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v- i i economist suntribune tuesday nov 231999 19 1 i i stouffville tribune sports in motion northern ontario centreman a hit with spirit of stouffville by bruce stapley correspondent with a fivefoot fiveinch 185pound frame that could be described as lessthan clas sically athletic michel bond looks more like a candidate for a beer league than a junior a hockey team but when the likable 18- yearold centreman with the spmf of stouffville takes to the ice its sheer poetry the resi dent of hearst ortt is fast emerging as a slick playmaker with a magic scoring touch with the spirit he leads the team in total points with 12 goals and 17 assists after 22 games and is a key reason why his club is in the thick of the chase for third place in the eight team north conference bond shows a combina tion of polished talent poise and toughness on the ic his goodnatured chatter and comical ways have made him a favourite inthe dressing room michel is a great playmak- er with deceiving speed arid quick hands praised spirit head coach brian perrin and hessmart perrin said hes not sur- prised with the way bond has come on in recent weeks he was the leading scorer in his league last season hes really gaining momentum here perrin said bond has also had a positiveinfluence oh his spirit tearnmates hes the kind of player who can raise the level of the players around him 0i bond is simply delivering what he said he would michel told us he would do well said spirit general man- ager dieter schmidt he was quite vocal about the fact that we made a good choice when we sighed him that he would leavefari impression on the coaches and his team mates bonds 39 goals arid 88 points in 39 games last season was a north superior junior b michel bond junior hockey player from hearst onl is making friends in stouffville hockey league record he was instrumental in leading his hearst elans to the league title the past two seasons the elans took the consolation title at the 199798 keystone cup which includes the best junior b teams from northern ontario and western canada with those credentials bond feels his preseason claims were justified im happy its going well im com- ing off a leagueleading points season last year if s taken a lot of hard work but its working out well for me this season bond admits it took a while to adjust- to me provincial league arid his new team mates its a quicker league than ive played in said bond there was lots of line juggling at first and that made it difficult for me bond started to find the range when he was linked up with wingers sean scully and chris large the chemistry was right as the trip has become the teams top scoring were passing the puck well and were talking out there said bond im start ing to have fun now that the team is gelling together bond whose first language is french says it took a little while to adjust to playing away from his home town it was a little tough at first everything is in english and i didnt know anybody when i came here but thats all changed bonds amiable nature has made him a favourite with his teammates he is enrolled in his oac year at stouffville district secondary school and is billeted with stouffville residents dan and flo mceachen i know every body now dan mceachen whose wife is french canadian says bond has been of assistance to the couples three young children who attend a french immersion school michel helps the kids with their french lessons and they help him with his english said mceachen michel likes stouffville and he is wellliked by everyone who meets him hes a real gentleman bond knows when to leave the mr nice guy linage behind schmidt says bond knows when its time to leave the mr nice guy image behind hes fun to be around he jokes arid laughs a lot andhes hav- ing a good time but hes seri ous about his hockey he takes charge out on the ice bond said hes tried to con vince some of his former teammates from hearst to join him with the spirit but none have his sense of adven ture they dont want to leave said bond suggesting the snowmobiling is too good back home for his friends to pack up and head south bond thinks the spirit are going to continue to be a con tender this season everyones focussed arid thats good looking ahead to next sea son he just wants to continue to get the opportunity to play at the highest level possible volleyball dream alive m2000fbrsdss the dream of regaining former glory has been put off until the 21st century for the stouffville district secondary school spartans senior boys volleyball team the sdss squad was stymied in its attempts to advance at both the regional and provincial levels in a pair of closely contested playoff matches held over the past two weeks the spartans were defeated to one by mafkhams markville secondary school in a york region athletic association quarterfinal played in a cramped gymnasium at st roberts catholic high school in thornhill nov 8 the spartans were edged 1416 in the deciding game of the best of three set r the following monday saw the sdss team drop another tough three game set against long time rival sutton district high school in a showdown of the two york aa level schools the win sent sutton off to play the durham region- titlists courtice secondary school for the right to take part in this years ontario federation of schools athletic association aa championships for u schools with 1000 students or less for the spartans the loss to markville spoiled their long shot hopes of chasing after the first tnie allyork region champi onship ever to be staged in past years when sdss was the domi nant aa team in yorkregion the larger aaa teams held their own playoffs we played tough ackripwledged sdsscoach jim fletcher we were still alive at the end while refusing to use it as an excuse fletcher said a low overhang at one end of the st roberts gym hampered his teams serving in the first arid third games as the f teams alternated ends for each game against sutton fletcher said his players had trouble contending with the height of the opposition you cant play a tipping game against players that size he said the spartans might still have wonhad they been a little more aggressive hetcher took solace in the fact that the one win his team managed against sutton i was the first of the season as the two teams earlier squared off in a series of exhibition and tournament games fletcher who coached the spartan york aa dynasty teams of the mid1980s through early 1990s said he would have liked to see his team qualify for the ofsaa championships for the first time since 1993 sure i would like to have won and gone to ofsaa that would have been nice for k bruce stapley the players but it wasnt our day but he said his young team had a suc cessful season despite falling short in the playoffs the team- managed a second place finish in theyraasotitheast division along witha silver and a bronze medal in tournament play we were in every game we played this i season for a team this young thats fantas tic he praised the commitment of his play ers theyre a tremendous group of indi viduals its not the winning ifs the cama raderie and improving together as a team that counts fletcher said it is unrealistic to expect the spartans to regamtiieir dominance so soon after the interruptions to the 1 athletic program at sdss over the past few years it takes time to get it started up again he said we were going up against teams this season with players who play on club teams as wu as meir school teams v j fletcher feels his team can only get stronger next year as he sets put to restore the schools traditional reputation as a yoi leybau powerhous with five returnirig players from this years tearri including the teams irnpres- sive grade 10 student keyin mcgrathj fletcher predicts a return to past glory iv we can build afranchise arburidkevin mcgrath also returning to the spartans again next fall will be power hitters shane tiriims mike allen and rob jrin arid middle player steve cox joining them from the junior level will be a host of promising players including ben bellissimo jon ferguson camerori davis derek conga and jason davis well have some size riext year for a change noted fletcher r fletcher feels astrongfoster alorigwith his many years of experience as a coach should be enough to put sdss back ori top again as soon as next fall were going to try i kriowhowtp doit deadline features monday prior to publication dates november 25th wheels is an informative section featuring the latest in the automotive industry including road tests feature articles dealer profiles maintenance after market products used and new cars trucks wheels ifs sure to reach your customers distributed to over 46ooo households for more information or to book your ad markhanrii automotive buyers guide call your sales representative now ecmilstsijn si stouffville tribane 9os64o2ioo i 1 1 t 1 t i j j j 1 1 si i i if m tj n til tj v i if i h h vl if 1