Silvertips stay alive in WHL title series with Broncos

Game 6 set for Sunday in Swift Current

Riley Sutter had three points for the Silvertips.

    The Everett Silvertips wouldn’t allow the pesky Swift Current Broncos to seal the deal.

    On Friday night before 6,628 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, the host Silvertips came out with their best effort of the WHL Championship series pulling out a 6-3 victory in Game 5 with the Swift Current Broncos. The host side held a 40-24 edge in shots on goal.

    The Broncos still lead the best-of-seven set 3-2, and they will try to make good on their second chance to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup in Game 6 on Sunday at the Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current.

    If the Silvertips win Game 6, they will force a series deciding Game 7 on Monday at the i-Plex. The start time for both of those games in 7 p.m. each night locally.

    In Friday’s encounter, the Silvertips stormed out of the gate in the first period with goals coming from the sticks of Wyatte Wylie on the power play and captain Matt Fonteyne at even strength to go ahead 2-0.

    With 2:10 remaining in the first period, Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin completed a tick-tack-toe passing play from linemates Aleksi Heponiemi and Giorgio Estephan for a power-play goal to cut Everett’s lead to 2-1.

Connor Dewar had three points for the Silvertips.

    At the 6:37 mark of the second, Gawdin scored to tie things up at 2-2. Broncos offensive defenceman Colby Sissons slipped the puck from the point to Gawdin alone in front of the Silvertips net, and he tucked a shot around Everett star netminder Carter Hart.

    The Silvertips surged out to a 4-2 lead at the 6:09 mark of the third period with slot dives coming from the sticks of Sean Richards and Riley Sutter.
    The Broncos didn’t go away. With 7:09 to play in the third period, the Broncos were buzzing deep in the Everett zone. Swift Current centre Matteo Gennaro fed a pass from behind the Everett net to pinching defenceman Noah King in the right slot.

    The 18-year-old rookie buried his first career WHL goal in either the regular season or the playoffs to trim the Everett lead to 4-3.

    Shortly after King’s goal, Gawdin had a chance to potentially net the equalizer, but he placed a shot wide of the Everett goal.

    Silvertips left-winger Connor Dewar sealed the win for the host side with a pair of empty-net goals. He had an assist in the contest to go with his two tallies for a three-point night.

    Sutter had a pair of assists to go with his goal to also finish with three points on the night for Everett.

Rookie defenceman Noah King scored for the Broncos.

    Stuart Skinner turned away 34-of-38 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos. Hart stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips.

    The Silvertips, who finished third overall in the WHL with a 47-20-2-3 record in the regular season, are 6-6 at home and 8-1 on the road during the post-season.

    The Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-17-5-2 mark in the regular season, are 8-4 at home and 7-6 on the road in the playoffs.

    The winner of the WHL Championship series advances to the Memorial Cup tournament to play for the CHL title. The Memorial Cup runs May 18 to 27 in Regina.

    At the moment, the host Regina Pats are the only club with a spot in the four-team field.

    In the OHL Championship series, the Hamilton Bulldogs hold a 3-2 lead on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Game 6 is set for Sunday in Hamilton.

    In the QMJHL Championship series, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan hold a 3-2 lead on the Blainville-Boisbraind Armada. Game 6 is set for Sunday in Acadie-Bathurst.

Hay says he retired from Blazers, left door open to coach

Don Hay spoke to the media on Friday about retiring as Blazers head coach.

    On Thursday, the Kamloops Blazers announced Don Hay had retired as the team’s head coach, and on Friday, Hay addressed the media in Kamloops.

    Hay wasn’t at the Blazers press conference on Thursday, when the team announced he had retired as the club’s head coach and would stay on with the club in a newly created role of senior advisor of hockey operations. That sparked speculation that Hay was pushed out as head coach.

    The 64-year-old met with the media on Friday, where he read a prepared before fielding questions.      Hay said he decided to retire from the Blazers, but he left the door open to return to coaching at any level, if the opportunity presented itself. He said he would discuss future opportunities to coach with his family.

    The legendary bench boss said he wasn’t at the press conference on Thursday, because he was laying down sandbags to protect his cabin from possible flooding. He also went to watch his granddaughters compete in track and field.

    Hay is the all-time leader in career regular season head coaching victories in the WHL posting a 750-506-110 record with the Blazers, Tri-City American and Vancouver Giants. The Blazers missed the playoffs with a 30-37-1-4 record this past season.

    During his career, Hay was a Blazers assistant coach when they won the Memorial Cup in 1992 and their head coach for their Memorial Cup victories in 1994 and 1995. Hay guided the Vancouver Giants to a Memorial Cup title in 2007.

    The Blazers also announced general manager Stu MacGregor has joined the amateur scouting department of the Dallas Stars and the contracts of Matt Recchi, who was the team’s director of player personnel, and Mike Needham, who was an assistant coach, will not be renewed.

    The Blazers are bidding to host the 2020 Memorial Cup, so this shake up wasn’t expected.

    Gregg Drinnan, who is “The Dean” of sportswriters when it comes to covering the WHL, is based in Kamloops, and he penned a column that is telling about the situation in Kamloops. That piece 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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Oh Captain! My Captain! – Gawdin’s hatty delivers Broncos to 3-2 overtime comeback win

Glenn Gawdin’s hat trick delivered the Broncos to victory.

    Glenn Gawdin was “captain clutch” once again for the Swift Current Broncos.

    On Tuesday night at the Angel of the Winds Arena, Gawdin had all three of the Broncos goals including the late third period equalizer and the overtime winner to deliver Swift Current to a 3-2 victory over the host Everett Silvertips in Game 3 of the WHL Championship series. With the overtime win, the Broncos take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

    Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The Silvertips also host Game 5 of the series slated for Friday.

    The Silvertips built a 2-1 lead in the first period before 4,872 spectators and that edge help up until late in the third. With the Broncos killing a penalty, Swift Current right-winger Beck Malenstyn and Gawdin, who is the Broncos captain, broke into the Everett zone on a two-on-two rush.

    Malenstyn dropped a pass to Gawdin, who fired a long drive on goal. Silvertips star netminder Carter Hart stopped the long shot, but gave up a big rebound. Gawdin drove to the Everett goal after his first shot and banged home the rebound to force a 2-2 tie with 3:17 to play in the frame.

    Just 2:40 into overtime, Broncos offensive defenceman Colby Sissons fed a pass from the left corner boards in the Everett zone to Gawdin in the high slot. The Richmond, B.C., product fired home the winning goal to the top left corner of the Silvertips goal to give the Broncos their second straight overtime victory of the series.

    On Saturday in Swift Current, the Broncos rallied back from a 3-0 deficit in the first period to post a 4-3 victory in overtime in Game 2 of the WHL title series.

    In Tuesday’s clash, Gawdin gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead at the 14:44 mark of the first period taking a drop pass from linemate Aleksi Heponiemi and firing a shot from the right slot to the top left corner of the Silvertips goal.

    The Silvertips pulled even at 1-1 just 60 seconds later, when centre Riley Sutter tipped home a point shot from defenceman Jake Christiansen. The goal stood up after a video review.

Patrick Bajkov left for the Silvertips dressing room twice on Tuesday.

    With 1:25 remaining in the first, Silvertips captain Matt Fonteyne threw a bad angle shot on the Swift Current goal, and the puck found its way into the net past Broncos goalie Stuart Skinner.

    The scored remained 2-1 in Everett’s favour after 40 minutes thanks to a great diving save by Skinner on a one-timer from Fonteyne in the second period. Fonteyne received a pass from linemate Garrett Pilon from across the front of the Swift Current goal but was unable to drive the puck home.

    That set the stage for Gawdin to complete his hat trick dramatics with a goal late in the third and in overtime. During his WHL career, Gawdin has come through in many critical moments for the Broncos.

    Skinner turned away 37 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos. Hart stopped 29 shots to take the setback in the Silvertips net.

    Sissons finished with two assists for the Broncos, while Christiansen had two helpers for the Silvertips.

    Silvertips star overage right-winger Patrick Bajkov left for his team’s dressing room a couple of times during the contest.

    With the win, the Broncos insured that their season will make it back to Saskatchewan. They could return to Swift Current for either Games 6 or 7 of the WHL Championship series, which are set for this coming Sunday and Monday respectively. The Silvertips have to win one of the next two games of the WHL title series for that to happen.

    If the Broncos manage to win the WHL title series in Everett, they will advance to play in the Memorial Cup championship tournament to play for the CHL title, and that event runs May 18 to 27 in Regina.

Back in the Express with Rush’s Thompson

Rush transition player Jeremy Thompson is a fan favourite.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express with a story on Jeremy Thompson, who is a transition player for the Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League.

    Thompson has been a fan favourite since the Rush franchise relocated from Edmonton to Saskatoon before the start of the 2016 season.

    He grew up in the Onondaga Nation located near Syracuse in upstate New York, and he said lacrosse is very important to his people. The sport came from the Iroquois Confederacy, which the Onondaga Nation is part of.

    Children of the Onondaga Nation are given a homemade traditional wooden lacrosse stick in their cradle when they are born. In death, they carry a traditional wooden lacrosse stick in their casket.

    The cultural link to lacrosse is part of Thompson’s fascinating story.

    This season, he played in all of the Rush’s 18 regular season games collecting six goals and nine assists. Thompson finished fourth in the NLL with 234 faceoff wins and second with 164 loose ball pick ups.

    The Rush finished first overall in the entire NLL this season with a 14-4 record. On Sunday, the Rush host their archrivals the Calgary Roughnecks in the Western Division final on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Roughnecks finished third in the Western Division with an 8-10 mark and upset the Colorado Mammoth 15-12 in a Western Division semifinal contest last Saturday. The Mammoth were second in the Western Division with an 11-7 record.

    The Rush claimed all three regular season encounters with the Roughnecks this season. The Rush prevailed 13-12 on Jan. 27 in Calgary, 10-6 on Feb. 24 in Saskatoon and 11-10 on April 28 in Saskatoon.

    Saskatchewan had the top two scorers in the league during the regular season. Veteran forward Mark Matthews topped the NLL in scoring with 32 goals and 84 assists, and forward Robert Church finished second in the league scoring race with 47 goals and 60 assists.

    Curtis Dickson topped the Roughnecks in regular season scoring and placed seventh overall in the league with 47 goals and 45 assists.

    The Rush are trying to advance to the NLL Championship series for the fourth straight year having claimed a league title in 2015, when the franchise was still in Edmonton, and another league championship in 2016, which was the team’s first campaign in Saskatchewan.

    The story on Thompson 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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Point still important in big playoff picture for Blades

Blades goalie Brock Hamm holds off the Silvertips.

    The Saskatoon Blades have reached the point where they never like to lose, but when you are trying to cement a playoff berth, any point you can get in the standings is important.

    On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades were looking to extend their winning streak to four games taking on the Everett Silvertips, who are rated eighth in the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10 rankings. The two teams battled to a legitimate even 1-1 stalemate though 60 minutes of regulation time and a five-minute three-on-three overtime period.

    In a four-round tiebreaking shootout, the Silvertips prevailed 2-1 to take the contest 2-1 before 2,935 spectators. Riley Sutter netted the winner in the shootout for the Silvertips, who also received a goal from Orrin Centazzo in the tiebreaker session. Jesse Shynkaruk had Saskatoon’s lone goal in the shootout.

The Blades and Silvertips scramble in front of the Everett net.

    The win allowed the Silvertips, who have won three in a row, to improve to 34-12-8-2 and move a point ahead of the idle Seattle Thunderbirds (36-16-3-2) for first place in the WHL’s U.S. Division.

    The Blades saw their record move to 23-26-5-2. The point they earned in the standings allowed them to sit three points up on the idle Calgary Hitmen (20-26-8-2) for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    While the Blades expectations of themselves have increased despite the face they are missing six regulars due to injury, they still must be mindful of the bigger picture.

    Saskatoon is trying to nail down its first playoff berth since 2013, when the Blades hosted that year’s Memorial Cup. After three years of missing the post-season, the Blades are sitting in a playoff position as of Feb. 15. They were nowhere near such a spot this late in a campaign during the last three years.

Centre Kirby Dach (#77) gets set in the offensive zone for the Blades.

    On paper, you wouldn’t expect the Blades to match up well against a team like the Silvertips. The fact Saskatoon earned a point against Everett is big, because a number of other teams in the WHL’s Eastern Conference playoff chase wouldn’t be able to say the same thing.

    The Blades have beaten some of the WHL’s elite teams this season including the Regina Pats, who top the WHL’s overall standings, and the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers. Against the Silvertips, it appeared the Blades were poised to send another elite team down to defeat.

    Saskatoon opened the scoring in the clash with Everett in the first period, when underage centre Kirby Dach deflected home a point shot from Blades overage defenceman Bryton Sayers.

Riley Sutter (#14) wins a draw for the Silvertips.

    At the 14:04 mark of the second period, the Silvertips tied things up at 1-1, when overage left-winger Dominic Zwerger netted his 23^rd goal of the season.

    For most of the night, the goalies stole the show. Silvertips netminder Carter Hart, who played for Canada’s world junior team this season, turned away 30 shots over 65 minutes of play to allow the Silvertips to have a chance to win in a shootout.

    Blades netminder Brock Hamm, whose WHL career has shown a resurgence since the start of last December, stopped 28 shots over 65 minutes of work. Had Hamm bested Hart, it would have marked his biggest personal win of the season.

The Silvertips celebrate their victory after a tiebreaking shootout.

    As long as the Blades keep collecting points in the standings, they put that much more pressure on the Hitmen to keep pace. Saskatoon will try to increase its hold on the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference when they travel to Cranbrook, B.C., on Friday to face the Kootenay Ice.

    Every small step the Blades take in increasing their point total in the standings gets them that much closer to hitting the ice in the post-season.

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