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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports N A D I A N C H A M P by Kevin Nagel Metroland Media Group 17 | Wednesday, May 22, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" C A Another junior A hockey team coming to Halton Oakville native Oliver Wren will coach GMHL's Cyclones There will be some unfamiliar junior hockey teams visiting Halton in the fall. With the arrival of the Burlington-based Halton Cyclones -- a new Greater Metro Hockey League junior A franchise -- local fans might see teams from as far away as Temiscaming, Que. (the Titans) or as close as Toronto (the Blue Ice Jets, Predators and Attack), depending on how the schedule is devised. There are 20 teams in the league at the moment, with the Cyclones the latest addition. When Adam Bennett, a Georgetown business owner, announced last week he had to step away from the team for personal reasons, Mark Hetherman, the Burlington Cougars' general manager for the past three seasons, bought the club. The Cougars are members of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, as are the Oakville Blades. Hetherman said there are no hard feelings between the two junior A teams based in Burlington, or with any other OJHL teams in the area. "No not at all," he said. "For me it's just the next step going from GM to owner. I don't believe (we'll be in competition with the Cougars). It's a different league, I would say it's below the calibre of the OJHL. In fact, I think it's a great feeder opportunity for the Cougars and the OJHL in general." The Cyclones' home base will be the Wave Sports Centre on Benson Ave. The GMHL is not under the Hockey Canada umbrella, so regulations regarding signing players and their origin are not as stringent as the national governing body. "The (GMHL) allows you to bring over players from the U.S. and overseas, which is much more difficult to do through Hockey Canada," said Hetherman. "It's got a bit more of a worldwide flavour to it than the junior hockey that's playing in Ontario right now." The OJHL recently cut down from 37 to 23 teams to strengthen its product and entice more scouts to its games. "It left (out) a lot of kids who are talented junior A players, but find it tough to make a 23-team OJHL," said Hetherman. "The GMHL gives them a place to gain experience and hopefully elevate into the OJHL and other levels of hockey." The recent decision by the OJHL to allow teams to charge players a fee to play (bit. ly/19uaR7e) is already an operating strategy for many GMHL teams. "It's very difficult to run a junior A franchise and make any money," said Hetherman. "As a matter of fact it's virtually impossible without having a pay-to-play model." Hetherman will officially announce the identity of the Cyclones' first head coach -- 25-year-old Oakville native Oliver Wren -- this week. The former Cougars and Blades goaltender recently played in Australia after attending SUNY-Brockport and playing NCAA hockey from 2008-12. Hetherman admitted that he and Wren have some studying to do on all facets of running a new team, including player eligibility rules, schedules and travel. The league conducted its 2013-14 draft earlier this month, with the Cyclones choosing Swede Douglas Engstam in the first round, 17th overall. They added local Blyth Academy student Marcel Leclerc in the second round and Konnor Roskovich of the North York Rangers in the third round. The complete draft list is available at the GMHL site, www.gmhl.net. Local 11-year-old Matthew Choi won a pair of gold medals recently at the Canada Open taekwondo championships in Toronto. Choi, a student at Joshua Creek Public School, claimed the sparring title in the black belt boys' under 48-kilogram welterweight division with an 8-3 win in the final. He also won the youth boys' poomsae black belt division, scoring 5.9 points out of a possible 10 for Pattern 8 and 6.0 for Koryo. The runner-up tallied 5.4 and 5.3 points in Pattern 8 and Koryo, respectively. | photo by Hannah Yoon -- Special to the Beaver Buzz puts scare into Green Gaels, doubles up Mimico to move to 4-2 For the second time in two weeks, the Oakville Buzz demonstrated the ability to compete with the Ontario Lacrosse Association junior B league's elite. Oakville nearly handed the Clarington Green Gaels their first loss of the season Friday at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre (TRAC). The Green Gaels needed a goal with 1:25 remaining in regulation time to earn a 9-8 win and improve to 7-0 on the season. The Buzz also gave the 5-0 Halton Hills Bulldogs all they could handle May 4 in Georgetown, trailing by a goal with six minutes to go before falling 9-7. Those losses are the only blemishes this season for the Buzz (4-2), which rebounded from Friday's defeat to down the Mimico Mountaineers 12-6 Sunday. That game was also played at the TRAC as the Buzz continued an earlyseason schedule that sees the team play six of its first seven games at home. Mitch Wales paced Oakville Friday with two goals and three assists, while Greg Campbell added two goals and two helpers. Mitchell Bolduc, Eddie Renaud, Liam Corbett and Dalton Follows also tallied, and Colton Watkinson had three assists. Brent Noseworthy took the loss in net. Sunday, Campbell struck for another three goals and four assists as the Buzz built an early 5-1 lead and carried a 9-3 advantage into the second intermission. Troy O'Donnell also had a hat trick and added an assist, with Renaud (goal, four assists) and Watkinson (goal, three assists) each enjoying productive outings as well. Jimmy Shea, Andrew Kew, Wales and Bolduc added singles in support of Noseworthy. The Buzz will play its fifth consecutive home game Friday (an 8 p.m. start against the Mississauga Tomahawks at the TRAC) before hitting the road Sunday for a visit to the Newmarket Saints.