Messier, Leschyshyn blast Stars into fourth straight SFMAAAHL championship series

The Stars celebrate Anna Leschyshyn’s game-winning goal.

    The role of classic modest hero seems to suit Saskatoon Stars defender Ashley Messier just fine.

    On Tuesday night at the Agriplace Arena, the 15-year-old Wilcox, Sask., product scored arguably the biggest goal of the season for her team in the current campaign.

    The Stars were trailing the Regina Rebels 1-0 entering the second period of Game 3 of a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series, and the visitors came out of the first intermission buzzing the host side. The Rebels opened the second period holding a 9-1 edge in shots on goal for the frame before their momentum was halted due to a tripping penalty called shortly before the midway point of the stanza.

Ashley Messier had two goals and an assist for the Stars.

    Just 33 seconds into the power play, Messier, who stands 5-foot-2, fired home a shot through a screen to force a 1-1 tie. The 15-year-old defender proceeded to pick up an assist on Anna Leschyshyn’s power-play game-winning goal in the third period and potted an empty-net marker inside of the final minute of the third to seal a 3-1 Stars victory.

    Following the game, Messier actually tried to downplay the importance of her power-play marker that evened the contest up at 1-1.

    “It helps obviously to get tied up,” said Messier. “It is not that I doubted we could have scored after that.

    “It didn’t have to be that power play. I knew that we could do it, and obviously, a goal like that gives a lot of energy and gets momentum going. I think we would have done it anyway.”

Anna Leschyshyn scored on a third period power play.

    The win allowed the Stars to sweep the best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series with the Rebels 3-0 and advanced to the best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series for a fourth year in a row. They won the SFMAAAHL championship in 2015 and 2016.

    Saskatoon will play the winner of the other best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series between the defending league champion Prince Albert Northern Bears and the Notre Dame Hounds, which is tied 1-1.

    Those two teams face each other in Game 3 in Prince Albert on Wednesday and in Game 4 in Wilcox, Sask., on Saturday. If necessary, Game 5 will be held in Prince Albert on Sunday.

While Messier tried to lighten the impact of her game-tying goal on Tuesday against the Rebels, Leschyshyn was adamant that tally got her team going.

    “The first and the second period we kind of game them life,” said Leschyshyn. “We gave them a bit of hope.

    “We knew we needed to capitalize on the power play and use the power play to our advantage. Ashley (Messier) just shot it from the point, and I think that is what got us going and gave us a bit of momentum to pull off the win.”

Jordan Ivanco makes one of her 24 stops in goal for the Stars.

    The Rebels jumped out to a 1-0 at the 12:58 mark of the first period, when veteran forward Jenna Merk deflected home a power-play goal.

    The visitors started the second with a lot of energy forcing Stars netminder Jordan Ivanco to make a number of big saves to prevent the Rebels from increasing their lead.

    Messier’s equalizer in the second turned the tide in favour of the host side.

    “They had a lot of answers to what we were throwing at them, but we had some really good looks too,” said Stars head coach Greg Slobodzian. “We missed some open nets at the beginning of the first there.

Jenna Merk, left, gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead in the first period.

    “They are a well-coached team. Their goalie really played well, and they were taking things away from us that typically teams don’t. One of the options was for Ashley (Messier) to shoot it from up top.

    “She finally got the courage to do it. She got it through, so it was great.”

    At the 6:55 mark of the third, Leschyshyn roofed home a power play goal past Rebels netminder Chantel Weller to give the Stars a 2-1 lead. The 16-year-old skilled winger felt at ease after putting her team in front.

    “It was really relieving,” said Leschyshyn. “That was when we got to 2-1, and I think that really gave us a lot of momentum and just kept us going.”

    The Stars proceed clamp down defensively for the remainder of the frame, and Messier rounded out the final outcome with her empty-net tally.

    Ivanco made 23 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Weller turned away 33-of-35 shots to take the setback in goal for the Rebels.

The Stars celebrate their return to the SFMAAAHL championship series.

    “It feels great to get the second round out of the way,” said Leschyshyn. “We’re just excited to go back to the finals.”

    “It is like always good to get a sweep,” said Messier. “It gets our confidence up.”

    After the Stars played three games in four days, Slobodzian said the rest period his team will now enjoy will help. While the bench boss plans to give his players some time off, he noted his players are always eager to get back on the ice and sometimes come away disappointed when practice gets cancelled.

    “We have some real hungry girls who love the game, and you can really tell by how they play,” said Slobodzian. “The rest will be nice going into the final. Any time you can sweep a team it is exciting for sure.”

Blades playoffs hopes iced in Brandon

Logan Christensen scored for the Blades on Tuesday night.

    It was a distinction the Saskatoon Blades were hoping to avoid.

    For the fifth straight year, they won’t be taking part in the WHL playoffs.

    On Tuesday, the Blades traveled to Brandon and dropped a 5-3 decision to the host Wheat Kings before 4,715 spectators at Westoba Place. The setback officially eliminated Saskatoon from playoff contention.

    The Blades last made the post-season in 2013, when they hosted the Memorial Cup. They were holding a playoff spot but fell out of the post-season picture posting a 1-6-1 record in their last eight games.

    Saskatoon jumped out to a 1-0 lead in Tuesday’s encounter with Brandon thanks to a goal by third-year centre Logan Christensen at the 7:38 mark of the first period. Just 91 seconds later, the Wheat Kings tied things up at 1-1, when left-winger Linden McCorrister netted his 19^th goal of the campaign.

    Marcus Sekundiak, who is a 17-year-old rookie centre, gave the Wheat Kings a 2-1 lead at the 5:50 mark of the second. Blades standout right-winger Max Gerlach potted his 29^th goal of the season at the 11:26 mark of the second to force a 2-2 tie on the scoreboard.

    Defenceman Schael Higson scored to give the Wheat Kings a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

Kirby Dach had assists on two of the Blades goals on Tuesday night.

    At the 6:59 mark of the third, Wheat Kings star left-winger Ty Lewis netted his 43^rd goal of the season to put the host side up 4-2. Blades left-winger Eric Florchuk potted his 16^th goal of the campaign to cut the Wheat Kings edge to 4-3 at the 12:39 mark of the third. Wheat Kings standout right-winger Evan Weinger potted his 30^th of the season to round out Brandon’s 5-3 victory.

    Nolan Maier turned away 23 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades, who fell to 32-33-3-1. Dylan Myskiw turned away 40 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings, who improved to 38-27-3-2 to hold the first wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    Tuesday’s clash included a second period fight between Blades overage captain Evan Fiala and Wheat Kings star centre Stelio Mattheos.
    Rookie centre Kirby Dach had a pair of assists for the Blades in Tuesday’s loss.

    The Blades have three games remaining on their regular season schedule before they depart into the off-season. They travel to Swift Current to face the Broncos (47-16-4-2) on Wednesday.

    On Friday, the Blades journey to Prince Albert to face their archrivals the Raiders, who hold the second wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference with a 32-25-9-3 mark, for a 7 p.m. clash at the Art Hauser Centre. The Blades close their schedule on Saturday when they host the Raiders at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel 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’ Maier robs Pats

Blades G Nolan Maier, right, stops Pats C Matthew Bradley.

    Nolan Maier made enough saves to fill sports highlight reels for a week.

    On Sunday at the Credit Union Centre, the rookie netminder, who turned 17-year-olds in early January, stole the show helping the Saskatoon Blades post a 2-1 WHL regular season victory over the Regina Pats after a tiebreaking shootout before 3,647 spectators. Maier turned away 38 shots through regulation and overtime, and it seem most of the chances against him were high quality ones.

    The Yorkton, Sask., product stopped five of the seven shooters in the tiebreaking shootout, which the Blades claimed 3-2 after seven rounds.

Nolan Maier deflects a shot away from the Blades net.

    In what has been a sensational rookie campaign, Maier said he didn’t know where Sunday’s performance would rank with the other games he has played. He admitted he does get a little extra motivation when he hears how much his team’s fans get up for games against the Pats.

    “All I know is that I really love playing Regina just the intensity that it brings and the crowds that it gets,” said Maier. “It is just really good for our organization, when we come out on top against them.

    “Whenever we play a better team, I obviously want to get in there and show what I can do.”

    Maier didn’t have any problem showing what he could do in Sunday’s win. After centre Logan Christensen scored on a power play in the first period to give the Blades a 1-0 lead, momentum seemed to be firmly entrenched on the side of the Pats through the second, third and overtime periods.

Nolan Maier makes a glove stop for the Blades.

    In the second period, Maier denied Pats 16-year-old centre Logan Nijhoff in close, turned away superstar centre Sam Steel a short-handed chance and made a pad stop on Pats star centre Jake Leschyshyn on a short-handed breakaway.

    The Pats finally broke through on the scoreboard at the 3:25 mark of the third, when centre Matthew Bradley wired a point shot through a screen to the top left corner of the Blades goal to force a 1-1 tie. Bradley’s tally wasn’t able to spark an offensive surge for the visitors.

    Despite how the game was playing out on the ice with the Pats controlling play after the first period, Blades right-winger Michael Farren said his side never got discouraged.

Blades G Nolan Maier, left, keeps Pats RW Bryce Platt at bay.

    “All our guys kept focused,” said Farren. “We took some unlucky bounces in the second and third.

    “We got the win. We squeezed it out. That is what we do. We have to keep going.

    “We always have a positive mindset on the bench.”

    A short time later, Maier made a big glove stop on Pats overage right-winger Cameron Hebig to resume the work of miraculous stops.

    The netminder’s best work came in overtime after Pats 17-year-old rookie netminder Max Paddock turned away Blades defenceman Dawson Davidson on a breakaway early in the frame.

    Following the stop on Davidson, the Pats quickly transitioned up ice resulting in a breakaway by Steel, but last season’s WHL MVP was denied by Maier’s glove hand.

Logan Christensen, left, celebrates scoring for the Blades.

    Maier proceeded to turn away Hebig twice. One was a kick stop when Hebig tried to cut across alone in front of the Blades goals to score, and the second rejection came when Maier lunged across the crease for a kick save to rob Hebig on a backdoor chance.

    Shortly before overtime ended, Maier turned away Steel again with a right shoulder stop.

    “I think it was a little different,” said Maier of the overtime period. “Other games that I have been in OT I feel like I haven’t had as many shots as I did this time.

    “I just try to approach it the same. I just really strive for these kind of games. I really have fun in it.”

    In the tiebreaking shootout, Braylon Shmyr and Chase Wouters scored for the Blades, while Hebig and Jesse Gabrielle replied for the Pats through the first six rounds.
    Right-winger Michael Farren scored the winner for the Blades roofing home a shot to the top right corner of the Pats goal that dislodged the water bottle on top of the net.

Pats captain Sam Steel was held pointless on Sunday.

    Defenceman Josh Mahara was forced to shoot wide by Maier on the Pats shooting opportunity in the seventh round to deliver the overall win to the Blades in the contest.

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman said he was impressed with how Maier always seems to play at an elite level. The bench boss said he remembered Maier’s first regular season start back on Oct. 7, 2017, when the Blades were shelled 7-3 in Regina by the Pats. Maier made 34 saves that night but wasn’t disheartened by how the contest played out.

    “He (Maier) gives us a chance to win every night,” said Brockman, whose team has won five of seven head-to-head meetings with the Pats. “He is a really special kid.

Michael Farren scores the shootout winner for the Blades.

    “He is dialed in, and he has kind of got their number a little bit. Ever since the first game he played there and he didn’t do so well, I just remember talking with him. He didn’t lose any of his confidence, and I’m just really proud of him with the way he played.”

    Paddock turned away 28 shots fired his way through 65 minutes and four of seven shooters in the tiebreaking shootout playing goal for the Pats. Regina was without regular starting netminder Ryan Kubic due to illness. Jacob Wasserman, who plays junior A in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League for the Humboldt Broncos, dressed as the Pats backup goalie.

Blades mascot Poke Check, right, salutes goalie Nolan Maier.

    The Blades improved to 28-26-2-1 with the win to hold the second wildcard berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a four point lead on the Prince Albert Raiders (22-23-9-2). The Raiders have a game in hand on the Blades.

    The Pats record moved to 29-23-5-1 and they hold the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with a five point lead on Saskatoon. The Blades have a game in hand on the Pats.

    The Blades now head out on a four-game road trip, which starts Wednesday in Cranbrook, B.C., against the Kootenay Ice.

    Brockman said he wants his team to hit another gear to push to collect wins on the road. He said he wants his team to score more goals, be better on the power play and clean up a lot of other little areas.

    “The whole thing is you strive for perfection,” said Brockman. “Until you get there, you are still always going to work on things.”

Greschner’s team goals record broken in Stars victory

Mackenna Parker had a hat trick on Sunday for the Stars.

    Sara Greschner’s Saskatoon Stars team record for most goals scored in one regular season was broken twice on Sunday.

    Back in 2010-11, Greschner scored 28 goals in 28 regular season games to set the record for most goals in one regular season by a member of the Stars female midget AAA hockey team. In the Stars 8-3 victory over the Regina Rebels on Sunday at the Agriplace Arena, both Grace Shirley and captain Mackenna Parker eclipsed Greschner’s standard.

    Shirley was the first to vault past Greschner scoring her 29^th goal of the season at the 1:47 mark of the second period.

    Parker recorded a hat trick in the win scoring once in the first period and twice in the second period to sit with 30 goals on the campaign. The skilled centre leads the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League in scoring with 30 goals and 27 assists for 57 points in 21 appearances.

    She is closing in on the Stars team record for most points scored in one regular season set by Emily Clark in the 2011-12 campaign. Clark, who is playing for Canada’s women’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics that are underway in PyeongChang, South Korea, had 26 goals and 34 assists for 60 points in her record setting season with the Stars.

    Kaitlin Jockims, Makena Kushniruk, Calli Arnold and Jordyn Holmes all had singles for the Stars. 

Grace Shirley scored her 29th goal of the season for the Stars on Sunday.

    Standout winger Anna Leschyshyn had three assists for Saskatoon to become the third players in the history of the Stars to record 50-or-more points in one regular season after Clark and Parker.

    Leschyshyn sits second in SFMAAAHL scoring with 22 goals and 29 assists for 51 points appearing in all of the Stars 26 regular season games.

    Ally Kosteniuk, Miranda Hatt and Lauren Focht all netted singles for the Rebels.

    Arden Kliewer made 26 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Chantel Weller turned away 27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Rebels.

    With the win, the Stars improve to 22-3-1 to sit first overall in the SFMAAAHL with a four-point edge in the standings over the defending league champion Prince Albert Northern Bears, who are 20-5-1.

Anna Leschyshyn has recorded 51 points this season for the Stars.

    In the SFMAAAHL, three points are awarded in the standings for regulation wins, two points for extra time wins and one point for extra time setbacks.

    The Stars have 64 points in the standings coming off 19 regulation wins, three extra time wins and one extra time setback. The Bears have 60 points in the standings coming off 19 regulation wins, one extra time win and one extra time setback.

    Both the Stars and Bears have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules, and the Stars need to earn three more points in the standings to clinch first place for a fourth straight year.

    The Rebels fell to 16-8-3 with the loss.

    The Stars return to action this coming Saturday, when they host the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats at 7:45 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

    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 are legit for real

Josh Paterson (#61) leads a rush out of his own end for the Blades.

    The Saskatoon Blades have become one of the teams you don’t want to see if you are an upper echelon club in the WHL.

    Having missed the playoffs for three straight seasons since hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013, the Blades were usually chalked up as somewhat of an automatic win game by their opponents. The current campaign could have been a write off too, when you consider their best player in centre Cameron Hebig hasn’t played since suffering an upper body injury in the pre-season and a number of the team’s other top players have missed big stretches due to injury.

    The injury bug also took right-winger Mason McCarty out of the Saskatoon lineup with a lower body injury suffered on Nov. 25, 2016 in a 3-2 home victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. The 19-year-old Blackie, Alta., product still isn’t expected to return for some time.

Braylon Shmyr had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

    Despite the injuries, Dean Brockman, who is in his first year guiding the Blades as head coach, seems to find a way to keep the team pushing forward by believing in the healthy guys that dress. Having put together a storied career as a bench boss of the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Brockman always believes good people make good players, and it appears he is surrounded by a lot of good people in the Blades dressing room.

    As the season has gone on, the Blades players have shown noticeable improvement. On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, they faced a measuring stick game against the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers.

    The Blades lost their three previous encounters with the Tigers this season by a combined score of 19-6. When the two clubs last met at the SaskTel Centre on Nov. 26, 2016, the Tigers skated the Blades out of the rink to the tune of an 8-2 drubbing.

    Effort wise after that loss, the Blades didn’t pack it in. Instead, they manufactured one of their big turning points with a 2-1 overtime upset victory over the Pats in Regina on Dec. 10, 2016. The Pats have topped the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10 rankings for much of the campaign.

Logan Flodell has been stellar all season in goal for the Blades.

    That road win was the biggest victory of the season for the Blades. Still, they were in search of a defining home win over a top caliber club.

    On Wednesday against the Tigers, the Blades showed they were a much different team than the last time the two clubs met coming away with a 5-3 victory. The Tigers, who fell to 30-14-1, held a 51-28 edge in shots on goal, but it never felt like the Blades were in trouble even when the visitors carried play.

    The first key to the win was the play of netminder Logan Flodell, who made 48 saves to pick up the win in goal. Flodell has been stellar all season, and gives the Blades a chance to win every night.

    It should also be noted that Brock Hamm, who is the Blades other goalie, has played well in his last seven starts after being in what seemed like a slump that would never end. Brockman should be given credit for sticking with Hamm for a lot longer than most coaches would.

Michael Farren gets the puck out of the Blades own zone.

    The Tigers carried play to start Wednesday’s encounter, but the Blades calmly weathered the storm. In the last 5:23 of the opening frame, the hosts exploded for three goals as left-winger Braylon Shmyr scored twice, and overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk netted his first of two on the night. All three tallies came off good set ups in the offensive zone.

    Centre Logan Christensen score at the 2:02 mark of the second to put Saskatoon up 4-0.

    As any top rate team would do, the Tigers battled back. Near the midway point of the second, import defenceman Kristians Rubins blasted home a goal on the power play, and centre James Hamblin tucked home a tally on a penalty shot to cut the Blades edge to 4-2. At that point, there were thoughts that the Saskatoon lead could evaporate.

    The Tigers proceeded to get into penalty trouble, and while working a five-on-three power play, Shynkaruk netted his second of the contest on a nice feed in the slot to give Saskatoon a 5-2 edge.

Logan Christensen fires a snap jump shot on goal for the Blades.

    Left-winger Ryan Jevne scored for the Tigers early in the third to round out the game’s scoring.

In the win, Blades stayed composed and received strong shifts from all four of their forward lines. Their top unit of Shmyr, Shynkaruk and Josh Paterson combined for four goals and three assists.

    Right-winger Caleb Fantillo proved he could fulfil the pest role for the Blades. He got under the skin of Tigers goalie Michael Bullion in the first period and withstood a big blocker shot from the netminder. Bullion made 23 stops taking the loss in the Tigers net.

    The Blades defense seems more solid especially after they acquired Clavet product Evan Fiala in a trade with the Spokane Chiefs before the WHL Christmas break. Fiala, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 205 pounds, is a physical presence in front of the net who is tough to play against.

    The Blades were missing that type of presence on the back end before Fiala’s arrival. Fiala is also popular in local hockey circles, which is another bonus.

Tigers goalie Michael Bullion decks Blades left-winger Caleb Fantillo.

    With the win over the Tigers before a sparse crowd of 2,608, the Blades improved their winning streak to three games and their record to 18-22-5-1. At the moment, Saskatoon sits eighth overall and holds the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    They sit two points ahead of the Edmonton Oil Kings (18-22-3-1) and the Calgary Hitmen (17-20-4-2) in the standings. The Oil Kings and Hitmen have two and three games respectively in hand on the Blades.

    The Blades are a legitimate participant in the race to make the playoffs. They have also found the ingredients to beat top teams like the Pats and Tigers.

    What the Blades don’t have are enough pieces to content for a league title or a Memorial Cup, but they present a big headache to any opponent that crosses their path. Any of the Eastern Conference’s top teams would have to be weary of any possible post-season encounter with the Blades.

Lazaruk calls his 1,700 game

Les Lazaruk calls his 1,700th game as the Blades play-by-play voice.

    Les Lazaruk hit a milestone on Wednesday calling his 1,700^th game as the play-by-play voice of the Blades.

    Lazaruk began calling Blades games at the start of the 1994-95 season after spending over a decade working in Winnipeg, which included 10-and-a-half years hosting the hour long pre-game and post-game shows of the original Winnipeg Jets game broadcasts for CJOB radio.

    During his time calling games in the WHL, Lazaruk has built a reputation for being one of the best in the business. He also brings a great professionalism and class to his trade. Fans also love his trademark energetic calls of Blades goals.

    Lazaruk has become so closely branded with Blades broadcasts you almost couldn’t imagine another person making those calls.

    Lazaruk will make his next call on Friday, when the Blades host the Brandon Wheat Kings at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

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