Meet Chad MacLeod

Ok, Maybe not the best picture I could find of Hawks new Assistant Coach Chad MacLeod but I do have the full interview just welcoming him to the Hawks and the League and the comments from him I guarantee you'll enjoy especially Leafs fans.

 Chad MacLeod by gdp74 

Happy Saturday!!!

I'm Out

GDP

Mustangs Swing Deal With Nipawin

Gavin Holcomb has made his first moves as a General Manager for the Melfort Mustangs.

I spoke with Gavin early this afternoon and talked about how things have been going since he was first hired 6 weeks ago.

 GAVIN HOLCOMB by gdp74

Here's some stats on the 20 year old from Prince Albert

Tash had 9 Goals and 7 Assists for the Black and Gold along with 57 PIM in 57 games and 9 Goals and 9 Assists in 56 games in the 2009-10 Season and played Triple A for the Prince Albert Mintos he'll join Brant Henry-Norton of Prince Albert also a former Minto teammate.

As for Ty Morgan for the Mustangs he had been playing Triple A for the Calgary Buffaloes and it's a great program so definitely some talent coming over for the Mustangs.

I'll have the full Welcome to the SJHL Interview with new Assistant Coach Chad MacLeod tomorrow.

Time for a Drink and some Golf!

I'm Out

GDP

Spencer Mault Back To The AJHL

The Melfort Mustangs have started their offseason with a trade to Grande Prairie sending Corman Park's Spencer Mault to the Storm for what I assume is future considerations or straight cash.

There has been no sign of the trade to GP on the AJHL website or SJHL so not sure if this is in stone or something needs to be settled but there's a story on the Storm website that you can see here.

Mault had 6 goals and 9 assists in 27 games for the Mustangs this past season and had a goal and an assist in 8 playoff games.

If this is true losing a good 19 year old kid with a great attitude and a great person in the locker room, Good  Luck with the Storm Spencer!!!

I had heard this rumor all day and tried to confirm it with Gavin Holcomb today, he has been busy and tough to get a hold of hopefully we'll get something tomorrow.

I'm Out

GDP

Nipawin Hawks Making Changes

The Nipawin Hawks have almost been as busy as the Humboldt Broncos this off-season trying to rebuild/reload the franchise.

A new assistant coach will beside him this coming season as well as a new captain will lead the Black and Gold. I spoke with Doug yesterday afternoon and here's the full interview.

 DOUG JOHNSON by gdp74

Just a few stats on Williamson and Peterson.

SEASON	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	P/G	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	PIM
2010-2011	Bonnyville Pontiacs	55	11	24	35	0.6	0	3	0	2	0	38
2009-2010	Bonnyville Pontiacs	30	2	6	8	0.3	0	1	0	0	0	24
CAREER TOTALS		85	13	30	43	0.5	0	4	0	2	0	62

No Picture for Williamson But here's his stats from the past AJHL Season

SEASON	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	P/G	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	PIM
2010-2011	Bonnyville Pontiacs	39	1	5	6	0.2	0	1	0	0	0	31
CAREER TOTALS		39	1	5	6	0.2	0	1	0	0	0	31

Both Williamson and Peterson played their Triple A for the Prince Albert Mintos this looks like a good deal for the Hawks in a two for one deal.

I wish Tanner all the best of luck in Bonnyville as he goes into a tough division in the AJ but he will excel there Tanner probably could have more points this season had he not ran into his injuries at Christmas but really came on strong after the trade deadline, Good Luck Tanner!

Meet Coach McLeod, This is the only picture of him I could find hopefully it's him!

I saw where this picture came from on a Tulsa Rampage Forum and it showed of what I thought was a camp or maybe a vigorous practice and the goalies were puking so The Black and Gold will probably have an intense workout ahead of them this year.

 If he's good with goalies watch Brody Hoffman and Stephen Klein to prosper this season.

That's it for now for the Hawks as Doug said in the interview there is a couple of trades in the works as always we'll have you covered. 

Well it's time to hit the Golf Course,

I'm Out!

GDP

Finally!!!!! Hockey has come back to WINN-IPEG!!!!

A great announcement from Manitoba as NHL Hockey in Winnipeg is back!!!!

The official announcement came down this morning and if you're Canadian Hockey fan I hope you watched it.

It's funny the ever resilient NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was late for the conference he said he was in a teleconference but I think he was crying with a powder blue Atlanta Thrashers Ilya Kovalchuk jersey admitting defeat finally the good people of Winnipeg and Canada for that matter have knocked him down a "PEG",

Now if we can get Phoenix to Quebec City we'd be in business. I wonder if Gary shows up for the season opener in the MTS Centre and doesn't get tarred and feathered it would be a sight.

Now my involvement with this I am planning unless under usual circumstances will be riding shotgun with Branden Crowe down the Trans Canada Highway to the MTS Centre for the NHL Season Opener in Winnipeg, Branden a Manitoban himself has been gitty as a school girl all day and actually woke me up this morning when he was making breakfast full of excitement got love the moxie on this kid.

All I have to say is thank-you True North Sports Entertainment for bringing a team back where it belongs and to Gary Bettman.... well you probably know I'll let the the Winnipeg faith answer this one. "Who's Your Daddy??

Will the Winnipeg franchise be the Jets? or something new we'll find out soon enough. Either way it's a great day for hockey!!!

Zach Johnson Commits to Minot State

One of the SJHL's nicest and toughest players this past season is heading south to continue his hockey career.

Former Mustangs Zach Johnson will be a member of the Minot State University Beavers this fall after committing to the club a couple of weeks ago.

 For the Beavers they've picked up a a great kid with an come to work attitude and brings a positive outlook into the dressing room and probably one of the hardest working players out there in Junior A.

There's many stories about this kid in the gym he's freak as far as I can see compared to my workouts.... speaking of which I really need to get back in there.

Without further adieu the newest member of the Minot State Beavers.

 Zach Johnson Interview by gdp74

Johnson or Johnny as he was known with the Mustangs had a short SJHL Career but the made the most of it, I wish you all the best Zach in the coming years with the Beavers, couldn't have happened to a better player and hey hopefully we'll talk to you again when the college season begins.

Here's Johnson's Stats from the past season

Regular Season

54 GP, 4 G, 6A, 10 PTS, 94 PIMS

Playoffs

8 GP, 1 G, 8 PIMS

Knock em out Champ!!!

On other notes could the NHL be in Winnipeg and Gary Bettman admits failure tomorrow??? There's a doings a foot in Winnipeg that may say it is. Check out Branden Crowe's blog he's got you covered.

www.bjcrowe.wordpress.com

SJHL Names New President

We now know who will be running the show for the SJHL at least for the next little while here's the media release from today's announcement.


The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is proud to announce the appointment of Bill Chow as the league’s new president.


The 52 year old Chow, who comes from Prince Albert, has worked with the Prince Albert Police Service for the past 29 years. He also has hockey experience having served as a scout in the Western Hockey League for the past 25 years, most recently with the Spokane Chiefs for 10 years.


“I am very excited at taking on this prestigious position,” Chow said. “The SJHL is a tremendous brand of hockey and it’s my intention to work with the 12 member teams to ensure that our League continues to be an innovator and the best junior “A” league in all of Canada. It will be a big year this season with two of our teams moving into brand new arenas and another team hosting the RBC Cup.”


SJHL board of governors chair Rick Shultz is pleased to have Chow on board.
“We had many great candidates apply for the job, but in the end, the board and myself felt Bill had the best vision for the league.” Shultz said. “He recognized the challenges the league has going into the future, and as a board, we believe he had the best ideas to resolve the problems we face. We also feel his time with the Prince Albert Police Service will make him more than capable to deal with our member teams and other hockey-related bodies across Canada and expand the reputation the SJHL currently holds.”


Chow has signed a three year contract and takes over immediately from outgoing president Laury Ryan, who announced his resignation from the position after eight years on the job earlier this year.


President Chow will be at the league meetings in Nipawin on June 2nd till the 4th should interesting to see what comes up.