Blades inch closer to being playoff participant

The Blades celebrate a 4-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels on Feb. 4.

    For the fourth straight year, the Saskatoon Blades will not take part in the WHL playoffs, but this year’s post-season miss is more painful than the previous three.

    The Blades season game to an end last Saturday with a 5-1 setback to the archrival Raiders in Prince Albert. Saskatoon finished the 2016-17 campaign with a 28-35-7-2 record to sit five points behind the Calgary Hitmen (30-32-8-2) for eighth overall in the WHL’s Eastern conference and the conference’s second and final wildcard berth for the post-season.

    Entering their fifth last game of the season, the Blades were three points ahead of the Hitmen for the last playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. The Blades won only one of their final five contests, while the Hitmen went on a tear winning five of their final six outings.

Braylon Shmyr led the Blades in scoring with 66 points.

    When the WHL post-season began on Friday, the Blades were again on the outside looking in.

    Had maybe two or three more breaks gone the Blades way, they may have very been participating in the post-season for the first time since 2013. The biggest obstacle the team faced was the injury bug, as a number of the club’s top players spent lengthy stretches on the shelf with various ailments.

    The most noticeable absence was star centre Cameron Hebig, who missed the entire campaign with an upper body injury. The local product was the Blades second leading scorer in 2015-16 netting 26 goals and 43 assists in 59 regular season games. Had Hebig been available for all or parts of this past season, the Blades likely would have sat comfortably in a playoff position.

    On top of Hebig’s absence, Braylon Shmyr, who topped the Blades in scoring with 35 goals and 31 assists in 66 appearances, missed time due to a concussion. Overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk missed about 14 games with an upper body injury. The local product still finished second in team scoring with career highs in goals (31) and assists (25) appearing in 58 games.

Jesse Shynkaruk potted a career 31 goals with the Blades.

    Right-winger Mason McCarty was out for about 35 games with a leg injury and he managed to record 21 goals and 16 assists in 45 appearances. That just scratched the surface of the Blades injury woes for the campaign. Injuries were a big factor in the Blades scoring the third fewest goals in the league at 190.

    Big credit has to be given to head coach Dean Brockman and assistant coaches Ryan Keller, Bryce Thoma and Jerome Engele for holding the ship together. Still, Brockman has visions of bigger things.

    “We fought through a lot of injuries and adversity, and we never used that as an excuse, and I still don’t want to use it as an excuse,” said Brockman. “I am proud of our team for what they accomplished.

    “Did we get to where I want to get to? Every year I want to win a championship to be honest with you. If you don’t do that I don’t find it successful.

    “Is a bit unbelievable to think that way all the time? You have to have something to strive for.”

Logan Flodell was named a WHL second team Eastern Conference all-star.

    Brockman is taking the right approach. At the start of the season, you want to have winning a championship as your goal, because it helps give the team clarity of purpose. When teams work their hardest to achieve that goal, it helps create conditions were players seem to achieve things beyond their abilities.

    Due to all the injuries, the Blades were constantly having to place younger players higher on the depth chart and have them play roles they weren’t expected have yet or in some cases maybe ever have. Players like forwards Chase Wouters and Michael Farren, who were in their 16-year-old seasons, performed beyond their limits and gained experiences that will help them in the future.

    The same goes for forwards Josh Paterson and Logan Christensen and defenceman Jackson Caller, who all completed their 17-year-old seasons.

Libor Hajek signed an NHL entry-level contract with Tampa Bay.

    Forward Kirby Dach impressed in his call ups from the Fort Saskatchewan Boston Pizza Rangers midget AAA team netting six goals and four assists in 19 contests with the Blades. The second overall selection in last year’s WHL Bantam Draft will play his 16-year-old rookie season with the club in the upcoming campaign.

    As far as guiding the improvement was concerned, Blades general manager Colin Priestner loved how Keller handled the skill development and power play. Priestner applauded how Thoma handled the defence. On top of everything, the general manager was impressed how calmly Brockman handled the difficulties.

    “He (Brockman) had adversity every day to deal with, and didn’t make excuses,” said Priestner. “He really had that next man up philosophy.

Chase Wouters is one of the Blades youngsters that has a bright future.

    “If we lose a player for a month, six months or whatever it was, he wouldn’t show that despair to the players. He kept a very even keel with the players and the coaches. I think that allowed us to be successful.”

    The individuals that had the biggest success were goaltender Logan Flodell and import defenceman Libor Hajek. Flodell established himself as a legitimate number one starter during his 19-year-old campaign. The Regina product was named a second team WHL Eastern Conference all-star posting a 22-20-4 record, a 2.81 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and three shutouts.

    Hajek signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning after netting four goals and 22 assists in 65 games with the Blades this past season in his 18-year-old campaign. 

Jackson Caller logged a tonne of minutes as Blades rookie defenceman.

    The Lightning selected Hajek in the second round and 37^th overall in last year’s NHL Entry Draft. He is currently with the Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate the Syracuse Crunch.

    At the moment, the Blades have a glut of possible overagers returning next season with six players battling for three spots. The potential returnees include Flodell and fellow netminder Brock Hamm along with defenceman Evan Fiala. Shmyr, McCarty and Hebig are also in that mix.

    The obvious man out is likely Hamm due to the stellar campaign Flodell had.

    With that said, the Blades will return three really good overagers next year. If they can find players or a way to generate more goals next season, a post-season appearance has an extremely high likelihood of being a reality.

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

Raiders deliver big send off

“Hockey Town North” faithful treated to 5-1 season ending win

Captain Tim Vanstone salutes the Prince Albert fans.

    PRINCE ALBERT - “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon” was ringing through the rafters of the Art Hauser Centre with over a minute to play in Saturday’s WHL game.

    It was that good of a night for the host Raiders, who downed their arch rivals the Saskatoon Blades 5-1 before a crammed crowd of 2,953 spectators. The Blades got out to a 1-0 lead in the first period, before the Raiders roared back with five straight goals through the final 40 minutes.

    Fitting a traditional clash between the Raiders and Blades, the night also contained a couple of fights and a few scrums. The win allowed the Raiders to finish the regular season with a 21-44-5-2 record, which included posting a 13-13-4 record after the WHL’s trade deadline passed on Jan. 10.

    While the Raiders had been long eliminated from playoff contention, overage captain Tim Vanstone said that Saturday’s win was still a good way for him to go out along with his overage teammates Kolten Olynek and Cavin Leth.

    “I didn’t script it like this for sure,” said Vanstone. “It just shows how much everyone cared.

    “We pulled for each other. It wasn’t just for me, Cavin (Leth) and Olyny (Olynek). It was for everybody.

    “This crest means way more than gold to a lot of those guys in that room. I think the foundation has been set, and they are just going to roll with it next year.”

Captain Tim Vanstone jets up ice for the Raiders.

    Vanstone played all five seasons of his major junior career with the Raiders having been selected in the third round and 52^nd overall by the club in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft. The Swift Current product appeared in 299 career regular season games collecting 36 goals, 58 assists and 318 penalty minutes. He couldn’t imagine spending his career anywhere else.

    “I think you just look back and put it in perspective I guess the hard times, the good times and the long bus trips,” said Vanstone. “It is all worth it at the end of the day.

    “I think the biggest thing for me is I spent it in the same place. I went to the same places to eat. I saw the people at the same places.

    “No matter how good your game was or how bad your game was, they love you no matter what.”

    During the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s games, the Blades were doing their best to spoil the Raiders home finale. At the 5:39 mark of the opening frame, Blades winger Mason McCarty potted the rebound from a point shot to put the visitors ahead 1-0.

Simon Stransky controls the puck on the power play for the Raiders.

    Momentum changed in the second period, when Czech winger Simon Stransky went to work for the Raiders. He popped home a pair of goals to put the Raiders ahead 2-1.

    He then combined with Leth to set up winger Curtis Miske to score off a backdoor play while working on a power play to extend the host’s edge to 3-1. Miske’s tally was his 20^th goal of the season.

    The Raiders kept rolling in the third, when centre Adam Kadlec and defenceman Cody Paivarinta tallied singles one minute and 34 seconds apart from each other.

    Ian Scott made 24 stops to pick up the win goal for the Raiders. Brock Hamm stopped 26 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades.

    Vanstone ended up engaged with Blades defenceman Evan Fiala in a second period fight and finished his final WHL outing with a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department and 19 minutes in penalties.

    When the Raiders overage players were called out as the game’s three stars, Vanstone took a decent sized lap to salute the fans.

Mason McCarty gave the Blades an early 1-0 lead.

    He said he loved how the fans in Prince Albert always came up to talk to him, ask how he was, ask how the team was doing and offer encouragement. He admitted he was going to miss those interactions saying the community is very close knit being in one of the league’s smaller markets.

    “Everyone in P.A. made P.A. everything to me,” said Vanstone. “I think that is how I can sum it up is absolutely that.

    “I am so grateful for the experience. I am going to be a Raider until I die that is for sure.”

    The Blades fell to 28-35-7-2 with the loss and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year. The Calgary Hitmen (30-32-8-2) finished five points ahead of the Blades for eight overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and the conference’s second wildcard berth.

    After Saskatoon won what turned out to be an emotional final home game on Friday where they beat the Raiders 5-3 and were officially eliminated from playoffs, Blades head coach Dean Brockman said his side had a bit of an expected letdown on Saturday. He said the reality of the fact the season was over hadn’t totally hit him yet.

    “It will hit me when we go to work Monday, and we don’t have to practice,” said Brockman. “There are a lot of things to digest where we went right and where we went wrong.

Adam Kadlec sets to fire a shot on goal for the Raiders.

    “There will be evaluations with our guys, with our management group. Obviously, it is very disappointing we are not continuing our season. Through all the adversity I thought we made some strides this year.”

    Going forward, Brockman believes the Blades have a lot of bright lights in players like forward Michael Farren and Chase Wouters, who concluded their 16-year-old season, and centre Kirby Dach, who will officially enter his 16-year-old season in the upcoming campaign.
    Dach, who was selected by the Blades second overall in last year’s WHL Bantam Draft, finished out this season in Saskatoon as a call up from the midget AAA ranks until getting hurt in the team’s fifth last game of the season.

    “For not knowing a lot about Michael Farren, he did really well,” said Brockman. “I think maybe if there was anything he ran out of gas later in the year.

Parker Kelly celebrates the Raiders win.

    “(Chase Wouters) is just a character kid that works and works and works. Those guys are going to be big cornerstones.

    “Kirby is going to be a good player. You don’t want to put too much pressure on the young guy, but he has got a bright future that is for sure.”

    As for the present on Saturday, the night belonged to the Raiders, and Vanstone was pleased to relish one last memory with the fans from “Hockey Town North.”

    “You can’t teach loyalty, and this city is all about it,” he said.

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

Shmyr sparks Blades, brings ugly skid to an end

Braylon Shmyr, left, celebrates his winning goal for the Blades.

    Braylon Shmyr sparked and finished things for the Saskatoon Blades.

    On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the 19-year-old Calgary product scored 12 seconds into a WHL clash against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings to give the host side a 1-0 lead. Shmyr also tucked home a gritty winner from the right side of the Brandon goal with 41.9 seconds to play in the third period to break a 2-2 draw and deliver the Blades to a 3-2 victory.

    The win allowed “the Bridge City Bunch” to end an ugly four-game losing skid where they were outscored 24-6.

    “We always talk about having a good start, so that first shift that we had that we scored on, that set the momentum for the game,” said Shmyr, whose team improved to 10-15-1 with the win. “It is always nice getting those game-winning goals.

    “It is just all about battling and finishing right to the end. We had a week of just setting down and having team meetings. We were just figuring out what we could do to win games, and I think it paid off for us.”

    Wearing their classic blue Pac-Man jerseys, the Blades immediately engaged the crowd of 3,929 spectators with Shmyr’s first goal that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Jesse Shynkaruk speeds up the ice for the Blades.

    The hosts then appeared to have total control of the contest after overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk laser beamed his seventh of the season top left corner on Wheat Kings goaltender Logan Thompson. The tally gave the Blades a 2-0 edge at the 7:10 mark of the second.

    The visitors replied with a big push back.

    Just 33 seconds after Shynkaruk’s goal, Wheat Kings left-winger Tyler Coulter wired home his 10^th of the season to cut the Blades lead to 2-1.

    Brandon evened the score up at 2-2 with 3:11 to play in the second, when defenceman Schael Higson floated home a point shot.

    When the second came to a close, the Wheat Kings were carrying the momentum holding an overall 21-17 edge in shots.

    The Blades recovered their footing in the third, where Shmyr came through with the winner. Brandon applied pressure in the final seconds but couldn’t put the puck past Blades netminder Logan Flodell.

Logan Christensen (#41) steals the puck for the Blades.

    Flodell made 31 stops to earn the win in goal. Thompson turned away 25 shots to take the loss for the Wheat Kings, who fell to 12-9-3.

    “It feels good just to win - period,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “I think our group was pretty gutsy in the third.

    “It is good for our club. Hopefully, we can get some confidence going.

    “You could see we were scrambling a little bit in the third period. That is just a team that hasn’t won for a while.”

    Brockman was happy to see Shmyr come through with a nice night against his former team. The Blades acquired Shmyr in a trade with the Wheat Kings shortly before last season’s WHL trade deadline.

    “He has probably been our best player over the last 10 or 12 games,” said Brockman. “Just to see him get rewarded against his old team it is a really good for him.”

The Blades salute the SaskTel Centre crowd.

    The Blades return to action on Saturday, when they host the red hot Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
    After pounding the Raiders 7-1 on Friday night in Prince Albert, the Tigers sit first overall in the WHL at 19-5-1 and have won eight straight games.

Hausinger dealt to Rebels

    The Blades were active on the trade front before Friday’s game rolled around.

    Saskatoon dealt 17-year-old right-winger Cameron Hausinger to the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for a seventh round selection in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft and a fifth round pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. 

    In 20 games this season, Hausinger had three assists, 22 penalty minutes and a minus-seven rating in the plus-minus department.

McCarty goes down

    The Blades lost team scoring leader Mason McCarty to injury late in the second period.

    The 19-year-old winger has 14 goals and eight assists in 26 games. His status is uncertain for Saturday’s game against the Tigers.

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

Blades’ Flodell slams door on Winterhawks

Logan Flodell makes one of his 34 stops to power the Blades past Portland.

    Logan Flodell has become the man of the hour during the early part of the WHL season for the Saskatoon Blades.

    The 19-year-old Regina product continued his hot start making 34 stops to help his Blades slip past a high flying Portland Winterhawks 3-1 before 3,016 spectators Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre. 

    In his four starts with the Blades since coming over in a trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Sept. 17, Flodell has posted a 3-1 record, a 1.75 goals against average, a .947 save percentage and one shutout.

    Flodell’s latest win came on the heels of making a 31-save shutout performance on Thursday, when the Blades blanked their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 2-0.

    “It is good to get the win for the boys,” said Flodell, who team has won three straight to improve to 4-2. “Definitely, they played really well in front of me.

    “They kept the shots to outside like they did last game against P.A., and it is always good to get another win.”

Blades goaltender Logan Flodell keeps the Winterhawks at bay.

    Last season with the Thunderbirds, Flodell had a strong campaign appearing in 42 regular season games posting a 22-13-4 record, a 2.68 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and three shutouts. He was Seattle’s starter until the Thunderbirds acquired overage netminder Landon Bow in a deal shortly before the WHL’s trade deadline.

    Bow played every minute of the post-season for the Thunderbirds as they marched all the way to the WHL championship series, where they fell to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Flodell was expecting to be with the Thunderbirds this season, so being traded didn’t cross his mind.

    “Definitely, it was a bit of a shock,” said Flodell, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 166 pounds. “I wasn’t aware of it until I got told of course.

Blades goalie Logan Flodell tracks a shot into his chest.

    “I am honoured to be here. It is a great organization. I am proud to play for the Saskatoon Blades.

    “Seattle was an amazing city to play in, and I thank them for everything. It is awesome to be here.”

    He did admit it was difficult to leave the only WHL team that he had known, which contained a roster of core guys he has grown with.

    “We had a great group of guys last year, and they have a good group of guys this year,” said Flodell. “It was tough leaving a bunch of good friends.

    “It is hockey. You get traded all the time. They have a great group of guys here, and we are going to make the experiences last.”

    The Blades jumped ahead 1-0 in Saturday’s game, when high energy right-winger Mason McCarty potted his third of the season on a turnaround shot. Before the first period ended, Jake Gricius potted a goal for the Winterhawks to tie the score at 1-1.

    With 2:44 to play in the second, left-winger Braylon Shmyr scored an absolute highlight reel goal for the hosts to put the Blades ahead 2-1. Shmyr came flying down the left win on a one-on-one rush, undressed Winterhawks defenceman Henri Jokiharju on a deke move and roofed a shot top corner on goaltender Kole Kehler.

Braylon Shmyr scores a highlight reel goal to put the Blades up 2-1.

    Over the first 40 minutes, Flodell kept making key saves to give the Blades a chance to pull ahead. Portland held a 21-14 edge in shots after two periods.

    In the third, he made a couple of game-saving stops that could have gotten the visitors rolling. First, Flodell robbed Winterhawks centre Alex Overhardt with a kick save after the visitors put together a pretty passing play on a three-on-one rush to create a golden scoring chance for the Cherry Hills, Colorado, product. A short time later, Flodell stoned Portland right-winger Evan Weinger on a breakaway.

    Last season, the Blades didn’t receive enough of these type of key saves, when they gave up the second most goals in the league at 318. Blades head coach Dean Brockman said Flodell’s play has been key to helping his club get some traction heading into games.

    “He (Flodell) had been huge,” said Brockman. “We’ve got a pretty young group.

    “When you’ve got young players and if they are going to make mistakes, he has been there to kind of solve the little mistakes that we are making. For us, that is huge. When you get a guy that is playing as well as he is, probably the puck looks like a beach ball right now for him.”

The Blades celebrate their 3-1 victory over the Winterhawks.

    Centre Josh Paterson sealed the win for the Blades with an empty-net tally with 64 seconds remaining in the contest.

    Kehler turned away 20-of-22 shots taking the loss in goal for the Winterhawks, who fell to 5-3.

Flodell was also pleased he didn’t feel any fatigue playing in two games over three nights. He noted that is part of life in the WHL.

    “I felt pretty good in there,” said Flodell. “It is what you have to do, especially if you want to be a starting goaltender.

    “You have to be able to play back to back. I thought I did pretty well tonight.”

The Blades return to action Sunday when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings at 2 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.

Christmas comes early for Blades

Double Blue earns huge upset victory over Rockets

The SaskTel Centre scoreboards flashes the final of the Blades upset win.

    The Saskatoon Blades gave themselves an early Christmas present.

    On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades entered their final contest before the WHL’s Christmas break as huge underdogs against the league leading and defending league champion Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets were also rated fourth in the Canadian Hockey League's top ten rankings. After falling behind 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes, the hosts side roared back to pull out a well-earned 5-3 victory before an appreciative crowd of 3,997 spectators.

    “They are a pretty phenomenal hockey team,” said Blades overage right-winger Connor Gay. “They are team that is quite offensive, and I think we stuck to our game tonight.

    “We played good defence, and I couldn’t be happier that we won tonight.”

    The Rockets came into “the Bridge City” with two big absences as centres Nick Merkley and Rourke Chartier were both in Finland trying to crack the final roster for Canada’s world junior team. Kelowna was also without forward Tomas Soustal, who is trying to earn a spot on the Czech Republic’s team for world juniors, and left-winger Calvin Thurkauf, who will be part of Switzerland’s team at the world juniors.

    Despite the fact that foursome was overseas, the Rockets jumped ahead 2-0 on a pair of tallies coming off the stick of WHL scoring leader Tyson Baillie, who potted his first marker on a breakaway. While Kelowna held a 2-0 edge after first frame, Blades played at an even pace with the visitors.

Blades rearguard Mitch Wheaton, right, helps with the teddy clean up.

    Just 67 seconds into the second, the Blades were finally rewarded for their effort, as centre Wyatt Sloboshan scored to cut the gap to 2-1. Sloboshan’s goal triggered a flood of stuffed animals to get thrown on to the ice surface due to the fact Saskatoon was holding its teddy bear toss promotion.

    After the stuffed animals were cleared away, the Blades momentum continued to roll with goals coming from the sticks of captain Nick Zajac and stand out centre Cameron Hebig, which gave the hosts a 3-2 edge.

    The lead didn’t last long as five seconds later Rockets left-winger Justin Kirkland put a floater past Saskatoon netminder Evan Smith, who was making his first start with the Blades after being acquired in a trade with the Victoria Royals on Dec. 10.

    Before the second period ended, the Blades jumped back ahead 4-3. While working on a power play, Sloboshan got the puck down low by the right side of the Kelowna goal after a greasy bounce off the boards, and Vanscoy product made no mistake potting his second of the contest.

    After jumping out to a 7-4-3 start, the Blades hit a big slide starting on Nov. 15. Saturday marked the fifth time Saskatoon has won since that date as their record improved to 13-17-3. During the skid, they often couldn’t recover after giving up the first goal of a game, so Gay was pleased his side erased a two-goal deficit on Saturday.

    “There has been lots of talk about us obviously deflating after the first couple of goals get let in,” said Gay. “Lately, I think we’ve been really trying to stay positive and fighting back in games. Lately, it has been working out.

    “You never want to be down in a hockey game. If you are down, you have to stay positive and you have to work hard to get back in the game, and that is what we did.”

    Gay added another power-play goal at the 7:31 mark of the third to put Saskatoon up 5-3. Smith made 27 stops to pick up the win in goal.

    Star netminder Jackson Whistle turned away 28 shots taking the loss in goal for the Rockets, who fell to 25-9-1 but remain first overall in the WHL.

Evan Smith made 27 saves to earn his first win in goal for the Blades.

    “Our guys believe they can win any game,” said Blades head coach and general manager Bob Woods. “Last year we probably didn’t think that way. Now, we believe that.

    “We probably put a little bit more pressure on ourselves, because our expectations are higher than they have been. There is nothing wrong with that. I think that is a great step for our guys.

    “We want to have success, and we are not happy if we don’t. That to me is the type of environment you want to have especially with your young guys.”

    The Blades sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, and they trail the 14-19-3 Edmonton Oil Kings by two points for eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth. Saskatoon finished last in the entire WHL each of the past two seasons after hosting the 2013 Memorial Cup.

    Woods said wins like the one his squad earned over the Rockets help his players gain confidence, but he cautioned his squad still has a lot of room for improvement.

    “We are the type of team that still has a lot of growing pains,” said Woods. “We are the youngest team in the league, and I hate always bringing that up, but it is a fact.

    “There are lots of things for us to learn. We just have to keep going and take in every experience and build on it. The second half is going to be a tough go.

    “Hopefully, we are in some meaningful games and have a chance to battle for that last playoff spot.”

    The Blades and Rockets both return to action on Dec. 27. Saskatoon travels to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders, while Kelowna heads to Kamloops to take on the Blazers.

    NOTES – In the second period of Saturday’s game, Rockets defenceman Cal Foote received a major penalty and a game misconduct for a head check. That play will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a suspension.

    Whistle stopped Blades right-winger Mason McCarty on a penalty shot late in the third period.

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

The curious case of the Saskatoon Blades

The Blades celebrate a goal earlier this season.

            A heartbreaker.

            On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the Saskatoon Blades were locked in a 4-4 draw with the visiting Regina Pats. In the dying seconds of the third period, Pats winger Braden Christoffer goes end-to-end, dekes through three Blades and slips home the winning goal with 3.3 seconds to play in the frame.

            The goal gave Regina a 5-4 victory, while the Blades had lost their 10^th in a row. For the 4,552 spectators in attendance at the Sasktel Centre, the last-second setback was the last vision they have of the Blades going into the WHL Christmas break.

            The Blades officially skated into a nine-day rest period with an 11^th loss in a row falling 5-2 to the Broncos in Swift Current on Wednesday. At 7-25-2-1, Saskatoon sits last in the entire WHL with 17 points.

            Heartbreaking losses have been a theme for the Blades this season. Despite playing in a number of tight contests, there is a feeling they will find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

            The struggles for the Saskatoon franchise at this point in time are expected. The Blades basically sold the farm dealing away a number of high draft selections to acquire talented older players to gear up as the host squad for the 2013 Memorial Cup.

            Besides having to recover from that campaign, the Blades are still feeling the effects of trying to lock in for a long post-season run in 2011. Before the WHL’s trade deadline in that campaign, they acquired Brayden Schenn in a blockbuster deal with the Brandon Wheat Kings, which saw another pile of draft picks get sacrificed.

            Saskatoon finished first overall in the WHL, but would bow out in the second round of the playoffs being swept away by the eventual league champion Kootenay Ice.

            A day after Saturday’s gut-wrenching loss to Regina, the Blades continued the rebuild trying to restock their supply of high WHL Bantam Draft picks. They sent 18-year-old defenceman Nelson Nogier, who was their only NHL drafted player, 18-year-old right-winger Austin Adamson to the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for 17-year-old winger Mason McCarty, a first round selection in the 2016 Bantam Draft and a second round selection in the 2015 Bantam Draft.

            Thanks to that move, the Blades have four first round picks over the next two Bantam Drafts. At the time of the 2013 WHL trade deadline, the Blades did not hold any first round selections for the next three Bantam Drafts they were to enter. They didn’t have any first or second round picks in their system from the three previous Bantam Drafts from that point in time.

The Blades work to hold off the Regina Pats.

            When Edmonton product Mike Priestner bought the Blades from Jack Brodsky before the start of the 2013-14 campaign, it was beyond an understatement to say the cupboard was bare. Realistic supporters of the hockey club knew there were going to be rough times ahead for an extended period.

            Since the end of the 2013 Memorial Cup tournament in Saskatoon, those that have been part of the team’s management have to be given credit for building a stockpile of first round Bantam Draft pick for the next two years.

            On the ice this season, the team has been more competitive than its last place record would indicate. They are not getting hammered like 7-1 on the scoreboard on a regular basis. They have actually had a realistic shot at victory in most of their games dropping 12 contests by two or fewer goals.

Before the start of the campaign, Bob Woods was brought in as the team’s new head coach and general manager, and he came to the club along with new assistant coach Dean Brockman. With the roster they have, the Blades might actually be overachieving.

            It is fair to say the Saskatoon roster contains a number of players who shouldn’t be in the WHL. Those players ended up in the league due to the fact the Blades are in an unprecedented serious rebuilding state.

            If a dynamic first line scoring trio was part of the Bridge City Bunch, it might have actually been possible to sneak into the post-season. It wouldn’t be a given, but it would have been close.

            With the struggles, the Blades have averaged 4,229 spectators per game. That figure is has to be considered quite respectable considering the club’s lack of victories. When the team was 7-52-11-2 in the 2003-04 campaign, average attendance was 3,361 spectators for home games.

            The fans that do go to the games seem patient. When the Blades are trying their hardest like they did in the loss to Regina, the faithful in the stands were into the game. The Sasktel Centre, which traditionally lacks an atmosphere, felt electric at times in that contest.

            When Priestner bought the Blades, he brought in son, Colin, to be the managing partner and Steve Hogle to be the president an alternate governor from the Alberta capital. Since arriving in Saskatoon, they have all put in a good effort to be part of the community.

            Before the first home game of the regular season, the team gave donations to a number of local charities and sports organizations during pre-game ceremonies. Colin and his wife, Alanna, have appeared at a few charitable functions.

Last act as a Blade. Nelson Nogier gives his stick to a fan.

            Hogle, who had a long career at CTV in Edmonton, is always meeting and visiting fans in the concourse of the Sasktel Centre during game days. On a day to day basis, he does a stellar job in representing the team, which makes you want to go to games.

            The cynics are still there. On a recent poll regarding the Blades conducted by Saskatoonhomepage.ca, the response that received the most votes regarded being fed up all together with the team going back to when the club wasn’t able to make any long runs in post-season appearances from 2009 to 2013.

            Over that five year span, the Blades were eliminated from the playoffs three times in the first round and twice in the second round despite finishing first in the East Division three times. The toughest pills to swallow were the second round exit in 2011, when the Blades were 56-13-1-2 in the regular season, and the first round exit in 2013 as the Memorial Cup host.

            The new owners and management of the team seem to have the best intentions to rebuild the Blades and run the team the right way. If they can put a winner in the rink one day, it is possible to image people turning out at the Sasktel Centre in droves.

            It just won’t happen this season and that vision might likely be at least three seasons down the road. For the moment, all of the team’s fans need to give the new regime a real opportunity to rebuild the team.

Follow “Taking Note” for everything WHL

            While I covered the WHL for 15 seasons, I tend to shy away from writing full blog entries about the league.

            I believe coverage of the league has fallen as a whole over the last five years due to budget cuts in the Canadian media industry, especially in Western Canada. Even with the drop in coverage, the league as a whole does get better coverage than most other minor sport bodies do. In relative terms, there are a lot of people out there talking about the league.

            One blog stands above all others, when it comes to keep tabs on the WHL. That would be “Taking Note” written by former Regina Leader-Post and late Kamloops Daily News sports editor Gregg Drinnan. He keeps tabs on that league with a passion that is unmatched by anyone else, and he also acts as a conscience on tough topics like concussion injuries.

            If you want to know what the hot topic is of the day for the league, you definitely have to check out Drinnan’s blog at http://gdrinnan.blogspot.ca/.

If you have any feedback on this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.