McNabb’s highlight reel goals delivers victory to Blades

Cyle McNabb, left, celebrates scoring a goal with linemate Zach Huber.

    REGINA, Sask. – For one night, Cyle McNabb looked like the second coming of Bernie Federko.

    The recently acquired 18-year-old left winger scored two highlight reel goals on Saturday to help deliver the visiting Saskatoon Blades to a 4-2 victory over the Pats in Regina before 5,444 spectators at the Brandt Centre. The outburst marked the first two-goal game McNabb has experienced in his WHL career.

    For a short moment, he mirror what Federko once did for this Blades suiting up at forward for the major junior squad from 1973 to 1976 in his legendary hockey career.

    McNabb, who is a sophomore from Winnipeg, Man., has appeared in 102 career regular season games with the Vancouver Giants, Kootenay Ice and Blades to date recording four goals and three assists.

Cyle McNabb had his first two-goal night in the WHL on Saturday.

    He now has three goals in his first four appearances with the Blades. The Blades acquired McNabb in a trade with the Ice on Jan. 7 in exchange for 18-year-old forward Brandon Machado and a fifth round selection in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft.

    “Obviously, it was a good night,” said McNabb about the outburst. “Our line was going the whole night, and it paid off in the end.

    “In the end, we are happy to get two points, and we’re just going to try and keep it rolling.”

    The Pats, who are going through a major rebuild, gave the Blades everything they could handle with an extreme hardworking effort.

    Despite being outshot 16-13 in the first period, the Blades exited the frame holding a 1-0 lead, when veteran centre Eric Florchuk tucked home at power-play goal between the legs of Pats netminder Dean McNabb.

    Early in the second, McNabb, who was playing on a line centred by Tristen Robins and Zach Huber playing right wing, went to work. 

The Blades recently acquired Cyle McNabb from the Kootenay Ice.

    McNabb collected the puck at a bad angle at the right side of the Regina net and proceeded to snipe home a shot to the far side of the Pats goal.

    “Robby (Robins) got stepped up on, and he got a big hit,” said McNabb, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 191 pounds. “The puck was lying there.

    “Me and Hubs (Huber) had a two-on-one to the net, and I just saw the far side and I took it. It went in.”

    The Blades extended their lead to 3-0 with 70 seconds to play in the second, when Florchuk tucked home a backhand shot on a breakaway.

    The Pats proceeded to fight back early in the third. With the Blades working on the power play, Pats right-winger Duncan Pierce was hacked down while skating into the Saskatoon zone on a breakaway by a Blades player resulting in a penalty shot.

    Pierce scored on a shuffle move on the penalty shot to cut Saskatoon’s lead to 3-1 at the 2:30 mark of the third.

Eric Florchuk (#17) scored twice for the Blades on Saturday night.

    That set the stage for McNabb to step up again a little over three-and-a-half minutes later. With the Blades applying pressure in the Regina zone, McNabb got a hold of the puck, danced around Pats goalie in Davidson, Sask., product Dean McNabb and dumped the puck into an empty cage.

    Cyle McNabb gave credit again to his line for helping him out on his goal that gave the Blades a 4-1 edge.

    “That was nice too,” said McNabb. “Again, Robby (Tristen Robins) made a great play and banked it off the back wall.

    “I just put it in the net.”

    Pats 18-year-old rookie right-winger Riley Krane scored his 10^th goal of the season on a determined short-handed effort with 8:33 remaining in the third period to cut the Blades lead to 4-2. 

Duncan Pierce (#22) celebrates scoring on a penalty shot for the Pats.

    Krane was stopped initially on a breakaway, picked up the puck behind the Saskatoon net and came out in front to score.

    That tally wasn’t enough to spark a comeback for the host side.

    Nolan Maier turned away 32 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (28-13-6). Dean McNabb stopped 28 shots to take the setback in goal for the Pats (12-33-1-1).

    Maier was pleased with how his teammates played in front of him on Saturday. He noted that helped him have a good night.

    “A lot of the shots our forwards and the D (defence) kept them to the perimeter,” said Maier. “I think it kind of helped me out getting settled into the game nicely.

Nolan Maier makes one of his 32 saves for the Blades.

    “We came out with two points, and that is all we could ask for.”

    Maier was happy to see Cyle McNabb have a great game for “The Bridge City Bunch.”

    “I think it is really good to see him producing here, and we are lucky to have him,” said Maier.

    Now having played four games with the Blades, McNabb believes he has settled in.

    “Ever since I got here, everyone has been very welcoming of me,” said McNabb. “All the guys are great. The coaches are great.

    “Everyone in Saskatoon is great. They made the transition really easy. I’m happy to be here.”

    He is looking forward to playing the rest of the campaign with the blue and gold.

    “It is exciting,” said McNabb. “They have a great group of guys here, a really good hockey team.

The Blades celebrate their victory over the Pats on Saturday night.

    “I’m just excited to be here, and I am going to do whatever I can to help the team get wins until the end of the year.”

    The Blades return to action when they travel to Swift Current this coming Friday to face the Broncos at 7 p.m. at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

    The Pats return to action this coming Friday when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    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’ Davidson still enjoys wins over Pats

Rearguard also holds much respect for former team

Dawson Davidson had three assists for the Blades on Friday night.

    Dawson Davidson doesn’t hold any grudges, but he still enjoys beating his former team.
   On Friday before 3,699 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the overage defenceman picked up assists on the Saskatoon Blades first three goals as they dumped the Regina Pats 6-2. Davidson was a member of the Pats, when they advanced to the WHL championship series in 2017 falling to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

    He was traded by the Pats to the Blades on January 8, 2018 in a blockbuster deal to help the Regina side to load as hosts for last May’s Memorial Cup.

    Davidson said he still has some motivation to show the Pats what they might be missing, but he still respects Regina’s historic major junior franchise.

The Blades celebrate a goal from Kirby Dach (#77)

    “Whenever you play a team that traded you, you have a little bit of extra jump,” said Davidson, who was a plus-one in the plus-minus department in Friday’s win. “I know a couple of guys on that team still.

    “Both their coaches coached me. I had a great time in that organization. There is no love loss, but at the same time, I’m trying to prove my worth.”

    Davidson has appeared in all of the Blades 46 games this season recording eight goals, 38 assists and a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department. The Moosomin, Sask., product said he had some breaks go his way offensively on Friday noting two of his helpers were secondary assists.

    “I don’t think I was really doing anything different,” said Davidson, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 179 pounds. “I just got a puck to the net one time.

Ryan Hughes scored the Blades second goal on Friday.

    “The other two, Kirby (Dach) and Emil (Malysjev) made some really nice passes. Some nights you get bounces. That is kind of what happened.”

    Blades head coach Mitch Love appreciates the points Davidson is able to put up, but the bench boss has really loved the effort the veteran rearguard has put towards being a better all-around player.

    “The points are there,” said Love. “The one thing he (Davidson) always wants to get better at is the defensive side of the game.

    “He has been very coachable in that regard. If he wants to give himself a good chance to play pro hockey next year as a 21-year-old, he is going to have to learn to play away from the puck. He realizes that, and he understands that and he is continuously getting better at that.”

Pats G Dean McNabb stops Blades LW Gary Haden.

    The Blades jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes scoring goals 20 seconds apart from each other as the midway point of the frame neared. Overage right-winger Max Gerlach netted his 27^th goal of the season, and speedy left-winger Ryan Hughes snipped home a low shot on a breakaway.

    Saskatoon extended its edge to 3-0 at the 4:29 mark of the second, when Dach, who is the team’s star centre, converted a backdoor feed from Malysjev, who is an import defenceman, into an open Regina cage.

Kirby Dach had a goal and an assist for the Blades.

    “Obviously, it was pretty nice,” said Dach, who hit the ice for the first time as a Blades assistant captain on Friday night and had a helper on his team’s second goal. “A guy on their team lost a stick and a glove there.

    “It was a little bit of an advantage for us in the offensive zone. Maly (Malysjev) made a great pass through the seam there to find me backdoor, and I was able to tap it in.”

    Regina battled back near the end of the second cutting the Blades lead to 3-2. Left-winger Cole Dubinsky netted Regina’s first goal, while right-winger Austin Pratt roofed a bad angled shot for the Pats second goal.

    The Blades ensured a Regina rally was not to be.

    Just 76 seconds into the third, energetic right-winger Riley McKay tipped home a point shot from defenceman Brandon Schuldhaus for a power-play goal to give the Blades a 4-2 edge.

    At the 7:41 mark of the third, the Blades struck again on the power play as captain Chase Wouters blasted home his ninth goal of the season to put the hosts up 5-2.

Chase Wouters celebrates scoring for the Blades.

    “When they scored their two goals to make it 3-2, sometimes team tighten up,” said Love. “Maybe the intermission came at the right time.

    “I really liked our shift after goals tonight whether it was them or us. We responded there, and we stayed the course. We did a good job in the third period to kind of stay the course and find more goals than them.”

    With 51.9 seconds to play in the third, 18-year-old left-winger Cyle McNabb scored his first goal as a member of the Blades since being acquired in a trade on Jan. 7 with the Kootenay Ice.

Blades RW Riley McKay fights Pats D Tyson Feist.

    While McNabb was scoring his goal, McKay was mixing things up with Pats defenceman Tyson Feist, and the two broke into a fight. The two sides threw punches for at least a good 30 seconds before the officials stepped in to break things up.

    Nolan Maier made 15 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (27-13-6). Dean McNabb turned away 28 shots to take the setback in goal for the Pats (12-31-2-1)

    The Blades and Pats go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

    While the Pats are going through a major rebuild, Davidson expects Saturday’s encounter will be hotly contested between the two sides.

    “Their fans are always there,” said Davidson. “They support them.

The Blades salute the SaskTel Centre crowd after their win on Friday.

    “They will probably be behind them. They are just a well-coached team. When you have (Dave) Struch as your head coach, you’re going to be a hard-working team.

    “They pushed back. Tonight was a pretty gritty rough game at some points. That fight was pretty unbelievable at the end, and I think that is just a sign of how competitive tomorrow is going to be.”

    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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Ridley set to call 3,900th game for Tigers

Bob Ridley has called 3,899 games for the Tigers.

    Bob Ridley is “the Dean” of major junior hockey broadcasters, and the iconic play-by-play voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers is on the verge of another longevity milestone.

    On Wednesday when the Tigers host the Vancouver Giants at 7 p.m. local time at the Canalta Centre, Ridley will call his 3,900^th game as the play-by-play voice of the Tigers. The 74-year-old is the only play-by-play voice in the history of the WHL’s Tigers, who are playing through their 49th season of existence.

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

    To date, Ridley has called 3,473 of the Tigers 3,474 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.

    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 3,899 games called.

Bob Ridley, right, calls a game at the 2007 Memorial Cup.

    For most of his broadcasting career, Ridley drove the team bus as well. He gave up those duties about four years back.
    Of course, a number of WHL followers are watching to see if Ridley will reach 4,000 games called as the Tigers play-by-play voice. If the Tigers make the WHL playoffs this season, Ridley would be targeted to reach that milestone sometime near the end of the 2019-20 campaign, which would be the Tigers 50^th anniversary season.

    At present, 3,900 is an impressive number to hit and is a moment to be observed and celebrated.

    The Tigers have won their last three straight games to improve to 20-15-1-2. In their last outing on Sunday which was Ridley’s 3,899^th game, the Tigers rallied from a 4-2 third period deficit to down the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout before 4,186 spectators at the Enmax Centre.

Ryan Jevne scored in regulation and the tiebreaking shootout for the Tigers.

    In regulation, Joel Craven scored twice for the Tigers, while Ryan Jevne and Elijah Brown has singles. Brown scored the equalizer that forced overtime with 2:02 remaining in the third period.
    Justin Hall, Nick Henry, Dylan Cozens and Jake Leschyshyn replied with singles for the Hurricanes.

    The Tigers claimed the tiebreaking shootout 2-1 after four rounds. Josh Williams and Jevne scored for the Tigers, while captain Jordy Bellerive replied for the Hurricanes.

    Jordan Hollett turned away 36 shots through 65 minutes of play and three shooters in the shootout to earn the win in goal for the Tigers. Reece Klassen stopped 31 shots over 65 minutes and two shooters in the shootout for Lethbridge as the Hurricanes record moved to 19-10-4-3.

Raiders undefeated home record comes to an end

Noah Gregor scored for the Raiders on Sunday.

    The Prince Albert Raiders saw their undefeated record at home come to an end at the hands of a hot goalie.

    On Sunday before a standing room crowd of 2,633 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders fell 2-1 to the Regina Pats despite holding a 44-13 edge in shots on goal. The Raiders threw everything including the kitchen sink at Pats netminder Dean McNabb, but the Davidson, Sask., product made 43 saves to steal the win for the visitors.

    The Raiders, who had won five straight overall, were 17-0 at home heading into that contest, and their home record fell to 17-1 with the setback. Prince Albert still leads the entire WHL with a 33-3-0-1 record.

    Logan Nijhoff and overage defenceman Liam Schioler pushed the Pats out to a 2-0 lead at the 8:01 mark of the first period.

    Raiders overage star centre Noah Gregor netted his 24^th goal of the season at the 12:37 mark of the first period to cut the Pats lead to 2-1. Prince Albert couldn’t net the equalizer after that.

    Donovan Buskey made 11 saves to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    The Raiders were 0-for-7 on the power play, while the Pats failed to score on two power-play chances.

    The Pats, who are going through a major rebuild after hosting last season’s Memorial Cup and earning a berth in the 2017 WHL Championship series, have won three straight to improve to 12-24-0-1.

    On Monday, Gregor was named the WHL player of the week for the week ending Dec. 30. In three games, he had five goals, two assists and a plus-seven rating in the plus-minus department. He has points in his last six straight games recording 10 goals and 4 assists over that stretch.

    McNabb took WHL goaltender of the week honours for his effort against the Raiders, which was his lone appearance over the past week.

    The Raiders and Pats go at it again on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

Dach breaks slump in Blades romp

Kirby Dach broke out of a scoring slump for the Blades.

    Saskatoon Blades star centre Kirby Dach put the boots to a scoring slump.

    On Sunday, Dach had a goal and two assists as the Blades thumped the Broncos 9-3 before 2,400 spectators at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current. With that outburst, Dach ended a string of where he went seven straight games without scoring a point.

    Before Sunday’s win over the Broncos, Dach’s last point came on Dec.7, when he recorded an assist in a 3-2 home ice loss at the SaskTel Centre to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors.

    Dach leads the Blades in scoring piling up 15 goals and 30 assists appearing in all of the club’s 38 regular season games to date. During his seven-game stretch of not recording a point, Dach was still playing with a lot of energy and with more of a physical edge to counter the extra attention he receives from opponents. He wasn’t rewarded for his efforts on the scoresheet.
    In 109 career regular season games, Dach has 28 goals and 73 assists for 101 points for the Blades.

    Defenceman Nolan Kneen netted and a goal and three assists, while captain Chase Wouters had a goal and two assists for the Blades. Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen, Max Gerlach, Majid Kaddoura, Riley McKay, Zach Huber and Josh Paterson all recorded singles for the Blades.

    Kaddoura’s goal was the first of his WHL career. The Chestermere, Alta., product is a 17-year-old rookie defenceman.

    Billy Sowa, Matthew Culling and Joona Kiviniemi replied with singles for the Broncos. Sowa’s tally was the first goal of his WHL career. The Calgary, Alta., product is a 16-year-old rookie defenceman.

    Nolan Maier made 12 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (22-11-5). Isaac Poulter turned away 38 shots to take the setback in goal for the majorly rebuilding Broncos (7-26-2-1).

    The two teams go at it again on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    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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Pats’ top line too much for Blades to handle

Pats captain Jake Leschyshyn tries to beat Blades goalie Dorrin Luding.

    REGINA, Sask. – Don’t tell the Regina Pats top line that this season is supposed to be a write off.

    Regina’s first line of captain Jake Leschyshyn, left-winger Nick Henry and right-winger Austin Pratt combined for five goals and three assists to help the Pats outgun the visiting Saskatoon Blades 6-5 in a WHL regular season tilt before 5,600 spectators at the Brandt Centre on Saturday night.

    That trio didn’t seem to care the Pats are stuck in a rebuilding campaign following a season where the club hosted the Memorial Cup and on the heels of the 2016-17 campaign that saw the team finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings and advanced to the league championship series falling to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Captain Jake Leschyshyn had two goals and an assist for the Pats.

    The Pats are devoid of the stars that helped them through those two special seasons outside of Leschyshyn, who has signed a NHL entry-level contract with the Las Vegas Golden Knights, and Henry, who is an NHL Entry Draft selection of the Colorado Avalanche.

    Both have spent their entire WHL playing careers with the Pats. Leschyshyn became a full-time member of the world’s oldest major junior franchise in 2015-16 campaign and Henry came on board during the 2016-17 season. They each had a pair of goals and an assist in Saturday’s win.

    It was obvious to see both have a lot emotionally invested in the Regina team with the effort they gave in Saturday’s wild 1980s style high-scoring contest, which saw the starting goalies for both squads get chased from the game.

LW Nick Henry (#21) had two goals and an assist for the Pats.

    Pratt is known for his gritty work ethic, and he has no quit now in his second campaign with the Pats having come over in a trade with the Red Deer Rebels last season. The Lakeville, Minn., product had a goal and an assist to help the Regina cause on Saturday.

    As a unit, they give the Pats enough to potentially play the role of spoiler on any given night. They did just that helping the Pats improve to 5-12 while the Blades fell to 10-7-2.

    The Blades struck first at the 3:12 mark of the opening frame with a power-play goal coming from overage right-winger Max Gerlach, who would score twice on the night.

Austin Pratt had a goal and an assist for the Pats.

    The Pats proceeded to take leads of 3-1 and 4-2 before the Blades scored three straight to go into the second intermission up 5-4. Blades captain Chase Wouters supplied the go-ahead goal on the power play burying a nice set up pass from star 17-year-old centre Kirby Dach, who had three assists in the setback.

    That set the moment for the Pats top line to take centre stage with some third period heroics.

    At the 9:03 mark of the third, Pats overage defenceman Aaron Hyman, who had three assists in the win, hit Henry with a breakout pass into the Saskatoon zone. Blazing down the left wing, Henry slipped a pass across the face of the Saskatoon goal to Leschyshyn, who buried a marker that forced a 5-5 tie.

    With 4:12 remaining in the third, Henry labeled a shot to the top left corner of the Saskatoon goal on the power play to provide the winning tally for the Pats.

    The Blades were 3-for-6 on the power play, while the Pats scored on both their chances with the man advantage.

Kirby Dach backed the Blades offence with three assists.

    Tristen Robins and Seth Bafaro each had singles for the Blades. Duncan Pierce had the lone tally that didn’t come from the Pats top line.

    Nolan Maier turned away 5-of-8 shots starting in goal for the Blades before being pulled 31 seconds into the second after the Pats went ahead 3-1. Dorrin Luding stopped 14-of-17 shots in relief and took the loss in goal for Saskatoon.

    Max Paddock turned away 21-of-26 shots playing the first 40 minutes of Saturday’s affair in goal for the Pats. Dean McNabb took over at the start of the third period and turned away all six shots he faced to pick up the win in goal for Regina.

    The Pats return to action this coming Friday, when they host the Tri-City Americans at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. The Blades next game is also this coming Friday, when they travel to Medicine Hat to face the Tigers.

    While the Pats are in a reloading stage, Leschyshyn, Henry and Pratt showed how much of a factor heart can play in the outcome of a WHL game and provided a tough lesson for the Blades to learn in the process.

The Pats celebrate their victory on Saturday night.

    The Blades are now 3-5-2 in their last 10 outings after starting hot out of the gate with a 7-2 mark in their first nine contests. Saskatoon has hit a lull where the newness of the WHL schedule ends and the 68-game regular season becomes more of a grind.

    Going forward, the players on the Blades need to try and match the level of emotional attachment to their team like Leschyshyn, Henry and Pratt have for the Pats.

    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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Nagy sparks Royals to 7-2 romp over Blades

The Royals celebrate their first of seven goals on Tuesday.

    Regan Nagy was pumped he could supply a highlight night for his followers on his second last Saskatchewan road trip with the Victoria Royals.

    The 20-year-old right-winger from Ogema, Sask., had a stellar Tuesday night at the SaskTel Centre netting a hat trick, one assist and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department in the Royals 7-2 romp over the host Saskatoon Blades. While most of the 2,732 spectators headed home disappointed, Nagy had a small group of about five to six family members and friends he was able to make happy.

    “It is always nice to come out here and play in front of your friends and family no matter how old you are,” said Nagy, who stands 6-feet and weighs 195 pounds. “This last year it is nice to get out here and play in front of everyone again one more time.

Regan Nagy had a hat trick for the Royals.

    “I had a lot of fun. Another game tomorrow, so I am going to be ready for that one.”

    Nagy’s contingent will follow him to Prince Albert on Wednesday, when the Royals face the host Raiders at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. That contest will conclude a stretch of seven straight road games for the Royals.

    Just 87 seconds into Tuesday’s win over the Blades, the Royals jumped out to a 1-0 lead, when Nagy and linemate Yan Khomenko teamed up to set up centre Dante Hannoun for his ninth goal of the season. Khomenko put a pass across the face of the Blades goal, and Hannoun knocked the puck past sprawling Blades netminder Ryan Kubic.

    A little over five minutes later, Hannoun slipped a smart pass into Nagy to give him a one-on-one chance against Kubic. Nagy made no mistake tucking home his first of the contest. He added his second of the contest before the period ended to give the Royals a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

    “It is a lot of fun, when the puck is going in for you,” said Nagy, whose Royals improved their B.C. Division leading record to 10-3-1 with their win. “It is a lot of fun for the team too.

    “It makes the guys enjoy the game a little more and take a little stress off everyone, so it is always fun to do that.”

Some of Regan Nagy’s supporters watch Tuesday’s game.

    The Royals kept rolling in the second. At the 4:43 mark, right-winger Jared Legien, who is from Pilot Butte, Sask., beat Kubic with a deke on a breakaway to give the visitors a 4-0 edge.

Victoria’s lead grew to 5-0 at the 11:53 mark, when Nagy was sprung on a breakaway and fired a laser shot past Kubic for the hat trick. The three-goal night was the second for Nagy in his WHL career.

    Kubic was pulled after that tally turning away nine of 14 shots fired his way taking the loss in goal for the Blades (3-7-1). Rookie Joel Grzybowski played the rest of the way in relief turning away 10 of 12 shots sent in his direction.

Yan Khomenko had three assists for the Royals on Tuesday.

    Nagy’s line with Hannoun and Khomenko combined for four goals and five assists in Victoria’s runaway win. Khomenko had three assists, while Hannoun had an assist to go with his goal.
    When the Royals lost 4-2 in their last outing against the Wheat Kings in Brandon last Saturday, Nagy was on a line with Legien and Tyler Soy. The Royals coaches switched the line combinations up for Tuesday’s game putting Nagy with Hannoun and Khomenko.

    “I had some pretty good chemistry with those two before tonight,” said Nagy, whose team ended a two-game losing skid. “Things are just clicking for us, and it is a lot of fun.”

    Soy scored on a partial breakaway to give the Royals a 6-0 lead at the 15:09 mark of the second.

    Left-winger Dryden Michaud got the Blades on the board with his first of the season with 3:40 to play in the second to cut Victoria’s lead to 6-1.

Dante Hannoun (#19) had a goal and an assist for the Royals.

    With 43.9 seconds to play in the second, Royals star captain Matthew Phillips scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway to give the visitors a 7-1 edge. The officials turned to a video review to confirm the goal from Phillips.

    Nagy said his team has been successful this season, when the burn opponents with speed.

    “We have just been playing fast, and we have playing our game,” said Nagy, whose Royals were rated third in the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10 rankings. “If we keep doing that, we will keep being successful.

    “We just have to work hard each and every night and that is kind of our game. We have to stick through it throughout the whole 60 minutes.”

    Right-winger Josh Paterson scored for the Blades in the third to round out the scoring in the contest.

Jared Legien (#23) celebrates scoring a goal for the Royals.

    Griffen Outhouse started the game for the Royals, and the 19-year-old veteran stopped 28-of-29 shots over the first two periods.
    With the Royals entering the third holding a 7-1 edge, the Victoria coaches elected to insert rookie 17-year-old backup Dean McNabb in net for the third, and he turned away 10-of-11 shots in mop up action.

    Nagy is playing out his fourth full season in the WHL and has been with the Royals his entire major junior career.
    He hopes the good times keep coming as the season progresses.
    He will also get to make one more road trip back to Saskatchewan in late November, when the Royals visit the Moose Jaw Warriors on Nov. 28 and the Swift Current Broncos on Nov. 29.

    He said he couldn’t believe how quickly his time in the league is passing.

The Royals enjoy their road win in Saskatoon on Tuesday.

    “It goes by fast,” said Nagy. “I remember just being in my first year in the league thinking that it (his final season) is so far away.

    “Now thinking back, it goes by a lot faster than you think. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, and I’m excited for the rest of the season.

    “Hopefully, we can just keep things rolling and keep playing good like that. If we do that, we should have a good year, and it will be a lot of fun. We’ll enjoy it a lot.”

    The Blades are back in action Friday, when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos. One night later, Saskatoon hosts the Brandon Wheat Kings at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Back in the Express with Hebig, other notes

Cameron Hebig has been on fire this season for the Blades.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature story on Saskatoon Blades star centre Cameron Hebig.

    Hebig missed the entire 2016-17 campaign with his hometown WHL team with an upper body injury, which was originally thought to be a concussion. It was never diagnosed definitively.

During the time he was out, he received a lot of support from those in “The Bridge City.”

    When he returned, one wondered if he could build off the breakout campaign he had in 2015-16, when he netted 26 goals and 43 assists in 59 regular season games. He has jetted to a great start in his overage season piling up seven goals and seven assists in nine games.

    The Express story on Hebig can be found right here.

• The Blades traded 17-year-old forward Matt Mosher to the Prince George Cougars on Tuesday in exchange for a ninth round selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. Mosher appeared in four career regular season games with the Blades and didn’t record any points. The Blades selected Mosher, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 pounds, in the third round and 44^th overall in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft.
• The University of Saskatchewan Huskies (2-5) football team will control their own playoff destiny heading into their final U Sports regular season game, when they host the U of Manitoba Bisons (1-6) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium. If the Huskies lose, they will be unable to finish fourth in the Canada West Conference and will miss the post-season for the first time since 2000. If the Huskies, Bisons and U of Alberta Golden Bears (2-5) all finish at 2-6, the Golden Bears would advance to the post-season due to having the best winning percentage in head-to-head games between the three teams. If the Huskies beat the Bisons, they would likely make the post-season unless the Golden Bears can beat the U of Calgary Dinos (7-0) earlier in the day by a blowout margin. At the moment, the Huskies hold the head-to-head standings tiebreaker with the Golden Bears due to a better point differential for the whole campaign. The Huskies are -37, while the Golden Bears are -51.
• Singer Michele Dubois continues to be a good luck charm for the three-time defending Canadian Junior Football League champion Saskatoon Hilltops. When Dubois has sung the national anthem at Hilltops home games, it is believed the Toppers have never lost. She sang the national anthem for last Sunday’s PFC final at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, and the Hilltops downed the Regina Thunder 36-24. The Hilltops host a CJFL national semifinal this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Vancouver Island Raiders, who are based out of Nanaimo, B.C. We wait to see of Dubois will sing the national anthem for that contest.
• Kieran Block, who is a former utility play for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, wrote an autobiography about his life entitled, “The Ups and Downs of Almost Dying.” After concluding his WHL career an overager with the Tigers following the 2005-06 campaign, Block was severely injured in a cliff jumping accident. Block spoke with Oilersnation.com about his book, and that story can be found here.
• The University of Regina Rams football team made a video for the “Man Up Against Violence” initiative at that institution. The initiative strives to inspire men to accept their role as advocates in the movement to prevent violence in our communities related to gender, race, socio-economic status, ability level and beyond. The video the Rams produced was on locker room talk featuring former Rams and CFL star with the British Columbia Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders Jason Clermont. The video can be found 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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