving the Portland Winterhawks a four-minute powerplay. The WHL champs could not convert, mostly because of Blades’ penalty-killer Brett Stovin.

As the Saskatoon Blades get set to play their final round-robin game against the Portland Winterhawks, coach and general manager Lorne Molleken says his players all need to be heroes, and play like they did against Halifax.

“It was the little things that made the difference for us, paying the price in the tough areas and blocking shots,” said Molleken after the team’s Wednesday morning skate.

Nobody would have predicted this outcome prior to the start of the Mastercard Memorial Cup.

Heading into tonight’s match-up with the Portalnd Winterhawks, the Saskatoon Blades have a chance at getting an automatic berth into the May 26 final.

The Halifax Mooseheads destroyed the London Knights 9-2 Tuesday night to set up this scenario.

While it would be nice, head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken knows the importance of staying focused and just getting a win.

Saskatoon city council has decided to ask the provincial government to set up a provincial fight commission.

On May 21, city solicitor Patricia Warwick told council it is recommended nationally that fight commissions be run by provinces, because they have the means to provide liability protection.

“We’re at odds on the issue of insurance, we cannot find an insurer for injured participants,” said Warwick.