KW HockeyXpress Issue 2

Kitchener, Ontario Published 3 times/year 2013 • Issue 2

AN ANNUAL

TRADITION

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FEBRUARY 2013 • Second Edition

Official Magazine of the KMHA

table of contents sportsfiles

Entertaining, informative and engaging articles on local athletes, sports and teams.

10 | KMHA and FACS give some Christmas cheer 11 | Bullying just isn’t cool 12 | Keeping it cool 16 | RBC Girls’ Hockey Day 18 | Rangers in Russia 20 | Volunteers recognized by KSA 21 | Volunteer with SHI 23 | Try A Sport Day 24 | Happy to be in Kitchener 25 | A yearly tradition: Jason Cripps

teamprofiles

Profiling community sports in words and photographs.

Minor Pewee AAA win gold

6 | Girls rep update 0 08 | New attitude for Major Midgets 29 | Boys rep update

sports@school

Highlighting articles on all school sports and athletes.

14 | Spending a PA Day with Olympians

behindthebench

Tips, tactics and ideas are shared by athletes, coaches and fans.

12 | A game-changing conference

fromthesidelines

Fans, parents and sports groups share their opinions and experiences.

22 | Who’s behind the shield?

HockeyXpress

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Be a local sports photographer

FEBRUARY 2013 PUBLISHER

EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGN

Kitchener Minor Hockey Association SportsXpress Ryan Metivier Britt Cobean

CONTRIBUTORS

Yvan Aubin, Pat Zister, Girls Rep teams, Michelle Baril, FCS, Rolland Cyr, KMHA, Rachel Klein, Ryan Metivier, KSA, SHI, Brendan Zwambag, Haleigh Japp, Mike Saunders, Candee Tremblay, Brian Hilliker, slotsartstudio.com SportsXpress Team and community sports fans.

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Laurie Guild, Rachel Klein, Hockey Canada, Kevin Fleming, Carrie Debrone, Colin Galbraith, Terry Wilson, OHL Images, Rhianon Klein, Bob Dorey of Picture Yourself and Various Sports Enthusiasts .

PARTNERSHIP EDITIONS

Kingston Belleville Oshawa-Whitby Mississauga Waterloo Region Halton Region Sarnia-Lambton Newmarket Peterborough

PARTNERSHIP INQUIRY

partnership@sportsxpress.ca

Ottawa Brampton Hamilton London Lloydminster Swift Current Windsor Niagara Brant County

SPORTSXPRESS

President/CEO VP Operations Walter Browning Clint Szakacs walter@sportsxpress.ca clint@sportsxpress.ca

PHOTO BY DANIELLE EARL

Mailing Address 50 Ottawa St. South, Unit 110, Kitchener, On, N2G 3S7 519–208–9302 Editorial Contributions: Submissions are welcome from writers, photographers, athletes, coaches and individuals. We assume no responsibility for unsolicited material. Contributors are responsible for obtaining all approvals for the publication of photos and content prior to submission. All submissions may not be used. We may edit, publish, reproduce, distribute and archive submissions in any form or medium without any compensation. We are not responsible for lost or damaged submissions. Contents copyrighted. All rights reserved.

Reproduction or transmission of any article, photograph or artwork in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher is prohibited.

SportsXpress is published in four editions eight times a year. For detailed circulation information, contact Sports Express Media Inc. Sports Express Media Inc. is committed to protecting your privacy as our customer. We may collect personal information only if it is required for the proper functioning of our business and only share this information with our business partners. The editors and contributors who write for Sports Express Media Inc. attempt to provide accurate and useful information and commentary. However, the editors, contributors and Sports Express Media Inc. cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information. We assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any readers based on the information provided.

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Your Community Sports Report

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HockeyXpress

Welcome Message

from the Board of Directors The Christmas holiday season has come and gone along with the beginning of another new year. We cross over the midway point of our season and we are proud of the things we have achieved and our progress on the goals we Many of the resources in have established.

KMHA’s coaching library.

This season KMHA created a coaching library. Located in the front of our offices we invite our coaches and volunteers to come and make use of it. Adorning the room is a computer for volunteers to use, shelving filled with resource material that can be signed out as well as space to meet with your team’s coaches and discuss strategy. We also ask all of our coaches to provide your favourite drills to be added to our drill bank. This bank will serve to help KMHA coaches in the future if they have problems with finding new drills to solve their team’s woes.

Our rep programs have been very successful this season, thanks to the tireless efforts of our coaching staffs. You will read in these pages some of the highlights from these teams and what their boys and girls have achieved. The KMHA board of directors would like to make special congratulations to the boys of the Minor Midget AAA team that qualified to play in the Alliance All-Star Game. You did your teammates and the entire association proud. Moving into the playoffs we encourage you to keep working hard and wish you the best of luck in the post-season.

We thank all of the volunteers that helped with the Jason Cripps tournament and congratulate the teams that won. Without the house league volunteers 80 per cent of our participants would not be able to play or experience the fun of a home tournament. You can find a rundown of the teams later in the magazine. Great work and enjoy the second half of your season.

This year the girl’s house league started a development stream. Similar to select hockey it encourages the best girls in the local league to develop their skills and become better players on the ice. With teams at novice, peewee and bantam, KMHA encourages its players to take great advantage of this program and to strive to be the best you can be.

Still coming this season, KMHA is working on its development plan and has engaged its volunteers to develop a master plan for making our players the best they can be. The committees working on the individual areas are set and will create the future for our association. If you are interested in development you can reach out to Rolland Cyr, general manager, and he will see that you are connected to the right committees. He can be emailed at rollandc@kitchenerminorhockey.com.

Our volunteers are working with a great group of outside volunteers to offer the 2013 SHI Friendship Tournament. This tournament will host 70 teams from around North America and England. All of the players have developmental or social delayments, and strive to play this game with the gusto and passion that the rest of KMHA does. We will host this tournament in March and you can find out more information at www.shikitchener2013.ca.

Also in March, KMHA will host the Tomakomai Allstars from Hokkaido, Japan on a cultural exchange. We encourage you to come out and show our friends from Japan how much Canadians love the game of hockey. More information will be posted on the KMHA website as details become available.

With all of that written we wish you all a great remainder to your season.

UPCOMING KMHA EVENTS Mayor’s Cup Hockeytown at City Hall (Tyke Aged Event) March 09 Special Hockey International Tournament March 16 – March 18

Toyota Challenge March 23 – March 28 House League Year End Tournament March 21 – March 24 Record Cup April 02 – AprilHockeyXpress 03

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teamprofiles

Girls rep update

By Yvan Aubin, Pat Zister and individual team contributions

Novice B The youngest of the Lady Rangers are showing skills beyond their years this season. Three returning veterans have lead 11 rookies through their first year in rep hockey and together they hold third place in their division at this time. Most impressive, every player has reached the game sheet with at least two points each and they’ve been backed by outstanding goaltending as well. The girls are working hard with regular practices, dryland workouts, skating treadmill training and fundamental skating sessions and they’re all smiles, having lots of fun in the process.

Following a recent family skating party, these fearless young ladies ran back and forth from the hot tub to rolling in the snow - what a team. As the season moves on the Novice Lady Rangers are looking forward to earning a trip to Ottawa for the OWHA Provincials this year.

Atom B The year so far for the Atom B Lady Rangers has had its ups and downs, sporting a .500 record leading into the final half dozen games. The Rangers have been very tough on defence with almost all wins coming with a shutout and with most losses being within one goal. This year’s Atom B team is a very tight-knit bunch of girls, who are willing to give

whatever they can to learn. The coaching staff has put together effective planning in helping to grow not only a competitive hockey team, but a group of intelligent, caring, and supportive young women who consistently show their love not only for the game but also for the community that supports them.

Atom A The season has had the team playing defensive hockey with strong goaltending. Three tournaments have been played with the team reaching the semifinals in Oshawa and Detroit and losing in the finals at the Oktoberfest Tournament. Regular season play has had the team playing competitively, tying five games, and winning two at the time of this writing.

Each player has improved from the beginning of the year and enrolling in KMHA fundamentals and team practices have provided a learning curve in positional play but also in improved individual skills. The team wins as a team and loses as a team, with a goal to stay competitive, gain confidence and be ready for the playoff season and provincials.

HockeyXpress

Peewee BB Though the girls came out of the gate only posting three wins and one tie in their first 13 games, they have pulled together and through teamwork and dedication have seen more success in the latter half. A recent surge of three wins and a tie in their last six games should give them some additional confidence going into the playoff run.

They have participated in three tournaments, with the team winning silver at the recent Woodstock tournament. They look to build on their recent success as they travel to Ottawa for the Nepean tournament February 1 - 3. Perhaps this will be a dry run for another trip to Ottawa for Provincials in April.

Peewee A

Bantam AA

With a record of 14 wins, and three ties at the time of writing, the Peewee A team has kept their undefeated season alive

In total the team has played 41 games tasting victory 21 times, with 6 ties and

Novice Seals

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with five games to go. This puts them in first place in the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League and including league play they sport an impressive 34-3-3 record.

The team has equally had tournament success, parlaying two tournament wins, and two tournaments where they made the semi’s. Hopes are running high for a successful close to the season, and drive to provincials.

continues on next page >>>

Peewee BB team at Woodstock Tourney

14 losses. The ladies have had the opportunity to play against 13 American teams and currently sit in fourth place in their division as of this writing. The team had a strong showing at the Mississauga Christmas tournament, earning a silver medal in an exciting game that was decided in a shootout. Everyone is ready to close out the season and enjoy further success in playoffs and provincials.

Bantam A The Bantam A Kitchener Lady Rangers have four wins, four ties and nine losses in league play this year, but have fared quite well in three tournaments so far this season and have proven to be extremely tough to beat. They have won the Stratford tournament and overall have only lost two tournament games out of 15, while going undefeated in round robin play. The ladies are hoping to build on that tournament success as they prepare for playoffs.

Bantam B The team has a record of 21-10-3 including tournament play this year so far.

The team has finished with three silver medals in three tournaments: Niagara Falls (8 teams), Mitchell (6 teams), and Kitchener (8 teams) and most recently went three wins and tie, and almost advancing in Scarborough.

The ladies are progressing rapidly with solid goaltending and D-to-D passing in all zones, while the forwards are stretching the ice with their feet and passing.

This, along with their work effort in heads-up back-checking is resulting in this group starting to outplay much of their competition, and with some extra goal scoring will be a formidable opponent heading into provincials and playoffs. More importantly they have become a real team by working hard, caring about each other and having a blast.

Midget AA The team had a slow start; but hard work in practice and gaining confidence in team and individual tactics has translated into wins. The team made the quarter-finals in a B division Stoney Creek Tournament, and made the semi-finals in the Nike/Bauer Tournament.

Exceptional play of late has resulted in the team enjoying an eight-game undefeated streak which vaulted them into a

tie for fourth place in the Central West Division. The team is preparing for a tournament in London, and looks to build on current momentum as playoffs and provincials approach.

Meghan Mackay, Sara Metzger and Olivia Medsger have taken a leadership role and pulled the team together and have made sure that all the girls are having fun. Many of our girls are getting their first season of rep hockey and are improving with every minute of ice time.

Playing in the B loop in the LLFHL, we as a C team, have a difficult time, but as of late we have remained competitive in most of our games. Highlights of the year will be our tournaments in Orillia, Nottawasaga, Brantford and hopefully the provincials in Ottawa. Many thanks go to our staff of Pierre Lepage (manager) Linda MacKay (trainer), Ken Metzger (assistant coach) and Dan Tsandelis (special offensive coach).

Midget BB The Midget BB Lady Rangers have parlayed a “team-first” approach to tournament success and improving regular season results. Backed by stellar goaltending and strong team defence, the girls edged the Manitoulin Ice Angels to win the Cornwall tournament in a shootout in October and then downed the same Manitoulin team to win the Stratford tournament in November.

Early in the new year, explosive offense from all three forward lines and defence pairs led the Lady Rangers to the final of the Guelph tournament against the Walkerton Capitals. In the final, after a 6-0 semi-final romp over the Caledon Coyotes, the Rangers forced overtime when they tied the game with an extraattacker goal with 16 seconds left in regulation, then won it in the first minute of overtime for their third gold in three tournament appearances.

After a slow regular season start, in which they dropped six of their first 14 contests, the Midget BB Rangers have won four straight to move into third place in the Lower Lakes West division.

Included in that win streak are a 2-0 win over the otherwise undefeated Lakeshore Lightning and a 3-2 win over the West Huron Wave, in which the Rangers scored twice in the last minute of play to overcome a one-goal deficit.

Intermediate A The Kitchener Lady Rangers Intermediate A team was sitting in fifth place (of 11) at the start of 2013 in LLFHL play with a record of 7-5-3. The team had gone through an uncharacteristic winless streak of four games prior to the Christmas break. Since the well deserved break, the ladies have won their two games in the new year, including a 5-0 win over the St. Catharine’s Chaos (who had beaten the ladies 9-1) prior to the break. In 2013 the team has yet to allow a goal, thanks to the stellar goaltending of Courtney Eastway. Although being competitive in their two tournaments played so far, the Intermediates have not been able to come home with any medals, but will continue to try for gold in Cambridge in January. Newly named captain Katie Vanderstelt and assistants Janna (Harbs) Harbin, Alanah Walls, and Eric Talmage are going to lead the team into a strong LLFHL finish and the goal of qualifying for provincials.

Midget B The team is having a tremendous season with a record of 13 wins against 1 loss and two ties early into the new year.

The ladies are working hard, which has paid off with gold medal wins in the Waterloo Tournament in November and striking gold again in the Woodstock Tournament in January. The team is headed to Erie, Pennsylvania in February for its next tournament.

Senior A For the second consecutive year KMHA has iced a Senior A women’s team for females over the age of 21. This team allows the dedicated female hockey players to continue playing the game they love. The Senior A team, coached

by Michael Cinelli, plays in the Western Ontario Women’s Hockey League. Their current record was 6-6-1 as of writing.

This team will get an automatic bye to the Senior Provincials in March.

Midget C The KLR Midget “C” team has had a rough start to the season with a coaching change right after the Fallfest Tournament in which the team lost in the semi-finals.

Captain Stacey Gorloff and assistants

HockeyXpress

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teamprofiles

New attitude and success for Major Midgets Story by Michelle Baril and photos by Laurie Guild After every storm comes a rainbow, and that has proven to be true for Kitchener Minor Hockey’s Major Midget team. After a less than stellar season last year, the returning players hit the ice this season with new attitudes, a more diligent work ethic, a brighter outlook, and a more united group.

“I didn’t want to end playing minor hockey like the way we played last year.

I knew that this team would be really strong and regardless of what other guys’ decisions were, I decided to come back and lead the team,” said Alex Demrovsky, a returning player. “Last year there wasn’t as much devotion to the team.

Everyone. The staff, coaches, and players care more about the team this year than we did last year. Just about everything cleaning the room, respecting the room, respecting Kitchener, and respecting KMHA,” he added.

And, according to head coach, Matthew Desmeules, KMHA is a key player in his team’s road to success.

“We’ve had a lot of support from Kitchener Minor Hockey and they’ve given us the resources to be able to compete as well as the Kitchener Rangers,” he said. “They have been an invaluable resource of technical help for us and the players as well. We have a really strong group of players committed to the program and we have a lot of guys from the minor midget program. I think that

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HockeyXpress

speaks volumes about what Kitchener Minor Hockey is doing, the fact that guys wanted to come play in our midget program and we have three strong returning players who are good leaders and that’s really set the tone and got us going,” Desmeules said.

Only three players from last season’s roster returned to this team, hoping to change the tides and create a successful major midget team.

“This year with the coaching staff they care more about the players,” said Anthony Osterling, one of the three returning players. “They make sure we’re healthy, they make sure we’re feeling alright, and they make sure we’re doing the right things out there as opposed to last year. I mean it was there, but even with the players we didn’t care as much as we do this year. This year we have a lot more heart on the team and it makes it easier to put up those winning points,” explained Osterling.

As the top seed approaching the Christmas break, this major midget team is looking to finish the season in the top

half of the standings and gain home ice advantage heading into the playoffs.

“In this league it takes 20 guys pulling together every night and the bench staff coming prepared with scouting reports on the other team, video ready to go and 20 guys with a common goal, playing our systems very well, and executing. For us, our success has been guys coming and being ready, and guys playing together,” Desmeules said.

There is a buzz in the city about these boys and he believes a provincial championship could be well within their grasp.

“The guys are really proud of the hockey club and you can see it on the ice in how hard they battle, how hard they want to fight and how hard they want to win. A team that isn’t very happy when they lose and really reacts poorly to it, is usually a team who has a lot of pride in themselves. These guys come out and compete because they want to battle, they want to win, and they’re proud to wear that Rangers’ jersey and they are really proud to represent Kitchener Minor Hockey.”

“The guys are really proud of the hockey club and you can see it on the ice in how hard they battle, how hard they want to fight and how hard they want to win.”

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sportsfiles

KMHA and FACS give some Christmas cheer Story by Michelle Baril The Christmas season is over, but the impact Kitchener Minor Hockey had on numerous individuals in the community will forever be remembered. Several years ago, Family and Children’s Services (FACS) implemented a program called Adopt a Family, which helps less fortu-

“This year 693 families and youth were adopted into the community and 2,570 individuals were helped through the Adopt a Family and the Adopt a Youth programs.” nate members of the community. The program was created to make sure nobody has to go without.

“At Christmas, the Adopt a Family program provides gifts, clothing, and food to members of the program,” said Nancy Corbett, development and communications director at FACS. “When we adopt out a family, each family sends out a wish list of what each family member wants and it could range from everything from toys, electronics, clothing, and food,” she added.

Last Christmas, Kitchener Minor Hockey joined the Adopt a Family program, and always donates a grocery cart of items. Corbett said the numbers

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of people helped have increased since KMHA got on board and they are hoping they will be back next year.

This year 693 families and youth were adopted into the community and 2,570 individuals were helped through the Adopt a Family and the Adopt a Youth programs.

“It was thanks to Randy, a volunteer driver for getting KMHA on board. He sent out emails and asked them to adopt a family, and they were more than happy to participate,” Corbett said.

FACS has developed both the Adopt a Family and Adopt a Youth programs to support those in need, and community members such as Kitchener Minor Hockey have been more than willing to jump on board. Anyone is able to adopt a family or adopt a youth at any time. In order to do so, you can drop by the FACS office, sign up on the website, or contact them by phone or email. There is a wide range of families and youth who need the support and if you choose to help you can decided upon the size of family you wish to assist. All the recipients are confidential and the social worker assigned to each specific family will deliver the gifts.

It’s important to remember that it's not only at Christmas time when these families need help. For many of them it’s all year long. During the summer, Family and Children’s Services also runs a camp program and has many other families and youth that require assistance, and it’s through the generous support of donors that all of these programs, including Adopt a Family, remains so successful.

sportsfiles

Bullying just isn’t cool Story by Rolland Cyr In the press and at our schools we are seeing a rise in the reported cases of bullying. This is a trend that KMHA does not want seeping into hockey here in Kitchener.

KMHA believes in providing a strong and healthy place to play, and we believe in educating our players. In the fight to prevent bullying, KMHA will be launching a lecture series that our players will be required to take before playing next season. This education session will focus on teaching our players what bullying looks like, how to handle it, and how to report it if it happens. All of this information will be delivered with a hockey centric approach by trained clinicians. To ensure relevant content of these sessions, the board of directors and a pilot project team of players, participated in

the first session this past fall, to which all reported the session was informative, fun and useful. By partnering with our sport governing bodies and by mandating attendance, the board of directors is leading the way in ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all of its players. Currently, the details of this project are being worked through and will be

released this year on the KMHA website.

For now, details regarding our behaviour policy are posted on our website along with the Hockey Canada paper on harassment and bullying.

Whether you are a parent or a player, we want you to remember that KMHA is a place for fun, friendship and hockey.

Whether it be at the representative or recreational level, we are all deserving of respect and a safe place to play. The mission of Hockey Canada is to lead, develop and promote positive hockey experiences, and to assist in that initiative KMHA will also be releasing pre-game public service announcements to remind spectators about appropriate cheering and behaviour. We look forward to your support in teaching our kids that hockey is a game for life.

“Whether you are a parent or a player, we want you to remember that KMHA is a place for fun, friendship and hockey.�

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behindthebench

A game-changing conference Story by Brendan Zwambag Many young athletes will likely, at some point in their life, be presented with an opportunity to play a sport allyear-round. It can be an enticing offer by giving them extra practice and allowing them to play more of the sport that they love, however the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) would like to see kids try other things in the off-season.

It was a major concern that CAC raised at their annual coaching conference, held in Montreal, in early November 2012.

“What they are finding across all the sports across the world is that athletes are reaching 15 or 16 [years old] and they are dropping out,” said Dean Fergusson, assistant coach of the Kitchener Jr. Rangers MD Rep hockey team. “They are not playing the sport any longer and they are not filling it with any other sports.”

Fergusson was one of many coaches from across the country that attended the

three-day event from November 8 to 10.

The theme of the conference was “Game Changer”, where the focus was getting athletes to continue playing sports longer.

While year-round training for one sport may advance an athlete’s game towards professional sports, it is also likely to turn the athlete off from participating in sport in the future.

“Little Johnny might be the greatest 100-metre runner that ever lived but if he doesn’t experience the other things or other sports, then somewhere along the line little Johnny feels like he is missing out and drops sports and feels burnt out afterwards in most scenarios,” said Fergusson.

Fergusson believes that year-round training could not only turn that young athlete away from running, but also from participating in post-secondary intramu-

ral sports or recreational men’s leagues for other sports because he will not have the fundamental skills.

Fergusson’s advice to avoid burning out young athletes is simple.

“Develop your skills in other areas and don’t specialize early,” he said.

He believes that that there is not enough awareness about the pitfalls of year-round training for young athletes.

“I think we need to educate parents and coaches that year-round (training) isn’t good, but if athletes perform other athletic endeavors or other things…they will enjoy it more because they had a break,” said Fergusson.

These are issues that were brought to Fergusson’s attention by the CAC at the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Sportif Coaching Conference.

“I would recommend any coach going at least once because you get to talk to other sports, you get to talk to other coaches,” said Fergusson. “I’d like to go again. I thought it was a good place to be and a good place to learn.”

sportsfiles

Keeping it cool– making the ice we skate on Story and photos by Rachel Klein Opening its doors in September 2008, the Activa Sportsplex contains, among other things, two NHL-sized ice surfaces which are used weekly by hundreds of skaters–including the many young athletes of Kitchener Minor Hockey. Keeping these players on the ice each week requires a huge team of people working together to manage and organize players, teams, games, equipment and volunteers. But there is one very important thing that absolutely must be present before any puck gets dropped-ice.

Rudi Senger has been in the business of making ice for nearly three decades.

Working as the chief operator at the

Activa Sportsplex, he along with a handful of other staff, are responsible for making sure that there is always perfect ice for athletes, from toddlers on the ice for the first time, right up to adult leagues to skate on. In order to do this, there first has to be a solid foundation beneath the ice.

The 200 foot-long rink has a huge system of pipes covered in smooth concrete, built with the specifications of the Activa’s main tenant (Kitchener Minor Hockey) in mind. Once this is done, the giant refrigeration system goes to work cooling the floor. Senger and his team then flood the floor with a thin layer of

water. This ice gets painted white, and all lines, face-off circles, and creases are added. Finally, a thicker layer of water is flooded over it all. But the rink isn’t ready to be skated on yet; just like the curve of water in a glass, the ice-rink has downwards bow which must be fixed. Cue the zamboni.

The zamboni is fitted with a six-anda-half-foot blade which runs along the bottom of the vehicle. This giant blade scrapes a thin layer off the ice and an auger helps move the accumulated snow up into the giant storage bin at the top (by the way, did you know that the actual shape of the zamboni is a registered continues on next page >>>

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trade-mark, just like a Coca-Cola bottle?).

The snow then gets dumped into a giant concrete pit in the back of the zamboni bay, where melt-water gets drained into

vehicle in the 1940s, it took a team of workers about an hour to do the job the zamboni does in 10 minutes.

“Weather is typically his biggest

(not to mention grumpy) hockey players.”

To adapt to this, the arena is airconditioned to control temperature and humidity. But even cold temperatures in the winter can be a problem, since very cold ice can be too brittle and crack.

The ice staff depend on the machinery to run without a hitch in order to keep the ice in perfect skating condition–and when something goes wrong, Senger and his team have to scramble to fix it. In nearly 30 years, he says that 99 per cent of problems with the ice are a result of machinery gone haywire, so he is used to dealing with this constant possibility.

Luckily people like Senger are always there, in every arena that kids play hockey–working tirelessly to keep our facilities running smoothly. It would be pretty difficult to enjoy a game of hockey without the ice.

“The 200 foot-long rink has a huge system of pipes covered in smooth concrete, built with the specifications of the Activa’s main tenant (Kitchener Minor Hockey) in mind. Once this is done, the giant refrigeration system goes to work cooling the floor.” the sewer. The bottom of the zamboni contains almost 800 litres of water, and in order to make perfect ice, the machine has to put down exactly as much water needed to replace the ice scraped off, so that the thickness always remains the same (about 1.5 inches).

So how does Senger know if the ice is the proper thickness? Well the answer is pretty simple: no high-tech laser measurements are needed, just a hand-held drill and a log book. Ice maintenance staff will walk the surface of the rink about once per week and drill a couple dozen holes all over the ice to check that the thickness is just right.

A task many hockey fans have always dreamed of doing, Senger says driving the zamboni is still fun, but he’s been at it for nearly 30 years, so he’s sort of gotten used to it. No surprise, since a zamboni’s top speed is about 16 kilometres/hour and the average machine travels about 12 kilometres in a day while re-surfacing the ice at least once an hour in addition to between periods.

But Senger is still thankful for the existence of the ice machine; because before Frank J. Zamboni invented the iconic

obstacle,” Senger added when asked about the biggest challenges of keeping the ice perfect in an arena like the Activa Sportsplex. “When summer weather hits, the building can get too warm and humid, which means bouncing pucks and tired

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sports@school

Spending a PA Day with Olympians Story by Rachel Klein and photos by Hockey Canada Most kids spend their PA Days on the couch, happily enjoying their time off school by watching television or playing video games. However, a few kids in Kitchener have found a slightly different way to spend their PA Days: on the ice with two Olympic gold-medalists, learning new hockey skills and more importantly, building confidence and a lifelong love of sport.

Girls in Kitchener Minor Hockey can now take part in the Girls’ Hockey PA Camp, a new program introduced this year which allows girls to sign up for a day of on and off-ice drills, run by former Team Canada members Becky Kellar and Cheryl Pounder.

The idea for the PA Day camps came as members of the KMHA talked with Pounder, who helped out at the Girls’ Hockey Day event last year. Pounder and Kellar run several hockey camps around Southern Ontario, and eventually a plan was formed to hold a camp during students’ days off from school.

The first camp was held this past November, with a full session of 30 young girls between the ages of 6 and 13 taking part. The camp included a full day of on and off-ice training to develop hockey skills, but one of the most valuable things this group of girls learned is confidence, says Jarid Peterson, GM

tant to bolster their confidence as they progress in a sport like hockey, where it can be intimidating to play against boys, and where girls have traditionally been in the minority. While Peterson says that the enrolment total for girls is still lower than boys, the rate of registration is increasing by leaps and bounds each year.

This season, KMHA has over 500 girls registered in its programs throughout the region. There are all-girls teams at every available level, which means that girls can bond with teammates and grow confident in themselves and their abilities in a comfortable environment. As the sport grows more popular with girls, there are more opportunities like the PA Day camps which allow girls to bond with one another and develop lifelong friendships.

Having role models like Becky Kellar and Cheryl Pounder is yet another way for young athletes to see their own potential, as both women have gone from playing hockey as young children to being internationally recognized athletes, among many other incredible accomplishments.

Kellar, from Hangersville, Ontario, has been a member of the national team since 1997. She has been a part of four Canadian Women’s Olympic Teams, participating in the winter Games in 1998 in Nagano, 2002 in Salt Lake City, 2006 in Torino, and 2010 in Vancouver. Kellar

“The first camp was held this past November, with a full session of 30 young girls between the ages of 6 and 13 taking part. The camp included a full day of on and off-ice training to develop hockey skills, but one of the most valuable things this group of girls learned is confidence.” of the Atom B Kitchener Lady Rangers (whose daughter took part in the camp).

Kellar and Pounder are, according to Peterson, two of the most humble Olympians he has ever met, and are incredible role models for this group of young athletes. With high drop-out rates for girls in sport (especially in the developmental years), it is incredibly impor-

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and her teammates brought home medals at all four Olympics, three of which were gold. Aside from her stellar Olympic career, Kellar has been an integral part of many other championship teams, winning a gold medal with Team Ontario in the 1993 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, and partaking in seven IIHF World Women’s Championships.

She is also a graduate of Brown University, where she was named Most Valuable Player on the Brown Bears Ice Hockey Team, and won numerous academic and athletic awards.

Pounder, a native of Mississauga, Ontario, is also a gold-medalist, participating in Team Canada’s victories in Salt Lake City and Torino. She won the Under-18 Championship with Kellar on Team Ontario in 1993, and was named to the All-Star Team. As a student at Wilfrid Laurier studying kinesiology, she was named Female Athlete of the Year, and was inducted into the university’s hall of fame in 2005. Pounder has achieved five World Championship gold medals and seven Nations Cup gold medals over the course of her career as one of the top female hockey players in the world.

Registration is open on the KMHA website for future Girls PA Day Camps.

Becky Kellar

Cheryl Pounder

Midget B The team is having a tremendous season with a record of 13 wins against 1 loss and two ties early into the new year. The ladies are working hard, which has paid off with gold medal wins in the Waterloo Tournament in November and striking gold again in the Woodstock Tournament in January. The team is headed to Erie, Pennsylvania in February for its next tournament.

left to right–1st row–Claire Guistini, Marianne Hemmerich, Lindsey Jones, Holly Dinsmore 2nd row–Rachel McNab, Chanelle Patterson, Leah Buhler, Allie Sharman, Rachel Wilkinson, Sara Mayled 3rd row–Kendra Ertel, Amanda Robinson, Katherine McMillian, Hunter Johns, Isabella Richmond, Emily Nagel, Nicole Koehler.

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sportsfiles

See what it really means to play like a girl Story by Rachel Klein and photos by Kevin Fleming

Every girl through one door, on one day, was the original vision for Mike Richmond, former director of girls’ hockey for KMHA. From there the idea grew into a committee which featured three more girls’ hockey boosters. With the addition of Yvan Aubin (current director of girls’ hockey), Reagan Yuke and Jarid Peterson, a solid foundation was created and a vision became reality.

As the event began to take shape last year, so to did the realization that this game meant so much to the girls and young women of our community. With one day featuring all of the roughly five hundred female athletes in the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association playing in one facility, the number of girls ballooned to a 1,000 when you include all the visiting teams who also came to play that day.

The girls’ ages ranged from five to 30 with varying skill levels from house league to representative travel and girls playing boys’ hockey. Last year’s event was a resounding success, and featured appearances from Olympic Gold Medalist Cheryl Pounder and Olympic hopeful Mandy Bujold. Even mayor Carl Zehr came by to catch some of the action.

Growing on that day from last year was not going to be an easy task, but the committee was up to the challenge.

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Finding corporate sponsorship with RBC was just the beginning as this year also featured a Learn to Play Hockey event, offering females of any age the opportunity to suit up and take to the ice with Olympians Cheryl Pounder and Becky Kellar.

Also featured during the day was the Atom A Girls whose efforts in collecting the most food for the Food Bank of Waterloo Region was rewarded with custom made Kitchener Girls’ Hockey Day jerseys. As a collective group, the girls of Kitchener Minor Hockey raised almost 4,000 pounds of food, and particularly the Atom A (ages 10-11) ladies raised 2,000 themselves. The Food Bank was also on site for the day’s events to continue to take donations.

If this year continues to build on the momentum it has started, we could

certainly be showcasing some of the best and brightest that our wonderful community has to offer.

The KMHA’s 2nd Annual RBC Girls’ Hockey Day took place on January 13, 2013. Kitchener Girls’ Hockey, in partnership with RBC, asked all fans and players in attendance to continue to donate items for the Waterloo Region Food Bank. This year Bauer also joined in cooperation with Play It Again Sports with a special shooting challenge, with all proceeds from the event going to the Food Bank.

With the addition of the “Learn to Play” feature this year, girls and women of any age were also invited to come learn the game with the help of Olympians Becky Kellar and Cheryl Pounder.

KMHA would like to thank Tim Horton's for all of their support during this year's Girls' Hockey Day event!

Lane Yuke (Kitchener Lady Rangers Atom A), Cheryl Pounder (Olympic Gold Medalist), Steven Cabral (RBC), Becky Kellar (Olympic Gold Medalist), and Devin McDonald (Guelph Thunder Atom A)

sportsfiles

Adam from the Waterloo Region Food Bank, Steve Cabral of RBC and Yvan Aubin from KMHA.

Ella Fleming (Lady Rangers Atom A) and Olympian Cheryl Pounder.

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sportsfiles

Rangers in Russia Story by Michelle Baril, with contributions from Ryan Metivier and photos by OHL Images/CHL Images At the recent World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia, Canada may have come up short, but several members of the Kitchener Rangers came away with amazing hockey experiences.

On paper, the Canadians were projected to at least medal in Russia, but the timeless Canada/U.S. rivalry was once again rekindled. This rivalry however, hit closer to home than in previous years. In the historic, Ufa setting, in a showcase tournament of the world's best junior players,

five members of the Rangers’ squad flew across the globe and turned to face each other head-to-head in a battle of the best in arguably the most exciting tournament in all of hockey.

“We weren’t really in touch when we were over there. It was hard to keep in touch with Tobias, Radek and Gibby,” said Canadian defensemen and Kitchener Rangers' Captain, Ryan Murphy.

Murphy was referring to Rangers’ forwards Tobias Rieder (Germany) and

John Gibson

18

Radek Faksa (Czech Republic), along with goaltender John Gibson (U.S.A.).

“But when we saw each other on the ice we obviously gave each other the head nod, but more so with Tobias and Radek. With Gibby it was a pretty big rivalry between Canada and the U.S.A. so we weren’t really smiling at each other on the ice too much.”

Murphy joined his coach Steve Spott and dawned the Maple Leaf. As for goaltender John Gibson, he joined his

teammates but on the other end of the ice in stars and stripes.

“You have a mutual respect in an event like that. John had a job to do, Ryan and me had a job to do and he (Gibson) really elevated his game,” said head coach Steve Spott. “He deserved the gold medal and being named player of the tournament,” he added.

Canada started the tournament strong beating their rival Americans 2-1 on opening day of the tournament. The Canadians remained undefeated until they hit the medal round. They made it to the semi-finals where they once again met the U.S. This time it was a different story. The Americans came out strong and with Gibson between the pipes, the Canadians fell 5-1 and their gold medal dreams were shattered.

“I just wanted to represent my country and it didn’t really matter who I’m playing against, I just want to win. We just all bonded and we just all came together as a family and I think that’s why we were so successful and we just kept playing our game,” Gibson said.

“They were a lot faster than I expected. You have guys like NugentHopkins playing at a pro level and he made plays that I never knew were even possible. So having those guys around me and playing with me was a huge opportunity for myself and I learned a lot of from them.”

Gibson not only returned to Kitchener with a World Junior Gold, but also player of the tournament honours. In his first game back he was welcomed home, to the Aud with a standing ovation.

“John is such an even-keeled goalie.

His highs are never to high and his lows

are never too low. He comes to work every day and he understands he has a job to do and does it. He is outstanding in net for us,” said Spott.

Even though the Canadians returned without a medal, the tournament gave the guys not only an unforgettable learning experience, but a chance to take what they learned in Ufa and implement different styles of play to improve their own game, which will translate into a more successful team back home in the OHL. “They were a lot faster than I expected.

You have guys like Nugent-Hopkins playing at a pro level and he made plays that I never knew were even possible. So having those guys around me and playing with me was a huge opportunity for myself and I learned a lot of from them,” said Murphy. “They were young adults, and that’s what everyone was over there.

We were young adults and grown up.”

Coach Spott said coaching this team was a great opportunity for him and his team meshed really well together.

Most of the guys that competed on the Canadian team this year competed in the Under 17 and Under 18 championships and Spott said they had a lot of chemistry going into the tournament and just kept creating more, which was his goal.

“It was an amazing advantage that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was able to come. It was important for us and for him to be around his peers. He’s quiet, and leads by example,” said Spott. “Our players look up to him and they all appreciate how good he is.”

Nugent-Hopkins may have ‘world junior company’ this season as the NHL finally gets underway, with both Murphy and Gibson are attending their respective NHL training camps.

“I’m going to go into the camp, I’m going to work hard, I’m going to do

everything that I can to crack the line up and if I get sent back here I’ll be happy, but if I end up making the squad it will be a huge accomplishment,” said Murphy.

Steve Spott

Ryan Murphy

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sportsfiles

Join us for dinner

Local sports volunteers recognized by KSA

Our dinner meetings are held at the Edelweiss Sports Bar at 6:00 p.m.

Upcoming dates are: January 15, February 19, March 19, April 16 Also join us for the following events: May 21–Athlete of the Year Presentation & Dinner June 11–Scholarship Awards Dinner

Submitted by the Kitchener Sports Association and photo by Carrie Debrone The 24th annual KSA Volunteer Recognition Dinner took place on November 20 at the Edelweiss Sports Bar in Kitchener. There were 27 volunteer awards this year including two husband and wife teams.

MC for the event was the “voice and choice” of the Kitchener Rangers, Don Cameron, who has hosted the event since the turn of the century. The proceedings included a special floral bouquet presentation to Carolyn Fedy in recognition of her 50 years of volunteer work with the KW Skating Club.

Don McKee, this year’s guest speaker, entertained attendees with anecdotes from his many years of coaching, teaching and volunteering. Some of the highlights revolved around Don’s Montreal hockey sweater, which he brought with him, and the memories and dreams it invoked. One never knows how farreaching the effects such a single item or single volunteer action can have. Don thanked all the volunteers being recognized and encouraged them to keep up their good work.

Information on KSA funding KSA provides funding to local minor sports groups and charities for participants meeting our residency criteria. KSA offers travel, hosting and capital grants in addition to the KSA Scholarship and several other special programs.

(The deadline for scholarship applications is 5 p.m. May 21, 2013.)

For more information visit: www.kitchenersports.ca

2012 Volunteer Award Recipients Front row: (L-R) Christine Rupert (KW Synchronized Swim Club), Jacquie and Ron Rashleigh (Waterloo Region Track 3 Ski School), Carolyn Fedy (KW Skating Club), June Woolridge (Kitchener Minor Baseball), Catherine McKay (Region of Waterloo Swim Club), Julie Wetzler (Special Olympics Ontario KW) Standing: Stephen Green (KW Predators Volleyball), Jeff Wilson (KW Water Polo Club), Cathy Burton (Conestoga Sailing), Brian Horne (KW Sports Council), Mike Burton (Conestoga Sailing), Dr. David Venturi (Waterloo Regional Boxing Academy), Wendy Buckley (KW Youth Basketball), Erwin Banasch (KW Minor Boys Softball), Lisa Ross-Black (KW Rowing Club), John MacDonald (KW Sertoma Speed Skating), Don Herner (Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club), John Harvey (Stanley Park Optimist T-Ball), Toni Pottier (KSA–Volunteer award), Dave Smart (KW Minor Lacrosse), Tracey Hudson (Kitchener Ringette), Mike Aultman (Kitchener Minor Hockey), David MacLellan (Kitchener Girls Minor Softball), Gord Dearborn (KSA–President’s award), Dale Sukhall (Stars Orienteering), Michelle Whittle (Sports for Special Athletes) Absent from photo: Jack Black (Tsuruoka Kai Karate Do), Thomas Fitzgerald (Laurel Creek Track & Field) KSA President Bill Pegg accepts thanks from Eric Skovsgaard (Director, Sponsored Kids Program) for KSA’s $2,500 donation to Donna Weber’s Sponsored Kids Program. (Nov 20, 2012)

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sportsfiles

Volunteer with SHI

Coaches are allowed on the ice during games to assist players that need it. If one team’s line has a player with very low skills then they will be allowed to add an extra player to compensate. But they all still participate.

Submitted by SHI Desire. Desire to play. Desire to succeed. Desire even to make it to the NHL. That's where Special Hockey comes in. There are no age groups. There are no tryouts. They don't even need to be able to skate. All they need is what they already have–desire. They will learn how to skate, how to hold a stick, how to handle a puck, how to make a pass, how to take a shot, how to make a save. Some may learn by the end of their first season, others may take years. What they will all do immediately is participate at every practice and at every game. That's because they don't have to meet anyone else's expectations, only their own. Special Hockey allows the developmentally challenged to achieve their own goals on their own schedule.

They will learn about teamwork. They will gain self-confidence and self-esteem.

They will learn from their coaches, but more importantly they will learn from their peers. They will see and imitate the better players. A seven year old may play on the same line as a 17 year old or even 27 year old. They will be matched by ability but the coach may also include a better player as a positive role model.

And these more experienced players look forward to be being mentors for the rookies. This may mean laying back a bit to let a rookie skate with the puck without being checked. Or it may mean a goalie may “not try too hard” to stop a shot.

And they love doing this, because they too were rookies once and they too like seeing the smiles as much as we all do.

The rules of the game are also modified. There is no icing, no offside and definitely no body checking. Male and female, young and old all play together.

Volunteer Information and Application If you wish to be considered as a volunteer for the Special Hockey International (SHI) 2013 Tournament event, please read the information below and then complete the Volunteer Application Form.

• Dates and Venue–The Special Hockey International 2013 Tournament will take place Thursday March 14-Saturday March 16, 2013 (March Break 2013) at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium and the Activa Sports Complex.

• Application–To be considered to serve as a volunteer for this event, volunteers must complete the three-page application form, which can be found at

www.shikitchener2013.ca/volunteer

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fromthesidelines

Who’s behind the shield?

Submitted by slotsartstudio.com Michael Slotwinski, the artist behind Slots Art Studio, is a recent honours graduate of the Studio Arts and Dramatic Arts programs from the University of Guelph (BA 2011), as well as a graduate of the Althouse College of Teachers at the University of Western Ontario (BEd 2012). Finally finished his education, Michael created Slots Art Studio to showcase the type of artwork that captivates him the most–in the hopes that others will be awe-inspired by the works created by him.

Currently Michael is working on two projects; the Hockey’s Masked Men collection and the Finnigan Mulligan.

The first is interpretative large scale oil paintings of hockey’s most notorious goalie masks. Each mask has a story and the mask protects the identity of the face hidden behind this

22

shield. The paintings are dramatic and meant to create conversation and controversy. Recently, Michael has been touring all over the OHL to show this project and hopes to attend a Rangers’ game at the Auditorium soon.

The second is the creation of his own official fine art cartoon series, Finnigan Mulligan, which he runs alongside Slots Art Studio. The Finnigan Mulligan series is about a golfer named Finnigan who fails miserably at life for the benefit of our laughter. A man of all trades and terrible at all these trades – he is dopey, unwise, exceptionally awkward, and terribly unlucky; always ending up in crazy scenarios and odd predicaments, which is something we can all relate to. You can check him out at: www.finniganmulligan.com More info at: www.slotsartstudio.com

sportsfiles

Get off the couch and try something new Story by Ryan Metivier and photos by Colin Galbraith For parents who’ve found themselves looking for a way to get their child outdoors and participating in sports, the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo organized a special Try-A-Sport Day on September 29.

The first-time event took place at two locations; Lions Arena in Kitchener and RIM Park in Waterloo, and was organized with the help of Kin Canada and in association with CBC’s Sports Day In Canada.

“We chose to partner with CBC knowing it was a national sports day all over Canada and were able to piggyback on them for advertising,” said Ashley Purvis, athletic coordinator for the City of Kitchener. “We were able to promote many sports and got kids to come out and try different sports for free.”

The goal of the event was to reach out to affiliate sport groups, as well as some public groups, and have them prepare a one-hour program where they could give children a demo of the sport, and then also allow them to get on the field or ice and try and it on their own.

Kitchener Minor Hockey (KMHA) was one the several sports groups to take part in the day by bringing their events team to Lions Arena, as well as their minor bantam AA team to work with kids on the ice. Helmets, skates, sticks and pucks were on hand, giving several

children who had never even skated, a chance to learn the game of hockey.

“Anytime you get kids interested in getting off the couch and playing games it’s a successful day,” said Rolland Cyr, general manager of the KMHA. “I think we have a great building block and foundation for a solid event in the future.”

Numerous local sports groups participated in the event offering lessons in sports such as ringette, karate, ultimate frisbee, rowing, football, cheerleading, lacrosse and several others, and the hope is that more groups will sign on in the coming years.

“We hope to be at a larger site next year so we can have multiple sports running at a time,” said Purvis. “Ultimately our goal would be to have all 41 minor affiliated sports groups come out and showcase their sport to have kids in the area learn what they can do, while helping to raise awareness and membership for our sports groups.”

“In the long run we want kids to live healthy lifestyles and

be good citizens,” added Cyr. “We’re happy to be part of a community that believes in our children, believes in our health and believes in the future.”

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sportsfiles Happy to be in Kitchener Story by Haleigh Japp and photo by Terry Wilson/OHL Images The Kitchener Rangers added to their abundant talent pool this summer when they acquired Matt Puempel from the Peterborough Petes. The trade paid dividends for the Rangers, as Puempel has been one of team’s top scorers so far this season.

After three seasons with the Petes, Puempel decided it was time for a change and asked for a trade.

“Kitchener was right at the top of my list,” said Puempel when asked about the trade. “Peterborough was great about it, they understood where I was coming from, the GM at the time Dave Reid was unbelievable. For him to set this up for myself to be here worked out great. I just asked for a trade going into hopefully my last year (in junior), you know, I wanted a chance to win and that’s what I have here. It’s great that I ended up here and I couldn’t be happier.”

Puempel has said he loves playing for the Kitchener fans, but also appreciates the support he got from Peterborough fans as well.

“It was different, Peterborough was a smaller community, and the team struggled there a bit,” Puempel explained. “The fans there are great, but they are more on the quiet side.”

Puempel has had an impressive junior career, having 194 points, including 105 goals, in 174 career OHL games. His knack for scoring goals caught the attention of the Ottawa Senators of the NHL, and they traded two second round picks to select him with the 24th pick at the 2011 Entry Draft.

“My favourite team growing up was Toronto, and they and Ottawa have quite a rivalry right now. Going into the draft, you hope to get drafted by any team, but going to Ottawa was ironic because I grew up liking Toronto,” he said with a laugh.

“I talked to Ottawa before the draft, and I kind of saw everything there and I was getting excited. Once they called my name out, it was great,” he added.

With a great season so far, Puempel was poised to be considered for this year’s World Junior tournament representing Canada. Unfortunately, he suffered a shoulder sprain in the November 27 game against the London Knights. and was left off the World Junior team.

“It was tough,” said Puempel. “I was on it before I got hurt, and to have this injury and the bad timing of it is unfortunate. I’m just worried about making the NHL and playing for Kitchener, I’m not worried about that at all.”

“Those things don’t really determine anyone’s future.

There’s a lot a great players that didn’t play on there. Not everyone there will make the NHL and vice versa. It’s just a quick tournament and everyone wants to play in the NHL.”

24

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sportsfiles

A yearly tradition Story by Michelle Baril and photos by Rhianon Klein and Bob Dorey of Picture Yourself The legacy of a boy lives on through Kitchener Minor Hockey. For years, Jason Cripps was an influential member of the KMHA. He competed at the rep level and at the age of 15 his playing career, spirit, and life was cut short due to a selfish drunk driver.

“Jason was a rep hockey player but also assisted in coaching and volunteering with the house leagues. But he exemplified what we believed in, in making good, young citizens,” said Rolland Cyr, general manager of the KMHA. “He was a great boy, he was a great man. It’s that character that we strive to teach in sport that Jason helped exemplify and helped demonstrate to the rest of Kitchener Minor Hockey.”

Kitchener Minor Hockey, along with the Cripps family, started the Jason Cripps tournament as a tribute to Jason and to help bring awareness and to prevent drinking and driving especially during

the holiday season. Through this tournament, KMHA and the Cripps family has developed a partnership with MADD Canada to drive home the message about the affects of drinking and driving in a year-round initiative.

“We’re reaching out to kids at a very influential time in their lives. Youngsters are saying hey dad you’ve had a beer you can’t drive, but also to teenagers who are themselves getting their licences and preparing to be adults driving in the world, and that reminder that children their age have past away due to drunk drivers and have been taken from their family. And, over the Christmas season when people are so connected to their family and spending time with them, it’s a message that really rings through,” Cyr explained.

KMHA has made sure Jason’s story gets shared with everyone who enters the arena through letters and write-ups in

“Through this tournament, KMHA and the Cripps family has developed a partnership with MADD Canada to drive home the message about the affects of drinking and driving in a year-round initiative.”

the programs. Cyr said his own daughter who has read Jason’s story, had questions and cried at the thought of losing a child.

“It’s made her aware, as it has, many other children, and I’ve seen reactions in the rink reading different articles in our program every year. And it does, it opens the eyes of kids who don’t realize. And for my daughter, she understands that if you’re going to have a couple drinks, you need to be prepared for it or don’t have them. It’s about being responsible,” Cyr added.

The tournament is a house league tournament that includes all age groups of house league hockey and usually has eight to 10 teams signed up per division.

The annual tournament has become a staple in the Kitchener hockey community and the Cripps family is still involved and at the rink for the tournament.

“Not only does Larry (dad) come, but Jason’s brothers come. The tournament does mean something to them. Because, they want and they know that Jason’s life stood for something,” Cyr said.

His life has and always will stand for something. The brief 15 years when Jason was alive he personified what the KMHA and the community were hoping to develop amongst all their athletes and kids. photos of winners on next page >>>

HockeyXpress

25

Jason Cripps winners

PreTyke–Stars

PreTyke–Bruins

Tyke–Sharks

Novice–Predators

Minor Atom–Platers

Atom–Atomic Green

Monor Peewee–Tigers

Peewee–Pirates

Winning teams Girls

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HockeyXpress

Boys

Novice – Cambridge Atom – Waterloo 3 Peewee - Waterloo 3 Batnam – Waterloo 1 Midget – Stratford 2 Midget/Intermediate – Stratford Aces

PreTyke – Stars & Bruins Tyke – Sharks Novice – Predators Minor Atom – Platers Minor Atom – Atomc Green Minor Peewee – Tigers

Peewee – Pirates Minor Bantam – Roadrunner Bantam – Broncos Midget – Cardinals Midget – Kings

Bantam–Broncos

Bantam–Roadrunners

Major Midget–Kings

Minor Midget–Cardinals

Kitchener introduces the Girls DS Program

By Yvan Aubin and SportsXpress Team Girls who play on local league teams have been given the opportunity to improve their hockey development by participating in the Girls Developmental Stream (“DS”) Program, a pilot program from the OWHA for the 2012-2013 season.

So far, novice, peewee and bantam divisions have taken advantage of the new program. For those more familiar with boys’ hockey, this mirrors their “Select” teams. Tryouts were held in November, and teams started playing their first games in December.

This program provides an opportunity for girls playing house league hockey to develop and hone their skills at a higher level. The DS Program pools together the most talented players from house league and creates a team which travels a lot

more than is typical below the representative level. An average house league team will play one game per week, plus one practice every other week. In the rep league, an average atom level team will be on the ice four to five times per week, playing in different cities one to two times per week with a couple of practices in between. In addition, rep teams also compete in numerous tournaments which are often played out of town.

While this kind of ice time allows for a lot more development, some girls and their families aren’t able to take on the busy travel schedule, and the DS Program provides an alternative for these players. It also gives players in house league who want more of a challenge, an outlet to experience travel hockey at a

“The DS Program provides an additional opportunity for girls to learn and increase their skill, giving them the added ice time needed to develop.”

higher level. Girls in the DS Program are the elite in their category, and participate in more practices and tournaments.

“The program has been very popular so far and it’s encouraging for the athletes, some of whom aim to play at a higher level but were cut from rep teams,” says Jarid Peterson, GM of the Kitchener Lady Rangers Atom B team.

The DS Program provides an additional opportunity for girls to learn and increase their skill, giving them the added ice time needed to develop.

“I love playing on the team because it gives me a chance to play with my friends from the other local league team, and play at a higher level,” says Brooke Piitz, a centre on the Kitchener Lady Rangers Peewee DS team.

Her father Brian Piitz puts it simply.

“I am glad KMHA pushed to get this program in place. It will give girls a taste of playing at a more competitive level, and perhaps provide more player options for Lady Rangers’ teams in the future.”

HockeyXpress

27

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Play It Again Sports 519.748.5809 Skills Plus Hockey 519.570.3617

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The Kitchener Minor Hockey Association thanks the

KITCHENER RANGERS

for their generous support of our Jr. Rangers & Lady Rangers rep teams.

teamprofiles

WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU! The 2012/13 hockey season has seen many successes for teams from the KMHA, and I look forward to the remaining tournaments and playoff seasons. I’d like to thank all of the sponsors who have helped support the KMHA this season, as your contributions have a gone a long way in helping to provide successful programs for minor hockey in Kitchener.

Benefits of sponsoring: • Company name on jersey • Link to your company from our website (For gold and platinum sponsors only) • Receive a plaque with your company name and photo of the team you sponsored

The KMHA shouts out a huge thank you to our Platinum House League sponsors: Tim Horton’s (“Over 3 million cups of coffee sold every day”); McDonald’s (“Over 100 billion hamburgers sold”); Scotiabank (“Over 19 million customers worldwide”); Toyota (“Highest

owner loyalty of any automaker in the world”); Allstate (“Protect yourself from Mayhem”); Scherer Chevrolet Buick GMC Ltd. (“Kitchener’s GM dealer of choice”).

Michael J. Saunders 519-579-4110 msaunders4@sympatico.ca JP Sportswear & Promotional Products (“Serving the K-W area since 1999”); Libro Financial Group (“Leave ATM surcharges behind. Ding free…from sea to sea”); Play It Again Sports (“We share your passion for sports!”); Skills Plus Hockey (“Programs for all ages designed for varying degrees of ability”); Superior Memorials (“Experts in design since 1924”); Techline Motors and Marine Inc. (“Family owned and operated for over 25 years”); The Delivery Guys (“Highest quality courier and delivery services in Kitchener”); Labreche, Patterson & Associates (“Full service planning and development firm”); K-W Appliance Plus (“Premiere appliance superstore”); Michael J. Saunders-RE/MAX Twin City Realty (“Expert Kitchener-Waterloo real estate agent”).

We’re seeking support for our 2013/2014 season–sure to be another great one with your generous sponsorship. Please support the KMHA today!

Big thanks also to our Gold House League sponsors: The Foam Store (“Specializing in Simply Perfect™ foam”); Pita Pit (“Fresh thinking. Healthy eating”); Gibson Sound & Vision (“Best home electronics & best service since 1955”); 1st Impressions (“Leading supplier of branded apparel and promotional products”).

Many thanks to our Silver House League sponsors: Alliance Roofing & Sheet Metal Ltd. (“Quality, knowledge, leadership and integrity”); Casey’s Grill & Bar (“Everyday delicious at Casey’s”); Chris’ Tire Discounter (“We treat everyone’s vehicle as if it’s our own”); Crabby Joe’s Tap & Grill (“Good food. Good fun. Bad temper.”); Concierge Mortgage Group (“Red Carpet” Mortgage Experience);

Boys Rep Program update Story by Brian Hilliker and photos by Sports Enthusiasts At almost halfway through the regular season, many of our teams continue to compete fearlessly for top spots in their division as well as tournaments. This year, we added additional competitive teams in the Alliance Seeded Division from peewee through bantam and we are pleased with the result of allowing another 54 players to develop at a higher level of competition, thus strengthening our hockey developmental model.

We are also pleased with the success of our younger teams, demonstrated by key tournament wins in highly competitive tournaments. Many thanks to the players, coaches and volunteers. They

are not only instrumental in making this season successful on the ice, but for promoting the principles and ideals of the Ranger tradition.

I do want to welcome the New Hamburg Hockey Association into the Ranger family too. Although we do not want you to lose your identity as a Huskie, we are pleased to have you as part of our hockey family as well. Let’s continue to be proud to wear the Rangers’ uniform and continue in promoting competition, respect for the game and the goal of being solid community citizens now and in the future.

The following are some of the highlights from the boy’s rep program.

Annual Oktoberfest International Atom Tournament this October, on the weekend of October 19-21.

The tournament, an official Oktoberfest event and the premiere tournament for atom-aged hockey players, featured 80-90 teams in six divisions of play. This year’s tournament included boy’s teams from AAA, AA, A, and MD, along with, for the first-time ever, participation from girl’s teams from the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA). It was also be the first time that the KMHA hosted this annual event independently.

The Kitchener Rangers Atom MD Blue advanced to the championship game, but came up short to the Lambeth Lancers, while the Kitchener Rangers Atom AAA advanced to the semi-finals.

KW Octoberfest Tournament 2012 The Kitchener Minor Hockey Association (KMHA) was proud to host the 39th

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teamprofiles AAA Minor Midgets ALLIANCE Hockey announced the Team Carter and Team Doughty Minor Midget AAA All-Star Game rosters which included five players from KMHA for the game on December 15, 2012 at the Western Fair Sports Centre in London.

“Some difficult decisions had to be made in selecting players for these two rosters. This is a very deep year for draft eligible players in ALLIANCE Hockey and we know there will be players drafted in April that are not on these two rosters and quite possibly not on the final Team ALLIANCE roster. The scouting staff and I will continue to watch all of the minor midget AAA players right up until we have to declare the final roster for Team ALLIANCE in April, said Gary McFarlane, director of operations, ALLIANCE Hockey Under 16.

KMHA and the coaching staff of the Minor Midget Jr. Rangers would like to congratulate David Lobsinger (G), Austin Gaboury (F), John Nay (F) and Alex Black (D) for being four of the 40 best minor midget AAA players selected to play in the 2012 Minor Midget AAA All-Star Game. Stephen Gibson (D) who suffered an unfortunate injury versus Windsor was also to be named and was left out of the line up recovering in preparations for playoffs.

All four players were chosen to be on Team Carter and played against Team Doughty. In front of over 1,000 spectators Team Carter prevailed, winning 2-1 over Team Doughty. John Nay led the win by scoring one of the two winning goals. Thank you David, Austin, Alex and John for a stellar performance and for an exceptional job of representing Kitchener Minor Hockey. We wish you continued success in your season and a long and triumphant playoff run.

class event such as this requires a tremendous amount of support from our dedicated group of volunteers, as well as financial support from our local businesses as we endeavor to put our best foot forward when hosting citizens from other Bantam AA–South Bend Cup cities, provinces and countries. KMHA thanks focus and very consistent “Ranger all of its volunteers who give unselfishly Hockey” execution over the five tournaof their time to these tournaments. ment games.

The Junior Rangers had an excellent showing in the Blueline Tournament. The Kitchener Jr. Rangers Bantam AA Midget AAA team reached the semiwin South Bend Cup finals, the Bantams were finalists losing The Jr. Rangers loaded up the bus 2-1 to the Halton Hurricanes and the and headed nine hours to South Bend, Peewee AAA were also finalists losing to Indiana to participate in the 2012 South Grey Bruce.

Bend Cup and returned with the chamThe Minor Peewee AAA’s were crowned pionship. The Rangers also toured the the Blueline Champions with a convincNotre Dame Hockey facilities and really ing 4-1 win over Waterloo and the Minor saw what top-notch NCAA facilities are Atom AAA’s were champions with a all about. shutout over Huron Perth 4-0.

Next year, KMHA is taking a leadership role in minor hockey and implementing Other Highlights a “Harassment and Bullying” awareness Minor Atom–Minor Atom AAA are session for all players in KMHA. We feel that education is the best way to raise champs at Markham Tourney awareness to this issue as it applies to The Kitchener Jr. Rangers Minor Atom our game.

AAA team won the Markham Majors Fall In closing, I thank all our players, Classic Tournament on Thanksgiving coaches, parents and volunteers, who weekend, a championship that came in without your unselfish dedication to “Our a very competitive early season tournament. The players should be commended Game”, we could not operate the organization. Let’s have a great second half! for their outstanding effort, awesome

Blueline Tournament 2012 Kitchener Minor Hockey was proud to host our 41st Annual Blueline Tournament. Since 1970, this event historically has drawn together teams from across America and often Europe, to compete in minor hockey’s highest level of competition, AAA. Boy’s teams competed at various age levels from minor atom (9 year olds) through to midget (17 year olds). Running a first-

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