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OkillSportsSPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2011 37Blades denied in bid for another OJHL REPEATCHAMPS:The OakvillechampionshipVenom atom boys recently won theBy Jon KuiperijOntario Basketball BEAVER SPORTS EDITORAssociation AAAchampionship, theThe Oakville Blades bid to repeat as Ontario Juniorsecond time in asHockey League champions ended Tuesday inmany yearsWellington.they've been pro-The host Dukes downed the Blades 4-2 to finish off vincial champions.a 4-1 series victory over Oakville in the best-of-sevenBuckland Cup league final.Wellingtons Jan Kaminsky broke a 2-2 tie with5:50 to go in regulation and the Dukes added anempty-netter with eight seconds remaining, spoiling adetermined effort by the Blades. Oakville thought ithad tied the game in the final minute but officialsruled the puck didnt cross the line, resting instead onthe pad of Wellington netminder Jordan Ruby.Heroics from Ruby were a fitting end to a sensa-tional playoff run by the Dukes goalie, who was namedVenom boys repeat as Ontario champsthe OJHL playoffs MVP following the game.We threw a lot of shots at him. The guy playedBy Herb GarbuttThats not to say it was all smooth sailing, though. The Venomwell, said Blades head coach Mark Jooris. He wasOAKVILLE BEAVER STAFFarrived at the provincial tournament riding a 42-game winplayoff MVP, and thats not a mistake. He was realstreak, only to be dealt its first loss of the season in the opener,good.For the Oakville Venom atom boys, it seemed there wasfalling 44-37 to Scarborough 2.Good enough to limit the Blades to two goals ornowhere to go but down.It was concerning, Baker said. We had gone down to theless in all five games of the series, including a 4-0After all, how do you improve on winning a provincial cham-U.S. (in January) and beaten up teams in the U.S. with mixed ageshutout in Game 2. Combined with Wellingtonspionship?groups. I think the boys might have been overconfident (goingopportunistic offence, it proved too much to over-For starters, you win eight tournaments in two countries, wininto provincials), but they got a reality check very quickly.come for the Blades, who were seeking their third40-plus straight games to open the season and then cap it all off Fourtunately, beginning with pool play gave the Venom anBuckland title in the past four years.by winning another Ontario title.opportunity to recover. However, with both of its next two oppo-They really capitalized, Jooris said of the Dukes.Thats exactly what the Venom did when it rolled over thenents having beaten Scarborough 2, the Venom could not affordWhen you look at any game tape, that team did notBrampton Warriors 47-23 in the Ontario Basketball Associationanother loss.generate a lot of scoring chances on their own. TheyAAA championship.I just told them, You still have time. You know how we play.just capitalized on our mistakes.Its quite the feat, said Venom coach Martin Baker. It wasWe didnt go 40-plus-and-0 by fluke, Baker said. We justMark McGowan who led the Blades with 10even better than last year.See Venom's, page 38See Rebuilding, page 38