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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff 11 | Wednesday, January 8, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Tavares to play in biggest tournament of them all earned MVP honours after racking up eight goals and seven assists in six games while leading the team to gold. The previous year in the Czech Republic, as the only 17-yearold on the team, he started the tournament as the team's 13th forward and finished it by sharing the team lead in goals in another gold-medal win by Canada. And since joining the Islanders as the top pick in the 2009 NHL draft, Tavares has led the team in scoring five straight years, improving his goal total each year (prorating last year's strike-shortened season) and helping end the team's five-year playoff drought last spring. Of the 25 players packing their bags for Sochi, only Colorado's Matt Duchene, 22, is younger than the 23-year-old Oakville resident who honed his skills on the backyard rink of friend Sam Gagner. There will be some familiar faces on the Olympic squad, though, including former world junior teammates Jamie Benn, Alex Pietrangelo, Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty and P .K. Subban. Coming off a three-goal, two assist performance Monday night, Tavares flew into Toronto for the Isles' Tuesday meeting with the Maple Leafs. He called his mom Tuesday morning prior to the announcement. He broke the news with a simple, `Mom, I made the Olympic team.' Barbara Tavares said she was thrilled to see her son's years of hard work and dedication rewarded. And as the temperatures in Oakville dipped into the -20 Celsius range, she was beginning her own preparations. "I guess with the weather we're getting," she said, "we're in training for Russia." -- Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter @Herbgarbutt New York Islanders star John Tavares was named yesterday (Tuesday) to the Canadian men's hockey team that will compete in next month's Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. It will be the first Olympic experience for the 23-year-old Tavares, who teamed up with fellow Oakville resident Cody Goloubef (right) to lead Canada to gold at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship and also won world junior gold in 2008. | Islanders photo by Eric Riehl -- Oakville Beaver / World juniors photo by Doug Ball / Special to the Beaver Since he was a kid, John Tavares has loved tournaments -- rolling into a town with his teammates, a group of friends ready to take on all comers and prove who's best. "He just loved that whole team aspect," said his mom, Barbara Tavares. "Having to pack, travelling and being on the road and trying to come up with a strategy to win." A month from now, Tavares will play in the biggest tournament of them all after being named to the Canadian men's Olympic hockey team Tuesday. The New York Islanders' captain leads his team in scoring and currently sits third in the NHL scoring race with 51 points. "I watched that last team during my rookie season (in 2010) and I thought about being on the next team," Tavares told TSN shortly after the announcement. "I couldn't be more excited and proud to represent Canada." Barbara Tavares also tuned into the 2010 tournament to see Canada's other Olympians. "Even myself watching that, it was `Wow'. It was an unbelievable feeling," she said. "Now, knowing someone that is going, let alone my own son, it's incredible." And though there will be pressure on the Canadians to repeat, Barbara Tavares expects that will affect the parents more than it will the players. "He enjoys that pressure," she said. It would be easy to dismiss that as a mom doting on her son, but Tavares has made a habit of performing when it matters most. Playing in front of a rabid Canadian crowd at the 2009 world juniors in Ottawa, Tavares OAKVILLE BLADES VS. MISSISSAUGA CHARGERS Friday, January 10th at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex Puck Drops at 7:30pm Adults $7, Students/Seniors $5, Kids FREE LOCAL JUNIOR A HOCKEY AT ITS BEST!