Whether he’s at the rink or on the ranch, Joel Hamilton believes hard work will pave the road to his future goals.

Next up on the 16-year-old Cochrane product’s lofty list is cracking the Red Deer Rebels roster.

“They know what I can do and they know I bring it every night,” said Hamilton of the Rebels’ coaching staff. “They’ve told me to keep doing that, just working hard and battling it out, playing good defensively and also bring some scoring.”

A strong work ethic isn’t something exclusive to Joel, the youngest of three brothers in the Hamilton household.

His oldest sibling Wyatt is currently preparing for his second stint with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds after proving himself as a consistent producer during a five-year run with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Camrose Kodiaks.

Meanwhile, Wacey — the middle child of the trio — took over captaincy duties in his third year with the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers last season and continues to make a case for walk-on spot on numerous NHL teams after going undrafted.

Wacey said he attempts to provide guidance to Joel, who he believes has been blessed with more natural talent.

“He was fortunate enough to get drafted and I’ve told him, ‘Don’t take that for granted, you have got to be humble about your success and can’t really get complacent’,” Wacey said. “So far he’s done that, he always working hard to improve and get better. It’s good to see that as an older brother.”

Joel said Wacey serves as an important role model in his development.

“Mostly his message was don’t give up and keep going,” Joel said. “He’s pretty good at that,”

During the off-season, Wacey and Joel rarely have time to catch their breath, as both return home to help their father on the family’s highly regarded purebred cattle ranch. The two also train daily at the Edge School, a sports-based institution in the Calgary-area community of Springbank.

Joel attends the Edge School as well, allowing him to focus on both hockey and education under one roof.

He’s even had the opportunity to work with Andy O’Brien, the former personal strength and conditioning coach of Canadian hockey icon Sidney Crosby, who signed a five-year commitment with Edge that began last fall.

“It’s been really helpful,” Joel said of Edge. “They give you the tools and the teachers are really flexible when it comes to school work and things.”

Joel has put his training to good use. Last November, he helped Team Alberta to gold at the U16 Challenge Cup, a tournament to showcase young hockey talent from the four western provincial hockey associations.

“It was pretty unreal,” Joel said of the competition. “It was really high-level and you had to be at the top of your game to help the team succeed.”

Then, just last week, the spirited teenager received a phone call letting him know that he has made the 25-player shortlist for Team Pacific, which will battle at the U17 World Hockey Challenge in Winnipeg later this year.

Provincial and international accolades aside, Hamilton said he remains focused on the Rebels training camp, which begins with on-ice sessions Aug. 29.

“I am going to go pretty much as hard as I can for the next week or two and then rest for a couple days before camp,” said Joel, who also took part in last year’s camp.

And whether he cracks the roster this year or not, you can bet that by camp’s end no will have worked harder than the young farm boy from Cochrane.

After all, the never-say-die attitude is in his blood.

Spring cleaning is an important yearly ritual for households and sports teams alike.

It’s a time to part ways with old junk that will likely never again serve a purpose as well as new items that you simply have no need for.

Darryl Sutter isn’t a big fan of spring cleaning.

In fact, the Calgary Flames general manager would just as soon spend the free agent period crowding what little salary cap space he has with a bunch of unproven, unmotivated talent (Olli Jokinen, Tim Jackman, Raitis Ivanans, to name a few of his more recent projects) and washed out veterans in desperate need of employment (Daymond Langkow, Steve Staios and so on).

This year, the Sutter machine took its monolithic approach one step further, bringing back two supposed superstars who already flunked out of the Flames’ system in Alex Tanguay and Jokinen.

While Tanguay’s efforts were never appreciated in Calgary, despite posting career highs in points and assists during the 2006-07 season, the 30-year-old struggled greatly last season in Tampa Bay. As well, he doesn’t play the Sutter way, an over-hyped bump-and-grind style that is as outdated as Darryl himself.

Let’s hope Tanguay rebounds and finds some of the original chemistry he had with Flames’ poster boy Jarome Iginla.

The Flames’ big free agency shocker was re-enlisting the services of Finnish flop Jokinen.

Once the prodigal son of the Florida Panthers, Jokinen joined the Flames in 2009 and found moderate success at best, potting 19 goals and 50 points in 75 games.

As his days in Calgary became obviously numbered, Jokinen slowed down even further and provided little more than a big barrier at centre. The Flames shipped him to New York earlier this year for a lazy lummox by the name of Alex Kotalik and winger Chris Higgins — neither are expected to wear the flaming C next season.

Now, Sutter, who was openly critical of his failed Finnish project the first time, has shaved nearly half of the yearly price tag off Jokinen’s contract and is championing him as the spark that could reignite the Flames’ top line.

Am I the only one confused here?

And if Tanguay and Jokinen are the two big free agent acquisitions made by the Flames this season, let’s turn to the other new members of this dysfunctional family that no one is talking about.

First, we have Jackman, a former New York Islander who will fill in at the less-than glamorous role filled by Jamal Mayers last season. A big boy who doesn’t mind throwing his body around, look for Jackman to log less than five minutes of ice time per game next season — the classic grinder role that Sutter seems hell-bent on filling the bottom half of his depth chart with.

Next up is Rainitis Ivanans. The bruising Latvian’s numbers speak for themselves: just two points to go with nearly 300 penalty minutes in 137 games for the Los Angeles Kings over the past few seasons. Ho-hum, another Sutter goon.

Finally, we have Ryan Stone. A transfer from the northern rival Edmonton Oilers, the 25-year-old drops the gloves more than he scores goals. He could turn into a defensive fail-safe that helps bail out Calgary’s ever-encroaching defensive corps, but will more than likely fall through the cracks of a misguided franchise that already has well-documented troubles when it comes to putting the puck in the net.

That’s three Sutter-type goons to supposedly round out the roster. I think the common denominator in this predicament is obvious.

The organization’s lack of innovation isn’t confined to the big leagues either. On July 18, the Flames farm team in Abbotsford chose to re-sign a bunch of familiar faces in defencemen Matt Pelech and Gord Baldwin, forward Kris Chucko and netminder Matt Keetley. All four have seemingly developed into fringe talents.

The only one with a hint of promise is Pelech; however, with eight defencemen already signed to one-way contracts on the Flames roster, the 22-year-old is unlikely to leave Abbotsford anytime soon.

All of this is very uninspiring and with the summer months now upon us, Sutter is more likely to go on vacation than orchestrate some sort of mastermind deal.

The best hope for Flames fans at this point is that someone else will be calling the shots next spring and Sutter himself will be the one swept aside.

For close to 80 years, Bill McLennan has called Bragg Creek home.

In that time, the local author and historian has seen the area shift from a quiet place of relaxation to what he describes as a “madhouse” on the weekends. And with the influx of visitors to the area has also come an increase in unlawful behaviour.

Even during a brief Saturday stroll through the hamlet, McLennan is able to point out numerous bylaw infractions, such as litter strewn about and cars parked on the sidewalks.

“The pedestrians have really lost their way in Bragg Creek,” McLennan said.

“The noise is phenomenal, people leave dogs in their hot cars and they bark. We pick up tons of garbage and we have people walking right through the yard.”

Long lines of traffic like this are a non-stop sight on the weekends in Bragg Creek, and some residents believe there is not enough police presence to ensure everyone heading to the area is obeying the law. Photo by Jeremy Nolais

McLennan has spent countless hours bringing issues to the attention of local law enforcement, namely Rocky View protective services and the Cochrane RCMP, but to date has received what he describes as an inadequate response.

“I get a frustrated feeling, they say ‘We’ll look into it,’ but that’s about all,” McLennan explained.
“I would say the Cochrane police are rarely in this area.”

McLennan’s thoughts on police presence are echoed by fellow Bragg Creek resident Andrew Benson, 15.

“You just don’t see them here; there’s really no sign of RCMP,” Benson said. “I have been living here my whole life and you just don’t see them.”

Cochrane RCMP Staff Sgt. Jason Seper said his detachment treats Bragg Creek like any other area in its jurisdiction and will respond to all calls for service.

“The issue is priority. If it’s a bylaw matter that can be handled at a later date, we will take the information and go from there,” he added.

Seper acknowledged that he can “never have enough manpower,” but said Cochrane RCMP must also strive to exercise fiscal responsibility when it comes to policing levels and patrol frequency.
“Policing is a funny thing,” he said.

“Some weekends we can be extremely busy and others we can be doing more proactive stuff. It depends on the weekend, depends on the weather, depends on what’s going on.”

Bylaw enforcement in the Bragg Creek area falls largely to Rocky View protective services, which manager Ted McCauley says has been hit with a “huge reduction in manpower recently.”

Two months ago, the service suspended weekend shift work and now only responds to special attentions, McCauley said.

Rocky View’s director of emergency services Ted Gard, however, said the situation is not dire, noting the department reduces and increases its manpower based on community need.

Both Gard and McCauley noted that protective services typically does not receive a high volume of weekend calls.

“It works to a degree, it’s certainly not as ideal as having someone seven days a week,” McCauley added. “The thing about bylaws is we are not talking about emergencies here. We are talking about the concerns of the citizens and we are very interested in making them happy but in the same sense when somebody phones in we are not going to get there in two minutes.”

As well, McCauley said issues such as cars parked on the sidewalk are not specific to Bragg Creek and have been around for decades.

McLennan, meanwhile, said Rocky View’s stance on the matter is not good enough.

“What do we have to happen to get some change?” he said.

“Do we need to have a child hit?”

McLennan added there is very little enforcement on noise levels in Bragg Creek, with the most common source being loud motorcycles rolling through the hamlet.

This issue has also caused a fair amount of grievance for Bragg Creek resident of 27 years Tammy Moon, who owns The Alicat Gallery in town.

“They are so disruptive and take up so much space in the parking lots,” she said.

“In (the gallery) we can be having a conversation and two rip down the street and you can’t hear each other.”

McCauley noted that a tougher noise bylaw was recently passed in Edmonton and the matter is also currently being mulled over by Calgary city council.

“I’m certain if Calgary passes their legislation, then it’s something I will bring to (Rocky View) council,” he said.

McCauley added that he is looking at enlisting some contractors to help with enforcement on the weekends.

In the meantime, McLennan said he plans to continue making his voice heard in hopes of improving not only his own quality of life but that of fellow Bragg Creek residents.

“I can’t change the whole bloody world,” he said. “You just have to pick your battles.”

A local business owner has undergone surgery on his wrist to repair injuries he says were wrongfully caused by members of the Cochrane RCMP during a dispute over parking.

Rik Wedgwood, who has owned Mechanical Services & Supply for roughly 10 years, said the Aug. 24 incident started when two parents who had dropped their daughter off at the nearby Snap Dance Studios were attempting to instigate a confrontation.Wedgwood said this was nothing new, as the couple had purposely parked in the stalls belonging to his establishment numerous times in the past, leading to verbal arguments.

“I talk to people without trying to be rude, but if they’re rude to me they get rudeness back,” Wedgwood said.

Not wanting another argument, Wedgwood went over to the dance studio in hopes of resolving the issue with its new owner Courtney Sproule; however, he was followed in by the father.

Wedgwood said the man first told him to leave the establishment but then blocked his exit. Some heated words were exchanged, and Wedgwood pushed past the man and headed back into his establishment.

Local business owner Rik Wedgwood alleges RCMP officers wrongfully damaged his wrist during a heated altercation Aug. 24. Photo by Jeremy Broadfield

“(The parents) didn’t leave,” Wedwood said. “They were trying to start something.”

Some time passed and the couple stayed parked outside. Wedgwood said around 4 p.m. he decided to transfer  a piece of heavy equipment into his truck before heading home.

“The only way I can load this thing is through the parking lot, which is my parking lot,” Wedgwood said.

Wedgwood parked his truck in the lot, blocking in the couple who he estimated had been sitting there for nearly an hour.

Before loading his truck, Wedgwood said he went back inside to answer the phone, and that was when the father got out of his vehicle looked at the truck’s licence plate and then made a call.

“Before I know it, three RCMP members show up,” Wedgwood said.

The 55-year-old said he attempted to finish his call, but the lead RCMP member insisted he hang up.

When Wedgwood, didn’t comply, the member said he was towing the truck.

“We started yelling back and forth,” Wedgwood said. “He was raising his hand in the air . . . I raised mine and that’s when he grabbed me, whipped me around, put the cuffs on (my right wrist) and said ‘You are under arrest for assaulting a police officer.’ ”

Next, Wedgwood said a female member approached him from behind, kneed him in the leg and forced him to the ground. He said she then cuffed his left wrist in an awkward position.

“I said ‘That’s too tight, you’re going to break something,’ ” Wedgwood said. “She responded ‘Too bad.’ ”

Wedgwood said he was put into the back of a police cruiser, and the lead RCMP member then ordered his son Nik to move the truck from the parking lot, which he did by making a 180-degree turn out of the lot and back up the adjacent road.

“I was sitting in the backseat and I heard him (the RCMP member) say ‘I want to hurt him bad, go get the kid for stunting.’ ” Wedgwood said, adding that Nik was issued a $400 violation ticket.

Wedgwood said he was taken to the local RCMP detachment and held in custody for two hours. He has been charged with assaulting a police officer and obstructing justice. Upon his release, Wedgwood went to the hospital in  Canmore to have his wrist examined.

After some deliberation, a specialist opted to perform surgery on “torn ligaments” in Banff Aug. 30.

Wedgwood said the whole incident has left him frustrated to say the least, and he plans to take legal action against the RCMP members.

“I will definitely go after them . . . I have got no faith in them anymore,” Wedgwood said.

Cochrane RCMP Staff Sgt. Jason Seper said he was unwilling to comment on the alleged incident, citing ongoing legal proceedings.

“All I can confirm is that we were called to attend a local establishment here, a business. We attended, an altercation ensued and a male was charged,” Seper said, adding Wedgwood has not brought his concerns forward to the RCMP.
“If he’s unhappy with the service of the RCMP, there is a mechanism for him to voice his concerns and they will be investigated like any other complaint,” Seper added.

Seper said he was not specifically aware of parking concerns between Mechanical Services & Supply and the nearby dance studio, despite Wedgwood claiming RCMP have been contacted a half-dozen times about the issue in the past.

“Parking issues may or may not come to the RCMP,” Seper said. “If it’s between two businesses . . . we wouldn’t necessarily know about it.”

Interview requests made to Sproule at Snap Dance Studios were not returned.

The weather was beautiful, worries of a volunteer shortage were quickly quashed and the competitors turned out in droves for Cochrane’s 11th annual Footstock race weekend.

Nearly 1,900 participants signed up to race in one of the events, which included a five-kilometre run/walk, 10-km run/walk, duathlon, half-marathon and kids triathlon, held over two days of June 12-13. Some competitors travelled in from as far away as England and Germany. More »