The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i ------ a -------- i nn "A Family Tradition for 132 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, December 8, 1998 - 21 Port Perry s Todd Healey te kere - look at today's world of sports Stepping on the ice at Maple Leaf Gardens... A dream come true Got a call the other day from Steve Webb, an acquaintance I know through the arena. He asked me if I recalled a conversation we had last winter regarding a private ice rental at Maple Leaf Gardens that he and 20 of his friends had put together. He reminded me that I had mentioned at the time that if he rented ice at the Gardens in the future, I'd be more than interested in tagging along, and to make a long story short, would I play at the Gardens on Sunday? How fast can one pos- sibly say the word "yes" and still be legible? In ret- rospect, I sounded more like Meg Ryan in the restaurant scene of "When Harry Met Sally" than a gleeful hockey player. At any rate, the logistics of rides, cost, and times were worked out and as I hung up the phone, it truly hit home that I was going to play at the sports mecca, the absolute hockey shrine of the world. As the week wore on, and Sunday finally arrived, I began, like a child on Christmas Eve, to count the hours until I would be on the ice, checking and re-checking my equipment and loading fresh film in the camera. And then I was there. Walking toward the rink, equipment slung over one shoulder, sticks in the other hand, like I'd done a thousand times at a thousand arenas since I could walk. But now I was walking down Carlton St., and the rink was Maple Leaf Gardens. Entering through the front doors under the marquis, we received quick glances from pedestrians who knew we couldn't possibly be NHL'ers but wanted to be sure. After security led us to the dressing rooms (me and five or six guys were shown to the NHL ref room) we were left alone to dress and go out on the ice. After dressing, I walked out the player's chute to the ice and stopped dead in my tracks as the Gardens was suddenly laid before me. In all Her Majesty. The huge clock, the gold, green and grey seats, row after row, dwarfing me, Harold's bunker, the Leaf Emblems at center ice all conspired to bring childhood memories flooding back in waves, keeping me from taking that next, last step onto ice that legends have played on for decades. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and stepped into fantasy. The next hour was a blur of motion and emotion. Sitting on the visitors bench, knowing that two weeks ago, Gretzky sat there, last week it was Messier. Scoring a goal on a breakaway, looking up into the seats and feeling foolish. I score again a few minutes later and do the same thing. Watching a pass coming to me across the ice, entering and exiting painted logos which for brief moments hide the puck, wondering how NHL players aren't dis- tracted by that like I am. And then it was over; the play stopped, as it were, forever. But it didn't stop and never will because every time I flip on a Leaf game, I feel what I'm watching is part of me. I sat on that bench, I scored on that net. I have done what thousands before me have done, but what millions of others have not, but wished to. The thrill of moving from one of those groups to the other will never leave me. Thank you Steve. TOP RINK: The local rink of, from left, Kelly Evans, Carol Jackson, Gale Ballard, and Lynda Powell, came out on the B side of the Zone Level of the Trophy competition at a bonspiel at the Oshawa Golf Club during the weekend of Nov. 28 and 29. With their victory over a team from the Oshawa Curling Club, the group moved on to the Regional level, which was held recently in Port Perry and featured eight rinks competing for top spot. ModJacks running on empty No luck and short-staffed, Port Perry keeps coming up with no points By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star The Port Perry MoJacks must be wondering just what they have to do to post a win these days. For the second Sunday in a row, the ModJacks played well enough for at least a tie, but still came up with goose-eggs in the points col- umn in losing a 4-3 heart-breaker to the powerful Uxbridge Bruins. Seven days earlier it was the Little Britain Merchants who got the best of the green and white by a 4-2 margin, and in between, the ModJacks went down 5-3 to the Lakefield Chiefs. Winless in their last five starts (four losses and one tie) the MoJacks have fallen into fifth place in the Central Jr. C League standings, but are still just two points back of Little Britain. It's been a frustrating span for head coach Tom Thornbury who said after Sunday's loss to Uxbridge that he can find no fault with the overall effort the players are giving him. What is frustrating, he said, is that "we know we can play compet- itive hockey in this league." But playing competitive hockey on a consistent basis is what's miss- ing. And the head coach admitted he doesn't have the key to unlock that secret of how to turn those losses by one or two goals into ties or wins. One thing for sure, however, he's standing by his guys. "They are real good kids. They are giving me an honest effort," he said. There is no shame in losing 4- 3 to a first-place squad like the Bruins who came into Sunday's game sporting an impressive record of 18 wins and just three losses. "But it is so disappointing to give up the two points," Thornbury said. Sunday's game was fairly typical of the ModJack fortunes in many outings this year. The teams were tied 2-2 after 40 minutes with first period Modack goals coming from Adam Bonneveld and Brent Pinch. At 8:20 of the third, Bruins Cory Turchan blasted a point-blank slap shot through a crowd and Jeff Mackie to put the visitors up 3-2. Then with just under six minutes left, the MoJacks tied things again with Paul Hansen set up in front by Casey Van Schagen. Overtime was looking like a dis- tinct possibility until 16:54 when the Bruins went ahead - -this time for good. The MoJacks were not able to clear from deep in their own zone as Brad Moore knocked the puck down at the right point and sent a shot towards Mackie from 60-feet out. The puck appeared to hit a stick and turned into a flutter-ball that sailed over Mackie's right arm into the net. The ModJacks had numerous decent chances in this game. Bonneveld was stopped on a short- handed breakaway, as was Van Schagen. And Bruins netminder Randy Crawford stole a goal from Jeff Clarke in the third period, picking his slap shot out of the air Turn to Page 23 SHL report Late charge by Monsma falls short in 3-2 loss to Taylor Fuels By Jon Sanders Special to The Star Taylor Fuels 3 Monsma Electric 2 In the first game of the day it was Taylor Fuels defeating Monsma Electric by a final score of 3-2. Monsma took the lead in this tight checking contest as Jim Duncan opened the scoring after taking passes from Jody Peters and Mike Clarke. In the second period it was all Taylor Fuels as they answered right back finding the net three times. Steve Lee tied this game for Taylor Fuels with assists going to Rob Kroonenburg and Kelly Lee. Minutes later, Chris O'Conner gave Taylor Fuels the lead from Dean Smith and Willie Edwards and then it was Rob Kroonenburg netting the eventual game winner with help from Steve Lee and Dean Smith. Monsma Electric did manage to put one more goal on the board in the final period as Jeff Card made this one close assisted by Mike McQuade and Jack Monsma but it Turn to Page 22 or