Blades beat Walpole Wild 9-3, back alone in second

Sunday on “Boo-tus Halloween Costume Contest Night” the Blenheim Blades, after leading the Walpole Island Wild 3-2 after the first period, skated to a 9-3 PJHL Stobbs Division victory at the Blenheim arena.

    The Blades, after dropping three games – two to Lakeshore and one to Essex – now have 18 points thanks to their 9-3-0-0 record, and are alone in second place, one point ahead of the Wheatley Sharks.

   Next action for the Blades will be Saturday when they bus to Amherstburg to play the last-place Admirals at 7:30 p.m., before returning home Sunday to host the Sharks at 7.

    Tate Bowden and Brad McAlpine scored twice Sunday for Blenheim, with singles going to Ryan Sanders, Alec Webster, Andrew Goulet, Matt Hayter and Quinn Pickering.

    Bowden now has 10 goals on the season, McAlpine six, Goulet four, Hayter three, Sanders three. For Webster and Pickering the tallies were the first of the season, and for Pickering it was his first Junior goal.

    Rookie Everett Swayze picked up three assists, with Goulet also getting three, Zach Van Boxtel, newcomer Landon Hoskins, Craig Spence and Bowden two each, and, Hayter, Justin Ewald, Sanders and Beau Moison helping out with one each.

   Gerrin Church, Logan Dobransky and Cohen Veenstra scored for Walpole.

      BLADES BITS: Prior to the national anthem a minute of silence was held in memory of Lakeshore Canadiens forward Sylvian Lessard who was killed in a motor vehicle accident Tuesday night…Mascot Brutus Blade looked after handing out prizes to various fans who came dressed in Halloween costumes…Jake Vancoillie was in net for the Blades and faced 19 shots, with just one coming in the third period…The Blades had 41 shots on the Walpole net…Blades forward Breck Rainey sat out his final game of a six-game suspension, and will return to the lineup Saturday in Amherstburg…Also not dressed for the Blades were Darby Lemieux, Remi Steen and Ryan Hayter, who is unavailable because his job…Goulet was named the game’s first star, Bowden the second and McAlpine the third…Attendance was 517…The ice was sponsored by the Willow Ridge Golf and County Club.