..FROM THE DESK OF MIKE HAYAKAWA..
SEPTEMBER 18, 2001
Another new hockey season - time for some players to experience opening
night jitters and some to be too emotionally charged up.
The Markham Waxers could easily have been caught up in the hoopla associated
with the opening of their Provincial Junior A Hockey League regular season
schedule last weekend when they hosted the Pickering Panthers on Friday and
Vaughan Vipers the following night.
But based on the effort they put fourth in five of the six periods at
Centennial Arena, the nerves and emotions were kept in check as evidenced by
a 7-4 win over the Panthers and an 8-1 drubbing of the Vipers.
"In past opening nights I¹ve seen guys get too nervous or too hyped up," recalled Waxers head coach Russ Herrington of his past opening night
experiences. "On both nights I thought we were at a perfect level
emotionally and we played in control for the most part.
"It's a nice start. You always like to win regardless of what time of the
season it is," he added.
Directing 60 shots on goal in their victory over the Panthers, the Waxers
skated off to the dressing room with a 2-0 lead through the opening 20
minutes. Letting their guard down in the second period, the Waxers saw their
advantage disappear as the Panthers rallied to tie the game at 4-4.
That sent a wakeup call to the Waxers, who reverted to their good habits in
the third period as they erupted for three unanswered goals to put the game
on ice.
Jesse Boucher recorded the hat trick, which included the game's first goal
on a power-play and one shorthanded effort. Kevin Cribari, Mark Menonte,
Jason Duffy and Pat Poretta added singles.
"We were aggressive from the start and that was nice to see," said
Herrington of Friday's effort. "We attacked them right from the opening
faceoff. We let up a little in the second period by making poor mistakes and
bad decisions. But you have to give credit to the returning veterans who
settled the team down after the second period."
About the only blemish on Friday's outing was an ankle injury incurred by
centre Kevin Cribari near the midway point of the game. Herrington revealed
Cribari is expected to be out for close to a month.
"It's a huge hole because he plays in all situations for us," Herrington
said of the injury to Cribari. "But I told Cribs (Cribari) it's a silver
lining in that it's only September. If he had the injury in January it could
have been devastating. But I think he¹ll be okay."
With Cribari out of the lineup, Herrington moved Poretta into Cribari's spot
on a line with Ben Cottreau and Duffy. Ryan Steane took Poretta's place on a
line with Menonte and Boucher.
In Saturday's game with the Vipers, the Waxers got off to another strong
start as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead and padded it to 4-1 through two and
added another four in the third.
Steane and Menonte each scored twice for the Waxers, who put 48 shots on
net.
Doucette, on a power-play effort, Boucher, Cottreau and Paul Robinson, on a
shorthanded effort, added the other goals.
Rookie netminder Kevin Sit handled goaltending duties Saturday while Nick
Kemp was between the pipes on Friday.
While Herrington was quick to point out the Vipers were minus the services
of five regulars, he was pleased with his club's defensive stand.
"We did score some pretty goals. But I liked the way we played without the
puck. Everyone was committed to backchecking. We forced teams to dump the
puck and our penalty killing was solid. And our forwards did a good job of
not being too fancy. They made the plays early."
Slapshots: The terrorist attacks in the United States last week concerned
the Waxers' ownership as they set up a USA Catastrophe Relief Fund in the
Centennial Arena lobby prior to their two home games on the weekend and will
continue for the next couple of home games. Any donations received will be
passed on to the Red Cross Relief Fund. Prior to Friday¹s home opener,
Waxers' ownership also handed out U.S. flags to those in attendance and
played the U.S. and Canadian anthems to go along with a moment of silence
prior to the opening faceoff. The Waxers¹ next game is Friday at Centennial
Arena against the Oshawa Legionaires at 8 p.m. On Saturday, the Legionaires
play their first road game at Thornhill against the Rattlers at 7:30 p.m.

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