In 2011 Randy Cannon has dominated local hockey. Now officials hope he steadies Cayman’s chances at international success.
This week Cannon leads team Cayman in the ninth World Senior Ball Hockey Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. Matches began over the weekend and continue through to this Sunday. Cayman is in pool B with Britain, Bermuda, Ukraine and Hungary.
Mark Thompson serves as general manager for the Cayman team. A veteran ball hockey player himself, Thompson states that Cannon will be a key difference-maker.
“Of all the newcomers Randy, our new goalie, has impressed me,” Thompson said. “Randy brings youth and tremendous skill to our team. Alongside John Cowan we have the best goalies we have ever brought to the tournament. Randy and John are both very experienced and I believe they will be the key to Cayman performing well at this world championship.”
Cannon came over from Canada towards the end of last year and has excelled locally. He won Cayman’s ball hockey championship with the BDO Pirates back in February and nabbed the Cherry Cup title with the ITS Cayman roller hockey team in May.
Cayman is making its fourth appearance at the world championships. The team has trained over the past six months with training sessions held three times a week. From the 21-man roster, 10 players have prior experience in the tournament. Thompson states Cayman will be relying on their veteran leadership.
“Newcomer Rob Rintoul is a very skilled player with a very good ‘hockey sense.’ He’s a great play-maker and knows the game extremely well. Some of the more experienced guys on the team are Pete Holowchuk, Mark Missal and captain Darryl Hather. These guys are key as they have played in the world championships a few times and are great role models when it comes to dedication and hard work.”
Related Videos
