March 22, 1979
The greatest scorer in area hockey history – Scott Chamness of Archbishop Carroll High School – Heads the third annual Inquirer All-Area team.
With shifty moves and a great shot, Chamness is one of the best scholastic players in the Middle Atlantic States. His scoring totals border on incredible and have earned him nationwide attention. The 5-foot, 11-inch, 170-pound junior scored 89 goals in just 17 games to shatter all local scoring records. He added 45 assists and 134 points to earn a unanimous selection to the team.
Joining Chamness is linemate Greg Arnold, who skates effortlessly and is a dangerous scorer; deceptive forward Erik Ginkinger of Cheltenham; workhorse defenseman Eric Girardi of Germantown Academy; hard-hitting, power-shooting defenseman Rick Brosious of Lower Merion; and heady goaltender Dave Rominiecki of Archbishop Ryan. “I developed my shot with a lot of practice shooting,” Chamness said. “I do a lot of shooting. But it doesn’t really matter how hard your shot is – accuracy is better than strength. If you’re able to pin-point where you shoot, 90 percent of the time you can score.” Chamness is almost unstoppable from the blue line in because of his overpowering combination of skating and shooting. Among his feats was scoring 12 goals in one game.
Arnold, a 6-1, 165-pound junior, is an excellent skater. In combination with Chamness and sophomore Jim Bolger (a second-team selection), he was even more effective, Arnold scored 53 goals in 15 games, adding 54 assist for 107 points. “If you can skate, they can teach you the rest,” Arnold said. “But you’ve got to have stickhandling, knowledge and the shot.”
Gingkinger seems implausibly small for so dangerous a forward, at 5-8 and 140 points. But he has an uncanny sense of balance and is almost impossible to knock off his feet. When he goes into the corner he nearly always emerges with the puck. “I began skating when I was four,” Ginkinger recalled. “My greatest asset was is my quickness, I get to the net so quickly it doesn’t really matter if I can shoot or not.” But he is a fine shooter, totaling 35 goals in 21 games, with 11 assists adding up to 46 points.
Girardi, a 5-7, 140-pound junior, belies his small stature by being an ironman. He usually plays 35 minutes a game. “My game is steadiness,” he said. “I try to play a solid defensive game and try not to get burned. I try to play defense as much as possible.” But Girardi’s puck-carrying skills helped fuel Germantown Academy’s offense to the point where the team was ranked second to Carroll much of the season. He scored 8 goals in 21 games, adding 16 assists for 24 points.
Brosious, a 5-11, 150-pounder who is the fourth junior in the six first team players, is a defenseman’s defenseman – a hitter. “The coach wants me to hit at the right time,” he said. “You don’t take a check you don’t need.” Brosious has, possibly, one of the hardest slap shots in the area. He scored 10 goals with 5 assists in just 15 games, after being sidelined last month with a mysterious blood clot in his left shoulder.
Rominiecki, a 6-0, 140-pound senior, is a standup goaltender. “I like to say I use my head,” he said. “Cutting down on the angles, knowing when to make the challenge, waiting till the last second, and making them (the shooters) make the first move.” Rominiecki had a 1.44 goals against average in 16 games, recording five shutouts. Ryan was undefeated when the selections were made, the only unbeaten team in the area.
CREDIT: The Philadelphia Inquirer
