..FROM THE DESK OF MIKE HAYAKAWA..
FEBRUARY 26, 2003
The Markham Waxers are enjoying a smooth ride so far in their best-of-seven, second round Provincial Junior A Hockey League playoff series against the St. Michael's Buzzers.

Through the first three games of the series, the Waxers sit comfortably in the driver's seat with a commanding three games to none lead after Monday's hard-fought 3-2 win at Centennial Arena.

"We didn't want to give them any life. What we want to do is sit down in the driver's seat and grab firm hold of that steering wheel," said Waxers head coach Russ Herrington, in explaining the significance in winning what he felt was a pivotal game to be up three games in the series rather than one.

Reflecting on what has transpired in the series, Herrington felt their impressive start was buoyed by the timely performance of his veterans, particularly in the third period of each of the games. In last Friday's series' opener at Centennial Arena, the Waxers received a power-play goal from second-year centre Ben Cottreau with 1:51 remaining in regulation time to draw first blood with a 4-3 win.

Resuming their series at St. Michael's College Arena on Sunday, the Waxers erupted for three unanswered goals in the final frame by veterans Andrew Dias, Kevin Cribari and Pat Porretta to skate off with a 6-2 victory.

In Monday's win, Cribari deposited the game-winning goal on a point-blank shot after receiving a perfect feed from behind the net by Liam Bowen with just under two minutes left in regulation time.

"That's why you have experience," explained Herrington in reference to Monday's game when the Waxers overcame a 2-1 first-period deficit to tie the game through 40 minutes on a power-play goal by Bowen. "All of our older guys were making big plays. Menonte's (Mark, Waxers captain) line with Rossi (Tony) and Porretta (Pat) got us going. They set the tone in the first period. They got us our first goal (scored by Porretta) and forced everyone else on our team to play up to their level," he cited.

The veterans need not be reminded of what took place last year when the Buzzers eliminated the Waxers in four straight games in the second round.

"We have a lot of veterans on our team, guys like Mark Menonte and myself who were here last year and we want to reverse the role (of being swept). We have a lot of motivation and we're working real hard," said Cribari after Monday's win.

As in their first-round win over the Thornhill Rattlers, the Waxers continued to receive a balanced scoring attack against the Buzzers.

"In the three games that we've had so far, we've scored 13 goals and within each game no one has repeated as a scorer," cited Herrington. "In our first two games we had goals from all four of our lines and tonight (Monday) we got it from two lines. Our balanced scoring is definitely a big part of our success."

Nathaniel Brooks, Ryan Steane and Tony Rossi rounded out the Waxers' scoring in Friday's opener.

On Sunday, Jason Duffy, Ryan Olidis and Rossi added singles.

Defensively, the Waxers have also received clutch netminding from Scott Gray. Playing between the pipes in all three of their games, Gray made his presence felt in the late going of Monday's outing by making two key saves in the late going to help preserve the win.

With a chance to sweep the series tonight at St. Michael's College Arena starting at 7:30 p.m., the Waxers aren't taking anything for granted.

"They say that the fourth (win) is the toughest and we know St. Mike's has a lot of pride. They don't want to go down four straight. We have to try and set the tone," Herrington hinted.

If a fifth game be required, it would return to Centennial Arena tomorrow at 8 p.m.

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