Panther Points
The Peewee Panthers have topped up their incredible start to their season with a tournament championship at this weekend’s Bobby Orr Hall of Fame event down in Parry Sound. In the semis the local knocked off Waterford 5 – 1. The Panthers set the tone early with Liam Bridgeman taking the feed from sister Delaney off the opening faceoff to score just seven seconds in with his new personal record for Liam.
They were in tough in the final though and found themselves down 3 – 0 early in the trophy game against the hometown Shamrocks. Liam was once again in the mix. Although he hasn’t had a penalty in almost two years, and never in a fight, finally snapped after one too many fouls and went to the box for five. The altercation seemed to be the spark that fired the team up, as Liam came out of the box and popped in a quick goal, making it 3 – 1. Then he set up Gabe Hare for the second to complete the Gordie Howe hat-trick and the Panthers drew closer at 3 – 2. Liam’s pass to Delaney made it 3 – 3 with under 5 minutes left. Finally, with 1:20 to go, Gabe took a cross-ice pass from Liam on a 2 on 1, and potted the winner 4 – 3 tournament winner. Way to go team.
Laidley on the D.L.
Get well wishes go out to Little Current’s Michael Laidley. Michael, who earned a scholarship to St. Lawrence University where he plays Division 1 hockey, has been having a great sophomore season with 6 points in six games. Unfortunately, the young man recently suffered a season-ending injury. He has been diagnosed with a ripped ACL, a bruised LCL and a pinched meniscus which will require surgery and a long period of rehabilitation. Young Laidley had been St. Lawrence’s first line center, penalty-killer and had a place on the second, power-play unit demonstrating the high esteem in which his coaches held him. We wish him a successful surgery and a complete recovery.
Mustang minute
The MSS high school boys’ curling squad put in an excellent showing at the recent Providence Bay Bonspiel finishing 2nd in the A Division. Members of the team feature: Dustin Mackenzie, Brady Green, Alex Dawson and Bryce Mastelko. Congrats gentlemen!
Two Manitoulin Olympians named to the
2017 World Winter Games
Congratulations to Matthew Bedard and Kelsey Mellan who were both selected to be part of the Canadian team that will be travelling to Austria in the New Year to compete in the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in March for snowshoeing. Congratulations Kelsey and Matthew. Good luck in all of your training.
Manitoulin Minor Hockey Spotlight
It is still early in the 2016/17 season but the Manitowaning Wolves Atoms are off to a great start with their first win over the Gore Bay Bruins. Although both teams played a great game the Wolves brought home their first win with a lot of smiles. Not so much due to the win but because of the effort made in playing as a team. Jacob Smith, the goalie, dominated the net despite strong attempts from Gore Bay. While scoring some goals is needed to win the game, this team showed teamwork with all the passing and assists. Goals and assists were recorded as followed by the Wolves players including: Xavier Mara, William McComb, Brodie Pennie, Ava Assinewai, Brooke Gibeault, Alex Peltier, Kordell Elijah, Andrew Cooper and scoring her first goal was Ava Fields.
All this positive action couldn’t have happened without the strong wing positions of Zoey Trudeau, Grace Pitawanakwat, also with an assist and Ryley Wassegijig-Migwans. Emily Roque, once again, is an unstoppable force on the defence line but that isn’t the whole team, yet. The Wolves have one secret waiting in the wings, one of Manitoulin’s newest children will take to the ice soon and Fanuel Berle Haile, who has just strapped on skates a few weeks ago, is raring to go and his teammates are so excited to see him hit the ice in a game! Of course, without the incredible volunteer staff (Jeff Pitawanakwat, Bill McComb, Ron Cooper, Teina Pitawanakwat, Brent Assinewai, Janet McComb and Dawn Roque) the team would not be what they are today. If you would like to see your team in the spotlight in the coming weeks, please forward information to the email address below.
Island runner competes at CCAA!
Congratulations to Little Current’s Mikaila Kennedy who competed at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association’s national cross country championships this past weekend hosted by Sault College. Although she and her hometown team didn’t make the podium, it was a great experience just to run in such a prestigious event. Way to go, Mikaila!
A good sport is good for sports.
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