Three Weeks to Ice Hockey Varsity:

Oxford Men’s Blues crush London 9-6

By Calum TM Nicholson

Under the harsh floodlights of the Oxford Ice Rink, the Blues Ice Hockey men’s squad had their work cut out for them if they were to prove that ‘best of the rest’ was not to be their epitaph for the season as they faced the undefeated London Dragons on Saturday night.

Icing a deep bench of predominantly Russian and Canadian players, this was the same opponent who had pulled off a narrow victory in London during November 2009, a controversial result that proved to be Oxford’s first defeat in almost two years.

The early stages of Saturday’s game did not augur well for the home team and defending National Champions. It was only through luck that early turnovers in the defensive zone - as the team adjusted to the unusually wet ice - did not result in the Blues being down by multiple goals before the ten-minute mark. But by the end of the first period, and despite being out-shot 22-16, Oxford was leading 2-1 after a mid-ice slapshot from league-leading scorer William Bruce somehow trickled through the leg pads of an off-balance London keeper.

The second period saw a change of momentum as London came out flat. The 4-3 score after 40 minutes did not fully reflect Oxford’s dominance, as the Blues potent offence unleashed a fusillade on the visitors’ net, while the home defence, led with patience and skill by Johannes Sjostrand, neutralised London’s best players by keeping them out of the central scoring lanes.

The third period saw the Blues’ intensive off-ice fitness training pay off, as they posted five goals en route to a resounding 9-6 victory. ‘That was a team effort’, enthused Captain Ruben Leavitt, ‘this has been our strength throughout my two years on the team – we have depth and in each game different guys step up.’ On this night the stars were Julian de Hoog and Jarrad Aguirre, both of whom proved their clutch credentials, de Hoog potting a hat-trick and Aguirre a game-changing shorthanded breakaway goal. Aguirre’s performance was all the more remarkable given that he was playing in an unfamiliar position as a first line forward. ‘I’m actually a defenceman’ he explained after the game, ‘but you don’t turn down an opportunity to be the wheel-man on the highest scoring line in the league’.

Commenting afterwards on the significance of the match, Leavitt said: ‘this match kept us in the race for first place. We sent a message to London that they're not going to run away with this league.’ Asked about the upcoming VM, the captain added ‘this victory should inspire confidence in every one of us that we ought to take the Tabs to school.’

The Blues now have three more games in their extended home stand, cumulating in the Varsity Match, which will be played in Oxford at 4:30pm on Saturday 27 February.  For more info, visit our Varsity page.