Windspeaker Sports Briefs - June 2014

Begay Suffers Heart Attack

Notah Begay III, a former PGA Tour player who now works as a TV golf analyst, is expected to make a full recovery following a late April heart attack. Begay, 41, is a full blooded Native American who was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has Navajo, San Felipe and Isleta ancestry.

Begay, who won six pro events, including four on the PGA Tour, has a history for heart disease in his family. He suffered his heart attack in Dallas. He is expected to recover after having a stent inserted to unblock his right coronary artery.

Begay had the majority of his success early on in his pro career. He won his four PGA Tour events in 1999 and 2000. His career, however, has been plagued in part by back problems for a number of years. Begay has not played in a PGA Tour event since 2012.

Saskatchewan’s James Smith First Nation will host this year’s Canadian Native Fastball Championships. Organizers are hoping as many as 80 teams compete in the tournament, scheduled for Aug. 3 to Aug. 6. Matches will be held in Prince Albert, located about a 60-minute drive northwest of the James Smith First Nation.

Organizers are hoping to attract 32 teams in the men’s division and another 32 clubs in the women’s category. Male and female masters categories will also be staged.

The national tournament has been held annually since 1974. Traditionally, the majority of the entrants are from western provinces as the event is usually held in a western Canadian location.

He might not be a household name but Kyle Chipchura is no doubt thrilled he spent a full season in the National Hockey League this year.

Chipchura, a 28-year-old Métis, has bounced back and forth between the minors and the NHL since turning pro back in 2005. Chipchura, who was born in Westlock, Alta., had been the Montreal Canadiens’ first-round pick, 18th over-all, at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

But he only played 68 matches with the Canadiens before being traded to the Anaheim Ducks during the 2009-10 season.

Chipchura had his best NHL campaign, in terms of points, during the 2013-14 season, as a member of the Phoenix Coyotes. He had 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) while playing in 80 games.
Chipchura has now appeared in a total of 357 NHL contests.
During his pro career Chipchura has also had stints with a pair of American Hockey League franchises, the Hamilton Bulldogs and Portland Pirates, as well as suiting up for the Central Hockey League’s Arizona Sundogs. Before turning pro Chipchura had spent four seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Saskatchewan-based Prince Albert Raiders.

Chipchura, a centre, has never been one to put up huge numbers. But the year after he was drafted by the Canadiens he averaged close to a point per game (55 points in 59 games) in his fourth and final season in Prince Albert.

The Dakota Dunes Open will once again be on the PGA Tour Canada schedule in 2014.

The pro men’s event, which is scheduled for July 3 to July 6, will be played at the Dakota Dunes Golf Links in Saskatchewan, located on the Whitecap Dakota First Nation. The 18-hole course, which opened in 2004, has received numerous accolades from Canadian and American magazines and groups.

Participants in this year’s tournament will be vying for a share of the $150,000 up for grabs. The winner alone will take home a $27,000 cheque.

The Dakota Dunes Open will be the fourth of 12 events on the PGA Tour Canada schedule in 2014. The circuit runs from May through September. Besides Saskatchewan, tour stops are held in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia. All of the tour stops feature an equal $150,000 purse. The tour traditionally attracts players from around the world.

An Ojibwe man from Ontario’s Alderville First Nation has been granted an expansion junior franchise by the Ontario Hockey Association. Gord McKenzie-Crowe will serve as the president of the North Kawartha Knights, who will compete in the Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League. The Knights will play their home contests in Apsley, located northeast of Peterborough.

Since 2006 McKenzie-Crowe has also organized a number of boys’ and girls’ spring and summer hockey teams, primarily consisting of Aboriginal players that compete in tournaments throughout Canada and the United States. Those spring/summer teams are all called the Team Ontario Stingrays.