Oakville Newspapers

Oakville Beaver, 12 Apr 2008, p. 31

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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday April 12, 2008 - 31 OCHO Bowl held in memory of former touch football player The North Oakville Men's Touch Football Association (NOMTFA) held the first annual OCHO Bowl last weekend at Oakville Sports Centre in memory of former friend and teammate Peter Singh. Four months ago, Singh passed away suddenly. He had been complaining about a bad case of heartburn prior to seeing a doctor. The doctor gave him a prescription and sent him on his way. Singh eventually began to feel better, but passed away a few days later. Singh, 40, left behind his wife and two small children. The league was shocked and deeply affected, and every team in the league wore armbands for the rest of the season in memory of their departed leaguemate. They also decided to hold a mini-tournament, in which they randomly selected four teams of 12 players per side. The event was dubbed the OCHO Bowl in memory of Singh's nickname. Each team wore shirts with the colours of Singh's favourite football team, the Chicago Bears. The jersey colours were orange, blue, grey and white. On the back of each jersey was Singh's name and his favourite number, 88. Proceeds go to charity The NOMTFA donated all proceeds from the event to the Michael "Pinball" Clemons Foundation in Singh's memory. In return, the foundation supplied a signed Pinball Clemons football, as well as Toronto Argonauts 2008 season tickets as the grand prize for a charity auction. Also, Argos quarterback Damon Allen attended the event and donated a signed jersey. Following the football tournament, the event continued at Arnold's Sports Bar on Morden Road. Other activities included card games, a billiards tournament, 50/50 draws, finger foods and door prizes. As for the results of the tournament, the Orange team won a hard-fought first-round match and relied on its defence to pull off a win in the championship game. Orange's Drew Todd was named tournament MVP. Other members of the team were Paul Woods, Shawn Lennie, Paul Cronin, Peter Charles, Darren Goertzen, Erik Lippert, Rob McFarland, Duncan McMillian, Cor Doret, Ange Gabriele and Mike Vos. RON KUZYK / OAKVILLE BEAVER OCHO BOWL: Mike St. Jaques (left) avoids defender David Wheelihan during last weekend's OCHO Bowl, held in memory of former touch football player Peter Singh. NG NI N! E OP SOO D iscover the Crosswinds Experience Silver for Appleby at OFSAA hockey By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Appleby College Blue Dogs got a good look at their future while equaling the school's best-ever performance on the ice. Heading into last weekend's Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) boys' A/AA hockey tournament without its starting goalie and a veteran defenceman, Appleby had cause for concern. Instead, three Grade 9 players stepped in to augment a veteran lineup, helping the Dogs win a silver medal at the provincial high school championship. Until a 5-1 loss to the defending champion Stouffville District in the final, Appleby's only losses were off the ice. Goalie Daniel Baggaley was the first casualty. The Grade 12 student transferred to Appleby this year but OFSAA rules prohibit transfer students from playing at OFSAA in their first year at the new school. That sidelined him for the tournament, which was held in his hometown, Ottawa. Next, Appleby lost defenceman Andreas Unterganschnigg, who had an opportunity to tryout for the Austrian under-18 team. To top it off, it had been nearly a month since the team played its last game. Appleby coach Dan Poliziani knew the losses would be tough to overcome, but then his team started reeling off victories. Grade 9 netminder Billy Cooper turned in consecutive shutouts, 5-0 over Queen Elizabeth and 4-0 against St. Charles. Fellow Grade 9 goalie Aleksander Pike would prove to be just as stingy when he shut out Sacred Heart, the tournament's second seed. All the while, another Grade 9 student, defenceman Steven Strong -- fresh off an Ontario Hockey Federation championship with the Toronto Marlies -- was piling up points on his way to being the top scoring defenceman in the tournament. "The way things were unfolding, we saw it as our destiny (to win)," Poliziani said. A 7-2 win over South Huron to secure first place in their pool did little to dispel that notion. Though victories did not come as easy in the playoffs, Appleby managed to find ways to win as a trio of Oakville natives delivered clutch goals. When Appleby fell behind 2-1 in the quarter-final, Patrick Irish tied the game in the second period. Matthew Lorito scored the game winner with 10 minutes to play in a 3-2 victory over Bishop MacDonnell. In the semifinal, Irish scored twice to give Appleby a 2-0 lead before Holy Trinity rallied to tie the game. However, Mark Bennett's goal midway through the third sent Appleby to the final. Barton and Lorito, both Grade 12 students, led Appleby in scoring in the tournament with four goals and five assists each while Bennett and Strong each had three goals and three assists. Sean Thomas also had eight points, including two goals. Irish had three goals and two assists, Ryan Wallik scored and set up three more and Tanner Wadden had two goals and an assist. "This is the finest group of boys I've coached here," said Poliziani. "Last time (the team won silver, four years ago), we caught a lot of teams off guard. This time, going in ranked fifth, teams were watching for us and it was more difficult and more rewarding." While Appleby reached the playoff round at OFSAA for the third time in five years (it followed up its 2004 silver medal with a trip to the quarter-finals), next year will be an uphill climb. Despite the strong performances by their young players, the Blue Dogs will have as many as 15 graduating players. Hole #5 at Crosswinds Golf & Country Club is a spectacular Par 3 2008 Spring Rates · Weekdays (Mon. to Thurs.) · Weekends (Fri. Sat. Sun.) · Earlybird (before 8:30 am) · Twilight (after 4:00 pm) All carts include GPS Home of the New Crosswinds Golf Academy $60 $70 $45 $45 Legein took advantage of opportunities to impress scouts Continued from page 30 ers opened up an opportunity for him, and Legein simply made it impossible for the IceDogs to send him home. He caught another big opportunity in last year's Home Hardware Canadian Hockey League Top Prospects Game, when he skated on a line with fellow Oakville resident Sam Gagner -- now a budding star with the Edmonton Oilers. Legein scored a goal in that game and further opened scouts' eyes to his energetic, physical style. "I was one of these kids not long ago. It's good to come back and use my experience to give them a little advice, so they can hopefully try to do some of the same things I've done with my life," Legein said, clad in his Team Canada jersey and with his world junior gold medal a few feet away. Oakville mayor Rob Burton and Minor Oaks Hockey Association president Mike Zardo were also among the special guests at the banquet, held at Oakville Conference and Banquet Centre. The tournament concludes tomorrow. · 18-hole Championship Golf Course · Driving Range and Practice Facility · Licensed Lounge and Bar · Golf Tournaments · Weddings and Receptions · Private & Corporate Functions 6621 Guelph Line, Burlington (just south of Derry Rd.) www.crosswindsgolf.com Tel: 905-319-5991

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