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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-01-23, Page 17• 0 PEE.. WEES. '4 OTS SHEAFFER PEN CO. Sponsore PEE. WEES Sponsored by �O1iICflHMIO1tI1RS. PEE• WEES a Sponsored by Paulijenders�n Considered School Before N.H.L. Future . jUOD1R-ICii 'SI NAkr*S FAE, ` UUT r, By LOUIS CAUZ The Maple Leaf practice had been over for about 50 minutes and _Paul Henderson walked up Church Street toward the.. parking lot. 6 It "was •shortly after 1 p.m. and Henderson's working day was over until 10:30 a.m+. the next day. He had 'worked hard, practicing with linemates Norm Ullman and Floyd. Smith. He was on the iceless than 13 hours after playing an important role in Toronto's 5-5 tie with Boston. The swift, fluid -skating left-winger with the big shot had spt p two goals, including the game tying one with less than three minutest() play. The two assists stretched his streak of games to seven in which he has collected a point, the longest streak of any Leaf this season. As he walked toVvard his car, mounds of snow on the front lawns reminded him of Lucknow, his home in Bruce County. - • "Ypu know, if it wasn't for Jimmy Skinner and my dad, I' might be teaching school up in Kincardine .or. Lucknow this afternoon." He recalled how the twQ men "influenced his decision to seek a career in professional hockey. "It was 1962 and we (the Hamilton Red Wings) had just won the Memorial Cup. I was 18 and frankly I was more worried. about . _ my education .than hockey. I wanted to get my Grade " 13. I wanted to be a teacher." - Henderson's mother felt the way her son' did about education." , "There were a few, guys up that 'way, like Denny Riggin, whom I talked' to. Hockey vyas great if you could make it.to the NHL. But don't forget at that time there wasn't expansion and there -were only 120 jobs in the NHL. ° 'I didn't know if I could make it. But Jimmy more or Less convinced me. I wasn't much of a stickhandler, but I; could skate. and shoot a puck. 1 always could. He said 'he thought I could make it. From my past experiences with Jimmy if. he said something, he, meant it. I trusted him. "Anyway, I. think my dad really wanted me to give it a try., He was some shakes of a hockey player when he was young and ,he really wanted me to make it." Henderson's father, Garnet, who died, last -:summer, had coached his son before he joined the Detroit organization. . In a peewee tournament, the 11 -year-old Henderson scored six goals' as the Lucknow team on 7 -- a - Mac DONALD MARINE PEE WEES r enil game, \ d 18, Is a d set � � up two others in a 21-3 vidbry. Henderson tallied 78 times in 16 games that season. , "I could always shoot high, which was' perhaps why I got all ' e those goals." News of his 18 goals . in one game sent NHL scouts scurrying into Bruce County. Toronto, Boston and Detroit representatives visited ' the Henderson household. "We were Toronto °.fans-, but the fellow 'who phoned my dad didn't impress us. He kind of put us 'off, saving something like any kid who scores 18 goals the Leafage- interested in , "Baldy Cotton; the Boston scout, was , real nice and we decided that 1 should 'attend the Bruins' junior camp in Niagara Falls.' Henderson never Made it to Niagara Falls , because Skinner persuaded him . that he should pay a visit to the Red Wing camp in Hamilton on his way to the. Falls. ° , ' "He said something about it being tough to make a junior team right off the bat and- the three days of extra conditioning I'd get in Hamilton would help me when I reported to the Falls. A ' Skinner's soft sell paid off. Henderson enjoyed himself so much in Hamilton, he decided to stay for three years. He helped the junior Wings win a Memorial Cup. He scored 49 goals one season and was named the most. sportsmanlike player in the Ontario Hockey Association. - In .the spring of 1963 Detroit called him up for their •• two remaining games of the season. His debut was against the €s in the Gardens and he made an impression almost,the first time he was on the ice. - "(Sid) Abel told me just to stay on my wing, but I managed to get into a fight with (Dick) Duff. I grabbed hisstick and he took a swing at me. I'm. no fighter, but I got a pretty good headlock on him." Henderson„, . aimed piroA the next . season . -'and- after a -half-season in the American League ''with Pittsburg, he was called up by Wings. . At one time, he was considered an untouchable in the Wings' organization. • Abel once. said: "He'll be Detroit's next Gordie Howe.” Henderson certainly showed, the ' potential. He was an excellent two-way player and after a 22 -goal season in 1965-66, it. appeared that he was on his way. to 40 goals the nekt `season. After five games he had eight goals; scoring four of •themin a 5-3 win over New York. But in November, Henderson was- stricken with tracheitis, an ailment that caused him to gag and cough when cold air hit his lungs. For a while he wore a surgical mask. The Detroit- club finally sent him to Scottsdale, Ariz., to clear up the malady. When the season was over, he had played in only 46 games and scored •21 goals. Leaf fansare familiar with what happened to Dim last. season when he was ,-"traded to Toronto. He scored in • his first game -with Leafs and management here feels Henderson may yet achieve the stardom predicted four years o. r' ys u -cause discarded a curved vlade. He sti gets more chances to score than any , other Leaf. His 15 goals is second only to Norm Ullman. If Henderson ever does make it big, like a Howe, Hull or Beliveau, there'` will be a lot of peq.ple around Lucknow, Kincardine _ and Amberley- recalling the "light he was'born.- As his birthplace on January 28, 1943, the NHL guide lists Kincardine. However, . Bruce County residents IinoW that he was born ina sleigh" during a snowstorm`at 6 a.m. some*ere . on the road between Amberley and :the hospital in Kincardine. sQuiers . 5 LEGION Sponsored. UIRTS . All STAR .. B s.. LEGION Sposored PEE -WEES AIS Stars scomammatmacturzarrannsum Editor's Note Paul Henderson played junior B hockey in Goderich and was a member bf -the Siftos team-undex._Ted _.INiiliams_Reserved.=on he- - same line as Larry Jeffrey, another NHL player, and also at times with Ron Feagan, whd went on to fame in Harness Racing. Paul Letter On Minor Hockey The Canadian Amateur Hockey , Association Minor Hockey Committeee suggests that every coach of a minor hockey team ask himself this question: "What am I trying ' to do?" ...• — Ain I trying to give kids, a ehance to play hockey? = Am I working to keep kids off the street? - Am' I really interested in boys - — Am I really trying to develop better citizens? - Am I really teachr'og my boys the fundamentals -of good sportsmanship? -•- Ami igiTnli eve "oy an equal chance to play hockey/ — Am I trying to see that the boys have fun playing hockey? -OR — Am I trying to win games to bolster nay own ego? Do I -say "I won eight games" or 'My kids wort efght LIONS Sponsored ANTAMS games"? And then ask, "which is most impbrtant?" * * * The Minor Hockey Committee suggests that every minor hockey coach might well decide early what his objectives are. We further suggest that the good coach, the coach who is sincerely interested in • the - Welfare of boys, will, try to make sire that every boy has fun; that' they are reminded constantly that they are playing a game, ' and that play and game means having fun. Then add instruction in sportsmanship_ and good When these lessons have been. learned, the boys will be ready for further teaching of the =fiiiidamentals of hockey. Remember --- enjoying the - game, is more important than the soon `"forgotten championships. Teach the FUN.damentals. .