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The Canadiaci Champion, Tuesday, September 18, 2001- 23 SPORTS Merchants triumph in home opener for fifth straight season By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion The Merchants' home-opeiting domninance continues. In front of ils ncw owners and a fcw hun- drcd othcrs in attendance including former Maple Leaf Rick Vaive, Milton pushed its tradition of starling the year wiUi a con- vincing victory to the half-decade mark aI Memorial Arena Friday. The Western Conferencc's dcfcnding champions took the lead exactly half-«a- minute into the evcning and maintained il for the duration on the way to toppling the rebuilding Burlington Cougars 6-1. After weathering an early rash of penal- lies, thse hosts had things pretly much in control and cemented the win wiUi thece third-period goals. Nevcrtheless, Glenn Walsh couldn't bring himacîlf to gel too excitcd about Uic decisive win - realizing that while bis club's skill level was in abundance, struc- ture was sorely lacking. More structure needed "We did some thinga wcll tonight, but we also did anme awful lhings," said Uic sec- ond-year bench boss. "The reason wc got Uiesc young guys was for their akill, but Uicrc's a lot of litIle Uiings Uicy nccd to improve on to fit mIn our structurc. "Thcre's a lot of chcmislry in Uic dress- ing room. Now wc need 10 sec il on Uic iee.- Rookie Rich Meloche - onc of four 16- year-olds on Uic tcamn Uiis year - dcliv- ercd Uic carlical season hat-trick ini recent mcmory, punctuating bis outburst with a îwo-shot brcakaway deposit with undcr scvcn minutes rcmnainig. Alto lighting Uic lamp werc Michel Bond, David Ovcjak and ncwly appointed captain Kevin Arruda - who alongaide feilow veleran Dan Bognar offered a high- 1'800 -O-Canada,. Ta-Ik to us. Do you have questions about child safety, jobs, parental benefits, passports or pensions? Our information off icers can help. -Find out about the hundreds of services available from the Government of Canada. Caili 1800 O-Canada during regular business hours and a real person wilI answer your cali. ly credible penal- ty-killing effort, tc quash Ai seven i' of the visitors' powerplay oppor- tunities. The Merchants scorcd thrcc times "r when they had the man-advantage to, put the brakes - at least temporari- ly -on a rather Rich Meloche punchless power- nets hat-trick in play seen through home pener much of exhibi- home pener tion play. Trevor Battaglia gave a standout opening night performance. between the pipes. The former Mississauga Chargers cager was particularly sharp whcn challenged down- stairs and was perfect until the final two- and-a-half minutes, when Cougar Bob Raymond's close-range spin-around shot beat him through thc five-hole. Chipping in a pair of assista for thc win- ning side were defencemen Rick Janco and Shawn Mole. Single helpers went to Bond, Dan Carcillo, Chris Krieg, Scott Malcolm, Wea Martin and Justin Boothi a 6', 175 Ibs. winger picked up carlier ini Uic week fromn the Stouffville Spirit. Merchant notes: Milton's new owners put on an impressive opening-night cere- mony tIsaI was capped with thc defending division champs throwing Merchant hala to their ynung fans. An npcning puck drop with Rick Vaive and a number of give- aways helpcd complete Uic night ... The Merchants were expected to begin a fîve- games-in-teven-nights strctch laat night in Buffalo. Despite last week's terrorist attacka in New York, Milton waa atll expecling 10 making Uic trip at press lime yeslerday ... Milton's next home game is this Frday against Brampton. For more infomation o govemment services: canada.gc.ca Service Canada Acce~s Centres 1800) O-Qnada .0 800.62262>2 Caaa 4zM * v