Defensive defenceman developing all-around
game
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| Jackson Caller has 10 points in his last 15 games for the Blades. |
Jackson Caller still gets surprised when he scores.
The 18-year-old sophomore defenceman with the Saskatoon Blades
slipped home a shot at the 9:20 mark of a WHL regular season clash with the
Edmonton Oil Kings at the SaskTel Centre on Friday night to give his team a 3-0
lead. After the goal went in, Caller was looking around to see who had scored
and didn’t realize he had netted his third of the year.
“I just kind of sprung down the right side there, and
luckily it got past the defenceman there,” said Caller. “I just shot it on net,
and luckily, it took a funny bounce and went in there.”
The goal put a cap on a strong night for the Kamloops, B.C.,
product, who posted a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department to help
the Blades skate away with a 5-0 victory before 3,309 spectators.
Known as a defensive-defenceman, Caller’s offensive game has
been rounding into form.
Since the Blades returned from the WHL’s Christmas
break, he has posted two goals and eight assists in 15 games.
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| Jackson Caller (#52) weaves his way into the offensive zone for the Blades. |
On the season, Caller has three goals, 17 assists and a
minus-four rating in 49 games. Besides playing regular shifts against the
oppositions’ top forward units, Caller has found himself playing the point on
the Blades power play on a more regular basis.
He said he is surer of himself in the offensive zone.
“Confidence is a huge thing,” said Caller. “I’ve been a lot
more comfortable out there jumping in the play and getting shots through.
“Offence is coming, which is nice. It is good for the team. It
feels great just to contribute to the team, so I want to keep doing that moving
forward.”
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| Michael Farren (#27) had a goal for the Blades. |
The Blades received singles from Josh Paterson and Max
Gerlach to go along with Caller’s tally in building their 3-0 lead. Gerlach’s
tally came on the power play.
The opening surge chased Oil Kings starting goalie Josh
Dechaine at the media break of the opening frame from the Edmonton net. He
stopped just five of eight shots sent his way.
Todd Scott turned away 17-of-19 shots playing almost 50
minutes the rest of the way in relief.
Saskatoon’s advantage grew to 4-0 with 2:57 remaining in the
second period, when rookie centre Kirby Dach found sophomore right-winger
Michael Farren. Farren proceeded to pot his fourth goal of the season. Dach had two assists on the night.
Overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr sealed the win netting his
99th career WHL regular season goal in the third period.
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| Netminder Nolan Maier covers up the puck in a shutout performance. |
The Oil Kings fell to 13-28-5-2 with the loss.
With the Blades having won just two of their previous eight
games heading into action on Friday, head coach Dean Brockman said the win was
big for his club, even though the Oil Kings have had their struggles.
“At this time of year, they are all must wins,” said
Brockman. “It doesn’t matter who you play, whether they are below us or above
us in the standings.
 |
| Kirby Dach had two assists for the Blades. |
The Blades pulled out the convincing win minus two of their
most experienced defenceman. Overage captain Evan Fiala sat out a one-game
league imposed suspension for taking a cross-checking major penalty in the
Blades 7-3 loss to the Pats in Regina on Wednesday night.
Saskatoon was also without 19-year-old rearguard Dawson
Davidson due to illness.
Due to the fact Fiala and Davidson weren’t available, the
Blades played with five regular defenceman and moved winger Logan Christensen
to the back end.
Caller said the younger defensive group that hit the ice had
a solid game for the Blades, and he liked his club’s overall effort.
“It was huge to get back on track here,” said Caller. “It
was a good win tonight.
“Guys were going. Guys were moving their feet and finishing
checks. That is what we like to see and moving forward we have to keep doing
that.”
The Blades improved to 24-23-2-1 with the win to hold the
second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a four point edge
over the Prince Albert Raiders (19-20-7-2). The Raiders have two games in hand
on the Blades.
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| The Blades salute the SaskTel Centre crowd after their win. |
Brockman hopes the good vibes from Friday will carry over
for the Blades into their game on Saturday, when they host the Prince George
Cougars at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
“It feels good,” said Brockman. “I think we lacked
confidence in that room.
“Since the (WHL trade) deadline, we haven’t done what we
think we can do. For us, to get a win and to get the win the way we did I think
it is really important. Now, we just have to take that confidence going into
tomorrow.”
The Blades return to action Saturday, when they host the
Prince George Cougars (18-24-4-3) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
Vance topples Thunderbirds for a third time
 |
| Jessica Vance picked up her seventh shutout of the season on Friday. |
On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the
20-year-old sophomore netminder made 13 saves to back her University of
Saskatchewan Huskies to a 2-0 victory over the Thunderbirds, who are rated
third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. In the current campaign, Vance had
started all of the Huskies three regular season encounters with the Huskies,
and she has come out victorious on each occasion.
The Prince Albert, Sask., product leads the Canada West
Conference in individual shutouts by a goalie at seven. The Huskies have won
three straight, and Vance has posted shutouts in each of those contests.
As a team, the Huskies have 10 shutouts to lead Canada West.
In the 93 regular season games played in the 2017-18 campaign in the Canada
West Conference in women’s hockey, the eight teams on the circuit have combined
for 46 shutouts.
Third-year defender Leah Bohlken scored in the second period
to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead on Friday, and fifth-year forwards Kori Herner
and Kennedy Harris picked up assists on the play.
Third-year defender Emma Nutter scored on a power play in
the third period to round out the scoring for the host side. Fifth-year
defender Kira Bannatyne and Herner picked up assists on Nutter’s tally.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 15-7-1, while the
Thunderbirds fell to 16-5-2.
The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at
Rutherford.
UBC’s Hewitt stones Huskies
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| Sam Ruopp scored for the Huskies on Friday. |
On Friday night at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
in Vancouver, B.C., Hewitt stopped 40-of-41 shots fired his way to back his
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a 5-1 victory over the Huskies,
who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Friday’s encounter marked
the first time the Thunderbirds managed to beat the Huskies in the three
head-to-head regular season meetings between the two sides in 2017-18.
The Thunderbirds, who have won five in a row, led 2-0 after
the first period and 4-0 after the second period before posting their 5-1
victory. The Huskies saw their four-game winning streak snapped due to the
setback.
Michael Stenerson recorded two goals and an assist for the
Thunderbirds. He scored his second tally into an empty net with 2:05 to play in
the third period.
Nick Buonassisi, Carter Popoff and Matt Revel all had
singles for UBC.
Sam Ruopp had the lone reply for the Huskies. Jordon Cooke
turned away 13-of-17 shots to take the setback in the U of S goal.
The Thunderbirds improved to 13-9-1 with the win, while the
Huskies fell to 18-4-1. The Huskies trail the University of Alberta Golden
Bears (19-3-1) by two points for first place in the Canada West Conference.
The Huskies and Thunderbirds go at it again on Saturday in
Vancouver.
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