This past week, Oakville lost three games in a row against Pickering Panthers on Nov. 2, Aurora Tigers on Nov. 5, and Milton Menace on Nov. 5, negatively impacting their standings in the west division.
Tuesday, Nov. 2 - Oakville Blades Vs. Pickering Panthers
Oakville started their week on Tuesday after a good end to the month of October winning three games in a row.
Oakville started their November against the Pickering Panthers, who they had previously lost 9-6 to at the OJHL governers showcase.
The game was a goalie duel between Pickering's Justin Easter and Oakville’s Cole DeFazio as the game only saw three total goals.
The first goal of the game went to Pickering when Lucas Rowe scored after an assist by Adams-Matthews Peyton, giving Pickering a 1-0 lead 3 minutes and 43 seconds into the game. Neither team could score for the remainder of the first period.
Oakville looked to even the scoring in the second period to give the team a big momentum boost and get back in the game.
The Blades did just that as Chase Strychaluk scored assisted by Zach Wigle and Josh Kudo, tying the game at 1-1.
Strychaluk’s goal was the only one in the second and both teams went to intermission with a 1-1 score.
The Panthers would be the team to break the deadlock 34 seconds into the third period with a goal by Ethan Lindsay assisted by Matthew Altomare and Brenden Tomlinson.
Unfortunately for the Blades, they were unable to score giving Pickering a 2-1 win.
Friday, Nov. 5 - Oakville Blades Vs. Aurora Tigers
Oakville travelled to Aurora three days later for a game against the Tigers.
The Blades looked for a nice bounce-back game against Aurora after losing to Pickering in their last game.
The game didn’t start well for Oakville as they gave up the first goal of the game less than five minutes into the game with a goal by Anthony Drekopoulos assisted by Nick Lamont and Nolan Boyd, giving Aurora a 1-0 lead.
The Blades surrendered another goal by Lee Chiang assisted by Blake Frost and Matthew Godwin to make Aurora’s lead 2-0. That is how the score would look at the end of the first period.
The start of the second period wasn’t much better for Oakville as they let in another goal by Aurora this time by Tommy Kloepfer assisted by Luc Reeve and Justin Biraben, giving Aurora a 3-0 lead.
Oakville got one back with a goal by James Barbour assisted by Parker Murray to cut the deficit to two.
Lee Chiang struck again for Aurora on the powerplay assisted by Matthew Gooding and Jett McCallum to make the score 4-1.
Both teams went to the locker room for the second intermission with a score of 4-1 Aurora.
Oakville struck quickly in the third period with a goal by Cole Weinger assisted by Michael Tiveron two minutes into the third.
Tiveron got a goal of his own on the powerplay assisted by Parker Murray and Evan Pringle to make the score 4-3 Aurora with 14 minutes left in the third period.
Oakville put up a great effort to tie the game but could not get the tying goal and Lee Chiang would get the hattrick in an empty net and the game ended 5-3 Aurora.
Saturday, Nov. 6 - Oakville Blades Vs. Milton Menace
Saturday’s game was a very important game for the Blades as they tried to snap their two-game losing streak but it was also a special game for Oakville’s Jack Blake.
With the Los Angeles Kings in town to play the Maple Leafs on Nov. 8, his father and Hockey Hall of Famer Rob Blake was in the building to watch the game and watch his son play for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
When asked after the game about what it was like to have his dad in the building Jack said, “Since COVID he hasn’t been able to watch me play; so for me, it was awesome that my dad was able to watch me.”
This game was very important for multiple reasons as the game was Oakville’s Remembrance Day game to honour the veterans who risked their lives for our country and also honoured Oakville MP, Anita Anand who was named as Minister of National Defence.
The game started and Oakville seemed to control play and get the best offensive chances.
The storyline of the game was the goaltending play from Milton’s Cale Mcwilliams, who played an unbelievable game.
Oakville and Milton exchanged chances for the entirety of the first period and Milton was the first to break the ice.
Jordan Stock put the puck past Cole DeFazio assisted by Justin Randhawa and Adam Hughes giving Milton Menace a 1-0 lead. They took that lead into the first intermission.
The second period saw no scoring from either side but kept seeing Cale Mcwilliams steal the show and frustrate the Blades.
The Blades kept trying to tie the game in the third but Mcwilliams would not budge as he stood his ground.
Milton extended their lead to 2-0 with a goal by Lucas Buzziol assisted by Ryan O Donnell and Bradley Banach.
Oakville finally solved the puzzle of Mcwilliams with a goal by Brendan Bowie assisted by Michael Tiveron and Jack Blake to cut the lead to 2-1.
Oakville tried to tie the game but came up short and Jordan Stock finished the game off for Milton with an empty-net goal with one second left in the game to give Milton the 3-1 win.
Oakville ends this game with an 8-5-0-1 record and has 17 points and is fourth in the west division.
Oakville now looks to end their three-game losing streak on Tuesday, Nov. 9 when they play the rival Burlington Cougars in Burlington.