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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday February 28, 2009 - 17 Oakville fencer wins OUA gold Oakville's Hilary Peden won the individual epée to help the University of Toronto Blues defend their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) women's fencing title. The Blues took all three individual titles and finished with 312 points, well ahead of second-place Royal Military College (198). "Hilary's very dedicated and works very hard," said U of T coach Ken Wood. "She's at every practice. She's one person I don't have to worry about. A silver medalist at last year's OUA championships, Peden won the Dr. Al English Trophy this year by defeating teammate Joanne Ko in the final. Wood said Peden a difficult route to the final and came through in a very close bout for the championship. That's where Wood said her strong work ethic paid off. "She has a lot of natural ability but if you don't work for it, you don't get it," he said. Provincial gold NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER MR. ZERO: Columbus Blue Jackets rookie goalie Steve Mason, pictured in action last week against the Toronto Maple Leafs, leads the National Hockey League in shutouts. Mason continuing to turn heads By Herb Garbutt T position all the time," said Hitchcock, who earned his 500th career win. "To be honest with you, he held us in there in the first two hey share a tie in Canadian hockey periods. Your goalie has to be your best history, members of an exclusive player on the road, and he was." group that has only 15 members. Mason has gone from being touted as a Last week, they were separated by only rookie-of-the-year candidate to a Vezina 180 feet of Air Canada Centre ice, but Trophy (top goaltender) candidate to a Hart that's as close as the career paths of Trophy (MVP) candidate. And there's cerOakville's Steve Mason and Toronto Maple tainly an argument to be made for Mason's Leafs goalie Justin Pogge have come since value to the Blue Jackets. Columbus is 24they each backstopped Canada to world 14-3 with Mason between the pipes and 7junior gold. 11-3 without him. Pogge, 22 and with just five NHL With 20 games remaining in the season, starts, has spent the better part of three Mason is a good bet to eclipse the Blue years in the minors trying to Jackets' single-season records "(Mason's) been build his case for an NHL job. in wins (27) and shutouts The 20-year-old Mason spent great since day one (nine). all of three games in the and has given us a "He's making the big saves American Hockey League. when the team's not at its chance to win "You look around the every night." best and he's been able to league and I'm the youngest keep us in hockey games," goalie in the league right Mike Commodore said Columbus centre Mike now," Mason said last Peca. Thursday after making 32 saves to lead the Earlier this year, the Blue Jackets' Mike Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 shootout Commodore called his new teammate "a win over Toronto. "It's a pretty special feel- season saver," high praise for a player he ing." knew nothing about until he walked into Many would argue that Mason isn't just the Blue Jackets' dressing room. the youngest goalie, but also the best goalie "I had no clue who Steve Mason was," in the league this season. He leads the said the veteran defenceman. "I don't watch league with eight shutouts and ranks junior hockey and I was down in the States behind only Boston's Tim Thomas with a so I didn't see the world juniors. All I knew 2.14 goals-against average. when he came in was that he was coming Despite Columbus being badly out- off a serious knee injury. Then with (startplayed for two periods against the Leafs, the ing goalie Pascal) Leclaire being hurt, you Blue Jackets came away with a valuable two worry a little, but (Mason's) been great points that helped keep the team in posi- since day one and has given us a chance to tion to earn its first playoff berth in its nine- win every night." year history. While Mason's quick rise has Mason can relate to Pogge caught many people off guard, Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock has become accusThough Mason has burst on the NHL tomed to strong performances from his scene at a young age, he's more like the rookie netminder. overnight success that was many years in "Nothing surprises us, he's in the right the making. For Commodore and others OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF unfamiliar, here's the Coles Notes version: ·Mason didn't become a goalie until he was nine. When Commodore, 29, made his NHL debut with New Jersey, Mason was still playing house league. ·Taken in the 11th round of the OHL draft by the London Knights, he was unable to crack the team's lineup. Instead, he went to play Jr. C in Grimsby where he led the Peach Kings to an Ontario title. ·He served a one-year apprenticeship as the Knights' backup and played well enough that Columbus took a flyer and drafted him in the third round. The following year, he was named the OHL's top goalie and a year later was the MVP of the world junior tournament as he led Canada to an overtime win over Sweden. It's because he's had to battle at every step that Mason can relate to the position Pogge finds himself in. "I know what he's going through right now," Mason said. "It's a lot of work and he'll be working as hard as he can to stick (in the NHL), if not for the rest of this season, then definitely for next year." Few goalies make the jump to the NHL at the age of 20. Most take at least a year or two of seasoning in the minors. Commodore is an off-season training partner of Pogge and said sometimes circumstances dictate whether a goalie gets a shot. "Justin's a good goaltender," he said. "Not to take anything away from what Steve has done, but it's not always clear cut. You need some breaks and hopefully when you get those breaks, you take advantage of them. That's what Steve has done." With Leclaire out for the season after having surgery on his ankle, Mason has seized the opportunity to establish himself as a No. 1 goalie in the NHL. "It's fun playing in front of him," Commodore said. "He's young, but he's playing way beyond his years." MORNINGSTAR STUDENTS SHINE: Nineyear-old Dimitri Linkov delivers a kick to an opponent at the recent Ontario Taekwon-Do Championships in Ottawa. Linkov won gold in sparring, one of 24 medals earned by Mike Morningstar Taekwon-Do students at the championships. The school is currently preparing for its next tournament, the 2009 ITF Challenge, which it will host at Sheridan College. Atom Hornets claim silver Allowing only two goals in their five games, the Oakville atom AA Hornets earned silver at a recent girls' hockey tournament in London. Oakville shut out its first four opponents at the tournament. The Hornets blanked Etobicoke 1-0, Waterloo 3-0 and Burlington 7-0 in round-robin play, then edged the host London Devilettes 1-0 in a semifinal that needed to be decided by a shootout. In the final, Oakville fell behind Whitby 2-0 early and dropped a 2-1 decision. Kristin O'Neill had the lone goal for the Hornets, who hit three goal posts in the loss. Nikki Cece and Alyssa Chartrand combined to earn the four shutouts for Oakville in the tournament. Brooke Jovanovich had the game-winning goal in the semifinal. Other members of the team are Rachel Albertine, Kaitlyn Perichak, Cassidy Miller, Allison Chan, Maddie Sisokin, Olivia White, Sydney Davison, Julia Edgar, Taylor Davison, Jessica Thompson, Taylor McKibbon, Elizabeth O'Hara and Paige Strychaluk