Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy runnin’ back to Saskatoon

Blades lock up first overall in WHL

The Blades begin to celebrate a first overall finish in the WHL.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - For the first time in 13 years the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy is runnin’ back to “The Bridge City.”

On Friday before 3,049 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, the visiting Saskatoon Blades dumped their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 5-1 in the second last WHL regular season contest for both sides of the 2023-24 campaign. With the win, the Blades improve 49-13-2-3 and lock up first overall in the WHL regular season standings to claim the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy. They will have home ice advantage through the WHL Playoffs.

The last time the Blades finished first overall in the WHL was back in the 2010-11 campaign when they posted a 56-13-1-2 record. The 56 victories are a Blades franchise record for wins in one regular season.

The Blades begin to mob netminder Austin Elliott after their win.

Overall, the Blades have finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings five times. They are still in search of their first WHL championship entering the circuit back in its inaugurals season in 1966-67.

With the loss, the Raiders fell to 31-31-2-3, but they were able to still clinch the final playoff berth locking up an eighth place finish in the Eastern Conference. Out in Swift Current, the host and Central Division champion Broncos outlasted the Calgary Hitmen 7-6.

Hitmen fell to 27-31-8-1 and were eliminated from post-season contention as they are locked into a ninth place finish in the Eastern Conference.

Brandon Lisowsky scored twice for the Blades on Friday.

As for Friday’s game between the Raiders and Blades, the Raiders jumped ahead 1-0 scoring just 95 seconds into the opening frame on a goal from 18-year-old centre Aiden Oiring. Raiders star 20-year-old left-winger Sloan Stanick centered the puck from the left corner to the Saskatoon zone to Oiring in front of the net. Oiring wired home his 21^st of the season to give the Raiders their one-goal edge.

After the host side went ahead, the Blades responded with a big push back going ahead 3-1 heading into the first intermission. 

At the 7:25 mark of the opening frame, Blades 19-year-old left-winger Rhett Melnyk fired a shot through a screen to even the score at 1-1.

Egor Sidorov (#19) tries to get past Sloan Stanick.

Just under two minutes later with the teams playing four-versus-four hockey due to coincidental penalties, Blades star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk wired home a shot from the front of the net after receiving a beauty setup pass from star import right-winger Egor Sidorov to put the visitors up 2-1. The tally was Molendyk’s 10^th goal of the campaign.

Blades 18-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii completed the surge tallying at the 11:35 mark of the opening frame to put the visitors up 3-1.

With 7:19 remaining in the first, Raiders captain Eric Johnston engaged Blades star centre Fraser Minten in a fight. The short bout ended with Johnston getting the take down.

Aiden Oiring had the Raiders lone goal on Friday.

The Blades continued bringing the pressure in the second outshooting the Raiders 20-7 in the frame. Thanks to the play of Raiders star 19-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand, the Blades were limited to picking up just one goal late in the frame.

With 2:28 remaining in the second and working on the power play, Blades star 19-year-old winger Brandon Lisowsky scored backdoor at the right side of the Prince Albert net after receiving a pass from the left point by 20-year-old rearguard Charlie Wright. That tally allowed the Blades to go ahead 4-1, which caused the Raiders faithful to be fairly quiet for the rest of the contest from that point onward.

At the 13:29 mark of the second, Raiders rookie 17-year-old defenceman Doogan Pederson was given a double minor for slew-footing, and that infraction will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Blade and Raiders combined for 60 penalty minutes on Friday.

Lisowsky would add his second of the contest in the third to round out the 5-1 final in favour of the Blades. 

The NHL Entry Draft selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs now has 42 goals on the season for the Blades.

Hildebrand turned away 32 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. 

Austin Elliott stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades.

Sidorov finished the night picking up a pair of assists for the Blades. He now has career highs in goals (49), assists (38) and points (87).

Tanner Molendyk scored for the Blades on Friday.

The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon to close out their respective regular season schedules. They have met nine times this season, and the Blades have won seven of those head-to-head encounters.

With Friday’s results in the books, the Blades and Raiders know they are now locked in to meet in a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs. Game 1 of that series is set for this coming Thursday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

It is highly likely the intensity in the rivalry between the two sides will be cranked up to new heights over the next two weeks. The two clubs combined for 60 penalty minutes in Friday night’s encounter.

The Blades celebrate their win on Friday night.

For the moment, the Blades are relishing what is there most memorable win at the Art Hauser Centre with their win on Friday that clinched first place overall in the WHL standings.

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.

Raiders bow out at Memorial Cup with 5-2 loss to Storm

Skid for WHL champs grows to 13 games at CHL title tourney

Sean Montgomery had a goal for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    The Prince Albert Raiders suffered the same fate at the Memorial Cup as the three WHL champions that came before them.
    On Tuesday, the Raiders closed play at the Memorial Cup tournament falling 5-2 to the OHL champion Guelph Storm before 9,248 spectators at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S.

    With the loss the Raiders were eliminated from the tournament finishing last in the round robin standings at 0-3.

    The same fate was suffered by the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2016, the Seattle Thunderbirds in 2017 and the Swift Current Broncos a year ago. Like the Raiders this year, all of those clubs felt an extreme high winning the WHL title and capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    The league championship victory was followed by an epilogue of going winless in the CHL championship tournament creating a bit of flat feeling at the end of the campaign.

    In total, the club that enters the Memorial Cup as the WHL champion has lost 13 straight games at the CHL championship tourney. The last time a WHL champion posted a win at the Memorial Cup came back on May 29, 2015, when the Kelowna Rockets hammered the host Remparts 9-3 in Quebec City, Quebec, in a semifinal contest.

    Since 2015, WHL clubs have earned wins at the Memorial Cup, when they enter the event as the host team. The Red Deer Rebels went 2-2 as tournament host in 2016, and the Regina Pats were 3-2 as the hosts of last year’s 100^th edition of the event.
    The Pats made the Memorial Cup title game a year ago falling 3-0 to the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

    Still when looking at the fate of the entrant that is the WHL champion since 2015, one wonders how long the losing streak for that entrant will go at the Memorial Cup.

Noah Gregor was one of the Raiders top players this season.

    Over the past 10 tournaments that have determined the CHL champion, a WHL club has come out victorious just once in 2014 when the Edmonton Oil Kings captured the Memorial Cup in London, Ont.

    Clubs from the OHL won the Memorial Cup five times over that span of time, while clubs from the QMJHL have taken the title four times. When the title game of this year’s tournament is played on Sunday, the WHL as a league will have won one of the last 11 Memorial Cup championships.

    Now that the Raiders have been eliminated at this year’s event, the WHL as a league has matched its longest drought of not winning major junior hockey’s biggest prize spanning five seasons. The WHL failed the win the Memorial Cup over a five year span from 2009 to 2013.

    Clubs from the WHL first became eligible to play for the Memorial Cup in the 1970-71 campaign.

    Due to the WHL’s lack of success at the Memorial Cup, the notion that teams coming out of the OHL and QMJHL are better than those in the WHL just keeps growing.
    Honestly, how can that notion not grow?

    While the WHL has been in a funk at the Memorial Cup, hopes were high the Raiders might break that funk, even when they entered Tuesday’s game against the Storm.

    Fans of the Prince Albert club saw a core group of players grow together in overager Sean Montgomery, who is a career Raider, captain Brayden Pachal, Zack Hayes, Max Martin, Spencer Moe, Cole Fonstad, Parker Kelly and star netminder Ian Scott from a 2016-17 campaign that saw the then young squad take their lumps posting a 21-44-5-2 record.

    In a magical 2018-19 campaign, the Raiders posted the WHL’s best regular season mark at 54-10-2-2 and were also rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Dante Hannoun scored for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    They captured the WHL title in dramatic fashion when standout overage centre Dante Hannoun scored in overtime in Game 7 of the league final to beat the Vancouver Giants 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre.
    With all that had happened to the Raiders, you thought fate wouldn’t let them exit the Memorial Cup at 0-3.

    The Storm finished eighth overall in the OHL’s regular season with a 40-18-6-4 mark before winning their league championship. If the Raiders were going to pick up a win at the Memorial Cup, this might very well be the spot.

    The Storm opened the scoring on Tuesday at the 9:42 mark of the first period. After catching the Raiders on a bad line change, the Storm entered the Prince Albert zone on a two-on-one break.
    Storm centre Nick Suzuki made a sweet pass over to pinching defenceman Fedor Gordeev, and Gordeev converted the setup for his first goal of the tournament.

    The Raiders pulled even at 1-1 scoring their first power-play goal of the tournament, when Montgomery tipped home a point shot by star overage centre Noah Gregor at the 11:32 mark of the first.

    The goals kept coming in the opening frame. With 4:42 remaining in the first, Storm captain Isaac Ratcliffe took a pass from linemate MacKenzie Entwistle, cut across the front of the Prince Albert net and tucked home a backhand shot between the legs of Scott to give Guelph a 2-1 lead.
    With 43.1 seconds remaining in the first, the Raiders pulled even at 2-2, when Hannoun tipped home a point shot from Pachal.

    From that exciting opening 20 minutes, Guelph assumed control of the game.

    The Storm surged ahead 4-2 scoring twice early in the second period.

Brayden Pachal gave the Raiders great leadership.

    While working the power play, import left-winger Pavel Gogolev sent a pass from the left boards to Liam Hawel in front of the Prince Albert goal. Hawel blew home a shot to put the storm up 3-2 just 81 seconds into the second.
    The Storm struck again on a centre ice turnover. Storm defenceman Sean Durzi picked off a Raiders pass at the red-line and quickly transitioned the puck up ice.

    Durzi sent the puck to Ratcliffe on the left wing, and Ratcliffe slipped a beauty pass to get Suzuki in alone on the Prince Albert goal. Suzuki put a shot to the right corner of the Raiders net at the 5:02 mark of the second to put the Storm up 4-2.

    At the 6:42 mark of the third, Suzuki had the puck behind the icing line in the Prince Albert zone and banked it off the back of Scott into the Raiders goal to round out the scoring in the contest.

    Scott turned away 20 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. Anthony Popovich stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Storm.

    The Raiders weren’t able to get any real traction to mount a comeback over the second and third frames, as the Storm had an advantage in puck possession. Guelph also had a 41-18 edge in faceoffs won forcing Prince Albert to chase to get possession of the puck.

    To make the night even more heartbreaking for the Raiders, star right-winger Brett Leason was stopped twice on one breakaway opportunity late in the third.

    The Storm finished round robin play with a 2-1 record. Guelph is waiting on the result of Wednesday’s final round robin game between the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (1-1) and host Halifax Mooseheads (2-0) to see if it will play in Friday’s semifinal or Sunday’s title game.

    For the Raiders, they had a spectacular season. Since entering the major junior ranks at the start of the 1982-83 campaign, the Raiders captured the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for finishing first in the overall league standings for the second time in team history.

Parker Kelly played the power forward role to perfection in 2018-19.

    Prince Albert won the WHL crown for the second time in team history.

    The last time the Raiders finished first in the WHL regular season and won the league title was back in 1984-85, when they won their only Memorial Cup title.

    For a team that went through a 13-year stretch from 2006 to 2018 of missing the playoffs seven times and being eliminated in the first round six times, the Raiders have a lot to be proud of. They returned to elite status in the major junior ranks.

    Unfortunately for the WHL, the losing streak by its league champion at the Memorial Cup tournament remains.

    It will be the elephant in the room the circuit has to deal with until a WHL champion finally wins to put an end to the skid.

    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.

Raiders please home crowd in rivalry battle with Blades

Noah Gregor (#18) scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders gave their frenzied home crowd exactly what they wanted.

    On Saturday, the Raiders closed their WHL regular season schedule with a 3-1 victory over their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders, who had been well into their standing room sales for most of the season, announced that Saturday’s gathering was the team’s first sellout of the campaign.

    The crowd cheered the loudest they had all season as the Raiders built a 2-0 lead in the first period, a 3-0 advantage after 40 minutes before the Blades potted a late third period goal.

Raiders fans show they are ready for the post-season.

    “I think for us and for the fans that is a little taste of what is to come in playoffs,” said Raiders captain Brayden Pachal. “That was a playoff atmosphere and a playoff game for sure.

    “That was pretty amazing. You get the chills when you’re coming on to the ice, and they’re that loud. Every hit, every goal, every penalty, everything, it was crazy loud.

    “We’re looking forward to that. It is a hard building to play in, when it is that loud. We’re looking forward to that crowd and even more come playoffs.”

    While the Raiders had extra jump, the Blades played a high-energy game too. 

Dorrin Luding makes one of his 29 saves for the Blades.

    Blades captain Chase Wouters said his team always get pumped to play, when they visit P.A.

    “It was pretty intense and emotional game,” said Wouters, whose club also concluded its regular season schedule. “We knew coming into this building it wasn’t going to be easy.

    “They play us hard, and we play them hard. They got the better outcome tonight.

    “It is an intense building. Every game here, you kind of know what you are going to expect from the crowd, kind of the rivalry and things like that. It is an intense place to play, and it is fun.”

    The Raiders opened the scoring at the 8:05 mark of the first period, when overage centre Sean Montgomery sniped home his 29^th goal of the season from the right side of the Saskatoon goal.

Sean Montgomery scored the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

    Just over two minutes later, the Raiders extended their edge to 2-0 working on the power play. Rookie right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt had the puck at the left side of the Saskatoon goal, and he found overage centre Noah Gregor streaking down into the right slot with a backdoor pass.

    Gregor fired home his 42^nd goal of the campaign to give the Raiders a two-goal edge.

    In the second period, the Raiders added a big backbreaking goal with 2:48 remaining in the frame. With the Blades work on the power play, the Raiders broke into the Saskatoon zone on a two-on-one break.

    Gregor roofed home his second of the game and 43^rd tally of the season to give the Raiders a 3-0 edge.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid believes his team got an extra step from the atmosphere created by the home crowd.

Raiders fans geared up and cheered out for their team on Saturday.

    “It was fun, and I think it was good for our guys to see the crowd,” said Habscheid. “You look at it, and it is only 3,200 or 3,300, but with the small building and them being right on top of you, it feels like 20,000.

    “It was a good atmosphere. You could tell our guys liked it. It helped give them another jump with everything that went on.”

    Despite being in a 3-0 hole, the Blades didn’t go away. With 3:56 remaining in the third period, Saskatoon offensive-defenceman Dawson Davidson found overage right-winger Max Gerlach in the left slot with a backdoor pass, and Gerlach fired home his 42^nd goal of the campaign to cut the Raiders edge to 3-1.

Riley McKay (#39) turns up ice with the puck for the Blades.

    Saskatoon wasn’t able to get any closer.

    Ian Scott made 24 saves to pick up the win in goal for Prince Albert. The Raiders finished first overall in the WHL with a 54-10-2-2 record and were officially presented with the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for that accomplishment before Saturday’s game.

    Dorrin Luding turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal for Saskatoon as the Blades saw an eight-game winning streak come to an end. The Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL with a 45-15-8 record.

    There were a lot of penalties on Saturday too. The Blades failed to score on six power-play chances, while the Raiders were 1-for-8 with the man advantage.

Ian Scott makes one of his 24 saves in goal for the Raiders on Saturday.

    Wouters said his team committed too many giveaways on Saturday.

    “It is an area that we knew would be hard in this rink, because they come at us pretty quick,” said Wouters. “Turnovers are definitely a big part of the game.

    “We have to clean up both blue-lines and our own breakouts. We have to be better in that area. We will watch some video this week and get back to work on the weekend.”

    Habscheid believes his players have the right mindset heading into the post-season.

Ryan Hughes breaks into the offensive zone for the Blades.

    “I like where they are at,” said Habscheid. “We needed these two games.

    “It is a good rivalry, good intensity and that is what playoffs are all about. I just appreciated the intensity on both sides. It was good for both teams, not just for us, but for them too.”

    Both clubs will now embark on their respective post-season journeys.

    The Blades will face the Moose Jaw Warriors (40-20-6-2) in a best-of-seven first round series. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

    “It is something we’ve been looking forward to ever since we clinched,” said Wouters. “Now that we found out we play Moose Jaw, we have to tighten up some things against them.

Brett Leason jets into the offensive zone for the Raiders.

    “We look forward to it as a group and as a community of Saskatoon. We will be playing for everyone.”

    The Raiders will take on the Red Deer Rebels (33-28-4-2) in a best-of-seven first round series. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. The Rebels close their regular season schedule traveling to Cranbrook, B.C. on Sunday to take on the Kootenay Ice.

    Pachal admitted it was big accomplishment for his team to win the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy, but his side wants to capture bigger team awards in the post-season.

    “It is pretty special,” said Pachal. “Obviously, we’ve had a special year so far.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

    “That was the first banner in this rink for a while. Our mindset is that one isn’t good enough, so we’re looking forward to playoffs.”

    NOTES – Raiders forwards Dante Hannoun and Justin Nachbaur were scratched with undisclosed injuries, but Habscheid was hopeful both could be back for the start of playoffs. Cohner Saleski, who recently completed his second season of midget AAA eligibility with the Prince Albert Mintos, dressed as an associate player call up at centre.

    Blades defenceman Aidan De La Gordendiere was scratched due to an upper body injury, while utility player Randen Schmidt and associate player call up in defenceman Alex Ozar, who just completed his second season of midget AAA eligibility with the Mintos, were healthy scratches.

    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.

Raiders lock up top spot in WHL, capture Scotty Munro Trophy

Brayden Pachal had a pair of assists for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    It is feeling a lot like 1985 in Prince Albert.

    On Tuesday night before 2,385 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Prince Albert Raiders thumped the visiting Swift Current Broncos, who are in a major rebuild, 6-0 in a WHL regular season contest.
  With the win, the Raiders improved to 51-9-2-2 to lock up first place overall in the league and capture the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for just the second time in franchise history.

    The Raiders, who are rated second in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings, last finished first overall in the WHL standings back in the 1984-85 season, when they posted a record of 58 wins, 11 losses and three ties.
    Prince Albert proceeded to win the WHL title and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in that campaign.

    In Tuesday’s game against the Broncos, the Raiders led 2-0 after the first period and 5-0 after the second frame.

Ian Scott tied the Raiders record for shutouts in one season.

    Winger Dante Hannoun had a goal and two assists for the Raiders.
    Rugged forward Justin Nachbaur scored twice for the Raiders, while Sergei Sapego, Aliaksei Protas and Eric Pearce netted singles.

    Captain Brayden Pachal had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

    Ian Scott made 24 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Raiders.
    The shutout win was the sixth of the season for Scott and it equals a Raiders club record for most shutouts in one season.

    Rejean Beauchemin had six shutouts for the Raiders in the 2003-04 season, and Luke Siemens had six shutouts in the 2012-13 campaign.
    So far this season, Scott has recorded a 35-7-3 record, a 1.90 goals against average and a .931 save percentage to go with his six shutouts.

    Riley Lamb turned away 33 shots to take the setback in the Broncos net.

    Swift Current sits last in the WHL with a 10-46-4-2 record.

    The Raiders and Broncos will go at it again on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Blades will starts playoffs playing at home

Dawson Davidson scored the winner for the Blades.

    The Saskatoon Blades will open their journey through the WHL playoffs at home.

    On Tuesday, the Blades locked up a second place finish in the WHL’s East Division downing the Warriors in Moose Jaw 4-2 before 3,014 spectators at Mosaic Place. With finishing second in the division, the Blades will have home ice advantage for a best-of-seven first round playoff series.

    The win over the Warriors was the fifth in a row for the Blades who improved to 42-14-8.

Saskatoon has won 12 of its last 13 games and is sitting securely inside the top four of the overall WHL standings.

    The Warriors jumped out to 1-0 lead in Tuesday’s game, when star left-winger Tristin Langan scored his 48^th goal of the season just 56 seconds into the first period.

Blades overage defenceman Brandon Schuldhaus proceeded to provide headaches to his former club.   
    The Blades acquired Schuldhaus in a trade with the Warriors in the early part of the season.
    Schuldhaus scored at the 15:02 mark of the first period to even things up at 1-1. The Calgary product potted his second of the contest at the 6:24 mark of the second to give the Blades a 2-1 advantage.

Brandon Schuldhaus scored twice for the Blades.

    The Warriors evened things up at 2-2 at the 11:55 mark of the second with a short-handed goal coming from star centre Justin Almeida.

    Just 20 seconds after Almeida’s goal, Blades star offensive defenceman Dawson Davidson drove home his 11^th goal of the season to put the visitors up 3-2.

    With under a minute to play, star centre Kirby Dach scored for the Blades to seal victory.

    Nolan Maier made 26 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Brodan Salmond turned away 26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Warriors (35-19-6-2).

    Saskatoon improved its impressive road record to 22-8-3 with the win over the Warriors. The Blades have won four of the five head-to-head encounters with Moose Jaw this season.

    The Warriors return to action on Friday, when they travel to Regina to take on the Pats at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    The Blades return home to host the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. That contest will be the Blades’ “WHL Suits Up” with Don Cherry to promote organ donation game.

    Saskatoon will wear Don Cherry inspired suit jerseys for that contest. The jerseys will be silent auctioned during the game with the proceeds going to the Saskatoon branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

Back in the Express with Haden

My story on Gary Haden in the Saskatoon Express.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a story on Saskatoon Blades left-winger Gary Haden.

    Haden was acquired in a trade early in the season from the Medicine Hat Tigers. In 51 regular season games with the Blades, Haden has piled up 28 goals and 30 assists and a plus-20 rating in the plus-minus department.

    He has taken on the nickname of “Uncle Gary.” The Blades have been selling “Uncle Gary” T-shirts at their store in the SaskTel Centre.

    Copies of the Express can be found in various locations around Saskatoon.
    The story on Haden 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.

-------

    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.

Pats capture WHL regular season title, Blades wonder what might have been

Caleb Fantillo (#39) looks out to the ice after the Blades loss.

    REGINA - The Saskatoon Blades did their best to try and spoil the party for the Regina Pats.

    They stormed out to a 3-1 lead after the first period in a WHL clash on Tuesday night at the Brandt Centre. From there, the Pats staged a classic comeback to skate away with a 5-4 victory and lock up first place overall in the WHL regular season standings for the first time since they last won the Memorial Cup in 1974.

    While the Pats, who improved to 49-12-7-1, celebrated winning the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy to the delight of 4,695 spectators, the Blades were left to ponder how much closer they are getting to the end of their campaign.

    Saskatoon dropped to 27-34-7-2 to fall perilously close to being eliminated from playoff contention.

    Entering the night, the Blades could potentially catch either the Red Deer Rebels or the Calgary Hitmen to move into a playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Rebels (29-28-8-4) clinched a playoff berth with an 8-3 romp over the Tigers in Medicine Hat.

The Pats salute their fans after Tuesday’s game.

    The Hitmen (28-31-8-2) led the Blades by three points in the standing for eighth place overall in the Eastern Conference and the conference’s final wildcard berth. Calgary just needs to earn two more points in the standings to clinch the conference’s final playoff berth and can do just that in a road clash against the Rebels in Red Deer on Wednesday. The Rebels sit four points ahead of the Hitmen in the standings.

    “It (the Blades dressing room) is pretty deflated right now,” said Blades overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk. “Not too many words were said after that one especially giving up a two-goal lead.

    “We are not out of it yet technically, but it seems like the odds are pretty well stacked against us. We need pretty much a miracle to get into playoffs. We are not out of yet.

    “We will see what Calgary does and go from there.”

    In the opening 20 minutes, Caleb Fantillo, Dryden Michaud and Josh Paterson all netted singles for the Blades, while Nick Henry replied for the Pats.

Jesse Shynkaruk weaves into the offensive zone for the Blades.

    The tallies from Michaud – the first of his WHL career - and Paterson came 28 seconds apart from each other near the end of the first period and broke a 1-1 tie.

    The Pats regrouped and came at the Blades in waves in the second. Jeff de Wit started the rally for the hosts, and star centre Sam Steel buried his 49^th of the season off a giveaway from Blades import defenceman Libor Hajek to tie things up at 3-3.

    With 1:44 to play in the second, Steel sent a beauty pass to pinching defenceman Josh Mahura on a two-on-one break to put the Pats up 4-3.

    “A team like that, you can’t give them any momentum,” said Shynkaruk. “They ran with it and got a couple of quick ones. We were kind back on our heels, and it kind of went from there.”

    In the third, Pats star offensive defenceman Connor Hobbs blasted home his 29^th of the season from the point while working the power play to extend Regina’s advantage to 5-3 with 4:38 to play.

Blades rookie Dryden Michaud, centre, celebrates his first WHL goal.

    Still, the Blades didn’t go away and had a chance to rally back, when the Pats encountered penalty troubles. Working on a two-man advantage with the goalie pulled, Blades winger Michael Farren converted a passing play from Shynkaruk and Braylon Shmyr to cut Regina’s lead to 5-4 with 1:17 to play.

    Saskatoon continued to work on the power play through to the end of the frame but couldn’t find the equalizer.

    Logan Flodell turned away 30 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades. Tyler Brown turned away 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pats.
    Regina captain Adam Brooks picked up three assists in the win.

    Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock was pleased to see his club lock up first overall and home ice advantage through the entire WHL playoffs.

    “I think any time that happens everybody is obviously extremely happy,” said Paddock. “You think about it after you achieved it.

Sam Steel netted his 49th goal of the season and two assists for the Pats.

    “There is lots more we obviously want to do. As (assistant coach) Dave (Struch) just said in there, it is really hard thing to be the best team after 72 games.

    “It doesn’t mean a lot. You get some sort of trophy, but it is not what you are ultimately playing for.”

    Paddock of course was hinting at winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions and capturing the Memorial Cup for major junior supremacy.

    Last season with the Rebels, de Wit was part of team that advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series and played in the Memorial Cup tournament as the host squad.

    On WHL trade deadline day back on Jan. 10, de Wit was dealt along with Mahura from the Rebels to the Pats to help Regina make a long post-season run, and the gritty forward, who celebrated his 19^th birthday on Tuesday, was happy to help the Pats lock up first overall in the WHL.

Josh Mahura works the point on the power play for the Pats.

    “I knew how deep this team was and the type of skill they had,” said de Wit. “Coming here, I just wanted to contribute and play my best hockey.

    “I’ve done that for the most part, and it is pretty exciting to clinch league.”

    For the Blades, they are forced to mull over three straight losses against two very tough teams. Before falling to the Pats on Tuesday, the Blades dropped both games of a home-and-home series with the Swift Current Broncos, who are 38-21-4-6, this past weekend. Saskatoon played good enough to win one or even all of its last three games.

    “It is frustrating for sure,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “It is disappointing. It is frustrating.

    “You can use a lot of different words to describe it. Really, it is all about lessons. For some of the younger guys that get into this position where you need wins and you need to win games at this time of the year it is a great experience for them.”

Pats captain Adam Brooks works magic in the offensive zone.

    Brockman said the Pats have a team that is at a more advanced stage than his side.

    “They’ve got how many wins for a reason, and they won the league for a reason,” said Brockman. “Certainly, they should have that ability to get to that level.

    “We are close to being out of the playoffs, so I mean certainly it is the tale of two different teams for sure.”

    The Pats return to action Wednesday, when they host the Broncos at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    The Blades return home to host the Prince Albert Raiders (20-43-5-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    “Whatever happens, we have to play hard in front of our home fans – give them something to come out to,” said Shynkaruk. “(We need to) finish the season hard.”

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