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Sports 24 SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2011 Laughton's draft year off to a golden start By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The most important season of Scott Laughtons hockey career hasnt even really started yet and already he has captured a gold medal for his coun- try and the eye of NHL executives. Laughton scored the winning goal Saturday in Canadas 4-1 victory over Sweden in the gold medal game at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in the Czech Republic. Theres no words to describe it. Its an unbe- lieveable feeling to be standing there on the blue- line with your 21 teammates and receive that gold medal, said the 17 year old, who is eligible for next Junes NHL draft. Theres nothing like it. With the game tied at one late in the second, Laughton tried to send a pass into the slot but it hit a skate and came back to him at the side of the net. He jammed it into net past Swedish goalie Oscar Danish. I kind of got lucky, Laughton said. It was a garbage goal but those are the goals you need to win. Laughtons goal, his second of the tournament, would hold up and teammates Brendan Gaunce and Charles Hudon added insurance goals in the third to seal the win. The victory celebration at the buzzer was a long way from five days earlier when Sweden handed Canada a 5-1 drubbing in the opening game of the tournament. Laughton called the loss a big wakeup call. He said while players struggled to play as a unit and adapt to coach Steve Spotts system of play early on, the loss brought them together. Canada went on to win its next three games by a combined score of 17-1, including a 5-0 win over Russia in the semis in which Laughton set up Thomas Wilson for the games first goal. That set the stage for a rematch with Sweden in the final. Any time you play for a gold medal, nerves are going to play a part, Laughton said, but I think everyone wanted a crack at them again. With its win over Sweden, Canada earned its fourth straight gold medal at the tournament, the only one in which countries have all their best under-18 players available to play. Laughton had little time to savour his gold medal. He flew home Sunday and after a day of rest, he was back on the ice as part of the NHLs research and development camp in Mississauga. The NHL invites the top draft eligible players to play games and test rules it is considering insti- tuting or wants to study further. While its not an official scouting event, players can still make an impression with many NHL general managers and team officials watching. Laughton said that is still in the back of his mind, but he is trying to focus on playing his game and leaving the decisions to the team executives. Laughton said it has been great being involved in the camp, which is being run by former NHL star Brendan Shanahan. Among the experiments the Oshawa Generals pivot has found most inter- esting is one in which the centre is not kicked out of the faceoff circle, but instead is forced to back up. You get to stay in but you lose leverage on the draw, he said. Once the Ontario Hockey League season begins, Laughton will be looking to gain all the leverage he can in the eyes of the scouts. GOLDEN START: Oakville's Scott Laughton scored the winning goal as Canada beat Sweden 4-1 for the gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in the Czech Republic. The Oshawa Generals centre, who is eligible for June's NHL draft, is participating in the league's research and development camp this week in Mississauga. OHL IMAGES Hinchcliffe finishes fourth, closes gap in top rookie race James Hinchcliffe matched his career-best IndyCar finish and made significant gains in the series rookie-of-the-year race. Hinchcliffe finished fourth at the MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 in New Hampshire on Sunday. That matched his fourth-place finish at Long Beach earlier this season. It was not a bad afternoon really, Hinchcliffe said. Its a great result for the team. Hinchcliffe earned his best starting posi- tion of the season, beginning the race in the second row after qualifying fourth. A week after leading a race for the first time, Hinchcliffe ran as high as second in New Hampshire. However, troubles on his first pit stop allowed a few cars to pass him. On that first pit stop I went a bit long in the box and then we had a problem with the right rear so it was a bit delayed and we lost some spots on track. A long caution due to rain midway through the race brought the field back together and Hinchcliffe was able to move up to fourth. Our last stop went pretty well and we managed to hold on to fourth place with, again, a good gap up to third and back to fifth, he said. We were running a good pace but I dont think we were the fastest car by ourselves but we were really good in traf- fic and on a short track like this thats the name of the game. Rain again brought out a caution flag. After an attempted restart resulted in an accident that involved several cars, the race was called. Hinchcliffe earned 32 points in the driver standings, moving up one spot to 16th overall. In the rookie-of-the-year race, he gained 20 points on leader J.R. Hildebrand, cutting his lead to 17. The series resumes Aug. 28 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. James Hinchcliffe Blades open exhibition season Sunday The Oakville Blades will host their first exhibition game Sunday as they prepare for the Ontario Junior Hockey League season. The Blades will play the North York Rangers Sunday, Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Tickets are $5. The Blades will open the regular season Sept. 13 in Buffalo. Oakville's home opener will be Friday, Sept. 16 against the Georgetown Raiders.