The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1999-06-02, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1999. Sports From the sidelines The right players at the right time fi/Hugh Nichol The Phoenix Coyotes recent decision to fire Jim Schoenfeld is another example of the insecure nature of being a head coach in the NHL. Despite leading Phoenix to their best finish in years Schoenfeld took full blame for the club’s eighth consecutive first round defeat. In fact Coyote ownership has stated the loss could affect the way people will vote on an upcoming referendum for a proposed new arena, a vote that if fails might lead to the relocation of the franchise. Although Phoenix management obviously over-estimated the teams potential Schoenfeld knew his job was in danger after St. Louis rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to tie the series. Despite his guarantee of a game seven victory, a 1-0 overtime loss ended the Arizona calling of the man who made famous the quote “have another donut you fat pig!" in reference to the officiating ability of referee Don Koharski. The career of Jim Schoenfeld has always held a special interest for myself especially after a surprise visit to our village during the summer of 1975. It seems Schoenfeld was a childhood friend of former Brussels entrepreneur Ron Ball and during a weekend stopover decided to make an appearance at the local arena for an evening of rolier skating. Schoenfeld had just captained the Buffalo Sabres to the Stanley Cup finals and although filled with anxiety I managed to obtain the treasured autograph. How secure is the position of coach at the professional hockey level? Consider that of the 27 NHL coaches, only two have a continuous service record of more than four years with their present employer. U-9s begin season with a win Brussels soccer is underway for another season. Good luck to all the teams. U-9 Team 1 is coached by Donna Prior and Jacquie Gowing. The first scheduled game took the team to Newry to take on the Elma 3 squad. Brussels feeling unsure of themselves, let Elma control much of the game. A fast pace and good fielding got Elma the win, though Brussels fought a good game. Ben Gowing got the only Brussels goal in this 6-1 effort. May 26 the team had home field advantage against Listowel 4. Excellent fielding by Nicholas Durrell, Ryan Jutzi, Janelie Bondi, Jessica Berlet Kuntz, William King and Danica Zwep made it tough for the Listowel offence. Defense was successfully handled by Taylor Prior, Kari Bell and Lucan Biesinger and Ben Gowing. Goal keeping duties were in the hands of David Pethick and Sara Baker who — Number one on the list is Scotty Bowman who recently completed his sixth season behind the Detroit Red Wings bench. Bowman is the NHL record book on coaching compiling an endless list of accomplishments during his career. The greatest tribute to Bowman’s ability is that of the five teams he has coached, (the NHL record is seven by Roger Neilson), only one failed to make a Stanley Cup final appearance. Despite rumours of retirement Bowman will return for one more season, an excellent move if only because he deserves the honour of having coached at the NH1 level during five decades. Surprisingly the second longest tenure belongs to Ron low of the Edmonton Oilers. Surprisingly because in Low’s five years as head coach, the Oilers have never finished with a winning record. Fortunately for Low, Edmonton’s recent first round upsets of Dallas in 1997 and Colorado in 1998 appear to satisfy Oiler manager Glen Sathers patience and more importantly his payroll as Low’s salary is well below the league average of $600,000. Most present day NHL coaches have learned their trade at the minor league so well the names of Nashville’s Barry Trotz and Colorado’s Bob Hartley may be unfamiliar you can be sure they earned the promotion. Very seldom does a team take a chance on the unknown as Chicago did with Dirk Graham. Blackhawk manager Bob Murray later admitted they set up to fail and promised never again to put a person in the position Graham found himself. And finally is this era of speed and transition, neutral zone traps, and hired to be fired philosophies the most important job of the coach? In the words of Scott Bowman’ it’s simply “to put the right players on the ice at the right time”. handled all the Listowel shots. Brussels controlled the second half. Listowel had some chances Continued on page 9 Mites lose It was a tough game for the Blyth Mites ball team when they took on Bayfield, May 26. After keeping Blyth scoreless in the top of the first, Bayfield hit for three in their half inning. Blyth started hitting singles in the second and third, putting runs on the board. However, they were unable to keep ahead of Bayfield. Bayfield won the match 19-8. Blyth pitching duties were shared by Kendall Whitfield and Erin Moore with the entire team playing well. In two previous games, Blyth was downed by Varna 17-6 and they topped Clinton 10-4. Taking a swing Nick Stryker of the Blyth Squirts keeps an eye on the ball as it approaches the plate during his at-bat, May 27. The team was handed a loss from their Brussels opponent. Brussels edges Blyth It was a close match throughout the contest when the Blyth Squirts ball team visited Brussels, May 27. Blyth took to the batter’s box first, suffering two quick outs before Kyle Procter singled. Mitch Ortman singled to push him over then a double from Anthony Peters sent Procter home. A single from Trevor Hopf scored the second run of the game. Blyth pitcher Procter had a rough start on the mound, walking five batters for two unearned runs. The visitors recouped the lead when Nick Stryker and Kyle McNeil hit homers in the top of the second. Brussels edged ahead with three Madill soccer teams win Huron-Perth The Huron-Perth Senior Boys soccer championship is now in the hands of F. E. Madill Secondary School players. After taking the Huron title two days previously, the team travelled to Stratford May 19 to challenge the St. Michael’s Warriors. Though the Madill Mustangs led 1 -0 at the midway point, the teams went to double overtime to deter mine a winner. Regulation time ended with a 2-2 tie. Ean Moffatt scored both goals It was Moffatt again, in overtime, who gave his team the champi onship. They advanced to the WOSSA tournament with the win. For the first time ever, the F.E. Madill Senior Girls brought home the Huron-Perth soccer champi onship. Scoreless through almost the entire match, Madill’s Carolyn Gat- tinger got them on the board with just five minutes remaining. It was all that was needed for the win over Mitchell. Mustang Cindy Freiburger earned the shutout. They travelled to St. Thomas later in the week for the WOSSA competition. in the bottom half for a 5-4 lead. Ortman singled in the third, accounting for the lone run which tied the game. Blyth’s Darcey Cook took the hill for the third inning, allowing two runs. Blyth managed only one in the fourth off a homer from Nick Stryker while Brussels added three to take a 10-6 lead. The visitors nibbled at the lead pushing in two in the .fifth with a walk to Procter and a double by Ortman. An Eric Caldwell single and Blake Miller double in the sixth added one. Brussels took the match 11-9. PRINTING IS OUR BUSINESS Colour Printing Posters Letterheads Envelopes Business Cards WE CAN DO IT ALL! A COMPLETE PR/MT/MG. SERVICE 1 BLYTH PRINTING INC. BLYTH 523-9211 Tigers win 3-2 The Brussels Tigers opened their 1999 Huron County fastball season with a low scoring 3-2 win at home over the rival Walton Brewers. Walton opened the scoring in the top of the second as Paul Dolmage plated Dan McNichol with an RBI single to centre to put the Brewers on top 1-0. The Tigers knotted the game in their third as Brian Niell tripled to left and was promptly cashed by a Doug Conley line drive single to centre. The visitors regained the lead briefly in top of the fifth as Scott Leonhart doubled and scored to a Steve Knight single. Conley pitched his way out of further damage as he fanned two Brewers with the bases loaded to end the threat. The home side took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning as Neill scored Moe Pipe who had singled. Neill was then plated by Conley to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead which they held on to for the victory. For the Tigers, Neill and Conley were each two for three. Conley went the distance fanning eight Brewers. The Tigers hit the road Tuesday in Lieury and play Zurich Rangers at home Friday at 7:30 p.m. Panthers play Rugrats The Brussels U-6 Panthers got off to a roaring start for the soccer season, May 27, as they outscored their in-town opponents, the Rugrats, 9-0. Though the Rugrats were very aggressive, they were unable to put one in the net. Scoring for the Panthers were Ty Sebastian (four), Nick Gowing (two) and Heather Hill (three). Business Forms Brochures Flyers Carbonless Forms Labels