I
.
Minor Hockey Week ls
celebrated across this
country every year during
the month of January and
this year the annual event ls
being given quite a play,
poaaibly the biggest yet.
The CAHA wants a special
effort to be made in the kids'
~~ebration, the idea being
that the future of Canada's
hockey, world-wide and for
home consumption, lies with
the kids who will be lining
up for games in rinks
throughout this country.
. The Ball)'hoo bas been
used before but this year it's
expected to be bigger apd
better than ever, as
everyone connected with
hockey in this country
seems intent on getting on
the bandwagon behind what
bas always been a pretty
worthy cause.
Up here in the Golden City
we shall be putting on a
pretty good show for the
kids Saturday evening,
starting at 5 p.m. with the
opening
ceremonies
featuring the Queen, Mayor
Bill Proflll ·and the minor
·hockey president.
Then the Atoms and the
Pee Wee House league will
strut their stuff for one hour,
followed by the Novices, the
ones everyone goes to see.
They will cavort for three
quarters of an hour. Don't
miss this!
Rossland's tier one Pee
Wees, named the "Green
Machine" at one time, will
be hosts to a team from
Cranbrook in a feature
attraction and this will be
followed by a game between
the Bantams and Juveniles
and a team composed of
coaches, managers and

J::>E-PP-JALK
fathers of the kids.
There ls no doubt that the
people who conduct minor
hockey in Rossland are
doing a tremendous job and
deserve all the support we
can give them on this, their
big night. Once more .we
should. make an attempt to
fill our arena to show our
kids we really do care bow
they are progressing in their
hockey education.
Remember a couple of

weeks back I remarked that
Warriors' manager Jim
Markle was considering
dropping out of the post be
has held for some years at
the helm of the Warriors'
executive
I said at the
time that I, along with a
number of other people,
were hoping he would
change bis mind.
Apparently be has not and
next Tuesday evening there
will be a meeting to discuss
this matter. It will be held in
the arena lounge at 7 p.m.;
when the business will be to
look ahead to next season
and the search for a new
manager.
For years now Jim has
been a very vital cog in the
Warrior machine and be will
be hard to replace. For the
sake of hockey in our town
we will need a good man to
fill bis shoes; let's hope we
can find one.
I didn't get to Nelson for
the Warriors' game on
Saturday last, but from ey~
witness accounts it was a
pretty ngged mess for the
final four minutes. From
what I can gather the report
in the Nelson News was
somewhat biased in its
coverage of the happenings

body:

I

wi111

lla'ry

Pepper

during the final minutes of
the contest.
We have a young man on
the Warriors with a broken
leg. I don't know if this can
be blamed on the fracas that
ensued but I do know that
over the years I have been
watching junior hockey
around here, a game between Nelson and Rossland
has always been played in a
manner that invites this sort
of thing. D<in't ask me why,
I can't tell you why, I just
don't know.
It's really a shame that
this sort of thing has to
happen, People in the stands
blame the officials, maybe
.hey have some blame
coming but we can be unduly rough on some of these
guys whom we believe are
doing their best.
We have some young
officials who are just
breaking in and they are
bound to run into some
situations they have trouble
handling. The thing is, the
fans leave the arena with a
bad feeling in their minds
for the game and may not be
back. We can ill afford to
lose them.
In their effort to assure
themselves of a playoff spot,
the Warriors have obtained
the services of a former
Castlegar player to help
their depleted ranks. He ls
the third the Warriors have
picked up this season. Terry
Sander came from Trail and
Terry Maglio from Nelson
earlier and the word ls that
John Jorgenson bas left the
team for bis home in the
_Q~pn.
'
There are several must
games for the Warriors if
they are to hang on to fourth
place; one ls tonight against
Spokane Flames and the
other is against the Border
Bruins next Wednesday in
Grand Forks. Wins in both
these contests would afford
them a little breathing
room.
As I mentioned last week,
we of the Retirees Curling
Club visited Trail last week

and were shown a really
good time, the curling was
good and the welcome extended was what we have
come to expect when we go
to Trail, just great.
Our rink, skipped by the
redoubtable George Dyson,
came through with a win
over the Jack Vellutini rink,
onl;l of a very few who pulled
off a win against a Trail
foursome.

we-

Before Wllld up this
week we would like to tip
our hat to George Beaudry
and his rink of Ted Wiltshire, Tom Clark and Fred
Munro for their win in the
Legion 'spiel held in
Castlegar last· weekend.
Local rinks of Angus Popplewell and Phil Bateman
also made some efforts in
their try for the silverware.
I understand there was
some dissatisfaction among
the entries in the methods
used to segregate the two
classes but maybe next year
it will be ironed out.
Also congratulations are
in line for the fine effort of
our Juveniles in the Kimberley tournament, winning
two good games but losing
in the semi-final1 Trail's
Juves will represent the
Kootenays in the B.C.
Games and we offer our
good wishes to a fine young
group of hockey players.
To wind up this week with
a smile we offer the
following. Toby Edworthy
tells a story about a visit to
the Uplander Hotel. Having
a drink in Rossland's
modem establishment, be
decided to nibble on
something, so ordered a

sausage.
The first part of the
sausage was just fine but
the last half didn't come up
to expectations. On complaining to the bartender he
received this answer. "In
these days of high costs,
inflation and what have
you, it's pretty hard to make
both ends meat. "
So it's goodnight for now.