Barney Shynkaruk’s Behind the Face Mask takes a closer look at your favourite Saskatchewan Roughriders.
This week, he chats with running backs coach Andrew Harris.
Barney Shynkaruk: All right, here with coach Andrew Harris. Can we start with the ladder? Could you rip through there if you really need be?
Andrew Harris: Absolutely. I got at least a 100-yard game in me, but I'm not going to show you because then you're going to want to put me in there, and then, you know, I don't want any misconstrued notions, or I don't want to make them feel threatened either.
Barney Shynkaruk: I gotcha.
OK, you've now lived on both sides of this rivalry. I know Labour Day is a week away, but Winnipeg and Regina. What do you say to people, a guy that's lived in both places? Can we all just get along kind of thing, or is the rivalry a good thing?
Andrew Harris: Rivalry is beautiful. It's amazing. I think some people take it a little too far, but there's a substantial—everyone thinks, "Oh yeah, at the end of the day, they hate each other because we're so the same," but there's a big difference between a Regina and a Winnipegger.
Regina Knight—or what do you call it, Regina? I don't know. Regina and a Winnipegger.
Or just even the culture of living in the two different places. Both are enjoyable. I love being in both places, but the game itself is electric and great to be a part of.
Barney Shynkaruk: When you go back to Winnipeg, what's one thing you have to eat? You have to go to your spot.
Andrew Harris: Hands down, Nicolino's Italian Restaurant, south of Winnipeg. A good friend of mine owns it, and, yeah, they treat me well there. I'm there within the first four hours that I'm home, no matter when or what time of the season or what time of the day I'm at, I'm there within the first four hours.
Barney Shynkaruk: I'm going to check it out because I know Silver Heights is really good, but I've gone there for so many …
Andrew Harris: Not even close. Silver Heights is good. Sorry to the guys at Silver Heights, but Nicolino's is hands down.
Barney Shynkaruk: But as a hockey parent, I'm there so much, and it's like, OK, Chicken Chef, Salisbury House, those are two kind of prominent Winnipeg things. If you had to pick one, which one would you go to?
Andrew Harris: I'm going with the Nip for sure. Salisbury House.
Barney Shynkaruk: Yeah?
Andrew Harris:
But Chicken Chef, I mean, the pizza and chicken combo, I mean, it's tough actually, but I'm going with the burger all day.
Barney Shynkaruk: What do you think of Regina-style pizza?
Andrew Harris: I love it.
It gets a lot of wrath from people that are traditionalists. But for me, if I can eat a full box of pizza, I feel like a fat ass. But in Regina-style, I can only have two or three. So, I feel like I'm being more conservative and I'm a little bit healthier, even though it's two inches thick.
Barney Shynkaruk: When's the last time you actually played in a real hockey game?
Andrew Harris: Competitive?
Barney Shynkaruk: No, just a good pickup one.
Andrew Harris: A couple of weeks, actually about a month ago, I played with (former Regina Pat Canadian and Winnipeg Jet) JC Lipon and a couple of the guys in the summer league here. That was fun.
Had a good time.
Barney Shynkaruk: What kind of player were you, if you had to say, back in the day?
Andrew Harris: I was a guy that was, you know, I was scrappy. I was in the corners, a speed guy down the middle, but one guy that could set guys up. Not the greatest shot, but if I got you in tight, I had nice hands.
I led the league in points and penalty minutes every year and still doing some rights in some leagues.
Barney Shynkaruk: I heard power forward.
Andrew Harris: OK. Power forward. I'll take that.
Barney Shynkaruk: Now, growing up in Winnipeg, I think you're only a year separated from Jonathan Toews growing up. Did you play against him or with him at all?
Andrew Harris: We're the same age. We played against each other way back in minor hockey, and then he moved on to the States as he kind of got into the AAA midget realm and our Bantam AAA.
We crossed paths a few times. Before he came back to Winnipeg, we were kind of chatting and talking about the pressure. I know it's a little different realm just with the Jets and Bombers, but after him coming off his stint and what he was going through, I was proud to see him get back out there.
I wish we would have had a better season for him, but it's tough to do at our age to come back and to do something you love and with all the pressure on it, too. It's a tough situation.
Barney Shynkaruk: I heard a guy that you skated with quite a bit, who's actually a pretty good hockey player, Nick Demski.
Andrew Harris: Yeah, Demmer can wheel.
Barney Shynkaruk: What kind of player is he?
Andrew Harris: We're very similar, very similar. He's not as good, though.
Barney Shynkaruk: (Laughs.) Bigger day in your life: when the Jets left way back when or when the Jets came back?
Andrew Harris: Jets came back for sure. When they left, I was too young. I actually grew up a Red Wings fan because I was so young and didn't really understand the Jets and just becoming a new hockey fan and getting into it.
I remember them being there, but them coming back was definitely a bigger day for me.
Barney Shynkaruk: Who's your favourite hockey player of all time? Is it a Red Wing?
Andrew Harris: It's Steve Yzerman. Yeah, Steve Yzerman is an all-time favourite for sure.
Barney Shynkaruk: OK, so who are your linemates, your ultimate line of all time? Is it Yzerman and maybe someone with white skates?
Andrew Harris: Yeah, I don't know. (Sergei) Fedorov would be good, too. Yzerman would be a dream to play with, but, honestly, a guy who can wheel and play with (Connor) McDavid would be unreal.
I mean, McDavid, Yzerman, myself, that'd be a pretty filthy line, I think.
Barney Shynkaruk: (Laughs) Did you play some senior men's hockey?
Andrew Harris: Yeah, after I retired, I played sort of in 2024. I would have played a full season. Yeah, so it was fun.
I was on Ontario, the OSHL. They call it a semi-pro league.
I'm a semi-professional hockey player, but it was fun, man. We had a bunch of guys with draft picks and NHL draft picks. We had, you know, guys that played in the show for a while, lots of guys that played Europe.
Yeah, it was good hockey.
Barney Shynkaruk: It's similar to senior in Saskatchewan, which is probably the biggest. Guess how many senior hockey teams last year there were in Saskatchewan?
Andrew Harris: I mean, I heard there are three or four divisions, so I'm assuming there are probably 30 teams or something like that.
Barney Shynkaruk: One hundred and thirteen.
Andrew Harris: Holy. They got women's too, right?
Barney Shynkaruk: There is.
Andrew Harris: Yeah, that's awesome.
Barney Shynkaruk: You're in the know.
OK, ultimate hockey warm-up tune. What would it be?
Andrew Harris: Honestly, when I come on the ice and I hear "Thunderstruck," it just gets me going. Yeah, that's a banger for me for sure. Or "Sandstorm."
Barney Shynkaruk: OK, so I've asked a number of guys on the team this question: What's your go-to if you do karaoke?
Andrew Harris: Usher. "You Remind Me" by Usher for sure. That's number one.
Barney Shynkaruk: And I heard you were a pretty good ping pong player. Assess your ping pong game.
Andrew Harris: I'm horrible at ping pong. Whoever told you that is an absolute liar. Horrible.
Barney Shynkaruk: OK, so in all the locker rooms you've been in, who would you say is the GOAT when it comes to ping pong, CFL player-wise?
Andrew Harris: Nick Demski or Justin Medlock. Justin Medlock's pretty good at ping pong. But overall, Demski's pretty good at everything he does.
Barney Shynkaruk: Hockey, football, what's one skill that people don't know that you possess?
Andrew Harris: Ah, one skill (other) of those two …
Barney Shynkaruk: Can you cook?
Andrew Harris: Oh yeah, I can cook. I can cook. I love cooking, actually.
Barney Shynkaruk: What's your go-to?
Andrew Harris: I make everything, man. I love being on the grill. I love making pastas, like homemade pasta, the noodle and the sauce.
Yes, I'd say some sort of pasta. My son loves chicken Alfredo. It's his birthday today, so I'm making that tonight.
Barney Shynkaruk: All right, there you go. Andrew Harris. Rec hockey teams, senior hockey teams, maybe reach out this year. Thanks so much for doing this.
Andrew Harris: If you need a guy, call me.
