Love this picture from Trail, taken by Trent Dorais' mom - part of the "Bulldogs fanclub" in Trail on Saturday night. It came up on my facebook today with me tagged in it. The Caption is just...awesome."The 2009/2010 Alberni Valley Bulldogs in Trail - The Alberni Valley Bulldogs defeated the Trail Smoke Eaters 5-4 in Double Overtime to win their 18th straight road game which breaks the BCHL record, held by the 1989-90 New West Royals & the 2009-10 Vernon Vipers, both teams had won 17 straight games on the road"
Just plain incredible.
With that win, the Bulldogs tied the franchise mark for victories in a season, set by the 2005-2006 Bulldogs. The current team is two points behind the franchise record of 91, also set by the 05-06 club.
As of today, they are ranked 6th in the Nation! Again - way to go Dogs!
From Westside - here's the play-by-play of Frank Riddle's OT winner. CLICK TO LISTEN!
From Trail - here's the play-by-play of Mark MacMillan's OT winner. CLICK TO LISTEN!
AROUND THE POUND, the Bulldog Hockey Show is back tonight on 93.3 The Peak FM from 6pm to 7pm.
Tonights guest list:
Bulldogs Head Coach and GM Nolan Graham
Bulldog players Scott Lewan and Casey Bailey
Quesnel Millionaires Head Coach Glen Watson
And last but not least, a replay of my alumni interview from Saturday night with former Bulldog Brian Stewart, who's still stopping pucks and picking up accolades
(and goose eggs) at Northern Michigan University!
Send in your questions VIA EMAIL HERE
Sorry if you aren't a pigskin fan, but a day after the big game I have to say at least a FEW things about it.....
I read a poll last week that said more Canadians were excited for the ADS than the GAME ITSELF! Well it was nice yesterday to see a game that was MAYBE just as good as the oh so famous ads. Where 60 seconds of airtime is worth more than the GDP of a small country.
The first half was cautious, but the second was a bit more exciting. How about the call on the onside kick? Wow. Nice to see Drew and the great people of New Orleans win it all. Wow, Bourbon Street will never be the same!
Having said all this - as a fan of HOCKEY first and foremost, you know what I was more excited about, even though I missed it? I was excited to see that Sid and Ovie put on such an incredible show to a North American Audience yesterday in Washington.
AND the people of Washington managed to battle through feet of snow to make the game even HAPPEN. How negative would it have been to have seen that game canceled yesterday? Instead, the game is a classic, and the crowd not only shows up but packs the place.
I've been a converted fan of all things Capitals for a couple years now, singing their praises from Ovechkin to Ted Leonsis (his link has been over there ----> on the right hand side for a couple years) to the great fans at the Phone Booth, so I was fired up yesterday watching the highlights. Just plain love Ovie, love the roar of the crowd there, the way they all JUMP up on the goals, the red clad fans, the fans pounding on the glass. Awesome atmosphere.
What I love more is that on a big day for Sports, Hockey comes out with a game like that. Sid with two, Ovie answers with three. Maybe it's just me, but I think these guys care just a little bit about the GAME, the NHL, and how much respect it gets. Give them a bigger stage, and they just plain play BETTER every time....or so it seems.
And how about the Caps? 14 straight wins? With the Bulldogs having their own 14 game win streak this season, we can all appreciate what a run like that is like. I can only imagine what it would be like at the NHL level!
A short note to Pierre McGuire (I'm sorry I just plain can't really say this nicely) PLEASE SHOOSH. JUST FOR A COUPLE SECONDS. LIKE THE FACEOFF ON THE HAT TRICK GOAL. SHEESH!
And here's some of my favourite ads!
Here's the update from the Alberni Invitational over the weekend.
Congrats to all the organizers and volunteers and support staff, and course last but not least - the athletes!
Press release:
Alberni Wrestling Puts On A Show
The 27th Annual Alberni Invitational Wrestling Tournament was a tremendous success both on and off the mats on the weekend. Organizationally the Invitational lived up to its billing as one of the premier wrestling tournaments in Canada. Competitively the action on the mats was tremendous and local wrestlers performed to high standards in front of the home town crowd.
Over 600 wrestlers from 72 schools registered for this year’s Invitational at the Alberni Valley Multiplex. It was continuous action from the opening of the competition on Friday morning until the last final Saturday afternoon as wrestlers did battle in five different age categories and over 100 separate draws.
“I cannot say enough about our amazing volunteers and the support we get from the community,” said tournament co-chair Tom McEvay, “our visiting wrestlers and coaches are astounded at what we put on every year. They love coming here and our own wrestlers, coaches and volunteers take tremendous pride in putting on this event. It is a mammoth undertaking that requires huge efforts from so many people. We thank them all sincerely.”
On the mats local wrestlers captured 33 medals and 47 top 6 placings in what is widely considered one of the toughest tournaments in BC. In the team standings the three Alberni schools also did extremely well. The ADSS won the Cadet Girls division (grade 9-10) while ADSS finished second in both the Juvenile Men’s and Women’s divisions for wrestlers in grades 11-12. The middle schools were also strong with Neill taking second in the Schoolboy division (grades 6-8) and Dunn sixth and in the Schoolgirl division Dunn was second and Neill third.
The gold medal parade saw 11 Alberni wrestlers win their respective weight classes. Two Alberni performances rated selection as the Most Outstanding of the tournament. Grade 12 senior Cody McEvay continued his strong season with a gold medal performance at 66 kg Juvenile while young Jesse Wagner of Neill was outstanding in the 40 kg Schoolboy division.
For McEvay the Invitational was another step along the road to his ultimate goal of a BC title in early March. “Cody had a fantastic tournament,” said ADSS coach John McDonald, “he is so focused right now and so prepared to put in the work necessary to reach his goals. He is a great example for our younger wrestlers to follow as he excels athletically, academically and he is an excellent citizen.”
McEvay had to beat some tough competitors to reach the final and the final proved extremely close. In the final he met Dylan Strause of Victoria’s Esquimalt Secondary. Strause won the first round in an overtime clinch before McEvay came back to take the second 3-2. In the final round it was a nail biter with McEvay prevailing 1-0 to take the gold.
For Wagner the Invitational was another opportunity to show the province that he and his twin brother Jordan will be two Alberni wrestlers to watch over the years ahead. Jesse was dominant in winning the 40 kg Schoolboy weight while brother Jordan was equally as impressive in winning the 45 kg Schoolboy weight.
“ The twins are two amazing young athletes, “ commented Neill coach Erin Anker, “ they do well in many sports but wrestling is rapidly becoming their top sport. Jesse was outstanding all tournament long and was rarely challenged and Jordan did the same. I am not sure how anyone could select on over the other for the top award but we are so proud of the both. They will have a great career at ADSS when they head there next year for grade 9.”
Grade 12 Savannah Toth showed everyone that she was recovered from a painful chest injury as she dominated on route to winning gold at 69 kg Juvenile. Toth looked strong and hungry as she mowed through the competition. In the final she defeated a very tough Melissa Lokombu of Mouat to take the gold. Teammate Daley Forbes was also unstoppable in the 90 kg cadet girls division as was ADSS new comer Koryn MacDonald at 75 cadet.
There were a number of other very impressive performances in the Schoolage divisions. Riley Neville (78 kg) and Christian Anderson (90 kg) of Dunn won their respective weights. On the girls side it was the Neill trio of Corrine Gough (34 kg), Rhea Wing (43 kg) and Breanne Muller (46 kg) who took gold in their weight classes.
Local wrestlers were also very close to winning 7 other weight classes. The ADSS girls were once again dominant here with silver medal performances put in by Brittany Henderson (51 kg cadet), Jamie Lloyd (69 kg cadet), Brianne Charles (64 kg juvenile) and Karlie MacFarlane (75 kg juvenile). For MacFarlane the local rugby standout, it was her first wrestling competition and she did as the coaches expected and handled herself very well on the mats. Charles had one of her best matches of the year in her semi final with a thrilling late throw and a pin. Liam Diffin of Neill was second at 31 kg schoolboy while Dunn’s Russell David at 49 kg schoolboy and Michaela Dick at 46 kg schoolgirl were the other silver medalists.
The depth of the Alberni Wrestling program was really evident with a 15 bronze medal haul at the Invitational. In the Juvenile division it was Cullen Hines (74 kg) and Austin Evans (57 kg) of ADSS taking third in the weights while teammates Austin Jaworski was third at 66 kg cadet, Jordie Bodnar 43 kg cadet and Colin Simister third at 31 kg schoolboy. Schoolage bronze medals for Dunn included Dean Leyland (55 kg), Tyler Drew-Adams (78 kg), Lauren Barker (37 kg), Remi Wells (43 kg), Jaden Field (51 kg), Michel Kurcz (55 kg), Julia McGowan (60 kg) and Emma Vanderlee (64 kg). Neill wrestlers taking bronze were Caden Stephens (58 kg) and Johannes Kulich (64 kg).
There were 14 more local wrestlers who finished in the top 6 of the respective weights classes. Fourth place finishers were Brayden Arsenault (31 kg Dunn), Ben Salitter (58 kg Neill), Shayla Smith (44 kg Dunn), Bailey Durning (54 kg ADSS cadet), Kraig Doskotch ( 54 kg ADSS juvenile) and Sky Daoust (60 kg ADSS juvenile). Fifth place went to Kennedy O’Donovan (43 kg Dunn), Oliver Witham ( 47 kg Dunn), Chase Henstridge (49 kg Neill), Jessie Geddes (55 kg Neill), Lucas Bitter (69 kg Dunn), Dakota Sutton (51 kg ADSS cadet) and Sheldon Haddad (57 kg ADSS cadet). Gary Richards of Neill was sixth at 47 kg schoolboy.
In the team standings it was St. Thomas Moore taking first in the Schoolboy division ahead of Neill, Carson Graham, Abby Traditional and Notre dame in the top 5. In Schoolgirls it was Dover Bay taking top spot ahead of Dunn, Neill, Elphinstone and Queen of Angles. In the cadet divisions Carson won the boys with Van College, Terry Fox, Yale and Vanier the top 5 and then in the cadet girls it as Carson, Phoenix, Saskatoon and Burnaby South all finishing behind the champions from ADSS.
The Juvenile divisions were hotly contested . Carson narrowly edged ADSS for the boys title by 4 points 49-45. Guildford Park were third at 43 with Burnaby South (38) and Queen Elizabeth (32) all in the top 5. On the juvenile girls side WJ Mouat of Abbostford were first with 41 points to ADSS at 31 pts. Burnaby South were third at 25 followed by Dover Bay 18 and Carson 18.
In the open division the there were some great matches as North Island College wrestlers, alumni and others did battle on Friday night. Another highlight of the 27thInvitational was the Elementary division. Over 100 youngsters participated in a fun 2 hour session on Friday afternoon. Local coach Russ Bodnar did an exceptional job again this year running the Kids Wrestling program and it showed on Friday. There will be another Kids session in June when Alberni wrestlers visit the local schools and then there is a free summer Kids Camp July 6-8.
The 2010 Alberni Invitational was certainly another feather in the cap of the rich tradition of Alberni Wrestling. While it was the 27th annual it was actually the 31st year in a row that the local program has hosted a major tournament since they included 4 BC High School Championships in that impressive hosting record. No other wrestling program in BC even comes close to that type of performance. It is certainly something all of the valley can take great pride in and something to look forward to in 2011.
McEvay was also quick to thank all of the local media for their tremendous coverage of the 2010 Invitational. The Times had a great two page spread last week highlighting the event and the Alberni News had an excellent feature as well. The PEAK radio this year had their Friday afternoon show with Jolie broadcast live from the Multiplex. The finals were filmed by Shaw and will be shown this week on channel 4 so watch for times.
Alberni wrestlers now have two weeks to prepare for the Island Championships in Duncan. The Islands are the qualifying event for the BC Championships in Abbotsford March 4-6. The Invitational has revealed that local wrestlers will once again be in the thick of the competition come the BC in a month.
Thats it for now!
Hammer
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