In 3 1/2 seasons playing hockey as a centre for the Prince George Cougars, Evan Fuller never had to tangle with a raging bull.
Saturday night at the Coliseum at the Prince George Bullriding Challenge, the 22-year-old from Williams Lake might have to deal with a man-hater named Van Helsing.
Fuller, a seventh-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2006, is on the list of 20 bullriders who face the unenviable task of climbing aboard the seven-year-old C-Plus Rodeos bull.
"Van Helsing has been here before and he's been ridden twice his whole life [both times by Kyle Lozier of Williams Lake] and he's bad," said C-Plus stock contractor Roy Call, of 150 Mile House. "He's dirty, and the guys are terrified of him."
Fuller and his brother Brady, a former Vernon Vipers prospect, are entered in Saturday's B.C. Pro Bullriders event, which also includes Steve Hohman of Quesnel and Justin Siemens of Fort St. John. Siemens is making his return to the sport for his first show since he wrecked his shoulder last fall on the Pro Bull Riders tour.
With $5,000 added to the entry fees, a total purse of $8,000 will be up for grabs. Each rider will be given two bulls to ride and the top guy will leave with a $3,000 cheque. Call predicts the cowboys' choice in the second round will be Wolverine, a user-friendly black spinner with horns that made Scott Schiffner a winner last year at the Williams Lake Stampede.
Also in the mix Saturday is Mark Johansen of Strathmore, Alta., who paid a stiff price when he won last week in Keremeos. Johansen, a two-time BCPB champion, was bucked off just as the horn went and landed hard enough to get knocked out.
"We had a tough week, we've been beating the heck out of the guys," said Call. "A lot of guys are hurt already. It looks like the hockey playoffs already and we're just getting started.
"We've got a great field of bullriders coming. We're only taking 20 guys and everybody gets two bulls, a nice young spinner to start with and then a bucker.
"Mark rides very well and he won last week with an 83 on a bull called I Wanna Play, but unfortunately he doesn't remember it. If he was playing in the NHL he would have had time out in the quiet zone."
Call said about 50 per cent of the riders Saturday will be wearing helmets at the Coliseum. Johansen's head was unprotected in Keremeos.
"The helmets are great and they stop the facial injuries and the broken teeth, but the concussion Mark got last week, he would have had it anyway," said Call. "You land on your shoulder and your head snaps and you're going to go to sleep."
Call was setting up the chutes Thursday and he's looking forward to the first rodeo action in the Coliseum in almost 20 years. Close to a sellout of 2,000 is expected, so fans are being encouraged to come soon after the doors open at 5 p.m. for a show that starts at 6.
"What I like about the Coliseum is all the seats are great and everybody's right there, the sightlines are awesome," said Call. "I like CN Centre, it's a great building but it's too big for what we're trying to put in there.
"It's only one night and I think it's going to work really well. It's going to be a lot of fun."
n Tickets are $30, available at Spruce Capital Feeds or at the Coliseum box office. A dance will follow at the Coliseum a half-hour after the last bull leaves the chutes, with live music supplied by local band The Hayrollers. Dance tickets are $15.
n Event promoter Stuart Wheele is hoping to make the Coliseum show an annual event and wants to expand it to two days next year. The BCPB tour will return for the Prince George Exhibition, Aug. 12-13 in the outdoor arena at Exhibition Park.
n The BCPB tour stop scheduled for last Sunday at 100 Mile House was cancelled due to the threat of rhinovirus (horse flu).
