The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

st mfw 9m rww9 w w ffi 9999 atmabkhh reg 125 call 4753663 for details the tribune orts leisure got a score call our hotline at 6402100 s estgs v tj xwsm e5k jfl jtsc oh to sbm 1 ssssp jpjlg u- l m ra i5sfci5rt nvffi jt g9mbygsim ssf te ls jfm 3 v pft sn ob fgfywz if 1k mfakal v tfbsjqctksjskywaiwi 5fcai f3 f2aii si t j ft b 322ss js s sixiil milij asshs mm te 1 mg aefishcsbpf ejfjl a track and field day for orchard park students students from orchard park public school took to the stouffville district secondary school track on tuesday to take part in their annual track and field meet part of the festivities saw jesse miller left photograph take part in the high jump competition in the right photograph a group of tykeaged girls run to the finish line in a 200metre heat event phoms by sjoerd witteveen spirit welcome league amalgamation bruce stapley correspondent a merger is being finalized between the ontario hockey association provincial and metro junior a hockey leagues that will see the spirit of stouffville entered into an llteam division including the markham waxers provincial league officials said the com ing together of the two leagues is all but com plete i would say its going to be a done deal provincial league commissioner bob hooper told the tribune on thursday everything is basically done the metro league had been asked to approve a proposal from the provincial league outlining conditions under which the merger could be accepted the metro league gave its approval earlier this week but hooper was awaiting a written confir mation if the metro league approved our pro posal then its history the two leagues are becoming one said hooper the sticking point had involved the unwillingness of the provincial league to accept the union if the metro league kept its teams in pittsburgh pennsylvania niagara falls new york arid syracuse new york but pittsburgh is to be dropped from the league while the syracuse and niagara falls clubs have agreed to pay a portion of the extra travel expenses incurred by the exist ing provincial league teams spirit owner ed hakonson said he wel comed the merger because of the potential to establish a rivalry with neighbouring markham were very excited at getting the chance to play against markham he said it should make for a good rivalry down the road spirit general manager dieter schmidt was also enthusiastic about the union i think it will be a good thing said schmidt im all for it schmidt said the merger will put an end to the uneasy atmosphere that has character ized relations between the two leagues it will stop all the name calling and behind the back telephone calls and attempts to steal away players from the two leagues i certainly welcome it and im sure everyone else in our league welcomes it it can only be a positive thing the waxers who are to amalgamate with thornhilps metro league team and the spirit will be part of the central conference in the new league they will be joined by existing provincial league teams the new market hurricanes collingwood blues couchiching terriers and aurora tigers the conference will be rounded out by former metro league teams including the north york rangers huntsville wildcats wexford raiders durham huskies and the shel- bourne wolves the shelbourne club is said to fje a question mark for the coming season niagara falls is to play in the west confer ence while syracuse is aligned with the east conference hooper downplayed rumours that the lindsay muskies might be switched from the eastern to the central conference lindsay will be staying there in the east ern conference he said the eastern and western conferences are please see page 18 spirit and bruins to work together bruce stapley correspondent the dream match up is finally a reality as the spirit of stouffville and uxbridge bruins have joined forces the two teams announced thursday that an agree ment has been made which will see the cen tral ontario junior c hockey league bruins become an affiliate squad for the spirit of stouffville of the provin cial junior a hockey league the arrangement makes it possible for more stouffville and uxbridge area play ers to suit up with the bruins the uxbridge clubs roster has traditionally included several stouffville area players but those numbers have been decreasing in recent seasons this is the way it should be said spir it owner ed hakonson of the affiliation weve been trying to do this for three years bruins general manager ron archibald whose team was affiliated with the ajax axemen of the provincial league last sea son agreed the time had come for the move it makes a lot of sense said archibald its too bad we didnt put it into place last year the spirit had been affiliated with the bradford junior c bulls last season that meant that junior c level players hoping to eventually crack the stouffville lineup had to play with the bulls it didnt really make sense being affil iated with bradford said spirit general manager dieter schmidt the majority of the boys in the stouf fville and uxbridge area didnt want to drive to bradford to play one stouffville resident brandon crossen signed with the bruins after see ing limited ice time with the spirit at the start of the 199798 season but there was no official agreement between the two teams archibald said the affiliation now makes it possible for aspiring stouffville and uxbridge area players to start with the bruins on their way to achieving junior a status were hoping it can serve to lock up a lot of local kids between the two organiza tions the towns are so close it makes a lot of common sense now we can work together to givethe kids a ladder to climb archibald said the arrangement couldnt have come at a better time this is such a crucial year said archibald both towns stouffville and uxbridge have such good crops of midget aged kids coming through who are ready to make the jump to junior hockey they can start by playing junior c in uxbridge then perhaps play junior a with the spirit next year it seems like a natural for the stouffville kids to have their first experience in junior hockey in uxbridge archibald said the arrangement will also facilitate the shuttling of players that nor mally occurs between affiliated teams throughout the season the proximity of the two locations makes it easy to have kids move back and forth he said the move can only mean an increase in interest in junior hockey in both towns theres still a bruins flavour in stouf fville with former bruin ken burrows as assistant coach now the potential will be there to announce during a spirit game that the fans can see next years spirit players tomorrow night in uxbridge seamssmmimimmm tm mm