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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-11-09, Page 15Believe it, hockey. is flourishing NI -IL rinks are as quiet as an interview with Jaromir Jagr and will be, apparently, for some time but it doesn't take an exhaustive search to find places where the game of hockey is flourishing. ' Now tell- me Wheeling, West Virginia, didn't pop to mind when , you thought about hockey hotbeds, The Wheeling. Thunderbirds of the East Coast Hockey League are sold out most every night. Many of their games are on TV, the coach has his own television show and is in demand' on the banquet circuit. That coach is a prairie boy from Fairlight, Sask., with the second biggest moustache in the west, Doug Sauter. (First place goes to some guy from Hanna, Alberta). Sauter says the Thunderbirds have cashed in on the popularity of hock- ey in Pittsburgh; just 60 miles nor- theast, and the price tag for seeing the Penguins. "Our ticket prices are $6, $7, and $8, so you can go out to a game and .hal'e dinner with your family all on a $50 bill and that's very attractive to the people of the Ohio Valley," says Sauter. Or anywhere else, for that matter. Now, for $7 you don't get to watch Mario, but then you don't most nights in Pittsburgh, either. You'll have to settle for, Xavier Majie and Patrick Lebreque but that doesn't mean you have to settle for second- rate hockey. "I think we'd beat any Western Hockey League team," says Sauter, who knows a bit ,about that having coached in Calgary, Regina, Medicine Hat and Brandon. "We're a more mature league and it's really cleaned up from what it used to be. This isn't a Slapshot league anymore and I'm pretty impressed with the calibre." He's not alone. The East Coast Hockey League has been a tremen- dous success and now has 18 teams, including its new entry in Tallahassee, Florida. They keep Pee Wee A's open season The. Lucknow Pee Wee A's hosted Drayton in the first scheduled game of their season on Nov. 1. Adam Cameron took his position between the pipes. Drayton opened the scoring at 8:52 into the game. Later in the first Mark Stanley scored. unas- sisted. In the second period, with. the game tied with one apiece, Jordan Hamilton scored. Assists went to Conor McDonagh and Jeff Andrew. Lucknow managed to keep the lead for a little longer but Drayton scored three more times to. win 4 to 2. Lucknow travelled to Kincardine on Nov. 2. This time Justin Browti played in the net. The game was scoreless until Kincardine scored in the second period on a power play. Lucknow came back and scored in the third period when Chris .Wainwright found the net. Assists went to Mark Stanley and Rob McGee. ' • Lucknow scored again on a power play when Mark Stanley put it in the top corner. Assists went to Chris Wainwright and Rob McGee. Lucknow held their 2 to 1 lead for ' a little longer but Kincardine tied it up with 1:34 remaining in the third. It was an excellent game with Brown in net and by the rest of the Lucknow squad. Injuries plague Bantams An aggressive Teeswater team came to play the Lucknow Bantam A team on Oct.- 30. Just three minutes into the game Jonathan MacKinnon. tucked the puck past a stunned Teeswater goalie. He was assisted with lovely passes from Ean Moffat and Jonathan Chilton. The home town squad was shut out of the scoring in the second period, but dominated the hitting. During the second, Teeswater scored two quick unanswered goals to take the lead. Richard Walke tied the score for Lucknow in the third period, on a pass from Jonathan Chilton. Teeswater scored two more goals but Lucknow tied it up both times with unassisted goals coming from Ean and Craig Moffat. X -country season ends The cross-country season concluded this past weekend with the Canadian Cross Country Cham- pionship in Etobicoke. Five Lucknow runners competed in their divisions for the Wingham Optimist Track & Field Club. The Mite division was represented by Heather Lougheed and Hamish Black. Heather finished ninth with a time of 4:46, and Hamish ninth. with a 4;21 time over the 1,000 metre course. Cindy Willits, Tyke girls, placed twenty-seventh with a time of 7:57, Nigel Black placed third, 5:57, and Sandy Lougheed with a 7:05 time placed twenty-seventh, over the 1,500 metre course. In the final period, Teeswater took the ,lead, and although Luck - now pulled the goalie it was to no avail, as the Apposition dumped one in the empty net. Final score Teeswater 6, Lucknow 4. Lucknow vs Howick It was a' see -saw game last Friday when Lucknow travelled to Howick. Both teams took turns with go- ahead . goals, but Teeswater managed the final goal for the 5 to 4 win. Successful at denting the twine this game were Jonathan MacKin- non, Craig Moffat (2) and Brent Cameron. Lucknow has been plagued, by injuries early this year. Hopefully the injuredwill return soon. Pee Wee house league gets . first win The Pee Wee house league team travelled to Ripley on Thursday to play in the season opener. It was constant end-to-end action in the first half of the game. Andrew Pickard stoned Ripley's best attempts to get on the scoreboard. Clint Gunter took over the net minding to . finish the shutout. With just over a minute left in the game, Jonathon • Drennan, assisted by Kiel Farrish, came through and scored to give the team its first win. salaries down and ticket prices low so sales arc high and there's a lineup for franchises. On the ice, teams can dress only 15 skaters and two goalies so there's lots of ice time for the players, who are primarily former college stars and mid -to -late -round junior picks on loan' from NHL teams. In Wheeling - population 45,000 - where high school football draws crowds of more than 5,000 fans every Friday night, the Thunder- birds now. draw the same and the minor hockey program is filling up. WAHA, the Wheeling Amateur Hockey Association, now has 700 kids including 16 girls' teams, so people aren't just watching the games, they're playing and understanding the sport. As Sauter points out, "The game is now the biggest attraction at the games." -Yet promotions are still front and centre. Doug Sauter Moustache Night filled the house for the home opener. Every fan got a clip -on cookie duster that made them look a bit like the coach and they were thrilled because the hockey coach is one of the most popular people in town. And that's not Carlyle, Kin- cardine or Grand Falls. That's Wheeling, West Virginia, a hockey hotbed. No kidding! Midgets open season with two wins The local Midget team came out with a slow start when they met with Mildmay on Oct. 26. It took Ed Courtney's goal after a puck - stealing display and rush on the Mildmay net minder to open things up. Mildmay replied with two goals only to see Eric Andrew come back with the tie. Lucknow was alive in the second and third, scoring four times to come with the win. Andrew Johnston tallied one goal, along with some bone crunching hits. Other goals came off the sticks of Jeff Porter, Stuart Rintoul and Chad Moffat who showed some bustle, netting two. Howick visited Lucknow on Oct. 30 and went home on the losing end of the score. Scoring for Lucknow came from Colin Becker and Jeff Porter with one each, and two goals from each of the team snipers - Ed Courtney 'and Mike "the Hammer" Johnston. The Lucknow defence played an excellent game handing out, hard checks and helping to shut down the Howick offence. Strong goal tending came from Ryan Courtney and Tyler Brooks, for both games, with them coming up with some,big saves. Coaching the Midgets this year are Kent Alton, Russ Sutton, Barry Johnston, Murray Moffat and Neil Rintoul handling the trainer's duties. Local bowlers do well in tournament The Master/Junior Tournament was held in Mount Forest on Oct. 30 with two teams from Lucknow competing.. The team of Robert Jones, Mar- lene Johnston and Patrick Ritchie placed third witha pins over average of +302. The team of Eric Taylor, Jackie Hackett and Jeffrey Weber placed seventh with a pins over average of +195. Jackie Hackett won the four game total pins over average with +163 for the junior girls. According to sources, the YBC juniors did the winning for the, teams. Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, November 9, 1994 - Page 15 fief Bach to Nature PLANT THE TREES OF THE 'FUTURE -NO -DAV SI'RI'('F, FIR. 1%I11'1'1( PINE.. LONDON PLANE. TREES and I.INIII'.NS key,.' 115.IIo.'265.no 6651111 • II NORWAY MAI'I,F: NEWPORT ASI( lig-I: Ili 114„ii,l l,.••, •I 14eg.'49.95 • 37 POPLAR Reg. '6.511 K '5.50 • .,•„ %2 Hurt: 1: We ulti'r e Ilk' %ancu nl u'r Icr ' Including design \ installotien Snip h} or e,111 un lud.I • Grp ('(rnJif urns ft iidilhie lin that, "yu <'rul ,�wdcnn " QLuzon ." 1'andscapiny • _- R.R.42 LUCKNOW - 529-7247 MON.-FRI. 8-5 • SAT. 8-3 I GiOGGGGGOBGOOCGiOG.Gt4' v Huron County's Complete o (VEHICLE v 11 13 1 .RENTAL .EL u Headquarters o 0 l Small & Mid-sized Cars G 0 O Passenger & Cargo 10 0 Vans, Pickup Trucks .E 3 O Daily, Weekly, Monthly 13 31 DI 71 Insurance Rentals,& o 1 More IID 0 0 Free Delivery C DI 1 Ask about our full 13 1 transportation service E 3 13 DI C CI E v • CAR & TRUCK RENTALS c DI Division of-Suncoast Ford 13 0 500 Huron Rd., Goderich El 0 CALL COLLECT Ask for Helen O 524-8347 ❑emeeeeeeeerieeTlme❑ IBDO DUNWUODY WARD MALLETTE HANOVER W.J. Aldersley; FC, L.H. Vollett, CA J.J. Hunt, CA 364-3790 CHARTERED -ACCOUNTANTS Offering a 1ull.range 01 services auditing, accounting, business planning, Income tax planning. personal financial planning, computer and management services WALKERTON MOUNT FOREST . PORT ELGIN B,F Thomson, FCA R.J. Millen, CA G.H. Munro, CA P, Thor, CA • R Thomas, CA 881-1211 K.L. Drier, 'CA M.S. Bolton, CA H.E. Kibler, CA 323-2351 832-2049, Vote Doug Miller for Councillor West Wawanosh • Resident for 28 years • Willing to'li6ten • Solid background in business • Committed to a sound future for the Township 9 Years Experience On Council... - for responsible Municipal Government - for fiscal restraint - for accountability of your tax dollar. — - VOTE PAUL BLACK Reeve Ash i - Township "Your vote ' ould be appreciated November 144h Presently Deputy Reeve