The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Turnover is a fact of life for any coach â€" it‘s a structured influence on university sports. Gowing realized that the loss of Chris George, Mike Dahle and Don McConnell would create an offensive vacâ€" uum â€" George and Dahle now play on a line in the Florida League with Daytona with UW grad Greg Allen. McConnell, a KMHA grad, is currently the "eye in the sky" assistant with Kitchener Ranger coach Geoff Ward. But when threeâ€"year veteran John Spoitore, one of the most talented offensive threats the university game has seen, opted to head to the East Coast League with Louisiana, and Shawn Way dedined to play for the Hawks due to a nagging back injury, the Golden Hawk artillery cupâ€" board was left virtually bare. Hence, 65 goals in 26 games, a paitry 2.5 per, which in the fastâ€"paced university game, will get you, well, about where Hawks ended up. So as Gowing looks to next year, and attempts to turm the fortunes around, what does he, or any other coach in his position face? "We may not turn our recosd completely around, but we can turn the attitude around, create a culâ€" ture where drive and desire make things happen. mumhumzumm that, you need the right mix of some experience, and some young, hungry kids whose enthusiasm will help turn those five or six tight games you lost And so, when the coaches gather at Friday‘s OUAA Final Four Coach of the Year dinner at Waterâ€" loo inn, they‘ll know what it takes for guys like . Windsor‘s Rick Cranker and RMC‘s Jacques Tremâ€" blay to be honored as West and East recipients respectively. At Friday‘s affair, one of those two will see their name forwarded for consideration as CIAU pational coach of the year. _ . , former OUAA coach of the year mmmmmw victory at Wilfrid Laurier University this past season, would rather be busy preparing his team for the OUAA championships. instead, after a dramatic plunge to the bottor of the league at 5â€"20â€"1 after a 14â€"8â€"2 record last year, Gowing will be highly visiâ€" bie as a tournament committee member Saturday and Sunday â€" and immediately after will begin the process of trying to turn his team‘s fortunes around for next season. Such is the life of a university coach, and in a farâ€" ranging intervniew in his MLU office last week, Gowâ€" ing highlighted the unique challenges facing his While o .T onngrcamese, in Gowing‘s estimation, from the jJunior A or B ranks, there may be a few potenâ€" tial prospects per team in any given year. Then you have to factor in their age, whether they have finances, the marks and ‘student/athlete‘ desire. "For some, there are simply not enough hours in the day," said Gowing. "Three hours daily at the rink, two games per week on average, run home, grab something to eat, and hit the books. The disâ€" cipline it takes to do it all well is significant." But it is an intangible that Gowing points to as the major influence on a player‘s ability to reach a comfort level in university hockey. "I call it ‘the fork in the road‘ where a player decides in his own mind what he wants out of his hockey career. By the time they get here, some \ have decided hockey is not the be all and end all in their lives. They are very highlyâ€"skilled, but they play for the love of the game and the chance to compete at a high level while getting their educaâ€" tion and getting on with their lives. They‘re the ones who have made the realization that they just want to make the most of their university time here. With others, it‘s more of a struggle ~ some kids are still sitting in the classroom thinking they still have a chance to make it to the NHL. it‘s a long shot at best, but they have to make that decision, they have to deal with the fork in the road." And so, as he accepts the daunting challenge to turmn his cdub around, a task he‘s accomplished sevâ€" erai times in his illustrious career, Wayne Gowing will be tinkering as much with chemistry as physical skills in the recruitment process. "Our team, if it stayed the same â€" and it won‘t â€" would be all second and third year guys next year," Gowing said. "The first year guys coming in, and those who will be returning, they‘ve got to say to themseives, ‘do I accept the challenge, what am I going to do to help turn this team around?" What‘s going to turn those close losses into wins? Who‘s going to step up and make the difference? That‘s the kind of player we‘ll be looking for." Alll things considered, it‘s a special breed of hockey player. Presided over by a special breed of business carees, or potentials are still thinking about a hpckey career in pro ranks. *You don‘t find a lot of kids who have a combiâ€" nation of beth, so our pool of potential players isn‘t that large to begin with," said Gowing. Add to that the fact some schools are geographiâ€" cally alienated, have extremely high academic KR entrance standards in spécific "Think back a few years ago to a guy like Bobby Smith (North Stars, Canadiens)," Gowing ilusâ€" trated. "Brilliant hockey player, and academic player of the year in the OHL But all of us knew you‘d never see him on campus programs, or don‘t have a history of success with their hockey proâ€" gram or facilities, and the chalâ€" lenges mount. That‘s even before considering the recruit‘s potential. Director of Athletics Rich en Newbrough. "We‘ve maintained our major sponsor, brought new ones on board this year, and with local teams involved, we‘re hoping for just a great weekend." Modest in accepting any credit but aggressive in moving the committee to its stated goals, Nichols has enjoyed the past two years of orgaâ€" nizing the event â€" as much for the spinoff rewards. A pet project of his and Newbrough‘s, Friends of the OUAA, has been supported tremendously by WLU‘s network of sports supâ€" porters and has spawned similar fundraising efforts in at least two other universities. Friends A C We would also Mk@to thank the tournament organizing committee and the many individuals and groups who have helped make this event such a success. e oe mm aiaent 1 bour efferts are greatly appreciaced. team, lawyer Joel Levesque, Waterloo native Eric Calder now playing in Europe, and a particularly touching note from fim Quinn, who began at Laurier, transferred to Westem, and now is an assistant professor of sports medicine at Univerâ€" sity of Ottawa. j 'nmwmamm helped me so during my undergraduate days at WLUJ," wrote Quinn. A warm smile crosses Nichols‘ face. But then it‘s back to business. After all, there‘s a hockey tournament just days away... 21 21 3 to 1691