Windspeaker Sports Briefs - November 2012

Simon still playing
Chris Simon didn’t have to wait for National Hockey League officials to sort out their labour situation in order to begin his current season. That’s because for the fifth straight year, an Ojibwe from Wawa, Ont., finds himself playing in the primarily Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Simon, who is turning 40 in January, is toiling for a club called Metallurg Novokuznetsk. This marks his second season with the team. Simon, a 6-foot-3 forward, had earned two points (one goal, one assist) in his first eight contests with Metallurg Novokuznetsk this season.

Before joining his current squad, Simon played for a couple of other KHL franchises, Chekhov Vityaz and the famed Moscow Dynamo. Simon also moved around a fair bit during his 15-season NHL career, which lasted from 1992 through 2008. He started his NHL career with the Quebec Nordiques and followed that organization to the U.S. when it relocated and became the Colorado Avalanche. Simon also played for the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild.

The KHL features 26 clubs this season. Of those, 20 are based in Russia. The league also includes a squad from each of the following six countries: Belarus, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Former McGill star turns pro
Francis Verreault-Paul has started his first full season as a pro with the South Carolina-based Greenville Road Warriors in the East Coast Hockey League. Verreault-Paul is coming off a hugely successful 2011-12 campaign. He was a member of the McGill Redmen, who captured the Canadian university men’s championship this past March.

Verreault-Paul, a Montagnais who is from Mashteuaitsh, an Innu community in Quebec, was selected as the most valuable player at the national university tournament, held in Fredericton, the New Brunswick capital. Verreault-Paul, who is now 25, starred for four seasons with McGill. He played a total of 93 games with the squad and racked up 156 points, including 87 goals. Prior to that he had spent five seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as a member of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

After leading the Redmen to the national university crown this past season, Verreault-Paul signed a tryout contract with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League. The Pennsylvania-based Bears are the top affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals. Verreault-Paul appeared in six regular season games with the Bears. He had one assist in those contests. After those half dozen appearances with the Hershey club he returned to McGill to finish off his school year.
As for this season, Verreault-Paul was held pointless in the Road Warriors’ first two matches. Greenville is an affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers. But the Road Warriors are not the Rangers’ top minor league affiliate. That distinction belongs to the AHL’s Connecticut Whale.

Still sharing arena
Ohsweken will continue to have a pair of teams competing in the Canadian Lacrosse League. The league, more commonly referred to as CLax, is gearing up for its second season. During its inaugural year the circuit featured six franchises, which competed out of three facilities.

The Ohsweken Demons ended up winning the championship title over the Iroquois Ironmen. Both of these squads played their home contests at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Ohsweken. Meanwhile, the Oshawa Machine and Durham Turfdogs both played out of the same rink in Oshawa. And the Brampton Inferno and Peel Avengers staged their home contests at the same facility in Brampton.

As for this coming season, the CLax will feature seven franchises. But the Demons and Ironmen will be the only ones that continue to share a home facility. The Machine has relocated to Toronto and will play out of the old Maple Leaf Gardens, which is now called the Mattamy Athletic Centre. The franchise is now called the Toronto Shooting Stars. Also, the Avengers have moved to St. Catharines, but as of mid-October that franchise had yet to be renamed. The name of the expansion franchise that will play in Barrie was also yet to be revealed. Barrie will be the only new franchise in the CLax this season.

During the off-season there had been some speculation that Akwesasne and Kahnawake could also possibly have expansion squads. The seven league entrants will all play a 14-game regular season schedule. The season will run from January through April. The regular season is scheduled to kick off on Jan. 12, 2013 and feature a rematch of the two Aboriginal squads that advanced to the championship final last season.