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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-10-16, Page 14Peps 14 Times -Advocate, October 16, 1991 SPIRT.' Hockey trainers - more than mending a few cuts By Fred Groves In every sport, there is always the risk of injury. Hockey, being a contact game, means there is going to be more than just a few bumps and bruises. Trainers are Just one group of in- dividuals that receive little praise, no salary and sometimes are sub- ject to even more abuse than the coaches and players. The Tines -Advocate recently sat down and talked with trainers Mike Soldan of the Exeter Mohawks, Andy McIntyre of the Exeter Hawks and Pat Riddell with the Lucan Pat Riddell Pat Riddell, starts her • third year with Irish By Fred Groves LUCAN - At the end of the bench, quietly and cautiously watching the game is Pat Riddell. In her third season with the OHA Junior 'D' Lucan Irish, she is one of a very few women who are hockey trainers. Being a hockey trainer, for some reason, is usually a volunteer position held by a man. While Riddell may not have the answer to why that is, when it comes to taking care of the young men on the Irish hockey club, she knows what she's doing. When Todd Hayter was seriously injured in the playoffs last spring, she acted in a very calm manner and more important made sure that Hayter re- mained calm. Ironically Todd. /War and his brother .Tim both suffered ruptured spleens which, to date, Riddell says that has been the most serious injury she has faced. "Mostly it's just pulled muscles and broken ankles," said Riddell after a recent game. Like all other trainers she is a hockey fan and keeps a sharp eye on the game. "I try and watch the play a lot, for my own protection. I don't catch everyone of them." It's tough to follow the play when you are either mending a cut in the fust aid room a tending to a pulled muscle at the end of the bench. Riddell became the Irish trainer out of necessity as Bev Hirtzel decided to step down. "I knew the previous trainer and he had enough of it. I helped him out before." Trainers are required to take a series of certification courses, Riddell has her Level Three and went about getting it in a different way than most. Instead of taking the fust two courses, she went directly to the third lev- el because of her past experience. "Because of what I had, I was a registered nursing assistant, I went right to Level Three: Said Riddell who also has CPR training. To get her third level, she had to attend a two-day clinic at the Universi- ty of Watedoowhich wsUhosted by the Ontario Minor Hockey Associa- tion. She is very serious about keeping her certificates and her knowledge up- dated and is even considering teaching a trainers' course. "I've sat in on a Level One course. The next one I could be helping out at and then I'll be teaching? Riddell may be behind the scenes in the Lucan Irish operation but her contribution to the team and its players is always in the foreground. Irish. Here's what they had to say aborti working behind the scenes... Mike Soldan's biggest fear seems to be the same as all trainers, a player suffering a spinal cord inju- ry. At a recent exhibition game, Sol- dan was quick over the boards to administer first aid to a Strathroy player. When you are a trainer, you forget who is wearing which colour jersey. "I shudder when I see a kid get hit into the boards because half the coaches don't know what to do," said Soldan in his thins season with the Senior 'A' Exeter Mohawks. "You should never go anywhere without a trainer, whether it be a game or practice." The Ontario Hockey Association has a regulation where there must be a person on the bench with at least a Level One certificate. That goes for all age groups. "There's lots of benches that have Level One and Level Two and that's okay. But my biggest fear is having someone get a neck injury." Soldan became the trainer of the Mohawks on a request by former -- coach coach Bob Rowe and since then has put in thousands of hours not only on the bench but behind the scenes. Broken leg: When asked what was the worst injury he has seen, Soldan was quick to answer. "Dale Gibbon had a broken leg the first night I was with the Mo- hawks. We got him on a fracture board and took him to the hospital." While everyone in the arena is following the puck, the trainer has to keep his eyes sharply attuned to the players movanents, especially after taking a body check. What may look like a harmless and rou- tine check, may turn into an injury. When Soldan first became a trainer, he said he thought the job would basically see stitches from the occasional high stick. But it's much more. Yes, there are certainly a lot of stitches. Soldan has kept a record of just how many various players have been given over the years, he calls it 'the sewing club'. In that group, Bill Glover has got 131 lifetime stitches, Andres Pre- vost 77, Dale Gibbon 59 and Kris Bedard 50, just to name a few. "It's those injuries where you see a guy go into the boards and he just lies there. 1 don't even look at the play, I look at the guy and see how quick he's getting up. When I see a guy get hit I don't take my eyes off of him until he gets up." All minor hockey players must wear a protective neck collar and up to Major A they must wear some kind of _face protection. One has to wonder though why a senior hockey player's manhood is ques- tioned when he doesn't wear some sort of face protection. Working as a trainer for a hockey club, whether it be the Mohawks, Hawks or the Irish takes long, long hours. Mohawks trainers Soldan and his partner John Miller spend a great Andy McIntyre, a busy fellow By Ray Lewis Andy McIntyre has been regis- tered with the Exeter Hawks for the past five years, but his role as a trainer actually began in 1974. That's when son Steve picked up the game and McIntyre be 8m ab-, sorbed. "Somebody asked me to help out and I've been involved ever since," chuckled McIntyre. "I'd always been around hockey and helped players, not just minor, but also senior with both men's and wom- en's teams." Following a full day's work, a typical evening for the trainer on a game night begins with 6:30 arrival at the arena to pack equipment or make various other preparations. The night wraps up somewhere be- tween 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., and on average he goes through this three times a week for five months, ex- cluding exhibition and playoffs. But that doesn't bother McIntyre. After the many road miles he still enjoys it, and re he maintains a healthy between it and his home life. "We have to schedule around things," said McIntyre, but they don't conflict." While trainers are required to par- ticipate in clinics in order to team various field related skills, experi- ence is key when detecting injury. According to McIntyre, you learn to recognize whether the player is hurt and the severity of an injury by monitoring, the hit. The way the player is hit, how hard, what, of the body and the way he went to the boards are all key factors hick McIntyre repeats over and over in his mind while scurrying across the ice. Sometimes the penalty called is a clue to McIntyre's diagnoses if something has gone undetected, as is the length of time the player stays down. According to McIn- tyre, a trainer always has to be pre- pared for the worst and when he sees a playa go down, he automati- cally thinks it Among the trainer's worst fears is witnessing someone hit head first, because of the potential for spinal injury. McIntyre said there have been a few serious injuries during his days with the Hawks, and re- calls a skate cut during an exhibi- tion game -in Mftd 1[M tlEie wont. "Andy Lerdcos got cut by a skate and it split the whole inside of his upper thigh so you could look right in; said McIntyre. "We had to smother him with players so no one could sex." Since he began as a trainer, that have been many changes in the deal of time preparing for the gams.. That includes getting the equipment ready. Exeter had a • $13,000 equipment budget last sea- son. But with the many hours away from his family, the bus rides to Chatham and Dunnville and not getting home to the early morning hours. Soldan enjoys it. "Ifs been a tremendous experi- ence, I've enjoyed it very much." VanKerkoerle shows he can score By Fred Groves LUCAN - Ed VanKerkoerle may be listed on the Lucan Irish's depth chart as a defenceman, but Wednes- day night he provided the bulk of the offence in the team's home opener• VanKerkoerle scored two goals and set up two more as the Irish beat the Mt. Brydges 7-6 in OHA Junior 'D' hockey action. His goals came at just the right time as the Irish built a 7-3 lead only to see it slip between their fingers in the third period. One of just three returning do- fencemen, VanKerkoerle said he doesn't mind scoring a goal or two to help the team. "Everybody likes to score," said VanKerkoerle with a smite after the game. Offensive defencemen are more common than they were a few years ago but this veteran blueliner knows he still has to do his job down in front of his own net. "You have to be cautious. You have to make sure you get back and someone covers up for you," said VanKerkoerle. In the pre -season, Irish coach Ken Needham had VanKerkoerle playing forward but right now he's back where he knows the game best. "Ed's good With the puck no mat - Baker connected for the Bulldogs. In the fust period, both Irish vete- rans Jon McEachem and Brad Bowers voiced their displeasure at ter what position he's at," said Needham. Doren Neil also had a pair of goals for the Irish who ran their record to 2-0 with singles from rookies Scott Riddell and Dean Hammond and veteran Steve Mat- thews. Poor start: Wednesday's game started out flat for both teams as it was 1-1 in a very scrambley fust period But the Lucan offence was clicking in the next period as they took a comfortable 5-2 lead. "I don't know if these guys were worried about their first game at home? The second period they started to look good," said Need- ham. Mt. Brydges got a very balanced scoring attack as Dan Schenkel, Mike Lewis, Greg Weston, Aarou Bergman, Shawn Taylor and Todd the referee and both received two minute unsportsmanlike penalties. "They've been told," said Need- ham who was not happy with the actions of either one on the ice. Irish 7, Lancers 7 On Saturday, Lucan travelled to Lambeth where they returned with a 7-7 tie. The score was deadlocked 2-2 at the end of the first period and the Irish held a 6-5 lead at the end of 40 minutes. Scoring for the Irish were Greg DePhest and Mathews with two goals each while Ross, Paul Wood- burn and Jason Wilson also con- nected. Dan Jenken got the call between the pipet and despite allowing sev- en goals, manager Ken Freeman said he didn't play that bad. "He looked pretty sharp. We let up a little bit and that didn't help," said Freeman. The Lancers had a big game from Craig Pinnegar as he scored throe goals. _-• — Lucan. b Idea this `OVe-nesday but travel to Mt. Brydges en Saturday to take on the Bulldogs for an 8:30 game. Hawks split Mike Soidan EXETER - A liege line juggling by Exeter Hawks Coach John Ker - nick paid huge dividends Sunday in Aivinston, as the Hawks overcame a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Flyers 8- 7. "It was a very uninspired week- end of hockey," reported Kernick. "It started in Belmont and would've carried right through in Alvinston if it hadn't been for Cousinesu." Kernick patched together a Has with Ray CousInesu, Scott Schiedel Continued on page 15 Andy McIntyre game of hockey. Nets now sit on magnets while equipment is lighter but offers more protection. As a re- sult, injuries have also changed. Eye injures and arts to the face_ don't happen as o because of full face masks, and McIntyre said it's been a while since anyone has lost a tooth. "I definitely wouldn't lobby against the full face mask for kids," said McIntyre. "There are too many little fluke incidents." Over the years, McIntyre has been involved with many teams and many types of players. He has been involved with nearly every age category and rest assured, -whenever a games is 1t press, the players breath a sigh of relief when they see Andy McIntyre. For the players who know him, it's comforting to know he'll be around for a while yet. With a cheerful grin he said, "I think I've got a few good years left." Reunion game set for Saturday LUCAN - The stars of the past will shine brightly once again as the Lucan Community Centre will be the site of a reunion hockey game Saturday night. Two Ontario Hockey Association Junior 'D' hockey teams will square off in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. It will be the 1981-82 chain- pioo Lucan Irish against the club that won the provineiertitle in 1986- 87. "It's to get the guys together and go over old times. We haven't had a reunion," said Irish manager Ken Freeman. He was the assistant coach with the 1986-87 team and will be behind the bench with Jim Hearn for Saturday's event. Some of the players they will be coaching are forwards Wayne Urbshott and Mark Bannon and goalie Paul Woolford, now members of the Exeter Senior 'A' Mo- hawks. Also strapping on the blades will be Grant Larson, Brad Hodgins and Todd Hayter. The 1986-87 team was coached to the title by Eddie Parkinson. While the 1986-87 group was a more finesse team, according to Freeman, he compared the 1981-82 edition to the Broadstreet Bullies, also known as the Philadelphia Flyers. "They were two different hockey clubs, the 1981-82 team was a tough team." Defencemen Doug Latta and Keith Hartwick are among the 1981-82 players who are expected to suit up on Saturday. Paul Wraith was a high scoring centre and Dan Sceli was the goalie. The team will be coached on Saturday by Dave Revington and his 1981-82 manager Bob Taylor. Revington is the coach -general manager of the Mohawks. "'There's a lot of talk of which team was better but nothing will be proven here," said Freeman. "It's kind of a fundraiser for us, we expect a good crowd." A dance and get-together is planned following the hockey game.