A former Glace Bay Minor Hockey graduate by the name of Logan Shaw, received a major boost of confidence last weekend during the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Entry Draft  hosted @ Centre 200, when he was scooped up  by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles as their first round draft pick, 12th overall.   

During Logan's minor hockey years with our association he prominently displayed an early natural talent for the sport. Throughout many years of dedication, he earned solid respect from his team mates and opponents alike for his skill sets which were progressing at every competitive age level. In his final season with GBMHA, the all-star right winger helped lead our Miners to a 2006-07 Cape Breton Island Bantam AAA Championship, while co-sharing top honors for the elite scoring title that season.

This past 2007-08 hockey season, he suited up for the Cape Breton Tradesmen and competed in the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League.  After adjusting to rookie challenges such as speed transition in the first half season, Shaw settled in nicely and polished off the second half with a stellar performance, finishing the campaign with 17 goals and adding 22 assists for a total of 39 points.  In their playoff run, Logan notched 3 goals and chipped in with 9 helpers during his team’s  10 game post-season stretch.  Ultimately, this level of production didn’t go unnoticed, as the hard working forward was selected for the NS Major Midget Hockey League’s prestigious 2007-08 “Rookie of the Year Award”.

This news and type of recognition would help reinforce Shaw’s draft entry ranking in the 2nd round, 31st overall heading into the Draft Weekend. No one including Logan, would expect what was about to happen in the high-profiled 1^st round draft extravaganza. After the League’s 11^th pick, newly designated Eagle’s Captain, Chris Culligan took centre stage to make a surprise announcement…” the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are proud to select…from the Cape Breton Midget Tradesmen Logan Shaw “ as their pick.

Following the presentation Logan confessed “I really was surprised at being picked by the Eagles in the 1st round. I was quite nervous going into the day and was so excited when I was selected that I didn't really hear anything going on in the building. My heart was pounding and to be on stage with Chris Culligan, Ouellette and Sheppard was an honor”.  Following the centre stage drama we asked Logan what this meant to him “It has been a lot of work but I know the real work is just beginning, I will try my best to be ready for training camp'.  Shaw who is about to embark on a new level of hockey development reflected for a moment “I really want to thank Glace Bay Minor Hockey for the years I have spent there, it is where it all begins and the support I have received was great”.  

 In return, our minor hockey association along with the many Glace Bay supporters would like to wish Logan all the best as he sets out on an all important next step in his hockey endeavor.  It is comforting to know that this young man, who is our newest hockey role-model, truly appreciates where he got started. 

 Logan is the son of Sandra & Gerard Shaw of Glace Bay and a brother to Tyler, who played defense for the Glace Bay High School Panthers the past two hockey seasons.

Pictured above in a photo supplied to us by the Cape Breton Post is L-R: former captain James Sheppard who now plays with the NHL Minnesota Wild, Logan Shaw and 2007-08 Eagle captain Dean Oullet. For additional up-dates QMJHL news, training camp up-dates and progress reports on Logan visit the website at: www.capebretoneagles.com

Congratulations to our Glace Bay Female Bantam Tier One hockey team for being named the 2007-08 Female Team of the Year.  The provincial award was announced May 31, 2008 at the Annual AGM Awards Banquet held at the World Trade Centre in Halifax. Assistant coach for the Miners, Carley Robson, attended the event and accepted the award on behalf of the Female Bantam Miner's team. 

Pictured above are the proud team members: Front Row L-R: Katherine Shaw, Anna Campbell, Danielle MacEachern, Meranda Tutty, Miranda McIsaac, Alex Ferguson. Back Row L-R: Assistant Coach – Roy McMillan, Manager – Shawn Tutty, Bobbi MacCormack, Nellie Edwards, Katie LeForte, Taylor McMillan, Candea Wadden, Kaitlyn Grace, Rebecca LeForte, Jennifer Cooke, Kaitlyn Eagles, Jessica MacDonald, Assistant Coach – Carley Robson, Coach – Barrie Campbell. Missing when photo taken: Danielle Arsenault (affiliate goalie).

Leading up to this prestigious hockey award, the Miners were crowned Female Bantam Tier One Champions as they won the Provincial title on their home ice @ the BAYplex back in March. When Miner’s head coach Barrie Campbell learned about their team’s selection he stated that he was very proud of what his team accomplished but was quick to point out that their success was a direct result of a full team effort including other coaching staff, team manager, parents and above all, a group of girls who dedicated the entire season to improve their individual hockey skills and team play. He stated that “they bought into our team motto…that you get what you put into it” and it produced results. Despite all the hard work they were still able to have a lot of fun during the year and in fact this reflects our team song “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”. 

Campbell, who also guided the Glace Bay Female Pee Wee Miners to a Provincial title during the 2006-07 season, stated that these accomplishments in female hockey is a reflection of the effort that is being put into female hockey development in our region, and feels that it will continue to improve in the future.

Coach Campbell was selected as Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association “Coach Of The Year” during our Association’s Awards Night earlier in April. 

For a list of other 2007-08 Hockey Nova Scotia awards visit: http://www.hockeynovascotia.ca/do

File photo

File Photo

File Photo

Congratulations to our Glace Bay Female Miners hockey team who recently placed second in the Nova Scotia Pee Wee Tier II Provincials last weekend in Antigonish. Our Miners finished in first place after  the tournament round-robin including an overtime victory against Pictou. In Sunday's title game both teams were all even 1-1 until Pictou scored the eventual game winner with 2:59 remaining in regulation and went on to a 3-1 final score to capture the Provincial Crown. Despite the loss, our Miner's team should be very proud of their success and accomplishment this season !. 

During the post-tournament awards ceremony "four" of our Miners picked up some well earned provincial tournament awards. Pictured in the front row left to right: Lauren Pasher - 1st All-Star Team and Top Defense; Corrinne Heffernan - Top Scorer and Tournament Most Valuable Player; Danielle Arseneau - 1st All-Star Team tie for Tournament Best Goaltender; Mikayla Courtney - 1st All-Star Team

Congratulations to our Glace Bay Bantam Female Miners who won the Provincial "Tier One" Provincial Championship in an exciting final game played at the BAYplex Sunday afternoon.  Pictured above are the team's players and coaches. L-R front row: Katelyn Eagles, Anna Campbell, Miranda Tutty, Danielle MacEachern, Katie LeForte, Kaitlyn Grace,Jennifer Cooke, Danielle Arsenault.
Middle row L-R: Alex Ferguson, Katherine Shaw, Candea Wadden, Taylor MacMillan,Meranda MacIsaac, Jessica McDonald, Rebecca LeForte.
Back: Roy Macmillan -Assistant Coach, Shawn Tutty - Manager, Nellie Edwards, Bobbi MacCormack, Carly Robson and Head Coach - Barrie Campbell.

Glace Bay went through the weekend tournament round-robin series with 3 wins and one loss, loosing to Halifax on Saturday by a score 7-3. On Sunday the Glace Bay team played three strong periods to shut down the undefeated Halifax team by an impressive 3-0 score. Scoring for the Miners in their title game were Katie Leforte with two markers while her sister Rebecca notched a single tally. Miner's goaltender Alex Ferguson earned the shutout.

Provincial Tournament All-Star Selections:
Goal - Kayla Gallagher - Colchester
Defense - Carly Critch - Dartmouth
Meranda Tutty - Glace Bay
Forward - Erika Pyke - Halifax
Courtney Lund - Halifax
Rebecca LeForte - Glace Bay

Individual Provincial Awards:
Best Goalie - Paige Farah - Halifax
Best Defense - Julianne Bruce - Dartmouth
Sportmanship - Katherine Shaw - Glace Bay
Top Scorer - Rebecca LeForte - Glace Bay and Courtney Lund - Halifax
Most valuable Player - Erika Pyke - Halifax
 

Female Provincial action @ BAYplex

File Photo 2007-08 NS Female Provincials @ BAYplex  

File Photo From 2007-08 Female Provincials @ BAYplex

Pictured above are some of the Novice age players participating in Glace Bay 8th Annual Novice Jamboree being staged at the BAYplex this weekend. Our host Glace Bay Association will be icing 6 teams while a total of 11 outside teams will participate from North Sydney, Cape Breton County, Sydney and New Waterford. In the fun Jamboree format each team will play three games.

The goal is for over 250 youngsters to enjoy a fun and positive hockey experience during the busy but fun-filled weekend. In addition to the exciting exhibition hockey games all the youngsters will be treated a Jamboree Banquet on Saturday at the BAYplex Community Hall.
Family and friends can drop by all weekend long to catch the youngsters playing their favorite winter sport. Games run Friday evening, all day Saturday and again on Sunday until 4pm. On Sunday two games will also be played at the Dominion Rink with games set for 2 and 3pm.

In the above photo a Glace Bay Flyer forward is seen trying to score a goal while three New Waterford Black Hawk's players defend their net. As an extra feature, after each game one player from each team will be randomly selected for the Game's Sportsmanship Award. Picking up awards in the opening game were Ryan Murphy of New Waterford and Noah MacAullay from Glace Bay. 

We wish the players, coaches and volunteers a fun weekend !

Our Glace Bay Miners are facing back-to-back early series deficits situations, but are optimistic they can manage the win they need against North Sydney in the third and deciding game to advance against the New Waterford Sharks for Cape Breton Zone Regional title.

Heading into the deciding semi final Cape Breton zone game in Glace Bay later this week our Miners lost their first game against Sydney and then rallied by outscoring their rivals 9-1 in the next two games to survive the series winner. After losing the first game against North Sydney 3-1 on home ice our Miners rallied in Sydney Mines by a 3-2 count to even the series one game apiece.

 Pictured in the above team photo L-R: Anthony MacGillivary, Dana Cathcart, Travis MacDonald, Anthony Wadden, Brent Kelloway.

'Front row standing L-R: Adam MacKenzie, Tyler Hopkins, Andy Huang, Breton MacEachern, Brett Gillis, Nathan MacDonald, Mark McLanders, Emma Brown, Ryan MacMullin, Jordan Breen, Jarret MacNeil, Steven Gouthro

Back Row standing: Art Gills – assistant coach, Dwight Brown – assistant coach, Darren MacDonald - trainer, and James Forsey – head coach.

For an exciting Pee Wee hockey semi-final come out and Support our Miners ! Game time to be announced !  

(Team Photo Submitted)

With Canada playing host to the IIHF World Hockey Championship this spring, Hockey Canada will be one of 41 countries participating in the International Skills Challenge which will take place in Quebec City May 2-4. 
 
Hockey Canada worked closely with the IIHF to develop the International Skills Challenge which is based on a series of five individual tests. The tests are being conducted with players (female and male players born in 1995,13 years old as of Dec 31, 2008 - Peewee age) who will have the opportunity to compare their skills not only regionally and nationwide, but also internationally to other countries and participants. Skater tests include: Weave - agility skate (with and without a puck); Transition - agility skate (with and without a puck); Shooting Accuracy (forehand only); Forward Speed Skate (with and without a puck). 
 
Hockey Nova Scotia has begun their efforts to identify two provincial representatives, one male and one female skater, who will join the Canadian Skills Team for the International Skills Challenge event. Following the set test guide, each association within the province had an opportunity to conduct individual Skills Challenge Tests among eligible players and have their scores submitted to Hockey Nova Scotia. Representing our Glace Bay Association is Mikayla Courtney of the Glace Bay Miners Pee Wee Female team and Partick Byrne of the Glace Bay Miners Pee Wee AAA hockey team. Both players (pictured above) have been invited to the final Nova Scotia Skills Challenge regional qualifier in New Glasgow on February 24, hoping to earn a top spot on the Canadian Skills Challenge Team representing Canada. 
 
If successful, participants representing Canada in the International Skills Challenge, will also take part in skills sessions and specialty clinics, attend 2008 IIHF World Championship games and will receive a jersey among other participation gifts. 
 
Best of Luck To Mikayla & Patrick !

Sydney Steelers picked up a solid road victory over their rival Glace Bay Miners during a competitive Bantam "B" League game recently played at the BAYplex. Pictured in the above game action photo Glace Bay's goaltender Cory MacVicar is seen defending his cage against a late game Steeler attack.

Fans can catch our Glace Bay Miners in action most Saturday afternoons at the Bayplex when they play their home games starting at 325pm. 

Glace Bay Female Bantam Miners skated to a 6-1 win over their rival Sydney Steelers in an exciting hockey contest played at the Bayplex. Pictured in the above game action photo Miner's forward Bobbi MacCormack is seen releasing a quick wrist shot that found the back of the net to help contribute to the team's scoring offense. 

Miners play their home games at the BAYplex most Sunday afternoons with game time slated for 1:30pm. 

Marc Bourgeois former graduate of our Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association was drafted in the 10th round of the 2007 QMJHL entry draft by the Lewiston Maineicas.  Lewiston just came off a successful season last year representing the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as they competed for the Memorial Cup.

 Glace Bay fans remember Marc when he played here as a determined, tenacious and skilled slick-skating forward. For him, it was a combination of these characteristics which led to his success in making the jump from Junior A last season to Major Junior this year. Marc states 'heading into my first camp I just wanted to concentrate on having a good camp and not worry about what spot I was drafted'. From day one since the draft, he followed a vigorous off-ice training regiment set up by Scott Gouthro (Screaming Eagles goaltender coach) and was accompanied by his former Glace Bay Minor hockey team-mate Jarred Struthers (who played in the 'Q' last year with Rouyn-Noranda Huskies). Because of this extra effort Marc was able to impress his new coaching staff with his level of conditioning. 'Once my conditioning caught their attention, I played my game of working very hard each and every shift doing what I had to do, with lots of other players vying for the few remaining openings' 

We contacted Lewiston Maineiac's head coach and GM, Ed Harding who commented ' All I can say is the Marc Bourgeois really wanted to make this hockey team and nothing was going to stop him. He played hard every shift. Marc needs more experience learning the game, but I like the way he battles and I believe he will be a very good Major Junior player.'

 The 5'-7', 176 pound rookie right winger stated 'when coach Ed Heading broke the news to me it took a bit for it to sink in after all the hard work and thinking back when I dreamt about playing in the league as a kid following the Screaming Eagles'. 
On a lighter side, Marc joked saying that he wasn't sure if it was more determination or confidence that made him pack his winter clothes when leaving his home town and heading to training camp several weeks ago ! 
 
In closing, Marc credits his mom & dad Cheryl & Fred Bourgeois & sister Caitlyn with many years of support as he pursued his hockey goals. He would like also to extend a 'special thanks' to everyone from Glace Bay Minor Hockey who helped him over the many years when he skated for the Miners. 
 
Good job Marc and all the Best from your many Glace Bay supporters ... see you @ Centre 200 on January 25, 2008 when you visit against Cape Breton Screaming Eagles !

Research has shown that youngsters should be encouraged to try out as many different types of sports whenever possible blending the mixed experiences of both individual and team competition. The key is which sports do they try and how do they balance their all important education with extra-curricular activities.
One shinning example is 14 year old Miner's defenseman Brett McKinnon who is a returning player in this his second year with Glace Bay Miner's which competes in the Cape Breton Bantam AAA Hockey League. As a rookie last season McKinnon was named to the League's Rookie Defense All-Star team, while helping his team capture the League's 2006-07 Championship. To kick-off this season, earlier in November Brett and his team-mates captured 2007-08 Cape Breton West Bantam AAA League opening tournament.

It's obvious that Brett truly enjoys the sport of hockey and is proud of his accomplishments to-date, however he modestly admits that he has other sports interests during his off-season, especially golf. The young athlete has been playing hockey and golf for about the same amount of time and sees the two sports as separate challenges. He views his contribution in hockey more as a "role player", while in the sport of golf he faces a much tougher "individual" challenge. Similarly, both sports bring a lot of personal enjoyment but also require a lot of targeted concentration and skill development.

Like on the ice, Brett has also experienced early success on the links. In 2006-07 Brett captured top spot in the Atlantics Bantam Division for the second straight year which placed him on the Provincial Midget Team. This past summer, he placed first in the Nike Junior Golfer Qualifier in Northumberland Links which earned him a spot in the Canadian Junior Golf playoff where he placed 5th in the National showcase. Just last month Brett was named Cape Breton's 2007 Junior Golfer of the Year by the Nova Scotia Golf Association for the second straight year.

 Although sports takes up a lot of McKinnon's spare time he appears determined never to allow these interests to interfere with his commitment to school. He realizes that getting a good education is fundamental at this early stage and views "sports as a hobby interest that should be enjoyed mostly as a spare time activity". As a grade nine student at St Michael's Junior High, he knows that good study habits are developed during his junior high years. So with this in mind, this year he enrolled in the Core French Program and is hoping to three-peat his Gold Honors Academic standing in  this his final year at the junior high level.

Leading by example, Miner's Bantam AAA team captain Brett McKinnon shows that success in sports/hobbies can be responsibly balanced with making education the real priority for the future.
Brett is the son of Wendy and Ian McKinnon and a brother to Rachel.

Congratulations to former Glace Bay Minor Hockey graduate Travis Turner who was selected for Player of the Week in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League twice so far this season. Below is a description of his original selection back on October 22/07 and then Glace Bay native earned the League Award again for the week of Novemebr 19, 2007!.  

The Sherwood Hockey Offensive Player of the Week is Travis Turner of the Amherst Ramblers. In the Ramblers two wins this weekend Turner scored 100% of his team’s regulation and overtime goals. Saturday night he earned first star status as he scored a power play goal early in the third period to tie the game and followed that up with a short handed goal midway through the period as the Ramblers eked out a 2-1 win over the visiting Antigonish Bulldogs. Sunday, in Truro, he scored his first goal with two seconds left in the second period to tie the game at 1-1 and then scored his second goal of the game with less than three minutes remaining in the third period to send the game into overtime. The Ramblers eventually won the game 3-2 in a shootout. Turner was selected by the Ramblers in the fifth round of the 2005 draft from the Cape Breton Tradesmen. The Glace Bay native is currently attending Mount Allison University and would like to pursue a career in education.

Pictured above are members of the Glace Bay Storm who defeated their cross-town rival Glace Bay Hound Dogs 3-1 to capture top-honours in an exciting Atom Metro League Christmas Tournament championship game recently played @ the BAYplex. The tournament Gold Medal winners sported an impressive 3-0-1 record in route to their victory. 

Front Row:  Goalies Jake MacPherson and Dylan Buchanan; Middle Row: Jamie Petite; Brady Buchanan; Kyle Kelland; Cory Blois; Abby Penney; Scott Clarke; Branden Dauphinee; Mitchell McMullin; Ty Higgins; Breton Talbot; Connor McIntosh; Matthew Rowe and Brooklyn Hennessey; Back Row: Asst Coach Chris Petite; Head Coach Joe Higgins; Asst Coach Brad Penney. Missing from photo  Asst. Coach Glen Talbot

(Submitted photo)

Season's Greetings and welcome to the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association ( GBMHA ) website. It's hard to believe that we're already at the mid point of the hockey season and that by now most teams are in mid-season shape and gearing up for the second half and playoffs. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

GBMHA was able to once again ice a full slate of teams in all divisions this season. After we got our coaches in place and the usual start-up wrinkles ironed out, things have been running pretty smoothly for the most part. We had a couple of firsts in the 2007-2008 season. For the first time we have a team registered in the Midget ' House ' division. This team coached by Curtis Billard and Bill Delaney is playing in the non-contact Bantam Metro league and they are trail blazers as a full compliment of teams from neighbouring associations is expected next season. The team is classified as Midget C which also makes them eligible to compete for a Provincial championship. Good luck team.

Another first this season is the fitness program being sponsored by GBMHA. We at GBMH believe that people of all ages have more fun and are generally more successful on and off the ice when they achieve a reasonable level of fitness. With that in mind we decided to try a fitness program as a pilot-project in an attempt to instil the benefits of fitness in our members. So far the response has been overwhelmingly favourable from the players and coaches. Our instructor, Bill Smith says that he is already seeing improvement in the overall fitness level of our members. Way to go guys and girls. Every one of your coaches will tell you that the more you put in to something the more you'll get out of it. While we understand that the program isn't for everyone, we encourage you to give it a try and hopefully you'll grow to understand and appreciate the value of and benefits derived from being fit. We welcome any and all feed-back on the fitness program.

We are also planning some special events over the next couple of months that we are sure will generate some excitement within our organization. Our coaching and development director, Bill O'Brien is coordinating an event in conjunction with Hockey Nova Scotia to recognize our coaches for their hard work and dedication. The event is planned for January 26th so stay tuned for further information as the day approaches. ( Trivia question: What famous hockey player's birthday is January 26th ? Hint: No one in the NHL will ever wear his (retired) number again ).

Another event being planned that we're sure will be fun for young and old alike is the return of Sport Night. Many of our member's parents and grand parents will have fond memories of going to the Miner's Forum and playing in or watching games and skill competitions in front of a ' packed house '. Phillip O'Neill has the plans underway and we're looking at having it in February on ' Hockey Day in Canada '. We re also hoping to have some special guests in attendance and taking part that will bring back some great memories for the baby-boomers in the audience.  If anyone would like to help-out please contact Phillip through the Minor Hockey office at the Bay Plex. We are tossing around some other ideas that we think might spark some interest but we'll keep you in suspense on those for another time.

For now, on behalf of the Executive and Staff of Glace Bay Minor Hockey, I'd like to wish you all a fun, safe and happy holiday season and a joyful and prosperous 2008.

Season's greetings everyone,

James Edwards
President
Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association