Blades part ways with Brockman

Dean Brockman no long the Blades head coach.

    Two years of struggling down the stretch have cost Dean Brockman his position with the Saskatoon Blades.

    On Sunday a day after their regular season concluded, the Blades announced Brockman has been relieved of his duties as head coach immediately. Blades general manager Colin Priestner said the decision came due the fact the Blades were holding a playoff position late in the season over the past two campaigns only to miss the post-season.

    With five games remaining on their regular season schedule in 2016-17, the Blades held a three-point edge over the Calgary Hitmen for the last playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Blades won one of their final five games, while the Hitmen claimed five of their last six regular season contests to vault into a playoff berth.

    During this past season, the Blades held an eight point lead over the Prince Albert Raiders for the second wildcard spot when action concluded on Feb. 19. The Blades were two points behind the Brandon Wheat Kings for the first wildcard position. The Blades had 11 games remaining on their regular season schedule, while the Raiders and Wheat Kings had 13 contests each to play.

    Saskatoon posted a 4-6-1 record over those final 11 contests, which included a season ending three-game winning streak. The Raiders went 9-2-0-2 to leap into the second wildcard spot, and the Wheat Kings held the first wildcard spot going 9-4.

    “I felt we faltered, and I think some of the habits that were created and developed throughout the year showed themselves a little bit in those big important games,” said Priestner. “It is a results based business, and unfortunately, we didn’t meet the expectations, which is we feel the fans deserved a playoff team. I feel we have a playoff level team.

    “The fact that we were playing meaningless games at the end of the year with an eight point lead was extremely disappointing to me and our player and our coaches. Nobody was happy with what happened. The fact that it happened last year and it happened again this year just led us to the decision that we needed a new voice.”

    The Blades have missed the WHL’s post-season for five straight years, which is the team’s longest playoff drought in its history.

    Brockman joined the Blades as an assistant coach before the start of the 2014-15 season and moved up to head coach in June of 2016, when former head coach Bob Woods moved on to be an assistant coach with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Woods is now an assistant head coach with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

    Before joining the Blades, Brockman was best known for his 17 years in the junior A ranks working with the Humboldt Broncos from 1997 to 2014. He started as an assistant coach and assistant general manager before becoming the head coach and general manager in 2004. During Brockman’s years in Humboldt, the Broncos won the Royal Bank Cup for junior A supremacy in 2003 and 2008.

Dean Brockman works the Blades bench.

    During the 50-year-old’s run as head coach, the Blades posted a 63-68-10-3 record. Brockman is credited with 62 of those victories having to miss one of those wins to attend a funeral.
    The Blades posted a 35-33-3-1 mark this past season to finish three points behind the Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

    Saskatoon actually ranked seventh overall in the 12 Eastern Conference due to its point total. With the record the Blades posted this season, they would have made the playoffs in 2015-16 and 2016-17 if they had posted the same mark in those campaigns.

    Due to the WHL’s playoff format where the top three teams in each division and the two best records after that in each conference make the playoffs, the Blades missed the post-season finishing sixth in the East Division.

    Priestner said talks were going on the past 10 days on what to do if the Blades missed the post-season. An actual parting of ways didn’t become clear until following the Blades 5-4 victory over the Raiders at the SaskTel Centre to end the regular season for both clubs on Saturday night.

    “Last night, Dean (Brockman) and I had a conversation after the game,” said Priestner. “We spent an hour talking about things.

    “It was clear at the end of the conversation that we were going to go in that direction.”

    The decision caught Blades sophomore centre Chase Wouters, who will entering his 18-year-old season in the upcoming campaign, off guard.

    “It was a surprise it happened so quick,” said Wouters. “I didn’t see it coming.”

    Wouters elected to not answer questions regarding coaching style. He said the fact the Raiders rolled off a nine game winning streak was really what did in his club’s playoff hopes.

    “We just couldn’t get the points when we needed them,” said Wouters. “That is what it just came down to.”

    When asked of the Blades were feeling heighten stress over their last 11 games to help cause their struggles, Priestner wasn’t sure if that was the fact that caused his club to fall out of a playoff position.

    “It is stressful, when you come into a team rebuilding a team,” said Priestner. “It is stressful when you haven’t made the playoffs in a few years, and it amplifies itself.

    “I am sure there was lots of stress. We all feel stress. We want to do well for this city.

    “Maybe there needed to be more levity. I don’t know what it was, but the team didn’t play to the way it played for the first 60 games in the last 12.”

Dean Brockman takes part in an old Blades press conference.

    Priestner noted there was one upswing over the club’s last stretch of 11 or 12 games.

    “I thought we played fine in the last three games when we were eliminated,” said Priestner. “We were really good.”

    Before the season started, Brockman along with assistant coaches Bryce Thoma and Ryan Keller all had their contracts extended to the end of the 2019-20 campaign. Priestner said no decision has been made on the fates of Thoma, Keller, veteran assistant coach Jerome Engele or goaltending coach Tim Cheveldae.

    Priestner added there is no timeframe to hire a new head coach as the decision to part ways of Brockman just became a reality and there were no candidates on who could possibly become the team’s next head coach.

    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.

It’s official – Pac-Man jerseys back as Blades regular look

Michael Farren, left, and Jantzen Leslie model the Blades Pac-Man uniforms.

    Colin Priestner chuckled it might have been the worst kept secret in Saskatoon sports history.

    Actually, it might have been the most welcomed worst kept secret in Saskatoon sports history.

    For the last few months since the Saskatoon Blades 2016-17 campaign came to a close in March, the team had been using its classic blue and gold Pac-Man logo in its various communications.

    The logo and colours became prominent on the team’s Twitter and Instagram handles as well as its website. The traditional Pac-Man jerseys were used during team press conferences and public appearance functions. The appearance of the Blades dressing room was changed to the full out Pac-Man look.

    The Pac-Man jerseys have been utilized on special occasions and on more of third jersey status in recent years. A call from fans had been out for a lengthy time to bring that look back as the club’s regular look, and the frequent appearance of that style increased hopes the Blades would use that look again on a regular basis.

Leslie Jantzen grins in the Blades blue Pac-Man uniform.

    On Thursday during a press conference, Priestner confirmed the Blades would return to using the blue and gold Pac-Man colour scheme and logo as the club’s regular look

    “The first day we got the team people were emailing bring the Pac-Man back,” said Priestner, who father, Mike, purchased the Blades before the start of the 2013-14 campaign. “We’ve tried to bring the Pac-Man back at times, but there are definitely limitations in lead times in the WHL as to how quickly you can get things done.

    “We didn’t want to make any rash decisions. Everybody that we’ve talked to for years said, ‘Let’s get this back. Let’s bring back a little bit of that Pac-Man swagger.’”

    After Priestner confirmed the Pac-Man look was back, defenceman Jantzen Leslie walked into the media gathering in the team’s dressing room to model the dark uniform in full gear and right-winger Michael Farren arrived to show off the white look to Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle.”

    The development drew praise over social media channels with one Regina Pats fan saying on Twitter the Blades Pac-Man jerseys have to be two of the best in hockey history.

    The Pac-Man jersey look is by far the most identifiable one the Blades have ever had. The team sported the blue and gold Pac-Man style as a regular look for 12 seasons from 1982 to 1994.

Michael Farren shows off the Blade white Pac-Man uniform.

    During those 12 campaigns where tie games existed, the Blades posted a 479-353-32 regular season record, had six campaigns with 40-or-more wins, made the WHL playoffs 10 times, advanced to the WHL Eastern Conference championship series five times and fell in Game 7 of the WHL Championship series in 1992 and 1994 to the Kamloops Blazers. The Blazers went on to win the Memorial Cup in both those campaigns.

    They wore the Pac-Man jerseys as the Memorial Cup host team in 1989, where they dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision in overtime to the Swift Current Broncos in the event’s championship game. Tim Tisdale scored the overtime winner for the Broncos.

    The Pac-Man was the look worn by Blades legend Wendel Clark, who went on to star with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs after being selected first overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. It was the look sported by star netminders Tim Cheveldae, who is currently the team’s goaltending coach, and Norm Maracle. Standout defencemen Trent Yawney, Curtis Leschyshyn, Richard Matvichuk and Rhett Warrener all wore this style too.

    High scoring forwards Lane Lambert, Kevin Kaminski and Frank Banham all donned the Pac-Mans. The look had toughness as the Pac-Mans were the uniforms of heavyweights Joey Kocur, Kelly Chase, Tony Twist and the late Wade Belak.

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman, whose team has missed the playoffs for the past four seasons, welcomed the fact the Pac-Mans will be the team’s regular look.

    “I love it,” said Brockman. “I think it is great. There is a lot of history in that logo.

    “It just gives us that fresh air that we needed. No more stale blue. Now we have the royal blue.”

Braylon Shmyr, left, celebrates a goal last season in a classic look.

    With the move back to the Pac-Mans, the Blades have retired the “SB” logo and the double blue colour scheme that was their main look.

    Colin Priestner was well aware fans were fond of the Pac-Man look due to what the team accomplished while wearing it.

    “People have been asking for this,” said Priestner, whose has missed the playoffs for the past four seasons. “They associate these jerseys with better days.

    “I think that is one of the reasons we wanted to have them back was just too really kind of have a visual change. We have had four years of real trouble in terms rebuilding in having to kind of going through what you have to in this league to rebuild.

    “Now I think we are well on our way to being a competitive team every year and a championship team in the future. Plus, they are just really cool jerseys.”

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

Blades extend contracts of Brockman, Thoma and Keller

Blades HC Dean Brockman speaks to the media at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Saskatoon Blades solidified their coaching ranks for the foreseeable future.

    On Thursday, the team announced head coach Dean Brockman and assistant coaches Bryce Thoma and Ryan Keller have been signed to multi-year contract extensions that run through to the end of the 2019-20 season. Assistant coach Jerome Engele and goaltending coach Tim Cheveldae, who have been in their roles for a number of seasons, will also return for another campaign.

    Brockman, Thoma, Keller, Engele and Cheveldae all worked together as a unit in their present roles for the first time last season. Despite a large rash of injuries, they guided the Blades to a ninth overall finish in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 28-35-7-2 record to sit five points back of the Calgary Hitmen for the conference’s final playoff berth.

    While the Blades failed to make the post-season for the fourth year in a row, last season marked the closest the franchise has come to earning a playoff berth since being purchased by Mike Priestner before the start of the 2013-14 campaign. Priestner took over a club that faced a long rebuild after hosting the Memorial Cup championship tournament in 2013 and also loaded up to try and make a long playoff run in 2011, which ultimately ended in the second round.

    During a news conference held at the SaskTel Centre on Thursday, Blades general manager Colin Priestner, who is Mike’s son, said it was important for continuity to keep the current coaching staff together.

    “It was just something that was just logical for me and our management,” said Priestner. “It was just a trying season on all regards, and I think they just showed throughout the year they got better and better.

Blades GM Colin Priestner announces the coach contract extensions.

    “It was a no-brainer for us. It was just a logical extension of the work that they did last year, and we want to have these guys be a part of what we are building in terms of building a championship team and a championship type franchise.”

    Brockman joined the Blades as an assistant coach before the start of the 2014-15 season and moved up to head coach in June of 2016, when former head coach Bob Woods moved on to be an assistant coach with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Woods is now an assistant head coach with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

    Before joining the Blades, Brockman was best known for his 17 years in the junior A ranks working with the Humboldt Broncos from 1997 to 2014. He started as an assistant coach and assistant general manager before becoming the head coach and general manager in 2004. During Brockman’s years in Humboldt, the Broncos won the Royal Bank Cup for junior A supremacy in 2003 and 2008.

    Brockman was pleased to see his contract get extended to run in total for the next three seasons.

    “I think it is big, because it tells your players that I am going to be the guy that they are going to have to listen to over the next couple of years,” said the 50-year-old veteran bench boss. “You just develop that deeper rapport with them.

    “For me and I think the organization, it was important just to try and have some stability in this position.”

    Brockman added to was key to have Thoma, 35, Keller, 33, Engele, 66, and Cheveldae, 49, all back on the staff together for another season.

    “We have to be one unit,” said Brockman. “Having those guys back, it is great.

    “There is not a lot of awkwardness, because we know what everybody is thinking. It is just everybody knows how to react to things. Obviously, you tweak things throughout the year and see what you did wrong.

    “You want to make them right. It is easier to do it with guys that you know. When you don’t know the guys, there is always that stage where you get through that awkwardness.”

Brockman plans to be consistent in his style.

    “I’ve been a players’ coach all my life,” said Brockman. “I think my players respect me as I respect them.

    “That is something that you have to earn over time. Hopefully last year, I’ve earned that from them. I certainly earned it the other way.”

Blades HC Dean Brockman is ready for the season to start.

    With all the injuries that occurred last season, Priestner was impressed with how Brockman and his staff keep the players positive and the team moving forward.

    “The hits just kept on coming, and they dealt with them extremely well,” said Priestner. “I think the group that we had really jelled together over the year.

    “I think as an entire staff we came a long way from where we started. We really wanted to reward these gentlemen for the work they did.”

    The Blades open training camp on Saturday with player registration at the SaskTel Centre, fitness testing at the Elite Pro Performance Centre and ice sessions that run from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. 

    Camp continues all day Sunday and Monday with scrimmages at the SaskTel Centre.     

    All on ice sessions are open to the public.

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