Robins on the rise, tops Blades prospects for NHL Entry Draft

Tristen Robins is expected to be an NHL Entry Draft pick.

Tristen Robins might make some NHL scout or general manager look like a genus somewhere down the line.

Since joining the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades on a full-time basis as a 17-year-old rookie at the start of the 2018-19 season, the skilled centre as steadily improved. During that first season, Robins appeared in all of the Blades 68 regular season games posting nine goals, 16 assists and a plus-seven rating in the plus-minus department.

In the Blades march to the second round of the 2019 WHL playoffs, Robins appeared in all 10 of the team’s post-season games collecting three goals and one assist.

Tristen Robins led the Blades with 73 points last season.

The Blades were very deep at forward that season finishing fourth overall in the WHL regular season standings at 45-15-8, so Robins wasn’t relied upon for offence. Still, the Brandon, Man., product showed flashes in the offensive zone to make one suspect there was more potential to unlock at that end of the ice.

He piled up the points in Brandon’s minor hockey system growing up to further show that potential was there.

Last year as an 18-year-old sophomore, Robins, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 173 pounds, appeared in 62 regular season games with the Blades leading the team in scoring with 33 goals and 40 assists for 73 points to go along with a plus-16 rating.

Tristen Robins scored 33 goals for the Blades last season.

He played a key role in helping the Blades post a 34-24-2-3 record to lock up a WHL playoff berth for the second straight year. The Blades were unable to enjoy any post-season action as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic ultimately put an end to the overall WHL campaign on March 12.

Thanks to his performance in the 2019-20 regular season, Robins was rated 86^th among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings, which was a huge jump from being rated 134^th among North American skaters in the midterm rankings.

It is conceivable Robins could have increased his NHL Entry Draft potential had there been a post-season in major junior hockey.

Tristen Robins made big strides in two seasons with the Blades.

At the moment, it looks like the odds are high Robins will be picked in one of the middle rounds of the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

The NHL Entry Draft will start with round one on Tuesday via video conference call from the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. Rounds two through seven will be held on Wednesday by that same video conference call format.

This marks the first time Robins will be eligible for the NHL Entry Draft due to his late in the year birthday. Players need to be born on or before September 15 the year they turn 18-years-old to be eligible for the NHL Entry Draft.

Robins has been a great fit for the Blades after they acquired his WHL rights from the Regina Pats in a trade on January 8, 2018. In that trade, Robins, defenceman Dawson Davidson and a first round selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft went to the Blades in exchanged for import Czech defenceman Libor Hajek.

Tristen Robins is one of the Blades top players.

The Pats acquired Hajek in order to load up their roster as the host of the Memorial Cup tournament in May of 2018.

With that move, Robins followed in the footsteps of his father, Trevor, in being a member of the Blades. Trevor played three seasons for the Blades from 1989 to 1992, and was part of the Blades team that fell in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series in 1992.

During the 1992 post-season, Trevor played a big role in helping the Blades turn around a league semifinal series against their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders. In Game 4 of that series, Trevor made 29 saves in a 2-1 victory over the Raiders to even that best-of-seven series at 2-2.

The Blades would take that series in six games to advance to the WHL final.

Rhett Rhinehart could be an NHL Entry Draft pick.

Now Tristen has made his own name for himself with the Blades. Any NHL team would be wise to select him in the NHL Entry Draft, because it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Robins one day crack into that level.

He has the skating, puck handling, shooting and hockey sense abilities few have. During the extended off-season, Robins travels to Winnipeg, Man., in order to continue to sharpen his skills at the Rink Hockey Academy.

Besides Robins, the Blades had four other players break on to the final NHL Central Scouting rankings.

Defenceman Rhett Rhinehart came in at the 151^st spot among North American skaters. Like Robins, Rhinehart is eligible for the NHL Entry Draft for the first time due to his late in the year birthday.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere is on the NHL’s radar.

Playing last season as a third-year 18-year-old veteran, Rhinehart, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 205 pounds, appeared in 57 regular season games split between the Prince George Cougars and Blades collecting three goals, 15 assists and a minus-12 rating.

The Blades acquired Rhinehart in a deal on January 10 just before the WHL trade deadline. The Lloydminster, Alta., product was a plus-one in 21 appearances with the Blades.

Rearguard Aidan De La Gorgendiere, who is a product of Langley, B.C., cracked the final NHL Central Scouting rankings at the 197^th spot among North American skaters after not being listed on the midterm rankings. 

De La Gorgendiere, who stands 6-feet and weighs 184 pounds, improved steadily during his 17-year-old sophomore campaign appearing in all of the Blades 63 regular season games posting four goals, 24 assists and a plus-two rating.

Kyle Crnkovic's skill overcomes his lack of size.

Left-winger Kyle Crnkovic checked in at the 208^th spot among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting ranking also after not being listed on the midterm rankings.

In his two seasons with the Blades, Crnkovic has established as one of Saskatoon’s top players that comes through in the clutch. The Chestermere, Alta., product appeared in all of the Blades 63 regular season games finishing second in team scoring with 21 goals and 43 assists for 64 points to go along with a plus-nine rating.

While Crnkovic has skill, his lack of size is the biggest characteristic that likely holds him back in the eyes of NHL scouts, as he stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 161 pounds. Still, Crnkovic can play the game at a very high level.

Koen MacInnes had a solid rookie season for the Blades.

Koen MacInnes is the fifth member of the Blades to make the final NHL Central Scouting rankings coming in at 22^nd among North American goalies. MacInnes was rated 31^st in the midterm ranking among North American goalies.

The Burnaby, B.C., product had a solid 17-year-old rookie campaign last season with the Blades posting a 14-5-1 record, a 2.84 goals against average, a .901 save percentage and three shutouts. MacInnes also stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 184 pounds, and NHL scouts will likely appreciate the netminder’s size.

Overall at this moment, Robins heads the class of Blades players eligible to be picked in the NHL Entry Draft.

You have a feeling his hockey career has the potential to contain a few heroic moments in the future.

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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Robins rescues Blades

Breakout centre nets OT winner to thwart Warriors comeback

Tristen Robins (#11) celebrates his overtime winner.

    Tristen Robins stopped the Moose Jaw Warriors from getting out of Saskatoon with a big steal.
    On Sunday afternoon at the SaskTel Centre, the host Saskatoon Blades took a 3-1 lead in a WHL regular season contest into the third period over the visiting Warriors. Despite the fact the host side controlled most of the contest, the Warriors potted two early third period goals to force a 3-3 tie and ultimately overtime.

    With 49.1 seconds remaining in overtime, Robins deflected home a shot from linemate Kyle Crnkovic to deliver the Blades to a 4-3 victory before 3,687 spectators. The goal capped a three-point night for Robins, who had a pair of assists in regulation.

Tristen Robins had a goal and two assists for the Blades on Sunday.

    He was pumped to come through with the winner in overtime.

    “It is a little more dramatic getting it in the last minute,” said Robins. “It was for sure quite a rush.”

    Robins is having a breakout sophomore season leading the Blades in scoring posting 26 goals and 30 assists for 56 points to go with a plus-10 rating in the plus-minus department.

    The 18-year-old centre had two goals, two assists and a plus-four rating on Saturday when the Blades hammered the Warriors 8-2 in Moose Jaw.

    Blades head coach Mitch Love was pleased with how Robins played in Sunday’s win.

Tristen Robins leads the Blades in scoring this season.

    “He was good,” said Love. “When you watch him play hockey, when he is really moving his feet and he is skating, you know he is dialed in.

    “The puck touches offensively when his legs are moving seem to have a little more pop off his stick. He plays a lot of minutes for us. He seems to never run out of gas.

    “I thought him and Crnkovic were good tonight. They had a lot of jam. They were both the two guys that were out on the ice there along with (overage defenceman Scott) Walford in overtime that got us the win.”

    The Blades came out with a lot of jump at the start of Sunday’s contest. Just 2:05 into the first period, Saskatoon centre Evan Patrician got in close on the Moose Jaw goal on a rush down the right wing and snapped a shot past Warriors netminder Brock Gould to put the host side up 1-0.

Nolan Kneen played in his 300th WHL regular season game on Sunday.

    Shortly after that tally, Blades overage defenceman Nolan Kneen nailed Warriors right-winger Kade Runke with a big hit. Kneen, who started his WHL career with the Kamloops Blazers, was playing in his 300^th career WHL regular season game on Sunday, and he admits there are times he feels like the elder statesman.

    “My body is feeling it for sure,” said Kneen, who finished with a plus-one rating on Sunday. “It is not every day someone hits 300.

    “It is pretty special, and I am honoured to have that.”

    The hit parade continued a couple of minutes later when Czech import defenceman Radek Kucerik nailed Warriors centre Kyle Crosbie.

    Just when it seemed the Blades had all the momentum, the Warriors evened the score at 1-1 at the 7:47 mark of the opening frame. 

Ryder Korczak scored the equalizer for the Warriors in the third period.

    Warriors centre Garrett Wright fired home the equalizer from the front of the Saskatoon goal after receiving a pass from linemate Martin Lang from behind the Blades net.

    The Blades went back out in front 2-1 at the 11:39 mark of the opening frame, when Slovakian import right-winger Martin Fasko-Rudas blew home a setup pass from Robins for a power-play goal.

Gould closed the opening frame making a couple of big glove saves off Blades wingers Colton Dach and Riley McKay.

    The Warriors puck stopper did his best to keep his squad in the game as the Blades dominated played in the second period outshooting the visitors 14-5 in the frame.

Brock Gould makes one of his 44 saves in goal for the Warriors.

    With 1:21 remaining in the second and the two teams playing four-on-four hockey, the Blades picked up an insurance marker to go up 3-1 when Walford blew home his 11^th of the season from the top of the left faceoff circle in the Moose Jaw zone.

    Early in the third, the Warriors changed the game’s momentum in a big way. At the 5:04 mark of the frame, 18-year-old right-winger Logan Doust scored for the Warriors to cut the Blades lead to 3-2.

    Just 80 seconds after that tally, Doust sprung linemate Ryder Korczak on a breakaway, and the 17-year-old centre beat Blades netminder Koen MacInnes on a backhander to even the score at 3-3.

Scott Walford had a goal for the Blades on Sunday.

    “We find a way to do it to ourselves a lot of nights,” said Love. “If you look at the goals, we got really puck focused any time when pucks were behind our net and exposed the middle part of the rink in our own end.

    “If you look at the Korczak situation, we win a clean draw in the offensive end, and we need to get a puck to the net. We don’t elevate, and he (Doust) picks it off and goes. He (Korczak) is a good player, and he puts it in the back of your net.

    “We make life a lot harder on ourselves than we need to sometimes, but that being said they had 22 shots on net. I didn’t think we gave up a tonne of chances to them.”

    Shortly after the Warriors evened the score, Korczak broke down the left wing into the Blades zone on another dangerous rush, but MacInnes came up with a glove stop.

Evan Patrician had the Blades first goal on Sunday.

    That set the stage for the contest to go to overtime, where Robins netted his winner.

    “We gave up a couple of tough goals there in the defensive zone,” said Robins. “We’re just fortunate to get the bounce in overtime.”

    MacInnes stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (27-20-2-3). Gould turned away 44 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Warriors (12-34-3).

    The Blades return to action on Wednesday when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings (27-19-3-2) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Warriors are back at it on Wednesday when they travel to Spokane to face the Chiefs.

    Love expects his squad will be in for a big battle against the Wheat Kings on Wednesday.

The Blades celebrate their overtime win on Sunday.

    “If you don’t have a good start against Brandon on home ice on Wednesday, we’re going to be in big trouble against that team,” said Love. “They play hard, they forecheck hard, they are physical, they have some skill and they are playing with some confidence and some swag right now themselves over the last month and a half.

    “We’re finding ourselves in a little bit of a fight here in the East Division. We are excited for that opportunity, and we’ll see what happens Wednesday.”

    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 stun Royals with comeback OT win

Fasko-Rudas gets natural Hatty, Wouters extra time winner

Chase Wouters, right, celebrates scoring the OT winner for the Blades.

    A newcomer and the captain put on their superhero capes to save the Saskatoon Blades.
    Training the visiting Victoria Royals 2-0 early in the third period of a WHL regular season game on Tuesday night, Blades received a natural hat trick from Slovakian import right-winger Martin Fasko-Rudas to jump ahead 3-2.

    Fasko-Rudas was acquired a short time ago by the Blades in a deal with the Swift Current Broncos right before the WHL trade deadline on Jan. 10.

    After the surge of goals from Fasko-Rudas, the Royals battled back to force overtime with former Blades right-winger Gary Haden netting the equalizer to force a 3-3 tie with 7:43 remaining in the third period.

Chase Wouters has three OT winners for the Blades this season.

    Just 36 seconds into overtime, Blades captain Chase Wouters received a pass from right-winger Kyle Crnkovic in front of the Victoria goal. Wouters roofed a shot to the top right corner of the Royals goal to give the Blades a 4-3 victory in front of 3,020 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

    The marker was Wouters third overtime winner and fifth game-winner of the campaign.

    “It was pretty cool,” said Wouters, who had an assist to go with his goal. “It was the first one I’ve gotten on home ice besides that playoff one there.

    “It was really a cool experience for sure.”

    Wouters’ playoff overtime winner came in March of last year, when the Blades downed the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 in Game 1 of a best-of-seven first round series at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades would go on to sweep that series 4-0.

    Since that post-season overtime winner, Wouters has made a habit of scoring goals in overtime.

Martin Fasko-Rudas had a natural hat trick for the Blades on Tuesday.

    Blades head coach Mitch Love was pleased to see Wouters get his latest overtime winner. While Wouters had goals in four of his last six games, he was held scoreless in the Blades previous two outings, and Love said his captain had strong efforts but wasn’t rewarded.

    The bench boss decided to start Wouters in overtime due to another attribute and hoped a goal would result.

    “Honestly when Chase (Wouters) gets out there in overtime, it is usually to win that first faceoff, because the puck possession is so important,” said Love. “He is usually pretty good at it.

    “For him to get rewarded there, I know he has been a little bit snakebitten of late offensively. That was a big goal for him. Hopefully, that will rally him up here to kind of stay hot.”

Gary Haden had the third period equalizer for the Royals.

    The teams played through a scoreless opening period, where the Royals held a slim 10-9 edge in shots on goal. Both teams did have their chances in the first 20 minutes.

    Early in the frame, Blades rookie right-winger Colton Dach had a golden chance to score from the left slot, but he fired a shot over top of the net.

    Late in the frame, Royals star centre Brayden Tracey tried to score on a wraparound, but he was denied by Blades rookie netminder Koen MacInnes.

    The visitors broke through at the 5:14 mark of the second period, when Royals captain Phillip Schultz scored gritty goal in front of the Saskatoon net to give his side a 1-0 lead.

    The Blades had a glorious chance to even things up late in the second, but rookie 16-year-old centre Jayden Wiens was stoned close in.

    The Royals expanded their edge to 2-0 with a power-play goal coming off the stick of import right-winger Keanu Derungs. 

Captain Phillip Schultz scored in the second period for the Royals.

    Derungs took a backdoor pass at the right side of the Blades goal from linemate Brandon Cutler.
    Just when things looked down, Fasko-Rudas gave the Blades a spark.

    The 19-year-old fired home a natural hat trick in a span of two minutes and 20 seconds with the finally tally of the surge coming at the 8:33 mark of the third. The surge helped the Blades jump ahead on the scoreboard 3-2.

    At the 6:13 mark of third, he sniped home an even-strength goal from the left slot. At the 7:45 mark, Fasko-Rudas tallied his second marker on a two-man advantage converting a backdoor pass at the left side of the Victoria goal that came from defenceman Scott Walford.

    At the 8:33 mark of the third, the Slovakian netted his third goal on the remaining one-man advantage to give the Blades a one-goal edge after taking a smart in close pass from Crnkovic.

Martin Fasko-Rudas (#17) fires home his hat trick goal.

    Fasko-Rudas said he couldn’t ever remember a moment when goals went into the net that fast for him.

    “It happened to me first time,” said Fasko-Rudas. “I have to thank my teammates for great passes and great help.

    “I’m really happy for those goals.”

    Wouters almost couldn’t believe how fast the goals went into the net for Fasko-Rudas.

    “It was really exciting,” said Wouters, who leads the WHL with 625 faceoff wins. “He turned it on there for us.

    “Those were some big goals in the game for sure. It was good.”

    After Fasko-Rudas put the Blades in the lead, that set the stage for Haden to score for the Royals and force overtime and for Wouters to win it in the extra session.
    Fasko-Rudas was pumped to see his club bounce back after the Royals tied the game.

Kyle Crnkovic had three assists in the Blades win on Tuesday.

    “It was a hell of a job from the team and from the guys,” said Fasko-Rudas. “It was great that we didn’t quit, and we came back.”

    MacInnes stopped 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (24-19-2-2). Crnkovic finished with three assists in the win.
    Adam Evanoff turned away 28 shots to take the extra time setback goal for the Royals (25-17-4).

    Love said Tuesday’s game was a big character win for his club as the Blades elected to scratch their leading scorer in centre Tristen Robins moments before warm-ups due to illness.

    “It was pretty gutsy,” said Love. “We looked pretty fatigued through 40 minutes.
    “Our execution offensively wasn’t quite there. Credit to the guys, they really stuck with it. We knew we had to really press in the third to try and generate any sort of offence against a very good defensive team.

The Blades mob Chase Wouters after his OT winner on Tuesday.

    “We generated some power plays, and that was going well for us tonight. It is a gutsy win for us.”

    The Blades are back in action on Friday when they travel to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors (7 p.m., Mosaic Place). Love expects Robins will be ready to go for that contest.

    The Royals return to action on Wednesday when they venture to Prince Albert to face the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

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

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Blades best Tigers 6-5 in 1980s style rivalry tilt

The Blades and Tigers scrum it up at the end of Friday’s game.

    It felt like old times at the Saskatoon Arena in the late 1980s.

    Back in that era of the WHL, the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers had quite the heated rivalry. A lot of the heated tensions were due to the fact the two sides met in league semifinal playoff series in 1987 and 1988.

    Those series were ultimately won by the Tigers, who advanced on to win the WHL title and the Memorial Cup title as CHL champions in both of those years.
    Medicine Hat claimed the 1987 series in seven games, when the Blades still played in the Saskatoon Arena, and the Tigers swept the 1988 series, when “the Bridge City Bunch” made their first post-season run playing out of the SaskTel Centre.

    On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers engaged in a WHL regular season clash that would have been worthy of the battles from that era.

    There were huge momentum swings, lots of goals, timely saves by goalies, one spirited fight and huge scrum at the end of the contest. It was a game that was all over the map.

Tigers C Ryan Chyzowski, left, fights Blades C Jayden Wiens.

    When the dust settled, the Blades skated away with a 6-5 victory before 3,156 spectators. The fans got their money’s worth and gave the Blades a fairly loud salute at night’s end.

    The unpredictability of the night started in the first period. The Blades carried the play in the opening frame outshooting the Tigers 17-7, but the Tigers came away holding a 1-0 lead.

    Tigers captain James Hamblin tucked home the game’s opening goal on a breakaway in the first.

    Medicine Hat escaped the first holding the end on the scoreboard thanks to the play of netminder Garin Bjorklund. He turned away Blades defenceman Nolan Kneen on a partial breakaway and robbed Saskatoon centre Tristen Robins with a glove stop in the opening 20 minutes.

The Blades and Tigers engaged in a few exchanges on Friday.

    Just 35 seconds into the second, Tigers defenceman Daniel Baker jetted in down the right wing and roofed home his 10^th goal of the season to put the visitors up 2-0.

    At the 11:37 mark of the second, centre Baxter Anderson scored to put the Tigers up 3-0, and it seemed that the visitors were going to cruise from there.

    From that moment, it was time to cue the comeback for the Blades thanks mainly from an offensive explosion coming from their forward line of left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, Robins, and right-winger Martin Fasko- Rudas. They combined for four goals and seven assists.

    Crnkovic posted a goal and four assists. Robins had his first career WHL hat trick. Fasko-Rudas had three helpers.

    Just 70 seconds after Anderson’s goal, Robins netted his first of the contest to cut the Tigers lead to 3-1. 

Tristen Robins had a hat trick for the Blades on Friday.

    Crnkovic potted his 12^th of the season just a little over three minutes later to further trim the Tigers advantage to 3-2.

    With 1:22 remaining in the second, the Blades benefited from a positive type bounce you would see in an old building like the now demolished Saskatoon Arena.

    The puck was in the Tigers zone with the Blades working the power play. The Tigers tried to clear the puck around the glass, but the puck hit a stanchion and deflected to the front of the Medicine Hat goal to Blades captain Chase Wouters.

    Wouters promptly fired the gift into the Medicine Hat net to even things up at 3-3. The tally was Wouters 20^th goal of the season marking the first time the 19-year-old hit that mark in his WHL career.

    The Blades kept rolling going up 5-3 at the 1:55 mark of the third with goals coming from feisty left-winger Riley McKay and Robins netting his second of the contest.

Kyle Crnkovic had a goal and four assists for the Blades on Friday.

    Bjorklund was pulled from the Medicine Hat goal at that point turning away 26-of-31 shots he faced. Mads Sogaard turned away four-of-five shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

    Shortly after the Blades went up by two goals, Saskatoon centre Jayden Wiens, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 139 pounds, engaged Tigers centre Ryan Chyzowski, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 170 pounds, in a spirited fight.

    Wiens ended getting the take down for the win in front of a huge ovation from the Saskatoon faithful.

    With the crowd still buzzing from the fight, the Tigers scored seven seconds after the resumption of play with left-winger Corson Hopwo getting his 10 goal of the season. That tally cut the Blades advantage to 5-4.

    Robins completed his hat trick a little over two minutes later to give the Blades a 6-4 advantage.

    Shortly after Robins third tally, the Tigers went on a power play, and Blades netminder Koen MacInnes had to turn away seven shots to ensure the hosts got the two-minute kill.

James Hamblin had the Tigers first goal on Friday.

    MacInnes made a huge sprawling kick save on the kill to rob Tigers star left-winger Cole Sillinger of a sure goal.

    Still the Blades weren’t out of the woods. Tigers left-winger Nick McCarry scored with 4:54 remaining in the third to cut the Blades lead to 6-5.

    With about a minute remaining in the third, Tigers defenceman Eric Van Impe wired a shot off the crossbar of the Blades goal.

    The host side held the fort the rest of the way to preserve their third straight victory. After the final seconds of the game expired, both teams engaged in a big scrum around the Saskatoon goal.

MacInnes made 28 saves to allow the Blades to improve to 23-18-1-2.

    The Tigers fell to 29-14-1-1 with a second straight loss.

The Blades enjoy their win on Friday night.

    The Blades are back at it on Saturday, when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

    The Tigers return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Prince Albert to face the defending WHL champion Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

    If anyone forgot how fun the WHL can be, a reminder about how exciting and unpredictable major junior hockey can be was delivered on Friday night when the Blades slipped past the Tigers.

    Hopefully work of the encounter will attract a few more bodies to come sit in the stands.

    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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Desjardins still a perfect fit in Tigers’ saddle

Willie Desjardins is back behind the Tigers bench as HC and GM.

    The empathy poured out of Willie Desjardins for a fallen opponent, because he too has been on the wrong side of a blowout score.

    The legendary head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers saw his squad bomb the host Saskatoon Blades 11-3 in a WHL regular season clash before 2,632 spectators at the SaskTel Centre on Tuesday. The win allowed Desjardins’ Tigers to improve to 21-8-1, while the Blades fell to 14-14-1-2.

    While Desjardins’ Tigers are known for their high-flying, skilled and exciting offensive style, the 62-year-old veteran bench boss thought things just snowballed on the opposition.

    “Everything we shot went in,” said Desjardins. “If you look at the chances, they were probably pretty even tonight.

Cyle McNabb had a hat trick and an assist for the Tigers.

    “We wouldn’t be dominating them. They went out and they would work hard and they would get scored on. It gets pretty deflating after a period of time.

    “They have a good organization. They have some really quality players. This was a tough night for them.”

    With that said, Desjardins is happy to be back behind the bench of the Tigers after being away from the club for nine seasons. The Tigers owners and brothers, Darrell and Brent Maser, brought Desjardins back into his old roles this past May as the club was set to embark on its 50^th anniversary season.

Cole Sillinger had three assists for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    During his first run with the team from 2002-2010, Desjardins cemented himself as “the” Tigers head coach and took on the general manager’s role before the start of the 2005-06 campaign. Under Desjardins guidance over that stretch, the Tigers posted a 323-176-60 regular season record and won WHL titles in 2004 and 2007.

    He departed the team to take on coaching stints in the NHL, AHL and one season with Canada’s senior national team, which won bronze at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Last season, Desjardins was the interim head coach of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings before making his homecoming to the Alberta centre with a population around 62,000 people and the Tigers.

    “Medicine Hat is a great city,” said Desjardins. “I like the franchise a lot.

    “For me, it is always great when you can be part of this franchise. More than that, I have a really good group of guys and a great staff. It has been nice for me to come into something like that.”

Garin Bjorklund made 20 saves in goal for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    Desjardins said Medicine Hat has always been great to him, his wife, Rhonda Carlson, their sons, Brayden and Jayce and daughter Sheehan. While the family was away, they always ensured to maintain roots in “the Gas City.”

    “We always kept our house, so we were always there in the summers,” said Desjardins. “It wasn’t like we had ever left.

    “It wasn’t like we had ever been gone from Medicine Hat. We were there every year back for the summers, so we were always part of it.”

    Desjardins took over a Tigers team that posted a 35-27-4-2 record last season and fell 4-2 to the Edmonton Oil Kings in a best-of-seven first round playoff series. The Tigers were reloading for what they hoped would be another breakout season, and Desjardins said he walked into a good situation.

Bryan Lockner scored a pair of goals for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    “I think we have a good group of guys,” said Desjardins. “I think we have good structure.

    “I think we have a good staff here. I think (assistant coaches) Joey (Frazer) and Ryan (Smith) do a great job with them. I think they’ve brought a lot of structure from last year that I was able to walk into, and that is important.

    “I think people are probably surprised at how many goals we scored. Our ‘D’ weren’t noted for being offensive ‘D.’ They were known for being pretty defensive, but they’ve found a way to contribute offensively this year.”

    Desjardins also inherited 16-year-old standout rookie left-winger Cole Sillinger. Sillinger had three assists in Tuesday’s win and has piled up 11 goals, 17 assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department in 25 regular season games in the current campaign.

Tigers HC and GM Willie Desjardins give instructions to his players.

    Sillinger played for Team Canada White at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge that ran Nov. 2 to 9 in Medicine Hat and Swift Current, Sask.

    “The thing I say about Sillinger and the biggest compliment is you don’t even treat him as a 16-year-old,” said Desjardins. “He plays heavy, a heavy game.

    “He plays like an 18-year-old the way he plays. I think he has been good. He has missed some games for the under-17s, but when he has been here, he has been very good for us.”

    While Desjardins saw that he had a good hand coming back to the Tigers, he didn’t expect the season to start out as well as it has.

    “It surprised me a little bit, and I think the thing for us is it is just one game at a time,” said Desjardins. “We’ve been beaten badly by some teams, so it is not like we haven’t had our share of games like this.

Tigers captain James Hamblin had five assists on Tuesday.

    “We lost 5-0 at home (to the Everett Silvertips on Saturday). We lost 4-0 at home (to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Nov. 19). Those are big losses at home as well, so it was a tough one for the Blades, but we’ve had that in our rink.

    “We have a long ways to go to be a top team.”

    As for Tuesday’s game itself, the Tigers stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first period.

    The surge chased Blades starter Nolan Maier from the Saskatoon goal. He stopped 7-of-12 shots sent his way.

    Koen MacInnes started the second period for Saskatoon and played the rest of the way in relief. He turned away 20 of 26 shots sent in his direction.

The Tigers celebrate a goal from Lukas Svejkovsky (#20).

    The Tigers held an 8-2 edge after the second period and cruised to their 11-3 victory from there.

    Right-winger Cyle McNabb, who was traded to the Tigers by the Blades on Nov. 26, had a hat trick and an assist for the Medicine Hat side. Lukas Svejkovsky and Bryan Lockner each had two-goal nights for the Tigers, while Brett Kemp, Ryan Chyzowski, Elijah Brown and Daniel Baker all had singles.

    Tigers captain James Hamblin picked up five assists in the romp.

    The Tigers played their fourth line of left-winger Nick McCarry, centre Baxter Anderson and right-winger Noah Danielson a tonne in the third period.

    Captain Chase Wouters had a pair of goals for the Blades, while 16-year-old rookie Jayden Wiens netted a single.

    Garin Bjorklund stopped 20-of-23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. Associate player call up Evan Fradette was inserted in net at the media break with 9:05 remaining in the third period and stopped two shots in his relief appearance.

Daniel Baker scored a goal for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    The Tigers travel to Prince Albert on Wednesday to face the defending WHL champion Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

    The Blades are back in action on Friday when they host the Kamloops Blazers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    As the Tigers march through their 50^th season, Desjardins said he isn’t one to look too far ahead. With that noted, he is looking forward to Bob Ridley potentially reaching 4,000 games called near the end of the regular season.

    Tuesday’s game marked the 3,965^th game Ridley has call as the Tigers play-by-play voice in the regular season, one standings tiebreaking game, the WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament. Ridley has been the team’s only play-by-play voice, and he has only missed one game.

Overager D Parker Gavlas patrols the Tigers back end.

    In 1972, Ridley was assigned by the CHAT radio and television outlet in Medicine Hat to go to Saskatoon to cover the national women’s curling championships. A Medicine Hat rink was the Alberta champion representative, and that squad was skipped by Polly Beaton.

    The foursome had a lead named Terry Kope, who was the wife of the station’s general manager.

    Due to that connection, Ridley was dispatched to Saskatoon and had to miss calling one Tigers regular season game. Ridley drove the Tigers team bus for most of his career too.

    “I think it is a real accomplishment for Bob Ridley,” said Desjardins “What he has done in this game is incredible.

    “How does anybody go 3,900 and some games and only miss one game? Like surely he can be sick sometime along the line or whatever, but never. He wasn’t sick.

Tigers RW Cyle McNabb is stopped on this backhand attempt.

    “He is a big part of the 50 years.”

    Desjardins credited the Maser family for being a big part of the Tigers success as the team owners. Darrell and Brent inherited the team from their late father, George.

    George was part of the ownership group that founded the Tigers in 1970 with Rod Carry and Joe Fisher. George became the sole owner in 1979, and the Tigers have remained owned by the Maser family since that time.

    “The Masers are a great family,” said Desjardins, who was the captain of the 1982-83 U Sports national champion University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team. “They’ve had the franchise the whole time.

The Tigers celebrate their win on Tuesday night.

    “I can’t say enough about them and what they’ve brought to Medicine Hat.”

    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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