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iüüii mwm □ F„i . V ,, 1 Sports December 14, 2005 ♦ durhemreglon.com Brian McNair Sawyer living a dream with the Gens Seven wins in 31 games inevitably produces a lot of bad news. But, amid all the woe surrounding the Oshawa Generals this season, there have been some feel-good stories as, well. ; Take Justin Sawyer for example. Who would have thought the Oshawa native would be playing his first full season in the Ontario Hockey League as a 20-year-old? Perhaps only Sawyer himself. ' Not only is he playing, but he's playing playing quite well, a valuable addition to a blue-line that has been decimated by injuries of late. ; "I basically went in with the attitude that I would work my hardest, try my best and whatever happens I'm happy to play any role on the team," Sawyer says. _ • ■ 1 : It's that attitude that got him here in the first place. • The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder was taken in the ninth round of the 2001 draft, but bounced around the Tier .2 ranks until last season, when'he finally got a sniff with the Generals, called up for 14 games. It was his willingness to suit up at the drop of a hat and play any position that caught thè eye of coach Randy Ladou- ceur. "He's always wanted to be a General," General," says Ladouceur. "He's one of those guys who you could call at any time and he'd pack his bags and be here. That's the reason he was invited back to training camp. So he's made the most of an opportunity." opportunity." After playing mostly up front with the Generals last season, Sawyer is back where he's accustomed to this season: on the back end. Knocked mostly for his skating, he had a tough time with the penalty crackdown early on this season. But he's adapted and has become a solid defensive defenceman, not to mention an intimidating physical presence for the Generals. "He's one of those guys who puts his arms out and his stick out and hê's got a pretty good wingspan to cover guys," says Ladouceur. "He just works really hard. When he goes into the corner on one-on- one situations, he generally comes out with the puck or at least takes the man out." Without injured D-men David Halasz and,Chris Mifflen, Sawyer even saw some time on the power play Sunday, but it didn't result in his first OHL goal. ■He has four assists in 30 games. À police foundations student at Dur- . ham College, Sawyer admits he hopes to continue playing hockey professionally professionally next year, but for now, he's just happy to be where he is. ;So, too, it would appear is Ladouceur. Ladouceur. "It was a very pleasant surprise when he came into training camp and played as well as he did," says the coach. "He's not Bobby Orr by any means, but when he puts his mind to it he gets the job done." Brian McNair's column appears every third Wednesday! E-mail bmcnair@durhamregion.com James Neal named OHL Player of the Week PLYMOUTH, Mich. - A former member of the Bowmanville Eagles has been named the Ontario Hockey League Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, Dec. 11. James Neal, an 18-year-old from Whitby, Whitby, won the hon- Airing it out Ron Pietroniro/Metroland Durham Region Media Group PICKERING - Kaitlyn Bosy from the Clarington Swim Club comes up for a breath of air during the 200m breastroke event at the Lisa Flood Christmas Classic hosted by the Pickering Swim Club. She was competing in the Girls 15 and Over division. our after scoring a goal and adding five assists for six points in two games with the Plymouth Whalers. Whalers. Neal scored a goal and two assists and was the first star in Plymouth's . 6-3 win over the Sarnia Sarnia Sting on Dec. 8 and then assisted on three goals in a 6-3 win over the Owen Sound Attack on Dec. 12. The second round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2005 has 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points in 30 games this season. After playing minor hockey in Whitby, Neal spent one season with the Eagles, helping the team win the Eastern.Conference Eastern.Conference championship in 2003-2004. James Neal into BY BRAD KELLY Sports Editor . BOWMANVILLE -- The Bowmanville Eagles have finally found somèbody to wear the number 35 jersey on a permanent basis. ; - ' . : • '• ' After rotating a number of different faces through the sweater reserved for a goal- tender, the Eagles have settled on Jesse Pischlar, who has spent the past two seasons seasons with the Sudbury Jr. Wolves of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. He was a 15th round pick of the Sudbury Wolves in 2004. The 17-year-old made his debut over the weekend in back-to-back games, getting getting tagged with a 5-4 loss to Kingston on home ice Sunday, but rebounding the following night in Cobourg, blanking the Cougars, who fired just 12 shots his way in a 6-0 victory. "He hasn't played a lot this year, but he Bowmanville 5 Trenton 0 Goaltender Bryan Scott stops 21 shots to report! his third shutout of the season. Kingston 5 > Bowmanville 4 Jesse Pischlar makes his debut in net, facing just 20 shots. Bowmanville 6 Cobourg 0 Pischlar gets his second straight start and faces 12 shots. ■ is very athletic and quick," is the scouting report Curtis Hodgins gave. "We wanted two goalies to push each other. Obviously Bryan Scott has earned the number one job, but Jesse is going to play and we will see what happens down the road." The Eagles have been without a permanent permanent goaltending tandem since releasing Mike Mate back on Nov. 8. During that lengthy stretch, the Eagles have dipped into the Clarington Toros minor system, as well as using their affiliation with the Jr. C Port Perry MoJacks to fill the backup goaltending goaltending void behind Scott, who has carried the workload and done an admirable job. Scott has a 17-2-3 record, supported by a miniscule 1.89 goals against average and a sparkling save percentage of .920. Pischlar wasn't overly busy" in either of his two starts, making 15 saves on 20 shots in the loss to Kingston. The Eagles were down 2-1 after the first period, but jumped ahead 3-2 after the second. Kingston Kingston scored twice in the final 3:57 to earn the win. The next night in Cobourg, the Eagles held a 42-12 edge in shots, scoring once in each of the first and third periods, while exploding for four in the middle frame. It was the second shutout over the weekend weekend for the Eagles, who blanked Trenton 5-0 Friday behind 21 saves by Scott. The. Eagles (26-5-3-0) travel to Port Hope (24-4 : 2-0) Friday, and host Peterborough Peterborough (19-li-l-l) Sunday at 1:30 p.m. :rs on the podium KITCHENER - Clarington Speed- skaters gave another strong showing at the second Ontario Cup in Kitchener- Waterloo, bringing back eight medals. Skating personal best times in three of her four distances, Jillian Coolidge placed first in Open A Ladies division to bring home a gold medal. Not to be outdone by his sister, Devin Coolidge received a silver medal for his second place in the Men's Open A division plus a gold medal for the Senior Men's Relay.- , Paul Stewart had an outstanding weekend-receiving two personal best times in four distances and placed- second in Men's Open B division to receive a silver medal. Stewart, was also part of the exciting Senior Men's Relay race earning a gold medal. A sil ver medal was earned by Rob Watson in the Junior Men's division with , two personal bests. Laura Crack placed first in the Junior Relay race adding to her medal collection. The Clarington skaters were all able to earn personal best times and raced hard to make for a very exciting weekend weekend of racing. Placings are as follows: Mariah Lindsay 10th Bantam Ladies, David Chandler 10th Bantam Men, Laura Crack 4th Midget Ladies, Ian Lindsay 16th Midget Men, Caroline Hood 12th Juvenile Ladies, Victoria Jacyshyn 5th Junior Ladies, Rob Watson Watson 2nd Junior Men, Eric Santoro 10th Junior Men, Paul Stewart 2nd Open B Men, Jillian Coolidge 1st Open A- Ladies, Devin Coolidge 2nd Open A Men. / r . Submitted photos Devin Coolidge from the Clarington Speedskating Club rounds the corner during a 1500m race at the Ontario Cup in Kitchener-Waterloo, while above, from left, Laura Crack, Rob Watson, Coolidge and Jillian Coolidge show the medals they won. WE > RE renovating to ÜH5F ,,,e %K l 4to5r AWA seme YOU BETTER FIVE STAR