; Saturday, December 12, 1992 Local SPORTS Win or lose, it’s in The News. Jonathan Green 365-7266 SECOND TO ONE The No. 2 Castlegar team sits in second place in local Peewee house action with 10 points, four back of league-leading Nakusp with two games in hand. The No. 1 team sits in sixth with seven points, just two points out of third. Kevin Pacheco is No. 1's top scorer with 30 points, just four back of the league-leader. Matthew Bragg is No. 1's top gun with 12 points. RING IN THE NEW YEAR With Christmas just around the corner, it means New Year's is just around the corner and that means the annual Castlegar Cashpiel is just around the corner on Jan 2nd and 3rd. With more than half of the 12 openings spoken for, the sooner you call organizer Kelly Johnson at 365- 5666 the better. O SAY CAN U SKI Has Rossland's Red Mountain got a deal for you and the folks in your office.On Dec. 13, Jan. 6 and 25, you and your fellow employees can ski at Red for just $10, which will get you a lift ticket and rental equipment among other things. Call 362- 7115 for info. Tragedy strikes KIJHL’s Rossland franchise @ Rebels coach worried that two-week layoff could do more harm than good Jonathan Green SPORTS REPORTER A team starting to make a move up in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League standings, the Rossland Warriors suffered a setback this week. ; First-year Warrior defenceman Chris Johnson died at his home in Rossland early Tuesday. He was 19. Because of that, Castlegar’s home game with the Warriors last night was postponed until a make-up date can be reached. The game with Rossland was the Rebels only action this weekend and coach Garry Sauer said the extra time off could actually hurt the team. He said with a two-week break between games, the Rebels could fall out of the groove they’ve just fallen back into. “It’s unfortunate,” he said. “We just got back into winning.” After last week’s wins over Beaver Valley and Elk Valley, the Rebels have passed the halfway point of their KIJHL schedule. Sauer said the goals he set at the start of the year have been met and hopes the team will continue to meet others. : “Things have gone good up to this point,” he said. “Except for (recent losses to Nelson and Grand Forks), we have done what’s been expected of us this year.” Sitting in fourth spot in the KIJHL West, the Rebels are three points back of the Spokane Braves with four games in hand. Sauer said the team is counting on winning their two remaining. December games because of a hectic start to 1993. “January is going to be a big month because most of our games on on the road,” he said. : Starting the new year at home against the Braves Jan. 2, the Rebels then head out for six straight on the road, including two in Grand Forks and one in Nelson. Because of that, Sauer said he is constantly looking to better the team and this has brought former Rebel Kevan Rilcof to camp as well as Grand Forks cut Tom Malcolm. With the deadline for final roster selections coming up next month, Sauer said he and fellow coach Gordie Walker want a look at as many players as possible. “We’re trying to build the best team we can,” he said, “and we’re going to use our judgment as coaches as to what the best team will be in the playoffs.” Next action for the Rebels is Friday when Beaver Valley returns to town. Game time is 8 p.m. at the Complex. News file photo Rebel Kevin Leiman heads up ice in a recent game with Golden. Leiman and the rest of the team are in the midst of a two-week layoff, with their next game Friday at home to Beaver Valley. @ Saturday, December 12, 1992 13 8 Seeing as it is the holiday season, children all around the world are get- ting excited as Christmas is just around the corner. Part of the fun kids have is the tra- ditional wish list and Letter to Santa, and we here at Thr Vews are happy to be helping area chi. iren get their let- ters to their intended destination at the North Pole once again. But, as we have discovered, it’s not only children that are writing to Old St. Nick, but adults as well. Some familiar faces from the sports world have put pen to paper this month and here are just 10 that have reached the sports desk. Rather than show you who they’re from, I’ve chosen to leave the writers’ names out to make things a little more interesting. The first person that can identify who each letter is from will be my guest columnist one Saturday, with this space reserved for them. Mail your entries to: Jonny and Santa c/o The News Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4 Dear Santa, This may be a little much to ask for, but could we be as successful in the second half of the KIJHL season as we were in the first half? We realize that we surpassed the point total of last year’s team a long time ago, but this winning thing is get- ting to be a habit and you know how hard habits are to break. Thanks. Dear Santa, After what happened Tuesday in San Francisco, I sure could use a new wallet. One that’s a lot bigger, prefer- ably. You see, the Giants opened the vault to lure me away from Pittsburgh and with all that extra money to carry around, the wallet I’ve been using just won't cut it. Know what I mean? Thanks a lot. PS. Look me up when you're in the Bay City. Dear Nickie, This may be a little out of your league, but could I have a new back, please? The one I’ve been using for all these years seems to have developed some technical difficulties and this has made playing hockey pretty painful. I'll admit the time off has allowed me to enjoy the warm California weather, and I have been able to spend some quality time with my kids, but I do miss being on skates. See what you can do, OK? Take care. Dear Mr. Claus, As herculean as it may appear, my wish is for the American people to re- alize that the Canadian Football League is the hottest item to reach the United States since Madonna’s book. With interest stagnating and even dwindling in certain regions of our country, I felt it was time to seek ad- ditional spectator support in the south, much to the chagrin of a great number of Canadians. Let this manoeuvre work, please, so Christmas wishes hit the sports desk on the Spot JonathanGREEN that I may prove all those doubting- Thomases incorrect. Best wishes dur- ing the holiday season. Dear Easter-Bunny Santa, We heard that you keep tabs on every- body, so that means you got a good idea of who Gil Stein is, as well as a couple guys from the Mafia. We want you to get those guys to fix Mr. Stein up with a pair cement skates. Guys like him are making it hard for guys like us to earn a living and that ain’t easy when one of us lives in New York and the other in De- troit. Thanks from your your brawling buddies. Dear Clausie, I wouldn’t mind a few more wins if that’s possible. When I was general manager in Winnipeg, we went through the longest winless streak in NHL history. Now, a dozen years later, the new team I’m with isn’t doing a whole lot better. In fact, we’re making Hartford look good and you know how hard that is to do. I'll leave tickets to the next home game up on Parliament Hill. Cheers. Dear Santa, After experiencing life in the NHL last month, I wouldn’t mind staying up there for good next time. Sure, I'll admit that things aren’t so bad down here on the farm, but when you've tasted the big league, the American Hockey League just doesn’t satisfy your hunger. While you're at it, could you find spots for my buddies Steve, Darcy, Claude, Dane and Kelly in the NHL too? That would be great. PS. Say hi to Mrs. Claus for us. Dear Nick, After being suspended all this time, I would like to come back and play baseball again. Sure, I spent time in jail for betting on all those games and yeah, I am getting on in years, but there’s two new teams joining the league next year and a guy like me could attract interest in those cities. PS. If you want my autograph, just leave an extra $50 under the tree. Dear S man, I would like a rematch with Riddick Bowe. My shoes were tied together and my gloves were on backwards in our last fight. That’s all. Peace. Dear Santa, Could you bring me my own set of handcuffs? The ones the police snapped on me in Pickering last week weren't my size. Thanks. PS. I didn’t do it. Midget Reps early season Brevin success a distant memory — e Blanket B.C. Ads NEWS STAFF The Stanley Humphries senior girls basketball team would prob- ably appreciate a few more games against Nelson’s L.V. Rogers this ear. j Meeting the Bombers in the opening game of the Blue and Gold Tournament last weekend, the Rockettes routed the Bombers 93-21 on their way to the tourney title. Tuesday, things weren’t much different as the locals rang up the score again, this time 84-13. ; : - Wendy Closkey led the way to victory with 22 points while Tama- ra Rezansoff chipped in with 13 . : Coach Jack Closkey said the Rockettes played the same aggressive style that helped them win the Blue and Gold and it showed on the scoreboard. : But, as much as the score might have some coaches doing cartwheels, Closkey isn’t one of them. “Extremely ugly,” he said. “It was bad.” Closkey said a one-sided score that like that may flatter some teams, but not the Rockettes. : : “We're just not good enough to beat somebody up by 70 points, he said. ; Closkey said as nice as it looks, a score like that can actually be detrimental because the winning team isn’t being challenged. “Those things can be negative,” he said. “There weren't a lot of op- Rockers, Rockettes take different paths in action against Bombers portunities for learning and improvement because the opposition was so sloppy and careless about the whole thing. “We have lots of things to work on and improve, and there wasn’t much of a chance to do that. That sort of thing isn’t beneficial.” The same night, the senior boys tangled with their Nelson coun- terparts and probably would have liked to borrow some points from the Rockettes, falling 73-62. ; Dan Kooznetsoff paced the Rockers with a dozen points while Si- mon Laurie had 10. The game contrasted last week’s match between the two squads when the Rockers rolled to a comfortable 96-67 win. Coach John Ritchie said a bug making its way through town caught up with starters Marcel Dusseault and Rob Machado. : “We've got some sickness going around so we had two of our main guys out,” he said. “(Because of that), we played quite badly.” Ritchie said Bomber pressure killed the Rockers in their own end, and with Ryan Vatkin the only veteran at his position, inexperience didn’t help either. “Ryan is our only experienced guard, so we had to put some of the younger guys in and they couldn’t handle the pressure,” he said. But, despite the defeat, Ritchie saw some good in the game and hopes it continues at a tournament today in Oliver. ; “Even though we played our worst game of the year, we still man- aged to stay pretty close to them and that was good.” Need a Christmas loan? We'll make it happen. @ Losing streak reaches three after Westside goes back home with a win NEWS STAFF A team that didn’t know what losing was earlier in the season, the Castlegar Midget Reps seem to have forgotten how to win. Coming into a home game last Sunday against West- side, the Reps had lost two in a row after going four without a loss. And, despite being the first on the board, the locals saw that streak stretch to three in a 9-6 defeat. Brian Grycan put the home team up 1-0 just under two minutes into the game, a lead that would last shortly over five minutes. Westside tied things up at 12:57 and took the lead at 11:38 on Mike Parker’s goal, someone who would be back for more and more and more. The visitors increased the lead to two before the end of the period and stretched it to three just 11 seconds into the second. Not content with one goal, Parker made it 5-1 at 16:51 and, though there were still some 36 minutes left in the game, the Reps’ chances of winning had become quite slim. Realizing that, the hosts shifted into overdrive a short time later with three quick goals. Fred Gienger cut into the lead at 14:53, making the score 5-2. Building on that, Jamie Craig reduced the deficit to two at 12:18 and the Reps were on their way back. Not giving the fans a chance to sit down again, Greg Carson brought the hosts to within one 10 seconds later to make it 5-4 after two. The Reps were looking to tie things up when they re- turned for the third period, but the momentum had reached its zenith. Westside scored three times within the first seven minutes of the third period, including two more for Park- er, to put things out of reach. Carson and Grycan each scored their second goals lat- er in the period, but another Westside tally at 4:19 sent the Reps to their third loss in a row. ea! ENGINES REBUILT from $905. 5 year 100,000 kms -800-663-252' Cummings Turbo Diese! 4X4's, Explorers, Vans, 4- Onion month, 0 down nBc. Brtan or Don collect x.) = | GOVERNMENT SEIZED/ ‘SURPLUS vehicles. U.S. and DOOR and WIN- in Vancouver at 1101. “ULTRASONIC BLIND CLEANING* The fastest ****SEPTIC TANKS $399.1! woodwork- | 600 Gais, 210 ~ oa : I: | mentApproved. 20 YeerWar- | have Hr WATER TANKS - Homes (403)447-2333. Province-Wide Blanket B.C. Ads Reach over 1,500,000 homes for only $195! Blanket Classifieds of the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspaper Association allow you to place your ad in nearly 100 newspapers in nearly every suburban and rural market in B.C. and the Yukon, and we can also arrange the same thing for every other province in Canada. iilhe News CLASSIFIED ADS 365-7266 Or write: Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. V1N 3H4