Egland scores Teddy Bear Toss goal but Pats lose in OT
2h ago
Over 3,000 stuffed animals were tossed onto the ice.
Just a day before he was set to hit the free agent market, Sam Hurl has signed a deal to stay in green and white.
The 28-year-old returned to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last season, after spending the previous three in Winnipeg.
Hurl’s career began in Saskatchewan after the club drafted him in 2012. It was then that he met newly-appointed Roughrider head coach Craig Dickenson, who he said was a big reason he decided to return to Saskatchewan for the 2019 season.
“Ever since then, I’ve always just looked up to him and saw him as a fountain of knowledge. He just knows the game so well — from every aspect — and special teams is such a big part of this game, too, and to have a head coach that has that kind of background in special teams is extremely important. It’ll show during the season,” Hurl said.
“He’s just a genuine person. Sometimes in this business you don’t get that very often … he’s a straight-shooter, he is an honest guy he’s not going to beat around the bush. As players, you know you get so much kind of B.S. thrown your way sometimes, so to have a coach that you know is going to be straight with you is special.”
Hurl, who’s from Calgary and played college football at the University of Calgary, played all 18 games of the 2018 regular season. He also started in the 2018 west semi-final against the Blue Bombers. He made 41 defensive tackles, six special-teams tackles and two tackles for loss, adding another three tackles in the playoffs.
The CFL veteran is also excited to see what defensive coordinator Jason Shivers will bring to the team, noting that since Chris Jones had so much on his plate as head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations, it was often Shivers that was running the meetings.
“The continuity is going to stay there … he’s very prepared and ready for this role. As players we have a huge amount of respect for him because he’s the guy that every day that when we’re in defensive meetings he’s the guy that’s talking and he’s the guy that’s telling us what we’re going to be implementing in that week,” he said.
“So having him coming in and being the DC, I think it will be very seamless, the play-calling might be a little different, might have his own special touch on it but it’ll be really nice having the continuity of that defence.”
He now enters his eighth CFL season — three of which were also spent with Winnipeg — with a career 207 defensive tackles, 53 special-teams tackles and eight quarterback sacks in 108 regular-season games. He has played five career playoff games.
Hurl was a member of Saskatchewan’s 2013 Grey Cup championship team.
He was set to be a free agent on Feb. 12.