MARK MAUE, Stratford Cullitons #7
1980-1981, 1981-1982, 1982-1983
Coach Dave Cressman in 82-83 was a Gentleman, Christian and a very smart hockey coach. One thing that stands out is the word poise.
Dave had the word poise written above our dressing room door & depending where you’re sitting in the room you could always see it. On your way out you saw it and that was our team motto to remember to always have Poise.
The turning point with our team I believe was the middle of the season we lost to Elmira at home we played awful and they played very well. We went to go off the ice at the end of the game and Tommy Nigro one of our trainers had the door locked in the corner wouldn’t let us off. Dave appeared from the dressing with a whistle around his neck on the bench. We skated untill midnight that night & were featured on the front page showed us skating doing push-ups and sit-ups. It was an unreal wake-up call and did it work.
The humiliation we felt from the fans watching us for a while to the Elmira team coming out of the dressing room after the game laughing at us and chirping us; they paid for it the next game. We hit everything that moved and I believe we won 10-1.
Players I remember are Jim Samec, Dan Kwilas, Paul Fulton. Samec in our final series face double the amount of shots most goaltenders face and I believe our first three games went into overtime and or double overtime, we were down three defenseman.
Jim said he played better the more shots he faced, well he sure proved it. Kwilas as any backup goaltender always looking for more games when called upon played outstanding in playoffs; a fantastic 16 year old backup. Paul Fulton one of my favorites came to every practice happy, ready to learn and ready to play . Paul worked a full-time job as I did and a few others. Paul came to the rink always ready. As I always would say that is one of the most important roles on the team little did he know how much he affected all of us in a positive way. When tapped on the shoulder to go out and play he scored big goals against Henry car in the final series and other series.
Paul Fulton is my favorite he has a big heart, is a great person. I really enjoyed knowing Paul Fulton during those years as well all the other players on our team. We had a close-knit team and we fell to injuries at the end it was very tough to swallow for many years thinking about what we could have done if we had a full set of defenseman.
Rick Kelly and myself played defence the last two and a half games. We tried our best and nobody gave up. It was a great team effort; a very disappointing loss in the final series but a fantastic time in Stratford. one other Stratford highlight is Ken’s fries.
The All-Star team was a highlight of my time in Stratford.
I made the team the first year and again then second year. The first year we were coached by Jack Nairn & we wore Stratford jerseys. In year two I was chosen Captain. That year we wore Waterloo jerseys. It was a pleasure to wear the Waterloo jersey with the C on it. For several reasons, one my father owned a sporting good store in Waterloo called Gus Maue sports for years on King and university. Secondly I played minor Hockey in Kitchener until we moved out to the country in the New Hamburg area when I was 12.
