Village Squire, 1980-11, Page 13sits in a sheltered valley near the banks of the Upper Thames
River. It's an attractive spot - resembling a resort more than a
farm - and the summer home for students enrolled in the Walt
Tkaczuk Hockey School. The farm, a nine-year-old venture
which Angelo owns equally with Tkaczuk, a New York Ranger,
and minor league pro Danny Seguin, is a project which stems
from a period when all three were together with the Junior "A"
Kitchener Rangers. With Angelo freed from the demands of
hockey he can devote more attention to the farm which, he said,
should be expanding.
UP THROUGH THE RANKS
Much like his partners in farming and hockey, Angelo had to
come up through the minor league ranks before turning pro.
"Well, I started out in Stratford," explained Angelo, "and I
didn't have much hockey myself. Bill Hartzburg (father of
Minnesota pro, Craig) camc to coach the junior club and asked if
I wanted to be trainer. 1 had to learn everything from the start,
including skate sharpening. I didn't have a clue what was going
on."
Angelo learned fast, and soon become the trainer of _the
Kitchener juniors. "At the time I didn't know if I wanted to make
it my career, but when I got to Kitchener, that's when 1 decided
I wanted it." The Junior "A" position was his first full-time
training job.
The minor and junior leagues are used by players to develop
their skills in preparation for the NHL. Angelo used his junior
experience for the same purpose. "I used to read a lot of medical
books and I was working with the doctors," he explained. "Then
team and their trainer, Angelo Crozier had retained the head
coaching positon. "That fall, when Cincinnati was ready to leave
camp, Joe called me into the office," recalled Angelo. "He told
me, 'you'd better find yourself an apartment."' Ang had
arrived.
HEAVY WORKLOAD
In some respects the trainer's job requires more of a
commitment than that of a player. It means a heavy workload,
beginning as many as 127 games and more than 100,000 miles of
travel in a season. An eight -month -a -year job may sound
appealing, but over that period there is hardly time off, and you
are often expected to put in 15 and 16 hour days.
"You had to be at the Aud (Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, The
Sabres home rink) at 8 in the morning." said Angelo, "then we
went to the practice rink. If we stayed there for two days it wasn't
too bad. On most Mondays and Tuesdays, we'd go to the other
rink, then we'd have a light workout at the Aud Wednesday
before a game. Then it was back to the practice rink Thursday,
then back to the Aud to pack equipment, tag it. Everything's
pre -arranged. Friday was travel day."
Game days provided no break. "We started again at eight,
getting ready for a skate at 11. We often had to stay til after
midnight. You have to be the last one out. It's a
seven -day -a -week operation.
"You do get summers off, which is nice compensation," he
added. "And the money is okay. It's above what the average
person makes who works a 12 month year. 1 sure wouldn't trade
it if I had to do it all over again.
"We should teach kids more hockey and less winning.
Kids should be learning and having fun."
you've got to learn how to treat injuries. I could diagnose a lot of
things as well as doctors."
After five years with Kitchener, the skills were sharpened.
Then came the call. "Joe Crozier phoned. I could have gone to
Omaha or Rochester. I didn't want to go too far away, so I took
Rochester because it wasn't as far as Omaha." That was when
Crozier, then with Rochester, made the promise. At the time, the
Rochester Americans were a Maple Leaf affiliate.
Angelo's ties with lmlach were such that when Stafford
Smythe lowered the boom on the controversial Mr. 1 mlach in the
late '60s, the trainer also left the Toronto organization. But
before he left, the parent club had asked him to go to Phoenix,
another team in their system at the time. By then, he was ready
to move further away, and he accepted the offer. He trained the
Roadrunners of Phoenix for a year and in the meantime Imlach
shuffled over to Buffalo and Crozier was out of hockey.
PULLED THE TRAINER
The next year Angelo took a job with Cincinnati, a Buffalo
farm team. "I really didn't want to go to Cincinnati," explained
Angelo. "Phoenix was great, golf all year round. But it %% as the
same deal. If Joe went to the NHL, I would go." The Cinci stay
lasted a year before an unfortunate turn of events led to his leap
to the Sabres. Late in that season, lmlach was forced to give up
the rigorous job of coaching because of an ailing heart. Crozier
was called up to finish the year, and he was soon to pull his
favorite trainer into the fold.
Hockey training camps can be overwhelming in numbers, and
the following fall the Sabres had between 130 and 135 hopefuls
trying to make the team, including members of the Cincinnati
Today Angelo has gone from the 'bigs' into farming, an
unlikely step to be sure. Now, with experience and exposure to
top -rate coaches behind him, he thinks he has found a spot
where he can put his hockey knowledge to work.
MORE HOCKEY, LESS WINNING
"I'd say the next move I make would be to coach young kids,"
he said. "Those at a stage where they need something to become
better hockey players. 1 feel I can talk to kids and get the best out
of them. I think people stress winning too much and skills not
enough. We should teach kids more hockey and less winning.
Kids should be learning and having fun. Today, you get kids at
16 and they don't want to play hockey anymore. They play 80 to
90 games a year and are under pressure from the time they are
eight or nine. By the time they're 16, they've had it."
There'd no doubt Angelo will get along with kids. It's a
mistake in a way to interview this fellow at the hockey camp
because a young player can't walk by without interrupting and a
few friendly shots are exchanged. Behind the joking, too, is.
genuine respect for the trainer -turned -farmer who somehow
manages to endear himself to the players during their short
stay at the camp. That intangible quality should help him as a
coach and a few comments, which in some ways may sound like
the ghosts of Joe Crozier or Punch Imlach issuing forth, won't
hurt either.
After that, if anyone needs further convincing, Ang can show
them his ring.
And who knows, the next time we visit him there may be a
third wish come true and another ring with the inscription:
"Toronto Maple Leafs, Stanley Cup Champions, 1982."
VILLAGE SQUIRE/NOVEMBER 1980 PG. 11