Tonight's match-up is a prelim to the upcoming event held this fall in the Czech Republic. The event was played at the Richmond Oval the site for the 2010 Olympic Speed Skating Championship.
Head Coach for team Canada is Allison McNeill who was born in Salmon Arm (and was a teacher in North Delta) in September 26/59 and has seen her share of international competition all dating back to 1998 at the world Youth Games in Moscow Russia.
As with any international event (regardless of the sport) the two teams exchanged gifts which is an indication what each country offers. This event was hosted by Basketball BC as well as the Richmond Oval, plus others. All played an important role in bringing this to Richmond.
the size of the building does not reflect the number of fans on hand taking in this game, to which one could guess around 500+, which wasn't too bad considering the weather and other events around the area.
Canada wears the normal White uniform with Red trim, while Sweden wears the Country Blue with Gold trim.
Upon arriving at the Oval, one get's lost looking for the parking meters in which to pay. Once located it's a matter of getting upstairs, then the rest is simple.
The court was set up directly center and the smell of hardwood was very prevelent throughout the building.
Canada's roster consisted of Kim Smith (Mission), Kelsey Adrian (Langley), Kaela Chapdelaine (Abbotsford), Leanne Evans (Port Moody) and Teresa Gabriele (Mission).
The first quarter was entertaining from the opening tip-off to the end whistle, but Sweden was up by a narrow score of 15-12.
The second quarter saw Canada get more aggressive, with even the odd comment from Allison McNeil who directed her remarks at the game officials. The second quarter Canada out scored Sweden by 10-7 and ended with Canada up 25-19.
Teams made some roster changes in the 3rd quarter, but the strongest part was played by Kim Smith, who plays pro for Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA.
The 3rd quarter saw Canada up by a margin of 43-28 with the edge going to Canada, who are simply out playing the counterpart.
Canada is managing to grab any lose balls thrown to the center of the court, creating some we set plays on the court.
Canada reached the 50+ mark at 7:42 in the 4th, but really never looked back from the first quarter. If one was to describe the overall play of Canada the word "focused" comes to mind.
The team continues to play moving while under the hoop which adds to the transistion style set in place by the Coaching staff, which is nice to watch.
Sweden managed to nail down a long three in the mid part of the 4th, but never really got any closer. Trading three pointers had Canada sink two immediately after the single three by the Swedish squad.
Canada's ability to force the play and create turn-overs held the Swedish team off the score board, thereby never really allowing them to get a "sniff" of the basket.
The game was well received by everyone attending, and it showed by the hand they received following the game.
Canada finished off Sweden by a solid margin of 65-33.
Next game will be this fall and anyone wanting more info should visit http://www.basketball.ca/

The CCBC would like to announce that there will be an addition to the Canadian College Baseball Conference effective immediately.   The new team will be based in Victoria and will tentatively be called the “Victoria Mavericks Collegiate Baseball Academy”.
Players will be able to attend either the University of Victoria or Camosun College and play for the Mavericks new college team.  The new team will be a welcome addition to the league and will allow for more games for the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute based in Nanaimo. Please stay tuned for additional information on this new team as it becomes available.
Any players that are interested in trying out for the Mavericks should contact Mr. Brad Franklyn, President & GM.

Junior Play-offs

The Vancouver Canadians will host the 2010 Final 4 PBL Championship at Nat Bailey Stadium featuring the four qualifying teams that advanced from the Final 8 play-downs this past weekend. Langley Blaze, North Delta Blue Jays, Victoria Mariners and the Fraser Valley Chiefs will square off in a double knockout tournament kicking off  Friday, July 30th at 2:30pm with North Delta taking on Victoria and then at 5:00pm Langley takes the field against Fraser Valley. The announcement of the 2010 PBL all-conference teams and player awards will follow the game.
Three games are slated for Saturday at 11:00am, 1:30pm, and 4:00pm. The championship game is set to go on Sunday, August 1st at 12:00 noon. Players and fans will be treated to the Jumbotron to follow play action in the nicest baseball park in our province.
Proceeds from a daily or tournament admission will be donated totally (100%) to the Canadians Foundation which helps fund young players who cannot afford to play baseball. Admission will be $2.00 a day or $5.00 for the whole tournament

Anyone that listens to a Canuck game, know's the voice of Tom Larscheid. It's tone is one set unto itself. While we might question some of his comments, we clearly know his love for the Canucks.
He has seen many great games over his career, but none better than the 94 run with the Rangers. Something he still talks about and how it could have changed the way everyone in BC looks at the Canucks.
Tom has worked with the team for over 30 years and is extremely passionate about the team, night in and night out. He's seen the team grow as have the players.
His passion is something that goes a long way and while he will not be in the booth, one can't lose sight of his great talent of promoting the team. No doubt his time will be spent listening to Canucks games and spending time with his wife Lesley.
Thanks Tom for a great 30 years.

While many of us were sitting around relaxing; those in the Penticton area were treated to yet another successful evening of fun.
The annual dinner which was hosted by the BC Hockey Hall Of Fame was held July 22-24, with the Inductee Introduction held at the Naramata Red Rooster Winery.
This year's event see's the likes of Dallas Drake, Frank Lento, Bruce Hamilton and Canuck Fan Favorite Trevor Linden get inducted into the hall.
Recognition in some cases often takes place when someone is no longer around to enjoy, but in the case of the BC Hockey Hall of Fame, they put things forward first.
Several awards are passes out such as:
The D.N. 'Dunc" Jamieson Award which is presented each year to an individual to display their dedication to - and the enjoyment of - the game of hockey.
It is presented in the memory of Dunc Jamieson, a long-time supporter of minor hockey in Penticton and throughout British Columbia.
Dunc Jamieson was also one of the founding members of the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame Society.
Larry Ashley Award:
The award is for humanitarian award dedication to the memory of Larry Ashley who for a long 16 years was the head trainer in the NHL. The last 14 were with the Canucks.
Larry passed away in 1995 following a long battle with Cancer.
Minor Hockey Player of the Year Award Award
The B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame, in sponsorship with the B.C. Hockey Now newspaper is recognizing the British Columbia Minor Hockey Player of the Year.
Organizations and individuals associated with minor hockey in B.C. are invited to contact B.C. Hockey Now to nominate worthy candidates.
Patricia Carter Bursary
The British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame introduced a new bursary award in the year 2000, to help young hockey players advance their education.
The Patricia Carter Bursary is presented each year in the memory of Patricia Carter, the first ever member of the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame Society and long-time supporter of the society.
The bursary will be awarded each year to a person or persons who has shown perseverance and deication to both hockey and schooling in the past, who is hoping to advance their education.
The award winner will be selected from the list of nominees by a selection committee which includes former B.C. Amateur Hockey Association president Florence Rempel and B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame Society director Dorothy Flebbe.
For more info on the hall visit http://www.bchhf.com/index.htm

My first indication of this event was this past Mothers Day when I spoke to Dan Taylor at a ball game in Ladner's Dugal Morrison Park, where the home team used "Pink Bats" in support of Cancer. Great undertaking by everyone.
This is the official web site of the 18^th annual championships of the Canadian National Oldtimers Baseball Federation. The host committee is working hard to ensure a great tournament and memorable experience for visitors to the West Coast. Committee members are from two Metro Vancouver men's baseball leagues - the Lower Mainland Baseball Association and the Poco Men's Baseball League.
The ball is great and this event is held each year in various areas across Canada and most recently held in Yarmouth NS but not before stepping up due to an emergency situation, in which assistance was needed. This years event will see
In 1992 the first attempt to play a Canadian oldtimers baseball championship tournament ended in failure. The idea belonged to John Duncan of Peterborough Ontario, well known on Ontario baseball diamonds, as a player, organizer and umpire. John was an executive member and a driving force with the Vintage Baseball Federation of Ontario, which consisted of more than twenty teams with players 35 years of age and over playing in weekend tournaments around the province of Ontario.
As had been done in the past, the committee put on an excellent tournament, supported by a strong showing from the community. The tournament started on time after a heavy rainfall on the Thursday, thanks to groundskeepers at all diamonds.
Last year's Tier One champions, the Burlington (Ontario) Black 49ers had to settle for the Tier Two 35+ Kindersley Trophy in an extremely exciting battle, squeezing out a 1-0, eight inning victory over another former champion from Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick. The run was the only one given up by Tracadie-Sheila in their three play-off games. The 44+ division was won by another former champion, the Dufferin-Simcoe (Ontario) Rockers, who defeated the Burlingon Grey 49ers 5-3. The Rockers took home the Chuck Beaudoin Memorial Trophy for the second time.Another hometown area team stepped up to claim the 50+ championship. The Pleasant Valley Lakers, in their first tournament, defeated the Halifax Classics 7-2. An earlier tie with the Classics was the only blemish on the Lakers' record.
We wish them all the best for this major event.
For more info visit: http://www.cnobf2010.com/

A friend of my Uncle Gerald's put me in contact with Richard Taki who has a major task ahead of him. The task - finding additional funding to assist several young players of the Nikkei Ice Hockey Program for the upcoming hockey tourny.
The "let's start a team" idea dates back to 1999 and the idea grew from then.
I was thrilled at the chance to help promote sports for yet another team of youngsters who have set sigh high goals so as to reach success. Richard was very pleased when we spoke, so I arranged to have one of my photographers (Justin) attend the recent fund raiser in Richmond.
This is something great for these youngsters and having a group of Adults commit to them is great. so if you or you know of someone and/or organization that would like to become involved please contact Richard Taki at 604-941-4155
As Nikkei Canadian parents they constantly ran into others at rinks around the Lower Mainland and realized that there were a significant number of players who were of Japanese descent.
The dream of all minor hockey players in Canada is to one day play professional hockey hopefully in the NHL. Paul Kariya, more recently Devon Setoguchi have been the only Nikkei Canadians to successfully play in the NHL but most have been considered too small to play professional hockey at the top level.
It is noteworthy that Raymond Sawada who was with the 2002 team was a high draft pick of the Dallas Stars and it is hoped that soon he could sign a contract with a pro club in the NHL. Many of these minor hockey graduates would go on to Junior hockey or university but to most it would mark the end of their organized hockey careers.
To celebrate and reward these boys for many years of dedication to the game, parents wanted to provide something that would be a positive climax to their hard work.
Most of the boys, although of Japanese descent, spoke no Japanese and knew little of the land of their heritage, the idea of taking a select group of players to Japan to have the opportunity to experience international ice hockey competition and also to visit, learn about and experience Japan seemed like the perfect situation. The program was realized when the Japan Ice Hockey Federation invited our team to a summer tournament that was held in Kushiro in August, 2000.
It was an experience that has made a permanent impact on the boys involved. This dream trip became a reality through the dedicated efforts of parents and players and the generosity of individual donations and financial support from such diverse organizations as Toyota Canada, Canadian Autoparts Toyota, Alcan,
The National Association for Japanese Canadians (NAJC), and Japan Airlines to name just a few. A major fund raising dinner was held at the Steveston Buddhist Temple where the Japanese Canadian community came together and the dinner and silent auction raised significant funds. This sense of community support was an indication that the program was succeeding even before the first team went to Japan.
In 2002, 2004 and 2006, the program has been successful in sending teams every second year to competitions in various venues in Japan where the boys were able to experience a high level of international competition.
It is the intention of the program to continue sending teams every two years to allow graduating minor hockey players the chance to broaden their experiences and horizons through their game.
With the vision of a small group, the end of any travel is endless. Visit the web site to help out www.nikkeihockey.com  

The Vancouver Canucks avoided impending arbitration with Mason Raymond (forward) by doing what many thought should have never reached this plateau and signed him to a two-year, $5.1 million contract.

Raymond set career highs with 25 goals and 53 points last season when he earned $760,000. He filed for arbitration and was on his way to a hearing in Toronto on Monday when the new deal was worked out.

Raymond will receive $2.5 million next season and $2.6 million in 2011-12.

Raymond, originally picked in the second round by the Canucks in 2005, has 45 goals and 97 points in 203 career NHL games.

The deal puts the Canucks more than $2.6 million over this year s $59.4 million salary cap.
I think I can speak for many hockey fans by saying that this is a great move for the Canucks. All one has to do is watch him play and you know he enjoy's playing the game, especially for the fans and the love of the game.
Nice signing.

Thursday July 22 marked the official "kick-off" for next sporting event since the Olympics hit town. They were officially opened by Premier Gordon Campbell who lit the torch to officially start the 2010 BC Summer Games,
"We've seen what can happen when a community comes together to host a sporting event, and the BC Summer Games will once again give British Columbians a chance to show their spirit and community pride, and cheer on our best athletes," said Premier Campbell. .
The games were held in Langley from July 22-25 and saw over 2,500 athletes will compete in 23 different sporting events. The athletes will be supported by 516 coaches and 335 technical officials during the Games.
Approximately 3,000 volunteers will be involved in the 2010 BC Summer Games.
"The athletes competing at the BC Summer Games have the chance to be our next Olympians and Paralympians," said Minister of Healthy Living and Sport Ida Chong. "The Province is extremely proud to be able to support our athletes while they strive for excellence in their sport and continue their dreams of reaching the podium."
With an average athlete age of 14 years, the BC Games are an important step for athletes towards provincial and national team programs and help prepare them for national and international competition. In total, 45 BC Games Alumni were named to the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams that
went to Beijing in 2008, including Brent Hayden (swimming), Gary Reed (athletics), Clare Rustad (soccer), Riley McCormick (diving), Mike Saunders (baseball) and Ryder Hesjedal (cycling).
"The investment made in sport by the Province of B.C. has helped create a greater standard of coaching, which in turn produces a more positive opportunity for athlete development," said BC Games Society President and CEO, Kelly Mann. "More and more, BC Games alumni are competing in their sport at the national and international levels."
High-performance athletes understand the importance of an integrated sport system that assists in their development. Hesjedal, who is currently competing in the Tour de France, sees the BC Games as an integral part of that system.
"Becoming a professional racing cyclist for Garmin-Transitions meant having opportunities and achieving specific goals along the way," said Hesjedal. "The BC Summer Games was one of those opportunities and winning a gold medal for the zone of Vancouver Island - Central Coast was one of those goals.
B.C. spends $2 million annually to support the BC Summer and Winter Games - part of an estimated $47.7 million in funding this year to encourage British Columbians to be physically active and to help athletes and coaches reach the next level in sports competition.

The Canadian Women's National Softball Team faced a huge challenge in the first game of the KFC World Cup of Softball V in Oklahoma City, while taking playing the US - the reigning World Champions. American pitcher Monica Abbott fired a two-hitter at the Canadians, while her teammates gave her a three-run lead to work with before she stepped foot in the pitcher's circle, leading to a 9-0 USA win in six innings.
The United States opened the scoring right off the bat in the top of the first inning. Natasha Watley led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on a double to right center field by Jessica Mendoza. Jennie Finch, who announced that she will retire from softball following the event, then launched a two-run homerun to left to give the Americans a quick 3-0 lead.
Abbott was at the top of her game, striking out all nine batters she faced over the first three innings, while the United States added a run on a solo homerun by Kaitlin Cochran to right field to increase the lead to 4-0. In the bottom half of the fourth, Melanie Matthews (Surrey, BC) led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Caitlin Lever (Buffalo, New York), but Abbott struck out the next two hitters to keep Canada off the scoreboard.
After a quick fifth inning in which both pitchers retired the three batters they faced in order, Canadian starting pitcher Danielle Lawrie (Langley, BC) started the sixth by hitting Andrea Duran, who moved up to second on a groundout and scored on an error, as Ashley Charters advanced to second on the error. Vicky Galindo then hit a fly ball to right field, and Charters raced in to score after a bad throw to the infield. After a single by Natasha Watley, Ashley Lanz (Winnipeg, MB) came on in relief of Lawrie, and allowed a single to Caitlin Lowe, followed by a three-run homerun to Jessica Mendoza, as the Americans took control of the game with a 9-0 lead.
Erin Cumpstone (Saskatoon, SK) was able to produce Canada's second hit of the game in the bottom half of the sixth, but the red and white was unable to produce any runs, ending the game after six innings on the run rule.
Monica Abbott was sensational in the pitcher's circle, striking out 16 batters over six innings while only allowing two hits. Danielle Lawrie allowed seven runs (four earned) over five and two third innings with five strikeouts for Canada. Lanz allowed two unearned runs on two hits and recorded the final out.
Canada will return to action tomorrow, as they will take on the USA Futures National Team at 4:00pm EDT, followed by Japan at 10:00pm EDT. Both games can be watched on webcast at http://asa.video4ever.net/index.htm, while live scoring will also be available on USA Softball's GameTracke
Check the Softball Canada website shortly prior to game time at www.softball.ca to follow the game.