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i RAE Rn ee Coach Ross McConnell gives a chalk talk to aspiring members of the Midland Centennials Junior C hockey club during a pratice Wednesday at Midland Arena. McConnell, the 25-year-old Cents won't be common if McConnell has his way rookie coach from Elmvale, has been working hard at re-shaping the Centennials from last year's non-contender into a bonafide Georgian Bay league challenger. The team's first and only Garry Forbes * Sports editor * pre-season test will take place tomorrow night at Midland Arena against the Bradford Blues, and the Cents will open their 1982 / 83 season Sunday in Midland (7:30 p.m.) against the Oro 77's. helms- men picked IMSS shocked in opener To coach Randy Ritchie, there was nothing particularly humorous in the Midland Secondary School Marauders' season-opening 12-9 loss to Orillia District Collegiate Vocational Institute last Friday in Orillia. To the OD gang, though, it was probably a laugh riot- Throughout most of the game, it looked as though the Midland squad had a lock on their 1982 Simcoe County High School league debut. After all, it was against one of the league's_ _lightweights. And when you start off a game with a field goal on your first series and end the first half with a secure 9-0 lead and your defence has limited their foes to only three first downs, you figure you've nowhere to go ~ but forward. After all, it's a brief season and the two points and the healthy attitude that derives from an opening stomping can be nothing but beneficial. But that was the first half. There was another, marked by what coach Ritchie calls "a couple of -letdowns" which burst all the balloons inflated in the opening pair of quarters. The bursting began in the third quarter with an OD touchdown after a 40-yard off-tackle run. But that only made it 9-6 and, defensive struggle, that's the way it stayed right through the two- minute warning. But then, with a minute and 20 seconds to go, with OD in posession but buried deep in their zone on third-and-20, MSS' last balloon was suddenly stuck. The OD offence ran a fake sweep, reversed, and set for the pass. The MSS defense reacted to the fake and left the receivers open. Still, all seemed in control for a moment as the passer was nailed just as he released the _ ball, sending the ball straight up in the air. But one of the receivers alertly spotted it, managed to scramble back, pick off the errant missile and scamper down the sidelines for six points before the MSS crew could get a handle on the situation. : Randy Ritchie was watching all _ this transpire from the sidelines and could only groan later, "It was like watching an episode from Mork and Mindy." The "completed" pass was, according to Ritchie's stats, the only successful OD passing attempt of the game. By that count, rookie MSS quarterback John Friesen's completion percentage was 100 per cent better: he found the mark twice in 15 tries, one for an 18-yard TD to Jeff Graham (the two- point convert attempt was missed). But Ritchie and co- coach Bill McVean weren't depending on a passing game; as far as they were concerned, their team was good on all fronts to win their opening effort and set up for:a strong season. Veteran fullback Gary Beausoleil earned 81 of Midland's 175 Here's a collector's Norway. The before the reads: MIDLAND MIDGETS / TO NORWAY 1882-1983. Oh, well--they look nice, anyway. a a Z. a Trip-pin's in item: commemmorating the Midland Major Midgets' scrapped Christmas trip to ins were ordered long idland Minor Hockey Association executive voted to cancel the trip due to shortage of players, but it was too late to cancel their "production and they'll be popping up here and there as momentoes of the trip that never was. The inscription yards of total offense and his sidekick in the twin fullback setup, Peter Zeidel, came on in the late going to run up 53 yards in his first high school game. And Ritchie wasn't taking anything away from Friesen, who is attempting to fill the venerable shoes of his older brother, Steve. 'He played in one game last year, the last game against. Penetanguis- hene a pin LEGION (which ESPSS won), but he was playing with an injured shoulder,'"' said Ritchie. "But there's no question he's going to be good. He can do the job." So MSS have the talent, the strength, the speed, the foot (in Kent Goldsmith, who kicked the 35-yard field goal Friday) and the coaching. All they're missing now are the points and, painfully and not at all humorously, the luck. Mon. The Midland Minor Hockey Association decided on a replacement for the purged management of the Legion Major Midgets during a meeting Monday night. The coaching com- mittee of the MMHA decided to accept the applications of Andy Trainer as coach and Dave Crawford as manager to replace coach Jack Baguley, manager Bob Merkley and trainer Gary Magloughlin. The latter threesome were suspended after bitter objections were voiced concerning the MMHA decision to cancel the team's proposed Christmas trip to Norway. The MMHA voted to cancel the trip because they felt enough players had not been financially com- mitted. Coaching staffs for all other MMHA teams were also announced during Monday 's meeting. The following is the complete run- down: Juvenile - coach, George Weatherall; trainer, Bob Bray. Minor Midget - coach, Gabe Quesnelle; manager Bev Quesnell; trainer, Randy Lalonde. Minor Midget - coach, Gabe Quesnelle; manager Bev Quesnelle; trainer, Randy Lalonde. Major Bantan - coach, Wayne Marchand; Manager, Barry Bressette; assistant coach, Pat Dusome. Minor Bantam - coach, Bill Knibbs; assistant coach, John Bressette. Major Peewee - coach, Bill Logan; manager Mike Dorion.. Minor Peewee. - coach, Dave Chalmers; manager, Gary Price; trainer, Colin Mitchell; assistant coach, Jim Lunnie. Major Atom - coach, George Weatherall; manager, Bill Jones, Sr.; trainer / assistant coach, Don Tannahill. Minor Atom - coach, Riek. Larmand: manager, Bob Irvine. Wednesday, September : 29,.1982, Page 19 or