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The Canadian Champion, Fniday, Novomber 24, 2000 -27 SPORTS Q1alt FRetbu Low Everyday Pces! Law e e VeQies! 9*i SotTerniLeasing ®®Free Pick-up & Delhvery *No Charge for 842-8892 AdditonalDrvers - dVlerchants captain sinks overtime gomal - to beat lowly Blues Photo by GRAHAM PAINE vToo close for comfort Wlntmrhawk goalla Nichola Emusa contenda with traMfl whlle one of hlm teammates barely k..ps the puck out of the net durlng AA major novice play againat Brampton Sunday. Milton lost the aftemoon tilt 6-3. ýMerchants ranks beefed up Sy STEVE LaBLANC Thse Champion '1'f Milton Merchants rernain caught in a numbers gmre. Only now the pstiblt-m ists't flording t-nough avail able bodies to f111 tht- Bit-up, but raCher fiosdiing enough ce tiunet to, accomotrodate evteyosse. That's ulready becorpoing a toeogh tak - witle four additions made in the paat lt-w wt-eks - ansd one that'm about ho get dlownright dauntirgg with tht- iospendng ret-sm of oojuetd delfseeonn Chis Rock and Stev-Sd=çotag, Wlds 25 players ourrtly on the rosftet, gentrai manager N'sek Slawson bas ail but admlitted there'lB he somse ts*l-easoos aodtllrnng going ou fat-long- tt-rm>positions. '1'ey (Met-chants) cao't Cake any nigbts off," he said. 's gomng to bu hatil kceplsg evesryone happy bure, we estognize that," .Among tise oitw recessite, Milton's GM bau bt-en eapt-cially irnpressed with former London Knights winger Jason Harshaw - who bas had multi-point performances in fout- of six gaines Chus far. "Jason bringe an t-lt-ment of energy and bard work up front Chat we weoe previously missing." Ami looldg clown tht- road, Slawson bulit-ves ex- HamDilton Kity Bt-es defenceman Choie Kietg - aequired Laut week in a cash delti - will h. table to make e strong contribution ons the- powt-rlay and taise sonne of tht- load off captai Johie Nadalin- While the-s newçomer cottld bu mùajor building bloclcs towas'ds a suicceseful second hait, a osuoner of t-oic players have but-n largely reaponsible for dt-e team's impressive 16-5-3 fîret hall, Slawsoos said sis particular forward-ttlroed' defessessan Dan Bognar detserves a great "l-a of t-redit for sactlflcing bis indivodual statialies - and poteritially limlting hie app-al tso NCAA sct-cs - for thebtinterest of tht- t-mis. '1)ts's really giveos sonitthiosg of hiosatf and 1 thini that's syttbolic of tht- t-sm tbis yt-ar," said Slawsoos. '1 think we owe tise guy a debtof gratitude and I'd lilce Cc get hlm back Up ftont as soon as pos- sible." Milton isn't expectt-d te do much player move- tnienst bt-fore tise December 1 eut clown date - when five carda musC ho sent back to the- OHA. As for tht- next eut clown in January, well that's another story. "lThat might be tht- dîrne when thiosgs happen," adrnitted Slawson. "We've still got a wish lisat' By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion John Nadalin has been the Milton Met-chants' inspirational backbone and defensive anchor ail season long. Tuesdsy night, the seasoned blueliner added teamn hemo to his liot of credentials - ainking the overtimne winner and, in the proceos, helping bis coto avoid what could have been an otherwise humbling finish againot the vastly inlerior Bramalea Blues. In a near split-second move which stunneel moat in attendance - or at least those familiar with his long-on-substance- short-on-flash style - the local captain but-st off the bench, dat-ted into the offen- sive zone and wired a loose puck past David Digironimo. The 1:17 tally ileed the Merchants to a 4-3 win and allowed theru to close out tie fit-st haîf of the season much the way they've endeel moat gamnes as of late -in victory. Salvaged suhpar effort- Nadalin's sudden death goal provided an exciting conclusion to what was overaîl an uninspireel performance for the- boots, who as of last night t-njoyed sole possession of firat place in the Ontario Provincial Jr. A League's Western Conference. They saC two points up on Brampton, while a handful of other t-sas t-ail closely behind. Though not expecteel to he as motivat-d as during last week's horne-and-horne series againat Brampton, Milton seemed lat-gely disinteresteel for moot ol the tight two-hour contest and didn't score until laCe in tht- second period. Tht-y finally took tht- lt-ad midway through tht- third but tht-n surrendt-red a goal with a me-t 14 seconds lt-ft which allowed the Blues to fot-ce overtime and gain s rnuch ne-dt-d point in their ongoing ftght for the last plsyoff spot. Milton's special teama play proveel to be a deciding factor - with a [ove-on-th-t-t disadvantsge being killt-d off at tht- tail-eie of tht- second, shortly ht-fore tan LaBrash banked in a doot-step rebound on tht- pow- t-rplay 2:27 into tht- third. Defenceman Vinct- Guiducci got tht- minutes left in the middle stanza, net- ting his lit-st of the year on a blueline floater through heavy traffic. The point was used to score goal number three as well - only that John Nadalîn ime it wao veteran winger Dan DeLong tipping in a blast by Nadalin. Picking up a pair of assista on the night, including one on the game winner, wao recently acqui-t-c winger Jason Harshaw - who has 11 pointa in six gamnes. Nadalin also had two helpers while single assista were registered by Elliott Altberg, Kevin Amauda, Ryan DelMonte andl Andy Rozac. Crafty cage work Increasing hie season win totaà to 12, Joel Camrton delivered a more than respectable effort - stopping 28 shots including ail 14 in the second period. He came up with a couple of dynamite glove saves during Chat stretch which il not turned back could have heen enough for Bramalea to prevail. Also delivering soliel performances weoe Mike McGrane and Arnada - who contin- ues to sec key ice ime, including on cru- cial penalty kills. The Blues got two goals from Sean Gilmore and a single lromn Rick Varone. Centre Flavio Fagionni was knocked out of the game laCe in the first with a minor shoulder injury, but is expected back somnetime tbis weekend. The 16'-5-3 Merchants, who've won seven of their last nine games, wrapped up the fn-st haîf of tht- season with the samne number of wins and just one less point titan they did st year. Met-chant notes: Dan Bognar, James Coleman and Scott Malcolma ail finished top two-game suspensions Tuesday and will be available this weckend- when the Merchants hoot Mississauga tonight and, weather permitting, travel to Buffalo tomorrow ... Delenceman Steve Schentag could be back froru knee surgery as early as tonight. Fellow rearguard Chris Rook, out with a separated shoulder, is expected to retun early next month. (f~ ~~%~ -pp~jMILTON COGECO 1lL4 * www.cogeco.ca NORTH HALTON STUDIO 2:1 Main Street North, Acton, ON L7J 1lV9 1F1,154ý"7loie(5:19) 853-4700