Blades Showing “Hope” Under New Coach

Blenheim Blades Will McCracken (2) hauls down Admirals Bryce
McGregor (18) as he cuts to the net in front of starter Caleb Pinsonneault.
McCracken drew a tripping penalty on the play – Photo by Wyatt Williams/ CKSN.ca

The Blenheim Blades new coach Brett Hope had to be happy with the way his team performed against the Amherstburg Admirals Sunday night. The Blades and Admirals played to a 4-4 tie after three regulation periods and one OT.

Blenheim came out with a lot of jump, and had some good chances early, but it was the Admirals Mitchell Demelo that got a shot past Blades starter Caleb Pinsonneault at the 12:32 mark. In the dying seconds of the 1 st period, Blades leading scorer Seth Henderson tied things up with his 12 th goal of the season.

At the 4:22 mark of the second while killing a penalty, Amherstburg’s Andrew Clark put his team up by one. Ten minutes later Blades center Ryan Malott caused a turnover and went in to score, and again the game was all tied up. For the second time of the period, Blenheim gave up a short handed goal when Admirals Broden Meloche scored at the 18:26 mark.

Early in the third, while on a power play Blenheim’s Sebastian Stubberfield scored to tie the game up at 3-3. It was the Admirals who once again took the lead when Cody Schneider scored at 10:16. At the 14:38 mark, Ryan Malott notched his second of the night to tie the 4-4.

The teams then went into a 3-on-3 seven minute, extra period to try and determine a winner. One minute into the extra stanza, Blades Christian Moccia was tagged with a minor penalty for tripping. A good penalty kill, and outstanding goaltending by Pinsonneault helped the Blades kill it off. Blenheim’s Seth Henderson had two great chances late in the extra period, but his shots both sailed high, and the game would end in a tie.

The Blades next game is Thursday, Nov 7 in Petrolia, before they return home on Sunday to face Dresden Kings.

For the pic: