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HOLLAND
COLLEGE • April 29, 2003
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INSIDE |
FEATURES
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’Dogs
dynasty lives another year PHOTO:
Business administration student Kris McKinnon lead the Bulldogs in
scoring in the regular season and playoffs.By Adam Ferguson Surveyor Staff It's game day. Light from the caged windows illuminate the gymnasium enough for the players to warm up before the drop of the ball. With a couple of practice balls, each team warms up their goaltender on the scuffed and battered gym floor. At one end, blue curtains stop the ball from going up on the stage. At the other end, little pieces of gyprock crumble onto the floor when the ball hits the wall after a missed opportunity. The Bulldogs, in their orange uniforms, bend the blades of their stick so they can hit the corners of the net during warm-up. The Turbos, in their assorted shorts and plain T-shirts, smash the ball at the net. The buzzer goes and players run to their bench for one last quick word to each other before the opening face-off. It's game time in the Holland College ball hockey league. Sweat pours off the two goalies crouching down waiting for their first test of the game. The ball is dropped. Bulldogs sniper Kris McKinnon snaps the ball back to teammate Jon Band with Donald Stewart running up the wing. The Turbos attack, swinging their sticks trying to block the crisp passes of the Bulldogs. With Band motionless in front of the net, McKinnon swings to the centre of the gym and snaps a shot into the back of the Turbos net. He scores. McKinnon has donned a Bulldogs jersey for two years. He has a gift for scoring goals and he's constantly at the top of the points board. There have been so many goals, individual highlights of himself have blurred. "Nothing comes to mind," said McKinnon. "This team has scored some pretty nice ones over the last couple of years." The league is a little more competitive this year, and looking for a repeat of last year's championship performance is a little more difficult than the last, he said. Point production certainly hasn't been any trouble for McKinnon. He's led the Bulldogs in points both seasons of their short history. "I don't think about it, it's all about the team winning," said McKinnon. "If I was to think about it, I would have to give a lot of the credit to my teammates." It's 1-0 Bulldogs. The Turbos recover after the Bulldogs quick start. Handling the ball near centre and firing it at the Bulldog's goaltender. It's a save. Band takes the ball to the back of the net and looks for an open player. Stewart yells for the ball as he rushes for the net. Band makes the pass. Stewart takes the ball, stickhandling around Turbos like pylons, but loses the ball to another swinging stick before he can get off a shot. People start gathering at the doors of the gym to watch the game. Two or three people look through the glass doors covered in finger prints, jumping back when the ball hits the glass in front of their face. Sticks pound on the floor during a fight for the ball in the corner where the fuse box sticks out of the wall. Band chips the ball off the wall around his opponent and takes off looking for an open path to the net. Changing his mind, he passes. "We can all shoot, we can all score,"said Band "All of us are all-around players, that's what makes us such a strong team." Also in his final year of wearing a Bulldog jersey, Band said the difference from last year's team and this year's, is a different goalie. "We also had something to prove this year. We wanted people to know that last year's championship win wasn't a fluke." Playing behind the league's leading scorer was tough, Band said, but he felt he had a shot at winning the race until he had to take over in goal for a month. "Our goalie got called away for a month, so I filled the void in net," said Band. "I think that put an end to my points streak." Still, remembers some of the goals the Bulldog's scored in the past. "I remember in last year's playoffs versus the Staff with the crowd watching. Kris, Donald and I had a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal. It was the prettiest goal I've ever seen and the crowd went nuts," said Band. With 14 minutes left McKinnon is at the side of the net waiting for the pass as Band slides the ball across the gym floor to his stick. He scores. It's 2-0 Bulldogs. The Turbos bring the ball down the floor in hopes of finding a way to score on the hard pressing Bulldogs. They bring the ball over centre. Stewart pokes the ball away from the Turbo player and wires a shot. He scores. It's 3-0 Bulldogs. Lornie Hughes, a Staff team player and organizer of the league, has played against the Bulldogs, so he knows what the Turbos are up against. "The Bulldogs have good talent," said Hughes. "They run on a lot of emotion and certainly don't like to lose." Hughes said the Bulldogs play a relatively clean style of hockey and like high scoring games because they are a very offensive team. "That's the way the Bulldogs play," said Hughes. "Teams in the league know that." One of the keys to having a successful team is ensuring everyone on the team is prepared and on time for the games. "Kris and Jon have done a great job making sure of everyone being there," he said. A problem is that teams have with the Bulldogs is, the team plays the full 34 minutes, some other teams don't. There are eight minutes left in the final period and the Bulldogs are up 15-7. It looks like the Bulldogs will win the series and head to the finals. Stewart takes the ball up the middle and wires another shot. It's tipped by Band. He scores. It's 16-7 Bulldogs. The Turbos start pressing with three minutes left, scoring one more goal. The game ends 20-8. Hughes said there is no doubt they are the team to beat in the finals. "Whoever plays them is going to have a handful." Adam Ferguson and Scott Macewen were also members of the Bulldog's this year. Each of the eight teams in the league play eight games. The Holland College ball hockey league started in 1999. The Bulldogs won the league championship. They took the series against the Civil 2-0.} |
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