Windspeaker sports briefs - August

Games in Milwaukee cancelled
The 2011 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) will not be held in Milwaukee. And there’s a possibility the games will not be held at all next year. The games were scheduled to be staged in the Wisconsin city from July 10 to 17, 2011. But on June 29, just over a year before the games were set to open, the NAIG Council announced it was cancelling the games as the host society, NAIG USA Inc., revealed it was withdrawing from hosting the event.
What remains to be seen now is whether the NAIG will be held anywhere in 2011, since another host site was not announced after Milwaukee withdrew as the host. What is known is that the NAIG Council is scheduled to meet in Winnipeg this August to discuss the next steps in terms of competitive opportunities for Aboriginal athletes in Canada and the United States next summer. Having another city step up to host the NAIG next summer is a possibility, but perhaps a remote one, considering the enormous planning that would be required. There has also been some speculation the games could be broken down and have different sports in various cities. And another possibility is to postpone the games for a year, giving the new host city two years to prepare. The Games were last held in 2008 in Cowichan, B.C.

Cheechoo looking for new team
Jonathan Cheechoo, who was once the National Hockey League’s top goal scorer, is now wondering whether he’ll ever play in the league again. Cheechoo, who turned 30 on July 15, was placed on waivers by the Ottawa Senators on June 28. When none of the other 29 clubs in the league picked him up by the following day, the Senators bought out the final year of his contract.
Cheechoo, a Cree who is a native of Moose Factory, Ont., was scheduled to earn $3.5 million this coming season. But by buying him out, however, the Senators were obligated to pay him just two-thirds of this amount. Once the Senators bought him out, Cheechoo became an unrestricted free agent. As a result he was able to sign with any other NHL franchise. There might not be any takers, however, at any price, since Cheechoo’s productivity has declined dramatically in recent years.
Cheechoo has not been able to duplicate the success he enjoyed during the 2005-06 season when he was a member of the San Jose Sharks. He led the NHL in goals that season with 56. He appeared in all 82 games that year and added 37 assists to lead his club in scoring with 93 points. The following season Cheechoo dropped down to 69 points. And his slide continued the following two seasons in San Jose as he registered point totals of 37 and then 29.
Cheechoo was traded to Ottawa prior to the 2009-10 season, but he couldn’t get his career back on track in the nation’s capital. The Senators tried to unload him this past February when they first placed him on waivers. At the time Cheechoo had collected just 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 61 games with Ottawa.  After clearing waivers, Cheechoo was assigned to the Binghamton Senators, the club’s American Hockey League affiliate. He earned 14 points in 25 games with Binghamton.

New Brunswick games revived
It took almost a quarter of a century to revive the New Brunswick Indian Summer Games. This year’s Games, which attracted about 1,000 participants from 15 First Nations communities in the province, was held July 7 to 11 at the Elsipogtog First Nation. This marked the first time in 24 years that the Games had been held. Competitors ranged in age from five to 20.
They participated in the following sports: softball, baseball, golf, ball hockey, volleyball, archery, basketball, wrestling and athletics (track and field). The community that earned the most team points was presented with the New Brunswick Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Authority Cup. Results were not known at press time.
It wasn’t just youth, however, that were able to take part in the games. Adults were able to take part in recreational beach volleyball and horseshoes competitions. These events were simply for fun and did not count towards any of the team totals. Now that the Games have been revived, organizers are hoping they will be staged on an annual basis.