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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, October 7, 2016 | 24 Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Emma Maltais leads Hornets to 6-0-2 start in PWHL play By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Sports "Connected to your Community" The numbers are spectacular. And if they continue to come at the pace they have for Emma Maltais, she'll put herself in some elite company. The Provincial Women's Hockey League's leading scorer doesn't concern herself with numbers though, apart from the one in the win column. "Points are what people most pay attention to, but there's so much more to the game," Maltais said. Still, her six goals and 12 assists in eight games are hard to ignore. Those numbers have also contributed to her team's success as the Oakville Hornets have opened the season with an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2). The Hornets are coming off a season in which they finished fourth Emma Maltais became the first Oakville Hornet to record 100 career points. Now she hopes to lead the team to its first Provincial Women's Hockey League title. Maltais leads the league in scoring with 18 points in eight games for the 6-0-2 Hornets. | Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver in the league standings and lost a close second-round series to the Toronto Aeros, who went on to claim the PWHL title. The Aeros beat the Hornets in four games in the bestof-five series, winning once in overtime, pulling one out with a pair of third-period goals and clinching the series with a one-goal victory. Now with a strong group of returning players, a couple of experienced additions -- including Lexie Adzija, who finished third in PWHL scoring with London last year -- and a strong group of rookies, the Hornets are ready to take a run at their first league title. And Maltais finds herself in a new role -- team veteran. "I've always been the youngest on the team," said Maltais, who scored two minutes into her PWHL debut as a 14-year-old call-up with the Hornets. "To play a different role, I'm really excited." In her third full season in the PWHL and with experience with Canada's under-18 team at last year's worlds -- where she excelled with a goal and five assists in six games despite being, no surprise, the youngest player on the Canadian roster -- Maltais has plenty to offer teammates. "You have to keep a positive attitude," the 16-year-old said. "You have to stay confident even when things are not going your way and keep doing all those little things that help your team. You have to keep giving 100 per cent effort." Those traits have served her well. With an assist on Emily Rickwood's first-period goal against her hometown Burlington Barracudas see Maltais on p. 25 Oakville skaters earn a bye to SC Challenge Madeline Schizas and Natalie Walker of Oakville are two of 10 novice figure skaters who qualified to attend a training camp to develop the next generation of international competitors. Both of the 13-year-old girls train at the Milton Figure Skating Club (MFSC). They took part in Skate Canada's National Summer Series in Montreal, Thornhill and Vancouver. By scoring among the top 10, both girls earned a bye to the Skate Canada Challenge, the national semifinals, in Montreal in December. Other skates must qualify through sectional competitions across the country. The Top 18 skaters in Montreal proceed to the Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in Ottawa in January. Schizas landed two different triple jumps in summer competition. "I am so excited to have qualified" Schizas said. Walker added it was especially challenging to be competing against Canada's best skaters. "I really loved going to British Columbia," she said. "It was so much fun to meet and compete against girls from all over the country." The goal of the Next Gen program, a federal government initiative, is to identify skaters who are five to eight years away from their peak and who have international-level potential. As part of that process, Schizas and Walker, accompanied by their primary coach, MFSC's Nancy Lemaire, travelled to Pierrefonds, Que., to take part in a NextGen Training Camp that should aid them on their journey to international podiums. The girls are both enrolled in the High Performance program for athletes at Milton's W.I. Dick middle school, which allows Halton students with national level athletic potential to maintain their training without sacrificing academics. Oakville residents Madeline Schizas (left) and Natalie Walker have been identified as part of Skate Canada's `Next Gen' pool of future international competitors. | photo submitted R0014016488 Dream Creating Made In canada Family owned and operated For 35 years Kitchens Building Fine art into your home. k i t c h e n s a n d b a t h m a n u Fa c t u r e r s h o w r o o m 111 Brockley dr., hamilton, ontario 905.573.2311 Visit our showroom online @ www.laurentidekitchens.ca Monday-Friday 9am-4:30pm, Saturday 10am-3pm, Sunday & Evenings by appt. only