The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , Ja nu ar y 7, 2 01 1 2 8 By Ryan Glassman SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Before 2010, the Oakville midget AAA Rangers program must have felt snake-bitten when it came to Burlingtons Golden Horseshoe AAA Hockey Tournament. Terrific play during the round robin portion in 2008 and 2009 amounted to nothing by the time the playoffs rolled around. But last week, the Rangers had no reason to feel snake-bitten any longer, as the team captured the division title with a 4-2 win over the Vaughan Kings in the final at Central Arena. It means a lot, head coach Tom Daley said. Weve been trying for three years. We were 4-0 two years ago and didnt get in the playoffs. We went 3-1 last year and didnt get in the playoffs. So to finally get in the playoffs and then make it all the way, its quite an accomplishment for the kids. Up 3-2 in the third, Oakville put the contest out of reach when a Vaughan point shot was blocked by Rangers captain Drake Wilton, who raced up the ice and beat Kings goaltender Ty Zastre five-hole with 8:08 remaining. Afterwards, Oakvilles Doug Bonar, who scored twice including the game-winner, received tourna- ment MVP honours. It was a near-perfect event for the Rangers, as the club sported a 6-0-1 record. (A 5-5 tie against the Whitby Wildcats in round-robin play was their only non-victory.) Wilton said he was impressed by how composed the team remained over the four days. We came out flying those first two games and then we had a little rougher time against Whitby, Wilton said. Ever since then, weve been solid all the way around. Had a couple of lapses here and there but always found a way to come back. For Kings head coach Matthew Iannetta, the tour- naments ending was disappointing, considering his squad had won all six of its games before the final. The bench boss said the amount of errors Vaughan made ultimately did the club in. Theyre a fast-skating team, Iannetta said of the Rangers. They shot the puck, they drove to the net, they crashed and banged. But the game of hockey is capitalizing on your opponents mistakes and thats what they did. They capitalized on four of our mis- takes and they came out on top. Oakville had started the final strong as Brandon Clelland scored just a minute and 50 seconds in. Bonar made it 2-0 for the Rangers, but the Kings Ayrton Valente cut his clubs deficit to one with 47 seconds remaining in the first. Instead of leaving the period quietly, Bonar raced into the Vaughan zone, deked past the Kings Alexandre Suddard and potted one past Zastre to put Oakville up 3-1 at the end of one. Vincent Figliomeni would make it 3-2 in the second, but Vaughan could not solve Oakville goaltender Kevin Entmaa again. By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF After a great start to last weeks Richard Bell Memorial Minor Hockey Tournament, the Oakville minor midget AE Rangers ran into an all-too-famil- iar foe. The Rangers won their first four games before meeting the Georgetown Raiders in Thursdays championship game. Georgetown, which leads the Tri- County Hockey League with a 16- 2-4 record, has given Oakville fits this season. We always have a tough time with Georgetown, said Oakville coach Kevin Kokotailo. So the fact that Georgetown won the championship didnt bother Kokotailo as much as how they won it, downing the Rangers 4-0. From the time the puck dropped, we werent in the game physically or mentally, he said. It was almost like we were just content to make it to the final. But Kokotailo saw many promising signs in the tourna- ment. His team allowed just four goals in its first four games and its wins included a decisive victo- ries over some tough opponents. Oakville defeated the defending OMHA champion Georgina Blaze 5-1 and scored a 4-1 victory over Brampton, the team that sits directly in front of Oakville in the Tri-County standings. Weve been playing well defensively, said Kokotailo, whose team is 10-7-5 in league play. We just need to find the back of the net more. Weve been win- ning games by a goal or two. There were no worries with sweating out narrow victories at the Bell tournament. In addition to the wins over Georgina and Brampton, Oakville topped Ajax 4-1 and Hamilton 3-1. The boys played with a lot of passion and were a lot more physical than they usually are, the coach said. Overall, theyve improved. AAA midgets nab elusive Golden Horseshoe championship Minor midget AE squad drops final to nemesis Place your FREE ADS one of these three easy ways Visit BurlingtonPost.com Visit OakvilleBeaver.comOR or just fill out this coupon 1. Mail to: Free Ads, 1-5040 Mainway, Burlington , ON L7L 7G5, or 2. Drop this coupon off at: The Burlington Post, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mon. to Fri. 3. Fax this coupon to: (905) 632-8165 NO PHONE ORDERS PLEASE *15 WORDS, 1 DAY( THURSDAY) ITEMS $100 & UNDER AD COPY $ .ONENOHPECIRP PLEASE PRINT. ADS WILL BE SORTED BY ITEM. NAME ADDRESS POSTAL CODE CITY HOME # this number must appear in ad. Private party only. Ads published at first available opportunity, publication dates not guaranteed. You can only run 1 item per ad and a max. of 3 ads per client, per week. You must be over 18 to place an ad. Book Your Fundraising Event in the Classifi ed Section 905.632.4440 www.WeePiggies.com Tel: 905-825-8731 Email: oakville@weepiggies.com and you will receive a voucher for Call 905-632-4440 to place your announcement of your babys precious hand or footprint ($25.00 value) compliments of: