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Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009 25 Finally, Tavares can just play S PHOTO BY STEPHEN CHERNIN / THE CANADIAN PRESS MILESTONE MARKER: Oakville's John Tavares begins to celebrate after scoring his first career National Hockey League goal Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. ince John Tavares arrived on the radar screen of hockey fans, his career has been as much about anticipating what he will do as it has been what he has done on the ice. From the time he was granted exceptional status to enter the Ontario Hockey League a year early, there were questions about whether he could compete against players five and six years older. He answered by winning the OHL rookie of the year and following it up with a 72-goal season to break Wayne Gretzky's league record for goals by a 16year-old. No sooner had he proven his ability to not only compete but also be a dominant player in major junior, along came Victor Hedman. The Swedish defenceman emerged as a rival to be the first pick in the 2009 NHL draft. Suddenly, the same scouts that had made Tavares the sure-fire No. 1 were picking holes in his game. Tavares answered by becoming the OHL's all-time leading goal scorer and earning MVP honours at the World Junior Hockey Championship as he led Canada See Tavares page 27 SCORING SPREE: Oakville Blades centre Kyle Badham (89), pictured celebrating a goal last season against the Mississauga Chargers, has enjoyed a fast start to the Ontario Junior A Hockey League season. Badham, who recorded 49 points in 94 games the past two years, earned 12 points in the Blades' first seven games to take the early team scoring lead. OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTO Badham flourishing in new role Physical forward leads Blades in scoring so far this year By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR After two years of doing the dirty work, Kyle Badham is finally getting the chance to shine. Seven games into the Ontario Junior A Hockey League season, the 20-year-old forward leads the Oakville Blades in scoring with two goals and 10 assists. Those 12 points so far are nearly a third of the total he scored all of last season, when he had 17 goals and 22 helpers in 49 games. "(The puck) just seems to be going in a lot more this year," said Badham, who picked up a goal and an assist in the Blades' wins over the Couchiching Terriers and Trenton Golden Hawks last weekend. "Maybe it's because I'm a year older or because I'm seeing more ice. Every year you get more experienced and figure out how to play better in this league." Badham's hot start -- highlighted by a five-assist outing against the Milton IceHawks Sept. 27 -- isn't a total shock to Oakville general manager Carlo Coccimiglio, who coached the team the past couple years before handing the reins to Jason Nobili this season. "When we brought Kyle in (two seasons ago), he was here to be on a checking line," said Coccimiglio. "But we knew he had the talent to score goals." Badham filled the checking role well. He and linemates Steven Guzzo and Sean Teakle were instrumental in shutting down the opposition's top lines in the spring of 2008, when the Blades went all the way to the RBC Royal Bank Cup national tournament. Those contributions were recognized at the end of the season, when the team presented Badham with its Unsung Hero Award. Now, in his final year of junior, Badham has been awarded with an opportunity to showcase the offensive side of his game as he hopes to attract interest from university scouts. See Badham page 26 Before this season, Badham (in blue) was better known for his physical play.