By Sam Laskaris /
It was obviously not the ending they were hoping for.
But it was still a rather extremely successful season for the Oakville Blades.
The Blades were one of five clubs that participated in the Royal Bank Cup tournament, which concluded on May 11 in Cornwall, Ont.
Oakville posted a record of 1-3 record at the national tourney, which featured Junior A squads.
And the Blades, the Provincial Junior A Hockey League champions, were the first team eliminated from the event as they failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
“The organization is very proud of what they accomplished this year,” Blades’ coach/GM Carlo Coccimiglio said of his players. “The boys should keep their heads up.”
At the RBC, Oakville’s lone win was a 7-6 decision over Saskatchewan’s Humboldt Broncos, the eventual tournament champions.
Humboldt edged Alberta’s Camrose Kodiaks 1-0 in the championship final.
Camrose defeated Oakville 6-1 in round-robin action. The Blades were also downed 5-4 by the host Cornwall Colts and 4-3 in overtime by Nova Scotia’s Weeks Crushers.
Losing a pair of round-robin matches by one goal, and one of them in OT, was obviously disappointing for the Blades.
“It was a bounce here and bounce there,” Coccimiglio said. “Every game (except for the loss against Camrose) we had the lead and we just couldn’t hold it.”
For those who followed the Oakville squad all season, they noticed one major difference in the Blades at the nationals. They were forced to play the tournament without Scott Greenham, their number one goaltender.
That’s because Greenham, who will attend the University of Alaska-Fairbanks this coming season, turned 21 on Apr. 24. An NCAA rule stipulates that if an individual plays for an organized team for any length of time after he turns 21, then that counts as a full year of eligibility.
As a result, Greenham opted to retain his full four years of NCAA eligibility and did not suit up for the Blades at the nationals.
Coccimiglio believes his side would have enjoyed more success at the Canadian tournament had Greenham taken part. Perhaps even winning the national crown.
“We had a good shot at it,” Coccimiglio said.
Greenham, who had 27 wins and an impressive 2.32 goals-against average in 35 regular season games, was one of the main reasons the Blades had an envious 39-6-4 mark.
A highlight for the Oakville club included a 20-game winning streak, which lasted from November through January.
Oakville, which received an opening-round playoff bye, then won four playoff rounds to capture its league championship. Before advancing to the RBC, however, the Blades also had to win the Dudley Hewitt Cup, a four-team qualifying tournament.
“There was a lot of positives this season,” Coccimiglio said. |