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44 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2009 Blades pass another must-win test Oakville advances to second straight Ontario Junior Hockey League final By Jon Kuiperij second period to give the Blades a 2-0 advantage, and Matt Hache made it stand up by stopping 35 Must-win situations continue to shots for the shutout. Luke bring out the best in the Oakville Moodie, playing for the first time Blades. since taking a puck to the mouth Oakville has advanced to the in Game 3, added an empty-net Ontario Junior Hockey League goal with six seconds to go in regufinal for the second consecutive lation. season, winning the seventh and Hache had missed time during deciding game of its semifinal the Wellington series as well, series 3-0 over the Wellington thanks to lingering effects from a Dukes Tuesday in front of nearly concussion he suffered two weeks 700 spectators at Joshua's Creek ago against Georgetown, but was at Arenas. his best Tuesday. "Every time The Blades, who The 20-year-old will meet the someone's pushed had some extra Kingston Voyageurs us, we've been able incentive to beat the in the league final to push back." Dukes. Wellington that opens tomorrow coach Marty Abrams (Saturday, 6:30 p.m.) Blades defenceman was Hache's coach in in Oakville, have Mike Ingoldsby the goaltender's taken the hard road to rookie Ontario the championship series. They Hockey League season, and the were extended to seven games in Abrams-led Dukes eliminated the previous round as well, grind- Hache from the playoffs last year ing out a 4-3 win over the when he played for Kingston. Georgetown Raiders in the "It feels great to beat Marty MacKinnon Division final, and Abrams," Hache said. "We just realTuesday's contest with the Dukes ly know each other so it's a competwas Oakville's 14th game in a 24- itive edge." day span. Murphy pointed to Hache and But the Blades keep rising to the the Blades' defensive unit of Sean occasion. Oakville played a sound Ryan, Jordan Smith, Taylor Farris, two-way game in the finale of the Dan Hunt, Braden Birch and Georgetown series, and was even Ingoldsby as the main reasons why better defensively Tuesday against Oakville was able to shut down a the Dukes. Dukes team that had defeated the "I think every time someone's Blades 5-4 in Game 6 two days earpushed us, we've been able to push lier. back," Blades defenceman Mike "They have been solid all year. Ingoldsby said following Tuesday's They get the pucks down low and game. "The guys really want it and, make good plays to get out of the when it comes down to it, we have zone right away," said Murphy. a good enough team to fight back "This team (Wellington) thrives on and battle it out." mistakes. They don't carry the play, Ryan Murphy and Kyle Badham but once you make a mistake they scored three minutes apart in the pounce on you, and they're pretty BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER MOVING ON: Blades defenceman Sean Ryan (in white) attempts to clear the puck past Wellington's Max Bobrow Tuesday at Joshua's Creek Arenas. Oakville blanked the Dukes 3-0 in Game 7 of the Ontario Junior Hockey League semifinal series, advancing to the league championship for the second consecutive season. gifted around the net." Oakville's next opponent, Kingston, is coming off a five-game win over the Huntsville Otters in the league's other semifinal series. The Voyageurs went 36-9-4 in the regular season, while Oakville went 41-8. Though Hache played for Kingston last year, he said he's not very familiar with this year's edition of the Voyageurs. "There were only four returning players. They are a completely different team from last year," he said. "Their systems will be the same. An Evan Robinsoncoached team is going to be a hard-nosed team. They're going to come every game, banging and crashing. That's the kind of team that he builds." Game 2 of the league final will be played Sunday in Kingston. The series will return to Oakville Wednesday for Game 3, a 7:30 p.m. start at Joshua's Creek Arenas. Appeal of Murphy's suspension pays off Ryan Murphy scored the winning goal for the Blades in Tuesday's Game 7, but his availability for the contest was in doubt just hours before faceoff. The high-scoring forward was assessed with a head-checking GM71 penalty in Game 6 after hitting Wellington's Rich Stethem into the boards. The GM71 penalty is accompanied by an automatic two-game suspension. The Blades appealed the suspension to the Ontario Hockey Association, which overturned the call after reviewing video of the incident. "I knew it was a bad call. It was a perfect textbook hit. He angled (Stethem) and hit him shoulder to shoulder," said Blades head coach Carlo Coccimiglio. "It's unfortunate (Stethem) got hurt and we don't like to see anyone get hurt, but he wasn't prepared to take the hit." -- Jon Kuiperij