Windspeaker Sports Briefs - January 2014

Starring in Germany

Casey Pierro-Zabotel has taken his hockey talents overseas. More specifically, the 25-year-old forward who is from British Columbia’s Bonaparte First Nation is playing in Germany this season.

Pierro-Zabotel, who is in his fifth pro season, is a member of the Lausitzer Foxes, which competes in the DEL2, the second highest level of hockey in Germany.

Pierro-Zabotel is one of the club’s leading scorers. He was third in team scoring with 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) after 26 games.

Last year Pierro-Zabotel was the top scorer for the Georgia-based Gwinnett Gladiators, members of the East Coast Hockey League. He averaged more than a point per game and finished up with 75 points, including 22 goals in 66 matches.

Pierro-Zabotel was also rewarded by being named as one of the starters for the ECHL’s all-star game, which was held in Loveland, Colorado this past January. His play a year ago also earned him a promotion to the higher calibre American Hockey League, where he suited up for five matches with the Charlotte Checkers. He had one goal and added an assist in those appearances.

Pierro-Zabotel, who was a third-round selection by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2007 National Hockey League Entry Draft, has also played for four other pro franchises during his career. He’s had stints with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers, Cincinnati Cyclones and Bakersfield Condors, as well as the AHL’s Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Pierro-Zabotel turned pro after completing his junior career with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants. He had racked up 115 points (36 goals, 79 assists) in 72 games, during his final junior campaign in 2008-09.

Alaska hosts games

Canada’s five participating teams are gearing up for the next Arctic Winter Games. These games, which have been held every two years since 1970, will be next staged in Fairbanks, Alaska from March 15 to March 22.

About 2,000 athletes are expected to compete in the games, which feature entrants from the circumpolar north. The games feature nine participating teams. The Canadian entrants are Alberta North, Northwest Territories, Nunavik, Nunavut and Yukon.

Also competing will be clubs representing Alaska, Greenland, Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets and the Sami region, featuring athletes from Finland, Norway, Sweden and a part of Russia. Atheletes in the games will range in age from 13 to 24.

They will compete in 20 different sports. They are alpine skiing, Arctic sports, badminton, basketball, biathlon (ski), biathlon (snowshoe), cross-country skiing, curling, Dene games, dog mushing, figure skating, gymnastics, hockey, indoor soccer, snowboarding, snowshoeing, speed skating, table tennis, volleyball and wrestling.

Tournament returns to Mississauga

Since the 2013 event was a huge success, organizers have decided to once again stage the Little Native Hockey League Tournament in Mississauga. The event, more commonly called the Little NHL, will run from March 10 to March 13.

The host organization will once again be the Six Nations Minor Hockey Association. Since it cannot accommodate such a huge tournament in their community, the hosts move the event to Mississauga, located about a 70-minute drive from Six Nations. Ten ice surfaces will be utilized during the tournament.

Also, the opening ceremonies, which will be held on March 9, will be at the Hershey Centre, home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Mississauga Steelheads. The 2014 edition of the tournament will mark the 43rd year it has been staged. A record 153 clubs participated in last year’s event.

Organizers are hoping to operate 10 divisions at the upcoming tournament. Girls will compete in atom, peewee, bantam and midget divisions. And boys will compete in these same four divisions as well as tyke and novice categories.

Constant racking up points

A pro hockey player from Manitoba’s Opaskwayak Cree Nation is in the midst of his career best season in the minor leagues. Ryan Constant, a 28-year-old defenceman, is in his fifth season with the California-based Stockton Thunder, which competes in the East Coast Hockey League.

Constant is averaging almost a point per game this season, having earned 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in his first 22 games. Now in his seventh pro season, Constant has never come close to averaging a point per outing. His best season, in terms of points, was during the 2010-11 campaign when he was credited with 34 points in 52 matches.

Constant, who spent four seasons with the OCN Blizzard of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, has spent the majority of his pro career in the ECHL. He’s also had brief stints with three different franchises in the American Hockey League, a step above the ECHL.