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PER WEEK 1989 HONDA CIVIC Georgetown St Hwy 10 leasing SALES SERVICE 873 1818 Recreation THE HERALD July 1M Page IS DOWNTOWN FAX SERVICE Evenings Saturdays Too VOUnCf A PHORMKV ITD Downtown Georgetown 877 Guelph Platers move to Owen Sound may sever Georgetown ties Raiders could be hunting for new OHL affiliation ByPAULSVOBODA Herald Sports Editor The Raiders Platers love affair may be over Georgetown Jr Raiders may be on the hunt for a new major junior affiliation next season after the Ontario Hockey League s Guelph Platers announced last week packing their bags and moving to Owen Sound Raiders had a working agree ment with the local club last season which produced hot shooting left winger Brown for Georgetown a priority draft pick of the platers one year ago Georgetown also reciprocated on its affiliation with Guelph as goaltender Curtis Green joined the Platers for their OHL playoff round after the Raiders were eliminated from further post action in the Central On tarioJr league And another member of last season Raiders 15 year old Trent Cull was Guelph first seventh overall in last May OHL priority draft It now looks like the young rearguard will spend next winter on Georgian Bay rather than 30 minutes down the road from Georgetown Right now I II be getting back in touch with the Raiders regar ding a possible affiliation for next year said Platers general manager Rob last week We II be part of the community in Owen Sound and will likely work with them but there are no terms yet on a working agreement with Owen Sound s Jr organization We ve had a good relationship with the Raiders but we haven t really addressed that an affiliation yet Owen Sound currently has an en try in the Midwestern B Hockey League known as the Greys and it appears as though the club will continue to operate While an ar rangement with the hometown team would appear to be an ob vious move Holody written off a possible continuation of the current agreement with Georgetown We re not ruling it out he said But in the same token we re also going to look at working with the local team We re looking at getting off on the right foot with the s there Owen Sound While praising Georgetown s past affiliation with the Platers Raiders president Dave Kentner said the Jr B squad has plenty of options available should Guelph decide to sever its ties Organizationally we ve worked well with Guelph and we ve work well and competed well against Owen Sound when they were in the intermediate loop said Kentner had several Jr A teams contact us Guelph wasnt our last hope We can live without them We ve enjoyed working with them and we had a game plan and would ve liked to have seen it come to fruition I don know where our options are now Kentner added that major junior teams often experience problems picking up affiliate players for road games For Guelph now play ing out of Owen Sound the Raider president said that might not be a problem here Not just matter of dollars and cents says Poor attendance blamed for Platers exodus ByPAULSVOBODA Herald Sports Editor Last week s announcement by the Platers that the OHL franchise would relocate in Owen Sound confirmed recent rumors and speculation concerning a possible new home for the seven yearold club The only question had been wliere the team might end up Rumors suggested such possible new sites for the Platers as St Catharines Welland Brantford Buffalo North York and As early as two months ago the Kingston Raiders were set to sell their franchise to business in Owen Sound but the deal fell through and that club since renamed will re main in Kingston said last week poor atten Business as usual for Cull and Green At least two potential members of the relocated Owen Sound Platers don t mind the team s re cent move north from Guelph Georgetown Raider Trent Cull and Curtis Green both agreed Monday the location of the team is the least of their con cerns It doesn bother me much as long as I get to play hockey ad nutted Cull Guelph s first pick seventh overall at the 1989 OHL priority draft Green who started last season as the Raiders backup goaltender and finished it in a Plater uniform as a playoff call up echoed Cull s sentiments I ve been to Owen Sound and I like the arena he said Both players will travel north for the opening Of the Platers training camp on Aug 31 Green said he understood the reasons behind the Platers deci to move If they re not get ting the fans it s better he said bright spot there It s going to be a bit more mileage said Cull of his father s sojourns to Owen Sound But About the only down side in the Platers move is the fact both Green s and Cull parents will have to travel farther to see the boys play than was earlier ex But even Cull saw a Curtis Green he 11 get to go to the cottage more often The Culls have a summer cot north of Wiarton which is a short drive from Owen Sound dance was the mam reason behind the decision by his father Joe Holody Platers owner to move the team after 13 years Guelph the last seven as members of the OHL It wasn t just dollars and cents Holody My fathers been here since 1936 and I ve been in Guelph all my life We were the last team in Ontario to win the Memonal Cup But the sup port outside our diehard 11001400 fans there It became dif to make it viable According to a report in the Guelph Daily Mercury on June 28 the day the Platers announced their move north the club figured to lose in dance averaged per game last season at seat Memorial Gardens and the team said it need 1900 to break even Over the club s seven year OHL stay in Guelph attendance averag ed 1414 with a oneseason high of per game dunng the 198586 Cupwinning campaign In Owen Sound the Platers who will retain their current ownership and team name will move into the six yearold Community Centre a sparkling facility situated on the shores of Georgian come back a Musings from the sports desk now that summer is officially underway Talking to Raider coach Pete Sturgeon the other day about rival bench boss Rick Bince Ian ding in neighboring Milton as general managercoach of the Jr B Merchants Sturgeon said Us too bad his ex teammate from in termediate Raider days Gary Ford got the squeeze in that one Ford a very likeable guy who always starts an interview with a joke and answers all questions no matter how poignant they might be had a rough time m Milton last year as coach Saddled with a less than disciplined team anc one lacking a lot of talent Ford found himself in the midst of at least controversies involving a couple of bench clearing brawls The former minor pro scoring champ was apparently asked to stay on in an assisting capacity in Milton under the new regime but obviously decided to wash his hands of the team As for Bince attracted his own controversy wherever he played and coached it should be an interesting season in the Cen tral league west next year Therell be no Jr team in Brampton next year After the OHA earlier turned down former Raider assistant coach Jim Storr s bid to start up an expan team there the provincial hockey governing board recently raxed a potential move by the Central League s Etobicoke Capitals In a turnaround from weeks before the Brampton Minor Hockey Association had apparently freed up enough ice to make the Caps move possible but the OHA decided the area was being milked thin enough for junior players Nice to see teams around On back to their hockey heritage The Raiders did it last year dropping their bold and original Gemini moniker to dip back into Georgetown s hockey past with the revival of the vaunted Raider name one that inspired several local teams to OHA championships over the past yean In Kingston earlier hi the spring new ownership mere adopted the Frontenac name one used by that city s old Eastern Pro League team back in the early 80s Boston Bruin GM Harry Sinden played on that team Aw in the Central League eastern division regular season champs recently announc ed they ve renamed their Jr B franchise the Terriers a name synonymous with Allan Cup winning clubs from the 70s and before LAST CALLS Mixed feelings on the Russians who ve recently signed with NHL clubsafter hs of deliberations For one thing they re all over thehill by NHL standards and one must wonder why North American pro teams should support the Russian minor hockey system with big bucks Of course the NHL should feature the world s best players and now ft should be interesting to see how the comrades fare Check out the Expos See how some timely trades can make a difference Good to see John McEnroe back seriously in the tennis wars With stonefaced automatons abounding the game was getting mighty boring Bay The arena seats 3000 with room for another standees and the Citj of Owen Sound apparently has offered the platers a sound finan cial deal to move there But Holody said the arena agreement wasn t the determining factor in relocating to Owen Sound The arena deal with Owen Sound is not a major player m the decision to move the club stated Holody It the move was first based on attendance When you get to the point where you know you re working as hard as you can and the people can t be too offended with what you re doing on the ice it gets frustrating On the other hand we re enthused and excited about Owen Sound It has a nice facility a good deal and the people there are excited Indeed when it looked like previous owner Lou would move his club to the Sound citizens of the Grey County city bought up seasons tickets Last season the Platers sold 379 and were at the 370 mark when the move was They re making us feel welcome in their community said Holody of the people of Owen Sound Saturday will be hockey night in Owen Sound It s now up to us to put the product on the ice While Owen Sound has a popula tion of 20 000 as opposed to over 80000 in Guelph said the team will be able to draw from well over 100 people in the Grey Bruce area surrounding the Cres cent City Another rumor running rampant during the Platers negotiations to move suggested the club was twisting city hall s arm for a new rink in Guelph Parking at the downtown facility has always been a problem thats plagued the Platers But Holody questioned whether a new facility would have made a difference in the clubs decision to leave the city The important thing is basical ly the support of the fans over and above our hardcore fans he said I don know if a new facility in the future would have made a ference