By Doug Kennedy

Ryker Killins played AAA for Huron Perth and high school hockey in Kincardine before moving on to Stratford in the Junior B league. He got a scholarship at Ferris Sate while playing in Stratford. The last couple of years, he has played in the East Coast league and played a few games in the American League.

Like so many young talented Canadian players, Killans is in his first year playing in Europe. He is in Denmark playing professional hockey this winter. He has scored two goals and two assists in 11 games for the Esbjerg Energy. I am sure he will excel in Europe on those big ice surfaces, as he is such a great skater/passer and sees the ice so well. Hopefully he will get to finish his season.

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With the NHL deciding not go to the Olympics, you always wonder about all the great Canadian players that could have played and might not get another chance. With it so hard to win the Stanley Cup, an Olympic Gold Medal can be the highlight of their career. The first two I think of is Steven Stamkos and John Tavares. They are both 31 and would be 35 during the next Olympics, so this was probably their last shot at playing. Travares has played in one Olympics but got hurt. Stamkos was hurt before the Olympics and could not play. It would have been great to watch Sidney Crosby line up with Connor McDavid. Can this happen again? Probably not, but you never know with how good Crosby is. I am not sure why the Winter Olympics have not been cancelled and moved to the next year, similar to the summer Olympics.

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Junior hockey is not shut down yet but there have been many games cancelled at all levels the last two weeks. The PJHL is taking it week to week right now, to see what happens. Their main goal at this point is to get the playoffs in this year. We do not want to go three years without handing out the Schmalz Cup.