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Monday, February 15, 1999
St. Michael's loves shrine
With the Maple Leafs having played Saturday night for the final time at Maple Leaf Gardens, the Ontario Hockey League's St. Michael's Majors became the main hockey tenant at the 67-year-old building.
"The opportunity to be the main tenant is a thrill for all of us," Majors centre Kenny Corupe said yesterday after a 7-4 loss to Ottawa. "So many Hall of Famers played for St. Mike's and the Leafs. It's huge because this place has been a hockey shrine for decades."
The Majors, who will be back at the Gardens next season as well, are hoping to spend more time at Carlton and Church Streets before the regular season ends on March 19. St. Mike's has practised just twice there this season.
"I hope we can practise here more so we can get to know the rink more," said winger Kyle McAllister, as he glanced around the Majors dressing room, which doubled as the dressing room for visiting NHL teams. Several Blackhawks autographed the walls in the room on Saturday night.
"Look around in here. Guys like (Chris) Chelios and (Doug) Gilmour signing their names. It's quite a feeling."
The Majors play host to Plymouth at the Gardens on Thursday and Sarnia on Sunday. In between is a visit to Barrie to face the Colts on Friday.
GET THE POINT? Jim Hulton hopes his message got through. The Mississauga IceDogs coach dressed Lou Dickenson for a 6-2 loss Friday to the Majors, but kept the 16-year-old leashed to the bench for the entire game.
Dickenson, the second pick overall in last year's draft, has just seven points in 18 games since Christmas. The fire Dickenson showed in the first half of the season, when he had 29 points in 33 games, is gone.
"He is going through a lot of growing pains, for lack of a better word," Hulton said. "Maybe we look to him too much. I think our expectation level gets too high sometimes."
The native of Orleans, Ont., who will play for Team Ontario's under-17 team at the Canada Winter Games beginning on Saturday, said being the go-to guy has bothered him at times.
"There's a lot of pressure with being a 16-year-old, and sometimes I think (Hulton) puts too much pressure on me, and I try to ignore it," Dickenson said. "But he put the message through to me (with the benching)."
Scott Page scored the only goal in an 8-1 loss to London yesterday. The 'Dogs play host to Barrie on Wednesday, travel to Sudbury on Friday and entertain Owen Sound on Sunday.
YES, IT'S TRUE: When Brampton Battalion winger Raffi Torres glances at the league's top-10 rookie scorers, one name jumps out at him: His own.
"Coming into the season I just wanted to be consistent," said Torres, who has 25 goals and 22 assists in 50 games. "But I'm surprised. First of all, I'm happy to be playing with (centre) Jeff Bateman, because we really click. And a lot of it lately has had to do with having a lot of luck."
A 17-year-old Markham native, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Torres already has surpassed his output from last season, when he scored 17 goals and 16 assists in 46 games with tier II Thornhill. This season, on a team which boasts underage phenom Jason Spezza, Torres' 25 goals are tops.
"Going into every game and being prepared to play a full 60 minutes is important," Torres said. "But I have to mention (coach) Stan (Butler), too. He has shown a lot of confidence in me."
The Battalion's Lukas Havel scored the only goal in a 4-1 loss to Kitchener last night. Brampton is in Guelph on Thursday before entertaining Oshawa on Saturday and Windsor on Sunday.
Terry Koshan's OHL Week at a Glance appears Monday.