{"id":1032,"date":"2018-12-07T18:40:09","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T18:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/sweatmag\/?p=1032"},"modified":"2022-11-17T21:14:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T21:14:58","slug":"no-boarders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/no-boarders\/","title":{"rendered":"No Boarders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Zach Mulder <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Vendramin was experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity. He was on the ice in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, more than 8,500 km from his home in Sault Ste. Marie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vendramin was in Russia as a member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division III Select team. The select team was essentially an all-star team, and was there to compete in a one-week tournament against teams from the U.S., Russia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vendramin was selected for the team after scoring 59 points in only 13 games as the captain of the Sault Cougars during the 2017-2018 ACHA season. The season happened to be the Sault\u2019s first in the league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was probably the best experience of my life,\u201d says Vendramin fondly. \u201cIt was so fun, the guys I was with, we had a great time and a great group of guys. Those are friends I\u2019ll have forever and I\u2019ll never forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an Ontario school, Sault College\u2019s sports teams usually compete in the OCAA, from basketball to curling, cross country to golf. But the OCAA doesn\u2019t have a hockey league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wasn\u2019t going to stop Sault from strapping on the skates and playing the sport so integral to the city\u2019s identity. So, they found another way and became the only Canadian team in the ACHA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brought in to coach the team was Mike Hall, a veteran coach who spent 25 years coaching triple-A midget hockey. Nineteen of those years were spent in Sault Ste. Marie. As a coach there, Hall became the winningest coach in the Great North Midget League\u2019s history. It\u2019s a legacy of success that he hopes to bring to the Cougars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had stepped away [from coaching] for a couple years and was kind of enjoying my time away,\u201d says Hall. \u201cWhen I\u2019d seen what they were trying to do here, giving kids in northern Ontario an opportunity to get their education and still play competitive hockey, I just thought it\u2019d be something good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Hall\u2019s presence behind the bench, the Cougars first season was a successful one. They finished the season with a record of 12 wins, one loss and two overtime losses. However, it wasn\u2019t all sunshine and goal lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe way that [the ACHA] works is the first year you\u2019re in the ACHA, you don\u2019t qualify for regionals or nationals,\u201d says Hall. \u201cWhen the first round of rankings came out, we were ranked the number one team in all of the ACHA, but seeing that we were a first-year program we weren\u2019t allowed to participate in regionals or nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a tough reality for the players to face. Despite their hard work and success on the ice, their season was set to end without any sort of post-season hockey. What made matters worse was that they didn\u2019t find out until the season was already underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast year we were all set on going as far as we could, we wanted to go to nationals,\u201d says Vendramin. \u201cFinding out the news we couldn\u2019t even go was such a bummer. We found out a month and a half, two months, into the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, that experience has provided more motivation than demoralization, as the Cougars are more determined than ever to reach the championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year that\u2019s our main goal,\u201d says Vendramin. \u201cThe nationals are in Dallas this year, that\u2019s where we want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, in order to win you need good players. That means recruiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost of our kids that play for us are from northern Ontario,\u201d says Hall. \u201cThat\u2019s sort of been our focus, to recruit kids from northern Ontario that are used to playing in northern Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a system that\u2019s paid off in dividends, with players wanting to come play for the Cougars. The success they\u2019ve had shows just how important recruiting is in the modern college athletics world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s team is probably 85 to 90 per cent recruited,\u201d says Hall. \u201cThe days of standing outside residence to see who walks in with a hockey stick and asking them if they play hockey are kind of over. We actually hired a scouting staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite having a good team and now being eligible for the post-season, Sault still has one major hurdle to overcome: geography. For Sault to play home games, the players on the teams they face all need to have valid passports, otherwise they can\u2019t get across the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, only eight of their total 32 games being played at home. Luckily, travel for games is not something new to those who grew up playing organized hockey in northern Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the Great North Midget League, it was nothing to travel seven, eight hours to play a game,\u201d said Hall. \u201cA lot of ours now are four or five hours [drive] and all on four lane highways so that\u2019s certainly nice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a sentiment echoed by the players, who can spend the bus trips keeping up to date with their courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the bus it\u2019s usually just homework,\u201d says Bryceton Lalonde, a rookie on the team. \u201cWe\u2019re gone mostly every weekend, not really during the school week, so it doesn\u2019t really effect the classes too much. You got lots of time to study on the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start of November, the Cougars traveled to face the Michigan State Spartans, a major U.S. university with brand recognition that eclipses most Canadian schools. The Cougars faced the challenge eagerly and with excitement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not at all intimidating,\u201d says Lalonde. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely better to play some better teams and help us get better for our own division. If we\u2019re playing poorer teams, then we\u2019re just going to be not getting better and improving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougar\u2019s captain, Vendramin, echoed the sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a pretty confident group of players here,\u201d says Vendramin of his team. \u201cMost of our players have played junior hockey and we\u2019ve played at a high level so we\u2019re not intimidated in any place we go to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a confidence that\u2019s found throughout the roster, with the goal of the season being the same regardless of who you ask on the team: first the regional championships in Grand Rapids, then the national championships in Dallas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a lofty goal, but if their record shows anything, it\u2019s that an achievable one for the Sault Cougars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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