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www.durhamregion.com THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, MARCH 19,2003 PAGE 15 Moving Eagles to Whitby a 'possibility says owner Peter Neal says Bowmanville 'more suited' to having Jr. C team BY BRAD KELLY Staff Writer BOWMANVILLE - The Bowmanville Eagles will be submitting a formal request to have the Provincial Junior A hockey club move from the East Conference to the South in time for next season, says co-owner Peter Neal. Ultimately, the move may be the first step in uprooting the franchise and relocating it to Whitby. "That's a possibility," says the owner, looking at the longterm longterm viability of keeping the team in Bowmanville. Neal, who along with Scott Mackie purchased the franchise franchise in December of 2001, says transferring it to Whitby is something being considered in the long-term. "It would be strictly a business business arrangement," he says of investigating his options. "The Whitby arena (Iroquois Park) has more seats, and businesses like to jump on board with a new club." Neal went as far to say that the team would even change names to the Dunlops if the move took place and the owners owners would be "inclined to throw in a few more dollars if the team moved to Whitby." Neal's plan would begin by moving the Eagles into the South Conference to increase the rivalries among the existing teams in the area, namely Os- hawa, Ajax and Pickering, who all play in the South with a number of east end Toronto teams. It would also eliminate long road trips Bowmanville currently has to endure to Syracuse, Syracuse, Kingston and Bancroft, which scares off some players from joining the team, he notes. With less travel, Neal says more playdrs from the surrounding surrounding area would be inclined inclined to play in Bowmanville. He says if the team moved to the South, a logical next move would be to eventually relocate to Whitby. Pie and Mackie Orono on verge of Ontario title would then put a Jr. C team in Bowmanville, he promises. "Bowmanville would compete compete a little easier," in Jr. C, he notes, adding that despite the coaching staff and people behind behind the team being "first- rate," Bowmanville "is more suited to having a top-rated Jr. C club. It's very hard to get a number one team in Jr. A because because of the limited players." The Ontario Provincial Junior Junior A Hockey League looks at a number of re-alignment options options prior to each season, says secretary-treasurer Finn Poul- strup, trying to find a balance suitable for all 35 teams. Currently, the East and West Conferences have 10 teams, the South nine and the North six. The imbalance calls for a creative plan come playoff time, with teams in the South moving to the North, and ninth place teams in the East and West also qualifying for a 32- team playoff. Poulstrup says re-alignment is something that will be discussed discussed at this spring's Annual General Meeting, but as of yet, there has been no formal request request from the Eagles to have the league consider the team move from the East to South. Neal says Bowmanville will do the necessary paperwork to have the move considered at the spring meeting. Trying to convince the other teams in the league to approve the conference switch, and a possible change of location, is going to prove to be difficult task, according to a couple of team executives. Oshawa Legionaires general manager Peter Vipond says that his club won't be voting to approve approve the shift in conferences if it goes to a vote. He prefers the status quo. "Oshawa is happy with the way the alignment is now," he says. "It's a great setup for us and the rest of the teams." As for Neal's preference to move the franchise to Whitby in the future, that isn't likely to get the necessary approval cither, cither, says Vipond, who adds any team within a 50km radius of Whitby would likely veto the move. The Ajax Axemen are also opposed to the Eagles' proposals. proposals. "The Bowmanville people knew when they bought the team what division they were in. "It would be next to impossible impossible to move that franchise to the South Conference," and ultimately ultimately Whitby, says Axemen president Larry Labelle. BY BRAD KELLY Staff Writer THEDFORD - The Orono midgets are halfway to winning their second consecutive Ontario Ontario midget championship. And they don't have far to go to retain it. After posting back-to-back wins in Thedford, Orono can close out the best-of-seven Series Series with a pair of victories on home ice this weekend. A 5-0 victory in Game l Saturday, Saturday, followed by a 2-l decision decision the following day has given Orono a commanding 2-0 series lead. Local player leads Lords BY BRIAN McNAIR Staff Writer OSHAWA - Durham College not only put on a fantastic show, but also held its own on the court during the CCAA men's volleyball national championships. championships. Alberta's Red Deer Kings lived up to advance billing and breezed to their fourth straight national national title, while the host Lords proved they belonged belonged by beating Fredericton's St. Thomas Tommies. Tommies. "It feels really good to end on a winning note,", said Bow- manville's' Adam German, who closed 1 out his Durham career by being named a tournament all- star. "We haven't played a lot of games together as a team. I think a little while longer, another month or so, we'd be jelling really well and we would have done some damage in this tournament." As it turned out, the Lords moved up a seed and settled for seventh place with an exciting win over the Tommies (25-27, 25-13, 25-20, 17- 25,15-10), one of only two live-set matches during the tournament. The Kings did not drop a set all tournament and beat No. 2 Loyalist College of Belleville in the gold medal game (25-18, 25- 15, 25-22) before a crowd of more than 1,400 Saturday. Saturday. 'flic top three teams were appropriately appropriately seeded, seeded, as No. ,3 Camosun College from British Columbia Columbia won the bronze medal • over No. 6 Sherbrooke Sherbrooke College from Quebec, The defending champs will have an opportunity to win the title on home ice, hosting the next three games in the series. Game 3 goes Saturday at 5 p.m., followed by Game 4 Sunday Sunday at 4:30 p.m. If a fifth game is needed,. Orono will host it Friday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m. In the series opener, Kevin Martin put up a wall in net to post the shutout, while Tanner Millson shone offensively, scoring three times. Kyle Allin and Nathan Caruana also scored. Millson and Allin scored in the 2-1 win in Game 2, as Orono jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Thedford scored their first goal of the series. . "Kevin played excellent in that first game. It was a lot closer closer than the 5-0 score," said Orono coach Dale Millson. "We pulled away in. the third period." , , Should Orono not succeed in finishing off Thedford in the next three games, a sixth game would be played in Thedford Saturday, March 29, with a seventh seventh and deciding game back in Orono Sunday, March 30 at 6 p.m. RoadHandler® passenger tires on sale! 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