Game On Magazine 2017 March 2018 | Page 110

CHAY GENOWAY VS. THE CZECH REPUBLIC After losing the semifinal to Winnipeg’s silver medalist Brooks Macek and the team from Germany, Canada took control of the bronze medal game early. Canada led 3-1 after the first period and 3-1 heading into the third when both teams scored three goals each. Andrew Ebbett and Chris Kelly each scored twice for Canada, while Derek Roy and Wojtek Wolski added single goals. Howden assisted on Wolski’s goal. Kevin Poulin got the win in the Canadian net. Genoway, 30, grew up playing hockey in the Morden Minor Hockey Association, played Bantam and Midget Triple A with the Pembina Valley Hawks and then actually played four games with the MJHL’s Winkler Flyers. Although he was drafted by the Prince Albert Raiders in the sixth round (97th) overall in the 2001 WHL bantam draft, he didn’t report to P.A. and instead, eventually accepted a hockey scholarship offer from the University of North Dakota, he went to Shattuck St. Mary’s Academy in Minnesota to play Midget Prep and then moved on to junior with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. After that, he played 4 ½ seasons at UND (he was injured and played only nine games in 2009-2010) and was captain in his senior year. That year, he was also a first-team All-American. However, at only 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, Genoway wasn’t drafted by an NHL team. He signed a free agent deal with the Minnesota Wild and played one game in 2011-12. After kicking around the AHL, he decided that he wanted to make some real money and signed with the KHL’s Dinamo Riga. He played the 2014-15 season in Riga, then signed with Spartak Moscow. After a year in Moscow, he signed with Jokerit Helsinki. After a year in Finland, he signed another deal with Lada Togliatti in Tolyatti, Russia and finished the 2017-18 season with five goals and 22 points in all 55 games. “It's so much fun to put on a Canadian jersey,” said Genoway. “I've had the chance to put it on 1 1 0 | G AME ON | PL AYOFF ED ITION 2018 five times in the last year or so in different tournaments and it's always something special.” Howden comes from a successful hockey family. He’s a former first-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers (25th overall in 2010) and his brother Brett, who just won gold with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, was the first round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning (27th overall). Quinton, who once played on a World Junior Championship team with Jets star Mark Scheifele, is just 24 and has 10 goals and 17 points in 97 NHL games. Howden grew up in Oakbank, played in the Springfield Minor Hockey system and had a great year with the Eastman Selects Triple A Midget cub before heading off to play for the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors. After being drafted by the Panthers, he kicked around the AHL and NHL and spent the 2016-17 season with the Manitoba Moose. This season, he signed with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL this season and in 55, finished with 16 goals and 31 points. It was only the third time that Canada has won a bronze medal in hockey at the Olympics, but it was a superb bounce back win, especially after that heartbreaking loss to Germany in the semifinal. ❍ OAKBANK’S QUINTON HOWDEN