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I/Shawn Cayley Gens trade has the future in mind Oshawa pick-ups of MacLean and Regan buildinh toward Memorial Cup bid in 2008 Speight back where he started - Scoreboard - e-mail game reports to bkelly@durhamregion.com Courtice resident lands with Bowmanville Eagles BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor BOWMANVILLE ~ Jason Speight is back where his junior hockey career began, but not' without a visit south of the border and to another province along the way. It has been a bit of a whirlwind season already for the 19-year-old from Courtice, Courtice, who started the season with the Erie Otters of the OHL, was picked up by the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL, and has settled in with the Bowmanville Eagles of the Provincial Junior A « Hockey League. Speight made his debut "Once they had the draft and drafted two right wingers in the first two rounds, I knew it was going to be tough." Unfazed, he worked hard in the summer, summer, had a good training camp, but it wasn't enough. When a trade within the league couldn't be worked out, Speight packed his equipment and switched leagues, landing landing with Gatineau. But playing in a different league, in a different province, surrounded by a different language, language, was a challenge. challenge. "I thought I would give it a shot, but I definitely definitely didn't enjoy it as much as playing in the OHL," '• •Brad Selwood deserves a pat on the back. ' The much maligned General Manager Manager made a shrewd move last week in sending arguably his two best players out of town in' a blockbuster trade with the Erie Otters. : He packaged a pair of 19-year-olds in Adam Berti and Bret Nasby for 16- year-old winger Brett MacLean, 17- year-old defenceman Eric Regan and two second round draft picks. Î Selwood's trafck record when it comes to making trades hasn't exactly been the greatest when it comes to benefiting benefiting the Oshawa Generals during his 15 months as GM, however, he deserves a huge thumbs up for this deal. • You see, both Berti and Nasby, while solid contributors to this year's team, weren't likely to return next season as both are former NHL draft picks and are likely to play in the American Hockey League next season. So what does Selwood do?: He, turns them into two 1988 players and two future draft picks, something to,. build on for the future and in the process he gave two veterans in what is probably their last year, a shot at the playoffs. So in the end, everyone is happy. That includes the newest Generals, MacLean and Regan. "I was really excited," MacLean said of his reaction when learning of his trade to Oshawa. "They have a really, bright future here, a lot of young guys, I wasn't really looking too mùch at their record this year. I was looking at a new rink next year, a Memorial Cup bid, it's going to be a really great place to play. - "I am really éxcited to be part of things here " the winger added MacLean has some big shoes to fill, in 1 attempting to replace Berti. However, However, the Port Elgin native is taking .things in stride. "I probably won't be able to fill those shoes this year, but hopefully next year arid the year after I will be able to be an. Adam Berti type of player. I really look up to him, I think he is a great power forward, one of the best in the league." Regan meanwhile, a Whitby product, is Ecstatic to be playing with the team lie" grew up watching. "There is a lot of tradition in this organization, and I have watched this team my whole life so it is nice to play for them," he said after joining his new club. . '.'After thinking (the trade) all over, a new rink next year, hopefully this team can get a bid for the Memorial Cup in 2008 and to live at home with my family, family, I am really excited." After seeing what Regan and MacLean can bring to the table after their first few games, Selwood, and Generals fans should be excited too. Shawn Cayley's column appears every third Wednesday. E-mail scayley@durhamregion.com over the weekend, contributing a goal in a 3-3 tie with the Wellington Dukes on Sunday afternoon, and was held pointless pointless in another 3-3 draw Saturday night in Port Hope against the Predators. "It's definitely not a bad situation. It's a good group of guys and it made it a lot easier seeing their record (24-4-3-0)" said. Speight of returning to the Eagles, where he played as a 16-year-old and was selected in the 11th round of the 2002 draft by Erie. But after two full seasons with Erie in which he contributed 4-7-11 numbers and 20 penalty minutes in 110 regular season games, he arrived in training camp back in the fall knowing that his spot on the right side was in jeopardy. . he said of the experience, contributing 1-3-4 totals in 13 games. "It was really tough with the language because there were only three or four other English (speaking) guys on the team." So, with little options,. he returned home. Y-* "He's going to bring a lot of skill," said coach Curtis Hodgins of the newest addition. "He's older, more mature and stronger and we expect big things from him." > While Speight is a great addition, it means that somebody has to be deleted from the lineup, which can have a negative negative impact on a hockey team that is having- as much success as the Eagles. But Hodgins doesn't necessarily see it Jason Speight is back with the Bowmanville Bowmanville Eagles after two seasons seasons with the Erie Otters. - 1 ' See SPEIGHT page B9 Photo bÿ Mike Pochwat sum up Senior girls' , basketball team reaches ,• quarterfinals at OFSAA BY BRAD KELLY , Sports Editor PRESCOTT - There are a number of different ways to sum up the season of the Holy Trinity Titans senior girls' basketball team, but disappointing isn't one of them. While the team may have been disappointed disappointed at bowing out in a close loss in the quarterfinals of the Ontario Federation Federation Schools Athletic Association AA championships, on the whole, just making making it to the provincial championships, and getting a respectable eighth seed heading in, was an accomplishment. "Absolutely not," said head coach Sarah Facey-Crowther when it was pointed out that her players couldn't hang their heads with a • season that included a LOS S A t championship, and beating York Region champion Stouffville 46-39 to get to the Ontario championships. "The players performed great. To lose by two points in the end is disappointing, disappointing, but I'm not disappointed in the players. "To get that far, and overall finish in the top eight in AA, we're not complaining. complaining. We are excited about what we accomplished." In fact, Holy Trinity almost pulled off the upset of the tournament in the quarterfinals, but was edged by second seeded St. Mary's of Sault Ste. Marie 48-46; despite a strong effort from Monique Sylvester, who had 19 points. not a way to season Submitted Photo The Holy Ttinity Titans senior girls' basketball team advanced all the way to the quarterfinals at the OFSAA AA championships, bowing out of the tournament to second* seeded St. Mary's of Sault Ste. Marie by a 48-46 score. Team members include, back row, from left: Meghan Knowler, Terri Buckle, Courtney Hamilton, Jennifer Callwood, Andrea Gerrits, Natalie Dodd; front row: Colleen Bathe, Kiersten Woodbeck, Monique Sylvester, Haley Ferguson, Rebecca Crosby, Sarah Facey-Crowther (coach). Absent is Patty Knowler. Holy Trinity opened with a couple of close victories, beating Mother Theresa of Scarborough 58-52 on an 18-point effort from Courtney Hamilton, then edged St. Francis of St. Catharine's 45- 42. The difference between those close victories, and the two-point loss in the quarterfinals, was confidence, noted Facey-Crowther. "We knew in those first games that we were good enough to win, and knew we were capable of winning. In that third game we weren't quite so sure because the other team was so strong." ' As for the'future, the team only loses two starters to graduation, and will have the support of a strong junior program that will help fill in the holes. And now that the team has had a taste of the OFSAA championships, they are longing longing for a return. "They want to go back really bad again," noted Facey-Crowther. Vanderduim brings home silver STONEY CREEK - The Clar- ington Vanderduim Mortgage Minor Midget AA Toros brought home silver silver rings after facing some of this season's toughest competition so far in the 22nd Annual Stoney Creek Tournament of Champions. In the first game against the Tecumseh Eagles, the Toros were down 1-0 until halfway through the second period when Trevor Dwyer started off the scoring for the Toros, with Matt Coe and Cody Graham adding adding two more goals to win the game 3- O.The shutout was recorded for goalie Andrew Reesor. In the second game against the Toronto Icedogs, Toros goalie Shane Durocher recorded the 4-0 shutout as the Toros ruled the game with goals scored by Trevor Kramer, Brett Beckett, Beckett, Alex Derlis and Aaron Baker. The third game saw the Toros up against the Mississauga Terriers, but the Toros prevailed once again and won 3-1, with goals going to Coe, Beckett, and Baker. Andrew Reesor was strong in net once again: With three wins under their belts, the Toros were not going to break the .winning streak and won 2-0 in a tough game against the Ancaster Avalanche. Durocher recorded his second shutout of the tourney while the defensive l team of Dana Law, Dino Laflamme, Josh McGill, Coe and Dwyer displayed displayed strong skills to keep the puck out of their zone. The pair of goals were scored by McGill and Beckett. Entering the semifinals in first place and despite a barrage of penalties, penalties, the Toros won 4-3 in double double overtime over the Stoney Creek Junior Warriors. It was a tough game for goalie Reesor, but once again he proved strong between the pipes. Dwyer scored the winning goal, with the other three scored by Cody Graham Graham (2) and Douglas Preston. The Toros were all pumped up as they entered the championship game against Humberview. Down 2-0, forwards forwards Brady Burns, Brad Fegan, Derlis, Derlis, Beckett, Matt Garrison, Kramer, Preston and Baker played hard and tough, but were unable to put the puck , in the net. Although the Toros outshot their rivals, they were unable to score and came out as the tournament finalists. finalists. The team played outstanding outstanding hockey in the tournament and deserved the silver rings they brought home. Adding assists in the games were Brad Fegan (3), Kramer (3), Dana Law (3), Coe (4), Baker (2), Brady Burns (2), Preston (1), Matt Garrison (3), Derlis (1), Dwyer (3) and Laflamme (1). Kwik Signs competitive CLARINGTON - The Clarington Kwik Signs Minor Peewee AA Toros participated in a Pickering tournament picking up a win against two losses. The boys came out fast and furious furious in the first game against Aurora, winning by a score of 6-1. In the second game, the Toros were only able to muster two goals against Barrie, losing 8-2. The boys knew they needed a win in the third game of this tournament in order to advance to the semifinals and played the game with plenty of heart and determination, however, two quick goals in the last minutes of the third period would see the Toros lose this one by a final score of 5-4. Providing excellent goaltending for the team were Anthony Tarasio and Joey MacDonald. Goals and assists for these three games are as follows: Daniel Asselin (3g,2a), Colin Bird (3g), Devin Kraay- enhof (2g), Zachary Jones (1g,2a), Mitchell Blanchard (1g,2a), Travis Owens (1g), Tanner Miles (1g), Mitchell Mitchell Hamilton (1a), Brandon Henry (1a), Josh Cordery (1a), Stephen Marchant (1a) and Ben Bianco (1a). Other team members making strong contributions included Martin Descoteaux, Cameron Cameron Gilmore and Jacob Cole.