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42 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009 Mason a Calder finalist Oakville may soon boast its first-ever National Hockey League award winner. Local resident Steve Mason has been selected as one of the finalists for the National Hockey League's rookie-of-the-year award, the NHL announced Wednesday. The Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender, Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan and Chicago Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg are the three finalists chosen by Steve Mason the Professional Hockey Writers for Calder Trophy consideration. The winner of the Calder Trophy will be unveiled during the 2009 NHL Awards, which will be broadcast live from the Palms Hotel Las Vegas June 18 on CBC. Mason, 20, led the NHL in shutouts this past season with 10, making him the first rookie to lead the league in that department since Tony Esposito recorded 15 shutouts in 1970. Mason ranked second in the league with a 2.29 goals-against average, eighth with 3,664 minutes played, ninth with 33 wins, 10th with 61 games played, and 11th with a .916 save percentage. He led all rookie goaltenders in all categories except save percentage, where he finished second to Nashville's Pekka Rinne (.917). Coming off knee surgery the previous spring, Mason started the season with the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch. The Minor Oaks Hockey Association product was called up after six games and won his first three starts, stopped a seasonhigh 48 shots in a Dec. 17 win over the San Jose Sharks, and posted three shutouts in a four-game span from Dec. 27-Jan. 2. "It's a huge honour," Mason told NHL.com. "You look at some of the players who have won it in previous seasons, like (Chicago Blackhawks') Patrick Kane last HIGH-FLYING 'HAWK: Assad Bahrm of the W.H. Morden Seahawks (in black) goes up for a shot as Sir E. MacMillan Mustangs opponent Jordan Murray contests during Tuesday's Halton District School Board elementary boys' basketball championship game at Abbey Park High School. Bahrm scored 24 points to lead the Seahawks to their first basketball title in more than 40 years. LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER See Mason page 45 Historic win for W.H. Morden By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Outdoor Clinics and Evaluation Day This Weekend. Vist our website for ages/times and park directions On-Site Registration available from 9am - 12pm Equipment Available TEAM SPONSORS ARE NEEDED NOW CALL 905-825-5848 OR VISIT WWW.OGSA.MYSPORTSITE.COM FOR MORE INFO Register now online - go to www.ogsa.mysportsite.com BURLINGTON -- When Sue McBay coached the W.H. Morden Seahawks to the Halton East elementary boys' basketball title in 1967, she had every reason to believe she would see many more pennants decorating the walls of the school's gym in the years to come. The school was blessed with a great group of young athletes and Morden also earned Halton titles in volleyball, track and girls' basketball that year. Tuesday night, McBay watched with great pleasure as the Seahawks earned another boys' basketball pennant by defeating Burlington's Sir Ernest MacMillan Mustangs 54-41 in the Halton final at Abbey Park High School. "This is just fantastic. I'm very proud of them," said the now-retired teacher, 42 years after Morden's last basketball triumph. "This is a huge thing for the school. You can just see the school spirit building and you can see how excited everyone is -- the players, the teachers, the parents." Helping build that school spirit was a Morden graduate, Albert Shoihet. Like the players he coached, Morden's basketball drought was more than a quarter-century old before he was even born. The T.A. Blakelock student took on the task of coaching the Morden team, which included his brother Caleb, as a way of earning his community service hours for school. But it quickly became more than a way of fulfilling a graduation requirement. "It was a great experience," said the Seahawks' 16-year-old coach, "more than I could have asked for." Shoihet has had success in individual sports -- he is an Ontario champion in squash and is the third-ranked under-17 player in Canada -- but motivating a group of kids just three years younger than him was an entirely different challenge. He proved to be up to the task. "Our first winning streak got us excited. See Offensive page 43