UNews - Winston Day

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.

Courtney, Steacy earn top honours

trevor.kenney — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:40:54 +0000

Pronghorns Athletics celebrated with its annual Blue and Gold Awards Banquet recently, announcing its Male and Female Athletes of the Year, President's Award winner, Team Academic Award, as well as the respective most valuable players for each program.

Male Athlete of the Year
Andrew Courtney (men's hockey)

Over his five seasons with the Pronghorns, Andrew Courtney not only excelled on the ice, but he was active in the community, embracing the true spirit of what it means to be a Pronghorns athlete.

He was known throughout the program as the first to support other Horns teams and is actively involved in the local community with the Boys and Girls Club. Courtney also planned and executed the highly successful Movember campaign that raised over $10,000 for prostate cancer research.

On the ice, Courtney returned from a serious knee injury to finish fourth in the conference in goal scoring, leading the Horns with 14 goals. He was also 13th in the Canada West in total scoring with 23 points, despite missing all of the pre-season and the first two weeks of conference action.

Courtney finished his Pronghorn career with 43 goals and 26 assists in 97 conference games.

Female Athlete of the Year
Heather Steacy (women's track)

Throughout her Pronghorns career, Heather Steacy has become synonymous with outstanding performances. This past season she raised her performance to an unprecedented level.

Steacy opened the season by reaching a monumental mark, becoming the first woman in Canadian Interuniversity Sport history to eclipse the 20-metre mark in the weight throw with a toss of 20.28 metres at the Bison Open in Winnipeg. She followed that performance with her fourth Canada West gold medal victory, setting a new conference record of 19.82 metres in the process. Steacy was also recognized with the Outstanding Female Performance of the Meet.

Steacy completed her season by then winning silver at the CIS Championship meet in Sherbrooke, Que., her fourth medal in as many trips to the national meet.

President's Award

Emily Brown of the women's track & field team earned the President's Award, which rewards the student athlete with the highest academic standing at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Brown achieved a GPA of 3.92, while balancing her academic and athletic commitments.

Team Academic Award

The Horns women's basketball team received the Team Academic Award for accumulating a combined GPA of 3.32.

Following are team most valuable players, as voted by their fellow team members.

Men's Soccer – Steve Brown
Women's Soccer – Kathy Curtis
Men's Hockey – Winston Day Chief and Andrew Courtney
Women's Hockey – Shelby Ballendine
Men's Basketball – Randy Davis
Women's Basketball – Becky Heninger
Men's Track – Kyle Murray
Women's Track – Heather Steacy
Women's Rugby – Kelsey Willoughby
Men's Swimming – Jeff Nicol
Women's Swimming – Jessica Kelly

This story first appeared in the Legend. For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Horns hand out year-end hardware

trevor.kenney — Mon, 16 May 2011 20:55:51 +0000

Male Athlete of the Year
Andrew Courtney (men's hockey)

Over his five seasons with the Pronghorns, Andrew Courtney not only excelled on the ice, but he was active in the community, embracing the true spirit of what it means to be a Pronghorns athlete.

Courtney finished his Pronghorn career with 43 goals and 26 assists in 97 conference games.

Female Athlete of the Year
Heather Steacy (women's track)

Throughout her Pronghorns career, Heather Steacy has become synonymous with outstanding performances. This past season she raised her performance to an unprecedented level.

Steacy completed her season by then winning silver at the CIS Championship meet in Sherbrooke, Que., her fourth medal in as many trips to the national meet.

President's Award

The Horns women's basketball team received the Team Academic Award for accumulating a combined GPA of 3.32.

Following are team most valuable players, as voted by their fellow team members.

For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Horns host T-Birds in key series

trevor.kenney — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:25:21 +0000

It may only be December, but the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team is in danger of slipping out of the Canada West playoff race if it can't find a way to put together a winning streak.

This weekend, the Horns (4-5-3) will put the wraps on the first half of the season, hosting the UBC Thunderbirds (5-4-3), Friday and Saturday night. The puck drops at 7 p.m. nightly at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

Coming off of their fourth consecutive weekend split, the Horns are still at the bottom of the Canada West standings but are only five points out of third place and will make up their games in hand this weekend. The Horns beat the 6th ranked ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Huskies last Friday before losing the next night.

Earlier this season in Vancouver, the Horns and T-Birds split a weekend series with the Horns winning 5-4 in overtime and the T-Birds rebounding the next night with a 5-0 win.

Winston Day Chief and Nick Hotson continue to be offensive catalysts for the Horns, with Day Chief leading the team with 12 points in 12 games. Hotson sits two points back with 10.

Freshman Max Grassi, also with 12 points, leads the Thunderbirds, while Jordan White has seen the bulk of the action in the Thunderbird net, playing all but 40 minutes through 12 games.

After this weekend's games, the Horns will take a month hiatus for exams and the holiday season, but return to action January 6-7 in a home-and-home series with the Calgary Dinos.

Must-win scenarios face Pronghorns

trevor.kenney — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:20:01 +0000

Heading into the final weeks of the Canada West regular season, both the men's and women's hockey teams are in the thick of the playoff race. This weekend, both clubs face must-win scenarios against the Regina Cougars.

With a 6-2 stretch to open the New Year, the Pronghorns men's hockey team (10-11-3) has played itself back into the post-season picture and only trails the Calgary Dinos for the last playoff spot by two points with four games to play. Calgary travels to Saskatoon to face the Saskatchewan Huskies.

The addition of Brian Matte and Winston Day Chief has really sparked the Horns offensively, as both have made an immediate impact. Matte has scored 10 goals in only eight games and is already tied for eighth in the conference in goals scored. Day Chief has recorded 10 points in eight games, including a four-assist night last Friday against the Alberta Golden Bears.

The Cougars are only four points behind the Horns but hold two games in hand and can play themselves back into the post-season picture with wins this weekend.

The Cougars swept the Horns earlier this season in Regina by 2-0 and 5-2 scores, but the Horns downed the Cougars three-times during the non-conference schedule (4-3, 3-1 and 3-0).

The puck drops at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

For a full rundown of the hockey situation, including the prospects for the Pronghorns women's team, visit this hockey preview link.

Meanwhile the Horns men's and women's basketball teams finish the regular season Saturday night at the 1^st Choice Savings Centre. Hosting the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos, each team has a chance to make the playoffs with a win. For a look at the weekend in basketball, follow this basketball preview link.

Day Chief sparking Horns men's hockey

trevor.kenney — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:03:19 +0000

Winston Day Chief helped the Pronghorns men's hockey team remain in the hunt for a plyoff spot while Kailey McMaster did her best to assist the women's hockey team against one of the top teams in the country. for their efforts, Day Chief and McMaster earned honours as Subway Pronghorn Athletes of the Week.

Since joining the Horns after the Christmas break, forward Winston Day Chief has had an immediate impact and been a key component in the Horns playing themselves back into post-season contention.

This past weekend in Edmonton, Day Chief recorded six points in the Horns' weekend split with the CIS second ranked Alberta Golden Bears.

Friday night, Day Chief registered a career high four points (all assists) in the Horns' 8-6 loss to the Bears. He also recorded three shots on goal and was a plus-4.

The next night, in the Horns' 5-4 victory, Day Chief scored once and added an assist, while registering another five shots on goal.

In eight games with the Horns, he has accumulated two goals and eight assists and has helped the Horns to a 6-2 record since the start of the new year.

Fifth-year goaltender Kailey McMaster, despite dropping both games to the CIS third ranked Alberta Pandas, stood tall in the Horns' goal, turning away 88 of the 96 shots she faced.

Friday night, McMaster kept the Horns in the game all night, stopping 41 of 45 Panda shots in a 4-3 loss.

On Saturday night, she was once again stellar in the Horns' goal with 47 saves in a 5-1 loss to the conference's top offensive team.

On the season, McMaster sits fifth in the conference in save percentage at 0.906 and sixth in goals against average at 2.92 per game.

UNews - Winston Day

Reid, Tait added to Horns' roster

Related Topics

Courtney, Steacy earn top honours

Related Topics

Horns hand out year-end hardware

Related Topics

Horns host T-Birds in key series

Related Topics

Must-win scenarios face Pronghorns

Related Topics

Day Chief sparking Horns men's hockey

Related Topics