Austin Shanks was a dream for his current team the
Saskatchewan Rush and a nightmare for his former club the Halifax Thunderbirds.
On Saturday, the skilled 31-year-old forward fired home six
goals to power the visiting Rush to a 16-7 romp over the host Thunderbirds in
Game 1 of a best-of-three NLL semifinal series at Scotiabank Centre. The Rush
will look to close out the series this coming Saturday when they host Game 2 at
7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. If Game 3 is necessary, it will
held on Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
Shanks had played for the Thunderbirds franchise for his entire
career starting in 2018 when it was still located in Rochester, New York, as
the original Rochester Knighthawks. He signed with a Rush as a free agent
before the current campaign began.
The Game 1 clash between the Rush and Thunderbirds was a
feisty affair too. Saskatchewan had 35 minutes in penalties in the contest, and
Halifax piled up 71 minute in the sin bin.
Zach Manns had big night for the Rush recording nine points
off two goals and seven assists. Robert Church had a five point night for
Saskatchewan coming off a pair of goals and three helpers.
Rush captain Ryan Keenan had one goal and four assists and
engaged in a late fourth quarter fight to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick.
Brock Haley scored two penalty shot goals for the Rush,
while Clark Walter, Matt Hossack and Mike Messenger had singles.
Veteran forward Randy Staats led the Thunderbirds with six
points coming off one goal and five assists. Dawson Theede and Thomas Hoggarth
each had a pair of goals for the Thunderbirds, while Clarke Petterson and Ryan
Terefenko had singles.
Frank Scigliano stopped 41 shots to pick up the win in goal
for the Rush. Drew Hutchison turned away 21-of-32 shots to take the loss in net
for the Thunderbirds before being pulled in the third quarter. Warren Hill
turned away 14-of-19 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.
The Thunderbirds jumped on the scoreboard first just 53
seconds into the contest on Petterson’s tally. That set the stage for the Rush
to improve their record in the regular season and post-season to 11-1 when
their opponents score first.
Saskatchewan responded with a five-goal run to go ahead 5-1.
Walter got the equalizer and tallies from Manns and Church followed. Shanks
completed the surge with his first two markers on the night.
The Rush held a 6-3 lead after the first quarter, a 7-4
advantage at halftime and a 12-5 edge after three quarters.
Fireworks started late in the fourth quarter with the Rush
holding a 14-7 lead in what was basically a decided contest. With 1:38 remaining
in the fourth quarter, Keenan ended up in a fight with Thunderbirds defender
Nonkon Thompson.
Keenan was given a fighting major, while Thompson was
assessed an instigator minor, a fighting major and two game misconducts. Also at
that point in the contest, Thunderbirds defender Trevor Smyth was given a minor
for boarding.
Due to the Rush being on a two-man advantage, Haley was able
to score his first penalty shot goal with 67 seconds remaining in the stanza
when Thunderbirds defender Tyson Bell picked up a slashing minor.
Haley scored his second penalty shot goal just six seconds
later after a scrum where the Thunderbirds picked up an extra roughing minor
given to transition player Jake Withers.
With 10.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Theede
took a slashing minor resulting in a third penalty shot opportunity for the
Rush. Forward Mike Triolo took that penalty shot and missed the net.
The Rush finished second overall in the NLL regular season
with a 13-5 mark. The Thunderbirds were third overall at 11-7.
In the other best-of-three NLL semifinal, the host Buffalo
Bandits romped over the visiting Vancouver Warriors 9-3 on Friday night. Those
two clubs go at it in Game 2 on Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at Rogers Arena.
The Bandits topped the NLL regular season at 13-5, and the
Warriors were fourth overall at 11-7.
With the way the Game 1 clash between the Rush and
Thunderbirds ended, the animosity intensity might be on the uptake when the
series switches back to the SaskTel Centre. “Rush Nation” could be in for quite
a show before this series draws to a conclusion.
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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The Spokane Chiefs offence proved to be too much for the Portland
Winterhawks to handle.
That is saying something when you realize the Winterhawks
can light up a scoreboard too.
On Thursday night playing before 4,558 spectators at the
Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the visiting Chiefs outgunned the Winterhawks 6-4
in Game 4 of the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series. With the win,
the Chiefs sweep the best-of-seven set 4-0. The Chiefs outscored the
Winterhawks 28-18 over the four games in the series.
Spokane advances to the WHL Championship Series for the
first time since 2008. In 2008, the Chiefs captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL
champions and claimed the Memorial Cup as CHL champions. That Chiefs team
included stars Drayson Bowman, Mitch Wahl, Chris Bruton, Jared Spurgeon and Dustin
Tokarski.
The Chiefs will face the Medicine Hat Tigers in this year’s
best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Tigers swept away the Lethbridge
Hurricanes 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Championship Series. Medicine Hat
concluded that set with a 5-3 victory over a host Lethbridge side on Wednesday.
In Thursday’s clash between the Chiefs and Winterhawks, star
right-winger Andrew Cristall powered the Spokane side with two goals, one
assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. Cristall leads the
WHL Playoffs in goals (20) and points (37).
Chiefs star left-winger Shea Van Olm and star import centre
Rasmus Ekstrom each had one goal and one assist. Coco Armstrong and Owen Martin
each picked up singles for the Chiefs.
Breakout rookie 19-year-old right-winger Alex Weiermair
powered the Winterhawks with two goals, one assist and a plus-one rating. Star
defenceman Tyson Jugnauth had three assists, while captain Kyle Chyzowski had
two helpers.
Star left-winger Josh Zakreski had one goal and one assist
for Portland, while Ryan Miller picked up a single.
Dawson Cowan stopped 39 shots to pick up the win in goal for
the Chiefs. Rookie 17-year-old import netminder Ondrej Stebetak turned away
39-of-44 shots to take the setback in net for the Winterhawks.
The Chiefs exited the first period holding a 2-1 lead. When the
Chiefs and Winterhawks were locked in a 1-1 draw in the opening frame,
Winterhawks star centre Diego Buttazzoni took a major penalty for
cross-checking to the head and a game misconduct. The league will automatically
review those infractions for a possible suspension to be applied if Buttazzoni
returns for his 19-year-old season in the 2025-26 campaign.
The two sides proceeded to conclude the second period locked
in a 3-3 tie.
Just 24 seconds into the third period, Zakreski scored his
11th of the post-season to give the Winterhawks 4-3 lead.
The Chiefs responded scoring three straight goals in the
final 5:47 of the third. Ekstrom netted the equalizer that forced a 4-4 tie
with 5:47 remaining in the third.
Martin scored the game and series winner with 3:11 remaining
in the third to put the Chiefs up 5-4. Van Olm rounded out the contest’s
scoring with an empty-net goal with 93 seconds remaining in the third.
Spokane finished fourth overall in the WHL during the
regular season with a 45-20-1-2 mark, while Portland was 12th
overall with a 36-28-3-1 record. The Winterhawks won two series that went seven
games to make the Western Conference Championship Series.
The Chiefs took out the Vancouver Giants in five games in
the first round and eliminated the Victoria Royals in six games in a Western
Conference semifinal series. Spokane is currently riding a seven game winning
streak.
Looking ahead to the WHL final, the Tigers topped the
Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with
a 47-17-3-1 mark. In their last 47 games between the regular season and
playoffs, the Tigers are an impressive 40-4-2-1. Medicine Hat has also won 10
straight games.
The Chiefs and Tigers met once in the regular season back on
January 24 the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Medicine Hat claimed that
encounter 3-2.
The Tigers will have home ice advantage for the WHL
Championship Series. The schedule for that seven game set is still to be
announced.
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For the first time since the era of Kris Russell, Derek
Dorsett, Darren Helm and Matt Keetley, the Medicine Hat Tigers will play for a
WHL championship.
On Wednesday in Game 4 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference
Championship Series, the Tigers built a 4-1 lead over the host Lethbridge
Hurricanes at VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Medicine Hat held off a Lethbridge
rally in the third period to prevail 5-3 before 5,024 spectators.
The win allowed the Tigers to sweep the best-of-seven set
4-0 and advance to the WHL Championship Series for the first time since 2007.
Back in 2007, the Tigers captured their fifth WHL title with stars like
Russell, Dorsett, Helm and Keetley on their roster.
Medicine Hat won that WHL crown in one of the most epic games
in league history. That championship played against the Vancouver Giants went
to a series-deciding Game 7 at the Tigers old legendary home rink – The Arena.
Playing before a sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators, Brennan Bosch scored the
winning goal in double overtime to give the Tigers a 3-2 victory.
In Wednesday’s clash in Lethbridge, the host Hurricanes got
the quick jump. Just 2:32 into the opening frame, 19-year-old star left-winger
Logan Wormald deked around Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin
and put a backhand shot home to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. Wormald’s goal
came off an offensive rush into the Medicine Hat zone.
Just over seven minutes later, the Tigers evened the score
1-1 on a short-handed goal by star overage centre Mathew Ward. Ward received a
pass from star left-winger Hunter St. Martin to get a good chance to score on
the Hurricanes net.
After receiving the puck, Ward put a toe drag on a
Hurricanes back checker, went backhand to forehand and tucked home the
equalizer past Hurricanes star netminder Jackson Unger.
With 5:50 remaining in the first and working on the power
play, Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna got the puck to
offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford. Pickford skated to the top of the right
faceoff dot and roofed a shot to the top left corner of the Lethbridge net to
put the Tigers up 2-1.
At the 12:20 mark of the second, Tigers 19-year-old
defensive centre Misha Volotovskii potted this third of the post-season to push
Medicine Hat’s advantage out to 3-1. Tigers right-winger Ethan Neutens took a
shot from the left side of the Lethbridge net that hit the crossbar and shot
out to Volotovskii at the right side of the goal. Volotovskii quickly potted
the puck into an empty cage to give the visitors a two-goal edge.
With 2:08 remaining in the second, Ward scored on the power
play for his second tally of the night to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead. Ward
knocked home the rebound of a shot taken by Tigers star right-winger Ryder
Ritchie.
Mathew Ward scored twice for the Tigers on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes didn’t go away without a fight. Just 92
seconds into the third period, 17-year-old centre Kash Andresen fired home a
shot from the front of the Medicine Hat net to trim the Tigers edge to 4-2.
At the 6:17 mark of the third, Hurricanes right-winger
Anthony Wilson, who just turned 20-years-old, tipped home a point shot from
star defenceman Caden Price to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3.
The comeback for the Hurricanes was not to be.
With 37.7 seconds remaining in the third, Tigers overage
captain Oasiz Wiesblatt cleared the puck out of his own zone to an open area of
the ice down the left wing. McKenna jetted on to the loose puck and dumped it
into an empty net to seal the 5-3 victory.
The 17-year-old Whitehorse, Yukon, product extended his consecutive
games points streak between the regular season and post-season to 53 games collecting
one goal and one assist on Wednesday. His streak extends back to November 6,
2024.
During the 53 games of the streak, McKenna has recorded 125
points coming off 46 goals and 79 assists. McKenna’s consecutive games points
streak is the longest in the CHL since 2000 when you include play in both the
regular season and post-season.
Pickford also finished Wednesday’s game with one goal and
one assist. St. Martin and star defenceman Tanner Molendyk each collected two
assists in the victory.
Meneghin stopped 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the
Tigers. In 11 appearances in the WHL Playoffs, Meneghin has posted a 10-0
record, a 2.43 goals against average, a .889 save percentage and two shutouts.
Unger turned away 34-of-38 shots to take the campaign ending
setback in goal for the Hurricanes.
During the regular season, the Tigers topped the Eastern
Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a
47-17-3-1 mark. In their last 47 games between the regular season and playoffs,
the Tigers are an impressive 40-4-2-1. Medicine Hat has also won 10 straight
games.
The Hurricanes finished sixth overall in the WHL with a
42-21-3-2 mark. Lethbridge entered the Eastern Conference final after getting
past the Calgary Hitmen in a grueling Eastern Conference semifinal series that
went seven games.
Gavin McKenna has points in 53 straight games.
The Tigers will have home ice advantage in the best-of-seven
WHL Championship Series. They will face the winner of the Western Conference
Championship Series being played by the Spokane Chiefs and the Portland
Winterhawks. Spokane finished fourth overall in the WHL during the regular season
with a 45-20-1-2 mark, while Portland was 12th overall with a
36-28-3-1 record.
The Chiefs lead that best-of-seven set 3-0 after taking Game
3 on Wednesday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland 8-5. Spokane will
try to close out that series in Game 4 on Thursday set for 7 p.m. local time at
the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Going into the WHL final, it can be argued the Tigers are
playing as good as they ever had. It will not be a surprise if they add more
accolades to the rich history of their legacy franchise.
Raiders’ Hildebrand named WHL’s goaltender
of the year
Max Hildebrand was named the WHL’s goaltender of the year.
Max Hildebrand continues to pile up the accolades.
On Wednesday, the 20-year-old netminder of the Prince Albert
Raiders was named the winner of the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s
goaltender of the year. Hildebrand had a spectacular final campaign in the WHL
posting a 33-16-5 record, a 2.87 goals against average, a .918 save percentage
and three shutouts in 55 regular season contests.
The Martensville, Sask., product ranked second in save
percentage among all qualified WHL goalies while tying for fourth in shutouts
and finishing 10th in GAA. He faced the most shots of any netminder
(1,865) and made the most saves (1,713). Hildebrand was one of three
goaltenders to play more than 3,000 minutes.
An Eastern Conference first team all-star, he played an
enormous role in helping the Raiders finish first in the East Division with a
39-23-5-1 mark.
Hildebrand has also been named a finalist for the Four Broncos
Memorial Trophy given to the WHL’s player of the year and the Doug Wickenheiser
Memorial Trophy given to the WHL’s humanitarian of the year.
He was a career member of the Raiders joining the club full
time part way through the 2021-22 campaign. During his WHL career, Hildebrand
appeared in 143 regular season games posting a 69-53-12 record, a 3.06 goals
against average, a .905 save percentage and five shutouts.
In the 2025 WHL Playoffs, Hildebrand backstopped the Raiders
into an Eastern Conference semifinals series, where they were swept by the
Medicine Hat Tigers. Hildebrand played in all of the Raiders 11 post-season
contests posting a 4-7 record, a 3.05 goals against average, a .919 save
percentage and one shutout.
Also on Wednesday, Tri-City Americans centre Max Curran was
named the winner of the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Memorial Trophy at the WHL’s
scholastic player of the year.
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Medicine Hat takes 3-0 lead in WHL Eastern
Conference final
Oasiz Wiesblatt scored the OT winner for the Tigers.
A game that looked strongly like it could be a Lethbridge
Hurricanes victory turned into what might be a nightmare for their star
goaltender Jackson Unger.
On Tuesday in Game 3 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference
Championship Series, the host Hurricanes held leads of 3-0, 4-1, 5-3 and 6-5
over the Medicine Hat Tigers in a contest played before 4,794 spectators at
VisitLethbridge.com Arena. With 70 seconds remaining in the third period and star
netminder Harrison Meneghin pulled for an extra skater, Tigers
offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford put a seeing-eye shot from the right point
through a screen to the top left corner of the Lethbridge net to force a 6-6
tie and overtime.
Just 2:41 into the extra session, Tigers superstar
left-winger Gavin McKenna intercepted a Hurricanes pass in the Lethbridge zone.
He jetted down the right faceoff circle flanked on his left by Tigers captain
Oasiz Wiesblatt on a contested two-on-nothing break.
Staring down the two most dangerous offensive players in the
WHL, Unger basically had no chance.
McKenna put a pass over top an outstretched stick of a
diving Hurricanes back checker across the front of the Lethbridge net to
Wiesblatt at the left side of the goal. Wiesblatt made no mistake knocking in
the backdoor tap to give the Tigers a 7-6 victory to account for his 14th
goal and fourth winning tally of the post-season.
Gavin McKenna had three assists for the Tigers.
After scoring the goal, Wiesblatt put on an exuberant
celebration and proceeded to quickly exit the ice surface with the rest of his
teammates right on his tail.
With the win, the Tigers take a 3-0 lead in the
best-of-seven set over their Highway 3 rivals. The Tigers will attempt to close
the series out in Game 4 set for 7 p.m. local time on Wednesday at VisitLethbridge.com
Arena.
McKenna finished the contest with three assists extending
his consecutive games points streak between the regular season and post-season
to 52 games. His streak extends back to November 6, 2024.
During the 52 games of the streak, McKenna has recorded 123
points coming off 45 goals and 78 assists.
McKenna’s consecutive games points
streak is the longest in the CHL since 2000 when you include play in both the
regular season and post-season.
Star defenceman Tanner Molendyk had arguably the best night
of any Tigers player on Tuesday. Molendyk, who has a signed NHL entry-level
contract with the Nashville Predators, recorded one goal, three assists and a
plus-three rating in the plus-minus rating.
Ryder Ritchie, Liam Ruck, Mathew Ward and Kadon McCann all
had singles for the Tigers. Ward also had a goal that was waved off after a
video review in the second period due to a hand pass leading to the creation of
that tally.
Noah Chadwick had a pair of goals for the Hurricanes.
Captain Noah Chadwick had a pair of goals for the
Hurricanes, while Kooper Gizowski, Kash Andresen, Miguel Marques and Brayden
Yager all had singles.
Meneghin stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the
Tigers. Unger turned away 38 shots to take the setback in net for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead in the first period and went
up 3-0 in the second before the Tigers got their first goal of the contest to
make Lethbridge’s lead sit at 3-1.
The hosts pushed their edge out to 4-1 before
the Tigers closed the second frame scoring twice to cut Lethbridge’s advantage
to 4-3 heading into the second intermission.
Lethbridge scored early in the third to assume a 5-3
advantage. Medicine Hat replied with a pair of goals to even the score at 5-5.
With 3:19 remaining in the third, the Hurricanes forecheck
caused the Tigers to give up the puck to Yager positioned in front of the
Medicine Hat net. Yager wired a shot to the left side of the Medicine Hat goal
to put the Hurricanes up 6-5.
That set up the dramatics for Pickford to get the equalizer that
forced overtime and for Wiesblatt to get the winner in the extra session.
Tanner Molendyk had one goal and three assists for the Tigers.
During the regular season, the Tigers topped the Eastern
Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a
47-17-3-1 mark. In their last 46 games between the regular season and playoffs,
the Tigers are an impressive 39-4-2-1. Medicine Hat has also won nine straight
games.
The Hurricanes finished sixth overall in the WHL with a 42-21-3-2
mark. Lethbridge entered the Eastern Conference final after getting past
the Calgary Hitmen in a grueling Eastern Conference semifinal series that went
seven games.
Medicine Hat will try to advance to the WHL Championship
Series for the first time since 2007, which was the last time the Tigers won
the league title.
Chiefs rely on offence against Winterhawks
It appears the Spokane Chiefs seem set to ride a hot offence
to a potential appearance in the WHL Championship Series.
The Chiefs jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Portland
Winterhawks in the best-of-seven Western Conference Championship Series thanks
to their ability to score. Last Friday at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, the
Chiefs tried to burn out the goal lights at the rink downing the Winterhawks
10-4.
On Sunday in Game 2 at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, the
Chiefs outgunned the Winterhawks 6-5 in overtime. At the 2:25 mark of the extra
session, the Winterhawks coughed the puck up to Chiefs left-winger Chase
Harrington in their own zone.
Harrington broke in alone on the Portland goal down the
right wing and ripped home the winner for the Chiefs.
So far in the series, three Chiefs players have recorded
five points over the first two games of the set. Star right-winger Andrew
Cristall and import right-winger Assanali Sarkenov both have four goals and one
assist. Star centre and captain Berkly Catton has one goal and four assists.
Harrington has two goals and two assists in the series. Star
left-winger Shea Van Olm has one goal and three assists in the set.
Cristall tops all scorers in the WHL Playoffs with 33 points
coming off 17 goals and 16 assists. Catton also has 33 points coming off eight
goals and 25 assists, but Cristall leads the scoring race due to having a
higher goal total.
For the Winterhawks, star centre Diego Buttazzoni is having
a big series with three goals and three assists. Winterhawks star 20-year-old
captain Kyle Chyzowski has one goal and three assists in the set.
The Chiefs finished fourth overall in the WHL during the
regular season with a 45-20-1-2 mark. The Winterhawks placed 12th overall
during the WHL regular season with a 36-28-3-1 record.
Portland is appearing in the Western Conference Championship
Series for a second straight year. The Winterhawks were swept 4-0 in last year’s
WHL Championship Series by the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The Winterhawks will have an opportunity to get back in this
year’s Western Conference final against the Chiefs. Due to scheduling around
other events at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, the next three games of
the Western Conference Championship Series are scheduled to be held in
Portland.
Game 3 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time at Veterans
Memorial Coliseum.
Rush NLL semifinal schedule set, other notes
The Rush celebrate a goal from last Saturday.
The Saskatchewan Rush will be playing post-season games in
May for the first time since 2019.
On Sunday, the Rush finalized their schedule for their
best-of-three NLL semifinal series against the Halifax Thunderbirds. The
Thunderbirds will host Game 1 of the series on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. local time
at Scotiabank Centre.
The final two games of the series are set for the SaskTel
Centre. Game 2 is slated for Saturday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m. If necessary, Game 3
will be played on Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m.
The Rush finished second overall in the NLL regular season with
a 13-5 mark. The Thunderbirds were third overall at 11-7.
Last Saturday, the Rush defeated the visiting Georgia Swarm
13-9 in a single elimination NLL quarter-final contest. Also last Saturday, the
Thunderbirds downed the visiting Calgary Roughnecks 16-12 in another single
elimination NLL quarter-final.
The Rush’s last previous appearance in a post-season game in May came back on
May 3, 2019, when they fell 11-10 in overtime to the Colorado Mammoth.
The other NLL best-of-three semifinal sees the two-time
defending league champion Buffalos Bandits, who topped the regular season at
13-5, take on the Vancouver Warriors, who finished fourth in the NLL regular season
at 11-7. Game 1 of that series is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. local time at the
Keybank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
Portland Winterhawks
overager Tyson Jugnauth tops all defencemen in scoring in the WHL
Playoffs. In Portland’s 16 post-season games, Jugnauth has posted 29
points coming off four goals and 25 assists.
Spokane Chiefs netminder
Dawson Cowan tops all puck stoppers in wins so far in the WHL Playoffs at
10. Cowan also had a 3.34 goals against average and a .872 save percentage
in the post-season.
There have been a total of
seven shutouts so far in the WHL Playoffs. Medicine Hat Tigers netminder
Harrison Meneghin and Victoria Royals goalie Johnny Hicks have each
collected two shutouts.
There have been four
series-deciding Game 7s played in this year’s WHL Playoffs. A total of
three series-deciding Game 7s were played combined in the 2023 and 2024
WHL post-seasons.
On Wednesday, April 9, I
had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the
Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on Carter Beck, who
is a star outfielder with the Saskatoon Berries of the Western Canadian
Baseball League. Beck is a homegrown high-end player from Saskatchewan
growing up in Carnduff, which is a town with a population around 1,200
located in the southeast corner of the province. Beck had a classic small
town introduction to the sport watching his father, Blair, play senior
baseball. The piece on Beck can be found by clicking right here. I also put
together a photo roundup that is anchored by pictures of the Saskatoon
Badgers Rugby Club taking part in a training session at the Indoor
Training Centre. Last September, the Badgers claimed the division 1
provincial championship. It also includes photos from baseball, cricket,
skiing and softball. That post 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.
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Saskatchewan takes NLL quarter,
advances to semifinal round
The Rush celebrate a fourth quarter goal by Jake Boudreau (#43).
Jake Boudreau admitted he might have let his defence slide
to give his squad a boost offensively.
On Saturday, the 26-year-old transition player had the most
memorable night of his young NLL career. The Brampton, Ont., product piled up
four goals and one assist to power his Saskatchewan Rush to a 13-9 victory over
the Georgia Swarm in an NLL quarter-final contest before a raucous 5,434 spectators
at the SaskTel Centre.
Boudreau, who is in third season with the Rush, was playing
in his first career NLL post-season contest as Rush were making their first
appearance in the NLL Playoffs since 2019. His main focus is on making stops on
the defensive end, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to score all four of
his goals in transition.
Jake Boudreau had four goals and one assist for the Rush.
“It was definitely my best game scoring wise,” said
Boudreau. “I wouldn’t say it was my best game defensively.
“Getting a goal from the back end is just huge for the team,
so that was pretty nice.”
With the win in the single elimination round of the NLL
Playoffs, the second seeded Rush advance to play a best-of-three semifinal
series against the third seeded Halifax Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds advanced
to the semifinal round downing the sixth seeded Calgary Roughnecks 16-12 in a
quarter-final contest on Saturday in Halifax. The Thunderbirds were 11-7 in the
regular season, while the Roughnecks were 10-8.
Boudreau said his team is pumped to be advancing on in the
post-season.
Jake Boudreau (#43) reacts to scoring an empty-net goal.
“It feels good,” said Boudreau, who stands 6-foot-2 and
weighs 200 pounds. “It would have sucked to work hard all year and lose
tonight.
“You could kind of tell we played with everything we had
tonight. We want to enjoy the fruits of our labour. They are still not ready to
be picked yet.”
Star forward Austin Shanks had two goals and two assists for
the Rush. Captain Ryan Keenan and Clark Walter both had two-goal nights for the
Rush, while Zach Manns, Mike Messenger and Jake Naso all had singles. Robert
Church had three assists for Saskatchewan.
Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Rush.
Captain Jordan MacIntosh had two goals and two assists for
the Swarm, and Lyle Thompson contributed one goal and three assists for the
Georgia side.
Brendan Bomberry and Bryan Cole both had a pair of goals for the
Swarm, while Jacob Hickey and Shayne Jackson had singles.
Frank Scigliano stopped 39 shots to pick up the win in goal
for the Rush, who were 13-5 in the regular season. Brett Dobson turned away
47-of-58 shots to take the setback in net for the Swarm, who were 9-9 during
the regular season.
Brendan Bomberry scored twice for the Swarm.
The Swarm jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first
quarter. The Rush closed the frame with a run of four straight goals to hold a
4-2 advantage after 15 minutes.
Saskatchewan would never trail or be tied again for the rest
of the contest. Including play in the regular season and post-season, the Rush
are 10-1 when their opponents score the first goal of the game.
During the four-goal surge, Boudreau scored his first goal
of the night on the Rush’s second tally.
Working a transition two-on-one rush,
Boudreau received a pass from defender Matt Hossack and buried a backdoor
chance at the right side of the Georgia net to force a 2-2 tie at that time.
The O16 Electric Crew performs during a quarter break.
“We had a little bit of a
slow start, but I thought we were actually getting some pretty good looks on
offence,” said Rush co-head coach and general manager Derek Keenan. “Their
goalie made a couple of saves.
“Then, we got going there
and got our legs underneath us. The one and dones in the first round of the
playoffs, they are stressful. We have a pretty young group.
“Fortunately, we have a
number of veterans that have been here before. For the most past, we had
probably more than two-thirds of our team that haven’t been here and haven’t
been to the playoffs in these stressful situations. I think it took us a little
while to get our legs underneath us.”
Austin Shanks (#33) had two goals and two assists for the Rush.
The Rush pushed their lead
out to 6-3 by the end of the second quarter before running into a little
adversity at the start of the third quarter. First, Thompson scored 46 seconds
into the third quarter to trim the Rush advantage to 6-4.
Just 22 seconds after
Thompson’s goal, Walter was given a major penalty for cross checking. Cole
scored quickly in the power play for the Swarm to cut the Rush lead to 6-5.
Just 20 seconds after Cole’s tally, Shanks netted a short-handed goal for the
Rush to push their edge out to 7-5.
After Swarm defender Jeff
Henrick was penalized for holding inside the final two minutes of Walter’s
major, MacIntosh scored during four-on-four play to slice the Rush lead to 7-6
with 10:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Frank Scigliano makes one of his 39 saves for the Rush.
A short time later, the
Swarm had a huge chance to pull even on the scoreboard. Thompson put a midrange
shot net that rebounded out to the right of the Saskatchewan goal to Jackson.
Jackson put a diving shot
toward a seemingly open part of the Rush net only for Scigliano to flash up his
stick to deny the scoring chance.
“We faced some adversity
tonight too,” said Keenan. “We had a few penalties and the five-minute major.
“We got through that kind
of unscathed. We got one and only gave up one. All in all, we stuck with our
game plan.”
The Rush proceeded to go on
a three goal surge that allowed them to control the contest the rest of the way.
Walter scored with 37.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give
Saskatchewan an 8-6 advantage.
Captain Ryan Keenan had a pair of goals for the Rush.
Just 85 seconds into the
fourth quarter, Ryan Keenan put home a backdoor chance at the right side of the
Swarm net on a five-on-three power play to push the Rush lead out to 9-6. Bourdreau
completed the surge scoring a power-play goal on a transition breakaway to make
the Rush lead sit at 10-6.
“We knew they were going to run,” said Boudreau. “That is
our game is running, so we kind of took that personal.
“We made sure we were fast, and I think they kind of tired
out as the game went on. You could kind of see us pushing forward, and they
kind of dozed off a little bit, and that was basically the game.”
Boudreau scored his third goal on another transition
breakaway into an empty-net and completed the game’s scoring with a transition
breakaway tally with 5.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Rush faithful do their chest thump celebration after a goal.
While offence took centre stage in Saturday’s contest, Derek
Keenan praised the work put in by the goaltenders on both sides in Scigliano
and Dobson.
“You’ve got to get saves,”
said Derek Keenan. “Our goaltender was really good, and their goaltender was
really good as well.
“All in all, it was a
good effort by our whole team.”
Scigliano, who has played in the NLL since 2012, thought the
Rush had a good outing to open the 2025 post-season.
Matt Hossack (#94) defends against Lyle Thompson (#4).
“I think it was an
exciting week,” said the 33-year-old Scigliano, who is still searching for his
first NLL title win in his career. “You kind of prepare for this all year.
“I kind of said to the
boys earlier the regular season kind of flew by. We had a lot of success. In a
single elimination game, anything can happen, so there is kind of a lot on the
line.
“We played a pretty
complete game for the most part. There were a couple of hiccups, but I thought
we did our job tonight. You see the results on the scoreboard.”
The Rush faithful get the rally towels going on Saturday night.
The other best-of-three semifinal series sees the top seeded
Buffalo Bandits, who were 13-5 in the regular season, take on the fourth seeded
Vancouver Warriors, who were 11-7 in the regular season. The Bandits, who are
the two-time defending NLL champions, slipped past the eighth seeded San Diego
Seals in a quarter-final on Friday night in Buffalo 5-4. San Diego had a 9-9
record in the regular season.
The Warriors downed the fifth seeded Rochester Knighthawks
15-10 in a quarter-final on Saturday in Vancouver. The Knighthawks were 10-8
during the regular season.
The dates and times of the two best-of-three semifinal
series are still to be announced.
Before Saturday, the Rush’s last post-season win came back
on June 9, 2018, when they won the NLL title with a 15-10 victory in a
series-deciding Game 3 at the SaskTel Centre over the Knighthawks in the NLL
Championships Series.
The Rush celebrate their win on Saturday night.
Boudreau wants to see the Rush make their current
post-season run a long one. After posting respective 8-10 records in each of
the three previous regular seasons during a reloading period, Boudreau believed
his squad was ready to take off in the current campaign.
“I came around three
years ago, and a lot of the guys came the same year as me or after,” said
Boudreau. “We always kind of said in 2025 we should be pretty primed.
“To have it kind of come
to fruition and we still have more lacrosse to play, it is awesome. You can’t
(be satisfied). The celebration will be done in the morning.”
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Saskatchewan back in post-season after
six years out
The Rush celebrate a goal during a game on January 25.
The Saskatchewan Rush ended a post-season drought with a
memorable regular season.
Now, they will try to ensure the appearance in the NLL
Playoffs isn’t a brief one.
The Rush finished second overall in the NLL regular season
standings with a 13-5 mark, which is their best regular season record since
going 14-4 in their NLL championship campaign in 2018. They last appeared in
the NLL post-season in 2019, when they fell 11-10 in overtime to the Colorado
Mammoth on May 3 of that year.
Saskatchewan opens the 2025 NLL Playoffs on Saturday hosting
the seventh seeded Georgia Swarm (9-9) in a single elimination quarter-final
contest at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
“It has been a long stretch without the playoffs,” said star
forward Robert Church. “We’ve had some rough years, but we’ve been building
back towards this and getting back to a championship caliber team.
Zach Manns led the Rush in scoring with 74 points.
“I think that is what we have in this room. The boys, we
just got together and kind of just saw everyone. I think everyone is excited.
“For a lot of guys, it is their first time in playoffs, so
they’re real fired up.”
The Rush’s NLL post-season absence started in 2020 and 2021
when the NLL Playoffs were cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic. Saskatchewan was 7-3 in the 2020 regular season before that campaign
was stopped.
The Rush posted respective 8-10 marks over three straight
NLL regular seasons from 2022 to 2024 to just miss making the playoffs in each
of those campaigns. The current campaign has been the breakout season where the
work in the reload is paying off.
“I think we’re a very talented team, a deep team,” said Rush
co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan. “We have a lot of buy in.
Robert Church had 73 points in 14 games for the Rush.
“They’re all selfless individuals, and I think we’re
fortunate to have the veterans we have that kind of lead them. I thought the
last few years we had to learn how to win, and now we’re kind of understanding
what it takes. It doesn’t really matter too much what goes on in a game.
“We kind of right now have that mentality of staying the
course. It has got us to where we are, and we’re going to continue that this
weekend.”
Zach Manns topped the Rush in scoring during the regular
season with 74 points coming off 35 goals and 39 assists. Church had 73 points
coming off 33 goals and 40 assists even with missing four games due to injury
this season. Captain Ryan Keenan also had 73 points coming off 26 goals and 47
assists, while Austin Shanks had 72 points coming off 35 goals and 37 assists.
Rush star goalie Frank Scigliano had a great season posting
an 11-4 record, 9.40 goals against average and an 80 per cent save percentage.
The Rush look to get a boost from their home crowd.
Lyle Thompson topped the Swarm in scoring with 94 points
coming of 42 goals and 52 assists. Forwards Shayne Jackson and Andrew Kew each
recorded 74 points for Georgia. Jackson recorded his 74 points on 32 goals and
42 assists, while Kew had his 74 points coming off 28 goals and 46 assists.
Brett Dobson has carried the load in goal for the Swarm
posting a 9-8 record, an 11.82 goals against average and a 76 per cent save
percentage.
The Swarm roster also contains Lyle Thompson’s brother and
gritty transition player Jeremy Thompson, who used to be a fan favourite when
he played for the Rush. Jeremy was a member of the Rush’s 2016 and 2018 NLL
championship teams and the 2015 NLL title winner when the franchise was still
located in Edmonton.
Frank Scigliano had a big season in goal for the Rush.
The NLL Playoffs got underway on Friday when the top seeded
and two-time defending champion Buffalo Bandits slugged out a 5-4 victory over
the eighth seeded San Diego Seals. The Bandits posted a 13-5 record in the regular
season and downed the Rush 9-7 on March 1 at the SaskTel Centre in the only
head-to-head meeting between the two sides to gain the standings tiebreaker for
first place. The Seals posted a 9-9 mark in the regular season.
The single elimination quarter-final round has the potential
to favour lower seeded teams that just snuck into the playoffs, because you
need to be hot just for one game to move on. Shanks believes his squad is ready
to handle the winner takes all contest.
“I think we played really well with our backs against the
wall,” said Shanks. “We kind of try and put some pressure on ourselves, and
that is all this is.
“It is one game. We’ve said it all year that we have to play
60 minutes, and there is no better test than tomorrow night.”
Ryan Keenan had 73 points this season for the Rush.
The NLL post-season will be a new experience for numerous
Rush players. The Rush only have four holdovers from their last NLL
championship team in 2018 including Church, Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt
Hossack.
Keenan was in his second season with the Rush when they
captured the NLL title in 2018. He admitted the team’s post-season drought gave
him a little more appreciation for how hard it is to make playoffs and how hard
it is to win in the post-season after experiencing early career success.
“I mean those years the talent was just off the charts,”
said Keenan. “It was kind of just an expectation to win every game and win it
at the end of the year.
“It became more challenging, but this year, the success has
just come down to just the hard work part of our game and loving that grind
aspect of it. That comes with a young group who is hungry and wants to win.”
Austin Shanks had 72 points for the Rush this season.
Shanks, who is 31-years-old, is one of the veterans who is
hungry to win a league title which has eluded him in his career. He signed with
the Rush this past off-season after spending four campaigns with the Halifax
Thunderbirds.
Back in 2018, Shanks began his NLL career with the original Rochester
Knighthawks, who fell to the Rush in the best-of-three NLL final 2-1.
The Rush
claimed a 15-10 victory in a series-deciding Game 3 on June 9 of that year at
the SaskTel Centre. Shanks hasn’t forgotten what it was like being on the
losing end of that contest even after the original Knighthawks moved to Halifax to become the Thunderbirds.
“It has been eating at me for seven years,” said Shanks. “I
got a taste my rookie year, and I didn’t get that trophy.
“I’ve been playing to win championships. That is all I want
to do, and to have a chance to do that again is cool. There is a lot of work to
do.
The Rush aim to celebrate a playoff win on Saturday.
“This is just round one.”
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Yours truly up in the press box at Co-op Place on April 13.
It is amazing what type of journey can happen when you are
linked with two teams that get there are things bigger than hockey and sports.
It becomes extra special when fans of both teams pick up on
that too.
The WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the
Medicine Hat Tigers and Prince Albert Raiders has been done for over a week.
The WHL record books will show the Tigers, who were second overall in the
regular season standings at 47-17-3-1, swept the Raiders, who were eighth
overall at 39-23-5-1, in the best-of-seven set 4-0. The Tigers finished off the
sweep with a 3-0 victory in Game 4 at the storied and historic Art Hauser
Centre on April 17.
In a few hours, the Tigers will open the best-of-seven WHL
Eastern Conference Championship Series against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who
finished sixth overall at 42-21-3-2. The two sides go at it on Game 1 at 7 p.m.
local time at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.
The best-of-seven Western Conference Championship Series will
also get going in a few hours between the Spokane Chiefs, who finished fourth
overall at 45-20-1-2, and the Portland Winterhawks, who were 12th
overall at 36-28-3-1. Those sides go at it in Game 1 at 7 p.m. local time at
the Spokane Veteran Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash.
The Raiders and Tigers faceoff on April 12 at Co-op Place.
Back on April 11 or one day before Game 1 of the series
between the Tigers and Raiders took place at Co-op Place, I arrived in Medicine
Hat for the first time since July of 2019.
That day I put together a fairly
emotional post about being back in “the Gas City” for the first time since what
is known as the summer of the suicides in that centre. Those all occurred
during all the restrictions that were in place due to the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic.
The suicides made national news, and I remember seeing names
of six to seven men come up who took their lives, and I pretty much new them
all.
A lot were alums of the Medicine Hat Junior B Cubs Hockey Team. The
pressures of that time in the pandemic played a part in what happened.
Out of the suicides in 2020 in Medicine Hat, Mitch Serr and
Mike Engel were two that I built tight friendships with when I lived in the Hat
from 2004 to 2014. We shared lots about our personal lives with each other.
Myself, centre, hanging with Emma Bennett, left, and Collin Gallant.
When I put together that column on April 11, I needed to get
what I was feeling out there, because it was affecting me.
I also know how
passionate the fans of both the Tigers and Raiders can be, and I was in a place
where I didn’t really want to deal with fan beaks.
Actually, the fans on both sides were outstanding. I found
when I went to Co-op Place and the Art Hauser Centre they knew what the deal
was for me.
I had friends at Co-op Place come visit me and pass on a thank you
for writing that column, because it helped them in their journeys dealing with
the suicides in the summer of 2020.
At the Hauser, the fans and friends that I talked to were
really understanding. They were open to listening more, if I needed to talk
more.
All of that right there is the bigger than hockey and sports
thing.
Harrison Meneghin plays the puck for the Tigers on April 16.
The folks with the Raiders and Tigers were outstanding.
I
was actually hoping to get out to Medicine Hat earlier to deal with the emotional
front, and my original plan was to work a Tigers game where the Raiders weren’t
involved. I was concerned about dragging them into my emotional side thing.
Now that the series is done, I feel it was a blessing that
the Raiders were there on my first trip back to the Hat.
Over the course of the
series, I had so many good visits with general manager Curtis Hunt, interim
head coach Ryan McDonald, assistant coach Mark Odnokon and athletic therapist
Duane “Puff” Bartley. They were all a huge help.
On the Tigers side, I have great visits with Dr. Bill
Ruzycki, owner Darrell Maser, iconic retired play-by-play voice Bob Ridley,
head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins, associate coach Joe Frazer, assistant
coach Josh Maser, athletic therapist and equipment manager Mikki Lanuk, staffer
Scott Goldade and office staffer Val Welling. They were all a huge help.
On the more humorous side, it was cool to visit with video
coach Jayce Desjardins now that he is all grown up. I mentioned my memories of
him were being a little guy and getting into mischief at the Tigers old long
time legendary home rink in The Arena.
Max Hildebrand protects the net for the Raiders on April 16.
While in the Hat, I was also able to visit a number of long
time friends including Randy Noble, Colin Gallant and Emma Bennett. Noble is
battling cancer, and I stopped by to visit him in hospital twice. He was in
really good spirits in the second visit, so that was great to see.
Gallant, Bennett and I were the crew from the Medicine Hat
News that were dispatched to Vancouver in 2007 to cover the Tigers playing in
that year’s Memorial Cup.
Gallant, who still works for the News, recalled we
filled four broadsheets for about 10 straight days. It was so cool we got to
have a reunion.
As for the series on ice, I think the one game that really
hurt the Raiders was not being able to take Game 2 at Co-op Place in Medicine
Hat on April 13.
The Tigers claimed that contest 5-4 in overtime with
super-rookie right-winger Liam Ruck tipping in the winner on the power play at
the 8:50 mark of the extra session. Ruck deflected home a point shot from
offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford.
Games 3 and 4 in Medicine Hat saw emotion kind of speed up
the Tigers. Tigers 20-year-old star netminder Harrison Meneghin attended the
funeral for his father, Derek, on April 10 just two day before the series with
the Raiders began. Meneghin’s first two starts were against the Raiders in
Games 3 and 4.
Harrison Meneghin, left, and Max Hildebrand embrace on April 17.
Talking to a few long time Raiders fans at the Hauser, they
said you could tell Meneghin was playing for his father, and the Tigers players
were playing for their goalie. The Tigers posted a 6-1 victory in Game 3 and
the 3-0 win in Game 4.
In Game 4, Raiders 20-year-old star netminder Max Hildebrand
made 54 saves to keep his team in the game.
He had one of the best single game
performances I have seen in 26 seasons covering the WHL.
You saw why he was a nominee
for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL player of the year, the Del
Wilson Memorial Trophy as WHL goaltender of the year and the Doug Wickenheiser
Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s humanitarian of the year.
While the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Tigers
and Raiders will likely be another set in the mass amount of post-season series
that have been played in the WHL since the circuit began in 1966-67, it will
always have a special place in my heart for the happenings away from the game.
I have to pass on a big thanks to everyone who helped as I
navigated life away from the game and got to a more healed up place. I still
miss my buds who have passed away.
Yours truly at the Art Hauser Centre on April 17.
They will always be part of my memories in the Hat, and
wherever I go in that centre, good ones pop up about them along with many
others.
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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