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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-02-19, Page 13W Et a w 5. CRASHERS - FEB. 20 - FEB. 22 HEAVY DUTY Vet •SAWZALLS u.7 w Cr• 41 • Senior 'A' hockey Mohaii&s drop two, finish second By tired (:roves EXETER - -Ail season long -The Exeter Mohawks have received strong goaltending but on the week- end their biggest weakness was be- tween the pipes as they lost two games. ` A 9-5 defeat at the hands of the Dunnville Mudcats on Saturday fol- lowed the next night by an 8-7 loss to the Point Edward Steeplejacks resulted in .the Mohawks finishing second in the Southern Senior 'A' Hockey League. It was the third straight loss for the Mohawks who are idle until playoffs gig this. weekend. Saturday night's game in Henson was for first place and it resulted in the Mohawkshaving to play Inger- soll B's in the opening round of playoffs while the Mudcats await 'the winner of to Dorchester --Aryhaersetrieglo rollr'th-placc. After the game, Exeter coach Dave Revington said finishing first was very important, not -just from the prestige point of view. He said the top spot, guarantees home ice advantage, the 'Mohawks wanted to prove they could beat the 'Mudcats -antf .Itaaily, Revington - said the B's will give his team a tough time. "We really didn't•want to play In- gersoll the. first round because we have a tough. time against .them," said Revington. Exeter took a very quick 2-0 lead on Saturday when Dale Gibbon scored just 44 seconds into the game and it was Tim Shields giving the Mohawks a comfortable mar- gin. Hut the Mudcats hauled back, --connecting with -three-powetptay goals. It was 4-3 for Exeter at the end of 20 minutes as Greg Snyde, and Joe Scherer scored. Penalties hurt the Mohawks as they let Dunnville back in the game early, giving up three quick goals. "Our discipline hurt us,- we took sC 11,0 poor penahies, said Reving- ton. Jeff Hill started the game and al- though he did make some key saves, including a stick save laying on his back, he was replaced after five goals by Rick Rettig. "Two of the three previous games we should have beaten thesn.`We outshot them and -dominated deem. We should have won that overtime game down there," said Revington Poor defence: Dunnville cam(' on strong in the second frame, scor- --ing four unanswered goals and jumping into a 7-4 lead which the Mohawks could not recover from. From the opening minutes of this game it was evident that defence for both teams would not be a main concern as they attacked the offen- sive zones with a great deal of au- thority. "They (Dunnville) get scramble - type goals. They flood the front of the net and they bang away at it," said Revington. Snyder was the lone -Mohawk to soore in the third period while Dunnville's offence was paced by `the three goal, two assists perfor- mance of Mike Kerslake. Dale Kel- lr had two goals with singles to Continued on page 14 Hensall runner is a Canadian champion Grant St. John is not only a busy man during the day at W.G. Thompson's but he spends many long hours running. By Fred Groves HENSALL - After a 20 years ab- sence, Grant St. John is doing something he enjoys and does very well, running. The Hensell resident is the Cana- dian masters champion in the 10,000 meters in the age group of 44-49. A former university and high school competitor, St. John just started lacing up his shoes again in 1989 following a 20 year break. "1 got married and I.strayed away from the sport. I kind of got wrapped up in my job," said St. John in his office at W.G. Thomp- son and Sons in Mensall. "About 1989 I kind of. got the bug to do some masters competi- tions. 1 always had this thing in.the back of my mind to give it one more shot." e (rose 20 years, St. John would go for the occasional jog but he would not run at all for stretchesup to six months. Now he is a disci- plined runner who trains at the Uni- versity of Western Ontario. both on the track and in the pool. "1 woke up one day and said 'i( you're ever going to get in shape and do this, do it right away or it will be too late'." While St. John runs up to 50 miles a week in the summer, he does most of his trainingnow at the univeraity which includes putting on a .wet vest and running in the pool. But that doesn't mean he doesn'tbattle the bad weather. "I have to or 1'11 lose it. In the winger 1 run around town." Third in bis-gre.p: lie recently finished third in his age group at an • HUREX • HUREX - • HUREX • HUREX f► HUREX Reg. 1282°' NOW$16995 SAVE $112.05 #6511 C>G2171DLESS DRILL #0382 - 1 • /.2 VOLT • 1 Hr. Fast Charge • Complete with case charger & battery • vailable 9.6 II, 12 volt th outs tetKlirt ,>Gtavings as well! Equipment and Tools HU R EX Hwy. #4 North, Exeter 235-0918 • HUREX • HUREX ' HUREX • HUREX • HUREX • >c M sk outdoor race in Michigan. There were 700 entrants and he was an amazing 35th overall. Two other races in Michigan earlier this year were fust•place efforts. "Most of the competitions are on the road but I love the track be- cause that's what I did as a kid." he said. St. John was fifth in the all - Ontario high school two-mile event when he iived in Sunderland and in the fall of 1965 was on.the Ontario wmning team .at the Canadian • cross-country championships. He was a member of the East York Track Club in the late '60's before taking a break from running. Last summer:in Ottawa, St. John, 45, was first in his age group at a masters hack meet which was billed as the Canadian champion- ships with a.time of 37.35 over the 10,000 -meter _:Mince Which -Is about six and a quarter miles. The -win was rewarded with being invited to an Ontario banquet where, winners of various ages and sports were recognized. St. John is scheduled to run in Michigan again on February 28 and is gearing.up to defend his Canadi- an title in Regina in July. "It's quite well organized. Mas- ters start at 40, there's a lot of par- Ucipants." The 10.000 meters distance suits St. John just fine and he has no de- sire to run the very long marathons which are over 26 miles. However. he has tried it once, the Boston Marathon in 1969 when he was at the University of Guelph. But now, he is content to excel in• the 10.000 meters. Stephen Kings move up to face tougher competition Iremember a hot summer's might nearly 16 years ago. sidelines My older brother, clad in kis work boots, was heating the tar out of me in basketball. / hooped in high - I,y .school and wasn't as bad as 'Pd he was making me look. (itt+t)v!s In between baskets, he just - stopped and said, "if yea want to improve, you have to play somebody who is better than you." My dad said the same thing evervtlme he beat tee In ping - .. 11 took me a while but I eventually became The better paver -That's the only way you learn All season long, theStephen Township novice Kings hock- ey team has been winning and winning big. I labelled them Western Ontario Athletic Association (WOAA) contenders -waybeek--in November. Stephen Township is an 'E' category centre but in their first round of thc WOAA playoffs, they *ere pitted against a 'C' category team, Mitchell. (Novices dont go past WOAA in playoffs). For those who don't know how the different letter categories come about, here's a brief description: .It's based on how big an areayouu draw from. The smaller the area, the bigger. the letter. Example, London would be 'AAA', while Stephen and Zurich arc 'E'. The 'E' centres tisu- ally have only one hockey teaimper age division. By comparison, Exeter is 'CC' and they have at least two teams per division. The argument here is -whether or not the Kings should stay in their own 'E' classification and have a very good shot at winning the WOAA crown, or move -up and seek a hater calf `-bre of competition. This is six of one and half -a -dozen of another Sure, we would all like to see the youngsters parade around the ice chanting, "we're number one". Hanging on to such a memory for years to come would be special. But on thc other side of the puck, you can't hold anyone back for wanting to improve. Some would rather be competi- tive at a higher calibre than win it all at a lower level Don't take anything away from the 'E' centres though, on any given night they can beat the higher teams. All it takes is the few basic ingredients; good coaching, steady goaltending, a few big guns and some role players who go out and get thc job done. From what I've seen. the Kings have got all of these. "We've been.bumped up voluntarily. For the benefit of the kids, WOAA moved us up," said Kings' coach Dan Conner. Following a 1-1 tic with Mitchell in the opening game Thursday night, the Kings had scored 262 goals in 37 games while allowing just 36. That's an offence which generates over seven goals a game and a stingy defence which allows less than one. In any age group those arc amazing numbers. "They am a good team and they can play good hockey," modestly said Conner. • The decision to move up to 'C' was not hastily made. Both parents and players were involved. -- 442411 -12 of them (players) wanted—to ;.play in ,.itis -other league." Whether or not the Kings beat Mitchell, whether or not they win it all, doesn't matter. 1 wasn't going to have an opinion when I first started writ- ing this but I do have an observation. The Kings should be congratulated, not criticized for making this decision. It's a tough one but I know this team will be the better for it Go get em' Kings From the sidelines: Ray Lewis who has been covering the Exeter Hawks all season• and myself, following the Lucan Irish, will have an -interesting challenge in the next couple of weeks. A little wager which could involve a car wash for the victor. Look for it in a week or so For the referee who was supposed to stay in Zurich last Wednesday night but instead went to watch his own boy play hockey in Exeter, naughty . ircwghty. Perhaps the single referee who did the gantc himscl should have received double pad , I've been told it doesn work that way...Sorry Leaf fans, its not going to happen. • 0 a • ° \&eddg Howeis drttroctu t r- .-le 1, 300. -- +'Aoidi&i►ont L coupdat or rtia16fN -V r .o -two wciAtio-vrtp owe -tom wrvte, ✓ ca r ostamArlv ftp that s at:out/at Jo av a t;io•itctj- ✓ Cotuntnm Flower* cued. (b alit Y Coika4 , , , weiaiti Ativiamtki. 'Ott, ' -the, prnfespe,ional V WO. bo . 3 $. 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