NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds

August is almost over, how about that!? Instead of doing another 10 Things for the next three weeks, I have decided to instead go through the teams in the league, and give my thoughts on their off-season (as far as I’m able to know), some interesting adds and losses, and my key questions ahead of training camp. The order will reflect how the regular season shaped up a year ago:

1.     La Ronge Ice Wolves – Key Additions: F-Daylon Mannon (1999), D-Michael Bentz (2000), F-Spencer Kennedy (2000), G-Ryan Baker (2000); Key Losses: D-Antonio DiPaolo, G-Jordan Frey, F-Holden Knights; Key Questions: Can new head coach Kevin Kaminski hit the ground running in the SJHL? Can the Wolves ice enough skill around Zach Bannister to maximize his star potential? Is Ryan Baker the answer to replace the way underrated Jordan Frey in net? Their D-Corps is going to be big, but will it be mobile enough? How do they replace the minutes of DiPaolo on the back end?

2.     Melville Millionaires – Key Additions: F-Rin Beny (2000), G-Kaleb McEachern (2001), D-Tanner Brown (1999); Key Losses: F-Josh Borynec, F-Damian Bentz, G-Colby Entz; Key Questions: What can head coach and GM Kyle Adams, he of the recently removed interim tag, do with a full training camp and a group of players that want to be in Melville? How fast can a largely new roster gel? It is believed by this writer that big youngster Kaleb McEachern will get the chance to carry the ball in net, but despite being highly touted out of B.C., how will he handle the step up in level despite never having played a junior game? Where will the goals come from on a team that lost its two leading scorers, and struggled to put the back in the net as it was last year?

3.     Weyburn Red Wings – Key Additions: G-Aaron DeKok (2000), D-Connor Karo (1999), D-Riley Little (2001), F-Colton Nikiforuk (1999); Key Losses: F-Ben Hiltz, F-Jordan Kazymyra, G-Cody Levesque, D-Eric Soar, F-Garrett Szeremley; Key Questions: Just like with La Ronge, a brand-new coach, who once played in the NHL, is in town in Rich Pilon…can he hit the ground running? Huge, huge shoes to fill with the loss of captain and hometown boy Ben Hiltz: how will his production be replaced? Goaltender Aaron DeKok put up huge numbers in the B.C. Junior B loop, can he replicate that success with the step up to Junior A? This Wings team is a work in progress, and will be pretty young this year coming up; will there be enough patience until this team is a contender in a couple of seasons? How good is Riley Little going to be? (hint: I think he’s going to be very, very good)

4.     Notre Dame Hounds – Key Additions: F-Evan Easton (1999), F-Braydon Iwaschuk (2001), D-Olivier Lepine (2001), F-Nolan Corrado (2001); Key Losses: F-Marshall Wilton, D-Charles Martin, F-Nolan Renwick, D-Tim Gould, F-Jakob Breault, F-Conor MacLean; Key Questions: Phil Roy has had a full season to recruit, which is exciting, but how quickly can all these new guys gel and get used to the big ice in Wilcox? How do they replace the offensive production and durability of Marshall Wilton and Jakob Breault? The D will move the puck very well, but how will its relatively small size hold up under the pressure of teams with big forward corps, especially in smaller rinks? What will the Hounds get out of captain Jared Hamm, who showed all sorts of potential two years ago? How big of a step forward can the young core of the likes of Kyle Robinson, Jarrett Penner, Hardy Wagner, and Riley Kohonick take?

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)