March 8, 1984
Flyer’s president Jay Snider made no bones about his goal for the Flyers Cup “That’s here to stay,” Snider said of the cup, which brings together the winners of the four area scholastic leagues, in what amounts to a regional playoff. “We’d like to see the Flyers Cup be 50 years old.” Snider made his remarks after a Flyers Cup kickoff luncheon at Stouffers Valley Forge Inn on Monday afternoon. During the luncheon, Snider pledged that the Flyers would embark on a fund-raising campaign next year to help support Southeastern Pennsylvania’s youth hockey programs. “We’re going to make 1984-85 a banner year,” he said. “We’re going to go on a major fundraising effort. Our number one priority is youth hockey.
“I can’t really divulge details,” he said, “because the details haven’t been worked out. But we’re making a longstanding commitment to Hockey Central,” the Flyers youth hockey subsidiary. “We want to help organize and promote youth hockey.”
“Our position can’t be support for just one league,” Snider said. “We have to do it through a central position. We want to quadruple the scope of Hockey Central, give more coaching and training clinics, and conduct more meaningful activities. Our goal is to set up financial arrangements where Hockey Central is funded indefinitely.” The Flyers also, according to Snider, will fund the Flyers Cup indefinitely. They donated the cup in 1980, and this year’s playoff will be the fifth. The playoff opens on March 19 in the Havertown Skatium. This time, New Jersey teams will be included for the first time. Also, this week, Flyers Cup chairman Joe Moderski, president of the Little Flyers, announced this year’s pairings. The format remains the “win three” series of previous years, where the title goes to the first team to win three games. In the opening night games, the Lower Bucks County League champion will meet the Suburban Hockey League champ, and the Inter-County League champ will meet the Eastern League champion. In the second round, Wednesday, March 21, the two teams that lost on March 19, will play with that loser eliminated. In a second game. Wednesday, the two Monday-night winners will play. That winner gets a bye into the finals, Tuesday, March 27. In the third round, Monday, March 26, the two teams that are 1-1 after the second round will play a single game. The team that loses is eliminated, and the winner moves to the March 27 final. The final will match a team that is 2-1 against a team that is 2-0, in a winner-take-all game. One team already is set for the playoffs.
The Lower Bucks League will send regular-season champion Archbishop Ryan (17-1). The Subur- ban League playoff final matches Council Rock vs. Cherry Hill East this week. The Inter-County League finals began this week with West Chester upsetting Conestoga, 6-2, in the first of a five-game series. Conestoga, which had gone 16-0-2 through the regular season, got single goals from Chris Cummings and Joey Bray. West Chester scored five first-period goals, including two by Kevin Law, to take control early. The Eastern League wrapped up its quarterfinals Monday when Monsignor Bonner ousted West Catholic, 6-3. Bonner now meets Malvern Prep and Springfield (Delaware County) meets Haverford High in this week’s semifinals.
CREDIT: The Philadelphia Inquirer
