From the thrill of championship victories to the heartbreak of second place finishes, record seasons and the surfacing of budding stars, sports captivated the province in 2025. Here are the stories Saskatchewan sports fans will remember: Cougars hurry hard The University of Regina Cougars curling teams ruled the pebbled ice. Led by skip Josh Bryden, the men’s team represented Canada at the 2025 FISU Winter World University Games in Torino, Italy. They would go on to finish fourth, losing the Bronze Medal draw to Switzerland. Team Bryden would carry the motivation of the loss through the following Canada West Curling season, eventually claiming the university’s first conference title since the 1969-70 season. It would be a Cougar sweep at the Canada West tournament, with the women, led by Chloe Johnston, earning their second conference championship in four years. Both teams failed to make the playoffs at the bonspiel. SJHL says ‘good-bye’ to Hounds A storied Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) franchise said ‘good-bye’ to the league. The Notre Dame Hounds, based in Wilcox, Sask., had been a part of the league for nearly 40 years. Athol Murray College of Notre Dame saying, “changes in the hockey marketplace,” forced the team’s move to Warman. Their final game as the Hounds was March 17. Now called the Wolverines, franchise co-founders Cole Kachur and Jonathan Abrametz were behind the campaign which brought the team to the city. Beginning play at the beginning of the 2026 SJHL season, it is the first time in almost 30 years since the league has welcomed a new team. The Wolverines are 8-21-2 through their first half season in Warman. Curling world descends on Moose Jaw Saskatchewan fell short again of national men’s and women’s championships at the Brier and Scotties. In her first Scotties as a skip, Nancy Martin fell just short of a playoff appearance, finishing fourth place in her pool. Saskatchewan has not won a women’s national title since 2011 when Amber Holland claimed gold. At the Brier, the province had two chances to break its 45-year tankard drought. Rookie Rylan Kleiter failed to make the playoffs while Mike McEwen would fall in the 3-4 page playoff round to Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers. Brad Jacobs earned the right to don the Maple Leaf at the Men’s World Curling Championships in Moose Jaw. There, the Calgary rink which includes lead Ben Hebert – who is originally from Sask. – second Brett Gallant and third Marc Kennedy would claim a bronze medal in front of the home crowd. Meanwhile, Scotland’s Team Mouat captured their second world championship in three years – defeating Switzerland in the gold medal game. “It was a pleasure playing here,” Hebert said. “I love Saskatchewan. [It] is my favourite place in the country.” Maddox mania At the hockey rink, a 15-year-old phenom on the Regina Pat Canadians gave the city ‘Maddox mania’. Maddox Schultz led the Pat C’s in points with 138 (64 goals, 74 assists) in just 63 games. Regina cruised through the Sask. U18 Male AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) before winning the Telus Cup regional tournament. Schultz would score the overtime winner in the national championship – Regina’s first since 1999. He was also named tournament MVP, notching nine goals, 11 assists and 20 points. After the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Regina Pats won the 2025 prospects draft lottery, Schultz was selected first overall by his hometown team. It was the second time in five years the Pats landed a budding superstar. The Pats previously selected first overall in 2020, when they drafted now Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard. “To wear this jersey is something you dream of,” Schultz told CTV News in May. “Being drafted to your hometown team, and first overall, is pretty cool.” Heartbreak in NLL Final for Rush The Saskatchewan Rush once again rose to the top of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) in 2025. The team posted losing records each year since the pandemic but bounced back to a 13-5 regular season record last season. Facing off against the two-time defending champions in the NLL Final, Saskatchewan came up one win short of lifting the cup, losing two games to one. Going into 2026, the sting of losing is motivating the team with their sights on a championship they have not won since 2018. Berries’ record season squashed by Cinderella Red Sox As the boys of summer took over the sports landscape, the Western Canadian Baseball League’s (WCBL) Saskatoon Berries went on a tear. In 55 games, the Berries notched 46 wins and just nine loses – a WCBL single-season record. The run included two win streaks of more than 10 games and Saskatoon lost back-to-back games just once – both to the rival Regina Red Sox near the end of the regular season. Despite the record-setting season, Saskatoon’s season would not end with the biggest prize: a championship. The Berries would eventually fall at the hands of the Red Sox. Which, on the heels of the death of their teammate Jesse Lubiniecki who died at the beginning of the season, went on a Cinderella run. Regina would have the third-best record in the WCBL’s East Division but the underdogs would sweep Medicine Hat before taking Saskatoon to a do-or-die third game in the division final. Facing elimination in Game 2 of the WCBL Championship against Sylvan Lake, Regina was down to their final out, down two runs. A 2-RBI double by Justin Simard tied the game before Rafael Jackson would bring in the go-ahead and winning runs a batter later. Then in Game 3, Regina fell behind in the 6th inning, coming back in the 7th to seal the deal. “We had a team meeting and told the guys, ‘Let’s write our last chapter of this season. Let’s be the authors of our story and don’t let anyone else hold the pen,” head coach Rye Pothakos told CTV News in August. “The guys took that to heart and they finished it off with a great ending [to] the season.” It is the Red Sox’s third championship in franchise history, but their first since winning back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012. CFL rule changes In football, an announcement shook the future of the game itself. Sweeping rule changes coming from the Canadian Football League (CFL) announced in September by Commissioner Stewart Johnston will change the way Canadian Football looks for the next generation of fans. The league will roll out modified rules for rouges, changes to team placement on the sidelines, in addition to 35 second play clocks. The rouge changes will mean teams will no longer be able to win games with a single off a missed field goal that sails through the end zone. A single point will only be awarded if a returner fields a missed field goal, punt or kickoff in the end zone and either kneels or is tackled in the end zone trying to forward the ball. Teams currently have 20 seconds to get a play off but that usually doesn’t begin until it’s blown in by an official. The rule change will mandate a 35-second automatic reset on the play clock. In 2027, the goalposts at all CFL fields will be moving to the end of the reconfigured endzones, which will be shrinking to 15 yards from 20 yards. The field length itself will be reduced in size from 110 yards to 100 yards. The field width will remain at 65 yards. The changes, according to the league, are aimed at fostering a more aggressive and exciting form of play – trading field goals for touchdowns. “Anytime you have an opportunity to score more touchdowns, and with all respect to field goals, I think it’s a good thing for fans,” Riders’ president and CEO Craig Reynolds added. “This is kind of the most exciting play we have. There’s a reason that Gainer drives around the field after touchdowns and not for field goals.” At the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Man. a few months later, Johnston defended the changes. “Three downs, 12 players, unlimited motion, 65-yard-wide field and huge end zones: these rules are not going anywhere,” the commissioner said. “The new rules embrace innovation and perpetual improvement while protecting what makes Canadian football special.” Hilltops, Huskies get revenge on Regina Saskatchewan’s top amateur football teams ruled the gridiron. In the Prairie Football Conference, the Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder met for a fifth-straight season in the conference championship game. In 2025, it was the Hilltops coming out on top over the defending-champion Thunder. Saskatoon would then go on to defeat the Okanagan Sun in the Canadian Bowl – their junior football record 24th national title. The University of Saskatchewan Huskies, too, would get revenge over their provincial rival Regina Rams in the Canada West championship. After losing to the Rams in 2024, the Huskies would claim the Hardy Cup in 2025. With their starting quarterback Anton Amundrud battling cancer, Saskatchewan would also take the Mitchell Bowl but fall just short of another national championship – losing to the University of Montreal as the Vanier Cup returned to Regina. S.R. time Despite all of Saskatchewan’s success in sports the past year, 2025 was truly the year of the Green and White. The Saskatchewan Roughriders would finish the 2025 CFL season with their best record (12-6) since the pandemic en route to their first regular season division title since 2019. It was a season which included several memorable moments from Mario Alford’s game-winning kickoff return against Toronto to Tevaughn Campbell’s game-sealing interception in the 60th Labour Day Classic. Hosting the West Final at Mosaic, Saskatchewan beat the B.C. Lions on a thrilling game-winning drive in the final minute to reach the Grey Cup for the first time since 2013. With the feeling it was their time to win it all, the Riders capped off their memorable season with their fifth Grey Cup championship in franchise history. The 25-17 victory over the Montreal Alouettes in Winnipeg follows a 12-year drought for the team, who had not appeared at a Grey Cup since winning it at home in Regina in 2013. “We’ve manifested it all year. I got these wristbands made in March. ‘S R time,’ Saskatchewan Roughrider time,” quarterback Trevor Harris said after the win. “But if you say it fast enough, ‘It’s our time.’ So we need to get some t-shirts printed up that says that it’s our time. And it was our time.” Champagne popped inside the dressing room at Princess Auto Stadium, as Harris won his first Grey Cup as a starting quarterback in the CFL. The win was Corey Mace’s first as a head coach. The celebration spilled into the streets of Regina. Hundreds took to the streets of the famed ‘Green Mile’ in the thrill of victory – a party which would last days until the team paraded down Albert Street and to the Legislative Building. “And lastly, and most importantly, how about your [expletive] Saskatchewan Roughriders!” Mace proclaimed to the fans. The Riders already have visions of a repeat dancing through their heads this holiday season. Harris, and others, signing extensions with aspirations to win back-to-back Grey Cups – something Saskatchewan has never done. -With files from Carla Shynkaruk, Darrell Romuld, David Prisciak, Damian Smith, John Flatters, Jacob Carr and Hayatullah Amanat.
