SEPTEMBER 13, 2005

Tryouts

1. Men’s basketball tryouts kick off with a meeting/practice Monday, September 12 at 4 PM in the boardroom of the sports centre. Tryouts continue throughout this week with 4:30 practices daily.

a Women’s hockey on-ice tryouts begin Tuesday, September 13 with a practice from 9:30-11:30 PM. Another practice will be held Thursday, September 15 at the same time, and an inter-squad game will take place Friday, September 16 from 4:30-5:30 PM. The same schedule will run for the following two weeks, with practices held Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9:30 PM and inter-squad games on Fridays at 4:30.

3. Women’s volleyball tryouts begin Monday, September 12 and will run for the next two weeks. Tryouts will be held Monday through Thursday from 4:30-6:30 PM, and Friday from 1:30-3:30 PM

4. Women’s basketball tryouts began Wednesday, September I

x Men’s rugby tryouts were held last week, on the 6" and 8" of September.

6. The Women’s Rugby team plays their first game on the road at Acadia on Saturday, September 10".

7 Both the Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams are on the road this coming weekend, kicking off against St FX on the 10" and Cape Breton University the 11°. The teams also recently came from a successful tournament in Concordia, with the men recording a record of 2-1-0 and the women playing to 1- 0-2.

SPORTS

Panther Profile: Carolyn MacLeod

Josh Lewis Reporter

As returning students get settled back into the old routine and first-years get used to a new one, the UPEI sports scene is also kicking into gear and that includes field hockey. Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with field hockey newcomer Carolyn McLeod. Carolyn, a fourth-year biology major, is beginning her second year at UPE] after spending two playing field hockey at Carleton. In accordance with CIS (what is CIS?) transfer rules, she was forced to sit out last season after transferring to UPEI. Originally from Stratford, MacLeod attended high school at Rural. A sweeper, she began playing field hockey in grade seven and now has 10 years of experience in the sport. She has also played soccer in past summers, but field hockey became the first and only priority when it came to sports.

MacLeod moves from Carleton, where she faced stiff competition such as U of T, to a youthful UPEI squad which, due to lack of funding, has only club status. This means that the team is ineligible to compete in the CIS championship. The team has a mix of veterans and young players and despite its club status, hopes to finish on top and show they are capable of winning. MacLeod is positive about the upcoming season and looks forward to playing with a young team with lots of potential. The team competes in three round-robin

tournaments against four other teams. Regardless of the final standings, St. Mary’s gains the only CIS berth because they have the funding to compete.

MacLeod was selected to the P.E.I. field hockey squad for the past two Canada Games. The 2004 team, which also included current UPEI coaches Tracey Gairns and Amber Gallant, placed eighth. This year it improved to a fifth-place finish, which represented the best result for an Island team at the 2005 Games and also matched P.E.I.’s best showing ever in field hockey. Unfortunately, the sport has since been dropped from the Canada Games roster. MacLeod calls that a shame, especially since the team’s recent results show that field hockey is still alive on the Island.

There is hope yet for the sport on P.E.I.. MacLeod believes that UPEI’s new artificial turf will attract more people to become involved as both spectators and participants. The turf will be less dangerous for new and existing players and it levels the playing field somewhat for UPEI. MacLeod suggests the creation of a men’s field hockey league on the Island, such as those in other parts of the Maritimes, in order to increase public awareness and knowledge of the sport.

UPEI will be hosting a tournament Oct. 22-23. Come on out and support UPEI field hockey.

THE CADRE @ 8

Back for the First Time: The New NHL

Liam McKenna Sports Editor

It has finally happened. The NHL is ready to begin a brand new season, offering a brand new game with brand new rules, a brand new system and brand new players. The only thing that isn’t new are the Toronto Maple Leafs, who actually had to order a slew of walkers along with their sticks to enable them to inevitably limp through the season to come.

Other Canadian teams, however, are infinitely better off. Edmonton has landed Chris Pronger on the blue line and rough and tumble forward Michael Peca in front. Calgary has found themselves backing superstar Jarome Iginla with high calibre, (albeit older) players Tony Amonte and Darren McCarty. Vancouver has Bertuzzi back, although if you don’t count the playoffs, it was like he was never gone. Ottawa has Heatley in what was a bit of a head scratcher of a trade from the Atlanta perspective. And Montreal comfortably anticipates a game in Toronto having re- signed superstar Alexei Kovalev, as well as having traded for Radek Bonk at the end of last season and having signed almost all of their key players.

But the most significant signings were south of the border. Under the new system, teams that have not made the playoffs in years have a much better chance of making them this year. The most highly touted of these teams, of course, are those perennial cellar- dwellers the Pittsburgh Penguins, who drafted Sidney Crosby so he could play with - who else? - Mark Recchi. These two greats will have Mario Lemieux, Zigmund Palffy, John LeClair, as well as Sergei Gonchar on defence to support them. It will be an interesting year in Steeltown indeed.

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