Sports
November 20, 2008 07:42 PM
Mike Hayakawa
LAST WEEK: Sunday - lost 7-2 vs. Toronto Junior Canadiens; Monday - lost 8-2 vs. Hamilton Red Wings. One win, two shootout wins, two shootout losses, 21 losses for nine points. Last place in Central Division.
COMING UP: Tonight vs. Markham Waxers at Stouffville Arena, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at Newmarket Hurricanes, 3:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES: The Stouffville Spirit have travelled through more valleys than peaks during this Ontario Junior Hockey League campaign. But in the last two contests, the Spirit hit what club general manager and head coach Mark Joslin described as “rock bottom” after being lambasted on the road by the Toronto Junior Canadiens 7-2 Sunday and the Hamilton Red Wings 8-2 Monday. In Sunday’s loss, Jake Dellavalle and Matt McCann scored for the Spirit, who were in the game for one period after trailing 1-0 before the roof caved in and they fell behind 6-1 through 40 minutes. Against the Red Wings, Dellavalle and Donald Maloney scored for the Spirit, which trailed 4-0 after the first and second periods. Kori Coelho started in goal for the Spirit before giving way to Michael D’Angelo when the Red Wings were up 7-2 in the third period.
INSIDER: The Spirit bolstered their forward line Sunday by adding Stouffville native Brandon Walker to their roster. The Ryerson University student, who played for the school two seasons ago, also had stints with the Spirit and Aurora Tigers in 2005 and 2006. The 20-year-old former draft pick of the Ontario Hockey League’s Plymouth Whalers is expected to provide some leadership. Walker collected an assist in Monday’s loss to the Red Wings.
“He will be a welcomed addition. He’s an experienced player and comes from good structure where he’s had good coaching. He will put the puck in the net for us,” Joslin said. The Spirit lost defenceman Jarred Seymour in the first period of Monday’s game thanks to a leg injury. His status is questionable for tonight’s home game against the Markham Waxers.
The Spirit dealt forward Matt Viola to the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League for cash last Thursday.
“He asked if there was anybody interested in him to try and further his exposure for a possible college hockey scholarship and we tried to oblige,” Joslin said. “He’s a good kid and we wanted to help him out.”
After declining to report to the North Bay Skyhawks of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, former Spirit forward Chad Beal was dealt by the club to the Orangeville Crushers for cash.
Former Spirit goalkeeper Dan McWhinney was waived by the Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League. He is in the Kansas city hoping to get work elsewhere.
GENERALLY SPEAKING: “We’re definitely at a low point where we’ve hit rock bottom,” Joslin said Tuesday. “Everything is magnified when you’re losing. We get a great scoring chance and we miss and the other team gets a marginal scoring opportunity and they score. If you’re serious you’ve got to persevere. We’ve got some young guys on the team who are willing to do it and some of the older guys aren’t. That’s not a good thing.
“I think we have to make a blockbuster trade to shake things up,” he said.
INSIDER: For live scoring and updates, go to
pointstreak.comFor more on the Spirit, go to:
stouffvillespirit.com