6- Trail Times-Friday, March 12, 1982

J:J
..;..
••
,_
i EPP-JALK

tantrwns in the Bantam
hockey ranks, they are too
busy trying to keep their
heads up, that's the ·way you
survive out there. You don't
llary
last long in hockey if you
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____,. drive
could yourself
outweigh
bythat
as
intoyou
a kid
When you want to watch
aggressive hockey, don't sit
down in front of your
television screen, find out
where the Bantams are
playing and you will get your
fill.
,
After all, that's what most
people like to watch; the
type played by these kids is
not like what we are used to
on the tube or on the local ice
surfaces in the KIJHL or the

WIHL.

For a long time we have
been bombarded with the
arguments that hockey is
.getting too rough and tough.
Hockey was never a game
for the chicken-hearted, if
you don't-like seeing a couple
of young teen-agers bump
one another around, you
don't go to the hockey rink.
Try watching tennis!
You don't find too many

much as ~75 pounds.
Wednesday night I watched the second game of the
Bantam series between
RosslandandBeaverValley.
These kids, 13-15-year-olds,
don't know the meaning of
the word quit, they drive
ahead. When, there's
nothing left except the will
that drive them - as
Rudyard Kipling put it so
eloquently in his magnificent

poem "U."
This series is now tied at a

game apiece as Beaver
Valley edged Rossland 4-3. I
watched the game sitting on
the edge of my seat, that's
just how good a game it was.
I thought the Rossland kids
had an edge over the route
but the kids from the Valley
do not give up easily and in
the end they had more
marks up on the score sheet
than Rossland did.
Goaltending was good at
both ends, the Beaver Valley
goalie had more close-in
work to do than his Rossland
counterpart but he stood up
to it well and the Rossland
scoring power was not up to

the challenge. The finish
around the net was lacking
at both ends, but the Valley
kids got at least two of their
goals from well out while the
Rossland kids tried to work
in close before firing and
found the Valley goalie to be
equal to the challenge.
The team that wins the
next game of this threegame series will go to Enderby to participate in the
provincial playdowns.
These kids play the game
the way I like to see it
played. They pull out all the
stops, and let the chips fall
where they may. They may
not show too much finesse,
but for continuous action
you'll have to go a long way ·
to beat it.
Whoever wins this series
will earn the trip they are
playing for and whichever it
is, I wish them a lot of luck.
I'm looking forward to
seeing these kids as they
progress to the higher
grades of the game. They
are well coached and gutsy '
kids and I like 'em.
Our little group of
volunteers who looked after
the parking situation in
Rossland during the rather
hectic days of the Winter
Games just concluded, were
a very tiny part of the overall picture. Yet, we did the
job we were charged with
.and in doing so, helped the
wheels to move along
smoothly. This was what
made the whole show a real
bang-up performance.
Without all those people
lending a hand it would
possibly have fallen short of
the super success it was.
To my group, Chuck
Harkness, Rich Watkinson,
Fred<N TholllDSOn and last

bang-up

performance.

Without all those people
lending a hand it would
possibly have fallen short of
the super success it was.
To my group, Chuck
Harkness, Rich Watkinson,
Freddy Thompson and last
but not least, Charlie Cholak,
I say a heartfelt thanks.
When you have to ask people
to help, its one thing, but
when they offer, it's another.
Thanks also to our Trail
contact man, Bill· Kassian.
When we heard he was in
charge, we knew we would
have smooth sailing.
Most of the action in the
Games we got to see was the
girls' hockey in the Rossland
Arena and I, like a lot of
other people were pleasantly
surprised by the calibre of
play exhibited by the girls'
teams. Skating, was I
believe, the outstanding part
of their game, but they shot
well and handled the puck
like they knew what they
were about. I personally like
the way they settled ties, no
goalie, only shoot from inside the bluellne, was
something I bad never seen
before and it provided the
fans with quite a windup to
the game.
We shall probably never
get the chance to see them
again in our lifetime, but it
was quite an experience to
be part of the picture and I
can only speak for myself,
when I say, I enjoyed doing
my part.
On Wednesday we bad the
Grand Forks Retirees club
over for a visit and it was, as
these things always are, a
fun session.
We played our eight rinks
against the four five-man
rinks they brought over, bad
a great spaghetti dinner and
bad a few drinks with our
guests. It was a swell day
and everyone seemed to
really enjoy it.