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WAXERS REACT TO WAKE-UP
CALL
But 24 hours later, the Waxers did an about face and pummelled the visiting Durham Huskies 9-1. With the split, the Waxers record stood at 8-4-1 and enabled them to hold down fourth-place in the Central Division. "We were definitely a lot happier at 11 p.m. on Friday than we were on Thursday at 11 p.m.," conceded Waxers head coach Russ Herrington. In explaining the drastic turnaround, Herrington said the decision to change up his forward lines prior to Friday's game paid dividends. "There were a few guys that needed a wake-up call," Herrington hinted. "There were a few guys who were moping together so went back to some of the line combinations we had during the preseason." Among those changes saw former Thornhill Rattlers' Ian Malcolm, Brett Barrer and Matt Selby playing on one line while Chris Petracco, Bryan Lachapelle and Jim Stamatopoulos skating on another. Herrington also placed Daniel Sisca on a line with Jason Goldenberg and Kevin Tompkins. A fourth line had Robert Burrows skating with Locky Gelinas and Ryan Bayliss. In Thursday's loss, the Waxers trailed 2-0 after the first two periods before Lawne Snyder scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to cut the deficit. But the Hurricanes iced the game with an empty net goal. Herrington noted the outstanding work between the pipes by goalie Tom Lawson and his five defencemen prevented the final score from being worse than what it was.
"No one played well up front. It was a pathetic effort. We weren't happy about it and we told the guys after the game we were extremely disappointed," said Herrington, who also felt his club was a bit intimidated in facing the first-place Hurricanes. In Friday's outing, the Waxers broke open a 1-1 contest by scoring four unanswered goals in the second period to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Malcolm recorded the hat trick while Petracco, Snyder, Sisca, Alex Stoyan, Stamatopoulos and Lachapelle contributed singles. Of those goals, four came with a man advantage. "It was like we had a brand new team," said Herrington of his club's effort the following night. "I think our message got across to the guys."
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Taking to the road last
Thursday to face the Central Division-leading and undefeated Newmarket Hurricanes, the
Waxers suffered a 3-1 loss.