Rebels push back against Blades expected in Game 2

Blades D Grayden Siepmann battle Rebels LW Carson Birnie.

Dave Struch thought his Red Deer Rebels entered the second round of the WHL’s post-season with a thud.

On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Rebels interim head coach saw his team drop a 4-1 decision to the host Saskatoon Blades in Game 1 of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. In that contest, the Blades held a 24-17 advantage in shots on goal and a 38-24 advantage in faceoffs won.

The two sides go at it again in Game 2 on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Struch said his club has to have a lot better effort in Game 2 and the rest of the best-of-seven set in order to be a threat to take the series.

“I would hope that we play a more physical game along the way,” said Struch. “I would hope that our game gets a lot better, so we can give them a challenge.”

Coming into this series, the Blades were tabbed as the favourites. They topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They took down their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 in a first round series.

Rebels RW Kalan Lind (#13) gets the puck on the backcheck.

The Rebels had an up and down regular season finishing fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and eighth overall on the circuit with a 33-26-3-6 mark. They took out one of their biggest rivals in the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1 in a first round series.

Since taking over behind the Rebels bench with the team having eight games remaining in the regular season, Struch believes his players have shown good resiliency. He saw some positives in Game 1, but he knows there is lots of room for improvement.

“With the way that they play, they try to get outnumber situations with the long rims,” said Struch. “I thought that we did a good job there.

“We kept the outnumber situations to a minimal. The counters for us I think that when we counter as slow as we did we’re not going to get enough offence. Those are things we have to get better at getting into Sunday.”

Fraser Minten had a big night in Game 1 Friday for the Blades.

While the Blades won Game 1, head coach Brennan Sonne said that contest didn’t play out structurally like his club though it would.

“It wasn’t crazy off what we expected to be coming, but I definitely predict there will be some adjustments,” said Sonne. “The lessons learned (on Friday) I thought we were very committed in certain areas like shot blocking was great (on Friday) for us.

“Lessons learned I think are structural. Game 1s are a little bit of a feeling out process. You’re seeing what they did all week.

“We’re trying to do what we did all week, and then you make little tweaks from here. Now, it is our turn as coaches to do our job.”

Game 1 of the series wasn’t all that physical outside of a big first period hit Blades rookie defenceman Morgan Tastad put on Rebels star right-wing Kalan Lind. There also weren’t that many scrums after the whistle, and Blades star centre Fraser Minten said his squad is trying to avoid engaging in extra-curricular activities.

“For us, that is intentional,” said Minten. “We don’t want to get into that stuff.

Hunter Mayo looks to start a rush for the Rebels.

“We feel we can out skill team and out skate teams. That is how we win. We don’t win by fighting after whistles and pushing and shoving.

“We just stay away from that and play hockey.”

Minten had a big night for the Blades in Game 1 collecting two goals, one assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He also won 18-of-24 faceoffs. Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky had one goal and one assist. Veteran defenceman Grayden Siepmann had a pair of assists for Saskatoon.

The Rebels big line of centre and captain Kai Uchacz, left-winger Frantisek Formanek and Lind had a relatively quiet night. They each had just one shot on goal. Left-winger Carson Birnie had the Rebels lone goal.

Also, the Rebels lack of puck possession was affected by the fact the Blades won 61.3 per cent of the faceoffs in Game 1, which helped keep the line of Uchacz, Formanek and Lind at bay.

Minten believes the Blades have to repeat a lot of the little things they did right in Game 1 in Game 2 like success in the faceoff circle.

“We just have to do it again,” said Minten. “We have to get ready and get prepared.

Egor Sidorov works in the offensive zone for the Blades.

“It will be a new game right from the start. We just have to go out and play like we can.”

NOTES - The Blades were without utility winger Tyler Parr with a leg injury and star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong with an undisclosed injury in Game 1. In the series opener, the Rebels were without overage defenceman Elias Carmichael with a lower body injury. Carmichael has yet to appear in the 2024 WHL post-season. Red Deer was also without second-year netminder Rhett Stoesser due to an undisclosed ailment.

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Sidorov delivers for family in Blades 4-2 victory

Import RW gets hat trick and assist in win over Rebels

The celebrate a first period goal from Egor Sidorov (#19).

Egor Sidorov has come up with many clutch performances for the Saskatoon Blades, but there was a little bit of a special extra feeling with his play on Friday night.

When the Blades took the ice before 3,758 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Sidorov, who is now in his third season in the WHL, would be playing for the first time with his parents in the building during his time on the circuit. Sidorov’s parents flew out from Belarus and sat with his billet family in Saskatoon for the Blades WHL regular season contest with the Red Deer Rebels.

The 19-year-old skilled right-winger came through with a hat trick and an assist to go with a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department to power the Blades to a 4-2 victory. Sidorov was named the game’s first star.

Egor Sidorov had a hat trick and an assist on Friday.

When he came out for the first star recognition where the Blades players toss souvenir sticks to the home faithful, Sidorov skated right to where his parents, extended family and friends were and ensured they got the souvenir stick he tossed into the crowd.

In the postgame media scrum, Sidorov delivered a message for his parents in Belarusian and followed up by proceeding to say what that message was in English.

“I said thank you for everything, for your support and I’m happy you guys came to Canada and support me here,” said Sidorov, who was selected in the third round and 85^th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL Entry Draft held this past June. “I love them so much.”

Some of Egor Sidorov’s family, extended family and friends.

Sidorov, who stands 6-feet and weighs 180 pounds, came over from Belarus and joined the Blades as a 17-year-old rookie at the start of the 2021-22 campaign. Life plans changed for Sidorov due to Russia’s war with Ukraine that started on February 24, 2022, which saw Belarus face sanctions due to supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Due to the instability that existed back home, Sidorov elected to remain in Saskatoon during the off-season and live with his billet family. With the Blades as a rookie in 2021-22, Sidorov appeared in 58 regular season games posting 23 goals, 12 assists and a minus-two rating. While he had strong statistics for a 17-year-old rookie, Sidorov went unselected in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

Egor Sidorov, right, is presented a player of the month award.

As an 18-year-old sophomore in 2022-23, Sidorov blossomed into one of the WHL’s elite players. He appeared in 53 regular season games collecting 40 goals, 36 assists and a plus-25 rating.

Sidorov played a big role in helping the Blades finish fourth overall in the WHL with a 48-15-4-1 record. In the post-season, Sidorov came up with numerous clutch performances in helping the Blades advance to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 1994. Appearing in 16 playoff contests, Sidorov posted nine goals, 10 assists and a plus-three rating.

His stellar play and improvement resulted in him being selected in the third round by the Ducks in the NHL Entry Draft held this past June. After having a good showing at the Ducks rookie and main training camps in September, Sidorov was returned to the Blades for his third WHL campaign.

Egor Sidorov has 28 goals and 11 assists in 27 games.

With his big outing on Friday, Sidorov now has 28 goals, 11 assists and a plus-nine rating in 27 games. The four-point outing allowed him to hit another milestone. Sidorov now has 150 career points in the WHL coming off 91 goals and 59 assists in 138 regular season games.

Since the start of the war between Russia and the Ukraine, Sidorov finally was able to go back to Belarus this past summer, and his parents hadn’t been able to get out to Canada until arriving in Saskatoon on Monday. While Sidorov had a great outing personally, he was pumped his team could get the win with his parents seeing him play live for the first time in the WHL.

The Blades celebrate a second goal from Egor Sidorov (#19).

“It is nice we win,” said Sidorov, whose Blades have won four straight games. “It doesn’t matter how many I score.

“That is good we win. That is very nice when our parents watch that. I am really happy.”

Before the opening faceoff of Friday’s game, Sidorov accepted an award as the Blades player of the month for November.

Once the puck was dropped, he proceeded to open the game’s scoring at the 7:58 mark of the first period. Positioned by the right side of the Red Deer net, Sidorov received a slick backhanded pass from star centre Fraser Minten and popped the puck into the empty side of the cage to give the Blades a 1-0 edge.

Trevor Wong had a goal and two assists for the Blades.

Minten was recently acquired by the Blades in a trade with the Kamloops Blazers and made his home debut with the Blades in Friday’s win.

The Blades proceeded to control play after Sidorov’s first goal of the contest, but momentum swung to the side of the visitors shortly before the first intermission. With 2:16 remaining in the first and working on the power play, Rebels Czech import centre Samuel Drancak wired home a shot near the top of the left faceoff circle to even the score at 1-1.

The hosts proceeded to jump back in front 2-1 with a vintage Sidorov power-play goal coming at the 6:14 mark of the second period. Positioned in the right slot, Sidorov one-timed home a smooth setup pass from Blades star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk for his second goal of the night.

Samuel Drancak had a pair of goals for the Rebels on Friday.

The Blades hit a bump at the 11:58 mark of the second, when left-winger Easton Armstrong was given a double minor for boarding due to a hit he threw on Rebels defenceman Jace Weir. The offence will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension. The Blades killed off the double minor.

Red Deer is known for never giving up, and the Rebels battled back to even the score at 2-2 with 8:17 remaining in the third. Working on the power play, Rebels import right-winger Frantisek Formanek had the puck down low at the left side of the Saskatoon goal.

Formanek passed the puck across the face of the net to Drancak, who popped home his second tally of the game for his second equalizer of the contest. Momentum wouldn’t stay on the visitor’s side for long.

Tanner Molendyk had an assist for the Blades on Friday.

Just 1:45 later, Sidorov had the puck going on a rush in the Red Deer zone. He slipped a smart pass through the Rebels defence that allowed Blades 20-year-old captain Trevor Wong to head to the Red Deer net on a breakaway.

The star centre popped the eventual winning goal to the top left corner of the Rebels net to give the Blades a 3-2 lead.

After the Rebels pulled netminder Rhett Stoesser for an extra attacker, Sidorov was able to complete his hat trick. With 6.7 seconds remaining in third, Sidorov fired a puck from the front of his bench into the vacated Red Deer goal for his third tally of the night that round out the 4-2 final score in the Blades favour.

The Blades celebrate a hat trick goal from Egor Sidorov (#19).

Sidorov was wiped out by a Rebels checker on his final shot, but the hit wasn’t able to prevent the hat trick goal from being scored. After the puck went into the Red Deer net, Sidorov was helped to his feet by his teammates, and the goal celebration included a number of hugs as hats rained down on to the ice surface. 

It all wrote a great conclusion for a storybook night for Sidorov.

Austin Elliott stopped 17 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades, who continue to top the Eastern Conference with a 20-8-1 mark. Stoesser turned away 20 of 23 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels, who fell to 13-12-0-3.

Wong has a pair of assists to go with his goal along with a plus-two rating.

The Blades return to action on Saturday when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

Egor Sidorov sets to throw a souvenir stick to his family.

The Rebels also get back at it on Saturday traveling to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Overall, Friday night belonged to Sidorov and his family. During his time in Saskatoon, Sidorov has become the Blades best big game player. His latest big game had a fairytale feel to it with his parents on hand to see him play for the first time as a member of the Blades.

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Blades power play and penalty kill heat up

Rebels need to reset and get back on task

The Blades celebrate a power-play goal from Egor Sidorov (#19).

The Saskatoon Blades power play and penalty kill is catching fire, and it could aid them in their quest to try and achieve the greatest playoff series comeback in team history.

The Red Deer Rebels are looking to reset and get back on task playing with a sound structure that has them to within one win of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championships Series.

The two clubs go at it on Sunday at 2 p.m. local time at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer for Game 6 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Rebels hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven set.

Red Deer opened by winning the first three games against the Blades to get one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Championship Series. Saskatoon won the last two contests to get two wins away from being just the third team in WHL history to come back and win a best-of-seven series 4-3 after losing the first three games of the set.

Dating back to the WHL’s start in 1966-67, only two teams have rallied back to win a best-of-seven series having trailed the set 3-0. The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before rallying back to claim that first round series 4-3.

The Blades have been able to change the complexion of the series thanks to the play of their power play and penalty killing units over the past two games. Saskatoon has scored on 4-of-8 power play chances and allowed the Rebels to score on 1-of-6 chances on the man advantage. The Blades have successfully killed off the Rebels last five consecutive power-play opportunities.

The Rebels celebrate a goal from Kai Uchacz (#19).

In Game 4 on Wednesday in Red Deer, the Blades only allowed one power-play goal coming off the stick of Rebels star centre Kai Uchacz at the 6:27 mark of the first period. Red Deer was working on at five-minute power play after Blades gritty right-winger Justin Lies was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for delivering a head shot to Rebels star left-winger Kalan Lind, who turned 18-years-old in January.

While Uchacz was able to score, the Blades were still pretty strong on that kill.

The Rebels were able to exit the first period with a 2-0 advantage after Uchacz scored at even strength. Red Deer had a huge opportunity to put Saskatoon away when Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky was given a double minor for high-sticking at the 6:14 mark of the second.

The Blades gained some traction successfully killing off that double minor. A short time after that kill, the Blades got more traction going on the power play themselves, and captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, who is a star offensive-defenceman, scored his first goal off the post-season on the man advantage to cut the Rebels lead to 2-1.

That set the stage for the Blades to roll off three straight goals in a span of four minutes and three second in the third to pull out a 4-2 victory.

Egor Sidorov is finding success on the power play for the Blades.

In Game 5 of the series on Friday in Saskatoon, the Blades took advantage of the Rebels taking some undisciplined penalties going 3-for-6 on the power play and killing off all three Red Deer power-play chances to pull out a 6-3 victory. Star import right-winger Egor Sidorov scored twice on the power play and De La Gorgendiere scored the winner on a chance with the man advantage.

During the regular season, the Blades power play and penalty killing units were among the best in the WHL. The Blades had the fourth best power play in the league converting on 73-of-265 chances for a 27.5 per cent success rate, and they had the third best penalty killing unit on the circuit killing off 202-of-245 opposition power-play opportunities for an 82.4 per cent success rate.

If the Blades special teams units stay hot, it will greatly help their chances of winning Game 6 and forcing a series deciding Game 7, which is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre if needed.

The Rebels, on the other hand, need to get back to what they were doing well when they took a 3-0 lead in the series. During those first three games, the Rebels were sound in their structural play along with being poised, businesslike and hard working.

Kai Uchacz is piling up goals for the Rebels.

Red Deer clogged up the centre ice zone taking away the Blades tendency to go for stretch passes. In the defensive zone, the Rebels played with poise and had good spacing. The Blades players were often kept to the outside and seemed to second guess what they wanted to do when it came time to pass the puck.

In the offensive zone, the Rebels set up a strong forecheck that kept the Blades pinned for numerous stretches in their own zone. When the Rebels had the puck in the offensive zone, they moved it around with confidence and shot it with purpose once it was in a prime scoring area.

Red Deer was sound with systems play taking a 2-0 lead in the first period in Game 4. While the Blades had some push back in second period to cut the Rebels lead to 2-1, the Red Deer side was just 20 minutes from closing out the series going into the second intermission.

The Rebels seemed to unravel after the Blades surged ahead to take the contest 4-2 in the third and visibly showed frustration at times after going down by two goals. In Game 5, the Rebels were too occupied with trying to be physical, and that resulted in undisciplined penalties that allowed the Blades to take the game.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere has two post-season power-play goals.

It seemed like the Rebels got off track after Lind went down to injury. Lind is very popular amongst his teammates and is a fan favourite of the community of Red Deer.

The Rebels appeared to want to show their romantic “all heart” characteristic to try and pull out a win for their fallen teammate. Emotion can be a thing that speeds a team up and allows club to achieve new levels of greatness.

Emotion can also be a thing that causes a team to try too hard and lose composure. At that point, emotion can be a determent to a team, and that seems to be the case the Rebels find themselves in.

The Rebels also have to be concerned about their situation in goal too. 

In their first nine games in the WHL Playoffs, Kyle Kelsey posted stellar numbers with a 7-2 record, a 1.93 goals against average, a .928 save percentage and one shutout.

In the third period of Game 4, he allowed three goals on seven shots as the Blades surged to victory. Kelsey started Game 5 and was pulled with 1:57 remaining in the opening frame after allowing three goals on seven shots. Chase Coward played the rest of the way in relief and ultimate took the loss in net.

Ben King is one of the Rebels top offensive players.

The Blades were without Lies for Game 5, because he was suspended by the WHL for his head shot on Lind. On Saturday, the WHL finalized Lies’ suspension at three games. If the Blades are able to make the Eastern Conference Championship Series, Lies would be eligible to return for Game 1 of that set.

The Lies suspension marked only the second time in the 2022-23 campaign in the regular season and playoffs that the Blades have had a player get suspended.

Also on Saturday, the Rebels learned that they will be without import right-winger Frantisek Formanek due to a one-game suspension under supplemental discipline. In Game 5, Formanek was giving a boarding minor penalty at the 7:21 mark of the first period.

Formanek hit Blades 20-year-old defenceman Blake Gustafson from behind, and Gustafson was able to prevent himself from making a hard crash into the boards. The Blades sent in video to the WHL office asking for supplemental discipline as this was a dangerous play.

Originally, it was expected that this would be a tight series going in between the Blades and Rebels. The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Rebels finished fifth in the overall WHL standings and topped the Central Division with a 43-19-3-3 mark.

The Blades and Rebels engage in activity after the whistle.

Taking an unconventional route, it has become a tight series. The next chapter and potentially closing chapter of this drama will play out on Sunday.

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Rebels rally, have brooms on ready in series with Blades

Dwayne Jean Jr. (#22) celebrates a win with his Rebels teammates.

RED DEER, Alta. – The Saskatoon Blades scored first only to find another side to Red Deer Rebels’ grit.

On Tuesday at the Peavey Mart Centrium, Blades star centre Trevor Wong scored at the 5:04 mark of the second period to give the visitors a 1-0 edge over the host Rebels in Game 3 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. At the time of Wong’s goal, the Blades were in control of play in the contest.

The momentum didn’t last.

The gritty Rebels lived up to a team tradition of electing to not know the meaning of the work “quit.”

Dwayne Jean Jr. scored the winning goal Tuesday for the Rebels.

Before the second period ended, depth players in import right-winger Frantisek Formanek and centre Dwayne Jean Jr. netted singles for the Rebels to give them a 2-1 lead. Star left-winger Kalan Lind, who turned 18-years-old in January, scored into an empty net with 45.8 seconds remaining in the third to seal a 3-1 victory that came to the delight of almost all the 4,654 spectators in attendance.

The win allowed the Rebels to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven set. They will try to close out the series in Game 4 set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

Trevor Wong scored to give the Blades a 1-0 lead in the second.

If the Blades are able to survive elimination from the WHL Playoffs on Wednesday, the two clubs will go at it in Game 5 on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

Jean Jr. said his Rebels are pleased to be up 3-0 in the series but expect getting the fourth win against the Blades will be the toughest test they’ve faced in the series.

“I wouldn’t say we are comfortable right now,” said Jean Jr., whose tally was his first career WHL post-season goal. “We still have another game.

“It is all about tomorrow. I know all the guys in there want to do it in four, but we just have to come in with the same mindset we have been the last three.”

Kyle Kelsey made 22 saves for the Rebels on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s game started with a bang with Blades right-winger Vaughn Watterodt hammering Rebels defenceman Matteo Fabrizi hard into the boards but getting a hitting from behind minor penalty in the process.

Red Deer had a huge chance to go ahead on the ensuing power play, when Lind had the puck in close at the left side of the Saskatoon net. Lind had two point blank chances to score, but he was stoned by Blades netminder Austin Elliott.

The Rebels thought they netted the game’s first goal at the 3:48 mark of the first. Jean Jr. drove a shot that banged quickly off the post creating the illusion the puck had gone into the net.

The goal judge turned on the red light, and the host side appeared to be up 1-0. The play went to a video review where it was determined the puck did not go into the Saskatoon net.

Austin Elliott makes one of his 23 saves for the Blades.

The opening 20 minutes was fairly evenly played with the Rebels holding a slim 8-7 edge in shots on goal.

Rebels head coach Steve Konowalchuk wasn’t surprised with how tightly contested things were. He said all three games in the series have been tough and his squad has had to earn the 3-0 series lead.

“They are hard fought games,” said Konowalchuk. “They’re battles.

“You have to fight for your scoring chances. You have to just keep playing hard every shift. They play hard every shift.”

At the start of the second, it appeared the Blades were set to go on a roll. At the 5:04 mark of the frame, Wong, who was positioned in front of the Red Deer net, collected a rebound of a shot taken by linemate Brandon Lisowsky and put a backhander past Rebels netminder Kyle Kelsey. The 1-0 lead marked the first time the Blades were ahead in the scoreboard all series.

Blades HC Brennan Sonne passes on directions to his players.

Saskatoon continued to apply pressure. By the 7:25 mark of the frame, they were outshooting the Rebels 5-0 in the period.

The first Rebels shot of the stanza came at the 8:30 mark. Just like that, the momentum switched. The Rebels in their traditional fashion battled back.

At the 9:46 mark of the second, Rebels star import offensive-defenceman Christoffer Sedoff blew into the offensive zone on a rush creating a two-on-one situation in tight on the Saskatoon net. Sedoff passed the puck across the face of the Saskatoon net to Formanek, who tapped home the equalizer at the right side of the Blades goal to create the 1-1 tie.

Frantisek Formanek scored the Rebels first goal on Tuesday.

With 3:35 remaining in the second, the Rebels jumped ahead 2-1, when Jean Jr. chipped home a puck from a bad angle at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Jean Jr. was pumped about netting his first career post-season goal and the winning tally.

Away from the rink, fate has been handing challenges to the forward’s family. Jean Jr., who is from the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation located in northeast Alberta just south of Fort McMurray, started the season playing five games with the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash.

After deaths in his family, he approached Americans management with a wish that he would like to be closer to home. The Americans obliged and dealt him to the Rebels. The challenges due to fate on the family front continued, so netting the winner in Game 3 against the Blades had extra meaning for Jean Jr.

Christoffer Sedoff had a big assist on the Rebels first goal.

“I had my mom here,” said Jean Jr. “I haven’t got to see her much.

“My dad has been in the hospital. Just to have her here and score my first playoff goal with her here is unbelievable. I just have to say that I love her, and that was for her.”

By the end of the second, the Blades momentum faded as the Rebels held a 15-13 edge in shots on goal at the conclusion of 40 minutes of play.

In the third, both clubs had great scoring chances, but Kelsey and Elliott stood their ground. Lind proceeded to seal things with his empty-netter with 45.8 seconds to play.

Rebels LW Kalan Lind shields the puck on a rush.

Kelsey stopped 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels. Elliott turned away 23-of-25 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

Konowalchuk was pleased by the response of his players when they got behind.

“I thought our guys kept playing,” said Konowalchuk. “That is important.

“You just keep playing and try not to change your game. You try not to ride the emotional roller-coaster. I thought our guys kept playing after that.”

Going into the series, neither team was expected to get out to a 3-0 lead. 

Vaughn Watterodt (#18) looks to make a pass for the Blades.

The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Rebels finished fifth in the overall WHL standings and topped the Central Division with a 43-19-3-3 mark.

Like he did after his Rebels won Game 1 and 2 in Saskatoon, Konowalchuk was already talking about focusing on his team’s next game.

“We have to reset for tomorrow, but it is nice to get a win,” said Konowalchuk. “We just have to enjoy this for a real quick little bit here, but then, we have to be ready for tomorrow.”

NOTES – In the history of the WHL dating back to the circuit’s start in 1966-67, only two teams have rallied back to win a best-of-seven series having trailed the set 3-0. The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before rallying back to claim that first round series 4-3.

The Rebels celebrate their Game 3 win on Tuesday.

Saskatoon trailed the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-0 in a second round series in the 1990 WHL Playoffs before rallying back to tie the set at 3-3. In a series deciding Game 7 in Lethbridge, the Blades fell 4-3 in overtime with defenceman Neil Hawryluk netting the winning goal for the Hurricanes.

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