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----i t 5 FEN LT Aen PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, June 15, 1993 - 35 "A Family Tradition for 127 Years" By Kelly Lown Port Perry Star Eight hundred people in a small town in Sydney, Nova Scotia each took a sip out of the Calder Cup Saturday evening, as they celebrated the Cape Bre- ton Oilers victory in the Ameri- can Hockey League. A team led to its first victory in franchise history by Port Perry native George Burnett. "It is a great experience to go through. his i8 the first time this city has ever won a champi- onship of this magnitude," Bur- nett said. For Burnett, 31, this marked the end of his first year as head coach of the Oilers, the farm team of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. "This is a small town. Until this (victory) people were still talking of victories in the 1930s and 40s, when old junior teams won championships. This is great, the whole city is soenthu- siastic," Burnett told the Star in a telephone interview from his home in Sydney, Nova Scotia. After finishing third in their division, behind St. John's and Fredericton, the Cape Breton Oilers headed into the playoff round a very determined team. Burnett said. On the way to the Calder Cup final the Oilers defeated Frede- ricton (Montreal's farm team) four games to one. The second round had the Oilers sweeping St. John's (Toronto's farm team) four straight. In a short series the Oilers handed Springfield (Hartford) two straight losses to earn aberth in the final. In the Calder Cup finale, the Oilers defeated Rochester (Buf- falo) four games to one to win the club's first championship in its five-year history. The club had a great playoff round defeating the two teams they finished behind in the league, Burnett said. "We had a great start (in the regular season) and then put to- gether a 10-game winning streak at Christmas," he added. Nearing the end of the season the club hit a bit of a slump, but mainly due to players being called upon by Edmonton Oil- ers. "With Edmonton struggling, and not making the playoffs this year, a lot of the guys were get- || Lions Club to host poker run Saturday, June 26 By Kelly Lown Port Perry Star The Port Perry Lions Club is holding a poker run on June 26, which will include stops at five different locations. The five stops will be at Scu- gog Island Marina, Goreski's Marina, Westshore Marine, Port Perry Marina and the boat at the sandbar. The participant with the best hand at the end of the day will be awarded 20 per cent of the gross income from the day. Sponsors for the event are Go- reski's Resort, Port Perry Mari- na, Westshore Marine, Scugog Island Marina, Port Perry IGA, Townline Press, Irwin Smith Music Ltd., Re/Max Realty and Ken Murray Electric. Pre-registration before June 19 will cost $30 per vessel. The price is $40 after June 19, if any openings are available. A limit of 75 boats will be allowed to participate. Boaters can register on June 19 between 10 a.m. and noon at any of the four marinas. The poker run is open to all operators of boats 15-feet and longer. : The poker run will get under- way at 8 a.m. and run through until 1 p.m. The last stop will be Goreski's Marina. For more information contact Wayne Wanamaker at 985- 0302, Ken Clark at 985-3571 or Gord Geer at 985-9322. Bantam Merchants pull out 6-5 victory This week's Bantam Mer- chant write-up is sponsored by Port Perry IGA, David Chow's Restaurant and Wagg Roofing. After being plagued by inju- ries and a four game losing streak, the Bantams played two strong games last week. On Wednesday at the local dj- amond the Merchants pulled out an exciting 6-5 victory. The Score was 5-1 for Aurora until the sixth inning when Port Sn Perry closed the gap by scoring three runs on a hit by Ian Shri- gley, two walks and an Aurora - error. The score was 5-4 for Au- rora in the bottom of the sev- ® enth when Jeff Clarke led off B. with a walk followed by another ting chances to play and show their ability at the National Hockey League level," he added When playoff time came, though, the team pulled togeth- er and made a commitment to play great playoff hockey, their coach said. Considering himself neither an offensive, or defensive coach , Burnett feels both in ients are a key to the right mix. "This club used to lack good defense in the past, which has been a bit of their downfall," he said. 'T think it is important to have both offensive and defen- sive players. I don't think it is as important to have a lot of scor- ing, just players being able to score at the right time. We had that and this year the players came with a commitment, from everyone, to play good defensive hockey," he said. Burnett, who has a two-year contract with the Cape Breton Club said he does not anticipate any changes in his coaching du- ties next year. After next season his contract with the AHL team will be com- plete and from there he is not hit by Ian Shrigley. With two men on and one out, the Mer- #4 chant'sbig first baseman, Jason " Haliburton lined a hard single to win the game. Other Port Perry hits came from Darryl Moase, Matt Hobbs and Bill Za- paranuik. Bill Zaparanuik also picked up the victory in relief of der Cup sure where he will go. He said he chose the two-year contract, instead of the stan- dard three-year deal many sign, because he felt he could do the Jobin the two-year span. "Ifelt comfortable I was capa- ble of doing the jobin two years," he said. Although, he said he will hopefully coach in the NHL one day, he is not in a hurry and knows with the experience he has, he will be fully prepared when the opportunity does presentsitself. "Thope to one day ke coaching in the NHL, whether for Ed. monton, or another club," Bur- nett said. With plenty of coaching expe- rience under his belt, he said he feels he has gone the right route on the way to the National Hockey League. 'I have accumulated a lot of experience, and feel it ig very important to have day to day contact with professional ath- letes," Burnett told the Star. [feel it is better to be a coach in the American Hockey League to gain experience, then to go straight to an assistant coach- the starter, Tim Fitzpatrick. On Thursday night the Ban- tams travelled to Stouffville to face the top, undefeated team in the York Durham fastball league. The Merchants took a late in- ning 1-0 lead. Ian Shrigley dou- bled then stole third base. With one out, Jason Haliburton exe- cuted a perfect bunt to squeeze in Shrigley. In the bottom of the fifth in- ning, Stouffville scored four un- earned runs on three Port Perry errors and a soft infield hit. The final score was 4-1 for Stouff- ville. Special mention should go to Bill Zaparanuik for pitching a strong game, Brad Morton for a thrilling centerfield diving catch and the infield for turning a tough double play. The Port Perry Bantam Mer- chant's next game is on Wednesday, June 16 at the south diamond with an 8:30 p.m. start. victory ing job in the NHL," he said. "This way I am making all of the coaching decisions. As an as- sistant coach I would not be," he added. Prior to his current employ- ment, Burnett was a former as- sistant coach of the Oshawa Generals. He also spent three years behind the berich as head coach of the Niagara Falls Thunder of the Ontario Hockey League. He also doubled as gen- eral manager of the organiza- , tion. During his three years in Ni- agara Ialls, he was twice named coach of the year in the Ontario Hockey League For now he is content to re- turn to the bench of the defend- ing Calder Cup champions. Obviously enjoying the Cafq- er Cup victory in his first ear ag head coach of the squad, he only has words of praise for those around him, who all made it happen. "Tam working for good people. Everyone in this organization ig very supportive," he added.