Be sure and check out the Mount Pearl Junior Blades Adult Dance on Saturday the 15th, 8pm at the Reid Community Center in Mt. Pearl.

The Mark’s Work Weahouse Mount Pearl Junior Blades will be holding a fund-raising poker tournament Wednesday, April 21st at the Red Rock Bar and Grill on Topsail Road. Entry is $20, with buy-ins for the first hour. There will be cash and prizes awarded to the winners, with a cash of upto $500 being available. To ensure a seat in this tournament, tickets are available in advance by e-mailing contact@jrblades.com

While it is always disappointing to lose a game 7, the Blades showed a lot of character by battling back from being down 3 games to 0 in their semi-final series with the Celtics. With the loss, and the end of the Blades season, this marks the end of the  junior careers of the Blades overage players. The Management, Coaching Staff, Players and Fans of the Mark’s Work Wearhouse Mount Pearl Junior Blades would like to thank Steve Bailey, Larry Gray, Paul Mitchelmore, Matt Woodford, Matt Ryan and Harry Bartlett for all of their efforts over their entire career with the Blades. We would like to wish these guys with the best of luck in all future endeavors. Hopefully you have enjoyed your time with the Blades as much as we have enjoyed having you guys a part of our team. Good Luck in the future boys and Thanks for your contributions.

The Blades shake hands with the Celtics after game 7. | Photo by: Colin Peddle

For the first time in 4 years, the Mark’s Work Wearhouse Mount Pearl Junior Blades will not be playing for the St.John’s Junior Hockey League Championship. The Junior Celtics defeated the Blades in game 7 on Sunday night by a score of 5-4. The Celtics will now playing the St.John’s Caps in the league finals.

The Blades opened the scoring as Brandon McDonald converted a 2-on-1 pass from Steve Bailey. Kyle Pardy replied for the Celtics, but McDonald scored his 2nd of the game quickly after that giving the Blades a 2-1 lead. The Celtics scored another goal before the end of the first, and the teams were tied in the intermission. The Celtics scored the loan goal of the second period, but controlled majority of the play as the Blades seemed as they could not get it out of their own zone. Goalie Nick Rodway kept the Blades in the game, as he has all series, making 35 saves in the loss. The third period seen the Celtics come out firing as they scored 2 early goals, and put them up 5-2. With a little over 6 minutes left, Lucas Dearing of the blades were assessed a 4 minute penalty for high-sticking. While on the Penalty kill, the Blades managed to score 2 goals, as Mike rose and Brandon McDonald, with his third of the game, scored to get the Blades within 1 of the Celtics. However, the Celtics managed to hold off the surging Blades, and the buzzer went with the Celtics winning. Game 1 of the League finals will go Tuesday night, Mar 23rd at Twin Rinks, game time 8:10pm.

Hillier slams home the overtime winner. | Photo by: Colin Peddle

It will all come down to one game. With a 5-4 overtime victory, the Mark’s Work Wearhouse Mount Pearl Junior Blades and Junior Celtics will battle it out in a game 7 to decide their semi-final series.

Kyle Pardy opened the scoring for the Celtics in the first period. The Celtics controlled most of the play in the first period, but Brandon McDonald tied the game before the end of the frame. The second period was controlled by the Blades, Steve Bailey scored a power play tally 3:33 into the 2nd and Aaron Schwartz made the game 3-1 at the midway mark. With just 2 minutes left in the period, a hit against the boards behind the Celtics net caused a pane of glass to shatter and play to be suspended. When play resumed after a delay, the momentum had shifted.  Shawn Roberts scored before the end of the 2nd and Pardy tied it up with his second of he game 9:33 into the third. Chris Ryan put the Celtics ahead just 46 seconds after the Pardy goal, making the game 4-3. As the clock was winding down, the Blades Lucas Dearing was kicked out of the game for checking from behind while the Blades were on a power play, meaning the play was now 4-on-4. With 1:31 left in regulation, Mark Hand and Paul Mitchelmore broke in on a 2-on-1 and Mitchelmore converted a pass from Hand to tie the game and send it into overtime. This set the stage for Luc Hillier. Just 1:38 into overtime, a scramble in front of the Celtics goal came out with Hillier scoring the game winning goal for the Blades, forcing a seventh and deciding game. Blades goalie Nick Rodway kept his team in this game once again, as he made many game-saving saves, and was once again named Jungle Jim’s Player of the Game as he made 37 saves in earning the ‘W’, Celtics goalie Andrew Stanford received Player of the Game for he Visiting Team.

Game 7 will be played Sunday night at O’Hehir arena at 7:45 pm. The winner of the game will then play the St.John’s Caps in the league finals.

Click for Larger View | Photo by: Colin Peddle

The Mark’s Work Wearhouse Mount Pearl Junior Blades are not going away quietly. After losing the first 3 games of the series against the Celtics, the Blades have rebounded to win the last 2 games. Sunday night, they defeated the Celtics 3-2.

The Blades scored the loan goal in the first period as Brandon McDonald scored from Steve Bailey and Mike Rose. Matthew Oates scored 2 goals for the Celtics in the second period, as the Blades were down 2-1 after 2 periods of play. In the third period, Steve Bailey scored the tying goal from Lucas Coady and Rose. The game winner was scored by Lucas Dearing who converted a nice pass from Bailey on a 2-on-1 with just 3:03 left to play in the game. The Blades fended off the surging Celtics in the final minutes of the game, as the Celtics were on the power-play and had their goalie pulled from the net in the last minute of the third period. The Blades played most of the game with only 5 defensemen as Larry Gray received a game misconduct for checking from behind just 7 minutes into the game.

Nick Rodway made 31 saves for the win, while David Parsons made 23 saves for the Celtics. Rodway was named Jungle Jim’s Visiting Team Player of the Game, while Oates was named Jungle Jim’s Home Team Player of the Game.

Game 6 is set for Wednesday night, March 17, at the Glacier in Mount Pearl. Game time is 7:30pm.

At the Glacier Friday night, the Mark’s Work Wearhouse Mount Pearl Junior Blades came out with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Junior Celtics. Brandon McDonald opened the scoring for the blades, with the assist coming from Steve Bailey. Matthew Oates replied for the Celtics, tying the game at 1’s. Mike Rose scored late in the second period, from Bailey and McDonald. There was no scoring in the third period. Nick Rodway once again stood tall between the pipes for the Blades, while Andrew Stanford was in net for the Celtics.

These teams will meet again in Game 5, Sunday night at O’Hehir Arena, game time 7:45.

In the other series, the St.John’s Junior Caps completed a sweep on the CBN Junior Stars. The win advances the Caps to the St.John’s Junior Hockey League final series. They will now await the winner of the Blades/Celtics series.