Hawkey Alumni Newsletter - Vol 1, Iss 1

Wilfrid Laurier University Hawkey Alumni Club From the Home of Golden Hawk Hockey

Volume 1, Issue 1 Message from Dr. Bob Rosehart Congratulations on the initiative to form the “Hawkey Alumni Club”.

Under the leadership of Mark French, the Men’s Hockey Hawks had a great first season and 2003/2004 looks to be a promising year. All of our teams need that “little” extra support and a core group of Hockey Hawks have worked hard in the past to formalize an alumni group. I am most pleased to see this happen and I will support this initiative in any way that I can.

Dr. Bob Rosehart President

Support for the Golden Hawks

You may already know that ebay is the world’s most successful online marketplace; eBay offers an efficient and cost-effective way for people to buy and sell just about anything.

You can find buyers and sellers for items such as sporting goods, computers, furniture, out-of-date equipment or collectibles.

What you may not have known is that beginning in the summer of 2003, signing up with ebay can help you support your Hawks. If you sign up with ebay. ca through www.laurierathletics. com men's hockey page, $5 will be donated to the team -- as long as your account remains active for 3 months.

Go to laurierathletics.com or contact Roly Webster at rwebster@ wlu.ca for details.

Pre-Season 2003

Carrying Momentum into a New Season

The Laurier Golden Hawks Men’s hockey team hopes to build on the momentum created from the 2002/03 season. After a competitive regular season, which saw the Hawks finish second in their division, they entered the playoffs. In the first round, the Hawks swept Brock before taking on the York Yeomen in the divisional final. The Hawks pushed the eventual National Finalist to the limit losing in a sudden-death game. This year the Hawks are determined to take another step towards becoming one of the top teams in Canada.

The Golden Hawks will be led this year by a number of key returning players. Up front the Golden Hawks offense will again rely heavily on the trio of 3rd yr forward Kevin Corso, 2nd yr forward Bryan Kazarian and 2nd yr forward Richard Colwill. Corso, finished 9th in OUA scoring with 35 points last year, while Colwill was named to the OUA All-Rookie team.

In addition, the Hawks will be expecting a great deal from 3rd yr forwards Nick Gibson, Rob Grant and Pat McCoubrey. On the blueline, 3rd year defenseman and OUA Second Team All-Star Nick Vukovic will again anchor the Hawks. Nick will be aided by 4th yr bruising defenseman Bill Duncan.

The defense corps will also rely greatly on the continued improvement of 2nd year pointmen in Rick Hwodeky and Jeff Grandfield. Between the pipes

Hard work, sweat and determination is the theme of the summer with the Hawks preparing for a winning season! is probably the Hawk's greatest area of depth. The Hawks will count heavily on 2nd year goaltender Justin Day, who last year established himself as one of the best goalies in the league.

Furthermore, Justin will get competition from Ed VanHerpt who also demonstrated the ability to be a top goaltender.

The Hawks will again compete in the tough OUA Mid-West division, which includes the University of Guelph, Brock University, and the York University Lions who last year qualified for the CIS National Championships. The Hawks pre-season schedule is highlighted by a trip to Columbus, Ohio to face the Ohio State Buckeyes. In addition, the Hawks will travel to Thunder Bay to play two exhibition games versus the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Coach French comments, “We feel that to

strive to be the best, we must play the best programs in the country. Lakehead is certainly one such program, and we feel that this experience will give us a chance to set our goals for the season, and to envision where we want to end up by the end of this year.” Another intriguing non-conference opponent will be the University of Western Michigan Broncos. The NCAA Division 1 team will travel to Waterloo on December 19th to face the Hawks at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.

The Hawks will hope to build on their playoff run last year and with experience gained by the returning veterans the team has their sites set on competing for the divisional championship and earning a berth in the OUA finals.

For more information please visit our website at www.laurierathletics.com

Hockey Alumni Golf Tournament The Hawkey Alumni Club is pleased to announce the date for next year’s Alumni Golf Tournament. The tournament will be held on Saturday June 12 at Rockway Golf Club in Kitchener.

This year the golf tournament format will change to a 12:30 shotgun start. The Golf Committee, which includes Bob Zarzycki, Joe McCrae and John Baker should be congratulated for their efforts in continuing to build this event.

Details: Date: Saturday June 12th, 2004 Where: Rockway Golf Club

(Kitchener, Ont) Time: 12:30 P.M. Shot-Gun Start Cost: $150.00 - Includes Golf, Cart, Lunch and Dinner, Plus Grab Bag and Door Prizes To sign up or if you have any questions about the golf tournament please contact: Mark French (519) 884-0710 ext 2465 mfrench@wlu.ca or Mike Oke (519) 884-0710 ext 3510 moke@wlu.ca

2003 Hockey School

For over a decade now, each summer has seen the arrival of the Laurier Golden Hawk Hockey Camp -- a summer program designed to help young hockey players improve their skills and have fun.

This year's eleventh annual WLU Hockey School guided 315 aspiring hockey players through hockey's basics with the Men's Hockey coaching staff. Run in support of the Men's Hockey program at Laurier, the camp operated at RIM Park in Waterloo, for three weeks, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM every day. With campers ranging in age from 5 to 14, at least 3 hours were spent on the ice every day of camp, working on hockey skills at many different levels.

This year's Hockey Camp was a great success, and the coaching staff looks forward to next year's edition.

For more information, contact Mark French at 519-884-0710 x2465 or at mfrench@wlu.ca, or visit www.laurierathletics.com.

Coach’s Corner

This past off-season has been busy, but productive and the 2003/2004 season should prove to be a very exciting season. We feel that with the returning players, we have and the addition of some key recruits we can now compete with some of the top teams in the OUA. One of our goals this year will be to qualify for the Queen's Cup finals. In addition to the excitement around the 2003/04 Golden Hawks Men’s Hockey Team, I am also extremely excited about some of the inroads we have made in expanding our relationship with our alumni. With the development of the “Hawkey Alumni Club” it is our hope that our former players and friends will be provided with more opportunities to interact with other alumni and with our current team. Furthermore, I would like to thank the numerous hockey alumni who have supported the creation of this group.

On another note I would like to congratulate the 1988/89 Golden Hawks hockey team that was

inducted into the Laurier Hall of Fame this year.

I would also like to congratulate former player Mark McCreary '93 who was inducted as well.

Finally, I look forward to seeing many of you at the rink this year, and I especially look forward to our alumni weekend when I can see many of you suit up for our alumni game.

Yours truly,

Mark French Head Hockey Coach Laurier Golden Hawks

Hawkey Alumni's Mission

The Men’s Hockey program at Wilfrid Laurier University is very pleased to announce the creation of the “Hawkey Alumni Club”. The purpose of the Hawkey Alumni Club will be to provide a vehicle through which alumni and friends can support the Men’s Hockey Program at Laurier. The Golden Hawk men’s hockey program has a long and distinguished history of successful teams and members who have achieved All-Canadian recognition. The objectives of the Hawkey Alumni Club will be to: 1) Create and maintain relationships with Golden Hawk hockey alumni and friends.

2) Organize events encouraging alumni and friends participation and interaction.

3) Foster a linkage between current players and hockey alumni.

4) Provide alumni and friends of Wilfrid Laurier University with a means of making a financial contribution to the development of the Men’s Hockey Program.

The Hawkey Alumni Club will be made up of

past Men’s Varsity Hockey players and friends of the Men’s Varsity Hockey Program. The club will be guided by an executive committee that will be responsible for the management and direction of the business of the club. The Executive Committee members will serve a two-year term and consist of a president, vice president and six other members. The Hawkey Alumni Club executive will consist of the following members:

President - Sonny Kumpf '72

Vice President - Jake Arnott '70

Members at Large Kevin Casey '86

Bob Zarzyki '71

Don McConnell '95

Mark Pedersen '98

Bob Dean '87

Martin Kearns '99 For more information regarding the Hawkey Alumni Club, check out www.laurierathletics.com/HAC

Adopt A Golden Hawk Program The Golden Hawks invite everyone to play a role in the student-athlete experience by "adopting" an athlete. The Adopt-A-Golden Hawk program is more than a fundraiser; it is an opportunity for the community, alumni and corporate sector to support a specific team, while at the same time becoming involved with a specific student-athlete.

Each year support from the Adopt-A-Golden Hawk program gives teams the resources they need to expand and improve. This year our goal is to see all Hockey players adopted at a rate of $25/month. For more information on participating in the Adopt-A-Golden Hawk program, please contact Roland Webster at rwebster@wlu.ca

Hockey Alumni Weekend

The Hockey Alumni weekend will take place on Saturday January 31st and Sunday February 1st, 2004 at the Waterloo Recreational Complex.

The objective of the Hockey Alumni Weekend is to organize events encouraging Alumni and friends to participate and interact.

From 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM there will be open swimming at the Rec. Center pool for families

The festivities will commence with the under-39 Alumni Game from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM. That game will be followed by the 39-andover Alumni Game which will take place from 3:30 PM to 5 PM.

A reception followed by dinner will take place from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM in the Hauser House. A silent auction will take place and will continue until the second intermission.

At 7:00 PM the Golden Hawks will take to the ice against the York Lions.

On Sunday morning at 10:00 AM, there will be an alumni breakfast at the Waterloo Inn. Accommodation is available at the Waterloo Inn for $109.00/night and breakfast is complimentary with overnight stay.

Tickets are available for $75 which includes an Alumni Game jersey, Hawk T-shirt, dinner, and a game ticket. A $50 ticket includes a Hawk T-shirt, dinner, and a game ticket. A $25 ticket includes dinner and a game ticket.

Ticket quantities are limited. For ticket information, contact the event chair, Martin Kearns, at kearns.mj@pg.com, or Mark French at mfrench@ wlu.ca.

Message from the president of the WLU Hawkey Alumni Club The WLU Athletic Department with the full support of the university’s president, Dr. Bob Rosehart and the encouragement of its hockey alumni made a decision to hire a full-time coach for the Men’s hockey program. The hiring of a full-time coach was an absolute necessity if WLU was to regain its status as a serious competitor on the national level. The school was successful in attracting Mark French who accepted the position commencing with the 2002-2003 season.

Mark had a successful year last year in making the play-offs and experienced even greater success in his player recruiting for the upcoming season. Mark has set lofty goals for the team and hopes to bring a national hockey championship to WLU. He needs the full support of the WLU hockey alumni in accomplishing his goals. He has taken the initiative of meeting with several of the alumni to encourage them to pledge their support for the team and to ask their assistance in spreading the word to their former team-mates.

These meetings evolved into the formation of the WLU Hawkey Alumni club. The main purpose of the WLU Hawkey Alumni Club was to form a vehicle through which alumni and friends can support the Men’s Hockey program at WLU. An executive committee for the club was formed that met on several occasions to establish the perimeters of the club and to commence the planning for alumni events. The first order of busi-

ness was to establish a constitution for the club.

In addition to the drafting of the constitution and the setting of the course for the Club the executive also established dates for the alumni events for 2004 and created committees to plan those events. The first such event will be the alumni weekend on January 31 - February 1, 2004 and the second event being the annual golf tournament to be held on Saturday June 12, 2004.

The reports from the committees for both of these events suggests that these will be well-planned and fun events. I would encourage each of you to set aside those dates and plan to attend.

Our playing years may well be behind us, however as alumni we represent a very important component of today’s team. Mark and the team need our support if we have any expectations of meeting the goal of bringing a National Hockey championship to WLU. I encourage you to be part of WLU Men’s hockey by supporting our Club, attending the home games and most importantly attending the alumni events.

Sonny Kumpf WLU Grad '72

2003 Hall of Fame Inductees The Golden Hawk Hall of Fame welcomes a number of alumni into its ranks this year, including the 1988-89 Men's Hockey team.

The 1988-89 Men's Hockey team was one of the most dominant hockey teams in Laurier history as they are best remembered for putting together a stellar run at a national Mark McCreary championship just falling short in the championship game versus York. On the road

to the CIAU finals, the Hawks put up an impressive winning streak. The Hawks defeated the Western Mustangs in two games.

The squad then went on to meet York and soundly defeat the Yeomen 3-0. Unfortunately for the Golden Hawks and their faithful the Yeomen exacted revenge in the CIAU championship defeating the Hawks 5-2.

The second place finish at the national finals remains one of the Golden Hawks most storied hockey teams as they competed with a determined resolve that overpowered many of their opponents. With a lineup that included three OUA All-Stars, three CIAU All-Canadians, and at present, four Hall of Fame inductees, the team was clearly one of the best ever assembled for Laurier. Mark McCreary was also inducted into the Golden Hawk Hall of Fame this year.

McCreary had a career with the Golden Hawks which included First Team CIAU All-Canadian and OUA All-Star honours in 1992-93. He was also awarded the Bill L'Heureux trophy.

The 1988-89 Men's Hockey Team

2003-2004 Golden Hawk Schedule Sept 26 @ Ohio State (Ex) 7:30 p.m.

Oct 8 @ Waterloo (Ex) 7:30 p.m.

Oct 10 @ Lakehead (Ex) 7:30 p.m.

Oct 11 @ Lakehead (Ex) 7:30 p.m.

Oct 24 VS Toronto 7:30 p.m.

(Parents Night) Oct 25 VS Ryerson 7:00 p.m.

Oct 31 @ Queen's 7:30 p.m.

Nov 1 @ RMC 2:00 p.m.

Nov 13 VS Waterloo 7:30 p.m.

(Battle of Waterloo) Nov 15 @ Western 7:35 p.m.

Nov 22 VS McGill 7:00 p.m.

Nov 23 VS Ottawa 2:00 p.m.

Nov 28 @ UQTR 7:30 p.m.

Nov 29 @ Concordia 2:00 p.m.

Dec 5 @ Brock 7:30 p.m..

Dec 19 VS W.Michigan (Ex) 7:30 p.m.

Jan 3 Western Tournament TBA Jan 4 Western Tournament TBA Jan 10 @ Guelph 7:30 p.m.

Jan 11 @ Waterloo 2:00 p.m.

Jan 15 @ York 7:30 p.m.

Jan 18 VS Brock 7:00 p.m.

Jan 24 VS Guelph 2:00 p.m.

(Community Skating Party) Jan 25 VS Lakehead 7:00 p.m.

Jan 28 @ Brock 7:45 p.m.

Jan 31 VS York 7:00 p.m.

(Alumni Night) Feb 6 @ Windsor 7:30 p.m.

Feb 7 @ Windsor 5:30 p.m.

Feb 14 VS Western 2:00 p.m.

Feb 15 VS Lakehead 7:00 p.m.

Feb 21 VS York 7:00 p.m.

OUA Mid-West Division Semi-Finals February 25-29

OUA Mid-West Division Finals March 3 - 7 OUA Finals Queen's Cup @ Western CIS Championship University Cup @ New Brunswick March 25-28

Golden Hawks Men’s Hockey Team Announce Recruits For 2003/2004

The Golden Hawks Men’s Hockey Team is pleased to introduce it's freshman class for the 2003/04 season. In their search for elite players and quality individuals, the Hawks have attracted players from both the east and western parts of the country. Head Coach Mark French believes the program has taken a positive step forward.

“Through our successful recruiting year, we added a great deal of depth both on defence and on forward. We feel that with the players we have returning as well as the addition of this recruiting class, we can realistically compete with the top teams in the league”. French continued that he would like to center out the tireless work of assistant coach Mike Oke, who throughout the past season traveled countless miles on the recruiting trail.

The incoming class will feature 10 players in total, nine of whom competed in the Canadian Hockey League (the Canadian Hockey League is split into 3 leagues: the QMJHL or Quebec Major Jr. League, the OHL or the Ontario Hockey League and the WHL or the Western Hockey League). The new recruits are Rob Dmytruk (Defense, Toronto, Ont), Malcolm Hutt (Defense, Wellesley, Ont), Riley Moher (Defense, Port Credit, Ont), David Brown (Right Wing, Toronto, Ont) Chris DiUbaldo (Center, Winnipeg, Manitoba), James Edgar (Right Wing, Brigden, Ont), Matt Grennier (Center, Dryden, Ont), Brandon Merli (Left Wing, Cambridge, Ont), Brian Sansom (Center, Uxbridge, Ont) and Rob Snowball (Left Wing, Markham, Ont).

2003/2004 Golden Hawks Hockey Recruiting Class: Name: Rob Dmytruk Position: Defense Hometown: Toronto, Ont Previous Club: Soo Greyhounds (OHL) Height: 5’11 Weight : 185

Name: James Edgar Position: Right Wing Hometown: Brigden, Ont Previous Club: Saginaw Spirit (OHL) Height: 5’11 Weight: 180

Name: Malcolm Hutt Position: Defense Hometown: Wellesley, Ont Previous Club: Belleville Bulls (OHL) Height: 6’ Weight: 185

Name: Matt Grennier Position: Center Hometown: Dryden, Ont Previous Club: Kitchener Rangers (OHL) Height: 6’2 Weight: 190

Name: Riley Moher Position: Defense Hometown: Port Credit, Ont Previous Club: Barrie Colts (OHL) Height: 6’2 Weight: 205

Name: Brandon Merli Position: Left Wing Hometown: Cambridge, Ont Previous Club: Atlantic City (ECHL) Kitchener Rangers (OHL) Height: 6’ Weight: 200

Name: David Brown Position: Right Wing Hometown: Toronto, Ont Previous Club: Brampton Battalion (OHL) Height: 6’1 Weight: 180 Name: Chris DiUbaldo Position: Center/Right Wing Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba Previous Club: Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) Height: 6’2 Weight: 195

Name: Rob Snowball Position: Left Wing Hometown: Markham, Ont Previous Club: Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) Height: 6’3 Weight: 225 Name: Brian Sansom Position: Center Hometown: Uxbridge, Ont Previous Club: Lindsay Huskies (OPJHL) Height: 6'2" Weight: 185