NHL Playoffs 2010 - Round 3 Predos

Editors note: My apologies to Henry for not getting this up sooner.

Bill

Well, it’s time to get back on track and get some predictions right. I know most of you out there are wondering why I even bother, with a great record of just 6/12 so far, you’d think I would give up? Stick with the 50% and go home. However, this round I’m going to give ‘er and take a chance on teams that I have yet to believe in.

So without further adieu, here are my Round 3 Semi-Final Predictions:

The East – Its late but it’s time to join the bandwagon

Philadelphia (7) – Montreal (8) - Yes. That’s right. We’ve got a matchup of the last two seeds in the east to crown an East Champ. Montreal has beaten two of the NHL’s best teams so far in these playoffs and have jumped on the back of excellent goaltending by Jaroslav Halak to prove all pundits wrong. On the other hand, the Flyers struggled into the post-season and had to complete one of the toughest comebacks in recent memory to beat the Boston Bruins after going down three games to none. Both teams went to seven games in the last series and will be pulling on everything they have left to get an edge.

In net it’s a showdown of Michael Leighton (Until Boucher comes back) and the suddenly infallible Jaroslav Halak. If the Flyers can get into the head of Halak and push him around they might have a shot, but it won’t be easy.
It’s time to jump on the bandwagon and support Canada’s teams, not just because it feels right but because they are the best team in this series: Montreal In 6.

—

The West – Chicago ripped apart Vancouver in their series and the San Jose Sharks made short work of Detroit to reach this point.

San Jose (1) – Chicago (2) – Unlike the East, over in the West the top two teams have made it through the gauntlet and now face each other.

A high-powered regular season offence has finally shown life in the post-season for the Sharks and the young talent of the Blackhawks have been getting it done on the back of a young finish goalie.

Where the playoffs have been full of unexpected surprises, these two teams are the best in the West and deserve to be here. Joe Thornton finally showed up and will be the catalyst for the Sharks to get to the finals, however Duncan Keith will be draped over him like a bad wig and will try to shut down the big forward.

This series is tough with so much talent, but I feel that the Sharks will get under the skin of the young Blackhawks, taking this series.

My Prediction? The San Jose Sharks win in Seven.




—

That means the Stanley Cup will look like this:

San Jose Sharks (1st in West) – Montreal Canadiens (8th in East)

It will be a matchup of David verse Goliath proportions, well, if I am right for once.

–
Henry Whitfield is an avid sports fan who covers everything and anything in the sports world, while focusing on hockey and football. Follow him on twitter @HenryWhitfield.

AUS Storyline #2; The Collapse of the UNB Varsity Reds.

Even CIS athlete of the year nominee Hunter Tremblay Couldn't Stop the Varsity Red's Historic Collapse

UNB Mens Hockey comes in at number two of the top 20 AUS Storylines of the 2009/10 varsity season.

They were the reigning national champs and the class of the toughest conference in the country.

The UNB Varsity Reds weren't just the best university hockey team in the Canada, they were on pace to become one of the greatest teams in CIS history.

One year removed from winning a national championship in the spring of 2009, the Varsity Reds were working on an undefeated regular season in the hotly contested AUS conference.

UNB was the major storyline in Canadian university sport, until one of the most bizarre collapses of all time relegated them to an afterthought in a crazy season of AUS mens hockey.

On a late February night at the Aitken Centre in Fredericton, the Saint Francis Xavier X-Men came to town and gave the Varsity Reds their first defeat of the season. The X-Men had been struggling at the time, while the Reds were close to finishing off a historic campaign.

The fortunes of the two teams could not have changed more dramatically.

UNB received a first round bye, while fourth seeded St FX moved on to the AUS Quarter Finals and swept a UPEI team that had seemed to be getting stronger and stronger each week.

The plucky X-Men would play the number one ranked team in the country, the big, bad Varsity Reds, in a best of five semi final.

Nobody gave the X-Men a chance.

A week later, St FX was moving on to the AUS championship, while UNB was left to wonder where their glorious season had taken such a horrible turn.

After two crushing losses at the Aitkin Centre, the Reds were swept out of Antigonish, each game by a score of 3-2. The X-Men, led by former Moosehead Bryce Swan, had beaten the Reds 4 times in three weeks to completely shut down one of the most memorable campaigns in AUS hockey history.

There would be no accolades for this incredible group of athletes that had become the darlings of Fredericton. Just the bitter sting of disappointment of a lost season, one that had seemed so full of promise just two weeks prior.

It was the upset of the year in the Maritimes. The X-Men would go on to be a footnote in the Saint Mary's march to a national title, getting outscored 15-6 by a Huskies squad that was hitting stride at the perfect time.

Meanwhile, Coach of the year Gardinar Macdougall, AUS player of the year Hunter Tremblay, and the rest of the Varsity Reds were left with heartbreak, and the anticipation of fall when UNB

will almost certainly be a national contender once again.

Bill McLean is the voice of Dalhousie Tigers Men's Hockey on ssncanada and lives in Halifax. Follow Bill on twitter at "haligoniasports". You can hear his radio show Tuesday mornings at 10:30 am on ckdu.ca or 88.1 FM.

email: bill@haligonia.ca

AUS Storyline #3; The Shot Heard Round The Maritimes

Joey Haywood averaged over 20 ppg this past season for the Huskies.

Counting down the top twenty storylines of he 2009/10 season, Joey Haywood's foul on Christian Upshaw in the AUS Semi Final comes in at number three.

It was maybe the most stunning call in AUS Men's Basketball playoff history. Considering the rich and decorated past of the annual classic, it's hard to believe, but possibly true.

Joey Haywood was called for a personal foul on Christian Upshaw on a shot that had little chance of counting, a wild heave from the hashmarks at the buzzer that would have almost certainly missed it's mark and given the Huskies another trip to the AUS final.

The game was a classic before the ball was tipped.

It was the semi final game in Syndey, the latest chapter of the intense rivalry that exists between the Saint Mary's Huskies and the Saint Francis Xavier X-Men.

Two of the best coaches in Canada were waging war once again. On one side, Steve konchalski, on the other, Ross Quakembush. Coach K and Quack matching wits one more time with everything on the line.

For AUS basketball enthusiasts, the teams were a delicious contrast of styles.

The X-Men were one of the most athletic teams in the country and excelled at full court basketball, trapping, pressing and fast breaking their way to the number two ranking in Canada. Christian Upshaw and Jonathon Silver comprised one of the best backcourts in the country. Combined with Charlie Spurr and an eclectic mix of dynamic athletes and pure shooters, the X-Men were poised for a national championship run.

The Huskies were a classic Quakenbush team. A stellar senior class consisting of 5th year standouts Mark Mcluaghlin and Ike Ichegbu. A scoring dynamo in Joey Haywood, and a team concept based on half court offensive precision that always seemed to give the Huskies a wide open look at the basket. Basketball purists could watch Saint Mary's run their half court passing game all day long.

It was a that game would easily live up to the hype

The X-Men and Huskies waged an epic battle in front of a spirited crowd at Sydney 2000. The Huskies seemed to be in control with 5 minutes left and leading by 9, but Konchalski's X-Men clawed their way back and the teams came down the stretch of the AUS semi final neck and neck.

The Huskies looked to have it won when Mclaughlin found Miguel Pink with a full court pass for a wide open layup with 6 seconds left. The Huskies began to celebrate prematurely as Upshaw took the inbounds pass and navigated his way just over midcourt.

As time was set to expire, Upshaw found open space with Haywood in hot pursuit. Upshaw elevated and fired a wild buzzer beater that didn't seem to have a prayer.

Sure enough it didn't. It was jubilation for the Huskies, they were going to the AUS final having upset the heavily favoured X-Men.

But just wait. A whistle was blown on the play. As Huskies fans and players stood with their mouths agape, a three shout foul was called on Haywood. Replay would show that Haywood had made the slightest of contact with Upshaw on the body, as the dynamic guard from Halifax was at the climax of his jump.

Shock, despair, anger. All the emotions hit the Huskies at once.

On the other side, unabashed jubilation from X-Men players, fans, and the vaunted X student section.

Christian Upshaw stepped to the line, calmly made 2 of 3, and the X faithful charged the floor as the final free throw found it's way to the bottom of the net.

It was devastating for Saint Mary's. The outstanding seniors, Ichegbu and Mcluaghlin, having their legendary careers come to a finish in the cruelest of ways.

Then there was Haywood, one of the best guards in the country, left to ponder a mistake for the ages. Regardless of whether or not it was the correct call, Haywood will ask himself all summer why he was so close to Upshaw as he released a shot that barely stood a chance.

Haywood's mistake serves as a reminder to all of us that these are just young men. Brilliant at times, careless at others.

It was the ultimate case of the tragic beauty of university sports. Highly skilled and brave athletes pushing themselves to limits none of us could ever imagine, performing incredible feats of skill. Yet always tempered by the most costliest of errors, historic blunders that just leave you shaking your head.

But your heart aches with empathy for the agony you know they must be feeling to lose a game in such a fashion. Saint Mary's deserved a far greater fate, and to this day Huskies nation is still bitter about a call they feel should never have been made.

St FX would go on to lose handily the next day in the championship game. As it would turn out, both teams would see their season end it heartbreak as the X-Men did not receive a wildcard berth to the CIS championships in Ottawa.

But in a year that saw Cape Breton dominate the men and women conferences, it was this historic game featuring the most controversial call in the history of the tournament that was the top storyline of AUS basketball in 2009/10.

Ready To Go: Nova Scotia's TJ Grant Set For UFC 113 Vs. Hendricks

Written By Derek Leblanc

In the sport of mixed martial arts, the saying goes is that you are only good as your last fight. If that is the case for TJ Grant , his odds of beating Johnny Hendricks are good at UFC 113 in Montreal on May 8th. The Nova Scotia fighter is coming off a knockout of the night win over Kevin Burns at UFC 107 back in December but he does know the danger that Hendricks beings.

“He is my toughest test so far and I have prepared super hard,” says Grant.

“I am still training, keeping the intensity up. I know what kind of fighter he is. He is one of the highest ranked wrestlers in the UFC, An opponent like that is a dangerous kind of fighter. They always have that to fall back on. All I can do is be ready.”

With Hendricks, he will need to be ready.. The Oklahoma State alum is a two time NCAA champion. He is also undefeated in his mma career with wins over TUF seven winner Amir Sadollah and more recently a unanimous decision win over Ricardo Funch at UFC 107.

With Grant, he is more known for his ground skills as well. Grant has a wrestling base and is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jistu from Jorge Grugel. While both fighters may be good on the ground the wrestling edge goes to Hendricks. While this may be a problem for some fighters when one of there biggest strengths is outmatched by there opponent, Grant is not scared or stupid when it comes to a match like this.

“I know I am not going to go out there and out wrestle him,” says Grant.

“If the timing is right, maybe a take down can happen or this and that. I am ready to go out there and throw the playbook at him. I got a lot of weapons in my arsenal and that is what I got to do to win this fight. I got to open up and punch him. I got to give him everything I have and I feel like I have more weapons then he does and I got to that to win. I can't make it a wrestling match because he is the better wrestler, no if, end's or buts. He is one of the best in the UFC for it and I am going to fight him in a mixed martial arts fight.”

While Grant's has a full playbook ready to go, he is a fighter that is always looking to add new plays. He has been training hard with his teammates at Fitplus in Dartmouth. Also he and his coach Scott Maclean brought in Canadian standout Jordan Mein and former NCAA wrestler Micheal Chandler to help him out. Grant and his team also made there yearly trip to Thailand to improve on there Maui Thai skills with still 6 weeks to spare back home to finish up training camp.

Besides fighting and training, Grant's name is starting to get bigger.. He did get to be on his first UFC trading card which he was happy to see. While he doesn't know if he will be in the UFC Undisputed 2010 video game, he did joke that if he makes the game, that he could retire because he would have accomplished everything he wanted to. He has also been able to use his name to help out kids when he did some training with the wrestling team at Sackville Heights junior high school a couple of months ago. Grant was happy to work with the kids and a friend.

“I went out and coached the junior high practice in Sackville. I know the coach, Travis (McLeod) and he asked me to come out,” says Grant.

“I know how important wrestling is and I know that a lot of kids, it helps them for me to show up and be at there practice to let them know I was in the same position they were at one point. Just wrestling and enjoying it and that it can take you a long ways. I figured it was a good opportunity to give back.”

While Grant would like to try and do more of this kind of thing in the future, he is concerned with the task at hand May 8th. With his skills and his home country fans in the crowd, it should hopefully give him the edge.

Derek Leblanc is a local sports writer and broadcaster.

Top 20 Storylines of the AUS Season: Part 4

The Most Highly Anticipated Uteck Bowl in history was the most dissapointing game of the varsity season in Halifax.

Bill McLean counts down the top 20 Storylines of the 2009/10 AUS season. In this edition, Bill looks at a kicker who couldn't miss, and a game that missed badly.

5. Holy Terry Baker! Justin Palardy Boots His Way into AUS Record Book.

In his 4th season as placekicker for the Saint Mary’s Huskies, Justin Palardy continued to build on the one of the greatest careers in AUS football history.
The Truro native has been the conference’s best kicker throughout his career, but in 2009 he took it to the next level.
How good was Palardy?
He made 23 of 27 field goals. That’s nearly 90 %.
Kicking into the hostile winds of the maritime fall, Palardy only missed 4 field goals throughout a football season that has a lot of haligonians chasing after their windswept hats.
Palardy was perfect on 27 PAT’s. Sure, it’s only 10 yards, but how many times do you see professional kickers miss these gimme boots.
Palardy didn’t miss one. He hasn’t missed one his entire career! Why would things change now?
Through it all, Palardy remained painfully humble. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtuwYQPN7jE
Giving credit to teammates and coaches, insisting he was just doing his part. The modest, soft spoken kicker who would break the AUS record of 56 field goals on a late fall day in Sackville, with little fanfare or recognition.
Palardy has committed to returning for his 5th year. It will be a critical senior season for Palardy as CFL scouts are already taking notice. It doesn’t hurt that his mentor is Terry Baker, a long time CFL standout who undoubtedly has been promoting Palardy to any CFL scout who will listen.
In the meantime, sometime in October, he’ll break the CIS record for field goals of 70.On that fateful day autumn day, Justin Palardy will be the greatest placekicker in the history of CIS football.

4. The Big Game That Never Came to Fruition: Calgary Crushes SMU in the Uteck Bowl

The 2009 edition of the Uteck Bowl in Halifax may have been the most highly anticipated since its inception.
It was a game ripe with storylines; one that had Huskies fans drooling with thoughts of revenge from the moment their collective conscience realized that the game could become a possibility.
We discovered over the summer that the CIS national semi final would match the CanWest conference winner vs. the AUS champion.
That’s when it dawned on us.
SMU is going to win the AUS. Calgary is a contender in the Canada West.
Could it happen?
Indeed it could.
The Huskies beat the overmatched St.FX X-Men team at the Loney Bowl, and Calgary beat a powerhouse Saskatchewan team by 1 point in the Canwest Final.
The 2009 national semi final, named after the legendary Saint Mary’s Coach and athletic director Larry Uteck, to be played at venerable Huskies Stadium in the heart of beautiful Halifax, was set.
The build up to the game had all the intrigue and drama a fan could ever want.
First there were the coaches; Blake Nill and Steve Sumarrah.
Nill was one of the most successful coaches in Huskies history; a man who led SMU to 2 national championships during an era that may have been the greatest in the history of a program whose legacy of success matches any in the country.
Nill left Saint Mary’s 5 years ago to take over a Dinos program in shambles. It only took him 3 seasons to turn Calgary into a national contender, making it to the 2008 Uteck Bowl at Laval where they were destroyed by the perennial powerhouse Rouge et Or.
Despite the blowout loss, Nill had managed to take a doormat program and place it 1 win away from the national championship game; he just needed 1 significant addition to put the team over the top.
In January it was announced that Eric Glavic would be transferring from SMU to Calgary. Glavic was the Hec Creighton Trophy winner from 2007 and the face of the Huskies who had to miss the team’s national championship game vs. Manitoba that same season.
Glavic had been Blake Nill’s last great recruit to Halifax before he decided to bolt to Calgary. Glavic kept his commitment to the Huskies and played two stellar years at Saint Mary’s. Now, with three years of eligibility remaining, Glavic was leaving. He was heading out west to play for the man who had convinced him to go east.
It was a bitter pill for Steve Sumarrah to swallow. But he did, and the program moved on, rolling to another AUS championship, barely challenged along the way.
Since Nill’s departure, Sumarah has kept a team that had nowhere to go but down, firmly atop the AUS and one of the best teams in the country. Sumarah has guided the Huskies to a national championship game, and was recognized as CIS Coach of the year in 2009.
With Glavic however, the Huskies would have been a national powerhouse. But Sumarah lost him to a man he once held as a dear friend.
Only a select few will be privy to the inside information on how “Glavic Gate” went down, much like Les Berry’s strange resignation from Acadia. But to Huskies fans, it was a slap to the face of a proud program by 2 of its most legendary figures.
There have been many rumours concerning how far the bond that was once so strong between Sumarah and Nill has been broken by the Glavic departure. But one thing is for certain; the relationship has not been the same since the incident.
And so, the dream Uteck Bowl came to fruition.
Ah the storylines.
NIll vs. Sumarah... Sumarah vs. Glavic.... The Eric Glavic Bowl... The Blake Nill bowl.
The hype and anticipation was unreal
At least it was in Halifax.
Days before the big game we found out that TSN would be broadcasting the Uteck on tape delay several hours after the final play.
Tape delay? The Uteck Bowl?
Not just any Uteck Bowl but perhaps the biggest Uteck Bowl since its inception.
Sacrilegious AUS enthusiasts screamed. The biggest game of the varsity season in Halifax meant very little to TSN. A slap in the face for those of us who held this contest so close to our hearts, and had been counting down the days to its arrival.
As it turned out, TSN had it pegged.
The game was a bitter disappointment. Calgary dominated from start to finish. Led by Glavic, an unstoppable running game, and a big bruising defensive line, the Dinos rolled over the Huskies 38-14 in front of a stunned and saddened Halifax faithful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8woxz69dqh0

Blake Nill had walked into Huskies Stadium with the swagger of a man walking into his own living room, and led his rebuilt Dinos team to victory on enemy turf, 1 year after being destroyed by Laval in Quebec City.
The only thing Huskies supporters could take pleasure in was Nill’s absolutely bizarre meltdown on the sidelines in front of TSN tape delayed cameras, shaking and tossing about his son, Tyler.
Not much solace for football fans who thought they would be witnessing one of the biggest games in Huskies Stadium history.

Bill McLean is a local sports writer and broadcaster. You call follow Bill on twitter: "haligoniasports"; and on Facebook: "Haligonia Sports Nation."

Email Bill at bill@haligonia.ca. Tune in to his radio show every Tuesday morning at 10:30 on ckdu.ca, 88.1 in Halifax.

Top 20 Storylines of the 2009/10 AUS Season: Part 3

Max Burt and Sander Ratsep of the Dalhousie Tigers formed the most dymanic duo across all sports in the AUS this year.

Part 3 of a special look at the top headlines from the AUS this past season.

10. Canadian Basketball University: Capers Dominate AUS.

CBU dominance of the AUS basketball scene has been building for several years, beginning with Fabian Mackenize’s women’s team, and the slow but steady emergence of Jim Charter’s men’s team.

In 2009-10, the Capers officially arrived as the number 1 basketball university in the Maritimes.

For the women’s program, even by their own standards, it was business as usual. Led by 5th year senior Kelsey Hodgson, the leading scorer in the CIS, the Capers would only lose 1 AUS game all season on route to their 4th conference championship of the decade.

The men’s team held off the St.FX X-Men, one of the best teams in the country, to pick up their first conference championship in years. The Capers combination of athleticism and home-court dominance proved to be overwhelming for traditional powers X and SMU, and the reigning AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers.

Jimmy Dorsey emerged as the best pure shooter in the conference and Phillip Nkruma proved to be one of the most intimidating players in the country. Combined with AUS MVP Hodgson of the women’s team and her hard-charging teammate Kari Everitt, no other campus in the region had a deeper pool of talent than the Capers.

Coincidentally, both the men’s and women’s AUS Championship tournaments were held in Sydney this year and the Maritimes were fully exposed to the passion and enthusiasm that Caper’s fans have for their basketball programs.

9. 24 Straight AUS Championships?! Tigers Volleyball Unbeatable Once Again

Take a nationally recognized Coach who doubles as one of the best recruiters in the country, add a 6’9” goliath from Gander, NL, and mix in a perennial all CIS first teamer stolen from the grasp of Ontario. Then sprinkle a group of athletes that would have been the best team in the conference on their own, and you get?

Dalhousie Tigers Men’s Volleyball.

Dan Ota, Max Burt, Sander Ratsep, and a stellar supporting cast featuring the best AUS libeiro in Travis McLean, and 3 outstanding athletes in Devon Parkinson, Graham Higgins, and Eric Montgomery.

The Tigers cruised to their 24th straight AUS championship with minimal press coverage or fanfare.

Coach Ota’s team went virtually unnoticed in Halifax despite having two of the most impressive athletes in the AUS in Burt and Ratsep. Burt’s blocking at the net and precision on “51’s” combined with Ratsep’s breathtaking swing and all or nothing serve was brilliant to watch. They easily formed the most dynamic duo across all AUS sports.

Ratsep and Burt literally dominated matches against overmatched UNB and Memorial all season long, providing one awe struck moment after another on the main court at Dalplex.

The Tigers would drop a heartbreaking 5 set match to the eventual national champion Calgary Dinos at the CIS championship tourney, but this was a group of outstanding athletes coached by a nationally recognized visionary that went unnoticed by all of us all season long.

So congratulations Coach Ota, Sander, Max, and you dynamic bunch of athletes, you may have been the most impressive group of champions in the AUS this season, even though not many of us noticed.

8. Three’s Company; Huskies 3 Headed Monster Wins AUS Championship for Coach Jordan.

I asked Coach Lisa Jordan what she thought of her Huskies way back in September and she seemed less then enthused about her team’s chances of competing with the upper Tier of the conference.

The St FX X-Women were stocked with talent and the Universite De Moncton had the best player in the conference in Marieve Provost. Even the Dalhousie Tigers led by high scoring Jocelyn Leblanc seemed more poised to make a championship run then the Huskies.

But in the end, the Huskies three prong attack of Kori Cheverie, Lauren McCusker, and Kyla Thurston combined for 85 points and proved to be too much for the rest of the conference, as Saint Mary’s was named AUS champs for the first time since 2004.

The Huskies lost 3 of their last 4 regular season games, but caught fire at the AUS Championships, beating both the X-Men and host Aigles Bleues, whipping Moncton 6-2 in the championship game.

The Huskies would go on to finish 4th at CIS Nationals in Antigonish.

7. Huskies Nearly Go Worst To First

It only took 2 years for Scott Munro to drastically change the fortunes of the Saint Mary’s Huskies women’s basketball team. At the AUS Championships, the Huskies tried to do the unthinkable, going from last place in 2009 to AUS champions in 2010.

The defending champs had other ideas. The powerhouse Cape Breton Capers held off a valiant Saint Mary’s team, playing their third game in three days, to capture their second straight AUS banner, their 4th in seven years.

Munro took over a talent depleted Saint Mary’s team in 2009 and suffered some major growing pains as he tried to put his personal stamp on the program. The Huskies finished 2-18 in Munro’s first season, as the rookie coach focused on creating a winning atmosphere before hitting the recruiting trail after the disastrous campaign.

That’s when he landed the most sought after recruit in the country; a player who was garnering a lot of interest from division 1 programs in the United States.

Justin Colley.

Colley was the prize catch in a stellar recruiting class that brought immediate legitimacy to the Huskies program. Colley averaged 21 points per game on route to garnering AUS rookie of the year and a first team all conference selection.

Colley created a dynamic backcourt combined with 5th year senior Kelsey Daley, leading the Huskies to a 12-8 record, highlighted by a six game winning streak down the stretch.
It was the Huskies first trip to the final in 4 years. Ironically, the Huskies lost to the Capers in 2006, Daley’s first season. Daley would not get back to a championship game again until this past March, beginning and ending her storied career with championship game losses.

6. The Collapse of Dalhousie Soccer

The 2009/10 AUS Soccer season was to be the year of the Tiger.

As summer turned to fall, the Dalhousie Men’s and Women’s teams dominated the competition and gained national rankings as they prepared for conference playoffs.

On a cold and blistering November weekend in the Maritimes, both programs suffered devastating semi final defeats to teams they had not lost to all season.

The women’s team fell 2-1 to a ST FX team they had beaten 5-0 in Antigonish 2 weeks prior. The Men’s team lost at Wickwire field to a UPEI team led by the brilliant play of Jerrod Murphy and Jimmy Mayaleh. The Tigers trailed 4-1 late in the second half and made a furious, spirited comeback that just fell 1 goal short.

In the dying seconds of the game the Panthers and Tigers had a 20 player scrum in front of the UPEI net that may have been the most stirring image of the entire varsity season in Halifax.

As Men’s Coach Pat Nearing said on CKDU Sports prior to the Championships at Dal; soccer can be a cruel game.

The Legend of Aroldis Chapman

2 years ago I was in Cuba for a wedding and some relaxation. I was pretty excited for this trip because the wedding was my own and I knew I was going to the country where baseball has evolved into their national sport.
The sport of baseball is like football in England and hockey in Canada. The communist country has made baseball players their pet projects and many Cubans are heralded as trophies to be bred as stars and sent away as stars; with or without the regimes approval. I knew that this trip was going to be awesome and I was very excited to see anything baseball.
I will simply say that while in Cuba in 2008, I saw what I wanted and loved it. I met some employees that were baseball crazy, I met a couple internationals that were baseball crazy and I got to buy a Cuban handmade glove.
Let’s skip to present. I recently went to Holguin, Cuba. A resort where I knew I would have a better chance to see an actual game either in a pro stadium, in the street or a local village. I tricked my friends into a safari including horses, 'seadoos' and SUVs. This safari was my ticket to seeing a game one way or another and in the end I was disappointed but not completely. Here is the part that made my trip.
I was on the bus with the other 50 people headed to the resort and was listening to Enrique our tour guide. He was bantering on about this and that and cracking jokes back at the drunks at the rear of our bus.
That was when he spoke of a baseball player that I forgot was from Holguin, Cuba.
His name is Aroldis Chapman. I perked up. Thoughts raced though my head about seeing the stadium in Holguin and maybe where Chapman, a young man who just signed a $30 million contract in January, played his youth ball. I took the opportunity to talk to Enrique as soon as he was done.
I had to clarify what the yahoos in back were saying about Chapman because I knew if Enrique knew what they were saying maybe he would have some insight as to the baseball in the area. He might be able to tell me if there any games going on and where to see them. I leaned forward and said hello. We spoke about arriving in Cuba and how happy we were to be there blah blah blah. I had something to ask but was being polite. I sat fidgeting in my seat wanting to know about any games in or near Holguin. I was on a mission this trip and be damned if I couldn’t sit through some welcoming rants to get some baseball info out of a local.
Enrique interrupted me a couple times to answer some questions from the crowd but I still sat on the edge of my seat, arms hanging into his area so he knew I still wanted to talk. He started it up again and I jumped at the chance. I asked about any games or stadiums around that I could visit. Actually I asked him 300 questions in about 12 seconds and I think he registered them all.
Enrique turned in his seat and said “you came to Cuba for sun and drinks or baseball?” My wife was beside me so I said with a laugh “drinks and sun but baseball too!” I told him what the boys in the back of the bus had said and like Clint Eastwood in any of his movies he smiled and said in a gruff old voice “I know Aroldis Chapman”.
I sat a little closer and asked how he knew him because I am a skeptic when someone tells me they know a famous person. He said he coached him as a child because his main job is a manager of a Holguin community centre where the baseball leagues are run. He acts as a manager/coach/coordinator/mentor for any kids that are involved. Chapman was one of these kids. I wasn’t convinced but I knew how to find out if he knew Chapman. I was going to say something that I knew was the opposite of what was true and see if Enrique knew the difference.

I was doing my best Magnum PI work to see if this was legit and if it was I was going to be pretty stoked. I told Enrique that Chapman had such a great attitude and that he should do good in the US. Enrique called my bluff right away. He laughed out loud and told me Chapman has a bad attitude and that the Americans “will straighten him out”. Bingo. We have a homerun!
Chapman was suspended by Cuban officials for being too cocky and complaining he could not pitch in a big international game. The officials decided that Chapman was a detriment to the team and therefore suspended for a year. Enrique was ready for that curveball and made my day with his reply. I asked him some questions about Aroldis and what he was like.
He told me that he was an amazing athlete. That he was always around the park and was actually annoying sometimes because he was always begging people to play baseball or have a catch with him. It wasn’t Chapman’s youth that I was enthralled about; it was the stories that Enrique was able to tell me.
What he was telling me was exactly what I wanted to hear; Cuban baseball stories of success and even defeat. He told me about his job and how many kids he saw go on to pro careers. He admitted he wasn’t their number one coach but he had a hand in their youth. He was a humble man and I sat on the edge of my seat for the 1 hour drive talking to Enrique about baseball. This man was the man who made Cuban baseball what it is; a legend, a builder, a coach; he was baseball to me.
I hadn’t noticed the drive and the next thing I know we are in our resort. I had gotten to know Enrique on the drive and found out he has a 25year old son who uses a left handed glove but he is a lefty. Bingo again. I had a left handed glove in my suitcase. I brought two gloves, four baseballs, a baseball hat and a soccer ball to give away. Enrique was smiling from ear to ear when I produced the glove. He told me to ask for him and his tour to Holguin and then I was invited to his home to meet his son and see the stadium. He told me exactly how to get there and he would show me around Holguin personally. He even told me he would take me to his son’s work which was a cigar warehouse where we could smoke the best cigars on the East part of the island. All this hospitality because I gave him a glove! He shook my hand and made me feel lucky to have met him. It was only the beginning of my trip too! I had big ideas for the week and it started with a safari trip.
I did manage to get the safari trip. It wasn’t hard because my wife and friends are adventurous. I also knew that I was going to be watching for baseball games while the rest of the crew was looking at mountains, houses and the odd animals in the fields. I made it through the day without seeing a big game; then it happened. We had seen some small games in the middle of streets, intersections and the odd grass field but no real game on a real field. We were headed to the marina, going down a steep hill into a valley. The hill was steep and made the drive fast. As we came out of the hills and into the flat of the valley, I saw a baseball game to my right. I spun around in my seat like a kid who just saw Santa. It literally yelled out loud and pointed and asked my friends if we could stop but we were a part of the convoy and therefore we kept couldn’t. My heart sank and it hurts to write about it. Truly it does.
As I type this, I am getting the feeling that I missed out on exactly what I wanted to see and do in Cuba. I wanted to go watch real Cubans playing the sport I love. I wanted to see their uniforms with holes in them, their handmade gloves, bats, balls and their skill and their love for the game.
I didn’t get to see some of things I wanted, I am more than happy to have started a story that I know I will build on as time goes by. I could not be happier I have these small victories to report. In two trips I met true baseball people, a real mentor to a pro and got to buy a glove that I will cherish as much as I cherish this great game.

Steve Betts is a regular contributor to Haligonia Sports, the colour commentator for Dalhousie Tigers hockey on ssncanada, and an avid baseball enthusiast. Steve lives in Darmouth and plays for the Halifax Wanderers senior Baseball team.

Top 20 Storylines of the AUS Season. Part 2

The Huskies/X-Men rivalry was the only highlight of a forgettable AUS Football Season.

Today we count down 15-11 of the top storylines of the 2009/2010 AUS season.

15. Jimmy Mayaleh: Hero to Goat in 60 Seconds
The UPEI Panthers Men’s soccer team, comprised almost entirely of athletes from the Island, upset the 2008 AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers at Wickwire Field on semi final Sunday at the AUS championships. Jerrod Murphy and Jimmy Mayaleh played brilliantly in leading the Panthers to the stunning win over the heavily favoured Tigers.

The AUS final was played Monday morning on a beautiful, sunny day in Halifax. The powerhouse Cape Breton Capers held a 1 goal lead well into the final minutes when Mayaleh found open space for the first time in the match and drilled a strike past the Caper’s keeper to tie the game at one.

Charlottetown’s Mayaleh was an instant hero for his hometown school, and to celebrate he ran around the field while removing his jersey. This earned him an automatic yellow card, seemingly an easy price to pay for the amount of joy the underdog Panthers felt as they drew even with the mighty Capers.

However, just seconds after Cape Breton kicked off, Mayaleh let loose with a vicious and unnecessary challenge at midfield that drew another yellow card, earning Mayaleh an ejection from the match.

Mayaleh walked off the pitch looking like a man desperate for a hole to crawl in. The same turf that, just 1 minute prior, he had been dancing around minus his shirt, celebrating the goal of the tournament.

Down to 10 men, the Panthers would go on to lose to the Capers. Keishon Bean scored the game winning goal just 20 seconds into the first overtime to give Cape Breton an AUS Championship.

As a result of the red card, Mayaleh was forced to miss the team’s opening match at nationals. The Panthers would go on to lose to Laval 3-1.

14. 0-20. The Hard Luck Season of the UPEI Panthers
Surely this wasn’t what Carly Clarke had in mind when she envisioned herself as a CIS head coach of women’s basketball.

Clarke, the former all Canadian at Bishops and exceptional assistant coach at Dalhousie, inherited a Panther’s program in complete disarray in the spring of 2009, without any opportunity to recruit.

The results were disastrous. The Panthers would not win a conference game all season. Their narrowest margin of defeat was 19 points to the 7th place UNB Varsity Reds at home in late January.

Their leading scorer was Shylanda Saunders with a paltry 8 ppg. The team was outscored 1522-860 over 20 conference games.

However, Clarke never stopped. She never stopped coaching, never stopped teaching. She worked the officials, yelled at her players, and stayed on her feet the entire game.

Her kids, although coming up woefully short night in and night out, never stopped competing. They became a team that you wished would get a win, even though you knew they wouldn’t.

It may take a couple of years, it may take 5; but Carly Clarke and the UPEI Panthers will rise up and be a force to be reckoned with in the hotly contested AUS women’s basketball conference.

13. Lack of Success of AUS teams at CIS Nationals.
How bad was the AUS at National tournaments this year?

Football: Calgary 37 SMU 14 in the Uteck Bowl at Huskies Stadium
Men’s Soccer: Trinity Western 2 Cape Breton 0 in Quarter Finals. Laval 3 UPEI 1 in Quarter Finals
Women’s Soccer: Queens 1 St FX 0 in Quarter Finals (OT)
Men’s Volleyball: Calgary 3 Dalhousie 2 in Quarter Finals
Women’s Volleyball: UBC 3 SMU 0 in Quarter Finals
Men’s Basketball: #7 Seed Calgary 82 #2 Seed CBU 74 in Quarter Finals
Women’s Basketball: Saskatchewan 70 CBU 54 in Quarter Finals
Women’s Hockey: SMU Finishes 4th at Nationals; Host X-Women Finish 6th
Men’s Hockey: SMU wins National Championship

Asides from the Huskies storybook national title, the AUS performed horribly at CIS nationals this season.
Memo to the AUS: Just getting there isn’t good enough.

12. Yawner of a Season in AUS Football
The 2009 AUS football season may have been the most forgettable in recent memory for the following reasons:

1) Although SMU won the conference and Steve Sumarah won CIS coach of the year, the Huskies were obviously not a national calibre team after getting blown out by Calgary at the Uteck Bowl in Huskies Stadium.

2) The Saint Francis Xavier X-Men were highly overrated. After a close win over a cocky Huskies squad and several wins over horrible teams like Acadia, Concordia, and Mount Allison, we started to believe the X-Men were pretty good. That’s when they got blown out by a mediocre Bishops team, destroyed by the Huskies in Halifax in a pivotal match up for the AUS regular season title, and needed a miracle comeback to beat Acadia in Antigonish in the AUS semi final. The X-Men season ended with a whimper in the Loney Bowl the next week at SMU, and we were all left to ponder the question; were the X-Men really a good football team?

3) Acadia and Mount Allison were a combined 2-14 on the season. When you only have 4 teams in your conference and 2 of them are a couple of the worst teams in the country, chances are good it’s going to make for a bad season of football. The only positive for both these teams was Wide Receiver Gary Ross of the Mounties. Despite his team not winning a single game, Ross garnered AUS MVP honours. I saw Ross up close on the sideline of Huskies stadium in October and he was as good as advertised. Quick, explosive, great hands and tough as nails.

4) Lack of big games on Eastlink. Because of the shortage of depth in the conference, Eastlink’s commitment to the QMJHL clashing with Saint Mary’s initiative to have home games on Friday nights, and the absence of an interlock headliner match up with a dominant Quebec team (i.e. SMU/X vs. Laval/Montreal), the local cable company seemed to show a lot of games featuring bad football teams while highly anticipated games went untelevised.

With that said, the Saturday afternoon game in late September between SMU and Sherbrooke was a doozy!

11. The Brown’s Take Wolfville
Was there a more heart-warming story in women’s basketball this year than sisters Alise and Keisha Brown playing side by side at Acadia.

Alise, the 5th year senior who transferred from SMU where she had one of the greatest careers in Huskie’s history, joined forces with Keisha, the dynamic sophomore guard, to try and lead the Axewomen to the upper tier of the AUS conference.

In the fall it seemed like they might succeed, as Acadia jumped out to a 3-2 record including a huge win over the Huskies at the War Memorial Gymnasium in Wolfville.

That’s when Keisha succumbed to a nagging injury and missed the next 11 conference games. The Axewomen would go 1-10 over the stretch and find themselves on the outside looking in of the AUS playoff race.

Keisha came back in early February to spark the Axewomen to a 3 game winning streak that would secure the last playoff spot and set up a quarter final match-up vs. Alise’s former team, the Huskies.

SMU would prevail 64-63 but the sisters Brown would go down firing, combining for 34 shots and 70 minutes in a losing effort that brought to an end the incredible career of Alise.

There is good news; Keisha still has 3 years left.

Top 20 Storylines of the 2009-2010 AUS Season. Part 1

Simon Farine's Tigers were painfully mediocre in the AUS this season.

The first of a 4 part series counting down the top 20 storylines in the AUS this past year.

20. Dalhousie Tigers Men’s Basketball: Epitome of a Middle Tier Team.
The defending AUS champs may have been the most average team in AUS basketball history. The Tigers were an outstanding 11-1 vs. the bottom tier of the conference, and an equally dismal 1-7 vs. the upper tier featuring CBU, X, and SMU.
To their credit, the Tigers did lose a heartbreaker to the Huskies at home, and then rebound to beat SMU 72-59 a week later at the Tower. However, Dalhousie was a woeful 0-6 vs. the Capers and X-Men, each loss by double digits.
In an interview last week on CKDU Sports, Head Coach John Campbell said that toughness and athleticism will be the focus of recruiting for next season. (http://live.haligonia.ca/halifax-ns/sportsblogs/173-sports-video/9743-john-campbell-of-the-dalhousie-tigers.html)

On a positive note, senior Andrew Sullivan was named the 2010 CIS Ken Shields Award Winner for outstanding student-athlete and community service.

19. The Slightly Meteoric Rise of Dalhousie Tigers Hockey.
Considering the Tigers had been the worst team in the country over the previous five seasons, missing the playoffs by 1 point this year was a huge success for Pete Belliveau and his revamped Dalhousie team.
Belliveau brought in a bevy of new players in his first recruiting class but lost his prize catch weeks before training camp when Maxime Tanguay decided to play AHL hockey instead of hitting the books.
The Tigers played with a great deal of grit and toughness but lacked any kind of scoring punch. Benjamin Breault came on board in January and provided an immediate boost to the offence, sparking a late January run that had the Tigers in control of their own destiny for a playoff spot.
But the team lost a pivotal game with seventh place Moncton at the Dalhousie Memorial Arena, followed by 4 losses in a row to finish the season allowing the Aigle Bleu to overtake them for the last spot.
With another solid recruiting class, the third year coach Belliveau should be able to finally get the Tigers back to the playoffs.

18. Huskies Back on Top of Women’s Volleyball
After a 2 year hiatus the SMU Huskies women’s volleyball team returned to the top of the AUS conference. Led by dynamic all Canadian Kerri Smit (http://live.haligonia.ca/halifax-ns/sportsblogs/173-sports-video/9071-kerri-smit-of-the-saint-marys-huskies.html), the Huskies caught fire at the perfect time. SMU would not drop a set in their last 3 matches of the season, including playoff victories over Acadia and St FX at the Tower.
Smit and Ali Beaver were named first team all stars.

17. The Decline and Rise of Dalhousie Women’s Basketball
After losing several key players and the retirement of coaching icon Carolyn Savoy, rookie Head Coach Anna Stammberger found herself with a freshman backcourt that struggled mightily vs. the pressure of opposing defences.
The Tigers finished the first term with a record of 1-6, looking horrible in the process.
That’s when April Scott, seemingly playing for the 5th time since 1997, and Alex Legge, fully rehabilitated from a devastating knee injury, returned to Tiger’s land and buoyed the team to a 9-4 second term record.
The Tigers quickly went from a team that looked like they wouldn’t make the playoffs to a team that was becoming a favourite to play in the AUS championship. Stammburger suddenly found herself with a nine player rotation that included crafty guards, athletic rookies, and the best trio of posts in the AUS.
Despite the momentum shift, the Tigers lost a pivotal game to SMU at the Dalplex in late February that gave them the 4th playoff seed and a meeting with the powerhouse CBU Capers in the AUS semi finals. The Tigers gave a valiant effort but came up short bringing to an end the outstanding careers of Scott and the Girdwood twins, Laurie and Leah.

16. The Year of the Guard in the AUS.
How good was the AUS men’s basketball conference this year at the guard spot? Look at this list.
Cristian Upshaw- St.FX. AUS MVP. 20 ppg.
Joey Haywood – SMU. 23 ppg. 3rd Leading Scorer in the CIS.
Simon Farine – Dalhousie. 22 ppg. 4th Leading Scorer in the CIS
Mark Mclaughlin – SMU. 17 ppg.
Jimmy Dorsey- CBU. 17.5 ppg. and AUS playoffs MVP.

The above list doesn’t even include Mike Anderson who averaged 18 ppg. for a horrible UNB team, Will Silver of X , maybe the best pure point guard in the conference and the guy who really set the table for the X-Men defensively, nor Casey Fox, the dynamic scoring guard of the Axemen and son of local basketball legend Mickey.
In the end it was the athleticism and scoring of the Capers and X-Men guard combos that prevailed, and Dorsey of the Capers stealing the show at playoffs in Cape Breton.
But what a treat it was to watch high scoring and athletic backcourts on nearly every team in the conference go to battle night in and night out.

Halifax Martial Arts Expo A Huge Success

While battling elements like the beautiful weather over the weekend, The 1st Halifax Martial Arts Expo went off as a success. Over hundreds of attended packed the Halifax Multi Purpose Center over the two day festivities. While there may had been some small rough patches, the final product went well and spoke for itself.

“It was really scarey coming in. No one had done this before and it had been doubtful by a lot of people because of the time of year,” says promoter Ryan Staples.

“I am looking at this as a success right now from the fact that we build something that is going to last. Everyone has come in and seen what it is all about and you got to be here and understand what is going on with the demonstrations. That is the biggest selling point of this. I think its a success over that it happened, it went through and the word is spreading. I think it is only going to grow from here.”

Over the weekend, people seen about a dozen schools ranging in over 20 styles of martial arts that saw the basics like Brazilian Jiu Jistu and Maui Thai Kickboxing to styles that are not usually seen in the public eye like Kenpo Karate and Capoeira. Besides martial arts there were also mma clothing stores, supplement companies, fitness gyms and video game centers. Demonstrations did rule the center stage with different schools showcasing there talents. Even one school did a black belt ceremony for one of its students at the end of Saturday's show. While the academies enjoyed themselves over the weekend, they seem most happy about spreading the word.

“It's not so much generating interest then it is promoting the martial arts,” says Ray McKinnon, Owner of Bushido Kai Martial Arts.

“We have people come up to our table but its also other martial artist who have come by to visit. The idea was the public would come in and sign up for martial arts lessons and some have. This is only the first one. I'd say by the second expo when they have it. We'll get out more and it will grow bigger and bigger.”

While a number of school were at the event, there will still some schools from the Halifax area that could not make it to the event due to scheduling conflicts. More academies will be there when Rampage Promotions puts on the next event, which they are planning at this time to do so in September. While the weekend went off without a hitch, organizers still want to try and make it bugger and better next time around.

“You know what, I have kind of gone around and gotten more supports from the people who are here saying were with you on this for building it and will most likely be here next time,” says Ryan Staples.

“ A couple of other clubs that didn't get a chance to make it, time of year was an issue. They saw what it is and said you know what, this is awesome, You set up is great and we see what your doing and count me in next time. I know its going to grow bigger that way. We will expand a bit more into other businesses like mma gear, more supplement and fitness companies.”

If you want to find out more information or to keep up to date when the expo will officially take place, you can join there facebook group by typing in The Martial Arts Expo.

Derek Leblanc is a freelance Sports Journalist and Mixed Martial Arts enthusiast living in Halifax.