Blades’ alum Davidson slides into big role with Golden Bears

Dawson Davidson has settled into life with the Golden Bears.

    Dawson Davidson is getting to be himself with the University of Alberta Golden Bears men’s hockey team.

    Last season, the Moosomin, Sask., product had a dream overage season playing for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. The offensive-defenceman appeared in all of the Blades 68 regular season games and led the team in scoring piling up 13 goals, 62 assists for 75 points to go with a plus-27 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Davidson was named a first team WHL Eastern Conference all-star and helped the Blades post the fourth best record in the league at 45-15-8. He helped the Blades advance to the second round of the playoffs, where they fell in six games to the eventual WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders.

    During that run, Davidson appeared in all 10 of the Blades post-season games collecting nine assists.

    A veteran of five WHL seasons including stops with the Kamloops Blazers and Regina Pats, Davidson elected to join the Bears in the U Sports ranks, who are the defending Canada West champions.

Dawson Davidson has 13 points in 16 games with the Golden Bears.

    In 16 regular season games with the Golden Bears, Davidson leads all of the U of A rearguards in scoring with two goals and 11 assists for 13 points to go with a plus-16 rating.

    He was held off the scoresheet on Friday night, when his Golden Bears blanked the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies 3-0 in a U Sports regular season clash played before 1,581 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place.

    Still, the 21-year-old Davidson is enjoying his time with his new team.

    “It has been good,” said Davidson, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 185 pounds. “It has been a little bit of an adjustment just playing against older guys.

    “Everyone is stronger out there. You don’t have 16 and 17-year-olds who are still younger and developing. Just adding school to it just adds that extra element.

Dawson Davidson has enjoyed getting back in the classroom.

    “It is great hockey, and we have a great club here. They made it pretty easy for me to jump right in and start to contribute.”

    When it came to deciding on playing for a U Sports program, Davidson said the fact the Golden Bears have won 16 U Sports national titles was a big draw. U of A fell in last year’s U Sports title game 4-2 to the University of New Brunswick Reds.

    “I wanted to go somewhere where I could get an opportunity to play pro and at the same time get good degree,” said Davidson. “I weighed out my options, and U of A to me was just the best place to get to where I wanted to be.

    “They have a great track record of having good teams. This year we have a pretty good team as well. I think that all weighed into my decision.”

    An arts major, Davidson has found the academic aspect of school to be enjoyable.

Dawson Davidson had a plus-16 rating in the plus-minus department.

    “It is an adjustment, but like anything, once you start getting into the groove it is not too bad,” said Davidson. “It is just that extra element.

    “It is kind of nice going to class with your buddies and kind of getting that school aspect of life that you don’t really get as much in the Western League. It has been an adjustment, but it hasn’t been too bad.”

    When the season started, Davidson wasn’t sure if he would be putting up points like he had in the past. He made it to one of the games between the Huskies and Golden Bears in last year’s best-of-three Canada West Championship series held at Merlis and was impressed with the level of play.

    The Bears took that series posting a 1-0 victory in a series-deciding Game 3.

    “I didn’t know what to expect,” said Davidson. “I came to Game 2 of the (Canada West) finals last year.

Tyler Soy scored twice for the Golden Bears on Friday.

    “That was the only U Sports game I had ever seen. I knew it was tough hockey, and it was older guys. I’ve always believed in myself.

    “I didn’t really put a projection of what I wanted to get. I just wanted to come play my game and help the team get wins. If points come, that is just a bonus.”

    As for Friday’s game itself, the Golden Bears, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, jumped ahead 1-0 with 5:49 remaining in the first period. Bears left-winger Trevor Cox sprung linemate Tyler Soy on a breakaway, and Soy slipped a shot past Huskies netminder Taran Kozun.

Taran Kozun made 49 saves in goal for the Huskies.

    Kozun did his best to keep the Huskies, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, in the game over the first 40 minutes stopping 33-of-34 shots sent his way. U of A came with tonnes of pressure in the second period holding a 21-7 edge in shots on goal.

    Two of his best saves included a glove stop that thwarted a laser blast from Golden Bears centre Chad Butcher and making a sprawling pad stop on a backdoor attempt Golden Bears left-winger Steven Owre.

    Despite Kozun’s best efforts, he couldn’t keep the Golden Bears at bay.

    Just 65 seconds into the third, Golden Bears left-winger Grayson Pawlenchuk cut across the front of the Huskies goal and fired a shot past a fallen Kozun.

    The visitors expanded their lead to 3-0 just 51 seconds later, when Soy picked up his second of the contest.

The Golden Bears celebrate their win on Friday.

    With the setback, the Huskies saw their eight game winning streak come to an end.

    Kozun made 46 stops in goal for the Huskies (11-4-2). Matt Berlin turned away 18 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Golden Bears (15-2).
    The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Merlis.

    Davidson has enjoyed the battles between the “forever rivals” in the Golden Bears and Huskies. He experienced two of the WHL’s greatest rivalries in Pats versus Moose Jaw Warriors and Blades versus Raiders.

    He said he gets excited for heated rivalry contests and Golden Bears versus Huskies has lived up to its reputation.

    “It is a great rivalry,” said Davidson. “Whenever you can play a team that you don’t like too much, the games get really heated as you saw tonight.

    “Those are the fun games. I expect U of S to regroup, and I think tomorrow is going to be a really great game.”

Red hot Pandas slip past Huskies 2-1

Kate Ball scored for the Huskies on Friday.

    The U of Alberta Pandas women’s hockey won their sixth straight game after withstanding a strong effort for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies.

    On Friday at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, the Pandas, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, downed the visiting Huskies 2-1 with all the game’s goals coming in the second period.

    Alex Gowie gave the Pandas a 1-0 lead, but rookie Kate Ball evened things up at 1-1 just under two minutes after Gowie’s tally.

    Madison Willan scored the winner for the Pandas just over two minutes after Ball’s marker.

Halle Oswald made 23 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Pandas (11-6). Jessica Vance turned away 19 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies (9-5-2-1).

    The two sides go at it again on Saturday in Edmonton.

Blades to host Dach bobblehead night

The Kirby Dach bobblehead doll.

    Kirby Dach may be gone to the NHL, but he will always be remembered by his WHL club the Saskatoon Blades.

    The Blades will be celebrating Dach’s career in the WHL holding a Kirby Dach bobblehead night when they host the Prince George Cougars on Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., product began his career with the Blades in the 2016-17 campaign appearing in 19 regular season games as 15-year-old midget AAA call up. In those games, Dach posted six goals, four assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department.

    That was a sign of things to come.

    He remained with the Blades through the end of the 2018-19 campaign appearing in 133 career regular season games collecting 38 goals, 91 assists and a plus-eight rating.

    Helping the Blades post the WHL’s fourth best regular season record with a 45-15-8 mark last season, Dach assisted the Blades in advancing to the second round of the playoffs, where they fell in a six-game series to the eventual WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders.

    Over the Blades 10 post-season outings, Dach posted five goals, three assists and a minus-one rating.
    In last year’s NHL Entry Draft, Dach, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 198 pounds, was selected in the first round and third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks. Dach made the Blackhawks as an 18-year-old rookie and has six goals, five assists and a minus-two rating in his first 36 NHL regular season games.

The side view of the Kirby Dach bobblehead doll.

    “Obviously, he is a pretty special player when he goes number three overall in the NHL (Entry) Draft and plays as an 18-year-old,” said Blades assistant general manager Steve Hildebrand, who has been with the team for 19 years. “As an organization, it is great to see him where he is and excelling and playing well.

    “We’re extremely happy for him.”

    Dach’s bobblehead night will mark the first time the Blades have held a bobblehead night since Feb. 18, 2015, when they held one for defenceman Nelson Nogier. Nogier was traded to the Red Deer Rebels in December of 2014, and the Blades honoured the rearguard when he returned to Saskatoon with central Alberta WHL squad.

    Nogier currently plays with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

    Dach came to the Blades as a highly touted prospect. The Saskatoon side selected him in the first round and second overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft.

    Hildebrand said Dach was also an all-star person off the ice.

    “He is a class act,” said Hildebrand. “He has been a class act since we knew him at 14-years-old.

    “I think those type of people they are fun to be around. They are good to be around. Those are the type of people we’ve wanted to build our organization around.”

    Dach’s bobblehead doll was made in the likeness of his goal celebration in Game 2 of the second round series against the Raiders in Prince Albert. After scoring a spectacular goal to give the Blades a 1-0 lead, Dach put his hand to his ear looking to hear the sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, who had gone silent.

    The Blades built a 2-0 edge in that contest and led 2-1 going into the third period. The Raiders netted two goals in the third to pull out a 3-2 victory.

The Kinsmen Inner City Hockey League gets a cool donation.

    Hildebrand enjoyed the idea of the bobblehead doll the Blades marketing department came up with.

    “Honestly, I had nothing to do with it, but when (Blades director of business operations) Tyler (Wawryk) told me about it, I thought it was great,” said Hildebrand. “I think that is a great part about our rivalry with P.A.

    “They are a great organization as we are. I think that over the last few years it has kind of built up. That was I think one of those moments that we’ll look back on during that series as one of those moments and great goals that he scored.

    “I think they (the Dach bobblehead dolls) turned out really well.”

    During the press conference at Brandt Tractor Limited to announce the Dach bobblehead night, the local Brandt Tractor outlet donated $2,500 to the Kinsmen Inner City Hockey League.

Wouters delivers overtime win to Blades

Chase Wouters scored the OT winner for the Blades.

    Captain Chase Wouters came through as the overtime hero for the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night.

    Facing the Rebels in Red Deer to start a short two-game road swing, the Blades were locked in a 3-3 tie in a WHL regular season clash with the host side after regulation playing before 4,073 spectators at the Westerner Park Centrium.

    At the 3:35 mark of overtime, the Blades entered the offensive zone on a two-on-one break and right-winger Tristen Robins fed a perfect pass across the face of the Rebels goal to Wouters, who potted his 15^th of the campaign for a 4-3 victory.

    Scott Walford, Nolan Kneen and Kyle Crnkovic netted singles for the Blades. Arshdeep Bains scored twice for the Rebels, while Josh Tarzwell had a single.

    Nolan Maier made 30 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (18-16-1-2). Byron Fancy turned away 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Rebels (13-19-1-3).

    The Blades conclude their short road swing on Sunday, when they travel to Edmonton to face the Oil Kings. The Oil Kings lead the overall WHL standings with a 26-7-5-2 mark.

Raiders fall 1-0 in Brandon

Raiders captain Zach Hayes was involved in a fight on Friday.

    The Prince Albert Raiders are going through one of those stretches where it seems like they can’t buy a win.

    On Friday, the Raiders fell 1-0 in a WHL regular season contest to the Wheat Kings before 3,363 spectators at Westoba Place in Brandon. With the setback, the Raiders have posted six regulation losses and one extra time setback in their last seven games.

    Wheat Kings defenceman Chad Nychuk scored the game’s lone goal at the 10:52 mark of the second period.

    Raiders captain Zach Hayes engaged Wheat Kings left-winger Ben McCartney in an early third period fight.

    Jiri Patera made 29 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Wheat Kings (18-17-1-2). Boston Bilous turned away 20 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders (20-13-4-1).
    Prince Albert was active on the trade front on Friday. The Raiders acquired 19-year-old goaltender Keegan Karki from the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a fourth round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.
    Karki, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds, is playing in his first WHL season. He has appeared in 14 games with the Silvertips posting an 8-1-2 record, a 3.19 goals against average and a .897 save percentage.

    The Raiders return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Ice, who lead the WHL’s East Division with a 23-13-1 record.

    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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Nagy sparks Royals to 7-2 romp over Blades

The Royals celebrate their first of seven goals on Tuesday.

    Regan Nagy was pumped he could supply a highlight night for his followers on his second last Saskatchewan road trip with the Victoria Royals.

    The 20-year-old right-winger from Ogema, Sask., had a stellar Tuesday night at the SaskTel Centre netting a hat trick, one assist and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department in the Royals 7-2 romp over the host Saskatoon Blades. While most of the 2,732 spectators headed home disappointed, Nagy had a small group of about five to six family members and friends he was able to make happy.

    “It is always nice to come out here and play in front of your friends and family no matter how old you are,” said Nagy, who stands 6-feet and weighs 195 pounds. “This last year it is nice to get out here and play in front of everyone again one more time.

Regan Nagy had a hat trick for the Royals.

    “I had a lot of fun. Another game tomorrow, so I am going to be ready for that one.”

    Nagy’s contingent will follow him to Prince Albert on Wednesday, when the Royals face the host Raiders at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. That contest will conclude a stretch of seven straight road games for the Royals.

    Just 87 seconds into Tuesday’s win over the Blades, the Royals jumped out to a 1-0 lead, when Nagy and linemate Yan Khomenko teamed up to set up centre Dante Hannoun for his ninth goal of the season. Khomenko put a pass across the face of the Blades goal, and Hannoun knocked the puck past sprawling Blades netminder Ryan Kubic.

    A little over five minutes later, Hannoun slipped a smart pass into Nagy to give him a one-on-one chance against Kubic. Nagy made no mistake tucking home his first of the contest. He added his second of the contest before the period ended to give the Royals a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

    “It is a lot of fun, when the puck is going in for you,” said Nagy, whose Royals improved their B.C. Division leading record to 10-3-1 with their win. “It is a lot of fun for the team too.

    “It makes the guys enjoy the game a little more and take a little stress off everyone, so it is always fun to do that.”

Some of Regan Nagy’s supporters watch Tuesday’s game.

    The Royals kept rolling in the second. At the 4:43 mark, right-winger Jared Legien, who is from Pilot Butte, Sask., beat Kubic with a deke on a breakaway to give the visitors a 4-0 edge.

Victoria’s lead grew to 5-0 at the 11:53 mark, when Nagy was sprung on a breakaway and fired a laser shot past Kubic for the hat trick. The three-goal night was the second for Nagy in his WHL career.

    Kubic was pulled after that tally turning away nine of 14 shots fired his way taking the loss in goal for the Blades (3-7-1). Rookie Joel Grzybowski played the rest of the way in relief turning away 10 of 12 shots sent in his direction.

Yan Khomenko had three assists for the Royals on Tuesday.

    Nagy’s line with Hannoun and Khomenko combined for four goals and five assists in Victoria’s runaway win. Khomenko had three assists, while Hannoun had an assist to go with his goal.
    When the Royals lost 4-2 in their last outing against the Wheat Kings in Brandon last Saturday, Nagy was on a line with Legien and Tyler Soy. The Royals coaches switched the line combinations up for Tuesday’s game putting Nagy with Hannoun and Khomenko.

    “I had some pretty good chemistry with those two before tonight,” said Nagy, whose team ended a two-game losing skid. “Things are just clicking for us, and it is a lot of fun.”

    Soy scored on a partial breakaway to give the Royals a 6-0 lead at the 15:09 mark of the second.

    Left-winger Dryden Michaud got the Blades on the board with his first of the season with 3:40 to play in the second to cut Victoria’s lead to 6-1.

Dante Hannoun (#19) had a goal and an assist for the Royals.

    With 43.9 seconds to play in the second, Royals star captain Matthew Phillips scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway to give the visitors a 7-1 edge. The officials turned to a video review to confirm the goal from Phillips.

    Nagy said his team has been successful this season, when the burn opponents with speed.

    “We have just been playing fast, and we have playing our game,” said Nagy, whose Royals were rated third in the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10 rankings. “If we keep doing that, we will keep being successful.

    “We just have to work hard each and every night and that is kind of our game. We have to stick through it throughout the whole 60 minutes.”

    Right-winger Josh Paterson scored for the Blades in the third to round out the scoring in the contest.

Jared Legien (#23) celebrates scoring a goal for the Royals.

    Griffen Outhouse started the game for the Royals, and the 19-year-old veteran stopped 28-of-29 shots over the first two periods.
    With the Royals entering the third holding a 7-1 edge, the Victoria coaches elected to insert rookie 17-year-old backup Dean McNabb in net for the third, and he turned away 10-of-11 shots in mop up action.

    Nagy is playing out his fourth full season in the WHL and has been with the Royals his entire major junior career.
    He hopes the good times keep coming as the season progresses.
    He will also get to make one more road trip back to Saskatchewan in late November, when the Royals visit the Moose Jaw Warriors on Nov. 28 and the Swift Current Broncos on Nov. 29.

    He said he couldn’t believe how quickly his time in the league is passing.

The Royals enjoy their road win in Saskatoon on Tuesday.

    “It goes by fast,” said Nagy. “I remember just being in my first year in the league thinking that it (his final season) is so far away.

    “Now thinking back, it goes by a lot faster than you think. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, and I’m excited for the rest of the season.

    “Hopefully, we can just keep things rolling and keep playing good like that. If we do that, we should have a good year, and it will be a lot of fun. We’ll enjoy it a lot.”

    The Blades are back in action Friday, when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos. One night later, Saskatoon hosts the Brandon Wheat Kings at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Back in the Express with Hebig, other notes

Cameron Hebig has been on fire this season for the Blades.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature story on Saskatoon Blades star centre Cameron Hebig.

    Hebig missed the entire 2016-17 campaign with his hometown WHL team with an upper body injury, which was originally thought to be a concussion. It was never diagnosed definitively.

During the time he was out, he received a lot of support from those in “The Bridge City.”

    When he returned, one wondered if he could build off the breakout campaign he had in 2015-16, when he netted 26 goals and 43 assists in 59 regular season games. He has jetted to a great start in his overage season piling up seven goals and seven assists in nine games.

    The Express story on Hebig can be found right here.

• The Blades traded 17-year-old forward Matt Mosher to the Prince George Cougars on Tuesday in exchange for a ninth round selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. Mosher appeared in four career regular season games with the Blades and didn’t record any points. The Blades selected Mosher, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 pounds, in the third round and 44^th overall in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft.
• The University of Saskatchewan Huskies (2-5) football team will control their own playoff destiny heading into their final U Sports regular season game, when they host the U of Manitoba Bisons (1-6) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium. If the Huskies lose, they will be unable to finish fourth in the Canada West Conference and will miss the post-season for the first time since 2000. If the Huskies, Bisons and U of Alberta Golden Bears (2-5) all finish at 2-6, the Golden Bears would advance to the post-season due to having the best winning percentage in head-to-head games between the three teams. If the Huskies beat the Bisons, they would likely make the post-season unless the Golden Bears can beat the U of Calgary Dinos (7-0) earlier in the day by a blowout margin. At the moment, the Huskies hold the head-to-head standings tiebreaker with the Golden Bears due to a better point differential for the whole campaign. The Huskies are -37, while the Golden Bears are -51.
• Singer Michele Dubois continues to be a good luck charm for the three-time defending Canadian Junior Football League champion Saskatoon Hilltops. When Dubois has sung the national anthem at Hilltops home games, it is believed the Toppers have never lost. She sang the national anthem for last Sunday’s PFC final at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, and the Hilltops downed the Regina Thunder 36-24. The Hilltops host a CJFL national semifinal this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Vancouver Island Raiders, who are based out of Nanaimo, B.C. We wait to see of Dubois will sing the national anthem for that contest.
• Kieran Block, who is a former utility play for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, wrote an autobiography about his life entitled, “The Ups and Downs of Almost Dying.” After concluding his WHL career an overager with the Tigers following the 2005-06 campaign, Block was severely injured in a cliff jumping accident. Block spoke with Oilersnation.com about his book, and that story can be found here.
• The University of Regina Rams football team made a video for the “Man Up Against Violence” initiative at that institution. The initiative strives to inspire men to accept their role as advocates in the movement to prevent violence in our communities related to gender, race, socio-economic status, ability level and beyond. The video the Rams produced was on locker room talk featuring former Rams and CFL star with the British Columbia Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders Jason Clermont. The video can be found here.

    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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