CANORA - Canora Minor Hockey Day took place on Jan. 27, with seven of eight Canora-based teams in action.
“Unfortunately, due to a scheduling conflict the U15 Prairie Ice girls team had to be on the road this weekend and are unable to take part in the day,” said Stacy Vangen, Canora Minor Hockey President.
Vangen said it’s been a busy and enjoyable season for Canora Minor Hockey.
“We have players as young as three years old up to 18 years old and in Grade 12. This year we have had 124 registrants within our association.”
Vangen said the number of players has more than doubled since last season.
“Seeing such a large increase in numbers has brought so much excitement and has meant our board has had to face new decisions and challenges that we haven’t seen in recent years.”
Canora Minor Hockey Day games started at 8:30 a.m. and continued throughout the day until the final game at 8:30 p.m.
U7
“It’s a barnburner ladies and gentlemen.”
Those words from PA Announcer Brandi Zavislak perfectly summed up what turned out to be the closest game of Canora Minor Hockey Day, which involved the youngest age group to hit the ice. The Canora U7 Cobras welcomed the Norquay Nights for an exciting contest that went right down to the wire, with the Cobras coming out on top, 9-8. In the early part of the game, each team had plenty of chances and neither had a lead of more than a goal, eventually leading to a 4-4 tie. But the Cobras started taking advantage of their opportunities, and opened an 8-5 lead. Just when it looked like the home team might be on their way to victory, Norquay roared back with three straight goals to tie the game at 8-8. But with under two minutes left on the clock, Kais Friesen of the Cobras found the net with the winning goal, to the delight of local fans.
U9
The U9 Canora Cobras hosted the Kamsack Flyers in a game that resulted in a decisive 22-2 victory by the Flyers. The Cobras, with a roster filled with players in their first year in the U9 age group, played hard and had a number of scoring chances. Late in the game Canora was rewarded with a pair of goals. In spite of the score, goalie Lev Blauva played a strong game between the pipes for the Cobras, making numerous tough saves against the persistent Kamsack shooters.
U11
The Melville U11 White Millionaires travelled to Canora to face the Canora/Preeceville Pats/Cobras combined team. The Millionaires established themselves early in the game and skated to an 11-2 lead by the midway mark of the second period. But the Cobras kept battling, and outscored Melville for the remainder of the game, resulting in a 15-7 final score.
U13
In the U13 game, the Cobras played host to the Melville Millionaires. The Cobras led 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes, but that would turn out to be their only lead of the game in a 6-3 Melville victory. The visitors tied the game early in the second period, and added a pair of late goals to take a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. The Cobras responded with a goal in the first minute of the third period by Kasen Heshka, but the Millionaires scored the next three goals to widen their lead. The Cobras kept battling, and earned their third and final goal by Courtlyn Heshka to close out the scoring.
U15
The Highway 9 U15 Predators, made up of players from Canora, Preeceville and other area communities, hosted the Moosomin Rangers, one of the top teams in the U15 division of the Major Hockey League. The Rangers showed they have earned their high ranking, and skated to an 8-2 win over the Preds. Moosomin jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the first period, and stretched the advantage to 4-0 with an early goal in the second. The Cobras battled back with a pair of goals by Zaccarias Keshane and Reein Godhe. With the score at 4-2, the pace of the game picked up noticeably as each team seemed to recognize the importance of scoring the next goal. Unfortunately for the Preds, Melville scored the next four goals in the third period to close out the scoring.
U18 Girls
The U18 Prairie Ice hosted the Lumsden Lynx and gave the fans at Canora Minor Hockey Day a glimpse of the high caliber of play in girls hockey. No one could gain an advantage in the first period, as the teams skated to a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes. Lumsden scored what turned out to be the game winning goal just 21 seconds into the middle period. The visitors added another goal late in the period, which made the final score 3-1 after a scoreless third. The Ice ran into penalty trouble late in the second and early in the third, which made it even more difficult to mount a comeback. Each team had several players whistled for numerous body checking penalties, perhaps indicating that those players would like to see that rule changed for girls hockey.
U18
The U18 Indian Head Chiefs faced the Canora Cobras in the final game of Minor Hockey Day. Even though the Chiefs arrived in Canora ahead of the Cobras in the Major Hockey League standings, the Cobras were in good position for an upset win until about halfway through the third period, eventually going down to defeat by the final score of 7-3.
The Chiefs led 3-1 after the first period and then added an early marker less than a minute into the second, so it looked like the Cobras were in trouble. But a goal by Jake Soltys gave the home team some hope, and then Wyatt Wolkowski brought the hometown fans out of their seats with a shorthanded breakaway goal in the last minute of the period. But that was as close as the Cobras could get, in an entertaining contest filled with fast skating and hard hitting.
A team effort
Vangen said the continued success of the expanding hockey program this season has grown from co-operation and hard work throughout the community.
“We worked closely with our volunteer coaches, the figure skating club, the Senior Cobras hockey team, and the Town of Canora to develop an ice schedule to meet everyone’s needs,” said Vangen. “Our CMH teams use 18 hours of ice time at the Civic Center every week just for practices. Weekends have also found the Civic Center much busier than in past years. We often have multiple home games Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays – adding up to an additional six to 20 hours of ice time on the weekends.”
Increasing player numbers means dealing with a growing need for officials and coaches.
“We hosted a local officiating clinic and coaches clinics this year and encouraged as many people as possible to take the courses,” said Vangen. “While we do have a lot of younger officials that are able to officiate younger age groups, our two U15 and two U18 teams in particular require older officials. For that reason we often have to get officials to come from outside of Canora to help officiate those games.”
Vangen said that CMH recognized early on in the season that fundraising would be a priority to meet their tight budget.
“We kicked off the fall with a fundraising barbecue at the Gateway Co-op. We have a great group of hard working, committed individuals on our board who have taken on this challenge and risen to meet it head on. Through our Trip Raffle ticket sales, Fill the Freezer Meat Raffle, and Minor Hockey Day sponsorship from businesses and individuals we are able to ease the pressure from the rise in expenses of ice and officials. It is humbling to see the support we have received from Canora, Sturgis, Preeceville, Norquay, Kamsack, Rhein, Yorkton, Esterhazy, Melville, Regina and more.”
In spite of the challenges, the growth in player numbers has brought numerous triumphs.
“Our U7 team has 20 players, they are the true future of CMH and definitely the cutest ones on the ice,” said Vangen.
“We were excited to have a U9 team back in town after a two-year break.
“After not having the numbers for a U11 team last year, our U11 squad has joined with Preeceville players as both communities were short on numbers this year. We appreciate working together with Preeceville Minor Hockey to keep these kids playing hockey locally.
“The U13 team is our last age group that is made up of Canora players.
“The U15 Highway 9 Predators are in their third year as a team.
“The U15 Prairie Ice girls team returned after not having a team last year.
“The U18 Prairie Ice girls entered league play for the first time this year based out of Canora. These teams bring players and their families together from many communities to make their teams a reality.
“Our U18 Cobras shocked the entire community when we had 15 Canora players register. We were happy to accept players from the surrounding area to keep a great group of young men playing together. Our graduating players who started as Cobras get to finish as Cobras and that is something special.”
Vangen said this is “the first time in many years that we have had every age group represented in CMH. Minor Hockey Day is our day to celebrate Canora Minor Hockey and all the good things we have happening within our association. Of course we all come to see the players on the ice, but I hope people also see the other parts that make up this great club. We have dedicated coaches and team staff, parents, families, friends, volunteers, and fans that are part of our hockey family.”
Vangen described 2024 Canora Minor Hockey Day as a “complete success. Our team of board members and volunteers is second to none. Everything went very smoothly and this can be attributed to the team of volunteers we have in our association. To everyone who supports Canora Minor Hockey by coming to games and cheering, purchasing tickets, making donations, and volunteering their time, thank you.”
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