Category Archives: Sports

Sports

Kenaston’s McVeigh welcomes trade to Pats

Kenaston’s Logan McVeigh will face his former teammates for the first time this Tuesday when the Medicine Hat Tigers skate into Regina for a game against the Pats.

McVeigh, 19, was acquired by Regina at the Jan. 10 WHL trade deadline along with Saskatoon’s Daniel Wapple, 18, for 16-year-old goaltender Nick Schneider and a third round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. The trade marked the second year in a row McVeigh has been moved at the deadline and the third straight year the 6-foot 185-lb centre has moved to another city mid-season.

“I’m happy (with the trade),” said McVeigh. “My parents, I’m sure they’re very happy. I’m just down the road and Kenaston is where I grew up, so it’s very exciting. I’ve always grown up watching the Pats and Blades and all the local teams by us, so it’s awesome to be close to home again.”

Since the trade McVeigh has suited up for six games with the Pats (25-21-3-2) scoring one goal for the Eastern Conference’s sixth place club, which brings his total to eight on the year to go along with 10 assists. Regina forward Chandler Stephenson gained an assist on McVeigh’s first marker with his new club, which is something the two players have done many times before in their days together with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts.

The Pats also have Boston Leier on their roster, a player McVeigh enjoyed “good chemistry” with last year when both lined up together for the Tigers. The veteran WHL forward capped off his best season last year tallying 10 goals and 20 points in 35 games while playing alongside Leier in Medicine Hat.

“Coming into a locker room never gets easier (with) meeting 20 new guys,” he said. “Lots of times you don’t know the guys you’re coming in to see, but there is a lot of Saskatchewan guys on this team and that makes it a lot easier. It is awesome to come into the room and see guys like Boston and Chandler, guys that I know very well and played with before. Coming in they give me a hug and welcome me to the team and introduce me to everybody and make things a lot easier for me.”

After being picked in the second round by the Kamloops Blazers in the 2009 bantam draft, McVeigh has gone on to record 42 goals and 108 points in 245 WHL games with the Pats, Tigers, Prince Albert Raiders and Blazers. Last year marked the only time McVeigh has seen playoff action, when he tallied two goals and five points in eight games with the Tigers, and he is looking forward to post-season play again this year in Regina.

“We’re right in the thick of things for the playoffs,” said McVeigh. “It’s exciting going in to the last few games of the regular season and hopefully we’ll be in a good spot (come) the playoffs.”

Davidson, Sports

Raiders win home tournament

The Davidson Raiders senior boys basketball team defeated the Southey Screaming Eagles 57-45 in the championship game of Davidson’s home tournament held earlier this month, which secures the blue and white another milestone in what is shaping up to be a memorable season.

“It was a really tough game, one of the toughest games we’ve had the whole tournament,” said Raiders forward Pat Nordmarken, who scored six points against Southey. “We knew it would be a close game, but I’m really glad the team pulled through. We had some tough times, but we were able to win the game.”

Both clubs came out of the gate strong in the final exchanging scores back and forth leading to a close 12-10 lead for the Eagles after the first quarter. A strong inside game from forward Vanner McDonnell and key outside shooting by guard Huck Rettger helped Davidson take a 26-23 lead heading into the half. The third quarter was an offensive struggle for both clubs as each team’s defence stepped up their game resulting in a 38-33 Raiders lead after three. The fourth quarter featured a quick offensive surge halfway through the frame with five different Raiders getting on the score sheet pulling the home side to a lead they would not give up.

“I was really pleased with the overall effort,” said Raiders coach Kim Rettger. “We had to play a wide open full court press virtually the entire tournament, but really this game because they have a team that shoots from the outside and shoots from the inside. We were working hard (outside the key) and we came back with rebounding the ball and it was back and forth. They attacked us really well. It was a struggle.”

Nordmarken said the two games Davidson played before the final, a 56-50 win over the Moose Jaw Central Collegiate Cyclones on the first night of the Jan. 17-18 tourney and a 91-66 showing the next afternoon against the Langham Vikings, were both hard-fought games that could have gone either way.

“Moose Jaw Central were really good for being a Grade 9 and 10 team and I’m pretty sure when they get older they’ll be a really good team to play against,” he said. “When we played Langham, that was a really insane game. I’m glad that we were able to score that many points.”

Rettger said his team displayed a well-balanced attack throughout the tournament where they were able to run a strong transition press by slowing the game down and making good decisions with the ball. He said this is not the easiest thing for a young team to do because they generally want to run the offence quick, but all players who saw time on the court bought into the plan and worked hard at executing it.

“I could think of 12 different guys that had various moments where they had a run, but it wasn’t just one kid all tournament or one particular game,” he said. “Lots of them had really great moments. In this kind of tournament where we have three really close games, it takes everyone.”

To read more please see the January 27 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson, Sports

Cyclones get caught napping by Pirates

A spirited third period couldn’t make up for a lackadaisical first 40 minutes for the Davidson Cyclones last Wednesday at home as they fell 5-2 to the first place Lanigan Pirates.

Cyclones head coach Jason Shaw said his team didn’t come ready to play against the Pirates (15-5-1), which was evidenced by the away side going up by a goal only 18 seconds into the game and controlling play for much of the first two periods. He said Davidson (12-7-1) came back strong in the third, but Lanigan goaltender David Reekie had other ideas about letting the home whites back into the game.

“It just brings us back to earth,” said Shaw about the Cyclones first loss in 2014. “We have to work hard. We didn’t get off to a good start in Watrous (a 5-2 Davidson win four days earlier). We were down 2-0 after one and came back and (Lanigan) was again not a great start. We came on in the third, so I think we just have to get going right from the drop of the puck and play three full periods then we’ll be all right. From now on they’re all playoff-type games.”

Shaw said the Cyclones recent stretch of six straight wins, before the Pirates plunked them out of a shot at first place, still gives them a chance at second heading into the Long Lake Hockey League playoffs next month. He said the team has to come out strong against the Watrous Winterhawks Jan. 25 and the Nokomis Chiefs this Wednesday to pick up the coveted position.

“We are tied with Drake and Watrous right now (with 25 points), but we still have a game in hand on both of them,” he said. “There could be a possibility where three teams end up with 27 points, but I don’t think the tiebreaker works out in our favour.

“We want to try and win these last two and make sure we get second place. That gives us a first round bye and home ice in the second round of league playoffs.”

Cyclones forward Chad Manz, who was back on the ice against Lanigan after a three-week stint on the injured list, said they didn’t have a good effort versus the Pirates, but every team has games like that at times. He said they can ill afford to have any more stinkers this year and have to bounce back in these last two games.

“This one against Watrous, because that’s who we’re battling for second, is the most important one,” said Manz. “That’ll determine second place. If we lose on (Jan. 25) we can’t get second, but we’re in control of our own destiny. We pretty much have to beat Nokomis too, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

To read more please see the January 27 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson, Sports

Cyclones beat Chiefs for fifth straight win

The Davidson Cyclones senior hockey team beat the Nokomis Chiefs 7-4 last Wednesday at home giving them their fifth straight win, eighth in their past nine and a serious shot at securing a first or second place finish when playoffs roll around next month.

“Lately we’ve been playing really good as a team and we’ve had a good couple weeks,” said Cyclones goaltender Mark Zoerb, who stopped 34 Nokomis shots in the win. “This time of year you’ve got to come prepared or you’re going to get beat and nobody wants to lose.”

Cyclones captain Derek Allan once again led the offence against the Chiefs picking up two goals and two assists, which give him 14 goals and 46 points on the season placing him one point back of Chiefs captain Brett Leedahl despite playing three fewer games. Not to be outdone on the score sheet was Davidson forward Brett Siroski who also potted two in the victory while picking up a couple assists.

“It was a good game,” said Cyclones coach Jason Shaw. “We were both short players. I think Nokomis had two lines and an extra and we had two lines and one guy got hurt halfway through, Chad Manz has a bad ankle, so it was nice to get the win and keep our winning streak going.”

The win gives Davidson (11-6-1) 23 points placing them in a third-place tie with the Watrous Winterhawks and two points back of the league leading Lanigan Pirates. As of press time, the Cyclones have four games remaining with two of those coming against Watrous and one versus Lanigan.

“If we win out we’ll be in first place, but if we win three out of four we should be somewhere around first or second depending on what everybody else does,” said Shaw. “It would be nice to get first to have home ice advantage in the playoffs, but we’ll just see how it goes.”

Zoerb said the last four games are huge for the team as they get ready for league playoffs at the start of February and also their first round match-up versus the Kindersley Red Lions in a provincial A showdown.

“We’ve played really good the last couple weeks and put ourselves in a good position,” he said. “If we win all the games we’ll get first place and I think it would be great to have a bye in the first round (of league).”

To read more please see the January 20 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sports

Late goal locks up win against Canucks

The Davidson Cyclones senior hockey team withstood a late push by the first place Drake Canucks last Wednesday at home to gut out a 3-2 win on a late short-handed marker by captain Derek Allan and remain undefeated in the month of January.

“It was kind of a lucky bounce for our team is more or less what it was,” said Allan about his game-winner with a little over a minute left in regulation. Brett “Siroski shot the puck. It hit the goalie in the pads then hit me in the skates and then I batted it in off my skate. That doesn’t happen very often.”

The goal came with the Cyclones up 2-1 in a wide-open third period that saw the two teams step up play considerably after an evenly matched first two frames. With Drake on their second power play of the third and working the puck down low in the Cyclones zone the Davidson penalty kill managed to spring the puck loose sending Siroski and Allan on a mad rush down the ice resulting in the tally.

The goal capped off a wild third that saw Davidson forwards Carter Smith and Pat Cey ring pucks off the crossbar in two consecutive rushes halfway through the final 20 minutes. These shots gave Cyclones goaltender Brady Willner precious time to catch his breath during a break from repeated shots coming his way from a Drake team intent on breaking his shutout bid after Smith put in his second goal of the game a little under eight minutes into the third.

“Both our goaltenders (Willner and Mark Zoerb) are local kids and you’d be hard pressed in the province to find two better local hometown boys to play goal,” said Cyclones manager and interim coach Kirk Johnson. “It seems like the bigger the game the better they play.”

The Cyclones (8-6-1) and Canucks (12-6) started off the close-checking game with a feeling out first two periods where neither team seemed willing to take the chance of getting themselves out of defensive position and allow the opposition offence to take advantage. The exception was Allan who continually pushed the puck up the ice by racing down the wing and creating opportunities.

The only goal of the first 40 minutes came off a nice back check by Allan who stole the puck from a Drake forward trying to skate it out of his zone before passing it to Smith who wristed a shot past the Drake goaltender midway through the first.

“Derek has been solid all year and good all year,” said Johnson. “He’s a good player. He’s the captain of our team. He’s our leader and it shows out there and we need him to contribute and keep everybody going.”

To read more please see the January 13 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sports

McNabb siblings team up at Spengler Cup

Buffalo Sabres prospect and Rochester Americans defenceman Brayden McNabb may not have been able to travel to Davidson to enjoy the Christmas holidays with his family, but that didn’t stop some of his family from travelling to Davos, Switzerland, to celebrate the season with him.

Brayden’s sister Cara brought the holiday spirit to Davos, located high in the Swiss Alps, to spend some time with her big brother while he took the ice for the Rochester Americans during the 87th annual Spengler Cup.

“I was his plus-one,” said Cara, noting her brother was allowed by the Sabres to bring one person along with him during the trip and she was the lucky traveller. “I kind of expected it. It wasn’t really a big surprise. I haven’t been to many of his games. We’ve been talking about it for a while that I should go up and watch one of his games, so this was a good time.”

Cara said she hasn’t managed to head down to Buffalo to watch any of Brayden’s 31 NHL games for the Sabres or his 126 matches as an AHL Amerk in Rochester since he moved up to the professional ranks in the 2011-2012 season, but she has been to a lot of his games when he played defence for the Kootenay Ice in the WHL earlier in his career. The Davidson School Grade 12 student said watching him play the game on the bigger international ice surface at Vaillant Arena in Davos was amazing, which was further improved by the high-spirited European hockey crowds.

“They’re really into the games,” she said. “They sing along. It’s much different than here. They’re all really excited about it.”

Brayden said playing before those European fans and in such a prestigious international tournament as the Spengler Cup was a “cool experience” and having his little sister along with him for the ride made the holiday trip extra special.

“When this opportunity came I kind of knew my parents would be a little busy with my little brother with his hockey and it would be a good opportunity for Cara to come along,” said Brayden about the Amerks second-ever trip to the Spengler Cup. “She likes to travel and see things, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for her and I’m pretty sure she had a fun time.

“I enjoyed it a lot and I was really happy she came and we had some bonding time and it was good for Christmas to have some family (around).”

The young Rochester Americans team kicked off the Spengler Cup Dec. 26 with their opening game against a strong Geneve-Servette team before a large and boisterous crowd cheering loudly for the Swiss club. Nerves or the mountain terrain may have proved a detriment to the AHL team, who lost the opening Group Torriani match 5-0. In their next game a day later against the fabled Moscow club, CSKA Moskau, the Amerks put up a stronger showing, but eventually fell 4-3.

To read more please see the January 13 print edition of The Davidson Leader.