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The Canadien Champion, Tueaday, December 2, 1997-19 Preliminary bouts before the anthem « By STEVE LeBLANC Special to The Champion Don't rely on scheduled start times to catch ail the action of a Milton Merchant game these days. J Much of the hoopla now takes place before the opening puck drop, in the form ge of pre-game warm-up brawling. For the second time in two weeks, the Jr. ai A club demonstrated their physical domi- 1 nance before their patriotism (fighting ttfrtWn1fnl prior to the national anthem) at Iceland whteS, SelHai Arena in Mississauga Saturday. %t ns det w n And once again veteran l'orward Troy le nte4y Walczak was night in the thick of thinga. Supfsig.y thsg isafd Hîs initial tilt witb Charger Ryan Eby srnea hgm w= d opened the fioodgates and inspired team- n vna aftne hydmhâ mates Mike Hurst and Steve French to bu w miue of ath seon hlfan fn square off wîth Ryan Digby and James sewiha759vCoy McKeracher respectively. ~Thy bea ai **gni $,.n 1 Participants in these second and third oi fights drew extra-game misconducts while ...erbi play, v aIl six brawlers were ejected from the SelHdfradDM md aftemnoon make-up gamne.oftecxMo" a v As a pre-game bonus for the blood- on tbirsty, goalie Jeremy Wenzel accidentally Mr igio oiiuo 7p4 caugbt Mark McPhail in the mouth withb i eeiestwa C4w bis stick. s teb" Milton's defensive anchor sustained at'oofyà*d fi split lip from the fluke misbap and needed SeËýr1 seven stitches at Credit Valley Hospital. At press time it was still undetermmned whetber or not hie would be able to play ti tonight (Tuesday) in Hamilton. Unfortunately for those wbo aren't early birds, the energy and emotion shown in ïg- warm-up didn't carry over into tIhe actual gaine. Knowing that victory was realistically _ unattainable, thse vastly inferior Chargera simply went tbrough thse motions and took their lumps in a 9-I blowout. They managed just 12 shots on Wenzel and needed a third-period breakaway goal by Davin Donaldson to keep from getting blanked. Merchant aniper Darren Haydar beld some spectators' attention through the final 30 minutes, during which time he put G a tc t n oN w a k td a together bis first four-goal gaine at thse Jr. A level. It appears Brad Grant bas advanced his agenda dition lie be traded back to a Provincial Jr. A club. He nw sts 1 ponts hea ofagain. Grant dealt away fuiture considerations for thse bard- Collingwood's David Deeves (34 goals, Thse Milton Merchants' owner scooped up talented nosed forward, wbo ainassed 25 goals and 28 assista 35 assista, 69 points in 25 gaines to 25G, leftwînger Jeif Hutchins last week, in thse aftermath of in 44 gaines st season. 33A, 59PTS, in 27GP) to lead thse a six-player deal designed to benefit thse Newmarket "Bramnpton, Milton and Aurora were ail in the run- Provincial Jr. A League scoring rae 87's and Metro's Thornhili Islanders. ning (for my services). I'm really happy witb the way Brother Jeff recorded his I 8th goal of Newmarket, in desperate need of blueline help, things turned out," the I 9-year-old Toronto native the year, to, break last year's total. recently sent four players (including Hutchins) and said. "Milton bas a very balanced teain that's capable Also denting the twine were Jasen ~.$4,000 to Thornhill in exehailge for a pair of top- of going aIl thse way." Hopiavuiori, TJ. Lee, RicIs Williains and notch defenceinen - one of whomn bas failed to report The 6', 187 Ibs. tbird-year junior should add tough- newcomer Jeif Hutchins - who held his to his new teami. ness and a big ahot up front - not unlike former -o FIGNTS on page 21 Bmad Grant Huichins oepotted to ThornihilI, but only on thse con- *eeGRANT Sn page 21 $329 (42 Months Lease) $298 +Tae OR MMOE S (42 Months Lease) NO LIIFNACIN 24 la 00i Auto, air, cruisa control, M~4 AMU1* ICume, Ahqs, nt Fume AU ~ , ~ int@rmfiit wipmifo NWMats.