Blades need to win Game 2 versus Bedard and Pats

The Blades try to corner Pats C Connor Bedard (#98).

It isn’t a must win, but it is a need to win game for the Saskatoon Blades.

After dropping Game 1 of their best-of-seven first round WHL playoff series 6-1 to the Regina Pats on Friday at the SaskTel Centre, it would very much help the Blades cause to win Game 2, which is set for 4 p.m. on Sunday at the SaskTel Centre. If the Blades aren’t able to get Game 2, the series could snowball to a quick post-season exit for “The Bridge City Bunch.”

The Regina Pats are an institution in “The Queen City.” If Pats fans feel like the 2023 post-season can turn into something special for their team, they can make the Brandt Centre one of the toughest buildings to play in all of the WHL. The series switches to Regina for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

Of course, the Pats have the best junior aged hockey player in the whole world on their roster in 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard. He is a generational talent that makes most superstars at the junior level look ordinary.

His brand took a big jump upward after he set numerous Canadian team records at this past world juniors held in Halifax, N.S., and Moncton, N.B., Canada won gold taking the gold medal final 3-2 in overtime over Czechia this past January 5 in Halifax. Since returning to the Pats, Bedard has been packing rinks across the WHL taking the regular season scoring title with 143 points coming off 71 goals and 72 assists to go with a plus-39 rating in the plus-minus department in 57 games.

While the presence of Bedard is enough for Pats fans to get excited about their team, you don’t have to look too far into the past to see how excited and passionate fans in Regina can get over the Pats.

Connor Bedard is the world’s best junior aged hockey player.

First, the Pats have a rich history. They were created in 1917 and named for the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

As the world’s oldest major junior hockey team, the Pats have appeared in the Memorial Cup championship series and later tournament 13 times and won the Memorial Cup on three occasions in 1925, 1930 and 1974.

They once had links to the NHL’s storied Montreal Canadiens as the big club’s junior hockey affiliate for a time in the 1950s and 1960s. This was in an era that pre-dated the current NHL Entry Draft. Since the Pats were born, around 163 of their grads have gone on to play in the NHL.

With that pre-existing history, you just need some sparks in Regina and the fans there will rally around that team in a big way, even if a long span of time had elapsed with the team’s last long playoff run. This sparks transformed into a passionate flame in the 2016-17 campaign.

That Pats team finished first overall in the WHL with a 52-17-7-1 mark and advanced to the WHL Championship Series falling to the Seattle Thunderbirds in six games. During that campaign, the Pats sold out the Brandt Centre 23 times between the regular season and playoffs with capacity capped at 6,484 spectators.

During that entire campaign, the Pats Regiment cheered for a group of players that seemed to be almost superhero like in WHL MVP Sam Steel, charismatic captain Adam Brooks, standout offensive-defenceman Connor Hobbs, clutch overager Dawson Leedahl, skilled rookie Nick Henry, speedy Austin Wagner, steady rearguard Josh Mahura and gutsy goalie Tyler Brown.

The 2016-17 Pats salute their fans at the Brandt Centre.

For the people in Regina, this group of players were “the Boys.”

The core of that group had been together for three seasons, and people in Regina saw them play with their hearts on the sleeves. Under the watchful eye of head coach and general manager John Paddock, who was named the WHL’s coach of the year and executive of the year in 2016-17, Regina fans watched that group grow into good young men.

On top of that, the fans could tell it meant a lot to the players to play for the city and the team, and they respected the Pats history. With the snap of the fingers, the fans were there in droves. They stayed there in droves when the Pats fell behind the Swift Current Broncos 3-1 in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.

After the Pats took Game 5 of that series in a 3-2 playoff classic at the Brandt Centre, Pats fans flooded into the Dewdney Avenue strip after that contest. When you walked on to the strip, one would have thought the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders won the West final to advance to the Grey Cup.

Instead, people were decked out in red, white and blue yelling “Go Pats!”

A few alcoholic beverages were being drunk in the streets and the parties at the nightclubs went well into the early hours of the morning. That Pats hadn’t even won that series yet.

Pats fans cheer their team in the 2017 WHL Playoffs.

They would three days later posting a 5-1 win in a series-deciding Game 7. That marked the first time the Pats had ever completed a 3-1 series comeback in team history.

If you happen to be on the ice right after that Game 7 win, you looked up and saw this incredible celebration in the stands and the first thought that comes to mind was, “Holy (explanative)!”

From that Game 7 series win onwards, Pats playoff tickets sold out within 10 minutes upon going on sale. Dealing with scalpers became an issue as tickets that were sold for $25 a seat were being sold second hand for $125 per seat.

The current Pats are nowhere near as deep as that 2016-17 squad. During the 2022-23 campaign, the Pats posted a 34-30-3-1 record to make the WHL Playoffs finishing sixth overall in the Eastern Conference.

While Bedard is a generational player, he has heart, and it is obvious he cares about his junior team. When there were speculators saying Pats management should convince Bedard he needed to be traded to get a windfall of draft selections and players, the North Vancouver, B.C., product said he wanted to be with the Pats.

Bedard has shown by his play on the ice those words weren’t just lip service. The Pats are a young team and they do have some skilled players that care about club Tanner Howe, Alexander Suzdalev and Stanislav Svozil to go along with a cast of grinders. They have enough character there that the people of Regina will rally around that team.

Adam Brooks was the Pats charismatic captain in 2016-17.

If those intangible elements start working against the Blades, they will have a mountain to scale, especially if they lose Game 2 of their series with the Pats.

Unlike the Pats in Regina, the Blades, who began play in 1964, aren’t an institution in Saskatoon. If the Blades win a playoff series, there won’t be any street parties on 8^th Street or in the pub district in downtown Saskatoon on 2^nd Avenue and 21^st Street.

If feels like there is an element of the fan base in Saskatoon that can’t get over some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder from the fact the Blades made it to the WHL Championship Series five times in their history and lost each of those series in 1973, 1975, 1976, 1992 and 1994.

In 1975, 1992 and 1994, the Blades were in position to claim the WHL title in a series deciding Game 7 with a win, but fell in each of those contests. For the fans that don’t get over those results, it feels like they don’t realize how hard it is or how impressive the journey is to get to that point.

The 1992 and 1994 losses came to the dynasty Kamloops Blazers, who advanced to win the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in both those years along with 1995.

Add in the Blades hosted the Memorial Cup tournament twice in 1989 and 2013 and didn’t capture major junior hockey’s biggest prize on either occasion to increase the heartbreak. They made it to the event’s title game in 1989 and lost 4-3 in overtime to the Broncos on Tim Tisdale’s winner.

The vocal critic fans have dubbed the Blades as traditionally, “The great regular season team that can’t get it done in the playoffs.”

There are a lot of times when that tag is an unfair one.

Sam Steel was the WHL MVP in 2016-17.

(*It should be noted the Pats have their share of vocal fan critics too, but they seem to get minimized when the Pats get rolling*).

With all that said, the Blades do have a loyal and core ultra-passionate fan base. 

When you go to games on a frequent basis during the regular season, you will see those fans in the building game after game, and they are as good as the best fans in the rest of the WHL. It would be nice if there were more of them in the building.

They respect the honest efforts that the team’s builders put in over the decades in the late Jim Piggott, the late Jackie McLeod, the Brodsky family, Daryl Lubiniecki and Lorne Molleken to capture the WHL title and the Memorial Cup. 

They respect the honest efforts put in by the Priestner family now, which includes seeing Colin Priestner grow into a fantastic general manager.

When the Blades honoured Molleken for his work as the team’s all-time great head coach and general manager, 5,609 spectators turned out at the SaskTel Centre on April 15, 2022 before the Blades downed the Brandon Wheat Kings 2-1. 

Many of the Molleken’s former players turned out that night along with lifetime best friends in Lubiniecki and Jack Brodsky. Molleken very much deserved that night and to have his name added to the Blades Builders banner.

The Blades are the example of how unfair sports can be. They are the example that you can have all these great seasons, do everything right and in a classy manner but still don’t win the top championships you pursue. 

Aidan De La Gorgendiere has invested a tonne in the Blades.

The Blades have been worthy enough to win one WHL title or one Memorial Cup, but in a lesson on how unfair life can be, it hasn’t happened.

Still, the Blades in 2022-23 finished fourth overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. For just the fifth time in team history, they recorded 100-or-more points in the standings.

Under head coach Brennan Sonne, they have put together a talented group that is a tight one too. Over the course of the campaign, they have done various team building things which ultimately should great that special will and desperation that you need to win in the post-season. 

Teams do team building activities over the course of the season to create that family feeling and attachment which is the intangible that gives you the drive to get through the tough times in the post-season.

The current Blades including captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, who has put a lot of emotional investment in the team, Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov and the rest of the roster want to help this year’s team accomplish more special milestones.

The Pats and Blades will square off in Game 2 on Sunday.

If the Blades can win Game 2 on Sunday, the series with the Pats is truly on. If the Blades fall in that contest, the Pats story will become the tale that resonates.

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

-------

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

Pats had epic night in 2017 series comeback win

Sam Steel celebrates his game opening goal.

For Regina Pats fans, April 17, 2017 marked one of the most joyful nights in recent memory to be supporter of the world’s oldest major junior franchise.

Before a raucous sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators at the Brandt Centre, the Pats faced the visiting Swift Current Broncos in a series deciding Game 7 in a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal set. The Pats scored twice before the game was five minutes old and rolled to a 5-1 victory.

The win allowed the Pats to return to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship series for the first time in 24 years. The Pats - a franchise that was founded in 1917 - also erased a 3-1 series deficit for the first time in team history.

As the final minute of that Game 7 victory against the Broncos ticked away, the Brandt Centre faithful stood and roared the entire time. The cheers grew louder and louder and hit a peak when the time left on the third period clock elapsed.

Filip Ahl (#61) battles in the corner for the Pats.

At that moment, I was standing in the Zamboni tunnel behind the Pats net shooting pictures of the scene that was unfolding. A few of the old Brandt Centre staffers were still around from when I lived in Regina from 1995 to 2001.

Back in that time, the staff made the Brandt Centre feel like one of the most friendly rinks on the WHL circuit. That friendly feeling extended to that game day and even the present day with the new staffers.

During the 2016-17 WHL campaign, I felt I established a pretty good rapport with the staff at the Brandt Centre.

Connor Hobbs had three assists in the win.

After the third period clock hit zero in that Game 7 win over the Broncos, I remember one of the staffers opening the Zamboni door behind the Pats net and telling me in a fun tone to get out there on the ice.

From the ice, I remember looking up at the crowd and thinking, “Holy (explanative)!”

That was the loudest I’ve ever heard the crowd at the Brandt Centre. I took a moment to soak in that site of pure joy.

While Regina loves the Pats, the thought was imbedded in my mind that fate wouldn’t allow the Pats to have a moment like that. The Pats had won three Memorial Cup titles in their history, but the last came back in 1974.

They hadn’t been to the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series since 1993 until beating the Broncos in Game 7 on that night at home in 2017. I was always convinced that something would happen to derail a good Pats season.

In 2016-17, the Pats were outstanding. They finished first in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 52-12-7-1 mark.

The Pats faithful cheer on their team at the Brandt Centre.

For much of the campaign, the Pats were rated first in the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10 rankings and topped the final rankings that were released on March 22, 2017.

The Pats swept the Calgary Hitmen 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series.

All of a sudden, it seemed like Regina’s magical run would come to an end at the hands of the Broncos.

The Broncos took a 3-1 lead in the series, and Pats star overage captain Adam Brooks went down with a knee injury in Game 2 of the series.

Nick Henry was one of the Pats key players.

If the Pats rallied, they would have to win three games in four nights beginning Friday, April 14, 2017. In an outstanding major junior playoff encounter, the Pats stayed alive with a 3-2 victory.

If you went out on the Dewdney Avenue strip after that Pats victory, you would have thought the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders were going to the Grey Cup or had won the Grey Cup. That was how good parties were after that Pats second round Game 5 win.

The Pats were far from out of the woods. Game 6 would be played the next night at the Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current, and the Broncos faithful were gitty about holding a Saturday night celebration likes of which that small Saskatchewan centre hadn’t seen in some time.

Just 2:27 into the second period of Game 6, the Broncos scored twice to go ahead 3-1. After those tallies, Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin broke in on Pats netminder Tyler Brown on a breakaway and the sellout crowd of 2,890 at the Credit Union i-Plex rose to their feet expecting another goal.

Tyler Brown keeps focused on the action up ice.

Brown stoned Gawdin to the disappointment of the onlookers. Had Gawdin scored at that moment, it likely would have been lights out for the Pats in the 2017 WHL playoffs.

The Pats scored twice late in the second to even things up and 3-3 and skated away with a 5-3 victory.

Two nights later, the Pats skated into a series deciding Game 7 with all sorts of momentum.

Just 2:19 into Game 7, Pats star centre Sam Steel popped home the rebound on a shot taken from linemate Nick Henry to give the Pats a 1-0 lead. Pats import winger Filip Ahl followed that up with a breakaway goal at the 4:57 mark of the opening frame and the “Pats’ Regiment” was in a frenzy after that tally.

Swift Current did have an opportunity to get back into the contest closing out the final nine minutes of the opening frame with three power-play chances.

The Pats mob Tyler Brown after their series win.

Brown stoned Broncos star winger Tyler Steenbergen on a golden opportunity in close and robbed Broncos import rearguard Artyom Minulin with a huge glove save on a rocket shot through a screen from the point.

The Pats proceeded to pull away with a convincing win from that point. Offensive defenceman Connor Hobbs had three assists and was a plus-four in the plus-minus department in the romp.

During that 2017 playoff run, that night was the only time the Pats clinched a series win at home.

Following that big victory, the Pats won the WHL Eastern Conference title downing the Lethbridge Hurricanes in six games with Brooks returning to game action. Regina proceeded to fall in the WHL Championship series in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

The Pats salute their fans at the Brandt Centre.

The Thunderbirds took Game 6 of the series with a 4-3 win in overtime in Regina after erasing a 3-1 deficit in the third period.

The Broncos wrote a good epilogue after falling to the Pats in Game 7 in 2017. Swift Current finished second overall in the WHL standings in 2017-18 with a 48-17-5-2 record and went on to win the WHL title in that campaign.

Still, Pats fans will never forget that Game 7 victory over the Broncos in 2017. When that victory happened, the realization of a long Pats playoff run was better than the dream.

Could WWE provide clue for normal times, other notes

Welcome to The New Era. @RaquelWWE @BiancaBelairWWE + @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/sG7SwPMQkD

— WWE (@WWE) April 17, 2021

When the WWE tours again, is that a sign the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is over?

When the WWE does indeed start touring again, it will not be the sign the COVID-19 pandemic is either over or not. It will probably be a tangible sign that things are moving more to the direction of being normal.

The main driver of the sports entertainment company are the weekly televisions shows it produces like Monday Night RAW, NXT and SmackDown. A massive COVID-19 outbreak on the WWE roster would have a severe impact on the storylines that come out in weekly television programs, and those storylines build towards pay per view events.

WWE has made last minute adjustments at different moments during the past year due to positive COVID-19 tests.

For most of the last 13 months, RAW and SmackDown were filmed at an empty WWE Performance Centre in Orlando, Florida, or a virtual online video screen crowd venue set up the WWE calls the Thunderdome, which was held at Tropicana Field in Tampa.

NXT has been filmed at the Performance Centre since October in front of a virtual onscreen crowd and a small gather of fans. Before that, NXT was being filmed at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida without fans going back to March 2020.

Last weekend, the WWE had its first huge live crowds in over 13 months this past weekend hosting WrestleMania 37 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa this past Saturday and Sunday. The WWE maxed out the crowd they were allowed to have on each night at 25,675 spectators.

Before WrestleMania 37, the last major crowd WWE had for a weekly show was the episode of RAW that aired on March 9, 2020.

WWE wanted fans back at its showcase event in WrestleMania but hasn’t made public any plans to go back to touring full time or holding any other live shows.

WWE has moved its Thunderdome from Tropicana Field in Tampa to the Yuengling Center located at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The move was made due to the fact the Tampa Bay Rays, who are the main tenant at Tropicana Field, have begun their MLB season.

This past Monday’s RAW was filmed at the new Thunderdome location. The WWE plans to remain at the Yuengling Center while gauging when it would be prudent to return to a live weekly model.

In an interview with Joe Otterson of Variety for a story that went live on Wednesday, WWE president and chief revenue officer Nick Khan did open the door for the possibility of having more live in person events.

Khan said plans have been made and to stay tuned for announcements.

“But just know that once we’re back on the road, we’re on the road full time,” said Khan. “We’re not looking to do other one offs.

“Again, this was WrestleMania, and we felt it needed to be done for the fans. So look for news coming soon.”

When the WWE does return to touring, it will be interesting to see how that looks. The company could tour first in states in the United States that have removed a significant amount of COVID-19 protocols regarding large gatherings.

For a company that is used to touring all over the world, would touring in a handful of states equate to touring full time?

Outside of Khan’s quote, the WWE doesn’t seem to be in too much of a rush to leave the safe filming confines of the Thunderdome.

On Thursday, the WWE released 10 wrestlers including Samoa Joe, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Chelsea Green, Mickie James, Tucker, Kalisto, Bo Dallas, Mojo Rawley and Wesley Blake. The released talent was severely underused by the WWE.

If the WWE was going to return to touring any time soon, it would be hard to see all these cuts getting made.

A year ago around this time, the WWE released just over 20 people in the talent department. Those releases were part of the company’s initial reaction to a slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In current times, the WWE is still making major amounts of money and produces a massive profit.

• On Friday, organizers cancelled the Regina Folk Festival for the second straight year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s event was slated to be held Aug. 6 to 8 in Victoria Park in the Saskatchewan capital city. Organizers do hope to hold some type of summer programming.
• On Friday, the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings announced Doug Gasper will be the club’s new general manager. Gasper has been an assistant general manager for the Wheat Kings since 2019. He will replace Darren Ritchie, who is leaving the Wheat Kings to become an amateur scout with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. Ritchie became the Wheat Kings general manager in July of 2019. He will stay on with the Wheat Kings until they complete their current WHL regular season, which is being held for developmental purposes.
• On Friday, the NHL’s Ottawa Senators announced they signed 21-year-old winger Cole Reinhardt to a three-year entry-level contract that will start with the 2021-22 season. Reinhardt had been playing on an amateur tryout contract with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. He has three goals and four assists in 21 games this season in Belleville. Reinhardt played four seasons with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings from 2016 to 2020 appearing in 252 career regular season games collecting 75 goals, 66 assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department.
• On Saturday, the WHL announced the Tri-City Americans have suspended all activities due to a positive COVID-19 test to a player. The Americans have had three games so far postponed including a Saturday clash with the visiting Spokane Chiefs. In a release, the WHL said it was working in consultation with the Washington State Department of Health regarding the situation with the Americans. Being located in the United States, the Americans situation will likely be dealt with differently compared to positive tests involving clubs located in Canada. The Americans last played this past Tuesday, when they fell 4-2 to the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash.
• Saskatoon products Emily Clark and Sophie Shirley are currently taking part in the selection camp for Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team in Halifax, N.S. The camp runs through to Thursday. The camp is the final opportunity to evaluate players for the women’s worlds, which are scheduled for May 6 to 16 in Halifax and Truno, N.S.
• On Thursday, Danny Austin, a Postmedia sportswriter in Calgary, stirred the pot tweeting out a letter from Alberta Health dated from April 9, 2021 regarding the return of crowds for performance events. The letter targeted late July for the removal of capacity restrictions for performance events in Alberta. The letter said the targets were contingent on how the COVID-19 pandemic plays out including progress on vaccinations. There had been talk this sort of letter existed, and Austin posted it after he got a copy of it. The reactions in the replies went all over the place. The tweet is shown below.

Interesting pic.twitter.com/B8HowG7Y6N

— Danny Austin (@DannyAustin_9) April 16, 2021

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

-------                                     

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

Reconnecting for training helps mental health for sports world

Huskies DT Evan Machibroda pressures and opposing quarterback.

    It is safe to say those in the sports community aren’t taking for granted the chance to get out and train in the current day.

    Of course, athletes all over North America had to go through a lengthy stretch of not being able to train together due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In North America, massive shutdowns took place from March 11 to 13.

    When those shutdowns took effect, athletes and those in the general public who wanted to stay in shape had to find ways to do workouts and exercise on their own.

    In most places in North America, reopening plans started taking shape throughout May.

    In Saskatchewan, athletes and those in the general public looking to stay in shape have been able to train together at gyms and fitness centres since Phase 3 of the provinces reopening plan took place on June 8.

    Since June 8, further restrictions have been lifted in Saskatchewan, but life hasn’t returned to what it was before the shutdowns occurred due to COVID-19.

    Still, some sports like golf have been able to once again hold competitive events in Saskatchewan.      The sports of softball and baseball are expecting to start playing games at the house and city league levels in a matter of days.
    While there hasn’t been a lot of mingling at training centres, those attending sessions at training centres are visibly happy when they get to see others they haven’t seen for sometime due to the lockdown.

David Solie (#15) boots a field goal for the Huskies.

    A number of the athletes have jobs in the working world. In these present days, these athletes go through long stretches where they just see people from their work environments.

    When gyms and fitness centres opened up, those athletes had an avenue to see people outside of their work worlds.

    I’ve seen that play out first hand, when I wear my hat working as the communications coordinator at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I’ve seen athletes from various sporting communities usually take part in workouts with Ignite Athletes with a little extra jump in their steps.

    The majority that I know come from the football world.

    From the U Sports world, one of the first persons I saw on the grounds was University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team kicker David Solie. When Solie saw me, he smiled.

    When we got talking, he said he was happy to get out of his house after being cooped up for so long.

    He works as one of the staffers at the complex too, but you could tell he had a new appreciation for being able to get out and about.

    I saw Brant Morrow, who is a defensive back for the six-time defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops, shortly after June 8 passed and had a catch up chat with him. He appeared really happy to see familiar faces again.

    One of the best visits I had was a chance encounter with Huskies offensive utility player Colton Klassen and now graduated Huskies defensive tackle Evan Machibroda at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

Ryder Klisowsky (#61) locks up on a block for the Hilltops.

    Klassen was selected by the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL Draft held on April 30. Machibroda was selected by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2019 CFL Draft and signed a contract with the club from the Alberta capital on Jan. 28.
    Both are training and staying ready for a CFL season they hope takes place in 2020. We hung out for about 20 minutes catching up and telling all sorts of old stories.

    I also crossed paths with now graduated Saskatoon Hilltops left guard Ryder Klisowsky. Klisowsky is training to join the University of Manitoba Bisons football team for the 2021 U Sports season since the 2020 U Sports football campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    He admitted he was happy to see familiar faces, when he went out to train.

    While most sports are still trying to navigate a return to play, it can’t be understated how much of a breath of fresh air it is to go out and train.

    For athletes, a new appreciation appears to have been built for that aspect of their lives.

Andrews departs as Pats play-by-play voice, other notes

Thank you Regina! pic.twitter.com/d2pmLNmrxD

— Phil Andrews (@Phil_Andrews_) June 29, 2020

    Phil Andrews’ successor is going to have monster shoes to fill as the play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Regina Pats.

    On Monday, Andrews resigned his posts as the Pats play-by-play voice and director of media and communications effective July 31, 2020. Andrews has been the Pats play-by-play voice for the past nine seasons and added the role of director of media and communications in 2016.

    The 31-year-old had quite the run as the Pats play-by-play voice. Andrews called the rise of the great Pats teams that had the likes of Adam Brooks, Sam Steel, Austin Wagner, Connor Hobbs, Jake Leschyshyn, Nick Henry, Robbie Holmes, Chase Harrison, Josh Mahura and Tyler Brown.

Adam Brooks had lots of highlight moments called by Phil Andrews.

    That group came up under the guidance of head coach and general manager John Paddock, who shed the head coach role before the start of the 2018-19 campaign, and assistant coach and assistant general manager Dave Struch, who became the head coach and assistant general manager before the 2018-19 season.

    Andrews called games with professionalism, class and flair. He saw the Pats win first round playoff series in 2015 and 2016.

    The 2016 post-season saw the Pats fall 2-1 in a series deciding Game 7 to the Rebels in Red Deer in the second round. At the time, the Pats hadn’t played in a WHL final semifinal series since 1993 and were heartbreakingly close when they bowed out to the Rebels.

    That set the stage for the Pats to top the WHL in 2016-17 with a 52-12-7-1 record. In the 2017 playoffs, the Pats advanced all the way to the WHL final for the first time since 1984.

    They fell in the 2017 WHL final to the Seattle Thunderbirds, where the Thunderbirds closed out the series with a 4-3 win in overtime in Game 6 played at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

    In May of 2018, the Pats hosted the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Pats made the final of the 100^th edition of the Memorial Cup falling 3-0 to Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan, who are based out of Bathurst, New Brunswick.

    Over all that time, Andrews became engrained as the Pats play-by-play voice making iconic calls of big plays made by Brooks, Steel, Hobbs, Brown and company.

Sam Steel seemed larger than life thanks to Phil Andrews’ calls.

    Anytime you saw the Pats stars making a highlight, you could hear Andrews’ voice.

    It was a cool development considering Andrews grew up in Saskatoon. A lot of fans of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades hate the Pats more than any other team in the league including the Blades archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders.

    Combining Andrews’ talent and his relative youth, I felt he would be the one guy out of all the current WHL play-by-play voices who would find his way into being the play-by-play voice of an NHL team.

    Andrews said the time has come to be more present with his wife, Megan, and their three children. Phil mentioned over Twitter they would be returning to Saskatoon.

    Andrews will be a winner in life no matter what he does. The impact he made calling plays for the world’s oldest major junior team in the Pats, whose history dates back to 1917, will not be forgotten in “The Queen City.”

• Last Saturday, the MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates signed right-handed pitcher and Muenster, Sask., product Logan Hofmann to a rookie contract. The Pirates selected Hofmann in the fifth round and 138^th overall in the MLB Draft held on June 11.
• In the CHL Import Draft held on Tuesday, the Prince Albert Raiders selected forward Uladzislau Shyla from Minsk, Belarus, in the first round and 45^th overall. The 17-year-old, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 147 pounds, had 10 goals and nine assists in 55 games for Belarus’s under-18 team this past season. With the selection of Shyla, the Raiders released 19-year-old Belarusian centre Daniil Stepanov on Tuesday. Stepanov had six goals and five assists in 49 games last season split between the Raiders and Moose Jaw Warriors.
• In the CHL Import Draft held on Tuesday, the Saskatoon Blades picked centre Brad Lambert from Lahti, Finland, in the first round and 33^rd overall. Lambert, who will turn 17-years-old in December, picked up 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points in 42 games last season with the HIFK Helsinki-U20 team. Lambert, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 172 pounds, did spend some years growing up in Saskatoon before his family relocated to Finland for the start of the 2017-18 season.
• The North Bay Battalion of the OHL had the first overall selection in Tuesday’s CHL Import Draft. The Battalion used that pick to take winger Matvei Petrov from Moscow, Russia. The 17-year-old, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 163 pounds, had five goals and four assists in 21 games with MHK Krylia Sovetov from Russia’s top junior circuit.
• On Wednesday, Saskatchewan Rush defender Kyle Rubisch was named a first team National Lacrosse League all-star. In the Rush’s 10 games last season, Rubisch had two goals and six assists.
• The Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame located in Regina is targeting to open on Sept. 1. The museum is undergoing renovations which were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Museums were allowed to reopen in Saskatchewan on Monday according to the province’s reopening plan.
• With how the number of cases of COVID-19 have spiked in the United States, people in Saskatoon and the province of Saskatchewan might feel better about the decision that the Merlis Belsher Place hockey rink facility on the University of Saskatchewan grounds is a field hospital in waiting. The Merlis Belsher Place field hospital in waiting might be termed a “Linus blanket” field hospital in waiting as everyone hopes it never needs to be used for that purpose.
• It was 10 years ago today the Saskatchewan Roughriders downed the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes 54-51 in double overtime as both teams opened their respective 2010 CFL regular season schedules. Roughriders star quarterback Darian Durant connected with star receiver Weston Dressler on a three-yard touchdown pass for the winning score on Saskatchewan’s second overtime possession. A sellout crowd of 30,048 spectators at Regina’s historic Taylor Field celebrated in raucous style after Dressler’s winning score. Seems weird to think it has been a decade since that all-time CFL classic contest was played.  

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

-------                                     

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

Pats fans are still a good bunch

The Pats still have a huge following of supportive fans.

    It was a case of never believe all the noise you see or hear on social media or sports talk radio.

    If you believed everything you saw or heard on those lines, you would think the fans of WHL’s Regina Pats are one of the most uptight groups ever, if their team isn’t winning. With the Pats slated to host the 100^th Memorial Cup from May 18 to 27, the scrutiny on the team seems to be more heightened than ever.

    The heightened attention comes in a season following a campaign in 2016-17 where the Pats finished first overall in the WHL with a 52-12-7-1 record and advanced to the WHL Championship Series for the first time since 1984. The Pats fell in last year’s best-of-seven league championship set 4-2 to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

    Last season, I saw the Pats play live more than any other hockey team mainly due to the run they had. This season, I made my first season to the Brandt Centre on Sunday, when the Pats played host to the Swift Current Broncos.

    I thought I was going to walk into a facility where everyone was super critical of the team. To my surprise, everyone was super supportive of the home side, except for the sizable contingent of fans that came to support the Broncos among the sellout crowd of 6,484. Sunday’s game marked the eighth sellout of the season in Regina.

Fans filled the Brandt Centre on Sunday, but the Pats couldn’t get them going.

    When I walked into the Brandt Centre, it maintained its reputation as being one of the friendliest stops on the WHL circuit. The rink and game staff were super accommodating and the fans were pretty upbeat.

    On a personal front, it seemed like everyone was happy to see me, and they wondered where I was all season. I explained that due to mainstream media cuts I had been pretty much found myself stapled to Saskatoon.

    The fans that were at the rink cheering on the Pats were positive, and you could feel an upbeat vibe.

    Anytime the Broncos scored, the host faithful responded with a “Go Pats Go” chant.

    Due to the fact the Broncos slowly went ahead 3-0 and posted a 4-1 win, the efforts of the Pats fans were dampened and their engagement fell off. Outside of one spectator that shouted verbal criticisms towards Pats overage left-winger Jesse Gabrielle, no one was visibly getting on the case of the players on the host team.

    During the second intermission, I had a group of Tyler Brown supporters come up and talk to me about the overage netminder, who was dealt to the Saskatoon Blades in a blockbuster trade before the WHL trade deadline on Jan. 10. They expressed how much they missed the Winnipeg, Man., product.

Tyler Brown is missed by a number of Pats fans.

    That was cool to hear, because without Brown’s efforts, the Pats wouldn’t have advanced to last year’s WHL title series. Before Brown was traded, he took way to much criticism on social media and provincial sports talk radio for the fact the Pats had hovered around .500 for much of the campaign.

    At the moment, the Pats sit in the first wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 26-22-5 record.

    Most of those at the rink seemed pretty understanding of the situation the Pats are in. They know the Pats roster only contains six players that were full-time regulars with the team last season in star captain Sam Steel, forwards Jake Leschyshyn, Nick Henry and Robbie Holmes along with defencemen Josh Mahura and Liam Schioler. Leschyshyn missed the entire post-season in 2017 with an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee.

    The fans at the rink grasped that Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock and his staff is trying to get a host of players who have come from a wide variety of backgrounds to come together as a team.

    The fans at the rink knew that the group of players that hit the ice for the Pats last season was a special one, and it might be a long time before the world’s oldest major junior franchise comes to the rink with a comparable group again.

    Guys like then captain Adam Brooks, offensive defenceman Connor Hobbs, speedy Austin Wagner, Dawson Leedahl, Filip Ahl, Braydon Buziak, Chase Harrison and Sergey Zborovskiy along with Brown and the holdovers still on this year’s club, were more than just a team. In 2016-17, they were the boys next door.

    In a way, they felt like part of your family, if you were a Pats supporter. Everyone on the team and the fans were all in the Pats run together last season.

Captain Sam Steel and company have a good following in Regina.

    One very veteran rink attendant was really nostalgic about that group and said it would be very long time before you see something like that in Regina again. He had a lot of warm feelings for that Pats team.

    The bar they left is extremely high.

    With that said, not all the fans that are critical of the Pats on social media or sports talk radio are harsh to the extreme of being a jerk.

    I have typed back and forth with at least a couple of Pats fans on social media who have well thought out criticisms and observations of the team, and you can tell they try to make them in a respectable fashion. While they have their criticisms, they are still good fans.

    While the Pats, who host the Prince Albert Raiders at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Brandt Centre, have taken heat for how their season is gone, caution should be used in grading how severe that heat is.

#PackTheHauser is a great idea

The Raiders want their rink packed for a clash with the rival Blades.

  On Friday night there is going to a fairly big WHL tilt happening in Prince Albert.

    At 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser, the Prince Albert Raiders host the Saskatoon Blades in a match that could play out to have big playoff implications. The Blades sit in the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 25-24-2-1 record to sit three points ahead of the Raiders, who are 20-20-8-2. The Raiders have two games in hand.

    In one of their many efforts to boost attendance in their home rink, the Raiders been trying to get the fires going in their traditional rivalry with the Blades. One of the latest attempts has been posting a video on Twitter where various Raiders players talk about the lift they receive when they play in front of a packed home rink.

    The post contained the hashtag phrase #PackTheHauser, which has been used for big local hockey games in Prince Albert in the past.

Mascot Riley and a superfan cheer on the Raiders in Prince Albert.

    The Art Hauser Centre seats 2,580 and has the capacity for 786 in standing room. When it is full, it has one of the best atmospheres in the league.

    I worked in Prince Albert for three seasons from 2001 to 2004 covering the whole sports scene in that centre including the WHL’s Raiders. Back in those days, the games against the Blades were circled on the calendar. With the two squads in a tight playoff race, it would be great to see the excitement of the past recreated now.

    While the Raiders get a boost from their home supporters, I think it is safe to say it gets the Blades pumped up for games in Prince Albert too. Those in the blue and gold love it when they can put the Guess Who’s “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon” on ice.

    As per tradition, the Prince Albert game staff plays that song at the end of contests when the Raiders beat the Blades. Actually, that tradition extends to the male and female AAA levels of hockey as well.

    For a game in early February, this clash should have a playoff feel to it.

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

-------

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

Pats might stumble at the start of 100th anniversary season

The Pats salute their fans after falling in the WHL finals.

    The Regina Pats had a dream season in 2016-17, but they might not have a dream start in 2017-18.

    Last season, the historic Pats, who are the oldest major junior hockey franchise in the world, hit heights they haven’t seen for a long time. They topped the WHL’s regular season standings for the first time since 1974 posting a 52-12-7-1 record.

    They were rated first in the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10 rankings for most of the campaign and topped the final ratings released on March 22.

    They made their first appearance in the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series since 1993 and knocked off the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-2 in a best-of-seven set. The Pats made the WHL Championship series for the first time since 1984, but fell 4-2 in the best-of-seven set to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Thunderbirds import centre Alexander True scored the overtime winner in Game 6 of the WHL title series to give his side a 4-3 victory in that contest.

    While the WHL title eluded the Pats, they had a roster that seemed full of super heroes last season, who delivered tonnes of thrills. When the Pats embark on their 100^th anniversary season in 2017-18 which will see them host the 100^th Memorial Cup championship tournament in May of 2018, they might start the campaign minus as many as 11 faces from last year’s powerhouse squad.

    That number doesn’t include backup goalie Jordan Hollett, who was traded to the Medicine Hat Tigers in May.

The Pats lost superstar captain Adam Brooks to graduation.

    The Pats open rookie camp on Monday in Regina with registration for rookie players.

    Superstar captain Adam Brooks, skilled left-winger Dawson Leedahl and sound defensive defenceman Chase Harrison were all lost to graduation due to being overage players last season. It was inevitable they would leave big holes.

    In theory, Filip Ahl and Sergey Zborovskiy could return both taking up spots as an import player and an overage player. Ahl had a standout lone WHL season in 2016-17 collecting 28 goals and 20 assists in 54 regular season games, but he has signed a one-year professional contract Orebro HK in his home country of Sweden, which means he is out of the picture for next season.

    Zborovskiy, who is from Russia, has an NHL entry-level contract inked with the New York Rangers, and he can be assigned to any of the farm clubs the Rangers have in the minor professional ranks due to being a 20-year-old.

    With those developments, the Pats selected two players in the CHL Import Draft at the end of June in Russian defenceman Yegor Zamula, who is entering his 17-year-old season, and Finnish forward Emil Oksanen, who is entering his 19-year-old season. Both have big shoes to fill in trying to replace Ahl and Zborovskiy.

Jake Leschyshyn is still recovering from an ACL tear injury.

    Another questionable returnee is star defenceman Connor Hobbs, who is entering his overage season. Hobbs has an NHL entry-level contract signed with the Washington Capitals, and he looks more than ready to play at the next level. If he doesn’t make the Capitals, Hobbs can be assigned to any of Washington’s minor league affiliates.

    The Pats could be without WHL scoring champion Sam Steel, who had 50 goals, 81 assists and a plus-49 rating in the plus-minus department in 66 regular season games last season. The superstar centre has an NHL entry-level contract inked with the Anaheim Ducks, and he appears to be ready to play in the NHL.

    With Steel going into his 19-year-old season, the Ducks have to assign him back to the Pats, if he doesn’t make the NHL squad.

    Offensive defenceman Josh Mahura is in the same boat as Steel. Mahura also has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Ducks, but entering his 19-year-old season, the talented rearguard has to be assigned back to the Pats, if he doesn’t make the Ducks NHL roster.

Nick Henry (#21) is recovering from a torn labrum injury.

    Mahura has only played one full campaign since returning from a serious knee injury that sidelined him for 70 regular season games in 2015-16, when he was still with the Red Deer Rebels. The Pats acquired Mahura from the Rebels on WHL trade deadline day back on Jan. 10. Odds are high Mahura will be back with the Pats for another WHL campaign, but he might not be in Regina at the start of the season.

    Centre Jake Leschyshyn, who was selected in the second round and 62^nd overall in June’s NHL Entry Draft by the Las Vegas Golden Knights, is still recovering from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees in a WHL game on Feb. 3. It is touch and go as to whether he will be ready when the Pats open their regular season on Sept. 22 with a match against the Wheat Kings in Brandon.

Austin Wagner (#27) is healing from a torn labrum and dislocate bicep injury.

    Right-winger Nick Henry, who had a spectacular rookie campaign with the Pats, underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder in late June. Henry, who was selected in the fourth round and 94^th overall in last June’s NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche, could be out four to sixth months, which means a possible return could occur near the end of October or the end of December.

    Speedy left-winger Austin Wagner, who is entering his overage season, underwent major surgery in early June to repair a torn labrum and dislocated bicep tendon. He is expected to take about six months to recover, which means his return might happen in mid to late December.

Sam Steel (#23) might stick with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.

    Wagner does have an NHL entry-level contact signed with the Los Angeles Kings, but it is uncertain the Kings will trigger the first year of that deal by bringing him into the professional ranks due to his injury situation. He might be returned to the Pats but would still miss a sizable chunk of the WHL campaign.

    The injuries to Henry and Wagner show what a grind the WHL playoffs can be and how much heart the Pats had to get to the point they were two wins away from winning their first league title since 1980.

    At the moment, the Pats are looking at possibly opening their regular season schedule without any returning players from their top two lines last season and the starting centre from their third line. It should also be noted that teams hosting the Memorial Cup often get players returned to their rosters by NHL clubs who might normally be kept in the professional ranks.

Connor Hobbs might stay in the pros in the Washington Capitals system.

    NHL clubs regularly return players to major junior teams hosting the Memorial Cup championship tournament, because those returnees gain experience playing important post-season games in May. That traditional development might see the Pats get Hobbs, Steel and Mahura back on their roster.

    Regina holds the major junior rights to standout centre Tyson Jost, who will enter his 19-year-old season. Jost played last season with the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks men’s team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and he appeared in six NHL regular season games after signing an NHL entry-level contract on March 29 with the Colorado Avalanche. He scored one goal during his six games with the Avalanche.

    Due to signing with the Avalanche, Jost can’t return to the Fighting Hawks next season, but the Avalanche can assign him to an AHL affiliate because he was drafted from the junior A ranks in British Columbia.

Goalie Tyler Brown might have to keep the Pats in games early in 2017-18.

    The Avalanche selected Jost in the first round and 10^th overall in 2016 NHL Entry Draft, and they are expected to give Jost every chance to stay with the big club for the upcoming season.

    The Pats still have two big keys in their favour in the fact John Paddock is still the club’s head coach and general manager and Dave Struch is still an assistant coach and assistant general manager. Paddock has the skill to quickly strengthen the Pats via the trade route.

    In May, he already started doing just that acquiring star centre Matthew Bradley, who is entering his overage season, in a deal with the Medicine Hat Tigers in a deal that saw Hollett move to “the Gas City.” Bradley recorded 34 goals, 43 assists and a plus-23 rating in 70 regular season games with the Tigers last season.

    Struch has built a reputation for being a stellar coach who is strong at building up a player’s confidence.

The Pats want to enjoy more post-season celebrations like this in 2018.

    The Pats will return star netminder Tyler Brown as an overager. The Winnipeg, Man., product will provide the ability to keep the Pats in games during the early going as the rest of the club’s roster takes shape.

    As the 2017-18 season progresses, the Pats might build a roster that is as equally as good as the one from last season and be a contender for a WHL league title and a Memorial Cup title as CHL champions.

    At the moment in the early going, it looks like the rest of the WHL will be looking forward to encounters with a Pats team that will be weaker than the squad that hit the ice last season.

    Fans in Regina will have to be patient at the start of the 2017-18 campaign, if it is bumpy, and they might get a better appreciation for how special 2016-17 was.

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

Blades grad Shynkaruk would be great add to hockey Huskies

Jesse Shynkaruk (#14) celebrates scoring a goal for the Blades last season.

    Jesse Shynkaruk and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team would be a great match for each other, if that ultimately comes to pass.

    The 21-year-old centre exhausted his WHL eligibility last season playing for his hometown Saskatoon Blades. He had a breakout year netting career highs in goals (31), assists (25) and points (56) in 58 regular season games. Shynkaruk came through in the clutch as 10 of his tallies ended up being game winners.

    In his first three major junior seasons split between the Kamloops Blazers and Moose Jaw Warriors, Shynkaruk appeared in 196 regular season games recording 23 goals and 25 assists.

    Recently, Tyler Wawryk, who is the Blades manager of communications and community relations, caught up with Shynkaruk and inquired if the speedy forward was going to join the Huskies. Shynkaruk said he was one of three players battling for two spots on the Huskies.

    It would be great if both Shynkaruk and the Huskies could make things work out. Shynkaruk did so well last season with the Blades you almost wish he had one more season to play in the major junior ranks.

    With that said, a number of factors come into play when it comes to a major junior player joining a U Sports team. Thanks to two strong recruiting classes from the past two seasons, the Huskies have a fairly deep team. They came up just short of winning a Canada West title and dropped a 5-3 decision to the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in the U Sports championship game.

    Shynkaruk, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 171 pounds, would bring a number of good intangibles to the Huskies. One is the fact he would likely really appreciate being on the team. Heading into training camp last season, Shynkaruk was without a major junior home after being released by the Warriors.

    Had he not made the Blades as a walk on player, the likelihood was high Shynkaruk’s time in major junior hockey would have been over.

Jesse Shynkaruk (#14) sets up for a scoring chance for the Blades.

    With the Blades, Shynkaruk rediscovered some of offensive touch from his final midget AAA season, when he netted 22 goals and 29 assists in 43 regular season games with the Saskatoon Contacts in the 2012-13 campaign. Shynkaruk helped the Blades make a serious push for a playoff berth.

    The Blades ultimately finished ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and five points back of a playoff berth with a 28-35-7-2 record. Shynkaruk became a fan favourite, and he was also a good representative for the team at community events.

    When the Blades were on the road, he consistently left a good impression with the media that worked in other WHL cities. That has to be viewed as impressive, because Shynkaruk doesn’t get to interact with media members in other WHL centres on a regular basis like he does with the media members in Saskatoon. He always left a good impression with the hometown media members as well.

    After his final home game on March 17 when the Blades downed the archrival Prince Albert Raiders 5-3, Shynkaruk gave a heartfelt final post-game press scrum to the media in attendance. From that press scrum, it was easy to tell Shynkaruk generally cared about what was going on.

    Under the WHL scholarship plan, Shynkaruk doesn’t have to play with a U Sports team to use the four years of paid post-secondary schooling he has earned. If he wanted to, he could just attend a post-secondary institution and focus just on classes.

    For every season a player plays in the WHL, that player receives a scholarship package that sees all his tuition, compulsory fees and textbooks paid for a school year. Shynkaruk has four school years of paid tuition, compulsory fees and textbooks to use.

    As it stands, Shynkaruk would be a great addition to the Huskies or any other U Sports team. The hometown fans have to hope he will wear the “green and white” in the fall.

Blades pump out Monday updates

    For a little over a month the Saskatoon Blades have been pumping out Monday updates on their website, and they have been pretty well done.

    Tyler Wawryk, who is the team’s manager of communications and community relations, has been crafting the updates. The writing part reflects a style you once saw in WHL notebooks, which were commonly produced in mainstream media outlet newspapers. With these outlets often being cut to one or two staffers, the WHL notebook is rarely seen these days.

    The Blades update gives a roundup of various happening with the team and the club’s alums. The notebook points are usually accompanied by graphics.

    With most mainstream outlets in Canada having undergone severe cuts, the pressure falls on teams like the WHL’s Blades to do more coverage on themselves through their own website and social media platforms. The same holds true for every high level competitive sports program in Canada that is not an NHL franchise.

    Ultimately, Canadian sports leagues need to follow the lead of NFL teams, which have been covering themselves on a league and individual franchise basis for at least two decades. The NFL was pretty much the first league that did a lot of media coverage on itself on the Internet in the late 1990s.

    While most to almost all Canadian elite sports teams or groups do not have anywhere near the money the NFL brings in, the cold reality is they have to cover themselves, if they want to have a bigger presence in the public. Fans will read and view what is posted.

    The Blades have done a good job in trying out different tweaks on their website and social media platforms. The Monday update is a nice addition. I imagine creating all this content makes Wawryk extremely busy, so here is hoping he can keep it up.

    The last Monday update can be round here.

Love the vintage look

The date for our home opener is set! Friday, September 22nd vs the @SCBroncos #RiseWithUs pic.twitter.com/MxFBQSDc2x

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) June 26, 2017

    When the Saskatoon Blades put out their Twitter post announcing their home opener against the Swift Current Broncos, you had to love the graphic that contained the classic logos.

Braylon Shmyr looks to make a pass for the Blades.

    Actually during the off-season, the Blades have gone full out using their vintage blue and goal “Pac-Man” logo that was the team’s primary look through the 1980s and early 1990s. The team’s website was changed to use the retro blue and gold colour scheme as a primary look as well.

    The Blades have used the retro jerseys with the old “Pac-Man” logo as an alternate for some time. Among the team’s fans, that has always been the most popular look, and there has been a longing to make the retro jerseys the club’s full-time look once again.

    While official word hasn’t come yet, it seems with all the hints this will come to pass.

    Actually over the last decade, a number of pro teams in all sports and major junior teams have reverted to a past look, which has been received with a lot of praise. The Blades face one of those teams opening the regular season against the Broncos on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Before the start of the 2014-15 campaign, the Broncos ditched their black and blue modern looking jerseys for their classic blue, green and white look with the horseshoe, bucking bronco logo. The Broncos had this look when the franchise returned to Swift Current in 1986 after spending 12 seasons in Lethbridge. The switch to the retro look has been popular with Broncos fans.

Tyler Steenbergen zips into the offensive zone for the Broncos.

    This past season, the look was part of many pieces coming together for a Broncos revival. Other things that have powered the revival is the fact Sheldon Kennedy, who was the captain of the Broncos 1989 Memorial Cup winner, has been back to Swift Current a number of times in recent years and labelled as a real Canadian hero for his public work on the child advocacy front over the years.

    The small city also built a beautiful monument to remember players Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff who died in a team bus crash on Dec. 30, 1986.  The monument is located near the crash site on the outskirts of town.

    All of these things have come together to give the Broncos a new level of support the team likely hasn’t seen in some time. The Credit Union i-Plex, which is the Broncos home rink, was likely the loudest building in the WHL playoffs last season. Swift Current advanced to the second round and lost a heartbreaking seven-game series to the Regina Pats.

    It is always cool when a team brings a popular past look back into the future.

Brooks showing small guys can still play

Adam Brooks signed with the NHL’s Maple Leafs

    Recently graduated Regina Pats captain Adam Brooks had a moment which seemed at one point in time it might not come to pass.

    On Thursday, Brooks signed a three year NHL entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 21-year-old Winnipeg product was selected in the fourth round and 92^nd overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Leafs.

    Brooks graduated from the Pats as one of the club’s most beloved heart and soul players. Over five seasons, he played in 317 regular season games collecting 119 goals and 216 assists. His 335 career regular season points make him the 10^th all-time leading scorer in Pats history.

    The skilled centre stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 175 pounds, and for a while, it seemed like the NHL started drifting away from players that didn’t stand at least 6-feet in height and be at least 200 pounds in weight.

    Brooks topped the WHL in scoring as a 19-year-old in 2015-16 netting 38 goals and 82 assists playing in all 72 regular season games. Despite his stellar season and being arguably one of the top three forwards in the league, it was conceivable Brooks might not be drafted. The fact the Leafs picked him was a big milestone.

    He returned to Regina to captain the Pats as an overager collecting 43 goals and 87 assists to finish a point behind teammate Sam Steel for the WHL scoring lead. Brooks helped the Pats top the WHL’s overall standings at 52-12-7-1 and advance to the WHL Championship series, where they fell 4-2 in a best-of-seven set to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

    The fact Brooks signed NHL contract is another big milestone. With the Leafs having Mike Babcock as head coach, Brooks a real look to one day make the NHL.

    His story has to give confidence to other players that are short in stature. In this year’s NHL Entry Draft, the Edmonton Oilers selected Spokane Chiefs winger Kailer Yamamoto in the first round and 22^nd overall. Yamamoto, who turns 19 in September, stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 146 pounds. Despite being small, he piled up 42 goals and 57 assists in 65 regular season games this past season with the Chiefs, who are his hometown WHL team.

    The winger established himself as one of the WHL’s most exciting players. He might get to duplicate his accomplishments in the professional ranks one day.

Getting Semenko a piece of video history

Dave Semenko, back row centre, in an old Oilers team picture.

    The world let along the sport of hockey lost one of its best characters on Thursday when famed Edmonton Oilers enforcer Dave Semenko passed away from pancreatic cancer at age 59.

    I never met Semenko, but I was still sad to hear of his passing. I also got a chuckle remembering the various colourful interviews he did over the years.

    In a round-about way, I helped contribute indirectly of getting him a piece of hockey history. During my first year living in Medicine Hat cover the WHL’s Tigers in the 2004-05 campaign, I met former Tigers and Winnipeg Jets standout Morris Lukowich at an old timers’ charity game.

    I had a VCR copy of the last contest ever played in the history of the World Hockey Association, when the host Winnipeg Jets defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the WHA title series to win the Avco Cup. Lukowich was a member of that winning Jets team.

    When I handed him the tape in order to get the cover autographed, he asked if that tape really had a copy of the game on it. I said it did, and he asked if I could mail him a copy of that tape to his place. I made a copy of that game and sent it to Lukowich.

    Later on that season, I ended up calling Lukowich for a throwback story for the Medicine Hat News. When the interview was done, we ended up talking about that tape. Lukowich thanked me for sending it to him.

    Having a few video machines at his place to use for coaching, Lukowich told me he made copies to send to all his former Jets teammates and coaches. He then told me he made a copy and sent it to Semenko, who was on that Oilers team that lost to the Jets.

    I laughed and couldn’t believe it. The Jets won that contest in a 7-3 romp at the old Winnipeg Arena, and I thought Lukowich might have been trying poke some fun at the legendary pugilist.

Lukowich laughed and said they were good friends. He added Semenko scored the final goal in that contest, which was the final goal ever in the history of the WHA. Lukowich thought it would be a nice keepsake.

    With that knowledge, I contributed to delivering a memory to Semenko about one of his historic hockey moments.

Huskies duo completes Banff Marathon

Congrats to @willowtree92 and @lilmisskittylik on completing the Banff Marathon 42.2 KM Full Marathon in a time of 4:25:30. pic.twitter.com/DAhapYUOXV

— UofS Women's Hockey (@HuskiesWHKY) June 21, 2017

    Lauren Zary and Kaitlin Willoughby showed their athletic prowess isn’t limited hockey, and they went to Banff to display that fact.

    Back on June 18, the pair completed the Banff Marathon. Zary, who just exhausted her eligibility with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, crossed the finish line in four hours, 25 minutes and 30 seconds, and Willoughby, who is a star centre entering her final season with the Huskies, finished officially one second back of Zary.

    For anyone to complete a race that is 42.2 kilometres in length is impressive, so a big congratulations is passed on to the pair. Both Zary and Willoughby accomplished something most people in the world won’t do. As an added bonus, they did it in the scenic mountain terrain of Banff.

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