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The Voice, January 29, 2020
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The Voice and TheVoiceofPelham.ca | January 29, 2020
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Daniel Singer joins NF Canucks from OHL
Daniel Singer.
BILL POTRECZ
Athletics load up for Minto Cup The St. Catharines Athletics will play host to the Canadian junior A lacrosse championships in August BY BILL POTRECZ
BPSPORTSNIAGARA.COM
St. Catharines Athletics general manager Jeff Chcoski was a busy man at the recent Ontario Lacrosse Association midget entry draft. Chcoski did some major wheeling and dealing in order to not only acquire new talent, but be in a position to add pieces at the trade deadline now that the A’s are assured a spot in the Minto Cup following the news St. Catharines will host the event this August. “It was busy. My head was spinning,” Chcoski said. “[Head coach Steve] Toll was there and there were times he looked up and didn’t even know where we were because we were over somewhere talking. We were super active. We added some lefties and then picked up a good young kid and started to load up on assets.” Before the draft even began, Chcoski traded a first-round pick in 2022 to Peterborough for defenders Matt Barazin and Danny Bazarin. Matt Bazarin is a member of the St. Catharines Falcons junior B hockey team.
BERNIE PUCHALSKI
“They are big boys,” Chcoski said. A dispersal draft of players and assets of the now-defunct Barrie Lakeshores was held before the midget draft and the A’s picked up Jackson Webster from Georgetown and Felix Cote of Sudbury. Webster is an offensive lefty who is committed to Canisius College while Cote is also an offensive lefty who played on Team Ontario with Alex Simmons, Carter Zavitz and Liam Ham of the A’s. The A’s held the eighth overall pick in the midget draft and
selected Cameron Pack from Caledon, a lefty transition player with speed to burn, who attends Culvert Academy. “He’s a great kid from a great family and I spent time talking to him,” Chcoski said. “We’re really excited to see what he can do for us. He can also step into the lineup now and be a solid player for us.” Chcoski then really went to work trading and exchanging several picks in deals with Peterborough, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and Burlington. The A’s also received a second-round pick from Brampton
in 2021 to complete an earlier trade. “We had to load up on draft choices that we’ll be able to use at the end to bring in the guys we need to win the national championship,” Chcoski said. “Now that we are the host city and have an automatic bid, it’s a game changer. It’s amazing how quick everything is happening.” Chcoski was particularly proud of the fact he was able to add some muscle. “I promised our guys and our team we won’t be undersized this year,” he said. “Last year against Burlington in the second round, I think we all thought to a man we were undersized against them. We’re in a real good position to be able to floor a real good lacrosse club at this point.” Earlier, Chcoski added defender Wyatt Haux and goaltender Laine Hruska from the Saskatchewan Swat of the Alberta Junior A Lacrosse League. The Athletics lost several players from last season including goalie Nick Damude, captain Latrell Harris, Bradley Fannell, Riley St. Onge, Alex Pace and forward Jake McNabb.
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BY BILL POTRECZ
BPSPORTSNIAGARA.COM
Niagara Falls Canucks coach Frank Pietrangelo received a pleasant surprise recently when he received a text from Daniel Singer. The Erie Otters winger and St. Catharines native was thinking of coming home and playing junior B and was interested in suiting up for the Canucks. Pietrangelo couldn’t say yes quickly enough. “You don’t pursue something like that because he was in the OHL,” Pietrangelo said. “You don’t go around knocking on OHL doors and asking guys if they want to come back and play junior B hockey. It’s not realistic. When it did happen, it was a great surprise and 100 percent was something I wanted to do.” Singer, who was having a respectable season for the Otters with nine goals and 16 points, said the reason he wanted to play closer to home had little to do with hockey. Singer’s mother, Sheila-Ann Carr, passed away last January, and he wanted to be able to spend more time with his father, Duane Singer. “Just being back home after all the stuff that went on with my mom, it was just kind of nice to be back,” Singer said. “My dad is at home by himself and it’s nice to be with him a lot more, other than have him come drive two hours. He still works and plays hockey and stays busy and we have a new dog.” Singer has only played one game with the Canucks —he picked up a pair of assists in a win over Thorold last week — but already feels the arrangement is working out. “I have that time off to be able to be with him or even just going to grab a bite to eat with him, I think that means the world to him,” he said. Singer, who turns 21 in February, said a big factor in choosing the Falls was his relationship with Carson Edwardson and Andrew Somerville, who both joined the Canucks recently in a deal with the St. Catharines Falcons. “I grew up playing with those guys, and when I knew they were coming here that was a big influence for me to come to the Falls, to come and play with them,” he said. “I think our team acquired a lot of strong players and we have a strong team. I obviously picked the Falls because I knew they had a strong team to begin with.” The Canucks also added forwards Dario Tesoro from Welland and Sam Bourdages from Milton, of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, and Pietrangelo is well aware it may take some time for all the new faces to gel. “I don’t know how it’s all going to shake down. He’s only been here for one game. We’ll have to see how everything unfolds as far as the lines go,” Pietrangelo said. “We have five good players but you just can’t throw guys on the ice. Chemistry is a big part of it. In that sense, we disrupted our team a little bit. We just didn’t go out and get players. We had specific needs we felt we needed to address.” The Canucks are now loaded up front and Pietrangelo has no worries there will be enough pucks to go around. “It’s always all about depth, especially come playoff time,” he said. “That was our goal, to try and improve our hockey club for the playoffs. You never have enough good players. Depth is a very important part of being successful in the playoffs.” Singer, who played two seasons with the Niagara IceDogs before being dealt to the Otters for Ivan Lodnia, has fond memories of his time in the OHL. “I had a lot of good experiences and it made me into the hockey player I am today,” he said. “Off the ice, it made me more mature and more of a man. I’m really grateful for the opportunities to play in the O.” Singer hopes to play at the university level next season and has already made contact with a few teams.
