St. Mike's enjoying Major gains
October 9, 2008
By Aaron Bell
When the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors opened the new season, it’s understandable if they were a little bit concerned about their offence.
Last year’s scoring leader
Kaspars Daugavins had graduated to the pro ranks and they started the year with standout forward
Casey Cizikas on the shelf with a sore back suffered during the pre-season.
So far, those concerns have been answered by a scoring-by-committee approach that has them rolling through the early part of the season. After dropping their season opener to the Barrie Colts, the Majors peeled off four straight wins, including victories over the Niagara IceDogs and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at home last weekend.
10 different forwards have already scored this season with
Jared Gomes,
Jordan Mayer,
Michael Pelech,
Kyle Neuber and rookie
Corey Bureau all sharing the goal scoring lead among forwards with two each.
“Every line is pitching in and getting one or two every game,” said overage captain
Jesse Messier (pictured). “Every line knows their role and we are sticking to our game plan and it’s paying off.”
Defenceman
Cameron Gaunce is coming off an outstanding rookie season in the OHL and leads the team with three goals to go along with a pair of helpers in four games and fellow blueliner
Brett Flemming has five assists in five games.
The Majors started the season with three straight road games and wins in Peterborough and Kingston helped set the tone for the early part of the season.
“Especially with those games on the road,” Messier said. “It’s always good to be above .500 on the road and now we’ve got a few games at home and hopefully we can take off from here.”
The Majors have also welcomed contributions from younger players like Bureau, William Wallen and first round pick Devante Smith-Pelly, who scored his first OHL goal in their win in Kingston on Sept. 26.
“Those young guys came in during camp,” Messier said. “They had a lot of speed and were challenging for positions on the team. It shows out there that they really earned their spots with this team. They just had to give it their all and stick to their game.”
Goaltender
Chris Carrozzi was expected to be the backbone of the team this year but struggled a bit after returning to the Majors from the Atlanta Thrashers camp. He gave up three goals on 11 shots and was yanked from their game against Peterborough but rebounded with back-to-back wins last weekend, including a 31-save effort against the Greyhounds on Sunday.
“Chris is back to his regular self,” Messier said. “He was a little shaky when he came back from camp. It’s a little different facing NHL shots to these shots. You have to adjust and he did this week in practice and he’s standing on his head out there.”
This is the kind of success that the franchise envisioned when it brought back Dave Cameron as head coach and Director of Hockey Operations last year. Cameron led the Majors to three straight appearances in the OHL’s semi-finals before leaving to guide the Binghamton Senators in the American Hockey League.
“Last season was a development season,” veteran defenceman Mike McGurk said. “I thought we did pretty well and came a long way. I think this season is going to be even better.”
Cameron will be an assistant coach with Canada’s National Junior Team at the World Juniors in Ottawa this Christmas.
The Majors relocated to Mississauga last season after playing at the antiquated St. Michael’s College School Arena. They became the new tenant at the Hershey Centre after the IceDogs moved to St. Catharines.
The support for the Majors has been positive in Mississauga so far. They welcomed more than 4,150 to their home opener last week.
“Mississauga is a great town,” McGurk said. “The crowds were down a little bit but they started to pick up towards the end of the year. They seem to be behind us this year.”
Photo: Aaron Bell/OHL
