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BE ee er) PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, December 2, 1986 -- 5 Vi ew P oO i Nn t by John B. McClelland This is the ninth winter that I have been writing about Junior C hockey for the Port Perry Star. Over those nine years, I have witnessed somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200 Junior C games, including playoffs. I have seen some great hockey games and I've seen a few that are best forgotten. This season, the Port Perry MoJacks have jumped off to a very quick start with a dozen wins in 14 games. As I write this, the team is riding the crest of an eight- game winning streak. Checking my records, I find this is the longest winning streak by the MoJacks in the past several seasons. Back in 1983, the MoJacks went 13 games withcut a defeat, but had a couple of ties thrown in during that streak. : In any event, the 24 points the team has rung up to date this year is 13 better than last year's MoJacks had after 14 games. In the past week or so, I've had the question put to me "Are the MoJacks for real?" . My response has been this. 'Yes, based on what I have seen on the ice so far this season, the Port Perry Junior C MoJacks are very much for real." The MoJacks to date have scored 109 goals in 14 games, or an average of about 7.7 goals per game. On the other side of the ledger, the team has surrendered 53 goals in 14 games, an average of about 3.7. I can tell you from experience that any Junior C hockey team that keeps its goals-against-average under four per game is going to win a lot more hockey games than it loses. That 3.7 goals against statistics tells me a lot about JUNIOR C HOCKEY the 1986-87 version of the Port Perry MoJacks after 14 league games. _ Butsom else tells me a lot about the MoJacks this season as well. And that's the way the team has been winning. It is winning "the old-fashioned way' with discipline, hard work, patience, and an up-beat, positive attitude. This attitude has been evident in more than one game this season when the team came from behind in the third period to win. Oh, yes. There is one more ingredient which has contributed to the team's success so far this hockey season: talent. Hard work, discipline, patience and a positive at- titude only go so far to winning hockey games. A team obviously must have taler:' as well, and this MoJack team is talented. What has impressed me over the first 14 games is the mixture of talent on the ice. There are guys who can put the puck in the net, others who excel at the defen- sive and checking aspects of the game. There are finesse piayers and those who can stop an opposition skater dead in his tracks with a hip or shoulder check. Along the blue line, the guys on defense are playing fun- damentally sound hockey: clearing the puck, finishing the check, limiting the number of quality scoring chances. As Howie Meeker loves to say: do the basics right and you win hockey games. Talent, hard work and discipline have been evident in all the games I've witnessed so far this season. Also very much in evidence is a marked lack of "goon-style' tactics. The MoJacks are sticking to hockey, and it's refreshing to see a Junior C game in which there are only a handful of minor penalties. That's not to say the MoJacks are patsies who let themselves be pushed around. On the contrary. But the players are not runn- ing around the ice with the sticks and elbows high. Of course, 14 games do not a season make, and it's far too early to start making wild predictions about how the team will fare when playoffs roll around. I recall not too many years ago, when a MoJack team was virtually unbeatable in the first half of the season, then went into a tail-spin and was bumped out of the playoffs in the second round. The MoJacks have 20 leagues games remaining and a lot can happen to a team in 20 games. It would be unrealistic to expect this team to maintain the pace it has set in the first 14 games. Every team will run into a slump or two during the course of a long season. But from what I've seen to date, I have a feeling the Port Perry Junior C MoJacks are going to be in the thick of things when playoffs roll around in mid- February. In the nine years I've been watching Junior C hockey, there has been a gradual but marked transi- tion away from what I call "garbage pail tactics." To be sure, there are still games where fights and stick-work prevail. But I really do believe I'm safe in saying that the number of "ugly incidents' and bench clearing brawls has been greatly reduced in recent years. (Turn to page 6) "Guelph this week. Yesterday's Memories 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 2, 1926 Marion Goode won the "Second Carter Scholarship of Ontario" at Port Perry High School. Dorothy Davey won the "Scugog Chapter Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire' Scholarship. Mr. J.T. Best wishes to notify his customers that he will close his shoe repair shop during the winter, re-opening March 15th, 1927. Robert Duff and Son, Myrtle, were successful in securing a number of prizes on their horses at the Ottawa Fair. They are at 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 29, 1951 . Mrs. C.W. Badour opened her home to the friends and neighbours of Mrs. Joseph Peel to honour her before her departure to Port Perry from Manchester. Howard Dobson and Harry Phoenix are running for Reeve of Reach Township. running for Deputy Reeve will be Malcolm Bailey and Leslie Smith. : Mrs. Dan Christie of Sunderland, visited friends in Port Perry recently. B The house on the corner in Scugog, recently vacated by Mrs. Hope is being rewired, ready for new occupants. Mrs. Walter Kerr, Ashburn, left on Friday to spend the winter months in Tuscon, Arizona. : 25 YEARS AGO : Thursday, November 30, 1961 Those qualifying for Scugog Council were Reeve Cecil Fralick; Councillors Victor Aldred, Glen Hood, Clarence Carter, and Joseph Dowson. The Port Perry Ball Park Floodlight Fund moved closer to its goal of $5000. this week when canvassers reported an up to date figure of $3,833.80. Welcome to Mr. and Mrs. Snyder and family of Brooklin who have purchased the new home of Mr. Merv. Gerrow, Prince Albert. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 1, 1966 According to Mr. Joseph Dowson, who represents the Hospital Board, construction of the new Community Hospital will commence May 1st, 1967. Reeve J.J. Gibson was again returned by acclamation for a two- year term, while Bruce Beare, will be the new Deputy Reeve for Port Perry. "Mr. Donald Dunkeld, Claremont, was winner of the Ontario Coun- ty 100 Bushel Corn Club this year. He had a yield of 125.7 bushels of shelled 15 percent moisture corn per acre. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Sam Howsam, Utica, on celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, December 1, 1976 The full compliment of municipal and education board can- didates faced a good-sized crowd and the first township all-candidates meeting in a series of three. Ward 3 (Scugog Island) candidate Clifford Redman and Area Councillor candidate Vernon Asselstine were endorsed by the Durham Regional Field Naturalists on the basis of a questionaire dealing with environmental issues, circulated to candidates by the naturalists. Letters Fair Board done an injustice! To The Editor: My involvement with the P.P. Agriculture Society has been quite short but as a citizen of Port Perry I have been quite aware of the abuse that has fallen upon the Fair Board. I feel that the members of the 'Fair Board" have been done an injustice by their friends and neighbours. In September the council asked the "Fair Board' to reconsider the issue of relinquishing the lease on Vote will effect future attendance at Fair To The Editor: Forty-two people, rather I should say, 22 people had the final say on Wednesday night as to the future of the education of our children, as well as to the immediate future growth of the town of Port Perry. The Fair Board once again voted as to whether or not it should surrender it's beloved grounds to a useful cause, and of the 42 members who did vote 20 voted for a move, 22 voted against it. By the way, there were as many as 108 eligible voters -- where were the rest of you when it came time to deciding such an important issue? Of the 22 of you who are so set in your ways that you couldn't possibly see a change for the better, how many of you even live in Port Perry, let alone have children or grand- children who are being forced to contend with the overcrowed situa- tions at both R.H. Cornish and Prince Albert Public Schools? Obviously, not many of you, if any at all, otherwise you would have cast your selfishness aside and would have been able to make a mature adult decision when it came time to vote. So there it stands, no new schoo! and obviously no new jobs in Port Perry. I think that the Council should expropriate you to the alter- native site that has been offered to you. It is far more practical and hopefully would prove to be a little more pleasing to the eye. Each one of us who has the displeasure of driving past the present site, or even worse, any of us living by the pre- sent site of the Fairgrounds, is greeted daily by the eyesore that sits there. : From the past issues of this *dispute, you can certainly guarantee that future attendance is going to be down at your fair. There are many people in this communi- ty who will never attend it again. It's unfortunate that this will affect everyone on the Fair Board, even those 20 who have been able to reach a mature adult decision. You have brought this entirely all on yourselves. Yours truly, Cyndy Jamieson, Port Perry. the "Fair Grounds." The Fair Board tonducted four meetings where the members. discussed, planned and inquired in- to the various possibilities of reloca- tion. They met with council on a Saturday morning to further study this issue. These meetings were always open meetings. On November 26 a vote on this issue was conducted. This vote was carried out under the guidelines set down by the Provincial Agriculture Society. The voters that turned out represented approximately 38 per- cent of the eligible voters. Everyone voted from the knowledge they had acquired and as they individually felt was in the best interest of the Port Perry Fair. The vote was by written ballot. The vote ruled in favour of not relinquishing the lease. I feel this issue has been treated in a legal and conscientious manner. It is my sincere hope that the com- 'munity will accept this ruling and support the Fair Board in it's endeavour to present enjoyable fairs to our community in the future. Sincerely, Bev Muir. i Secretary Port Perry Fair Board. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter to the editor. While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must cratinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. |