Priestner made all the right trade deadline moves for Blades

Hayden Harsanyi is a big pick up for the Blades.

In the 2024-25 campaign, Colin Priestner has dealt with problems you like to have, when it comes to a WHL roster.

Last season, Priestner, who is the general manager and president of the Saskatoon Blades, oversaw a load up that allowed his squad to top the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark. In the post-season, the Blades advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series and fell in an epic seven-game set that saw six contests go to overtime to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

While the Blades graduated a large number of key players like Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov, Charlie Wright, Easton Armstrong, Fraser Minten and Alexander Suzdalev, they came into the current campaign returning a pretty good group of players that include long time star veterans Brandon Lisowsky and Tanner Molendyk along with sophomore 18-year-old netminder Evan Gardner. Plus, a number of returning veterans like captain Ben Saunderson, Tyler Parr, Rowan Calvert and Grayden Siepmann made big strides forward in their respective games.

Newcomers like Ben Riche and rookies Cooper Williams and import David Lewandowski gave the Blades more of a contribution than expected. All of those factors saw the Blades sit in a position where they were leading the WHL’s East Division and often the Eastern Conference for most of the first half of the season. They still top the East Division with a 22-14-2-3 mark.

Priestner was faced with a tough decision as the WHL’s trade deadline of this past January 9 at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time approached. He could run with the roster he had and see if the Blades could go on another long run in the WHL Playoffs.

He was also faced with the fact he had traded a lot of the Blades first, second and third round selections in WHL Prospects Drafts in upcoming years. He was looking to replenish some of those assets, so the team doesn’t take a longer term drop in the standings.

Hunter Laing was a recent addition by the Blades via the trade route.

Also in the WHL, there is the adage that anyone can be traded for as long as one trading partner really wants a player and wants to pay a price for that player. Priestner got some trade offers he couldn’t refuse, especially when it came to three of his best veterans. He also made some deals that worked well for his club and the respective trading partner.

On January 2, the Blades completed a major trade with the Victoria Royals. In that deal, they sent Lisowsky, who is a 20-year-old left-winger and one of their all-time greats, and a fifth round selection in the 2028 WHL Prospects Draft to the Royals for 20-year-old left-winger Tanner Scott, a second round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft and a second round pick in the 2026 Prospects Draft.

The next big deal was made on January 6. The Blades dealt Molendyk, who is a 19-year-old defenceman, and 19-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii to the Medicine Hat Tigers for centre Hayden Harsanyi, defenceman Jack Kachkowski, first and second round selections in the 2025 Prospects Draft, third and fourth round picks in the 2026 Prospects Draft and a fifth round selection in the 2028 Prospects Draft. Harsanyi and Kachkowski both recently turned 18-years-old.

On January 8, Blades sent Riche, who is a 19-year-old centre, to the Prince George Cougars in exchange for 18-year-old centre Hunter Laing, 15-year-old prospect defenceman Luke Dumas, a first round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft and fifth round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft.

Back on June 6, 2024, the Blades acquired Riche from the Victoria Royals in exchange for gritty 20-year-old left-winger Vaughn Watterodt. Watterodt is no longer with the Royals and now plays for the Mount Royal University Cougars Men’s Hockey Team in the U Sports ranks. In 37 regular season games with the Blades, Riche had been the team’s leading scorer recording 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points to go with a plus-18 rating. His totals in goals, assists and points are all career highs.

When Riche was acquired in exchange for Watterodt, no one thought Priestner would ultimately be able to trade the breakout forward for the assets the Blades received.

The Blades acquired Tanner Scott in a trade on January 2.

With the deals Priestner made, he was able recover draft capital for the Blades. Also, Harsanyi, Kachkowski and Laing will help the Blades in the current day and future seasons. Harsanyi has two goals and two assists in three games so far with the Blades, and he looks like he has the potential to be a big time player.

On the trade front, Priestner did a job that was worthy of the work done by Kelly McCrimmon, who is the current general manager of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. During a lengthy stretch as owner, general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, McCrimmon built a legendary reputation for making masterful moves.

Priestner has ensured the Blades will be in the mix in continuing to be a strong team this year and for the upcoming seasons that are yet to come.

Rush 4-1 for first time since 2018, other notes

Ryan Keenan scored four goals for the Rush last Saturday.

The reload or reset appears to be paying off for the Saskatchewan Rush.

Last Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the host Rush downed the Las Vegas Desert Dogs 15-9 in an NLL regular season clash. The victory allowed the Rush to improve to 4-1 for the first time since 2018, when the last won the NLL championship. The Desert Dogs fell to 1-5 with the setback.

Captain Ryan Keenan led the Rush with four goals. He also had a pair of assists for a six-point night.

Zach Manns continued his impressive campaign recording eight points off three goals and five assists. Austin Shanks had six points coming off three goals and three assists, while Robert Church had five points on a pair of goals and three assists. Clark Walter added a pair of goals, while Ryan Barnable had a single for the Saskatchewan side.

Frank Scigliano made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Rush.

Since the NLL returned to action in 2022 following stoppages due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Rush have posted 8-10 records for three straight seasons and missed the post-season in each of those campaigns. They last made the playoffs in 2019, which was the final campaign the NLL completed before not being able to host post-season action in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

The Rush return to action this coming Saturday when they travel to Mississauga, Ont., to face the 0-5 Toronto Rock at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

• Kamloops Blazers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston sits sixth on the WHL’s all-time list for career head coaching victories with 579 wins. He needs three more wins to equal Marc Habscheid for fifth on the all-time list with 582 victories. Habscheid piled up his victory total working behind the bench of the Blazers, the Kelowna Rockets, the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise and the Prince Albert Raiders.
• Spokane Chiefs star right-winger Andrew Cristall leads with WHL scoring race with 72 points coming off 31 goals and 41 assists to go with a plus-28 rating in the plus-minus department. Cristall was acquired by the Chiefs in a blockbuster trade with the Rockets on January 8. In 28 games with the Rockets this season, Cristall recorded 60 points on 26 goals and 34 assists to go with a plus-22 rating. In his first three games with the Chiefs, Cristall has 12 points coming off five goals and seven assists to go with a plus-six rating.
• The Everett Silvertips continue to lead the WHL’s overall standings with a 30-5-3-3 mark.
• On January 6, star defenceman Caden Price was traded by the Rockets to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a blockbuster trade. Price wrote a heartfelt letter to salute to the folks in Kelowna. That can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, January 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on the Saskatoon Ultimate Disc-Sport Society. A great upbeat atmosphere is present when Saskatoon Ultimate Disc-Sport Society events happen at the Complex. That piece can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by pictures from the CRIIIO Women’s Cricket Festival, which was a first for Saskatchewan as a province. It also includes photos from baseball, football, softball, skating, speed skating and skiing. That post can be found by clicking right here.

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

-------

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.

Wheat Kings’ Flamand flattens Blades with four-point night

First game after Lisowsky tough for Saskatoon

Nolan Flamand (#91) celebrates his second goal on Friday night.

As the Saskatoon Blades made a trade to help their future, it looks like they will deal with expected rough spots in the present.

On Thursday, the Blades completed a major trade with the Victoria Royals. In that deal, they sent one of their all-time greats in 20-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky and a fifth round selection in the 2028 WHL Prospects Draft to the Royals for 20-year-old left-winger Tanner Scott, a second round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft and a second round pick in the 2026 Prospects Draft.

In 29 games with the Blades this season, Lisowsky sat second in Blades team scoring with 43 points coming off 22 goals and 21 assists to go with a plus-13 rating in the plus-minus department. In 256 career regular season games with the Blades, Lisowsky recorded 143 goals and 125 assists for 268 points to go with a plus-68 rating. The Port Coquitlam, B.C., product sits inside the top five for career regular season goals in the history of the Blades.

Nolan Flamand had two goals and two assists on Friday night.

Scott appeared in 25 games with the Royals this season recording six goals and 10 assists for 16 points to go with a plus-four rating. In 245 career regular season games with Victoria, Scott recorded 54 goals and 88 assists for 142 points.

With the Blades having loaded up last season having topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark and advancing to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series falling in a heartbreaking seven-game set to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors, the trade of Lisowsky allowed Saskatoon to recover some draft capital.

This season, the Blades with the help of Lisowsky have been sitting first in the WHL’s East Division and have led the Eastern Conference for various stretches in what has been a relatively surprising campaign. At the start of the 2024-25 campaign, Saskatoon was expected to content for a spot in the post-season, and few expected the Blades to battle for first in their division or their conference.

Tanner Scott scored for the Blades on Friday.

On Friday night playing before 4,121 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades took the ice for the first time after the Lisowsky trade taking on the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. The game was tight after two periods with the Wheat Kings holding a 3-2 lead on the scoreboard and a 20-19 edge in shots on goal.

The visitors stormed away in the third posting a 6-2 victory holding a 35-25 advantage in shots on goal. Wheat Kings standout 20-year-old centre Nolan Flamand, who is from Saskatoon, powered the Brandon side with two goals, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

The loss was a second in a row for the Blades, who still lead the WHL’s East Division with a 20-12-2-2 mark. The Wheat Kings improved to 18-11-3-2 with the win, and they along with the 19-12-3 Prince Albert Raiders sit three points back of the Blades for the division lead. The Wheat Kings and Raiders each have a pair of games in hand on the Blades.

Tanner Scott (#29) celebrates his first goal with the Blades.

The Wheat Kings came out of the gate on fire outshooting the Blades 10-3. Just 5:13 into the opening frame, the visitors jumped in front 1-0 on a goal from 18-year-old defenceman Dylan Ronald. Ronald received a drop pass at the right point from 19-year-old centre Matteo Michels and put home a smart shot past Blades star netminder Evan Gardner.

The Blades got their legs going near the end of the first recording the last six shots on goal for the frame. Wheat Kings netminder Alex Garret came up with a big glove save on Blades right-winger Hudson Kibblewhite, and inside the final 20 seconds of the first, Garret robbed Blades right-winger Zach Olsen on a tip attempt in from of the Brandon net.

Grayden Siepmann had a goal for the Blades on Friday.

The Wheat Kings held a 10-9 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

Brandon would recapture the moment at the start of the second. Just 34 seconds into the frame, Wheat Kings 20-year-old right-winger Marcus Nguyen jetted through the Blades checkers and ripped home his 19^th of the season from the front of the Saskatoon net to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.

At the 9:10 mark of the second, Brandon jumped up 3-0 on Flamand’s first tally of the night. Flamand put a shot on net from just to the right of the Saskatoon goal. Gardner got a piece of the shot, but the puck just trickled over the goal line pushing the Wheat Kings advantage to 3-0.

Jaxon Jacobson (#9) shields off Cooper Williams (#25).

The officials checked that tally via video review, and it was quickly confirmed the puck from Flamand’s shot did cross the goal line for Brandon’s third marker.

Following that tally, the Blades coaches elected to pull Gardner for backup Ethan McCallum. Gardner turned away 14-of-17 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. McCallum turned aside 15-of-18 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Blades proceeded to get some traction after the goaltending change. With 6:29 remaining in the second while working on the power play, Scott got the puck at the right side of the Brandon net and put a backhand shot into an empty cage for his first tally as a member of the Blades. That tally cut the Wheat Kings lead to 3-1.

Dylan Ronald had a pair of goals for the Wheat Kings.

Just 57 seconds later, 20-year-old Blades defenceman Grayden Siepmann put home a point shot through a screen to cut Brandon’s edge to 3-2. Breakout star centre Ben Riche picked up assists on both Saskatoon goals.

Brandon proceeded to wrestle back momentum early in the third and never looked back from there. Working on the power play at the 2:13 mark of the third, the rebound from a shot taken by Wheat Kings 18-year-old left-winger Caleb Hadland came out to Flamand at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Flamand potted his second of the contest into an empty cage to push the Wheat Kings lead out to 4-2.

Ronald picked up his second of the night and 17-year-old right-winger Joby Baumuller added a power-play goal to round out the scoring for the Wheat Kings the rest of the way. Nguyen had an assist to go along with his goal.

Marcus Nguyen had a goal and an assist for the Wheat Kings.

Garret stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings.

Out in Victoria on Friday night, Lisowsky picked up an assist on the overtime winner as the host Royals slipped past the WHL leading Everett Silvertips 2-1. The Royals improved to 19-11-3-4 with the win and sit two points back of the B.C. Division leading Prince George Cougars (21-10-3-2). The Cougars have a game in hand on the Royals.

The Silvertips still lead the WHL’s overall standings as their record moved to 28-5-3-1.

As the WHL’s trade deadline on January 9 at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time approaches, one has to wonder if the Blades will get another trade offer or two that is too good to pass up in order to collect more draft assets. For those that have watched the WHL for an extended period of time, they know that is one of the realities with life on that circuit after a team has a season with a load up.

Joby Baumuller had a power-play goal for the Wheat Kings.

You can bet Blades general manager Colin Priestner and rest of the Blades brain trust do not want to go through a lengthy rebuild like what happened after the Saskatoon franchise hosted the 2013 CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. 

The Priestner family headed by Colin’s father, Mike Priestner, bought the Blades from Jack Brodsky after that event. Saskatoon would go on to miss the post-season for five straight campaigns before returning to the WHL Playoffs in 2018-19.

With Friday’s clash between the Wheat Kings and Blades in the books, the Wheat Kings return to action on Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to face the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Ben Riche had a pair of assists for the Blades on Friday.

The Blades get back it on Saturday when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

Coming into this season, Lisowsky, who was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and went unsigned, was the last remaining member on a Saskatoon line that included Trevor Wong at centre and import Egor Sidorov at right wing. That trio was the Blades top forward unit for most of three seasons spanning from 2021 to 2024.

Both Wong and Sidorov graduated from the Blades following the club’s elimination in last year’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. Wong now plays for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team in the U Sports ranks, and Sidorov skates for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, who are the affiliate of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.

The Wheat Kings celebrate their win on Friday night.

Now that Lisowsky is no longer with the Blades, it feels like chapter on era in the franchise’s history has come that much more to a close. Still, the time that Lisowsky played with the Blades will always be something the team’s faithful can smile about because it happened.

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.

Blades getting “Scrooged” in December of 2024

Saskatoon falls 4-2 to Wheat Kings heading into Xmas break

The Blades stop Wheat Kings LW Carter Klippenstein on a scoring chance.

December has been nasty for the Saskatoon Blades.

Before December rolled around, the Blades were on a heater.

Back on November 30, they downed the Swift Current Broncos 4-3 after a tiebreaking shootout at the SaskTel Centre. That win allowed the Blades to improve to 17-6-1-1 to have a solid hold on first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. At the time, that victory was a third straight for the club and also a sixth triumph in the squad’s previous seven contests.

Luke Shipley scored twice for the Wheat Kings on Sunday.

The Blades appeared to be a surprise team in the WHL. Last season, they finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark. In the WHL Playoffs, they advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship Series falling 3-2 in overtime in a series deciding Game 7 to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors at the SaskTel Centre.

Due to the fact the Blades made some trades to load up for a long post-season run, many weren’t expecting them to have the type of campaign where they would challenge for top spot in the conference. While the Blades had to deal with a number of key graduations, they had enough strong returning players that they expected to be in the post-season mix and not fall to the bottom of the standings.

Brandon Lisowsky scored twice for the Blades on Sunday.

When the 2024 calendar flipped over to December, the wins dried up for the Blades. In six outings so far for December, the Blades have two extra time losses and have dropped their last four straight games in regulation.

On Sunday playing before 5,274 spectators at the SaskTel Centre before heading to their Christmas break, the Blades fell 4-2 to the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Wheat Kings jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Blades rallied to even the score 2-2 at the 8:37 mark of the third period.

Wheat Kings 20-year-old defenceman Luke Shipley scored a pretty goal during a stretch of four-on-four play with 5:56 remaining in the third for the winning tally, and he sealed victory with an empty-net marker with 4.2 seconds remaining in the frame.

Ethan Eskit made 27 saves for the Wheat Kings on Sunday.

Despite the winless stretch, Saskatoon still sits first in the WHL’s East Division with a 17-10-2-2 mark. The Blades trail the Medicine Hat Tigers (19-14-1) for top spot in the Eastern Conference by one standings points with three games in hand.

The Wheat Kings improved to 15-9-3-1 with the win and trail the Blades by four standings points for first in the East Division with three games in hand. The Wheaties still have one game to play before departing on their Christmas break to pull closer to Saskatoon in the standings.

They are back in action on Tuesday hosting the 7-19-3-1 Warriors (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place). Both the Wheat Kings and Warriors will head on to their respective Christmas breaks after that contest.

Ben Riche set up the Blades first goal.

The Blades have a long stretch to ponder where they are at this point in the 2024-25 campaign. Saskatoon doesn’t play again until hosting the Warriors on Friday, December 27 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

While the Blades have two extra time setbacks in December, all four of their regulation losses have been heartbreakers. Saskatoon has fallen twice by one goal in those regulation losses. The other two losses have come by two goals, where the opponent has sealed victory with an empty-net tally like Brandon did on Sunday.

Sunday’s clash with the Wheat Kings was played pretty evenly by the two sides. Brandon basically was able to make two more plays than Saskatoon did, but the Blades are likely lamenting missed chances.

Nicholas Johnson had a goal and an assist for the Wheat Kings.

Just 1:51 into the opening frame, the Wheat Kings jumped ahead 1-0 off a Blades turnover in their own zone. A pass between Blades captain Ben Saunderson and 19-year-old centre Lukas Hansen was botched causing the puck to sit on the stick of Wheat Kings breakout centre Matteo Michels.

Positioned midrange off to the right of the Blades goal, Michels roofed a shot to the top left corner of the Saskatoon net for the opening marker of the contest.

The Wheat Kings pushed their edge out to 2-0 scoring on the power play at the 11:30 mark of the opening frame. During a scramble for the puck at the left side of the Blades net, Wheat Kings right-winger Brady Turko fed a backhanded pass across the front of the goal to left-winger Nicholas Johnson at the open right side of the cage. Johnson popped the puck into the empty side of the net to give the visitors their two-goal edge.

Ben Saunderson brings the puck up ice for the Blades.

The Blades came into the second period on fire applying all sorts of pressure in the Brandon zone holding a 15-7 edge in shots on goal for the stanza. Some sharp play by Wheat Kings netminder Ethan Eskit ensured the visitors went into the second intermission still holding the lead.

Saskatoon trimmed Brandon’s lead to 2-1 at the 8:33 mark of the second on a vintage goal by star 20-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky. Entering the Wheat Kings zone on a two-on-one break, Blades breakout star centre Ben Riche drove down the left wing into the Wheat Kings zone with the puck and fed the puck across the front of the Brandon net to Lisowsky. Lisowsky fired a one-timer home to cut the Wheat Kings lead to one.

Matteo Michels scored the Wheat Kings first goal on Sunday.

Just four seconds into a power play at the 4:04 mark of the third, the Blades thought they had the equalizer when right-winger Hudson Kibblewhite tipped home a puck in front of the Brandon net that came off a point blast from 20-year-old defenceman Grayden Siepmann. The officials immediately waved off the goal ruling Kibblewhite knocked home the puck with a high stick.

The officials went to a video review that determined the call on the ice was correct much to the dismay of the Blades faithful in attendance.

The Blades finally broke through with the man advantage scoring five seconds into their fourth power-play chance. Working low in the left side of the Brandon zone, Kibblewhite sent a smart pass to Lisowsky positioned at the top of the left faceoff circle.

The Blades celebrate an equalizer from Brandon Lisowsky (#8).

Lisowsky one-timed home his second goal of the contest to even the score at 2-2 at the 8:37 mark of the third. With his two tallies on Sunday, Lisowsky now has 139 career goals for the Blades moving him one tally ahead of Josh Nicholls for sixth on the Blades career goal scoring list. Nicholls played five seasons for the Blades from 2008 to 2013.

Shipley proceeded to spoil the comeback party for the hosts. Entering the Blades zone driving down the right wing on a three-on-one break, Shipley weaved around Saunderson, who slide on the ice to break up any potential passing plays.

Brayden Klimpke starts a breakout for the Blades.

After getting around Saunderson along the icing line, Shipley cut to the front of the Saskatoon net and put home a backhander to give the Wheat Kings a 3-2 advantage with 5:56 remaining in the third. He proceeded to add his empty-net goal to round out the game’s scoring.

Johnson picked up an assist on Shipley’s empty-net tally to round out a two-point night with one goal and one assist.

Evan Gardner turned away 26-of-29 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Eskit stopped 27 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings.

As the Blades head into their Christmas break, one has to wonder if they are falling back to earth and if the graduations from last season are finally catching up to them.

Evan Gardner stopped 26-of-29 shots for the Blades.

Their 17-10-2-2 record might be an accurate reflection on where they sit. While they played well building a 17-6-1-1 mark after their win over the Broncos on November 30, they likely overachieved and got a couple of wins that they shouldn’t have.

Over their winless last six games that have included two extra time setbacks, the Blades likely deserved some breaks to get victory in a couple of those contests.

When they return to action after the Christmas break, the Blades will be in the mix in a wide open Eastern Conference. They could get back to the Eastern Conference Championship Series for a third straight year, or they could be eliminated in the first round of the post-season.

Ethan Eskit, left, and Nolan Flamand celebrate the Wheat Kings win.

No matter how the 2024-25 campaign plays out for the Blades, it should be entertaining to watch.

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.

2023-24 Blades brought Saskatoon together

Fans came to SaskTel Centre in droves for playoff run

Fraser Minten gives a souvenir stick to a fan at a May 3 home game.

In an agonizing defeat, the Saskatoon Blades fans ensured their team got a thank you.

On May 7, the Blades faced the Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 7 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series and a campaign high crowd of 13,240 spectators poured into the SaskTel Centre. The teams would go to overtime locked in a 2-2 tie. It marked the sixth time the two sides went to overtime in what has been viewed as the greatest post-season series ever played in the history of the WHL.

Just 36 seconds into overtime, Warriors 17-year-old sophomore right-winger Lynden Lakovic drove down the right wing into the Saskatoon zone. From a bad angle, Lakovic backhanded the puck toward the Saskatoon net.

Warriors star overage right-winger Atley Calvert drove towards the Saskatoon net while being covered by Blades utility winger Tyler Parr. The puck from Lakovic’s backhand deflected off Parr’s skate into the Saskatoon net to deliver the Warriors to a 3-2 victory in the extra session.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Warriors went on to sweep the WHL Championship Series 4-0 over the Portland Winterhawks. Moose Jaw is currently playing in the Memorial Cup tournament in Saginaw, Michigan, that determines a CHL champion.

In the Game 7 encounter between the Warriors and Blades, Moose Jaw had a sizable contingent of supporters that filled five fan busses that made the jaunt to Saskatoon. When Lakovic’s OT winner went in, the Warriors fans in attendance broke into a joyful, cloud nine type of feeling celebration.

After the initial momentum of the celebration of the Warriors fans died down, the Blades supporters, who filled the vast majority of the building, showered down a salute to their heroes who were trying to process at that point what happened.

Following the traditional post-series handshakes, the Warriors were presented with the Eastern Conference championship trophy and departed the ice to the applause of their fans that gathered around their bench area.

Some of the signs Blades fans brought out at warmups.

Once the Warriors departed, the Blades did a sticks raised lap to salute their supporters in attendance and the fans returned their own heartwarming salute. Captain Trevor Wong, who had just played his final career WHL game, skated around giving applause to the fans and motioning to the chest that he took them to heart.

Some of the Blades players would linger on the ice for a lengthy stretch processing the end of their campaign before finally making their way to the team’s dressing room.

In the days that followed, fans were phoning into radio shows and commenting on various public forums that they were proud of the team. They were saying everyone with the team from players, coaches and management could hold their heads high for how they played in the post-season run and especially in the epic series clash with Moose Jaw.

The reaction was much different compared to post-season runs the Blades made in the early 1990s. When the Blades made the WHL Championship Series in 1992 and 1994 and lost both of those trips in seven games to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers, the fans were proud of those runs, but there was an undercutting undertone.

Trevor Wong salutes the SaskTel Centre crowd on May 7.

You would have fans phoning into sports call in shows, TV shows and sending feedback to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix newspaper that then general manager Daryl Lubiniecki was the lead weight that was holding the Blades back. Throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s, Lubiniecki was with the Blades full-time mainly as the general manager, and the team won about 60 per cent of its games and made numerous long runs in the WHL Playoffs.

The long runs didn’t result in any WHL titles or Memorial Cup championships. Back in those days, the general manager of the Blades in Saskatoon was usually treated like the general manager of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders as being hated by the fans, or at least the ones that were vocal and there were a lot of those.

If you run into Lubiniecki these days, he often makes jokes of the fact the fans wanted him to be fired when he was the Blades general manager. He adds in the present day everyone in Saskatoon loves him now, and he always gets a warm reception when he attends Blades games as a fan.

When Mike Priestner’s family bought the team before the start of the 2013-14 campaign, team management put an emphasis on attracting new fans and creating links to the community. That continued as the Blades were moved under the umbrella of the newly created Sask Entertainment Group with the Priestner family having purchased the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush in May of 2021 and an expansion franchise in the Western Canadian Baseball League in March of 2023 that has become the Saskatoon Berries, who just embarked on their inaugural season.

Charlie Wright was reliable on the back end for the Blades.

The Blades faithfully kept up their school visits, visits to minor hockey teams as guest coaches and various other works in community outreach. That has resulted in the team drawing more new and younger fans with their long post-season runs the past two seasons, and those fans have fallen in love with the team.

In 2022-23, the Blades averaged 4,506 spectators per game over 34 home dates and 8,780 spectators per contest over 10 home post-season dates. 

During the 2023-24 campaign, the Blades averaged 5,166 spectators per game over 34 home dates and 9,332 spectators per contest over nine post-season home dates.

The Blades average attendance for the regular season was the highest it had been since the team drew an average of 6,040 spectators to 36 home dates during the 2012-13 campaign, when the club hosted the Memorial Cup tournament. The squad’s post-season average attendance figures are believed to be the best they have been since those runs in 1992 and 1994 to the WHL final, when capacity at the SaskTel Centre was configured for around 11,300 spectators for hockey games.

The new supporters carry their fandom in a more healthy way. They usually have busy lives and that includes families who have children working their way through minor hockey. For those members of the Blades faithful, jaunts to the SaskTel Centre for Blades games are a break from those lives.

Easton Armstrong became a Blades fan favourite in 2023-24.

For the young kids at the games, they see players like Wong, Egor Sidorov, Brandon Lisowsky, Fraser Minten, Easton Armstrong, Vaughn Watterodt, Alexander Suzdalev, Tanner Molendyk, Charlie Wright, Ben Saunderson John Babcock, Evan Gardner and Austin Elliott as their heroes. Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said it has been cool to drive to work in the mornings and see kids going to school wearing Blades jerseys and Blades gear.

Blades general manager Colin Priestner said he had fans coming up to him in the concourse during the Game 7 loss to the Warriors passing on thank you messages for the post-season run.

It should be noted the Blades do have a good block of legacy fans that follow the team through thick and thin. There are some legacy fans that base the happiness of their lives around the Blades winning or losing and do moan the fact that the team has never won a league title or a Memorial Cup since being formed in 1964. The grips on that front have faded more to the background.

Reminders that the Blades have never won a league title or a Memorial Cup come loudly from the fans of the club’s archrivals in the Prince Albert Raiders. Raiders fans ensure that those non-successes by the Blades are always remembered.

Egor Sidorov had 50 goals and 88 points in the 2023-24 regular season.

Still, the 2023-24 campaign was a special one for the Blades. They topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record for 105 standings points. Saskatoon won 50 or more games in a regular season for just the third time in team history and hit 100 or more standings points for the sixth time since the franchise first hit the ice in 1964.

Wong led the Blades in regular season scoring with 101 points coming off 15 goals and 86 assists. Sidorov had a memorable campaign setting career highs in the regular season for goals (50), assists (38) and points (88).

Wong hitting 100 points and Sidorov collecting 50 goals marked the first time Blades players had realized those accomplishments since the 1995-96 campaign.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Blades took out the Raiders in five games in the first round and swept the Red Deer Rebels 4-0 in a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Brandon Lisowsky has been a consistent point producer.

Tonnes of great memories were made.

Any sadness that came resulted from the realization that an end of an era likely had come for a core group of Blades players. 

Wong, Armstrong and Wright were in their 20-year-old seasons and have now exhausted their major junior eligibilities.

It is expected Minten, Sidorov, Lisowsky and Suzdalev will all be in the professional ranks next season. They all have NHL entry-level contracts and will be in their 20-year-old seasons. 

Molendyk could be back as a 19-year-old player, but there is a very real chance the Nashville Predators could elect to keep him in the NHL.

Wong, Sidorov and Lisowsky were basically one of the Blades forward lines for the last three straight seasons. It will be different not seeing them together on the ice together as a unit wearing the “Pac-Man” jerseys.

With all that in mind, there are lots of young child aged fans that attended games at the SaskTel Centre over the past two seasons that will remember watching this generation of Blades as a childhood highlight years from now.

The Blades celebrate an OT victory on May 3.

These were “smile because they happened” times in Saskatoon that brought a lot of much needed good feelings to the city in a world today when it seems there is lots to complain about in seemingly every walk of life.

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.

Blades had memorable 2023-24 campaign with bittersweet end

Members of the Blades dwell on the end of their season on May 7.

All involved with the Saskatoon Blades thought they would be preparing right now to play in the Memorial Cup tournament.

Instead of competing for a CHL championship, they are coming to the realization they had a spectacular campaign in 2023-24 that came to a heartbreaking end. The Blades topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record for 105 standings points. Saskatoon won 50 or more games in a regular season for just the third time in team history and hit 100 or more standings points for the sixth time since the franchise first hit the ice in 1964, which was two seasons before the WHL was formed.

For large stretches of the campaign, the Blades top the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings and were rated sixth in the final edition of those ratings.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Blades downed their archrivals in the Prince Albert Raiders in five games in a first round series and swept the Red Deer Rebels in four games in an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Blades proceeded to play in an epic Eastern Conference Championship Series against the Moose Jaw Warriors that went to seven games with six contests being decided in overtime. The six overtime games played in one seven game series is a WHL record.

Trevor Wong salutes the SaskTel Centre crowd on May 7.

The series deciding Game 7 of that set was played on Tuesday, May 7, before a campaign high crowd of 13,240 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades and Warriors went to overtime locked in a 2-2 tie. The contest had a devastating end for the host side.

Just 36 seconds into overtime, Warriors 17-year-old sophomore right-winger Lynden Lakovic drove down the right wing into the Saskatoon zone. From a bad angle, Lakovic backhanded the puck toward the Saskatoon net.

Warriors star overage right-winger Atley Calvert drove towards the Saskatoon net while being covered by Blades utility winger Tyler Parr. The puck from Lakovic’s backhand deflected off Parr’s skate into the Saskatoon net to deliver the Warriors to a 3-2 victory in the extra session.

The Warriors went on to sweep the WHL Championship Series 4-0 over the Portland Winterhawks. Moose Jaw begins playing at the Memorial Cup tournament in Saginaw, Michigan, taking on the OHL’s host Spirit on Friday at the DOW Event Centre (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Blades after losing what many consider was the best post-season series in the history of the WHL were left to wonder about what might have been.

Charlie Wright goes for a final lap at the SaskTel Centre on May 7.

Captain Trevor Wong, who exhausted is major junior eligibility with the Game 7 loss to the Warriors, came to the Blades in a trade with the Kelowna Rockets on September 28, 2021, which sent centre Colton Dach to the Rockets. Wong was thankful he got to be a member of the Blades for three full seasons and that owner and governor Mike Priestner and general manager and president Colin Priestner had been outstanding to him since his arrival in Saskatoon.

“It is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my hockey career so far,” said Wong, who led the Blades in regular season scoring with 101 points coming off 15 goals and 86 assists. “I can’t thank the organization in CP (Colin Priestner) and Mike (Priestner) and the coaching staff and teammates who brought me in when I was 18.

“I was pretty bummed out when I got traded to be honest not knowing much about Saskatoon and coming to the cold. Just being a Blade is everything to me and embracing the culture and what it means to truly be a Blade and not just on the ice but being a great person in the community and being a great teammate. The organization here wants to build great men and not just hockey players.

“I thought I have kind of embraced it. I’ve tried to put it throughout the boys and throughout the locker room to the younger guys.”

Easton Armstrong processes the end of his WHL career on May 7.

Along with Wong, dependable defenceman Charlie Wright and star left-winger Easton Armstrong also used up their major junior eligibility playing out the 2023-24 campaign as 20-year-olds. Wright was a career member of the Blades joining the squad on a full-time basis in his 16-year-old season. Armstrong was acquired in a trade with the Wenatchee Wild early in the 2023-24 campaign.

Colin Priestner was proud of work everyone with the franchise did for the team. He admits the conclusion of the campaign was bittersweet.

“The run we went on is something you dream of,” said Priestner. “It just ended in kind of a nightmare.

“To think of how close we got, and I still feel like we have the best team in the country I truly do. I feel like we deserved to win (in Game 7 versus the Moose Jaw Warriors). I feel like we were in an unbelievably great series with another great team.

“I feel like we outplayed them substantially (in Game 7) and out chanced them on a two-to-one ratio. For whatever reason, it goes off one of our player’s skates and in and that is it. The plug is just pulled so fast from the season.”

The Blades welcomed lots of new fans to the SaskTel Centre.

The Blades have been strong in each of the past two seasons. In the 2022-23 campaign, the Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 mark. In the WHL Playoffs, they won two series in seven games over Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats and the Rebels before being swept in the Eastern Conference Championship Series 4-0 by the Winnipeg Ice.

Saskatoon has drawn more new and younger fans with their runs the past two seasons. In 2022-23, the Blades averaged 4,506 spectators per game over 34 home dates and 8,780 spectators per contest over 10 home post-season dates. During the 2023-24 campaign, the Blades averaged 5,166 spectators per game over 34 home dates and 9,332 spectators per contest over nine post-season home dates.

Priestner said it has been amazing to a younger generation of fans who have fallen in love with the team come out to games and the people of Saskatoon and area get excited for the team. He was in awe seeing the 13,240 spectators that came out for their Game 7 campaign ending loss to the Warriors.

“You see there are 13,000 people there, and people were coming up to me in the concourse and saying thank you so much for this run,” said Priestner. “I just wish that I was able to deliver a championship to these people in this city, because everybody believed in us.

Egor Sidorov had 50 goals and 88 points in the 2023-24 regular season.

“We did everything we could to bring this city a championship, and they deserved it. They supported us like unbelievably.”

The Blades hit the ice with a number of stars that included import right-winger Egor Sidorov, left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, centre Fraser Minten, defenceman Tanner Molendyk and netminders Evan Gardner and Austin Elliott. Blades fans took a number of other players to heart who brought a high level effort to every game including forwards Vaughn Watterodt, Rowan Calvert, Lukas Hansen, Parr, Misha Volotovskii and William James along with defencemen Ben Saunderson, John Babcock, Grayden Siepmann, Nicholas Andrusiak and Morgan Tastad.

Sidorov, who played his third full season with the team, had a memorable campaign setting career highs in the regular season for goals (50), assists (38) and points (88).

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said the biggest thing for him that stood out for the 2023-24 squad was how tight the players were.

“They just care about each other,” said Sonne. “They love each other.

Fraser Minten was a big play performer for the Blades.

“They’re brothers. That is what produces the heart – the level of heart you see. The lack of quit.

“They just don’t stop, so that is probably the biggest thing.”

Sonne said it has been a joy to see the players truly enjoy becoming part of the community of Saskatoon and the surrounding area.

“I’m the hockey coach of a junior team, so the hockey side is obviously the main focus,” said Sonne. “But, me and our staff, ownership and management, our priority is helping young men grow into be great citizens, husbands, fathers and I will say this group, these 20-year-olds, the guys graduating from this program are like the best of the best citizens.

“They’re going to be the leaders of our society in the future.”

While the Blades wish they could have pulled out a victory in Game 7, Wong was pleased his squad went down fighting.

“I think as a team we’re very proud of ourselves,” said Wong. “Six games went to overtime in a seven game series.

The Blades react to their season coming to an end on May 7.

“It could have gone either way, and one bad bounce kind of our season is over just like that. We’re very proud of the way we pushed back and played the whole game. We’re very proud of what we accomplished this season.

“There are no heads hanging, because we are proud of ourselves.”

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.

Minten saves Blades in OT

Warriors now down 3-2 in WHL’s Eastern Conference final

Fraser Minten (#16) celebrates his overtime winner.

Fraser Minten saved the Saskatoon Blades.

On Friday night playing before 11,173 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades took a 4-0 lead over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 5 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. In a heroic rally, the Warriors scored four goals in the third period to force a 4-4 tie and overtime.

With 1:45 remaining in the extra session, Minten one-timed home a midrange shot from the front of the Moose Jaw net to give the Blades a 5-4 victory. Minten converted a nice setup pass from star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk.

The Blades begin to swarm on top of Fraser Minten.

After scoring, Minten put on a celebration skating to centre ice on one knee and promptly being mobbed by his Blades teammates. The win allows the Blades to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Blades will attempt to win the WHL’s Eastern Conference title for the first time since 1994 in Game 6 on Sunday, which is set for 2 p.m. back at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in Moose Jaw.

If the Warriors prevail in Game 6, a series deciding Game 7 would be held on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Warriors are trying to win the WHL’s Eastern Conference title for the first time since 2006.

The Blades mob Fraser Minten after he scores his OT winner.

The series between the Blades and Warriors has arguably been one of the greatest post-season series the WHL has ever seen with four of the five games going to overtime. Saskatoon has claimed three out of the overtime contests with Minten scoring two of the overtime winners.

These two clubs are one overtime game away from matching the total of five from the classic Western Conference Championship Series in 2008 played between the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans. That series featured five overtime contests and the Americans won three of those five extra time contest. The Chiefs won the series in seven games and went on to capture the WHL title and the Memorial Cup title to become CHL champions.

Fraser Minten had a pair of goals for the Blades on Friday.

In Friday’s clash, Minten prevented the Blades from having a negative energy pale fall over the club. After having control of the contest holding a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes, the Warriors looked poised to take the contest rally for four goals in the third to force a 4-4 tie.

Had the Warriors claimed Friday’s game, Game 5 would have gone down as “the Moose Jaw miracle in Saskatoon” for Warriors fans. In that scenario, Blades fans would have been throwing around the words “collapse” or “choke.”

With Minten scoring the winner, Game 5 can go down as the “Saskatoon classic.” While Blades fans can celebrate the win, it is still hard to get a real read on this series. It is far from over, and the Warriors are more than capable of winning Games 6 and 7 to claim the Eastern Conference title for their own.

Denton Mateychuk had a pair of goals for the Warriors.

As for Friday’s contest, the Blades broke open the game’s scoring just 2:56 into the opening frame. Import right-winger Alexander Suzdalev took a shot from the left boards in the Moose Jaw zone, and the puck rebounded out to Minten at the right side of the net.

Minten popped home his seventh of the post-season to put the hosts up 1-0. The tally came on the Blades third shot of the contest.

The Warriors came with a push back but Blades breakout rookie netminder Evan Gardner stood his ground.

That allowed the Blades to push their lead out to 2-0 at the 10:56 mark of the opening frame. Blades star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong entered the Moose Jaw zone on a rush and passed the puck across the ice to star import right-winger Egor Sidorov.

Egor Sidorov scored the Blades second goal on Friday.

Sidorov skated into the middle of the left faceoff circle and roofed a shot to the top right corner of the Moose Jaw goal for his 14^th goal of the post-season that gave the Blades their two-goal edge. At the time of Sidorov’s goal, the Warriors held a 12-8 edge in shots on goal.

The Warriors maintained pressure for the rest of the frame, but Gardner kept the buzzing visitors at bay. The Blades would hold their 2-0 edge going into the first intermission, while the Warriors held a 17-10 advantage in shots on goal.

The second period started with a long stoppage at the 2:30 mark of the frame as the officials went to video replay to see of Armstrong was high-sticked. Armstrong was stitched up in the forehead at the Blades bench as the review took place.

Jagger Firkus had the Warriors second goal on Friday.

The officials determined that Warriors star centre Matthew Savoie did commit a high-stick foul and gave him a double minor for high-sticking. That infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

On the second half of the double minor, Blades 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright fired home a point shot for a power-play goal that pushed the host side’s advantage out to 3-0.

With 5:37 remaining in the second, Wright pinched up to the left faceoff circle with the puck and took a shot that rebounded out to the right side of the Moose Jaw net. Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky was in the right place at the right time and popped home his seventh of the post-season to push the Blades lead out to 4-0.

Charlie Wright had a goal and an assist for the Blades.

Following Lisowsky’s goal, the Warriors pulled star starting netminder Jackson Unger. Unger stopped 13-of-17 shots fired his way. Dimitri Fortin played the rest of the way in relief turning away 24-of-25 shots sent his way to take the setback in goal.

The Blades held an 11-5 edge in shots on goal in the second period. The fact the Blades carried the play in the second period didn’t foreshadow the Moose Jaw surge that was to come.

The Warriors put a scare into the host side at the start of the third and almost turned that scare into “A Nightmare On Elm Street” horror show for the host side. Just 49 seconds into the third, Warriors veteran centre Brayden Schuurman popped home his first of the post-season to trim the Blades advantage to 4-1.

The Warriors celebrate their first goal on Friday.

At the 4:09 mark of the third, Armstrong was penalized for delay of game for clearing the puck over the glass from his own zone to put the Warriors on the power play. Just 32 seconds into the man advantage, Savoie put a perfect pass setting up Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus for a midrange one-timer from the front of the Saskatoon net.

Firkus made no mistake drilling a shot home to further cut the Blades lead to 4-2.

The frame got a little more crazy 50 seconds after Firkus’s tally as Lisowsky was sprung in on a breakaway into the Moose Jaw zone. Lisowsky tried to put a shot between the legs of Fortin, but the netminder swallowed the puck under his pads and a couple of Warriors defenders assisted in the cover with one putting his stick behind the puck stopper’s skates.

Brandon Lisowsky had the Blades fourth goal on Friday.

The officials went to a lengthy video review to determine if there was a goal. They ruled there was no goal.

The Warriors proceeded to continue their surge after that bump in the road. At the 7:38 mark of the third, Warriors captain and star offensive-defenceman Denton Mateychuk had the puck in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone. He banked a shot off the skates of a backchecking Sidorov into the Saskatoon net to slice the Blades advantage down to 4-3.

With 6:42 remaining in the third, Mateychuk slipped home an off-speed shot from the point for his second tally of the contest to even the score at 4-4. That tally ultimate forced the contest to go to overtime.

Atley Calvert was almost the OT hero for the Warriors.

In overtime, it appeared Moose Jaw hometown hero in star 20-year-old right-winger Atley Calvert was going to cap a fairytale ending for the Warriors. With 5:15 remaining in overtime, Warriors left-winger Lynden Lakovic burst into the Saskatoon zone down the left wing and put a backhand pass across the face the Blades net to Calvert, who was on the right side of the Saskatoon net.

Calvert had an empty cage to shoot at, but rang a shot off the right post. In an ensuing frantic scramble, the puck came to Savoie in front of the Blades net. He put a shot on goal that was blocked by Blades captain Trevor Wong, which ended the threat.

A short time later, the Warriors got stung with some back luck. During a board battle in the Saskatoon zone with 4:12 remaining in overtime, Firkus got high-sticked by Wright. 

A couple of Blades fans has sign beaks for the Warriors.

Firkus looked at the officials questioning if a penalty call was going to come, and no penalty call was made on that play.

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

Gardner made 39 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades.

Suzdalev finished the contest with three assists for the Blades and Armstrong had a pair of helpers for the host side.

Calvert and Warriors import right-winger Martin Rysavy each had a pair of assists for Moose Jaw.

The Blades were without veteran defenceman John Babcock for a second straight game with an undisclosed injury.

Blades fans cheer on their team on Friday.

Going into the Eastern Conference Championship Series, it was expected the Blades and Warriors would put on a battle, and the series has greatly exceeded those expectations that were set at the outset.

During the regular season, the Blades topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Warriors finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark.

Fraser Minten gives a souvenir stick to a young fan.

The two sides split their six head-to-head encounters in the regular season without having to go to extra time.

Now, this series is down to potentially its final two chapters. It is safe to expect there will be a lot more moments that will thrill fans and some that are ultra-passionate will likely head out to get an EKG (electrocardiogram).

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.