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Sports Oakville Beaver By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010 17 Blades get chance for revenge vs. Vees Mike Ingoldsby won't soon forget April 14, 2009. The Oakville Blades captain remembers traveling to Kingston that day with his team needing a victory to tie up the Ontario Junior Hockey League championship series at 3-3 and force a deciding game in Oakville. And Ingoldsby vividly recalls how horribly and quickly things went wrong that night, when the Voyageurs scored four times in the first nine minutes of the game and cruised to a 5-2 win, ending the Blades' season. "I thought about that a lot all summer," Ingoldsby said. Now Ingoldsby and fellow returnees Dan Hunt, Ryan Murphy, Dustin Alcock, Mark Bennett, Steven Guzzo and Kyle Badham have a chance to settle the score. Oakville and Kingston, the top two teams in the Ontario Junior A Hockey League this season, will square off again in this year's league final. The championship series is scheduled to begin tonight (Thursday) at Kingston's INVISTA Centre, with Game 2 slated for tomorrow (Friday, 7:30 p.m.) at Joshua's Creek Arenas. It's clear revenge is on the minds of the Blades' veterans. "It's a shot at redemption from last year. It's huge motivation," Ingoldsby said. "This time of year, you look for everything you can get. We've got a lot of guys back and we'll rely on that. "(The Voyageurs) are probably looking at it as they beat us last year," he added. "We're looking at it as a chance for revenge." It won't be easy. Kingston led the league from wire to wire, opening the year with a 1-0 win in Oakville and finishing the season with a 46-5-5 record. But the Blades, 46-9-1 during the regular season, are bolstered by the knowledge they beat Kingston in the last three meetings between the clubs, including a 2-1 win at the INVISTA Centre last month. The Voyageurs won all three home games against the Blades in last year's league final, outscoring Oakville 8-1 in the first period of those contests. "That was big for us," Ingoldsby said of the win in Kingston. "We'd never won there. We talked about that before that game, that it would be real big to get a bit of a comfort zone going in there. Now we know we can win there." Both teams have won their first two playoff series in five games. Kingston disposed of the Vaughan Vipers and Trenton Titans, while the Blades ousted the Aurora Tigers and Georgetown Raiders. Ingoldsby was surprised by the Blades' ability to get past Georgetown so easily last round, but felt Game 3 -- when Oakville rallied from a threegoal deficit in the third period to win 5-4 in overtime at Oakville Arena -- was the turning point. The Blades finished off the Raiders with a 6-2 win at Joshua's Creek on Friday. Alcock scored twice and Kyle Lysaght, Kellan Lain, Murphy and Bennett added singles in the victory. SNOW SCREEN: Steven Guzzo of the Oakville Blades (in blue) and Kyle Essery of the Georgetown Raiders spray snow as they chase the puck Friday at Joshua's Creek Arenas. Oakville defeated the rival Raiders 62 to win the Ontario Junior A Hockey League semifinal series in five games and advance to the league final against the Kingston Voyageurs. MICHAEL IVANIN / OAKVILLE BEAVER Appleby top seed at OFSAA hockey Aquinas also highly ranked for provincial tournament "Being ranked number one doesn't guarantee we will win, but it really is a feather in the cap for our school," said Dan Poliziani, the Blue Dogs' head Though the schools are separated by only a few coach. "We are a much smaller and younger team streets, the Appleby College Blue Dogs and St. Thomas than most of the others but this really says a lot about Aquinas Raiders have yet to cross paths the skill level of hockey players in in boys' hockey competition this season. "Being ranked Oakville. We aren't in the same pool as That may change at next week's number one doesn't Aquinas, but if we're both successful in Ontario Federation of School Athletic our round-robin games and meet up in guarantee we will Associations (OFSAA) A/AA tournament. the finals, it'll be a great game." Appleby, which competes in the win, but it really is The two teams have earned success Conference of Independent Schools a feather in the cap this year using different styles of play. Athletic Association, and Aquinas, a for our school." The Blue Dogs pride themselves on member of the Halton Secondary being a defensive-minded team, while Schools Athletic Association, are both n Appleby coach the Raiders found the back of the net at expected to contend for OFSAA medals. Dan Poliziani will during the regular season, scoring The Blue Dogs are the top seed at the 71 goals in 15 games. provincial championships, which begin Tuesday in St. Appleby won the prestigious MacPherson tournaCatharines, while the Raiders -- bronze medalists at ment earlier this season and was also crowned chamlast year's tournament -- are ranked fourth. See Raiders page 18 By Daniel Perry SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Oakville Blades vs. Kingston Voyageurs Thurs., March 18 - Oakville at Kingston, 7:30 p.m. Fri., March 19 - Kingston at Oakville, 7:30 p.m. Sun., March 21 - Oakville at Kingston, 2:30 p.m. Wed., March 24 - Kingston at Oakville, 7:30 p.m. Thurs., March 25 - Oakville at Kingston, 7:30 p.m. * Sat., March 27 - Kingston at Oakville, 7:30 p.m. * Wed., March 31 - Oakville at Kingston, 7:30 p.m. * * if necessary