Panther Points
The Manitoulin Lady Panthers traveled to Sault Ste. Marie for their first ever Deb Sims Memorial Tournament on the weekend. The U-18 Panthers left early Friday morning and made it just before Highway 17 closed due to the inclement weather. The U-18s met the Sault Greyhounds first. The game could have gone either way but an unlucky bounce put the Greyhounds up for a final score of 1-0. The next game saw the Lady Panthers against the Thunder Bay Fury, which ended in a 2-2 tie.
On Saturday afternoon, the Ladies came up against a strong Timmins Falcons team and again the puck didn’t go the Panther’s way and the game ended in a 1-0 loss. The girls played a late Saturday night game against the Traverse City North Stars and came up with a 1-1 tie. The Lady Panthers ended up having to meet the North Stars again on Sunday for the Consolation game. This game turned out to be a nail biter. Three periods ended in a 3-3 tie. It remained a tie after a period of sudden death 3 on 3 overtime.
In an impressive display of goaltending by Manitoulin’s Brynn Best and the Traverse City goalie, the shootout round saw 17 shooters from each team make attempts to take the lead. In the end the Lady Panthers were victorious and claimed the bronze medal.
While the Lady Panthers were in the Sault, the U13 and U15 Panthers were in Sudbury for their Nickel District Hockey League Playoff tournaments. The U13s had two exciting and close 2-2 tie games with the Sudbury Wolves, and losses to Copper Cliff and North Shore. The U15 Manitoulin Panthers met teams from both the Northeastern Ontario Hockey League and Nickel District League in their playoff tournament. The U15 squad continued their 26-game winning streak all through the weekend. On Sunday afternoon they met the Nickel City Cubs in the final game, winning the Championship pennant by a score of 5-2.
Here is U-15 Nickel District Minor Hockey League U15A Champion roster! Sean Simon, Alexei Pelletier, Casey Bowerman, Roen Deschenes, Ryan Carter, Sierra Elliott, Liam Stephens, Adrian Bois, Ozhaawashko Migwans, Kobe Mayers, Alex Bourcier, Collin Goodfellow, Spencer Cortes, Max McLeod, Cohen Rajotte, Bryden Romaniuk and Brayden Armstrong.
Bench staff: Head Coach Scott Stephens, Assistant Coaches Nelson Deschenes and Ty Hughson and Trainer Brayden Rajotte.
Up next, the Lady Panthers prepare for their bid at Provincials, while the U15 and U13 Panthers are gearing up for their NOHA Tournament of Champions. Go Panthers, go!
Pickleball pick-ups!
The 2nd annual Espanola-Manitoulin Pickleball Winter Challenge was held in Espanola on Saturday February 22. It was a great success with 22 participants. In the final, Manitoulin’s Bud Hebner and Ginette Simon prevailed over Espanola’s Ashely and Dan.
If you are interested in experiencing this fun sport, Manitoulin’s winter play-days are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings at the NEMI rec centre, Tuesday evenings at both NEMI recreation centre and MSS and Thursday evenings at MSS. For more information check out the Manitoulin Pickleball FB page or website.
Hockeyville Wiikwemkoong!
A community effort has submitted an entry for Wiikwemkoong into the Kraft Hockeyville competition! The prize includes (assistance) money for arena repair, always a worthy project. In this preliminary stage, points are gathered by community participation such as photo and story submissions. It is clear, that there will need to be a concerted effort from beyond the local community to get further onto the short-list. Let’s all help them get there!
Some of my most memorable hockey memories were there. Watching my brother Wade, playing goal for the first Panther team and got to play a home game in Wiky, at the Thunderdome! The place was standing room only and (some) Sudbury parents were flabbergasted to say the least!
It was also the first time I can remember getting a penalty (thanks Henry Hoy!). I can recall that my offending trip was obvious and unnecessary and in the neutral zone. I just stopped at the penalty-box and I like to remember that it was Greg Mishibinijima who calmly got up and continued on in to score again, I’m sure!
I am not exactly clear how a small community competes fairly against larger ones, but the winners have been diverse. Last year’s winner, Elliot Lake, found out that their support came from a much wider base than their municipal boundaries so hopefully they can return the favour! Although Elliot Lake was pleased with the prize Kraft provided, unfortunately they were still unable to open their arena again this season. With most of our arenas showing their ages, we all need to support any efforts to improve their lot.
