LIAM MAGUIRE
WELCOME BACK
HOCKEY ENTHUSIASTS
H
ere we go again: another fall season will soon be upon us and somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30,000 children will be lacing up the blades to play our national sport. Despite the labour issues at the NHL level, it has been business as usual within the ODMHA and the ODHA. And this year, we’re celebrating the anniversaries of two of the greatest moments in hockey history. Both the 1987 Canada Cup, featuring the iconic Gretzky-to-Lemieux goal in the dying seconds of game three, and the national treasure that is the memory of the Summit Series — including Paul Henderson’s series winner in game eight — are being celebrated simultaneously this September. If you are too young for one or both of these
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incredible moments in time, do a bit of research. There is a lot of video available; these are two of the more defining moments in Canadian history. For our regular readers, welcome to the new and improved Centre Ice! After a decade of being published by Anderson Publishing under the guidance of Cliff Anderson and Jayne Rooney, I’m extremely happy and proud to report that Centre Ice will now be
We have a new look but the same constant, consistent minor hockey coverage. Send us your stories, results and photos; we will endeavour to get in as many as we can.
published by Great River Media, a company that is led in part by well-known media personality Mark Sutcliffe. We have a new look but the same constant, consistent minor hockey coverage. Send us your stories, results and photos; we will endeavour to get in as many as we can. Nothing changes in that regard. I’d like to thank Cliff and Jayne for their support of Centre Ice for the past decade and also all of the dedicated writers and contributors. My son was in IP when I started with what was then called Goal Post. He’s now entering his first year of Major Midget. We’re still here and I love it because minor
hockey, as is evident with the Bell Capital Cup, is a driving thread through the fabric of thousands of lives in Ottawa and the Valley and millions nationwide. Please continue to email any comments and thoughts; I welcome them all and I answer them all. We left off last year with the thoughts of perhaps hosting our own coaching symposium on body contact in minor hockey. I did not get the chance to pursue that during the summer but I am committed to doing this in the future with hockey people, not just doctors or others who are not involved in
minor hockey. With a son still playing and having coached 10 years straight, I’m very much aware of the ongoing concussion issues. However, it’s my contention that some of what I regard as the overprotection of our children is in fact leading to some of our concussion issues. It’s a great debate and I intend to continue it, not only on our pages here but hopefully in a public forum at some point. Enjoy the start to your season, support our young boys and girls, keep your stick on the ice. — Liam Maguire liam@greatriver.ca 11 11