Blades are good but bumps in the road will still happen

Gary Haden has been on fire for the Blades.

    Saskatoon Blades are learning that getting to the top part of the WHL standings is one thing but staying there is another.

    Going into the current campaign, I predicted the Blades would end their drought of not making the playoffs since 2013 and would qualify for the post-season in a comfortable fashion.

    With 16 games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Blades haven’t officially locked down a playoff berth, but they are in a comfortable position to make the post-season. They sit fourth overall in the WHL standings with a 31-13-8 record.

    On Tuesday, the Blades had a great night as they thumped the Wheat Kings 7-3 before 3,090 spectators at Westoba Place in Brandon. The Blades held a 1-0 lead after the first period and went up 3-1 before Brandon rallied for a 3-3 tie.

Saskatoon exited the second period with a 4-3 edge and rolled off three goals in the third.

    Star sophomore centre Kirby Dach recorded his second career WHL hat trick for the Blades, while Max Gerlach and Eric Florchuk both had two goal nights. Star left-winger Gary Haden had four assists for Saskatoon, while Ryan Hughes had three helpers for the visitors.

    Stelio Mattheos, Luka Burzan and Cole Reinhardt replied with singles for the Wheat Kings.

    Dorrin Luding turned away 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Ethan Kruger, who is a 17-year-old rookie, stopped 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings (22-21-3-4).

    Most wouldn’t have envisioned the Blades sitting in the league’s top five for most of the campaign. I figured they might be sitting around 10^th as far as the overall standings were concerned, so competing for a spot in the top five was beyond my expectations.

Kirby Dach had a hat trick for the Blades on Tuesday.

    With the effort they have put in to date, the Blades deserve to be sitting in the top five of the WHL standings.

    Still, they have experienced hiccup moments in recent weeks. The Blades have learned how to win, and now they are in the process of learning what it takes to hold the status of being one of the WHL’s top teams.

    One of the most recent spots the learning curve hit was on Jan. 26, when the Blades hosted the Swift Current Broncos at the SaskTel Centre. After winning the WHL title last season, the Broncos are in a major rebuild in the current campaign and sit last in the overall league standings.

    When the Blades and Broncos met on Jan. 26, Saskatoon controlled play for most of the contest and held a 4-2 lead heading into the final five minutes of the third period. With 4:39 remaining in the third period, Broncos captain Tanner Nagel scored on kind of a soft goal to cut the Saskatoon lead to 4-3.

    All of a sudden, the Broncos youngsters had life, and the Blades players seemed to grip their sticks. The Broncos tied things up to force overtime.

    In overtime, the Blades had a number of chances to get the win. Ultimately, Finnish import left-winger Joona Kiviniemi scored for the Broncos with 3.4 seconds remaining in the extra session to deliver the visitors to a 5-4 victory.

    Looking back, the Blades had to look at that contest as one they should have closed out. They picked up one point in the standings and let another point slip through their fingers.

    One day earlier, the Blades dumped the Broncos 5-2 in Swift Current thanks to a four-goal effort from Haden. Following that win, Blades supporters had to be scratching their heads about how the 5-4 overtime loss to the Broncos could materialize one night later in Saskatoon.

Max Gerlach scored twice for the Blades on Tuesday night.

    Last weekend, the Blades posted a 3-1 victory over Pats in Regina on Friday. While the Pats are in a major rebuild after hosting the Memorial Cup, they still play opponents incredibly hard under head coach David Struch, especially in their home rink.

    The Blades still skated away with full marks for the victory thanks to a 34 save performance by star netminder Nolan Maier and a two-goal night from Haden.

    On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades hosted the Central Division leading Edmonton Oil Kings in a heavyweight tilt. The game was a barnburner and Saskatoon held a 3-2 lead going into the final four minutes of the third period.

    With 3:09 to play in the third, offensive defenceman Conner McDonald scored his second of two goals on the night to cause a 3-3 tie and force overtime. Just 30 seconds into overtime, star Oil Kings captain Trey Fix-Wolansky scored the winner to give the visitors a 4-3 victory. McDonald picked up an assist to complete a three-point night.

    While this overtime loss was to a tough opponent, those associated with the Blades had to feel it was tough to see the team get only one point instead of two in the standings due to falling in overtime. They outshot the Oil King 41-35 on the night.

    Still it has to be emphasized the Blades are in a position where they are trying to hold a spot in the top five in the league standings. That is a big step up from just falling short of capturing the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference like in the past two seasons.

    During the last two campaigns, the Blades saw a playoff berth fall through their hands over the final 10 games of the regular season.

    Those unsuccessful playoff pushes were a case of the team learning to crawl before learning to walk.

    At the moment, the glass is way more than half full for the Blades.

    Maier is having a solid sophomore campaign to follow up an outstanding rookie season posting a 25-9-6 record, a 2.76 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and two shutouts.

    Haden has been on fire collecting points in five consecutive games recording nine goals and four assists over that span of time. He has 25 goals and 27 assists in 48 games split between the Blades and the Medicine Hat Tigers this season.

Eric Florchuk had two goals for the Blades on Tuesday night.

    Gerlach, who is an overage right-winger, has 31 goals and 22 assists in 52 regular season games, and he has scored 30 or more goals for a fourth straight campaign, which marks every season he has been in the league.

    Star centre Kirby Dach is plugging along netting 21 goals and 34 assists to lead the Blades in scoring with 55 points in 48 regular season games. Offensive defenceman Dawson Davidson is second in team scoring with nine goals and 45 assists for 54 points appearing in all of his club’s 52 regular season games.

    Kyle Crnkovic, who is a 16-year-old rookie left-winger, provides excitement seemingly every time he touches the puck and is forming a fan following.

    Veteran blue-liners Brandon Schuldhaus and Nolan Kneen are a formidable defensive pair.

    Emil Malysjev, who is a 17-year-old rookie defenceman from Sweden, is improving at a rapid rate.

    First year head coach Mitch Love has a good understanding of the pulse of the team and what steps need to be taken to keep the club moving forward.

    The Blades are very much sitting in a good place. It is great they can keep learning and getting better from a position of strength.

Raiders return to form, rock Oil Kings

Brett Leason had a goal and two assists for the Raiders on Monday.

    The Prince Albert Raiders proved their point is showing the Edmonton Oil Kings the team they really were.

    On Friday, the Oil Kings, who lead the WHL’s Central Division, skated into Prince Albert and downed the Raiders, who top the entire WHL standings, 6-3 at the Art Hauser Centre. Following the game, the Raiders admitted to a man they didn’t have their best effort.

    When the two clubs met on Monday before 5,339 spectators at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the outcome was very much a different one.

    The Raiders, who are the top rated team in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings, held a 16-8 edge in shots on goal in the first period and exited the frame holding a 1-0 lead on a goal from 16-year-old rookie centre Ozzy Wiesblatt.

    Just 37 seconds into the second, the Oil Kings tied things up at 1-1, when centre Vince Loschiavo netted his 23^rd goal of the season.

    At that point, the floodgates opened in a goal surge for the Raiders.

Parker Kelly scored for the Raiders on Monday.

    Before the second period ended, the Raiders jumped ahead 3-1 with power forward Parker Kelly netting his 24^th goal of the season and star right-winger Brett Leason potting his 33^rd goal of the campaign.

    In the third, 16-year-old rookie right-winger Jakob Brook and star left-winger Cole Fonstad each scored singles to round out a 5-1 victory for the Raiders. Fonstad’s goal was his 22^nd tally of the season and is a new career high for the 18-year-old veteran.

    Leason had two assists to go along with his goal.

    Ian Scott turned away 25 shots as the Raiders improved their WHL leading record to 43-7-0-2. Todd Scott stopped 41 shots to take the setback in goal for the Oil Kings (29-16-4-4).

    Prince Albert won three out of the four head-to-head meetings with Edmonton this season.

    With the final result pretty much imbedded on the scoreboard, the contest contained a late third period fight between Raiders defenceman Loeden Schaufler and Oil Kings rearguard Parker Gavlas.

    Monday’s win was the start of a four game road trip for the Raiders. They return to action on Friday, when they travel to Calgary to face the Hitmen at the Calgary Corral at 7 p.m. Calgary time.

    On Tuesday, the Raiders became the first team this season to officially lock up a berth in the WHL playoffs, when the Saskatoon Blades dumped the Wheat Kings in Brandon 7-3.

    The Oil Kings return to action this coming Sunday, when they host the Regina Pats at 4 p.m. local time at Rogers Place.

Brook slew foot a bizarre moment

Josh Brook made an uncharacteristic gaff on Saturday.

    One of the weirdest moments in the WHL last weekend had to be the slew foot executed by Moose Jaw Warriors captain Josh Brook.

    On Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert, the final buzzer sounded as the host Raiders downed the visiting Warriors 4-3. At that moment, Brook, who is a 19-year-old star defenceman, slew footed Raiders import defenceman Sergei Sapego, who is from Belarus.

    As Brook was being led away from Sapego by the officials, a scrum ensued when Raiders right-winger Justin Nachbaur tried to get at Brook.

    Nachbaur ended up getting tangled up with Warriors centre Tristin Langan.

    When the dust settled, Nachbaur was given a fighting major and a game misconduct. Langan was assessed a minor penalty for leaving the penalty box, a fighting major and a game misconduct. He was in the penalty box after taking a checking from behind minor penalty with 67 seconds remaining in the third.

    Brook didn’t receive any infractions at the end of the contest.

    Having watched Brook play a number of times since he entered the WHL on a full-time basis in 2015-16, I thought the slew foot was out of character for him. The fact he slew footed an opponent that doesn’t have the history of being an agitator was even stranger.

Josh Brook (#2) skates away after slew footing Sergei Sapego.

    As a first reaction, I thought the WHL office might suspend Brook for one game, because the slew foot at the end of the game was a cheap shot. With that said, Brook doesn’t have a history of these sort of acts so it was possible this indiscretion might be overlooked.

    On Monday, the WHL suspended Nachbaur, who has a tough-guy aura, for three games, and Langan was suspended for one game.

    Nachbaur began serving his suspension on Monday, when the Raiders thumped the Oil Kings in Edmonton 5-1.

    No discipline came Brook’s way.

    While a clean past reputation might have helped Brook, he will likely be “Public Enemy #1” for the rest of the season when the Warriors visit Prince Albert. Raiders fans always seem to have long memories with regards to these sorts of incidents.

Honouring moms and billet moms is good for WHL teams

The Blades honour their mom and billet moms on January 2018.

    Here is hoping it becomes a trend for teams in the WHL to honour the moms and billet moms before one regular season game each season.

    The first team I saw do this was the Saskatoon Blades during their parents’ weekend last season. Before one of their home games on that weekend, the Blades brought the moms and billet moms of the players to the ice, and the players presented the moms with flowers.

The Raiders honour their moms and billet moms on Saturday.

    Pictures were taken with everyone together on the ice.

    The Blades did the same thing again this season as well.
    On Saturday in Prince Albert, the host Raiders had almost an identical ceremony for the moms and billet moms of their players before their 4-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

    When I took pictures of one of the Blades ceremonies, I saw someone send a message on Twitter to another WHL club asking about doing something similar.

    The pre-game gesture is really meaningful to the moms and billet moms.

    I am not sure if the Blades were the first team to have this sort of ceremony, but I hope more WHL teams follow what the Blades and Raiders have done.

Beware of the Wildcats

Taylor Lind has sparked the surging Wildcats.

    The Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats might be the team you don’t want to meet as an opponent in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs this season.

    The Wildcats are riding an eight-game winning streak that started when they returned to action after their Christmas break. The streak has vaulted Swift Current into third place in the SFMAAAHL standings with a 14-9-1 record.

    The Wildcats have surpassed their win total from their 13-11-4 campaign last season.

    Star captain Taylor Lind has piled up an incredible 14 goals and 12 assists during the winning streak. The skilled and gritty centre leads the SFMAAAHL in scoring with 23 goals and 30 assists for 53 points.

    The Shaunavon, Sask., product is the second all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL. Lind has one more season of midget eligibility remaining and could have returned to take a solid run at being the circuit’s all-time leading scorer.

    She is set to graduate from high school a year early and will play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ranks next season for the Lindenwood University Lions women’s hockey team in St. Charles, Missouri.

    Lind is the type of player that can will her team to new heights, and you can bet she will do her best to leave a mark in her final appearance in the SFMAAAHL playoffs.

Sara Kendall is having a career season for the Wildcats.

    This season, Lind has really improved as a playmaker, which helps bring extra confidence to her teammates. Linemate Sara Kendall, who is in her 16-year-old season, has career highs in goals (15) and assists (12) playing alongside Lind.

    Veteran 17-year-old forward Carissa Hogan has 11 goals and 13 assists and has come through in the clutch with a team-leading five game winning goals.

    Forward Ashlee Wolfe has found another gear in her 16-year-old season posting career highs in goals (seven) and assists (10).

    The Wildcats are anchored by a solid crew on defence in 16-year-old Maddy McCleary and 17-year-old veterans Kate Wagner and Tobi Fontaine.

    The team’s netminders in 15-year-old Amaya Girauder and 17-year-old Harper Davey are capable of doing big things, and if they get a big shot of confidence from this string of success, they could give the Wildcats another kick upwards in the confidence department.

    It should be noted that the Wildcats haven’t beaten the other three teams sitting in the top four of the SFMAAAHL standings in the Saskatoon Stars, Regina Rebels and Prince Albert Northern Bears during their winning streak.

    Still, winning brings a lot of confidence, and the Wildcats will have had lot of opportunity to smooth out their team game.

    If they win their final four games in regulation, they will lock up a third place finish.

    The Wildcats return to action on Saturday, when they host the Melville Prairie Fire at 11:30 a.m. at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

    How far will the Wildcats roll go?

Hounds slip past Gold Wings 5-2

The Gold Wings celebrated a pair of goals on Tuesday.

    A three-goal first period surge helped power the Notre Dame Hounds to a fourth straight win.

    On Tuesday at Crescent Point Place in Weyburn, the Hounds opened up a 3-0 lead in the first period and skated to a 5-2 victory over the host Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings in a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League regular season contest. The Hounds held a 3-1 lead after the first period and a 4-2 edge after the second frame.

    Sophie Young scored the first two goals of the game for the Hounds, who received singles from Anna-Liese King, Raea Gilroy and Claire Nimegeers. Lyndsey Janes had three assists for the Hounds, while Kaitlyn Gilroy had two helpers.

    Mia Chretien and Sierra Meroniuk replied with singles for the Gold Wings. Payton Mabee had two assists for Weyburn.

    Rayanne Mckenzie made 18 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Hounds (10-9-3). Amara Lewendon turned away 29 shots to take the setback in net for the Gold Wings (1-22-1).

    The Hounds return to action on Thursday, when they travel to Regina to face the Rebels at 8 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre.

    The Gold Wings return to the ice on Friday, when they host the Prince Albert Northern Bears at 7:30 p.m. at Crescent Point Place.

Back in the Express with Davidson

Dawson Davidson wants to end his time with the Blades on a high.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature story on Saskatoon Blades overage offensive-defenceman Dawson Davidson.

    Davidson has appeared in all of the Blades 52 regular season games and sits second in team scoring with nine goals and 45 assists for 54 points. His assist and point totals are career highs.

    The Moosomin, Sask., product cracked into the WHL as a 16-year-old rookie in the 2014-15 campaign with the Kamloops Blazers. He was traded to the Regina Pats partway through the 2016-17 season and was with the Pats in their run to the WHL championship series, which they lost in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

    Davidson was traded to the Blades last season. He has been a key part in helping the Blades push into fifth in the overall WHL standings with a 30-13-8 record.

    The piece on Davidson 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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Leason’s late game magic delivers Raiders hard fought 4-3 win over Warriors

The Raiders celebrate Brett Leason's winning goal on Saturday.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Brett Leason stepped up in a prime time moment to power his Prince Albert Raiders past a red hot foe.

    On Saturday night before a standing room crowd of 2,630 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders held a 3-2 lead on their WHL East Division rivals the Moose Jaw Warriors late in the third period of a regular season encounter. With 4:15 remaining in the third period, Warriors star left-winger Justin Almeida scored on the tail end of a power play to even things up at 3-3.

    It appeared the Warriors, who had won their last four straight and picked up standings points in their last eight games, had the momentum to rally for the win.

    At that point, Leason stepped up to play the role of hero for the host side.

Brett Leason came through with a clutch winner for the Raiders.

    With 2:25 remaining in the third, Leason took a beauty setup pass in the right slot from overage centre Noah Gregor and drove home the winning goal to give the Raiders a 4-3 victory. Leason’s winner allowed the Raiders to soften the sting of a 6-3 setback taken at the Art Hauser Centre against the Central Division leading Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday night.

    “It was great timing for sure,” said Leason, who leads the Raiders in scoring with 32 goals and 43 assists for 75 points. “Gregor made a great pass to me.

    “We’ve been battling back and forth all game. They tie it up, and we pop back right ahead. It was nice to get that relief in the last few minutes.”

    The win allowed the Raiders to improve their WHL leading record to 42-7-0-2. 

Justin Almeida had a late third period equalizer for the Warriors.

    While the wins are still coming for the Raiders, they have experienced a few more valleys for about the last month. Head coach Marc Habscheid was pleased to see Leason come through in the clutch.

    “It was obviously a big goal,” said Habscheid. “Wins aren’t coming easy right now.

    “The game is not coming easy. We’re not winning 7-1. We played a good team last night and didn’t play great.

    “We played a good team tonight and played much better. I thought we deserved the win for sure.”

    The first two periods of Saturday’s game swung back and forth.

    At the 4:34 mark of the opening frame, Raiders star left-winger Cole Fonstad wired home his 21^st goal of the season from the front of the Moose Jaw net to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

    The Warriors evened things up with 19.1 seconds remaining in the first period, when captain Josh Brook slipped home a bad angle goal on the power play to force a 1-1 score.

Cole Fonstad had the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

    Prince Albert jumped back in front 2-1 at the 4:50 mark of the second, when Raiders overage centre Sean Montgomery tipped home an off-speed point shot from captain Brayden Pachal.

    Moose Jaw forced a 2-2 tie scoring on the power play at the 15:31 mark of the second when right-winger Brayden Tracey, who is having a stellar 17-year-old rookie season, converted a backdoor feed from Brook. The tally was Tracey’s 23^rd goal and 52^nd point of the campaign.

    Before the second period ended, the Raiders jumped back out in front 3-2 when rookie defenceman Kaiden Guhle’s point drive found the back of the Warriors goal.

    “They bring it every time we play,” said Leason. “We just have to stick to the system and play as quick as we can.

    “We need to be a little gritty at times against them too.”

    On the power-play chance where the Warriors tied the game in the third, they worked with a two-man advantage for 1:20. After the two-man advantage ended, they ultimately scored with seven seconds remaining on the leftover one-man advantage.

Jett Woo had three assists for the Warriors on Saturday.

    That set the stage for Leason to get the winner moments later.

    “After the last couple of weeks and how we’ve been struggling a little bit, I think that was a huge character win for us,” said Raiders star netminder Ian Scott. “It was something that we can compare a lot to like a playoff game.

    “They are a good team. We know we are going to be up for a battle, when we play those guys. It is just who wants it more when we come to those games.”

    Scott made 28 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Brodan Salmond turned away 31 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors (28-12-6-2).
    Defenceman Jett Woo had assists on all three of Moose Jaw’s goals.

    For Scott, Saturday’s game was a bounce back one after being pulled in the third period of Friday’s loss to the Oil Kings. The Calgary, Alta., product thought he competed harder in Saturday’s game than he did on Friday night.

    “I think it was just the battling, staying with it,” said Scott. “You’re going to have nights where you fight it like last night, you know rough patches.

Ian Scott made 28 saves in goal for the Raiders on Saturday.

    “As long as you keep working hard, and just keep in the right mindset it will get better.”

    The rivalry the two sides built from the Warriors winning a tough seven game first round series in last year’s WHL playoffs showed through at the end of Saturday’s clash.

    After time expired in the third period, Brook slew footed Raiders import defenceman Sergei Sapego. As the Warriors captain was being led away from Sapego by the officials, a scrum ensued when Raiders right-winger Justin Nachbaur tried to get at Brook.

    Nachbaur ended up getting tangled up with Warriors centre Tristin Langan.

    When the dust settled, Nachbaur was given a fighting major and a game misconduct. Langan was assessed a minor penalty for leaving the penalty box, a fighting major and a game misconduct. He was in the penalty box after taking a checking from behind minor penalty with 67 seconds remaining in the third.

Sean Montgomery had the Raiders second goal on Saturday.

    Brook didn’t receive any infractions at the end of the contest.

    The WHL office will likely review what happened at the end of Saturday’s contest for possible further discipline.

    With the Raiders being rated first in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings, Habscheid expects his Raiders will be involved in encounters that were similar in intensity to Saturday’s game going forward.

    “I think everyone who plays us is obviously treating it like a Game 7 to beat us,” said Habscheid. “In the end, that is going to make us better.

    “If we don’t have our A-game, then we lose. Tonight, we played a team that was on a roll. They were on a winning streak.

    “We deserved the win. Their power play was good. That is where they made us pay, but five-on-five, I thought we were real good tonight.”

    The Raiders return to action when they travel to Edmonton to face the Oil Kings at 7 p.m. Edmonton time at Rogers Place.

Josh Brook (#2) skates away after slew footing Sergei Sapego.

    Saturday’s contest marked the second time the Raiders played at home over a 12 game stretch that started on Jan. 16 and wraps up on Feb. 13.

    The Warriors hit the ice again on Wednesday when they travel to Saskatoon to face the Blades at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    NOTES – Saturday’s contest was the Raiders’ “WHL Suits Up” with Don Cherry to promote organ donation game. The Raiders wore specially designed Don Cherry-themed jerseys that were auctioned off during the contest. All proceeds of the auction go towards the Prince Albert chapter of the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

The Raiders salute their fans after Saturday’s win.

    It was also parents’ weekend for the Raiders, and the team honour the moms and billet moms of the players before Saturday’s game.

    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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Warriors waste little time in reloading, rally for 3-2 win

Tristin Langan had three points in a Warriors comeback win.

    The Moose Jaw Warriors reload appears to have been a quick one.

    Last season, the Warriors finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 52-15-2-3 record and bowed out of playoffs in a tough second round series that went seven games to the eventual WHL champion Swift Current Broncos. The Broncos finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-17-5-2 record in the 2017-18 campaign.

    Experiencing significant turnover, the Warriors currently have just seven players on their roster that were with the squad last season. If anyone thought the current campaign was going to be a write off for Moose Jaw, the Warriors appear to have their own ideas about how the season is supposed to go.

    On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Warriors fell behind 2-0 to the host Saskatoon Blades in the first period of a WHL regular season clash only to rally back for a 3-2 victory before 3,236 spectators.

Brodan Salmond stopped 33 shots in goal for the Warriors on Friday night.

    The win allowed the Warriors to improve to 16-6-4-1 and tie the Blades, who fell to 17-10-3, for second in the WHL’s East Division with 37 points in the standings. Warriors overage centre Tristin Langan was the main offensive catalyst in the comeback scoring the equalizer and drawing assists on Moose Jaw’s other two tallies.

    With that outburst, Langan, who is in his fourth WHL campaign, has career highs in goals (20), assists (29) and points (49).

    “I think it is just all of my teammates,” said Langan. “We started the season and no one expected us to do anything.

Brayden Tracey had the winning goal for the Warriors.

    “We’re doing really good.”

    The Warriors started out posting a 7-5-3-1 record over their first 16 games. They are 9-1-1 in 11 contests following that point.

    Thanks to their surge of wins, the Warriors earned an honourable mention in the CHL Top 10 rankings that were released on Wednesday.

    Friday’s victory stopped a mini-skid as Moose Jaw had a regulation and an extra time loss in its two previous contests.

    Still, it appeared Friday’s game was going to be a rocky one for the Warriors.

    After the opening faceoff, the first stoppage occurred at the 4:31 mark of the first period, when Blades left-winger Eric Florchuk tipped a pass from linemate Kirby Dach past Moose Jaw netminder Brodan Salmond to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

    The Blades increased their lead to 2-0 at the 9:29 mark of the opening frame, when left-winger Gary Haden dove and made a pass across the face the Moose Jaw goal to linemate Josh Paterson. 
    Paterson tapped the puck into the open side of the cage to give Saskatoon its two-goal edge.

Kirby Dach set up the Blades first goal on Friday.

    The Warriors halted the Blades momentum with 7:32 remaining in the first on a goal from right-winger Luke Ormsby.

    “I think we came off to a slow start here,” said Langan.  “We came in and gathered ourselves (in the first intermission).

    “We came out and played a solid next 40, so it was nice to get the win out here tonight.”

    Moose Jaw tied things up at 2-2 working on the power play with 4:19 remaining in the second period, when Langan tipped home a point shot from defenceman Jett Woo.

    The Warriors netted the winning goal working on another power play at the 9:37 mark of the third period. Right-winger Brayden Tracey wired home a shot from the front of the Saskatoon goal converting a tick-tack-toe passing play from captain Josh Brook and Langan.

    Moose Jaw connected on two-of-three power-play chances and killed off all five of the Blades power-play opportunities. The Warriors even killed a Blades two-man advantage that lasted 1:48 that started near the end of the second period and ended early in the third.

Captain Josh Brook charges up the ice for the Warriors.

    Entering Friday’s game, the Warriors had a dismal 69.6 per cent success rate on the penalty kill. Langan said his Warriors have been focusing on the penalty kill at practice and is pleased to see results are starting to show from that work.

    “I think we were just bearing down on pucks, being hard around pucks and getting pucks down when we needed it,” said Langan. “It was good to see that we killed them off here.”

    Still, the Blades could have come away with a victory had it not been for Salmond making 33 saves in the Warriors net. Nolan Maier, who is the Blades star goalie, turned away 22 shots in Saskatoon’s cage.

The Blades push for the equalizer in the final seconds of Friday’s game.

    With just under 15 seconds to play in the third, Haden got in alone on the Moose Jaw goal for a prime scoring chance, but Salmond turned back the threat with a kick save.

    The Blades pressured for the equalizer in the dying seconds of the third during frantic action around the Moose Jaw goal. When the clock expired, the coaches and players from Saskatoon were arguing there should have been an offensive zone faceoff as the puck disappeared under the bodies of a couple of Warriors players.

    The two clubs will go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw. Langan said his side has to get a good rest in, when the team bus arrives home in Moose Jaw, and watch some film to prepare for Saturday’s encounter.

The Warriors celebrate their win on Friday night.

    The Swan River, Man., product said his Warriors need to embrace the chance to continue to play well in a season where the Moose Jaw side wasn’t pegged to be one of the league’s elite clubs.

    “We’re just playing as a team,” said Langan. “We’re just taking it one game at a time here, so it is nice.”

    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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Warriors becoming playoff tough in battle with Raiders

Warriors winger Tate Popple (#18) withstands punishment in front of the net.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - Getting the Prince Albert Raiders in the first round of the WHL playoffs was supposed to be a nightmare for the Moose Jaw Warriors.

    In actuality, that matchup is turning out to be what the Warriors might need.

    After finishing first in the entire WHL with a 52-15-2-3 record, the Warriors didn’t get rewarded by drawing what would typically be a weaker club in the first round of the playoffs. Due to a format where clubs play through their division, the Warriors were forced to face the Raiders, who posted a 32-27-9-4 mark during the regular season, in a best-of-seven first round series.

    The East Division that both teams play out of was viewed this season as one of the toughest divisions the league had seen in some time.

Justin Almeida cuts up ice for the Warriors.

    With the Warriors having only won one post-season series over the previous five years, a date with the hard-hitting and skilled Raiders might be the thing that prepares the Warriors for the rest of the post-season as they move into position to potentially advance to the second round.

    On Wednesday before 2,827 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Warriors claimed a classic gritty playoff contest 2-0 over the host Raiders in Game 4 of their first round series. The win gives the Warriors a 3-1 lead in the set.

    The Warriors will try to close out the series in Game 5 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw.

Winger Brayden Burke sets up in the offensive zone for the Warriors.

    In the first period of Wednesday’s clash, the Raiders came out playing in their classic style throwing a number of hits. Raiders defenceman Brayden Pachal and right-winger Carson Miller both nailed Moose Jaw left-winger Ryan Peckford with big hits. Peckford seemed to be on the receiving end of big hits at various times during the night.

    Due to the fact the Warriors have a lot of speed and skill this season, they will continually face teams in the post-season that will try to make them back down by increasing the physical intensity. The key for Moose Jaw to counter this is to play through this type of attention and not do anything dumb in the retaliation department to draw a penalty.

    Early in the second, Pachal, who stands 6-feet and weighs 195 pounds, leveled Warriors overage centre and 70-goal man Jayden Halbgewachs, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 165 pounds, with a high hit. The collision didn’t stop Halbgewachs, who topped the WHL in regular season scoring, from driving hard to the net.

Raiders winger Cole Fonstad had a goal called back.

    The odd time, the Warriors did lose their cool. In the second period, 17-year-old defenceman Jett Woo was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for knocking the stick out of the hands of Raiders rookie left-winger Justin Nachbaur.

    Those lapses were few and far between as Moose Jaw played with great composure for most of the night.

    The Warriors were finally rewarded for their resilience with 3:57 to play in the second period. Centre Justin Almeida streaked down centre towards the Prince Albert net, took a pass from a teammate at the right side boards and fired home is second goal of the post-season to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

    Defenceman Josh Brook and right-winger Brayden Burke picked up assists on the tally.

    The Raiders continued their physical play with defenceman Zack Hayes nailing Burke and Raiders centre Sean Montgomery nailing Peckford, who came up favouring his right shoulder but stayed in the game.

Jayden Halbgewachs, left, zips down the wing for the Warriors.

    After two periods, the play between the two sides was fairly even with the Raiders holding a 21-17 edge in shots on goal.

    The hosts pushed hard for the equalizer in the third, but Warriors netminder Brody Willms stood tall. He ultimately made 32 saves to earn his first career WHL post-season shutout.

    The Raiders thought they had the equalizer at the 10:24 mark of the third, when right-winger Cole Fonstad fired home a long rebound at the left side of the Moose Jaw goal. The officials had a lengthy conference and ruled Raiders defenceman Max Martin made incidental contact with Willms and disallowed the goal.

Raiders C Jordy Stallard (#19) chases a loose puck after a draw.

    The fans in attendance voiced their displeasure over the call.

    Fonstad created a tonne of offensive chances for the host all game.

    With 80 seconds to play, the Raiders pulled netminder Ian Scott for an extra attacker, but Prince Albert couldn’t final the equalizer. With 15.6 seconds remaining on the clock, Brook sent Burke into the clear on a breakaway towards the empty Prince Albert net, and Burke sealed with win with an empty-net tally.

    Scott turned away 20-of-21 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    The Raiders with their physical play had the potential to wear down the Warriors over a long series.

Warriors D Josh Brook and G Brody Willms celebrate their team’s win.

    Now the Warriors have a chance to close out a series against a tough opponent that is playing hard, playing to win and believes they can win.

    If the Warriors can win at home on Saturday, that would set them up nicely for the second round.

    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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Broncos big guns bust up Warriors in Game 4

Lindgren and Steenbergen combine for five goals in victory

The Broncos celebrate Ryley Lindgren’s first of three goals.

    SWIFT CURRENT – The Swift Current Broncos big guns proved to be too much for the Moose Jaw Warriors to handle.

    On Wednesday night before a raucous sellout crowd of 2,890 at the Credit Union i-Plex, overage centre Ryley Lindgren picked up a hat trick and winger Tyler Steenbergen potted a pair of goals to deliver the host Broncos to a 5-2 victory over the Warriors in Game 4 of a WHL first round playoff series. The win allowed the Broncos to even the best-of-seven set at 2-2 with Game 5 set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw.

    “They’ve been really good,” said Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viverios. “They’ve been good for us all year.

Overage centre Ryley Lindgren was on fire for the Broncos.

    “The same with Moose Jaw. Their big guns have carried them all year, and they have been really good in this series also too.

    “It is not a surprise for us. They (Lindgren and Steenbergen) stepped up, when we needed them the most.”

    The Broncos stormed out of the gates on Wednesday with Lindgren scoring just 59 seconds into the contest on his team’s second shot of the game. The East St. Paul, Man., product added his second goal on his club’s third shot of the game just 64 seconds after his first tally to put the host up 2-0.

    The surge didn’t stop there. Steenbergen picked up his first of the contest at the 8:57 mark of the opening stanza to give the Broncos a 3-0 edge to put the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

Winger Tyler Steenbergen powered the Broncos side with a pair of goals.

    Lindgren said his side really wanted pressure Warriors star netminder Zach Sawchenko as much as possible on Wednesday.

    “Today, we really just focused on working hard and wanting it more than them,” said Lindgren. “I think we came out and really crashed the net.

    “That is what we wanted to do was throw pucks at his (Sawchenko’s) feet and get there. We had some good bounces today. The scoreboard showed that, and it was definitely nice to get the win at home here.”

    The Warriors didn’t go away as their star players also ensured they were heard from. Just 76 seconds into the second period, Warriors captain Brett Howden scored on a power play to cut the Swift Current lead to 3-1.

Broncos F Arthur Miller and Warriors G Zach Sawchenko lung for a puck.

    Just 69 seconds after that tally, Warriors defenceman Josh Brook drove a point blast home on another power-play opportunity to cut the Broncos edge to 3-2. Wingers Jayden Halbgewachs and Brayden Burke picked up assists on both Moose Jaw goals.

    The Warriors were unable to beat Broncos overage netminder Jordan Papirny from that point. He made 30 stops to pick up the win in goal.

    “They’ve been coming all series, and we’ve been pushing back,” said Lindgren. “I think it is just the way we responded today was unbelievable.

    “I’m so proud of the group we have here. Paps (Papirny) in net has been unbelievable for us. I am kind of speechless right now.”

    With 63 seconds to play in the third, Steenbergen muscled his way in to score an empty-net power-play goal to put the Broncos up 4-2.

Broncos defenceman Max Lajoie gets set to drive a shot on goal.

    Lindgren added his hat trick goal on another power-play chance with 14.8 seconds remaining in the third cement the 5-2 final. Defenceman Max Lajoie picked up assists on the final two Broncos goals.

    Sawchenko turned away 20-of-24 shots to take the loss in goal for Moose Jaw.

    Steenbergen was impressed with the support of the Swift Current faithful.

    “They were unbelievable,” said Steenbergen. “These two game they’ve been behind our backs the whole time.

    “We want to play for them. I’m sure they are going to be just as loud coming home waiting for Game 6 (on Saturday).”

    Going into Game 5 in Moose Jaw, Steenbergen said his Broncos have to keep up their physical play. The Broncos delivered a number of big bodychecks in Wednesday’s win.

    “We just have to keep hitting them,” said Steenbergen. “I think we are wearing them down a little bit.

    “If we keep doing that, we should come away with this series. Hopefully, we come back here for Game 6 up 3-2.”

Bus crash memorial a must see

The Swift Current Broncos bus crash memorial.

    For anyone that visits Swift Current, one of the sites that is a must see is the memorial for the Swift Current Broncos bus crash.

    On December 30, 1986, the Broncos had departed to Regina to face the Pats but never made to the Saskatchewan capital that day. Just east of Swift Current, the team’s bus crashed killing four players in Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff.

    I know for myself having covered the WHL for 18 seasons, I have met a number of people whose lives were impacted by this crash. A four leaf clover monument was placed on the site of the crash earlier this season, and it is perfect way to remember the four players who passed away that terrible day.

    When you are at the memorial itself, it is easy to get emotional.

    All those that made the creation of this memorial possible should be given high praise.

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