Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 16, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C2 C 2 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013 SPORTS winnipegfreepress. com THREE Manitobans made the qualifiers cut and will compete with the pros. Former pro Ryan Horn of Dauphin and University of Manitoba Bisons golfers Charlie Boyechko and Bobby Wiebe will compete at The Players Cup, July 18- 21 at the Pine Ridge Golf Club. Horn finished at the top of the pack during the Players Cup Monday Qualifier hosted by the Glendale Golf and Country Club. He finished his round with a fine 68, four strokes under par. “ It was the first tournament I played for a couple of years so I felt a little nervous coming into the event today. But I got off to a good start and played quite well,” Horn said. Horn turned pro in 2006, the same year he won the Manitoba junior title. He then took some time off from the game, but decided it was time to get his name back in the mix. After getting birdies on the 16th and 17th holes, Horn felt pretty good about punching his ticket to Pine Ridge. “ The last two birdies really helped. It freed me up coming home and that was kind of nice,” Horn said. “ I knew I just had to shoot a decent round... even par. That was my goal. You don’t even have to aim for shooting under, but the birdies help.” Boyechko, from Winnipeg, had four birdies and three bogeys to finish with a one- under score of 71. He was glad to qualify, especially on a course that hasn’t been so nice to him in the past. Last year, Boyechko was leading during the final round of the Manitoba Amateur but saw it slip away. “ We’ve had a few events here and I never seem like I do as well as I want to. But today I did good enough and that’s a relief,” he said. “ It all comes with experience. I’m just a better player now than I was before, both technique- wise and mentally.” Wiebe finished with an even- par 72. A run of birdies on the fifth through seventh and the 10th and 11th cancelled out bogeys on holes two, three and 12 in addition to a double bogey on hole 13. “ It feels good. It was a grind out there, especially in the last few and I just tried to get it in as good as I could. It looked like it worked out,” Wiebe said. “ I was just trying to hit one good shot every time. I had a good picture in my mind of what I wanted to do with each shot. I missed ( one shot into) the bunker, but I got it up and down.” kyle. jahns@ freepress. mb. ca Players Cup qualifiers at the par- 72 GlendaleGolf & Country Club: 1. Ryan Horn, Dauphin, 68 T2. Benjamin Briscoe, California, 71 T2. Charlie Boyechko, Winnipeg, 71 T4. Aaron Dexheimer, Sanee, 72 T4. Curtis Loop, Connecticut, 72 T4. Stephen Thomas, Vancouver, 72 T4. Bobby Wiebe, Headingley, 72 T8. Michael Mezei, Lethbridge, 73 T8. David Sheman, Newmarket, 73 T8. Max Gilbert, St. Georges, 73 Note: The final three qualifiers were determined via a seven- player playoff. Horn, Boyechko, Wiebe make grade Locals will be teeing it up at The Players Cup By Kyle Jahns W INNIPEG Jets left- winger Evander Kane put his skates on for the first time Monday since the NHL season ended and since having surgery in mid- June on his foot to relieve pressure on a nerve. The 21- year- old sniper was in town for a checkup and took the opportunity at the team’s summer development camp to go on the ice as a “ guest” coach. “ I think with my specific injury, it being a nerve problem, there’s not too much you can do for that,” Kane said Monday. “ Rest and not aggravating it, that’s the biggest thing.” Kane said simply he’s four weeks into the rehab of an injury that should take “ six to eight weeks” to get over. “ As long as I don’t feel any pain I can keep going but once I do, I’ll have to get off,” he said. Kane, coming off a season of 17 goals, said he has no doubt he’ll be ready for main training camp in September. “ Oh yeah. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem unless, as I said, there’s a setback,” he said. “ These are things you’re going to have to be patient with. “ It’s a very rare injury from what I’ve been told. They don’t see it too often.” Since the entry draft, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has made two trades, for right- wingers Devin Setoguchi and Michael Frolik, both candidates to play with Kane. “ I don’t necessarily know it’s for making my situation better but I think with those two guys, you just got a guy who’s won a Stanley Cup and then a guy who was a 30- goal scorer a couple of years ago,” Kane said. “ So those are two good pieces to add to our team. It adds a lot of depth, more than we had and I’m looking forward to getting out on the ice with all the new faces.” Monday, Kane’s presence gave the team’s 43 prospects in town for camp a chance to interact with an experienced and successful NHLer. “ I wasn’t really doing too much coaching, to be honest, just talking to the players, help out when I can and jump in and shake a little rust off,” Kane said. “ It’s fun. I’ve got a whistle. Maybe I’ll get to use it at some point.” As for advice he might give the prospects? “ Just come out here and show what they’ve got, that’s first and foremost,” he said. “ Obviously it’s a development camp but they want to show the fans and the management what they bring to the talbe. Just go out there and work hard, that’s the biggest thing. They’re here for a reason. Sometimes they get nervous and double- clutch the puck or second- guess ... If you just relax and go and have some fun, you’ll do well.” And clearly Kane is presently in a good mental state in the off- season. His humour was in top form, especially after he was asked a question about the potential to play with 20- year- old centre Mark Scheifele, a camp participant, in the season to come. “ I was actually telling Mark ( today) where I want the puck on my stick exactly,” Kane began mischievously. “ I think he missed the first six passes, didn’t even hit my blade. So that was a bit of a concern for me. “ But by the end of the practice, he started to get the hang of it, we worked on some rushes, and I think he could be ready, yeah. He’s a good passer. He has a good shot; we don’t want him to use it that much, though. He’s got a good shot when I give him the odd pass. Looking forward to seeing him hopefully in our lineup.” tim. campbell@ freepress. mb. ca By Tim Campbell Coach Kane Jets right- winger in town to help young prospects JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES They’re in the field KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Michael Mezei from Lethbridge blasts from a bunker at Players Classic qualifying on Monday at Glendale. Mezei made the grade with a one- over 73. C_ 02_ Jul- 16- 13_ FP_ 01. indd C2 7/ 15/ 13 10: 50: 36 PM ;