HANLEY—The Saskatoon Stars outshone and snuffed out the Calgary Fire to win the Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament in Calgary Jan. 1.
Opening scoring for the Stars in the tourney final was Hanley’s Kianna Dietz, who scored with 1:20 left in the first period of the championship game that was played at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Stars beat the Fire 4-2, to win the tournament for the first time since 2010.
The Stars were undefeated in the tournament, which started Dec. 26, winning their first four games of round-robin action and beating the St. Albert Slash 5-2 in the New Year’s Eve semi-final.
Kianna’s parents Kelly and Kim Dietz were in Calgary for the tournament, but her family and friends back home in Hanley were able to watch the finals that were televised by Shaw.
The Saskatoon Stars is an AAA team that showcases some of the best midget-aged female hockey players in the Saskatoon area. The team plays in the eight-team Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey.
This is Kianna’s first year in the league. This season, Kianna, 15, could have played as a second year bantam player with the Saskatoon Comets, however, her mom Kim says Kianna wanted to tryout for the Stars this season as an underage player.
Her Comets coach Greg Slobodzian was hired as head coach for the Stars, so Kianna wanted to follow him.
“One reason she wanted to try the next level was to learn more and work on her skills. Her coach works a lot on developing players,” Kim said.
Playing AAA midget hockey is a major commitment for players and their families. The Dietzes are in Saskatoon three times a week for practices and workouts. Their weekends are spent on the road travelling to games as far away as Weyburn, Prince Albert, Melville and Swift Current.
“She loves it and she’s made amazing friends,” Kim says.
Category Archives: featured
Successful first for artificial ice project
HANLEY—The Hanley Artificial Ice project celebrated the end of its first big fund-raising initiative with a free public skate in Hanley’s rink Dec. 26.
After the skate, a crowd gathered for the Lottery Draw where thousands of dollars worth of prizes, including a grand prize of $25,000, were up for grabs.
Mark Deford won the grand prize, but the real winner will some day be current and future children of Hanley for whom the Artificial Ice Project was created last year.
The project needs about $1.5 million to install an artificial ice making plant in the current rink.
Built in 1981, Hanley’s arena relies on the weather for its current ice making capabilities. Ice is made naturally and only when it is cold enough, which means the skating season in Hanley is a short one, some times, depending on the conditions, can last a mere two months.
Temperatures this December were mild, making it difficult to make ice.
The Dec. 26 free public skate that coincided with the Lottery Draw was the first skate of the season in Hanley.
Cindy Prosofsky, a member of the Hanley Artificial Ice Project, said organizers had to work hard to get the ice ready in time for the Dec. 26 event.
She said the lottery went well and it is something the project intends to build upon.
“We’d like to see the lottery come back. It was a learning experience and we know what to do better next time,” she said.
The lottery did help bring awareness of the initiative.
This weekend the Artificial Ice Project is having Hockey Days in Hanley.
“We’re trying to bring all the hockey kids home so they can play at home,” Prosofsky said.
The only team that plays out of the Hanley arena is the initiation team. All other minor hockey-aged players from Hanley and area play for out of town teams. Bantam and midget-aged players play for Clavet and players in peewee, atom and novice age divisions play for Dundurn.
Profosky said they hope to have 10 to 12 teams taking part in Hockey Days in Hanley, which should start at about 9 a.m. Saturday with the initiation team.
Friday, Hanley’s women’s hockey team the Hooters will play a game, followed by the Dundurn Wheat Kings, who are coming to Hanley to play a league game against the Kinistino Tigers.
Profosky said there are 24 students in Hanley’s Kindergarten class this year and the hope is that within a few years, and with the help of artificial ice, most of Hanley’s minor hockey players will again sport Hanley Hawks jerseys and be able to wear them while playing in their home rink.
Council hopes to tap into new fund
DAVIDSON—At its meeting last Wednesday, Davidson town council decided to tap into the New Building Canada Fund to repair some of the town’s ageing sewer lines.
Council learned that $436.7 million in federal funding over 10 years is available to Saskatchewan communities.
Administrator Gary Edom suggested the town apply for money to install liners inside sewer mains.
He said this is a high priority project for the town.
“I think it’s a long shot, everybody wants it,” Edom said of the town’s odds to receive funding.
Costs to line the sewer mains cost about $49,400 per block. Council decided to apply for $150,000 to cover the costs of repairing three blocks.
“I think it’s great the federal government came out with this,” Mayor Clayton Schneider said.
“We’re getting close to an election year,” Donna Bessey, community development officer, pointed out.
Applications to the provincial-territorial infrastructure component of the New Building Canada Fund are due Jan. 12.
Morrison medals come home
DAVIDSON—Two British Royal Air Force First World War medals have a new home in the Davidson branch of the Royal Canadian Legion’s museum.
A British War Medal and a Victory Medal, intended for the widow of Eric Morrison, will soon be on display.
Last week former Davidson lawyer Jim Ulmer gave the medals to Gordon McRae, president of the Davidson branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. The medals will be included in the Legion’s museum that features artifacts significant to the area’s military history.
“I’m very pleased Jim has decided to give us these medals to put up in our museum at the library and hopefully I can capture some of the history they represent,” McRae said.
He said he plans to make a shadow box in which he’ll display the medals as well as including a picture of Eric Morrison and a history of Morrison and the medals.
Flight Lieut. Eric Morrison was killed Sunday, July 7, 1918 shortly after starting on a bombing raid with other members of his squadron in France, with the German lines as their objective. Lieut. Morrison was born in Scotland. Before enlisting he was employed by the T. Eaton Co. in Toronto. He left a young widow and baby boy, James, of eighteen months in Girvin, Sask. His widow was Marjorie (Murdoch) Morrison and she lived in Girvin where she likely met Eric while he was in Girvin working for the bank. She remarried in 1924 and moved away.
Ulmer has had the medals since the 1980s. He received them from his former law partner Morley Coxworth who practised law in Davidson for about 60 years. Coxworth acquired the medals in the early 1920s when the Royal Air Force sent them to the law firm Scott, McKinnon and Rutherford, for whom Coxworth began his legal career. The law firm handled Eric Morrison’s estate and the medals were sent to Davidson in 1923 to be given to Morrison’s widow, however, for some reason the task was never completed, so the medals sat in a box for more than 90 years.
“They were never opened. I always had it in mind to find the family,” Ulmer said, he now lives and practices law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He rediscovered them while in Davidson this summer and contacted McRae about giving the medals a proper home.
McRae said his first concern was that the medals be sent to a relative of Eric Morrison’s, however, none could be found, and so they will go to the museum.
“I feel really good about this, about where they are going,” Ulmer said.
Check ice before venturing out RCMP caution
Moose Jaw RCMP report that on Dec 17 they received reports of four incidents of vehicles breaking through the ice on Buffalo Pound Lake.
No injuries were reported as a result of the incidents.
Saskatchewan Environment along with RCMP are advising the public to avoid travelling on Buffalo Pound Lake as the ice conditions are not consistent across the lake and ice depth can be deceiving. Please be cautious when travelling on ice at this time of the year.
New Sergeant at helm of Craik RCMP
By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK—The Craik RCMP detachment welcomed Sergeant John Ermel Dec. 8.
A 14-year member of the force, Ermel is “happy to be provided this opportunity to be the sergeant at this detachment” and looks “forward to be involved with all the communities we serve.”
Ermel was born and raised on a farm near Cupar. After completing his training at the Depot, the RCMP Training Academy in Regina, he went on to serve in Tisdale, Swift Current, Broadview, and Regina/White Butte before applying for a posting in Craik.
When the posting came open, Ermel “jumped at the opportunity” and applied. He had previously worked six weeks in the community in 2008 and “really enjoyed the community and the work.”
Ermel is married with two children, ages 8 and 3. His wife is currently serving with the RCMP in the Regina area where their son is enrolled in school. When away from his home, he stays at a rented property in Craik and hopes to one day have time to plant a garden.
When not on duty, Ermel might be found hunting or fishing if he’s not busy spending time with his family.
Upon joining the detachment, Ermel says he didn’t face any challenges. The detachment, now fully staffed with four constables and a staff member, made his transition to the unit easy.