Knightwatch
Field Hockey Strong
Nepean's girls field hockey team is going to OFSAA for the second year in a row after beating LDH in a nail-biting game. They played for two hours, fighting through overtime before winning in a suspenseful second round of shoot-outs. All of this while enduring bitter cold conditions and Ottawa's first snowfall of the year! Nepean beat LDH for the title of City Champions last year, and just weren't willing to give it up yet. Way to go girls!
- Bella Crysler
Lightning will strike for a second time in Tampa Bay
Curtis Gibbs
In the two past seasons, the Tampa Bay Lightning have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals and the Eastern Conference Finals respectively. Without many changes in the past two offseasons, the Bolts should be in striking distance of a championship title. Captained by the likes of Steven Stamkos, currently representing Team Canada in the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto, should hit the ground running once October comes around. With 64 points to his name in the 2015-16 regular season, the 26 year old is primed and ready for a new year and should repeat as Tampa Bay’s top goal scorer if he can stay healthy. However, as good as Stamkos may be, he won’t be able to carry the load on his own. This is where the Lightning’s depth comes in. With four players scoring at least 40 points in the past season, excluding Stamkos, and eight with at least 30, there is no shortage of production.
The defense corps is also worth mentioning. Led by Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay came fifth in goals against on average with 2.41. This wasn’t just achieved by the defense alone. With a strong goaltending duo in Andrei Vasielevskiy and Ben Bishop, the Lightning can have a strong game with either one tending between the pipes. However, with the addition of a new team in Las Vegas, the coming expansion draft will most likely deal a heavy blow to the team due to the rule that every team is only allowed to protect one goalie. Therefore, the Bolts will have to make an important decision. Bishop or Vasielevskiy? This decision was made clear when the latter was signed to a three year contract extension in the beginning of the offseason. This shouldn’t affect the teams odds of winning the championship this season though. This is why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win the 2016-17 Stanley Cup.
Auston Matthews vs. Patrik Laine
By Curtis Gibbs
Tuesday October 12th 2016, the hockey world had their eyes on a 19 year old from Scottsdale, Arizona named Auston Matthews. Christened as the “saviour” of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it goes without saying that hopes were sky high for this youngster. Put in immediately as the number one center, the pressure was entirely put on his shoulders. The first overall 2016 draft pick made his NHL debut with in Ottawa against the rival Senators. By the end of the first period, Toronto’s new hope had not only his first NHL goal in the bag, but a second one as well. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Matthews had netted another 2 to add to the scoresheet, breaking the record for the most goals scored in an NHL debut.
Now Patrik Laine’s first NHL game wasn’t anywhere near the spectacular display put on by Auston Matthews. However, the second overall draft pick did score a goal and an assist for a total of 2 points. The 18 year old right winger from Tampere, Finland, picked by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2016 NHL draft, hasn’t disappointed.
Since their first games, the two rookies have been tearing it up. Laine already has two career hat tricks, Matthews has one. As of November 10th, Patrik Laine leads the league in goals with 11, whereas his American counterpart has 6.
On October 19th, the first and second draft picks met for the first time of their young careers. In the end, the Jets came out of it with an overtime win. Who scored the game winner? You guessed it, #29, Patrik Laine, and not only did he score the overtime winner, it also came immediately after a failed Matthews breakaway. Imagine the scene. #1 draft pick gets a breakaway in overtime, misses, puck is turned over, opposing team passes the puck up the ice to #2 draft pick, #2 draft pick drives the net and scores. To top it off, it was Laine’s 3rd goal of the game, thus completing his first NHL hat trick.
All in all, the two top prospects are very closely matched. It will be very interesting to watch this rivalry develop over the span of their careers, and so far, it would appear we have a new Crosby-Ovi dual on our hands.
The Knights battle towards a third year win streak
By: Omar Abdul-Ghani
The Nepean Knights Senior Boys rugby team are coming onto their third year of the rugby season.
With the help from one of Nepean High School's biology teachers, Mr. Shrubb, as the head coach and from the amazing guidance from former Team Canada Rugby 7’s player, Mr. Scott Hunter, the boys have been able to secure three city championship victories in the past three years and are not about to give that streak away.
The boys rugby team are fired up and are just about to get back into training after a long break from winning the Rugby 7’s championships which was held earlier this October. Especially from the team captain, Gabriel Casey, who can’t wait to get back on the field and score another game winning try for the team. Casey has brought an amazing performance to all of the team's games and definitely stands out from the rest with his large legs, jaw-dropping ankle breakers and with his beast of a tackle while on defence.
The Knights’ forwards, who are usually the largest guys on the team, have been making big improvements over the past three years and plan to kick it up a notch to reach the team’s goal of winning three years in a row! From being there at every ruck, to making some of the most important game winning tackles, they are really improving and are becoming more and more noticeable by the crowds than the backs on the team and are definitely ready to win this upcoming season!
Canada Shines at Youth Climbing World Championships
By: Cat Carkner
2016 has been an exhilarating year for Canadian sport climbing, and the recent International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Youth World Championship was no exception. With one of its strongest ever showings, the Canadian Youth Team has further solidified itself as an up-and-coming force in the sport climbing world. This is especially exciting considering that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recently added sport climbing to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
This year, the Youth World Championships took place in Guangzhou, China, from the 7-13th of November. Canadians competed in all three disciplines: lead, bouldering, and speed climbing.
In the lead competition, three Canadian athletes moved onto the semi-finals: Lia Wieckowski, Lucas Uchida, and Nathan Smith, all hailing from the Greater Toronto Area. All three had a spectacular showing in the semi-finals. Wieckowski finished in 22nd, Smith in 16th, and Uchida in ninth- one place out of finals.
Canadian results in the bouldering competition were equally, if not more, impressive. Wieckowski and Smith had similarly successful performances- finishing in 16th and 11th respectively. The future looks bright for Ontario climbers Bronwen Karnis and Zach Richardson, who both finished ninth, bumping Canada up to three top ten finishes. Karnis had finished qualifiers in 3rd, making it into semi-finals alongside the likes of Janja Garnbret of Slovenia, the current adult lead world champion. Sophie Buitendyk of British Columbia also had a memorable competition, finishing in 19th.
Manh Ellis, who climbs out of Ottawa and competed in both lead and bouldering in Guangzhou, says that the international competition was a good place to, “test [his] limits and compare [himself] to the best”. With international Canadian Youth results better than ever, the future looks promising for potential 2020 Olympic hopefuls.
Anyone interested in testing their skills at indoor rock climbing should check out one of Ottawa/ Gatineau’s three amazing climbing gyms: Coyote Rock Gym (1737 B St Laurent Blvd), Vertical Reality (161 Middle St, Ottawa), or Altitude Gym ( 35 Boulevard Saint-Raymond).
Calling All Runners!
By: Bella Crysler
Do you have a passion for running? Enjoy raising money for different charities around Ottawa? Then there is a new club at Nepean that is perfect for you!
Nepean Run Club is a brand new club created this year by a grade 10 student at NHS. It aims to bring together the runners of Nepean High School and get them to channel their inner “runner - power” to create both local and global change. The group participates in various charity runs in Ottawa throughout the year and has big plans for the future!
In October the group participated in their first event, the Rattle Me Bones run. They raised money and awareness for bone cancer research, and had a ton of fun while doing it! Runners ran and walked 5km and 10km and treated themselves to Suzy Q donuts afterward!
This May 7th, Nepean Run Club hopes to get a minimum of 30 students to join Team NHS for the Shoppers Run For Women (http://www.runforwomen.ca) . Proceeds from the race and fundraising goes to improving women's mental health programs at the Royal, which will have a lasting positive effect on our community.
Want to get involved? Join Team NHS with the code below. Don’t be shy! Runners and walkers of all levels are welcome, and both male and female participants are encouraged to join!
