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| Saskatchewan Rattlers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Leagues | CEBL | ||
| Founded | 2018 | ||
| History | Saskatchewan Rattlers (2018–present) | ||
| Arena | SaskTel Centre | ||
| Location | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | ||
| Team colours | |||
| General manager | Barry Rawlyk | ||
| Head coach | Larry Abney | ||
| Championships | 1 (2019) | ||
| Website | therattlers.ca | ||
The Saskatchewan Rattlers are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). They play their home games at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.
In May, 2018 the fledgling Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced that Saskatoon would be home to one of six charter franchises when the league began play in 2019. [1] This would bring professional basketball back to the province of Saskatchewan for the first time since 2001, when the Saskatchewan Hawks of the International Basketball Association folded. In July, 2018, the new team announced that it would be called the Saskatchewan Rattlers, named after the prairie rattlesnake. [2] [3] Lee Genier, who helped bring the Saskatchewan Rush to Saskatoon in 2016, was named team president. [4] The team's first coach and general manager was Greg Jockims, a former coach of the Saskatchewan Huskies. [5]
Ahead of their inaugural season, the Rattlers purchased a hardwood court from the Toronto Raptors and installed it at their home in the SaskTel Centre, along with shot clocks and net stands. [6] Genier said the team purchased the floor due to its "storied history." [7] The CEBL announced in May 2019, that the Rattlers would host the league's first Championship Weekend that August, which guaranteed the Rattlers a birth in the playoffs. [8]
The Rattlers hosted the CEBL's first ever game on 9 May 2019. They lost to the Niagara River Lions by a score of 99–97, missing a last second three-point attempt to steal the win. [9] Despite the initial setback, the first season was a successful one for the Rattlers, on and off the court. Saskatchewan led the league in season ticket sales and attendance. [10] The team entered the Championship Weekend with a 11–9 record, good for 3rd place in the league. They beat the Edmonton Stingers in the semi-final, 85–83, and then the Hamilton Honey Badgers 94–83 in the final to capture the league's first championship. [11] It was only the second professional basketball title for a team in Saskatchewan, after the Saskatoon Slam's National Basketball League title in 1993. [12] Team captain Alex Campbell was named Most-Valuable-Player of the 2019 playoffs, while the championship final marked the final game of local Michael Linklater's career; the veteran, who had helped lead the Huskies to a national U Sports basketball title in 2010 alongside Jockims, announced his retirement. [5]
After the season, Jockims announced that he was stepping down from his roles as head coach and manager, but would stay with the organization as an advisor. [13] In January 2020, the team hired Huskies coach Barry Rawlyk as its new general manager. [14] Rawlyk then promoted assistant Chad Jacobson, with whom he had worked with the Huskies, to head coach. [15]
The CEBL's second season was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was ultimately played as a 6-game round-robin tournament in St. Catharines, Ontario; the Rattlers finished in last place with a 1–5 record, eliminated from contention with a loss to the expansion Ottawa BlackJacks. [16] The Rattlers were able to return to hosting games in Saskatoon during a shortened 14-game 2021 season. [17] However, public health restrictions meant the team played without fans until 12 July, when a change in restrictions enabled a return of fans. [18] The team continued to struggle on the court, again winning just once during the season and missing the playoffs for a second straight year. [19] In the midst of the losing season, Jacobson resigned as coach, and the team named assistant Conor Dow the interim head coach. [20]
In January 2022, the Rattlers signed veteran NBA assistant Dean Demopoulos as its new head coach. [21] The team's play improved in the 2022 season, the league's first full season since 2019, as the Rattlers finished with a 11–9 record, securing home court for a playoff match-up with the two-time defending champion Stingers. Saskatchewan defeated Edmonton 94–91, led by 20 points from Tony Carr, to advance. [22] The Rattlers were then eliminated by the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the quarter-finals despite a triple-double from Carr. [23]
The Rattlers struggled through the first half of the 2023 season, and after losing 7 games in a 9-game stretch, the team fired Demopoulos on 6 July. Assistant Tanner Massey took over the head coach position on an interim basis. [24] The team had a 4–3 record under Massey, but were eliminated from playoff contention with a 92–89 loss in their final regular season game against the Calgary Surge. [25]
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.
| Saskatchewan Rattlers roster | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||
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Updated: March 19, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||
| = Indicates League Championship |
| League | Season | Coach | Regular season | Post season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | |||
| CEBL | 2019 | Greg Jockims | 11 | 9 | .550 | 3rd | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | Won CEBL Championship |
| 2020 | Chad Jacobson | 1 | 5 | .167 | 7th | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2021 | Chad Jacobson/Conner Dow | 1 | 13 | .071 | 7th | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2022 | Dean Demopoulos | 11 | 9 | .550 | 5th | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost quarter-finals | |
| 2023 | Dean Demopoulos/Tanner Massey | 8 | 12 | .400 | 5th West | Did not qualify | ||||
| Totals | 32 | 48 | .400 | — | 3 | 1 | .750 | |||
In 2023, the Rattlers announced that they would be replacing the netting at basketball courts across Saskatoon throughout the summer. [26]
SaskTel Centre is an arena located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The facility opened in February 1988 and is currently the home venue of the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League, the Saskatchewan Rattlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, and the Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League, with the arena being referred to as Co-op Field at SaskTel Centre during Rush games.
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation, operating as SaskTel, is a Canadian crown-owned telecommunications firm based in the province of Saskatchewan. Owned by the provincial government, it provides wireline and wireless communications services, including landline telephone, mobile networks, broadband internet, IPTV, and security services. Through a subsidiary, SaskTel International, the company has also worked on telecom infrastructure projects in countries such as Argentina and the Bahamas, as well as being the lead implementation company for the communication and control systems of the Channel Tunnel between England and France.
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Dean Demopoulos is an American professional basketball coach.
The Saskatchewan Hawks were a professional basketball club based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that competed in the International Basketball Association beginning in the 2000–01 season, and the Continental Basketball Association in 2001–02.
Sports in Saskatchewan consist of a wide variety of team and individual games, and include summer, winter, indoor, and outdoor games. Saskatchewan's cold winter climate has ensured the popularity of sports including its official sport, curling, as well as ice hockey, ice skating, and cross-country skiing. The province also has warm summers and popular summer sports include baseball, football, soccer, basketball, track and field, rodeo, horse-racing, and golf.
The Saskatoon Slam were a Canadian professional basketball franchise based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that played in the National Basketball League in 1993 and 1994.
Paul Merriman is a Canadian politician. He is the member of Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (MLA) for the electoral district of Saskatoon Silverspring-Sutherland, and a member of the Saskatchewan Party.
Ice hockey is among the most popular sports in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, and the province has been notable for producing a large number of hockey figures in both men's and women's hockey. Saskatchewan does not currently have a professional hockey team of its own, but it is home to a large number of junior and senior hockey teams. The sport is governed in the province by Hockey Saskatchewan.
The Western Women's Canadian Football League (WWCFL) is a full-contact women's Canadian football league which began play in the spring of 2011. The league plays an annual season in the spring and summer, and with seven teams it is the largest women's football league in Canada. The teams play 12-woman tackle football games using the Football Canada rules, similar to those of the Canadian Football League. The league has teams in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
The Saskatoon Valkyries are a women's football team in the Western Women's Canadian Football League's (WWCFL) Prairie Conference. The team is based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. They are the most successful WWCFL team, winning eight of the leagues eleven championships since play began in 2011, including the first four. Their primary rivals are the Regina Riot, the only other WWCFL team to win the championship.
The Regina Riot are a women's football team in the Western Women's Canadian Football League's (WWCFL) Prairie Conference. The team is based in Regina, Saskatchewan. Their provincial rivals are the Saskatoon Valkyries. The Riot and Valkyries have dominated the WWCFL since play began in 2011 as the only two teams to win the league championship.
The Nutana Curling Club is a curling club located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Established in 1929 and first opening its doors in 1930, the club was originally located in the city's historic Nutana neighbourhood. The club relocated to the south-central Nutana Suburban Centre neighbourhood in 1966. Once one of six curling clubs in Saskatoon, Nutana is one of three clubs still operating along with the Sutherland Curling Club and the CN Curling Club.
The Saskatchewan Rush is a Canadian professional box lacrosse team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Formerly the Edmonton Rush, they are members of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and play their home games on Co-op Field at SaskTel Centre. The Rush have won the NLL championship twice since their move to Saskatchewan, in 2016 and in 2018.
Michael Linklater is a retired Canadian basketball player. He last played for the Saskatchewan Rattlers in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). He is a Nehiyaw (Cree). Linklater received the 2018 Tom Longboat Award, which recognizes Aboriginal athletes "for their outstanding contributions to sport in Canada". He won the 2018 Inspire Award in the sports category.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by ownership group Canadian Basketball Ventures.
The Vancouver Bandits are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Langley, British Columbia, that compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). The Bandits play home games at Langley Events Centre, located in the Fraser Valley. They were formerly known as the Fraser Valley Bandits but after they sold the team, they changed the name to the Vancouver Bandits.
The 2019 CEBL season was the inaugural season of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. It included six teams: Saskatchewan, Fraser Valley, Edmonton, Hamilton, Niagara, and Guelph. The regular season ran from May 9, 2019 to August 15, 2019, and the Championship Weekend took place on August 24 and 25, 2019, hosted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. On August 25, the Saskatchewan Rattlers won the CEBL's first ever Championship after beating the Hamilton Honey Badgers.
The Ottawa BlackJacks are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The BlackJacks compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). They play their home games at TD Place Arena, an arena shared with the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League.
The 2020 CEBL season was the second season of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). It was played from July 25 to August 9 at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario.
