Dmytriw sees Giants through to force Game 7

Captain nets third period winner in 4-2 victory over Raiders

Jared Dmytriw, left, celebrates scoring the winner for the Giants.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – It’s true thanks to Jared Dmytriw.
    The WHL Championship is heading to a series deciding Game 7 for the first time since 2014.

    On Sunday in Game 6 of the WHL final, Dmytriw’s Vancouver Giants, who were facing elimination, were locked in a 2-2 draw with the host Prince Albert Raiders heading into the third period at the Art Hauser Centre.

    At the 3:40 mark of the third, Dmytriw, who is the Giants captain, backhanded home the rebound of a shot taken by linemate Lukas Svejkovsky to give Vancouver a 3-2 lead. That tally held up as the winner as the Giants pulled out a 4-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the Raiders 2,580 seat home rink.

    With the win, the Giants tie the best-of-seven series 3-3. A winner take all Game 7 for the Ed Chynoweth Cup and the WHL title is set for 7 p.m. local time Monday at the Art Hauser Centre.

David Tendeck stopped 36 shots in goal for the Giants.

    Vancouver was down 3-1 in the series before rallying back to force a Game 7.

    The last WHL final to go to a series deciding Game 7 came back in 2014, when the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Portland Winterhawks to take the league crown. Edmonton moved on to win the Memorial Cup.

    Dmytriw, who is from Craven, Sask., was pumped to score the winner on Sunday.

    “It was unbelievable,” said Dmytriw. “To get the lead at that point in the game was huge.

    “Then, we kind of locked it down. I thought the team played well down the stretch.”

    At first, things didn’t start well for the Giants.

    Just 53 seconds into the game, Raiders power forward Parker Kelly shot down the right wing, cut to the front of the Vancouver goal, took a shot and banged home his own rebound to give the host side a 1-0 edge.

Davis Koch scored two goals on Sunday for the Giants.

    The Giants weren’t shaken by the early Raiders goal. Overage winger Davis Koch and left-winger Owen Hardy netted singles to give Vancouver a 2-1 advantage in the opening frame.

Dmytriw was pleased with how his squad bounced back after falling behind early.

    “It has kind of been the identity of our group this whole year is to bounce back,” said Dmytriw. “We knew coming into tonight whether they got the first one or we got the first one we weren’t going to change our game.

    “We were going to stick to our game plan, and I was proud of the way the boys handled that adversity early and bounced back.”

    Before the first period ended, the Raiders evened things up at 2-2, when Kelly netted his second of the game with 32.2 seconds remaining in the frame.

Parker Kelly (#27) sets to pop home a rebound for a Raiders goal.

    The two sides proceeded to skate through a scoreless second period setting the stage for Dmytriw to net the winner for the Giants in the third.

    Koch potted his second goal of the contest with 14.2 seconds remaining in the third to seal the Giants victory.

    Ian Scott turned away 23-of-26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. David Tendeck stopped 36 shots in a sensational outing to pick up the win in goal for the Giants.

    “I thought we were OK outside of a couple of things in our D-zone that could have been better,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “I thought we missed a couple of assignments.
    “We weren’t as good as we could have been. They played heavy. We can be better in our own end, and that will help us out offensively.”

Raiders fans cheer on Parker Kelly’s first goal.

    Giants head coach Michael Dyck was pleased with the resiliency of his team.

    “I’m proud of the way we’ve played,” said Dyck. “Coming into a building that is not easy to play in, but I think we fed of the energy early.

    “I like the way we responded after giving up a goal in the first minute. I thought we played solid from there.”

    After the Giants went ahead 3-2, Kelly had a huge chance in front of the Vancouver goal to net the equalizer, but he was stoned by Tendeck.
    Looking back on the contest, Kelly thought his team might have had a bit of a lull after he scored the game’s first goal.
    “I thought our start was good,” said Kelly. “Maybe, we kind of let our foot off the gas pedal.

    “We can’t be doing that.”

Aliaksei Protas jets up the right wing for the Raiders.

    The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Vancouver finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-15-3-2 mark and was rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    When the Giants fell behind 3-1 in the series, they faced a tough challenge in attempting to pull even. After winning two straight, Koch was pumped to see his WHL career get extended for a second time.

    “It is nice to stave off elimination in those two games,” said Koch. “I look forward to tomorrow in Game 7.”

    In Monday’s Game 7, the Raiders will be facing elimination for the first time in the post-season. Still, Raiders captain Brayden Pachal is looking forward to playing a winner take all contest.

    “It is something you dream of your whole life,” said Pachal. “It is time for us to take control of that opportunity.”

    The winner of Game 7 on Monday will earn a berth to the Memorial Cup, and this year’s CHL championship tournament starts Friday and run to May 26 in Halifax, N.S.

The Giants celebrate an empty-net goal from Davis Koch.

    In order to get to that point, the Giants are trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win the WHL final since the Victoria Cougars pulled off that trick in 1981 against the Calgary Wranglers.
    “We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” said Dyck. “We didn’t think about winning three games when we were down.

    “We thought about winning one. It was an opportunity to come back into here, and we just wanted to keep moving forward from there.”
    Habscheid has faith that his players will find a way to prevail in Game 7.

    “This is a special group that I coach here,” said Habscheid. “It is a great bunch of guys.

    “We treated Game 5 like it was Game 7. We treated Game 6 today like it was Game 7. We will treat Game 7 like it is Game 7.

    “We’re fine. If I was going anywhere, I’d take these 20 guys with me. They are great kids, they’re winners, and we like our chances tomorrow.”

Storm romps to 8-3 OHL title clinching victory

    A five-goal surge in the second period powered the Guelph Storm to an Ontario Hockey League Championship series clinching victory.

    On Sunday before 5,005 spectators at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, the host Storm fell behind 2-0 to the visiting Ottawa 67’s heading into the first intermission.

    The Storm exploded for five straight goals to start the second period to go ahead 5-2 and cruised to an 8-3 victory in Game 6 of the OHL final.

    With the win, the Storm took the best-of-seven series 4-2. Ottawa won the first two games of the series before Guelph closed things out with four straight victories.

    Dmitri Samorukov and Isaac Ratcliffe both scored twice for the Storm, while Cedric Ralph, Nick Suzuki, Domenico Commisso and Keegan Stevenson had singles. Commisso’s goal was scored into an empty net, when the 67’s pulled their goalie for an extra attacker while down 6-3 in the third period.

    Noel Hoefenmayer, Kody Clark and Sasha Chmelevski had singles for the 67’s.

    Anthony Popovich turned away 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Storm. Cedrick Andree turned away 31-of-38 shots to take the loss in goal for the 67’s.

    The 67’s were without star goaltender Michael DiPietro, who was injured in Ottawa’s 4-3 victory on home ice in Game 2. DiPietro is reported to have a high ankle sprain.
    Suzuki was named the MVP of the OHL playoffs posting 16 goals and 26 assists appearing all of his team’s 24 post-season games.

    The 67’s topped the OHL regular season standings with a 50-12-4-2 record and were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The Storm finished eighth overall in the OHL’s regular season with a 40-18-6-4 mark.

    Guelph advances to play for the CHL title in the Memorial Cup tournament, which starts Friday and runs to May 26 in Halifax, N.S.

    The Memorial Cup field includes the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the host Mooseheads.

    The Storm opens play at the Memorial Cup on Saturday taking on the Huskies.

    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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Giants gut out 4-3 win over Raiders, stay alive in WHL final

Davis Koch scored for the Giants on Friday.

    The Vancouver Giants won on plain old guts.

    On Friday night, the Giants pulled out all the stops to pull out a 4-3 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders in a fire wagon style hockey contest in Game 5 of the WHL Championship series at the Langley Events Centre. With the win, the Giants cut the Raiders lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.

    Game 6 is set for Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. If a Game 7 is needed, it will be held on Monday at 7 p.m. local time at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Friday’s game was a contest where Giants could have easily been watching the Raiders celebrate at centre ice with the WHL championship trophy - the Ed Chynoweth Cup. The two clubs didn’t put on the greatest display of defence, and there could have been way more goals in the game had it not been for the play of Raiders star netminder Ian Scott and Giants standout goalie David Tendeck.

    When the dust settled, the Giants were able to give a final salute to the 5,033 spectators in attendance among a joyous atmosphere for the home side. The Giants won because they played their most desperate game of the series, where the desperation could have been costly too.

Dylan Plouffe scored the Giants fourth goal on Friday.

    The Giants broke through on the scoreboard first at the 7:42 mark of the first period, when left-winger Brayden Watts fired home the rebound of a shot taken by linemate Jadon Joseph.

    The Raiders evened things up at 1-1 at the 10:44 mark of the first, when import left-winger Aliaksei Protas fired home the rebound from a shot taken by linemate Sean Montgomery.

    In the final seconds of the opening frame, the Giants had a golden chance to go ahead off a set play on an offensive zone faceoff. Vancouver won the draw to star offensive defenceman Bowen Byram, but he fired a shot wide of the goal.

    The two sides proceeded to engage in a wild and wide open second period.

    Just 2:45 into the frame, Tendeck got crossed up trying to give the puck to one of his defenceman causing the puck to be turned over. Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason passed the puck out to standout overage centre Dante Hannoun, and he fired a shot past Tendeck to give the visitors a 2-1 advantage.

    Only 50 seconds later, the Giants evened things up at 2-2, when Byram fired home a shot from the left slot in the Prince Albert zone after taking a nice set up pass from Joseph.

Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist for the Giants.

    Vancouver went ahead 3-2 at the 9:24 mark of the second, when overage forward Davis Koch fired home the rebound of a shot taken by defenceman Seth Bafaro.
    The Giants expanded their edge to 4-2 at the 11:13 mark of the second, when rearguard Dylan Plouffe blew home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle.

    With 4:06 remaining in the third, the Raiders cut the Giants lead to 4-3, when star overage centre Noah Gregor received a pass from Ozzy Wiesblatt and lifted a backhander past Tendeck.

    Before the second ended, Gregor had a chance to tie things up on a breakaway, but he rang his shot off the post of the Vancouver goal.

    In the third, play was tilted inside the Vancouver zone as Tendeck stood on his head to preserve a one-goal win for his team. The Raiders had a 15-5 edge in shots on goal in the frame.

    Tendeck had to make a blocker stop off Raiders star left-winger Cole Fonstad. The Giants puck stopper also turned away a dangerous redirection chance from Montgomery.

    There was a nervous pause when Tendeck got the glove on a long off-speed shoot in that bounced off the ice from five feet in front of the Vancouver goal.
    The NHL Entry Draft selection of the Arizona Coyotes stopped 37 shots to keep his team’s season alive.

David Tendeck made 37 saves in goal for the Giants on Friday.

    Scott, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, turned away 26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.
    Leason finished the game with two assists and has scored points in his last eight consecutive game netting seven goals and six assists over that time.
    The Raiders had offensive defenceman Max Martin back in the lineup after he missed two games after taking an awkward fall in the boards in the Raiders 4-0 win in Game 2 of the WHL final in Prince Albert.

    Byram and Watts each had a goal and an assist for the Giants, while Joseph finished with two helpers.
    Saskatoon product Dawson Holt had an assist for the Giants in their win.

    The excitement of Friday’s game was something you would come to expect from the WHL’s two top clubs in the regular season.

    The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Vancouver finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-15-3-2 mark and was rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The winner of the WHL final will earn a berth to the Memorial Cup, and this year’s CHL championship tournament is being held May 17 to 26 in Halifax, N.S.

Dawson Holt had an assist for the Giants on Friday.

    The Giants are trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win the WHL final since the Victoria Cougars pulled the trick in 1981 against the Calgary Wranglers.
    While desperation allowed Vancouver to pull out the win, the Giants will be hard pressed to win two games in similar fashion in Prince Albert in order to capture their first WHL title since 2006.

    The Raiders are in all likelihood coming out of Friday’s game thinking they should have won. Their confidence of locking up the series in front of their adoring fans has to be sky high.

    The Giants still face a daunting task of trying to push the series to a Game 7.

    The Raiders are still in perfect position to capture their first WHL title since 1985, and odds are still in their favour that they will prevail.

Storm win away from Memorial Cup after 4-3 win over 67’s

    The Guelph Storm are a victory away from earning a berth in the Memorial Cup after winning their third straight game in the Ontario Hockey League Championship series.

    On Friday, the visiting Stormed posted a 4-3 win over the host Ottawa 67’s in Game 5 of the OHL final played before 8,855 spectators at TD Place.

    With the win, the Storm take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, which they trailed 2-0 at one time. They will try to close the series out in Game 6 in Guelph on Sunday.

    Tye Felhaber gave the 67’s a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Guelph exited the opening frame holding a 2-1 edge on goals from Cedric Ralph and Isaac Ratcliffe.

    Early in the second, Alexey Toropchenko scored for the Storm to give the visitors a 3-1 edge. Sasha Chmelevski replied for the 67’s just under three minute later to cut the Storm lead to 3-2.

    Nate Schnarr tallied for the Storm to give the visitors a 4-2 edge heading into the second intermission.

    Felhaber scored his second of the contest in the third for the 67’s to cut the Storm lead to 4-3, but the host side couldn’t find the equalizer.

    Anthony Popovich turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Storm. Cedrick turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the 67’s.

    The 67’s were without star goaltender Michael DiPietro, who was injured in Ottawa’s 4-3 victory on home ice in Game 2. DiPietro is reported to have a high ankle sprain.

    The Memorial Cup tournament for the CHL title runs from May 17 to 26 in Halifax, N.S.

Huskies hold 3-2 edge in QMJHL final over Mooseheads

    The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies will try to close out the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Championship series on Saturday to capture their second league title in the last four years.

    The Huskies took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series downing the Halifax Mooseheads 6-3 in Game 5 on Thursday before 3,428 spectators at Arena Iamgold in Rouyn-Noranda. Game 6 of the series is set for Saturday in Halifax.

    Game 5 contained some big momentum swings. The Huskies took a 4-0 lead in the first period, but the Mooseheads cut the gap to 4-2 heading into the first intermission.

    Halifax scored early in the third to trim the Huskies lead to 4-3. The Huskies sealed victory scoring two empty-net goals inside of the final minute of the third period.

    Rafael Harvey-Pinard netted a hat trick for the Huskies, which included the two empty-net goals. Peter Abbandonato, Jakub Lauko and William Cyr scored singles for Rouyn-Noranda.

    Arnaud Durandeau, Raphael Lavoie and Samuel Asselin replied with singles for the Mooseheads.

Samuel Harvey turned away 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies, who last won the QMJHL title in 2016. Alexis Gravel turned away 39 of 43 shots to take the setback in goal for the Mooseheads.

    As Halifax is playing host to the Memorial Cup from May 17 to 26, both clubs already have berths locked up in the CHL championship tournament.

    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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Leason, Scott put Raiders a win away from a party like 1985

Brett Leason scored the only goal of Game 4 of the WHL final.

    Brett Leason and Ian Scott took a big step towards cementing their respective statuses as Prince Albert Raiders legends.

    On Wednesday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., Leason scored the only goal in Game 4 of the WHL Championship series against the Vancouver Giants and Ian Scott made 36 saves to give the Raiders a 1-0 victory before 4,626 spectators.

    With the win, Raiders took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Raiders will try to close things out and win their first WHL title since 1985 in Game 5 on Friday at the Langley Events Centre with a 7:30 p.m. start local time.

    After winning the WHL crown in 1985, the Raiders moved on to capture the Memorial Cup.

    If the Raiders win on Friday, they will be flying home to Prince Albert with the Ed Chynoweth Cup in hand as WHL champions on Saturday.

    The Raiders and Giants entered the third period of Wednesday’s game locked in a 0-0 tie.

    The Raiders broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:21 mark of the third, when defensive defenceman Jeremy Masella and import left-winger Aliaksei Protas combined to spring Leason into the Vancouver zone on a breakaway.

    Leason snapped a shot on net that Giants standout netminder David Tendeck got a piece of but couldn’t prevent from entering the Vancouver goal.  That tally stood up as the winner in a 1-0 Raiders victory.
    During the regular season, Leason broke out to achieve star status leading the Raiders in scoring with 36 goals and 53 assists for 89 points appearing in 55 games. The Calgary, Alta., product, who played for Canada at the last world juniors, posted a plus-55 rating in the plus-minus department.

Ian Scott made 36 saves to pick up a shutout in Game 4 of the WHL final.

    With his goal on Wednesday, Leason has recorded points in his last seven straight games posting seven goals and four assists over that time. In his 19 appearances with the Raiders in this post-season, Leason leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points, while posting a plus-nine rating.

    Scott stoned the Giants, when they played what was their best game of the WHL Championship series.

    The shutout was Scott’s second of the WHL final and fifth of the current post-season. The Calgary, Alta., product, who also played for Canada at the last world juniors, became just the fifth goalie in the history of the WHL to record five or more shutouts in one post-season.

    Scott, who has an NHL entry-level contract signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, has had a sensational regular season with the Raiders posting a 38-8-3 record, a 1.83 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and eight shutouts.

    His goals against average, save percentage and shutout totals were all regular season club records.
    Scott has appeared in all of the Raiders 20 playoff games to date posting a 15-5 record, a 1.83 goals against average and a .931 save percentage to go with his five shutouts.

    With Wednesday’s win, the Raiders match their team record for most wins in one WHL post-season at 15 first set back in 1986. The Raiders played through a 10-game round robin under the format that was used in the 1986 WHL post-season.

    After the Raiders posted a convincing 8-2 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday night at the Langley Events Centre, the Giants came out with a lot of fire in the first period of Wednesday’s contest holding a 15-9 edge in shots on goal. The hosts’ biggest chance to go ahead came on a short-handed breakaway by star overage centre Davis Koch late in the frame.

Brett Leason has had a stellar season for the Raiders.

    Kock tried to pick a corner of the Prince Albert net, but he was turned away due to a shoulder save by Scott.

    The second period was fairly evenly played with the Raiders holding a 12-10 edge in shots on goal.

    Vancouver’s best chance to score in the frame came from import centre Milos Roman, who fired a shot just over top of the Prince Albert net on a breakaway opportunity.

    Raiders import defenceman Sergei Sapego had a breakaway late in the second, but his shot was smothered up by Tendeck.

    Early in the third, Scott made a sprawling pad save on Giants winger Jadon Joseph to keep the game scoreless.

    That set the stage for Leason to score the game’s only goal.

    Scott continued to shut the door after the Raiders took the lead. He lunged across the crease of the Prince Albert goal to rob Giants defenceman Alex Kannok Leipert with a glove save.

    The Giants held an 11-5 edge in shots on goal in the third period.

    Tendeck turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Giants in a valiant effort.

    The Raiders won Wednesday’s game without the services of offensive defenceman Max Martin, who sat out with an undisclosed injury for a second straight contest. Martin was injured in the second period of the Raiders 4-0 win in Game 2 last Saturday, when he took an awkward fall into the boards.

    Leason and Scott are a couple of the big cogs who have helped the Raiders have a magical campaign. The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Entering the current post-season, the Raiders hadn’t won a playoff series since 2005.

Ian Scott is going to go down as an all-time great in Raiders history.

    Vancouver finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-15-3-2 mark and was rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. Coming into the current post-season, the Giants hadn’t won a playoff series since 2010.

    With the Raiders having won three straight games in the WHL final, the Giants are facing elimination for the first time in this year’s post-season. They face the daunting task of needing to win three straight games to win the WHL title.

    If needed, Games 6 and 7 of the WHL final will be held Sunday and Monday respectively back at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    The Giants aren’t finished, but they face a major challenge just to win on Friday to extend the series to a Game 6.

    The Raiders and their faithful back in Prince Albert can almost taste and already envision their biggest victory celebration since 1985.

Storm holds off 67’s, evens OHL final 2-2

    The Guelph Storm built a big lead and then held off a furious comeback attempt by the Ottawa 67’s to even the Ontario Hockey League Championship series.

    On Wednesday at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, the Storm and 67’s kept 4,983 spectators on the edge of their seats. After defenceman Hudson Wilson gave the 67’s a 1-0 lead at the 4:48 mark of the first period, the Storm responded with four straight goals to take a 4-1 advantage at the 13:34 mark of the second period.

    The 67’s tried to mount a rally, but the Storm ultimately held on for a 5-4 victory. With the win, the Storm evens the best-of-seven OHL final 2-2.

Game 5 is set for Friday in Ottawa.

    After Wilson gave the 67’s the early lead, Nate Schnarr and Alexey Toropchenko replied for Guelph to give the host side a 2-1 advantage heading into the first intermission.

    Toropchenko potted his second of the contest at the 6:46 mark of the second period, and Nick Suzuki netted his 15^th goal of the post-season at the 13:34 mark of the second to put the Storm up 4-1.

    Lucas Chiodo scored for the 67’s with 1:38 remaining in the second to cut the Storm lead to 4-2.

    At the 2:28 mark of the third, Liam Hawel tallied for the Storm on the power play to increase the host side’s edge to 5-2.

    Tye Felhaber scored a power-play goal for the 67’s with 3:55 remaining in the third to trim Guelph’s lead to 5-3. With less than five seconds to play in the third, Kyle Maksimovich scored for the 67’s when they had their netminder pulled to round out the 5-4 final in favour of the Storm.

    Anthony Popovich stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Storm. Cedrick Andree turned away 19 shots to take the setback in the 67’s goal.

    The 67’s were without star goaltender Michael DiPietro, who was injured in Ottawa’s 4-3 victory on home ice in Game 2. DiPietro is reported to have a high ankle sprain.

    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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Tigers deliver win over Giants in Ridley’s 3,900th game

James Hamblin had three points for the Tigers on Wednesday.

    The Medicine Hat Tigers ensured a milestone night for team’s iconic play-by-play voice would be a memorable one.

    On Wednesday before 2,791 spectators at the Canalta Centre in Medicine Hat, the Tigers slipped past the B.C. Division leading Vancouver Giants 4-3 in a back-and-forth WHL regular season clash. Captain James Hamblin had two goals and an assist to power the Tigers to their fourth straight win.

Medicine Hat has won all four of its outings since returning to action from the WHL Christmas break.

    Wednesday’s game marked the 3,900^th Tigers contest called by Bob Ridley, who is the team’s legendary play-by-play voice. Ridley is the only play-by-play voice the Tigers have had as they play through their 49^th season of existence.

    No one is close to Ridley’s mark for games called as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team at any level.

    To date, Ridley has called 3,474 of the Tigers 3,475 regular season games. His total also includes the one standings tiebreaker game the club appeared in, all of the Tigers 405 games in the WHL playoffs and all 20 of their contests in the Memorial Cup tournament.

    The Tigers have appeared in the Memorial Cup in 1973, 1987, 1988, 2004 and 2007 and won the event in 1987 and 1988.

Bob Ridley called his 3,900 game for the Tigers.

    As it stands already, someone could call 80 games on average between the regular season and playoffs each season for 48 seasons and still fall short of Ridley’s current total of 3,900 games called.
    For most of his broadcasting career, Ridley drove the team bus as well. He gave up those duties about four years back.

    If the Tigers make the WHL playoffs this season, Ridley would be targeted to reach 4,000 games near the end of next season, which would be the Tigers 50^th anniversary campaign.

    Wednesday’s victory allowed the Tigers to improve to 21-15-1-2, while the Giants, who still lead the B.C. Division, fell to 23-11-2 with a third consecutive loss.

    At the moment, the Tigers hold the first wildcard position in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 45 standings points. They hold a lead of seven points over the Calgary Hitmen (17-16-3-1) and nine points over the Brandon Wheat Kings (15-14-3-3).

    The Hitmen have two games in hand on the Tigers, and the Wheat Kings have four games in hand on Medicine Hat. At the moment, Brandon is sitting out of a playoff spot.

    Hamblin opened the game’s scoring at the 15:14 of the first period to allow the Tigers to head into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.

    Early in the second period, the Giants scored two goals 22 second apart from each other to go ahead 2-1 coming off the sticks of Davis Koch and Justin Sourdif. Following Sourdif’s goal, the Tigers called a timeout to settling things down on their side.

    With 5:15 remaining in the second, Hamblin scored his second of the night to force a 2-2 tie after the Tigers caused a turnover on the forecheck. Just 33 seconds after Hamblin tied the game, centre Elijah Brown potted his sixth goal of the season to give the Tigers a 3-2 edge.

Hayden Ostir scored the winning goal for the Tigers

    At the 8:48 mark of the third, right-winger Hayden Ostir scored for the Tigers to give the host side a 4-2 edge. Hamblin picked up an assist on Ostir’s goal.

    The Giants didn’t go away. With 8:21 remaining in the third, Lukas Svejkovsky scored for the Giants to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3.
    Vancouver pushed hard the rest of the way in search of the equalizer, but Tigers veteran 19-year-old goaltender Jordan Hollett, who was playing in his 100^th career WHL regular season game, slammed the door at that point.

    Hollett made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. David Tendeck turned away 32 shots to take the setback in goal for the Giants.

    The Tigers return to action on Friday, when they host the Kootenay Ice at 7:30 p.m. local time at the Canalta Centre.

    The Giants resume game action on Friday, when they travel to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes at 7 p.m. local time at the Enmax Centre.

Shirley named assistant captain for Canada

Grace Shirley will be an assistant captain for Canada.

    Saskatoon Stars captain Grace Shirley was placed on the leadership group for Canada’s under-18 women’s team.

    On Monday, the 17-year-old centre was named an assistant captain for the team. Shirley is playing in her fourth full season in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League, and she leads the circuit in scoring with 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points in the current campaign.

    The Saskatoon product is the third all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL piling up 89 goals and 63 assists for 152 points in 100 career regular season games.

    Defender Maggie MacEachern, who is from Brooklin, Ont., will serve as Canada’s captain, and defender Alexie Guay, who is from Magog, Que., will be an assistant captain.

    Canada opens play at the under-18 women’s worlds in Obihiro, Japan, on Saturday against Sweden. The under-18 women’s worlds run through to Jan. 13.

    Shirley is playing in the under-18 women’s worlds for the second consecutive year for Canada.

    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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Oil Kings spoil robbery attempt by Flodell

Blades goalie makes 43 saves in 3-2 OT loss

Logan Flodell made 43 saves for the Blades.

    Logan Flodell almost singlehandedly ran the Saskatoon Blades winning streak to three games.

    The 19-year-old netminder stood on his head making 43 saves, but the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings exited Wednesday’s WHL contest at the SaskTel Centre with a 3-2 overtime victory. With the Blades holding a 2-1 lead, Oil Kings left-winger David Koch netted the equalizer at the 5:32 mark of the third period.

    He proceeded to pot the winner just 11 seconds into overtime on an odd man rush to deliver the visitors to victory.

    The Oil Kings started the contest by pinning the Blades in their own end and getting the first eight shots on goal. Flodell slammed the door to ensure the game remained scoreless.

    Momentum changed near the midway point of the frame, when the Blades scored twice on the power play with their first two shots on goal in the contest to go up 2-0.

    The first tally was a tick-tack-toe passing play that saw right-winger Josh Paterson tap home a backdoor feed from 16-year-old rookie Michael Farren. Just a minute after that goal, 16-year-old rookie right-winger Chase Wouters wired home his fourth of the season to give the hosts a two-goal edge.

    The Blades carried the play from that point until the momentum changed again, when Oil Kings Russian defenceman Anatolii Elizarov fired home a point shot through a screen with 45.2 seconds to play in the first period to cut Saskatoon’s lead to 2-1.

    The Oil Kings poured it on in the second earning four power-play chances and outshooting the Blades 19-7. Flodell stood his ground to ensure the hosts went into the second intermission with a one-goal edge, which also set the stage for Koch’s heroics.

The Oil Kings celebrate Davis Koch’s equalizer goal.

    Patrick Dea turned away 15 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

    With the win, Edmonton improved to 15-15-3 to sit seventh overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and four points in front of the ninth place Blades, whose record moved to 13-18-3.

    Saskatoon sits a point behind the Brandon Wheat Kings (13-14-4) for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. The Wheat Kings have three games in hand on the Blades. Those two teams face each other in a home-and-home series before embarking on the league’s Christmas break.

    The Blades and Wheat Kings play Friday in Brandon and go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Saturday’s contest is also the Blades “Teddy Bear Toss” game.

Blades deal captain to Spokane to get bigger

Blades captain Wyatt Sloboshan was traded to Spokane.

    At the conclusion of Wednesday’s game, the Blades dealt 19-year-old captain Wyatt Sloboshan to the Spokane Chiefs in a trade involving four players.

    Sloboshan, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 184 pounds, was sent to Spokane along with 18-year-old defenceman Nolan Reid, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 175 pounds, and a third round pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft for 19-year-old defenceman Evan Fiala, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 205 pounds, overage forward Markson Bechtold, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 190 pounds, and a conditional sixth round WHL Bantam Draft selection.

    Sloboshan, who didn’t play Wednesday due to a lower body injury, has four goals and 12 assists in 30 games. Reid has played in all of the Blades 34 games this season collecting no goals and 11 assists.

    Fiala, who is a Saskatoon area product, has two goals and seven assists in 32 games. Bechtold has five goals and three assists in 13 games. The additions of Fiala and Bechtold give the Blades a boost in the size department.

    Fiala’s younger sister, Joelle, is a standout forward with the Saskatoon Stars of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.

    Bechtold’s addition gave the Blades four overage players. In order to get down to the league limit of three overagers, they placed centre Kolten Olynek on waivers. Olynek had seven goals and six assists this season playing 31 regular season games with both the Blades and the Prince Albert Raiders. The Blades originally claimed Olynek via waivers in early October.

Back in the Express with feature on Pats Hobbs

Connor Hobbs is having a stellar season with the Pats.

    I was back in the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature story on Regina Pats offensive defenceman Connor Hobbs.

    Hobbs, who is from Saskatoon, is having a stellar 19-year-old season piling up 13 goals, 23 assists and a plus-19 rating in the plus-minus department.
    He went into this season already having an NHL entry-level contract signed with the Washington Capitals.

    This season, Hobbs has helped the Pats jump out to a 21-2-6 start.

    The only disappointment Hobbs has suffered is the fact he wasn’t invited to the main training camp for Canada’s world junior team.

    The story on Hobbs 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.