Disappointment for Douglas
UNBC Timberwolves win basketball provincial championship

 

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

he Douglas College Royals’
men’s basketball team

came into the provincial
championships as fifth seed
underdogs and they failed to do
anything to dispel that notion as they
were ousted from the competition
on the first day in a 90-73 loss to the
Capilano Blues.

The Royals were dominated

in virtually all areas during the
tournament, which was held at
Vancouver Island University in
Victoria. They shot just 25 per cent
from three-point range (compared to
the Blues’ 47.6), managed shoot just
30 per cent on free throws (Capilano
shot a lights-out 84.2) and had a field

goal percentage of 41.9 (contrasted
with Capilano’s 50.8).

Suffice to say, it wasn’t a stellar
outing for the Royals. After defeating

_ Douglas, Capilano advanced to the

semi-finals, where they lost soundly
to the UNBC Timberwolves, 79-69.
UNBC had received a bye through
the quarterfinals and went on to

win the entire tournament. They
blew out the host VIU Mariners 84-
65 in the gold medal game. UBC
Okanogan defeated Capilano in the
bronze medal game earlier in the day.
UNBC’s Indirbir Gill was named the
tournament MVP. While he failed

to win gold at provincials, it was a
terrific year for Gill, who earlier in
the competition found out that he had
been named the BCCAA’s league
player of the year.

On the women’s side, UBC
Okanagan took gold with a win over
Camosun, while hometown VIU won
bronze.

@Peyp eye) Caco Coleen op areUr nes
for the 2010 BCCAA Provincial

championships can be found at:
http://www.mala.ca/mariners
BBALLO9BCCAA/website/faqs.htm

 

 

hos fiaeses asa dears
dash tanto massa adc

around town!

 

 

s. Mott's,

Headshots: something needs to change

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

public tunes into SportsNet or

TSN for the nightly highlights,
only to be met with yet another
jarring visual of one NHL player
brutally taking advantage of another.

It seems to be happening at

almost every prominent level of
hockey now. It wasn’t long ago that
Patrice Cormier sent Mikeal Tam
into convulsions with an appalling
flying elbow in a QMJHL contest.
More recently, Pittsburgh Penguins
forward and well-known cheap
shot artist Matt Cooke gave Boston
center Marc Savard a grade two

|: seems like every night now, the

said, this is reaching the point of
ridiculousness. There has to be a
balance that the movers and shakers
of the NHL can get to between
keeping hitting in hockey stopping
the idiocy we’ve been seeing in
increasing amounts lately.

It is time that the NHL shows
some guts and protects its players.
Now, it’s clear that there is no
intention to get rid of the instigator
rule, which has paved the way for
disgraces like Cooke and Sean
Avery to throw dirty hits on the
players in vulnerable positions.
Removing the instigator rule would
go a long way to solving the cheap/
headshot problem, but if that isn’t

“It is time that the NHL shows some guts and protects its players.”

concussion with a vicious blindside
hit to the head.

Every time one of these hits
happen, the sports media erupts
in fury and demands change. In
response the NHL general managers
convene in Florida to have “serious
discussions” about what should
be done to address the headshot
issue. And every time one of these
meetings is held, nothing of any
sort of substance gets accomplished
and every time we get to hear Brian
Burke talk about how he doesn’t
care what the media thinks.

It’s true; nobody wants to see
the fundamental nature of the game
changed. Big hits and the physical
elements are some of the best parts
of hockey. However, that being

on the table then putting in a new
rule with the aim of punishing
intent to injure or hits to the head
would be the next best thing. Minor
hockey across Canada has a similar
rule pertaining to headshots, and it
assesses a two minute minor penalty
along with a ten minute misconduct.
What would be the problem with the
NHL putting something like that in?
Regardless of if that’s the road
the NHL chooses to go down or
not, it’s plain as day that something
needs to change. Hockey has a hard
enough time as it is carving out
the right image for itself down in
the States; sickening blindside hits
that leave a player unconscious or
in a pool of blood on the ice aren’t
helping.

 

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