Norwest Minor Hockey Association

2020/2021 FIGHTING WALLEYE FINNATICS FAN CLUB Membership Cost: $25. $5 from each membership sold will go to Norwest Minor Hockey. Visit www.dorsalfin.ca to enroll today! Benefits of discounts at these awesome Finnatics partners with your membership card - Boston Pizza, Kakabeka Depot, Play it Again Sports, Sportop, Valley Foods, & Wakefield Oil Change Plus.

$1* NHL Hockey Cards are back at @TimHortons! Play on the app to win over 70,000 prizes including a trip to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. Collect them all now at your local #TimHortons!

HNO is now accepting applications for the Director of Officiating position. Read more: http://www.pointstreaksites.com//nor/news-1338/news_533329

FWFN ARENA GAMES RESCHEDULED FOR U15 and U18 TEAMS. The eighteen, U15 and U18 games scheduled for FWFN Arena between Monday November 30 and Saturday December 5 have all been rescheduled. Further revisions will be announced early next week. Visit www.tbmha.com/news_article/show/1134904 for information

Unfortunately, FWFN Arena is closed indefinitely. The closure will impact Norwest U11AA skaters. An email has been sent to those U11AA skaters notifying them of the change. Norwest skaters in the U11A, U13A and U13AA groups - your times remain unchanged. http://lmhockey.com/news.php?news_id=1909307

This Friday, November 27th, Fighting Walleye fans are invited to attend the NorWest Arena parking lot and watch the game on the big screen, free of charge! Fans can stay and watch the Fireworks display after the game as well! Donations to the Rural Food Cupboard would be greatly appreciated.

A letter to Hockey Northwestern Ontario Players on the upcoming hockey season. More: https://t.co/wlwv4zrE0Y https://t.co/35jIow9YY4

Hey U11 and U13 families! Skate times from Sunday October 25 TO Saturday November 7 are now available. Please visit LMHL for the schedule!

Attention U15 and U18 players! The deadline to register for phase 2 (4 on 4) is October 24th. If you are part of phase 1 and want to continue you must re-register. If you didn’t partake in phase one and want to take part in phase 2 (4 on 4), register today. Remember this only applies to U15 and U18 divisions!

Reminder: The Hockey Canada Foundation is dedicating $1 million to help Canadian families and communities get back to playing the game they love. Apply now for up to $500 off registration fees for the upcoming season: hockeycanada.ca/assistfund

Are you looking to get involved in hockey through coaching? Take a look at our coach qualification chart to see what it takes to become a head coach, assistant coach, or trainer: http://www.pointstreaksites.com//HNO_Coach_Qualification_C

FYI for U11 and U13 skaters.

Coaching Clinics in Thunder Bay now available for signup: Coach 1: https://ehockey.hockeycanada.ca/ehockey/ClinicDetail.aspx Coach 2: https://ehockey.hockeycan...ada.ca/ehockey/ClinicDetail.aspx Coach 2 takes place over two days, split up between in-class and on-ice. Sign up while there is still space!

In case you missed their fall camp. The Walleye are running one again over the Christmas break.

Player Groups and Ice Schedules are Available for U11 (Atom) and U13 (Peewee) Players. Please Visit http://lmhockey.com to find your group and times! U9 (Novice) Division will start on the week of October 25th U7 (IP1) Division will start on the week of November 1st. Schedules and Groups for these divisions will be posted in the coming weeks.

Former Norwest Star Brock Macsemchuk is excelling at his new "gig" as the Kam River Fighting Walleye's junior reporter. Keep it up Brock!

Please read entire post... The six Associations of LMHL (Elks, KC, Neebing, Norwest, Port Arthur, and Westfort) are pleased to announce the beginning of the hockey season! Development Stage 1 for U11 A/AA and U13 A/AA begins on October 13th, U9 begins on October 25th, and U7 will begin on November 1st. ... This stage will continue for approximately 6 weeks. In order to maximize ice time, all players will be grouped in cohorts of 25 for the first six weeks of stage 1. (Please keep in mind that players may be skating at rinks throughout the city, in order to maximize the limited amount of ice time available). Player assignments and schedules for U11 A/AA and U13 A/AA will be posted by weeks end on the LMHL web site (lmhockey.com). U9 and U7 will be available in the coming week or two. The initial registration period will close on Wednesday, October 7th. After that date, players may be added subject to availability of space within the cohorts. If you miss the October 7th deadline please contact [email protected]. Stay tuned for more information later in the week, for your group assignments and skate times. Plans for stage 2 (if we get that far - fingers crossed) are under way, and details will be provided in November. These plans are subject to change in order to align with Ontario Government, Health Unit and City of Thunder Bay regulations. So if your child is eager to get on the ice I would encourage you to sign them up for this first stage as depending on the provinces response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the time frame for each stage can and will change. Parents, please note that all players and parents will be screened at the arenas, and attendance for all players will be taken nightly in order to comply with pandemic rules. http://lmhockey.com/news.php?news_id=1897753

The Return to Play plan developed by all six associations within Lakehead Minor Hockey is ready to go. Please follow the link to find out more information about the season structure. http://norweststarshockey.ca/page.php?page_id=123138

Additional Skate Added For U11A and U13A.

Plan on coaching this year? Sign up for a course today. These are the last courses being offered in 2020. U7 or U9 - Coach 1. U11 and up - Coach 2.

Did you register your child for the upcoming hockey season? If so, don't forget your payment for phase one! Less than 25% of registrations were accompanied by a payment! Please visit our website for instructions on how to pay! http://norweststarshockey.ca/page.php?page_id=122878

To all U11 and U13 players please take note of the following. AA evaluations will take place between Nov. 15th and Nov. 29th with the AA drafts taking place for both U11 and U13 on Monday Nov. 30th.T imes/Location TBA. Players will be issued jerseys at the first skate. Single A Evaluations will take place between Dec. 1st and 15th. The drafts will take place the following week. Times/Location TBA.... During the evaluation period, PARENTS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED in the arena in order to accommodate the coaches doing the evaluations and to stay within arena capacity rules. For those that are currently skating with a Single A cohort they will have the opportunity to skate in an AA evaluation if they so chose. Conversely, should there be any players that are currently skating with an AA cohort that wish to drop to the A cohort they will be allowed to switch groups. THIS REQUEST MUST BE MADE TO THE NORWEST REGISTRAR ([email protected]) NO LATER THAN FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6th Game play for all U13 and U11 divisions will commence January 2. http://lmhockey.com/news.php?news_id=1904250

Reminder to all coaches, trainers, managers and officials: Planning a Safe Return to Hockey E-Module is now available and required for all entering the 2020-2021 season. You can find the module here: https://ehockey.hockeycanada.ca/ehockey/ClinicDetail.aspx

Looking to help out on the ice this year. Check out these courses!

Draft Update - U15A and U18A IMPORTANT DATE CHANGE INFORMATION Please be advised. The U18A Draft is now scheduled for Wed Oct 28th, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Columbus Centre, 301 May St S. The U15A Draft has been postponed until Mon Nov 2. Time to be confirmed. Tentatively set for 6:30 pm. There will be 1 additional skate for players remaining in the U15A draft starting THURSDAY. Schedules for the skate session will be available ASAP.

A letter to Hockey Northwestern Ontario Players on the upcoming hockey season. More: https://t.co/wlwv4zrE0Y https://t.co/35jIow9YY4

Registration is now open for Norwest Minor Hockey. Specific information about season start, skate times and days, number of development sessions & rink protocols are not available at this time. Registering your player is the first step to help Norwest & other LMHL associations work together to make the most of the upcoming season. Please follow the link to our website to register your child. http://norweststarshockey.ca

Registration is now open for Norwest Minor Hockey. Specific information about season start, skate times and days, number of development sessions & rink protocols are not available at this time. Registering your player is the first step to help Norwest & other LMHL associations work together to make the most of the upcoming season. Please follow the link to our website to register your child. http://norweststarshockey.ca

Interested in becoming an official, or recertifying as a level 1&2 official? Registration and recertification is now open! Registration for new officials: http:...//www.pointstreaksites.com//northwest/new-officials-1 Recertification for levels 1&2: http://www.pointstreaksites.com//northw/re-certification-2

Thanks for your patience, we are happy to announce the six associations within Lakehead Minor Hockey League have been working together to open registration. Registration will open next week for Phase One - Development with a fee of $100.00. We hope this Phase will begin after Thanksgiving. The Development phase consists of practices focused on skill development only being allowed. There is a key focus on skating and puck skills. There will be no competition / gameplay / scrimmages allowed. Social distancing during drills will be encouraged. Please note that additional registration fees will be collected as we move through the phase(s). Exact registration details, amounts and payment options are yet to be determined. Thanks for your patience and more details will follow as soon as they are available.

Welcome Kam River Fighting Walleye! Our Norwest Stars are excited to share the arena with you this season!

With the recent release of HNO’s Return to Play Framework we know that Norwest families are eager to get their child(ren) registered for the upcoming season. Don’t worry registration will be open within the next few weeks. We have decided to keep registration closed until we receive more information about how the season will look. Collectively, the hockey community in Thunder Bay is working hard to develop a structure for this upcoming hockey season. There are a lot of factors and parties to take into consideration so please be patient. Rest assured Norwest will be accepting registrations, we are not going anyway. Stay tuned!!

Norwest Minor Hockey is excited to announce that the Kam River Fighting Walleye are coming out to Norwest Arena! The newest SIJHL Junior A team is hosting an open house on September 3rd at our own Norwest Arena. Spread the word!

Hello Norwest Families! We just wanted to post a little information about registration and return to hockey. We at Norwest are still waiting for Hockey Northwestern Ontario, Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association and Lakehead Minor Hockey League give us guidance on what to expect for the 2020/21 season. Due to this, we are postponing registration only until such time as we receive a date from HNO, TBMHA, and LMHL to resume hockey activities. We will open our online registra...tion once we receive approval and further details from HNO, TBMHA and LMHL, Please be patient, we know you want to return to the rink as much as we do and we will continue to update you as we receive information. Please keep checking our Facebook page and Website for updated information. We hope to see everyone at the rink soon. In the meantime enjoy the awesome summer weather!

Norwest has been working with PRO Kids for over 15 years. Please consider donating to this great cause and their upcoming virtual fundraiser. PRO Kids is a service that helps local low-income families access recreation activities for their kids.

Another great photo from PuckShots! #wefocusonhockey

Thank you PuckShots for sharing this great photo of Jack! #WeFocusOnHockey #StayPostive

Thank you to TBMHA for hosting their first ever virtual awards banquet. Thank you for your tribute to Coach Bill as well. Norwest would like to congratulate Rookie of the Year from the Bantam AA Stars, Matthew Lysak and Best Defenceman from the Bantam A Stars, Alex Isherwood. Way to go boys!

Norwest Minor Hockey is mourning the loss of one of their key members. Bill Duncan was a former Norwest coach and executive member. His dedication and enthusiasm for coaching hockey at Norwest was one that could never be matched. Bill worked tirelessly behind the scenes as a Norwest executive member handling ice and tournament schedules and as a tournament volunteer. He was great at what he did. Bill you will be missed.

CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 To enhance efforts to contain COVID-19, the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge is reducing our level of service and will only be providing th...ose that are essential, effective Monday March 16, 2020. Before attending the office, we encourage residents to call 935-2613 for the list of services that are being provided at this time. In addition the following facilities within the Municipality will be CLOSED to the public until further notice: NorWest Arena Murillo Community Hall Rosslyn Community Hall Libraries Murillo & Rosslyn Duke Hunt Historical Museum Founders Museum Resource Links: The Ontario Ministry of Health reports on the status if cases in Ontario each morning at 10:30 a.m.: www.ontario.ca/coronavirus The Health Unit’s website contain links to credible sources of information providers: www.TBDHU.COM/coronavirus

The Norwest Bantam A/AA Banquet (April 9th) and IP1, Novice, Atom & Peewee Wind Up (April 11th) have been cancelled as per a Hockey Canada directive. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Greetings Norwest Families. As per direction from Hockey Canada the 2019-2020 hockey season is officially cancelled. We at Norwest have a limited amount of time collect equipment and jerseys from families before more restrictions are put in place. The municipality has agreed to keep the rink open for us tomorrow (Saturday March 14th) between 10am and 2pm only. Please drop off items to the committee room downstairs at the rink (next to dressing room #4) . During this time all...: ~ Game Jerseys and Practice Jerseys from IP1, Novice, Atom A and Peewee A must be dropped off at Norwest Arena tomorrow (Saturday March 14, 2020) between 10am and 2pm. All teams can keep their socks! ~ Novice & IP1 goalie equipment that has been borrowed must be returned tomorrow. ~ Coaching staffs must empty out their equipment from the lock up as you will not have access to the rink after Saturday. At this point the banquets/windups are on hold as well. But another email in the coming days will be sent out with an update. We are sorry for the inconvenience, as this also has come as a huge surprise to us as well. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Norwest Families please see the message from HNO presidents below and the press release from Hockey Canada. At this point all practices and games scheduled as of March 13th are cancelled. We will post more information as it is available. Thank you for your patience during this time. Attention Everyone, ... Please find the attached Hockey Canada Statement. I regret to inform everyone due to these circumstances, all HNO sanctioned activities will be cancelled until further notice effective tomorrow March 13th, including the Tournament of Champions. More information will follow in the upcoming days. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation at this time. Sincerely, Alex Vaillant Executive Director Hockey Northwestern Ontario March 12, 2020 MEDIA ADVISORY HOCKEY CANADA STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) CALGARY, Alta. The following is a statement on behalf of Hockey Canada from Tom Renney, chief executive officer, and Scott Smith, president and chief operating officer, on the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Without question, this an unprecedented period of difficulty for the sports world. The health and safety of all participants in sport, including players, coaches, staff, officials, fans, family, volunteers and the general public, is of the utmost importance to Hockey Canada. After much consultation with the Hockey Canada membership, our chief medical officer and public health officials, the Hockey Canada Board of Directors has made the decision to cancel all Hockey Canada-sanctioned activities, including our national championships, until further notice, effective Friday, March 13, 2020. We recognize the tremendous effort that has been put forth all year by individuals across the country as they participate in Canada’s game. Although it is difficult to process the hockey season ending abruptly, we feel this is the best course of action in order to do our part in keeping our country safe.

Practice Times Up For Grabs At Norwest Arena. Saturday March 14th - 3pm to 4pm Sunday March 15th - 8am to 9:30pm Monday March 16th - 5:30pm to 7pm Wednesday March 18th - 7:30pm to 8:30pm... Thursday March 19th - 6pm to 7:30pm Saturday March 21st - 3pm to 4pm Please email [email protected] to book any one of the times above See more

Good luck to our Atom AA, Peewee AA & Bantam AA teams this weekend!

Norwest Minor Hockey has a few ice times up for grabs. ~ Saturday March 14th - 3pm to 4pm ~ Sunday March 15th - 8am to 9:30am ~ Thursday March 19th - 6pm to 7:30pm ~ Saturday March 21st - 3pm to 4pm... Please send an email to [email protected] to book one of times and arrange for payment. See more

And that’s a wrap! Big thanks to all the players, coaches and fans for supporting our tournament. Congratulations to our 2020 Champions: Bantam AA - Westfort Maroons Bantam A - Fort Frances Green’s Predators Peewee AA - Elks 82s’ Peewee A - Neebing Wildhawks... Atom AA - Westfort Rangers Atom A - Neebing Blackhawks See more

Visit http://site2544.goalline.ca for game times and game locations for the playoff brackets at the Norwest Atom/Peewee/Bantam tournament. Finals began at 11:30 at Norwest Arena.

For up to date scores and schedules during the Norwest tournament, please visit. http://site2544.goalline.ca

(PLEASE SHARE) On January 25, 2020 @ 2pm the Westfort Drone Giant Rangers will be facing off against the Thunder Bay Beavers at West Thunder Community Center. ...This outdoor game is to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society through the Hockey Fights Cancer campaign. Big thanks to T-jay Hook and his son for coming out to help film this video. It was a fun day. Please please please donate to such a great cause. Thanks Leo Elliott for organizing this awesome event. LINK TO DONATE BELOW. http://convio.cancer.ca/site//IFE_ON_Event/IFE_ON_General_

Norwest Arena has open ice times available: Saturday December 28 ~ 8:00am - 9:30am Saturday January 4 ~ 8:00am - 9:30am Sunday January 12 ~ 8:00am - 9:30am Sunday January 19 ~ 8:00am - 9:30am... Please send a message if interested or for more information. See more

Congratulations to the Norwest Bantam A team on winning the Neebing Thunder on Ice Tournament. The team went undefeated all weekend to capture the title defeating Current River in the finals.

The Norwest Stars Atom AA team went undefeated this weekend to win their division at the Super Rink Spectacular Thanksgiving Tournament in Blaine, Minnesota. Goalie Carson Bresolin had only 2 goals scored on him all weekend and his teammates racked up 29 goals in the 4 games they played. Great job boys!!

Register today for the Core Hockey Winter Training Camp!!

Thank you @zga_thunderbay for the support of our campaign.

Please be advised that the two TBMHA games scheduled for tonight at Norwest Arena have been cancelled. They will be rescheduled at a later date.

Congratulations to the Norwest Bantam AA team on their championship win in Fort Frances this weekend. The team finished fourth in the round robin and defeated the host team Fort Frances Canadians in the semi final. The team met the North End Flames in the finals and after the overtime goal by Thomas Cava were crowned champions! Another great start to the season for our Norwest Stars!

Congratulations to the Norwest Peewee AA team. The team were crowned champions at the 25th Westfort Fall Classic Hockey Tournament. The team went undefeated all weekend and beat the Current River Comets 3-1 in the finals. Not bad for their first tournament of the year! Well done players and coaches! Big shout out to Westfort Hockey and all their volunteers for putting on a great tournament!!

The Norwest Stars Peewee A and Bantam A teams were the first group to travel out of town this season. From November 1st to November 3rd the two teams took part in the Gopher State Outdoor Veterans Cup. Each team played four games including outdoor games at St. Louis Park Rec Center's refrigerated and covered, outdoor rink! Both teams also attended the Minnesota Wild game on Saturday night. Despite the overtime loss for the Wild, Norwest players and families got a huge surprise after the game. Thunder Bay's own Eric Staal (and former Norwest Star) came out and met with current Norwest Stars for pictures and autographs!! What a great way to kick off a hockey season!

Tim Horton's Hockey Card Trading Nights are happening on October 25th and November 1st. Stop by either of these locations on either of the trading card nights: 110 Waterloo Street and 1043 Memorial Avenue. Don’t miss your chance to complete your NHL Trading Card collection by trading cards with members of your community! You also have a chance to win an autographed Sidney Crosby picture.

Help! Need a Peewee goalie tomorrow from 1:15-2:45pm at TC!

Norwest is looking for a head coach for our Peewee A team. Please spread the word!

Norwest Hockey School is fast approaching. New IP1 Session has been added. Great opportunity to test out new equipment and connect with your hockey friends!