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Sports Oakville Beaver By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2010 53 Young goaltending tandem doesn't concern Buzz GM Oakville opens Junior B lacrosse season tonight To some, having two young goalies might seem like an extreme disadvantage to a team competing in the Ontario Lacrosse Association Junior B loop's tough Western Conference. Oakville Buzz general manager Ken Gillies, who feels this year's squad is Oakville's best since the Founder's Cup national championship-winning team in 2006, would disagree. The Buzz will have either rookie Tyler Sullivan or second-year player Graeme Kirkness protecting its net when it opens the 2010 campaign tonight (Friday, 8 p.m.) against the Hamilton Bengals at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre. But the inexperience of Oakville's tenders doesn't concern Gillies, who believes the youngsters could form the top goaltending duo in Junior B this season. "Both have the talent to be number ones," said Gillies, whose club lost promising netminder Davide Diruscio to Junior A in the offseason. "And we've always been strong defensively. With the defence we have and the goaltending we have, we should be able to keep our goals against under six (per game)." The Buzz's back end does indeed appear strong, with Sam White, Brad Galante, Brendan Gamble, FX Shea and Bryan Campbell among the key returnees. But allowing less than six goals a game is also what Oakville did last season, good enough for only a 12-8 regular-season showing and a first-round playoff loss to the twotime defending national champion Six Nations Arrows. Goal scoring, not defence, was the Buzz's weakness in 2009. Gillies believes that probOakville Blades goaltender Daniel Savelli (35) smothers the puck Wednesday in Sault Ste. Marie while defenceman Thomas Evans looks on. Savelli has allowed two goal in the first three games of the Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament. JIM EGAN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER lem has been addressed. "Dylan Gilbert and Braden Gallant look like they're returning to the form of two years ago (when they were two of the Buzz's top scorers). They kind of had off-seasons last year, but they've looked really strong in camp," said the GM. "We've also got Spencer Gallant, one of our top scorers last year, back." Strong rookie crop A strong crop of rookies, led by Tyler Albrecht, Danny Lomas and Bryan Cole, should also provide some scoring punch. Albrecht was the second overall pick in last year's junior A draft but chose to play with the Buzz this season, Lomas is the top midget player out of the Burlington rep system, and Cole is a big left-handed shot who will play Division 1 field lacrosse at the University of Maryland in 2011. "On top of that, we're really athletic," Gillies added. "We'll create a lot of chances out of transition." The club will be guided by first-year head coach Sam Rook, who assisted Gillies behind the bench last season. "He's a good young coach," said Gillies. "We've also got (assistant) Mike Bentivegna back, and we picked up a new offensive coach in Marc Burton who played some field lacrosse in the U.S. and played senior ball in Barrie last year." Following tomorrow's season opener against Hamilton, the Buzz will be home to the London Blue Devils Sunday for a 7 p.m. start. Oakville's first three games, and five of its first seven, will be played at home. "Hopefully it gets us going right off the bat," said Gillies. "We're still missing a few players (away at school), but the core of the guys are here. We hope we can get off to a quick start." KAREN NEWMAN / OAKVILLE BEAVER READY TO GO: The Oakville Buzz hopes for big contributions this season from (pictured left to right) rookies Danny Lomas, Will Glover and Bryan Cole as well as veteran returnee Braden Gallant. The team opens the Junior B lacrosse season tonight at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre. Blades one win away from nationals The Oakville Blades are one win away from advancing to the RBC Royal Bank Cup national junior A hockey championship tournament. Mark Bennett's overtime goal yesterday (Thursday) afternoon lifted the Blades to a 2-1 victory over the Fort William North Stars and guaranteed Oakville a berth in the final of the Dudley Hewitt Cup central Canadian tournament in Sault Ste. Marie. Oakville could face any of the tournament's other three teams -- Fort William, the Abitibi Eskimos or the host Soo Thunderbirds -- in tomorrow's (Saturday's) final. Abitibi and Soo were scheduled to conclude the round-robin portion of the tournament last night (after the Beaver's press deadline), with the winner advancing to face Fort William in the semifinal game tonight. The Blades get a bye to the final by virtue of their 3-0 record in round-robin play. Bennett's winner came on a screened snapshot from the high slot that changed direction and eluded North Stars goalie Guillaume Piche. "It pinballed into the net, but whatever. It's a game-winning goal and we'll take it," said Bennett. "It gave us a chanc to be one game away from winning the Dudley Hewitt. This is the furthest I've ever gone in the playoffs, so it's the biggest goal I've ever scored." The Blades were already guaranteed a spot in at See Bye page 54