The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

30 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 28, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Dodge's quiet leadership attracted Hurricanes: coach Continued from page 28 Mason, who credited Knights' goaltender coach Dave Rook as the main reason for his improvement this season. "Being selected just shows how hard I've worked to get here." Mason fully expected to be selected in this year's draft after being invited to the recent NHL combine, an evaluation camp attended by top junior prospects, but was pleased to go early in the third round. After all, he didn't play much this past year as a rookie with the Knights, backing up star netminder and Buffalo Sabres prospect Adam Dennis. When Mason had his opportunity, however, he made the most of it. Mason posted a .931 save percentage in the regular season and a .911 mark in the playoffs, also starting Game 2 of the OHL final after Dennis was injured. "I saw (Mason) play twice and he made 52 saves in each game," Blue Jackets director of amateur scouting Don Boyd told The Columbus Dispatch following the draft. "We really liked the kid and the fact that he rarely played, I think, worked to our advantage. Maybe not so many people were on to him." With this summer's departure of Dennis (graduation), Mason will likely receive plenty of playing time this season in London. He expects to play another year or two with the Knights, then move on to the American Hockey League with hopes of eventually cracking the Columbus roster. Mason departed to Columbus today (Wednesday) for some on-ice workouts with Blue Jackets goaltending coach and fellow Oakville resident Rick Wamsley. Dodge drafted by Cup champs Dodge, meanwhile, seemed pretty levelheaded two days after being drafted by the defending Stanley Cup champions. "I thought I had a pretty good chance of (being picked) but it wasn't for sure, being 20 years old," he said. "I figured if I was going to go, it'd be in one of the later rounds, so it's about what I could have expected." Dodge is the newest addition to a long list of Clarkson University hockey players that have been selected in the NHL draft, one that includes Erik Cole. Cole returned from a broken neck this season to rejoin the Hurricanes for the final two games of the Stanley Cup final, and skated with Dodge and his Clarkson teammates during the NHL lockout. "At our school, there's a big following for all our alumni, and Erik Cole is probably the top right now," Dodge said. The 5-foot-10, 178-pound forward scored 16 goals and added 25 assists in 38 games with the Golden Knights last year, serving as an alternate captain in his sophomore season. He will sport the `C' next year. Clarkson coach George Roll highlighted Dodge's leadership ability as something that likely attracted interest from the Hurricanes, along with his tenacity and work ethic. "He competes every shift. He's not a screamer or a yeller, but he will stand up at the appropriate time and say what needs to be said," said Roll, who compared Dodge to former Clarkson student and ex-Chicago BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER Former Oakville Blades and Oakville Rangers captain Nick Dodge was drafted Saturday by the Carolina Hurricanes. Blackhawks forward Steve Dubinsky. "(Nick) has skill and talent, but what makes him special is his commitment to getting better." Dodge was the centerpiece of the 2003-04 Oakville Blades squad, which upset the Georgetown Raiders to win the Provincial Junior A Hockey League's West Conference championship and held a 2-0 series lead in the semifinal against the eventual national champion Aurora Tigers. He played all but one of his rep hockey seasons in the MOHA, opting to spend his atom year in the Greater Toronto Hockey League but returning to Oakville to play in a better "atmosphere". Dodge said his family (parents Adele and Bob and brother Greg), Clarkson coaches Roll, Greg Dreschel and Jean-Francois Houle, former Blades coach Frank Carnevale and rep coach Scott MacKenzie have all been instrumental in his development. He plans to complete his schooling at Clarkson and help the Golden Knights reach the NCAA tournament. -- Jon Kuiperij can be reached at sports@oakvillebeaver.com. Buzz suffers first loss of OLA Jr. B season By Herb Garbutt son is now underway. Still, Little said his players should be proud of what they accomplished. Finishing last year's regular season on a 12Upon hearing the first question, Oakville Buzz coach Glen game winning streak, the Buzz won 18 straight to begin this Little broke into song. season. "The party's over..."he crooned. "Thirty games between regular-season losses, Not quite the response you would expect from "Thirty games I'll put that record up against anyone," Little a coach whose team had just lost its first game of between regularsaid. "That's something special. After the game the season. In fact, Little was remarkably upbeat season losses, I'll we didn't talk negatively. We just said `We hoped about the team's first defeat after 30 consecutive put that record up you learned your lesson.'" regular-season victories. That lesson would be that the Buzz can't simagainst anyone. "We needed a little bit of humbling. It's good ply show up and expect to win. Little said the for us," he said of Friday's 15-9 loss to Mimico. That's something team got away from its usual style of play. While "Hopefully the guys will learn from it. We'll have special." the coaching staff has preached discipline, the to see what team shows up. We'll know Buzz took 79 minutes in penalties and Mimico Oakville Buzz head (Tuesday)." made it pay by scoring nine power-play goals. Because of the loss, last night's showdown coach Glen Little Justin Wilson-Kirby had a hat trick for the with the Barrie Tornado, which went into the Buzz while Kyle Hagel and Sean Thomson each game with a 17-1 mark, turned into a one-game showdown for scored twice. Josh Smyth and Jordan MacIntosh each had a home-floor advantage throughout the playoffs, not to mention goal and three assists. Chris Moulson also had three helpers. bragging rights as the Ontario Lacrosse Association's best Jr. B Little said the players took the loss hard. team... for now. "The guys hurt, like they hurt last year in Elora when we Buzz players and coaches have said all season that playoffs lost the last game of the final," said the coach. were the focus and that remains the case. But the Barrie game That's a feeling Little wants them to remember because it's certainly had playoff implications so, for the Buzz, the real sea- one he doesn't want his team to feel again. OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Lang expected back for next year's World Cup Continued from page 28 miss Canada's World Cup qualifying games in November. "It's probably the most disappointing thing that's happened to me," Lang said. "But it's one of those things that happens to every athlete who plays at a high level at some point. It's not a career-ending injury and it's one of those things that almost always works out so I'm sure I'll be fine." That's good news for the large following Lang has attracted since she leapt into the spotlight as a 15-yearold, when she became the youngest player to ever play and score in an international match. Among the fans at Sunday's game, Lang's number 15 jersey was the most popular choice, slightly ahead of veter- ans Christine Sinclair and Charmaine Hooper. But even without Lang, Canada's fourth all-time leading scorer with 23 goals, the 11th-ranked Canadians expect to qualify for next year's World Cup in China. And Lang has no intentions of missing that. "I'll be back in plenty of time for the World Cup," she said.