Plaudits for the Dryden staff
Who knows the inner workings of the Dryden Ice Dogs better than the long-time president of the Superior International Jr. Hockey League’s flagship franchise?
Suffice to say that Mike Sveinson knows the faculty of the Ice Dogs. Sveinson, who is heading into his ninth year as president of Dryden’s community operated team, has considerable gratitude for those who are involved in the organization. And Sveinson gave his views on the Ice Dogs hockey personnel to Hockey News North ahead of the 2022-2023 SIJHL regular season. Notably, Dryden gets its schedule of games going this week with Friday and Saturday home contests against the Kam River Fighting Walleye. Dryden and Kam River are projected as being contending teams in the seven member SIJHL for this season.
Kurt Walsten. “Kurt is as loyal and hard-working as anyone can hope for,” Sveinson said of the Ice Dogs coach and general manager, who has been at the helm in Dryden since 2014. “Notably, during the darkest days of Covid restrictions, Kurt came to me with an offer to reduce his salary for the year in order to help the team get through to better days. Further, he is a tireless recruiter and principled bench boss who has done nothing but win since the day we hired him.” Indeed, Dryden has never experienced a losing season under Walsten and the Ice Dogs won the SIJHL championship in both 2017 and 2018.
Ben Borton. “Ben is Kurt’s assistant coach and GM and is extremely passionate about both,” Sveinson began. “The only things he places before the team are his family and career and we are extremely lucky to have him on the staff in a volunteer capacity. Ben has learned and worked under Kurt for a good number of years now and is qualified to be a junior A head coach or general manager anywhere in Canada.”
Jake Gushue. “One of the greatest team guys we have ever had here as a player has seamlessly transitioned to the bench. We are simply a better team with him here and Jake will be a great head coach one day,” Sveinson said of Dryden’s new, first year assistant coach.
Jason Langlais. “Again in the true essence of community owned volunteer teams, Jason could be found on any given day in the last year coaching AA under 13, AAA 09 spring hockey, under 11 AA and junior A, as he has volunteered at all of those levels as a head or assistant coach. The sacrifices that he has made for hockey in Dryden are amazing.”
Derek Oulette. “Doubling as our trainer and bus driver, Derek is one of our ‘anything for the team’ guys who wears his heart on his sleeve and would give anything to help us win and provide a better experience for the players,” Sveinson noted.
Darren Oliphant. “Darren has been with the bench staff longer than anyone on our current staff and has done it as a volunteer. The fact that he doubles as trainer and equipment manager tells you all you need to know about our glue guy,” Sveinson relayed.
Candace Glowa. “Candace has learned the role of a hockey trainer incredibly fast and is an invaluable member of the team when it comes to keeping our guys healthy and on the ice. She is there every game and comes prepared. We are lucky to have her,” praised Sveinson.
We have 2 of their graduates on our team this year who are class youngmen and solid players. Coached and taught excellent on and off the ice. Would like to make this a yearly transition between us and Dryden to our college for their graduating players.
Charly Murray
Head Scout/Recruiter
Sault College Cougars
ACHA D-2