Rebels push back against Blades expected in Game 2

Blades D Grayden Siepmann battle Rebels LW Carson Birnie.

Dave Struch thought his Red Deer Rebels entered the second round of the WHL’s post-season with a thud.

On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Rebels interim head coach saw his team drop a 4-1 decision to the host Saskatoon Blades in Game 1 of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. In that contest, the Blades held a 24-17 advantage in shots on goal and a 38-24 advantage in faceoffs won.

The two sides go at it again in Game 2 on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Struch said his club has to have a lot better effort in Game 2 and the rest of the best-of-seven set in order to be a threat to take the series.

“I would hope that we play a more physical game along the way,” said Struch. “I would hope that our game gets a lot better, so we can give them a challenge.”

Coming into this series, the Blades were tabbed as the favourites. They topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They took down their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 in a first round series.

Rebels RW Kalan Lind (#13) gets the puck on the backcheck.

The Rebels had an up and down regular season finishing fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and eighth overall on the circuit with a 33-26-3-6 mark. They took out one of their biggest rivals in the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1 in a first round series.

Since taking over behind the Rebels bench with the team having eight games remaining in the regular season, Struch believes his players have shown good resiliency. He saw some positives in Game 1, but he knows there is lots of room for improvement.

“With the way that they play, they try to get outnumber situations with the long rims,” said Struch. “I thought that we did a good job there.

“We kept the outnumber situations to a minimal. The counters for us I think that when we counter as slow as we did we’re not going to get enough offence. Those are things we have to get better at getting into Sunday.”

Fraser Minten had a big night in Game 1 Friday for the Blades.

While the Blades won Game 1, head coach Brennan Sonne said that contest didn’t play out structurally like his club though it would.

“It wasn’t crazy off what we expected to be coming, but I definitely predict there will be some adjustments,” said Sonne. “The lessons learned (on Friday) I thought we were very committed in certain areas like shot blocking was great (on Friday) for us.

“Lessons learned I think are structural. Game 1s are a little bit of a feeling out process. You’re seeing what they did all week.

“We’re trying to do what we did all week, and then you make little tweaks from here. Now, it is our turn as coaches to do our job.”

Game 1 of the series wasn’t all that physical outside of a big first period hit Blades rookie defenceman Morgan Tastad put on Rebels star right-wing Kalan Lind. There also weren’t that many scrums after the whistle, and Blades star centre Fraser Minten said his squad is trying to avoid engaging in extra-curricular activities.

“For us, that is intentional,” said Minten. “We don’t want to get into that stuff.

Hunter Mayo looks to start a rush for the Rebels.

“We feel we can out skill team and out skate teams. That is how we win. We don’t win by fighting after whistles and pushing and shoving.

“We just stay away from that and play hockey.”

Minten had a big night for the Blades in Game 1 collecting two goals, one assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He also won 18-of-24 faceoffs. Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky had one goal and one assist. Veteran defenceman Grayden Siepmann had a pair of assists for Saskatoon.

The Rebels big line of centre and captain Kai Uchacz, left-winger Frantisek Formanek and Lind had a relatively quiet night. They each had just one shot on goal. Left-winger Carson Birnie had the Rebels lone goal.

Also, the Rebels lack of puck possession was affected by the fact the Blades won 61.3 per cent of the faceoffs in Game 1, which helped keep the line of Uchacz, Formanek and Lind at bay.

Minten believes the Blades have to repeat a lot of the little things they did right in Game 1 in Game 2 like success in the faceoff circle.

“We just have to do it again,” said Minten. “We have to get ready and get prepared.

Egor Sidorov works in the offensive zone for the Blades.

“It will be a new game right from the start. We just have to go out and play like we can.”

NOTES - The Blades were without utility winger Tyler Parr with a leg injury and star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong with an undisclosed injury in Game 1. In the series opener, the Rebels were without overage defenceman Elias Carmichael with a lower body injury. Carmichael has yet to appear in the 2024 WHL post-season. Red Deer was also without second-year netminder Rhett Stoesser due to an undisclosed ailment.

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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Minten muscles Blades to 4-1 win in Game 1 over Rebels

Star centre gets three points, wins 18-of-24 faceoffs

The Blades celebrate a first period goal by Fraser Minten (#16) on Friday.

Fraser Minten is doing his best to ensure no one will ever forget about him playing in the WHL.

The Saskatoon Blades star 19-year-old centre did his best to lay claim to being the circuit’s most complete player on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre. Minten had a pair of goals, an assist and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department in powering the Blades to a 4-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels in the opening game of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the two sides.

Along with his offensive production, Minten won 18-of-24 faceoffs and had a big shot block in the third period when Rebels were trying to press to get even on the scoreboard. When the game finished, Minten received a big salute from the 8,355 spectators in attendance.

Fraser Minten had two goals and an assist on Friday.

Minten said he went into Friday’s game feeling refreshed as the Blades had six days off since eliminating their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders in the opening round of the post-season.

“Having a week off, you have lots of energy in the legs,” said Minten. “Starting at home is always nice, so we’re just feeding off the energy of the crowd and the boys.

“It was lots of fun right from the start tonight. There were just results tonight. I try to do that every night.

“There were lots of times in the first round where I would have six or seven shots on net, and they just hit a post or hit the blocker and just miss. It was just an inch or two on the results tonight.”

Fraser Minten won 18-of-24 faceoffs for the Blades on Friday.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne thought Minten had a great outing in Game 1 on Friday.

“I really liked his game,” said Sonne. “I thought he was a driver.

“I think he is always a driver, but there are times he just takes it to this level that is really difficult for anyone to play against honestly. Probably Swift Current at home (in a 3-2 overtime win on January 28) would be another example, but I just thought he was very man like and pro like tonight.”

Minten opened the scoring for the Blades at the 8:32 mark of the first, when he deflected home a point shot from 19-year-old defenceman Grayden Siepmann. Minten’s deflection slipped past Rebels breakout rookie netminder Chase Wutzke and slowly entering the Red Deer net.

Grayden Siepmann had a pair of assists for the Blades on Friday.

After that tally, Blades rookie defenceman Morgan Tastad proceeded to make the highlight reels leveling Rebels star right-winger Kalan Lind with a big open ice hit with 6:53 remaining in the frame.

A short time after that hit, the Rebels had a huge chance to pull even on the scoreboard. Rebels 19-year-old offensive-defenceman Mats Lindgren pinched down to the doorstep on the left side of the Saskatoon net.

Lindgren received a perfect setup pass for a backdoor tap, but he was robbed by a sprawling Blades breakout rookie netminder in Evan Gardner.

“His (Gardner’s) lateral movements tonight I thought were very crisp and sharp,” said Sonne. “He was very steady for us.

Carson Birnie scored for the Rebels in the second period.

“I think we can help him out in a few areas. We gave up some chances on our faceoffs in our defensive zone that we need to clean up so we can help him there too. When he had to, I just thought he worked really hard laterally.”

With 5:13 left in the first, the Blades thought they went up 2-0, when a shot from 18-year-old centre Rowan Calvert floated past Wutzke. The officials disallowed the goal ruling correctly the Blades were offside on the play and that ruling held up after a video review.

The opening 20 minutes was more of a feeling out frame for both teams where the Blades held a 6-3 edge in shots on goal.

The Rebels proceeded to even the score at 1-1 on a goal from left-winger Carson Birnie at the 5:29 mark of the second. On the play, Rebels overage winger Carson Latimer tipped a point shot from Lindgren on to the Saskatoon net, and the tip chance was stopped by Gardner. The puck rebounded to the left of the Saskatoon net to Birnie, who popped home the equalizer.

Vaughn Watterodt scored the winning goal for the Blades on Friday.

The Blades would jump back in front 2-1 just 3:30 later. Minten circled down the right side of the Red Deer zone and centred the puck loose in front of the Red Deer net. Hard-working veteran Blades left-winger Vaughn Watterodt jammed home the loose puck to give the host side a one-goal edge.

With 6:58 remaining in the second, the Blade struck on the power play to push their edge out to 3-1. Blades 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright was working with the puck at the left point and sent a pass to the right faceoff circle to Minten. Minten one-timed home his second of the contest to give the Blades their two-goal edge.

Evan Gardner stopped 16-of-17 shots in goal for the Blades.

Minten said it was key for his side to respond scoring twice after the Rebels tied the game to start the second.

“That was a big part of the game,” said Minten. “They came out pretty aggressive and with some energy at the start of the second.

“We were a little bit flat to start. After that goal, you could sense that they were pushing. They were getting some momentum.

“Those were big goals for us.”

Early in the third, the Rebels appeared to have a huge chance to get back into the contest. Just two minutes into the frame, Blades offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk was given a double minor for high sticking. That infraction will be automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

Mats Lindgren works the puck in the offensive zone for the Rebels.

The Rebels weren’t able to score on the four minutes of power play time.

Shortly after the power play ended for the visitors, the Rebels continued to press in the Saskatoon zone. During a long string of pressure, Minten came up with a big shot block, and Gardner turned away the visitors twice on a frantic net scramble situation.

Blades star 19-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky sealed the win scoring into an empty net with 48.9 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 4-1 final in favour of the host side.

Gardner made 16 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Wutzke turned away 20-of-23 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels.

Brandon Lisowsky scored an empty-net goal for the Blades.

Lisowsky had an assist to go with his goal. Siepmann finished with a pair of helpers for the Blades.

Rebels interim head coach Dave Struch thought Friday’s contest was a bit of a bland game.

“I’m not sure it was a top end playoff game by either team,” said Struch. “They played their game for sure.

“I think that we got off to a bit of a slow start. I was hoping that we’d finish a little bit more checks along the way. You could tell by the shots we got premier shots, but we didn’t get any secondaries to give ourselves an opportunity.

HC Brennan Sonne gives directions from the Blades bench.

“I think for the most part it was just a vanilla game. I don’t think there was any type of rivalry there at all. It was more like a start of a season.”

On the injury front, the Blades were without utility winger Tyler Parr with a leg injury and star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong with an undisclosed injury.

The Rebels were without overage defenceman Elias Carmichael with a lower body injury. Carmichael has yet to appear in the 2024 WHL post-season. Red Deer was also without second-year netminder Rhett Stoesser due to an undisclosed ailment. Taylor Tabashniuk, who played this season for the Regina Pat Canadians under-18 AAA team, dressed as Red Deer’s backup goalie as an associate player call up.

Interim HC Dave Struch checks out play from the Rebels bench.

Friday’s win also marked the first time the Blades claimed a Game 1 of a WHL post-season series since downing the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 in overtime on March 22, 2019 in a first round series. The Blades ultimately swept that best-of-seven set 4-0.

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Blades and Rebels is set for Sunday at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Sonne said the Blades have their plan already in motion to prepare for that contest.

“I’m going to talk to the players actually and get their feedback,” said Sonne. “We do have ice tomorrow, but based on some of the feedback, we’ll adjust the plan for tomorrow.

The Blades enjoy their win on Friday night.

“They have a half hour. They know whether it is a win or a loss that is us. We have our emotions for a half hour, and then we turn the page and get ready for the next one.”

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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Online noise around Blades’ “Pride Night” game just noise

Contest was ultimately just a good night at rink

A Saskatoon Blades “Pride Night” T-shirt.

For some social media trolls, the fact the Saskatoon Blades had a “Pride Night” game for a third straight season was a sign that the Apocalypse is upon us.

When it came to the reality at the rink, it was just a good hockey game night.

On Friday, the Blades partnered with Discover Saskatoon to hold their “Pride Night” game for a third straight season when they faced the Red Deer Rebels in a WHL regular season contest. The Blades use the game to honour the LGBTQ+ community.

Saskatoon’s WHL squad collaborates with local inclusion groups and organizations in planning what will go on in those particular nights.

While about two or three trolls between the Blades social media Facebook and Instagram accounts said no one would show up and there would be a protest, a total of 3,758 spectators turned out to the SaskTel Centre on Friday and there were no protests.

Those that showed up saw the Blades prevail 4-2 in an entertaining contest on the strength of import star right-winger Egor Sidorov recording a hat trick and an assist. The 19-year-old, who is in this third season in the WHL, had the big night with his parents in attendance flying over from Belarus to watch him play a live WHL game for the first time.

Overall, that contest felt like a regular night at a Blades WHL home game where a tip of the cap was given to LGBTQ+ community. In the grand scheme of things, that is what you want to get out of a “Pride Night” game.

Helen Thunderchild sings the national anthem on Friday night.

The first two times the Blades held a “Pride Night” game a tonne of the comments that appeared on their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram posts promoting that contest were downright horrible to read. On Twitter, anonymous accounts often made cringe worthy comments.

On January 22, 2022, the Blades held their first “Pride Night” game where they dumped the Winnipeg Ice 7-2. Just two days later, Emilie Castonguay was hired as an assistant general manager by the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.

I found a Twitter, which is now known as “X,” account state something unflattering about the Blades “Pride Night” post. That account had just over 100 followers and was based in Alberta, which fed into some bad stereotypes there that Saskatchewan seems to share.

After the announcement came out that the Canucks hired Castonguay, that same account wrote a comment that all women and just men in same sex relationships have no place in hockey. I was stunned that someone would write those exact words out, but with how crazy the state of the world is, maybe I shouldn’t have been that stunned.

Cringe worthy comments hit the Blades social media accounts the second time they hosted a “Pride Night” game in the 2022-23 campaign. Leading up to the Blades third “Pride Night” game on Friday, I only saw a handful of awful comments on “X,” and those comments again came from anonymous accounts.

The OUTSaskatoon booth at the Blades’ “Pride Night” game.

Horrible comments were made more on the Facebook and Instagram posts the Blades made about the “Pride Night” game. 

From what I could gather, it seemed there were about six total accounts making all those comments on the Blades Facebook and Instagram posts about the “Pride Night” game.

All of those accounts appeared to be connected to real actual people, and it looked like five of them were indeed from Saskatoon and the area surrounding Saskatoon. 

Those accounts were a step up in the fact those people let their actual names stand by what they were saying.

If you really want to know who those people are, feel free to scroll through the posts the Blades made on their Facebook and Instagram accounts on their “Pride Night” game. In the grand scheme of things, that was a small group of people attempting to make a big bark.

At the game itself, Saskatoon Pride and OUTSaskatoon both had booths set up in the concourse. A chuck a puck contest was being held for a Blades “Pride” themed jersey from their first “Pride Night.”

The Saskatoon Pride booth at the Blades’ “Pride Night” game.

Some of fans came to the game wearing the Blades “Pride” themed game worn jerseys they won on online auctions from the first two “Pride Nights.”

The Blades logo on their video scoreboard was rainbow coloured, and Helen Thunderchild, who has done a lot of work helping the LGBTQ+ community, sang the national anthem.

Blades mascot Poke Check had a “Go Blades” sign that was rainbow coloured and rainbow coloured tape ran up the handles of the push scrapers the Blades Blue Crew used to scrape the ice during media timeout stoppages.

The Blades players had “Pride Tape” on their sticks during warm-ups. They didn’t wear any “Pride” themed jerseys on this night or have “Pride Tape” on their sticks come game time. They sported their regular attire that goes with their white uniforms.

During the second intermission, a video piece was shown on Luke Prokop, who was first person to play in the WHL having come out as openly gay. Prokop is currently playing professionally for the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL.

Poke Check with rainbow colour lettering in his signs.

While it would have been fun for the Blades to have “Pride” themed jerseys again as the ones they wore for their first two “Pride Night” games were outstanding, their “Pride Night” game on Friday had a good feeling to it in the building.

I should note once again the Blades collaborate with local inclusion groups and organizations in planning what will go on in those particular nights. When you are in the SaskTel Centre for one of the Blades “Pride Night” games, it feels like hockey is for all.

The Blades are genuine in following the belief that hockey is for all, and it great they continue to keep going with their “Pride Night” games.

Tastad nets winner for Blades, other notes

Morgan Tastad had a goal and an assist for the Blades on Saturday.

Rookie defenceman Morgan Tastad couldn’t have found a better time to pick up his first career WHL goal.

On Saturday with his Saskatoon Blades locked in a 3-3 tie with the Warriors at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in Moose Jaw, Tastad fired home the first goal of his WHL career with 4:07 remaining in the third period to give the Blades a 4-3 lead. The score held up as the final outcome to the disappointment of most of the 3,313 spectators in attendance.

On top of netting the winning goal, the 17-year-old Tastad, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 188 pounds, picked up his first career WHL point with an assist on a goal from 16-year-old rookie right-winger Hudson Kibblewhite, who scored at the 2:16 mark of the first period. Kibblewhite’s goal opened the scoring in the contest.

In 25 games this season for the Blades, Tastad has one goal, one assist and a minus-one rating in the plus-minus department.

Right before the opening frame ended, defenceman Kalem Parker potted a goal for the Warriors to even the score at 1-1. Warriors star 19-year-old centre Jagger Firkus tallied with 4:24 remaining in the second to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

Star centre Fraser Minten and standout left-winger Easton Armstrong scored early in the third to give the Blades a 3-2 advantage. Warriors star 20-year-old centre Atley Calvert tallied with 7:54 remaining in the third to even the score at 3-3. That set the stage for Tastad to come through with the winner.

Blades star 20-year-old captain Trevor Wong and star import right-winger Egor Sidorov each had a pair of assists in the win. Calvert had an assist to go with his goal in the setback for the Warriors.

Evan Gardner made 30 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (21-8-1). The Blades have won their last five straight. Jackson Unger turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors (17-12-0-2).

The Blades return to action on Sunday when they host the Calgary Hitmen (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Warriors get back at it on Tuesday when they host the Kelowna Rockets (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

• The Prince Albert Raiders dropped a 2-1 decision to the visiting Red Deer Rebels at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday night. Zane Saab and Talon Brigley scored for the Rebels, while Sloan Stanick replied for the Raiders. Chase Wutzke made 35 saves in goal for the Rebels, while Max Hildebrand stopped 27 shots in net for the Raiders.
• The Medicine Hat Tigers slipped past the host Edmonton Oil Kings 3-2 on Saturday night at Rogers Place. Cayden Lindstrom, Josh Van Mulligen and Tomas Mrsic scored for the Tigers, while Gavin Hodnett and Roan Woodward replied for the Oil Kings. Zach Zahara stopped 31 shots in goal for the Tigers, while Kolby Hay turned away 41 shots in net for the Oil Kings.
• The Swift Current Broncos downed the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-1 at the InnovationPlex on Saturday night. Luke Mistelbacher scored twice for the Broncos, while Connor Hvidston had a single into an empty net. Logan Wormald replied for the Hurricanes. Matthew Kieper stopped 21 shots in goal for the Broncos. Brady Smith turned away 22-of-24 shots in net for the Hurricanes.
• The Kelowna Rockets got past the host Regina Pats 5-4 at the Brandt Centre on Saturday night. Hiroki Gojsic and Tij Iginla each scored twice for the Rockets, while Gabriel Szturc had a single. Parker Berge had a hat trick for the Pats, who had a single from Borya Valis. Jari Kykkanen stopped 28 shots in goal for the Rockets. Ewan Huet turned away 18 shots in net for the Pats.
• On Saturday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a piece catching up with longtime softball coach Noreen Murphy, who entered the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame as a builder on September 23. The piece on Murphy can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that shows the fun that can be found at the Indoor Training Centre and shows pictures from an exciting football championship game. That post can be found by clicking right here.

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

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