NovemsBer 15, 2005

THE CADRE @ I1

SPORTS

_ Mats Sundin is an Angry Pirate

Liam McKenna Sports Editor

You know who [ hate? Ryan Gallant.

But do you know who bothers me even more? Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin.

I hope he gets another twenty pucks in the face, . and I hope that I’m the one that gets to shoot them at him. Then we’ll see ifhe’s just going to “consider” a visor.

Professional hockey players have some sort of bizarre aversion to things that will protect them from each other. These guys are wrecking machines, whipping around the ice at speeds comparable to that of car travelling in the city, ramming into each other, firing an unpredictable rubber bullet at the opposition. It is simply inconceivable to me as to why these athletes would not want to protect themselves more. |

I suppose I can understand it sometimes. Visors sure can get in the way of seeing the ice, right Mats? Of course, having blurred vision for three to four weeks after getting decimated by a puck in the eye gets in the way too. Missing those weeks that you did because of your injury also prevented you from seeing the ice in a different sort of way, didn’t it? Good thing your team doesn’t rely heavily on you to win.

They had an excellent record while you -

were gone - if a mediocre one game over .500 (6-5-2) is what you consider excellent. And besides, I know it’s way

cooler to go around looking like your .

boyfriend gave you the angry pirate of alifetime.

Hey Mats, if you don’t like wearing a visor, why wear a helmet at

all? Don’t you find it nice to feel the wind on your receding hairline? Or, if you’ re just doing it to be tough, then why wear any equipment at all? Why not be real tough, like rugby players, and go without any equipment except for a small piece of padded leather to keep your brain in your skull while others try their best to knock it out?

Guys like this bother me. Thereis simply no legitimate excuse not to make visors mandatory, like what was done with helmets. We could implement a grandfather rule to allow the real “tough” guys to continue to get pucks in the faces, like they deserve, while others thrive in the league. They could very well break records for no other reason then being in the league for a very long time (read: Mark Messier. Way to be old, Moose! Hall of Fame, watch out!)

It’s a matter of time before visors are mandatory, but it’s guys like Mats Sundin that slow down the process when they kick up a stink about it. And what’s worse - and don’t think that I look up to the Maple Leaf’s captain - this guy is worshipped by legions of eight-year-old Leaf’s fans who are going to complain to their minor league administrators that they have to wear cages. “Hey, if Mats doesn’t need one, why do I? Tommy can’t shoot nearly as hard as the Senators!” Hopefully, these kids will see the error of Mats ways, and cheer for a good visor-wearing player like Mark Recchi or Saku Koivu.

Given the choice, most university students would rather shoot pucks in Ryan Gallant’s face than at Mats Sundin, but only because there are a lot of Leaf fans. Ora lot of Ryan Gallant enemies.

UBC Claims First CIS Soccer Title in 11 Years

on Penal

Josh Lewis Sports Reporter

Niko Marcina scored on a pen- alty in the 84th minute, and the UBC Thunderbirds tasted their first CIS soc- cer championship since 1994 with a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues Sunday at the University of Prince Edward Island.

The pen- alty was awarded after defender Kim Saka, the lone goal-scorer for Toronto, com- mitted a handball infraction in the box. Marcina took ad- vantage of the miscue, burying the ball behind Blues keeper Luciano Lombardi and with it Toronto’s championship hopes. The Varsity Blues struggled desperately to knot the score in the final minutes, but could not generate any offense, and the T-Birds were on their way to vic- tory.

UBC dominated the play throughout most of the game, with midfielder Josh Gordon quarterbacking the offensive unit and Jon Poli, also a midfielder, providing stalwart defense on the home front. Poli’s performance was rewarded with player of the game honours. The T- Birds had their chances early in the match, including several corners and Poli’s shot off the crossbar in the 20th minute, but failed to convert until the 35th minute when midfielder Mike Elliot drew first blood by heading a corner kick past Lombardi. UBC con- tinued to press, but the score remained

Plato Rah Blacautere

ty Kick 1-0 at halftime.

The Thunderbirds began where they left off when play resumed, but Toronto’s game had improved some- what and the play was more evenly matched. The Blues were rewarded in the 62nd minute when Saka redirected a free kick past UBC keeper Srdjan Djekanovic to tie the game at one goal apiece. The T-Birds continued to con- trol the possession, but could not find the back of the net.

It appeared the game was des- tined for extra time, but if this ° tournament has taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. The unexpected is exactly what hap- pened with six minutes remaining, and Marcina made no mistake in capitaliz- ing on the golden opportunity that had been dropped in his lap.

Poli was named tournament MVP and was one of four Thunderbirds se- lected to the tournament all-star team. The team includes keeper Djekanovic (UBC); defenders Christopher Barrow (UBC), Dustin Chung (Toronto), Justin Farenik (Trinity), Roberto Guiterez (Carleton) and Eric Tse (Toronto); midfielders Marcina (UBC), Nick Perugini, (Trinity), Poli (UBC) and Joe Rini (Toronto); and strikers Ryan Anstey (UPEI) and Sean Myers (Toronto).

Some in the stands would argue that the real story of the tournament was the uncooperative weather in Charlottetown. Two games scheduled for Thursday were rained out, and a few spectators were literally frozen to the bleachers by Friday’s and Saturday’s mind-numbingly cold temperatures.

Continued on page 18