KIJHL - Playoff Preview

Playoffs Start this Week

The start of the second season starts and within less than 2 weeks, 6 teams will be moving on and 6 teams will be packing their bags. It's been a competitive year with the strength of the league emerging from the Neil Murdock division with the likes of Nelson, Beaver Valley, Spokane and Castlegar beating up on the rest of the league. Now they have to play amongst themselves and look to the winner here to take it all if they don't bang the heck out of each other trying to emerge from their division.

Fernie was a clear-cut winner in the Eddie Mountain Division and is not likely to receive a big challenge there unless they self-destruct.

The Kamloops Storm emerged as the strength in the Okanagan - Shuswap division but this was the closest division from top to bottom and very few games were blowouts. Princeton was eliminated in the last week of play.

So, lets take a look at the first round match-ups and see what our predictions are.


Eddy Mountain Division:

A. Fernie vs. Columbia Valley

Columbia Valley has some big kids but they won't be able to handle the speed of Martin Croteau and the rest of the Ghostriders. Fernie's defensive game is superior with almost a full goal against/game better than Columbia Valley. Fernie won the season series convincingly, 6-2.
Look for Fernie to be one of the contenders for the KIJHL title.

Fernie in 4.

B. Kimberley vs. Creston

This one is too close to call. The teams split the season series 4-4. I'm going to go with the team that has the big guns. The scoring power of Kimberley's Jeremy Moccasin-Weasel and Mike Whitequills will be the difference.

Kimberley in 7.

Neil Murdock Division

The rest of the league has got to hope that these guys beat the living ka-ka out of each other over the course of the first couple rounds so that they can be had later on. Keep wishing.

A. Nelson vs. Spokane

Despite Spokane's ability to play sound, technical hockey, Nelson has too much speed and power to let them get in their way. Spokane will be better in the playoff series than they were in the regular season against Nelson but they will probably will be golfing early.

Nelson in 6.

B. Castlegar vs Beaver Valley

Another close one if you look at the standings but Castlegar had their way with Beaver Valley this year winning the season 6-2. Beaver Valley looked like a finely tuned machine when they visited Kamloops in Dec. and look like they could put up a better fight than their record against Castlegar shows.

Beaver Valley in an upset - 7 games

Okanagan-Shuswap Division:

This was the tightest division in the league so upsets are possible, especially in series B.

A. Kamloops vs Sicamous

The teams split their season series where Sicamous dominated in the first half of the season and Kamloops was stronger in the second half. I don't think Sicamous has the guns that Kamloops has with 2 strong scoring lines and the strong goaltending of Manfredi and Brennan.
Look for Kamloops to be a contender for the big prize.

Kamloops in 5.

B. Summerland vs Revelstoke

This could be the best match-up in the entire 1st round of the playoffs. The teams split their regular season meetings. Both teams have tough guys, strong leaders and good goaltending. My feeling is that Revelstoke has the better top-end and with all else being equal, they should be able to steal a game from Summerland and emerge victorious.

Revelstoke in 7.

We are looking forward to the playoffs and hope to update you on the Kamloops-Sicamous series as it unfolds. Let's see how we do in our predictions and we will revisit them at the end of all the first-round series.

Go Storm.

Kamloops Storm Celebrates Performances

Anthony Manfredi Wins Team MVP

With the regular season over and the KIJHL playoffs looming, the Kamloops Storm took a break on Sunday and had their season ending banquet honouring their best in a number of categories. The banquet was held on MacArthur Island at the Press Box Restaurant and was really a packed house. It was great to see all the parents, friends, girlfriends, volunteers, relatives and even the media to share in the festivities with the team.

Anthony Manfredi and his golden glove was the winner of the MVP award. He ended the season with a 23-13 record (3rd among active goaltenders), a .919 Save% ( 1st among active goaltenders) and his 23 wins were 2nd in the league next to Jason Greenwell of the Spokane Braves.

(L-to-R: Ass't Coach - Keith Sedgewick, Rick Wile - NL Radio, Anthony Manfredi-MVP, Head Coach - Bryant Perrier, Ass't Coach/Trainer - Chad Ferris)

Other worthy winners of Awards were:

Ryan Bullock - Coaches Award (goal scoring and power play star)

Austin Goode - Rookie of the Year (pretty consistent all year)

Jassi Sangha - Top Scorer (man, did he come on at the end of the year!)

Brennan Jones - Academic Achievement - Nor Kam ( I think his save % and his school marks were about the same... high 80's)

Three Star Award - Anthony Collins (came up big when the team needed him most)

Top Defensman - Cody Kightley ( huge improvement in the 2nd half of the season)

Hard Hat Award - Tod Kennedy ( always there to mix it up)

Unsung Hero - Lundy Trenaman ( heart and soul of the team in the 2nd half of the season)

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Congratulations to all the winners and the team. Good luck in your playoff run.

Congratulations to Coach Perrier and his staff for assembling a bunch of boys to being a team of young men.

Congratulations to owners Barry and Sandy Dewer for their efforts in making this work.

Thanks to Holly Ferris who did a great job orchestrating the show. (no offense to Austin but maybe Holly should have gotten "rookie of the year")

And thanks to all the volunteers who played a big part in making the season a success.

Thanks to the fans who came out in droves and the sponsors, whose support is much appreciated.

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Unsung Hero Lundy Trenamen with Ass't Coach Chad Ferris, Mrs Owner - Sandy Dewar, Coach Bryant Perrier and Ass't Coach - Keith Sedgewick.

In front - Defenseman Paul Riddle, Hard Hat Award Winner - Tod Kennedy, and an unrecognizable team member - someone please identify!!

Acquiring Good Carma for next season.

Forward Jamie Galbraith rubbing shoulders with hardware winners Lundy Trenaman, Anthony Manfredi and Tod Kennedy outside the Press Box Restaurant after the banquet.

The sit down roast beef dinner was excellent. Visitors to Mac Island will do themselves proud by visiting this quaint restaurant whenever they are in town.

photo credits: Wendy Galbraith

feel free to leave your comments on how you thought the whole team did in their inaugural year in Kamloops.

Kamloops Storm Wins Divisional Title

Playoffs just around the Corner

It's been a great inaugural season for the Kamloops Storm who clinched the Okanagan-Shuswap division title in the KIJHL. It took until the 2nd last game of the season and they did it against the team that was pushing them, the Summerland Sting, with an OT shootout to win 4-3 and solidify 1st place.The next evening the Storm closed out it's season avenging last week's 3-1 loss to Sicamous with a 4-0 shutout over the Eagles in their barn. Paul Riddell was the big scorer with 1 goal and one assist. Paul scored Friday evening too bringing his year total to 3. Brennan Jones gave Anthony Manfredi a rest and was solid between the pipes recording his first shutout of the season.The Storm will now play Sicamous in a 4 out of 7 first round match-up. The series opens Thursday and Friday evening in Kamloops at the Mac Park Centre, start time 7:30pm.The Storm went 13-2 since the Xmas break and look like favorites to emerge from their division.

Check back later this week for a KIJHL playoff preview.

Kamloops Storm has Breakout Weekend

3 Wins and 19 Goals Later... 1st Place

We are trying something new. Click below to see our weekend update on YouTube.com and please send your comments right on the blog (please don't send them to the KIJHL as I am the last to see them). Press the comments button at the bottom of the posting and send. thanx.
Would it be better if it was just audio?
would you rather just read the updates?

Thanks for your participation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfrdDbZYEQo

written by:Dave O - Kamloops Storm Writter

Storm Blows Away Weekend Competion

Posse Slumps in the Saddle while Grizzlies go into Hibernation

Kamloops at Revelstoke - Jan 9, 2007

It was a great week for the Kamloops Storm. After being soundly shut out by the Spokane Braves (3-0) on their last home outing, Kamloops faced the task of a home and home with the Revelstoke Grizzlies who were tinkering with 1st place in the Okanagan-Shuswap division.

First up was a trip to Revelstoke on Jan 9 which saw Kamloops come from behind in the 3rd period on late goals by Austin Goode and Jassi Sangha to squeek out at 4-3 win. Revelstoke had defeated Kamloops twice before Xmas so revenge in the Revelstoke Forum was sweet. Sangha also had a goal in the 2nd period, as did Anthony Collins.

It appears that Kamloops dominated the game with a 60-44 shot differential which left both goaltenders busier than a one armed paper hanger. Kamloops ran into big penalty trouble in the 2nd period taking 6 penalties but held the Grizzlies to one power-play goal and scored a short handed marker (Sangha) to close the gap.

Chance Fenner was in the box late in the game when Collins tied the scored 3-3 and with 1:30 left in the period Sangha popped his second from Lundy Treneman and Joel Leonard to capture the win and earn 1st star status. (see boxscore here)

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Kamloops vs Princeton - Jan 12, 2007

On Friday night the much improved Princeton Posse were in town taking on the Storm. After a quiet 1st period for both teams Sean Carr of Princeton took advantage of a Sangha hooking call carried over from the 1st period and beat goaltender Anthony Manfredi for the opening goal of the game. Just over a minute later Austin Goode rapped in the tieing goal from Collins and David Osborne.

Later in the 2nd period Ryan Bullock scored his team leading 25th goal on the power play from Paul Riddell and Joel Leonard to put Kamloops ahead to stay. Paul Riddell finished off the scoring in the 3rd period with a tally from Jacob Young and Trevor Torbolm.

David Osborne had a particularly strong game showing both skill and leadership at both ends of the ice, good enough to earn 1st Star honours. Jacob Young also had a strong performance and ended up as 2nd star while Eric Galbraith was Princeton's best player and earned the 3rd star.
Kamloops outshot Princeton 39-30. Goaltenders Anthony Manfredi (Kam) and Tanner Sheridan (Princeton) had strong games with Sheridan coming up with some particularly difficult saves.
(see boxscore here)

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The Rematch - Kamloops vs Revelstoke - Jan 14, 2007

The Grizzlies wandered into the Mac Park Sports Centre looking for revenge but in the end it was their lack of discipline that sent them home into hibernation as the Storm slapped them with 6 power play markers and rolled to a 7-2 win.

Revelstoke opened up the scoring just past half way through the 1st period when Vincien Scott took a slick feed from Chance Fenner and wisked the puck past Anthony Manfredi. Then Revelstoke got into penalty trouble and the Storm were all over them.
First, on Cody Inkster's 2nd hooking call of the game, Jassi Sangha popped his first of two goals to tie the game at 1. Then, just 15 seconds later, Brendon Madlung took a holding call and the Storm were back on the PP. It took Austin Goode all of 19 seconds to pop Kamloops second pp tally of the period (from Lundy Treneman and Justin Giroux) to put Kamloops ahead to stay.

Jake Young got Kamloops it's only even strength goal early in the 2nd period on some hard work by Giroux and Todd Kennedy to take a 3-1 lead. Revelstoke battled back with an even strength goal of their own by Madlung. After that Kamloops took advantage of another two power-play opportunities and cashed in on goals by Jassi Sangha and Anthony Collins.

Revelstoke continued its wayward ways and the Storm capitalized on another 2 opportunities in the 3rd period (Austin Goode and Joel Leonard) to round out the scoring.

The game wasn't without it's animosity as there were 4 separate tussles during the game.
Darren Mann showed well against a larger Derek Yuskiw in the 2nd period. Justin Giroux had a great bout with Morgan Bell early in the 3rd. John Spence took on Scott Karwandy in a spirited match where Karwandy ended up on top. Jassi Sangha, who had just about enough after a hit from behind by Tyson Baulkham, lost his cool and pummeled Baulkham on the ice and then fought Brent Meissinger to end his night in the dressing room.

Kamloops was great on the penalty kill and kept Revelstoke frustrated all evening. Anthony Manfredi made all the saves he needed to to post the win.

3 Stars - Joel Leonard (1G-2A), Anthony Collins (1G-2A) and Austin Goode (2G-1A).

Coach Bryant Perrier may be forced to sit out the upcoming game against the Princeton Posse after having his team involved in 4 fights during the game. Coach Brad Fox of Revelstoke will probably be subject to the same fate.

(see boxscores here)

next game: Wed Jan 17 at Princeton (oh no, another rematch!)

written by Dave Ouellette, Kamloops Storm Writer

Braves Weather the Storm

Greenwell is full marks for Shutout

The Kamloops Storm, feisty after their come from behind win on Friday night, came on strong early but fizzled in the end to drop a 3-0 lightly entertaining game on Saturday night at the Mac Island SportPlex. The Storm outshot the Spokane Braves 34 - 21 but just couldn't solve goaltender Jason Greenwell.

Greenwell was called upon to be brilliant in every period and was equal to the task. The Kamloops shooter played right into his strengths, testing him in the bottom corners where the butterfly pad save flashed to save against certain goals. When he wasn't called on to make the pad save, Greenwell covered his angles well and forced the Storm shooter to hit him in the belly.

Spokane looked particularly listless in the first period. They played methodical but without a whole lot of jump. Kamloops seemed to have some carryover zip from the night before and it looked like it could be a long night for Spokane.

Kamloops had 10 powerplay opportunities to Spokane's 5 and were not able to score. The Spokane defense played well in keeping the Kamloops shooters to the outside and sacrificed themselves by blocking shot after shot. The actual shots on net were not indicitive of the play. Kamloops dominated much more than the stats revealed.

In the 3rd period, after killing off a 4 min. minor to Alex Lelwica for spearing, tough guy David Manzo picked up a rebound in front of Manfredi and rifled in Spokane's first and winning goal on the power play. Just over a minute later, Johnny Clark showed flashes of brilliance on the rush, drawing a couple of Kamloops players to himself and finding a wide open Evan Witt who scored with a quick wrister up high over Manfredi's blocker.

Alex Lelwica closed out the scoring with 5:10 remaining when he picked up a rebound on a shot from Brandon Lassiter.

Kamloops sits in the middle of the pack (3rd place) in the Okanagan Shuswap Division and returns to action this Tuesday when the travel to Revelstoke to face the first place Grizzlies.

Next home game and broadcast will be on Friday Jan 12th against division rivals Princeton at 7:30.

DaveO - KamloopsStormWriter

Thunder feels the Storm

Treneman turns in Season Best Performance

After 2 full weeks off the Kamloops Storm hit the ice Friday night against the Creston Thundercats and for the first 2 periods it wasn't pretty.

After a lacklustre 1st period where both teams showed signs of turkey rust, Brandon Astle of the Thundercats stole a sloppy pass at his own blueline and raced down the ice untouched to deke out a waiting Brennan Jones to score short-handed and take a 1-0 lead.

Shortly after, Kamloops was on another power-play and Justin Giroux let a slapper go from the blueline that beat a solid Wade Waters (Creston goaltender) to tie the score 1-1.

Less than 1 minute later Creston took advantage of their powerplay and Matt Miller was johnny-on-the-spot to rap in a shot close in on Brennan Jones. Sloppy play continued on Kamloops part and with 2:14 left in the 2nd, Graham Telford took advantage of another weak effort at the Creston blueline as he waltzed in untouched on Jones and slipped the puck through his legs to take a solid 3-1 lead going into the 3rd period.

Like many teams that visit the olympic ice at McArthur Island the first time, the 3rd period creeps up on them and they hit the wall. The Storm was clearly the better skating club in the 3rd period and caused Creston to take a series of penalties that proved fatal in the end.

Cody Kightley slapped in his first goal of the season from the blueline on the power play to close the gap to 3-2. Then Lundy Treneman turned on the afterburners.

In a span of 4 minutes and 52 second Treneman scored 3 even strengths goals to pull Kamloops ahead to stay. His first was a rebound from a brilliant effort by Anthony Collins. His second goal, only 2:10 after his first was a nice shot from between the circles on a screened Wade Waters. His 3rd and Kamloops 5th, was again a slick passing play that included Jake Young and Austin Goode. Young probably could have buried it himself but as an unselfish leader he passed it to Treneman for his easiest goal of the night.

Joel Leonard completed the scoring on the power play at 15:49 of the period and Kamloops waltzed away with its 18 win of the season.

3 Stars - Treneman, Leonard and Creston goaltender Wade Waters. Waters was my pick for 1st star going into the 3rd but his team's collapse clouded his brilliant effort between the pipes.

David Osborne and Mike Hanes both had particularly strong games on defence as they laid out a number of crushing hits and were both involved in the offensive part of the game. Osborne ended up with one assist for his efforts.

Tonight the Storm take on Spokane at 7:30 at the Mac Park Sports Centre. See you there.

You can check out the Box Scores here.

Note: again the broadcast was interupted by poor line communication. It's something that we can't do anything about at our end and hopefully the bugs can get ironed out. Thanks to anyone that phoned in to let us know that the broadcast went off air.

Aussies Prepare for World Championships with Exhibition Games in Kamloops

The Kamloops Storm Hockey & the City of Kamloops were pleased that the Australian National Under 20 Mens Hockey Team chose to hold their training camp here. The Aussies are preparing for the Div2A IIHF World Championships being held in Romania later on this month.

The Aussie Juniors Chef de Mission and BC native, Ross Noga, joined us in a pair of broadcasts that highlighted the two exhibition games here in Kamloops. Unfortunately the Kamloops Storm and the North Kamloops Midget AAA Lions were not as generous as hosts on the ice as they were off the ice.
In fairness to the Aussies, these games represented their very first action together as a team. By the results, Coach Graham Homann has his work cut out for him as they approach the World Championaships.
In the first game(Nov.28) the Aussies took on the Kamloops Storm Junior 'B' Hockey Team. They managed to make a game of it in the first period but Kamloops had too much Jassi Sangha working for them. Sangha had 3 goals and 1 assist while making it look pretty easy in a Kamloops 7-2 win over the Aussies. Brenton Cooney started between the pipes and switched up with Andrew Waite half way through the game. It really wasn't until the 3rd period that Kamloops really pulled away.

The Aussies had a few bright spots as their skill level gap from top to bottom is much wider that what you would see with a Canadian team. At the high end, players like the speedy David Upton and Jayson Chalker were solid throughout the game and showed that they could be a scoring threat inspite of the speed of their opponents.
Their second game of the week against the North Kamloops Midget Lions. I thought that the Aussies would dominate as they were older, bigger and stronger. But someone forgot to tell the Midget Lions, particularly starting goaltender Ben Humphrey who stoned the Aussie shooters time and time again in the first half of the game. Kyle Graham who stepped in for Humphrey in the second half of the game wasn't too shabby either. Andrew Waite played the whole game in the nets for the Aussies. He played a solid game except for one unfortunate goal where the puck was lofted into the Aussies zone and bounce before it reach him. He had only flashed his glove out to make the apparently easy save but it hopped over his glove like a bloody 'roo' and into the net. It's one of those plays that goaltenders have nightmares about.

The Midget Lions, despite the size difference played a reasonable technically sound game but gave up too many odd man rushes to give their goaltenders a break. The Aussies on the other hand were showing some nice playmaking only to be stoned by the goaltenders. Luc Mathieu had the hot hand for the Midget Lions as he had two pretty goals with his laser-like shooting. Josh Savoie and Brett Singer also had impressive games.

The final score: Midget Lions 4 - Aussies - 2.

The Upton, Stephenson, Young line was dangerous all night as well as David Huxley on defense. Michael Beaton, Andrew Taylor, Chris James, Nicolas Abba and Ricardo Del Basso also had solid games.

It was a big win for the Midget Lions as they are ages 15-17 while the Aussies have mostly 18-19 year olds.

Hopefully the Aussies can learn from their experience here as well as with their upcoming game against the Sicamous Eagles of the KIJHL on Dec 6. I believe that Sicamous will be doing the audio play-by-play. The Aussies leave Kamloops on Dec 8 and start their trek to Romania.
Good Luck and we hope to see you here again next year.

dave ouellette... kamloopsstormwriter

WOW - What a Game!

It might have been a coaches nightmare (it was), but the fans at McArthur Island definitely got their money's worth on Saturday night.

The Storm met the Summerland Sting for a big first place game in the KIJHL Okanagan Shuswap Division and ended up winning the game 7-6. Both teams had a tough game the night before, but the Sting were hungry and have been on a losing skid for the past few weeks and wanted to show that they are a force in Division. (Kamloops lost 2-1OT to Sicamous and Summerland lost 4-1 to the Beaver Valley Nighthawks).
Summerland jumped out to a quick two goal lead. The Storm were able to get one back before the teams traded goals to end the first period 3-2. Storm goalie Anthony Manfredi and Sting goalie Carson Loveday are known for their solid play but both struggled in the first period which ended with the Sting outshooting the Storm 21 to 6.

The Sting got one goal in the second period, but the Storm managed to score 3 times and take a 5-4 lead after two periods.

The Storm got into penalty trouble and it did not look good for the home team. The Storm nearly killed off four straight penalties, however Summerland was able to score one power play goal and another at even strength to take the lead with just over 3 minutes remaining in the game. The Storm penalties which could have allowed the Sting to take a commanding lead, but the defense was solid. Scott Gardner in particular, had an exceptional game killing penalties as did the whole team and gave them a breath of life. Suddenly, the penalty barrage changed and the Sting took two penalties with just over 2 minutes left in the game and clinging to a one goal lead.
The Storm came out strong on the power play and Keelan Edwards on a deflection of a Jassi Sangha shot, scored the equalizer goal with 57 seconds on the clock. With only 12 seconds remaining in the game it looked like overtime but the Storm had other ideas as Jassi Sangha fed the puck to Justin Giroux who found Ryan Bullock in the open, Bullock wired a shot that the Sting goalie had no chance on for the game winner.

Both Sting coach Rich Kromm and Storm coach Bryant Perrier could hardly believe the unlikely turn of events but the crowd of over 500 erupted when the puck sailed past the Summerland goalie for the win. Austin Goode with a three goal performance and was named the games first star.

The victory was huge for the Storm who move 3 points ahead of Summerland in the tough Okanagan Shuswap Division, but more importantly showed the character of the team, as they overcame some adversity to put the win on the board.

Other notable performances from the Storm included team leading scorer Sangha and Lundy Trenaman who both had 3 points on the night. The Storm were slow out of the gate but a special mention needs to made of a solid check by 16 year old Todd Kennedy early in the second period. With the Storm having been badly outchanced in the first period, Kennedy on an aggressive forecheck nailed one of the Sting players with an excellent hit. Unfortunately the stick got a little high and the ref, ejected Kennedy for a high hit. While it was a good call by the ref, the intensity of Kennedy helped to spark the Storm.

Next Storm action is Friday night in Kamloops as the Princeton Posse come to town. Princeton beat the Storm 2-1 in the last meeting so the Storm will be looking for revenge. Game time is 7:30pm. Then it is off to Revelstoke on Saturday, before returning home on Sunday for a 2 o’clock start time.

post contributed by Barry Dewar

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Out-of-town listeners of the Kamloops Storm broadcasts - please keep sending those emails so that we may recognize you on the air during the game!
Send them to... kamloopsstormwriter@yahoo.ca

3 Players Taste the Upside

Manfredi, Goode and Collins get temporary BCHL call-ups.

Wow. Since our last blog entry and survey regarding who would finish the season in the BCHL or AJHL the team has seen some movement action. Thanks to all the participants, there were 92 responses (see results below this post). And make sure that you help us out with our new one.

As reported on Oct 27, Anthony Manfredi was called to play for the Westside Warriors of the BCHL. He was returned to the Storm Oct 30. The team went 2-0 without him when they travelled to Kimberley and Creston and newcomer Bobby Derkson was asked to take on the #1 role. Manfredi was back between the pipes for the Storm this past weekend posting a 2-1 OT loss to Sicamous and a thrilling 7-6 victory over the Summerland Sting (aka - Okanagan Hockey Academy).

This past weekend Austin Goode had the opportunity to play with the Merritt Centennials on Friday night. Reports were that Austin played well but didn't have any points. The increased tempo that he experienced was more than enough to send him on a tear against Summerland on Saturday as he scored the first 3 goals for Kamloops in their 7-6 good old fashioned shootout win and had numerous opportunities to add to that total.

Anthony Collins was called up for Saturday's game with the Merritt Centennials and other than reading the box scores and that he is back in Kamloops, we haven't heard how he played. We're sure he represented himself well. Anthony has been a steady performer this year. His size and determination will help him move to the next level.

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Here are the results of our 1st Survey

As a development league, the KIJHL is a feeder to the BCHL and AJHL. Who do you think is the most likely player to finish the regular season in the BCHL or AJHL?


Jassi Sanga 18% 17
Jake Young 5% 5
Anthony Manfredi 22% 20
Trevor Torbolm 1% 1
Darren Mann 14% 13
Austin Goode 7% 6
Kody Kightly 5% 5
Lundy Treneman 5% 5
other 1% 1
Other? Enter here... 21% 19

Total: 92 responses