4 7 | Thursday, D ecem ber 8, 2 0 1 6 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Kevin Nagel Oakville Beaver Sports Editor knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports `C onnected to yo u r Com m unity " Jeffers' late goal Local goalie to have his m ask design worn in world junior tourney Sixteen-year-old Peter Sprawson will have his goalie mask design worn by one of Canada's goaltenders at the world junior hockey championships after winning a national contest by Boston Pizza, Bauer and Hockey Canada. | photo by Herb Garbutt - Burlington Post (follow on Twitter @herbgarbutt) gives Blades 3 -2 win over Sabres in OJHL play Jack Jeffers scored with 10 seconds left to give the Oakville Blades a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Jr. Sabres last Saturday. By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Peter Sprawson doesn't watch much hockey. It' s not that he doesn't like the game -- it' s quite the opposite, actually. "He plays almost every night," says his mom Jill Sprawson. The King' s Christian Collegiate student plays on three teams -- his school team, a Minor Oaks midget house league team and a church league team. Each time he dons his goalie gear, he pulls a plain black mask over his head. So when his friend told him about a contest to design the mask for a Canadian goalie at the world junior championships, Sprawson jumped at the chance to unleash his creativity. He downloaded a form from the Internet and w ent to w ork on a design he'd be happy to wear. He incorporated a racing stripe down the centre of the predominantly black mask, with the Hockey Canada logo centred in the mid dle. The side features a maple leaf inside the red outline of a larger maple leaf. The entries in the national contest, a joint venture between Boston Pizza, Bauer and Hockey Canada, were narrowed down to finalists in the under-13 and 13-18 age groups. Fans were invited to vote for a winner on Facebook. Sprawson was shocked when he answered his phone a few weeks later and learned he had won. "I couldn't even process it at first," the 16-year-old said. "They were telling me about all the things I'd won and that I was going to the world juniors; I was pretty pum ped," he said. But the highlight is the chance, during the tournament, to meet Team Canada' s goalies, one of whom will be wearing the mask Sprawson designed. He' s always felt a connection with the position and those who play it since he took up the sport when he was seven. "The first year he played, they asked everyone to take a turn (in n et)," said his mom. "After his turn, he kept asking to play." Sprawson will also receive two tickets to a world junior game, a Boston Pizza gift card, a Team Can ada jersey and a mask painted with his design signed by Team Canada. W hile the mask might be a nice collector's piece, Sprawson intends to put it to use. "I want to wear it proudly and be able to tell people `I designed this,' he said. "I only have two more years of playing." Besides, "m y mask is pretty old," he says. "It's pretty disgusting, ac tually." Oakville trailed 2-1 after sur rendering a shorthanded goal early in the third period. Oakville evened the score on Nicholas Turenko' s goal at the seven-minute mark of the period. Oakville outshot Buffalo 16-8 in the final period and were re warded with Jeffers' late goal, his third game-winner of the season. Buffalo had the only goal of the opening period but Oakville tied it up when Christian Rajic scored a power-play goal with four min utes to play in the second. Chris Elliot made 25 saves for the win, improving to 8-4-0 on the season. The win moved Oakville with in two points of the St. Michael's Buzzers, who lost to Burlington Saturday, for first place in the Ontario Junior Hockey League's South Division. Oakville hosts Mississauga Fri day at Sixteen Mile Sports Com plex. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Get your future money now with a Cash Advance. No time m achine required. Cash emergencies can happen to anyone. When they do, we can help you access much needed money with a Cash Advance. And now that you can apply in-store, online and on your mobile, we have you covered 24/7/365. 2460 Neyagawa Blvd. 905-257-1917 198 Speers Road 905-338-6000 We can help. MONEY MART® is a registered service m arkof National Money Mart Company. © 2 0 1 5 National Money Mart Company. All rights reserved.