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( i Page 14 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ March 1,2006 durhamrcgion.com Sports ■ ŒÏJC Canadian ibtfltCSllUUt ♦ durhanregion.com Eagles establish dominancé Brian McNair If it's broken, fix it Junior A playoff format needs reworking The Provincial Junior A Hockey League's playoff format is more than just a joke. It's dangerous. That was never more evident than during Game 4 of the South Conference Conference quarterfinal between the Oshawa Legionaires and St. Michael's Buzzers, In case you missed it, an ugly brawl broke out in the third period of what, would become an 8-0 thrashing for the visiting Buzzers. ' Video replay shows three Oshawa players leaving their bench to engage in the fisticuffs, Which otherwise would have left St. Mike's with a three body advantage thanks to earlier penalties. The fact that only one player received more than a three-game suspension, although despicable, isn't the point here. The point is these two teams shouldn't have been playing against each other in the first place.. St. Mike's, the defending league champion, champion, - finished a whopping 43 points ahead of the Legionaires in a 49-game season. As nice as it is to .see another local team in the playoffs, the Legionaires should not have been invited into the post-season following a nine-win season, season, even if they somehow managed to win a game in the series. In the end, they kept three games close, but were still outscored 27-8 and outshot 292-113. In the East Conference, where Durham boasts a serious contender, the Bow- manville Eagles made even shorter work of their first-round opponent, sweeping sweeping aside the Lindsay Muskies in four straight games and outscoring them 26-7' in the process. That series, too, had its moments of ugliness, as the Muskies apparently didn't want to go down without without a fight, at least literally. Ironically, the only eighth-seeded team to earn a win in the first round was Oshawa. Milton outscored Mississauga 32-9 and Aurora outgunned Bancroft 27-6 in two easy sweeps. It wasn't much more pretty in the two vs. seven matches. Only two teams - - Huntsville and Toronto - managed to post a single win and nine of 18 games were decided by three or more goals. The trick, then, is to keep the regular regular season meaningful to a majority of teams, without creating a debacle once it ends. And the solution is simple enough. Give the first two teams in each conference conference a bye, a well-earned reward for a strong season, and let the three through six seeds battle it out for the right to join them. Had that been the case this season, only three sub-,500 teams would have made the playoffs, and two of them coming coming from the seven-team North Conference. Conference. Two others would have missed out despite being at or above the even mark. , Although the Eagles have made it look easy through two games of their second round scries with Kingston, elsewhere the playoffs are much more competitive competitive now that only 16 of the 36 teams remain. This is the type of hockey that fans deserved right from the start. Brian McNair's column appears every third Wednesday. E-mail: bmcnair@durhamreKion.com Host Game 3 of semifinal tonight against Kingston leading 2-0 BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor BOWMAN VILLE- The Bowman- ville Eagles aren't about to change anything, anything, and the Kingston Voyageurs may have to alter their ways if they have any chance of stretching their season out. . In a nutshell, that's how this Provincial Provincial Jr. A Hockey League East Conference Conference best-of-seven semifinal series is shaping up between the top seeded Eagles and the fifth seeded Voyageurs leading into tonight's third game at 7:30 p.m. at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Recreation Complex. :■. ■ The Eagles scored five times with the man advantage in the series opener on Sunday in Bowmanville, coasting to an easy 8-1 victory. It was more of the same Monday in Game 2, as a pair of power play goals led the Eagles to a 5-0 win and a two games to zero lead in the 1 series. The Voyageurs were the most penab ized team in the conference this season, amassing 1,477 minutes in 49 games, just edging out the Port Hope Predators - total of 1,449. The Eagles were much more disciplined with a 979 total, and on the flipside, made teams pay with their potent power play, scoring 81 times this season, second only to the 89 put up by Wellington in the 36-team .league. "I think their game plan will be not to take penalties," said Eagles coach Curtis Hodgins of how he expects this series to unfold. "I'm pretty sure they aren't going to play the same way they did in the regular season. "Our power play has been clicking, and they know if they want to stay in this series, they can't take penalties." Through two games of the series, the Eagles have flexed their dominance, outscoring Kingston 13-1, and holding a 70-52 edge in shots on goal in the two victories. Both wins were important, not only to establish dominance, but to quash any ideas the Voyageurs may have had about pulling off'an upset after completing a mild one over the Peterborough Stars in a six game opening round series. "They are coming off a high and they have nothing to lose really, and. we have everything to lose," said Hodgins, whose team finished 34 points ahead of ■■AJ. Groen/Mëfrdiànd' Durham Region Media Grotip Bowmanville Eagles centre Dustin Ékelman (22) tried to fend off à couple of Kingston Voyageurs during the opening opening game of their best-of-seven East Conference semifinal on Sunday. The Eagles won 8-1, and followed with a convincing 5-0 victory in Game 2 on Monday. The third game of the series goes tonight in Bowmanville at 7:30 p.m. at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex. x . "j the Voyageurs and- owned them during the regular season, winning five of six meetings. "We want to send a message that we are here to play." In the other East Conference semifi- ; nal, Port Hope and Wellington are all square at a game apiece. Wellington erased a 3-0 third period deficit to record a 4-3 overtime victory on home ice Sunday. The third game goes Thurs- " day in Port Hope. THE SCOOP -- Goaltender Rick Miller recorded the shutout on Monday, Monday, and was the starter in Game 1 of the series. In the last series against Lindsay, Miller played the first two games and Bryan Scott the final two in the sweep...Clicking on the power play in the series opener were Mike Kavanagh, Scott Freeman and Phil Hotarek, while Kyle Goodchild and Freeman again added goals with the man advantage in Game 2...Freeman leads all scorers in the series with five points...Eric Kemp (suspension) and Jeff Oke (injury) have been out of (he lineup for the first two games. Kernpjis eligible to return tonight after serving three games as the result of an instigator instigator and aggressor penalty during a.fight in Game 3 against Lindsay...Game 4,pf the series is back in Kingston on Thursday. Thursday. Tavares shooti FROM THE NET OUT Durham Region's junior hockey scene through the eyes of our writers... DURHAMREGION.COM BY BRIAN MCNAIR Staff Editor OSHAWA - The Oshawa Generals may be playing for a whole lot more, but fans are likely only wondering about two things as the season winds down. . First, will the team get the No. 1 draft pick for a second straight year? And second, how high will John Tavares's Tavares's totals go? As far as the first overall pick goes, it has turned into a turtle derby between the Sarnia Sting, who have lost 14 in a row, and the Generals, who have dropped three straight and still have the inside (rack despite being tied in the standings; After coming away empty-handed from a trip north this weekend, where they fell 3-1 to the Sudbuiy Wolves Friday and 6-3 to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Saturday, the Generals settled in at 15-40- 3-1, compared to the Sting's 15-40-2-2 record. If they remain tied in both points and wins, the Sling would be placed ahead in the standings based on two head-to-head wins, leaving Oshawa with the prized pick again. Mind you, the prize isn't quite the same as it was last year, when the Generals scooped up Tavares just days after he was allowed into the draft as an exceptional underage talent. ' Which brings us to the next question: Just how good is this kid? Tavares was again a bright spot in defeat Saturday, scoring his 40th goal of the season during a 5-on-3 Soo power play, and adding his 41st, again short-handed, later in the game. With nine games left in the season, it remains a possibility the 15- year-old phenom could still hit the 50-goal plateau. "It's scary what this kid can do," says GM Brad Selwood. "Nothing that he Former Kevin M Oshawa Generals rookie John Tavares has nine games to score-.nine goals for 50 on the season could do would shock me. He's been incredible." In addition to the 41 goals, Tavares also has 26 assists, which leaves him four points shy of the 71 Jason Spezza accumulated as a 15-year-old willi the Brampton Battalion. As for the rest of the team, Selwood says he has been impressed with the work ethic throughout the struggles, and expects more of the same for the duration. "I've made it very clear to (lie guys (to stay interested)," lie says, "We've got almost the whole team coming back and they're playing for spots next season. It's important Unit they play hard, and they have been." GENERALLY SPEAKING: Randy Ladouceur returned to practice this week and will be back behind the bench this coming weekend following gall bladder surgery. The team was I -4-0-0 with GM Brad Selwood serving as interim coach... Peter Tsimikalis needs just nine points in as many games to become the first 100- poinl General since Jamie Johnson in 2(X)2-03„.Thc Generals are in Brampton Friday and Belleville Saturday, returning home Sunday for a 2 p.m. game against Sudbury. calls it a career ; Broken neck .!! spells the end NEW YORK -- The good news is that Kevin Colley is up and about. The sad news is that a broken neck has ended his National Hockey League career nearly as quickly as it started. The 27-year-old former Oshawa General announced last week that he will retire from the New York Islanders, less than, a month alter sustaining a broken neck in his 16th career NHL game. Telling reporters in New York he was "blessed that 1 am able'to walk", Colley has decided to quit after fracturing his lljlh cervical vertebrae in a game against t|ie Washington Capitals Jan. 31. He had four hours of surgery two days later. 1 Colley, a prolific junior scorer who put up 39-62-101 numbers in his final season with the Generals in I999-21XX), llnaijy broke into the NHL, this season playing^ much different style, l ie had no points, (xit 56 penally minutes and had become a Ian favourite for his aggressive play, The Npw Haven, Connecticut native spent six yeiifs in the minors, playing for 11 teams, fallowing fallowing his three season with the Generals.