SJHL Bantam Draft makes 2nd go-around next Thurday

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, in an attempt to keep homegrown talent closer to home, introduced a bantam draft last year and while none of those players selected have had a chance to make an impact on the league the consensus is that it was a success.

The next crop of eligible players are now on the radar and next Thursday the SJHL’s 12 teams will gather to top up their protected lists and try and secure future talent for a league that continues to be on the rise in terms of continually being among the strongest in the country.

“The draft is open to players who have finished their bantam eligibility – similar to the Western Hockey League,” explains SJHL president Bill Chow. “The draft is open to players with a residence in Saskatchewan.”

 “There is a general consensus (among the teams) that it is needed,” added Chow.

Presently, each club has a 50-player protected list in addition to what is known as an “Auto-Protect B List.” This latter list is for players who hail from within the boundaries of a SJHL team and they remain protected by their home team until their 17th birthday. After that time, if they have not made the club, they must be moved to the regular protected list or they become eligible to be listed by any of the other SJHL teams.

The bantam draft, therefore, encompasses all players who are not on an Auto-Protect B List when they complete playing at the bantam level. These players are generally invited to a number of spring and fall training camps by SJHL teams and they will be able to continue attending numerous spring sessions as the draft is not scheduled to be held until the June annual general meeting at which time players could become property of a specific team.

“The draft allows teams to highlight a few players in the province they wish to recruit and retain,” says Chow. “It also allows players and their parents an opportunity to build a relationship with a team.”
Room must be made available on each team’s 50-player protected list to allow for the addition of players selected in the draft, which will feature six rounds. Chow says that not every team is required to select six players, but that is where the bar has been set and with each club having as many as eight overage players (20-year-olds) then having space for new additions should not be an issue.
The draft also becomes another tool in trades as was witnessed at the trade deadline when clubs swapped picks in addition to current players.

It is always a fierce competition attracting young talent and this should help the league continue to make advances in this area. Hopefully, it will also keep homegrown talent within the provincial boundaries.

(SJHL.ca)

WMBL’s Fort McMurray Giants will start their 2016 inaugural season playing in Edmonton

  

Because of a massive wildfire,  the Fort McMurray Giants will begin the 2016 WMBL season playing in the Alberta Captial.

The Edmonton Prospects announced on Monday that the Giants will be welcome to play ball in Rossdale’s Edmonton Ballpark, formerly Telus Field, for the first half of the 2016 season.

The Giants are set to play their inaugural season in the Western Major Baseball League in 2016.
The Giants will kick off their 2016 season on Saturday May 28th when they take on the Edmonton Prospects.

Richardson Pioneer becomes Title Sponsor for the Richardson Pioneer Men's Fastball League

(Submitted by Scott Comfort)

Richardson Pioneer, a division of Richardson International Limited, Canada’s largest agribusiness is proud to partner as the Title Sponsor for the formerly titled Milligan Creek Men's Fastball League.

In its inaugural season, the Richardson Pioneer Men's Fastball League features six teams in East Central Saskatchewan. The league not only offers an opportunity for area men to play, it gives high school kids a chance to play with a lack of minor softball leagues in the area. The Wadena Wildcats and Fishing Lake Mariners are completely made up of 19 and under boys, in addition to some younger players on Wynyard and Foam Lake. The only other option for those boys is to play against Bantam and Midget aged teams with the closest being PA, Saskatoon and Regina.

"We are pleased to support this league and help give high school students and adults the opportunity to play fastball in their community," says Carter Kolybaba, Director of Operations for Richardson Pioneer Wadena. "It's having activities like this that make our communities thrive."

The Richardson Pioneer Men's Fastball League consists of the Foam Lake Merchants, Fishing Lake Mariners, Fishing Lake Cubs, Wadena Wildcats, Rosebud Royals (Wadena), and Wynyard Blues. League President James Holowaty said "This partnership with Richardson Pioneer will allow the league to offer an opportunity to play in an organized league for years to come."

Richardson International is proud to be truly invested in Canadian agriculture. Recognized as a global leader in agriculture and food processing, Richardson is a worldwide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds and a vertically-integrated processor and manufacturer of oats and canola-based products. One of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, Richardson is headquartered in Winnipeg and has over 2,500 employees across Canada and the U.S.

Wheat Kings capture 2016 WHL Title on Friday after 5 game series victory over Seattle

 

                                                 Jayce Hawyluk            Linden McCorrister

The Brandon Wheat Kings won their first Western Hockey League title in more than 2 decades on Friday nigh after a 8-4 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds to win the Best of 7 championship series, 4 games to 1.

Roblin's Jayce Hawryluk had 2 goals and 1 assists in the series clincher on Friday.

Along with Hawryluk, the Wheat Kings also includes former Swan Valley Stampeder Linden McCorrister.

The Wheat Kings will open up their 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer on Saturday night at 4PM SK time when they battle the QMJHL champion, Rouyn Noranda Huskies.


Hawryluk talks about the WHL Title and previews the Memorial Cup below:

Melville's Perpetua captures Girls Singles High School Provincial Badminton Title

 
                                                 (Courtesy: Melville Advance)

The 2016 Saskatchewan High School Provincial Badminton Championships will held this past weekend in Humboldt, where a local product was crowned one of the best

Melville Comprehensive High School's Clarizze Perpetua (pictured above right) became a provincial champion in the Girls Singles category after she defeated Shayna Uhryn of Saskatoon in 3 sets in the championship final on Saturday.

Terriers hire new Director of Marketing & Public Relations

The Yorkton Terriers are pleased to announce that Eric Anderson has joined the hockey club as the new Director of Marketing and Public Relations.

 From Regina, Eric will graduate from the University of Regina with a Bachelor of Business Admin in General Management from the Paul J. Hill School of Business. 

Eric has been actively involved in sports since a young age playing both hockey and football. He played quarterback for the Regina Thunder junior football club. He has served as an intern for Gil Scott Sports Management and assisted in keeping stats for the University of Regina Cougars basketball teams.

Eric has experience on the Business Students Society serving terms as the VP of Finance and VP of Corporate Finance. He served as the Director of Corporate Relations for the Canadian Association of Business Students where he has worked in a not-for-profit setting, planned and managed events and led large teams of people.

Eric will re-locating to Yorkton May 25th where he will begin preparations for the 2016-17 SJHL season.

Yorkton product Johnson named to ACHA All-American 1st team

The accolades continue to come in for the Minot State Beavers.

The 2015-2016 season had many records and many major accomplishments. Some of these included a record 33 wins and a best start to a season with a 14-0 record.

You can add a couple American Collegiate Hockey Association All-Americans to that list.

Junior forward Jeremy Johnson (pictured above) was selected to the 1st team and Sophomore defenseman Austin Yano was selected to the 2nd team.

It was a great season, which Head Coach Wade Regier is very proud of the players and their awards.

“I am proud of these two guys. It is nice to get awards for various accomplishments, but to be awarded league wide, these guys are very deserving. They both would be the first to admit they wouldn’t have received these awards if it wasn’t for their teammates. I am excited to see what they bring to the table next season.”


Forward Jeremy Johnson led the Beavers in scoring with 30 goals and 20 assists for 50 points in 38 games played. His numbers put him at 18th in the nation in scoring and his 30 goals put him 7th in the nation in that category. The Yorkton Saskatchewan product finished the season in 3rd place in game winning goals with seven.