Clouston charges full steam ahead with Blazers

Blazers head coach Shaun Clouston checks out his notepad.

    Shaun Clouston has always looked towards the opportunity that lies ahead.

    After he was released as head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers on May 30 so the Tigers could bring back Willie Desjardins into both roles one day later, Clouston wasn’t sitting on the outside looking in for long as far as the WHL was concerned.

    On June 17, the 51-year-old Viking, Alta., product was hired as the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers. Clouston found himself taking over a team that was one the rise and appeared to be nearing a position to take off.

    Last season, the Blazers finished locked in a tie for the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Western Conference with the Kelowna Rockets as both teams sported identical 28-32-6-2 records.

    The Blazers proceeded to down the Rockets 5-1 in a standings tiebreaker game in Kamloops. After getting passed the Rockets, the Blazers put up a fight before falling 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Victoria Royals.

The Blazers celebrate a goal from Daylan Kuefler, centre.

    Serge Lajoie, who was the Blazers head coach, mutually parted ways with the club on April 11, which created a head coaching vacancy.

    Clouston stepped into that role and there has been no looking back.

    On Friday before 3,517 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blazers downed the host Saskatoon Blades 5-2 in a WHL regular season contest.

    That win allowed the Blazers to improve to 20-9-2-1 to continue to sit first in the B.C. Division, while the Blades fell to 14-15-1-2 posting three regulation setbacks and an overtime loss over their last four games.

    Thanks to the Blazers strong start, Clouston became the 17^th bench boss in the history of the WHL to pick up a milestone 400^th career regular season win. He picked up the milestone victory on Oct. 25, when the Blazers downed the Royals in Victoria 2-1.

Ryan Hughes had a goal for the Blazers on Friday.

    “It has been really good,” said Clouston. “It is always challenging to have change.

    “I’ve been in one spot for so long, it was 16 years, so it was a big move. It has been very enjoyable right from kind of the first meeting with (Blazers general manager) Matt Bardsley I felt real comfortable. I felt like it was going to be a good spot.

    “Then, I met Donny Moores our president and got the same sense. Ever since I accepted the job, it has been eyes forward and get excited about the opportunity instead of looking in the rear view mirror, and it has been great.”
    As the season has gone on, Clouston was joined on the Blazers staff by his younger brother, Cory, who became a Blazers assistant coach.

    With Friday’s win, Shaun Clouston improved his career regular season coaching record to 411-290-52. He was the head coach of the Tri-City Americans in 2002-03, but was released after 60 games, when the Americans posted a record of 16 wins, 39 losses and five ties.

Connor Zary had a goal and an assist for the Blazers on Friday.

    He joined the Tigers as an assistant coach under Desjardins before the start of the 2003-04 campaign and would spend the next 16 seasons in the Hat.

    Clouston was promoted to associate coach before the start of the 2005-06 campaign. Working with Desjardins, Clouston experienced WHL championship victories with the Tigers in 2004 and 2007.

    Before the start of the 2010-11 season, Clouston took over the role of head coach, when Desjardins departed to become the associate coach of the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

    In August of 2012, Clouston took on the duties as Tigers general manager to go along with his duties as head coach. He held both roles until his separation with the Medicine Hat side.

Max Martin gives the Blazers WHL title winning experience.

    Clouston proceeded to find a comfortable landing spot in Kamloops, and he is enjoying his time in the B.C. centre.

    “It is a great city,” said Clouston. “Obviously, I have visited there a number of times as a coach over the years.

    “I have some good memories of my playing days.”

    One of those memories came when Clouston played in his final season in the WHL back in the 1988-89 campaign as captain of the Portland Winterhawks. In those days, the WHL was a 14-team circuit as opposed to the 22-team circuit of the current day.

    Back in 1988-89, the Winterhawks were part of the six-team West Division, and they played the Blazers frequently.

Captain Zane Franklin gives the Blazers strong leadership.

    In the playoffs, the Winterhawks downed the Blazers in a best-of-nine West Division final 5-3 to advance to the WHL Championship series. In the best-of-seven WHL final, the Winterhawks were swept by the eventual Memorial Cup champion Swift Current Broncos.

    When the Winterhawks eliminated the Blazers in the West Division final, the series clinching win came in Kamloops.

    “I remember coming in the night before,” said Clouston. “I remember going to movies.

    “I remember spending a lot of time in Kamloops. I always thought it was a nice city. I got to spend some time there in August with my family.

    “We did lots of site seeing and hiking and exploring. It is a real nice part of the world.”

Rayce Ramsay made 28 saves in goal for the Blazers on Friday.

    Besides doing some site seeing, Clouston spent some time getting to getting to know the players he was inheriting. He accomplished a lot of that over the phone, but was able to meet some of the players in person too.

    On the ice, the style Clouston’s Blazers play a style that is pretty much a carbon copy of the Tigers teams he oversaw.

    The Blazers like to transition up the ice with speed and skill. Skilled forwards like star centre Connor Zary and left-winger Orrin Centazzo are utilized on the penalty kill with the hope they will be able to create turnovers and score a short-handed tallies to go along with killing off infractions.

Montana Onyebuchi gives the Blazers back end toughness.

    Kamloops has the best penalty kill in the league at 87.6 per cent and has scored the second most short-handed goals at seven.

    “I think we are a team that is growing,” said Clouston. “I think we have some potential.”

    Zary, who is in his 18-year-old campaign, is the Blazers most well-known star, while Clouston added that overage left-winger Ryan Hughes has been a big early season trade pick up from the Blades.

    Clouston said overage captain Zane Franklin has been stellar for the Kamloops side and the Blazers have greatly benefited by picking up overage defenceman Max Martin in an early season trade with the Prince Albert Raiders.

    Martin was a key contributor to helping the Raiders finish first overall in the WHL regular season standings and capture the WHL championship last season.

    “I think we have real good leadership,” said Clouston. “I think Zane Franklin is a guy that is real confident and keeps the guys on task.

    “Max Martin is a guy that he has been through it. He knows how to win. If you watch him play, he is just steady.

Blazers HC Shaun Clouston gives direction to his players.

    “He has patience, he has poise (and) he competes. If there something to be said, he says it. He has been really, really big for us.”

    As for Friday’s game itself, the Blazers broke through at the 6:29 mark of the opening frame, when rookie 17-year-old left-winger Daylan Kuefler snuck a weird angle goal past Blades star netminder Nolan Maier. Kuefler’s goal came on his team’s second shot of the game.

    The Blades evened things up at 1-1 with 4:41 remaining in the second period on a controversial tally. Breaking into the offensive zone down the right wing, Blades winger Tristen Robins toe dragged around a Blazers defenceman and sent a pass to linemate Alex Morozoff.

Daylan Kuefler jets up ice for the Blazers.

    Morozoff directed the puck into the Saskatoon goal with his foot, but the goal stood up after a video review.

    The game didn’t stay on even terms for long. With 1:52 remaining in the third, Centazzo chipped the puck up to Zary.

    Zary, who is a Saskatoon product, got partially in alone on the Saskatoon goal and potted his 20^th tally of the season to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

    At the 2:48 mark of the third, Hughes collected a high loose puck at the left side of the Saskatoon goal and potted his 14^th tally of the campaign to give Kamloops a 3-1 advantage.

Orrin Centazzo, right, celebrates his short-handed goal.

    Centazzo scored an even-strength tally and a short-handed marker to put the visitors up 5-1.

    Blades right-winger Zach Huber netted the game’s final goal with 1:36 remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final in the Blazers’ favour.

    Huber also engaged rugged Blazers defenceman Montana Onyebuchi with 11.2 seconds remaining in the third period.

    Zary had an assist to go along with his goal and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department as he played his first game back with the Blazers one day after being cut from make the final roster for Canada’s world junior team.

    Clouston expected Zary to have a big night after being cut by Team Canada.

    “He has responded a bunch of times,” said Clouston. “He has a lot going for him this season, a lot to prove.

    “It is a big year for him, and he is handling it great. He is a competitor. He plays with passion.

    “He shows up and competes every night.”

Blades RW Zach Huber fights Blazers D Montana Onyebuchi.

    Maier stopped 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Saskatoon product Rayce Ramsay turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in net for the Blazers.

    Ramsay, who is the Blazers backup goalie, picked up his third win of the campaign in seven appearances. Clouston was pleased with how the WHL rookie netminder performed on Friday.

    “He (Ramsay) has a couple of shutouts at home, but he has struggled a little bit on the road,” said Clouston. “He needed this one.

    “We needed him to be good especially early. It was really nice to see him be rewarded. There have been some challenging stretches for him, and it was a big night for him in front of his hometown crowd.”

    The Blazers travel to Prince Albert on Saturday to face the defending WHL champion Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). 

Quinn Schmiemann controls the puck on the back end for the Blazers.

    That contest will be the Raiders “Teddy Bear Toss” game, so those attending the game in P.A. will be able to throw stuffed toys on the ice when the Raiders score their first goal.

    The Blades return to action on Sunday, when they host the Raiders at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.      That contest will be the Blades “Teddy Bear Toss” game, so those attending the contest in Saskatoon will be able to throw stuffed toys on the ice when the Blades score their first goal.

    The items collected at the “Teddy Bear Toss” games on both centres will be distributed to local hospitals and charities in their respective centres.

    When the Blazers play in Prince Albert, it will be the final stop on a six-game road trip playing all of the WHL’s East Division teams. The Blazers players from Saskatchewan and Alberta have had a large contingent of family and friends following them on this swing.
    While there is still a long way to go in the current campaign, Clouston said the club’s current road swift has been a great team building experience.

The Blazers celebrate their win on Friday night.

    “I think the guys really enjoy it,” said Clouston. “We have lots of friends and family at all the games.

    “I think it gives us a little spark and jump. Sometimes you worry that guys will try to be too fancy or too creative, but no, we’ve done a real good job. The guys are excited to be out here even though it is minus 30 C or whatever it is.

    “They are enjoying it. They are having some fun. It has been a good trip.”

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

-------                                     

    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.

Hilltops aim to lock up first in PFC, Abrook nears 1,000 yards

Ben Abrook is closing in on 1,000 yards rushing.

    Ben Abrook has an outside shot to hit a big personal milestone, if the Saskatoon Hilltops lock up first place in the Prairie Football Conference on Sunday.

    The Hilltops (5-0) will travel to Edmonton on Sunday to take on the Wildcats (2-3) in a CJFL regular season game. Saskatoon would clinch first place in the PFC for a seventh straight year with a win in that contest.

    On a personal front, Abrook, who is the Hilltops third year power running back, is closing in on 1,000 yards rushing for the campaign. Over the Hilltops first five games, Abrook has carried the ball 140 times for 794 yards and scored four touchdowns.

    He needs 206 yards rushing to hit the 1,000-yard milestone.

    “It would be awesome,” said Abrook. “It would be something that you obviously want to do and something that would be great to achieve.”

    If Abrook hits the 1,000-yard milestone in rushing, it would mark the second straight year a Hilltops running back has hit that feat. Last year, Josh Ewanchyna carried the ball 134 times for 1,007 yards and 14 touchdowns for the ’Toppers.

Ben Abrook, right, has initiated contact as a power back.

    Ewanchyna hit that milestone mainly running behind an offensive line consisting of right tackle Kirk Simonsen, right guard Taylon Elderkin, centre Patrick Arno, left guard Ryder Klisowsky and left tackle Mason Ochs. Simonsen was the only member of that starting offensive line group to exhaust their CJFL eligibility at the end of the 2018 campaign.
    Jonathan Chisholm took over the right tackle starting spot to play beside the four returning starters. Looking at the veteran presence on the Hilltops offensive line, Abrook hoped that breaking the 1,000-yard barrier would be possible.

    “Whenever you come in with a veteran O-line like that, you definitely want to do well,” said Abrook, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 210 pounds. “Yeah, that would certainly be a goal of mine I guess to do that.”

    Before the Hilltops, who have won the last five straight CJFL title, can turn their attention towards personal milestones, they are focused on earning one more win to lock up first in the PFC. Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant expects the Wildcats present a challenge for his squad.

    The Wildcats have been getting strong performances from running back Ramone English and quarterback Dante Tabacu.

Ben Abrook has been a key reason to the Hilltops 5-0 start.

    “I’ll tell you at the end of the day right now we feel there is a good chance we’re going to see them in the playoffs,” said Sargeant. “They are a physical team.

    “They have the third ranked defence in our league. They are really starting to run the ball. They are pounding it.

    “They are aggressive, and they play physical Edmonton Wildcats football is what we’ve seen in the past. They’ve had a quarterback change which has really helped them, and he certainly gives them a lot of run clout.”
    Sargeant said his side is aware the Wildcats can make plays and won’t be pushed over.

    “At the end of the day, they are just playing better football, and we have to come out and play our best game,” said Sargeant. “There is a lot of meaning for us.

    “If we perform well, we’ll wrap up first place this weekend, and we’re very motivated to do that.”

    With all that said, Sargeant would like to see Abrook break the 1,000-yard barrier in rushing.

    “That would be huge,” said Sargeant. “Any time you have a 1,000 yard rusher, it doesn’t happen very often, so we’d be very blessed, if we were able to do that.

Ben Abrooks loves running behind the Hilltops offensive line.

    “Ben (Abrook) certainly has had a great year. Not a lot of people were talking about him at the beginning of the season, but he has certainly come in and been one of our high end football players. Full credit goes to the offensive line and (offensive line) coach (Donnie) Davidsen and the work that they do.
    “It has been a great plan. Ultimately, that is one of our rallying cries. If he (Abrook) stays healthy and we keep playing the way we are playing, we are going to get there and it’ll be exciting when it happens.”

    It is possible Abrook could have one of those dream nights where he rushes for 206 yards on Sunday. In reality, Abrook expects to break the 1,000-yard barrier in one of the Hilltops final two regular season games that will be held after Sunday’s encounter with the Wildcats.

    “You never know,” said Abrook. “We’re going to run the ball hard like we do every week.

“If it happens, it happens. If not, then hopefully next game.”

Kleiter tabbed with PFC player of the week honours

Rylan Kleiter (#7) boots one of his three field goals last Sunday.

    Rylan Kleiter, who is a reliable receiver/kicker for the Saskatoon Hilltops, was recognized for his solid work on special teams.

    On Wednesday, Kleiter was named the CJFL’s special teams player of the week for the Prairie Football Conference. In the Hilltops 53-6 romp over the Calgary Colts last Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football field, Kleiter hit all three of his field goal attempts and connected on all six of his converts.

    He piled up 347 yards on seven kickoffs.

    Kleiter is in his fourth season with the Hilltops, and when he is not dressed for the blue and gold, he can be found on the curling sheet as he is a standout skip on his own curling team.

    Running back Ramone English of the Edmonton Wildcats was the PFC’s offensive player of the week. Defensive backs Justin Hodinsky of the Edmonton Huskies and Brandyn Martin of the Regina Thunder shared the honour of being the PFC’s defensive player of the week.

Are Hilltops win streaks CJFL records?

Doug Fleming runs into the end zone for a Hilltops touchdown.

    The Saskatoon Hilltops have three impressive active streaks going for consecutive victories, but it doesn’t appear they will be in the CJFL record book for any of them.

    Currently, the Hilltops have won their last 24 games in a row including action in the regular season and playoffs. They have won their last 26 straight games on the road including three victories in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl.

    Saskatoon has won its last 16 straight games in the post-season resulting in five straight CJFL titles.

    With all that noted, the CJFL in its online record book doesn’t keep records for consecutive victories. It does keep track of the record for consecutive losses.

    That record is held by the now defunct St. James Rods, who lost 51 straight games from 1979 to 1985. The Rods were based in Winnipeg, Man, and folded following the 1989 season.

    The CJFL has all of its post-season results listed online. From those figures, the Hilltops active streak of winning 16 straight games in the playoffs is a league record.

    The overall winning streak and streak for consecutive road victories could possibility be records, but there is a chance they are not records.

    The defunct Rods might have one of those streaks. While the Rods weren’t very successful at the end of their existence, they were a dominant force in the CJFL in the 1950s and early 1960s being known first as the Winnipeg Rods before changing their name to St. James Rods in 1959.

    When the Regina Rams were still in the CJFL, they could have posted longer streaks under the guidance of head coach Gord Currie in the 1960s and 1970s and under head coach Frank McCrystal in the 1980s and 1990s.

    The Hilltops have posted four perfect seasons in team history, and they could have possibly posted longer winning streaks somewhere in their history.

    Still, the overall, road and post-season winning streaks are still impressive marks.

Nyhus watch comes to an end for Huskies?

Mason Nyhus is expected to return to action for the Huskies.

    The short-lived Mason Nyhus watch looks to be coming to an end for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

    Back on Sept. 13, Nyhus was injured in a 44-9 romp over the University of Regina Rams at Mosaic Stadium. Nyhus, who is in his third year of eligibility, was nailed on a delayed blitz by the Rams late in the third quarter and hit his head hard on the stadium’s turf.

    Nyhus had been under concussion protocol since that hit. He didn’t play in the Huskies heartbreaking 19-17 setback to the University of Alberta Golden Bears last Saturday in Edmonton, Alta.

    On Wednesday, Huskies head coach Scott Flory told the assembled media before a team practice that Nyhus has been cleared to play and will start this Friday, when the Huskies (2-2) host the University of Calgary Dinos (4-0) in a U Sports regular season contest at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.
    The Huskies are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, and the Dinos are rated fourth in those very same rankings.

    The Huskies thumped the Dinos 43-18 in last year’s Canada West final in Calgary, Alta., to claim the Hardy Cup.

    It should be noted the watch on when Nyhus would return wasn’t as intense as it would have been in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the Saskatoon StarPhoenix had a sports staff of about seven, CTV had a full sports department and Global had a half-hour sports highlight show.

    If a similar injury situation happened to the Huskies starting quarterback in those days, then legendary Huskies head coach Brian Towriss would have faced stretches of consecutive days with questions about the health of the starting signal caller.

    Worry about Nyhus was heightened a little bit. In last Saturday’s loss to the Golden Bears, one Edmonton media member said Huskies second string quarterback Ethan Watson was playing with an injured foot. That brought to mind the likelihood the Huskies could face the Dinos with a third-string quarterback.

    Nyhus’s presence on the field will make the Huskies encounter with the Dinos an intriguing one.

Huskies offer free tickets to KFL members in honour of Bowers

Adam Machart and the Huskies are back in action on Friday.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team is honouring the life and legacy of Kelly Bowers by offering free admission for members of the Kinsmen Football League for one night.

    On Friday when the Huskies host the U of Calgary Dinos at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium in a U Sports regular season contest, all members of the Kinsmen Football League will receive complimentary admission, when they wear their KFL jersey to the game. Bowers was the sitting president of the KFL at the time of his passing.

    Bowers passed away from a heart attack at his home on Sept. 17 at age 70. He is a member of the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame and spent over five decades coaching, officiating and volunteering in the sports scene in “The Bridge City.”

    Bowers was best known for his involvement in football with the Bedford Road Invitational Tournament, which is one of the best high school tournaments in Western Canada.

    He had involvement with the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops, the Huskies and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries.

Blades deal Hughes to Blazers

The Blades traded Ryan Hughes to the Blazers.

    The Saskatoon Blades got down to the WHL’s limit of three overage players thanks to a trade.

    On Wednesday, the Blades dealt overage right-winger Ryan Hughes to the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for 18-year-old forward Jerzy Orchard, a second round selection in the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft and a third round pick in the 2021 Bantam Draft.

    The Blades originally acquired Hughes in a deal with the Portland Winterhawks last Jan. 10 before the passing of that day’s WHL trade deadline. Last season, Hughes played in 61 regular season games between the Winterhawks and Blades recording 30 goals, 39 assists and a plus-13 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Hughes, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 157 pounds, had a goal and two assists playing in both of the Blades games so far this season.

    Orchard, who stands 6-feet and weighs 161 pounds, appeared in 41 regular season games last season with the Blazers collecting a goal and two assists. The Delisle, Sask., product hadn’t seen action with the Blazers this season.

    With Hughes being dealt to Kamloops, the Blades three remaining overagers are left-winger and ace agitator Riley McKay and defencemen Nolan Kneen and Scott Walford.

    On Thursday, the Blades released 15-year-old forward Brandon Lisowsky from their active roster. The Blades selected Lisowsky in the first round and ninth overall in the Bantam Draft left last May.

    He had one game-winning goal and four assists in five pre-season games. Lisowsky is expected to join the Burnaby Winter Club Midget Prep team of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.

    Jayden Wiens, who is a rookie 16-year-old centre, was moved from the Blades affiliate player list to the club’s regular roster. Wiens was selected in the eighth round and 155^th overall in the 2018 Bantam Draft.

    He played in both Blades regular season games so far in the current campaign. Last season, Wiens netted seven goals and 27 assists in 44 regular season games with the Tisdale Trojans of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.

    The Blades (1-1) return to action on Friday, when they host the Winnipeg Ice (1-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

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

-------

    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.

Hughes rains on Raiders party in Blades season opening OT win

The Blades celebrate an OT winner from Ryan Hughes, centre.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Ryan Hughes spoiled the championship banner raising party for the Prince Albert Raiders.

    On Friday night before a standing room crowd of 3,108 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the speedy overage right-winger scored 17 seconds into overtime to lift the Saskatoon Blades to a 3-2 victory over their archrivals in the WHL regular season opening game for both sides.

    Hughes took a drop pass from overage defenceman Scott Walford in his own zone, zipped through the centre ice zone down the left wing, and roofed a shot to the top right corner of the Raiders goal past netminder Boston Bilous.

    Before Friday’s contest, the Raiders raised four banners for finishing first in the East Division, first in the WHL regular season standings, winning the WHL Eastern Conference title and the WHL championship last season.

Ryan Hughes starts his winning goal offensive rush.

    “Walford and I talked about that play there to go underneath and drop it,” said Hughes about his goal in the three-versus-three session. “I just saw that there was a forward skating backwards, and I kind of beat him wide.

    “I took a shot and it went in. It was nice.”

    Hughes said he was checking out his options as he came up the ice before deciding the situation was right to go coast-to-coast.

    “I kind of have to evaluate the puck on three on three,” said Hughes, who picked up assists on the Blades two regulation goals. “Once I got it and I saw I was skating against a forward, I just tried to get him wide.

    “I got a step on him and just took a shot.  Usually, I wouldn’t take that shot, but I’m lucky it went in.”

    Between the regular season and playoffs, the Blades fell in all seven of their visits to P.A. in the 2018-19 campaign. Saskatoon’s last win in “Hockey Town North” was by a 2-1 decision on March 16, 2018.

    Hughes was pleased his team could get that monkey off their collective backs.

    “It is a tough place to play for sure,” said Hughes. “It was tough tonight, and it was tough all year last year.

Scott Walford had the assist on the Blades OT winner.

    “It is nice for me to get my first win in this rink with the Blades.”

    The teams played through a feeling out type first period where the Raiders held a 6-4 edge in shots on goal.

    The Raiders broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:25 mark of the second period when import centre Aliaksei Protas blew home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

    The Blades evened things up a 1-1 just over two minutes later when right-winger Tristen Robins converted a backdoor feed on the power play from overage defenceman Nolan Kneen. The assist was Kneen’s 100th career regular season point in the WHL coming in his 250^th career game.

Aliaksei Protas had a goal for the Raiders on Friday.

    Shortly after Robins goal, Blades star netminder Nolan Maier robbed Raiders import centre Ilya Usau with a sprawling save. The scoring chance came after the Blades turned the puck over in their own zone.

    Blades head coach Mitch Love expected his team would experience some bumps in Friday’s opener.

    “It wasn’t pretty at times for probably both teams,” said Love, whose team is rated third in the CHL’s pre-season Top 10 rankings. “I’ve often said this weekend is a bit of an unpredictable event. You have a lot of kids playing in front of big crowds for the first time.

    “It is opening weekend and lots of family is in town. There are a lot of nerves. Obviously, (there was) the presentation here tonight for the defending champions.”
    Just past the midway point of the second, the Raiders went ahead 2-1 on a nifty play from rookie 17-year-old defenceman Landon Kosior. Kosior got the puck, pinched into the slot and sniped a shot past Maier.
    The tally was Kosior’s first career WHL goal.

Landon Kosior scored his first career WHL goal on Friday.

    The rivalry came to the forefront in a pronounced way in the third period. At the 2:37 mark of the third, Blades left-winger Randen Schmidt took on Raiders rookie defenceman Braydon Clark in a spirited fight.

    At the 7:28 mark of the third, two unexpected combatants went at it as Blades left-winger Kjell Kjemhus took on Raiders rookie defenceman Nolan Allan.

    After those two bouts, the Blades evened things up at 2-2 at the 10:11 mark of the third, when Walford fired home a floater through a screen from the point. That set the stage for Hughes’s heroics in the extra session.

    Bilous made 15 saves in goal for the Raiders. Maier turned away 18 shots in goal for the Blades.

    “It has been a long time since we found a win in this building,” said Love. “It is something our guys are pretty happy about tonight.”

    The only down part for the Blades was veteran centre Eric Florchuk left the game in the first period with an injury. Love said Florchuk will be re-evaluated when his club returns home to Saskatoon.

The Blade celebrate their OT win on Friday night.

    “I haven’t heard anything,” said Love. “He (Florchuk) seemed to be in good spirits after the game with his teammates, which is a good sign, but we will find out more in the morning.”

    The Blades and Raiders go at it again in Saskatoon on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. That contest will be the home opener for the Blades.

    Hughes would like to see his team get after the Raiders right out of the gate.

    “Obviously, we need a faster start,” said Hughes. “I think that will be a big easier with our crowd behind us.

    “That is what we are going to look to do and see how it goes.”

Raiders captain Pachal inks NHL deal with Vegas

Brayden Pachal, left, signed an NHL contract on Friday.

    Prince Albert Raiders overage captain Brayden Pachal signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.

    Last season, Pachal appeared in 66 regular season games for the Raiders posting 15 goals, 36 assists and a plus-76 rating in the plus-minus department. In the WHL post-season, Pachal suited up in all 23 games the Raiders played recording one goal, seven assists and a plus-12 rating.

    With Pachal as the Raiders leader, Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL last season with a 54-10-2-2 mark and captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup in the WHL playoffs to become league champions. That marked the first time the Raiders accomplished both those feats since the 1984-85 campaign.

    The Raiders won the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 1984-85. At last year’s Memorial Cup in Halifax, N.S., the Raiders posted an 0-3 record against a tough field. Pachal had a goal and two assists in that event.

    Pachal began his WHL career in the 2015-16 campaign with the Victoria Royals, and he came to the Raiders in a trade on Jan. 9, 2017 in his second campaign.

    In 239 career regular season games split with the Royals and Raiders, Pachal had 26 goals, 72 assists and a plus-67 rating.

    He was in Prince Albert on Friday night to take part in the Raiders pre-game banner raising festivities. He will be heading to camp with the Knights AHL affiliate the Chicago Wolves.

    Pachal could still be eventually assigned to the Raiders for his overage campaign.

Love, Habscheid hit frenemies territory

Blades HC Mitch Love will be the HC of Team WHL.

    Mitch Love and Marc Habscheid are going to be frenemies.

    On Friday, the WHL and Hockey Canada announced that the 35-year-old Love, who is the head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, and the 56-year-old Habscheid, who is the head coach of the Prince Albert Raiders, will be working on the same staff together guiding the WHL team that will play in the annual Canada versus Russia series.

    Love will be the head coach of the WHL squad, while Habscheid will be an assistant coach along with Regina Pats head coach Dave Struch. Struch was a former Blades star forward, assistant coach and head coach.

    The WHL squad hosts Team Russia on Nov. 13 in Saskatoon and Nov. 14 in Prince Albert.

    Last season, the Raiders eliminated their archrivals in the Blades taking a best-of-seven second round series 4-2. During that series, Love and Habscheid fired verbal barbs at each other.

    Habscheid said the Blades players like to dive, while Love countered saying the Raiders like to go head hunting.

Raiders HC Marc Habscheid will be an AC for Team WHL.

    After that series, the Raiders moved on to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions.

Love chuckles about what happened in the post-season now.

    “Of course, we had some fun with each other last year through the media in that playoff series,” said Love during a media conference on Friday morning at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. “The one thing that people maybe don’t understand is how much respect I have for Marc (Habscheid) and obviously Dave (Struch) himself.

    “Those are guys that have done a lot of things at this level along with international hockey, and I look up to (them). I’m real excited to get a chance to work with those guys, and I’m sure a lot of people are going to wonder about that relationship on that bench.”

    Love said he is looking forward to being the head coach of the WHL side, and believe it or not, he is pumped out the chance to work with Habscheid and Struch.

    “It is an extreme honour,” said Love. “I take a lot of pride in being a western Canadian boy working in the Western Hockey League whether as a player or now as a coach.

    “To get an opportunity from (WHL commissioner) Ron (Robison) along with Hockey Canada to be the head coach of this team is real exciting. I’m looking forward to working with the players that will be involved and obviously our staff her throughout the league.”

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

-------

    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.

Hannoun’s hatty pushes Raiders past Blades into WHL Eastern Conference final

Dante Hannoun (#17) celebrates his hat trick goal.

    He had a hat trick and a marriage proposal from the stands.

    You could say overage centre Dante Hannoun experienced an eventful Sunday night.

    The Delta, B.C., product scored three times and was a plus-three in the plus-minus department helping his Prince Albert Raiders down the host Saskatoon Blades 6-3 in Game 6 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series.

    Throughout the contest, one Raiders fan among the 10,521 spectators, which was the biggest gathering for a Blades home game in the regular season and playoffs, kept flashing a sign that said, “Marry me Hannoun.”

    When asked about the sign and if he will accept, Hannoun let out a big laugh.

    “I don’t know,” said Hannoun, while smiling and chuckling. “I’m not sure. I don’t know who it is.”

Dante Hannoun has scored nine goals in this year’s WHL playoffs.

  On the serious side, Hannoun was pumped to be able to help his team with a hat trick performance.

    “Obviously, it was pretty special,” said Hannoun, who has nine goals in this year’s WHL playoffs. “You have to give it to them.

    “They battled hard.”

    Thanks to Hannoun’s heroics, the Raiders took the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Blades 4-2. Prince Albert advances to the WHL Eastern Championship series for the first time since 2005, when they fell in a seven-game decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

    The Raiders will face the Edmonton Oil Kings in this year’s best-of-seven Eastern Conference final. The Oil Kings topped the Central Division and finished fifth overall in the WHL with a 42-18-4-4 record.

This Raiders fan really likes overage centre Dante Hannoun.

    Game 1 of that series is set for this coming Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    Following Sunday’s win over the Blades, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid reflected on how far his club has come with a main core group that has been together since the start of the 2016-17 campaign. In 2016-17, the Raiders finished with the third worst regular season record in the WHL at 21-44-5-2.

    This season, the Raiders have been backed solidly by “Hockey Town North” pretty much for the whole campaign as they finished first overall in the WHL with a 54-10-2-2 record in the regular season and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Noah Gregor had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

    Now the Raiders will play for a conference title.

    “I’m really happy for, you know, the city and the organization, but mostly those kids over there,” said Habscheid. “I told them after I said you know what, when we lost we lost with class and when we win we plan on winning with class too.

    “I can remember a couple of years ago a lot of teams kicked sand in those kids’ faces. They taunted them and laughed at them and said the (Prince Albert midget AAA) Mintos were better than us. I just said to remember that.

    “We have a long ways to go yet. I’m happy for them, because if anyone deserves it, those players do to feel good about themselves and about the way they play and the way they conduct themselves. It is a class group of players who play hard, and I’m fortunate to coach them.”

    The Raiders and Blades were meeting for the 14^th time including action in the regular season and playoffs.

Ryan Hughes had a pair of goals for the Saskatoon Blades.

    The teams traded goals in the opening frame, which saw the Raiders hold a huge edge in territorial play.

    Shortly past the midway point of the first, the Raiders jumped in front 1-0, when power forward Parker Kelly wired home a shot from the right wing boards to the top left corner of the Saskatoon goal.

    The Blades pulled even at 1-1 with a power–play goal from speedy forward Ryan Hughes with 4:15 remaining in the opening frame.

    Prince Albert jumped out to a 3-1 lead to start the second. At the 5:08 mark of the frame, a shot by Raiders overage star centre Noah Gregor rang the post and squirted out to an open right side of the Saskatoon goal.

The Blades faithful cheers a goal from Ryan Hughes.

    Hannoun popped the rebound home with a backhander to give the Raiders a one-goal edge.

    At the 8:18 mark of the second, the Raiders struck on the power play to go up by two. Star right-winger Brett Leason had the puck in the left slot and fed a perfect backdoor pass to import winger Aliaksei Protas, who popped home his fourth of the post-season.

    With the Raiders still having a big edge in territorial play, the Blades stopped the bleeding with 4:36 remaining in the second frame. Working on the power play, Hughes wired home his second tally of the game through a screen to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2.

Sean Montgomery scored in the third period for the Raiders.

    The Raiders seemly put the game away scoring twice in the first 5:27 of the third. At the 3:33 mark, Hannoun netted his second of the contest to put the Raiders up 4-2.

    Working on the power-play, overage centre Sean Montgomery wired in a shot from close in by the left side of the Blades goal to give the visitors a 5-2 edge at the 5:27 mark of the frame.

    Raiders captain Brayden Pachal said it was big for his team to get that two-goal surge to start the third.

    “They were coming on quick,” said Pachal. “They are a great team.

    “They weren’t going to just quit. You have to give a lot of credit to them over there.

    “That was an amazing series. I think we enjoyed it, they enjoyed it and the fans enjoyed it.”

The Raiders faithful cheers one of their team’s goals.

    Even down 5-2, the Blades didn’t quit.

    Saskatoon provided a scare just 29 seconds after Montgomery’s goal. Blade centre Tristen Robins tipped home a pass from defenceman Nolan Kneen between the legs of Raiders star netminder Ian Scott to cut the Raiders lead to 5-3.

    The Blades couldn’t get any closer, and Hannoun completed his hat trick scoring into an empty net with 1.3 seconds remaining in the third.

    “It is a tough way to end there, but I am really proud of our group,” said Blades overage defenceman Dawson Davidson, who had an assist on Sunday. “We gave that team everything we had.

Tristen Robins scored in the third period for the Blades.

    “That is a good team over there that we were playing. They’ve been good all year. I think we pushed them to the brink.

    “Like I said, it was not the result we wanted, but we’re not hanging our heads. We made a lot of strides as an organization this year. Hopefully, that helps moving forward.”

    Nolan Maier made 26 saves to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Scott turned away 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders.

    Gregor and Leason both had a pair of assists in the win for the Raiders. Between Brett and his father Darryl, who was the starting quarterback of the Regina Rams football team in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Leason family is 9-2 against Saskatoon based squads in the post-season.

Brett Leason had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

    The Blades had breakout season that saw them finish fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 45-15-8 record and earn honourable mention status in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. That ended a string of missing the post-season for five consecutive campaigns.

    Saskatoon swept the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series. The Blades had their series tied with the Raiders at 2-2 after four games.

    The Raiders closed the series out with a 6-1 win in Game 5 on Friday in Prince Albert and Sunday’s 6-3 victory in Saskatoon.
    “I didn’t like our last two hockey games,” said Blades head coach Mitch Love. “We came up short to a very good hockey team over there.

The Raiders celebrate advancing to the WHL Eastern Conference final.

    “The initial reaction is disappointment. At the end of the day, that is a good hockey team over there. They were built that way.

    “We are going to have to lick our wounds a little bit, but also, I am extremely proud of our guys and the season they had.”

    Between action in the regular season and playoffs, the Raiders won 10 of the 14 head-to-head encounters with the Blades. While the Raiders will be turning their focus towards the Oil Kings, Kelly wanted to pass on a nod of respect to his team’s archrivals in Saskatoon.

The Blades give a final salute to their fans.

    “I think this series and our (regular) season series, actually, I think we really ignited that rivalry again back to one of the top in the league,” said Kelly. “It is so fun to play in.

    “This rink has 10-K in it, and it is so fun to play in. It is loud and noisy. You know their fans are pretty good too.

    “It is a lot of fun coming up these next couple of years. The rivalry will be great.”

    NOTES – The Blades scratched backup goalie Dorrin Luding (injury), winger Zach Huber, defenceman Majid Kaddoura and associate player call-ups in forward Colton Dach and defenceman Alex Ozar. Utility player Randen Schmidt made his third appearance of the post-season for Saskatoon.

The Raiders and Blades start their post-series handshakes.

    The Raiders scratched star left-winger Cole Fonstad for a second straight game with an undisclosed injury. Physical forward Justin Nachbaur sat out the first of a two-game league imposed suspension for receiving an interference major penalty and a game misconduct in the Raiders Game 5 win over the Blades on Friday. Cole Nagy, who is a forward that finished playing his 17-year-old midget AAA season with the Saskatoon Blazers, dressed as an associate player call up.

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

-------

    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.