Summer At it's Best

What a fantastic weekend in and around Swifty...

It started Friday with the Swift Current Broncos Wellington West Golf Classic. It was great to see plenty of alumni come back for the tournament. Dave "Tiger" Williams was a surprise golfer. No one knew he was playing but he made the trip in from his cabin at Beaver Flats to have some fun on the course.

Some of the players since I've been calling games were also back to have some fun including Benny Ondrus (Toronto AHL/NHL), Nathan Smith (just signed with Pittsburgh), Ian White (Toronto), James Hiebert (Laredeo - CHL) and Tyler Redenbach (AHL).

I had a chance to talk with Memorial Cup champ Bob Wilkie. Bob helped me out back in December with a great interview on the 20th anniversary of the Broncos bus crash. His audio was among the most gripping in the two-part feature piece I put together. The former Bronco was wearing his 1989 Memorial Cup ring with pride. Just looking at it gives me chills. It is some piece of hardware.

Wilkie is now writing a book about his life after the 1986 bus crash that claimed the lives of four of his teammates. He tells me it will be about the triumphs with the team and the community after the crash. The fact they won the Memorial Cup just two seasons later is a testimonial to that. He also realizes the negativity the community and its people get on a national level from it's troubled past - he wants to change that. He wants to talk about all the things right about junior hockey in Speedy Creek.

We also share the same distaste for one "Gare Joyce". Wilkie was pretty p.o'ed when I mentioned the name of the ESPN.com reporter who came under false pretenses and ripped the team and the city. Wilkie couldn't believe the article when he read it and says it was motivation for him to tell his story. I will be picking up a copy of his book and will encourage others to do the same. It's due out hopefully by the end of the year. Good on ya Bob!

The tournament was another great time for everyone involved and thanks again to the staff at Wellington West Capital for putting it all together.
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Sunday was my favorite day of the summer... Some morning golf at the Elmwood with some good friends (who has the belt now Hunch?) and an afternoon at the lake filled with water-skiing, tubing (my all time favorite), and a bbq. With the temp hitting 36C in the city, the lake was the only place for some relief. It was a great Saskatchewan summer day...

Rod P. (http://www.rodpedersen.com/) gave me a little plug on his blog today. It was about WHL bloggers and their outstanding coverage of off-season league news. He made me feel a little guilty being that I haven't updated the blog on a regular basis. Summer has gotten in the way a little bit. I promise once Broncos training camp begins, it's back to blogging full force. By the way, we're only 36 days away from that happening, unbelievable.

So, not to disappoint,I have something juicy..... Marc Habscheid is spending the week in Kelowna. I called him today to get an interview on his upcoming charity golf tournament and he informed me he was in K-town. I made a statement like "oh that's interesting...." to which he replied "don't get too excited, my son is involved in a hockey camp and I'm taking the time to visit some friends. "

Could one of those friends be Kelowna Rockets General Manager Bruce Hamilton?? Hey, it's a valid question considering the Rockets head coaching position is vacant and he's currently unemployed in the coaching ranks.

Marc has made comments to me in the past like he would like to settle down a bit and quit moving his family from venue to venue. We'll see what next year holds for the Wymark, SK native.

By the way, there are still some spots open in the Habscheid/Harvey Subway Charity Golf Classic. Last year, the tournament was awesome and I would encourage anyone looking for a good time and great prizes to sign-up. You can call Paul at 773-0616 for more info or to register.

have a great week in the sweltering summer heat,
Jon