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‘"Having faced a number of lifeâ€" threatening situations, I‘m at the level now where I respect what I don‘t know " ‘"Hockey gives my life a nice balance. After working all day with emotionallyâ€" ill people, I can come to the rink and work with a group of nice, healthy, vibrant young people," said Ennis, a Timmins native that made the move to Waterloo with his parents while in the fourth grade. ‘"Hockey‘s therapeutic for me." It was through his oneâ€"dayâ€"aâ€"week stint at Kâ€"W Hospital‘s psychiatric ward, beginning in 1980, that Ennis realized psychology interested him. Seâ€" ven years later he finds himself in his secondâ€"year of full time studies at Uniâ€" versity of Waterloo, working towards a PhD in psychology. "I‘m certainly one of the older secondâ€" year students on campus, but it makes a big difference when you want to be there," said Ennis, who obtained an undergraduate degree from UW in 1969. ‘"‘There was the Eddie Shore mentality towards players and that really bothered me. If a player breaks a bone then you gas them and get them back out there," he said. And that‘s the way Ennis, 40, likes it. He loves his role with the Siskins‘ organization and enjoys the time he spends with the players, but when he‘s away from the rink, he has another life going on which he likes to keep to himself. In the years in between, Ennis has first and foremost been a trainer. His "big break" came in 1972 while coaching the Waterloo Expos of the Intercounty baseball league. Working at the time as an insurance investigator "and hating every moment of it", Ennis was made aware of a training position by Expos‘ coâ€"coach Angie Nigro, who was with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. "As luck would have it, Angie came up to me one day and said Buffalo was looking for a minorâ€"league trainer in Charlotte (North Carolina) and wonâ€" dered whether I‘d be interested or not," recalls Ennis. "I said yes before knowing anything about it. It wasn‘t until I got on the plane that I found out Charlotte wasn‘t in Prince Edward Island." During his stay with Charlotte in the Eastern Hockey League, which subseâ€" quently became the Southern Hockey League, Ennis was fortunate enough to work with team doctors that were more than willing to help him learn the basics. In those days, according to Ennis, a minor league trainer was "anybody willing to work for peanuts and learn the job on the job." Chronicle Staff There‘s a lot more to Waterloo Siskins‘ trainer Rich Ennis than meets the eye. Much, much more. A familiar face behind the Siskins‘ bench for the past eight seasons, the funâ€"loving Ennis is one of those guys who everybody likes. He‘s also one of those guys that very few people really know . Mark Bryson Ennis then moved on to Des Moines, lowa, of the International Hockey League and hooked up with Dan Belisle. The two moved on shortly after and ended up with Syracuse of the North American â€" Hockey â€" League. â€" Belisle moved on to coach the Washington Capitals of the NHL and is currently an assistant coach with Detroit Red Wings. After one year of working in Syracuse‘s public relations department, Ennis deâ€" cided he had seen enough of life on a bus. It‘s with mixed thoughts that he recalls his years in the minors. Siskins‘ Ennis: a trainer and Waterioo Siskins‘ trainer Rich Ennis applies tape to Mike Gingerich‘s attire. It‘s likely the last year the veteran trainer will do so as he plans to step down at the end of the season to concentrate on his university studies. Waterloo Siskins will have revenge on their minds as they travel to St. Jacob‘s Arena Wednesday to do battle with the secondâ€"place Elmira Sugar Kings. Elmira moved to within one point of Waterloo in the Midwestern Junior B standings Sunday, defeating Waterloo 5â€"3 at Albert McCormick Arena. Bob Shelp, Dan Rintche and Greg Munroe scored for Waterloo in a losing cause. Ennis has seen his share of nearâ€"trageâ€" _ that," said Brill dies, but none as close as the one that "He‘s really 01 almost happened in his second year with Ennis shares e the Siskins. During a game in Stratford, _"I‘m a player Siskins‘ player Roy Russell had his _ tionship with P throat slit by a skate. respects that. He "If he (Russell) hadn‘t been so calm and cool it would have been a tragic ending. The key in a situation like that where there‘s really nothing you can do is trying to make the player remain calm. I‘d like to think that his trust in me had something to do with it in Roy‘s case," he said. Player trust is very important to Ennis, and it‘s something that Siskins‘ general manager Peter Brill has great respect for. ‘"Rich is like my right arm, yet when I talk with Rich I never hear anything about what goes on in the dressing room. He‘d have it no other way and I respect Siskins hanging on to top spot ‘"For a lot of them it‘s there first time in a pressure cooker, so I think it‘s probably nice for them to have an old geezer like myself running around and being a little bit of an idiot." Ennis also makes a point of staying in touch with players in the Waterloo minor hockey system that attend Siâ€" skins‘ training camp in the fall. "He‘s really one helluva guy." Ennis shares equal respect for Brill. "I‘m a player‘s trainer and my relaâ€" tionship with Pete is good because he respects that. He knows there are things that go on that I won‘t talk about. It‘s important that I keep the two camps separate," said Ennis. ~ "I would get out the game in a second if the players viewed me as manageâ€" ment. In fact, the kids are the only reason I‘m still doing what I do." John Williams lead the attack Saturâ€" day scoring twice in an 8â€"1 win over Cambridge Winter Hawks. Singles went to Jamie Pegg, Deric Farquhar, Shawn DuBois, Rob Warren, Munroe and Ryan Goaltender Gary Robbins made his first start for Waterloo Sunday, coming to the Siskins earlier in the week from Guelph Bs for future considerations. The "It‘s important that these kids feel Siskins travel to Owen Sound Friday and return home Sunday to play Lisâ€" towel. Waterloo is currently 17â€"3â€"1, one point better than the 17â€"3 Sugar Kings. Elmira has a game in hand. Siskins released rookie goaltender Dave Motz Saturday to Kitchener Bs. Robâ€" bins, 20, resides in Guelph and attends York University. comfortable with the Siskins‘ organizaâ€" tion and myself," he said. Unfortunately for the Siskins, the time restraints of university life will likely force Ennis to resign his position at the end of the season. ‘"But I‘ll be back the odd time to make a cameo appearance," he laughed. _ When he hasn‘t been wrapping ankles for the past two seasons, Ennis has been compiling data on past Siskins and using the information to prepare a paper that will be published in March as the lead article in a psychology journal. Along with UW professor of sociology Jim Curtis, Ennis has put together a paper outlining what happens to players when they retire from competitive hockâ€" ey. Maybe next year he‘ll provide the academic world with a paper on the effects of retiring from hockey, from a trainer‘s point of view . * Mark Bryson photo B 6 6