Ko-Show to the Show!
Congratulations to Kohyn Eshkawkogan on the beginning of an exciting new chapter in his hockey career thanks to his tireless training. Over the weekend, the young D-man was selected in the first round by the Ottawa 67s! Affectionately dubbed the Ko-Show by his North York Rangers team thanks to his impressive play, Kohyn is not taking anything for granted. As his dad, Kevin pointed out the youngster, “has family in Aundeck Omni Kaning, M’Chigeeng, Little Current, Moose Factory and Wiikwemkoong, and he understands he is not just representing himself, our family, but all of those who take the time to support him. We are thankful for his Little Current Flyers, Manitoulin Panthers, and all of the Coaches and Team Managers who taught him so much and organized a tonne to make hockey happen for him and his teammates over the last 12 years.”
“As Manitoulin’s first OHL First Rounder, he appreciates how hard it is to obtain good grades at The Hill Academy, train in rinks all across the GTA, play a full schedule with one of the best teams in the GTHL and in the world, but also that Manitoulin is a great place to play and develop as a hockey player and as a person.”
He spent a lot of time in the NEMI Rec Centre, the M’Chigeeng Arena, driving back and forth to Sudbury, running up McLean’s Mountain, and on the outdoor rink in the backyard and AOK.
He had a personal goal to be a OHL First Rounder and he achieved it. He fully understands he has an even harder path ahead of him as he has more dreams and goals to achieve and with the right energy and effort, he will execute his plans to accomplish whatever he puts his mind to. His hard work is paying off.
Moving forward, his training starts today as he’s very excited to attend the Ottawa 67’s Development Camp on April 26-28th and to go for gold at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Grand Prairie from May 6th-11th. After that, it’s all about finishing off the school year with good grades and ramping up for another summer of training at Gary Roberts Performance to make an impact in Ottawa at the 67’s main camp in August.”
The family would like to thanks everyone with a meet and greet, free skate this Saturday, April 20th from 7-9 at the M’Chigeeng Arena.
Hawks on the hunt!
It took the U18 Wiikwemkoong Hawks a little bit of a road trip but they made the most of it and brought back the hardware! The Hawks were all the way out in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to win their tournament with a final score of 5-2. Congratulations to the team featured: Julius Sinopole, Hudson Jocko, Keanu Bisschops, Rylin Elijah, Waaskwaabiish Jonathan, Cameron Manitowabi, Deondre Nolan, Peyton Ominika, Aaliyah Osawamick, Xavier Osawamick, Ricardo Pitawanakwat, Carlynn Simon, Darius Sinopole, Luis Sturgeon, Lennox Trudeau, Nolan Trudeau, Pahquis Trudeau, Marlin Wemigwans, Coach, Delbert Jonathan, Trainer, Jennifer Recollet and Manager Alanna Trudeau.
Lady Panthers put a wrap on banner season!
The U-18 Panthers were a great addition to the organization for this season. A bunch of determined young women who came together to create a year to remember. Coach Scot Hughson has been keeping the fans in the loop and passes along this recap of the weekend/season.
“Our inaugural season has come to an end. It has been a long and winding road this year but at the end of that road we found nothing but pride and amazement.
To say that what this group accomplished on the ice this year was unbelievable, would be an understatement. Having qualified for the OWHA championships this past weekend in the GTA was not enough for this group of amazing young ladies. They showed up to let the hockey world know that this newly formed team is a force to be reckoned with. And they proved that with their play.
Game 1 saw the Lady Panthers hit the ice on Friday morning against the representative from the Ottawa valley area. A back and forth battle with chances at both ends but neither team could beat the goalies and this game ended in a 0-0 tie.
Game two Friday afternoon the Lady Panthers drew the Kitchener Lady Rangers as their opponent. Goal scoring again was hard to come by but as the final buzzer rang it was Kitchener 1 Lady Panthers 0. With this loss it meant that our advancing to the playoff round was out of reach but the girls vowed that they still had something to prove on the ice and were ready for the our pool leaders, the undefeated Burlington Barracudas, Saturday morning.
Emotions were high as this awesome group took to the ice for their final game of the 2023/24 campaign. They brought those emotions to the ice and came out flying. There were lots of great scoring chances at both ends. Camryn Ramsey finally got us on the board with a beautiful point shot to take the 1-0. Our stellar defensive play between the pipes and in the defensive zone kept the score that way until the Barracudas tied it at 1 while on the 5 on 3 powerplay. The final score of this game was 1-1 ending our provincials tournament with a record of 2 ties and a loss. Burlington would go on to capture the silver medal later on Sunday.
With only two players aging out of this division the future definitely looks very bright for this group. Playing in their final game were Camryn Ramsey and Ali Loginski and they left the ice Saturday through an archway of their teammates sticks. A very emotional time for all.
I would like to speak for all involved with this group that we could not be more proud of what these amazing young ladies have accomplished this season. From a dream more than a year ago to competing very well at the provincial level this April is incredible.
Now its time to start making preparations for next year as the Lady Panthers will host interest skates coming up at the end of April in Espanola. Please go to the Manitoulin Panthers website for more details.
Thank you to our fans for supporting us this season, all of our sponsors, Manitoulin Panthers executive for making this season a great success, parents for all the travel, bench staff for the countless hours and devotion to this group, Ashley Manitowabi for our Jenny Panther livestream giving those at home the opportunity to see us in action and last but not least, the players for making this season very special.
Attention Mountain Bikers!
MTB coach, rider and general sports vintner, Ben Quackenbush, has been hard at it already. He has organized trail maintenance of the McLean’s Park (Assiginack) and Heavens Gate (Whitefish Falls) and are cleared and ready to ride.
The MTB team is going to their first event at the end of the month. The first event local is here with a mountain bike race in June. Check out this and other events at: www.breakawaymanitoulin.ca
Nephew with nepotism
My nephew, Jacob Leblanc-Symington (infrequent Manitoulin visitor) has grown up playing hockey in an unfamiliar (to me) location: downtown Toronto! His U15 team, Onyx won their final game of their season last night. Jacob, hanging out in the slot, got a stick on a puck and tipped in one of their goals!
