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WEDNESDAY September 16 2015

NEWS AND EVENTS FOR PRINCE GEORGE AND CENTRAL INTERIOR

Paint It Pink in October Citizen staff Paint It Pink, a fundraiser for the Spirit of The North Healthcare Foundation, will see superstar rocker Bif Naked take to the stage as the keynote speaker Oct. 2 at the Civic Centre.

Paint It Pink, presented by Citizen Special Events, is a glitz and glamour-filled event hosted by Carol Gass, where there will be silent and live auctions, giveaways, fine dining and dancing.

“What this is about is raising money for a worthy cause,” said Norm Coyne, coordinator for Citizen Special Events. “We get to put on events all the time, but to be able to do something to benefit a cause is really, really exciting.”

Bif Naked, a breast cancer survivor who advocates for early detec-

Citizen file photo

Bif Naked spoke about her battle with breast cancer at an event in Prince George in 2010.

tion, believes it is of the utmost importance for communities to have their own treatment facilities so those going through it can be supported by their loved ones.

“Bif Naked has got the star power, is such an engaging speaker and she’s got a great story,” said Coyne, who added Canadian Tire is the speaker sponsor for Paint It Pink. This isn’t the first time Bif Naked has been to Prince George as a speaker. She was the superstar guest at the Evening of Pink fundraiser in 2010.

The 10th and final Evening of Pink was held last year when organizers decided to retire the event, which raised almost $25,000 in its final year and a total of about $180,000 over the last decade.

“A lot of great work has been

done in the past and we just want to continue raising money for the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation well into the future,” said Coyne. Because the theme is Paint It Pink, there will be canvases around the room where people will be encouraged to make their mark.

“We especially want people to leave their legacy of survival on the canvases,” said Coyne. “We want them to paint something or write their name or a leave a message. It’s their choice. We want to make it memorable.”

Tickets are $95 each or $850 for a table of 10.

Tickets are available at The Citizen, 150 Brunswick St., or the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation office at the University Hospital of Northern B.C.

Air travel taxes soaring

Tandy sets sights on World Cup

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Milk mayhem results in more jail time Citizen staff A Prince George man was sentenced to a further 13 months behind bars for leading jailhouse attacks on two inmates that began after one of the victims complained the “big guys” were “hoarding all the milk.”

In all, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Walker sentenced Christopher Ryan Russell to 30 months in jail less credit of 17 months

time served for the April 1 and 2, 2014 incidents at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.

Six months of that sentence was for an assault on Larry McCarthy, who made his complaint in a voice loud enough that he could be heard throughout the unit and went on to say that it wasn’t fair for the “smaller guys.”

— see DAIRY DUSTUP, page 5

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Dairy dustup caught on camera — from page 4 Milk is carefully rationed so that just enough is put out for each inmate, but Russell and another inmate, Jonathan Kyle Relkey, who worked out in the jail’s gym and wanted the protein, poured the milk into their large water jugs, leaving McCarthy with no milk.

Later in the day, McCarthy was lured into the laundry room where Russell took three swings at him, grazing the side of his head as McCarthy dodged the punches. McCarthy swung back in self-defence and escaped the laundry room as Russell’s accomplices tried to restrain him until a guard neared the scene.

Some time afterwards, Russell confronted McCarthy at his cell, inviting him to “finish what had been started.” McCarthy declined, saying he was at PGRCC “to do my time.”

Another accomplice, Jeremy James Aldred, told McCarthy, “it ain’t over. It’s my turn now.”

McCarthy put his foot against his cell door to block Aldred who eventually relented after he was satisfied McCarthy would not “rat” to the guards about what occurred.

Noting that as the unit rep, Russell knew there were no cameras in the laundry room, Walker found he planned the encounter, intent on punishing and intimidating McCarthy and then tried to get into another altercation with him later that day.

Russell asserted McCarthy took the first swing when they were in the laundry room, but Walker doubted the smaller man would have initiated the fight.

A consecutive sentence of 24 months was imposed on Russell for an attack on McCarthy’s cellmate, Robert White, the next day.

For reasons not explained dur-

ing the trial, Russell threw a ball at White in the prison yard.

Once back inside, Russell and two others, Aldred and Aaron James Morin, went to White’s cell after McCarthy had been told to stay away, and Russell confronted him over a claim White had called them “goofs,” considered an insult of the highest form among inmates.

White denied he used the word and pushed his way out of the cell and into the unit’s main floor where Russell broke his jaw with a punch in full view of a video camera which recorded the episode.

White suffered a severe fracture to his jaw that left him disfigured and with ongoing numbness to the area.

He may need more surgery, Walker noted.

Both McCarthy and White were newcomers to PGRCC and Walker found the attacks were motivated by a desire to put the two in their place.

In reaching his decision on sentencing, Walker entirely accepted Crown prosecution’s position, which includes two years probation once Russell has finished his jail term.

If not for such mitigating factors as a rough childhood and Russell’s decision to plead guilty before White went through cross examination, Walker said he would have imposed an even stiffer sentence.

Defence counsel had argued a sentence of time served was appropriate.

Russell was the last of the four to be sentenced and he received appreciably more than the others.

Last month, Aldred was sentenced to 180 days less time served, adding up to a term of a day in jail. In May, Morin received 45 days time served and one year probation and Relkey got 33 days time served.

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Warmer weather coming, eventually Citizen staff A meteorologist for The Weather Network is predicting some warmer than usual weather for the Central Interior this fall – but you’ll have to be patient.

Temperatures should be within the range

for the time of year during the first half of the season but by the mid-October or early-November, the jetstream should be in a position to deliver some warm air to the region, Erin Wenckstern said Tuesday.

“That’s why we’re calling for temperatures above normal for that period of time,”

Wenckstern said.

As for rain, Wenckstern is expecting lower than normal amounts for most of the season.

She isn’t expecting any early snow.

“We’re not seeing too much of a signal for a lot of precipitation and if it does come in with some storms, the majority of it is going to fall as rain,” Wenckstern said.

“Even into the higher elevations, it’s not going to be as significant snow as we’d like since we have such warm temperatures.”

She said an El Nino, which delivers warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures, has developed in the Pacific. In the past, it’s had enough strength to deliver a mild winter across the entire country, notably 1997-98, but not this time.

“This one’s quite different than the ’97-’98 one,” Wenckstern said.

“Where the warmest water is has actually shifted a bit to the west into the Central Pacific versus being up along the coastline of South America.

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Funding rural education a challenge, says Bernier Citizen staff B.C.’s new education minister said School District 57 faces difficult decisions when dealing with its rural schools.

Mike Bernier acknowledged the capacity issue that many of the region’s rural schools face.

“There are some tough decisions to make,” Bernier said in a teleconference with northern media. “(Trustees) need to look at what’s going to work well for your region.”

In May, the school district made public its long-term facility plan, which showed many schools are under capacity and face significant challenges with their physical condition.

“Despite the closure of 21 schools since 2001/02, the capacity in the district is still

considered under-utilzed as the enrolment continues to decline due to a decreasing school age population,” said the Cascade Facilities Management report.

Since 2002, the district has closed 21 schools, but the report noted the board has not had discussions around school closures since 2010.

When the Citizen asked Bernier if school closures are the answer or if different funding models could be considered for rural schools, his message was clear: local trustees must work within the existing money they receive.

“We allow the locally elected officials in your district to make those decisions within the funding envelope that they have, sometimes those aren’t easy decisions for them to make,” said Bernier.

— see, ‘SOME TOUGH DECISIONS’, page 9

GATEWAYnews

‘Some tough decisions around funding’ to be made — from page 8 “I’ll use myself as an example coming from a rural area, people definitely want to continue enjoying the opportunities that sometimes rural education has but with that comes some tough decisions around funding and what’s appropriate within that school district,” said Bernier, MLA for Peace

River South and former Dawson Creek mayor.

The Ministry of Education has a 95 per cent minimum capacity expectation, but last year Giscome, Nusdeh Yoh as well as both McBride and Valemount elementary and secondary schools all hovered around or below 50 per cent capacity.

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Teacher disciplined for touching students Citizen staff A teacher in School District 57 has agreed with the Commissioner for Teacher Regulation Branch that he engaged in inappropriate physical conduct with his students and has agreed to complete the branch’s boundaries course.

According to a summary issued by the branch, David Elton Ganner’s actions included squeezing girls by the arm, patting boys and girls on the back, putting his arms around them and giving girls a brief shoulder and neck massage. He also pretended to choke boys and girls by standing behind them and placing his arm around their necks, pretending to choke a girl by putting his hand on her throat and, on one occasion, jokingly kicking a boy in the butt.

Ganner was a shop teacher and the actions involved Grade 9 students. The summary does not say which school he teaches at, but according to a website biography,

he has been a School District 57 employee since 1996 and transferred to D.P. Todd secondary from Mackenzie secondary school in 2004.

According to the branch’s summary, the School District suspended Ganner for three days without pay on Nov. 26, 2013 and, on that same day, made a report to the commissioner about him. He was suspended twice more without pay, on Dec. 3, 2013 and on Feb. 26, 2014, and on March 17, 2014, he provided the commissioner with an undertaking not to teach.

On Oct. 6, 2014, Ganner appeared in provincial court and and entered into a oneyear recognizance or peace bond – essentially a restraining order.

On July 27, Ganner entered into a consent resolution agreement with the commissioner in which he agreed that his conduct constituted professional misconduct.

Ganner also agreed to complete the boundaries course by July 31.

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Taxing for takeoff Citizen staff An Air Canada executive is urging voters to make federal government taxes on airline flights an election issue.

While giving a presentation Thursday at a Prince George Chamber of Commerce lun-

cheon, Kevin Howlett, the airline’s senior vice president for regional markets, showed a PowerPoint slide comparing the price of two airline tickets – one for a roundtrip ticket from Vancouver to Phoenix, the other for the same destination but starting in Seattle.

— see ‘THIS TAXATION REGIME,’ page 14

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‘This taxation regime, frankly, is an artificial barrier’ — from page 12 The cost of the flight starting in Vancouver was $580.28 CDN, while the cost of the fllight beginning in Seattle was $278.60 USD, which worked out to $317.60 CDN. Howlett blamed the difference on a “prohibitive tax structure” north of the border.

He also said the revenue Ottawa collects

is not reinvested in airports, unlike the U.S. “This taxation regime, frankly, is an artificial barrier to our ambition to grow and actually prevents and inhibits communities like Prince George to improve the level of service that they want into their communities,” Howlett said.

— see AIR CANADA, page 15

Citizen file photo

Kevin Howlett, Air Canada vice president of regional markets speaks at a Prince George Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Sept. 3.

GATEWAYnews

Air Canada voicing concerns to gov’t — from page 14 Howlett later said Air Canada has “certainly not been shy” in raising the issue with the federal government.

About eight months ago, in her capacity as Transportation Minister, Lisa Raitt appointed a commission headed by David Emerson, who was the chief executive officer at Vancouver International Airport for a time, to review the Transportation Act. Howlett said the commission has been taking in submissions from Your flight stakeholders and aim is to have a schedule, in study ready in late the main, December, “or to put it another way, after is designed to the election.” meet each one of Howlett made no promises about add- our banks in ing new destinations Vancouver... and out of Prince George. get to where you “I would never say want to go. never but I would be equally dishon— Kevin Howlett est with you if I said we’re going to start something tomorrow,” Howlett said.

If the airline was to make such a move, he said it would likely be through Air Canada Rouge, which caters to the leisure market.

The service is in the process of acquiring more planes but they’re large-capacity Boeing 787s, which carry about 250 passengers.

The airline currently provides daily direct flights between Prince George and Vancouver. Howlett did stress that with the service, Air Canada patrons are just “one stop away” from any major Canadian business centre and almost any major international business centre.

Rouge, meanwhile, provides flights from Vancouver to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Palm Springs, Honolulu, Maui and Anchorage as well as a seasonal service to Osaka, Japan.

“We certainly wouldn’t want to do anything to compromise the level of connectivity we have today, which gives you a choice,” Howlett said.

“Your flight schedule, in the main, is designed to meet each one of our banks in Vancouver, which allows you to get into Vancouver and get home or arrive in Vancouver and get to where you want to go.”

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Tandy gunning for World Cup podium

I

Citizen staff

n nearly a decade as an international biathlete and dozens of trips to exotic destinations to race with the best in the world, only rarely has Megan Tandy competed in her

home country.

Next February, for the first time since she flew the flag at the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympics, Tandy is coming home. She’ll be racing a nine-hour winter drive away from her home in Prince George when the World Cup tour

comes to Canmore, Feb. 1-7.

“That’s really cool, I’m not the only one excited about racing on home turf,” said Tandy. “Of course I have to be performing well enough that I’m still on the World Cup team by February and healthy. We have the World

to shoot 85 per cent and have a Cup in Canmore and right after top-16 ski time then I’m there as a in Presque Isle, Maine. That’s two regular contender fighting for the World Cups in North America and podium. It is realistic. If there’s a that doesn’t happen too often.” chance for me to perform in the Tandy, who has reverted to her top-10, on the podium, that time maiden name with the breakup of is coming now.” her marriage, spent the past two What makes Tandy’s accomweeks training in Prince George plishments last season even more and on Monday returned with her remarkable is she did it on a barefive-year-old son to their home in bones budget, Germany. She’ll living on nationbe competing al team funding in roller ski of $1,500 per biathlon events month training this months in half a world Germany and away from her Austria, preparCanadian teaming for the World mates while in Cup season — Megan Tandy the midst of an opener Nov. 27 custody battle over her son Predo. in Idre, Sweden.

Tandy separated from husband The 2014-15 season was a Ilmar Heinicke, a former B.C. career-best for Tandy. She finprovincial biathlon coach, in Sepished 37th overall in the World Cup standings, posted four top-16 tember 2014 after four years of marriage while living in Germany, World Cup finishes, was the top where he works as a national deCanadian at the world championvelopment team coach. A German ships and nailed a career-high courtroom ruled this spring Predo 11th-place World Cup result in must remain in the small town of Germany. With the next Olympics Klingental, where Heinicke lives less than three years away, Tandy and shares land with his parents, feels her best is yet to come. who look him when his father is “I feel more motivated than away on ski trips. When she’s not ever before,” said the 26-year-old racing, Tandy has custody every Tandy. “I’m entering the phase second week for 4 1/2 days. now for the average podium age “There’s been a lot of stress in for females, which is 28. It takes a the past year and it wasn’t healthy long time to put it all together. for me as a person, an athlete or “I know I have the power and a mother, but now things have the fitness to compete with the settled and I’m happy and I’ll defitop 15 in the world and this year nitely be in Germany for my time I’m going to focus on improving with my son,” said Tandy. my ski technique and I’ll see what “Different regions of Germany that can bring. I was 11th last have different rules and unfortuseason in a sprint in Ruhpolding nately, a shared custody model and that was cool race because I isn’t recognized in that part of had one miss and I also had the the country, so no judge has the 11th-fastest ski time. There were a few races like that, where my ski power to force parents into such time ranked in the top 16 and that an arrangement.”

— see ‘THE BIGGEST’, page 19 was also motivating. If I’m able

I know I have the power and the fitness to compete with the top 15 in the world...

News tip? Call 250-562-2441

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Citizen file photo

World Cup biathlete Megan Tandy was training in Prince George in August.

‘The biggest factor is I was doing it for myself again’ — from page 18 Despite the stress of her court battle, Tandy was able to put aside her family troubles and stay positive on the World Cup tour and it showed in her results. She was happier with her life than the previous year and her rifle accuracy was unprecedented.

“The biggest factor is I was doing it for myself again,” she said.

“I had a few years there where I was very performance-driven, even though I wasn’t delivering the results I wanted. The intrinsic motivation was kind of gone and at first when we split I was wondering if I was even going to continue. But I really wanted to do it and it made difference last season. It all came from myself because I want to see myself have good results.”

Already a two-time Olympian, the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea is on Tandy’s radar. In Sochi in 2014, she shot 10-for-10 in the relay and had the Canadian team one spot away from a medal position.

Now wants to prove she’s ready to take that step on her own.

“In a way, Vancouver was my experience Olympics, I was really young and I wasn’t a

contender,” she said. “In Sochi I put myself under so much pressure I took away my own ability in my personal races to do my best and it was only in the relay when there were no more chances with my own results that I was able to relax enough to put together the performance I trained to do.

“After all these years I know so many things about myself now I didn’t know before – not just training philosophy but things about nutrition and how I travel, and what kind of race preparation I need to do.

The more you figure out the better your chances.”

Tandy’s summer training centre is in Ruhpolding, Germany, 450 kilometres from her home, where she shared the benefits of being there for a spring camp attended by the Ukrainian and German national teams.

“It gives you something to measure against and there are days when you feel great, that you are on the right path,” she said. “People talk about the biathlon family and it’s never felt more true to me than this year. In Germany I feel very welcomed and integrated in the teams that are there.”

— see CANADIANS, page 20

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Canadians performing well — from page 19 Tandy’s teammates did their part to make the 2014-15 season memorable. Nathan Smith of Calgary put the Canadian team in uncharted territory when he won silver at a sprint race at the world championships in Finland, then won World Cup gold two weeks later in the pursuit in Russia. Rosanna Crawford of Canmore cracked the top 10 four times and was fourth in the sprint in Slovenia. It was also a year in which Sarah Beaudry of Prince George made her World Cup debut.

Despite the team’s success, there’s no additional funding available for any of the Canadian team and Tandy is basically on her own trying to attract sponsors just to help cover her training team fee, which ranges from $3,000-$6,000.

The National Firearms Association has been sponsoring Tandy since 2010 and she also gets help from the now-defunct Barnett

News tip? Call 250-562-2441, local 2759

Tandy Rifle Club of Burnaby and the Canadian Athletes Now Fund.

— see FUNDING WOES, page 21

GATEWAYsports

Funding woes could hurt Tandy’s season —from page 20 Her decision on whether to shoot for an Olympic team spot in 2018 will depend on if her funding continues.

Her national A-level carding ends after this season and she will have to post at least a top-eight finish at world championships to retain it.

“This year, the bank of Mom (Heather) and Dad (Ed) has helped a lot, but they won’t fund another three years of biathlon and I would never expect or ask them to,” she said.

“That was a big disappointment for the whole team this year, that we didn’t didn’t have more overall funding. It was a really strong season for the Canadian team and the change in funding was not what we feel we earned. I will choose, as long as I don’t get injured, to have essentially no physio and massage because it’s something I can’t afford right now.”

Tandy’s coach in Europe is Knut Tore

Berland, who headed the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club biathlon program in 2005-06.

Berland now coaches a group of biathletes on the cusp of the Norwegian national team and Tandy has already benefited from the relationship.

She and the Canadian team went to Norway in August for two-week summer training camp with Berland, with more camps to come this fall.

“He’s been a mentor for me and has openly offered advice for me whenever I’ve asked for it and asked him this spring to be my coach,” she said. “The biggest help it gives me is confidence, he’s giving me all the outlines for the training plan and how many minutes every month of which activity I need to do and at what heart rate and we have a great system.”

Now fluent in German, Tandy is working on her masters degree in sport management at the University of Bayreuth in Germany.

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Living the WHL dream

J

Citizen staff

onas Harkins was in the crowd in Sunrise, Fla., and watched his brother Jansen try on a Winnipeg Jets jersey the minute he got drafted.

If that NHL moment ever happens for Jonas, he’s got at least four years to wait. He won’t turn 18 until Dec. 26, 2019, but when you see him on the ice working out with the Prince George Cougars, it’s obvious the youngest Cougar in camp blends in well with an older crowd.

That’s saying a lot when you’re a rookie defenceman who until five months ago was still playing bantam hockey with the North Shore Winter Club.

The Harkins boys lined up on opposite ends of the ice in Monday’s Black-White intrasquad game watched by their dad, Cougars general manager Todd, and older

brother Nicklas, the Cougars’ assistant equipment manager. Nicklas, a former goalie, and Jansen were minor hockey teammates when Jansen was playing up an age group, but Jonas and Jansen have never been on the same team. The Cougars added Jonas to their family when they picked him in the second round of the 2015 WHL bantam draft, 28th overall.

“Some people may have raised some eyebrows but he’s deserved where he was drafted and we’re glad we got him,” said Cougars head coach Mark Holick. “He’s a big defenceman, he’s not even 15 until the end of December and with his size and strength he’s only going to get better. (In training camp) he didn’t make a mess of things, he just did his job, moved pucks and supported players in the defensive zone, and his habits are pretty good. Where he is at 14, I think he’s ahead of the curve.”

— see JONAS, page 25

GATEWAYsports

Jonas a big little brother — from page 24 Jonas, six-foot-two and 200 pounds, is already looking down on his 18-year-old brother Jansen, who measures six-foot-one, 187 pounds, but that size advantage offers no false sense of security when he peeks over his shoulder and sees Jansen closing in to try win a loose puck.

“Jansen has always been more of a skill player but he’s getting a bit rougher and I know he’s getting bigger and thicker and eating a lot more – I wouldn’t want to play against him,” said Jonas.

“I think he’s the most determined guy on the team. We played sports like football and soccer together but he was always more focused on hockey. I wasn’t into hockey as much but he and my dad taught me to love the game. He’s an NHL player and it’s a pretty cool feeling to pass him the puck. I want to be like him.”

Compared to Jansen, who always seems

Jonas Harkins to have his game face on, Jonas is more laid back away from the ice.

— see ‘IT MAKES ME TOUGHER,’ page 26

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‘It makes me tougher’ — from page 25 He’s had to step up the intensity of his game considerably to fend off players who are as much as five years older and found out at his first WHL training camp on the weekend how much work that involves.

“The pace and the physicality is all different but once you get into it it’s all good

and it got me ready for the season and the exhibition games to come,” said Jonas.

“Because I’m a bigger guy it’s not that bad for me. There are some big guys but I can compete with them and I like it. It makes me tougher and makes me want to compete more in the corners and dig those pucks out.”

— see HOCKEY, page 28

Citizen file photo

Jansen Harkins hit the ice during a Cougars practice on Sept. 2 at CN Centre.

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Hockey the Harkins family business — from page 26 As a midget-aged player, Jonas is limited to a maximum of five WHL games this season but will get to practice with the big Cats when his Cariboo Cougars schedule will allow it.

He and fellow midgets Tyler Ho and Jackson Leppard will travel with the team for preseason games Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in Kelowna and will likely play next week as the exhibition schedule resumes in Kennewick, Wash.

“The Cariboo Cougars are a great team and Trevor Sprague, the coach, is going to develop me into a great WHL player,” said Jonas, who will attend Grade 9 classes at PGSS. “Just being able to practice with the Cougars and get that experience and seeing my brothers and dad working here is great. I know it will be a cold winter but it’ll be fun.”

Raised in North Vancouver for all but the first two years of his life, Jonas was born

in Berlin, Germany, where his dad played for a pro as a forward in the German Elite League. Jansen and Nicklas were both natives of Cleveland, Ohio.

“He’s a pretty good skater for a big guy and his all-around game is really developing – he’s come a long way,” said Jansen.

“We play pretty different styles and positions and I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do in the future for this team. I know he’s watched me play a lot more than I’ve watched him and maybe I can return the favour. It’s exciting to be able to watch him again.”

Jansen led the Cougars in scoring last year with 79 points and his 59 assists broke the team’s single-season record. The Jets drafted him in the second round, 47th overall. On the verge of his third WHL season, he leaves next week for the Jets’ NHL rookie tournament in Penticton and Holick is encouraged with his off-season development.

— see JANSEN, page 29

GATEWAYsports

Jansen boosts his physical game — from page 28 “I thought he had a tremendous summer, his skating has improved and I believe you get out what you put in and he worked his tail off this summer and,” said Holick.

“He wants to put on a good show in Winnipeg and I know he wants to show better for the world junior selection. He’s improved a ton, and it’s just our second day of practice. I expect him to have a real good year for us.”

Despite playing last year for Canada’s under-18 national team, Jansen was left off the invitation list for the summer world junior team evaluation camp and he’s using that as motivation to get off to a quick start with the Cougars this season.

“It was disappointing not going to that camp, that’s what I wanted to do but at the same time it pushed me harder,” Jansen said.

“I worked harder this off-season having that mentality to prove myself and hope-

fully that will help me moving forward and hopefully the world junior team is a reality.

“I put in a lot of work to get stronger and faster and better physically in every way.

Physicality is something I can add to my game. I like to control the puck and make plays, but I think I can also be a physical presence as well.”

Jansen will likely start the season on a line with 20-year-old left winger Chase Witala, who also appears stronger on his feet. How well they play together is one of the keys for the Cougars in their push for the B.C. Division title this season.

“We had a good year last year, making playoffs, and it’s only getting better,” Jansen said.

“The new ownership is doing a good job again this year, kind of building on what they instilled in the team and the organization last year. We have lots of returning players and I think (a division title) is possible. It should be a fun year.”

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