January/February Carillon Sports Year in Review

WORLD JUNIORS FEATURE EASTMAN TALENT

Denton Mateychuk and Canada’s run at the World Junior Hockey Championships came to a surprising end, when they were defeated by Czechia in the quarterfinals, thanks to a devastating late goal.

The Dominion City product and NHL first-round draft pick finished the tournament with four points in five games played and was named one of Canada’s top three players at the tournament.

“Unfortunately, when you get into these games it’s a game of inches,” Canada’s head coach Alan Letang said after the Czechia loss.

“We talked about it and the inch went the wrong way this time around. This group handled adversity, they’ve been amazing all around and they’ll continue to be high character young men.”

PICKERING EARNS BRONZE AT U18s

Czechia made a habit of spoiling Eastman attempts at international glory, as Canada was defeated by the Eastern European country in the U18 Women’s Championship, featuring St Adolphe’s Avery Pickering as well.

Pickering was the only college player to suit up for Canada after she graduated high school a year early and started playing for Colgate University. Despite her age, she still played big minutes for Greg Fargo’s squad.

“She loves to play a puck possession-style game,” Fargo said before the tournament.

“She’s a modern-day defenceman. She can attack down off the blue line in the offensive zone… I think it speaks volumes for her, because sometimes we’ve seen defenceman come in and it takes a couple of years for them to truly get comfortable.”

NIGHTHAWKS FIRE CECH

The Niverville Nighthawks made a rare late-season coaching change, letting their first-ever general manager and head coach, Kelvin Cech, go after a long losing streak to start the calendar year. The Nighthawks were still holding onto a playoff spot when Cech was fired.

Club president Clarence Braun said letting go of Cech was completely motivated by the team’s play on the ice.

“We just saw the trend was not going in the right direction for us, and felt like we needed to make a change to re-gain some momentum,” Braun said.

“Every coach that comes in brings in their strengths, and (Cech) was a great leader in terms of systems and that kind of thing and we really appreciate what he brought to the Nighthawks. We felt going forward we needed to move in a different direction.”

The team turned to Dwight Hirst as the interim head coach, hiring the Lac du Bonnet product on permanently in the summer.

CAMERON CAPS MEMORABLE SEASON WITH SCOTTIES BRONZE

Team Kate Cameron, skipped by the New Bothwell resident turned heads with a strong performance at this year’s Scotties championship.

Cameron nabbed a wild card berth after a strong performance at the Manitoba provincial championships. She transitioned from playing as a third to forming her own team last year, leading a group of younger players to early success, as they aim to represent Canada at the upcoming Olympics.

“I think if I was able to have this kind of success when I was their age, I think it would have shaped me to be a better curler than I am today,” Cameron said, noting the other elite teams and skips didn’t find success right away either.

“I think there’s stepping stones along the way, and I think we’re fortunate to be on the right track for that.”

In the Scotties semi-final, a disastrous first end where she conceded five to Jennifer Jones doomed any chances of the run continuing. Cameron and the team returned to New Bothwell for a celebration in their honour after the event.

PILOTS VOLLEYBALL LOSE OUT ON PERFECT SEASON

The Providence Pilots women’s volleyball team came as close as you could possibly get to winning a championship.

When a ball hit the floor in the fourth set on match point, the head referee initially pointed Providence’s way, before reversing his decision as the team poured out from the bench onto the floor.

Head coach Kyle Guenther said it was “almost impossible” to recover from thinking the team had won the match. The Pilots went on to lose the fifth and decisive set 15-13.

“We won, there was no touch on the block, there was no touch on the net,” Guenther said after the match Feb. 25.

“It was really hard to keep the emotions in check and come back from that.”

In the men’s final, Providence defeated the higher-ranked CMU in the final, clinching a spot at the Canadian College Athletic Association’s national championships. The Pilots will be hosting the men’s championship later this season.

In Basketball, the women’s team enjoyed a strong season, picking up a Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and a Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference championship.