Marie Smith Although the Northern Winter Games had been cancelled the Bantam Hockey tournament that was to be a part of the games was held anyway. - Three players, Jason Hardy, Peter McGuinness and David Liddle joined with players from Watson Lake and Whitehorse to partic- ipate in the tournament. The team was accompanied by coach. Eldon Hardy. Travel plans had to be altered which meant a drive to Whitehorse and a flight to Prince Rupert. The travel time was long and tiring for everyone. The flight was late and the players had a half hour to get from the airport to the arena for their first game. They played three games during which David Liddle scored one goal and had two assists. They worked hard but the long travel hours took thcir toll and the team was unable to win their games. The PeeWee team with the help of four players from Watson Lake travelled to Whitchorse on February 17, 18 and 19 to participate in the Yukon PeeWee Champ- ionships. Thcir first game ended in a 5 to 5 tie with the combination team from Dawson, Mayo, Ross River and Faro. Jason Hardy and Steven Howard cach scored two goals and a single came from Damicn McGuinness. At 8:00 a.m. Saturday, they played a Whitchorse team losing 8 to 4. Jayson Quinn scored twice and Bradley Creyke and Peter McGuinness cach scored once for Cassiar. The team’s third game did not go well at all and they were defeated by the Conde North Ventures of Whitehorse 11 to 0. score of 6 to 1 against Haines Junction. Bradley Creyke Their final game ended with a scored Cassiar’s only goal. The Novice and Atom tcams travelled to Fort Nelson for a tournament on March 3, 4, and 5. The Atoms went right from the airport to the arena to play their first game against Fort Nelson Cablevision. The game ended in a 3 to 3 tie with Andrew Smith scoring twice and Robby Howard scoring once. Andrew Smith “was awarded a hockcy stick as Cassiar’s hustler: for the game. Ricky Howard was the winner of the Lucky Draw. Their second game was against Fort St. John Co-op and was a loss of 11 to 0. Jeffery Johnston received the hustler award and Andrew Johnston won the Lucky Draw. The third game was against an arch rival, Watson Lake. Watson Lake scored five unanswered goals during the game. Ken Smith received the hustler award and was the winner of the Lucky Draw as well. Their final game was against Fort St. John Overwaitca which they lost 3 to 0. David Hardy received the hustler mention and won the Lucky Draw. Cassiar Atoms placed fourth out of six teams in the Atom division tournament. The Novice team, with the addition of four players from Watson Lake, played Fort Nelson N.W.T. and lost. The score sheet for this game was also lost but we remem- ber that Jeffery Johnston was awarded the hockey stick as Cassiar’s hustler. The Novice’s second game was against Fort Nelson WestCoast Transmission. They had a tough game and lost 14 to 0. Jamie Wilson was awarded the hockey stick as Cassiar’s hustler and Chris Whalen was the winner of the Lucky Draw. The third game was against Fort St. John Esso, which ended with a 7 to 1 loss for Cassiar. Garrett Stewart scored Cassiar’s only goal. Dustin Close received the hustler award and Dylan Thib- cault-Johnston won the Lucky Draw. Their last game, played Sunday morning was against Guides & Outfitters from Fort St. John. The game ended with a 10 to 0 score. During the season the hocky players of Cassiar spend a lot of time practicing as opportunities for game A small number of players in cach division make intersquad competition situations are few and far between. impractical and long distances between northern commun- itics make it difficult to have intercommunity games . When our teams travel to tournaments they are at a dis- advantage. Each game they play is better than the pre- vious game in any given tournament. They work hard and play good hockey. Our players are successful in that they never give up no matter how hard the going is in any game game. They love the game and enjoy participating and meeting new friends at each tournament they attend. On Friday, March 10, Minor Hockey held a Fun Night to cnd our hockey season for 1988-1989. Three games, of the highest quality, were played. The Moms played the Novice team in the first game. After a hard fought game the score was a7 to 7 tie. The Dads played the Atoms in the second game thriller which also ended in a tic, 4 to 4. The final game was between the The final score there was 6 to 2 for the Coaches. Hot dogs and juice were served to all the players and coffee was available for the parents. PecWee/Bantam team and the Coaches. It was a fun way to end the season. As the 1988-1989 scason is ending it is time to look to next year and sct up a new executive to begin planning for 1989-1990. There will be a meeting on Thursday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Upper Leisure Room to clect a new exccutive and to wrap up the 1988-1989 scason. : The Annual Wind-Up Banquet will be held in the Rec Centre on Tuesday, April 11. Annual awards and the presentation of the new exccutive will be done at this time. ; Again, a thank you to the community for its support during the past hockey season. CASSIAR CURLING CLUB submitted by Bill Pratt The Cassiar Culing Club’s 35th Annual Bonspicl was held March 17-19. Although the number of teams was down from previous years, everyone participating had a great time. The main winners of the Bonspiel were as follows: A EVENT - Ist: N. McGowan, H. Joseph, B. Roosdahl, G. Drzimotta A EVENT - 2nd: B. Morgan, K. Buchanan, J. Gwilliam, A. Gorski B EVENT - ist: J. Colak, J. Bucar, M. Psenko, J. Nuyens B EVENT - 2nd: Anderson, G. Lawley C EVENT - ist: D. Kalles, J. Kalles, A. Kalles, J. Kalles (Watson Lake) C EVENT - 2nd: M. Gimmi, I. Vidovic, D. Vido- vic, A. Guarducci J. Pisonic, L. Gwilliam, D. Meee yt 29, 1989.in the Rec Centre. From the fabulous oricntal palace decorated by Walter Comper, curling started Friday afternoon, followed with a lovely potluck dinner in the evening. We had a break in curling from 8-10 p.m. to allow for team enter- tainment. The McGowan rink became barkers and gave away money for knick knacks, whilst the Bauer rink punk-rocked their way through a hot number. Brother Friar and his choir (with new recruits) entertained for the second year in a row with the curling club alphabet song. Then the Canucks did their skit on Old McDonald’s Farm, then proceeded to provide us with dance music till mid- night, when Roy had to curl. The Banquet and Dance Saturday was a great suc- cess as we had visits from two famous taipans. The first to appear was the Taipan Morgan of the noble houses of Morgan/McGowan. Their entrance with flag bearer, geishas and peasants was spectacular. The second family was lead in by the ferocious Wilson Dragon (ROAR, ROAR) followed by Taipan Lanphear and his regal ladies. ‘The best dressed oriental at the ball was Blair Morgan, but honourable mentions go to all players of both noble houses. : Our curling season is rapidly coming to an end, but I would like to remind curlers that we still have the windup fun spiel “Ethnic Bonspiel” on April 1-3, and our windup banquet and dance will be held Saturday April a ere SENIOR emer Y Vince Gibson As our season is drawing to a close, I must . reflect on the happenings of the past few months. As we played into January, interest seemed to drop off slightly with teams barely icing a starting line-up on some nights. However, hockey did continue and by the start of February play-off positions had been decided with the Stars getting a bye and the Hawks and Blues playing a semi-final to start on February 27. g Cassiar Senior Hockey did host a no contact Rec tournament on February 24, 25 and 26. The teams which entered were Stewart, Dease Lake, Watson Lake, Good Hope Lake, Cassiar A team and Cassiar B team. Team entry fee was $400. All the ice time was sponsored by local bus- We would like to thank the Cassiar Shopping Centre, Sportsman Luncheonette, Cassiar Mining, Blyth Grimmett (arena lounge), Steelworkers Union, Darren’s Cats, The Clothes Closet, Marvel Travel and the Royal Bank for their support. Thanks also to the Minor Hockey and Figure Skating clubs for giving up their time inesses. slots Friday night and Saturday morning. Stewart and Cassiar Nitro Express played in the finals with Cassiar having to win twice to take first place money of $1,300. The first game was a fast paced, high scoring affair with Stewart scoring the winning goal in the dying seconds after Cassiar had come from behind three goals in the last four minutes to tie the game at 8 - 8. Cassiar took second place money of $600 and Dease Lake finished in third place which was $300. Watson Lake placed fourth, Cassiar B’s were fifth and Good Hope Lake Rams finished sixth. Tournament M.V.P. was Randy Kasum of Stewart, he received a Snap-On screwdriver set which was donated by Snap-On dealer, Rob Kolla of White- horse. Best goalie was also from Stewart. He received some jade art work for his efforts, which had been don- ated by Jade City. On Monday, the 27th of February, the Hawks beat the Blues in Game One of the best of five semi- final. The Blues then proceeded to win the next three to take the series three games to one. f The finals started on Tuesday, March 7th be- tween the Stars and the Blues. The Stars won Game One with an 8 to 7 score. Game Two was close also until the last ten minutes and the Stars won that game 8 to 4. Game Three was played March 12th and the Blues got their first victory of the finals winning 3 to De Games Four and Five were very close checking with the Stars winning 4 to 3 and 3 to 1, to take the best of seven final , four games to one. Much to Mike Landucci and Roland Rudkowski for their fine job of officiating appreciation in the play-offs and the Rec Hockey tournament. Thanks also go out to Zorn Rudolavic and _ Jason Yakiwchuk for their efforts as time-keepers most of the year. As well, thanks to Eck Trask and the Grade 9 and 10 Consumer Math class for doing the League stats. the League stats. Guy Gregoire finished the season with 109 points to lead all scorers; Pat Moth was second with 97. Richard Knowles had the best goal-tenders’ average of 4.87. Still to come in the near future is the annual East/West match-up and our wind-up banquet. I’m .. _. looking forward to both. > . o ~ > pA rr Re a a a mE a am RET ee Ge oe sores Shar se Back- Row, 1. tor Steven How » Quinn, Coach Vince Gibson. ty ; Front Row, | to r: Peter McGuinness, Jason Hardy, Stephen Nason,: David Pascal, MINOR HOCKEY IN CASSIAR It’s No Free Ride by Don Campbell Minor hockey is the beginning - at least it is for a lot of kids all over Canada, as well as here in Cassiar. For some, it is the foundation for continued competi- tion; for others it is a co-operative exercise that enables them to deal with other people. For all kids, it can be the beginning of a formulation of attitudes of good sportsmanship and co-operation and a fun activity they can enjoy into their adult years. For a special few with that extra talent, it can become a way of life. Whatever the final results are, it’s no free ride. There has to be commitment. There has to be a com- mitment from the kids, the parents and the commun- ity. Leslie and Allan Johnston have two kids in minor hockey. Leslie said she wants to see them stay with it as long as they want to. “It makes them deal with other -_kids, it gives them something to do and they enjoy it. For us, it’s a fun thing,’ she said. “Sometimes things get pretty hectic,” she added, “when both parents are working and you have to get your kids to practice, but, to us it’s worth it.” Paul Driscoll plays hockey himself and coaches minor hockey. His two kids are too small to play yet, but I am sure they will. ‘I like hockey myself and I like to see the kids enjoy it,” he states. “It’s good exer- cise, good fun and the kids learn some discipline.” I have heard these and other comments from a lot of parents and persons involved with minor hockey NOVICES Back Row, |tor: Coaches Rick Calloway, Bob Wilson, Mike Landucci Middle Row, | to r: Deron Gleason, Morgan Quinn, Jerrett Knudslien, Jeffery John- ston, Jamie Wilson, Dallas Shipley, Dylan Thibeault-Johnston, Kristian Evans. Christopher Whalen, Travis Knudslien, Lino Osorio, Brandon Front Row, I to r: Manderson, Cody Evans, Sean Connoly. PEE-WEES ard, Jeff Horricks, David Liddle, Mark Wypch, Jason Damian McGuinness, Bradley Creyke. but the time committed is only one facet, money is another. Equipment is expensive and kids keep growing out of it. Travelling expenses can be costly, especially in isolated areas like our own. “‘ We cannot always get to the tournaments with our kids,” one mother explained. “It gets:too expensive to fly somewhere and stay over, especially if you have to take the whole family.” In these cases the young players have to be entrusted to friends, coaches or other volunteers. Personally, I believe that fathers enjoy seeing their sons out on the ice more than mothers do; that they enjoy the competitive angle moreso than mothers. But, | would bet that mothers are more committed to seeing that their kids get to the practices - especially those little guys going out for the first season. I’ll bet it’s the mother who worries that they might get hurt; Pll bet it’s the mother who makes sure his skates are tight and his equipment is on right; I’ll bet I jumped into that one and will probably hear from the fathers! Cassiar parents and kids are fortunate that the community is also committed to minor hockey. The arena has ice time available at decent times. In other places competition for ice time is more aggressive and not always as accessible to young beginners, and, usually more expensive. Cassiar appears to have enough inter- ested people to act as coaches, fund raising and vol- unteers. Lastly, Cassiar has individuals and local firms who support minor hockey by dipping into their pocket- books. So, for at least the present time, hockey is sur- viving in Cassiar and young kids are getting an oppor- tunity to expand their horizons if they so desire. Let’s hope it continues, for the kids’ sake. Aaron Tripp. Gem & Gold at the RALF VOSS CENTRE We do jewellry repairs and cleaning. Come and see: our beautiful selection of handcrafted items and local art work. Wed - Fri Saturdays _ ATOMS _ RTHORIZED ARCTCO* ARCTIC CAT® DEALER tArctco Inc. 1988. * “Trademarksot Arctco Inc 7-9 pm Back Row, 1 tor: Coach Paul Driscoll, Richard Howard, Robb y Howard, Sylvain Jacob, Jody Harrison, Andrew Smith, David Hardy, Kirby Payne, Coach Ken Smith. Front Row, l-to r: Lino Osorio, Luis Bexiga, Jeffery Johnston, Andrew Johnston, Ken Sinith, SEE THE LATEST FROM THE LEGEND.