Photo by Tim Bates / OJHL Images

Oakville had an impressive night on the 24th of September putting up a season high in goals with 6, as they steamrolled over the Caledon Admirals in a 6-2 thumping at the Mayfield Recreation Complex. Everyone was having a good night as only 4 Blades skaters were kept off the scoresheet with the other 14 recording at least one point in the contest. Not only was the offence putting on a great show, so was #31 Claudio Ardellini, playing in his first OJHL game of the season, recorded fantastic numbers in the evening, skating off the ice after 60 minutes with a .931% save percentage.

This game certainly got off to a quick start, as the first goal was recorded with only 1:21 gone in the period. A few unfortunate bounces led to Caledon striking first and early on a tap in from the crease. The Blades quickly began to look for a response, and they got one pretty quickly. There are some things you’ll hear all coaches say, never pass the puck in front of your own net or just get the puck on net being some of them. Josh Vagenas scored the first goal for the Blades by just getting the puck on net like he has surely been told several times throughout his hockey career. From between the hash marks and boards he managed to slip the puck by the goalie just over a minute after the first goal. 

Aidan Taylor came flying in a couple minutes later and cut across the middle of the ice for his shot, let it go, and it went in the net, or so we all thought. Refs ruled it no goal in a confusing turn of events. Although it shocked the Oakville faithful, unfortunately the no goal call was never overturned and the puck was dropped shortly after. Oakville really began to dominate after that point, and with only 4 minutes left, Cole McKenna makes a great defensive play at the opposing blue line, walked in, and ripped it clean above the goalie’s shoulder, giving the refs no option but to give the Blades the 2-1 lead this time.

The first period highlights didn’t stop there though. Andrew Brown was making his presence known on the offensive blue line throughout the first and he got rewarded for it. After getting the puck from the recent goal scorer McKenna he continues along the line, puts a quick skate fake on the defending player, takes a couple of strides to the side and fires a beautiful cross-body shot that beats the Admirals goalie clean glove side. That post and in beauty with a minute left finished off the period and the Blades were leading 3-1 after 20. 

The next period saw great efforts, but more so in the d-zone this time as Oakville went heavily penalized in that frame. It was a nerve wracking period for Ardellini who had to make several big saves in this period, including two right on the doorstep that he turned away with his pads. The Blades went on the PK several times that period, including a 4-on-3 powerplay for well over a minute. Of course Ardellini shone through as a bright spot managing to turn away any and all chances that Caledon tried to muster, but some of the best performances were from a defenceman.

Noah Patrick made massive contributions to the 4-on-3 kill. It started when  Brown had a great shot block that hit him in the hand, forcing him to go to the bench and bring in Noah Patrick. Patrick was what single handedly shut down the Admirals powerplay. He cut off lanes, multiple passes and blocked several shots, it was really a penalty kill masterclass.

Not long after that, in what was seemingly an unsuspecting play, we saw Aidan Russell cruise through the neutral zone, gain the blue line and absolutely just rip the puck into the net. He scored a nice power play goal, the only one on either side, out of 15 total power plays. That goal ends up being the only one of the period and Oakville heads to the room with a 4-1 advantage.

In the last 20 minutes Patrick was also noticeable tallying a goal to go with his second period efforts. Caledon did end up scoring afterwards but Vagenas blasted one past the Caledon netminder to seal the deal and give us our final score of 6-2. On top of that, Vagenas also recorded an assist making that a 3 point effort for him. Wells (2A) and McKenna (1G, 1A) also put multi-point efforts in the books. Overall, a very successful evening in Caledon for Oakville as they now look towards their game on Friday, September 30th in Markham.

For a full boxscore visit: http://oakvilleblades_ojhl.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3602489

By Ty Brooks