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Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2007 36 Mason, Gagner crack NHL lineups Two Oakville hockey players have made it to the big leagues. Sam Gagner and Steve Mason, who both played with the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights last season, made the final cut as NHL teams trimmed their rosters to 23 players for opening night. Mason, a former Oakville Ranger, made the Columbus Blue Jackets' roster. Columbus cut its roster to 26 players Monday and then put three players on injured reserve Tuesday to get to the 23-man limit. Columbus is carrying three goalies, with Mason joining last season's tandem of Pascal Leclaire and Fredrik Norrena. Mason, drafted in the third round of the 2006 entry draft, was named the OHL's top goaltender last season, setting a league record with 45 wins while posting a 3.20 average and .914 save percentage. Gagner signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Edmonton Oilers Monday. Drafted sixth overall by the Oilers in June's NHL entry draft, Gagner had two goals in five preseason games with Edmonton. The 18-year-old had 35 goals and 118 points in his OHL rookie season and won a gold medal with the Canada at the World Junior Championships. HERB GARBUTT / OAKVILLE BEAVER Jessica Bryce, right, of the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils stickhandles past Loyola's Sara Silva in Thursday's Halton senior girls field hockey game. OT, bronze medalists at last year's provincial high school championships, have not slowed down despite having just six returning players. Bryce scored as the Red Devils blanked Loyola 3-0 to improve to 6-0 this season. Short-staffed Crusaders dealt early playoff exit By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Devils dominate despite rebuilding Field hockey squad looks forward to another shot at Halton title By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF With her team in the midst of an undefeated season, you can forgive Oakville Trafalgar's Candice Hawksworth for looking ahead. "We really want to win Haltons," the Red Devils field hockey captain said after scoring two goals to lead her team to a 6-0 win over Pearson Tuesday. Barring a huge upset, OT should be there again despite having just six players returning from the team that won a bronze medal at the provincial high school championships last season. The last eight Halton finals have featured the same two teams -- Oakville Trafalgar and Burlington's Notre Dame. Halfway through the season, the two powerhouses appear to again be on a collision course. Both are undefeated and have outscored their opponents by a combined 46-0. Notre Dame won its fifth straight Halton title with a 2-0 shutout of OT last year. Even though the Devils got the ultimate revenge by beating the defending Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA) champs in a qualifier, there is still unfinished business. So far the Devils have had no problem filling the void left by the likes of Jenna Bull, who is now playing at Rutgers University in New Jersey, goalie Nyrie Israelian, who posted three shutouts in last year's OFSAA tournament, Fiona Clark and Lauren Black. It helps that OT has won the last two Halton junior titles. The seniors got an influx of talent from that team, including Jessica Bryce, Annika Rinas and Stephanie Strome. They joined returnees Hawksworth and Charlotte Horton, who scored twice in Thursday's 3-0 win over Loyola. Both played on the Ontario B team at the under-19 national championships. Elizabeth Philp and Tessie Van dijk, who scored OT's goals in the OFSAA bronze medal game, are also back. "The juniors have bonded really well with the rest of the team," Hawksworth said. "We went to a tournament in Ottawa and got to know each other on and off the field and being able to communicate so well on the field has helped us." The biggest challenge for the Red Devils will be keeping the intensity level up. They dominated league play, allowing only two goals in the last two seasons -- both in last year's Halton final -- and will have to make sure they are ready when they do face a stiffer challenge. "They just have to stay mentally focused and get ready for every game," said OT coach Jim Groen. "That's where the returning players help out." "I think everyone is challenged in different ways," Hawksworth said. "Our D might not be that busy but they work really hard to maintain their level of play." The Oakville Crusaders became victims of their own success. The local rugby club has consistently produced national and provincial level players. Unfortunately that means those players are rarely available when the team needs them the most. Missing several players, including three at the World Cup of Rugby, the Crusaders were dealt a 38-28 loss by Ottawa's Barrhaven Scottish in the opening round of the McCormick Cup playoffs Saturday. Coach Jim Delaney said he couldn't recall the last time the Crusaders exited the playoffs so early. "Not in my six or seven years," he said. The Crusaders reached the McCormick Cup final in 2005, losing to Balmy Beach and reached the semifinals last season. Delaney added that Saturday's loss is hardly a bad reflection on the club, though. "You always like to win but sometimes it's about development, too. There's no team in the province that produces the amount of (elite) players that we do. The university rosters are strewn with our players and there will probably be six to eight on the university all-star team." This season proved to be more of a struggle as the team had 60 players parade through its lineup as it lost members of its team to provincial, national and Rugby Canada Superleague teams. Oakville dropped three of its last four games to finish the year in fifth place at 7-7. There was hope the Cru could get deep enough into the playoffs until reinforcements arrived. That may now hap See Crusader page 37 www.icesports.com 905-845-6989