Drama at the end overshadows rest of Blades season

The Blades salute the SaskTel Centre crowd on Saturday night.

    At the end, it almost didn’t feel like the Saskatoon Blades won 35 games in the 2017-18 regular season.

    The Blades enjoyed their best campaign since the hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013 posting a 35-33-3-1 record to actually have the seventh most standings points in the WHL’s 12 team Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, the drama at the end of the season will be what most onlookers remember. The last impression at the moment seems to override everything else that happened.

    When all of the WHL games on Feb. 19 had wrapped up, the Blades had an eight point lead over the Prince Albert Raiders for the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blades were two points behind the Brandon Wheat Kings for the first wildcard position. The Blades had 11 games remaining on their regular season schedule including seven home dates, while the Raiders and Wheat Kings had 13 contests each to play.

The Blades released Dean Brockman as head coach on Sunday.

    Having downed the Oil Kings in Edmonton 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 19, the Blades returned to the SaskTel Centre to play the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats on Feb. 23. Saskatoon took a 4-0 lead at the 7:47 mark of that contest before the wheels fell off. Regina roared back for a 7-5 victory with call up Jacob Wasserman playing goal.

    That started an eight-game stretch where the Blades posted a 1-6-1 record to be eliminated from making the playoffs for a fifth straight year. The Blades won their last three straight to post a 4-6-1 record in their final 11 outings. The Raiders went 9-2-0-2 including nine straight wins in their last 13 games to leap into the second wildcard spot, and the Wheat Kings held the first wildcard spot going 9-4 in their final 13 contests.

Blades GM Colin Priestner speaks to the media early in the season.

    A similar story occurred in the 2016-17 campaign. The Blades held a three-point edge over the Calgary Hitmen for the last playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference near the tail end of that campaign. The Blades won one of their final five games, while the Hitmen claimed five of their last six regular season contests to vault into a playoff berth.

    Saskatoon closed the 2017-18 campaign on Saturday with a 5-4 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders before 9,624 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. Following that contest, Blades head coach Dean Brockman met with general manager Colin Priestner for about an hour.

    On Sunday morning, the Blades announced Brockman had been relieved of his duties effective immediately with two years left on his contract. At the media availability that afternoon, Priestner said at the end of the hour long talk he had with Brockman on Saturday night it became clear the team was going to part ways with the 50-year-old veteran bench boss.

Braylon Shmyr (#23) had 37 goals and 51 assists this season.

    Brockman had been the Blades head coach for the past two seasons and was an assistant coach in the two campaigns before that.

    Priestner said the fact that the Blades faltered at the end of each of the past two seasons to fall out of a playoff position was the reason for the move on the coaching front.

    The social media reaction to the development in the following days from the public was fairly toxic.

    Most threw support behind Brockman as being the sound hockey guy with a solid 17-year background in the junior A ranks with the Humboldt Broncos from 1997 to 2014. Brockman started as an assistant coach and assistant general manager before becoming the head coach and general manager in 2004. During Brockman’s years in Humboldt, the Broncos won the Royal Bank Cup for junior A supremacy in 2003 and 2008.

Blades captain Evan Fiala recently signed a pro contract.

    Priestner is viewed as the non-hockey background guy until he came on board with the Blades when his father, Mike, bought the team from Jack Brodsky before the start of the 2013-14 campaign. Colin has been the Blades general manager for the past two seasons taking on that role when the former head coach and general manager Bob Woods departed for the NHL ranks.

    After the Blades hosted the Memorial Cup in 2012-13, the team was pretty much devoid of assets, and the new ownership and management expected a long rebuild.

    In each of the past two seasons, the pressure was on the squad to show the lengthy rebuild was good enough to result in a playoff berth.

    For the most part, the Blades did see positive results on the ice from their lengthy rebuild, and it could be argued they have come out of their funk. They were hexed by the current rules for making the playoffs.

    Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the top three teams in the East and Central Divisions and the two best remaining records after those clubs qualify as wildcards entries to make up the Eastern Conference’s eight squads that advance to the post-season.

Tyler Brown was brought in to be a positive influence.

    Due to the fact the Blades finished sixth in the East Division, they were on the outside looking in as far as the playoff picture was concerned. The East Division this season was arguably the toughest division the WHL ever saw in its history.

    With the record the Blades had, they would have made the playoffs in 2016-17 and 2015-16 under the current rules. Under the rules used in the 2013-14 campaign that had a formula where the top eight teams in each of the WHL’s two conferences advanced to the post-season, the Blades would be moving on to take part in a best-of-seven first round series.

    Instead, they finished three points back of the Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blades will watch two teams they bested in standings points in the Lethbridge Hurricanes (33-33-6) and the Red Deer Rebels (27-32-10-3) go at it in the first round of the playoffs to see one of those clubs make the second round.

Centre Kirby Dach is one of the Blades bright young stars.

    Going forward, the Blades do have a sound roster. They lose overagers Braylon Shmyr, Evan Fiala and Tyler Brown.

    Shmyr, who was a star left-winger, topped the Blades in scoring with 37 goals and 51 assists. Fiala was the team’s captain and a solid defenceman, who recorded seven goals, 13 assists and a minus-two rating in the plus-minus department. On Wednesday, Fiala signed a contract with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, who are based in North Charleston, South Carolina.

    Brown built his reputation during a stellar run playing goal with the Pats, and after being acquired by the Blades in a deal before the WHL trade deadline on Jan. 10, he acted as a positive influence on rookie standout Nolan Maier.

    In Maier, the Blades will have a 17-year-old sophomore in 2018-19 that might be one of the top five goalies in the league. They will return a good group on defence in Jackson Caller, Seth Bafaro, Randen Schmidt, Dawson Davidson, Jake Kustra and possibly Russian import Mark Rubinchik.

Nolan Maier will be looking to build off a stellar rookie campaign.

    They have skill up front in Kirby Dach, Eric Florchuk, Max Gerlach, Josh Paterson, Chase Wouters and Michael Farren. Dach, who will enter his 17-year-old season, and Florchuk, who will enter his 18-year-old campaign, have the potential to be the best in that group.

    With that said, the fallout at the end of the season will be something that is hard to forget. Colin Priestner likely backed himself in a position where the team’s next head coach hire will have to be a known name that has had success in the major junior ranks or higher levels of hockey.

    It is uncertain if the new head coach will want to inherit the staff of current assistant coaches. Of that group, Bryce Thoma and Ryan Keller are under contract for the next two seasons.

    At the moment, it isn’t a stretch to say it will be challenging to sell season tickets. Even this past season, the Blades had to work hard to sell tickets and attendances over 4,000 were viewed as a big success.

Josh Paterson had a breakout campaign for the Blades.

    If the Blades gamble on a younger coach that doesn’t have a proven background in the major junior ranks or higher, it will likely be even more challenging to sell season tickets.

    When the regular season ended, everyone on the team should have likely gone through a cooling off period of at least a week before making any decisions.

    Now, the remaining staff has to make the best with the cards they have in their hands.

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

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Blades’ Brown departs WHL with big street cred from Pats run

Tyler Brown makes a stop for the Blades on Saturday.

    The words “save on Gawdin” immediately perked up Tyler Brown.

    The 20-year-old Winnipeg, Man., product had just made 31 saves playing goal for the Saskatoon Blades in their 5-4 regular reason ending victory over the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre before 9,624 spectators. The win would be Brown’s last game in his WHL career that spanned four seasons, where he played the first three-and-a-half of those campaigns with the Regina Pats.

    Brown was dealt to the Blades in a trade just before the WHL trade deadline passed on Jan. 10.

    During a post-game media scrum, Brown was asked what the highlight was of his WHL career. He talked about his first career regular season start with the Pats way back on Oct. 18, 2014, where he made 29 stops in a 6-1 victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge.

Tyler Brown focuses playing goal for the Pats in last year’s WHL playoffs.

    When “save on Gawdin” was mentioned after his answer, Brown smiled and his demeanour became really upbeat.

    “That was pretty good,” said Brown. “I thought that might have been a turning point for us in that series.”

    Brown was triggered back into thinking about playing in last year’s playoffs with the Pats. With Brown as their starting goalie, the Pats enjoyed a dream regular season finishing first overall in the WHL with a 52-12-7-1 mark in the 2016-17 campaign, and they were rated first in the final Canadian Hockey League Top 10 rankings.

    After sweeping away the Calgary Hitmen in the first round of the playoffs, the Pats found themselves trailing a best-of-seven second round series against the Swift Current Broncos 3-1.

Tyler Brown deflects a puck away from the Blades net on Saturday.

    Having pulled out a 3-2 victory in Game 5 of that series in Regina, the Pats found themselves trailing the Broncos 3-1 during the second period in Game 6 on April 15, 2017 at the Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current.

    The sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators was cheering in a raucous frenzy, and there were hecklers telling Brown they thought he was the weak link on the Pats team. The Pats were looking sluggish on their bench due to giving up two goals in the first 2:27 of the second frame to fall behind.

    After those tallies put Swift Current up 3-1, Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin broke in on Brown on a breakaway, and the crowd rose to their feet anticipating another score. Brown stoned Gawdin on that chance to the disappointment of the onlookers.

Tyler Brown makes a stop in the 2017 WHL playoffs.

    The star puck stopper made a number of big saves afterwards and 34 in total to keep the Pats in the game. The visitors found momentum on Brown’s save. The Pats scored twice near the end of the second period to force a 3-3 and would pull out a 5-3 victory.

    Regina returned home to romp to a 5-1 victory in Game 7 just two nights later. The Pats completed the first comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in team history.

    With Brown in goal, they advanced to the WHL championship series falling 4-3 in overtime in Game 6 in Regina to the Seattle Thunderbirds, who claimed a 4-2 series victory.

    The save on Gawdin that night in Swift Current would be Brown’s signature moment in the WHL, because it was the play that allowed the Pats playoff run to materialize.

    In his career, Brown appeared in 35 post-season games all with the Pats posting a 21-14 record, a 2.61 goals against average, a .915 save percentage and two shutouts. He won four playoff series as the Pats netminder and is thankful for the experiences - including the 2017 post-season run - he had in his major junior career.

    “It is real special,” said Brown, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 178 pounds. “We had a lot of talks with veterans that played in the league before.

Tyler Brown is hugged by Austin Wagner after the Pats 2017 Game 7 win.

    “I definitely won’t be forgetting anything that I went through in the last four years. I’m happy. I love playing in the WHL, and it was a great time.”

    Of course, that led to the question about how Brown reflected on the situation of being traded out of Regina knowing the Pats were hosting the Memorial Cup tournament slated for May 18 to 27. He was the goalie that had carried the load for them as they came up two wins short from winning a league championship.

    Brown was also at the brunt of criticism from a number of fans in Regina, when the Pats hovered around .500 for most of the first half of the season, but he was given a rousing ovation during a video tribute on his return to Regina with the Blades on Jan. 24.

Tyler Brown makes a save in the 2017 WHL Eastern Conference finals.

    He handled the query in his trademark classy fashion.

    “It is a little disappointing you know (not) playing just like one step further than when I made it before,” said Brown. “When I came here, all I wanted for this team was for them to experience the playoffs while I was here.”

    In his true high character fashion, Brown said he wanted to do his best to help out Blades star rookie goalie Nolan Maier, who was playing through his 16-year-old season in the league. The veteran goalie had one point of advice he always tried to pass on to the youngster from Yorkton, Sask.

    “Sometimes bounces aren’t going to go your way,” said Brown, who received a big on ice hug from Maier after Saturday’s game. “Sometimes, he (Maier) would get a little frustrated with himself.

Tyler Brown, centre, aimed to be a good influence on Nolan Maier, left.

    “I just tell him to sit back and relax and just enjoy the game and stop the puck the way that he could.”

    The Blades finished the regular season with a 35-33-3-1 record to sit three point back of the Prince Albert Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second wildcard berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.
    In 42 games with the Pats and Blades, Brown posted a 19-17-3 record, a 3.44 goals against average and a .889 save percentage.

    While he won’t take part in the WHL post-season this year, Brown earned his street credit on the circuit. After the Blades win on Saturday, overage left-winger and fellow Saskatoon grad Braylon Shmyr picked up the game puck at the end of the contest for one person.

Tyler Brown salutes the fans at the SaskTel Centre on Saturday night.

    “That was for Brownie,” said Shmyr. “It was Brownie’s last game, because you know, he is a 20-year-old.

    “He had a hell of a career, and I thought that just paid respect for him.”

    Brown said the gesture was special.

    “It means a lot,” said Brown. “It just shows that he cares that we went out on a good note.

“It wasn’t just for me. It was for all of us.”

    Over his four complete seasons in the WHL, Brown appeared in 161 regular season games posting an 80-51-16 record, a 3.07 goals against average, a .903 save percentage and seven shutouts.

    Come fall, he plans to attend the University of Manitoba to pursue a bachelor of kinesiology degree and suit up for the Bisons men’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks. It is off to the next adventure.

Tyler Brown will be best remembered in the WHL for his time with the Pats.

    “It is bittersweet,” said Brown. “I had a lot of fun playing junior hockey, and I am excited to see what is next.”

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

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Gerlach ensures fond farewell for Blades overagers

Max Gerlach (#9) hugs Blades captain Evan Fiala (#47).

    Max Gerlach made sure the overage players for the Saskatoon Blades had a great send off. 

    The 19-year-old right-winger from Flower Mound, Texas, potted his second career WHL hat trick on Saturday night to lift the Blades to a 5-4 regular season victory over the Prince Albert Raiders before 9,624 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. With the Blades eliminated from WHL playoff contention, Saturday’s outing marked the final game for Saskatoon’s overage players in captain Evan Fiala, left-winger Braylon Shmyr and netminder Tyler Brown.

    “You have to take it all in,” said Fiala, who resides just outside of Saskatoon in Clavet. “I’m sure it is going to hit me a lot harder a little later.

    “As of right now, I am just trying to enjoy it all. During a game, you never look in the crowd. You just stay focused, and you kind of do your own thing.

    “I was just taking that second to kind of look around and take it all in.”

Evan Fiala scored the winning goal for the Blades on Saturday.

    The Blades built leads of 4-1 and 5-2 before Raiders import defenceman Sergei Sapego, who comes from Belarus, scored twice in the final two minutes of the third period to round out the final outcome.

    An empty-net goal by Fiala with 2:51 to play in the third period turned out to be the winning goal. The Raiders pulled netminder Curtis Meger with 4:10 to play in the third period for an extra attacker.

    “It is a lot of emotions out there for sure,” said Fiala, who plans to play in the East Coast Hockey League with the South Carolina Stingrays based in North Charleston, South Carolina, next season. “At the time, I didn’t think it was the game winner.

    “I was just enjoying it. I wanted it so bad. Thankfully, it took a couple of bounces and went in.

    “That was awesome. It was a blast.”

    Russian import defenceman Mark Rubinchik had the Blades other tally.

    Spencer Moe and captain Curtis Miske each netted singles for the Raiders. The Raiders were without standout power forward Parker Kelly on Saturday. He was serving a one-game league imposed suspension for taking a spearing major penalty in his team’s 2-1 loss in Prince Albert on Friday to the visiting Blades.

Braylon Shmyr led the Blades in scoring this season.

    When Saturday’s game finished, Shmyr finished the season as the Blades leading scorer appearing in all of the club’s 72 regular season games collecting career highs in goals (37) and assists (51). During a WHL career that included five complete regular seasons split between the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Blades, Shmyr appeared in 300 regular season games piling up 111 goals and 129 assists.

    The Calgary, Alta, product was happy his 300^th career and final WHL regular season game was a win.

    “It felt amazing to get my 300^th game tonight at home,” said Shmyr. “To get the win, you can’t say anything better. To go out like that, it means a lot to me knowing I had a great five years in this league.

    “I didn’t have any expectations or milestones at all. I just wanted to go out here every game to play my best hockey.”

    Before Fiala scored his empty-net goal, Shmyr, who was held pointless on Saturday, had a couple of chances to score into the empty cage but ultimately couldn’t muscle the puck home.

Tyler Brown won his last three starts in goal for the Blades.

    “Definitely, you want to score a goal in your last hockey game,” said Shmyr, who is still weighing his hockey options for next season. “I almost had it.

    “It was kind of funny when I had a couple of chances and couldn’t bury it. It is alright.”

    Brown turned away 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. The Winnipeg, Man., product started each of the Blades last three games and won them all.

    He was acquired by the Blades in a trade with the Regina Pats before the WHL trade deadline passed on Jan. 10. Brown spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Pats and backstopped them to Game 6 of the WHL championship series last year.

Max Gerlach had a hat trick for the Blades on Saturday.

    In the fall, Brown plans to join the U Sports men’s hockey ranks and suit up with his hometown University of Manitoba Bisons. When Saturday’s game ended, he was still processing the end of his major junior career.

    “That was bittersweet,” said Brown. “I had a lot of fun playing junior hockey, and I am excited to see what is next.

    “I really wanted to go out hot and just feel good about ending my career that way.”

    Meger turned away 27-of-31 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    The Blades finished the regular season with a 35-33-3-1 record to actually sit seventh overall in the 12 team WHL Eastern Conference. Due to the WHL’s playoff format where the top three teams in each division and the two best records after that in each conference make the playoffs, the Blades missed the post-season finishing sixth in the East Division.

The Blades celebrate Evan Fiala’s empty-net goal.

    They finished three points behind the Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference.

    The Raiders will face the Moose Jaw Warriors, who finished first overall in the league with a 52-15-2-3 record, in a best-of-seven first round series. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw.

    Going into next season, Gerlach, who was acquired in a deal just before the WHL trade deadline on Jan. 10 from the Medicine Hat Tigers, said he likes the depth the Blades have. He was looking forward to seeing what standout rookie netminder Nolan Maier was going to look like next season as a 17-year-old sophomore.

    “I think it is a lot of good feeling in the room right now,” said Gerlach. “Obviously, we wish we could be stepping into the playoffs right now.

The Blades overage players pose for a picture with their teammates.

    “It feels really good right now to have so much confidence kind of going into the summer. I think we built a lot of chemistry throughout the lineup and a lot of confidence back there in our net with Nole (Nolan Maier). I think that there are going to be lots of hopes and a big opportunity next year to go far.”

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

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Blades rally past Raiders with third period surge

Chase Wouters netted the winning goal for the Blades on Friday.

    The power play got hot at the right time for the Saskatoon Blades.

    Trailing the host Raiders in Prince Albert 1-0 before 3,033 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday night, the Blades scored two power-play goals inside of the final six minutes of the third period to pull out a 2-1 victory in a WHL regular season clash.

    Working on a five-on-three power play, Blades left-winger Eric Florchuk took an offensive zone faceoff and won it back to right-winger Max Gerlach, who was positioned at the centre of the ice at the top of the two faceoff circles. The 19-year-old sharpshooter blasted home his 32^nd goal of the season to tie things up at 1-1 with 5:23 to play in the third period.

    With 1:41 to play in the third period, sophomore centre Chase Wouters scored the winning goal for the Blades with a beauty effort on the power play. Wouters got the puck at the right side boards from overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr, cut to the front of the Prince Albert goal, went forehand to backhand and put a shot past a screened Raiders netminder Ian Scott to give the visitors a one-goal victory.

    Friday’s encounter turned into a classic rivalry clash these two teams are famous for resulting in three fights.

    In the second period, Blades defenceman Jake Kustra tangled with Raiders left-winger Justin Nachbaur and Saskatoon Russian import defenceman Mark Rubinchik battled with Prince Albert power forward Kody McDonald.

    Kustra and McDonald went at it in the third period. A scrum and drama also ensued at the end of the game.

Jake Kustra was involved in a couple of fights on Friday.

    Outside of the physical aspect of the contest, the Raiders took a 1-0 lead with just under 30 seconds to play in the first period on a short-handed goal from right-winger Parker Kelly. Kelly blocked a shot in his own zone, sped down the ice fighting off the backcheck of Blades rookie centre Kirby Dach, got on a short breakaway and snapped a shot past Blades overage netminder Tyler Brown.

    It appeared Kelly’s goal, which was his 29^th of the season, was going to hold up as the only tally of the contest until the Blades scored their two late power-play goals.

    Brown had a big night making 24 saves including a few stellar ones to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Scott turned away 20 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    The Raiders, who had earned points in the standings in their previous 11 games, fell to 32-26-9-4, but they are cemented as the second wildcard team in the WHL Eastern Conference. They will face the Moose Jaw Warriors, who finished first overall in the league, in a best-of-seven first round series.

    The Blades improved to 34-33-3-1 with their second win in a row and actually secured at least an eighth place overall finish in the 12 team Eastern Conference. Under the current WHL playoff format where the top three teams in each division and two wildcard teams with the next best records in each conference make the post-season, the Blades won’t take part in any playoff action. They have missed the playoffs for five straight years. 

Braylon Shmyr picked up an assist on the Blades’ winning goal.

    Saskatoon sits five points behind Prince Albert for the second wildcard spot. The Blades stumbled out of a playoff spot posting a 3-6-1 record in their last 10 games.

    Under the old playoff format that was last used in the 2013-14 campaign where the two divisional winners and the next six best records in each conference made the post-season, the Blades would have locked up a playoff berth.

    The Blades and Raiders will close out their respective regular season schedules with one last head-to-head encounter on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

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

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Blades fading from WHL playoff race with a whimper

Hitmen depart SaskTel Centre with 5-4 overtime win

Carson Focht (#19) celebrates his third period equalizer for the Hitmen.

    It was a great night for booing, if you were a fan of the Saskatoon Blades.

    On Friday night, it seemed like almost the worst case scenario played out to extremely hamper the Blades hopes of returning to the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2013. Playing before 3,579 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades dropped a 5-4 decision in overtime to the Calgary Hitmen, who sit second last in the entire WHL.

    Sophomore right-winger Tristen Nielsen netted his first career WHL hat trick and an assist, and he capped his three-goal night scoring the overtime winner for Calgary.

Tristen Nielsen, left, slips home an overtime winner for the Hitmen.

    The hosts held leads of 3-1 and 4-3 before coming out on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

    To make matters worse, the Blades lost ground to the two clubs they were hoping to catch for a playoff spot. 

    Out in Prince Albert, the host Raiders won their eighth straight game downing the WHL leading Moose Jaw Warriors 6-4. 

    In Brandon, the host Wheat Kings dumped the Swift Current Broncos, who sit second overall in the WHL, by a 6-3 score.

    The Wheat Kings improved to 36-26-3-2 to hold the first wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a nine-point edge on the Blades. 

The Hitmen pour off their bench to mob Tristen Nielsen

    The Raiders improved to 31-25-9-2 to sit in the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with a five-point edge on the Blades. The Blades saw their record move to 32-31-3-1 with the extra time setback.

    All three of those squads have five games remaining on their respective regular season schedules. The Blades and Wheat Kings will go at it on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Saskatoon could win all of its final five regular season games and still miss the playoffs. The Blades have collected just three points in the standings in their last six games including Tuesday’s 6-5 win at the SaskTel Centre over the Edmonton Oil Kings, who sit last in the entire WHL, and the overtime setback to the Hitmen on Friday.

Tristen Nielsen had his first career WHL hat trick on Friday.

    Back on February 19, the Blades downed the Oil Kings in Edmonton 3-2 in overtime. With 61 regular season games in the books, the Blades had a 31-27-2-1 record and held the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with an eight-point edge over the Raiders, who were 23-25-9-2 at the time. The Raiders had two games in hand on the Blades.

    Saskatoon was two points behind the Wheat Kings for the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, as Brandon had a 31-23-3-2 record at that time. The Wheat Kings had two game in hand on the Blades.

    The Blades were sitting pretty going into their last 11 regular season games. Instead of going on one last surge to secure a post-season spot, the Blades have slumped at the worst possible time. Anything they have accomplished in the regular season seems to be going up in smoke with a whimper.

    When they beat the Oil Kings on Tuesday, the Blades had stretches were they were playing to not lose the game instead of playing to win the game.

Gage Ramsay scored the Blades first goal on Friday night.

    That storyline repeated itself on Friday night, but this time the Blades did lose, and it was a game they shouldn’t have lost.

    Just 1:48 into the contest, the Blades scored on a beauty two-on-one rush. Centre Logan Christensen sped down the right wing and fed a pass across the front of the Hitmen goal to linemate Gage Ramsay, who tapped home the puck into an open cage to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

    Nielsen netted his first goal of the game just 50 seconds after Ramsay’s tally to even the score at 1-1.

    Shortly past the midway point of the opening frame, right-winger Josh Paterson netted his 30^th goal of the season for the Blades and Russian import defenceman Mark Rubinchik netted his third of the season to put Saskatoon up 3-1.

    Before the first period ended, the Hitmen tied the contest up at 3-3 scoring two short-handed goals on the same Blades power play.

Mark Kastelic had a short-handed goal for the Hitmen.

    Centre Mark Kastelic got the first shorty for the Hitmen and Nielsen notched his second of the contest after a video review determined his laser shot to the top corner of the Saskatoon net did go into the goal.

    From that point, the Blades were playing on their heels and seemed to be hoping for a break to pull out the win. After being outshot 12-6 in a scoreless second period, the Blades seemed to get the break they were looking for, when overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr wrapped home his 36^th goal of the season to give Saskatoon a 4-3 lead just 41 seconds into the third period.

    The edge would be short-lived.

    At the 8:35 mark of the third period, Hitmen centre Carson Focht got the puck alone in front of the Saskatoon net, and he deked Blades goalie Nolan Maier with a backhand to forehand move to pot the equalizer to tie things up at 4-4.

Braylon Shmyr scored his 36th goal of the season on Friday night.

    Nielsen completed the Calgary comeback scoring on a breakaway with a low shot at the 1:58 mark of overtime.

    Maier turned away 30 shots in goal for the Blades. Nick Schneider, who is in his overage season, turned away 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Hitmen, who improved to 21-36-8-2.

    At the moment, it feels like the entire Blades team has hit the wall. They appear to be playing scared and with fear about what they are going to lose as opposed playing free and easy without fear.

    It does take a certain will to make the playoffs and another step up in that same will to remain in them. That might be one lesson the Blades still need to learn with being a younger team.

The Blades playoff hopes have faded over their last six games.

    At the moment, the Blades have to decide how they want to be remembered over their last five regular season games. If they emulate their play from their last six outings, the final memory they will leave the faithful in “The Bridge City” from the 2017-18 campaign won’t be a good one.

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

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Blades break skid with ugly win

Goalie Nolan Maier watches the puck land on the crossbar.

    The Saskatoon Blades sure know how to make things adventurous.

    On Tuesday night before 3,379 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades took a 3-0 lead on the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, who sit last in the entire WHL. It seemed the Blades were in position to romp to victory, but the Oil Kings had other plans.

    The visitors roared back to force a 3-3 tie. The Blades went ahead 5-3, saw their edge shrink to 5-4 before going ahead 6-4 late in the third. After Oil Kings overage captain Colton Kehler scored with exactly 17 seconds remaining in the third, the Blades managed to close out the final seconds to hold on to a 6-5 victory.

Braylon Shmyr netted the winning goal for the Blades.

    The win ended a four game losing streak that dropped the club out of a playoff position.

    The victory allowed the Blades to improve to 32-31-2-1 to sit two points behind the Prince Albert Raiders (29-25-9-2) for the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders have a game in hand on the Blades and will make that up by hosting the Oil Kings in Prince Albert on Wednesday.

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman was pleased his team found a way to pull out Tuesday’s game.

    “A win is a win,” said Brockman. “When you haven’t won for a while, every win matters.

    “We’re pretty fragile after losing four in a row. When that happens, guys tend to grip things a little bit more.

Dawson Davidson gets set to drive a shot from the point for the Blades.

    “You tend to play a lot tighter and you push the issue a little bit too much. It is what it is, but we are happy with the win.”

    One of the big keys to Tuesday’s victory for the Blades was the fact they went 4-for-7 on the power play. The Oil Kings cashed in on 1-of-5 power-play chances.

    Saskatoon’s biggest power-play goal came while working on a two-man advantage with 7:21 remaining in the third period. Blades star overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr corralled the rebound from a shot by defenceman Dawson Davidson in front of the Edmonton net and roofed home a goal over fallen Oil Kings netminder Boston Bilous.

Blades LW Michael Farren zips past Oil Kings D Conner McDonald.

    Shmyr’s goal gave the Blades a much needed 6-4 lead.

    “We’ve been struggling on the power play, but tonight we did an excellent job,” said Shmyr. “We’ve been working on it in practice.

    “We just thought that we have to keep it simple and try not to do too much. That is exactly what we did. We have to just carry that on to the next game.”

    With his goal, Shmyr matched his career high for goals in one season at 35, which was a feat he managed to do last season.

    “It feels great to do that,” said Shmyr. “It is definitely a good accomplishment.

Brett Kemp had a goal for the Oil Kings on Tuesday night.

    “I’ve definitely played a lot of good players this year, and they definitely helped me get there.”

    The Blades went ahead to 2-0 in the first with power-play goals coming from the sticks of Michael Farren and Eric Florchuk. Just 56 seconds into the second period, Davidson potted his 10th goal of the campaign off an individual rush into the offensive zone.

    Before the second period hit the halfway point, the Oil Kings tied things up at 3-3 with singles coming from Kobe Mohr, Carter Souch and Brett Kemp.

    “We realized that we had to get back on our horse and get going,” said Shmyr. “That was exactly what we did.

    “Throughout the game, we kind of let the foot off the pedal there. We battled hard towards the end to get the win.”

    The Blades restored order going into the second intermission with a 5-3 lead off a power-play goal from Max Gerlach and the 29^th goal of the year coming from the stick of Josh Paterson to go ahead 5-3. Centre Kirby Dach drew assists on three of the Blades goals.

The Blades celebrate their win over the Oil Kings.

    Defenceman Conner McDonald wired home a shot at the 9:54 mark of the third for the Oil Kings to trim the Blades lead to 5-4. That set the stage for a roller-coaster final 10 minutes of the frame.

    Nolan Maier made 26 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Bilous turned away 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Oil Kings (19-39-6-2).

    The Blades have six games remaining on their regular season schedule and return to action hosting the Calgary Hitmen on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Brockman wants his side to keep pushing for a playoff berth. The Blades last made the playoffs in 2013.

    “For us, we are running out of time,” said Brockman. “We have to find ways to win games.

    “It doesn’t matter who we are playing. It is great to get the win.”

Back in the Express with Shirley

Grace Shirley had a spectacular season with the Stars.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature story on Grace Shirley.

Shirley is a 16-year-old star centre with the Saskatoon Stars of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League. She had a stellar year appearing in 23 regular season games collecting career highs in goals (30) and assists (18).

    The skilled forward is one of two players in the history of the Stars to score 30-or-more goals in one regular season.

    With Shirley putting up big numbers, the Stars topped the SFMAAAHL standings with a 24-3-1 record to earn a bye into the semifinal round of the league playoffs. The Stars will face the Regina Rebels (17-8-3) in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series. Game 1 is set for Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

    Game 2 is slated for this coming Monday in Regina, and Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

    The Rebels claimed a best-of-five SFMAAAHL quarter-final series 3-1 against the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats.

    Besides putting up big offensive totals with the Stars, Shirley played for Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation’s under-18 women’s world championship, which ran Jan. 6 to 13 in Dmitrov, Russia. She helped Canada win a bronze medal at that event.

    The story on Shirley can be round right here.

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

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Post-season chase hits last sprint for Blades

Blades C Josh Paterson (#61) checks Raiders D Zack Hayes.

    The Saskatoon Blades post-season chase is all going to come down to one last gasp sprint.

    Looking to make the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2013, the Blades (31-29-2-1) are tied for the second wildcard berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with the Prince Albert Raiders (27-25-9-2) at 65 points. Both teams are six points back of the Brandon Wheat Kings (33-25-3-2) for the first wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference. All three of those teams have nine game remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

    The Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats (33-25-5-1) sit one point ahead of the Wheat Kings and seven points ahead of the Blades and Raiders for third in the WHL’s East Division. The Pats have eight games remaining on their regular season schedule.

    Over the next 16 days, these four clubs could end up shuffling into various positions.

For the Blades, they are looking to get a big monkey off their back. They have matched their standings point total from last season, but they want another big sign to show their rebuild since hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013 is paying off.

Rookie Nolan Maier has been stellar in goal for the Blades.

    It has taken a lot of work to get to this point.

    Last season, the Blades were agonizingly close to a post-season berth. Entering their fifth last game of the 2016-17 campaign, they led the Calgary Hitmen by three points for the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Blades won only one of their final five games and were knocked out of a playoff position by the Hitmen, who won five of their last six outings.

    The Blades would love to ensure they make good on their chance this year. They begin their last stretch tonight, when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (31-25-6) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Saskatoon won’t see Regina down this final stretch. The Blades will face the Wheat Kings once in Brandon on March 13 and the Raiders in Prince Albert on March 16 and in Saskatoon March 17.

    The Wheat Kings have the toughest final stretch playing the WHL leading Moose Jaw Warriors (47-13-1-2) four times and the Swift Current Broncos (45-14-4-1), who sit second overall in the WHL standings, twice.

    The Raiders will see the Warriors twice and the Broncos once. The Pats don’t have any games remaining against the Warriors and finish the regular season playing the Broncos twice.

    The Blades travel to Moose Jaw on Saturday to take on the Warriors and see the Broncos one last time on March 14 in Swift Current.

Braylon Shmyr (#23) is enjoying his most productive WHL campaign.

    While there will be lots of chances for the Blades to gain ground in the standings, they have to take care of their part and win. If they don’t win, all the scoreboard watching or possible breaks from other results won’t matter too much.

    The Blades do have the roster to make their final sprint a success. Rookie netminder Nolan Maier, who turned 17-years-old in early January, has had a stellar first campaign posting a 22-13-0-1 record, a 3.11 goals against average, a .903 save percentage and two shutouts. He gives the blue and gold a chance to win night in and night out.

    Overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr is set to eclipse 80 points for the first time in his WHL career topping the Blades in scoring with 33 goals and 46 assists. Right-winger Max Gerlach and centre Josh Paterson both have 27 goals on the campaign and have a high likelihood of hitting the 30-goal plateau.

Captain Evan Fiala has anchored the back end for the Blades.

    Sophomore centre Chase Wouters has turned in a breakout campaign netting 17 goals and 29 assists.

    On the back end, the Blades have the personnel capable of closing out tight games in captain Evan Fiala, Dawson Davidson, Jackson Caller, Mark Rubinchik, Jake Kustra and Seth Bafaro.

    Head coach Dean Brockman and his staff will get their players the information they need in adjustments to have success.

    The Blades have the ability to seize that last playoff spot. They should relish this moment and just go after it without fear.

    The current Blades have a golden chance to leave their mark by helping the franchise end its post-season drought.

Clark will be in the house for tonight’s Blades game

    The Blades will have a special guest on hand for tonight’s game who has become a hometown Olympic hero.

    Emily Clark will be in attendance at the SaskTel Centre fresh of helping Canada’s women’s hockey team earn a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. The power forward, who was a former star with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team, was the youngest player on the Canadian team at age 22 and the only Saskatchewan born player on the Canadian roster.

    During the second intermission, Clark will be signing autographs at the SportsClips autograph station on the concourse. Posters of Clark will be provided.

    At the Winter Olympics, Clark had a goal in Canada’s semifinal win over the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

    Tonight’s contest is also the Blades “Shaker Night,” and the team will be raising awareness, funds and food for the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre. Fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the game as a donation, and if possible, a box of macaroni and cheese.

.@emclark13 stopped by today to visit her pal @Evan_Fiala

Did you know Evan & Emily train together in the off-season?

You'll be able to meet Emily tomorrow night at our game! 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/ZAHTg3zVEm

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) March 1, 2018

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

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    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.