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HERRINGTON IS READY TO
DIRECT THE WAXERS During his teen years Herrington donned a blue and white Waxers' uniform and played right wing and centre during part of the 1989-90 season. Today, the 25-year-old Herrington is back with the local Junior A club - only this time he's the new head coach. Named as the Waxers' bench boss after an agreement was reached in April when the Markham club and Thornhill Rattlers merged to form the Waxers, Herrington feels honoured to be given a chance to direct a team that has a special place in his heart.
"It's a nice progression because I knew of the tradition from watching them and continuing it as a player. Having the chance to try and bring a title to Markham is a challenge that I'm grateful to have." Since taking the head coaching reigns, Herrington has been assembling the pieces to form what he hopes will be a club that can be a serious contender for a provincial tier two Junior A championship. After rounding out his coaching staff which includes his father, Larry, who doubles as the team's general manager; Jeff Laceby, goaltending coach; Kevin Miller, strength and conditioning coach, Steven Horsley, athletic therapist and Don Lantz, assistant general manager, Herrington tries to extol the virtues of the newly formed Waxers to players on last year's Markham and Thornhill entries. The discussions, Herrington recalled, were positive. "I think there's always been a competitive respect between our programs," cited Herrington. "When we played each other in the past, we saw a lot of ourselves on the other team - the never quit and hard working aspect - I sense the guys are excited to combine forces." ROSTER ALMOST
SET Entering camp, Herrington is enthused with the talent at his disposal, which includes five returnees from last year's Waxers' lineup. Among those are: defenceman Dan Britt, goalie Kevin Cordiner, forwards Chris Petracco, Bryan Lachapelle and Locky Gelinas. Herrington is crossing his fingers that Kevin Tompkins and Puujut Kusagak, two forwards who were with the Waxers last year, could possibly come back. Tompkins will be trying out with Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League while Kusagak is entertaining the idea of attending a Canadian university. [Editors note: Kusugak will be attending the University of Ottawa this year.] "I like the potential of what we can put on the ice, We think we've got a real good core back from the Waxers' side of things," said an optimistic Herrington. Coaching from the opposing bench last year, Herrington was impressed with the Waxers' work ethic and vows that will continue. However, Herrington intends to inject some of his own philosophy that he feels could take the Waxers over the top. "We will play a high pressure style of game. We will have a tight defence and attack when we can given the opportunity and we'll have guys who can skate and take the body." "Anybody who comes to watch one of our games won't be disappointed with the effort we'll put out."
As for how the Waxers will fare this season, Herrington refuses to make any bold predictions. He points out the division they are in will be the most competitive in the league with the likes of the Wexford Raiders, Newmarket Hurricanes, Aurora Tigers, Collingwood Blues and Couchiching Terriers all possessing winning traditions. Entering his third year as a head coach at the tier two Junior A level, Herrington concedes there's pressure to maintain a winning record - something he's had in his two years with the Rattlers. But Herrington welcomes the challenge. "I have confidence in my job in what I can do and with the assistants that I have. I hope we can bring back a tradition to Markham and bring the fans back to the arena."
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