Zamzow in "Prickly Situation" in Phoenix...

While on a Kinsmen retreat to Phoenix, Arizona this week, part of the festivities included a round of golf at the TPC Stadium Course in Scottsdale (home of the PGA's Waste Management Open held every February). While awaiting to tee off on hole #16, Mr. Zamzow accidentally backed into a cactus that resulted in about 1,000 cactus needles in his ass, legs & heels. After many minutes of crying & bleeding while pulling out the needles, Craig was able to carry on with his game, albeit in a fair amount of pain. With his shorts full of needles, he proceeded to literally toss them into the garbage and play the final 3 holes in his briefs and bare feet. TPC staff believe that is truly the first time such a feat has ever been done, including the days when Tiger Woods was running roughshod over the legions of adoring female fans while stripping off clothing in an effort to get to the now famous '19th hole' that came to light years after the fact. Despite his injuries, Mr. Zamzow was able to draw cheers from the crowd as he made the walk to the 18th green. Tournament officials were waiting on the green to lead him to the local authorities who very curious to find out what he deemed as appropriate public golf attire here in the fine state of Arizona! 

Season Opener ends in 4-4 Draw...

Forty minutes of what could only be classified as "Still better than Lockout" hockey, solved nothing as CU and the Swan River Raiders skated to a 4-4 draw. A.P. stand out Ryan "Ribs" Cable lead all scorers with a pair, while singles went to Riley "Grin" Morden and Jeremy "Jack and Cola" Gray.

Making his CU debut, Geremy "Knockem Down" Newberry admirably filled in on the back-end for a vacationing Craig "Zdeno" Zamzow. Blocking shots, foiling "Three on Ones", Newberry looked more like a seasoned veteran than a glassy eyed rookie. A game which saw the lead see-saw back and forth, looked like it was going to slip away from CU, if not for the last minute heroics of Jeremy "J.D." Gray. Finding themselves down a goal in the dying minutes, the soft of hands of "J.D.", released a bullet along the ice that handcuffed Raider Goaltender Warren " Crease" Clark!

Face off woes continue for struggling center men Kevin " I think I'm gonna play the stick this time" Kopecky, as the unofficial stats had the cagey draw master going 2 for 12 in the circle. Help could be on the way, as team will be travelling to Roblin in a few weeks as defending champs in the Roblin Hounds Second Annual Fall Classic. President and 5 time league all-star Blaine "30 secs on then off" Campbell has been inquiring about the availability of former C.U. Face-Off specialist and current Roblin Hound Ryan "Cowboy" Keown. "Kopecky is struggling in every aspect, his confidence is down, I just think a few minutes with the Cowboy may help him ! " Kopecky who was unavailable for comment, was last seen at his son's Novice practice, working on his technique and looking for pointers.

Despite following a rather intense and often controversial off-season dry land program, CU power forward Mark "More Eggs" Munro will remain on the I.R.list.

Team "Sizzlin" wins the CU Jug!

Team "Sizzlin Young Guns!"

It was a hard fought battle on the links , but when the dust cleared, Team "Rob's Sizzlin Young Guns", were just to much for "Jeff's Old Knights!" Finishing up in the clubhouse with a convincing 4 shot lead, McDonald accepted the the "CU" Jug on behalf of his elite eight member team. After a blistering -8 opening front nine by the pairings of Pat "Down the Middle" Morden, and Jarret " Heavy Hitter" Henderson, Team "Sizzlin" went out and played a near flawless combined round of even par on the back nine. Much discussion surrounding the Captains Picks was heavily debated at the 19th Hole. Team "Old Knight's", captain and one time caddie for legendary CPA golfer Jim Nelford, Jeff  "Divot Digger" Knight relied heavily on the sibling pairings of Gray and Zamzow. Team "Sizzlin's " captain and 28 handicapper, Rob "I think I see the beer cart" McDonald favored a more diversified team that included the likes of Brian " Mulligan" Minish, Soup " Canned it" Campbell, and the Black Ace of the team Mike " Smooth as Silk" Smith. The festivities continued at team "Sizzlin's", where both team captains were awarded the illustrious "Golden Skate", a milestone piece of club hardware.

Blogmeister

"Nifty Fifty" Knighter

Grumpy Old Men!

May Musings...

An exciting April has come and gone, but here is the club update.

The club would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dave “Dr. Hook” Bettesworth and Murray “Moon” Mullin for claiming the Swan River Men’s Bonspiel Championship during tourney weekend.  The proud alumni found the time to visit the dressing room for Friday Night’s wingfest, and Dr. Hook took a moment to develop lines and power play units for Saturday’s win vs. Gladstone.

Congratulations are also in order for former Credit Union Old timer pickup Chay Genoway. Chay was fortunate enough to be called up to play for the Minnesota Wild when they hosted the Phoenix Coyotes on April 7th. The Wild lost 4-1, but Genoway picked up an assist on Dany Heatley’s goal. Genoway was also named 2^nd Star in the contest. 

 In the post-game interview, Genoway took a moment to thank Credit Union Old timer defence-man Blaine “Prez” Campbell for the tutelage shown at several Christmas intra-squads, not to mention the poker winnings that put him through 5 years at UND! Chay specifically wanted to send special thanks to REA General Manager Jody “Rath” Hodgson. Watching Hodgson lace them up for CU on the Olympic-sized sheet at the REA was the turning point in his career. His smooth gait and tenacity obviously were acquired from his 1983 line-mates Pat Falloon and Tyler Boucher!

Pictured below is CU defence-man Craig “Zdeno” Zamzow showing off the first Genoway jersey t-shirts. Apparently he tried to order the shirt in orange, reminiscent of his pylon-esque defensive play, but the Wild’s third jerseys will remain red for one more season.

It appears as though Genoway made the right choice after initially attempting a golf career, thankfully the RCGA talked him out of it in 2001 (click here).

Elsewhere, 2028 Credit Union Rookie of the Year Evan “Manboy” Morden recently wrapped up his 2^nd season with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Morden routinely had to cover for Ryan “2012 First Rounder” Murray as he attempted more end to end rushes than Jason Ryden.

 Morden returned to Swan River just in time to serve as keynote speaker at the Swan Valley Minor Hockey Awards Banquet. Kudos to “Manboy” on a great job and hope brother Riley can help shake the Northern Redi-Mix out of your gloves before the fall.

"Dumb and Dumber!"

The Credit Union Hockey Club would like to pass along best wishes to Jim "The Zebra" Webster on his impending bionic hip implant on May 28. Early indicators are that he should be healed up in time for opening night in October. However, reports are unsubstantiated as to the success of the multiple Lasik procedures paid by the Blogmeister to assist with offside calls.

Lastly, the club has tentatively planned their golf tourney and windup for August 18. Any alumni planning to be in town should contact Brian “The Thrill” Gilroy with arrangements. There will be a post-tourney celebration to honour the 50^th birthdays of two very special CU heirlooms (Rob “Blogmeister” McDonald & Jeff “Skinny” Knight). A 1:00 am. appearance from the Rob’s Sizzlin’ Hot Dogz is also rumored.

CU in the rough!

Dickie Dunn

Thank You Teams.....

A big thank you to all teams, officials,and  arena staff for making our 37th annual "Spring Classic" such a success. Also thanks to all tournament committee members for all your hard work, without, this event is "just another Old-timer rec tourney. Please feel free to download , copy, print , reproduce in any way shape or form, images from these posts. Have a great summer everyone, only 161 days until training camp!! My sincere apologies to the Mighty Buck organization for not being able to find your team photo!

Super Sunday...

The host Credit Union Oldtimers started out well, piling up victories over the Birtle Old Puckers (4-1) and the Gladstone Old Duckers (7-0). However, in the A semi-final, the club's usually overpowering offence led by Randy "Meat Head" Mateika went cold. Mateika said "I focused on backchecking and crease clearing (including an introduction to our goalie, Mike Smith) in the Gladstone game and never re-gained my offensive touch when the chips were down". The defending champion Kenville/Virden Flyers upended the hosts 3-0.

Randy "The Rock" Mateika

Credit Union Hockey Club President Blaine "Soup" Campbell was visibly dejected when interviewed and expressed extreme disappointment. "After this performance, there will be sweeping changes to the CU roster for 2012-13. This club needs to re-focus on our longstanding tradition of being a contender so all player contracts will be evaluated".

 In the C Final the Silver Seven led by the Mullin family (David, Tyler, and Bryce) defeated the Mighty Bucks by a score of 7-3.

In the B Final the Winnipegosis Hawks defeated the Flin Flon Bombers (10-6) led by a pair of hat tricks by Duane Clarkson and club GM, scoring star, and rancher extraordinaire Terry "Slick" Sliworsky.

The A Final featured a rematch of the 2011 final with the Kenville/Virden Flyers facing the Valley Outlaws.

After a scoreless 1st period, Kenville took the lead on a beautifully roofed backhand over the outstretched glove of Outlaws goaltender Andy "Butch" Hodgson.  A few minutes later Outlaws centreman Rick Betcher fired a laser over the shoulder of Flyer netminder Joey "Fort Mac" Moshenko to knot the score.

With just over 5 minutes remaining, the tenacious Flyer forecheck once again paid dividends, as they pounced on a rebound and fired it just inside the post for the Championship goal.

The Game Star Committee of Chris Zamzow, Darren Mullin, and Clayton Mychalchuk deservedly selected Andy Hodgson and Joey Moshenko and their teams' respective game stars and President Blaine "Clarence" Campbell presented the newly minted Credit Union Cup to Captain "Handy" Andy Miller.

Once again, on behalf of the CU Oldtimers, thanks for coming out , and we will see ya all on the links! The 38th annual tourney has been tentatively scheduled for March 28-31, 2013. Weekend ticket packages are expected to go on sale in early November at Atkinson's Sports Excellence.

Saturday... Separating the Men from the Boys!!!

Birtle and Gladstone opened on the red eye express, with Birtle Old Puckers squeaking out a 6-3 victory. Valley Outlaws had an "Old Time Hockey" rumble with the Winnipegosis Hawks. The Hawks, running their usual "Short Bench", found themselves band aiding up players to keep them off the IR list. The Outlaws took  little time to take advantage of a battered and blue hawk squad, skating to a 11- 2 win.

Gash Brothers!!

The Swan River Raiders, under the guidance of new  found enforcer Derrick "Dropem" Lukey, showed that they are more than just a "Wings, Fish, and Paralyzer kinda club," skated to a hard fought battle over the Flin Flon Rock. Sean "Sniper" Eggie once again led the usual Raider "Parade to the Penalty Box" as their penalty kill was tested regularly.

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Dangerous Derrick Lukey

Dry land Training or Team Bonding?

The host Credit Union Oldtimers started out well, with a  victory over the Birtle Old Puckers (4-1) and followed  that  with a convincing the  7-0 shut out win over the Gladstone Old Duckers , securing a date in one of the two "A"side semi finals.

Friday Night ....

A recap of the action Friday night saw the Kenville Flyers pick up where they left off last year by defeating the Silver Seven 11- 2 . CU registered an opening 4-1 win over the Birtle Old Puckers. Icing a full squad for the first time this year, the 16 plus skaters welcomed the 4 shifts per period. The Flin Flon Rock handed the Bowsman Burners their second loss to the tune of 11-1. Bowsman will be chasing that ever elusive "C"side final once again. After a quick carb reloading session, Kenville Flyers hit the ice a second time and handed the Flin Flon Bombers their first loss to the tune of 7-3. Action resumes early Saturday morning , when two southern sisters Birtle and Gladstone share an early 9:00 am cup of joe.