2008 RBC Cup

PACIFIC 6 - CENTRAL 1
THU. MAY 8
PRELIMINARY ROUND

Jesse Todd scored two shorthanded goals and Mike Connolly added one of his own while a man down to help the Camrose Kodiaks finish off a perfect round robin with a 6-1 win over the Oakville Blades on Thursday night. » summary

CENTRAL 7 - WEST 6
WED. MAY 7
PRELIMINARY ROUND

Jeremy Welsh had a hat trick and Lindsay Sparks scored the game winner seven minutes into the third period as the Oakville Blades kept their semi-final hopes alive with a 7-6 win over the Humboldt Broncos. » summary

CENTRAL 3 - EAST 4 (OT)
MON. MAY 5
PRELIMINARY ROUND

Geoff Hum scored the game-winning goal five minutes into overtime as the Weeks Crushers scored their first win of the 2008 RBC Cup and put the Oakville Blades on the brink of elimination with a 4-3 victory. » summary

HOST 5 - CENTRAL 4
SUN. MAY 4
PRELIMINARY ROUND

Jean-Phillipe Beaulieu scored with less than eight minutes to go to break a 4-4 tie as the host Cornwall Colts scored their first win of the 2008 RBC Cup with a 5-4 win over the Oakville Blades on Sunday night. » summary

OAKVILLE BLADES HEADING TO THE 2008 RBC CUP

The Oakville Blades of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJHL) have advance to the 2008 RBC Cup after winning the 2008 Dudley Hewitt Cup, over the host Newmarket Hurricanes. » more

REGULAR SEASON

RECORD – 39W 6L 4OTL (5th in Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League)
GOALS FOR – 222 (10th)
GOALS AGAINST – 139 (8th)
TOP SCORER – Nick McParland (29G 48A 77P)

PLAYOFFS

ROUND 1 – bye
ROUND 2 – defeated Milton Merchants 4-1 (4-1, 0-2, 6-2, 3-2, 3-0)
QUARTERFINAL – defeated Georgetown Raiders 4-1 (4-2, 7-1, 5-2, 3-4, 2-1)
SEMI-FINAL – defeated Aurora Tigers 4-2 (4-1, 1-5, 1-0, 4-3, 2-3, 4-3)
OPJHL CHAMPIONSHIP – defeated Markham Waxers 4-1 (6-3, 2-4, 6-4, 4-1, 6-3)
DUDLEY HEWITT CUP – 1st in round robin (defeated Dryden 5-1, Sudbury 5-3 and Newmarket 5-2), defeated Newmarket 6-3 in championship game

PREVIOUS NATIONAL JUNIOR A CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
NONE

For the first time in their 15-year history as a Junior A franchise, the Oakville Blades are Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League champions, Dudley Hewitt Cup champions, and on their way to the National Junior A Championship. The Blades finished fifth in the OPJHL with a 39-6-4 record, an impressive feat considering that 35 teams laced up the skates in 2007-08. The offence didn’t blow any teams out of the water – the Blades scored 222 goals, good for 10th in the league, and top scorer Nick McParland (13th with 77 points) was the only Oakville skater to crack the top 25 – but it was still good enough to finish among the OPJHL’s top 10 teams, as did the defence, which was eighth with a stellar 2.84 goals against average. Goaltender Scott Greenham was among the league leaders in a number of categories, finishing tied for fifth in goals against average, at 2.32, third in wins, with 27, tied for second in save percentage, at .923, and tied for fifth in shutouts, with three. A West Division regular season championship meant a first-round bye in the grueling OPJHL playoffs for the Blades, who made short work of the Milton Merchants – who had gone six games in their opening round series – in the second round, topping the Merchants in five games, dispatched the Georgetown Raiders in five games and ended the repeat dreams of the defending RBC Cup-champion Aurora Tigers in six, advancing to the first OPJHL final in club history. Facing the Markham Waxers, the teams split the first two games, with each winning on home ice, before Oakville rolled off three straight victories to claim the league title. Next it was on to the Dudley Hewitt Cup in Newmarket, ON, where the Blades ran unbeaten through the round robin to earn a bye in the championship game, and knocked off the host Hurricanes in the final to advance to the 2008 RBC Cup, where they will look to become the second OPJHL team in as many years to take home the top prize from the National Junior A Championship.