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Clair Cornish of Port Perry has reason to smile these days as things are going well for him in his roo- kle season with the Newmarket 87s Junior B Hockey team. The 16-year old has found himself a regular spot on left wing and Is hoping to see work on the power play in the second half of the schedule. As for the future, Clair Is eyeing the possibility of attending university In the States on a scholarship, but he hasn't ruled out the chance of giving Major Junior OHL a shot next fall If the right situation presents It- self. (see story for details) Last Monday the Stone Realty Pee Wees travelled to Pickering and came away 4-0 winners. The boys got off to a slow start and did not score until the second period when Neil Mueller scored on a nice shot from the face-off circle. Scott Wylie and Aron Royle pick- ed up the assists. Todd Smart gave Port a two goal lead picking up a loose puck in front of the net after Scott Heasman had his shot stopped. Port's third goal was scored by Chad Garvock with assists going to Todd Smart and Jeremy Norton. Todd Smart then finished off the scoring with his second goal of the game with assists going to Chad Garvock - and Chad Kearns. Steve Gilbert picked up the Stone gang's third shut-out in a row. On Wednesday the boys hosted Markham and once again had a slow start but managed to come away as 5-1 winners. Markham scored the first goal of the game Sports Land 985-2174 BROOMBALL CURLING -- EQUIPMENT -- Stone Pee Wees take two wins but Steve Desautels tied it up shortly after on a nice solo effort. Chad Garvock then put Port ahead to stay after being set up by Scott Wylie. Steve Desautels then scored his second of the game with assists going to Todd Smart and Chad Kearns. Mike Sluggett made the score 4-1 with a hard low shot from the point after breaking up a Markham clearing attempt. "Chad Garvock finished off the scoring with assists going to Scott Wylie and Brent Harper. The boys travel to Tweed for a tournament on Dec. 29 and are not scheduled to play at home again until Sat., Jan. 7 when Stouffville will be the opposition. py » Truck caps » Box liners » Tool boxes Mon.-Wed. 9-6 Thurs. & Fri. 9-9 Saturday 10-3 A Running boards « Step bumpers It's been quite a year on skates for 16-year old Clair Cornish. The Port Perry native, who played all his minor hockey here, made the large jump in September to the Junior B level, and so far, things have worked out very well. He is one of just three 16-year olds in the line-up for the New- market 87s in the East Division of the Central Ontario Junior B loop. In an interview with the Star last week, the soft-spoken articu- late young man said he has no re- grets so far. In fact, he's very pleased with with the way the team has been going and the fact that he's getting "ample ice time" with a regular shift on left wing, spot duty kill- ing penalties and a turn on the power play once in a while. The 87s, as of last week, were solidly in third spot in the league standings with 16 wins, one draw and six losses in 23 games. And the team is well within striking distance of front-running Orillia, with several big games against this opponent coming up in the next couple of weeks. After a bit of a slow start, Clair started to put some points on the score-sheet in the past half- dozen games, and he now has 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points, slightly above a point-per game average. He said if he can keep this kind of pace going for the 42 game season, he'll be more than happy. Newmarket is a team that stresses defense under the guidance of head coach Norm McCauley. And in the first 23 games, the team had surrendered just 81 goals, tops in the league. While Clair is pleased with his own personal point production to date, he's come to realize that at this level of hockey, there are oth- er aspects of the game: like what a player does when he hasn't got the puck. "The points are important, sure, but for me, just getting the regular ice time is more important for me right now," he said. His coach, whom he has a great deal of respect and admira- tion for, is stickler for hard work, on and off the ice. "His favourite word is sacr- fice," Clair said of coach McCau- ey. And he's also learning that at the Junior B level, hockey is start- ing to become a business. There are no free rides. If a player is not performing well on the ice, he sits on the bench or gets cut from the lineup. The 87s began scouting Clair last season when he was helping the Port Midgets to an all-Ontario STOUR NE 579-6868 VAN & TRUCK WORLD "Accessories and Installations" PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, December 28, 1988 -- 23 Port Perry teen-ager finds a spot in Jr. B. BB championship. And they watched him in several playoff games with the Port Perry Junior C MoJacks. Clair says those Junior C ames helped a lot in making the jump from Midget to Junior B. In fact, he believes that Junior C hockey may be harder hitting and tougher than Junior B, partly because a lot of Junior C players, especially defensemen are 19 or 20 years, whereas Junior B skaters tend to be a year or two younger on average. And he says that contrary to what some people may believe, Junior B is not "goon hockey" by any means. While each team may have a designated heavyweight, Clair says that most of the Junior B players are not there to fight, or to fight. They are there as just one more important stepping stone in their hockey careers. Many of the players are hop- ing to land a scholarship at an American college or university where fighting and "goon style" i not appreciated very much. Not that Junior B isn't tough. Clair says the hitting is hard, and you don't stand very long in front of the other guy's net before a big defenseman has you on the seat of your pants. The major difference is the speed of the game and the quick- ness, both of which suit his style perfectly as he has always been very strong on his skates. At 5' 11" tall, Clair is work- ing to build his strength and pack more weight on the 175 pounds he now carries. He notes that just as his coach is a stickler for strong defensive play, he's also strong on fitness. Every 87s practise starts with a two mile run along Newmarket strects in any kind of weather, fol- lowed by aerobics and other exer- cise to build strength and endu- rance. The team has at least two practises each week, and two games, one at home and usually one on the road. Clair is living at home with his parents in Port Perry, attends school here where he's in grade 11. The fact that he can live at home and drive easily to practises and games was one prime factor in his decision to try out with New- market. Another big factor was Clair's desire to play on what is called a minor waiver, something New- market agreed to. Other Junior B clubs interested in Clair last fall would not agree to that. What the minor waiver means is that if Clair should leave the 87s for any reason, he's free to come back to Port Perry where he i i Many more truck & van accessories 1670 Simcoe St. N. Oshawa 579-6868 525-0 i purchase of any cap X wants to play, not where the sen- ior club mig t want to send him. Sparking a team to an all- Ontario Midget cham fonship, contributing in several playoff games in a Junior C uniform and then cracking the line-up on a Junior B team with five left wing- ers adds up to quite a year for Clair Cornish. But he says that 1989 is go- ing to be a year of decision for him as far as hockey is concerned. Right at this moment, Clair says his hockey priority is to land a scholarship at an American col- lege. The value of a four year scholarship is estimated at be- tween $80 and $100,000. Cliar al- ready has been in contact with ss US schools and at least one has expressed an interest after he finishes grade 12. But 1989 is also the year he's in the draft for the OHL (known as Major Jr. A) and Clair admits he'll look long and hard at that prospect, especially is he's drafted high (3rd or 4th round) by an OHL team fairly close to Port Perry. That draft is coming up in May and if the above circumstanc- es are right, he will have to decide over the summer whether to attend an OHL team training camp. If he spends more than 48 hours at an OHL camp, he be- comes ineligible for a US hockey scholarship. But he also knows that if a shot at the National Hockey League is in his future down the road, playing OHL is perhaps the best route to take. But those kind of decisions are down the road a bit for this tal- ented young man, who many peo- ple argue is among the best players ever in the Port Perry Mi- nor Hockey sy:tem. In the meantime, Clair is con- centrating on this season. He ob- viously wants to continue playing a regular shift for the 87s and by the time playoffs roll around, he hopes to be taking a steady turn on the power play. And there's school work as well. Clair has his sights set on a university education, whether in Canada or the United States, and his long term career interests (out- side of hockey) include teaching phys ed, sports administration or law enforcement. The 87s play their home games in Newmarket each Thurs- day evening at 7:45 at the Com- munity Centre on Main Street. And there is usually a contin- gent of friends from Port Perry in the stands. One fan who rarely if ever, misses a Newmarket game, home or away, is Clair's father, (Turn to page 24) or running board ~with this coupon (EXPIRES DECEMBER 31/88) ] « Captain's chairs * Roof vents ; » Windows I * Bug shields | « Sunroofs | | I