Their first ten minutes on the ice may have been a little less than inspiring, but once the jitters settled down and the opening night butterflies dissipated, the Orangeville Crushers got down to the business at hand, defeating the Toronto Junior Canadiens 5-3 in their first game of the 2009-10 Central Canadian Hockey League schedule.

After a successful season last year, a large crowd was on hand to see the Crushers take to the ice for their home opener on Saturday night. With a number of new players stepping up to join the Crushers junior ranks, the play of the team through the opening half of the first period was not totally unexpected.

It was a point not missed by Crushers head coach Dale Hawerchuk. "First game at home, you feel a lot of pressure. Especially the new guys coming into the league; they always do.

"You know what, we really struggled that first ten minutes. we looked like a Peewee team playing against a Junior team"

Things can change, though, and the momentum started swinging to the Crushers when veteran Jarrod Connelly teamed up with line-mates Mike Arnold and Cody Britton to open the scoring at the 10:35 mark.

Toronto would add one of their own, an unassisted marker by Kevin Hudes, to send the teams into the first intermission tied at 1-1.

Arnold and Britton would again be the setup guys for Orangeville's second goal of the night, this one scored by Kevin Van Dyke. It was followed a minute later by a goal from rookie MacKenzie Cleveland, assisted by Shane Cater and Norm Ezekiel.

In the third period, and looking to spoil Orangeville's night before their home crowd, the Canadiens pooped a pair past Crusher cager Nick Gigone, first on the power-play, and then making the most of a Crusher miscue in the Orangeville end to tie the score at 3-3 with 10:39 left to play.

But in a sign of good things to come, the rookies did not wait for the veterans to come to the rescue. Picking a loose puck out of a scramble in front of the net, Daniel Percuklijevic tipped one past the Canadiens goaltender for what would prove to be the game winner with assists going to Calvin Higley and Beni Berisha.

Adding some insurance, the trio that started it all off earlier in the evening, finished it off.

This time, however, it was Connelly and Britton drew assists after Arnold slid it into

the short side while being hauled to the ice.

Gigone would lock the back door for Orangeville through the final three minutes of play to hold on to post a 5-3 in this first game/first win of the season.

For a few of the Crushers, the game was a good way to pick up where they left off last season. Norm Ezekiel, a three-year veteran with the team says the attitude in the dressing room is very positive. "It feels great. We have a really good team out there this year and every one is driving hard to win." He knows that, as a veteran, the new players are looking towards him and part of his job is to be a leader and 'help the new guys past the butterflies. "

For himself, while he would like to put more points up on the board than in seasons past, his goal is " just being able to contribute whatever way I can to the team".

Speaking after the game, Hawerchuk was pleased with the way the team settled down and the effort of his rookies. He acknowledged they still have a lot to learn but the sooner they buy into what the coaches are telling them, the more ice time they will get.

He notes that playing well in their own end will usually get them more time and with more ice time comes more opportunities. "Sometimes it takes a while for the young guys to find that out but once they do, they are off to the races."

Action continues for the Crushers, who have a busy schedule this weekend. Friday night, Streetsville will be making their way to the Alder Street arena for a 7:30 date with the Crushers. Then it's on the bus to play in the Early Bird Showcase in Bowmanville on Saturday night where they meet up with the host team Eagles before stopping in Hamilton on Monday night to play the Red Wings for the first time .