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14 -- Scugog Citizen -- . 1 nesday, October 16, 1991 CITIZEN SPORTS! MoJacks defeat Uxbridge 5-4 to win third straight by John B. McClelland The Port Perry Malacks made it three straight Sunday night as they nipped Uxbridge Bruins 5-4 at the Scugog Arena. Last Friday evening on the road in Lakefield, the MaJacks opened a 5-0 lead, then held on to hand the Chiefs a 5-3 defeat. Going into Sunday night's game, the MoJacks and Bruins were both sporting. un-defeated records. And the game turned into a typical Port Perry/Uxbridge spat with both teams showing a healthy dis-like for cach other, Referee John Cane kept a lid on things by sending a steady parade of players 10 the penalty box. MoJacks took 21 minors, while the Bruins took 19 and had one mis-conduct as well. Things threatened to really heat up late in the third when Bruin goalie Ian Witucki was bowled over by Malack forward Mark McKay, and Witucki needed help from the train- ing staff before he was able to finish the mach. Clair Comish opened the scoring carly in the game on a set-up from Brad Menzies and Frank Kavanaugh. Bruin captain Greg Cook evened things at the mid-point when he was allowed to walk in alone while killing a penalty But Jim Vemon put the MaJacks back in front as he finished a nice three way passing with Menzies and Brett Puckrin setting him up. Late in the period, John Lally with his third of the scason, put MoJacks ahead 3-1 with a short handed cffort. Chns Arsenault drew the assist. Mike Coulson got his first of the ye in the second and proved the old adage that if you shoot the puck at the net, some of them will go in. Coulson was breaking in from the right side and let gc with a slapper from a tough angle. The puck some- how got through Witucki's pads and Just edged across the red line. Lally got the assist and the MoJacks had what seemed 10 be a fairly comfon- able 4-1 bulge. Derck Welsh made it 4-2 when he beat MoJack goalie lan Cooper on the power play and Greg Ferraro cut the margin to 4-3 at the mid-point with a shot along the ice that Cooper would like to have back again The third period was just over 11 minutes old when Cornish notched his second of the game and fifth of {the campaign. And it was a beauty as _Menzies hit him with a pass that got him into the clear and he made no mistake going to the forchand. That one proved to be the winner as the Bruins made it 54 late in the period on a power play effort by Craig Stronach who found the range with a hard slap shot from 30 feet out Cooper faced 27 shots in the MoJack cage and Witucki handled 32 at the other end of the ice. Though the Bruins clicked for two power play goals in this one, the MolJacks got some good penalty killing from Kevin Bagshaw and Scout Erickson. Pete Young threw his weight around in the second peni- od, knocking a couple of Bruins off the puck, and Jim Vernon did the same with some heavy open ice hit- ng. Bruins were giving Clair Cornish a litle "extra treatment" in this one with Chns Winn doing most of the goading. Cornish can expect this kind of stuff all season long In Lakefield Friday night, Kevin Bagshaw had a pair of goals 10 pace the MoJacks to the 5-3 victory. Comish, Lally and Mark McKay had the others. Brad Menzies picked up two assists, Duane Spoelstra, the Chiefs clever forward, had two in the losing cause. SLAPSHOTS: In other Central Junior C action over the weekend, Little Britain Merchants lost their third straight to Uxbridge 5-3 and 10 Lakefield 8-6. MaJacks are off 0 a quick start this season with three wins in a row, And those points are going to be important at the end of the season. Last year, fans will recall the MoJacks losing some close ones carly4n the season. Next home game for the MoJacks is this Thursday evening (Oct. 17) when the Bowmanville Eagles are in town for an 8:30 face off at the Scugog Arena. And the MoJacks will be in Bowmanville on Sunday" night with game time at 7:30. These two teams have always played each other tough. The back- to-back games should be good ones. Recognize any of these guys? Think back to 1975... Here's a Citizen Sports Flashback from a few years ago. How many of these guys can you recognize? (Don't look at the names.) Okay, the team was the Port Perry Midgets that won the 1975 All-Ontario fastball title. Okay, here are the names to go with the faces. Front from left: Dean Abraham, Phil Cochrane, Robert Evans, Mike Healey, John Scott. At back, from left: panage you havi Water St., coach Don Phinney, Ken Bryant, Colin Wackett, Dan McKee, Sean Taylor, Mi Elson, Don McClure, Jay Willams, Dan Taylor, Doug Scott and Charli ny old sports photos (even 10 years old qualifies), bring them in to the Citizen (36 Port Perry) for consideration for Sports Flashback. McQuade, Larry Durward. If Sports Corner by Todd Healey Remember the date, sports fans---October 7, 1991. That's the day a small piece of Wendel Clark died, in front of a million TV viewers and 16,000 Leafoids at the Gardens, Early in the third period, Clark, moving across the blue line with a head of steam, found a seam between two blue line only to be met head-on by Ron Sutter who had left his check on the right side in anticipation of such a collision. Head down, Clark was trying 10 re-gain control of the puck as it skittered on its side, saw Sutter's feet at the last second and tried to slide off thétheck, but as he did so, he opened up his left knee and Sutter caught Clark cleanly with his hip and leg on Clark's vulnerable knee. Clark didn't go down, there was no penalty on the play and indeed the Leafs nearly scored on a shot by Bradley, Sutter's forgotten winger. Clark headed for the bench and was immediately met by the trainers, who have started 10 look upon Clark as their pet project. Initially, it looked as though Clark would shake it off, but as he sat on the bench, gingerly testing the already stiffening joint, it became apparent the injury was worse than both Clark and the trainers imagined He hobbled off to the Garden infirmary for X-rays and back-pedalling defensemen and cut laterally along the . the broadcasters speculated as to the nature and severity of the injury. A few moments later, Clark was back on the bench (albeit the prop seat behind the bench where the goon usu- ally resides) and isvas then that the real Wendel Clark was displayed as openly as though we were reading his personal diary. Pain, confi fear and disapp flashed across his face as he gazed out towards the ice surface; not see- ing the game or the players moving in front of him, or the camera that was stuck in his face, or the crowd. The man was transfdrmed into a little boy before our very eyes, and it was almost embarassing, like we were seeing something very private, a child crying alone, In reality it was Anyone who saw Clark play in his rookie campaign would remember his love for the game, hitting opponents with thundering checks like a child who had just learned 10 master stairs and gleefully performs the act with con- stant repetition, always amazed at his own ability. He was the toast of Toronto and enjoyed the best rook- i® year any Leaf has had since Howie Mecker Then came the injuries. The shoulder, the knee, the back and now the knee again. Early oh this year in gre season and his first two regular games, he was the Clark of old. Flying up and down the wing, hitting, ripping bul- lets, laughing in joy~at his own accomplishments after scoring, he was once again passionately in love with the game that has been a paradox of joy and pain for this man/child. And then there he was, sitting forlornly on the bench, his aching knee a reminder that perhaps this was the one career-ending injury that every athlete thinks about but won't admit. He told us all with his expressions; a man betrayed by the very body that brought him such success and stardom. Many scribes in the business usually tack on "injury- prone" or "hard luck" in front of Clark's name, but really, he is neither. His rough-house style of play is such that injury seems only a natural progression for his career. Ken Dryden once said that were "a lot of do-nothing 40 goal scorers in the league," and he's right. If only they had half Clark's drive and love. for the game, they would be genuine supdgstars. It's a shame that a player like Clark does not break into the NHL more often. Sadder still, Clark himself will never be the same His injuries will either continue to slow his progress, or he will adopt a playing style less conducive to injury Either way, the fans and the game lose 7