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S'.. Sports Efje Canabian Statesman ♦ September 13, 2006 4durham .com Shawn Cayley Sour start for Fury on and off ice . The Durham Fury have been newsworthy newsworthy for all the wrong reasons In the early going of the 2006-07 Ontario Provincial Junior A. Hockey League season. Only 48 hours before the season opener opener last Friday, head coach Corey. Brick- nell became an ex of the team, resigning ' his post behind the bench. , Citing differences between he and general manager John Annis, Bricknell decided it was best to step away from the, club, not wanting to become a distraction distraction as the year wore on. Annis, on the other hand, says no rift existed between the two, other than the 'usual' coach/GM disagreements. Can't people just get aleng? . After Bricknell quit, the Fury dropped their first two games by a combined score of 11-2. Not good. ' Maybe Oshawa Generals coach/GM Brad Selwood has it right by wearing both hats. After all, he is the one bringing bringing the players in and the one who has to coach them. If he doesn't like how things are going, who is he going to argue with? Himself? 1 Anyway, back to the Fury, with Annis saying one thing, and Bricknell saying another, it leaves plenty out in the dark ; for the curious onlooker. Everybody is saying all the right things, on the surface at least. Disputes : between coaches and management happen happen in every sport; there is really no way to avoid it. But when it happens, ' people seem to do their best to talk their way out of sticky situations. However, in this day and age, when secondary information is ■ so easy to come by, it makes one wonder what the motive of trying to cover something up is. There is always someone out there, in the know, who is willing to tell the full story. In the first place, it seemed a little odd that even through new pwnership, new executive, new management and new players, the old coach was kept around, That's, not meant as a knock against Bricknell, but with a new crew above him, you'd think he would have been replaced as well! But, there was obviously obviously something about Bricknell that the Fury thought Was worth keeping around. Bricknell himself said all throughout the summer and the pre-season that he was looking forward to working under the new regime, looking forward to coaching some of the kids he had last season with the Oshawa Legionaires, and looking forward to getting another year of junior hockey coaching experience experience under his belt. . But along the way, something went wrong. How big, or how small, only those in the 'know' can say, but it's quite evident, that something more led to the club's search for a new bench boss. Whatever the reason, it reflects poorly on a team looking for a fresh start, Shawn Cayley's column appears every third. Wednesday. E-mail scayley@durhamregion.com Peewee Orioles to hold tryouts CLAR1NGTON - Spring baseball seems like a long way away, but preparations preparations for the Clarington Orioles Peewecs is getting under way this month. Fall tryouts for players born in 1994 or 1995 will be held on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m., and again on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. Both sessions will be held at Soper Creek Park in Bowmnnville. For more information about the team and its tryouts, contact Rob Sharp 905- 432-(XX)9 or Hugh Walters at 905-623- 1344. cash in on new rules Score six times on power play in win over Trenton BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor ' BOWMANVILLE - Usually, winning winning a game by a 6-5 score, with all six goals coming on the power play, would suggest that the team, on the losing end of the outcome was terribly undisciplined. undisciplined. And, to add fuel to that perception, the winning goal in overtime was the result of a power play, something unheard of in previous seasons, as penalties were a rarity in the extra frame. Not any more. With the new zero tolerance standards adopted by Hockey Canada in regards to stick fouls and obstruction, a couple of games that the Bowmanville Eagles played over the weekend are going to epitomize hockey in the new age, at least until players and coaches adapt. The Eagles tallied six times with the man advantage, including the game- winner in a five on three situation situation in overtime, edging the Trenton Trenton Sting* 6-5 in the - home opener on Sunday. Two nights earlier, they thrashed the Bancroft Hawks 8-1 to open the Provincial Junior A Hockey League season. Iii that game, the penalties were kept to a minimum, with the Eagles taking just six minors and Bancroft 10. Sunday was a much different story, with the Eagles Curtis Hodgins penalized 14 times and Trenton checking in with 20 minors. The end result was a 6-for-20 night on the power play for the Eagles and a slightly lower 2-for-14 success success rate for Trenton. "It's going to be an adjustment for everybody," said Eagles' coach Curtis Hodgins. "It's going to take a lot of patience, and right now it's frustrating for both teams. "It's all going to be specialty teams for the first two months. It will be better for the game, but it does take a lot of patience. As coaches, we have to realize it's not easy on referees referees and it's not easy on the players." Hodgins predicts that it will take 15-20 Kyle Goodchild games before the on-ice product resembles resembles the intention. Until then, with the opportunity of going on the power play every time the whistle blows, no lead is safe. And that bodes well for someone like Kyle Goodchild, who has developed a knack for scoring from close-in. Case in point was Sunday, when he scored four times and feathered a pass to Tavis Holden for the overtime winner. "With the new rules, they can't touch us in front and it really frees me up," says Goodchild of the extra space. "I can manoeuvre around and tip anything." While the Eagles have tried to play an up-tempo game the past couple of seasons, seasons, the new style of game should play' right into their game plan. But Hodgins points out that the number of penalties being called, and the emphasis on specialty specialty teams, also hinders his approach. See EAGLES, page B4 Cause for celebration Photo by Nevil Hunt KAN^TA - Canadian men's volleyball team member Steve Brinkman, top, lands atop a pile of teammates after defeating Tunisia during a tournament in Ottawa last weekend. Brinkman, a Bowmanville native, and his Canadian teammates used the Anton Furlani International Cup as a tune-up for November's November's World Championships in Japan and the the 2008 Olympics in China. The Canadians, ranked 13th in the world, knocked off sixth-ranked Argentina before defeating Thnisia in Saturday's tournament final, three sets to one. Silver at beach volleyball nationals serves as motivation for the future Caley Venn second best at. national beach, volleyball finals BY BRAD KELLY n Sports Editor BOWMANVILLE - Calcy Venn prescribes prescribes to the theory, that winning biecds confidence, but losing creates motivation. The 20-year-old Bowmanville resident used the motivation she received in an unexpected loss at the provincial beach volleyball championships to propel her and partner Heather Banslcy to a silver medal finish in the Women's 20 and under division at the National Championships held at Ashbridgcs Bay in Toronto, With high cx|>cclalions heading into the provincial championships in Toronto in early August, the duo was on the outside looking in the playoff round of the tournament tournament after getting eliminated much earlier earlier than anticipated, Deeming the performance performance as "awful", Venn used the setback to refocus on her game. "We upped our practice time and train- Submitted photo Caley Venn of Bowmanville, and her partner Heather Bansley (far right) captured silver at the national beach volleyball championships. ing," said Venn of the reaction to the sudden sudden departure after finishing second in the pool, hut dropping the first round playoff match. "We had expectations of doing well, but it was a turning point for us. "We weren't connecting as partners, and the team we played we had beat before. They exploited our weaknesses and we didn't know how to recover." It was a new experience for Venn and Bansley, who had enjoyed success together together indoors on Team Ontario, culminating with a gold medal a the Canada Summer Gaines in 2005. The two also patrol the court together as part of the University of Toronto women's varsity team. After the indoor season concluded, the two dedicated their summer to the Ontario Volleyball Association bench league, the largest of its kind in Ontario, feeding players players to the national program. After honing their skills and bonding on the court from May to August, the setback at provincials didn't deter them at nationals, nationals, However, organizers gave the team little respect, seeding them the lowest in their pool. "For me, 1 don't like looking at the sced- ings. It makes me think too much," said Venn of the distraction. Undaunted, they cruised through the round robin, winning all three matches on the opening day, and continued the strong play the following day with three more victories, not losing a set, en route to the finals. In the end, they were defeated by a team from British Columbia 16-21, 21-18 and 16-14 in die gold medal tiebreaker. "It was bittersweet. We didn't get gold, but we exceeded our expectations," noted Venn, The silver will serve as motivation for the upcoming indoor season at the U of T, and beyond. "It is going to be a huge turning point in my game, I'm really excited to get going ' indoors and 1 have something to strive for next year." Due to age, Venn will be moving up to the 24 and under age category on the beach next season, while Beasley has the option of moving up to keep the team together, or staying hack for another summer. Hither way, Venn has aspirations of "trying to make something" of her beach volleyball career, with (xm haps a pro lour on the horizon. horizon.