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2018 Sports Hall of Fame inductees announced

Feb 2, 2018 | 4:00 PM

A group of men and women sat humbly outside the Ches Leach Lounge surrounded by walls lined with the faces and names their own will soon hang alongside.

They were the inductees for the 2018 Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame, announced on Friday. It is a strong slate of representatives recognized for their work in various sports and organizations. The Class of 2018 will officially see their faces go up on the walls at a banquet on April 28.

Andrew Taszlikowicz – Wrestling

Taszlikowicz burst onto the wrestling scene in 1968 as a member of the Riverside Collegiate Wrestling Team and within two years, became a national champion.

In 1970, Taszlikowicz became a decorated 132-pound weight class wrestler, winning the Saskatchewan Champion. He further won the Western Canadian and Canadian Championships to qualify to represent Canada at the World Championships.

When he retired, Taszlikowicz gave back to the sport and coached the Prince Albert Wrestling club for over 10 years. He was named coach of the year in 1989/90.

Manny Primeau – Baseball & Bowling

A member of the Saskatchewan Sports and Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, Primeau had plenty of success during his career in baseball, fastball, slo-pitch and bowling.

Following 12 years of playing minor baseball in the city, one Saturday morning, Primeau hitchhiked to North Battleford to try out for the North Battleford Beavers. He made the team as a second baseman and played full time in 1965/66/68 and part-time in 1967/70.

In 1969, Primeau played baseball with the Prince Albert Bohs, winning the provincial senior men’s title and attending Westerns in Edmonton.

He later took to the fastball diamond, playing with the Corrigal Seals and the P.A. Tribesmen, SMDC Native Sons and PA Building Movers in Native Fastball.

Dale McFee – Athlete Builder – Hockey & Soccer

Dale McFee was recruited at the age of 16 from St. Albert in the early 1980s to play for the Prince Albert Raiders. He would go on to contribute to the sporting world of Prince Albert but also the city and province as a whole. 

McFee took part in numerous championships in both Manitoba, his home province, and Alberta in baseball, football and hockey.

With the Raiders, McFee played in the inaugural 1982 campaign through to 1986, including the 1985 Memorial Cup Championships. McFee played 269 games for the Raiders, tallying 118 goals and 152 assists for 270 points and 517 minutes in penalties. 

McFee also coached various teams following this, including the Imperial 400 Bantam AA and the Midget AAA Raiders.

George Sinclair – Hockey & Fastball

Sinclair has been involved with sports in Prince Albert since 17 when he started coaching fastball with the CKBI team of nine and 10-year-olds. Sinclair further coached hockey and baseball, taking both the Prince Albert Junior Knights and later the South Hill Midgets to provincial championships.

He later umpired fastball and slo-pitch at the age of 21 and continued to do so for 50 years, until he was 70. He umpired various high-level tournaments. He was a goal judge at the Prince Albert Raiders first home game at the then Comuniplex in 1971, into the WHL and worked until his passing in 2017.

Wayne Roznowsky – Multi-sport

Roznowsky’s fingerprints are on many facilities in Prince Albert and he was involved in a wide variety of sporting organizations. He held roles as well as the High Noon Optimists Centre and the Prince Albert Aerial Gymnastics Clubs and was involved with women’s softball leagues for a number of years, winning a provincial title in 2000.

Roznowsky’s involvement can be seen in the High Noon Optimists Centre, canoe and kayak boathouse, cross country ski trials, Summer Games Sports Building, Margo Fournier Centre weight room upgrades and various community club rink upgrades and ball diamond improvements.

Prince Albert Minor Football Association – Organization of the Year

Minor football made a comeback in Prince Albert in 2005 and 2006 with Youth Flag Football leagues for boys and girls. 

Ever since, local football programs have blossomed, finding sponsors, coaches, practice fields and equipment storage locations. It has attracted players and teams from around the area and has proven competitive in provincial leagues.

1999 – 2001 Prince Albert Aallcann Astros – Team

The softball rich community in Prince Albert has produced a number of strong teams over the decades. Near the top of that list would be the Midget boy’s team from 1999 – 2001, who won the Saskatchewan Midget Championship all three years. 

In 2000, they won a bronze medal at the Canadian Championships and hosted the National Tournament the following year, winning silver. In 2001, five Astros wore the maple leaf at World Championships in Sydney, Australia, returning with a bronze medal. 

Players from this team went on to win bronze medals with Team Saskatchewan in Canada Games.

Off-Ice Officials  

Known as Hockey Town, Prince Albert could not hold this title without plenty of work done by off-ice officials. For over 30 years, seven men have been key players in this, contributing a total of over 26,000 hours of personal time to the game, working the score clock, game sheets, penalty box, and goal-judging.

The seven men receiving the honours this year are Gerry Bergen, Elder Bergen, Lloyd McBeath, Jean Mauvieux, Wayne Soles, Rick Willie and Ron Wildey.

 

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