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Lawnmower Service DO IT NOW! < cp ^ M } Q +parts CURRENT POWER MACHINERY INC. 1661 lb b i Lakeshore Lakesnore Rd. Kd. W. w. Mississauc Mississauga (2 block east of So Southdown Road in Clarkson) ' A 0 4 4 A I I Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com SPORTS Ja u to · · r v io tL u p vt l $ 4 0 Limited time offer. See Manager for Details. on brake pads or shoes installed 112 Speers Rd., Oakville (just w est of Kerr) Eight bantam skaters chosen in OHL draft Total o f eleven local players selected by teams in province s top junior league By Robb Swybrous SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER B y now you'd think Oakville Rangers bantam AAA coach Scott McKenzie was as impressed with his team as any coach could be. After all his group of players wrapped up their third straight Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) title this season and earned a silver medal at the all-Ontario championships in March. But after last weekend's Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority draft, McKenzie says his players have taken it to another level. Eight of the Rangers were selected into the province's top junior league, including both of the team's goalies -- Chris Rowan and Matt Pike. "The guys went who I thought would," McKenzie said. "Both goaltenders went which I though was really good. It's got to be pretty unusual to have both goalies drafted." Rowan was selected in the sixth round by the Barrie Colts, while Pike was drafted in the 10th round by the Saginaw Spirits. In addition to the team's puck-stoppers, defence"Both goaltenders man Ben went which I thought Heersink was really good. It's was chosen by the got to be pretty Windsor unusual to have both Spitfires in goalies drafted." the fifth · Scott M ckenzie round; twins Tyler and Justin Donati were taken by the Oshawa Generals in the sixth and 15th rounds respectively; Charlie Giffin was chosen in the eighth round by the Owen Sound Attack; Brad McKenzie went to the Spitfires in the 11th round players, three other Oakville skaters crop. and Nick Davis is now property of the were chosen. The sturdy Blades' forward finished Ottawa 67's who chose him in the 12th Evan McGrath who played for the third in scoring in the Provincial Junior round. Oakville Blades this year was taken in A Western conference with 43 goals As per OHL rules only a team's top the first round (12th overall) by the and 44 assists for 87 points. two draft picks each year are eligible Kitchener Rangers. He was also named OHA player of to play the next season in the OHL. the month in January and the Western T. Donati That means none of the bantamconference's rookie of the year. · Oshawa Generals aged players can suit up for an Oreskovich also had an impressive OHL club next season but season. McKenzie is pretty sure at Heersink The 6-foot-2, 195 pound McKenzie forward earned rookie-ofleast a few of his for·W indsor S p itfires Windsor Spitfires mer players will be the year honours this skating in the past season playing league during the in the Golden 2003-04 sea Horseshoe Junior son. B Hockey "I think League with probably the St. Chris Catharines Rowan has Perkins a really Falcons. good shot He was and also select Heersink's ed to that a real solid that defenceleague's allman. He's star team. Davis six-two and UlU m News that · Ottawa 67y s · Owen Sound eleven Oakville can really move the puck," Attack hockey players he said. "(And) were picked in Pike Tyler Donati -- he lit Rowan last weekend's OHL * Saginaw Spirits it up this year, he had a · Barrie Colts Priority draft isn't the only tremendous year." thing that has Oakville J. Donati Having eight players selected (MOHA) rep hockey officials excit * Oshawa Generals to the OHL means McKenzie will ed. leave a tremendous legacy on Oakville Great day fo r Rangers ' hockey minor hockey. Victor Oreskovich played junior B The organization is also set to wel The veteran bench boss is turning come back a crop of hometown skaters this season in St.Catharines and was in his clipboard and hanging up his selected in the sixth round by the to play in the MOHA system for the skates this season. Spitfires. 2002-03 year. Unprecedented draft Rounding out Oakville's selections Many of the returnees are players was Ryan Wilkinson. He played last The bantam squad was well repre who previously skated with an sented at the the draft but when you year for the Burlington bantam AAA Oakville club but left to play with add in the other Oakville-based players team and was selected in the 15th teams in the Greater Toronto Hockey chosen, it turned out to be an unprece round by the Mississauga Ice Dogs. League (GTHL). dented draft for this town's players. Of the 11 local players selected, "Obviously they must be comfort In addition to the eight bantam McGrath is perhaps the cream of the able with our program and philosophy or they wouldn't be here," Keith Murray, MOHA Town Rep vice-presi dent, said. "We are very pleased that these players have chosen to come home to Oakville to continue their hockey careers. This is a great day for Oakville Rangers' hockey." Heading the list of returning players is Luke Moodie, who played last year with the North York Rangers in the GTHL but has signed to skate with Oakville's bantam AAA squad this year. Joining Moodie on the bantam team will be Scott Hamel, Domenic Monardo and Daniel Ruffo. Each earned an all-Ontario champi onship last season with the GTHL's Junior Canadians. Oakville's minor bantam AAA squad will welcome Jordan Watts for next season after a one-year hiatus to play with the Mississauga Senators. Michael Ide is also re-joining the Oakville rep system and will play with the minor bantam AAA team after playing three years in Mississauga. The midget AAA's are expecting Andrew Antidormi to bolster their line up and the peewee AAA's are hoping for big things from former Wexford Raiders' player Andrew Neuwald. Joining the peewee AA team for 2002-03 "Obviously they must are Dylan Macbe comfortable with Dougall our program. This is and Dylan Ellis. a great day for Ryan Oakville Rangers Zurawell Hockey." and Daniel Tremblay · Keith Murray join the minor bantam AA. At the single- A level, Daniel McRae joins the bantam team, while Eric Carr will lace up for the minor midget team. Barrie Erskine · Oakville Beaver An Oakville Coyotes player (white) tries to fend off a Burlington Wave defender while the Wave goaltender makes a save. The Coyotes got two goals from rookie Jeff Brown in an 8-6 win Sunday at Oakville Arena. The Coyotes next home game is Friday at 8 p.m. against Brampton. Coyotes counting on locals GM thinks Oakville players will make difference Tired of searching all over the province for the right mix of players, Oakville Coyotes gener al manger Jay Labelle started looking in his own backyard. After all, says Labelle, Oakville's pool of young, talent ed hockey players is as good as another other town in the province. "In the past couple of years w e've had a lot of out-of-townguys, a lot of OHL guys," Labelle said. "But it just never jelled. This year we went with completely local guys. And the fact that we had a really good group of young guys coming up through the system allowed us to do that" Labelle's focus on hom e grown talent is already paying off. The team opened its Provincial Junior A roller hock ey league season Sunday at Oakville Arena with an 8-6 win over the Burlington Wave. And it was one of those local guys leading the way. Rookie Jeff Brown lead all scores with three goals and one assist and made a great firstimpression on GM Labelle. "Some rookies take a game or two or sometimes even a season to acclimatize themselves to the quickness of the Junior A level," he said. "Brown took a half." Other Coyotes scoring in the win were veteran Luke Domski with two goals, Shaun Dakin with a goal and two helpers, Kelly Vietch and Dan Rosso with singles. Ryan Kuri also played a strong game chipping in with a couple of assists. The Coyotes had a slim 3-2 half-time lead but came out in the second half and took it to Burlington early netting five goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Goalie Sean Tompa played well in the game's final 10 min utes to preserve the win. Labelle said coach Kevin Vietch will be relying on Tompa as well as Brett Edwards to pro vide the goaltending this season. The team's defence will be anchored by veteran Mike Zack while Domski, Rosso and Geoff Aselstine will be counted on to provide some scoring punch. It was just the start Labelle was looking for from his team that has been a middle-of-thepack achiever in the past couple of seasons. Considering the team is made up of 11 rookies, Labelle admits his expectations aren't sky-high but his ready to be proved wrong. "When you have three or four returning guys you can't expect too much," he said. "To be hon est I'd probably be happy with middle of the pack but I thin we'll probably out-do my expec tations. W e're pretty pumped about it." Their next home game is scheduled for Friday at Oakville Arena against the Brampton Radicals. Game time is 8 p.m. *