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28 stouffnlle suntribune thursday sept 15 2005 stouffville suntribune sports i spirit to host newmarket tonight in season opener byjohncudmore staff writer the last time anyone laid eyes on the stouffville spirit it was on the short end of a dis appointing playoff series loss to the newmarket hurricanes last spring it was a series in which the young upstart spirit had the hurricanes pinned to the mat but could not finish instead the more experi enced newmarket side reeled off three straight wins and a berth in the north conference final since then the spirit has grown up some or at least thats the hope of general manager ken burrows anchored by 15 returning players perhaps this is the season the franchise claims its first north conference title well theres nothing like walking through the firezone to steel ones will a lot of the returning guys are really hungry and that can lead to something special if it can be harnassed and going in the right direction said burrows who also hired for mer lindsay muskies assis tant coach dan west to replace ousted head coach brian perrin we were up 21 and didnt have the closer but i think weve grown up and matured spirit fans will hope thats the case because this north conference may be even more competitive than ever this season and last season was no slouch in that depart ment when you consider- no single team failed to survive the season with loss totals in single digits scorers note the seguin bruins who play from humphrey township near parry sound are an expan- experience wn in a division title ken burrows spirit general manager believes- returning players have matured sion team bringing the north to seven teams so what gets burrows wound up about the upcom ing season that starts tonight when the hurricanes visit the stouffville arena our attitude he said from what we have done over the summer the play ers understand whats going on and should be ready for whats happening at the start of the season i think some of the kids in the past have been uptight they go to the ohl camps and get all stressed their heads are spinning but now theyve all been through that were just that much more mature this year and seem ready to go from the outset the spirit will have the services of randy johnston who posted a point per game in 30 games upon his return from the ohl last season- and brock ouelett and cory battista joined the squad after open ing night a year ago but will be in tonights lineup when the spirit host the hurricanes in the regular season opener at 730 pm still it will take more than that trio of players to boost their games every vet can improve his numbers offensively said burrows whose franchise is seeking its first conference title on defence simon gysbers who will attend lake superior state next season on a scholarship and ian brunt are the anchors both dan mcwhinney the lone spirit entering his final season of eligibility and steve filipelli return to handle the goaltending chores up front leading scorer ty raine has departed and will play for the niagara falls canucks jr b while attend ing brock university and patrick lee is signed with the erie otters of the ohl burrows anticipates a rebound season from joel sheppard obtained from the hurricanes in a deal for 45- point man carson devine the teams second leading scorer a year ago returning players goal steve filippelli dan mcwhinney defence jeff barbieri ian brunt simon gysbers daniel spivak forward will acton cory battista scott brown rob groom randy johnston brock ouellet blake pullin rick schrank jake van allen departing players defence sean gray new england college ncaa jody halas collingwood jr a brett waters lindsay jr a forward mike aiello ajax jr a patrick lee erie otters ohl mike lombardo ty raine niagara falls canucks jr b brandon walker aurora tigers jr a new players defence miles gomes york simcoe express midget matt hoffman north york rangers midget james mcintosh markham islanders minor midget forward mike foy north toronto midget darcy gray bradford bulls jr c shawn frank toronto red wings minor midget mark sullivan uxbridge jr c staff photomike barrett a case of the dropsies claremont youth sports base runner natasha watson left received a break when stouffville giles chev olds third baseman taylor macpherson dropped the ball while attempting to put a tag on her during saturdays whitchurch- stouffville softball association house league roundrobin playoff game at memorial park stouffville giles chev olds won 1615 but claremont gained revenge in sundays final tilt by defeating stouffville giles chev olds mennos drop semifinal series opener to cobourg stouffville mennos manager art burkholder felt the majority of the team brought their b game to cobourg tuesday when the two clubs opened the bestofthree oshawa city and district softball league semifinal series for the mennos that didnt bode well as they dropped a 40 decision to the host diamond kings the only bright spot for the mennos was starting pitcher byron baranieski who struck out eight bat ters and surrendered just seven hits the diamond kings capitalized on two mennos errors in the first inning to score twice and take a 20 lead cobourg then added two more runs in the third inning on three hits and a walk rich burkholder and brett boyd each had one hit for the mennos off winning pitcher wayne wells the series resumes tonight at memorial park at 7 pm if the mennos can win that game a decid ing contest would follow later that night 6427574 eclinicca imm gmain st f the train station dr sheldon lazier dr waseema ali dr dina ghobrial ed edwards dd