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The Daily Courier, Tuesday, January 5, 2016

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Morrison headlines B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame class

1999 national champion
Vernon Vipers joining in
the team category
By Daily Courier Staff

NHL.com

Brendan Morrison, seen here as a member of

the Chicago Blackhawks, in 2011-12.

Former Vancouver Canucks star

Brendan Morrison leads an impressive
group of inductees into the B.C. Hockey
Hall of Fame for 2016, organizers announced recently.
The induction ceremony is to be held on
July 22 at the South Okanagan Events
Centre in Penticton, which is also home to
the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Other inductees include Murray Baron,
John Grisdale, Brian Barrett, Pat ONeill
and the 1998-99 Vernon Vipers.

Morrison, 40, starred with the thenPenticton Panthers of the B.C. Hockey
League before playing for seven teams during a distinguished career in the National
Hockey League. The Pitt Meadows, B.C.,
native enjoyed his best seasons with the
Canucks on a forward line with Markus
Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi.
He played 12 NHL seasons for Anaheim,
Dallas, Washington, Calgary and Chicago,
scoring 601 points in 934 games.
His best campaign was 2002-03 when he
amassed 25 goals and 46 assists while playing all 82 regular-season games.
Baron, a 48-year-old from Prince George
played for six teams over a 15-year NHL career. The tough defenceman also had a stint
with the Canucks.
Grisdale, a 67-year-old from Geraldton,
Ont., has served as BCHL commissioner

from 2013 to the present. He played for the

Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs during
his playing days as a defenceman.
Barrett has had a long and storied history
with the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL.
He has served as governor and director of
hockey operations of the teams since 2009
and also had four stints as head coach of
the team from 1979 to 1999.
ONeill is in the middle of his 25th season
as the Canucks equipment manager after
spending eight years in a similar role with
the Winnipeg Jets.
The 1998-99 Vipers, coached by Troy
Mick, posted a regular season record of 526-2 on its way its fourth RBC Cup national
Junior-A title in 10 years. The 52-6-2 mark
stood as the best record ever until the Vees
went 54-4-2 and also won the national title
in 2011-12.

WORLD JUNIORS

Top pick
cant see
past loss
Top prospect Matthews
focuses on team after U.S.
loss in world junior semis
By JOHN CHIDLEY-HILL
The Canadian Press

HELSINKI Auston Matthews showed why he

is considered the top pick in this summers NHL
draft. But right now, he just doesnt care.
All the American forward could talk about on
Monday morning was the United States 2-1 loss
to Russia in the semifinals at the world junior
hockey championship in Finland.
Yes, his seven goals lead the tournament heading into to the final.
Yes, his seven assists put him in third for overall points. But to Matthews, none of that matters
without a gold medal around his neck.
I thought I was fine, said Matthews of his performance throughout the tournament. I thought
my line did well. I thought we really clicked well
and as a team we played unbelievable as well.
Theres really nothing you can say.
We gave 110 per cent and obviously its a tough
pill to swallow with losing in the semifinals.
Yegor Korshkov had the eventual winner and
added an assist as Russia advanced to the final
against host Finland.
The Finns advanced to the final after hanging
on to beat Sweden 2-1 earlier Monday.
The United States will play Sweden in the
bronze medal game earlier today.
Weve got to refocus, get ready for (today) and
play with some pride for our country, said
Matthews. Any time you put on that jersey
youve got to be ready to play.
Pavel Kraskovski also scored for Russia and
Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves for the win.
Christian Dvorak scored for the United States,
while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 31 shots.
Matthews, who most experts expect will go first
overall in the draft this June, has taken an unconventional path to the NHL.
Instead of playing in major junior in Canada or
in the NCAA in the U.S., the native of Scottsdale,
Ariz., opted to play professionally for the ZSC
Lions in Zurich, Switzerland.
The 18-year-old forward leads his club with 14
goals despite playing against older competition.
Matthews was put on a line with Matthew
Tkachuk and Colin White for the world juniors.
Captain Zach Werenski praised both Matthews
and Tkachuk who is also draft eligible after
the Americans semifinal loss.
Theyre unbelievable players, said Werenski.
Theyre everything theyre hyped up to be. They
had great tournaments, both of them.
Its just unfortunate the way it ended.
Dvorak opened the scoring at the 9:03 mark of
the first period on Monday, swatting in a crosscrease pass from linemate Sonny Milano.
Kraskovski knocked in a rebound from just outside the crease to tie it 1-1 for Russia at the 15:08
mark of the second period. Then Korshkov gave
Russia a 2-1 lead minutes later, pushing the puck
between Nedeljkovics foot and the near post.
That goal stood as the winner after a scoreless
third period.
HOST FINLAND ADVANCES TO FINAL
WITH 2-1 WIN OVER SWEDEN
HELSINKI Antti Kalapudas scored the winning goal Monday as host Finland advanced to the
final. Kalapudas scored on a second-period power
play to send Finland to its second final in three
years. The Finns beat Sweden 3-2 in 2014.
The winning goal came with Anton Karlsson in
the penalty box for hitting a Finnish player in the
head. Karlsson was assessed a two-minute minor
and a 10-minute misconduct. Roope Hintz also
scored while Kasperi Kapanen and team captain
Mikko Rantanen added two assists each.

Submitted photo

Theres good snow at Big White, so the B.C. Snowboard Snowcross and National Development team has come to the Okanagan.

SKI & SNOWBOARD

Home team cooking

B.C. snowboarders relocate
to snowy Big White with
little white stuff elsewhere
With a lack of early season snow in the
northern part of British Columbia, the
B.C. Snowboard Snowcross and National
Development team has come to Big
White Ski Resort to train on the resorts
permanent snowcross venue, the resort
announced on Monday.
The snowcross venue, which opened
for the season on Dec. 20 in Telus Park,
has always proved a great way for B.C.
and national riders to fine-tune their
skills before North American and World
Cup events, the resort said in a news release
The B.C. Snowboard team is currently

running a camp at the resort to get ready

for the competitive season.
Joining the B.C. team will be the
Kelowna provincial development team,
as well as Maelle Ricker, 2010 Olympic
gold medalist and 2011 World Champion,
who will be mentoring the athletes at the
resort.
This is a great opportunity for our
provincial athletes to train alongside
World Cup level athletes right here in
B.C., said Chris Nakonechny, B.C. head
coach. Working with Maelle to build a
good pathway for the future is a huge
benefit for our up-and-coming athletes,
and it will be a great mentorship opportunity for our athletes to work alongside
an Olympic champion like Maelle.
Big White and the BC Snowboard
Association have had a long partnership

in developing some of the countrys top

up-and-coming snowboard cross athletes,
the Big White release said.
This includes Canadian team members
such as Kevin Hill (X-games gold medalist), Tess Critchlow and Katie Anderson.
All of these riders have developed their
skills throughout their careers at snowcross events held at Big White Ski
Resort.
Big Whites commitment and development of a facility such as Telus Park will
allow us to do more of this type of training in the future, said Flynn Seddon, director of terrain parks and outdoor
events at Big White Ski Resort.
Our consistent snow also puts us in a
unique position to work with these athletes and teams.
Submitted by Big White

BCHL

Warriors 4-goal 3rd leads to victory

By KYLE ANDERSON
Special to The Daily Courier

The Warriors needed 40 minutes to start

controlling the game against the Surrey
Eagles on Sunday afternoon, but exploded
for four goals in the third in a 7-2 victory
during a feisty day at Royal Lepage Place.
West Kelowna opened the scoring early
in the game as Jonathan Desbiens 24th
was ripped into the goal after a blown tire
by the Surrey defence.
Surrey would knot the game up at 1-1 late
in the frame on an individual effort from
Austin Anselmo as he got his own rebound
past Keelan Williams to tie the game.
West Kelowna took the lead for good in
the second period on a crafty deflection
from Connor Sodergren before Lane Gilliss
potted a rebound in front of Justin Laforest
off a Bryan Nelson shot to give the
Warriors a two-goal cushion.
Jake Harrison and Tyler Andrews fought
near the Eagles bench in the middle of the
frame after some stick-work behind the
play.
The Eagles responded as Hunter Keros
first BCHL goal beat Williams on the backhand as the Eagles looked poised late in
the frame to keep this one tight throughout.

Submitted photo

Liam Blackburn of the West Kelowna Warriors looks for an advantage against the
Centennials on Saturday in Merritt. Blackburn was the hero in double overtime on a
penalty shot as he beat Cole Kehler five-hole for a 4-3 victory.

West Kelowna exploded in the third period in a 6:31 stretch, as Garrett Forster
widened the lead to two at 5:17.
Nick Rutigliano turned himself into
Duncan Keith with his second in as many
nights on the man advantage, before the
Eagles would give West Kelowna a third
power play to set up a BCHL first.

Gilliss and Nelson connected again on

that power play, as Nelson buried the biscuit from the right circle to make it 6-2.
West Kelowna has now won six of their
last seven games, and will take a threegame win streak into a home game against
Merritt on Friday at RLP.
Game time is 7 p.m.
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