www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday April 9, 2008 - 39 Westlake provides happy ending in sledge hockey final By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Documentaries don't always have the happy ending viewers are accustomed to, but Oakville's Greg Westlake provided a finale that Disney couldn't have scripted any better. Westlake scored with nine seconds to play in regulation, giving Canada a 3-2 victory over Norway in Saturday's gold medal game at the Sledge Hockey World Championships in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The victory capped an outstanding season by the national team, which has now won gold at the last three major international competitions, including the Paralympic Games in Turin, Italy. And it will be a season they will remember for a long time, thanks to a CTV documentary that has followed the team all sea"When it went in, son. I just wanted to "It was a crazy year. We've had so much going on," Westlake said. get to the bench. "To score the goal to end it all, I I wanted to see just don't know. I don't know if it their excitement has sunk in yet." and share it with Canada rallied from a 2-1 deficit them." in the third period despite being without Billy Bridges. Bridges, Greg Westlake who Westlake set up to open the scoring, was given a game misconduct for spearing with five minutes left in the first period. "That was definitely a tough pill to swallow," Westlake said of the team's leading scorer. "He's arguably the most skilled player in the world. We had no choice but to keep going, though. After all the time and effort and travel, we were still up 1-0 with half an hour of hockey to go." Things didn't unfold according to plan, though. Norway scored 24 seconds into the second period to tie the game and again in the opening minute of the third to make it 2-1. Westlake said it was nerve-wracking, glancing at the clock between shifts and knowing time was not on their side. Canada would pull even with 6:38 to play with a power play goal, setting up the dramatic finish. Westlake, who finished the tournament with six goals and 14 points in six games, had his chances to put Canada ahead -- hitting a post and firing a shot off the Norway goalie's mask. Then in the final minute, with Canada's momentum building after the tying goal, he fired another shot off the post. "I was having a great game but I just couldn't finish," he said. Norway scrambled and iced the puck after Westlake's shot off the post, setting up an offensive zone faceoff with 52 seconds to play. Todd Nicholson, taking Bridges' place on the line, won the faceoff to give Canada control. With time winding down, Bradley Bowden spotted Westlake breaking towards the net. "He made an amazing pass, through three guys and none of them could reach it, and put it right on the tape and I was only about three feet out." This time there would be nothing to stop Westlake from finding the back of the net. "When it went in, I just wanted to get to the bench," he said. "I wanted to see their excitement and share it with them." It was Canada's third straight victory over Norway in a gold medal game. Westlake said that has built a fierce rivalry which has led to intense, physical games where perhaps only Canada's edge in conditioning has been the difference. Though the team's recent run of success is making it look as though Canada is becoming the dominant sledge hockey nation, Westlake says that's not necessarily the case. "You look at those wins and we're not winning 4-0 or 50. We know how hard we had to work for those wins and we're going to have to work that much harder now because everyone is gunning for us." The documentary on the team's season, Sledhead, is scheduled to air in September. Trailers can be viewed at www.sledheadmovie.com. DEREK WOOLLAM / OAKVILLE BEAVER TEXAS-SIZED ASPIRATIONS: Abbey Park High School grad Shane Cole, pictured at the Oakville Royals indoor training facility, recently signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Texarkana College, the junior college affiliate of Texas A&M University. Oakville Royals product Texas-bound By Adam Johnston SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Shane Cole is ready to start a new chapter in his life. The 18-year-old Oakville native, an Abbey Park High School graduate, recently signed a letter of intent to play baseball for Texarkana College, the junior college affiliate of Texas A&M University. Cole, a right-handed pitcher, has spent the past three years playing for the Oakville Royals Baseball Club. After graduating high school in 2007, he spent the past year working and playing baseball. Now, he feels he is prepared for a new challenge. "I'm really excited. I'm ready to move on and experience new things," said Cole. Cole was offered a scholarship last year from Cisco College in Cisco, Texas; however, he declined in favour of returning for another year with the Royals. This year, he was offered a full athletic scholarship to Texarkana College. Royals coach Matt Baird, who also played college baseball in Texas, is convinced that Shane has what it takes to be successful south of the border. "He's got great mound presence. He's got a live fastball and he's working on his off-speed game," Baird said. He also believes Cole is ready to step up for the Royals this spring and become a team leader, on and off the field. "He's our number one or number two guy [in the pitching rotation]," said Baird. "He's taken more of a leadership role as he's matured." The Royals program prides itself on preparing its players for the `next step', not only physically, but mentally as well. In fact, Cole's mother, a high school principal, helps the team prepare for the SATs by teaching classes twice a week. "She brought in a math teacher for that portion, and she taught the English section because that is her strong point," Cole said. Although he is starting a new journey more than 2,000 kilometers from home, Cole will never forget where he came from. "It's every kid's dream to make it to the pros and that is what I aspire to," he said. "I'll never forget my roots, though." Haltigin missed second game because of flu Continued from page 38 stops... Oakville played the game without arguably its top defenceman, Chris Haltigin, who was scratched because of the flu. "We hope to get him back real soon, because we need him," said Grenier... Searching for a spark in the third period, Coccimiglio broke up the Blades' top line of Julian Cimadamore, Luke Moodie and McParland... The Blades' slow starts to games date back to the last series. Oakville was outscored 6-1 in the first periods of the six games against the Tigers, allowing the first goal in four of those contests... Moodie scored twice, including a shorthanded tally, to pace the Blades Saturday. Steven Guzzo, Matt Ribeiro, Kellan Lain and Cimadamore added singles, and McParland had three assists. Greenham earned the win with 32 saves... Game 4 of the series will be played back in Markham Friday, with the series returning to Oakville Sunday for Game 5. Aboud feted by Bishop's Oakville native Chelsea-Lyn Aboud was named Bishop's University's female athlete of the year at the school's annual awards gala Sunday in Sherbrooke, Que. Aboud starred in goal for the Gaiters' women's soccer team in all four of her years at Bishop's, despite being originally recruited as a midfielder. This past season, she led the Gaiters to a shutout of fifth-ranked McGill, making 12 saves. Aboud, who also captained Bishop's in three of her four seasons, was recognized this year as the Quebec conference's most sportsmanlike player. 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