Raiders down Wheat Kings 2-1, stay in playoff chase

Carson Latimer scored twice for the Raiders on Wednesday.

The Prince Albert Raiders are still on the outside looking in when it comes to making the WHL playoffs, but they picked up a key win to stay in the post-season race.

On Wednesday night playing before 2,430 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders downed the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 2-1. The win allowed the Raiders to halt a four-game losing streak that include one overtime and three regulation setbacks.

The WHL leading Winnipeg Ice were responsible for giving the Raiders the one overtime and two regulation setbacks over that four-game skid.

In Wednesday’s win over the Wheat Kings, left-winger Carson Latimer scored twice in the first period to give the Raiders a 2-0 edge. That proved to be all the offence the Raiders needed as they eventually held on for a one-goal win.

With 5:33 remaining in the first, Latimer potted his first goal of the contest after collecting the rebound from a shot taken by linemate Evan Herman.

Latimer struck for his second tally with 3:27 remaining in the third scoring from a bad angle to the left side of the Brandon net after collecting a crossbar rebound from a shot taken by import linemate Vladislav Shilo.

The Wheat Kings cut the Raiders lead to 2-1 with 6:40 remaining in the second on a goal from associate player call up Charlie Elick. The defenceman, who turned 16-years-old in January, took a shot from the point that was going wild of the goal, but the puck bounced off Raiders defenceman Eric Johnston into the Prince Albert net.

The marker was Elick’s first career WHL regular season goal. The Calgary, Alta., product joined the Wheat Kings after playing for the Edge School’s under-18 prep team.

Tikhon Chaika made 34 saves for the Raiders on Wednesday.

After that positive bounce goal by the Wheat Kings, Raiders import netminder Tikhon Chaika slammed the door the rest of the way making 34 total saves in the contest to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders, who improved to 25-32-4-1.

Ethan Kruger turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings, who fell to 30-25-3-2.

The Raiders sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 55 points in the standings. They trail the Lethbridge Hurricanes (27-30-3-1) by three points for eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth.

The Hurricanes fell to eighth place after dropping a 6-4 decision at home on Wednesday to the Swift Current Broncos. The Broncos have won six out of their last seven games to improve to 26-31-5-2 to sit seventh overall in the conference one point ahead of the Hurricanes and four points ahead of the Raiders.

Also on Wednesday, the Calgary Hitmen downed the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 3-2. The Hitmen improved to 23-31-6-2 to sit 10^th overall in the Eastern Conference standings one point behind the Raiders and four points behind the Hurricanes.

The Regina Pats are staying in the congested playoff push having downed the visiting Saskatoon Blades 3-2 on Wednesday. The Pats improved to 24-31-3-2 to sit 11^th overall in the Eastern Conference five points behind the Hurricanes.

The Broncos have four games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Raiders and Hitmen have six games remaining on their respective slates, the Hurricanes have seven contests left on their schedule and the Pats have eight regular season contests remaining.

The Raiders and Wheat Kings go at it again on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Blades rally comes up short in 3-2 loss to Pats

Kyle Crnkovic scored for the Blades on Wednesday.

The Saskatoon Blades came up just short in attempting to rally past the host Regina Pats.

On Wednesday night at the Brandt Centre, the Pats built a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 victory to delight most of the 3,713 spectators in attendance.

Rookie 17-year-old right-winger Borya Valis gave the Pats a 1-0 lead in the first period. Tanner Howe, the Pats 16-year-old star right-winger, and Connor Bedard, the Pats 16-year-old phenom centre, combined to set up linemate Logan Linklater for a second period tally to put the Pats up 2-0.

Just 91 seconds into the third, Pats overage offensive-defenceman Ryker Evans netted his 14^th goal of the season to give the Pats a 3-0 advantage.

With 8:34 remaining in the third, Blades star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic netted his 36^th goal of the season to cut the Pats lead to 3-1. Blades rookie import right-winger Egor Sidorov deflected home a shot from Blades star overage centre Tristen Robins to further trim Regina’s edge to 3-2 with 2:06 remaining in the third.

Saskatoon had pulled overage star netminder Nolan Maier for an extra attacker on Sidorov’s goal.

The Blades were unable to get the equalizer at that point.

Right before the third period ended, Sidorov and Evans engaged in a fight.

Drew Sim stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pats (24-31-3-2). Maier turned away 26 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades (34-24-3-1).

Wednesday’s clash marked the sixth and final time the Blades and Pats faced each other in the regular season, and the Blades had won the previous five clashes between the two sides.

The Blades sit fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and sit three points behind the 35-22-3-2 Moose Jaw Warriors for fourth overall in the conference. The fourth place team in the conference will have home ice advantage over the fifth place club in the first round of the WHL playoffs.

The Blades and Warriors face each other on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

The Pats also return to action on Friday hosting the WHL leading 48-9-3-2 Winnipeg Ice (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the Blades announced Robins will be the captain for the rest of the 2021-22 campaign as regular captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere is set to have season ending shoulder surgery. The standout defenceman is expected to return for the start of next season for his overage campaign.

The Blades injury list is a lengthy one. Centres Trevor Wong, Jayden Wiens and Lukas Hansen, right-winger Noah Boyko and defenceman Rhett Rhinehart are all out with upper body injuries. Hansen and Rhinehart are listed as out week to week, while Wong, Wiens and Boyko are labeled as day to day.

Saskatoon/Regina make pitch as joint world juniors host

The 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation’s world junior tournament might be hosted in Saskatchewan.

On Wednesday, Tourism Saskatoon and Tourism Regina announced in a joint release that Canada has been asked by the IIHF to come up with a plan to host the 2023 world juniors, and as a result, a joint bid is being planned from Saskatoon and Regina.

The tournament was originally scheduled to start Dec. 26, 2022 and run through to Jan. 5, 2023 in Novosibirsk, Russia. 

Back on Feb. 28, the IIHF announced it was stripping Russia of its hosting rights among other sanctions due to that country’s military invasion of Ukraine.

If the Saskatchewan bid is successful, the communities of Humboldt, Swift Current, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw could also host games for world juniors.

Saskatchewan played host to the tournament in the 1990-91 and 2009-10 campaigns.

The city councils in both Saskatoon and Regina will hold special meetings on Friday to discuss a joint bid.

The SaskTel Centre, Regina Exhibition Authority Limited and the Saskatoon Destination Marketing Hotels are collaborating with Tourism Saskatoon and Tourism Regina on this venture.

Cities are required to have a business plan and event bid in to Hockey Canada by this coming Monday. A final decision is to be made on April 25 or 26.

Sharks grad Marshall gets U Sports silver

Chloe Marshall in action for the Sharks in December 2015.

Battlefords Sharks female under-18 AAA hockey team grad Chloe Marshall had the biggest three games of her playing career this past weekend at the U Sports women’s hockey championship tournament.

At the elite-eight style event, the 24-year-old Neilburg, Sask., product backstopped the North Bay, Ont., based Nipissing University Lakers to a silver medal finish at the U Sports nationals that were held at the MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

In a quarter-final contest held last Thursday, Marshall made 41 saves to allow the sixth-seeded Lakers to pull out a 1-0 overtime victory over the Canada West champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Defender Madi Solie, who is a graduate of the Weyburn Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings female under-18 AAA team, scored the overtime winner for the Lakers.

Solie played three seasons for the Gold Wings from 2013 to 2016 and was a member of their 2013-14 squad that won the Esso Cup as female national under-18 AAA hockey champions.

Last Saturday, Marshall proceeded to make 16 saves to back the Lakers to a 4-0 victory in a semifinal contest over the second seed University of New Brunswick Reds, who were the Atlantic University Sport conference champions. Solie had a goal in the victory over the Reds.

In the gold medal final last Sunday, Marshall stopped 33-of-36 shots in a 4-0 loss to the top-seeded Concordia University Stingers, who were the champions of the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec. The Stingers netted their final tally into an empty net.

Marshall played two seasons for the Sharks from 2014 to 2016. Before joining the Lakers, Marshall  played one season for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in 2017-18 and one campaign for the now defunct University of Lethbridge Pronghorns in 2019-20.

The Lakers roster also contained defender Allison Hayhurst, who is a graduate of the now defunct Melville Prairie Fire female under-18 AAA team. Hayhurst played for the Prairie Fire for five seasons from 2014 to 2019.

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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Heckles for Bedard not surprising

Taunts will always be part of major junior hockey

Phenom centre Connor Bedard in action for the Pats this season.

With all the attention Connor Bedard has received, it was inevitable he would get heckled.

With seemingly every high-profile media outlet especially at the NHL level constantly saying how great the 16-year-old Regina Pats phenom centre is for about the last three years, the attention by itself will bring out haters. There will even be people out there that didn’t start out hating Bedard end up developing a dislike for the North Vancouver, B.C., product due to all the attention he has received.

Last Friday, the Saskatoon Blades drew a season high 7,523 spectators to the SaskTel Centre for a game against Bedard and the Pats. While the Blades had a children’s night promotion going on, it was obvious Bedard was a big drawing card.

The Blades won the contest 3-1 and that final score was pinned on the scoreboard for the last 16:49 of the contest. Saskatoon ended Bedard’s streak of going 21 straight games of recording at least one point, which is the longest such streak in the WHL this season.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click the link right here.

Huskies put impressive cap on season at U Sports nationals

Women’s hockey squad takes home bronze medal

The Huskies had an impressive showing at U Sports nationals.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team penned a happy ending to the most unique chapter in team history.

On Sunday at the MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Huskies blanked the University of New Brunswick Reds 2-0 in the bronze medal game at the U Sports elite-eight women’s hockey championship tournament. The bronze medal win equaled the Huskies best result at U Sports nationals matching what the team accomplished in 2014.

The Huskies have made four trips to U Sports nationals in team history, and in a normal sports campaign, advancing that far in the post-season would be a success story in itself.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, things in the sports world and outside the sports world haven’t operated like normal since the first stoppages in North America started back on March 11, 2020.

The 2020 U Sports men’s and women’s hockey tournaments along with the men’s and women’s volleyball tournaments got their first day of action in on March 12, 2020 before the rest of the action at those events was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

U Sports didn’t hold any national championships in the 2020-21 campaign. The Canada West Conference that the Huskies play out of didn’t take part any meaningful games in 2020-21.

On the Huskies front, no one knew what to expect out of the 2021-22 campaign after the whole conference had a season off. No one knew if there were going to be any stops or starts as the campaign went along.

The Huskies lost Jordyn Holmes to a broken leg at nationals.

Actually, there was no guarantee that the season would be played to a completion.

Still, the Huskies marched through the regular season posting an 11-7-2 record to finish fifth in the Canada West Conference standings. In the Canada West playoffs, the Huskies swept the University of Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in a best-of-three quarter-final series in Winnipeg and swept the Mount Royal University Cougars 2-0 in a best-of-three semifinal series in Calgary, Alta., to advance to the Canada West Championship Series and earn a spot at U Sports nationals.

In the Canada West final, the Huskies were swept 2-0 in the best-of-three set by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Vancouver. The series closed with the Thunderbirds taking Game 2 of the series 1-0 in overtime.

After that bump in the road, the Huskies reset and ventured off to Charlottetown for U Sports nationals with a sizable contingent of supporters in family and friends. The Huskies were so good at nationals that it is possible they could have possibly won the whole thing, if two or three breaks went their way.

They opened play on the event’s second day on Friday taking on the Ontario University Athletics champion Brock University Badgers in a quarter-final contest. The fifth- seeded Huskies played arguably their best game of the season in that outing blanking the fourth-seeded Badgers 4-0.

At the 6:12 mark of the second period of that contest, rookie forward Sara Kendall ran it back to her days with the Swift Current Innovation Credit Union Wildcats under-18 female AAA team opening the contest’s scoring on a sweet backhanded wraparound.

The Huskies surged for three goals in the third with singles coming off the sticks of rookie defender Brooklyn Stevely and third year forwards Kara Kondrat and Nicole Fry. Kondrat picked up an assist on Fry’s empty-net tally and was named the Huskies player of the game in what might have been her best game at the U Sports level.

Kendra Zuchotzki turned heads as a rookie on defence.

Star third-year netminder Camryn Drever made 27 saves to pick up the shutout win for the Huskies. Netminder Tiffany Hau stopped 29-of-32 shots sent her way to take the setback in goal for the Badgers.

While the win over the Badgers was a great game for the Huskies, they did face adversity. Before Kendall scored her goal to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead, the team’s gritty, speedy, heart and soul third-year forward Jordyn Holmes broke her left leg on a crash into the boards and was lost for the rest of the tournament.

She had to have surgery on Saturday in Charlottetown to help start her injury recovery process.

In a semifinal on Saturday, the Huskies faced the top seeded Concordia University Stingers, who were the champions of the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec. Before the game, Holmes standing ovation from the crowd, when she arrived to cheer on her team.

In the semifinal contest, the Stingers came away with a 2-0 victory with Audrey Belzile and Maria Manarolis potting singles in the second period. Stingers netminder Alice Philbert made 20 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal.

Drever turned away 37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies. The Huskies put up a big fight but weren’t able to find a traction moment to start a comeback.

They almost got that traction moment with four minutes remaining in the third, when Kendall rang an in close shot off the post of the Stingers goal.

Camryn Drever cemented herself as a top goalie in U Sports.

The Stingers would advance on to blank the sixth seeded Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 in the U Sports championship game on Sunday to capture the Golden Path Trophy.

Before the tournament’s title game was played, the Huskies took the ice for the bronze medal game against the second seeded Reds, who were the Atlantic University Sport conference champions.

At the 7:51 mark of the first, the Huskies jumped ahead 1-0 on a blast from the left point by rookie defender Kendra Zuchotzki. 

At the 14:08 mark of the second, rookie forward Jasper Desmarais ran it back to her days with the Prince Albert Northern Bears under-18 AAA scoring a beauty goal on a three-on-one rush that ultimately sealed the 2-0 victory.

Desmarais blew down the right wing, got in close and roofed home a shot past Reds netminder Kendra Woodland.

Woodland made 23 stops to take the setback in goal for the Reds.

Drever turned aside all 17 shots she faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies. The alumna of the St. Albert Slash female under-18 AAA team posted four shutouts in the Huskies nine total post-season games.

When Drever joined the Huskies, she came with the reputation of being a clutch goaltender having backstopped the Slash to Esso Cup titles in 2017 and 2018 as national female under-18 AAA hockey champions. Following this post-season run, Drever has cemented her place as one of the top goaltenders in all of U Sports.

Following the win over the Reds, Huskies veteran head coach Steve Kook got to put the first bronze medal around the neck of the team’s fifth-year captain in Bailee Bourassa. Bourassa is the lone fifth-year player on the squad.

Bailee Bourassa is a golden role model on and off the ice.

After receiving her medal, Bourassa presented the rest of the bronze medals to the rest of the team. 

Bourassa finished her degree in nursing and returned to the Huskies after deciding to pursue her master’s degree in nursing taking on the role of captain.

Having helped her hometown Weyburn Gold Wings in and Esso Cup title in 2014, Bourassa wanted to help the Huskies get a good restart this season after a season off in 2020-21. 

She played a big part in helping the Huskies stay relevant and show you can play high-level hockey in Canada’s U Sports ranks and get a sound education that can take you on to a great career when the playing days come to a close.

Bourassa has become the perfect example of the golden role model on and off the ice. She has always represented the team in the community with class and grace.

Forward Abby Shirley, who is the long fourth-year player on the team, was another key returnee who helped show the way and be a leader for the Huskies young generation.

Third-year defender Isabella Pozzi provided a steady hand to the Huskies back end, and she was named to the U Sports championship tournament all-star team. The Huskies have a rookie group on the back end who came into their own in the post-season and have the potential to be even better in future seasons in Stevely, Zuchotzki, Larissa Bohlken and Emily Holmes, who is Jordyn’s younger sister.

While she didn’t get any goals at U Sports nationals, third-year forward Kennedy Brown came through in clutch moments in the Canada West playoffs. She had her chances at nationals and will be another key returnee in future seasons.

Kennedy Brown came through with clutch post-season goals.

Overall, the journey the Huskies took to win a bronze medal at U Sports national on Sunday was unlike any season the Huskies have played to date. 

All the time players spent training on their own or as a team in a 2020-21 campaign that didn’t happen seemed worth it for sure after Sunday’s win.

During training time when there was no certainty of when the next game was going to be, some players had to be questioning if it was time to close the book as far as competitive hockey was concerned.

Credit has to go to all teams in U Sports for making the season happen and able to be played to a conclusion where a national champion was crowned.

After the NCAA still crowned a national women’s hockey champion in the Division I ranks in 2020-21, minor hockey players in the female game in Canada had to wonder if going down to the United States was ultimately going to be the place where they could play high-level hockey at the post-secondary level in the future.

Now, U Sports is back as a destination female players in Canada’s minor hockey system that want to continue playing high-level hockey at the post-secondary level.

The Huskies have shown they will continue to be a place where good things can happen in the classroom and on the ice whether you come from the province of Saskatchewan or any other community in Canada.

The Huskies renewed their legacy of being a great team to play for.

Ultimately, that reminder might be the lasting legacy of the 2021-22 Huskies team.

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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Blades fall to Warriors 7-0 as injuries pile up

Tristen Robins left Saturday’s game with an injury.

The injury bug is taking a large bite out of the Saskatoon Blades at the worst possible time.

On Saturday night, the Blades traveled down to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors in a key regular season contest that could ultimately determine which side had home ice advantage in a head-to-head playoff series. With the way the WHL’s Eastern Conference standings are shaping up, it appears the Blades and Warriors will likely face each other in a first round best-of-seven series.

Playing before 2,867 spectators at Mosaic Place, the Warriors thumped the Blades 7-0. With the win, the Warriors improved to 35-21-3-2 and sit three points ahead of the Blades for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Blades fell to 34-23-3-1 to hold down fifth in the Eastern Conference. Both the Warriors and Blades have seven games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

Saskatoon has won five out of the seven head-to-head meetings between the two sides this season.

At the moment, the Blades have to be more concerned about their injury situation as opposed to the lopsided loss to the Warriors.

The Blades went into Saturday’s game with the Warriors minus the services of five regulars and three more regulars went down during the contest in Moose Jaw.

Going into that clash with the Warriors, the Blades were without centres Lukas Hansen, Josh Pillar and Trevor Wong along with right-winger Noah Boyko and defencemen Aidan De La Gorgendiere, who is the team’s captain.

Hansen, Wong and Boyko are all listed as week-to-week with upper body injuries. Wong was lost on March 5 after taking an unpenalized cheap shot cross-check from Red Deer Rebels import defenceman Christoffer Sedoff during a 5-2 home ice victory.

Pillar and De La Gorgendiere played in the Blades 3-1 victory at home on Friday against the Regina Pats.

De La Gorgendiere is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury, while Pillar’s injury wasn’t disclosed.

Denton Mateychuk had a goal and three assists on Saturday.

In Saturday’s game with the Warriors, the Blades centres Jayden Wiens and Tristen Robins and defenceman Rhett Rhinehart didn’t finish the contest due to suffering injuries. Going into the third period, the Blades were down 2-0, but had to play most of the third without Wiens, Robins and Rhinehart giving up five goals in the process.

Warriors star centre Ryder Korczak scored at the 3:47 mark of the first period to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Sophomore defenceman Lucas Brenton tallied at the 6:16 mark of the second to increase Moose Jaw’s edge to 2-0.

With 4:34 remaining in the second, Warriors import rookie defenceman Robert Baco hit Wiens from behind into the boards with Moose Jaw killing a penalty. Wiens was helped off the ice and didn’t return.

Baco was giving a major penalty for checking from behind along with a game misconduct. The major penalty will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Blades weren’t able to score on any of their six power-play opportunities on the night including the five-minute major assessed to Baco.

The goals snowballed for the Warriors in the third with Brayden Yager, Eric Alarie and Denton Mateychuk netting singles and Jagger Firkus potting a pair.

Mateychuk had three assists to go along with his goal and posted a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

Overage star netminder Carl Tetachuk made 31 saves to pick up his third shutout win of the season for the Warriors. Overage start netminder Nolan Maier turned away 33 shots going the distance taking the setback in goal for the Blades.

Last Wednesday, the Blades added four forwards to their active roster in Rowan Calvert, Jordan Keller, Zach Moore and Smyth Rebman as their respective seasons came to a close with their under-18 AAA clubs and under-18 academy teams. Calvert and Keller played in Saturday’s loss.

Those additions could potentially see even more action depending on the status of the eight regulars the Blades now have on their injured list. The status of Wiens, Robins and Rhinehart was still being determined at game’s end.

On top of fact the Blades have eight regulars injured, the injury list includes high quality players. Robins is one of the top players in the entire WHL having signed an NHL entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks, and he sits second in Blades team scoring with 74 points coming on 32 goals and 42 assists.

Pillar, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild, Wiens and Wong are all high-end players who can put up points.

Rhett Rhinehart left Saturday’s game with an injury.

De La Gorgendiere leads the Blades in defenceman scoring with 45 points coming off four goals and 41 assists, and Rhinehart eats up a tonne of minutes on the blue-line and plays in most key defensive situations.

If these injuries last over a longer team, even the best “next man up” mentality focus may not be enough to help the Blades. There is only so much a team can do when injuries snowball like this.

The Blades will hope to have some injured players back this coming Wednesday, when they travel to Regina to face the 23-31-3-2 Pats (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Warriors return to action on Tuesday, when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Ice (7 p.m. Winnipeg time, Wayne Fleming Arena).

Finley’s hatty helps Ice hammer Raiders 6-2

Jack Finley had a hat trick for the Ice on Saturday.

Power forward Jack Finley is finding his groove with the Winnipeg Ice.

On Saturday, Finley netted a hat trick to power the host Ice to a 6-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders before a sellout crowd of 1,621 spectators at the Wayne Fleming Arena. Finley had points in five straight games with the Ice collecting six goals and two assists over that span of time.

The Raiders actually got the jump on the Ice as rookie import right-winger Vladislav Shilo scored just 21 seconds into the contest to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The Ice answered back with the next six straight goals to go ahead 6-1. Besides Finley’s hat trick, the Ice received singles from Matthew Savoie, Evan Friesen and Cole Muir.

Finley’s first tally sent the teams into the first intermission tied 1-1. The Ice led 3-1 after 40 minutes and built a 6-1 advantage in the third.

Raiders standout defenceman Nolan Allan rounded out the game’s scoring with the final tally for the visitors.

Daniel Hauser made 14 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Ice. Max Hildebrand, who is a 17-year-old rookie, turned away 31 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders.

Vladislav Shilo gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead for a short time.

With the victory, the Ice extended their winning streak to 10 straight games, and they’ve earned points in the standing in 14 consecutive games posting 12 wins, one overtime loss and one shootout loss over that span of contests.

The Ice improved to 46-9-3-2 to lead the WHL standings with 97 points holding a two-point lead over the Edmonton Oil Kings (46-12-2-1). Winnipeg has a game in hand on Edmonton.

The Raiders fell to 24-31-4-1 to remain ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. They trail the 24-31-5-2 Swift Current Broncos by two points for eighth place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Prince Albert had two games in hand on Swift Current.

The Raiders and Ice go at it again on Sunday (5 p.m. Winnipeg time, Wayne Fleming Arena).

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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Blades officially playoff bound with 3-1 win over Pats

Rivalry picks up heat as fans heckle Bedard

Rhett Rhinehart (#41) waves goodbye to Logan Nijhoff (#29).

Business is picking up in the dormant rivalry between the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats.

On Friday night, a season high 7,523 spectators turned out at the SaskTel Centre to see the Blades take on 16-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard and his Regina Pats in a WHL regular season clash. It was obvious the presence of Bedard helped bring the large turnout.

The contest itself was a spirited and feisty affair that included some physical play and more than usual chirping between the players on the ice.

Blades sophomore defenceman Marek Schneider, who turned 19-years-old in early February, was the hero on the night as his first career WHL goal in the second period stood up as the winner in a 3-1 victory by the home side. He engaged Pats rookie 17-year-old left-winger Zane Rowan in a short third period fight to gain more stature in the eyes of Saskatoon fans.

Connor Bedard (#98) received lots of attention on Friday.

Blades overage defenceman Rhett Rhinehart was engaged in frequent talking sessions and a few physical sessions with Bedard for much of the first two periods and then Pats overage captain Logan Nijhoff for a lot of the third period.

With Blades up 3-1, some of the spectators at the SaskTel Centre started the “overrated” chant for Bedard with 11:11 remaining in the third and again with 5:45 left in the frame.

The North Vancouver, B.C., product looked visibly frustrated by the end of the night as he was held pointless bringing an end to his streak of recording at least one point in 21 consecutive games, which was the longest consecutive games point streak in the WHL this season. During that run, Bedard put up 45 points coming on 23 goals and 22 assists.

Blades D Marek Schneider fights Pats LW Zane Rowan.

When the dust settled, the Blades not only claimed victory in the game but locked up a berth in the WHL playoffs. The playoff clinching scenario played out due to the fact the Prince Albert Raiders fell 5-3 to the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Friday night.

To added extra icing to the cake for Blades fans, their team has won all five head-to-head meetings with the Pats this season in overtime.

If freelance writer Darrell Utley, who was known as Barney from the bowling alley,” was still typing columns for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix like he did in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he would have likely typed out what it a joy it was to see the “snaky” Pats fans in attendance slither quietly out of the SaskTel Centre after their team lost.

Marek Schneider celebrates scoring his first career WHL goal.

As has been tradition for decades, the Pats had a fan bus and a healthy contingent of supporters on hand for Friday’s game.

During the history of the Blades franchise, there have been stretches of time where Saskatoon supporters have taken the team’s rivalry with the Pats more seriously than the rivalry with the Raiders. Part of that came from a long time overall hatred for Regina, which has been shown also towards the Regina Rams football team in both the CJFL and now the U Sports ranks as the University of Regina Rams during a lengthy stretch in the past.

For Saskatoon fans on Friday night, it was apparent the rivalry between Saskatoon and Regina was more in the spotlight as the Blades faced the Pats.

Marek Schneider was a Blades fan favourite on Friday night.

In the game itself, Bedard had a couple of big scoring chances in the first period. On a dangerous rush down the right wing, Bedard was turned away on a backhand shot by Blades netminder Ethan Chadwick.

A short time later, Bedard wired a laser shot off the post.

With 4:39 remaining in the opening frame, the Blades jumped ahead 1-0 on a goal from import right-winger Egor Sidorov. Blades centre Josh Pillar forced a turnover in the Regina zone and chipped the puck to Sidorov, who was alone in front of the left side of the Regina goal.

Sidorov immediate roofed home his 18^th tally of the season to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Egor Sidorov scored the Blades first goal on Friday.

With 3:08 remaining in the first, the Pats tied things up a 1-1 on a power-play goal from Nijhoff. Pats left-winger Tanner Howe had the puck at the right side boards and passed it down to Nijhoff at the right side of the Regina goal.

Nijhoff went backhand to forehand and popped home the equalizer.

Play was fairly even in the first 20 minutes as the shots on goal were tied 13-13.

The Blades dominated the second period peppering Pats sophomore netminder Drew Sim with a 21 shots as the Pats only replied with four shots in the stanza.

The hosts were only able to cash in with one goal as sophomore Schneider blew home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle to give the Blades a 2-1 lead. Defensive partner Charlie Wright made sure to collect Schneider’s goal puck for a souvenir of that first WHL tally.

Rhett Rhinehart (#41) tangles with Connor Bedard.

Late in the second, things got testy. Inside of the final 25 seconds of the second, Bedard made an open ice hit on Blades star overage centre Tristen Robins in the Saskatoon zone. The hit allowed Bedard to get the puck off Robins and create a scoring chance.

As the time on the clock hit zero, Bedard hit Robins again on the boards. Rhinehart proceeded to go after Bedard causing a massive scrum to ensue.

Ultimately, the Pats found themselves on a two-minute power play to start the third, but were unable to score with the man advantage.

Shortly after that kill at the 3:11 mark of the third, Robins came down the left wing on a rush, gathered a loose puck, cut across the front of the Pats net and put home his 32^nd goal of the season to push Saskatoon’s lead out to 3-1.

Logan Nijhoff scored the Pats lone goal on Friday.

The Blades closed out the game defensively the rest of the way to secure victory.

Chadwick stopped 23 shots in goal for the Blades, who improved to 34-22-3-1. Sim turned away 41 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats, who fell to 23-30-3-2 having lost three straight games.

Right-winger Kyren Gronick picked up a pair of assists for the Blades.

The Blades return to action on Saturday when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors (7 p.m., Mosaic Place). That clash could prove to be big when it comes to getting home ice advantage potentially for a first round playoff series as the Warriors, who have a 34-21-3-2 record, lead the Blades by one point for fourth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

Tristen Robins scored the Blades third goal on Friday.

The Pats also get back at it on Saturday when they return home to host the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Brandt Centre). Regina trails the 24-30-5-2 Swift Current Broncos by four points for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, and the Pats have three games in hand on the Broncos.

When the final buzzer ended in Friday’s clash between the Blades and Pats, the teams engaged in one last scrum behind the Saskatoon goal. As the officials separated the players, Rhinehart waved goodbye to Nijhoff.

The Blades celebrate their victory on Friday night.

At the moment, the rivalry between the Blades and Pats has returned at a more intense level. The two sides meet one last time in the regular season this coming Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

It is safe to suspect the drama will carry over to that next clash.

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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Ice return to top of WHL

Winnipeg wins ninth straight, ready for post-season grind

The Ice celebrate a goal from Jack Finley (#26).

The Winnipeg Ice jumped back on top of the WHL mountain and showed they are ready for the post-season grind.

On Wednesday night before 2,808 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Ice won their ninth straight contest downing a game Saskatoon Blades side 4-2 in a WHL regular season clash. The Ice jumped back to the top of the overall WHL standings with a 45-9-3-2 mark having picked up standings points in 13 straight contests posting 11 wins, one overtime loss and one shootout setback over that run of games.

Winnipeg sits two points up on the 45-12-2-1 Edmonton Oil Kings for top spot overall in the WHL with one game in hand.

Ice centre Zachary Benson (#9) battles to the puck from his net.

During their nine-game winning streak, the Ice are showing they have the depth and they are capable of grinding out wins in tight checking contests. They are doing their best to show they are ready to make a long run through the WHL playoffs.

The most impressive part of the Ice victory on Wednesday was the fact they picked up a win without their two best players in the lineup.

The Ice were without star centres Matthew Savoie and Conor Geekie, because they were in Kitchener, Ont., taking part in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Savoie and Geekie are both in their 17-year-old seasons, and both are pegged to be selected early in the next NHL Entry Draft.

Jack Finley scored the first goal for the Ice on Wednesday.

Savoie leads the Ice in scoring with 78 points coming on 28 goals and 50 assists in 56 games. He is also a plus-39 in the plus-minus department.

Geekie sits fourth in team scoring recording 59 points coming on 19 goals and 40 assists in 54 games, while posting a plus-33 rating.

Besides beating the Blades, the Ice slipped past the Prince Albert Raiders 3-2 in overtime at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert without Savoie and Geekie.

In Wednesday’s clash with the Blades, the Ice got out to a hot start.

They had the game’s first big scoring chance at the 7:26 mark of the opening frame. Ice star left-winger Mikey Milne got in alone in front of the Saskatoon goal, but he was robbed on a backhand shot thanks to a glove save by Blades overage star netminder Nolan Maier.

Jakin Smallwood had the second goal for the Ice on Wednesday.

Just before the midway point of the first, the Ice broke through on the scoreboard as power forward Jack Finley blasted home his 21^st of the season off a midrange shot to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The Ice kept the pressure coming. A few minutes after their opening goal, Ice centre Evan Friesen had a dangerous scoring chance off a rebound, but he was turned away on a kick save by Maier.

With 2:10 remaining in the first, Ice right-winger Jakin Smallwood set up in the left slot and one-timed home a setup pass from linemate Zachary Benson to increase the Ice’s advantage to 2-0.

In the finals seconds of the opening frame, the Blades had a quality scoring chance from import right-winger Egor Sidorov. Working on the power play, Sidorov drove a shot from the left boards on goal, but he was denied by the glove hand of sophomore netminder Daniel Hauser.

Tristen Robins had the Blades first goal on Wednesday.

The Ice held a 13-4 after 20 minutes and could have had a bigger lead had it not been for the play of Maier.

In the second, the Ice showed they could withstand a pushback from a quality foe, as the Blades came out with some fire. With 7:14 remaining in the second, Blades star overage centre Tristen Robins netted his 31^st goal of the season to cut the Ice lead to 2-1.

Inside the final 76 seconds of the second, the Blades had a couple of big chances to even the score while working on the power play. Blades standout left-winger Brandon Lisowsky was denied on a drive from the left slot.

Chase Wheatcroft scored the third goal for the Ice on Wednesday.

In the dying seconds of the frame, Blades sophomore left-winger Vaughn Watterodt had a point blank chance, but he was stopped by Hauser.

At the 2:06 mark of the third, the Ice extended their lead to 3-1 when 19-year-old left-winger Chase Wheatcroft deflected home a point shot from defenceman Omen Harmacy.

Down two goals, the Blades didn’t go away. Just under six minutes after the Ice went up 3-1, the Blades cut the lead to 3-2 when rookie right-winger Tyler Parr roofed home a shot from the front of the Winnipeg goal after receiving a sweet setup pass from Watterodt.

Tyler Parr scored the Blades second goal on Wednesday.

From that point, the Ice were able to tighten up their checking to prevent the Blades from getting the equalizer.

With 26 seconds remaining in the third, Ice overage defenceman Nolan Orzeck sealed the win shooting home a long-distance empty-net goal from his own blue-line to round out the 4-2 final score in Winnipeg’s favour.

Hauser stopped 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Ice. Nolan Maier turned away 25-of-28 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades (33-22-3-1).

In the win over the Blades, 10 different players picked up at least one point for the Ice. 

Veteran offensive-defenceman Carson Lambos collected two assists and was the only Ice player to have a multi-point night.

Carson Lambos recorded two assists for the Ice on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s clash was also the last regular season encounter between the Ice and Blades, and the Ice claimed six out of those eight head-to-head contests.

Saskatoon had a solid effort against the Ice. The Blades will continue their quest to lock up a playoff spot when return to action on Friday when they host the Regina Pats (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

“The Bridge City Bunch” can lock up a playoff berth by collecting four more standings points.

The Ice get back at it on Saturday when they host the Prince Albert Raiders (7 p.m. local time, Wayne Fleming Arena).

The Ice celebrate their win on Wednesday.

Winnipeg is ready to win right now. Considering a sizable group of their best players are in the 17-year-old age group, the Ice might be at the start of a run where they will be a force in the WHL for some time to come.

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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Expect Huskies to reset in chase for U Sports championship

Bailee Bourassa leads the Huskies to U Sports nationals.

The Canada West Championship series didn’t go their way, but the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team still has a chance to claim an even bigger prize.

On Sunday and Monday, the Huskies traveled from Saskatoon all the way to Charlottetown, P.E.I., for the U Sports elite-eight women’s hockey championship tournament. The Huskies were given the fifth seed on Sunday in the quest for the Golden Path Trophy.

They will open the tournament taking on the Ontario University Athletics champion Brock University Badgers on Friday at the MacLauchlan Arena. The game will be webcast on cbcsports.ca and CBC Gem, or fans can listen to the call from Huskies Women’s Hockey play-by-play voice Daniella Ponticelli on HuskieFAN.ca at 12 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

The U Sports championship tournament opens on Thursday with the event’s first two quarter-final contests.

The Huskies head to U Sports nationals having to reset after being swept 2-0 by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the best-of-three Canada West Championship series. Heading into the Canada West Final, the Huskies were 4-0 in the post-season having swept a pair of best-of-three playoff series on the road.

Both the Huskies and Thunderbirds already locked up berths to the U Sports championship tournament due to advancing to the Canada West Final.

In Game 1 of the Canada West Championship series held on March 11 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C., the Thunderbirds jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period with Grace Elliott, Mia Bierd and Ashley McFadden netting singles.

Sophie Lalor had 10 points in 20 regular season games.

From the point, the Huskies found themselves chasing the game. Shay-Lee McConnell scored a short-handed goal for the Thunderbirds in the second period to round out the scoring in a 4-0 victory.

Huskies star goaltender Camryn Drever made 39 saves in that Game 1 loss. Thunderbirds rookie netminder Elise Hugens made 13 saves to pick up the shutout victory.

In Game 2 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on March 12, the Huskies and Thunderbirds went to overtime locked in a 0-0 tie. Just 98 seconds into overtime, Thunderbirds forward Chanreet Bassi scored the contest’s only goal in a 1-0 victory for the host side that allowed UBC to capture the Canada West title.

Drever made 34 saves to give the Huskies a chance to steal the win in that contest. Hugens made 14 saves to pick up a second straight shutout victory.

The Huskies head into their U Sports quarter-final having posted an 11-7-2 record in the regular season and a 4-2 mark in the post-season. The Badgers posted a 7-5-3-1 record in regular season play and a 3-0 mark in the post-season.

The most exciting thing about the U Sport championship tournament is the fact it is played in a single-elimination format. Anything can happen in a single game situation.

With Drever between the pipes, the Huskies have the goalie that can win them three straight games to capture a U Sports national title.

Camryn Drever, right, is a clutch post-season performer.

Before joining the U Sports ranks, Drever was the star goaltender for the St. Albert Slash, and she backstopped them to two straight Esso Cup titles as national under-18 AAA hockey champions in 2017 and 2018. She earned a reputation as a clutch player in those runs.

While the offensive dried up for the Huskies against the Thunderbirds in the Canada West Final, they have for the most part been able to get enough scoring by committee through the regular season and the first four games of the post-season to pull out wins.

Huskies lone fifth-year player in forward Bailee Bourassa topped the team in regular season scoring with 11 points coming on seven goals and four assists playing in all the Huskies 20 contests. Bourassa returned to the Huskies after deciding to pursue her master’s degree in nursing and took on the role as the team’s captain.

She will be playing her final U Sports games this weekend, and with all that she has done for the team, it would cool if the Huskies team could help her graduate on a big high note.

Forward Abby Shirley is the Huskies lone fourth-year player and she led the way in post-season scoring with five points coming on three goals and two assists in six games. She also had nine points in the regular season coming off five goals and four assists appearing in 18 games.

Bourassa and Shirley are the only players remaining on the Huskies roster from the last time they went to nationals back in the 2017-18 campaign.

Third-year forward Kennedy Brown has emerged as one of the Huskies newest heroes during the post-season. In the Huskies six post-season games to date, Brown has four points coming on three goals and one assist. Out of Brown’s three goals, two of them have been game winners.

Sophie Lalor, who is a third-year forward, hit double digits in regular season scoring picking up 10 points on five goals and five assists appearing in all of the Huskies 20 regular season games. In the Huskies six post-season games, Lalor has one goal that was a game winner and one assist.

Rookie Larissa Bohlken is part of a strong group of young defenders.

Third-year defender Isabella Pozzi has been the veteran rock on the back end. On the blue-line, the Huskies have relied on a group of rookies to come through with big minutes in Larissa Bohlken, Kendra Zuchotzki, Brooklyn Stevely and Emily Holmes.

With being at nationals, the Huskies are going to have to work their way through a challenging field. 

If they win their quarter-final game, the Huskies will face the winner of the Friday’s other quarter-final between the top seeded Concordia University Stingers and the eighth seeded and host University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in one of Saturday’s two semifinals.

The Stingers were 11-3-1 in the regular season and 4-0 in the post-season, while the Panthers were 13-7-0-2 in the regular season and 0-1 in the post-season. The Stingers were the champions of the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec.

The field also contains the second seeded University of New Brunswick Reds, who are the champions of the Atlantic University Sport conference. The Reds posted a 15-3-1-2 record in the regular season and a 5-0 mark in the post-season.

The Thunderbirds are the tournament’s third seed having posted a 14-6 record in regular season play and a 4-0 mark in the post-season.

The event’s bronze medal and championship games will be held on Sunday.

The Huskies are making their third appearance and U Sports nationals since 2014 and fourth appearance all-time in team history. Current Huskies head coach Steve Kook has been with the team for three out of four runs to the U Sports championship tournament.

The Huskies aim to hold a few goal celebrations at nationals.

Kook missed the first appearance in 2004 joining the team as an assistant coach before the start of the 2004-05 campaign. He was the head coach for the appearances in 2014 and 2018 along with this season. He provides steady guidance for the team.

These trips to nationals are never a guaranteed thing, even if a team has a good season. In the three previous appearances, the Huskies medaled just once capturing a bronze in 2014.

Of course, the current campaign comes on the heels after all 2020-21 U Sports nationals were scrapped and most U Sports teams didn’t take the ice for games due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

If the Huskies were able to win it all, it would provide the icing on the cake for all the ups and downs they have gone through since March of 2020.

Raiders fall to Ice 3-2 in OT, stay in thick of WHL playoff chase

Reece Vitelli scored for the Raiders on Tuesday.

The Prince Albert Raiders are down to a 10-game sprint to try and make the WHL playoffs.

On Tuesday night, the Raiders dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime to the visiting Winnipeg Ice before 2,120 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre. With 15.3 seconds remaining in overtime, Ice 19-year-old power forward Jack Finley potted his 20^th goal of the season to win the game for the Winnipeg side.

With the extra time setback, the Raiders picked up one standings point. They sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 24-29-4-1 record for 53 standings points with 10 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Raiders are in the thick of the race for the final two playoff berths in the Eastern Conference.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes sit seventh overall in the Eastern Conference and hold the conference’s second last playoff berth with 56 standings points coming on 26-28-3-1 record. They have 10 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Swift Current Broncos are positioned one point behind the Hurricanes in the standings with 55 points sitting eighth overall in the Eastern Conference and hold the conference’s final playoff berth with a 24-30-5-2 record. The Broncos have seven games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Regina Pats are 10^th overall in the Eastern Conference with 51 points coming on a 23-29-3-2 record. The Pats have 11 games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Calgary Hitmen sit 11^th overall in the Eastern Conference with 50 points coming on a 21-30-6-2 record. The Hitmen have nine games remaining on their regular season schedule.

On Tuesday, the Broncos won their fourth game in a row downing the visiting Regina Pats 5-3 at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current.

Between the Raiders and Ice on Tuesday, the Prince Albert side jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by captain Reece Vitelli. The Ice took a 2-1 lead scoring twice in the second with goals coming from the sticks of Cole Muir and Alessandro Segafredo.

At the 7:22 mark of the third, import rookie right-winger Vladislav Shilo netted his sixth of the season for the Raiders to even the score at 2-2 and force overtime.

That set the stage for Finley to come through with his winner.

Import rookie netminder Tikhon Chaika turned away 39 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Raiders. Daniel Hauser stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Ice.

The Ice have picked up points in their last 12 straight games with 10 wins, one overtime loss and one shootout loss. They improve to 44-9-3-2 and tied the 45-12-2-1 Edmonton Oil Kings for first overall in the WHL with 93 standings points.

Winnipeg has two games in hand on Edmonton.

The Ice return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the 33-21-3-1 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders get back into action on Friday when travel to Brandon to face the 28-24-3-2 Wheat Kings (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 900 CKBI).

Albers signs minor league deal with Mariners, other notes

Andrew Albers signed a minor league contract with the Mariners.

It looks like Andrew Albers will get to enjoy one more season throwing pitches under the sun.

On Monday, the 36-year-old left-handed pitcher and North Battleford, Sask., product signed a minor league deal with the MLB’s Seattle Mariners. After playing three seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan from 2018 to 2020, Albers return to North America last season throwing in AAA baseball with the St. Paul Saints and seeing time at the MLB level with the Minnesota Twins.

At the AAA level, Albers was a starter and saw action in 18 total games posting an 8-4 record, a 3.88 earned-run average, 88 strikeouts and 11 walks.

At the MLB level, Albers made five appearances with the Twins posting a 1-2 record, a 7.58 ERA, 12 strikeouts and nine walks.

Albers, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 200 pounds, saw time with the Mariners MLB side back in the 2017 campaign. During that season, he appeared in nine games posting a 5-1 record, a 3.51 ERA, 37 strikeouts and 10 walks.

Albers is one of the true good guys to come not only out of the baseball scene but the sports scene in Saskatchewan. During this past off-season, he spent countless hours at the Indoor Training Centre on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds coaching young pitchers to help them get better at the game.

He decided to live in Saskatoon in order to train for this upcoming season and to give back to the local and provincial baseball scene.

Albers has a lot of people in the province pulling for him to have his best season yet.

• On Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania, the Ohio State University Buckeyes downed the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 3-2 in the NCAA Division I women’s hockey championship game. The win marked the first time the Buckeyes won the NCAA Division I women’s hockey title. Nadine Muzerall turned the Buckeyes into a powerhouse after becoming the team’s head coach before the start of the 2016-17 campaign. In the semifinal round, the top ranked Buckeyes took out the fifth seeded Yale University Bulldogs 2-1. The Yale roster contains rookie defender and Saskatoon product Emma DeCorby, who is an alumna of the Regina Rebels female under-18 AAA team. Minnesota Duluth downed the Northeastern University Huskies in the other semifinal 2-1. The Huskies roster contained veteran defender Brooke Hobson, who is an alumna of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 AAA team. Hobson has now exhausted her NCAA eligibility. In the quarter-final round, the Huskies downed the University of Wisconsin Badgers 4-2. The Badgers roster contains Saskatoon products, forwards and sisters Sophie and Grace Shirley, who are alumnae of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA team. In the first round, the Syracuse University Orange fell 4-0 to the Quinnipiac University Bobcats. The Orange roster contains forward and Saskatoon product Anna Leschyshyn, who is an alumna of the Stars.
• Ilya Usau, who is an alumnus of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, signed an NHL entry-level contract with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The 20-year-old forward from Minsk, Belarus, spent this past season with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL posting nine goals and 17 assists in 40 regular season games. Usau spent one season with the Raiders in 2019-20 recording 22 goals and 30 assists in 58 regular season games.
• On Monday, Zack Hayes, who is a former captain of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, made his NHL regular season debut for the Vegas Golden Knights as they dropped a 3-0 decision to the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul, Minn. The 22-year-old defenceman suited up for his second NHL regular season contest on Tuesday as the Golden Knights dropped a 4-0 decision to the Jets in Winnipeg. Hayes played 272 WHL regular season games for the Raiders from 2015 to 2020 recording 15 goals, 64 assists and a plus-97 rating in the plus-minus department.
• On Tuesday, Hockey Canada announced it was moving this year’s Esso Cup female under-18 AAA championship tournament and the Telus Cup under-18 AAA championship tournament. Hockey Canada said both tournaments will be held May 16 to 22 in a centralized location in Alberta. Host centres were not named for either event and no reasons were given for the move. The Prince Albert Northern Bears were supposed to host the Esso Cup from April 17-23. The Sydney Mitsubishi Rush were supposed to host the Telus Cup in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, from April 18 to 24. The Bears and Rush are slated to play in the host team spots, when the Esso and Telus Cups are played in their new Alberta host centre or centres.
• Moose Jaw Warriors centre and Saskatoon area product Brayden Yager, who is playing his 16-year-old sophomore season in the WHL, has 54 points on 32 goals and 22 assists in 56 games this season. He broke the Warriors record for most goals by someone in their 16-year-old season of eligibility. The old record of 29 goals was held by Theo Fleury set back in the 1984-85 campaign. Fleury went on to become one of the NHL’s most famous star players most notably with the Calgary Flames.
• A total of five WHL teams were listed in the latest CHL Top 10 rankings that were released on Tuesday. The Edmonton Oil Kings were ranked first, the Winnipeg Ice were rated second, the Kamloops Blazers were listed fifth, the Everett Silvertips were ranked sixth and the Portland Winterhawks took the seventh spot.
• Left-winger Arshdeep Bains and centre Ben King of the Red Deer Rebels have become the front runners to win the WHL scoring title. Bains, who is in his overage season, leads the WHL scoring with 94 points coming off of 34 goals and 60 assists appearing in all the Rebels 60 games. King, who is in his 19-year-old season, sits second in the scoring race with 93 points coming off 47 goals and 46 assists appearing in all of the Rebels 60 games. Saskatoon Blades veteran star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, who had led the WHL in scoring at times this season, sits third in the WHL scoring race with 87 points coming on 35 goals and 52 assists.

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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