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Goderich Signal Star, 2017-02-22, Page 2626 Signal Star • Wednesday, February 22, 2017 St. Anne's girls' hockey team in first place going into playoffs St. Mike's looses first regular season game in eight years to St. Anne's Justine Alkema Postmedia Network The St. Anne's girls' hockey team has accom- plished their major goal of the regular season -they beat out St. Mike's from Stratford. The two teams took first and second place in the standings and are the two best teams in the league by far. Playoffs will deter- mine who moves on to WOSAA. St. Anne's played two season games against St. Mike's; one on January 9 and one recently on Febru- ary 15. On January 9, St. Anne's beat St. Mike's 2-1. This was a huge accom- plishment as it was St. Mike's first season loss in eight years. Their second season game was last Wednesday. St. Mike's beat St. Anne's '0-1 on a power play with 40 seconds left in the game. However even though they each beat each other once, St. Anne's still came out as St. Anne's Eagles Hannah Tait, Sam Andrews and Lianne Taylor chase down a St. Mike's'player. St. Anne's girls Tara Vader, Payton Kerr and Jaymee Nolan fight over the puck with St. Mike's players. - first due to points scored in other games. Six years ago, St. Anne's was the worst team in their league. At that point, they got a new coach, St. Anne's teacher Steve Geiger. They accumulated talent and committed players, and have now overthrown the longstanding best team in the league- in the regular season, at least. The real fight will happen at playoffs on March 1 in Clinton. Semi-finals will be held in the morning with St. Anne's playing the fourth - place team at 9 a.m. in Clinton. St. Mike's will play the second -place team in Blyth at the same time. Then at 1 p.m. that day, the final game will be held in Clinton. Meanwhile, the third and fourth teams will play for bronze in Blyth. The winner of the Clinton game will move on to WOSAA. "It could go either way," said Geiger. Geiger believes St. Anne's is one of the best teams in Ontario, and if they make it to WOSAA, he's confident they could move on from there. They have never made it to WOSAA as only one team from Huron Perth can go, and that is always St. Mike's. Now, however, they are close to their shot. Photos by Justine Alkema/Postmedia Network Kaitlyn Chagnon and Hannah Drager defend St. Anne's net. Dyxhoorn in Baseball Flyers end of season reflections and looking ahead Hall of Fame Richard Madge The executive and coach- ing staff of the Goderich Fly- ers of the Provincial Junior Hockey League are already planning their next season. Although they were elimi- nated in the first round of the playoffs, losing four games to one in a best -of - seven series with the Mitch- ell Hawks, the Flyers see themselves as on track in their five-year plan to build a competitive team. The team did amass more points in the regular season than they had previously and recorded their first playoff victory. They were a stronger team physically and although. injuries and a habit of amassing too many penalty minutes cost them some games, they seem to be developing a better talent pool and a stronger organi- zation on which to build. The Flyers should have a good nucleus of returning players for next season. They lose only three players through graduation, Tyler McCracken, Marcel Fohkens and goaltender Nathan Wat- son. Watson had a standout season and replacing him will be a priority. First year players Mitch Kellington, Logan Kellington, Hayden Tenpas and defencemen Brad Wat- son and Trent Buchanan showed they can play in this league and it is expected that the 17 -year-old Watson and the 16 -year-old Buchanan will get Junior "B" tryouts. Forwards Drew McKee, Riley Connors, Jack Francis, Noah Kuno and Trent Michie, most of whom are expected to return, should provide a good base up front. The Flyers were also happy with the play of their minor hockey affiliates who will be looking for a regular spot on the team next season. The Flyer's head coach, David Errington, is stepping down from that position, but will be taking over other duties with the team which will be announced at a later time. General Manager Dan Kerr is currently accepting applications for the head coaching position. Other changes are also expected. One will be the appointment to an executive position of local veteran sports person Ray Hurd who brings with him a wealth of experience in a variety of sports and business. Operating a successful jun- ior hockey club requires a lot of effort by a great many peo- ple. The Flyers are confident they are on the right track Justine Alkema Postmedia Network Brock Dyxhoorn, a member of Team Canada that won gold in the 2015 Pan Am Games, will for- ever be enshrined with his team in the Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Mary's. Dyxhoorn was the pitcher for the team. 22 year-old Dyxhoorn was born in Goderich, but moved with his fam- ily to Delhi, Ontario in 2012. He found out about being inducted into the Hall of Fame a couple weeks ago. "It was a pretty incred- ible to win the Pan Am ncred-ibletowinthePanAm Games," he said. "Being inducted into the Hall of Fame, it's another level. It's something that will be around forever that I can take my kids to see when I'm older." The team will be inducted on June 24. Dyxhoorn currently plays in the minor leagues with the Houston Astros. He is going into his fourth season with them. He begins training in West Palm Beach, Florida in March.