Times-Advocate, 1979-05-09, Page 12Paae 12 Bill Fairbairn helps anchor defenseTimei-Advocate, May 9, 1979
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Spotlight
By ROSS HAUGH
Three cheers
Special congratulations go out to the Petrolia
Gibbons-Squires in winning the Allan Cup hockey
championship.
This is a tremendous accomplishment for a young
hockey team from a town with apopulationof only 4,500
Exeter native Bill Fairbairn at the ripe age of 28 was
the oldest player not only on the Petrolia club but in
the final round.
More on the series along with a picture and com
ments from Bill will be found elsewhere in this issue.
Rusty was ready
It didn’t take Rusty Staub long to prove that he is
probably worth the extra money he was trying to get
from the Detroit Tigers.
Staub who failed to get a higher contract decided
to come back to the Detroit club after missing spring
training and the first month of the schedule.
Back in his regular spot as the Tiger designated
hitter, Staub got six hits in eleven trips to the plate in
his first three games. Five of the six hits were
doubles.
The Tigers got some more good news Saturday
when Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych made his first regular
season pitching start in more than a year.
The Bird threw only 50 pitches in completing four
full innings against Minnesota. He allowed two runs
and four hits. Of the 50 pitches 28 were strikes.
Fidrych will make his next start Friday night at
Tiger Stadium when the Milwaukee Brewers will be
the opposition.
One more by Twins manager Gene Mauch in set
ting his lineup Sunday against Detroit resembled a
system used in ball games in our public school games.
In the old days at school, the catcher would be the
leadoff batter followed by the pitcher, first baseman
and so on around the diamond.
In Sunday’s game, Mauch had his catcher Butch
Wynegar leading off in his lineup. It’s very unusual in
major league baseball to see a catcher in that posi
tion.
The only other catcher that batted first on any
regular basis was Mickey Cochrane with the Tigers.
That was back some 40 years ago.
The main reason catchers very seldom bat first is
that they are not normally the fastest runners on any
team and most managers like to lead off with speed.
Huron-Perth starts
The lid will be lifted off the 1979 Huron-Perth
senior baseball season this coming weekend.
The first game goes Sunday at 2 p.m. when the
Crediton Mets will be in Clinton to meet the Colts.
The first home game for the Dashwood Tigers will
be Wednesday night with Thorndale providing the op
position.
The first meeting of the Tigers and Mets will be in
Crediton Sunday afternoon May 20 at 2 p.m.
Both managers, Eric Finkbeiner and Dashwood’s
Joe Fulop are optimistic about their teams chances
this year. Each team has had about 25 players out to
the very few practices they have been able to get in.
Looks like a good rivalry is shaping up.
Glide on glice
Many baseball, football and soccer teams play
their games on artificial surfaces. Now hockey may
be the next to switch to something other than the real
thing, ice.
A firm in France has decked out nine skating rinks
with an artificial ice surface that really isn’t artificial
in the normal use of the word. It’s not natural either.
The ice isn’t really ice, it’s glice. It’s a plastic sur
face that looks like ice, but, isn’t as smooth with a
slower sliding quality.
All that is needed to keep the glice looking like ice
is a special floor polish and a vacuum cleaner.
This type of ice surface will certainly be easy to
maintain regardless of existing temperatures. With
this hockey could be played in the summertime. While
not allowing the same skating speed as normal ice,
glice could certainly be used for practices and be
much cheaper as far as maintenance costs are con
cerned.
Different records
The Chicago Black Hawks in this year’s NHL
playoffs established a record that they would like to
forget. When they lost four straight games to the New
York Islanders it extended their loss record to 16
straight games in playoff competition. Their last
playoff victory came way back in the spring of 1975.
The next item may not be regarded as a record,
but, let’s call it an outstanding accomplishment.
Wayne Gretsky of the Edmonton Oilers scored 46
goals in his first professional season.
Gretsky was named WHA rookie of the year and
will certainly be a big attraction in all rinks next
season as the Oilers switch to the NHIy
Racing soon
Our good friend, Jim Fitzgerald at the News
Record in Clinton reminds us that the Clinton
Kinsmen club will again be holding weekly harness
this summer.
The races start on June 24 and will continue each
Sunday afternoon until Septemer 30.
Registration
for
4 Minor Baseball
in
Dashwood
Sat., May 12 9 a.m. to 12 noon
AT THE BALLPARK
Exeter puckster helps Petrolia to title
“I am happyand lucky to
be part of it all. It’s an
honour that I will cherish for
the rest of my life.”
Those were the words of
Exeter native Bill Fairbairn
talking about the Allen Cup
victory by the Petrolia
Gibbons-Squires.
Fairbairn who at the age
of 28 was the oldest player
on the Petrolia club con
tinued, “Its a real honour. In
a way kind of a surprise.
When the season started we
set our goals on the Con
tinental league cham
pionship, then the all
Ontario and here we are as
Canadian champs. You
never know when the cups
and glory are going to start
flying.’’
Petrolia Squires in their
second year in the Continen
tal league chalked up an
amazing record in the
playoff on their way to
becoming all-Canadian
senior champions.
With Friday night’s 6-1
win over Steinbach,
Manitoba to win the Allan
Cup in five games, the
Petrolia playoff record went
to 19 victories and only five
defeats against five op
ponents.
They ousted the Stratford
Perths in four straight
games, eliminated the
Chatham Kings in five
games, defeated Thunder
Bay four games to two and
ousted St. John’s, New
foundland three games to
one to reach the Allan Cup
final against the west.
Fairbairn credits a great
team effort, depth at all
positions and very few in
juries as the keys to the
national championship vic
tory.
He continued, “We were
strong and deep at all
positions. Both goalies were
great. Larry Lucas carried
us singlehandedly against
Thunder Bay and then Bruce
Aberhart came up big in the
finals against Steinbach.
We had very few injuries
and coach Ron Carroll was
able to use five defencemen
and four forward lines
throughout the playoffs,”
continued Fairbairn.
The final series games
were moved
Petrolia rink to the larger
arena in Sarnia in an
attempt to accommodate
more of their loyal fans.
Asked about the financial
returns from the Allan Cup
from the
Fairbairn in action against Steinbach Huskies.
Claybird club opens season
$10 each were Scott Gaiser Scott Dinney
with the biggest fish and smallest.
Bill Fairbairn on Allen Cup winners.
victory and the entire
season for the Squires, Fair
bairn replied, “We are on a
share-the-wealth system
and I don’t expect the
balance will be too great.
The playoffs were very ex
pensive.”
He continued, “The trips
to Thunder Bay and New
foundland were costly. We
had to pay expenses of about
$600 per day for the Stein
bach team and the OHA
takes 20 percent off the top
of all receipts.”
In addition the Squires
paid $600 to the Petrolia
arena for each game they
played in the larger Sarnia
rink to compensate for loss
of revenue.
Fairbairn said each player
will receive a gold ring from
CAHA and “we’ve heard
rumours that the town of
Petrolia will be providing us
with watches.”
Radio station CHOK in
Sarnia is sponsoring a
hockey benefit dance in Sar
nia Friday night. The Con
tinental league annual ban
quet will be held Saturday
night in Durham.
Petrolia with a population
of 4,500 is the smallest com
munity to ever win the Allan
Cup. It’s the oldest trophy in
hockey next to the Stanley
Cup.
Friday’s victory by the
Squires created mob scenes
at the Sarnia arena and then
back at the Petrolia arena
where most of the games
were played throughout the
season.
The captain of the
Petrolia team was Barry
Edgar who was the Con
tinental league scoring
champion. Barry and his
brother Brian, also a Squire
played all of their minor
hockey in Clinton. They are
the sons of Mait Edgar, a
former teacher at Central
Huron in Clinton and the
Liberal candidate in the 1968
federal election.
Bill Fairbairn, the son of
Jim and Audrey Fairbairn of
Exeter played his hockey in
Exeter including junior with
Please turn to case 13
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The entire family can en
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Membership is only $20 per
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Trap shooting takes place
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Winners of a turkeyshoot
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Jody Mosurinjohn and Bill
Weber.
Tom Russell was best in
the Sunday trap shoot with a
score of 24. Next with 22
each were B. Cochrane and
Wayne Riddell.
Bill Weber and Ken
Eagleson hit 20 targets,
Grant Hodgert scored 19,
John Lagrois 18 and Larry
Dobson 11.
The club sponsored a
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Dam on the opening of the
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