CANUCK UPDATE... Two -

Canuckleheads are challenging
fellow fans to put their money
where their heart is. Lori
Thomas and Sandy Tanaka
are asking Cunuck fans to
donate. $2 (or more) to the
Canuck Place Hospice for chil-
dren. in thanks of the team's
playoff performance. Last
Saturday, the pair helped raise
over $800 at Geoff Courtnall’s
Double Overtime Sports Grill
in Vancouver. Donations can be
made by calling 683-7784.

_GLEN MITTENDORFER

: FREESTYLE
North Vancouver's «Glen
.éMittendorfer posted his best

ever freestyle skiing season...
ever this past winter, moving °

~one, step:closer to his goal of
competing onthe Canadian

“ National freestyle team. The’

:: 22-year-old Blackcomb skier

‘placed first in B.C.:in the men’s

+-moguls and finished 25th at the *

‘Canadian nationals, qualifying

him to‘attend the national team :
“training camp in’ Hood, Oregon, ©
this summer. Mittendorfer: will :

‘yCompete on ‘the NorAm circuit
{next season, and hopes to com-
“pete ina few World Cup Taces.

MOUNT SEYMOUR HILL”

RUN...) The ‘16th-annual
Mount Seymour Hill Run saw
North’. Vancouver’s Hugh
“Trenchard break a’six-year-old

coursé récord set by triathlete

Steve McMurdo in 1988.
“McMurdo's old record for, the
13 km.(8.1 mile) run-up ‘the

- very steep and demanding
“ course was 56 minutes and 35"

- seconds, Trenchard sliced more
than one minute off the record,
“crossing the finish line in 55
“tinutes and 24 ‘seconds. This
“year's event played host to 100
“athletes. Mary Nicell was the
. top woman runner (74.49), fol-
lowed hy Barb Tulley (80.25)
and Heather Wilson (81.53).
Langley's Tom Barichelto
(59.21). was second in. the
“men’s.” race, while Bob
‘Hetherington (61. 12) was

» jhird,

SWIMMING... The Chena
-Swim_club had a stroag show-

ing at the junior provincial dou-:

‘ble-A ‘championships last
_ weekend in Kamloops. finish-

ing fifth overall West Van

Otters. were !6th, while the
© Hollyburn Swim chib finished
. 25th. Highlighting Chena's per-

formance was the work of its

relay teams, which finished
+ third in the’ province.

‘ Expos are cool,”

SKIING...

NORTH VANCOUVER shortstop
Simon Pond was selected by the
Montreal Expos in the ninth round
of the Major League Baseball
(MLB) draft Jast week.

By Kevin Gillies
Sports Reporter

The 6°71," 175-pound Argyle
student was the second Canadian
player chosen in the draft, which
lasts three days and more than 50
rounds.

Pond said he found out from his
mother last Thursday when he
returned home from school.

“It’s really exciting — the
he said..

He has not signed with the
Expos at this point, but hopes to

‘sign and then go to West Palm

Springs where the team has its

training facility and rookie team.

If he doesn’t sign, he could go

- through the college system.

Pond, 17. is currently hitting
.524 with'the North Shore. Twins
which plays.an 80-game schedule,
‘that includes many American teams

‘and tournaments. So far this year,
he has 66 hits, including 22 dou-
“bles, two triples and two home

runs,
Pond was one of. eight players

: _from the Lower Mainland invited to
“the Major League Bureau camp at
.-Robert Burnaby Park a month ago.

. West Vancouver catcher: Dave
Sugden, who is enrolled at presti-

- gious Pepperdine University for the

iim oS
‘Kea rney 7

' THE SPECTATOR

IF THE following is heresy, so

be it. But isn’t it time hockey
started re-packaging itself
into a more compact season?
Isn’t it time it started leaving
summer to the games of sum-
mer?

There used to be a lo; of kidding
about soccer being the spurt with the
four-season season. But no longer.

The way the pastime that used to
confine itself to winter and its early
and late edges is going. at the start of
the new century we may be looking
ata Labor Day start for the NHL and
a Canada Day windup for the
Stanley Cup final.

In comparison, the endless sum-
mer of baseball seems remarkably
brief. It starts April 1 and is over by
mid-October. World Series included,

fall session, was also invited to that
one-day showcase which attracted
more than a dozen professional
scouts. - ;
Sinee the camp, Pond has been

heavily scouted by Major League,

teams including the Expos, the Los
Angeles Dodgers, the Texas
Rangers, the Kansas City Royals,
the Chicago White Sox, the
Atlanta Braves, the Minnesota
Twins and the San Diego Padres.

Last week in Seattle, six scouts.

were on hand to see the Twins win
three of four contests against
American teams.

In his first at bat, Pond crushed a
390-foot home run that was actual-
ly measured by the Brave scouting
staff. The North Van native said he
plans on finishing secondary school
before signing with the professional
team.

The Expos’ roster is currently
home to Maple Ridge product

Larry Walker, a potential all- star

this season.

Pond’s Twin teammate Ryan |

Dempster is another hightly touted

player who is being watched by .

profesional team scouts.

Dempster pitches for the Twins.
‘and is not eligible to be drafed for

another 51 weeks, according to
team coach Dave Empey.
The Twins take on the Whalley

‘“ Warriors at 6 p.m. this Friday at

Ambleside Park before leaving to
take on four different American
teams in Washington State. °

(For, more North Shore baseball
news, seé the Hot Box on page 18. )

Pro football in Canada uses up four
months from July to the end‘of
October, then decides a Grey Cup
winner before November is out...
~ ‘The NFL completes its schedule
in just four months, then uses -

‘ January to decide the Super Bowl .

winner.

Hockey trespasses across three
complete seasons and threatens to
leave its skate marks on a fourth. °

~ Nearly six-and-a-half months of

league play: eight weeks of Stanley:
Cup play.

At this time of year, on those
countless talking head interviews”.
between periods of Hockey Night in
Canada, one hears player after player

- reiterating. in reference to the play-

offs and the cup: “This is what it's
all about.”

If that’s the case, then whut are
Ociober, November, December,
January, February. March and half
of April all about?

Are all those months — and the
1,092 games crammed into them —
Justa plate of chopped liver?
Unfortunately, yes.

Such is the hyped-up mystique of -
the Stanley Cup. the regular season
doesn't really count.

Should the Rangers fail to beat
the Canucks in this year’s final —
which seems unlikely ~ theirs
son will be considered an unmitigat-

-ed failure, despite the fact they tin-

ished number one in more than half.
a year of league play.

On the other hand, should the
Canucks get the job done. they"}} be
remembered as THE team of 1993-
94,

And this, despite the fact they -
played little better than .500 hockey |

NORTH SHORE Twins’ shortatop Simon Pond ' was ‘drafted: by :

‘the Montreal Expos last week. The 17-year-old Argyle’ ‘stuclont

was selected in the ninth round 'of the major. league draft
Currently, he is batting .524 with the. Twins. Pond Said.h
excited about the prospect of playing | for the o Expos... :

over 84 games, finished 14th overall.
and provided their. supporters with a >:
lot of shoddy entertainment over the

long haul. °

Stanley Cup success means all”
past failures are forgiven. Stanley
Cup failure.means all past success
counts for little.

Take the case of Detroit GM
Bryan Murray. in four years he.
helped steer the Red Wings to two
divisional titles and, this season, to
first place in the Western

66 Stanley Cup suc-
cess means all past
failures are forgiven.
Stanley Cup failure
means all past success
counts for ti ttle. 99

4

i
Conference. .
But he saw the team he put
together upset by San Jose in the
first playoff round. He got his ©

_ reward, Last week he was fired.

‘There should be a way to proper-
ly recognize fong haul success: to
make it the equal of short haul cup
success and at the same time put the
hockey marathon back into its prop-
er seasonal package.

Do I have the answer?

Certainly. Just as I have the
_ answer to all those game-delaying -

ictags of the puick (one faceoff cire
in either end, directly in front of. the
goal. Goalies would kill team mates
“responsible for icings) and for s
many offsides (bend the bluelines's
the wingers can get in ahead of the
puck carrier without play being

’ whistled to a stop).

The NHL has chosen to ignore
=. both these progressive suggestions, .
sol don’ t expect any better’ luck "
with my plan to let everyone, not
jusi the top 16, play for the sre
Cup. To make it what it started out®

_ asi a challenge trophy.

It's merely a matter of chaigi iz

the format, of modelling cup play.

along the lines used by overseas § Soc-
cer for the better part of a century..."
Play various rounds, leading to the,
tinal, during the regular season.

Here's how it would work:

Round one, two games home and ;
home, on a November weekend. ‘
among 12 minor league pro teams.

Add the six winners to the 26.00."
NHL teams for a total of 32. A blind |
draw and, starting on a December :-
weekend, home and home games,
total goals to count, once a month
until the two cup finalists are decid-
ed in late March, League play‘con- -
tinues for another wo weeks to :
decide the league chainpion, then the
two Stanley Cup teams play‘a best- ;
of-seven final,

What could bé tidier? More see
sible? League champion and cup ©”
‘champion would get equal recogni
‘tion, :

More importanily,-the season...

- would be over by May | and we,

: could get on with doing something 7
constructive on these long summer
evenings,