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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday January 18, 2008 - 3 Legein strikes gold with St. Andrew students Continued from page 1 The 19-year-old Oakville resident returned to his alma mater Wednesday to answer questions and tell an enthusiastic gym full of St. Andrew students what it was like to win that gold medal in the Czech Republic. "A couple years ago, I was just like you guys, going to St. Andrew and hoping I could one day play for the "A couple years ago, world junI was just like you iors," said guys, going to St. Legein. "I Andrew and hoping worked really I could one day play hard. From there, everyfor the world juniors. thing just I worked really hard. happened so From there, everyfast, and today thing just happened I'm standing so fast, and today I'm here with a gold medal." standing here with a The quesgold medal." tions were non-stop Stefan Legein from students following Legein's speech. How old were you when you started playing hockey? He was 5. How much do you have to practice? About two hours a day. Where do you play when you're not playing for Canada? With the OHL's Niagara Icedogs. Who's your favourite player? Joe Sakic. Will the Toronto Maple Leafs get a new coach? "It looks like they should," said Legein, smiling. The former Oakville Ranger, an alternate captain for the gold medal world junior team, was also asked to name his favourite NHL squad. "My favourite NHL team used to be Colorado, but now it's Columbus," he said, "because that's where I was drafted." One student sporting a Leafs jersey asked whether Legein scored Canada's goal in overtime against Sweden to capture gold at the World Junior tournament. "I didn't really play the final game, because I got hurt 20 seconds in," he explained. "At least we won the final game. It was tough watching from the stands, but this kind of thing happens." Despite the separated shoulder, Legein did take part in the celebration, skating on the ice with his right arm in a sling. "It was pretty cool to put the championship cup in the stands, because there were a lot of Canadian fans," he told students. "It was nice to let the fans celebrate with us, because they really wanted us to win gold, and they came a long way to see it." Legein is now recovering from the sep- RON KUZYK / OAKVILLE BEAVER DON'T WEAR IT OUT: Canadian world junior hockey champion team member Stefan Legein autographs a sneaker for St. Andrew Grade 6 student Joshua Raposo. arated shoulder, and hopes to be back in action with the Icedogs in early February. He returned to Niagara Wednesday after his speech. The visit to St. Andrew was organized after his mother dropped into the school to thank the principal, Tony Ceelen, for posting a sign congratulating Legein. While the students enjoyed meeting him, you could see Legein was happy to be back in his old school, too. He also saw some familiar faces he wasn't expecting to see. "I don't think there are any teachers who are still here from when I was a student," he told the kids, a comment that was greeted by several teachers putting their hands in the air to indicate he was wrong. "Madame Mercer!" he said, upon seeing his old French teacher. Mercer, who taught Legein Grades 6 through 8, didn't have much to say about how he did in French, but did note "Stefan was a popular student in the class." She watched the world junior championship with great interest this year, knowing a former student was out on the ice. Things got especially crazy in the gym ­ we're talking hundreds of hands in the air, kids pleading with their teachers ­ when the principal said a few students would be selected to have their photo taken with Legein. "Could I go up? I have the same name as him," one student asked his teacher. That technique didn't work. Grade 4 student Johnny Mastromarco was among a handful of kids chosen. "It's very exciting to meet him because I play for the same team as he did," said Mastromarco, referring to the Oakville Rangers AAA squad. "I want to play in the world juniors and then play in the NHL." After photos, the signing began ­ including on a sneaker. "My friend had to go back to class and he said, Josh, get Stefan Legein to sign my shoe," said a smiling Joshua Raposo, holding the recently-inked sneaker. "I said, ya, ok. It's pretty cool." "It's very exciting to meet him because I play for the same team as he did. I want to play in the world juniors and then play in the NHL ." St. Andrew student Johnny Mastromarco, member of an Oakville Rangers AAA squad "It was exciting," she said. "It makes you feel proud when a student of yours has accomplished something of good measure." Mercer got a chance to chat with Legein only after students flooded him with autograph requests and asked to see his gold medal. 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