Marcu I, 2005

Liam McKenna Sports Editor

When the NHL finally cancelled the season on Wednesday the 16", both parties had the opportunity to address the fans they had so dearly disappointed. And when presented with the chance to present their excuses as to why those last negotiations failed, both Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow had different ideas. Gary Bettman seemed to be giving more ofa eulogy, whereas Goodenow sounded as though he had just been sentenced to a twenty minute time out. As I recall, it went something like this:

BETTMAN: It is with great regret, and deep sadness, and utter solemnity, and the most melancholy feeling ever, that I, Gary Bettman, with two “t’s,” not one, announce the cancellation of the NHL season.

GOODENOW: It was Gary’s fault! He started it!

And then, after all the talks, after all the last minute hoopla that had everyone on the edge of their seats, the NHL scheduled talks again the following Saturday to see if it was possible to un-cancel the season and save the careers of aging players like Yzerman and Lemieux — but not Chelios, because no one likes Chelios. Amongst rumors that Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky were going to be there, once again, hopes sprang up across our hockey-mad nation.

And then they promptly called off talks, breaking hearts for good. There was no way this season was going to be saved, as Mark Recchi, citing conflict of interest, refused to get involved. And then, suddenly, it dawned on everyone who the real bad guys were.

The players.

Those money-grubbing scoundrels! They demand a salary

The Blame Game

commniserate with their talent in relation to other sports without a hard cap and they hate the game even though they’ ve played since they were kids and salaries have ballooned since the last lockout which was also incited by Bettman, that jerk, and they know it!

Maybe it’s not the players fault. In my eyes, it wasn’t even Bettman’s fault. It was all Bob Goodenow’s fault. A lot of people who read this are going to say “Liam! You said at the start of the lockout that you didn’t have a side! You said that you just wanted to watch hockey again! You jerk!”

Why Goodenow? Quite simply, Bob Goodenow did not listen to what the players wanted. Gary, on the other hand, isn’t limited by what the owners want because he is in charge of the business and knows well how it needs to be run. Most of the owners actually do agree with him even after the cancellation of the season. Goodenow, however, represents the players as opposed to being in charge of them. He presents their needs and takes action accordingly to serve their best interests, one of which, I assume, would be playing hockey. And yet, Bob Goodenow rejected the option of voting on the final NHL proposition despite mutterings of dissent from numerous players.

When it came down to what could save hockey from self- destruction, Goodenow turned the other cheek. For this, we should blame him, or throw rocks at him. Maybe burn him at the stake. If it seems a little extreme, maybe we should vote on it. I wonder if Goodenow would be against that, too?

In other news, beloved governor general Adrianne Clarkson stated that she thought that the Stanley Cup should be contested in a game between the US and Canadian Olympic Women’s teams. Upon hearing this, Liberal Member of Parliament, famed author and hall-of-famer Ken Dryden stated:

“T just threw up. Adrianne Clarkson knows nothing about hockey.” Dryden later retracted his statements when he learned that Clarkson actually does know hockey, in reality having had played 2 seasons (1974-1976) with the expansion Kansas City Scouts of the NHL, and scoring 83 points over that

span.

A Race for the Finish and the Title

Vanessa MacDonald Sports Reporter

The UPEI Men’s Basketball team has had an outstanding year. With their record at 8-10 (as of Feb. 20th) and heading into the last two games of the season, they have wrapped up their chance into the playoffs. As of right now they are in 4th place and have just two games left. Both games will be fought at UNB on Sat, Feb 26%, and Sun, Feb 27th. Over the weekend the boys made a tremendous effort. On Sat, Feb 19%, the boys took a loss against UCCB by only 5 pts. The game was packed, televised, and an extremely close contest. When the boys went into half time, the score was 29-27 for UCCB and UPEI struggled to gain the lead of the game. The player of the game for UCCB was Anthony Breland, who had a whopping 21 pts, followed by Eric Breland, who had 16 pts. For UPEI, Sherone Edwards had 18 pts and 10 rebounds, while Engen Nurumbi had 16 pts and Tyler Wood had 12 pts.

The boys played UCCB the very

next day at the Sportscentre again. They ©

came out on top this time, and secured a position in the playoffs. The boys held

it together throughout the whole game..

The score at the end of the match was 78-55, with a much better effort put forth on Sunday. It could be the fact that the security of a playoff position was at stake, or that they picked up the slack when Tyler Woods had broke

‘Tue Capre ¢ 12

his hand. Whatever it was, it worked. Within 4 minutes of the game, UPEI had a tremendous lead of 18-2 and by half time it was 41-27 for our Panthers. Doug McKinney scored a huge 18 pts

- with 19 rebounds and grabbed himself

player of the game. Engen Nurumbi had a great game as well with 22 pts and 13 rebounds and, for a rookie or a veteran, has done very well for himself this season. UCCB players Anthony Breland had 15 pts, Paul Blake had 12pts and PEI’s own Ryan Keliherhad — 6 pts and 5 assists. ©

At the end of the two games the boys’ record is standing 8-10. The two remaining games against the Sth place team, UNB, should be interesting and worthwhile to see. UCCB’s record is 13-5, taking second place, while St. FX has claimed first place with a record of 14-2.

Basketball Women Swept at Home

Both Women’s and Men’s Basketball alike have done very well for themselves this year. With the girls having a current 9-9 record, it sure is something to be proud of. On Feb 19", the girls played UCCB at the UPEI Sport Center in a special night for 3 seniors, Lindsay Coade, Katherine Walters, and Katie Andrews. The girls on both sides came out onto the court and from the get go it seemed that they were a bit off. Reading week could have been the problem, seeing as the teams had 2 weeks off, or perhaps it was butterflies from the game being broadcast on Eastlink. Either way, the girls ended the game losing 56-40. In the second half UCCB’s defense caused a lot of turnovers, making it difficult for the UPEI squad. UCCB is in first in the standings and at this game Kelli McHugh had 15 pts and Debbie Ruiz had 11 pts. For the Panthers, Katherine Walters had 11 pts and Katie Andrews had 10 pts. At the end of the

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