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STRONG START FOR WAXERS IN
PRESEASON Taking to the ice against the Aurora Tigers in a home-and-home series, the Waxers came away with positive results in each outing -- a 4-0 road win on Friday and a 10-2 triumph Saturday at Centennial Arena. In Friday's contest, the Waxers took a 1-0 first period lead on a powerplay goal by Chris Bahen. After a scoreless second frame, the Waxers added three unanswered goals in the final stanza, including two by Jim Stamatopoulos and one by Kevin Tompkins, to round out the scoring. Kevin Cordiner and Chris Petra split goaltending duties to post the shutout. The following day, the Waxers jumped out to a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes and erupted for four unanswered goals in the second frame to pad its advantage to 7-2. Bryan Lachapelle delivered the hat trick while Joel Kitchen, Tompkins, Lawne Snyder, Locky Gelinas, Stamatopoulos, Chris Petracco and Daniel Sisca added singles. Chris Delrasario and Tom Lawson split duties between the pipes for the Waxers. "Every time we go to the rink we hope to win," said Waxers' head coach Russ Herrington of his club's weekend performance. What pleased the first-year Waxers's head coach foremost, he said, was the team's effort in its defensive zone as evidenced by allowing just two goals in two games. "When I spoke to the kids before both games, our goal was to work on our defensive play and work in our defensive zone and to work hard and get used to each other." With the Waxers tallying 14 goals in two outings, Herrington said the offensive performance was a pleasant surprise at this juncture of the preseason schedule. "With our offensive output we exceeded our expectations a bit," he conceded. "I was pleased with the balanced scoring that we got. Every line got one or two goals. Everybody played well both days."
About the only concern Herrington has at this juncture, he hinted, is at the forward spot. The Waxers were hoping that Pujuut Kusagak, a member of last year's Markham squad, would return this season to bolster the front line. However, Herrington noted Kusugak elected to attend a Canadian university. "We need to find one more forward," said Herrington. "We've got a few calls out with guys who tried out with us this summer. At this point it's more us waiting for someone to contact us. "We've got 12 forwards and we'd like to have 13. But there's no panic now. We're happy with the 12 we've got." Herrington said this dilemma could be rectified if Tompkins does not earn a berth with the Ontario Hockey League's Owen Sound Platers. Tompkins, a member of last year's Waxers' team, is expected to report to the Plater's camp, this week.
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