The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, February 12, 2014 | 10 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports T H E U L T I M A T E P R I Z E "Connected to your Community" Blades running out of time in quest for OJHL playoff spot The Oakville Blades' playoff hopes got dimmer over the weekend, but at least they've got the schedule on their side. Oakville, which dropped both ends of a home-and-home set with the South Division-leading Toronto Lakeshore Patriots Friday and Saturday, trails the Mississauga Chargers by two points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Ontario Junior Hockey League's South/West Conference. Both Oakville (20-25-4) and Mississauga (22-25-2) have four games remaining. But two of the Blades' final four opponents -- the Lindsay Muskies and Burlington Cougars -- have sub-.500 records, while only one of the Chargers' remaining foes -- the Stouffville Three teams, two playoff spots Spirit, which Mississauga Toronto Jr. Canadiens (47 points, 3 games remaining) DATE OPPONENT OPP . RECORD will face Friday -- has a losFeb. 14 @ Lindsay 17-22-7 ing mark. Feb. 16 vs Milton 27-20-2 If Mississauga and Feb. 17 @ St. Michael's 25-18-7 Oakville finish the season Mississauga Chargers (46 points, 4 games remaining) tied for the final post-seaDATE OPPONENT OPP . RECORD Feb. 13 @ Stouffville 19-26-4 son berth, the teams would Feb. 15 vs Cobourg 31-11-5 play a one-game playoff. Feb. 21 @ Wellington 30-11-6 Feb. 22 vs Toronto Lakeshore 34-11-4 OJHL tie-breaking rules do not apply when deciding a Oakville Blades (44 points, 4 games remaining) playoff spot. DATE OPPONENT OPP . RECORD Feb. 14 vs North York 27-18-6 The Blades are also still Feb. 15 vs Lindsay 17-22-7 within striking distance of Feb. 17 @ Burlington 10-32-4 Feb. 21 vs St. Michael's 25-18-7 the seventh-place Toronto Jr. Canadiens (22-25-3). Toronto has three games remaining, including one against a sub-.500 team (Lindsay). If the Jr. Canadiens were to win one of their last three contests, the Blades would need to earn five points in their final four games to tie Toronto. Last weekend's losses against Toronto Lakeshore (4-2 Friday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex and 4-3 Saturday in Toronto) extended Oakville's winless skid to five. The Blades are 1-9-2 since whipping Burlington 9-1 in early January, allowing Mississauga (9-5 in its last 14) and Toronto (43-2 in its last nine) to overtake them in the standings. David Dischiavi and Jackson Bales scored for Oakville in Friday's contest. Greg Campbell, Kamil Tkaczuk and Sean Kohler tallied Saturday, but the Blades were done in by two goals and an assist from the Patriots' Doug Bonar, an Oakville resident. Oakville will be home to the North York Rangers Friday and Lindsay Saturday. Both games will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The Blades then visit Burlington Monday (Feb. 17) before concluding the regular season at home to the St. Michael's Buzzers Feb. 21. Former Canadian women's hockey team member Becky Kellar-Duke shows off her 2010 Olympic gold medal. Kellar-Duke, who also won two other Olympic golds during her national team career, recently visited Iroquois Ridge High School to deliver a motivational speech to nearly 250 Grade 9 students. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Jenner, Canadian women enjoy 2-0 start to Games Oakville's Brianne Jenner was held pointless through the first two games of Olympic women's hockey action, but it wasn't for lack of trying. The Appleby College grad fired a total of nine shots at opposing goaltenders in Canada's first two contests at the Winter Games in Sochi, ranking fifth on the team in attempts. Canada won both of those contests, 5-0 over Switzerland to open preliminary-round play Saturday and 3-0 over Finland Monday. Canada was slated to face its biggest rival, the United States, today (Wednesday) in a game that would determine the first-place finisher in Group A. Canada and the U.S. were already guaranteed byes to the semifinals, which will be played Monday. Medal games are scheduled for Feb. 21. Tavares likely on fourth line According to several reports, Oakville's John Tavares will likely center Canada's fourth line when the national men's hockey team plays its first game tomorrow (Thursday) against Norway. The New York Islanders sniper has practiced on a line with Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins. Tavares, a former St. Thomas Aquinas high school student, ranks third in NHL scoring this season with 66 points in 59 games. Canadian women curlers start strong The Canadian women's curling team, which includes Oakville resident Kirsten Wall, cruised to victories in its first two games. Canada defeated China 9-3 in its first game of the round-robin schedule, then downed Sweden 9-3 in its second contest. Wall, an alternate on the Jennifer Jones-skipped rink, did not play in either game. The United States rink, skipped by Erika Brown, dropped its first two games to Switzerland (7-4) and Russia (9-7). Brown is a Wisconsin native who has lived in Oakville for nearly 10 years. Canada and the United States are scheduled to face each other Feb. 16, the second-last day of round-robin action. OAKVILLE BLADES VS. NORTH YORK RANGERS Friday, February 14th OAKVILLE BLADES VS. LINDSAY MUSKIES Saturday, February 15th Sixteen Mile Sports Complex · Puck Drops at 7:30pm Adults $7, Students/Seniors $5, Kids FREE LOCAL JUNIOR A HOCKEY AT ITS BEST!