The Province du lieu suivant : Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 7

A58 II SPORTS WHL THE PROVINCE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2007 May's toys pve pp twoBjoal lead to lose in OT COUGARS 4 GIANTS 3 so: Vancouver's 4th loss in five outings BY STEVE EWEN SPORTS REPORTER Vancouver netminder Tyson Sex-smith in the shoot-out. Sandwiched between those two tries, former Giants goaltender Tommy Tartaglione speared a backhander by Vancouver centre Casey Pierro-Zabotel with his trapper. The Cougars clinched the victory when Giants winger Mike Pilu-so followed Wishart's tally by firing high and wide on Tartaglione. Tartaglione finished with 26 saves in regulation and the five-minute overtime. It's the second time this giving up a two-goal lead in a 4-3 shoot-out defeat to the hometown Cougars before a crowd of 3,654 at the CN Centre.

It's the fourth loss in five games for the Giants (18-7-1-3). It was the second defeat in three games against the the struggling Cougars (11-18-0-0), who had come with one win in their previous 10 games. Prince George forward Alex Poul-ter, with a wrist shot high to the glove, and defenceman Ty Wishart, with a move to the forehand, beat year he's beaten Don Hay's outfit, pitching the shutout in a 3-0 Cougars triumph in Prince George on Oct. 29. That was another one-game trip north for the Giants.

In the past, the schedule-maker has had them come up for two games at a time. They'll games back-to-back nights in Prince George Feb. 29 and March 1. Thursday's game was actually originally scheduled for Friday, but the Giants convinced the league to move it, considering they're home Saturday to the Everett Silvertips. Vancouver hammered Tartaglione, who was traded by the Giants to the Regina Pats early last season, and the Cougars in their other meeting this year, a 7-4 contest at the Pacific Coliseum on Nov.

7. Thursday, Vancouver winger Evander Kane, with his seventh, and centre Mario Bliznak, with his fifth, staked the Giants to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first and second periods. steve.ewengmail.com The Vancouver Giants' bus ride back from Prince George may have never been longer. Not only did the Giants have to deal with a rare one-game jaunt north, they also had to stomach The search began in an Alberta snowstorm solid foundation: Chilliwack GM remembers finding franchise building block BY MARC WEBER SPORTS REPORTER fin At A ''At- irzT The Chilliwack Bruins traded D-man Cam Stevens to the Lethbridge Hurricanes Thursday for a seventh-round pick in 2009. The 1 8-year-old had yet to suit up for the Bruins this season because of a broken leg.

He recorded two assists in 47 games in 2006-07 and had recently returned to practice. "With the numbers, we didn't see him getting in," said Bruins GM Darrell May. "This puts us at seven defencemen and it was in his best interest that he go somewhere else for an opportunity." game seriously part way through midget. "When I was really young I loved hockey, but I almost quit," said Holden, the latest in a family of rearguards after dad John, one-time Vancouver Giant step-brother Jack Redlick, and Tiffany, who will be in the crowd Sunday along with I Iolden's parents and grandparents. "It wasn't a priority.

So I just played house league with my sister. "We were partners and we Jiad a lot of fun playing together." Even after I Iolden's passion picked up, it still took some convincing by May to lure him to the WHL I Iolden had NCAA offers the most serious coming from the University of Alaska Anchorage and he wasn't certain he could cut it in the Dub. But May kept calling and encouraging him, and a few days into training camp Holden knew he belonged and signed with the Bruins. Now in his second season with Chilliwack, the 20-ycar-old, who attended the Edmonton Oilers rookie camp this past summer, has attracted more serious attention from Nl IL teams, including Colorado and Toronto. I le's certain to get another shot at playing professionally next season.

"I didn't think this would come out of it," he said, "but now that it's in front of me, I Darrell May isn't one to recommend racing home in a snowstorm while frantically dialing away on a cell phone, but some things just can't wait. "I remember specifically that night," the Chilliwack Bruins GM said of watching Nick Holden play for the junior A Cam-rose Kodiaks three years ago. "When you're scouting and you see a player and get excited, you want to get him on your list as soon as possible. "I'm driving through the night in the snow, with about 50 feet of visibility, and I'm phoning all of our scouts to get on the Internet." The clock potentially ticking at that point was on the Bruins having to submit Hold-en's name to the WHL before midnight, in case another team had tried to list the strapping defenceman that day. Being an expansion team, Chilliwack had first dibs.

May's frenzied phone behaviour was to find out if I Iolden was already protected. "I went through three or four (scouts) 'my Internet won't work 'I'm not near my computer and finally I got someone to say, 'No, I don't see him on anyone's recalled May, who shares I Iolden's hometown of St. Albert, Alta. "I couldn't believe it. "Since then people say, 'I low did you find He was there for everyone to see, but for whatever reason he wasn't protected." What a find the Bruins' first ever listed player has turned out to be.

I leading into tonight, as Chilliwack looks to end a six-game skid against porous Portland at Prospcra Centre (7 p.m., the 6-foot-4, 200-pound sits seventh among Wl Ibdefcncemcn in scoring (M5-22). I le's the team's captain, their indisputable rock on the back end and he quarterbacks the power play. Surprisingly, I Iolden wasn't all that inter-I Cstcd in pursuing the puck life growing up, 'ontlntf to suit up alone side his sister TV 'liv'- want to go as hard as I can and take my 4 Wrm i hockey ns far as I can. 1 tTiflany in pec, wee aatLonly taking. iheL..