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"A Family Tradition for 133 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, January 26, 1999 - 19 RHE. -------------------- ------ At Large... Port Perry's Todd Healey takes a look at today's world of sports Midget ranks fall victim to greedy Juniors Not that this statement will be any great revela- tion to anyone who follows minor hockey, but the fact that there are currently 37 provincial Jr. A teams in Ontario has virtually decimated the Midget ranks in all minor hockey organizations throughout the province. However, since minor hockey has, and always will have a renewable natural resource in children, they know that there are always more players on the way and will survive until some of these tier 2 teams go belly-up through darwinism. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the province's Jr. C teams who, by no fault of their own, have become the ugly wallflower no one wants to dance with, and because of their already perilous financial state, do not have the luxury of waiting for the inevitable demise of some tier 2 teams. You see, there is no such thing as aging gracefully in the sporting industry. It's like life on the serengeti; you only slow down enough to be eaten, and while Jr. C hockey as we know it is still running, it most definitely has been separated from the herd. The detrimental effects the expansion of Provincial Jr. A is having on local Jr. C teams simply cannot be understated. Good young talent, Midget-aged in particular, are now wooed to these Jr. A clubs where oncd the local Jr. C team would have been the next logical destination for their development. And this arrangement worked well, since the Jr. C team was mindful of the minor hockey organization and limited their signings to only a few players, thereby providing better competition to those who would benefit from it, while not significantly depleting the Midget ranks. But with advent of an expanding provincial Jr. A, this tradition has been thrown out the window, and young players with stars in their eyes who feel the fool's gold that is tier 2 is the next step to the brass ring are signing up in droves. Because of this mass exodus, local Jr. C teams are made up of a motley crew of players, most too old to play minor hockey and not good enough for junior, simply putting in time playing a sport they love. However, due to their average age, hockey is no longer their first or even second priority. Take this as an example: If you look on the wall in the lobby at Scugog Arena, you'll notice the ModJack's All-Ontario Finalist picture of 11 short years ago proudly displayed. Probably the first thing you'll notice is how young they all were, almost to a man still in high school. Now look at today's MoJack roster and you can count the number of players still in high school on one hand. There are jobs, college and university classes, girl friends and in some cases, wives, who obviously demand a broader commitment than hockey - and so practices are missed, games are missed and the cohesiveness that make teams successful is never attained. Ultimately, the product is diminished and the community is no longer interested in attending games or following the progress of the team. And so it ends. The optimist might say that, like flies in a jar, some of these provincial Junior A teams will fold due to a glut on the market, and Jr. C hockey will survive. The pessimist might say that by the time some tier 2 teams do fold, the echoes of the last rites on Jr. C hockey will have long been carried off by the winds of change. The glass looks half empty to me. IN ALONE: Representatives from all the Port Perry Minor Hockey Association's squad were on hand at the Port Perry MoJacks' game last Sunday night for the Junior C team's annual Minor Hockey Night. During the first intermission players got to try their luck in a break-away competition against CHRIS HALL / PORT PERRY STAR Port's back-up goaltender Bill Jillard. It was up to the youngsters to provide the excitement as the MoJacks fell 6-2 to the visiting Georgina Ice, who defeated Port Perry 9-3 24 hours earlier. The two weekend losses all but put the MoJacks out of the playoffs for the second time in three years. The end is near for Port Perry Two more weekend losses to the Georgina Ice pretty much put an end to the MoJacks' 98-99 Junior C season By John McClelland Port Perry Star It was a crash and burn weekend for the Port Perry ModJacks. And quite likely for their entire season as well. On a weekend where they needed two victories in the worst way, they came up firing blanks. They have now lost four in a row and with just four games left on the schedule have pretty much lost any chance of qualifying for the playoffs in the Central Junior C League. With 29 points, they trail Little Britain by five points (the Merchants defeated Uxbridge 5-2 Saturday evening) But the Merchants have seven games left to play including a make-up match with Port Perry on Feb. 3 and one with Bobcaygeon. It would be the second time in three seasons the ModJacks have missed the playoffs, and last year they just snuck in on the last weekend to gain a berth by mere percentage points. Their opponent in back- to-back games this past weekend was the Georgina Ice. The MoJacks went into Georgina Friday night and played fairly well for a cou- ple of periods before bowing 9-3 with the Ice scoring five unanswered markers in the final frame. The next night at the Scugog Arena, the ModJacks looked flatter than week- old ginger ale in a jar as they fell to the Ice 6-2. It was Minor Hockey night and the young players who lined up to take shots on back-up netminder Ben Jillard during the second intermission showed more "True, the team was severely short-staffed with several regulars out of the line-up for a variety of rea- sons. But they played as if they could sense the playoff spot had slipped away and the game was essentially meaningless. The Ice jumped into a 3-0 lead early in the second period and were dominat- ing the Modacks at both ends of the rink before Adam Jones scored the kind of goal that should have provided some kind of spark to kick-start the team back to life. Jones was killing a penalty when he jumped on a loose puck and raced in alone to beat Brad Hackert cleanly on the stick side. A few moments later it appeared as if the MoJacks were going to go on the power play when Mike zip and enthusiasm. Turn to Page 20 SHL report By Dean Van Camp Special to The Star Cedar Creek Contracting 7 Monsma Electric 5 In a very offensive minded game, it was Cedar Creek Contracting coming L out on top of Monsma Electric by a score of 7-5. John Harman led the way for Cedar Creek with a hat trick as well as two assists for a big five point performance and this scoring outburst came during Cedar Creek's run of six consecutive goals in the second frame. Also scoring in this string of goals was Karl Durham with a pair and Dave Milton adding one. Assists went to Mike Gilmour with three, Rick McJanet adding two, John Harman setting up a pair and Colin Asselstine with one Cedar Creek edges past Monsma helper. It was Monsma who took the early lead as they put three quick goals on the board. Opening the scoring for Monsma was Jeff Card from Brad Meekin, Mike Clarke gave Monsma a 2-0 lead with help from Brad Meekin and Mike McQuade, and Dave Cini provided the third Monsma goal after being set up by Brian Till and Brad Meekin. Late in the opening frame the teams exchanged goals as Nathan Brown put Cedar Creek's first goal on the board assisted by Duane Empringham and John Harman, and answering back for Monsma was Brian Till after being set up by Dave Roth before Cedar Creek exploded with their six goal attack. Turn to Page 20