Chdstofôou dominates. at Mohawk,à finishes -as 2014's top dÉrie UChris Christoforou spent much of the 2014 M ohawk He finishes 22 wins ahead of his nearest rivais, Randy He was p#resenti with the top dniver ssgn and campaign in victory lane - and wasn't about ta stop Waples and James MacDonald. Movado watch follwing the evening's second race for the season finale. Approaching 6,000 career victories and $100 In earn- Among Ns biggest wlfls of the year was Saturdays The Campbellvilie driver picked up.two more wins ings, Christoforou finished the muet as the top-earning tario Sires Stakes Super Final for two-year-old pac C"j Monday for a total of il1 - whlch handily gave hlm ta reinsman with more than $3 million bank during the colts with Reverend Hanover, who stayed unbeaten CIuIsfmo ou top driver titie for the year. five-month season. the year with a convincing 1:52.1 victory. Sport his )n-. ing o on - r', o ~»1sidehaIton.com ~ O z B'g ik'ges tgsls i bdfor hockey -return Former west-coast junior deflencemnan cornes through with donalion of size 15 skates B3y Steve lanc CANADIAN CHAMPION STAFF Durln ýçchat i geography class, Mi- î@% hearty laugh upon re- ~ab h of had ta gQ ta the U.S. ta flb4~~rNs s4 1 5 fret. guï for Milton District High School teacher Sandra Miller, the conversation quickly lost its light-huartedi tone. 'l asked hlm what he did for skates and he said 'I don'tw, recalled Miller, refurring ta the fact that Gencel had searched high and low for skates his size but was simply înformed nonie were avaN i stock and that a cus- tom job wouldi~~ aû ewfopping $ 1,500. I hated the kIda tNecouîdn't play hockey becausef tisf~ it okyacul 'l wanted ta gut baràit hcekacul of years ago, but 1 had a good sense l'd have trouble finding skates" admitted Gencel, who after competing in the hause-league ranks for a few years had stopped playing at about il or 12, but hopéd ta get back intothe game ta be part of his high school Mustangs.*When 1 walked Into the (sporting goods) store and they braught out the measuring thing, they were like 'I don't know If we can do anything for you 'It was frustratingw Eager ta rectify this, Miller sent out a late- night Tweet ta the NHL, NHLPA, Sauce Hock- ey and Maple Leafs about Gencel's dilemma - simply hoping ta gathur some information and get the search wheels rolling. Sa much for modest expuctatians. "Early the next mornlng my husband said "<our phone's been ga4ng off like crazy... ping, ping, ping" Among those messages - coming in within a couple of hours - was one from Vancou- ver-area commercial broker and investor Cal- laghan O'Connor, a former junior defence- man wha had some much weicomed news. '@sandyleighl 4 @SauceHockey @NHL @ NHLPA @MapleLeafs N'e got a pair. Where you need them sent ta?" Tweeted O'Connor. His immediate responseêwas one of three of- fers that came in, setting off a mini-viral ex- change of support for aIl concerned on Twit- ter that weekend. It also had Miller frantically - but gratefully - sending out instructions ta O'Connor and trying ta reach Gencel while she was at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport about ta head out on vacation. Friends of Gencel's mom actually heard about the offer on Twitter before he diri, and within two weeks the 6-foot-6, 240-pou nder had his new skates - a perfect fit. Plus a surprising bonus. "Caliaghan is actually friermds with (NHLer) Paul Bissonnette, sa he sent me a pair of his Phoenix Coyotes g loves as well,' said Gencel, who as the tallest student at MD is affectionately known as'Big Mike. «They're actualiy a bit small, .50 l'Il probably find another pair. This (skates donation) was SO great. It was such a relief because for so long I i was told theres nothing you can do.' Miller echoed those senti- ments. «lt was awesome how in the blink of an eye this happened. This type of thing says a lot about the hockey commu- nity.' Now Gencells only obstacle ta high school hockey com- petition thîs faîl is actually making the cut. «I feel good (about tryouts):' said the towering winger, whoil also bu playing house- league midget hockey this season. 'l hadn't skated for about five years, but when 1 first got back out there it probably only took 20 minutes for it (skating) ta came back ta me:' Steve LeBlanc can be reached at sleblanc@mîi- toncanadianchampion.comn or on Twitter @ MittonOnSports. THANK YOU FOR %ýOUR SUPPORT AT DUR HOME OPENER WEEKENDI VOUR MILTON BATTLE ARTS COBRAS CURRCNTLY BIT IN ZND PLACE IN THE SOUTH- DIVISION ANO 3RD OVER-ALL IN THE OIHL wiTH A RECORD OF 3-1! PLEABE visiT DuR WEZSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION DUR NEXTr HOME sAME la FRIDAY, OCTOBiER 27, 2014 @1 2 PM,ý MILTON. RATTLE ARTS COBRAS ARE PROUDLY OWNED UV 1~M~.ML.TNSATLEARTSCO BRAS . CO M- JOHN TONELLI SPORTS CENTRE. 2 17 LAURIER AVE. MILTON. 905-B75-5393