Bd Terrace Review — Wednesday, August }, 1990 WADE FLAHERTY: No way he can top what he did this year, in the minors anyway. Flaherty a ’wall of defense’ for Monarchs Reprinted from the Greensboro News & Record, April 7, 1990. Copy written by Ed Hardin. WINSTON-SALEM — About 30 seconds into Friday night’s East Coast Hockey League championship game, the puck slid harmlessly into the Mon- archs’ goal. Monarchs’ said. °° : ‘He was just unbelievable,”’ Fraser said. ‘‘He did things that I’ve not seen a goalie do in a long time. He carried the team through the playoffs, like all great goalies do.”’ Greensboro’s climb to the ECHL title coincided with previous victims Play had been called seconds earlier, so the goal did not count, but the goal judge, realiz- -ing the irony hit the red light signifying a goal just the same. A few hockey fans cheered. Most jeered. Wade Flaherty, the Greensboro goalie, didn’t even turn around to get the puck. Flaherty, the Monarchs’ rock wall of defense, was stone-faced under his mask. It was the same look his opponents have seen Since the playoffs took a funny _-turn in the opening series against “ Nirginia. He has left three teams: : talking to themselves and three - Opposing coaches singing praises . for the Greensboro goalie. - “Goaltending was the dif- “ference i in the series,”’ Virginia “coach Dave Allison said. “It was the only difference.” _ :. “Flaherty,’’ was all Ron Han- ‘sis, the Erie coach, could say when asked why his team was eliminated in two games against Greensboro. ‘‘Flaherty was unreal. He was on his head the entire two games.”* _ - After Friday night's win over, Winston- Salem, the game that clinched the ECHL champion- ship for the Monarchs,: - Thunderbirds coach Jay Fraser said much the.same thing -the. . Flaherty being put into the lineup in Game 3 of the opening series against Virginia, He found himself starting against the Lancers when the Monarchs’ No. 1 goalie, Nick Vitucci, was suspended in Game 2 following a fight that ended in four player suspensions and fines totalling $500 against players and coaches. In Game 3, with the series tied a game apiece, Flaher- ty assumed command, Nine. games and eight wins later, Flaherty never flinched. He end- , ed the playoffs with an amazing -950 goals allowed average and an &-] record. He was named Most Valuable Player of the series after Friday’s win in Winston-Salem. “Getting the MVP is a great feeling,’’ Flaherty said. ‘‘It means even more because Nick got it last year. I can’t express how great it feels, but when that empty net goal went in, it was like I couldn’t see, I was just so excited.”’ Flaherty’s season has been an up-and-down one, mirroring the ‘Monarchs’ own stumble through the regular season. Just after camp broke back in the fall, Greensboro decided to go with former International. Hockey League goalie Jocelyn Perreault. atev happened to Wade Flaherty? Following an initial pro hockey season in the lower minor jeagues, Terrace fans of goalie Wade Flaherty wondered what’s in the future for the talented netminder. Well, we have a pretty good idea, and from our information Wade could be guarding the twine for the expansion San Jose team by the 1991-92 season. Right now the San Jose fran- chise is busy sorting through more than 7,000 entries for a ‘name-the-team’ contest. But, Wade has his foot in the door, so to speak. In July he attended a five- player special training camp back in the home territory of Minnesota North Stars. “We had some college and high school kids there as well, but the scouts wanted a good Perrault apparently had’ tio interest™ ‘took at ‘us insthis development in playing for an ECHL team and camp.” he told us. was gone in a matter of days. of days. Enter Flaherty. Flaherty, along with a couple of other stand-ins, struggled through Greensboro’s longest month of the year, one that saw them drop from first to seventh in the ECHL standings. Soon after, Monarchs coach Jeff Brubaker began making changes on his roster, changes that eventually included the addition of Vitucci, the proven goalie who guided Winston-Salem to the ECHL title a year ago. ; When the playoffs began, Vitucci was easily the No. 1 goalie for the Monarchs. Vitucci carried the Monarchs into the playoffs, and Flaherty carried them out. “Tt’s scary,”’ Brubaker said. “Nick was the No. 1 goalie, and when -he came out, Wade only had one shot. One shot to make it. Boy, did he make it. What he did in the playoffs : defies description. I couldn’t take him out. Not that I wanted to, “ "And the irony is, Nick Vitucci just signed a contract for next year with-Fort Wayne of the In- ternational League. Wade is under contract to the North Stars and you can bet J'm going to be on the phone with them. I’m going to let them know just ‘in- the what he did’ for us playoffs.’ Flaherty, who was called up three times during the regular. season to play in Kalamazoo. (IHL), will likely not be back in Greensboro next year, It’s pro- bably a good thing. There’s no way he can top what he did this - year. Wade, the only player in at- tendance from Greensboro Monarchs of the East Coast Hockey League, came close to accepting a contract from San Jose as he would be part of the North Star group moving to the coast in the complicated deal. made recently by the NHL. **Some of the fine print in the contract wasn’t up to my agent’s liking, but it should be squared away shortly for me to sign.’ Flaherty, a member of the Terrace Minor Hockey team that won three B.C. championships. a few years back, expects to sign a contract that would see him playing in Phoenix, San Diego or Kansas City (International League) for the upcoming season. Then he’d get a crack at the San Jose lineup. Right now he'll be busy this month at the Terrace Minor Hockey school. Elsewhere in this.edition is the story from the Greensboro News and Recording newspaper ‘on Wade being named league’ playoff MVP this spring when he led the Monarchs. to the ECHL title. hatever You wear ) * Clean with care, RIVERBOAT DAYS SPECIAL August 1st to August 11th Men’s and Ladies’ cotton blend dress or business shirts expertly laundered - w Only drive-thru in town ~ Best, most rellable and cleanest. service- » Drop off point at Thoenhitt: Public Market: | Rick ards Cleaners | 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Monday to Friday. 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. —~ Saturday - KIODIE CORNER FROM THE POST OFFICE