Gold Miners Newsletter – October 3, 2013

   
  “GOLD MINER’S NEWS”  ‘
October 3, 2013

  Week in Review
  The Gold Miners bounced back from their first loss of the season with impressive 8-1 and 5-2 victories over Blind River and North Bay respectfully. In both contests the Miners outshot their opponents by a wide margin and completely dominated the play. A trend of “speed kills” is starting to be evident in the results of the KL games. When the players stick to Coach Lafleur’s high octane approach they are tough to handle. Looking at league stats to date the team has played on relatively equal terms in period one of most games but has then worn their opponents down in periods two and three. This is being done with their overall impressive team speed and aggressive style of play.

This past weeks games featured good performances by Dylan Rosen, Ryan Scherer and Kenny Fitzgerald who were all recent additions to the team. Unfortunately one other new player Zach Pease has not been in the line-up due to a nagging injury. 

The month of September could be considered as our best month ever (since the formation of the team) in terms of both team performance and individual accolades. Not only did the team climb into the CJHL top 20 rankings based on its early season 7-1 record the Miners are also at the top of the NOJHL standings. In the first 4 weeks of the season members of the team have been honoured 3 times as one of the three stars for the week. This past week centre Steven Babin was named as one of the stars. Babin also received accolades as the initial winner of the Gongshow Gear player of the month for September. Babin finished the month as the leading scorer in the league with 16 points, including a league leading 14 assists.

The team has been informed they will be without the services of goaltender Marc Audet as he was called up to Baie Comeau of the Quebec Major Junior League for a tryout opportunity.

October is Breast Cancer Month

The Gold Miners are pleased to advise that during their October games on the 6th, 11th, 25th, and 26th they will be wearing special `pink` jerseys in honour of Breast Cancer month. The jerseys will be auctioned off during the month (minimum bid $50.00) and all funds raised will be donated to the Oncology Dept. at the Kirkland Lake & District Hospital. Bid sheets will be available at each of these games and the final bids will be awarded after the October 26th game.

Upcoming

The team has a lone game this week-end when they host the much improved Iroquois Falls Eskimos on Sunday night at 7:30. Lafleur expects this game to be a tough test for the team as the Eskis have added several new players recently. The Eskimo line-up has strengthened considerably since the first meeting of the season when KL won a hard fought double over-time victory against their arch rivals from Iroquois Falls. The game will be the second `featured` night of the season as the team shows its respect to all of the emergency response personnel in town. All members of the Police, Firefighters and Ambulance services will be welcomed with a special half price admission for their members. For only $5.00 these individuals will get to enjoy watching one of the top ranked Junior A teams in Canada.

The positive community response to the Gold Miners continues to increase. In addition to featured nights during home games the Gold Miner players are now being seen around town helping local groups, businesses and citizens. These efforts are being coordinated by Ted Irvine and anyone wishing the attendance of the players at any events are encouraged to contact Ted to make arrangements. To make Junior A hockey a success in Kirkland Lake the team needs the support of everyone attending home games. Our goal is to have the highest average home attendance in the league. The KL team is currently third in attendance behind Iroquois Falls and Espanola. If you are a fan bring a friend or if you have not been to a game yet come out to the rink and see what you are missing.

The featured player of the week for the Gold Miners is Ethan Strong (#12). As a returning veteran defenseman Ethan has improved on his play from last year by following a strict off-season workout program to increase his foot speed. He has been rewarded with early season success on the score sheet but more importantly has gained the confidence of the coaching staff with his strong work ethic and leadership qualities. As such he has been rewarded with increased playing time and is being counted on in many key game situations.
   
The sponsor for this Sunday night’s game is Pinewood Park Motors. We appreciate their strong support of Gold Miner hockey in Kirkland Lake.

Anyone wishing to receive an email copy of our “weekly news` will soon have an opportunity to sign-up for free.

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