Czuba signs in France

From the “Where are they now” file, former Stampeder sniper Tyler Czuba in now playing hockey across the Pond. Czuba was transfered by the Tulsa Oilers to Deuil-Garges, a professional hockey team in France. He joins a team with players from France, Canada, and Sweden. Czuba is the Stampeders all-time leading goal scorer (124). He also set the benchmark for goals in a season (60) and was named the MJHL’s MVP.

Peel makes Team West

The MJHL is doing something the SJHL is not – sending players to the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge.
Swan Valley’s Landon Peel, a 16-year-old rookie defenceman (and brother of teammate Jeff Peel), along with Portage’s Brendan Harms, were both named to Team West (Saskatchewan and Manitoba) on Monday.
The event takes place Dec. 27 to Jan. 5 in Winnipeg.
There are only two junior A players on this team. The rest of the team is made up of players from the midget AAA and the major junior ranks.
Garth Mitchell, head coach of the Yellowhead Chiefs of the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League, will lead Team West this year. David Anning, bench boss of the Winnipeg Saints, will serve as one of three assistant coaches. The other two are from the SJHL – Bob Beattie from La Ronge and Kyle McDonald from Notre Dame.
After attending an evaluation camp this summer, Peel said he knew he had to have a solid start to this year to cement his position on the team.
“I was surprised when I got the call, but happy at the same time,” said the Virden native. “I first attended a camp in the summer with the top 40 (players from Manitoba and Saskatchewan), and they got it down to 25 or so, and then they said they would watch us throughout the year.”
Getting noticed was a bit tougher early in the year. Peel was good enough to start the year with the WHL’s Regina Pats, but due to a numbers game, he wasn’t getting into every game. Rather than have him sit in the press box, the Pats made the decision to reassign him to the Swan Valley Stampeders where he would dress every game.
Not only has the talented defenceman played every game, he’s also played key special teams minutes, and has chipped in offensively with three goals and an assist in eight games.
Peel said playing more minutes allowed the scouts to watch him.
“More ice time gave me a way better chance of making this team,” he said.
Several Stampeders have played on this team. Last year Evan Morden played in Timmins, Ont. And in 2004 trainer Graham Watt, coach Del Pedrick and forward Brodie Dupont took part in this event.
• Winkler Flyers’ netminder Peter Alexander is the latest puck stopper to be named the MJHL’s Player of the Week.
Alexander, who turned 20 last week, posted a 2-0 record and 1.92 GAA with an impressive save percentage of .948.
Also considered for this award was Cole Brunet, 19, of the Steinbach Pistons, and Evan Gravenor of the Winnipeg Blues.
Brunet, who hails from Morris, had five points in four games (two goals, three assists).
Gravenor, 20, registered six points (two goals, four assists) in three games last week for the Blues.
• Ryan Marshall (Swan Valley), Matt Krahn (OCN) and Mitch Van Teeling (Dauphin) did not medal at the World Junior A Challenge in Penticton, B.C., but they are saying it was a great experience.
“Any time you pull on the Canadian jersey it’s an honour,” Marshall told the MJHL. “The calibre of players in this tournament is really high.”
Canada’s Team West fell 8-3 to Switzerland in the bronze medal game.
Marshall – making his second straight appearance at the tournament – finished with two goals and two assists in five games and was tied for second in team scoring.
Van Teeling was held pointless in five games, while Krahn finished with a 2-3 record, a .873 save percentage and a 4.37 GAA.
The United States won this event for the second straight year, defeating Canada Team East in the gold-medal game.
• Some trades to report on this week, starting with the Portage Terriers, who traded 20-year-old defenceman Justin Minoletti and future considerations to the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the SJHL for 19-year-old defenceman Brett Adnum.
Minoletti, from Thunder Bay, Ont., had 28 points in 53 games for the Terriers last year.
Adnum, a native of Steinbach, wanted to be closer to place he could start university, and he told Laura Shantora Nelles from The Daily Graphic that while he was sitting at home, he wondered if he would ever get dealt.
“I said I wasn’t going to report (to La Ronge), and they called me six or seven times, asking me to reconsider, but I was hoping either to stay closer to home or go back to Alberta,” explained Adnum. “I sat at home for nearly a month ... and at one point, La Ronge hadn’t returned my calls in five days, so I thought they might just sit on me for a month.”
In the second part of this deal, the Winnipeg Blues traded 19-year-old defenceman and Saskatoon native Drew McDermott to the La Ronge Ice Wolves for Minoletti and 19-year-old forward Justin Remillard, who hails from Fort McMurray
As well, the Dauphin Kings acquired 19-year-old forward Luke Hannas (from Williams Lake, B.C.) from the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL for future considerations.
The MJHL also handed out several suspensions last week.
Waywayseecappo Wolverines player Cale Horn was suspended for two games for receiving a major penalty for delivering a blow to the head Nov. 7 against the Winkler Flyers.
Dauphin Kings player Calvin Cairns and Neepawa Natives player Richard Kinderwas were both suspended three games for participating in a staged fight Nov. 6.

Blues rebuilding

The Winnipeg Blues are off to a tough start this season. They entered the second week of November with only five victories in 22 games and sat in fourth place in the Addison Division. However, if the playoffs were to start today, they would lose out in a crossover situation.
Though the Blues had only won five of 22, they only had 11 regulation losses. The Blues had lost six games via shootout or in overtime – basically the difference between fourth and third place in their division.
“We just don’t have the mix we need yet,” said Blues head coach and general manager Don MacGillivray. “We have 10 or 11 new faces on our team, and several of them haven’t played junior A hockey before. So there’s a bit of an adjustment.
“We’ve played with everybody, we’re just giving up a lot of goals.”
The Blues went with a young team last season, and they were hoping to compete for a divisional crown this year. However, the departure of two of their outstanding rookies last year – Brendan O’Donnell and Peter Stoykewych – has hampered the team’s progress.
“That’s part of the process – we had some success last year with younger guys, and they were good players but they’ve moved on to a higher level.
“That’s what this level of hockey is all about, but unfortunately for our team this year, we have some gaps. We would have liked to have had at least one of those guys back, and maybe two.”
Instead, MacGillivray had to elevate other players into key spots O’Donnell and Stoykewych could have played in, leading to some growing pains.
“That’s the difference for us this year, we don’t have that guy for that key situation,” he said.
MacGillivray though feels that with time his team will be right in the thick of things. Considering how close most games have been this year, it wouldn’t take much of a winning streak to vault up a few spots in the standings.
• Speaking of the Blues, they were sure fired up on their northern trip through the Sher-Wood Division last weekend.
The Blues got into several scraps in both OCN and Swan Valley, and as a result, suspensions were handed out.
Winnipeg Blues players Dustin Pearson and Ben Sveinson were suspended two games for participating in a multiple fight Nov. 5 against the Blizzard. MacGillivray was also given a one-game suspension.
OCN Blizzard players Rory McKie and Erik Pushka were also suspended for two games for their role in the mini-line brawl.
Their coach Scott McMillan was also suspended one game.
On the trade front, the Neepawa Natives acquired 19-year-old defenceman Lane Werbowski from the Penticton Vees of the BCHL for future considerations.
Also, the Winnipeg Blues have traded 18-year-old defenceman Ryan Breen to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines for future considerations.
• Better late than never, here are the MJHL’s first players of the month for this year.
Selkirk Steelers’ forward Joel Ridgeway was been named the RBC Player of the Month.
Ridgeway, 20, had 26 points (13-13) after 18 games.
Also considered for this award Brett Chartier of the Winnipeg Saints and Shane Luke of the Dauphin Kings.
The Sher-wood Hockey Defenceman of the Month is Winkler captain Troy Kliever.
The 20-year-old player has been a pillar on the blueline for the Flyers. He entered the month of November with 19 points (two goals, 17 assists).
Also considered for this award was Clark Byczynski, from the Swan Valley Stampeders and Chris DelaLande from the Selkirk Steelers.
The Husky Energy Rookie of the Month is Brent Wold of Portage Terriers.
The 17-year-old from Lac du Bonnet led all MJHL rookies in scoring with 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in September and October.
Also considered for this award was 16-year-old forward Brendan Harms of the Portage Terriers and 17-year-old goaltender Jayson Argue of the Swan Valley Stampeders.
The MJHL Goaltender of the Month is OCN’s Matt Krahn.
The netminder played so well he earned a spot on Team West at the World Junior A Challenge in Penticton, B.C.
The netminder, who has WHL experience, posted a 5-3-1-2 record with a 2.33 GAA and .923 save percentage to earn him this award.
Also considered for this award was 20-year-old Wendell Vye of the Neepawa Natives and 18-year-old Jason Kasdorf of the Portage Terriers.
Vye, who hails from Moncton, did win the MJHL Player of the Week honour. He posted a 3-0 record with a 1.67 GAA and .948 save percentage to take the weekly award.
Swan Valley’s Byczynski had eight points, including six assists in one game, to be considered for this award. The other runner up was 20-year-old forward Dave Williams of the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, who had six goals in four games.

Did you know...

How important is team chemistry? Pretty important if you ask the Selkirk Steelers, the top team the Addison Division.
The franchise is perhaps in the best geographical position in the province in terms of attracting talent. As a large rural centre, they pack enough fans into their arena to be able to afford billeting players from outside the region.
However, they are also close enough to Winnipeg to have access to the largest talent pool in the province. It’s fairly well known how difficult it is to attract Winnipeg-based players to rural teams.
Looking up and down the Steelers’ lineup, there are several players from Winnipeg, and more from just outside the capital. These players all know each other, and most have previously played together.
“We’ve got a good group of guys, most of who have grown up together through minor hockey,” Steelers head coach Ryan Smith told Jennifer Pawluk of the Selkirk Journal. “We’ve worked the past two years to create this atmosphere, and the guys like to come to the rink and be around each other...of course when you’re winning it makes that so much easier.”
• A few MJHL trades to update fans on.
The Winnipeg Saints have traded 20-year-old defenceman Kael Peterson to the Abitibi Eskimos of the NOJHL for future considerations. Peterson, from Stonewall, was having some trouble cracking the starting lineup for the Saints this year.
The Dauphin Kings sent 20-year-old forward Travis Cech to the Battlefords Stars of the SJHL for 20-year- old forward Louis Labbe and future considerations.
Cech, who hails from Rocky Mountain House, Alta., had seven goals and 11 assists last year in 35 games, but only had a single assist in 13 games this year.
Labbe, who hails from Quebec City, Que., has been around Canada, having previously played with both the Flin Flon Bombers and the Trenton Golden Hawks from Ontario.
The Steinbach Pistons have traded 19-year-old forward Mike Collins to the OCN Blizzard for 18-year-old forward Cody Zulyniak and the MJHL list rights of 16-year-old forward Daniel Asham and 16-year-old forward Kurt Johnas.
Collins, from Victoria, B.C., has three goals and eight assists in 17 games this year.
• Swan Valley Stampeders’ forward Shelby Gray has been named the MJHL’s Player of the Week.
Gray, who hails from Invermay, Sask., had four goals and six points in three games.
The 20 year old is an important part of the Stampeders’ attack. He entered November having scored 26 per cent of the team’s goals, while being involved in 39 per cent of the team’s scoring.
Also considered for this award was Joey Rewucki of the Selkirk Steelers and Wendall Vye of the Neepawa Natives.
Rewucki, 19, was a perfect 2-0, compiling a 1.44 GAA and .966 save percentage.
Vye, 20, also went undefeated in three starts. He posted a 1.67 GAA and .943 save percentage.
• Did you know...
The Swan Valley Stampeders are a perfect 4-0 against both the Dauphin Kings and Steinbach Pistons this year?
With a minimum 250 minutes played, netminder Trent Michalick from the Selkirk Steelers has received the most offensive support at 4.29 goals per game. Matthew Krahn, who played his way onto Team West for the World Junior A Hockey Challenge, has the least with 2.51 goals per game. It’s tough to wins games with only two and a half goals per game, but when you sport a 2.33 GAA and a .923 save percentage, you help your team win five games and earn points in eight of 11.
Winnipeg’s Chris De la Lande from the Selkirk Steelers entered November on a 10-game point-scoring streak, collecting three goals and 10 assists during that stretch. That’s tops in the MJHL this year.
The next-best point-scoring streak is seven games, a mark shared by several players including OCN’s T.J. Constant, Waywayseecappo’s Shane Goodrunning, Winkler’s Jordan Neduzak, Waywayseecappo’s Paul Van De Velde, and Winkler’s Michael Wilgosh.
Adam Stoykewych from the Winnipeg Blues and Paul Crane from the Winnipeg Saints share the league lead for short-handed goals with three. Selkirk’s Colan Jackson leads the league with eight power-play goals, followed by Shane Luke and Bryn Chyzyk, both from Dauphin, who each seven.