Gold Rush
They won more gold medals than any other region last August in Steinbach. Central brought home 40 gold medals from the 2016 Power Smart Manitoba Summer Games. That was one more first place finish than Winnipeg Blue and six more than Winnipeg Gold. Central athletes shone in athletics as they were awarded 29 gold medals and everyone on the cycling team earned a medal. Central finished third in the medal standings with 90 including 40 gold, 22 silver & 28 bronze. “They had a lot of fun and success came with that,” said Leanne Traynor who is the Regional Sport Development Officer for Central region. “It was neat to hear some stories leading up to the Games about how hard they worked and some of the new things they implemented to make their dreams happen at the Manitoba Summer Games.” Central also received the Larry Desjardins Sportsmanship Award for being the most respectful of the games and their peers.
Fehr Brings the Stanley Cup Home
Stanley Cup champion. That title belongs to Eric Fehr who along with his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on June 12th and captured the Cup for the fourth time in franchise history. Fehr, who 10 years earlier won the American Hockey League's Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears, brought the Stanley Cup home to Winkler just over five weeks later. “It's still kind of a wow factor for me,” said Fehr on that July afternoon. “A day like today, when you get to walk around with the Cup and you see everybody's faces when they get a look at it. It's a pretty special trophy and I'm just really honoured to have it for a day.” Fehr's parents flew to San Jose for game six and saw their son and the Penguins celebrate a Stanley Cup championship. It's a memory Eric Fehr will forever cherish. “When I got to hold the trophy, I looked up at them. It was kind of special.”
A Special Curling Season
Rivers, Beausejour, East St. Paul and Edmonton. Mackenzie Zacharias has fond curling memories of all four places. It started in Rivers at the Provincial Junior Championship in January where Zacharias along with third Morgan Reimer, second Emily Zacharias and lead Jenessa Rutter reached the semifinals. The Altona Curling Club foursome didn't come close to matching the success they had in Rivers at the Provincial Scotties in Beausejour but the experience they got from playing at the Sun Gro Centre paid huge dividends at East St. Paul where they won the Provincial U18 Championship. Zacharias, Reimer, Zacharias and Rutter represented Manitoba at the Optimist U18 International Championship in Edmonton where they captured gold. “At the start of the season I don't think we could have dreamed about winning this event,” said Zacharias. “We put in so many hours of hard work. And thanks to our coach and all our supporters. They really helped us a ton.”
Championship Banners
It had never, ever been done. That is until this past fall. The Carman Cougars junior varsity boys and varsity boys volleyball teams won provincial high school championship banners in back-to-back weekends. The Cougars captured the “A/AA junior varsity championship in Hamiota as they defeated Rossburn 22-25, 31-29, 15-11 in the final. “It was something that I never experienced before,” said Carman setter Cam Duncan when asked to describe that second set against the Raiders. “It was really exciting. It felt like the longest game ever. The excitement was constantly building up.” The Cougars won the “AA” varsity championship in their own gym as Carman swept Steinbach Christian 25-19, 25-20. “We played a very good team game,” said Cougars left side hitter Rylan Metcalf. “We just moved the ball around and our energy was up. The crowd kept us in it.” Metcalf and Duncan were named the tournament MVP's.
Drafted
Wade Allison didn't have to wait in the stands of the First Niagra Centre in Buffalo very long before he heard his name called on day two of the 2016 National Hockey League Draft. The Myrtle native was selected in the second round (52nd overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers. “My mom was to my left and my dad was to my right. I stood up and it definitely was a relief. It was awesome and something special," said Allison. The former Pembina Valley Hawks forward helped the Tri-City Storm win the United States Hockey League championship last season and says he has to improve his game to achieve his goal of playing in the NHL. "It's definitely an honour but it's just a foot in the door. I have to continue to work hard every day and continue to get better every day and see where it takes me.” This past fall Allison began his freshman season with the Western Michigan Broncos
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