Hockey Manitoba finally releases POE rosters after lengthy delay
Sports
Posted By Laura Shantora Nelles, Central Plains Herald-Leader
Posted 1 month ago
Finally, after nearly six weeks of waiting, Hockey Manitoba has finally released the lists of players for the three Program of Excellence teams: the Under-16 boys, Under-17 boys and Under-18 girls.
While the older boys' program and girls team have both made significant roster cuts, the Under-16 boys team has chosen to remain with a list of 40 players following the evaluation camp last month in Brandon, instead of cutting the list down.
Portage la Prairie's own Blaine Boyle is one of the coaches for the Under-16 team which will head to the Canada Winter Games in Halifax early next year to represent the province.
"Hockey Manitoba decided it would be better if we kept all of them," he explained. "Because the kids are all at the end of puberty, it's still possible for somebody to grow between now and November ... we didn't want to cut someone and then have them grow half a foot and put on 30 pounds, or have a guy having a really great season, and then say, 'Oh, man, I wish we didn't cut that guy.' It can make a big difference," he said.
While the team has not yet been set, Boyle said there were a number of players on the coaching staff's radar. "We probably have about 16 guys in mind," he said. "We haven't talked to anybody yet or anything, and the scouting is ongoing."
Due to Boyle's geographic location, he said he will be watching a great deal of hockey for the first couple months of the season as those still in the mix for a spot with the team will continue to attempt to impress the coaches through the early parts of the 2010-11 regular season with their club teams.
"We're going to go from the
40 right down to 20," he explained, "but we might carry another two or three guys as alternates to the tournament at Christmas so they're used to playing with the team in case somebody goes down, but that hasn't been decided yet."
Portage la Prairie's Johl Swedlo remains on the list as the only local player.
The Under-17 group has no Central Plains players in the mix, while as previously reported in the Herald-Leader, Natasha Kostenko of Fannystelle and Lindsay Blight of Portage will be representing the Central Plains region on the Under-18 girls roster.
sports@cpheraldleader.com
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