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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, October 10, 2014 | 24 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports T H I N K P I N K "Connected to your Community" Oakville native Stuart Percy (left) carries the puck during a recent exhibition game against the Buffalo Sabres. Percy made his NHL regular-season debut Wednesday with the Toronto Maple Leafs. | photo by Tara Walton -- Toronto Star Iroquois Ridge quarterback Adam Power (with ball) surveys the field while teammate Justin Polgar (foreground) runs a route and Grant Vassos (13) blocks a White Oaks Wildcats opponent during yesterday's Halton high school senior football game at Ridge. The contest was the Trailblazers' annual pink football game in support of breast cancer awareness. Ridge rose to the occasion, blanking the Wildcats 25-0 in front of a large crowd. For a photo gallery of the game, visit bit.ly/1o1MwDi. | photo by Eric Riehl -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Percy earns respect of Leafs coach, teammates in debut Wednesday night was an emotional roller coaster ride for Toronto Maple Leafs fans, but even more so for Leafs rookie defenceman Stuart Percy. The Oakville native recorded his first NHL point in his first NHL game, assisting on Tyler Bozak's goal late in the first period to give the Leafs a 2-1 lead, and drew flattery from broadcasters and analysts throughout the evening. Unfortunately, the moment Percy might remember most from his NHL debut is when, with the game tied in the final minute, the puck deflected off his skate and into the Toronto net for the game-deciding goal in Toronto's 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. "It's tough letting the guys down," Percy told reporters afterward. "It's tough to start with a loss." Of course, the fact that Leafs coach Randy Carlyle -- not exactly known for coddling young players -- put Percy on the ice in the final minute of the game is an indication of how well Percy played throughout the contest. Carlyle also sent Percy back out on the ice for the final 43 seconds as the Leafs tried to score the equalizer, and gave the former Abbey Park High school student more than 20 minutes of ice time overall. "I thought he had a heck of a hockey game and moved the puck effectively," Carlyle said during his post-game press conference. "He's very, very calm with the puck. The pace of the game was a lot different than what he saw in exhibition." Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf was also impressed with what he saw from Percy Wednesday. "He plays well above his age, the way he moves the puck out of our zone, the patience that he has. He's a really good player for a young guy coming into the league," Phaneuf told reporters. Percy, Toronto's first-round selection in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, scored four goals and added 21 assists in 71 games last year as a rookie with the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies. He spent the previous four seasons with the Ontario Hockey League's Mississauga Steelheads, captaining the club in the 2012-13 campaign. Percy could be back in the Leafs' lineup again Saturday, though injured Toronto defenceman Cody Franson might return for the home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. -- Jon Kuiperij, with files from Torstar News Service Mountain biker repeats as Ontario champion by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff As the race leader passed Kaitlyn Shikaze for the second time, she offered the 13-year-old some encouraging words. "You're doing a good job," she told her. "Keep trying." Shikaze hasn't spend much time following -- or being lapped by -- the leader this season. A week before entering the Epic 8 Hour Relay with her dad Jeff, she won her second straight provincial Ontario Cup mountain bike championship, claiming the under-15 division at Horseshoe Valley in Barrie. But Shikaze couldn't feel too bad about being left behind in the relay. The rider passing Shikaze was Olympic mountain biker and Commonwealth Games medallist Emily Batty. And while Batty and her coach Adam Morka comfortably took first place, Shikaze and her dad topped 14 other mixed teams to finish second and share the podium with the Canadian Olympian. said. If that's as bad as it gets, Shikaze will be even tougher to beat with another year remaining in the under-15 division. Shikaze said she trained a lot harder after winning the Ontario Cup title last year and has been concentrating on refining the technical aspects of mountain biking. "I think I've improved a lot," Shikaze said. "I'm going faster through the single tracks and my dad has been teaching me about line choices." And after being passed by Batty, Shikaze got a good look at the path she'd like to follow. -- Photo submitted "It was cool to stand on the podium with her," said Shikaze, a Grade 8 Sunningdale Public School student. "She's a great rider." Shikaze isn't so bad herself. She won six of the seven races that made up the Ontario Cup circuit this season, taking the overall title after being edged by two points in the season standings last year. The only race she didn't win was the national championship, where she finished fourth overall in her division and second among Ontario riders. "I didn't have a very good race," she