Anning back with the Saints

The Winnipeg Saints have a new man behind the bench this season, but one who has plenty of history with the franchise.
Fresh off helping the Dauphin Kings place second in the country, David Anning take over as the head man on the bench with the Saints.
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Anning via telephone, as he took his team to Winkler to face the Flyers in the final MJHL preseason game of the year. “Leaving Dauphin wasn’t an easy decision, but I put a lot of thought into it and I was comfortable with the Saints’ organization. It felt like the right fit and I’m excited to be back with the team I played for.”
As a defenceman, Anning played four seasons with the Saints. In his final three years he scored 15 goals, added 59 assists and collected 165 penalty minutes in 179 games. He was also the team captain in the final two years.
The Winnipeg native quickly made the transition to coach, serving as an assistant coach with the Saints in the 2007-08 season before joining the Dauphin Kings as their assistant coach and marketing director in the next year.
Ironically, Anning’s first game of the year will be against his former team. The Saints open the season against the Dauphin Kings.
“That’s going to be nice – I get to see a lot of my friends up there who I got to know over the years,” said Anning. “But at the end of the day, it’s the Dauphin Kings and Winnipeg Saints players out there, and it’s not about me.
“But it’s a great facility and I love going back there.”
At home, the Saints will play out of St. Adolphe (just south of Winnipeg), a move which suits Anning just fine.
“It’s been excellent – a bit of a blessing in disguise,” he said. “Dakota (their former home rink) was good to us for a lot of years, but we’re moving on and St. Adolphe has been great for our organization. They’ve taken care of us, been flexible, and it’s really worked out so far.”
As for how the Saints will fare this year, Anning is optimistic.
“We have an older group returning here, and our younger guys are going to be able to contribute,” he said. “We’re happy with where our group’s at, but it’s tough to say where everyone else is at – a lot are still carrying 25 plus players.
“But I like our chances – I think we’ll be right in the mix.”
• The Portage Terriers will open their season in their new rink with a bang.
The Terriers – my early favourite to win the Sher-Wood Division this year – will play in the brand new PCU Centre this season. And to open the rink the right way, the Terriers hired Howling the Night Away Productions – a Brandon-based entertainment company specializing in sporting events – to handle the game-day entertainment.
“We figured, ‘Let’s do it right’,” said Terriers president Dale Deschouwer told Eric MacKenzie of The Daily Graphic. “It should be a good show to say the least, never mind a good hockey game.”
According to their website Howling the Night Away Productions know what they’re doing – clients include the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Manitoba Moose and Brandon Wheat Kings.
• The Dauphin Kings lost the services of netminder Brett Willows for three games after a scrap against a SJHL opponent.
Willows has been suspended three games for fighting on Sept. 10 versus Battlefords North Stars.
• The MJHL wants all fans who pack a camera to the rink to submit their best shots on a weekly basis.
Fans can email pictures to media@mjhlhockey.ca – and they might end up on the league’s website (www.mjhlhockey.ca).
They are looking for just about anything at the rink – bench shots, fan pictures, on-ice action – you name it.
The MJHL continue to reach out to their fan base. This is a great idea which could pay off for the league.