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The Canadiani Champion, Tuesday. January 16, 2001 - 17 vDemoralizing déjà-vufort hapless Merchants By STEVE LOBLANC Thte Champion Can anyone say déjà-vu'? When the Merchants last hattled Brampton and Hamilton in succession, they scorcd one rneasly goal and came away withi a winlcss weckend. Jus( over a month later the local juniors hav e reltved the painf'ul ordcal and handed over first place to the defending regular season champion and weckend swceping Georgetown Raiders. Art O for- 15 powerplay whitewash was largely to hlame for the offensive droughit, that was capped hy Saturday's 5-0) goose egg iii Brampton. This pr<impted a lengthy posi-season skull session, during which head coach Glenn Walsh invited his charges to do a little soul searching. 1 asked thettt il they really belmes cd that thcv were a 5-tf (los- ing) teatît to Bramtptont .. .. aid the local hench boss."Il they were ready tii fake a nin at a championship or il they'd let this (lîîss) aftfect their psyche.- Answers to ii t questioni wili begin taking shape ttinight when lits teant Iras els tii Braitialea' s Victoia Park Arena. But onie thing fIat s alrçady abutidanItl> cleari s thit n <rder [o eitjîy att> kind oil playîîl Ipiisperity , Mi ltont lias tIo stafl priiducitîg wtth the niait- ads'antage. At practice Sutîday. Walslh des'ited cuitsiderable tirne tio wirk- îîîg on tîte pciwerplay -which had hield sucît promtise at uoîe tîlse but f*or lie îîîîst part thîs seanon has bcet ratîter pîtîlul. Renîarked Milton's skipper, "We've got to rectîly statioins and generate mocre shicts.- Many missed opportunities The 24-12-4-t Merchants caine up shoîrt in both these areas against Branmpton Saturday. Four powerplays were squandered in tîte fîrst perîtîd alonte. which set the tîîne Icor a loîng night and detnoralizing defeat. Cîîming off straîght losses earlier in flic week. the Capîtals were hungry tuor a win and used their tîny ice surf'ace to physically doininate Miltcon. Meanwhile, Danny Gould -Brattpton's ineal ticket between tlie pipes - was rock scîlid, tuoîiîg hack 28 shots for the sîtutout. The vîctors lit tlie lamp in the openiîîg aîîd clcîsîng moments of periods one and twî ti grab the upper hand. Froin there, they pot- ted a backhreaking third tally early in the final trame before a mincir skrmish broke out beîween the adjoining henches. Bratmptton wîîuld go on to score with a two-mas pcîwerplay and added insult to injury with a shorthanded marker inside the I ast minute of play. Capital John Winstanfey delivered a hat-trick whife Jeff Hristovski and Kenny Souza added singles. At honme against Hamilton Friday. Milton took its third loss of the year ttî their sturdy steel-town rivais -getting out-muscled and eventually edged 2-I1. Def'enceman Chris Rook - sinking his first thîs season - made the Itîne deptîsit for the hosts, beating Kilty Bec Bryan Sîronginan tit a partially screened blueline floater seven-and-a- haîf« minutes into the third. This evened the count, but only served as a prelude 10, heartbreak - as Hamilton's Ryan Lahie went five-hole aI the 12:50 mark to net the winner and spoil a terrilic perfornnance by velerami gtialkeeper JoeI Cameron. From a quality shtîts standpoint, the Merchants were thorough- ly out-chaîtced on the night -which marked] the return of young defetîcenat Adamn Sturgeon and tlte debut cil ex-Burlington gun- ner Rick Ferrti. Both jcîined the teatît just prior to the trade deadline Wednesday. Multon's losI weekend put the brakes on a six-gane win streak. durîng which the Ibten offetîsively potent club bunied the biscuit three dozen limes and sctîctd no less than f'our on any ntght. Photo by GRAH-AM PAINE Merchant captai n John Nadali n gets hauled down whf le trying ta clear the puck whîle goali e Joel Cameron races back ta hi s net during Friday's home game against Hamilton, which ended in a 2-1 defeat for the local juniors. --Peewees open playoffs with big win By STEVE LeBLANO Thte Champion Milton's A major peewees sure know howv t make a good finIt impreasion. Kicking off their opening round provincial playoff series in fine style at John Tonelli Sports Centre Sunday evening, the Docs & Dents Winterhawks potled four unanswered goals en route 10, toppling Ancaster 5-2. The win was tce third tis season agsinst the Avalanche and snapped a two-game loaing sldd for the local lads. Eric BotIs provtded brilliant cage work through gamne one of the best-of-five series, especially durtng the second period when he tumed back about a dozen shots in a spant of three miinutes. He gave up a couple of laIte powerplay markers, but by then a comneback was ouI of te question. Meanwhile, the hosts notched ail but one of their goals with- in a nine-minute lime framne in the middle stanza. Stephan Kays deposiled the winner, catching the boltomn leit corner on an autltorttative snapshot. Enjoying the lion's shame of the scorfng pie with two tallies - including one wtmile the locals were shortltanded - and a pair of assists was Ryan Mitchell. Dale Thring had a goal and two helpers wbile aso standing out with three assists was Malt Mantin. Michael Good was the other marksmen. Defensively, David Debren and Field Burgoyne did a credi- hIe job clearing the front of the net and denyfng thre visitors during one-on-one baltles. Their efforts - plus those of te entire blueline unit - restnicted opposing attackers to just s single shot lhrough the first period. Miltonts 4-f or-6 penalty killing campaign also played a role in the win. The best-of-five clash continues in Ancaster Saturday. If vie- torious, the 'Hawks will have a chance 10 sweep the l'ollowing Sunday, January 28 at Tonelli Arena. 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