>8 District gets new St. Sgt. just in time for Police Week, Pg 11 >Garden Club sale sells out...again Pg. 5 > Calling future jazz stars Pg. 17 > Grimsby waterfront cleaned up Pg. 19 Thursday, May 12, 2016 Vol. 5 Issue 1
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Up Front
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Chayka makes NHL history
BBQ kicks off Jordan Station native named Arizona Coyotes’ GM, youngest ever Police Week By Mike Williscraft He also had the ear of
Niagara Regional Police’s 8 District officers will play host to a BBQ and much more next Monday, May 16, at their North Service Road detachment, just east of Ontario Street in Grimsby. From 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. visitors can check out a police motorcycle, bomb robot, cruiser, ATV’s and more. Hot dogs, hamburgers, a vegetarian option, and pop will also be available.
Lincoln Garden Club hosts sale This Saturday, May 14, from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. at the centre barn at Vineland Research Centre, Lincoln Garden Club will host its annual sale. Get there early to avoid disappointment.
Smithville Legion supports Fort McMurray victims Smithville Legion will host a yard/bake sale to aid victims of the Fort McMurray fires this Saturday starting at 9 a.m. Donation will be taken up until Friday afternoon, and Saturday before 8:30 a.m. Call 905-957-3935 for details.
NewsNow While hockey pundits were scratching their respective heads in wonderment, there was nothing but joy in the Jordan Station home of Terry and Mary-Ann Chayka when their son, John, was named general manager of the Arizona Coyotes last week. At 26 years of age, his birthday is in June, John becomes the youngest general manager of a major professional sports team in history. His drive for hockey excellence...that can be attributed to his father who has a major history of high-level athletics on the local level. He was a member of Grimsby’s Canadian Champion fastball team in 1976 and also served as captain of the then-Jr. B Grimsby Peach Kings in 1975. His knack for statistics, that was pure, natural born ability, says MaryAnn. “When he was younger, he did two things: he went to school and played hockey,” recalled Terry, adding that he installed a home ice rink each winter which was usable 65-70 days per year.
John Chayka is the new Phoenix Coyotes general manager. “He was on there every night.” And that effort paid off as John was about to follow in the footsteps of Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Dryden by attending the Ivy League’s Cornell University on a hockey scholarship. His on-ice career ended when a back injury persisted and he decided to hang up the blades at age 18. That decision, while changing his career path significantly, still kept it on a collision course with hockey. “John had great ideas
but he was just not sure what to do with them. He did an excellent job of networking to gather input from some of the best hockey minds on what kinds of statistics they would like to see measurable,” said Terry. His idea, which took a physical form in a new company, Stathletes, has been built with the help of his sister Meghan and CEO Neil Lane. When an idea draws the attention and input from names like Scotty Bowman and Mike Babcock, the hockey world tends to listen.
player agent kingpin Pat Brisson - who includes Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby and Jonathon Toews among his clients. “Scotty and Mike had ideas on stats that they wanted to see tracked which had never been calculated,” said Terry. “Stathletes really was the first firm in the world to do this.” And this is no passing fancy. It is serious, indepth, statistical analysis. As an example, Terry said some websites might show 200 “observations” after an NHL game. Stathletes makes thousands of “observations” for every single game. It takes two staff members a full day to analyze one game. While the team thought they had something from the outset, they were never sure as in any market, supply and demand is king. They could supply, but would there be demand. The question in their collective minds evaporated after a lengthy presentation for an NHL team via phone conference. “We were doing the presentation as a webinar, which was a bit tough See CHAYKA, Page 3