Photo by Ray MacAloney / OJHL Images

This weekend and the start to the week was tough for Oakville as every game they played teams that were 1st, 2nd and 4th in their respective conferences. On top of that, two of the teams, Milton and Jr. Canadiens, were ranked 8th and 10th respectively in the CJHL rankings. The Blades unfortunately couldn’t find what they were looking for and came out of the weekend stretch with an 0-3 record. Despite all that, they didn’t give up, they fought to the last whistle and didn’t back down physically.

September 30th, Markham Royals

The Oakville Blades travelled to Markham to face the Royals on the 30th of September in what would turn out to be a hard fought battle between the two sides. Ultimately, the Blades fell 4-2 and were outshot 34-26. It was definitely a match for the goaltenders as both recorded great save percentages and had game changing saves. In particular, the Blades goaltender, McCarthy, who stopped over 20 high danger shot attempts, was very good.

We played a while before we got our first taste of goal scoring in this game. We thought we were going to have an earlier goal from Oakville but it was disallowed due to a high stick. Eventually, eleven minutes in we saw our first of two powerplay goals from Oakville on the evening. McKenna went into the corner for a puck battle and it squeaked out to Russell who slipped a nice pass to Taylor in the bumper spot for a clean one timer goal short side. Thanks to that goal, Oakville got the early lead until seven minutes later when Markham struck back on a 2-on-1.

Just 5 minutes into the second period Markham scored again and Oakville was now looking to tie the game up. Shortly after that goal, the Blades went on the powerplay due to a Markham boarding penalty. Despite the man advantage, no goals were scored. It was later in the frame when the Blades went onto the power play again that the game tying goal was scored. Crisp, who is playing wing now, rather than defence, worked the half wall nicely. Upon receiving the puck above the circle from Brown, #22 skated closer to the net until he was at the dot and just lasered it under the glove of the goalie. What’s just as energising on that play was the electric celly from Crisp. 

Unfortunately, not even the great celly could push the Blades enough to get the next goal. Markham would get it halfway through the third and make the game a 3-2 contest much to the dismay of Oakville. Even with several great chances when they brought out the extra man after pulling the goalie at the end of the game, they couldn’t quite muster a goal and the Royals would get the insurance marker with only 6 seconds left. With a couple games coming up in the near future, hopefully the Blades can change back into their winning ways. Full boxscore here:http://oakvilleblades_ojhl.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3602766

October 1st, Milton Menace

The Blades played their only home game of the 3 from this weekend at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The #8 team on the CJHL’s rankings came into Oakville and left with a 7-2 victory in what was easily the most penalty heavy game of the season for either side. The two teams had a whopping combined 97 penalty minutes including 3 game misconducts and a fight. 

Crisp started the game off strong with an early powerplay goal assisted by his two linemates in Wang and Johnston giving the Blades the initial lead at home. The mood was however spoiled not long after as a Menace player got a checking from behind major as well as a game misconduct for illegally hitting Jake Alcaraz who left not long after and didn’t return. The Blades were unable to score on that power play and ended up letting in 2 goals before the period could come to a close.

Clearly frustrated from the illegal hit and losing the lead, there was quite the increase in penalties from Oakville in the second frame. Luke Johnston had a wrestling match with a Menace defenceman (likely just trying to spark his team)  that kicked off the majority of the penalties in the period. Unfortunately, Oakville got too many penalties in the period and that, in turn, resulted in another Milton goal in what was the lowest scoring period of the game. We headed to the second intermission with the Blades down 3-1.

The last period was a goal fest fueled by penalties left, center and right. Three goals in the first 6 minutes from Milton immediately took the game out of reach of the home team. The score was now 6-1 with about two thirds of a period to go. That didn’t stop the players from competing though, both sides recorded penalty after penalty including another illegal check from Milton this time to Oakville’s lone goal scorer, Jacob Crisp, who seemed fine afterwards. With just over 2 minutes left in the game, the Blades managed to connect once again on the powerplay. Crisp and Brown fed McKenna for the late goal that put the game at its final form which was 7-2 Menace win. Looking for a bounce at Scotiabank Pond as they play the Junior Canadiens on Monday. Full boxscore here: http://oakvilleblades_ojhl.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3602556

Oct. 3rd, Toronto Junior Canadiens

Not many easy ways to sugar coat an 11-1 loss. The Blades were out shot, out chanced, out skated, out checked, were more penalised and poor in the faceoff dot. The one bright spot is that Lachlan Wells managed to get his well earned first goal of the season created from a good forecheck and a nice pass from Gleb Akimov. The Blades managed to strike first, but then had 11 go unanswered against them. 

Shots flew into Ardellini a total of 47 times in this game, a testament to some of the defensive breakdowns that occurred in this 60 minutes of play. Although Ardellini certainly tried his best and made a couple of monster saves throughout the game, the shots just kept coming and it was too much to handle. 

Let this serve as motivation to the Oakville Blades. If they want to compete with the big time teams (Jr. Canadiens are #10 on CJHL rankings for 2022-2023 season, 3rd in the OJHL) they are going to have to make some adjustments in their game. Luckily for Oakville, they don’t have any other matchups with the Junior Canadiens this season (minus a possible playoff meeting) and can harness some growth before having to play the Jr. Canadiens again. Full boxscore here: http://oakvilleblades_ojhl.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3602293

Conclusion

Although the Blades didn’t get the results that they hoped for when they prepared for these 3 games, they must move on and look for a victory in their return home next Friday the 7th of October to play the Cobourg Cougars. It will be a tough matchup as Cobourg sits 3rd in their conference with a 7-2 record, but if the Blades stick to their game and use their speed and remain physical they will have a good chance to win.

Make to our 2 home games this weekend when we collect coats in support of the joint project of Saint Dominic Church, Church of the Epiphany and Walton Memorial United Church's 9th Annual Coat Drive. On Friday you will receive a raffle ticket for each coat donated for a chance to win an Auston Matthews autographed jersey and on Saturday each raffle ticket goes in for a chance to win an autographed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. jersey. Help us keep Oakville warm this winter!

By Ty Brooks