NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds

1. King Lands In Familiar SJ Waters – The one-time Regina Pat and P.A. Raider-turned Melfort Mustang George King has committed to play for the Lethbridge University Pronghorns in his native Alberta the season coming up. A speedy forward, King was brought in by Trevor Blevins last year to provide some much-needed secondary scoring to the ‘Ballbrechnter’ Line, and did an able job of it (at least in the regular season). Between 2014 and 2019, the Calgarian played for no fewer than 11 different junior teams in six different leagues! Impressive perseverance over an interesting journeyman career. Lots of SJ alumni heading to Lethbridge next year, with the Humboldt Broncos trio Michael Clarke, Owen Guenter, and Josh Patrician, and Melville speed-demon Josh Borynec already locked-in there as well.  Interesting fact: former Nipawin Hawk Artsiom Kalashnikov was a Pronghorn a year ago too…I’m sure they really struggle to come up with a nickname for him!

2. Job Opening – I hear (although he didn’t bother to tell me…) that Austin Arvay has taken a job up in Saskatoon, and is therefore no longer the voice of the Weyburn Red Wings. Sources say his radio station, Discover Weyburn, is looking to replace him ASAP! Get in touch with the Wings if you’re looking for a gig!

3. ND Adds An Assistant – And speaking of new gigs, former Bowling Green State University and minor pro journeyman Brett Pilkington is stepping in as Notre Dame’s new assistant coach, with roles also including running summer camps, and other administration. Seems like a good guy, though with moving his whole family from Calgary, and the trials of starting brand new, it has been impossible to so far book a chicken wings and apple juice trip to get to know him a bit better. Is he big dogging me, or is he really busy? Who is to say? (I’m just kidding, course).

4. Weyburn’s Answer In Net? – The Wings continue to be in big-time transition, but the best place to start is always in goal, and they think they’ve found their guy. Lethbridge native Aaron DeKok (pronounced ‘De-Coke’) lit the Vancouver Island Junior B loop up last year, to the tune of a 1.89 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage for the league runners-up Campbell River Storm. He is not big, at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, but if you can stop the puck, then size should not matter. Just like for all those Junior B kids teams around the league are picking up, you have to prove it at this level before I’ll say it’s a good add; but those numbers are very, very nice. Former Battlefords Stars midget goaltender Joseph Young has also signed with the Wings, and will probably back DeKok up, but one never knows!

5. Marchi Lands – Great to see three-year Flin Flon Bomber Daylan Marchi land at Division III Marian University for next year. There isn’t a ton of flash in his game, but he was as reliable as any forward in the SJHL last year, only missing one game in the regular and post-season, and played his absolute heart out every time I saw him play. He put up some pretty good points last year (21 goals, 52 points in 57 games) on a Bombers squad that scored for fun, and I have no doubt that his coach down in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin will love him very quickly. Well done Daylan!

6. Hall Of Famers Covered … Finally – The league did well to host a big Hall of Fame Induction and Golf Tournament up in Nipawin at the beginning of August, but it took them a while to post any coverage of it, including who it was who actually got inducted! It was probably a case of them asking local writers to contribute, and since wrangling those volunteers is so rarely an easy task, it took till now to get it up on the league site. Check all the inductees out on the official SJ website today!

7. Kudos To Orrsy – The Kindersley Klippers already filled the shoes left by head coach and GM Clayton Jardine earlier this summer, but now they have another pair to plug, as the team’s outstanding Business and Marketing Director Tyler Orr has landed a similar-type job with the Edmonton Oilers. I have to say it’s well deserved: Orrsy did an unbelievable job for the Klips, and was always a class act, with the exception of the time he kept chirping me for my pronunciation of Austin Nault’s last name. Will miss him, but I’m sure the Klips’ organization will more!

8. Toneff ‘Replaces’ Smith in Humboldt – Humboldt bench boss Scott Barney had a big, big job with the departure of Nathan Oystrick around the turn of the new year a season ago, but it was undoubtedly made a lot easier (and was done exceptionally well) when he was able to bring in long-time Major Junior and Hockey Canada-experienced coach Troy Smith to assist him. I have not heard where Smith is heading this off-season, but replacing him has been an important task for Barney, who believes he has his man in 26-year-old ex-Battlefords North Star defenceman Curtis Toneff. My buddy and the voice of the Broncos Rory McGouran did a nice job covering the hiring here: https://www.discoverhumboldt.com/local-sports/youth-movement-new-broncos-assistant-coach-curtis-toneff-sets-sights-on-season, but it will be a very interesting season of real transition ahead for Humboldt, if all ends up as it seems right now.

9. Great End To The Sask Soccer Series (bonus) – Went up to Saskatoon on Sunday to watch the final rendition of the Saskatchewan Selects Soccer Series, with Toronto FC’s second team in town. I love soccer, as you know, and went up with a bunch of good pals, and I have to say, it was a blast. Around 3,000 showed up again to watch the best the province has to offer win 2-0, in a game that was apparently on MaxTV with Darren Dupont doing the play-by-play. Hope the vision of bringing a pro men’s soccer team to Sask continues on, though I have to say this summer has been a great start! If winger Nikolas Baikas doesn’t get a pro contract somewhere, then I’ll be stunned! The UofS man was great in all three tilts of the series!

10. Bottles, Bawling, And Going Bonkers (Bonus) – On a personal note, I now have a lot of thoughts on parenting a new baby, as my wife and I have battled (and loved) our daughter the last two-and-a-half months to eat, sleep, poop, and all that good stuff. But boy, am I tired! I’ve already told Coach Phil Roy that I am looking forward to those bus rides up to Battlefords so I can hopefully get some sleep!

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)