| Michel Dion
is going to do whatever the Cincinnati Stingers and coach Jacques Demers asks of him.
Being signed by the Stingers after the start of the 1977-78 hockey season was like a
reprieve and he plans to make the most of it. Dion, who minded the net for Demers at
Indianapolis the last two seasons, came perilously close to sitting out the year because
of the confusion and contract problems which arose in Indianapolis. Dion, 23, explained
that the problems started when the announcement finally came that there would be a team in
Indianapolis under new ownership. "No one knew there
would be a team for sure until about August 25," he said. "What they did was
bring most of the San Diego franchise to Indy. The league said all the Indy players
belonged to the new franchise but our contracts were no good. We had to sign new
contracts." Dion, whose home is in Montreal, spent much of the summer in Indianapolis
visiting friends. He assumed he would sign with the Racers, but he said he got quite a
shock when he read the newspaper the day after Ron Ingram was hired as coach. "He
(Ingram) said he wanted more experience in goal," said Dion. "When I read that I
didn't know what to think I guess he didn't have much confidence in me because San Diego
(Ingrams old team) was a team I never played well against."
Training camp was getting closer all the time and Dion still didn't
have a contract. His agent, Roberto di Giovanni, talked to the Racers but no agreement was
reached. When Indy started camp they had Jim Park and former NHL goalie Gary Inness under
contract. "They finally indicated they might be interested but it was too late
because the team was in camp," said Dion. "My agent called all the other
teams to let them know I was a free agent, but they all said they had the goalies they
were going to use."
Dion admitted that be this time he "was worried that I might
not be able to find a team and wouldn't play this year," But then the Stingers came
back from their European trip. "When the Stingers got back my agent talked to Mr.
DeWitt (Stingers executive vice president Bill DeWitt) and we finally got things
going."
At that, the young goalie didn't sign a contract until October 18
while the Stingers were in Quebec City. In fact, the signatures were recorded in the lobby
of the Chateau Frontenac Hotel just before midnight and about two hours after the Stingers
had lost to the Quebec Nordiques. Now under a Cincinnati contract, Dion realizes he must
try to cram as much work as possible into a short span of time. He missed an entire
training camp and the first five games of the season, and he has to play catch up. |
