Rural Manitoba diamond in the rough - Kirklan Lycar

Sometimes it takes a while for rural Manitoba kids to get noticed by scouts and recruiters. However, we have taken notice of 5'9 145 1997 born Kirklan Lycar who hales from Gillam, Manitoba. Kirlan has spent the past three summers playing for the spring/summer Manitoba Mustangs. The Mustangs area good team say his parents but they are hoping for more opportunity in the 2011 spring/summer season. "Kirk's thoughts are though he just loves the sport and as long as he is on the ice, doing what he loves, he is happy. He doesn't ever think of himself as better than others, he just worries about his play and how he can continually improve his performance. He always says, whatever happens in my future is unknown and only time will tell. He worries about today, not tomorrow." Kirklan lives away from home already with his in-laws in the southern Manitoba town of Elma, his family believes that he can further his hockey career and better his schooling down there. This season Kirklan will take his talents to the Eastman are and play with the Beausejour Northern Knights in the AA Bantam league.

On the ice, Kirklan has amazing hockey sense and technique. Kirklan participated in a tournament in Las Vegas in early July with Pepsi and didn't disappoint. Kirklan was also asked to play in the Winnipeg Subway Classic but his prior committments to his Mustangs team prevented him from doing so.

Kirklan is a player to watch from rural Manitoba in the next couple seasons.

Sharing the limelight? Oleksyn/Forsberg will form dynamic duo

The Saskatchewan Midget Hockey AAA league could very well have a powerhouse team in western Canada just off highway 11. The Beardy's Black Hawks will feature the 2010 WHL bantam draft #1 overall pick in Alex Forsberg and joining him playing age advanced hockey will be Braden Oleksyn from Saskatoon.

In an interview we conducted with Braden Oleksyn recently, we asked him about what expectations he will have playing Midget AAA next year, and how he will deal with the constant comparisons he will have to Alex Forsberg who also played age advanced last season. Braden says "I look at it as a great oppurtunity to develop my skills at the next level and test myself everyday.....I have not set any expectations for myself, making this team i feel is an accomplishment in itself and will push myself to develop with every practice and game.

For the rest of the interview and other interviews and rankings. Please see the July 26, 2010 newsletter.

The next phenom in Manitoba hockey?

The province of Manitoba has a long history of top talent spilling out of its hockey backyard. Players such as Cam Barker, Jonathon Toews and more recently Michael St. Croix have all had impressive minor hockey careers and in Barker and Toews case NHL careers, St. Croix sure to follow.

The next star on the rise is a 5'11 184lb forward from Thompson, MB named Dallas Miller. Dallas was born in Thompson, MB then moved to Cranberry Portage, then the family moved back to Thompson, MB and Dallas began playing hockey at age 8. Then the family relocated to Sault St. Marie, ONT, once again back to Thompson and finally to Winnipeg, MB once it was obvious Dallas had immense hockey skills to further his career.

Last season, in Winnipeg, Dallas played age advanced hockey with the Winnipeg Sharks in the Winnipeg Bantam2 league. He was one of the top players despite been the youngest player in the league scoring 33 goals in just 21 games and his 45 points placed him just 3 point behind the team leader despite playing 9 fewer games. Dallas's season was shortened due to a broken Collorbone suffored at a tournament in Edmonton.

Dallas is already focusing on next season and has high expectations playing in the top Bantam league, age advanced once again. "My goals are to win the scoreing race for the leauge, and to try and win the city championship." I'm playing bantam age advanced with the 14 year olds. Beyond this season Dallas aspires to make the NHL and be a team captain some day. His favorite player is Alex Ovechkin.

Definitely a player to watch for the future in Manitoba.

PCAHA Tier 1 Preview

PCAHA Bantam Tier 1 will be a closer battle for top spot this year than people might think. There are a couple of contenders that initially look to be the “teams to beat” but there are several other teams that will not be far behind, and ready to challenge for top 5 in the tier. Normally if you were to guess who the top two teams to finish #1 & #2 would be, you would naturally look at BWC and NSWC, but although these teams are contenders, the two favorites (at least early on this year) will be Abbotsford and Seafair. BWC will also be a contender with Cloverdale, NSWC, Hollyburn, Surrey & Langley, potentially filling out the top 8. Hard hitting teams like Semiahmoo and South Delta will also work hard to move up in the top ten.

For the rest, please see the July 10, 2010 newsletter for full preview.

1997 Born Interviews/Rankings coming

With the spring hockey season virtually complete. We've decided to take a sneak peak at 60 of the top 1997 born players in Western Canada. The players are ranked 1-60, however don't read too much in to the actual ranking as they are basically just a starting point heading in to the 2010-2011 winter season. The July 12, 2010 newsletter will be released tomorrow, July 10, 2010 due to scheduling constraints. Hope you all enjoy the new content.