Game On Magazine - April 2017 Game on Preview Edition | Page 30

Ben Thorlakson
Charleswood Hawks
Carson Rybuck of the Raiders
Charleswood
Hawks
Perennial favorites, the
Hawks made an unprecedent-
ed trade last year sending play-
ers and prospects to the Twins
in exchange for Twins captain
Zach Heisinger, a second-team
MMJHL All Star.
Having Heisinger and Mike
Lorange on the team last year
appeared to give the Hawks
the advantage of moving from
first place in the regular-sea-
son standings (65 points, one
ahead of the Jets) to league
champions. Unfortunately
for the Hawks the second
round was their undoing as
they dropped the series to the
eventually-champion Raiders.
The team is losing six play-
ers to graduation -- Lorange,
Heisinger, Shawn Pachet, Beau
Zelenewich, Tyson Bannatyne,
and Cody Groen. Coach Kyle
Nixon says the team’s goalies
will be a strength in the new
season with the return of Ben
Thorlakson and Ryan Hall.
Nixon added the defense
will be strong and definitely
counted on in a big way.
“I’m impressed with the par-
ity and depth the MMJHL,”
said Nixon. “We are showcas-
ing outstanding players and
I really like the direction that
our league executives are
taking.”
Pembina Valley Twisters
Coach Ryan Dyck says his
Twisters now have an out-
standing, community-minded
ownership group in place and
are “determined to develop the
skills and culture needed to be
a champion.”
The team has lost three very
important players to gradua-
tion -- Corey Mazinke, argu-
ably one of the best players in
the league who led his team
in the regular season with
26 goals and 30 assists in 39
games, along with Matthew
Hadley and star goalie Matt
Kohlman.
On the upside, Coach
Dyck is excited about
goalie prospect Griffin
Dyck who played last
year for Parkland High
School in Winkler.
“Our team’s
strengths rest with
James Van Der Veld on
3 0 | G AM E O N | S E P T EM BER 2 0 1 7
defense, and Fraser Mirrlees
and Mark Klassen in the of-
fensive zone,” Dyck said.
The Twisters lost to the
Stonewall Jets in the league
championship series two years
ago and then again in the
playoffs last year so the team
should be hungry for revenge.
Raiders
Jr Hockey Club
It’s only fitting to start with
the league champion Raiders
Jr. Hockey Club. However,
heading into the new season
the team has lost seven vet-
erans to graduation, includ-
ing team MVP Kyle Jur (The
Kip Kelly Memorial Trophy
Winner as the MMJHL’s
Hardest Worker), League MVP
from two years ago Tanner
Magalas, Nikolas Lynam, Zaz
Oleksiw, AJ Bracken, Matt
Zolinski, and Chris Flintoff
Memorial Trophy Winner
as Playoff MVP goalie Ryan
Brown.
“We have a lot of holes to
fill and you might call it a
rebuilding year,” said Raiders
president, Ned Sanders. “We’re
counting on Eli Batt and Kyle
Wabick at the back end and
Carson Rybuck and Nicholas
Matthews up front. We’ve got
a great core to build from and
the best, most vocal fans in
Manitoba.”
Fraser Mirrlees Pembina Valley