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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-02-21, Page 9Join the PACZKI Parade all this week until Tuesday, Feb. 27 at Scrimgeour's MOD TOM Blyth 523-4551 Order your Paczkl today in our bakery LAURENTIAN BANK OF CANADA For All Your RRSPs & Investment Needs See us at The Laurentian Bank of Canada 237 Josephine St., Wingham 357-2022 THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2001. PAGE 9. PeeWee Bulldogs begin playoff s with Howick The Blyth PeeWee Bulldogs trav- elled to Howick for their second game of group playoffs. The two teams battled back and forth through a scoreless first period. Howick went up in the second on a power play. Blyth tied it early in the third when Darren Austin broke down the ice. He was tripped, but still managed to slide the puck into the net. The Bulldogs enjoyed a five- minute powerplay near the end of the game but failed to capitalize on their chances. Jeffrey Elliott continued his strong play making several amazing saves. The game ended in a 1.-1 tie. On Feb. 13 the PeeWees made the trip to Belmore. -Blyth opened the scoring with 31 seconds remaining in the first period. Josh Albrechtas picked up a Darcey Cook pass inside the Belmore blueline, skated in and let go with a backhand shot. Belmore replied in the second to draw even and send the teams to the dressing rooms tied 1-1. Blyth came out flying in the third and got the go-ahead marker. Cook steered the puck back to Brittney Peters on the point who skated in and Lightning The Saugeen Maitland Lightning Bantam Girls travelled to London Feb. 15 for an exhibition game with the London Devilettes. • Saugeen went into London short staffed with three of their regular players out for various reasons and it showed as the best part of the first period was spent in their end. Goalie Terri Allen stopped London several times before they finally got one past ey playoffs under- way in the area are a perfect example that life's recre- ation does not end at the age of 20. Despite being a step slower and a pound heavier than in their teenage years the joy and exuberance of chasing a champi- onship is still very evident. The result is pure entertainment and for $5 admission there is no better value for your money. Although it has been almost 20 years, I still vividly remember my final year of intermediate hockey, probably because it resulted in the only title I won as a player at the sen- ior level. I actually had no plans for playing that season, having turned my atten- tion to coaching in our minor hockey system and sitting on the executive of the first-year Brussels Junior D Bulls. I had played the previous five season in the Ontario Hockey Association and deep down was of the opinion the Western would be below expectations, although my OHA exploits were certainly not record setting. However, persever- ance by the Wingham coaching staff resulted in a change of heart and by mid-January I had returned to the Blue and Gold albeit in a backup role. A tie on the last game of the sched- ule gave the Royals a first-place fin- ish and while I had played in only a handful of games I shared in the presentation of the silverware for the best goaltending average in the league. For reasons unknown I was given the start against Tara in the opening game of tix,op1opilking,,nnfortu7. fired a wrist shot past the Belmore goalie. Belmore pulled their goalie in an effort to tie but Albrechtas picked up a Brett Bean pass and shot the puck in the open cage with only 23 seconds left in the match. Blyth skat- ed away with a 3- l victory. Howick came to town Feb. 15 for their part of the home-and-home series in this round-robin playoff. Howick came out skating and hitting hard in this contest to put the Bulldogs back on his heels. The vis- itors hit the scoreboard in the first and continued coming at Blyth through the second notching three unanswered goals to take a com- manding lead at 4-0. Howick continued the assault on the Bulldogs gaining another goal in the third. Blyth's lone marker came at 8:50 when Cook hopped on a Kyle Procter rebound and snapped the shot past the Howick netminder. Elliott in the Bulldogs cage was tested often and did a great job turn- ing away many Howick shots. The final score was Howick 5, Blyth 1. The next game for the Bulldogs is 'Thursday, Feb. 22 at 6:45 p.m. against Belmore. loses 2 in her late in the period. London popped another one early in the second period to extend their lead. The Lightning started to find their legs by the midway point and had a couple of chances before the period ended. Both teams had chances in the third, but the result remained unchanged with London winning 2-0. London came up to Howick on Feb. win the series with three straight vic- tories, the final game decided in overtime by a future NHLer Jeff Bloemberg point shot. My second start was game two of the final series, a long, tense, over- time classic in Durham that ended after 35 minutes of sudden death extra time, luckily in my favour. I returned for game five, a one-sided home ice romp and then on March 22, 1984, played my last game as an active player, a 4-3 cliffhanger in Durham that gave Wingham the WOAA Intermediate A champi- onship. The memory is so unforget- table that to this day every time I enter the Lockridge Memorial arena my eyes are immediately drawn sky- ward to the banner hanging from the rafters. Following my retirement I strayed from the intermediate hockey scene and became more involved in the operations of our local junior team. It wasn't until the revival of the Crusaders in 1993 that my attention returned to senior hockey and the memories have been plentiful. Since then I have been the manag- er of the 1996 Senior A champion Brussels Crusaders, an assistant coach with Milverton in their finalist and championship years of 1998-99, was selected by my peers to coach in four senior all-star games, and last season came full circle by coaching former NHL defenceman Jeff Bloemberg of the first-year Wingham Spitfires. Do I wish I could still play at a competitive level? Not really, but ironically two former teammates of mine did return to active duty with the Spitfires this season. Talk about rekindling the flames of nostalgia,. The PeeWees participated in the Bayfield tournament on Sunday, Feb. 18. Their first game came against Hensall. Hensall opened the scoring less than two minutes in then added to that scoring at 6:32 to put the Bulldogs into an early hole. Austin got the Bulldogs to within one notching a goal with 3:20 to go in the first -assisted by Albrechtas. Blyth tied it up on a by shot by James Durrell set up by Austin late in the second. Hensall jumped back into the lead scoring midway through the third. Then Hensall added the insurance market with 5:44 to go to defeat the Bulldogs 4-2 and send Blyth to the `B' side of the tournament. Kendall Whitfield was selected as the Bulldog MVP. Blyth faced Bayfield in their sec- ond match. Once again the Bulldogs fell behind early with Bayfield going up 2-0. Austin had a solo marker to bring the Bulldogs one step closer then busted the twine again 14 seconds later on a feed by Bean to tie it. Bayfield went ahead again scoring a goal in the second period, but Austin tied it up on an unassisted 18 for a rematch. Saugeen was a little stronger with one more player than the previous game and hoping to give London a run for the money. The Lightning came out of the blocks a little slow,' but were soon pressing the Devilettes and testing the London goalie. It was back and forth before London took advantage of a mix up in the Lightning end and got the puck past Allen. The penalty killing team of Bridget Sheddon, Amanda Hill, Krista Cameron and Jackie Zacher held London to one shot early in the sec- ond period, while getting two good scoring chances of their own. There were a few wild scrambles in front of both nets but the period remained scoreless. The goalie never had a chance when Londori came out skating hard after the flood and pounded in a pass from behind the net. Saugeen came close a few times but couldn't get a bounce. Just after killing off a penalty late in the period, Saugeen found them- selves down by three, but managed to break the goose egg on a power play with 10 seconds left in the game when Cameron poked in a Crystal Ferguson rebound. Forward Jocelyn effort. Bayfield went ahead once more but the Bulldogs battled back to tie it. Whitfield shot the puck from- the point on a pass from Cook and scored. Blyth took the lead two min- utes later when Bean blasted one in assisted by Procter. Bayfield never quit however snapping one in the third. With the score tied 5-5 the two teams battled through a five-minute overtime period that was scoreless. This set up another overtime period with five skaters for each team and no goaltender. The Bulldogs mount- ed the pressure and Procter snapped a shot from the point to win the game for Blyth just 29 seconds in. Elliott was selected the Bulldog MVP for the game. The Bulldogs went into the "B" final and met Milverton. Blyth got rolling early when Cook took a pass from Christopher Bernard and beat the goalie on a shot to the top corner of the net to put the Bulldogs up by one. The Bulldogs added to later when Bean scored on a. pass from Austin and Orie Falconer. Milverton came back to make it a tight contest at 2-1. Albrechtas restored the two-goal Carter and defence Jessica Mann, both played strong games with Katie Whytock picking up the slack. The Lightning go on the road Feb. 24 for two games with Niagara Fall, then Hamilton and Brantford. lead when Cook won the draw back to him and he fired it by the Milverton goalie. The Milverton team had numerous scoring chances but were turned away by Elliott in the Blyth cage. Bean added to the Bulldog lead notching his second marker from Austin and Falconer, then completed the hattrick taking a pass from Cook on a two-on-one and snapping it by the Milverton backstopper. This lead proved to be insurmount- able for the Milverton squad as Blyth skated away with the victory end the B championship. Austin was selected the Bulldog MVP of the game. From the sidelines Rekindling nostalgia By Hugh Nichol nately lost in overtime. Returning to The senior hock- my bench position we rebounded to exhibition play MATERNAL/CHILD PROGRAM "A new way of providing service at Clinton Public Hospital" CLINTON PUBLIC HOSPITAL MATERNAUCHILD PROGRAM "BABY AND l" NO FEE NO PRE-REGISTRATION PROGRAM DAYS - WEDNESDAYS 10-11:30 a.m. WHERE - CLINTON PUBLIC HOSPITAL LOUNGE (Second Floor) PROGRAM TOPICS: Mar. 7 - Crying, Sleeping & Your Baby mar. 14 - Feeding Your Baby Mar. 21 - Living With Your Baby - Video - Diapers & Delirium Mar. 28 - Share Your Birth Experience! More info call Veronica Farquhar - 482-3440 Ext. 304