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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, February 26, 2014 | 16 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Blades finish out of playoffs Oakville loses tiebreaker in OT, but should benefit from experience by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor Disappointed Oakville Blades players salute their fans Sunday at Sixteen MIle Sports Complex after a 6-5 overtime loss to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens kept the Blades out of the Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs. This is the first year since 2001 that the Blades will not participate in post-season play. | photo by Alex D'Addese -- Special to the Beaver At the start of the Ontario Junior Hockey League season, the Oakville Blades' goal was to make the playoffs and be a team no one wanted to face in the opening round. The Blades didn't accomplish that goal, but they came as close as they possibly could. Oakville was eliminated from OJHL post-season participation on the last shot of the regular season, dropping a 6-5 overtime decision to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens Sunday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The contest determined the final playoff spot in the league's South/West Conference. The Blades overcame four one-goal deficits on the night and fired a season-high 56 shots on the Toronto net. But Jr. Canadiens defenceman Aaron Thow's shot from the point -- nearly blocked by sprawling Blades forward Kris Bennett -- found its way into the Oakville goal 4:59 into OT, leaving the Blades out of the playoffs for the first time since 2001. "Whenever you come back (four) different times in a game like this, an elimination game, the guys are obviously taking it pretty hard," Oakville head coach Kevin Gomes said. "But I was really happy with the way our team played.... They showed a lot of character, and I told them they should be proud of themselves because they competed very, very hard." Making Sunday's loss all the more painful for the Blades was how hard they had worked to earn the one-game playoff with Toronto. Oakville won its previous three games to pull even with the Jr. Canadiens, including a 7-2 romp Friday over a St. Michael's Buzzers team that finished 10 points ahead of the Blades. Oakville, which features one of the youngest rosters in the league, may not have made the playoffs, but those mustwin games did provide a taste of what the playoffs are like. "As a building exercise for next year with the young team we have, that was an amazing learning experience for them," said Gomes, who expects much of the Blades team to be back next year. "The only way you get better in this league is by going through it. You have to experience things like that. That's only going to make us better." "It was fun battling like that," added Blades defenceman Greg Campbell, who scored twice in Friday's win over St. Michael's. "We'll have a good core of guys coming back. Add some key guys to our team, and we'll be a dangerous team to play next year." The Blades finished the 2013-14 season with a 23-26-5 record, one point behind the Jr. Canadiens and Mississauga Chargers. Oakville ranked last in the six-team South Division in both goals-for and goals-against average. Asked if he considered the season to be a successful one, Gomes focused on the positives. "You have to measure it in various ways. If you look at individual players, since we're a developmental organization, I think we're one of the most improved teams in the league because we were one of the youngest teams in the league," the coach said. "We won a bunch of games early that had to do with goaltending (before the Blades traded star netminder Evan Buitenhuis to the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots during the Christmas break). We were getting outshot but still won. But if you look at people like Chris Polotek, Sean Kohler, Ryan Garvey -- those guys improved so much as young players learning how to play in this league. We're expecting big things from a lot of those guys next year." NOTES: The Jr. Canadiens will face the South Division champion Toronto Lakeshore Patriots in the opening round of the playoffs. Toronto Lakeshore, whose general manager is former Blades forward and current Iroquois Ridge high school teacher Mike Tarantino, won three of four games versus the Jr. Canadiens during the regular season. The Patriots were 2-2 against Oakville. "I think (Toronto Lakeshore) was see Blades on p.18 AVIGAYIL CASHED IN $1,384 FROM HER CLOSET! #EXCITED www.TrendTrunk.com Cash in your closet today at TrendTrunk.com