(Walpole, MA) -- After a summer revamping the organization's top management team and coaching staff, the Walpole Express entered last weekend's Junior A and B season openers with high expectations. As hoped, both teams came out on top, each earning four points. The Jr. A team won both of its games against a much-improved Hartford Wolfpack and the Jr. B's delivered a pair of solid wins over the Binghamton Senators.

Jr. A Highlights
The Jr. A team beat Hartford 5-1 on Saturday and enjoyed a 5-4 come-from-behind win on Sunday. Among the weekend's standouts were Express veteran defenseman Adam Korol, who tallied a goal and an assist; Steve Charest and Charles LaChance, who each scored four points; Lou Malvasi, who scored three points in his Jr. A debut after spending last season on the B
team; and goalie Rich Stine, who had two wins in net.

Head Coach Mark Kumpel said about last weekend's effort, "It was a good way to start the season and the guys showed a lot of determination coming back from 4-0 deficit late in the game on Sunday. We'll use the upcoming week to work on a number of things before we host a greatly improved Laconia team this weekend."

Jr. B Highlights
The team soundly beat Binghamton 5-1 Saturday and 5-3 Sunday. Both goaltenders (Zach Andrews on Saturday and Joe Gladnick on Sunday) played well. Georgiy Guriyanov, who left his home in Moscow to join the Express, posted six points (two goals, four assists); and forewards Jason Methot and Matt Bletzer each scored four points. Joobin Mozaffarimehr and Jide Idowu
held the blueline, delivering solid defense. Forward Jordan John (one goal) and defenseman Chris Comprosky each shone in their debuts at the junior level.

Jr. B Head Coach and Express GM Tony Dalessio said he was pleased with the team's performance. "Defensively, we played very well. We'll focus this week on what we didn't do quite as well, namely presenting a strong offense. We missed a lot of scoring chances and took some undisciplined penalties -- but I'm confident we'll be able to correct those issues during this week's practices."

Overall, both Dalessio and Kumpel agree it was a good opening weekend for both teams. Of course, this is just the beginning. "Mark and I know we have a lot of work to do to ensure a successful season," Dalessio said. "But with the commitment and focused effort of both our coaching staff and our players, we are quite optimistic about the season. It was certainly very
nice to begin with 4 points for both teams."

Next weekend the Jr. A's face Laconia Leafs at Iorio Arena in Walpole, Mass. at 8:40 pm on Saturday, Sept. 13 and 12:40 pm on Sunday, Sept. 14. The Jr. B's face the Portland Junior Pirates at Iorio Arena at 8:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 13, and 9:40 am on Sunday, Sept. 14.