Hey sports fans, it's time to take a quick look into the movers
and shakers of our teams and events.
It's taken a few years, but Sudbury's Amber Konikow has
delivered on her promise of winning a national boxing title.
Konikow recently won the Canadian 165-pound senior female
championship in Quebec. Konikow defeated Jennifer Puper from
British Columbia with a final score of 19 to 15 to win the
coveted belt. Konikow also beat Nancy Laroche at the same event
to get into the championship bout. I have talked to Konikow
many times over the past and I was always amazed at her
dedication and will. Konikow was born in Prince Rupert, but
spent her entire life in the Greater Sudbury area. In 2005,
during an interview she stated to me she wanted to win a
national title more than anything else in the world and
wouldn't stop until she did. Konikow, now 31, won many
tournament fights and provincial medals over her career, and
can now finally add that national crown to her trophy case.
It's always nice to see an athlete make good on their
potential.
Now, let's switch gears to OHL hockey and the Sudbury
Wolves.
What's to say? The boys have lost five straight games and
are close to dropping in the Eastern Conference standings.
Sudbury sits fifth with 49 points and has been passed by
Oshawa. Kingston is now only three points behind Sudbury, and
Ottawa is closing in fast, only five points back. If the Wolves
don't get their act together they could be looking from the
outside in come playoff time.
It's not all bad though. Tonight, fans get the opportunity
to see three Sudbury players - Marc Staal, Jonathan D'Aversa
and Nick Foligno - ply their trades at the annual OHL All-Star
game in Saginaw. The game will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet
starting at 7 pm. Foligno and D'Aversa are having exceptional
seasons. Foligno has 69 points and D'Aversa has 47 points.
They're both top scorers for forwards and defencemen
respectively. Staal is having an off year in my opinion. He has
27 points in 38 games, which is decent, but is only a plus-1.
Staal needs to pick up his play and lead this squad to bigger
and better things.
For fans, this is a great opportunity to see Oshawa's John
Tavares in action. The 16-year-old leads the OHL in scoring
with 52 goals and 98 points in 46 games. Many hockey experts
are stating their reputations that this guy is the next big
thing in hockey and there should be more hype about him.
Tavares isn't eligible to be drafted into the NHL until 2009.
This superstar could be the first OHL player to score 100 goals
in a season before he's done. There hasn't been a player of
Tavares' calibre since Eric Lindros made headlines back in the
early 90s.
An interesting note from this weekend's past action was the
fight between Sudbury's Devin DiDiomete and Belleville's Matt
Beleskey. These two have been fighting each other for a number
of years and took just four seconds to drop the mitts and
engage in the scrap of the year at the Sudbury Arena. Both
players went toe-to-toe for about 45 seconds before stopping
from exhaustion. It gave the game a good charge of energy that
carried throughout the contest.
Now, let's take a peek into the curling world.
They tried, but it just wasn't enough. Two local teams made
their way down to Mississauga recently to win the Ontario
Scotties Tournament of Hearts curling championship. The Maggie
Mazzuca Rink from the Copper Cliff Curling Club managed a 3-6
record, but it left them out of the playoff round. Meanwhile,
the Arynn Frantz Rink from the Coniston Curling Club also
missed the playoffs after going 0-9. Team Scharf from Fort
William won the tournament.
