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UMIIUILIUII play. Thornlea met its toughest opposition in the first game against W.A. Porter of Scarboro and was hard- pressed to squeeze -out a 34- 31 victory. Providing the impetus for the win was the 12 point scoring effort of Michael McMillan. Thornlea took a while to get going in the final game against Barrie Eastview leading by only 23-1 at half-time in what started out to be a very tight, defensive game. Solve problem But Coach Dennis Her- Friday saw them walloping Richmond Hill High 8836 as they displayed an awsome offence sparked by the 16 point effort of Rob Morrow and 13 by Don Dedrick. Also chipping in were Donovan Moss and Mark McMillan with 12 apiece. the playoffs. Senior. Lot. too Senior action Friday saw another Thornlea victory over Richmond Hill by 42-30 with Paul Allison and Bob MacDonald each scoring eight points. This followed a 57-40 with top scorers being Tom Kleinbeernink and Mike Mandel. The midgets compiled a 7-1 record and play Markham tomorrow in a sudden death game at Markham for the southern conference laurels of the York County league. ulllfllllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllIllllllllIIIIllllllllllIllllllllll|||l|llll||Illllllllllllllllillllllllllllll|llllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllIll|Ill||Ill|llllllll|IllllllllllIlllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllIlllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Slow pitch! Really, finally: Richmond Hill Recreation Superintendent Lynton Friedberg is interested in helping get a “slow pitch” league going in Richmond Hill. If you’re interested youngsters (maybe adults too?) get in touch with Lynton at 884-8101 or 889â€"4928. More on this later. Wheee! Finished. Goodbye. peared to hit a stick, or something, and bounce behind Rams‘ Goalie Brian Stankiewicz. All over. It was a curiously lackadaisical game for such an important one with the Nats appearing to be sleep- walking through most of it although they had the anâ€" Street was laboring with bad knees, Jack Guest is hurâ€" ting, Dave Stuart has bad knees, and Scott Mabley hasn’t been right most of the season due to the same thing." ' Sta nkiewicz injured Also injured was Goalie Stankiewicz. Various aches Dunkley scores Richmond Hill surprised everyone with a quick goal at 11:51 when Defenceman Mabley intercepted a clearing pass at the Nats’ blueline. His dribbling slap shot found its way to Dave “Digger” Dunkley by himself to one side of Goalie llIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllll|llllll|llll||ll|llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllll|I||llllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllIIIlllllllllllllllllllllllIlII||lll|llllllllllllllllllllllll It was the Thorsmen’s third tournament triumph this season which has seen them a total of 14 wins and only one loss in league and exhibition play. Thornlea met its toughest opposition in the first game against W.A. Porter of Scarboro and was hard- pressed to squeeze .out a 34- 31 victory. The Thornlea Junior ’I‘hors' basketball squad had all the answers in the annual Aurora High Gopher Cup Tournament last Saturday as they racked up three straight wins to dribble away with all the laurels. Young John’s story goes back to before last October when he tried out and made the Rich- mond Hill Lion Peewee team. Then came trouble as John was struck by a car along with some other children and received fractures of his leg which put him out of line-up. He was confined to the hospital for a considerable length of time. Then came the'Quebee Peewee Tournament and the executive of the Lions (including Ed Sackfield, Gary Smith and Bill “Skip” DeGeer) remembered John and took him along treating him like another member of the team. Billet wanted Finally: The upcoming Richmond Hill Midget tournament is just around the windy corner (March 24 to 30) and there’s a pressing need for billet in or around Richmond Hill. Any family able to ac- commodate two or more players from out-of-town should telephone 773-4061 or 884-9384. Nice gesture Some nice notes to finish here. One of the more happier youngsters who got to attend the recent Quebec Peewee Hockey Tour- nament in Quebec City was 12-year-old John McLaughlin, son of Mr. and Mrs. John McLaughlin of 297 Taylor Mills Drive. Don’t get me wrong. I like fellows like VCal Gardner, Harry Watson, Hugh Bolton, etc. They still conjure up nostalgia. But it’s awful hearing the creaks and cracks coming from their direction when they break in on goal. Pshaw. Is it all gone? Afraid so. As much as I enjoyed watching those guys again it still left me slightly unsettled. It was reminiscent of seeing those old cowboy movies on television and suddenly realizing they weren’t as good as they once were away back when on Saturday afternoons at the bijou. Don‘t be annoyed at me if I would rather just retreat back into my memories and recall when they were at their peak. Turn my radio on and listen to Wes McKnight interviewing Bill Ezinicki. It’s just the way I am. Slow pitch! Really, finally: Richmond Hill Recreation Superintendent Lynton Friedberg is interested in helping get a “slow pitch" league going in Richmond Hill. If you’re interested youngsters (maybe adults too?) get in touch with Lynton at 884-8101 or 889-4928. More on this later. In any case, you should drop around and see the youngsters in action. They certainly could use your support as we all could at this juncture. The juves open here Tuesday night (that's a familiar hockey time) at 8 pm against Owen Sound and, who knows, maybe we’ll have a winner here. I’m going to keep at it until I do get one so I’ll predict that Alliance will emerge triumphant. You mean to tell me that Harry Watson still doesn’t charge down left win for the Maple Leafs? 0r punch Murray Henderson in the nose? Remember? And that a guy like Wally Stanowski isn’t still leading the Leafian charges as he did back in the late’40’s along with Jimmy Thomson, Gus Mortson, and Garth Boesch? Waning February So what’s left in waning February? Stay, I’ll tell you. Still in the hunt for OMHA Provincial cham- pionship honors are the Richmond Hill Alliance Sports Juveniles. ' Old, old timers . To keep moving and right now that‘s the only hope. Took time out from my nerves to watch the NHL Old Timers and York Regional Police in action Monday night, at the arena. Iwon’t go into all the excruciating details except to say that the NHL old guys wound up on the rosy side of a 10-9 win but not before a good time was had by the large crowd in attendance. Watching those former 'NHL’ers didn’t do any good for my crippled mood these days either. Why, I knew those guys when they were young. Those firstâ€"round playoff blues for Rams’ Coach Karl Brimblecombe continue to drift in on him although he’s never missed a playoff in all of his coaching tenure with the Rams. Last year it was Wexford, this year the Nats. What happened to the Rams? I’m not in the mood for psychoanalyzing the situation except to say that I picked the right number of games. I said six and it was six. Except that I picked the Rams. Enough said. Firstly, the Richmond Hill Rams were un- ceremoniously shunted to the Provincial Junior ‘A’ dustbin via a 3-2 defeat Friday night by those horrid Toronto Nats. This is strictly a loser’s column this week. There’s just no way of escaping it. And that includes me, too. 'But that’s all right. Spring is coming, revival time. I just hope I’m around. H ' Happy? You better believe it Here ’3 t0 the losers Th Urn/ea Jr I s blitz enemy Thornlea had too much “defence” going for it against Orangeville Secondary School in the second game and the latter just couldn’t cope going down to a 48-28 defeat. Coming up with some sturdy defensive work as well as offensive moves were Solitar and Mark McMillan. Thornlea took a while to get going in the final game against Barrie Eastview leading by only 23-1 at half-time in what started out to be a very tight, defensive game. Solitar and the 10 points contributed by Rob Morrow. Fred Simpson bert's squad solved the problem in the second half and came away 56-30 victors with Solitar again hooping 10 points as well as walking off with the accolade as the tournament's most valuable player. Bye, Bye Richmond Hill Rams Which is probably what Richmond Hill Rams’ Coach Karl Brimblecombe got around to doing Friday night shortly after his team bowed out of the 1974-75 Provincial Junior A playoff race by losing 3-2 to Toronto Nats. The end came with almost undramatic sud- deness at the 19:00 second mark of the third period Friday‘ There was absolutely nothing left to do but to hold your head and direct your steps toward the nearest medicine cabinet. It was their second straight loss and fourth of the best-of~seven series. The Rams were drubbed 7-2 Thursday "night. That‘s when Dave Currie found himself with a loose puck and no Rams within reach just inside the blueline. His shot appeared to be of the less than dangerous kind but it ap- peared to hit a stick, or. something, and bounce behind Rams’ Goalie Brian Stankiewicz. All over. Win. win League action was much the same old story. winning one for the Thorsmen. “Sdch modifications might include the padding of The doctors suggest that modifications in the stick could reduce its potential as a weapon. “The hockey stick is the most common cause of injury accounting for 41 percent in this series. The stick and the boards com- bined account for 58 percent of the total injuries." Pointing to the hockey sxick as the main culprit, the article states: Dr. Hastings, chief phys‘ician for the NHL Maple Leafs, made this major conclusion in an article that appeared in the Ontario Medical Review. Co authors were Dr. John Cameron, S.M. Parker and John Evans. The stick is by far the greatest cause of both minor and serious injuries in organized hockey according to a recent survey by a team of doctors including Dr. David E. Hastings of Thornhill. In hockey injuries / WEDNESDAY,‘FEBRUARY26,1975 s \ r Brian Stankiewicz boots out a Toronto A harried chhmond Hill Rams’ goalie By Fred Simpson Sticks not fists real villains “It was the same old story for us. Injuries. No excuse, but just look at the figures." Yes. The Rams were missing both Mike Rowley and Rick Febbo for the last one â€" both were lost in the previous game at Westwood Arena. Febbo fractured three ribs when he slammed into a goalpost and that was it for him. Also on the injury list was Goalie Doug Brumwell. swers in the long run Checking good “We were checking them pretty good because that’s the only strategy we had,” he said. “Don’t forget, the Nats are a strong, wellâ€" balanced club. They have four or five former Major A players on the team.” “And even the guys that were playing were under extreme handicaps,” added Brimblecombe. “Kevin Street was laboring with bad knees, Jack Guest is hurâ€" ting, Dave Stuart has bad knees, and Scott Mabley hasn’t been right most of the season due to the same thing.” ' States Coach Brim- blecombe: Came the inevitable comment: The Thorsmen had it going strong for them Wednesday of last week drubbing Langstaff 89-10 with McMillan dropping 16 points and 12 from the arms of John Willis, Dedrick and Solitar. Friday's game wrapped up the regular schedule for Thornlea which saw them winning nine games and losing one. They now enter the playoffs. “High-sticking is now a two-minute offence, as the potential for injury is so great. If referees were to enforce the rules against high-sticking, and if the penalty for this infraction was increased from two to five minutes for the first offence, to 10 minutes for the second. and to a game misconduct for the third, we suspect that the number of injuries produced by the stick would decline significantly. Enforce rules “When one considers that the majority of lacerations are produced by the stick and that over 90 percent of these are about the head and that 90 percent of serious eye injuries are produced by the stick, it is evident that the stick is raised too high, too often. the end and the elimination of shaving of the blade.” The main recom- mendation deals with en- forcement of the rules. Nat shot here while teammates Bennie Pedersen (20) and Larry Kimble (15) look on in Friday night’s season ender That early lead stood up until 1:41 of the second period when Brian Wilton’s long shot seemed to take a sharp dip on Stankiewicz, slash off the inside of his leg and into the net. Stankiewicz was hurt on the play but continued after a brief respite and attention: The Rams’ All Potts fired home a loose puck at 5:23 of that opening session off a scramble with assists going to Larry Kimble and Mitch Edwards. That Friday’s game saw the Rams appear to have the early foot on the Nats in a contest which was rugged in the first 20 minutes but tapered off to a reasonably mild affair in the final two. “I’m not taking anything away from the Nats. They can beat you when you’re healthy but it’s pretty tough when you’re not. I think they could go all the way.” The midgets compiled a 7-1 record and play Markham tomorrow in a sudden death game at Markham for the southern conference laurels of the York County league. and wounds picked up over the past two games in- cluding the last one. squeaker win against Langstaff Wednesday of last week with Jamie Seligman and Paul Allison scoring in double figures. The senior team also compiled an impressive 10 and 2 record in preparation for the upcoming playoffsi It had to be a Thornlea win-week with the midgets defeating Langstaff 55-20 Wednesday of last week with top scorers being Tom Kleinbeernink and Mike Mandel. Eye Protection: “The majority of these injuries were produced by the high stick, and the first recommendation of en- Goal posts; “The injuries occurring behind the net could be reduced by simply increasing the distance from the goal line to theend boards.” The study did not pmduce any evidence of many injuries actually involving collisions with the goal posts. “11 our young hockey players are going to have a chance to play the game safely the stick must be kept down. Slashing is another infraction involving the stick where the penalty should be increased” Padded boards? Also listed as danger spots that should be improved were: The boards which should provided with some shock-absorbing material “to significantly reduce the number of injuries from collision with them. The Nats tied the game on another somewhat freaky effort at 17:35 of the second period when Kevin McCloskey latched onto a loose puck and his quick shot never left the ice enroute to Stankiewicz. Somehow, it managed to squirt beneath him. Tie ball game. Stankiewicz played well throughout the .game although obviously laboring with injuries. The Rams just had no experienced goalie to ,Simmons, , incidentally, played a strong game and also received his lumps during the game. Just before the 2-1 go-ahead goal, he had stopped a blazing slap shot by Kimble right in the throat and down he went. He was finally forced to vacate the twines for Dan Albin in the latter stages of the game. Coach Karl Brimblecombe shouts out instructions to his Rams but to no avail as they bow out of 1974-75 Provincial Junior A race courtesy of Toronto Nats. Shaun Simmons and his high backhander found the net. These included a paragraph on fighting which resulted in only seven fractures out of a total of 108 by others methods “and these were either to the nose It draws other conclusions from the survey which covered 1,000 Midget. Juvenile and Junior teams in Ontario during the seasons of 1972-73 and 1973- 74. They received reports on 542 injuries to 530 players. The study also touched on the advisability of having team physicians or trainers skilled in reacting to in- juries that occur. forcing penalties against high sticking would significantly reduce the number of eye injuries. Improve helmets “We feel that improved eye protection is also necessary. This should be combined with improved helmet design as there are still a significant number of concussions with the helmets currently in use.” for the Rams. They lost 3-2, were eliminated from the playoffs. back him up this time out. States Brimblecombe: Hot goaltending “We ran into some hot goaltending in the series and that’s the way it goes. Two overtimes. We won one and could have won the other which might have made the difference. Brimblecombe figures the Rams had a good season “when you consider that we got off to such a poor start. We didn’t have any injuries up until January but they started to happen then and it hasn’t stopped.” He figures to have the majority of this year’s team back for the 1975-76 season. “We’ve got the nucleus of a good team,” he said‘ “for next season and we hope to add some more. ,Right now, I’ve got some time to think about it." Right. “But that’s the playoffs for you. Sure, I‘m disap- pointed but . . .” “There were a very significant number of in- juries about the eye, in fact 12 percent of the injuries reported in our survey were to that area. The stick was responsible for 60 percent of the total injuries about the eye, and the majority of the serious ones." The article states that certain “hockey injuries produce significant periods of disability and often permanent disability. Contusions, fractures, ligament injuries, dislocations and injuries to the globe of the eye are the most notable types of injury which have very serious potential. Fighting “It is surprising that fighting, although certainly to. be deplored in hockey, does not seem to be a major cause of injury." The stick also came in for the greater share of the blame in eye injuries. or hands Photo by Hog?) (Photo by H099) Bayview matmen 5 win championship Individual stars in the competitions were Dick Charge who came up with two first in the 98 pounds class despite the fact that he’s only 14 and in his first year of competition. Starring with him was Gary Dunford who won the 106 pound class. Gary was second in the Ontario championships last year. Competing against 17 other schools, the Bayview team came out on top by a total point score of 95. Second place went to Almaguin with 701/2 and third to Parry Sound with 50. Bayview Secondary School will send a team of six wrestlers to the All Ontario championships this Saturday in London thanks to their impressive showing last weekend in the Georgian Bay finals. “We called the ambulance on this occasion as we do all the time. We can‘t take chances. Most of the times it’s a minor thing but we don’t know. None of us are doctors.” The point of it all: Someone there all the time “We should have someone at all our house league games that has at least a basic training on how to diagnose or treat certain type of injuries,” said Sherwood. “It’s impractical to have a doctor at all the games but there should be someone They ’re worried about injuries in Thornhi/l “There’s barely a week that goes by that some type of injury doesn’t occur. Just last week a kid took a puck just over his eye. It turned out that the blow took a small chip out of his forehead. Sherwood recited a series of minor injuries that occur regularly at the new Markham Community Centre Arena in Thornhill and, undoubtedly, everywhere in Canada. “It's something that we’ve been concerned about for a long time," said Sherwood. “And parents worry about this every time their children skate on the ice. It’s something you live with but the next best thing is to be prepared for the emergencies when they happen." . “When one considers the mechanisms of injury and the types of injury that produce severe and often permanent disability it is obvious that certain But Thornhill Community Hockey Minor League President Bob Sherwood readily admits that it speeded up thinking and action~on the whole matter of injuries in hockey. By Fred Simpson The motivation was there before Markham Waxer Goalie Kim Crouch had his near bout with death when his jugular vein was slashed by a skate in a recent junior hockey game. The wrestiing team’ also THE LIBERAL â€" Wednesday. Feb. 26 â€" 19 Bob Sherwood Minor hockey president “This enables us to be represented by six com- petitors which is quite an accomplishment.” He noted that last year's Georgian Bay winner only had three participants at the cham- pionships. “It’s too late for this season but we hope to get something going in the summer in readiness for next season,” he said. Within the next few weeks, President Sherwood hopes to work out details for the proposed clinic. Coach Larry Johnson pointed out that a winning team could only be represented in London by first and second place finishers. The basic plan would be to encourage the parents of children to attend these sessions and learn the basics of first aid. The next step would be to set up a shift of those parents to view the hockey games. Coaches busy enough “I’m not too keen on getting the coaches in- volved,” said Sherwood, “because they have enough to do. There are enough parents around to do it and they, of all people, are the most vitally concerned.” Third place finishers were Tony Cavaliere. 90 pounds; Steve Gibson, 123; and Ziggy Burkhard, unlimited class. Cam Halliday was fourth in the 157 pound category and Gerry Gallone was fifth in the 115. collected five seconds. They were Steve Penyige in the 130 pound class; Geoff Peck, 136; Jim Houston, 141; Rick Kinzett. 148; and Brian Emms 194. “Dr. Hastings has a child playing in Thornhill hockey and, naturally, he’s con- cerned along with the rest of us." said Sherwood. Sherwood pointed out that the present arena has people with first aid training employed there but “we feel there has to be someone watching every game. An employee might be doing something else. He can’t be there all the time." Dr. Hastings Enter the doctor. Dr. David E. Hastings, who is chief physician for the NHL Maple Leafs and a resident of Thornhill, has agreed to assist in setting up a first aid clinic. (See following story.) Sherwood said that the idea of setting up a “first aid" system began with the construction of the Thornhill arena. “We were renting facilities before this and you really can’t accomplish any things that way. Now it’s different.” recommendations should be made to improve the standards of safety in organized hockey at the Midget, Juvenile and Junior level." [here (Photo by Daw)