Give him Liberty, and give him hockey

Brandon Mistal finished this season as the captain of the BCHL's
Salmon Arm SilverBacks.
(Salmon Arm SilverBacks photo)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Brandon Mistal just wants to play hockey.
So he’s prepared to travel 4,338 kilometres from his hometown for ice time.
After three-plus seasons in the BCHL, Mistal, a 21-year-old forward from Kamloops, is headed to Liberty University in the fall.
The school, a private Christian university, is located in Lynchburg, Va. The Flames are a Division I hockey team, playing in the 54-team American Collegiate Hockey Association. The ACHA, which has been around since 1991, governs non-varsity hockey in the U.S.
“That would be awesome,” Mistal, 21, said of the opportunity to play four seasons at Liberty U. “As long as the money all works out and I can keep going down there, I will definitely play four years.”
Mistal played in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees, Cowichan Valley Capitals and Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He concluded this season as the SilverBacks’ captain, putting up 36 points, including 13 goals, in 56 games.
“He’s an outstanding young man,” Troy Mick, the SilverBacks’ general manager and head coach, said. “His dedication, his character, his work ethic . . . were so emblematic of being a captain that it was a real no-brainer for us.”
Like a large number of BCHL players, Mistal had his hopes up for an offer from an NCAA Division I school. But as this season wore on it became evident that wasn’t going to happen. All the while, he kept hearing from Liberty.
“It was in the back of my mind,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was hoping for Division I . . . I was keeping all my options open.
“But they were the only ones who were talking to me through the whole season. Then, after the season was over, they really wanted me to come for a visit.”
Mistal traveled to Lynchburg in mid-April, saw the campus, skated with some of the Flames and “stayed with couple guys off-campus.”
“It was a pretty good experience,” he said.
These days, he can hardly wait to get back there and get started.
“It’s not the biggest rink,” he said of the 3,000-seat LaHaye Ice Center that is located on the university campus, “and there’s not that many seats, but they love hockey down there and they pack the barn. They support the team so well.”
Mistal grew up in a Christian home – his family is Pentecostal – and his faith is important to him, so Liberty should be a good fit. It was founded in 1971 by evangelical fundamentalist Jerry Falwell, whose roots were Southern Baptist. Falwell died in 2007.
“It’ll be a bit of a change to have that different environment,” said Mistal, who will set out in pursuit of a business degree, “but it’ll be cool to experience that.”
His connection to Liberty came through the Silverbacks’ chapel program. Kenny Toews, the Silverbacks’ chaplain, reached out to Flames assistant coach Dave Semenyna. The rest, as they say, is history.
The Flames are losing two of their offensive leaders, so Mistal is hoping to make an immediate impact.
“I think I’m an all-around player . . . a pretty smart player,” he said. “I like to get in the corners and cycle and work on the boards and create offence out of that. I’m hoping to go in and contribute offensively right away.
“I think I’m one of those versatile guys who can do everything pretty solidly, hopefully with a decent knack for scoring, too.”
Head coach Kirk Handy also is hoping that Mistal is able to contribute right away.
“He’s someone who can definitely make an impact right away, who can play in a lot of different situations,” Handy said in a news release. “He’s a class act with strong leadership abilities. He’s a very well spoken guy who, just in the time we’ve gotten to know him, I’ve been really impressed with his character and his demeanour.
“On the ice, he’s going to be a guy we can count on on both sides of the rink, a two-way hockey player who has a good scoring knack.”
Mistal also will get to see some new country, as the Flames’ 39-game schedule includes stops in such places as Charleston, W.Va.; Athens, Ohio; Blacksburg, Va.; and Tucson, Ariz.
“I’ll gain experience and exposure so I jumped at the opportunity, for sure,” he said.

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Hanes takes WHL's best muzzy to BCHL

By MARK HUNTER
Daily News Sports Reporter
Ryan Hanes is heading into uncharted territory.
Hanes, 20, has decided to move to Duncan to play for the BCHL’s Cowichan Capitals. He made the decision 10 days after his hometown Kamloops Blazers, with whom he had spent three seasons, put him on WHL waivers.

RYAN HANES

 Before now, Hanes’s hockey career had been based solely in Kamloops.
He went through the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association — the Blazers took him in the fifth round, 99th overall, of the 2007 bantam draft. He spent time with the major-midget Thompson Blazers and the KIJHL’s Kamloops Storm before joining the Blazers in 2009-10.
On Sunday, he’ll head to Duncan.
“I’ve only been over there to play in Victoria last season,” Hanes said Thursday, of the Blazers games against the WHL’s Royals. “I don’t know a whole lot about it.”
He does know that the Capitals had his rights, and convinced him to come play.
“They protected my rights . . . I didn’t even know they could do that, but they did,” Hanes said. “The called and asked me to come. It sounded good.”
Hanes played 181 regular-season games for the Blazers, scoring 16 goals and adding 24 assists. He also had 316 penalty minutes as he became a fan favourite for his feisty play.
Last season, as a 19-year-old, Hanes set career highs in goals (8), assists (14) and points (22) in playing 55 games. He was plus-12. He also appeared in 11 playoff games, ending with a goal and an assist, as the Blazers took the Portland Winterhawks to Game 7 in the second round.
But he was one of five 20-year-olds on the Blazers’ roster, so fell victim to the numbers game.
Kamloops still has forwards Jordan DePape, Brendan Ranford and Dylan Willick and defenceman Austin Madaisky to battle for the three 20-year-old spots. Madaisky, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, may play with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons this season, but an NHL lockout could affect that.
Hanes said he has talked with Jim Ingram, the Capitals’ general manager and head coach, but doesn’t know much, if anything, about his role on the team.
“I haven’t really had time to think about that,” he said. “It’s all happened so fast.”
The Capitals have been on the ice already, and will open their exhibition season tonight against the Grizzlies in Victoria. Cowichan also will take on the host Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday.
Hanes will arrive Sunday and practice with the Capitals on Monday and Tuesday, before heading to Nanaimo for a Wednesday exhibition game against the Clippers.
It’s a quick turnaround for Hanes, who won’t have the benefit of a training camp.
“I’m not worried,” he said.
JUST NOTES: The Capitals’ leading scorer last season was F Devin Gannon, a Kamloops native who was playing his final junior season. In 59 games, Gannon had 79 points, including 51 assists. . . . F Brandon Mistal, another Kamloops product, had 32 points, 13 of them goals, in 61 games with the Capitals last season. He has since been traded to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, with whom he played from 2009-2011.
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A couple of Thursday tweets:
From former Seattle Thunderbirds G Calvin Pickard (@cpickard1): “@HANESR13 you were always a treat to play against!!! One of the biggest beauties in the league and obviously the best muzz #allthebestbud”
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From Portland Winterhawks F Taylor Peters (@thepistolpete25): “Sorry to see @HANESR13 go. The dub loses one of the great mustaches of our era.”

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