The Squamish Bald Eagles took care of business at the Canadian Adult Recreational Hockey Association (CARHA) World Cup in Quebec City this week, beating out five teams from Canada and Europe to take the 40-plus title.It was the second Cup victory for the Eagles, having won in Vancouver in 2000 but losing the title in the semi-finals in Ottawa in 2004. Bob Versluis, 43, said the journey was the perfect way to finish off the hockey season."It's four years in the making and for it all to come down the way it did - you couldn't ask for a better finish, it was a lot of fun," he said.In the final, the Eagles had to overcome a hometown Quebec City team that went undefeated through the round-robin. But momentum evened out thanks to a loyal contingent of wives and fan support from a rival but well-known team from Dorchester, Ont.Quebec City struck first but Squamish replied with three goals to put them in a comfortable position moving into the third period. Quebec City threatened a rally after coming within one goal with five minutes left and going on the power play with two minutes remaining and an extra attacker. But Gregg VanHierden led the kill to earn the 3-2 World Cup victory, said Lino Vanzella, 50."I think we pretty much had control of the latter half of that game," he said. "We got a two minute penalty with two minutes left in the game and I don't think they even got a shot on goal."Vanzella said to go through the tournament with just one loss it took contributions from every Bald Eagle."The scoring was pretty much spread out and we didn't have one player that was scoring every game. Everyone stepped up to the plate and it was definitely a team effort."In the round-robin, Squamish won 4-3 against the Swedes and 6-1 against Trois-Rivieres before their only loss, a 4-2 defeat by Finland. Knowing they had already achieved a bye to the semi-finals mixed with a bit of jet leg likely contributed to a poor performance against the Scandinavian squad, said Vanzella."We came out flat - nine in the morning felt like six," he said. "Our passes were behind and our skating wasn't there waking up was just like taking the kids down to early morning minor hockey practice."But for the most part, the Eagles controlled the tournament with a well-positioned classic dump-and-chase style of play, said Versluis.The 2008 Squamish Bald Eagles consist of Rick Bishop, Dan Moberg, Brent Bywater, Rob Gurr, Bob Cunneyworth, Rick Rosser, Rhe Lacoursiere, Tony Mahood, Myles Rosser, Scott Thompson, Dave Dunkley, Gregg VanHierden, Bob Versluis, Rob Vanzella and Lino Vanzella.In 2004 the team lost by a score of 7-1 to Russian team Lada Togliatti in the semi-final game in their respective division. "They gave it a good run for their money," said Executive Director of CARHA Mike Peski at the time.
