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D2 -The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 22, 2003 Chantal Ayotte · Oakville Beaver Oakville Blades and Buffalo Lightning players intently eye the direction of the puck. Blades players in this photo include Rob Tarantino (#11), Mike Ruberto (#27) and Chris Koras (#25). Blades extend new coach's perfect record By Neil Becker SP EC IA L TO T H E BEA V ER Halton high school standings and scores BO Y S B A SK E T B A L L (S en io r Volpe) W 1. PF P PA Team 450 14 Milton 7 0 305 324 12 Loyola 6 1 433 2 486 369 12 Aquinas 6 2 499 Iroquois Ridge 377 12 6 8 4 3 356 303 Q.E. Park 409 4 4 368 8 E.C. Drury 2 5 332 4 W hile Oaks 363 2 4 5 388 Oak Trafalgar 333 2 2 438 Blakelock 5 386 2 Bishop Reding 6 302 355 1 7 156 460 0 King's Christian 0 This week's results: E.C. Drury 50. While Oaks 44; Iroquois Ridge 61. Loyola 53: Q.E. Park 43. King's Christian 22; Milton 77. Blakelock 49; Aquinas 55. Oak Trafalgar 48: Loyola 76. Bishop Reding 26; Milton 85. E.C. Drury 35; Iroquois Ridge 80. King's Christian 15; Q.E. Park 60. White Oaks 39: Aquinas 75. Blakelock 55: While Oaks 55. Oak Trafalgar 50. (Ju n io r Volpe) W PA P Tea in I. PF 499 0 306 16 Loyola 8 308 14 7 O ak Trafalgar 1 457 2 470 379 12 6 Blakelock 10 3 368 369 W hite Oaks 5 Iroquois Ridge 5 3 451 363 10 4 4 334 Aquinas 356 8 4 347 8 Bishop Reding 4 401 4 388 357 8 4 Q.E. Park 3 5 333 373 6 Holy Trinity 2 356 7 264 Millon 1 2 428 1 7 342 E.C. Drury 454 0 8 188 K ing's Christian 0 T his w eek 's results: B ishop Reding 48. Holy Trinity 43: W hite O aks 45. E.C. D rury 23; L oyola 57. Iroquois Ridge 56; Q.E. Park 70. K ing's C hristian 25: B lakelock 63. M ilton 37; O ak T rafalgar 53. A quinas 34: L oyola 56. B ishop R eding 49: M ilton 41. E.C. D rury 34: O ak T rafalgar 62. Holy T rinity 31: Iroquois R idge 76. K ing's C hristian 30; Q.E. Park 62. W hite O aks 55; B lakelock 68. A quinas 56. (M idget Volpe) W PA P Team L PF 14 358 293 7 0 Holy Trinity 176 8 Aquinas 4 1 280 198 8 4 1 206 Oak Trafalgar 2 337 248 8 4 W hite Oaks 2 4 243 282 4 Blakelock 4 180 247 . 2 Milton 1 2 4 Loyola 211 227 1 K ing's Christian 1 4 195 220 2 5 257 2 1 Q.E. Park 214 T h is w eek 's results; K in g 's C hristian 45. Q.E. Park 21; B lak elo ck 38, M ilton 34; O ak T rafalg ar 50. A quinas 43: Holv T rinity 49. Oak T rafalgar 35; W hite O aks 41. Q .E .'P ark 37; A quinas 61. B lakelock 38. G IR L S V O L L E Y B A L L (S en io r Volpe) V V I. P Team G Aquinas 8 8 0 16 Loyola 7 6 1 12 6 2 12 8 E.C. Drury 5 2 10 Oak Trafalgar 7 4 3 Bishop Reding 7 8 Iroquois Ridge 8 4 4 8 7 3 4 6 White Oaks 2 5 7 4 Milton 2 Blakelock 7 1 6 1 6 2 Q.E. Park 7 King's Christian 7 0 7 0 This w eek's results: E.C. Drury 2. White Oaks 0; Loyola 2. Iroquois Ridge 0; Q.E. Park 2. King's Christian 0; Blakelock 2. Milton I: Aquinas 2. Oak Trafalgar 0; Loyola 2. Bishop Reding 0; E.C. Drury 2, Milton I ; Iroquois Ridge 2. King's Christian (): White Oaks 2. Q.E. Park 0; Aquinas 2. B lakilock 0. (Ju n io r Volpel Team G W 1 . P s 0 16 Oak Trafalgar 8 8 White Oaks 6 2 12 Iroquois Ridge 8 6 2 12 8 5 3 10 Milton 10 Holy Trinity 8 5 3 Aquinas 8 4 4 8 4 4 8 8 E.C. Drury 8 4 4 8 Blakelock 2 5 7 4 Loyola 2 6 Bishop Reding 8 4 2 7 1 6 Q.E. Park King's Christian 8 0 8 0 T his w eek's results: Holy Trinity 2, Bishop Reding 0; E.C. Drury 2. W hite Oaks I ; Iroquois Ridge 2, Loyola 0; Q.E. Park 2. K ing's Christian 0; Blakelock 2. Milton I; Oak Trafalgar 2. Aquinas I ; Loyola 2. Bishop Reding I : Milton 2. E.C. Drury I: Oak Trafalgar 2. Holy Trinity 0; Iroquois Ridge 2. K ing's Christian 0; White Oaks 2. Q.E. Park 0; Aquinas 2, Blakelock I. BO Y S H O C K EY (Volpe) W L T G F GA P T eam 47 24 II 0 2 20 Q.E. Park 9 20 Blakelock 2 2 62 31 29 18 OakvilleTrafalgar 8 3 2 38 36 29 15 Loyola 5 3 5 Appleby 39 32 13 6 5 1 W hite Oaks 1 6 6 36 53 8 Iroquois Ridge 8 3 36 48 7 2 2 89 7 3 5 Milton 31 2 0 10 2 17 52 E.C. Drury T his w eek's results: Appleby 3, Iroquois Ridge I; B lakelock 4. Oak Trafalgar 1: Q.E. Park 1. E.C. Drury 0; Iroquois Ridge 3. M illon 3: Appleby 4. W hile O aks 3: Q.E. Park I. Loyola I; M illon 3. E.C. Drury I: Blakelock 6. White O aks 0; O ak T rafalgar I. Iroquois Ridge 0; Loyola 3. A ppleby 0. PROVINCIAL JUNIOR A WEST CONFERENCE T OTL GF GA Pts GAA GP W L M ILTON H AM ILTO N G EO RG ETO W N BU RLIN G T O N 44 43 43 42 36 35 31 25 6 6 7 14 1 2 3 2 1 0 2 1 251 252 242 199 130 136 144 169 74 72 67 53 2.95 3.16 3.35 4.02 PMA 17.35 30.65 23.78 25.41 Ryan Ellis was the man of the hour on Saturday night, as his game-win ning goal enabled the surging Oakville Blades to achieve a four-point week end. "I came down the side and didn't know what to do," said the 6-foot. 190pound forward, commenting on his third period goal that led Oakville to a 6-5 home victory over the Bramalea Blues in provincial junior A hockey action. "1 fired it on the far side and it hit the post and went in." Less than 24 hours after overcom ing a 2-0 deficit to beat Buffalo 9-5, with both Rob Tarantino and Mike Ruberto enjoying career nights with six and five points, respectively, the Blades came out fiat against the Blues. In the opening minutes, the Blues, who are currently going through the growing pains of a young team, silenced the crowd when they jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Even though Oakville got stronger and stronger by generating more shots and quality scoring chances, it was shaping up to be one of those nights a team fears in facing a red-hot goaltender. One of the key turning points of the game came with less than a minute left in the period, when rugged winger Mike Ruberto scored the first of his two goals on a rebound off the back- OAKVILLE 44 24 18 2 0 2 199 184 50 4.18 30.51 44 22 17 3 M ISSISSA U G A 10 28 2 S T R E E T S V IL L E 45 BU FFA LO 29 1 43 9 BRA M A LEA 44 10 31 2 BRA M PTO N 44 10 31 2 * does not include Tuesday night gam es: Georgetown boards to narrow the deficit to 2-1. "W e just talked about the little things," said coach Frank Camevale referring to the first intermission. "I told them not to worry about being down and to continue playing hard and the results w ill happen." Those so-called results happened two minutes into the second when Ruberto, holding the hot stick on this night, sniped his second goal for the Blades when he intercepted a Blues pass and picked the upper corner. After that, the natural talent of Oakville took over as they were hitting and generating plenty of scoring opportunities that finally paid off when forward Jason Dopaco found the twine on a low laser to give Oakville a short lived 3-2 lead. Showing character and plenty of tenacity, the Blues did not get frazzled as they tied the game 3-3 to set up a barnburner of a third period. 171 163 5 4 140 1 153 1 197 Bram alea 178 49 4.05 26.31 6.04 23.41 272 27 4.77 20.20 205 23 246 23 5.59 26.58 284 23 6.45 19.61 al Slreeisville; Burlington "W e had to stick with the system and make sure to pay attention defen sively," said Ellis who was only play ing his fourth game with the Blades. "Winning is fun. and we all wanted to experience that feeling tonight." In the final period, the visitors made it clear that the Blades would have to pul on their work boots and sweat if they were going to gain the two points up for grabs. After Charlie G iffin gave the Blades a lead, the Blues quickly lied the score, before Rob Tarantino put Oakville ahead 5-4 late in the period. With the game tied 5-5, and over time staring both clubs in the eye, Ellis, who hopes to one day venture to the U.S. on a hockey scholarship, sent the crowd home happy with the game winning goal. "He has great hands and is a smooth skater," said Coach Camevale. "W e've been skating them hard, and we had three lines working well offen sively during these weekend games." The one thing that the coach point ed out as needing some fine tuning for the playoffs is defensive zone cover age. He views the upcoming games as a crucial test for his players. "W e have to see how we stack up against some of the better teams in the coming weeks." Blades assists went to Lane Moodie (2), Chris Koras. W illy Barlow. Nick Dodge. Ryan Ellis. Marc Pinizzotto, Mike Ruberto. Corey Eastman and Matt Ruberto. The weekend sweep improved the Blades winning streak to 5-0 under new coaches Frank and Lou Carnevale. All wins, however, have been at the expense of teams lower than them selves in ihe standings. This weekend should provide a tough test for them as they have a home and home series with Hamilton K ilty B 's, with O akville at home Friday night (7:45 p.m. at Ice Sports) and in Hamilton Saturday at 7 . p.m. A couple o f Blades, however, will see action before then as the annual all star game is held tonight (Wednesday) in Georgetown. The annual game features the Blades' west division along with the north division against the south/east divisions. The Blades representatives are their leading scorer Rob Tarantino and defenccman Matt Ruberto. Bruins are 3-0 in the New Year to improve record to 5-1 (Continued trom page D1) place Humber Hawks who have handed Sheridan their only loss this season. Opening tip-off is 7:30 p.m. Last Friday, the Bruins defeated Seneca 97-74. The two teams parried back and forth for the first 10 minutes until the Sheridan defence kicked in, allowing the Bruins to go on a 25-2 run and a 56-29 lead at the break. The Sting rebounded to within 14 points midway through the second half before the Bruins took over and ran away with their fifth straight win. " The first half was the best w e've, played all year," said assistant coach Nick Davis. "W e played stupidly to open the second half, but we regrouped. Our `D ' was exception al." Kevin Dennis led the attack with 20 points and five rebounds. Jordan Morrison had 18 points* six rebounds and three steals. David Martin and Geoff Proctor each added 13 points. (Sheridan 73, Centennial 64) Earlie r last week. Sheridan knocked off host Centennial 73-64. A 17-4 run midway through the first half turned a one-point deficit into a 12-point Bruin lead. Sheridan never trailed and was in control the rest of the way as the closest the Colts would get was eight points. David Martin led the way with 18 points. Bashir Musse came off the bench with an outstanding game -- 15 points and five blocks. Kevin Dennis scored 14 second half points and freshman Louis Moore added 12. (Sheridan 79. George Brown 60) In this game on Jan. 10, the host Bruins were down 22-6 early but roared back to get the win. Jordan M orrison and Vance King each scored 16. MacKellar is the Wichita Lineman By Chris Lomon S P E C IA L TO T H E B E A V ER e has a degree in graphic design, a Memorial Cup championship to his name and currently competes for the Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League. Not your traditional hockey story by any stretch of the imagination, but an intriguing one, for sure. Peter M acKellar's initial reaction is to laugh. On the phone from Wichita, Kansas, the Ottawa-born. Oakville-raised 27-vear-old isn'LauUe convinced he's tne Christopher Columbus of the hockey world. But he does admit the term 'well-traveled' is rather suitable when it comes to his career. The personable right winger, in his first year with the Thunder, played his minor hockey in Oakville, eventually graduating to the Ontario Hockey League (O H L) ranks as a member of Sault Ste. Marie. A self-described `finesse' player, M acKellar suited up with future N H L stars such as Dan Cloutier (Vancouver Canucks), Steve Sullivan (Chicago Blackhawks) and Aaron Gavey (Toronto Maple Leafs). The Greyhounds, coached by former Buffalo Sabres bench boss Ted Nolan, boasted a talented squad, a team that went on to capture the 1992 Memorial Cup. an achievement M acKellar lists among his most memorable hockey moments. ``You could tell that Dan. Steve and Aaron had what it took to make it to the N H L," said MacKellar, who went on to play with the O H L's Owen Sound Platers, recording 40 goals and 79 points in 1995-96. "Ted was a great coach, too. I would play for him any day." MacKellar would total 170 career points in 190 games during his junior stint, respectable numbers to be sure, but not necessarily eye-popping enough to earn a shot at the N H L. Realizing the prospect of a big league roster spot was a longshot, M acKellar made the decision to attend university and was accepted into the University of New Brunswick's graphic design pro gram. It afforded M acKellar the ideal opportunity to simultaneously pursue two passions in his life -- hockey and art. "1 think you always have to be realistic about things and that's why 1 wanted to make sure I had H Peter MacKellar: suiting up for Wichita Thunder something to fall back on if I wasn't going to make it to the N H L." said MacKellar, whose parents, Ian and Merediths still live in Bronte. " rve a lw a y s had a passion for art and I knew I could still play hockey, so it was the perfect situa tion." M acKellar would play four years at U N B. lead ing the team with 19 goals during his senior sea son, also competing in three C IA U finals, capturing the title in 1998. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in graphic design, an equally significant accomplish ment. M acKellar insists, to any of hrs on-ice tri umphs. A 2000 C IA U all-star team member, M acKellar appeared in three playoff games with the Tacoma Sabercats of the W C H L in 1999-2000. The follow ing season saw M acKellar don three different jer seys -- a 30-game season with the W C H L 's Bakersfield Condors, nine games with the U H L's Elm ira Jackals and one game with the EC H L 's Arkansas RiverBlades. Not exactly hockey hotbeds, but. noted MacKellar. interesting experiences. " It 's great to be able to see different places and the enthusiasm for the game. People might not expect hockey to thrive in certain spots, but it does." After the whirlwind 2001 campaign, MacKellar. living in Sarnia at the time, decided to return to school, sitting out the 2001-02 season in order to take graphic design-related courses. " I just wanted to add a few things that I felt I needed if I'm going to wind up working in the industry." offered MacKellar. The 210-pounder returned to the rink for the start of the 2002-03 season and has fared well on a personal level. Unfortunately, the Thunder is in the midst of a year to forget, recently firing their coach while residing at the bottom of their division. " I'v e had a good year in terms of putting points on the board, but that doesn't really mean anything at all. "W e 've really struggled and it has been tough. I have had the good fortune to be part of a lot of good teams, so this hasn't been easy. Bui that's what hockey is all about." In spite of the club's struggles, fan support remains strong, anywhere from 5,400 to 9,000 attending Thunder home games. As for `Hockey Night in W ichita', M acKellar admits it's not quite what people might expect. " The fans are very loyal and love the game." he said. " They do know the game and they are very supportive." As for comparisons between Oakville and Wichita. MacKellar, who worked at Glen Abbey G olf Course during his childhood days in Oakville, has found at least one significant similarity. "The people in both cities are extremely friendly and make you feel very comfortable." Although he never expected to be playing in Kansas, M acKellar isn't complaining. Along with his wife. Shawna. a psychologist for the Wichita Public School System, the couple is enjoying their current home base, unsure of where their next stop may be. but not troubled by what lies ahead. And while he likely won't make it to the N H L, M acKellar hasn't entirely given up on the notion of facing the players he once shared a dressing room with during his O H L days. " You never know what can happen. That would be great, but I'm not counting on it." Wherever he winds up and whatever career he ultimately chooses, M acKellar has all the makings of a success story -- win. lose or draw. G IR L S H O C KEY (Volpe) Team G F GA P W L T 5 1 1 22 11 White Oaks 13 1 1 7 II Loyola 5 31 Georgetown 4 4 0 2 20 10 2 1 9 4 16 Oak Trafalgar 31 2 2 Aquinas 3 19 21 8 3 1 27 7 Iroquois Ridge 14 3 2 18 6 2 2 25 Blakelock 14 Q.E. Park 1 4 2 13 4 2 Christ The King 1 1 35 6 0 0 17 0 Holy Trinity 7 0 10 T his w eek's results: Iroquois Ridge 2, Holy Trinity 2; Loyola 4. Oak T rafalgar 0; Q.E. Park 4. C hrist the King 0; A quinas 3, W hite Oaks 3. Ed. note: an incomplete version of this story ran in last Friday's Beaver. Our error and our apologies. This is the complete version. r r