By Derek Holtom
When we last saw the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, they were in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League final four for the first time in franchise history, giving the eventual league and national champion Niverville Nighthawks their stiffest test of the postseason.
It’s a few months later and a new season of Wolverines hockey is right around the corner. And the question everyone is asking, is what can Wayway do for an encore?
Wolverines Head Coach and General Manager Landyn Cochrane, with a fresh and well-earned contract in hand, says the goal is always to win a championship, while noting last season was an important one for the franchise, which joined the league all the way back in 1999.
“Yes, definitely last year was a great step for us,” says Cochrane. “But that is our goal and standard every year is get into the playoffs and the rest will take care of itself.”
 The Wolverines lost some key players from last season due to graduation, including Sebastien Hicks (University of Western Ontario), Ben Roulette (University of Regina), Kurt Rookes (University of Regina), and goaltender Jase Wareham (Minot State University). Those are some big skates to fill, but the team does have some players eligible to return with plenty of experience, including netminder Mariko Bercier, and forwards Dylan Duzan and Cole Hunter.
And overall, there will be plenty of competition at training camp this (past) weekend,
“We will have 15 returning players,” noted Cochrane. “At our main camp we will have 48 players divided into 3 teams.”
Cochrane also made sure to bring in some experienced players to help restock the team, both of which have previous MJHL experience.
“There’s definitely lots of new guys that we’re excited about,” says Cochrane. “Two of those include Ian Buors, a 20-year-old forward from Winnipeg, and Tavon McCorrister, a 20-year-old defenseman also from Winnipeg. They both have a ton of Junior A experience and will be impact players right away.”
Last week
After training camp, the Wolverines jumped right into the pre-season on last night (Monday) as they hosted their expansion cousins, the Swan Valley Stampeders in what’s become an annual kickoff game featuring mostly rookie players. Results were not available at press time.
Up next
The rest of the preseason looks like this for the Wolverines. They have a return clash with the Swan Valley Stampeders tonight (Sept. 1) in Swan River. It will be the first time many on that bus trip will get to see the lasting impacts of last spring’s flooding of the Parkland in that region.
The Wolverines also play a home-and-home against the Dauphin Kings this Friday and Saturday. Dauphin hosts Friday’s game, while Saturday takes place in Wayway with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.
The preseason ends the following week next Tuesday with a home-and-home against the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires. The two teams meet next Tuesday (Sept. 8) in Melville and play each other again Sept. 9 in Waywayseecappo.
CLAW MARKS – A late July trade saw the Wolverines ship forward Lynden Green-Gould to the Niverville Nighthawks for a player development fee … Another summer signing for the Wolverines saw them ink former Winnipeg Blues forward Ryden Duchon. He had 15 points last year with the Blues and played in the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships for Team Manitoba last year, helping them win a gold medal.