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

Page 14 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ May 3, 2006 durhamregion.com EÎJC Cmmbimt Statesman ♦ durhamregion.com 3ZC-1 rtî r-.î -Mrros -- -k -ovtmsmn -rxOFW*-*; Brian McNair Dunlops winners on and off the ice Sometimes success in sports goes so much deeper than measuring wins against losses. Where the Whitby Dunlops are concerned, concerned, their prosperity on' the ice this season was right there for everyone to see. They compiled a 40-ll record and played in the last possible game, losing in the Allan Cup national championship final to a stacked Powell River team. Not too shabby at all for a team in its second year of existence. Off the ice, they accomplished something-much something-much more with respect to Doug Smith, and only those close to the team would know it. Smith, who has a developmental disability, disability, was given a new puipose and passion through the Dunlops. It all started with Smith being introduced introduced to the team at the start of this season through the Oshawa-based Community Community Living group home. Introverted and uncertain when he first joined the club as a helper, Smith wasn't really much help in all honesty, and some were wondering early on if the project would work out. Well it did and then some. Alternatively known now as 'Hammer' or 'Rambo' or simply 'Dougie' by the players, Smith has become the team's biggest fan and even made the trip to Powell River to cheer them on. In fact, he celebrated his 39th birthday while there, and was presented with a cake by captain Peter MacKellar and an Allan Cup program that was signed by all members of the team. "This has been great for Doug," said James Hutton, who served as Smith's chaperone for the trip. "I think a lot of the changes have been with his personality He's become a lot more social since he's been with the team. He's beep involved • with a lot more things." At the group home, Smith is now a much more willing participant in activities. activities. At a Dunnies games, he is downright animated, always on the edge of his seat and cheering on the players, especially MacKellar, his favourite. "He's come out of his shell a lot," said MacKellar, who often hears, and always enjoys, Smith's encouragement. "I met him at training camp and I'd say even his physical abilities have developed. "The guys are always playing around with him and giving him a hard time, but he loves it," MacKellar added. "The guys love seeing him, we've got nicknames for him, and you can't help but smile because he's just in a great mood all the time." Although difficult to understand to those who don't know him, Smith has a sense of humour that's been known to crack up the team bus or dressing room. Few if any would have imagined that possible at the start of the season. There arc no trophies given out to teams for community involvement, but if there were, the Dunlops would be adding another to this year's mantel. Brian McNair's column appears every third Wednesday. E-mail: bmcnair@durhamrepion.com Go Fishing jr:j with Ryan Stubbs only at ;tr hamregion.com , : Photo by Merle Robillarfl Defenceman Matt Seegmiller, above, is one of a number of Generals' prospects whom GM Brad Selwood expects in the club's lineup next year. Seegmille£ was called up this season for a few games with the big club to ease his blending in process on the blue-line. i ■ ' ■ ■ . ) Developing | from Generals eye current property as having key roles on next year's team OSHAWA - It may be a classic 1 understatement, but change is the word of the moment for the Oshawa Generals. Generals. And it's not just because the Ontario Hockey League organization is days away from the annual entry draft which will lead to the newest selections selections into the Generals family. There's much more: a brand spanking new downtown arena, set to be the club's new home in November, and, most importantly, 'a 2006-07 lineup, with a soon-to-be-announced coaching staff, that is expected to be peppered with more new faces than what might be considered normal for an OHL team. For Generals' GM Brad Selwood, looking at the club's returning players players - John Tavares chief among them - as well as additional help from 2005 draft, those changes mean betterThings are to come. "The light at the end of the tunnel isn't that proverbial train anymore," he says drily. Selwood makes the comment as the most recently completed campaign is drawing to a close in March. Oshawa is staring a second consecutive season of playoff-less hockey (a rare, if not unprecedented scenario when it comes to the storied Generals) in the face. As it turns out, Randy Ladouceur's season-and-a-half stint as head coach is in its final days. By season's end, the team winds up second-last in points, last in goals against and last in penally penally killing - the latter a particularly gruesome statistic when coupled with the unpleasant reality that the Generals Generals were shorthanded the second-most times in the 20-team league. The way Selwood sees it, things arc going to gel belter. They have to get heller, Some of the answers may already be Oshawa properly, On Selwood's desk is a lioiiml, hook with detailed information information - updated roughly bi-monthly - on about 20 of the team's prospects, most of whom were drafted in the previous previous two selections, who are toiling in Tier 2 anil midget ranks. Information within includes a log of the team's AWAY Fill! TIE f a four-part series BY PAUL FUTHEY Matt Seegmiller, defenceman 'He has above average feet, way , above average thinking ability, distributes distributes the puck well.' ■Mm Kory Nagy, forward 'We loved his leadership abilities - my goodness he's a detérmined kid.' j ' i: - T7 --J* H MLfWK'w F ; ém ■ Tyler Taylor, ■> forward j ; i;: :;j 'He is a gritty competitor. competitor. If every- \ body in our league! had a heart the ! size of his, it'd be aj tough situation.' j Corey Cowick, forward contact with the player. "The important thing is to make sure you stay in touch and to make sure that you keep updated on how their progress progress is," Selwood says. "On an ongoing basis you have to make them feel part of the family." By the end of last season, a number of 1989-bom players, who played mostly elsewhere, were already signed. Forward Forward Kory Nagy, who played Junior A with the Lindsay Muskies, is one. Matt Seegmiller, a Collingwood Blues rearguard, is another. Forward Tyler Taylor of the Stratford Cullitons Junior B team is yet another. Taylor, Nagy and Seegmiller would all see action with the Generals late in the season. Selwood expects those three in the Generals lineup next year, along with eighth-rounder Corey Cowick. "If you add them up there's eight or nine guys who can play on our roster," Selwood says, referring to the 2005 selection. An unofficial survey of OHL rosters revealed approximately 50 per cent of OHL skaters played in the league more than 10 games the season immediately following their selection, A slightly lower, though still significant (40+%), percentage of those players don't play a 10+ game season until a year or more later. The percentage is more significantly significantly weighed in favour of the latter when it comes to goaltenders. The message: even with rosier limitations limitations on 16-year-olds at the OHL level, a significant percentage of players players need seasoning before playing with the big club, So for that year or two in between, then, what's the key? "It's ice-time," says Pete Vipond bluntly. He is the long-time Oshawa Legionaires GM who will be turning over the reins of the Tier II team after 17 years on the job. The Legionaires, the long-time affiliate of the Generals (though the teams'weren't affiliated . last season), have an impressive track record of moving players along to the OHL. "You can blow all the smoke you want about practising, but it's ice time," Vipond says. When it came to ice time, Seegmiller certainly got plenty in Collingwood. "I think things went really well in Tier 2," the defenceman says. "Then, when 1 got my chance up here, I thought I was learning a lot every single game. Hopefully I can build on that starting next year.", Nagy, who ended up dressing hr 16 games with the Generals (once Lindsay Lindsay was done for the season, he was free to go beyond the 10-game limit), noticed the difference right away. "The guys are a lot bigger here," he observes. "You don't have as much time with the puck. You've got to move it a lot faster." Prior to joining tlie Generals, Selwood Selwood had spent several years in Tier II in a coach/GM role, most recently in Newmarket. "You're going to get surprises," he notes. "You're going to get players who go above and beyond." One such surprise is Cowick, Dubbed a "high energy" winger by Selwood, 'He's been a , i pleasant surprise. ! He's come a little ' further than we 1 expected.' i Comments by, Brad Selwood Cowick shot up from his draft heij of 5-foot-11 to 6-foot-3 while pk ing with the Central Ontario Junior Orleans Blues. • "He is now 6-3 -- just under - a he's 200,pounds," Selwood says. "T1 is within an eight to ten month peril He is going to be a heck of a player this league." While his 11-11-22 totals in games are hardly, eye-popping, it worth noting Cowick finished the si son strongly, putting up 11 points (fi goals, six assists) in his final 11 ganu including a three-goal, one assist effi in a win over Kanata. In future years, the face of develc ing OHL players is going to chanj As difficult as Selwood found it place draft picks with Tier 2 juni teams (all but three played junior) will become even more difficult do so in the future. Hockey Canad: age restrictions on 16-year-old pla ers in junior hockey will soon ta effect, meaning more prospects will' playing midget hockey, like Whitby Mitch Moffatt -- the Generals' 20 ■ seventh rounder - did this past seasc before making the jump to junior. Regardless of location or level, Si wood says the message remains t same for all the draft picks, includii the ones selected this Saturday, wh the process begins anew. "It's important that you communiai -- even if it's a phone call. You dm know what that means to a kid," When the ultimate goal is a positi change in a team's fortunes, it's hard argue with that.