The Dach is in – Blades star goes third overall in NHL Entry Draft

Kirby Dach was selected third overall by the Blackhawks.

    Kirby Dach looked like a child who received a desperately wanted gift from Santa Claus at Christmas.

    On Friday at the NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, B.C., Dach was selected in the first round and third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks. The draft’s first round was held Friday and rounds two through seven are slated for Saturday.

    Dach, who is a star centre with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, gave the look of being caught off guard in a good way in front of the national television cameras.

    The combination of surprise and joy in the Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., product’s face showed he got something he really wanted.

    Before being picked by the Blackhawks, Dach watched the first two selections of the NHL Entry Draft go down as expected.

    With the first overall pick, the New Jersey Devils took centre Jack Hughes from the United States National Team Development Program. Following that selection, the New York Rangers picked right-winger Kaapo Kakko second overall from the TPS program in Finland.
    At the third selection, various prognosticators had a glut of players who could potentially be selected at that spot including Dach, centre Alex Turcotte of the United States National Team Development Program, defenceman Bowan Byram from the Vancouver Giants, centre Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and centre Trevor Zegras of the United States National Team Development Program.

Kirby Dach put up 73 points with the Blades last season.

    Byram impressed as an offensive defenceman helping the Vancouver Giants advance to the WHL final, where the Giants fell 3-2 in overtime in a series-deciding Game 7 to the Prince Albert Raiders.

    Dach seemed to be ready mentally for a longer sit, but as it turned out, those preparations weren’t needed.

    When the Blackhawks announced their selection of Dach, the 18-year-old seemed to be floating on air.

    While you could split hairs on who could be picked third overall, Dach is deserving of that high selection. The skilled centre has only scratched the surface of how could he can be.

    Add in the fact Dach stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds, a team couldn’t turn away from a player that has the combination of size and skill that Dach has.

    He works extremely hard in his off-season workouts and is one of those players you never have to worry about. You know he will make the right decisions in life and in the game almost all the time.
    When the day comes Dach’s body physically matures allowing him to hold more muscle increasing his power and strength, you have to wonder how good he will be on the ice as the increased power and strength will lead to some extra confidence.

    Last season, Dach piled up 25 goals, 48 assists and a plus-15 rating in the plus-minus department in 62 regular season games. He added another five goals and three assists in the Blades 10 playoff games.

    Saskatoon swept the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series before falling 4-2 to the Raiders.

Kirby Dach scored a highlight reel playoff goal against the Raiders.

    Of course, Dach turned heads with a highlight reel goal in Game 2 of the series against the Raiders that was shown on national television.
    Throughout his hockey career, Dach has consistently made highlight reel plays. He closed off his time in the bantam AAA ranks netting 29 goals and 71 assists in 33 regular season games with his hometown Fort Saskatchewan Boston Pizza Rangers in 2014-15.

    He went to the Fort Saskatchewan Boston Pizza Rangers midget AAA team as an underage 14-year-old player and netted 14 goals and 21 assists in 34 regular season games in 2015-16.

    Thanks to those efforts, the Blades selected Dach in the first round and second overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft.

    Due to injuries, the Blades received special permission late in the 2016-17 campaign to allow Dach to play for an extended stay during his 15-year-old season. He appeared in 19 regular season games posting six goals, four assists and a plus-three rating.

    On Feb. 20, 2017, Dach scored his first two career WHL regular season goals in spectacular fashion in a 4-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors at the SaskTel Centre.

Kirby Dach has been a high-end offensive player his whole hockey career.

    Being one of the few that skates in a full-time role on the top two lines with a major junior team as a 16-year-old rookie, Dach recorded seven goals and 39 assists in 52 regular season games in the 2017-18 campaign.
    That set the stage for Dach to play for Canada’s under-18 at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last August in Edmonton and Red Deer. He had a goal and six assists in five games helping Canada to a gold medal finish.

    From there, Dach went on to a solid campaign for the Blades, where he earned the role of being one of the team’s assistant captains in January.

    Besides his scoring, Dach turned heads early on with his strong two-way play. Even during his 16-year-old season, he was committed to working hard in the defensive zone.
    One Dach’s best games last season came on Dec. 9, 2018, when the Blades blanked the Raiders 1-0 at the SaskTel Centre. Dach didn’t have any points in that game, but he was a visible force at both ends of the ice.
    In the history of the Blades franchise, Dach becomes the 19^th player to be selected in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft. The last time a Blades player was selected as high as he was came back in 1988, when defenceman Curtis Leschyshyn was selected third overall by the Quebec Nordiques.

Kirby Dach will get a chance to make Canada’s world junior team.

    On Friday night, Dach got to rightfully celebrate a huge milestone for all the hard work he put into his hockey career.

    The draft selection caps a highlight week. On Wednesday, Hockey Canada announced Dach was invited to the national junior team summer development camp that starts July 27 and runs through to Aug. 4 in Plymouth, Mich.

    He will be highly-touted for a spot on Canada’s squad that will play at the upcoming world juniors that run from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2020 in Ostrava and Trinic in the Czech Republic.

    It is possible Dach might not be available for world juniors or even return to the Blades. He could potentially sign an NHL entry-level contract with the Blackhawks, and being the third overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft, his odds of making the NHL club next season increased.

    If Dach does return to the Blades, he will have an opportunity to play major junior on the same team with his younger brother, Colton, who will be a 16-year-old rookie for Saskatoon next season. The Blades selected Colton in the first round and sixth overall in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft.
    Kirby Dach will face extra scrutiny for the rest of his hockey career due to his high NHL Entry Draft selection. 

Kirby Dach (#77) celebrates scoring a goal for the Blades.

    He will likely find Jeremy Colliton, who is the Blackhawks young 34-year-old head coach, will be a great resource in navigating those waters.

    Colliton, who is a two-time member of Canada’s world junior team and a former member of the Raiders, is extremely intelligent and is familiar with all sorts of pressure situations in the game.

    For the moment, Dach gets to enjoy one of the most memorable moments of his life.

    The decisions regarding his hockey future will unfold in the days and weeks to come.

    In the present, he should be allowed to soak in a great day.

Byram heads rest of WHL field in NHL Draft first round

Bowen Byram was selected fourth overall by the Avalanche.

    Bowen Byram was the defenceman you had to take in this year’s NHL Entry Draft.

    The star of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants didn’t have to wait long before being selected at this year’s NHL Entry in Vancouver, B.C.

    The Colorado Avalanche selected Byram fourth overall in the first round that was held on Friday. The draft concludes with rounds two to seven on Saturday.

    Byram was the first rearguard to be selected in the draft and the second player from the WHL to have his name called following centre Kirby Dach of the Saskatoon Blades, who went third overall to the Chicago Blackhawks.

    Byram, who turned 18-years-old earlier this month, had a sensational season in 2018-19. He piled up 26 goals, 45 assists and a plus-33 rating in the plus-minus department in 67 regular season games with the Giants.

    He helped the Giants advance to the WHL final, there they fell 3-2 in overtime in a series deciding Game 7 to the Prince Albert Raiders.

    In 22 post-season games, Byram, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 195 pounds, had eight goals, 18 assists and a plus-10 rating.

    A total of seven WHL players were taking in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft.

Dylan Cozens was selected seventh overall by the Sabres.

    Lethbridge Hurricanes centre Dylan Cozens was selected seventh overall by the Buffalo Sabres. Playing in all of the Hurricanes 68 regular season games, Cozens had 34 goals, 50 assists and a plus-32 rating.

    Cozens rounded out the WHL players that were taken with the top 10 selections in the draft.

    The other first round NHL Entry Draft selections from the WHL included centre Peyton Krebs of the Winnipeg Ice, who are formerly the Kootenay Ice, going 17^th overall to the Vegas Golden Knights.

    Defenceman Lassi Thomson of the Kelowna Rockets went 19^th overall to the Ottawa Senators, and Rockets left-winger Nolan Foote went 27^th overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Moose Jaw Warriors left-winger Brayden Tracey was the final WHL player taken in the first round going 29^th overall to the Anaheim Ducks.

    The United States National Team Development Program had eight players selected in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft. That included centre Jack Hughes going first overall to the New Jersey Devils, centre Alex Turcotte going fifth overall to the Los Angeles Kings and centre Trevor Zegras going ninth overall to the Ducks.

    Right-winger Brett Leason and left-winger Aliaksei Protas of the Raiders are still eligible to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft.

WWCFL semifinals hit the field this weekend

Katie Hungle (#99) and the Riot are set for their WWCFL semifinal game.

    The road to the Western Women’s Canadian Football League championship game has narrowed to two semifinal contests that will be played this weekend.

    On Saturday in Edmonton, the host Storm host the two-time defending champion Regina Riot. The Storm enter this match having won four games in a row, and they are 4-1 including action in the regular season and playoffs.

    The Riot are trying to win a second straight road game in order to return home and be the host team for the WWCFL title game for a second straight year. The Riot have a 2-3 record including play in the regular season and playoffs.

    The other WWCFL semifinal is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field in Saskatoon featuring the host Valkyries taking on the Lethbridge Steel.

    The Valkyries are 5-0 including action in the regular season and playoffs and are 6-0 overall including action in the pre-season. The Steel are 3-2 including action in the regular season and playoffs.

    The winners of the two semifinal advance to the WWCFL championship game slated for June 29 at 4 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

    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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Road to Esso Cup runs through Saskatoon

Stars clinch first in SFMAAAHL for a third straight year

Abby Shirley (#18) is having a career year with the Stars.

    The Saskatoon Stars run of excellence just keeps getting greater.

    On Monday, the Stars locked up first place in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League for a third straight year with an impressive 6-2 victory over Prairie Fire in Melville, who sit second overall in the SFMAAAHL. The win also allowed the Stars to lock up home ice advantage throughout the post-season up until the Esso Cup national championship tournament due to the fact the SFMAAAHL hosts this year’s Western regional playdown series.
    The Esso Cup runs April 23-29 in Morden, Man.

    Against the Prairie Fire on Monday, Stars 15-year-old forward Grace Shirley scored her team’s first three goals and assisted on another to power Saskatoon to victory. Jordyn Holmes, Abby Shirley and Kianna Dietz all added singles for the visitors, while Joelle Fiala had three assists.

Jordan Ivanco made 27 saves to earn the win in goal for Stars, who improved to 21-2-1.

    Megan Leblanc and Heather Fiske replied with singles for the Prairie Fire. Ashlyn Taillon turned away 24 shots to take the loss in goal for the Prairie Fire. The Prairie Fire rebounded from that setback on Wednesday at home downing the Notre Dame Hounds 4-2 to move their record to 19-6-1.

    As the post-season nears, the Stars might have a deeper team offensively than their squads that won the SFMAAAHL title in each of the past two years and advanced to the Esso Cup. So far this season, six members of the Stars are all averaging over a point per game.

    Mackenna Parker leads the way in team scoring with 19 goals and 20 assists. Grace Shirley is second with 17 goals and 15 assists.

    Both Anna Leschyshyn and Fiala each have 30 points. Leschyshyn’s totals come from 14 goals and 16 assists, while Fiala has eight goals and 22 assists.

    In her final season of midget AAA eligibility, Abby Shirley is having her best campaign with 13 goals and 16 assists, which are both career highs. Julia Rongve is also having her best campaign in the midget AAA ranks in her final season of eligibility with nine goals and 17 assists.

    The Stars have four games remaining before beginning post-season play. They travel to Battleford this Saturday and Sunday to face the Sharks.

    The Stars return home on Feb. 18, when they host the Regina Rebels at 7:45 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena. The Stars and Rebels concluded the SFMAAAHL regular season on Feb. 19 at 2:15 p.m. with another showdown at the Agriplace Arena.

First place Huskies tune up for playoffs

Josh Roach breaks into the offensive zone.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team is looking to head into the Canada West playoffs on a high note.

    For the second straight season, the Huskies have locked up first place in the Canada West standings and have home ice advantage throughout the conference playoffs. While the Dogs have been on a roll winning 10 of their last 12 games, they dropped their last outing 4-0 last Saturday to the U of Manitoba Bisons at the ancient Rutherford Rink on the U of S campus.

    U of S locked up first place that night when the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns downed the U of Alberta Golden Bears 4-3 in double overtime in Edmonton.

    The Huskies (19-5-2), who are rated second in the U Sports top 10 rankings, close the regular season on the road traveling to Lethbridge to face the Pronghorns (11-12-3) on Friday and Saturday. The Pronghorns need to earn two more points in the Canada West standings to lock up sixth place and the final playoff berth in the conference.

    U of L should give the Huskies, who will likely try to use all their healthy players this weekend, a stiff test. The two clubs split their games earlier this season at Rutherford.
    On Oct. 21, 2016, the Huskies downed the Pronghorns 3-2 in overtime. One night later, the Pronghorns earned a 5-3 victory over the Huskies.

    The Huskies have a bye into a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series, which they will host Feb. 24 to 26.

Huskies women’s team aims for home post-season series

The Huskies celebrate a goal from Rachel Johnson (#19).

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team is looking to lock up hosting a first round Canada West playoff series for a second straight year, if they can take care of business in their final two regular season games.

    The Huskies (13-10-3) will try to put the skids on a three-game losing streak, when they host the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns (4-19-3), who have lost eight straight, in a two game series. The two clubs face each other on Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

    The Huskies hold fourth place in the Canada West standings with 38 points collected from nine regulation wins, four extra time wins and three extra time losses. They sit a point ahead of the U of Regina Cougars (13-12-1), who have 10 regulation wins, three extra time wins and one extra time loss. In Canada West women’s hockey play, you earn three points in the standings for a regulation win.

    The Cougars close their regular season by traveling to Calgary to face the U of Calgary Dinos (4-19-3) on Friday and Saturday night.

    The sixth place Mount Royal University Cougars (10-12-4) have an outside shot of leaping both the Huskies and Regina Cougars for fourth place, but Mount Royal must win its final two games in regulation for that scenario a possibility. Mount Royal travels to Vancouver to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Friday and Saturday. The Thunderbirds have locked up first overall in Canada West with a 22-3-1 record.

    The Huskies will lock up fourth place and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, if they sweep their series with the Pronghorns with two regulation victories.

Will Willo’s Hockey Canada foray have staying power?

Kaitlin Willoughby breaks up ice for the Huskies.

    When the Huskies women’s hockey team hits the ice this weekend, they will have star forward Kaitlin Willoughby back in the fold.

    Willoughby returned to Saskatoon on Thursday after playing for Canada’s women’s hockey team at the FISU Winter Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan.  On Monday, Canada fell in the gold medal final 4-1 to Russia.

    In five tournament games, Willoughby collected a goal and five assists. During the Winter Universiade, her exploits were followed in a significant way locally on social media.

    A post on this blog from Jan. 21 documenting her heroics scoring the overtime winner in a Huskies 5-4 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds and advancing her departure to the Winter Universiade was extremely well viewed. That post is the fourth all-time most viewed post on this blog.

    Other stories and briefs on Willoughby also popped up in various Saskatoon media outlets and in outlets in her hometown of Prince Albert.

    Now the question is will her Hockey Canada foray have any staying power?

    I personally hope it does. After the Huskies play their final two regular season games and complete their playoff run, Willoughby will have one season of U Sports eligibility remaining. I hope this can further turn into something where she becomes more of a local inspiration for young girls taking up the sport.

    Willoughby’s appearance at this year’s Winter Universiade drew a lot more attention than when recently graduated Huskies offensive defender Julia Flinton helped Canada win silver back in 2015 Winter Universiade in Granada, Spain. Flinton’s appearance seemed to be quickly forgotten outside of anyone that was involved with the Huskies women’s hockey team.

    In December of 2013, Cara (Wooster) Muench was a member of Canada’s gold medal winning team at the Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy, as a recent graduate of the Huskies program. She got to make a few media appearances, but her profile is pretty much forgotten. Her twin sister Cami Wooster is more remembered at least in Saskatoon’s girls minor hockey ranks due to the fact she captained the Huskies to a Canada West title win in her final campaign with the team in 2013-14.

    Breanne George, who is the all-time leading scorer for the Huskies women’s program, was a member of Canada’s gold medal winning team at the 2011 Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey, but you would be really hard pressed to find anyone in the general public that remembers her time at the U of S. Actually, it is a safe bet that a number of the current members of the Huskies women’s hockey team likely don’t know who George is.

    As a rookie, Willoughby scored the double overtime winner in the series deciding Game 3 of the 2014 Canada West championship series against the U of Regina Cougars, and she was the U Sports rookie of the year. Those accomplishments help to further keep her in the public consciousness.

    Here is hoping the momentum she created at this year’s Winter Universiade can keep rolling.

Dach should give Blades an added draw

The Blades recalled Kirby Dach from midget AAA.

    Fans of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades had to be happy to hear on Wednesday that Kirby Dach would be joining the club for the rest of the season.

    Dach, who turned 16 in January, was selected by the Blades in the first round and second overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. The Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., product has appeared in four games on a call up basis with the Blades and has collected an assist and an even rating in the plus-minus department.

    Due to a huge amount of injuries, the Blades recalled Dach from the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers midget AAA team on an emergency basis for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs. In 22 games with the Rangers, Dach had six goals and 20 assists.

    The skilled forward, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 170 pounds, recorded 14 goals and 21 assists in 34 games last season playing as an underage player with the Rangers midget AAA squad. Hockey Alberta, Fort Saskatchewan Minor Hockey and the WHL all worked together to accommodate the Blades request to call up Dach.

    In his four appearances with the Blades, Dach dressed for two home games, and spectators generally came away with good impressions. He will be a player that fans will be watching.

    During the 2014-15 campaign in the bantam AAA ranks, Dach turned heads netting 29 goals and 71 assists in 33 regular season games with the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers squad at that level.

    Besides the addition of Dach, right-winger Mason McCarty returns to the Blades lineup after having been out with a lower body injury since late last November. He last dressed for the Blades on Nov. 25, 2016 in their 3-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Blades (21-26-5-1) return to action Friday when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors (32-15-7-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Back in the Express with the Leschyshyns

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a big feature story on the Leschyshyn family.

    The story features former NHLer Curtis Leschyshyn watching 17-year-old son, Jake, and 15-year-old daughter, Anna, follow in his footsteps. Jake is a standout centre with the WHL’s Regina Pats, while Anna has been turning heads as a forward with the Saskatoon Stars of the SFMAAAHL.

    The story on the Leschyshyn family 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.