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The Canadian Statesman The Canadian Statesman • Sports Editor: Brad Kelly - Phone 905-579-4400, Ext 2254 • Fax 905-579-1809 • E-Mailbkelly@durhamregion.com Durham Region's junior hockey blog: catch the latest on all of the area's junior hockey including live period updates from Generals'home From the net (Vi sp oris durhamra £ Shawn Cayley Is the puzzle complete? Generals bolster blue-line by adding Peter Âtion It's better late than never for Peter Aston and the Oshawa Generals. Sitting second in the OHL's East Division, but only a couple of points from being out of the playoff picture, the Generals added an impressive piece to the puzzle this week in Aston, the outstanding overage defencemen. With the club showing great signs of improvement of late after a sluggish start to the season, the Generals, with Aston's addition become a legitimate contender for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Aston went to Windsor in the Steve Downie trade with Peterborough last season, and was acquired by the Generals in the off-season for a conditional conditional second round pick. He arrives ; in Oshawa now after an unsuccessful . tenure with Assat Pori of the Finnish, . League. And, he improves the Generals iri so many ways. While prized rookie Michael Del : - Zotto has no doubt shown he is able ? to quarterback the power play, the . thought of he and Aston manning the blue-line together up a man or two is. downright scary. Aston will also shore up a top-six defensive crew that includes Del Zotto, captain Eric Regan, James DeLory, Trevor Koverko and Scott Madden and/or Billy Siekris. "He is going to log a tonne of minutes minutes for us," said Generals coach/GM Brad Selwood, who had acquired Aston in the summer from Windsor. "He makes us better even strength, 1 four-on-four and on the power play, which has been pretty good of late anyway. Anytime you can add a guy. like Peter, it's a plus" One blue-liner who is almost certain certain to have played his last game as a General due to Aston's arrival is Brad Pawlowski. The former second round pick and the club have agreed to find the 17-year-old a new home. Another area in which Aston provides provides an upgrade comes in the overage overage department. He joins goaltender Carlo DiRienzo, Igor Gongalsky and Kris Belan as 1986-bom players on the roster For now, Belan is likely to be the odd man out of the picture. Gongalsky is quickly turning into a fan favourite at the new General Motors Centre, while until an upgrade can be found, DiRienzo is the man between the pipes. Selwood has until the Jan. 10 trade deadline to drop down to three over- agers, so he says he'll take his time making that decision. "I love the way all three of have been playing of late," says Selwood of Gongalsky, Gongalsky, Belan and DiRienzo. "The two up front have really added a lot to our club and Carlo has been pretty good in goal for us. That being said, I'm always looking for ways to improve everyday." The goaltending situation is still a concern, but one thing is for sure, Aston's addition is an improvement . for the club. So mucfrso, that it alone could net that elusive post-season berth. Shawn Cayley's column appears every third Wednesday. E-mail scayley@durhamregion.com By Brad Kelly bkelly@durhamreglon.com BOWMANVILLE - Add resilient resilient to the list of character traits exhibited by the Bowmanville Eagles this season. At the end of October, the Eagles lost two of their top three scorers scorers at the time, as Kyle Goodchild and Scott Freeman left for Saskatchewan Saskatchewan to represent Team Canada East at the inaugural World Junior A Hockey Challenge. Though their absence was felt on the scoreboard in the first game without them, a 2-1 setback to the Wellington Dukes, the Eagles persevered, winning the next four in a row, including a 5-1 decision over the visiting Oswego Admirals on Sunday night. "It was a real good challenge for us," said coach Curtis Hodgins of playing without two of his top gunners the past couple of weeks. "We are going to face those kinds of situations during the year, and especially in the playoffs, when you can't always put your best lineup out there because of injuries injuries or whatever. - . > "We have always stressed the team concept here, and that really paid off." Both players are expected to return to the lineup for a home- and-home with Port Hope this weekend, with the Predators hosting the first game Friday, and the teams locking up in a matinee matinee affair on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. to avoid a conflict with the Grey Cup. , ! Hodgins expected a number of players to step up and show their worth during the five game stretch without Goodchild and Freeman. While he wasn't specific specific at the time as to who would pick up the slack, a number of different different players answered the call. David Ross and Louke Oakley came to the forefront offensively, scoring seven and six points respectively during the past five games. Checking in with five points each were Andrew Fracz, and rookies Kristofer Faric and Brandon Couto, who had a three goal performance in a win over Kingston. Defenceman Matt Baxter Baxter led ttie rearguards over that stretch with four points. But it was the way the Eagles kept their own end of the ice tidy that Hodgins was most impressed with. 1 "We didn't give up a lot of shots in any of the games, and when you limit the other team like we did, you give yourself a good • Ron Pietroniro/Metroland Durham Region Media Group Allen Dillon from the Bowmanville Eagles streaks past the Oswego Admirals bench during second period action form the Rickard Recreation Complex on Sunday night. The Eagles won the game 5-1, and have built a four-game winning streak heading into a home-and-home series with the Port Hope Predators this weekend. weekend. The Eagles visit Port Hope Friday, with a matinee game on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Bowmanville serving as the return game. 1 chance to win." As for individual praise, he noted the work of Fracz, one of the unsung heroes on the team. "He is such a workhorse," said Hodgins. "He doesn't get a lot of points, but he is one of the best defensive players in the league. He stepped into an offensive role for us and that's what we needed. "There were a lot of guys who were asked to play different roles with killing penalties and stuff like that, and they all came through." ' Oakley had his biggest game point-wise against Oswego on Sunday, scoring once and adding , a pair of helpers. Daniel McCarthy, McCarthy, Craig Woods, Ross and Faric were the other marksmen, as the Eagles léd from start to finish, managing to control the play by outshooting Oswego by a 40-22 margin. The win improved the. Eagles to 21-2-0-1 on the season, and increased their lead to six points in the East Conference standings over second place Wellington, who have two games in hand. THE SCOOP -- Canada East was defeated by Canada West 4-3 in the gold medal game at the World Junior A Challenge. Kyle Good- child had an assist in the final game. Scott Freeman finished second in team scoring with two ' goals and three assists...Freeman assists...Freeman still leads the Eagles scoring race with 16-37-53 numbers, five points ahead of David Ross, who has 24-24-48 numbers. The duo are 1-2 overall in the league scoring scoring race. Eagles show resiliency Win four in a row without Goodchild, Freeman Sunday loss to Peterborough comes on heels of two huge road wins By Shawn Cayley scaylcy@duihaimcgloii.com OSHAWA - Though the weekend ended on a sour note for the Oshawa Oshawa Generals, there is no understating understating the importance of how it started. The Generals showed not only their improved play of late, which has seen them move to 8-8-0-2, but more importantly, their ability to win big games away from home. It started Thursday in a 6-5 shoot out victory over the Brampton Battalion, Battalion, and continued the following night with a 3-2 overtime triumph against the London Knights, owners owners of the league's best record. Veteran defencemen James DeLory, whose wrist shot sailed over London's Steve Mason for the winning goal Friday, Friday, attributed the team's recent success to team unity. "I think with all the trades and acquisitions, everybody is just now starting to jell,"-explained DeLory after the Generals fell 5-3 to the Peterborough Petes Sunday at the General Motors Centre. "We're starting to play more like a team and be a family. I think we're all kind of on the same page now, and we're moving forward." They did their best to continue that trend Sunday, firing,55 shots at Petes goaltender Trevor Cann, who stood tall in preserving a 5-3 victory victory for the Petes. Much like Cann, Steve Downie continues to be a thorn in the side of the Generals, scoring the first hat trick at the GMC, and adding an assist along with being named the game's first star. "It is disappointing, especially after the start to the weekend in Brampton and London," said Generals coach/GM Brad Selwood of dropping Sunday's game. "Cann was the best player in the building. Downie got three goals, - including the one we put.in for him at the end (of the second). Trevor Cann has always impressed me. I've seen him play a tonne now, he held them in and made the big saves when he had to." Carlo DiRienzo, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as impressive impressive at the other end, allowing five goals on 28 shots in a disappointing showing after a 43-save effort Friday Friday in London. "We got the lead early, had to keep battling from behind and they made the most of their chances," said Selwood of what led to the Petes' victory, their second of the season against'the Generals. See GENERALS, page 82 Get up-to-date on all your local teams... from our team ■com ■T, • iÆ3SE__M Ml 1 ^ PM Shawn Cayley Brad Kelly Brian McNair Al Rhrelt