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Wednesday, February 23, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C1 SportsWktecb £om e ^an< U Town Centra I n o r m a qew Fridayi Feb 25th, 1 0pm V ;r ' D anJ sl 844-870SC -· , R H YTH M t1 1 TR A M P S 1 1-- An Oakville Beaver Feature Editor: NORM NELSON Phone:845-3824, ext 255 Fax:337-5567 E-mail:nnelson@ haltonsearch.com Blades lose three in a row to face seventh and final game in Georgetown last night By Matt Nimmo SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER I f you had to ld th e O a k v ille B la d es, p rio r to their o p en in g ro u n d O n tario p ro v in cial ju n io r A p la y o ff series th a t th ey w o u ld fo rce a se v en th an d d ecid in g gam e a g a in st the G eo rg eto w n R aid ers, they p ro b ab ly w ould h av e been ec static. A fte r all, th ey m ad e the p lay o ffs by cap tu rin g the eig h th and final sp o t o f the 10-team w est d ivision w hile th e R aid ers w ere th e d iv isio n lead ers. A nd p erh ap s th a t's the very attitu d e they needed to tak e in to G eo rg eto w n la st n ig h t as they, indeed, w ere slated to play the se v en th and final g am e o f the series. T h at g am e w en t b ey o n d o u r W ednesday E dition press d ead lin es. T h e B lad es, o f c o u rse , h ad ju m p e d o u t to a surprising 3-0 lead in th e se rie s o n ly to h av e th e R aiders com e sto rm in g b ack , w in n in g all th ree w eek en d gam es -- 8-5 in O ak v ille F rid ay n ig h t, 4-2 in G eo rg eto w n on Saturday n ig h t an d 6-5 in O ak v ille on S u n d ay night. "T h e p lay o ffs are ab o u t ro ll o f m o m en tu m ," noted B lad es co a ch Jay A n d erso n . A n d m o m en tu m is so m e th in g th e B lad es dearly need ed to g et b ack la st night. O ne th in g they w ere lo o k in g to d o is to sco re first. In ea ch o f th e ir la st th ree lo sses, they found them selv es b eh in d by at le a st tw o g o als at on e point. T h ey n ee d ed to g ain the m o m en tu m at the start o f the g am e, an d k eep it, n ot allo w in g G eo rg eto w n to g et an y th in g go in g . H o m e ice has also n ot been m u ch o f an advantage in this series -- b o th team s are ju s t o ne fo r three at hom e -- an d th e B lad es w ere o b v io u sly h o p in g th at trend w o u ld co n tin u e. (See Blades' page D4) The lost weekend V /iv . Photo by Peter J. Thompson This unidentified G eorgetow n player celebrates a goal w hile O akville Blades goalie M att C ollaton and Steve Kinnunen look helplessly on. T hat's pretty well the w ay it w ent all w eekend for the Blades w ho dropped three in a row to face a seventh and deciding gam e in Georgetown last n ig h t It w en t beyond our W ednesday edition press deadlines. Bailey in town Friday night By Norm Nelson BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR D onovan B ailey said h e 's in "b etter shape than I w as in `9 6 ." M ost sports fans d o n 't need rem inding w hat happened that year w hen he w on O lym pic g old at the A tlanta O lym pics. T h eir m em ory m ight need tw ea k in g , h o w ev er, to be rem inded that his trium phant O lym pic year actually began at C opps C o liseu m at the H am ilto n S p e c ta to r G am es w here he m ade a trium phant local appearance. F re sh o ff his `95 w orld cham p io n sh ip victory, B ailey kicked o ff the indoor season w ith a w in at C opps. File Photo The 50m race, at that tim e, by Peter J. Thompson sorne big tim e sponsorship ,, n and w as part o f a three-event D ono v an B ailey , . m ini ch a m p io n sh ip acro ss C anada w hich B ailey also won. Bailey w ouldn't m ind, at all, if that sam e pattern repeat ed itself in this O lym pic year. H e's hoping to defend his O lym pic gold m edals in Sydney later this year and h e 's in H am ilton this Friday night to com pete in this y e a r's H am ilton S pectator G am es. This tim e, h e's d oing it out o f the goodness o f his heart, w aiving his usual appearance fee and m aking good on a prom ise "to help rebuild the long tim e international fix ture." H e's done his share o f appearances and autograph sign ings but his C opps appearance w ill allow him to be front and centre in his ow n elem ent -- on the track. And if that can generate m ore excitem ent for the sport -- h e's all for it. At the sam e tim e, he said the race is another stepping stone to his goal o f repeating as O lym pic cham pion. (See 'Bailey' page D4) Oakville players scooped up The O a k v ille M in o r L a c ro sse A sso c ia tio n is excited to see th ree o f its p lay ers from th e 1999 m id g e t A rep ro ster m ove on to Ju n io r A clu b s, fo l lo w in g a ste lla r fin ish am ong th e to p e ig h t O n tario A team s in la st A u g u st's m id g e t p ro v in cial p lay o ffs. T h e O ak v ille H aw ks m idget A team h ad a su c ce ssfu l 1999 seaso n , larg ely due to the solid n etm in d in g o f A dam R ivers, 16. R iv ers w en t 6 th o v erall in the first ro u n d , p ick ed up by the O rillia K ings Ju n io r A L acrosse C lub. H e is cu rren tly p ack in g his b ag s fo r a m o v e to O rillia w here he w ill b ille t w ith the assistan t co a ch an d fin ish his G rade 11 y e a r at the lo cal h ig h school. R iv ers cam e h ig h ly to u ted by O a k v ille m id g e t A co ach A n d rew G ru b e, a fo rm e r Kings p la y e r h im self. R iv e rs sta n d s 5 '9 " and w eig h s 140 p o u n d s -- n o t m as siv e in te rm s o f size fo r a la cro sse g o alie -- b u t K in g 's head co a ch C am D ev in e liked w h a t he saw in a d d itio n to R iv e r's keen love for the gam e. R yan S h aw o f O ak v ille was first ch o ice in the seco n d round o f p ick s by the 11 Ju n io r A c lu b s an d w ill a tte n d the T o ro n to B each es Ju n io r A train ing cam p th is A pril. M att M o u lso n , an O akville H aw k s p la y e r w ho resid es in M is sissa u g a , w as claim ed by the T o m ah aw k s, M ississa u g a's Ju n io r A fran ch ise. Ryan Shaw A dam R iv e r s... H e's also pictured in action in right photo. Rock captain to make appearance Lacrosse registrations are com ing in and this Saturday (Feb. 26) is the last chance to register and avoid a late fee at the O akville Hawks first lacrosse clinic. On hand, to open up the clinics, will be special guest Jim Veltman, captain o f the Toronto Rock Lacrosse team. The clinics, held at St. Thom as Aquinas High School (Rebecca and Dorval), begin at noon for the peanut age group, follow ed by tyke at 1 p.m., novice at 2 p.m. and finishing with peewee age and up from 3 to 4 p.m. Jim Veltman will m ake an appearance at the start o f the first session to sign autographs and give a few pointers. Clinic sessions cost $3 and players should arrive with stick, helmet, gloves and running shoes. A lim ited num ber o f sticks are available for loan or purchase to first-time players. Volunteers will be on-hand to help those w ant ing to register and the league has a special price for the peanut age group this year (bom 1994-96), only $45 -- h alf price -- for the lacrosse season! THEY'RE BACK! Canada vs. The World T ic k e ts fo r O ffic ia l G a m e s in: A V A IL A B L E N O W ! r e g u u r pac ka g e Eight competing team s including: C A N A D A , S W E D E N , C H IN A , JA P A N U N IT E D STA TES, F IN L A N D , R U S S IA & G E R M A N Y TELEPHONE NO. 705-737-6850 705-743-3561 519-745-0303 800-265-6368 905-358-3808 905-728-5162 519-673-5715 905-507-6777 WOMENS M IS S IS S A U G A C A N A D A TICKET PACKAGES Guarantee yourself the best seats at the best value for 13 gam es -- including the GOLD MEDAL GAME. W O R L D H O C K EY $ 139v . i . p . club seating package CITY Barrie Peterborough Kitchener Niagara Falls Oshawa London Iceland, Mississauga DATE GAME April 3 Germany vs. USA Sweden vs. China April 4 Canada vs. China C H A M P IO N SH IP $ 179^ TICKET PRICE $10.00 $8.00 $10.00 $15.00 Sweden vs. Japan $8.00 April 6 Russia vs. Germany $10.00 USA vs Finland $10.00 vs. 8th place teams $8.00 April 9 7th Event Information: 905-282-9711 worldchampionship@owha.on.ca www.canadianhockey.ca < §> HERSHEY CENTRE GAMES TICKET PACKAGES AVAILABLE BY CALLING 905-502-9100 OR TICKETMASTER OUTLETS 416-872-5000