The Leader-Post from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada • 43

2 Sport The Leader-Post Regina May 10, 1988 Mounds win shootout Centennial Cup By L-P Sports Staff During the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season and beyond, the Notre Dame Hounds allowed an average of fewer than three goals per game. Yet two games into the Centennial Cup at Pembroke, the SJHL and Western Canada champions have surrendered three goals in three different periods and 12 overall. But no matter. After a 9-7 victory over the Thunder Bay Flyers in Mondays only tournament game, the normally stingy Hounds are the only undefeated team at the four-team, round-robin affair. They are 2-0, whereas Thunder Bay is 0-2.

The Hounds, who have clinched a playoff spot, can receive a bye to Saturdays championship game with a victory Wednesday over the Pembroke Lumber Kings. The second- and third-place teams meet in Thursdays semi-final. I cant believe weve given up 12 goals in two games, said Barry MacKenzie, Notre Dames head coach. Were not totally sharp, but weve still got two victories so were doing what we have to. ready, MacKenzie said.

I dont think he made a save. Llew Ncwana and Stephane Gau-vin scored the other goals for Notre Dame, which trailed 3-2 after one period but led 5-4 after two. Dave Williams, with two goals, Dan Vailliant, Rick Dorina, Shawn Jourdain, John Falva and Jim Figli-ameni scored for Thunder Bay, which must defeat Halifax (1-1) in todays only game to stave off elimination. Meanwhile, the Hounds are preparing for Pembroke (1-1). They really rely on Peter White, MacKenzie said of Pembrokes leading scorer, who has two goals and three assists in two Cup games.

He got over 200 points for them this year. The big thing for us will be to shut him down. Pembroke likely has similar plans for BrindAmour. When hes playing like this, MacKenzjp said, I dont look too far down the bench. NOTE: Wednesdays Hounds game can be heard on radio stations CFSL (1190 Weyburn) and CJSL (1280 Estevan) beginning at 5:30 p.m.

CP Laserphoto Hull's Martin Gelinas topples over Medicine Hat's Dean Chynoweth Tigers dash hopes of QMJHL president By Gregg Drinnan L-P Assistant Sports Editor Calgary businessman Earl Hale, who owns the Western Hockey Leagues Seattle Thunderbirds, says hell have his front-office situation straightened out soon. Ill certainly be doing something by the end of May, said Hale, who is looking for someone to serve in the dual role of director of hockey operations and head coach. Thats basically what Ill call the individual. Im basically looking for someone wholl look after the on-ice program. Hell have full responsibility over who stays, who goes, who plays, who doesnt.

Weve only won 24 to 26 games a year over the last three years and thats not good enough. Hale purchased the Seattle franchise from John Hamilton prior to the 1985-86 season. Since then the Thunderbirds have finished, in order, 27-43-2, 21-47-4 and 25-45-2. Jim Dobson coached the club CHICOUTIMI, Que. (CP) Gilles Courteau had a haggard look on his face and the president of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League had good reason for it.

Two of the four teams vying for the Memorial Cup are from his league, but Courteaus plan to have a Quebec-based team win its first major junior hockey title since 1971 had gone astray. Mondays 7-3 triumph by the Medicine Hat Tigers over the Hull Olym-piques was the fourth consecutive defeat without a win that a Quebec team has suffered at the major-junior round-robin championship. It was also the 10th straight defeat, dating back to the 1986 tournament when Hull lost in the final to Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League. Courteau was at a loss to explain why Quebec cant win. I dont put the players on the ice, he said.

I am concerned. Its an embarassment and a disappointment. And its tough for me. But I dont have the answer. Medicine Hat, champions of the Western Hockey League, and the OHL winner Windsor Spitfires, have 2-0 records.

They play tonight and the victor goes on to Saturdays championship game. The loser is guaranteed a spot in the semi-final. One thing about having 0-2 Hull and 0-2 Drummondville Voltigeurs in the tournament is that a Quebec team will finally get a Memorial Cup win when they play Wednesday. Since' no ties are permitted, the winner advances to the semi-finals. Drummondville coach Jean Begin questioned the intensity of Quebec teams in the tournament.

He said its easy to win in the Quebec league without playing with intensity, but its easier to lose without it at the Memorial Cup. Drummondville, finalist in the Memorial Cup QJMHL, received a berth in the Memorial Cup because Quebec is the host. Courteau figures that Quebec teams become complacent after winning their league championship. I have told them it is important to understand the season doesnt end with the league championship, said Courteau. I have told them we have to play the Memorial Cup.

Ive told them they will be one of the four best teams in Canada and they have to prove it. Maybe they think too much of the teams from Ontario and the West. Olympiques coach Alain Vignault disagreed. We are doing the best we can to represent our league, he said. Thats aU I can ask of my players.

Neil Brady, Rob DiMaio, Kirby Lindal, Mark Pederson, Trevor Linden, Scott McCrady and Darren Taylor scored for Medicine Hat. Stephaine Quintal, Stephane Mat-teau and Ken MacDermid produced Hulls goals. Tigers coach Barry Melrose took offence to the schedule because tonights game is the third in three nights for Medicine Hat. I wish we could be meeting them (Windsor) when both of us are fresh, said Melrose. 1 think they have a benefit (in having Monday off).

We are the only team that has to play three in three. We just dont think it is fair. DiMaio, one of five Tigers who played on the world champion Canadian junior hockey team, said fatigue is no excuse. This is exactly where we want to be, winning our two games, said DiMaio. They have a lot of character and we have a lot.

Its going to be nose to nose. Dennis Sobchuk sat in the west stands of the Agridome on Monday afternoon. Down below, and up above, workers scurried here and there making preparations for a heavy nights rocking by the hard-noise group Aerosmith. You know, said Sobchuk, I went to see Alice Cooper when he was here. Ten years ago, I would have been right there in the front row, beating my head against the cement with the rest of them." Sobchuk wasnt in the front rooooow, though.

He was upstairs in one of the private boxes, earplugs set firmly in place. That was then and this is now. Ten years ago, Sobchuk was a hockey player. Now, hes an assistant coach who would be head coach. Hes also just 72 hours removed from his first experience with the harsh reality of the coaching game, from having learned first-hand just how close a coach really is to the unemployment line.

Coaches come and coaches go. Doug Sauter, the Regina Pats general manager and head coach, is the latest to go. He was pushed out the door on Saturday. Its like death, says Sobchuk. You think youre ready for it but you find youre not prepared for it when it happens.

For a while everyone tiptoes around the office, speaking in hushed voices, always looking over their shoulder. Hockey is a world of cliches, says Sobchuk, but, hey, theres always tomorrow and you just have to keep on going. After his playing days with the Pats, Sobchuk went on to skate professionally with 12 teams. In four countries. On two continents.

He saw the world without wearing khaki. Hes felt the sting of being traded at least theres something positive in that because somebody wants your services. Hes also felt the emptiness that comes with being released, tossed away like an old and broken hockey stick. Its hard, he was saying on Monday afternoon, moments before Sauter gave his farewell address to the circling media vultures. No matter how many times youre traded if youre traded 100 times, you still feel it the 100th time.

You feel it in your stomach. Still, Sobchuk has never experienced the flood of emotions that has raged through his body and mind over the last three days. A man who has come to be a good friend has just lost his job and Sobchuk wants to try sitting at that desk. Id love to coach, Sobchuk says. On the one side you feel badly because Dougs gone and were friends.

But on the other hand I hope the owners will give me a long, hard look. Sobchuk feels that hes amply qualified for the position. During his pro career he played under, at one time or another, Jacques Demers, Glen Sather, John Bro-phy, Terry Slater and Sandy Hu-cul. The good, the bad and the ugly? Ive got a lot of knowledge," Sobchuk says, and Ive always felt I could coach. I was a finesse-type player but I always felt I was a learner, I didnt just play the game and go home.

I realize that doesnt make you a coach, but Ive got all this knowledge. I feel I have all the credentials. Sobchuk is also a Regina Pat through and through. Tommy La-sorda has nothing on Sobchuk. If you ripped open my skin Im a Pat, he says.

Id like to stay here because the Regina Pats have given me so much and Id like to give something back, he adds. And its lome. Its on my very doorstep. In a business where you are often advised never to buy a house, Sobchuk went one step further. Hired as an assistant coach with the Pats, he moved his house to White City from a farm near Lang.

Were not talking about a mobile home here, either. He put his home on wheels and moved it. But hes enough of a realist to enow that if he doesn't get the coaching job, it wont be the end of the world, Sobchuk has been around. He knows that if hes not involved the Pats will continue to operate. He knows that dressing rooms the continent over are full of the ghosts of coaches past.

"When I was with Cincinnati," he says, referring to the Stingers of the World Hockey Association, they sold me and I went down the next day to say goodbye. My stall was already filled." And if the Pats coaching job goes to someone else dont shed any tears for Dennis Sobchuk. He threw himself to the lions, he wasn't pushed. Nor is he a stranger to twisting in the wind. Im a farmer and a coach," he says, the two most insecure Hounds centre Rod Brind' Amour is exceeding his lofty standards.

After scoring three straight goals and adding two assists Monday night, the Notre Dame captain leads all scorers with nine points in two Cup games. Rod got five points on our first five goals, MacKenzie observed. Hes taken control of things. Hes dominating. As in Sundays 6-4 defeat of the Halifax Lions, the Hounds broke open a 4-4 tie.

Guy Sandersons power-play goal, which beat Flyers starting joaltender Jeff Johnes 14:28 into the second period, gave Notre Dame a lead it would not relinquish. Johnes was replaced by Todd Henderson to start the third period. Johnes returned to the game 3:39 later after Scott Pellerin, Derek Hopko and Dwayne Norris with the eventual winner scored on Henderson within a 67-second span. The new goalie obviously wasnt this season but hasnt yet been told whether hell be retained in another position. Ill be going to Seattle in the next week to solve that situation, said Hale, but hes presently an employee.

Hale admits to having talked with Lome Henning about the job, but said they are no where close to a deal. Henning was fired by the National Hockey Leagues Minnesota North Stars with three games left in the 1986-87 season and has another year left on his contract with them. We have talked ith Lome and were certainly interested in him, said Hale. I think hes not sure what he wants to do yet, whether he wants to be in junior or if he waits to see if something else develops. Hes just not sure.

I plan on chatting with him in the next couple of weeks. Asked if he was interested in Doug Sauter, who was released as ed about 50-50. A lot of the guys wont be back. Graham Tuer is the Pats scouting co-ordinator. The team lists 26 other scouts in the field.

Szumlak, for his part, is considering offers from the high performance track and field centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and the Pan-Am Centre in Winnipeg. Szumlak is in Guelph, and could not be reached for comment. NOTES: The Moose Jaw Warriors After the announcement, Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Bill Baker said his team was not interested in acquiring Dewalt, primarily because of the quarterbacks age. But Dewaits age wont prevent the Blue Bombers from pursuing him. It's a possibility the B.C.

Lions will appeal, said Murphy. If they do appeal, where do we stand if the Lions win? Morriss, reached in Arlington, said the Lions are more interested in the financial burdens of the courts rulings than Dewaits free agency. If they do appeal, they wont appeal his status as a free agent, Morriss said. Murphy denied reports the Bombers were trying to work out a trade for disgruntled Edmonton Eskimo quarterback Matt Dunigan. "We have never, ever said we were going to trade and nobody ever said what would be in a trade if he were available.

The ever evasive Murphy hinted he might dip into the United States colleges ranks to find a new quarterback. Tom Muecke, 24, has been the Bombers' backup quarterback for the last two years, but has seen little action. Earl Hale general manager and head coach by the Regina Pats on Saturday, Hale said: I really haven't given it any thought. Doug, as far as I knew, was with the Pats. Hale added that Jake Goertzen, who has been running the Seattle front office since general manager Sheldon Ferguson was fired on Nov.

16, will continue with the club. Hell be like the managing director, said Hale. Hell look after scouting, player development and co-ordinate the rest of the club and deal with myself. Goertzen has been with the Seattle franchise since he joined the team as a scout prior to the 1979-80 season. are holding an open forum at the Civic Centre tonight, beginning at 7:30.

The meeting is open to the public, but preferred shareholders and season-ticket holders are encouraged to attend. Warriors business manager Joe Celentano said the meeting would be the last chance to keep the financially troubled team in Moose Jaw. fiGEEpeO: Pats employees unsure of jobs By L-P Sports Staff The removal of Doug Sauter as the head coach and general manager of the Regina Pats has thrown the future of several Pats employees up in the air. Principal among these are the Pats 28-man scouting staff and athletic therapist Stan Szumlak. Weve got some people who are loyal to Doug and some people who are loyal to the organization," said Pats chief scout Harvey Keck on Monday.

Im loyal to the organization but I think right now its divid Dewalt has no qualms about playing for Bombers Sal C5ESV 00 (OOESHIlEESi. G5ES7 413 Short Sleeve Knit Sport Shirts Famous Brands $1795 Suits Sport COATS OFF DRESS PANTS All Regular Stock 20 OFF Short Sleeve Dress Shirts By Arrow Spring Summer SWEATERS 25 OFF All Stock RAINCOATS All Regular Stock 25 OFF Casual Slacks All Cotton Natural and Tan Long Short Sleeve DRESS SHIRTS OFF Short Sleeve SPORT SHIRTS Famous $. Q95 Brand I ocation WINNIPEG (CP) Roy Dewalt says hes interested in playing quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, but Winnipeg general manager Cal Murphy wants the free agents legal status settled with the British Columbia Lions before he makes any offers. I think they have a fine franchise there and if the conditions were right, sure I wouldnt mind (playing in Winnipeg) at all, Dewalt, 31, said Monday in a telephone interview from his Vancouver home. They have a fine system, a good football club and some of the best receivers Ive seen around.

I think I could adjust. The Bombers were sent scrambling for a quarterback when Veteran Tom Clements announced his retirement last week. Vic Morriss, Dewaits agent, said he has talked with the Winnipeg club, but Murphy said no serious negotiations can begin until hes sure Dewalt will remain a free agent. Dewalt, a nalive of Houston, was declared a free agent last month after the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the Lions breached his contract by not paying him a $50,000 US bonus.

The court also said the Lions owe Dewalt $9,300 for public (xpomu mm (Mm Gut flTTv Non EGIAIIS.