Outdoor rinks a casualty of not-so-wintry weather

We all know that some of the greatest hockey legends had their start playing on outdoors ponds or backyard rinks. Walter Gretzky built a rink for his son Wayne to practice on, while Bobby Hull honed his skills on the frozen-over Bay of Quinte.

But despite being an important part of Canadian culture, pond hockey seems to be in decline: not because the love of the sport has faded, but due to ponds and outdoor rinks simply not freezing over. More often than not these days, kids are forced to go to indoor rinks. There’s always ice, but they can be difficult to get to and the cost can be prohibitive for a game of shinny.

Pond hockey has always been a casual game, often played with three or four players aside. Body-checking is against the rules. It’s just players with helmets, sticks and skates on the ice for the love of the sport. But it does require ice, which means some cooperation from the weather. There hasn’t been much of that this year.
Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada, said this has been one of the worst winters on record for those who enjoy an outdoor skate.
“We did have winter: it was last Tuesday (Jan. 3),” jokes Phillips explaining that the temperatures dropped below normal for that day but were above normal 24 hours later.
Most people have begun to cancel not just postpone making backyard rinks, giving into the fact Mother Nature is just not in the right mood.

Last year was the best winter in a decade for making ice and taking advantage of the outdoor rinks and frozen ponds in the region. From December 2010 though the end of January 2011, 51 of 62 days provided temperatures well below freezing, perfect for skaters looking for a game of pond hockey, said Phillips.
Compare that to this winter where we have only had a total of 11 days of below-freezing temperatures.

The worst year for pond hockey was in 2006-2007, when the entire winter saw a total of 21 days where the thermostat dropped below zero. Hardly enough to even consider making an outdoor rink.

While Woolwich and Wellesley townships operate indoor arenas, they don’t directly provide outdoor rinks. That work falls to recreation associations, as well as a host of private ice surfaces, some open to the public and some confined to residential backyards. No one’s have much luck this year.

In Wellesley there are five outdoor rinks in the township that are operated with the help of community groups and volunteers, including St. Clements, Wellesley, Linwood and Hawkesville with a shared rink at Heidelberg. Each of those rinks has been closed for most of this season.

“They were open for a while but since we have had such mild temperatures over the last few weeks we have had to close them, but hope to have them operating soon,” said Brad Voisin, Wellesley’s executive director of facilities.

The wait may not be long, as temperatures are expected to drop well below the freezing mark this weekend. Environment Canada is calling for a return to winter conditions, with between five and 10 centimetres of snow arriving by Friday.

“It will feel and look more like winter this weekend,” said Phillips. “We will see some lasting snowfall this Friday and temperatures are not expected to rise above minus six for
the next four days. This weekend could be the window people are looking for to make ice.”

Those colder temperatures are not expected to last, however, as Tuesday’s high will be two degrees above.

“Even if the temperatures rise during the day those that have made an outdoor rink should be able to keep and use them because they will stay frozen overnight,” said Phillips. “It might be a bit slushy with the warmer temperatures but it will freeze again.”

In the past a snow base was needed to make an outdoor rink, but kits are available now with plastic liners to hold in the frozen water, allowing people to enjoy their home made rinks even if there is no snow on the ground.

Midwestern Conference wins GOJHL all-star game

The Elmira Sugar Kings and the Woolwich Memorial Centre played host to game one of the annual Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League all-star match on Monday night, where some 800 fans certainly got their money’s worth as the Midwestern Conference all-stars skated away with a 6-5 win over the Golden Horseshoe Conference.
The Kings’ Andrew Smith picked up a pair of points, including the game-winner midway through the third period. Midwestern Conference team captain and Kings teammate Riley Sonnenburg collected a pair of assists in the win, as well.

Defenceman Craig Johnson also suited up in the game, and goaltender Nick Horrigan played the first two periods, allowing four goals on 22 shots. Forward Brett Priestap was named to the team but did not play because of injury.

“I would not want to be a goalie in any all-star game, and Nick Horrigan saw a lot of point-blank shots early on in the game, but I thought Nick played well,” said Kings head coach Dean DeSilva, who was an assistant coach on Monday night.

“I thought Andrew and Riley skated well, and Craig Johnson was solid on defence.”

The action started early as Smith and Sonnenburg collected the assists when Waterloo Siskins forward Adam Campagnolo opened the scoring at 4:46 of the first.
The Golden Horseshoe responded with a pair of quick goals at 12:36 and 12:50, both high glove side on Horrigan, to take a 2-1 lead.

Shane Kinsella of the Guelph Hurricanes briefly knotted the match at two with a goal at 14:20, but the Golden Horseshoe regained the lead at 16:34 on a shot past a screened Horrigan.

Despite a total of five goals, the period was marked by long stretches of sloppy play and a relaxed approach by the players, which frustrated DeSilva and the other coaches.
“We were looking for something more intense, and in the first period there was no effort, there was no intensity, there was no skating, everyone was just being fancy,” he said.
“There were a lot of NCAA schools and OHL teams there, and I’m not sure how many of them stuck around after the first period,” he added.

In the second period, however, the players seemed to grow more accustomed to their new teammates, resulting in quicker play. The teams traded goals in the period, with Michael Christou of the Cambridge Winter Hawks tying the game 3-3 at 10:57 by finishing off a terrific tick-tack-toe play with his Winter Hawk teammates Josh Timpano and Ryan Clarke.

Just under two minutes later, however, the Golden Horseshoe’s Riley Jakobschuk gave his team the lead by beating Horrigan with a shot at 12:35.
In the third period, after the Golden Horseshoe took a 5-3 lead at the 3:07 mark, the game finally began to develop some intensity. Players started racing for loose pucks and the match began to resemble a playoff match rather than an all star game.

The Midwestern Conference capitalized on the change in the style in play and scored three goals in a span of seven minutes to take a 6-5 lead, headlined by Smith’s eventual winner at 11:21 from Sonnenburg and Campagnolo.

Sonnenburg went wide to the left of the Golden Horseshoe net, and threw the puck into the slot where Smith fired it top corner.
Following that goal, fans and players bared witness to a rarity in an all star game, a fight, which drew the biggest cheers of the night.
Defenceman Calvin Thomson of the Midwestern Conference checked Cam McLean in the corner of the Midwest zone, and after trading a few slashes the pair dropped their gloves.
Both players received a game misconduct and a two minute slashing penalty.

“I think a lot of it had to do with pride,” said De Silva of the higher tempo and more intense third period.
“Everyone wants to say that their conference is better than the other […] and I think that’s what picked the intensity up a little bit.”
It’s also no coincidence that once the game got more intense, Smith emerged as one of the best players on the ice.
Following his goal, he had a prime chance to extend the lead to two, but was robbed by the glove hand of goaltender Matt Coloumbe with just under four minutes left on the exact same play that he scored on a few minutes earlier.

Smith was also stopped on a clear breakaway with 2:34 left on the clock at the end of a long shift.
“When the game gets chippy and aggressive, Andrew Smith plays the best in that situation. He’s a big power forward and the type of player that is willing to give that hit or take a hit to make a play,” said De Silva.

Game two of the all star series is set for Jan. 23 at the Valley Park Arena, hosted by the Stoney Creek Warriors at 7:30 p.m.
The Sugar Kings also had two players named to the GOJHL top prospects game scheduled for Jan. 16 at the Vollmer Recreation Complex in LaSalle.
Defenceman Clayton Greer (one goal, 14 assists, 47 penalty minutes) and forward Will Cook (13 goals, 16 assists, 44 penalty minutes) have been named to the Midwestern Conference team.

Taste of winter weather only a tease for snowmobilers

The cold snap earlier this week may have had many of us cursing the onset of winter, but avid snowmobilers still haven’t seen enough of the cold and snow for their liking.

“It has been a terrible start to the season and we are not too impressed with Mother Nature right now but she can still make up for it,” said Graham Snyder, governor for District 5 of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs and trail groomer for the Golden Triangle Snowmobile Association.

The association is made of 12 snowmobile clubs in the area that maintain 500 kilometres of trails from Elmira to Wellesley, Cambridge and Stratford. None of those trails have been open this season because there isn’t enough snow to form a base.

Golden Triangle was formed so its clubs could band together to buy equipment and trail markers and make it easier for riders to maintain trails.

Snowmobilers interested in running through the white powder should be heading towards the Kapuskasing area, said Snyder, adding that groomers are working on trails in Barrie but they have not officially opened their trails just yet.

“We will need a good six inches to get running down here,” said Snyder. “It has to be really good snow, we could get a foot of fluffy snow but we would not be able to make a trial out of it where as six inches of packing snow would make a great trail for us.”

Snowmobilers will be hoping for a few good weeks of snow cover to make up for last year’s short season. Despite the wintry weather since Christmas, there hasn’t been enough accumulated snow so far this year.

A typical snowmobile season lasts close to six or seven weeks; however, the last two years have not been very nice for snowmobilers as mild spells throughout the winter months have melted snow and forced trails to close earlier than normal.

“When we have mild days in the middle of winter that last too long we basically have to start from scratch again and the last few years we have not had the snowfall to reopen some trails; those that are able to be open have to be re-groomed,” he said. “If we can get seven weeks we are very happy.”

Permit sales across the association have been steady so far this season as many riders decided to take advantage of the $50 discount when a permit was purchased before Dec. 1.
As soon as Old Man Winter makes more than a cameo appearance, the permits start flying off the shelf, said Snyder, noting groomers will be running around the clock and within 24 hours of a good snowfall, the trails will be open.

What snow we have accumulated so far in the region is expected to disappear as temperatures are expected to rise. According to Environment Canada the forecast calls for rain this weekend.

“It is too bad, because we like to have a foot or two of frost in the ground as that is better for our trails and the safety of the riders but the rains will bring out any frost that we have been able to gain over the last week,” said Snyder. “The frost is good for riders in the bush and swamp areas because if the ground is not frozen there is a danger of the machines sinking into the ground. We don’t want that, we want a safe season as we always do.”

Young brothers really stick up for the Kings

With the Elmira Sugar Kings looking to repeat as Sutherland Cup champions it will take a lot from both the players and coaches to get a team to the championship game. But there are those behind the scene that contribute to the cause.

Brothers Matthew and Justin Uhrig are just two of the Sugar Kings staff that keeps the team ready to hit the ice night after night at the Dan Snyder Memorial Arena.

You may have seen the two St. Barnabas School students running through the arena, dressed in their green jumpsuits usually carrying a bunch of hockey sticks or water bottles for the players.

Arriving an hour before game time, the two boys prepare for the night by ensuring each player’s sweater is in their locker along with all their gear. They then begin to move the hockey sticks from the locker room to the team’s bench.

“They are pretty amazing little guys. When I was their age I definitely did not sacrifice my nights and weekends coming out to help a bunch of smelly hockey players. They do a lot for us, and without them was would be lost in the locker room,” said Kings’ goalie Nick Horrigan.

There is still more for the two boys to accomplish before the team hits the ice for its warm-up skate. Justin and Matthew will be making sure there is enough water for each team member and all those pucks used during the warm-up have to be collected. The boys know exactly what to do and where to go.

The brothers attend practices as well, coming out to the arena three times a week as they look to help the team in any way they can.

“They are the heart and soul of the team and we couldn’t do this without them. They are kind of the backbone of the team and hold our team together. They are always there and do a great job for all of us,” said Kings’ captain Colton Wolfe-Sabo.

The boys enjoy sharing their time with the players and are always looking forward to some of the hijinks that occur in the locker rooms.

“They are always really nice to us but sometimes they tease us and that is a lot of fun too,” said 12-year-old Matthew, who has one year left with the Kings before he becomes to old to be a stick boy.

This is the first year Justin, 11, has been working with the team; he’s learning the ropes from his older brother, occasionally looking to him for help during his “rookie” year.
“He has helped me out a lot over the last few months. I saw how much fun he had last year and I really wanted to be a part of that: he asked the coaches if it would be OK and they said I could come out to a practice and see what it is all about,” said Justin.

The experience of working together has built a real bond between the brothers, who stand up for each other when the players start teasing them just a little too much.

“Will Cooke and Andrew Smith can really get on our case sometimes, but we know it is just for fun and they are never really mean to us: they are just making us one of the team,” said Matthew.

The two brothers have big dreams of one day of lacing up for the Kings themselves. They’ve played hockey with some of the players, who give them tips and show them how the big boys really play.

“They are two of the greatest guys you will ever meet. I have spent time with them outside the arena, playing at their house and we all get along great. Without them I am not sure we would function, they do everything for us. We can just focus on playing hockey – they make everything easier,” said Smith.

Maple syrup producers preparing for the season ahead

It may be too early to think about a maple syrup season that’s still a few months away, but for producers of the sweet stuff now is the time to prepare for when the sap starts flowing.
To that end, the Waterloo-Wellington Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association (WWOMSPA) holds its annual maple syrup information day next Thursday at the Woolwich Community Centre in St. Jacobs.

The event will host producers from the region, who’ll gather to discuss ways to promote the industry and the newest trends in maple syrup technology, including sap production and sanitation of sap lines.

There’s a full agenda on tap this year.

There will be an update for producers on what is happening across the province and a discussion what government inspectors from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have found at a few spot checks in Ontario.

“These inspectors look at the whole operation of producing syrup from the trees making the sap to the transportation to the tanks and the hygiene all along the way to the finished product,” said Robert Richmond, secretary-treasurer of WWOMSPA.

The CFIA inspectors should be able to take a bottle of syrup and trace back exactly where the syrup came from, including the tree that produced the sap. Producers need to keep proper records just incase there is something wrong with the syrup.

“Everything must be coded properly that way if there is something wrong the producer only needs to throw away the one batch. If they don’t have them coded, they would have to throw out the whole works,” said Richmond.

The main emphasis this year will be the problem the industry is facing with mould growing in bottles; a representative from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) will be discussing the best practices for producing maple syrup and keeping it free of bacteria and mould.

“If a producer doesn’t bottle or package the syrup properly mould can grow inside the bottle,” said Richmond. “This happens when the hot syrup is poured into a glass container. The syrup is heated to 185 F and when it is poured into the cool glass bottle a small amount of moisture can form in the bottle and that water eventually turns into mould.”

Maple syrup should be packed hot, especially for long-term storage, and producers must take better care while packing as to avoid a possible mould problem, said Richmond.
Fred Martin, WWOMSPA’s president, will be discussing the benefits of packing hot syrup versus cold syrup, as not all producers are packing hot syrup.

“This is very important for our industry; once you hot package the product in the proper containers the storage life is much longer, which allows the general public to keep the product longer as long as it is kept in a cool area,” said Martin.

Some producers are buying lesser-quality containers, trying to save money and passing that savings on to the consumer, but the product does not last very long in the plastic jugs and these jugs can not be hot packed because they are not designed to withstand any kind of extreme heat, said Martin.

“This is about food safety for the general consumer and we should not being allowing the safety of the food to be put in jeopardy, he said, adding hot packing does cost more and the consumer does pay more for that product but it also has a longer shelf life in their cabinets and refrigerator.

The white plastic syrup containers need to be refrigerated immediately because the containers are quite porous and cannot withstand sitting on a shelf in the kitchen.
“The talk is a reminder for our own producers to step up to the plate and make sure they are sending out a topnotch product in a high quality container,” said Martin.

Waterloo North Hydro moves into new home

Christmas came a little bit early for the employees of Waterloo North Hydro when, after 18 months of planning and construction, they finally moved into their brand new facility.
Located at 526 Country Squire Rd. in Woolwich Township, just down the road from the new Research in Motion campus, the 105,000 square-foot office is more than double the size of the old headquarters, located at 300 Northfield Dr. in Waterloo.
“We needed more space. We had run out of room,” said Rene Gatien, the utility’s president and CEO.

“People just didn’t have the room that they should have to get things done.”
Gatien said that members of the same department were spread out in various sections of the building, a situation he described as “disjointed.” Expansion on their old site would have been possible, but there would have been limited opportunities to expand in the future.
Giving each department their own section of the building should help streamline services and make more efficient use of employee time and energy.

The company was also forced to store vehicles and equipment off-site at about half a dozen smaller municipal stations, but now, all of that equipment can be stored in one central location.

Melloul-Blamey Construction of Waterloo, who built the Woolwich Memorial Centre, received the contract for the construction, and the $26-million project began in July, 2010. Employees began the four-day move to the new building on Dec. 3, just two days later than the company had initially planned.

The project was fully funded by Waterloo North Hydro; neither the government nor the utility’s three shareholders (Woolwich, Wellesley, and the City of Waterloo) contributed money, Gatien said.

Woolwich owns a little more than a 20 per cent stake in Waterloo North Hydro, while Wellesley owns about six per cent.

That capital cost of the new building will be passed on to the company’s approximately 53,000 customers, and the impact on the average users bill will be approximately 75 cents per month, amortized over the next 50 years.

From the outset the company had the goal of maintaining energy efficiency wherever possible, and as a result of their efforts they have achieved a LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) silver standard.

The building is nearly 50 per cent more efficient than a similar building would be if built under standard construction practices, and the entire project finished about one per cent over budget, Gatien said.

The lights are all motion-activated, contractors made use of old wood and the concrete foundation of the barn that once stood on the site, they capture rainwater from the roof which is then used to flush the toilets, and a geothermal system heats and cools the structure as well.

Construction is not quite complete, and there are still about a dozen employees working out of the old location still, but the company is already looking into selling its old office and will have a clearer picture of those details in the new year.

For now, employees are still trying to acquaint themselves with their new surroundings and learn the new layout, and Gatien said the move was well worth it both now, and in the future.

“We’ve set up so in the future the office area can be expanded in one direction, and the operations can be expanded in the other direction,” he said.
“It’s going to be here a long time.”

Jacks rewarded after giving it their best effort of the year

The Applejacks closed out their four-game home stand last weekend with a pair of close matches, a 3-2 win over the Hagersville Hawks on Friday night and a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tavistock Braves on Saturday.

Both games had a playoff atmosphere to them, and the head coach was pleased with his team’s performance, in particular their win over Hagersville.

“That was our best 60-minute effort all year,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick. “We were responsible in our own end, guys had great line changes, and they did everything we needed to do to win.”

The first period was controlled by the Hawks as they outshot the Jacks 15-6 and led 1-0 at the end of 20 minutes of play, courtesy of Jason Gadoury who beat goaltender Josh Heer with a shot at 6:56.

Wellesley fell behind 2-0 just over five minutes into the second period when Jesse Ross beat Heer with an unassisted goal at 5:14, but that goal gave Wellesley the wakeup call they needed and the team scored three straight goals just 3:26 apart to take a 3-2 lead heading into the third.

Mark Detzier put Wellesley on the board at 8:29 from Bobby Gray and Corey Way, Reid Denstedt tied it up at 10:57 from Shawn Fitzpatrick and Tyler Eckert, and Way gave the home team the lead at 11:55 from Mitch Metzger and Josh Herd.

The Jacks shut the Hawks down in the third, limiting them to just two shots on goal in the final frame as they held on for the victory.

The following night the Jacks welcomed the fifth-place Tavistock Braves to the Wellesley arena, but appeared to suffer from a bit of an emotional letdown after their high-energy win the night before.

Both teams skated to a 0-0 draw after the first period, with both goalies making 18 saves after 20 minutes. In the second, Tavistock took an early 1-0 lead at 7:16 from Nick Quehl, who fired a quick wrist shot from the slot past Heer’s glove into the top corner.

Wellesley responded with one of their own at 16:05 when the Jacks’ Brent Vickers squeezed a backhander past Corey Tuffnail. Matt Soveregn picked up the lone assist.

Their celebration was short-lived though, because Tavistock’s Charlie Malson won the next faceoff, skated the length of the ice untouched, and put a quick, low wrist shot past Heer on the blocker side just five seconds later.

The goal deflated the Wellesley bench as they headed into the final frame trailing 2-1 on the scoreboard and 31-28 on the shot clock.

In the third the Jacks didn’t let up and fired 15 more shots at Tuffnail, who was finally beaten with less than three minutes left to play in regulation.

Defenceman James Mildon took a wrist shot from the point which was deflected in front of the net by Soveregn at 17:01 to tie the game up at two.

Neither team could find the back of the net in overtime, sending the Jacks to their first shootout of the year.

Fitzpatrick said the team had made no emphasis on the shootout in practice, and it showed as the trio of Tyler Eckert, Brent Vickers and Corey Way were all unsuccessful in their attempts, and Josh Heer was beaten by the first shooter he faced, giving Tavistock the victory.

“That’s probably the best any goalie has played against us all year. I thought he was outstanding he was the difference,” said Fitzpatrick.

“Give them credit, they played a good game. We just got beat. We had our chances and couldn’t capitalize, and when we did their goalie was there.”

After hitting the road to take on Delhi Friday, the Jacks return home to face Ayr on Dec. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Wellesley currently sit third in the McConnell Conference standings with 28 points, eight behind Delhi for the conference lead.

The game on Dec. 28 marks the third annual Hockey Night in Wellesley event. All children who participated in the Kids and Cops event on Dec. 4 get free admission along with their families, and there will be a pre-game skate from 6-6:50 p.m.

The evening also marks the Kings annual teddy bear toss game, and when the Jacks score their first goal of the night fans can throw a new, wrapped bear onto the ice which will be donated to the Stratford General Hospital and other local charities. Admission for those who did not attend Kids and Cops will be $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, and $2 for children 12 and under.

Kings split home-and-home series with Dutchmen

After losing leading scorer Andrew Smith to a two-game suspension Dec. 16 in Stratford, the Elmira Sugar Kings leaned on a returning player to eke out a 3-2 win over the Kitchener Dutchmen last Sunday afternoon at the Dan Snyder arena.

Brad Kraus, re-acquired from the St. Thomas Stars on Dec. 12, had a goal, an assist, and drew a key penalty near the end of the game to help Elmira beat Kitchener 3-2.

“It’s good to be back. I missed the boys and the coaches and the dressing room and the rink,” said Kraus, who was a key contributor to the Kings on their Sutherland Cup run last season.

“Hockey is a lot bigger here than it is anywhere else.”

The game was closer than the head coach would have liked, but following the team’s 4-3 defeat Dec. 16 to the conference-leading Cullitons he welcomed the two points.
In the game against Stratford, Smith received a gross misconduct and a two-game suspension for shooting the puck over the glass, and the Kings have now lost all three matchups against Stratford this season by a combined score of 10-7.
“After Friday night we expected a little bit of a letdown, but full credit to Kitchener they came out and played very, very hard.”

The Kings didn’t get out to the start they envisaged against the lowly Dutchmen, who had only six wins all season heading into

Sunday’s matinee affair.
Kitchener led 1-0 after the first and extended that lead to 2-0 just under a minute into the second.

With Lukas Baleshta in the box for high sticking, the Dutchmen looked to put the game out of reach but Kraus brought the crowd at the Dan Snyder arena to its feet with a shorthanded goal at 2:51.

Brady Campbell made a long pass to Kraus to send him on a partial breakaway, and he made a quick wrist shot from the right faceoff circle count to cut Kitchener’s lead to one.

The goal gave new energy to the Kings, as they dominated the remainder of the period.

Campbell tallied the tying goal at 17:39 on the powerplay.

Baleshta made a pass from the corner to Kraus, who was parked in front of Kitchener goaltender Nathan Perry. Kraus was tied up by a defender and the puck sat in the blue ice until Campbell swept in and fired it top corner.

In the third period, Perry stood tall as Elmira again held the decisive edge in play, outshooting their opponents 14-4, but they couldn’t get one past the Dutchmen goaltender.

Just before the halfway mark of the third period, however, Kraus shifted the period with what he does best: throwing a big bodycheck. He hit Kitchener enforcer Brock Campbell into the boards with a clean shoulder check that Campbell took exception to. The Dutchmen forward was slow to get up and skated after Kraus to try and entice him to fight, going as far as crosschecking Kraus in the back of the head in front of the Elmira bench.

A melee ensued and Campbell was given a five-minute major for head contact and a game misconduct. He was also slapped with a two-game suspension by the league the next day.

“I think I hit him too hard and I hurt his ego when he fell down,” said Kraus of the incident. “I actually knocked the wind out of myself, so I didn’t want to fight, otherwise I probably would have.”

That decision worked in Elmira’s favour, as captain Colton Wolfe-Sabo scored a powerplay goal at 14:05 on a deflected point shot to give the Kings a 3-2 lead that they managed to preserve to the final whistle.

Kings’ goaltender Justis Husak made 22 saves in just his seventh start of the season to collect the win.

“I thought I was really calm, I thought the team played awesome and they just kept going,” said Husak after the game.

“We weren’t getting too many bounces but we did have a couple opportunities on powerplay.”

DeSilva had nothing but praise for the role that Kraus has filled since his return from St. Thomas.

“He certainly gives us a lot of depth up front and gives us a shot in the arm in terms of work ethic. He brings it every shift and has been a pleasure to add to the team.”

The Kings travelled to Kitchener for a rematch with the Dutchmen on Tuesday night, and Kitchener got their revenge with a 5-4 win. The home team tallied three goals in the third period, two of them with the man advantage, to seal the win. Brett Priestap and Riley Sonnenburg each collected a goal and an assist in the loss, while Nick Horrigan surrendered five goals on 28 shots for the loss.

The team will now enjoy a bit of an extended break and won’t hit the ice again until Jan. 7 when they travel to Cambridge for a 7 p.m. game. They return home Jan. 8 for an afternoon match against the Owen Sound Greys at 2 p.m.

 

Santa’s little helpers

Canada Post offices across the country are extremely busy this time of year with many letters and packages being sent out with hopes of being delivered before Christmas Day.
Without a doubt the address that receives the most letters is one farther north than any Canadian city. Currently, more than one million children write to Santa Claus at his ‘North Pole, H0H 0H0’ address. Each and every letter that is received and includes a return address will receive a reply from ol’ Saint Nick.
The return-letter program that began more than 30 years ago is also a very important part of the holiday season for thousands of Canada Post employees who help Santa respond to all the letters he receives. There are more than 9,000 employees, called Postal Elves, who help Santa to ensure that every child’s letter gets an answer in the language in which the letter was written, including Braille.

Each elf spends over 21 hours answering Santa letters over the holiday season. This year the post office will be delivering its 20 millionth Santa letter, with 1.25 million letters being sent out across Canada.

The Elmira post office is expecting to see a few hundred Santa letters come through the door and one of Santa’s postal elves, Kerry Mills, could not be more thrilled.
Mills has been helping Santa for three years and enjoys personally reading every letter he can from the children in the area.

“Santa is a very busy guy and can’t answer all the letters he receives by himself,” said Mills during a quick coffee break from letter writing, adding he has read some really heartwarming letters over the years.

“Last year I had one from a young girl who had just been adopted and she described how happy she was to be with her new family,” he said. “That kind of thing is why it is fun to do this: you open up a letter and you are blown away with what these kids are writing.”
Mills said the first letters usually start coming in just after Thanksgiving but the bulk show up after the Elmira Santa Claus parade, as the post office runs a truck in the parade just to collect the many letters from kids on the side of the street waiting to see Santa.
Right now Mills has quite a stack of letters to answer and promises to get them all done before Christmas arrives.

All the response letters are made personal and signed by Santa and sometimes include a note from the man in red himself.

“I really enjoy doing this and it is great to see that kids are still into Santa Claus. With everything that changes for kids, Santa Claus is still constant – all the commercial stuff that surrounds Christmas the little kids still see it with their hearts.”

Mills has seen letters from kids ranging in age from 3 to 12, and they all ask for some sort of toy. Over the years the specifics have changed with the fads that follow them but for the most part kids still just want a toy to play with on Christmas day.

“I read every letter that comes in and it is quite a delight because you never know what you will find in those envelopes. Some kids have pages of items of what that they want, others have cut out images from magazines and there are some that just ask for one thing – it is really great to see all the variety.”

Music to put you in the Christmas spirit

It may not look a whole lot like Christmas outside, but step into Koinonia Christian Fellowship and it’s a different story: the Bloomingdale church and academy is gearing up for its third annual Christmas in Concert.
“It is going to be a great night of Christmas music – the best of Christmas music. There will be traditional, classical, big band, jazz and acoustic, with a variety and a mix of everything,” said Koinonia’s Heidi Fleming of the music, singing and dancing in store this weekend.

There are four performances scheduled, starting Friday night when the church hosts its second annual dessert café allowing 240 paid guests to enjoy gourmet cakes and desserts before the evening performance. The Friday show has been sold out for weeks.

Saturday offers two free performances, a matinee starting at 3:30 p.m. and the evening show starting at 7 p.m. All seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis, with doors opening a half-hour before show times Sunday’s show is the final performance starting at 3:30 p.m.
The show is close to 90 minutes in length including a 20-minute intermission. The church can seat close to 800 audience members with plans to fill every performance including the Sunday matinee, which is the most popular show.
“There will be a lot of Christmas carols performed by soloists, ensembles, trios, and the whole group including the band and our 100-voice choir, which is really a big feature,” said Fleming. “There are also a few dance numbers including a jazz/ragtime dance.”

Anyone attending should expect to hear classic carols like O Holy Night and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Silver Bells, and Joy to the World.

The first song of the night will be My Favorite Time of Year by Josh Snethlage and backed by the concert choir, a fun Christmas song to get the audience in the mood and sets the tone for the entire show, which is all about the Christmas spirit.
Music director Steve Warner and choir conductor Karen Thorne have worked tirelessly with producer and director Kathryn Hofer to create a seamless performance for guests to enjoy, said Fleming.
Hofer wears a lot of hats in this production, as she performs in a Jingle Bell Rag dance number while the concert choir sings partway through the first set.
The church has been preparing for the concert over the last few months, gathering songs and preparing the numbers with rehearsals beginning last month.

“It is not promoted as a church service event; it is a concert of great Christmas music that anyone can enjoy no matter their background. We call it our Christmas card to the community and hope people just come in and enjoy the show,” said Fleming, who is involved in the production singing in both the choir and in a trio performing the classic, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas just before the finale of Sing Noel, Sing Hallelujah, the church’s traditional choir coral piece to close the show.

“There are a lot of highs and lows to the show but the beat stays constant and the audience is taken on a little journey,” said Fleming. “It is great for the whole family.”
The Koinonia Christian Fellowship presentation of Christmas in Concert runs Dec. 17 (3:30 and 7 p.m.) and Dec. 18 (3:30 p.m.) at 850 Sawmill Rd. in Bloomingdale. There is no cost to attend. For more information, call 519-744-7447 or go online at www.ChristmasInConcert.com.