The Prince George Citizen -Thursday, January 16, 1992 - 13

Don Schaffer 562-2441 S n o r ts Sports Editor Local 517

M ind gam es helping Q uebec skater even if the international results were not by NEIL STEVENS very good,” she says. “ M y programs are Canadian Press more difficult this year. MONCTON, N.B. — Josee Chouinard Underdog status sought by defending cham pion “ That’s why I’m looking forward so is playing a m ind game. much to perform ing.”

Subconsciously, she’s relinquished the something. I think that’s the best way to nesday was Gaetan Desbiens, 16, o f Alm a, And Chouinard’s results this season Chouinard w ill have a triple Lutz-double Canadian senior women’s figure skating approach the com petition.” Que. He was recovering in hospital from have been unimpressive: ninth at Skate toe combination jum p in her original pro­ title she won last winter in Saskatoon, and an emergency appendectomy while the America and eighth at Nations Cup in gram, and the triple flip w ill be among she’s taking the attitude during the 1992 The senior wom en’s event begins Friday rest of the novice men were tracing their G e r m a n y . seven triples in the long, which w ill be nationals this week that she’s merely one night w ith original program presentations. Tonight, senior pairs com petition begins. fig u r e s . First, she couldn’t find music she liked skated in a more classic style, revealing a o f many skaters seeking the gold medal. for her choreography; then she switched more mature personality than the rock V The Royal Bank Nationals opened W ed­ Chouinard, who was sixth at the world “ I’m not the champion this week,” says skate blades to alter positions of pique roll inspired four-m inute free-skating num­ nesday. In the novice division’s com­ championships in Munich last March, is the 22-year-old Laval, Que., skater. “ I’m edges, which changed her technique on pulsory figures, Brandi-Lee Rousseau of well aware that two former Canadian ber that won her the title last year. equal with the others who want to be .some jum ps and spins; and then she added Wawa, Ont., was first among 16 women, champions — Karen Preston of Missis­ Chouinard is favored to become the first c h a m p io n . a difficult triple flip to her long program. and Christopher Rose of Sault Stc. Marie, sauga, Ont., who won in 1989, and Lisa woman to repeat as Canadian senior cham­ Everything took time to fall into place. “ That’s what my coach (Johannc Bar- OnL, and Michael Fitton of W hite Rock, Sargeant of , who won in 1990 pion since Elizabeth Manley (1987-1988) beau) and I decided. We want to be reach­ B.C., tied for first among 16 men. — are determined to return to the top of “ I met all my goals that I wanted to despite being, in her mind anyway, just ing for something instead o f trying to keep The most disappointed skater Wed­ the podium. meet before the Canadian championships, another skater.

C a n u c k s ’ SHOAF, GENDRON SET R u s s i a n s Bantam Kings i g n i t e w i n

by CHRIS CARIOU Canadian Press getting ready EDMONTON — Its a funny thing what a pair of quick, offen­ sive-minded wingers can do for a small, crafty centre from for tournam ent Voskresensk. by DON SCHAFFER in a 5-4 exhibition win over Fort Igor Larionov, one of the best Sports Editor S t. J a m e s . international hockey stars for years There’s nothing like playing a Shoaf s five-foot-11, 165-pound before being prematurely labelled big tournament at home. presence up front was expected to a bust in the N H L, scored his 15th Trevor Shoaf and Sean Gendron add toughness, and he said he’s and 16th goals of the season W ed­ of the Farr Fabricating Bantam ready to get in and grind. nesday night. Kings are keyed up for the W hite Both came on the power play as Spot Bantam AAA minor hockey “ I like to play physical,” he the Canucks won their tournament, which starts Friday said. “ Hopefully it w ill work out second road game in as many morning at the K in Centre. and I’ll get to play up all the nights, beating the Edmonton “ I’m really looking forward to t im e .” O ilers 5-3. this,” said Shoaf, 15, a second- The Bantam Kings, like the “ I’ve got a couple of quick year member o f the Bantam Kings. other Prince George rep teams, wingers now,” said Larionov, who “ Playing in front of your home have struggled at times this season. now plays on a line with Mus­ fans is always great. Gendron said he expects that to covite Pavel Bure and Greg “ Our main goal is the provin­ change, starting this weekend. Adams from plain old Nelso, B.C. cials, but this is a big tournament “ That means I’ve got to play for us. It’s helping us get ready for “ The coaches laid down the more offensive style,” Larionov the provincials.” law,” he explained. “ They told us said. “ I played the last couple of The second annual eight-team we had to get together, and I think years a more defensive style — tournament starts at 7:30 a.m. it really smartened everyone up. penalty-killing and the checking Friday, w ith Prince George pooled “ They told us we’re a team and lin e s . with North Delta, Kelowna and we have to work together as a “ But now I’ve got two wingers Port Coquitlam. W illiams Lake, te a m .” and I have to be more offensive, Quesnel, Fort St. John and Cran­ try to feed my wingers and be in brook are in the other pool. Improved defence and team play the hot spot at the front of the Shoaf, who’s on the protected should improve the team’s chances, Shoaf said. n e t.” list of the Western Hockey Larionov was a hit internation­ League’s Spokane Chiefs, said the “ We’ve got a lot of guys who a lly . tournament w on’t be an easy one. can put the puck in the net,” he A t the 1988 W inter Olympics in “ W e’ve seen Delta play, and we said. “ Our goaltenders (Lee Calgary, he scored 13 points in played Kelowna once and lost to Dionne and Vance Hrabchuk) have eight games to cam his second them,” he said. “ W e haven’t seen played outstanding for us. Olym pic gold medal. Coquitlam, but I think we’ve got "W e’re really a young team, He was the Soviet player of the the tougher side o f the draw. though. We have seven first-year year in 1987-88 before the events “ W illiams Lake has given us a bantams on our team, which is re­ of the last several months trans­ Alice Ross, co-ordinator of the Prince George Big Brothers-Big lot o f trouble this year, though.” ally a lot. I was on the Bantam formed his country into the Com­ Sisters Charity Auction, gets familiar with some of the goodies that Gendron, a 15-year-old winger Kings last year, and there were monwealth o f Independent States. on the protected list of the W H L’s will be up for grabs Friday night. The auction, to be held in con­ just three first-year players.” When he joined the Canucks in junction with the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League All-star Victoria Cougars, said he isn’t 1989, his offensive production fal­ Getting It together Banquet, starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Coast Inn of the North and concerned about who Farr plays He said he hopes to play junior tered. He had 44 points in 74 features 36 items, ranging from a baseball signed by Hank Aaron this weekend. next year instead of midget, look­ games in his rookie year and only to a Brad Suey ski. Tickets are on sale at the Inn, at the Spruce “ I don’t care who we play. ing forward to the better hockey at 34 points in 64 games last year. Kings office, the Kinsmen Complex or at the door. We’ll take them on and beat the higher level. But he said he Injuries played a part, but Lari­ Citizen photo by Dave Milne them,” he said. “ We just want to wouldn’t mind staying home if he onov says playing with Bure is a w in the tournament.” didn’t make the cut with Spokane. lot easier than it was for him to Shoaf and Gendron are longtime “ Playing for the Spruce Kings play with Viktor Krutov, another friends who attend Kelly Road next year wouldn’t bother me,” he countryman the Canucks released. Secondary School. They work out said. “ It wouldn’t be bad at all to “ (Bure) is the young generation B ook links N ikeathletes, drugs together at Highlander Fitness on a play here for a while. It’s good to from the former Soviet Union,” operated from 1977-1985, used steroids and team o ffi­ strength-training program given to PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Steroid use by Nike- have the option o f trying out for a Larionov said. “ He is more re­ cials knew it. Gendron by a Cougars’ coach. sponsorcd athletes and widespread under-the-table team at home if you don’t make laxed, and he wants to play in the Gendron said they’ve played on payments to amateur competitors are among the alle­ Strasser said this week that she had a copy o f the th e W H L . ” NHL.” teams together since atoms, but gations in a book released this week that details the minutes of the 1979 management meeting of Blue just last weekend were put on the The victory expanded Vancou­ inner workings o f the athletic shoe and apparel giant. Ribbon Sports, N ike’s parent company at the time, in Cranbrook and W illiams I akf ver’s lead atop the Smythe D ivi­ same line for the first time. play the first game of the tourna­ Swoosh, The Story of Nike and the Men Who which Athletics West head Harry Johnson said Athlet­ sion to 11 points. “ It was great,” Gendron said. ment Friday morning. Prince Played There, was w ritten by sisters Julie Strasser and ics W est was testing for steroid use. Geoff Courtnall and newly ac­ “ I think it worked pretty w ell.” George meets Port Coquitlam at Laurie Becklund. “ At that time, you know that Nike management quired Tom Fergus each had two Shoaf, a career defenceman, was 12:30 p.m. and North Delta in the Strasser was N ike’s first advertising director and her knew that was going on and didn’t stop it,” she said. assists. Jim Sandlak, Jyrki Lumme moved to forward when coach 8:30 p.m. feature game. husband, Rob, was the marketing whiz during the Dick Brown, exercise physiologist for Athletics and Trevor Linden had the other Dave Campbell wanted to beef up company’s meteoric rise to national prominence West, said the material attributed to him on the sub­ Round-robin play resumes Satur­ goals for Vancouver, which beat the team’s front line. during the 1980s. Becklund is a reporter for the Los ject is accurate. He said the club did nothing about the day at 7:30 a.m., w ith Farr playing the second-place W innipeg Jets 4- “ I’m happy I got the chance to Angeles Times. drug use. Using the substances, which now are widely its last prelim inary contest against 2 Tuesday night. play forward,” Shoaf said. “ I like felt to be damaging to long-term health, was and is Kelowna at 10:45. The Oilers, a team sputtering Much o f the book deals with the unusual personali­ to bring the puck up. I see m yself against international amateur rules. w ith a suspect defence and plenty ties at Nike. There also arc allegations of amateur as a scorer. Playoffs start at 3 p.m., with of turmoil, are 1-4-1 in their last sports rule violations. Meet promoters would help by notifying athletes in “ Actually, I’d rather pass than cross-over semi-finals at 5:45 and s ix g a m e s . In the book, the authors write that competitors for advance whether they would be tested, he said W ed­ s h o o t.” 8:30. The championship game is at M ore N H L, pages 16, 17. Athletics West, the Nikc-sponsorcd track club that n e s d a y . Shoaf had three assists Sunday 11 a.m. Sunday at K in I. Ali m em ories happy — well, most of them

by JIM TAYLOR side to it. Here, then, are three small, per­ wheelchair and puts his arm around the casino regulars are feeding the machines. Vancouver Province sonal stories about the other A li, the one Ali retrospective, page 14former champion of the Behind her, in a cabaret room, the stage is The newspapers and magazines and TV who always played centre ring, but stayed w o r ld . cleared to bare boards, the backdrops screens are rightly full of tributes to too long at the fair. .. . in. Man, if he’d come, I m ighta been dead. “ Does it hurt champ?” he asks. “ Does hoisted to the ceiling. Muhammad A li as he approaches tomor­ it really hurt?” , Sept. 30, 1980: In two But he didn’t....” Like the man now stepping to centre row ’s 50th birthday. days, A li w ill step into the ring against “ W hy not? W hy didn’t he come in?” There is no answer. There is moisture in ring they are best viewed from a distance, • The film clips of the young Cassius heavyweight champion . No A li’s eyes as he pats his shoulder and The head came up and for an instant the where you can’t see that silver is alum­ Clay and the early A li take your breath one believes he can win, but such is the stands erect. old A li arrogance was there in his eyes. inum foil and all that glitters is sham. away. How could there be a body like that A li magic that m illions cling to the hope “ It’s never gonna happen to me,” he “ Because,” he said, “ he knew who he Muhammad A li goes through the old — the football bulk with the middle- that somehow he w ill. says quietly. “ Never.. . . ” w eight’s hand speed and the legs that were was cornin’ in at.” lines, hyping a fight with Trevor Berbick. “ Remember the fight Nassau, Dec. 5, 1981: The Drama in equal parts Secretariat and Fred Astaire? Las Vegas, O ct 1, 1980: , But there is no life to it. He is 40 years Bahama T-shirts look as tired and washed- The stories of the calculatedly mouthy in Vancouver in ’72?” a guy asks. the old Brown Bomber, is wheeled in to a old, and the show has run too long. After out as the ladies flogging them. The card Cassius literally shouting his way to a title A li brightens, then pretends to wince. press session. A stroke has left him all but 15 minutes, he leaves. table bearing the shoe box for the money fight with Sonny Liston and all the dazzle “ That George, he hit me so hard,” he speechless. An attendant wipes drool o ff wobbles under the responsibility. Outside, a lady begins re-packing the T- his lips. T^e next night at ringside as the and the dance of the good A li years make said. “ You know, one time he had me s h irts . wonderful reading. hurt so bad I was propped up in the comer fight begins, the same man w ill lean over “ Three dollars,” the lady says, ripping “ Sell many?” a guy asks. In the main they are happy stories. with my arms stretched out on the ropes and gently twist his head to put his eyes a ticket from a roll. “ Three dollars to on the ring. Maybe that’s as it should be. It is, after and I knew that if he came and got me he watch train.. . . ” “ Maybe tomorrow,” she shrugs. all, a birthday party. But there is another had me. So I waved him in, invited him In a quiet moment A li leans over the Twenty feet from where she sits the “ Maybe tomorrow.. . . ”