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

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, September 25, 2014 | 46 Blades make a statement By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Oakville scores 15 goals after Hughes vows `to right the ship' OK, so it wasn't quite Mark Messier guaranteeing a victory for the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conference final. But the Oakville Blades' Brandon Hughes felt strongly enough about his 1-4 team that he took to Twitter before the team hit the ice for Friday's Ontario Junior Hockey League game against the Buffalo Sabres. "Mark my words," he tweeted. "The ship is getting turned around tonight." A couple of hours later, Oakville had jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead. Over the final two periods Oakville dominated, outshooting the Junior Sabres 34-8, but still clung to a one-goal lead early in the third. But a little over a minute after Buffalo had made it 3-2, Hughes scored to seal a 4-2 Oakville win. While one win hardly constitutes a turnaround, the Blades left little doubt 24 hours later. Still stinging from a season-opening 7-6 overtime loss to the Burlington Cougars in which Oakville coughed up a 5-1 third-period lead, the Blades provided an even more emphatic statement. Oakville again built a 5-1 advantage, this time in the opening period. And there would be no letdown as the Blades scored 10 unanswered goals in the final two periods in a 15-1 rout. "We had that tough loss to Burlington in the first game and we wanted to put the hammer down," Hughes said. "We wanted to send the league a message that we're not overrated. We're here to dominate the league." The Blades received an honourable mention in the Canadian Junior Hockey League pre-sea- son top-20 national rankings -- putting them among the top five OJHL teams. But the Blades had done little to justify that standing in the first two weeks of the season. Hughes, who had three goals and two assists against Burlington, said it took some time to get everyone on the same page. "With our team, I think we've got the most talent in our conference," he said, "but we had so many new guys, it was just getting everyone buying into the system the coaches put in place." Hughes was one of 13 players in Saturday's lineup who was not with the Blades last season. The 18-year-old played with the OHL's Soo Greyhounds last season. Returning to play in his hometown reunited him with his former midget coach Mike Daley, the Blades' general manager, as well as former Oakville Ranger teammates Ryan Garvey, Daniel Jelic and Kamil Tkachuk. Another newcomer, Josh Kosack, had a big night Saturday. He scored his first OJHL goal in the opening period, then went on to add No. 2, 3 and 4. "That came out of nowhere," the 17-year-old said. After playing most of his minor career in Oakville, Kosack spent last season with Victory Honda in Michigan. He said that served as good preparation for playing against faster, stronger players. The Blades will face two tough opponents this weekend as Oakville hosts the Governor's Showcase, playing the East Division's top two teams Cobourg (4-2) Friday and Trenton (5-0) Saturday. Both games are 7:30 p.m. starts. "It will be a good test for us," Kosack said. Brandon Hughes of the Oakville Blades gets high-fives from teammates after scoring a goal earlier this season. There were chances to celebrate Saturday as the Blades pounded the Burlington Cougars 15-1 for their second win in as many nights. The Blades play at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex Friday and Saturday as part of the league's Governor's Showcase. | photo by Kevin Sousa -- OJHL Images "All the guys stayed positive (through the early slump). We knew we had a good team. We just needed time to mesh. I don't think you can really predict anything until you play the games." Maybe not, but at least one teammate had a sense things were about to change for the Blades. Notes: Saturday's highlights included: Kamil Tkachuk more than doubled his career best game with five points (two goals, three assists)....Tyler Rollo, a Barrie Colts draft, scored twice in his Blades debut...Ryan Burns, after picking up a goal and an assist against Buffalo, scored twice...Tanner Shaw had four assists, Greg Campbell, Matthew Lippa, Ryan Markovic and Tyler Burns had three assists each....12 of Oakville's goals were at even strength.....The Blades have outshot their opponents 85-40 over the last five periods....In all, there will be 22 games at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, starting Friday at 1 p.m. Games start from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Get on the path to health. Fun & active adult health & fitness programs. Minor atom AAA Rangers win Marlboros friendship tourney The defending Ontario Minor Hockey Association champion Oakville minor atom AAA Rangers picked up where they left off last season, winning the Toronto Marlboros International Friendship Tournament earlier this month. Oakville went undefeated in the competition, posting wins over the Toronto Red Wings (3-0), Toronto Nationals (4-2) and host Toronto Marlboros (4-1). The tournament drew 21 AAA teams from across Canada and the United States. Members of the Rangers are Joshua Beaupre, Andrew Brown, Jacob Crisp, Brayden Gillespie, Ayden Kenalty, Nicholas Lardis, Hudison Ligon, Sawyer Luik, Ben McKenna, Luke Misa, Owen Pagniello, Bronson Ride, Calum Ritchie, Jack Snelgrove, Cole Stevens, Evan Wagner and Mason Zebeski. Jaan Luik, Bob Zebeski, Pat Ritchie, David Gillespie and Jeff Allen coach the team, Shawn Crisp is the trainer and Mike Lardis and Liane Beaupre are the managers. Atom AA Rangers Tyler Hunt scored in the second overtime period to give the Oakville atom AA Rangers a 2-1 victory over North Toronto in the championship game of the recent Vaughan Rangers AA Early Bird hockey tournament. Oakville overcame an opening-game 5-1 loss to Vaughan to win its next four contests, including a 3-1 triumph over Vaughan in the semifinals. Oakville also defeated West Mall (8-1) and West Hill (4-0) during the competition. Other members of the team are Oliver Brenninkmeijer, Matthew Caringi, Andrew De Rango, Sean Ecclestone, Troy Elson, Liam Glover, Brett Hardy, Sebastian Hardy, Joshua Kudo, Dylan Lee, Trey Magrin, Nico Marandola, Cameron McKay, Matthew Milko, Boden Rasmussen and Caleb Ras- www.ymcaofoakville.com Best Buy CORRECTION NOTICE NEWSPAPER RETRACTION FOR THE BEST BUY SEPTEMBER 19 CORPORATE FLYER Please be advised that the 160GB iPod classic ­ Black (WebID: 10129512), which was advertised in the September 19 flyer on page 15, may not be in stock because it has been discontinued. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our valued customers. mussen. Jim Lee, George Hardy and Al Elson coach the team, Michael Hunt is the manager and Stuart McKay is the trainer. Bantam A Blue Rangers Posting four wins and a tie in its five games, the Oakville Rangers bantam A blue team claimed the title at the recent West Mall Lightning early bird hockey tournament. Colton Bales, Jacob Long, Jacob Rideout, Aidan Ecclestone, David Gunner, Niko Markakis and Evan Cochrane scored goals for Oakville, with Zak Gagne, Ben Currier, Lukas Georgas, Connor Kanalec, Iain Headrick, Brett Jeffrey and Tyson Bartlett collecting assists. Jacques-Niclas Seibt recorded two shutouts during the preliminary round and Tommas Meeussen blanked Meadowvale in the final. Paul Jeffrey, Jim Rideout and Doug Bartlett coach the Rangers, and Jeff Weekes and Russell Gunner are the team's trainers.