Wheat Kings wipe out Blades 5-1

P.A. product Schneider posts goal, assist and plus-three rating

Braden Schneider had a goal, an assist and was a plus-three for Brandon.

    Braden Schneider had a Prince Albert moment playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings.
    With his team holding a 3-0 advantage on the host Saskatoon Blades, the 18-year-old defenceman saw his goaltender Jiri Patera get knocked to the ice via a trip from veteran Blades right-winger Zach Huber. Schneider, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 208 pounds, confronted Huber, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 197 pounds, starting a scrum.

    Schneider was given minor penalties for cross-checking and roughing, while Huber was assessed minors for goaltender interference and roughing.

    Schneider, who is a Prince Albert, Sask., product and played for the Prince Albert Raiders bantam AA team and the Prince Albert Mintos midget AAA club, admitted a little bit of his personality from his hometown coming out in that moment.

Braden Schneider (#2) takes part in Brandon’s head butt goal celebration.

    “I think I am a competitive guy,” said Schneider. “I think any guy on our team would do the same.

    “I think we are just a tight-knit group, and I think we have each others’ back no matter what happens. If we think it is dirty, we will be standing up for each other for sure.”

    Had the officials stretched the call and given out fighting majors in that moment, Schneider would have ended up with the Gordie Howe hat trick. Still, he had a great night posting one goal, one assist and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

Braden Schneider controls the puck at the point for the Wheat Kings.

    Overall, the Wheat Kings rolled to a 5-1 victory in Wednesday’s WHL regular season clash played before 2,815 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

    Schneider said it was cool to have nights where seemingly everything went right for his side, but he added that isn’t always the case.

    “All our guys rose to the occasion,” said Schneider. “After the game, we reset and get ready for the next one, because the next one is just as big.”

    On a personal front, Schneider is having a breakout campaign in his third season in the WHL. He has posted six goals and 28 assists for 34 points to go with a plus-11 rating in 49 regular season appearances with the Wheat Kings.

Braden Schneider is having a breakout season with the Wheat Kings.

    Schneider’s assist and point totals are already career highs. He said the experience he gained over his first two major junior campaigns is helping out now.

    “Everyone is a bit bigger, a bit faster and a bit stronger,” said Schneider. “It is a little bit of an adjustment from midget, but once you get used to it, it almost seems easier.

    “I know where the little soft spots are now, and I am using my guys and carrying the puck a little bit more and shooting a little bit more. I think just the comfort level and the opportunity is helping me find the net a little bit more.”

    Wednesday’s game got off to an auspicious start for the Blades, which seemed to foreshadow what was to come. About a couple of minutes into the opening frame, Blades netminder Nolan Maier had the puck behind his net and nonchalantly sent a backhand pass into the left slot right to Wheat Kings centre Jake Chiasson.

Braden Schneider starts a rush up ice for the Wheat Kings.

    Chiasson wasn’t able to capitalize on the gift firing a shot wide of the Saskatoon goal.

    The Wheat Kings proceeded to a pot a goal seconds into a power-play at the 6:02 mark of the frame. Off a draw on from the faceoff circle to the left of the Saskatoon goal, Wheat Kings captain Connor Gutenberg slipped a pass across the face the Blades net to linemate Cole Reinhardt, who buried his 26^th goal of the season.

    Before the first ended, the Blades had a couple of strong chances to net the equalizer. 

Ridly Greig had two goals and two assists for Brandon.

    Patera made a glove stop on a drive by feisty Blades left-winger Riley McKay and then stoned Huber from point blank range.

    With 2:31 remaining in the first, the Wheat Kings expanded their edge to 2-0 off an offensive rush, where a pinching Schneider potted a backdoor pass from centre Luka Burzan at the left side of the Saskatoon goal.

    The assist was Burzan’s 100^th of his WHL career.

    Just 12 seconds into the second, Gutenberg netted his 11^th of the season to put the Wheat Kings up 3-0.

Connor Gutenberg had a goal and three assists for Brandon.

    The Wheat Kings took further control of the contest with 2:07 remaining in the second, when centre Ridly Greig fired home a power-play goal from the right boards to put the visitors up 4-0.
    The only thing that seemingly didn’t go right for the Wheat Kings was that Greig was stopped on a penalty shot about a couple of minutes before his power-play goal.

    “It is a lot easier to play, when everyone is going like that, and we are playing the way we want to be playing,” said Schneider. “We came prepared tonight, and it was a big game. “

    The Blades showed a bit of fight at the start of third. Following a penalty kill, overage Blades defenceman Nolan Kneen jetted into the Brandon zone on a breakaway and fired home his 11^th of the season to the top right corner of the Wheat Kings net.

    If there were any dreams of a comeback by the home side, the Wheat Kings burst that bubble scoring a short-handed goal on a two-on-one break with nine minutes remaining in the third. 

Nolan Kneen had the Blades lone goal on Wednesday.

    Greig potted his second of the night converting a setup pass from right-winger Ty Thorpe to give the visitors a 5-1 advantage.

    Greig had a pair of assists to go with his two goals for a four-point night. Gutenberg had three helpers to go with his goal for a four-point night as well.

    Patera turned away 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings (28-19-3-2). Maier turned away 27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades (27-21-2-3).

    Back on Dec. 28, the Wheat Kings had a 15-17-1-2 record, and there was uncertainty in which direction their season could go. In their 17 outings since, the Wheat Kings have posted a 13-2-2 record.

    “I think everyone is just buying in to what we are given,” said Schneider. “When we do that, we are a pretty tough team to beat.

Jiri Patera makes one of his 22 saves for the Wheat Kings.

    “I think everyone has learned their role and is buying into the system. I think it is all just coming around full circle for us. I think at the start some people were starting to write us off.

    “We were a little inconsistent. We were trying to find our stride, and I think once we found it, it was pretty scary.”

    The Blades and Wheat Kings will go at it again on Friday in Brandon (7:30 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

    Schneider expects the intensity will be a lot higher in Friday’s encounter than it was on Wednesday.

    “The challenge is that they are going to be coming harder than they did tonight,” said Schneider. “I think the challenge for us is to be prepared and be ready to go and reset.

The Wheat Kings celebrate their win on Wednesday.

    “We know that they are going to be coming for blood from us.”

    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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Barlage pumped Hurricanes bump Blades jinx

Humboldt product scores key goal in Lethbridge win

Logan Barlage (#27) celebrates scoring for the Hurricanes.

    Logan Barlage was happy his family and friends didn’t have to see him lose at the SaskTel Centre.
    The third-year centre from Humboldt, Sask., is having a breakout season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who have been floating in the top six of the overall WHL standings for much of the season. Despite the fact the Hurricanes are having a strong campaign, they hadn’t beaten the Saskatoon Blades in the first three head-to-head meetings between the two sides.

    Going into action on Saturday, the Blades had won five straight head-to-head meetings with the Hurricanes dating back to last season.

    That all changed on Saturday at the SaskTel Centre as Barlage scored a goal to help the Hurricanes skate away with a 4-3 victory to disappoint much of the 4,243 spectators in attendance.

    “It is good to win in front of family, and I think our team really needed this win,” said Barlage. “We’ve been talking about playing playoff hockey, and I think that we did that tonight.

Hurricanes C Logan Barlage (#27) screens Blades G Nolan Maier.

    “I am proud of the group.”

    Barlage entered the WHL on a full-time basis as a 16-year-old rookie before the start of the 2017-18 campaign with the Swift Current Broncos. The Broncos selected Barlage in the first round and fourth overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft.

    He was dealt shortly before the trade deadline of his rookie campaign to the Hurricanes, because the Broncos were loading up with veteran players to go on a run that ultimately saw them win the WHL title.

    Still, Barlage hadn’t piled up the points like he had coming up through minor hockey. During his first full season in 2017-18, Barlage had seven goals and 13 assists in 71 regular season games split between the Broncos and Hurricanes.

    Last season, Barlage had 15 goals and 24 assists appearing in all of the Hurricanes 68 regular season games. Despite not lighting up the scoreboard, Barlage said he just tried to focus on his effort and not dwell on his statistics.

Logan Barlage (#27) is having a breakout campaign for the Hurricanes.

    “It was just every day you have to get better,” said Barlage, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 205 pounds. “You can’t really worry about the points.

    “Obviously, sometimes you do that especially in your draft year. I think this year I really learned not to worry about it, because you never know how the season is going to go. I just focus on myself and getting better every day.”

    Barlage has found his stride this season posting 18 goals and 28 assists in 47 regular season games. He said the fact the Hurricanes coaches kept their faith in him helped create the breakout.

    “I think there has been lots of opportunity for me,” said Barlage. “I get to play lots.

    “I think that comes along with it learning how to play against other top players and just how to keep working on your skills and getting better every day. I think that has been big.”

Koletrane Wilson scored a goal for the Hurricanes on Saturday.

    When Barlage plays close to home, he likes to win. Due to the fact Humboldt is about 112 kilometres east of Saskatoon, Barlage had a number of family and friends in attendance at the SaskTel Centre on Saturday night.

    For most of the first period, it looked the Blades would have a good chance to continue their winning ways over the Hurricanes.

    The Blades stormed out of the gates getting a flurry of scoring chances.

    Just moments into the game, Blades left-winger Kyle Crnkovic drove a shot off the post of the Lethbridge goal.

    Shortly after that chance, Hurricanes netminder Carl Tetachuk had to slide across his crease to stone Blades star centre Tristen Robins on a point-blank shot.

    Tetachuk proceeded to deny Robins on a drive from the right slot to prevent the Blades from scoring on a third golden chance.

Brett Davis scored twice for the Hurricanes on Saturday.

    The Blades broke through at the 5:51 mark of the opening frame when Crnkovic deflected home a shot from the left boards from Slovakian import winger Martin Fasko-Rudas to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

    The Hurricanes evened things up at 1-1 with 52.2 seconds remaining in the opening frame, when overage right-winger Brett Davis ripped home a power-play goal from the right slot to the stick side of Blades netminder Nolan Maier.

    That tally gave the Hurricanes a huge jump.

    Just 28 seconds into the second, Lethbridge right-winger Justin Hall passed the puck out from behind the Saskatoon net to Barlage, who potted his 18^th of the season to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 edge.

    Barlage admitted his goal was key in helping the Hurricanes build off the fact they tied the contest shortly before the first intermission.

    “I think it is a good momentum booster when we score goals and our team gets up for each other,” said Barlage. “When we had momentum, I think we really play off that, so I think it was an important goal.”

Kyle Crnkovic scored a pair of goals for the Blades on Saturday.

    The Hurricanes expanded their edge to 3-1 just under six minutes later with a short-handed goal by Davis. Davis got the puck in his down zone, blew past Blades right-winger Colton Dach who was manning the left point, zipped into the Saskatoon zone and put his second of the contest past Maier.
    Shortley after that tally, Blades feisty left-winger Riley McKay and Hurricanes right-wigner Nick Dorrington engage in a fight that mainly turned into a hugging match.

    With 4:52 remaining in the second, the Hurricanes surge continued as overage defenceman Koletrane Wilson fired a point shot through a screen to put the visitors up 4-1.

A group of young fans get into the action at the SaskTel Centre.

    Barlage said the whole surge resulted from the fact his team scored in the final minute of the first period and inside the first minute of the second.

    “We came in feeling good about the period,” said Barlage, who turned 19-years-old last month. “Then we go back out there and score a couple and get the lead.

    “I think that was ultimately why we won.”

    Before the second ended, the Blades got some traction and Crnkovic banked a shot from the left corner of the Lethbridge zone off Davis into the Hurricanes goal with 52.4 second remaining in the frame. That tally cut the Lethbridge lead to 4-2.

    Just 90 seconds into the third, the Blades trimmed the Lethbridge lead to 4-3 executing a perfect two-on-break. Right-winger Zach Huber broke down the right wing with the puck, fed a pass across the face of the Lethbridge goal to Dach, who netted his eighth goal of the season.

Hurricanes D Alex Cotton (#28) is stopped by Blades G Nolan Maier.

    McKay had a chance to net the equalizer on a breakaway during a power play for the Blades, but he was denied by Tetachuk. The Hurricanes held on from that point.

    Tetachuk stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Hurricanes (30-12-2-5). Maier turned away 17 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades (25-20-2-2).

    Due to the fact the Hurricanes have three players in their 19-year-old years to go with their three overagers, Barlage, who is technically in his 18-year-old season, said his squad could still be considered a younger major junior team.

    Going forward, Barlage said his squad needs to keep striving to reach playoff intensity.

The Hurricanes celebrate their win on Saturday.

    “I think we just have to keep on playing hard,” said Barlage. “I think that is one thing I need to work on my game, and I continue to work on.

    “Since we have a young team, I think we just need to play that hard hockey and get ready for playoffs.”

    The Hurricanes return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Red Deer to take on the Rebels.

    The Blades get back at it on Wednesday when they host the Regina Pats at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

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

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Blades continue to hold hex over Raiders

Saskatoon claims 6-3 victory for fourth straight win versus P.A.

The Blades celebrate a empty-net goal from Kyle Crnkovic, centre.

    It might have looked pretty and then not looked pretty, but the Saskatoon Blades still found a way to keep a hex hanging over the Prince Albert Raiders.
    On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades jumped out to a 5-0 lead at one point in the second period only to have the Raiders cut the gap to 5-3 going into the second intermission.

    While the defending WHL champion Raiders pressed in the third, they weren’t able to get any closer on the scoreboard.

    Blades 17-year-old sophomore left-winger Kyle Crnkovic tipped home a shot from linemate Tristen Robins into an empty net to seal a 6-3 victory for the host side before 3,868 spectators.

    In six head-to-head encounters between the two sides, the Blades have won five of those contests. 
    Saturday’s game finished a stretch where the two clubs played each other three straight times, and the Blades took every single one of those encounters. The Blades have won their last four straight games against the Raiders.

Scott Walford had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

    “I think it is just that we’ve come out and really embraced the rivalry,” said Blades overage defenceman Scott Walford, who had two goals and an assist in the win. “I think it is something we have to do maybe against other teams.

    “We just have to bring that intensity to every game. They are at the top of our division for a reason. They are a fast team.

    “They are a hard team to play against. They are well coached. I think it is big for us to really take that into the next games, and we can show what kind of team we have.”

    The game got off to a big start for the host side when Blades 18-year-old sophomore defenceman Matthew Sanders fired home a shot from the point at the 1:50 mark of the opening frame to give Saskatoon a 1-0 lead. Sanders’ tally was his first goal of his WHL career and came on the Blades’ first shot of the game.

Ilya Usau had two goals and an assist for the Raiders.

    Captain Chase Wouters scored at the six-minute mark and Walford potted his first of the night at the 7:13 mark of the opening frame to give the Blades a 3-0 edge.

    The tallies by Wouters and Walford came on the same power play after Raiders right-winger Jacob Brook was given a major penalty for hitting Blades overage defenceman Nolan Kneen from behind.

    The infraction against Brook will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

    After Walford gave the Blades a 3-0 edge, the Raiders pulled starting netminder Carter Serhyenko, who stopped one of four shots sent his way.

    Boston Bilous played the rest of the way for the Raiders turning away 14-of-16 shots fired in his direction.

Blades captain Chase Wouters (#44) screens Raiders goalie Carter Serhyenko.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Serhyenko, who is from Saskatoon, had an off night.

    “This is his hometown,” said Habscheid. “(Serhyenko has been) really good and consistent for us.

    “Really, this is his first game where he had a tough night. He’s a young guy (and) whatever experience good or bad is good for him. I felt bad for him as he’s been consistent for us.

    “He just had a tough one.”

    At the start of the second, it appeared a route would be on. Walford netted his second of the contest just 35 seconds into the frame, and 16-year-old right-winger Colton Dach tallied at the 4:32 mark of the stanza to put the Blades up 5-0.

Matthew Sanders scored his first career WHL goal on Saturday.

    The Raiders called a timeout after the Blades fifth goal in order to regroup.

    “No matter what, to get goals scored on you that quickly puts you on your heels (and) that’s what happened to us,” said Habscheid. “I want guys to keep their composure, but it’s tough.

    “Young guys, once they gathered and collected themselves we were pretty good.”

    Raiders 18-year-old rookie left-winger Ilya Usau stopped the bleeding scoring at the 10:34 mark of the second to cut the Blades lead to 5-1.

    Usau potted his second of the contest with 1:23 remaining in the second, and Raiders Belarusian import centre Aliaksei Protas netted his 20^th goal of the campaign just 33 seconds later to trim the Blades lead to 5-3. Usau picked up an assist on Protas’s goal.

Nolan Maier made 35 saves in goal for the Blades on Saturday.

    Blades associate coach Ryan Marsh said his club focused on regrouping in the second intermission noting they still led the contest.

    “We just had to get back to our game,” said Marsh. “I thought that we were a little bit careless with our puck management a little bit.

    “A credit to them. They really stepped their game up and started to push hard and had some good extended O-zone play and put us into some bad spots. I thought our competitiveness in the D-zone was a little bit lackadaisical.

    “You get up, and you start to cheat a little bit on offence. Our details weren’t great there, and they stepped their game up. We were able to come in after the second and regroup, and I thought we had a pretty good third period.”

    The Raiders outshot the Blades 17-5 in the third, but couldn’t get anything past Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

The Blades fans enjoy their team’s victory on Saturday.

    Maier made 35 saves to pick up the win. He has played in all of the Blades encounters with the Raiders this season and has stopped 170-of-180 shots fired his way in those games.

    The effort by the Yorkton, Sask., product allowed the Blades to lock away the game with Crnkovic’s empty-net goal.

    “Nolan (Maier) is a phenomenal goalie, and any time that he has a great game we normally win,” said Walford. “I think he had another stellar performance tonight.

    “I don’t think we were as god as we could have been in front of him at times. That is something that we are going to have to go back to the drawing board on.”

    Going forward, Walford would like to see his club explode offensively again like they did on Saturday. The Coquitlam, B.C., product said the key for his squad is to not over think things in the offensive zone.

The Blades celebrate their win on Saturday.

    “Every time that we have success offensively, normally, we keep it pretty simple,” said Walford. “It is when we are forcing things that we don’t get our offence.
    “A lot of plays start in our own end, and it is just simple chip out of the zone. Guys come through, pick it up and make another chip. Somehow, we get an offensive zone possession.

    “We work it around, and that is our team. If we can keep it simple and get it in and make plays when we have time that is how we score.”

    The Blades improved to 17-15-1-2 with the win, while the Raiders fell to 20-11-3-1.

    The Raiders return to action on Monday, when they host the Winnipeg Ice (21-13-1) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. Prince Albert sits first in the WHL’s East Division one point ahead of Winnipeg, so Monday’s clash looms as a big one.

    The Blades are back at it on Wednesday, when they host the Ice on New Year’s Day on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Blades’ Huber issued two-game suspension for head hit

Blades RW Zach Huber was suspended by the WHL on Saturday.

    The Saskatoon Blades were without 19-year-old right-winger Zach Huber on Saturday due to a suspension imposed by the WHL office for supplemental discipline.

    Huber received a two game suspension for delivering a head hit to Prince Albert Raiders star left-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt with 2:19 remaining in the third period of a regular season game won 3-2 by the Blades on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Huber was given a minor penalty for checking to the head at the time of the infraction.

    On the play, Wiesblatt toe dragged around a Raiders defenceman and wired a shot on goal that was stopped by Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

    After shooting the puck, Wiesblatt was drilled with a high hit from Huber. Wiesblatt went down on the play, but left the ice under his own power.

    He came out for the second shift of the ensuing Raiders power play and finished the game.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid made his feelings noted about the hit following Friday’s game.

    “We’ll let the league deal with that, but that was a dangerous hit,” said Habscheid. “We’re trying to protect the players.

    “The head was targeted, and we will see what the league says about it.”

    The Raiders appealed to the league office following the contest for the play to be looked at.

    Huber will conclude his suspension missing the Blades upcoming game on Wednesday at 2 p.m. on New Year’s Day against the Winnipeg Ice.

    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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“Teddy Bear Toss” game, Raiders equals relief for Blades

The Blades celebrate their teddy bear goal from Tristen Robins (#11)

    Playing the Prince Albert Raiders appears to be the thing that cures all that ails the Saskatoon Blades in the 2019-20 campaign.

    The Blades entered Sunday’s WHL regular season contest against the Raiders at the SaskTel Centre posting a 2-7-0-1 record in their previous 10 games. “The Bridge City Bunch” had three regulation losses and an extra time setback in their last four outings entering play on Sunday.

    Still, they seem to have good fortune this season anytime they play their archrivals and defending WHL champion Raiders. Sunday was the Blades “Teddy Bear Toss” game, and they came out flying playing front of a crowd of 5,344 spectators.

Tristen Robins (#11) had a goal and an assist for the Blades on Sunday.

    Right-winger Tristen Robins scored the teddy bear goal at the 10:44 mark of the first period to give the Blades a 1-0 lead. They skated away with a 4-1 victory and have beaten the Raiders in three out of four head-to-head encounters.

    The win allowed the Blades to improve to 15-15-1-2 to sit third in the WHL’s East Division. The Raiders,who are rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 rankings, remain first in the East Division falling to 20-9-3-1 with the setback.

    “We were kind of I guess not really down on ourselves, but you know a little disappointed at the same time just because we haven’t been stringing the wins together that we’d have liked to,” said Robins, who had an assist to go along with his goal. “We haven’t been getting the bounces.

The Blades teddy bear goal enters the Raiders net.

    “Going into the break with this big win against a good rival for sure is a good feeling.”

    On the Robins’ teddy bear goal, Blades overage offensive defenceman Scott Walford got the puck deep on the left side of the Prince Albert zone. Walford fed a backdoor pass to Robins, who buried his 11^th of the season into an open cage.

    After Robin’s goal went in, the ice surface at the SaskTel Centre was littered with stuffed toys.

    Robins has scored the Blades teddy bear goal for two straight seasons. He had the only tally last season’s “Teddy Bear Toss” game for the Blades when Saskatoon blanked the Raiders 1-0. 

Stuffed toys are cleaned up from the SaskTel Centre ice surface.

    All the stuffed toys that were collected at Sunday’s game will be given to the Saskatchewan chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation.

    “It was kind of a joke going around the room that if I scored that goal I would be fined,” said Robins. “It was kind of ironic that I actually got that goal.

    “It was joke going around the room, but I didn’t think it was going to be me. I thought the ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ goal was going to be passed on. I’m super happy it was me.”

    With the teddy bear goal out of the way, the Blades turned their focus towards getting a win to finish off a stretch of four straight tough home games. 

The Blades players help with the “Teddy Bear Toss” clean up.

    In each of their last four home games, the Blades faced four teams that sit inside the top 10 of the WHL standings in the Kelowna Rockets, Medicine Hat Tigers, Kamloops Blazers and Raiders. Those four clubs sport a combined 81-38-7-4 record.

    With both clubs heading into their respective Christmas breaks after Sunday’s encounter, Robins said his club really wanted to head into that break on a high note.

    “It is always important to win that last game just so you can keep that fresh on your mind of what it is like,” said Robins. “At some points, you forget what winning feels like, when you go on those losing streaks.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored for the Raiders in the third period.

    “We finished just the way we wanted to, and we were very to have that outcome.”

    Still holding a 1-0 lead late in the second period, Blades captain Chase Wouters stole the puck just inside of the blue-line of the Prince Albert zone and blew home his 13^th of the season to give the host side a 2-0 edge.

    The Raiders got some life scoring at the 2:59 mark of the third period, when star 17-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt put a shot home that ended up floating over top of Blades star netminder Nolan Maier to cut the Saskatoon edge to 2-1.

    Just 58 seconds later, the Blades when ahead 3-1, when right-winger Zach Huber got the puck off an offensive zone draw, took a stride and roofed home a shot to the top right corner of the Prince Albert goal.

Zach Huber has five goals in his last six games with the Blades.

    “Obviously, these past few weeks haven’t gone the way we liked,” said Huber, who has five goals in his last six games. “A few home games we lost, and you never like to lose at home.

    “We knew it was going to be a big crowd today, a big game with the ‘Teddy Bear Toss,’ and we just knew we had to give it all we had. It was one last game before the break, and I thought the guys did a good job.”

    Centre Eric Florchuk sealed the Blades win with a power-play goal with 7:27 remaining in the third period.

    Walford finished the contest with two assists and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department.

Maier stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Boston Bilous turned away 24 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders.

Riley McKay (#39) and Chase Wouters (#44) enjoy Sunday’s Blades win.

    Sunday’s game marked the first head coaching win for Blades associate coach Ryan Marsh. Marsh is holding down the head coaching duties as Blades head coach Mitch Love is serving as an assistant coach for Canada’s world junior hockey team.

    “It was a good atmosphere tonight for sure,” said Marsh. “It is nice when the lower bowl is full.

    “There was buzz in the air obviously for a great cause with the teddy bears tonight, which was great. You pair that up with beating our archrival, this was an exciting hockey game. Our players were looking forward to that, and they responded well.”

    Marsh was pleased his players pulled out a win before departing for their Christmas break.

    “It was important to take care of business on home ice, which we did,” said Marsh. “It is nice to have a win when you go into a break for sure.”

    When the Blades are Raiders return to action, they will once again be facing each other, and they will go at it on Dec. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Bears down Stars 3-1 with late surge in third, other notes

The Bears improved to 9-6 after a win over the Stars on Sunday.

    The Saskatoon Stars weren’t able to make a first period lead last against their archrivals the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

    During a SFMAAAHL regular season game on Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Stars took a 1-0 lead over the Bears with a goal by Anica Gauthier.

    The Bears responded with a goal in the second and two goals late in the third to skate away with a 3-1 victory.

    Kailey Ledoux scored for the Bears in the second to even things up at 1-1.

    Jasper Desmarais and Paris Oleksyn tallied goals 73 second apart from each other late in the third to allow the visitors to pull away with their 3-1 win.

    Dani Day stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bears. Arden Kliewer turned away 38 shots to take the setback in goal for the Stars.

    The Bears improved to 9-6 with the win. The Stars fell to 5-9-2.

    The Bears return to action on Thursday when they travel to Battleford to take on the 6-9 Battlefords Sharks (7:15 p.m., Battleford Arena).

    The Stars resume play on Friday, when they host the SFMAAAHL leading 11-0-1 Regina Rebels (7:30 p.m., Merlis Belsher Place).

• The race for the SFMAAAHL scoring title appears like it will be a heated one between Neena Brick of the Regina Rebels and Sara Kendall of the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats. Brick, who is a 16-year-old forward, has appeared in 12 regular season games collecting 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points. Kendall, who is a 17-year-old forward, has also appeared in 12 regular season games posting 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points. Brick and Kendall hold down the top two positions in the SFMAAAHL scoring race.
• Veteran referee Adam Byblow was given the WHL Milestone Award before Friday’s game at the SaskTel Centre, when the visiting Kamloops Blazers downed the host Saskatoon Blades 5-2. Byblow, who is a high school teacher, has officiated in the WHL for the past 21 seasons beginning in 1998 including the past 16 campaigns as a referee. He has worked over 650 regular season games.
• Veteran linesman Sean Dufour was given the WHL Milestone Award before Sunday’s game at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Sask., when the visiting Winnipeg Ice downed the host Pats 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout. Dufour, who is a school teacher, is in his 16^th season officiating as a linesman in the WHL and has worked over 400 regular season games.
• Medicine Hat Tigers overage captain James Hamblin is the leading scorer in the WHL. In 33 regular season games, the skilled centre has 18 goals and 34 assists for 52 points, and he has a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department.
• Medicine Hat Tigers 16-year-old centre Cole Sillinger is the leading scorer among rookie players in the WHL. The Regina, Sask., product has appeared in 28 regular season games collecting 12 goals and 23 assists for 35 points and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department.

    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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A high stick and a prayer gives Rockets extra time win

Blades fall in controversial fashion at SaskTel Centre

The Rockets celebrate their extra time win on Saturday.

    Someone call the cops, because the Saskatoon Blades were robbed.
    The visiting Kelowna Rockets made off like thieves in the night with a controversial 4-3 victory after a tiebreaking shootout in front of a stunned gathering of 4,215 spectators at the SaskTel Centre on Saturday night.

    The Blades were holding a 3-2 lead with three minutes remaining in the third period. It seemed like the host side was going to defensively close out a victory in a frame where the checking was really tight.

    At that point, craziness ensued.

    Rockets captain Nolan Foote wired a wrist shot on the Saskatoon goal, and his follow through clipped Blades overage defenceman Scott Walford.

Blades defenceman Scott Walford (#6) is attended to after being cut.

    Walford went down in a heap right between the two faceoff circles in the Saskatoon zone, and it was obvious he was hurt as very visible blood came down on the ice.

    With Walford down bleeding right in the middle of the ongoing play, the officials elected to allow the play to continue.

    Foote proceeded to set up left-winger Trevor Wong at the left side of the Saskatoon goal on a backdoor feed, and Wong popped home the equalizer to force a 3-3 tie with 2:52 remaining in the frame.

    The Blades protested the fact the play was allowed to continue, but their protests fell on deaf ears.

Rockets RW Ethan Ernst celebrates his goal in the shootout.

    The two clubs proceeded to go to overtime and remained tied after a three-on-three extra session.

    Rockets 17-year-old right-winger Ethan Ernst scored the only goal in the ensuring shootout to give Kelowna a 1-0 victory in the tiebreaking session and a 4-3 victory in the game.

    The Rockets, who will host the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – this coming May, improved to 16-8-1-2 with a third straight win.

    The Blades record moved to 14-13-1-2.

    To be blunt, this is a contest Saskatoon should have won.

    Had Walford had being lying hurt behind the play when the Rockets scored their equalizer, there would have been no controversy round the game-tying goal.

Nolan Foote had a goal and an assist for the Rockets.

    The fact that Walford was down on the ice visibly bleeding directly in harm’s way as play was going on and no one blew the play down is very concerning.

    The puck or even a skater could have collided with Walford to cause a greater injury.

    In this instance for player safety, the play should have been blown dead.

    Instead, referees Kyle Kowalski and Trevor Peluk made a call to allow things to go on as is.

    One could have only imagined what the scene would have been like had Walford been cut by a skate instead of being cut by a high stick on a follow through from a shot.

Colton Dach scored his first WHL goal on Saturday.

    Walford was able to return to the Blades bench by the time the tiebreaking shootout was held. If his injury occurred earlier in the game, he would have been able to return to action.

    With all that said, you can’t fault the Rockets for being on the good side of fortune. They capitalized on a break to force overtime.

    It wasn’t their fault the officials didn’t blow the play dead. They proceeded to finish the play, which is what they should do in that instance.

    The Rockets kept their focus in that moment, and they were rewarded for it.

    Outside of the unfortunate dramatics that happened late in the third period, the Blades and Rockets played a decently entertaining clash.

    The two clubs skated through a scoreless first period with the Blades holding a 10-8 edge in shots on goal.

    The second period proceeded to turn into a 1980s styles shootout. Michael Farren, who was a former member of the Blades, gave the visiting Rockets a 1-0 lead.

Blades D Nolan Kneen, left, fights Rockets C Matthew Wedman.

    Saskatoon surged ahead 2-1 with goals coming from Zach Huber and 16-year-old rookie Colton Dach. Dach’s tally was his first career WHL regular season goal.

    Foote wired home the equalizer past Blades netminder Nolan Maier to force a 2-2 tie. The Rockets leader had a two-point night with a goal and an assist.

    With 1:45 remaining in the second, Blades right-winger Tristen Robins broke into the offensive zone down the right wing and wired a shot to the top corner of the Kelowna goal past Rockets netminder Cole Schewebius.

Trevor Wong scored the third period equalizer for the Rockets.

    Outside of Wong’s equalizer, there wasn’t very much offence in the third period as the Rockets held a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. The visitors had a 2-1 advantage in shots on goal in the five-minute overtime frame.

    There were a couple of spirited fights in the third as Blades left-winger Riley McKay took on Rockets left-winger Mark Liwiski in one tilt and Blades defenceman Nolan Kneen faced Rockets power forward Matthew Wedman in the second tilt.

    Maier made 23 saves over 65 minutes and turned away one-of-two shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback for the Blades. Schewebius stopped 25 shots over 65 minutes and all three shooters in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Rockets.

    In the grand scheme of a hockey season, what happened late in the third period of Saturday’s game with the Blades and Rockets will do down as one of those “it is what it is” situations that just happened.

The Rockets leave Saskatoon after winning their third straight game.

    There is still a lot more hockey to be played in the current campaign.

    The officials will likely review the game video and make adjustments from there. It should be noted they were good for a large portion during the rest of the contest.

    The Blades return to action on Tuesday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Rockets are also back in action on Tuesday, when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings at 7 p.m. local time at Westoba Place.

    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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    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.