(photo taken from the wall of the Kitchener Auditorium)

 

Among other thoughts during this week of Remembrance Day, I always think of the story of legendary hockey linemates Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer - a.k.a. the Kraut Line - volunteering for duty in the prime of their career.

 

The pride of the Boston Bruins were also the pride of K-W (Schmidt and Dumart were born in Kitchener while Bauer was born in Waterloo) and were all of German heritage. Their line was originally tabbed "the Sauerkraut Line" but it was later abbreviated.

 

In a selfless act of service and patriotic duty, Schmidt, Dumart and Bauer signed up with the Royal Canadian Air Force after the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Not only were the Bruins in fine mid-season form at the time, they were defending champs and winners of two of the previous three Stanley Cups. Equally impressive, the three linemates had finished 1-2-3 in the NHL scoring race as recently as the 1940 season.

 

On Feb. 11, 1942, the trio played their last game before reporting for duty and showed no mercy towards their bitter rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins clobbered the Habs that night 8-1 and the trio notched 11 points as a group.

 

But despite their rivalry and the game's end result, the Canadiens, in a display of patriotic solidarity, carried K-W's finest off the ice before they went off to war.

 

If you look online, you can find some great (albeit brief) vintage video from that night.

 

By year’s end, many more players volunteered to serve, including stars such as Detroit’s Sid Abel, Chicago’s Max Bentley and Toronto’s Syl Apps and Turk Broda.

 

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I attended opening night of the OUA regular season for the Wilfrid Laurier mens and womens basketball teams recently and two Golden Hawks players in particular caught my attention.

 

The first was Kate Moran of the Lady Hawks, a graduate of Sir John A. Macdonald in Waterloo, who has returned to the court after what many - including Kate and her family - thought was a career-ending knee injury.

 

In fact, I wrote a piece for another publication about that very storyline.

 

Moran, who once led the Highlanders to a senior WCSSAA championship as a grade 10 junior, was deemed by many to have the potential to become one of the best - if not the best - female basketball players our region has ever produced.

 

She was a Team Ontario co-captain for a time and as a 14 year-old on our national U16 team, helped Canada defeat Brazil in the FIBA America's championship game in Mexico City, a first for the program.

 

After a new assessment and surgery, Moran sat out last year but stayed connected to the team. She's now playing restricted minutes this season, her first year of eligibility.

 

Simply put, it was great to see her out on the floor.

 

The other player is a guy everyone in OUA or U SPORTS basketball circles already knows about but more local fans of the game should make an effort to get out and see play.

 

Ali Sow, a third year guard for the Purple & Gold who can really light it up, has picked up where he left off last year when he lead the team to a West division title and then as far as the OUA semifinals where they lost to a very tough Ryerson squad.

 

Sow finished second in the country last year with a 26.6 ppg scoring average.

 

On this particular night, Sow poured in 34 points while leading his team to victory over a stubborn University of Toronto team. Since then, he's moved into 4th spot on the Hawks all-time scoring list. The team currently sits #9 in the national U SPORTS rankings.

 

Sow broke the OUA single-season scoring record last season on his way to earning first team OUA all-star status as well as U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian recognition. This past summer, he played for Team Canada at the 2019 FISU Summer Universiade in Italy.

 

While you're waiting for that loan to get approved so you can take your family to a Raptors game, why not head up to King & University to see Sow play and enjoy a Golden Hawks womens/mens doubleheader at the same time?

 

Great entertainment value for your dollar and you don't have to battle wintry 401 traffic to get there.

 

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I'm sure most of you have heard that old saying about how the toughest thing in sports is to repeat as champions.

 

Tougher than that, however, would be a three-peat.

 

So where exactly does a seven-peat rank?

 

Because that's what the Jacob Hespler Hawks senior football team of head coach Greg White accomplished last Saturday when they downed the Waterloo Collegiate Vikings 39-0 in the WCSSAA finals.

 

Seven consecutive WCSSAA senior football titles. Amazing!

 

The Hawks finished their 2018 season 10-0 when they captured the OFSAA Central Bowl up in Ottawa by downing the Gananoque Trojans 48-0.

 

But before they get a chance to defend that prestigious title, they must win CWOSSA first. That task begins this week when they take on the Brantford Assumption Lions in a semifinal match-up.

 

And in case you're wondering if the Jacob Hespler football program is strong from top to bottom, consider this: there are a few fifth-year players on this year's senior team who have now finished their entire career without a single loss in WCSSAA play.

 

Between junior and senior ball…five consecutive championships…five undefeated seasons.

 

Oh, and by the way, the defending champion junior Hawks are in the WCSSAA finals again this week after downing the SJAM Highlanders in a semifinal game yesterday.

 

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Here's a follow-up to the piece I did recently featuring Waterloo's field hockey-playing sisters Amanda and Nikki Woodcroft.

 

If you haven't already heard, our national team lost a two-game (aggregate score) heartbreaker to Ireland on penalty shots. After a scoreless first game, the two teams battled a second time to another 0-0 draw before going  to a shootout.

 

In the first part of the shootout, Amanda Woodcroft scored to help Canada take a 3-1 lead but Ireland fought back to tie it up 3-3. It was in Round 6 of the sudden death stage that Ireland scored to finally break the deadlock and punch their ticket for the Olympic Games in Tokyo next summer.

 

In addition to the Woodcroft sisters (SJAM), our squad also features Forest Heights grad Brienne Stairs.

 

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At the end of last year's volleyball season, the University of Waterloo's womens team felt they left some things on the table.

 

Despite enjoying the best season in program history and earning a very commendable OUA bronze medal, the Warriors of coach Richard Eddy clearly had hopes of advancing to the nationals.

 

Eddy's team began OUA regular season play ranked nationally but were upset in a tough road loss at Guelph before bouncing back to beat both Windsor and Western on the road.

 

Their next test was at home this past weekend where they lost a thrilling five-set marathon to the Ryerson Rams, currently the top rated team in the country.

 

In the match, Cambridge native and setter Claire Gagne (Preston High Scool) finished with 37 assists, a game-high 14 digs and 2 blocks.

 

Gagne, a second team OUA all-star last year as well as an Academic All-Canadian, is in her 4th year of biochemistry at UW.

 

Despite their 2-2 OUA record, the Warriors are still ranked nationally. The U SPORTS top ten rankings currently feature five teams from Ontario: Ryerson (1), Toronto (4), Brock (6), Waterloo (8) and Western (10).

 

If you're looking for some great volleyball action, the mens and womens teams play at home this weekend vs. Windsor on Saturday and Western on Sunday.

 

Both doubleheaders begin with the women starting at 12 noon at the PAC, followed by the men at 2:00 p.m.

 

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Lastly, in case you're wondering how former Grand River Collegiate basketball star Jamal Murray is doing so far this season, he is averaging 18.7 ppg, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Nuggets.

 

Denver is currently 7-3 this year and sit in 4th spot in the very tough Western Conference of the NBA.

 

Looks like Murray, K-W's 2017 Athlete of the Year, is a model of consistency. His numbers for the 2018-19 season were 18.2/4.2/4.8 respectively.

 

The Nuggets square off against the DEFENDING NBA CHAMPION Toronto Raptors (so awesome to write those words) twice per season (home and away).

 

Their lone visit to Toronto isn't until Sunday, March 22 so plenty of time to call your banker or put it on your Christmas list.