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37 | Thursday, February 16, 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Kevin Nagel Sports Editor knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports (HSSAA), where they have com peted for more than 30 years, to form the Halton Catholic Athletic Association (HCAA). The new league will consist of Assumption, Corpus Christi and Notre Dame in Burlington, Holy Trinity, Loyola and St. Thomas Aquinas in Oakville, Bishop Red ing and Jean Vanier in Milton and Christ the King in Georgetown. "This decision has come about in response to the continued growth of the board' s secondary schools, which now supports the viability of independent athletic programs," HCDSB superintendent of educa tion Anna Prkacin said in a release issued Thursday. Catholic boards in Hamilton, "Connected to your Community" Hatton Catholic board's decision to form own sports league surprises many By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff The Halton Catholic District School Board will form its own high school sports league to begin play in September. The board's nine schools will split from the Halton Second ary School Athletic Association Niagara and Waterloo operate their own athletic associations. The Halton District School Board was caught off guard by the decision. "W e were unaware they were considering it," said HDSB director of education Stuart Miller. "Frank ly, we were surprised." Miller said he had not heard of the Catholic board' s intentions un til he began receiving texts about it last Tuesday. That was the night a report was presented at the HCDSB meeting. Miller received an official letter the next day informing him of the decision, but he said it did not pro vide a reason. see New on p. 3 8 A H mm X By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff It wasn't high-stakes hockey. Really, it was nothing more than an exhibition game; a three-on-three tournament to be precise. But put 24 players on the verge of their big breakthrough on the ice together, toss in bragging rights and a bit of prize money, and it's bound to get competitive. So while Matt Lorito wasn't feeling the pres sure he might during a playoff game, he certain ly wasn't going to pass up the chance to win the American Hockey League all-star game. "You're kind of there for fun, but at the same time you want to win," the 26-year-old said. Goalies had ruled the day, keeping the game scoreless through regulation and 3 1/2 rounds of a shootout. Now Lorito had a chance to end it. He had two goals and an assist in a 5-3 win that clinched the Central Division' s spot in the final, but shootouts have not been kind to the Oakville native. He had been stopped on all three attempts this year and was 0-for-3 the previous sea son. Toss in another failed attempt during the skills competition the previous day and the odds were clearly not in his favour. "I kind of had an idea what I wanted to do," Lorito said. "It was just a matter of executing." As he stickhandled in on Zane McIntyre, Lorito pulled the puck to his backhand. As McIntyre followed him across the crease, Lorito slipped the puck through his legs for the winner. Executing is what Lorito has been doing all season. Fo r all of his brief AHL career for that matter. After graduating from Brown University in 2 0 1 5 , Lorito signed with the Albany Devils. He was scratched for his first three games with the team but scored in his pro debut. He capped his first AHL season with a fivepoint game against Syracuse that gave him 12 points in 11 games. "I didn't have a great senior year at Brown, so it was a fresh start to get back to what made me successful," Lorito said. "I didn't really have any expectations but then a couple of guys got hurt and I was lucky to get into the lineup, and once I got in I didn't come out." In his first full season, while still techni cally a rookie, he led Albany in scoring with Enjoying a strong sophomore season in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Oakville's Matt Lorito scored the winning goal in a shootout at the league's recent all-star game. | photo by Mark Newman - Special to the Beaver 5 4 points. W hen his contract expired this summer, he landed a two-way contract on the first day of free agency. That the deal was with the team he grew up cheering for, the Detroit Red Wings, was the icing on the cake. "It wasn't the deciding factor, more of a cool thing that it worked out that way," he said. "My agent was in talks with a few teams and Detroit really wanted to get it done and came in with a nice contract." Lorito has rewarded the team' s faith in him. He was fourth in the AHL scoring race before being sidelined with a shoulder in jury in early January. Despite missing three weeks, he still ranks second on the Grand Rapids Griffins with 35 points in 36 games and leads the team with 23 assists, many of which have contributed to a league-best power play. W hile Lorito hasn't got the call from the Wings yet, seeing the likes of Detroit team executive Kris Draper, a former Wings play er, around the rink is enough to remind Lorito how close he is. He knows there is still work to do to achieve his goal. Undersized at 5-foot-9 and 171 pounds, Lorito has benefitted from a switch from centre to the wing. "I have to keep working on getting stron ger in one-on-one battles," he said. "I've im proved my defence from last year and I want to be one of those guys the coach can rely on whether we're up a goal or down a goal." F o r now, he knows the key is contributing to Grand Rapids' on-going success. The Grif fins, 2 9 -1 3 -3 , lead their division and have the third best record in the league. "I'm working hard down here and staying focused. I just want to help the team win any way I can ," he said. "Hopefully that puts me in consideration for a call-up. If and when that does happen, hopefully things go well." The plan is in place; now all that' s left is to execute. B e a t c a s h e m e r g e n c ie s w ith a C a s h A d v a n c e . A v a ila b le in -s to re , o n lin e , a n d w h e re v e r y o u 're re a d in g th is ad. For details, visit us at: 2460 Neyagawa Blvd 9 °5 -257-1917 198 Speers Rd 905-338-6000 W e can hel MONEY MART® is a registered service m ark of National Money M art Company. © 2015 National Money M art Company. A ll rights reserved.