Defence, goaltending come up big for Blades

Saskatoon downs powerhouse Hitmen 6-3

Ethan McCallum, right, begins to celebrate Friday’s win.

The Saskatoon Blades lived out the cliché that defence and goaltending wins hockey games.

On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades young blue-line came up big on offence. Four different players on the backend had single goals to help Saskatoon down the powerhouse Calgary Hitmen 6-3 before a supportive crowd of 4,071 spectators that braved fictional planet Hoth like temperatures to attend the WHL regular season contest.

Out of the Blades defenders, sturdy standout 20-year-old veteran Grayden Siepmann had the biggest night recording one goal, two assists and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department. Sophomore defenceman Jack Kachkowski, who turned 18-years-old in January, 17-year-old rookie blue-liner Isaac Poll and fellow rookie rearguard Jordan Martin, who turned 18-years-old in January, all picked up singles for Saskatoon.

Grayden Siepmann had one goal and two assists for the Blades.

Veteran netminder Ethan McCallum had a spectacular outing stopping 39 shots to pick up the victory in goal for the host side.

The win allowed the Blades to improve to 28-17-3-3 to keep pace in the race for first place in the WHL’s East Division. Their 62 standings points equals the total of their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders (29-18-3-1), but the Raiders hold the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins. The Brandon Wheat Kings (27-16-4-3) sit one point back of both the Raiders and Blades with one game in hand.

The Hitmen came out of the gates on fire outshooting the Blades 7-1, and they broke through on the scoreboard just 3:33 into the opening frame. Hitmen 20-year-old star centre Connor Hvidston got the puck in front of the Saskatoon net off a positive bounce and roofed his 16^th tally of the season to the top left corner of the net to put the visitors up 1-0.

Kalem Parker had a goal for the Hitmen.

The Blades got their wheels going and evened score 1-1 on the power play at the 8:36 mark of the first on a goal from Siepmann. Siepmann fired home a point shot for the equalizer with the man advantage.

Saskatoon took a 2-1 lead at the 7:34 mark of the second, when breakout 16-year-old rookie centre Cooper Williams wired home his 16^th marker of the campaign.

The Hitmen proceeded to even the score at 2-2 at the 10:40 mark of the second. Working in the Saskatoon zone, Hitmen 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker had the puck on the icing line to the right side of the Saskatoon net. He banked home the puck off McCallum’s stick into the Saskatoon net to force a tie game.

Jack Kachkowski had a goal for the Blades on Friday.

Just 11 seconds later, Hitmen standout 18-year-old right-winger Carson Wetsch thought he scored from the front of the Saskatoon net to put his side ahead, but the play continued. The officials from the timekeeper’s booth blew the play down seconds later for a video review.

The review showed Wetsch’s shot just crossed the goal line of that Saskatoon net, and the officials ruled a goal for Wetsch to officially put the Hitmen ahead 3-2.

As quickly as the momentum swung to the Hitmen, it swung back just as quickly to the Blades.

With 3:23 remaining in the second, Kachkowski wired home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to the top right corner of the Calgary goal to even the score at 3-3. 

Isaac Poll had the Blades fourth goal on Friday.

The tally was Kachkowski’s first goal as a member of the Blades having been acquired in a trade on January 6.

The Blades proceeded to go ahead 4-3 with 1:32 remaining in the second when rookie 17-year-old defenceman Isaac Poll slipped home a shot from the point through a screen for his second marker of the season.

Just past the midway point of the third, Martin jetted down the right wing into the Calgary zone and ripped a shot from the right faceoff dot to the top left corner of the Calgary net to push the Blades lead out to 5-3.

Blades 19-year-old left-winger Rowan Calvert sealed the victory scoring on the power play during a net scramble with 4:25 remaining in the third. 

Jordan Martin scored for the Blades on Friday.

Calvert’s tally was his 21^st goal on the season and 16^th marker on the power play.

Both Williams and Calvert each finished recording one goal and one assist for the Blades. Hvidston finished with one goal and one assist for Calgary. Daniel Hauser turned away 24 shots to take the setback in net for the Hitmen.

With the setback, the Hitmen fell to 33-14-3-2 to remain three points back of the idle Medicine Hat Tigers (35-16-3-1) for first place in the Eastern Conference. The Hitmen have three games in hand on the Tigers.

Due to the Lethbridge Hurricanes downing the visiting Regina Pats 6-5 in overtime, the Hurricanes improve to 34-16-2-1 and equal the Hitmen with 71 standings points. 

The Blades celebrate their victory on Friday night.

The Hurricanes hold second in the Eastern Conference due to having more wins than the Hitmen, but Calgary has one game in hand on Lethbridge.

The Blades head on the road on Saturday to Swift Current to take on the 27-22-1-1 Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

The Hitmen also get back at it on Saturday traveling to Prince Albert to take the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Going forward, the Blades are hoping their young back end and McCallum can keep delivering big games. If that happens, Saskatoon can likely deliver a few more surprises as the WHL campaign continues.

Raiders surge past Broncos 6-1, other notes

Lukas Dragicevic had one goal and two assists for the Raiders.

A four-goal knockout shot in the third period allowed the Prince Albert Raiders to put away the Swift Current Broncos.

On Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the host Raiders took a 2-1 lead into the third period and piled up four goals in the third to surge past the visiting Broncos 6-1 to the delight of the 2,555 spectators in attendance. The win allowed the Raiders to improve to 29-18-3-1 and hold a slim edge for first place in the WHL’s East Division.

The Raiders have the same amount of standings points as the Saskatoon Blades (28-17-3-3) at 62, but Prince Albert holds the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins. The Brandon Wheat Kings (27-16-4-3) sit one point back of both the Raiders and Blades with a game in hand on both clubs.

Star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic opened the game’s scoring netting his 13^th of the season at the 4:01 mark of the opening frame ripping home a midrange shot from the left faceoff circle.

Tomas Mrsic had one goal and two assists for the Raiders.

With 5.8 seconds remaining in the first, Raiders 20-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker potted a power-play goal from the front of the Swift Current net to put the host side up 2-0.

In the second, Broncos 20-year-old centre Carlin Dezainde wired home a shot to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net from the front of the goal to cut the Raiders lead to 2-1. Dezainde converted a beauty setup pass from 19-year-old left-winger Rylan Gould from the left corner of the Prince Albert zone.

The Raiders opened the flood gates in the third. Tomas Mrsic, who is the team’s star 18-year-old left-winger, netted his 31^st goal of the campaign to push the Raiders edge out to 3-1. Brayden Dube picked up his 24^th goal of the season with his club working on the power play to give the Prince Albert side a 4-1 advantage.

Raiders captain Justice Christensen scored once at even strength and once on the power play to round out the 6-1 final score in Prince Albert’s favour. Christensen now had 18 goals on the campaign.

Justice Christensen scored twice for the Raiders.

Dragicevic and Mrsic each finished with one goal and two assists for Prince Albert.

Max Hildebrand stopped 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Joey Rocha turned away 33 shots to take the setback in net for the Broncos (27-22-1-1).

The Broncos return home on Saturday to host the Saskatoon Blades (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

The Raiders also get back at it on Saturday as they host the Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

• On Friday in Lethbridge, veteran centre Shane Smith scored at the 1:19 mark of overtime to deliver the host Hurricanes to a 6-5 victory over the Regina Pats. Hurricanes 19-year-old import right-winger Leo Braillard scored with 6.9 seconds remaining in the third period to force a 5-5 tie and overtime.
• On Friday in Kamloops, netminder Logan Edmonstone made 35 saves to backstop the host Blazers to a 3-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. Conner Radke, who is an 18-year-old right-winger, scored the winning goal for the Blazers in the second period. The win allowed Blazers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston to pick up his 583^rd career WHL regular season head coach victory. He moves one win ahead of Marc Habscheid, who is best known for guiding the Rockets and Prince Albert Raiders as head coach, for fifth all-time on the WHL’s career head coaching wins list.
• On Friday in Victoria, the host Royals won their sixth in a row downing the visiting Vancouver Giants 5-2. Royals 19-year-old star left-winger Teydon Trembecky had two goals and two assists in the win. Victoria improved its B.C. Division leading record to 32-14-3-5.
• Also on Friday in the WHL, the Brandon Wheat Kings doubled up the Moose Jaw Warriors 6-3; the Everett Silvertips slipped past the Prince George Cougars 3-1; the Red Deer Rebels downed the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-1; the Tri-City Americans edged the Spokane Chiefs 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout; and the Portland Winterhawks edged the Wenatchee Wild 6-5 in overtime.
• On Tuesday, Cami Kepke, who is the WHL’s manager of communications and content, put together a great story on Manny Viveiros rediscovering his love for hockey after battling two cancer diagnosis and depression. Viveiros was a legendary defenceman on the Prince Albert Raiders squad that won the WHL title and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 1985. He guided the Swift Current Broncos to a WHL championship as head coach in 2017-18, and he currently serves as the head coach of the Vancouver Giants. Kepke’s story on Viveiros can be found right here.
• On Sunday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on softball power hitter Olivia Prokopchuk. The 17-year-old first base infielder has signed on with the University of South Carolina-Union Bantams Women’s Softball team located in Union, South Carolina. She is also coming back from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. That piece can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by pictures from the Saskatoon Valkyries Winter Camp. It also includes photos from baseball, football, rugby, softball and speed skating. That post 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.

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