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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-01-04, Page 14PAIGE I --GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, JANUARY 4 , 1979 Lions were on€rof The Goderich Minor hockey system produced several contending teams in 1978 and one of the best pee wee teams to play in Goderich•din many years enjoyed a successful year. The Goderich Lion Pee Wees quickly assumed a commanding lead in the WOAA league, a lead they refused to relinquish through the season. During regular season and -playoff p.iay the Lions The Goderich Lions peewees put together,a winning season in 1978 and won - the title at the Kincardine_W[nter Games defeating the host.clu.b in the final. 'Captain David Gallow acceptd the trophy, • Stars defeated in final The Goderich Signal - Star juveniles were the. third Goderich team to enjoy a fine, hockey season as they, also ad- vanced to the Ontario championship final. • The Juveniles were also a strong team ' of- fensively .and they ex- perienced little difficulty in wrapping up the WOAA league title as- they lost but one league game,.. And it reallywasn't a question of whether the league was that poor or the Stars were a good team. They were •a competitive team and proved it in tournament and playoff action. The first real test the Stars faced was in -the week=Yong Silver Stick Tournament in Mooretown, January• 28 - February 4. They.played impressive hockey at the • tournament and . won three straight games in the B division before they bowed ' to the host Mooretown. club in the tournament semi-final, 8- 5. To reachthe semi-final the . Stars defeated Amherstburg, Petrolia and Forest before they lost to Mopretown.- The major competition faced by'Goderich was in tournament play or exhibition play and they began their Ontario playoffs by winning with the' same consistency as they had during the season. In the first- series the Stars easily took care of Strathroy in three straight games and with that opening series win they advanced to the playoff semi-final against New Hamburg. New Hamburg wa-s---- little match for the local juveniles ---as again -they won the series in three , straight gartles to ad- vance' to the Ontario finals, without having lost a playoff game: But the Stars soon discovered ° that their .. opponents inthe championship final, Borden, were a tough physical hockey team. Borden also entered the final series witha phenomenal season and playoff record and, boasted a string of games without a loss before they lost a few • games • to Goderich in the series. Borden quickly , took command of the best -of - seven series and won the first two games by scores of.10-8 and 10-2. The'third game• :was played. in The Goderich Signal -Star juveniles reached the Ontario finals this year and bowed to a tough Borden team in six games. The Stars were a tough, com- petitive team In both tournament and playoff action. (photo by?Dave Sykes) - Goderich and the home team desperately needed a -win to stay alive in the series. But Borden won • the third game as well, 7- 4 and took a commanding three: game lead in the series. With their backs to the wall the Stars won two straight games by scores of 8-4 and were quickly back in the hunt for a provincial championship. But. the Stars played better on' the road for some reason • as evidenced by their two 8-4 wins in Borden, and in the sixth game in Goderich, Borden wrapped up the series with a 10-7 victory. This years juvenile team started the season • slowly but after about six games they put their game together and are now a contending team in the league. Suns among best Atoms • ran up an unprecedented winning streak of 23 games before they fell to defeat at the hands of Hespeler in the Legion's District tournament. The ',,ions eased through their WOAA schedule with a remarkable 17-- wins against only two losses and two ties. They cap- tured the league title and enjoyed a productive tournament schedule as . well. In January, during the Christmas break, the Lions won the cham- pionship at the Kin- cardine -Winter games by virtue of a 4-1 victory over the host team, Kincardine, ''in the final. ghme. Later the' Lions went on to win the Zone C1. championship in Exeter on January 21. The Lions ha.d.. 1 it le---tr-oub-le- reaching the tournament final as they disposed of Blyth 6-1 'in the opening round and dumped Exeter 7-2 in the semi- final. Goderich then won the Legion zone cham- pionship with a 3-0. vic- tory over Brussels in the championship game. e-st With tke win in the zone tournament the Lions - were eligible to compete in the Legion District tournament and •again it was held in Exeter. Prior to that tournament, the Lions had put together a ?3 game unbeaten streak that, as previously mentioned, was' broken by the Hespeler Pee Wees who edged Goderich 2-l'in the semi-final of that tournament. ,Despite the success of the Lions in league and tournament play the Ontario -playoffs provided • the team with its toughest competition. In the first round of the playoffs the Lions easily disposed of Strathroy in three straight games, winning 3-2, 5-2 and 4 -0 -to advance to the quarter finals in the BB category. The Lions' opponent in --the q•uarter -•-finaai--s-eries— wMs Sarnia. Township and it was the toughest test they faced in the playoff trail to that date. Goderich won the first game of the series 6-3 but Sarnia rebounded with two straight wins to take a 2-1 lead in the best -of - five series. ewee teams Facing elimination the Lions won two straight games, 5-1 and 2-1 to wrap the series and advance to the semi-final against Beamsville. And since the Pee Wees advanced to the semi- final it marked the first time that the local team -would not participate in Young Canada Hockey Week held during the March break. Since the team was involved in playoffs they were ineligible to play in the tournament and received special permission to play St. Lambert, Quebec in the annual East-West classic. Aid the Lions looked as though 'they were sure b•ets to advance to the Ontario finals in the BB category y jumped in front of Beamsvilleas winningthequicthe First two games of three games. . Goderich won the first game of the series 6-3 and Beamsville then tied the best -of -five affair -with a 6-2 victory. Goderich then took a one -game lead with a 4-3 win in the third game and needed just one more victory to advance to the final. Beamsville denied them that opportunity . however, as they won the 'final two games • by convincing margins, 9-5, ' 8-2, to win the series in the •fifth , and deciding game. Again this year the Pee Wees stack up well against local competition , and are now leading the league. Bogie rink reached Ontario final A Goderich rink skipped by Cam, Bogie was defeated,in the finals of ' the British .Consul Playoffs in Sarnia . by a team they had defeated earlier in the round robin series. The Goderich rink of Bogie, Jack MacKinnon, Dennis Lebrun and Ron Klages lost to Windsor 7-4 in the final. In the first round Goderich had defeated Windsor 5-2 and then lost to St. Thomas 8 - It was the fourth straight year that a Goderich rink had represented Division 13 in the British Consul Playoffs. Bre Club scores Arlene Gibbons and Dawna Sproule combined for a point total of 65 to win a Howell movement at the January 2 meeting of the Goderich Bridge Club. There were five tables in play. Bill Bradley and A. Weerasooriya...were second with 64 points and the teams of Frank and Jim Donnelly followed with 631/2 points and Mary Donnelly and Eleanor Erskine had 621/2 points. ,- The Suncoast Suns ---A.tarn--A:11mSt a r-s-p-rodused--- some fine hockey , this year and the team was among the best in the area. — The Suns completed an impressive season in the WOAA league by winning the league champiohsip. they were also equally as tough in tournament play during the season and in the Seaforth tournament the Suns reached the final before they lost their first game to Walkerton 4-2. The Suns had racked up three straight close vi'etories en route to the .tournament' .final arld again were involved'in a tight game -with Walkerton for the championship. During the tournament the guns defeated Exeter 3-1, Listowel 2-1 and Hanover 2-1. the Suns are also eilioying a good start to the 1978-79 season and are currently leading the .league. 4 t .r . -/ When you want to sell it fast ... sell it with oderich IGNAL c Iass j Fied acs STAFF