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22 stouffville suntribune thursday jan 29 2004 stouffville suntribune sports staff photobill roberts trying to get handle on the situation in an effort to prevent the puck from eluding him jake rodgers used a little fancy footwork to deflect it towards his stick when the whitchurchstouffville minor hockey association conducted its week ly mite house league contests saturday at the stouffville arena rodgers team won 51 spirit keeps playing playoff waiting game thirdplace stouffville to face couchiching or thornhill in first round of postseason play the busiest member of the stouffville spirit this week will never step onto the ice ron archibald the junior a hockey teams assis tant general manager is attempting to plan the provincial junior a hockey league teams playoff schedule the regular season concludes sunday but the three contests the spirit has remaining are incon sequential theyre locked into third place in the north conference that means they will play a bestofseven first round series against either the couchichingterriers or thornhill major islanders the series is likely to commence next thursday at the stoufiville arena the spirit would play home games thursday and sunday nights in the first round in a bizarre playoff setup the top four teams in each of the north and south earn home ice advan tage the spirit will meet the fifthbest team from the rest of the north and south couchiching and thornhill are currently tied for that spot but the terriers have the easier weekend including an automatic two points over dormant huntsville we could know by friday night archibald said going through the scenarios one more time the spirit idle since getting hammered 93 last thursday by couchiching hosts the collingwood blues tonight at 730 and visits the blues friday at 8 pm the final game oh the spirit schedule is sunday in newmarket at 730 pm for more information on the spirit see sportsboard on page 23 or log on to wwwstouffviiiespiritcom winter programs starting now canlan hockey academy rower skating hockey skills youth improve your skating puck control and positioning 7 up adult skating and hockey skills for beginners 18 up hockey tips for tots for beginners ages 3 up individual group instruction c knox has passion for guarding twine female goalie has hackstopped two teams to provincial titles by jim thomas correspondent over the years stouffville has produced many excellent hockey goaltenders names like jack harper norm stunden blake eatough dusty rhodes glenn jackson and george eliopoulos will long be remembered for their backstopping skills each was embraced by the teams for which they played as well as spectators who came to watch while liz knox has a long way to go to reach this level the 15-year- old stouffville district secondary school student is fast becoming the centre of attention coaches and fans both home and away praise her skills shes a member of the sdss spartans girls team and markham- stouffville intermediate aa stars house league beginnings it was during her early house league years that knox decided to give goaltending a try it eventually reached the point where she has remained a steady fixture in net knox has already performed with two allontario champions including a peewee aa girls team in 1999 that ousted kitchener and the other a major peewee a boys club that defeated belle river in 2002 in stouffville she is ecstatic girls hockey has made a comeback at stouffville district secondary school after an absence of several years shes loud in praise of coaches brian shankman and daniel mcconnachie theyve been very patient she says placing no undue pressure on their players theyre also positive in their approach to the game win or lose she adds although early morning practices at 730 means getting up at 6 knox doesnt see this as a problem however leaving afternoon classes early to make games in other towns doesnt go over well with some teachers she notes i always find out what ive missed she says so far ive been able to keep my grades up liz knox tends goal for the stouffville secondary spartans and markham- stouffville intermediate aa stars often playing up to six times a week knox concentrates on improving all aspects of her game idolizing new jersey devils goal keeper martin brodeur knox says being busy between the pipes keeps her sharp she notes in some contests she might handle as many as 50 shots with the markhamstouffville stars she alternates with danielle beattie a system she believes is working well parents big help she admits however shes more nervous sitting on the bench than standing in the net knox attributes her success large ly to her parents doug and gwen who attend most of her games last summer they made it possi ble for her to attend a hockey camp in brampton knox also found the time last summer to assist at a sudbury hock ey camp operated by her grandfather both know how much i love it said knox who also enjoys playing soccer volleyball and bas ketball hockey however remains her passion following graduation from stouffville secondary knox wants to continue her hockey career and earn a scholarship at a us university learn to skat youth ages 212 and adult 13 up professional instruction that covers all the basics forward and backward skating stooping starting turning jumping balance and edge control call for further details as low as 125 j sports call now space is limited 159 dynamic dr scarborough 4164120404 7v f- i