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ESERIES

 

 

 

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

o far the Vancouver Canucks
S haven’t looked like the team they

were expected to be, starting the
season off with a disappointing record
to set them into the wrong direction.
They simply have to play better and
more physically if they want to crawl
themselves out of their below .500
record. After the Chicago shootout
loss, the Canucks are sitting at the 11"
position in the Western Conference
with a record of 2-3-2 in seven games.
There have been some good moments
though, like the 5-1 win against the
Carolina Hurricanes, but other than
that their strongest games have been
average at best.

The 6-2 blow-out loss to
the Minnesota Wild was an
embarrassment, even though Rick
Rypien made it all worthwhile in the
end, tussling it up with a fan on his
way out of the game after being served
a game misconduct. Rypien created
quite the scene, and unfortunately was
handed a six game suspension because
of it. A number of things have been
piling up, most notably the secondary
scoring.
The Sedin’s are the only consistent

goal scorers that have been there on
a nightly basis with the exception
to Mason Raymond here and there.
Other guys like, Ryan Kesler, Manny
Malhotra and Raffi Torres will have to
step their game up, although Malhotra
has been dynamite in the faceoff circle
and is currently the top faceoff man in

Are the Canucks Heading Down the
same path as the B.C. Lions?

the league with a 68 percent success
rate.

Goaltending has been a bit of
an issue, with Luongo not being
very consistent and noticeably in the
shootouts, where he somehow lets in
little squeakers that trickle their way
through his six foot three frame. Yes,
the shootouts have been a game shifter
for the Canucks, not so much on the
scoring part (they’ve been doing a
decent job in that department) but
because Luongo hasn’t been able to
stop one puck yet, in five rounds. A
top of the line goaltender who won
the gold medal with Canada at the
Winter Olympics last year needs
to come up big in those situations.
Coach V addressed that they will now
incorporate the shootout into their team
practices...Yippee.

On the other hand, back-up
goaltender Cory Schneider was
sensational in his first game of the
season against the Hurricanes, making
stellar saves and was always in great
position...Perhaps there will be a
goaltender controversy sometime
down the stretch of the season. The
Canucks have got the talent and they
have got the tools, it’s just a matter of
time before the puck starts bouncing
their way. All of the hype and high
expectations have undoubtedly got
caught up in their heads and prevented
them from playing their “A” game, but
one has to remember that it is only the
start of the season and there are 70 or
so games left. A lot can happen in 70
games.

 

.&

sero

     

Can the Royals do it again?

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

had just started and is now,

sadly, it is coming to an end. The
short soccer season in the BCCAA
is heading into the finals days of
October and early November, with
the final regular season games
remaining of Week seven, which
means the Provincial Championships
are just around the corner.

Now, this will raise some
questions on whether or not the
Douglas College men’s soccer team
can pull off a second consecutive
year of heading into the National
Championships with their heads
held high as the BCCAA provincial
champs.

Well, they certainly have got
all the tools to do it, with a stifling,
superb record of 9-1-0 heading into
week seven, a plus/minus +34, and
a league leading 28 points. Not to
mention that their top two scorers,
Reynold Stewart and Sahil Sandhu,
are the top two guys in the league
when it comes to scoring, along with
their goalie Dillan Fogliato, who
has been instrumental in the goal
keeping department with only five
GA in seven GP’s, 585 minutes of
play while having 1.5 shutouts for an
impressive 0.77 GAA.

Last weekend the Royals
increased their record with a couple
of wins, beating the Capilano
University Blues, who are at second
position in group B, 3-0 and the
Langara College Falcons, who sit at
the bottom seed in the same group,
to a score of 3-2. With their final two
games before the championships, it
would be quite an accomplishment
to walk in with an undefeated record
to brag about. We’ ll just have to wait
and see if they can pull it off.

The women’s soccer team had
a pair of losses last weekend, losing
4-2 on Saturday to the Capilano
University Blues and then getting
shut-out on Sunday by the Langara
College Falcons for a final score of
2-0 to add on to their losing streak.
Unfortunately the Royals couldn’t
capitalize on their home field
advantage with both games being
held at the Coquitlam Town Centre.
Their record now stands at 3-3-4

I: seems as though the season

Marinko Maras

 

where they are sitting at third position
in Group A with a plus/minus -3 and
12 points. Third year player Stephanie
Russo remains the team’s top scorer
and fifth in the league with four goals
in eight games while rookie Chantel .
Rasmussen is the next Royal on the
chart with three goals in eight games
as well. The Royals will have to
scrounge out a couple of wins if they
want the confidence booster going
into the provincials.

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