Appleby College - Argus Yearbook (Oakville, Ontario Canada)

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The Third Hockey Team FRONT ROW: Stafford I, Giffin, Gaskin, Peart II, Lytle, Hebert II, Parks, Toles. CENTRE ROW: Mr. Landry, Burchmore, Wilson II, Stuart IV, Yustin II, Webb III, Fournier, Merrill. BACK ROW: Suchanek, Keates II. Charles Dickens (known to one and all as ' Chuck Baby ' ) said it best in the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities : It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of in- credulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everythi ng before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way ... Such was the season of the mighty Thirds. We had our good times (U.C.C., 3-2, Lakefield, 5-4) and we had our bad (St. George ' s, 5-6; Crescent, 1-2). A .500 season (with 66 goals for, 65 against) is nothing to be ashamed of, yet one cannot but think back to those four games that we lost by one goal, usually due to our own errors. If we had only had a bit more depth ... we ' hung loose ' as they say, and defeat never rested heavily on our shoulders. Thank heavens for that! Our team was blessed with numerous ' characters ' who un- wittingly kept our spirits up, and to these individuals we are all thankful. Special thanks are due in par- ticular to Mark Gaskin, whose puck control in our own end was our salvation on many oc- casions; to Dan Hebert, Tom Lytle, Tom Giffin and Gus Parks, all veterans who helped greatly to add some balance to our young team; to rookies Mark Wilson, David Keates, Lyndon Fournier and Graham Stuart, whose scoring ability contributed to many of our victories; to David Suchanek, who overcame ' growing pains ' to become an ex-

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t whom could play in any spot in any particular game. Perhaps it ' s intuition or experience, I don ' t really know, but when I saw the Red line play together, I knew that the opposition would be in for trouble. Not very big but ex- ceedingly strong both physically and on their skates, this line provided us with the scoring punch that won many games. At left wing, Jim Slattery, the peren- nial 100%er, dug out the puck from the corners to set up his line-mates, or deeked the goalie clear out of his underwear. Not only was Jim the top goal scorer but he was also responsible for the terrific team spirit displayed by everyone. Our centre, Donald Green, proved to be one of the real scoring threats - for a Grade Nine lad I was more than pleased with his consistent effort. At right wing was Lang Moffat; although he didn ' t score as often as he would have liked, he set up his mates with extreme regularity; this, for a left-handed shot, is more difficult than can be imagined. Our Blue line was centered by the strongest wrist shot in the league, David Gibson, who sur- prised many a goaltender with his quick release. David was a most unselfish player who con- stantly passed to his line-mates, either Brian Bird Call Smith at right wing, who pirouetted his way towards the opponent ' s goal, often with success, or to Ross Large, his left wing, who possessed a booming slapshot that most goalies never saw. The Orange line was centered by an old timer with whom I am most familiar, Jim Wetmore, who moved from right wing to centre this year; I think that we were both pleased with the results. Our right wing, Bruce Peart, the ancient mariner, found the mark time and time again, breaking up many close games to our ad- vantage. The left wing, a diminuitive Singapore emigrant, Matthew Yustin, thrilled us all with his speed and accuracy. He must, however, learn to control his boisterous manner in the cor- ners. Barry Durant, one of our utility forwards, deserves much credit for doing his job when called upon, along with his partner, Ian McKenzie, with whom not many opponents fooled with retribution. Our only major injury was to John Keates, who un- fortunately broke his leg early in the season; had this not oc- curred, I ' m sure John would have been a leading scorer. Our back- up goaltender, Rudy Bourne, had to don the pads for three games due to an injury to Steve. Rudy did an adequate job and is to be congratulated. Ashley Kishino and Bruce Gib- son provided us with expert managerial assistance, a most thankless task but one that has to be done. In conclusion, I personally would like to thank the ' weight trainers ' for all those groans, our Captain, John Rosseel, for his leadership, but most of all the team mem- bers, for the best season in eleven years. D.M. THE RECORD GP w L T GF GA 20 14 5 1 96 53

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cedent defenceman, and to John Peart, our diminuitive Captain, for his aggressiveness and desire. On the whole, I think that we learned a few things, and that we enjoyed ourselves, and in the long run, this is what counts. I am quite aware that you all tried your best and I could ask for nothing more. To those of you who will be promoted to higher ranks in the future, you will be missed; to those who will return for another season with the Boise (Idaho) Blades ' , there is always next year; to one and all, a most sincere thank you for all the hard work you gave, in prac- tice and in games, and for a multitude of pleasant memories (I ' ll try to forget the others). One thing is certain, you had Class. One final note: many thanks on everyone ' s behalf to Frank Merrill, who was surely the best horse trainer ever to don the blades and manage a hockey team! N.L. ft ' - LEADING SCORERS GP G A Pts. Pen. Pen. Mins Wilson II 16 11 9 20 2 5 Hebert II 16 7 12 19 Keates II 16 8 10 18 1 2 Lytle 16 11 6 17 Fournier 16 7 8 15 5 11 Stuart IV 16 6 9 15 1 3 Girfin 1 14 7 7 14 Gaskin 16 12 12 9 22 48