Gophers the team to beat at halfway mark

Garden City

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This article was published 01/01/2025 (639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Gophers are sitting pretty over the holidays.

At press time, the Garden City Collegiate boys’ hockey team sat atop the Winnipeg High School Hockey League’s second tier Winnipeg Free Press division, with a remarkable 13-1 record after 14 games.

“Our record doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s how we end things that counts,” said longtime head coach Donnie Smith, a phys-ed teacher at Garden City. “We like to take it period by period, though the main goal is to win it all, which I think is realistic. Once playoffs come, it’s a brand new season.”

Two years ago, the Gophers won the WHSHL’s Platinum Promotions division championship. However, last season, the graduation of 12 players from the championship roster made for a tougher go for the Gophers in the league’s top division. This season, Smith said, the roster is about evenly split between players in grades 10, 11, and 12.

“We’ve been in pretty good games. This is a better fit for us, to rebuild,” Smith said. “We’re relying on everybody. Every line is producing offensively. Our defence is younger but they’ve been controlling the back end of our rink.”

Going into the holiday break, the Gophers plus-35 goal differential was top of the tier by nearly 20 goals.

“We’re not giving up a lot of goals,” Smith said. “Spreading offence around with that consistency on defence is really nice. It’s not always consistent, but they’re teenagers. But we’ve had good games where everyone is on, and guys have been picking up the slack.”

Captain Greyson Wood, a Grade 12 forward, has been leading the charge for the Gophers, with 13 goals and 17 assists through 14 games, while linemate and alternate captain Noah Banera is second in team scoring with six goals and 14 assists in 13 games.

“They’ve really been clicking,” Smith said of the two Grade 12 leaders. “They really lead by example.”

Meanwhile, the Gophers 31 goals against are also the lowest in the division, thanks to netminders Sebastian Aguiar (6-1) and Camden Chinery (7-0).

“Goaltending has been good, too, this year,” Smith said.

Indeed, Aguiar’s 1.72 goals against average and three shutouts are top of the division, while Chinery’s 2.64 GAA is sixth best.

According to Smith, if the team is able to improve on its mental fortitude and stay out of the penalty box in 2025, then its goal of a championship becomes that much more attainable.

“Our mental game has been in the works,” Smith admitted. “Our objective for the tail end is to be in the top four. If we can reduce our penalties, that should allow us more power-play opportunities and less goals on the penalty kill. You won’t get everything you want as far as calls go, but we’ve been happy with the way they work hard at practice. They don’t take any shifts off.

“Confidence has been building and they’ve been buying into what we’re preaching,” Smith added. “The small parts of our game are starting to be the bigger.”

Garden City’s next game is Monday, Jan. 6 against Murdoch MacKay at Seven Oaks SportsPlex. Puck drop is 4 p.m.