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..FROM
THE DESK OF MIKE HAYAKAWA..
WAXERS
DEVELOPING CHARACTER
The Markham Waxers are developing a trait that is pleasing head coach
Russ Herrington. And that's character.
On Monday, the character of the Waxers came to the front as they overcame a three-goal deficit in the final period of Monday's Provincial Junior A Hockey League contest against the Stouffville Spirit at Centennial Arena and skated off with a dramatic 6-5 overtime win.
The victory improved the Waxers' first-place southern conference record to 11-3 and capped off a successful run which saw them win three of four games within a four-day span.
"We (the coaching staff) talked about (the comeback) last night after the game where one of the things that helped us even though we were down for most of the games was that we felt we controlled the play and had the better scoring chances."
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"As long
as they score goals we knew that we'd be fine"
Russ Herrington on the line of Fitkin, Boucher and Duffy |
"It's easier to convince your team when that happens. But being down by three goals with 10 minutes left, the guys had to make the decision. And I think we showed an enormous amount of character."
Jesse Boucher had the hat trick for the Waxers, who trailed 3-1 after one period and 3-2 through two before falling deeper into the hole at 5-2 with 10:25 left in the third period.
Jason Young, Mark Menonte and
Bobby Fitkin, who scored the game-winning goal with just 36 seconds left in overtime, rounded out the scoring.
What might have been the key turning point in the game came just after the Spirit scored its fifth goal of the game. Shortly after that goal the Waxers took two minor penalties, including a bench minor on Herrington. The Waxers successfully killed off the double minor and proceeded to score just 30 seconds after being shorthanded.
Herrington acknowledged he took a gamble by taking a bench minor after arguing with the referee. "I wanted to get the guys fired up. (Taking the bench minor) worked this time. But I won't do it every game," said Herrington.
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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. |
Another factor in the club's success was the Waxers' ability of their third and fourth lines to outproduce the Spirit's same units.
In particular, Herrington praised the work of the line of Fitkin, Boucher and
Jason Duffy. "As long as they score goals we knew that we'd be fine," Herrington said of the trio.
As well, he lauded the netminding work of Dan Leclair in the early moments of the overtime session, which gave the Waxers the spark they needed to eventually record the winning goal. "I thought that we worked hard for 60 minutes. We made huge plays when we needed it," said Herrington.
The Waxers will have little time to rest on their laurels as they go to Newmarket tonight to face the
Hurricanes at 7:30 p.m. Tomorrow, the Waxers will host the Ajax Axemen at 8 p.m. and then go to North York Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest against the Rangers.
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