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..FROM
THE DESK OF MIKE HAYAKAWA..
NOVEMBER 13, 2002
It may be a little premature to be thinking about the
playoffs at this juncture of the Provincial Junior A Hockey League season.
But the Markham Waxers received an early baptism of what the postseason
might feel like last weekend.
Playing contests against two traditional powerhouses in the south
conference-leading Wexford Raiders last Friday at Centennial Arena and
Newmarket Hurricanes on the road Sunday, the Waxers acquitted themselves
quite well by collecting three out of a possible four points.
Only one second prevented the Waxers from obtaining all four points as the
Raiders scored a goal with just over one second remaining in regulation
time to salvage a 3-3 tie.
In Sunday's game against the Hurricanes, the Waxers
skated off with a 5-3 win and improved their south conference record to
13-4-4-1 - good for second place.
"Friday's game definitely had a playoff atmosphere as far as intensity,"
cited Waxers head coach
Russ Herrington. "On Sunday, it was a good experience going into
Newmarket because they have some abusive fans and they have some creating
shot counts and they're a tough team to play against. It would be as close
as you could get to the playoffs early in the year." What impressed Mr.
Herrington foremost in the two games was his club's ability to overcome
adversity.
In Friday's contest, the Waxers responded from allowing the game-tying
goal with just one second left in regulation time to hold the upper hand
in the overtime session.
"We could have won Friday's game," said Mr. Herrington.
"But I was happy with the way we responded in overtime.
Tony Rossi,
Liam Bowen and
Ryan Steane, on a power
play, scored in Friday's contest for the Waxers, who donned their
commemorative 100th anniversary uniforms for the second time this season.
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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. |
On Sunday, Waxers' starting goalie
Kevin Sit was forced to
leave the game in the second period after suffering a charley horse. After
the Hurricanes scored just after backup goalie
Anthony Guadagnolo
went in to replace Mr. Sit and take a 2-1 lead, the Waxers responded with
unanswered goals from Bowen,
Steve Wong, with his first of the season, and
Pat Porretta, on a
power-play, to take the lead for good at 4-2 after two periods.
Mr. Bowen also scored the game's first goal on a power play to give the
Waxers a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes, and added his third of the night in
the final frame.
"To come back on Sunday as we did when Kevin (Sit) got hurt is a good sign
of character on our club. I thought that of the 125 minutes that we played
on Friday and Sunday we played good for about 110 of those minutes. That's
a good sign," cited Mr. Herrington.
The Waxers will host the Thornhill Rattlers this Friday at 8 p.m. and play
at Pickering against the Panthers on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
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