March 4, 1982
Bob Hope sidled up to the microphone at the National Hockey League all-star banquet. “I feel right at home with all these hockey players,” he said. “Of course, I always enjoyed entertaining our fighting men.” If hockey ever hopes to rise above its Golden Gloves-on-ice image, it will need more players like Mark Erbe of Methacton High. By his own count, Erbe has scored 432 goals and assisted on 248 in his organized hockey career. This year, he led the Intercounty League in points with 66. But his most impressive statistic is the number of penalty minutes he rolled up this season. Two. “I like to play hockey more than I like to sit in the penalty box,” the 5-foot, 7-inch junior said. “I don’t think we should be killing each other and calling each other’s mothers names. I don’t mind a nice hard check into the boards, as long as it’s above board.” Erbe is always shadowed by one player, often by two. When he streaks up ice, he knows his body is going to stop a flurry of sticks, shoulders, and elbows. “He seems to have the ability to control his temper,” Methacton coach Al Herr said. “He gets more angry with himself than with the other players. If it were me, I’d clobber somebody. He’ll say something to the referee once in a while, but he never seems to get mad.” But when Mark Erbe turns the other cheek, look out. He will wind up and flick one into the net. Monday night, he scored one goal and assisted on another as Methacton beat Haverford School, 7-2, and won their quarterfinal playoff series. “I’ve never had a kid with as much desire,” Herr said. “You have to see him to believe it.
On the goal on Monday, he was knocked down, got control of the puck, and got knocked down again. He was halfway up and halfway down when he scored the goal unassisted.” “Sometimes when I get upset I’ll just smile back at them,” said Erbe, The Inquirer’s Suburban Athlete of the Week. “That ticks them off even more. Or I’ll go right up to their face after a whistle and say, ‘Why don’t you just play hockey instead of all this cheap stuff?”
The original
