_& Ad Monts, Stamkos shines in Bolts’ loss to Canucks By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor lhe Canucks had the rare privilege of playing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night at GM Place and it was a nice opportunity for Vancouver fans to see great but far away players like Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and 2008 first overall draft pick Steven Stamkos. While Lecavalier wasn’t outstanding and St. Louis wasn’t much better, Stamkos was the best player on either team in the 2-1 Canucks win that went right down to the wire. All game Stamkos was making plays, sending deft passes to his teammates and for once this year, showing why the Lightning picked him before anyone else back in June in Ottawa. He scored the lone Tampa Bay goal against Vancouver. 2008-09 has been a tough season for the highly hyped Bolts’ rookie. The former Sarnia Sting center came into a club that held promise but sunk faster than the Titanic as soon as the year began. Tampa Bay started off horrible and new head coach Barry Melrose was axed after just 16 games. On his Watertous® way out, Melrose fired a number of parting shots at people in the Lightning organization, and more than a few went towards Stamkos, who Melrose claimed wasn’t nearly ready for the NHL. That comment has had some truth to it this year. While Stamkos was dominant against the Canucks, that hasn’t been the case for much of the season. He has just 12 goals, 15 assists and 27 points this year in 59 games and has gone from being a flashy, offensive powerhouse back in the OHL with Sarnia to just another undersized forward. On many occasions he’s been invisible and whenever he does touch the puck, it’s been easy for NHL defenders to hammer him off of it. The fact is, Stamkos is just not big enough to be in the league yet. He’s experiencing the same problems as Phoenix’s Kyle Turris, another player that is high on skill but just hasn’t filled into his frame yet. There isn’t any doubt that Stamkos is a phenomenal talent that will have an elite NHL future, but a year of seasoning back in junior would have been much better for his development. Stamkos has been lighting it up recently, with his first career hat trick coming last Tuesday in a loss against the Chicago Blackhawks, but he had just six goals in his first 51 games and needed eight contests just to record his first point. He’s barely been able to get any ice time until just lately and being a minus 10 while playing on Tampa’s fourth line isn’t good for anybody. Had the Lightning returned him to Sarnia, he would have been playing half the game and scoring 70 goals instead of sitting on the bench in the NHL. Hopefully Stamkos’ recent offensive outburst, five goals in his last seven games, will prove to be an indication that he’s finally acclimated himself to the NHL game and is ready to emerge as a team leader. He’s certainly surrounded by high-profile players with strong credentials in Lecavalier, St. Louis, Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts. With the Lightning in such disarray, Stamkos at his best would be a nice finish to a forgettable year. BCCAA hands out awards for volleyball excellence Douglas College’s Torey Weibe makes all-star team By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor _ star team, although two of her Capilano teammates, Claire Ferguson and Rachel he British Columbia Colleges’ Unger, both made the second all-star Athletic Association (BCCAA) squad. announced their all-star teams Male rookie of the year went and award winners for the 2008-09 to UBC Okanagan’s Nate Speiler, volleyball season on February 24" although he didn’t make the first all- and Douglas College was a part of the —_ star team. UBC Okanagan was well festivities. represented at the awards as they also While there wasn’t an overwhelming Douglas contingent named to the men’s first all-star team represented, Torey Weibe made the and Speiler on the second team. On the BCCAA’s men’s second all-star team women’s side for UBC Okanagan, Alex for the province. Weibe, who stands 6’4 Basso won the female rookie of the year and plays middle blocker/outside hitter, award and also qualified for the female had a terrific season for Douglas. He was in the top 15 players in the league for aces on the year with 17 in total. His blocking skills were also on display all season long as he finished second in both total blocks and blocks per game. He played 53 games this year and is from Whitehorse, Yukon. The BCCAA male player of the year award went to Derek Fletcher of the University of the Fraser Valley and he also took home first team all-star honours. Carlee Deising of Capilano University, won the female player of the year and was the sole Capilano player named to the women’s first all- had Preston Tucker and Mike Weiss first all-star squad along with teammate Sheila McNee. Kailey Buller and Caitlin Nyhus, both of whom also play for UBC Okanagan, made the second team, while the women’s head coach Steve Manuel won coach of the year. The 2009 Canadian Colleges’ Athletic Association (CCAA) national men’s volleyball championship takes place from March 12-14 at Keyano College in Fort McMurray, Alberta while the women’s nationals will be hosted by Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario from March 12-14 as well. Korat In 2008, UBC Okanogan won silver in the men’s national championships while their women’s squad took home bronze. Men’s volleyball has been contested as a CCAA National championship since 1979 when Mount Royal College won the first national title. In both men’s and women’s volleyball at the national championships, eight teams from various conferences throughout the country compete for gold.