Rush head to NLL final on 10-9 OT win off miracle rally

Saskatchewan sweeps semifinal series with Thunderbirds

The Saskatchewan Rush are creating playoff magic reminiscent of the team’s storied past.

On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, it appeared for a short time the Rush were going to need to play a series-deciding Game 3 in their best-of-three NLL semifinal set against the Halifax Thunderbirds. On May 3, the Rush took Game 1 of the series in a 16-7 romp at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, but Game 2 on Saturday at the SaskTel Centre was a different story.

The Rush and Thunderbirds were tied 7-7 late in the fourth quarter. At that point, Thunderbirds forward Thomas Hoggarth scored goals with 2:33 and again with 1:36 remaining in the stanza to put the visitors up 9-7. Those tallies completed a four-goal night for Hoggarth.

At that point, the Rush cued up a miracle comeback with their goalie pulled for an extra attacker. With 43.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Rush star forward Zach Manns wired home his second goal of the contest to trim the Thunderbirds lead to 9-8.

The Rush proceeded to get the ball back off a turnover, and with 5.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Rush veteran defender Matt Hossack tucked home the equalizer close in at the left side of the Halifax net to force a 9-9 tie and sudden death overtime.

Just 90 seconds into extra session, Thunderbirds forward Mike Robinson drove Rush defender Bobby Kidd III from behind into the boards. Robinson was given a major penalty for boarding. Due to the fact he also received a major penalty for an illegal cross check in the first quarter, Robinson was also ejected from the contest.

Just 10 seconds into the ensuing power play, Rush star forward Austin Shanks fired home the winning goal from the left slot area in the Halifax zone to give the Rush a surprising 10-9 victory before a gathering of 5,829 spectators that exploded into a madhouse. Shanks, who is a former member of the Thunderbirds, finished the contest netting a pair of goals and two assists.

With the win, the Rush sweep the best-of-three series against the Thunderbirds 2-0. Saskatchewan advances to the best-of-three NLL championship series to face the Buffalo Bandits. The Bandits swept the Vancouver Warriors 2-0 in the other NLL semifinal series. The Warriors were 11-7 during the regular season.

The Rush and Bandits both finished the regular season posting 13-5 records. In the one head-to-head encounter between the two sides, the Bandits claimed a 9-7 victory on March 1 at the SaskTel Centre. That allowed the Bandits, who are the two-time defending NLL champions, to finish first overall in the NLL, while the Rush were second overall.

Game 1 of the NLL Championship Series is set for Friday for the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, for a 7:30 p.m. local start time. Game 2 is slated for Sunday, May 18 at 6 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. If necessary, Game 3 is slated for Saturday, May 24 at the KeyBank Center for a 4:30 p.m. local start time.

In Saturday’s clash between the Rush and Thunderbirds, Saskatchewan jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to scoring a pair of power-play goals on the first major given to Robinson. The Thunderbirds proceeded to battle back, and as a result, the Rush exited the first quarter holding a 4-3 advantage.

At that point, the game became a defensive slugfest until the final 2:33 of the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Rush went into the halftime break holding a 5-4 lead. The two sides were locked in a 6-6 tie at the end of the third quarter.

The Thunderbirds scored first in the fourth quarter to go ahead 7-6, but the Rush answered back to force a 7-7 tie. That set the stage for the end of game fireworks.

Star forward Robert Church topped the Rush with five points coming off two goals and three assists. Holden Garlent, captain Ryan Keenan and Mike Messenger had singles for Saskatchewan.

Forward Dawson Theede led the Thunderbirds with six points coming off two goals and four assists. Clarke Petterson had a pair of goals for the Thunderbirds, who also received a single from Randy Staats.

Frank Scigliano made 45 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Rush. Backup goalie Thomas Kiazyk made a brief appearance late in the fourth quarter. He was inserted in net, because he could run to the bench faster than Scigliano when it came time to pull the goalie.

Warren Hill turned away 45 shots to take the setback in goal for the Thunderbirds, who posted an 11-7 mark during the regular season.

The Rush are advancing to the NLL Championship Series for the first time since 2018. They needed a 15-10 victory in a series-deciding Game 3 on June 9 of that year at the SaskTel Centre to claim the NLL title.

The Rush and Bandits last met in the NLL final in 2016. Saskatchewan swept that series 2-0. The NLL title was clinched on June 4 of that year in Game 2 of the NLL Championship Series at the SaskTel Centre. That was the contest that saw Rush defender Jeff Cornwall score on a breakaway with 12 seconds to play to break a 10-10 tie and deliver Saskatchewan to an 11-10 victory.

Saskatchewan wouldn’t mind for the history of 2016 to repeat itself in 2025.

McKenna, Cristall, Catton in hot scoring race again, other notes

Gavin McKenna jets up ice for the Tigers on Friday night.

The WHL’s regular season scoring race is playing out once again in the post-season.

During the regular season, superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna of the Medicine Hat Tigers battled Spokane Chiefs superstars in right-winger Andrew Cristall and centre Berkly Catton to be the circuit’s top scorer.

Cristall came to the Chiefs in a blockbuster trade with the Kelowna Rockets on January 8. In 57 regular season contests played between the Rockets and Chiefs, Cristall, who turned 20-years-old on February 4, topped the WHL in regular season scoring to claim the Bob Clarke Trophy with 132 points coming off 48 goals and 84 assists to go with a plus-59 rating in the plus-minus department.

McKenna finished second in regular season scoring recording 129 points coming off 41 goals and 88 assists to go with a plus-60 rating in the plus-minus department in 56 contests. He was named the winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Player of the Year.

Catton finished third in the regular season scoring race with 109 points coming off 38 goals and 71 assists to go with a plus-46 rating.

In the post-season, the Tigers and Chiefs are now battling in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Tigers claimed a 4-1 victory on Friday in Game 1 at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat. Game 2 is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. at Co-op Place.

McKenna, Cristall and Catton have each recorded 37 points in the current WHL Playoffs. Cristall leads the scoring race with his point total coming off 20 goals and 17 assists to go with a plus-15 rating in 15 games.

Catton is slated second in the scoring race with his 37 points coming off nine goals and 28 assists to go with a plus-11 rating in 16 games.

McKenna is third in the scoring race with his 37 points coming off eight goals and 29 assists to go with a plus-16 rating in 14 games.

It is possible the team that wins the WHL title will have the player that also wins the post-season scoring race.

• Most of the members of the Tigers 2006-07 WHL championship team were in attendance on Friday night to watch the current edition of the Tigers take Game 1 of the current WHL Championship Series.
• Tigers offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford is having an impressive post-season. Pickford, who turned 19-years-old in early April, has recorded eight goals, 10 assists and a plus-21 rating in 14 games. Pickford was a member of the Seattle Thunderbirds WHL championship team in 2022-23 and was acquired by the Tigers in a trade with the Thunderbirds on May 9, 2024.
• On Friday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on Mitchell Picton, who is a receiver with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and regularly travels to Saskatoon to coach at Saskatoon Minor Football’s Playground To Pros camp. He gets a kick about being remembered by the folks in Saskatoon for playing five seasons with the University of Regina Rams from 2013 to 2017. The piece on Picton can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images from Softball Saskatchewan’s final tryout session for its men’s Canada Summer Games team at the Indoor Training Centre. It also contains photos from baseball, cricket, football, softball and track and field. That post can be found by clicking right here.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Shanks shakes up old team, powers Rush to Game 1 romp

Saskatchewan thumps Halifax 16-7 in feisty affair

Austin Shanks was a dream for his current team the Saskatchewan Rush and a nightmare for his former club the Halifax Thunderbirds.

On Saturday, the skilled 31-year-old forward fired home six goals to power the visiting Rush to a 16-7 romp over the host Thunderbirds in Game 1 of a best-of-three NLL semifinal series at Scotiabank Centre. The Rush will look to close out the series this coming Saturday when they host Game 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. If Game 3 is necessary, it will held on Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Shanks had played for the Thunderbirds franchise for his entire career starting in 2018 when it was still located in Rochester, New York, as the original Rochester Knighthawks. He signed with a Rush as a free agent before the current campaign began.

The Game 1 clash between the Rush and Thunderbirds was a feisty affair too. Saskatchewan had 35 minutes in penalties in the contest, and Halifax piled up 71 minute in the sin bin.

Zach Manns had big night for the Rush recording nine points off two goals and seven assists. Robert Church had a five point night for Saskatchewan coming off a pair of goals and three helpers.

Rush captain Ryan Keenan had one goal and four assists and engaged in a late fourth quarter fight to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick.

Brock Haley scored two penalty shot goals for the Rush, while Clark Walter, Matt Hossack and Mike Messenger had singles.

Veteran forward Randy Staats led the Thunderbirds with six points coming off one goal and five assists. Dawson Theede and Thomas Hoggarth each had a pair of goals for the Thunderbirds, while Clarke Petterson and Ryan Terefenko had singles.

Frank Scigliano stopped 41 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rush. Drew Hutchison turned away 21-of-32 shots to take the loss in net for the Thunderbirds before being pulled in the third quarter. Warren Hill turned away 14-of-19 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Thunderbirds jumped on the scoreboard first just 53 seconds into the contest on Petterson’s tally. That set the stage for the Rush to improve their record in the regular season and post-season to 11-1 when their opponents score first.

Saskatchewan responded with a five-goal run to go ahead 5-1. Walter got the equalizer and tallies from Manns and Church followed. Shanks completed the surge with his first two markers on the night.

The Rush held a 6-3 lead after the first quarter, a 7-4 advantage at halftime and a 12-5 edge after three quarters.

Fireworks started late in the fourth quarter with the Rush holding a 14-7 lead in what was basically a decided contest. With 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter, Keenan ended up in a fight with Thunderbirds defender Nonkon Thompson.

Keenan was given a fighting major, while Thompson was assessed an instigator minor, a fighting major and two game misconducts. Also at that point in the contest, Thunderbirds defender Trevor Smyth was given a minor for boarding.

Due to the Rush being on a two-man advantage, Haley was able to score his first penalty shot goal with 67 seconds remaining in the stanza when Thunderbirds defender Tyson Bell picked up a slashing minor.

Haley scored his second penalty shot goal just six seconds later after a scrum where the Thunderbirds picked up an extra roughing minor given to transition player Jake Withers.

With 10.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Theede took a slashing minor resulting in a third penalty shot opportunity for the Rush. Forward Mike Triolo took that penalty shot and missed the net.

The Rush finished second overall in the NLL regular season with a 13-5 mark. The Thunderbirds were third overall at 11-7.

In the other best-of-three NLL semifinal, the host Buffalo Bandits romped over the visiting Vancouver Warriors 9-3 on Friday night. Those two clubs go at it in Game 2 on Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at Rogers Arena.

The Bandits topped the NLL regular season at 13-5, and the Warriors were fourth overall at 11-7.

With the way the Game 1 clash between the Rush and Thunderbirds ended, the animosity intensity might be on the uptake when the series switches back to the SaskTel Centre. “Rush Nation” could be in for quite a show before this series draws to a conclusion.

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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What a rally! – Tigers claim 7-6 OT win over Hurricanes

Medicine Hat takes 3-0 lead in WHL Eastern Conference final

Oasiz Wiesblatt scored the OT winner for the Tigers.

A game that looked strongly like it could be a Lethbridge Hurricanes victory turned into what might be a nightmare for their star goaltender Jackson Unger.

On Tuesday in Game 3 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series, the host Hurricanes held leads of 3-0, 4-1, 5-3 and 6-5 over the Medicine Hat Tigers in a contest played before 4,794 spectators at VisitLethbridge.com Arena. With 70 seconds remaining in the third period and star netminder Harrison Meneghin pulled for an extra skater, Tigers offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford put a seeing-eye shot from the right point through a screen to the top left corner of the Lethbridge net to force a 6-6 tie and overtime.

Just 2:41 into the extra session, Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna intercepted a Hurricanes pass in the Lethbridge zone. He jetted down the right faceoff circle flanked on his left by Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt on a contested two-on-nothing break.

Staring down the two most dangerous offensive players in the WHL, Unger basically had no chance.

McKenna put a pass over top an outstretched stick of a diving Hurricanes back checker across the front of the Lethbridge net to Wiesblatt at the left side of the goal. Wiesblatt made no mistake knocking in the backdoor tap to give the Tigers a 7-6 victory to account for his 14^th goal and fourth winning tally of the post-season.

Gavin McKenna had three assists for the Tigers.

After scoring the goal, Wiesblatt put on an exuberant celebration and proceeded to quickly exit the ice surface with the rest of his teammates right on his tail.

With the win, the Tigers take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven set over their Highway 3 rivals. The Tigers will attempt to close the series out in Game 4 set for 7 p.m. local time on Wednesday at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

McKenna finished the contest with four assists extending his consecutive games points streak between the regular season and post-season to 52 games. His streak extends back to November 6, 2024.

During the 52 games of the streak, McKenna has recorded 133 points coming off 39 goals and 94 assists. 

McKenna’s consecutive games points streak is the longest in the CHL since 2000 when you include play in both the regular season and post-season.

Star defenceman Tanner Molendyk had arguably the best night of any Tigers player on Tuesday. Molendyk, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators, recorded one goal, three assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus rating.

Ryder Ritchie, Liam Ruck, Mathew Ward and Kadon McCann all had singles for the Tigers. Ward also had a goal that was waved off after a video review in the second period due to a hand pass leading to the creation of that tally.

Noah Chadwick had a pair of goals for the Hurricanes.

Captain Noah Chadwick had a pair of goals for the Hurricanes, while Kooper Gizowski, Kash Andresen, Miguel Marques and Brayden Yager all had singles.

Meneghin stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. Unger turned away 38 shots to take the setback in net for the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead in the first period and went up 3-0 in the second before the Tigers got their first goal of the contest to make Lethbridge’s lead sit at 3-1. 

The hosts pushed their edge out to 4-1 before the Tigers closed the second frame scoring twice to cut Lethbridge’s advantage to 4-3 heading into the second intermission.

Lethbridge scored early in the third to assume a 5-3 advantage. Medicine Hat replied with a pair of goals to even the score at 5-5.

With 3:19 remaining in the third, the Hurricanes forecheck caused the Tigers to give up the puck to Yager positioned in front of the Medicine Hat net. Yager wired a shot to the left side of the Medicine Hat goal to put the Hurricanes up 6-5.

That set up the dramatics for Pickford to get the equalizer that forced overtime and for Wiesblatt to get the winner in the extra session.

Tanner Molendyk had one goal and three assists for the Tigers.

During the regular season, the Tigers topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 47-17-3-1 mark. In their last 46 games between the regular season and playoffs, the Tigers are an impressive 39-4-2-1. Medicine Hat has also won nine straight games.

The Hurricanes finished sixth overall in the WHL with a 42-21-3-2 mark. Lethbridge entered the Eastern Conference final after getting past the Calgary Hitmen in a grueling Eastern Conference semifinal series that went seven games.

Medicine Hat will try to advance to the WHL Championship Series for the first time since 2007, which was the last time the Tigers won the league title.

Chiefs rely on offence against Winterhawks

It appears the Spokane Chiefs seem set to ride a hot offence to a potential appearance in the WHL Championship Series.

The Chiefs jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Portland Winterhawks in the best-of-seven Western Conference Championship Series thanks to their ability to score. Last Friday at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, the Chiefs tried to burn out the goal lights at the rink downing the Winterhawks 10-4.

On Sunday in Game 2 at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, the Chiefs outgunned the Winterhawks 6-5 in overtime. At the 2:25 mark of the extra session, the Winterhawks coughed the puck up to Chiefs left-winger Chase Harrington in their own zone.

Harrington broke in alone on the Portland goal down the right wing and ripped home the winner for the Chiefs.

So far in the series, three Chiefs players have recorded five points over the first two games of the set. Star right-winger Andrew Cristall and import right-winger Assanali Sarkenov both have four goals and one assist. Star centre and captain Berkly Catton has one goal and four assists.

Harrington has two goals and two assists in the series. Star left-winger Shea Van Olm has one goal and three assists in the set.

Cristall tops all scorers in the WHL Playoffs with 33 points coming off 17 goals and 16 assists. Catton also has 33 points coming off eight goals and 25 assists, but Cristall leads the scoring race due to having a higher goal total.

For the Winterhawks, star centre Diego Buttazzoni is having a big series with three goals and three assists. Winterhawks star 20-year-old captain Kyle Chyzowski has one goal and three assists in the set.

The Chiefs finished fourth overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 45-20-1-2 mark. The Winterhawks placed 12^th overall during the WHL regular season with a 36-28-3-1 record.

Portland is appearing in the Western Conference Championship Series for a second straight year. The Winterhawks were swept 4-0 in last year’s WHL Championship Series by the Moose Jaw Warriors.

The Winterhawks will have an opportunity to get back in this year’s Western Conference final against the Chiefs. Due to scheduling around other events at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, the next three games of the Western Conference Championship Series are scheduled to be held in Portland.

Game 3 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Rush NLL semifinal schedule set, other notes

The Rush celebrate a goal from last Saturday.

The Saskatchewan Rush will be playing post-season games in May for the first time since 2019.

On Sunday, the Rush finalized their schedule for their best-of-three NLL semifinal series against the Halifax Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds will host Game 1 of the series on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. local time at Scotiabank Centre.

The final two games of the series are set for the SaskTel Centre. Game 2 is slated for Saturday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m. If necessary, Game 3 will be played on Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m.

The Rush finished second overall in the NLL regular season with a 13-5 mark. The Thunderbirds were third overall at 11-7.

Last Saturday, the Rush defeated the visiting Georgia Swarm 13-9 in a single elimination NLL quarter-final contest. Also last Saturday, the Thunderbirds downed the visiting Calgary Roughnecks 16-12 in another single elimination NLL quarter-final.

The Rush’s last previous appearance in a post-season game in May came back on May 3, 2019, when they fell 11-10 in overtime to the Colorado Mammoth.

The other NLL best-of-three semifinal sees the two-time defending league champion Buffalos Bandits, who topped the regular season at 13-5, take on the Vancouver Warriors, who finished fourth in the NLL regular season at 11-7. Game 1 of that series is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. local time at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.

• Portland Winterhawks overager Tyson Jugnauth tops all defencemen in scoring in the WHL Playoffs. In Portland’s 16 post-season games, Jugnauth has posted 29 points coming off four goals and 25 assists.
• Spokane Chiefs netminder Dawson Cowan tops all puck stoppers in wins so far in the WHL Playoffs at 10. Cowan also had a 3.34 goals against average and a .872 save percentage in the post-season.
• There have been a total of seven shutouts so far in the WHL Playoffs. Medicine Hat Tigers netminder Harrison Meneghin and Victoria Royals goalie Johnny Hicks have each collected two shutouts.
• There have been four series-deciding Game 7s played in this year’s WHL Playoffs. A total of three series-deciding Game 7s were played combined in the 2023 and 2024 WHL post-seasons.

• On Wednesday, April 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on Carter Beck, who is a star outfielder with the Saskatoon Berries of the Western Canadian Baseball League. Beck is a homegrown high-end player from Saskatchewan growing up in Carnduff, which is a town with a population around 1,200 located in the southeast corner of the province. Beck had a classic small town introduction to the sport watching his father, Blair, play senior baseball. The piece on Beck can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by pictures of the Saskatoon Badgers Rugby Club taking part in a training session at the Indoor Training Centre. Last September, the Badgers claimed the division 1 provincial championship. It also includes photos from baseball, cricket, skiing and softball. That post can be found by clicking right here.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.