Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2010 35 Blades prepare for potential one-and-done situations Each individual game is about to get a lot more important for the Oakville Blades. The team won four best-of-seven series to claim the Ontario Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey Association Buckland Cup championships. But when the Dudley Hewitt Cup begins Tuesday in Sault Ste. Marie against representatives from the other leagues in Ontario, there is no luxury of a lengthy series to determine which team will represent Central Canada at the RBC Royal Bank Cup national tournament. The Blades will play the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champion Abitibi Eskimos, Superior International Junior Hockey League champion Fort William North Stars and host Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds one time each in the round robin. The top team after round-robin play earns a bye to the final, while the second- and third-place squads will compete in the semifinal. "It's pretty much playing several Game 7 situations," said Oakville head coach Jason Nobili. "That's the mindset of how we need to prepare for each contest." Nobili is mindful of the significance of a bye to the championship game. The semifinal winner will be playing its fifth game in as many days when the final is played Saturday. "The most attractive part is that extra day of rest," he said. There are a few things going Oakville's way as it prepares for its first game against Abitibi, a 2 p.m. start Tuesday. Five members of the team -- Dustin Alcock, Kellan Lain, Steven Guzzo, Dan Hunt and Kyle Badham -- have Dudley Hewitt Cup experience, winning the tournament two years ago as the Blades advanced to the RBC Royal Bank Cup. Several other players were on the squad last year that narrowly missed out on a trip to the Dudley, losing in the Ontario Junior A Hockey League final to the Kingston Voyageurs. "Between the guys leading the way that have been there before and the guys that have been hungry to get there," Nobili said, "that should certainly make up the difference for guys (with little experience)." History is also on the Blades' side. The OHA representative has won the last three Dudley Hewitt Cup championships, six of the last seven, and 10 of the last 14. Not that Nobili puts much stock in those statistics. "I didn't even know that," he admitted. "But I'm not going to hang my hat on someone else's past successes." After Tuesday's opener against the Eskimos, Oakville will face the Thunderbirds Wednesday (a 7 p.m. start) and then take on the North Stars Thursday (2 p.m.). The semifinals are slated for 7:30 Friday. -- Jon Kuiperij NET RESULTS: Local residents Nicole Paniccia (left) and Brianna Piper combined to allow only 38 goals in 28 games this season for the Toronto Aeros, leading the team to the Provincial Women's Hockey League championship. Oakville goalies backstop Aeros to title By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF It had been a dozen years since they were teammates. It had been so long that the last time Nicole Paniccia and Brianna Piper played together, they were shooting pucks, not stopping them. In the years since, the two Oakville netminders took very different routes in their hockey careers. But when their paths crossed again this year, they formed a nearly unbeatable tandem. Last weekend, they capped their outstanding season as Paniccia backstopped the Toronto Aeros to a 2-1 victory over the Mississauga Chiefs to win the Provincial Women's Hockey League championship. "It was awesome -- an amazing way to end my PW career," said Paniccia, who captured her first league championship in Nicole Paniccia four years with the Aeros. With Paniccia and Piper guarding the net, the Aeros posted the lowest goals-against average in the league, allowing just 38 goals in 28 games. But until Piper joined the Aeros this year, the two had not been teammates since tyke, when both were playing forward. Paniccia was the first to move into the net. She made the move when she was six, when her dad was coaching her team. "He would always say, "Stop sweeping the puck (when I shot)," Paniccia said. "So I thought if I changed positions he wouldn't be able to say that any more. But then it was, "Put your glove up." But Paniccia stuck with goaltending and hasn't looked back. She has represented Ontario at three national under-18 championships, winning her first title in November as she won all three of her starts for the Ontario Red squad. She was also an alternate for the national under-18 team that won the world title earlier this month. In her final season with the Aeros, Paniccia turned in a strong final season with the Aeros, going 11-2-1 with four shutouts, a 1.20 average and a .939 save percentage. Bound for the University of Connecticut in the fall, Paniccia also won all five of her playoffs starts. Piper didn't become a goalie until atom. "At that time everyone just rotated (playing net) and I loved doing it," Piper said. "I just started volunteering all the time." Piper continued in the Oakville Hornets organization but eventually made the move to boys' hockey, last year playing minor midget with the Toronto Avalanche of the Greater Toronto Hockey League. But it was reconnecting with her former teammate that led her to the Aeros. Brianna Piper "Nicole talked to me about her experiences and how (the Aeros) promote you to universities," said the Grade 11 Abbey Park student. "She's going off to Division 1 next year and hopefully I'll follow the same path and get some of those same accomplishments." Though the two goalies shared the duties, Piper ended up getting more starts when Paniccia missed games to attend provincial and national team training camps. Piper posted an 18-1 record with eight shutouts, a goals-against average of 1.00 and a .938 save percentage. She also won both of her playoff starts, allowing just one goal on 37 shots. "Things ended up working out well," Piper said. But even with the stellar efforts of the Oakville duo in net, the Aeros entered the final as the underdog. Toronto finished tied atop the standings with Mississauga, See Aeros page 37