Game On Magazine 2017 Nov Game On low res | Page 108

| HIGH SC HOOL HOCKEY | W I T H C A R T E R B R O O K S
The 2017-18 hockey season
has begun, and so have the
storylines. We’ve already
seen Winnipegger Nolan
Patrick score his first NHL
goal, the Brandon Wheat
Kings have jumped out to
another strong start, and
the Winnipeg Bruins
have picked up their
first wins as part of the
Manitoba Midget AAA
community.
In high school
hockey, Winnipeg’s
now 14-team
Platinum
Promotions
Division
looks as
competitive
as ever.
With no
true ‘Cup-
favourite’
heading into
the season,
and a wide array
of talent, there are
bound to be countless
memorable afternoon
clashes every week.
The St. Paul’s Crusaders
quickly found themselves
ahead of the pack with
back-to-back victories
to open the season.
Banking on solid
goaltending, a
crop of returning
players, and a
handful of
1 0 8 | G A M E O N | NO VEM BER 2 0 1 7
fresh faces, the reigning city
and provincial champions will
look to build upon what they
accomplished last season.
One very interesting
player to watch this season is
Crusaders’ first-year forward,
Lenny Baranyk. Listed as the
only 2002-born player on the
St. Paul’s ‘A’ team, the 5-foot-
5, 150 pound playmaker who
spent the past two seasons
playing for the Winnipeg
AAA Sharks, knows that he
didn’t land this roster spot by
accident.
“Tryouts went really well
for me, and I managed to put
up a few points,” Baranyk
said. “I was feeling pretty
good about my chances,
especially considering there
were a few openings from the
players who left last year’s
team. Everything that I’ve
heard about the team and the
coaches came true, and I’m
loving it here.”
Although he makes it sound
like no big deal, making the
roster of the team that has
won three of the last four
provincial championships, as
a grade ten student is almost
unheard of. Taking into
account the fact that roughly
70 players showed up to
tryouts as Crusader hopefuls
this fall makes Baranyk’s
selection that much more
impressive. But then again,
working hard to accomplish
lofty goals is nothing new for
the East St. Paul resident.
“Last year at the AAA
banquet I won the hardest
worker award,” Baranyk
mentioned humbly. “I was
actually nominated as the
hardest working player on my
team and ended up winning
it league-wide. A lot of my
teammates told me that I
would probably be nominated,
but looking at the guys that I
was going up against I didn’t
think that I had any chance
of winning. But I was lucky
enough and really blessed to
have won; it has definitely
given me more motivation to
keep working as hard as I can.”
The 2016-17 AAA awards
banquet wasn’t even the
first time that Baranyk had
received that momentous
accolade, as he also picked up
the hardest working player
award during his time serving
as an alternate captain of
the River East Marauders.
Now as a rookie on a high
school team, playing against
much larger opponents, the
undersized forward knows
what it will take to get the job
done at this level of play.
“As a smaller guy I just have
to stay focused on playing
my game, and go into those
battles for the team,” Baranyk
said. “Someone who has really
helped my development all
the way from Timbits until
THE HARDEST WORKER
IS NOW A CRUSADER