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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, June 17, 2016 | 26 Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Hoisting Cup `incomparable' feeling Oakville's Scott Wilson celebrating Stanley Cup title with his Penguins teammates By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff As Sidney Crosby hoisted the Stanley Cup and carried it toward his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates, Scott Wilson got chills. It had been barely two years since he decided to forgo his senior season at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell to turn pro. Wilson had already had his share of highlights this season. He was leading the American Hockey League in goals at the time of his recall in December. On Feb. 18 he scored his first NHL goal against Detroit, and then scored again in the Pens' next two games. By mid-March, he had established himself as a regular in the Pittsburgh lineup, playing in 20 straight games and earning himself a two-year contract extension. He played a career-high 16 minutes against the New York Islanders, but three nights later against Columbus he broke a bone in his ankle as he raced to prevent an icing call. It required surgery and ended his season. Any disappointment that injury brought was washed away Sunday night on the ice of the SAP Center in San Jose. With 10 minutes remaining and with his team leading 2-1, he and seven other Pens gathered in the training room to watch the game and began exchanging glances. Without saying anything, they decided it was time and made their way to the dressing room to put on their equipment. Soon after, Patrik Hornqvist's empty-net goal sealed the victory. When the final buzzer sounded they rushed on to the ice to celebrate. After the presentation of the Cup, Wilson patiently waited for his turn to Oakville's Scott Wilson (middle) and his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, Steven Oleksy and Matt Murray celebrate with the Stanley Cup on the flight home from San Jose following the clinching victory on Monday.|photo submitted do what every hockey player dreams of doing. He had seen the Cup a couple of times at the Hockey Hall of Fame, but Sunday he got a much closer look at it. When Kevin Porter handed the Cup to Wilson, he thrust it above his head. "Everyone talks about how heavy it is -- it's 35 pounds," the 24-year-old said. "But when you lift it, it feels like a feather." Oakville Blue Devils put a difficult week behind them and beat Pro Stars FC 2-0 in League1 Ontario soccer play last weekend. Regulars Felipe Vilela and Eric Crawford scored in the ninth and 44th minutes of play, respectively, to account for the goals. It could have been that Wilson was skating on a cloud. He was happy to be skating at all. He had resumed on-ice workouts ahead of schedule a week earlier. Though he got himself up to 75 per cent, he knew a return to action before the end of the playoffs was a long shot. As the Penguins moved closer to the Cup, Wilson thought less about being on the ice, and more about what the team was about to Goalkeeper Karman Saini recorded the shutout. "I was a bit disappointed with the second half, actually," Duncan Wilde, the Oakville coach, said. "I thought we should have gone on and scored more." Oakville's difficult week includ- achieve. "I would have loved to be playing in the playoffs," he said. "It's tough to watch, but it's tougher if the team is struggling. You want to be out there. It's the hardest thing I've had to do in my hockey career but I'm proud of what the guys accomplished. You really appreciate how hard it is to win." Six months ago it seemed impossible. The Penguins were struged some behavioural issues. "We had some internal discipline problems so had to change the team around a bit, which led to some confusion, but we finished on a high with three points and feel good about how we went about it," said Wilde. gling, barely looking like a playoff team, much less a Stanley Cup contender. Coach Mike Johnston was fired in December and replaced by Mike Sullivan, the coach of Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate. Over the next few weeks, Sullivan summoned many of the players he had counted on in WilkesBarre. Though brought up as injury replacements, they refused to give up their spots in the lineup. Wilson, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl and Matt Murray became valuable support players who became fixtures in the lineup as the Pens' fortunes turned around. "It's pretty crazy," Wilson said. "I played against Sheary and Rust in college and then a couple of years later we're lifting the Stanley Cup together. It's pretty special how close we were in Wilkes-Barre. For the five of us to work our way up and be able to pitch in was incredible." Wednesday, Wilson and the Penguins took the Cup through the streets of Pittsburgh as they celebrated with a parade. The team has accepted an invitation to the U.S. Open golf tournament at nearby Oakmont and then Wilson will return home for a rest before resuming summer workouts for a season that will arrive much sooner than usual. But he'll gladly welcome a visitor this summer. Wilson plans on spending his day with the Cup in Oakville, maybe playing a round of golf with his dad and having some photo opportunities to share the excitement with some local minor hockey players. And chances are, he'll lift the big, old trophy over his head a couple more times. "I've been fortunate to raise a few trophies in my hockey career," he said. "That one is incomparable." The Blue Devils are now 2-3-2 for eight points, good for fourth place in the Men's West Division standings. Oakville travels to L'Amoreaux, Scarborough tomorrow (Saturday) to take on Master's FA Saints in a 9 p.m. game. Blue Devils blank Pro Stars 2-0 in League1 soccer