JASTER’S JABBERINGS: Year of change in high school hockey league

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/05/2017 (3055 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last fall, Corey Forbes and a few other members of the Westman High School Hockey League were a little concerned about how much longer the circuit would be viable after Melita-Waskada and Rivers-Elton were unable to ice teams.

A lot of change will take place next season, including the disappearance of that worry. Forbes, who’s from Glenboro, and Jason Alf of Dauphin are taking over as co-presidents after Brad Twordik resigned the position and they will have a bunch of new teams. Both Melita-Waskada and Rivers-Elton have committed to return, and three new teams were approved to join at the league at its AGM last week.

McCreary, which will also draw players from Ste. Rose, Glenella and Alonsa, as well as Roblin, which is in a co-operative with Grandview and Gilbert Plains, and Sandy Bay will give the league 18 teams next season.

The growth makes the regional league by far the largest high school one in the province outside Winnipeg. Adding Sandy Bay First Nation’s school to the league will diversify it more and may give kids a different experience when they have to play up there as well.

“I can guarantee you there won’t be too many kids in this league who have went to Sandy Bay and play there,” Forbes said. “They won’t know what’s hit them with the atmosphere I’m assuming. They’ll be pretty fired up to have their own team. It will be pretty crazy, I’m assuming, when you go there. It will be pretty cool. It will be an experience for sure.”

The new executive did put in a safety precaution in case the new teams can’t ice a team or want to drop out by having them pay for three years, which should give the league that much more stability for a few years as well.

There will be some scheduling challenges with the expansion. The goal of high school hockey is to give students an opportunity to play multiple sports — including volleyball, basketball or others — and allow them to have part-time jobs. This level of hockey is not supposed to take up as much time as a midget AAA program.

With the league spreading as far north and west as Roblin, east as Sandy Bay and south as Killarney and Waskada, it’s a lot of travel and can be time-consuming. The league will counter that with a divisional structure and cap the regular season at a maximum of 25 games.

It’s still a lot of hockey to play, which may mean teams may enter fewer tournaments and put more value on their league games.

That’s what Forbes is thinking for his Glenboro-Carberry-Baldur Wildcats.

“I don’t mind the travel,” he said. “I’d much rather go and play Roblin. Now that you know they’re there and you can make the schedule, I can pick a Friday night in Dauphin and a Saturday in Roblin and Sunday afternoon in Russell. That can be a tournament/ league where games actually mean something. It will be good.

“Just the diversity of the whole thing will be fun.”

While the league appears to be on solid footing, it’s also losing one of its longest- serving coaches.

During last season, rumours started circulating that Crocus Plains bench boss Peter Gerlinger was going to step down. After much debate, he decided to make it official at the meeting and Jeremy Byczkowski will take over the program.

Gerlinger’s impact on high school hockey in Westman cannot be understated. He made his debut as the head coach of the Neelin Spartans in 1989-90, the second year of the league which then featured Neelin, Crocus, Massey, Boissevain and Virden. He’s been a part of it ever since, switching to coach Massey in 1991 and then Crocus Plains for the past 11 seasons.

He won multiple championships with the Vikings and the Plainsmen and always looked after his student-athletes and gave them an experience they’ll never forget.

In addition to running the Victoria Inn tournament — which has grown from six to 24 teams in its history — with team manager Glenda Zelmer, who is also leaving the team, he organized annual trips for the Plainsmen. They went everywhere from Atlantic Canada to Texas to Sweden and Finland for exhibition games or tournaments during their Christmas break.

» See ‘Coach’ — Page B3

The trip to Texas included an NHL game, while Sweden and Finland included watching world junior hockey championship games.

Ultimately, Gerlinger felt it was time to step away from the bench, although he isn’t retiring from teaching yet.

“I love the concept of high school hockey,” he said. “The last thing I ever want to see is something happen where the league doesn’t exist anymore. It’s such a great option for kids who still want to play a competitive level of hockey but something I believe in strongly is a multi-sport athlete and these kids are still able to play other sports. More importantly, they’re able to keep a part-time job. I think it’s a great concept for kids who want to experience high school hockey and all the fun that goes outside just the academics. I hope it hangs in there.

“I’ll always miss it. I know I will. I’m really proud of where we built our program up, especially at Crocus, but also my experiences at Massey and Neelin. What we accomplished here was really cool. We did a trip every season. … What an experience a lot of these kids have had that they wouldn’t have gotten in minor hockey. That’s the hard part is saying goodbye to all of that.”

Gerlinger, who hopes to join some other hockey venture, will be missed by that league. So will Twordik, who used to coach Massey and stayed on as league president despite becoming the principal at Earl Oxford in January 2016. Longtime secretary-treasurer Quinton Grindle also stepped down and will be replaced Jerry Crampaign from Hamiota. These men did a lot for the high school game and deserve a little recognition. It’s nice to know that all their work will be carried on by a new executive and a league that appears to be growing and getting stronger.