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Friday, September 15, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER 33 Sports An Oakville B eaver Feature Editor: NORM NELSON Phone:845-3824, e x t255 Fax:337-5567 E-mail:nnelson@ h a lt o n s e a r c h . c o m Blades open tonight Summer must be over. The kids are back in school, the Bell Canadian Open is over, the cool winds are blowing more often ... And the Oakville Blades open their provincial junior A campaign at home tonight (Friday, Sept. 15), 7:45 p.m., with what looks to be a great game on tap against the Burlington Cougars. Not only are the Cougars their obvious natural rivals, but the two teams also locked horns in the annual international junior A pre-season tournament held at Oakville Ice Sports last weekend. Both teams had gone 3-0 in the preliminary round (with Oakville defeating Pittsburgh 5-0, the Junior (See 'Blades' page 34) Photo by Ron Kuzyk They'll lace up the skates for the Mississauga Ice Bears this Saturday in Oakville -- national team members (1-r) Theresa Brisson, Kathy McCormack, Natalie Rivard, Aki Suda and Akiko Hatanaka. P a t r o I c f e e s s i o S p o n a r t s l w O o a m k v e n 's S h a o t u c k r d e a y y ille By Kathy Yanchus SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Hot off hosting Tiger Woods' latest and greatest golf victory, at the Bell Canadian Open on Sunday, Oakville will host the latest sports phenomenon -- professional women's ice hockey. On Saturday at 2 p.m. at Ice Sports , Oakville, the Mississauga Ice Bears hockey club, a charter member of the eight-team National Women's Hockey League (NHWL), will play the Montreal Wingstars. Sponsored by Meray Motors Mercedes Benz in Oakville, the Mississauga Ice Bears boast no less than five national team members -- three from the Canadian national team (Theresa Brisson, Kathy McCormack and Natalie Rivard) and two from the Japanese national team (Aki Suda, and Akiko Hatanaka). The Montreal Wingstars boast three Canadian national team players (Francis St. Louis, Carolyn Quellette and Manon Rheaume). Mississauga, which opened their 40-game schedule Wednesday night with a 3-2 win over ClearNet Lightning, are based out of the Mississauga Hershey Centre (at Hwy. 403 and Matheson) but will play four neutral site games in order to promote the team, the league and women's hockey in general. Two of the games are in Oakville, including this Saturday's game as well as an additional game on Feb. 24th. Mississauga will play its two other neutral site games at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton and in north Halton. The NWHL is a natural evolution of the great Canadian game which had its beginnings for women in 1892 and continued with the addition of women's hockey to the Winter Olympics in 1998. Canadian teams have won five gold medals at the world champi onships and took home silver at the `98 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The phenomenal growth in women's hockey is unprecedented and has its roots in the tremendous surge of interest in the sport at the entry level. Gone are the days when just boys play street hockey. Now it's `okay' for girls to strap on the pads, and pick up a stick. Not only are they playing outside till the sun sets, but they're overflowing hockey leagues. Statistics kept by the Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) reflect the incredible growth: in 1993, registration was under 6,500 whereas today, there are over 22,000 players. Those numbers are mirrored in Oakville with the Oakville Hornets girls hockey league, and an atom team will be involved in a three-on-three competition, in between periods. (See 'Ice' page 34) SEP. 15 SEP. 18 SEP.22 SEP.24 SEP.25 SEP.29 OCT.Ol OCT.05 OCT.06 OCT. 10 OCT. 13 OCT. 15 OCT. 17 OCT.20 OCT.21 OCT.27 OCT.29 OCT.31 NOV.03 NOV. 10 NOV. 12 NOV. 14 NOV. 17 NOV. 18 NOV.20 NOV.24 NOV.25 NOV.26 DEC.01 DEC .02 DEC.04 DEC.08 DEC. 10 DEC. 12 DEC. 15 DEC. 16 DEC.22 JAN.05 JAN.07 JAN.08 JAN. 12 JAN. 13 JAN. 16 JAN.19 JAN.26 JAN.28 FEB .02 FEB .04 FEB.06 OAKVILLE BLADES 2000/01 FRI. BURLINGTON AT MON. OAKVILLE AT FRI. OAKVILLE AT SUN. OAKVILLE VS MON OAKVILLE AT FRI. GEORGETOWN AT SUN. MILTON AT THUR OAKVILLE AT FRI. STREETSV1LLE AT OAKVILLE AT TUES FRI. BUFFALO AT SUN. BRAMALEA AT TUES OAKVILLE AT FRI. BRAMPTON AT SAT. OAKVILLE AT FRI. HAMILTON AT SUN. BRAMPTON AT OAKVILLE AT TUES FRI OAKVILLE AT FRI GEORGETOWN AT SUN. MILTON AT OAKVILLE TUES AT FRI. MISSISSAUGA AT SAT. OAKVILLE AT MON. OAKVILLE AT FRI. BUFFALO AT SAT OAKVILLE AT SUN. STREETSVILLE AT FRI. HAMILTON AT SAT. OAKVILLE AT MON. OAKVILLE AT FRI. MISSISSAUGA AT SUN. BURLINGTON AT TUES OAKVILLE AT FRI. AT OAKVILLE SAT OAKVILLE AT FRI. OAKVILLE AT FRI. MISSISSAUGA AT SUN. BURLINGTON AT MON. OAKVILLE AT FRI. GEORGETOWN AT SAT OAKVILLE AT TUES OAKVILLE AT FRI. BUFFALO AT FRI. HAMILTON AT SUN. BRAMALEA AT FRI. BRAMPTON AT SUN. OAKVILLE AT TUES OAKVILLE AT SCHEDULE OAKVILLE MISSISSAUGA BRAMALEA KINGSTON BUFFALO OAKVI1XE OAKVILLE BRAMPTON OAKVILLE STREETSVILLE OAKVILLE OAKVILLE MILTON OAKVILLE GEORGETOWN OAKVILLE OAKVILLE STREETSVILLE MILTON OAKVILLE OAKVILLE MISSISSAUGA OAKVILLE GEORGETOWN BUFFALO OAKVILLE HAMILTON OAKVILLE OAKVILLE GEORGETOWN HAMILTON OAKVILLE OAKVILLE BRAMALEA MILTON BRAMPTON BURLINGTON OAKVILLE OAKVILLE BUFFALO OAKVILLE HAMILTON STREETSVILLE OAKVILLE OAKVILLE OAKVILLE OAKVILLE BURLINGTON BRAMALEA 7:45 7:30 7:45 1:30 8:15 7:45 7:00 7:30 7:45 7:30 7:45 7:00 8:00 7:45 7:30 7:45 7:00 7:30 8:00 7:45 7:00 7:30 7:45 7:30 8:15 7:45 7:30 7:00 7:45 7:30 7:30 7:45 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:00 7:30 7:45 7:00 8:15 7:45 7:30 7:30 7:45 7:45 7:00 7:45 7:30 7:30 * home games at IceSpons Oakville t