The first of the four straight wins for the Dogs came against the Smokies to start the streak, 5-4 at the Dog Pound on January 26th, a game in which the Smokies gave the Dogs everything they could handle down to the very last second on the clock.
This is a tough trip - (they all are) a team like the Smokies who are four points out of the playoff picture, who will no doubt be playing desperate, hungry hockey to try and save their season...the defending National Champs tomorrow night, the Mainland's 2nd ranked team in the Chilliwack Chiefs to finish the trip Sunday...here's hoping the Dogs bring their absolute best.
The Coaching Staff has tried their best to put the players in the best position to win, pulling a new move out of the hat and leaving late Wednesday night and driving overnight to Castlegar. The previous 10 years, this trip was always one that started by leaving very early Thursday AM from the Multiplex, travelling all day, and arriving late Thursday night. The problem with that is that the guys sleep all day on the bus, and then can't shut it down at night. I don't know about the players, but I was ready to shut it down early last night...and I didn't go out and have a practice like they did shortly after we arrived here yesterday morning. Here's hoping they were down early last night as well, as you need to take care of yourselves and you need to have a good night's sleep (or two or three) as a trip like this wears on.
Get all the action on Boston Pizza Bulldogs Hockey on 93.3 The Peak FM with the Pacific Chevrolet pregame show kicking off at 7:15 with the puck dropping shortly after 7:30.
Tonight's 2nd intermission guest is Penticton Vees play-by-play voice Fraser Rodgers
Here's a look from 2008 at the Memorial Arena in Trail
The 30th Annual Alberni Invitational Wrestling Tournament
is scheduled for the Alberni Valley Multiplex February 7-9, 2013. The Invitational will bring over 600
competitors from all over B.C. to the Valley for three days of intense
wrestling action in five different age groups plus another 200 in categories
such as the Open, Elementary and the Grappling division. .
The Alberni Invitational is
widely considered the most prestigious high school wrestling tournament in B.C.
and has received recognition across Canada. The tournament started in 1980 and has run
every year except the four years the local wrestling group hosted the BC High
School Championships. That means 34 straight years that this dedicated group of
volunteers have run a major wrestling tournament in the Alberni Valley.
“We are extremely proud of the
history and traditions our wrestling program has established over the past 35
years. No other wrestling program in BC can boast that they have run 34 major
tournaments and many would be happy to have done it once. This is our 30th
Invitational to go along with 4 Provincials and it only happens because of the
amazing volunteer spirit in our community”, commented Tournament Director Tom
McEvay.
McEvay continued, “Since this is
a milestone year for us we are calling on all alumni to come back and celebrate
with us. Come and take in the action, support our current wrestlers, join us for
some socializing and get a commemorative Alberni Wrestling Alumni shirt. JAL
Designs have created an awesome design for our alumni shirts that I think
everyone will want. Check it out on our Alberni Wrestling Facebook page.”
Action at the 30th
Invitational begins on Thursday, February 7th with
weigh-ins for boys and girls in the 3 middle and secondary aged divisions at 6 p.m.
at the new ADSS. This will be the first chance that wrestlers and coaches from
all over BC get to see the new facility everyone is raving about. Registration opens at ADSS at 5 pm.
The Alberni Invitational
tournament action will run all day on Friday, February 8th from 9:00
a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Alberni Valley Multiplex. The first session from 9 am –noon will feature
Cadet (grade 9-10) and Juvenile (grade 11-12) wrestlers. There will be lunch
(11:30 am-12:30 pm) and dinner (4:30-5:30 pm) breaks. An Elementary Division returns
this year with over 100 local youngsters expected to participate. The
Elementary division runs from 12-3 pm Friday along with the Middle School or
Schoolage Division (gr 6-8).
Friday night at 7:00 p.m. will
feature the ever-popular semi-finals. Friday night will also feature the Open
division where alumni and college wrestlers can test their skills.. The conclusion of the rest of the preliminary
matches in the age class divisions will begin Saturday morning at 9:00
a.m. Medal matches will start at about
10:00 a.m. Saturday morning. The finals
in the Schoolboy/girl division (grade 6-8) and Cadet (gr 9-10) will start at
noon on Saturday. The Juvenile (grade 11-12) finals start at 2:30 pm on
Saturday and wrap up by 3:30 p.m. There
is not cost for spectators for the preliminaries and the finals are by
donation.
Returning for the third year to
this year’s Invitational will be the Grappling division that will run on
Saturday. Grappling is another variation of wrestling that is now sanctioned by
the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association. It combines many of the techniques
and actions of wrestling with various martial arts disciplines. Alberni
Wrestling has partnered with Dragon Martial Arts to add this dimension to the
Alberni Invitational again this year.
Registrations for grappling are
open to all interested participants of all ages. Registration and weigh-in for grappling
will take place Friday night at the Multiplex at 7 pm with grappling action
starting soon at 9 am Saturday. There will be a grappling official’s clinic and
an athlete’s rules clinic at 8 am Saturday morning. Make sure you come out to
watch this exciting action as well.
Not only do local fans have an
opportunity for some great competition at the Invitational, you also will once
again see very competitive Alberni wrestlers.
The ADSS Boys team is currently ranked in the top 5 in the province and
will likely battle it out with over 60 other schools for the team title in the
Juvenile and Cadet divisions. These teams could include Guildford Park of
Surrey, Carson Graham. Abby Traditional, Burnaby Central, WJ Mouat, Burnaby
South and Island powers Cowichan, Esquimalt and Campbell River.
In the Juvenile Girls division
ADSS is ranked in the top 3 in BC with Carson Graham of North Vancouver, Yale
and Terry Fox all top contenders. In the
Schoolboy/girl division Alberni will have strong teams from Neill and Dunn
Middle Schools and both schools should be in the top 10. Ucluelet Secondary
will also have wrestlers in most age divisions. The Alberni Valley Wrestling
Club seems a good bet to repeat as the top overall program at this year’s event
but they will be pushed by the strong Capilano and Upper Fraser Valley Clubs.
The AV Times will feature
pictures and write ups next week on all the top local wrestlers to watch at the
30th Invitational. It will be
an exciting few days of wrestling action in the place many observers call “The
Wrestling Capital of BC – Port Alberni! “
Last but not least, why not check out some Badminton at the Athletic Hall! Thanks Michelle for the heads up below!
Hello Evan,
I was just wanting you let you know this weekend,
Saturday Feb9th, 9am-5pm, the Alberni Athletics Jr.
Badminton Club will be hosting their annual Badminton
Tournament at the Alberni Athletic Hall. We will have
approximately 90 athletes competing, we will host athletes
from all over the island and the mainland.
I am hopeful that you could announce this in with your
sports in the next couple days, we are a smaller club and
would like the community to have the opportunity to come and
support the players and watch a fun skilled sport.
That's it for now, off to breakfast, talk to you tonight from Trail!
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