Echo Sportscast

The 31st episode of the Echo Sportscast show puts the Spotlight on North Bay Bulldogs senior football and a stacked men's hockey team taking the A division gold last weekend.

Our big interview is with Mason McGriskin, a local football product who recently finished a successful USports career at Bishop's University. McGriskin and his fellow football fanatics are gathering at the Canadore Dome on Saturday afternoon for a fun five-on-five tournament and skills contest before their first Bulldogs practice of the season. He's working out of Toronto this summer as the head coach, quarterback lead and strength coach of a high school football academy. And he's committed to quarterback the Bulldogs this summer, joining a host of former local high school players who have university experience.

Also featured are upcoming sports events, recent achievements by club teams and two more community leaders ahead of the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards dinner.

The 30th episode of the Echo Sportscasts covers all kinds of ground with co-hosts Paul McLean and Dave Dale. This week’s show includes NDA badminton, salutes the North Bay Employee Tournament with a Spotlight on organizer Moe Bedard, the Can-Nip Basketball League final and Jr. Lakers hockey banquet. There’s also a Heritage Moment segment that honours a couple of the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame award winners.

Sportscast co-hosts Paul McLean and Dave Dale propose ways to deal with frustrating 'snow days' before getting into real sports coverage in the 28th episode of North Bay's only weekly local sports podcast.

Once they get that off their chests, they talk to Scott Kile, a long-time North Bay minor hockey volunteer and association executive, about the virtues and contributions of the late Jim Lecappelain, who will be posthumously honoured at the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards banquet at the Davedi Club May 3.

The show also features Ringette championships, the Ballers 3 on 3 tournament and a look at the Jr Lakers awards dinner

Hockey champions, a Titan of swimming, Granite Club's curling dynamo and 100 years of Laurentian skiing history are highlighted in the Echo Sportscast #28 with co-hosts Paul McLean and Dave Dale.

0:00 Introduction
5:38 Paul's swimming career
7:19 Spotlight: Titan's Annabelle Jackson, Joshua Huard
16:40 Curling Salute
20:12 Men's basketball league playoffs
22:29 Ballers Bball Promo
22:46 Heritage Moment - Laurentian Ski Hill's 100th
29:05 Women's Hockey Champs

The 27th episode of the Echo Sportscast covers the 44th North Bay Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner announcement, including NDA athletes named for honours, and curling success by Team Winters, a U16 team representing Northern Ontario at the U20 nationals in PEI starting this weekend.

The Spotlight interview is with Derek Lindeman, part of the North Bay Pickle Club that is hosting a competitive tournament at Canadore College on May 9-10.

Co-hosts Paul McLean and Dave Dale conclude the show with a discussion about elitism in hockey compared to other sports.

In this March Break Edition of Echo Sportscast, host Paul McLean flies solo while Dave takes a well-earned vacation.

This week, we:

✅ Break down the CAN-NIP Men’s Basketball League playoffs – Who’s in, who’s out, and what to expect as the season wraps up.

✅ Preview the upcoming 3-on-3 Ballers Tournament – A fast-paced competition that’s bringing serious talent to North Bay.

✅ Take a deep dive into sports tourism & youth sports – Featuring a fireside (well, ice-side!) chat with Scott Clark, recorded straight from an ice fishing hut on Lake Nipissing!

From growing local sports leagues to how small towns can attract more sports tourism, this episode is full of great stories, insights, and a few laughs along the way.

🔥 The action-packed sports week in North Bay! In this episode of Echo Sportscast, hosts Paul McLean and Laura Mady break down the biggest local and provincial sports events, including:

🏒 High School Hockey Championships – The St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Girls Hockey Team is heading to OFSAA after a thrilling 2-1 win! The boys team is also heading to the playoffs in Windsor.

🏐 OFSAA Volleyball & Basketball – Local teams Chippewa and Scollard battled it out in the provincial volleyball semifinals, while West Ferris and Chippewa showcased their skills in high-level basketball matchups.

🥅 Lakers Women’s Hockey – Nipissing’s team is on fire, moving forward in the playoffs! Can they take down Waterloo to advance to the finals?

🏈 Flag Football in Canada – Special guest Kathleen Garvey talks about Canada College’s growing flag football program and exciting recruitment updates.

🥇 Swimming Success – Annabelle Jackson wins two silver medals at OFSAA Swimming, proving herself as one of the top swimmers in Ontario!

🏒 Hockey for Beginners Jamboree – A fantastic community event at Memorial Gardens, featuring Timbits hockey, battalion player visits, and exciting moments for young athletes!

The Scollard Hall Bears beat the Chippewa Ravens 5-4 in overtime to claim the NDA hockey banner and hoist the Nugget Shield on Thursday night at the West Ferris arena. That climatic moment and more is featured in the 24th episode of the Echo Sportscast.

If you missed it, don’t worry, the puck action continues Monday with the NDA hosting NOSSA for the same two local teams against the Sudbury and Soo champions. In the gym, the Bears senior girls volleyball team claimed the 2025 banner after a solid four-game win over Chippewa on Tuesday evening. We have interviews with the head coach and captain. Meanwhile, if you’ve been paying attention to the boys basketball action, Chippewa got its revenge over the West Ferris Trojans for eliminating them from NDA glory … beating their nemesis in the NOSSA semifinals last weekend.

But the Ravens came up against a powerhouse Lo Ellen squad and had to settle for silver, good enough to get a berth in the OFSSA AAA championship in Kingston next week. And the Trojans get another chance to shoot for gold next week as hosts of the AA OFSAA boys basketball championships … although they’ll be up against a tough crowd, including that nasty good Lo Ellen crew.

We interviewed the West Ferris coach about the experience. Our Heritage Moment turns out to be video of Paul Follis presenting the NDA’s boys basketball championship trophy named in honour of his father … a championship he had a pleasure of winning 50 years ago in the same gym.

For our Spotlight Interview, we have Russ Moyer, a former professional hockey player now a six-year veteran of patrolling the city's blueline as a locally-raised member of the North Bay Police Service.

As for post-secondary varsity action, the Lakers women’s hockey team is hosting the Queen Gaels tonight at 7 p.m. for Game 2 of their best of three OUA quarterfinal series after winning the first contest in Kingston Wednesday afternoon. Game three, if necessary, is Saturday, also at Memorial Gardens.

Podcast discussions also include arm wrestling challenges and Saturday's featured bouts at Action MMA.

The West Ferris Trojans beat the first-place Algonquin Barons two out of three games to claim the 2025 NDA senior boys basketball banner on Thursday night, and the Echo Sportscast #23 includes a full report that was recorded prior to the final game. We also covered the senior girls volleyball final series between the first-place St. Joseph Scollard Hall Bears and the Chippewa Ravens. The Ravens staved off elimination on Wednesday night in an exciting 5-set match forcing a deciding third contest on Tuesday evening. The junior basketball Trojans swept the Bears in two games to three-peat as the NDA champions and Chippewa also beat the Bears in two games to win their school's first junior girls volleyball banner since 2005. Our Spotlight interview is with Mark Lyons and Connie Hergott about the Ride for Jack event this Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. with a groomed trail beginning where the East Ferris boat ramp is near the Trout Lake Stepping Stones at the end of MacPherson Drive. In post-secondary varsity sports reports, the Nipissing Lakers women's team finished first with a win over Brock on Saturday, a timely victory featuring a penalty shot goal that gave scoring star Malory Dominico her 100th OUA point. The Heritage Moment gives an example of future segments that highlight who the people are who are honoured with their names on NDA trophies.

Our show for Feb. 14 sets up the NDA boys basketball and girls volleyball championship finals starting next Tuesday with the hockey semis between Chippewa and Algonquin on Wednesday.

Of course, we have some video of the semi final action after visiting four gymnasiums last Tuesday evening. There's also a salute to the new NDA curling champs for boys and girls. Our Spotlight interview features Mike Mitchell, a driving force helping to build strong youth basketball foundations in the city.

In post-secondary action, we have a bit of video from the Nipissing Lakers men’s team wrapping up the home schedule against Windsor last weekend and we’re promoting this weekend’s crucial Lakers women’s games tonight and Saturday against Guelph as they try to end a painful losing skid. We also have video of the Lakers basketball crucial game in Sudbury on Wednesday, as well as the U13 Jr. Lakers team extending their series against Sudbury.