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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-01-07, Page 4PAGE 4 -.& UDERICH Si(=1 AL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1987 If Canada is to hold any modicum of pro- minence on the world hockey scene, from this day forward it will be ?or the game it didn't play.. A game between the Soviet Union and Team Canada's juniors ended with over six minutes remaining Sunday after the two teams engaged in a 20 -minute brawl on the ice in Czechoslovakia. Officials of the International. Ice Hockey Federation BHP' i decided to stick to the rule book, which- calls for disqualifications for piayers who participate in a fight, , and declared both teams expelled from the world junior championship. ° Canada had a gild medal at stake, a silver medal was more than a distinct possibi1 ty, if it could beat the Soviets by a ' five -goal margin. The Soviets, defending champions, were 4tt j g In sixth place and had absolutely nothing to play for. However, in the process of the em - harassment of finishing in sixth place, out DAVE SYKES of the medals; after winning the champion- ship in .1985-86, the Soviets managed to drag,Canada out of the medal standing with them. The whole thing is preposterous. . The entire affair was,sno doubt, an em- barassment and disgrace for the world -amateur hockey federation' which - air solutely prohibits fighting, but the scene must atao be put in proper perspective. The officiating crew did not have control of the game from the start. The Soviets continually chipped away at the Canadians with cheap shots that went undetected by the officiating crew. If they were detected, they were simply ignored by Norwegian referee Hans .Ronning. Also, the -Soviets had nothing to lose in , • this gameand may very well have; as Don Cherry offered from the CPC control cen- tre in Toronto, deliberately set out to brawl with the superior Canadian team. That's mere supposition of course. There is no doubt, however, that the Rus- sians were the first to leave the bench and rush to aid team-mates involved in a skir- mish on the ice wit anadian players. It has 'beea, reporte that Soviet coach Vladimir Vasiliev went so far as to open the door for two of his heavyweights to Opini enter the fray-. • The Canadian players then left the bench and what followed was a 20 -minute free- for-all with every player getting involved in the fisticuffs. The refereeing crew,, relatively useless throughout the game, recognized the futility of the situation and left the ice surface. The internation rule book does not tolerate fighting and the committee, in sticking to the - letter of the law, dis- qualified both teams. Everyone was in- volved in the fight. Some observers will call the action taken by the Canadian kids and coaching staff as deplorable and disgraceful. They knew the rules. Fight in the world junior tolirna- ment"and you're out. • The incident was not a pleasant vie fur world hockey, Canada or the Canadian team, and fighting should not be condoned at any.leve-1, but ? still cannot blame the • Canadian teenagers tor what they did I cannot Y blame- coli Beit Temp2etuis ° either. • . If you followed Team Canada player Brendan Shanahan's daily colwirn w the London Free Press, it was obvious the players were emotional in their toil for d • Canada. They were a proud bunch wt�e worked hard and felt as if they were play- ing for their country. They took the thing seriously. They gave readily and freely of themselves afid in the end., when the go& was within, reach, they got suckered by a sub -par Soviet team. No-one will feel worse about:the incith nt than the players. They gave so much and came away with so little. They had no choice but to leave the ice and protect their team-mates• against a Soviet team that had left the bench. Maybe it's time Canada left the politics of international hockey behind for good. THE NEWS SORT FOR & ODERICI°I & DISTRICT SINCE 1848 caaexic SIGNAL.STAR EST ALL ROUND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IN CANADA s (1(; •:'SII- A Ic), 1' • R.O. SOX r=2O HUCp( WS ST.: BNOOSTRrAL PARK GOOERrCH, ONT. N7A 4®6, PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED Founded in 9848 and publiohed every Wednesdpy at Ooderich, Ontario. Member pf the CCNA end OCNA. B..bscription° payable in advance 920.00, [Senior Citizen° 919.00 privilege card number regiAlredi In Canada, 960.00 to U.B.A., 960.00 to all other countries, Bingle copies 60C. Display, National end Clossitied odvertiaing rated available on regyeet. PI°eaa eek for Rate Card No. 16 effective October)9, 9986. 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DAVE SYKES Advertising' Manager DON HUBiCK . , FOR SUS[NESS OR EDGTOR AL OFFICES...please phone [519]524-2614 Second class mad registration. number 0716 Member [*CNA CCNA - Global overhaul needed That a hockey game between a group of 17 -year olds could provoke an international inci- dent offers compelling testimony to the theory that international sporting events are snore than spor4rig confrontations. The matter of the Soviet -Canada hockey game at the international junior tournament in Czechoslovakia Sunday; has been hotly debated the past few days afterboth teams were ex pelled for a 20 -minute, blench -clearing brawl. . . No-one can rationallyicontest the fact that the brawl was an ugly aritl disgraceful- incident . that has no place in the game of hockey; professional or amateur.' • ' - Naturally, Canadians, in the press; and An radio,and television, have been ably arguing that the Russian team must accept full culpability for the incident. They provoked the even- tual melee withan assortment of undetected fouls throughout the game, and, with nothing to lose but another hockey game, seized the opportunity to drag the Canadians down with them.. - The refereeing has been labelled as lax, and bordered on being,negligent, In his report to the International Ice Hockey Federation, Norwegian referee Hans Ronning indicated the — Soviets left the bench first, precipitating the ensuing brawl. ' But trying to lay blame on the Soviets or the refereeing really, skirts the issue. The rules of international hockey prohibit fighting -and call for the expulsion of players who do fight. In sticking to the rules, the federation had no alternati ,e, but tOexpell both teams from the tournament. �\--.,\.. '"'' The judgment was tough, but fair and necessary under the circumstances. ,• We don't think Canadians will blame the young men who jurnped the boards to help their team-mates. They lost everything in the process, 'a more than good chance at winning the ° world junior hockey •championship, and garnered the wrath of the sportin4 world. The . team's coach, Bert Templeton, will he blamed for, not exercising control. . No doub(, Team Canada players will forever wonder if they were the, best juniors in the world at that point: They will never know. • Perhaps the incident will serve -to eXpedite some changes to the international hockey system. Perhaps it will adequately illustrate the point that violence will not be toleratedin hockey at any level. Hopefully it will lead to a more professional system of officiating at the international level. Undoubtedly, if Canada is to pursue the matter of internationaLcompetition, then it must willingly accept the conditions of international amateur hockey and represent the country with dignity. If the conditions of international hockey are out of line, they must either be changed or Canada should ignore the whole scene. The incident does not speak well for the state of the sport, whether it's in Canada or eP Russia. Perhaps it's now obvious the sport needs a global overhaul. D.S. Free service commended Judging from the number of people who made use of the free taxi service in Goderich New Year's Eve, it is a service that' is valued. . Literally hundreds of party goers made use of the free rides to get to and from private and •public parties and others paid for rides to destinations outside the town limits. Commendations are offered to all the community -minded businessmen who participated inthe program and to the town's two taxi -companies, 10 and B Taxi and Gardiner Taxi, for their untiring efforts: .> The program is an obvious success and the benefits are immeasurable. D.S. In the wake of Sunday's disasterous final game -of the World Junior Hockey Cham pionships. Canadian hockey moguls may finally be forced to face a very dishearten- ing reality. Canadians, the inventors of contact .shinny, who once dominated the sport the way the Soviet Union dominates its satellite countries, are really not wanted by those who play the game at the international level. Just when it seemed the rest of the ° world's hockey playing nations were beginnjng to see the neccessity of allowing Canadians the occasional diplomatic boar- droom victory in •order to insure fair •competition–along'entrres a giant Belarus zarnhoniland mows down our whole team, ;;ince Canada's return to international competition beginning with the 1972 ('anada-Russia summit series, things have become pro {ressivet"y better for our Iloys on overseas ice. First, our unabashed pro- ''yfessionals were finally allowed to compete against' the bogus ."amateurs" which made up the teams playing at the highest levels of European hockey at the World Championships. Then, wonder of wonders, the Interna- tional Ice Hockey Federation even went so far as to alter the rules to allow Canada's best available players to compete in Olym- pic hockey. The old softies! Now however, owing to Canada's recent disqualification from the junior tourney with the team assurred a minimum bronze medal; and well on their way t� gold, we may be on our way to a return to the.Dark Ages–that dismal period prior to the '72 series'during which Canada sent no teas to international competitions.' And who could blame us? The Team Canada JuniorsL were not a team ol+ rouglrriecks and policemen sent over tri terrorize the "mild" European op - GOLLY, WITH NO HOME DELIVERY OF MAIL FOR NEU) ,SUSDIVI6ION,5 — /T S JUSTL// 'E 7HE GOOD OL ` D/9),/ / ... Ontario College of Nursesopposes division of nursing disci +' ines Dear.editor, For the past ,several years, the College of Nurses has been involved in a government • LETTERS review .of the health professions in Ontario. . One aspect of this review has been to- ex- amine the structure of .the College and its practice of registering both -R.N.'s and implications of two colleges for the public. R.N.A.'s. The College Council, an elected To begin with, the' public will need to body which establishes the goals, policies understand the difference between the two and objectives of the College, was told categories of nurses and which organization recently that there is a" strong possibility to contact for information or complaints. R.N.'s and R.N.A.'s will each have their The Standards of Practice, currently set by own regulatory body or college in the near one organization, wilt be set independently future. with no, guarantee of consistency in applica- Since the beginning of the review in 1983, tion. There, is the possibility that the. work - the College has inaintained its position that ing relationship between the R,N.'s and the the two categories of registrants should con-' 'R.N.A.'s will become foggy and difficult to tinue'to be regulated' together. The College Believes that nursing is one discipline and., that the R.N. and the R.N.A. complement one another in providing care to patients; The College of Nurses' of Ontario is responsible for ensuring that .the public receives safe, ethical nursing care from Registered Nurses and Registered Nursing Assistants. In order to practice as an RN. or an R.N.A. in Ontario, an individual must hold the College'"s Certificate of Com- petence. The College also establishes Stan- dards of Nursing Practice which identify minimum expectations for nursing practice by R.N.'s and R.N.A.'s. In addition,..ethical guidelines have been developed to help nurses in their practice. One of the ways in which the College protects the public is by investigating written complaints about the nursing practice of its members. As a member of the College Council representing Region No. 1, a region with 13,954 R.N.'s and 5,541 R.N.A.'s working,in more than 100 different health care. agen- cies, I am frankly very concerned with the define, and i wonder then if patient care will suffer? The College's mandate is to ensure that safe competent care is provided to the people of Ontario by Registered Nurses and Registered Nursing Assistant's. To divide or separate the nursing discipline may well weaken that ability. - The Council of the College of Nurses of On- tario has pledged its support for a single col- - lege and voiced a desire to continue working together to provide protection to the public. As an elected College Council -member for this region, I am doing my best to see that it happens. If you would like more information about this, please call or write me at, the number below. • Sincerely, Miss) Joyce O. Shack, Reg.N., M.S., Vice -P silent,., College of Nurses of Ontario, 1-86 Waterloo Street North, Goderich,, Ontario N7A 2W4 Bus.: -(119 )524-8323 Home :'i 5191524-4569 Goderich s helpful position. They were a team chosen for skating, passing and checking ability that were handpicked to take on -Europeans at their own game: The prominent role played by Huron County native Dave McLlwain, of S'eaforth, a smallish centre who's scoring totals far. outnumber. his penalty minutes, and his equally finesse - oriented linernates testifies to that. Still, they were a team accustomed to a the openly -aggressive North American style ofMockey–style fn which the loss of face incurred by refusing to stand up to an opponent's challenge to lay down the • gloves and fight; is at least equal to. the disappointment of failing to earn two ti6iir is on the scoreboard. The Canadian team could -have stood id- ly by while the Soviet players swanned on- to the ice and •engaged in fisticuffs with their outnumbered teammates. By doing` so, they might very well have come away to `Sketches Dear Ecittor: During the past twd years it has been my great pleasure to come to know Ontario in a. way few individuals enjoy. As host/narrator of Sketches Of Our Town, L have had the uni- que opportunity of delving into the.h story of some of Canada's most interesting towns and cities. Your own community welcomes rrty interest wlioleheartedly and spared no effort in making my pleasant task an easier one. Iltrr�ll from this , angle Patrick Raftis with a gold medal by default. However, by Canadian standards, the victory would have been a hollow one. Canada did all they could to insure the team sent to Ciechoslovakia would stick to progTam It would be an impossibility to single out. for mention all those whose cooperation enriched the Sketches Of Our Town series. I do wish to say "Thanks. Goderich": Mak, this new year, 1987, be a favourable one for your special community. Keep .up :the good work of preserving your values and tradi- ' tions, so very vital to our distinctive heritage.. • Sincerely. Barry L. Penhale playing hockey. The players were warned not to start fights because of the strict in- ternational rules governing such actions. The problems was, nothing was said about finishing fights. If there is a hockey league in this country–junior, professional or,,r otherwise–from which 20 players could have been drawn who would havl' sat still when the Soviet bench emptied, I neither know about it, nor do 1 want to. Proponents of non-violent hockey need -not be proud of the Canadian Juniors for failing to place symbolic gold ahead of a physical challenge. But neither should " they be ashamed. The Canadian ,players simply made a natural response to an unreasonable act of provocat!on. -The Soviet team, already out of.. the medal running, had nothing to lose when their coach instigated the brawl by open- ing the door and sending players'onto the Turn to page 5 e