Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca Adam Campbell 905-844-4444 R E A L T YC O R P. B R O K E R A G E I N D E P E N D E N T LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D Broker of Record SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010 25 CENTRAL CANADA CHAMPS: The Oakville Blades won the Dudley Hewitt Cup last weekend to qualify for the RBC Cup national junior A hockey championships in Manitoba. In far photo, players celebrate with the Dudley Hewitt Cup. In near photo, captain Mike Ingoldsby accepts the trophy from Hockey Canada's Rick Richardson. PHOTOS BY JIM EGAN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Blades headed back to national tournament By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR For the second time in three years, the Oakville Blades are preparing to take the national stage. Oakville qualified for the RBC Cup national junior A hockey championship tournament Saturday, winning the Dudley Hewitt Cup championship with a 21 victory over the Fort William North Stars in Sault Ste. Marie. The Blades will represent Central Canada at the RBC Cup, which will also feature the Pacific champion Vernon Vipers, West champion La Ronge Ice Wolves, East champion Brockville Braves and tournament host Dauphin Kings. The tournament begins this Saturday in Dauphin, Manitoba. "I know it's not too exciting out there," said Blades forward Kellan Lain, who was the MVP of the Dudley Hewitt Cup. "But I'm definitely excited to go play some hockey there." Oakville went 4-0 at the Dudley Hewitt Cup, defeating Fort William, the Abitibi Eskimos and host Soo Thunderbirds in the round robin before edging the North Stars in the final. Ryan Murphy scored the game- winning goal Saturday, deflecting a point shot by Blades defenceman Alex Cord at the 5:24 mark of the third period. But the bigger moment of the final for the Blades might have taken place in the first period, when the game was still scoreless. Oakville was two men short for a 1:32 stretch early in the game. But the Blades not only killed the penalties off, they also scored a shorthanded goal as Mark McGowan banged in his own rebound 7:52 into the contest. "It was just a big momentum shift," said Steven Guzzo, one of the Oakville penalty killers during the 5-on-3. "Once we killed it, we just kind of knew that this game was ours." Kyle Badham, who was watching the game from outside the glass after being ejected for hitting from behind, agreed. "It was a big kill, and then McGowan got that goal," said Badham, who had six points at the Dudley Hewitt Cup and shared the tournament's top scorer award with Abitibi's Marc-Alain Begin. "I think it really lifted the team up." Fort William would tie the game 1-1 in the second period, taking advantage of an ill-advised pass by Blades goalie Daniel Savelli. But Savelli atoned for his mistake the rest of the way, finishing the game with 21 stops and concluding the tournament with a 4-0 record, allowing only three goals in the four games. Savelli and Mike Morissette have provided Oakville with depth in goal all season. While Savelli played every minute of the Dudley Hewitt Cup and got the bulk of the playing time in the Ontario Hockey Association final against the Newmarket Hurricanes, Morissette was the winning goaltender in Game 7 of the Blades' previous playoff round against the defending Ontario Junior Hockey League champion Kingston Voyageurs. That means goaltending shouldn't be an issue at this year's RBC Cup, something that wasn't the case when the Blades went 1-3 and failed to reach the playoff round at the 2008 tournament in Cornwall. That year, the Blades' main backstop was Scott Greenham. But OAKVILLE BLADES 2009-10 Central Canada Junior A Hockey Champions PLAYERS: Bradley Ryan, Thomas Evans, Nick Rivait, Alex Cord, Kyle Blaney, Dan Hunt, Steven Guzzo, Andrew Santino, Ryan Murphy, Stephen Hickey, Dustin Alcock, Tyler Karius, Kellan Lain, Michael Ingoldsby, Mark McGowan, Mike Morissette, Daniel Savelli, Kyle Lysaght, Steven Trojanovic, Josh Ranalli, Nick Scamurra, Kyle Badham, Mark Bennett STAFF: Gary Tune, Carlo Coccimiglio, Jason Nobili, Chris Vanstone, Matt Moore, Brandon Cordua, James Brock, Jim Holman, David Scamurra, Jim Shanks, Dr. Benjamin Fryer, Craig Clayton, Caroline Low Greenham quit the team just prior to the RBC Cup in order to maintain his NCAA eligibility for the following season, thrusting the team's little-used backup into the starting role. "We had a tough situation with our goalie last time," Lain admitted. "(Greenham) was our best player by far. I know, probably, mentally it affected us a little. "It's really nice (having two top goalies). They push each other. If one of them's not playing well, we don't need to worry because we know both of them are capable of playing well. It's good for the team not having to worry back there so we can just play confidently no matter who's in there." Lain, Guzzo and Badham -- all local residents -- were part of that 2008 team, as were Dustin Alcock and Dan Hunt. The experience of having been there before should provide a big advantage this time around, the veterans said. "The teams there are really good," said Lain. "They're the best teams in the country. If you're not on top of your game, you're not going to win. "We just have to go there prepared and wanting to win and play our best and see what happens."