Local product Stoll gets PTO with the Columbus Blue Jackets

Jarret Stoll will get another chance at the National Hockey League with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The team has invited the 34-year-old centre to camp on a professional tryout basis.

A 13-year NHL veteran, Stoll split last season between the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. Last year, Stoll registered four goals and five assists between the two teams in 80 games.

Stoll won two Stanley Cups as a member of the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014.

Yorkton Terriers Coaches Show - Aug 29th Edition

In this weeks edition of the KW Men's Wear Yorkton Terriers Coaches Show, Head Coach/GM Trent Cassan talks about the clubs billet situation and about the 2016 Training Camp that goes this weekend at the Farrell Agencies Arena.

SJHL to honour "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe during 2016/17 season

The passing of Gordie Howe has given everybody time to reflect on what is arguably the most dynamic hockey career and person the sport has ever seen.

Tributes have come from around the globe for the 88-year-old legend and fittingly it is the Junior “A” circuit from his home province that is about to recognize Gordie Howe. The SJHL teams will be wearing #9 patches on their home and away jerseys during the 2016-17 hockey season.

“As a league from Mr. Howe’s home province, for what Mr. Howe did for hockey in Saskatchewan and the world, the Governors wanted to recognize Mr. Howe somehow. It was decided a #9 patch would be worn on the jerseys.” says SJHL president Bill Chow.

“Mr. Howe meant a lot to hockey and the Saskatchewan people,” added Chow. “He is the epitome of what Saskatchewan hockey is all about: heart, soul, character, dedication and commitment.”

Throw in an abundance of talent and the package is complete.

Howe was born in Floral, Sask., in 1928 and just days later his family moved the short distance into Saskatoon where he spent his formative years going to school and playing various sports.

Howe excelled at both hockey and baseball, but it was the former that got him the most attention as he caught the eye of the New York Rangers when he was just 15 years old. After declining their offer to go to Notre Dame College in Wilcox for a year of competition at a higher level, Howe was invited to the Detroit Red Wings camp the following year and as the saying goes the rest is history.

Howe was just 16 when he went to Detroit’s camp in Windsor and then assigned to a junior team in Galt, Ont. When he was 17 he played his first season of professional hockey in Omaha and then in October of 1946, at the tender age of 18, he played the first of what would be 2,421 games in the NHL and WHA – playoffs included.

Howe retired in 1980 after 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, four with the Houston Aeros and three more with the New England/Hartford Whalers. His NHL regular-season totals of 801 goals and 1049 assists were records until a kid named Wayne Gretzky came along and shattered them.

While Howe’s exploits on the ice have been well documented it is his humanitarian efforts away from the rink that have put him in a different stratosphere. Howe was in constant demand to lend his name to a worthwhile venture and he seldom, if ever, turned anyone down.

Howe never laced up the blades to play in the SJHL, but Chow says that having Mr. Hockey come from this province is something that should never be forgotten.

He has been previously acknowledged with bridges, parks, rinks and schools being named after him, but his roots are in Saskatchewan and his badge of honour was hockey. Put those together and the SJHL is proud to immortalize his memory as both a player and a person.

(SJHL Press Release)

 

Swan Valley Stampeders acquire Roblin's Townsend from Dauphin Kings

                                                        

The Swan Valley Stampeders have announced they have acquired 1999-born forward Jaden Townsend from the Dauphin Kings (MJHL) in exchange for future considerations.

Townsend played last season with the Manitoba Midget AAA's Parkland Rangers where he compiled 17 goals, 22 assists for 39 points in 43 games. 

Changes to format and qualification for 2017 Viterra Scotties taking place in Melville

CURLSASK is pleased to announce a new format and qualification for the Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Melville will play host to the 2017 Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The championship will feature a 9-team round robin. At the completion of the round robin the top four teams will advance to the page playoff system.

Each year, CURLSASK conducts a player survey; an overwhelming majority of player responses indicated a strong desire to eliminate pool play and move to a longer round robin format for the provincial championship.

The CURLSASK competition committee reviewed a number of proposals before making the recommendation to the CURLSASK board to adopt the new format. After many hours of research and debate the CURLSASK competition committee determined this format would declare the best representative for Saskatchewan at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts to be played in St. Catharines, ON.

The competition committee strongly felt this format will best prepare Team Saskatchewan for the National Scotties, as they will be required to play all of the best teams in the province in order to become the provincial champion.

A longer round robin has a number of benefits, including the preparation of our championship team, equality when it comes to qualifying records for playoffs and adequate time for tiebreaking games.

The nine teams will be determined as follows:

Pre Qualifiers:

3 – Top Ranked CTRS as of December 5th, 2016

1 – Saskatchewan Women’s Curling Tour Champion

1 – Saskatchewan Women’s Curling Tour Runner Up *(Conditional as this team must be in the top 65 team on CTRS to be awarded the berth)

Berth Spiels

2- Viterra Challenge – December 9 – 11 Kindersley SK

2 or 3* – Viterra Last Chance January 13 – 15, Regina Highland

The provincial championships will be held in Melville, SK January 24-29, 2017. For more information contact theCURLSASK office.

Chat with CurlSask Executive Director Ashley Howard 

Yorkton-born Bednar named Head Coach of NHL's Colorado Avalanche

(Colorado Avalanche Press Release)              

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today the appointment of Jared Bednar as the franchise’s new head coach. Bednar becomes the seventh head coach in Avalanche history and the 15th in franchise history.

“After profiling the type of coach I wanted for our team and going through an interview process with several good candidates, I believe that Jared Bednar is the best person to lead this team behind the bench,” said Avalanche Executive Vice President/General Manager Joe Sakic. “Jared’s track record of success as a head coach in the American Hockey League speaks for itself and he is considered to be one of the top up-and-coming coaches in our business.”

“Even though we had to accelerate the process with training camp approaching, we feel we met some real strong candidates with a lot of potential to become head coaches in the NHL in the near future, continued Sakic. “I would like to thank the general managers who gave us permission to talk to key staff members at such a precarious time.”

Bednar, 44, guided the Columbus Blue Jackets’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, to the 2016 Calder Cup as AHL champions this past season. The Monsters finished second in the Central Division with a 43-22-6-5 record (97 points) and then proceeded to go 15-2 during the postseason, sweeping both the Western Conference Final and Calder Cup Final.

The 2015-16 campaign marked Bednar’s 14th season in professional coaching, his sixth as a head coach and fourth as a head coach in the AHL. He owns a 251-158-42 (.603) record as a head coach, which includes two seasons in the ECHL. Prior to leading the Monsters to their title, Bednar served as the head coach of the Blue Jackets’ previous AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, in 2014-15. He also spent two seasons as the head coach of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen from 2010-12.

“My family and I are thrilled to be heading to Denver to begin this new challenge,” said Bednar. “I feel ready for this role with the Avalanche and I am grateful for the trust that (Avalanche President) Josh Kroenke, Joe (Sakic) and the organization has shown me. This is a great sports market with a passionate fan base and I can’t wait to get to work. I would also like to thank Columbus Blue Jackets organization for the opportunity they gave me.”

Bednar began his coaching career as an assistant with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL in 2002-03. He took over the Stingrays’ head coaching job in 2007-08 and in his second season led South Carolina to the 2009 Kelly Cup as ECHL champions. He posted a .654 winning percentage (89-45-9) in two years as an ECHL head coach.

The Yorkton, Saskatchewan, native was an assistant coach in the AHL with Abbotsford in 2009-10 and later served two seasons as an assistant with Springfield from 2012-14.

Bednar played nine seasons of professional hockey, a career that spanned parts of six seasons in the ECHL with the Huntington Blizzard and South Carolina Stingrays (1993-2002), parts of three seasons in the AHL with the St. John’s Maple Leafs and Rochester Americans (1996-2000), and one season in the IHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 1998-99. The defenseman was part of two Kelly Cup championship teams as a player, 1997 and 2001 with South Carolina. Prior to turning pro, Bednar spent three seasons in the Western Hockey League from 1990-93, competing with the Saskatoon Blades, Spokane Chiefs, Medicine Hat Tigers and Prince Albert Raiders.

1st Melville Millionaires Coaches Show of 2016/17

                         Mils Coaches Show with Head Coach/GM Devin Windle

1st Yorkton Terriers & Wayway Wolverines Coaches Show of 2016/17

Yorkton Terriers Coaches Show with Head Coach/GM Trent Cassan.

Wayway Wolverines Coaches Show with Head Coach/GM Barry Butler 

Winnipeg Blues (MJHL) name Keane as their new Head Coach

The directors of the Winnipeg Blues Hockey Club of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League are pleased to announce that Billy Keane has assumed the role of Head Coach for the up-coming season. Melville product Tim Schick will be the Head Scout and Director of Hockey Operations and Wayne Bartley has joined the club as an assistant coach.

The team is delighted to report that the other members of the Blues Staff will continue in their capacities including: Dan Gregovski, Video Coach and Coordinator; Cindy Anderson, Game Day Manager; Sonny Mignacca, Goalie Coach; Lana Debeer, Trainer; Bill Burfoot, Game Notes and Releases; and Herb Mowat, Event Manager.

The Winnipeg Blues Hockey Club sincerely appreciate the contribution of Don MacGillivray as Head Coach and General Manager over the last six years and wish him the very best with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Canada Hockey League. http://edu.internal/step/index.html.

(from MJHLhockey.ca) 

------------------------

Other Coaching news (ICYMI): 

-The Weyburn Red Wings are please to announce that after an extensive

search they have name Wes Rudy as the new Head Coach and Tanner McCall

as the new General Manager/Head Scout for the upcoming 2016-2017 season.

- The Battlefords North Stars have named Nate Bedford as their new Head Coach and General Manager.

Bedford spent the last four seasons with Keyano College in Fort McMurray,

where he led the school to its best ever year in 2016, finishing with a bronze

medal in the ACAC.

Roblin's Brook & Team Canada finish 5th at Ivan Hlinka U18 Memorial Cup

Michael Rasmussen  scored the game-winning goal with 8:36 to go, giving Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team a 4-3 win over Finland in the fifth-place game Friday at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.

Although its eight-year run as gold medalist came to an end, Canada improved its all-time record at summer under-18 tournaments to an impressive 85-13-6 since first taking part in 1991.

Roblin, Manitoba's Josh Brook was a member of the Canadian team

(Hockey Canada) 

Yorkton Terriers' Season Ticket Blitz set for Thurs. Aug 18th

ATTENTION ALL TERRIER FANS:

We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting our Annual Season Ticket Blitz at Haas Nissan (386 Broadway St E) on August 18th from 7 am - 7 pm. We will be serving you pancakes in the morning and hamburgers and hotdogs in the afternoon and evening!

Here are the benefits you receive by stopping by Haas Nissan to buy your season tickets on August 18th:

1. SECURE excellent seats for the entire regular season

2. FIRST OPPORTUNITY at seat(s) for the 2017 playoffs

3. EARLY BIRD PRICING

4. SAVE in the Terriers’ store with a one-time discount on your next purchase (10% above Terriers’ cost)

5. ENTER a one-time draw to win a 100% refund on your season ticket

6. ENTER the season ticket blitz draw to win a Yorkton Terriers’ jersey

7. IF you were a season ticket holder for the 2015/2016 season, you QUALIFY for the Terriers’ Find-a-Fan program. Recruit a new adult or senior season ticket holder and receive a $20 DISCOUNT on your season ticket. Recruit a new teen or child season ticket holder and earn a $10 DISCOUNT on your season ticket. (New season ticket holders are defined as those not having a season ticket during the 2015-2016 season.)

8. Tickets contain buy $10, play $20 for Painted Hand Casino for every home game.

Yorkton Cardinals' 2016 season comes to an end with Game 3 loss to Swift Current

The Yorkton Cardinals had their 2016 WMBL season come to an end last night (Sun) at Jubilee Park.

The Swift Current Indians used a 5 run 7th-inning to help them advance with a 8-5 victory to sweep the Best of 5 East Division Final, 3-0.

Billy Clapperton, Garret Fort and Cory Cantebury had 2 hits each for the Cards in the loss.
Swift Current will now advance to the WMBL Final to take on either the Edmonton Prospects or Medicine Hat Mavericks.

The Mavericks took a 2-1 series lead after a 9-7 victory last night (Sun) in the Alberta Capital.

Medicine Hat and Edmonton will play Game 4 of the Best of 5 series tonight (Mon) at Telus Field in Edmonton.

========================================

(Submitted)
The Final of the Richardson Pioneer Men's Fastball League took place Sunday in Wynyard.

The Wynyard Blues jumped to an early lead in the bottom of 1 with 8 runs.

The Mariners answered back with 1 in 2, and 1 in 4, but fell short losing 8-2.

The Winning Pitcher for the Blues Mike Jordan also won the League Playoff MVP.

The Blues went the entire season undefeated on their route to the Championship.

The Richardson Pioneer Men's Fastball League will continue for a second season in May with potential expansion of one or two teams that are interested in joining.  More information about the league can be found at www.richardsonpioneerfastball.com

Melville Millionaires name Mark Chase as their new Assistant Coach

 

The Melville Millionaires have finalized their coaching staff with announcement of their new Assistant Coach.

The Mils announced that 30 year old Mark Chase (pictured above) will join the Mils staff for the upcoming season.

Mils Head Coach/GM Devin Windle says he's excited to bring Mark on board, "He's been around the minor hockey for awhile, we just had some really good conversations about player development and team philosophy and he just seemed like an excellent fit for us."

The Kamloops product comes to the Mills after spending the last 10 plus years coaching various levels of minor hockey in Kamloops including Bantam and Midget AAA. Along with coaching minor hockey, Mark has been involved in the U16 High Performance program on several occasions

Chase said he is looking forward to coming to East Central Saskatchewan.

"It's a good fit for me, its very exciting, looking forward to working with Devin, I look forward to being with him and supporting him as well as the hockey club", Chase said in a interview earlier today (Fri)

The Mils were in need of an Asst. Coach after TJ Reeve chose not to return to the Mils' bench in 2016/17.


Chat with Mils Asst. Coach Mark Chase



Chat with Mils Head Coach/GM Devin Windle

Yorkton Yankees repeat as Southeast Senior Baseball League champions

The Yorkton Yankees are now back to back Southeast Senior Baseball League champions.

The Yanks hammered the Langenburg Indians last night (Thurs) 7-2 to sweep the Best of 5 Championship series 3 games to nothing.

The Yankees used a big 6 run first inning to pace them to the victory. Logan Calanchie also went the distance for Yorkton to secure his 2nd win of the championship series

The Yanks will now shift to their provincial play at the Saskatchewan Senior Tier 2 Provincial baseball championships that goes next weekend in Kindersley. Their first game will be on Fri. Aug 12th at 7PM when they battle the host Kindersley Raiders.

Langenburg Indians will host the Senior tier 4 provincials also next weekend. Their first game will be also on Friday the 12th when they take on the Windthorst Pirates at 9AM

Yankees Coach Mark Jacobs talks about the 2nd straight league title below:

Local Thursday Sports News & Notes

The Yorkton Cardinals have booked themselves a ticket into the Western Major Baseball League's Final Four.

Hunter Hisky (pictured above) had a double & 3 RBIs to lead the Cards to a 6-1 thrashing of the Regina Red Sox last night (Wed) at Currie Field.

The Cards now advance to take on the Swift Current Indians in the Eastern Division Final with Game's 1 and 2 taking place in Speedy Creek on Friday and Saturday at Mitchell Field.

In the Western Division Final, it'll be the Edmonton Prospects taking on the Medicine Hat Mavericks.

The Prospects advanced after a 10-5 win in Game 4 yesterday (Wed) over the Okotoks Dawgs.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In MJHL News,

The Waywayseecappo Wolverines have made a trade.

The Wolverines have acquired 1996-born Korwin Shewchuk from the La Ronge Ice Wolves for future considerations.

The Buchanan, SK product had 2 goals, 2 assists for 4 points in 45 games last season with the SJHL club.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roblin, Manitoba's Josh Brook will be heading over to the Czech Republic.

The 17 year old Moose Jaw Warrior defenseman has been named as injury replacement for Team Canada at the annual Ivan Hlinka Memorial U18 Hockey Championships.

Brook and Team Canada open up their championships on Monday when they take on Slovakia.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Southeast Senior Baseball Final between the Yorkton Yankees and Langenburg Indians was rained out on Wednesday.

The two teams will try and play Game 3 tonight (Thurs) with a 8PM first pitch at Jubilee Park in Yorkton.

The defending champion Yankees lead the Best of 5 Championship series, 2-0.

Cards push Red Sox to brink of elimination with 6-1 Game 3 victory

The Yorkton Cardinals have pushed the Regina Red Sox to the brink of elimination.

The Cards got a 3 hit night from Dylan Borman and complete game outing from Justin Johnston as they hammered the Regina Red Sox 6-1 at Jubilee Park last night (Tues).

Yorkton will try and book their ticket into the Semi-Finals when they visit the Queen City tonight (Wed) for Game 3 at 7:05 from Currie Field.


Other results in WMBL

Medicine Hat Mavericks 9 @ Lethbridge Bulls 5

(Medicine Hat wins Best of 5 series, 3-0)

 

Okotoks Dawgs 6 @ Edmonton Prospects 3

(Edmonton LEADS the Best of 5 series 2-1)

Swift Current Indians 9 @ Weyburn Beavers 8
(Swift Current wins Best of 5 series, 3-0)

------------------------

Southeast Senior Baseball League Final (1)

Yorkton Yankees 4 @ Langenburg Indians 3 *10 innings*
(Yorkton leads the Best of 5 series 2-0)

Game 3 is set for tonight at 8PM from Jubilee Park.

Local Track Athletes compete at Western Canadians

(Submitted by Marcel Porte)

The 2016 Western Canadian Midget & Youth Track and Field Championship was held in Regina on July 29- 31^st at the Canada Games Athletic Complex.

There was 9 athletes from Yorkton and area that made team Saskatchewan that competed in it.

The top athletes from our area did fantastic at the next higher meet above the high school provincials.

------------------------------------------------------

Attached pictures:

            55-       Ashley Schrader

            50-       Skylar Smith

            54-       4 x400m Relay Team Sask

            2-         Dami Ogunbiyi

            28-       Kelsey Haczkewicz

-------------------------------------------------------

Midget Team Saskatchewan:

Chrissy Powers

-       Discus= 8^th @ 25.25m

-       Hammer Throw= 5^th @ 25.07m

Rebecca Hort

-       80m Hurdles= 8th @ 14.63

-       200m Hurdles Youth= 3^rd @ 33.66 (level up)

Sarah Novakowski

-       1,200m= 8^th @ 4:02

-       1,500m Steeplechase= 2^nd @ 5:23.43

Ashley Schrader

-       Javelin= 3rd @ 30.21m

Dami Ogunbiyi

-       100m= 1st @ 11.38  (Ranked 38^th in Canada for U18)

-       4x100m Relay= 2^nd @ 47.03

-       200m= 1^st @ 23.56

-       400 Sprint Medley Relay= 4^th @ 4:09.91

** Dami will be travelling to St. Therese Quebec on Aug 5^th for the national Midget Track & Field Championships.

Youth Team Saskatchewan:

Jennifer Haczkewicz

-       High Jump= 11^th @ 1.41m

Kelsey Haczkewicz

-       800m= 1^st @ 2:18.64

-       1,500m= 6th @ 4:59.10

-       4x400m Relay= 2^nd @ 3:58.25

** Kelsey also hits standards for 800m at Youth national Track and field championships.

Matthew Zalys-Smeretsky

-       Hammer Throw= 7^th @ 29.82m

-       Shot Put= 5^th @ 12.07m

-       Discus= 8^th @ 35.00m

Skylar Smith

-       400m= 5^th @ 1:00.49

-       100m= 14^th @ 13.59

-       100m Hurdles= 9^th @ 16.53

-       4x100m Relay= 5^th @ 51.01

-       200m= 8^th @ 27.71

-       4x400m Relay= 2^nd @ 3:58.25

Svenson helps Team Sask capture inaugural Senior Women's National Football Championship in Regina

It was a golden weekend for Team Saskatchewan at the inaugural Senior Women's National Football Championships that wrapped up over the weekend at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

The Saskatchewan girls defeated Quebec 34-22 in Sunday's championship game.

Melville Cobras Head Coach John Svenson (pictured above) was on the Saskatchewan coaching staff and I had chance to catch up with him to chat about the title.



Melville's Tricia Sylvester was also a member of Team Saskatchewan on the offensive line. 

Cards win Game 1 in walk-off fashion over Regina in WMBL Playoff action

The Yorkton Cardinals struck first in their 1st round WMBL playoff series against the Regina Red Sox.

Caden Rosholt's (pictured above) RBI single in the Bottom of the 10th inning led the Cards to a 6-5 win over the Red Sox to take a 1-0 series lead in their Best of 5 matchup.

The two teams will meet for Game 2 tonight (Tues) at 7:05 from Jubilee Park.

Other results;

Lethbridge Bulls 4 @ Medicine Hat Mavericks 5
(Medicine Hat leads Best of 5 series, 2-0)

 

Edmonton Prospects 5 @ Okotoks Dawgs 2 

(Edmonton LEADS the Best of 5 series 2-0)

Weyburn Beavers 9 @ Swift Current Indians 12
(Swift Current leads Best of 5 series, 2-0)