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

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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/.