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ital cman de Een di a~asmurens = joi Jesser lights" The Midland Athletics seem a little confused about who the good teams are and who the bad teams are in the ranks of the OHA Major Inter- mediate Hockey League. Once again, this time last Friday in Port Elgin, the Athletics allowed one of the league's 'lesser lights' to get by them as the Sunocos slipped past for a 6-4 victory. It was the second straight loss by the Athletics, after another lower-ranked team, the Barrie 'Flyers, which came after they handed the league- leading Georgetown Raiders their first loss of the season. As it now sits, there's only one light lower than the A's (the Sunocos) as both the Durham Huskies and the Barrie Flyers have pulled right alongside them in the standings. Last night, the A's 'met the Huskies for the second time this season. Results were unavailable at press time, but they should tell a lot about which way the A's may be heading. As ina couple of previous season matchups, the A's punched into Friday's game at least one period too late. By the time the first 20 minutes were over, the Midlanders were behind the eight-ball by 3-1, with the only goal coming from the stick of Paul Robillard. The Sunocos added a couple more in the second period and threatened a blow-out with another early in the third before Midland came around. Carl Cowan put the A's second goal on the board just past the halfway mark of the final frame (from linemates Wayne Dixon and Doug Gillespie) and the club's final two tallies came in the final two minutes (Ken Knapton and Robillard). Goaltender Craig Watson saved 30 shots and his teammates fired an equal number at the other end. Injuries continued to be a sore point with the A's on Friday, with Wayne King, Tony Stone, Joe Butson and Terry King out of the lineup and Gary Hansford joining the list after taking a solid right to the cheek from one Chet Couture midway through the first period. Hansford, who suffered a slight concussion and a lot of bruising, will be out for about a week. i cecaa beeen Is Carl's cause coming apart? If Carl Cowan looks. just a little bit down in the dumps, it's for good reason: the Midland Athletics, whom Cowan recently joined, seem to be on a bit of a slide of late, losing their last two OHA Major Intermediate A energy. Hockey League outings to clubs that should have been relatively easy pickings. Last night, they were at it again in Durham in an attempt to gain back some of their early-season SIX LOSSES IN NINE STARTS Kings less than royal The Penetanguishene Hockey League action Kings putonalessthan at Penetanguishene royal exhibition before Arena. their hometown fans a last Friday as they Dave' Robillard watched a _ three-goal scored three times for lead turn into an 8-7 loss to the Stayner Siskins in Georgian Bay Junior C GEORGIAN BAY JUNIOR C HOCKEY LEAGUE South Division GPW. Lb TeRts the home side and singles were added by Phil Cing-Mars, Brian, Essa 10): ie alee 2 aL5 Midland 103 1G As OF cr 12 Stayner 7 Teor vase ag gered bay i Oro LO rota oc peo: Penetang -- CSAP ap) faa Une n North Division Gravenhurst IK Nyse ths Samaras Issa Lee by Parry Sound LON AS 6% a lice Huntsville Vinee. ae OY 46 Bracebridge Spas pes as Villers Laas) " Haliburton Gerson s Bite et a McReynolds, Peter Roi and Brian Forget, but it wasn't quite enough as the Kings suffered their sixth setback in nine tests and maintained their cellar-dwelling status in the league's south division. The Kings outshot the Siskins by a _ 34-26 margin but a five-goal, third-period spree by Stayner made all the difference where it really counts. Kevin Steele did the netminding chores for the Kings. Three of Stayner's goals were had on the power play,though the Kings accumulated only four more minutes in penalties than did their visitors. Missing from Friday's lineup were Brian Norwood and the injured list of Gary Beausoleil, Blair McReynolds, John O'Hara and _ John Monague. Next outing for the Kings is slated for Peer tad: ay: aeab Penetanguishene Arena against the Essa 80's-- from whom the Kings have wrangled three of their five points. Garry Forbes * Sports editor * FROM FIFTH TO SILVER Orser just Following a fifth-place finish in the opening figures competition -- a finish that all but eliminated him from a_ shot at the gold -- Penetanguishene's Brian Orser vowed he'd battle through the final two events of Skate Canada with everything he had. And that he did. The 20-year-old reigning Canadian mens' senior champion thrilled the capacity crowd in Kitchener with short and long programs so skilfully executed they brought him to within one-tenth of a point of the gold medal. The mens' competition, which wound up Saturday, was won by Brian Boitano of the U.S., with Orser snug in second and Heiko Fischer of West Germany in possession of the bronze. Dubbed the Battle of the Triple Axels, both Boitano and Orser took the all-or--nothing approach on the final day by including the difficult and risky three-and-a-half revolution manouevre in their finale exhibitions. And neither executed it perfectly: Orser, recognized as the world's master of the triple Axel, bent at the waist after landing and almost touched his hand to the ice. Boitano landed his but touched his free foot down on the ice accidentally; toward the end of his program, he stumbled out of a double Axel. Orser also finished second last year, that time to Norbert Schramm of West Germany. Earlier this year, Orser defeated Schramm in defense of his crown at the St. Ivel competition in England. Orser will now take aim at the Canadian championships in Montreal. After that, it'll be the World championships, in which he'll try to improve on last year's fifth- place finish. Cents on stride The Midland Cen- tennials may have found the groove once again afte. scoring an im- pressive--and __undou- btedly morale-buildi- ng--7-3 decision over the Bracebridge Bears last Friday in Bracebridge. Brian Cadeau led the way with two goals and singles were had by Shawn Davy,, Dave Wright, Brian Garner, Joe Belesky and Al Whidden as the Cents snapped a three-game losing streak with their sixth season victory. The Centennials assaulted the Bears' net with 60 depended on goaltender Dwayne Latondress to save 41 responses. goals came on power plays and Cadeau's second--was a shorthanded effort. The Centennials currently hold down second spot in the league's south division, three points back of the Essa 80's. Three of Midland's shots and Their next game is slated for Friday in Oro against the fourth-place TES. one--