Two LDMHA champs decided in OT

By C. Scott Holland

Back in 1972, the Leamington District Minor Hockey Association’s playoff championships had two very exciting games that were decided in overtime. Those contests took place in the Bantam and Atom divisions.

In the Atom game, Wheeler Dealers edged Tann’s Alignment 2-1. The Wheeler team fell behind 1-0 when Pat Dibbley put Tann’s ahead. But Mike Burden of Wheelers knotted the game at 13:49 of the second and the score remained that way until overtime.

The hero was Brian Biekx, who unleashed a 50-foot blast that a defenseman failed to corral and the Tann goalie lost track of. The puck bounced past him to give Wheeler the playoff crown.

Here are members of the Wheeler Dealers. From left to right are Darrin Harrison, Mike Burden and Brian Biekx. Biekx notched the game-winning goal at 6:40 of the extra frame.

The Bantam game was just as thrilling as Otton & Malott nipped the Rotary Club 2-1. This one was a battle of two outstanding goaltenders – Tracy Rekuta of Otton & Malott and Joe Wickham of Rotary.

Don Goddard opened the scoring, which put Rotary ahead before Jerry Omstead fired the tying goal to balance the score.

The two netminders handled all the pucks headed their way until 6:40 of overtime when Werner Schmidtgall rifled a shot that Wickham just missed snaring. This contest was also an extremely clean one with only one penalty handed out.

Here are four members of the Otton & Malott team. From left are Jerry Omstead, Tracy Rekuta, Werner Schimdtgall and Chris Duncan.

The Wheeler Dealers (Atom) winning team members were Richard Young (goal), Tim Kuli, Mark Vickery, Gary Guyitt, Terry Quick, Rick McDonald, Mike Burden, Kevin Symons, Perry Girardin, James Ives, Brad Charette, Brian Biekx, Darrin Harrison, Trevor Wiper, Scott Jackson, Gord Stevenson and Steven Simpson.

Otton & Malott (Bantam) winning team members were Tracy Rekuta, Jerry Omstead, Mark Neufeld, Rob Hillier, Werner Schmidtgall, Chris Duncan, Alan Harris, Jerry Rougoor, Scott Wilson, Mark Williams, Brian Edwards, Doug Seili, Wayne Johns, Doug Fletcher, Randy Foldesi and Rick Zwiers.