Game Notes – Calgary

ALL ROADS START IN CALGARY – This weekend, for the fourth time in tour history, PBR Canada’s Monster Energy Tour will travel to Calgary, Alberta for the Calgary Classic at the Nutrien Western Event Centre. The event begins on Friday, January 24 at 7:30 p.m. MST and concludes on Saturday, January 25 at 7:30 p.m. MST. The event is one of only four two-day events on the 10-stop, 2020 Monster Energy Tour. Following the event in Calgary, both Lethbridge, Alberta (March 6-7), and Sydney, Nova Scotia (May 22-23), will welcome the tour for two days of action prior to the PBR Monster Energy Canadian Finals in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on Nov. 13-14.

RELATED: Click here for the complete 2020 Calgary Classic Game Notes.

NEW YEAR, NEW POINTS – For the 2020 season, PBR’s Competition Committee approved a sweeping change to the world points structure in an effort to make the points easier to calculate and track, while also providing more riders the potential opportunity to earn points. The format was simplified by reducing the number of world points available proportionally across all territories and tours. As a result, more riders may remain in contention for World Championship later into the season under this new system compared to previous seasons. Below is the 2019 compared to the 2020 points system for the Monster Energy Tour. The national points structure remains unchanged.

	2019 Points – Aggregate	2020 Points - Aggregate
1st	170	30
2nd	190	20
3rd	55	10
4th	20	6
5th	15	4
6th	10	3
7th	5	2

 

THIS WEEKEND’S FORMAT – The Calgary Classic will feature two rounds of bull riding. Each rider will get on one bull in Round 1 on Friday and Round 2 on Saturday. The 10 bull riders with the top combined ride scores will then advance to the championship round on Saturday where they will attempt one final bull in an effort to be crowned the event champion. The Calgary Classic will also feature the first-ever 5 v. 5 Showdown. Following Friday night’s Round 1, the Top 5 riders at the event from the 2019 national standings, will attempt five of the event’s top bulls. Featuring both a separate purse, and national points, $5,000 will be available, with the winner set to collect 250 national points.

5 v. 5 Showdown – In 2020, at all two-day Monster Energy Tour events, the opening night of competition will feature a 5 v. 5 Showdown. Pitting the nation’s Top 5 riders against the five best bucking bulls at the event, the 5 v. 5 Showdown will feature both a separate purse, and national points. No world points will be awarded. The national points will be awarded as: 1^st – 250; 2^nd – 150; 3^rd – 125; 4^th- 100; and 5^th – 75. The money will payout as: 1^st - $2,500; 2^nd - $1,500; and 3^rd – $1,000. However, should fewer than three riders record qualified rides, the remaining money will be redistributed amongst those riders who did record a score. If two riders cover their draw, the top scorer will earn $3,000, while the runner-up will collect $2,000. If only one rider reached the 8-second whistle, he will collect the full $5,000. Should no one ride, the $5,000 will be added to the next 5 v. 5 Showdown in Lethbridge on March 6. The 5 v. 5 Showdown matchups for Calgary, as determined by the final 2019 national standings, are:

            No. 8 Garrett Green vs. VJV Whiskey Hand

            No. 6 Brock Radford vs. Cool Bricks

            No. 5 Aaron Roy vs. Kubota’s Summer Warrior

            No. 3 Jared Parsonage vs. Uptown Funk

            No. 2 Dakota Buttar vs. Hannah Motors Homeboy

SO FAR IN 2020 – In 2019, fans witnessed arguably one of the most intense races for the PBR Canada Championship in league history. Making an incredible come-from-behind surge, Daylon Swearingen won the 2019 PBR Canada Finals to surge from No. 4 to No. 1 in the nation, crowned the season’s PBR Canada Champion. His impressive 4-for-4 showing in Saskatoon allowed him to surpass both Dakota Buttar and Jared Parsonage who were the two most dominant riders in Canadian competition throughout the regular-season. With the 2020 season getting underway the weekend following the Canadian Finals, the intense action has only continued.

At the first event of the new season, Logan Biever went a perfect 2-for-2 at the Touring Pro Division stop in Dawson Creek, British Columbia to capture the first PBR event win of his career. The victory also propelled the 21-year-old to the No. 1 ranking in Canada for the first time. His reign atop the national standings, however, was short lived. At the second Touring Pro Division stop of the year, in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Buttar was back to his winning ways, topping both Round 1 and the Championship Round en route to capturing the event victory. Collecting 350 national points, Buttar catapulted to the top of the Canadian standings, now 30 points in front of No. 2 Biever. The event also featured Top 10 performances by Brock Radford, who tied for fourth, Jared Parsonage, who tied for sixth, and three-time PBR Canada Champion Aaron Roy, who was ninth.

TEAM CANADA – Ahead of the 2020 season-launch PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour’s Calgary Classic, coaches Scott Schiffner and Tanner Girletz announced the final riders set to represent Team Canada at the 2020 PBR Global Cup USA in Arlington, Texas on Feb. 15-16. The Maple Leaf’s three open positions were filled with two-time PBR Canada Champion Zane Lambert, Brock Radford and alternate Jake Gardner. They join the powerhouse quartet of Jordan Hansen, Jared Parsonage, Dakota Buttar and Shay Marks. Of the seven riders, all but two, Marks and Hansen, will be present in Calgary.

Lambert, a 15-year veteran of the PBR, will add ample experience to a roster that contains some of the nation’s newest talent. Now a four-time national team competitor, Lambert is a five-time PBR World Finals qualifier and a former Unleash The Beast regular. In Canadian competition, Lambert is one of only two multi-time national champions, joining three-time PBR Canada Champion Aaron Roy as the only athlete to win the Canadian Finals in multiple seasons, let alone back-to-back years (2016 and 2017).

Radford joins the team for the third time in his career, and first since Sydney in 2018, after a knee injury relegated him to the sidelines for the most recent PBR Global Cup. One of the nation’s most determined competitors, Radford mounted an incredible second-half surge in 2019, first competing on July 4, to qualify for his fifth PBR Canada Finals and finish No. 6 in the nation. Gardner will ride for the Maple Leaf for the first time since he was a part of Team Canada at the inaugural PBR Global Cup in Edmonton in Nov. 2017. In 2019, Gardner finished a career-high No. 9 in Canada, winning one event, along with logging and additional 11 Top-10 efforts.

HOME PROVINCE HOPEFULS – Of the 27 riders set to compete at the Calgary Classic, 20 of whom are Canadians, 11 hail from the province of Alberta. Of those 11 riders, the contingent is headlined by Calgary’s own Nick Tetz. The 2018 PBR Rookie of the Year was sidelined for the majority of the 2019 season after undergoing reconstructive shoulder surgery. Despite the time on the sidelines, Tetz capped the 2019 season with a strong finish, concluding the final regular-season Monster Energy Tour event in Edmonton eighth. Since, Tetz has travelled stateside, competing on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour in Oakland, California; Reno, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; and Portland, Oregon. He is also joined by De Winton’s Brock Radford who won the 2018 Calgary Classic.

The additional Alberta riders are: Cawl Braithwaite (Bluffton), Wacey Finkbeiner (Ponoka), Riley Gagnon (Innisfail), Wyatt Gleeson (Sundre), Garrett Green (Meeting Creek), Dayton Johnston (Milk River), Zane Lambert (Ponoka), Griffin Smeltzer (Claresholm), and Cole Young (Fairview).

PAST CALGARY EVENT WINNERS – In 2019, in front of a sold-out crowd, home province favorite Jordan Hansen went a perfect 3-for-3 to capture his career-first win on PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour, victorious at the Calgary Classic. After recording an 83-point ride in Round 1 aboard Sick Rhymes to sit sixth overall after the first night of action, Hansen quickly climb the leaderboard at the record-setting event when he won Round 2 for his 85-point ride on Fantastic Pet. As the final man to leave the chutes in the championship round, Hansen sealed the win when he rode Twist of Barbwire for 87 points, becoming the lone rider to cover all three of his bovine athlete opponents at the event. For the win, Hansen collected a check for $6,114.90, along with 575 Canadian and 170 world points. As a result, the then 25-year-old left Calgary as the No. 1 ranked rider in the nation after beginning the stop No. 5. He led then No. 2 Jared Parsonage, who tied for 10th at the event, by 119.17 points. The event also featured a break-out performance by runner-up Riley Gagnon who joined an elite contingent of riders when he covered 2018 PBR Canada Bull of the Year Happy Camper for 89 points. For the career-high finish at just the seventh event of his career, Gagnon earned a check for $4,539.85, along with 385 Canadian and 90 world points.

2019                    Jordan Hansen

2018                    Brock Radford

2016                    Brady Sims  

FAMILIAR WATERS – On the first night of action at the 2020 PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour Calgary Classic, four riders will face rematches. Of the quartet, just one rider, Dayton Johnston, has previously covered their bovine athlete opponent. After bucking off the Wilson Rodeo Company bovine athlete in back-to-back trips in 2018 during the regular-season, first bested in 4.34 seconds at the Elnora, Alberta Touring Pro Division event, followed by a 2.31-second effort later that season on the Monster Energy Tour in Abbotsford, Johnston reached the 8-second whistle at the 2018 Canadian Finals. Reaching the buzzer, Johnston and the bull teamed up for an 81-point score. Of the three remaining riders facing a familiar opponent, none of reached the whistle. Those rematches are:

Italo Aguilar Goncalves vs. Carlier Cartel (2019 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan TPD – 43 points – 2.31 seconds)

Todd Chotowetz vs. Playing Chicken (2019 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan TPD – 43 points – 2.53 seconds)

Wyatt Gleeson vs. Strong Arm (2018 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan TPD – 43.5 points – 2.8 seconds)

BULL PEN – In 2019, paralleling the fierce race to be crowned the PBR Canada Champion, was an equally intense battle to be named the PBR Canada Bull of the Year. Entering the 2019 PBR Canada Finals as the No. 1-ranked bovine in the nation with a 0.4-point lead, Homegrown from Coronation, Alberta’s Eno Bucking Bulls, was able to hold off a hard-bucking Happy Camper, the 2018 PBR Canada Bull of the Year, from Magrath, Alberta’s Two Bit Bucking Bulls to capture the season’s end honor by a slim 0.083 points. In Calgary, both bovine athletes will begin their quest to become the first-ever, two-time PBR Canada Bull of the Year in league history. Among a powerhouse pen of 10 bulls, both bovine athletes will buck in the championship round.

NEXT UP – Following a one month break, the 2020 PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour will travel to Lethbridge, Alberta and the ENMAX Centre for the South Country Co-Op Showdown on March 6-7. Action will get underway on both Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. MST.    

PROVIDING PROTECTION – The bullfighters on hand for this weekend’s event in Calgary are Tanner Byrne, Ty Prescott, and Brett Monea.

BROADCAST COVERAGE – Fans will be able to watch the action in its entirety live via PBR’s streaming digital platform RidePass. Coverage of the 2020 PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour’s Calgary Classic, will begin at 7:30 p.m. MT on Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25.

 

CALGARY COMPETITORS BY COUNTRY

Australia (2) – Lane Mellers, Callum Miller

Brazil (1) – Italo Aguilar Goncalves

Canada (20) – Cawl Braithwaite, Dakota Buttar, Todd Chotowetz, Wacey Finkbeiner, Riley Gagnon, Jake Gardner, Wyatt Gleeson, Nick Goncalves, Garrett Green, Dayton Johnston, Zachery King, Zane Lambert, Tim Lipsett, Jared Parsonage, Brock Radford, Aaron Roy, Jackson Scott, Griffin Smeltzer, Nick Tetz, Cole Young

Mexico (1) – Rosendo Ramirez

United States (3) – Austin Allred, Zachary Laney, Austin Richardson

BREAKDOWN BY PROVINCE –

Alberta – Cawl Braithwaite, Wacey Finkbeiner, Riley Gagnon, Wyatt Gleeson, Garrett Green, Dayton Johnston, Zane Lambert, Brock Radford, Griffin Smeltzer, Nick Tetz, Cole Young; British Columbia –Jake Gardner, Zachery King, Jackson Scott; Ontario – Nick Goncalves; Saskatchewan – Dakota Buttar, Todd Chotowetz, Tim Lipsett, Jared Parsonage, Aaron Roy.