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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, September 10, 2015 | 38 Sports Will youth be served? Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com "Connected to your Community" Blades light on experience and size, but expect to win by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor T hey're one of the youngest teams in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, and one of the smaller ones, too. But though the Oakville Blades may appear to be building towards next season, when they hope to host the Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canadian championships, they don't see why they can't win now as well. "Last year, we found the formula of having a bit of an older team didn't work the way we thought it would," said Blades general manager Mike Daley, whose team could feature five 1998-born players and three 1999s in its lineup when it welcomes the Georgetown Raiders tomorrow (Friday, 7:30 p.m.) for its home opener at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. "What has worked in the league the last two years has been young, quick, aggressive teams... That's the model we're trying to fit right now, to get the best possible young players and let them develop and grow." The Blades opened the 2015-16 OJHL campaign last weekend with mixed results. Oakville looked flat in its curtain-raiser Friday afternoon in Burlington before scoring twice in the final four minutes of regulation to force overtime, then winning the game 5-4 on 17-year-old Eric Holland's goal in double OT. Saturday in Georgetown, the Blades were thumped 8-2 on the scoreboard, though their hosts -- who received an honourable mention in the Canadian Junior Hockey League preseason rankings -- outshot Oakville by just a 33-27 margin. "We didn't play bad against Georgetown. We dominated that game for portions of time. We gave up six odd-man chances, and four ended up in the back of our net. We gave up three Oakville Blades forward Drew Worrad (in white) protects the puck from Burlington Cougars defender David Kiss during the Ontario Junior Hockey League season opener for both teams Friday in Burlington. Oakville won 5-4 in overtime. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog power plays and got scored on on two of them," Daley said. "We just need to shore up defensively a bit." Defencemen have potential With just two returning blueliners -- including Daniel Jelic, who is also the only Blades player who tips the scales at 200 pounds or more, compared to five on Georgetown's roster -- Oakville's back end could be a work in progress this season. But the ceiling on the defence corps appears high, particularly Patrick Kudla, a OAKVILLE SOCCER CLUB Week Fifteen Photo Contest Winner: Photographer: Hannah Vosper Age Division: BU9 Ford Sponsored by: A Proud Sponsor of Oakville Soccer Club Oakville Beaver 19-year-old who stands out for his poise handling the puck in his own end and leading the breakout. "He's the best in the league on the offensive side. You can't teach what he has," Blades head coach Mike Tarantino said of Kudla, a Guelph native who was converted from forward to defence last year in junior B. "He'll still make his defensive miscues, but that being said, he's a magician with the puck in the offensive end. I don't want any of our other D playing like him, but he's got a long leash." Another asset on the Oakville blueline is highlytouted local product Ian Blacker, who verbally committed to Western Michigan University before the London Knights drafted him in this year's OHL Priority Selection. There had been speculation that Blacker might join his older brother Ben, a goaltender and also a WMU recruit, this season in the United States Hockey League with Cedar Rapids. "He's here with (us) for the entire year, and then he That's the model... get the best possible young players and let them develop and grow. Oakville Blades general manager Mike Daley may go to the U.S.," Tarantino said. "He wants to do well, he works hard, he's a great kid. It'll just come down to adjusting to the junior game, the speed, and not putting too much pressure on himself. We're telling him to have some fun. You'll make some mistakes, just learn from them." Other rearguards include Oakville native Brayden Sampson, Michael Mannara, Nicholas Alvaro and returnee Paul Butler. They'll play in front of two Oakville-born netminders, Brendan McGlynn and Michael Botiz. Third-year veteran McGlynn started both games last weekend and was a big reason the Blades remained within striking distance of Burlington before their late rally Friday. "Brendan's got the ball going forward. Michael is our second goalie; I don't want to call him a backup because he'll be a very, very good goalie in our league," said Daley, who anticipates the goaltending chores will be a 60/40 split. "Right now, Brendan's our guy. He's put in his time, and it's his opportunity." Many new forwards Offensively, Josh Kosack (18 goals, 18 assists in 42 games) is the only returnee who ranked among the top seven in team scoring a year ago. The other returning forsee Blades on p.39