After a tough start to the season, with two losses in the first two regular season games, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks went on to get two wins for every loss through the first half of the season. They finished the first half with ten wins, five losses, and one overtime loss in 16 games played. The team is currently ranked fifth in the OUA standings now apart of the Far West division.

Leading the team for a second year is Team Captain, Matt Grennier of Dryden, ON, who is also a former Kitchener Ranger (OHL). The fifth year Economics student has six goals and eleven assists totalling to seventeen points in sixteen games played. In addi-tion, Grennier has played a total of 133 games for the purple and gold since his rookie season in 2003-2004. This year’s assistant captains include fifth year defen-seman Riley Moher, a former Barrie Colt (OHL) who has surpassed 300 penalty minutes as a Golden Hawk and Rob Dmytruk, a native of Scarborough, ON who was named an OUA First Team All-Star in 2006/07. Second Team OUA All-Star (2006/07) and winner of the OUA West Most Sportsmanlike Player Award, Mark Voakes (St. Thomas, ON) and Nick Vergeer, a third year from West Lorne, ON with five goals and nineteen assists also get the honour of an “A” on their jerseys. Leading the team in scoring this season with 15 goals is rookie standout Craig Voakes. His brother Mark Voakes is just behind him in the Laurier standings with eight goals to his name. Both share interest in the study of Geography as well as hockey with Mark attending to his forth year. Craig is also leading the team in points with 25 closely followed by veteran forward Nick Vergeer with 24 points in fifteen games.

Returning forwards this season are second year, Jeff

Burrows out of London, ON and six foot five Mike LeClair. As well as 6’7 Whitby, ON native Matt Maccarone, local John Thiel of Union College (NCAA) and 2006-07 team rookie of the year Nathan Peacock. The third years include: Luke Dubbin (Milton I c e h a w k s , OPJHL) and Luke Girard of the Vaughan Vipers (OPHJHL) who is fifth on the team in scoring with 16 points and leads the team with 56 penalty minutes.

On the defence are second years: Chad Kennedy, recruited from the Aurora Tigers (OPJHL) and Adam Maccarone the 6’2 athlete from Whitby, ON; third years: Jordan Fair of the Waterloo Siskins (MWJBHL) and Tyler Grover, from Alberta, drafted from the Fort McMurray Oil Barons; and fifth years: Rob Dmytruk and Riley Moher of the Barrie Colts (OHL). Rookies include forwards: Mike Galbraith, former player for the Hamilton Red Wings (OPJHL), Mississauga Ice Dogs (OHL) originator Jean-Michel Rizk, Craig Voakes (Sarnia Sting, OHL) and Colin Williams also of the Aurora Tigers (OPJHL); and defensive players: Troy Murray (Toronto St Michael’s Majors, OHL) and lastly, Tyler Townsend from Tavistock, ON who formerly played for the Stratford Cullitons (MWJBHL). Netminders this year are the triumvirate of experienced goalies, Aaron Forer of the Meltfort Mustangs (SJHL), Jeff MacDougald of the Sarnia Sting (OHL) and Mike Thomson of the Collingwood Blues (OPJHL). Thomson leads the team with a 0.91% save percentage in 452 minutes played. Forer and MacDougald are both tied for second with 0.88% save percentage, with MacDougald playing the bulk of the remaining minutes.

With only thirteen games left, the team will com-mence with the second half of the season on January 4th, playing RMC in Kingston.

Wilfrid Laurier University

HAWKEY ALUMNI CLUB NEWSLETTERFrom the home of Golden Hawk Hockey

Message from Peter Baxter

The mission of Laurier Athletics is to ensure excellence both in Athletics and Academics. With

this objective in mind, Learning Services has teamed up with the Athletics and Recreation to offer student-athletes various ways to improve their learning skills and strategies through the creation of the Athlete Academic Success pro-gram (AASP). The AASP Program is offered to all student-athletes free of charge and is delivered through scheduled workshops, one-to-one assistance sessions, and intense study sessions. The program is facilitated by Athlete Academic mentors. Most of these services are delivered in small group and individual appoint-ment settings and are designed to encourage the sharing of ideas and peer learning.

Support for this program has come directly from the Dean of Students, David McMurray who has cham-pioned this and has provided the financial support in partnership with the student governments.

In Athletics, we believe that aca-demic success must be part of athletic success! This program separates us from the rest of the competition. This support together with the alumni Hawkey Hawks initiatives that concentrate on pro-viding Head Coach Kelly Nobes the means to recruit the top uni-versity Hockey players in Canada is one of the reasons why Laurier has made it to the CIS University Cup Championships the past two years.

Sincere thanks to you our alumni in helping us make this happen.

Season’s Greetings to you and your Family.

Go Hawks! Peter BaxterDirector of Athletics & Recreation

Roster Boasts Many Key Names as Hawks Continue Strong

VoluMe 5, ISSue 1 MID-SeASoN eDITIoN

#4 Team Captain Matt Grennier Kitchener Rangers (OHL),

of Dryden, Ontario.

www.laurierathletics.com

#9 Craig Voakes Sarnia Sting (OHL) of St. Thomas, Ontario.

2

Hawkey Alumni Weekend 2008Saturday January 12th, 2008 is the date of

the fifth annual Alumni Weekend.

Register Online Today at: www.laurierathletics.com/HAC

This year’s Alumni Weekend features Lau-rier hosting the Ryerson Rams.

Highlights of the day include the always entertaining alumni games, family skate, access to the swimplex, and a buffet dinner reception.

Additional activities for the kids will be provided during the dinner hour. As usual we

have Morty’s Pub booked for the post game fes-tivities.

The silent auction and raffle is always a huge attraction with unique high quality items up for grabs. We invite all of our alumni over the next few weeks to leverage your business contacts to come up with this year’s auction items.

Get your ticket online now at: www.lauri-erathletics.com/HAC. For more information or if you can donate a silent auction item, please contact Martin Kearns 416-730-4274 or kearns.mj@pg.com.

Coach’s Corner with Kelly Nobes

Dear Golden Hawk Alumni and Friends,

On behalf of the current team and coaching staff I’d like to thank you for your continued support. Your contribution towards athletic scholarships has been extraordinary and has allowed us to retain several key pieces to the ‘puzzle’ as well as attract several

excellent recruits. We have a fast skating, veteran team that is deep in all positions. Our objective is to be a hardworking, disci-plined team; that is dangerous offensively yet defensively sound.

After two consecutive trips to the Nation-als in both 2006 and 2007; the expectations are high for the current team, hence the team mantra ‘Held to a Higher Standard’. Competing in the ultra-competitive OUA Far West division, we had a very good first half finishing with a 10-5-1 record, and have positioned ourselves well for the sec-ond half. With 8 of our 12 games remain-ing against divisional opponents we will control where we finish in the standings and get seeded for the playoffs.

I encourage you to get out and support the Golden Hawks in the New Year.

All the best for the Holiday Season.

Kelly Nobes

Kelly Nobes

The Hawkey Alumni Club has undergone its first leadership transition in 2007. Af-ter 5 years of outstanding leadership, Sonny Kumpf stepped down in February as President of the Club. Taking the reins from within the Club Executive is 1999 grad Martin Kearns.

The Department of Athletics and Recreation at Laurier saluted Sonny at the 2007 Alumni Weekend with the presentation of a humi-dor engraved with the hawk logo. Director of Athletics Peter Baxter saluted Kumpf for his passion and dedication to the hockey program as the inaugural president of the Hawkey Alumni Club that was born in 2002. “When I asked Sonny to be involved he said that I had to commit to full-time coaching to raise the bar of the hockey program. I whole-heartedly agreed and since that time we have been to the Nationals the last 2 years,” stated Baxter. “He committed us to be competitive on the national level.” Although stepping away from the leadership role, Sonny plans on continuing his involvement with the Club.

During Kumpf’s tenure the Club has created regular opportunities for alumni to recon-nect with each other and the current program

through Alumni Weekend and annual golf tournaments. Through these events and others, the Club has been able to fund criti-cal needs of the hockey program each year, including skates and support for exhibition travel. In addition, Kumpf has also left an important legacy to Laurier Hockey through the creation of two endowments totaling more than $50,000. The Hawkey Alumni Club Award Endowment will in perpetuity provide an annual scholarship to a deserving member of the team and the Club’s Operat-ing Endowment provides funds for enhance-ments to the program each year.

Laurier Athletics is pleased to have Martin Kearns step forward to fill Sonny’s role going forward. As a longtime member of the Club’s Executive and as a leader of the Alumni Weekend event since its inception Martin is clearly aligned with the goal of the program moving forward and has always displayed great passion in hopes that the team raise new championship banners.

Laurier congratulates Sonny on a job well done and wishes Martin continued success as the Club moves forward!

laurier Hockey Salutes Sonny Kumpf and Welcomes Martin Kearns

Newsletter Produced By: golden hawk

sport information office75 University Avenue West

Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5 phone: (519) 884-0710, ext. 3888

www.laurierathletics.com

oct 10 vs Waterloo - l 6-2oct 14 vs Western - l 5-0oct 18 @ Western - W 4-2

oct 20 vs Windsor - W 7-1oct 27 vs lakehead - l 6-3oct 28 vs lakehead - W 4-3Nov 3 vs Windsor - W 9-3Nov 4 @ Waterloo - l 2-8

Nov 7 @ Brock - W 2-1Nov 9 vs Guelph - W 7-0

Nov 14 vs Brock - oTl 3-4Nov 17 @ Guelph - W 6-3Nov 24 @ uoIT - W 5-1Nov 25 @ York - l 1-6

Nov 29 vs York - W 5-3Dec 2 vs uoIT - W 5-3

Jan 4 @ RMCJan 5 @ Queen’s

Jan 12 vs RyersonJan 13 vs Toronto

Jan 18 vs WaterlooJan 19 vs WesternJan 26 @ WesternJan 27 @ WindsorFeb 1 @ LakeheadFeb 2 @ LakeheadFeb 7 @ WaterlooFeb 9 @ Windsor

2007-2008 Schedule and Results

3

Hockey Scholarship Fund Receives Big Alumni Assist

The 2007-2008 season marks a new era for hockey in Ontario. This season is the first in which Ontario universities have had the opportunity to provide scholarships to first-year student-athletes. Now, first-year recruits with high school marks of 80% or better and continuing student-athletes with marks of 70% are eligible to receive up to $3,500 per year. The new policy, combined with the existing award program for veterans is truly raising the stakes for university hockey in Ontario and across the country.

The Hawkey Alumni Club has taken proactive steps over the last five years to ensure that the Golden Hawks can attract top talent to the program. Through the support of alumni, the Club has cre-ated an endowment of more than $40,000 to provide awards each year. Last year three players received awards and $1,500 will be awarded from the fund again this season.

However, funds beyond the endowment have been necessary to ensure the program’s success. In order to give the team another shot at the national championship this season, Head Coach Kelly Nobes recognized the importance of bringing back key veteran players for a fifth year at Laurier, includ-ing captain Matt Grennier and defencemen Rob Dmytruk and Riley Moher. Receiving financial assistance was critical to their decision. As a result, Coach Nobes appealed to hockey alumni to help the team raise $7,000 for this cause. Those funds would be matched by a fund set up by Laurier President Bob Rosehart to promote alumni support

of athletic scholarships, resulting in a total goal of $14,000. Outgoing Club President Sonny Kumpf and current Club President Martin Kearns endorsed the campaign and encouraged their hockey peers to respond to Coach Nobes’ call for support.

Hockey alumni have risen to the challenge in a big way. In direct response to the solicitation letter, hockey alumni contributed more than $7,000. Laurier Hockey’s golf day in June led by Joe McCrea netted an additional $2,000. As 2007 comes to a close, nearly $29,000 has been contributed to the Golden Hawk Scholarship Fund for Men’s Hockey, all of which will be matched by the university.

As a result, Grennier, Dmytruk and Moher are all back wearing the purple and gold this season. Each received the maximum $3,500 scholarships allowed by the OUA. In addition, the funds raised enabled Coach Nobes to reward 5 other student-athletes with financial awards.

Laurier Hockey is grateful for the critical role alumni have played in making this year’s scholarships possible and building a strong foundation for future years. In order to remain competitive in recruit-ing, raising scholarship funds will continue to be a primary focus for the program and a goal of $26,000 has been set for 2008. For more information about the hockey scholarship initiative, please contact Kent MacLennan, Associate Director of Development for Athletics, at 519-884-0710 ext. 3177 or kmaclennan@wlu.ca.

As our 5th annual Alumni Weekend quickly approaches I’m excited to assume the role of Hawkey Alumni Club President. I would like to thank Sonny Kumpf for stepping up and leading this group who almost five years ago sat around a table in Waterloo to form the first ever hockey alumni organization at Laurier. Two things were clear from the very beginning: 1) Over 40 years of Hawkey spirit was alive and well as evidenced from the multitude of stories spilling forth around that table. (Many of which should never be written down!) 2) There is a sense of unfinished business as expressed by the group’s desire to help the pro-gram strive for its 1st National Championship in whatever way possible. Under the direction of Sonny, the help of a dedicated executive and many key alumni, the last four years have seen the men’s hockey program usher in a new era of progress toward that goal. The HAC intro-duced Alumni Weekend and lent its support to the annual Golf Tournament to ensure ample opportunity for all alumni to get back together in a fun way as well as support the program and meet the current players. The results have been outstanding. HAC events have raised over $50,000 over the past four years and the

total balance of our various endowed funds now exceeds $116,000! The hockey team is also deliv-ering. The Golden Hawks have been back to the University Cup in 2006 & 2007 re-establish-ing our program as one to be reckoned with on a national level. Finally, I have also witnessed the university get behind this program by ramping up its support in an unprecedented way. My goals as president are simple; stay focused on helping the program reach that first championship and have fun doing it. By simply lacing up your skates again at Alumni Weekend you will accomplish both, ensuring that when we do hoist the University Cup, you’re a part of it. See you in January!

Message from the Hawkey Alumni Club President

2007 Club event Year in Review

The Hawkey Alumni Club continues to provide opportunities for alumni to stay con-nected with each other and with the current program. The 2007 year featured a number of great events that were well attended by our alumni.

82-83 Team ReunionOn the weekend of Oct 26 - 28 , 2007 , the 1982-83 OUAA Championship Hawkey team held a 25th Reunion in Waterloo. The Reunion started Friday night with a reception at the Grad Pub ... Saturday began with breakfast at Angies Restaurant , followed by a campus tour , lunch at the Kent Hotel, dinner at the Waterloo Rec Complex and then taking in WLU vs Lakehead. The reunion concluded Sunday back at the Grad Pub with breakfast. 20 of 26 team members returned for the week-end festivities. Guys came from Colorado , Newfoundland and all places in-between. It was a great time had by all in attendance. We are grateful to the team and lead organizers Dave Bogart and Rob Holody for taking the initiative to make this special weekend pos-sible!

Following the success of the 82-83 team’s reunion, the Hawkey Alumni Club wants to continue to organize annual reunion events to bring teammates back together. For those who played in the early 1990s, keep an eye out for information about a gathering in Fall 2008!

2007 Golf eventThe annual golf tradition continued in June, with more than 60 alumni turning out for a fun, informal day of golf and an opportunity to raise funds for the hockey team’s scholar-ship fund. A big thank you goes out to Joe McCrea for taking the initiative to ensure that this event happened! We look forward to another great day of fun and laughs in June! SAVE THE DATE!Hockey Alumni Golf DayThursday, June 12, 2008Details to be confirmed Home opener Jersey PresentationThrough the Club’s efforts, the alumni have started a tradition of presenting jerseys to the new members of the team at the league home opener. Coming back to present sweaters and welcome these new Hawks into the fold were Rob Grant, Pat McCoubrey, Mark Pedersen, Matthew Schnarr and Martin Kearns.

Hawkey Alumni Club President Martin Kearns presenting rookie Colin Williams with a jersey welcoming him to the team.

4

2007 Golden Hawk Men’s Hockey Roster # Name Position Ht Wt. Yr Program elig. Hometown Previous Team1 Mike Thomson Goalie 5’ 9 185 3 Business 3 Oro Station, ON Collingwood Blues (OPJHL) 3 Chad Kennedy Defence 5’ 11 190 2 Geography 2 Mississauga, ON Aurora Tigers (OPJHL) 4 Matt Grennier Center 6’ 1 198 5 Economics 5 Dryden , ON Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 5 Adam Maccarone Defence 6’ 2 217 2 Comm. Std. 2 Whitby, ON Oshawa Legionnaires (OPJHL) 7 Jordan Fair Defence 5’ 11 190 3 Org. Leadership 2 Guleph, ON Waterloo Siskins (MWJBHL) 8 Jeff Borrows Forward 5’ 9 170 2 Geography 1 London, ON Strathroy Rockets (WOHL) 9 Craig Voakes Forward 5’ 11 175 1 Geography 1 St.Thomas, ON Sarnia Sting (OHL) 11 Luke Dubbin Forward 6’ 1 195 3 Religion/Culture 2 Midland, ON Milton IceHawks (OPJHL) 12 Rob Dmytruk Defence 5’ 10 195 5 Geography 5 Scarborough, ON Soo Greyhounds (OHL) 14 John Thiel Forward 6’ 0 205 2 English 3 Waterloo, ON Union College (NCAA) 15 Colin Williams Forward 6’ 2 210 1 Enviro Std. 1 Orangeville, ON Aurora Tigers (OPJHL) 18 Riley Moher Defence 6’ 1 185 5 MBA 5 Port Credit, ON Barrie Colts (OHL) 19 Nick Vergeer Forward 5’ 7 145 3 Geography 3 West Lorne, ON Stratford Cullitons (MWJBHL) 20 Tyler Townsend Defence 5’ 11 187 1 Arts 1 Tavistock, ON Stratford Cullitons (MWJBHL) 21 Mike Galbraith Forward 5’ 11 190 1 Business 2 Oakville, ON Hamilton Red Wings (OPJHL)22 Troy Murray Defence 6’ 3 220 1 Arts 1 Waterloo, ON St Michael’s Majors (OHL) 24 Nathan Peacock Forward 5’ 11 180 2 Geography 2 Tillsonburg, ON St. Mary’s Lincolns (WOHL) 25 Matt Maccarone Forward 6’ 7 240 3 Comm. Std. 3 Whitby, ON Sudbury Wolves (OHL) 26 Luke Girard Forward 6’ 3 201 3 History 3 Mississauga, ON Vaughan Vipers (OPJHL) 27 Jean-Michel Rizk Forward 6’ 1 198 1 Psychology 1 Dunham, QC Mississauga Ice Dogs (OHL) 30 Jeff MacDougald Goalie 6’ 0 195 3 Geography 3 Shallow Lake, ON Sarnia Sting (OHL) 33 Mark Voakes Centre 6’ 0 180 4 Geography 4 St.Thomas, ON St.Thomas Stars (WOHL) 35 Aaron Forer Goalie 6’ 0 195 2 Psychology 3 Melfort, ON Melfort Mustangs (SJHL) 44 Mike LeClair Forward 6’ 5 230 2 Poli Sci 1 Calgary, AB Olds Grizzlys (AJHL) 57 Tyler Grover Defence 6’ 2 210 3 Geography 3 Consort, AB Fort McMurray Oil Barons (AJHL)

Coaching and Support StaffHead Coach: Kelly Nobes Assistant Coaches: Dave Williams, Doug CarmichaelTeam Doctor: Dr. Richard Tiegs Equipment Manager: Marc MassicotteVideo: Chuck Stemmler Assistant Equipment Manager: Mike DowVideographer: Chris Thom Student Trainer: James Cartwright

Front Row (Left to Right): Mike Thompson, Kelly Nobes (Head Coach), Nick Vergeer, Riley Moher, Jeff MacDougald, Matt Grennier, Mark Voakes, Rob Dmytruk, Dave Williams (Asst. Coach), Aaron Forer

Second Row: Doug Carmichael (Asst. Coach), Mike Galbraith, Tyler Townsend, John Thiel, Troy Murray, Mike LeClair, Matt Maccarone, Luke Girard, Tyler Grover, Jean-Michel Rizk, Craig Voakes, Jeff Borrows, Marc Massicotte (Equipment Manager) Back Row: Mike Dow (Asst. Equipment Mgr), Chris Thom (Video), Colin Williams, Adam Maccarone, Luke Dubbin, Nathan Peacock, Chad Kennedy, Jordan Fair, Chuck Stemmler (Video), James Cartwright (Student Trainer)