, April 11, 1980

.. ALIC
at the hands of the northern have been supplying some
or the Coast champions.
pretty good material to the
This year, however, playing Trail Juniors as well as the
on their home turf with their Rossland Warriors, as in the
faithful fans and league VP pre-Warrior days when
Herbie Castle, to urge them Rossland sent some pretty
on they pulled it off. Now good players to Trail, whose
perhaps the KIJHL will teams went on to win
get a little more notice from provincial championships in
'IV announcers and the other various categories.
news media at the Coast.
If a team from the Valley is
So, to Murray Luker, Gerry accepted into the league, it
Goyer and Bill Steenson and would be very much like the
their black-clad warriors, we old days when local leagues
over here in the West were composed of teams who
Kootenay salute you for a job could travel between the
well done.
various centres in a very
Junior "B" hockey in B.C., short time.
especially in our area,
You would also get the fans
provides the hockey fan with from these nearby centres
a helluva lot of top-notch making the trip to root their
entertainment, compared, as favorites on, which would
it has to be, with what they make for some terrific local
see in the Okanagan, where competition and once again
the BCJHL holds sway, the fans would be the winners.
and at the coast where they
Just think, the Rebels
have the choice of NHL,
Junior A, tiers one and two versus the Smokies and BV
and Junior B, plus some versus the Warriors on the
senior. We could be said to be same night. That sort of
getting second best but I think competition should really
if you asked the average fan bring the fans out at any one
around the East and West of the four centres.
Kootenay rinks if they are
While on the subject of
happy with what they've got,
your answer would be a hockey we cannot ignore the
feat of the Canucks in
resounding "Yeah".
I have heard talk that squeezing into that mammoth
Beaver Valley is on the brink NHL playoff picture. While
of applying for membership - this corner does not go
in the KIJHL. They have overboard in support of their
some pretty good potential chances against Scotty
out there, if the showing of Bowman and his flashing
their minor teams can be Sabres, the fad that they are
in there must be quite a boost
construed as a true picture.
. For some years now they for their fans, who have once
again suffered a very
mediocre season of so-so
hockey by their favorite
team.
Just for fun, what do you
think
of
these
prognostications for round

with
H•ry
Pepper

one of the playoffs?
Philadelphia will pull
themselves together after a
rather ragged finish to get
past Edmonton, despite the
fact that Wayne Gretzky has
to be the best hockey player
in the NHL today; the Buffalo-Vancouver matchup will
match two winning streaks,
one of which has to be broken.
Look for the·Canucks to battle
but lose to a coach who has
won a lot of Stanley Cups and
could very well win another.
The Canadiens seem to
have put their act together
pretty well in the closing
weeks of the schedule and
should win the tough series
they will no doubt get from
Hartford's battling oldtimers.
I think it is safe to say that
Boston will get by the
Penguins. Since Harry Sinden
came on . to do the coaching,
the Bruins have had a new
lease on llfe; I can't see the
Los Angeles Kings causing
the Islanders too much
trouble, those two losses to
the Canucks can't have increased their confidence.
Marcel Dionne will have to be
content with his scoring
championship, I don't see a
Stanley Cup ring in his immediate future.
The next one will go right
down to the wire. There's not
much to .choose between the
Leafs and the North Stars.
The Leafs have Sittler and
Pahnateer, their so-called
bad-boys, but they will
probably spell the difference
if their performances are up
to the usual, so the Leafs in
five.
Chicago should take St.
Louis if home ice and their
relative positions in their own
division are any criterion, and
again in the Rangers-Flames
matchup, either team on a
given night can upset almost
anybody. I'll take the

Rangers because of the home
ice advantage.
,

Turning from hockey to
soccer for a moment, the
Whitecaps certainly don't
look like the team which won
the NASL championship on
their showing in the first two
games of the current season.
Saturday night they saw a 2--0
lead turn sour as the Sockers'
Cuellar scored on well-placed
penalty and free kicks and
then placed a perfect cornerkick for the winner in the
closing seconds of the first
overtime period.
I do think, though, that the
Caps should have had a
penalty of their own in the
second hall which could have
turned the tide in their favor.
However, when you start
second-guessing a referee on
the strength of what you see
on 'IV, you are on pretty
shaky ground. I still think the
new Vancouver goalie could
have handled either of
Cuellar's shots which scored,
although he didn't have a
prayer on the winner.
Still on soccer, don't forget,
all you Rossland youngsters
who want to play this season,
your last chance to sign will
be tomorrow morning at the
City Hall from 9: 30 till noon.
If you didn't make it Thursday evening, better be sure
you get there tomorrow,
otherwise you'll be watching
instead of playing.
I have word that the team I
was telling you about which
John Stanton was looking to
get into the Trail Commercial
Fastball League, has made it.
I will give you some details on
players, etc. next week.
In closing, I can say that
the Redmen should . be home
to train next week as the
arena floor is now dry.
Till next week, then.