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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 29 | Friday, December 5, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" A suit-able debut Hard-working Scott Wilson showed up for first NHL game in stained sweats by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff Scott Wilson had finally made it. He had overcome the odds with years of hard work. Tuesday evening he walked into the Consol Energy Center about to live out his dream. "Nice suit," he heard from his new teammates as he walked into the Pittsburgh Penguins dressing room. Wilson, dressed in sweatpants and a mustard-stained sweatshirt, may not have looked the part when he arrived, but a couple of hours later, after pulling on his No. 43 Penguins sweater, he looked every bit an NHL player. Earlier that day, Wilson was skating at practice with his Wilkes-Barre Scranton teammates when coach John Hynes went to the bench to take a phone call. He summoned Wilson over, and told him to get changed. There would be a car and driver waiting for him. There was no time to stop at home, so Wilson left for Pittsburgh with his equipment and the clothes on his back. During the four and a half hour drive to Pittsburgh, he began sending texts and making phone calls. Back home in Oakville, his mom Cathy was working and wasn't able to take calls. When she was finally able to check messages, her daughter Kendyl, attending Acadia University, called. "Have you talked to Scott?" she said. "No, is he all right?" Cathy asked. "He got called up," Kendyl told her. Cathy, sitting with 14 of her co-workers, let out a scream. His dad Steve was in Houston on a training program for work that had originally been scheduled for September. When it was moved to December, he said, "That will be when Scott gets called up." Tyler Shiplo, Wilson's teammate throughout their Oakville Ranger days from the time they were six, had a Tuesday off for the first time in his four years with the Mercyhurst University Lakers. He immediately started making his way from Erie, Pa.,to Pittsburgh. Steve Wilson would not be able to make it. But upon hearing the news, Cathy Wilson left work, jumped in the car and after picking up Steve's friend, Eric Chaisson, began the drive to Pittsburgh. As they were battling Pittsburgh traffic, Wilson was preparing for his first game. Following some good-natured kidding about his attire, Wilson's soon-to-be linemate Brandon Sutter told Wilson he would be the first Pen on the ice, and judging by the laughter that followed, he knew what was coming. When Wilson stepped on the ice, his teammates held back as he circled the ice alone. "It was a cool experience," he said. Cathy Wilson missed her son's first lap of an NHL rink but arrived 11 minutes before the puck dropped, in time to see her son take his first shift. "It was pretty amazing. It's so cool to see your kid's dream come true," she said, her voice cracking. "He's worked hard for everything." Playing alongside Sutter and Steve Downie on the third line, Wilson took six shifts in the first period. On his first shift of the second period, while checking New Jersey defenceman Marek Zidlicky, Wilson's leg whipped around and hit the boards. He finished the shift but back on the bench, he could tell some- Oakville resident Scott Wilson made his National Hockey League debut Tuesday with the Pittsburgh Penguins. | photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Penguins thing was wrong. After being assessed by the trainer, Wilson actually helped him, though. realized his night was over. "I think being a later-round guy was a blessing," he said. But even the injury couldn't dampen the thrill of playing in "You don't have as much pressure. A first-round guy, you have his first NHL game. so many expectations." "My first shift, I couldn't believe where I was," he said. "It It gave him three years at U-Mass Lowell to develop his hadn't really sunk in yet." game. He earned Hockey East rookie of the The kid who slept with a hockey stick was year honours and helped the Riverhawks in the NHL. reach the Frozen Four for the first time in 2013. Wilson said the coaching staff put Third-last pick in 2011 NHL Entry Draft him in every situation and gave him the best That Wilson arrived in the NHL not lookchance to succeed. ing quite as polished as his teammates was Still, he felt his game was better suited to fitting. After all, on the day he was drafted he the pro style. In this, his first season in the wasn't sitting in the stands wearing a suit; he American Hockey League with Wilkes-Barre, was working his summer job planting shrubs Wilson had 12 points in 21 games, seven of at a nursery. those in the eight games before his recall. Wilson had already been overlooked once And while his injury may be a temporary in his first year of eligibility. He was not a cersetback, Wilson has overcome much bigger tainty to be picked his second time around. hurdles on his way to the NHL. But the Penguins selected him with the third"I think the main focus is to regroup here Scott Wilson last pick of the 2011 draft. Professional hockey player as fast as I can," he said. "To get some more Making it as a seventh-round pick is no games in before the end of the year would be guarantee. (Wilson is only the 17th of the a huge confidence thing for me." 120 players drafted after the third round in 2011 to play in the And when that time comes, he'll look the part on and off NHL). Each year, another crop of draft picks join the organization looking to bump you down the depth chart. Wilson said it the ice. I think being a later-round guy was a blessing. You don't have as much pressure. Goalie earns weekly ECHL award Oakville's Trevor Cann backstopped the Brampton Beast to back-to-back wins to earn ECHL goalie-of-the-week honours. Cann made 32 saves in a 4-3 win over the Rapid City Rush last Wednesday. Two days later, he stopped all 41 shots he faced for his first shutout with the first-year ECHL team. The 25-year-old had four shutouts last season with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. A second-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2007, Cann has a 4-3-1 record, 3.94 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 10 games. | photo courtesy of Brampton Beast