HORSE RACING IS IN SWEDES’ BLOOD
SCENE & HEARD
After suffering through the Vancouver Canucks’ 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals last Saturday at Rogers Arena, Sweden’s Daniel Selin headed to Surrey the following morning and drove Lydi Lula Belle to a second-place finish in the third race at Fraser Downs.
That’s not a typo. Daniel Selin and his buddy Fredrik Fransson are Swedish horsemen who train and drive trotters for a living. They were in Vancouver last week visiting relatives and were invited to the Canucks game by a couple of fellow native horse owners — Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
The 27-year-old Selin’s heart was pumping in overdrive Sunday when Lydi Lula Belle lost by a neck to Katie Snoops with veteran Serge Masse in the sulky.
The hockey-playing twins have been involved in the racing industry since the days when they were with Modo of the Swedish Elite League.
While they were suiting up with Team Sweden at the recent World Cup of Hockey in Toronto, the Sedins had their 11-year-old gelding sensation Nahar running in the $625,000 Maple Leaf Trot at nearby Mohawk Racetrack.
Nahar didn’t finish in the money but with his 39th career victory at Woodbine last week his total earnings have surpassed $1.8 million.
HERE ’ N’ THERE
Hockey fans in Langley will be getting an up-close look at the legacy created by the late Pat Quinn when the Vancouver Giants salute Quinn, not only as a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame but also as one of the original part-owners of the Giants.
The salute will dominate the pre-game ceremonies for the Giants’ Western Hockey League game against Prince George at the Langley Events Centre on Thursday, Nov. 10.
The list of Quinn teammates from the NHL expansion 1970-71 roster still living has dwindled in recent years but will include the Canucks’ first captain Orland Kurtenbach, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday.
SHORT HOPS
Among the roll call of Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 entrepreneurs for 2016 is J.C. Fraser, the general manager of the Vancouver Canadians.
At 34, the Vancouver native completed his 10th season with the C’s and fourth as GM this past summer. Fraser was named Northwest League Executive of the Year in 2015. Typically, the unassuming University of Victoria grad prefers to discuss the prospects of colleague Jeff Holloway winning the 2016 Northwest League John Henry Moss Community Service Award. Holloway is the C’s director of community relations and team operations.
“Jeff has led our community programs for the past five years,” Fraser says. “Nobody deserves more credit for our players and staff making upwards of 200 local appearances every year in support of minor league baseball in B.C.”
END ZONE
It is being billed as the “biggest multicultural sports event in Canada this year” with more than 800 athletes from 100 countries converging on the Bill Copeland Sports Centre for the WTF World Taekwondo Junior Championships Nov. 16-20 in Burnaby. Two athletes from B.C. representing the 20-member Canadian national team are youngsters Josipa Kafadar, 15, from Burnaby and Coquitlam’s Santiago Herrera, 16. Team Canada was selected following the recent national taekwondo championships in Calgary.