TERRACE ‘STANDARD | The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December |] 1, 2002 - B7 .. SPORTS ROB BROWN Gifts | t’s the advent of that carnival of con-. sumerism we call Christmas and time for the Skeen: Angler’s gift sugges-' tions for the fishergal, fisherguy, fish- erpatiner, or significant fishing other; in your life. You might think that a shiny reel or a luster-. ous new rod are the ideal gifts for an angler, and, indeed, the angling recipient of such a pre- sent might think so too, but you’d both be wrong. The best gift, the one that your special’ fishing person will grow to appreciate and thank | you for over and over is one that will help keep. them comfortable in the wet, often harsh, and - . always fickle climate of the North Coast. In this part of the world, you can't survive’ ‘long without a good raincoat. The good ald green and yellow rubber varieties favoured by. old Sea Dogs and commercial fishermen were . good raincoats that, with a little care (but not: much) could be left to future generations. Unfor- tunately these slickers were stiff and most defi- | nitely without breathing capabilities. Anglers tend to be a lot softer than brine soaked seafar- eTs, SO a waterproof coat manufactured from one of those heavy breathing miracle fabrics that began appearing in stores only a few year ago is, the ticket. My rain jacket is a Patagonia SST. In the course of a year I fish more than an avid angler does in two and a casual angler would do in a decade. I’ve worn my SST almost year round - ‘for five years (or is it six?). During that time' I've done a lot of vigorous bush whacking and” wading. The fact that it’s survived the torture . yet still sheds water as well as it did in its mai- den rainshower means that whomever you give it to will never wear it out. The SST has enough pockets to hold two. fly boxes, one fly wallet, a leader dispenser, a ther-| mometer, a clipper, a tin of mucillin, four Rio, fly line pouches, a flashlight, a roll of flagging, a compass, a waterproof notepad, a camera, two - tolls of film, a roll of toilet paper (for cleaning the camera lens), a roll of flourocarbon monofi- 1 jlament, a pair of sunglasses, a pair of gloves and a lunch. The other compelling feature of the SST is the design. The zipper is a.two way, The pock- ets are few, but deep. The three D-rings refuse to come unstuck, and when the coat is zipped up and hood pulled on, it makes the wearer feel like he or she is in a tent. Oh yes, if you fasten a few buttons the coat becomes a shorty jacket. Waders are a fine but expensive gift. Once again, I wouldn’t look at anything other that those made of breathable materials. Bare, Pata- ponia, Simms, and Wardell ail make breath- able, lightweight waders. I’ve worn the first two brands and spoken to many anglers about the others. My Bare Waders are leak free after a season of use, but other owners have tald me that theirs have quickly developed leaks in the crotch. An American angler who owned a fly shop and sold them told me that Simms were “the Fram Filter of waders.” Other less conflic- ted anglers have told me otherwise. One thing is certain, Patagonia waders are the most cleverly designed, and hence the most comfortable of all the breathable waders on the, market, and they are at least as durable as Simms, and are easily patched. For the flyfisher, consider one of the multi-tip lines made by the Rio Line Company. I was skeptical when these lines were recommended to me, but I bought a model labelled “the Acce- lerator” for my two handed rod and have been ‘using it for about five years. With no special treatment at all on my part, it casts as well as the day I first took it out to the river, and, even more surprisingly, it is intact. Other brands are Placing the puck 638-7283 David Kozier goes pro, playing Canada’s favourite game in England. By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN _ DAVID KOZIER is under pressure to scare goats for the Isle of Wight Raiders in England’s premiere hockey league. So far, the rookie for- ward is earning top marks. He’s second in Raiders’ scoring wilh 30 goals and 37 assists for 67 points, just two points behind teammate and fellow Ca- nadian, Brad Kenny. “I’m expected to score and set up goals. If I’m not doing thal and we’re los- ing, then | won't have a job for long,” Kozier says. “However, | find that when I relax and have fun, that is when | play best.” Keeping the fun in the game is important for the five-foot-10, 180-pound ' forward — especially when the team’s fans are so out- spoken. “They are quite rowdy and very demanding on the team,” says Kozier. “If we're nol playing well - they’re not afraid to tell us.” The 1,000 or so fans that go to the home games are a boisterous bunch who make a lot of noise and are, as David says, very emotional. “T wouldn't consider them hooligans, like some football fans are in England,” he says. Playing hockey on the other side of the pond is no different than playing hockey here, Kozier says, but the popularity in the U.K. doesn’t hold a candle to how much Canucks love the gaine. “Hockey is growing in the U.K. but is dwarfed in comparison to football {soccer}, rugby and even cricket,” he says. The Raiders are part of the English Premier Lea- gue — the level of play is a little higher than that of the BCHL, Kozier says. At 18 years old, Kozier began playing in the BCHL, starting out in Lan- gley before being traded to Prince George where he played for two years. the seventh best team in the country, “At Cornell we had three full time coaches and I learned a lot from them,” Kozier says, add- ing the team’s off-ice training, was very intense. “We had our own strength and conditioning coach,” he says. “I gained 12 pounds of muscle in my first year at Cornell.” But Kozier’s not just about natural athletic abi- lity — he’s got plenty of school smarts too. He skipped a grade in “| wouldn’t consider them hooligans, like some football fans are in England.” There are two other hockey leagues that are of a slightly higher standard than the premiere league in England — those being the Ice Hockey Superies- pue and and the British National League. “Hockey is growing in popularity and new teams keep forming each year,” says Kozier, who was picked up by the Raiders this year after graduating from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York this past spring. He played hockey for Cornell while getting his bachelor of science degree in applied economics and management. Cornell competed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and finished its last season ranked as Skaters ca By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN MEMBERS of the Terrace Skating Club have a lol to be proud of after they nabbed top team marks for their collective performances at a recent competition. “The competition was amazing,” club’s head coach Cathy Mills, of the Cariboo North Central regional championships held in Kitimat Nov. 29-Dec. 1. The Terrace team earned enough top three finishes to claim the region’s team trophy for the first time ever. The region stretches as far south as Wil- liams Lake and north to Dawson Creek. “Our club atmosphere at this competition says club coach Jennifer was really good,” Kuehne. The team really came together at this com- petition supporting each other and cheering one another on, she adds. “We are really proud of our skaters for coming out as a team,” says Mills.“The high placing in skills reflects the attention to de- tails our skaters pay.” Twelve skaters qualified for the Pacific STAR Skate competition to be held in Kam- loops. That compares to just five skaters who qualified for the provincial competition last year, says the f school in Terrace and later earned himself a scholar- ship to go to the presti- gious university. “My education is very important to me,” Kozier says. “I’m happy because Pll always have a degree to fall back on when I’m finished playing hockey.” While many young Ca- nadians dream of playing in the NHL, the growing global popularity of hock- ey is offering plenty of op- portunities for solid hockey players to get paid doing what they love most. Kozier, one of four Ca- nadians playing for the Raiders, is committed to playing with the team for one season. What happens after that remains to be seen. | If he continues perform- DAVID KOZIER takes to the ice playing forward for the Isle of Wight Raiders in an early season game. MAVIS SIDDONS PHOTO ing as well as he has so far this season, Kozier won’t have to worry about falling back on his degree any “time soon. Terrace hockey coach John Amos says Kozier’s skill and natural penchant for leadership was obvious early on when he coached Kozier as a second year bantam player here nine years ago. “It was very evident from the beginning that he would be our team captain,” Amos recalls, adding Kozier’s work ethic was outstanding. “He gave his best every time and encouraged those boys to go as hard as they could.” Amos even remembers Kozier’s statistics fram the year he played under him in Terrace. That year Kozier scored 65 goals and got 65 assists ° in just 42 games. ture team trophy THE TERRACE SKATING Club made an impression at the Cariboo North Central regio- nal championships held in Kitimat Nov. 29-Dec. 1. The young figure skaters earned the team trophy, based on point standings, for the first time. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO Kermode season starts with wins By SARAH 4. ZIMMERMAN | THE CALEDONIA senior boys basketball team hit the — hard wood for the first time this season as the Kermodes hosted a series of games Nov. 29-30. The Kermodes overcame the Smithers Grizzlies by a score of 80-42 in the Friday night match-up. The next day, Cal took on the Houston Christian. Wildcats winning this one as well, 76-69. “The wins are not a bad way to start off the season but. it’s still early and coach Cam MacKay says the boys have some obstacles to overcome. Firstly, the team will have to find a way to overcome its lack of height. “This is the shortest team I’ve ever had,” says Mace I: Kay. “I mean, J’ m taller than most of them and that’s [| short.” The team is also ‘very young and needs some work an its depth. “We have three grade tens because ‘the Skeena team is unbelievably. huge," says MacKay... 0) yp poe Continued Pa. BS cracked and tired after one season. Since I bought my “Accellerator,” Rio has put out a large assortment of multi-tipped lines, | which are actually four lines in one as they in- ° ‘clude a floating as well as a fast sinking, a slow, sinking, and a clear tip. The designers of the Rio lines have solved the riddle of the flyline. Their lines cast far and tum over beautifully. Normally casting ease is in inverse proportion to sink rate, but, with minor adjustments, the heavy tips on the Rio cast as well as the floating tips, Surreptitiously find out the line weight of your loved one’s rod, if you don’t know it already, then buy the re- commended line weight. lt will cost you about a 1150 bucks. . If 1 were still fishing gear, I'd want one of those Islander casting reels. These beautifully ‘eanstructed, precision made winches can be spin cast with a twist of the hand of cast in the’ mannef of a traditional revolving drum‘reel, and’ they make playing a fi sh much more enjoyable’ - than their high-tech cousins, e TEAM captain Bryan Matthews, above, wil provide lots of leadership . to younger and less experianced players on this year's squad.