Silvertips stay alive in WHL title series with Broncos

Game 6 set for Sunday in Swift Current

Riley Sutter had three points for the Silvertips.

    The Everett Silvertips wouldn’t allow the pesky Swift Current Broncos to seal the deal.

    On Friday night before 6,628 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, the host Silvertips came out with their best effort of the WHL Championship series pulling out a 6-3 victory in Game 5 with the Swift Current Broncos. The host side held a 40-24 edge in shots on goal.

    The Broncos still lead the best-of-seven set 3-2, and they will try to make good on their second chance to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup in Game 6 on Sunday at the Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current.

    If the Silvertips win Game 6, they will force a series deciding Game 7 on Monday at the i-Plex. The start time for both of those games in 7 p.m. each night locally.

    In Friday’s encounter, the Silvertips stormed out of the gate in the first period with goals coming from the sticks of Wyatte Wylie on the power play and captain Matt Fonteyne at even strength to go ahead 2-0.

    With 2:10 remaining in the first period, Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin completed a tick-tack-toe passing play from linemates Aleksi Heponiemi and Giorgio Estephan for a power-play goal to cut Everett’s lead to 2-1.

Connor Dewar had three points for the Silvertips.

    At the 6:37 mark of the second, Gawdin scored to tie things up at 2-2. Broncos offensive defenceman Colby Sissons slipped the puck from the point to Gawdin alone in front of the Silvertips net, and he tucked a shot around Everett star netminder Carter Hart.

    The Silvertips surged out to a 4-2 lead at the 6:09 mark of the third period with slot dives coming from the sticks of Sean Richards and Riley Sutter.
    The Broncos didn’t go away. With 7:09 to play in the third period, the Broncos were buzzing deep in the Everett zone. Swift Current centre Matteo Gennaro fed a pass from behind the Everett net to pinching defenceman Noah King in the right slot.

    The 18-year-old rookie buried his first career WHL goal in either the regular season or the playoffs to trim the Everett lead to 4-3.

    Shortly after King’s goal, Gawdin had a chance to potentially net the equalizer, but he placed a shot wide of the Everett goal.

    Silvertips left-winger Connor Dewar sealed the win for the host side with a pair of empty-net goals. He had an assist in the contest to go with his two tallies for a three-point night.

    Sutter had a pair of assists to go with his goal to also finish with three points on the night for Everett.

Rookie defenceman Noah King scored for the Broncos.

    Stuart Skinner turned away 34-of-38 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos. Hart stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips.

    The Silvertips, who finished third overall in the WHL with a 47-20-2-3 record in the regular season, are 6-6 at home and 8-1 on the road during the post-season.

    The Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-17-5-2 mark in the regular season, are 8-4 at home and 7-6 on the road in the playoffs.

    The winner of the WHL Championship series advances to the Memorial Cup tournament to play for the CHL title. The Memorial Cup runs May 18 to 27 in Regina.

    At the moment, the host Regina Pats are the only club with a spot in the four-team field.

    In the OHL Championship series, the Hamilton Bulldogs hold a 3-2 lead on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Game 6 is set for Sunday in Hamilton.

    In the QMJHL Championship series, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan hold a 3-2 lead on the Blainville-Boisbraind Armada. Game 6 is set for Sunday in Acadie-Bathurst.

Hay says he retired from Blazers, left door open to coach

Don Hay spoke to the media on Friday about retiring as Blazers head coach.

    On Thursday, the Kamloops Blazers announced Don Hay had retired as the team’s head coach, and on Friday, Hay addressed the media in Kamloops.

    Hay wasn’t at the Blazers press conference on Thursday, when the team announced he had retired as the club’s head coach and would stay on with the club in a newly created role of senior advisor of hockey operations. That sparked speculation that Hay was pushed out as head coach.

    The 64-year-old met with the media on Friday, where he read a prepared before fielding questions.      Hay said he decided to retire from the Blazers, but he left the door open to return to coaching at any level, if the opportunity presented itself. He said he would discuss future opportunities to coach with his family.

    The legendary bench boss said he wasn’t at the press conference on Thursday, because he was laying down sandbags to protect his cabin from possible flooding. He also went to watch his granddaughters compete in track and field.

    Hay is the all-time leader in career regular season head coaching victories in the WHL posting a 750-506-110 record with the Blazers, Tri-City American and Vancouver Giants. The Blazers missed the playoffs with a 30-37-1-4 record this past season.

    During his career, Hay was a Blazers assistant coach when they won the Memorial Cup in 1992 and their head coach for their Memorial Cup victories in 1994 and 1995. Hay guided the Vancouver Giants to a Memorial Cup title in 2007.

    The Blazers also announced general manager Stu MacGregor has joined the amateur scouting department of the Dallas Stars and the contracts of Matt Recchi, who was the team’s director of player personnel, and Mike Needham, who was an assistant coach, will not be renewed.

    The Blazers are bidding to host the 2020 Memorial Cup, so this shake up wasn’t expected.

    Gregg Drinnan, who is “The Dean” of sportswriters when it comes to covering the WHL, is based in Kamloops, and he penned a column that is telling about the situation in Kamloops. That piece can be found 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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Skinner, Sissons give Broncos command of WHL final

Netminder Stuart Skinner made 32 saves in the shutout win for the Broncos.

    Stuart Skinner’s fifth shutout of the WHL playoffs has put the Swift Current Broncos one win away from capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    On Wednesday night at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Wash., Skinner made 32 saves and offensive defenceman Colby Sissons wired home a second period power-play goal to give the Broncos a 1-0 victory over the Everett Silvertips in Game 4 of the WHL Championship series.

    With the win, the Broncos lead the best-of-seven set 3-1 and can close things out in Game 5 on Friday, which is set for a 7:30 p.m. local time start at the Angel of the Winds Arena. Swift Current last won the WHL title in 1993, which happens to be the last time a Saskatchewan-based team took the league championship.

    Skinner has posted a 15-9 record, a 2.21 goals against average, a .931 save percentage and five shutouts this post-season. The 19-year-old Edmonton product had six shutouts in the 2017-18 regular season in 56 appearances split between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Broncos.

    The third round 2017 NHL Entry Draft selection of the Edmonton Oilers was dealt by the Hurricanes to the Broncos in a blockbuster trade on Jan. 9.

    In the opening 20 minutes, the Silvertips outshot the Broncos 8-4, but Swift Current had a big early chance to go ahead when centre Giorgio Estephan deflected a point shot from Sisson off the post of the Everett goal.

    Early in the second period, Broncos left-winger Beck Malenstyn had a short-handed breakaway, but he was stoned by Silvertips star netminder Carter Hart.

Colby Sissons scored the lone goal of Game 4 of the WHL final.

    With 5:25 to play in the second and the Broncos working on the power play, Sissons streaked into the Silvertips zone on a rush and wired home a shot to the top left corner of the Everett net to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead to disappoint most of the 5,081 spectators in attendance.

    From that point, Skinner slammed the door in the Swift Current goal.

    With just under six minutes to play in the third, he stopped Silvertips right-winger Garrett Pilon on a hard mid-range drive and stoned Everett left-winger Connor Dewar, who tried to backhand home the rebound.

    After the Silvertips pulled Hart for an extra attacker, Pilon found himself alone in front of the Swift Current goal with the puck, but his shot was turned back by a left pad stop from Skinner.

Hart turned away 18 shots to take the setback in goal for the Silvertips.

    The Broncos went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Silvertips failed to score on five chances with the man advantage.

    Overage Silvertips star right-winger Patrick Bajkov played in Game 4 after leaving to the dressing room on a couple of occasions in his club’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Broncos in Game 3 on Tuesday.

    The Silvertips, who finished third overall in the WHL regular season with a 47-20-2-3 record, are 8-1 on the road in the playoffs and 5-6 at home. The Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-17-5-2 mark, are 7-5 on the road in the post-season and 8-4 at home.

    If Everett wins Game 5 on Friday, the series will shift back to Swift Current for Games 6 and 7 if necessary, which will be held on Sunday and Monday respectively with a 7 p.m. local start times on both nights at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

Back in the Express with Valkyries’ Peters

Devyn Peters (#31) is a breakout running back for the Valkyries.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature on Saskatoon Valkyries running back Devyn Peters.

    Last season, Peters played linebacker on defence for most of her rookie campaign with the Western Women’s Canadian Football League team. In the league’s consolation final clash between the Valkyries and Edmonton Storm, Peters was inserted at running back on offence, and she carried the ball 15 times for 218 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 44-20 Saskatoon victory.

    The 19-year-old sophomore heads into this season as a full-time running back with the Valkyries.

    On Saturday, the Valkyries will host the defending WWCFL champion Regina Riot at 8 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium. The game was originally slated to be held at Saskatoon Minor Football Field but construction at that facility forced the contest to be moved.

    Both teams head into this contest with identical 1-0 regular season records. Last Saturday, the Riot traveled to Winnipeg, Man., and thumped the Manitoba Fearless 56-14. The Valkyries were in Winnipeg last Sunday and blanked the Wolfpack 48-0.

    The Express story on Peters can be found 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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Silvertips slip past Broncos 2-1 in WHL title series opener

The Silvertips celebrate a game winning goal from Connor Dewar, centre.

    SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. - The slimmest of margins made the difference in the opening game of the WHL Championship series.

    With his Everett Silvertips locked in a 1-1 tie with the host Swift Current Broncos, Silvertips left-winger Connor Dewar tipped home a point shot from Czech import defenceman Ondrej Vala at the 1:49 mark of the third period to put the visitors up 2-1. 

    Everett proceeded to shut things down defensively for most of the remainder of the frame to take the opening game of the WHL title series by that one-goal margin before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators on Friday night at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

    The win marked the first time the Silvertips have earned a victory in the WHL Championship series. They made their only other appearance in the WHL title series during their inaugural campaign and were swept away in the best-of-seven set 4-0 by the Medicine Hat Tigers in May of 2004.

Connor Dewar scored the winning goal for the Silvertips on Friday.

    Following Friday’s tilt, no one on Everett’s side were thinking of any milestones. Dewar just wanted his third period tally could hold up to be the decisive marker.

    “I was just hoping it would hold up and be a winning goal by the end of the game,” said Dewar. “I think it helped us get going.

    “We had a couple of more good shots after that where it didn’t go in. We just tried to minimize their chances by maximizing ours.”

    The Broncos are making their first appearance in the WHL Final since they last won the league title back in 1993. The opening result was a heartbreaker for the host side.

    Veteran 19-year-old netminder Stuart Skinner had a strong outing making 23 saves in the Swift Current goal. He just couldn’t react to the change of direction of the puck on Dewar’s tipped home goal.

Goalie Stuart Skinner makes one of his 23 saves in goal for the Broncos.

    “It was kind of just a bad bounce I think,” said Skinner. “They just shot it, and it was going up pretty high.

    “It was a high tip. If he was closer to the net, it would have been a high stick. I saw it going up, so I tried to get my body in front of it.

    “He tipped it, and it went down. It was kind of a tough one for me.”

    The Broncos hit the ice for Friday’s encounter behind a raucous crowd that often drowned out the building’s public address announcer.
    The Silvertips quieted the host team’s supporters with a power-play goal at the 14:43 mark of the opening frame, when star overage right-winger Patrick Bajkov took the puck at the left side of the Broncos net, skated across the face of the goal and tucked home the puck behind Skinner.

Aleksi Heponiemi scored for the Broncos in the second period.

    The Swift Current faithful got re-energized at the 11:26 mark of the second, when Finnish import left-winger Aleksi Heponiemi tipped home a mid-range shot from centre Matteo Gennaro to tie things up at 1-1. The goal came on the Broncos’ 24^th shot on goal.

    After Everett went ahead 2-1, the Broncos didn’t really have a quality chance to net the equalizer until late in the third. Swift Current forced a turnover in the Silvertips zone, and Gennaro found himself alone in front of the Everett goal. He tried to roof a shot top corner only to be robbed by the glove hand of Silvertips star netminder Carter Hart.

    Hart made 34 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips, who are 8-0 on the road in this year’s post-season. Star right-winger Garrett Pilon had assists on both Everett goals.

    “I thought we did a really good job being in the first game here on the road in this building that is really tough to play in,” said Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams. “We got a great power-play goal to start us off.

The Broncos fans cheer a goal from Aleksi Heponiemi.

    “We came into the second, and I probably thought the ice tilted there in favour of Swift Current. What I was really proud of was our response in the third. We started playing the way we should play.”

    Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros said the tight encounter he expected materialized.

    “Everett did a real good job today here making it real difficult for us to get to their net front area,” said Viveiros. “They defended very well.

    “I thought both teams played very well tonight. I thought the goaltenders were very, very good for both teams. They (the Silvertips) were everything that comes as advertised tonight.

Patrick Bajkov scored the Silvertips first goal on Friday.

    “They are a team that battles real hard for loose pucks, especially in their zone, along the walls and especially in front of their net. We have to do a better job tomorrow as far as getting to the net a lot more and making sure we get our shots through to the net. I was very happy with our effort.”

    Heponiemi thought his Broncos could do a better job of getting pucks to the net.

    “They were blocking shots, and that is part of playoffs,” said Heponiemi. “We just have to play like real quick and just get pucks through.”

    Hart was pleased with how his Silvertips teammates played in front of him.

    “I felt really good in the net,” said Hart. “We did a really good job of limiting their chances to the outside.

    “We did a really good job the whole game of our D-zone coverage. I got a lot of key (shot) blocks during the year. Guys were just laying their bodies on the line to get the blocks.”

Silvertips goalie Carter Hart (#70) holds off the Broncos traffic.

    The 19-year-old, who backstopped Canada to a gold medal victory at the last World Juniors, gave praise to the Broncos fans for the support they showed their team.

    “It is good to see the support that Swift Current is getting here,” said Hart. “It is one of the smaller markets in the CHL, so it is really cool to see all the people come out and support their team and how passionate they are.

    “I think it energizes both teams. It is fun to play in these environments and play in these kind of games. Seeing how many people were here during warmups and how important it is to this city, it is cool.”

The Silvertips celebrate their Game 1 victory over the Broncos.

    Game 2 of the best-of-seven WHL title series is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

    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.