Panther points!
This week the U18 Manitoulin Lady Panthers were kept busy. Along with their typical schedule of dry land and on-ice practice, the girls were excited to have their annual media night on Wednesday evening. On Sunday, the Lady Panthers hosted the Sudbury Lady Wolves for an exhibition game in front of a packed crowd at the NEMI Recreation Centre. The girls played hard but unfortunately fell short, ending the game 3-0. Up next, they will prepare for their upcoming double header against Temiskaming Shores on Saturday.
The U15 Panthers squad headed south this time around to spend an eventful tournament weekend in Niagara Falls, packed full of team bonding activities and fast hockey. Their semi-final was a tense match up, going goal for goal until Mount Brydges pulled ahead to make it 4-3 in the third narrowly missing a chance for gold.
By the way, all three Panther teams are currently selling ‘Chase the Ace’ tickets on behalf of the Little Current Lions Club. If you need to get your weekly tickets, reach out to a Panther player!
Volleyball Wiz
Mindemoya’s Maya Balfe is absolutely committed to improving as a volleyball player. When you see her play, it seems like that is a tough goal! Maya plays for the U-17 Black Vortex team in Sudbury. A video recently posted of her play shows her absolutely killer hits and court digs that demonstrates her tremendous physical skills and also her upper-level, game-IQ! Way to go, Maya!
Manitoulin marathoner
Christian Kaiser-Fox ran an impressive, 3-hour, 36-minute, 42.1km Toronto Marathon last month!
Off their Rock, hockey!
As Islanders throw another log on the fire with temperatures hovering around freezing one of Manitoulin’s favourite sons, Billy Biederman, is likely to be more worried about overheating. Billy is 18 games into his new season with the Texan, Corpus Christi Ice Rays and temperatures this week are approaching 30 degrees Celsius!
The Rays are 13-4-0-1 currently in second place of the South Division in the massive NAHL (North American Hockey League) that spans from Corpus Christi in the South to Fairbanks, Alaska in the north and Maine in the east! The league is part of the USA Hockey National Development Model and celebrates its 50th season this year.
Billy is a dependable, 200-foot player who maintains the Ice Rays’ impressive goal differential. He does have five points, but his true value is difficult to quantify. Have a great season, Billy!
Carter George, our honorary Islander, continues to get valuable experience and training, back with his Owen Sound Attack of the OHL. Carter, a newly minted NHL’er with the Los Angeles Kings, is taking a wise route to become a full time netminder. Many rookie goalies in the Bigs have been used and discarded over the years after being thrown into the NHL without proper prep! Carter has an impressive save-percentage this year despite the dismal 6 and 11 record of the Attack!
