Hound midgets open at home
Newly-named Soo Greyhounds — formerly the Soo Major Thunderbirds and known for years prior as the Soo North Stars — will begin the 2016-2017 Great North Midget Hockey League regular season this weekend with three home games.
The Greyhound midgets will play host to the Kapuskasing Flyers on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. at John Rhodes Community Centre.
Coached by second-year bench boss Kevin Panco, 10 players return to the Soo midgets from the team that posted a 15-13-6 regular-season record in 2015-2016 before losing in the first round of the GNMHL playoffs.
Returnees include last season’s GNMHL scoring leader Lucas Theriault, who was selected by the Niagara IceDogs in the 12th round of the 2016 Ontario Hockey League draft.
Among the newcomers is highly-regarded, 2001 birth-year centre Camaryn Baber.
Baber, who led the major bantam Soo Greyhounds of the Northern Ontario Hockey League in scoring during the 2015-2016 regular season with 25 goals, 38 assists, 63 points in 27 games, is considered a top prospect for the 2017 OHL draft.
He is the son of Brad Baber, who was a right winger on the OHL Soo Greyhounds Memorial Cup championship team of 1993.
PHOTO: Camaryn Baber, in action with the Greyhound major bantams during the 2015-2016 season. (Photo by Postmedia.)
I’d like to add that Cam’s hockey’s genes run deep on both sides of the family. His mother, Melissa Holder, was an elite level female hockey player in the 80’s & 90’s originally playing locally & being the first female to play on a boy’s rep team and at the Pee Wee. She then moved to the Canadian W omens National League and became a key member and centre for the Alberta Provincial Team that won silver in the 1999 Esso Women’s National Championships.
Cam makes his mother, father, grandparents & all the family very proud!