Hockey

No sport engenders passion in Canadians more than hockey. When Paul Henderson scored the winning goal in the 8th game of the 1972 Summit Series, the best of the NHL against the best of the Soviet players, Canadians fromcoast to coast were ecstatic. Even the ex prime minister, John Diefenbaker, a well-known curmudgeon, was shown on television standing and punctuating the air with his fist, and with a loud exclamation of approval.

The Kootenays have a long history of top-level hockey. The blue collar communities of Trail, Rossland, Nelson, Kimberley and Cranbrook competed inthe senior league, the Western, International Hockey League, which becamethe main focus of entertainment in each community immediately after W. W. II to the demise of the W.I.H.L. in 1982, with the Cranbrook Royals winning the Kootenay Division that year, and going on to win the Allan Cup, Canadaıs Senior Hockey Championship. In 1978, the Kimberley Dynamiters won the Allan Cup, and no one in hockey will forget the World Champion Trail Smoke Eaters from 1962, the last amateur team to win that championship.

Canadaıs proud hockey history has always started with the kids. From back yard rinks to organized minor hockey programs, young Canadians have always spent endless winter hours, supported by dedicated parents and coaches, having fun, learning the value of team play, developing skills, and often pretending to be a favorite hockey star. In Cranbrook and Kimberley, the junior league became the focal point, after the senior league folded in the Kootenays, with the Cranbrook Colts, the Kimberley Dynamiters, as well as the Fernie Ghostriders, vying for playoff contention.

Junior hockey in Cranbrook has become the major sport venue, with the arrival of the Kootenay Ice and their astounding success. Memorial Cup winners in 2002, Ice players often make the transition to professional hockey, some of who go on to play in the NHL. Equally impressive is the number of Kootenay athletes from other Western Hockey teams who have gone on to play in the pros, names that have made each Kootenay community proud over the years.

So it is not surprising that 288 young hockey players will compete in the BC Winter Games in February. Sixteen teams, both male and female, will represent their respective BC zones, each zone given an identifying colour. Yellow will be used to represent the Kootenay zone. The girls (144 of them, aged 16-17) will compete in Cranbrookıs Memorial Arena, accompanied by 32 coaches and 19 officials. The same number of boys (age 15), coaches and officials will compete in Cranbrookıs Rec Plex.

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