AutoGlass t/ o r UPHOLSTERY... SCATS, BOAT TOPS, CONVERTIBLE TOPS- APPLE Rd. 1033 Speers 842-6060 Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com W K D N E S I >AY, F K B U U A K Y (>. x )2 · I 'a ^ C l ) l SPORTS Glen Thiessen · Oakville Beaver GONNA FLY NOW! the high flying O akville Blades took to the air, literally, in last F rid a y 's gam e against Georgetow n. T O P PH O TO : C hris K nighton (#25) achieved great heights with the Blades. M ID D LE PH O T O : hey, th a t's a pretty good one arm ed handstand by M ike R uberto. BO TTO M PH O T O : and M ike T arantino (#11) flying over the crease. Dennis `spectacular' against Georgetown but Blades have to settle for third place By Sarah Elliott S I'KCIAL IX >THE UKAVER The tight race atop the western conference o f the Ontario provincial junior A hockey league has left the Oakville Blades with the short end of the stick. Lately every w in counts, and that was proven this week end with Oakville losing to Georgetown in overtime on Friday night -- and in doing so, ultimately losing out on first place. Although the Blades played last night in Bramalea (the game went beyond our press deadline), the outcome was of little importance, with Hamilton winning on Monday night -- securing second place. With a win in Bramalea, Oakville will be tied with Brampton and Hamilton at 7 1 points, but because o f the tie breaking process, the Blades come out at the bottom. But. the Blades have still been playing some great hock ey as o f late, and have had a phenomenal season, moving leaps and bounds from last year. This weekend was a three-point weekend for Oakville, who lost 4-3 in OT to the Georgetown Raiders on Friday night, and then won 8-3 on Sunday in Burlington. Friday night was a tough game for the Blades, who came but somewhat flat. Neither team really seemed to dominate, but the Blades just couldn't get the puck in the net. For most of the game, it was a swapping of goals, and it w asn't until overtime, when the Blades pulled goalie Adam Dennis with just seconds left, that Georgetown managed the winning goal. In fact, it was Dennis that really kept the Blades in the game on Friday, playing another amazing game. "We o>ve the single point we earned tonight to Adam Dennis," commented head coach Jay Anderson after the game. "Adam played his usual spectacular game tonight. That is the goaltending that we will need in the playoffs." Sunday night was a different story for Oakville who dominated, despite spending a chunk of the game in the penalty box. In fact, the Blades spent exactly half of the seconifeperiod in the box, which really helped keep the Burlington Cougars in the game. Tempers flared for a lot o f the game, especially from the Burlington team, who knew their season was over as the game began to wind down. Even the crowds were getting frustrated by the end o f the game, as a Burlington fan climbed into the Oakville bench starling an altercation with the Blades' coaching staff. Luckily the players had already tell the bench, and no one was injured. In the midst o f their final weekend when the playoff pair ings were still up in the air, coach Anderson took a philo sophical approach. "It really doesn't matter to us who we play. Each poten tial team we could play poses a different problem. With Georgetown, they have a potent offence. With Mississauga, their strength is goaltending and defence. So each could set up a situation where the parity o f this division means that any team from ninth up could win on any given night." It's still a storybook season for the Blades By Norm Nelson BEAVER S IO R T S EDITOR Wow. what a finish to the provincial junior A regular sea son. Going into last night's regular season finale, the Oakville Blades had a chance to finish in a three-way tie for first place with Brampton Capitals and Hamilton Kilty's. - Now unfortunately, the tie breaking process would still leave them in third place, but that shouldn't at all take any thing away from their storybook regular season. Having missed the playoffs last year, and having started the season with a less than impressive 2-4 start, these guys put together an outstanding season-long charge that almost took them over the top. Unfortunately for the Blades. Brampton and Hamilton also didn't falter down the stretch, each winning their final PROVINCIAL JUNIOR A - west confcrence G P W 1. T O I L GK 49 34 12 3 0 246 B ra m pto n 49 34 12 2 1 237 HAMILTON 48 32 11 3 2 246 Oa k v il l e BRAMALEA 48 25 18 4 1 222 49 25 20 3 1 198 &1ILTON GEORGETOW N 49 23 20 5 1 216 49 18 23 4 4 174 MISSISSAUGA STREETSVILLE 48 16 29 2 1 185 BURLINGTON 48 14 30 4 0 166 BUFFALO 49 5 39 4 1 123 I O T losses are worth one point: * does not include Tuesday night's regular 'lira male a ; Burlington at Streetsville t GA P ts 158 71 156 71 175 69 201 55 208 54 201 52 164 44 246 35 231 32 275 15 GAA 3.22 3.18 3.65 4.19 4.24 4.10 3.35 5.13 4.81 5.61 PIM 16.96 27.31 28.21 21.63 22.74 20.22 23.52 22.41 21.44 20.23 games ... · Brampton defeating Bramalea Thursday. Burlington Friday and Buffalo on Saturday; · and Hamilton defeating Georgetown on Saturday and Mississauga on Monday. That meant the Blades had to be perfect in their final three games -- but perfection is pretty hard to achieve, on this planet anyway. And so on Friday, having already ensured themselves a single point by battling the Georgetown Raiders to a 3-3 reg ulation time tie. the Blades pulled their goalie Adam Dennis near the end of overtime to gun for the additional point. Georgetown, however, turned the tables with the rare O.T. empty netter. On Sunday, the Blades whipped the non-playoff Burlington Cougars 8-3. (See 'Blades' page D3) RECENT RESULTS Feb. 5. O a k v ille at B ram alea F eb. 3. O a k v ille 8. B urlington 3 Feb. I. Ge<*fgelown 4 . O a k v ille 3 O T Jan. 27. O a k v ille 6 . B urlington 2 J an 26. O a k v ille 5 . B uffalo 4 Jan. 25. O a k v ille ·*. B ram p to n 3 J an 22. M ilton 5. O a k v ille 4 Jan. 19. O a k v ille K. G eorgetow n 3 J an 18. O a k v ille 7. S treetsv ille 2 Jan. 12. O a k v ille 6 . H am ilton 5 J a n I I . O a k v ille 3. M i it i u a u g a 2 Jan. 8. O akville 5. S treetsville 2 Jan. 6. O a k v ille 7. B urlington 2 Jan. 4. O a k v ille 7. H am ilton 7 D ec. 23. O akville 3 . B uffalo 1 D ec 21. O a k v ille 3. B urlington 3 D e c 16. O a k v ille 4. M iw u u iu g a 3 D ec. 14. O akville 7. B uffalo 2 D ec. 13. O akvtU e 5. B ram pton 3 D ec. 11. B n unalea 5 . O akville 3 D ec 10. O a k v ille S. H am ilton 4 D ec. 7. G eorgetow n 4 . O a k v ille 2 Dec. 4. O akville 3 . S treetsville 2 D ec. 2. O akville 6 . M ilton 4 Nov. 30. O akville 6. B ram pton 3 Nov. 24. O akville 7. G eorgetow n 5 N ov. 23. O akville 4. M itxivvaiiga 3 N ov. 20. M ilton 4. O akville 3 (O T ) Nov. 16. B ram alea 5. O akville 2 N ov. I I . O akville 4 . B ram alea 4 Nov. 9 . O akville 7. H am ilton 2 Nov. 2. O akville I I B uffalo 2 Nov. I. B ram pton 9 . O akville 7 Blades Stats Pack PLAYER JE FF HRISTOVSKI JO SH SOARES GP G 52 38 41 37 25 32 26 36 40 33 32 24 22 25 11 30 22 27 23 29 22 24 15 21 21 15 16 23 16 23 A 45 51 41 40 49 41 47 37 32 36 34 42 43 39 51 31 37 31 35 28 33 31 38 32 32 35 33 24 31 24 Pts 97 89 82 77 74 73 73 73 72 69 66 66 65 64 62 61 59 58 58 57 55 55 53 53 53 50 49 47 47 47 season finale: Oakville at G A M E S U M M A R IE S G eorgetown 4, O akville 3 O T - ( F riday. Feb. 1) Nik Bibic (Chris Clarkson. M ason Drew) Marc P ini/zolto (Mali Ruberto) PP Rob Tarantino ( Ke\ in H an ey . Matt Ruberto) PP M ason Drew (Noah Hamilton. C hris Clarkson) C hris Knighton Josh Warden (TJ Trevelyan. Ryan Robert) PP Ryan Robert (TJ Trevelyan. Bill Fetherston) EN PERIOD 1 (4:25) GEO PERIOD 2 OAK (0:45) (9:30) OAK (15:27) GEO PERIOD 3 (5:39) OAK (15:04) GEO OVERTIME <4:40) GEO Oakville 8 , B urlington .? - (Sunday, Feb. 3) PERIOD (4:22) (7:38) (15:31) (17:09) (17:27) PERIOD <4:16) PERIOD (2:17) (4:04) 114:49) (15:50) (17:51) 1 BUR OAK OAK OAK OAK 2 BUR 3 OAK BUR OAK OAK OAK TJ Sakaluk (Rob Sim ek. Mark M cnchella) Kevin Saville (David Lomas. CJ Morrison) Evan McGrath (Mike Ruberto. Matt Ruberto) Rob Tarantino (Scott Russell. Mike Ruberto) Chris Knighton (Rob Simek. Evan McGrath) Kevin Saville (CJ M orrison) Justin Perron (Evun DiValentino. Frank Fazio) PP Mike Ruberto (TJ M anastcrsky) Rob Tarantino (Kevin Harvey. Evan McGrath) Rob Simek (TJ Sakaluk. Will Barlow) Rob Simek (Will Barlow. Tyler Cann) 46 42 EVAN MCGRATH 46 MIKE RUBERTO 46 46 JA SO N VISSER 44 KENNY SOUSA RICKY WALTON 45 T.J. TREVELYAN 47 SCOTT NEIL 43 RYAN BUSBY 47 RICH M ELOCHE 45 ROB TARANTINO 45 DAVID FRIEL 45 CHRIS KNIGHTON 43 ALEX WARD 36 MARK MAZZETTI 43 47 RICK CA RRIERE D ANIEL SPARRE 43 SC O T T M acD O N A LD 44 JOEL PETKOFF 45 M IC H A EL O LIV EIR A 43 47 ROB S IM E K MAI 1 SW EAZEY 43 r y a n M cC a r t h y 45 DAN BOGNAR 45 BRAD EFTHIM OU 28 44 M ICH EL BOND. ANDREW MARTIN 34 MARC PINIZZOTTO 39 PAUL PEDU LLA 45 P IM 20 54 22 28 22 90 57 58 104 41 37 20 39 89 71 20 234 30 13 68 77 18 64 84 42 10 50 21 1(15 61 Team BRAM PTON HAMILTON OAKVILLE OAKVILLE BRAM PTON BRAM PTON HAMILTON G EO RGETOW N BRAM ALEA G EO RGETOW N MILTON OAKVILLE STREETSV ILLE OAKVILLE BRAM ALEA HAMILTON MILT/COLL STR EETSV ILLE G EO RGETOW N STR EETSV ILLE M ISSISSAUGA OAKV/AJAX BRAM ALEA G EO RGETOW N MILTON BRAM PTON MILTON BRAM ALEA OAKVILLE STR EETSV ILLE GOAL TENDERS M in. 1310 1197 1320 1347 1411 1736 ADAM DENNIS 1766 ZAK BROWN TRISTAN DASSY 1263 NICK BALL 1012 TREV OR BATTAGLIA I077 1077 DAN ROBSON B J . STRONGM AN M ICH AEL C O R R A I DAVE BROW N KAIN TISI G .P. G.A 21.83 60 60 19.95 22.00 67 22.45 77 23.517 82 28.933 101 29.433 107 79 21.05 16.867 63 70 17.95 Avg S.O.Tcam 2.75 0 BRAM PTON 3.01 1 HAMILTON 3.05 2 M ISSISSAUGA 3.43 0 HAMILTON 3.49 2 M ISSISSAUGA 3.49 0 OAKVILLE 3.64 1 G EO RGETOW N 3.75 1 BURL/BRAM P 3.74 0 OAKVILLE 3.90 0 MILTON BLA D ES S C O R IN G P PIM Pos Ht p lay er GP G A 46 41 41 FWD 6 EVAN MCGRATH 82 22 37 40 77 FWD 6 MIKE RUBERTO 46 28 24 42 66 ROB TARANTINO 45 20 FWD 5-10 39 64 89 FWD 6 CHRIS KNIGHTON 43 25 16 M ARC PINIZZOTTO 39 47 105 FWD 5-11 31 37 41 DEF 5-10 46 7 30 T J. M A NASTERSKY 37 46 14 19 FWD 6 33 GEO FF CURTIS 26 10 26 FWD 5-11 CHRIS BRUSSA-TOI 21 31 29 DEF 6 21 TY LER CANN 42 6 23 86 26 40 FWD 5-11 14 STEVE PINIZZOTTO 34 10 16 W ILL BARLOW 42 8 18 26 50 FWD 5-10 9 5 28 20 44 KEVIN HARVEY 15 202 FWD 6-2 44 17 MATT RUBERTO 4 127 DEF 6 5 13 17 7 8 4 FWD 6-1 T.J. SAKALUK 15 7 8 3 10 0 18 ROB SIMEK 13 39 7 81 FWD 6-1 CHRIS RIDDELL 5 12 10 24 4 II DEF 6 CHRIS PETHICK 7 42 2 SCOTT RUSSELL 45 8 to 63 DEF 5-11 4 2 BRYAN M CLOUGHLIN 36 7 9 18 FWD 6 17 42 4 4 8 34 FWD 6-1 12 G EO FF ASELSTINE 0 54 DEF 5-11 JUSTIN HOUSE 16 5 5 0 4 4 37 DEF 6-5 2 PAUL DAWSON 31 18 0 46 DEF 6-0 16 PAUL M ETCALFE 3 3 15 MARK M ENCH ELLA 8 1 1 2 10 18 0 1 1 0 GOAL 6-2 31 NICK BALL 0 1 GOAL 6 35 ADAM DENNIS 30 1 5 ROB STEIN 1 0 0 0 0 TYLER LEGION 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 GOAL JOSH DI5HER I 0 0 KEVIN SILBER 1 0 0 0 0 ANDREW HOLMAN 0 0 0 II 1 4 0 O' 0 0 ROB HUNT G O A L TENDERS HT M IN . G .P G.A AVG. S.O . POS 3.74 0 1 NICK BALL 1012 16.87 63 GOAL 6-2 30 ADAM DENNIS 1736 28.93 101 3.49 0 GOAL 6 28 0.47 JOSH DISHER 4 8.57 0 GOAL * as o f Friday, Feb. I, noon does not include weekend names # 19 27 II 25 26 8 22 Wt 175 195 180 190 185 205 180 195 195 170 170 185 195 195 180 180 170 200 185 200 205 180 165 165 YOB 1986 1983 1983 1982 1982 1983 1983 1981 1984 1984 1982 1984 1983 1983 1983 1982 1985 1983 1984 1981 1985 1984 1983 1985 WT 165 165 YOB 1983 1985