The 50th season for the Oakville Blades couldn't have started much better, with Oakville taking a 5-2 victory over the Georgetown Raiders to kick off the 2016-2017 campaign at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
After a great pre-game ceremony to get the festivities started, the Blades wasted no time finding the back of the net. One of the top young stars in the OJHL, Bryce Misley, took advantage of a fanned opportunity by a Georgetown defender before roofing it past goaltender Josh Astorino on the power play, giving Oakville the 1-0 lead after just 4:55 of play.
With about six minutes left in the opening period, Oakville found the back of the net again. This time, veteran Ryan Foss bounced the puck off the boards in an intended pass to Misley, but Foss himself was able to retrieve it. He then went on an all alone breakaway while shorthanded before sending the snapshot past Astorino for the 2-0 lead.
Brendan McGlynn's shutout would come to an end shortly after. Josh Dickinson would make his mark in the game, sending it past the Blades netminder to bring Georgetown within one with five minutes still left in the opening frame.
It took two and a half minutes in the second for Georgetown to tie things up at two apiece. Austin Cho would get credit for the goal, finding the loose puck off of a rebound from former Blade Zack Dybowski, firing it from a tough angle to beat McGlynn and knot the game up at two.
Oakville wanted the lead back, and two familiar names found a way to put pucks back in Georgetown's net. First, Misley took a shot from in tight, a wrister that Astorino had no chance of stopping at the 9:12 mark of the second. Then, two minutes later, Foss had an open lane in the middle of the ice, sending one of the fastest wrist shots you'll ever see in the back of the net for the 4-2 lead.
With just over a minute left, Georgetown pulled their goalie in an attempt to bring themselves closer into the game. That wasn't the case, as Misley capped off a tremendous opening game with an empty net goal, tipping in a pass from Foss for his goal of the game, finishing off the 5-2 victory on Friday.
The Blades will have the rest of the weekend off before traveling to Toronto to take on the Jr. Canadiens on Wednesday night. The next Blades home game is on September 23rd when Oakville welcomes the Mississauga Chargers. Hope to see you there!