Stocks rise for George ahead of NHL Draft
The future of goaltender Carter George continues to escalate as he quietly excels in net minder metrics. Carter is currently the OHL’s leader in save percentage, saves and is tied for the most shut-outs and all this playing behind the mediocre, Owen Sound Attack. The Attack have generally been keeping their head above .500 hockey and are currently 12th in the 20 team league.
Carter has been recently featured in several OHL accolades. With his fourth, road shutout Carter ties an OHL record for a single season with games in hand! He was tagged with a couple of the OHL’s ‘Save of the Night’ including a penalty killing triple save. The league’s YouTube feed highlights George’s 50 save shut-out versus the Barrie Colts.
With the average NHL goalie height listed around 6’2 many columns over the years had focused on the fact that Carter was on the shorter side amongst his OHL draftee peers who were largely over 6’. Already a veteran-sounding media persona, Carter skillfully focused the narrative towards things he could actually control! As he worked on his game, lo and behold he grew! He is currently listed at 6’1 so hopefully the future focus will be just on his game play!
NHL draft projections are often quite fickle but Carter has been climbing the ranks on many lists. A Hockey News column ‘Draft Goaltending Battle’ has Carter in first or second among North American back-stoppers. Based on Carter’s previous interviews it is quite likely the youngster is wisely not stuck on the myriad of speculations from us armchair general managers. Best of luck staying above the noise, Carter!
WHS B-Ball win!
Congratulations to the Wiikwemkoong High School boys’ basketball team who won the NSSSA “B” division and will be on their way to Mattawa this Friday the 23rd for the NOSSA championship. Their roster is to follow next week. Good luck, guys!
Mustang minute
Congratulations to the Manitoulin Secondary senior volleyball team on their recent NSSSA title win and will move on to NOSSA! Congratulations to coaches Tina Pennie-Balfe, Neil Debassige, assistant coach and their efficient team featuring: Aspen Debassige, Mya Balfe, Saraya Eshkawkogan, Morgan Green, Maren Kasunich, Harmony Panamick, Mackenzie Green and Emery Watson.
Panther Points
The U-18 Manitoulin Lady Panthers’ Coach Scot Hughson has sent a MLP update as their season gets more interesting. They have not had any game action since their last road trip to Warren but the players continue to work hard at practice keeping their skills game ready for a very busy schedule coming up. He was pleased to see a lot of their team participating in the Wiikwemkoong hockey tournament over the past weekend. Scot would like to give a shout out to Ashley Manitowabi and team for some amazing live streaming of the games.
“Our highly anticipated Provincial play down series kicks off Friday February 23 at 8:00 pm in the NEMI Rec Centre versus the North Bay Jr. Lakers. This will be a very tight game as all games in our season series have been very close with the Lakers taking one game and the other two ending in a draw. Come out and cheer our Lady Panthers on as we begin our quest to reach the OWHA Provincial Championships. This game could quite possibly be the last opportunity to catch the Lady Panthers in action on home ice this season.”
We will travel to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday to visit the Jr. Greyhound A team for an exhibition double header. We have yet to play against these northern rivals and it should be some great hockey. Puck drop for game 1 is 12:30 and game 2 kicks off at 5:30. Wifi permitting, both games will be streamed live via the Jenny Panther Facebook page thanks to Ashley Manitowabi.
Our league playoffs will be in Hearst starting March 1st where we will play against Thunder Bay, Temiskaming Shores, Kapuskasing and the host team, the Hearst Ice Cats. It will be a busy weekend with a ton of windshield time so hopefully this extremely mild winter continues.
Amongst this already busy schedule we will have to fit in the remainder of the games against North Bay, too. This stretch of the season is what we have been working for all season and the team is looking forward to some great hockey. Go, Lady Panthers, Go!”
LNHL Giveaways!
The annual Little Native Hockey League will turn 50 next month and many local associations are trying to make sure that all their players are able to make it to the milestone event. In M’Chigeeng, tireless volunteer Debbie Debassige is part of the committee to ensure that happens. If you would like a chance to win as well as support MFN LNHL players you can send an e-transfer to mfn.lnhl@outlook.com and Debbie will send you pics of your tickets. The $20 ticket enters you for their 31 days of cash giveaways!
