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StreetTalk with Mike Hayakawa

..FROM THE DESK OF MIKE HAYAKAWA..
Veteran Ryan Steane and the rest of the Waxers anxiously await the start of their second round series versus St. Mike's.FEBRUARY 19, 2003
For those who were associated with the Markham Waxers last season, there was little doubt as to who they were hoping to meet when the second round of the Provincial Junior A Hockey League playoffs commence.

It was just a year ago when the St. Michael's Buzzers ended the Waxers' season by sweeping them in the second round. And with the Buzzers making quick work of the Pickering Panthers in their recent first round series, the veteran members of the Waxers will get their wish as the puck will be dropped for the series opener tomorrow at Centennial Arena at 8:00p.m.

"For guys like myself who were there last year there's a bit of animosity with St. Mike's. I think that our veteran players wanted to face them and realistically we figured that we would meet them in the second round. We're looking forward to (the series)," acknowledged veteran forward Ryan Steane.

"Personally, I wanted to play St. Mike's because there's a revenge factor," added forward Kevin Cribari upon conclusion of  last week's series-ending win over the Thornhill Rattlers.

"For the guys who were around from last year's team, hopefully in the end there will be some poetic justice since they ended our season last year," said Waxers head coach Russ Herrington.

If the regular season is any indication of what's to come, it should be a closely contested affair. In head-to-head meetings  between the two clubs, the Buzzers held the upper hand against the Waxers, winning two of their four meetings by scores of 3-2 on Nov. 29 and 6-2 in a meaningless outing on Feb. 2. The two teams battled to a 4-4 tie in their season opener on Sept. 13. The Waxers' lone win came at St. Michael's Arena on Jan. 5 with a 5-2 decision.

StreetTalk
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.

In previewing the series, Herrington feels his club will have to continue to do what they did in the first round. That includes getting timely goalkeeping, scoring from all of their lines and play good team defence.

Looking at the Buzzers, Herrington acknowledges they also have a potent scoring attack led by Brian Ihnacek, son of ex-Toronto Maple Leafs' forward Peter Ihnacek, possess steady goaltending and are well coached.

"It'll be a tough series, I think you will see tight games all the way through," he predicted. "We will definitely have to raise our level of play.

This will be a good test for us."

The second game of the series will be played at St. Michael's Arena on Sunday at 7 p.m. and return to Centennial Arena on Monday at 8:15 p.m. The fourth game will be played at St. Michael's on Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. and if necessary return to Centennial Arena on Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. A sixth game, if required, would return to St. Michael's on March 2 at 7 p.m. Should a seventh game be necessary, it would be played at Centennial Arena on March 3 at 8:15 p.m.


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