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

is hvjiijaji 1 stouffville suntribune saturday aug 25 2007 1 1 passed over by fort wayne loalie finds home in texas by mike hayakawa staff writer dan mcwhinney absorbed lessons of what life is like as a professional hockey player when he made his debut last season with the fort wayne komets of the united hockey league on the ice the 22-year- old former stouffville spirit netminder acquired valuable pointers off the ice mcwhinney learned firsthand how play ers can be treated like pawns on a chessboard after anticipating a return to the komets the sault ste marie native was informed about 10 days ago his services would no longer be required by the indiana team he finished last season with a 931 wonloss record anda3ll goals against aver age one shutout and goalie of the week honours while playing a backup role saddened at first with the rejection mcwhinney is singing a happy tune these days mcwhinney and his agent dan maciuk of mentor sports group worked out a deal where he is scheduled to report to texas in october dan mcwhinney exspirit goaltender signs with amarillo of central hockey league to play for the amarillo goril las of the central hockey league its crazy how hockey works mcwhinney said my girlfriend and i were expecting to go back to fort wayne but they fort wayne were waiting to hear what another goalie was going to do and he elected to join them and they called my agent and said they were going in another direction im a little bitter since they strung me out for about a month before they heard from the other goalie who they wanted but i learned a lesson in that you cant put all of your eggs in one bas ket things have panned out this going to amarillo is a good deal for me not only is mcwhinney excited about playing in a warmer city he has a good chance to be the starting net- minder for the team coached by a fellow sault ste marie native jim wiley mcwhinney has spent much of the summer in stouffville working out and preparing he was a fan favourite backstopping the spirit to the provincial junior a hockey league final and north and northwest championships in the 200506 campaign he gained further noto riety for his performance in the hockey reality tv series making the cut last man standing mcwhinney is confident he can assert himself in the starting role after apprentic ing last season behind start ing goalie kevin st pierre who ironically will be with tulsa this year and will be the gorillas first opponent when the new season begins kevin st pierre was amazing mcwhinney said he helped me out a lot and thats what you want as a firstyear pro reflecting on his rookie year mcwhinney acknowl edged there were adjust ments he was forced to make the biggest he said was to take an evenkeel approach its quite an experience to play in front of a lot of fans who can get a little more excited than usual and then to have 200 to 300 fans wait ing for your autograph it feels cool but you need to take things in stride and not get a swelled head and dont overreact to things he said his agent has been talking with the chicago wolves of the american hockey league about a possible audition for now though mcwhin ney is setting his sights on amarillo and putting up some good numbers in help ing the gorillas win a trophy just as he did in spiritland i just want to play as many games as possible get wins and good stats and put myself up next year if you can win the league title youre set up for the next year to move up he said softball players wrapping up season the whitchurch stouffville softball association is con ducting its yearend softball house league tournaments starting this weekend at the memorial park ball dia monds the action begins today and will involve the fivepitch novice and fivepitch advanced and bantammidget boys and girls the games are slated to begin at 9 am today and sunday a yearend house league tournament for mites and squirts boys and girls will take place the weekend after labour day bushwood golf club september long weekend special saturday sunday monday september 1 2 3 tee0ff before 300 nm on the chamdionshid course green fee oniff shmmowercarts 0ti p 1 mo pa 300 pm twilight golf and dine 46 52 weekdays or 52 55 weekends championship course shared power cart kids 17 and under play for free with paying adult after 600 pm all prices are tax inclusive bring coupon in to enter draw for free weekday foursome 10905 reesor road just n of elgin mills markham 905 6401233 ext 1 wwwbushwoodgolfcom not valid with tournament play or any other offers i discover the power of selfes bgiibasaffi9i l v dove real beauty workshops at walmart start the discussion about selfesteem and body image at our fun educational workshops for girls aged 812 and their mothers or female mentors facilitated by lisa naylor dove selfesteem expert sat sept 8th at 1 000 am 1 130 am 100 pm 60 mins each stouffville walmart i 1050 hoover park drive stouffville free admission join us in the white tent outside for more details visit dovecawalmart brought to you by walmart and the dove selfesteem fund j i i