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Oakville Blades fighting for OJHL playoff spot

Lukas Bernasiewicz
Lukas Bernasiewicz

The Oakville Blades played three games this past week, two against the Georgetown Raiders and one against the Burlington Cougars. 

Mar. 2, 2022. Oakville Blades @ Georgetown Raiders

Oakville entered Wednesday’s game with a slim one-point lead over the Raiders for the final playoff spot in the west division.

After a big loss on Saturday in the OJHL’s game of the week, the Blades were hoping to get a win to grow their lead in the west division with a huge game against Georgetown.

The game started with a lot of speed and puck possession from both teams, but most of the offensive chances went to the Raiders.

Oakville answered with a few chances of their own, but Georgetown opened the scoring with a great shot from Rhys Chiddenton, assisted by Andrew Della Rovere and Eric Rusell, to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. 

The Blades tied the game shortly after with a great shot from Yanni Kaidonis, assisted by Jacob Crisp, to make the game 1-1, and that is how the first period ended.

The second period was an offensive onslaught from the Georgetown Raiders.

It started with a powerplay goal by Andrew Della Rovere, assisted by Robert Strachan and Eric Rusell, to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead.

Five minutes after that goal, Rhys Chiddenton scored again, assisted by Eric Rusell and Andrew Della Rovere to make the score 3-1 Raiders.

Less than three minutes later, Robert Strachan scored, assisted by Aaron Andrade and Chris Ishmael, making the score 4-1 Raiders.

Then to end off the period, Andrew Della Rovere scored his second of the game, assisted by Dylan DiTomaso and Rhys Chiddenton to make the score 5-1 and put the game out of reach for the Blades.

The third period saw one goal near the end by Georgetown putting a staple on the game and giving the Raiders a dominant 6-1 victory.

Lukas Bernasiewicz
Lukas Bernasiewicz

Mar. 4, 2022. Georgetown Raiders @ Oakville Blades

Friday’s game had many important implications for the Oakville Blades.

It was not only just a rematch of Wednesday’s game but a chance for the Blades to answer the bell and bounce back from a bad performance in Georgetown.

The Blades did not get off to the greatest start as Tristan Malboeuf had to come up big for them as he has all season and keep the game at a 0-0 tie after the Blades allowed the first five shots of the game.

Malboeuf also gave the Blades and their fans a small heart attack after he was run into on a play and was down for a couple of seconds but could stay in the game.

Oakville was the first team to get on the scoreboard after smooth-skating defenseman Ethan Sullivan found the back of the net from a point shot thanks to an Evan Pringle face-off win giving the Blades the all-important first goal of the game.

The rest of the period saw no scoring but stellar goaltending from both sides, and the first period ended 1-0 Oakville.

In the second period, the Blades extended their lead with a goal by Chase Strychaluk off of an Owen Wilson rebound to give Oakville a 2-0 lead.

No goals were scored after that, but Tristan Malboeuf continued his great game and kept his shutout intact, heading into the second intermission.

The third period saw the Blades turn on the jets and put the game out of reach for the Raiders.

Just over eight and a half minutes into the third period Matthew Wang set up Mason Zebeski for a beautiful one-timer that he buried into the back of the net to give the Blades a 3-0 lead.

Then with just over five minutes left in the game, Adam Tucci capped off the game with a slapshot from the high slot to give the Blades a 4-0 lead.

The clock ran out, and the Blades secured a huge win, and Tristan Malboeuf received his second shutout of the year.

 After the game, goal scorer Ethan Sullivan commented on how the Blades were able to bounce back after Wednesday’s game, saying, “We stuck to our systems well. We had a plan before the game, and that was to get shots from the blue line. Our guys did a good job screening the goalie, and we were able to score first which made a big difference in the end.”

Sullivan commented on how the Blades will need to play to beat Burlington in the next game, saying, “We need to play our game. We need to work hard and get shots on goal, and I think we have a great chance to win.”

Mar. 5, 2022. Burlington Cougars @ Oakville Blades

Saturday's game was not just an important game for the Blades but also the community.

Saturday was Oakville’s “Pink in the Rink” game to show their support for cancer awareness.

The Blades also wore pink jerseys during the game, and after the game, those jerseys were auctioned off, and all the proceeds went to charity.

The Cougars opened up the scoring early with a goal by Jack Richard assisted by Isaac Faccio just under five minutes into the game.

The Blades answered with their own goal near the end of the period on the powerplay, with Chase Strychaluk tipping home an Ethan Sullivan point shot to tie the game at 1-1.

Sadly, the Blades could not keep the game tied heading into intermission as Thomas Lenart scored assisted by Josh Belgrave and Jacob Bramwell with just 20 seconds left in the period, giving the Cougars the one-goal lead heading into the first intermission.

In the second period, the Cougars started to take over the game.

Just under eight minutes into the second period, Matt Franzoi scored assisted by Joel Chauvin and Jacob Bramwell to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead.

Later in the period, the Cougars struck again with another goal by Jack Richard, assisted by Matthew Zebedee and Thomas Lenart to make the score 4-1 Cougars.

But with under a minute left, Zach Wigle scored, assisted by Owen Wilson to bring the game to 4-2 and try to give the Blades some life heading into the third.

Unfortunately, the third was a complete Cougars takeover with goals from Matthew Zebedee, Josh Belgrave, and Zebedee again to give the Cougars the 7-2 victory.

One piece of good news for the Blades is that they still hold a one-point lead over the Brantford 99ers for the last playoff spot in the west.

Oakville looks to bounce back next week when they play against Brantford on Friday at home, Georgetown on Saturday at home, and Georgetown again on Sunday on the road. All home games are played at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex


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