By John B. Spigott /
Travis Yonkman has some big skates to fill.
The Saskatoon, Sask.-native has been entrusted to fill the sizable void left between the pipes for the University of Alberta Golden Bears with the departure of two-time CIS champion Aaron Sorochan.
Yonkman went 26-15-0-1 with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage for the Swift Current Broncos last season, his fourth in the Western Hockey League. The 21-year-old Yonkman will team with second-year goaltender Real Cyr to try and replace Sorochan, who was 15-1-0-2 last year in Canada West action while sporting a 1.66 goals-against average.
On the blueline, the Golden Bears add several new faces, all of whom have strong roots in the Edmonton area. Ian Barteaux and Reade Wolansky of Fort Saskatchewan and St. Albert, respectively, return to Edmonton after having traveled different paths in their hockey careers. While both spent time in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, the rugged Barteaux elected to move from the Fort Saskatchewan Traders to the Kootenay Ice of the WHL, where he improved his point totals in three straight years – culminating in last year’s 39-point effort – while also breaking the century mark in penalty minutes each season.
Wolansky decided to stay in the AJHL and go the NCAA route, but after spending one year with Sacred Heart elected to return to Alberta after putting up seven points in his lone season in U.S. college hockey.
A pair of ex-Saskatoon Blades will also be joining the fold in defenceman Colin Joe and forward Michael MacAngus. Both Edmonton natives, Joe finished his 20-year-old season last year in Saskatoon, while MacAngus spent time with the Blades and the Regina Pats before finishing his last year in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders last year.
Of the six, Sean Ringrose is undoubtedly the most offensively gifted. Coming off a 28-goal season with the Medicine Hat Tigers, the former Fort Saskatchewan Trader spent the last two years in the WHL, and will be looked upon to help soften the loss of departed five-year veteran Ben Kilgour, who put up 22 points in 24 games last season.
In addition to Sorochan and Kilgour, defencemen Shaden Moore and Ryan White and forwards Richard Kelly, Cody Pasik and Kyle Pess are among the players who won’t be back in the Golden Bear ranks this season.
Pandas blueliner to play for Canada
A trio of Pandas are coming off a recent trip to the National Women’s Team U-22 selection camp in Calgary, with one player capping off the camp by being selected to Canada’s U-22 National Team.
Defencemen Stephanie Ramsay and Andrea Boras and forward Leah Copeland were among the 42 players invited to the camp in early August, and Ramsay’s recent performance made her one of only three CIS players to be selected. Ramsay was the Canada West Rookie of the Year last season after putting up 24 points in 23 games, her first in a Panda uniform.
The 2009/10 season for Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team will include the three-game series against Canada’s National Women’s Team in Calgary that just recently concluded, as well as the 2010 MLP Cup in Germany in early January. |