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And that appears Ill be a big "if" considering the latest shenanigans the players and owners pulled over the week- cud, "lying with hockey Run" lender umulions once again. Hut Imally. the fans/should be a lot more understanding album what's going on; they're gelling exactly what they've always wished for since salaries started spiralling out ofcort- lml. HUI] NHL hockey first casualty in pro sports reiigging What's that you say, they're wishing fur a year without hockey? Say it ain't 50. Pcter Puck. The truth is that we've been complaining about the over- paid bums playing professional sports for so long that the collapse of the hyper-inflated pro sports market we all wished for is finally here. Call it a market correction. We all thougtuihese million- aires and billionaires needed a dose of reality. Unfortunately. it had to hap- pen fust to hockey. a game that so many Canadians have an emotional investment in. whether out of love or habit. Next up is the NBA whose collective bargaining agreement is up this fall, and already have talked about a lock out of their own. Hopefully. the judgement day the NHL is going through gives them some time for sober second thought. Baseball already went -====_-iG" through this during l994 season, and it took them nearly a decade to recover. But some would argue it was an artificial recovery. considering how many of the home-run hitters who smashed those Rulhian records are now being accused of taking performance-enhancing substances. Oldttmers love to regale us young bucks about the good old days of hockey, when the product on the ice was worth the price of admission. Back then, the players made four or five times more than the average working stiff on the factory Mor. But Hubs! of us didn't have as riiuch emotional investment in those games as we do in hockey. Now that difference is in the neighbourhood of 500 or 600 times what the average wage earner makes. And the truth is a lot of us don't like what money has done to Pt game. - A _ t heard an interview with one NHL numskull who said he deserved fair pay for his skills. and those skills should be rewarded more than the average lee on the line. He had no clue about the artificial market he was operating in, and that if there wasrit hockey. he probably wouldn't even have the education to qualify fora factory job. So let NHL hockey go away until they get ugly attitudes like this worked out. When creditors and bankruptcy stares them in the face. I dont think there will be as many of these NHL hot shots crowing about how much they're owed. Besides, there's Gu, real entertainmdnt on TV these days. Desperate Housewives, anyone? At kras't the women of Wisteha lane know a little some thing about irony nough has been written about NIH. horkey in the past week that there might be a shortage of trees to make Ihockey sticks nuxl year -.-- if there should even he a war Johnston keeping Siskins in it w Waterloo tiiskins first I three games against the Owen Sound Greys weren't so much about who was missing from the lineup, as who would show up in the playoffs as the Junior B squad tries to win its first opening round series in almost a decade. Sure, injuries to top scur- ers Ben Moser and Paul Mell- men have made goals harder to come by for the Siskins, who opened the series with a 3-2 win in double overtime before avenging a 3-l road loss Friday with a 2-0 shutout Sunday night at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Com- plex. But goals are always hard- er to come by in the playoffs, especially when you're play- ing against one of the league's top goaltenders in Owen Sound's Tyler Small. Small was even nominated by his squad as their Candi, date for league MVP. But the Siskins have a goalie of their own up for that prestigious league-wide award in Lam Johnston. And he followed up a sensational regular season with an equal- ly dazzling playoff perfor- mance. WLU's Eadie earns record 10th shutout indy Eadie admits she was a little rusty In start the season for her Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey But she had a pretty good excuse as she pursued her Olympic dream. playing for the Canadian women's soft- ball team at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. "It wasan amazing expe- rience." she said, warming up for her final home game with the Hawks taking on the Brock Badgers Sunday night at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex. "But the last time I was able to practise with the team (the Hawks) was last fall. At least she got to work SPORTS By Bus Vmw ' hrorrtclp Rum/{7 Br Boa VRBANAC Gimmick Staff The Siskins' Duncan Snyder battles the Greys' Jordan Smith for the loose puck in Sunday's 2-0 win, Want proof? Siskins in Owen Sound Fri- cooled his heels in the penal- In the first game he day night, he kept the Greys tybox. stopped 53 of the 55 shots he off the board early in the first Tiventy-seven shots later, faced in the more than 90 Sunday. stopping a point- Johnston had the shutout, minutes he played. And after blank shot with a quick glove and the Siskins were a game two power-plays sunk the hand as captain John Thiel Continued name 29 The Hawks' Cindy Eadie turns away another shot againtt Brock www.vwwesterioo.com 'cucx an: “km In t astéud 'reimmd (an Volkswagen Waterloo Tiventy-seven shots later, Johnston had the shutout. and the Siskins were a game Continued on page 29 And the transition back to the ice from the summer sun was made a lot smoother by her teammates and their renewed commitment to defensive hockey under head coach Rick Osborne. in his first-MI season with the club. on her glove hand playing third base for Team Canada. That commitment has made the No. 2 nationally ranked Hawks the top defen- sive club in the CIS, leading the nation in goals against with 18. after giving up less than two goals a game. And it didn't take long for Eadie to reassert herself as the top goalie in Canadian university hockey. leading the nation with a 0.72 goals against average, and a .960 save percentage. She showed Continued on page 30