HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-02-15, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018.
Sports
Peters settles into Olympic Village ahead of games
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Justin Peters, a native of Blyth and
long-time professional hockey
player, is now settled into the
Olympic Village in South Korea
ahead of the team's first game on
Feb. 15.
Peters is a member of the men's
hockey team, which will vie for gold
in the coming weeks. He began his
hockey career playing in the Blyth
Minor Hockey Association.
In an e-mail to The Citizen, he said
that the Canadian staff members
have really gone out of their way.
"The staff has decorated the
Canadian building with lots of
Canadian flags and decorations to
make it feel like home," Peters said.
He says that he and his teammates
have practised in the Olympic
hockey venue twice already and that
it's a beautiful location with a top-
notch ice surface.
The team has already played in an
exhibition game, taking on Sweden
in Incheon, South Korea. It was a
three-hour bus ride from the
Olympic Village, but the Canadians
were able to manage a 4-1 win.
In between practising and resting
up ahead of the competition, Peters
said he and the other hockey players
have made a point to get around to
various other competitions to cheer
on their fellow Canadians.
"We went and watched the
Canadian women's [hockey] team
play Finland and they won 4-1. We
also went and watched the men's
snowboarding half -pipe qualifying,"
Peters said. "We also saw Canada
win a gold medal in mixed curling.
That's been the highlight so far."
As far as off -ice action is
concerned, Peters says it has been an
amazing experience simply
mingling and conversing with the
other athletes.
Peters reports that the weather in
South Korea has been very cold on a
consistent basis. He has come to
expect temperatures of -10°C and
windy every day, with temperatures
dropping even further in the
mountain cluster to -20°C regularly.
Peters and his teammates begin
games in the round-robin stage on
Feb. 15 against Switzerland at 7:10
a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Justin's parents, Jeff and Janice,
are leaving Blyth for the Olympics
on Feb. 15. They'll miss the team's
first game, but will be in stands for
the rest of the games.
They play again the following day
against the Czech Republic at 10:10
p.m. and finish the round-robin stage
with a game against hosts South
Korea on Feb. 18 at 7:10 a.m.
Bantam Ice queens of province
Big winners
The Blyth Bantam Girls Ice broomball team took the
provincial championship over the weekend in a tournament
in Barrie. Coach Casey Boven said the squad worked well
together over the weekend to clinch the provincial gold.
Back row is Coach Jason Buttar, left, and Coach Casey
Boven. Second row, from left: Coach Carla Pawitch, Evie
Reid, Olivia Verwey, Allison Toll, Kaylyn McIver, Abby Bos
and Coach Marie Cook. Third row: Brooke Johns, Cassidy
Shannon, Ameera Pawitch, Emma Buttar, Lauren Hickey
and Jillian Shortreed. Front row are Anna Verwey, left, and
Hannah Boven. (Photo submitted)
The Blyth Bantam Girls Ice team
is the champion of the province after
a tremendous showing over the
weekend in Barrie at the year-end
tournament.
Coach Casey Boven said that the
team has grown quite a bit over the
course of the season, but came
together when it mattered over the
weekend.
The team's tournament began on
Friday when they played the other
Bantam Girls team from Blyth,
defeating them by a score of 2-0.
After playing a team they were
very familiar with, the girls then
took on a team they hadn't played
against all season: the Ottawa
Thunder. The locals were able to win
that game by the slimmest of
margins: 1-0.
The win against Ottawa propelled
the girls into the double -elimination
gold medal game as the undefeated
team.
They took on Mildmay, losing the
first game in overtime and setting up
a winner -take -all final game for the
provincial championship.
Blyth would win the gold medal
game by one goal, waiting until
there was one minute left in the
game to score the goal that would
earn them the gold medal.
Boven said the games were all
entertaining and could have gone
either way, with all of them being
close contests.
When the season started, Boven
said he wasn't sure that the girls
would end their year with a gold
medal around their necks.
The team welcomed plenty of new
players at the beginning of the
season he said, including some girls
who had never played broomball
before.
"At the start of the season there
were some players who were pretty
green, pretty new to the sport," he
said. However, as the season
continued on, the team continued to
gel and the new players learned the
sport and became very productive
members of the team.
"They showed a lot of heart and
determination," he said. "We're all
pretty proud of the girls."
Boven said he had played
broomball for a number of years, but
when his daughters decided they
wanted to get involved, it made
sense that he would coach, saying he
was going to be there anyway. If he
could teach the girls a thing or two,
he said, that would be a bonus.
The team had a good season, but
winning gold at the year-end
provincial tournament is definitely
the highlight, he said.
Opening time
Blyth's Justin Peters, goalie
seen here at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in
South Korea. The team begins its competition on Feb. 15
with a game against Switzerland. (courtesy photo)
• I orM
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is
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Children 2 and older can register
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