Regina Pats trade scoring leader and captain Tanner Howe
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Tanner Howe was was the third youngest captain in the Regina Pats' history.
Brett Lauther will be wearing green and white for the next three seasons.
On Monday, the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders announced the veteran kicker has signed an extension to remain with the club.
“It’s the best place to play football in the league, the best people out here, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Lauther told The Green Zone on Monday. “I believe in what we are going to turn around here. The first three or four years here, we were first or second in the West and had a couple tough seasons.
“You can’t cry about it. It’s about moving forward and I think we are making the right moves to do that.”
Later in the day, the Roughriders also announced that offensive lineman Logan Ferland had agreed to a two-year contract extension.
Both Lauther and Ferland could have become free agents Feb. 13.
Lauther, a product of Truro, N.S., has been with the Riders since 2018. In that time, he has made 203 of 242 attempted field goals (83.9 per cent).
In 2023, the 33-year-old made 36 of 44 attempts in 17 games – the only game he missed was in Week 19 against the Calgary Stampeders when he was dealing with an illness.
While a new Riders coaching staff will be in place after a second straight 6-12 season, one familiar face is special-teams co-ordinator Kent Maugeri, who is one of just two coaches to be retained under new head coach Corey Mace. The other is Anthony Vitale, who has moved from being the offensive line coach to the running backs spot.
“(Maugeri) really listens to input from the guys and I think that’s important. He was someone I was in his corner for and going to bat, saying this is someone we could potentially retain. He could really do big things,” Lauther said.
Lauther was voted the team’s most outstanding Canadian in 2018 and was Saskatchewan’s most outstanding special-teams player in 2018 and ’21. He was also a West Division all-star in 2018.
He owns several Rider records, including his overall accuracy rate, which is the best of any kicker in the team’s history.
Lauther is third among Roughriders kickers in field goals made (203) behind Dave Ridgway (574) and Paul McCallum (368), and is fifth all-time in team scoring (755 points).
Before joining the Riders, Lauther spent the 2013 and ’14 seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. After that, he bounced around the league on practice rosters and was out of football for a period of time.
But he has found a home in Saskatchewan, where he has spent five years already.
“This is my second chance at life in the CFL and this is home for me. I couldn’t imagine putting on another uniform or playing for anyone else. It means the world to me,” Lauther said.
“I can settle down a little more here now and get a place. I just got engaged and stuff too and start a family. There are a lot of things off the field, but I try to keep the main thing the main thing and that’s trying to go out there and win football games for the Riders in this province.”
At the CFL awards prior to the 2023 Grey Cup, Lauther received the Tom Pate Memorial Award, which is given each year to a CFL Players’ Association member who demonstrates supreme sportsmanship and exemplary contributions to his team and his community.
Lauther will be captaining one of the teams in the second annual Roughrider Foundation Winter Classic charity hockey game on Feb. 3 at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon. His opponent is a team captained by Stanley Cup-champion Ryan Getzlaf.
“(It’s) a little bit of stiff competition but who doesn’t love a good underdog story?” Lauther said. “We’re taking all the doubt and negativity right now on our side and we’re looking forward to it.”
Lauther is also glad the money raised will go back to helping children in the province.
“It’s a community-owned team first and we’re not here without the fans and community,” he said. “I’m from kind of a similar-sized province and I always say the people are the same and they have treated me like gold out here and have given me so much and it is such a privilege to wear green and go out there and try to win games for them.”
Ferland started 18 regular-season games at right guard in 2023, but he had to shift to right tackle due to injuries in two games. He was voted the Roughriders’ most outstanding lineman for a second straight season.
A product of Melfort, Ferland joined the Roughriders in 2019 as a territorial junior, spending that season on the practice roster while playing for the PFC’s Regina Thunder.
He cracked Saskatchewan’s starting lineup in 2021, playing 15 games (including two playoff contests) at left guard and one at centre. The 6-foot-5, 306-pounder then started 15 games at left guard during the 2022 season.