Passing Muster – Majors, Generals in charge

The Oshawa Generals and Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors are at the top of their respective divisions after both enjoyed undefeated weeks in the Ontario Hockey League.

Generals take command of East Division

Oshawa (7-3-2) beat the Belleveille Bulls 5-3, the Sudbury Wolves 3-1, and finally the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 3-2 in a shooutout victory.

The three wins add to a five-game undefeated streak for the Generals that has moved Oshawa up from third to first in the East Division.

General manager and head coach Chris DePiero is pleased with his team’s turnaround.

“Confidence is such a big part of hockey and we’ve got a lot of confidence right now,” he said on the team website. “We’re being responsible defensively.

“We don’t panic and the guys are buying into what we as a coaching staff are telling them.”

A well-rounded offence helps with goals coming from eight different players during the three game road trip.

Although the 3-2 final does not reflect it, Oshawa’s game against Sault Ste. Marie might have been the Generals’ most impressive offensive performance of the season.

Oshawa pelted Greyhounds goalie Robin Lehner with 44 shots over three periods and overtime.

The Generals have been led on the ice and the score sheet by captain Jeff Hayes’ two goals and three assists in Oshawa’s last three matches.

Majors defence tight as a drum

Mississauga (8-3) won two games this week, blanking the Niagara IceDogs 4-0 and taking a physical 5-1 game from the Guelph Storm.

Not surprisingly, goaltender Chris Carrozzi was responsible for the blank sheet against the IceDogs.

The 19-year-old has two shutouts, and leads the OHL with a 1.57 goals-against-average and a 0.942 save percentage. The Atlanta Thrashers’ 2008 sixth round draft pick is the best goalie in the league so far this season.

“Our defence did a good job of moving the puck and Carrozzi was really good when he had to be,” said Majors co-coach James Boyd, to the Mississauga News.

Carrozzi sat out the match against the Storm, but in his stead JP Anderson put in a solid 60 minutes for St. Mike’s, turning away 24 of 25 shots.

Left-winger William Wallen spearheaded the Majors attack, scoring two goals and three assists in the wins.

Looking Ahead

Mississauga will travel to Kingston Wednesday night to play the Frontenacs at 7 p.m.

The Generals are visiting Guelph Friday. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

About this article

By: John Chidley-Hill
Posted: Oct 20 2009 8:33 pm
Edition:
Filed under: Hockey Sports
Topics: