Page 11 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 37

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Cornwall’s Team of the Month: 1971/72 Anchor

Motel Mavericks

professionally with the Toronto Toros in the
By Molly Kett
WHA.
ike Conway remembers playing plenty Ken Chadwick also played for two years with
Mof good hockey in the Cornwall area. He the Cornwall Royals and Yvon Disotell played
was playing on his first midget team in Cornwall for three. All five boys produced from one local

when he was fifteen, during the 1970/71 season.

team.
“I was a minor but I was playing major,” says
Conway. His second year playing midget “I’m involved in the hockey business in
was spent with the Anchor Motel Mavericks, Cornwall and there hasn’t been in I’d say twenty
coached by Ford Markell. He went on, after years that’s even produced two,” says Conway.
this team, to be the captain of the Cornwall “Nowadays what happens is they have these
Royals for the 1974 season. area teams, so they have a lot better chance
of producing players, obviously, because they
Conway wasn’t the only player to rise from
the Anchor Motel Mavericks to play Major have an all-star team from all over. So when
we had all these guys playing Major Junior, it
Junior, though. Five other teammates from
the same team, during the 1971/72 season, was just from Cornwall alone. And we only
had like 110 kids or something in Bantam and
followed suit.
Midget, so out of my two midget teams we had
First up was John Markell. He left the Anchor eight guys that played Major Junior, which is
Motel Mavericks to play for two years with the the highest level. One guy played in the NHL
Royals. After this, he played at Bowling Green and so that was just out of two teams.”
State University and eventually made it to the
NHL where he played a total of 50 games, It’s not just about the guys who moved on to
play Major Junior, though. “The other guys, the
followed by a few years of playing in Germany.
After his playing career slowed, he coached the Following this, he coached the Cornwall Colts rest of the team, it was very important that they
Ohio State hockey team for 15 years. were all good too. The other guys all played
for 10 years. a huge role,” says Conway. “To have a team
Al Wagar also rose up to Major Junior. Then there was Mario Vien, who played that challenges Ontario with just a core group,
He played two years with the Royals before for four years with the Royals, including the of a small number of minor hockey players, I
being traded to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers.
year they won the Memorial Cup and played thought was pretty amazing.”

Karate Komments

Influential Martial Artists- The Iceman
the undercard of the historic “Thrilla in Manilla” Theriault fought his way to the top of the rankings,
boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe getting a title shot in Nov 1980 and making the most
By Jim Riddell, Frazier, giving the sport a great deal of exposure. of it; stopping Robert Biggs of St. Louis in the 1st

Seaway Karate Club While at the Ottawa Civic Center viewing this fight round. For well over a decade Jean-Yves was one

on closed circuit, Jean-Yves made the decision to of the most dominant fighters in the sport racking up

switch over to the kickboxing program at Therien KO after KO. His retirement fight came on Dec. 1st
n the past few Karate Komments we have looked JJ & KB. The group at Therien’s was an extremely 1995, when he KOed Marcus “The Hammer” Reed
Iat people who have infl uenced the way martial tough one in those days – there were about a dozen in the 3rd to win the ISKA light heavyweight title
arts have developed in our region. In this issue a kickboxers training, with two of them, Conroy becoming a 23-time world champion in the process.
little info on Jean-Yves Theriault, a professional Nelson and George Gauvreau ranked as two of This televised fight, in front of a full house at the

kickboxer, who has a record of 69 wins and one the best professional heavyweights in the world. Verdun Arena, was attended by many local martial

draw in seventy-six fights, with sixty one of In addition, Jean-Yves’ older brother Victor was artists including several from Seaway Karate. This
those wins coming by knockout. Given the name the national point fighting karate champion. Six was the end of an era and we all knew that we had

“Iceman” by one of his opponents, for his cold, months after switching to kickboxing and without witnessed a very special sporting event. During
calculated, ‘show no emotion’ demeanour during any amateur experience Theriault had his initial pro and after his pro career Jean-Yves has conducted
a fight, Theriault was one of the most devastating match winning by a 1st round TKO. numerous seminars in the region and has had a

strikers the sport has ever known. Jean Therien, who managed Theriault’s career, definite influence on the martial arts. He is currently

Jean-Yves began his martial art career in 1972 stated that, “What made J-Y different was that he the owner of Therien Jiu-jitsu and Kickboxing in
training at Therien Jiu-jitsu and Kickboxing, took the training seriously and was very determined. Ottawa South and promotes amateur kickboxing
earning a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, and competing in In the beginning it was easy to get him fi ghts, but as fi ght cards. One local fi ghter whom Theriault is

many karate tournaments over the next few years. the KO’s started to add up it became a little more working with is Provincial light heavyweight champ
In the fall of 1975, kickboxing, a relatively new diffi cult. I always said that to be the best, you have Paul Norman of Finch. Jean-Yves Theriault – “The
sport was just beginning to catch on with the to fi ght the best – there are no bums padding Jean- Iceman” who has infl uenced and inspired countless
mainstream. There was a kickboxing match on Yves record”. martial artists, continues to give back to the sport.