Blog location MOVED!

Hello all:
The Haliburton Sports Pages is now County Voice Sports .. the blog has been moved to Wordpress ...
Located at the following URL:


http://countyvoicesports.wordpress.com/


Thanks for your support.
I am integrating all of my blogs to Wordpress.
Cheers and love y'all!
see you on da' new site.
with grunge theme.


http://countyvoicesports.wordpress.com/

Duchene named to NHL All Star Game in Raleigh

Hodgson still a ways away from Moose return

By Terrance Gavan



Matty Duchene - the Haliburton Hurricane is an all star.



   Haliburton’s Hurricane - and former Hal High Red Hawk phenom - Matthew Duchene was named to the 2011 National Hockey League all star team on Tuesday morning.

   A press release said that, “The National Hockey League today announced the additional 36 All-Stars and 12 Rookies who will join fan-voted top six Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as Chicago’s Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith, in Raleigh for the 2011 NHL All-Star Weekend festivities.” 

   Duchene will be suiting up with the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Phil Kessel, Corey Perry, Rick Nash, Pat Kane and Daniel Sedin.

   The NHL reports that Duchene, third pick overall of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2009 draft, was thrilled when contacted about his upcoming appearance in the annual All Star Game.

   “The Avalanche's Matt Duchene was a bit of a surprise when he lasted all of last season as a rookie in Colorado,” said the NHL presser. “But with team-highs of 18 goals and 43 points, the third pick of the 2009 Entry Draft will be making his first All-Star Game, but it likely won't be his last.”
   "I'm absolutely thrilled and honored," said Duchene. "It's something you dream about to hopefully play in the NHL All-Star Game one day. To be able to do that is a great honor and I'm very excited."

   An absolutely eye-popping honor for Haliburton’s favorite son.

   And while we’re on the subject.

   I was flying home from the Peg, rechecking my Tweets, and came across two very poignant tweets from Av’s sophomore and former Red Hawk Matt Duchene.

   On Monday, Duchene sent two short messages via the popular networking site.  

Hal High gets straight ‘A’s’ in St. Pete’s Classic

Hockey Hawks go 5-1 to capture gold in Peterborough’s prestigious tourney

By Terrance Gavan

   Ain’t no I in team.

   But lots of I’s in statistics.

   Teams flourish when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

   When eyes and ‘I’s’ remain focused on the job at hand.

   When squad supersedes personal agenda.

   And that rambling Spinoza-spin brings us to an “I-less” Red Hawk hockey squad – gents’ version -  who, when told they had been placed in the Elite A-Division of the St Peter’s Classic hockey tourney in Peterborough last weekend, said – presumably in unison:

   Bring. It. On!

   And the Hal High Hawks brought it last weekend; street style; grinder style; Highlands’ style.

   Last Friday and Saturday (Jan 7 and 8) the Red Hawks shook off an early round robin overtime loss and then ran the table to capture Peterborough’s St. Peter’s Classic gold medal with a 3-0 win over Scarborough’s Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate.

   Coach Ron Yake, obviously happy, said it was an unprecedented performance.

   “This is the first time the Red Hawks have ever won the A division in this tournament,” said Yake. “It is a huge accomplishment coming as a result of everything coming together for six games in a row.”

   Not surprisingly Yake left it at the doorstep of his players. Yake has always said that he and assistant coach Bruce Griffith can only do so much in practice to prepare the players for the cauldron.

   After that it’s up to the guys on the ice; up to the Hawks to pull together that whopping whole from a scattered sum of parts.

Young guns beat the old dudes in a sneaker squeaker

Hawks Alumni Hoops game features familial rivalries

By Terrance Gavan - Haliburton, Ontario - CDA

   We know the score.

Terry Gavan - Voice Sports / Pardon the Eruption website and blogs.

   But we hid the scoresheet.

   Yes the annual All-Hawks-Hoops-Alumni Game played out to a familiar theme in the Hawks Nest last Thursday afternoon.

   The young runs beat the old guns 49-41 in the final Red Hawk game of any kind in 2009.

   The Alumni came strong but in the end it may have been a case of too much run and not enough defbrulator on the old alums bench.

   “I honestly couldn’t tell you who scored what,” said current Hal High coach Roland Zilla, who sweat it out through a first half played to a dead stall.

   In the end the young Hawks just managed to scurry by in a game earmarked by some stellar play from both sides.

   And that’s just the way an alumni encounter should go.

   Lay down the egos at the gym door.

   Set the personal stats aside.

A kid named Rudy, a kid named Sam - and a big wide O!

Gav on Sports

By Terry Gavan - Haliburton, ON, CDA

   In my daily trek – up at 4:30 am updating my website and blogs – I find funny; I find drama; I find disappointment; I find satire; and I find… life.

   Because every day I trip over a beautiful story. And every day I am elevated to a place – a spot where all the detritus of cruelty, injustice, and a harsh world melt in the warm afterglow of humanity.

   And this Christmas I found that story – written by Boston.com columnist Yvonne Abraham – a story about Sammy and Rudy, dissimilar in all outward details save one: they are young boys; ergo they feel, they crave human contact… and they love.

   “On Tuesday night, Patty and Rick Parker were in their cramped kitchen with their 8-year-old son Ben. Dinner was over,” writes Abraham. “Bedtime was near. Ben’s twin brother, Sammy, lay on a cot in the narrow hallway just outside the kitchen. Unable to see or speak or control his limbs, he coughed or let out a little moan every now and then. Rick and Patty took turns feeding Sammy, who has cerebral palsy, through a stomach tube. He cooed when they kissed his face or stroked his cheek, and when they cooed back, he opened his mouth into a wide, joyful O.

   “A few feet away was the narrow, winding stairway that is the family’s biggest burden lately.

   “Which is where 17-year-old Rudy’s simple, life-changing act of kindness comes in.

   “Until recently, Rick carried Sammy up those 14 stairs to his bedroom each night. But a few months ago, Rick had major surgery for a life-threatening heart condition, and now he can’t lift much at all, let alone a 75-pound child.”

   “We thought Rick was going to die, and we were terrified,’’ Patty recalled. “We knew right away he had to stop carrying Sam.’’

   “Patty couldn’t carry him, either. Desperate, she called her pediatrician, who put her in touch with Elizabeth Paquette, the nurse at Malden Catholic High School. Paquette said she’d take care of it. The boys at Malden Catholic are taught to embrace service: She’d find plenty of students to help.”

   And that’s when Sammy welcomed Rudy Favard - the son of Haitian immigrants, an honor roll student, linebacker and co-captain of the Malden football team – into his life. Rudy is being courted by several colleges and will be off at the end of the June semester. By that time the Parkers hope to be relocated into new digs without those daunting stairs.

   But for now, two days before Christmas, the Parkers are very happy that Rudy fell into their lives. A picture accompanies the Boston.com piece. It shows a strapping black football player carrying Sammy up those narrow stairs. Sammy’s mouth in that wide O. A human justapposition. Two boys at Christmas. And those goddam mushy neurons.

   It’s a powerful photo, and perhaps one that should be distributed to all those stupid, stupid politicians in Washington. You know the ones. The ones who like big fences and a lily-whiter America. Those bitter shrews who say immigrants are taking American jobs. Immigrants like Rudy and his family.

   Rick Parker cried on that first night. The night Rudy came into their lives. “Just to see this outpouring of people,’’ Rick Parker said, his eyes welling at the memory. “To see that these people were willing to put their hands and feet to what they believed.’’

Duchene gets two gifts for Christmas

Hockey Hot stove - Stanley Cup, Scotty Morrison and Hodgson

BY Terrance Gavan

   “All I want for Christmas is my two linemates, one to feed and one to skate …

   “Gee if I only  had my two linemates… I could wish you a Merry Christmas.”

    Well Matthew Duchene, Haliburton’s Hurricane, got his wish this Christmas.

   First his Colorado Avs made a trade for Washington’s Tomas Fleischman, and then Milan Hejduk returned from injury.

   Both ended up on a line with Duchene.

   And the Avs, despite a couple of setbacks after a six game unbeaten string, seem to be finding some magic with the MTM connection.

   Duchene scored two goals in a 4-3 overtime loss to Detroit, the current NHL Western League leaders.

   The pair of goals has Duchene leading the Avs in scoring and is keeping the quick-handed center on a torrid point-per-game pace. The Hurricane has 36 points (15 goals and 21 assists) in 36 games. Hejduk has 11 goals and 21 assists and Fleischman has 9 goals and 12 assists. Duchene is also seeing lots of time on the power play.

   The Avs have lost three straight but hope to stop the bleeding tonight (Thursday) versus the Oilers in Edmonton. The Avs play a New Years Eve game against Calgary and then return to the Pepsi Centre for a crucial Northwest Division game against the Sundin travelling road show also known as the Vancouver Canucks.

   Duchene earned Avalanche Play of the Week honors for the third time in four weeks, this time for his overtime heroics against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 17.
   Duchene's overtime winner against Ottawa – garnering a boffo 58 percent -  topped the fan balloting for goal of the week.

   Meanwhile, I sense some Haliburton Highlands input while perusing the NHLs list of All-Star balloting.

   Duchene is a write-in candidate and has 14,492 votes. I have no idea about the rules, but I’m thinking that fans would have to get very busy on the net in order to pump Dutchy’s  numbers to Sidney Crosby, (523,822), Jonathan Toews (308,192), Evgeni Malkin (289,878) or Steven Stamkos (269,917) numbers.

   Maybe next year.

Hodgson timetable still way up in the clouds

   In spite of a facial injury that keeps the high-flying Haliburton cottager grounded, Cody Hodgson is still the top goal getter for the AHLs Manitoba Moose.

   Hodgson has 10 goals and six assists in 24 games this season, and the team is anticipating a return to action without surgery on the orbital bone, but that return to the dance is still being monitored.

   It’s frustrating for Winnipeg fans who have been watching young guns “drop like flies” according to Winnipeg Free Press writer Tim Campbell.

   “Teammates can’t believe their bad luck. Fans will no doubt be feeling shortchanged. The Vancouver Canucks will be more than disappointed about more interruptions to the development of young prospects.

Young Manitoba Moose stars Cody Hodgson and Jordan Schroeder are likely lost to the team for six weeks, give or take.”

   So not an ideal Christmas for young Hodgson. Still anticipating a call-up to the Canucks this year. Maybe the playoffs?

Hot Stove and Stanley Cup here for Winterfest in February

   Hockey Night in Haliburton Star-studded Panel Announced on the Winterfest 2011 senior games website.

   The Winterfest 2011 Games Organizing Committee announces last week that Haliburton Hockey legends will be partaking in an open-panel discussion at the Northern Lights Theatre on Wednesday February 16th, 2011.

   Confirmed hockey legends include Scotty Morrision, Walt McKechnie, Glen Sharpley and many more still to be announced.

   Also present that evening will be the Stanley Cup as well as a “very special guest” who is arguably the face of Canadian hockey.

   I’m guessing Don Cherry, but stay tuned.

   The Gav will sniff it out by next week. 

Masters Racing legend Lou Fenninger skis, talks and waxes - philosophical

Fenninger ready for Senior Games and Winterfest alpine challenge

By Terry Gavan

Sweet Lou on the lift.

   I was asked once to describe my friend – ersatz confidante, and ski tuner - Lou Fenninger.

   In one word.

   “Peripatetic,” I said, without a blink of hesitation.

   Then I said, “Whoa… wait. Let’s see if that’s the word I want.” Gav-speak for: I hope I didn’t call ol’ Lou a crank; or wide-browed member of a Neanderthal tribe.

   Looked it up: “Of or relating to the teachings of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), who used to teach philosophy while walking about the Lyceum in ancient Athens.”

   Bam. Perfect. Lou.

   Fenninger, 64, walks around. A lot. And when he’s not howling like a wolf, or barking like a dog – these Aristotelian metaphysical ticks are logged deferentially in Kitty Kelly’s biography “Aristotle – And His Big Fat Greek Philosophy” – you may glean keen insight from Lou Fenninger; his life; and his passions.

   Lou Fenninger is not a big fan of status quo; or mucky inertia; or the wallowing detritus of a life less lived.

   He moves ahead, takes on problems in racing and life with fall line demeanor. My old ski school director Jeff Bartlett told me once: “You can learn a lot from Lou.”

   He wasn’t talking about skiing.

   Although you can learn about that too, from Sweet Lou.

   Talking, walking, tuning, and waxing.

   In the course of a rambling hour-long interview we traipsed around the workshop attached to Lou and Marianne Fenninger’s modest four-season bungalow, just a 30-second scamper from Sir Sam’s Ski Chalet. They share it with a passel of daughters that I could name but you’ll see their names often enough this year as we list race winners and Queen of the Hill finishers. Okay: Andrea, Erin, Victoria - who is already a member of the Women’s National Master’s Team - and Alex. Both Erin and Victoria have done the Peak to Valley Race in Whistler.

   We chat, or Lou chats, and I chase, tape recorder on rapid scatter.

   He tunes, sells a pair of Atomic skis to some long time friends, and scrapes wax off a new pair of 155 Atomic slalom gunners.

   Lou is modest, or as modest as one can get while listing a string of eye-popping skiing accomplishments. Since falling in love with skiing in 1991, Fenninger continues to explore the nuance and the beauty of ski racing.

   He’s been a mentor to hundreds of young skiers at Sir Sam’s.