The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

27 · Wednesday, January 16, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com HOME IMPROVEMENTS 905-845-3824 ext. 278 ahowe@oakvillebeaver.com AIR CONDITIONING/APPLIANCES Danny's Appliance Service 905-827-9559 ARBORIST Superior Tree Solutions 905-849-6395 BLINDS Emcoss Blinds 416-888-3444 www.emcossblinds.ca CHIMNEYS A.M. Masonry 416-893-7354 Chimneys Brick & Concrete 905-335-8943 CONTRACTOR ATD Contracting Services 905-510-7724 www.atdcontractors.com DECKS Alpine Deck 905-828-1320 www.alpinedeck.com Artistic Deck & Fence 905-844-4456 Sunshine Deck and Fence 905-875-3325 EAVESTROUGHS/ROOFING Roof Pro + 1-888-677-7757 ELECTRICAL D. Sayers Electric Inc. 905-257-3728 Furena Electric Ltd. 905-274-2363 Warren Electrical 905-580-9408 FLOORING/RENO Wood N' Floor 905-338-1881 www.woodnfloor.ca GARAGE DOORS B&M Garage Doors 905-569-9133 www.bmgaragedoor.com GROUT Grout Expectations 905-257-0055 www.groutexpectations.ca HANDYMAN Ely Building Contractors 416-339-6075 Elybuilding@cogeco.ca Handyman 905-510-0015 HEATING/COOLING Ralph's Heating & Cooling 289-259-9121 To Advertise in this section call Alycia Howe TOURNAMENT SPECIALISTS: The Oakville minor atom A Rangers won the International Silver Stick champion- Minor atoms win Silver Stick title Tournaments continue to bring out the best of the Oakville minor atom A Rangers. The Rangers won their fourth straight tournament of the hockey season -- and their biggest yet -- last weekend in Newmarket, claiming the title at the International Silver Stick. After falling behind 2-0 in the final against the Vaughan Rangers, Oakville rallied for six unanswered goals to claim a 6-2 victory. Earlier in the tournament, Oakville tied Vaughan 2-2, edged the Quinte West Hawks 2-1, blanked New Hamburg 7-0 and doused the Nickel City Flames 4-3. Oakville remains unbeaten in tournament play this season, which includes titles at the Pittsburgh Pre-Season Challenge, the Woodstock Regional Silver Stick and the hometown Richard Bell tournament. Members of the Rangers are Michael Doherty, Justin Wu, Ben Wadden, Connor Crane, Joseph Penman, Brant Angove, Christian Di Salvo, Brody Simpson, Bowen Mahoney, Adam Gunner, Landon Quinn, Carson Wiggins, Will Blakely, Ben Seifer, Max Lanoue, Andrew Kranjac and Hunter Greenhalgh. Don Simpson, Bryan Angove and Mike Greenhalgh coach the Rangers, who are 45-8-3 overall this season. Paul Kranjac is the squad's manager. ship last weekend in Newmarket, earning their fourth tournament title in as many tries this hockey season. Longhorns sold to Mississauga group If Liston Bates was looking for support of his plan to purchase the Oakville Longhorns, he wasn't getting it. "My partner Qais Ehsas, the fellow signing authority, is in school to be a registered accountant. He looked at the numbers and said `This is a bad move'," Bates recalled. "I said, `You know what, though? Pen and paper, I understand that. But my love for (football) is something completely different." Blind love for football could be seen as the reason Bates' organization, the Mississauga Indoor Football Association, is the new owner of Oakville's Northern Football Conference senior amateur squad, recently purchasing the team from longtime owner Steve Harrington. But the 35-year-old Bates isn't convinced that Ehsas was correct in his preliminary assessment either, at least not in the long term. "I'm sure if you did things properly over a 10-year period, you could build up a dynasty and make money off it," said Bates, who has played linebacker for, coached or managed the Longhorns in some capacity for much of the past decade, leading the NFC in sacks and hurries last season. "I have a lot of good intentions to make the game more than just a game. I really want to make the Longhorns big." Among those ideas is the introduction of halftime shows, similar to the ones Bates helped organize a few years ago while he played for the now-defunct Milton Marauders. "I owned a bar and brought some live bands, gave them a couple bucks to have a halftime show," Bates said. Of course, it'll likely take much more than that to rebuild public interest in an organization that was once the NFC's model franchise. The Longhorns won a record 11 straight NFC championships from 19932003 and claimed three national titles during that span. In recent years, the team has struggled both financially and on the field, even sitting out the 2009 season. Bates is confident the signing of Gino Arcaro as head coach is a step in the right direction. Arcaro has coached at five different levels (high school, Ontario Varsity Football League, Canadian Junior Football League, college and NFC), including 23 seasons as a head coach, during his 30-year coaching career. Arcaro is also the owner of a fitness company, a writer, ex-police officer and ex-college professor. "You bring in the right people, start a team-building program, build a code of conduct and respect level," Bates said. "You set the tone early and let (players) learn and know there is a passion for this team. They're not just playing on a football team, they're playing on a piece of history." The NFC currently features nine teams. The league's schedule typically begins in May and concludes in August. -- Jon Kuiperij HOME IMPROVEMENTS Bittar Construction INC 905-829-5204 416 725 5068 Canadian Home Pro 416-708-7269 Ceiling Restoration 905-541-5292 Clarke Renovation Services 905-465-5387 DB Contracting 416-417-6600 Dunn-Right Contracting 416-988-1382 Eastlake Home Improvements 905-847-7054 Halton Home Improvements 416-543-2081 License to Art & Design Inc. 905-464-5129 National Construction Services 416-455-8350 P. Jay Contracting 905-616-3150 Ruby Renos 905-691-0124 www.rubyrenos.com Total Upgrade 647-898-3753 HOME RENOVATIONS Optibuild Design Inc. 905-464-2261 MASONRY A&M Masonry 647-618-4261 PAINTING Halton Painting & Decorating 905-339-0952 Inter-Can Painting Inc. 905-469-0092 Paint All 905-822-9338 Pipe's Paint 416-558-8756 Richard Professional Painting 647-449-1775 Xtreme Pro Painting 905-334-2120 PAVING C. Valley Paving 905-637-0155 ext. 301 PLUMBING Delex Plumbing 416-910-2550 POOLS Ontario Pools & Backyards Inc. 289-242-2518 WINDOWS/EAVES Crownseal Inc. 905-564-3575 Soften That Spot 905-338-8942 See full Home Improvements section in The Oakville Beaver every Thursday