Westman sports report: MJHL musings; Hawryluk and Lambeau Field
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- Published on Friday, November 22, 2013
By: Lanny Stewart
myWestman.ca
With the halfway mark of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League season fast approaching, I thought I'd share some MJHL musings of mine. Enjoy.
- First off, if you're a fan of the Neepawa Natives, you should be encouraged by the club's play as of late. After a lacklustre October which saw the junior 'A' team win only two games, the Natives have gradually improved in November, going 3-3-1 (as of Nov. 22).
The November wins include a 5-3 victory over the OCN Blizzard on Nov. 8 and a hard fought 1-0 shootout win over the Winkler Flyers on Nov. 19 which saw Neepawa goaltender Davy Fisher play exceptionally well, making a whopping 59 saves en route to the win.
Whether it's head coach Dwayne Kirkup, whose years of coaching experience in the MJHL is exactly what the doctor ordered for the club, or it's the play of their dynamic rookie Riley Hillis, who was named the league's rookie of the month in October -- the signs of improvement are evident.
The club also has several youngsters who are either listed or drafted who could be making an impact with the team in the future. Players such as Ashton Anderson of Rivers and Strathclair's Morgan Geekie, both of whom were selected first overall in the past two MJHL bantam drafts.
Geekie and Anderson both play for the Yellowhead Chiefs of the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League and are sitting first and third respectively in team scoring.
Yes, there's still a long way to go in the regular season, but I've followed the Natives closely for a few years now, filing stories regarding the team for the Neepawa Banner as well as myWestman.ca, and I'm of the belief the club is getting better.
It'll be interesting to see what this team can accomplish the rest of the way this season.
- Talk about an impressive start to Shawn Bowles' career in the MJHL with the Portage Terriers. The 18-year-old rookie forward from Elkhorn is tied for eighth in league scoring with 10 goals, 16 assists for 26 points.
Bowles' brother Brad also plays with the Terriers and is having a solid season himself with two goals and 13 points thus far this year.
The Bowles brothers are also former members of the Yellowhead Chiefs.
Hockey must run in the family because their sister Candace is a game host for the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings.
- The Virden Oil Capitals are proving they're a force to be reckoned with this season.
The club, which failed to make the playoffs in their inaugural season in the league after relocating to Virden in 2012, currently sits in first place in the Sher-Wood Division.
I'm a co-host on Monday Sports Talk on 880 CKLQ with Tyler Crayston and we chat with members of the Oil Capitals organization regularly. Oil Capitals head coach Troy Leslie was a guest on the Nov. 18 edition of MST and he says the club is continually getting better.
"We're getting there. I think we can still be a little more consistent," he said. "There's nights where we can safely say that we don't put in a 60-minute effort and I think that -- I talk about this a lot -- we need to mature as a team. It's going to take a while. There's going to be some bumps along the way but I really like how we respond after we had a bad game. So, we're moving forward with this group and we're happy with them."
The club is led offensively by 19-year-old forward Artsiom Kalashnikov, who has nine goals and 20 points (as of Nov. 22), while Kyler Beckett has played well in a marginal role thus far between the pipes as the 19-year-old netminder from Moosomin, Sask., currently leads the league with a sparkling 1.37 goals against average.
Hawryluk making a name for himself
Roblin's Jayce Hawryluk was recently one of five Manitobans who was named to the NHL Central Scouting's "players to watch" list for the 2014 NHL Draft.
Hawryluk currently leads the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings in scoring with nine goals and 24 points in 24 games so far this season.
Hawryluk, who recently picked up WHL and CHL player of the week honours, claimed a 'B' rating from the NHL Central Scouting, along with St. Adolphe's Austin Lotz of the Everett Silvertips.
If you haven't had a chance to watch this kid play yet, I suggest you do so sooner rather than later.
I don't get to watch the Wheat Kings as nearly as much as I used to, but I have seen Hawryluk play this season and in the limited time I've seen him on the ice, his playmaking skills were a treat to watch and certainly stood out amongst the plethora of other abilities he possesses.
I'm looking forward to following his development with the Wheat Kings as well as finding out which NHL team he'll soon be calling home.
Lambeau Field: what a sight
I attended a National Football League game recently. This was my third time at a live NFL game and if you're a football fan in general -- it's something you really should consider attending at least once in your lifetime.
The first two games I've been to were at Mall of America Field in Minneapolis, which is the home of the Minnesota Vikings. However, this time, I travelled to Green Bay, Wisconsin to check out historic Lambeau Field and of course, to watch the hometown team Packers take on the Philadelphia Eagles.
The NFL does a wonderful job marketing its product and it's a multi-billion dollar industry because of it. NFL stadiums are also gigantic and are hard to describe in words. Lambeau Field is certainly historic, but it's also a stadium that has had renovations done to it over the years, making it a building with several amenities, keeping you entertained before and after the three hour game in between.
Lambeau Field, which seats well over 80,000 fans, is also situated in the heart of Green Bay, which has a population of approximately 104,000 people. The city has a 'small town' feel, which means when you walk to the stadium, it literally feels like you're taking a stroll down 18th Street in Brandon, Man.
It was an experience I'll never forget and it makes the football fan in me wanting to travel to other NFL stadiums in the United States.
Maybe I can get my wife on board with the idea of going to a new city each year.
Honey, what are you doing this time next year?
Photo: The street which is adjacent legendary Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Photo by Lanny Stewart