Latest news with #Kindel
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Southern half of Denare Beach burns to the ground as wildfire tears through northern community
Brooke Kindel thought she was leaving her home in Denare Beach Sask., as a precaution last week. She packed some clothes for her two children after a mandatory evacuation order went out, but never thought fire would reach her home. "It felt like out of the blue. We thought the fire was fine. We were in our driveway getting our boat ready to go out on the lake because we thought everything was fine." On Monday, Kindel and her neighbours connected through a Facebook page and watched door camera footage of fire engulfing home after home on her street. The footage confirmed what everyone already knew: their community was gone. WATCH | Pregnant Sask. woman 'in shock' after losing house to wildfire at Denare Beach: Kindel said her home was the final one standing. Her neighbours watched with her as the temperature climbed in her Tesla car. Kindel said the car, which was left behind, recorded the outside temperature and they were able track the fire's progress as the car got hotter and hotter. "We lost power for about 20 minutes before my car exploded," she said. "That pretty much confirmed that everything in our yard was gone." Kindel, who is 35 weeks pregnant, left her home last week with her mom and her two young children within two hours of the evacuation order. They drove through the night to Hudson Bay, leaving her husband and father behind to fight the fires. "All of our neighbours were outside, everyone was saying 'where are you going, where are you going?'" she said. "Everyone was carrying picture frames and stuff out of their houses and no one knew what to do." WATCH | Why Sask. says it's not calling in the military to help fight fires: Kindel's husband joined them at a family member's home in Saskatoon after she went into pre-term labour, something Kindel attributed to stress. Her father left Creighton, where he went during the evacuation, after it became clear the town was gone. "He was sitting there listening to the radio and when he heard that it took our street, he just decided to leave," Kindel said. "There was nothing more than he could do for our town." The final remaining firefighters and all essential staff were evacuated from Denare Beach on Monday after intense winds fuelled the Wolf Fire, threatening the town and anyone left in it. A Facebook post from the Northern Village of Denare Beach Tuesday morning confirmed that everything south of 9th Avenue to the reserve was destroyed by fire. Cell and internet service is offline, and phone lines are also down, according to a post on the village's Facebook page. The latest report from the village, which is home to about 699 people according to the latest Census in 2021, said the fire hall, administration building and Denareplex were still standing. "We understand not receiving further information is frustrating, but please understand we feel as shocked, helpless as you all right now and are trying to navigate the situation as best we can remotely," the Facebook post said. The same post went on to confirm that members of the village's fire department had escaped and were in Creighton about 19 kilometres away. As of Tuesday morning, there were 20 active wildfires in the province, nine of which were not contained, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. About 8,000 people had been evacuated from northern Saskatchewan due to wildfires as of Monday. Saskatchewan communities now under evacuation order or pre-evacuation alert: Air Ronge. Brabant Lake. Candle Lake resort village (voluntary). Clam Crossing. Creighton. Denare Beach. East Trout Lake. Eagle Point. English Bay. Foran Mine - McIlveena Bay. Hall Lake. Jan Lake. La Ronge. Lac La Ronge Indian Reservation. Lamp Lake. Little Bear Lake. Lower Fishing Lake. Molanosa. Napatak. Narrow Hills Provincial Park. Nemeiben Subdivision. Pelican Narrows. Piprell Lake. Potato Lake. Rabbit Creek. Resort Subdivision of Ramsey Bay. Sikachu. Sturgeon Landing. Sucker River. Timber Bay. Wadin Bay. Weyakwin. Whiteswan/Whelan Bay.
New York Times
28-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How Ben Kindel, through soccer and sense, has become a top 2025 NHL Draft prospect
ALLEN, Tex. — Garry Davidson didn't really get introduced to Ben Kindel's game until a breakout performance at the John Reid Memorial Tournament, a big bantam showcase in St. Albert, Alta. It was January 2022, and Davidson, a longtime WHL general manager, was in his first season with the Calgary Hitmen. Back then, Kindel was a 'skinny, scrawny 14-year-old' who'd missed the first half of the season with a broken hand. Advertisement Davidson was immediately impressed by his sense for the game, though, so he tried not to worry about how underdeveloped he looked. Then he 'had a great finish and a good playoff that year' and sparked the Hitmen's interest. When the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft rolled around, the Hitmen had two late second-round picks and crossed their fingers that he'd still be available, banking on other teams sleeping on him because of his size and the time missed. When he was there for them, they selected him 43rd overall. 'He kind of came out of the forest in the second half, so to speak, and we were pretty fortunate that we got him where we got him,' Davidson said. Three years later, Kindel is a top prospect in the 2025 NHL Draft. This season, as a 17-year-old, he led the Hitmen in combined regular-season and playoff scoring, registering 43 goals and 114 points in 76 games. NHL Central Scouting have him listed as their 21st-ranked North American skater in the draft. Their report describes him as follows: 'Ben is a smart and versatile center that can be deployed in all situations. He is quick, agile and elusive with the puck, with the ability to create his own scoring chances as well as set-up quality looks for teammates. A consistent generator of offence, he's smart and responsible with and without the puck and an asset on both special team units. Willing to play bigger than his size, he battles and competes with good balance and strength on his skates. He consistently goes into the 'hard' areas of the ice to makes plays and generate chances.' On Sunday, he arrived in Texas two games into Team Canada's U18 Worlds after leading the Hitmen to Game 7 of the second round of the WHL playoffs and played that game, too. Canada immediately slotted him onto the second line with fellow projected first-round picks Cole Reschny and Jack Nesbitt. A little over three minutes into his first game with the team, he put a one-touch shot on the power play under the bar to give Canada a 1-0 lead against the Finns. 🎯🎯🎯#U18MensWorlds | # — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) April 27, 2025 Kindel is still on the smaller side, with a 5-foot-10, 176-pound listing. But scouts and coaches alike respect his game, and he was a go-to player in all situations for the Hitmen, including on the penalty kill, making a successful move from the wing back to the natural center position he played in minor hockey. Advertisement He also comes from a family of athletes. Both of his parents played pro soccer and for the Canadian national team. His dad, Steve Kindel, played for the Vancouver Whitecaps and earned four caps for the Canadian men's national team. His mom, Sara Maglio, was part of Canada's 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup team. Steve and Sara met playing for Simon Fraser University's soccer teams. Steve is the senior technical director of the North Vancouver Football Club these days, and Sara is the executive director at the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club. Last summer, Sara joined Ben's younger sister, Lacey, in Alajuela, Costa Rica, for the 2024 CONCACAF Under-15 soccer championship while Steve went to Edmonton to watch Ben play for Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. It was both kids' first time ever representing Canada internationally. Ben won gold; Lacey won bronze. Until he was 16, Kindel was an elite-level soccer player himself and competed at the National U16 Soccer Championship in 2022, the year of his bantam draft in hockey. He was an attacking midfielder. He doesn't like to admit it, but he grew up supporting Italy more than Canada internationally. Davidson, without prompting, talked about how he can see the high-level soccer in Kindel's game on the ice. 'His feet are part of his ability,' Davidson said. 'He makes bad passes look real good, he seems to be able to use his feet in traffic all the time when he's in board battles and uses them so effectively. We always talk about two-sport athletes or three-sport athletes, and I'm a big proponent of young people playing other sports because there's crossover benefits, and certainly I think we're seeing that in Ben's game.' His game is really about his 'phenomenal' sense, though, according to Davidson. After a very respectable 60-point season as a 16-year-old rookie a year ago, Davidson and his staff weren't expecting Kindel to push for 100 points in his draft year. But Davidson said he wasn't surprised by it in the end 'because he possesses such good hockey sense and has a real knack for creating offense not only for himself but for his linemates.' Advertisement 'We anticipated he was going to drive offense for us,' Davidson said, while also pointing to Kindel's high-end hands and feet. He's also got room to grow still in both strength and, accordingly, skating. 'I think his skating is going to continue to improve as he gets more core and leg strength,' Davidson said. 'I think he's a typical 17-year-old. He doesn't have man strength yet at all, so there's room. Whether he's going to get to 6-feet tall I think is probably a stretch but he certainly will fill out and increase his strengths and that'll be important with the core and the legs to assist with his skating.' For the last three years, he has also worked with skating coach Barb Aidelbaum in Vancouver to get quicker after his agent, Ross Gurney, connected them. He has also worked closely with his skills coach Justin Rai of Kaivo, a local hockey development coach who trains players like Connor Bedard, Kent Johnson and Andrew Cristall, and who works with the Seattle Kraken. Initially, he and Aidelbaum worked together starting in the spring after his CSSHL season finished. Since then, 'he's had a vast rate of improvement,' according to Aidelbaum. The soccer background is evident even in his skating sessions with Aidelbaum. 'He's not an early sport specializer and he has improved motor skills development over others that just do single sport from a very young age. So he's got a larger skill set. His athleticism is at a higher level,' Aidelbaum said on a recent phone call. 'So he's certainly easier to coach because he also has higher body awareness with that. He has a very, very strong core, which is very likely from his soccer. So his hips and core is strong but in general as soon as he gains strength in his lower body legs down, he's got huge potential to be an excellent skater. And the data tells us that with the competitive athletes that aren't early specializers, they have a reduced risk of overuse injuries and burnout. And that's him.' Advertisement In his work with Aidelbaum, he has also proven to be a fast learner. 'I can be working with him on a very technical skill and be aiming for his hips to go one way direction and his shoulders to go one direction and a certain amount of ankle flex and he can put it all together right away,' Aidelbaum said. 'And I think that's just overall what we're seeing with him is that he's just got unlimited potential and he's on a fast track for sure. He's got a great work ethic. Anyone that improves their points from season to season by going from 60 points to 99 points obviously is a smart guy.' In those ways, he also reminds Aidelbaum of one of her former clients: Longtime NHL defenseman Dan Hamhuis. 'He's kind of that quiet hard worker, takes a lot in, very deep thinking person,' Aidelbaum said. 'He processes a lot of information in the lesson but then he'll also go home and process it for the next couple of days and come back and be that much better than he was during training sessions before. There are similarities between those two athletes, although Hamhuis is a defenseman, just in the way they think and develop. It's very exciting.' Standing inside the Credit Union of Texas Event Center after his U18 Worlds debut, Kindel was still wrapping his head around a busy week. His Hitmen had lost to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Game 7 on Wednesday. A day later, he was booking and hopping on a flight to Dallas. His first goal was a WHL title, not a gold medal. Now he's had to recalibrate. '(The loss) was obviously devastating. We were hoping to go farther in the playoffs but you have to quickly turn your mind around and focus on other things and this tournament is a really important thing to me,' he said. His impact was felt immediately, too. Beyond the goal, and the top-six role, he was also immediately inserted onto both the power play and the penalty kill. Cory Stillman, Canada's head coach, said the way he thinks the game stood out immediately. Advertisement 'He's very smart. He wants to move the puck. There were a couple of times I wished he shot the puck and moved it a little quicker today but he's a great player that way and he's going to be a great fit,' Stillman said. '(He) makes us a lot deeper. It puts guys in the positions that they should be in.' Beyond all of the hockey attributes, Davidson also describes him as uniquely very competitive — a very quiet leader who maybe isn't the rah-rah guy but works hard and has the focus and drive to bring his game to the NHL. Aidelbaum is sure of it. 'He's one of the guys that I look at and go, 'He's only just begun. His NHL career is going to be lengthy,'' Aidelbaum said. 'Some players, you look at them and you go 'Well, he's really good now, but is he going to play in NHL games?' But with him, he's on the fast track for sure.' — With reporting in London and Oshawa, Ont.
National Post
24-04-2025
- Sport
- National Post
FLAMES MAILBAG: Draft targets, trading up and who will the backup goalie be?
No disrespect to the 16 teams busy in the Stanley Cup playoffs (and there has been some incredible drama already), but Calgary Flames fans are ready to fast-forward to late June. Article content Specifically to June 27, an evening earmarked for the opening round of the 2025 NHL draft. Article content It's well-documented that the Flames will surrender their own first-rounder to the Montreal Canadiens — that is, unless they get lucky in the lottery and move into the Top-10 — but Craig Conroy & Co. will still select a pair of prospects that night. Article content Conroy owns the picks that originally belonged to the New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers. Article content Draft-related topics dominate our latest Flames mailbag and that probably will be the case for the next two months. Article content Your favourite players for the upcoming draft that could realistically fall to the Flames at either pick in the 1st round? Kindel, Aitcheson, Cootes, etc — Rich Hilton (@richhilton27) April 22, 2025 Article content Article content GILBERTSON: I haven't done enough digging just yet to declare a favourite from this draft class, but I did catch some Calgary Hitmen playoff action and was very impressed with the speedy, shifty and creative Ben Kindel. I'm not sure that NHL scouts will see Kindel as a centre, although that makes him a right-shot winger and that is another area of need for the Flames. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, Kindel finished seventh in the WHL scoring race — and tops among draft-eligibles — with 99 points. The Hitmen were eliminated in Wednesday's Game 7 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but Kindel potted a pair of overtime winners in that series. With Matt Coronato and Adam Klapka as the only righty forwards in the long-term plans, could Kindel be a target, especially if he's available with their second first-round pick? Article content Near the top of my intrigued-but-more-research-required list is Jack Nesbitt of the Windsor Spitfires. Probably not the cornerstone centre that the Flames are after, but could the 6-foot-4 Nesbitt be a future fit in the middle-six? Article content What do you think the team's approach will be to this years' draft? — Eudaimonic (@JCanadiann) April 22, 2025
Calgary Herald
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
HOT TOPICS MAILBAG: Draft targets, trading up and who will the backup goalie be?
Article content No disrespect to the 16 teams busy in the Stanley Cup playoffs (and there has been some incredible drama already), but Calgary Flames fans are ready to fast-forward to late June. Article content Specifically to June 27, an evening earmarked for the opening round of the 2025 NHL draft. Article content It's well-documented that the Flames will surrender their own first-rounder to the Montreal Canadiens — that is, unless they get lucky in the lottery and move into the Top-10 — but Craig Conroy & Co. will still select a pair of prospects that night. Article content Article content Your favourite players for the upcoming draft that could realistically fall to the Flames at either pick in the 1st round? Kindel, Aitcheson, Cootes, etc — Rich Hilton (@richhilton27) April 22, 2025 Article content Article content GILBERTSON: I haven't done enough digging just yet to declare a favourite from this draft class, but I did catch some Calgary Hitmen playoff action and was very impressed with the speedy, shifty and creative Ben Kindel. I'm not sure that NHL scouts will see Kindel as a centre, although that makes him a right-shot winger and that is another area of need for the Flames. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, Kindel finished seventh in the WHL scoring race — and tops among draft-eligibles — with 99 points. The Hitmen were eliminated in Wednesday's Game 7 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but Kindel potted a pair of overtime winners in that series. With Matt Coronato and Adam Klapka as the only righty forwards in the long-term plans, could Kindel be a target, especially if he's available with their second first-round pick?
