| Because of
those telephone calls Stingers coach Terry Slater kept getting from his brother last year,
young Dave Inkpen has a chance to get on the bus.Inkpen figures he's served out his time
on the Greyhound charter and hopes his career will take flight now. "I'd have to say
Inkpen has been the biggest surprise so far," says the coach. "Guys like Dudley
and Campbell and Veneruzzo, you know what they can do. But Inkpen was kind of unknown.
He's surprised me."  A 21 year old right
defenseman. Inkpen was invited to the Stingers camp at the urging of Slater's brother,
Peter. "They played together last year at Des Moines," explains Slater.
"Peter would call me and say, 'You better look at this Inkpen kid. He's going to be a
good one'." Slater had doubts, he confesses. "It's such a big step from the
International League there in Des Moines to this league." But ultimately he agreed to
look and now he is glad. He can hit and he can take the puck and he can slate,"
declares Slater. "That's what you look for."
Inkpen says he's been so excited, so keyed up, he can't even relax
when he gets back to his training camp motel room after two hard work outs. I don't know
if I felt any pressure coming into this camp, but I felt determined," says Inkpen, a
native of Edmonton Alberta. I always felt I could play if I was with the right people. I
really think it's easier here than in Des Moines because of the people I'm with. There's
always someone to give the puck to, someone breaking towards the goal."
Inkpen has been playing hockey since his father built him a skating
rink in the back yard when he was three years old. But mostly what he remembers are the
bus trips, those long, horrible bus trips. When I was in the juniors (Western Canada) we'd
be bussing from Edmonton to Vancouver and places like that," he points out.
"Some of those are 13,14 hour bus trips. And then to save money they'd schedule a lot
of games on one trip so you'd be playing like 17 games in 20 days. It would be really
exhausting." Still in high school at the time, Inkpen says "We'd be on a bus all
night and get in about 5:30 a.m. I'd have to be at school by 7 that morning then back to
practice at 5 that night. Then we'd get on the bus again."
Last season was his first in the pros and nearly his last, so
frustrated was it. After failing in a tryout with the New York Islanders, he was passed
along to Ft. Worth. Flint and finally Des Moines. 'I spent a lot of time just sitting in
the stands," he moans. "It;s really hard to keep coming back when everyone seems
to lose confidence in you." And then there were the bus trips. "Dayton, Ft.
Wayne, Flint, Muskegum, Port Huron, Kalamazoo......every trip by bus," he says with a
sigh. "I thought about quitting, but I'm just not a quitter. When I was just a kid
I'd scrimmage in the back yard against my dad and he'd never let me win. He always said I
had to win on my own. I guess that's what I've always tried to do. A hockey player never
quits," he goes on. "I guess what I like about it it, like in slalom skiing,
everything happens so fast and yet so smooth. It's exciting to be out there and watching
everything go so fats and yet smoothly and well planned."
The Stingers leave today for a four-day trip into Canada where they
will play two exhibition games. Slater is taking only 21 of his more that 50 candidates,
and one that is going is Inkpen. "I want a chance to see how he does against other
WHA players," explains the coach. "That's the real test." Inkpen says,
"We have a morning practice and then we go to the airport," He emphasizes
airport. No more buses. Inkpen is going up in the world.
* * *
NOTE - The Stingers made their first cuts Thursday,
releasing three forwards, a defenseman and a goalie. Dismissed were center Bob Collyard,
left wing Ian McKinnon, right wing Mike Wanchuk, right defenseman Al McKenzie and goalie
Ned Yetten. Collyard and Yetten were both contract tryouts. The others were members of the
Hampton Gulls, the Stingers farm team which is participating in a combined camp. |
