February 2, 2011 newsletter is now ready!

The February 2, 2011 newsletter is now ready. This edition includes many updates and new additions to the top 150 1996 born list. We continue to update the 97's and the Americans as well.

I had a chance to speak with a player who is very likely to be a top 5 selection in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft. I also spoke with a very under-rated player from Manitoba who will make a team happy in the later rounds. I speak with a Minnesota born hockey player who really, really wants to come to the WHL and has all the tools but hasn't been noticed yet. Finally, I spoke with one of the best defenseman available from the province of Saskatchewan for this years bantam draft. There is 16 pages of content once again.

WEHP Announce Top 10 Team Rankings

1. Kamloops Jardine Blazers 13-1-1 90-30
2. Burnaby Winter Club 25-0-0 150-20
3. Calgary Bisons 23-4-1 176-90
4. SSAC Southgate Lions 22-3-3 151-63
5. Calgary Royals 20-8-1 147-95
6. Prince Albert Pirates 16-0-1 175-54
7. Spruce Grove PAC Saints 17-7-5 117-91
8. Airdrie Xtreme 20-8-1 145-91
9. Winnipeg Hawks 21-0-2 155-55
10. Abbotsford Hawks 19-5-2 127-69

Honorable Mentions:
St. Albert Sabres
Winnipeg Sharks
Leduc Allen's Transport
Warman Wildcats

Weekend round up

Manitoba
In the Winnipeg AAA League, it was the Winnipeg Hawks running their record to 22-0-1-1 with a 3-0 victory over the Winnipeg Warriors. The game remained scoreless until the 3rd period as Ty Edmonds and Reid Pennington were locked in a goaltending battle. Both Edmonds and Pennington are in the top 3 in GAA. Adam Brooks broke the tie with his league leading 41st of the season with just over 7 minutes left in the 3rd and Dallas Starodub added some insurrance a couple minutes later. Adam Brooks salted it away with an EN goal, his 42nd.

The Winnipeg Warriors would bounce back the next day and take it out on last place Brandon 9-3. Brett Kitt led the way for Brandon with 2-1-3, he leads the team in scoring this season by a healthy margain. For Winnipeg, it was defenseman Taylor Fisher with 3-2-5 in the game. Fisher now leads all defenseman in scoring with 17-27-44, which places him 2nd in league scoring and he has 62 pims.

Brandon was back at it yesterday and had a bit closer game with the Winnipeg Monarchs, falling 5-2. Kitt scored again for Brandon, who has a team leading 9 goals in 24 games to go with 20 points and 84 pims. For Winnipeg it was Hopfner with his 7th and 8th and Liam Kroeker picked up a couple points and leads the team with 29, which is 11 more than 2nd place Ezra Hall.

Saskatchewan
In the GSHL, it was the Martensville Marauders upsetting the first place Saskatoon Outlaws 7-3. Carter Amson led the way for Martensville with 2-1-3. Amson should go in the top 5 rounds of the bantam draft. Kolten Olynek figured in on all 3 goals for the Outlaws.

In the CFHL, the Melfort Mustangs fell to the Humboldt Broncos 5-3. 97 born Caleb Seaman, the brother of Brandon Wheatkings forward Tyrell Seaman scored twice and Rylan Freed continued to pile up the goals with another, his 35th. Reid Gardiner, a possible first round selection in May, scored all 3 goals for the Broncos.

Other action from over the weekend:
Prince Albert 9 - Humboldt 5
Battleford 3 - West Central 4
Humboldt 4 - Prince Albert 6
Tisdale 3 - Warman 8
Prince Albert 14 - West Central 4
Meadow Lake 12 - Battleford 3

Top 5 Scoring Leaders:
Ryan Duret 17GP 40-40-80 Prince Albert
Reid Gardiner 20GP 37-30-67 Humboldt
Lance Yarenchuk 14GP 36-19-55 Prince Albert
Rylan Freed 19GP 35-20-55 Melfort
Matthew Campese 17GP 24-23-47 Prince Albert

Also of note in the CFHL, it will be the provincial league final between Prince Albert and Warman taking place in Waldheim beginning Wednesday.

In the SSBHL, the Weyburn Redwings defeated Moose Jaw 6-2. The regulars Nicholas Pouliot and Trey Tendler once again led the way. Tendler had 2-1-3 and Pouliot 1-3-4. Tendler and Pouliot are 1-2 in the league scoring race.

Top 5 scoring leaders:
Nicholas Pouliot 17GP 21-17-38 Weyburn
Trey Tendler 16GP 19-18-37 Weyburn
Tim Vanstone 16GP 19-18-37 Swift Current
Zak Zborosky 15GP 18-19-37 Regina Senators
Jordan Wittman 16GP 17-19-36 Swift Current

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Alberta
Re-capping some of the highlights quickly in the AMBHL, it was the Calgary Royals scoring 11 times over Medicine Hat yesterday in an 11-1 win. The Royals firing 59 shots in the process. The game got a bit wild in the 3rd period with 3 fights at about the midway part of the period. Reid Duke had 2-2-4 and Greydon Robinson along with Josh McCulloch each scoring twice. Reid Duke was also one of the fighters in the 3rd. The final shots were: 59-10 for Calgary Royals.

Edmonton SSAC outshot Edmonton CAC 52-15 in a 9-3 victory on Sunday. Simpson, Ortynski and Quennville all scored twice for SSAC and Simpson added 4 assists for a season high 6 points for him. Bryar Ortynski added helpers for a 5 point game. It is still unclear as to if Simpson will choose the WHL route or follow his brother Dillon and his dad Craig and take the NCAA route. SSAC scored 6 goals in the 3rd in this one.

The Calgary Northstar Sabres continue their recent hot play. Fresh off an 2-1 upset victory over the first place Calgary Bisons, they walked past the Okotoks Oilers 6-1. Big Erik Krienke had a pair of assists and Devin Nemes had 2 goals in the win. Kyler Nactigall had 1-1-2. The Sabres are now back to .500 with the pair of weekend wins.

Spruce Grove PAC was upset by Lloydminster yesterday by a score of 6-3. Spruce Grove was without 3 players; Hanas, Helt and defenseman Jamie Vermeulen. Zach Sylvestre led the way for Lloydminster with 2-2-4, he now has 19 points. 97 born forward Andrew Koep who has 22pts in 21 games this season continues to be hurt. 1998 born defenseman, the only one in the league had 2 more assists to give him 8-18-26 in 28 games along with 68 pims. Is there any doubt about him going in the top 3 in the 2013 bantam draft?

Top 5 scoring leaders:
Brayden Point 28GP 37-50-87 Calgary Bisons
Tyler Wong 29GP 41-44-85 Airdrie Xtreme
Tanner MacMaster 27GP 43-37-80 Calgary Bisons
Ty Mappin 28GP 32-32-64 Red Deer Rebels White
John Quennville 28GP 30-33-63 SSAC

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British Columbia
Kamloops 7 - Vernon 2
Vernon 4 - Penticton 4

Chad Butcher continues to lead the league in scoring if you combine tournaments and regular season scoring. Butcher has 56-67-123 in 51 games. Joe Hicketts is a +97 on the year and Ryan Gropp has 53 goals for Kamloops.

The International Children's Games were taking part in kelowna over the weekend. A few of the bantam teams from the OMAHA were taking part, including: Kelowna, POE and Penticton. Both Kelowna and POE finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. The tournament featured other bantam teams from Windsor, Coquitlam, Austria and Germany.

PCAHA SCORES
The BWC played 3 games in 3 days and did not allow a single goal over the weekend has to be the highlight of the weekends action in the PCAHA.

BWC 5 - Hollyburn 0
BWC 8 - NSWC 0
BWC 4 - Abbotsford 0

Seafair 9 - Mission 1

Friday

There will be no bantam AA hockey in Meadow Lake next next season as Meadow Lake failed to qualify for the new provincial league. You read read the rest of the article here: http://www.meadowlakeprogress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2950209.

Here is a good article from the St. Albert Gazette for a re-cap on the John Reid Memorial Tournament held over the weekend:http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20110126/SAG1101/301269995/blazers-capture-reid-title
Also, here is a good read from the Airdrie Xtreme point of view on the St. Albert tournament.http://www.rockyviewweekly.com/article/20110126/RVW1101/301269947/xtreme-advances-to-quarters-in-st-albert-tourney
And yet another article in which the St. Albert Sabres say they learned a valuable lesson at the tournament. http://www.saintcitynews.com/article/20110128/STALBERT0201/301289986/-1/stalbert0201/sabres-learn-lesson

There was an incident in a Vancouver Island bantam game with Lake Cowichan and the Saanich Braves. Unhappy with a referee’s call, a hockey dad took it upon himself to express, in a loud expletive-filled rant, his disagreement. You can read the rest here: http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/lakecowichangazette/sports/113247394.html



The Winnipeg Sharks continue their hot streak with a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Monarchs. 6'0 174lb defenseman, Tristan Beach-Ducharme led the way for the Sharks with 2 goals, he now has 3 goals this season. Fellow defenseman Reid Zalitach had a pair of assists giving him 17 points in 25 games for the 5'10 dman. The Sharks are now 17-6-1 and are pulling away now from the Warriors and Monarchs for a 2nd place finish.

Moving over to Saskatchewan now, and starting off in the Centre Four Hockey League, it will be Ryan Duret, Jordan Harris and company taking on Ryan Pilon and the Warman Wildcats beginning next Wednesday in Walheim. The Prince Albert Pirates are undefeated in league play so far this season and have rolled through the playoffs. Warman has just 3 losses in 18 league games.

In the South Saskatchewan Bantam League it will be the Balgonie Prairie Storm taking on the Regina Senators in the league final there. The Prairie Storm clinched a date with Regina after winning the total goal series vs. the Regina Hurricanes 8-4. The Prairie Storm and the Senators are the top 2 teams in the league standings as well this year with the Prairie Storm having lost just one game so far. While the Senators are 12-4.

PCAHA Scores:
Semiahmoo 2 - Hollyburn 2

Thursday Morning Catch Up

Beginning out east in the Winnipeg Bantam AAA League, the Winnipeg Sharks narrowed the gap on the league leading Winnipeg Hawks by earning 3 of a possible 4 points over the weekend. Of course, the Winnipeg Hawks were taking part in the St. Albert John Reid Memorial Tournament. The Sharks starting things off with a 6-6 tie against the Taylor Fisher led Winnipeg Warriors. 1997 born, and possible top 5 pick next year, Dallas Miller picked up 3-2-5. Miller's 24 goals trail only league leader Adam Brooks who has 40 goals so far. The Warriors got 2-1-3 from big Taylor Fisher, Fisher leads all defenseman in scoring with 14-25-39. Fisher's 39 points place him 5th in league scoring. The Warriors meanwhile are 7 points back of the Sharks for 2nd place. Then on Sunday, the Sharks walked past the last place Brandon AAA Wheatkings 13-1. The team from Brandon has just 1 win in 24 games so far this season. Chayce Viczina had a huge game with 6 goals and 2 assists.

The Winnipeg Bantam AAA A1 playoffs will begin on February 24th at the Ed Golding area in Winnipeg. It will feature just the 4 Winnipeg teams, so Brandon and Interlake will be in the provincial portion. Of course, westerns are being held in Winnipeg this spring.

A quick look over at the Winnipeg Bantam AAA A2 league which features 97 born players. The Winnipeg Hawks also lead that league with 37 which is tied with the Winnipeg Warriors. Leading the league in scoring, as has been the case all year are a pair of Hawks forwards...Ethan Williams and Keegan Kolesar. Both plays have 26 goals, with Kolesar leading the way by two points over Williams with 26-9-35 in 20 games.

....................

Catching up in Saskatcewan now where the playoffs have begun in the leagues across the province. First of all in the Centre Four Hockey League.
Round 1 action:
Prince Albert 13 - Meadow Lake 5
Meadow Lake didn't make the trip to PA for the 2nd game of the total goal series, thus forfeiting 1-0.

Battleford 1 - Warman 11
Warman 6 - Battleford 0
-Warman wins the total goal series 17-1 and advances to round 2.

Tisdale 3 - Humboldt 6
Humboldt 5 - Tisdale 1
-Humboldt wins the total goal series 11-4 and advances to round 2.

Melfort 5 - Unity 2
Unity 1 - Melfort 3

So to nobodies surprise, it is the top 4 teams advancing to the 2nd round of the CFHL playoffs.

Round 2 action:
Melfort 1 - Prince Albert 4
Prince Albert 6 - Melfort 3
-Prince albert advances to the CFHL final by winning the total goal series 10-4.

Humboldt 4 - Warman 5
Warman and Humboldt result not in yet from last night.

........................

Looking at the SSBHL playoff story now:
Round 1
Regina Senators 5 - Regina Oilers 3
-Carter Folk leads the Senators past the Oilers with 1-2-3. Eric Wicijowski scored twice. Senators goalie Connor Meredith turns aside 37/40 shots for the win.

Regina Oilers 3 - Regins Senators 2
-Kaiden Jones scores early in the third period to clinche the total goal series 7-6 for the Senators. Meredith was strong once again stopping 34/37 shots.

Regina Oilers advance.

Swift Current 2 - Regina Hurricanes 2
Tim Vanstone wasn't in the line-up for Swift Current and that proved to be costly in a 2-2 tie. The Hurricanes had 6 power plays while the Raiders had 0.

Regina Hurricanes 7 - Swift Current 4
The Raiders fired 46 shots at Regina goalie Eric Thiel but it wasn't enough. Regina got 3-2-5 from Michell Lipon and 2-3-5 from Blake Anaka in the win. Regina put the game away with 4 goals in the 3rd period. Tim Vanstone once again did not play which was a big reason for their elimination.

Regina Hurricanes Advance.

Weyburn 6 - Estevan 5
Regan Nagy scores the game winner with just under a minute left on the clock for the win. 97 born Nagy, who is expected to be a high pick next year, finished the game with 3 goals. Trey Tendler scored twice for Weyburn.

Estevan 3 - Weyburn 8
Weyburn advances to round 2 winning the total goal series 14-8. Regan Nagy and Nicholas Pouliot each had 2-1-3. It is really no surprise with Weyburn advancing. If you remember, they won the Saskatoon Bantam Tournament in early January over Russell in the final.

Weyburn advances.

Balgonie 7 - Lumsden 2
97 born Jayden Halbgewachs scores 3 times and Gordon Westeste scores twice in the victory. Grant Naherniak stops just 20/27 shots in the loss.

Lumsden 3 - Balgonie 4
Balgonie wins the total goal series 11-5. Jayden Halbgewachs once again leads the way with 1-2-3. Colton Yano and Dan Geordie McDougall got in to a fight late in the 3rd.

Balgonie Advances.

Round 2 action:
Weyburn 3 - Regina Senators 2
Weyburn scores the games first 3 goals and Regina scores twice late in the 3rd to set up a good finale. Nicholas Pouliot had 1-1-2 for Weyburn.

Weyburn 5 - Regina Senators 7 OT
Despite Regina winning the 2nd game, the total goals were tied at 8 each, so overtime was required. Weyburn fired 54 shots at Regina goalie Logan Flodell but it wasn't enough. Eric Wicijowski had a 5 point game, including the OT winner which was his hat-trick goal. Braden Senft also scored 3 goals. For Weyburn, Trey Tendler scored all 5!

Regina Sentors advance to the final.

Balgonie 6 - Regina Hurricanes 1
Jordan Ross scores 1-3-4 in leading Balgonie to a convicing lead in the series with the final game played last night. I hope to have a report later today.

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The Greater Saskatoon Hockey League playoffs will begin on February 1st. The Outlaws vs Frostbite, Bandits vs Generals and Martensville vs Stallions.

From Tuesday night, the Outlaws continue to lead the GSHL standings by defeating the Saskatoon Bandits 8-3. League scoring leader Kolten Olynek had 1-4-5 and Kobe Kindrachuk 2-2-4 in the win. Kindrachuk now has 3-4-7 in his past two games for the Outlaws.

The Saskatoon Frostbite skated past the Stallions 6-4. Team scoring leader, Jesse Shynkaruk had 3 goals in leading the team to the win. Shynkaruk now has 40 goals and 67 points in 36 games this season.

.......................

The AMBHL is back in full swing this week after the John Reid Memorial Tournament. Spruce Grove PAC Saints, who went all the way to the final played their first game last night since then and defeated Ft. Saskatchewan just 4-3. Michael Cardinal continued his hot play with 1-2-3 and Thomas Foster scored had 1-1-2. Jason Miller, who was one of the scoring leaders at the John Reid Tournament had a goal.

St. Albert defeated Edmonton KC last night 5-2. St. Albert got goals from 5 different players and allowed just 4 shots over the final two periods in the victory. St. Albert pulls to within 2 points of division leader SSAC. However, SSAC does have 2 games in hand.

.......................

Finally this morning, some recent scores from the PCAHA Flight 1:
Seafair 6 - Langley 0 (Monday)
Langley 4 - Surrey 1 (Tuesday)
Cloverdale 5 - Chilliwack 3 (Tuesday)
Cloverdale 4 - Semiahmoo 2 (Wednesday)

98 born tearing up Peewee Hockey

We haven't begun the process of scouting the 1998 born class yet until the Bantam Draft in May is complete. However, on the "99 turns 50" on sportsnet tonight they briefly mentioned a player making noise in Medicine Hat and could be someone to watch. Here is the story that was written on Jaeger White from the Medicine Hat News today:

The play shapes up as if somebody watched The Mighty Ducks one too many times.

A skater, bigger than most on the ice, takes the puck in his own zone. His teammates trail behind, almost in a V-shape. The opposition knows what's coming, and try to hold their positions on the ice.

He swoops in over the blue line, swings the puck wide right, then wide left, then wide right again, each time leaving a defender in his wake.

Already near the goal, he makes one more move, falling down, and tucks the puck in behind the goaltender.

It's a highlight reel play. What's crazier is that the kid who pulls it off is 12 years old.

Medicine Hat's Jaeger White has scored plenty of goals this way in a record season in peewee AA with the Sports Connection Venom. He currently has 109 goals and 20 assists in 25 league games, eclipsing the South Central Alberta Hockey League mark of 97 goals set a few years ago by current Portland Winterhawks forward Ty Rattie.

Oh, and this goal — scored during an 11-7 provincial playoff game win over Airdrie Tuesday — doesn't even count.

"That's his 10th disallowed goal this season," White's coach, Greg Thompson, will say after the game. "The referees are usually so far behind him they don't see it go in."

Indeed, the officials meet, then signal no goal. No matter. Less than a minute later White scores again — his first of five goals on the night as the Venom advance to the second round of playdowns.

Most of the goals feature White breaking in with blazing speed, then putting a move on a helpless goaltender. On one he roofs a backhand. On another he unleashes a quick slapshot. Ping! You might blink, but the sound of the puck hitting iron, followed by a cheer from fans indicates he's just done it again.

"Some teams, they do the line matching and the shadowing, but it doesn't really matter. All teams have some guys that can keep up with me," says White, who had 10 goals and three assists in a 13-3 league win last Friday. "I just go out there and try and do my best."

There aren't many 12-year-olds who stand 5-foot-7, but Thompson knows size is only part of the package with his star player. He's got uncles who scout for hockey teams and an older brother — Torrin — who's a first-round WHL draft pick of the Moose Jaw Warriors. And skill to burn.

"The talent does come easy to him, but at the same time he's really worked hard this year at completing his whole game," said Thompson.

"He really likes to carry the puck. When he wants to he'll control the play."

That talent was also honed in his uncle's garage, where he still likes to hang out with Torrin and other friends.

They'll play for hours on end, his dad says.

"The pond for those two is their uncle Darren's garage, and honestly I think it's why they both have the scoring skills they do," says Terry White. "They've spent hours and hours in uncle Darren's garage, sniping goals."

Terry moved Torrin to Airdrie a couple years ago, where he played bantam AAA. He's now in midget AAA with the Strathmore-based UFA Bisons and is a Alberta Midget Hockey League all-star.

Coincidentally, Ty Rattie is from Airdrie, and heard about Jaeger's run at his record.

Rattie contacted Jaeger through Facebook and the two chatted this past weekend.

"If someone would have told me I'd be breaking a record I wouldn't have believed them," Jaeger says, clearly a bit surprised by all of the attention he's getting. "My uncles always push me, tell me to keep working and remember where I want to get to."

He could look up the early scoring exploits of other hockey stars, like Sydney Crosby (200 or so points in around 70 games in peewee) or Wayne Gretzky (more than 300 points a year in peewee, but no definitive number of games). He'd rather play the video game NHL 11, preferably as Medicine Hat Tigers forward Emerson Etem or Tampa Bay Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos.

Staying grounded is critically important.

"I kind of like to focus on what's going on right now," he says. "I've been trying to skate like Etem, I don't know how he does it. I always watch to see how they do it."

The question people have for Jaeger, however, is how he's doing it. There are still five games left in the regular season.

"Amazing hand-eye," says Thompson. "Some of the stuff he does, the guy in the penalty box looked at me and went 'wow. I wish I could shoot like that.'"

WEHP Announce Top 10 Team Rankings

1. Kamloops Jardine Blazers 12-1-1 83-28
2. Burnaby Winter Club 22-0-0 133-20
3. Calgary Bisons 21-3-1 162-83
4. Spruce Grove PAC Saints 16-6-5 110-82
5. SSAC Southgate Lions 19-3-3 129-58
6. Prince Albert Pirates 13-0-1 136-41
7. Calgary Royals 18-8-1 132-93
8. Abbotsford Hawks 18-4-2 121-65
9. Winnipeg Hawks 20-0-2 150-53
10. Airdrie Xtreme 17-8-1 123-84


Honorable Mentions:
St. Albert Sabres
Winnipeg Sharks
Leduc Allen's Transport
Warman Wildcats

Saskatoon declines to join new proposed league for 11-12

The new league would've consisted of a North and South division, similar to that of the AMBHL. However, with Saskatoon declining to joining the proposed "new league", there is no word at this time what will happen for the 2011-2012 season. Here is a link below that explains it in futher detail.

http://smhask.sasktelwebhosting.com/L2NR_B1Update201112_3.htm

Friday

If the John Reid Memorial tournament is telling us anything, it is that the Calgary Bisons are for real and perhaps the Winnipeg Hawks aren't as good as what we thought they were?

Calgary Bisons (2-0-0) 10 - Sherwood Park (1-1-0) 2
The Calgary Bisons continue their asult of the tournament on Friday with another lopsided win over Sherwood Park. With the victory, the Bisons have assured themselves a place in the quarter-finals tomorrow. The Bisons were led on this day by Alex Mowbray with scored a hat-trick and added an assist. Brayden Point added his first two goals of the tournament and added an assist as well. Brycen Martin had 3 assists. Sherwood Park, who has just 3 goals so far in 2 games got goals from Daley and Tyler Brown.
shots on goal were: Calgary Bisons 43 Sherwood Park 21

Pursuit of Excellence (1-1-0) 4 - Winnipeg Hawks (0-2-0) 1
The Winnipeg Hawks are now eliminated from winning the tournament and the POE still keeps open their chances of winning with a 4-1 victory. POE got goals for 4 different players including Lang, Koukis, Meek and 97 born dman Gatenby. Tyler Coulter had 2 assists. For the Hawks, it was once again Dane Shioler from Adam Brooks for the lone goal as it was last game vs. the Bisons.
Shots on goal were: POE 34 Winnipeg Hawks 23

For those of you who would like to watch some bantam action on the internet, you can watch Yorkton and Spokane here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jr-chiefs-bantam-aaa

Calgary Royals (2-0-0) 5 - Leduc (0-2-0) 1
The "group of death" ends that way for leduc as they fall out of tournament contention with a 5-1 loss at the hands of the 2nd ranked AMBHL south team from Calgary. Leading the way for the Royals once again was Reid Duke, with 0-3-3. Calgary was also balanced by 5 single goal scorers in the game. However, Duke has 6 points and the next best has 2 from the Royals in the 2 wins. Liam Gregor was able to score for Leduc in this one on the PP. Leduc has been eliminated from tournament winning contention.
Shots on goal were: Calgary Royals 31 Leduc 20

Kamloops (1-1-0) 3 - Edmonton (1-0-1) 4
In a battle of two of the better teams in western Canada, it was Edmonton SSAC coming out on top of the powerful Kamloops squad. Edmonton held a 4-1 lead in the 3rd and almost had it go away as Kamloops got goals from Cochrane and Barker to cut the gap to 4-3, something that Edmonton would not relingquish. Chad Butcher had 1-1-2 for Kamloops, while Ryan Gropp was held off the score sheet. SSAC got goals from 4 different players in the win. Of note, John Quennville, who we have ranked to go in the first round doesn't have a point yet in 2 games.
shots on goal were: Kamloops 39 - Edmonton SSAC 39

Seafair (0-3-0) 2 - Spruce Grove (3-0-0) 8
Seafair proved to be no match for really anyone in their pool, whether it be Notre Dame, Spruce Grove or even Airdrie as they were outscored 20-5 in the 3 games they played. In this one, Alec Dawydiak led the way with 1-1-2 and Tyler Sandhu was held off the score sheet for Seafair. It was a big day for Spruce Grove players as Thomas Foster had 2-1-3 and Michael Cardinal had 2-1-3. Jason Miller had 1-4-5 in the game. He now has 3-6-9, in 3 games so far.
Shots on goal were: Seafair 21 - Spruce Grove 40

Burnaby WC (3-0-0) 8 - St. Albert (2-1-0) 1
Is there really any team that is going to be able to knock off BWC? I guess we'll see...as they roll to another convincing victory, this time, 8-1 over a very good St. Albert team. The Mathew Barzal parade continues, as he scored 2 more times and added an assist. Chris Seto added 2-2-4 in the game....He now has a tournament leading, 7-4-11 in just 3 games! Defenseman, Victor Dombrovskiy had 1-2-3 and now has 5 points in 3 games. Cameron Seto has 8 points in 3 games so far as well against some pretty good teams. Michael Buchamer and Paul Lovsin had strong games for St. Albert and are making scouts take notice.
Shots on goal were: BWC 44 - St. Albert 16

Airdrie (2-1-0) 3 - Notre Dame (1-2-0) 2
The Notre Dame Hounds are out! The Airdrie Xtreme are going forward in a very good game - featuring loads of heart and talent in St. Albert. Tyler Wong was held off the score sheet in this one but Connor Boyd was able to score the GWG and chip in with an assist for the Xtreme. Boyd is tied with Wong for the team scoring lead through round robin play with 2-2-4 in 3 games. Fleury and Bessile tallied with singles for the Hounds and Jacob Cardiff had 2 helpers.
Shots on goal were: Airdrie 31 - Notre Dame 30

Red Deer (1-2-0) 6 - Phoenix (0-3-0) 3
The boys from south of the border go winless in their pool in losing to a game Red Deer squad 6-3. Both teams knew they were done going in to this game but played with a lot of grit and determination. Red Deer was led by Mik Doell with 2-1-3 and Ty Mappin with 1-1-2 and Chase Thudium also scored twice for Red Deer. The Jr. Coyotes who were clearly over matched in the tournament were led by Johnny Walker on the back end but he couldn't do it all on his own.
Shots on goal were: Red Deer 38 - Phoenix 25

Winnipeg Hawks (1-2-0) 6 - Sherwood Park (1-2-0) 3
In another battle of two teams who won't have a chance to win, the boys played with a lot of pride in this one. Dane Schioler, who was the only Winnipeg player to be able to score in the first two games was held to just one assist but gritty Nico Lisi was able to score twice and Adam Brooks added 1-1-2. For the Flyers, it has been a team effort or lack there of I guess you could say with no player having more than 1 point in 3 games. I still think we'll see Winnipeg Hawks at the westerns!
Shots on goal were: Winnipeg 33 - Sherwood Park 16

Calgary Bisons (2-0-1) 3 - Pursuit of Excellence (1-1-1) 3
In a game where both teams were destined to move to the quarter-finals, it was fit to be tied tonight. Brayden Point was held pointless but Tanner MacMaster and Alex Mowbray each scored 1-1-2 in the draw. Mowbray is leading the talented Bisons with 4 goals so far. POE got 1-1-2 from defenseman Dysin mayo....I would expect Mayo to be a high pick in the bantam draft. Chase Lang continued to score with 1-1-2.
Shots on goal were: Calgary Bisons 22 - POE 32

Start of the 2nd games.......

Aidrie (1-1-0) 7 - Seafair (0-2-0) 1
The Seafair won't have a chance to win the tournament now after dropping their 2nd straight game in the tournament, this time proving no match for Airdrie. The Xtreme got goals from 7 different players in the victory with Tyler Wong leading the way with 1-2-3. Wong, who is 3rd in the ambhl scoring race has 2-2-4 in the 2 wins now. Goaltender Malcolm Walilko only had to face 15 shots. Seafair's lone goal came from defenseman Kurt Galvin, Galvin had just 1 goal in 39 total games this year. Team scoring leader Tyler Sandhu was held to just 1 assist and has 1-1-2 in the 2 games. Sandhu leads Seafair in scoring now this year with 46-45-91 in 40 games, this coming after he had 50-50-100 in 50 games last year as an underage.
Shots on goal were: Airdrie 43 - Seafair 15

Spruce Grove PAC (2-0-0) 5 - Notre Dame Hounds (1-1-0) 3
The Spruce Grove PAC Saints have played themselves in to the quarter-finals with a win over one of the pre-tournament favorites from Notre Dame. The Saints got goals from 5 different players and 1-1-2 from Jason Miller in the victory. Miller now has 4 points, just one back of team leader Matthew McNeil (4-1-5). The Hounds were led by Sebastian Barrett with 1-2-3, Barrett has 14 points in 15 exhibition games in the SSBHL. Notre Dame will play Airdrie tomorrow to see who earns the other playoff position along with Spruce Grove. Seafair is done in terms of winning the tournament.
Shots on goal were: Spruce Grove PAC 35 - Notre Dame 24

Burnaby Winter Club (2-0-0) 7 - Red Deer (0-2-0) 0
The BWC continue to show why they are considered to be perhaps the top team in western Canada, by running their record to 2-0-0 with another lopsided 2nd straight 7-0 victory. Let the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins comparisons begin as likely (at this point) top 3 overall pick on the 2012 WHL bantam draft - Mathew Barzal scored a natural hat-trick in just under 7 minutes of play to put this game from a 2-0 to a 5-0 game. Fellow 97 born star, Chris Seto scored 2 more goals, giving him 5 so far in 2 games. Cameron Seto scored 2 goals as well and added an assist. Barzal and the Seto's have combined for 13/14 goals and 97 born Justin Szeto scored the other. How good is BWC going to be next year? Nick McBride turned aside all 21 shots he faced
Shots on goal were: Burnaby Winter Club 36 - Red Deer 21

St. Albert (2-0-0) 6 - Phoenix (0-2-0) 1
Phoenix is having a bit of a rude awakening north of the 49th with a 2nd straight blow-out, this time to St. Albert. The Sabres will now move on in this pool along with BWC. Captain Brett Smythe led the way with 2-1-3 and 97 born goalie Patrick Dea turned aside 18/19 shots he faced in the win. Michael Buchamer had a strong defensive game for St. Albert who as usual were very hard to play against.
Shots on goal were: St. Albert 29 - Phoenix 19

Action will resume tomorrow morning around 9am.

John Reid All-Time Scoring Leaders

With just 1 game complete for each team at the John Reid Memorial Tournament for each today so far, there are a couple players who have 4 pts already. Here is a list of some of the all-time scoring leaders. I think Jonathan Toews record is safe, do you?

Jonathan Toews 7 21-15-36 Winnipeg Warriors 2003
Michael St. Croix 7 16- 7-23 Winnipeg Monarchs 2008
Ryan Depape 7 9-11-20 Winnipeg Warriors 2003
Colin Smith 6 13- 7-20 Edmonton CAC 2008
Gilbert Brule 7 13- 7-20 NSWC 2002
Brendan Ranford 6 9-10-19 Edmonton CAC 2007
Blair McCauley 7 6-13-19 Winnipeg Warriors 2003
Brendan Shinnimin 6 7-11-18 Winnipeg Sharks 2006
Mitch Holmberg 7 9- 8-17 Sherwood Park Flyers 2008
Zach Franko 7 7-10-17 Winnipeg Monarchs 2008
Cody Eakin 7 4-13-17 Winnipeg Monarchs 2006

Other Notables:
Adam Hughesman 6 5-10-15 Winnipeg Sharks 2006
Michael St. Croix 6 6- 9-15 Winnipeg Monarchs 2007 Underage
Morgan Reilly 6 7- 7-14 Notre Dame Hounds 2009
Colin Smith 6 6- 8-14 Edmonton CAC 2007 Underage
Brandon Gormley 6 6- 7-13 Notre Dame Hounds 2007
Ryan Howse 6 10- 2-12 Prince George 2006
Mark McNeill 5 8- 4-12 Edmonton SSAC 2008
Jaden Schwartz 7 8- 4-12 Notre Dame Hounds 2007
Jordan Eberle 7 7- 5-12 Notre Dame Hounds 2005
Jordan Weal 7 5- 7-12 Notre Dame Hounds 2007
Tyson Barrie 7 4- 7-11 Juan De Fuca 2006

Will anyone in the 1997 age group be able top Michael St. Croix's 15 points as an underage? Perhaps Barzal or Chris Seto?

Award Winners in 2008, 2009 and 2010 tournaments:
2008
Michael St. Croix - Top Forward -Drafted 4th overall
Duncan Siemens - Top Defenseman (MVP) - Drafted 3rd overall

2009
Ryan Berlin - Top Forward - Drafted 61st overall
Morgan Reilly - Top Defenseman (MVP) - Drafted 2nd overall

2010
Curtis Lazar - Top Forward (MVP) - Drafted 2nd overall
Tyler King - Top Defenseman - Drafted 17th overall

Who will win the MVP this time around? The past 3 award winners have been picked either 2nd or 3rd overall.

St. Albert Tournament Underway

A pair of games have been completed already at the 33rd annual John Reid Memorial Tournament held in St. Albert. The tournament is being held at Servus Place at three different rinks. If anyone is in and around St. Albert, go check the WHL stars of tomorrow this weekend. Most of the top teams across western Canada are taking part and it will be great action through-out the weekend. Also, try and bring a donation for the St. Albert food back as a thank you to the community for being great hosts.

We will do our best to update the blog this weekend in between games, or back in Edmonton where me and my family are anchored down. Should've booked earlier I guess! Some early action today to start things off.

Notre Dame (1-0-0) 5 - Seafair (0-1-0) 2
One of the pre-tournament favourties were able to break a 2-2 tie in the 3rd and defeat the PCAHA's Seafair Islanders 5-2. The Hounds were led by team leading scorer Blake Penner with 2 goals. Penner has 29-22-51 in 16 exhibition games in the SSBHL. Also for Notre Dame it was Ben Duperreault with a pair of assists and Quebec born Maxime Chevalier with a pair of assists as well. For Seafair, it was a pair of kids who will go in the first round likely with Alec Dawydiak and Tyler Sandhu scoring goals. Shots on goal were: Notre Dame 42 - Seafair 27

Spruce Grove (1-0-0) 5 - Airdrie (0-1-0) 3
A pair of teams who have been in and out of the WEHP Top 10 rankings all season long went head to head today and it was Spruce Grove scoring 3 un-answered goals in the 3rd to win 5-3. Matthew McNeil scored his 3rd of the game with just under 2 minutes remaining to give Spruce Grove their first lead of the game and was the game winner. Cardinal, Miller, Bizeau and Foster all had 2 points in addition to McNeil's 3-1-4. For Airdrie, it was Chartier, Wong and Paul replying with markers. Shots on goal were: Spruce Grove 33 - Airdrie 28

Burnaby (1-0-0) 7 - Phoenix (0-1-0) 0
Another of the pre-tournament favourites flexed their muscles on opening day by walking over the lone team from south of the border 7-0. 97 born star, Chris Seto scored a natural hat-trick in the 3rd period to salt this one away. Cameron Seto had 2-1-3 and a pair of other 97 born forwards; Justin Szeto and Mathew Barzal each scored 1-1-2. Maniel Rana turned aside all 22 shots for the shut out victory. Johnny Walker had a solid game on defense for Phoenix today.
Shots on goal were: BWC 36 - Phoenix 22

St. Albert (1-0-0) 2 - Red Deer (0-1-0) 1
St. Albert made the home town fans happy with a tournament opening win for their squad 2-1 over the very game Red Deer squad. St. Albert who owns the AMBHL's 2nd best GAA were able to hold Red Deer to just 25 shots as Patrick Gora turned aside 24/25. Paul Lovsin scored a goal just as time was running out in the first period and Tyler Mrkonjic scored the eventual game winner early in the 3rd. Mike Doell scored late in the 3rd to make it close for Red Deer. Zach Gonek did a good job all game vs. Red Deer star Ty Mappin. Red Deer defenseman Logan Hermus was giving a 2+10 for a check to the head in the 3rd.
Shots on goal were: St. Albert 21 - Red Deer 25

Calgary Bisons (1-0-0) 8 - Winnipeg Hawks (0-1-0) 1
In what was supposed to be a showdown between two of the better teams in western Canada, turned to be nothing more than a blowout against the explosive Calgary Bisons. The game was 7-0 at about the midway point. The Hawks, who are undefeated in their league this season were held to just a lone goal from Dane Schioler and Adam Brooks was held to just the 1 assist. Winnipeg Hawks goalie, Zach Hoger allowed 8 goals on 29 shots. The Bisons were led by Landon Welykholowa with 3 goals and 97 born forward Nick Merkley with 2-2-4. Merkley is the younger brother of WHL '10 first rounder Jon Merkley. As for the Tanner MacMaster and Brayden Point watch....MacMaster had 2-1-3 and Point had 0-2-2. MacMaster and Lisi had a bit of a dust up in the 2nd period.
Shots on goal were: Calgary Bisons 29 - Winnipeg Hawks 25

Sherwood Park (1-0-0) 1 - Pursuit of Excellence (0-1-0) 0
A low scoring battle today in which there was just 42 total shots on goal saw the defensive minded Sherwood Park Flyers get by POE in a slight upset 1-0. The lone goal was scored about half way through the 2nd period by 97 defenseman Cameron Reagan. Reagan is having a very strong rookie season for Sherwood Park this season and should be a high pick next year. Peyton Lee and Trevor Martin both were solid despite not being overly busy and showed why they'll be high picks in the bantam draft.
Shots on goal were: Sherwood Park 20 - POE 22

Kamloops (1-0-0) 4 - Leduc (0-1-0) 2
In a battle of two of the WEHP top 10 teams, it was Kamloops who built up a 3-0 lead and held on for the 4-2 victory. Kamloops scored a couple first period goals by Carson Bolduc and Carter Cochrane and a 2nd perid marker by team leading scorer Chad Butcher to vault out to the lead. However, recently converted forward to defenseman Kord Pankewicz scored a late 2nd period marker, followed by an early 3rd period goal to cut the gap to 4-2 final. Joe Hicketts had a strong showing with 1-2-3 and chad Butcher 1-1-2 and Ryan Gropp 2 assists. Pankewicz and Hicketts should both be first rounders in May. Of note, Monty Chisholm took a 5 minute major for cross checking and a game. Also, Leduc defenseman took a 5 minute major for Interference and a game.
Shots on goal were: Kamloops 42 - Leduc 26

Edmonton SSAC (0-0-1) 3 - Calgary Royals (0-0-1) 3
The top team in the ambhl North took on one of the better south squads and were fit to be tied at 3. The Royals came back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to force the tie. Simpson, Debrusk and 97 born forward Estephan scored for SSAC while Reid Duke scored all 3 goals for the Calgary Royals. Duke has come up big several times in tournaments this season and once again showed why he'll be a high first round pick.
Shots on goal were: Calgary Royals 37 - Edmonton SSAC 32

WEHP Announce Top 10 Team Rankings

1. Burnaby Winter Club 22-0-0 133-20
2. Kamloops Jardine Blazers 12-1-1 83-28
3. Winnipeg Hawks 20-0-2 150-53
4. Calgary Bisons 21-3-1 162-83
5. SSAC Southgate Lions 19-3-3 129-58
6. Prince Albert Pirates 13-0-1 136-41
7. St. Albert Sabres 18-6-3 109-65
8. Leduc Allen's Transport 18-8-2 158-95
9. Abbotsford Hawks 16-4-2 110-59
10. Calgary Royals 17-8-1 128-91


Honorable Mentions:
Airdrie Xtreme
Weyburn Redwings
Russell Rams
Seafair Islanders
Winnipeg Sharks

January 19, 2011 newsletter is now ready!

The January 19, 2011 newsletter is now ready.

This editiion includes many changes to the Top 150 list for 1996 born players and updates the list of the 1997 born class as well as the USA Top 25 list.

I had a chance to speak with perhaps the top defenseman available for the bantam draft this spring and he talks about how his lack of size won't hold him back. Also, I spoke with a Calgary born defenseman who feels he has what it takes to be a good all-around defenseman at the next level. I spoke with an Arizona hockey players who parents and scouts are sure to take notice of at the St. Albert tournament this coming weekend. He has an unique name and a very good hockey talent. Finally, I spoke with a south Saskatchewan born talent who feels he plays similar to Taylor Hall, scouts take notice?

Monday Morning....

In the AMBHL yesterday, it was the Calgary Royals wrapping up a successful 2-0-0 weekend with a 6-4 victory over Okotoks. With Reid Duke out of the line-up it was Tyler Rohl with 2-1-3 and Ryan Graham with 1-2-3. Conner Bleackley had 1-2-3 and 97 born Mason McCarty scoring a pair of goals for the Oilers. The Royals sit tied for 2nd overall with Airdrie with 35 points, 8 behind the Calgary Bisons. Okotoks sits 9th in the 10 team south.

Tyler Wong scored 3 times, giving him 33 goals on the season but it wasn't enough as Leduc got by them 5-4. Leduc scored 5 first period goals chasing Xtreme starting goalie Malcolm Walilko. Christian Fitzgerald came on in relief and turned aside 21 shots. Kord Pankewicz continues to provide some offensive from defense with 1-2-3.
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In the SSBHL, it was Lumsden with a 7-3 victory over Yorkton. Leading the way was defenceman Brayden Park with 4 assists and Brodie Shuette with 1-3-4. Lumsden ups their record to 7-7-0 while Yorkton drops to 2-13-4.

The Regina Hurricanes got a huge night from Mitchell Lipon with 3-2-5 and Blake Anaka with 2-3-5 en route to a 7-4 win over Swift Current. Jordan Wittman had 2 goals for Swift Current who were without their leading scorer Tim Vanstone. Swift Current is now 8-2-2 and the Hurricanes are 5-8-3.

In the CFHL, it was Melfort having a very successful weekend against a pair of the top teams in the league. First of all on Saturday, they tied the Warman Wildcats 4-4. Scoring for Melfort was Rylan Freed with 2, Fiske and Seaman as well. For Warman it was Paul Farbacher with 3 goals leading the way. And on Sunday, the Mustangs were able to give Prince Albert their only blemish so far this year, tieing them 5-5. Once again, Rylan Freed led the way for Melfort with a pair of goals and for Prince Albert it was Yaremchuk with a pair. Defenceman Jordan Harris also scored for Prince Albert, this after he scored his first midget hockey goal with the Prince Albert Minto's earlier in the weekend.

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For those of you who want to read up on the Winnipeg Bantam League all-star game. You can read a good article here: http://www.wmha.mb.ca/pdffiles/AAA%20ELITE%20All%20Star%20Day.pdf.

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Over in the Okanagan Mainline Hockey League it was the Kamloops Jardine Blazers scoring a pair of wins. First, they defeated the Kelowna Rockets 8-4. Ryan Gropp led the way with 4 goals and Chad Butcher had 1-4-5. Both players are expected to be selected in the top few rounds of the bantam draft in May. Then on Sunday it was a 10-0 victory over Vernon. Chad Butcher had 2-2-4 and 97 born Addison Bazian had 1-3-4.

In other action it was Spokane Jr. Chiefs firing 75 shots on goalie Harrison Whitlock in what turned out to be a 12-2 win over OHA. Taylor Vickerman led the way with 2-4-6 for Spokane. Then yesteray, it was Spokane defeating Penticton 8-2. Vickerman had a very strong game once again with 1-3-4.

For those of you who want to see some video of Spokane vs. POE, OHA....you can watch right here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jr-chiefs-bantam-aaa

Blog Site

I would like to apologize to anyone who finds certain or specific posts either slanting, partial or offensive. It is not the intention of the site to post entries that would suggest any of that. If any post is of bother to anyone who reads the site, I will review it and either remove the entry or try to edit it the best I can to tell the story.

The intention of the site is to basically give fans of the minor hockey fraternity a one-stop reading source to have with their morning coffee!

Once again, thank you all for reading and all the best moving in to the final stretch of the 10-11 season.

Weekend action

The Winnipeg Hawks ran their record to 19-0-2 with a 6-2 victory over the 14-6-1 Winnipeg Sharks on Friday night. Adam Brooks scored two goals, giving him 39 on the season. Dane Schioler had 1-2-3, he is 2nd in league scoring with 43 points. For the Sharks, it was 97 born Dallas Miller with 1-1-2. Miller is 2nd in the league with 20 goals.

In Airdrie, it was a pair of the better teams in the ambhl south with Airdrie facing the Calgary Bisons. The game also featured the league's top 3 scorers. The Bisons in came out with a low scoring 3-1 victory. Tanner MacMaster was held off the scoresheet and Brayden Point had 1-0-1. Leading the way was Landon Welykholowa with 1-1-2. Adin Hill stopped 31/32 shots for the win. The Bisons are now undefeated in 22 games. Airdrie's Ryan Zeniuk scored the lone goal and Tyler Wong was held pointless.

A highlight from the ambhl North was St. Albert posting a 5-0 shutout victory over Edmonton CAC. Goaltender Patrick Gora stopped all 23 shots for the goose egg. Tyler Mrkonjic paced the offensive attack with 2-2-4.

In Weyburn, it was the Redwings posting a 8-3 win over Estevan. Nicholas Pouliot and 97 born Regan Nagy each had 2-1-3. Pouliot is the league's leading goal getter with 19.

In Saskatoon, it was the Saskatoon Outlaws with a 9-2 victory over the Saskatoon Frostbite. Leading the way for the Outlaws was Kolten Olynek with 3-4-7 points! KOLTEN OLYNEK played with the Saskatoon Contacts in Midget AAA last night and had 1-1-2. 97 born Wyatt Sloboshan had 2 goals. Jesse Shynkaruk led the way for the Frostbite with 1-1-2. Shynkaruk leads the team in points this season with 36-26-62.

Finally this morning a quick look over to B.C. It was the BWC Bruins with a 9-0 victory over Semiahmoo. It was the Seto's leading the way with Cam Seto scoring 2-3-5 and Chris seto with 3 goals. Harper had 1 goals and 5 assists for BWC which ran their undefeated streak to 21 league games.

Thursday banter

Starting out west in the PCAHA, it was the Abbotsford Hawks running their undefeated streak to 9 games, with a 9-3 win over Langley. The Abbotsford coach received a game misconduct and Abbotsford took 12 minor penalties to Lanley's 6. Abbotsford is now 10-2-1, while Langley drops to 4-9-0. The Hawks continue to trial the undefeated BWC Bruins who are 12-0-0.

Seafair, who sit currently in 3rd place were able to get by Surrey this weak by a score of 2-0. It was a wild game in which Surrey received 2 game misconducts and a 10 min misconduct. Surrey is in 4th place in flight 1 with a 5-6-2 record and Seafair as mentioned is 3rd at 8-3-1. Cloverdale dropped a 4-3 decision to Hollyburn this weak as well.

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Catching up now with Okanagan Mainline league now. The big showdown featured the top two teams, POE and Kamloops facing off to a 3-3 tie. All the big guns for Kamloops were held off the scoresheet and some of the 97's carried the load with Chyzowski scoring 1-1-2 and Addision Bazien figuring in on the scoring. POE was busy as they also defeated Westside 8-3 and Vernon 10-4. Chad Butcher continues to lead the league portion of things in scoring with 13-17-30. His team-mate Ryan gropp is 2nd and POE's Chase Lang in 3rd. In 42 games total this season, Chad Butcher has 49-48-97 and is a +79. Only Joe Hicketts has a higher +/- at +86.

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Switching gears now and moving across the rockies to the AMBHL, we continue to see the Calgary Bisons proving themselves to be one of the better teams in western Canada. The Bisons ran their league best unbeaten streak to 21 games this week with a 7-0 win over the Okotoks Oilers. Brayden Point had 1-2-3 and Tanner MacMaster had 0-3-3. Alex Mowbray scored a pair of goals in the win and Landon Welykholowa had 1-2-3. Mowbray has scored 25 goals in 24 games this season now. Goalie, Keelan Williams turned aside all 30 shots for the win. Okotoks goalie, Michael Conrad came in - in relief in the 3rd and stopped all 20 shots he faced.

The Calgary Royals got by the Calgary Bronks 5-2 in an all Calgary matchup on Wednesday night. Reid Duke was held off the scoresheet but did recieve 16 minutes in penalties! For the Royals, it was Kyle O'Connor with 3 goals, he now has 13 this season. Evan Reid picked up a pair of helpers in the win. Ryan Graham scored 2 goals and now has 6 this season.

And Zach Gonek scored his 5th and 6th goals of the season in leading St. Albert to a narrow 4-3 win over Camrose. Gonek now has 6-13-19 in 21 games this season after starting the year suspended for a handful of games. St. Albert sits 2nd in the Nitro North at 17-6-1 and have allowed the 2nd fewest goals in the league behind Soutgate with just 65 allowed in 26 games thus far.

The scoring leader in the AMBHL continues to be Brayden Point who has 30-47-77 in 24 games. He has opened up a 3 point lead on team-mate Tanner MacMaster (40-34-74). Airdrie's Tyler Wong sits 3rd at 30-36-66 in 24 games. The highest scoring defenceman is recently converted Kord Pankewicz at 21-20-41 in 26 games, Kord also has 61 penalty minutes this season. However, the leading fulltime defenceman scoring leader is Brycen Martin with 1-27-28. The leading PIM guy is Fort Saskatchewan Forward Toby Shattler with 129.

A quick look over at the Calgary AA bantam league and we see 97 born Braylon Shmyr with an 11 point lead atop the scoring board with 24-18-42 points. Shmyr is an AP with the loaded Calgary Bisons. He has yet to see any action with the Bisons this year though.

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A couple quick notes to end off the day. A pair of players in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are running away with their league scoring races. In the Centre Four Hockey league in Saskatchewan, we have Ryan Duret from the provinces top ranked squad blowing everyone away with 32-30-62 in just 12 games. He has a healthy 20 point lead over Humboldt's Reid Gardiner. Ryan's team-mate Lance Yaremchuk has 37 points in 9 games.

From Manitoba, it is really to nobody's surprise that Adam Brooks continues to roll in the points as he has his whole career. With 37-26-63, he has a 18 goal lead on 97 born Dallas Miller and his 63 points are 23 more than team-mate Dane Schioler.

It is thought that both Duret and Brooks should go somewhere in the 2nd-3rd round of the May bantam draft.

1. Burnaby Winter Club 20-0-0 108-19
2. Kamloops Jardine Blazers 10-1-0 65-24
3. Winnipeg Hawks 18-0-2 138-47
4. Calgary Bisons 19-3-1 152-82
5. SSAC Southgate Lions 17-3-3 111-51
6. Prince Albert Pirates 12-0-0 129-34
7. Leduc Allen's Transport 17-8-1 148-87
8. Winnipeg Sharks 13-5-1 104-63
9. St. Albert Sabres 15-6-3 100-62
10. Abbotsford Hawks 14-4-2 97-54

Honorable Mentions:
Airdrie Xtreme
Weyburn Redwings
Russell Rams
Seafair Islanders
Spruce PAC Saints

Tuesday stuff

The Notre Dame Hounds once again drubbed another team in their SSBHL. This time it was the Balgonie Prairie Storm falling 7-1 to Notre Dame. Balgonie is the lone undefeated team in the SSBHL but were no match for the Hounds. The Hounds were led by power forward Josh Uhrich with 2-1-3 and 5 other players added singles for the Hounds. For Balgonie, Jordan Ross notched a PP marker.

Weyburn, fresh off a GSHL tournament championship were able to get by Lumsden 4-2. 1997 born Regan Nagy and Braden Mellon each scored twice for Weyburn while fast rising Nicholas Pouliot added a pair of helpers in the win. Weyburn goalie Braden Pyne turned aside 16/18 shots for the win.

From Saturday, Estevan skated past the Regina Hurricanes 7-4. It was a big night in many ways for Lynnden Pastachak with 3-1-4, he also racked up 20 pims in the game due to game misc on the 3rd. Chase Mckersie had 2-1-3 as well for Estevan. Mitchell Lipon had 1-1-2 for Regina.

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Over in the Winnipeg bantam league, it was the Winnipeg Haws remaining undefeated with a pair of rather narrow wins. First, they beat the 2nd place Winnipeg Sharks 5-2, the Sharks are now 13-5-1, then the Hawks defeated the Interlake Lightning just 4-3. The Lightning have just 5 wins in 22 games. The Winnipeg Hawks are 18-0-2 on the year now. Speaking of the Interlake Lightning, they were able to defeat last place Brandon prior to that game by a score of 5-2 and were led by Clay Tait who had 3 goals.

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Some highlights from the AMBHL on Sunday now. It was the Airdrie Xtreme out-scoring the Okotoks Oilers 7-5. Mack Bauer had 2 goals for Airdrie including the game winner late in the 2nd period. Tyler Wong kept up his rapid scoring pace with 1-3-4. For Okotoks, it was Conner Bleackley who recently returned from arm injury to score 2-3-5 and 97 forward Mason McCarty with 2-1-3 in the loss.

It was St. Albert posting the goose egg in their 2-0 win over Sherwood Park. Goaltender Patrick Gora had to turn aside just 14 shots in the victory, including just 1 shot in the 3rd period. Gora is 2nd in gaa with a 2.14 gaa. Joshua Mudryk stopped 32/34 in the loss.

In a showdown of a pair of the better team in the AMBHL North, it was SSAC defeating Spruce Grove 5-3. Thomas Foster continues to cement himself as a top two round pick with 1-1-2 for Spruce Grove. Ryan Helt also had a pair of assists. For SSAC it was Simpson, Queenville, Debrusk and Rezansoff with 1-1-2 each. Top ranked goalie for the draft, Jordan Papirny turned aside 18/21 in the win. Papirny still leads the league in GAA at 1.91 SSAC is now 17-3-3 and Spruce Grove is now 15-5-5.

In a showdown of two of the better Calgary area teams, it was the Bisons with a rare low scoring 4-1 victory. In a game featuring as many as 4 first rounders, it was just Brayden Point who was able put up a 3 point game at 1-2-3. MacMaster and Mowbray each had 1-1-2. Reid Duke from the Royals was helf off the scoresheet. Adin Hill stopped 47/48 shots for the Bisons in the victory while his counterpart Jacob Ruissen turned aside just 15/19 in the loss. The Bisons are now 19-3-1 and the Royals are 2nd in the division at 14-8-1.

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Moving out west to the OMAHA, it was the Kamloops Jardine Blazers tieing the POE in a battle of the top two teams in the league. Kamloops big guns were held quiet on the night with some of the 97's leading the way with Chyzowski picking up a couple points and Addison Bazien with a couple as well. I would expect Bazien to make some noise next season in his draft year.

And the Burnaby Winter Club Bruins ran their record to 20-0-0 which included tiering and league play with a 4-2 win over Langley. Chris Seto, Del Grosso, Justin Szeto and Gurney scored for BWC. Rensby and Laroux replied for Langley who were outshot 45-17.

AMBHL All-Star Game....South 6 - North 5 OT

A Ty Mappin goal was the OT winner as Team South defeated Team North in the AMBHL All-Star game this afternoon. Mappin added a pair of assists as well in the victory. Reid Duke scored a pair of goals, Tanner MacMaster had 1-1-2 and Taro Hirose had 1-2-3. Team North was led by Nicholas Jones from KC who had 3 goals, while recently converted defenceman, Kord Pankewicz had 1-2-3 in the game.

The teams will spend the night in Lethbridge due to poor travel conditions.

Friday....

We are now in to the home stretch of the season across the various bantam leagues in western Canada. The St. Albert tournament, Kamloops tournament and the provincial select camps are ahead yet. However, in the mean time, there is still league action and league playoffs to take care of.

Taking a look over the SSBHL, it was Balgonie running their league record to 9-0-2 with a 7-2 win over the Regina Oilers. For Balgonie, 97 born Jayden Halbgewachs led the way with 2-2-4 and Gordon Westeste also had 2-2-4 in the game. Halbgewachs is just one point of the team lead in scoring. The Regina Oilers got a goal and an assist from Adam Edmands. Edmands is Regina's leading scorer this season with 10-10-20 in 13 games.

Weyburn, fresh off their GSHL tournament win over the Russell Rams returned to action and walked all over the Yorkton Terriers 7-1 and out-shooting them 36-11 in the process. Trey Tendler scored 3 times for Weyburn. Tendler had 9 goals in 5 games at the Saskatoon tournament over the New Year's weekend.

The Regina Senators shut-out the Regina Hurricanes 6-0. The league's leading scorer Zak Zborosky had 2-3-5. Zborosky now has 18-18-36 in 14 games. He has opened up a 6 point cushion over Tim Vanstone in the scoring race.

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In the GSHL last night, it was the Saskatoon Outlaws defeating the Martensville Marauders 5-3. Leading the way for the Outlaws was Jordan Walls with 3 assists. Kolten Olynek was held to just one point. A pair of 97 born players both scored goals. Connor Hobbs and Wyatt Sloboshan each continued their good seasons.

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The Winnipeg Bantam AAA League will resume action today with a pair of games. Same go's for the Centre Four Hockey League in Saskatchewan.

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In the PCAHA, the BWC Bruins squeeked by the Surrey Thunder 2-0. In what was said to be a sloppy game, BWC outshot Surrey 30-9. Scoring goals for BWC was Cam Seto and Connor Burk. BWC remains undefeated in league play this season. Last night, Mission played their first game this season in Flight 1 and came away with a 2-1 victory. Landyn Hickmott had 1-1-2 in the game. Hickmott is expected to be drafted in the first couple of rounds in the bantam draft. From Wednesday, South Delta also played their first flight 1 game and narrowly lost 4-3 to Cloverdale. In case anyone is wondering, Tyler Sandhu who is expected to be a top 5 overall pick has 10-4-14 in 10 league games.

The OMAHA will resume action in B.C. tonight with a pair of games, including a big showdown with POE facing Kamloops.

WEHP Announce Top 10 Team Rankings

1. Burnaby Winter Club 18-0-0 102-17
2. Kamloops Jardine Blazers 10-1-0 62-21
3. Winnipeg Hawks 16-0-2 129-42
4. Prince Albert Pirates 12-0-0 129-34
5. Calgary Bisons 18-3-1 148-81
6. SSAC Southgate Lions 16-3-3 106-48
7. Leduc Allen's Transport 15-8-1 137-80
8. Winnipeg Sharks 13-4-1 102-58
9. St. Albert Sabres 15-5-3 94-56
10. Abbotsford Hawks 13-4-2 90-52

Honorable Mentions:
Airdrie Xtreme
Weyburn Redwings
Russell Rams
Seafair Islanders
Spruce PAC Saints

*Please note that POE, OHA, Notre Dame, Calgary Edge are not included in the rankings due to being able to draw players from outside the region.

Winnipeg Bantam League All-star Rosters

Hockey Winnipeg and its AAA Council are pleased to announce the rosters for its annual ‘AAA All Star Day’ which will take place this coming weekend at the MTS Iceplex. The Council’s AAA All Star celebrations will include skills competitions, skating relays and the showcase game for each division. The Bantam II (age13) action will begin at 9:30am with the Bantam I (age 14) division hitting the ice at 12:45pm. The Midget City (ages 15-16) will skate at 4:00pm. All the action will take place on Saturday January 8th.

Bantam 2 East All-stars (Primarily 97 born)
1. JONES, Adam Winnipeg Sharks
2. WIENS, MacKenzie Winnipeg Sharks
3. GARDINER, Ryan Winnipeg Sharks
4. ANDERSON, Tyler Winnipeg Warriors
5. LAMOTHE, Zach Winnipeg Warriors
6. PALMER, Cody Portage la Prairie
7. DURDLE, Cody Portage la Prairie
8. UHRYNIUK, Julian Winnipeg Sharks
9. KOWALSKI, Nicholas Winnipeg Sharks
10. RICHARDS, Nolan Winnipeg Sharks
11. BOUCHARD, Riley Winnipeg Warriors
12. TARASCHUK, Mark Winnipeg Warriors
14. McFADDEN, Shanan Winnipeg Warriors
15. McKENZIE, Steven Portage la Prairie
16. McLEAN, Kelsen Portage la Prairie
17. BLIGHT, Tanner Portage la Prairie
35. BROWN, Tyler Winnipeg Sharks

Bantam 2 West All-stars (Primarily 97 born)
1. MARTYNUIK, Troy Winnipeg Hawks
2. BRACKEN, Tess Winnipeg Hawks
3. TAKATCH, Kevin Winnipeg Hawks
4. LAYTE, Noah Winnipeg Monarchs
5. BURSTON, Colin Winnipeg Monarchs
6. LAWRENCE, Jesse Brandon Wheat Kings
7. DORNN, TY Brandon Wheat Kings
8. KOLESAR. Keegan Winnipeg Hawks
9. WILLIAMS, Ethan Winnipeg Hawks
10. ARMOUR, Garrett Winnipeg Hawks
11. KEANE, Jackson Winnipeg Monarchs
12. THIESSEN, Dylan Winnipeg Monarchs
14. COURT, Zach Winnipeg Monarchs
15. BURGESS. Marshall Brandon Wheat Kings
16. JAMESON, Keaton Brandon Wheat Kings
17. SCHOONBAERT, Bradley Brandon Wheat Kings
35. HALL, Ryan Winnipeg Monarchs

2010 - 2011 AAA BA TAM I EAST ALL STARS
1. McHOLM, Kyle Winnipeg Sharks
2. PURTIL, Braden Winnipeg Sharks
3. ZALITACH, Reid Winnipeg Sharks
4. FINNSON, Krisjon Interlake Lightning
5. LANGLOIS, Reed Interlake Lightning
6. FISHER, Taylor Winnipeg Warriors
7. DOUGLAS, Austin Winnipeg Warriors
8. LINDGREN, Ryley Winnipeg Sharks
9. MILLER, Dallas Winnipeg Sharks
10. LOUGH, Rhett Winnipeg Sharks
11. TAIT, Clay Interlake Lightning
12. LUSSIER, Braden Interlake Lightning
14. BONKOWSKI, Blaze Interlake Lightning
15. HARDY, Mack Winnipeg Warriors
16. McINTOSH, Carson Winnipeg Warriors
17. KASTES, Kalan Winnipeg Warriors
35. EDMONDS, Ty Winnipeg Warriors

2010- 2011 AAA BA TAM I WEST ALL STARS
1. JOHNSON, Evan Winnipeg Monarchs
2. SKRUMEDA, Lucas Winnipeg Hawks
3. HOYDALO, Nigel Winnipeg Hawks
4. COMPTON, Braden Brandon Wheat Kings
5. McMURDO , Carter Brandon Wheat Kings
6. LEE, Yun Han Winnipeg Monarchs
7. HAMONIC, Connor Winnipeg Monarchs
8. WOWRYK, Adam Winnipeg Hawks
9. BROOKS, Adam Winnipeg Hawks
10. STARODUB, Dallas Winnipeg Hawks
11. HUNTER, Reid Brandon Wheat Kings
12. KITT, Brett Brandon Wheat Kings
14. CAMPBELL, Duncan Brandon Wheat Kings
15. KEANE, Geordie Winnipeg Monarchs
16. HALL, Ezra Winnipeg Monarchs
17. KROEKER, Liam Winnipeg Monarchs
35. PENNINGTON, Reid Winnipeg Hawks

January 5, 2011 newsletter is ready!

It has been a very busy christmas season at WEHP between taking in tournaments, visiting family/friends and completing one of the biggest newsletters of the year, has been a challenge, but it is finally done and ready to be sent out.

This issue updates the the Top 150 for 1996 born players list, the Top 75 list has a few big adjustments as does the USA Top 25 list. Several American born players have confirmed to me that they will be reporting the rankings will show that. There are a few players who really impressed over the holiday season the the rankings will mirror that.

I had a chance to speak with a Saskatchewan born forward who is adjusting very well to Midget hockey and he seems ready to make yet another big step.

I also spoke with a star forward who has been hidden at Shattuck St. Mary's and we feel he could go 1st round!

Also, I speak with the top available American born player who is anxious to take his talents north of the border and make a huge impact.

This newsletter will also give a re-cap of the Saskatoon, Burnaby and Edmonton tournaments in terms of who made the all-star teams, winners and MVP's etc. More information as always, will be on the blog in the coming days as well.

Weyburn defeats Russell in GSHL Final

The Weyburn Redwings beat the Russell Rams 6-4 in the GSHL Tournament Final today. Kolten Olynek of the Saskatoon Outlaws led the tournament in goals 18 and points 24 in 5 games. More to come tomorrow or in the newsletter.

Saturday early.....Olynek 9 point game!

In the Saskatoon Bantam Tournament this morning:

Russell 6 - Swift Current 6
-Russell will now clinch a spot in the Semi-finals with the win. Once again Jayce Hawryluk had a big game with 2-1-3, Taylor Sanheim 2-2-4, Rylee Zimmer 1-3-4. This trio is going to be very tough for their semi-final oppenent to stop. They have been dominant. Rylee Zimmer was named star of the game. It is interesting to note though that Jayce Hawryluk who is leading the tournament in scoring hasn't been giving a star of the game despite having a pair of 5 point games and a 3 point game. For Swift Current, Tim Vanstone led the way with 3-1-4 and we fully expect Vanstone to be a top 3 round pick in the bantam draft in May. Vanstone has 6 points in 3 games so far.

Martensville 6 - Melfort 4
-The Martensville Marauders move to a record of 2-1 and put a bit of pressure on the Saskatoon Bandits to come up with a win this afternoon vs. the 1-1-0 Melville Millionaires. Martensville hands Melfort their 3rd straight loss in the tournament. For Martensville, Drue Allison was named player of the game. Allison now has 2-5-7 in the tournament. He trails only Austin Glover 2-7-9. Goaltender Nik Amundrud was named player of the game for Melfort. Rylan Freed has just 3 points in 3 games so far for Melfort.

Weyburn 8 - Saskatoon Stallions 3
-Weyburn continues their rapid scoring ways once again with 8 more goals. The Redwings have now fired home 26 goals in 3 games and have earned themselves a spot in the semi's. For the Stallions, Rourke Chartier scored 1-1-2 in the game giving him 5-5-10. Chartier has been in on 10/16 Stallions goals so far. Trey Tendler and Nicholas Pouliot each scored twice for the Redwings. Both players have 9 points in 3 games so far. Tender has 7 goals.

Saskatoon Maniacs 5 - Unity 4
The Unity Lazers gave a very good Saskatoon Maniacs team all they could handle early Saturday losing 5-4 to the Maniacs. The Maniacs will go on to the Semi-finals where they will meet a very high-scoring Weyburn squad. The Maniacs were led by Rod Southam who had 3 goals as well as star of the game, defenceman Connor Swystun. Swystun now has 1-6-7 in 3 games. Southam leads the Maniacs with 6 goals in 3 games so far.

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Afternoon Action

Saskatoon Outlaws 12 - Tisdale Ramblers 1
The Outlaws wrap up the round robin portion of the tournament with a convincing 12-1 victory over the Tisdale Ramblers. Tisdale was out-matched in this pool having been out-scored 24-5 in the 3 games. The Outlaws don't make it to the "A" side due to a loss to Russell 10-5. The Outlaws scored 23 goals in the round robin. The outlaws were led by star forward Kolten Olynek who was all over the ice and scored 6-3-9 in this game. Olynek leads the tournament in goals with 11 and points with 14 in just 3 games!

Saskatoon Bandits 4 - Melville Millionaires 3
The Melville Millionaires etched their date in stone with the Russell Rams in the semi-finals with a narrow 4-3 win over Melville today. The Bandits were once again led by Collin Shirley and Adam Santoro with multi point games. 1997 born Tate Olson played very strong on defence and was named star of the game for the Bandits. Jaden Kreklewich capped off a very strong round robin with another good game and led Melville in scoring with 4-5-9 in 3 games.

Saskatoon Generals 13 - Meadow Lake Stamps 2
The Saskatoon Generals finish 2nd in the division, winning 13-2 over the over-matched Meadow Lake team. Meadow Lake was out-scored 38-5 in the 3 games of the tournament. Wyatt Hinson, fresh off an appearance with the Beardy's Midget AAA Blackhawks at the Macs Midget Hockey Tournament scored 3 of the 5 goals for Meadow Lake in the tournament. The Generals continue to have everyone chipping in, in the scoring department. The star of the game honour went to Brett Wenzel.