UNews - Western Hockey League

Impressive recruiting class for Horns men's hockey team

trevor.kenney — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 21:58:32 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team has turned over a significant portion of its roster as head coach Spiros Anastas announced the commitment of 12 new players for the 2015-16 Canada West season.

Former Lethbridge Hurricane forward Jay Merkley, left foreground, and former Edmonton Oil King and Memorial Cup champion Blake Orban, right standing, are among 12 new recruits that will bring a wealth of major junior experience to the Horns program.

Within the group of 12, the program will add nine forwards and three defencemen, seven of which have Western Hockey League experience and who will be taking advantage of the WHL Scholarship program. Two other players have spent time in the NCAA and the other three join the program after playing exclusively in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

“We are extremely happy with our recruiting class thus far for 2015-16 and we’re not done yet. We're expecting to announce two or three more players in the coming month,” says Anastas. “We will be a very young team but one that has significantly increased in skill and major junior experience.”

Three of the incoming freshmen also have direct ties to Pronghorns alumni, highlighted by forward Sam McKechnie. Sam is the son of Dana McKechnie, who was a member of the Pronghorns' lone ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Cup Championship team, while Blake Orban is also a second generation Pronghorn, after his father Scott played for the Pronghorns during their inaugural Canada West season in 1984-85. The third member of the group is former Olds Grizzly, Kyle Moore, who follows in his brother Dustin’s footsteps. Dustin is a former Pronghorn captain and Canada West first team all-star.

“Our WHL games played have nearly tripled from last year's roster and a number of these recruits have been captains of their Junior teams,” says Anastas. “It’s never easy to let go of as many players as we did at the end of last season, but the turnover was necessary to send this program in a new direction.”

Forwards Jay Merkley, Dalton Sward, Colton Sheen, Robert Lindores, Brett Roulston, and Bryson Gore and defenceman Tyler Hansen, Dustin Fostvelt and Austin Kernahan round out the group announced by Coach Anastas.

“I strongly believe that we are bringing in great people who want to be Pronghorns and great members of our campus community,” says Anastas. “We are excited for our returning players, our incoming recruits, and this hockey program. We have worked hard at this and plan to take some big leaps from the improved strides we made last season.”

For a look at each of the recruits, check out the GoHorns website.

Horns bolster lineup

trevor.kenney — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:19:18 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team is excited to announce three new recruits for the 2012-13 Canada West season.

After the graduation of six players from last year's team, head coach Greg Gatto has his work cut out for him to fill the gaps left behind but is excited to add three quality Western Hockey League graduates, goaltender Damien Ketlo and defencemen Hayden Rintoul and Cason Machacek.

With the departure of five-year starting goalie and 2009-10 second team Canada West All-Star Scott Bowles, goaltending was a high priority in Gatto's recruiting this off-season. With the commitment of former Lethbridge Hurricane goaltender Damien Ketlo, he believes the Horns have picked up one of the best graduating goalies from the WHL.

"Damien is a guy to take over the number one position," says Gatto. "He was the Hurricanes' MVP last season and he wants to be a big part of our program. He gives us a bigger goaltender who plays the puck well, and it's his job to lose."

Ketlo is a Fort Fraser, B.C. native who played four seasons in the WHL and made 160 appearances over his career with the Regina Pats and the Hurricanes. This past season, Ketlo made 47 appearances, while sporting a 3.60 goals-against-average and a solid 0.902 save percentage.

At the end of his season, Ketlo joined the Colorado Eagles of the ECHL, making 3 appearances, including a shutout victory in his pro debut.

Rintoul and Machacek played parts of two seasons together with the Kootenay Ice. Machacek is a Lethbridge product who returns home to suit up for the Pronghorns after finishing his junior career with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Prior to being traded to Seattle, Machacek played parts of two seasons with his hometown Hurricanes and began his WHL career with the Ice. A physical, stay-at-home defenseman, Machacek suited up in 245 career WHL games in four seasons, accumulating 6 goals and 22 assists, while amassing 536 penalty minutes.

"Cason is a hometown boy who wants to come back and make our program better," says Gatto. "We needed a physical defenseman and that's exactly what Cason is and he has more upside than a lot of people give him credit for."

Rintoul, in addition to playing with the Ice, finished his WHL career with the Victoria Royals where he served as the team captain and set career highs this season in goals and points with 17 and 51 respectively. In 260 career games, Rintoul amassed 36 goals and 108 assists and won a WHL Championship in 2011 with Ice.

"Hayden is an offensive-minded defenseman and gives us that puck moving ability that is so important in today's game," says Gatto. "He won a WHL championship and was a captain, which are always qualities we like to add to our dressing room."

Peters joins Babcock with Wings

trevor.kenney — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:24:05 +0000

Former ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey coaches are reuniting in the National Hockey League.

Bill Peters, a Horns coach from 2002 to 2005, will serve as an assistant coach with Mike Babcock after the Detroit Red Wings announced his appointment on Friday. Babcock coached the Horns in 1994, guiding the team to its only ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Cup title.

The two were linked previously as Peters was Babcock's assistant coach with the Western Hockey League's Spokane Chiefs. Peters joined Babcock's Spokane staff during the 1996-97 season and returned to the same post in 1999 – Babcock's final season with the Chiefs – where he stayed until joining the Horns.

Peters spent three seasons with the Horns from 2002 through 2005, guiding the team to a 17-59-8 record and one post-season appearance. In 2005 he returned to the Chiefs, eventually leading Spokane to a Memorial Cup title in 2008, the same season that Babcock and the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup.

Most recently, Peters was the head coach with the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League. He was the longest tenured coach in IceHogs history, spending three seasons behind the bench while compiling a record of 122-97-7-14. The Three Hills, Alta. native guided the Hogs to a winning season during every campaign he coached in Rockford.

Reid, Tait added to Horns' roster

trevor.kenney — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:54:39 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team bolstered its present with an eye on the future Thursday, introducing two new goaltenders to the mix.

With incumbent and 2009-10 Canada West All-Star Scott Bowles entering his final year of eligibility, Horns head coach Greg Gatto announced the signing of a pair of Western Hockey League graduates, former Spokane Chief James Reid and Lethbridge Hurricane Dylan Tait.

"Bowles has been the backbone for us his entire career but we felt it was important to bring in quality competition and set ourselves up heading into his graduation after this season," says Gatto. "The last thing we want to do is go into a season with nothing but true freshmen as starting goalies."

Reid, a six-foot Calgary native, is coming off an outstanding final season of junior hockey where he was named the Western Conference nominee for the WHL goalie of the year. During his final year of junior hockey, Reid led the Chiefs to the Western Conference final. In 50 regular season appearances, his 2.52 goals against average was fourth best in the WHL and he recorded 35 wins, sixth in the league despite missing significant time due to injury.

"Reid has been one of the top goaltenders in the WHL the last few seasons and we are really excited to have him join the Horns," says Gatto.

Tait, a Lethbridge Athletic Association product, joins the Horns after his lone full season in the WHL with the hometown Lethbridge Hurricanes. Last year, Tait made 27 appearances for the Hurricanes and finished 6-10-1 with a 4.13 goals against average and 0.883 save percentage. Just 19, he gives up his final year of eligibility in the WHL to begin his post-secondary career.

"The last couple of years, seeing what kind of program was taking shape here and knowing some of the guys who have played here and really enjoyed it, I was really looking for an opportunity to come here," says Tait.

Prior to suiting up with the Hurricanes, Tait played with the Drumheller Dragons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

He's excited about the opportunity to work under Bowles, learning not only the goaltending position at the Canada West level but also how to balance an academic career. He plans on studying biological sciences.

"A big thing for me is the school aspect. I've heard he's a great student so hopefully he can show me how to create a good balance between hockey and school because he does such a great job with both," says Tait.

The Lethbridge native developed in the LAA and was part of the goaltending tandem with the Y's Men Titans that led the Alberta Midget Hockey League South Division with a 25-4-7 record and surrendered a league low 84 goals. Tait finished with a 11-2-3 record and a 2.91 goals against average.

"It is important for our program to have quality local guys return or stay in Lethbridge," says Gatto. "Dylan will battle and give us great depth at the goaltending position."

Tait joins a growing list of southern Alberta products to join the Horns in recent years with the likes of Taylor Gal, Mason Conway, Winston Day Chief and Cam Creighton.

Horns men's hockey team adds 'Canes' captain

trevor.kenney — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:01:05 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team didn't have to look far for their latest recruit. Lethbridge Hurricanes captain Mike Reddington will stay in the city he has called home for two years and join the Pronghorns for the 2011-12 Canada West season.

"We are excited to have Mike on board, he is a proven winner,"says Horns head coach Greg Gatto. "He will give us a right shot defenseman and some needed leadership, having been the captain of the Hurricanes.
"It also further builds our relationship with the Hurricanes, and hopefully we can continue to have graduating players stay in the city and help our program."

After missing the post-season by only two points last year, Gatto's main priority in the off-season is to shore up the Horns' blue-line. With the addition of Reddington, the Horns believe they have taken a step in that direction.

Reddington, a second round Western Hockey League bantam draft pick, began his WHL career with the Spokane Chiefs and was a valuable member of the Chiefs' 2008 Memorial Cup championship team. During the Chiefs' Memorial Cup season, Reddington posted a plus-22 rating over 71 regular season games. Reddington is a 20-year-old Port Coquitlam, B.C. native.

At the start of his third season in the WHL, Reddington was traded to the Hurricanes where he closed out his junior career, serving this season as the team's captain. Over five seasons in the WHL, the gritty, hardworking defenseman collected 80 points in 329 career games.

The Horns will open training camp the first weekend of September and see their first conference action Sept. 30, hosting the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Huskies.

Horns hockey opens at home

trevor.kenney — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 17:08:38 +0000

The Pronghorns men's and women's hockey teams will finally hit home ice in conference action this weekend, opening their Canada West home schedules as part of home-and-home series with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos.

The men's team will open its series Friday night, while the women's side is in Calgary on Friday before returning to Lethbridge for its home opener on Saturday night. Both games drop the puck at 7 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

The men's hockey team posted a 4-2-0 mark in pre-season non-conference play. After finishing last season as the hottest team in the conference before falling two points short of a playoff berth, the Horns look to get off to a better start this fall. The Horns went 9-2-1 during the second half of last season and were in the race for the final playoff spot up until the final weekend.

The team will return a veteran presence, with only four players not back from last season's squad. The graduations of Jason Roberts and Logan Lavorato leaves a void in the leadership department, while Canada West rookie of the year, Adam Chorneyko, left the team to pursue a pro hockey opportunity.

Five new additions to the Horns are all expected to make significant impacts. Former Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Nick Hotson transferred from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba Bisons, and is eligible to play after sitting out last season. Western Hockey League products Taylor Gal, Daniel Iwanski and Ryan Letts have also been added. Former Ontario Hockey League product Tyler Melancon has also been added to the roster.

The Dinos were just 1-8-0 in pre-season play and were swept by ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta two weeks ago when they opened their conference schedule.

The women's hockey team (0-2-0 Canada West, 1-6-0 overall) returns to action after being swept in its opening weekend of the season on the road by the CIS 8^th-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies.

They'll face a Dinos (1-1-0 Canada West) team that boasts Team Canada veteran and female hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser. Wickenheiser has captured six world championships and three Olympic gold medals over a 17-year career with the Canadian national team.

For more on both the men's and women's hockey teams, check out the Horns Athletics website.

Campus Kudos

trevor.kenney — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:51:13 +0000

Shelley Scott (Theatre & Dramatic Arts) is presenting a paper called Asian Canadian Women Playwrights: The Ties that Bind at the GENesis Asian-Canadian Theatre Conference, May 3-9 in Toronto. The conference is the first of its kind in Canada.

Three U of L alumni have made the long list (Prairies and North region) for the 2010 Sobey Art Award. Daniel Wong (BFA '03) and Mary-Anne McTrowe (BFA '98), as The Cedar Tavern Singers AKA Les Phonorealistes, and Robyn Moody (BFA '00) are all in the running for this prestigious award.

Deric Olsen (New Media) has been invited to be an artist/filmmaker-in-residence at the New Media Studio Laboratory (NMSL) at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina, July 5-9. While there he will work on high definition post-production and delivery methods, and present New Format, New Challenges: Exploring Techniques in High Definition Disc Authoring and Design.

Alumnus Zoran Rajcic (BMgt '94) won the Western Hockey League's 2009-10 Marketing/Public Relations Award. Rajcic is the director of business operations for the Everett Silvertips.

The Faculty of Fine Arts video site (www.lethbridgefinearts.ca) is a finalist in the Best Non-Commercial Website category of Digital Alberta's Media Fresh awards. The web designer was New Media major Jesse Johnston and the advisory committee included:
Dr. Desmond Rochfort, Emily Luce, Chris Morris, Venkat Mahadevan and Katherine Wasiak.

Dr. Ed Jurkowski (Music) presented a paper entitled, How Formal Function Theory can inform Nineteenth-Century Deformed Sonata Designs: A Case Study using Bruckner's Symphonies, at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Arizona (Tucson, Ariz.) during the annual joint meeting of the Rocky Mountain Societies for Music Theory and Musicology.

Dr. Arlan Schultz (Music) had his composition Ikos-kun tu 'bar ba premiered by The Rubbing Stone Ensemble at a concert at the Rozsa Centre in Calgary.

Karen Mahar (dean's office) received a $3,000 scholarship from Alberta Advanced Education in recognition of her exceptional work in her first year as a graduate student. Mahar is now in her second year of an MA in English.

Deanna Oye (Music) and Peter Visentin (Music) presented recitals of solo and duo music at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba and Canadian Mennonite ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Winnipeg last month. They also conducted master's classes and lessons in the areas of collaborative piano and violin. Visentin gave a lecture on his research into musicians' injuries to the Medical Rehabilitation Faculty of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba, and Oye also played a solo recital in Brandon, Man. following a week as senior piano adjudicator at the Brandon Festival of the Arts.

Horns' Chorneyko earns award

trevor.kenney — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:28:04 +0000

Adam Chorneyko is making the most of his first season with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team.

This past week, the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA) and the Western Hockey League announced that Corneyko is the Canada West men's hockey Husky-WHL Graduate of the Month for January 2010.

A freshman winger out of St. Albert, Alta., Chorneyko played for three Western Hockey League teams, including the Kamloops Blazers, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Saskatoon Blades.

During the month of January, the six-foot-one inch, 210-pound forward led the 'Horns to a 5-1 record, recording 12 points in six games and helping to vault Lethbridge back into the playoff picture.

A kinesiology major, Chorneyko highlighted his month by scoring a game-winning overtime goal to beat the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos, then posted a five-point night (three goals, two assists) in an 8-0 whitewash of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Chorneyko was also a plus-12 during the month.

The Canada West men's hockey Husky-WHL Graduate of the Month award is presented monthly to a graduate of the Western Hockey League who is playing on one of the seven CWUAA teams. Each winner, between October and March, receives a cheque for $500 from the WHL to go towards the cost of his education and a gift from HUSKY.

The Horns are back in action this weekend when they host ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina, Friday and Saturday nights at Nicholas Sheran Arena. Game time each night is at 7 p.m.

Bowles earns weekly award

trevor.kenney — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:20:42 +0000

The Pronghorns men's hockey team season came to an end this past weekend but it wasn't for lack of effort from goaltender Scott Bowles.

The second-year Creston, B.C. product was outstanding in the three-game series against ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia Thunderbirds, earning the nod as the Pronghorn Athlete of the Week. Bowles finished the three-game series with a 2.94 goals against average and a .912 save percentage as the Horns fell 2-1 to the visiting T-Birds.

In Sunday's third and deciding game, Bowles made 50 saves in a 4-3, triple-overtime loss. Many of his stops were of a highlight-reel calibre, including a diving paddle save late in the second overtime to keep the Horns' playoff hopes alive.

Bowles is in his second year at the U of L, studying environmental science. A former goaltender with the Calgary Hitmen and Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League, he was named team most valuable player in his rookie season with the Horns.

Horns follow Bowles' lead

trevor.kenney — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:25:46 +0000

Far too many young men are forced to make a choice between hockey ambitions and pursuing an education. ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns goaltender Scott Bowles never saw it that way – the two were always linked.

"With my parents both being teachers, education was always important," the second-year, Creston, B.C., native says. "Still, it was a decision that was left in my hands. I was only told that school would be important at one time or another and to factor that in."

Bowles entered the Western Hockey League as a 17 year old, opting not to pursue a possible education opportunity with an American college or university. The WHL is considered the fastest route to professional hockey and it allowed Bowles that opportunity. All the while, he knew that through the league's education program, every year he played in the WHL would turn into a year of Canadian post-secondary education if the pro dream didn't transpire when he was done.

"That's one of the biggest decisions you have to make when you're 16 or 17," says Bowles. "Are you going to go the NCAA route or give that up and try the WHL. With their package, it was good enough for me where I figured I could play four years and still have my schooling waiting for me when I was done."

Bowles played two-plus seasons with both the Calgary Hitmen and Prince George Cougars and when the pro game did not come knocking, he quickly turned his attention to finding the right fit in terms of a city and a school.

"He came in for a tour and spent a weekend with us," Pronghorns head coach Greg Gatto says of the recruitment pitch they made to Bowles. "I remember saying at the end of the weekend, he didn't say a word the whole time, and my comment was, 'I don't think we're going to get him', and a week later he phoned and told us he was coming."

Knowing Pronghorns Devin Featherstone and Kris Deines helped in the process but what swayed Bowles on coming to Lethbridge was the combination of the city and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's programming options.

"I just really liked the set-up, I liked the fact the school offered the courses I wanted to take and I liked the size of the school. I wanted a smaller school where I felt I'd be more comfortable," he says. "Coming from Prince George, a city that's about the same size, I felt it'd be a very smooth transition."

It was, both on the ice and in the classroom. Bowles had a stellar first season, earning the team's most valuable player award, and has followed that up with another outstanding season; helping lead the Horns back into Canada West playoffs. Despite losing in the first round to UBC, Bowles played extremely well, making 50 saves in a 4-3 triple-overtime loss in Game 3 of the series.

Educationally, he started studying German but by taking advantage of the liberal education ideal at the U of L, quickly found his interests lay elsewhere.

"I found that environmental science might be a better path and it's going well," he says. "I really like my profs and the program offers a sort of mix and variety of a bunch of different sciences which, seeing as how I have a hard time narrowing down what I want to do, is still nice to take a range of courses."

Naturally, given his success and a recognition that goalies often hit their stride later in their careers, one has to wonder if pro hockey might finally come calling for Bowles. He doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about that possibility.

"Now that I've decided to go to university, school is definitely at the forefront," he says. "If things work out in pro hockey, then they do and we'll look into it but right now I'm committed to being here and finishing my degree."

GET THE FACTS

• Bowles had 13 wins in the regular season and was named Canada West Hockey – Husky WHL Graduate of the Month for November

• His best WHL season was in 2005-06 when he had 26 wins with Prince George

• Bowles' mother is an elementary school principal while his father, a teacher by trade, is a performance coach for Pacific Sport

• Bowles has a younger sister currently attending Okanagan College

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