WHL loses one of its “good guys” as Blades’ Fantillo retires

Caleb Fantillo announced he is leaving major junior hockey.

    For all those that play in the WHL, they will face the fact that their days of hitting the ice will come to an end, but when the departure is a “good guy” like Saskatoon Blades right-winger Caleb Fantillo, a bit of sadness lingers for a while.

    On Wednesday, Fantillo announced via Twitter he was retiring from junior hockey. The 20-year-old Coquitlam, B.C., product was eligible to return for an overage campaign.

    During a WHL career that was split between the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Blades, Fantillo, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 183 pounds, established a reputation of being a high energy forward. Blades fans saw that trait quickly, when Fantillo arrived in Saskatoon via a trade on Oct. 13, 2016.

    He wasn’t afraid to go anywhere on the ice, and he was feisty in battling for the puck. For opponents, Fantillo became one of those pest types because he worked hard in a feisty way.

Blades LW Caleb Fantillo, right, takes a shot from Tigers G Michael Bullion.

    Even if you delivered a physical shot or said something to Fantillo, he wouldn’t go away. 
    He always gave the best he could on any given night.

    Thanks to those efforts, Fantillo was named the Blades fan choice award winner for the 2016-17 campaign. Last season, Fantillo shared the Blades community minded award with captain Evan Fiala.

    Unfortunately, injures piled up for Fantillo over the past two seasons due to the high intensity style he played. Between his time with the Tigers and Blades in 2016-17, Fantillo appeared in 55 regular season games collecting five goals and six assists.

    He was limited to 38 regular season games this past campaign due to injuries, where he managed to put up seven goals and three assists. His goal total was a career high for one season.

Blades LW Caleb Fantillo (#39) battles for the puck in the offensive zone.

    As a 17-year-old rookie with the Tigers in 2015-16, Fantillo dressed for 63 regular season games posting six goals and six assists. He netted a goal in a standings tiebreaker game, which the Tigers dropped by a 6-4 margin to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

    Thanks to being in and out of the lineup because of the injury bug, Fantillo never really had the chance to reach his full potential on the offensive side of the game.

    During his final campaign in the midget AAA ranks with the Vancouver North East Chiefs in 2014-15, Fantillo piled up 35 goals, 26 assists and 114 penalty minutes in 38 regular season games.

Caleb Fantillo makes a cut with the puck in the offensive zone.

    He was called up to play two WHL regular season games with the Tigers that season and recorded his first assist in the major junior ranks.

    Fantillo was always an upbeat personality and a fan favourite during his time in the WHL. He was a great representative for the Blades at community events, and he was key in keeping the mood in the dressing room light and fun.

    When he returned from injury, it was easy to pull for him to do well. You hoped he would hit a gusher in offensive statistics, because he is a good guy.

    At the WHL level, it seemed like great offensive seasons just weren’t destined to happen for Fantillo due to things out of his control.

Caleb Fantillo celebrates scoring a goal for the Blades.

    It isn’t the first time something like that happened to a hockey player, and it won’t be the last time either.

    Going forward, the Blades are slated to head into training camp with four returning players set to battle for three overage spots in forwards Max Gerlach, Brad Goethals and Gage Ramsay along with defenceman Dawson Davidson.

    Fantillo will focus on his future moving away from playing in the major junior ranks. The Blades stated in a release on Thursday that Fantillo plans to get a jump start on a career in the health and fitness industry.

    Over the past two seasons, Fantillo experienced a lot of bad luck on the ice. He is due and deserves to encounter some good luck in his post-playing WHL days.

Blades make a couple of July deals

Tyler Lees has been traded to the Royals.

    The Saskatoon Blades haven’t been totally in summer holiday mode tinkering with their roster making a couple of trades in July.

    On Thursday, the Blades dealt 18-year-old winger Tyler Lees to the Victoria Royals for a conditional seventh round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. Last season, Lees, who is from Regina, Sask., appeared in 32 regular season games in his rookie WHL campaign collecting two goals and one assist.

    It was likely the Blades made this deal, because they felt Lees wouldn’t have a big role in the team’s forward group going into the future. The deal allows Lees to get a look from another WHL club.

    On July 12, the Blades acquired rugged 19-year-old left-winger Riley McKay from the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for a fourth round selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft and a seventh round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.

    McKay, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 215 pounds, appeared in 62 games last season collecting four goals, nine assists and a league leading 152 minutes in penalties. During his rookie campaign with the Chiefs in 2016-17, McKay appeared in 51 regular season games collecting three goals, six assists and 123 minutes in penalties.

    McKay’s addition gives the Blades a much needed boost in the toughness department. Saskatoon lost a big part of its physical edge with the graduation of captain Evan Fiala.

    There are still a lot of teams in the WHL that play a physical and heavy game. McKay’s presence will help create more open ice for the Blades high-end forwards in Kirby Dach, Eric Florchuk, Max Gerlach and Josh Paterson.

    While Dach made waves as a 16-year-old rookie last season, he was on the receiving end of a lot of physical abuse from opponents often behind the play. A lot of the extra attention Dach received was geared to get him off his game.

    Besides playing tough, McKay did put up points coming up through the minor hockey ranks in his younger years, so the Swan River, Man., product does have the potential to possibly score a little more in the WHL than he has in the past.

    Also on the Blades front, the team announced on Monday prospect forward Colton Dach, who is Kirby’s younger brother, and defenceman Charlie Wright were among 35 players named to Hockey Alberta’s shortlist roster for the 2019 Canada Winter Games, which run Feb. 15 to March 3, 2019 in Red Deer, Alta.

    The Blades selected Colton Dach in the first round and sixth overall in the WHL Bantam Draft held in May. Saskatoon picked Wright in that same Bantam Draft in the fourth round and 70^th overall.

    On Monday, the Blades and Saskatoon Media Group announced a four-year contract extension that will see the Saskatoon Media Group remain the official Blades radio broadcast rights holder. The radio broadcasts will transition from 92.9 The BULL FM to 98 COOL FM.

    Les Lazaruk will enter his 25^th season as the Blades play-by-play voice. When the Blades travel to Swift Current to open the 2018-19 regular season against the Broncos, Lazaruk will call his 1,800^th game that night.

    In another development, Maclean Nelson recently rejoined the Blades office staff as an account executive. Nelson was with the Blades from 2011 to 2016 and held the role of manager of communication and community relations at the end of that stint. He was a pretty upbeat guy to have around the rink.

    Time will tell if Nelson will reprise his role of in-game host, where he went by the alias of “Ricky McGinty.”

Express cover story with Kalika

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a cover story on Shantel Kalika, who is set to become the first female driver from Saskatchewan to race in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series.

    The 28-year-old Prince Albert, Sask., product is in her eight season of racing and calls Saskatoon’s Wyant Group Raceway her home track. She is set to make her NASCAR debut, when the Pinty’s Series makes its annual stop in “The Bridge City.”

    The two-day race event is set for this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. The action on Tuesday, which starts at 7 p.m., features 75-lap main event races for the local pro truck class and the sportsman class and heat races for the super late model class.

    Wednesday’s action, which starts at 6 p.m., includes two 125-lap NASCAR races as well as a feature race from the local super late model class, which is expected to run 75 laps. The annual Pinty’s Series stop is the Super Bowl event on the yearly calendar for the Wyant Group Raceway.

    The Pinty’s Series is a minor league circuit that prepares drivers to compete one day at NASCAR’s top level – the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

    Kalika has experienced her share of success at the Wyant Group Raceway. She raced in the local pro truck class during her first seven seasons and won the class points championship in 2016.

    Besides winning the points title, Kalika was named the fan favourite driver in 2014 and 2015.

    Kalika’s presence in the NASCAR races is sure to give an added buzz from a local interest standpoint.

    The cover story on Kalika can be found by clicking right here.

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

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Rebels’ Anders relishes first WHL shutout

Ethan Anders directs a loose puck away from the Rebels goal.

    Ethan Anders couldn’t wait for the last 14.2 of Wednesday’s WHL contest in Saskatoon to elapse.

    The 17-year-old rookie netminder was on the cusp of collecting his first career WHL shutout as his Red Deer Rebels held a 2-0 edge over the host Blades. With 67 seconds to play in the third, 17-year-old sophomore left-winger Josh Tarzwell had scored into an empty net to give the Rebels a two-goal lead.

    With 14.2 seconds to play in the third, Anders was staring down a defensive zone faceoff. As it was highly unlikely the Blades would score twice in that timespan to force overtime, Anders mind became consumed with holding on to get the blank.

    “That was really nerve-racking,” said Anders. “I was hoping R.J. (Reese Johnson) would win that faceoff there, and he did.

    “We got it out, which was like super nice to get that first shutout for sure.”

Ethan Anders tracks the play in his own zone.

    The Regina, Sask., product turned away 33 shots to pick up his first career WHL regular season shutout. The 2-0 victory before 2,821 spectators at the SaskTel Centre marked the first time the Rebels had shutout an opponent in the 2017-18 campaign.

    In their second season since hosting the Memorial Cup in 2016, the Rebels are going through a rebuild icing a younger roster. Including Anders, Red Deer utilized eight players in their 17-year-old season of eligibility and three players in their 16-year-old seasons of eligibility on Wednesday night.

    The Rebels could have hit the ice with an even young roster had they not scratched two 16-year-old rookie forwards.

    Due to utilizing such a young group, the Rebels have taken their lumps this season, but they have won their last two straight and four of their last five to improve to 14-25-9-3. They sit nine points behind the Kootenay Ice (23-24-3) for third in the WHL’s Central Division and a playoff berth.

    As the season progresses, Anders said he really likes how the young Rebels are coming together, and he gave the 18 skaters that played in front of him on Wednesday night big props for the shutout.

G Ethan Anders and the Rebels defence stop Blades RW Josh Paterson.

    “The boys played really good in front of me,” said Anders, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 186 pounds. “They liked kept the shots down and allowed low quality chances, so it was good.

    “It has been a tough start. We went on a bit of like a little skid there, but we are starting to play a lot better. The team is working harder for a full 60, and it is just really good for sure.”

    Last season, Anders starred for the Tisdale Trojans in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League posting a .922 save percentage, a 2.48 goals against average and two shutouts in 26 regular season game appearances. Having gone unselected in the WHL Bantam Draft, the Rebels listed Anders halfway through last season.

Tyler Brown turned away 24-of-25 shots in goal for the Blades.

    He said it has been a lot different playing in the WHL compared to midget AAA, and he loved the fact Rebels head coach, general manager and owner Brent Sutter kept having faith and putting him back in goal no matter what happen.

    “It has been a bit of an adjustment for sure, but Brent (Sutter) has been playing me lots,” said Anders. “I am kind of more adapted to the league now than I was at the start of the year.

    “I am feeling more comfortable when I step in the net for sure.”

    The Rebels went ahead 1-0 just 1:49 into Wednesday’s contest, when a point shot from sophomore 17-year-old defenceman Jacob Herauf got past overage Blades netminder Tyler Brown. That was the only shot that beat Brown, who turned away 24-of-25 shots putting in a solid effort between the pipes for Saskatoon.

Rebels D Dawson Barteaux gets control of the puck in his own zone.

    Anders went to work playing a sound technical game. There were some dangerous moments.

    In the first period, a mid-range shot by Blades feisty forward Caleb Fantillo went off Anders glove and over top of the Red Deer goal.

    Anders had to deny Blades centre Chase Wouters in close in the first period and right-winger Josh Paterson in tight during the third period.

    Besides giving credit to his teammates, Anders said Rebels goaltending coach Taylor Dakers, who starred for the Ice from 2003 to 2007, has been a huge help.

    “We will go out a little bit early (before practice) just to work on some little things he saw in games he didn’t like,” said Anders. “After practice, he will keep us a little bit just to work on little things, and it has definitely helped my game.”

    As for another bonus, Anders collected his first shutout with about six to eight family members in attendance on Wednesday night.

Ethan Anders (#31) celebrates his shutout with Riley Lamb.

    “It was really nice to get the shutout in front of them for sure,” said Anders. “It was nice to go up there (to the concourse) and chat with them after.”

    The Rebels move on to face the WHL leading Warriors (39-8-1-2) in Moose Jaw on Friday night.

The Blades fell to 25-24-2-1 with the setback. They sit in the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a three point edge over the Prince Albert Raiders (20-20-8-2). The Raiders have two games in hand on the Blades.

    Saskatoon sits four points back of the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats (26-22-5) for the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with one game in hand. The Raiders sit seven points behind the Pats with three games in hand.

    The Blades and the Raiders go at it on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    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’ Maier shows he isn’t your ordinary 16-year-old

Yorkton product starting to make a mark in Saskatoon’s goal

Nolan Maier is growing with the Blades as a 16-year-old rookie.

    Nolan Maier has had a baptism in fire to start his WHL career.

    The Yorkton, Sask., product was added permanently to the roster of the Saskatoon Blades on Nov. 14 after playing goal for Team Canada Black at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge held jointly in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C. In three appearances, Maier posted a 1-2 record, a 3.02 goals against average, a .917 save percentage and one shutout. He had the best save percentage among netminders who started three or more games.

    As a 16-year-old goalie with the Blades, Maier was slated to see apprentice type action playing goal behind 19-year-old veteran Ryan Kubic. Maier had played his first regular season game with the Blades on Oct. 7 against the Pats in Regina, and he made 34 saves and gave up seven goals in a 7-3 loss to this season’s Memorial Cup hosts.

    Still, Maier made some big saves, and you could see why the Blades selected him in the second round and 25^th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. During the pre-season and that first regular season outing, you could tell Maier had talent, and all he lacked was experience playing in the WHL. He started the campaign in the junior A ranks with the Yorkton Terriers.

    When WHL clubs have a 16-year-old rookie goalie on their roster, those teams try to get that puck stopper’s feet wet and gradually working him into a more active role. Besides learning the league, 16-year-old goalies like all 16-year-old players are adjusting to living away from home usually for the first time and juggling high school studies with hockey responsibilities.

    WHL teams usually want all 16-year-old rookies to gain experience with the league and temper expectations on those players, especially if they are a high Bantam Draft pick.

Nolan Maier made 48 saves in a shutout of the Portland Winterhawks.

    The Blades best plans took a turn shortly after Maier returned to Saskatoon in November. Kubic went down with a knee injury, and Maier was pushed into the starting role.

    He has started the last eight straight games for the Blades and is blossoming right before the team’s eyes.

    Maier has statistics that are typical for a 16-year-old netminder. In 10 appearances, he has posted a 3-5 record, a 4.03 goals against average, a .890 save percentage and one shutout.

    The quality of his play has improved pretty much each time he has taken the ice to play goal for the Blades.

    The first obstacle was to get Maier, who stands 6-feet and weighs 168 pounds, his first career win. The Blades accomplished that on Nov. 24 at the SaskTel Centre, when they scored three times in the last 1:56 of the third period to erase a 5-3 deficit and down the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5.

    With his first win nailed down, Maier’s next challenge came playing every contest on the team’s five-game road trip through the WHL’s U.S. Division. He stopped 171-of-185 shots over those five contests for a .924 save percentage. The Blades posted a 2-3 record, but Maier gave Saskatoon a realistic chance to win every time out.

    His most impressive performance came last Sunday in Portland, when he made 48 stops in a 4-0 win over the host Winterhawks. The Winterhawks top the WHL’s Western Conference with a 20-8-1 record and are rated fourth in the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 rankings.

    Maier has played big when the Blades have needed him to, and he performed well beyond what a 16-year-old rookie should. Still, he is a 16-year-old rookie, and he will likely face some adversity. It would still be wise to temper expectations.

Logan Maier has started eight straight games for the Blades.

    Kubic is listed as being out day-to-day with a knee injury, so Maier’s string of starts might be close to an end. If Maier does keep his run of consecutive starts for the Blades going, the team in front of him can feel confident the young netminder is improving rapidly, and he gives the club a chance to win every night even against the toughest teams in the league.

    The Blades (11-15-2-1) return to action on Saturday when they host the Kamloops Blazers (13-15-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. That contest is the team’s “Girls Rock Game,” and it features a girl empowerment talk from Claire Hanna, who is a former member of Canada’s national women’s volleyball team and a sports reporter for Global Saskatoon. Hanna’s talk is slated to run from 5:30 to 6 p.m. pre-game at the SaskTel Centre.

    On Sunday at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel, the Blades host the arch-rivals the Prince Albert Raiders in their annual “Teddy Bear Toss” game. Spectators are invited to throw stuffed animals on to the ice surface after the Blades score their first goal.

Blades hand down injury update, make trade

The Blades traded Joel Grzybowski to the Victoria Royals.

    Heading into action this weekend, the Blades posted an injury update on Friday.

    While 19-year-old goalie Ryan Kubic is listed as out day-to-day with a knee injury, the Blades have three forwards on their injury list including 17-year-old Michael Farren (shoulder, day-to-day), 19-year-old Gage Ramsay (groin, slated to return after Christmas break) and 19-year-old Caleb Fantillo (knee, 6-to-8 weeks).

    Big kudos to the Blades for releasing this information. Players usually receive a lot more get well wishes from the fans, when the fans know what a players’ injury is. The players can feel less guarded in letting information slip, and it allows them up to more freely represent the team during community appearances.

    In Fantillo’s case, he is a fan favourite, so news of his injury will give team supporters that much more initiative to wish him a speedy recovery.

    Besides the injury update, the Blades traded 18-year-old netminder Joel Grzybowski to the Victoria Royals for 18-year-old goalie Hunter Arps. Arps, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 165 pounds, was playing in the junior A ranks with the Melfort Mustangs posting a 6-1-1 record, a 2.66 goals against average, a .903 save percentage and one shutout in 10 appearances.

    Grzybowski, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 172 pounds, saw action in six games for the Blades this season posting an 0-1-1 record, a 4.31 goals against average and a .841 save percentage. He appeared in three games with the Battlefords North Stars in the junior A ranks posting a 3-0 record, a 2.32 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.

Huskies quartet to face Canada’s world junior prospects

Kendall McFaull, left, and Jordon Cooke deserve pro shots.

    A quartet from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team are hoping to give the prospects for Canada’s world junior team a stiff test and maybe gain some interest from the professional ranks in the process.

    Netminder Jordon Cooke, defenceman Kendall McFaull, who is the Huskies captain, and forwards Josh Roach and Logan McVeigh will join a U Sports all-star team that will face the prospects looking to crack Canada’s world junior roster in a two game series. The U Sports all-stars will arrive in St. Catharines, Ont., for a training camp beginning on Monday. They will face the prospects for Canada’s world junior team in live game action on Wednesday and Thursday.

    Cooke, McFaull, Roach and McVeigh have all played a key part in helping the Huskies post a 13-2-1 record to sit second in the Canada West Conference. The Huskies are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    Cooke has posted an 11-2 record, a 2.34 goals against average, a .917 save percentage and two shutouts so far this season. His 54 career regular season victories ranks second on the Huskies all-time career list.

    McFaull is in his fifth year with the Huskies and has posted four goals, three assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department in 15 games.

    Roach is also in his fifth campaign with the U of S and has posted nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-14 rating to lead Canada West in scoring. His nine goals is a career high and his 26 points matches a career high achieved last season.

    McVeigh is in his third year with the Huskies and has posted six goals, 15 assists and a plus-six rating.

    All four are worthy of earning a professional contract and a spot on the U Sports all-star team. They should give Canada’s best major junior players all they can handle.

    This season’s world juniors run Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Buffalo, New York.

    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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Shmyr breaks out for Blades

Winger happy to have Hebig back to form dynamic duo

Braylon Shmyr celebrates his game-winning goal for the Blades.

    Braylon Shmyr believes he is now part of a dynamic duo that is going to take flight for the Saskatoon Blades.

    In the Blades first two WHL regular season games, the overage left-winger was held pointless, and his Saskatoon side lost twice. On Saturday, Shmyr finally got to be partnered on a line with overage centre Cameron Hebig. Michael Farren, a talented 17-year-old sophomore, lined up at right wing to complete the unit.

    Hebig missed all of last season with a hard to pinpoint injury, and he was suspended by the WHL for the first two games of the regular season for taking a checking from behind major penalty and a game misconduct in the Blades final pre-season contest on Sept. 16, when they downed the Oil Kings in Edmonton 2-1.

    With Hebig at centre, Shmyr scored the winning goal with four minutes to play in the third period to break a 4-4 deadlock with the visiting Calgary Hitmen and lift the Blades to a 5-4 victory. He finished the night with a pair of goals and an assist to send almost all of the crowd of 2,738 spectators at the SaskTel Centre home happy.

Braylon Shmyr breaks down the ice for the Blades.

    After the game, Shmyr couldn’t stress how big it was to be on a line with Hebig.

    “He is a really good player,” said Shmyr. “He knows how to find me.

    “We just seemed like we had that chemistry going into this year. It is definitely nice playing with him and having him back.”

    After dropping their first two games by a combined score of 11-4, the Blades victory on Saturday won’t go down as one of the WHL’s classic games despite all the goals. The first two periods were fairly choppy for both teams as they entered the second intermission locked in a 4-4 draw.

    In playing to that 4-4 tie after 40 minutes, the Blades saw leads of 3-1 and 4-3 disappear.

    On the winning goal, Shmyr tracked the rebound of one of his own shots and flipped the puck over fallen Hitmen goaltender Matthew Armitage.

Cameron Hebig drives a shot on goal for the Blades.

    “It feels great,” said Shmyr about netting the winner. “The guys were ready to win tonight. We kind of changed our mindset about how we come into the game.

    “That is what we did. It definitely showed out there knowing that we got that first win today. We came into the game expecting to win, and that is exactly what we did.”

    Kirby Dach, who is in his 16-year-old rookie campaign, Caleb Fantillo and Hebig all netted singles for the Blades (1-2). Hajek had a pair of assists. Starting netminder Ryan Kubic allowed four goals on his first 10 shots before making 19 total saves to pick up the win in goal for Saskatoon.

Libor Hajek had a pair of assists for the Blades.

    Matteo Gennaro, Mark Kastelic, Jakob Stukel and Luke Coleman all had singles for the Hitmen (1-2-1). Armitage turned away 24 shots to take the loss in goal for Calgary. Hitmen 19-year-old left-winger Beck Malenstyn left the contest in the first period holding his left shoulder having collided hard into the boards after missing a bodycheck.

    Hebig drew the loudest cheers of the night, when he scored his lone goal at the 10:32 mark of the second period tipping home a point shot from Czech defenceman Libor Hajek. Shmyr picked up his assist on that play.

    Before Saturday’s game, Hebig’s last action in the regular season came way back on March 19, 2016, when he had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 home ice victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. In his last full regular season back in 2015-16, Hebig piled up 26 goals and 43 assists in 59 games.

    “It felt good to be back on the ice,” said Hebig. “I have to get my legs back obviously.

    “These games are moving fast, and I think that will come as I keep going. It was definitely nice to be out there and get the first goal out of the way.”

    The Saskatoon product enjoyed playing on a line with Shmyr and Farren, who finished the night with one assist.

    “Those are two skilled guys,” said Hebig. “I think we had a good outing today.

Blades C Cameron Hebig wheels past Hitmen D Layne Toder (#4).

    “They will get you the puck, and if I get them the puck, they will put it in. I think our first night together was good.”

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman played Shmyr and Hebig together extensively in the pre-season, and the bench boss believes big things will come from that duo.

    “We nicknamed them Batman and Robin, because they are quite a dynamic duo,” said Brockman. “For those guys, as they go we will probably go.”

    Brockman added it was big for his club to find a way to get the first win of the regular season.

    “It wasn’t pretty,” said Brockman. “It was pretty scrambly.

The Blades celebrate their win on Saturday.

    “A win is a win. When you are fighting things a little bit and your confidence isn’t very high, to get a win like that it is huge for us.”

    The Blades return to action on Friday, when they host the Swift Current Broncos at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
    The Hitmen are also off until Friday when they host the Everett Silvertips at 7 p.m. local time at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

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

Pats capture WHL regular season title, Blades wonder what might have been

Caleb Fantillo (#39) looks out to the ice after the Blades loss.

    REGINA - The Saskatoon Blades did their best to try and spoil the party for the Regina Pats.

    They stormed out to a 3-1 lead after the first period in a WHL clash on Tuesday night at the Brandt Centre. From there, the Pats staged a classic comeback to skate away with a 5-4 victory and lock up first place overall in the WHL regular season standings for the first time since they last won the Memorial Cup in 1974.

    While the Pats, who improved to 49-12-7-1, celebrated winning the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy to the delight of 4,695 spectators, the Blades were left to ponder how much closer they are getting to the end of their campaign.

    Saskatoon dropped to 27-34-7-2 to fall perilously close to being eliminated from playoff contention.

    Entering the night, the Blades could potentially catch either the Red Deer Rebels or the Calgary Hitmen to move into a playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Rebels (29-28-8-4) clinched a playoff berth with an 8-3 romp over the Tigers in Medicine Hat.

The Pats salute their fans after Tuesday’s game.

    The Hitmen (28-31-8-2) led the Blades by three points in the standing for eighth place overall in the Eastern Conference and the conference’s final wildcard berth. Calgary just needs to earn two more points in the standings to clinch the conference’s final playoff berth and can do just that in a road clash against the Rebels in Red Deer on Wednesday. The Rebels sit four points ahead of the Hitmen in the standings.

    “It (the Blades dressing room) is pretty deflated right now,” said Blades overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk. “Not too many words were said after that one especially giving up a two-goal lead.

    “We are not out of it yet technically, but it seems like the odds are pretty well stacked against us. We need pretty much a miracle to get into playoffs. We are not out of yet.

    “We will see what Calgary does and go from there.”

    In the opening 20 minutes, Caleb Fantillo, Dryden Michaud and Josh Paterson all netted singles for the Blades, while Nick Henry replied for the Pats.

Jesse Shynkaruk weaves into the offensive zone for the Blades.

    The tallies from Michaud – the first of his WHL career - and Paterson came 28 seconds apart from each other near the end of the first period and broke a 1-1 tie.

    The Pats regrouped and came at the Blades in waves in the second. Jeff de Wit started the rally for the hosts, and star centre Sam Steel buried his 49^th of the season off a giveaway from Blades import defenceman Libor Hajek to tie things up at 3-3.

    With 1:44 to play in the second, Steel sent a beauty pass to pinching defenceman Josh Mahura on a two-on-one break to put the Pats up 4-3.

    “A team like that, you can’t give them any momentum,” said Shynkaruk. “They ran with it and got a couple of quick ones. We were kind back on our heels, and it kind of went from there.”

    In the third, Pats star offensive defenceman Connor Hobbs blasted home his 29^th of the season from the point while working the power play to extend Regina’s advantage to 5-3 with 4:38 to play.

Blades rookie Dryden Michaud, centre, celebrates his first WHL goal.

    Still, the Blades didn’t go away and had a chance to rally back, when the Pats encountered penalty troubles. Working on a two-man advantage with the goalie pulled, Blades winger Michael Farren converted a passing play from Shynkaruk and Braylon Shmyr to cut Regina’s lead to 5-4 with 1:17 to play.

    Saskatoon continued to work on the power play through to the end of the frame but couldn’t find the equalizer.

    Logan Flodell turned away 30 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades. Tyler Brown turned away 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pats.
    Regina captain Adam Brooks picked up three assists in the win.

    Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock was pleased to see his club lock up first overall and home ice advantage through the entire WHL playoffs.

    “I think any time that happens everybody is obviously extremely happy,” said Paddock. “You think about it after you achieved it.

Sam Steel netted his 49th goal of the season and two assists for the Pats.

    “There is lots more we obviously want to do. As (assistant coach) Dave (Struch) just said in there, it is really hard thing to be the best team after 72 games.

    “It doesn’t mean a lot. You get some sort of trophy, but it is not what you are ultimately playing for.”

    Paddock of course was hinting at winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions and capturing the Memorial Cup for major junior supremacy.

    Last season with the Rebels, de Wit was part of team that advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series and played in the Memorial Cup tournament as the host squad.

    On WHL trade deadline day back on Jan. 10, de Wit was dealt along with Mahura from the Rebels to the Pats to help Regina make a long post-season run, and the gritty forward, who celebrated his 19^th birthday on Tuesday, was happy to help the Pats lock up first overall in the WHL.

Josh Mahura works the point on the power play for the Pats.

    “I knew how deep this team was and the type of skill they had,” said de Wit. “Coming here, I just wanted to contribute and play my best hockey.

    “I’ve done that for the most part, and it is pretty exciting to clinch league.”

    For the Blades, they are forced to mull over three straight losses against two very tough teams. Before falling to the Pats on Tuesday, the Blades dropped both games of a home-and-home series with the Swift Current Broncos, who are 38-21-4-6, this past weekend. Saskatoon played good enough to win one or even all of its last three games.

    “It is frustrating for sure,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “It is disappointing. It is frustrating.

    “You can use a lot of different words to describe it. Really, it is all about lessons. For some of the younger guys that get into this position where you need wins and you need to win games at this time of the year it is a great experience for them.”

Pats captain Adam Brooks works magic in the offensive zone.

    Brockman said the Pats have a team that is at a more advanced stage than his side.

    “They’ve got how many wins for a reason, and they won the league for a reason,” said Brockman. “Certainly, they should have that ability to get to that level.

    “We are close to being out of the playoffs, so I mean certainly it is the tale of two different teams for sure.”

    The Pats return to action Wednesday, when they host the Broncos at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    The Blades return home to host the Prince Albert Raiders (20-43-5-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    “Whatever happens, we have to play hard in front of our home fans – give them something to come out to,” said Shynkaruk. “(We need to) finish the season hard.”

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Blades rally falls short

Broncos pull out another OT victory, sweep two-game set

Artyom Minulin (#5) tips home the winning goal for the Broncos.

    The Saskatoon Blades showed their resilience, but the Swift Current Broncos found a way to get it done in overtime again.

    On Sunday at the SaskTel Centre, the Broncos held leads of 2-0 and 4-2 only to see the Blades pull even in their WHL clash. With 4:17 to play in the third and working on the power play, Blades overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk one-timed a sweet feed from linemate Braylon Shmyr to force a 4-4 draw.

    The Blades started the extra session working a four-on-three power play for 85 seconds, but were unable to net the winning goal.

    After weathering that storm, the Broncos went back the other way. Import defenceman Artyom Minulin went to the front of the Saskatoon goal and deflected home a perimeter shot from Lane Pederson to give Swift Current a 5-4 victory before 4,264 spectators. Back on Friday in Swift Current, the Broncos picked up a 3-2 come-from-behind overtime victory against the Blades.

Braylon Shmyr had two goals for the Blades.

    “You are always trying to learn from the last game,” said Blades winger Braylon Shmyr, who had two goals and an assist in the setback. “I thought we did a lot better.

    “We didn’t stick to our full details, and that is what cost us the game.”

    The Broncos got out to a quick start as captain Glenn Gawdin scored a pair of goals 57 second apart from each other shortly before the 10-minute mark of the opening frame. From that point, the Blades controlled the majority of play for the rest of the contest.

    In the second, the Blades pulled even at 2-2 with goals coming off the sticks of Shmyr and Caleb Fantillo. Before the second frame ended, Gawdin added his third goal of the contest to give the visitors a 3-2 edge heading into the second intermission.

    At the 5:23 mark of third, Swift Current went ahead 4-2 as 19-year-old centre Conner Chaulk picked up his fourth goal of the season.

    The Blades responded cutting the gap to 4-3 just 36 seconds later, when Shmyr converted a beauty set up pass from linemate Josh Paterson. That set the stage for the frantic finish at the end.

    When the dust settled, Blades head coach Dean Brockman said the slow start ultimately cost his side the game.

    “The first 10 minutes of the game we were horrible,” said Brockman. “When you are playing at this time of the year, you just can’t take 10 minutes off.

    “You spot them a two-goal lead, and then we just have to fight so hard to get back in it. I give our guys a lot of credit they did (fight back). The last 50 minutes of the game I thought we deserved a better fate.

    “We had way more chances to score and just couldn’t bury them.”

Travis Child makes one of his 38 saves in goal for the Broncos.

    Travis Child made 38 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos (21-11-3-4). Logan Flodell stopped 26 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades (14-20-5-1). Saskatoon sits ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and sits six points back of a playoff berth chasing the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Red Deer Rebels.

    Shmyr said his team needs to play with just a little more desperation going forward.

    “We always have to play our hearts out every game,” said Shmyr. “These points are really huge for us, and we need them all the time.

    “We just have to go out there and be hungry all the time. We got to get this for sure.”

    The Blades return to action Wednesday, when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings.
    NOTE - Before Sunday’s game, the Blades acquired 17-year-old forward Arjun Atwal and a conditional WHL Bantam Draft pick from the Victoria Royals in exchange for prospect 16-year-old defenceman K’Andre Miller and sixth round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.
    Atwal had been playing in the Junior A ranks with the Sherwood Park Crusaders in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, and he piled up 14 goals and 17 assists in 33 regular season games. He dressed for the Blades in Sunday’s game and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department.  

Stars, Contacts fall in respective Mac’s finals

    Saskatoon’s two representatives at the prestigious Mac’s Midget AAA Tournament in had a memorable week and qualified for championship Sunday.

    In the championship final of the female division, the Saskatoon Stars fell 5-4 in overtime to the Alberta based Rocky Mountain Raiders, while the Contact dropped a 6-1 decision in the title game of the male division to under-17 national team from Belarus.

    The Stars advanced to the female division championship game with a perfect 5-0 record. Trailing the Raiders 4-3 with under a minute to play, Stars defender Ashley Messier wired home the equalizer to tie things up at 4-4 and force overtime.

    In overtime, Rachel Weiss netting the winner for the Raiders.

    Abby DeCorby, Mackenna Parker and Julia Rongve all netted single for the Stars.

    Ciara MacDonald scored twice for the Raiders, while Breanne Trotter and Nicole Fry had singles. Stephanie Gross turned away 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders, and she named the tournament’s top female goaltender.

    The Contacts entered the male division final with a 5-1 record before falling to Belarus.

    Eli Lieffers had Saskatoon’s lone goal in the final, while Rayce Ramsay turned away 45 shots taking the loss in net for the Contacts. Belarus finished the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record.

    The Stars return to action this coming Saturday, when they host the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats at 7:45 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena. The Contacts hit the ice again on Thursday, when they host the Beardy’s Blackhawks at 8 p.m. at the Schroh Arena.

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