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PETES BLOW AWAY MAJORS
December 8, 2002
Story by: Armando
D'Andrea
TORONTO - Two points are two points. But
some wins just taste a bit better than others.
The Peterborough Petes earned themselves
one of the better tasting ones on Sunday
with a huge 6-0 route of the Central Division
leading St. Michael's Majors. The Petes,
despite giving up 33 shots, thoroughly dominated
the Majors from the opening faceoff and
remained in control throughout the game.
Petes head coach Rick Allain tried to keep
things in perspective but, after having
his team come off a tough 4-3 loss in Erie
the night before, seemed satisfied with
the win nevertheless.
"All wins are important, but this was
good because it's important to be able to
bounce back. We had a tough time against
Erie, so we did well to rebound with a better
performance today."
What made the score even more impressive
is that six different goal scorers contributed
to racking up the final, the importance
of which, says Allain, can't be understated.
"It's a nice change to see that. We've
been looking for more from everyone for
the last little while. More contribution
from all around will help with our consistency."
As the score might suggest, a little more
consistency of this kind might be just what
the Petes need. With four of their skaters
ranked in the NHL's Top 25 Preliminary Rankings
- Forwards Eric Staal at number 2 and Jamie
Tardif at 12, and defencemen Aaron Dawson
at 18 and Mark Flood rounding them out at
25 - a supporting cast that can put in the
same efforts as on Sunday on a nightly basis
could turn the Petes into one of the more
explosive teams in the OHL.
By the third shot of the game the Petes
were up 2 to 0 thanks to markers from Tardif
and defenceman and Florida Panthers pick
Lukas Krajicek. Majors head coach Dave Cameron,
who's team may have still been feeling the
after burn of a hectic November schedule
that saw them play 15 games in one month,
tried to spark his squad by pulling rookie
netminder Justin Peters and sending in Islanders
pick and incumbent Andy Chiodo. However
it seemed to be the Petes, smelling blood
perhaps, who responded more positively to
this change. Peterborough buzzed the St.
Mike's net harder than before and by the
middle of the second frame the Petes had
pulled ahead 4 - 0, with Flood and forward
Greg Chambers both solving Chiodo.
Staal agreed afterwards that chasing the
opposing team's goalie can spark the attacking
team as much as the team that makes the
change.
"It's definitely a confidence booster
when you do that", said Stall, the
Petes' leading scorer and in eighth place
in the OHL scoring race. "When you
see that you just want to pepper him with
good shots and keep pushing."
The Majors actually made a second goalie
change after the Chambers goal, by pulling
Chiodo and re-inserting Peters. Although
the rookie came up huge Hasek style on a
2 on 1 against Staal and Tardif, sliding
across the crease and kicking up a leg pad
high to take away a Tardif goal marked for
the top corner, most of the damage had already
been done. The Petes refused to relent and
pulled up 5 - 0 at the end of the second
period, with winger Josh Patterson re-welcoming
Peters by redirecting a Krajicek point shot
past the hapless netminder. Staal added
the finishing touch in the third period,
taking a loose puck behind the net and wrapping
it around a sprawling Peters who had been
drawn out of place.
Krajicek, a native of Prostejov, Czech Republic,
was pleased with his team's well distributed
effort, particularly in rebounding from
the stinging loss the night before.
"It's great to get this contribution
from everyone. We didn't have a good game
the night before. We just wanted to get
things going. We got up three goals in the
first, focused on not letting them score,
so we're happy."
"It's even better that everyone helped.
It's still two points, but we have to do
this every night."
Stall agrees. The six foot three 185 pound
forward, who also put up two assists, is
content to carry the load of being the team's
top scorer but understands the importance
of balancing the attack.
"It's really important to get everyone
coming out. It hasn't always been like that.
We need everyone to chip in to get things
going."
Even though the first place Majors play
in another division, what may have made
the win more intriguing, if not a touch
sweeter, was the fact that the St. Mike's
squad is stacked with five players currently
under contract to NHL teams, while the Petes
have but one NHL representative in Krajicek,
who actually played in 5 games last year
with the Panthers.
Head Coach Allain was quick to downplay
the significance of this.
"No, that doesn't bug us", he
said afterwards. "They're a good team
no matter what, and this is a tough building
to play in. We have to prepare the same
anyways."
Stall also refused to concede that this
game, with himself and three of his teammates
currently ranked in Central Scouting's top
25 junior rankings, represented a changing
of the guard.
"Not really," he said when asked
if his team was anxious or in awe of playing
against potential NHL calibre talent. "We
just gotta go out there and bang, bang,
bang."
The win knots the season series at 1 win
each, the Petes' avenging a 5-1 loss at
home against the Majors last month. The
Majors fall to 16-12-3-1 but maintain their
hold on first place in a slowly tightening
Central Division, with Brampton and Barrie
only 4 and 6 points out of first. The Petes
improve to 11-12-6-2 and despite their current
spot in fourth place in the East Division
are still within striking distance of the
second place Generals, who are ahead by
only eight points. St. Mike's next plays
on December 13 at Oshawa, while the Petes
host Plymouth on December 12th.
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