World Junior Hockey Championships Dec. 26. ~~“ By DUSTIN QUEZADA World ~ ‘Championships, tournament .was a ‘smashing, BEFORE, THE first. puck dropped to open the 2006 Junior, - Hockey the success. oe _ features the world’s best un- . -. der-20 teans, to Canada’ ev- “> ery three years. -. The tournament has béen a holiday fixture for hockey : -. Besides the seats that or- ganizers “made available. to. fans on game ‘days, every . ticket to every game played - in Kamloops, Kelowna and , Vancouver. had been (Pure | chased. : Hockey fans , in “British » Columbia: proved the Inter- ational Ice” Hockey Fed- - eration (THF) was right. to award the tournament, which fans in Canada since it be- gan in 1977 and especially since 1982 when the sport’s '. governing body in Canada - ‘al junior team. began sending a true nation- This year’s Canadian ‘team had the unenviable task of following the 2005 edition that many experts © have called the best under- 20 team ever iced by any nation. ” . . That team. was bolstered by players that may have skated in the NHL last year if the league hadn’t been shut down by a lockout. So this year, with the - added expectations of a par- ‘tisan crowd, the Canadians iced a team featuring just " one returning player. That inexperience, . plus American and Russian ros- ters loaded with highly tout- *-ed professional prospects had few -predicting much “more than a third-place fin- ish for the boys in red, white _ ‘and black. : The Russian ace, forward Evgeni Malkin, has been ~ dubbed the best player out- | side the NHL, while slick American centre Phil Kessel is the frontrunner ‘to be the first pick in the 2006 NHL picked by an NHL team and : 17-year-old Jonathan Toews -was: considered one of ‘pri- mary threats to unseed Kes- sel as the top pick in 2006. So from the time the Ca- nadian roster was finalized by. returning coach Brent _ Sutter, the team concept was preached. Defence and a physical “junkyard dog”. mentality - would be the way- this team would win. _ As is the case in elite level sports, these mantras were repeated over and over . “again. The 10 teams © _ “Canada, : Czech Republic,’ Finland, Latvia, ‘Norway, ‘Russia, United. States, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland — were split into two pools, each playing one another in the round robin portion. For Canada, it faced Fin- land, Switzerland, Norway and the U.S. Canada opened against Finland and. it didn’t take long for the Canadians to employ the style of play their coach was demanding. Feeding off a charged- up crowd at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum, forward Michael Blunden leveled an unsuspecting Finnish player behind the net just 22 sec- onds into the game. He was called for charg- ing and it set the tone for five . days of overzealous officiat- “ing. The only benefit in this for fans is that booing is the. simplest form of fan interac- tion — and boo we did. The Canada-Norway game had 80 penalty minutes charged to each team; the Finland-U.S. matchup saw an endless Finnish stream to the penalty box giving the Scandanivians little chance in a evenly played game. On the eve of the mar- quee Canada-U.S. | game Sports Scope Young swimmers ranked ,derdog Canadians. GAME ON: The puck drops between Canada and Finland in “the opener. of the © DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO | Junior tournament. lives up to Canadian hype — Entry Draft. For its part, all but one of | s . Canada’s players: had ‘been New Year’s Eve, ‘the exces. sive penalty calling. was ad- , dressed by DHF. officials, ‘who urged their referees to use more ‘common sense and ; not eliminate body contact. “The U.S. team, the cho- sen whipping boys of the Vancouver crowds, had been shocked the night before by the Swiss in a 2-2 tie. In an electric building, Canada jumped out to a 2- 0 lead early only to have the U.S. equalize midway through period three. _ ' However, needing a win to claim the pool and a bye into the semi-finals, the U.S. pulled their goalie... ; In what"would be a semi- nal tournament . ' As captain. Kyle Chip- chura scored, American de- | fenceman Jack Johnson took out Canada’s Steve Downie with an elbow. Johnson would become - the focal point for angry fans for the duration of the tour- nament, as any other team they would play would be: adopted by the home crowd. _ ‘Moving to GM Place for . ’ the medal round, the US. beat the Czechs and the Finns, outshot 53-23, beat the Swedes 1-0 to advance to the semi-finals. Old foes Canada and Rus- sia emerged from the semi- ~ finals with convincing wins — Canada blanking Finland 4-0 and Russia downing the U.S. 5-1 — setting up the Jan. 5 gold medal game. ~ . The tournaments’ best de- . fensive team versus the best offensive — a dream final. - The: pre-tournament un- never: changed their. game plan from the outset. Starting with Sutter’s coaching, the stellar ‘ goaltending of Justin Pogge vand a team defence that sur- rendered just six goals, the offence by committee was more than enough. ; Final score Canada 5 - RussiaQ. What a treat for Vancou- ver hockey fans in particular. Perhaps the most important game ever played in the city with everyone cheering a . team that beat the odds with traditional Canadian effort. moment, - Canada scored into an empty - net to claim a 3-2 win., Frank George Derksen. - watchmaker _ LONGTIME WATCHMAKER passes on.. Frank George Derksen . passed Jaway peacefully in a favorite chair at ° his Graham Ave: home in Terrace B.C. -~ Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005. : Funeral. Service: Sept 29, 2005 at Terrace Alliance Church 4923 ‘Agar oS Ave., Terrace, B.C. Frank - and Kay ‘Derksen-,came to © Terrace in 1955 to manage’ the Mill- ers Jewelry Store, 4615 A- Lakelse Avenue. They immediately fell in love with Terrace and stayed for the rest of Frank’s life. -.When Frank and Kay first came to Terrace, accommodation was hard to find, so they rented a room at the Osborne Guest House (George Little House) on main street and lived there for a couple of months and then rent- ed a cabin on Agar Ave. from Charlie Saskasky until they bought their own home on Kenney St. Now a little history of Frank Derk- sen — notes taken from eulogy read by son Tony Derksen. Frank George Derksen was born on Feb. 12, 1931 on a farm in Tessier, Sask. Frank was brought into the world by parents Frank and Katherine Derk- sen. He was greeted by older: broth- ers Jake and John, and two years later younger brother Pete was born. His mother and father also had two older children who had unfortunately passed away after moving to Canada from the Ukraine in 1926. The first 14 years of Frank’s life - were spent in Saskatchewan; in April 1945 he and his family moved to a farm in Abbotsford, B.C. Here he concluded his schooling that also included .an apprenticeship course in watch-making at J.C. Tuck- | er's Jewelers that turned: into a life- long passion. When Frank was 16 years old he gave his heart to Christ and was later baptized’ into the west Abbotsford Mennonite Church. He took part in a number of youth: activities including. but not limited to, playing piano, accordion and the gui- tar, all of which were seif taught.. Frank then accepted a job in Van- couver as a watchmaker at the tender age of 21 and packed up and moved to HERE ‘N THERE YVONNE MOEN nm the city but still managed to maintain close relationship with both family and . friends. ° In the summer of 1953, he met his future wife Katherine and they dated for the next year. Frank and Katherine were married on May 30, 1954 at the -Mennonite Brethren Church j in Abbots- ford. In January 1955, Frank received an offer to manage a Jewelry store: here and he wondered where on earth they would be living. He and his new bride set off to the North. not sure of what to expect but they knew that they would be able to » get their jobs back in Vancouver if they ~ did not like Terrace. Katherine was also given a-job at Millers as a clerk/receptionist. After that first year they decided to stay. Being happy with the business and the town of Terrace, Frank and Kay de- cided to contact Mr. Miller and tell him they would stay if he would sell them the store. Mr. Miller finally agreed after about « ” one year of negotiating and Derksen’s Credit Jewelers was born in August. 1958. Over the next'21 years, the business flourished and Frank and Kay enjoyed their customer relationships and the friendships developed from the store « and the community. During this period, Frank and Kay were involved in the Alliance Church and they helped out in various ways over the years. “Now that they were settled, they: decided it was time for children and i in Frank George Derkson takes'a break from the work: that made hima’ fixture i in Terrace since 1955. He.operated ° ; Derksen’s Credit Jewellers and Derksen’s Watch Repairs | before moving his business into his home.in 1990. He passed away in late September 2005. i Watchmaker kept ‘em ticking CONTRIBUTED. PHOTO. 1965 they adopted their first son Tony; - Kelly was adopted next in 1966 and finally Teresa was adopted in 1970. “Many of the following years were ‘spent raising the children. ee Frank was always ‘a very conscien- - .tious and loving father and as a team he and Kay. did their best to instill good, strong values into their children. “ ‘In 1979, Frank decided to. sell’ the store to his long-time employee Ev-> _ elyn McDonald and started Derksen’s Watch Repairs that same year in an up- stairs office just down the street from 4 "his old store.. - He carried out watch ' and jewelry , repairs for the. public, Mrs. McDon- ‘ald’s store and Erwins’s Jewelers (now: . known as Cook’s Jewelers). He continued. to pursue: his pas- - sion in the industry that served him so well over the years until he closed the downtown store location in 1990 and moved all of his equipment and tools to” his home where he continued to repair watches until his passing. ‘When the grandchildren arrived, Frank was kept busy entertaining them in his backyard with the playhouse or the swing, which he built. And many trips to Tim Horton’s for a treat for him and the grandchildren. Frank remained physically active over.the years by constantly mow- ing*the lawn and loved using his old . Massey Harris Tractor to plow the field . in the backyard, where he planted:po- tatoes. Every September, they had enough “potatoes to last the winter and Frank was also proud of his raspberry bush- es. | . ‘As the children got on with their lives, Frank found he had to find more - to fill his spare time. He and-his friends Vic Froese, Joe Wideman, George Hagan and Steve Sawatsky, along with others, began meeting for lunch Fridays at noon where among other things they were convinced they solved the .world’s problems. At the funeral service, pastor An- dreas Tabert officiated and Frank was interned Terrace Municipal Cemetery. Frank is survived by his wife Kay, sons, Tony and Kelly, daughter Te-' resa, and grandchildren, Brother Jake (Marg). John (Nellie), Pete (Susan) and » many good friends. among best in country TERRACE BLUEBACK Brandon Williams, 11, is ranked - 12th in the 400-metre individual medley for his age-group in '. the national swim rankings, released just before Christmas. _.Knoedler, 16, is ranked in the top third of her age group. Williams numbers 19th in the 100-metre breaststroke, 20th in 200-metre breaststroke, 50-metre breaststroke and 100-metre freestyle, | 23rd in the 400-metre freestyle and 24th in the 200-metre individual medley among swimmers in the 11-year-old boys age group. ‘The -Bluebacks’ second national Allison swimmer, .Knoedler is 25th in the 200-metre breaststroke, 26th in . the 50-metre breaststroke, 29th in the 400-metre individual medley, 30th in the 200-metre butterfly and 41st in the 100- metre breaststroke among 16-year-old women. Sports Menu [@ January 13 to 15 Terrace Bluebacks. compete in the Northwest Regional Championships starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday and at 9:10. a.m. Saturday and Sunday at the aquatic centre. The Winter Northwest Regional Development swim meet goes at 2:40 p.m. Saturday and 1:40 p.m. Sunday. [January 21 Terrace Peaks Gymnastics hosts a gymastics invitational meet in the Ed Fairless Gym at 3901 Century. Admission is free. | 1 Ra SUBMITTED By CMDE PETER . CROMPTON _ HAPPY NEW Year everyone, 2005 ended on a really good note, our New Year’s Eve bash went off well, thanks to the Musicians, Don Petipas, Ralph Trelenberg, Lonnie Vaughan and his son Kyle, Scott Easton and: - Tony Mandzuk,the equipment and DJ music was provided by Mr. Steve Little and Rosanne Pearce. _ ‘The potluck supper was first class, thanks to the bar volunteers Les and Bernie and our designated : driver Rodney Irwin. Many thanks to the decorators, Mary Ann Burdett, Doug Misfeldt. Debbie and Les Sin- nott and Inez Lopaz, and our great ladies in the kitchen for all your help, Inez, Terry Foster, and Kathy Downie. The new year. however, did not start well. The President’s Levi was attended by every new executive member but only one veteran took the time to show up to meet the peo- ‘off this year to keep Branch 13 alive" members ple who will be working their buns and kicking. It was to say the least, disappoint- ing to us all — thank you Cmde Row- ly Purmal for your show of interest. If he had not been for those that sup-"' port us on a daily basis, we would ‘23. but ~more have had no rea- about that at a son to be open. i later date. Our Mem- egion . On the sports bership — Chair- scene, our annual. person would curling :bonspiel like to pass on his thanks to all those early bird tive on Wednesday, Jan. 18; please ‘ make contact with Cmde Meek for appointments. The next veterans dinner is slated for Wednesday, Jan. 25. We will be having a flag raising ceremony at the pioneer cemetery on Sunday, April _ happening Notes : | on Jan. 20-22 — sign-up sheets who . helped us to be- come one of nine branches in the B.C./Yukon Command to achieve the 100 per cent award. Your new service officer is Cmde Charles F. Meek and can be reached at 635-6403. There will be a visit . from a Veterans Affairs representa- are in the curling \ tink and there are - four events with $200 per team fee. I know by now that Lisa Gendron and her help will have assembled some great prizes for this event, which has been running for over 50 years. Our crib players are off to Smith- ers on Jan. 14 and we wish them all Ring in 2006 with a bonspiel the best.. Cmde John Austin is your new sports chairperson and knowing - John he will be having many events throughout the year. Just a gentle reminder to all n mem- _ | bers who use the pool table — it’s 50 cents a day. The last count for a six month period from the box did not require too much counting. - Our meat draws and jam sessions continue on:Saturdays and your en- tertainment chairperson Cmde Clair . Irwin. who by the way did a great job at New Year’s, will undoubtedly be arranging other social evenings. | We just need you the members to at- — tend. Next Steak Night Friday, Feb. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. February general meeting Tues- day, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. Ladies Auxiliary general meeting Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. WE WILL REMEMBER THEM