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Year in Review (Sports): Culley leads Canada: plays in 100th match

The Trail Times is reviewing the memorable sports moments of 2013.


The Trail Times is reviewing the memorable moments of 2013. In this issue we’ll look back on the final three months of the year from October to December.

October

1 – Led by Rossland’s Thea Culley the Canadian Women’s field hockey team won bronze at the Pan American Cup with a 2-1 victory over Chile. Culley scored both goals to capture Canada’s first medal at the event since 1999.

3 – Vernon Vipers of the BCHL trade Trail forward and former Beaver Valley Nitehawk Craig Martin to the Alberni Bulldogs for upcoming defenceman Jared Wilson.

9 – Pride Gym instructor Corey Colwell earns his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu after close to 10 years of study and training.

The defending BCIHL champion Selkirk College Saints Men’s hockey team opens its 2013-14 season with a 7-2 win over Eastern Washington.

11 – Trail hockey player Dallas Calvin returns to the Beaver Valley Nitehawks after an impressive start with the Vernon Vipers.

- Muay Thai fighter and former Pride Gym initiate Charles Bisset pulls out a unanimous decision over six-foot-five Matt Baker at Glory 10 in Los Angeles, one of the biggest martial arts stages in the world, while improving his record to 17-4.

16 – The Trail Smoke Eaters fire coach Bill Birks after two-plus seasons behind the bench. Birks left the Smokies with a 41-79-2-9 record, leaving assistants Barry Zanier and Craig Clare as interm coaches.

18 – Rossland native Thea Culley hits a milestone, playing in her 100th international match for the Canadian women’s field hockey team.

24 – Thea Culley of Rossland leads Team Canada to a bronze medal at the International Super Series Hockey 9s in Perth, Australia. Culley scored the winning goal in a 3-1 win over Malaysia.

30 – The Trail Smoke Eaters hire Yale alumnus Nick Deschenes as head coach of the BCHL team. Deschenes coached the Grand Forks Border Bruins of the KIJHL before coming to Trail.

November

1 – Trail’s Mike Mondin, coach of the Canadian Sledge Hockey team, is honoured with the prestigious Petro Canada coaching award given to those who achieve excellence on the national stage and have medalled at World championships, Olympics, Paralympics, and Special Olympic Games.

2 – Trail native Fred Heslop, past president of B.C. Hockey and Diamond Stick Award honouree, passes away at the age of 71.

6 – Trail Winter Swim Club’s Dylan Kormendy wins the boys 10 and under overall High-Point award at the Iron Triple Pentathlon in Penticton, qualifying the young swimmer for the provincial championship meet in February.

7 – Trail cyclist Reno DeBiasio is honoured with the David Richardson Award at the 2013 World Senior Games. The award recognizes the person that best exemplifies sportsmanship and the spirit of the Games as voted on by his peers.

13 – Led by the Trail Wildlife Association in partnership with J. L. Crowe students, local businesses and environmental groups, the Murphy Creek Spawning Channel receives a much needed upgrade.

14 – The Trail Smoke Eaters trade defenceman Curtis Toneff and forward Brendan Lamont in what is a sure sign of things to come.

- After winning the AA West Kootenay Regional title, the J. L. Crowe Senior girls field-hockey team capped off a great season with a 10th place finish at the provincial AA high-school championships.

20 – Trail Smoke Eater defenceman Cody Bardock is awarded the BCHL Player of the Week for scoring a pair of winning goals against Salmon Arm and Nanaimo.

27 – Montrose twins Connor and Kellen Jones entrench themselves firmly into the Quinnipiac University Bobcats record books as the first brother tandem to each score 100 points in their NCAA div. 1 careers.

28 – The World Snow Awards recognized Red Mountain with the Most Improved North American Resort as well as the Best Upcoming Resort Award.

29 – The Beaver Valley Curling Club’s junior men’s curling team made up of skip Justin Umpherville, third Spenser Soukeroff, second Kasey O’Hara, and lead Zack Howes, qualified for the provincials after beating the Grand Forks rink in the Kootenay curling playdowns.

December

6 - The Beaver Valley Nitehawks continue to improve with the additions of Riley Brandt from the Trail Smoke Eaters, and return of Dan Holland from the USHL. However, to make room for the players the Hawks released Michael Bell and Nathan Pickett.

10 - Canada’s National Sledge Hockey Team and coach Mike Mondin of Trail win gold at the 2013 World Sledge Hockey Challenge with a 3-1 victory over the U.S.

11 - Castlegar’s Deane Horning is headed to the provincial men’s curling championship again along with Trail curlers Don Freschi as lead, Kevin Nesbitt as alternate, and coach Terry Bublitz. Skipping for Horning is Trevor Perepolkin and second Tyler Orme of Vernon. The team won the B side at the Kootenay playdowns while Team Buchy from Kimberley won the A’s.

14 - Red Mountain opens for ski season.

17 - The Black Jack cross country ski facility hosted the Haywood NorAm and Buff Sprint series, welcoming close to 400 competitors, coaches, and supporters to the Golden City.

18 - Trail icon Tiger Milburn celebrates over 50 years behind the mic as the public address announcer at the Cominco Arena.

19 - Warfield’s Craig Cunningham makes his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins, logging over eight minutes of ice time, and directing four shots on net in a 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames. The following day, Cunningham returned to the Bruins AHL affiliate in Providence.

- Representatives of the BCHL executive board meet in Vancouver to discuss troubling financial issues including plummeting attendance figures across the league in preparation for the governors meeting in January.

20 - The J. L. Crowe Hawks senior girls basketball team placed third in its annual tournament.