Times Advocate, 1994-04-06, Page 15�Sl'1»rrs
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Times -Advocate, April 6, 1994 Page 15
ow important is competition at a young age
EXETER - I remember standing by the boards at the South Huron
Recreation Centre a couple of weeks ago and a young hockey player
from Campbellford said to me he was not going to be getting much
playing time.
In response to his statement I told him that at least he's here, here be-
ing the Ontario Minor Hockey Association bantam additional entry
championship.
An OMHA final series is something that many kids never experience
but the question here, especially with the additional entry teams, is it
all that important?
I've heard rumblings from parents over many years of covering
hockey that they would rather have their children participate fully and
lose then ride the bench and be a spectator for the most part.
Put yourself in the coach's position. What do you do?
Every coach signs on the bottom line at the start of the season know-
ing that if the chance arises, all the right moves are made and every-
thing falls into place, a trip to the provincial final will hopefully mean
a win.
1 have a very young son and when or if he begins to play sports, I
don't know how I'm going to handle it. Personally right now, I think I'd
just be as happy if Ryan played on the Lambton-Middlesex team.
No long nights of travel, little pressure and just good old-fashioned
fun.
He'd be learning the importance of a team, getting physical activity
and hopefully having fun.
Earlier this hockey season I heard there was an all-star tyke game in
Bayfield. All-star tyke - even the name sounds ridiculous.
To take a seven-year-old and telling him he's not playing in this con-
test because he's not as good as his buddies is very difficult.
There's no way there should be all-star games for such young
players, it puts unnecessary pressure on them.
The Shamrock League has an all-star game for bantam and midget,
this I agree with because it gives scouts a chance to look at a player
which may have some potential.
A tyke hockey player does not have to be showcased.
Congratulations
With the hockey season just about completed I'd like to take this op-
portunity to congratulate all the teams which not only competed for the
fun of it, but for those few who did very well in the OMHA playoffs.
Four Local teams made it to the final although not all of them won. I
hope they will cherish the memory of playing in the provincial cham-
pionship. You handled the pressure very well and keep looking at the
trophy on your dresser.
Congratulations to the Zurich Storm who won the peewee 'E' title
against defending champions Ops. To the Exeter bantam Lincolns who
proved to a few people around town that there are many good bantam -
aged players in Exeter, to the Atom Broncos in the 'CC' division and to
the Stephen Township bantams who are in the midst of playing Oton-
bee.
From the sidelines...thanks to Bob Morrissey for his great bus ride
on the weekend...Answer to last week's trivia question, what was Li-
onel Conacher's nickname - Big Train...This week's question, where
did the first professional football team come from?
Peewee Storm sweep Ops
After 24 years, Zurich brings home the OMHA title
By Fred Groves
T -A staff
PETERBOROUGH - The
drought has come to an end.
After 24 years of going without
an Ontario Minor Hockey Associa-
tion championship, Zurich has
brought home the peewee 'E' title
In a three -game sweep which in-
cluded a 7-4 victory on Friday, the
Storm defeated the defending
champion Ops Flames in front of a
large crowd a few miles away from
Peterborough.
While the many fans who made
the trip from Zurich looked on,
Storm captain Brad Brown except-
ed the Dr. R.A. Dinniwell Trophy
which will now be displayed in the
Zurich Arena.
The team's victory skate capped
an incredible season which saw the
Storm compile a 48-5-0 record.
Despite the nearly five-hour trip,
the Storm had no problem busting
out of the gate and taking a very
commanding 7-0 lead before they
let their guard down and allowed
the Flames to score four goals in
less than five minutes.
"We started on our bus legs on
Wednesday," said a very happy Zu-
rich coach Dave Hetherington.
Bring home the championship
4\
Squash tournament Saturday
EXETER - Spectators are wel-
come at the South Huron Racquet
Club this weekend for a tournament
which begins at 8 a.m. and will rein
until 4 p.m.
This is the first time the local club
has hosted a squash tournament.
Following the Feburary-March
league, Jim Jean won the division
one; Jamie Dougall was tops in the
second division and Wayne Mayer
won the third division.
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Baseball Umpire Clinic
Saturday April 16
Phone 235-0535
For more Information.
Pre -registration a must
before April 14 Ages 12 and over
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Above the Storm take a
victory skate in front of
their fans while their
skates and sticks are for-
gotten. Left, Jennifer Jef-
frey
effrey holds the trophy
while aboard the fire
truck.
Workout planned
EXETER - Fastball season is
once again upon us and any midget -
aged players looking to join the lo-
cal men's fastball team should con-
tact coach Fred Cook at 235-0831.
A workout which will also have
several of the Exeter Chrysler im-
perials in attendance will be held
Thursday at the South Huron Recre-
ation Centre at 7 p.m.
While his team was celebrating in
the dressing room, Hetherington
said what his team did all year was
based on respect.
"What we've done all year is re-
spect. Respect for the guys your
playing, respect for the referees, re-
spect for each other."
That, combined with a total fo-
cused attitude is why the Zurich
were able to lose less than a dozen
games all year. They lost only one
post -season game while winning
15. The only playoff loss was to
Wallace Township who were beat-
en in the finals last year by the
Flames.
Leading the way throughout the
year was the strong line of Brown
at centre flanked by Jarrett Jeffrey
and Matt Denomme. Jeffrey scored
four goals and set up two more in
the final game raising his playoff
point total to an amazing 26 points.
"They are talented but you still
need a supporting cast. There is no
1 in Team and they all know that,"
said Hetherington.
Brown had a goal and three as-
sists while Denomme scored once
and set up another.
A big part of the Storm's support-
ing cast was the six affiliated
players who did more then come up
and keep the bench warm. Atom
call-up Nick Regier scored the sev-
enth goal when he one -timed it past
Ops goalie Cory Phillips.
Another Nick Regier came to
backup goalie Darryl Smale while
Jeff Finkbeiner had an assist. Also
called up and who were a big help
all year long were Jeremy Geof-
frey, Matt Armstrong and Joe De -
Bus.
After building up a big lead, the
Storm went to sleep as the hosts
came back to make the score 7-4.
Hetherington called time out with
7:23 left in the game to get his team
re -focused.
"A couple of the boys were sick
and that had a little something to do
with it."
Greg Clark started in net for the
Flames but after the fifth goal was
replaced by Philips.
At the other end, Smale went
through several lengthy time spans
in which he had no shots. However,
when called upon he was there to
make the big save. Jason Ryall, Jer-
emy Boyce, Steve Ferguson and
Ben Fagan scored for Ops.
/4.G444 Tleu
Our special thanks to Jim Ramer as contact person who set up
all our playoff games and looked out for our interests. Thanks
Jim!
To the Zurich Fire Dept. especially Bob Merner, Ray Weido and
Al Bro,enshire for making our win even more memorable.
Thanks!
To Fred Groves and the Exeter Times Advocate for all the
coverage and support of our small town hockey club. We will
not forget!
To Mr. Doug O'Brien/Zurich Co-op for the generous gifts and
special welcome when we arrived home. Thank you Doug.
To Dan Turkheim who supported our team at all times and gave
most generously for our trip. Thanks Dant
To all the fans who were not relatives of team members, who
graciously cheered us on and attended our playoff games!
Thanks!
To the President of the Z.M.A.A. Bud Markham for making the
Journey with us to Ops.
And special thanks also goes to ail the fans, grandparents,
parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, etc. who supported all
of us win or lose! Thank youl
From Matt, Brad, Jacob, Joe, Matthew, Richard, Jason, Jeremy,
Jarrett, Jennifer, Shawn, Darryl, Nick, Michael, Nicholas W.
�Itll Dave, Jim and Bob.
There was a little political pres-
sure on this series as Ops coach
Doug Morey was suspended for
three games following an incident
in Game One in Zurich.
Interesting notes:...The last time
Zurich made it to the peewee E' fi-
nal was in 1976 where they were
beaten in six games by Little Brit-
Zurich coach Dave Hether-
ington, right; leads the cel-
ebration seconds after the
Storm won the OMHA pee-
wee 'E' title Friday night.
ain. One of the referees in Friday
night's game played on that Little
Britain team...Stephen Township
Sharks won the trophy two years
ago....The last time Zurich won a
provincial title was in 1970 when
the bantams won...Zurich midgets
got to the final a year ago but lost
to Walpole Island...
1/11
GOLF CLUB
Weather
Permitting
Golf Course
OPEN Sat. April 9/94
Driving range open now
Located 1 mile east of Hwy. 4 on Huron
County Rd. 6
For more Information call
Bob or Janet Mason
235-1517
li
*644
The Zurich Stor in Peewee "
Division Champions ►►ish to thank the
following businesses and individuals
for generously donating funds to pa}
for the bus transportation to and from
Ops Township. We greatly appreciate your kindness and with
the money collected from the parents and fans also riding the
boos we have cotnpleteh• covered the cost of our our transl►nrt.
Rank of Montreal
f crcv Bedard (
Cobble Design
Fisher's Ahhaloir
Huron Ridge flowers
leffrey l;ros. ('ons!.
Jerry Rader Ilomestylc Catering
Schilhe Pro Hardware
South 1Iuiron Vet Clinic
'l'cnderspol Zurich
Turkheim Printing
Westlake Insurance
Havvicw Golf Course
Richard Bedard ('onsi
Dan's Auto
llaherer Concrete
Doug Geoffrey ('ons!
Oke Woodsmilh
Ran Rros. Const. •
Scylers Foodland
Si. Joseph's Store
Ted's Window Replacement
Village ('ollectahles
Zurich Pharmacy
7.urich Sunoco
1,