| durhamregion.com | This Week | Thursday, November 3, 2022 | 20 WORKERS NEEDED: Oshawa and Port Perry Locations For more information please contact: Sheri Carr at (905) 723-7422 x 231 or e-mail resume to: christmaskettles@gmail.com The Salvation Army is looking for hard working individuals to help out throughout this Christmas season! We are looking to hire Kettle workers to stand at our Christmas Kettle collection sites until December 24, 2022. Christmas Help Needed If the Oshawa Generals want to climb the Eastern Conference standings they'll have to enjoy some home cooking this month. The local Ontario Hockey League club has not dominated on the Tribute Communities Centre ice, though Oshawa did earn a 3-2 overtime home victory on Friday night against Hamilton. That was followed by a one-point weekend in Michigan with a wild 8-7 shootout loss in Flint on Saturday night and a more Generals-like 3-2 regulation loss in Saginaw on Sunday night. 'Generals-like' because this team's modus operandi is to play a tight-checking system, keep the score close and the shots-against down and come out on top in those 3-2 style games. However, after the first 12 games of the season, comprising just over a month of the 68-game campaign, the Generals find themselves stuck in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 12 points on five regulation wins, five regulation losses and a pair of shootout losses worth a point each. Middle of the pack in other words. November is a big month for the team, and a chance to climb in the standings if the Generals can find the right mix at home. With seven of nine contests in the friendly confines of their home rink this month, Oshawa should have no excuses for not picking up points and making up ground on its Eastern Conference rivals. Oshawa is 2-3 at home so far, 3-4 on the road, with a pair of losses coming by way of the shootout. Generals head coach Derek Laxdal, hired this past August, said he's noticed a lot of parity in the OHL. Laxdal's a veteran head coach who led the Edmonton Oil Kings to a pair of Memorial Cup appearances, winning in 2014. He also has plenty of pro coaching experience. "On any given night in this league, any team can win. Several teams have had a great start like (Oshawa's eastern division rivals) Ottawa and Peterborough. They're starting to run away with our division. But we have Peterborough three times this month and we have to try to grind out a few wins against Peterborough because they're a very good hockey club," said Laxdal. "They can score, and they can defend. Probably one of the best teams in our league. It's going to be a good test for our guys to rise up." Asked about what the team needs to do to get it going at home, Laxdal said "I haven't liked our last three home games (just four goals scored in three games with two losses and one overtime win). We're actually playing better on the road than at home. That's the challenge for our group moving forward. November's a big month here and we have to dial it up a notch here playing at home," Laxdal said. "It's not like it's (Tribute Communities Centre) not a great facility and it's not like we don't have great fan support. It should be an easy place for our players to get up (to play in). It's something we have to talk about as a group and with our leadership group. We and they have to make sure we're ready to go here. The guys have to dig in and play the right way," he said. The Generals will be without rookies Beckett Sennecke, Ben Danford and David Bedkowski for next weekend's games at they will be at the World Hockey U-17 Challenge in British Columbia. But Peterborough will also be missing first-rounder Jack Van Volsen of Brooklin, who will be at the same tournament for Friday night's game in Oshawa (7:35 p.m.). And Saginaw, who are here Sunday at 6:05 p.m., will be without first overall pick Michael Misa, who already has 10 goals. He will be at the World Hockey U-17 Challenge as well, along with Saginaw teammates Bode Stewart and Zayne Parekh. GENERALS NEED TO TURN UP HEAT AT HOME ON FOES IN NOVEMBER TIM KELLY tkelly@durhamregion.com OHL TEAM'S LOSING RECORD AT HOME NOT GOOD SIGN: 'WE ... HAVE TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE READY TO GO THERE' Oshawa Generals captain Lleyton Moore carried the puck on the winning rush in overtime on Friday night. He's joined by Ryan Roobroek (25), and Calum Ritchie (21). Ritchie scored the goal 42 seconds in on the 3-on-3 to give the Generals a 3-2 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs in Ontario Hockey League action at the Tribute Communities Centre. Ian Goodall photo