By Jeff D'Andrea

Taking notes with Oates; awards handed out at Sportsman Dinner

Oct 27, 2018 | 11:56 AM

Adam Oates is a hockey guy, through and through. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012, in large part to his wonderful ability to pass the puck. He was the special guest at the 2018 Kinsmen and Raiders Sportsman Dinner Saturday at the Ches Leach Lounge.

But his unselfish nature was born in another sport. Oates’ father David was an immigrant from England and was heavily invested in the game of soccer.

“All he knew was soccer. His idol was this guy named Stanley Matthews that was a passer, and that became our family mantra. You’re a centreman, you distribute the puck, you pass, you learn to control the game,” Oates said. “What I realized right away is your teammates like you, because they’re getting goals—even at a young age. So that became my shtick.”

Safe to say, Oates’ teammates adored him. He scored 341 goals in his career, but had a whopping 1,079 assists, which ranked fifth all-time when he retired in 2004. He’s also the only centre in NHL history to play with three different 50-goal scorers on his wings—Brett Hull, Cam Neely and Peter Bondra.

After Oates’ playing career ended in 2003, he coached in five years in the NHL, with his last two as head coach for the Washington Capitals from 2012-14.

Sentencing adjourned

Sentencing decision reserved for La Ronge manslaughter case

10h ago

Missing persons

11-year-old girl reported missing

11h ago

BDO Debt Solutions

Addressing the Rising Cost of Living in Saskatchewan: A Guide for Residents Facing Financial Pressure

12h ago

Nowadays, Oates coaches individual players in helping them see the game differently. His client list is quite star-studded that includes NHL scorers in Steven Stamkos, Mark Schiefele and Jack Eichel to name a few.

In fact, Oates had to cut off a call with Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews on Friday to ensure he’d get to the Ches Leach Lounge in time for the banquet.

“I don’t have kids, but it’s like I have 53 kids, right,” Oates said. “When you have a lot of guys, almost [always] someone has a good night. In the morning, I’m scouring that phone to see who produced and who did what, and if it’s a defenceman, how many minutes did he play. It’s a great feeling.”

Female Athlete of the Year—Shantel Kalika

In a male-dominated sport, Shantel Kalika had a pretty dominant season herself in the NASCAR Pinty Series, the Canadian NASCAR circuit.

Kalika won the 2018 Sportsman Division Championship and the 2018 Sportsman Division Rookie of the Year honours this past season.

“It’s been surreal,” Kalika said. “It’s been an amazing year. We’re getting into the NASCAR Pinty Series and having the support from Prince Albert and obviously all my sponsors has been huge. It’s been crazy. It’s actually been a really big whirlwind, so be Athlete of the Year on top of rookie of the year and the Sportman championship, it’s icing on the cake.”

Kalika has been a forced in the last three seasons. She was the first female to win the Pro Truck Championship in 2016 and finished second overall in points last year.

When asked about what the most rewarding part of racing, Kalika immediately thought about her family and how much support she gets from them.

She grew up watching her father Ben Busch race, before taking the sport up herself. He is the crew chief and the car owner. Her mother helps out, her husband helps out, and her sister does PR for the race team. As much support as Kalika gets from her family, she also puts the work in herself.

“For me, it’s very nice to have the family orientation. But the biggest thing for me would be the hard work I put into it,” Kalika said. “The late nights, trying to balance work, trying to balance life, trying to balance racing, it’s very hard and it gets to be a lot all the time. So I think having it all come together and just to be finally able to look at and say ‘I accomplished this,’ I think that’s the biggest satisfaction.”

Male Athlete of the Year—Jesse Byrne

Coming from a famous rodeo family, Jesse Byrne was the third of his immediate family to receive an award like this. His father Ryan Byrne was inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, and his bull riding brother Tanner Byrne received the Male Athlete of the Year award back in 2015.

Now finally, the most accomplished Canadian bullfighter can say he’s received Sportsman honours.

“Nobody wanted to bring it up because they felt bad for me, I think, because I was the odd man out,” Jesse said. “There’s never a dull moment around me. I have two brothers in our rodeo family.”

Jesse is the only Canadian bull fighter to work the PBR World Finals, and has already attended 10 of them. He’s waiting to hear if he’ll make his 11^th appearance this November 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

To get to work the PBR World Finals as a bullfighter, you have to be voted in by the bull riders themselves that are attending the event. For Jesse to get the support of the bull riders, for an 11^th time, means a lot.

“It’s the greatest honour, as far as I’m concerned, in professional bull riding and bull fighting,” Jesse said. “It’s a real honour knowing those guys put their trust in me.”

Sportspersons of the Year—Project Triple Play

Hosting a world softball tournament was a “pipe dream” that some crazy individuals involved in the local softball scene had. Project Triple Play made that a reality this summer by hosting the 2018 WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship. The award was accepted by Project Triple Play chair Ian Litzenberger and vice-chair Kalen Kovitch.

It was a long process that started as that idea in 2014. The committee eventually raised the necessary $1.6 million to improve the facilities enough to be able to hold world events.

It was clear when the tournament started that all that work was worth it.

Thousands on thousands of people flooded the grounds throughout the 10 days of the tournament in July at the Max Power Ball Parks. For one game, the first match up between New Zealand and Canada was an especially popular game. Kovitch said he talked to Neil Headrick, a retired radio personality and a historian of sorts for Prince Albert.

“He assures me that next to an Olympic torch run that was held for the ’88 Olympics, he said that was the only time he remembers seeing that many people in one place at one time for a sporting event in Prince Albert,” Kovitch said.

Kovitch estimates there were around 8,000 people watching that game in particular.

The WBSC was impressed throughout the tournament. After the tournament’s first few days, they approached the hosting committee and asked when they would bid on another tournament.

“They were already asking us what event we wanted to host next. We just said ‘well, let’s get through this one and we’ll see what happens,’” Kovitch said. “It definitely does set the stage… we can host any softball event here.”

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW