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Ill' durhamregion.com Sports THE CANADIAN STATESMAN 4 March 29,2006 4 Page 15 ŒljC Catlflbhllt iB>tfltc£t1tcUl ♦ durhamregion-com All square after two Shawn Cayley Solving Generals blue-line puzzle r Could defenceman I Michael Del Zotto | be the centrepiece? Many a night this past season I looked down from the press box behind the Oshawa Generals bench wondering who would be next to skate through the revolving door of defencemen. One night it would be Jody Halas, the next Matt Seegmiller, and who could forget Nathaniel Brooks playing the 5.point; David'Halasz and Bret Nasby were traded away in separate deals. Eric Regan and Scott Madden were acquired in-season. Regan was- a key part of the Adam Berti/Nasby deal in November,. while Madden, was a stopgap on trade deadline day. ■ Brad Pawlowski and Chris Mifflen both missed significant time with injuries and even the unknown Rylan Zulusky played a game on the back S end. Really, the only constant faces on the blue-line were rookies Justin Sawyer and Billy Siekris, along with former first rounder James DeLory and veteran Trevor Waddell. v | j ^ Through injuries and trades, the Generals Generals plunked 14 different rearguards in front of their goaltenders. No, that's not a typo, it was indeed 14. By the time camp breaks in Septem- | ber, the new Generals coach, whoever it ' may be, will have the luxury, and I use. that term loosely, of choosing between several capable bodies, f The growing sentiment is that the group of rearguards will include can't vjmiss prospect Michael Del Zotto of the Markham Waxers Midget AAA team. It Ts no secret GM Brad Selwood wants to plip a Generals jersey over the talented Del Zotto's head and it's safe to say if that occurs, he'll be etched in stone as one of the top-6 blue-liners. Del Zotto scored four goals and added three assists in five games at the OHL winning MVP honours in a 3-2 championship win over the Toronto Red Wings, and would instantly become the team's top defender. So, where will that leave the rest? Sawyer was an overager this season, and won't be back, and I wouldn't exactly be going out on a limb by saying saying Halas and Zulusky won't get a sniff with the Generals in 2006. In addition to that, it's probably safe to say there I is virtually no chance we'll see another I installment of Brooks on the back end. « DeLory will slip into the top pairing, pairing, presumably with Del Zotto, while a healthy Mifflen would fit nicely on . the second unit with Regan and it's expected Waddell will be asked back as an overager. That fills five of six and barring something something unexpected, it leaves Pawlowski, Seegmiller, Siekris and Madden to light for the final spot, with thc lcg up likely . •going to the. first two as both were Sel- ,wood draft picks in 2005. i Any way you slice it, the pqssiblc addition of Del Zotto would go a long way in furthering the depth on the blue- . line, something the team has certainly lacked in recent years. Shawn Cayley's column appears every third Wednesday. E-mail: scayley@durhamregion.com Bowmanville set to host St. Michael's in Game 3 tonight BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor BOWMANVILLE - Through two games, there isn't much to choose between the Bowmanville Eagles and St. Michael's Buzzers, and that's the way it should be. The champions of their respective conferences conferences are knotted at a game apiece in their Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey Hockey League semifinal series, with both teams holding serve on home ice. The Eagles opened the series with a 4-3 win in double overtime on Sunday, but St. Michael's answered back the following night, blanking the Eagles 2-0 at Varsity Arena to pull even in the best-of-seven series. Trading wins sets the stage for an important important third game, tonight at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex beginning at 7:30 p.m. St. Michael's hosts Game 4. on Friday. • 1 While a. number of players have come and gone from both sides since the teams hooked up two years ago in the semifinals, semifinals, there is every indication .that this series, like the previous one that lasted six games, will have plenty of twists and turns before it's over. "They don't have the high end scorers they had before, but they -work ■ hard, they're quick and really .caught our players off guard," said Hodgins of the first period of the first game, when St. Michael's opened a 3-1 lead through the opening 20 minutes of the series. Bowmanville battled back with one in the second and another in the third, setting setting the stage for Scott Freeman's winner , in .dpijble overtime, jamming the puck and gôalfender Kain Tisi over the goal- ' line in the fifth period of the game. Despite blanking St. : Michael's for close to four periods in Game 1, it was the Eagles who couldn't muster a goal in the second game of the series on Monday, dropping a 2-0 decision on a pair of John Scrymgeour goals. In the series between the teams two years ago, St. Michael's was superior with their speed through the neutral zone, cashing in on'a number of opportunities with their transition game. That team was led by Andrew Cogliano, a first round ' Ron Pietroniro/Metroland Durham Region Media Group Bowmanville Eagles captain Brad Dormiedy tried to evade the stick check of St. Michael's Buzzers defenceman Stephen Duffy during the opening game of their best-of-seven series Sunday at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Recreation Complex. The Eagles won Game 1 by a 4-3 score in double overtime, but dropped Monday's game at St. Michael's 2-0, setting the stage for tonight's third game in Bowmanville. draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers who is on scholarship in Michigan, and was a mèrtibér of the World 'Junior team back in ' : ; December. While St. Michael's doesn't have anyone of his ilk, one of their main attributes is their speed. "One thing we want to take away is their speed through the neutral zone," said Hodgins. Now that the series is squared, St. Michael's GM and coach Chris DePiero pinpointed emotions and minimizing mistakes as key factors as the series progresses. progresses. "In terms of style of play, it's a hard thing to gauge," he said of trying to match strengths against weaknesses. One of the things he will be adamant about 'reducing is the number of power play ! ■ opportunities his team gives the Eagles. "(In Game 1) we were in the box quite a bit and that put their power play on the ice a lot, which I don't want to get in a habit of doing." The Eagles had 12 chances on the power play in Game 1, scoring twice, but were reduced to just seven chances in Game 2. • THE SCOOP - The Eagles have been without defenceman Phil Hotarek in the first two games due to injury; Jeff Oke was out of the lineup in Game 1, but inserted for Game 2 at the expense of David Shaw.,.Mike Kavanagh, Kyle Goodchild and Steve Cornelissen.had goals in regulation, time during Sunday's win...St. Michael's has outshot the Eagles in both games, 39-37 in the opener and 27-19 on Monday...John Scrymgeour has scored three of the five goals for St. Michael's...The Eagles have started a fundraising drive entitled Project Lauren, Lauren, attempting to raise money to help a family hit its target of $40,000 toward a wheelchair modified van to help transport their daughter' who has hypotonic cerebral cerebral palsy. The hockey club is accepting donations as well as selling T-shirts. St. Michael's smart about hockey Former Bowmanville Bowmanville Eagle Mike McKenzie, now a member of the St. Michael's . Buzzers, is one of eight players on the team that has committed committed to an NCAA school for athletics and academics. Respected program is churning out scholarship players BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor BOWMANVILLE ~ Pride and proud are a couple of descriptive words that probably probably best capture the steeped tradition surrounding the hockey program at St. Michael's College and its winning history. But it can also be applied to the present day, and the accomplishments, of the players who strive to develop both academically and athletically. In a recent published list, eight players off the current roster of the St. Michael's Buzzers 'f' "A have at least ver- ' bally "committed to NCAA Division Division l schools. The high number leaves many of the other teams in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League envious, and also anxious to try to build a program Playing it smart Eight players with the St. Michael's Buzzers have committed to NCAA schools. PLAYER Mike McKenzie Louie Caporusso John Scrymgeour Julian Zamparo Brcndann Smith Harry Taylor Brayden Irwin Kain Tisi SCHOOL St. Lawrence Michigan Lake Superior State Western Michigan Wisconsin Dartmouth Vermont St. Lawrence similar to that of the Buzzers. "We've worked hard at it over the last seven years that I have been part of the program to cultivate relationships with U.S. colleges, and we've been fortunate to send guys down," says GM and coach Chris DePiero, whose team is currently embroiled in a tight semifinal scries with the Bowmanville Eagles. "Character is an issue, and from our standpoint, we try to instill that'in our program." One of the players who has benefit- ted from his past two seasons in the St. Michael's program is Mike McKenzie, a Whitby resident, who is off to St. Lawrence University next season. Ironically, Ironically, two seasons ago, McKenzie was a member of the Eagles when they faced St. Michael's in the league semifinals. While he praised the Bowmanville orga nization for his time spent here, transferring transferring to St. Michael's was an obvious choice because of work and school commitments commitments in Toronto. "St. Mike's was the only place 1 thought about going to," lie says. "It's a top class organization and it gives yon a really good opportunity to go somewhere in the future with your career." In addition to McKenzie, other players players on the roster bound for the U.S.' include Louie Caporusso (Michigan), John Scrymgeour (Lake Superior State), Julian Zamparo (Western Michigan), Brendan Smith (Wisconsin), Harry Taylor Taylor (Dartmouth), Brayden Irwin (Vermont) (Vermont) and Kain Tisi (St. Lawrence). With the recent success of the Bow- See St. Michael's page 19 i3 2006 m mitrounddi 1 on 3 Basketball Presented by Call sports editor Brad Kelly for information. 905 579 4400 ext. 2254 1 lus Week • C.iiiiibun Atatrsmait • \ 1 ws \l)\l Rlisi lie ïimrs-jlounuU edurhamregion.com