Raiders hope to find next Hannoun

Dante Hannoun (#17) enjoys a WHL title winning OT goal on May 13, 2019.

The Prince Albert Raiders would love to relive the Dante Hannoun trade and the moments that came in the months after it.

Way back on January 3, 2019, the Raiders sat on top of the entire WHL standings and were looking for a way to slightly tweak their roster without throwing any wrenches into the chemistry that had been built. On that day, they acquired 20-year-old centre Dante Hannoun, a fourth round pick and an eighth round selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft from the Victoria Royals in exchange for 20-year-old centre Kody McDonald, 18-year-old centre Carson Miller and a third round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. The deal came seven days before that season’s WHL trade deadline.

Hannoun, who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 160 pounds, had been a high-scoring career WHL member of the Royals until coming to “Hockey Town North.” In just a little over five months as a member of the Raiders before exhausting his WHL eligibility, Hannoun appeared in 28 regular season games with the club posting 10 goals, 21 assists and a plus-16 rating in the plus-minus department. Prince Albert topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 54-10-2-2 record.

Hannoun skated in all 23 contests the Raiders played in the 2019 WHL Playoffs recording 14 goals, 10 assists and a plus-11 rating. He tied for the team high in game-winning goals at four with Brett Leason and Noah Gregor, but everyone who lives in Prince Albert knows one of Hannoun’s winners overshadowed all the others.

On May 13, 2019, the Raiders hosted Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series against the Vancouver Giants in front of a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the storied and historic 2,580-seat Art Hauser Centre. Locked in a 2-2 with 1:35 remaining in overtime, Hannoun tapped home a backdoor feed at the right side of the Giants net that came from Gregor to deliver the Raiders to a 3-2 victory in the game and a 4-3 win in the series.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Blades down Wheat Kings 3-1, return to top of East Division

Evan Gardner made 33 saves in net for the Blades on Wednesday.

Evan Gardner’s roll has vaulted to Saskatoon Blades back to the top of the WHL’s East Division.

On Wednesday, the star netminder made 33 saves to backstop the Blades to a 3-1 victory in a regular season clash over the host Wheat Kings before 2,902 spectators at Westoba Place in Brandon. Gardner, who turned 19 in January, has won his last six straight starts.

He also signed three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets selected Gardner, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 177 pound, in the second round and 60^th overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

Thanks to his efforts, the Blades, who have won their last three straight games, improved to 37-22-3-4 to return to the top of the East Division. They lead their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders (37-23-5-1) by one standings point and hold a two point edge over the Wheat Kings, who fell to 36-23-4-3. All three of those squads each have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

The Blades and Raiders close their respective regular season playing a home-and-home series against each other. The two sides go at it Friday in Saskatoon (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre) and Saturday in Prince Albert (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The winner of Friday’s encounter will sit first in the East Division heading into action on Saturday. The Blades are expecting to draw over 10,000 spectators for Friday’s clash.

The Wheat Kings conclude their slate with a home-and-home series against the Regina Pats (16-42-5-3). Those two teams play Friday in Brandon (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place) and Saturday in Regina (6 p.m., Brandt Centre). Brandon needs to win both of those contests to have a chance to finish first in the East Division.

The Wheat Kings have won their respective regular season series with the Blades and Raiders. If Brandon finishes tied in wins and standings points with either or both of Saskatoon and Prince Albert, the Wheat Kings will take the standings tiebreaker in that instance.

Wednesday’s battle between the Blades and Wheat Kings was a fairly tight checking affair. The two sides played through a scoreless opening frame with Blades standout 19-year-old left-winger Rowan Calvert nailing the post with a shot inside the final minute of the stanza.

Early in the second, Wheat Kings 20-year-old star right-winger Marcus Nguyen put a backhand shot off the crossbar of the Saskatoon net.

Saskatoon broke through on the scoreboard at the 8:15 mark of the second. Import rookie left-winger David Lewandowski circled around the right side of the Brandon zone holding off a defender and fired home a shot through a screen to put the visitors up 1-0.

Rowan Calvert scored for the Blades on Wednesday.

With two seconds remaining in the second, Blades import centre Frantisek Day engaged Wheat Kings star 18-year-old centre Roger McQueen in a fight. The bout came about in a clunky manner.

During a scramble on the Saskatoon zone, Day cross-checked McQueen accidentally into Gardner. Day saw McQueen knock Gardner and then went after the Brandon forward.

McQueen was given a fighting major, while Day was given a minor for instigating, a major for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct. Working on that ensuing power play early in the third, Wheat Kings standout 18-year-old centre Jordan Gavin wired a shot off the post.

Once the Brandon power play came to an end, the Blades jumped ahead 2-0 at the 7:19 mark of the third, when Calvert tucked in his 24^th goal of the season with a bad angle shot just above the icing line to the left side of the Wheat Kings net.

The Wheat Kings didn’t go away. With 8:13 remaining in the third, Wheat Kings 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Luke Shipley wired a midrange shot through a screen for his 18^th tally of the campaign to cut the Blades lead to 2-1. Wheat Kings 16-year-old rookie centre Jaxon Jacobson stole the puck working the forecheck deep in the Saskatoon zone, and he got the puck to Gavin. Gavin setup Shipley for his goal-scoring shot.

Inside the final two minutes of the third with Brandon having pulled star 19-year-old netminder Carson Bjarnason for an extra attacker, Shipley wired a shot off the post of the Saskatoon goal.

Just moments after that missed chance, Lewandowski potted a long range empty-net goal from the left side boards beside the faceoff circle in the Saskatoon zone to seal the 3-1 victory for the visiting Blades. That tally was the second of the contest for Lewandowski and his 14^th marker of the campaign.

Bjarnason turned away 24-of-26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings.

Last season, the Blades finished with a 50-13-2-3 mark to top the WHL’s overall standings. In the post-season, the Blades advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series and fell in an epic seven-game set that saw six contests go to overtime to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

Going into the current campaign, the Blades weren’t expected to challenge for first in the division. They occupied first place for most of the first half of the regular season.

Leading up the WHL’s trade deadline on January 9, the Blades unloaded stars Brandon Lisowsky, Tanner Molendyk and Ben Riche to stock up on draft capital and add solid younger players. The Blades dealt a lot of high draft selections during a load up last season.

Saskatoon fell out of top spot in the East Division in late January. The Blades weren’t expected to be sitting at the top of the division with two regular season games remaining on their schedule.

Now, they will try to conclude a heated three team race with what would be a surprise division title.

Hitmen’s Hauser gets career wins record

Daniel Hauser is the WHL’s new all-time goaltending career wins king.

On Wednesday night, the star netminder, who turned 21 in January, made 21 saves to backstop his Calgary Hitmen to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels before 2,573 spectators at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The triumph allowed Hauser to move alone to the top of the WHL’s career regular season goaltending wins list with 123 victories.

Hauser had been tied for top spot at 122 wins with Nolan Maier, who played his entire WHL career with the Saskatoon Blades from 2017 to 2022.

“It feels awesome,” said Hauser to the WHL’s director of public relations and brand communications Taylor Rocca. “I could stand here for hours listing the people I can thank for putting me in this position.

“I’m super grateful for this team, this organization and every team I’ve been on in the past. To share (the record) with this group – these guys play so well in front of me every night. They made it special for me tonight, and it was awesome.”

Hauser, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 166 pounds, started his WHL career playing for the Winnipeg Ice during the circuit’s abbreviated campaign in 2021. The Ice played in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

He moved with the Ice franchise when it relocated to Wenatchee, Washington, to become the Wenatchee Wild at the start of the 2023-24 campaign. On January 2, Hauser was dealt to the Hitmen in a blockbuster trade.

Hauser, who is a Chestermere, Alta., product, has appeared in 175 career WHL regular season contests posting a 123-36-9 record, a 2.59 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and 17 shutouts. In combined action with both the Wild and Hitmen this season, Hauser has posted a 28-13-3 record, a 2.57 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and five shutouts.

The Hitmen did their best to ensure Hauser wouldn’t be denied the record on Wednesday. Carson Wetsch and Hunter Aura netted singles in the first period to give Calgary a 2-0 lead. Brandon Gorzynski, Sawyer Mynio and Ethan Moore potted singles in the second period to push the Hitmen’s advantage out to 5-0.

Samuel Drancak tallied for the Rebels in the third to round out the game’s scoring.

Hitmen star right-winger Oliver Tulk collected a pair of assists to hit the 100-point barrier in one regular season for the first time in his WHL career. Tulk, who turned 20 in January, has recorded 38 goals and 62 assists for 100 points to go with a plus-44 rating in the plus-minus department in 63 games with the Hitmen this season.

Peyton Shore turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels, who fell to 26-32-6-2 as they play out the string in 2024-25.

The win allowed the Hitmen to improve to 44-16-3-3.  Their 94 standings points ties the Medicine Hat Tigers (45-17-3-1) for top spot in the Central Division and the Eastern Conference. The Tigers hold the standing tiebreaker due to having more wins. Both clubs have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

The Hitmen and Rebels go at it again on Saturday in Red Deer (7 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium). The Tigers are also in action on Saturday as they host the rival Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, Co-op Place).

The Hitmen and Tigers conclude their respective regular season slates playing each other on Sunday in Calgary (5 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

The Rebels conclude their 2024-25 campaign on Sunday traveling to Edmonton to take on the Oil Kings (4 p.m. local time, Rogers Place).

Royals jump to top of B.C. Division

The Victoria Royals are back on top of the B.C. Division.

On Wednesday, the Royals downed the host Rockets in Kelowna 5-3 before 3,451 spectators at Prospera Place. The Rockets took a 2-0 lead in the second period before the Royals rolled off three straight tallies to take a 3-2 edge into the second intermission.

Kelowna scored the equalizer early in the third to force a 3-3 tie, but the Royals netted the contest’s final two markers to pull out the two-goal victory.

Cole Reschny led the way for the Royals with two goals and one assist. Brandon Lisowsky, Reggie Newman and Kenta Isogai all netted singles for Victoria. Isogai tallied into an empty net.

Hiroki Gojsic, Levi Benson and Jakub Stancl replied with singles for the Rockets.

Jayden Kraus stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Royals. Rhett Stoesser turned away 32-of-36 shots to take the setback in net of the Rockets.

With the win, the Royals improve to 39-17-3-7 to hold a lead of two standings points over the Prince George Cougars (40-20-4-2) for first in the B.C. Division. Both squads conclude their respective regular season schedules playing each other twice in Prince George. They go at it 7 p.m. local time Friday and 6 p.m. local time Saturday at the CN Centre.

The Rockets have lost 10 straight games to fall to 17-43-4-2 to sit in the basement of the Western Conference. They are playing out the string and have two games remaining on their regular season slate.

The Rockets host the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday (6 p.m. local time, Prospera Place) and head on the road Sunday to take on the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C., (4 p.m. local time, Langley Events Centre).

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.

Wheat Kings’ Flamand flattens Blades with four-point night

First game after Lisowsky tough for Saskatoon

Nolan Flamand (#91) celebrates his second goal on Friday night.

As the Saskatoon Blades made a trade to help their future, it looks like they will deal with expected rough spots in the present.

On Thursday, the Blades completed a major trade with the Victoria Royals. In that deal, they sent one of their all-time greats in 20-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky and a fifth round selection in the 2028 WHL Prospects Draft to the Royals for 20-year-old left-winger Tanner Scott, a second round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft and a second round pick in the 2026 Prospects Draft.

In 29 games with the Blades this season, Lisowsky sat second in Blades team scoring with 43 points coming off 22 goals and 21 assists to go with a plus-13 rating in the plus-minus department. In 256 career regular season games with the Blades, Lisowsky recorded 143 goals and 125 assists for 268 points to go with a plus-68 rating. The Port Coquitlam, B.C., product sits inside the top five for career regular season goals in the history of the Blades.

Nolan Flamand had two goals and two assists on Friday night.

Scott appeared in 25 games with the Royals this season recording six goals and 10 assists for 16 points to go with a plus-four rating. In 245 career regular season games with Victoria, Scott recorded 54 goals and 88 assists for 142 points.

With the Blades having loaded up last season having topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark and advancing to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series falling in a heartbreaking seven-game set to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors, the trade of Lisowsky allowed Saskatoon to recover some draft capital.

This season, the Blades with the help of Lisowsky have been sitting first in the WHL’s East Division and have led the Eastern Conference for various stretches in what has been a relatively surprising campaign. At the start of the 2024-25 campaign, Saskatoon was expected to content for a spot in the post-season, and few expected the Blades to battle for first in their division or their conference.

Tanner Scott scored for the Blades on Friday.

On Friday night playing before 4,121 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades took the ice for the first time after the Lisowsky trade taking on the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. The game was tight after two periods with the Wheat Kings holding a 3-2 lead on the scoreboard and a 20-19 edge in shots on goal.

The visitors stormed away in the third posting a 6-2 victory holding a 35-25 advantage in shots on goal. Wheat Kings standout 20-year-old centre Nolan Flamand, who is from Saskatoon, powered the Brandon side with two goals, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

The loss was a second in a row for the Blades, who still lead the WHL’s East Division with a 20-12-2-2 mark. The Wheat Kings improved to 18-11-3-2 with the win, and they along with the 19-12-3 Prince Albert Raiders sit three points back of the Blades for the division lead. The Wheat Kings and Raiders each have a pair of games in hand on the Blades.

Tanner Scott (#29) celebrates his first goal with the Blades.

The Wheat Kings came out of the gate on fire outshooting the Blades 10-3. Just 5:13 into the opening frame, the visitors jumped in front 1-0 on a goal from 18-year-old defenceman Dylan Ronald. Ronald received a drop pass at the right point from 19-year-old centre Matteo Michels and put home a smart shot past Blades star netminder Evan Gardner.

The Blades got their legs going near the end of the first recording the last six shots on goal for the frame. Wheat Kings netminder Alex Garret came up with a big glove save on Blades right-winger Hudson Kibblewhite, and inside the final 20 seconds of the first, Garret robbed Blades right-winger Zach Olsen on a tip attempt in from of the Brandon net.

Grayden Siepmann had a goal for the Blades on Friday.

The Wheat Kings held a 10-9 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

Brandon would recapture the moment at the start of the second. Just 34 seconds into the frame, Wheat Kings 20-year-old right-winger Marcus Nguyen jetted through the Blades checkers and ripped home his 19^th of the season from the front of the Saskatoon net to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.

At the 9:10 mark of the second, Brandon jumped up 3-0 on Flamand’s first tally of the night. Flamand put a shot on net from just to the right of the Saskatoon goal. Gardner got a piece of the shot, but the puck just trickled over the goal line pushing the Wheat Kings advantage to 3-0.

Jaxon Jacobson (#9) shields off Cooper Williams (#25).

The officials checked that tally via video review, and it was quickly confirmed the puck from Flamand’s shot did cross the goal line for Brandon’s third marker.

Following that tally, the Blades coaches elected to pull Gardner for backup Ethan McCallum. Gardner turned away 14-of-17 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. McCallum turned aside 15-of-18 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Blades proceeded to get some traction after the goaltending change. With 6:29 remaining in the second while working on the power play, Scott got the puck at the right side of the Brandon net and put a backhand shot into an empty cage for his first tally as a member of the Blades. That tally cut the Wheat Kings lead to 3-1.

Dylan Ronald had a pair of goals for the Wheat Kings.

Just 57 seconds later, 20-year-old Blades defenceman Grayden Siepmann put home a point shot through a screen to cut Brandon’s edge to 3-2. Breakout star centre Ben Riche picked up assists on both Saskatoon goals.

Brandon proceeded to wrestle back momentum early in the third and never looked back from there. Working on the power play at the 2:13 mark of the third, the rebound from a shot taken by Wheat Kings 18-year-old left-winger Caleb Hadland came out to Flamand at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Flamand potted his second of the contest into an empty cage to push the Wheat Kings lead out to 4-2.

Ronald picked up his second of the night and 17-year-old right-winger Joby Baumuller added a power-play goal to round out the scoring for the Wheat Kings the rest of the way. Nguyen had an assist to go along with his goal.

Marcus Nguyen had a goal and an assist for the Wheat Kings.

Garret stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings.

Out in Victoria on Friday night, Lisowsky picked up an assist on the overtime winner as the host Royals slipped past the WHL leading Everett Silvertips 2-1. The Royals improved to 19-11-3-4 with the win and sit two points back of the B.C. Division leading Prince George Cougars (21-10-3-2). The Cougars have a game in hand on the Royals.

The Silvertips still lead the WHL’s overall standings as their record moved to 28-5-3-1.

As the WHL’s trade deadline on January 9 at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time approaches, one has to wonder if the Blades will get another trade offer or two that is too good to pass up in order to collect more draft assets. For those that have watched the WHL for an extended period of time, they know that is one of the realities with life on that circuit after a team has a season with a load up.

Joby Baumuller had a power-play goal for the Wheat Kings.

You can bet Blades general manager Colin Priestner and rest of the Blades brain trust do not want to go through a lengthy rebuild like what happened after the Saskatoon franchise hosted the 2013 CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. 

The Priestner family headed by Colin’s father, Mike Priestner, bought the Blades from Jack Brodsky after that event. Saskatoon would go on to miss the post-season for five straight campaigns before returning to the WHL Playoffs in 2018-19.

With Friday’s clash between the Wheat Kings and Blades in the books, the Wheat Kings return to action on Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to face the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Ben Riche had a pair of assists for the Blades on Friday.

The Blades get back it on Saturday when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

Coming into this season, Lisowsky, who was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and went unsigned, was the last remaining member on a Saskatoon line that included Trevor Wong at centre and import Egor Sidorov at right wing. That trio was the Blades top forward unit for most of three seasons spanning from 2021 to 2024.

Both Wong and Sidorov graduated from the Blades following the club’s elimination in last year’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. Wong now plays for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team in the U Sports ranks, and Sidorov skates for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, who are the affiliate of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.

The Wheat Kings celebrate their win on Friday night.

Now that Lisowsky is no longer with the Blades, it feels like chapter on era in the franchise’s history has come that much more to a close. Still, the time that Lisowsky played with the Blades will always be something the team’s faithful can smile about because it happened.

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

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Blades shake Royals 5-4 in OT on Lisowsky’s winner

Brandon Lisowsky (#8) celebrates his OT winner on Saturday.

Brandon Lisowsky delivered the blow in overtime that allowed the Saskatoon Blades to finally knockout the Victoria Royals.

In a WHL regular season clash on Saturday night, the Blades and Royals were locked in a 4-4 tie early in overtime at the SaskTel Centre. On a faceoff in the Royals zone, Blades star centre Fraser Minten won a draw clean getting the puck to Lisowsky at the top of the faceoff circle.

On a set play, Lisowsky quickly wired home his 22^nd goal of the season to deliver the Blades to a 5-4 victory to the delight of the 5,794 spectators in attendance on a frigid night in Saskatoon. The temperature outside the Blades home rink was -36 C.

Fraser Minten set up the OT winner for the Blades on a faceoff win.

Lisowsky’s goal, which was his fifth winner of the season and came 20 seconds into overtime, allowed the Blades to put away a Royals team that seemingly wouldn’t go away. The Royals, who were closing out a five-game road trip against foes from the WHL’s East Division, trailed 4-1 at one point in the second period and cut the gap to 4-3 before the second intermission.

The Blades dominated play in the third period allowing the Royals to have only one shot on net. The Victoria side made that shot count.

With 35 seconds remaining in the third period, the Royals had netminder Ryan Tamelin pulled for an extra attacker, and they got the equalizer. Royals recently acquired 20-year-old right-winger Tyson Laventure centred a pass from behind the Saskatoon net to rookie centre Logan Pickford, who was positioned in front of the goal.

Logan Pickford celebrates scoring an equalizer for the Royals.

Pickford, who turned 18-years-old this past Monday, fired home his second tally of the contest and seventh of the season to even the score at 4-4 and force overtime. For a moment, it looked like Pickford, who is a Saskatoon product, was going to write a special homecoming story for himself.

His equalizer set the stage for Lisowsky to play the role of hero for the Blades in overtime.

The win allowed the Blades, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, to improve to 28-8-2-2 to sit alone in first place in the overall WHL standings. The Royals, who have gone into extra time in six of their last seven games, remained second in the B.C. Division as their record moved to 23-14-3-3.

Alexander Suzdalev score the Blades first goal on Saturday.

Saturday’s game marked the first time the Blades hit the ice with their potential regular roster since passing of last Wednesday’s WHL trade deadline. The Blades entered the contest with just two defencemen out with upper body injuries in 18-year-old veteran Carter Herman (week-to-week) and rookie Morgan Tastad (day-to-day), who turned 18-years-old last Wednesday.

The Blades healthy scratches were a trio of rookies in 16-year-old defenceman Brayden Klimpke, 16-year-old right-winger Hudson Kibblewhite and 17-year-old right-winger William James.

Saskatoon’s roster got a big boost with the return of 18-year-old star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk. Before Saturday’s clash with the Royals, Molendyk last suited up for the Blades in a 4-2 victory at home against the Red Deer Rebels on December 8, 2023.

Tanner Molendyk returned from injury to score for the Blades.

Following that win against the Rebels, Molendyk joined Canada’s world junior team, but never got to play in the main tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden. He suffered a fractured wrist in Canada’s 6-2 win over Switzerland in a pre-tournament game on December 22, 2023.

In Saturday’s outing with the Blades, Molendyk, who was selected in the first round and 24^th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and has a signed entry-level contract with the Predators, looked sound. He posted a goal and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department.

The Blades looked like they were poised to potentially roll the Royals jumping out to a 2-0 lead and holding a 14-7 edge in shots on goal after the game’s opening 20 minutes.

Tanner Scott had a goal for the Royals on Saturday.

At the 8:07 mark of the first, Royals 17-year-old right-winger Escalus Burlock gave the puck away in his own zone to Blades star import left-winger Alexander Suzdalev. Suzdalev promptly buried the gift into the back of the Victoria net to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

With 5:34 remaining in the first, Molendyk recorded his tally one-timing home a setup pass from defensive partner Ben Saunderson to push the Blades lead out to 2-0.

Just 95 seconds into the second, Pickford scored his first goal of the contest by golf chipping home a loose puck in front of the Saskatoon net to cut the Blades lead to 2-1.

Dawson Pasternak scored for the Royals on Saturday.

At the 6:15 mark of the second, the Blades pushed their advantage out to 3-1 lead thanks to a power-play goal from 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright on a mid-range shot. Just 71 seconds later, Blades star 20-year-old left-winger Easton Armstrong showed some sweet hands tucking home his 21^st goal of the season to give a host side a 4-1 advantage.

The Royals proceeded to counter with a push back. Star 20-year-old right-winger Dawson Pasternak scored with an off-speed shot on the power play and 19-year-old left-winger Tanner Scott popped home a loose puck in the crease of the Saskatoon net to cut the Blades lead to 4-3 heading into the second intermission.

From there, Pickford netted his equalizer for the Royals with 35 seconds remaining in the third and Lisowsky recorded the winner for the Blades just 20 seconds into overtime.

Charlie Wright scored on the power play for the Blades.

Austin Elliott stopped 14 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Ryan Tamelin turned away 33 shots to take the setback in net for the Royals. Tamelin, who stands 6-foot-8 and is 17-years-old, was making his first career WHL start having spent most of the 2023-24 campaign with the Okanagan Hockey Academy’s Under-18 Prep Team.

Import right-winger Egor Sidorov had a pair of assists for the Blades in the win.

The Blades return to action on Sunday, when they host the 15-20-4-2 Regina Pats (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Royals, who have four extra time losses and a regulation setback to show from their five-game road trip through the East Division, get back at it this coming Saturday when they host the Kamloops Blazers (4 p.m. local time, Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena).

The Blades celebrate their OT win on Saturday.

In the coming weeks, the Blades could potentially juggle their lines and defensive pairs in order to find the combinations that have the best chemistry production. Still as was seen on Saturday, it is a good sign they are able to find ways to win even when a foe grudging doesn’t want to give up a knockout blow.

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.

Raiders make B.C. trip most memorable part of 2022-23 so far

Landon Kosior in action for the Raiders on December 27, 2022.

It would be understandable if the Prince Albert Raiders and their fans got a little greedy thinking the team could have won all the games on their B.C. Division road trip.

Still, the Raiders posted a 3-2 record on a trip that saw them play those five games over eight days with extensive travel through the mountains. For the reloading Raiders youthful roster, it was a big accomplishment to post a 3-2 mark.

It also isn’t a stretch to say that the Raiders played well enough they could have won every contest on that trip. The Raiders won the first three games of the swing against the Prince George Cougars, Victoria Royals and Vancouver Giants outscoring those foes 14-5. The Prince Albert side dropped the last two games falling 6-4 to the Memorial Cup hosting Blazers in Kamloops on Friday and a 4-0 decision to the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday.

In the loss to the Blazers, the Raiders held a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes and were up 4-3 at one point in the second period. The Blazers scored late in the second and netted the only two goals in the third to pull out the win.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click the link right here.

Enjoy Bedard phenom while it is still in WHL

Pats centre a generational player in final major junior season

Connor Bedard leads the WHL with 59 points this season.

“We need to tank for Bedard.”

At some point this season, there have likely been fans of every team in the NHL that has thought, said or written that line. Even if an NHL club is occupying first place in a division, all it takes is a skid as small as two games to get at least one supporter in that club’s fan base to have that thought cross his or her mind.

If the NHL club is one of the circuit’s seven Canadian franchises, a sizable group of fans will be thinking that thought, and that group gets even larger if the Canadian club they are supporting is struggling. All of sudden, you have some fans who hope their team immediately rolls off a 50-game losing streak to have a better chance to gain the first overall selection in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. The odds of a team winning the NHL draft lottery to get the first overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft increase the worse that club does in the regular season.

Of course, the big prize for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft for the team that is bad enough is 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard, who is currently the captain of the WHL’s Regina Pats. Bedard is a true generational talent, who was the first player to be granted exceptional status to play in the WHL full time as a 15-year-old.

Now in his third season in the major junior ranks, Bedard, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 185 pounds, leads the WHL in goals (26), assists (33) and points (59) appearing in all of the Pats 27 regular season games to date. The North Vancouver, B.C., product, who has a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department, was held pointless in the Pats first game of the current campaign and has proceeded to register at lead one point in each of the 26 contests that have followed.

Bedard’s latest body of work was a two-goal performance in a 5-1 Pats victory against the Cougars in Prince George on Friday that allowed the Regina side to improve to 13-12-1-1. Just 20 seconds into the second period with the Pats holding a 2-1 edge, Bedard came down the right-wing on a power play rush, toe dragged the puck closer into his body and snapped a shot between the legs of Cougars defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk and blocker side on Cougars netminder Ty Young for his first goal of the contest.

Connor Bedard has made frequent highlight reel clips.

At the 13:12 mark of the third period, Bedard entered the Cougars zone on a rush down the left wing, stopped top of the left faceoff circle and roofed home a shot to the right corner of the Prince George net for his second tally of the contest to give the Pats a 4-1 advantage. Bedard could have had at least four more markers in that contest, but Young made some big saves to limit the Pats superstar to a two-goal night.

Bedard’s appearance drew a crowd of 6,027 spectators to the 5,971 seat CN Centre in Prince George. The attendance was by far the largest gathering the Cougars attracted all season and well above their average attendance of 2,818 spectators for the 13 home dates they’ve hosted.

The win over the Cougars completed road tour for the Pats where they played each of the five teams in the B.C. Division posting a 4-1 mark. The first two games in Vancouver and Victoria were sellouts, and the contests held in Kelowna, Kamloops and Prince George were well into standing room and well above this season’s average attendance in each centre.

That is part of the crazy that comes with Bedard playing what will inevitably be his final campaign in the major junior ranks. When the next NHL Entry Draft is held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 28 to 29, 2023, Bedard is the consensus choice to be selected first overall.

Following the first overall selection, Bedard will be signed to an NHL entry-level contract and be playing in the NHL full time as an 18-year-old. Only something unforeseen would see that chain of events not play out.

From the start of the 2022-23 campaign, NHL fans and the media that covers the NHL seem to be keeping closer tabs on what Bedard is doing with the Pats as he is eligible for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. It is common to see Bedard’s name trend on social media lines like Twitter seemingly every third day.

Connor Bedard brings a bigger spotlight to the games he plays in.

Frequently, a Bedard highlight that results in a goal will pop up on social media and receive a large number of shares. Often, that highlight finds its way on the national broadcasts for TSN’s Sportscentre or Sportsnet’s Sports Central.

Junior hockey highlights are not a normal staple on those shows unless the world junior tournament is on, and Bedard highlights have made those shows on a regular basis this season. There are a few times NHL followers will notice another good player in games that Bedard skates in, but it often feels like an overshadow aspect is still there.

Take the Pats visit to Winnipeg to play the Ice back on November 17. The Ice, who sit first overall in the WHL with a 23-4 mark, downed the Pats 9-5 that night, and Winnipeg star 18-year-old centre Matthew Savoie had three goals, three assists and a plus-two rating in that contest.

Just 10 seconds into that game, Bedard intercepted an Ice pass at centre ice, broke into the Winnipeg zone, undressed and skated around an Ice defenceman, deked out Ice netminder Mason Beaupit and tucked home a goal to complete the highlight reel play. Bedard finished with a goal and two assists in that outing.

There were people who don’t normally follow the WHL notice that Savoie, who was the first round selection NHL Entry Draft held this past July by the Buffalo Sabres, was a pretty good player. Still, it seemed like the video from Bedard’s goal that night was shared seemingly everywhere, and Savoie’s big night didn’t get anywhere near that attention.

Another player that gets noticed quite a bit due to playing on the same team as Bedard is left-winger Tanner Howe, who turned 17-years-old on November 28. In 98 career regular season games with the Pats, Howe has 45 goals, 62 assists and a plus-nine rating. The Prince Albert product has 17 goals, 19 assists and a plus-nine rating in 26 appearances this season with the Pats.

Connor Bedard packed rinks in a tour of the B.C. Division.

Howe picked up a WHL player of the week nod for the week ending November 27 for collecting five goals and two assists in the Pats first two stops on their tour of the B.C. Division. That included posting four goals, two assists and a plus-six rating in the Pats 9-5 victory over the Royals in Victoria on November 26. Bedard had three goals, one assist and a plus-six rating in that victory.

Howe actually isn’t eligible for the NHL Entry Draft until 2024 due to his late in the year birthday. Thanks to playing with Bedard, more NHL followers are aware of Howe than they normally would be.

In the grand scheme of things, the endless hype around Bedard has caused more people than normal to pay attention to the Pats and the WHL. That attention will go away, when Bedard is no longer playing in the WHL.

Actually, the WHL will lose some attention for about the last two thirds of the month of December through the first week of January when the IIHF’s world junior hockey tournament is on. The upcoming world juniors start on December 26 and run through to January 5, 2023 in Halifax, N.S., and Moncton, N.B.

Bedard will be skating with Canada’s entry at that event and at selection camp and practices with Canada in the two weeks leading up to that tourney.

When the world juniors conclude, Bedard will jet through his final stretch in the major junior ranks. The Bedard hype train in the WHL has a finite time limit, so it would be prudent to enjoy it while it is still going on.

Connor Bedard, left, enjoys a goal celebration with the Pats.

Come next year at this time, you will likely have to play $300 or more just to get in a rink to see Bedard play in the NHL.

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.

Finally - All WHL Divisions are back in business

Connor Zary in action for the Blazers on December of 2019.

The WHL was able to do the impossible.

When the circuit paused its 2019-20 season back on March 12, 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, there was no certainty as to when the major junior league would hit the ice again.

That pause evolved into the cancelation of the rest of the 2019-20 campaign overseen under the CHL umbrella, which the WHL is a part of.

With the WHL’s 22 teams being spread across four Canadian provinces in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia along with the states of Washington and Oregon in the United States, the prospects of the WHL returning for any type of 2020-21 season seemed daunting.

The WHL had to work with the governments and health authorities in four Canadian provinces and two states in the United States in order to get the circuit going again on the ice. There were days it seemed the odds of winning the main prize of a Lotto Max jackpot were better than that of the WHL coming back for 2020-21.

Ultimately, the WHL came up with the idea of each member club playing a shortened 24-game regular season, which would be held for developmental purposes. All games are being played without fans in attendance and competition is restricted to in division play.

The Swift Current Broncos were moved from the Central Division to the East Division for the abbreviated season to the play the WHL’s four other Saskatchewan-based clubs and the circuit’s two Manitoba-based teams in a bubble format at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The Central Division hit the ice on February 26. The East Division followed on March 12 and the U.S. Division got in gear on March 18.

Friday marked the first contests played in the B.C. Division with games held in bubble environments at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops and Prospera Place in Kelowna. 

The Rockets were back in action on Friday.

The Kamloops Blazers downed the Vancouver Giants 7-3 in Kamloops, while the Kelowna Rockets blanked the Victoria Royals 5-0 in Kelowna.

Friday would be the first time all four division in the WHL were allowed to be active for regular season games since March 11, 2020.

On Saturday, the Prince George Cougars took on the Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre. When the Cougars took the ice in their 5-4 setback, it meant every team in the WHL has played at least one game in the abbreviated 2020-21 regular season.

It has to be considered a miracle that all WHL teams were able to get back into action. Still, the return to play hasn’t been easy.

All players, coaches and trainers are taking part in weekly testing. On Friday, the WHL announced it had administered 4,094 COVID-19 tests from Feb. 12 to March 26 with only one positive result. From March 20 to this past Friday, the WHL administered 1,002 COVID-19 tests with all results coming back negative.

The 17 Canadian based teams are using private PRC testing provided by DynaLIFE. The five teams in the United States have taken part in private antigen testing.

The WHL is playing this developmental campaign at a sizable financial cost to its member teams. Back during their virtual annual general meeting on Jan. 18, the community owned Lethbridge Hurricanes estimated they expected to lose $1.3-million, if they hit the ice for an abbreviated 24-game regular season that was played without spectators.

With all that said, the WHL has created an opportunity for their players to get fresh game video footage that can be studied by scouts from the NHL, other professional leagues and the U Sports ranks.

Fans have been able follow games on radio broadcasts, check out livestreams or view highlights are various league and team social media platforms.

The Blazers are celebrating a lot of goals early this season.

On Friday, it had to feel good again for league followers that Kamloops star centre Connor Zary was again doing Connor Zary things posting three assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department in the Blazers win over the Giants.

Sophomore 17-year-old right-winger Matthew Seminoff had a big night too for the Kamloops side collecting two goals and one assist to go with a plus-three rating. Thanks to his late December birthday, Seminoff isn’t NHL Entry Draft eligible until 2022.

In Kelowna on Friday, the Rockets played a solid team game in their shutout of the Royals. Veteran centre Alex Swetlikoff paced the Rockets with a pair of goals, while veteran netminder Cole Schwebius made 19 saves to pick up the shutout win.

While WHL supporters are pumped they can follow game action in the league again, the realization shouldn’t be lost that it is amazing these contests are even happening at all.

WCBL still in COVID-19 shadow, other notes

If anyone thought the COVID-19 pandemic was over, developments from the Western Canadian Baseball League say otherwise this week.

As vaccines for COVID-19 continue to roll our across Canada, it seems like a sizable portion in society is treating the pandemic like it is over.

The WCBL continues to plot out a plan for a 2021 season, and it is trying to adjust for various restrictions that are expected to be in place well into summer.

The WCBL is wood bat summer league containing team stocked with college eligible players, and its season typically runs from the last week of May with playoffs ending about the second week of August. Regular season action usually wraps up at the end of July.

The circuit’s 2020 campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, the league announced it plans to go ahead with a 2021 campaign with teams fielding roster containing just players from Canada. Typically, the rosters of WCBL clubs are stocked with a sizable number of players born in the United States.

The Alberta based Okotoks Dawgs with two teams, the Lethbridge Bulls, Sylvan Lake Gulls and Edmonton Prospects have committed to play in 2021.

The Fort McMurray Giants and the Medicine Hat Mavericks are still discussing whether they will play or not. Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News reported on Friday that the Mavericks home stadium – Athletic Park – is slated to undergo renovations this summer.

As a result, the Mavericks are dealing with having to play a 2021 campaign in the smaller Jeffries Park, which is also located in Medicine Hat.

Also on Thursday, the WCBL announced that the circuit’s four remaining Saskatchewan-based teams in the Moose Jaw Miller Express, Regina Red Sox, Swift Current 57s and Weyburn Beavers along with the Brooks Bombers in Alberta have decided to opt out of a possible 2021 campaign and will look forward to returning in 2022.

During a Zoom press conference call, WCBL commissioner Kevin Kvame said the Saskatchewan based Yorkton Cardinals and Melville Millionaires ceased operation as of December.

On Thursday, the Red Sox issued a press release that expanded on why the Saskatchewan teams in the WCBL elected not to play. The circuit submitted a return to play plan to the Saskatchewan Health Authority that requested a gradual increase in attendance throughout the season going up to 100 per cent of capacity for July 1.

The Red Sox release said that the SHA is enforcing a maximum capacity of 25 per cent for the upcoming season at the moment.

The released added, “Player and staff testing protocols will need to be in place at an estimated cost of $40,000 per team, as well as quarantine costs amounting to $2,000 per player. Interprovincial travel continues to be restricted, and the US/Canada border remains closed at this time.”

The statement continued by saying the Alberta clubs that have decided to play with just Canadian players will still be subjected to quarantine, testing and border restrictions.

By the looks of what the WCBL is dealing with, it is realistic to expect minor sports competition this coming summer will likely lean more to being played with teams just traveling within provincial boundaries like they did last summer.

At the moment, interprovincial competition, which would obviously be needed for national championship competitions, still might not happen this coming summer.

• On Friday, the Prairie Junior Hockey League junior B circuit in Saskatchewan cancelled the reminder of its 2020-21 campaign due to provincial restrictions brought in to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The PJHL’s last regular season game was held Nov. 26, 2020 when the Saskatoon Quakers beat the Saskatoon Westleys 8-4.
• On Friday, netminder Dustin Wolf broke the Everett Silvertips team record for longest shutout streak. In the Silvertips 4-0 start to their WHL regular season schedule, Wolf posted shutouts in his team’s first three wins. His shutout streak came to an end Friday, when he was beaten by Portland Winterhawks right-winger Simon Knak at the 13:16 mark of the second period of Everett’s 2-1 overtime victory at the Veteran Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Wolf set a Silvertips record for longest consecutive shutout streak lasting 216 minutes and 27 seconds. The previous record of 195 minutes and 12 seconds was held by Carter Hart, who now plays for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.
• On Saturday, netminder Aerin Frankel of the Northeastern University Huskies women’s hockey team was named the winner of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I women’s hockey. In 23 overall games with the Huskies, Frankel posted a 20-2-1 record, a 0.81 goals against average, a .965 save percentage and nine shutouts. She backstopped the Huskies to the NCAA championship game, where they fell 2-1 in overtime to the University of Wisconsin Badgers on March 20.
• The WHL regular season record for longest shutout streak belongs to Chris Worthy playing for the Flin Flon Bombers in 1967-68. Worthy set the mark for playing most consecutive games picking up a shutout at four, and in the process, he set the record for most consecutive minutes of playing shutout hockey at 265 minutes and 13 seconds. Worthy’s records still have a chance to stand for a lengthy amount of time.
• Speaking of long time records, Medicine Hat Tigers left-winger Boyd Anderson set the WHL regular season records for the fast four goals and fastest five goals on October 7, 1972 in a game against the Flin Flon Bombers at The Arena in Medicine Hat. In the third period of the Tigers 10-1 win, Anderson scored four goals in a span of two minutes and 35 seconds. A short time later, he added a fifth tally, and all five goals were scored in a record time of three minutes and seven seconds. In the current day of hockey, individual players top out getting eight or nine shots on goal for a game. Imagine scoring five times on five shots in a span of 3:07. Anderson’s records may never be broken.
• During the abbreviated 2020-21 WHL regular season, it has been great to hear familiar play-by-play voices over the radio again. Of course, it has been sweet to hear Bob Ridley call games again as the play-by-play voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers. In order of seniority, it has also been great to once again here Les Lazaruk calling Saskatoon Blades games, Phil Andrews calling Regina Pats contests and Trevor Redden calling Prince Albert Raiders games. When you hear those play-by-play voices doing their thing, it feels that much more normal again.
• On Saturday the Edmonton Oil Kings ran their WHL regular season record to 9-0 downing the Calgary Hitmen 5-2 at the Seven Chiefs SportsPlex in Calgary. Star left-winger Jake Neighbours led the way for the Oil Kings with two goals and an assist.
• On Saturday, Paul Figler, who is the founder of the DUBNetwork that is dedicated to covering the WHL, wrote a column on the difficulties people were having with the WHL’s new streaming service to watch games online. Figler’s opinion piece was a good one, and it can be found by clicking right here.

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

-------                                     

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

WHL continues to roll as B.C. Division gets green light

Schedule announced for East Division hub

Connor Zary and the Blazers are set to be back in action.

WHL officials might be over celebrating if they pop the champagne corks, but they should feel free to indulge in their favourite order from Starbucks.

On Tuesday, the WHL officially announced they had the green light from the British Columbia Provincial Health Office to play games in two hub centres in that province in Kelowna and Kamloops. That means the five teams in the WHL’s B.C. Division will be allowed to begin an abbreviated regular season starting on March 26, where each team will play 24 games.

With that announcement, the WHL was successful in navigating all hurdles to this point in time to get all of the circuit’s 22 teams back into action for a shortened 2020-21 campaign. The season is being held for the purposes of developing players and allowing them to be scouted for the next NHL Entry Draft.

Action is already underway in the Central Division. The East Division is schedule to begin play in a bubble environment in Regina, Sask., on March 12.

The U.S. Division is slated to begin play on March 19.

Of course, the WHL clubs are playing shortened seasons due to the fact the world is still in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The WHL appreciated the cooperation we have received from the Provincial Health Officer and health officials in B.C. as we work toward a safe return to play in the B.C. Division,” said WHL commissioner Ron Robison in a release. “With our extensive protocols and the necessary approvals now in place, we are looking forward to play beginning in the Kamloops and Kelowna hubs.

Tarun Fizer will aim to pile up offence for the Royals.

“We are excited to now have all four WHL Divisions returning to play as it was our objective from the onset to deliver a season for all our players.”

On Wednesday, the WHL continued to roll announcing the schedule for al 84 regular season games that will be played in the East Division hub in the Brandt Centre. 

The schedule gets going on March 12 with two games as the Moose Jaw Warriors take on the Brandon Wheat Kings (4 p.m. Saskatchewan time) and the Regina Pats will tangle with the Prince Albert Raiders (4 p.m. Saskatchewan time).

As for the B.C. Division, games will be played at Prospera Place in Kelowna and the Sandman Centre in Kamloops. 

Like action in the rest of the WHL, spectators will not be permitted into league facilities for the 2020-21 season.

The Kelowna Rockets and Victoria Royals will be based out of Kelowna. The Rockets expect to stay with billet families, while the Royals are expected to stay in a hotel.

The Kamloops Blazers, Prince George Cougars and Vancouver Giants will be based out of Kamloops. The Blazers are expected to stay with billets, while the Cougars and Giants will stay in hotels.

Kaedan Korczak is expected to be back in the Rockets fold.

WHL teams will be permitted to travel between the two hub cities with no stops permitted. The two centres are about 170 kilometres apart from each other.

The players and staff from B.C. Division teams will begin self-quarantining this coming Saturday. 

They will report to their respective hub cities on March 13 and will undergo COVID-19 testing upon arrival followed by an additional quarantine period.

Players and staff will undergo a second COVID-19 test before being permitted to engage in any team activity.

WHL clubs will provide private PCR testing through DynaLIFE Medical Labs in order to ensure no additional strain is placed on public health. 

All private testing conducted in the B.C. Division will be processed and analyzed at DynaLIFE’s Alberta-based laboratory in Edmonton.

The major junior circuit will implement an ongoing weekly private PCR testing strategy.

If a WHL squad has one or more players or staff test positive for COVID-19 at any point in the season, the team will be required to suspend its activities for a minimum of 14 days.

There will be enhanced screening for all WHL players, team staff and officials that will take place on a daily basis including regular temperature screenings as well as symptom monitoring through the WHL Athlete RMS Mobile Application.

Masks must be worn by all WHL players at all times except when they are participating on ice for games and practices.

Alex Kannok Leipert will man the blue-line for the Giants.

WHL coaches will be required to wear masks at all times including while conducting practice and while behind the bench during games.

The schedule for the B.C. Division will be announced at a later date.

Overall, the WHL was able to accomplish something that looked to be impossible. For the longest time, there was huge doubt that the circuit would be able to hold any type of season for a 2020-21 campaign.

The fact the WHL will hold an abbreviated campaign getting all 22 member clubs into action has to be seen as a minor miracle.

Rush honour Shahab with jersey, other notes

“We presented Dr Saqib Shahab with a jersey in appreciation of his leadership and guidance under unimaginable pressure. We look forward to seeing him and his family in the stands next year alongside Rush Nation” Rush owner Bruce Urban

(Dr Shahab w/ Paul Merriman, Health Minster) pic.twitter.com/4X8C4ddf1V

— Saskatchewan Rush (@SaskRushLAX) March 3, 2021

The Saskatchewan Rush seem to enjoy hitting lots and lots of homeruns.

On Wednesday morning, the powerhouse National Lacrosse League club shared photos of having presented Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab with a personalized jersey. The jersey is emblazoned with the number one and has Dr. Shahab on the name bar.

In a release, the Rush wrote that Dr. Shahab and his team have been working tirelessly to keep us all safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rush release said Dr. Shahab is the face of thousands working in the front lines to make Saskatchewan better.

“On behalf of the entire Rush organization, we proudly present Dr. Shahab with a personalized jersey in appreciation of his continued leadership and guidance under unimaginable pressure,” said Rush owner Bruce Urban in a release. “His expertise and calm demeanor have been a guiding light in the storm, and we look forward to seeing him in the stands alongside Rush Nation next season.”

The Rush relocated to Saskatoon before the start of the 2015-16 NLL campaign from Edmonton as the defending league champions.

In that first campaign playing out of the SaskTel Centre, the Rush won a second straight NLL crown. They added a third NLL championship in 2018.

The Rush last played on March 7, 2020, when downed the visiting Vancouver Warriors 17-7 at the SaskTel Centre. The rest of the 2019-20 NLL was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NLL decided to not play in 2020-21 due to the continuing pandemic electing to focus on returning for the 2021-22 season.

When action does resume, you can expect the Rush and the league will continue their entertaining magic.

• The WHL’s games will be streamed on WHL Live on CHL TV. Back on Feb. 16, the CHL announced Verizon Media Platform would be its streaming partner for this season. For WHL games, a season pass will cost fans $59.99 or a 24-hour pass will cost $6.99. As fans aren’t allowed to attend WHL games this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many were looking for information regarding live streams for games. You can find more information on WHL Live on CHL TV by clicking right here.
• On Monday, Edmonton Oil Kings winger Dylan Guenther was named the first WHL play of the week for the 2020-21 campaign. The 17-year-old had four goals and four assists in two games for the Oil Kings, who picked up a pair of victories over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Oil Kings 18-year-old netminder Sebastian Cossa was named the WHL goaltender of the week. He was in goal for both of the Oil Kings wins over the Hurricanes posting a 1.50 goals against average and a .935 save percentage.
• Tickets are on sale for the March jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the remaining draw dates are Wednesday, March 31, April 30 and May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• On Tuesday, CTV Regina shared a story of an under-18 hockey team in Estevan breaking Government of Saskatchewan Public Health Orders in holding scrimmage with a referee. The teams weren’t social distancing on the bench either. Sport competitions are currently not allowed and Public Health Orders in Saskatchewan. The scrimmage was streamed live online, which basically means those involved with the scrimmage were giving the “Stone Cold Stunner” to authorities. Claire Hanna had the story, and it can be found by clicking right here.
• On Tuesday, Gregg Drinnan posted his latest entry on his Taking Note blog on how the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on the sports world. He also shows an example of a factually inaccurate tweet that was made to try and influence government officials in British Columbia. It shows the unhelpful lows some will go to get sports back into action. Drinnan’s piece can be found by clicking right here.
• Netminder Garin Bjorklund of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers delivered a message on the importance of masking in during these COVID-19 pandemic times in the tweet below.

Goaltender Garin Bjorklund knows his way around a mask. He’s here to ask you to keep one another safe by wearing your own. #WHLMaskUp

INFO 📝 | https://t.co/ReHDXwk3J4 pic.twitter.com/1fTz9BPtAP

— Medicine Hat Tigers (@tigershockey) March 3, 2021

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.