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It's white knuckle' time down on Carlton Street, sports fans. By the time you read this, Cliff Fletcher, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, will proba- bly havé gither resigned or have been sent packing by Steve Stavros, the new majority share- holder of MLG Corp. . 1f this scenario does take place, it will be the finial nail in the cof- fin for a struggling franchise which has been in steady decline for two decades. It I'm not talking monetary decline, since the Leafs remain one of the richest teams in the National Hockey League, but col- lapse from a performance point of view. One could argue that the team has begn in this mode for the entire 1980's and one would have a strong case. But with the arrival of Fletcher, some sense of stabili- ty permeated from the Gardens, and with. it, new hope for the long- suffering fans. Fletcher is regarded as a good hockey-man who has proven he 16 -- Scugog Citizen -- Tuesday, October 8, 1991 ", (Ta K-T-[- My [CT-1(5)"4 can build a winning franchise from the ground up. IT has long been a belief by those in the know that stable man- agement 'in turn Spawns Success. Build from within, hire knowl- edgeable scouts who recognize not only talent, but un-tapped tal- ent and thén carefully nurturé those draft choices into solid, capable pros. The Leafs need not look any further than down to Lakeshore Blvd. to witness that exact mandate in-action which is now reaping theirewards of suc- But now for the really scary news. The rumour mill has it that if or when Fletcher is replaced, "Sleepy" Floyd Smith will once again take the reins as general manager. Talk about a recipe for disaster. This guy should have been tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail for thesugbe- lievably stupid trades he 'ade wduring his last tenure as head bot- tle washer. On the day he was turfed out, the rest of the GMs in the League must have felt like a child who just learns there is no such thing 'as Santa Claus. . Fletcher must have reached for the Rolaids on' his first day at the Gardens when he discovered that not only was his team mediocre at best, but his foolish pred r act together or he'll be seeing more pine that he's accustomed 10. The Year of the Little Guy. Jeremy Roenick and Theo Fleury both excelled last year despite the age-old adage that little guys can't take the rough going. If a pit-bull was ever re-i d as a hock- had traded away every first and second round draft choice for the next eon. No wonder he insisted on a $1.5 million buy-out clause in his contract. I'd want out of that circus, too. FEARLESS PREDICTIONS FOR THE '92 SEASON Brett Hull Will Be a Bust. Bob Johnson nearly cut him from the American squad before the Canada Cup. He came to camp overweight and out of shape, and did not seem very interested in correcting the situation. This was the knock against him in Calgary and that's why Terry Crisp asked Fletcher to ship him out. Brian Sutter is another no-nonsense coach and Hull had better. get his ey player, it would be Fleury. Look for both players to dominate again this season: First Head Coach to Get The Axe: Pat Bums. The francophones have never warmed to this guy because he isn't French and they feel he doesn't get along with the. Frénch players. Claude Lemicux accused Burns of this and was exiled to.New Jersey. Same for Stephane Richer. If the Canadiens gereff to a slow start, Bums will alse-be moved.' Montreal has long been known for accepting nothing less than perfection, and the only reason Burns is still around is "because the team has played well despite the controversy. Surprise Team: New Jersey poor season last year, If the train- Devils. They came close to knock- ing Pitsburgh out of the playoffs and if not for the heroics of Mario Lemieux, they would have done just that. 1 think the Muller-Richer trade will benefit both teams, NJ has a good nucleus of young tal- ent, but they lacked a sniper, In Richer, they. get one. In pdst histo- ry, Richer has followed up a great year with a poor one. He had a ers carry enough baby bottles to keep the whiners satisfied, the Devils could surprise. Rookie of the Year: John LeClair. 1 watched his first NHL game late last season and he was the.best player on the ice. He scoggd a goal and should have had a couple more. He has seven goals in pre-scason and is impressive with his robust style. Falloon gets the ninnér-up. Oh, yeah. One more prediction; y friends will cut this column ut and save it for future reference to nag me to death if none of these predictions. come true. - Fitzgerald's win their first in It took them a while, but Fitzgerald's Won their first game (finally!) in Scugog Mens Hockey League action at the Arena Sunday morning. And the victory was a close one, 2-1, over J and D Carpentry. Rob Evans notched a single for «Fitz un-assisted with the other goal "coming off the stick of Paul Van Camp from Doug Bronson and Henry Forderer, : Dave Milton from Don Hockley and Fred Moffatt did the scoring for-J and D. So watch out, Fitzgerald's is.on the move. In other action, Crandells upped its record to four wins and no defeats with a fairly easy 6-2 vic- tory over Van and Truck World, "Doc® Thompson led the way with It All Starts Here! REDUCING LAWN WASTE IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE AFFECTING US ALL! HOMELITE two goals and an assist. Richie LeFort had a single with three helpers and Steve Groves had two points on one goal and one assist. Single markers were by Rob Kroonenberg and Ken Jeffrey. Helping out the scorers were Steve Calder, Roger Moase, John Robertson and Bob McEachern. For the Van and Truckers it was Mike Driscoll from Tony Oxley and Wayne Fox from Mike Adam and Brian Samis. * The first game of the morning was a tight checking affair from start to finish with Anderson's just getting by Norton's by a count of 3-1 Bill Haynes, Joe McIntyre, and Glen Hudson counted for Anderson's. Adding assists were Rick Sheehey with a pair and one HOMELITE HM20 WALK-BEHIND MULCHING MOWER The Homellfe HM20 was rated as a "Best-Buy" by a leading consumer buying magazine. The twin blade 100% dedicated mulcher featyres two blades with six cutting surfaces. Its lightweight (60 Ibs.) diecast aluminum deck is extra deep allowing double cutting mulching ~~ * action which cuts grass and leaves into a particle mulch then blows the particles down into the lawn, returning vital nutrients to the soil, ~~ Less lawn waste is created, thus decreasing the volume desposited in andl ses. men's hockey each from John Delorme, Carl Durward, Darcy Milligan and Lee Steves. Dave Roth with an un-assisted markef did _ the scoring for Norton's. ie And in the final contest of the morning, Sportsland and Compton Cable battled back and forth before Compton prevailed 4-3 on a goal with just 1:14 to play. Compton at ofie time owned a 3-1 lead before Sportsland came back to knot the affair at three each. p For the Cable gang Ed Olsen had a goal and assist, as did Bill Van Camp. Larry Page and Jim Duncan chipped in with a goal each. Jim Beatty was sharp in the play-making department as he set. up three goals with other assists from Ron Compton, Rick Hope and Doug Scott. ~~ | For Sportsland, Mike McQuade did all the scoring with a hat trick. Bill Bridge, Tim Ashbfidge and Keijo Kinnunen had two assists each in this one. Lob ball wrap-up all in "good fun!" + . A day of godd fun began at 9:00 AM sharp September 29 as the Port Perry Youth Lob-Ball League began its final tournament to determine a champion and con- solation winner. Speedy Muffler apd Centennial Lanes were the opponents on the North Diamond and Speedy uséd the bats for some strong hitting to roll to a 164 victory. + At the same time on the South Diamond, Standard Electric and MKM Eggstra were battling it out with Standard dusting off the hit- ting skills to take.a 15-6 win. + At 10:30, both Seagrave teams hooked up at the North Diamond with McTaggart Electric coming out on top 9-8. Lil Gators were in a tough match against Marsh Hill Jerseys with the Gators finally winning it 10-3. . Other action had MKM defeat- ed by Centennial 15-7; and Speedy over Standard 21-7. Woodwind Yachts " WOODEN BOAT RESTORATION, : ATTENTION WOODEN BOAT OWNERS Our unique modern facility in. Nestleton (just East of Port Perry) specializas in professional repairs and / or refinishing to all types of classic wooden boats, power and sail. We carry marine supplies such as paints, varnish, epoxies, caulking, tastenaers, lumber, efc. We also have many project boats to choose from. So if you're thinking of buying, selling, or restoring a wooden boat, then give us a call and com to see our wooden boat shop soon. KEN LAVALETTE «16 986-9663 I Box 58, Hwy. 7A, Nestleton, Ontario LOB1LO | Play continued into the after- noon with Country Style Donuts over the Jerseys 16-6 and McTaggart Electric taking the Gators 18-3. . The 3:00 PM games were well played and hard fought down to e final out with Speedy knock- M from the tourney by a -14 score. | . In the other game, Standard and Centennial Lanes put on a real display of baseball with Standard winning it 9-7. . In the next games, Country Style eliminated Lil Gators 14-11 and McTaggart dispatched the Jerseys 15-12 in a scée-saw battle that took 12 innings to decide a winner. * The consolation match featured plenty of heads-up play by both Standard Electric and Country Style with the Donut crew coming: out on top. - And in the championship, Speedy Muffler won 13-10 over McTaggart. Both squads put on a fine display of hitting and defense. League convenor Jon Dawson * extends thanks to Carl Fitzgerald for providing umpires from the Mens slo pitch league, and he hopes the umps had an enjoyable "da y. . Mr. Dawson said the season was an enjoyable one with a few problems that will be ironed out for next year. 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