Hartley Miller's Slap-Shots Dec.1st Edition

By Hartley Miller

Ordinarily, there is little hype surrounding a BCHL game featuring Powell River vs Prince George. However, Saturday’s contest between the visiting Kings and home town Spruce Kings will include an unexpected and unusual twist.

Mike Vandekamp, recently fired by the Prince George Cougars, is now Head Coach and General Manager of Powell River.  "It's rather ironic that the first road trip back in the game is coming back up north like this. It will be more fun than anything", said Vandekamp.

The Powell River born Vandekamp replaced Drew Schoneck, who left to become the Cougars Associate Head Coach. Yes, the two swapped jobs, with Schoneck moving up the ladder (Major Junior) while Vandekamp slid back to Junior “A”, where he has enjoyed previous success with Merritt and Vernon.

Since the Cougars dismissed him, Vandekamp made a conscious decision not to speak to the media about his discharge. Vandekamp chose this route because he says, "It just hasn't been the right time to speak publicly.”  When pressed further on his sudden departure from the Cats Vandekamp maintained his “high road” approach and said, “Everyone is fine there with the Cougars and I wish everybody there lots of luck".

If Vandekamp is bitter, especially after being applauded for a job well done in 05/06, he is certainly hiding it well. "I'm just disappointed to not be coaching (the Cougars) anymore. I mean it's always upsetting when there is a failure of any kind. When you have high standards of yourself, you expect better results. Life will throw you curve balls now and again and that's what this is, an experience to learn from".

When asked if he thought the Brandon game (the 9-2 loss a month ago) would spell the end, Vandekamp responded with a quick, "I don't have much comment on it".

How about his last conversation with Cougars owner Rick Brodsky and GM Dallas Thompson prior to the firing? "I'll just leave that alone.”

Did it come down to the team's record (5-8-0-2 at the time) like the Cougars have suggested or was there an off ice incident or two that may have been a contributing factor? Again, Vandekamp replied with "I have no comment."

Shortly after his removal, Vandekamp indicated that he would speak openly on how he felt about his tenure with the Cougars, especially when all financial matters were resolved. However, after listening to advice from other hockey friends, Vandekamp has chosen to avoid any mud slinging.

On the other hand, he has expressed his feelings about returning to PG and coaching on the visitor’s side at the Coliseum, rather than at the CN Centre behind the home bench: “It will be an awkward feeling for sure. When you work up at the CN Centre you almost feel like you are in a different community than when you're in the Coliseum. They are kind of separate entities. It's really odd how the two teams don't really co-exist at all. It's just two different things all together. I think that's how I'll be treating it".

Powell River (10-16-2-2) split its first two games since the new coach arrived. Vandekamp is convinced he will overcome the odds and turn a remotely located franchise (a traditional non-contender) into a winner. But then again, he thought the same thing when he joined the Cougars.

 From the quote rack:

"A new study on America's worst cities for crime listed St. Louis and Detroit 1-2. That might help explain the awful ratings for the World Series. The people most likely to watch were either in jail or had their TVs stolen."
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald

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"Perfect: The franchise without a Mr. October might get a Miss September."    

Steve Rosenbloom of ChicagoSports.com, after hearing that one of the people interested in putting a group together to buy the Chicago Cubs is married to Hugh Hefner's daughter.

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“Coming soon to Fox Television: Floyd Landis: How I'd Win the Tour De France On Testosterone -- If I Did It.”
Bill Lankhof of the Toronto Sun

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“Now that Fox has cancelled the hypothetical O.J. Simpson confession interview, how are we supposed to get into the holiday spirit with our families?”
Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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 “Cancelling the show wasn't the hard part. The hard part was deciding which executive was going to tell O.J. about it."
Jay Leno of NBC

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"A Chinese businessman has paid $200,000 to become his country's first space tourist. What's he going to do, get lifted into the air by Yao Ming?”
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California.

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“This week's wacky soccer story comes from England, where clubs such as Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal are mulling over the idea of having mobile sperm bank units parked at their stadiums on game days to accept donations. The obvious choice as a TV pitchman for the campaign is former Arsenal keeper David Seaman.”  

Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post

And in case you missed it:

There were 26 technical fouls called in the first 10 days of the 2005-06 NBA season. That compares
to 70 technical fouls called in the first 10 days this season.

And how was your week?

Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press.

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