NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds

I’d Prefer This: It’s pretty obvious to say it’s hard to watch leagues in provinces with much higher Covid rates than ours on the go. That being said, I would much, much prefer that our powers-that-be do this right the first time, give us a full season, playoffs, and Canalta Cup, then rush into it, have something go wrong, and deal with the pain of shutting down again. We all have angst about this, no doubt, but all we should do, in my opinion, is to believe that Bill Chow, the governors, and the government, are legitimately doing their best to get us up and running as fast as is responsible. Why? Because, believe it or not, it is much much better for THEM if we’re playing, let alone all of us. You can tweet your frustration all you want, it isn’t going to change anything.
Information?: Would I like regular updates from the league and Sask Health as to how it’s going, and what the exact nature of the hold-up is? Sure, I would. Everyone truly in the know (which seems a pretty small group) keeps saying that it’s better that widely publicized information is a very bad idea, and that to regularly update people would be bad for the process. The truth is I don’t think it would make anyone feel better if Bill Chow were to come out and say “we are far apart on Topic A, B, and C” OR “We’re really close on Topic A and B, but just can’t get over the line on C”. So, being quiet on what’s going on and the plan until that plan is official and completely signed off by everyone IS what has happened, and will continue to happen. You can either accept that fact, or don’t; just like in Point 1, your frustration on social media/message boards isn’t going to help get the boys and girls back on the ice faster, or really make you feel better.
Wayway Looking to Sask: Ok, some transaction talk. Taylor Harnett, the man in charge in Waywayseecappo in Manitoba, seems a pretty regular name to show up this off-season on SJ GM’s phones. Goalies Brendan Foreman (Humboldt), and Randy Cooke (Estevan), and defencemen Daytona Houle, Nick Dobson, and Riley Little (all from Weyburn) are at least officially Wolverines, and of those five men who played in the SJ last year, only Cookie has not yet featured in a Wayway pre-season game. Lots of SJ content in the MJ so far this year! More on that in a moment.
La Ronge Gets Something For Ozar: There was some collective eyebrow raising in October of last year when the Ice Wolves released talented 02 born right-shot defenceman Alex Ozar, their former first overall pick in the 2017 SJHL Draft. The rumour going around was that the young man wanted to focus on baseball, to which I said at the time: “follow your dreams, bud!”. Another twist in the tale has come out as the Drayton Valley Thunder of the Alberta League have acquired Ozar’s rights from La Ronge for 01 born D-man Tristan Lambert, who appears to have had a pretty solid year in BC Junior B a season ago with Columbia Valley. Deals for the rights to players who have no intention on lacing them up where they’re sent happen all the time, but at the very least it gives me a chance to bring up the name of a kid like Ozar, who I thought had a really bright future in the game if he wanted it. We’ll see!
Beautiful Memorial: Up in Martensville on Oct. 2 for the late Dylan Ashe, the Melfort Mustangs defenceman who passed away in September. Can find the link to watch the memorial here, if you so chose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z91cd0shyGs&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=AspenFilmsFuneralLivestreamService
The Reigning Champs Open Camp: The Battlefords North Stars, the still defending Canalta Cup champs, opened up main camp this past week. The Stars had chosen to have two very different camps in order to maximize the number of players they could have in the NB Civic Centre, with the first gathering not including any returnees or officially signed players. It’s interesting that they banked on the league not getting going until after the present time, but I guess it paid off. Brayden Klimosko hasn’t really taken a step wrong since taking over the club a couple years ago, so maybe starting later than everyone else will work out well too! Think about the Humboldt Broncos and Weyburn Red Wings, for example, who started camp on Sept. 4!
SJ Alum Update From BC: Former ND Hound and University of Maine commit Tim Gould and his Alberni Valley Bulldogs are off to a strong start with two thunderous pre-season wins over the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Gould had an assist in the second game while playing big minutes in the combined 11-3 thrashings. Alec Saretzky, a very good Saskatoon Blazer last year, and a one-time Melville 4^th overall pick, was given four minutes for kneeing in a generally dreary performance by his Surrey Eagles in Chilliwack vs. the Chiefs. Otherwise, pretty quiet week for SJ connections in BC despite a bevy of games in the Covid-ridden pacific province (they have 1,353 active cases at time of writing, we have 138).
SJ Alum Update From Manitoba: Meanwhile in Manitoba, where there are 781 active cases at time of writing, the aforementioned Wayway SJHLers were in action in a losing effort vs former Weyburn Red Wing Bryce Krauter and his Neepawa Natives (Krauter scored and has a big role on those Natives). The ex-Bronco Foreman gave up four goals on 16 shots in the game that ended 5-4 Neepawa. Hound Jayce Nikbakht scored and was joined by one-time ND high schooler Jayden Mosiondz, and ND signee Emile Pichette as their Swan Valley Stampeders overcame ex-SJHLers Hunter Rambow, and Jaxon Blight and the OCN Blizzard 4-1 Friday. Former Weyburn Red Wing (do I sound like a broken record?) Jacob Piller scored for his Portage Terriers against the Dauphin Kings in an ex-SJHL-connection filled clash of two (should be) good MJ teams. Cole Dekoninck, who Weyburn had for a cup of coffee two season ago, and ended up as an all-star last year, featured for the Kings. Virden played too, but more on them later.
Maritime League: The Maritime Bubble got its version of pre-season hockey underway as well the last couple of weeks, and while there isn’t a ton of SJ connection there at the moment, there are a few points to be made. One-time ND high schoolers Jonah Jelley (and 04 birth year), and U18 forward Connor Keough have played for Summerside, while Hounds Junior A signee Sasha Charbonneau (who was sent there to complete the trade for Ethan Stuckless) lined up for Fredericton.
Geekie (Bonus): So Virden won again, improving to 3-0 on the pre-season with a 5-4 win in Portage Friday, and it was a Coming Out Party of sorts. Conor Geekie, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 WHL draft by Kootenay, who was good while playing seven games as a call-up for the Winnipeg Ice a year ago, potted a hat trick. Is the plan for the young man to stay with Virden all year? That would be pretty surprising for Winnipeg in the dub to be okay with. This is a potential future NHL prospect. Guess we’ll see! If you can go watch Virden while he’s there, go do it.