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The cold, hard truth however, reveals that the OUAA‘s Central Division is head and shoulders above either the West or East divisions, but because of the league‘s playoff structure, two quality teams from the Central are out (Wilfrid Laurier University being the other) and terribly average teams such as Windsor and Brock are still playing. Against teams from the East and West, UW compiled a 9â€"0â€" 2 record during regular season play for a .909 winning percentage, the exact same number as York (the Central Division‘s top team) Western and WLU (both from the Central) follow with percentages of .864 and .818 respectiveâ€" ly. In fact, only Trois Rivieres (700) from the East had an interdivisional mark in excess of the magical .500 mark The thirdâ€"year coach made the comments Monday morning, less than 24 hours after his team was unceremoniously dumped 7â€"3 by Western Mustangs in the second game of their openingâ€"round playoff series at Columbia Icefield. Western had won the first game 5â€"3 in London, thus making Sunday‘s loss the final one that McKee and his Warriors would experience this season. Don McKee is angry that his team has been eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs. * But he‘s not upset with his players. And he‘s certainly not trying to blame anything on the officiating. He also appears comfortable with his coaching methods. So what is it? What makes the hockey coach at University of Waterloo so ticked off? "It concerns me â€" the fact that if we‘re in any of the other division, we‘d likely go right to the OUAA finals," said McKee. "We could have easily won the other divisions." McKee‘s timing may leave a lot to be desired, but his sentiments are bang on. Windsor, which captured the West Division with a 16â€"7â€"3 record, managed a miserable 450 interâ€"league percentage and will advance to the OUAA finalâ€"four later this month barring a loss to Brock in the Western finals. If Brock advances, it too will take a .450 percentage into the competition. . "It‘s time to take a serious look at the system," said McKee, realizing very little would be done until at least the end of next year because of the current twoâ€"year plan that the OUAA saw wise to set up when the league expanded this season to include teams from Quebec. Even then, it‘s very unlikely teams from either of the league‘s weaker links would agree to a system that would work against them. â€" _ WLU coach Wayne Gowing favors a "crossover‘"‘ system in the opening round, but he too admits the plan wouldn‘t go over well in the West or the East. Unfortunately for anyone interested in making hockey playoffs mean something â€" as McKee does â€" it‘s not likely to happen as long as the National Hockey League continues to set the example for all others to follow. The NHL, for the benefit of those who gave up on the league when franchises were awarded to places such as Kansas City and Cleveland, plays an 80â€"game schedule to eliminate a grand total of five of its 21 teams. If the season had expired Sunday night, six of the playoff teams would have a record of .500 or less. It‘s amazing what money can do to sports, isn‘t it? I‘ve already commented in this space about the ridiculous playoff system which exists in the Midwestern Junior B league that rewards a secondâ€"place club with an easier playoff schedule than the first place team (as Waterloo Siskins are soon to find out). As frightening as all this may sound, it truly appears that people are simply unable to think through a playoff schedule that takes into account the accomplishments of a team during the regular season. Why? I‘m not sure. But it would be nice if someone initiated a change to the system in at least one of the leagues mentioned above. w e e o o + Boy was I wrong when I said Guelph B‘s might give the Siskins a few tense moments in their openingâ€"round playoff series. Waterloo simply destroyed Gueliph 27â€"3 in a threeâ€" game sweep. I had predicted a sweep by the way. has taken nine out of 12 points from the firmladee Siskins this season. Siskins are a better team but Strai PM nemthar ullitane in siv ar antan / Stratford vs. Waterioo: You read righ®! nonestly don‘t believe Waterloo has what it takes to defeat Stratford, which has taken nine out of 12 points from the firstâ€"place Siskins number. Cullitons in six or seven _ Elmira Sugar Kings also advanced in three, disposing of Listowe! Cyclones. I expected Listowel to win one. The Stratford Cullitonsâ€"Brantford Cullitons series also went true to form with Stratford sweeping in three. The only series I managed to botch was the Owen Sound Greysâ€"Kitchener Bs hookup. Greys defeated Kitchener three games to one. I picked Kitchener in five. e â€" _ So with all that behind me, here we go with the league‘s semi finals, which by the way, are bestâ€"ofâ€"seven affairs. _ Elmira vs. Owen Sound: The Sugar Kings will make the most of the league‘s ridiculous playoff format and will be well rested when it comes time to square off with the deadâ€" tired Cullitons in the league finals. Elmira in five. with Mark Bryson Waterioo collegiate q'ymnast Rhonda Benke works on the uneven bars during a novice meet at KCI Friday. The novice girls won the event as did WCI‘s senior team at York University. Waterloo collegiate gymnast Robyn Jalbert turned in a spectacular performance in Toronto Sunday, leading the Vikings to a firstâ€"place finish at the annual York University Invitational Tournaâ€" ment. Jalbert‘s performance resulted in her taking home the individual title at the Club Senior Leve! meet. She finished in first place in the floor, vault and bar disciplines. _ The tournament was attending by 100 gymnasts from across the province representing 15 schools. WCI‘s eightâ€"member team captured first place by a full five points, which is quite a large margin in gymnastics competition. _ ‘They (the team) pulled t}mh and did a terrific job," said WCI gymnastics Kaarina Tulisalo. WCI vaults to top spot at York gymnastics meet ‘"Considering we have three Grade 9 students on the team, we‘re certainly on track for a successful season .‘ The school‘s novice team also got off on the right foot this week, taking first place at a meet hosted by Kitchener collegiate. WCI gymnasts Lynda Newkirk and Stephanie Etchells were oneâ€"two in the individual standings. ‘"‘Both teams really surprised me," said Tulisalo. ‘"I really didn‘t think we were going to do that well." Things become more intense for the gymnasts in the next few weeks, building up to tfl Waterloo County Secondary School Athletic Association finals March 29 and the Central Western Ontario championships April 7 Mark Bryson photo