Archive 1997-2016
Forgive me hockey fans, for I am a sinner. I am Canadian, yet I am not a zealous hockey connoisseur. I cannot rattle off hockey stats and I don’t program my VCR to record the playoffs. But when one Ottawa Senators’ player made front page news for giving $1 million to the National Arts Centre, the world of hockey caught my interest.
Players and officials of a Centretown little league association hope the City of Ottawa will strike a proposal to increase diamond fees in 1999.
The city had proposed the increase last October, but it deferred the increase until the 1998 budget. The current hourly rate for renting a lit field is $1.70. The proposal would raise the fee to $2 in the 1999 season.
Referees are being verbally abused and their only defence is a whistle and a rulebook.
As the hockey season nears its end, referees are facing higher levels of abuse both on and off the ice.
Criticism of referees is expected because it’s playoff season and controversial calls can determine the outcome of the matches and how teams finish in the standings.
It came home with a silver, but that’s as good as gold in the eyes of Canada’s National Men’s Sledge Hockey Team.
Although the 2-0 loss to Norway wasn’t what it had hoped for, the team came back from the 1998 Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan, with more than a silver medal. It came back with recognition.
“It’s never easy to win a silver medal,” says Tom Goodings, coach of the 15-member team. “But we’ve proved something to the rest of the world and to Canada. Next time we’re coming back even stronger.”
The team moved up from its third-place finish at the 1994 Lillehammer games. Now with a silver medal under their belts, Goodings hopes sledge hockey will begin to shine. Despite the 40 to 50 clubs across the country, he says Canadians know very little about the sport.