Times Advocate, 1994-12-21, Page 30Page 30 Times -Advocate, December 21, 1994
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This Week in Sports...
• Irish trounce Bulldogs - page 31
• Minor hockey roundup - pages 32-33
Sidelines
By
Fred
Groves
Make the
game fun
"You can't learn anything
if you're having fun."
That's a line that may
stick in my head for a long,
long time.
Recently, I was at the
arena and standing by the
boards taking some pic-
tures. A visiting coach
asked me what I thought.
I told him he shouldn't
yell at them so much. Mind
you I was told the other
day that I yell when I
coach but this situation is
different. Age and level of
competition has a lot to do
with it.
This particular game was
a novice house league
game. You know, for the
seven and eight year olds. I
told this coach to let them
fall down and have fun.
(These players are at the
developmental levels of
hockey and if we don't
keep it fun for them, they
will lose interest.)
He didn't like my com-
ments as I could feel his
cold stare as I left the
building.
Let's look at why kids
play sports. Number one
reason, to have furl. Num-
ber two reason, to be with
their buddies. Number
three reason, to learn a few
skills. Number four reason,
to beat the opponent.
As they get older, their
priorities change. They al-
most do a flip-flop es-
pecially when they get up
into the juvenile category
where winning is number
one and learning a few
skills is number two.
When one of the players
on this visiting team fell
down, got up, skated to the
bench and began to cry -
they do that at that age, the
coach had another com-
ment for me.
"It doesn't look like he's
having fun now, does it?"
Players who are seven
years -old don't require. a
lot of medical attention
when they get hurt. What
they do require is sym-
pathy and a pat on the
head.
I'm not saying that they
don't get hurt, but novice
house league has no body
contact unless some coach
is teaching them the fine
art of stick slashing at an
early age.
For those coaches who
don't know how to make it
fun and learn, get some
help.
From the sidelines:
Dennis Rodman is a
weirdo. I don't care if he's
trying to make a fashion
statement or whatever. He
is bad for the game, green
hair, head -butting a mas-
cot, all that,hype is not
good for basketball. Sure
he may be getting a few
more bodies into the build-
ing but he may also be
turning a few •
away...Congratulations to
the Hensall village council
for deciding to spend S100
per player for rings for
girls who were on the Sea -
forth championship soft-
ball team. The council has
also, in the past, supported
the athletic efforts of Cara
Gardner...
Small crowd attends exhibition game
Only about 300 were on hand to see Alex Delvecchio, ex -Wings
By Fred Groves
T -A staff
EXETER - The shifts may be just
a little shorter and the speed may
be a little slower but Alex Del-
vecchio has still got a lot of the
same moves.
Saturday night, in front of a dis-
appointingly small crowd at the
South Huron Recreation Centre,
Delvecchio brought a cast of ex -
Detroit Red Wings to town for an
exhibition hockey game with the
Exeter Hawks.
While it may be a big difference
from Junior Development "to pro
hockey, the two teams put on a
good show which was highlighted
by a shootout at the start of the
third period.
Goalies Darren Kints and Chris
Lyndon only allowed one goal in
the shootout, while Hawks for-
wards Nathan Burns, Chris Ken-
nedy and Shayne Robinson beat
former pro Darren Eliot at the other
end.
There were a lot of hockey miles
on the ice Saturday night as Del-
vecchio played for the Wings for
over 20 years and scored 456 goals.
How did he last so long in pro-
fessional hockey?
"You have to be real conscious of
the game. I tried to take care of my-
self. I played with superstar Gordie
Howe that gave me a lot of in-
itiative to play as good as he did,"
said Delvecchio before the game
which saw the Red Wings win 7-5.
Howe was a big part of the Red
Wayne Dlck/ns, left; of the Exeter Hawks was given an autographed stick more than 35 years Wings organization and so was the
ago by Alex Delvecchio, centre. Saturday, Delvecchio came to Exeter and re-signed the stick. guy who got him the puck, Del
Helping out is Dickins' son Kevin. vecchio.
"1 knew he was the star. Every-
body in the room would say get the
puck to the big guy, get it to Gor-
die."
When you have an alumni team
that means you bring in guys who
have ben -away from the game for
a while like 72 year-old Jimmy Pe-
ters to the recently retired Ken
Houston who are going to score the
goals against the opponents of the
night.
Delvecchio says recruiting for the
team takes a bit of convincing but
once there, the players enjoy it and
keep coming back.
"It's hard when they first get out
of the game (retire). Once they
come out and have a skate, they're
one of the guys."
Disappointingly, big-namers Ed-
die Mio, Gary Bergman, Dennis
Hextall and Dwight Foster weren't
at the game because they had other
commitments. Bergman was pick-
ing up his daughter from the airport
in Chicago.
"We've probably got seven guys
not here who participate 90 percent
of the time," said Red Wings coach
Jerry Fleury who played goal in
both the International and Amer-
ican Leagues.
He was a goalie with the alumni
team for 12 years before retiring
due to bad knees. Now he is the
guy who arranges the trips and calls
the practices.
"This will be our sixth game this
year. All these guys are dedicated
to charity," said Fleury.
Continued on page 31
McBasketball is better than the Knights
Panthers win consolation title
By Fred Groves
T -A staff
EXETER - 1OIbAllister, McNab,
McCann play Mcbasketball and on
the weekend they and the rest of
the South Huron District High
School Panthers added another ban-
ner to the school's wall of fame.
At their own Huron -Penh Pre -
Christmas Tournament, the Pan-
thers won the consolation title, de-
feating Kincardine Knights 71-53.
After losing the fust game, 76-44
to Sarnia Northwestern , the hosts
battled back to beat Clinton Central
Huron Redmen 54-29.
Against the Redmen, South Hu-
ron worked the ball inside a lot to
their centre Dennis McCann. Usu-
ally, the Panthers go to their out-
side shooting to get their points.
"We like to get it inside. I think
he (coach Terry O'Rourke) wants a
bit of both," said guard Bryan
McAllister.
You could sec thc Panthers hav-
ing a little bit of fun as they were
sending long passes down the court
and working the ball both inside
and scoring the jumpers.
While McAllister, who along
with Dwayne McNab make up a
great back court, is playing guard.
It is more likely he will shift over
to the wing where he can either
shoot the long jumpers or drive to
the hoop.
"I played wing when 1 was in jun-
ior," said McAllister. "1 like it, it
takes a lot of pressure off."
In the consolation final, the game
got a little physical and the referees
had to sit one player from both
team down just to cool off for a
while.
The Panthers had a pretty good
lead but thc Knights chipped away
and whittled the margin down to 11
with a couple of minutes left to
Pl"( wasn't too bad," said McAl-
lister of the rough stuff. "I think it
was just emotions. Tho refs were
pretty good."
South Huron led 32-23 at the half
against Kincardine but really
poured it on in the third quarter.
ty #a•tow 040.4,14invitos..,
High school sports
McCann lcd the winners in scoring
as he hit for 17 points while McAl-
lister added 16, 14 of those in the
second half.
In desperation, the Knights pur-
posely fouled the Panthers several
times in order to force South Huron
to the line where they obliged by
hitting most of the free throws.
South Huron is coming off of a
very busy first month in which they
have already hosted two tourna-
ments, gone to both Woodstock and
Kincardine and also squeezed in
three league games.
Despite that, McAllister said he
wouldtike to play even more.
"I wouldn't mind playing over the
holidays. it would be good for us."
Beat Redmen
After dropping their opener to
Northwestern in which McNab led
the way with 13 points, the Pan-
thcrs clearly dominated their Huron
rivals from Clinton.
From the first quarter it was
South Huron all the way as they
were up by three points after eight
minutes.
McAllister went to the net, was
fouled, scored and hit the free
throw for a three-point play. The
same thing happened to Marty De-
Bruyn which gave the hosts an 11-5
lead.
Jason Maskell stole the ball, went
end-to-end for two points. Later he
was fouled which gave the hosts
and even bigger lead.
Against the Redmen, who the
Panthers beat earlier in the week in
league play, McAllister had 18
points and McNab had 12.
The Panthers take a bit of a break
until the new year when they will
travel to Seaforth on January 4.
South Huron's Andy Palmer, right; reaches for the ball during
Saturday night's consolation final. Samia Northwestem beat
Mitchell 58-56 in the toumament final.
South Huron hoopers sweep Redmen
EXETER - How about these jug ors!
Last Wednesday afternoon the ton Central Huron Redmen
came to town and took on the South'Huron District High School
Panthers.
While all three hosting teams won, the junior Panthers once again
proved td be very dominant in Huron Conference league play as
they blasted the Redmen 62-34.
The juniors are undefeated in three confernce games, sporting a
perfect 3-0 record. They've beaten Oodcrich, Wingham's Madill and
Central Huron with only the Bears of Seaforth to face which they
boat in their own tournament.
Luke Sims led the winners on Wednesday as he poured in 18
points while David Farquhar added 14. South Huron led 30-14 at the
half.
Midget Panthers U, Redmen 43
After a fairly Shakey start in their first two games, the midgets
came to life in a big way in the third quarter against Central Huron
on Wednesday.
Down 29-26 at the half, the Panthers outscored their opponents
22-9 in the third quarter. Improved dofencet and sharp passing helped
in this win.
Paul Oregus was by liar the best player on the floor on Wednesday
art he not only scored 15 points but dominated the boards and passed
well.
a
Jason Neil, seeing his first start at point guard, controlled theball,
had several key steals and added 13 points. Dave Robilliard added
11 points.
Senior Panthers 54, Redmen 43
Somewhat unknown for his basketball skills, Dennis McCann had
a great game for the hosts as the talented volleyball player scored 15
points as a result of some along work on the boards. Marty De-
Bruyn added 14 points and the quick hands of veteran guard Bryan
McAllister meant 11 points.
The highlight of this game was near the closing seconds of the
first half. Panthers Blake Schade scored with 12 seconds left and
then stole the ball, got it over to Scott MacDonald who hit at the
buzzer.
Hockey lam wins
Auer some very close Huron -Perth Conference games in which
they only lost by one or two goals, the Panthers hockey team got on
the winning side of the scoreboard last Tuesday.
Against visiting F.E. Madjll of Wingham, the Panthers roared to
their first conference win of the season, a 5-2 victory over the Mus-
. Wigs.
Jason Hodpon led the winners with a pair of goals with one each
from Geoff Maver, Card Delrymple and Matt Godboit. Goalie Jason
Glavin picked up the win.
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