Sports
October 16, 2008 10:39 PM
By: Mike Hayakawa
For Justin DiBenedetto, good things come in two’s.
After being named the Ontario Hockey League’s Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 12 Tuesday, the 20-year-old Vaughan resident and Sarnia Sting forward was also chosen as the Canadian Hockey League’s Player of the Week for the same timeframe Wednesday.
DiBenedetto earned the CHL honour after scoring five goals and four assists for nine points in three games finishing with a plus-three plus-minus rating.
DiBenedetto scored five goals and two assists in a 7-2 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds last Sunday.
The five goals scored equalled a Sting single game record.
He scored three goals in the first period, including a goal to open the scoring 39 seconds into the game. He then scored two power play goals 15 seconds apart to complete the natural hat trick.
His final two goals came in the second period, including one shorthanded marker to receive first star of the game honours.
DiBenedetto also recorded a single assist in a 4-3 loss to the Windsor Spitfires last Friday, and another against the Saginaw Spirit in a 5-2 loss Saturday.
DiBenedetto is in his fifth OHL season and third with the Sting.
The sixth round pick of the New York Islanders in the 2008 National Hockey League’s entry draft scored 39 goals and 54 assists for 93 points in 58 games played last season with the Sting.