Winkler, Manitoba

Driving through Southern Manitoba and Brandon, portage la prairie, one of the first things we noticed was the great soil for farming, and large houses on huge properties with plenty of toys. Winkler, itself is a very clean, modern community with a large Mennonite population that has English and low German as spoken languages. Reminded me of the old days as a kid when nothing opened on Sundays, Winkler is old school in that regards and shops are closed on Sundays but you see families out walking and biking together.

Now, a number of very good hockey players come from Winkler, Dustin Penner(Edmonton Oilers), Eddie Belfour(the Eagle)and Eric Fehr(Washington Capitals) to name a few of the more notable ones. One of the reasons we decided upon going to Winkler was,on the advice of a good friend, word has it that the GM(Ernie Sutherland) has a great rep with kids and being a straight shooter. Now as anyone who has experienced hockey at the junior level knows you have to be careful and sort through all the B.S to get to the truth(maybe a little like life!) Hockey wise, plenty of players and some real good younger ones attended this camp. As this was Sam's last camp, he put in some real good hard work and his attitude was great!

We did one heck of a lot of driving over the past 4 weeks attending 4 different camps but the sight seeing, incorporated with the hockey was and will be a great memory along with visiting a number of small old school hockey towns and meeting some great people. The valuable experiences gained and doors opened along the way were an additional bonus. The Hockey road show is over for the season and all the best to everyone who took time to read the blog, have a great summer.

Happy days in Winkler

First I like to mention the reasons why I have created this blog. The blog is for friends and family to be updated in regards to Sam and our different experiences with hockey, and small towns in the prairies. It's sort of a moving diary and the internet is a wonderful tool for sharing experiences and communications with others. If at any time I come across as more than a slap happy parent, then I offer my apologies.

This weekend we are heading out of province to Winkler, Manitoba. Funny name isn't Winkler and it reminds me of the show happy days and the Fonz! Anyways its a bit of drive, roughly 5 hours and is located in the Southern part of Manitoba. Though Sam's camp experiences have been good, Winkler comes highly recommended as a hockey destination. The General Manager of the Flyers has 30 years experience and has a great reputation as a solid guy. Sam can have a look at the MJ (Manitoba Junior A league nickname) and the flyers and MJ can have a look at him. Going somewhere, working hard and experiencing the hockey, and meeting new people are a growth industry for a young guy. What is the cliche, "experiences make you richer" is one that I proscribe too. Stay tuned for photos and stories from Henry Winkler.

Windy in Weyburn

Gusting winds overturned tractor trailers, along the highway heading south to Weyburn as Saskatchewan was hit by gale force winds on Friday and Saturday. Saskatchewan is victim to some crazy weather without a doubt, but lucky enough we arrived safely in Weyburn for the Red wings junior A rookie camp. With approx 120 players arriving from as far away as Texas, Omaha and Minnesota and ranging in age from 14 years old to 19 it was a very good camp. I talked to one grandparent who had driven from Minny all of 12 hours to attend and have his grandson skate in front of the Red wings staff for a chance to attend main camp in the fall. The Red wings were a first place team in the Saskatchewan junior A league last year and are traditionally one of the stronger teams in the loop. The town of Weyburn is a smaller version of a swift current minus the casino, clean, friendly and is located on the highway to the U.S border. One things I really like about small towns are you are 5 minutes from anywhere you may need to go, and there is virtually no traffic though boredom can lead to having one to many pops.

After the first skate of the day, I was informed in the afternoon from the asst coach that they had listed Sam on their 50 man protected list and was now property of the the club as a 15 year old, a bit of a pleasant surprise for us. In the Saskatchewan junior A league, when a player is protected it means that they can no longer skate with any other Junior A, excluding the WHL, team in the province, this protected list includes present players on the team and their top prospects. But bare in mind that one can be deleted as quickly by one phone call as added albeit normally they hang on to the younger prospects hoping they will develop into Red wing players in time with maturity. Junior hockey is a business at the end of the day and players are just pieces in the puzzle and can be interchanged or sold on at any time.

I was impressed by the way they handled the camp, on the Sunday they had a top prospect game with the older players and listed guys and a younger rookie game. The top prospect game which Sam skated in was full of junior B players and older players trying to get invites to main camp in the fall...fast, physical and tight checking, so great experience for a younger player. Stayed tuned for a trip to Winkler, Manitoba next week for a skate with the Flyers.

Rowdies in Weyburn

Okay, now we definitely are doing the weekend hockey warrior thing...but I can't say that it isn't interesting. This weekend it's Weyburn and home of the red wings, Royal Bank cup champs in the near past and a great junior franchise. Sam will be attending their junior camp, and according to Rowdy's sources, the redwings are in rebuilding mode after a disappointing first round loss to the Yorkton Terriers.

Weyburn is approx 1.5 hours down the road south of Regina and is a fairly affluent community due to farming and oil. Stayed tuned with some photos and stories from another hockey road trip with rowdy and not so little rammer.

Swiftly Rowdy

Swift Current, well lets see the living sky Casino was nice! Kidding aside, it's a small town of say about 20,000 people, clean, friendly and Joe Sakic's old WHL team the broncos are located here. Sam and me were in town on a invite for the the Major Midget AAA Swift Current Legionaries tryouts, a team that plays in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA hockey league. This league is widely regarded as the top Midget AAA league in Canada, so a great league for exposure and development. Hockey wise to cut straight to the heart of the matter, Sam had a good skate and was asked to sign at the end of the last scrimmage, the coaches were very positive. A little more in regards to these camps. These teams hold spring camps, and sign a few players they want on the team for next season combined with the returning veterans. They then hold a limited fall camp where the remaining invited unsigned players fight for jobs so it's a competitive dog fight. Patrick Marleau, Bryan Trottier played midget hockey for the legionaries, who share the same rink and work out facilities with the Broncos.

The sun does really shine more on the prairies and create a big sky affect that I will take any time over rain and cloud. Definitely have to commend Sam's maternal grandparents and Aunt for driving from Surrey B.C for 2 days, basically almost half way across Canada to watch a weekend of hockey. One last thought on Swift Current, is that it reminded me of small american town where life revolves around playing fields, ice rinks and the fast food restaurants, albeit it's a real hockeytown with friendly people.

Home of the Bronco's

Looking forward to our trip to swift current today, as the sun is shining as we take an approx 2.5 hour drive from Regina to Swift. Josh and Brad Zimbulak are coming as well, Josh was one of the goalies on Sam's team this year. The camp starts tonight with a meet and greet at 5pm and then with the ice sessions starting afterwards. Sam's grandparents and aunt have made a huge drive to watch the camp from Surrey, commend them for the support! These camps can be a bit of a cluster feke, you need to do something every shift, but for a young player the experience is invaluable though the cost of hotels and travel do stretch the parental finances. Hotel wise, no beauties like the one in Melville this time, we are going top shelf with a Holiday inn. Hey, stay tuned for photo's and stories from Swift Current, Sask.