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VOL. 97, NO. 34. I guess I should explain this latest fit of despondency. The Richmond Hill Rams are doing it to me again and, quite frankly, I resent it. Hang cool and I’ll tell you all about it. There are moments I brood about the inci- dent that caused my genius to peak at the age of five years. I swallowed a lollipop. Whole. It’s been downhill ever since. The hockey Rams (as of writing) are em- broiled in a best-ofâ€"seven Provincial Junior “A” Playoff Series with the Wexford Raiders and are leading the series two games to one. This is almost enough to make me swallow another 101- lipop and get it over with. ml, ENTER LIFE Enter life. The Rams done me a dirty trick. They went out and got bombed 10-4 and made me think of lollipops again. How can you serâ€" iously come out and predict a team to win the series after a scene like that? So I abandoned the column. Gloom still pervaded my life come Monday morning. No column. Then I hear the news that the same Rams had come back to Wexford and won by 4-3. No wonder I’d rather hang wallpaper than_\v01jds. - u . . q Hey, this will make a swell, dramatic col- umn. The second game was set for Richmond Hill Thursday night of last week. I reasoned that the Rams would edge the Raiders to take a two-game lead and that I would boldly come out and pick them to win the series in five by an iipstet. Take a chance, Fred. Get out on that 1m . Why? Well, it's a long, brutal story. The Rams opened with a 4-2 win over the hated Raiders right in Raider-land Wednesday of last week. I got all excited about it. Back to the typewriter again. I chatted with several people and they said the Rams played tremendous hockey, particularly a couple of chaps by the name of Dave “Digger” Dunkley and Billy Stephenson who won star-mention. Both are local kids and this buoyed the old spirits again. Hey, maybe we can do it. Then I get the news that the Raiders (in ung‘entlemanly fashion, I hear) were rattling Richmond Hill ribs while we were scoring. They knocked Steve Glover out of the series (collapsed lung) and probably Ernie Takeuchi (he received a severe concussion after being apparently whacked by a Wexford stick). Let’s face it. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I hope the Rams win it, I really do. But I’m simply too insecure to come out and predict it. One way or the other. Juniors simply baffle me. Come to think of it, so does life. So I’ve decided not to write this column at all. Hand me that lollipop, over there, Quickly. It’s héppened before. You play good hoc- key but you just don’t have the bodies still around to win it? So I’m in a quandry again. It notes that the “big increase in total snowmobile accidents during the current season has occurred on Ontario’s roads, 26 snowmobilers being killed mainly in collisions with parked or moving motor vehicles.” The paper originates with the Ontario Safety League which, of course, is eager to save lives. I’m looking at a piece of paper here that tells me that “the winter is half over and 32 snowâ€" mobilers have become fatality statistics” in Ontario which is about the same as a year ago. There I’ve done my duty. I can’t help but feel that all the warnings in the world are use- less. It’s a human tale. The intelligent people, those of sane mind, do drive carefully on snow- mobiles the same as they do in cars. The others won’t read or listen anyway. Then there are the types who simply are born to find out new ways of killing themselves. Does that sound pessimistic? I’m sorry but that’s the way I’ve come to (Continued on Page 14) Summer’s not so far away. Maple Leaf Sails of Richmond Hill] are geadydto get you sai ing. 0 or er now to / _ - avoid missing the start of the sailing season. Guaranteed delivery at reasonable cost. Maple Leaf Sails SAILS and HARDWARE By Fred Simpson ABOUT SNOWMOBILES Genius Peaking 884-2716 spar! spots ECHMOND HILL, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1974 ’"ed simp I wish to express my sin- cerest thanks to the adults and young people for their kind assistance in helping me operate a very successful snowmobile ride at the annu- al Winter Carnival held at the Mill Pond. The snowmobiles and ca- booses were all loaned and the gas and oil were donated Dear Mr. Sports Editorâ€" Vaughan Nats Drop First Two Down North Bay 6-3 3rd Game Sunday’s game saw the Nationals come out flying with Doug Sellars popping one home within 17 seconds of the opening buzzer and Brian Wilton upping it to 2-0 at the 35 second mark. North Bay’s Glen Urqu- hart got one back before the period ended and Bob Brooks tied the game in the second. Another goal by Rick Tar- asuk made it 3-2 for the Nats going into the final 20 minutes. COMMANDING LEAD Rick Grisdale and War- ren Holmes scored to give Vaughan a commanding 6â€"2 lead before Brooks got one back. The league winning Vaughan Nationals bounced back from two opening game playoff defeats to down North Bay Trappers 6-3 Sunday at Maple Community Centre. They had opened their Provincial “A” best- ofâ€"seven series by dropping a second overtime period 4-3 game to North Bay in Tuesday night of last week’s opener at Maple. The Bay boys outshot the Nats 37-36 on the game. It was a winâ€"in-time for the somewhat surprised Nats who had dropped a 4-2 game to North Bay Friday night in a game which cul- minated in three fights Fri- day night. This was foilowed by a 21-2 setback at North Bay Friday night of last week. “Those fights seemed to spark the Nats,” a club spokesman said. “They pick- ed up from that point and kept on going Sunday night." LOSE 4-2 The Friday game saw ev- ery goal but the last one scored on a powerâ€"play. That last goal was into an empty net. North Bay jumped into a 3-0 lead before Vaughan could even get started with Mitch Babin scoring two and Bob Horton one. Fred Bowen and Jim Tyâ€" ‘rrell scored 20 seconds apart in the third period and the Nats thought they had tied the game on a goal by Brian Burtch but one of their players was in the crease at the time. The Nats kept pressing and removed Goalie Kev Walton in the final minute only to have the strategy backfire as Horton scored his second goal of the night into the yawning twines. THRILLER Tuesday’s playoff opener at Maple was a thriller all the way as Vaughan‘s Wal- ton stopped 62 shots with North Bay‘s Danny Ranich called on to make 46 saves in the wide-open contest. The winning goal came at 4:07 mark of the second overtime as North Bay’s Randy Stojkiewicz picked up a loose puck in a scramble around Walton and stuffed it home. CARNIVAL SNOWMOBILE RIDES Both teams had played to a scoreless regulation T OYO TA 5219"; MJAPAN CAR SALES 7756 YONGE ST. to the Carnival. The fun and enjoyment of the approx. 1,500 children and adults that were given rides justified the time and preparation. However, on behalf of the helpers, I was disappointed that the success of our rides wasn’t mentioned in the story about the Camival’s results. Thank you again everyone. JIM BARBER, 327 Mill Street, 10-minute overtime before going into the sudden death one. The Nats opened the scorâ€" ing in the first on Sellar's goal but Mitch Babin tied it before The period ended. Joe Omiccioli gave the Bay a 2-1 lead going into the third only to have Rick Tarasuk tie it for the Nats early in the third. The visitors moved into a 3-2 lead on Glen Urquhart’s goal but Tarasuk came back to tie the game at 3-3 at 18:04 setting the scene for the dramatic overâ€"time fin- ale. The fourth game in the series was set for Tues- day night of this week at North Bay with the fifth slated for Maple Commun- ity Centre tonight (Thurs- day) at 8 pm. If a sixth game is nec- essary it will be played to- morrow night (Friday) in North Bay and a possible seventh game Sunday night at Maple at 7:30. Hill Badmintoners Lose By 16-8 Score The Richmond Hill Bad- minton Club dropped only its second game of the season last week bowing by 16-8 to A. Y. Jackson in Toronto In- terchurch league action. The locals must now win their final two games against Aurora and St. Clements to win the league and make the playoffs. Scoresâ€" Ladies Doubles: Enid Grant and Joan Freeman splitting 18-13, 6-15; Carol McDonald and Lil McCallum losing 9-15, 5-15; Hilda Baxter and Jill Johnson winning 15-5, 15-6. Men’s Doubles: Gary Ford and Randy Carlson losing 15-10, 15-7; Doug Andrews and Bob White winning 15-12, 15-8; Larry Marchbank and Syd Redgate losing 10-15, 8-15. Mixed Doubles: Joan Free- man and Gary Ford losing 15-8, 15-2; Enid Grant and Randy Carlson splitting 15-12, 5-15; Jill Johnson and Larry Marchbank losing 9-15, 7-15; Carol McDonald and Doug Andrew splitting 5-15, 17-16; Hilda Baxter and Bob White winning 15-9, 15-6; Lil Mc- Callum and Syd Redgate splitting 16-17, 15-8. Snowmobile Convenor THORN HILL Saturday’s game was a “tong war" battle all the way as the Rams concentrated on hockey and the Raiders tried to win the game by the sim- ple process of eliminating Rams. They did pretty well. Knocked out of the line-up and into the hospital were Steve Glover and Ernie Tak- euchi. “Glover got a stick in the ribs and was taken to hospital with a collapsed lung,” com- mented Brimblecombe. “He’ll be on the disabled list for a month at least.” It was just one swallow to date in a long season but it was a pleasant one two weeks ago when members of the Richmond Hill Legion Midgets won six straight games to win the Double “A” Division of the Drummondville, Quebec Hockey Tournament. They won it by downing Drummond- ville 3-2 and 5-1 in their final two games. Takeuchi’s moment came in the closing seconds of the game when, according to re- ports, he was charged and high-sticked by Wexford’s Bill Hassard. Takeuchi was knocked cold by the blow and was taken to the hospital with a concus- sion and is a doubtful starter for the rest of the series. Also receiving 5 t i t c h e s from a high stick in the early minutes of the game was high scoring Mike Hartman. Yet another playing cas- ualty is young Dave Stuart who is sporting a broken nose courtesy of a Wexford stick in the first game of the ser- 1es. The Richmond Hill Rams won a hockey game Saturday night but they might have lost a war. You can say it was a real rough game,” was Rams’ Coach Karl Brimblecombe’s assessment as his team skated to a 4-3 win over Wexford Raiders at Hyland Arena to take a 2-1 lead in their best-ofâ€"seven Provincial Junior “A” Play- offs. The win followed a 10-4 lacing at the hands of the Raiders Thursday night of last week at Richmond Hill following a 4-2 win in Wexford in the opener Wednesday night. “Figure out yourself what they’re up to.” said a disgruntled Brimblecombe. “I just hope we can keep our cool and win this ser- ies.” Meanwhile, back at the hockey end of it the Rams were on top all the way tak- ing a 2-0 lead in the first period and leading 3-2 going into the third. GUEST SCORES Defenceman Jack Guest opened the scoring for the Rams at the five minute mark of the first period as his blaster from the blueline deflected off an enemy play- er and past a Steve Napier who was moving in the oppo- site direction. Jimmy Clement made it 2-0 on a passing play with Jim Graham and Bob Bangay be- fore Wexford made it 2-1. Two more goals Hartman and Billy son and one by made it 2-1. The Raiders removed their goalie but couldn’t put the tying goal past Steve Brum- well who played a strong game in the twines for Rich- mond Hill. The best Ram on the ice was Dave “Digger” Dunk- ley who came up with his best game in a Ram uni- form according to infom- ants. On one penalty shift he checked at least four Wexford players on rushes on as many different occas- ions. Also coming up with one of his finest games of the season was Billy Stephenson. Both Stephenson and Dunk- Rams Lead Wexford Two Games To One Two more goals Hartman and Billy son and one by made it 4-2 going final minutes. Wexford scored its third goal shortly after the Takeu- chi-Hassard incident when the Rams players forgot to cover up as they watched Takeuchi lying on the ice. COLLAPSED LUNG Seated front row (left to fight) are: Brian Kellett, 889-5484 FROM by Mike Stephen- Wexford by Mike Stephen- Wexford into the Drummondvi/Ie Tournament Champions ley stars The Rams play tonight (Wednesday) at H y 1 a n d Arena. Tuesday night's fiasco was little more than a practice session most of the way for the hepped-up Wexford squad as they simply skated over the Rams at Richmond Hill Arena. The only surprise of the game was the humanity shown by the Raiders in the closing minutes of the deva- station as they let up enough to allow the Rams to score the final three goals and sal- vage at least a more respect- able 10-4 loss. Wexford Win IO -4 With the exception of the first few minutes of the open- ing period the Rams were never really in the game as h‘rfiu-fi-fifi-flv‘u---‘ I YOU’H. SA VE HUNDREDS AT DON HTTlE’S . . . {Inca um. " V HID Ill, 8533;” ‘ I.’ A .3 ID! ‘3".- -~ 1.! I‘l- *‘u were selected as game the Raiders build up a 3-0 lead, increased it to 8-1 going into the third. Leading the Raiders' scor- ing “insult” were Archie King and Doug Prince with two goals each with singles going to Vic Fiori, Graham Hall, Paul DeMarco, Steve Major, Bill Hassard and Bob Keeler, For the Rams it was Mike Hartman, Steve Glover, Ernie Takeuchi and Bill Stephen- son scoring. Wexford outshot the Rams 59-42 on the game but it was the middle period that really told the tale of the game. Wexford laced 22 shots at Brian Stankiewicz while his counterpart was stopping only nine and most of them less than dangerous. Stankiewicz couldn’t be blamed for the first five or six as his teammates were nowhere in sight at times with the Wexford marksmen roving at will around his doorstep. Stankiewicz finally succumbed to the general lethargy and failed to cover up properly on some of the other efforts. The Rams even took their in lumps in the fistic end of the program with Jim Graham in particular getting mowed su down by Wexford’s Hassard at He got so frustrated at one point he fired his stick high into the air and into the cor- ner after a score. Arnie Van Der Weyde, Mike Doyle, Jerry Tipold, Bob Mc- Cullough, Dave Berseth. Standing (same order), Coach Peter Artemchuk, Assistant Coach Steve Johnston, Jeff Miller. Richard Hopson, Rob Wallingford, Tony Robinson, Wayne Court, John Oakley, Steve Hodgins, Mike Gallaugher, Kerry Miner, Trainer Bill Dennett, Manager Bob Oakley. who punched him to his hands and knees in a third period fight. This particular incident produced a short duel behind the penalty box as some frus- trated Richmond Hill fans decided to get into the act also. Hassard ended up Ibreak- ing this fight up himself which was a novel twist as he stood in the penalty box. Richmond Hill’s Takeuchi won one of the two fights he was involved in (the other was more of a wrestling match) but ended up losing to the officials who fired him out of the game after his second one in the final per- iod. Easily the most effective Ram out there was Dave “Digger "Dunkley who played himself into exhaustion while his teammates looked admir- ingly on. Defenceman Stephenson was the most offensive threat for the Rams as he made Several neat rushes up the ice one of which culminated in a pretty goal with only 26 seconds left in the game. It was that type of game for the Rams. One nightmare after another. Takeuchi was fortunate. He was first into the dressing room. RAMS WIN It was a vastly different story in Wednesday's opener at Hyland Arena as the un- der-dog Rams used a three- goal third period as a spring- board to a 4-2 win over the shocked Wexford Raiders. “It was simply a case of everyone doing their job out there," observed Coach Karl Brimblecombe following the game. “I couldn't single out any one player. They all gave out and I told them that’s the only way we can win. It's up to them." Particularly a stand-out was Rams“ Goalie Stankiewicz in the middle period as the Raiders fired 16 shots at him but could only manage one goal to take a 2-1 lead going into the final 20 minutes. Wexford's Steve Major opened the scoring at 4:35 of the first period but Rich- mond Hill's Steve Glover came back to tie it in the second before Hassard scored at 8:28 to put the Raiders in front 2-1. It was all Richmond Hill in the final 20 minutes as they allowed Wexford only two shots on net while put»- ting home three of their own at the expense of Wexford Goalie Steve Napier. "Digger" Dunkley tied the game at 1:24 from Hartman and Stephenson with Rick Febbo scoring what turned out to be the winner at 6:47 unassisted. Hartman put the icing on the cake with an unassisted goal at 10:47. (Photo by Susan Samila)