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THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, Mar. 25, 1994 â€" 18, | i $ An _ overtime goal is disallowed in game 3. A double overtime win in game six keeps the series hot! A one goal loss in game seven just broke the hearts of players and fans alike. One goal short of flying a championship banner at Oakville Arena, one goal short of challenging the number 2 team in Canada, the Orillia Terriers. One could moan forever, or second guess the adjustments made and not made during this hard fought series. All for not! It was a great, great series but it is over. The 1993â€"94 Oakville Blades mounted one of the finest runs at excellence in a few years and Oakville fans can talk proud of these aspiring »athletes. Some of them will move on next year to university or higher level leagues. A solid nucleus of young players will â€"return and coupled with a talented crop of homespun heroes, should bode well for another exciting year of Junior A hockey for this town. Oakville fans can also talk proud of the new union between its Junior and Minor Hockey programmes, a union which will entrench a comprehensive hockey development programme for this community. The Blades players, many of whom you met in this space, were all very excited about the renewed interest and support of fans. In particular they really enjoyed the hundreds of youthful hockey players who came to games, cheered their hearts out and visited their dressing room after games. They said it made playing the games much more fun and exciting. It is noped that readers enioyed this peérsonal glimpse into the Blades and that this column can return in the Fall. ldeas for this or game entertainment are always welcome. You can share these with any member of the Blades organization or your Minor Hockey Executive. In the meantime, have a safe and enjoyable off season. Playoff Scoring ce /75 M es Top Scorers Blades Player Profile ____ KENT WILLIAMS MiKERoBERrts _ #22 KENT WILLIAMS........ #19 MIKE ROBERTS...... #23 GORD KALVERDA.. #12 JASON e 6 #20 MATT INTERBARTOLO..... _ Hometown Heroes! _ _ Along with team captain, 5#22) Kent Williams, (#19) Mike Roberts and _ MATTSWAIN _ o it oo minute instructions from coach Greg Ireland. You can just feel the dejection in Oakville Blades goaltender Frank Ivankovic as his teamâ€"mates receive lastâ€" FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 1994 Page 18 (Photo by Barrie Erskine) Season ends with seventh game loss in Hamilton Oakville Blades jinxed again By Norman Nelson Oakville Beaver Sports Editor In a subdued dressing room, moments after losing the sevâ€" enth game of the divisional championship to the Kilty Bees at Hamilton‘s jamâ€"packed Mountain arena Tuesday night, Oakville Blades coach Greg Ireland was saying how he would be quite happy if none of the players returned next year. It‘s not that he wasn‘t pleased with their effort both in Tuesday‘s tough 6â€"5 loss in a building where they had not won all year and, indeed, throughout the year. Quite the opposite, he was proud of his troops which, but for a lucky break, could have easily been the ones fighting for the Provincial Junior A league championship against the Orillia Terriers in a bestâ€"ofâ€"seven series that started last night. But Ireland‘s hopes were that the players would be sucâ€" cessful in stepping up another rung in their hockey careers, graduating either to "the Big O (Ontario Hockey League)" or perhaps accepting a scholarship. MINOR OAKS HOCKEY ASSOCIATION INC. TOWN REP DIVISION OPEN "AAA" TRYOUTS Open to all players who wish for "AAA" Teams for 1994â€"1995 season MIDGET BANTAM MINOR BANTAM PEEWEE MINOR PEEWEE ATOM MINOR ATOM NOVICE MINOR NOVICE 1977/78 Sat., Mar. 26 1979 Sat., Mar. 26 1980 Sat., Mar. 26 1981 Thurs., Mar. 31 1982 Thurs., Mar. 31 1983 Thurs., Mar. 31 1984 Thurs., Mar. 24 1985 Thurs., Mar. 31 1986 Thurs., Mar. 31 9:30 p.m. â€" River Oaks 10:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 6:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. "That‘s what we‘re here for," he said. There will be some big skates to fill, but he hopes that with Oakville boasting one of the top midget teams in the country that they won‘t have to look too far. The Oakville Maple Leaf Foods midget team, which has , lent players to the Blades on many occasions this year, has earned a berth in the Air Canada Ontario regional champiâ€" onship from April 6â€"10. The winner of that tournament will face the bright lights of national television at the Air Canada Cup in Brandon, Manitoba from April 19â€"24. Losing such a close series in such a close seventh game is tough, but Ireland took it in stride. Sure, he knew that one measly lucky break swinging Oakville‘s way could have shiftâ€" ed the outcome in Oakville‘s favor. And he talked about them. For instance: what if the sudâ€" : denâ€"death overtime goal that Oakville thought had crossed the line in the third game (which Hamilton went on to win) had counted. What if the Blades could have obtained more ice (See ‘Blades‘, page 19) Something isn‘t right It can be said of the organizing committee of a major 56â€"team curling bonspiel being held at the Oakville Curling Club this weekend that the left hand didn‘t know what the right hand was doing. And furthermore, the left hand didn‘t care. Yes, it‘s that time of the year for a ungiue Oakville event â€" the leftâ€"handâ€" ed world curling championships. And just in case the title isn‘t explicit enough, tournament chairman Kurt Tamowski was kind enough to elaboâ€" _ rate: "Everybody‘s left handed. You don‘t have to worry about sitting at the end of the table, because everybody eats left handed." Tamowski, who has been in the tourâ€" nament for most of its 21 years, said it got off the ground when it suddenly dawned on a few people that "the Oakville club seemed to have a lot of left handed curlers. They got together and said, ‘hey, why don‘t we have a left handed tournament‘." Naturally, the whole set up caters to ONLY: to tryout Kinoak Kinoak River Oaks River Oaks River Oaks Maplegrove River Oaks River Oaks «. (#21) Matt Swain made local friends and residents very proud of the lades homespun players. Roberts and Wiltiams lead the scoring for the . Blades. In the meanwhile, Matt Swain had a very strong performance in the testy playoff series and accounted for himself excellently. He was _ quite strong in killing penalties and scored some key goals during the exciting playoff run. Swain has to figure large in the Blades plans for next season. As a rookie, he developed increased confidence as the season progressed. Roberts really came into his own in the playoffs and showed â€" great leadership with his play on the ice. Williams simply continued what he had contributed all season long. Stron%; tough play, scoring and . _ leadership ... true grit which exemplified the no quit attitude of this team. . Additional tryout dates, times and locations will be available at the first tryout. Cost: $7.00 â€" 1 Hour $10 â€" 1 1/2 Hours NOTE â€" "AA" "A" tryouts will be held in the fall as in previous years left handed people, including programs which read left across the page. While the majority of the rinks are from out of town, there is, unfortunateâ€" ly, no rinks from the United States or overseas this year. The tournament features 40 mens 16 womens rinks. If you run into them this weekend, be sure and give them a warm Oakville weclome, and don‘t forget to extend your left hand!