Sports
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Cowichan Valley Citizen | Wednesday, August 26, 2015
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Islanders rise above to win exhibition opener KEVIN ROTHBAUER CITIZEN
Although they could have easily been forgiven for a loss in their preseason exhibition opener, the Kerry Park Islanders shrugged off any distractions on Sunday evening and won their first game of the Aaron Spotts era 4-2 over the Nanaimo Buccaneers. “We were pleasantly surprised,” Islanders owner Mark Osmond said. “To win 4-2 and dominate two periods of the game was nice.” Spotts was named the Islanders’ head coach late last week after previous head coach Dale Purinton was arrested in New York state following in connection with a break-in and assault (see story on page 3). The transition appears to have been a smooth one as the Isles emerged victorious despite dressing seven bubble players for Sunday’s contest. Scoring for the Isles came from returning players Keegan Bissett, Tyson Malloch and Lynden Eddy, and hopeful Ty Berger, while Liam Kennedy, Josiah Nadon, Tanner Tiel and Corey Peterson registered assists. Peterson is returning to the Islanders after spending the last season and a half with the Westshore Wolves. Starting in 2012, he spent the first year and a half of his career with the Isles before being traded to the Wolves. Over his threeyear VIJHL career, Peterson has played 133 games, putting
Competitors from across Vancouver Island took part in the pickleball championships at Fuller Lake Park earlier this month. [KEVIN ROTHBAUER/CITIZEN]
Hard-fought battles highlight Island pickleball championships Aaron Spotts, left, is the Islanders new head coach after Dale Purinton’s dismissal last week. [CITIZEN FILE] up 151 points on 48 goals and 103 assists. Conner Bissett, brother of Keegan, got into the lineup and made a positive impression, while Shawnigan Lake School hockey program players Kennedy and Noah Crumb looked ready to contribute to the team. Unfortunately, because of their commitments to the school program, Shawnigan players won’t be full-time players for the Islanders, but Osmond hopes to get them into a few regular season games. “If we can affiliate them, that would be awesome,” he said. “They have the ability to just step in and play.” Merek Pipes, another Shawnigan product, played the first
half of the game in goal. ccording to Osmond, Pipes was supposed to play just one period, but the league struck down the Isles’ plan to play three goalies, so Pipes and Ross Manson split the duties. “They both played well,” Manson said. “Merek was outstanding in the first part of the game.” The Islanders’ camp continues through this week, followed by a home-and-home exhibition series with the Peninsula Panthers on the weekend. The teams will play in North Saanich on Friday, then at Kerry Park on Saturday, facing off at 7:30 p.m. Admission to the game in Mill Bay is free.
KEVIN ROTHBAUER CITIZEN
From Campbell River to Victoria, pickleball players from across the region converged on Fuller Lake Park on Aug. 15 and 16 for the 2015 Vancouver Island Pickleball Championships. The field included 18 women’s doubles teams, 15 men’s doubles teams, and a whopping 24 mixed doubles teams, as well as eight singles players. “There were many hard-fought and exciting matches involving the best players on the Island,” Vancouver Island Pickleball Association president Ken Holman said. The big winner of the weekend was Nanaimo’s Nancy Stern, who won gold in all three of the events she entered: women’s doubles (alongside Pauline Davidson), mixed doubles (alongside John Savoy) and women’s singles.
Caps open camp with ‘deeper’ batch of players With their first exhibition game set for this Thursday, the Cowichan Valley Capitals were hard at work earlier this week when training camp officially got going on Monday morning. “It’s time,” head coach and general manager Bob Beatty said. “It’s good to get going.” The Caps have 30 players in camp vying for 22 roster spots. Beatty got his first look at the group during some informal ice times last week. “We’re really happy with this group of guys,” he said. “They’ll have to compete for spots. I feel we’re a lot deeper than we’ve been in the past.” Absent from the group are last year’s top two scorers as both Sean Harrison and Darien Craighead have opted to try out
for U.S. Hockey League teams. Harrison, who led the Caps with 46 points (22 goals and 24 assists) in 58 games as a B.C. Hockey League last season, is in camp with the Bloomington Thunder. Craighead, who was second on the team with 44 points (19 goals and 25 assists) in 42 contests, has signed on with the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Both players earned NCAA Div. 1 scholarships through their play with the Caps last season, Harrison with Union College and Craighead with Northern Michigan University. If either or both should fail to make their USHL teams, they could end up returning to the Caps. “That’s always a possibility,” Beatty said. Also not in camp is forward
Nicolas Carrier, who Cowichan acquired from the Nanaimo Clippers in the offseason to complete a trade last January for Ryan Coghlan. Carrier was dealt last week to the Carleton Place Canadians of the Central Canada Hockey League when he didn’t report to the Caps. Among the new faces fans can look for this week are forwards Mackenzie Bauer and Ayden MacDonald, and defencemen Chris Harpur and Mitch Meek. Thursday’s game in Lake Cowichan against the Powell River Kings will begin at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Caps will be back at the Island Savings Centre to face the Victoria Grizzlies at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, they will visit the Grizzlies at Colwood’s Q Centre beginning at 2 p.m.
In Support of the Food Bank! esents
th e 4 0th A n n i v er s a r y
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KEVIN ROTHBAUER CITIZEN
Stern and Davidson beat the team of Gwen Chew and Marilyn Moen in the women’s doubles final, while Shirley Moore and Arlene Thorne won the women’s doubles consolation over Leslie Black and Gwen Hay. The men’s doubles final went to Ronnie Pitcher and Garth Watkins over Michael Seal and Bob Fish, while Savoy and Vaughan Allin won the consolation bracket over Alex Gendron and Buzz Handford. Stern and Savoy won the mixed doubles final over Davidson and Barry Bissonnette, while Evelyn Kaatz and Bill Dumper beat Beverly De Haitre and Rick Adie in the consolation final. Phil Cowley Jr. won the men’s singles over Bissonnette, and Phil Cowley Sr. won the men’s singles consolation over Neil Rich. Stern defeated Kerry Savory to win the women’s singles.
The Grey Cup is coming to the Cowichan Exhibition Sept 13, 1-3pm! Get up close & personal with Canada’s Legendary Grey CupTM with a non-perishable food item in support of your local food bank!