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22 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2006 Dawson brothers eyeing NLL reunion Goaltender Paul hopes to follow career path of high-scoring Dan By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR s he strives to make his mark in the National Lacrosse League, Paul Dawson needn't look far for inspiration or even advice. The 21-year-old goaltender, selected seventh overall in last year's entry draft by the San Jose Stealth, will be sitting at home in Oakville when the Stealth plays its NLL season-opener tonight against the Rochester Knighthawks. Pegged third on the San Jose netminding depth chart, Dawson appears to be relegated to target practice duties for Stealth mid-week workouts throughout his rookie campaign. Not that he's terribly down about it, however. After all, Dawson remembers, brother Dan didn't have an easy time of it at first either, cast in a defensive role during his first season before developing into one of the NLL's most prolific snipers. "Dan had trouble his first year too," Dawson recalled. "He got drafted late (68th overall in 2001), he was flying in for games and didn't make the lineup every day either. But he put his nose to the grindstone and worked hard, and good things happen for guys who work hard." Dawson hopes to follow a similar path. The former Oakville Blades captain spent much of last month flying back and forth from San Jose for the team's training camp, with little time for enjoying the sunny beaches of the west coast. Instead, it was three two-hour practices in a 24-hour span, followed by a flight back across the continent. "I haven't had any time to look around or anything," said Dawson. "I've just seen a lacrosse ball flying at me and that's about it." With Mississauga native and former Toronto Rock goaltender Anthony Cosmo as the Stealth's incumbent starting netminder going into training camp, Dawson was competing for the backup job with recently-acquired 21-year-old Aaron Bold. Dawson admitted to being overanxious in camp, possibly trying too hard to impress the coaching staff. At 6-foot5 and 225 pounds, positional play is a big part of Dawson's game, but he was scrambling around and getting himself out of position in scrimmages. "It's a huge step from junior to pro. It was all happening so fast. All of a sudPaul Dawson den you're playing against the best players in the world, the nets are bigger, the equipment's a little smaller and you don't have much time to get used to it. You either have to conform or get out," said Dawson. "I was moving too much, opening myself up to make it easier on the shooters. I kind of got lit up there." Still, the Stealth has opted to keep Dawson on its 23-man roster. He will be paid as a full-time player and will fly south most, if not all, of the weeks throughout the season to practice with the team. On those plane rides back and forth from California, Dawson will also try to keep up with his schoolwork. He is A LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER DANGEROUS DAN: Arizona Sting forward Dan Dawson hopes to return to the form he showed in 2005, when he finished second in National Lacrosse League goal-scoring with 48. currently studying sociology and criminology at the University of Windsor, with eyes for changing fields and becoming a phsy-ed teacher in the future. Dan, meanwhile, knows he'll be in the starting lineup each and every week with the Arizona Sting. The 25-year-old is coming off back-to-back solid seasons, finishing seventh in league scoring both years, although he wasn't too impressed with his own performance in 2006. "I'm my hardest critic. I know when I'm not playing bad, but last year was just an okay season for me," said Dan, who totaled 34 goals and 48 assists in 16 games last year. "The point production was the exact same but I was down a goal a game (from three to two) and my shot percentage was down tremendously from the year before." That, along with the Sting's middle-of-the-road showing in 2006 (8-8, eliminated in conference final) after making the league's championship game the previous year, has motivated the forward for this season. "I'm feeling great. This is the first time I've been 100 per cent healthy in a long time and I've trained really hard for this upcoming season," said Dan, whose Sting will open up against the defending champion Colorado Mammoth tonight in Arizona. "Last year was a wakeup call. Not getting back to that championship game, you realize you don't have a right to be there. It's not an easy path to get there. You're not going to be there every year." It won't be easy this year either. The Mammoth eliminated Arizona last year en route to the Champion's Cup win and was impressive in an opening-week victory over Rochester, while the Stealth recently dealt for former Rock sniper Colin Doyle. The Sting has made a few changes of its own this year. Rob Blasdell is now the team's starting netminder, replacing the departed Mike Miron, and Arizona acquired forward Derek Malawsky to join Dawson in the forward ranks. Dawson and Malawsky played together in Victoria this past summer. So with Dan anticipating a return to his 2005 form, when he terrorized opposing goalies and finished second in the league in goals with 48, what about the possibility of shooting against Paul in the near future? "He'll be in this league in no time," Dan said. "And when he is, I won't go light on him. I'll pretend it's the back yard and I'll run the show for sure." -- Jon Kuiperij can be reached at sports@oakvillebeaver.com. 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