The largest regular season game in Oakville Blades history saw the team defeat one of Canada’s strongest teams, the Trenton Golden Hawks, by a score of 2-1 on Monday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
With free attendance at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, a record-setting 1486 people showed up to show support for Oakville. The pre-game saw Ryan Foss, Chris-Brill Morgan, Daniel Jelic, Jackson Bales, Sal Filice, Brendan McGlynn, Tyler Hildebrandt and Christian Rajic all honoured for their time with the Blades prior to puck drop, a ceremony that saw tears flowing from some of the parent’s faces.
It took just 36 seconds for the Blades to hit the back of the net first. With the largest crowd ever to see a Blades regular season game, Foss took a pass from Rajic in front of the net and one-timed it past Golden Hawks goalie Chris Janzen, scoring on the very first shot of the game.
The hosts of the upcoming Dudley Hewitt tournament, Trenton, would tie the game up at one apiece at 15:43. Dawson Baker led the charge by rushing into the Oakville zone and shooting the puck just past the blue line, beating Brendan McGlynn just through the pads to make it 1-1 before the end of the first period.
The Golden Hawks, on paper, looked to be the better team, but a late third period charge saw the Blades take the lead. Playing with the extra man at 8:03 in the third, Foss fed Hildebrandt in front of the net, who scored an identical goal to Foss’ earlier in the game to give the Blades the important 2-1 victory.
Oakville has just two more home games left before the playoffs, with a 7:30 PM match up against the Milton Icehawks set to take place on Friday evening. Then, the following day, the Blades will meet up with the Markham Royals to finish off the regular season, another 7:30 PM start. Hope to see you there!