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Sports

WolfPack Blitzes and Blurbs - February 8

Cam Charron - Sports Editor

Three thoughts from this weekend un-related to TRU sports: the past three Superbowls have been some of the best games I’ve ever seen, that late interception thrown by Peyton Manning shatters his overall legacy as greatest of all time, and that both Randy Couture and Mark Coleman are too old to do what they do.

On TRU’s side, they would end the weekend going 3-5 against the three Simon Fraser teams that came up to visit this weekend. That Saturday night hockey game was one of the most exciting games I’ve seen in person. If you haven’t gotten out to see WolfPack hockey yet, do it.

Men’s Hockey

TRU drops SFU twice. SFU falls to 15-4-2, good for first place still, and two more wins will clinch them first place. The ‘Pack now stand at 12-6 in second place, and a Fraser Valley loss to Victoria Saturday slowed them down and tightened up the race for third place.

The WolfPack play in the next three weekends. They visit Okanagan College next weekend, Selkirk after that, and wrap up the regular season against UFV February 27 and 28 at Memorial Arena.

The BCIHL released its playoff schedule, which will see a 5-team, double-knockout tournament held at the Langley Events Centre between March 18 and March 21.

Men’s Volleyball

10-6 Brandon upset 11-5 Calgary twice this weekend, making a home playoff date tough to achieve for the 9-7 WolfPack. By virtue of the 6-10 Saskatchewan Huskies being swept by 10-6 Trinity Western, the WolfPack have clinched a playoff spot.

Their series at the Tournament Capital Centre this weekend against Trinity Western is extremely important. A sweep would leapfrog them ahead of the Spartans in the standings, but Brandon plays the 0-16 Regina Cougars at home, meaning that the WolfPack are likely to travel in the first round of the playoffs.

Some key games for all teams. Saskatchewan and Manitoba play for the final playoff spot. Calgary and Winnipeg are tied and play for the second seed overall.

Essentially, if TRU sweep the Spartans, they’re most likely to travel to Brandon, whom they’ve beaten twice this year. Losses could result in games against Calgary or Winnipeg, and they’ve lost to both those teams.

Their weekend games are scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Women’s Volleyball

The WolfPack won a game, but if they want to avoid a last-place finish in Canada West, they’ll have to sweep Trinity West in straight sets and hope that Saskatchewan does not win more than one set in their weekend series against the #3 ranked Manitoba Bisons.

Their Friday game is at 6 p.m. and Saturday game is at 5 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

TRU finish last place in the Canada West Pacific division and have some holes to fill for next year. With Sean Garvey, Drew Bleth and Jeff Friesen all leaving, both guard spots and a forward spot are to be filled.

I incorrectly wrote last week that Greg Stewart had played his last game with the WolfPack. He still has one year of eligibility, and let us hope that he chooses to play it out.

From where I stand, pending any summer recruits, the starting five for the ‘Pack next year could be Hudson Naylor and Matt Pierce at guards, Charles Barton and Connor Agnew at the forward spots, and hopefully seeing Stewart at post.

Women’s Basketball

After some high expectations placed on them by The Omega back in October, the WolfPack won only one game after the first weekend of the season and will finish fifth in the Pacific Division, one spot ahead of last-place UFV, unless UFV beat Simon Fraser, who has now won 54 straight games.

They shouldn’t lose any roster players, but big areas of their game need to improve. Defensive rebounding and consistent shooting were invisible for most of the season. One more year together should mean the girls are more comfortable with each other on the court and play at a more high-energy pace every game.

One thing that can be said about both teams: TRU Athletics also needs to connect with students and bring more people out to the games. Average attendance was only 236 fans this year, which is downright brutal for a popular sport like basketball in a facility like the TCC.