Category: Saskatchewan

Robokicker Dave Ridgway Retires

On April 24, 1996, one of the most prolific kickers to play the Canadian game announced his retirement. Dave Ridgway played every game throughout his 14-year career in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Born in England, his family came to Canada in the 1970s. Ridgway played college football at the University of Toledo. In 1981, he was drafted by the Montreal Alouettes but didn’t make the team. The following year he signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent.

An account in the Regina Leader-Post of Saskatchewan head coach Joe Faragalli praising rookie kicker Dave Ridgway in 1982.

In 1987, he was traded to Edmonton then subsequently traded to Montreal. After the Alouettes folded prior to the season, the Roughriders once again signed him. Clearly, fate wanted Ridgway to be a Rider.

On September 6, 1987, Ridgway kicked a then record 60-yard field goal in the Labour Day weekend game against the Winipeg Blue Bombers. It was probably the second biggest field goal in his career; we’ll get to the biggest one shortly.

Playing a whopping 238 games in the CFL, Ridgway was known for his accuracy and ability to get the job done in clutch situations. He scored 574 field goals and a total of 2,374 points throughout his career. His 78% all-time field goal accuracy helped earn him the nickname “Robokicker.” This stat is even more remarkable when you consider the length of his playing career as well as the fact that half of those games were played at Taylor Field in Regina which was known for its often windy conditions.

Dave Ridgway kicking the game winning field goal in the 1989 Grey Cup.
(Photo: Canadian Football Research Society)

Now, let’s get to that biggest field goal. And this one’s tough to talk about as a Ti-Cat fan. But one must give credit where credit is due. In the dying seconds of the 1989 Grey Cup game versus Hamilton with the score tied at 40-40, Dave Ridgway booted a 35-yard field goal to win the game for the Riders. It was a dagger in the hearts of Tiger-Cat fans but a hard fought and well-deserved victory for Robokicker and the Green and White. The kick (or better known as “The Kick”) secured just the second Grey Cup championship for Saskatchewan.

Prior to the 1996 season, Dave Ridgway was traded to Montreal. But rather than continue his career with the Als, he opted to call it a day and announced his retirement on his 37th birthday.

Regina Leader-Post article by Darrell Davis about the glorious career of Dave Ridgway (25 April 1996)

I reached out to Rod Pedersen, the former longtime voice of the Roughriders, to share his thoughts and memories of one of the CFL’s best. Rod was just nine years old when Ridgway arrived in Regina. “I was living in Milestone, SK collecting Roughriders trading cards from the local RCMP detachment which would’ve included Ridgway’s rookie card. My Dad was a Rider season ticket holder and took us to the games,” he recalls.

Ridgway’s loyalty to the Roughriders was clearly evident. “Dave’s a smart guy and realized quickly that the place you want to play in the CFL is Saskatchewan. The Riders weren’t very good back then (they were in the midst of missing the playoffs 11 years in a row) but the fans’ love for the team was real, and the players knew something special was being built by Rider management,” Rod continues.

I asked if there are any particular plays or special moments that stand out for him. “Well, they call him “Robokicker” for a reason, so it was nice to know, as a Rider fan, that generally anytime Ridgway went out for a field goal, he was going to make it. I mean, it’s an incredibly difficult task but Dave made it look easy. That didn’t ease much of our anxiety when he lined up a 35-yard field goal to win the 1989 Grey Cup, but we should’ve known. Ridgway’s accuracy made “The Miss” in the 1992 Western Semi-Final all the more unbelievable, and it lives in Rider lore to this day. That was also the last game Bob Poley and Roger Aldag ever played. There wasn’t any one single Ridgway kick that stands out, other than ’89, but he holds all the major records like most field goals in a season (59), most field goals in a game (8), and the longest field goal streak in Rider history (28).”

Rod’s mention of “The Miss” is a gentle reminder that even legends can falter. I remember watching that game on TV and seeing Ridgway slip on the natural grass at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on the final play of the game, dashing any chance of a Saskatchewan game-winning field goal.

Was Dave Ridgeway one of the greatest Riders off all time? Rod thinks so. “I think all the records I listed tells you that he is. Having his #36 retired, going into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2003, these things all point to his legacy. More than anything though, in my role with the Riders I got to be around Dave a lot, interview him multiple times, and he’s always first class and very obliging. That means more to me than all the records.”

So, here’s to the man who gave Rider fans something to cheer about (and a championship to boot!) for 14 seasons. Thirty years later, the records still stand. And the legend of Robokicker lives on.

Sources:

Canadian Football Hall of Fame profile for Dave Ridgway
The Regina Leader-Post, 8 June 1982
The Regina Leader-Post, 8 September 1987
Riderville heads back in time to honour Ridgway and ‘The Kick’
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April 24, 2026
Five Canadian Football Players Lost in 1956 Plane Crash Part II

The 1956 plane crash that claimed the lives of five Canadian football players garnered widespread newspaper coverage across Canada and parts of the United States.

Melvin Becket, Mario DeMarco, Gordon Sturtridge, and Ray Syrnyk of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calvin Jones of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were aboard Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 when it crashed into a remote area of British Columbia.

Here is a sampling of news articles about the tragedy:

Front page of the Regina Leader-Post on December 10, 1956.

Heart-breaking article in the Regina Leader-Post (December 10, 1956) expressing hope that Mario DeMarco and Melvin Becket would somehow survive the disaster.

Front page of the Iowa City Press-Citizen (December 10, 1956) with a focus on Calvin Jones, who was a standout college player at the University of Iowa before joining the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Front page of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix on December 10, 1956.
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September 12, 2025
Five Canadian Football Players Lost in 1956 Plane Crash

On Sunday, December 9, 1956, tragedy struck Canadian football when five professional players lost their lives in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 left Vancouver that evening bound for Calgary with 62 passengers and crew onboard. Among the passengers were four members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (Melvin Becket, Mario DeMarco, Gordon Sturtridge, and Ray Syrnyk) and Calvin Jones of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. They were returning from Vancouver, where the 1956 Canadian Football Council all-star game was played the previous day.

About an hour after takeoff, the plane crashed into Mount Slesse, near Chilliwack, BC. All 62 people aboard the aircraft died. The crash site is in a remote area of British Columbia, which made recovery efforts virtually impossible. The remains of both the plane and the victims remain at the site to this day.

Here is a closer look at the five players who were lost in the disaster:

Melvin Becket was a native of Chicago, Illinois. He was drafted by the NFL’s Green Bay Packers but opted to play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. His wife was expecting their child just after Christmas.

Mario DeMarco was an American from New Jersey. He and Melvin Becket were not only teammates; they were also business partners of a local gas station in Regina. The DeMarco–Becket Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman in the CFL’s West Division.

Calvin Jones was an African-American from Ohio who came to Canada to play professional football with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after a standout college career at the University of Iowa. He missed an earlier flight out of Vancouver so was instead put on the ill-fated TCA Flight 810.

Gordon Sturtridge was a native of Winnipeg, where he started his professional football career. He was a three-time western all-star and played four seasons with Saskatchewan. His wife Mildred was also aboard the flight. They left behind three young children.

Ray Syrnyk was a native of Saskatoon and played on the 1953 Saskatoon Hilltops junior championship team. He was the youngest (22) of the five players lost.

Find A Grave Memorial for Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 810 Victims

Sources:
The Province, 10 December 1956
The Regina Leader-Post, 10 December 1956
The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 10 December 1956

September 10, 2025
CFL Media Guides in the 1960s

For eons, the Canadian Football League published Media Guides or Fact Books for its teams. These little handbooks were meant to familiarize local journalists with the players and coaching staff of the team they were covering. They included biographies, statistics, records, and team histories.

Team media guides were also a great little souvenir for the savvy football fan. I have several in my own collection I like to peruse every now and then.

The CFL still produces them at least in electronic form. At least for some teams. I’m not sure if the league still offers print copies, though. It looks like they’ve met the same fate as game day programs and printed tickets, which is unfortunate.

Anyway, I thought what better way to spend the dog days of summer than by taking a look at some of these CFL media guides from the 1960s (or the late 1950s in a couple of cases). It was an exciting decade for the CFL and Canadian football.

Here are some photos of the media guides (front and back covers) for each CFL team from that era:

The above photos are courtesy of the good folks at the Canadian Football Research Society.
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July 16, 2025
Ron Lancaster Retires

When I first started following CFL football in the early 1990s, Ron Lancaster was considered one of the best coaches in the game. His Edmonton Eskimos were consistently in the hunt for top spot in the West Division. Perennial Grey Cup contenders.

But long before he was coaching Edmonton onto victory, he was a standout player – one of the best quarterbacks in the game – for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He actually started his CFL career with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1960. He and Russ Jackson were Ottawa’s quarterbacking duo. In 1963, he joined the Green Riders.

Ron Lancaster, dubbed “the Little General,” played 16 seasons with Saskatchewan. Throughout his time quarterbacking the Roughriders, Saskatchewan played in five Grey Cup games, winning in 1966, the Riders’ first championship. In fact, Lancaster had only one losing season in all those years. Quite a remarkable feat.

That one losing season turned out to be Lancaster’s last…1978. The Roughriders finished with a dismal 4-11-1 record and placed last in the West Division, missing the playoffs. At the age of 40, the Little General would call it quits.

Ron Lancaster’s final game was on Sunday October 29, 1978 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. Coming off the bench in the fourth quarter, he led the Roughriders back from a six-point deficit to defeat Edmonton 36-26.

Here’s how the Regina Leader-Post described Lancaster’s final game:

Hughes, Bob. “Lancaster legend comes to appropriate close.” Regina Leader-Post, 30 October 1978, p. 17.

Within days of playing for the last time, Ron Lancaster formally announced his retirement. He was the CFL’s first player to pass for over 50,000 yards and was selected as the league’s most outstanding player twice (1970 and 1976).

Post-Retirement

Upon retiring as a player, Lancaster was immediately named Saskatchewan’s new head coach, replacing Walt Posadowski. Lancaster’s first head coaching gig wasn’t as successful as his playing career, however, and the Riders missed the playoffs both years Lancaster was at the helm.

In 1981, he moved to the broadcast booth and became the colour commentator for the CFL on CBC. It was in 1991 that he returned to the sidelines as Edmonton’s head coach.

In late 1997, we football fans in Hamilton rejoiced as the Little General came east and took over the coaching duties for the Tiger-Cats. In one year, he helped turn around the Ti-Cats, leading the team to the Grey Cup for the first time in almost a decade.

Sadly, Ron Lancaster died in 2008 just shy of his 70th birthday. A member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (inducted in 1982), the Little General is easily one of the greatest to play, coach, and call the game.

July 9, 2025