The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page
NEWS LEADER RIDES WITH THE POSSE
Special to The News Leader by W. George Elliott
Any idea how hard it is to win $100,000? It's a big piece of bait used to draw people to the numerous games played in the KIJHL. I was one of the lucky Princeton fans to get a shot into the net in a tiny hole cut into the bottom of a piece of plywood. The shot that earned me a spot in the semi-finals in Summerland on January 13th was from centre ice.
I was offered a seat on the team bus for that road trip and jumped at the opportunity to ride with the Posse. I smelled some news and a lot of fun, and the team didn't let me down on either count.
When I arrived at Princeton Arena just before 4:00 PM last Friday, I pulled up just before Posse General Manager Blair Noel, who had offered me my seat on the bus.
"Are you up for a win?" I asked him as he got out of his truck.
With a big smile his answer was, "I'm always up for a win."
I made my way to the Posse dressing room in time to catch trainer Clint Clifton swapping hockey stories with just about anyone who'd listen.
I told him I why I was there and I got welcomed to the crew with a high-five and a handful of players started sharing tips with me and insight into the set up for the $100,000 shot.
The bus arrived, it got loaded with gear and then we boarded. I was not the only Princeton qualifier for the semi-finals. We were waiting for 8-year old Morton Johnson and his father, Dean to join us.
Morton, a Grade 3 student at John Allison School has brought his own hockey stick for the shot.
HIS OWN HOCKEY STICK! He also has two shots, having qualified twice in Princeton. I'm 45, I play a little ball hockey in the driveway at home with our dogs, but that's about it. I think I have some competition here.
The bus ride to Summerland was not what I had expected. The team was pretty quiet. A number of the players were napping, others were listening to personal music players or reading or chatting quietly. I had expected a lot more noise, and what impressed me most about these young men were how polite they were. It gave me a completely different perspective of what I thought young hockey players were like. It was a bit surreal and then it occurred to me maybe I should have brought a book on the trip.
Team waterboy Paul Gabriel sat with me and we chatted for most of the ride.
Then the bus made the left turn onto Highway 97 at Kaleden and the players came alive. Mike Salter started calling "Wake up! Wake up!" from his seat and Brad Fraser got to his feet and went up and down the aisle to each player.
"Ready to go? Are you ready to go?" He announced, patting players on the back, giving them a playful shove or messing up hair. He was trying to get the team fired up and ready to go for the game. It was a sign of solidarity and leadership I learned later from Coach Dale 'Duner' Hladun was a first.
Another player offered this amusing observation as the bus approached Penticton, "First road game of the year, boys!"
He was absolutely right. Then I started to chuckle to myself thinking I could be writing a story about the team losing on the road with such details as: 'The odds were against them. On the eve of a Full Moon on Friday the 13th, with Cody Devitt dressed and the first road game of the new year, the Posse just couldn't pull it together.'
I really didn't want to write that story.
We arrive at the Summerland Arena (and Curling Rink) at 6:00 PM. The team filed out and after tossing their equipment bags into the dressing room, they move to a large open area on one side of the arena, behind the announcers booth to do a little warming up. They include some sprints, light jogging, jumping jacks and general stretching exercises. Then they disappear into the dressing room to suit up.
Coach Duner is watching the figure skating class taking place on the ice surface and I ask him what he's expecting from tonight's game.
"The boys are starting to realize every practice counts." He tells me that the mindset the team has is that it's time to start playing each game like it's a playoff game.
Duner is quite relaxed when he's telling me this, and it sounds as if he's quite relaxed about the game.
"It's better to be the rabbit than to chase one." he says.
I'm thinking that line could get recycled sometime in the future and I make a mental note to save it somewhere.
I ask what he's seeing in the team.
"Focus. Effort. I bet I hardly have to yell. Maybe offer some suggestions, but I think they'll be fine."
I leave Duner to his team and admire the arena building. It's massive in comparison to the Princeton arena. There's seating on both sides of the ice, wheelchair access to at least one level of seating, plexiglass down to the floor on one side, open players boxes with a giant announcers booth above, a giant speaker system mounted above centre ice, a high arcing ceiling, large side-by-side penalty boxes with a time keepers booth in-between and an actual Zamboni brand ice resurfacer.
The pre-game warm up starts and it occurs to me how sharp the team looks in their black road jerseys. Far better than the red ones worn two seasons ago, and I find out later from Assistant Coach Kevin Robillard that there could be another change in the jerseys as we now wear colours that exactly match Fernie.
While I've got Robillard's attention I ask him what he's expecting from tonight's game.
"Just from watching practice this week I'm seeing a lot of focus. The leadership team is starting to step up and we should have a big Princeton crowd here tonight."
He points to progress made in individual players and just can't say enough about Jarrett Pretty Young Man.
"Jarrett has just played four of his strongest games. It's great to see a big player like him start to play these kinds of games."
Then he confirms what Duner had told me only minutes before, "We've told the boys the first thirty-six games up to Kimberly were exhibition games. Their season has just started."
I move into the lobby to watch the crowd of spectators file in. Each time I look up I see another familiar face from Princeton. There's actually a lot of Princeton fans at this game, and not much else. It made me realize we pull a much larger gate in Princeton, even on a bad night there's more at a Posse game than at this Summerland Sting contest. One spectator says it's because the team isn't winning like they used to. Another points out that Princeton fans are always here for Posse games and it helps with the numbers.
A taped instrumental version of 'O Canada' is piped into the arena and the game starts at 7:30 on the nose.
Princeton hits the stat sheet first at 2:50 when Micah Anderson earns a 2-minute penalty for elbowing. Summerland manages to hit the goalpost behind Posse goalie Greg Sentes, but can't capitalize on the power play.
Summerland collects a roughing penalty at 5:28 but it's not until 7:05 when the Posse lights up the scoreboard.
Cody Devitt and Seth Armitage were in front of the Sting goal poking at the puck in traffic and it eventually went it. Armitage got the credit.
The game got delayed at the 10:00 mark when a piece of plexiglass at one end of the rink got knocked loose and play resumed once the repair was completed.
All 'Shoot To Win' qualifiers were then asked to meet at the announcers booth for instructions. There were a total of four of us (a fifth shooter shows up in time to shoot). The three others at the announcers booth with me get two shots as they have all qualified on two occasions. I get one shot for my single scoring shot in Princeton. We all agree to the terms and are told our shots for tonight's semi-final will be made from the far blue line at a smaller hole.
It's becoming increasingly obvious the insurance company does not want someone to win the $100,000 prize. One older gentleman, who is going to shoot tonight, comments on much the same subject, but is a little more colourful with his choice of wording.
I'm just glad to be here.
The period finishes with a couple more penalties, but Princeton is leading 1 to zero.
Once the Zamboni is parked back in it's garage, the Shoot To Win contestants make their way to the penalty box area. I don't want to shoot first, so I let someone else go before me. Morton is sticking to his plan of going last, which I'm okay with. He's got his stick and is ready. Dad Dean is obviously proud of his son and has a grin on his face the whole time we're getting ready for this. Mort is a lot more relaxed and I have to get his attention at least once so Dean can snap a couple photos.
Then it's my turn to shoot. I stand on a piece of carpet on the far blue line, take a look at my target and yell at the announcer something about the goal being a long way away.
I stick-handle the puck a couple times and fire off a wrist shot. It felt good as soon as the puck left the stick and as I watch the little black piece of rubber sail down the ice I note my shot is straight and think, 'Hmmm, that's going to be close.' The puck hits the plywood with a thud not more than an inch to the right of the hole. I'm happy with my shot, which
happens to be the closest one that night.
I received a lot of supporting comments from people in the crowd as I make my way back to my seat after sticking around to watch Mort's two shots.
Back to the game. Princeton scores goal number 2 at 7:08 of the second period when Jeremy Wagner popped in a shot off the rebound over the glove of the Sting goalie from in front of the net. Micah Anderson earned an assist.
Princeton added their third goal at 13:03 when Micah Anderson spun around with the puck off a corner pass and fired it into the net. Jeremy Wagner and Jarrett Pretty Young Man were given assists.
After two periods, Princeton is leading 3 to zip.
The third period saw a little more aggressive, physical play from both teams. While the officiating was far from perfect, there were a number of missed calls and just some bad calls which the sparse audience brought to the attention of the zebras frequently.
Probably the most excited Posse General Manger Blair Noel got during the entire game was when he rose to his feet in the stands at the five-minute mark and yelled "Too many men!" This became a chant until the referees made Summerland correct the error.
Summerland scored a goal of their own at 5:16 stealing a shutout from Princeton's Greg Sentes. Sentes had faced rubber coming at him from all directions and made some incredible, often impossible, saves. The game ended at 9:50 PM with a final score of Princeton 3, Summerland 1.
After the game, in the lobby, Morton tells me, "All I wanted was to get past the semi-finals." I reminded him that there's always next year.
When Duner came out of the dressing room I asked him to comment on the game.
"Weirdly enough it was an intense game. I didn't have to do hardly any coaching. The kids sort of guided themselves," then he added, "They took charge and did a good job."
As the bus loaded for the ride home, Jeremy Wagner shared homemade chocolate chip cookies with everyone (from his sister) and after a quick stop to load up on pizzas for the road, the team celebrated the win in style.
