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I PAGE B2THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, DECEMBER 18, 2002 www.durhamregion.com. ■ Consistency a problem for Gens BY BRIAN LEGREE Sports Editor OSHAWA - The Oshawa Generals close out the pre- Christmas portion of their holiday holiday schedule Thursday in Peterborough, Peterborough, with a chance to record their 20th win in just 33 games. Following two straight sub.- 500 seasons in Oshawa, it's a marked improvement. Yet George Burnett, the club's coach and general manager, is still waiting for the Generals to bring a consistent approach to the rink. Following a 5-3 win over the Belleville Bulls on home ice Sunday, Burnett, as he has often done this season, questioned his team's willingness to follow the game plan. "For a big portion of the hockey hockey game we cheated and cut some corners," said Burnett, adding, "I thought we turned the puck over way too much leaving our zone and maybe looking for goals a little too much." In its most basic form, Burnett is looking for his Generals to fol- Gcorgc Burnett: 'We're finding ways to win hockey games.' low orders. "When the team buys in, (like) when we went into Ottawa (Nov. 24 and upset the 67's 3-l), when we went into Barrie (Saturday, (Saturday, posting a 4-3 win), other than a couple of penalties, we played the system and we played it to a 'T'. Whatever we asked them to do, whether it was aggressive aggressive or passive. "When we're a little bit selective, selective, when we stretch our shifts a little bit, when we try to be maybe a little fancier than we need to be, (that's when we run into trouble)," Burnett said after Sunday's win over the Bulls. Newcomer Mike Gough scored twice Sunday, giving him four goals in three games since arriving Dec. 10 in a deal with Owen Sound. "Gougher scores two of them from six feet away from the net and then in the three or four power plays after that, we didn't even come close to getting that opportunity for him," Burnett said. "They would have obviously obviously adjusted a little bit, but we stalled to try and pass the puck from board to board through 10 sets of legs, so 1 guess that's where we're not there yet, buying in, everybody, every night. "We're closer, we're finding ways to win hockey games that last year, or the year before we probably wouldn't have won or found ways to lose." Gough is reaping the benefits of playing alongside captain Jamie Johnson, who set up all four of his right-winger's goals with nifty feeds. Johnson is now second among OHL playmakers with 39 assists in 33 games. He's also tied for seventh in the OHL scoring race with 11-39-50 totals. totals. "We didn't bring Mike in to be a goal scorer necessarily," said Burnett of the 6-foot-3, 230- pound overager who had 27 goals in 256 career regular season season games before arriving in Oshawa. Oshawa. "But lie's a big man, tough to move in front of the net." GENERALLY SPEAKING: Following Thursday's game, the Generals lire off until Friday, Dec. 27, when they travel to Ottawa. Ottawa. Next home game is Sunday, Sunday, Dec. 29, when the Barrie Colts visit the Civic Auditorium for a 6:35 p.m. start. . .Johnson, Paul Ranger and Brandon Nolan, into an empty net for his 20th of the season, rounded out Oshawa's scoring Sunday. Streak ends for Scotia Bank The Claring- ton Scotia Bank Toros went on a tear in minor bantam Lakeshore League action, winning six games in a row before falling 2-1 to Whitby. In the three games previous to the loss, the Toros recorded wins over Ajax 3-1, Port Perry 7- 4 and Belleville 5-1. Goaltender Jory Fuller had two wins while Travis , .Fijlton); had;' a win-Lànd loss.,' » y f.v- vï Scoring in the games was done by Willie Brownell with one goal, Mark Wroblewski two goals and an assist, assist, Mark Vissor one goal, Dairen Ayre one goal and two assists, Matt Beaupre a goal and four assists, assists, David Miller one assist, Zak Snowden one assist, Derek Graham two goals and four assists, Kurds Allen one goal and three assists, Brandon Couto two goals and an assist, Cory Pearson one assist, assist, Matt Raco one goal, Dan Dwyer one assist, assist, Brad Nicholls three goals and Robert O'Shea one assist. assist. Jordon Paxton Paxton was called up from the select's and played well, recording an assist. assist. Owens Corning puts lid on win Shay n e Pctrusma scored the hat trick and Taylor Cox added a pair as Owens Corning defeated Akorn Steele 6-2 in CI a r i n g t o n Recreation Hockey Hockey League pce- wee play. 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