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14 Wednesday February 10 2016 SPORTS RECREATION HOCKEY 6.8103 in x 6.3125 in By JOHN LYNCH The role of ghting in junior hockey is slowly being redened but it is still needed according to Yellowknifes Jacob Schoeld. Schoeld is currently in his second season with the Drumheller Dragons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League AJHL and as a 20 year-old his nal season of junior hockey. I think we had eight ghts in 40 games for the whole team last year Schoeld said. I think it is even less this year. Im not a ghter but ghts are sometimes needed. Schoeld said new rules have changed the amount of ghting that occurs now. I think last year was the rst year for the new rule regarding ghting majors a player can accumulate. He said. Now after six ghts you are suspended and you can get a three-game suspension if the referee feels the ght was a staged ght. Schoeld like many fans and players feels ghting serves a purpose in hockey. It is okay to minimize it and they have done that to a large extent he said. However I still feel that teams need enforcers. The refs can not catch everything out there and you need a guy who can deal with a situation where a smaller player is attacked things like that. While some leagues such as the Newfound- land Senior Hockey League claim less ghts have meant fewer spectators this has not been the case in the AJHL. Tye Hand also from Yellowknife is 63 and 210 lbs. compared to Schoelds 57 at 160 lbs and plays with the Calgary Canucks. He said the ghting rule has meant an adjustment for him and a change in the style of the game. I dont think the ghting rule has changed attendance very much but there is a more quickened pace and a faster game Hand said. We are somewhere around 150 fans a game which is very low but in Calgary we are competing with the Calgary Hitmen WHL and the Flames for fans. Hand who admits dropping the gloves now and then has accumulated 106 penalty- minutes in 18 games so far with the Canucks. Like Schoeld he is also a 20 year-old in his nal season of junior hockey. I had more of a ghter role when I played in the WHL with the Regina Pats Hand said. I still stick my nose in sometimes and play a physical style of game but with the ght rule you have to choose your spots more carefully now. Down to Drumheller Schoeld is also an assistant captain on the team and likes what he sees on this years squad. He is currently fourth in team scor- ing with 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points. He admits the ride was a little bumpy to start the season. The Dragons are cur- rently in fifth place in the Viterra AJHL South division sporting a record of 19 wins 23 losses and five overtime losses for 43 points. We got o to a slow start and we were 12 points behind Canmore early in the season but now we are only a point back of them Schoeld said last Thursday. Earlier in the Yellowknife player fights for his rights in AJHL season we traded some high-end players to nd a better balance and I think we have achieved that. Coach Brian Curran spoke very highly of Schoeld and saw potential in him right from the start. I wanted him right from the time I saw him playing AAA Midget in Red Deer when they won two championships back to back Curran said. He is a great kid a real leader and he works very hard too. He gives you everything every single night. If we had 20 players like Jake we would be a tough team to beat thats for sure. So far Schofield is happy with his progress. You always want to do more and Im doing my best with the leadership role the team has given me Schofield said. Ive been talking to some CIS Canadian schools for next year and I am happy about that. I am getting to do a lot of faceoffs and I am getting time on the power play and penalty kill units too. As for Yellowknife Schoeld feels it was a good place to develop the hockey skills that got him this far. The ice availability there is great he said. I was always out there working on stu. I made ve trips to Europe with Yellowknife teams in years past. It was great to see a dierent style of hockey and to play against strangers to develop your game and not just in Yellowknife where you often play the same people a lot. Schoeld stills shares a bond with fellow Yellowknifer Hand. I dont get into too much rough stu with him but we like to chirp a bit back and forth throughoutthegamewhenweplayeachother. Schoeld laughed. I like to slap him on the shin pads and say good luck to him before the game when we play Calgary. Curran is optimistic about the remainder of the season. We have all the tools to do it he said. We have to work a lot on the smaller details. They are really killing us right now and to be successful we have to drive the other teams crazy and we have not been doing enough of that this year. Im not a ghter but ghts are sometimes needed. Jacob Schoeld Drumheller Dragons