Darian Durant found another level in helping lead the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup victory last season. For an encore, hell have to find an even higher level still. Durant was sensational last year, posting career numbers (325-531 for 4,154 passing yards, and a career best 31 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions), and featuring regularly in the MOP Watch. By the increasingly criticized metric that is Quarterback Rating, Durant had the best year of his career last year at 95.7, a full seven points higher than his career mark. But Durant had an awful lot of help on the teams third-ranked offence. First and foremost was league all-star and team nominee for Most Outstanding Player Kory Sheets. In his sophomore CFL campaign Sheets was second in league rushing with 1,598 yards and a gaudy 5.6 yards per carry average and 12 touchdowns. His Grey Cup performance will also be remembered in Saskatchewan – and Hamilton, albeit much less fondly – for years to come. The 29-year-old will be preparing for NFL training camp in Oakland when the Roughriders begin their title defence, and while hes in tough to make the Raiders roster, the best case scenario for Saskatchewan is a return sometime around Labour Day. Another Roughriders mainstay and fan favourite Durant will no longer have at his disposal is slight receiver Weston Dressler. The 57 slotback was a 1,000-yard receiver in five of his six CFL seasons, falling just 59 yards short in his sophomore campaign, and scored a combined 45 touchdowns. Durant and Dresslers time in Saskatchewan had coincided, the two emerging together in 2008. But now the favourite target is in Kansas City with no guarantee of returning. So this year Durant enters the unquestioned leader on offence, and with more unknowns on the roster than previous seasons, hell have to shoulder a greater load. The good news of course is that the cupboard isnt completely bare. While Dresslers sure hands and elusiveness will be missed in the receiving corps, two other pass catchers, ones still on the roster, eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark as well last season in Chris Getzlaf, who led the team with 1,045, and Taj Smith, who hit the mark in just his second season. And if Rob Bagg can stay healthy all year, that will be another receiver for Durant to lean on. The running back position is much more of a toss-up heading into the season. The team has five RBs with a combined two carries CFL experience (Clifton Smith, which he gained with the Calgary Stampeders last season). But the last time they tried to replace a solid veteran running back, Wes Cates in 2012, they found a guy who would one day lead them to a Grey Cup victory at home. So, theres hope. Things could work out around Durant; he may have a support staff as talented as the one hoisting the Grey Cup alongside him last year. But the inexperience and uncertainty heading into the season alone means hell have to do even more as both a leader and performer to keep the Roughriders in Grey Cup contention. The football crazy fans in Saskatchewan already love their veteran quarterback; if he can elevate his game and bring more success to the province, theyll cherish him even more. Notes Expansion Draft Roughriders fans were surprised to see DT Keith Shologan get picked by the Ottawa Redblacks in the national portion of the expansion draft after the veteran spent the past six seasons in Saskatchewan. Ottawa also grabbed Shologans backup in Zack Evans one round later, it being evident the Roughriders were making a ratio change. OT James Lee was Saskatchewans international loss in the draft. Coach of the YearIn his second season as head coach of the Roughriders, Corey Chamblin had a dream year. He led Saskatchewan to a scorching start to the season before guiding them to a Grey Cup win in front of a boisterous hometown crowd. Chamblin was awarded in the off-season with the leagues Coach of the Year award, beating out former Roughriders coach Kent Austin. Free Agency The Roughriders lost a lot more talent in free agency than they signed back. Notable losses included S Craig Butler, LBs Abraham Kromah and Graig Newman, WR Kierre Johnson, RB Jock Sanders, and QB Drew Willy, not to mention Kory Sheets and Weston Dressler who are now in the NFL. The team did lock up some of their pending free agents however, including DBs Paul Woldu and Terrell Maze, and WR Taj Smith. CFL DraftThe Roughriders traded out of the first round, stock piling picks later in the draft. With their first pick in the second round the team landed CFL Combine star Dylan Ainsworth, a DL from Western, before also grabbing WR Alex Pierzchalski from Toronto. Saskatchewan also had two picks in the third round, nabbing John Mark from Calgary and WR Kristopher Bastien from Concordia. Their remaining picks included DB Matt Webster from Queens and OL Kyle Paterson from Regina in the fifth round, LB Travis Bent from Concordia in the sixth round, and OL Terry Hart from St. Francis Xavier in the seventh round. New Mosaic StadiumRoughriders fans got a glimpse at the teams new stadium late in the off-season and not much longer ground was broken. The $278 million project should be completed by August 2016 and will give the 33,000 fans surely to pack the place on a regular basis a more comfortable viewing experience than the one they are getting now. Rickey Henderson Jersey . Toronto has lost six of its last eight games but is coming off Thursdays 7-3 victory at Kansas City. Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus both went deep for the Blue Jays, who are second in the American League with 34 home runs on the season. Mike Trout Angels Jersey . LOUIS - The St. https://www.cheapangels.com/1313j-don-su...sey-angels.html. Jimmy Howard made 44 saves and Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Chuck Finley Angels Jersey . - Novak Djokovic beat John Isner 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open, where hell resume his longtime rivalry with Roger Federer. Lee Smith Jersey . -- Get a flow chart ready to follow the Packers quarterback situation.SASKATOON -- The Prince George Cougars scored seven times in the opening period to defeat the Saskatoon Blades 10-6 in Western Hockey League action on Wednesday. Joseph Carvalho opened the floodgates with a power-play goal at 5:20 of the period, and Todd Fiddler, Troy Bourke and Jordan Tkatch scored in a 3:21 span made it 4-0. Prince George wasnt finished, as Jansen Harkins scored the first of his two goals to make it 5-0. Brad Morrison and Tate Olson also scored for the Cougars (20-26-7) in the period. Zach Pochiro reached the 20-goal mark for the season with goals for Prince George in the second and third period. Harkins scored his second goal of the game in the third period. Cameron Hebig scored twice for Saskatoon (14-34-4), while Logan Harland, Ryan Graham, Connor Sanvido and Mitch Lipon rounded out the scoring. Ty Edmonds made 36 saves for Prince George. Troy Tromblay started in goal for Saskatoon and was lifted after it was 5-0. Nathan Alalouf then came in to make his WHL debut, and allowed two goals on eight shots while finishing up the period before Tromblay returned. His bottom line was 21 saves on 29 shots. -- TIGERS 6 ICE 2 MEDICINE HAT, Alta. -- Curtis Valk scored 1:32 into the first period, and the Tigers took a 5-0 lead into the third period to defeat Kootenay. Miles Koules, Chad Labelle, Cole Sanford and Trevor Cox got the other Medicine Hat (29-17-30) goals in the first. Anthony Ast completed the scoring for the Tigers in the third. Luke Philip and Zak Zborosky scored in the third period for Kootenay (25-21-4). Marek Langhamer finished with 30 saves for the Tigers. Wyatt Hoflin made 28 stops for the Ice. -- HURRICANES 3 RAIDERS 2 LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -- Jonny Hogue made 41 saves, and Brady Ramsay scored the winning goal in the third period as the Hurricanes snapped an eight-game losing streak, as they came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Prince Albert. Josh Morrisey scored twice to give the Raiders (23-24-3) a 2-0 lead in the first period. Jamal Watson got one back in the first period for the Hurricanes (10-38-5-), and Taylor Cooper tied it in the second. Cole Cheveldave finished with 17 saves for Prince Albert. -- AMERICANS 4 HITMEN 1 CALGARY -- Brian Williams scored his 30th and 31st goals of the season and Eric Comrie turned back 39 shots as Tri-City defeated the Hitmen. The teams were scoreless going into the third period, before Greg Chase opened the scoring for Calgary at 1:24. Williams tied the game at 3:04 for Tri-City (25-21-5) and Braden Purtil scored the winner at 11:34. Ty Comrie made it 4-1 and Williams addded an empty-netter.dddddddddddd Mark Shields made 27 saves for the Hitmen (31-13-6), who lost their third in a row. -- REBELS 4 WHEAT KINGS 3 (SO) RED DEER, Alta. -- The Rebels went to a seven round shootout with Brandon to win their fifth in a row. Preston Kopeck, Scott Feser and Rhyse Dieno scored in regulation for Red Deer (27-21-2). Rihards Bukarts, Pulock, Ryan and Peter Quenneville replied for the Wheat Kings (26-18-6). Quenneville sent the game to overtime with his 16th goal of the season at 18:18 of the third period. Patrik Bartosak made 39 saves for Red Deer. Jordan Papirny turned back 26 shots for Brandon. -- WINTERHAWKS 8 SILVERTIPS 1 PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Winterhawks won their eighth in a row, with Paul Bittner leading the way two goals and two assists in their lopsided win over Everett. Chase De Leo, Ethan Price, Nicolas Petan, Dominic Turgeon, Brendan Leipsic and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the other Portland (34-12-5) goals. Bjorkstrands was his 34th of the season. Patrick Bajkov scored for Everett (24-22-5). Corbin Boes finished with 27 saves for the Winterhawks. Austin Lotz stopped 20 of shots for the Silvertips, and Daniel Cotton allowed a goal on 10 shots. -- GIANTS 5 BLAZERS 3 VANCOUVER -- Dalton Sward had two goals and an assist to lead the Giants over Kamloops. Sward opened the scoring with a power play goal at 4:16 and assisted on Arvin Atwals power play goal a few minutes later to make it 2-0. Dominik Volek and Cain Franson got the other Vancouver (25-19-8) goals. Cole Ully scored twice for Kamloops. Collin Shirly also scored for the Blazers (11-35-5). Payton Lee made 16 saves for the Giants, while Cole Kehler stopped 26 shots for Kamloops. -- CHIEFS 6 ROCKETS 5 (SO) KELOWNA, B.C. -- Jason Fram scored the only goal of the shootout as Spokane got by the Rockets. Reid Gow scored twice for the Chiefs (31-15-4), who won their fourth in a row, and sixth in seven games. Mitch Holmberg picked up his league-leading 46th goal of the season and added a pair of assists for Spokane. Holmberg also leads the WHL in scoring with 90 points. Liam Stewart and Carter Proft rounded out the scoring for the Chiefs. Damon Severson, Rourke Chartier, Kris Schmidli, Colton Heffley and Ryan Olsen replied for Kelowna (40-8-3), which lost its second in a row Eric Williams allowed five goals on 27 shots in 40 minutes for Spokane. Teammate Garret Hughson stopped all eight shots he faced in the third period and overtime. Jordan Cooke made 25 saves for the Rockets. ' ' '