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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, April 9, 2010 · 44 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010 Newmarket goalie steals win, Blades trail series 2-1 By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR MICHAEL IVANIN / OAKVILLE BEAVER BURNS BOOSTERS: Oakville residents (from left) Warren Weeks, John Perenack and Mark Fieldhouse, started a Facebook campaign to have former NHL coach Pat Burns, who is enduring a third battle with cancer, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year. More than 50,000 people joined the group in the first two weeks. Supporters can join by going to www.patburns.ca. Campaign takes hockey world by storm 50,000 sign up in support of Pat Burns' election to Hockey Hall of Fame By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Just five days into a campaign that he and two friends launched, the response had already exceeded Warren Weeks' expectations. But it wasn't until a Twitter posting popped up on his computer screen that he realized the scope of what they had created. "Let's Get Pat Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame -- NOW!" said the tweet from Wayne Gretzky. "My jaw hit the table," Weeks said. "It was one of those surreal moments." Wednesday, the Facebook page launched by Oakville residents John Perenack, Mark Fieldhouse and Weeks to campaign for Burns' induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year eclipsed the 50,000-member mark. Their goal, readjusted since beginning the project 12 days earlier, is to reach 100,000. "We're hoping to do a final push (before Hall of Fame committee members put forward their nominations next Thursday)," Perenack said, "to get as many people on board so that it will be at the top of their mind when the 18 members of the selection committee send in their nominations." The three friends began discussing Burns via e-mail after seeing a news story about an arena being named in honour of the former coach. Burns, who won the NHL coach of the year award with Toronto, Montreal and Boston and a Stanley Cup with New Jersey, had been out of the public eye since 2004 as he waged three separate battles with cancer. The trio was struck by Burns' frail appearance. "He looked like a shadow of his former self," Weeks said. The conversation then turned to Burns being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame and how it would be a shame if he was not able to accept the honour -- Burns himself said it's unlikely he'll be alive for the completion of the arena. The discussion had wrapped up when Fieldhouse posed one last question. "I expected to go back to my life and then Mark sent me an n See Facebook page 47 As the final buzzer sounded at Joshua's Creek Arenas, the Newmarket Hurricanes piled over the boards to swarm goaltender Jimmy Sarjeant. They had plenty of reason to. Thanks in large part to their remarkable netminder, the Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead in the Buckland Cup bestof-seven OHA junior A final with a 3-1 win over the Oakville Blades Wednesday in Oakville. Sarjeant was nearly unbeatable on the night, stopping 38 of the 39 shots he faced. The lone puck to elude him was Kellan Lain's pass from behind the net that banked off a Newmarket player and slid slowly inside the goalpost in the opening minute of the second period. Outshot 39-19 on the evening and 32-12 in the first two frames, the Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead in the third period when captain Chad Sumsion blasted a slapshot through Blades goalie Mike Morissette from the top of the faceoff dot. Sumsion added an empty-net goal in the final minute, his sixth goal in the championship series following a hat trick in the opener and another marker in Game 2. "We just hung in there all game long and then, in the clutch in the third period, we pulled ahead," Sarjeant said. They definitely outplayed us in the first two periods, but I think we took it to them a little bit in the third." The Blades threw everything they had at Sarjeant, particularly in the first period. Oakville had eight of the game's first nine shots and finished the opening period with a 17-6 advantage in shots, but the game was scoreless through 20 minutes. "We knew they didn't come out with their best effort Monday night (in Game 2, a 4-1 Hurricanes win in Newmarket) and that they'd be coming out guns a blazing," said Sarjeant. "We knew we had to weather their early storm and then go from there." Sarjeant should be prepared to see a lot more traffic in front of his net for the remainder of the series. "We're letting him see a lot of shots," said Blades captain Mike Ingoldsby. "The biggest thing is to get in front of him, make his life miserable, make him fight to see the puck. Hopefully we'll get a few rebounds and bang a couple in." Game 4 of the series was played Thursday in Newmarket (results were not available at press time). The Blades will host Game 5 Saturday at Joshua's Creek Arenas at 7:30 p.m.