Welcome to the 20th episode of the Echo Sportscast where we cover North Bay and area varsity, recreation and club sports.

Today’s show catches up on NDA hockey with a handful of games left before the playoffs, spiced with video clips of the last tilt between the Ravens and Bears. We covered the Lakers women in an exciting varsity hockey shootout decision against U o T last Saturday, plus set up the men’s double-header this weekend against Waterloo.

In our Spotlight interview, we learn more about the Canadore Dome and the local product who runs it, Graham Loyst, as well as the looming registration for North Bay Youth Ball Hockey In club sports, we have video of the U18 junior Lakers edging Caledon in a recent weekend match up, plus we promo the U15 junior Lakers who are set to play Sudbury in an exhibition match on the outdoor rink in Bonfield this Sunday.

McLean also shares his recent trip to the former Maple Leaf Gardens, now a store topped with the Toronto Metropolitan University nearly 4,000-person capacity arena. And Dale tells the tale of attending a Leafs game there in 1992 as a sports reporter.

We conclude with a Heritage Moment that comes as an update to Dan Clement's quest to find a home for his 1956 North Bay Roughriders football jacket, one of the years the local team was affiliated with the CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders.

Welcome to the Echo Sportscast, #19 ... today’s show has variety … mostly hockey though because it was too cold to run school buses Monday and Tuesday, canceling high school basketball and volleyball before the exam week shutdown.

We do have some NDA hockey from Wednesday night with the Chippewa Ravens edging the Algonquin Barons 5-4 in overtime at the Sam Jacks Recreational Centre. The next game is tonight at Memorial Gardens with the Ravens and Scollard Bears hitting the ice at 8:30 p.m.

You’ll like our Spotlight interview with Grayson Bradley, Chippewa’s big power forward who scored the game-tying and game-winning goals. And we even have some supplied video of a rare NDA hockey fight that put one of Algonquin’s big defenceman in the sin bin for two games.

There’s also a few shout-outs for a wrestler, cross country skiing and a long-time teacher and coach who recently passed away.

As for club and post-secondary varsity, we have video of the Lakers women beating the Ottawa Gee-Gees last Saturday and promote their Military Appreciation Night vs Carleton at Memorial Gardens at 6 p.m., Friday, Jan. 24 with Saturday's match against U of T beginning at 4 p.m.

Today's Echo Sportscast #18 includes coverage of a pivotal high school girls volleyball showdown between Algonquin and Franco Cite with a package of other results … including interviews with the winning coach and captain.

In boys basketball, we covered the Great Northern Shootout senior boys final between West Ferris and Chippewa … another example of how competitive the NDA loop is …

Plus we have another ‘You make the call’ segment, this time a match penalty and three-game suspension for head contact causing injury during a Sunday morning match at Memorial Gardens And we’re putting together a bit of a schedule summary as we enter the last two weeks of regular season play for the winter leagues with playoffs starting

We don’t have a new Spotlight interview but we’re including another five minutes of Lakers coach Mike McParland sharing some more of his hockey journey. In club and varsity updates, we have video evidence of the men’s Lakers team getting the edge on the Ontario Tech team last Saturday, plus some follow up from their exhibition win over China, followed by a 7-2 loss to Queen’s University.

In Lakers women’s hockey …they are now 13-1-2 after two road wins on the weekend, which gets them back on track following two losses against Ontario Tech to start 2025 … you can see them for yourself tonight as they host the York Lions at 6 p.m. with another game Saturday at 4 p.m. against the visiting Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Today's Sportscast is cooking with gas with high school basketball, hockey and volleyball results featured, as well as a salute to curlers qualifying for a national tournament.

There's even some video evidence of Algonquin's seniors out-hooping the Ravens in a senior boys basketball game Tuesday that was a great see-saw affair, followed by interviews with the winning Barons coach and their top offensive producer chipping in almost half of the points himself. In the junior boys basketball report, we interviewed the Ravens coach and their captain after defeating the host Barons on their home court.

We also have high school hockey action with video highlights of goals and injuries from Sunday morning's clash at Memorial Gardens ... once again between Chippewa and Algonquin (with a rematch set for 9:30 Friday night) with the Ravens' backup shutting the door for the win.

Our spotlight interview is with the Lakers men's hockey coach, Mike McParland, who was a local Junior Trappers champion who went on to earn university glory with Guelph and a professional career playing in Europe before returning home and taking the bench boss reins as Nipissing launched its varsity hockey program 14 years ago. 

As for the Lady Lakers, we caught their overtime loss against the visiting Ontario Tech squad and have some great video from their match up. And keeping with the hockey theme, our heritage moment is a pic of the 1965 Police Playground Bantam champions.

Echo Sportscast co-hosts Paul McLean and Dave Dale review the 2024 highlights on their 16th show since launching last fall.

They talk about the positive reaction the show is getting with high school action video clips and interviews with students, and there was another call for student-produced coverage to share with the viewers.

The co-hosts also noted the OFSAA championships being hosted at the end of the winter sports such as boys basketball and girls volleyball.

For our post-Christmas show, with most of the leagues taking a break (along with our studio), the Echo Sportscast #15 puts the spotlight on Dan Selin, who has helped some of the best hockey players in the area stand out.

Selin has published a book about the high-end skills techniques that raise the bar in how someone can utilize hundreds of skate, stick and body movements that train the brain to react and move as fast as possible without needing to watch the puck. With elite skills changing the game at all levels, Selin believes better players will see reduced injuries, including fewer concussions.

Learn more about his Concussion Neuro-Training Program at: https://www.hockeycpn.com/

The Echo Sportscast #14 features NDA overtime hockey with the Barons clipping the Ravens wings, news about the top boys basketball teams, including a red-hot junior Trojans team, a salute to the Bears powerlifting team, a bit about girls volleyball and a spotlight put on the North Stars special needs hockey team.

Today's Echo Sportscast features a basketball win for the Chippewa Ravens, volleyball victory for St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Bears and a hockey puck drop update.

High school interviews in the show hosted by Paul McLean and Dave Dale include Olivia Mancari, captain of the Bear's senior girls spikers, Seamus Gagne, captain of Chippewa's senior boys hoopsters and assistant coach Mike Mitchell. A long-time coach, Mitchell says the NDA is benefitting from the Spartans rep basketball program for intermediate-age players. Our Spotlight interview explores the popularity of billiards with Partners owner Bonnie Zufelt, a former ladies fastball provincial champion.

And we follow that up with a good look at how local hockey teams are doing, including a big weekend for Junior Lakers girls teams that were at out of town tournaments last weekend.

And we discuss some of the best options for naming the new twin pad community centre being built at the Steve Omischl Sports Fields Complex.

This week's Echo Sportscast features high school girls volleyball, hockey action and a salute to the NDA football all-stars, as well as a recent good example of concussion protocols preventing further harms and a discussion about the possibility of the private sector getting into the ice rink business. The Spotlight interview is with North Bay's own Malory Dominico, one of the top offensive weapons for the Nipissing Lakers women's hockey team. It was recorded right before their last two games of the first half of the OUA season (they ended up beating Queen's but lost a close one to Waterloo).

We talk about her surpassing her sister Maria's scoring record on the perennial OUA contender, what it's like to be coached by Darren Turcotte, her development of skating and playing skills through Dan Selin Concussion Preventative Neuro-Training, and her efforts to help out young female hockey players.

The full interview can be found on the North Bay Echo YouTube channel, along with several other interviews featuring the people who help make local sports thrive. Additional varsity coverage includes Wednesday's big match up between the Lakers and the Waterloo Warriors, the top two teams in the province and each ranked in the top five nationally. There's video clips of the action, including the shootout which ended Nipissing's winning streak with a 2-1 decision going to Waterloo.

We also salute tournament champs after another great curling event at the North Bay Granite Club.

Link to full Malory Dominico interview: https://youtu.be/C4lix1W5Z-s

Echo Sportscast #11 cuts the ribbon on the NDA’s winter high school sports schedule as boys basketball and girls volleyball teams take to the courts across Nipissing District this week … although the start was delayed by the ‘snow storm’ Tuesday, pushing the first games to Wednesday.

We also caught some all star boys volleyball action on Monday and we had good intentions to drop by the girls basketball as well, but it wasn’t in the cards on Wednesday.

We did, however, get to the first games of the 49th annual NDA hockey tournament this morning (see below for some of tonight’s sched). It wraps up Friday afternoon at Memorial Gardens with semis at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. with the championship game at 7:30 p.m.

Our Sportscast Spotlight features Greg Richardson, a retired teacher who is continuing as coach of the Chippewa Ravens, the defending Nugget Shield league champions.

And we have a special promo spotlight with Malory Dominico, one of the top offensive producers with the Nipissing Lakers women’s hockey team who has a dollars-for-points fundraising again this year … Nipissing is ranked third in the nation with a 10-1 record and hosts Queen’s on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Waterloo on Wednesday at 5 p.m.