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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, January 9, 2013 · 18 Sports Oakville Beaver TOP PROSPECT: Mississauga Steelheads goaltender Spencer Martin, the lone 17-year-old No. 1 goaltender in the Ontario Hockey League, will play in next week's Canadian Hockey League Top Prospects Game in Halifax. Martin is the topranked OHL goalie in NHL Central Scouting's preliminary draft list. STEVEN DER-GARABEDIAN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-632-0588 (ext. 294) email sports@oakvillebeaver.com Blades sharp early in crucial OJHL clash By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Goalie Martin unfazed by the spotlight By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF Spencer Martin was staring down the hottest team in Canada. The London Knights had won 14 games in a row when they arrived in Mississauga in early December for a game against the Steelheads. Only once during that streak had London's opponent even taken the Knights to overtime. Now here was the Steelheads' goaltender in the spotlight trying to help his team snap out of a mini slump that had seen it lose three of its previous four games. Seven rounds in, the teams were still deadlocked. As it dragged on toward a Canadian Hockey League record, Martin stood his ground. Eleven times he watched a teammate turned away at the other end of the ice. Eleven times in a row he kept his team's chances alive by winning the one-on-one showdown. "That was like a marathon," Martin said. "Even though it was sudden death, it felt like it does in practice." Boston Bruins draft pick Seth Griffith would finally beat Martin in the 19th round of the shootout to give London its 15th of 24 consecutive wins. But Martin's even-keeled approach to the shootout was not a surprise to Mississauga coach James Boyd. Already this season, Boyd has seen Martin take over the No. 1 role in the Mississauga net -- he is the only 17-year-old starter in the OHL (although Peterborough's Michael Giugovaz has evenly split time with Andrew D'Agostini). And Martin has coped well with the added pressure of this being his draft year. That's why Boyd doesn't see next week's Canadian Hockey League Top Prospects Game rattling his young netminder. Despite his age, Boyd said Martin has plenty of big-game experience to draw on, having played for Canada at the IIHF Under-18 world championships in April and for Ontario at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge last January. "He's such a competitive guy; he wants to be his best every night," Boyd said. "I don't see it affecting him at all." Martin, the top-ranked OHL goalie in NHL Central Scouting's preliminary draft list, said it will be an honour to play for Bobby Orr's team in the annual showcase of the top NHL draft eligible players, but he isn't stressing about having the eyes of the scouts on him. "Any time you have a big game, there's going to be a big spotlight and that's going to weigh in your mind," Martin said, "but I'm not too worried." His main priority has been helping get the Steelheads back on track. Mississauga had a great start to the season -- going 17-7-1 -- and Martin led the way with an 11-2 record, 2.23 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. Mississauga went through a month-long stretch in December, though, in which it went 2-7-2. As a result, Martin's numbers have taken a hit (3.06, .906). "Every season has its ups and downs. We had a good first half," Martin said. "Personally, I just want to continue to give our team a chance to win every day." Boyd said it has been a team-wide slump -- offensively the team is scoring half a goal less per game than it did through the first 25 games -- that has contributed to the team's recent woes. The Steelheads coach says Martin's approach to the game -- being able to avoid the highs and lows -- is what is needed to get back to their early-season success. He also said it is probably the biggest improvement he's seen in Martin's game. "At times last year, you could fault him for trying too hard," Boyd said. "He's shown a lot more composure." And the skills Steelheads officials saw in Martin's rookie season -- which made them comfortable in trading former starter J.P. Anderson -- are still there. "He's an all-around tremendous athelete," Boyd said of his 6-foot-2 goalie. "He's big and he's quick as a cat." Teammate and Steelheads captain Stuart Percy, who also played in the prospects game, said he's confident Martin will have a good showing next Wednesday (Jan. 16) in Halifax. "He stays cool under pressure. He knows what he has to do," Percy said. "He just has to stay calm and let the shots come to him." In perhaps their most important game of the Ontario Junior Hockey League season so far, the Oakville Blades certainly answered the bell. Hours after being humiliated 7-0 by the South Division-leading Toronto Lakeshore Patriots, the Blades defeated the second-place St. Michael's Buzzers 3-2 Sunday afternoon in Toronto. Oakville scored 90 seconds into the game and inflated its advantage to 3-0 before the contest was 14 minutes old, then "I certainly felt we relied on goaltender had the character in Evan Buitenhuis to the room to do that. make the lead stand up. But to say that after "That was a real anomaly of a game for us 20 minutes we'd be against Toronto up 3-0 on St. Mike's Lakeshore," Blades would probably have coach Kevin Gomes said. been surprising." "It was an amazing rebound against St. Oakville Blades coach Mike's in what was basi- Kevin Gomes cally a huge four-point game for us. I certainly felt we had the character in the room to do that. But to say that after 20 minutes we'd be up 3-0 on St. Mike's would probably have been suprising." The victory was Oakville's first since Dec. 22, though the Blades had only played three games in that span. Following the Christmas break, Oakville opened the 2013 portion of its schedule with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens Friday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, then was blanked by a Patriots squad that has won seven straight games. Oakville enters tonight's (Wednesday's) action fourth in the OJHL's South Division despite boasting a record of 23-9-4. Toronto Lakeshore sits six points ahead of the Blades, and St. Michael's and the North York Rangers hold four-point leads on Oakville. The Blades have played four less games than the Patriots and Rangers, however, and three less than the Buzzers. "It's one thing to have games in hand, but you still have to win those games," Gomes said. "I just find there's so much parity in our division. It's turning into a real fight." Oakville will make up most of those games in February, when the team is scheduled to play 12 games in 23 days. The Blades, who will play 10 games in January, played just six in December. Gomes said he has to keep the upcoming heavy schedule in mind as he prepares his team for the playoffs. See Blades, page 19