12 www.pgcitizen.ca | Monday, December 14, 2009 sports

Junior team calls Cuma The Canadian Press Team scout Al Murray said Cuma had just missed the cutoff REGINA — Tyler Cuma of the for invitations to camp and was Ottawa 67s has been called up to first in line for a call if a player was Canada’s world junior team selec- injured. tion camp to replace injured de- “(Wiercioch) came in with a fenceman Patrick Wiercioch. knee injury that happened a while Wiercioch, of Maple Ridge, was ago and our medical people didn’t returned to the University of Den- feel it had healed to the point ver. He was unable to skate as where it was in his best interest to camp opened Sunday at the be on the ice,” Murray said. Brandt Centre. Cuma said he got a call Saturday night after a game in Barrie, Ont., and jumped on a plane for Regina. Bon Voyage “I’m running on just a little bit of sleep but I’m overjoyed with the SportsSports opportunity,” said Cuma. Cuma was injured at last year’s DECEMBER 18th camp and missed out on playing LADIES NITE the world juniors in Ottawa. He was not among the 36 players orig- from 5-9pm inally invited to this year’s camp. All products “It’s unfortunate for him, I know % exactly what he’s going through,” 25 off added Cuma. “It’s a tough break (excludes guns, ammunitions, optics) for him, but those kind of things can happen to any player. 250-964-2669 00672220 “Fortunately I was the next guy #120 - 4488 Hwy 16 West in line. Hopefully this year I’ll Prince George, BC V2N 5N7 make a good impression and stick www.bonvoyagesports.com with the team.” email: [email protected] Adam Plant of the Penticton Vees, right, blocks a pass attempt by Pursuit of Excellence forward Ryan Kelm dur- ing Sunday’s championship game of the White Spot bantam Tier 1 hockey tournament. Pursuit, from Kelowna, beat Penticton 6-1.The host Farr Fabricating Cougars finished third. Just in time for Christmas! Citizen photo by David Mah Book your FREE RANGE Turkeys and Lawrence Hams today! Farr Fab Cougars finish in third place Jason Peters without their captain, Jake LeBrun, who is Citizen staff recovering from a broken arm. Against the Storm on Sunday morning, They ran into some talented teams and Farr Fab got one from Witala and two End Cut Meat & struggled with their own consistency. Those from Michael Klonarakis. The 14-year-old Cheese Trays two factors led to a disappointing finish for Klonarakis broke a 1-1 tie early in the third Pork Chops the Farr Fabricating Cougars. period when he one-timed a drop pass from for your The Cougars, hosts of the White Spot Raymond Grewal and squeezed the puck Frozen, 10 lb box at bantam Tier 1 hockey tournament, placed through the legs of goaltender Talon Wal- $ 95 parties! home third out of six clubs. On Sunday morning ton. Then, with 10 minutes left to play, only at Kin 2, they beat the Grande Prairie Klonarakis stripped a Grande Prairie player 19 every Storm 3-1 in their last round-robin game. of the puck and lifted a backhander into the The Cats, however, knew before they even roof of the net. STORE Saturday, 00647055 Homesteader Meats HOURS: only in stepped on the ice that a top-two finish Bradley Derksen was the only Grande MON - SAT: and a spot in the afternoon championship Prairie shooter who scored on Cougars Serving Prince George for 27 Years 8am - 6pm the game wasn’t possible. goalie Jared Young. 556 N.Nechako Rd • Tel: 250-563-1002 • Fax 250-563-1535 Citizen! “Considering the circumstances — pret- Klonarakis liked the third period his team ty much a meaningless game — I thought played. the boys came out and played well,” “We were tenacious on the puck and didn’t Prince George coach Sean LeBrun said of give up,” he said. “(The Storm) were physi- the result against the Storm. “They put in cal but we just used our speed to get around a solid effort.” them. It’s a disappointment (to miss the fi- Overall, the Cougars compiled a 3-2 nal) but we’re happy with the win here.” record. Grande Prairie coach Brian Udey consid- The 13- and 14-year-old Cats started the ered the Cougars deserving of the victory. tournament with a 4-3 Friday win against “I was really impressed by their puck Leduc. Later Friday, they lost 6-1 to Kelow- movement and, even with small forwards, na’s Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy. they were willing to go in the corners and The Cats rebounded with a 6-5 Saturday battle for every inch of ice,” said Udey, morning victory against Kamloops but then whose club posted a 1-4 overall record and dropped a backbreaking 7-3 decision to finished fifth. Penticton on Saturday night. In Sunday’s final, Pursuit of Excellence In that critical game, the Cougars lost broke open a close game in the third period top scorer Chase Witala 3:30 into the first and beat Penticton 6-1. Both teams finished period when he was given a game miscon- round-robin play with 4-1 records. duct for checking from behind. After a Leduc (3-2) ended up fourth and Kam- scoreless first period, Penticton outgunned loops (0-5) was sixth. Prince George 6-1 in the second and coast- The Cougars will now take a short break ed to the win. from game action and will prepare for an in- “Losing Chase certainly didn’t help,” Le- vitational tournament in Edmonton. That Brun said. “We rely on him a lot for the of- event will start on Dec. 27. fence and he’s a leader on the team. Losing In January, the Cats will compete in the a guy like that certainly took its toll and we John Reid Memorial in St. Albert, Alta. The had some mental breakdowns and it just tournament is one of the most prestigious in kind of fell apart from there. Western Canada and is heavily-scouted by “We’ve got to learn how to play without rely- WHL teams as they prepare for the annual ing on Chase to do the bulk of the scoring. The WHL bantam draft in the spring. kids realized there for a while that they can “For us to be included is definitely a feath- play. Some of the kids stepped up and took on er in our cap,” said coach LeBrun. “We’re some of those minutes but it’s all about being going to have to go there and play really prepared to play. If we’re not prepared to play well because it’s going to be a strong, strong and we don’t come out and put in a solid ef- tournament.” fort, we’re pretty easy to play against.” The Cougars have two tournament titles Lukas Rhodes During the tournament, the Cougars were to their credit this season.

Area Delivered: Westmount Drive & Kings a tough test for Canucks Crescent Elliott Pap rushes still and we don’t want to rely on Lou Canwest News Service (goalie Roberto Luongo) or rely on guys to How long my route takes: 45 min. make good plays on three-on-twos and two- — The on-ones. They are going to happen, but Favourite Food: Pizza are no longer wild cards in the NHL and, there are a few too many right now.” stunningly, sit atop the Western Conference The Canucks managed to subdue the Wild Hobbies: as of today with 21 victories, 45 points and with a potent power play and superb penal- Playing sports & video games riding a four-game winning streak. ty killing. They went 3-for-5 with the extra Their young stars are coming of age and man and held Minnesota scoreless in four Favourite TV Show: Cleveland Show aren’t afraid of a little road work either, hav- attempts, including a double-minor to Ma- ing gone 11-6-1 in opposition rinks. The son Raymond in the second period. Favourite Music: Heavy Metal , meanwhile, are among Faceoffs were another matter as Canuck the league’s very best at home with a 12-4-0 centremen were eaten alive by Mikko Koivu Why I Deliver: For money mark, further embellished Saturday by a 4-3 and Eric Belanger in a 20-for-69 nightmare. triumph over the Minnesota Wild. The Canucks will work on their draws at So something has to give tonight at GM this morning’s skate after coach Alain Vi- Place when the Canucks entertain the gneault cancelled practice Sunday. CARRIER OF THE MONTH DEC Kings. Vancouver is 2-0-0 against L.A. this “Obviously it was our worst faceoff night season and is also 2-0 on its mammoth of the year,” Vigneault said. “It was a tough eight-game homestand. The Kings are 8-1-1 night, that’s all I can say.” 6777 HART HIGHWAY (Play Place) in their last 10, the same lofty mark Min- Henrik Sedin, who was otherwise out- nesota carried into the Saturday game. standing with a three-assist performance, 3250 MASSEY DRIVE (Play Place) “L.A. is a good team, young and improving, was 8-for-27 in the circle. Ryan Kesler, who and Anze Kopitar is a great player for them,” netted the game-winner Saturday, was 7-for- 2001 VICTORIA STREET (Play Place) noted Canuck defenceman Willie Mitchell, 26. Ryan Johnson, a supposed faceoff artist, who’s helped to keep Kopitar pointless in the was 2-for-7. Koivu went 19-for-29 and Be- 3310 - 15th AVENUE (City Gate) first two meetings. “For us, we’ve gotten off langer 14-for-17. Even Wild third-liner Kyle to a pretty good start on the homestand, but I Brodziak was 8-for-11, for crying out loud. 5099 DOMANO BLVD. (College Heights) think we have to get better yet. “They were doing a good job countering “I don’t think that was a great game for us whatever we tried,” said Kesler. “Koivu was 6565 SOUTHRIDGE AVE. (Wal-Mart) against Minny. We have to clean up some good. You have to give him credit. He domi- 651862 stuff. We are giving up too many odd-man nated me. Everyone on our team struggled.”