Pats’ top line too much for Blades to handle

Pats captain Jake Leschyshyn tries to beat Blades goalie Dorrin Luding.

    REGINA, Sask. – Don’t tell the Regina Pats top line that this season is supposed to be a write off.

    Regina’s first line of captain Jake Leschyshyn, left-winger Nick Henry and right-winger Austin Pratt combined for five goals and three assists to help the Pats outgun the visiting Saskatoon Blades 6-5 in a WHL regular season tilt before 5,600 spectators at the Brandt Centre on Saturday night.

    That trio didn’t seem to care the Pats are stuck in a rebuilding campaign following a season where the club hosted the Memorial Cup and on the heels of the 2016-17 campaign that saw the team finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings and advanced to the league championship series falling to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Captain Jake Leschyshyn had two goals and an assist for the Pats.

    The Pats are devoid of the stars that helped them through those two special seasons outside of Leschyshyn, who has signed a NHL entry-level contract with the Las Vegas Golden Knights, and Henry, who is an NHL Entry Draft selection of the Colorado Avalanche.

    Both have spent their entire WHL playing careers with the Pats. Leschyshyn became a full-time member of the world’s oldest major junior franchise in 2015-16 campaign and Henry came on board during the 2016-17 season. They each had a pair of goals and an assist in Saturday’s win.

    It was obvious to see both have a lot emotionally invested in the Regina team with the effort they gave in Saturday’s wild 1980s style high-scoring contest, which saw the starting goalies for both squads get chased from the game.

LW Nick Henry (#21) had two goals and an assist for the Pats.

    Pratt is known for his gritty work ethic, and he has no quit now in his second campaign with the Pats having come over in a trade with the Red Deer Rebels last season. The Lakeville, Minn., product had a goal and an assist to help the Regina cause on Saturday.

    As a unit, they give the Pats enough to potentially play the role of spoiler on any given night. They did just that helping the Pats improve to 5-12 while the Blades fell to 10-7-2.

    The Blades struck first at the 3:12 mark of the opening frame with a power-play goal coming from overage right-winger Max Gerlach, who would score twice on the night.

Austin Pratt had a goal and an assist for the Pats.

    The Pats proceeded to take leads of 3-1 and 4-2 before the Blades scored three straight to go into the second intermission up 5-4. Blades captain Chase Wouters supplied the go-ahead goal on the power play burying a nice set up pass from star 17-year-old centre Kirby Dach, who had three assists in the setback.

    That set the moment for the Pats top line to take centre stage with some third period heroics.

    At the 9:03 mark of the third, Pats overage defenceman Aaron Hyman, who had three assists in the win, hit Henry with a breakout pass into the Saskatoon zone. Blazing down the left wing, Henry slipped a pass across the face of the Saskatoon goal to Leschyshyn, who buried a marker that forced a 5-5 tie.

    With 4:12 remaining in the third, Henry labeled a shot to the top left corner of the Saskatoon goal on the power play to provide the winning tally for the Pats.

    The Blades were 3-for-6 on the power play, while the Pats scored on both their chances with the man advantage.

Kirby Dach backed the Blades offence with three assists.

    Tristen Robins and Seth Bafaro each had singles for the Blades. Duncan Pierce had the lone tally that didn’t come from the Pats top line.

    Nolan Maier turned away 5-of-8 shots starting in goal for the Blades before being pulled 31 seconds into the second after the Pats went ahead 3-1. Dorrin Luding stopped 14-of-17 shots in relief and took the loss in goal for Saskatoon.

    Max Paddock turned away 21-of-26 shots playing the first 40 minutes of Saturday’s affair in goal for the Pats. Dean McNabb took over at the start of the third period and turned away all six shots he faced to pick up the win in goal for Regina.

    The Pats return to action this coming Friday, when they host the Tri-City Americans at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. The Blades next game is also this coming Friday, when they travel to Medicine Hat to face the Tigers.

    While the Pats are in a reloading stage, Leschyshyn, Henry and Pratt showed how much of a factor heart can play in the outcome of a WHL game and provided a tough lesson for the Blades to learn in the process.

The Pats celebrate their victory on Saturday night.

    The Blades are now 3-5-2 in their last 10 outings after starting hot out of the gate with a 7-2 mark in their first nine contests. Saskatoon has hit a lull where the newness of the WHL schedule ends and the 68-game regular season becomes more of a grind.

    Going forward, the players on the Blades need to try and match the level of emotional attachment to their team like Leschyshyn, Henry and Pratt have for the Pats.

    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.

Blades fall to Thunderbirds to close U.S. road trip

Seth Bafaro scored for the Blades on Tuesday night.

    The Saskatoon Blades just missed returning from their road trip through the WHL’s U.S. Division with a winning record over that five-game jaunt.

    On Tuesday night at the ShoWare Centre in Kent, Washington, the Blades concluded their five-game road swing with a 4-1 setback against the Seattle Thunderbirds before 4,003 spectators. With the loss, the Blades posted a 2-3 record playing each of the WHL’s five clubs based in the United States.

    Overall, the Blades record fell to 11-15-2-1, while the Thunderbirds, who are rebuilding after winning the WHL championship last season, improved to 13-13-2-1.

    The Thunderbirds got out to a quick start in Tuesday’s encounter as 17-year-old rookie centre Tyler Carpendale scored at the 2:19 mark of the opening frame.

    Just over four minutes later, Blades defenceman Seth Bafaro scored from the point to even the score at 1-1.

    Seattle controlled play in the second outshooting Saskatoon 17-3 in the frame. Due to the stellar play of Blades 16-year-old rookie goalie Nolan Maier, the Thunderbirds only managed to exit the second stanza holding a 2-1 edge.

    Finnish import winger Sami Moilanen potted his 16^th over the season at the 2:57 mark of the second frame, and the officials had to go to a video review to confirm Moilanen did indeed score due to the fact he was on the border of the crease of the Saskatoon goal.

Netminder Nolan Maier stopped 31-of-34 shots for the Blades on Tuesday.

    Just 85 seconds into the third, the Thunderbirds went ahead 3-1 on an unassisted goal by 17-year-old left-winger Dillon Hamaliuk. The Blades pushed back holding a 14-12 in shots on goal in the third, but the Thunderbirds salted away victory with an empty-net goal by Blake Bargar in the game’s final seconds.

    Maier turned away 31-of-34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Matt Berlin made 26 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds.

    The Blades return to action on Saturday, when they host the Kamloops Blazers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. That contest is the team’s “Girls Rock Game,” where the Blades are partnering with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Saskatoon.

    The Blades have a special ticket offer for girls groups in the city where 20 tickets can be purchased for $100, and it allows the group to attend a girl empowerment talk featuring Claire Hanna, who is a former member of Canada’s national women’s volleyball team and a sports reporter for Global Saskatoon. Hanna’s talk is slated to run from 5:30 to 6 p.m. pre-game at the SaskTel Centre.

    On Sunday at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel, the Blades host the arch-rivals the Prince Albert Raiders in their annual “Teddy Bear Toss” game. Spectators are invited to throw stuffed animals on to the ice surface after the Blades score their first goal.

Stars’ Leschyshyn commits to Syracuse University

The Stars’ Anna Leschyshyn has committed to Syracuse University.

    Anna Leschyshyn has verbally committed to play for the Syracuse University Orange Women’s hockey team for the start of the 2019-20 National Collegiate Athletic Association campaign.

    Leschyshyn is a star 16-year-old power forward with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team. The Saskatoon product sits third in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League scoring race piling up 13 goals and 15 assists helping the Stars jump out to a 13-0 start.

    In 72 career regular season games with the Stars, Leschyshyn, who stands 5-foot-10, has 43 goals and 45 assists. She is the daughter of long time former NHL defenceman and Saskatoon Blades grad Curtis Leschyshyn, who is one of the Stars assistant coaches.

    Anna’s older brother, Jake Leschyshyn, is an 18-year-old centre with the WHL’s Regina Pats. Jake has seven goals and six assists in 24 appearances so far this season with the Pats.

    The Stars resume regular season play on Dec. 16, when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Diamond Energy Wildcats.

Dorsett pens a heartfelt thanks to his supporters

Derek Dorsett, seen here in 2007, penned a heartfelt letter to his supporters.

    Feisty forward Derek Dorsett, who was forced to retire from the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks last week due to a back injury, released a heartfelt thanks to his supporters on Tuesday.

    About a year ago, the Kindersley, Sask., product underwent a cervical-fusion surgery to heal up a damaged disk in his back. About two weeks ago, Dorsett’s doctors in Los Angeles, Calif., discovered another herniated disk near the rebuilt section of his back, and he was advised to not play again. His retirement was officially announced last Thursday.

    Dorsett had gotten out to a great start with the Canucks netting seven goals and two assists in 20 regular season games. After spending his first professional season with the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch in 2007-08, Dorsett started playing in the NHL on a full-time basis with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2008-09.

    He appeared in 515 regular season games with the Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Canucks netting 51 goals, 76 assists and 1,314 penalty minutes. Over his hockey career, Dorsett, who stands 6-feet and weighs 192 pounds, became one of the game’s best agitators, but he was also viewed as one of the best teammates no matter where his career took him.

    Dorsett played for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers from 2004 to 2007 and was one of the franchise’s all-time greatest fan favourite players. He recorded 49 goals, 79 assists and 593 penalty minutes in 180 regular season games with the Tabbies.

    His letter to his supporters 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.

-------

    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.