Garth McLennan sports@theotherpress.ca BCCAA Scoreboard Friday, January 9, 2009 Men’s Basketball GP 1. Vancouver Island University Mariners 2. UBC-Okanagan Heat 3. Kwantlen Polytechnic University Eagles 4. Capilano University Blues 5. Columbia Bible College Bearcats 6. Douglas College Royals Langara College Falcons UNBC Timberwolves Camosun College Chargers Quest University Canada Kermodes DNNDAADAAADMAANAD Women’s Basketball GP 1. Camosun College Chargers 6 2. Capilano University Blues 5 3. UNBC Timberwolves W=2 Points L=0 Points WwW i PTS PF PA +/- 6 0 12 509 402 +107 5 0 10 369 348 +21 4 3 8 576 542 +34 3 2 6 450 432 - 18 3 3 6 438 489 -51 3 3 6 497 497 E. 3 4 6 469 514 - 45 2 4 a 459 LES +11 1 5 2 438 43 -5 0 6 0 428 518 - 90 W L PTS PF PA +/- 6 0 12 461 247 +214 5 0 10 385 206 +179 Home Away Fri. Jan. 9 Quest 62 Langara 71 caesar CBC61Kwantlen75 aed rs UNBC 103 Douglas 73 | 2-1 1-1 UBC-O at Capilano | 2-1 1-2 Sat. Jan. 10 1-2 2-1 VIU at Camosun 1-2 2-2 Quest at Langara 1-2 1-2 CBC at Kwantlen | 1-3 0-2 UNBC at Douglas | 0-2 0-4 UBC-O at Capilano : Fri. Jan. 9 Hi i Quest 43 Langara 72 ee or CBC 54 Kwantlen 88 4-0 2-0 UNBC 64 Douglas 48 3-0 2-03 . UBC-O at Capilano | Sat. Jan. 10 VIU at Camosun Quest at Langara CBC at Kwantlen UNBC at Douglas | UBC-O at Capilano TAaVares VS. Hema ®l ss cess scien, spots Bator ej. of the biggest questions at this year’s upcoming NHL entry draft will be who will be selected first overall: John Tavares or Victor Hedman. After Canada’s historic performance at the 2009 WJC’s, Tavares solidified his spot. Throughout the tournament, Tavares, who is ranked as the number one North American skater heading into the draft, was all over the ice for Canada, making plays, throwing checks and dazzling the NHL scouts who have been drooling over him while he’s toyed with the rest of the OHL for the past four years. Tavares tied for the tournament lead in goals with eight and finished second in scoring with 15 points. With 12 career goals at the WJC’s, he is now tied as Canada’s all-time leading goal scorer. He scored a hat trick the opening preliminary game against the Czech Republic and notched the shootout winner in the nail- biting semi-final game against Russia, where he also assisted on the goal that sent the game into overtime. Tavares is just 18, but already had a gold medal at the WJC from 2008. He’s also been playing for the Oshawa Generals in Major Junior’s Ontario Hockey League since he was 15, where the league created a special rule to allow him to play at such a young age. Two seasons ago he lit up the rest of the circuit with 134 points, including 72 goals, in 67 games and was named the MVP of the CHL. Last season, his numbers dipped to 118 points with just 40 goals, but that was attributed largely to boredom. So far this year he has 25 goals and 52 points in 31 games on a terrible Oshawa squad. Meanwhile, Victor Hedman, who is also 18 and ranked as the number one European skater for the draft, more than caught up to Tavares with his play in Sweden. At 6’7”, 230 pounds, Hedman is a monster of a defenseman. Last year, he more than held his own in the Swedish Elite League as a 16 and 17-year- old playing against men. Outside of the NHL, the Swedish Elite League is considered to be one of the top circuits in the world. With Tavares’ stock slipping a bit and Hedman’s soaring after his strong play in the Swedish league and tremendous international outings for Sweden, including a silver medal effort at the 2008 WJC where he was named to the all-star team, the two looked pretty even heading into this year’s tournament. However, while Tavares excelled, Hedman struggled a bit. Tavares was named the tournament’s top forward and MVP and also put on the all-star team, while Hedman received no awards and had just two assists in six games. Now, Hedman was still a +4, but he really missed the opportunity to show the world how good he can be. In the gold medal game, with the whole world watching, Tavares and Hedman squared off against each other and while Tavares starred—just as he did all tournament— Hedman gooned it up by head-locking Angelo Esposito and earning massive boos whenever he touched the puck. It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see how good Hedman can be. Fortunately though, we did get to see the best of John Tavares, and that’s a good enough show for anyone. 5 Team USA disappoints at World Juniors By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor Caren native Jonathan Blum may be leading the Vancouver Giants to one of the best records in the Western Hockey League (WHL) but serving in the same capacity for the United States during the 2009 World Junior Championships (WJC) in Ottawa, Blum and the entire American squad grossly failed to live up to expectations with a disappointing fifth place finish. The American squad was loaded with star power; there was the 19-year-old Blum, who, aside from being one of the best defensemen in the WHL, was also a 23" overall first round draft pick by the Nashville Predators in 2007; also appearing was second overall pick of the NHL’s 2007 Draft James vanRiemsdyk, who led the 2008 WJC in scoring; and defensive studs Kevin Shattenkirk and Ryan McDonagh. Heading into the tournament, America was primed to win its first medal since bronze in 2007. They weren’t expected to have the depth of Sweden, the attacking power of Canada or the dazzle of Russia, but they were expected to be a strong medal contender. Contrary to what almost everyone predicted however, the team tanked. After starting out strong with big wins over Germany and Kazakhstan, The U.S. lost a heartbreaker to Canada on New Year’s Eve, 7-4. After romping out to a seemingly unbeatable 3-0 lead in the first period, Canada, led by superstar John Tavares, stormed back and eventually overwhelmed the States in one of the year’s best and most entertaining hockey games. While the sport of hockey itself couldn’t have asked for a better showcase to the world, the loss clearly demoralized the USA. After losing to Canada, they dropped the next game two nights later in one of the biggest upsets in years. The underdog Slovaks defeated the USA 5-3 in a game that plain and simple, they weren’t supposed to win. Led by tournament all-star goaltender Jaroslav Janus, Slovakia managed to escape with a win despite being outshot 47-19. Knocked out of the quarterfinals, the US were down to playing the lowly Czech Republic for fifth place, where they managed to squeeze out a 3-2 win. Overall, the World Juniors had to be a crushing event for Blum. In 28 games with the powerhouse Giants, who can make a legitimate claim as the best junior club on the continent, the hard-shooting Blum had racked up 44 points and 14 goals, astonishing statistics for a defenseman. In September and October of this season, he was named player of the month for the entire WHL. At the World Juniors, Blum himself didn’t play poorly at all. In six games with the USA he scored twice and added two assists for four points. Not outstanding numbers, but when you consider the relatively poor play of his teammates, it’s tough to place much of the blame for the team’s performance on Blum. 15