The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 65

u'iiiiiiiii SUN i SP(WfS it EDITOR STEPHEN SNE.LGROVE 605-2717 FAX 605-2524 E-mni sunsporlsici FRIDAY, JUNE 22. 2001 SECTION BASEBALL B.C. is a hotbed of baseball talent, PageF3 BUSINESS Demand surges for Canadian goods, but strong sales are a threat to interest-rate cuts. Page F7 it I Draft hits Ions time comin There aren't many examples of early success when Vancouver selected talent hinlMtyre 21 1 1 v. 11 uj a u.

I in I in 7 3 Back in the dark ages -let's call them the 1980s the Vancouver Canucks would have been unable to figure out a draft had they been sitting by an open window. The National Hockey League team tripped so many booby traps in so few years near the end of that decade that it's a wonder the United Nations did not send a mine-sweeping team to accompany the Canucks to the annual entry draft Dan Woodley, seventh over-all in 1986 boom. Rob Murphy, top selection in 1987 boom. Jason Herter and Rob Woodward, eighth and 29th in 1989 kaboom. Nuclear winter.

The Canucks staggered into the 1990s and in the draft's first round that decade actually picked three guys who did not spend vacations at the kennel. But the organization reinforced its canine reputation when, in successive first rounds, they plucked Alek Stojanov seventh over-all in 1991 and then detonated the H-bomb on themselves in 1992 in the form of Libor Polasek, who soon vanished. Not so the Canucks' reputation for picking more duds than CBS programmers. The fallout from these frigid drafts did not fully hit the club until the middle of the 1990s when ex-general manager Pat Quinn, unable to fix everything by trade, had little on the farm team to replace a Canuck squad that grew old and stale soon after its 1994 Stanley Cup final run. The rap against the Canucks' scouting staff continued even after draft guru Mike Penny started a winning streak in the mid-905 pivotal to the Canucks' current Renaissance.

DANIEL SEDIN (2nd, 1999) MATTIAS OHLUND (13th, 1994) 5. VANCOUVER 4. MONTREAL CANADIENS 3. NEW YORK ISLANDERS 2. COLORADO AVALANCHE 1 NEW JERSEY DEVILS CANUCKS IW Score: 39 Score: 40.5 Scon: (40-20-1) a Tki Score: 39.5 (41-21-2) (47-19-2) Scorn: 42.5 (47-21-2) The Draft Decade THE FINE PRINT Hits: Mat- Hits: Rober tias Ohlund (13th, Hits: Owen Nolan (1st, Each team' draft score for the past decade was determined by The Vancouver Sun by adding the number of draft picks who have played at least one NHL game with the number who have played 100, minus each first-round selection who bombed.

(The figure for single-game players was cut In half to weigh It equally with the 100-game category). Teams are ranked below by score, with single- and 100-game players, and busts listed In parenthesis. Ties went to the team with the poorer average draft position In the 1990s. Four post-1997 expansion teams were not Included In the Sun's rankings, and the five early-90s additions had their scores pro-rated. to Luongo (4th, 1997); Wade Redden (2nd, 1995) Misses: Scott Scissors (6th, 1990); Michael Rupp (9th, 1998) Hits: Martin Brodeur (20th, 1990); Petr Sykora (18th, 1995) MbKvadim Sharifi-janov (25th, 1994) Steals: Patrik Elias (51st, 1994); Steve Sullivan (233rd, 1994) Koivu (21st, 1993); valeriBure(33rd, 1992) Misses: Terry Ryan (8th, 1995); Brent Bilodeau (17th, 1991) Steals: Brian Savage (171st, Tucker (151st '93) 1990); Alex Tanguay (12th, 1998) Misses: Todd Warriner (4th, 1992); Jeff KeaHy (22nd, 1994) Steals: Chris Drury (72nd, 1994); Milan Hejduk (87th, 1994) 1994); Daniel Sedin (2nd, 1999) Miss: Ubor Polasek (21st, 1992) Steals: Mike Peca (40th, 1992); Adrian Aucoin (117th, 1992) See HOW NHL F2 ZigByPalffy (26th, 1991); Tommy Sato (118th, '93) See A LOT F2 Wallowing in heavy sea no fun Kiwi charge continues in Telus New Zealander Alker joined by Canadian Welder and American Tambellini atop field where he tied for seventh.

jj Alker could have very easily held the lead alone. He settled for a par 5 on the 503-yard 18th hole, I which had been yielding birdies 3 and eagles all day. After a solid I drive, his 5-iron came up short and after a so-so chip he just missed an eight-foot putt for" birdie that would have moved him to seven-under. "That was the worst shot I hit to motor out of the doldrums. You do not decide to stay home and try again the next day.

And if gale-force sailing calls for nerves of steel, you need a different kind of grit to contend with days like the one we experienced on the way from Ucluelet to Victoria. Sailors have a word for what we suffered through for seven long, depressing hours off the southwestern shore of Vancouver Island this mind-numbing roll, the boat heaving to one side and then the other in the endless ocean breakers, sails flapping and banging in the light air is known as wallowing. The boat goes almost nowhere, for hours, and you end up battling not the elements, but your own interior tide of frustration and dismay. I know I will never again use the term "wallowing in self-pity" and not think of this horrific day. It drizzled on and off during the morning and we sat on deck bundled up, watching rain drops queuing on the tips of our noses.

It would have been bad enough if we had been just sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves, but Norm Casler, our sail master becomes particularly determined in light air, first tensioning the spinnaker and then easing it, then tensioning it, then easing it ad infinitum each change of the sail requiring a tiny trim of the By BRAD ZIEMER Break up the Kiwis. The boys from New Zealand seem to be having their way on the Canadian Tour these days. Last week, it was Paul Deven-port winning the Shell Payless Open in Victoria. This week, fellow New Zealander Steve Alker is one of the guys the rest of the Canadian Tour is chasing. And if past performance is any indication, he'll be hard to catch.

Alker won the Tour's Order of Merit last year and registered an impressive scoring average of 69.14 along the way. On Thursday, he went lower than that, carding a six-under 66 that left him in a three-way tie for the lead heading into today's second round of the $150,000 Telus Vancouver Open at Point Grey. His 66 was matched by American Roger Tambellini and Calgary's Jamie Welder. "I've been working on my game pretty hard and have made some changes," said Alker. "I hit some stupid shots now and again, but I feel like things are builduig." Alker is competing in just his second Canadian Tour event of the year.

After having played several straight weeks on the Australasian Tour, he passed up the four tournaments in Myrtle Beach, S.C., earlier this year. He returned last week in Victoria, By MICHAEL SCOTT DAY 12: UCLUELET TO VICTORIA This weekend, a fleet of 20 sailboats will complete a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island in the Cadillac Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race. Vancouver Sun reporter Michael Scott is competing in the race aboard First Sight, one of the leading boats. This is his coverage of day 12 of the race, from Ucluelet to Victoria AT SEA, OFF BEECHEY HEAD The adrenaline in the adrenaline sport of yacht racing is not an everyday treat. The occasions when the wind screams and the rigging hums are the glorious exceptions.

More often racers have to deal with fitful winds, light airs and long stretches of boredom and frustration. As a racer you go with all day, actually," Alker said of the 5-iron he was attempting to leave beneath the hole. "And then I missed the putt. Other than that 1 1 was really happy with the round." So was Welder, the 26-year-old Calgarian who shot his 66 early in the day and finds himself on the top of the leaderboard for the first time in his brief Canadian Tour career. This is just his second full year on the Tour and Welder's best finish to date came at last year's Telus event at Mayfair Lakes in Richmond, when he tied for 14th.

He finished the year 49th on the money list and has set his goals a little higher this year. "I feel more comfortable out there and my goals are a little higher," said Welder, who played in the first group of the day. Td like to finish in the top 30 on the money list, if not the top 20. I'd like to have a good solid top five See WELDER PLEASED F3 WARD PERRINVANCOUVER SUN what wind and current you can find You do not start your engine Calgary's Jamie Welder chips In for a birdie to end his round at the Telus Open. Welder has share of the lead after shooting 66.

See RACE TURNS F4.