This weekend's games for the Oakville Blades were more about pride than actual points in the standings.
With the Blades securing a playoff spot on Tuesday and guaranteeing a first-round best of three series against the Burlington Cougars, Coach Ross Sloan decided to rest his key players, calling up some younger players to look at what players may be on the team next season.
April 1st, 2022. Aurora Tigers Vs Oakville Blades
Many Blades starters were resting, such as Zach Wigle, Mason Zibeski and Adam Tucci. It was time for new AP callups to show the coaching staff what next year's Blades might look like.
Though the idea was there, the execution was far from what the team anticipated as the Blades were outworked, outclassed and outplayed on home ice and lost to Aurora by an enormous margin of 10-0.
The Goals went as follows:
Justin Biraben assisted by Luc Reeve
Tyson Doucette assisted by Blake Frost and Hollander Thompson
Lee Chiang assisted by Lucas Stanojevic
Hollander Thompson assisted by Luc Reeve and Justin Biraben
Blake Frost assisted by Ethan McFarland and Jett McCullum
Luc Reeve assisted by Blake Frost and Jett McCullum
Blake Frost unassisted
Hollander Thompson assisted by Blake Frost
Hollander Thompson assisted by Blake Frost and Tyson Doucette
Blake Frost assisted by Hollander Thompson, Sett Ursomarzo
The loss was a big wake-up call for the Blades.
The most concerning part of the game was that the Blades starting goalie Cole DeFazio let in seven goals in his two periods of action.
The team had a chance at redemption the next day at home against Milton Menace, looking for a better result.
April 2nd, 2022. Milton Menace Vs Oakville Blades
Saturday’s game was very special for the Blades, specifically their over aging players that will be graduating after this year and pursuing different ventures in hockey.
With it also being the Blades' last regular-season home game of the year, the Blades honoured their graduating players, their families, and their billet families before the game in a touching ceremony.
Those Players included:
- Cole Weinger
- Adam Tucci
- Lucas Smith
- Cole DeFazio
- Evan Pringle
- Brenden Bowie
This year, the Menace and the Blades have had some great games, with Milton having the edge in the win collum.
With this being the final game before the playoffs and against a team in the division, Ross Sloan dressed most of his starters to get a more realistic look at his playoff roster.
Milton opened up the scoring in the first period after an unfortunate bounce ended up on Jordan Stock’s stick. He set up Andrew Horsely in the slot for the easy tap-in, giving the Menace a 1-0 lead that they would take into the first intermission.
The second period was really when the rivalry started to get nasty.
With about 11 minutes left, Blades defenseman Owen Wilson hit Menace captain Jordan Stock from behind. Refs immediately called a penalty.
After Wilson hit Stock, Menace forward Holden Rogers went over to Wilson and speared him, giving Rogers a penalty.
After the dust settled, Wilson was given a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct. Rogers was given a 4-minute penalty for spearing.
As of right now, no word has been given on whether or not Wilson will be suspended but based on past suspensions of similar hits, he will likely get at least a one-game suspension.
With both teams playing four on four hockey for four minutes, the ice opened up, providing a prime opportunity for a team to score.
The Blades did just that when Mason Zebeski stripped Jordan Stock of the puck in front of the Milton net. Zebeski put a backhander on goal that squeaked through the Milton goalie to tie the game at 1-1. The score held till the end of the period.
Early in the third period, James Barbour left the puck for Holden Rogers. Rogers roofed the puck short side over DeFazio's shoulder, giving Menace a 2-1 lead.
With just under six minutes left in the game, Chase Strychaluk broke into the offensive and sent a pass over to Zach Wigle. Wigle roofed the puck over the Milton goalie’s shoulder, tying the game 2-2.
The score stayed 2-2 until the end of regulation, and for the first time this season, we will see an overtime game on the big Olympic ice at sixteen-mile.
Sadly for all the fans in attendance, no goals were scored in either overtime period and the game ended in a tie.
The Blades took several positives out of this game, and arguably the most significant positive was that Cole DeFazio was back.
The goaltender stopped 48 of 50 shots and got his groove back after his performance the night before.
Cole spoke about how he could regroup after the way he played the day before, saying, “I just had a mental re-set; I went home and forgot about it (the game) today was a new day.”
With Sunday night's game wrapping up the Blades' regular season, it is now on to the playoffs.
The Blades' first playoff game is on April 10, at Central Arena in Burlington. The second game is on April 12, at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. If needed, the third and final game of the series would be on April 14, at Central Arena.
We should be in for a great series.