World Financial Group

So far this season, the World Financial Group-sponsored Nanaimo Clippers averaged playing two games a weekend.  But on week three, their schedule expanded to include a third game, making it a hockey filled weekend for fans everywhere.  How did our BCHL team do?

Friday's game was against the Surrey Eagles in the friendly confines of Frank Crane Arena.  The Clippers ended the first period with a 3-2 lead thanks to goals scored by Andrew Gladiuk, John Stimson and Cody Bremner.  The second period also saw a Clippers lead thanks to a power play goal by Gladiuk.  However, Surrey scored in the third to force overtime.  And in the OT period, Surrey scored at the 57 second mark to give the Nanaimo Clippers a 4-3 loss.  For his two goals, Gladiuk was named the Third Star of the Game while Connor Tiechko, who assisted Gladiuk on those two goals, was named the Second Star.

The next night, the WFG-sponsored Junior A hockey team traveled to Powell River Recreation Complex to take on the Powell River Kings.  This game started with constant shot blocking: the Clippers goalie Loic Boivin blocked all but one of 37 shots in 62:33 minutes of game time.  Then, in the third period, the Nanaimo Clippers scored their first goal by an unassisted Cody Bremner.  Joe Perry, assisted by Connor Tiechko, scored the game winner at 2:39 of the OT period, with the final score of 2-1.  Perry was named the Third Star of the Game while goalie Boivin was named the First Star.

Sunday afternoon, the Nanaimo Clippers hit the road again and traveled to Burnaby to take on the Burnaby Express.  Once again, the goalies reigned supreme in the first period with no goals.  But Burnaby proved to be too powerful for our Clippers by winning 3-2.  Both Nanaimo goals were scored in the third period by Cody Bremner (also named the Third Star of the Game) and Mike Domsodi on a power play.

The three game weekend trend continues this Friday, as the Langley Chiefs pay a visit to the WFG-sponsored Clippers at their home rink of Frank Crane Arena.  On Saturday, the Clippers travel to Alberni Valley to take on the Bulldogs, and Sunday sees another home ice game for the Clippers as they take on the Powell River Kings.  We at World Financial Group wish the Clippers continued success in the season! 

When you’re a world famous curling team, like the World Financial Group-sponsored Ferbey 4, your sport takes you around the world.  And, last week, the “Kings of Canadian Curling” traveled “across the pond” to Switzerland, where they finished third in a curling tournament.  But they returned home to play in their next tournament, the September Shootout.  So, how would they do in front of their home crowd?

The action started for the Ferbey 4 on Thursday, September 17, with their first opponent Steve Petryk of Calgary.  Although Steve’s team had the hammer, the Ferbeys only needed seven ends to win 5-3.

The Ferbey 4, the World Financial Group-sponsored curling team, earned an automatic bid to the “Roar of the Rings” earlier this year.  To warm up for those Olympic trials, Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque began their 2009-10 season this past weekend in Baden, Switzerland at the Baden Masters.  Joining the “Kings of Canadian Curling” were teams from Switzerland, Scotland, Norway and even Japan on the first stop on the World Curling Tour. 

Friday, September 11, the team, wearing their WFG curling shirts, faced two rinks.  Up first was the rink of Manuel Ruch of Uitikon, Switzerland, and although Randy and the guys didn’t have the hammer, they did score in five out of nine ends to win 8-6.   Their second match on Friday was against Thomas Dufour of Chamonix, France.  Although Dufour had the hammer and exploded with a five rock first end, the Ferbey 4 came back strong to take this match 10-6. 

On September 12, the first match for our WFG-sponsored Ferbey 4 was opposite Baden’s own rink of Toni Üller.  Although they didn’t have the hammer, the Ferbey 4 only took five ends to win 9-1.   

Unfortunately, their second match was a defeat. Event with the Ferbey 4 having the hammer, Yusuke Morozumi’s team out of Japan proved too powerful for Randy, Scott, David and Marcel. garnering the Japanese team a win with a score of 6-3,  

Still, Randy and the team progressed to the quarterfinals scheduled later that evening, which turned out to be quite fruitful.  Facing the rink of Jiri Snitil from Brno, Chez Republic, the Ferbey 4 used the hammer to throw a 6-0 victory in six ends. 

The semi-final match on September 13, however, would not see our World Financial Group-sponsored curling rink advancing to the finals.  In this match, Randy, David, Scott and Marcel faced the rink of Thomas Ulsrud of Oslo, Norway, who had won this tournament in 2008.  Despite having the hammer and a fast start, our Ferbey 4 fell to a 9-4 loss.   

However, the Baden Masters is a “triple knockout” tourney, which allowed the Ferbey 4 to advance to the third place game opposite David Murdoch and his team from Scotland.  And our WFG rink won third place with a score of 5-2. Brad Gushue and his team from Newfoundland won the tournament. 

Up next for the “Kings of Canadian Curling” is the September Shootout, which starts on September 17 at the Saville Centre in the Ferbey 4’s hometown of Edmonton.  Let’s wish our guys in the WFG curling shirts all the best as they take “the house” in Edmonton and beyond!

The BCHL Nanaimo Clippers, proudly sponsored by World Financial Group (WFG), played two games over the weekend.  The Clippers were coming off a weekend that saw a loss and a win.  Would the win streak continue? 

On Friday, September 18, the Clippers faced the Cowichan Valley Capitals at home.  Last week, the Clips played the Caps in a 6-0 victory.  This fact was not lost on the Capitals, who won this most recent game 6-4.  In the loss, four different Clippers scored goals: Victor Heselton, Tristan Lowenberger, Luc Olivier Blain and Andrew Gladiuk (on a power play).  For a timely assist, Brayden Jaw was named the Third Star of the Game. 

Saturday, September 19, hoped to see a reversal of fortune for our WFG-sponsored hockey team.  They traveled to Victoria to take on the Victoria Grizzlies, who defeated them last week.  And, for three periods, it was a very close game.  Clippers Brandon Fagerheim and Nolan Zarazun scored within three minutes of each other to take a 2-0 lead into the third period.  But despite an additional goal by Andrew Gladiuk in the third, Victoria came back in overtime to win 4-3.  Clippers goalie Chad Carder blocked 27 out of 31 shots. 

The 1-3 Clippers return to action on Friday, September 25, against the Surrey Eagles at the Frank Crane Arena.  The next day, they travel to Powell River to take on the Kings.  Keep reading wfgsports.com for all the latest on this exciting “Junior A” hockey team!

The cooler weather sports are getting started for 2009.  In addition to World Financial Group’s (WFG) sponsorship of the USA Luge team as well as the “Kings of Canadian Curling”, the Ferbey 4, the company is also a sponsor of the Nanaimo Clippers, a Junior A hockey team in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).  The BCHL consists of seventeen teams divided between the Interior Conference and Coastal Conference, the latter is the Conference the Clippers play in.  Team members’ ages range from 17-21 and many professional players start their careers on this type of junior team. 

The Clippers played their first game of the 2009-10 season on Friday, September 11, opposite the Victoria Grizzlies.  Although the Clippers lost 5-4, forward Cody Bremner scored three goals (a hat trick!) and was named the First Star of the game.  Two of his goals were scored on the power play and the third was scored shorthanded.  Also scoring a goal was forward Mike Domsodi.  Goalie Chad Carder blocked 28 out of 33 shots on goal. 

They went on the road the following night – and that game proved to be a winner. The WFG-sponsored Nanaimo Clippers traveled to Duncan to take on the Cowichan Valley Capitals, and once the Clippers took the ice, they would not let it go until they had a 6-0 victory.  Goals were scored by forwards Cody Bremner (2; one on the power play), Tristan Lowenberger, Kyle Kramer and Luc-Olivier Blain (shorthanded).  Goalie Loic Boivin played all sixty minutes and recorded 19 saves. 

Up next for the Clippers is a home contest on Friday, September 18 against Cowichan Valley and a road contest the on September 19 against Victoria.  All home games are played at the Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo and tickets start at $13.  Visit http://www.nananimoclippers.com/ for more information on this exciting team.  The fans at World Financial Group wish the Clippers a great season.

When most people think of sports in Edmonton, AB, they most likely think of hockey, with the Oilers and Wayne Gretzky coming to mind.  But once a year, the Dodge WPCA tour visits Edmonton for the 2009 Dodge World Chuckwagon Championship.  Among those participating was World Financial Group (WFG)-sponsored chuckwagon driver Buddy Bensmiller.   

Day one of the final meet of the season saw Buddy and the WFG tarp racing against Mike Vigen, Tyler Helmig and Rae Croteau, Jr.   Buddy’s team of horses was very anxious to start their fifth heat race.  So anxious, in fact, that they drew a false start penalty.  But when everyone realigned for a proper start, Buddy found himself at the finish line second with a time of 1:24.  However, his false start added an additional second for a total finish of 1:25 and only 6 points. 

On the second day of racing, Buddy’s horses were calmer.  Facing off against the same three teams in the fifth heat, the “Dewberry Rocket” crossed the finish line third with a time of 1:23.22.  However, first place finisher Rae Croteau, Jr. had a Wheel Knocked Barrel penalty.  With five seconds added to Croteau’s time, Buddy finished second and gained 22 points. 

Racing on day three had the WFG-tarped wagon finishing fourth on the track with a time of 1:24.49 and only 5 points in the fifth heat.  But the first place finisher, Tyler Helmig, had a wheel knock one of his barrels, resulting in a five second penalty.  That bumped Tyler to last place and raised Buddy’s finish to third. 

Day four saw Buddy again in the fifth heat racing against Mike, Tyler and Rae. Buddy drove the WFG tarp across the finish line in fourth with a time of 1:29.15 and 12 points.  But Buddy had a cleaner race than Rae, who earned both a false start and a failure to stop at the bottom barrel penalties.  As a result, Buddy officially ended in third place. 

The 2009 Dodge Chuckwagon Championship came to a close on September 5.  In a change of pace, Buddy raced in the first heat opposite Barry Hodgson, Hugh Sinclair and Dave Bensmiller, Buddy’s son.  In a race for time and not points, Buddy finished third with a time of 1:23.15.  (Dave came in fourth, in case you’re curious.) 

For the Edmonton meet, Buddy finished in the 29^th spot out of 36 teams.  His totals were 7:05.01 and 45 points.  For the 2009 season, our WFG-sponsored team finished 21^st with 895 points.  We at World Financial Group congratulate Buddy for an exciting 2009 WPCA season and wish him all the best in his future chuckwagon racing adventures.

Every sport has a pre-season training period, and the USA Luge team, of which World Financial Group (WFG) is a proud sponsor, is no different.  And while you think Luge doesn’t compete in the summer, our US team did just that in the mountains of Meransen, Italy last weekend for the “International Luge Start Championships”. 3

US team member Ashley Walden provides this explanation of the “start competition”: “[it’s] where you pull the handles [at the top of the track] and paddle four or five times and then [slide through] one curve”.  Ashley says the start competition is very interesting for athletes because it helps them gauge where they are in their training.  Each athlete is given three of these abbreviated runs and their times are combined for their final score. 

Well, for this training competition, the WFG-sponsored team started in fine form.  Among the ladies, Julia Clukey won gold by sliding to a combined time of 14.247 seconds.  Not far behind her was Ashley, who won silver with a combined time of 14.462 seconds.  Other US ladies team members sliding included Courtney Zablocki (14.691 seconds for sixth) and current world champion Erin Hamlin (14.788 seconds for seventh). 

Two of our US men’s sliders placed in the top ten.  Bengt Walden, Ashley’s husband, finished seventh with a combined time of 14.052 seconds.  Teammate Chris Mazdzer’s combined time of 14.140 was enough for tenth.  Also performing well was Joe Mortensen with a 14^th place finish of 14.212 seconds. 

Doubles competition featured two top ten finishers.  Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall had a 14.151 second combined time for fourth place while their teammates, Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin’s 14.185 second finish was good for sixth. 

Look for more coverage of our US Luge team right here on wfgsports.com.  And to our USA Luge team: your friends at World Financial Group wish you continued success throughout the season.