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/ -V- : '] les ■ I sm WmÊlÊmKÈIÊm m IIWWâpSS^S'M:}^ issitSBEi&^asa i VV" :?-V' .*.%•-■•'• fv*. -; a, j BHypif s4 lïpîîitâÉ Iï#s^ll sSlsSSfti liili ■! '::■ ■ 4^'iw-uiB-5y3$îevBi2i 9 v.-r « H UI H j.* ■\, ' ' ■ "X ', SrepEi i~. Sports Œfte Canabiatt Âtatesiman ♦ July 12,2006 ♦ durhamregion, com Che Lafoy OSHAWA TOUCH FOOTBALL LEAGUE FOLLOW ALL OUR BLOGS durhamregion. typepad.com Green Gaels make early playoff exit Shawn Cayley Losing is not an option The pressure is on the Whitby Warriors heading into the postseason Beginning Friday, it's win or go home for the Whitby Warriors. No ifs, ands or buts. '! In braving the injury bug, the Warriors, save for a couple of real ugly Sunday night performances, if you can even call them that, have proven they are a contender for the 2006 Minto Cup. They began the year on an 11-0 run, and ended the year (assuming they were able to defeat the winless Burlington Chiefs last night after our deadline) with à rather impressive 19-3 mark. Should the St. Catharines Athletics, who are locked in third place, defeat the Six Nations Arrows tonight, first place belongs to the Warriors. Even still, should that scenario not play out as such, second place is still owned by the Warriors, thus ensuring they won't face the Arrows in the playoffs until the third round, if at all. ' And that, well, is very good news if your a fan of the Warriors. Six Nations is hosting the Minto Cup championship this year, so, should they ipake it through the first two rounds, and in all likelihood they'll do so, their opponent in the Ontario finals will also ' earn a berth at the National Championships. Championships. . That could be the Warriors. And it should be. ; "After seeing how the regular season .... played out and our records, I guess you could say both us and Six Nations would be eyeing the same thing," said Warriors coach Jeff McComb. "But, we can't forget, as I have said all season ; long, our league is so competitive, that anyone who makes the playoffs .has a chance. It's kind of like the NHL in that sense. We'll worry about ourselves and if Six Nations gets put out, then we'll just have to win another round." Make no mistake, anything less would be a disappointment. After all, this team, when healthy boasts arguably the top lineup in the league with the likes ofZack Greer, Kyle O'Brien and Shane Sargent up front, Ian Crashley and the Carson brothers, Nick and Luke on the back end, and lets not forget goaltender Joel Weber who not only has stood tall between the pipes for the Warriors,.but has been the main reason behind their successful transition play this season, as evidence with his 25 assists before last night's finale. "We definitely havé the talent to go far, so hopefully we can put it all together," said McComb. ' Last year at this time, the Warriors were gearing up for a run at the Minto, but were sent home after a Game 7 drubbing drubbing at the hands of the Peterborough Lakers, who currently are one of five possible first round opponents Tor the Warriors. ' ! ' With that fresh in their minds, I think the Warriors would agree, the disappointment disappointment of losing and going home early is not an option this year. Not with this team. Shawn Cayley's column appears every third Wednesday. E-mail scayley@durhamregion.com Bounced in first round by Mimico BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor BOWMANVILLE - It wasn't supposed supposed to end this way. Establishing a pattern of winning a Founder's Cup Canadian lacrosse champi-' onship every other year, this was to be the year for the Çlarington Green Gaels. With previous Jr. B titles in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004, the Green Gaels were ticketed for a repeat performance based on past history. Instead, the club will have to buy a ticket to watch the Founder's. The Green Gaels bowed out of the playoffs playoffs early, dropping an 11-4 decision on their home floor Saturday night to the Mimico Mountaineers, who wrapped up the best-of-five opening round series three John Tavares keeping fit during offseason by playing lacrosse in Mississauga BY SHAWM CAYLEY Sports Writer j WHITBY - Outside of hockey, John Tavares has another passion, j It's lacrosse. , ! ; The fact he loves the sport shouldn't come as too much of a surprise as the . 15-year-old John Tavares is thej nephew of National Lacrosse League 1 legend, 38-year-old John Tavares, currently of the Buffalo Bandits. "I guess you could say that," ..says Tavares, about his love of lacrosse being in the bloodlines. "Definitely, getting to watch my uncle has been great and playing lacrosse is something I love to do and want to do as long as I can before I haver to give it up for hockey." For the time being however, Tavares is refusing to look ahead to that time and is having just as eàsy a time putting the ball in the net with the Jr. A Mississauga Mississauga Tomahawks as he did putting the puck in the net this past season for the Oshawa Generals. In 18 games, the sniper has potted 35 goals while adding 41 helpers, good enough for seventh in league scoring. It's probably safe to say the lacrosse talent is indeed in the blood of the Oakville product. All his passion arid talent in lacrosse however, is secondary to hockey. With that in mind, Tavares is enjoying his offseason and says he is excited to get his second OHL season underway. "Seeing all the new acquisitions, things are really encouraging," says Tavares, who'll be surrounded by more talent this season than in his rookie season, which will surely mark an improvement in the 45-32-77 numbers he posted en route to being named the OHL .and CHL rookie of the year. "(Coach/GM) Brad (Selwood) has been very active in making this team better arid it is going to be an exciting year, new players, new building, new coaches, I'm really looking looking forward to it." Noticeably larger in height and weight since the end of last season, Tavares has been working out frequently and is now back on skates in preparation for the World U18 camp later this summer. "I've been working out three or four times a week, now I am starting to skate again to get ready for the upcoming season, and the U18 tournament," says Tavares. "I've got a lot going on, even though it is the offseason," he adds with a laugh. East Conference Quarterfinal Game 1 Green Gaels 11 Mimico 10 20T Game 2 Mimico 9 Green Gaels 7 Game 3 Mimico 5 Green Gaels 3 Game 4 Mimico 11 Green Gaels 4 games to one. "They played us tough and we just couldn't get our offence going," said GM Neil Atkinson of the difference between the teams in the series. "We only scored seven goals in the final two games of thé series and that's not enough to win." The other contributing factor was the Green Gaels inability to win on their home floor at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex, after being almost unbeatable at 9-1 during the regular season. They lost games two and four by scores of 9-7 and 11-4 on their home floor. Mimico's other win came in Game 3, a 5-3 decision. The Green Gaels opened thé séries on a positive note, winning 11-10 in double overtime, before proceeding to lose the next three in a row. After finishing fifth overall in the' East 'Conference with an identical 14-6 record to Mimico, the expectations were obviously obviously higher. "We thought we had the horses to beat them, and I still think we do," said Atkinson. Atkinson. "We just didn't put it all together. The defence was good in the series, and we wasted some good goaltending, especially in the 5-3 loss. "We only lose a couple of players to graduation, so we'll be looking to come back strong next year. We know what we need and what to acquire." Most notably on the shopping list is to add some scoring depth, especially from the left side, said Atkinson, who has been watching the Whitby intermediates and midgets closely this season. He is confident confident help will come from those ranks. As for next season, Atkinson says he has to go through the process of getting approval from the executive to return to his post. If that decision goes his way, he would like to see the entire coaching staff return for another shot at making a long playoffrun. THE SCOOP -- Saturday's game was close through the opening 20 minutes, as the Green Gaels trailed 3-2, Their demise, and ultimately end to the season, came in the second period when they were out- scored 5-1 and trailed 8-3...Matt Cocker- ton, Brandon McFarlane, and two from Steve Hutchins accounted for the goals in Game 4. Brandon Phillips had a pair of assists...Hutchins had a phenomenal series for the Green Gaels, scoring 13 of his team's 25 goals. ■ . A.J. Groen/Metroland Durham Region Media Group John Tavares balances a golf ball on a hockey stick while waiting for contestants to try the Hockeystick Putting Contest he was supervising during an alumni golf tournament hosted by the Oshawa Generals. Tavares, who is expected to lead the Generals again this season, is spending his summer playing Jr. A lacrosse in Mississauga. A recent Sports Illustrated article compared him to Gordie Howe on the ice. ; Speaking of the 1)18 camp, Tavares is hoping to use that' as a springboard to gamer the attention of the Canadian Canadian World Junior team brass, as he still harbors hopes of making that squad, despite not receiving an invite to the initial camp. "Obviously it is something I would have loved to go to, 1 lawkeyes rained out of Oshawa permanently? but I have a few years left for that," he admits. "I guess it wasn't my time to go there, but hopefully hopefully if I keep working hard I can make the World Junior camp in December and make the team then. "I'll prove that maybe I should have been there (at the first camp)." , Recently, Sports Illustrated was willing willing to go out a on limb in predict ing Tavares' future in a "Where are they now? Where will they be?" feature story. They compared his style of game to that of Gordie Howe and billed Tavares as the next big thing in hockey and most likely to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NHL draft. Talk about a lot of live up to. President Ian Bunting threatens to move club after latest rainout BY SHAWM CAYLEY Staff Writer , OSHAWA - Weather issues wreaked havoc on the Oshawa Hawkcyes again on Monday. And it may very well be for the last time, With heavy rain pelting Civic Fields early in the day, Oshawa's parks department informed the club that the game, already a rescheduled one from an earlier rainout, would have to be cancelled cancelled once again. Despite spending the afternoon making repeated calls and visits to the powers that be within the city, the Hawkcyes were unable to have the decision reversed, which in the end meant the team Ian Bunting was saddled with a 28-0 forfeit loss. However, this is where things get interesting. Hawkcyes President Ian Bunting is upset with the city, and more specifically specifically the parks department because he believes the field was in more than good enough shape to play on. "They were concerned about puddles and damage On the field but when I was on it, there was nothing," Hunting said on Tuesday morning. "No puddles, nothing. I am a big guy, and I walked on it, I even jumped on it, and it was fine. "1 really think that this city doesn't even care about their sports anymore.. We have a great team this year and a real shot of bringing a Canadian Championship Championship to Oshawa, but they are more concerned concerned about having their field look nice than they are about having somebody on it," However, Noel Hutchinson, director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Oshawa, said canceling the game was the only logical thing to do. "We certainly didn't want to have to do that to the Hawkcyes, but the fact of the matter is, that the damage that would have been done by them playing on it could have wiped out the field for the rest of the season," he said. "That's a $20,000 field and we had to protect the city's investment." Bunting said because the game was called by the city, it caused the club to forfeit the contest to Milton, 28-0. Not only docs that stick them with a loss, but it could come back to haunt them come See HAWKEYES, page 2