Times Advocate, 1994-12-7, Page 18Pbge 18
Times -Advocate, December 7,1994
By
Fred
Groves
Hall of Fame
-a must visit
Two different worlds - that's
what the Hockey Hall of Fame
in Toronto is.
I was at the shrine of Canada's
game, recently and I was im-
pressed with not only the main
displays but how the actual
building itself was laid out.
Downstairs, where you enter
first, is the game's history, inter-
national and women's hockey.
And of course, the Montreal Ca-
nadiens dressing room complete
with a video of the Habs suiting
up for a game.
This is where the hustle and
bustle is. People talking hockey,
parents showing their sons and
daughters the stars of the past
and how the game was invented.
But upstairs, that is where the
real magic is. I remember climb-
ing up the stairs to a room
which, believe it or not, I could
sense the presence of total great-
ness.
The upper portion of the
Hockey Hall of Fame is filled
with the treasures - trophies of
the National Hockey League.
There is the Vezina, Hart and
Calder trophies just to name a
few.
Names of the greats who have
won them are etched like chis-
eled memories into stone.
Bourque, Orr, Dryden, Lafleur
are among the legends to have
won them.
While 1 enjoyed the entire
building, (give yourself at least
three hours) I have to admit the
upstairs was by far the biggest
thrill for me.
The upper portion is an old
bank, one of the oldest branches
in the city and it is complete
with vaults. One of those is sim-
ply called Lord Stanley's Vault.
It is in this steel -lined room
that the original and delicate sil-
ver cup that Lord Stanley donat-
ed is kept. How fitting for some-
thing so valuable to be kept in a
secure environment.
This building, constructed in
1885, within 10 years of the
birth of hockey, has an amazing
high cathedral style ceiling com-
plete with a stained glass win-
dow at the top.
In the middle of this room is
the Stanley Cup. While the orig-
inal is in the vault behind glass,
the three-foot high plus cup is
the symbol of perfection.
Although it says that this is
not the presentation cup, stand
beside the glistening piece of
history and have your picture
taken - I did and believe me it
felt great.
Forget about the current strike;
whoops sorry, lockout. Forget
about the fight over how many
millions to pay a rookie, go to
Toronto and see the Hockey
Hall of Fame.
M1
•
• Minor hockey roundup - page 19 /20
• NHL ref pays a visit - page 21
Lucan Irish host 25th anniversary party
By Fred Groves
T -A staff
LUCAN - Mo Buck, Bob Taylor,
Clare Stanley and Jim Freeman all
had something to smile about Sat-
urday night.
The four hockey enthusiasts were
surrounded by the fruits of their la-
bour - 25 years of Junior 'D' hockey
history. Nearly 300 gathered at the
Lucan Community Centre to help
the Lucan Irish Six celebrate their
silver anniversary of junior hockey.
It was Buck, Taylor, Stanley and
Freeman who took an idea and ran,
or rather, skated with it 25 years
ago.
Several members of the original
1969 team were present including
captain Tom Hodgins as well as
Dave Revington, Ken Needham
and Jim Hearn who, in later years,
would return to coach the green and
white to very successful seasons.
Hockey is certainly in the blood
of the Freeman family as father Jim
was a founder and manager, sonK-
en became the manager for 12
years and mother Donna was al-
ways there either helping raise
funds or supporting the Booster
Club.
"The Irish don't have one man,
they have a family," said Master of
Ceremonies Peter Garland refering
to the Freeman's.
Hearn, remembering that first
year recalled one game against Zu-
rich in which, "things got a little
heated in the stands. Today I think
you call it a riot."
Hearn seemed very sentimental
and looking across the crowded
room said, "I wonder how many
goals scored for Lucan are in this
room tonight."
There were a bunch of them in-
cluding Wayne Urbshott's 102
point effort on the 1987 OHA
championship winning team and
"Nobody can take an all -Ontario away."
Greg DePrest, currently in his last
year with the Irish, who had 105
points 1993.
Although he couldn't make the
anniversary, Jeff Craig, a member
of the 1969 team sent a fax which
read, "for me it was more like the
Irish Four, because we played
shorthanded."
Looking back, the Irish are one of
the most successful teams in the,
now called, OHA Junior Develop-
ment League, winning two pro-
vincial titles (1982-1987), six divi-
sional crowns and never, in 25
years failed to make the playoffs.
The first championship team,
1982, was a cinderella story as the
Irish finished with a 17-21-2 record
and were pitted against the 28-4
Langton Thunderbirds in the final.
According to coach Dave Rev-
,ington, another member of the 1969
team, Lucan was not supposed to
go all the way especially with only
having 14 skaters of which two
were midget call-ups.
"The cliche is, this team was go-
ing to be a rebuilding one. I think
our record was 17-21-2," said Rev-
ington.
Before the Irish had to march on
to where they would make hockey
history, they had to beat the Stayn-
er Siskins.
"I really thought Stayner was the
team to beat. They had a super of-
fensive team," recalled Revington.
Just five years after his team
Lucan Irish organizer Jim Freeman sat in the dressing room Saturday night surrounded by the
1969 captain Tom Hodgins, left; and Steve Matthews, right, the 1994 captain.
won, Revington returned to go be-
hind the bench and be an assistant
to Ed Parkinson who guided a tal-
ented 1987 team to the champion-
ship.
Parkinson said that year's team
was really created in 1985 but it
took two years, one of those after a
disappointing playoff exit to Mt.
Brydges, to get things rolling.
"You could see four or five guys
come to the front when things got
tough," recalled Parkinsorf'.
In 1987, the Irish beat Tavistock
Braves 8-2 in the seventh and de-
ciding game of a series which saw
Lucan win the first, third, fifth and
seventh games.
What was said: There were sev-
eral dignitaries at Saturday night's
anniversary and here is what they
had to say.
"Nobody can take an all -Ontario
championship away from you. It's
something you take to your grave."
- Ed Parkinson, 1987 coach.
"When this team started in 1969,
I was probably your biggest fan." -
Gary Wilcox, 1994 president.
"This established a winning tradi-
tion for Lucan. It put Lucan on the
hockey map." - Dave Revington,
1982 coach.
"You've done a tremendous job
and have many successes." - Tom
McLaughlin, Lucan reeve.
"On behalf of the OHA I'd like to
say congratulations on the commit-
ment to youth in this community." -
Don Yeck, OHA representative.
"We are here to remember 25
years of junior hockey in Lucan
which you all played a part of -
Peter Garland, Master of Cer-
emonies.
"The great thing abou junior
hockey is that you've oni got two
or three years to do your thing be-
fore you go play rec hock " FA_�`
Parkinson, 1987 coach.
Robinson's ribs fine as he sets up four
Y
By Fred Groves
T -A staff
EXETER - It's amazing what one
person can do for a hockey team.
Friday night at the South Huron
Recreation Centre, the Exeter
Hawks snapped a four -game win-
less streak and beat the visiting Lu -
can Irish 5-2.
It was their 10th win in the OHA
Junior Development League west
division as they have a 10-7-2
record while the Irish are now 6-
13-1 Both teams are idle until this
week.
In front of a large crowd, all part
of the Exeter Minor Hockey As-
sociation night, veteran winger
Shayne Robinson put on quite a
display as he helped set up four of
the five Hawks' goals.
Robinson started the season with
the London Junior 'B' Nationals, re-
turned to the Hawks but only
Mark Uvennore leads the Hawks in a congratulatory hand slap
after scoring a goal during Friday night's Junior 'p' game In Ex-
eter which saw the hosts beat Lucan 5-2.
played a few games as he suffered
a rib injury.
"I'm feeling a lot better," said
Robinson who led the west division
in scoring last season. "Two of
them (ribs) were split down the
centre. They (doctors) said it would
have been better to break them."
He was the spark the Hawks have
been looking for to snap out of
their slump. Despite coming off the
tender injury, he did not seem to
be too timid when it came to the
physical pari of Friday's game.
1 was a little winded. I haven't
played in three weeks. I didn't run
away from hits."
Lucan opened the scoring with
about eight minutes left in the first
frame when rookie Trevor Emms
teamed with captain Steve Mat-
thews.
The Hawks idn't have a real
good chance until ly in the sec-
ond period when Robinson fed
Mark Livermore but Lucan goalie
Steve Watson slid across and made
a big pad save.
Watson was just coming off of an
outstanding 5-0 shutout victory two
nights earlier against the North
Middlesex tars.
Exeter got on the board when Na-
than Bums shovelled one under
Watson in a crowd in front of the
net. Although Exeter had a pow-
erplay for four minutes they
couldn't connect and as soon as the
Irish got a man advantage, Darryl
T -A ticket trivia
giveaway could
win you chance
to see ex -Wings
EXETER - Last year's game which brought several ex -NHL hock-
ey stars to Exeter was a big success and organizers of this year's
event are hoping for an even bigger turnout.
On Saturday, December 17, the Exeter Hawks of the OHA Junior
Development League will take on the Detroit Red Wings Oldtimers
feattning such stars as Hall of Famer Alex Delvecchio, Gary Berg-
man, Arnie Brown, Eddio Mio, Nick Libett and Dwight Foster.
The Times -Advocate want to send you and a friend to the game on
us.
In this edition of the T -A and again next week, there will be a
couple of trivia questions to jog your hockey mind. Want to win four
free tickets to the game, it's easy.
Just answer the following question and either drop off your answer
on a piece of paper to the office, FAX your answer to 235-0766 or
call Fred Groves on Monday after 9 a.m. at 235-1331. Be sure to in-
clude your name, address and phone number on your answer.
axe's the question...
How many goals did Alex Delvecchio score in his 1,549 league
games with the Detroit Red Wings?
r•
Boshart scored for the visitors.
The Hawks had their troubles
penalty wise all night and veteran
defenseman Jamie Cornish, who
admitted to taking "stupid pen-
alties" himself, said it was due to
frustration.
"On such a big slump, everyone
is frustrated. We've been trying to
do it ourselves," he said of the in-
dividual style of play.
"They seem to have a brcak down
in discipline when we get tired,"
said Exeter coach Dave Revington
of all the penalties. "It's something
we have to work on."
Exeter rookie Jeff Glavin tied it
up 2-2 after 40 minutes as he con-
verted a heads up pass by Rob-
inson.
"We need more offence and he's
the go -to guy," Revington of Rob-
inson.
The third period belonged entire-
ly to the hosts as Steve Farquhar
scored what proved to be the win-
ner while Bums with his second
and Livermore wrapped up the
scoring.
While the first two periods were
fairly even, the third was dominat-
ed by the Hawks and Revington
said it had a lot to do with his
team's defensive play.
"We had better defence. Our for-
wards helped out more and (goalie
Darren) Kints was there when we
needed him," said Revington.
Exeter did something they
haven't accomplished in a while,
that was play three full periods of
hockey.
"All three periods were good,"
said Cornish. "We've been coming
out pretty flat."
Last Wednesday night in Lucan,
the host Irish skated to a big 5-0
win over the North Middlesex
Stars. DePrest fired the hat trick
with singles from Bryan Stiefel and
Derck Greenlee.
The Irish sec action on Wednsday"---
when they play host to Lambeth
and travel to Pt. Stanley on Sat-
urday.
Meanwhile, the Hawks will look
for their 11th win of the year when
they host the North Middlesex
Stars on Friday night.
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