Sports | DrumhellerMail

Riverside tops Drumheller United for championship

Riverside Value Drug Mart is back in the winner’s circle after topping Drumheller United in the final of the Drumheller Coed Recreational Soccer league.

The championship match was played on Thursday night, June 22, and Riverside Value Drug Mart won 7-2 to end the season undefeated. This is the third time in four years that Riverside has won the honour.

“This year was a different team, we only had a half dozen returning from last year. So it was a mixture of a lot of new players combined with the old,” said Gavin Makse.

While Riverside repeated as champion, it is not indicative of the real competition on the field.

“This is the first time the team that finished first in the regular season has actually won the league championship,” said Makse.

The score was also not indicative of the play on the field. Drumheller United put up a strong fight versus Riverside. Coach David Easter saw great improvement throughout the season. This team has students from both DVSS and St. Anthony’s.

“Honestly the growth we saw from them was awesome. The score tonight doesn’t fully reflect how much growth they have had,” said Easter.

He said when they started this season, there was talent but no cohesions.

“We grew into working as a team, moving as a unit, especially defensively,” he said.

League-wide, it was a great season. Yavis topped Recovery for the third place.

“We had over 60 players registered in four teams,” said Makse, adding that drop-in over the summer will be at the new St. Anthony’s School field on Tuesday and Thursday night.

Riverside Value Drug Mart (first photo) took home the championship for the third time in four years, while Drumheller United (seen here) took home silver.

Bulechowsky brings home pool hardware

Once again a Drumheller pool prodigy showed his skill and brought home a trophy.
Shawn Bulechowsky competed in the Valley National Eight ball Association (VNEA) World Pool Championship in Las Vegas from May 24 to June 3. He played with his team the Relentless, which play out of Kokos Bar and Grill in Calgary as well as an individual.

In the individual competition he placed 17th out of 180 top international players.
“I was up 5-2 and the guy sharked me, and he ended up beating me 6-5,” explains Bulechowsky. In his next match he also fell 6-5 and settled for 17th.
There was redemption in the team competition as His team Relentless went on to place 4th.
“I brought myself home a Charlie! (trophy),” he explains.
Bulechowsky regularly competes at the VNEA Championship and this was the second trophy he has won.

Dragons keep building for season

The Drumheller Dragons AJHL hockey team commit to another season of play with their schedule becoming available in

The Drumheller Dragons are busy on the off season fortifying their lines, and a have added to their roster after completing a number of transactions.
   On June 16 they announced the completion of future considerations from a transaction finalized on January 10, with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Last January Captain Stefan Wood requested a trade, and this week the Dragons acquired 98 born forward Brett Edwards.
   Edwards brings experience. The Grande Prairie native had 24 goals and 22 assists for 46 points in 114 games. Brett has 14 play-off games under his belt and was part of last year’s Oil Barons run to the final four in pursuit of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Gas Drive Cup. During that run, Brett scored 2 goals and added 2 assists.
   “Edwards is an experienced player from a respected program. He will add to the speed and depth of our team and will be relied upon to create in the offensive zone. We believe Brett will contribute on the special teams and he will be trusted in key situations during games,” said Dragons coach Kevin Hasselberg.
   This came a week after the Dragons picked up forward Dawson Bruneski. The team completed the futures from a transaction finalized on December 31, 2016 with the Whitecourt Wolverines. In exchange for 97 forward Evan Tschumi, the Dragons received the playing rights of 97 born defenseman Josh Bishop and now will add 99 forward Dawson Bruneski to complete the trade.
   “Dawson is a welcome addition to our hockey team. He is familiar with returning players on the current Dragons Roster and has earned the respect of his peers already at just 18 years of age. We believe Dawson can be an offensive contributor combined with his efforts to play a 200 foot game. His courage, grittiness, and selfless play will help forge the culture of our team as we head into the 2017/18 season,” said Hasselberg.Bruneski of Camrose Alberta played in 56 games last season and had 5 goals and added 13 assists for 18 points.
   Dragons’ prospects will be arriving in Drumheller for Main Camp on August 25th for fitness testing. The first ice sessions are scheduled for August 26. A full schedule will be made available on the Dragons website in early August.

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