Code: 1. Fan Appreciation Day
January 30th, Yukon Malamutes vs Kelowna Knights. The season hasn’t gone as planned, but we have to keep spirits high. The team comes up with an idea together to bring the fans into the next game, Golden. Dog. Collars. With little Malamute logos dangling off the front. We have them handed out at the entrance while people walk in, the fans can wear them anywhere they like as they can tighten and loosen. And the big kicker, every time we score, the little logos let out an AWOOOOOO. That night against the Knights we scored 6 times and every time that buzzer went off, everyone and their little logos belted out their best AWOOOOO. Maybe we should hand out more golden dog collars next year.
125 words

Code: 2. Looking Towards The Future
Looking at the future of the Yukon Malamutes is a joy, we have an entire core of young players that are getting better every week, and growing around each other to fit the team as well as possible. Our top 6 forward group is all staying together this year meaning we are only getting better in that area. If we draft a good 3rd like that puts work into being on this team, we’ll have a forward group up to par with most teams in the league. We have 2 defenders heading up to the big league next season meaning we have to draft well in our home end. But on the bright side, we will have one of ours hitting 425 or getting close to it meaning we’ll have a high-end defender and 3 elite defenders to back them up. In goal Asher Gibbons is looking to grow with the team and hopefully next year hitting the rookie max at 350, this would be huge for us as it would allow more leniency in that 3rd pairing in the draft. Asher is young enough to be the core goalie here for a couple of years to come, so drafting a backup isn’t too necessary this year. Hopefully hitting on that 3rd pairing, and potentially getting a 3rd liner that can put the work in, will be everything this team needs to take a BIG step in the right direction next season.
242 words

Code 7: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
Who do I think will win the 4-star cup? Am I going for an underdog? Or a favourite? I would say they are likely favourites for the cup, they finished 4th in the league with 42 wins and 89 points. I believe the S69 (nice) 4-star cup winners will be the Great Falls Grizzlies. They came into the season with high hopes, but I don’t think anyone saw this coming. Leading the team in points was Hai Nam Hoang, he scored 30 goals and 87 points in 66 games. Other offensive highlights were Loosh O’Sullivan with 30 goals, and Bobby McGinnis with 68 points. They have one of the hottest goalies in the league with Bandit Heeler, he had 31 wins in 49 games. He also had a .909 save percentage, and 8 shutouts. Looking at advanced stats, the Grizzlies' PDO leader was right-defender Joshua Weber. Defensemen Nino Di Giuseppe and Chris Valentine followed Weber in PDO, but forwards were contributing here as-well. Tiberius Kane had a score of 104.2, and a Corsi for percentage of 49.9%. While James Dion scored 103.8 and 56%. But I couldn’t mention this team and all these players without mentioning one in particular. Rookie right winger Kyle Latreille, my little brother. His rookie season was fantastic scoring 17 goals and 39 points. He scored 102.1 on PDO with a Corsi for percentage of 49.4%. With all of these guys working hard out there, this is a very solid team. These are the reasons I’ve chosen the Great Falls Grizzlies for the 4-star cup. I wish all the teams luck and hope that the playoffs are wicked fun. Because the Yukon Malamutes and I will be back for more next postseason.
286 words

Code 12: On The Radar
After his rookie season with the Yukon Malamutes, Josh Latreille is an interesting prospect, to say the least. Josh was very slow through the first half of the season. Scoring about 6 points, 25 penalty minutes, and a 6.6% shooting percentage. Josh is a physical player and had around 50 hits through the first half. The only real bright spot was winning a fight in his second game, showing some of the grit he can bring to the ice. His advanced stats were not much better, but he never stopped training all parts of his game. At the halfway point, Josh talked to some of his teammates and his coach. Josh wanted to know what he should do to advance his game, the answer was unanimous. Josh needed to work on his shot, so he did. The second half of the season was a much better showing of the player he could become, finishing with 15 points. He slowed down his penalty-taking, finishing with 42 penalty minutes. He picked up his physical game, finishing with 114 hits.
177 words

+3 TPE - s69 SMJHL Milestones

830 total words