Hartley Miller's Slap Shots, - Friday July 4th Edition
In the first half of 2008, many teams and individuals, including the UNBC Lady Timberwolves, 
the Cariboo Cougars, the New York Giants and Tiger Woods entertained fans with memorable performances. Here's a recap of some of the sports stories from the first six months this year:
January: Canada received a scare but claimed gold for the 4th straight year at the World Junior Hockey championship by defeating Sweden 3-2 in overtime.
February: In one of the best Super Bowls (#42 in Arizona) the New York Giants shocked the New England Patriots 17-14, ending the Pats 18 game winning streak.
*Curling titles went to former PG resident Bob Ursel, who now resides in Kelowna (Provincial Mens), and Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones (Scotties Tournament of Hearts).
March: The UNBC Lady Timberwolves provided fans with the biggest thrill at the new Northern Sport Centre by dumping Camosun 71-54 in the BCCAA Women's basketball final. The T-Wolves went on to a 5th place finish at the CCAA Nationals in Truro, Nova Scotia.
*The Cariboo Cougars peaked at the right time as they became BC Major Midget Hockey champions, going 6-0 in the playoffs, after a 4th place regular season.
*The PG Cougars and Spruce Kings finished forgettable seasons. The Cougars missed the WHL
playoffs with a 20-48-1-3 record. The Spruce Kings placed 6th in the BCHL Interior Conference before bowing out to Salmon Arm in the first round, losing 3 games to 1, blowing a 6-1 lead in game four.
*In curling, Scott Sherba won his first Kelly Cup, Kevin Martin took the Tim Horton's Brier, and Jennifer Jones captured the Ford World Women's championship.
April: The Cariboo Cougars terrific season ended losing in the 3rd and deciding game to host Calgary Buffaloes in the Pacific Region Major Midget Hockey playoff.
*After missing the playoffs for the second time in three years, the Vancouver Canucks fired GM Dave Nonis and replaced him with Mike Gillis. Canuck fans are patiently waiting to see the upgrade.
*Speaking of hockey… Penticton won the BCHL Fred Page Cup, the US the Women's World title and Canada the World Under-18 Hockey Championship.
*South African Trevor Immelman celebrated his first major, capturing the Masters by three strokes over Tiger Woods.
*Kevin Martin of Edmonton won his first Men's World Curling title skipping Canada to a 6-3 victory over Scotland.
*Prince George FC and the Edmonton Drillers split of pair of games in the Indoor Soccer Showcase Challenge at CN Centre in front of disappointing crowds of 2100 and 1500.
*Boyd Bayne, Don Nachbaur, Shafeed Rahmann and the late Fernie Ollinger received the honor they deserved with induction into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame.
*The CNC board of governors made the unpopular move of cutting its BCCAA
volleyball and badminton programs.
May: After sweeping Lethbridge in the WHL final, the Spokane Chiefs won Major Junior Hockey's top prize, downing the host Kitchener Rangers 4-1 in the final. That gave the WHL 18 Memorial Cups which is the same amount as the OHL (11) and QMJHL (7) combined.
*Tragedy struck the Vancouver Canucks when 21year-old defenceman Luc Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle accident near his hometown of Shippagan, New Brunswick.
*Russia edged host Canada 5-4 in OT in the final of the World Hockey Championship.
*The Humboldt Broncos scored the only goal in the Royal Bank Cup final to defeat the Camrose Kodiaks.
June: The NHL and NBA finals both went six games with neither series meeting pre-tournament expectations. Detroit captured its 4th Stanley Cup in 11 years by defeating the hometown Penguins 3-2. The Wings outshot the Penguins in every game. The Boston Celtics embarrassed the LA Lakers 131-92 for their 17th NBA title.
*The Hockey Theme Song was saved; however, Saturday nights won't be the same as CTV Inc.
acquired the rights, after the CBC dropped the “puck” after 40 years.
*Spain capped an unbeaten Euro 2008 soccer championship with a 1-0 (Well at least it wasn't on penalty kicks) ho-hum victory over Germany in the final.
*PG’s Jessen Potskin (the top Canadian batter with a .442 average) helped Canada to a silver medal performance (behind Australia) at the ISF Junior Men's World Fast pitch Championship in Whitehorse.
*Despite a throbbing knee, Tiger Woods won his 3rd US Open title and 14th major edging
Rocco Mediate by a shot in a 19 hole playoff. Golf is now on hiatus until Tiger returns in 2009.
The Summer Olympics, World Series and Grey Cup are some of the sports that should provide excitement in the second half of 2008. However, it's always the unexpected that makes for a great sports year.
From the quote rack:
“You know what that means. Gentlemen, start your urine.” Richard Oliver of the San Antonio Express-News, on the start of cycling's Tour de France this weekend.
“Adam ("six arrests") Jones (of the Dallas Cowboys) wants people to stop calling him “Pacman” and would prefer it if they would use Adam, Mr. Jones or just plain old defendant.” Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary http://smacksport.blogspot.com/)
“A Calgary runner died after finishing his part of a 100K road race. Officials say he was fine until he stopped at a gas station to fill up for the ride home.” Derek Wilken
“Shawn Chacon slams Astros GM Ed Wade to the ground, then Manny Ramirez slams Sox Traveling Secretary Jack McCormick to the ground and both incidents happened at Minute Maid Park. Maybe they should rename it Hawaiian Punch Park.” Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
“A biologist at the University of Western Ontario has isolated the selfish gene, calling it a big step forward in understanding the evolutionary origins of reproductive altruism. The subjects in the breakthrough study were honeybees, federal politicians and NBA point guards.” Vancouver comic Torben Rolfsen (www.theprovince.com/liveat5)
“The English are considering a ban on trophies for young children who play in soccer leagues. Apparently the adults feel if they can't win any, why let the kids have any?” Comedy writer Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va (http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.com/)
“Spain won the EUFA - European Football Championship. When asked if they had watched it, most Americans said they didn’t even realize the season had started for NFL Europe.” Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com)
“An American hiker stranded in the Bavarian Alps for nearly three days was rescued after using her sports bra as a signal. Shame she wasn't hiking with Pamela Anderson, the woman might have been found at least a day sooner.”
Stuntman Jim Purol of Anaheim plans to sit in each of the 92,542 seats at the Pasadena Rose Bowl for five days beginning Monday
And how was your week?
Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com
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