NEW BLOG READY

For the next season we will be using the new blog located at www.redwingsblog.ca.

All new postings will be found on the new blog. The links have also been changed on the Red Wings homepage. This site will remain open until the start of the season.

I am still working on a few things but with the new domain being purchased it was time to get everyone ready for the change.

Thanks.

- Troy K

Red Wings come back home Champions

Six Weyburn Red Wings took part in the 52 team Pro AM Tournament last weekend, which they won.

Torrey Lindsay, Preston Shupe, Rhett Bly, Connor Krukowski, Stephen Simms and AJ Whiffen were all a part of Team Kayden Canada West. More information is located at www.proamhockey.com.

A story has also been posted online at www.weyburnredwings.ca. We may have some pictures posted next week thanks to the Bly family, so make sure to check back soon.

- Troy K

Construction behind schedule

Surprise surprise, the renovations for the Weyburn Colosseum are falling further behind schedule. I know it is hard to get these things underway but let's move already.

Last night at City Council, it was stated that the current time line for construction is 'at least' two months behind schedule. During the meeting, Council approved the option for Cardinal Construction to do a cost estimate on the South Dressing Room addition and corresponding second floor.

Cardinal Construction will provide the City of Weyburn up to date costing of the project (no tendering), breakdown of labor, materials and subcontractors for a fee of $5,750. Hopefully now the construction can get underway with this decision.

*Also they would like to let everyone know that the 'Take A Seat' campaign is still underway. 150 seats have been sold right now to people and businesses around the community If you are interested in purchasing a seat you can call City Hall.

That's all for now....

- Troy K

Let's get Dwight in The Hockey News!

Well last week I got a return email from Edward Fraser, editor of ‘The Hockey News’. Unfortuantely it wasn’t good news. I suggested that someone on the staff think about doing up an article on Dwight McMillan and all the years he has put in with the Weyburn Red Wings and Junior Hockey in general.

I said I can get all the contact information they would need as well as former player contacts as well but they kindly said they would pass for now, but they would keep the story in mind.... so I think some of the fans should contact Edward and kindly tell him all of the things Dwight has done for the team, the league and the community. THN would be great exposure for the Junior A Ranks, Dwight McMillan and the Weyburn Red Wings

To contact Edward you can email him at efraser@thehockeynews.com or call 416-227-8244

- Troy K

RBC link..

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been updating the blog with stories regarding the Broncos in the RBC, been busy packing up stuff for the big move.

If you want to keep up to date just follow this link. It has everything you will need!

- Troy K

* the following article is courtesy of hockey canada

BRONCOS INTO SEMI-FINAL AFTER DOMINANT WIN OVER CRUSHERS

After a rougher road than expected, the Humboldt Broncos are right where everyone thought they would be – into the semi-finals at the 2008 RBC Cup.

The Schroeder brothers – Scott and Steven – combined for five points as the Broncos clinched a spot in the final four of the National Junior A Championship with a 4-1 win over the Weeks Crushers on Thursday afternoon in the final round robin game for both.

Needing a win over the winless Oakville Blades to wrap up a spot on Wednesday, the Broncos turned in an uncharacteristically poor defensive performance, falling 7-6 to the Central Region champions.

They made sure there would be no repeat on Thursday, holding the Crushers to just 26 shots on goal, while they directed 46 towards Weeks goaltender Alexandre Quessy.

After spending much of the opening 10 minutes in the Weeks zone, the Broncos were finally rewarded when Steven Schroeder – Humboldt’s player of the game – picked up a loose puck off the end boards and snuck a shot past Quessy.

Knowing that a win would clinch a semi-final spot for them, and eliminate the Broncos, the Crushers fought back, and pulled even on the powerplay less than five minutes later, as a point shot from captain Scott Lavigne – Weeks’ player of the game – hit a Humboldt defender on the way in and deflected past netminder Taylor Nelson.

Quessy stood tall in the first period, stopping 19 of the 20 shots he faced to keep the game close, but the floodgates opened in the middle frame.

Mitchell Stretch gave the Broncos the lead for good just 37 seconds after the period’s opening face-off, rifling a point shot over the shoulder of Quessy, and Steven Schroeder and Matthew Kirzinger added goals in a period dominated by the West Region champions, who outshot Weeks 18-4 in the period.

Weeks pressured the Broncos in the final 20 minutes, outshooting Humboldt 12-8, but could not get a puck past Nelson, and now must wait for the outcome of tonight’s Camrose/Oakville game to determine their playoff fate.

If Oakville wins, the Crushers will watch the remainder of the tournament from the sidelines – but a Camrose win puts Weeks into the semi-finals by virtue of their overtime win over the Blades on Monday night.

New link...

If you want to keep up to date on Stephen Simms and Kyle Haines next season, I have added a link the the Lake Superior State University Blog!

It is on the link list and should be at the bottom right hand side of the blog if you are using something other than Internet Explorer (which you should be). For some reason the blog shows up in two columns in Internet Explorer so if you are using it, the link should be near the very bottom of the left side.

- Troy K

McMillan to be a part of 2008 World Junior A Challenge

Red Wings head coach Dwight McMillan has been named an assistant coach for Team Canada West at the 2008 World Junior A Challenge. Dwight has been named to the coaching staff for three years in a row.

For more information click here

- Troy K

Bantam Draft Updates!

Brent Benson of Weyburn goes to Saskatoon - 6th overall

Ryan Murray of White City goes to Everett - 9th overall

Reid Jackson of Weyburn goes to Lethbridge - second round 28th overall

* At the conclusion of the draft, two Weyburn boys were selected. For all of the picks click here

WHL Bantam Draft is almost here!

<----- Weyburn's Brent Benson has been featured in The Hockey News and is expected to go in the top 5 during the WHL Bantam Draft.




The WHL Bantam Draft is on Thursday, May 1. A number of Weyburn Crescent Point Wings have a chance to get selected in this year's draft. They are Brent Benson, Nate Ferris(former Milestone resident..thatta boy), Reid Jackson, Carter Struthers and Garett Walbaum.

Benson is expected to be one of the top five picks and could be taken first overall, but just being selected will be huge for any of these boys.

Other names of interest around the area are Blaine Thomson of Assiniboia who played in Notre Dame, Ryan Murray of White City who played Pee Wee Hockey in Weyburn, Codi Sjostrand of Midale and Brandon McClarty of Ceylon.

Best of luck to all of the boys in the draft.

- Troy K

So long Weyburn

I will be leaving my position at Weyburn This Week as reporter/photographer but will still continue to be writing for the Weyburn Red Wings as much as I can next season.

My last day in Weyburn will be May 31 before heading to Moose Jaw. I still don’t officially have a job as of yet but there are plenty of them in the works, I am just waiting to see who gets back to me first!

If anyone is interested in taking over my position at Weyburn This Week you can contact Teresa Howie at 634-5112. If there are any questions regarding the job you can email me at troy_kramm@yahoo.com

- Troy K

The sweep is complete

The Humboldt Broncos made it look easy last night as they finished off Portage by a score of 5-0. The Broncos special teams once again were unstoppable as they scored four powerplay goals.

The first came at 5:28 in the opening period by Scott Schroeder. Then later in the period it was Matthew Kirzinger who scored on the powerplay to make it 2-0 after one period of play.

The Broncos added two more goals in the second and one in the third to finally make it 5-0.

Taylor Nelson picked up his second shutout in a row. He didn't have a busy night as he only had to stop 15 shots. Rintoul, Steven Schroeder and Nielsen all had three points in game four. Next for the Broncos is the RBC.

- Troy K

Bronco's prepare for the sweep

Well can the Broncos sweep the Portage Terriers? Tonight is the night that the Broncos do battle with the MJHL champs in game four. The Bronco’s have proven that they weren’t joking around after coming back from a 3-1 series deficit in the SJHL Finals versus Kindersley.

Humboldt took game one by a score of 5-3 despite being down by a score of 3-1 early in the third period. The Broncos answered with 4 straight goals in the third to steal the win. Schindel and Benjamin both picked up three points in the first game.

Game two was much closer as neither team could pull away from each other as they traded goals throughout the game. The turning point was the special team play of the Broncos who scored four powerplay goals and outshot the Terriers 54-22.

Following two victories on home ice, the Broncos then had to travel to Portage for game three. This time it was Taylor Nelson’s time to shine as he picked up a 30 save shutout in the 3-0 victory. The first and only goal the Broncos would need came at 11:48 of the second period on a shorthanded goal by Steven Schroeder. Tanner Vandesype and Matthew Kirzinger then added two more goals to put the game out of reach.

The Broncos will try and sweep the Terriers tonight to bring the SJHL’s total Anavet Cup victories to 28 compared to the 10 for MJHL teams.

- Troy K

Broncos repeat as Credential Cup Champs!

The Humboldt Broncos capped off their incredible SJHL season tonight with a game seven victory over the Kindersley Klippers.

The Klippers gave the CJAHL’s number one ranked team a scare as they once held a 3-1 series lead. Unfortunately for them they just couldn’t finish the Broncos off. The defending Credential Cup Champs were just too strong for the Klippers in the end.

Humboldt opened the scoring with a powerplay goal by Brady Wacker at just 2:17 into the period. They grabbed a two goal lead with under a minute to go in the first as Steven Schroeder fired the puck past Klippers goalie Ryan Nieszner who faced 17 shots in the first period alone, while the Broncos defence held Kindersley to just five shots in the first.

The Broncos began to dash all hopes of a Klippers comeback in the second period as they grabbed a three goal lead at 4:16. Jordan Schindel scored with the assists going to Laurent Benajmin and Radville native, Tanner Vandesype. Despite being down, the Klippers still showed some fight and got on the board at 16:15 on a goal by Kirk Pearce. Nearly 30 seconds later though, the Broncos regained their three goal lead on a goal by Josh Garneau. Then just as the period was expiring, Brett Leedahl scored for the Klippers to cut the lead in half with just one period remaining.

The Broncos padded their lead early on in the third on a goal by Brayden Klimosko at 4:37 with the assists going to the Schroeder boys who had a heck of a night. Scott picked up a goal and two assists while Steven had a goal and three assists. The Broncos went on to add three more goals(2 empty net goals) to win the game by a score of 8-2.

The Broncos certainly looked like the team that everyone was expecting to see throughout the entire series and they couldn't have picked a better time to put plenty of pucks in the net. Congrats to the Broncos for winning their second straight Credential Cup and you have to give credit to the Kindersley Klippers who gave them all they could handle.

- Troy K

Game 7!!!

The Broncos fought back to force game seven and now we really see what they are made of. Not many gave the Klippers a chance in this series, including myself. I said Humboldt would win in five but now that the Broncos have fought back I think the Klippers are done.

The Klippers couldn't finish them off and now it looks like they are finished.

Prediction time..... I say Humboldt wins game seven by a score of 4-1.

I guess we will know who takes home the Cup tomorrow.

- Troy K

Haines headed to Lake Superior State University

The Weyburn Red Wings have announced SJHL Defenseman of the Year finalist Kyle Haines has accepted a scholarship to Lake Superior State University.

The 1987 born Haines joins fellow Wing defenseman Stephen Simms as a Freshman at LSSU at a school that also used a number of other former SJHLers last season. Chad Nehring (Yorkton), Troy Schwab (Kindersley),

Josh Sim (Kindersley), Dillin Stonehouse (Melfort), and Tyson Hobbins (Nipawin) were members of the Lakers this past season.
Haines, who played for Canada West at the World Junior ‘A’ Hockey Challenge in November 2006. A native of Weyburn, Haines had 4-goals and 23-assists in 57-games this past season. For his three year career, Haines played 145-games and scored 13-goals and 47-assists.


2008-09 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE: Taylor Nelson (Humboldt) Ferris State; Jordie Johnston (La Ronge) Ferris State; Riley Clark (Melfort) RIT; Tommy Brown (Melfort) Michigan Tech for 09-10; Rylan Schwartz (Notre Dame) Colorado College; Stephen Simms (Weyburn) Lake Superior State; Kyle Haines (Weyburn) Lake Superior State; Luke Johnson (Weyburn) Nebraska-Omaha for 09-10; and Michael Trebish (Yorkton) Ferris State.

We will have comments from Kyle Haines regarding the signing tomorrow on www.weyburnredwings.ca


- Troy K

Men's Night is Cancelled!

The Weyburn Red Wings regret to inform you that the Men's Night planned for Friday, April 11 has been cancelled due to the low number of tickets sold.

The timing of the event didn't seem to work out for many. This weekend has an abundance of events going on such as the Youngfellows TV Auction and the Big Bros/Big Sisters Bowl For Kids Sake.

- Troy K

Humboldt gets back in the series with 4-2 win

Things looked a little sketchy for the Broncos as they fell behind by a score of 2-0 in the second period on goals by Kirk Pearce. The Broncos finally woke up at 16:02 of the period when Matt Kirzinger scored Humboldt's first goal of the night.

With the score 2-1 with one period to play the Broncos came out firing in the third (literally). The shots where 17-4 in the period for the Broncos and it paid off as they scored three unanswered goals to win the game by a score of 4-2.

Scoring for the Broncos was Voldy Dashko, Laurent Benjamin and Matt Kirzinger with his second of the night. The Broncos defence held the Klippers to just 17 shots all night.

The Klippers lead the series 2-1 with the next game going on April 10 in Kindersley.

- Troy K

Hockeyville title goes to Quebec

Booooooo Quebec!!!!

* courtesy of cbc.ca/hockeyville

It’s official; 2008 goes down in hockey history as the most successful year for Kraft Hockeyville to date. Thanks to all the spirited communities who participated and the passionate hockey fans who voted. Kraft Hockeyville owes its outstanding success to your dedicated involvement.

The battle for the Kraft Hockeyville 2008 title was a fierce one. Each community displayed exceptional spirit, originality and passion for hockey but only one can be named Kraft Hockeyville 2008.

This year, the title goes to Village sur Glace de Roberval, Quebec!

As the ultimate hockey community, Village sur Glace de Roberval wins the prestige that comes with the title of Kraft Hockeyville 2008. They’re also awarded:

$100,000 from Kraft to upgrade their home arena
An NHL® pre-season game hosted in the arena*
A CBC Hockey Night in Canada broadcast special from their community
The four remaining finalists win $20,000 from Kraft to upgrade their home arenas and they have already received a CBC Hockey Night in Canada broadcast from their community.

Final voting results from KRAFT HOCKEYVILLE 2008 have once again shattered all previous records receiving a total of 5,542,716 votes. The final voting results are as follows (telephone and online):

Roberval, Quebec 2,198,665
Kingsville, Ontario 1,491,787
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland 959,312
Pilot Mound, Manitoba 558,322
Wilcox, Saskatchewan 334,630

2008 Kraft Hockeyville to be announced tonight!

On Tuesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. local, Ron MacLean sets the stage for the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Playoff Preview 2008, a one-hour, comprehensive playoff preview special. Scotty Bowman, the winningest coach in NHL history, and Kelly Hrudey will join MacLean in studio at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto to breakdown all eight playoff series and provide detailed analysis. The grand prize winner of Kraft Hockeyville 2008 will also be announced during the broadcast.

Tonight we all get to see if Wilcox can pull this thing off. Even if they don't win the title of Hockeyville, they sure made one heck of an effort.

I am looking forward to seeing the final votes in this round compared to the last round. I know they will blow those first 90,000 votes away.

Best of luck Wilcox!!

- Troy K

Non-Hockey related news

I know you have all heard about this but just wanted to share the story as Red Wing director Jerry Cugnet is quoted in this National Post story. As many of you know, the derailment occurred just southeast of Jerry's farmyard.


Three-train derailment sparks blaze in southern Sask.
Heather Polischuk, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, April 07, 2008


RALPH, Sask. -- Black smoke was visible for several kilometres Monday after a derailment in southeastern Saskatchewan that involved three Canadian Pacific Railway trains -- some of which contained potentially hazardous materials.


Weyburn Fire Department Chief Denis Pilon -- who took over command of the response effort shortly after the early morning derailment -- said operator error was believed to be behind the incident.


The derailment happened between the small Saskatchewan communities of Halbrite and Ralph -- about 150 kilometres southeast of Regina.


"One train had stopped to allow an oncoming train to pass on the siding," Pilon said.


"There was a third train coming up behind at the stop point, and they misjudged their distance and hit the back of that train as the second one was passing.


"So it derailed its cars and a few more cars went over with it from the passing train. So we have three trains involved in the accident, which makes it really difficult for us to know what, where, when, why and so on."


No one was seriously injured, although Pilon said some members of the train crews -- with two believed to have been on each train -- suffered some shock and were taken to hospital to get checked out.


No one else, including those in the nearby area, was reported injured.


An estimated six to eight cars jumped the tracks, he said, although a CPR spokesman put the number between 12 and 14.


One car initially caught fire and a grass fire broke out shortly after.


"It wasn't an immediate explosion," Pilon said.


"[The train crews] did see some liquid pouring out and then it ignited ... What's in it, we believe, is ethylene glycol, but there are some other cars that have liquid propane gas ... they could be dangerous, too."


Ethylene glycol's major use is for antifreeze.


RCMP have said some cars contained dinitrogen tetroxide -- which is used as a rocket propellant -- and nitric oxide, a naturally occurring gas found in smog. Both can be environmentally toxic.


Due to the nature of the materials on the train and the overall situation, Pilon said fire crews decided not to attempt to fight the fire.


"There are some cars in there that could explode, so our policy is not to risk life and limb over that," he said, adding that crews were prepared to be on the scene for at least 24 hours.


An estimated 10 to 20 people from a number of area farms within two kilometres downwind from the fire were forced to leave the area, while residents further out were advised to be ready to evacuate should the situation change.


"They've come and warned us that we could be out of here in 15 minutes to be evacuated," said Jerry Cugnet on Monday afternoon from his farm, about five kilometres from the site.


"But as long as they get me a good hotel room, I don't care."


CPR spokesman Mike Lovecchio said two train cars were believed to have caught fire -- the one containing antifreeze, and another carrying vinyl acetate, which is used in wood glue and to make hoses.


The car carrying vinyl acetate and a third car near the fire that had previously been carrying butane were both empty at the time of the derailment.


However, Lovecchio said it is possible some residual fumes are present in them.


Highway traffic had to be rerouted around the location.


The Transportation Safety Board was expected to investigate.

The fire was still burning Monday night.

Regina Leader-Post

- Brad M.