Fate allows Oil Kings to make up lost time with playoff run

Edmonton to face Thunderbirds in WHL Final

Jake Neighbours (#21) and Kaiden Guhle (#4) share a laugh.

It seems fate has conceded a deserved long run through the WHL Playoffs to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

In advancing to the WHL Final, the Oil Kings have been on a tear posting a 16-1 record in their last 17 outings including play in the regular season and playoffs. That record includes posting a 12-1 mark so far in the WHL’s post-season.

The Oil Kings open the WHL Championship series on Friday at 7 p.m. local time at Rogers Place in Edmonton taking on the Seattle Thunderbirds in a best-of-seven set.

So far in the WHL post-season, the Oil Kings swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-0 in a first round series and got the brooms out again for an impressive 4-0 of the Red Deer Rebels, who had a 45-19-2-2 regular season record.

In the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series, the Oil Kings looked like they were going to be in a heavyweight fight against the Winnipeg Ice. The Ice had the WHL’s top record in the regular season at 53-10-3-2, while the Oil Kings were second overall at 50-14-3-1.

The final CHL Top 10 rankings released on April 20 saw the Ice rated second overall, while the Oil Kings were listed third overall.

The Oil Kings needed an overtime goal from centre Tyler Horstmann to take Game 1 of that series with the Ice in Winnipeg 5-4. One night later in Game 2, the Ice posted a 5-1 victory on home ice to even the series at 1-1.

The Ice win ended a 13-game winning streak for the Oil Kings that stretched back into the regular season. The victory was a costly one for the Ice, who lost star 18-year-old centre Matthew Savoie to injury.

Justin Sourdif has been a big addition for the Oil Kings.

Savoie suffered an upper body injury when Oil Kings centre Justin Sourdif drove him into a linesman along the boards. During the regular season, Savoie, who is a projected first round selection for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, led the Ice in scoring with 90 points coming off 35 goals and 55 assists to go with a plus-54 rating in the plus-minus department.

Savoie wasn’t able to return to the series and the Ice’s fortunes went downhill. Due to the distance between Edmonton and Winnipeg, the series between the two clubs was played in a two-three-two format, and the Oil Kings closed the set out in five games with three straight wins at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

The Oil Kings claimed a 4-3 overtime win in Game 3 with Sourdif potting the winner. Edmonton also held a 55-21 edge in shots on goal in that contest.

The Oil Kings proceeded to claim a 4-2 victory in Game 4 holding a 36-22 edge in shots on goal. In Game 5 held last Friday, the Oil Kings cruised to a 7-1 victory to clinch the series holding a 37-20 edge in shots on goal.

Edmonton held a 7-0 lead until Ice star right-winger Connor McClennon scored with 2:40 remaining in the third period to break up the Oil Kings chances of getting a shutout.

Overage left-winger Carter Souch had two goals and two assists in that series clinching win for the Oil Kings. Veteran right-winger and Oil Kings regular season scoring leader Dylan Guenther, who turned 19-years-old in April, posted four assists, while star offensive-defenceman Kaiden Guhle and a pair of goals and one assist.

The Oil Kings are more than making up for lost time with their current long run in the WHL post-season. The previous time a WHL Playoffs were held back in 2019 the Oil Kings advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship Series and ultimately fell to the eventual WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders in six games.

Dylan Guenther has piled up the points for the Oil Kings.

Edmonton was a team on the rise finishing fifth overall in the 2018-19 WHL regular season standings with a 42-18-4-4 record. It was a huge improvement for the Oil Kings, who finished last in the overall WHL regular season standings in 2017-18 with a 22-42-6-2 mark.

After falling to the Raiders in the 2019 WHL Eastern Conference Championship series, the Oil Kings were expected to be contenders for a league crown in the immediate upcoming campaigns. With the world falling into the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the WHL was unable to hold playoffs in 2020 and 2021, and the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – was also cancelled in each of those years.

In 2019-20, the Oil Kings sat third overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 42-12-6-4 before the WHL campaign was paused on March 12, 2020 before the remainder of the campaign was ultimately scrapped.

During an abbreviated 2020-21 regular season held for development purposes, the Oil Kings topped the overall regular season standings with a 20-2-0-1 record.

Edmonton’s turnaround coincided with Kirt Hill becoming the team’s president of hockey operation and general manager and Brad Lauer taking on the role of head coach before the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

The Oil Kings entered the current campaign with a roster loaded with veteran stars and elected to go “all in” on the trade front in an effort to try and win league and CHL championships assuming the post-season would be played to a conclusion.

Carter Souch wants to close his WHL career on a big high note.

Sourdif, who is a Florida Panthers draft selection, Guhle, who is a Montreal Canadiens draft selection and defenceman Luke Prokop, who is a Nashville Predators draft selection, were all key players acquired via trades.

The Oil Kings have five other NHL Draft selections on their roster including captain Jake Neighbours (St. Louis Blues), Guenther (Arizona Coyotes), netminder Sebastian Cossa (Detroit Red Wings), import centre Jakub Demek (Vegas Golden Knights) and left-winger Jalen Luypen (Chicago Blackhawks).

Edmonton’s depth include import and overage offensive-defenceman Simon Kubicek, who led all Oil Kings blue-liners in regular season scoring with 41 points coming on 14 goals and 27 assists.

Overage right-winger Josh Williams was second in team scoring in the regular season with 82 points coming off 34 goals and 48 assists. Overage left-winger Carter Souch also had a strong campaign piling up 71 points on 22 goals and 49 assists playing in all the Oil Kings 68 regular season games. 

When the Oil Kings post-season run ends, they will graduate their three overages and will only be able to return three of the 11 players currently on their roster as 19-year-olds. The Oil Kings will like return to a reloading phase, when next season comes around.

The Oil Kings will have their hands full with a feisty Thunderbirds team. The Thunderbirds finished fourth overall in the WHL’s Western Conference regular season standings with a 44-18-4-2 record.

Luke Prokop was a huge addition to the Oil Kings blue-line.

Seattle eliminated the Kelowna Rockets in five games in the first round, went the distance taking out the Portland Winterhawks in seven games in the second round and survived another seven game series against the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Conference Championship Series.

The Thunderbirds were down 3-1 in their series against the Winterhawks before rallying for the 4-3 win. Seattle trailed Kamloops 3-2 in the Western Conference Championships Series and won two straight to take that set 4-3.

The Thunderbirds took Game 7 of the series against the Blazers by a 3-2 score on Tuesday at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops.

Seattle’s roster includes playmakers in 19-year-old centre Jared Davidson, overage right-winger Lukas Svejkovsky, 17-year-old defenceman Kevin Korchinski and netminder Thomas Milic, who turned 19-years-old in April. Head coach Matt O’Dette has done a solid job of getting the Thunderbirds to this point.

In another twist to this series, the WHL didn’t have any interlocking play between conferences during the regular season, so the WHL Championship Series will be the first time the Oil Kings and Thunderbirds have seen each other in the current campaign.

The Oil Kings have an added bonus in this series as it will be played in a two-two-three format. The Thunderbirds are only able to host Games 3 and 4 of the set at the ShoWare Centre in Seattle due to schedule conflicts with high school graduations.

Josh Williams is closing out his Oil Kings career.

If Games 5 to 7 of the series are needed, they will all be hosted in Edmonton with Seattle being designated the home squad for Game 6. The winner of the series advances to the Memorial Cup tournament, which will be held in Saint John, N.B., from June 20 to 29.

The Oil Kings have to like their chances of capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for the first time since 2014, where they also advanced on to win the Memorial Cup.

While the Oil Kings weren’t able to see potential long playoff runs in 2020 and 2021 due to world events, they are making up for lost time in the 2022 post-season to fulfill the old adage it is better late than never.

In the grand scheme of things, the long run through the WHL Playoffs is a just reward for the Oil Kings.

Blazers’ Stankoven named WHL player of the year, other notes

Kamloops Blazers captain Logan Stankoven was named the WHL’s player of the year for the 2021-22 campaign.

The skilled centre, who turned 19-years-old in late February, claimed the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as part of the WHL handing out its individual awards on Wednesday. Stankoven appeared in 59 regular season games with the Blazers in the 2021-22 campaign recording 45 goals, 59 assists and a plus-46 rating in the plus-minus department.

He helped his hometown Blazers top the B.C. Division for a third straight season posting a 48-17-3 regular season record in the 2021-22 campaign. The Blazers finished second overall in the WHL’s Western Conference during the regular season.

Beside taking the WHL’s player of the year award, Stankoven was also the recipient of the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s most sportsmanlike player.

Stankoven was one of three Blazers who captured major individual awards. Dylan Garand took home the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s goaltender of the year, and right-winger Connor Levis was named the recipient of the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s scholastic player of the year.

Other award winners include Olen Zellweger of the Everett Silvertips, who claimed the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s defenceman of the year, defenceman Luke Prokop of the Edmonton Oil Kings captured the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s humanitarian of the year and left-winger Arshdeep Bains of the Red Deer Rebels was presented the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the WHL’s top scorer.

Bains led the WHL in regular season scoring with 112 points coming off 43 goals and 69 assists appearing in all of the Rebels 68 regular season games.

Moose Jaw Warriors centre Brayden Yager took home the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s rookie of the year. During the regular season, Yager put up 59 points for the Warriors coming off 34 goals and 25 assists in 63 games skating through his 16-year-old season.

Yager played for the Warriors full time during the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign that lasted 24 games as a 15-year-old. The WHL allowed the first year players from the 2020-21 campaign to be eligible for rookie of the year honours this season.

The WHL did name a rookie of the year for the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign with Regina Pats phenom centre Connor Bedard taking that accolade for that campaign.

Also on Wednesday, Winnipeg Ice head coach James Patrick captured the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s coach of the year. Patrick led the Ice to first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 53-10-3-2 record.

Ice general manager Matt Cockell claimed the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s executive of the year.

The Brandon Wheat Kings were named the winners of the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s scholastic team of the year, and the Silvertips claimed the WHL’s business award.

Referee Chris Crich captured the Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s top official.

• Last Friday, the CHL announced the Kamloops Blazers were awarded the hosting rights for the 2023 Memorial Cup tournament that crowns a CHL champion. It will mark the second time in team history the Blazers have hosted the Memorial Cup. The Blazers hosted the 1995 Memorial Cup and won that tournament after also winning the WHL championship.
• On Monday, the Saskatoon Blades signed defenceman Isaac Poll to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The Blades selected Poll, who is from White City, Sask., in the first round and 21^st overall in the WHL Prospects Draft held on May 19. Poll, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 160 pounds, played for the Prairie Storm under-15 AA team last season posting 10 goals and 28 assists in 26 games.
• On Tuesday, the Prince Albert Raiders signed centre Luke Moroz to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The Raiders selected Moroz, who is from Grand Coulee, Sask., in the first round and 15^th overall in the WHL Prospects Draft held on May 19. Moroz, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 143 pounds, played for the Prairie Storm under-15AA team last season posting 47 goals and 61 assists in 27 regular season games.
• I was back in the pages of the Prince Albert Daily Herald with a column on the WHL U.S. Priority Draft and the WHL Prospects Draft. That column 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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Ice, Oil Kings - Recipe for classic WHL conference final

The Ice celebrate scoring a goal on March 23.

The seemingly inevitable clash of WHL titans in 2021-22 is going to happen, and it could deliver a classic post-season series.

Throughout the 2021-22 campaign, the Winnipeg Ice and Edmonton Oil Kings seemed destined to be on a collision course to meet in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship series. The two squads pretty much sat either first or second in the overall league standing throughout the 2021-22 regular season.

When the regular season came to a close, the Ice finished first overall with a 53-10-3-2 record, while the Oil Kings were second overall with a 50-14-3-1 mark. The final CHL Top 10 rankings released on April 20 saw the Ice rated second overall, while the Oil Kings were listed third overall.

The Eastern Conference Championship between the Ice and Oil Kings was finalized on Friday night. That occurred when the Ice downed the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 6-3 in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

The victory allowed the Ice to take the best-of-seven series with the Warriors 4-1.

Game 1 of the series between the Ice and Warriors is set for this coming Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena. Game 2 follows one night later on Saturday, May 21 at 7 p.m. local time.

Dylan Guenther led the Oil Kings in regular season scoring.

The schedule for the rest of the series is still to be announced. The series will be played in a two-three-two format thanks to the lengthy travel distance between the two cities with the Ice holding home ice advantage.

As the 2021-22 campaign motored along, it was easy for opinion to swing back and forth on which club was the best team.

The Ice were an impressive 18-1-1-1 in their final 21 regular season contests leading into the post-season. The Oil Kings were 6-3-1 in their last 10 games heading into the playoffs.

At that point, it appeared the Ice would be the favourites, if the two sides met in the playoffs.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Ice took out the Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 in a best-of-seven first round series and proceeded to eliminate the Warriors in one Eastern Conference semifinal.

The Oil Kings swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-0 in a first round series and got the brooms out again for an impressive 4-0 of the Red Deer Rebels, who had a 45-19-2-2 regular season record. Including play in the regular season, the Oil Kings have won their last 12 straight games.

The two sides met four times in the regular season with the Oil Kings claiming three of those encounters. With that said, it would be hard to forecast a winner off those results.

Out of those four encounters, three of them occurred before Dec. 31, 2021. The last clash came on Feb. 21, where the Oil Kings posted a 6-3 victory on home ice at Rogers Place. That contest was also a lengthy time ago.

Zachary Benson had a big season for the Ice.

At this point, determining a favourite in a series between the two sides might be a tossup.

Both clubs have exciting rosters to watch.

For the Ice, the strength in their roster might be in their youth. Centre Matthew Savoie, right-winger Conor Geekie and netminder Daniel Hauser are eligible to play three more full campaigns each in the WHL. Centre Zachary Benson could potentially suit up for four more seasons of eligibility in the WHL.

Jonas Woo, who is a 15-year-old defenceman, plays regular minutes on the Ice’s back end through all the club’s 10 games to date in the 2022 post-season. He joined the Ice on a full-time basis after his Winnipeg Bruins under-18 AAA team was eliminated from their provincial playoffs.

Savoie led the Ice in regular season scoring with 90 points coming off 35 goals and 55 assists to go with a plus-54 rating in the plus-minus department. Geekie had 70 points in the regular season coming off 24 goals and 46 assists to go with a plus-49 rating.

Hauser appeared in 40 regular season games for the post recording a 34-3-1 record, a 2.00 goals against average, a .914 save percentage and eight shutouts.

Benson skated in 58 regular season games with the Ice posting 63 points coming off 25 goals and 38 assists to go with a plus-40 rating. He leads the Ice in post-season scoring with 18 points coming off eight goals and 10 assists to go with a plus-12 rating.

Kaiden Guhle was a huge addition to the roster of the Oil Kings.

Woo as a 15-year-old regular on defence has one goal, one assist and a plus-five rating skating in all of the Ice’s 10 post-season games to date. He appeared in 15 regular season games with the Ice recording one goal, two assists and a plus-18 rating.

The Ice have a number of star and standout veterans too in Connor McClennon, Mikey Milne, Jakin Smallwood, Benjamin Zloty, Jack Finley, Carson Lambos and seemingly the rest of the roster has made big contributions at some point during the campaign.

Zloty, who could return next season as an overager, led the Ice in defenceman scoring in the regular season posting 64 points coming off eight goals and 56 assists skating in 62 regular season games. He also had a plus-38 rating in the plus-minus department.

Ice head coach James Patrick and has staff have done an outstanding job ensuring the Winnipeg side place consistent on a nightly basis.

The Oil Kings head into the series with the Ice with an older roster. Edmonton is carrying 10 players who are skating through their 19-year-old campaign along with the allowed three overagers each WHL club can have.

The Oil Kings roster has eight players who have been a selection in the NHL Entry Draft. Edmonton’s notable acquisitions going all-in on the trade front for this season include centre and Florida Panthers draft selection Justin Sourdif, defenceman and Montreal Canadiens draft selection Kaiden Guhle and rearguard and Nashville Predators draft selection Luke Prokop.

Benjamin Zloty had 64 points in 62 games for the Ice.

Management for the Edmonton side made the aggressive moves with the team having lost two potential long post-season runs in 2020 and 2021 due to the WHL Playoffs and the CHL Championship Tournament – the Memorial Cup – being cancelled in each of those years due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

Right-winger Dylan Guenther, who can potentially return for two more WHL campaigns, led the Oil Kings in regular season scoring with 91 points coming off 45 goals and 46 assists to go with a plus-51 rating. Guenther tops the Oil Kings in post-season scoring with 12 points coming off nine goals and three assists to go with a plus-eight rating.

Overage import defenceman Simon Kubicek led all Oil Kings blue-liners in regular season scoring with 41 points coming off 14 goals and 27 assists to go with a plus-29 rating.

Star 19-year-old netminder Sebastian Cossa, had an outstanding regular season posting a 33-9-3 record, a 2.28 goals against average, a .913 save percentage and six shutouts in 46 appearances.

 The Oil Kings have plenty of other stars and standouts like captain Jake Neighbours, Josh Williams, Carter Souch, Jalen Luypen and Jakub Demek. Neighbours only appeared in 30 regular season games, but he posted 45 points coming off 17 goals and 28 assists to go with a plus-24 rating.

Head coach Brad Lauer guided the Oil Kings to the Eastern Conference final in 2019 when they fell to the eventual WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders. Lauer and his staff will do their best to ensure their club gets past the conference championship round this season.

The Oil Kings celebrate a goal on Jan. 1.

The Ice and Oil Kings potentially have a series that would be great to showcase the WHL on a national television sports network.

For ticket buyers in Winnipeg and Edmonton, they will be in for treat with what they see in the rink.

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 had good return to full season play

Injuries prevented Saskatoon from realizing more potential

The Blades celebrate a goal on March 25.

While the injury bug was a big foe, Saskatoon Blades had a respectable campaign playing their first full regular season since 2018-19.

In 2021-22, the Blades finished fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 38-26-3-1 regular season record. With one more standings point, the Blades would placed fourth in the Eastern Conference during the regular season and earned home ice advantage for a first round playoff series.

The WHL wasn’t able to play any complete regular seasons or crown league champions in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world. The CHL didn’t crown any Memorial Cup champions in either of those campaigns too.

When the WHL Playoffs came around following the completion of the 2021-22 regular season, the Blades found themselves taking on the Moose Jaw Warriors. The Warriors finished fourth overall in the Eastern Conference with a 37-24-4-3 mark to just edge out the Blades with 81 standings points to 80.

Saskatoon won six out of the eight head-to-head meetings between the two sides in the regular season. The Warriors claimed a best-of-seven post-season series 4-1.

Moose Jaw clinched the series with a 6-3 victory at home in Mosaic Place in Game 5 on April 29. The Warriors have to be credited with building a skilled younger roster that played well together in the series against the Blades.

The Blades had a fairly young roster too, and they had some skilled youngsters too that came along way.

Kyle Crnkovic was the Blades leading scorer.

Left-winger Brandon Lisowsky appeared in all 68 of the Blades regular season games in his 17-year-old campaign piling up 33 goals and 25 assists to go with a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department.

Rookie 17-year-old import left-winger Egor Sidorov made noise potting 23 goals and 12 assists appearing in 58 regular season games.

Defenceman Tanner Molendyk skated through his 16-year-old season, and he has potential to be one of the better rearguards on the WHL circuit. He had three goals, 15 assists and a minus-six rating in 55 regular season games, but he showed he could play a high volume of minutes when injuries added up.

When it came to the injury department, Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk calculated the club lost 250 man games due to injury in 2021-22. Blades first-year head coach Brennan Sonne had to lament all the line juggled he had to perform due to necessity.

When playoffs came around, the Blades were without captain and star offensive-defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere, who had season ending shoulder surgery. During his 19-year-old season, De La Gorgendiere appeared in 54 regular season games for the Blades posting four goals and 41 assists.

He last played on March 25, when the Blades downed the visiting Regina Pats 3-1 at the SaskTel Centre.

Star overage centre Tristen Robins, who finished the campaign as the Blades captain when De La Gorgendiere wasn’t able to comeback, missed the Blades last four regular season games due to injury and their first two playoff contests.

Robins, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks, suited up for the Blades last three post-season games playing only on the power play with a hobbled ankle. In 62 regular season games, Robins recorded 33 goals, 45 assists and a plus-four rating. He was only a shadow of that type of player in the post-season due to his ankle injury.

Tristen Robins had 33 goals and 45 assists for the Blades.

The Blades came out of the gate with a hot start posting a 9-2-1 record. Struggles took hold of the team at that point.

Following a 4-1 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders on home ice on Dec. 18, 2021, the Blades found themselves heading into the Christmas break with a 15-13-1 mark. At that point, the fact that about two-thirds of the Blades roster had never been through a full 68-game regular season became apparent.

There were a lot of guys that ran out of gas and played on fumes, when the schedule turned to November.

After returning from the Christmas Break, the Blades and the rest of the WHL had their troubles with players, coaches and staff dealing with COVID-19. Most of the WHL was shut down for the first two weeks of January, which included the Blades not playing any games between Jan. 1 and Jan. 14.

Blades rugged overage defenceman Rhett Rhinehart found himself on the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List for a short span.

There was a period of time ranging from three-and-a-half to four weeks during the campaign when Blades general manager Colin Priestner was down due to COVID.

Despite the challenges, the Blades rallied on the ice and had a 29-18-2-1 record when February came to a close.

Over the Blades last 18 regular season games, injuries really started to pile up. 

Rhett Rhinehart gave the Blades a physical presence.

By the time a 7-0 loss to the Warriors in Moose Jaw ended on March 26, the Blades were down eight regulars due to injury including all four regular centres in Robins, Jayden Wiens, Trevor Wong and Josh Pillar.

When the playoffs came around, the Blades were relatively healthy outside of the big exceptions that De La Gorgendiere was out and Robins played the club’s last three post-season games being limited physically due to his ankle injury. Besides the injury battles, the campaign had its highlights.

On April 8, Blades overage star netminder Nolan Maier made 20 saves in a 2-0 win over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders to move alone into top spot on the WHL’s all-time career regular season goaltending wins list with his 121^st victory. 

He finished his regular season career with 122 victories.

Maier had a strong final campaign with the Blades posting a 31-23-4 record, a 2.82 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and three shutouts.

Blades star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, who was skating through his 19-year-old season, finished fifth in the WHL’s regular season scoring race piling up 94 points on 39 goals and 55 assists to go with an even rating. Crnkovic’s goal, assist and point totals were all career highs, and he was the Blades leading scorer.

With the 2021-22 campaign at an end for the Blades, they of course graduate Maier, Robins and Rhinehart due to the fact they age out of the major junior ranks.

The Blades celebrate a win on April 15.

There were some fans that gripped on social media with classic moans about the Blades lack of post-season success that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic caused shutdowns in March of 2020. Those moans are misplaced due to what has happened in the world since March of 2020, but some upset fans will continue their upset fandom no matter what happens in the world, while conveniently forgetting they cried about having no Blades hockey to watch during shutdowns.

The Blades have the potential to return a strong roster for the upcoming 2022-23 campaign and will have a more regular off-season to prepare for the next season.

Going forward, there should be some well-placed optimism about the future looking good for the Blades.

Oil Kings deal Rebels major blow with OT win, other notes

Jake Neighbours scored the OT winner for the Oil Kings.

Captain Jake Neighbours’ overtime goal might be a blow the Red Deer Rebels can’t come back from.

On Monday before 3,506 spectators at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer, Neighbours, who is a star left-winger, scored his first goal of the post-season at the 7:17 mark of overtime to deliver his Edmonton Oil Kings to a 5-4 victory over the Rebels in Game 3 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the two sides.

With the win, the Oil Kings took a stranglehold 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven set. The favoured Oil Kings will try to close out the series against the Rebels in Game 4 on Wednesday set for 7 p.m. local time at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

Luke Prokop, Dylan Guenther, Carter Souch and Justin Sourdif all had singles in regulation for the Oil Kings. Liam Keeler, Kalan Lind, Arshdeep Bains and Jhett Larson replied with singles for the Rebels in regulation.

Edmonton had a 4-2 lead, but Bains scored with 7:10 remaining in the third and Larson potted the equalizer with 6:34 to play in the third to force overtime.

The Rebels comeback wasn’t to be as Neighbours netted the overtime winner.

Sebastian Cossa made 18 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings. Connor Unger turned away 47 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels despite a valiant effort to steal the game.

On Monday, Cossa was named the WHL’s goaltender of the week for the week ending on Sunday. He captured the weekly award having shutout the Rebels in the first two games of the series.

Last Thursday, Cossa made 18 saves as the Oil Kings downed the Rebels 4-0 in Game 1 of the series at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Cossa followed that up with a 26 save performance last Saturday as the Oil Kings blanked the Rebels 5-0 in Game 2 of the series also played at Rogers Place.

The WHL’s conference semifinal round could potentially be a quick one. In the other Eastern Conference semifinal, the Winnipeg Ice, the WHL’s top club in the regular season, hold a 2-0 series lead over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

In the Western Conference, the favoured Kamloops Blazers lead the Vancouver Giants 2-0 in one semifinal series, and the favoured Portland Winterhawks lead the Seattle Thunderbirds 2-0 in the other semifinal series.

• On Monday, Winnipeg Ice left-winger Owen Pederson was named the WHL’s player of the week for the week ending on May 8. He had a goal and four assists helping the Ice win the first two games of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Moose Jaw Warriors.
• On Monday, Kelowna Rockets import right-winger Pavel Novak signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild. The Wild selected Novak in the fifth round and 146^th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Novak, who turned 20-years-old on April 16, appeared in 62 regular season games for the Rockets in 2021-22 recording 29 goals, 43 assists and a plus-26 rating in the plus-minus department.
• Last Wednesday, Mitch Love, who is the head coach of the Stockton Heat, was named the AHL’s coach of the year. Love guided the Heat to a first place finish in the Pacific Division with a 46-16-5-2 record. The 46 victories is a regular season record for the Heat along with the team’s 97 standings points. The division title win was a first in Heat franchise history. Before joining the Heat, Love was the head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades for three seasons.
• I put together new content for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex’s Howe Happenings blog that went live on Monday. I created a piece called “Home is where the heart is for Neufeld – O-lineman finds stomping grounds in Sask. and the ’Peg.” It is a catch up piece with Winnipeg Blue Bombers star offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld, who is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football team from the U Sports ranks. That article can be found by clicking right here. I also created a photo roundup that 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.

Oil Kings’ Guhle saluted in return to Prince Albert

Edmonton powers past Raiders 5-2

Kaiden Guhle (#4) had a memorable return to Prince Albert.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – While he was no long wearing his #6 Prince Albert Raiders jersey, Kaiden Guhle still soaked in his homecoming to “Hockey Town North.”

On Saturday night, the star defenceman stepped on to the ice at the Art Hauser Centre wearing the colours of the Edmonton Oil Kings. It marked the first time Guhle played in Prince Albert since the Raiders dealt him to Edmonton in a blockbuster deal earlier this season on December 1, 2021.

Way back in what was then known as the WHL Bantam Draft in 2017, the Raiders selected Guhle first overall. The Sherwood Park, Alta., quickly lived up to high expectations.

Kaiden Guhle mans the point for the Oil Kings.

He played eight games for the Raiders on a call up basis during his 15-year-old season in 2017-18. Guhle proceeded to be an important regular as a 16-year-old rookie in the 2018-19 campaign helping the Raiders win their second WHL championship.

The skilled offensive-defenceman broke into star status posting 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-23 rating in the plus-minus department in 64 games helping the Raiders finish first in the East Division in 2019-20 before the end of the regular season and the post-season was cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Guhle was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round with the 16^th overall selection. He proceeded to sign an NHL entry-level contract with the Canadiens.

The Raiders play a video tribute for Kaiden Guhle on their scoreboard.

While he had been draft by the Canadiens, Guhle returned to Prince Albert to keep improving for his future career in the professional ranks. All total, he played 156 career regular season games with the Raiders piling up 17 goals, 58 assists and a plus-42 rating in the plus-minus department.

Guhle was the Raiders captain at the time he was traded to the Oil Kings.

In his return game to Prince Albert, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 200 pounds, was on the ice to start the contest for the Edmonton side. At the first media break that came at the 9:08 mark of the first period, the Raiders played a video tribute for Guhle on the Art Hauser Centre’s giant video scoreboard.

Kaiden Guhle (#4) waves to the Art Hauser Centre crowd.

Guhle sat on the boards of the Oil Kings bench to watch the tribute. The 2,322 spectators in the 2,580 seat building rose to salute Guhle.

As the cheers grew louder as the video continued to play, Guhle gave a wave to the crowd. He gave a second wave at the end of the video with the spectators still cheering the players from both the Raiders and Oil Kings standing on their respective benching giving a stick tap salute.

“It was pretty special,” said Guhle. “I spent a lot of my career here.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without that staff and the guys in the room there. It was special to get a little recognition from the Raiders. It shows just how good of a first class organization they are.”

Kaiden Guhle (#4) breaks into the offensive zone on a rush.

The Oil Kings led 1-0 at the time of the video tribute thanks to a power-play goal from 20-year-old right-winger Josh Williams. The visitors would ultimately cruise to a 5-2 victory in the WHL regular season clash holding a big 40-19 edge in shots on goal and going 3-for-7 on the power play.

When the video tribute played, Guhle said his time with the Raiders seemed to flash before his eyes.

“It was just nice to get that video from the Raiders,” said Guhle, who turned 20-years-old just past the middle of this past January. “It was just a lot of memories flashing back from the championship to being in the dressing room with the guys.

Josh Williams scored the Oil Kings first goal on Saturday.

“It was just a lot of memories a lot of good memories that kind of rush through my mind. It was really special.”

Guhle said it felt different to walk into the Art Hauser Centre through the doors used by the visiting team, suit up in the visitors’ dressing room and take a spot on the visitors’ bench. When the game started, he got into the groove of the contest where it felt like he was playing another regular season game.

With odds of him moving to the professional ranks being high next season and the Raiders continuing to slip out of playoff contention, Guhle was likely playing his final game at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday.

While he may not be playing for the Raiders anymore, it wasn’t lost on Guhle how much the team meant in his life.

Oil Kings centre Justin Sourdif (#42) fights through a check.

“I spent my whole junior career pretty much here with the same coaches and a lot of the same guys throughout my whole career,” said Guhle, who was captain of Canada’s entry at the last world juniors before they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in late December 2021. “It was really special.

“I wouldn’t be out here without the coaches and the guys in the room. I give a lot of my credit to those guys in the room and the coaching staff.”

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Guhle will always have a special place in the history of the Raiders organization. While the veteran bench boss never likes to lose, he said it was special to have Guhle back inside the Art Hauser Centre again.

Cale Sanders scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

“He (Guhle) is a class guy,” said Habscheid. “He is a big part of the organization and part of the 2019 (WHL championship) team.

“He will be a Raider forever. He wears that (Oil Kings) jersey, but he is still a Raider. That is the way it is.”

A short time after the video tribute for Guhle, Oil Kings star centre Justin Sourdif scored on the power play to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.

Sourdif added his second of the night on another power play at the 5:29 mark of the second period to give Edmonton a 3-0 advantage.

Raiders 19-year-old right-winger Cale Sanders tallied for the Raiders with 2:16 remaining in the second period to cut the Oil Kings lead to 3-1.

Jalen Luypen scored the Oil Kings fifth goal on Saturday.

If there were thoughts of a comeback, it wasn’t to be.

The Oil Kings sealed the deal when captain Jake Neighbours potted his 12^th of the season scoring from the front the Prince Albert goal to increase Edmonton’s lead to 4-1 at the 4:06 mark of the third.

On that play, import centre Jakub Demek caused a turnover by the right boards of the Raiders zone and centred the puck to Neighbours, who promptly put the visitors up three.

Jalen Luypen potted the Oil Kings final goal to give them a 5-1 edge.

Sanders concluded the game’s scoring with his second tally of the night with 5:18 remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final in Edmonton’s favour.

Jakub Demek had three assists for the Oil Kings on Saturday.

Tikhon Chaika turned away 35 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders, who fell to 15-24-1-1 having lost six straight. Kolby Hay stopped 17 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings, who lead the WHL’s Central Division with a 31-11-2-1.

Demek had three assists for the Oil Kings in the win.

The Raiders were playing without star 19-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt on Saturday. He was out with an undisclosed injury suffered late in the Raiders 2-1 loss at home on Friday to the Red Deer Rebels. Wiesblatt is the only player left on the Raiders roster from their 2018-19 WHL championship team.

Sanders said his side is getting sick of the losing in what has become a reloading season for his team.

Tikhon Chaika made 35 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.

“We lost a bunch recently, so we have to battle back somehow,” said Sanders. “We’re in a slump.

“All of us are kind of angry. We’re just looking for a little of the bright side.”

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Oil Kings get back into action on Tuesday when they host the Regina Pats at Rogers Place. That contest is the team’s annual game where they host a number of local area schools so it starts at 11 a.m. local time.

As Sherwood Park sits just outside Edmonton’s eastern border, Guhle is playing for his birth family home area WHL team. He knows the potential his Oil Kings team has and wants to help them accomplish big goals like he did with the Raiders in 2019.

Kaiden Guhle (#4) and the Oil Kings enjoy their win on Saturday.

“Obviously, we want to go all the way,” said Guhle, who has five goals, 23 assists and a plus-eight rating in 29 games this season split between the Raiders and Oil Kings. “I think we kind of got a lot of good piece throughout the year.

“I think it is kind of win or bust for us. There are still a lot of new guys in the room still. We are still getting comfortable with everything.

“I think it is just win or bust for us.”

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 down Blades 4-1 in strange feeling game

The Oil Kings celebrate a second period power-play goal.

It was an odd night at the rink when you realized the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings had three players on the ice who should have been elsewhere.

On Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Oil Kings hit the ice for a WHL regular season clash with netminder Sebastian Cossa, centre Dylan Guenther and left-winger Jake Neighbours in the lineup as they faced the host Saskatoon Blades.

All three were suiting up for the Oil Kings for the first time since the remainder of IIHF’s world juniors were cancelled on Wednesday. Cossa, Guenther and Neighbours were all playing for Canada at world juniors, which were held jointly in Edmonton and Red Deer.

Dylan Guenther had two assists on Saturday for the Oil Kings.

With those three in the fold, the Oil Kings downed the Blades 4-1 holding a 40-16 advantage in shots on goal in a contest played before 2,827 spectators.  

Due to the fact world juniors were supposed to run thru to this coming Wednesday, the Oil Kings are in the middle of a seven-game road trip, which started when the club resumed action following the WHL Christmas break. Saturday’s contest against the Blades was the fourth game of that trip.

On Thursday, the Oil Kings downed the Wheat Kings in Brandon 3-2 after a tiebreaking shootout in a contest that was played without fans in attendance at Westoba Place. Following the win over the Wheat Kings, the Oil Kings made the jaunt to Saskatoon and Cossa, Guenther and Neighbours joined up with the Edmonton club there.

Jake Neighbours was back in the Oil Kings fold on Saturday.

All of those events occurred because the world is still stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which took root in North America in a big way in March of 2020. The emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing a rapid rise in new cases in North America.

Dealing with the Omicron variant has been challenging, because while it is supposed to be a variant that is milder than other strains of COVID-19, it is more transmissible than other variants.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the remainder of world juniors after three days of games were held.

A WHL game was played in Brandon without fans on Thursday in order to best comply with the public health orders that current exist in the province of Manitoba.

Sebastian Cossa made 15 saves earning a win for the Oil Kings.

The Blades were holding their traditional New Year’s Day game on Saturday, which they weren’t able to do in 2021 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the Blades were able to hold that traditional New Year’s Day contest, the COVID-19 specter was there.

It was seen in the fact that that Cossa, Guenther and Neighbours were playing with the Oil Kings and not for Canada at world juniors.

The Oil Kings had two other players attend world juniors who were not in the lineup in defenceman Kaiden Guhle and centre Jakub Demek. The Edmonton club has both listed as not yet having rejoined the team.

The Blades can’t stop a Jalen Luypen (#23) Oil Kings power-play goal.

Guhle was the captain of Canada’s team, while Demek was skating for Slovakia.

It is possible both could be getting their respective Christmas breaks right now. Most major junior teams that have players take part in world juniors will find a spot to give those players a Christmas break.

With that said, the COVID-19 pandemic is the elephant in the room, so it makes you wonder.

On the Saskatoon side, the Blades were without star 20-year-old centre Tristen Robins and 19-year-old right-winger Noah Boyko, who was acquired on Tuesday in a trade with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, for undisclosed reasons.

Jalen Luypen had a goal and an assist for the Oil Kings.

Both suited up for the Blades on Thursday, when they downed the Prince Albert Raiders 6-4 at the SaskTel Centre. Robins and Boyko finished that contest, so the COVID-19 elephant is there in that instance.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, Boyko’s former team in the Hurricanes had 14 players placed on the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List. The Hurricanes road game on Saturday in Calgary against the Hitmen and home game on Sunday against the Swift Current Broncos were both postponed.

The absence of Robins and Boyko saw the Blades add 15-year-old associate player call up Zachary Moore to their roster. Moore made his WHL debut for his hometown team at forward.

Nolan Maier made 36 saves in goal for the Blades.

Belarusian import left-winger Egor Sidorov found his way back into the lineup since rejoining the Blades following the WHL Christmas break.

Once the game between the Oil Kings and Blades got started, it quickly felt like what a normal WHL regular season contest should feel like. When the action on the ice was going on, the focus for most in the building was on hockey.

The Oil Kings took a 1-0 lead at the 3:54 mark of the opening frame when import offensive-defenceman Simon Kubicek took a pass from centre Jalen Luypen at the point, skated down to the right slot and wired a shot to the top left corner of the Saskatoon goal.

The Blades evened things up at 1-1 scoring on the power play at the 7:37 mark of the first. Sidorov positioned himself at the right side of the Edmonton goal and one-timed a setup pass that came across the front of the Oil Kings net from star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic to even the score.

Egor Sidorov scored for the Blades on Saturday.

Saskatoon hit a bump with 3:39 remaining in the first period when 16-year-old rookie centre Lukas Hansen took a double minor for high sticking. The double minor will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for as possible suspension.

The Oil Kings were able to go back in front on the second half of that penalty.

With exactly 59 seconds remaining in the first, Oil Kings 19-year-old defenceman Luke Prokop put an off-speed point shot on goal that found its way thru a maze of bodies into the Saskatoon net for a power-play marker that gave the visitors a 2-1 edge.

The Blades ran into more troubles in the penalty department when 18-year-old centre Jayden Wiens took a major penalty for boarding at the 2:22 mark of the second period. Wiens was penalized after making an awkward hard hit into the boards on Oil Kings 19-year-old defenceman Carson Golder.

Zachary Moore made his WHL debut on Saturday.

Golder had to be attended to on the ice by the Oil Kings training staff. He left the contest and didn’t return.

Wiens’ infraction also triggers an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Oil Kings managed to score once on the five-minute power-play to go ahead 3-1 at the 3:33 mark of the second.

The scoring play saw Oil Kings 20-year-old right-winger Josh Williams hold the puck at the left side of the Saskatoon goal, and slide a pass across the face of the Blades net to Luypen. Luypen popped the puck into net just out of the reach of a sprawling Blades 20-year-old star netminder in Nolan Maier to give the visitors their two-goal edge.

The goal helped Luypen complete a two-point night.

A scrum takes place by the Saskatoon net in the second period.

A big scrum around the Saskatoon net occurred with 6:46 remaining in the second that amused the spectators. There were some wrestling and holding matches in the scrum, but no actual fights resulted from it.

The Oil King proceeded to seal victory scoring a big dagger goal just before the midway part of the third period to round out the 4-1 final thank to a nice setup play by Guenther.

Guenther passed the puck from the left back boards behind the Saskatoon goal to the front of the net to linemate Jaxsen Wiebe, who popped home his fourth tally of the season. Guenther finished the contest with two assists, while Wiebe had a helper to go along with his goal.

Jaxsen Wiebe had a goal and an assist for the Oil Kings.

Maier played heroically turning away 36 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades (17-14-1-1). Cossa stopped 15 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings (24-8-2-1).

The Oil Kings return to action on Sunday, when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (6 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades return to action this coming Friday when they host the Regina Pats (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

A total of seven games got played in the WHL on Saturday night. At the moment, the majority of the circuit’s contests are still happening.

The COVID-19 pandemic specter is still there going forward with the Omicron variant seemingly taking centre stage. It is the back in everyone’s mind that more game postponements due to the pandemic will still happen.

Oil Kings C Jalen Luypen and Blades LW Kyle Crnkovic face off.

No one knows when the next postponements will be.

The teams are trying to do their best to prevent players and staff from contracting COVID-19, while still having reasonable but limited contact with the world outside the team environment.

That includes trying to do more media interviews via telephone and Zoom calls. Before the Christmas break, most WHL teams were still doing media interviews in person.

At the moment, most games are going ahead, but that potentially might not always be the case in the future even with everyone’s best efforts.

The Oil Kings celebrate their win on Saturday night.

Every time a game gets in, that in itself is a good little victory.

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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