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f 1 - THE INTELLIGENCER, Tuesday, September 20,1994 Plenty of thrills and chills in '93-94 Jy PaulSvoboda 'he Intelligencer Junior hockey can be an emoional rollercoaster and the 1993-94 OHL season had its share of ups and downs, thrills uid chills -- and spills -- for the Belleville Bulls. Bulls entered the season with, irguably, the best goaltender in ;he Ontario league in the person )f Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Iraft pick Derek Wilkinson. A solid defence was anchored by /eterans Dan Preston, Marc Duauis, Steve Carter and Dan Godx>ut with the addition of Radim 3icanek, an exciting rushing ilueliner from the Czech Repub,ic. Up front, Richard Park was expected to blossom after his "ookie OHL campaign while experience was provided by returnees Paul McCallion, Paul RushForth and tough winger Doug Doull. First-round pick Travis Siggin and fellow rookie Craig Mills were expected to contribute. Dverage scoring sensation Kevin Brown, a 50-goal man from the Niagara Falls Thunder, was added for offensive punch. General manager and coach Larry Mavety had good reason to sxpect big things from his '93-94 b.erd. By mid-season, Riggin was ?one, dealt to the Kitchener Rangers for a second-round pick. Overager Jarret Reid was picked up from the Soo Greyhounds for the stretch run, bringing much sought after Memorial Cup experience and the reputation of being a proven winner. And late in the season, Mavety pulled off a bold move, trading the second round pick acquired in the Riggin deal to Niagara Falls for the rights to veteran forward Brandon Convery. Convery, a Toronto Maple Leaf draft pick, was a member of Canada's gold medal-winning national junior team and the trade served notice to others in the OHL's Leyden Division that the Bulls were taking a run at a title. Convery ended up leading the Bulls in regular season scoring with 40 goals and 48 assists for 88 points. McCallion chipped in with a career-high 36 goals and Brown bagged 29. Other 20 goalscorers included Park (27), Brian Secord (29) and Rushforth (28). Bicanek, whose blistering point shot soon garnered him the nickname "Boom Boom," picked up 16 goals. Mills turned out to be Belleville's best all-around rookie, playing a physical game while earning 33 points and leading the team in game-winners (5). Wilkinson saw duty in 56 games, compiling a respectable 3.76 goals against average with two shutouts. With the North Bay Centennials running away with the Leyden Division crown, four clubs -- Ottawa, Sudbury, Kingston and the Bulls -- finished in a virtual logjam for the remaining spots in the final standings. Less than 10 points separated second-place Ot- FINAL STATS '93-94 G A P Brandon Convery 40 48 88 Paul McCallion 36 43 79 Kevin Brown 29 49 78 Richard Park 27 49 76 Brian Secord 29 40 69 Paul Rushforth 28 35 63 Dan Preston 11 37 48 Radim Bicanek 16 27 43 Jarret Reid 15 23 38 Doug Doull 13 24 37 Craig Mills 15 18 33 Corey Isen 12 21 33 MarcDupuis 7 25 32 Jeff Ambrosio 13 17 30 Joe Coombs 13 15 28 Steve Carter 4 15 19 Rob Boyko 6 11 17 Jeff Smith 3 13 16 Dan Godbout 0 15 15 Derek Wilkinson 0 5 5 Sean Brown 1 2 3 Serge Dunphy 0 3 3 MarkGowan O i l GOALTENDERS: Derek Wilkinson -- 56 GP, 179 GA, 3.76 GAA. Mark Gowan -- 24 GP, 79 GA, 4.15 GAA. PP GOALS: Convery 17; McCallion 12; Park 10. GW GOALS: Mills 5; McCallion 4; Reid, Rushforth, K. Brown, 3. PENALTY MINUTES: Doull 143; Isen 136; Rushforth 109. tawa from fifth-place Kingston. Bulls finished fourth with a 3228-6 record for 70 points, two better than Kingston. That set the stage for a traditional Belleville vs. Kingston first-round playoff series. Ironically, the two teams met in the last game of the regular season and the Frontenacs sent a message that they would try to intimidate the faster-skating Bulls. Led by behemoth forward Brett Lindros (brother of Philadelphia Flyer star Eric Lindros), the Fronts hit anything in black, red and gold including Wilkinson. Lindros' challenge was eventually met by Doull and the pair were suspended for the opening of the playoffs. The series was a battle of the road warriors, with each team showing supremacy on the opposition's home ice. Kingston's physical approach failed to have the desired effect and the Bulls emerged victorious in six tough games. Next in line, the division champion Centennials. A tall order indeed. The well-rested Cents, fresh off a first round bye, blew Belleville out in the opening two games in North Bay and Mavety1 wondered aloud if his crew would answer the challenge. And, they did. Back at the Sports Centre with two raucous crowds behind them, the Bulls battled.back to tie the series at 2-2. Wilkinson was spectacular. One signmaker said it all with a hand-painted banner hanging at the QSC: "Wilkie, we're not worthy!" Unfortunately for the Bulls, however, the Cents regrouped and won the next two games to seal the series. The only consolation for Belleville was the fact North Bay eventually won the OHL championship and a trip to the 1994 Memorial Cup. For the Bulls, it was back to the drawing board for 1994-95 own trip to the Memorial Cup. OHL 1993-94 Final Standings Leyden Division G W L T F and continued dreams of their The Gumper, Golden Jet and Slapshot Did you know?... ...Gump Worsley, NHL Hall of ?ame goaltender, was named as :,he Belleville Bulls goalie coach way back in the early years. No me can recall the Gumper makng too many visits to the friendly City. ...Dan Quinn was the first player selected in the OHL draft ;he year Belleville entered the .eague. Other first rounders for ,he Bulls included Pat Lafon.aine, who opted to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Lafontaine told every DHL team he would only play in Cornwall for the Royals. But the Bulls selected before Cornwall in the draft hoping they could convince him to report. He didn't. He was THE star in the QMJHL. He signed a $22.5 million five year deal with the Buffalo Sabres last week. ...Al lafrate was another Belleville first rounder. But he made the U.S. Dr Olympic team at - Vaughan. the age of 17. He didn't join the Bulls until the final month of the season. The next year he was a Toronto Maple Leaf. ...Scott Thornton, Rob Pearson and Steve Bancroft were all first round picks of the Toronto Maple Leafs four years ago. None are with the Leafs now. Thornton is in Edmonton, Pearson in Washington and Bancroft is in the Pittsburgh organization. ...Wayne Gretzky shared ownership of the Bulls with Dr. Robert Vaughan. Gretzky wanted to purchase the whole team but Doc balked at the offer and decided to buy Gretzky out. ...Brent and Keith Gretzky, younger brothers of the Great One, both played for the Bulls. ...Darren Puppa, former star goalie with Buffalo who now plays for Tampa Bay, was a mid round draft pick for the Bulls. He never reported. ...Bulls GM-coach Larry Mavety had a bit piece in the hockey movie 'Slapshot' that starred Paul Newman. ...Hockey legend Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet, took the Bulls through their paces during a practice when Dan Flynn (now head man in Sault Ste. Marie) was coach here. Flynn didn't like pucks on the ice early in practice but Hull did. Hull called for a bucket of "biscuits' and the players took advantage by slapping dozens of pucks into the boards much to the dismay of Flynn. A North Bay Ottawa Sudbury BELLEVILLE Kingston Oshawa Peterboro Newmarket Emms Division Detroit S.S. Marie Owen Sound Guelph Kitchener London Windsor Niagara Falls 66 46 15 5 66 33 22 11 66 34 26 6 66 32 28 6 66 30 28 8 66 26 32 8 66 15 41 10 66 9 47 10 66 42 66 35 66 34 66 32 66 32 66 32 66 25 66 21 20 24 30 26 30 30 36 41 351 274 299 303 265 272 252 231 312 319 303 323 286 293 253 277 226 229 275 264 259 309 350 377 237 268 284 290 316 279 298 352 88: 77, 70 Iff 68 68 55 46 4 7 2 6 4 4 5 4 Regular season champion: North Bay Centennials. Playoff champion: North Bay Centennials. Leading scorer: Jason Allison, London Knights, 55-87-142. Leading goalscorer: Vitali Vachmenev. North Bay, 61. Most assists: Jamie Rivers, Sudbury Wolves, 89. Best goals-against: Matt Mulln, Sudbury, 3.12. Most penalty minutes: David Ling, Kingston Frontenacs, 254. Most power play goals: Zdenek Nedved, Sudbury, 26. Most shorthanded goals: Steve Parson, Kingston, 8. Most game-winning goals: Allison and Yachmenev, 10 each. We i n t e r r u p t your r e g u l a r p r o g r a m m i n g . We buy, sell, rent, trade, and repair new - ana used video Barnes and systems. itt North Front Si, 966-4832 CAME GEAR (Ni SmmBUD. GAMEBQY GO BULLS GO! -