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' "a ' ' ' 30 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, September 12, 1989 Jr. C team opened training camp Sunday night Defense the key says MoJack Training camp got under- way Sunday night for the Port Perry ModJacks of the Central Junior C Hockey League. Head coach Ken Harman, starting his first full season be- hind the bench for the MoJacks believes that strong defense will be the key to the team's suc- cess on theice this winter. And when he said "defense" he wasnt' referring to just the guys who play along the blue line. "We are going to be work- ing on getting everyone (on the ice) to think defensively," he told the Star in an interview af- ter the two hour practise at the Scugog Arena Sunday evening. Harman said he is pleased that three of last year's defense corps are back with the team for another season. They are Steve Connors, Chris Arsenault and Chris Edmonston. And Phil McBride, who played part of last season with the MoJacks is alsoin camp. While Harman said the team is going to concentrate a lot on defensive hockey this sea- son, he made no secret of the fact he'll be counting on three players from last year for scor- ing production. The line of Brad Menzies, John Harman and Warren Geer will be re-united. They were the highest scoring trio the Mo- Jacks had in 1988-89, giving op- position goalies nightmares with their tic-tac-toe passing and accurate shooting. Harman said he expects to build his four forward units around this line. As for goaltending, there were five cage keepers on the ice for the first training session Sunday night, and the coach said both jobs "are up for grabs" at this time.' Jeff Lynch, who handled the bulk of the duties in net for the team last season, is at uni- versity this year and won't be in a MoJack uniform. With the luxury of a lengthy training camp (nearly four full weeks) plus five exhibi- tion games, Harman said he and assistant coach Garnet Warriner are going to take their time assessing talent. In fact, they won't be mak- ing their final cuts until after the last exhibition match Oct. 1 against Ajax. And that will still allow a week before the team opens the regular schedule Oct. 8 at home to Lakefield. There were 25 players, in- cluding the five goalies on the ice for the first practise session Sunday evening, but that num- ber is expected to increase as the camp continues. "We had a few guys with other commitments, but more will be coming out," he said. The players went through and hour of skating and passing drills, followed by an hour of scrimmage (three on three) Harman said he likes the new format of the Central League. Trenton, Madoc, Lindsay and Wellington are out, leaving seven teams to fight it out in a 36 game schedule. "We'll be playing each oth- er six times, so that will give us the chance to study the other teams carefully and assess strengths and weaknesses," he told the Star. Along with the ModJacks, the Central League will be made up of Little Britain, Ux- bridge, Ajax, Lakefield, Bow- manville and Cobourg. Six of the seven teams will wind up in the opening round of the playoffs. Ken Harman took over the coaching duties for the MoJacks part way into last season when the team was struggling both on and offtheice. The team turned in a solid second half, finishing in fourth place with 47 points. After dispatching Ajax in five games in the opening round, the MoJacks lost a bit- terly contested series with Well- ington in six games. Harman said last season was something of a learning ex- perience behind the bench. "I feel a lot more comforta- ble starting off this season. For one thing, I'm able to start fresh and pick the team I want," he said. He predicts the Central League in 1989-90 is going to be highly competitive, with teams fighting for first place and likely a couple of teams scrambling to avoid missing the playoffs. Players eligible to return from last year's team 'include Chris Arsenault, Chris Ed- monston, Steve Connors, Brad Bricknell, Warren Geer, John Harman, Brad Menzies, Steve Connors and Len Giacalone, who is starting his fourth sea- son in a MoJack sweater. The MoJacks again will be affiliated with the Oshawa Jr. B. Legionaires. They will be re- ferring players to Port Perry, and likewise, the Legionaires can call on MoJacks to fill spots in their roster from time to time. The team will continue training camp this week to get ready for the first pre-season Slo-pitch tourney The Ajax Men's Slo-pitch Association is offering over $5,000 in prize money and awards dur- ing it's fifth annual fall tourna- ment. All proceeds from the weekend of baseball will be donated toward a proposal to build a slo-pitch complex in Ajax. The tournament needs teams for its Men's "D," "DD," "E Recreational,"" and Ladies "Open" divisions. 'I'he top three teams in each division will qualify for the 1989 Coors Provincial Championships to be held in Niagara Falls. The Ajax tournament will be held Friday, September 22 to Sun- day, September 24. For more information, please phone Kevin at 683-7154. match this Romig Hundny night against Uxbrie fo at the Scugog Arona, Face off is set for 7:20, On Sept. 21, the team will host Little Britain, and on Sept. 23 will play Ajax at the Picker- ing Arena, On Sept, 28, the MoJacks have an exhibition game in To- ronto against Seneca College, and they finish the pre-season schedule at home to Ajax on Oct. 1, skipper Things get underwa real on Oct. 8 when the Lake- field Chiefs visit the Scugog Arena, and the first road game is Oct. 14 when they take on the Eagles in the new Bowmanville Arena. Tips for our sports writers Now that the winter sports season is almost here, the Port Perry Star welcomes articles for our sports section on hockey, ringette, figure skating and broomball. To assist us with our pro- duction deadlines, we would ask that anyone submitting ar- ticles to the Star follow certain guidelines. Our absolute deadline for all articles for the Tuesday paper is the previous Monday at 12:00 noon. However, if you can have the article ready the previous Friday, that would greatly help us If possible, articles should be typed. If written in long hand, please double space and write clearly. Leave lots of space at the top of the first page. ~The write-up should in- clude the date event took place, the location, the final score, and a description of some of the "highlights." If you would like photo cov- erage of a sports event, please contact John at the Star (985- 7383) and give us a couple of days notice. Our policy with articles and submissions is to print them as submitted, but we re- serve the right to edit, and on occasion we may have to cut out a paragraph or two. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Star editor at 985-7383. The Cartwright Softball League concluded the season on Saturday with the champlon- ship game In the senior division. Cummings Backhoe held on to take a thriller 21-18 from Blackstock Lions, In front of a noisy contingent of fans for both teams. Front from left: Scott Page, Cheryl Brunner, Jamie Lowe, Ford. Back row from left: Jamie Wade, Mike Leach, Mark Simons, Todd' Moore, R.J. Tricia McCourt, Krista Dickinson, Darren Leach, Travis Mitchell, Mike Wright, Justin Martin and coach Rick Boccaccio. The Blackstock Lions gave it a good shot In Ca Cummings, but came out on the short end of a 21 next season, guys. Front from left: Bren nifer Vokins, Donnie Cliff, Jeff Vernon, Ross, Bristol Sleep, Brendon Agnew, rtwright Senior Softball fi 18 score Saturday afternoon. Maybe t Donnelly, Adam Vivian, Lyndsay Dutkewich, Jen- Robyn Cliff. Back from left: Andrew Frew, Barry Jason Cliff, Chris Murphy, coaches Don and Chris 4 nal against Clitf and coach Ron Vokins. Not present for photo Stacey Swain. for