Hildahl’s sudden passing ‘very upsetting’

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This article was published 28/08/2011 (5467 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THERE were tributes Saturday for former Winnipeg Blue Bombers board chairman Ken Hildahl, who passed away suddenly Friday.

CFL commissioner Mark Cohon praised Hildahl for laying the groundwork that has resulted in the club’s phenomenal success this season. “As a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers boad of directors for ten years, and its chairman for five, Ken epitomized the devotion to community, passion for our game and pride in country that drive the CFL,” Cohon said in a statement. “His contributions to his beloved Bombers are evident today in the tremendous success the organization is enjoying this year and the bright future it can look forward to in a new stadium.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hildahl family and his many friends in Manitoba and across Canada.”

Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice told reporters Saturday afternoon he had fond memories of Hildahl. “I played in the Bombers golf tournament with him. It was one of my first encounters with him years ago,” LaPolice said. “I believe he was still in office when I was named (head coach). He was one of the first people I got to meet. He was a good man, super man. Very upsetting.”

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LAPOLICE explained Saturday what happened on the delay-of-game penalty the Bombers bench was assessed over LaPolice’s phantom challenge of the 49-yard touchdown catch by Hamilton Tiger-Cats slotback Chris Williams in the second quarter of Friday night’s 30-27 Bombers win at Canad Inns Stadium.

Williams was pushed out of bounds by a Bombers defender, then re-entered the field of play prior to making the grab. A new rule this season makes it legal to do that in those circumstances, but LaPolice said players must still re-enter the field of play immediately and he threw his flag believing Williams had been out of bounds too long.

“He was out there for a while, so I threw the challenge flag,” LaPolice said. “They told me, ‘That’s not reviewable, Paul. What you can challenge is if he caught it in or out of bounds.’ We definitely knew he caught it in bounds.”

So at that point, LaPolice had the option of either coming up with something else to challenge on the play and losing, or keeping his challenge flag and accepting a 10-yard penalty for delaying the game.

Because the play was a touchdown, LaPolice said the decision was a no-brainer. “I’d rather take a 10-yard penalty on a kickoff after a touchdown.”

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BOMBERS running back Fred Reid had just four carries for 17 yards in the first half against Hamilton and finished the night with just 12 carries for 54 yards.

That’s not much business for last year’s leading CFL rusher, but LaPolice said the circumstances dictated it. “They’ve got a good front,” LaPolice said of Hamilton, “and we wanted to make sure we changed the launch point and make sure we had some play-action passes. And we felt we could attack them when they had man-coverage. So we threw the ball a little more than we normally do.”

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LAPOLICE said the Bombers emerged unscathed injury-wise from the Hamilton game, but he was still uncertain whether previously injured linebacker Marcellus Bowman (foot) or injured defensive tackle Dorian Smith (ankle) will be back in the lineup in time for next Sunday’s Labour Day Weekend game in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders are just 1-7 and are heading into their first game since firing both their head coach and offensive co-ordinator and LaPolice agreed that creates a dangerous situation for the Bombers. “We went in there in ’02 with a pretty good football team,” he recalled, referencing a Labour Day clash when he was Bombers offensive co-ordinator, “and got beat by Rocky Butler, a third-string quarterback who completed, like, six passes. So we’ve got to be ready to play.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca