— page 9 —
Well another Atlantic Universities Athletic Union trophy has UPEI 1985 Conference Chanmions engraved on its side.
The UPEI Hockey Panthers defeated the highly offensive UdeM Blue Eagles last weekend to take the best of three emi-finals 2—0 to jump into the small line behind the soccer Panthers, who claimed the AUAA crown last fall.
Hopefully Vince Mulligan’s team won’t suffer the same consequences in Ottawa as did Gordie Wilson and ’his team, losing in the Eastern Cpnadian championship to Carleton University 2-0. .
UPEI plays the University of Ottawa Gee Gee’s, but because their rink is not capable of staging such an event, the best-of-three semi-finals will be played across the river in Hull, Quebec. ‘
The Gee Gee’s are said to have a small but very speedy team. However, when compared to Monton, I don’t think there can be a faster team. ' ‘
The Panthers will have to play the same defensive style they employed against the Blue Eagles and stay away from the penalty box. Tony Haladuick will probably stay between the pipes for the Panthers for the entire series, or at least for the first two games. " '
\Haladuick was hot in goal against Moncton and virtually saved the game in the first period. Another save, on Claude Vigrain in the third period, gave the Panthers a big lift.
‘ Ed Hilton, Athletic Directof at UPEI, was busy all week making arrangements for travel and accommodations for the hockey team and the basketball team which is head to the Mid-West Regional in Winnipeg this weekend.
The basketball Panthes lost in the AUAA Final in Wolf- ville last Weekend and were given the wild card spot in the Mid-West Final. They are currently ranked third by the CIAU and have a really good chance of being in the Final Four in Halifax March 15 and 16. V -
Basketball Coach George Morrison was named coach of the year 'in the AUAA conference, and if he can bring the team to Halifax he has a chance at getting national recog— nition.
“Wow, this is like a real University”, said one of the almost 200 people who crammed into the Panther Lounge to watch the Panthers play the Mount Allison Hawks in the AUAA semi-final last Friday evening. ~ ,
There was more excitement in the lounge than one can put into words as the T.V. fans erupted at every basket and play. Flying Phil Stayner donned the Panthers costumefraced up and down the floor, and was in more shots than most of the players. Phil’s national TV debut was one of the highlights of the game.- ‘ .
The above quote certainly says a lot about how the national press has swarmed into the Atlantic region to try and record the historical achievements of the AUAA teams. There has never been a time when teams at UPEI were playing before such a T.V. audience, as the hockey team was being viewed by three provinces on CBAFT while the basketball panthers were on The Sports Network.
Jack Donahue had better get his facts straight though, as he called UPEI coach George Morrison, George Harrison.”
There is certainly no comparison, Jack. The ex-Beatle has longer hair and a mild-mannered disposition, not to mention his wife Barbara (I’m not ‘ saying Morrison’s wife. is not glamorous). Butwhat’s in a name? '
"Well, my predictions for the- outcome of the five games which appeared in the Netted Gem last week were just about on. track. I said the Panthers would sweep the Blue Eagles in two games and I predicted the outcome of the basketball playoffs — well, I though the Panthers would win by one point in the final game, but Acadia came up with a big game — so I missed one. ' "
Banner and Noisemaker Day at the Forum Saturday was a big success and I’d like to thank the following people and establishment for donating prizes: ‘
Kent McKay of the Panthers Lounge, K-Mart Foods.
of the Bookstore. ' The noise and the banner were appreciated by the team and it, ‘ added to the game.
certainly
PREDICTIONS — Panthers 24 and the, basketball Panthers will win their regional to advance to Final Four .
, Panthers fall to AXemen'in final
By The Shadow
The University of Prince Edward Island Panthers, hampered by some question- able officiating and their own inconsistency outside the perimeter, fell short of the AUAA Men’s Basketball title last weekend, losing 77-71 to their arch-rivals the Acadia Axemen.
The Panthers had hoped that a ‘box-and-one’ de— rense WOUld “6 effective
against the tough Axemen offensive players, shooting
‘ guard Gary_ Towel and all-
around player, Chris Sumner.
Instead, the Axemen took over, thanks to the hot hand of Rodney Martin.
Martin, an AUAA second All-Star, whose performance this year was not up to par, came on in the dying minutes of the first half and all of the second half to help maintain the Axemen’s control of the game.
Acadia went in to the second half leading 40-33. With Martin leading the way, the Axemen raced to a 46-33 lead before the Panthers’ second-half defense, a man— to-man “D”, began taking
' Trevor
G.J.’s.Lounge, A&A Records and Tapes, and Russel Stewart .
Unfortunately, this de- fense opened up a lot of opportunities that other key Acadia players would not have had, namely center Peter Norris and shooting guard Rodney Martin..
Morris got the Axemen going, hitting foints in the first ten minutes, sparking. Acadia to a 22—13
lead. The Panthers closed the . gap to 22—18, but the Axemen refused to let the UPEI inside game take over.
George Morrison
purer «I: You llan ‘
Mar. [3/
effect.
' The Panthers got back into the game and with two minutes left, they closed the gap to 5 points, but Acadia pulled out the game on the foul line. ,
Martin led all scorers with 28 points; he was named MVP of the tournament. Willock led UPEI with 19 points.
The Panthers were far from their best in Wolfville. Their 15 turnovers, as op- posed to Acadia’s 5, cost them several baskets. How- ever, the officating de- finately favored Acadia throughout the tournament.
In fact, in Friday’s match- up between Acadia and St. Francis Xavier (Acadia won 69-67) the majority of ob- serves felt that if it wasn’t for the biased officiating, Acadia would not have pulled out that victory, let alone beat UPEI.
UPEI outplayed Mount
Allison in the second half of their match Friday night to win 79-75, after being d0wn by three points at halftime. However, the shortest players Delroy Adams and Aion Pettigrew came out smoking in the second half, combining for 28 points to spark the Panther victory.
The Panthers next move is to Winnipeg, where, thanks to their number four national ranking, they are in the Mid West Regional of the CIAU Tournament as a wild card entry. The Panthers take on U of Manitoba Friday night: the winner of the .match plays the winner of the other semi-final between the U of Winnipeg 'and the U of Western Ontario. The Panthers drew top seed in the tournament. ‘
The winner of the four regional tournaments will play for the National title on March l5, 16 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Bugs of the Weekend and Days which fall During the Week:
The demand for tickets for the hockey game Saturday once again proves there is need for a sports complex here on Prince Edward Island. . ‘
I hope for the sake of all Islanders and amateur sport that there iwll be one built here very soon.
CIMN is trying to broadcast the games during the CIAU hockey-finals from Toronto. But there is one giant roadblock, (of course the Panthers have to make it there); CHTN Radio
they feel they will steal listeners. ‘ .
CJUT is inviting all participating university radio stations to sit in as commentators on their broadcast. The Toronto Universite station will feed its signalacross Canada to the 3 participating radio stations at a cost of about $100 per game.
It’s a great idea, and it would be a shame for UPEI to miss out on an historical event just because some second-rate privately owned radio station thinks about 100 listeners .wculd put a dent in their audience. I think it is a travesty, Eiand CTV, also broadcast the final game nationally, will put the biggest dent in CHTN’s audience.
Shoulder chips are hard to knock off.
which has an agreement with UPEI will not let them because
Bob Hanf
for
PRESIDENT
for
representation 0 f all students V
jewellcqg ltd.
NODTON§
We repair all types of jewellery. Qualitv inslore service. Trophies, plaques.
and engraving also available. NODTONCg
jewelleng ltd.
“Moderation Ctr" Moll