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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-04-22, Page 13• Bring on the Trojan By Fred Groves MITCHELL - The Lucan Irish are tired. They're tired after playing the Mitchell hawks to the seventh and deciding game of the Ontario Hockey Association Junior Devel- opment League west division final. -- They're tired of losing to the Tha- mesford Trojans. Saturday night in Mitchell, the Irish beat the Mitchell Hawks 4-1 to clinch the division. Tonight they will -once -again -take on the Tha- mesford Trojans-.for,the provincial - tide. of this story have seen Lucan goalie Bob Szabo and defenceman Kevin Leitch as the main characters. L.etich, in his fifth year with the club, said he's not nervous about the final series. '-"-ihtrnonfident. l'm used to going intothe final series," he said. Assistant coach Jamie Pearce, who had t0 settle for second best as a player in the past two years, feels things are diffeBnt. '7f we may with 76e same positive ipide. elI,-"die said. ers fanned on a shot but Jeremy Je- mcc jumped on the puck and scored what proved to be the winner. In the third, veteran Greg DePrest went end-to-end, scoring on a back- hander and he added an empty net - ter with 23 seconds left to play. Lttcan trnilod aades 'three games to two 'heading into the weekend. "Anytime you come back and win like that, you know yat'vo rgbt Szabo who is theskey to the Irish wTiit—Tag tiio33nw'T motto was "Anytime you come back and win like that, you know you've got depth" The last two seasons have seen the Irish finish second. They don't want history to repeat itself. "For the first time in three years, we're healthy," said Irish coach Ken Needham. "We have a better attitude. We've got guys who have been there for the third time. This is a different story." The chapters building up the end Lucan 4, Mitchell 1 Following a scoreless fust period, Lucan's Jon McEachem buried a long shot into the far corner on a man -advantage situation. Mitchell's Mark .Ulch took advantage of a powerplay and made it 1-1. With 1:57 left in the middle peri- od, Lucan defenceman Brad Bow - not surprised the series with Mitch- ell went seven games. "If that's Junior 'D' hockey, it's good for the league." Irish 5, Hawks 2 Good Friday was just that for the Irish as everything seemed to be going in their favour. In a game attended by over 1,200, the Irish powerplay which Lucan Irish forward Brian Schuyler is dumped to the ice by Rob Boville during Friday after- noon's game in Lucan. The Irish won the division final the next night. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1111)1111111111111111111111II1111111Rllino nlllltiUl111111111111111111111111111111111NH111111III11811111D1UI11111111111111111111111111IIIII11fIII11111111111ff11111111111111111IIf111111I11111111114 anon MSER.r INSTANT COLOUR COPIES • • • • t Irrir Enlarge family or team photos to81/2x11 or even 11 x 17 instantly with outstanding results Ideal for business presentation materials , even col 'lir transparencies 424 Main Street Exeter 235-1331 1111111111111111111111111(1111111111111111111111111 III III I III1111111I11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111(1111111111111111111111111111111f ill has bepn.zero-for-a very long time, cashed in as Tim Hayter scored with the man advantage. Two days earlier in Mitchell, the Irish played probably their worse game all year in a 5-1 loss. Game One 'We day In :uca 8:15 p.m. "I guess that's Junior 'D' hockey," said Needham who couldn't explain the reason for the difference in his team's performance. In Friday's game, Lucan took a 1- 0 lead late in the first period when Kevin Leitch blasted a shot from the point and Scott Riddell man- aged to deflect it. "I don't think we had the breaks," said Riddell of Wednesay's game. "I think the referee took a bit off our game." It was 2-0 when Jason Wilson .scored just 56 seconds into the sec- ond period. "As soon as we came out, we knew we wanted to win so bad," said itiddell. Mitchell captain Trevor Harmer .pulled his seam to within a goal but then Riddell got his` second of the game and Hayter's powerplay marker made it 4-1. Lucan had to play shorhanded for over four minutes of the third peri- od as Steve Matthews was given a four -minute face masking penalty. Hayter and Greg DePrest did an excellent job killing penalties all night. "They work well together," said Needham. Rob Jarmuth got one back in the third for the Hawks but it only took McEachern 23 seconds to give the Irish a three -goal cushion. After the goal, the Hawks showed their frustration as some- one threw a stick at McEachern from the bench. Salute to the provincial champs A11 good things must come to an end. And so the final sidelines paragraph is written about the 1991-92 Exeter Mo- hawks hockey season. After the final game, coach Dave Revington said in order to win, "you have to coach with your head and not your heart." It's a tough choice putting guys like Dave Randerson and Paul Barton on the ios.-Two very red hockey player, but_a couple of fellows who were not there when the Mohawks,fUtished sec- ond in the league and then overtook their biggest rivals, the Dunnville Mudcats for the Southern Counties League tide. Guys like Richard Hawkins, Greg Payne, Andre Prevost and Wayne Urbshott got the Mohawks to the playoffs. Payne lost a lot of weight during the off season and 'Fatty' might have to fund a new nickname. But the last time the Mohawks won the provincial crown. Bar- ton and Randerson were members of the team; so what do you do. • After spending two seasons with these guys, I honestly believe 'Fatty' and the boys in the bleachers were sitting there and realiz- ing it must be best for the team. I've never second guessed Revington. Well, when I kind of suggested Joe Scherer shouldn't be playing because of his lack of - defensive skills, Revington just asked, "would you bench.Brett_- Hull?" Afterall, Scherer was the leading scorer in both the regular and playoff seasons and he is there to put the puck in the net. The under -rated guys like rookie Scott Pfaff and Dale Gibbon are out there to do the grinding. Speaking of Pfaff, he has to be a prime candidate for rookie of the year. It's a toss up between him and Craig Oster, but the lat- ter has played a lot of university hockey and he was also matched with Scherer and Greg Snyder all year. Pfaff, a big for- ward, was fifth in team scoring with 21 points right after playing Junior 'C in New Hamburg last year. He will be a big plus to the Mohawks in years to come. What about next year: Rick Pikul is the best goalie in senior hockey. No hesitation on that comment, and every team he plays against has to agree. This workhorse played over 1,000.minutes between the pipes in the playoffs alone. He has to be the Mohawks MVP in the playoffs if not for the entire season. Pikul said he won't be back next year. Believe it or not, this could work to the Mohawks advantage. If he does sit out a year [don't worry fans he'll be back], that will give rookie Jeff Hill a chance to show his stuff and Paul Woolford who has been in the background for the past two years will also get some playing time. What about next year? I've heard nimours that Scherer might not be back and Gerd Brooks and Barry Baynham have to be getting tired of the long nights and getting banged around. During the season I gained a great appreciation for those be- hind the scenes, especially executive members John Pryde and Stew Taylor. Hard workers and big Mohawks fans, these two guys keep the team running. I know Pryde, a very big pacer during the games, was disap- pointed after be pit many hours into organizing the tournament Taal through because of lack of teams. Maybe next year IP. Also very unnoticed were the hockey wives and girl friends who went to every game, at home and on the road. To Jill Pikul, a certain referee will always remember you. To Nancy Shipley who went through the season carrying a little Shipley, it was tough on you but you hung in there. Throughout this column I have made the odd prediction of who will win certain awards. Probably the toughest is the best defenceman award. Mark 'Sparky' Soehner came out of retirement, Jeff 'Moose' Warren laced them up again and Chet The Fireman' Couture joined the team after going through surgery. And while Baynham continues to show his leadership on and off the ice, Kris Bedard was outstanding all season and gets my vote. Finally, Dale Timmermans. This guy is honoured just to wear a Mohawks uniform. He saw spot duty because of several injuries and Revington said to me one night, 'Trow can you tell him he can't play." This is the only Mohawk I hope doesn't play next year, just so he can give his body a chance to mend. by Fred Groves OPEN HOUSE Sat., April 25th 9 a.m. - 2 P.m. Qib Cadetrin ore bugh iuslM' m Cub Cadet will be yn:wirst choice! it's true. Right now Becker Farm Equ' your Cub Cadet dealer ispffering 4.9% financ- ing on the Cub Cadet lawn and garden tractor or accessory of your choice. 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