The Oakville Beaver. W e d n e sd a y A u g u s t 6, 2003 - D 3 Vines mulling over future (Continued trom page D1) However, the good tim es ended shortly after as Denver lost in the quarterfinals o f the NCAA national tournam ent to M ichigan, only to see M innesota, the same team they defeated tw o w eeks earlier, win the national cham pionship. W hile disappointed. Vines cam e a long way from the start o f his college career and was ready to take his im proved gam e to the A m erican Hockey League. Undrafted through college. Vines w as now a free agent w ho could sign with any team . A fter attending a Los A ngeles Kings developm ent cam p Iasi sum m er for tw o w eeks. Vines entered the Edmonton O ilers' tryout cam p last Septem ber. He didn't have lofty expectations o f m aking the big club, and instead, focused on earning an A H L contract with Edm onton's farm team, the H am ilton Bulldogs. Vines did not crack the N ational Hockey League roster, but still accom plished one o f his greatest goals. " It w as a dream com e true in itself," he says. "1 d idn't get to play a regular season gam e, but I felt 1 could com pete at that level and I w as lucky enough to play against som e of the best players in the w orld." V ines w as invited to the Bulldogs cam p, but he ran into som e bad luck as H am ilton's farm team suddenly becam e hom e to both the O ilers' and Montreal C anadiens' prospects for the 2002-03 season. Since the O ilers had already made arrangem ents to move their farm team from Hamilton to Toronto for the 2003-04 season, the Bulldogs purchased the C anadiens' AHL frani?iise in an effort to keep professional hockey in Hamilton. W iile the m ove was good for the city, it m eant prospects from both tlie O ilers' and C anadiens' franchises w ould be com peting for six defensive spots in training cam p. Vines played well in his one exhibition gam e w ith Hamilton, but the num bers proved too strong and he was quickly sent dow n to the East Coast H ockey League. Rather than ride the bus for six m onths in the m inors. Vines decided to hang up his skates and put his degree to work. However, he had a quick eye-opener to w hat the jo b m arket was really like. After two fruitless m onths on the jo b hunt. Vines m oved west to Los A ngeles where he could be closer to his college sw eetheart. He set up a six-m onth internship with Los A ngeles tele vision station KTLA's sports departm ent, logging gam e highlights and writing scripts. To help finance the unpaid internship. Vines called the West Coast H ockey L eague's Long Beach Ice Dogs. The Dogs offered Vines a spot on the club, and m ore im portant ly. an apartm ent and a paycheck. A fter not skating for two m onths. Vines joined the team in early D ecem ber and was prom ptly asked to play his first gam e the day he arrived. By C hristm as, the Ice Dogs were practically elim inated from the playoffs and w hile his internship w as going great. Vines found the losing hard. As well, the team 's m anage m ent w ere m aking budget cuts on and off the ice. W ith a few' w eeks left in the season. Vines was looking forward to the prospect o f having more time to devote to KTLA. H ow ever, in m id-M arch, he was traded hours before the deadline to the San D iego Gulls. W hile San D iego w as a classy organization with a com m itm ent to w inning. Vines decided after his first gam e with his new club that it w ould be his last because he was dedi cated to finishing his placem ent. Steve M artinson, head coach and general m anager o f the Gulls, recalls with a chuckle, how he learned o f V ines' plans by overhearing a phone conversation he was having with his parents after the gam e. M artinson, who has a business degree from St. Cloud State University, understood V ines' dilem m a, but his team w as about to em bark on a road trip w ith only three defencemen and badly needed V ines' help. "W hen we traded for Bryan we d id n 't know he had a com m itm ent, but w e w ere looking for a strong, physical defencem an for the playoffs," he says. "H e was com ing from a losing team , and I ju st told him. `G ive yourself a chance for hockey to be fun again and w e'll work on the in tern sh ip '." Il w as agreed Vines could miss practice in order to com plete his internship and the G ulls w ould even fly him to and from L.A. so he could play in the team 's road gam es. The special treatm ent was rare in professional hockey, especially considering it w as being extended to a rookie w ho had only played a few gam es w ith his new' club. "W e w ere able to do it because h e's a serious guy who keeps him self in top shape." says M artinson. "H e had to do a lot o f driving (a one-and-a-half hour com m ute from L.A. to San D iego) and perform at a high level w ithout practic ing as m uch, and not many people can do that. but he did." The coach says Vines w as a cornerstone in w hat he calls, "the best defence his team has ever had." The label is an im pressive one. considering the G ulls have won five Taylor C ups in the eight seasons the W C H L has existed. San D iego's latest cham pionship cam e in May when they defeated the Fresno Falcons 6-3 in the final gam e o f their best-of-seven series. V ines' first cham pionship at any level cam e in w hat proved to be the last gam e for the W CHL. N ext year, the six team s that com prised the W C H L will be am algam ated into the ECHL. now a 32-team league stretched across the U nited States. "To w in after such a long year is great." he says. " lt's exciting to be a cham pion at anything, let alone my first season at pro hockey." Now Vines m ust decide if he w ants to continue his hock ey career. He has until Septem ber to give M artinson and the G ulls an answer. Due to residency requirem ents. Vines is currently living at hom e in O akville looking for w ork in sports, specifically in journalism , public relations or m anagem ent. Vines' dream jo b is to w ork in the Toronto M aple Leafs front office, but for next year, he will settle for som ething in D enver o r Los A ngeles. " 1 w ant to rem ain close to hockey because it has been my w hole life." he says. "I w orked really hard through school and internships to be able to contribute off the ice if I c a n 't on the ice." H ow ever. Vines says if he is unsuccessful finding a job this sum m er he w ould gladly return to San Diego. " I would have no regrets playing another year. I'm sure 1 w ould have a great tim e." M artinson hopes that it's Vines passion for hockey that will bring him back next year. He thinks there will be opportunities for his steady defencem an to not only play, but get an internship in the large sports market that is San Diego. Regardless o f w hat Vines does next year, he definitely enjoyed his tim e w ith the G ulls. "I rem em ber the big sm ile on his face when the cham pagne was dripping o ff his chin and he w as holding the cup." recalls M artinson. "I told him then, i ' m glad you m ade the decision to stay'." Vines laughed in agreem ent. H ockey w as fun again. Two Ridge students help Ontario to national titles Iroquois Ridge High School student Scott B rittain w as nam ed to the first all-star team at the national boys U-15 basketball cham pionships in Halifax as he helped the O ntario team to the gold m edal. A n o th er Iroquois R idge student, W hitney Haswell helped the O ntario girls win the national U -17 ch am p i onship in W innipeg. In H alifax, the boys capped o ff a perfect tournam ent, easily subduing N ova S cotia 84-49. O ntario won its sem ifin al gam e 107-74 over M anitoba. In the prelim inary round. O ntario defeated Saskatchew an 113-43. New B runsw ick 98-59 (Brittain was high scorer in this gam e with 30 points) and the Yukon 119-43. In W innipeg, the O n tario girls defeated Alberta in the final 66-65. T his avenged a tournam ent opening loss o f 55-50 to Alberta. O ntario won the rest o f their gam es, 59-48 o ver Nova Scotia. 110-19 over N orth West Territories, 63-45 over M an ito b a, and 53-47 o v er N ew Brunsw ick (in the sem ifinal). O ntario swept the youth cham pi onships. with its U-15 girls and U -17 bovs team s also victorious. Crusaders host Highland on Saturday In an im proved perform ance from its first test against the New Zealand Moari in Calgary last weekend. Canada tight ened its defence and its com m itm ent and cam e away with a respectable 30-9 score at Toronto's York University Stadium last Saturday. C anada lost the opener 65-27. Rain in the morning and for the early part o f the m atch acted as a leveler but did not deter over 4000 fans from lend ing their support to the Canadian cause w hich starred som e local players. including Oakville Trafalgar grad Phil M urphy and M ark Lawson, who came in as subs. CRU SADERS The O akville Crusaders first team finished out the tirst half o f the season in first place after defeating Toronto Irish 33-12 last Thursday night. The Cm kick o ff the second half of the season this Saturday as the club hosts Highland. The tirst side plays 3 p.m.. as usual and are preceded by the seconds at 1:30 p.m. and thirds at noon. Mississauga-Oakville Bridge Centre Fall And The American Contract Bridge League B . . . 8 w e e k s . S 1 2 9 .0 0 Bridge F M onday e v en in g s 7:45. begin n in g S e p te m b e r 15th W ednesday a fte rn o o n s 1:30. b e g in n in g S e p te m b e r 17th Lessons F "R i ' P . . . 8 w e e k s . $ 1 2 9 .0 0 or e g in n e r s or sty layer s M on d ay e v en in g s 7:45. begin n in g S e p te m b e r I7ih T h u rsd ay m o rn in g s 9 :4 5 . begin n in g S e p te m b e r 18th Monday mornings w e e k ]) M 9 50 T uesday ev en in g s w e ek ly at 7:30 N o v ic e B rid g e G a m e s f o r N ^ w e r P la y e r s Please call S 2 0 -5 7 2 X w. raynerbridge.com Graham Paine · O a k v ille B e a v e r ON TH E RUN! A liya Liptkas, 10, o f O akville, heads tow ards the finish line a fte r com peting in S atu rd ay 's first Kids of Steel M ilton T riathlon. She com peted in the 10-11 a>>e class. A pproxim ately 175 kids in six aj>e groups com peted in the sw im /bike and run event. H i m y name is A aro n I enjoy delivering the Oakville Beaver newspaper. I'm in G ra de 8 at Heritage Glen Public School and like taking language arts, science and geography. M y hobbies are tennis, athletics, walking and especially riding my bike. O f all my favourite foods I like pizza with fries the best. Soccer Fun Days in support of Law Enforcement Torch Run North Oakville Soccer and Rugby is proud to host the first annual Soccer Fun Days over the August 23/24 w eek end at RioCan Plaza, com er o f Dundas and Neyagawa. The event takes place each day from 10 a.m .-6 p.m. with all proceeds going to support the Halton Regional Police S ervice's efforts for the Law Enforcem ent Torch Run for Special O lympics. Soccer Fun Days includes: · 3-A-Side tournam ent for age groups 10 to seniors: cre ate your ow n team o f four players for this non-contact fast and fun game. Each gam e will be 18 m inutes long and each team will play at least three gam es. Gift bags w ill be given to each participant and prizes aw arded to tlie w inning teams from each group. C ost is S15 per play er w hich includes T-shirt and BBQ lunch: · Beat the `K eeper' and win a prize: a superb young goalkeeper from a highly rated Oakville U-16 boys rep team will try to save your shots. Three tries from the penalty-spot: · Want to know how fast your shot is: the Halton Regional Police Service have kindly offered use o f their radar gun to help determ ine the hardest shot in town. Prizes for the best from vari ous age groups for both boys and girls: · Target practice: test your aim. A net w ith targets is waiting to be hit and when that happens, the player will win a prize. A wide range o f prizes has kindly been donated by the Canadian national w om en's team (signed shirts). New Balance, Sony M usic Canada. Universal M usic. Diadora and North O akville Soccer and Rugby. For more inform ation, contact Mark W hiteson (North O akville Soccer and Rugbv) at 905 469-9576 or 905 25790(X)." In the future, I want to volunteer in community work. W ith my points, I plan to get a Roots voucher. Aaron Winning Carriers receive a large 3 topping pizza courtesy of: O t i i W M 's # 7 P i z za ,/ To join our delivery team call 905-845-9742 _______ CANADIAN TIRE to the Royal Ontario Golf Club TR A FA LG A R ROAD 400 Dundas St. East · (905) 2 57 -TIR E STORE HOURS: Mon. -Fri. 8:00am-9pm · Sat. 8:00am-7:00pm · Sun. 9am-6pm O A K T O W N S H O P P IN G PLAZA 550 K e rr S treet · (9 0 5 ) 8 4 4 -0 2 0 2 STORE HOURS: Mon. -Fri. 8:00am-9pm · Sat. 8:00am-7:00pm · Sun. 9am-6pm Pan Am Games update T he C an ad ian M e n 's V olleyball Team, with O ak v ille's Dan Lewis in the line-up. w ere sw ept in their first m atch at the Pan Am G am es 3-0 by Brazil (25-22. 25-17. 25-16). N o panic b u tto n s w ere being pressed, how ever. A fter all, C anada is 21st ranked w hile Brazil is the top ranked country in the world. T h ey 're the defending w orld ch am pions and hav en 't skipped a beat this year, having been crow ned the 2003 W orld League C ham pions. C a n ad a play 11th ranked C u b a W ednesday (today) and 26th ranked Puerto Rico Friday. ^JrO Y A LO N T A R IOG O L FC L U BG IV E A W A Y ^ I | Return this Ballot to R O Y A L O N T O rI c ) " "] 1 I Canadian Tire, for I your chance to 4 I GQLF CLUB GIVEAWAY O ^ 1 . k _ ' 1 | R O W IN G At the Pan A m erican G am es regatta on R incon Lake in the D om inican Republic. O ak v ille's C h ris D avidson, a 2000 S ydney O ly m p ics veteran, advanced to the finals in both his races, in lightw eight fours and in heav y w eight pairs. w A d d ________________________ _________________ passes to Royal i u the N IC ix uyui , Ontario Golf Club _ * D r a w to b e h e ld I S a tu rd a y , A u g 31 k _ -- _ _ _ _ 2 ? ° TM _ _ _ , _ _ _ " " i _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -- _ _ _ _ _ j J I