Blades get their hometown guy

Moore signs with WHL club a day after Prospects Draft

Blades GM Colin Priestner, left, is pictured with Zachary Moore.

It only took one night for the Saskatoon Blades to get their guy, and their guy to get his team.

On Friday morning, the Blades inked 15-year-old forward and hometown product Zachary Moore to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. 

The Blades selected Moore in the second round and 34^th overall in the WHL Prospects Draft that was held online on Thursday.

He was the first of 10 players the Blades picked in that draft.

Moore, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 150 pounds, has posted 10 goals and seven assists in 21 regular season contests with the Saskatoon Contacts of the Saskatchewan Male Under-18 AAA Hockey League. 

He is the Contacts leading scorer and has helped them post a 12-6-3 record so far this season.

Moore was pumped to be drafted by the Blades and sign with his hometown WHL club just a day later.

“It is such a great feeling (with) growing up watching all the Blades and seeing how they play,” said Moore. “I’ve always dreamed of playing in the WHL.

Zachary Moore signs a WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Blades.

“To get the opportunity to play with my hometown team, it is such an amazing feeling.”

He said his favourite Blades player was centre Kirby Dach, who now plays for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. Including the 19 games he played in his 15-year-old season, Dach suited up for the Blades from 2016 to 2019 before being selected in the first round and third overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Blackhawks.

“My favourite NHL team is the Chicago Blackhawks, so watching (Kirby) Dach go there after playing here, he is just an amazing talent,” said Moore. “He is so quick.

“He was probably my favourite player just to watch for the Blades.”

Blades general manager Colin Priestner was pleased his club was able to select Moore.

Zachary Moore, left, shakes hands with Blades GM Colin Priestner.

“It is pretty exciting for us to have a player like Zach (Moore) to come in here,” said Priestner. “Having the local ties is something that we felt was very important to us when you have a character like Zach who has very, very high character.

“He is someone that we just heard so many great things about from so many coaches and teammates and just different people in hockey throughout the province the over last couple of months. The opportunity came yesterday.”

Moore can played five games with the Blades this season and could potentially join the WHL squad full time, when the Contacts season comes to a conclusion.

Priestner said it is a bonus that Moore doesn’t have to travel far to suit up for the Blades, if they need to call him up.

“The great news is we know if we have sickness, injury or anything like that, he (Moore) can be here in 15 minutes to play on short notice,” said Priestner.

Moore said he is a player that prides himself on being able to play both ends of the ice.

“I think my 200-foot game is what sets me apart from other players,” said Moore. “My defensive ability is very good.

Zachary Moore, centre, is pictured with his parents.

“In the offensive zone, I also bring great vision, so I can set up my teammates very well. I feel like I just make the players around me better, which can bring impact to any line or any certain situation that I am being put into.”

Priestner is looking forward to what the future holds for Moore with the Blades.

“He is a guy we really targeted with our first pick,” said Priestner. “I couldn’t be more pleased to have Zach and his family here today to sign his standard player agreement with the Blades and begin his career here as a Saskatoon Blades prospect and potentially as soon as next year be a Blade.”

Funk’s cash in for Hitmen and untimely one for Blades

The Hitmen celebrate their winning goal by Zac Funk (#24).

Zac Funk broke the hearts of the Saskatoon Blades.

With the Blades locked in a 2-2 tie with Funk’s Calgary Hitmen, the 18-year-old right-winger received the puck in the left slot on a nice pass from linemate Sean Tschigerl and quickly snapped home a shot to put the Hitmen up 3-2 with 4:22 remaining in the third period of Friday’s WHL regular season clash between the two sides.

Funk’s timely goal, which was his second of the night, stood up as the winner as 19-year-old centre Riley Fiddler-Schultz potted an empty netter with 37.6 seconds remaining in the third to deliver the Hitmen to a 4-2 victory to disappoint most of the 2,946 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

Both of Funk’s goals were timely momentum changers that allowed the Hitmen to hold an upper hand on the Blades, who were playing their first home game since downing the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-3 in overtime on November 9.

The Blades vacated the SaskTel Centre as the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials were held in their home rink from November 20 to 28.

Zac Funk scored twice for the Hitmen on Friday.

The Hitmen started Friday’s game carrying the momentum. They broke through on the scoreboard at the 11:39 mark of the opening frame with a goal coming off the stick of right-winger Adam Kydd.

The Blades evened the score 1-1 with 2:44 remaining in the first on a nifty play by star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic. Deep in the Calgary zone by left side of the Hitmen goal, Crnkovic stole the puck from 20-year-old centre Cael Zimmerman and immediately wired home the equalizer to the top left corner of the net.

That set the stage for Funk to step up with his first timely momentum changing tally.

With 16.5 seconds remaining in the first, Funk put the Hitmen back in front 2-1 shoveling a loose puck into the back of the Blades net during a net scramble.

In the second, both teams zipped up and down the ice with a lot of speed but there weren’t a whole lot of scoring chances with the Hitmen holding an 8-6 edge in shots on goal in the stanza.

The Blades best chance to score came when right-winger Brandon Lisowsky was stoned from close in front of the Calgary goal.

Kyle Crnkovic scored for the Blades on Friday.

Late in the second period, the Hitmen had their best chance to score close in at the right side of the Saskatoon goal, but Zimmerman couldn’t poke the puck past Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

The Hitmen came out with the edge play in the at the start of the third holding a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal before left-winger Brandon Whynott took a tripping penalty with 8:02 left in the frame.

On the ensuing power play, the Blades evened the score 2-2 on some great work by Jayden Wiens.

On a zone entry, Wiens passed the puck down into the left slot to Trevor Wong. Wong took a shot and his rebound deflected right to Wiens on the right side of the Calgary goal.

Wiens potted the equalizer into an empty cage.

After Funk put the Hitmen up 3-2, Wiens had a big chance to even the score, but he was denied close in at the right side of the Calgary goal by Hitmen netminder Brayden Peters with 1:32 remaining in the frame.

The Hitmen celebrate their win on Friday.

Maier turned away 27-of-30 stops to take the setback in goal for the Blades (13-11-1). Peters stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in net for the Hitmen (11-9-2-1).

The Hitmen head to Prince Albert to face the Raiders on Saturday (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades return to action on Tuesday, when they travel to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors (7 p.m., Mosaic Place).

NOTE - The Blades wore special jerseys on Friday designed by 11-year-old Jaidyn Palmer, who won the Superstore “Design A Jersey” contest in the off-season. Those jerseys are being auctioned off with all the proceeds going to the Presidents Choice Children’s Charity.

Pats prevail over Raiders 5-2, other notes

Logan Nijhoff scored for the Pats on Friday.

The Regina Pats seemed to be getting contributions from everybody, and it proved to be too much for the visiting Prince Albert Raiders.

On Friday night before 3,564 spectators at the Brandt Centre, five different players scored for the Pats as they downed the Raiders 5-2. The Pats had a 2-0 lead after the first period, and 4-2 edge after the second period and rounded out the scoring with an empty-net tally in the third.

Tanner Howe, Layton Feist, Zane Rowan, Logan Nijhoff and Cole Carrier all had singles for the Pats. Carrier scored his tally into an empty net for his 10^th goal of the season.

Carson Latimer scored twice for the Raiders.

Matthew Keeper made 25 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Pats (11-14). Tikhon Chaika turned away 21-of-25 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders (9-13-1-1).

The Pats return to action on Saturday when they travel to Brandon to play the Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Raiders return to action on Saturday when they return home to face the Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

• The Seattle Thunderbirds selected forward Macklin Celebrini first overall in Wednesday’s WHL U.S. Priority Draft. The 15-year-old has 20 goals and 22 assists in 43 games for the Shattack St. Mary’s under-18 prep team in Faribault, Minnesota. Celebrini is a Vancouver, B.C., product, but he has played in the United States since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.
• The Spokane Chiefs selected forward and Saskatoon product Berkly Catton first overall in Thursday’s WHL Prospects Draft. The 15-year-old had 11 goals and 12 assists playing 15 games for the Shattack St. Mary’s Under-16 AAA team in Faribault, Minnesota. Catton has left Shattack St. Mary’s to join his hometown Saskatoon Contacts Under-18 AAA team.
• The Prince Albert Raiders picked up two players in the first round of Thursday’s WHL Prospects Draft. With the 13^th overall selection in the first round, the Raiders picked 15-year-old forward Cole Peardon from Outlook, Sask. Peardon has four goals and 13 assists in 19 regular season games with the Saskatoon Blazers Under-18 AAA team. With the 14^th overall selection in the first round, the Raiders picked 15-year-old forward Ryder Ritchie from Kelowna, B.C. Ritchie has a goal and two assists in three games with Kelowna’s Rink Hockey Academy’s Under-18 team.
• On Wednesday, I was back in the pages of the Prince Albert Daily Herald with a column on the Prince Albert Raiders trading their captain Kaiden Guhle to the Edmonton Oil Kings, because the Oil Kings made an offer the Raiders couldn’t refuse. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, I went live with a pair of pieces for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex’s Howe Happenings blog. I wrote a post on the Saskatchewan North Central Softball Academy’s Timbits Saturdays program, which can be found by clicking right here. I also wrote a post on how linked the Veeman family is with sport of speed skating. Four members of the Veeman family are part of the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club. That piece can be found by clicking right here.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.