NWJHL scores

Scores from opening night in the North West Junior Hockey League:

Dawson Creek 5 Fort St John 6 OT
Peace River 6 Slave Lake 2
Grande Prairie 7 Beaverlodge 5

One score in from tonight's action. Grande Praire beat Fort St John 3-2.

=====

Took a hike up Mt. Baldy today. Pretty spectacular view from up there. I'll post some photos and tell you more in the morning.

dd

Slapshot star dies

LOS ANGELES -- Tributes poured in for Paul Newman from around the world on Saturday after the Hollywood screen legend and philanthropist died following a long battle with cancer aged 83.

=====

Paul Newman was in his prime before my time so much of his work isn't relevant to this blogger but his role in Slap shot will not be forgotten. Actually I think I'll go watch it now.

Nucks drop season opener in OT / frustrating time for this broadcaster

FORT ST. JOHN -- It doesn't matter how much prep you do for a broadcast sometimes things just don't go the way you planned.

Friday night in Fort St. John we didn't even get on the air. Talk about wasted prep! I guess Moose FM had disconnected all the phone lines as they are on a cell phone signal unit. Unfortunately, our station didn't call ahead of time to make sure there was a line. Could be worse I guess. (Not!)

**Sidenote: Rink burger count: 1 (mozza cheese on a cheese burger? different but kinda good)

Well as I type this the first period buzzer just went to signal the end of 20 minutes. FSJ leads 1-0 after the first. It was a bit of a strange goal. Goaltender Cody Garnett thought he had the puck covered underneath him but it was loose and the Huskies capitalized.

A bit of a flurry here in the second period. The Canucks have had a ton of scoring chances but fail to capitalize until the 3:34 mark of period 2.

The good times didn't last long. A pair of FSJ goals 11 seconds apart made the score 3-1 Huskies less than five minutes into the 2nd period.

Side note - If anyone is wondering, it is really frustrating to do over the phone updates every 15 minutes and type in between. It'd be nice to be on the air.

Just as I start daydreaming of what it would be like to be broadcasting the Huskies make it 4-1 on a deflection from the blue line.

Second intermission

So I decided to take a jaunt down to the lobby during the intermission and met up with Jr Canucks GM Dwain Hornland and chatted for a bit. Meanwhile the teams hit the ice and DC scores 3 to tie the game. I couldn't believe it!

So just as I was about to leave the booth, again, (this time to check the goal scorers for my stats) the Canucks bury another to take the lead 5-4!

Well this game is turning into a barn burner! FSJ has tied it up late in the third!

The game is over and we're headed to overtime. Very questionable call to end regulation. FSJ captain gave a shot to one of the Canuck players who returns the favour and only one call.. You guessed it, to the Canucks.

OT is underway and what do you know? The Huskies score on the power play 50 seconds in.

I hate when a game ends that way but what can you do? It's hockey.

Well I'm off to catch the bus for the trip back to D.C.. I'll post more in the next little bit including possibly some game photos.

It's going to be a late night. Bus ride to Dawson and then an hour in the car back to Chetwynd. I'm sleeping in tomorrow!

dd

Cloud to Klippers?

This was copied and pasted from Steiner's Stall (SJHL blog by voice of the mils/terriers Craig Stein)

Waywayseecappo native Chris Cloud has been released by the WHL's Vancouver Giants. Could he be joining his hometown Wolverines? I wish I knew. But it's 1:30 am and I'm 5 hours from the office. I'll give a call to Barry Butler sometime this afternoon to see what's up.

=====

Now you might recall that Cloud was in Saskatoon last season, playing with the Blades. From what I'm hearing he doesn't want to play in Wayway but could be coming to the SJHL and more specifically the Kindersley Klippers.

This makes sense as there is ties between the Klippers and the Blades. Larry's son Walker plays in Saskatoon and Larry has all kinds of contact with Heach Coach/GM Lorne Molleken and I'm sure knows more about the situation than you or I ever will. Klipper Jordan Braid played with the Blades for a good chunk of last season as well.

If Chris doen't want to play in Wayway I'm sure the Klippers know about it and have been talking to the kid about life after the Vancouver Giants.

I think it would make sense and don't be suprised if Chris Cloud is in a Klipper jersey by year's end.

Chetwynd Youth Soccer Association

Annual General Meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008 @ 6:30pm

Chetwynd Secondary School Room 11

All parents of registered players and adult volunteers are asked to attend the meeting to elect a new Executive. Without this executive in place, there will be NO SOCCER next season. Please attend and make your vote count!

Trying to find time in the day

Things seem to be moving at million miles an hour these days.

We are gearing up for Friday's Jr Canuck season opener in Fort St. John and it seems as though there is still so much left to do. We're working on new imaging for the games including splitters and a new intro/extro which should be exciting.

With hockey starting on Friday, news/sports and afternoon's on Peace FM and trying to start up a sports talk show it seems as though there aren't enough minutes in the day. Oh, that doesn't include a new Jr Canucks website that I'm working on.

I've been talking to a few people now and hope to get a Dawson Creek Jr Canucks website up and running very soon and that is taking up a ton of my time.

The stress level is pretty high and these next few days will be no different as there is just a whole bunch of activity flying around.

So much to do and not nearly enough time.

=====

Still without tv and not very impressed. Today I spent 45 minutes on hold with Persona trying to get digital cable hooked up in my place. Finally I called the Persona internet guys and got someone right away. He then preceded to put me on hold for the cable people and, BAM, another 45 minute wait before I hung up.

You think that's adding to my stress level?? Ding!

Maybe I can just get a dish instead and then I'll be able to get the NFL Sunday Ticket and NHL Centre Ice packages.

Don't tell Megan, I'll tell her they're included! Haha just kidding, she's the only one who reads this thing anyway.

=====

New Jr Nucks web site is in the works and I'm hoping it will rock your socks off! Seriously though, I'll be putting a ton of time and effort into the site and hope it looks sharp.

It's quite frustrating, however, when you are talking to a company that can help you start up a site and the person on the phone doesn't speak very good english. Through no fault of her own, she has an accent that I can't pick up and it really makes doing business very difficult.

Stress level: though the roof!

=====

Well that's all the venting I have for today. I'm still trying to decide if I will make a late night trip tonight to hit Canucks practise and gather some audio or if I will just head into town early on Friday and grab it then.

A big part of me thinks I'll be relaxing on the couch tonight with my two girls and some DVD's. It just sounds a little more relaxing than flying down the highway around 30km/h hair-pin curves and being stuck behind logging trucks for a couple hours.

So to you I say, "relax, kick back, and have a great afternoon!"

dd

Monday musings

A bit of a slow Monday here at the office. I'm behind the mic this afternoon on http://www.peacefm.ca/ so if you want to hear a song fire me an e-mail (darren@peacefm.ca) or give me a call 1-800-788-5330.

Some observations from the weekend:

• There seems to be a bit of aftermath in Regina following the Riders-Lions game from Saturday night. To recap the Lions won the football game but there was an incident where there was debris thrown towards the Lions bench after a questionable call and Lions coach Wally Buono motioned to pull his team off the field. There is a great incite into this by the voice of the Riders Rod Pedersen over on his blog http://www.rodpedersen.com/.
• The Tennessee Titans continue to roll with Kerry Collins at the helm. The Titans (if you don't know the Titans are my NFL team of choice) beat the Houston Texans to remain undefeated early in the season. The big shocker in week 3 was the Miami Dolphins really taking it to the New England Patriots. I think it's the Patriots first loss at home in like 4 years or something. It could be longer.
• The WHL season is underway but from what I'm hearing the first three weeks of the season is pretty much a wash with so many players still at NHL camps. Don't take too much out of a good start but, on the other hand, points early in the season count just as much as points late in the season.
• The United States won their first Ryder Cup since 1999. Who needs Tiger?
• Major League Baseball needs to expand its current playoff format. Let me explain. The Toronto Blue Jays (83-73) were officially eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend. The L.A. Dodgers (81-75) are in a position to make the playoffs in the National League. Now I know that only one team set to make the post season has a better record than do the Jays and that doesn't make for a great argument. But, when Toronto boasts the leagues best rotation and has recently went on a tear beating some of the league's best teams, it's hard not to imagine what the playoffs would be like if T-O was involved. I like the idea of expanding the playoffs to 16 teams. Let's shorten the regular season to allow for the extra playoff round and create a little more excitement around the MLB playoffs.
• Big Monday night match up tonight. Brett Favre and the New York Jets (1-1) take on the 0-2 San Diego Chargers on TSN. Favre has owned the Chargers during his career and you know Tony Kornheiser (sp?) will talk about Favre. It seems as though whenever this guy has nothing to say, he mentions #4 (must have a man crush on him).
• The Kindersley Klippers are off to a great start in the SJHL. I had to mention the Jr K's and will continue to follow the club. I have to. Good to see a 3 point weekend and forward Jordan Braid was SJHL player of the week and is the league's leading scorer through 4 games. The only issue I have is where the heck is the broadcasts? I was hoping to tune into the games via the Klippers' website but was unable to connect. Ryan, I hope this gets fixed soon. I want to hear the games and I'm sure I'm not the only one. You can check out Ryan's blog on the Klippers' at http://ryantunall.blogspot.com/. Great blog dude, keep up the good work.
• And finally, the Calgary Canucks are on a roll to start the 2008-2009 AJHL season. The nucks have won 5 of 6 to start the campaign. Last year it took 7 to register their first "W". The big suprise? The 0-5 Camrose Kodiaks. Just 8 goals so far.

Hoping to see next week as the official start for the sports talk show so stay tuned for that. Lots of ideas including scores/schedules/interviews and discussion. Should be lots of fun and a great chance to get you involved by calling in and voicing your opinion.

Have a great afternoon!

dd

Weekend split for Jr Nucks

The Dawson Creek Jr Canucks had a home an home with the Fort St John Huskies this past weekend to wrap up the exhibition schedule.

Friday night was a wide open affair and FSJ came out on top 8-5.

Saturday was a bit different.

After going down 1-0 the Nucks took the contest 5-1.

These two teams will hit the ice for real on Friday as the regular season opens up in FSJ. I"ll be on the air with the broadcast on 104.1 FM and www.peacefm.ca.

Ring the bell

From what I'm hearing tonight's pre-season game between the Dawson Creek Jr Canucks and the Fort St. John Huskies should be very intense.

This is apparently a huge rivelry in the area and I fully expect the glove to drop tonight.

I won't be making the trip to FSJ for this one as it's Megan's 21st birthday today and we have some elaborate plans. Don't forget to wish her a happy birthday!

Thursday scores

BCHL

Westside 7 Merritt 5

AJHL

Calgary Canucks 2 Okotoks Oilers 0

MJHL

Winkler 5 Beausejour 0

WHL season opener

Spokane 2 Kootenay 4

OHL

Kingston 1 Peterborough 4
Mississauga 1 Barrie 3

MLB

Baltimore 2 Toronto 3
NYY 9 Chi Sox 2
KC 12 Seattle 0
Minnesota 11 Tampa Bay 8

The new age of season tickets

Here is something I stumbled upon wihle checking scores this morning. It's a credit card for season ticket holders. Here is the story copied and pasted from the BCHL website.

=====

The Westside Warriors of the BCHL announced today the arrival of the newest evolution in ticketing. Cardticketing.com, the latest innovation developed by Recreation Sports Management of Vancouver, BC, allows for a completely paperless ticketing solution for sports franchises and venues.

Cardticketing.com combines the basic functions of various types of gift cards and the function of storing all tickets for a season ticket holder. The technology creates a fast, seamless system for teams to employ at their points of gate entry.

"Our fans show up to the door for a game, we scan their Warriors fan card, and they’re off to watch the game," explains Westside Warriors General Manager, Mark Cheyne, "It’s really just that simple and without any paper tickets to sweep up after the game!"

Along with storing all their season tickets on one card, the fan has the option to email their tickets to friends for use.

"Instead of having to coordinate how to get tickets that you cannot use for a particular game to your friends, you can simply email them and they receive them instantly. Then it’s just as simple as printing them and bringing your e-ticket to the game,” says Cheyne.

Users of the cards will quickly discover that they can be used as a loyalty card, membership card, gift card, special packaged game pack, an individual game ticket, as well as a full season’s ticket. Card ticketing allows for use in and outside the particular venue where it is employed.

"One of the biggest selling features is the statistical and inventory tracking," comments Westside Warriors co-owner Gary Berman. "We are always looking for ways to enhance the game experience for our fans, and this is another great way of doing it."

Creators and founders of this revolutionary product in the ticketing world have big expectations for its future with plans to take the cards into the major sports venues in North America.

"Being able to offer a sustainable solution to the ticketing market along with the many fundraising opportunities that we now have available to teams and leagues makes this a compelling service to our existing client base of esportsdeskpro.com,"adds Harvey Smith, CEO of RSM Inc.

With no limit to how far this newest innovation can be used, it would be safe to say that card ticketing will be a hot commodity in the junior, minor, and professional sporting world.

For a preview of the system, visit www.cardticketing.com.

=====

Sad to wake up this morning and hear that Ron Lancaster has passed away. Never met the guy but the stories you hear are phenominal. The greatest rider of them all. Rod Pedersen has a great interview over on his blog www.rodpedersen.com.

=====

The Dawson Creek Jr Canucks regular season opener is still a week away (Sept 26th @ FSJ) but the club will wrap up the excebition schedule on Saturday night at home against the visiting Fort St. John Huskies. Game time is 8:00pm.

Scores / schedules

Wednesday's Results

CJAHL
-------
BCHL

Prince George 3 Quesnel 2

AJHL

Bonnyville 3 Spruce Grove 3
Sherwood Park 3 Grande Prairie 4

MJHL

Dauphin 4 Swan Valley 1

--

Canadian Hockey League

OHL

Saginaw 5 London 2

--

Major League Baseball

Toronto 8 Baltimore 7
Boston 3 Tampa Bay 10

=====

Thursday's schedule

CJAHL
--------
BCHL (1)

Merritt @ Westside

AJHL (1)

Calgary Canucks @ Okatoks Oilers 7:30pm

MJHL (1)

Winkler @ Beausejour 7:30pm

--

CHL

WHL (1)

Spokane @ Kootenay 7:30pm *Season Opener*

OHL (2)

Kingston @ Peterborough 7:00pm
Mississauga @ Barrie 7:30pm

Major League Baseball

Baltimore @ Toronto 7:07pm

Cougars pull the trigger on a deal with the Pats

Prince George, BC- The Prince George Cougars have acquired 19-year old defenceman Dallas Jackson from the Regina Pats in exchange for a 2010 4th round WHL bantam draft pick.

Jackson is a 6’2”, 193 pound native of Edson Alberta. Dallas broke into the WHL last season splitting time with the Red Deer Rebels and the Regina Pats. In 59 games last season he posted 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points. Jackson also added 41 penalty minutes.

General Manager Dallas Thompson expects Jackson in the line-up this weekend versus the Seattle Thunderbirds.

No stopping Thibodeau

This is copied and pasted from last Tuesday's Edmonton Journal

=====

EDMONTON - Ten minutes before Game 3 of the AJHL semifinal series last March, Dr. Mario Millan asked to speak to Gord Thibodeau outside of the Fort McMurray Oil Barons dressing room.

Thibodeau wasn't given an injury update on his team -- he was told his cancer was back.

"That was tough," Thibodeau said recently. "I remember my first instinct was 'What do I tell my wife and daughter?' "

Thibodeau met with his assistants, Nick Roberts and Ron Foy, and gave them the news. Then he walked out behind the visitor's bench at Grant Fuhr Arena and guided his Oil Barons to a 5-4 OT win over the Spruce Grove Saints.

"I don't remember a lot about the game. I was a little scattered that night," he says. "Five minutes after the game, I met with the coaches and we started discussing how we were going to deal with things."

It's something Thibodeau has experience with.

"Once you have cancer, it's always in the back of your mind that it can come back," says his wife Lori. "He is as determined now as he was 20 years ago."

In February of 1989, Thibodeau was a rugged University of Alberta Golden Bears defenceman and a newlywed of six months when he was first diagnosed with cancer.

Doctors confirmed that one of his lymph nodes was malignant. At 25, Thibodeau had Hodgkin's Disease.

He met it the same way he greeted a defender at centre ice: with a tough, determined attitude.
Thibodeau underwent chemotherapy from March to July 1989 and then returned for one more season with the Golden Bears.

"There were only a few re-occurrences and my last radiation treatment was in 1993," he says, noting he was given a clean bill of health.

He was an education student in university, so it was no real surprise upon graduation when Thibodeau entered the coaching ranks.

He went back to the AJHL, a league where, in 1984, he set a record of 74 assists by a defenceman.

Before joining Fort McMurray in 2004 Thibodeau coached the Sherwood Park Crusaders, Lloydminster Bobcats, Grande Prairie Storm and St. Albert Saints. His his first AJHL championship came in 2006.

Life was good. Thibodeau had the Oil Barons on track for the AJHL playoffs once again last winter. And then ...

"I was really feeling run down last January and February," he says. "Deep down, I think I suspected there was more to it than just being sick. But we were in hockey season and hockey players tend to overlook little injuries."

In March, Thibodeau felt even worse and had stomach troubles, but he kept coaching as the team entered the first round of the playoffs against the Bonnyville Pontiacs. After beating the Pontiacs they eliminated the Spruce Grove Saints to advance to the league final against the Camrose Kodiaks.

Thibodeau was so ill he had to miss four games behind the bench during the final.
"At that point I knew I was sick, and on top of that, I had pneumonia issues," says Thibodeau.
A very private man, he wanted to keep the news quiet.

"I knew that Gord was not feeling well from someone who told me," says Camrose coach and GM Boris Rybalka. "I know that we said a prayer for Gord and his family every time that we didn't see him. I know that we were playing for a championship, but our thoughts and prayers were with Gord and not hockey."

Lori says it was very hard to watch her husband at home, listening to the games on the radio.

"I was torn between coming back for Game 7. Health wise, I wondered if I was well enough to go," admits Thibodeau. "But I wanted to be there for my team because it's a long season and you want to show support. I remember feeling really fatigued on the bench. But you know what? I'm sure glad I was there."

The Oil Barons went down in defeat. But not their coach.

A week after, he went under the knife and then began 20 chemotherapy treatments. His next checkup is in December, but Thibodeau thinks the cancer is gone.

And that means he continues his coaching career.

"He has brought a significant meaning and professionalism to coaching in the AJHL," says league president Craig Cripps.

"We are a stronger more competitive league with Gord's involvement. His battle takes us outside the arena, further bonding the AJHL family outside the realm of hockey."

Thibodeau just finished a three-games-in-three-night trek on the weekend, and there's no stopping him now.

"Hope isn't the answer. Belief is," he says.

"And I had a belief this was something we were going to take care of very quickly."

Scores / schedules

Results from Tuesday Sept 16th.

CJAHL
---------
AJHL

Canmore Eagles 6 OT
Calgary Royals 5

Drumheller Dragons 3
Brooks Bandits 1

Calgary Canucks 6
Olds Grizzlys 3

SJHL

Nipiwan Hawks 5
Battlefords North Stars 1

Weyburn Red Wings 6
Estevan Bruins 3

MJHL

Selkirk Steelers 9
Winkler Flyers 3

Portage Terriers 6
Neepawa Natives 3

Winnipeg Saints 11
Beausejour Blades 2

OPJHL

Georgetown 4
Bramalea 3

CJHL

Kanata 4
Kemptville 1

MJAHL

Bridgewater Nauss TIM-BR Mart 7
Halifax 3

=====

Schedule: Wednesday Sept 17

CJAHL
--------
BCHL (1)

Quesnel @ Prince George 7:00pm

AJHL (2)

Bonnyville @ Spruce Grove 7:00pm
Sherwood Park @ Grande Prairie 7:30pm

MJHL (1)

Dauphin @ Swan Valley 7:30pm

NOJHL (2)

Soo Thunderbirds @ Soo Eagles 7:30pm
North Bay @ Sudbury 7:30pm

OPJHL (2)

Georgetown @ Mississauga 7:30pm
Trenton @ Pickering 7:30pm

CJHL (1)

Hawkesbury @ Ottawa 7:30pm

MJAHL (1)

Miramichi @ Restigouche 7:30pm

=====

CHL
-----
Ontario Hockey League - season opens today (1)

London @ Saginaw 7:11pm

QMJHL (2)

Val-d'Or @ Cape Breton 7:00pm
Chicoutimi @ Gatineau 7:00pm

=====

Major League Baseball

Baltimore @ Toronto 7:07pm
Boston @ Tampa Bay 7:10pm

New look blog

You may (or may not) have noticed that the blog is taking on a slightly different look. Same basic template but a bit of a change with some of the sidebar stuff and the picture used in the header.

This week I'm starting to think of some ideas for a sports talk show. It will be weekly (most likely Monday evenings) and an hour long.

If you have any ideas as to what you would like to see on the blog and on the sports show let me know.

Also I'm taking suggestions as to a name. I need to name the sports talk show. Ideas I've been tossing around: Sportsline, Sportstalk, Monday Night Sports.

Keep the ideas coming... either post a comment to this blog post or you can send me an e-mail at darren@peacefm.ca.

I'm hoping to also use this site as a sports central. I want to have schedules, scores, news of all local sports and activities going on. If you have something that you want promoted just fire me an e-mail as well.

I hope to start posting more regularly very soon.

dd

Canucks impress in pre-season win

DAWSON CREEK -- The Dawson Creek Jr Canucks impressed in a 6-3 win at the Memorial Arena Saturday night over the visiting Grand Prairie Wheelers.

Goldenter Cody Garnett was strong in the victory for the Canucks playing the entire 60 minues while GP decided to play a different netminder in each of the 3 periods.

Fight count: 4

=====

The Riders are now 8-3 after a 28-23 loss to the BC Lions on Saturday. More at www.riderville.com

=====

Still working out some of the ideas for a weekly sports talk show that hopefully will be up and running in the next few weeks. It will be available on Peace FM and on the world wide web www.peacefm.ca. Any ideas on what you would like to hear let me know at darren@peacefm.ca.

=====

Time to sleep.

dd

A new chapter begins tonight

I'll get my first chance to call BC hockey tonight as the Dawson Creek Jr Canucks entertain Fort St. John in preseason action at the Dawson Creek Memorial Arena (need to find an acronym like WCEC).

This is the first of four preseason games for the nucks and I have no idea what to expect. We're on the air at 104.1 in DC and 94.5fm in Chetwynd... don't forget http://www.peacefm.ca/. Have a listen.

I'll follow up after the broadcast.

Cheers

dd

New Beginnings

Well I'm almost finished with week 2 here in Chetwynd and so far so good.

I really miss the Klippers but think that being a sports director here at Peace FM will really help take me where I want to go. Time will tell I suppose.

This post is a quick one but I hope to begin posting more regularly by as soon as this afternoon.

Have a great day!