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The Canadian Champion, Fniday, November 30, 2001 - 23 POTS PhoobyGRAHAM PAINE MElon'. Kn Ammnsn (centre> wll md 1h... Flnnlsh curlers t t0he 2002 Wlnter OlYMPICS ln SsII Lakes Clty Utahln Fabrusry. wArmstrong set to lead Finnish curling team to Winter Olympies Sv STEVE LeBLANC The Champion When it cornes to reaching flic Otympies, Ken Anmstrong is deflnitely taking the road less travelled. 'fle majority get dmer aa athietes - wbile a rnuch snaller number do so as coaches for their counsry's representativea. Still others book passage by joining forces with hopefult froin flhc other side of fise globe. Milton's curling enthusiaat now flnd himself arnong this thirdi group - as lic piepares to lead Finland's Olympie curl- ing teain inta Sait Lake City, Utah for Februaiy's 2002 Winter Gaines. 'hia unique opportunity is thse result of an ongoing partner- sbip with flhc Finnish five - which began a few years ago dur- ing their trip to Canad. "If yau want ta plsy at a top level, you've got ta corne tu Canada," explained lead Jan Laukkane, wbo competes along- side farmer sehool-imates Tommi Hata, Ville Makela ,Markku Uusipaavalniensi andi Pekka Sarrelaineni. Looking for aarnebody who knew flhc provincial curling scene anti could bath arrange adequate competition and offer counsel ta asarpen fiseir gaine, they met and immediately maeuiled dx~services of AaurmW g. Anti iW& beit amooti sailng ever since. -Keni dmr ail kmn*i af tbings for us. He's really tak ec preswue ao, we can just concentrate on tbrowing rocks." Laukkcanen remarked. Armstrong haa been a calming influence for the teain over the years and certainly knows thc gaine - having secured sev- eral provincial championahips as a player and helperi leari bis daughter Leigh's junior teain to two national events. Still, the chance t0 coach an Olympic-bound curling teain bas been an overwhelmning tuen of eventa. Said Armstrong, "I nearly fell out of my chair when they made the request. It stili haan't sunk in quite yet." While this will be the Finns' flrst crack as the Olympies, they're no strangers to international competition. They'-ve gone to the laat five world charnpionsbips - cap- turing bronze in 199 and 2000 - and have becomte a peren- nial powerhouse in both their own country and across Europe. An Olympic medal, bowever, would no doubt be the crown- ing jewet to their career - and, according to Laukkanen, is well witbin itach. He said, "That's what we're aiming for (a medal)." 'fli Frnish teain reeently cornpleted a competitive fail tour of southen Ontario and after their national and European eharnpianships in December, will retuin to flic ares sbortly befoie thic Winter Gaines. ,,jr. Merchants' winning streak ended by Blues Second-period letdown costly By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion Third place will just have to wait. Brarnalea bas grown quite antacbed to tbe number tbree spot and proved that to thse revitalized Merchanis Tuesday nigbt at Victoria Park Mena. Handing Milton's its first loss in nine gaines, tbe conference's most stationary teani- standings wise, at least - used their explosive transition gaine to fuit advantage and generally out-bus- tted their guests en rouie to winning 5-4. Tbree unanswered goals againsi in the second period and a botcbed Iwo-man advantage witb four minutes remaining coin- bined to temporarity sidetrack tbe Mercbants. Ryan McManus' first brush witb mediocrity beiween the pipes didn't belp matters eitber. On a more positive note, rookie sensation Ricb Meloche deliv- ered bis second bat-trick of tbe yeae - capping it witb a last-minute sbortbanded tally - t boost bis teann-teading goal total to 19. Furtberinore, Dan Bognar and Sbawn Mole botb retuined fotlowing one-ganne absences and tooked no worse for wear froin tbe punisbnient tbey absorbed dur- ing last Friday's encounter witb Hamilton. Also back in tbe tineup -ptaying tbe rote of understudy tbrougb tbe final stretcb of bis recovery fromi a separated shoulder - was veteran tender Trevor Rich Melache Battaglia. Tbese additions, bowever, were oversbadowed by a suIs-par opening baîf in wbicb tbe blueline unit was penalty prone and tbeir forward counterparts generated few quality scoring cbances beyond tbose buried by Metoche. Rick Carriere set up bis second goal witb a gift-wrapped back- band pass in tbe stot, did a raiber effective job kitting penalties and was even betier at agitating a nîîmber of opponents including vet- eran Blue Scott Neill. TIse two -wbo were ai odds fromn tbe opening faceoff ctosed out tbe nigbt wiib a beavyweigbi stugfest ai tbe final buzzer. Carriere - wbo's Iseen quite tbe ali-purpose spackptug since joining the team about a montb ago -earned a one-game suspension as tIse instigator. Mole deposited a point shot earty in tbe final frame for bis ibird goal of tbe season wbite drawing two assisis apiece were Bognar and Michel Rond. Andrew Martin and AIes Ward eacb tatlied twice for Bramalea. Merchant notes: Goatie Sean Samuel bas been deali to Newmarket for cash ... Ex-Mercbant coacb Rick Bince witt niake his retuni t0 Memorial Arena tonigbt as tbe newty appointed skip- per of Streetsville. Milton tben travels to Oakville Sunday.. Fornier Merchant defenceman Cbad Vinden, bas been picked up by the Georgetown Raiders. * Why wuait fo»r yotur car to WARM UP? SEI6* , à ÀIAle Il ,cI<add905-878-8111 629 Main St. E. Milton HE CANADIAN CHAMPION FRIDAY NOVENIBER30, 2001