The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 14

B6 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1989 SPORT as Ahearn took one final stab, at making a go of professional hock ey. It didn't work. The club, lav ished dead last in the Canadian division and was a disaster at the gate. Ahearn moved the team to St. Louis, where they had one lacklustre season as the Eagles.

"St. Louis had a good rink," Finnigan said. "It was a Dig -cai- tle palace and the ice surface was 220 by 100 (the standard rink is 85x200). "There was a fence up in -the stands. Black people sat on bne side and white people sat on the other.

"They never packed the arena in St. Louis. It was a new game. It was the same as when they first went to Chicago. They didn't draw in Pittsburgh.

They did draw good crowds in New York, they always did. They tried a few games in Philadelphia and it didn't go over. Also tried a eame or two in At lantic City, but it didn't go over too well there, either. Once again, the players were dispersed. Finnigan finished his career in Toronto, helping tne wa- ple Leafs win a Stanley Cup in 1932-33.

Finnigan doesn't follow the cur rent NHL closely. "I don't watch it too much. If there's nothing else on, I might look at a game. "(Wayne) Gretzky plays a nice game, but he wouldn't be free wheeling as much as he' does, back in the earlier days. "It was a better game then.

Not as much rasslin' going on up around the boards. More body checking." Finnigan has been paying to the efforts by Terrace In vestments to attract an NHL expansion franchise. In fact, Finni gan, who scored the winning goal in the final game of the Senators' 1 J-y best-of-five series against the Bos ton Bruins in 1927, was front and centre at the kick-off news -con Team photo: The members of the Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Senators 1926-27 ference for the Terrace group. He believes times have changed enough, Ottawa has grown enough, to accommodate a fran chise. Ahearn sold King Clancy to Conn Smythe, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, for $35,000.

Smythe also traded a pair of players Art Smith and Eric Pettinger to Ottawa. "Instead of trying to strengthen the club by keeping Clancy, instead of trying to find some traded, the team asked for and was granted a one-year suspension. The players were dispersed, lent to other teams. Finnigan and Syd Howe went to Toronto, Kilrea to Detroit, Denneny to the Montreal Maroons. The following season, the players were all recalled by Ottawa, younger players, they folded the club," said Finnigan.

"Well, they did sign some younger players, but they didn't mature as fast as expected. Instead of us getting stronger, we were becoming like a minor-league team. "These players that were stars, they were hard to replace. That's why we petered out. "But you couldn't expect the Ahearns to give entertainment to Ottawa and not break even.

(Ahearn) just got fed up." The team sputtered in its final seasons. One year after Clancy was "I think that (Terrace chairman and chief executive officer Bruce) Firestone has the right idea build a big rink, spend some Senators From page B1 story: Once upon a time When Ottawa ruled the hockey world a row in 1919-20 and 1920-21, another in 1922-23 and the final one in 1926-27. The cradle stopped rocking in a hurry. By the mid-1930s the team was disbanded and NHL hockey had left Ottawa for good. "There weren't the people (to support the team)," said Finnigan.

"There were only 110,000, 120,000 at the most back in the 1920s, up into the 1930s. We didn't start to grow until after the war in 1944. "Holland Ave. that's where the streetcar ended and that was the end of Ottawa in those days. "There wasn't a whole lot of money and not too much industry in Ottawa or Hull at the time.

It was just the government that was the big employer." Another big employer was Frank Ahearn, who owned the Ottawa Street Railway, and the Ottawa Electric Company, as well as the Senators. Ahern had purchased the club from Gorman Jan. 24, 1925. "Ahearn was the biggest shareholder in the Auditorium," Finnigan remembers. "He also owned the street railway.

"He made some revenue off the streetcars, bringing the people to the Auditorium and taking them home after the game." Not enough people went to the games, apparently. The Senators were often in financial difficulty, particularly in the depression years in the early 1930s. "At the Auditorium, we'd draw fans a game," said Finnigan. "Against the better clubs we'd draw fans. The (Montreal) Canadiens were a big draw and so were the Maroons.

Tickets were Standing room was 50 cents." Success on the ice didn't lead to riches at the box office. The Senators lost about $50,000 in their last Stanley Cup-winning year. Then as now, when a sporting team is losing money, one way to raise funds is to sell the assets. Which is just what Ahearn did. Just before the 1930-31 season, Ex-CFL star won't be sent to jail EDMONTON (CP) Former Canadian Football League star Dan Kepley won't be jailed for his third drunk driving offence because he took the rarely-chosen road to recovery, says an appeal court judge.

Kepley sought help for alcoholism immediately after his July 1988 arrest for impaired driving and doctors say he's motivated to stay sober, said Madam Justice Elizabeth McFadyen of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench. The former Edmonton Eskimo deserves the conditional discharge he was granted by a provincial court judge last May, she said Friday. "I consider it unfortunate that this (discharge) provision is rarely ever used or indeed sought by individuals," she said. "It appears there are few with sufficient motivation to seek treatment and establish (the medical evidence) required for a discharge." McFadyen dismissed the Crown's appeal and request for a 90-day jail term, saying discharges can be given when it's unlikely the accused will commit the same crime. Discharges are appropriate only for "rare and unusual cases and are offered as encouragement, an incentive and a threat." The public must not assume a discharge is "a non-penalty, a free ride or lenient," she added.

Kepley, a former linebacker, is on probation for two years. During that time he must abstain from alcohol, attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and take random tests to ensure he hasn't been drinking. He can be sent to jail for breeching any of these conditions, McFadyen said. Kepley was charged July 31, 1988, after being found driving while having three times the legal blood alcohol limit He pleaded guilty and was granted the discharge May 29, 1989. The Crown appealed because a 90-day jail term is usually mandatory for a third impaired driving offence.

Kepley had two previous convictions in 1985 and 1986 plus an alcohol-related assault conviction in 1987. Psychological and personal problems triggered his alcohol and substance abuse, court heard. Kepley was the three-time Schenlsy Award winner for best defensive player in the league. He retired from the sport in 1984 and is now in tOe real estate business. Kepley attended the two-day appeal He refused comment Lsiu siDecs pom) fiCne ffBglhift agiaBuDsti punk oi)g)B Ottawa's new car dealers have thrown their support behind the Ottawa -Carleton Police Forces fight against impaired driving.

The Franchised Automobile Dealers Association of Ottawa will support the R.I.D.E. program (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere), with a reward for sober drivers. The R.I.D.E. program runs holiday weekends and from December 6th through to January 6th. It works through a road block system, spot checking drivers for impaired driving.

On an average night, the Ottawa-Carleton Police Forces stop up to 300 cars. Drivers who pass the test will receive a compact starter First-Aid Kit from police, courtesy of FADO. Now in its second year, the province-wide program consistently shows that it works as a deterrent against impaired drivers. Drunk driving statistics were the lowest ever last year. "R.I.D.E.

is a vital program in ensuring the safety of our says FADO President Tom Donnelly. "And we feel it is important to give back to a community that has given so much to us." FADO is made up of 50 new car dealers in the Ottawa area. 10,000 Starter First Aid Kits will be distributed by Ottawa-Carleton Police Forces to drivers who pass the sobriety test "Courtesy of your local New Car The R.I.D.E. program is one of many community programs actively supported by FADO. It operates under a mandate to "bring together a group of independent and competitive businessmen with the common objective of dealing with areas of mutual concern." Reducing impaired driving is one of their top priorities.

Motorists in all our communities can expect to see R.I.D.E. Teams operating this holiday season, particularly during the evening and late night hours. The message to be conveyed is that "YOUR POLICE FORCE IS ACTIVELY PURSUING THOSE WHO INSIST ON DRINKING AND DRIVING. THE ILLEGAL OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES WHILE HAVING A BLOOD ALCOHOL READING IN EXCESS OF .08 WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere CBC Television 'sw Ottawa 4 Ci THE OTTAWA MM TO TtUTH II inrtcMiMr.