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14 stouffville suntribune thursday feb 12 2004 stouffville suntribune sports sabiston was ace on hemsteads 1941 title run stouffville resident says winning oha junior c title was a thrill by jim thomas correspondent hes a chapter out of hockey history bloomingtons jim bus sabiston a survivor of mark- hams famed hemsteads aces vividly recalls the 1941 season when the team battled to an ontario hockey association junior c championship the aces defeated bolton for the title winning three games the last in overtime the series had to be complet ed at maple leaf gardens because the markham arena on hwy 7 had natural ice and it was in poor shape along the way markham defeated aurora newmarket lindsay cobourg and parry sound ill never forget one game with parry sound sabiston said the team their fans and a band arrived by train then marched along main street to the rink staff photosjoerd witteveen stouffville resident jim sabiston displays the photograph of the markhambased hemsteads aces a 1 941 team he played on that won the ontario hockey assodation junior c championship the photograph on the right is a dose up of the champi onship team sabiston is in the back row fourth from left the arena was jammed with spectators hanging from the rafters the arena was jammed with spectators hanging from the rafters he remembers those were the early years of the second world war hockey gave people something to cheer about he recalled sabiston played only the one season the teams ranks were later depleted when many went over seas born near unionville sabiston played in the toronto hockey league before he gradu ated to the junior c ranks played on defence with markham he played on defence with stouffville native bruce ike harper others in the aces lineup included leo murphy jack coburn nick bangay vic meharg jack watson allan boadway ronnie rowe skippy northcott austie baker bob bangay jack harper and bob lawrie the coach was ernie lawrie john bayes served as presi dent grant nighswander treas urer frank tunney timekeeper and danny bud baker team mascot sabiston describes himself as a fringe player with no chance of making the national hockey league several did advance however including rowe he signed with the new york rangers bob bangay captained the club he bangay was our best sabiston remembers i always thought hed make it to the big time not only was he good but good and clean such was not the case with some players they played against many relied on brute force because they lacked the neces sary skills he says management including coach lawrie stressed clean play sabiston recalls the consumption of alcohol was forbidden he said after winning the champi onship the village of markham hosted a banquet and presented each player with an engraved gold watch sabiston lost his several years later however it was unearthed in a garden near the corner of hwy 7 and mccowan road my name was on it so i knew it was mine he noted hit by truck three years ago three years ago sabiston suf fered a lifethreatening injury when run over by a truck in a gravel pit near pickering his right leg was badly broken necessitating five weeks in markham stouffville hospital plus several months convales cence at home later a cyst developed on his right hip requiring additional surgery but you cant keep a good man down as the saying goes many players relied on brute force because they lacked the necessary skills sabiston is back skating again joining a thursday afternoon seniors group at the stouffville arena i was a little shaky the first time out he said while its been 60 years since sabiston retired his hockey hey days in markham will never be forgotten- an autographed team photo in his home is a constant reminder spirit must get back to basics if it hopes to win series stouffville holds 21 lead over thornhill islanders mitch dillon wasnt good enough to play for the stouffville spirit junior a hockey team last season on sunday night the aurora resident stuck it to the spirit right in stouffville dillon 18 scored at 833 of overtime to give the thornhill major islanders a 43 win over the spirit the spirit however leads the opening round bestofseven provincial junior a hockey league playoff series 21 win ning the first two games by 41 scores game 4 in the series is tonight in stouffville with game 5 saturday at the thornhill community centre game 6 would be sunday in stouffville and game 7 monday in thornhill if necessary all games are 730 pm starts the major islanders trailed 30 after one period sunday but scored twice in the second and got the equalizer from chris cloutier with 258 left in regula tion the major islanders appeared to have the game won at 206 of overtime but referee david koziel waved off an apparent goal after con sulting with the linesmen feeling overconfident we played well for the first two games and the first period sunday spirit head coach brian perrin said but after that first period our guys thought the series was over give credit to thornhill for not giving up dillon signed by the spirit in scored for the spirit in its second victory stouffville outshot the major islanders 3726 neil c 16 earned his second straight win and stopped a major islanders penalty shot in brian perrin spirit head coach thought clubs complacency was a turn ing point in sundays 43 overtime loss 2002 from the richmond hill stars midgets was released to schomberg junior c in january 2003 at thornhill saturday michael commisso jordan mabley kevin hayward and michael duco we have to focus on the basics nothing too complicated the second period we have to focus on the basics nothing too complicated perrin said before practice tuesday playoffs come down to hard work and execution on sunday we didnt execute spirited notes spirit goalie daniel bellissimo obtained from the st michaels buzzers at last months trade deadline has not dressed since- being injured in the regular sea son finale against the newmarket hurricanes feb 1 stouffville clipper and uxbridge bruin net- minders have backed up gonway in all three games the major islanders gangly jesse zulauf a zdeno chara lookalike has come in for extra attention after harassing conway early in the series the much shorter kevin lord landed a handful of punches on the 6foot6 zulauf a former member of the hurricanes sunday exspirit goalie steve carota traded to the major islanders last month has been seen during the seriesthe spirit appeared ready to take a 42 lead in the third period sunday when a major islanders player pulled the net down before a goal could be scored penalty shot penalty or automatic goal a twominute minor was called for more information on the spirit log on to wwwstouffvillespirilcom