Blades need to continue community efforts

Chase Wouters, right, signs autographs at a post-game skate with the Blades.

    The Saskatoon Blades can’t get complacent when it comes to being involved in the community.

    In a fickle market like Saskatoon that is becoming more and more saturated with sports teams, you have to keep doing the school visits, appearances at community functions and having game themes that involve the community to keep your team’s brand in the minds of the people.

    The Blades ended the 2018-19 campaign on a high note. They returned to the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2013 posting a WHL’s fourth best regular season record at 45-15-8.

    Their roster was filled with numerous likable players like captain Chase Wouters, Kirby Dach, Nolan Maier, Max Gerlach, Riley McKay, Dawson Davidson, Brandon Schuldhaus, Gary Haden, Ryan Hughes, Kyle Crnkovic, Randen Schmidt and Dorrin Luding.

Riley McKay, right, has fun with a young fan at a skate with the Blades.

    Saskatoon won its first WHL playoff series since 2011 sweeping the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series.

    That set up a showdown with their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders, who finished first overall in the regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 mark.

    The Blade fell in an intense six-game series. The Raiders advanced on to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions.

    Saskatoon’s season ended with a 6-3 loss to Prince Albert in Game 6 of that second round clash. That contest was played at the SaskTel Centre and drew 10,521 spectators.

    While the Raiders had a large contingent of fans following their team down from “Hockey Town North,” it would be safe to say 70 per cent of the people in that crowd were out to support the Blades. Over five playoff home games, the Blades drew an average of 7,428 spectators per contest.

The Blades are active with school visits like this one in January of 2018.

    Saskatoon averaged 3,911 spectators per game over 34 regular season home dates in 2018-19, which was an increase from the 3,851 spectators per game the club drew in 2017-18 for 36 home dates.

    A surge at the gates late in the regular season in 2018-19 helped the Blades show a small improvement in average attendance. The most uplifting sight was the fact the Blades drew attendance figures of 4,270, 4,555, 4,454 and 9,188 in each of their respective final four home regular season games.

    The positive momentum the Blades had built by the end of the campaign can potentially create a false sense of security or the perception that the good times are about to roll.

Some of the performers that are seen at the Blades’ First Nations night.

    In Saskatoon’s sports scene, it seems like a team can fall of the cliff and lose all its positive momentum about 10 times faster than it took to build it up.

    Going into the 2019-20 campaign, the Blades need to continue their community ground game they have had since Edmonton product Mike Priestner became the owner of the team before the start of the 2013-14 campaign.

    Steve Hogle was the brains behind a lot of the community and game day initiatives the Blades put forward, when he became the team’s president before the 2013-14 campaign.

People take their citizenship oath at the Blades’ “welcome the world” game.

    Two of the most memorable are the when the Blades hold their First Nations night game and their “welcome the world” game. The latter sees about 45 newcomers to Canada become Canadian citizens.

    While both of those nights usually involve a tonne of moving parts, they create a feeling of inclusion, which helps attract new fans.

    Hogle stepped down from the president’s role after the Blades were eliminated from the 2019 WHL playoffs but will continue to be an alternate governor with the Saskatoon franchise. Hogle’s new role will allow him to live back in Edmonton, where he and his wife, Cathy, will be closer to family.

Steve Hogle was behind lots of the Blades community and game day events.

    Cliff Mapes, who is a veteran WHL executive, stepped down as the Blades vice-president of business operations after the team was eliminated from the playoffs. He has since joined the staff of the rival Raiders as their executive director of business operations.

    With Hogle residing more in Edmonton and Mapes departing to Prince Albert, the youngsters are left to execute the community and game day initiatives for the team.

    Blades general manager Colin Priestner has taken on the president’s role. Tyler Wawryk was promoted from being the team’s manager of communication to director of business operations.

    The club’s business operations staff is filled with young faces like Kim Varty, Maclean Nelson, Eric Anderson, Allie Lindal, Caitlyn Gray and Mat Lukash.

The Blades community involvement helps bring out the fans.

    Ryan Lafontaine, who is the Blades director of finance and administration, is a long time office veteran, but he is still on the younger side of the age spectrum.

    Overall, I think the youngsters are ready to run and continue what Hogle and Mapes did.

    Going into the 2019-20 season, the Blades will return popular players like Wouters, Maier and Crnkovic. Dach could end up playing in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks, who selected him third overall in June’s NHL Entry Draft and have signed him to a three-year NHL entry-level contract.

    If Dach returns, he becomes another good person the Blades can have in the community.

Blades right-winger Ryan Hughes sends a stick to the fans last season.

    Actually, head coach Mitch Love has the potential to be another person that can become enduring in the community. He has always become popular in his previous WHL stops most notably as a player and coach with the Everett Silvertips, but also as a player with the Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos.

    Blades have always been strong when it comes to community and game day initiatives since Mike Priestner became the team’s owner.

    For the Saskatoon club, this is a “do not fix what isn’t broken” spot and something that needs to continue in the future.

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

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Blades playoff return marks sweet night at SaskTel Centre

Max Gerlach (#9) hugs goalie Dorrin Luding after Saturday’s win.

    Two recent near misses made Saturday night that much more sweet for the Saskatoon Blades and their fans.

    On Saturday, the Blades ensured they will make their long awaited return to the WHL playoffs locking up a post-season berth with a 4-3 regular season victory after a tiebreaking shootout over the visiting Kootenay Ice at the SaskTel Centre. Saskatoon will be part of the WHL post-season for the first time since 2013.

    Going into that contest with the Ice, the Blades and their fans knew they would clinch a playoff berth with a win and either a regulation loss that night by either the Brandon Wheat Kings or the Red Deer Rebels.

Dorrin Luding (#31) stops the final shooter in the shootout.

    The Wheat Kings were in Prince Albert taking on the Raiders, while the Rebels were hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings in Red Deer.

    Due to the fact we live in an age when people can get instant information on their mobile phones, it is safe to say most of the 4,334 in attendance at the SaskTel Centre knew the Wheat Kings were getting drubbed by the Raiders 7-1.

    The Blades were up on the Ice 3-1 going into the third period only to have the Ice rally to tie things up at 3-3 and force overtime. As fate would have it, the standings point the Blades gained going to extra time would give them a playoff spot. The fact Rebels fell to the Oil Kings 5-2 cemented that scenario.

Chase Wouters was floating on air after Saturday’s win.

    Still, it made the celebrations of returning to the post-season feel that much better for those in the building, when the Blades pulled out the win taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0 on a goal from rookie left-winger Kyle Crnkovic.

    Had the Blades lost in extra time to go to the post-season, it would have made the night feel incomplete. People would have likely dwelled on the fact the Blades still ultimately lost.

    After getting the win, it seemed like everyone was in a type of joyful mood that hadn’t been seen for some time in a Blades game at the SaskTel Centre. The moment had a special feeling in the air.

    For the current Blades players, coaches, trainers, hockey staff and front office staff, there was a sense of accomplishment. Getting to the playoffs is one of those tangible pieces of proof that validates all the hard work it took to get to that point.

Kirby Dach turns up ice for the Blades on Saturday night.

    The Priestner family had to be feeling all sorts of emotions, when the Blades locked down their playoff berth.

    Edmonton product Mike Priestner bought the Blades from Jack Brodsky before the start of the 2013-14 campaign. The new regime faced a major rebuilding project due to the fact the Blades’ future was mortgaged to stock the team with a roster worthy of hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013 and a major trade that brought star hometown product Brayden Schenn to the club in the 2010-11 campaign.

    Mike’s son, Colin, began working with the team almost immediately and took over the role of general manager before the start of the 2016-17 campaign.

Blades fans participate in a game during a stoppage.

    It was almost a given the first couple of seasons would be lame duck campaigns as the rebuild got underway under Mike Priestner’s ownership. In the 2013-14 season, the Blades finished with a 16-51-2-3 record for 37 points in the standings. The road back to respectability was going to be a long one.

    The first legitimate chance the Blades had to return to the playoffs came in the 2016-17 season.

The Blades celebrate a goal from Reece Harsch (#52).

    They posted a 28-35-7-2 record to sit five points behind the Calgary Hitmen (30-32-8-2) for the second and final wildcard berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference in that campaign after a slump inside of the team’s final 11 games.

    The 2017-18 campaign proved to be more heartbreaking. The Blades posted a 35-33-3-1 regular season record to fall three points shy of the Prince Albert Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second and final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference. Again struggles in the final 11 games of the regular season caused a playoff berth to be missed.

Zach Huber, middle, breaks in on a scoring chance.

    The memories of those disappointments made Saturday’s win over the Ice that much more sweet.

Blades mascot Poke Check was posing for pictures with happy fans.

    Blades captain Chase Wouters, who is in his third full season with the Blades, seemed to be walking on air after the game. His wide smile was infectious.

    The moment was a great one for Blades 19-year-old netminder Dorrin Luding. Last June, the Blades acquired Luding in a trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Clayton Kroeker rocks an “Uncle Gary” T-shirt.

    He knew he was coming in to backup sophomore star Nolan Maier, but Luding was pumped to be on a team that had potential to do great things. He became popular in the dressing, and as a huge bonus, he started against the Ice making 34 saves over 65 minutes and turning away all three shooters he faced in the shootout to get the win.

    Right now, Luding wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but Saskatoon.

    Crnkovic, who turned 17-years-old earlier this month, seemed to still be wide-eyed taking in the realization of what went down on Saturday during post-game interviews.

    Even first year head coach Mitch Love allowed himself exit his coached focused persona to loosen up and say he was excited about the fact the Blades will be back in the playoffs.

Ryan Hughes sets up for a scoring chance for the Blades.

    What might be even cooler is the fact the Blades aren’t just scraping into the playoffs. At 38-14-8, they currently sit fourth overall in the WHL standings. They are one of the WHL’s elite clubs.

Since bringing back their traditional Pac-Man jerseys as their full-time look before the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the Blades are 73-47-11-1.

    For the longest time during the lean years in the rebuild, Blades president Steve Hogle received a tonne of credit for helping create some great promotions around home games. The hockey side of the team’s operations longed to have the good on ice product to go with those promotions.

    Now, the Blades have a total package. They also have a very likable and great group of players to follow too, and six of them have cool novelty T-shirts for fans to buy too.

    Another thing that will make things fun is going to the playoffs and taking in the experiences will feel new once again. The Blades will write their own story on a clean slate. Most with the club don’t have any links to past post-season forays.

The Blades celebrate locking up a playoff berth on Saturday.

    The first new experience will be tuning up for the playoffs over the team’s last eight regular season games. That beings on Tuesday, when the Blades host the Lethbridge Hurricanes at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    No matter what happens going forward, those linked with the current Blades will always remember how good Saturday’s post-season clinching win over the Ice felt 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.

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Blades deserve more fans in the stands at SaskTel Centre

The Blades celebrate their Dec. 9 win over the Raiders.

    If fictional play-by-play voice Harry Doyle from the movie Major League had a sports talk show about the Saskatoon Blades, his intro might go something like this.

    “Hi folks, this is Harry Doyle and welcome to Saskatoon Blades Banter. In case you haven’t noticed – and judging by attendance you haven’t – the Blades have won a few lately.”

    Actually, the Blades sit fourth overall in the 22-team WHL or second overall in the 12-team Eastern Conference with a 21-10-4 record at the Christmas break. Saskatoon has the same amount of points in the standings as the Vancouver Giants at 46, but the Giants are placed third overall in the league standings due to having more wins at 22-8-2.

    While the Blades have risen to the status of being one of the WHL’s top teams, fans in “the Bridge City” seem skeptical of a franchise that hasn’t made the post-season since hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013. Saskatoon just missed out on making the playoffs in each of the past two campaigns going 28-35-7-2 in 2016-17 and 35-33-3-1 last season.

Kirby Dach is one of the Blades bright young stars.

    After 15 home dates, the Blades are averaging 3,658 spectators per game at the SaskTel Centre, which seats 15,195. The Blades haven’t been that low for an average attendance in a season since they averaged 3,361 spectators per game back in the 2003-04 campaign, when they posted a franchise worst record of seven wins, 52 losses, 11 ties and two overtime setbacks.

    The list of reasons why people in Saskatoon say they don’t go to Blades games seems to be as long as the Trans-Canada Highway.

    Traveling the WHL circuit specifically in Saskatchewan over the past three seasons has allowed me to come to the conclusion that the other four league centres in the province in Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina and Swift Current support their teams better than Saskatoon does.

    Like Saskatoon, fans in the other four Saskatchewan centres with WHL teams have had their reasons not to go to games over the years during down times. It also seems the bad feelings disappear quickly in those centres, when the players work hard and the team shows improvement in the win column.

Netminder Nolan Maier has been sensational in goal for the Blades.

    If the team rises to the point of being one the WHL’s top clubs, the rinks in the other four Saskatchewan centres fill up.

    It feels like Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina and Swift Current are more blue collar than Saskatoon. That characteristic sees people in those centres rally around their hockey teams that much quicker than “Toon Town” does.

    Saskatoon as a centre seems to have a split personality. It has a sizable arts side to its personality, where a large amount of people see themselves as being sophisticated. They will go to Blades games, if it is the trendy thing to do in order to be seen.

    Those are the cards the Blades management and staff have to work with.

Maybe it would be helpful for attendance if a Starbucks was built on the grounds of the SaskTel Centre. With that said, there is great specialty coffee stand at the rink.

Nolan Kneen has been a big pick up via the trade route.

    Blades president Steve Hogle likes to explore and enjoy all of the Saskatoon’s special aspects, so maybe he can make a few more visits to the Remai Modern art museum with his lovely wife, Cathy, in a bid to help attendance. Hogle has overseen some great promotions and presentations around the game since joining the Blades in 2013.

    A number of Blades staffers have attended Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan performances during the summer months.

    It should be noted that the diehards that head to the SaskTel Centre regularly for Blades games are great supporters, so the team does have that going for them as a building block.

    With the product coming around on the ice, the Blades have to stay the course and keep up their activities of getting connected into the community like they have in the last five to six seasons. It is not a quick fix for the attendance woes, but it is a stay the course thing you have to hope pays off.

Brandon Schuldhaus has been a key trade pick up.

    The Blades best asset are their players, who interact with the public the most and are out in the community. The Blades have put together a roster full of excellent young men. The more the public gets to see that side of the players the more they will get the urge to attend games.

    For the on ice product, the Blades two biggest selling points revolve around centre Kirby Dach and netminder Nolan Maier, who are 17-year-old stars both in their second full seasons in the league. Dach has huge potential to first round selection in next year’s NHL Entry Draft.

    He leads the Blades in scoring with 14 goals and 28 assists, while posting a plus-five rating in the plus-minus department. His ability to play well on the defensive side of the game is vastly underrated.

    Maier burst on to the scene last season with a number of remarkable performances. He had some bumps in the road early on this season, but he has really found his stride over the last month to cement his reputation as being one of the best goalies in the league.

A couple of young fans cheer on the Blades.

    The Yorkton, Sask., product is having a solid campaign posting a 17-8-3 record, a 2.80 goals against average, a .909 save percentage and two shutouts.

    Dach and Maier are mirror images of recent star grads coming from a couple of the Blades provincial rivals in Adam Brooks and Sam Steel of the Regina Pats and Glenn Gawdin and Tyler Steenbergen of the Swift Current Broncos.

    Like those four recent grads, Dach and Maier don’t skip any steps in working to be better. You never have to worry about them, because you know they will always do the right thing. They personable and the perfect people you want representing your team.

    Another pair of players who are invested in the team and are veteran career members in 19-year-old right-winger and assistant captain Josh Paterson and 18-year-old captain Chase Wouters. Paterson has had a sound campaign recording 10 goals and 17 assists in 33 regular season games, while posting a plus-eight rating.

Chase Wouters has taken on a new role this season as Blades captain.

    Wouters is off to a little slower start offensively posting five goals and 10 assists appearing in all of the Blades 35 games taking over as the Blades captain this season. His work ethic has still been there. He is extremely intelligent, and you can expect the offensive totals to rise the more he finds the balance with the leadership responsibilities he has been entrusted with and his personal game.

    Overager Dawson Davidson has cemented his role as an offensive defenceman as he sits second in team scoring with seven goals and 27 assists for 34 points. He is recorded a plus-seven rating to go along with his point totals.

Dawson Davidson sits second overall in Blades team scoring.

    The duo that has really turned heads on the back end are overager Brandon Schuldhaus and 19-year-old Nolan Kneen. Both were acquired in trades during the first half of the campaign.

    Schuldhaus and Kneen have become the Blades top defensive pair, and they are the go to due in obvious shut down situations. They both offensive ability as well to go along with toughness and grit.

    Saskatoon’s blue-line improved by leaps and bounds, when they arrived in town.

    The Blades have youngsters who could turn out to be great players in the near future in 16-year-old rookies Kyle Crnkovic, who is a left-winger, and defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere. Both are still getting their feet wet in the WHL and have looked like regulars when they’ve hit the ice.

Josh Paterson is again putting up solid offensive totals for the Blades.

    Crnkovic, who has one goal and four assists in 19 games, has shown flashes of being very creative in recent games showing why he was selected by the club in the first round and 10^th overall in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. The Chestermere, Alta., product is already forcing the Blades coaching staff to consider using him in bigger roles.

    Speaking of the coaches, first year head coach Mitch Love has been as good as advertised. He came to the Blades having been an assistant coach and an assistant to the general manager with the Everett Silvertips last season.

    The 34-year-old came to the Blades with the reputation of being one of the best and brightest young and up and coming coaches in the league have also worked in Hockey Canada’s system. When he arrived in Saskatoon, Love gave credit to former head coach Dean Brockman and his staff saying they had done some real good working bring the players a long way.

Rookie Kyle Crnkovic could see larger minutes as the season goes on.

    Brockman and the Blades parted ways at the end of last season, and he is now the head coach and director of hockey operations with the Swift Current Broncos.

    Love, who is very accommodating, and his staff have successfully built off the foundation that they have inherited. While they look for continued improvement, they have put their stamp on the team.

    Colin Priestner has learned and improved in each season since taking over the role as Blades general manager before the start of the 2016-17 campaign. Priestner, whose father Mike owns the team, has made some really good trades over the past three years and overseen some good Bantam Drafts.

Riley McKay has provided energy playing the role of agitator.

    Priestner is showing he is turning out to be pretty accomplished in the general manager’s role, and he will likely be viewed that way when the dust settles over the long term.

    Besides bringing in Schuldhaus and Kneen, Priestner has added forwards Max Gerlach, Eric Florchuk and Gary Haden via the trade route over the past two seasons, and that trio adds a lot to the Blades with regards to scoring depth.
    Left-winger Riley McKay adds more spice on the ice adding energy as an agitator, while finding ways to add offensive contributions.

    Now, it just has to become the trendy thing to do in Saskatoon to attend Blades games.

Max Gerlach has remained a hot sharpshooter for the Blades.

    On the topic of looking good, the Blades brought back their classic Pac-Man look as their regular full-time look before the start of last season. The Blades wore that blue and gold look for some of their most successful years spanning from 1982 to 1994 posting a 479-353-32 regular season record over that time. Saskatoon reached the WHL championship series wearing that look in 1992 and 1994 and falling in seven games on both of those occasions.

    The Blades Pac-Man jerseys are still one of the best looking uniforms in hockey, so hopefully the trendy folks in Saskatoon take notice of that too.

    Wearing the Pac-Mans, the Blades gave their archrivals and the number one ranked team in the CHL in the Prince Albert Raiders (31-2-0-1) one of their three losses this season. In a beauty game, the Blades blanked the Raiders 1-0 on Dec. 9 at the SaskTel Centre.

The Blades hope to enjoy a number of victory celebrations after Christmas.

    The Blades have a great group to support, and they are winning and winning is always fun. Like the other for WHL Saskatchewan centres, here is hoping all the people in Saskatoon can let loose and feel free to indulge in the fun the Blades are providing this season.

    They return to action on Thursday when the host the Raiders at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    I know the team would love to see you all at the rink.

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

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Roughriders’ Johnson walks the walk in giving back

Star DB has busy “day off” at schools in Saskatoon

Jovon Johnson, right, gives a pointer to a Mustangs defensive back.

    Jovon Johnson lives what he preaches when it comes to giving back to the community.

    The star defensive back for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders was in Saskatoon on Monday handing out backpacks full of school supplies to students at Princess Alexandra School and King George School. Following those stops, he made a visit to Mount Royal Collegiate to give a talk to the Mustangs junior and senior football teams and led a helping hand for the entire duration of a two-hour practice.

    The 34-year-old, who was on a “day off,” stressed how key it is for him to be active in the community.

Jovon Johnson, right, stresses catching the ball at its highest point.

    “It is important because of the platform that we have as professional athletes to be involved in the community,” said Johnson, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 190 pounds. “The community pays our paycheques.

    “At the end of the day, it is our job to give back to them in as many ways that we can. We can create ways to be involved in the community, so I brainstorm a lot and come up with ideas and put them in motion.

    “At the end of the day, I am able to impact so many people and put smiles on so many people’s faces just by doing that in opening myself up to the people and allowing them to get to know me and what I am all about.”

    One of Johnson’s brainstorms was the idea of handing out backpacks full of school supplies to children in schools.

Jovon Johnson sets to throw the football during a DBs drill.

    The 12-year CFL veteran and 13-year professional football player reflected on his own upbringing in Erie, Pennsylvania, when he didn’t always have everything he needed.

    He gained supporting partners in TD Bank, Lipsett Cartage and Staples Business Depot to help put together 500 backpacks with school supplies, which were handed out between schools in Saskatoon and Regina. Johnson contacted a company in the United States to supply the backpacks.

    Joined by receiver Bruce Thompson, who is on the Roughriders negotiation list, Johnson said he loved seeing the heartfelt expressions on the faces of the children when they received their backpacks. He could tell the gesture meant a lot.

Jovon Johnson, right, demonstrates a technique in the backpedal.

    Besides seeing how appreciative the students were, Johnson was blown away by how much support he received in this endeavour.

    “It is started with 20 and ended up at 500,” said Johnson. “It just grew so big and so rapidly that the impact got that much greater.”
    At Mount Royal’s football practice, Johnson spent his time focusing on helping the Mustangs defensive backs with footwork and technique. He wanted to stress the importance of being fundamentally sound and playing attention to details to the players.

    Johnson said his fundamentals have helped him play professional football for as long as he has. He was a member of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006 before joining the CFL ranks in 2007.

    The winner of the CFL’s most outstanding defensive player award in 2011 enjoyed the chance to share his knowledge with the players on the Mustangs.

Jovon Johnson addresses the Mustangs after their practice.

    “It is good for me, because being that I have been a professional for 13 years now, I know at some point ultimately it is going to come to an end,” said Johnson. “I know that my calling in life after football is probably going to be coaching.

    “It is a great time for me to gain some experience doing that and getting to know what I am up against and the obstacles that I have ahead. At the end of the day, I am ready for that challenge when the day comes that I do hang up my cleats and say, ‘You know what, I am going into the next chapter. I know that I am already mentally and in tune with what I need to do.’”

    The Roughriders (7-4) return to action on Saturday, when they host the Ottawa Redblacks (6-5) at 7:30 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

Blades and Stantec team up for charity shootout

Mark Dinsmore from Wheaton GM skates in on a shootout chance.

    The SaskTel Centre ice surface became the place for lunchtime shinny fun on Monday during a press conference involving the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.

    The Blades and Stantec Inc. introduced the Stantec #Shootout4Charity fundraising initiative, which will be a feature at Blades home games. A total of 16 community leaders from 16 different companies each representing a charity of their choice will go head-to-head in a shootout.

    The head to head shootouts will be held during intermissions of Blades home games, and they will be conducted in a tournament style bracket. The first shootout will be held during the Blades home opener, when they face the Swift Current Broncos on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The final match and winner will be crowned on Dec. 27, when the Blades host their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders.

    The winner will receive $3,000 for their charity, the runner-up will receive $1,500 and the third place finisher will be awarded $500.

    A shootout demonstration was held in conjunction with the press conference with shooters from all 16 companies taking part in the demo.

The Stantec #Shootout4Charity championship trophy.

    The Stantec #Shootout4Charity will also include a social media contest where contestants will create videos in support of their charities. A total of two prizes worth $500 each will be handed out for the social media video contest portion of this initiative.

    “Community is a huge pillar in our organization, and while we work towards building a champion on the ice, we feel a responsibility off the ice,” said Blades president Steve Hogle in a release. “We play an incredibly popular sport.

    “We’re humbled by the popularity of our brand, and we believe that comes not only with a responsibility but an opportunity to leverage our platform for the greater good of our community.”

    The Blades return to action on Thursday, when they host the Regina Pats in a pre-season contest 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.

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Blades set to hit another homer with home opener

Team to honour former captain with return of the Pac-Man

Dave Chartier, left, speaks to reporters about Bruce Gordon.

    On an emotional level, the Saskatoon Blades appear to be set to match the spectacle of last year’s home opener at this year’s home opener.

    Almost a year ago, the Blades opened the 2016-17 campaign with “Thank You, Mr. Hockey Day” where the club saluted hockey icon in the late Gordie Howe and interred his and the ashes of his late wife, Colleen, at the base of the Gordie Howe statue that resides in front of the SaskTel Centre.

    This year in a campaign where the Blades return to their famous Pac-Man look from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the club will honour a former captain who wore that logo and made a lasting impact on Saskatoon after his hockey days. 

    When the Blades open their regular season schedule on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre against the Swift Current Broncos, the blue and gold will honour Bruce Gordon, who was well-known for his career with the Saskatoon Police Service that spanned 28 years, in a pre-game ceremony.

One of the Blades team pictures featuring Bruce Gordon.

    The Marsden, Sask., product came to the Blades in a trade with the Medicine Hat Tigers early in the 1980-81 campaign, and the grinding winger quickly became the Saskatoon club’s captain. He would leave the major junior ranks following the 1981-82 campaign having collected 17 goals, 53 assists and 552 penalty minutes in 112 regular season games with the Blades.

    Following his time playing hockey, Gordon moved on to build a distinguished career with the police starting out on regular patrol, becoming a detective sergeant in the sex crimes unit and then to major crimes. Gordon became well-known for cracking cases that appeared to be unsolvable.

    At age 50, he retired from policing to study law at the University of Saskatchewan with the goal to become a defence lawyer. Gordon graduated from law school last spring, but on June 8, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. On June 29, a special ceremony was held at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon to call the 54-year-old to the bar.

    This ceremony is traditionally held in autumn, but an exception was made in Gordon’s case to hold the ceremony earlier due to his cancer diagnosis.

Bruce Gordon’s old Blades uniform on display.

    The Blades announced their plans to honour Gordon, who also coached minor hockey and volunteered at local road races, during a press conference on Monday at the SaskTel Centre. A fitting trio of characters who have character were brought in to speak at the presser who all have links to both the Saskatoon Police Service and the WHL.

    The trio included Dave Chartier, who was one of Gordon’s former teammates with the Blades and a former partner with the police service, and he talked about his deep friendship with the hard-working forward. Long time veteran Blades assistant coach Jerome Engele, who was a former Blades defenceman from 1966 to 1971 and built his own distinguished career with the Saskatoon Police Service, also delivered a short but heartfelt tribute. Both Chartier and Engele are retired from the police service.

    The third member to speak was Patrick Nogier, who played goal for two seasons in the WHL from 1985 to 1987 split between the Kamloops Blazers and Broncos and is still an inspector for the Saskatoon Police Service, and he spoke about Gordon’s never give up characteristics.

    Chartier was a 17-year-old rookie defenceman when he became teammates with Gordon in 1981-82, when the latter was embarking on what would be his final season in junior hockey. They developed a lifelong friendship and actually live next door to each other in the current day.

Inspector Patrick Nogier speaks about Bruce Gordon.

    Chartier will be one of a number of former teammates on hand for Friday’s festivities including Brian Skrudland, Daryl Stanley, Todd Strubey, Roger Kortko and Ron Dreger. Dennis Beyak, who is the voice of the Winnipeg Jets and the Blades assistant general manager during Gordon’s years, will be the emcee for the ceremony. Jackie McLeod and Daryl Lubiniecki, who both had long runs in the roles of head coach and general manager of the Blades, will also be on hand.

    During the presser, Chartier recalled one of the many recent talks he had with Gordon.

    “I asked him if he was scared,” said Chartier. “He said he was not scared.

    “He was just sad. He was sad for things that he won’t see his grand kids (and) his great relationship with his wife (Chris). It doesn’t surprise me one bit that he said he is not scared.

    “As a young guy going to training camp, I saw the determination and the lack of fear that he had as a leader for the Blades.”

    Engele spoke about how members of the police service are held to a higher standard than what is expected of the general public and that the Blades players are expected to hold themselves at a higher level away from the rink and treat everyone with respect. 

Long time Blades assistant coach Jerome Engele talks about Bruce Gordon.

    He said Gordon fit those expectations perfectly.

    “Bruce (Gordon) was a very good example of that as a police officer,” said Engele. “You couldn’t ask for a better person to work with - a harder working person.

    “I would call him a police officer on the ice. He was a hard-nosed hockey player who did his job and worked extremely hard.

    “You would put him more in terms of a plumber level player when he was on the ice. When he was on the ice, he carried a lot of respect.”

    Nogier, whose son Nelson played defence for the Blades from 2012 to 2014, worked with Gordon in the sex crimes unit for a couple of years. The former netminder spoke that the members of the police service think of Gordon when evaluating potential new officers noting the former Blades captain’s integrity and work ethic.

    “When we are looking to hire new prospective young individuals that want to join our police service, we are looking for people that bring certain characteristics with them,” said Nogier. “We look for the person that we know is going to be put into a situation and take those situations on head on.

Blades president Steve Hogle outlines the festivities for Friday night.

    “I heard that there was only six degrees of separation from talking about the sporting world and the policing world. What I’ve learned that when it comes to hockey there is only 1.5 degrees of separation when it comes to that.

    “When I met Bruce (Gordon), I knew quite quickly that this was an individual that for obvious reasons had all those characteristics.”

    Besides former teammates, police officers from Saskatoon and Regina will be attending Friday’s game along with lawyers, triathletes and cross fit athletes. Gordon completed as a triathlete and also took part in ironman competitions.

    During Friday’s game, the Blades will be raising money for cancer research at the Royal University Hospital with the auction of a Kelly Chase signed jersey, the sale of “Be Like Bruce” t-shirts and the proceeds from the night’s 50/50 draw.

A display of some of the Blades Pac-Man jerseys.

    “He (Gordon) exemplified at the rink what a teammate was all about,” said Chartier. “He didn’t want any glory.

    “He took care of each and every one of us. I think we all owe him the respect of coming back this Friday and saying thank you.”

    Blades president Steve Hogle expects few tears will be shed during the festivities on Friday night for Gordon.

    “Everybody he came into contact with was absolutely blown away about how he put others first,” said Hogle.

    “The impact he has had on people is made obvious to us by the reaction that we’ve seen with the alumni, with the police, with the triathlon community, with the legal community, with the cross fit community and they are all rallying and coming out on Friday night.”

    The tribute for Gordon is more than justified. You would be hard pressed to find anyone else that wore the team’s old Pac-Man logo that went on to have bigger impact on the Saskatoon community than Gordon did.

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

Blades nail it with “Thank You, Mr. Hockey Day”

Gordie Howe's four children take part in a ceremonial faceoff.

    The Saskatoon Blades got it right when it came to remembering Gordie Howe.

    On Sunday morning, the hockey icon’s ashes and those of his wife, Colleen, were interred at the base of the Gordie Howe statue that sits in front of the SaskTel Centre. Gordie passed away earlier this year on June 10 at age 88. Colleen passed away on March 6, 2009 at age 76.

    A private interment ceremony open to 61 members of the Howe family started off a day a festivities to honour Gordie in his hometown area in what the Blades dubbed as “Thank You, Mr. Hockey Day.”

    The makings of what happened on Sunday started when Blades president Steve Hogle contacted members of the Howe family over the summer looking for permission to hold a special day to honour Gordie in Saskatoon. Gordie was born in a farmhouse in Floral, Sask., which is just south of Saskatoon, and moved to “the Bridge City” at age 9.

A fan gets her picture taken with the Gordie Howe statue.

    While talking to Gordie and Colleen’s children, Hogle discovered that one of Gordie’s wishes was to have his and Colleen’s ashes interred at the base of the Gordie Howe statue at the SaskTel Centre. Hogle made the offer to make that happen setting the wheels in motion for a tribute day, which also led into the Blades WHL regular season home opening game against the Swift Current Broncos.

    Following the ceremony, the Howes were taken to Lookout Point in Diefenbaker Park to see the name of the Circle Drive South Bridge was renamed the Gordie Howe Bridge. They then proceeded to visit King George School, which Gordie attended, and one of Gordie’s childhood homes.

    Everything shifted back to the SaskTel Centre from there. A tailgate party started in the parking lot at 12 p.m., and the doors to the rink opened at 1 p.m.

Logan Flodell and the Blades warm up in Gordie Howe jerseys.

    Spectators flocked around the Gordie Howe statue in the two hours leading up to the game, and many had their pictures taken with the statue. Inside the rink, fans checked out a Hockey Hall of Fame exhibit that featured a number of Howe items including one of his Detroit Red Wings jerseys from his NHL days and a Houston Aeros jersey from his WHA days.

    Some Howe family photos were also on display at various locations on the main concourse area.

    The Blades players also took the ice for warm up all wearing #9 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings jerseys.

    At 2 p.m., the Blades started into a stirring 25-minute pre-game tribute ceremony for Gordie. Fans got to see an impressive tribute video featuring a whole bunch of archival footage of Gordie’s playing days and also interviews that were done on local television. In some instances, it was surprising to realize that some of that footage still existed.

    Legendary Hockey Night In Canada play-by-play voice Bob Cole was the emcee for the tribute. Former NHL players in Hockey Hall of Fame member Bryan Trottier, Morris Lukowich and Gerry Pinder all took attention grabbing Gordie stories.

Bryan Trottier speaks to the SaskTel Centre crowd.

    All three had deep Saskatchewan roots as Trottier is from Val Marie, Lukowich was born in Speers and played his minor hockey growing up in Saskatoon and Pinder is a Saskatoon product.

    Howe's children in sons Mark, Marty and Murray and daughter Cathy all took part in dropping the puck for a ceremonial faceoff.

    “I think a reflection on Saskatoon and the province of Saskatchewan is absolutely magnified because of Gordie Howe,” said Trottier in a media scrum after the ceremony. “All of us who know the name Gordie recognize what he meant to the game of hockey.

    “For the kids that have ever played hockey, for all the hockey that is going on in Canada in and around these little small communities, there is a belief. There is a belief that you can make it. Gordie provided that for all of us. “

    Due to playing a combined 32 seasons in the NHL and WHA, Howe was idolized by a few generations of hockey players, and Trottier, Lukowich and Pinder all looked up to “Mr. Hockey.”

    No matter where Gordie went or how famous he became, he returned to Saskatoon on a regular basis, and the citizens of Saskatoon always saw Gordie as one of their own.

    “This is his hometown,” said Trottier. “This is our guy that grew up here in Saskatchewan.

    “He reflects well on all the values that are from Saskatchewan whether it is family (or) whether it is hockey.”

Centre Jesse Shynkaruk zips up ice for the Blades.

    The only thing that didn’t go right was the fact the Blades, who wore special Gordie Howe themed jerseys, dropped a 6-0 decision to the Broncos before 6,359 onlookers. Calvin Spencer scored twice for the Broncos, while Noah King, Brandan Arnold, Tyler Steenbergen and Tyler Adams had singles. Travis Child made 28 stops to earn the shutout in goal for Swift Current, while Brock Hamm turned away 25 shots suffering the loss in goal for the Blades.

    The result of the clash between the Blades and Broncos seemed secondary, because everyone was caught up in Gordie Howe fever.

    As you walked out the door, the Blades had one more surprise. Everyone that left received a Gordie Howe poster, and three of the pictures on the bottom came from the festivities of the day. Somehow, the Blades were able to put the mechanics in motion to the point you were able to go home with an unexpected cool keepsake.

    The Blades hit all the positive checkmark points, which included ones you didn’t even think of.

    Somewhere, you had to think Gordie was grinning. For those that came to the SaskTel Centre, they got to enjoy a day they will always remember, as Saskatoon’s biggest hero came home to rest forever.

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