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i www.durhamregion.com THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, OCTOBER 8,2003 PAGE 13 l iCIarington's Award-'Winning Newspaper Since 1854 Efjc Canabiait Statesman October 8, 2003 infodurhamregion.com Rookie taking advantage of opportunity :: Bowmanville Eagles ■earn three of four l points against Trenton ;:and Kingston despite { missing key players BY BRAD KELLY ^Sports Editor ;; BOWMANVILLE - There are 20 -spots available on a standardized game sheet, and the Bowmanville Eagles /aren't using all of them, j; Which makes the accomplishments a this past weekend even more impres- Jisive as the hockey club tries to work j;through some injury problems in the "early going of the Provincial Junior r Hockey League season. J! Despite dressing just 16 skaters Friday Friday in Trenton, and reducing that num- >;ber by one Sunday at home to it Kingston, the Eagles managed to gar- liner three of four points. A 5-4 victory Chris Wood: Rookie scored twice in 4-3 setback to Kingston. in Trenton, followed by a 4-3 overtime setback to Kingston, leaves the hockey club above the .500 mark with a 5-3-2- I record, good enough for third place in the tightly contested East Conference. Conference. While it's important to take note who is out of the lineup, the Eagles are putting more of the emphasis on who is in. And one of the players taking advantage advantage of some extra ice time is rookie rookie Chris Wood, who scored twice against Kingston and added an assist in Trenton. "He's extremely skilled and has played grittier than I thought he would. He hasn't backed down from day one," said coach Curtis Hodgins in assessing his young cenlrcman thus far. The weekend leaves the 16-year-old with 6-4-10 numbers through II games, as he tries to take advantage of the opportunity to play. "We look around the room and we have a lot of good players and we know we are all going to play hard, so it doesn't matter who's in the lineup," says Wood of the mindset of the players. players. The Whitby minor hockey product was an eighth-round selection of the London Knights in the spring, and after attending training camp briefly, came back to Bowmanville to improve his game and mature physically. "(London) told me to hit the gym and get bigger," says Wood, a Grade 11 student at Whitby's Henry Street High School, who checks in at 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds. "They said they'll be watching me and to come back next year." If Knights scouts were watching Sunday, they had to be impressed. Wood scored on a breakaway in the second period, and jumped on a rebound.in rebound.in the third that gave the Eagles a 3-2 lead over Kingston. But the visitors visitors tied it on the power play with less than six minutes to go, and won it 24 seconds into overtime. As for his future, Wood would like to take the next step up to the OHL, but if things don't work out, he already has a Plan B. "If I make the OHL that would be great. If I don't, I'm keeping my grades up," he says of the attraction of a scholarship. scholarship. The Eagles are hoping to have a few more bodies in the lineup this weekend as they prepare for three games in four days. Friday brings a trip to Lindsay (5-3- 1 -0), followed by a trek to Syracuse (6- 4-0-0) Sunday. Thanksgiving Monday, the Eagles host defending league champion Wellington (8-1-2-0) in a matinee affair at 2:30 p.m. THE SCOOP - Missing from the lineup Sunday were Jolon Page, Steve Seedhouse, Brad Dormiedy, Matt Carroll and Tom Fitzpatrick...James Neal also scored Sunday. Assists went to Kyle Branson, Andrew Johnston, Justin Caruana and David Smith...Friday's win in Trenton was the team's third in a row away from home ice...Only three points separate second from seventh in the East Conference. Conference. Bigger is better Bodybuilder was a 'prisoner in his own home' while training for national finals BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor BOWMANVILLE - In a society that seems to place a priority on getting getting smaller, Troy Persaud goes against the trend. Bodybuilders have little regard for that concept. So in an effort to get bigger, Persaud Persaud has virtually been a "prisoner in my own home" the past couple of years as he trained vigorously for the National Bodybuilding Championships. Championships. •; All of the effort paid off, as the •Bowmanville resident placed third in his weight category among the best bodybuilders in the country. "Absolutely, I'm happy," he says of the third-place finish at the event in Saskatoon. . "My goal was just to place. It was my first nationals and a lot of the other guys had already done four or ..five of them." j < An avid vveightli fter for 12 years, < persaud enjoyed considerable suc- ; cess early on, and in 2001, became j the Northern Ontario champion and ; finished second at provincials. But |n order to share the same stage with j the true giants of the sport in this j country, he had to add some bulk to • his frame. j ! "I was told what I had to do to be j successful," he says of the advice to ■; get bigger, specifically enlarging the • |iize of his legs. "1 did that and every ;! day I thought about what (the ( judges) said." ■j Weighing in at 215 pounds three • jnonths before nationals, the 28- \ year-old began an intensive 11-week ; training program that included cat- i ing six to seven meals a day and working out in a gym twice daily. It worked, as he tipped the scales at a fit and trim 190 pounds for his 186-198-pound light-heavyweight class. While the program was tiring, it came nowhere near the feeling of-, exhaustion he experienced as lie walked off stage after posing. "When you're up on stage with the bright lights, you're dehydrated and constantly posing. There's no time to relax because you are on stage flexing every muscle from your feet to your head," he says of the posing routines that can last from 10 minutes to a half-hour. "When the people in the audience start cheering for you, that's a good feeling. "I was really nervous, especially the last couple of weeks. 1 wasn't sleeping and was stressed because I had spent all this money and time and nothing would have been more upsetting than not placing." At a subsequent event in Brantford, Brantford, Persaud placed second overall in an open weight class among a number of elite bodybuilders. Citing the contributions of Dave Roffey of Mosaic Massage Therapy Clinic and Laura Cicogni of GNC in Bowmanville, Travel Edge, Body Boomers Health Club, his parents (Mike and Ann) and girlfriend (Lisa) with providing support along the way, Persaud is uncertain of his next step. Because of his strong showing at nationals, lie has been hired to do some promotional work for Nutrition Nutrition Excellence that will include acting acting as a spokesman and appearing in advertisements. . As for competing, he has a guaranteed guaranteed spot in next year's nationals, but doesn't know whether he'll enter. "I might take a year off to work on my legs some more, 1 don't know," lie says. Yes, bigger is better in Persaud's world. WALTER PASSARELLA/ Statesman photo Troy Persaud placed third in his weight class at the National Bodybuilding Championships that were held in Saskatoon, Sask. The Bowmanville resident has been weightlifting for the past 12 years. Horton newest member of millionaire's club : Oshawa Generals : lose gifted centre : to Florida Panthers ; ; By doing his job so well, George ; Burnett has hampered his ability to do • his job so well, 1 After all, it was Burnett who drali- ; cd Nathan Horton into the Ontario ; Ijockey League and helped turn him > into a top National Hockey League '• prospect in two short years with the i Oshawa Generals. ; : And it is Burnett who will now • have to pull a lew rabbits out of his hat ' jo keep the Generals competitive in ! the absence of his star player, who ; inked a deal with the Florida Panthers • late Sunday and will likely spend the Brian McNair Skiff Editor Iminaiii^AlurtuinirciiioH.com entire season in the big leagues. Burnett, the Generals' head coach and general manager, is quite sincere when he wishes Horton all the best, But, no maltefjibw brave a face he puts on, surely he at least wondered what the Generals would have looked like with Horton hack in the fold. "You can spend a lot of time thinking thinking nbout those things, but my experience experience tells me it's a waste of energy," Burnett says. "Obviously we'd be a better team with Nathan in the lineup, just as Peterborough would lie with Erie Staal (who signed with Carolina)." Carolina)." Much better. While the Generals have started the season surprisingly well with a young and hard-working squad, they lack a bona fide No. I centre, someone who can lake over a game and score key goals. In other words, they lack Horton. Drafted by the Generals second overall out of Dunnville, the 6-fool-3, 220-pound power forward had more than a point per game in his rookie campaign and appeared ready to dominate dominate last season before suffering a broken jaw in a fight. His recovery was slow, but he showed what lie was made of come playoff time, leading the Generals past Peterborough in a seven-game thriller and giving the Panthers reason to scoop him up third overall. Had Horton returned, which would have been the case if he wasn't under contract by 3 p.m. Monday, he surely would have been among the best in junior junior hockey this season. "I was just basically ready to go home," Horton is quoted as saying on TSN's Web site. "1 had my stuff packed because (the contract talks) didn't seem to be getting any better. But it worked out good and I'm just so happy to be playing on the Florida Panthers." Horton, who scored three goals in four pre-season games, reportedly signed n three-year deal for the rookie maximum of $1.24-million per season. season. The deal also includes a $620,000 signing bonus plus performance bonuses. There is still a chance he could be returned to the Generals at some point, but it seems slim. "The deal was reached with the intent intent of him playing for the Panthers all year long," agent Paul Krepelka told the 'Miami Sun-Sentinel.' "Concessions "Concessions were made by both sides, but the bottom line: This is a kid who very badly wanted to play." And a kid who will be missed in Oshawa, See 'Them's the breaks' Page 14