Sports Briefs for January 2016

Blackwater Now Toiling In Slovakia

Judd Blackwater’s professional hockey career continues to take him to various parts of the world.

Blackwater, a 28-year-old forward who is from the Blood Tribe in Alberta, is a much travelled player who has suited up for 12 different squads during his pro career.

This year alone Blackwater has already played for two teams. He began the season with Feverhar AV19, a Hungarian-based club that competes in Austria’s top pro circuit. But after appearing in just seven matches with that squad, Blackwater moved on to join HK Nitra, a team that participates in the Slovakian pro league. The club plays its home contests in the city of Nitra.

Blackwater was averaging a point per game with HK Nitra, having earned 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his first dozen appearances. The majority of those on the HK Nitra side are from Slovakia. The club’s roster includes 43-year-old Jozef Stumpel, a native of Nitra who appeared in a total of 1,012 NHL contests during his career.

For Blackwater, this is not his first season toiling overseas. He had spent the 2013-14 campaign with a Slovenian-based club that plays in the Austrian league. Blackwater returned to North America last season where he starred with the California-based Ontario Reign in the East Coast Hockey League.

He was the top scorer for the Reign, racking up 63 points, including 35 goals in 59 contests. He then added 16 points in 14 playoff matches.

Blackwater has been frequently on the move since his final junior season with the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs. He began the 2008-09 campaign by playing for the University of Lethbridge. But after just four games he decided to embark on a pro career. That season he played for four teams, two in the East Coast Hockey League and two in the American Hockey League.

Communities Host Alumni Games

A pair of Aboriginal communities in Ontario are gearing up to welcome some former National Hockey League players. For starters, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ alumni squad will square off against players from the Moose Cree First Nation. This contest will be held in Moose Factory on Jan. 16 at the Thomas Cheechoo Jr. Memorial Complex.

General admission tickets for that match are $20 each, but $100 VIP tickets are also available. These tickets will include a meet and greet and autograph reception with the former pros, as well as a seat to the game.

And on March 5 another alumni contest, primarily featuring Aboriginal players who made it to the NHL, will be held at the Anowarakowa Arena in Akwesasne. Among those taking part in this match will be Bryan Trottier, a seven-time Stanley Cup champion. Trottier won four league championships as a member of the New York Islanders. He then won two more titles playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins. And he added a seventh title when he was an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche.

Others taking part will be the father-son tandem of Reggie and Jamie Leach. Reggie was a member of the 1975 Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers, while his son won back-to-back league crowns with the Penguins in 1991 and 1992.

Other former Aboriginal pros expected to take part are Stan Jonathan, Chris Simon, Sandy McCarthy, John Chabot, Denny Lambert and Aaron Asham. Advance tickets for this contest are $20 each.

Starring In Alberta League

Wyatt Noskey has taken his game to another level in his final season of junior eligibility. The 20-year-old forward, who is from the Peavine Metis Settlement in northern Alberta, is starring with the Olds Grizzlys, a Junior A team. The Grizzlys compete in the 16-squad Alberta Junior Hockey League.

Noskey, who is in his third AJHL season, has already established career high for both goals and points as he was averaging more than a point per contest. Through his first 30 games with the Olds side, he had accumulated 36 points, including 16 goals.

Noskey had scored 12 goals in each of his first two seasons in the AJHL. He had 23 points in 56 matches during his rookie season, 2013-14, with the Bonnyville Pontiacs. And then last year, when he was a member of the Drumheller Dragons, he earned 32 points in 60 contests.

Noskey, who had finished ninth and fifth in team scoring, respectively, during his first two AJHL seasons, is now one of the Grizzlys’ go-to guys. He was second in team scoring, three points out of the top spot.