Lots of activity in advance of a busy football weekend!

       The C-F-L holds its Canadian Draft on Thursday while the annual Dog’s Breakfast fundraiser goes that same morning at Prairieland Park…before the U of S Huskies begin Spring Camp that evening at Griffiths Stadium.

       Three members of the Dogs got some exciting news Tuesday morning. Defensive lineman Tristian Koronkiewicz was listed 18th among the Top 20 prospects for the C-F-L Draft from the Canada West Conference. Meanwhile, defensive back Payton Hall and defensive lineman Evan Machibroda will represent the Huskies on Team West in the annual U Sports East-West Bowl on Saturday, May 12th at Laval. It’s the 16th straight year for the game featuring the top U Sports football prospects heading into their draft year. Following are news releases from the Canada West Conference, U Sports and Huskie Athletics…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Tuesday, May 1, 2018

FB: Complete Canada West CFL Prospect Rankings released

Highlights:

• The complete Canada West CFL Prospect rankings were released Tuesday, after the top five names were unveiled Monday
• Calgary leads the charge with six players ranked ahead of Thursday night’s CFL Draft
• The rankings are voted on annually by CW coaches
• A total of 19 CW players were selected in the CFL Draft a season ago

EDMONTON – The complete Canada West CFL Prospect Rankings were released Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s CFL Draft, as the conference’s top prospects wait to hear which CFL team calls their name on draft night.

The 20-player list was unveiled a day after the top five prospects were released in collaboration with 3 Down Nation. Voted on by coaches from the conference’s six football programs, the rankings provide a glimpse into how the coaches view the top draft-eligible players from their Canada West competitors.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THE TOP FIVE

In terms of team representation, the Calgary Dinos were the top squad, landing a total of six players on the list. The conference power had four players listed inside the top 10, as offensive linemen Darius Ciraco (No. 4), and Ryan Sceviour (No. 5) were joined by linebacker Micah Teitz (No. 6), and defensive linemen Brett Wade (No. 9).

Both UBC and Regina came in just behind the Dinos when it came to players on the list, as five Thunderbirds and Rams made the cut, including No. 1 prospect Dakoda Shepley (OL) of UBC.

Among the Regina products to crack the rankings was running back Atlee Simon, who at No. 7 represented the highest rated offensive skill position player in the rankings. Simon is coming off a terrific season in the Queen City, as he averaged 114 rushing yards per game, and finished second in the conference rushing race with 914 yards.

SCOUTING BUREAU COMPARISON

The CW CFL Prospect Rankings have some similarities with the CFL Scouting Bureau’s final rankings, which were released in the middle of April.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FINAL CFL SCOUTING BUREAU RANKINGS

A total of five CW players were ranked by the CFL Scouting Bureau, which is comprised of CFL scouts, player personnel directors and general managers from the league’s nine teams. UBC’s Dakoda Shepley was the top CW player in the Scouting Bureau rankings at No. 3, followed by Alberta’s Mark Korte at No. 6.

There were a few differences, however, as the CW rankings reversed the order between Calgary’s Ciraco and Sceviour, as the Scouting Bureau rankings had Sceviour (No. 13) just ahead of Ciraco (No. 14).

Another difference was where the Scouting Bureau pegged Teitz and Alberta linemen Justin Lawrence. Teitz was ranked 19^th in the Scouting Bureau rankings (No. 6 in the CW rankings), while Lawrence wasn’t ranked on the CFL list (No. 5 in the CW rankings).

NEXT CROP OF CFL STARS

Last season a total of 19 Canada West players were selected in the CFL Draft. That total was the most for the conference ever in an eight-round draft, and second most al-time behind the 1985 draft, which saw 25 Canada West athletes selected in the nine-round affair.

CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF 2017 CW DRAFTEES

Among the players selected in last year’s draft was Alberta’s Ed Ilnicki, who went 62^nd overall to the Ottawa REDBLACKS. The Spruce Grove, Alta. native returned to Alberta last season for his fifth and final season with the Golden Bears. The running back made the most of another Canada West campaign, setting a conference single-season rushing record (1,468) en route to the Hec Crighton Trophy as the nation’s top university player.

The CFL Draft is set for Thursday, May 3 at 6 p.m. MT (5 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. CT) with two-hours of coverage on TSN, with the later rounds available on TSN.ca and TSN GO.

FULL CW CFL PROSPECT RANKINGS

NOTES:

• First-place vote worth 25 points, second-place 24 etc.
• *Higher ranking based on greater number of higher placed votes
• Coaches rank all draft-eligible players excluding their own

For Immediate Release

May 1, 2018

Hall, Machibroda named to Football East-West Bowl

TORONTO (U SPORTS) – With the 2018 Canadian Football League (CFL) draft two days away, all eyes will turn next week to the next generation of top Canadian football prospects.

The Vanier Cup finalist Université Laval will host the 2018 U SPORTS Valero East-West Bowl for the second consecutive year, which features U SPORTS football players heading into their CFL draft year. The 16^th annual top prospects game will be played at TELUS-U.L. Stadium on Saturday, May 12 at 12:30 p.m. ET. Livestreaming details will be confirmed at a later date.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

2018 East-West Bowl Schedule

East-West Bowl Historical Results

Payton Hall and Evan Machibroda will represent the Huskies at the East-West Bowl. Hall, a defensive back from Caronport, Sask., tallied 30.5 tackles, one sack and four interceptions in the 2017 season, while Machibroda, a defensive lineman, made 22 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall, who captured his first national championship as a U SPORTS bench boss last November in Hamilton, Ont., will be behind the West team bench. Bishop’s head coach Cherif Nicolas, who led the Gaiters in their first season in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference, will coach the East team. Full rosters for both teams are available below.

The 2018 edition of the event, which also includes four days of practices, a combine for participating players, and a CFL free-agent camp, kicks off on Monday, May 7.

The West team is mostly made up of U SPORTS football players from Canada West and Ontario University Athletics (OUA) schools, except Carleton, Ottawa and Queen’s, which play for the East squad. The rest of the East team features players from AUS and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) schools.

Last year, the West defeated the East 37-13 for their second straight win, extending their lead in the all-time series to 9-6. The game featured 10 of the 20 prospects on the final CFL Scouting Bureau List released last month for the 2018 CFL Draft. 

2018 U SPORTS VALERO EAST-WEST BOWL ROSTERS

Note: Some players will play for both teams to fill out all the positions 

EAST TEAM

Head Coach: Cherif Nicolas, Bishop’s

Offensive Coordinator: Gabriel Cousineau, Montreal

Defensive Coordinator: Paul Eddy Saint-Vilien, Carleton

Special Teams Coordinator: Dan McNally, Acadia

WEST TEAM

Head Coach: Greg Marshall, Western

Offensive Coordinator: Ryan Sheahan, Calgary

Defensive Coordinator: Dwayne Cameron, Laurier

Special Teams: Brendan Conway, Waterloo

Offensive Line: Irv Daymond, Laurier

Quarterbacks: Steve Snyder, Western and Kyle Quinlan, McMaster

Receivers: Jabari Arthur, Calgary

Running Backs: Tom Flaxman, McMaster