Oakville Blades
| Oakville Blades | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Oakville, Ontario, Canada |
| League | Ontario Junior Hockey League |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Home arena | Sixteen Mile Sports Complex (1,500) |
| Colours |
Blue, Red, and White |
| General manager | Mike Daley |
| Head coach | Mike Tarantino |
| Affiliates | Oakville Rangers (OMHA) |
The Oakville Blades are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Oakville, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
The Blades started as a Junior C team, and made it to the Clarence Schmalz Cup Final once to compete for the All-Ontario Junior "C" title. In 1969, the Blades lost 4-games-to-3 to the . Oakville moved up to the Junior B level for the 1970-71 season, and joined the Mid-Ontario Junior B league. In 1971, the leagues realigned, and Oakville moved to the new Central Junior B league. In 1975 and 1991 the Blades made it the Sutherland Cup Final for the All-Ontario Junior "B" title. The first time, they were defeated by the Metro Junior B Hockey League's Bramalea Blues 4-games-to-3. The second time, they were defeated by the Midwestern Junior B Hockey League's Waterloo Siskins 4-games-to-0.
The Blades had a great 2007-08 regular season. With 39 wins, 6 losses, and 4 overtime losses, the Blades finished first overall in the West Division. After a bye in the division quarter-final, the Blades defeated the Milton Icehawks 4-games-to-1 in the division semi-final and Georgetown Raiders 4-games-to-1 to win the West Division playoff title. In the North/West Conference championship, the Blades took on the defending Royal Bank Cup 2007 champion Aurora Tigers. The Tigers appeared dominant, but faltered late in the series to lose to the Blades 4-games-to-2. In the OPJHL Buckland Cup final, Blades dominated the Markham Waxers and won 4-games-to-1 to win their first ever Junior A league championship.
The Blades then moved on to the Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Central Canadian championship. In game 1, the Blades defeated the Thunder Bay Region champion Dryden Ice Dogs 5-1. The then defeated the Northern Ontario champion Sudbury Jr. Wolves 5-3. In the final game of the round robin, they defeated the host Newmarket Hurricanes 5-2. This gave the Blades a bye to the final where they played the Hurricanes again and beat them 6-3. This earned them a berth into the 2008 Royal Bank Cup.
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