Jonny on the spot
Richardson finds groove with three-goal performance

Ottawa – Veteran Xpertek Construction Inc. Hockey Club winger Jon Richardson admits that he had been squeezing the stick a little too tight in the four games he had played since the birth of his first-born son.

Like most first-time, hockey-playing fathers, Richardson was eager to score that first goal so he could bring the puck home to his boy and hopefully infuse him with an early passion for the great game of hockey.

Problem is, Richardson was held pointless in every game he had played since the little tyke made his appearance – until recently, that is.

In a demonstration of pure goal-scoring precision, Richardson had not one, not two, but three pucks to bring home after Xpertek HC easily disposed of its far inferior Battlecat opponents by a 6-2 score in recent OSMHL action.

“Yeah, it’s true that I wanted to score so bad,” Richardson said post-game. “I kept the puck from my first-ever minor hockey goal. I kept the tennis ball from my first-ever road hockey goal. I kept the puck from my first-ever Carver Communications goal. I kept the puck from my first-ever Xpertek goal. And I even keep all the pucks after I score in the warm-up. Obviously, I was going to keep the puck to commemorate my first goal after my son was born. It took longer than expected, but I’m really, really, really relieved right now.”

All three Richardson goals were set up by Marc Baril, who briefly held the OSMHL scoring lead for the first time in his career, only to fall back to a tie for fifth going into this weekend’s action after other teams in the division made up their games in hand.

Xpertek HC managed the win with a back-up goaltender manning the crease in place of regular netminder Pat Lafontaine, who was called up to face the Montreal Canadiens alumni in a friendly match across town.

It remains to be seen whether Lafontaine managed to stymie the Habs shooters with the aplomb he brings to the ice in the OSMHL. Still, the call-up should be good for his confidence and will hopefully propel him to a solid second half with Xpertek HC, who will next face-off against their archrivals – The Saints – on Sunday, December 21, at 10 p.m. at Bernard Grandmaitre Arena in their last game before Christmas.


THREE STARS

1. Jon Richardson – Snipes three-goals, brings pucks home for the boy
2. Marc Baril – Makes like Gretzky, sets up three
3. Steve Parker – Two-point effort vaults centre up the league scoring ladder

Xpertek HC win streak stops at three
Surging squad manages only a tie against inferior Trash

Ottawa – It could have been reversal of fortune night at the Fred Barrett Arena Sunday evening, as team Trash almost took out the garbage that was the Xpertek HC performance, but ultimately had to settle for a 2-2 tie with the division leaders.

From the very first puck drop, Xpertek looked sluggish, often struggling to string together two passes in a row. Even when Xpertek did manage to pick up the pace, the team was ‘All-Swedish, No-Finnish’ from in close, missing on a multitude of scoring chances that could have put the game out of reach early on.

Instead, team Trash took it to the slow-to-show Xpertek HC, and even held a 2-0 lead going into the second period.

“Tabaslac, we had a lot of chances,” said defenceman Brett Kubicek after the game, trying out the French derivative of tabarnac for the first time, eager to see if he could pull it off in a sentence.

“From my perch on the blueline, I saw at least a half-dozen tabaslackan shots that could have beaten the tabaslackan goalie, but he made some tabaslackan nice saves to keep them in it,” he added, taking his usage of the more polite incarnation of the popular swearword just a little too far.

While for awhile it looked as though team Trash might walk away with the victory, most on press row knew it was only a matter of time before the sleeping giant that is the Xpertek HC offence would come to life.

Right on cue, Etienne Dutrisac – a scoring revelation early in this OSMHL season – buried a Tony Lemay rebound to cut the Trash lead to 2-1.

Later in the period, Dutrisac again factored in on the scoring when he cleverly tipped a Marc Baril face-off win back to point-man Pierre Bouwhuis, whose seeing-eye shot found its way through a maze in front to stretch the mesh in the back of the net.

With the assist, Dutrisac moved into a tie for second in league scoring behind teammate Tony Lemay.

“I’d be first if Baril and Lemay hadn’t slowed me down all night,” Dutrisac said, post-game.

Still standing high atop the division standings, Xpertek HC next takes to the ice on Wednesday, December 3, in another dreaded 11 p.m. start.

THREE STARS

1. Etienne Dutrisac -- Xpertek HC's very own Mark Streit, fills it admirably at forward
2. Pierre Bouwhuis -- Leans in hard on heavy shot to send the game to a shootout
3. Tony Lemay -- Buzzed around the net all night, unfreazable shot creates rebound for first Xpertek goal

That's hockey
Lemay nets winner in high-tempo afternoon affair

Ottawa -- If the OSMHL wants to do something about the quality of hockey played on its ice surfaces, perhaps it should schedule more Sunday afternoon matinees like the one that saw Xpertek HC do battle with Trains and Airplanes at Carleton University yesterday.

In what will go down as one of the most memorable games in Xpertek/Carver Communications history, the boys in white walked away with a hard-fought, hard-earned 2-1 victory in game that saw both teams trade chances right up until the final buzzer.

T&A opened the scoring and held onto the 1-0 lead going into the final frame. At that point, Xpertek HC's veteran experience kicked in and ultimately took over against the brash young team in black.

First, Bryan Bernard -- in his second call-up appearance of the season -- scored one of the most memorable goals in team history on a fake-and-bake dash up the middle in which he lulled the defender to sleep at the red line before setting himself up for a breakaway dangle to the top shelf.

"Been practising that move in my basement since I was a kid," Bernard said. "I'd strap on the roller-blades and motor my way around the cement floor preparing for a moment like that. The move had a little Jake the Snake Roberts to it, meaning that I put the dude right to sleep when I slowed down," he added.

Tony Lemay would score the winner later on in the period, burying a Marc Baril rebound for the go-ahead goal. The marker was a demonstration of brute strength on Lemay's part, as he was forced to carry a T&A defender on his back from the red line in.

"Sacrament, j'l'avais su l'dos depuis la ligne rouge. J'la méritais celle-là!"

After that, it was the Pat Lafontaine show, with the veteran French-Canadian netminder turning away T&A attackers at every turn. By no coincidence, Lafontaine's awesome performance came with an entire section of family watching from the stands, as the four p.m. start meant that his wife and kids could see that he really is as good of a goaltender as he says he is!

Now riding a three-game win streak, Xpertek HC next takes to the ice on Sunday, November 30, back to reality with an 11 p.m. start.


THREE STARS
1. Bryan Bernard -- Killer move makes him a spare worth calling back
2. Pat Lafontaine -- Stellar goaltending performance... again
3. Brett Kubicek -- Steady play at both ends in return from injury inspires teammates to play hard

Xpertek HC rebounds in style
Management tongue-lashing sends team on two-game win streak

Ottawa – For nearly a full period last night, it looked like Initiation Hockey on the Bob McQuarrie Recreation Centre ice surface. On no less than a dozen occasions, referees were forced to whistle plays dead because players had gone off-side.

It wasn’t pretty.

With little going in the way of momentum, it was difficult for either team to muster any offence in a low-scoring affair that Xpertek HC eventually walked away with by a 2-1 count.

“What the hell were our forwards doing,” wondered defenceman and father-to-be Pierre Bouwhuis. “It’s like they completely lost track of how to play the game. I mean, it’s not friggin’ rocket science.”

“Remind us again about off-side,” said new father and dependable winger John Richardson. “Does the player or the puck have to cross the blueline first?”

“Based on how confused we looked it might have been a better idea to scrap the rules altogether and play with pond hockey abandon instead. Jeezus!”

Despite an early inability to string together two passes in a row or enter the offensive zone with any kind of aplomb, Xpertek HC did eventually manage to open the scoring on a rare occasion where the puck went from tape-to-tape-to-tape without a whistle blown in between.

Streaking through the neutral zone with his distinctive deceptive speed, winger and non-father Adam Hendriks – fresh from a foray deep into South American badlands – dangled his way through a pair of Undead backcheckers before dishing a sweet feed over to childless centre Steve Parker just as the two entered the zone on-side.

Parker carried the puck up the right wing boards, cut towards the net, then saucered a crisp backhand pass over to power forward and three-time procreator Christian Renaud, whose deft touch around the net allowed him to score his second goal in as many games.

It was a beautiful tally that reminded those watching why the OSMHL needs to revisit its asinine one-assist policy.

“Adam started that whole play,” said soon-to-be father of three Marc Baril. “He broke out of the zone. He carried the puck up the ice. He dished it off. Yes, Childless Steve did some good work too, but that set-up in the neutral zone deserved to be recognized on the scoresheet.”

Also not appearing on the scoresheet but worth mentioning is the solid piece of puckstopping work that goaltender Pat Lafontaine put together.

On more than one occasion he was peppered from in close, but each time the ‘father-of-two, only-two, and-not-a-chance-for-more-than-two’ came up with timely saves, some of them worthy of TSN Highlight of the Night contention.

For awhile, it looked like a shutout was in the cards for Lafontaine, but the Undead managed to break the goose-egg with only 50 seconds left in the game.

Hendriks was particularly concerned that he wasn’t properly positioned on the shutout-breaking goal.

“I’ll tell you what. I just spent a week in the Costa Rican rainforest, fighting off critters of all kinds on a mission to disband an army of indigenous small arms dealers who were holding a pack of domesticated monkeys hostage… and to me, dealing with all of that was easier than trying to figure out if I needed to rush the defenceman or cover the low slot after the play got scrambly in the circle.”

“It’s a tough game, this hockey thing. I’m just glad Etienne Dutrisac’s first legitimate goal of the season stood up as the winner,” Hendriks added.


THREE STARS

1. Pat Lafontaine – Solid effort gave Xpertek the win
2. Adam Hendriks – Big first game after heroic honeymoon mission
3. Pierre Bouwhuis – A force to be reckoned with, plain and simple

Ghosts of Grandmaitre look out for Xpertek HC
Ghastly refereeing helps too

Ottawa – At first glance, the Bernard Grandmaitre Arena gives off no illusions of being haunted. But like the Montreal Forum of old, its rafters must harbour the ghostly spirits of hockey heroes past, for Xpertek HC found itself on the fortuitous end of some phantom help in a rare Tuesday night tilt for the beleaguered squad.

Coming off back-to-back losses that had team officials fuming, Xpertek needed a bounce-back performance of impressive proportions to quell the discontent that has been boiling in the management suite.

As one would expect of as talented a team as this one, the boys in white came through with a solid effort that saw them walk away with a well-earned two points in the standings, and in the process silence the naysayers that began to speak up in the wake of a two-game losing streak.

The result, however, wasn’t all attributable to good old fashioned hard work. Xpertek HC caught a couple of big breaks en route to a 4-3 victory over the Battlecats.

With the game tied at one late in the first period, Etienne Dutrisac walked in unchecked from the blueline and rifled a shot that dribbled through the goaltender but stopped just short of crossing the line.

Mysteriously, the referee blew the play dead and called it a goal.

“No doubt, la puck ‘aitait d’dans… ‘aitait d’dans, ‘aitait d’dans, ‘aitant d’dans. C’est mon premier but d’l’année pis vous allez m’dire qu’aitait pas d’dans. Boule shit. ‘Aitait d’dans,” said an agitated Dutrisac after the game before a number of teammates confirmed that in fact “la puck ‘aitait pas d’dans!”

Later on, after minor league call-up Hughes Bisson had given Xpertek the lead, the Battlecats appeared to have tied the score on a high wrist shot but once again the head referee, lagging behind perhaps because of the heavy gut that gave him the allure of an inflated zebra, erred in his judgement and failed to see that the puck had in fact gone in.

On the strength of that break, Xpertek HC managed to maintain the lead for the remainder of the game and hang on for the victory thanks to a Christian Renaud howitzer-slapshot that would stand up as the winner.


THREE STARS
1. Etienne Dutrisac -- Non-goal goal a big goal to open scoring
2. Christian Renaud -- Winning goal erases the last zero in Xpertek forwards' goal column
3. Ghosts of Grandmaitre -- Leave their invisible fingerprints on the game

Too much T&A for heavy-legged Xpertek HC
Management shocked by uninspired effort

Ottawa – The doors to the Xpertek HC dressing room remained closed to the media long after the division-leading club suffered a 4-1 loss to the Trains & Airplanes in Sunday evening’s marquee OSMHL match-up.

Sources say that team management was unimpressed with the uninspired effort and vowed to crack down on all extra-curricular activities that might influence the team’s showing on the ice.

“We’re told that one of our players – Adam Hendriks – had the audacity to invite his teammates to wedding festivities held in his honour,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“Hendriks should have known that we could be playing the next night, and therefore should have postponed his wedding to the off-season, cancelled it altogether, or at the very least chosen to get married mid-week, when the team rarely plays.”

While team officials were understandably upset with Hendriks, it was team rep, Marty Leroux, who bore the brunt of management’s criticism.

“Leroux was there. He saw that his teammates were drinking and acting irresponsibly. He saw them showing total disregard for their bodies, but even worse, for the sacred colours of the Xpertek Construction Inc. Hockey Club, the night before a game. You would expect that a so-called team rep would understand the ramifications of such behaviour and step in to put an end to it, but what did he do? He got as drunk – if not drunker – than the rest of them.”

“That’s not leadership. That’s… that’s… that’s crappership,” the source bellowed from deep inside the bowels of Fred Barrett Arena, where the Xpertek loss brought the team’s record to 4-2 on the season.

“I’ll tell you one thing, there will be no more fun to be had outside of the rink this season. And put this in the fu**ing paper in big, bold letters so my players read it tomorrow: WEDDINGS, BIRTHDAYS, PARTIES, CHILDBIRTHS OR ANY OTHER CELEBRATIONS OF ANY KIND THAT MIGHT BRING ON DEFEAT FOR THIS TEAM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON. AND CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED FOR XPERTEK HC THIS YEAR,” the source fumed.

When asked if he saw any positives in any of the players, the source was terse in his reply: “No, and I would advise your piece of crap paper to not even bother posting a three-star selection. In my book, no-shows equal no-stars.”

Defeat spells victory for Xpertek HC
Loss keeps team from being bumped-up to higher division

Ottawa – In the end, the 4-3 defeat Xpertek HC suffered at the hands of the Capitals in Sunday night OSMHL action was a blessing in disguise.

The loss, which gave Xpertek a 4-1 record in qualifying play, kept the team from being moved up to a higher division where the older legs on the squad may have struggled to keep up.

“I guess Pat Laf saved our asses afterall,” said Marc Baril. “It’s not often that a team appreciates fluky goals against, but it turns out those two that went in early in the first were good for us.”

Baril was alluding to two bad bounces that put Xpertek HC in an early
2-0 hole.

On the first goal, netminder Pat Lafontaine left his crease to play the puck behind the net, but rather than stopping dead along the boards the puck inexplicably jumped back into the blue paint where a Capitals player, staring at 24 square feet of empty cage, shoved it in with little trouble.

On the second goal, a series of miscues high in the Xpertek zone saw the puck ricochet off at least three bodies before it began skidding in Lafontaine’s direction.

In an odd looking play, Lafontaine tried to simply shoo the puck to the corner but completely missed it. His teammates could only watch in disbelief as the puck inched its way through the five hole and beyond the goal-line to put the Caps up by two.

After the game, Lafontaine could find only one word to sum up his performance.

“Tabarnac,” he repeated over and over and over again, to no one in particular, but with enough conviction to let it be known that he was displeased with the turn of events.

Eventually, he would mellow enough to say that it “felt like l’Halloween out dere. Give, give, give. The only thing that would have made it better for dem is if maybe I dipped those pucks in chocolate and covered dem with those little multicolore sprinkles… man, those things are good, but the first two goals tonight – bad, bad, bad.”

Despite the 2-0 deficit, Xpertek would eventually claw back to tie the game.

Sniper Adam Hendriks, an out-of-nowhere favourite to capture the Bart Cross trophy as the league’s leading scorer this year, potted his fourth goal of the season after burying a Tony Lemay pass on a two-on-one rush late in the first period.

Baril would bring Xpertek back to even mid-way through the second frame with a sizzling snap shot that beat the Capitals goaltender through the wickets.

“I was aiming top shelf all the way, but my shot is shit so I hit the five-hole instead,” Baril later admitted in a refreshing moment of athletic honesty.

After the Baril marker, both teams traded chances often. Just when it appeared as though the game might be decided in a shootout, the Capitals managed to score on a broken play that sent a forward in alone to beat Lafontaine high on the glove side.

The Capitals would add an empty-netter with just under a minute left, before Marty Leroux – who with defence partner Brett Kubicek never left the ice all night – would draw Xpertek to within one with a blistering slap shot from the blueline with just 33 seconds left on the clock.

Xpertek had one last chance to tie the game with the goalie on the bench for an extra attacker, but both Lemay and Etienne Dutrisac, filling in up front while John Richardson was presumably at home with a newborn child, failed to corral a loose puck in close before time expired.

In the end, it was just as well that way.


THREE STARS

1. Pat Lafontaine – Good gaffes keep Xpertek HC in Molson Ex division
2. Martin Leroux – Stamina like a Clydesdale, played all night
3. Brett Kubicek – Plays entire game after overseas trip to check on illegitimate children, allegedly

And the streak goes on
Xpertek contains speedy Trains and Airplanes, off to 4-0 start

Ottawa – The Xpertek Construction Inc. Hockey Club faced its first real test of this young OSMHL season last night, squaring off against a Trains and Airplanes squad that many had pegged to walk away with an easy victory over their older, slower rivals.

T&A failed to account, however, for the veteran experience that peppers the Xpertek line-up, and it showed on the scoreboard as Xpertek capitalized on its few scoring chances and took advantage of its powerplay opportunities, two elements that many call hallmarks of most upper echelon hockey clubs.

In the end, the boys in the bleu, blanc, rouge walked away with a hard-fought 4-2 victory.

Adam Hendriks, who has shown himself to be a dependable force on the wing this season, led the way with a pair of goals, his second and third of the year. It was Hendriks who gave Xpertek an early 1-0 lead, picking off an ill-advised T&A pass up the middle and burying a heavy wrist shot in the lower left corner.

While the T&A goaltender appeared stunned that the puck found its way onto Hendriks’ stick, it was Hendriks himself who was shocked that such a great scoring opportunity found him in the high slot.

“I was just standing there, thinking to myself ‘I wonder if that guy will try to pass that up the middle’, when much to my surprise he put the puck right on my stick,” Hendriks said.

“I don’t want to brag or anything, but you give me that much room to manoeuvre, within such close proximity to the net, and I’ll burn you every time,” the lanky forward added, before licking his thumb, pressing it against his shoulder and making a ‘tssssss’ sound to remind us of his current hot hand.

Hendriks had every right to sing his own praises, as he also assisted on Steve Parker’s winning goal, which came on the man advantage mid-way through the second frame. The three-point effort on the night moved Hendriks into second place in the league scoring race with three goals and three assists in four games.

Earlier in the period, centre Marc Baril, with his first twine-tickler of the year, had given Xpertek HC a 2-1 lead, and in the process served notice that despite being the older, slower team, Xpertek HC will make opponents who take them lightly pay a heavy price for disrespecting them.

When asked to explain how a team of precocious youngsters could be so schooled by a bunch of so-called ‘over the hill-ers’, one T&A player who asked to remain unnamed had this to say: “We’ve got old guys too you know – two of them are even 25.”

Xpertek HC puts its season-long winning streak on the line next Sunday, November 2, in a 10 p.m. game against the Capitals at Bernard Grandmaitre Arena.

THREE STARS

1. Adam Hendriks – Two goals, assist, involved all night
2. Pat Lafontaine – Timely saves keep Xpertek HC in the game early on
3. Etienne Dutrisac – Solid defensive work powers Xpertek transition game

Meet the team

They come together, week after week, these warriors of the frozen surface, these pursuers of all things puck.

Soldiers of no abandon, they congregate in the cold confines of some of the region’s shabbiest rinks, travelling together on a long and arduous road, on one mission and one mission alone: The Quest to hoist Lord Stanley’s fabled Keg.

By day, they are teachers, bankers, entrepreneurs and servants of the public’s will. When darkness falls, they shed the burdens of their day jobs, leaving behind the careers that actually pay the bills, to combine as a force united, destined to be the last team standing at the apex of a torturous season.

They are gladiators on ice that rampage their way from barn to barn, heaping punishment of the worst kind upon any and all who dare stand in their way.

They are fierce, they are proud, they are unstoppable.

They are…

The Xpertek Construction Inc. Hockey Club

*************************

Pat Lafontaine #40

Position: Goaltender

Catches: Left

Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 190

OSMHL Season: 5th

Acquired: Signed as a free agent (2006)

NHL Comparable: Martin Brodeur

BIO: A goaltender of above average skill, Pat is a perennial OSMHL leader in all statistical categories. His best year came in 2007-2008, when he led all netminders with a 15-3 record, five shutouts and a 1.89 GAA. Since joining the team in 2006, Lafontaine has given Xpertek HC some much needed stability in the crease, missing games only when his children have potentially broken bones or when professional obligations leave him drinking the nights away in maritime provinces.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Lafontaine goes Hextall on the next guy to crash his crease?

Adam Hendriks #2

Position: Right Wing

Shoots: Left

Height: 6’ 2” Weight: 210

OSMHL Season: 10th

Acquired: Signed as a walk-on (2003)

NHL Comparable: Tomas Holmstrom

BIO: Hendriks came out of nowhere to walk-on to the Xpertek Hockey Club, at the time Carver Communications, in the fall of 2003. His desire to learn the intricacies of the game earned him immediate popularity with his teammates, and over the years has made him an annual contender for the Esso Most Improved Player Award. His penchant for arriving to games late or for forgetting to pick up teammates on the way is legendary, but also always forgiven, in no small part due to his master stats-tracking and certificate design and dissemination skills.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Hendriks chooses hockey over volleyball when schedules conflict?

Martin Leroux #3

Position: Defence

Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 11” Weight: 170

OSMHL Season: 10th

Acquired: Chosen 1st overall (2003 OSMHL Expansion Draft)
NHL Comparable: Jay Bouwmeester

BIO: Few skaters in the OSMHL have wheels like Leroux. His ability to get back to his own end in time to stifle scoring chances after having just attacked on an end-to-end rush of breathtaking beauty makes him one of the league’s most fearsome blueliners and a franchise player for Xpertek HC. When team officials agreed on a name change, Leroux was tremendously relieved that he did not, after much consideration, get that Carver Communications Forever tattoo that he was contemplating.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Leroux isn’t called upon to play an entire game?

Brett Kubicek #5

Position: Defence

Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 180

OSMHL Season: 4th

Acquired: Claimed off waivers (2006)
NHL Comparable: Chris Chelios

BIO: Like a fine wine, Kubicek just keeps getting better with age. A stay-at-home defencemen who rarely gets caught out of position, Brett takes few risks, which always translates into big rewards for Xpertek HC. The only times Kubicek is late for a game or that he fails to show altogether are those rare times when breakdowns in communication occur between himself and other teammates. In the face of such misfortune, Brett is often left convulsing in cold sweats on his living room floor.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Kubicek finally finds the back of the net on a sizzler from the point?

Pierre Bouwhuis #6

Position: Defence

Shoots: Right

Height: 6’ 2” Weight: 200

OSMHL Season: 9th

Acquired: Chosen 2nd overall (2003 OSMHL Expansion Draft)
NHL Comparable: Zdeno Chara

BIO: OSMHL opponents never dare crowd Xpertek HC goalie Pat Lafontaine when ‘The Big P’ is on the ice. Bouwhuis is a fearless tower of power on the back end, always quick to come to the aid of a teammate in trouble. His long reach (with his stick) makes him nearly impossible to deke, and his longer reach (with his arm) makes it nearly impossible to duck his devastating right hook.

IS THIS THE YEAR: a league statistician – any league statistician – pronounces Bowhuis’ name correctly?

Tony Lemay #7

Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 175

OSMHL Season: 4th

Acquired: Signed as a free agent (2007)
NHL Comparable: Brett Hull

BIO: From the moment Lemay first stepped on the ice with Xpertek HC, team officials knew they had found a diamond in the rough. Lemay is an unstoppable force, Xpertek’s first-ever league scoring champion, and an all-round threat that strikes fear in the opposition – most often with his blazing slapshot, but when necessary, with a well-timed headlock that gets the message across.

IS THIS THE YEAR: a goalie’s arm falls off after he is stung by Lemay’s deadly shot?

Steve Parker #9

Position: Centre
Shoots: Right

Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 155

OSMHL Season: 9th

Acquired: Signed as a free agent (2004)
NHL Comparable: Derek Roy

BIO: Parker is the prototypical all-round hockey player, as reliable offensively as he is in his own end. A quiet, cerebral player who thinks the game as well as he plays it, Parker knows when to rush and when to stay back, when to speak up and when to let his game speak for him.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Parker loses it on the ice?

Louis Ryan #10

Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 190

OSMHL Season: 3rd

Acquired: Purchased the team and gave it his company’s name
NHL Comparable: Claude Lemieux

BIO: Like his teammate and line-mate, Steve Parker, Ryan is a prototypical hockey player, but in his case a power forward who creates space when he’s on the ice. Fearless, Louis possesses the right combination of brute strength and relentless determination that allows him to not only bulldoze his way to the front of the net, but to also score dirty goals like few others can.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Ryan scores a more crucial, more beautiful winning goal than last season’s shorthanded breakaway marker that went in with less than one second remaining on the clock?

Jon Richardson #16

Position: Right Wing
Shoots: Left

Height: 6’ Weight: 210

OSMHL Season: 6th

Acquired: Via trade (from 2K3 in 2005)

NHL Comparable: Patrice Bergeron

BIO: Reliability could be Richardson’s middle name. A dependable forward who sees the ice well, Jon has been patrolling Xpertek’s right wing since 2005, and in doing so has become a pivotal cog in the team’s offensive schemes. Were he eligible for the award, Richardson would most assuredly pick up the Lady Bing trophy as the league’s most gentlemanly player every season, as he has accumulated only 18 penalty minutes in 86 career games with Xpertek HC.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Richardson leads the league in penalty minutes?

Etienne Dutrisac #27

Position: Defence
Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 165

OSMHL Season: 6th

Acquired: Claimed off waivers (2004)
NHL Comparable: Francis Bouillon

BIO: A reformed goaltender, Dutrisac is small by defencemen standards, but plays a big, big game. Fast and furious, Etienne can turn on a dime, reverse momentum and send Xpertek HC charging up the ice with extreme confidence. Dutrisac knows when to pick his spots and can often be found sneaking into the high slot for a scoring opportunity.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Dutrisac finally unleashes the one-timer?

Marc Baril #47

Position: Centre
Shoots: Left

Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 175

OSMHL Season: 10th

Acquired: Chosen 3rd overall (2003 OSMHL Expansion draft)
NHL Comparable: Doug Weight

BIO: A play-making centre who can put the odd puck in the net, Baril is an unselfish player who always looks to dish first and shoot second. He plays this way out of necessity – Marc’s slapshot is usually a two-hopper and his wrist shot looks a lot like the Mighty Duck knuckle puck. Baril talks too much on the ice, and were it not for the cage he wears to protect his one good eye and his $3,000 teeth, he probably would have had his face smashed in by now.

IS THIS THE YEAR: Baril shuts his yap and takes zero penalties for mouthing off to referees?

Ugly victory for Xpertek Construction
Team loses steam in second period, holds on for the win

Ottawa – It wasn’t pretty, but in the end it was another victory for Xpertek Construction in OSMHL action last night. After skating out to a quick first period lead, it was a late powerplay goal that gave Xpertek the necessary breathing room to hang on for a 3-1 win.

John Richardson opened the scoring on a beautifully orchestrated passing play that began in the neutral zone when Richardson himself made a nifty drop pass to centre Marc Baril, who was speeding through the middle.

As he carried the puck into the Chiefs zone along the right boards, Baril held up just inside the blueline, drawing two defenders towards him before saucering a brilliant pass to Richardson who was streaking into the slot. With one hand on his stick, Richardson magically tipped the puck behind the Chiefs netminder to give Xpertek an early 1-0 lead. The goal was, as Richardson would later say, “a TSN Highlight of the Night candidate for sure.”

Baril and Richardson later combined to set up sniper Tony Lemay, whose fourth goal of this young season allowed Xpertek to skate into the intermission nursing what appeared to be an insurmountable 2-0 lead.

Early in the second period, the Chiefs managed to cut that lead in half, converting quickly after Xpertek’s Martin Leroux had been sent off for holding.

Leroux was obviously upset with what appeared to be a marginal call, voicing his displeasure with the referee all the way to the penalty box and later slamming the gate with mighty force for good measure.

“That was a horseshit call by a horseshit referee,” Leroux said after the game, before toning down the rhetoric for fear that OSMHL Commissioner Carman Cox might levy a fine or even a suspension for the comments.

Leroux would atone for the penalty later in the period, scoring a powerplay marker of his own with a laser wrist shot to the top right corner. The goal put Xpertek back up by two and sent the team into shutdown mode.

Leroux also got his nose dirty near the end of the game, mucking it up with a chippy Chiefs forward. After some verbal sparring, the Chiefs attacker took it one step further with a roundhouse right to Leroux’s chin that sent the franchise defenseman sprawling to the ice.

Team mouthpiece Baril had this to say about the rough treatment that Xpertek’s pillar on defence had to endure: “The first rule of getting in someone’s face is to get your face out of their face before they put a fist in your face. I know a little bit about that stuff, so this week in practice we’ll be working on Marty’s ability to avoid another TKO.”

Goaltender Pat Lafontaine, who was solid in net after a one-game absence, was pleased with the victory but pushed his post-game remarks hard in another direction.

“I lost five pounds this summer. Put dat in de paper.”

Xpertek Construction is now tied for first place after three divisional placement games, and should stay seeded in the Molson Export Division for the remainder of the season.


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THREE STARS

1. Tony Lemay -- Scores winning goal, solid on the backcheck all night long
2. Marc Baril -- Two assists, no time in the sin bin for third consecutive game
3. Martin Leroux -- Takes one on the chin but bounces right back up

Brother combo leads Xpertek to victory
Louis, Dave Ryan too much for manhandled Shamrocks

Ottawa – The Ryan Express rumbled its way through a field of green last night, leaving in its wake a battered and bruised bunch of Shamrocks after Xpertek Construction easily disposed of its opposition, 4-1, in the OSMHL’s showcase Sunday evening match-up.

Up front, Louis Ryan scored a pair of gritty goals from in close, while back in the net, brother David gave Xpertek every chance to skate away with the victory.

Largely untested in the first period, the younger Ryan – an emergency call-up forced into action due to travel complications for regular goaltender Pat Lafontaine – came up with some timely saves and all night long frustrated the Shamrock shooters by shooing away any puck that came within six feet of his duct-taped pads.

“He looked like Carey Price in there,” said defenseman Etienne Dutrisac. “It’s easy to play defense when you have a goalie that can quickly move the puck out of the danger areas like that.”

During the post-game media scrum, Louis Ryan was effusive in praising his net-minding brother. “My brodder was nervous. All the way to the rink, he kept asking ‘do you tink if I play well, the team rep will ask me back?' He’s a ‘ell of a goalie who played a ‘ell of a game. I love dat guy,” said Louis.

The other two goals on the night came off the stick of the always dangerous Tony Lemay, who is making like Dany Heatley early in this OSMHL season, having now scored three goals in his first two games.

Xpertek – bolstered on defence by the return of blueliner Brett Kubicek, who kept things simple in his first game since suffering a season-ending back injury in March – will next face the Chiefs 2.0 on Tuesday, October 14, at Fred Barrett Arena (West). Game time: 9.30 p.m.


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THREE STARS

1. Louis Ryan – Pair of goals, double axel pirouette in front of bench
2. Tony Lemay – Pair of goals, including bullet shot that goes right through goalie
3. Dave Ryan – Makes pivotal saves in second period to frustrate Shamrocks

Xpertek opens OSMHL season with a win
Hendriks paces the attack with goal, two assists

Ottawa – They were dancing in the Fred Barrett Arena parking lot last night, as Xpertek Construction recorded the first win in franchise history on opening night of the 2008-2009 Ottawa Senior Men’s Hockey League season.

The team, formerly known as Carver Communications, handily disposed of the outclassed Shooters by a 5-2 score in a game that may not go into the books as a beauty, but that will at least be remembered as a victory for the newly renamed hockey club.

From start to finish, Xpertek carried the momentum, taking it to the overmatched Shooters with relentless abandon.

Their determination paid off early in the first period when defenseman-turned-forward Adam Hendriks potted the first goal in team history with a dandy wrist shot from the hashmarks that fooled the screened Shooters goaltender.

“Wow, what a thrill,” Hendriks said when interviewed between the benches during a stoppage in play.

“I owe that goal to my education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From where I was standing in the slot, I felt the wind pressure from the arena’s ventilation system blowing at about 4 km an hour from west to east, so I knew that if I angled my shot between 41 and 47 degrees left of where I wanted it to go, the odds were good that it would curve towards the goalie’s five hole and go in, which is exactly what happened.”

In a move that he will surely live to regret, Hendriks failed to retrieve the puck after scoring the history-making goal. Already, hockey historians and memorabilia collectors have said that the item could fetch upwards of six figures should it eventually come up for auction on e-bay.

Hendriks also assisted on a pair of Steve Parker goals. The three-point outing earned him first star honours and gave him an early lead in the Molson Cup standings, awarded at the end of each season to the player having accumulated the most three-star selections.

Fittingly, gritty forward Louis Ryan, who co-owns Xpertek Construction, took the first penalty in team history, earning himself three minutes in the sin bin after the entrepreneur ‘nailed’ an opponent into the boards.

“I wanted to send a message,” Ryan said after the game. “Even if we look like nice guys in our new shirts, Xpertek Construction will not be messed with. And also, for all you construction needs – emergencies, asbestos and general contracting – please call Xpertek at 613.555.3333.”


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THREE STARS

1. Adam Hendriks – Goal, two assists, takes early lead atop league scoring standings
2. Steve Parker – Smooth as silk, sets record for fastest two goals in Xpertek history
3. Louis Ryan – Imposing forward leaves imprint on the game with solid play at both ends of the ice

New name for Carver Communications Hockey Club
Old faces to hit the ice in new colours Sunday night

Ottawa -- As the trees make their traditional autumn turn in the Nation's Capital, it will be more than just the leaves changing colour this fall. One of the city's oldest and most storied hockey franchises will don new duds and carry a new name going into the 2008-2009 Ottawa Senior Men's Hockey League season.

Gone is the irrelevant and puny Carver Communications moniker, replaced instead by the more robust and intimidating Xpertek Construction, a far more fitting name for the blue-collar, lunch-pail bunch that has become renowned in OSMHL circles as a team to be reckoned with, as long as they are seeded in the right division.

"Our fans have always identified us as a hard working team, and our opponents know we are a hard group to play against," said team rep and franchise defenceman, Martin Leroux, also the team's all-time leader in games played.

"We always come to the rink with our work boots on, so when we were presented with an opportunity to change our name to something that far better reflects the type of team we have, we simply could not refuse."

Along with the name change, the team will also be wearing new jerseys and socks, courtesy of new sponsor and team namesake, Xpertek Construction, whose co-owner, Louis Ryan, will likely be moved to the wing this season to make room for returning veteran defencemen Pierre Bouwhuis, Etienne Dutrisac and Brett Kubicek.

Goaltender Pat Lafontaine, who led the OSMHL with a sparkling 15-3 record and 1.89 goals against average in 2007-2008, initially brought up the idea of a name and colour change midway through the team's summer conditioning season.

"Vraiment, j'étais pu capab de stander le crisse de bleu et vert des Whalers de Hartford de 1997," said the French-Canadian goalie. "How da hell can a team win a championship wearing colours like dat?"

His teammates agree, particularly gritty winger Steve Parker, who can't wait to drape the red, white and blue of Xpertek Construction over his shoulders. "I've always been a huge Montreal Canadiens fan, so to wear The Rocket's number 9, with the CH on the front of my jersey, will be a tremendous honour," he said, hardly able to contain his excitement.

When informed that the new Xpertek jerseys are not replicas of those that his Hab heroes wear, but instead a completely different design that bears no resemblance to the Canadiens' jersey, except for the colours, the normally soft-spoken Parker had this to say: "What? That's bulls**t to the highest degree."

Despite the new colours, Xpertek Construction will be in tough this season, as once again they will face-off with long-time foe and annual playoff nemesis, The Saints. Still, they are up to the challenge.

"I look forward to goading that fat bastard Chris McMahon into taking more dumb penalties that will get him thrown out of the game," said team trash talker and all-time leading shoulder dislocater, Marc Baril. "As long as we don't get stuck with more fu**ing piece of s**t referees who can't tell the difference between a hook and a whore, we'll be fine. Fu**in' esti d'refs à marde."

Despite his harsh words, Baril vows to keep his opinions of the officials to himself this season, so as not to disrupt the games of his projected linemates, John Richardson and Tony Lemay.

Richardson, who patrolled the blueline during the summer season, looks forward to moving back up to his natural position on the wing, which he admits he much prefers.

When asked to comment, the quiet and reserved Richardson had only this to say: "I will let my game speak for itself," before adding, sheepishly, that he might even take a penalty this season.

As for Lemay, the most potent natural scorer to have ever skated with the team, he refused to comment on his own personal objectives for the season, except to say this: "Watch out les goalers, m'a slapper même en breakaway!"

The Sun was hoping to get the last word on Xpertek Construction's new colours and the team's hopes for the new season from jack-of-all trade skater Adam Hendriks, whose versatility has seen him split his career with the team between defence and forward.

Unfortunately, Hendriks was in a rush when we caught up with him, and could offer only this: "I'm in the middle of planning my wedding. Tell the boys I'll supply a case of beer every time I show up late for a game, and two if I miss a game because I choose to play volleyball instead! Go Xpertek, certificates for everyone!"

Xpertek Construction, which has been seeded in the Molson Export Division, opens the 2008-2009 season with a tilt against The Shooters on Sunday, September 21, at 9 p.m. on the East ice surface at Fred Barrett Arena. More details about the team's schedule are available at http://www.osmhl.com/.