MEET THE CAPTAINS - SHAEL HECHTER

Hello folks, with the Flyers off the ice until the 29th of January it give us some time to give you the next installment of the Meet The Captains series. This time we will look at 20 year old forward and Assistant Captain Shael Hechter.

Shael Te Nelson Hechter was born on November 17th, 1989 in Winnipeg. He is one of six kids born to parents Frank and Sue. He has three older brothers, Richard, Josh, and Chapin, as well as an older sister named Ilana. He also has a younger brother named Drake.

Shael grew up in Winnipeg with his family and says he grew up idolizing his brother Josh who is his hockey inspiration. Josh played in the BCHL for the Quesnel Millionaires and the Prince George Spruce Kings. He then went on to play college hockey where he averaged well over a point per game with St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH.

Shael would love to follow in his brothers footsteps and get a Division 1 scholarship and continue his hockey and academic career.

His advice to young hockey players would be to work hard, take in as much as you can, and most of all have no regrets.

There is one thing that most people don’t know about this Assistant Captain. He has two webbed toes on each foot.
In his first season with the Flyers this sniper has proven to be an effective goal scorer and energetic player. Here's hoping that it can continue down the stretch run.


We have one more installment to go in this series. Next time we will profile Assistant Captain Jordan Peters.

Don’t forget folks that MJHL All-Star weekend goes this Friday and Saturday in Winkler. Go to http://www.winklerflyers.com/ for all the information. The Flyers don’t play again until the 29th of January when they host the Winnipeg Saints.

Until then….have a good one!!!

DEADLINE THOUGHTS AND WORLD JUNIORS

Thank you all for your participation on my last post. The intent of this blog it to give you the chance to discuss and talk about the team in a constructive manner. I know that not everyone will always agree and that is ok. No matter what side of the fence you are on, one thing is tremendously clear…we all care.

As we all know the MJHL trading deadline passed at midnight on Sunday night and in my opinion, the Flyers are a better team after the deadline then they were before. This year was very different when you compare it to other years. Usually the brain trust of the team is huddled in the office burning the midnight oil and drinking cold Tim Horton’s coffee right up until the stroke of midnight. That was not the case this year.

After the December 1st roster cut down deadline the Flyers had 21 players on the roster and 4 available cards in which to fill before yesterday’s trading deadline. They added Matt Loopkey right after the Christmas break. They traded Caleb Suderman to Neepawa for T.J. Ahvenniemi and Graham Fast last week and then added Erik Soderlund early yesterday evening. So the trading was spread around a little bit and a little less stressful then waiting for the 11th hour.

Losing a guy of Suderman’s caliber is tough, but we have already seen that the guys the Flyers got in return are no slouches either. In his first 2 games, Fast has 5 points, Ahvenniemi has proven to be a great skater, a good puck moving guy, and has the ability to stir it up a bit in the corners. Loopkey seems to be up to his old ways that made him co-rookie of the year last year with the Flyers. And all I know about Soderlund is that he is huge. He was playing on a very, very deep team in Vernon. The Vipers are arguably one of the best teams in the country and are obviously loaded for a run this year. That sometimes leaves good players without a place to play and I think that is one of the reasons that the Flyers were able to get him. If he is as advertized then the Flyers blue line will be a little scarey once Jordan Peters and Troy Kliever come back from injury.

After looking and what the rest of the teams in the Addison Division did at the deadline there is no reason to believe that the Flyers can’t come out of their division this season.

As promised before I had the opportunity to head back to the Promised Land (Saskatchewan) over the Christmas break and got to take in some of the World Junior Hockey Championship in Saskatoon. Back in 1990 when the tourny was in Saskatoon my dad bought two tournament passes. He went to every game and me and my brother got to alternate. Just so happened that I got to go to the opening ceremonies and the final game where Canada beat Russia for the gold. It was interesting to sit there (this time) and wonder which of these players were going to go on and be superstars, cause last time I was at the tournament Trevor Kidd, Eric Lindros, and Pavel Bure were on the ice. I got to go behind the scenes thanks to my brother-in-law who was one of the in-house camera operators and needed an “assistant”. So I volunteered. Being an assistant camera operator if a very hard job. It involves many hours of….ah who am I kidding. I just got to sit there and watch the game haha. I worked one game and watched Canada beat Switzerland 6-0 on December 28th. Here are a few of my pics. And a big thank you to Josh. You are my favorite brother-in-law on the Friesen side of the family.
p.s. (he is the only one)

JAMES DUTHIE AND BOB MCKENZIE JUST WATCHING THE GAME

WHAT A NICE SMILE! (i think he is thinking of jennifer hedger)

BOB DEEP IN THOUGHT

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE TSN DESK

HAHA BOB IS HUNGRY

RIGHT BESIDE MY SEAT
(this is the reverse isolation shot camera, he has a list of players that he has to follow for isolation shots. he doesn't get to watch the game itself...just follows a single player around the whole time....kinda neat)

GIGANTIC CANADA FLAG BEFORE THE GAME STARTED

GORD MILLER AND "MONSTER" PIERRE MCGUIRE

ST. MALO NATIVE AND FORMER WINNIPEG SAINT TRAVIS HAMONIC (it was quit something seeing a guy who i used to see everyday doing flyers games play that the world juniors) READY FOR THE OPENING FACEOFF 6-0 WIN OVER THE SWISSJORDAN EBERLE WAS THE PLAYER OF THE GAME (i think the Flyers were in the running to get him at the trading deadline but just missed...i wish) AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST HERE IS JOSH...THANKS BUDDY

A FALLEN LEADER

Happy New Year folks. So as some of you may have heard I had the opportunity to check out the World Junior Hockey Championship in Saskatoon over the Christmas break. I got a behind the scenes look while working as an assistant camera operator thanks to a certain inside connection (my brother in law). I was going to talk about that and show you some pictures and video but I think I will wait until next week because I think there is a more pressing issue to talk about.

Those of you who came to the New Years Eve game against Steinbach will have noticed no Caleb Suderman on the Flyers blue line. Caleb is one of the most talented defenseman that I have ever seen. He can be chalked up as one of the best offensive d-men in the league and also one of the top defensive d-men, and to be in both categories is a very difficult task. He gets prime minutes, powerplay, penalty kill, 5 on 5, he’s an assistant captain, a leader on the team, a Winkler kid playing on his home town team, he’s close to family and friends, good access to scouts, and it is for all of those reasons and more that it boggles my mind that a guy who has just a few months left in his junior career would ask to be traded….anywhere!

I don’t know if it’s just me or what but the idea of leaving your team and sitting at home waiting for a trade is something that is a huge problem with junior hockey today and something that I just don’t understand. The exact reasons as to how and why he came to this decision I don’t know exactly, I would have to just piece certain facts together and guess…so I won’t. I will leave it up to him to answer that question if he wants to.

When talking with some of the players yesterday about this situation they seem to not fully understand it. Why would a person who is a leader on their team, an assistant captain, a person who should be there for the team in good and bad, decide that he doesn’t want to be on the team anymore. It seems that one of their leaders has turned his back to them.

This decision leaves everyone in a situation that they don’t want to be in. The Flyers now have to trade a local player that in a perfect world they would NEVER trade but now have no choice. They have to replace one of the top players in the league (which is dang hard to do). It never looks good when any team trades away a player that is from that community but let me assure you that this is not a choice that the Flyers made. It is a choice that Caleb Suderman made.

I just hope for his sake that he is sure that he is making the right decision. I just hope that he gets what he is looking for with this decision. It’s just weird that being a Flyer for the past two and a half seasons it is only now…with 3-4 months left in his junior hockey career that he can’t take it anymore.

Anyway, on a positive note forward Matt Loopkey (above and below) will be re-joining the team this weekend and that is great news. Loopkey is one of those bring your lunch pail and hard hat and get to work kind of players. He amassed 31 points in 45 games played as a rookie last season with the Flyers. He will be a welcome addition to the Flyers line-up. He was playing lacrosse in Kentucky this season on a scholarship and is very excited to be back with the Flyers organization.

So now the work of getting the roster set before the January 10th trading deadline gets a little harder as they now have to find a all-star caliber defenseman, and those as we all know don’t grow on trees.

Remember that this is my opinion and I would love to hear yours so please comment…

A LOOK BACK AND A LOOK AHEAD

The Christmas break is upon us and it gives me time to look back at the first half of the season for the Winkler Flyers. The first 42 games of the season have been a grind. It has been a tough year so far for a variety of reasons. And when I say tough I don’t been bad, it’s just been tough.

One of the reasons is that of the 42 games that the Flyers have played so far this season, 24 of them have been on the road. The longest trips of the year to OCN, Swan Valley, and Dauphin are all done. The other team’s rink hasn’t been the most friendly place to play this season. The Flyers are 9-13-1-1 on the road with the bulk of those loses coming in the first two months of the season.

The other reason for the tough start was the injuries, especially to All-Star defenseman Caleb Suderman. He was in and out of the line-up to start the season after getting injured in pre-season. His permanent return midway through the first half of the season is one of the big reasons for the turnout to start the month of November.

The coaching staff also decided to move Jordan Peters back to defense just before Suderman’s return and since then the local pairing has been one, of if not the best D pairing in the league. The more then solid play of Peter Alexander in goal has been a huge bonus this season. He sports some of the best numbers among MJHL netminders with a 17-12-2 record with one shutout. A 3.16 GAA and a .916 save percentage. He has been the difference in a number of games between winning and losing and the tandum of him and Carey Dyck should give us little reason to worry the rest of the way.

All of those things combined and also a few key additions along the way have made the Flyers a completely different team from Nov. 1st on, and it shows in their record. Winkler started the season 8-12-2 and since their Halloween road trip to Swan Valley are 13-5-2.

The Flyers have proven that IF and WHEN they give it their all and play a 60 minute hockey game (or close enough) they can beat anybody. However, if that doesn’t happen they can lose to anybody. The goal and the challenge for the team and the coaches is to figure out how to do that game in and game out.

A few things are on the side of the Flyers coming into the New Year. 13 of the remaining 20 games are at home where they have a remarkable 12-4-2 record. 8 of those games are against sub .500 teams and 7 of them are against Sherwood Division teams so they don’t matter so much in the standings.

Now the January 10th trading deadline is coming up soon after the players return from their Christmas break where teams will finalize their 23 player rosters that they will take into the remainder of the season and playoffs.

As well as things are going for Winkler at the moment there are still some areas of concern. They are not tremendously deep on the blue line. We have seen when the big guys go down there is a bit of a drop off. And I know that big, puck moving defensemen don’t grow on trees but I would say that is the first area to try and improve.

Second is to try and find a legit top 6 forward or maybe even top 3 that can score. Someone who strikes fear into their opponent. Having a player like that will also open up opportunities for others to flourish with being not so much in the spot light or on the other teams radar so much. And the other thing is some toughness. Not necessarily a big idiot fighter but someone who stirs it up and is mean and a little “grey area” once in a while.

If you take a look at the Flyers roster in terms of the quality of the 20 year olds and the way the division is set up this season THIS is the year to make a push. Remember, these suggestions are just my opinion but if you want to get a top notch player you need to be willing to give something in return. I know and realize that is the worst part of the job for the decision makers but winning here and now is the bottom line.

The Orange and Black have 21 players on the roster right now which gives them 4 open cards. So if they use all 4 cards they will need to get rid of 2 players somewhere is the shuffle. Let me know in the comment section what you think should happen.

Recently, the Flyers have not been known as the team that pulls off the big deals, where people around the league and not just within the organization say “WOW, look at what Winkler just did”.

I hope that is the case this year.

Merry Christmas folks and we will talk again soon…

p.s.

just for fun here are some pics that Ray Peters (one of the team photographers) took of me while the Flyers were playing in Neepawa this month and the Flyers took 3 penalties in a row which would explain some of my facial expressions. It is also VERY cold in that arena which would explain the hat....enjoy!!

MEET THE CAPTAINS - CAM STEVENS

Welcome to the 2nd installment of Meet The Captains. A number of weeks ago you got to know Captain Troy Kliever just a little bit better. This time I will focus on assistant captain Cam Stevens.

Cameron Lloyd Stevens (aka Cat) was born May 23rd, 1989 in the City of Brandon. Cam has three sisters, Amanda, Jacquie, and Melody. Cam just became an uncle for the first time recently as Amanda and her husband Tristin celebrated the birth of the daughter Ellie.

Cam has lived in the same house in Brandon his whole life with his mom and dad (Debbie and Kevin). Cam’s inspiration in hockey is his dad. He says that his dad has always been there for him and is his biggest fan and critic.

Cam played his minor hockey in Brandon and left home when he was 17 years old to play for the Chilliwack Bruins (WHL). Cam also played for the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Tri-City Americans before returning to Winkler full time this season.

When Cam’s junior hockey career comes to an end after this season he wants to go to school. He has three years of schooling saved up from his three seasons in the WHL. His favorite subjects in high school were History and Social Studies.

Cam’s advice to other young hockey players is that if you want to succeed you have to give it your all every chance that you get. Do all the thing that will help you get better. Get in the gym!

There is also one thing about Cam that you may not know. He is a huge fan of the movie Ratatouille. He even has a figure of Remy (the main mouse in the movie) as his key chain.

ROSTER DEADLINE THOUGHTS

The December 1st roster cut down deadline has come and gone for all Junior A teams in Canada. The deadline forces all teams to get their rosters down to 25 while at the same time leaving as many cards as they can open in order to make some moves down the road before the January trading deadline.

If you haven’t heard already the Flyers lost four players and got two. Gone are Forwards Brett Suderman and Joe Becker, Defenseman Mitch Lutz, and Goaltender Michael Deslauriers. The additions are Forward Anthony Collins and Goaltender Carey Dyck. The trade for Dyck has made the most immediate impact with the injury to Peter Alexander and Dyck has proven to be a great addition to the Flyers crease.

Deslauriers, Becker, and Lutz were all considered import players. An import player is one that did not play the previous year in the province of Manitoba. Each team is only allowed to have eight imports on their roster at any given time so the three gentlemen I mentioned before are just victims of the numbers game.

Suderman on the other hand is a different story. Flyer nation sure does love their local talent and anytime one of them leaves the team it comes with mixed emotions. Brett was also a victim of the numbers game but in a different way. The Flyers now have 21 players on the roster and have four cards open in which to add some impact players before the January deadline, so in that regard they are right where they want to be.

As the December 1st roster cut down deadline approached Brett was asked about the possibility of being assigned to the Pembina Valley Twisters of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League. Doing this would allow the Flyers to keep his rights while keeping an extra card open and still have the ability to AP him up to 10 times throughout the rest of the season. He would still practice with the Flyers and would be able to get the ice time that he was wanting with the Twisters.

After considering that plan Suderman decided that he would rather play for a different team in the MJHL. The Flyers then granted him that request by sending him to Neepawa for the MJHL rights to Anthony Collins.

There are some who will be put off by the fact that the Flyers traded a local kid but at the end of the day what are we trying to do here? Are we providing a place for each and every local kid to play hockey or are we trying to win. By saying that I don’t mean that we can’t win by having local players I am just saying that sometimes you need to do things like this in order to improve your hockey club.

As of 12:01am on December the 2nd are the Flyers a better team and in a great position to get even better? Yes. Is Brett Suderman getting the chance to play more and produce more with Neepawa? Yes.

The window for opportunity for the Flyers is small. The crop of 20 year olds is better then it has been in many years. This is the year to go for it and sacrificing some of the future for the present is what they have to do. Making decisions like this are not made on a whim. There are a number of things that they take into consideration like how it affects the team on the ice and in the room. They also think of how it will affect their fans and the community.

Flyer fans have been screaming for a winner for many, many years and the people in charge are trying to make that happen. Sometimes in hockey you need to take feelings and personal things out of the equation and do what’s best for the whole.

I am glad truly glad for Brett that he will now get the opportunity to play more. He added that spark every once in a while that will hopefully be filled by someone else (see above picture). I wish him all the best in Neepawa. It is hard to say goodbye sometimes but its part of the business or sport.

Remember this is just my opinion. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think...

HAVING FUN

Hockey is a game!

I think all too often the word “fun” is the most forgotten word in most hockey people’s vocabulary. So much emphasis is put on winning, stats, revenue, systems, match-ups, line combinations, and all kinds of other things that exist in the game of hockey. But what really is the bottom line at the end of the day or at the end of our lives for that matter is how are we going to judge ourselves on how successful things have been for us.

When this season comes to an end some time in spring are we going to look back at all the pressure that the Flyers are under to win and be successful and some of the missed chances or roster moves that could have or should have been made. We will look on them either in a positive or negative light, depending on how the season turns out.

Something that I think has become lost in this game is the question of “did we have fun”. This isn’t just talking about the Flyers but with any team in any sport. For the people who are lucky enough to make hockey a career it can be a little tough with all the business side of thinks tending to be a little consuming at times.

Use Winkler’s own Dustin Penner as an example. A number of years ago he signed with the Edmonton Oilers for over $4.25 million dollars a year after just winning the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks where he made somewhere in the neighbourhood of $400,000 per season. His first couple seasons as an Oiler were not that great and I’m sure if you asked him if he was having fun he wouldn’t say yes.

Watching the Flyers play the Waywayseecappo Wolverines tonight it was evident for the first time in a long time that they were having fun. For at least 60 minutes all the pressure from the coaches, executive, the community, the scouts, and all the other people weighing down on the 23 players on the Flyers roster seemed to be gone. For whatever reason it looked like a bunch of friends getting together on the backyard rink and just having a good time. Now that tends to happen when you are winning which the Flyers have been doing lately but I think winning and fun go hand in hand.

There is so much riding on these people to perform. Not just the players, but the coaches too. The players have scholarship opportunities on the line, the coaches have their jobs are on the line. Everyone is just one wrong move or one back stretch from being gone. So with that being said the only thing that each individual can control is how they handle themselves and how much fun they have. Cause at the end of the day hockey is a game…..and games are supposed to be fun.

please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.