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Leafs set to play for real

The Nelson Leafs may have come out of last week’s exhibition games with two losses, but looking forward to tonight’s season opener in Castlegar head coach and general manager Frank Maida is confident his team will deliver on speed and will be strong in the net.
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Coleton Malmsten is back for 2011.

The Nelson Leafs may have come out of last week’s exhibition games with two losses, but looking forward to Friday’s season opener in Castlegar head coach and general manager Frank Maida is confident his team will deliver on speed and will be strong in the net.

Veteran goaltender Andrew Walton joined the Leafs after being traded in June for defencemen Braeden Hikichi.

“We will be very strong in goal this year,” says Maida. “Andrew’s had a great summer and has worked hard all summer and he will be the backbone of our goaltending.”

Walton didn’t play a lot in the exhibition game against the Castlegar Rebels, but Maida says he “looks sharp.”

“We had some young goaltenders and we really needed to see them play, so basically Andrew played one period a game,” he said.

The Leafs are hoping to have another goaltender to join the roster by the weekend.

“Andrew’s a well proven goalie in this league and he will be stopping a lot of pucks for us this weekend and we’re looking for another goaltender to help Walton and play some games,” says Maida.

On the blueline the Leafs have four returning d-men with the possibility of a fifth. There will also be some new defencemen including Taylor Carriveau who hails from California.

Carriveau played in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota last year with the Granite City Lumberjacks.

“We’ll be a defensive team of course with some of the players that will jump into play when the time arises and that will be all the guys,” says Maida. “We will be a disciplined team and defense will be first.”

With the Leafs forwards, the coaching staff is focusing on speed.

“We’re going to be a very quick team. We are going to be moving the puck and we will present a lot of pressure on the opposing defense,” he says.

There will be many returning forwards such as Colton Schell, Patrick Martens and Marcus Dahl.

“I think we’ve got a quite a few guys that are stepping up,” says Maida. “Our vets are really working hard and leading the way. Our new forwards are vying in and are learning our new system and are having some good practices this week.”

The Leafs faced the Rebels in their exhibition games and will face them again Friday in Castlegar, and Saturday night for the home opener at the Nelson and District Community Complex.

“Of course Castlegar did very well last year, and it’s going to be a tough challenge, but we’re looking forward to the challenge, and there’s no better way to start the season than a back to back against one of the best teams in the league,” says Maida.

In addition to Castlegar, he thinks Beaver Valley and Spokane could be stiff competition this season.

For the full regular season schedule visit the Nelson Leafs website at nelsonleafs.ca