It’s been a month since I left my position of the Play by
Play Announcer as the Estevan Bruins and Morning News & Sports Anchor for
Goldenwest Radio. I was planning to post a final blog posting from Estevan
around that time of my departure but the final weeks in Estevan were quite
hectic and left me little time to wrap around my final thoughts. During my holidays there were a couple
of times I attempted to put together a blog posting but I suffered the famous
“writers block”.
But first off I just want to thank the community of Estevan
for the past 4+ years, I met some amazing people during my time in the Energy
City and to list them all would be nearly impossible. Thanks to anyone that
helped me out whether it was at the radio station, at the rink or anywhere else
in the community.
There are a few memories that stick out in time in Estevan.
One of them was being a part of the football program. When I first moved to
Estevan I was shocked to find out there was no high school football program in
the city, coming from an area with tiny communities that had 6 man football I
just couldn’t believe a City with over 10,000 people didn’t have a high school
team. I’m proud to have been a member of the Elecs football for their first 4
seasons of existence.
I really enjoyed my
time as a coach for the Elecs and while the team didn’t win too many games, I
believe the foundation has been made for future success. I want to thank Marco,
Mark and the rest of the coaching staff for making the coaching experience so
enjoyable, the players who were great to work and the volunteers of football in
Estevan who are some of the hardest working people that I know.
One of the things I enjoyed about my time in Estevan was the
Fundraising Dinners, whether they were for Spectra Place or for the Football
program. I had the chance to listen to a lot of great speakers over the years,
but the one dinner that will always stick out in my mind is the dinner in March
of 2010 which was highlighted by Steve Yzerman only a couple of weeks after
Canada claimed Gold in Men’s Hockey of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. It was just
amazing shaking the hand of Yzerman and getting to meet one of the greatest
Captains in hockey history.
One of my favorite days in Estevan was the Kraft Celebration
Tour. It’s kind of weird thinking that Estevan will be the last stop for Jay
Onrait and Dan O’Toole in Saskatchewan as a part of the tour with the
announcement that they will be leaving for FOX Sports One in LA next month. Jay and Dan
were two of the nicest guys I have ever had the chance to interview. I was
amazed by the energy Jay had in his suit despite the temperature being around
+33 throughout Sportscentre. At the time Estevan had the largest attendance on
the Kraft celebration Tour and it was great to see the community rally together
after the severe floods from the spring of 2011.
But no doubt the best part of my job was being the voice for
the Estevan Bruins. First I want to thank all the volunteers and staff of the
Bruins organization, the fans, the parents of the players for all of their
support over the years. I want to thank Karry Biette, Sean Garagan, Chad Leslie,
Keith Cassidy and Cole Zahn for all of their help as coaches of the Bruins. They
always made job a lot easier and were all very accessible for interviews
whenever I needed them.
The Estevan Bruin players were unbelievable to me. In my 5
years with the Bruins every single Bruins player was great to me and I really
appreciated that. It was unfortunate
that the Bruins never achieved much success in the standings during my time
with the team but I will always look back with fond memories because of the
friendships I made with the team.
One of the guys who I have to give a special shutout is Lucas Stubel. There was no one in Estevan who I interviewed more than Stubs, I think in his first year he was a little bit hesitant but soon enough he became my go to guy whenever I needed an interview from a Bruin. It was unfortunate that Stubel got injured late in his 20 year old season but if there was one benefit it was that he stepped inside of the booth to provide color commentary, a job he would continue to help me out for the last couple of years while he played Senior Hockey in Bienfait and Midale. Also I have to give a shout out to Mark Cross and Ty Ariss for being the other two players who were with the Bruins for my first three years with the team.
One of the guys who I have to give a special shutout is Lucas Stubel. There was no one in Estevan who I interviewed more than Stubs, I think in his first year he was a little bit hesitant but soon enough he became my go to guy whenever I needed an interview from a Bruin. It was unfortunate that Stubel got injured late in his 20 year old season but if there was one benefit it was that he stepped inside of the booth to provide color commentary, a job he would continue to help me out for the last couple of years while he played Senior Hockey in Bienfait and Midale. Also I have to give a shout out to Mark Cross and Ty Ariss for being the other two players who were with the Bruins for my first three years with the team.
There was only one player who was with the Bruins for 4
years during my time with the team and that was Dylan Smith. Smitty was an
outstanding player on the ice and he always very accommodating to me with
interviews, whether it was practice, after the game or when he was in Connecticut.
I appreciate all the help he provided me over the years.
While I enjoyed all five years with the Bruins, my favorite
was my third season with the Bruins (2010-11). There were a lot of great guys
who were with the Bruins for that season only like Troy Hunter, Ben Findlay,
Joel Kot, Joel Danyluk, and others. Along with the vets there were a lot of
talented rookies on the team including Josh Jelinski, Ryan Ostertag, Eric
Baldwin, Cole Olson. With the mix of vets and rookies it made for a great
locker room atmosphere, and while the team failed on their high expectations, I
looked back at that year with fond memories that I will remember for the rest
of my life.
I also have to give a special shutout to Cole Olson. It’s
been a lot of fun watching Olly play over the last three years, it almost
seemed like yesterday I was chasing him in Battlefords for our first interview.
On the ice, Olly was the hardest working player who gave it all on every night.
Off the ice, while he didn’t say too much, everyone loved Olly and you will
never hear anyone ever say a bad word about Olly.
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Other players who I just want to say thanks for everything
they’ve done for me during my time in Estevan include Matthew Dochylo, Chris
Daniels, Michael Hengen, Calder Neufeld, Dominic Perrault, Matt Brykaliuk,
Tanner Froese, Tyler Poskus, Austin Yano just too name a few, I know I’m
missing some names but like I said the list would be too long to name it all.
I’ve just started my new position in Humboldt as an
Assistant Producer for Access Communications. You may see my face (and hear my
voice) with the SJHL broadcasts on Access in the fall.
I plan on keeping this blog running, there probably won’t be
much material for the next bit while I get settled in the new job. I might just
post some random thoughts of mine in the sports world while I get settled back
in the local scene.
I also plan on
producing/hosting Locker Talk in Humboldt so check back for details on that in
the future. I do plan on making some
changes as compared to the show I did in Estevan but I have no timetable yet on
when I will start that up.
And while I look back on my days in Estevan fondly, I’m
excited to be back home and seeing the familiar faces in my life once again. I
hope you come back and see the world of sports through my eyes.
