this week in Dragons history, January 6-12:
January 06, 2006… Kyle Teague scored his first goal with the Dragons, beating Jimmy Bernier
of the Oil Barons in a 4-2 Dragons win in Fort McMurray. Teague, a native of St. Albert, played
part of one season with the Dragons (2005-06), appearing in 32 games, scoring 4-16=20. He also
contributed 1-2=3 in 5 playoff games against Canmore that season.
January 06, 2007… Jonathan LaRose was in goal, backstopping the Dragons to a 3-0 home ice
win against the Canucks. It was #1's third shutout in four games for the Dragons. LaRose had back
to back shutouts against Brooks in a December home and home series with the Bandits, then
came a 4-3 overtimne loss at home against Okotoks, setting the stage for his whitewashing of the
Canucks, his team record fifth shutout of the season.
January 07, 2006… A big night for two members of maybe the best line ever for the Dragons.
Derek Werenka scored his 27th goal of the season to establish a new club record for career points
during a 5-4 overtime loss at Sherwood Park. The goal gave #11 95 career points, topping the previous
record held by Braden Desmet in his two years with the Dragons in 2003-04, '04-05.
Dion Knelsen also entered the record books that night. Besides scoring his 20th goal of the season,
#9 earned an assist on Werenka's goal to give him 44 points on the season, breaking another of
Braden Desmet's marks. Desmet had 43 points as a rookie in 2003-04 to set the rookie scoring record
for the Dragons. Dion went on to increase his team-record goals and points totals in the remainder of
the '05-06 season, finishing with a club record 39 goals, and a rookie-record 74 points.
Werenka had the best season ever for a Dragon, ending the season with 34 goals and a team record
78 points.
January 07, 2007…One year after Werenka's and Dion Knelsen's big night, another Dragons scoring
record was broken. Derek Lewis scored his 8th goal of the season against Camrose to set a new single
season high for defensemen, breaking the old record of 7 goals set a year earlier by A.J. Mikkelsen.
Lewis, a Penticton, BC native, played one year for the Dragons (2006-07), coming to the AJHL after
time with Trail and Penticton in the BCHL, and Everett of the WHL and Toronto of the OHL. In his time
with the Dragons, he scored 11-28=39 with a team record 10 powerplay goals by a defenseman. At the
team awards for 2006-07, Lewis was named top defenseman for his outstanding season.
Also in this game against the Kodiaks, Kyle Hanson became the 14th member of the Dragons to play
100 career games. Hanson earned one assist during a 5-4 overtime loss.
January 08, 2009…Trevor Smyth was traded to Fort McMurray in return for defenseman Tyler
Matthews.
January 08, 2008…Cluny native Ryan Corbiell scored his first goal as a Dragon in a 6-1 loss versus
Camrose at the Arena. #5 played 48 games as a rookie in 2007-08, scoring 1-8=9 to go along with
98 minutes in penalties. Corbiell won a team award as most improved player for his service that season.
In October of 2008 Ryan would be traded to Alberni Valley in BC after 10 games with the Dragons.
January 09, 2005…The first Dragon to appear in 100 regular season games for the Dragons was
Kevin Hunter. The Linden native reached the mark in a 3-1 loss against the Calgary Royals on this
date. Hunter played two years with the Dragons, appearing in 116 regular season games, scoring
24-22=46 with 213 minutes in penalties. He was captain of the Dragons during the 2004-05 season
and earned team awards that year as MVP and for community involvement. When he graduated he
held the club record (since broken) for shorthanded goals in a season (3) and in a career (5).
January 09, 2010…A scary sight three years ago, when rookie defenseman Kevin McMillan was run
head-first into the boards at the Memorial Arena in a game against Canmore. The first year Dragon was
taken from the ice on a stretcher, but thankfully was okay and came to the rink the next day. The
incident curtailed his action for the rest of that season, but #4 came back to play two more full seasons
with the Dragons.
January 10, 2010…one day after the frightening spectacle of McMillan's departure from the ice, the
Dragons entertained Drayton Valley, and with the rookie d-man watching from the stands, turned in the
greatest offensive game in team history. In a wild one, the Dragons prevailed 11-4 versus the Thunder,
setting a team record for most goals in a game, and a six-goal explosion in the second period also still
stands as the team record for goals in a period. Evan Warner, “Scrap Iron”, led the way for the Dragons,
scoring 1-4=5. Pat Turville and Marcus Toye also had big games, each going 2-2=4. The 7-goal margin of
victory also stands as the best ever by the Dragons at home. Quite a Sunday afternoon, 3 years ago.
January 10, 2011…Ryan Bloom, who came to the Dragons from Kootenay of the WHL, was part of
a trade which saw his rights dealt to Swift Current of the WHL. The Broncos called him up to the 'Dub,
where he finished the season. In his time with the Dragons in 2010-11, Ryan scored 7-14=21 in 20
games.
January 11, 2006…all good things must come to an end, and a very impressive scoring streak was
halted on this date 7 years ago. Defenseman A.J. Mikkelsen had an 11-game point streak stopped in
a 6-1 loss to Olds. #12 had recorded at least one point in 11 games between December 1, 2005 right
through January 7, 2006. During the streak the big d-man accumulated 2-15=17. The 11-game streak
is the longest ever by a Dragons defenseman, the third best in team history.
birthdays:
There are a lot of former Dragons celebrating birthdays early in the New Year.
January 01 Kassidy Collins, from Cochrane, turned 24.
January 02 Brody Robinson, co-rookie of the year last year, now with Flin Flon, turned 20.
January 03 goaltender Andrew Arklie from Dugald, Manitoba was 29.
all-time great Jonathan LaRose celebrated number 27.
January 04 Three Hills native Dion Knelsen, team rookie of the year in 2004-05 and club record holder
for goals and powerplay goals in a season, was 24. Dion is playing in Sweden this year.
January 04 also on the 4th, goalie Garrett Beckwith (from Lake Parsippany, New Jersey) was 23.
January 07 Davin Stener, who spent 2 full years with the Dragons before being traded earlier this
season to Grande Prairie, turned 19.
January 09 former defensemen Derek Lewis and Lee Morrow each had a birthday. Lewis turned
27. Morrow 23.
January 12 Spencer Copp celebrates number 23.
DRAGONS CAREER LEADERS {regular season}
GOALS ASSISTS POINTS
1. 65 WERENKA, Derek 1. 95 BUI, Kevin 1. 146 BUI, Kevin
2. 53 YOUNG, Jeff 2. 72 MIKKELSEN, A.J. 2. 124 WERENKA, Derek
3. 51 BUI, Kevin 3. 67 SMYTH, Trevor 3. 109 SMYTH, Trevor
4. 45 LAMOUREUX, Cam 4. 61 BLOOM, Ryan 4. 103 YOUG, Jeff
5. 42 SMYTH, Trevor 5. 61 DESMET, Braden 5. 102 LAMOUREUX, Cam
6. 40 BLOOM, Ryan 6. 59 WERENKA, Derek 6. 101 BLOOM, Ryan
7. 39 KNELSEN, Dion 7. 57 LAMOUREUX, Cam 7. 94 DESMET, Braden
8. 37 GEDDES, Rob 8. 55 CHISHOLM, Joel 8. 91 CHISHOLM, Joel
9. 36 CHISHOLM, Joel 9. 53 FEHR, Kyle 9. 87 MIKKELSEN, A.J.
10. 35 JAFFRAY, Mitch 10. 50 YOUNG, Jeff 10. 79 BERGMAN, Colin
11. 34 JONES, Doug 11. 49 BERGMAN, Colin 11. 77 JONES, Doug
12. 33 DESMET, Braden 12. 47 KLASSEN, Graham 12. 74 KNELSEN, Dion
13. 30 BERGMAN, Colin 13. 47 COLBERG, Trent 13. 74 COLBERG, Trent
14. 30 SLEMP, Erik 14. 47 GEDDES, Rob 14. 74 GEDDES, Rob
15. 29 WARNER, Evan 15. 52 GIALET, Adam 15. 69 MARTINI, Joey
16. 28 MARTINI, Joey 16. 45 BAXANDALL, Brennan 16. 68 FEHR, Kyle
17. 28 FARYNA, Justin 17. 43 BARTOSHYK, Patrick 17. 67 BARTOSHYK, Patrick
18. 27 COLBERG, Trent 18. 43 JONES, Doug 18. 67 WARNER, Evan
19. 24 HUNTER, Kevin 19. 66 BAXANDALL, Brennan
20. 24 BARTOSHYK, Patrick 19. 42 KENNEDY, Scott 20. 65 JAFFRAY, Mitch
21. 22 MOIR, Tyler 20. 41 MARTINI, Joey 21. 65 KLASSEN, Graham
22. 22 LEVESQUE, Kenton 21. 38 ALLEN, Charles 22. 61 SLEMP, Erik
23. 21 BAXANDALL, Brennan 22. 38 KNELSEN, Brandon 23. 59 KENNEDY, Scott
24. 21 MORELLO, Justin 23. 38 WARNER, Evan 24. 53 KNELSEN, Brandon
25. 21 LAWSON, Sam 24. 35 KNELSEN, Dion 25. 53 NOCERA, Robbie
26. 20 WATT, J.D. 25. 35 NOCERA, Robbie 26. 51 MOIR, Tyler
27. 20 HARMS, Matt 26. 32 HANSON, Kyle 27. 51 MORELLO, Justin
28. 20 BOYER, Luke 27. 32 EPP, Wade 28. 50 GIALET, Adam
29. 20 BERLANDO, Talon 28. 31 SLEMP, Erik
29. 30 JAFFRAY, Mitch
30. 30 MORELLO, Justin