I'm still in the middle of unpacking my life out of boxes but I guess I should take some time to introduce myself.
My name is Lucas Punkari and I'm your new sports reporter here for The Battlefords News-Optimist.
Although I've been here now for a little over a week or so, I'm really growing to like things around here. Everyone I've met has been awesome to deal with and the community reminds me a lot of many places I've been along the way in the sports reporting scene.
Prior to heading here I was a sports reporter for nearly two years with the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. Getting the chance to cover the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer was something I'll remember for a long time, along with watching Moose Jaw Warriors captain and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Brayden Point do his thing on a regular basis.
Along the way, I've also worked in Airdrie, Alta. and Fort Frances, Ont. during my trek across the country. I've pretty much had a chance to cover everything from rodeos to fishing tournaments and everything else in between.
While I've been in a lot of different places for work, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. will always be where I call home. If you see anyone rocking attire from the Ontario Hockey League's Soo Greyhounds in the coming weeks ahead, it's more than likely me. Well that and telling people which Greyhounds alumni are on National Hockey League teams, but that's another story.
My sporting interests are all over the place. While I'm a junior and college hockey junkie and I'm probably the only Ottawa Redblacks supporter in the entire region, my main two favourites are auto racing and curling.
According to my parents, I apparently watched the 1990 Daytona 500 just a couple of weeks before my second birthday. While I have no memory of that, my passion for racing has been strong ever since. While I enjoy watching the big series like NASCAR and Formula 1, I'm currently addicted to the dirt track scene.
You can expect that to come up in this column in the near future. I need to ramble on at least a weekly basis about the dominance that World of Outlaws sprint car driver Donny Schatz is currently on.
Since I never played hockey, I fell in love with curling at a young age and played it for quite awhile until work got in the way. Plus, being from the Soo, I'm fully invested into what Olympic gold medalist Brad Jacobs does.
As such, I'm pretty excited for the Grand Slam of Curling event that will be coming to North Battleford in January. However, I'll have to be a professional journalist the whole week and try not to go completely over the top as a fan when my two favourite curlers Eve Muirhead and Rachel Homan are playing.
Despite living in the province now for nearly two years, I haven't had a chance to attend a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in person for whatever reason.
I'm looking forward to checking that off of my list when the North Stars season begins, along with reporting everything else in the local sports scene.
Let's have some fun shall we.
