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26 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 31, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com PHOTOS BY SABRINA BYRNES / OAKVILLE BEAVER LETTING LOOSE: Clockwise from left, former Oakville Blades player Kevin Adam chases down a loose puck, current Blades defenceman Paul Conter evades a stick check by former Toronto Maple Leafs center Peter Zezel (in touque), and ex-Vancouver Canucks forward Jim Sandlak rolls on the ice celebrating his penalty-shot goal. Alumni happy to be part of anniversary celebration Continued from page 25 Blades) in this town. You've got to get the team playing well to get people interested, and he's doing that again this year. You hear more about them than you did years ago and it's good to see. They've got him to do it and he's doing it well." Dean DeFazio, father of current Blades player Brandon DeFazio, agreed. "I'm quite proud to be associated with the Blades," the former Pittsburgh Penguins forward said. "Brandon got a scholarship to Clarkson University and a lot of that is thanks to Don Edwards and the Oakville Blades." Jeff Ellis, the oldest member on the original Blades squad in 1966, was happy to have the opportunity to participate in the event. The 60-year-old has resided in Ottawa for the past 35 years, but said he still tracks the Blades via the Internet. "This was a real big thrill for me to come back. This is a great franchise and a great team, and it is nice to say I was on the very first team," said Ellis, who scored the first tie." goal of the Blades alumni's 30-minute game The current Blades didn't fare quite as against the former NHL players (the current well against the former NHL players, dropBlades team then faced the ex-NHLers in ping a 7-5 decision. Edwards strapped on the another 30-minute contest). "From what I pads and played goal for a few minutes, facgathered today, they are definitely making a ing his young understudies. real effort (to re-establish con"I only got one shot on him "They're making nections with their alumni). and it went in. I don't know They're making an effort to an effort to make how good of a goalie he was," make us a big part of their pro- us a big part of Oakville co-captain Daniel gram." Borges chuckled. "I'm just kidtheir program." Dennis Fowler also scored ding -- he was a great goalie in for the Blades alumni in its Former Oakville his time. It was nice to see the game, with Fergus and former Blades player Jeff Ellis whole organization come Vancouver Canucks forward Jim together from back in the 60's Sandlak replying for the ex-NHLers in a 2-2 until now." draw. Both the ex-NHLers' goals came on The former Blades used the occasion to penalty shots awarded by former long-time retell old war stories in the dressing room, NHL referee Ron Hoggarth, who amicably reflecting on the franchise's origins as a junofficiated both games and mixed some on-ice ior C squad. The Blades reached the Clarence interviews into the action. Schmalz Cup all-Ontario junior C final in "I think the last penalty shot was definite- 1969, falling in seven games to the ly suspect," Ellis said with a laugh. "We Woodstock Navy-Vets, then moved up to the should have had the two points and not the Mid-Ontario Junior B League in 1970. The Blades reached the Sutherland Cup provincial junior B final on two occasions, losing 4-3 to the Bramalea Blues in 1975 and 4-0 to the Waterloo Siskins in 1991. Oakville jumped to the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League in 1993 and has reached the league's semifinals two of the past three seasons. For the ex-NHLers, meanwhile, Saturday's game was an opportunity to catch up with past teammates and opponents -- something they try to do several times a year. "It's such a tight-knit family. Even when you're done playing, it's great to get back and tell stories again," said Sandlak, who dazzled fans at one point with a series of ringette-like moves and then badly beat Blades goaltender Matt Hoyle on his penalty shot -- much to the delight of Hoyle's teammates watching from behind the glass. "The main thing is to get the community together and see ex-pro hockey players play. They appreciate what kind of skill it takes to play at that level, and we get to do a few more things than we'd normally try in a game to have fun with our skills." Fans and charities also benefited from the anniversary celebration. Players threw shirts into the crowd following each goal, while money was raised for the Mississauga Cruisers sled hockey team and the Blades' SAT tutoring program (dollar figures were not available at press time). The event was sponsored by New Country 95.3 FM (morning show co-host "Mookie" suited up with the ex-NHLers). Oakville Mayor Rob Burton conducted the ceremonial opening faceoff. Shutout loss to Brampton drops Blades to third in West While the Oakville Blades had a good time at their 40th anniversary celebration Saturday at Dominion Twin Rinks, they didn't enjoy themselves nearly as much the previous evening in Provincial Junior A Hockey League play. In a showdown for top spot in the West Conference standings, the Blades were blanked 4-0 by the Brampton Capitals -- Oakville's fourth loss in a nine-game stretch. The Blades managed to rebound Sunday, whipping the lowly Buffalo Jr. Sabres 10-2 and improving their season record to 36-9-1-1. Oakville is two points behind the Hamilton Red Wings for first in the conference, and Brampton is a point ahead of the Blades. Both Hamilton and Brampton have three games remaining in their regular-season schedule, while the Blades have two. "We might be in a little slump, but it's better to get it out now than in the middle of the playoffs," said Oakville co-captain Daniel Borges. "We just have to get back to doing the things we do right; we're not doing those right now. We're off our game a little but but we're going to get back to it." To have any hope of a first- or second-place finish in the conference, and home-ice advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Blades will need to defeat Hamilton when the Red Wings visit Dominion Twin Rinks Friday. Oakville will conclude the regular season the following night with another home game, this time against the Bramalea Blues. Both contests are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. starts. Wyatt Russell, son of movie stars Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, earned the shutout for Brampton against the Blades, stopping 35 shots. Sunday, Trevor Eckenswiller and Vince Scott each scored a pair of goals, with Tomas Sample, Brent Clarke and Trevor Elliott each contributing a goal and two assists. Also scoring for Oakville were Nick McParland, Chase Langeraap and Borges. Bryan Peters, Domenic Monardo, Fraser Smith and Brandon DeFazio each had two assists. Kori Coelho earned the win.