Chwaliboga named Natives captain
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- Published on Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Photo by Eoin Devereux
The captain and assistant captains for the 2017-2018 Neepawa Natives. Left to right: Ashton Anderson, Griffin Chwaliboga, Josh Blondeau and Jordan Martin.
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Press
Defenceman Griffin Chwaliboga has been named the captain for the Neepawa Natives for the upcoming Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) season. The team made the announcement via its Twitter account on Tuesday, Sept. 19. It was also announced that Ashton Anderson of Rivers, Gladstone’s Josh Blondeau and Jordan Martin of Winnipeg will serve as assistant captains for the year.
Chwaliboga is heading into his fourth Manitoba Junior Hockey League season. In 162 career regular season games with the Natives, the 19-year-old has five goals and 40 assists. Natives head coach Dustin Howden said Chwaliboga has matured quite nicely into this leadership role.
“He’s been a part of this club for four years and in that time, he’s really grown as a player and a person. He has a lot of trust within the dressing room and within the program, from the management side as well,” stressed Howden. “As for the assistant captain role, we are very fortunate this year. This team has a big leadership group within the dressing room. There are actually about 10 guys in [the dressing room] who could legitimately wear a letter. But Ashton [Anderson], Jordan [Martin] and Blondie [Josh Blondeau] are all very capable captains as well. We’re fortunate that way. The four of them are here for the right reasons and they’ll be able to lead us the right way.”
Natives general manager Myles Cathcart noted that he and the management and scouting staff had a positive feeling about Chwaliboga right from their first meeting with him and his family. “Even then, [Director of player personnel/head scout] Byron Billett and myself had a conversation afterward and we both felt that was the type of person who could develop into a leader of the team,” Cathcart stressed. “As for the other guys, they’ve been at every one of our camps since they were 15-years-olds. Watching these young men mature over the years, make us very proud to have them wear the jersey and represent the club.”
