Staff
Izzy Smith will get to carve up some ice on a national stage.
The local defenceman was selected this past week to Team Ontario for the 2017 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship.
The event will take place May 1-6 in Lake Cowichan, B.C.
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The date is now set for some unprecedented dragon boat fun in Fort Frances.
It was announced the FMG Ice Dragons event will take place Feb. 19 on Rainy Lake.
The festival is one of four currently held in North America, with the other host sites being Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon.
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The Fort Frances Minor Hockey Association is ahead of the curve when it comes to introducing the youngest age group to Canada’s national pastime.
Hockey Canada stated in a press release this past week it is mandating all minor hockey associations to offer age-appropriate programming to IP players by adopting cross-ice or half-ice formats for their practice sessions.
“You would never put a five- or six-year-old child on a full-size soccer pitch, or expect them to play basketball without any adjustments made for their size,” said Paul Carson, vice-president of membership development for Hockey Canada.
“Hockey is no different.
“Re-sizing the playing surface to cross-ice or half-ice means more puck-touches, which result in more chances to practice puck-control and shooting, as well as overall more movement and motor skill-development–twisting, turning, balance, co-ordination, agility,” Carson added.
“Their field of play matches their size, and these players hone in on their skill development in a way that larger ice surfaces just aren’t conducive to,” he reasoned.
The FFMHA already has implemented the half-ice philosophy and, at their IP Jamboree this season, had teams play all their games between the bluelines.
Barriers were laid down around the perimeter of the playing area to help speed up play and keep the action going.
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The last major district hockey tournament of the season takes place this weekend at “The Duke” (Couchiching Arena).
Several age division championships will be on the line at the Chuck McPherson Memorial Tournament.
Action gets underway Friday, with the finals set for Sunday.
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The Rainy River District Athletic Association kicks off its Grade 8 basketball campaign with a pair of tournaments Saturday.
Robert Moore School will host the girls’ tourney while the boys will play at Crossroads School in Devlin.
The girls also will have a tournament April 22 at Fort High, with the boys playing that same day at Robert Moore.
The regional championships for both boys and girls will be held April 29 at Fort High.
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Fort Frances native Mary Strain was chosen as the female athlete of the year at Cambrian College in Sudbury last week.
Strain had a banner cross-country running season for the school–winning the gold medal at the provincial championship and then a silver at the national meet.
She also set two course records during the OCAA competition.
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The CCM/ECHL Goaltender of the Week is a well-known face to people around here.
Ryan Faragher earned the honour for the third time in his career after posting a 1-1 record and a 2.05 GAA, to go along with a .947 save percentage, in three appearances for the Utah Grizzlies last week.
He had 28 saves in a 5-3 loss to the Colorado Eagles, stopped all 21 Eagles’ shots coming on in relief to pick up a 5-2 win, then saved 41 pucks in a 4-1 victory against Colorado.
Faragher is 17-15-2-2 this season, with a 3.09 GAA and a .899 save percentage. He also has two shutouts.
