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..FROM
THE DESK OF MIKE HAYAKAWA..
DECEMBER 4, 2002
When the Markham Waxers began their Provincial Junior A
Hockey League regular season in early September, head coach
Russ Herrington had
expectations his team would exhibit gradual improvement throughout the
year. With the regular season a few games past the halfway mark, you will
get little if any complaints from the Waxers' coaching staff of the effort
put fourth by the team.
Through the first 29 contests of their 49-game slate, the Waxers sit atop
the south division standings with a commendable 18-6-4-1 mark and are one
point ahead of the St. Michael's Buzzers with a game in hand.
Elated with his club's performance to date, Herrington feels there's a
number of factors that can be attributed to their success.
The biggest though, lies in the area of preventing goals as the club has
allowed a division-leading low of 96 against. Entering the season,
Herrington acknowledged this facet was his biggest concern. Those fears
were quelched in part with the rapid development of first-year netminder
Anthony Guadagnolo
and recent play of Kevin Sit,
when called upon to go between the pipes.
On the blueline, the early-season acquisition of veteran
Jamie Wright along with
returnees Albert Ferrante,
Michael Diamond
and Michael Pain,
prior to his recent promotion to the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey
League, has helped to stablize an influx of first-year defenders in
Aaron Buckstein,
Joe Rothwell and
David Lyall.
To fill Pain's void, the Waxers recently acquired former OHL veteran and
Markham resident Michael
Barrett. "We felt at the start of the year that our defence and
goaltending would take some time to get to a point where we (the coaching
staff) would feel comfortable."
"Our defensive play is definitely better than what we had anticipated."
Leading the division in goals scored with 142, Herrington felt their
offensive productivity has lived up to their expectations. What has been a
pleasant surprise though, is the manner in which they've scored as
contributions have come from all of their lines.
"In terms of our forwards we're bang on where we thought we'd be. But
we're getting spread out scoring."
While happy with the overall progression of his team, Herrington also
feels his support staff of
Mike Heaney, Matt
Gibson, Sean Basilio
and strength coach Rob
Pagliaro have contributed to the club's upward learning curve.
"Rob's strength programs have really paid off and it's showed during our
third periods. Mike (Heaney) has done a lot with our special teams, Sean (Basilio)
has helped Anthony (Guadagnolo) and Kevin (Sit) and Matt (Gibson) has
helped improve our defence."
In their last two outings, the Waxers suffered a 3-2 loss to the visiting
St. Michael's Buzzers on Friday, but rebounded from that subpar effort to
rout the host North York Rangers 8-3 on Sunday.
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| This article was written by Mike
Hayakawa and published in the Markham Economist and Sun. Minor edits
may have been performed to the original article. This has been reproduced with permission. |
"Our puck movement was better (against the Rangers) and
that negated their physical play and forechecking and I think we were one
step ahead of them," said Herrington of their reversal of fortune.
In Friday's loss, Ryan Steane
and Wright each scored once for the Waxers. Against the Rangers,
Tony Rossi and
Pat Porretta each scored
twice for the Waxers, who led 1-0 after one period and 5-3 through two.
Barrett, with his first goal as a member of the Waxers on a power play to
open the scoring, Wright, Liam
Bowen and Mark
Menonte added singles.
The Waxers will be on the road Friday in Huntsville and play at the
Scarborough Gardens against the Wexford Raiders on Sunday at 7 p.m.
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