Dreaming about the Blades keeping the band together

Saskatoon ultimately did right thing with reload

Tanner Molendyk in action for the Blades on March 22, 2024.

What could the Saskatoon Blades have done had they kept the band together in 2024-25?

As the CHL post-season has gone by, that thought does cross through a person’s head.

On Sunday, the title game of the Memorial Cup tournament, which determines a CHL champion, will be held at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial in Rimouski, Quebec. The WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers will take on the OHL champion London Knights in the tourney final (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

That contest features three players who started the 2024-25 campaign with the Blades.

Tanner Molendyk has been playing defence at an all-world level for the Tigers. The Blades defenceman of the year team award is named after him. 

Misha Volotovskii has become a shutdown checking centre for Medicine Hat who has chipped in goals and points at opportune times.

Austin Elliott is the netminder seemingly the entire WHL gave up on. In combined play in the WHL regular season, OHL regular season and post-season and Memorial Cup tournament, Elliott, who is in his overage season, has a 54-3 record. He went 3-0 with the Blades and has been 51-3 for the Knights.

Tanner Molendyk in action for the Tigers on April 13.

In 2023-24, the Blades had a stellar season finishing first overall in the WHL with a 50-13-2-3 mark. They advanced to the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series falling in seven games to the eventual league champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

That epic series saw six games decided in overtime. In Game 7 at the SaskTel Centre on May 7, 2024, Warriors right-winger Lynden Lakovic got a positive bounced goal 36 seconds into overtime to deliver a 3-2 victory to Moose Jaw.

Lakovic put a backhand shot towards the Saskatoon net that deflected off the skate of Blades utility winger Tyler Parr into the net for the winning tally. Parr was covering Warriors star right-winger Atley Calvert on the play.

At the start of the 2024-25 campaign, Molendyk, Volotovskii, Elliott, Parr, Brandon Lisowsky, Rowan Calvert, Evan Gardner, Lukas Hansen, Ben Saunderson, Grayden Siepmann and Morgan Tastad were all part of the core of the 2023-24 squad that was returning. 

Unfortunately for the Blades, they dealt away a lot of key draft capital to load up for the 2023-24 campaign.

They also had five significant losses after the completion of the 2023-24 campaign. Captain Trevor Wong, standout right-winger Easton Armstrong and sturdy defensive-defenceman Charlie Wright all aged out of the circuit. Star import right-winger Egor Sidorov joined the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, who are the affiliate of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, and star centre Fraser Minten started the campaign as property of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs before being dealt to the Boston Bruins.

Misha Volotovskii in action for the Blades on April 3, 2024.

Minten saw action for the Maple Leafs, their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies, the Bruins and their AHL affiliate the Providence Bruins.

On July 25, 2024, the Blades dealt steady defenceman John Babcock to the Regina Pats in an effort to get down to three overage players.

Elliott lost his spot as the Blades starting goalie to Gardner during the 2024 WHL Playoffs. 

When Gardner returned from NHL training camp activities with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Elliott was cut by the Blades and cleared the WHL waiver wire.

He was actually claimed on CHL waivers by the Barrie Colts, but the powerhouse Knights wanted to bring him to their squad. 

On October 16, 2024, the Knights dealt a 14^th round selection in the 2026 OHL Draft and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2027 OHL Draft for Elliott. The puckstopper never played a game for the Colts.

Elliott would go on to have a sensational run with the Knights.

As the early part of the campaign moved on, the Blades sat first overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and third overall in the league with a 17-6-1-2 mark going into action on December 6, 2024. It was decision time when it came to keeping the band together.

Misha Volotovskii in action for the Tigers on May 9.

Blades general manager Colin Priestner looked at what the team could potentially look like the next two seasons after the 2024-25 campaign if the band stayed together and decided to make deals to ensure the team didn’t bottom out.

Hansen, Lisowsky, Volotovskii and Molendyk were all dealt to bring in a haul of younger players and draft capital leading up to the WHL’s trade deadline on January 9. Overage left-winger Tanner Scott was the one veteran that came to Saskatoon in those deals.

Before the 2024-25 season started, the Blades acquired 19-year-old centre Ben Riche in a trade with the Victoria Royals. Riche was looking for a fresh start with a new club and had a major breakout half season with the Blades. He was dealt to the Prince George Cougars for two younger players and draft capital.

The Blades didn’t plummet down the WHL standings after the trades. They slowly dropped out of contention for top spot in the Eastern Conference but were battling for first place in the WHL’s East Division.

They closed the regular season with a home-and-home series against their archrivals in the Prince Albert Raiders and were looking to gain the East Division title. 

On March 21 at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime. One night later at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert in a winner take all battle for first place, the Blades fell 4-3 after the Raiders star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic netted the winner late in the third period.

Austin Elliott in action for the Blades on April 5, 2024.

Saskatoon finished third in the East Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 37-23-4-4 mark. The Blades were swept in a best-of-seven first round series by the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL Playoffs.

Still, the Blades are looking wise going into the future with the likes of Hunter Laing, Hayden Harsanyi, Jack Kachkowski and Kazden Mathies. They will go well together with returnees like Gardner, Ethan McCallum, Zach Olsen, Parr, Calvert, Cooper Williams, David Lewandowski and Isaac Poll.

In 2025-26, the Blades should still be a club that will be in a solid post-season spot. Still, it is fun to dream about what could have happened had Molendyk, Volotovskii, Elliott, Lisowsky, Hansen and Riche all stayed.

Knights claim 5-2 win over Wildcats in Memorial Cup semi

The London Knights weren’t going to be denied a return trip to the title game of the Memorial Cup tournament.

On Friday, the OHL champion Knights found themselves locked in a 2-2 after 40 minutes with the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats in the Memorial Cup semifinal at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial in Rimouski, Quebec. The Knights rolled off three straight goals in the third period to pull out a 5-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 4,512 spectators.

Left-winger Blake Montgomery scored the winner at the 3:35 mark of the third. Import left-winger Jesse Nurmi netted a dagger insurance tally with 6:49 remaining in the third. Knight star right-winger Easton Cowan scored into an empty net to complete the surge with 1:49 remaining in the frame.

With the win, the Knights advance to the title game of the Memorial Cup tournament, which decides a CHL champion, to take on the WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers on Sunday at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Last year when the Memorial Cup tournament was held in Saginaw, Michigan, the Knights, who were the OHL champions, fell to the host Spirit 4-3. Spirit 20-year-old left-winger Josh Bloom scored the winner with 21.7 seconds remaining in the third to break a 3-3 tie.

In Friday’s clash between the Knights and Wildcats, left-winger Landon Sim gave the Knights a 1-0 lead at the 4:07 mark of the first period. Wildcats centre Caleb Desnoyers scored on the power play with 1:40 remaining in the opening frame to even the score at 1-1.

Knights captain Denver Barkley tallied at the 5:24 mark of the second to put London up 2-0. Just 2:16 later, Wildcats defenceman Dyllan Gill fired home a power-play goal to even the score at 2-2. That set the stage for the Knights surge in the third period.

Austin Elliott stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Knights. During the 2024-25 campaign that began with three games with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, Elliott has a 54-3 record including play in the WHL regular season, the OHL regular season and post-season and the Memorial Cup tournament.

Mathis Rousseau turned away 32-of-36 shots to take the setback in net for the Wildcats. The Wildcats downed the host Rimouski Oceanic 6-2 in the final round robin game on Wednesday to advance to the semifinal.

The Wildcats were 1-2 in round robin play, while the Oceanic were 0-3. The Tigers topped the round robin standings at 3-0, while the Knights were second with a 2-1 mark.

The Knights topped the OHL standings with a 55-11-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings released on March 25. They advanced through the OHL Playoffs with a 16-1 record.

The Wildcats topped the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-9-2 mark and were rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the QMJHL Playoffs, the Wildcats went 16-3 to capture the league title.

Medicine Hat finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark and posted a 16-2 record in the WHL Playoffs capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. The Tigers were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings that came out on March 25.

The Oceanic were second overall in the QMJHL’s regular season standings with a 46-14-2-2 mark. They posted a 14-9 record in the QMJHL Playoffs falling in six games in the league championship series to the Wildcats. Rimouski was rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

McDonald remains Raiders head coach, other notes

Ryan McDonald, centre, works the Raiders bench on March 18.

Ryan McDonald will remain the head coach of his hometown Prince Albert Raiders heading into the 2025-26 campaign.

On Tuesday, the Raiders removed the interim tag from McDonald’s job title as head coach. The 37-year-old first joined the club as an assistant coach in 2020-21.

McDonald was named the team’s interim head coach on March 10 after Jeff Truitt was dismissed as the club’s head coach. The Raiders went 5-1 in their last six regular season contests under McDonald allowing them to finish first in the WHL’s East Division with a 39-23-5-1 mark.

Following the team’s WHL Christmas break, McDonald took over for Truitt as interim head coach as Truitt left the team for medical reasons to have eye surgery. McDonald went 10-4-0-1 over that stretch to post a 15-5-0-1 mark in 21 regular season contests working the Raiders bench as head coach.

In the WHL Playoffs, McDonald saw his Raiders eliminate the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-3 in a best-of-seven first round series after trailing the set 3-1. The Raiders were then swept in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series by the eventual WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers.

Way back in the 2002-03 campaign, McDonald suited up full time for the Prince Albert Mintos under-18 AAA team as a 14-year-old underage player. He played one more campaign for the Mintos before moving up to the WHL with the Regina Pats.

He was acquired by the Raiders from the Pats in a trade part way through the 2006-07 campaign. McDonald would play the next two full seasons with the Raiders before graduating from the WHL. In 2013-14, McDonald played in the U Sports ranks with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team.

• London Knights star right-winger Easton Cowan leads the Memorial Cup tournament in scoring with six points coming off two goals and four assists in four games.
• Medicine Hat Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie leads the Memorial Cup tournament with four goals coming in three games.
• London Knights star goaltender Austin Elliott has the lowest goals against average at the Memorial Cup tournament at 1.74 and the highest save percentage at .936 over four games. He is tied with Medicine Hat Tigers star netminder Harrison Meneghin for the most goaltending wins at this year’s tournament at three.
• On Friday, Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reported that the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks Men’s Hockey Team in the NCAA Division I ranks got verbal commitments from centre Cole Reschny and defenceman Keaton Verhoeff, who were both members of the WHL’s Victoria Royals, to play starting in the 2025-26 season. Reschny turned 18-years-old in April and had 92 points coming off 26 goals and 66 assists to go with a plus-42 rating in the plus-minus department playing 62 regular season games for the Royals in 2024-25. He is a top prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Verhoeff will turn 17-years-old on June 19. As a 16-year-old rookie with the Royals in 2024-25, he appeared in 63 regular season games recording 21 goals, 24 assists and a plus-23 rating. Some believe he has the potential to be selected second overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
• Nathan Reiter, who is a sports reporter for the Prince Albert Daily Herald, put together a column on the latest developments on the landscape between the CHL and NCAA. 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.

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Tigers down Knights 3-1, move on to Memorial Cup title game

If there were any doubts, the Medicine Hat Tigers proved they can win by gaining three yards in a cloud of dust.

On Tuesday night at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial in Rimouski, Quebec, the WHL championship Tigers downed the OHL champion London Knights 3-1 in the final round robin contest for both sides at the Memorial Cup tournament which crowns a CHL champion. The win allowed the Tigers to finish on top of the round robin standings with a 3-0 record and advance directly to Sunday’s tournament championship game (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Knights posted a 2-1 mark to place second in the round robin portion of the event. They will play in a semifinal contest on Friday (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

In the semifinal, London will take on the winner of Wednesday’s final round robin game between the QMJHL Moncton Wildcats and host Rimouski Oceanic (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN). The Wildcats and Oceanic are both 0-2 in round robin play.

In the Tigers win over the Knights on Tuesday, the Medicine Hat side had to grind out victory. The Knights held a 36-29 edge in shots on goal. Both sides were changing things up on the ice to counter each others’ offensive attacks.

Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna wasn’t able to record a point.

Medicine Hat pulled out victory winning battles for the puck and blocking shots. The Tabbies were also powered by a spectacular 35-save performance by star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin in picking up the win.

The Knights got out to the fast start on Tuesday. Just seconds into the contest, Meneghin stoned Knights centre Jacob Julien on a two-on-one break into the Medicine Hat zone.

At the 3:34 mark of the opening frame, the Knight struck on the power play taking a 1-0 lead. Knights star defenceman Sam Dickinson floated a shot from the point that was deflected home by star right-winger Kasper Halttunen to give their side a one-goal edge.

Mathew Ward scored the winning goal for the Tigers.

London held a 9-2 edge in shots on goal at one point in the first period before heading into the first intermission holding a 10-7 lead in that department.

Just inside the first two minutes of the second, Knights star left-winger Blake Montgomery was sprung into the Medicine Hat zone on a breakaway only to be turned away by a blocker stop from Meneghin.

The Tigers broke through on the scoreboard netting a gritty goal thanks to a positive bounce at the 5:11 mark of the second. Star defenceman Tanner Molendyk fired a shot from the point that deflected off a Knights player to Tigers veteran right-winger Ethan Neutens at the left side of the London net. Neutens quickly put the puck into an open left side of the London cage to even the score at 1-1.

The Knights came with a push back after the Tigers pulled even on the scoreboard, but the London side was kept at bay by Meneghin.

Just seconds into the third, Meneghin stoned Knights captain Denver Barkley, who fired a shot on goal from the front of the Medicine Hat net on an offensive rush.

Following that chance, the Tigers were buzzing in the London zone at the 1:17 mark of the frame. Tigers 19-year-old defensive centre Misha Volotovskii poked the puck down to overage left-winger Mathew Ward at the right side of the London net.

Ward quickly looped around the front of the London net and popped home his first of the tournament to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. That tally marked the first time the Knights trailed in the third period at any point in this year’s Memorial Cup tournament.

After going ahead on the scoreboard, the Tigers proceeded to focus on defensive structure. With 10:45 remaining in the frame, Knights star right-winger Easton Cowan put a shot off the post of the Medicine Hat net that Meneghin proceeded to gather up.

Harrison Meneghin made 35 saves in goal for the Tigers.

Late in the frame with the Knights on the power play, Cowan was stoned on a close in chance by Meneghin. After that power play expired, Tigers star captain Oasiz Wiesblatt came up with a big shot block on Dickinson with 71 seconds remaining in the frame to help prevent the Knights from pulling even on the scoreboard. At the time of that shot block, the Knights had star overage netminder Austin Elliott pulled for an extra attacker.

With 11.6 seconds remaining in the third, Wiesblatt sprung star right-winger Ryder Ritchie on a break down the right wing into the London zone. Ritchie fired the puck into an empty net to round out the 3-1 final score in favour of the Tigers.

Neutens had an assist to go with his goal finishing with a two-point night to go with a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department for the Tigers.

Elliott turned away 26-of-28 shots to take the setback in net for the Knights. In action combined in the CHL regular season and post-season, Elliott saw his record in net fall to 53-3.

The veteran puck stopper started the 2024-25 campaign in the WHL with the Saskatoon Blades winning all three of his starts with “the Bridge City Bunch.” Elliott was cut by the Blades and cleared WHL waivers.

Elliott was actually claimed on CHL waivers by the Barrie Colts, but the powerhouse Knights wanted to bring him to their squad. On October 16, 2024, the Knights dealt a 14^th round selection in the 2026 OHL Draft and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2027 OHL Draft for Elliott.

The puck stopper never played a game for the Colts. He has a 50-3 record playing for the Knights.

During his time in the WHL with the Blades, Elliott won all six of his career starts against the Tigers.

Oasiz Wiesblatt had a big shot block and an assist for the Tigers.

Medicine Hat finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark and posted a 16-2 record in the WHL Playoffs capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. The Tigers were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings that came out on March 25.

The Tigers have won 47 out of their last 55 games including play in the WHL regular season, the WHL Playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Knights topped the OHL standings with a 55-11-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings released on March 25. They advanced through the OHL Playoffs with a 16-1 record.

The Wildcats topped the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-9-2 mark and were rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the QMJHL Playoffs, the Wildcats went 16-3 to capture the league title.

The Oceanic were second overall in the QMJHL’s regular season standings with a 46-14-2-2 mark. They posted a 14-9 record in the QMJHL Playoffs falling in six games in the league championship series to the Wildcats. Rimouski was rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Now, the Tigers have four days off where they will wait to see who they will play in the Memorial Cup title game. They were last in the championship game of the Memorial Cup tournament on May 27, 2007 falling 3-1 to the host Vancouver Giants. The Tigers went into that tournament as the WHL champions.

The Tigers have won the Memorial Cup twice with the victories coming in 1987 and 1988. In 1987, the Tigers downed the host and OHL champion Oshawa Generals 6-2 in the Memorial Cup title game on May 15 of that year. 

In 1988, the Tigers outgunned the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires 7-6 in the championship contest on May 14 of that year with the event being hosted in Chicoutimi, Quebec.

Medicine Hat is also trying to become the first WHL team to win the Memorial Cup since the Edmonton Oil Kings downed the OHL champion Guelph Storm 6-3 on May 25, 2014, when the tournament was held in London, Ont.

Ethan Neutens had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

If the Tigers take the Memorial Cup title game on Sunday, they would make history on numerous fronts.

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Ritchie on fire for Tigers at Memorial Cup tourney

Medicine Hat improves to 2-0 with 3-1 win over Wildcats

Ryder Ritchie is flourishing in the spotlight of the Memorial Cup tournament.

On Monday, the star right-winger recorded a pair of goals and an assist to power his WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers to a 3-1 victory over the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats in a round robin contest playing before a sellout crowd of 4,512 spectators at Coliseum Sun Life Financial in Rimouski, Quebec. In two games at the event that crowns a CHL champion, Ritchie has recorded three goals, one assist and a plus-two in the plus-minus department as the Tigers have posted a 2-0 record.

Medicine Hat is guaranteed to play in at least Friday’s semifinal contest of the playoff round. The Tigers close their round robin schedule on Tuesday taking on the OHL champion London Knights (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Knights are also 2-0 in the round robin portion of the tournament. The winner of the clash between the Tigers and Knights will earn a berth in the tournament’s championship game on Sunday.

The Knights topped the OHL standings with a 55-11-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings released on March 25. They advanced through the OHL Playoffs with a 16-1 record.

The Wildcats fell to 0-2 with the setback. They will close the round robin portion of the tournament taking on the host Rimouski Oceanic on Wednesday (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Oceanic also have an 0-2 mark at the tourney. The club that wins Wednesday’s clash between the Wildcats and Oceanic advances to the tournament’s semifinal contest on Friday. The squad that loses will be eliminated from the event.

The Oceanic were second overall in the QMJHL’s regular season standings with a 46-14-2-2 mark. They posted a 14-9 record in the QMJHL Playoffs falling in six games in the league championship series to the Wildcats. Rimouski was rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

During the post-game press conference on Monday, the action on the ice between the Tigers and Wildcats fell to the background after Wildcats head coach Gardiner MacDougall said he found out about a tragedy in his family before the contest started.

Ryder Ritchie had two goals and an assist for the Tigers.

About 20 minutes before the Wildcats faced the Tigers, Rimouski RCMP contacted Moncton general manager Taylor MacDougall to let him know that his father-in-law Pat Buckley had a heart attack while golfing in Rimouski and passed away. Taylor is Gardiner’s son.

About five minutes before puck drop, Taylor relayed the devastating news of Buckley’s passing to Gardiner. Gardiner said Monday’s contest was the hardest game he ever had to coach.

During post-game interviews, Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins and Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt passed on condolences to the MacDougall family.

As for Monday’s game itself, the Tigers broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:24 mark of the opening frame on Ritchie’s first tally of the contest. Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna broke down the right-wing in the Moncton zone on a rush.

He fired a shot that went wide of the Moncton net, but the puck rebounded off the boards to Wiesblatt positioned at the right side of the Moncton goal. Wiesblatt passed the puck across the front of the net to Ritchie, who buried a shot to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers would outshoot the Wildcats 13-11 in the first period, but the Wildcats came with a big push back after the Tigers scored in the frame. Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin made three big saves that allowed his squad to head into the first intermission with a one-goal lead.

First, Meneghin made a left pad save to deny Wildcats right-winger Alex Mercier on a breakaway. Following that chance, Meneghin denied 19-year-old import right-winger Juraj Pekarcik on a wraparound. Meneghin then made a right pad save to stone Wildcats left-winger Maxime Cote on a chance alone in front of the Medicine Hat net.

The Tigers hit another gear in the second period outshooting the Wildcats 17-6 in the frame. Early in the stanza, Tigers import defenceman Veeti Vaisanen put a shot on net that came out from under Wildcats star 20-year-old netminder Mathis Rousseau and was trickling towards the Moncton net.

Wildcats defenceman Loke Johansson swept the puck out of the crease of the Moncton net to thwart the scoring chance.

The Tigers thought they went up 2-0 when it appeared super rookie right-winger Liam Ruck scored a power-play goal from the front of the Moncton net. Ruck kicked the puck into the goal from outside the crease, which would be a goal in the WHL but is not a goal in the rulebook used at the Memorial Cup. The tally was disallowed and that ruling held up after a video review.

Gavin McKenna had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

Still working on that same power play, Ritchie drove home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle in the Moncton zone for his second goal of the night to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

Just 31 seconds into the third period, the Wildcats got some traction after defenceman Dyllan Gill directed a point shot at the Medicine Hat net that deflected off a Tigers player into the goal. Gill’s mark cut the Tigers lead to 2-1.

With less than two minutes to play in the third, the Wildcats pulled Rousseau for an extra attacker.

The Wildcats had a clunky line change, and with 1:22 remaining in the third, they were called for having too many men on the ice. The infraction seemed to take the wind out of the Wildcats sails when it came to making one last gasp push to get the equalizer.

On the short-handed situation, the Wildcats were able to get Rousseau pulled again to play the Tigers five skaters against five skaters with about 21 seconds remaining in the frame.

With 7.3 seconds remaining in the third, McKenna fired a puck from his own zone and banked the puck off the right post of the Moncton net into the open cage to cement a 3-1 victory for his squad. McKenna’s tally was the rare power-play goal that was scored into an empty net.

Meneghin stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for Medicine Hat. Rousseau turned away 38-of-40 shots to take the setback in net for Moncton.

Star centre Cayden Lindstrom played his first game of the Memorial Cup tournament for the Tigers on Monday. Lindstrom is still on the comeback trail from a long term back injury.

Medicine Hat finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark and posted a 16-2 record in the WHL Playoffs capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. The Tigers were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings that came out on March 25.

The Wildcats topped the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-9-2 mark and were rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the QMJHL Playoffs, the Wildcats went 16-3 to capture the league title.

Harrison Meneghin stopped 21 shots in goal for the Tigers.

The Tigers have won 46 out of their last 54 games including play in the WHL regular season, the WHL Playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament.

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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Rush rose back to NLL title contender status in 2025

Reload efforts have paid off for Saskatchewan

The Rush celebrate a goal by captain Ryan Keenan.

At the start of the 2024-25 NLL campaign, the Saskatchewan Rush wanted to return to the post-season.

In their three previous seasons, they posted respective 8-10 records and just missed qualifying for the post-season in each of those campaigns. The Rush were going through a reload, but they didn’t totally bottom out.

As the 2024-25 campaign motored on, the hopes of the players on the Rush grew. The goal of returning to the post-season changed to aiming to make the NLL Championship Series and capturing the fourth NLL title in team history.

Early on in the campaign, there was a sense around the Rush that 2024-25 had the potential to be special and that the rebuild from the previous campaigns was starting to pay off. The Rush won their first three straight games and started out 4-2. While lots of teams in the history of the NLL had better starts, one wondered how good the Rush could be.

After the 4-2 start, a five game winning streak followed. By the end of the regular season, the Rush compiled a 13-5 record, which was their best mark in the regular season since 2018 when they topped the NLL standings with a 14-4 record and won their third NLL title in franchise history.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Rush on May 18.

The Rush’s record in 2024-25 placed them second overall in the NLL. The Buffalo Bandits, who entered the campaign as the two-time defending NLL champions, also posted a 13-5 record and took the standings tiebreaker for first place having beat the Rush 9-7 at the SaskTel Centre on March 1 in the lone regular season head-to-head encounter between the two sides.

When the post-season started, it felt like 2018 again around the Rush. The confidence was there the post-season run would be a long one and the belief was truly real that they could win the NLL title.

Only Robert Church, Ryan Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt Hossack remain from that 2018 championship winner. Keenan currently serves as the club’s captain The Rush were going into the post-season relying on a new generation.

The O16 Electric Crew performs during a break between quarters.

A couple of veteran pickups were key in the revival of the Rush. They picked up veteran goaltender Frank Scigliano in a trade with the San Diego Seals in July of 2023. On September 7, 2024, the Rush signed forward Austin Shanks.

Scigliano and Shanks were stars at their respective positions, and both were in search of being members of an NLL championship team for the first time in their respective careers.

The Rush roster was filled with young players who are coming of age in Zach Manns, Clark Walter, Brock Haley, Levi Anderson, Bobby Kidd III, Jake Boudreau, Jake Naso and Ryan Barnable. Rookie goaltender Thomas Kiazyk showed real big self-belief in his first season with the squad.

In another cool development, Messenger, Manns, Boudreau, Haley, Anderson and Jerrett Smith all lived in Saskatoon full time during the season.

Ryan Keenan had a strong season as the captain of the Rush.

Manns came to the Rush in a trade in July of 2023 that sent all-time great Mark Matthews to the Toronto Rock. During the 2024-25 regular season, Manns, who is 26-years-old, topped the Rush in scoring with 74 points coming off 35 goals and 39 assists.

The Rush piled up a number of major league awards at the end of the regular season. Scigliano was the NLL’s goaltender of the year, Hossack claimed honours as the NLL’s defensive player of the year, defender Keegan Bell was the NLL’s teammate of the year, co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan captured the award as the NLL’s coach of the year and co-head coach and general manager Derek Keenan was tabbed as the NLL’s general manager of the year.

In the NLL Playoffs, the Rush downed the Georgia Swarm in a single-elimination quarter-final 13-9 at the SaskTel Centre on April 26.

Saskatchewan swept the Halifax Thunderbirds in a best-of-three semifinal series 2-0. On May 3, the Rush hammered the Thunderbirds in Halifax 16-7 in Game 1. The Rush needed a thrilling come-from-behind 10-9 win in overtime to lock up the series victory in Game 2 on May 10 at the SaskTel Centre.

Frank Scigliano was the NLL’s goaltender of the year.

Saskatchewan then faced the Bandits in the best-of-three NLL Championship Series. The first two games of the series were heated battles.

The Bandits claimed Game 1 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, 12-10 on May 16. The series shifted to the SaskTel Centre for Game 2 on May 18 with the Rush claiming an 11-10 victory to force a series-deciding Game 3 back at the KeyBank Center.

The first half of the winner takes all Game 3 played on Saturday saw the intensity from the first two games continue on. The Bandits went into the halftime break holding a slim 7-6 lead.

In the second half, the Bandits showed their recent championship pedigree and took their game to another level. They outscored the Rush 8-0 in posting a convincing 15-6 victory to the delight of a sellout crowd of 19,070 spectators.

It might have been at that point the youth on the Rush team started to show. As the Bandits lead grew, you started to see the body language on the Rush players start to sag and a realization grew that they weren’t going to get the NLL Cup at game’s end.

Matt Hossack was the NLL’s defensive player of the year. 

The Bandits would be crowned NLL champions for a third straight year and for the seventh time in team history. Their seven NLL titles are the most for a franchise in the history of the NLL.

The passion of the Buffalo fanbase showed through too, if you looked at the comments on the posts on the Rush’s social media accounts that piled up in the six hours after the game. A number of Bandits fans took exception to Shanks saying the Rush were going to win Game 3 and Boudreau saying playing in the Bandits home rink wasn’t that big of a deal.

A number of Bandits fans left disparaging comments about the Rush and their fans including comments that said the Rush only had 50 fans and the team would leave Saskatoon and the province of Saskatchewan in three years. You had to admit the comments were pretty harsh but also in the bounds of fair play.

If you check out the accounts of the Bandits fans that left comments on Rush social media posts, it was pretty clear they are full out Buffalo professional team supporters also backing the NFL’s Bills and the NHL’s Sabres. Those fans have seen their share of heartbreaks and go all the way in letting people know when the Bandits win it all.

Zach Manns led the Rush with 74 points in the regular season.

Still, the Rush have jumped up to once again be one of the NLL’s top teams. When players arrive for training camp at the start of the 2025-26 campaign, they will have the goal and legitimately believe they can win the NLL championship. The feeling will be what the Rush franchise had during the 2010s when contending for the NLL title was a legitimate reality.

Of course, the elephant in the room for the Rush this season revolved around attendance. The highest attendance figure the Rush posted for any of their home games in 2024-25 was 8,216 which came in their Game 2 win of the NLL Championship Series.

When the Rush won the NLL title in 2018, they averaged 14,639 spectators per game in their nine regular season home dates and 12,351 spectators per contest in their three post-season home dates.

After the Rush franchise moved from Edmonton following the 2015 campaign to Saskatoon for the 2016 season, it was decided the club would be dubbed the Saskatchewan Rush to try and mirror picking up a provincial following similar to the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Austin Shanks was a big off-season addition for the Rush.

A sizable media contingent used to cover the Rush with media staffers coming from various parts of the province. 

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that started in March of 2020 and the shutdowns that followed saw the number of sports reporting positions in Saskatchewan cut to what would be considered less than a skeleton crew. The media following that used to cover the Rush has been cut down significantly.

When the Rush began their run in the 2025 NLL Playoffs, I saw someone comment on social media on being a resident in Regina and that you barely heard anything about the Rush in the Saskatchewan capital city. 

The Rush were known at one time for the ability to draw fans from all over Saskatchewan.

The challenges the Rush face in drawing fans and getting media exposure to break into the minds of potential casual fans are shared by all sports teams across Canada outside of NHL teams, the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, and the CFL’s Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. There are no easy answers to navigate those challenges.

The Rush salute their fans at the SaskTel Centre.

On the floor, the Rush have been built into a winner and a contender once again. That in theory should help in drawing interest back towards the team.

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Second half from hell – Rush fall in Game 3 of NLL final

Bandits claim third straight league title

It was a “second half from hell” for the Saskatchewan Rush.

On Saturday, the Rush found themselves trailing the host Buffalo Bandits 7-6 at halftime in a series deciding Game 3 of the NLL Championship Series at the KeyBank Center, which is known as Banditland during lacrosse games. At that point, the wheels fell off for the Rush.

Just 34 seconds into the second half, Bandits forward Chase Fraser scored on a one handed behind the back shot to start a stunning chain of events. The Bandits took off and outscored the Rush 8-0 in the second half for a 15-6 victory playing before a euphoric sellout crowd of 19,070 spectators.

The win allowed the Bandits to claim the best-of-three series 2-1. The Bandits, who were playing in their fifth straight NLL final, also captured the NLL title for a third straight year and the seventh time in team history. Buffalo’s seven league titles are the most in the history of the NLL.

The second half of Game 3 was a stunning reversal from what had happened in the entire series to that point. Back on May 13, the Bandits took Game 1 of the series 12-10 at the KeyBank Center in a hard-fought battle.

Last Sunday, the Rush claimed an 11-10 victory in Game 2 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon in another slug-it-out affair. The first half of Game 3 had a five-goal run by the Bandits, a three-goal run by the Rush and was tightly contested.

Once the Bandits got the first goal of the second half on Fraser’s fancy play, they were off to the races. The Rush looked like they got run over by an 18-wheeler. Anything the Saskatchewan side tried to do made the Bandits momentum snowball that much more.

When the dust settled, two of the Bandits biggest stars finished with monster games. Forward Josh Byrne had nine points coming off four goals and five assists. Dhane Smith, who is an all-time great in the NLL, had eight points coming off three goals and five assists.

Transition player Ian MacKay had a goal and two assists and was named the MVP of the NLL Championship Series.

Chris Cloutier had a hat trick For the Bandits, while Kyle Buchanan had two goals in the contest. Defender Cam Wyers tallied the Bandits final goal of the game.

Bandits star goaltender Matt Vinc made 42 saves to pick the win. Another NLL all-time great, Vinc, who broke into the NLL in 2006, has been a member of six NLL title winners. Before being part of the Bandits three straight title winners, Vinc backstopped the original Rochester Knighthawks to three straight NLL championships from 2012 to 2014.

The Rush started Game 3 looking like they were ready for another heavyweight battle. Just 24 seconds into the contest, Rush star forward Austin Shanks dove out from behind the right side of the Buffalo net to tuck home the game’s first goal that gave the Rush a 1-0 lead.

The Rush were up 3-2 when Cloutier scored his first of the contest with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter to force a 3-3 tie heading into the quarter break. Cloutier’s tally started the Bandits on a five-goal run, which saw them score four times in the first 4:14 of the second quarter to take a 7-3 advantage.

After the Bandits scored their seventh goal, the Rush pulled star veteran goaltender Frank Scigliano for rookie Thomas Kiazyk. Kiazyk played just eight seconds as Scigliano mentally reset and returned to the contest.

The Rush proceeded to go on a three-goal run to cut the Bandits lead to 7-6 going into halftime.

Shanks had a pair of goals for the Rush, while veteran star forward Robert Church was in on every Rush tally recording a pair of goals and four assists. Zach Manns and captain Ryan Keenan picked up singles for Saskatchewan.

Scigliano turned away 38-of-52 shots to take the loss in goal for the Rush. Kiazyk didn’t face any shots in his brief appearance.

In the second half, the Rush offence completely dried up as the Bandits went on their romp. The entirety of the NLL Championship Series between the two clubs was expected to be tightly contested.

The Rush and Bandits both finished the regular season posting 13-5 records. In the one head-to-head encounter between the two sides, the Bandits claimed a 9-7 victory on March 1 at the SaskTel Centre. That allowed the Bandits to finish first overall in the NLL, while the Rush were second overall.

The Rush were making their first appearance in the NLL Championship Series since their last league title win back in 2018. Only Church, Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt Hossack remain from that 2018 title winner.

Saskatchewan missed the playoffs with respective 8-10 records in 2022, 2023 and 2024 going through a reload process. That reload allowed them to take off in 2025.

Following Saturday’s Game 3 of the NLL final, the Bandits proved they are still the masters on the circuit. The next handful of seasons will show if the Rush learned lessons from the series loss against the Bandits and once again rise to the pinnacle of the NLL.

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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Tigers’ skill shines in Memorial Cup opening victory

Medicine Hat downs host Oceanic 5-4

Outside of a bump in the road of dealing with a hot opponent’s power play, the Medicine Hat Tigers played well enough to turn heads in the opening game of the Memorial Cup tournament.

On Friday skating before a sellout crowd of 4,512 spectators at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial, the WHL champion Tigers slipped past the host Rimouski Oceanic 5-4 while holding a 38-24 edge in shots on goal. The clash was a back-and-forth battle thanks to the Oceanic cashing in on 3-of-4 chances on the power play.

When the Tigers were playing five-on-five or working on their power play, they showcased really good skill transiting the puck up and down the ice. It is something that has become a trademark of the team since head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins first took up the club’s head coaching duties before the start of the 2002-03 campaign in his first stint with the team. Fans of the Tigers have seen their players play with great skill for a lengthy period of time.

Seeing the Tigers skill live might have also come as a surprise to hockey fans and observers in Eastern Canada only because clubs from the WHL are stereotypically viewed as squads that are very physical and try to drive their opponents through the boards. The Tabbies also showed heart persevering past a couple of moments of over the line physical play.

Medicine Hat opened the game’s scoring with 6:10 remaining in the first period. Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna fired a shot from the left side of the Rimouski net that hit the crossbar and rebounded out to the right side of the goal to star right-winger Ryder Ritchie. Ritchie popped home the rebound to give the WHL champs a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers proceeded to get a scare with 1:46 remaining in the frame while working their first penalty kill. During a scramble at the right side of the Medicine Hat net, Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin was about to cover a loose puck, and he was pitchforked in the groin area by Oceanic star centre Mathieu Cataford.

Meneghin was tended to by Tigers veteran athletic therapist Mikki Lanuk and was able to stay in the game. No penalty was called on the play.

The Oceanic showed their skill scoring on that first power play opportunity. With 20.9 seconds remaining in the first, centre Mael Lavigne tipped home a shot pass at the left side of the Medicine Hat net that came from Alexandre Blais to even the score a 1-1.

Bryce Pickford scored a pair of goals for the Tigers.

At the 10:43 mark of the second just after an Oceanic power-play chance expired, Blais was working on the forecheck in the right corner of the Medicine Hat zone. He stole the puck from a Tigers defenceman and put a pass out to linemate Mael St-Denis positioned in close at the right side of the Medicine Hat net. St-Denis potted home a shot to give the Oceanic a 2-1 advantage.

With 3:42 remaining in the second, the Tigers struck on the power play as Tigers offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford drove home a goal at the top of the right faceoff circle in the Rimouski zone to even the score at 2-2.

The Oceanic proceeded to get a positive puck bounce to score their second power-play goal with 94 seconds remaining in the second. Cataford took a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that deflected off a Tigers player and then off the stick of Oceanic captain Jacob Mathieu into the Medicine Hat net to give Rimouski a one-goal edge.

Just 68 seconds into the third, the Tigers evened the score at 3-3, when Pickford wired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle for his second tally of the contest.

Just over four minutes after that tally, Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt had the puck at the left side boards in his own zone. He made a transition pass to the centre ice zone to spring McKenna on a breakaway. McKenna wired a shot to the top left corner of the Rimouski net to put the Tigers in front 4-3.

The Oceanic would strike for their third power-play goal with 6:56 remaining in the third. Rimouski star centre Jonathan Fauchon fired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that deflected off a Tigers player into the Medicine Hat net to even the score at 4-4.

Shortly after that tally when play resumed, Wiesblatt was hit from behind into the boards in the centre ice zone when he didn’t have the puck by Oceanic right-winger Maxime Coursol. No penalty was called on the play.

With 2:41 remaining in the third and the teams playing four-versus-four hockey due to offsetting minor penalties, Tigers star defenceman Tanner Molendyk skated to the left faceoff dot and put a shot pass on net that was deflected home by Tigers star right-winger Hunter St. Martin that gave Medicine Hat a 5-4 lead that would hold up as the contest’s final outcome.

Gavin McKenna had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

Meneghin stopped 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. Mathis Langevin turned away 33 shots to take the setback in net for Rimouski.

Wiesblatt finished the contest collecting three assists for the Tigers. Including action in the WHL Playoffs, Pickford has scored goals in his last nine straight games putting up 12 tallies over those outings.

Medicine Hat elected not to dress star centre Cayden Lindstrom, who did take pre-game warmup. Lindstrom returned to the Tigers lineup at the start of the WHL Championship Series after being out for over a year with a back injury.

Medicine Hat finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark and posted a 16-2 record in the WHL Playoffs capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. The Tigers were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings that came out on March 25.

The Oceanic were second overall in the QMJHL’s regular season standings with a 46-14-2-2 mark. They posted a 14-9 record in the QMJHL Playoffs falling in six games in the league championship series to the Moncton Wildcats. Rimouski was rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion resumes on Saturday when the OHL champion London Knights take on the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats (4 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Knights topped the OHL standings with a 55-11-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings released on March 25. They advanced through the OHL Playoffs with a 16-1 record.

The Wildcats topped the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-9-2 mark and were rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the QMJHL Playoffs, the Wildcats went 16-3 to capture the league title.

The Oceanic returns to action on Sunday when they face the Knights (4 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Hunter St. Martin had the winning goal for the Tigers.

The Tigers get back at it on Monday when they take on the Wildcats (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

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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Tigers take on “Curse of the Drop” at Memorial Cup

Gavin McKenna has had a spectacular season for the Tigers.

The Medicine Hat Tigers are now on the clock to see if the “Curse of the Drop” still lingers.

For the superstitious types, that event took place on May 25, 2008 after the WHL champion Spokane Chiefs downed the host Kitchener Rangers 4-1 in the Memorial Cup tournament’s championship game. After receiving the trophy, Chiefs captain Chris Bruton had the Memorial Cup fall apart in his hands as he attempted to give it to veteran defenceman Trevor Glass.

Since that drop, the WHL has only won the Memorial Cup once coming with the Edmonton Oil Kings win in 2014. In 2014, Edmonton captured the WHL and CHL titles that year playing to honour the memory of former player Kristians Pelss, who was with the Oil Kings 2012 WHL championship team and passed away in June of 2013 due to a recreation diving accident.

In the championship game of the 2014 Memorial Cup tournament played in London, Ont., on May 25 of that year, the WHL champion Oil Kings downed the OHL champion Guelph Storm 6-3. At the moment, that marks the last time a team from the WHL has won the Memorial Cup to become CHL champions.

The Tigers enter this year’s four-team tournament to be played in Rimouski, Quebec, as WHL champions. They will begin play on Friday taking on the host Rimouski Oceanic at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Medicine Hat finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark and posted a 16-2 record in the WHL Playoffs capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. The Tigers were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings that came out on March 25.

The Oceanic were second overall in the QMJHL’s regular season standings with a 46-14-2-2 mark. They posted a 14-9 record in the QMJHL Playoffs falling in six games in the league championship series to the Moncton Wildcats. Rimouski was rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Currently, the WHL as a league is going through its longest drought of not winning the Memorial Cup. That drought stretches across the last eight straight Memorial Cup tournaments. That includes the tournaments played from 2015 to 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Memorial Cup tournament wasn’t contested in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

During the drought, there were a few times the WHL champion was worn down by the grind of the WHL post-season, and while the players tried, they just didn’t have gas in the tank. That included the Swift Current Broncos in 2018 and the Prince Albert Raiders in 2019.

In 2023, the Seattle Thunderbirds made the championship game, when the tournament was played in Kamloops, B.C. On June 4 of that year, the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts blanked the Thunderbirds 5-0 in the tournament final. That allowed then Remparts head coach, general manager and overall hockey icon Patrick Roy to raise the Memorial Cup for a second time.

Harrison Meneghin has been incredible in the WHL post-season.

For whatever reason, it seems like a dark cloud hangs over WHL representatives at the Memorial Cup since the Chiefs drop back in 2008.

This time the WHL sends one of its most storied legacy franchises to the CHL championship tournament in the Tigers. The Tigers and the Kamloops Blazers hold the distinction of collecting the most WHL title wins at six. Medicine Hat has won the Memorial Cup twice coming back in 1987 and 1988.

The Tigers head into the Memorial Cup guided by their legendary head coach and general manager in Willie Desjardins. He is aided by a high caliber staff that works behind the team’s bench.

Of course, Tigers superstar 17-year-old left-winger Gavin McKenna will be the player most hockey fans will be watching at the Memorial Cup. McKenna finished second in the WHL regular season scoring race piling up 129 points coming off 41 goals and 88 assists to go with a plus-60 rating in the plus-minus department in 56 appearances.

McKenna was third in scoring in the WHL Playoffs piling up 38 points on nine goals and 29 assists to go with a plus-14 rating in 16 games.

Overage captain Oasiz Wiesblatt has vaulted his way to legendary status in the history of the Tigers franchise. He finished fifth in the WHL regular season scoring race with 103 points coming off 36 goals and 67 assists to go with a plus-47 rating in 66 appearances. Wiesblatt also had 148 penalty minutes during the regular season.

He was seventh in the scoring race in the WHL Playoffs posting 29 points coming off 14 goals and 15 assists to go with a plus-15 rating in 18 games.

Seemingly, everyone amongst the Tigers forward unit has skill with the big names including Andrew Basha, Cayden Lindstrom, Hunter St. Martin, Ryder Ritchie, Liam Ruck and Marcus Ruck.

Medicine Hat’s starting six on defence are as good as anyone’s in major junior hockey in Tanner Molendyk, Veeti Vaisanen, Bryce Pickford, Jonas Woo, Josh Van Mulligen and Niilopekka Muhonen.

The Tigers have received rock solid play in goal from star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin, who signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. Meneghin played one regular season game with the Lethbridge Hurricanes before being dealt to the Tigers.

In the 36 total regular season games he has played, Meneghin posted a 23-10-1-1 record, a 2.58 goals against average, a .900 save percentage and three shutouts. In 16 appearances in the WHL Playoffs, Meneghin posted a 14-1 record, a 2.35 goals against average, a .906 save percentage and three shutouts. He was named MVP of the WHL Playoffs.

Oasiz Wiesblatt (#7) is the Tigers fearless captain.

Back when the Oil Kings won the Memorial Cup in 2014 to be the only WHL club at the moment to beat the “Curse of the Drop,” they played with special emotion aiming to honour Pelss.

The Tigers might have a similar situation this season. When the Tigers closed their regular season schedule back on March 23 with a 5-2 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary, Meneghin found out about the passing of his father, Derek. Derek’s passing came in an unexpected fashion.

During the post-season, it was obvious Meneghin was playing for his father, and the rest of the Tigers were playing for him. Perhaps what seems like the dark supernatural forces that are haunting WHL teams at the Memorial Cup tournament will take a pass in haunting this year’s Tigers.

Maybe, just maybe, fate will look favourably on Medicine Hat.

Former Blades goalie Elliott spectacular with Knights

Austin Elliott has been a man on a mission after continuing his major junior career in the OHL.

The Strathmore, Alta., product, had been a star netminder for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades playing two complete seasons for “The Bridge City Bunch” from 2022 to 2024. He struggled in the 2024 WHL Playoffs and the Blades turned the starting job over to Evan Gardner. With Gardner in net, the Blades advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series falling in seven games to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

As an overager in 2024-25, Elliott started the campaign with the Blades winning all three of his starts with the team posting a 2.33 goals against average and a .897 save percentage. When Gardner returned from NHL training camp activities with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Elliott was cut by the Blades and cleared the WHL waiver wire.

Elliott was actually claimed on CHL waivers by the Barrie Colts, but the powerhouse Knights wanted to bring him to their squad. On October 16, 2024, the Knights dealt a 14^th round selection in the 2026 OHL Draft and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2027 OHL Draft for Elliott. The puck stopper never played a game for the Colts.

Elliott, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 180 pounds, played in 33 regular season games for the Knights posting a 32-1 record, a 2.10 goals against average, a .924 save percentage and three shutouts. Thanks to Elliott’s work, the Knights topped the OHL standings with a 55-11-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings released on March 25.

Austin Elliott in action for the Blades on March 22, 2024.

He started all of the 17 games the Knights played in the OHL Playoffs posting a 16-1 record, a 2.46 goals against average and one shutout as London claimed a second straight league title.

Now, Elliott will try to backstop the storied Knights to a Memorial Cup title. The annual CHL championship tournament is being held in Rimouski, Quebec, and the Knights begin play on Saturday taking on the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial (4 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Wildcats topped the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-9-2 mark and were rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the QMJHL Playoffs, the Wildcats went 16-3 to capture the league title.

Saturday’s battle between the Knights and Wildcats is viewed as a contest that you have to watch. Elliott might prove to be the difference again for the Knights in that contest in what has been an unbelievable run for him in 2024-25.

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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