Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 1

TT EES C2 SlADAY, JANUARY 30, 2011 EDMONTON JOURNAL edmontonjournal.com i' 1 1 3f g'-" "wta, Shouldice thrills partisan crowd A i 5- i 1 i mUJ' 17 ill A) PS 3 i is 'U tvr RlDEWOOD, CANADIAN FREESTYLE SKI ASSOCIATION Jenn Heil waves to the crowd after falling in the moguls final at the Freestyle Grand Prix in Calgary on Saturday. Heil last Canadian competition ends in fall Disappointing end to final performance on home soil Stories by Y1CK1 HALL Cigciry Herald Jenn Heil blinked back the tears Saturday at the bottom of the hill, just beyond the finish line of her final World Cup moguls event on home snow. The five-time Crystal Globe winner as women's World Cup moguls champion who announced this week that she'll retire from competitive skiing after this season wanted ever so badly to Land on the podium one more time in front of family and friends at Canada Olympic Park. Instead, the Spruce Grove native crashed just beyond the first jump and landed in a cloud of fresh snow. The two-time Olympic medallist clamoured to her feet and ripped VENTING Every Sunday sports fans sound off 1 1 notice that the comics are now often in the Sports section in The Journal.

Does this have anything to do with the way the Oilers are playing? I still love them, though! I A couple of seasons ago when the Oilers were in the tank, it was deemed to be Craig MacTcnish's fault Pat Quinn was brought in to straighten things out Funny, but that didn 't seem to uvrk all that well either. Now Tom Eenney is supposed to work M'onders with a similar bunch of non-performers, and we can see how well that is going. The fault couldn't possibly be with die players themselves, could it? I So Kurds Foster can shoot the puck as hard as Sheldon Souray. Problem is, he can't hit the net. We sure could use Souray on the blue-line, but this will never happen.

Our managers obviously can't manage. I would like to say thankyou to the four wry drunk and obnoxious men who sat behind me in Section 221 and row 28 at the Oilers gam eJan. 20. Thanks for talking so loud that nobody around you could hear the commentators, and thanks for dropping the F-bomb e'ery second word. All I can say is, thank goodness there were no children around us.

Maybe next time you will actually sit and enjoy the game and ha'e some consideration for the people around you. Hope your heads were pounding so hard the next day that you could not deliwr the presentation you talked so loudly about the night before. I Give us a break, Kevin Quinn. We would rather listen to the play-byplay than your endless barrage of annoying stats. The Oilers (and us) deserve better.

Anyone who mentions Wayne Gretzky in the same breath as Taylor Hall should be arrested. I I could not think of a single reason why the Oilers would keep playing a goaltender with 11 straight losses, and one of the worst save percentages in the NHL (.857 in his last three games). Then it came to me there are 3.75 million reasons. I Since the Oilers play in Oil City, why don 't the oil companies pay for the new arena? In the past, the mayor has pleaded poverty regarding municipalities' rather limited revenue-generating powers, but now he's proposing a community revitalization levy that would divert a considerable portion of our limited future property tax revenues away from funding essential civic services, all to pay for upgraded housing for a non-essential, private sports business instead? I With a little spring training, Ricky Ray could be the CFVs version of Aaron Rodgers. Check out Venting's Facebook page at facebook.

comli.enting. E-mail us at venting(5 edmontonjournal. com, call 7S0-429-5196 or write us at The journal Building. 10006 101st 7 5 OSI. Compiled by Philip Mail SPORTS CALENDAR NHL: EDMONTON OILERS All games 630 CHED I WEDNESDAY: Los Angeles Kings, 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY: at St. Louis Blues, 6 p.m. I SATURDAY: at Columbus Blue Jackets, 5 p.m. EDMONTON OIL KINGS fi' All games on Team 1260 I TUESDAY: at Seattle Thunderbirds, 8:05 p.m. NATIONAL LACROSSE EDMONTON RUSH I FRIDAY, FEB.

11; Washington Stealth, 7 p.m. IN THE BLEACHERS "Nice try. i More winter sports C5 down the course to cheers from the crowd. In the end, Heil finished 12th out of 12 competitors on a blustery day in the Alberta foothills. The 27-year-old took a few moments to compose herself.

She closed her eyes, took several deep breaths, hugged her mother, bit down on her lower lip, then buried her head on the shoulder of coach boyfriend Dominick Gauthier. By the time she reached the mix zone, Heil had her composure back. "Obviously, Tm disappointed with the result," she said with a smile. "But I just felt so lucky being up top. I feel so lucky to have lived so many incredible moments.

So lucky to Plays of the Super Bowl and use the money toward a down payment on Yankees tickets." An Italian show company will pay for repairs to The Colosseum. The project will include increased chariot parking, improvements to the lions' den and a retractable roof. Currie, on the Neues Museum in Germany rejecting an Egyptian request to return Queen Nefertiti, one of the oldest busts in their collection: "In a related story, the Cincinnati Bengals say they won't trade Carson Palmer." Former NFL coach Tony Dungy CAM HUTCHINSON Potmedia Sports Staff CM (. RY Flying down the hill at 66 kilometres an hour, Warren Shouldice cork-; screwed rou ghly six storeys into the air in a perfect quadruple-twisting v' triple-backflip. Upon landing, the Calgarian stuck out his tongue and pumped his fists in the air.

With his family and friends shrieking in the background, Shouldice stuck out his index finger to signify' his spot at No. 1. No. 1 at a World Cup aerials event No. 1 at home.

No. 1 for the first time in more than five years. How sweet it is. "I had no idea how special it would be until it happened," Shouldice still trying to catch his breath on a blustery da)' at Canada Olympic Park. "Now having won it at home, I realize it means so much more.

"It's one of the best days of my life. Til remember this forever." Shouldice, a two-time Olym-pian, placed first with a combined score of 244.90. Renato Ulrich of Switzerland finished second at 243.01. Scotty Bahrke of the United States captured bronze with a score "of 229.57. Shouldice won the event despite suffering from a bruised right arm and a variety of leg ailments, includ-" ing a strained knee ligament.

Shouldice is the elder statesman -of a men's team that shows plenty of promise. "Jean-Andre Christophe, 21, of Montreal finished fourth. Remi Belanger, 23, of Mascouche, finished sixth. Trans Gerrits, 19, of Milton, placed ninth. On the women's side, Shaung Cheng of China captured gold, countrywoman Mengtao Xu won silver.

Olga Volkova of Ukraine Avon bronze. Sabrina Guerin of Montreal came in fifth, while Crystal Lee of Toronto i eighth. Postmedia Sews Saskatoon StarPhnenix RJCurrie, after Vie Bachelor contestant Michelle Money revealed she had an affair with NBA star Carlos Boozer while he was married and playing for the Jazz: "This only confirms what's long been known in the NBA. Money talks." Kobe Bryant is on pace to set a record for most missed field goals in Eistory. The record is currently held ty the Gramatica brothers.

From Bill Littlejohn: "Among current and former NFL players challenging Jay Cuder's toughness was Deion Sanders. Isn't that like having your country's toughness ON THE AIR TENNIS 10:30 a.m.. TSN Australian Open, men's final. Andy Murray vs. Novak Cjokovic PGA 1 p.m., Global, CBS Farmers Insurance Open, final round, from San Diego CURLING 11 a.m., CBC Capital One Grand I Slam: BDO Canadian Open, final NBA 11 a.m..

AEC Miami Heat at Oklahoma City Thunder 1:30 p.m., ABC Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers i I 6 p.m.. Score New Orleans jo Hornets at Phoenix Suns PGA 1 p.m., Global, CBS Farmers Insurance Open, final round, from San Diego NHL 2 p.m., CBC All-star game, from Raleigh, N.C. NFL I 5 p.m., TSN. Fox AFC-NFC Pro Br-wi. f'om Honolulu, Hawaii More TV listings on C5 questioned by Switzerland?" Vancouver comic Torben Rolfsen after Rafael Nadal was injured but refused to withdraw from the Australian Open: "Chicago Bears fans want to bring him in for a QB tryout." Derek W' ilken, on Jack LaLanne, the first real w-eightiifring guru dying at 96: "In accordance, his body will be cremated and his ashes kicked in the face of a 98-pound weakling." Janice Hough says there was an upside for fans after the New York Jets' disappointing loss: "They can save the ridiculous sums they were planning to spend on going to the have had such opportunities." As for the crash, Heil looked at it in the big picture.

"This is sport," she said. "It happens. This puts into perspective how great it is when it goes right." Reigning Oljinpic gold medallist Hannah Kearney of the United States won the gold with a score of 24.43. Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City captured silver with 22.71 points. Ekaterina Stolyarova of Russia won bronze with 22.59 points.

On this day, though, the focus was on Heil. "It's pretty heartbreaking, because it's her last World Cup here in Canada," Robichaud said. "This is her home. It's really sad to see her fall. She's a great skier.

"She will truly be missed in her sport, for sure." Postmedia News week and his wife will co-author eight children's books. Here are storylines for the first three: 3. A geeky kid with no athletic ability dreams of one day playing quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts; 2. A crude chubby boy hopes to follow in his father's footsteps and become a football coach; 1. A confused little boy who can never make a decision combines his two passions football and photography into a career.

Currie, on heavy snow accumulation causing the roof of an Edmonton recreation centre to collapse: "It is not to be confused with Rexall Place, where the roof caved in on the Oilers long ago." Postmedia Nugent-Hopkins NHL combine. He talks daily to both his parents, who urge him to enjoy the ride, as crazy as it may be. They are all trying to come to grips with the fact that he's just a normal Grade 12 student with average marks at Hunting Hills High School in Red Deer, getting ready to graduate, yet he's on the verge of even more notoriety and vast riches as an NHL first-rounder. "I think about it more often now," he said of his draft day. "It's pretty surreal for me and my family.

I never thought this was going to happen when I started playing but it's a great opportunity I have before me and Fm going to embrace it as much as I can." dharncs edmontonjournal. com It pretty surreal for me and my family CASSESE. REUTERS. FILE Deer Rebels forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins makes a pass during the Jan. 19 top prospects game in Toronto.

BARNES Continued from CI Roger said Ryan and older brother Adam were both athletic and loved baseball and football, too. Ryan started walking at nine months, running at a year, skating at 2-12 and playing hockey at three. "You'd see this little guy zipping around, you just knew he was good. But, of course, I never thought then about him playing junior hockey or getting drafted." But in due time, Ryan certainly did. His mother, Debbie Nugent, remembers an elementary school assignment from Grade 3 or 4.

"It was one of those 'What I want to be when I grow up' projects. Ryan said he wanted to be an NHL player. His teacher said that wasn't realistic and he had to come up with another one. I think he chose architect or something like that. We weren't really impressed.

That was so wrong. Anything is unrealistic when you're in Grade 3 or 4. It's a dream, right?" And Nugent-Hopkins is living it He has put in the time, his parents have offered support, both financial and moral, and he has benefitted from the coaching of people like Jon Calvano, John Batchelor and Wal-lin. Ryan has sacrificed, too, giving up basketball, volleyball and track and field in order to concentrate on hockey. Of course, there was his Red move to another province at age 16, a life-changer made easier on everyone due to the kindness of Craig and Kim Nykyforuk, his billets.

"I had never really left home up until last year, so it was a huge change for me and my family," said Nugent-Hopkins. "It's been really good. I love my billets. The family is inct edible and they have a great setup in the house. I kind of have the basement to myelf.

There's a pool table and a nice movie room and I have my own bathroom. The team has really taken me in, too, and they make you feel like it's a big family." His support system has grown to include agent Rick Valette of Octagon. He'll also work this summer with personal trainer Carlo Sferra in order to get ready for the.