Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com w i ; i >m :s i >.\y . m a k c i i h . · psu a - d i SPORTS O S e e m e b e fo re \ txi p iu x iu s e o r lease \ o iir next vehicle G lenlevbn C h r y s l e r C II R Y S 1 .1; II · D O O C K · ] I E P £iSS H.nal Windsor Dr., 90M 4&7575 Bantam AAA's highlight banner rep season By Norm Nelson BEAVER SPO RTS EDITOR Joel Robertson · O a k v ille B eaver IT'S MINE, NO, IT'S MINE, NO IT'S MINE ... this girls juvenile AAA basketball gam e between O akville Vytis (green jersey s) an d B urlington was ju s t one o f dozens on tap in Oakville this past w eekend as th e O akville Vytis basketball organization held a huge 80 team to u rnam en t featuring club team s from th ro u g h o u t O n tario . In addition to this juvenile AAA division team , Vytis en tered nine o th e r team s in n um erous divisions, including th ree boys team s. See future issues fo r results of o u r local O akville team s. akville's rep hockey system, despite its close proximity to the player hungry Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), is having a banner year. The regular season is now over, of course, and Oakville's rep teams have combined for a win ning percentage well above the .600 mark for each of the three levels (A. AA, AAA). That should bode well for Oakville teams as they try to turn their regular season success into a playoff roll. Certainly a lot o f teams are off to good playoff starts, judging from the playoff rep reports that have been in the Beaver over the past couple of weeks. The premier team has to be the bantam AAA Rangers which capped off their unprecedented second undefeated regular season in their south central AAA hockey league with a perfect 31 -0 record. Not only that, but they also swept their two Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) playdown series in three straight against Welland and St. Catharines. That despite, already being assured o f a spot in the OMHA championships by virtue of being the two-time defending champions and hosting it March 15-17 at River Oaks and Glen Abbey are nas. If they can three-peat, they will move on to the Ontario-wide championship, where they are cur rently among the top ranked teams. Their achievements have been well document ed in the Beaver over the years. Oakville boasted a total of four first place teams. Two o f them were in the top South Central AAA league -- the above noted bantam AAA's and the minor peewee AAA team. Keith Murray, vice president o f rep, said the first place finish for the minor peewee AAA rep team was a real achievement after losing five kids to the GTHL from last year's team which won an Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) sil ver medal. Coach Ian Taylor had "only four returning forwards." The other two first-place teams were the Alevel atoms and the AA-level minor bantams. Other teams came close. The minor atom A team settled for second . place but with an awesome 18-2-4 record. The minor atom AA team just missed out orU first place by two points with a sparkling 18-5-$ recorcl. i 4 The peewee A team may have ended up in '* fourth place but they were only five points out © I first place, and they then went on to win their f^st round OMHA series. This from a team in which half the kids played house league last year. ' And then there was the midget AA team which finished in fifth place -- but with the same num ber of wins as the first place team (18w). Three teams -- the above noted minor atom.* AA and minor bantam AA teams, as well as the major bantam AA's -- each put together fine i Silver Stick tournament runs, including winning their respective regional championships. But Murray was quick to point out that cold* hard staLs don't always tell the story at this level. For instance, with Oakville's novice A team. it was "six to eight weeks before they even won a game -- and they ended up .500 (9-9-4). They really came on." Coming off a disappointing season, the pee-J wee AAA team has also done well, under new * coach Ron Mays, to finish just one game under; .500. It's a testament to the hockey talent in Oakville that it manages to remain competitive despite a steady trickle o f players to the GTHL.! It's a headache that is pretty well exclusive t(i Oakville and other areas like Brampton that | directly abut the GTHL. It puts the adjacent communities at a disadvan tage with league rivals who don't face the drain to the GTHL. Murray pegs the drain o f Oakville players j throughout the Rangers rep system to between 80 and 100 players, including about 40 at the top AAA level. But so far, it's a drain that Oakville's depth of hockey talent is able to overcome. And it affects the different Oakville Rangers teams differently. For instance, the above noted minor peewee AAA rep team lost five players -- but still fin ished first. With the above noted two-time OMHA cham(See 'MOHA' page D3) Bruins first playoff game is Thursday, 2 p.m. in Welland The Sheridan Bruins m en's college basketball team kick off defence of their provincial m en's college basketball title this week at Niagara College in Welland. The Bruins, who finished first in the tough central divi sion with a 13-2 record and have been the top ranked Ontario team the entire sea son. are the top seed and will open the tournam ent Thursday at 2 p.m. against eighth (and last) seed Sault Cougars from S ault Ste. Marie. Sault Cougars finished in second place in the west con ference with a 9-3 record. Also represented from that division in the provincials are first place St. C lair Saints (102) and host N iagara (8-4). If Sheridan can avoid an upset they would then move on to the sem ifinal gam e Friday night. 6 p.m. The O ntario m en's college cham pionship gam e runs Saturday night. 8 p.m. The B ruins d efeated Humber in last y ear's provin cial final. Ironically, however, Sheridan lost in the national final to Humber who were the host team. The Bruins, on Tuesday of last week, closed out their regular season schedule with an easy 82-38 win over Seneca who shared the base ment with Centennial, both # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 PLAYER NAME Fitzroy Woolery Wilton Edwards Hugh Bent Dion Horsford Vance King Scott Wheler Haldon Hutchinson Damian Porter Adrian Douglas Omar Omar Chris George Elvis Dennis Next year's AAA coaching slate The Oakville Rangers coaching slate is set for next season. "It's not a fun process," conceded Keith Murray, vice president o f town rep. and head coach for the Minor Oaks Hockey Association (MOHA). in a press release. "Some very strong candidates didn't get the teams they wanted, and undoubtedly won't agree with all o f our selections, which is o f course, a natural reaction." He termed it a "difficult process that has taken a lot o f thought and contemplation by the selec tion committee." "We believe that we have selected a very strong group o f head coaches, with a good mix of hockey experience, and all have bought into the Mitron philosophy and curriculum , with its emphasis on skills and player development. "We are very confident that these gentlemen will do a jo b with the players who choose to play triple-A hockey in Oakville. "We are very fortunate to have these volun teers helping to build on Oakville's fine reputa tion for minor hockey development." Murray also passed on the information that MOHA will have two minor novice ('96) teams, with coaching appointments and plans upcoming. The pre-tryout MOHA/Mitron hockey schools take place April 8-12 and April 15-19. Team tryouts will commence April 20-28 with dates and times to be announced in this newspa per. For more information call (905) 825-5635. Here's a run-down on the AAA appointees for the 2002-03 season (year o f birth shown in brack et): · Novice ('94), Ray Dube ... assistant coach with tykes this past season, previously head coach with minor novice AAA. well versed in Mitron system. This Colgate University player (four years) runs excellent motivational prac tices; · M in o r A tom ('93), Bob Woloschuk ... moves up a level; brings an extensive hockey experience to the rink. A non-parent coach with a solid Mitron background; · Atom ('92), Barry Pickel ... a non-parent, back for a second season. This very good hockey person assisted Ian Taylor for several seasons, runs efficient Mitron high tempo practices, and believes in teaching skills before systems; · M inor Peewee C91). Mario MacDonald ... second year with MOHA. coached top-flight bantam AA team this past season. Sterling hock ey background. An enthusiastic and positive communicator, he runs great practices utilizing Mitron curriculum. A non-parent coach; · Peewee ('90), Danny Stothers ... twice an assistant with this group o f players, he moves up to head coach, anxious to bring his own ideas to the table. This Western Michigan grad is looking for the best from all his players. He is well deserving of a head coaching opportunity; · M inor B antam ('89), Ian Taylor ... returns for a fourth year with this team. Lost five players to GTHL last season, yet still won top league honors this year with a winning percentage of .795. Ian was part o f original Mitron implemen tation in Oakville. Runs the best practices in MOHA; · B antam ('88), Ron Mays ... second year with team, very popular with players. Team lost four players to GTHL last season, but was more suc cessful this year. A student o f the game, he runs his own goalie program. A non-parent coach; · M inor M idget ('87), Bret Shepley ... third year with the team and was coach o f the year in 2000/01. Passionate about the game, looks for ward (with age change) to the draft year with this group. Coached at Junior A level with Milton Merchants, and really works on practices with his team. · M idget ('86 & '85), Shawn Hudson ... anoth er second year returnee, looking for dedicated commitment from all players. Solid hockey back ground. Plans on 'career coaching'. A non-parent coach. with 2-13 records. Elvis D ennis and Hugh Bent led the way for Sheridan, which was fitting since they played their final home games ever for the Double Blue. Dennis and Bent were hon oured before the gam e for their solid contributions over four years to the Bruin pro gram . and they d id n 't disap point in their final game at J.M . Porter Gym. D ennis scored 19 points w ith eight assists and five steals. Bent scored 18 points. # Game Game Game Game Date Mar. 7 Mar. 7 Mar. 7 Mar. 7 grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. " I'm going to m iss the guys and players here," said Dennis after the game. Added Bent: " It was a good game for us. It gets us in a good frame o f mind heading into the O ntario cham pi onships." Vance King chipped in with 17 points and B ashir Musse added nine points and four rebounds. Jordan Morrison finished with eight points and nine rebounds. 1 2 3 4 CH A M PIO N SH IP SCHEDULE Teams - 2pm 1 - SHERIDAN 8- 4pm 4 - St. Clair 5- 6pm 2 - Algonquin 7- 8pm 3 - Humber 6Winner Game I Winner Game 3 Loser Semi 1 Winner Semi 1 Sault St. Lawrence (K) Mohawk Loyalist Semi 1 Semi 2 Bronze Gold Mar. 8 - 6pm Mar. 8 - 8pm Mar. 9 - 6pm Mar. 9 - 8pm Winner Game 2 Winner Game 4 Loser Semi 2 Winner Semi 2 PPG 16.9 15.5 12.1 10.5 10.1 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 F 23 24 45 36 48 3 13 26 8 21 29 1 1 SHERIDAN PLAYER NAME GP 1 Hugh Bent 15 2 Vance King 13 3 Elvis Dennis 15 4 David Martin 15 5 Jordan Morrison 15 6 Ian Robinson 15 7 Brian Laundry 14 8 Duane Mark 15 9 Bashir Musse 14 14 10 Jerome Robinson 11 Dwayne Ramirez 14 12 Amandeep Samra II 13 Nick Morra 9 le g e n d fo r team and league scoring m GP = GAMES PLAYED 2M » 2 POINT SHOTS MADE 3M » 3 POINT SHOTS MADE FA = FREE THROWS ATTEMPTED BRUINS PLAYER STATISTICS 2M 3M FA FT% FM TP 83 14 63 0.71 45 253 7 72 53 0.70 37 202 55 12 49 0.71 35 181 0.69 55 2 61 42 158 50 55 2 0.72 36 152 7 5 11 0.82 9 38 6 4 12 7 0.58 31 0 19 0.47 9 12 33 2 II 2 0.50 1 29 7 1 18 0.61 11 28 5 0.40 13 0 2 28 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 F T * » FREE THROW PERCENTAGE FM = FREE THROWS MADE (1 poinl cach) TP = TOTAL POINTS PPG = POINT PER GAME AVERAGE F * FOULS Rep hockey coaches for AA and A levels Here's the upcoming slate of AA and A coaches for next season ... Midget A A (1985-86), Scott E llio tt... a move up from atom AA; Minor Midget AA (1987), Roy Gringmuth ... a perennial, this guy just loves to coach; Bantam AA (1988). Ken Keen ... a second year coach who has caught on; Minor Bantam AA (1989), Phil Zurawell ... turning in his referee togs for a chance to coach; Peewee AA (1990, Paul Douglas ... moving up from the A ranks; Minor Pe'ewee A A (1991), Mark Kirton ... fourth year in rep. Moving up each year; Atom AA (1992), Dave Hefflefinger ... third year in the coaching ranks; Minor Atom AA (1993), Lou Germano: second year in the coaching ranks: Novice AA (1994), to be announced; Minor Novice (1995), two teams o f equal stature will be entered in the Tri-County loop with John Guzzo and Ken Hisey handling the coaching chores. Minor Midget A (1987), Mike Carr: returning home from the GTHL; Bantam A (1988), Gary Gregoris ... liked his inaugural year and is back for a return engagement; Minor Bantam A (1989), Brian B en n ett... all-time Oakville Blade leading scorer; Peewee A (1990), Ed Ziesmann ... a tireless worker moving up from the house league ranks; Minor Peewee A (1991), Rick McIntosh ... liked what he did this year, wants to go at it again; Atom A (1992), Bill Wiley ... a returnee who shows lots o f promise; Minor Atom (1993), Dave Stephenson ... moving up from the house league ranks; Novice A (1994), to be announce^. CENTRAL CON FEREN CE - scoring leaders TEAM GP 2M 3M FA FT% Humber Hawks 67 15 72 35 0.79 George Brown Huskies 13 49 28 53 0.91 Sheridan Bruins 15 83 14 0.71 63 George Brown Huskies 14 83 13 52 0.58 Sheridan Bruins 13 72 7 53 0.70 Seneca Sting 14 66 71 6 0.83 Humber Hawks 14 35 21 0.79 85 Centennial Colts 14 73 1 55 0.73 Centennial Colls 10 17 30 32 0.56 George Brown Huskies 14 54 14 37 0.73 14 Centennial Colts 66 1 56 0.61 Sheridan Bruins 49 15 55 12 0.71 FM 53 48 45. 30 37 55 67 40 18 27 34 35 TP 302 230 253 235 202 215 200 189 129 177 169 181 AVG 65.07 73.67 72.67 67.13 68.53 76.53 PPG 20.1 17.7 16.9 16.8 15.5 15.4 14.3 13.5 12.9 12.6 12.1 12.1 PCI 0.867 0.667 0.667 0.533 0.133 0.133 F 30 34 23 23 24 57 28 32 26 40 34 45 GB . TEAM SHERIDAN BRUINS HUMBER HAWKS GEORGE BROWN HUSKIES MOHAWK MOUNTAINEERS CENTENNIAL COLTS SENECA STING CENTRAL CON FEREN CE -final standings GP W L T D PTS PF AVG PA 15 13 2 0 0 26 1155 77.00 976 15 10 5 1189 79.27 1105 0 0 20 15 10 5 0 0 20 1131 75.40 1090 15 8 7 0 0 16 1101 73.40 1007 15 2 13 0 0 4 888 59.20 1028 15 2 13 0 4 890 0 59.33 1148 3 3 5 11 II