2025 photos

 

2025 Vanier in Regina

A brief recap of what some are saying was the BEST VANIER CUP EVER. 

- Eight hardy souls made the trip to Regina including regulars Kenny, JRock, Adam, Spencer, Commander Landers. Skinny Robin made a comeback after several years off. Neil the Vancouver Local, 2011 Rookie of the Year, came to his second cup. House of Payne, Saskatchewan local, was our esteemed tour guide and named 2025 Rookie of the Year.

- The Santa suits were again the attire, and we looked very sharp in our walk from the hotel to Mosaic Stadium, garnering many honks from passing cars.

- We got VIP tickets to the game itself (a 30-16 win by Montreal over Saskatchewan) with a full buffet and indoor access. Unlike the previous Vanier trip to Sask in 2006, the weather this year was beautiful, in the 6°C range - tropical indeed.

- Four of us started the adventure with a Thursday in Calgary, where we introduced people there to the O'Neal - coffee with a shot of vodka. To quote our server Chappin - "Just wow"!

- When we first arrived in Calgary we went to the wrong hotel from the airport, which was definitely the Uber driver's fault, not Kenny's. 

- In Regina we found good company at Pile Of Bones both pre- and post-game. An astute server there advised Kenny "Even the back of your head is offensive".

- Late on Saturday, we enjoyed a Van Halen cover band that were an energetic group of old fellas.

- Next year is in Quebec City - we expect a larger contingent of Santas to attend.

- Celebrity sightings: Pierre Arseneault (USports big wig), the referee from the game at the airport, and the Regina Pats mascot dog.

V-Line

Montreal Carabins 21
Saskatchewan Huskies 12

Montreal's Mexican makes mayhem, momentum means masterful monumental match.

Vanier Cup 2025

Yeah, we are going again. This year's game is in Regina, the city whose name rhymes with fun.

University of Saskatchewan Huskies will host les Carabins de l'Universite de Montreal.

There are seven hardy souls on the Fir Sure list, two more than the last time the game was in Saskatchewan.

1. Kenny  **
2. JRock **
3. Adam **

4. Skinny **

5. Spence
6. Commander 

7. Payne ***

** returnee from 2006 Vanier Cup.
*** rookie

Vanier Santas on CBC TV

 

Vanier 2024 in the books

Another Vanier Cup Road Tour in the books as all attendees enjoyed the Limestone City.

- 24 guys rode the prison bus, driven by Julz, from CP to Kingston for the game. Another 20 or so joined us at the tailgate and game.

- We made only two brewery stops on the bus on the way down, learning from last year's experience. 

- One of our rookies destroyed a hotel room ironing board pre dinner Friday night.

- Slack night featured a delicious dinner at The Keg followed by refreshments at The Merchant. 

- Pre-game tailgate was a huge hit, with the ironing board and shooters on site. 

- The weather was nice for late November.

- We had an unprecedented number of elves accompanying the Santas.

- Commander, will assistant Mull, put on a delicious breakfast and lunch spread to keep us fed.

- Various tour members were featured on Radio Canada French TV, USports Tiktok and Laurier Alumni social media.

- We took up a position in the end zone beer terrace and were featured at least once on the CBC TV broadcast of the game.

- Unfortunately, Laurier lost 22-17 to Laval, with the Rouge et Or not even scoring a touchdown but still winning the Cup.

- Saturday night featured the typical debauchery.

- Our rookie of the year, the Mayor of CP.

1 sleep newsletter

Hi Lads ,

Here is our last pre-trip communication. Below are very informative and important details to outline the trip and weekend. Looking forward to seeing everyone and having a great weekend. Please be in time tomorrow AM for the bus as we have a tight sched tomorrow!!! Cheers!

FRIDAY

10-10:15 AM – meet at CP Canadian Tire Parking lot. Greetings and Salutations, Load, and depart

10:45-ish – first stop at Bridgemasters’ Brewery – Perth, Ontario Home | Taproom + Kitchen (bridgemastersbrewing.com). Food order has been given so we will drink and eat lunch here

12:45 – depart for ARBRU Solar Brewery in scenic Mallorytown, Ontario Location and hours – arbrubeer

3:15 depart for hotel and check-in

5:00-7:44  FREE TIME = shit, shower, and shave to prepare for Slack night. There is a Laurier Alumni event at The Merchant so a few of us will be heading there before dinner

7:45- Meet in lobby, walk to Dinner/slack night @ The KEG Kingston (8 minute walk)

After supper - night out on K Town @ various establishments.

 

SATURDAY

8AM-9AM – arise scrape fur off tongue, get breakfast

9:30 -  Get Santa gear on and gather stuff for game/Tailgate

10 AM – Load up bus and get ready to depart to Tailgate

10:30 – 12:45 Tailgate extravaganza, Candy cane shooters,  and general debauchery. Commander Landers will be manning the grill but there are supposed to be food trucks onsite.

12:46 – Santas get to beer gardens for game

1PM = kick off for 2023 Vanier Cup! GO HAWKS

Post game – meet at bus, load up and head back to Hotel

5PM - ??? Free time. Rinse and repeat Friday night

 

SUNDAY

10 AM… load and depart for home. Straight shot back to CP.

11:45 – unload, goodbyes. Head home to nurse heads

 

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS

 

• Don’t forget your Santa Suits and beers for bus/tailgate!!! But you can also stock up at one of our micro-brewery stops
• Weather is looking meh for Saturday... between 5-7 degrees and some potential drizzle for the game. We will need layers and hopefully no rain, but poncho but might not be a bad call.
• Candy Cane shooters and food for the tailgate – We have bought the supplies and food and add the costs to the ticket price. Commander Landers is bringing tents and his grill and will be serving food before the game
• Hotel has a pool but there is no hot tub. J-Rock, better bring your bubble bath for the tub in your room

 

Vanier Cup Predictions - Laurier (11-0) vs Laval (10-1)

 

V-Line:

This is shaping up to be an epic battle. Experts are suggesting this may be the BEST VANIER EVER. The Rouge et Or lead the nation with 11 Vanier Cup wins all time, and the Golden Hawks have two in 1991 and 2005, both of which several Tour members attended. The teams have never met in the Cup.

The game will feature Laurier's potent offense with Taylor Elgersma, Ryan Hughes and Tayshaun Jackson against Laval's top ranked defense. I predict a back and forth game with several lead changes and highlight reel plays, but at the end of it a game winning field goal by the Hawks' Dawson Hodge with little time left on the clock wins the third Vanier Cup in Laurier history, and the Santas storm the field.

Laurier 26

Laval 24

 

Other predictions: 

• The all time high in elf attendees turns heads amongst several Queen's co-eds and attracts much wanted attention.
• The prison bus driver propositions at least one Santa.
• At least one 1991 Laurier Vanier Cup winner joins in for a photo with the Santas and tells Kenny he was "more than big enough" to have made that team.

 

G-Spot:

The Hawks are in for a tough match against a squad who is seasoned and accustomed to the Big Game. Laurier may be undefeated, but Laval only lost one game, and it was by one point to a very good team. I didn’t like the fan interaction by the Rouge et Or players taunting the Regina fans last week … they did not <insert French accent> “show class on de field of play!”.  Booooooooo!

I feel that WLU has a slight edge with a well-rounded team with solid D, great QB with lots of weapons. Hawks will have a great showing of fans, and Laval fans travel well, so should be an awesome crowd. I expect it will be sold out or close to it. If the rain holds off, it could be a bit of a track meet with both schools having fast teams. Calling  (and hoping) for Laurier to pull out the win in an exciting game.  GO HAWKS!!

Laurier 41

Laval 37

 

Other predictions: 

• Tailgate patrons will be very high to visit the Laurier/Vanier Santas. I have prepared and bought 10 bottles on liqueur and 300 shooter cups
• We should be interviewed by media
• U Sports President will want another pic with us… and I plan on giving him my thoughts on lack of proper U Sports football coverage and terrible website
• Santas will be on the field at the end of the game

 

 

2024 Fir Sure list (Rookies highlighted)

 

Kent "Kenny G"

Jerred "Jrock"

Gabe "Gibby"

Adam "V"

Owen "O-Ball"

Spence "Guenter"

Rob "Berty"

Darin "Big D"

Linc  H Owen bud

Brian "Dickster"

Ryan

Mike "leisure Man"

Matt DD Jr.

Van van

Steve "Kinger"

Steve "Sharpie"

Greg "Fozzy"

Karsten

Kyle

Mike "mullster"

Brent "Commander"

Scott "I.T."

Lincoln "White Lincoln"

Palmer "Baby Pom Pom"

Conner "Con-Man"

Brett "Bretty-Boo"

Matt "Benny"

Mike "Chief Broken Condom"

Ed "Con-Ed Ed"

T  "man-pig"

Poor little Rich

Toby "his Worship"

Jeff "Robert Loggia"

Eric (Loggia Rookie 2)

Liam (Loggia Rookie 3)

Loggia 4

Loggia 5

Loggia 6

Loggia 7

Loggia 8

Jacob “Honey Badger”

Jeff "Ginga' Ninja"

Kobe "White Mamba"

Kael "Big Thunder"

Adrian "Boy toy"

Loggia 9

Sam (Samonella)

 

Additional Rookie Profiles;

 

Adrian - this rookie comes straight from The Rock (Born in St. Shotts), and Lord Tunderin' Jesus, you better talk to him before he has a few pints ‘cuz after dat, good luck understanding this Newfie. His daughter actually attends Queen’s He's infamous for being in bed at 8pm and up at 5am. So, he better be ready to reverse that schedule pretty quickly, but don't be surprised if you're dragging your shameless ass in from the bars at 4am and see him sipping on a coffee in the hotel lounge, dressed and ready for the day. He loves his pints, but he'll sleep for a week after this tour! If you need a Septic repair, Adrian is your man

 

Jeff – the Ginga Ninja! Don't let this pasty white, red-headed,125lb lad fool you....he may be able to run beside the bus all the way to Kingston, but he'll still crush a dozen pints and party with the best of us. He's heading back to his second home of Kingston where as a child, he roamed streets wearing plaid shirts and sporting a bright red mullet.  He grew up hitting the bars in K Town, and as a "Towny", he may be our best guide to the seedy underworld Kingston has to offer. One thing is for sure, he'll need to steal a few hotel pillows for under that Santa suit!

BEST VANIER EVER

Get ready for this year's Vanier Cup, the Laurier Golden Hawks vs Laval Rouge et Or, projected by your Vanier Cup Road Tour executive to be the BEST VANIER EVER