WHL East Division bubble a smashing success

Wheat Kings take top spot, Blades, Raiders win closers

Braden Schneider and the Wheat Kings topped the East Division.

It was a unique final night in the WHL East Division bubble.

The Brandon Wheat Kings saw their seven game winning streak come to an end after a 5-2 setback at the hands of the Saskatoon Blades. At the end of Wednesday’s first contest played in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Sask., the Wheat Kings were presented the Subway Cup for finishing first in the East Division and were proclaimed champions of the WHL Subway Hub Centre.

The seven straight wins the Wheat Kings posted before falling to the Blades allowed the Brandon side to lock up first place with a game to go. Brandon finished the developmental campaign with an 18-4-2 record to sit one point up in the standings on the second place Winnipeg Ice (18-5-1).

With the win on Wednesday over Brandon, the Blades exited the Regina bubble having won two straight to finish third with a 16-5-2-1 record sitting three points back of Brandon and two points back of Winnipeg.

In Wednesday’s late contest that closed all action held in the Regina bubble, the Prince Albert Raiders slipped past the Swift Current Broncos 6-5 in overtime.

The win allowed the Raiders to improve to 9-11-3-1 and leap over the Regina Pats for fourth in the East Division. The Pats finish one point behind the Raiders with a 9-12-2-1 mark.

The Moose Jaw Warriors placed sixth in the division with an 8-13-3 mark. The Broncos finished last with a 6-16-2 record but played very inspired hockey in their third season of a major rebuild after having won the WHL title in 2018.

Sharing the Subway Cup with the best fans in the @TheWHL 🖤💛#BWK 🌾👑 pic.twitter.com/IFoyhyoL7W

— Brandon Wheat Kings (@bdnwheatkings) April 29, 2021

Of course, the seven-team WHL East Division played inside of a bubble format due to the fact the world is still firmly in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The two-month schedule of games in Regina were not disrupted due to any positive COVID-19 tests. The WHL reported on Wednesday a total of 1,930 tests for COVID-19 were conducted during the time the East Division bubble operated, and no one tested positive for the virus.

As a result, each of the seven clubs in the bubble were able to complete their respective 24-game regular season schedules.

Huge credit has to be given to all seven teams, the referees and linemen, the off-ice officials, the game day staff at the Brandt Centre, the scouts and media that worked the games in Regina. They all did their part to ensure the successful completion of all contests in the Brandt Centre with no schedule disruptions.

The schedules of the WHL’s three other divisions in the Central Division, B.C. Division and U.S. Division have all seen minor disruptions due to positive COVID-19 tests. The teams in the Central and U.S. Divisions are playing games in their regular home rinks, while the B.C. Division is playing contests in a modified bubble in Kamloops and Kelowna.

Chase Wouters scored the winner in his final WHL game.

Most of the teams in those three divisions will fall short of playing 24 regular season games each. At the moment, the final WHL regular season games are scheduled for May 12.

In a COVID-19 environment where variants are creating more havoc on the world scene, the pure bubble environment used in Regina successfully allowed the East Division to complete all 84 total games.

All involved with the East Division bubble should feel very proud of their accomplishment.

In the clash between the Wheat Kings and Blades, the Saskatoon’s three overagers had a memorable final bow.

With the teams locked in a 2-2 draw, Blades overage captain Chase Wouters tipped home a point shot from defenceman Rhett Rhinehart for the winning tally with 1:22 remaining in the second period. Wouters won the faceoff clean back to Rhinehart at the point on the play.

The Blades added two goals in the third to round out the 5-2 victory.

Wouters had an assist and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department to go along with his goal, which was his 10^th tally of the season. The career member of the Blades also won 19-of-32 draws in the faceoff circle.

During post-game media Zoom press-conference, Wouters was told his #44 was going to be retired by the team from Blades general manager Colin Priestner.

Also in the Saskatoon win, Blades overage centre Caiden Daley had an assist and a plus-two rating, while overage rearguard Wyatt McLeod had a goal and a plus-three rating.

Nolan Maier made 35 saves in goal for the Blades.

Brandon Lisowsky, Colton Dach and Kyle Crnkovic all netted singles for the Blades.

Overage right-winger Lynden McCallum scored both Brandon goals to finish with 21 tallies on the campaign. McCallum’s 21 goals were a career high.

Brandon’s two other overagers in forwards Marcus Sekundiak and Reid Perepeluk weren’t able to post any points in their final WHL game.

Nolan Maier made 35 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Connor Ungar turned away 23-of-27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings.

In the night’s second contest and final game in the East Division bubble, Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt lifted a backhand shot past Broncos netminder Reid Dyck just 54 seconds into overtime to give Prince Albert a 6-5 victory.

Wiesblatt had an assist and plus-three rating to go with his goal.

The contest did have some controversy. With the Raiders holding a 5-3 lead, Prince Albert overage star netminder Max Paddock hit one of the Broncos with his blocker during a scrum around the Raiders goal with 11:59 remaining in the third.

Paddock was given a match penalty for attempting to injure and a game misconduct. Broncos centre Josh Davies was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the scrum.

Paddock left the contest having stopped 21-of-24 shots fired his way.

The Broncos got a power-play goal from rookie right-winger Mathew Ward with 9:07 remaining in the third to cut the Raiders lead to 5-4 as a result of the penalties to Paddock.

Ozzy Wiesblatt had the OT winner for the Raiders.

Broncos centre Cole Nagy, who is a former member of the Raiders, evened the score up at 5-5 potting the equalizer with 63 seconds remaining in the third.

That set the stage for the dramatics on Wiesblatt’s winner.

Overage left-winger Justin Nachbaur had a goal and overage centre Spencer Moe had an assist in their final WHL career game with the Raiders. Both were members of the team’s WHL championship team in 2019.

Reece Vitelli scored twice for the Raiders, while Terrell Goldsmith and Tyson Laventure had singles.

Broncos overage right-winger Michael Farren, who started his WHL career with the Blades, had three assists in the OT setback. Broncos overage defencemen Kaleb Bulych and Owen Williams weren’t able to pick up any points in their final outing in the WHL.

Raphael Pelletier, Bode Hagan and Carter Stebbings all had singles for the Broncos.

Raiders backup netminder Carter Serhyenko picked up the win in his relief appearance turning away 6-of-8 shots sent his way. Dyck turned away 32 shots to take the overtime setback in goal for the Broncos.

Wednesday night was a night to be celebrated in Regina.

All seven teams in the East Division bubble played 24 games each in a 2020-21 campaign that appeared highly likely of not happening at all for an extended time period leading up to the season.

Justin Nachbaur scored in his final game with the Raiders.

The games that took place in the bubble were beneficial for all involved.

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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A high stick and a prayer gives Rockets extra time win

Blades fall in controversial fashion at SaskTel Centre

The Rockets celebrate their extra time win on Saturday.

    Someone call the cops, because the Saskatoon Blades were robbed.
    The visiting Kelowna Rockets made off like thieves in the night with a controversial 4-3 victory after a tiebreaking shootout in front of a stunned gathering of 4,215 spectators at the SaskTel Centre on Saturday night.

    The Blades were holding a 3-2 lead with three minutes remaining in the third period. It seemed like the host side was going to defensively close out a victory in a frame where the checking was really tight.

    At that point, craziness ensued.

    Rockets captain Nolan Foote wired a wrist shot on the Saskatoon goal, and his follow through clipped Blades overage defenceman Scott Walford.

Blades defenceman Scott Walford (#6) is attended to after being cut.

    Walford went down in a heap right between the two faceoff circles in the Saskatoon zone, and it was obvious he was hurt as very visible blood came down on the ice.

    With Walford down bleeding right in the middle of the ongoing play, the officials elected to allow the play to continue.

    Foote proceeded to set up left-winger Trevor Wong at the left side of the Saskatoon goal on a backdoor feed, and Wong popped home the equalizer to force a 3-3 tie with 2:52 remaining in the frame.

    The Blades protested the fact the play was allowed to continue, but their protests fell on deaf ears.

Rockets RW Ethan Ernst celebrates his goal in the shootout.

    The two clubs proceeded to go to overtime and remained tied after a three-on-three extra session.

    Rockets 17-year-old right-winger Ethan Ernst scored the only goal in the ensuring shootout to give Kelowna a 1-0 victory in the tiebreaking session and a 4-3 victory in the game.

    The Rockets, who will host the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – this coming May, improved to 16-8-1-2 with a third straight win.

    The Blades record moved to 14-13-1-2.

    To be blunt, this is a contest Saskatoon should have won.

    Had Walford had being lying hurt behind the play when the Rockets scored their equalizer, there would have been no controversy round the game-tying goal.

Nolan Foote had a goal and an assist for the Rockets.

    The fact that Walford was down on the ice visibly bleeding directly in harm’s way as play was going on and no one blew the play down is very concerning.

    The puck or even a skater could have collided with Walford to cause a greater injury.

    In this instance for player safety, the play should have been blown dead.

    Instead, referees Kyle Kowalski and Trevor Peluk made a call to allow things to go on as is.

    One could have only imagined what the scene would have been like had Walford been cut by a skate instead of being cut by a high stick on a follow through from a shot.

Colton Dach scored his first WHL goal on Saturday.

    Walford was able to return to the Blades bench by the time the tiebreaking shootout was held. If his injury occurred earlier in the game, he would have been able to return to action.

    With all that said, you can’t fault the Rockets for being on the good side of fortune. They capitalized on a break to force overtime.

    It wasn’t their fault the officials didn’t blow the play dead. They proceeded to finish the play, which is what they should do in that instance.

    The Rockets kept their focus in that moment, and they were rewarded for it.

    Outside of the unfortunate dramatics that happened late in the third period, the Blades and Rockets played a decently entertaining clash.

    The two clubs skated through a scoreless first period with the Blades holding a 10-8 edge in shots on goal.

    The second period proceeded to turn into a 1980s styles shootout. Michael Farren, who was a former member of the Blades, gave the visiting Rockets a 1-0 lead.

Blades D Nolan Kneen, left, fights Rockets C Matthew Wedman.

    Saskatoon surged ahead 2-1 with goals coming from Zach Huber and 16-year-old rookie Colton Dach. Dach’s tally was his first career WHL regular season goal.

    Foote wired home the equalizer past Blades netminder Nolan Maier to force a 2-2 tie. The Rockets leader had a two-point night with a goal and an assist.

    With 1:45 remaining in the second, Blades right-winger Tristen Robins broke into the offensive zone down the right wing and wired a shot to the top corner of the Kelowna goal past Rockets netminder Cole Schewebius.

Trevor Wong scored the third period equalizer for the Rockets.

    Outside of Wong’s equalizer, there wasn’t very much offence in the third period as the Rockets held a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. The visitors had a 2-1 advantage in shots on goal in the five-minute overtime frame.

    There were a couple of spirited fights in the third as Blades left-winger Riley McKay took on Rockets left-winger Mark Liwiski in one tilt and Blades defenceman Nolan Kneen faced Rockets power forward Matthew Wedman in the second tilt.

    Maier made 23 saves over 65 minutes and turned away one-of-two shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback for the Blades. Schewebius stopped 25 shots over 65 minutes and all three shooters in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Rockets.

    In the grand scheme of a hockey season, what happened late in the third period of Saturday’s game with the Blades and Rockets will do down as one of those “it is what it is” situations that just happened.

The Rockets leave Saskatoon after winning their third straight game.

    There is still a lot more hockey to be played in the current campaign.

    The officials will likely review the game video and make adjustments from there. It should be noted they were good for a large portion during the rest of the contest.

    The Blades return to action on Tuesday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Rockets are also back in action on Tuesday, when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings at 7 p.m. local time at Westoba Place.

    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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Wheat Kings withstand Blades’ battle, clinch playoff berth

Ty Lewis (#14) fist bumps with James Shearer (#32) after Brandon’s win.

    Stelio Mattheos said his Brandon Wheat Kings weren’t at their best, but the 18-year-old centre was pleased his club locked up a playoff berth with a gutty road win.

    On Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Wheat Kings had to withstand the battle of a fired up host Saskatoon Blades side, who were playing in front of 5,826 spectators. 

    The Wheat Kings scored some timely goals and road a 29-save performance from sophomore netminder Dylan Myskiw to pull out a 4-2 victory.

The victory allowed the Wheat Kings to improve to 37-26-3-2 and lock up a playoff berth for a fifth straight year.

    “It is a good feeling,” said Mattheos. “It is a bit of a relief.

    “Guys worked hard for it for sure in the last bit. It is not our best game, but we’ll take it.”

Stelio Mattheos scored the Wheat Kings first goal on Saturday.

    The Wheat Kings are riding a three-game winning streak looking to reverse the struggles they’ve had in the second half of the campaign. Entering play on Jan. 3, Brandon sat third overall in the WHL standings with a 25-11-0-1 record and was rated fifth in the CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The Wheat Kings were also playing in an East Division that saw the Moose Jaw Warriors, Swift Current Broncos and Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats all make deals to stack their teams this season before the WHL trade deadline rolled around on Jan. 10. 

    Before the deadline on Jan. 10, the Wheat Kings dealt star defenceman Kale Clague and then captain Tanner Kaspick in separate trades to the Moose Jaw Warriors and Victoria Royals respectively for a plethora of players and WHL Bantam Draft picks.

Dylan Myskiw, left, knocks the puck up to one of his defencemen.

    Since their high point entering play on Jan. 3, the Wheat Kings posted a 12-15-3-1 record in their last 31 games. When they locked up a playoff berth on Saturday, the Wheat Kings were holding the first wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    Mattheos, who is second in Wheat Kings team scoring with 41 goals and 45 assists, believes his team is on the start of an upward swing during this last stretch heading to the end of the regular season.

    “We want to keep building our game heading into playoffs,” said Mattheos. “Once we get to playoffs, we want to do some damage.

    “We want to prove some people wrong and obviously win as many games as we can.”

Wheat Kings RW Evan Weinger, left, checks Blades D Jackson Caller.

    Saturday’s outing didn’t have the best start for the Wheat Kings. Saskatoon had the visitors pinned in their zone for much of the frame.

    The Blades were playing a lot more free and easy than they had in Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Calgary Hitmen and Tuesday’s 6-5 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings.

    Out of seemingly nowhere, the Wheat Kings jumped ahead 1-0, when Mattheos scored on a backhand shot with 46.5 seconds to play in the opening frame.

    At the 9:38 mark of the second period, left-winger Linden McCorrister wired home his 18^th goal of the season to give Brandon a 2-0 lead.

Michael Farren snaps a shot on goal for the Blades.

    Just over three minutes later, the Blades were finally rewarded for their efforts, when left-winger Michael Farren potted his 10^th goal of the season to cut the Wheat Kings lead to 2-1.

    Moments later, the Blades had a glorious chance to tie the game during a net scramble that saw centre Kirby Dach and left-winger Gage Ramsay both get turned away in close. Right after those opportunities, Wheat Kings defenceman Schael Higson sprung right-winger Luka Burzan on a breakaway.

    Burzan proceeded to tuck home his 13^th goal of the campaign to put the Wheat Kings up 3-1.

    “It was a huge goal for us,” said Mattheos. “We were in our zone for almost a minute.

    “Dylan (Myskiw) stood on his head, and we kind of just caught a break. Good on Burz (Burzan) to finish that goal.”

    The Blades didn’t go away. At the 6:47 mark of the third period, right-winger Josh Paterson scored on the power play to cut Brandon’s lead to 3-2. The hosts pushed hard looking for the equalizer.

Cole Reinhardt had an empty-net goal for the Wheat Kings.

    Inside of the final minute of the third period, the Blades sprung left-winger Eric Florchuk into the Brandon zone on a breakaway, but he was turned away by Myskiw.

    Cole Reinhardt sealed victory for the Wheat Kings scoring into an empty net with 17.3 seconds to play in the third period.

    Nolan Maier turned away 12-of-15 shots to take the setback in goal for Saskatoon.

    While the Blades scored once on the power play, Mattheos said the four successful penalty kills his squad had played a key role in Saturday’s outcome along with the saves made by Myskiw.

    “I think goaltending was huge,” said Mattheos. “We give big credit to Dylan (Myskiw) for the win, and also our PK I think was really good.

    “Our power play wasn’t our best tonight, so it was nice that the PK could step up.”

    With the loss, the Blades fell to 32-32-3-1 and moved dangerously close to missing the playoffs for a fifth straight year. Out in Prince Albert, the host Raiders won their ninth straight game posting a 4-3 overtime victory over the Calgary Hitmen.

Eric Florchuk nearly capitalized on a late third period chance.

    The Raiders improved to 32-25-9-2 with their win over the Hitmen and hold the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with a seven-point edge on the Blades.

    Both the Blades and Raiders have four games remaining on their respective regular season schedules, and the Raiders need to earn just two more points in the standings to clinch a playoff berth.

    The Blades are off until this coming Tuesday, when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings. The Wheat Kings will travel to Moose Jaw on Sunday before returning to Brandon to host the Blades. The Raiders return to action this coming Tuesday, when they travel to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors.

    Mattheos is one of the holdovers on the Wheat Kings roster from when they won the WHL title in 2016.

Ty Lewis and the Wheat Kings will return to the post-season.

    When the post-season rolls around, he believes that experience will be a big help to his club.

    “Just having played that many games in the playoffs and knowing what it takes and knowing how long it really is if you go deep, it is going to be huge for us,” said Mattheos. “We want to use that to our advantage.”

    NOTES – The Wheat Kings were without star overage goaltender Logan Thompson on Saturday. Thompson was injured in his team’s 6-3 victory in Brandon on Friday over the Swift Current Broncos. Ethan Kruger, who spent the season in the Alberta midget AAA ranks with the Sherwood Park J. Ennis Kings, joined the Wheat Kings to be their backup goalie. The J. Ennis Kings have been eliminated from the Alberta midget AAA playoffs.
    The Blades wore special Don Cherry style suit inspired jerseys to promote organ donation awareness.

Shirley, Fiala power Stars romp over Regina

Grace Shirley had a big night for the Stars.

    Grace Shirley and Joelle Fiala were on fire in the playoff opener for the Saskatoon Stars.

    On Saturday at the Agriplace Arena, Shirley picked up two goals and two assists and Fiala had two goals and one assist to power the Stars to a 6-0 victory over the Regina Rebels in Game 1 of a best-of-five Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series between the two clubs.

    Thanks to finishing first overall in the SFMAAAHL, the Stars had a bye into the semifinal series. The Rebels won a best-of-five SFMAAAHL quarter-final series 3-1 against the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats to advance to the semifinal series.

    The Stars led 2-0 after the first period and 5-0 after the second frame.

    Kaitlin Jockims and Mackenna Parker both scored singles for the Stars.

    Jordan Ivanco turned away 16 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for Saskatoon. Chantel Weller turned away 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Rebels.

    Game 2 of the series is set for Monday in Regina. Game 3 is slated for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

Ashe blasts Bears to series opening win

Jordan Ashe blasted home the winning goal for the Bears on Saturday.

    Jordan Ashe blasted the Prince Albert Northern Bears to victory in Game 1 of their Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series with the Notre Dame Hounds.

    The 17-year-old physical defender blasted home a goal to the top corner of the Hounds goal at the 10:18 mark of the third period to deliver the Bears to a 1-0 victory at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. The Bears, who are the defending SFMAAAHL champions, have won their last 13 straight league playoff games dating back to last season.

    Ryan Fontaine made 26 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Bears. Kaitlyn Ross turned away 35 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hounds.

    The Bears swept way the Battlefords Sharks in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL quarter-final series 3-0. The Hounds claimed a best-of-five quarter-final series with the Melville Prairie Fire 3-1.

    The Bears and Hounds will go at it in Game 2 of their semifinal series on Sunday in Wilcox, Sask.

Game 3 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    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 break skid with ugly win

Goalie Nolan Maier watches the puck land on the crossbar.

    The Saskatoon Blades sure know how to make things adventurous.

    On Tuesday night before 3,379 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades took a 3-0 lead on the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, who sit last in the entire WHL. It seemed the Blades were in position to romp to victory, but the Oil Kings had other plans.

    The visitors roared back to force a 3-3 tie. The Blades went ahead 5-3, saw their edge shrink to 5-4 before going ahead 6-4 late in the third. After Oil Kings overage captain Colton Kehler scored with exactly 17 seconds remaining in the third, the Blades managed to close out the final seconds to hold on to a 6-5 victory.

Braylon Shmyr netted the winning goal for the Blades.

    The win ended a four game losing streak that dropped the club out of a playoff position.

    The victory allowed the Blades to improve to 32-31-2-1 to sit two points behind the Prince Albert Raiders (29-25-9-2) for the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders have a game in hand on the Blades and will make that up by hosting the Oil Kings in Prince Albert on Wednesday.

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman was pleased his team found a way to pull out Tuesday’s game.

    “A win is a win,” said Brockman. “When you haven’t won for a while, every win matters.

    “We’re pretty fragile after losing four in a row. When that happens, guys tend to grip things a little bit more.

Dawson Davidson gets set to drive a shot from the point for the Blades.

    “You tend to play a lot tighter and you push the issue a little bit too much. It is what it is, but we are happy with the win.”

    One of the big keys to Tuesday’s victory for the Blades was the fact they went 4-for-7 on the power play. The Oil Kings cashed in on 1-of-5 power-play chances.

    Saskatoon’s biggest power-play goal came while working on a two-man advantage with 7:21 remaining in the third period. Blades star overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr corralled the rebound from a shot by defenceman Dawson Davidson in front of the Edmonton net and roofed home a goal over fallen Oil Kings netminder Boston Bilous.

Blades LW Michael Farren zips past Oil Kings D Conner McDonald.

    Shmyr’s goal gave the Blades a much needed 6-4 lead.

    “We’ve been struggling on the power play, but tonight we did an excellent job,” said Shmyr. “We’ve been working on it in practice.

    “We just thought that we have to keep it simple and try not to do too much. That is exactly what we did. We have to just carry that on to the next game.”

    With his goal, Shmyr matched his career high for goals in one season at 35, which was a feat he managed to do last season.

    “It feels great to do that,” said Shmyr. “It is definitely a good accomplishment.

Brett Kemp had a goal for the Oil Kings on Tuesday night.

    “I’ve definitely played a lot of good players this year, and they definitely helped me get there.”

    The Blades went ahead to 2-0 in the first with power-play goals coming from the sticks of Michael Farren and Eric Florchuk. Just 56 seconds into the second period, Davidson potted his 10th goal of the campaign off an individual rush into the offensive zone.

    Before the second period hit the halfway point, the Oil Kings tied things up at 3-3 with singles coming from Kobe Mohr, Carter Souch and Brett Kemp.

    “We realized that we had to get back on our horse and get going,” said Shmyr. “That was exactly what we did.

    “Throughout the game, we kind of let the foot off the pedal there. We battled hard towards the end to get the win.”

    The Blades restored order going into the second intermission with a 5-3 lead off a power-play goal from Max Gerlach and the 29^th goal of the year coming from the stick of Josh Paterson to go ahead 5-3. Centre Kirby Dach drew assists on three of the Blades goals.

The Blades celebrate their win over the Oil Kings.

    Defenceman Conner McDonald wired home a shot at the 9:54 mark of the third for the Oil Kings to trim the Blades lead to 5-4. That set the stage for a roller-coaster final 10 minutes of the frame.

    Nolan Maier made 26 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Bilous turned away 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Oil Kings (19-39-6-2).

    The Blades have six games remaining on their regular season schedule and return to action hosting the Calgary Hitmen on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Brockman wants his side to keep pushing for a playoff berth. The Blades last made the playoffs in 2013.

    “For us, we are running out of time,” said Brockman. “We have to find ways to win games.

    “It doesn’t matter who we are playing. It is great to get the win.”

Back in the Express with Shirley

Grace Shirley had a spectacular season with the Stars.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature story on Grace Shirley.

Shirley is a 16-year-old star centre with the Saskatoon Stars of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League. She had a stellar year appearing in 23 regular season games collecting career highs in goals (30) and assists (18).

    The skilled forward is one of two players in the history of the Stars to score 30-or-more goals in one regular season.

    With Shirley putting up big numbers, the Stars topped the SFMAAAHL standings with a 24-3-1 record to earn a bye into the semifinal round of the league playoffs. The Stars will face the Regina Rebels (17-8-3) in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series. Game 1 is set for Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

    Game 2 is slated for this coming Monday in Regina, and Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.

    The Rebels claimed a best-of-five SFMAAAHL quarter-final series 3-1 against the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats.

    Besides putting up big offensive totals with the Stars, Shirley played for Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation’s under-18 women’s world championship, which ran Jan. 6 to 13 in Dmitrov, Russia. She helped Canada win a bronze medal at that event.

    The story on Shirley can be round right here.

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

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Blades’ Dach melts Ice with three-point night

Kirby Dach had a goal and two assists for the Blades on Wednesday night.

    For a short time, it appeared Kirby Dach was going spoil his own big night.

    On Wednesday in Cranbrook, B.C., Dach’s Saskatoon Blades held a 2-1 third period lead over the host Kootenay Ice. With his team working on the power play, the rookie centre accidentally turned the puck over to Ice winger Cameron Hausinger.

    Hausinger sprung linemate Brett Davis on a breakaway, and he capitalized with his 21^st goal of the campaign to tie things up at 2-2 with 6:27 to play in the frame.

    Dach ensured Davis’s short-handed goal wouldn’t be a turning point in the contest. With 2:48 to play in the third, Dach entered the Kootenay zone on a two-on-one break.

    He fed a setup pass over to right-winger Michael Farren, who popped home the deciding tally in the Blades 3-2 victory before 2,022 spectators at Western Financial Place.

    Dach returned to the Saskatoon lineup having missed one game after being banged up from receiving a hit from behind by Prince Albert Raiders winger Parker Kelly during a Blades 6-3 victory at the SaskTel Centre on Saturday.

    Against the Ice on Wednesday, the Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., product had one of his better nights outside of the third period turnover playing a part in manufacturing all three of the Blades goals.

    At the 9:25 mark of the first, Dach, who turned 17 in January, wired home a shot to the top right corner of the Kootenay goal to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

    The Blades increased their edge to 2-0 on the Ice at the 4:16 mark of the second, when defenceman Dawson Davidson beat Kootenay netminder Matt Berlin with a low shot on the power play. Dach picked up an assist on that tally.

Michael Farren scored the winning goal for the Blades on Wednesday night.

    Before the second ended, the Ice cut the Blades edge to 2-1, when overage right-winger Colton Veloso one-timed home his 20^th goal of the season with Kootenay working on the power play. Veloso hit the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his WHL career having spent the past two full seasons with the Portland Winterhawks.

    That set the stage for the dramatics inside of the final seven minutes of the third period.

    Rookie Nolan Maier, who turned 17 in January, turned away 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Berlin stopped 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Ice, who fell to 24-31-3.

Before Wednesday’s game, the Blades had lost their five previous road games, with their last road win being a 3-2 overtime victory over the Rebels in Red Deer on Jan. 13. Saskatoon now has a 12-14-2-1 record on the road this season.

    Overall, the Blades have won three straight to improve to 29-26-2-1 to hold a six-point edge over the Prince Albert Raiders (22-23-9-2) for the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders have two games in hand on the Blades.

    Saskatoon trails the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats (29-24-5-1) by three points for the Eastern Conference’s first wildcard spot and the Brandon Wheat Kings (30-21-3-2) by four points for third in the East Division. The Blades have a game in hand on the Pats. The Wheat Kings have two games in hand on the Blades.

    The Blades return to action on Friday, when they travel to Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes (26-24-6).

Back in the Express with Vance

Jessica Vance had a spectacular regular season for the Huskies.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature story on netminder Jessica Vance of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.

    The 20-year-old Prince Albert, Sask., product had an outstanding season playing goal for the Huskies. Vance had nine shutouts during the regular season which ties former University of Pandas netminder Stacey McCullough for the second most shutouts ever recorded in the Canada West Conference in one U Sports regular season. McCullough posted nine shutouts in the 2000-01 campaign.

    Lindsey Post, who is another former Pandas netminder, holds the Canada West record for most shutouts in one U Sports regular season at 10 recorded in the 2014-15 campaign.

    In 2017-18, 54 of the 112 regular season games played in the Canada West Conference for women’s hockey ended in shutouts, and the Huskies posted 12 total shutouts as a team in the campaign to equal a Canada West Conference team record for one season. The Pandas also posted 12 shutouts coming in the 2008-09 campaign.

    Besides leading the Canada West Conference in shutouts, Vance posted a 14-3-1 record, a 0.77 goals against average and a .964 save percentage. Vance topped the Canada West Conference with the most wins and the best save percentage.

    Thanks to Vance, the Huskies finished second in Canada West with a 19-7-2 record. The win total was a regular season team record for the Huskies. Before the current campaign, U of S last finished second in Canada West in the 2013-14 campaign posting an 18-4-6 mark.

    The Huskies will host a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series from Feb. 23 to 25 at the ancient Rutherford Rink. Games 1 and 2 are set for a 1:30 p.m. start on Feb. 23 and 24 respectively.

    The story on Vance can be found right here.

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

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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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