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8 ·The IFP· Halton Hills ·Tuesday, March 6, 2012 Jr. A Raiders looking to break Oakville Blades' jinx By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer After having their post-season end at the hands of the Oakville Blades four years in a row, the Georgetown Raiders feel they're ready to break the hex held by their south Halton rivals. The Ontario Junior Hockey League's best-of-7 West Division championship series is set to begin Wednesday at Georgetown's Alcott Arena at 7:30 p.m. and judging from the regular-season meetings this year, the Raiders would appear to hold an edge. Along with posting the best record in the 27-team OJHL in 2011-12 with a 399-1 mark, the Raiders won five of the six head-to-head matchups with second-place Oakville, although all but one of those contests were decided by one goal. Georgetown had a little trouble eliminating the Burlington Cougars in five games in the divisional final series, while the Blades dispatched Buffalo with relative ease as well. Oakville has appeared in an unprecedented four straight Buckland Cup OJHL Championship Series, winning it twice while playing in more post-season ice surface at the new Sixgames than any other Jr. A team teen Mile Sports Complex in in the country since 2007. Oakville, the teams will need For second-year defender to adjust their strategies from Matt Chiarantano, in his final night to night. season of junior eligibility be"They're completely differfore moving on to the Niagara ent games," added ChiaranUniversity Purple Eagles in the tano, who had six goals and fall, beating the Blades would put an end to the frustration felt 27 assists in 43 games this season. by the Raiders' organization. "You've got to know your "When I was with Aurora MATT angles as a defenceman and a couple of years ago, (the CHIARANTANO you have to know when and Blades) beat us out and went when not to go after them in on to the Royal Bank Cup (national championship tournament), so I've their big rink or you'll tire yourself out. (In got a history with Oakville as well," said Georgetown), there's not as much room so there's a little bit more body contact. the 21-year-old from Bolton. "We did finish first in the league this It depends how you approach it. But it year but that doesn't mean anything now. shouldn't be that big a deal because we've We have to stop that run they've got against played Oakville six times already and we'll be ready for anything that happens." us and it's going to be a tough battle." Adding to the spice of the rivalry is that The Blades have 14 returnees from the club that lost to Wellington in last season's two Georgetown residents, forwards Todd OJHL final series, while Raider head coach Bannerman and Chris Taylor, are regulars and GM Greg Walters has constructed a on the Blades this season, while Raider veteran-laden, hard-charging squad that sharpshooter Patrick Megannety and rugged blueliner Nathan Domagala hail from counted six 20-goal scorers in its lineup. With the broom-closet-like neutral zone Oakville. Game two of the series will be played at the Alcott Arena and the Olympic-size Friday in Oakville at 7:30 p.m., with game three Saturday in Georgetown at 7:30 p.m. NOTES: Longtime Raiders' trainer Andrew Groombridge has been named the OJHL's inaugural Trainer-of-the-Year Award recipient. The 51-year-old Sarnia native has been with the Raiders for a dozen years and fills the same role with the Halton Hills Jr. B Bulldogs' lacrosse club. A Level 3 Hockey Canada-certified trainer, Groombridge has been involved with various sports as an athletic trainer for 38 years and participated in over 30 national championship events...Goalie Steven Racine was chosen as the OJHL's North-West Conference player of the month for February, posting an 8-1-0 record...Georgetown residents Robbie Murden and Alex D'Oliveira have played key roles in helping the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots to the OJHL's South Division championship series against the first-place St. Michael's Buzzers after knocking off second-seeded Vaughan 4-2 in a seventh-and-deciding game Saturday. Murden, a 19-year-old centre, has six goals and eight assists in 11 post-season contests while 18-year-old rearguard D'Oliveira has four playoff goals and logs plenty of ice time with the third-place Patriots. SPORTS & LEISURE Bitter ending for hockey Jags A third-consecutive Halton Secondary School Athletic Association Tier I boys' hockey title was just a goal away from Christ the King's Jaguars last Friday, but Burlington's Assumption Crusaders had an upset in mind. The Jaguars finished first in the HSSAA's post-tiering standings with an 8-2-1 mark, while the 5-4-2 Crusaders placed sixth and needed big wins over Nelson and Notre Dame to reach the Halton Tier I final at Oakville's Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Christ the King, meanwhile, blanked both Georgetown and Holy Trinity last Wednesday in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively, to make a return trip to the championship game. It turned out to be a cruel finish for CtK netminder Joey Bonsignore, who gave up just one goal in his team's final three games, yet it was a booming slap shot from Assumption's Zac Zinga midway through the final that found the net and ultimately gave the Crusaders a 1-0 victory. The Jaguar defence corps of captain Jon Palumbo, Conor Mortimer, Mark Hirst and Kyle Kutlesa were again the backbone of the team, but CtK shooters were frustrated by Crusader netminder Ryan Hiebert on several occasions. "You'd think that we would have had the advantage here," said Jags' coach Scott Van de Valk. "It sort looked like at the end we were going on fumes. We asked a lot out of a lot of people." In girls' hockey playoffs, the fourth-place Acton Bearcats have advanced to today's (Tuesday's) HSSAA Tier 2B final against the third-ranked Assumption Crusaders after shocking front-running Burlington Central 2-0 last Friday in the semifinals. Christine Bennett notched both Bearcat markers and goalie Jaime Laxton recorded the shutout. The final will be played at Burlington's Central Arena Tuesday at 3 p.m. T.J. Baker of Christ the King's Jaguars (10) was narrowly beaten to a rebound by an Assumption Crusader defenceman during the Halton Tier I boys' high school hockey championship game last Friday at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville. The Crusaders held on to upset the Jags 1-0. Photo by Eamonn Maher GEORGETOWN JUNIOR "A" GEORGETOWN JR. A Game One RAIDERS vs OAKVILLE BLADES Wednesday March 7, 2012 7:30 pm GAME OF THE WEEK GO RAIDERS GO! www.georgetownraidersjra.com Mold-Masters SportsPlex (Alcott Arena)