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| Max Gerlach (#9) hugs goalie Dorrin Luding after Saturday’s win. |
On Saturday, the Blades ensured they will make their long
awaited return to the WHL playoffs locking up a post-season berth with a 4-3
regular season victory after a tiebreaking shootout over the visiting Kootenay
Ice at the SaskTel Centre. Saskatoon will be part of the WHL post-season for
the first time since 2013.
Going into that contest with the Ice, the Blades and their
fans knew they would clinch a playoff berth with a win and either a regulation
loss that night by either the Brandon Wheat Kings or the Red Deer Rebels.
The
Wheat Kings were in Prince Albert taking on the Raiders, while the Rebels were
hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings in Red Deer.
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| Dorrin Luding (#31) stops the final shooter in the shootout. |
Due to the fact we live in an age when people can get
instant information on their mobile phones, it is safe to say most of the 4,334
in attendance at the SaskTel Centre knew the Wheat Kings were getting drubbed
by the Raiders 7-1.
The Blades were up on the Ice 3-1 going into the third
period only to have the Ice rally to tie things up at 3-3 and force overtime.
As fate would have it, the standings point the Blades gained going to extra
time would give them a playoff spot. The fact Rebels fell to the Oil Kings 5-2
cemented that scenario.
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| Chase Wouters was floating on air after Saturday’s win. |
Had the Blades lost in extra time to go to the post-season, it
would have made the night feel incomplete. People would have likely dwelled on
the fact the Blades still ultimately lost.
After getting the win, it seemed like everyone was in a type
of joyful mood that hadn’t been seen for some time in a Blades game at the
SaskTel Centre. The moment had a special feeling in the air.
For the current Blades players, coaches, trainers, hockey
staff and front office staff, there was a sense of accomplishment. Getting to
the playoffs is one of those tangible pieces of proof that validates all the
hard work it took to get to that point.
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| Kirby Dach turns up ice for the Blades on Saturday night. |
Edmonton product Mike Priestner bought the Blades from Jack Brodsky before the start of the 2013-14 campaign. The new regime faced a major
rebuilding project due to the fact the Blades’ future was mortgaged to stock
the team with a roster worthy of hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013 and a major
trade that brought star hometown product Brayden Schenn to the club in the
2010-11 campaign.
Mike’s son, Colin, began working with the team almost
immediately and took over the role of general manager before the start of the
2016-17 campaign.
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| Blades fans participate in a game during a stoppage. |
The first legitimate chance the Blades had to return to the
playoffs came in the 2016-17 season.
They posted a 28-35-7-2 record to sit five
points behind the Calgary Hitmen (30-32-8-2) for the second and final wildcard
berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference in that campaign after a slump inside of
the team’s final 11 games.
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| The Blades celebrate a goal from Reece Harsch (#52). |
The 2017-18 campaign proved to be more heartbreaking. The
Blades posted a 35-33-3-1 regular season record to fall three points shy of the
Prince Albert Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second and final wildcard berth in
the Eastern Conference. Again struggles in the final 11 games of the regular
season caused a playoff berth to be missed.
 |
| Zach Huber, middle, breaks in on a scoring chance. |
Blades mascot Poke Check was posing for pictures with happy
fans.
Blades captain Chase Wouters, who is in his third full
season with the Blades, seemed to be walking on air after the game. His wide
smile was infectious.
The moment was a great one for Blades 19-year-old netminder
Dorrin Luding. Last June, the Blades acquired Luding in a trade with the
Seattle Thunderbirds.
 |
| Clayton Kroeker rocks an “Uncle Gary” T-shirt. |
Right now, Luding wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but
Saskatoon.
Crnkovic, who turned 17-years-old earlier this month, seemed
to still be wide-eyed taking in the realization of what went down on Saturday
during post-game interviews.
Even first year head coach Mitch Love allowed himself exit
his coached focused persona to loosen up and say he was excited about the fact
the Blades will be back in the playoffs.
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| Ryan Hughes sets up for a scoring chance for the Blades. |
Since bringing back their traditional Pac-Man jerseys as
their full-time look before the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the Blades are
73-47-11-1.
For the longest time during the lean years in the rebuild,
Blades president Steve Hogle received a tonne of credit for helping create some
great promotions around home games. The hockey side of the team’s operations
longed to have the good on ice product to go with those promotions.
Now, the Blades have a total package. They also have a very
likable and great group of players to follow too, and six of them have cool
novelty T-shirts for fans to buy too.
Another thing that will make things fun is going to the
playoffs and taking in the experiences will feel new once again. The Blades
will write their own story on a clean slate. Most with the club don’t have any
links to past post-season forays.
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| The Blades celebrate locking up a playoff berth on Saturday. |
No matter what happens going forward, those linked with the
current Blades will always remember how good Saturday’s post-season clinching
win over the Ice felt at the SaskTel Centre.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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