For sale: The best Junior 'A' lacrosse team in Canada.
Fresh off their victory the previous summer as hosts of the Minto Cup national tournament, co-owners Ken Wood and Rocky Zimmerman were offering their Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs to the highest bidder -- preferably, they insisted, to one who would keep the team in the city and continue to play out of their home location since 1965, the Sports Centre (now Poirier Sports Complex).
Wood and Zimmerman contended they were being forced to opt out primarily as a result of a push by the Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse Association executive to move Jr. A's evening practice time to free up more prime hours for CMLA teams. The pair also cited a lack of support from the city of Coquitlam.
Coquitlam Sr. Adanacs, who alternate mid-week floor time with the Jr. Adanacs, were also feeling the practice-time pinch and held an emergency executive board meeting to discuss the issue.
When contacted the next morning, Sr. Adanacs general manager Les Wingrove reserved comment, other than to say he was hopeful to meet "within the next couple days" with city officials to try to resolve the issue before his team made a firm decision on what it would do. Wingrove said time was of the essence with the Sr. A's presence expected at next Tuesday's Western Lacrosse Association junior draft in Burnaby.
At the time, it was the Jr. Adanacs who were most irate.
"We're not bluffing about selling but we're tired and worn out," Wood told The Tri-City News. "We've received absolute silence from the city and literally no support."
BEST WINS, BRAWL ENSUES
When the Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils knocked off the North Delta Huskies in the B.C. AAA senior boys high school provincial soccer final, they did more than take home a championship banner.
With the victory the squad became only the fifth team in league history to win back-to-back titles, a feat that was not lost on coach Alfonso Napoletano.
"The boys were very motivated to repeat the championship because they knew it had been rare," he said. "I am so proud of the boys and was very pleased with their work ethic, teamwork and dedication."
After, a brawl that ended the tourney was a disappointing end to a spectacular game, Napoletano said.
"Our team's celebration was cut short after the game because of the incident and the Best boys are a bit upset that they didn't get much recognition at the field or in the paper for what they did on the soccer pitch," Napoletano said in an email.
The fight apparently started when a Charles Best fan taunted the losing North Delta team. Eyewitnesses reported that the fan was knocked down and kicked several times until he was rescued by a teacher.
SOMBRE SILVER FOR JOHANSEN
After getting literally buffaloed by the Russians, Port Moody's Ryan Johansen still felt immense pain a dozen hours later in Chicago. And it wasn't because of the fat lip he incurred as a result.
In charge 3-0 going into the third period, Team Canada and the centre Johansen watched in disbelief as Russia ripped in five straight goals on way to a 5-3 victory in front of 18,690 mostly maple leaf-mad fans and millions of television viewers in the gold-medal battle at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.
"It still hurts right now... it's hard to even talk about," Johansen told The Tri-City News on the phone during a stop-over Thursday morning in Chicago enroute to rejoining his junior team, the WHL Winterhawks, in Portland, Ore. "Our first period was outstanding... to have a 2-0 advantage, and then go up 3-0 [early in the second]. We were feeling really confident going into the third."
There, things quickly began to crumble for Canada, as Russia scored goals 11 ticks apart before the three-minute mark to cut the margin to one. Five minutes later, with Canada reeling defensively, the Russians tied it and, then with overtime a distinct possibility, they potted the winner with 4:38 remaining.
Russia sealed the win with yet another goal with 76 seconds to play.
BC HALL CALLS JONES
Whenever wrestling gets highlighted provincially, Port Coquitlam resident Mike Jones smiles just knowing he might have merely had a small part in making it happen.
If more than 35 years coaching grapplers to greatness at the collegiate and international levels is simply a little piece of recognition, one has to wonder what a weighty contribution to a sport looks like to him.
Jones, 59, humbly and graciously celebrated the announcement that he was chosen as part of the 2011 class of B.C. Sports Hall of Fame inductees as a builder.
"It's always nice to be recognized for one of the bigger honours in B.C.," said Jones, whose Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club/Simon Fraser Clan have churned out 18 Olympians and eight NAIA national team titles under his long-time tutelage.
"We're not always highlighted as a sport so, sure, it makes me happy when we get recognized."
