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Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 45 | Thursday, September 8, 2016 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Nov. 25, 7:30 p.m. vs Whitby Nov. 26, 7:30 p.m. vs St. Mike's Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. at Burlington Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m. vs Buffalo Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m. vs Mississauga Dec. 11, 7:30 p.m. at Toronto Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m. vs Georgetown Dec. 17, 7 p.m. at Orangeville Dec. 22, 5:30 p.m. at Tor. Patriots Dec. 30, 7:30 p.m. at Milton Jan. 6, 7:30 p.m. vs Burlington Jan. 8, 3 p.m. at North York Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m. vs Orangeville Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m. at Milton Jan. 15, 7 p.m. at Aurora Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m. at Tor. Patriots Jan. 23, 7 p.m. vs Burlington* Jan. 25, 4 p.m. vs. Georgetown* (*Winter Showcase in Trenton) Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m. at St. Mike's Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m. at Stouffville Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m. vs Toronto Oakville Blades regular season schedule (Home games in bold) Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m. vs Georgetown Sept. 14, 8 p.m. at Toronto Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m. at Lindsay Sept. 18, 2 p.m. at St. Mike's Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m. vs Mississauga Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m. at Georgetown Sept. 25, 1:30 p.m. at Markham Sept. 27, 4:30 p.m. vs Kingston* Sept. 28, 10 a.m. vs. Pickering* *Governor's Showcase in Buffalo Oct. 1, 8 p.m. at Mississauga Oct. 6, 7:30 p.m. at Newmarket Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m. vs Toronto Oct. 9, 3 p.m. at North York Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m. vs St. Mike's Oct. 15, 7 p.m. at Orangeville Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m. vs Cobourg Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m. vs Burlington Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m. vs Tor. Patriots Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m. vs Welland Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. vs Buffalo Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m. vs Milton Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m. at Georgetown Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m. vs Orangeville Nov. 13, 6:30 p.m. at Buffalo Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m. vs North York Nov. 19, 8 p.m. at Mississauga Feb. 10, 7:30 p.m. vs North York Feb. 12, 6 p.m. at Buffalo Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m. at Burlington Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. vs Tor. Patriots Feb. 20, 1:30 p.m. vs Trenton Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m. vs Milton Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m. vs Markham Back for a fourth year with the Oakville Blades is stellar netminder Brendan McGlynn (above in action last season). He'll be the main goalie for the Blades as they celebrate their 50th anniversary throughout the 2016-17 season. The Blades open the season on Friday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex againt the Georgetown Raiders at 7:30 p.m. | photo by Kevin Sousa -- OJHL Images A special season for Oakville Blades By Jon Kuiperij Special to the Beaver The Oakville Blades have high hopes that their 50th anniversary season will indeed be a golden one. Oakville brings back the majority of its forwards from an offence that ranked third in the Ontario Junior Hockey League last season, sparking the Blades to a first-place finish in the South Division. Add a returning netminder and a couple of 20-year-olds to a core group that has already been together for several years, and the Blades appear to have reason for optimism as they prepare to open their semicentennial campaign Friday, Sept. 9 at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex versus the Georgetown Raiders (7:30 p.m. start.) "I think we're well balanced this year. Last year, we were extremely offensive (minded) but struggled to play a good defensive game," said Oakville head coach Mike Tarantino, whose team allowed the third-most goals of any team to finish above .500 in 2015-16. "We've added some size and grit and toughness. We'll be a little more difficult to play against, and we've still got a good group of skill. We're a mature team." Among the key returnees up front are Christian Rajic, Drew Worrad, Bryce Misley, Ryan Foss and Jackson Bales, all of whom finished in the top 10 in team scoring last year. Additions to the forward ranks include Chris Brill-Morgan, who averaged better than a point a game with the Stouffville Spirit in 201516, and Tyler Hildebrandt, coming off a 50-point season in Jr. B. They'll be asked to help fill the void left by departed forwards Josh Kosack, Ryan Garvey and Tyler Rollo, who were three of the Blades' top four point producers last year. The other player in the top four was defenceman Patrick Kudla, who was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes this summer and is now with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. Tarantino concedes that it's impossible to replace Kudla's skill set, but hopes that other improvements on the back end (including 20-year-old veteran Nicholas Tu- renko and 1999-born stay-at-home defenceman Jeff Clarke) will help offset the loss of the league's top blueliner. "The biggest thing that will hurt us not having Kudla around is that he was a big component on a power play that was extremely successful," Tarantino said. "In terms of five-on-five, collectively we are deeper than last year." The goaltending chores will once again be primarily manned by Brendan McGlynn, who has a 4824-3 record and 3.12 goals-against average in three seasons with the Blades. McGlynn will be backed up by 17-year-old Oakville midget Rangers product Chris Elliot. The Blades will be captained this year by Bales, who joins Rajic, Mc- Glynn and defenceman Daniel Jelic as Oakville residents who have been with the team for several seasons. "I think they want to see this out. They all came in as rookies together and they've been working towards this (year). They took another step closer last year, going to Game 7 in the second round," said Blades general manager Jordan Selinger. Being part of the Blades' 50th anniversary season will provide extra motivation, especially with 12 of the team's 22 players being local natives. "It means something to them. They know the history. It's been a pretty successful franchise over the years," Selinger said. "They want to be a piece of that."