Fourth time is a charm – Blades finally get initial home win

Nolan Kneen, left, celebrates his winning goal for the Blades with Kyle Crnkovic.

    Nolan Kneen admitted it felt like his Saskatoon Blades finally got a monkey off their collective backs.

    After dropping their first three home dates at the SaskTel Centre including a 5-4 setback last Sunday after a tiebreaking shootout to the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Blades finally got their first win at home of the current WHL campaign.

    On Wednesday before 2,715 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades slipped past the Vancouver Giants 2-1 in a competitively contested regular season game.

Nolan Kneen scored the third period winner for the Blades.

    “It was kind of funny to hear the win song for the first time at home, which was nice,” said Kneen, who is an overage offensive-defenceman with the team. “It is obviously nice to get the first win under the belt.”

    The Blades went into the clash with the Giants with the heartbreaking setback to the Wheat Kings on their mind. In the loss to Brandon, Saskatoon held a 4-2 lead before the Wheat Kings scored twice in the final 65 seconds of the third period to force a 4-4 tie and overtime.

    That set the stage for Brandon to prevail after a tiebreaking shootout.

    On Wednesday night, the Blades entered the third period holding a 1-0 lead over the Giants. The Giants evened things up at 1-1 at the nine-minute mark of the frame, when overage defenceman Dylan Plouffe blew home a mid-range drive.

    The Blades answered back working on the power play with 6:34 remaining in the third, when Kneen pinched down the right wing with the puck and fired home a close in shot to put the host side up 2-1.

Dylan Plouffe scored the third period equalizer for the Giants.

    Blades star netminder Nolan Maier made 30 saves on the night to ensure Kneen’s marker stood up as the winner.

    “I think we just played a full 60 tonight,” said Kneen, whose team improved to 4-3-0-1. “There were kind of times where we slowed down and let them play their game, but I think overall we had a good 60 minutes.

    “When they scored, we kind of kept it even-keel and didn’t stray from our systems or anything. We just came back and ended up getting another one.”

    Blades head coach Mitch Love was pleased with how his team responded after the Giants tied things up.

Blades goalie Nolan Maier holds of the Giants late in the third period.

    “I said to our guys tonight I liked after they scored their goal to tie it that we didn’t panic,” said Love. “We stayed patient.

    “That is sometimes hard to do, especially after a night on Sunday, where we gave up a couple of late goals for them to tie it up. I liked our composure in those times.”

    Overall, Love liked his is team played against Giants side that returned a large number of players that helped Vancouver reach the WHL final last season before falling in 3-2 in overtime in a series deciding Game 7 to the Prince Albert Raiders.

    “A bit of our game plan was obviously to try to limit their offence from their back end,” said Love. “That is the strength of their hockey team along with their goaltending.

Chase Wouters scored in the first period for the Blades.

    “They are a little depleted up front right now. They had some defencemen playing forward for them, so they are not at full health there. Again, they play a really, really good team game.

    “They’ve got a lot of good little schemes out there that they run that you have to be dialled in on. We were fortunate we had a few days between our Sunday game and tonight to prep for that, and I thought our guys did a good job of limiting their offence.”

    The Giants entered the game without injured second-year right-winger Lukas Svejkovsky (upper body, day-to-day) and injured rookie left-winger Cole Shepard (lower body, week-to-week). Due to their absence, the Giants had defencemen Nicholas Draffin and Tanner Brown play up front.

Despite the injuries, the Giants played a solid game.

Giants D Dylan Plouffe, left, battles Blades LW Colton Dach for the puck.

    At the start, the Blades got the jump. They broke through on the scoreboard, when captain Chase Wouters tipped home a point shot from defenceman Scott Walford for a power-play goal 78 second into the contest for a 1-0 lead.

    Near the midway point of the first, the Giants had a big chance to even things up, but a backdoor drive by Giants right-winger Tristen Nielson was turned away by the glove had of Maier.

    With 6:54 remaining in the first, Blades feisty left-winger Riley McKay was hauled down on a breakaway by Giants left-winger Jackson Shepard resulting in a penalty shot.

Trent Miner made 29 saves in goal for the Giants on Wednesday.

    On the penalty shot, McKay tried to go forehand to backhand but he was denied by a left pad save from Giants goalie Trent Miner.

    In the final seconds of the first, McKay made his presence felt again levelling Shepard with an open ice hit.

    The teams played through a scoreless second with the Giants holding a 12-10 edge in shot over the 20-minute stanza. Maier and Miner, who are both 18 years of age, put up walls in front of their respective goals denying all shooters that came their way.

    “He (Maier) looked sharp tonight,” said Love. “He looked like he was in the zone, a competitive zone.

Two young fans cheer on Blades LW Riley McKay.

    “I think sometimes as a goalie you also look at the other guy that is at the other end, and you want to try and out do him. Miner is a good young goal, the same age. There is some extra motivation there I am sure.

    “Both kids were real good tonight. Again when you have that, it tends to lead to a low scoring hockey game.”

    The scoreless second gave way to the drama in the third.

    Inside of the final two minutes of the third, Maier made key back-to-back stops on Nielsen and Giants star offensive-defenceman Bowen Byram to preserve the Blades victory.

    Miner turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Giants (4-5).

    “I think obviously when you come out with a win it is a fun game,” said Maier. “There are a lot of guys in the locker room that I think played their best game of the year.

    “That is really positive, especially for our young guys that aren’t getting as much minutes as our older guys. They are kind of finding their way. We’re all looking comfortable out there, so it is really good from a team perspective.”

The Blades celebrate their win on Wednesday night.

    The Blades return to action on Friday, when they travel to Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings. The Giants are also back at it on Friday traveling to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors.

    Maier said the Blades will be looking to earn a little bit of redemption in Friday’s game against the Wheat Kings after what happened last Sunday.

    “I think we want to prove something that we didn’t have our best game,” said Maier. “We kind of let it slip away from us, so I think we are going to have a really big one against them in their barn.”

    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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Massacre at Langley Events Centre – Raiders rip Giants 8-2

Brett Leason had two goals and two assists for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    Well that one got ugly fast.

    If Game 3 of the WHL Championship series was a boxing match, the referee would have stop things very early.

    The visiting Prince Albert Raiders owned the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., on Tuesday night. Just 41 seconds into the festivities against the host Vancouver Giants, Raiders power forward Parker Kelly snapped home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle in the Giants goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

    By the 8:20 mark of the opening frame, the Raiders were up 5-0, and they added two more goals to go ahead 7-0 heading into the first intermission to shock the 4,733 spectators in attendance.

    The Raiders ripped apart the Giants 8-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven set. Game 4 is set for 7 p.m. local time at the Langley Events Centre on Wednesday.

    After what took play in Game 3 on Tuesday, one wonders how the Giants were even able to get one win so far in this series.

Parker Kelly had two goals for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    The Giants took Game 1 in Prince Albert last Friday 5-4.

    The Raiders bounced back one night later with a convincing 4-0 victory in Game 2 in Prince Albert.

    The Giants, who finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 48-15-3-2 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings, never looked so ordinary.

    The Raiders looked every bit deserving of their WHL regular season leading record of 54-10-2-2 and being rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    You had to wonder if Raiders popular athletic therapist Duane “Puff” Bartley would be allowed to lace up the skates for a shift in Tuesday’s game.

    After Kelly opened the scoring, the Raiders kept the fun coming.
    At the 2:27 mark of the first, rookie right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt one-timed a set up pass from import winger Aliaksei Protas for a power-play goal to put the Raiders up 2-0.

Cole Fonstad had a goal for the Raiders.

    The Giants pulled starting netminder David Tendeck for Trent Miner following the Raiders second goal.

    Star right-winger Brett Leason was sprung on a breakaway by Protas and lifted home a backhander to give the Raiders a 3-0 edge at the 4:15 mark of the first.

    With the Raiders working on a five-on-three power play that became a six-on-three advantage on a delayed penalty, star left-winger Cole Fonstad scored to bring an end to a personal slump of going 12 straight games without scoring a point.

    At the 8:20 mark, Leason netted his second of the game knocking home a power-play goal from the doorstep of the right side of the Vancouver net to put the Raiders up 5-0.

    Kelly, with his second of the night, and star overage centre Noah Gregor rounded out the scoring in the opening frame with breakaway goals to put the Raiders up 7-0. Gregor scored on a backhander with under 20 seconds to play in the frame.

    In the second, the Raiders attempted to call off the dogs a little bit as the Giants held a 13-3 advantage in shots on goal for the stanza. Tendeck re-entered the contest at the start of the second.

Sean Montgomery had two assists for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    With 3:49 remaining in the second, the Raiders lead expanded to 8-0 as standout overage centre Dante Hannoun tipped home a shot from Leason for the team’s fourth power-play goal of the contest.
    Inside of the final minute of the second, Vancouver got on the board, when Giants left-winger Brayden Watts snapped home a power-play goal from in close by the left side of the Prince Albert net. That tally trimmed the Prince Albert lead to 8-1.

    Giant import winger Yannik Valenti rounded out the game’s scoring netting a goal on a five-on-three power play with 5:16 remaining in the third.

    Leason had two assists to go along with his two goals to finish with four points in the contest. Hannoun had an assist to go with his goal for a two-point night, while Gregor had a two-point night too with a goal and an assist.

    Protas and overage career Raiders centre Sean Montgomery each had two assists on Tuesday for Prince Albert.

    Ian Scott made 27 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders.

    Tendeck turned away 10 of 13 shots during his time in goal for the Giants. Miner stopped nine-of-14 shots during his appearance in the Vancouver net. 

Dante Hannoun had a goal and one assists for the Raiders.

    The Raiders manufactured the blowout without the services of offensive defenceman Max Martin, who sat out with an undisclosed injury. Martin was injured in the second period of the Raiders win in Game 2, when he took an awkward fall into the boards.

    For the Giants, the biggest plus was the fact Tuesday’s game did eventually come to an end, and the Raiders can’t transfer any of their goals into Game 4.

    Right now, the Raiders have all the momentum in the series.

    If the Giants don’t come up with an answer or a way to rebound, the Raiders will in all likelihood be flying back to Prince Albert with the Ed Chynoweth Cup following Game 5 of the series on Friday in Langley.

Mooseheads even QMJHL title series 2-2 with Huskies

    The Halifax Mooseheads and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are playing for keeps in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Championship series.

    On Tuesday before 8,216 spectators at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, the host Mooseheads downed the Huskies 5-1 in Game 4 of the QMJHL final. With the win, Halifax evened the best-of-seven set 2-2.

    Game 5 is set for Thursday in Rouyn-Noranda.

    In Tuesday’s clash, the two sides were locked in a 1-1 draw after the first period. The Mooseheads pushed out to a 3-1 edge going into the second intermission before rounding the scoring out with two goals in the third.

    Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Samuel Asselin, Jocktan Chainey, Arnaud Durandeau and Maxim Trepanier had singles for the Mooseheads. Peter Abbandonato replied with a single for the Huskies.

    Alexis Gravel made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Mooseheads. Samuel Harvey turned away 32 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

    With the Mooseheads hosting the Memorial Cup from May 17 to 26, both participants in the QMJHL final have berths in the CHL championship tournament.

67’s lead OHL final 2-1 over Storm

    The Ottawa 67’s hold a 2-1 lead over the Guelph Storm in the Ontario Hockey League Championships series.

    Ottawa had won its first 14 straight games in this year’s OHL playoffs before falling to the Storm on Monday. Playing before 4,898 spectators at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, the host Storm jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first period before romping to a 7-2 victory.

    Isaac Ratcliffe, Alexey Toropchenko and MacKenzie Entwistle each had two-goal nights for the Storm, while Nate Schnarr had a single.

    Sasha Chmelevski and Graeme Clarke had singles for the 67’s.

    Anthony Popovich made 18 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Storm. Cedrick Andree turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal for the 67’s.

    The 67’s were without star goaltender Michael DiPietro, who was injured in Ottawa’s 4-3 victory on home ice in Game 2. DiPietro is reported to have a high ankle sprain.

    Game 4 of the best-of-seven OHL final is set for Wednesday in Guelph.

    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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