Bill McLean Sports Show on Facebook

Tiger's Coach Lesley Jordan was looking for answers after Saturday's officiating debacle vs Mount Allison
(photo credit: Richard Lafortune)


A replay of Bill McLean Sports Show from Tuesday morning on ckdu 88.1 FM is now posted on the Haligonia Sports Facebook group. Henry Whitfield and Steve Betts joined Bill in studio and some of the topics included:

Dalhousie Tigers Mens Hockey- The Cardiac Kids have won 5 overtime games this season and are coming off a weekend where they beat two nationally ranked teams at the DMA.

Dalhousie Tigers Womens Hockey- The Tigers were assessed 12 minor penalties in a loss to Mount Allison. The Mounties were given 1. Tigers fans, players, and coaches were not happy.

Toronto Marlies Fight on Kids Day- Bill weighs in with some heavy opinion on the Marlies fight fest with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Kids Day at the arena which leads to a debate about the role of fighting in hockey.


Citadel High School Football Team- The guys discuss the news of a post championship party at Citadel High that got out of control. Who's to blame? Is it a big deal?


Lebron James Drops the Shoulder on Head Coach- The King puts his shoulder into his Head Coach as he walks by on route to the bench.


Halifax Mooseheads- 7-1?! Plus a preview of the Moose visiting the banished Garrett Clarke this week.


Calgary loses Vanier- Take that Eric and Blake!


All this and much more, just go to Facebook and type in Haligonia Sports in the search box.

Comments or questions? Email us at sports@haligonia.ca. Follow us on twitter @haligoniasports.

Marauders Annual Auction Tonight

Photo Credit: Michael Fines

The Metro Marauders are holding their annual auction tonight at Bubba Rays. Details are below.

Wednesday, December 1 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Location Bubba Rays Sports Bar
5650 Spring Garden Road
Halifax, NS


The Metro Marauders (Maritime Hockey League) will be holding their annual auction this Wednesday December 1st at Bubba Rays Sports Bar 5650 Spring Garden Rd.

If anyone has any auction items that they would like to donate to this event please feel free to contact either Julie Marston julie.marston@metromarauders.com 902.223.0800 or Troy Ryan troy.ryan@metromarauders.com 902.880.3690

The evening will be open to the public and we would really appreciate you support. If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to contact either one of us. Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

Laval Dominates Vanier Cup

Sebastien Levesque ran for 168 yards to lead the Rouge et Or to another Vanier Cup.

by Armaan Ahluwalia

Defence wins championships and that point was proven at the 46th Vanier Cup at
PEPS Stadium at Laval.

The Laval Rouge et Or defeated the Calgary Dino’s by a score of 29-2.

The Rouge et Or started out with a bang scoring 17 points in the first quarter and shutting
out the Dino’s throughout the game. They started out with two quick touchdowns on their first few drives and took control of the game from there.

The Dino’s did not manage to score any offensive points in the game as their lone score
came on a conceded safety by Laval in the 2nd quarter.

Sebastien Levesque had a monster game for the Rouge et Or and in doing so was named the player of the game. He ran the ball 30 times for 168 yards and one TD. He scored the touchdown on the first offensive drive for Laval. It was a 40 yard run on the score; this helped Laval set the tempo for the game. He also was injured many times during the game, but kept coming back into the game and giving out hard hits to the defenders.

Calgary was never able to get anything going on the offensive side all game. They had too many dropped catches as their star receivers were unable to handle the slippery ball. The crowd noise and snow where the external factors which made a difference and gave Laval the upper hand over a shaky Calgary team.

Erik Glavic had a terrible game as he was never able to get anything going. This marks the end of the amazing career of Glavic as the 2 time Hec Creighton trophy winner ends his career unable to win the Vanier Cup.

Armaan Ahluwalia is a writer for the Dal Gazette and www.1inthestands.wordpress.com. Follow him on twitter @therealbrindian.

Breault Breaks Out Versus Panthers

Benjamin Breault was stellar on Friday night in leading the Tigers to victory over UPEI

By Bill McLean

Tiger’s fans have been waiting all season for Benjamin Breault to break out this season with a brilliant offensive performance.

On Friday night at the Memorial Arena vs. the UPEI Panthers, they were rewarded for their patience.

Breault fired two goals and added an assist in leading his Dalhousie Tigers to a 6-5 overtime victory over the Panthers. It was the Tigers fifth overtime victory this season in six games that have gone to the extra session.

Daniel Bartek tipped in a blast from the point by Brett Plouffe to give the Tigers their seventh win of the season, putting the team over the .500 mark for the first time this year. Dalhousie has now won three straight games after a dismal mid week performance vs. Saint Francis Xavier last Wednesday.

Second year goaltender Bobby Nadeau made forty saves for Dalhousie. Brad McConnell notched his eighth goal of the season in the first period while Benoit Gervais and Francois Gauthier rounded out the Tigers scoring.

The Tigers squandered leads of 4-2 and 5-4 on route to victory over the gritty Panthers who entered the contest ranked fifth in the country.

The Tigers won’t have much time to celebrate; Tomorrow night the mighty UNB Varsity Reds come to the town. The Reds are the first place team in the conference and ranked third nationally. UNB lost to Acadia on Friday night 3-2 in Wolfville.

Game time from the DMA is 7:30. The game will be webcast on ssncanada.ca. Joel MacDougall and Bill McLean will have the call.

Email comments or questions to sports@haligonia.ca. Follow us on twitter @haligoniasports and on facebook.

The Raptors Are On Fire, But Is This A Mirage?

Andrea Bargnani is the new face of the Raptors franchise.

by Armaan Ahluwalia

The Toronto Raptors are starting to get things going after a pathetic start to the 10/11 season. The Raptors started the season with a 2-9 record before going on a 4 game win streak.

The unexpected play of Andrea Bargnani has been amazing for the Raptors. He received a lot of criticism during the offseason when Bosh left saying that he has not lived up to his #1 pick standards and is not a leader.

Well he has silenced half of those comments; his play has been great as he is scoring close to 24 points a night. Without Bosh Bargnani has become a threat to many teams and has showed the “Dirk” like play using his height to his advantage. Whether he has become a leader remains to be decided, I think he likes to “lead by example”. This is a fine way but sometimes its good to have a verbal leader on the court.

Well leading by example has been done by no other than Reggie Evans. Evans has become born again in TO and will look to keep up with his great performances. He recently had 22 rebounds in a dominant victory over the 76ers. His ability to fight for the ball on rebounds has been key for the Raptors who have started to depend on his great ability. Evans has been huge and will continue to dominate with his aggressive rebounding

One player who has been quiet but still good is DeMar DeRozen. The second year player from USC has been good this year. He has seen an increase in his minutes of play and in turn has raised his points per game as well. Look for DeRozen to contribute solid minutes to the Raptors as they get better game by game.

Let’s be honest, no one expected the Raptors to win many games this year at all. With the departure of Chris Bosh to South Beach the team lacked star talent. Bosh was the star player and the franchise, when he left there was nothing left. Bryan Colangelo took a lot of harsh criticism for letting the superstar go, and getting nothing in return for it.

After leaving Phoenix a few years ago, Colangelo has seen little success in Canada’s biggest city. His consistent want to add European players has turned out badly. Now don’t misread me and think I hate European players that is not true, just the ones that Colangelo has brought in have had minimal effects.


The one exception being Calderon who has been good at best when he is healthy. Then there was this offseason where he was unable to land any big trades. They all prematurely broke and were then unsuccessful.

There have been some positive results as the Raptors went out and pursued straight up athletes. This has shown with their energy on the court and relentless way to grind out games. People expected this as the youthful additions were a breath of fresh air in TO. This being said, with young guys you usually don’t get very good basketball players with skill. This has also shown this year with their lack of wins and large amounts of losses.

The additions of Leandro Barbosa was a good piece to add as the speedy Brazilian was itching to start somewhere in the league. The Drafting of Ed Davis from UNC will be a good pick down the road as an injury has put him out until now where he will begin training with the D-League team to get his stamina up to par. Solomon Alabi was the other drafted player coming out of Florida State, this guy is big standing at 7’1 this guy is a down the road prospect who could become something useful to the Raps. Joey Dorsey the 2nd year player is also new this year and will see minimal minutes this season. Also new to the team Linas Kleiza who played with Denver for a few seasons had a good FIBA Championship and has already he will be strong for the team this year. Julian Wright came over from New Orleans and has had a minimal effect as he will be a bench sub at best.

Recently added to the team this year was Peja Stojakovic and Jerryd Bayless who come from New Orleans from a 5 player swap.


This is a cap move as Peja’s contract is set to expire at the end of the year and Bayless is a young player who could be helpful down the road. In this trade the Raptors got rid of inconsistent guard Jarrett Jack and Chris Andersen. Jack was good but Colangelo felt Calderon and Barbosa would be good enough.

This Raptors team is full of athletes and height. Their roster’s smallest player is listed at 6-3 and their tallest is at 7-1. With some young players this team could be one that many will not want to play down the stretch. This team holds some promise but making the playoffs will be a stretch.

The next few games for the Raptors are as follows: @Boston, Atlanta, Washington, OKC, New York, @Indiana, @New York, Denver, @Detroit, Chicago, New Jersey, LA Lakers, Detroit which takes them to the Christmas Break. I expect the Raptors to get to 7-6 in that time period. Don’t be surprised if the Raptors come out and beat some of these teams and go 10-3, it is stretch but it could happen.

Who knows where the Raptors season will go, whether they will make the playoffs or not. One thing is for sure it’s taken quite a bit of work to get them where they are. Is Bryan Colangelo doing a good job? Well the results have been far and few for sure. So where is the recent success coming from? Well let’s not forget Jay Triano, the coach has had very little to work with and still manages to make results happen. It seems like the Raptors are heading in the right direction. The one problem with the Franchise is that they are never able to keep players north of the border for longer than a season. This is their main problem keeping their core players together to build chemistry. If they can do this the Raptors will have no problem becoming a success in this league.

Armaan Ahluwalia is a writer with the Dal Gazette and www.1inthestands.wordpress.com. Follow him on twitter @therealbrindian.

Huskies on Haligonia; Battle of Elite Point Guards at the Tower

It’s a battle of two of the best point guards in the country on Tuesday night at the Tower as Joey Haywood and the Huskies host Simon Farine and the Dalhousie Tigers.

The Huskies are looking for their first win of the season after stumbling out of the gates to an 0-4 record, while the Tigers will be looking to remain undefeated with a 4th straight victory.

Game time is 8:00 and will be webcast on www.live.haligonia.ca. Mavs Gillis and Bill McLean will have the call from the Tower.

Meet the Tigers

Record: 3-0, 10 points for second place.
Head Coach: John Campbell

Players to Watch:

#4 Simon Farine- Perennial AUS first team all star averaged over 20 points per game last season.

#21 Joe Schow – Has averaged a double-double for the Tigers since transferring from Calgary two seasons ago. Leads the Tigers in scoring in 2010 with 16 ppg

#22 Juleous Grant – North Preston native transferred this past year from Northern Oklahoma. Athletic and excellent three point shooter.

Tigers Notes:

Tigers are coming off a 59-52 victory in Antigonish over the X-Men…..Combo guard Stephen Lopez is back after a season off due to injury…...Long time starter in the post Sandy Veit is back for his fifth season…..Head Coach John Campbell’s coaching staff consists of the legendary Dave Nutbrown, the former Head Coach of Acadia, and Tom Gillespie, the former Head Coach at UNB…..Peter Leighton is playing his final season of eligibility with the Tigers. Leighton played his first four years at Acadia and played a pivotal role in the Axemen’s victory over Carleton at the 2008 CIS championships….the Tigers are leading the AUS in scoring defense, allowing a stingy 62 ppg. The Tigers are last in scoring offense with 72 ppg…..Another significant newcomer for the Tigers is Alex Arthur. The versatile swingman is averaging 7 ppg so far this season.

Ladies and Gentlemen…….Your Saint Mary’s Huskies!

Record: 0-4, last place.
Head Coach: Ross Quackenbush

Players to Watch:

Joey Haywood- The nation’s leading scorer, averaging 28 ppg on 54 percent shooting from the field.

Tory Fassett- Newcomer is averaging 16 ppg and 7 rpg in the post.

Demittri Harris – Athletic guard is averaging 11 ppg so far this season.

Huskies Notes:

The last time the Huskies were on haligonia they lost a back and forth affair with the Acadia Axemen, 97-90 at the Tower. Joey Haywood scored 30 points on 12 of 18 shooting…..Huskies are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Cape Breton Capers 10 days ago in Sydney…..Harry Ezenibe has become a presence in the post for Saint Mary’s averaging 10 points and 6 rebounds a game……the Huskies are second in the conference in scoring offense with 89 ppg. They are last in defense allowing a whopping 97 ppg…..the Huskies lost to their chief rivals, the Saint FX X-Men earlier this month in Antigonish, 97-84……post player Simon Marr has struggled early on, averaging only 3 points and 4 rebounds a game….the Huskies will wrap up the first term with a weekend trip to Memorial to play two games vs. the Seahawks.

Tip time from the Tower is 8:00. Webcast on www.live.haligonia.ca will begin at 7:55 approx., join Mavs and Bill for all the action!

Email comments or question to sports@haligonia.ca. Follow us on twitter @haligoniasports.

Huskies on Haligonia; Huskies and Tigers Renew Rivalry

Justine Colley is averaging 22 points per game this year for the Huskies

Justine Colley and the Saint Mary’s Huskies host the Dalhousie Tigers Tuesday night at the Tower. The rebuilding Tigers have been gutted by graduation the last couple of years while the Huskies have reloaded with the additions of Suzanne Canvin and Meaghan Seaward.

Anna Stammberger’s youthful Tigers are coming off a 68-38 drubbing at the hands of the Saint Francis Xavier X-Women in Antigonish, while the Huskies have been off for ten days after splitting two games on a weekend trip to Cape Breton.

Game time from the Tower is 6:00 and will be webcast on www.live.haligonia.ca. Mavs Gillis and Bill McLean will have the call.

Meet the Tigers

Record: 1-2, tied for 4th place with 4 points (victory vs. UPEI was a 4 point game)
Head Coach: Anna Stammberger (2nd Season)

Key Players:

#4 Anna Von Maltzahn – A key defensive player who averages 9 ppg (points per game).

#10 Brooke Sullivan- The versatile veteran averages nearly 11 ppg and 8 rpg (rebounds per game)

#7 Tia Geratowski – A post player who transferred from GPRC in Alberta, she’s averaged 10 ppg and 6 rpg but has struggled to stay out of foul trouble.

#5 Courtney Thompson- High energy rookie point guard leads the Tigers in scoring with 11 ppg.

Tigers Notes:

Stammberger’s Tigers have been devastated the last two years from graduation of former AUS all stars and long time starters. After 2009 the Tigers lost Kelly Donald, Kate Mcneil, and Jenna Kaye. This past year they said goodbye to Leah and Laurie Girdwood, April Scott, and Cailin Crosby. Alex Legge is still involved with the program as an Assistant Coach while she continues to rehab a knee injury……The Tigers got their first victory of the season on November 14th vs. the UPEI Panthers…..Dalhousie made only 9 field goals and committed 34 turnovers in their loss to St FX over the weekend…..former Auburn High School star Stephanie Hiltz transferred to Dalhousie from Saint FX and is coming off the bench for the Tigers…..Keisha Brown has transferred from Acadia to Dalhousie and will play for the Tigers next year. Brown is the younger sister of Alise, the former Saint Mary’s standout. Keisha averaged nearly 12 points per game in 2 seasons at Acadia.

Ladies and Gentleman…your Saint Mary’s Huskies!

Record: 2-2, tied for 4th place with 4 points.
Head Coach: Scott Munro (3rd season)

Key Players:

Justine Colley – The super sophomore is averaging 22 ppg, which includes a 43 point outburst vs. Acadia.

Susanne Canvin – The former UPEI Panther has not disappointed averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds a game.

Robbi Daley – Kelsey’s younger sister is coming into her own, averaging 13 ppg.

Meaghan Seaward – The former Memorial Seahawk has taken over down low for Laure Pitfield, averaging 9 points and 4 rebounds a game.

Huskies Notes:

The last time the Huskies were on haligonia.ca was the season opener vs. Acadia. Saint Mary’s defeated the Axewomen 92-86 in the 4th highest scoring women’s game in CIS history. The Huskies came back from a 51-38 halftime deficit……The Huskies are coming off a tough split with the Capers in CBU. SMU beat the Capers 78-73 in double overtime to get a win that not many teams achieve in Sydney…..the Huskies are lacking depth this season. The highest scoring player off the bench is Jorunn Matthiessen with 2.3 ppg…..dual sport athlete Haley Fox is back in uniform for the Huskies. The daughter of local legend Mickey Fox is playing for Scott Munro fresh off her outstanding season in the backfield for the Huskies soccer team…..so far this season the Huskies have been outscored by their AUS opponents (298-286) and have committed more turnovers (81-60)….the Huskies have outscored opponents 102-67 in the third quarter.

Tuesday’s tip time from the Tower is 6:00. The game will be webcast on http://www.live.haligonia.ca/!

Email comments or questions to sports@haligonia.ca. Follow us on twitter @haligoniasports

Tigers Answer Critics With Victory in Antigonish

Simon Farine leads a revamped Tigers team poised for a championship run.

by Bill McLean

The big question for John Campbell and his Dalhousie Tigers heading into the 2010 AUS basketball season was whether they could be competitive with the Cape Breton Capers and Saint Francis Xavier X-Men.

After this past weekend’s trip to Antigonish, Tigers fans and conference pundits have their answer.

Led by another stellar performance from Joe Schow, the Tigers beat the X-Men 59-52 and immediately vanquished the naysayers who claimed they weren’t athletic enough to compete with the big boys in the AUS.

Certainly there was cause for skepticism. Last year the Tigers were 0-7 vs. the Capers and X-Men and lost every game by double digits, including a 76-60 whipping by CBU in the AUS Semi Finals.

But the return of combo guard Stephen Lopez and the recruitment of swingmen Juleous Grant and Alex Arthur has given the Tigers a much needed boost in athleticism, allowing them to match up with X and CBU in a full court game. Add to the mix the dynamic defensive specialist Will Yenge, and the Tigers are positioned to run with any team in the country.

Back for his final season is perennial first team all star Simon Farine who averaged over 20 points per game last year, along with fifth year senior Sandy Veit who has been a solid starter throughout his career at the post position.

But it’s been the play of Veit’s partner post player and senior, Schow that has propelled the Tigers to a 3-0 record to begin the season.

The “Stormin’ Mormon” has averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds a game and been a physical force down low for a Tigers team that has suffered from a lack of toughness inside throughout

John Campbell’s era as Head Coach. In a victory over UPEI last weekend, Schow put the team on his back and provided the emotional spark the team needed to pull away in the second half.
Campbell has even upgraded his coaching staff with the addition of former UNB Varsity Reds Head Coach, Tom Gillespie. Sitting alongside the legendary Dave Nutbrown, the Tigers have basically three head coaches at the helm.

Three point specialist and former Acadia Axemen Peter Leighton has come on board for his final season of eligibility and should fit in very nicely for the departed Andrew Sullivan by knocking down open shots created by the dribble penetration from Farine.

In the ever competitive AUS featuring arguably the best guard play in the country, Tiger’s fans shouldn’t get too excited too soon. However the Tigers would appear to have all the pieces in place for a championship run in 2011.

Bill McLean Sports Show can be heard every Tuesday morning at 10:30 on CKDU 88.1 FM, ckdu.ca. Follow us on twitter @haligoniasports and check us out of Facebook.

Dinos too Much for SMU; Calgary Returns to the Vanier Cup

Calgary beat the Huskies in a CIS Semi Final for the second straight year

The Calgary Dino’s are going back to the Vanier Cup for the second year in a row. The Calgary Dino’s defeated the St. Mary’s Huskies by a score of 35-8.

The game started off very slow as the score at half was 8-0 for the Dino’s. Many people felt that the Huskies would be blown out fast and early in this game. That was not that case as the Huskies started the game strong with first downs on offense and stopping the Dino’s with their defence.


The game was going well until starting Quarterback Micah Brown left the game due to injury. He was replaced by 2nd year quarterback Marc Blewett. Brown returned later on the game but the effect was minimal.

Marc Blewett came in to the game and his production was minimal. He threw two interceptions in the game which were deep in Calgary’s end. #16 Michael Lau also had two interceptions on the day for the Dino’s.

The Dino’s offense was slow until they started going to the Wildcat offense which was made famous by the Miami Dolphins. The Dino’s were led by Steven Lumbala who had over 100 yards rushing and one touchdown.

The Huskies lone touchdown was scored by running back Craig Leger. It
came on a throw from quarterback Micah Brown. It happened to be too little too late as the 4th quarter was winding down.

Huskies fans are all too familiar with the Calgary Dino’s and their players. They played them last year in the Uteck Bowl and came up just short losing 38-14.

Blake Nill the head coach of the Dino’s used to be the head coach of the Huskies. After leaving the Huskies Nill brought along with him the Hec Creighton quarterback Eric Glavic who helped led the Dino’s over the Huskies for the second straight year.

This now ends the Huskies season as they managed going with six wins in a row before losing to the Dino’s at a very cold McMahon stadium in Calgary.

The Huskies season is all but over now as a few players will make the journey to Laval for the awards ceremony. Jahmeek Taylor is one of the Huskies who are up for an award. Taylor was the AUS MVP this year and will be up for the Hec Creighton award.

Armaan Ahluwalia is a writer with the Dalhousie Gazette. Follow him on twitter @therealbrindian and check out his blog, www.1inthestand.blogspot.com.

Mitchell Bowl Preview; Huskies vs. Dinos Part 2

The Huskies will be out for revenge against their newest arch rivals, Eric Glavic and the Dinos

by Armaan Ahluwalia

Its finally here, the Mitchell bowl is this Saturday and we have one great match up ready to go.

The St. Mary’s Huskies will travel to McMahon stadium to take on the Canada West champions, the Calgary Dino’s.

Both teams know each other fairly well as they met last year in a game which the Dino’s easily took.

This year’s teams are not that different as both teams have many returning starters from last year. The Calgary Dino’s starting quarterback Eric Glavic knows this team very well as before becoming a Dino he was a Husky. Now Calgary head coach Blake Nill recruited Glavic to come play for him as his pivot out west. Glavic has had success out in West as Calgary almost won the Vanier Cup last year but came up short in the final part of the game.

Saying that this Huskies team has faced a lot of obstacles this year would be an understatement. Starting the year 0-3, losing their starting quarterback, starting Micah Brown who had never played a Canadian football game the list of problems goes on. With saying that they had their fare share of problems, head coach Steve Sumarah rallied his team and has gone with 6 straight wins heading into Saturday’s matchup.

The Huskies will also have AUS all-star receiver and punt returner Jahmeek Taylor back in the line up. Taylor will be coming back from a one game disciplinary suspension for which the team has not spoken much about. In the AUS championship final game Ahmed Borhot took charge of that team and had a spectacular game showing that they have another solid receiver on the team.

This game will be heavily ridden on how the St. Mary’s defence performs. The Huskies are used to playing in the AUS where the average sizes of the offensive lineman are not as large as out west.

This matchup will be the key to the game, because if the Huskies can’t get past the bulky Dino’s offensive line they will not be able to stop that 3 back system that the Dino’s posses with Walter, Lumbala, and Woodson. Not to mention they have a Hec Creighton winner as their quarterback in Eric Glavic. With all these factors in favour of the Dino’s the Huskies will have to buckle down and slow down the run, but they may have to pick their poison with the run or the pass.

On the other side of the ball the Huskies will rely on Micah Brown who is getting better with each snap he takes. In his last game against a weaker Acadia team he managed to throw well and not make silly turnovers. This will be important as the Huskies will need to control the clock and not give the ball back to the Dino’s and Glavic. The Huskies need to come out and establish a running game and mange the clock if they are to have any chance against the bigger Dino’s.

Saturday’s game will be one of intensity as both coaches’ are very intense when it comes to big time games. It will be interesting to see how St. Mary’s will match up against a just as big team in the Calgary Dino’s. With all of their fire power I like the Calgary Dino’s in this one by a score of 36-25 over the St. Mary’s Huskies

The game will be aired live on TSN on saturday. Check tsn.ca for times.

Armaan Ahluwalia is a writer for the Dal Gazette. Follow Armaan on twitter @therealbrindian and check out his blog, www.1inthestands.wordpress.com.