Saskatoon needs to stay in mix for January
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| Braylon Shmyr zips up ice for the Blades. |
If you’re a fan of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, you might be
panicking like the sky is fall or groaning that it is “here we go again” time.
Starting Thursday, “the Bridge City Bunch” began a stretch
where they play three games in three nights and fell convincingly each night
out. On Thursday night, the Blades fell at home 5-1 to the Moose Jaw Warriors
(13-4-4).
On Friday, Saskatoon hit the road for Brandon and was
thrashed 8-1 at the hands of the Wheat Kings (12-7-3). The Blades and Wheat
Kings went at it again on Saturday, and Brandon came away with a 6-3 victory.
Thanks to this current three-game skid, the Blades fell to
9-14-1 and sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference standings. They
are two points behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes (9-11-1-2) for eighth overall
in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and the conference’s final berth in the WHL
playoffs. The Hurricanes also have one game in hand on the Blades.
Trailing both of those teams in the standings is the Calgary
Hitmen (8-9-2). The Hitmen are one point behind the Blades with five games in
hand and three points behind the Hurricanes with four games in hand.
With Saskatoon having not made the playoffs since 2013, fans
might worry the Blades are hitting that November wall, which could adversely
affect the team’s post-season chances. The grind of the WHL schedule usually
kicks in for most teams when the calendar turns to November, and with a club
that hasn’t experienced much success in recent years like the Blades, Saskatoon
fans likely have that sinking feeling.
It also has to be said that all hope is not lost. While this
might sound strange, the Blades will be in good shape, if they remain in the
playoff hunt when January begins.
From September to the end of December, Saskatoon’s regular season
schedule is really road heavy. The Blades play 15 times at home and 24 times on
the road.
When the new year starts, the Blades regular season schedule
rounds out with 21 home dates and 12 road contests. That schedule will work in
Saskatoon’s advantage.
If you in a playoff chase, you want to be playing at home as
much as possible down the stretch when the pressure heats up. It helps a little
more with keeping your team in a somewhat regular and consistent daily routine,
and you also have the chance to catch an opponent in a bus lagged moment, which
creates a chance for an easier win.
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| Goaltender Logan Flodell has been solid for the Blades. |
The Blades also have some bright spots to potentially lean
on. Despite the recent losses, goaltender Logan Flodell is having a strong campaign.
The Regina product has posted an 8-7 record, a 3.05 goals against average, a
.913 save percentage and two shutouts.
He will likely be the workhorse the Blades rely on during the
second half.
Gritty right-winger Mason McCarty has had a good start
netting 14 goals and seven assists in 24 games to lead the Blades in scoring.
The defensive pairing of overager Bryton Sayers and Czech import Libor Hajek
have been a duo you can lean on.
Sayers has three goals, nine assists and an even rating in
the plus-minus department. Hajek, who is a second round NHL Entry Draft
selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning, has 10 assists and a minus-five rating in
22 appearances.
Saskatoon has stayed in the hunt so far despite having a
trio of key players out with extended injuries. Star centre Cameron Hebig has
been gone the entire season to date with an upper body injury.
Last season, Hebig had 26 goals and 43 assists in 59 games.
His offensive touch would be a huge addition back to the active roster whenever
he returns.
Left-winger Jesse Shynkaruk has missed 13 games with an
upper body injury. He was off to a nice start with six goals and three assists
in 11 games. The local overage product is set to come off the injury list.
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| Libor Hajek controls the puck at the point for the Blades. |
As a result of that development, the Blades dealt overage
left-winger Ryan Graham to the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday in exchange for
a second round selection in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft and a 4th
round selection in the 2018 Bantam Draft.
The move keeps the Blades active roster at the maximum of
three overage players including Shynkaruk, Sayers and left-winger Kolten Olynek.
Defenceman Jake Kustra has been down for 15 games with an
upper body injury, and he was expected to be a solid piece on the back end as a
17-year-old sophomore.
Had Hebig, Shynkaruk and Kustra not missed significant time,
the Blades would likely have had a better record to date.
Dean Brockman has had to do some juggling as a rookie WHL
head coach. Before joining the Blades as an assistant coach in June of 2014, Brockman
had a storied stay in the junior A ranks with the Humboldt Broncos, where he
developed the reputation of being a players’ coach. He has the ability to make
his players see the way.
The Blades return to action on Tuesday, when they travel to
Swift Current to face the Broncos (11-7-2-4). That contest provides another
chance to stay afloat. If the Blades can remain in the playoff hunt through a
tough first four months, the light is at the end of the tunnel.
Hilltops celebrate another championship
campaign
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| Hilltops RB Logan Fischer shares the Canadian Bowl with some young fans. |
The Saskatoon Hilltops are enjoying the spoils of another Canadian
Junior Football League championship.
The Toppers claimed the Canadian Bowl with a 37-25 victory
over the Westshore Rebels on Nov. 12 in Langford, B.C. The win marked the third
straight year the Hilltops claimed the Canadian Bowl, and they became the first
team to win six CJFL titles over a seven year period. Saskatoon has won a total
of 19 CJFL championships.
For just over the past week, the Hilltops have been enjoying
the well wishes from the citizens of Saskatoon. On Saturday, they enjoyed their
year-end Len Richardson Memorial Awards Banquet at the Radisson Hotel.
The event featured lots of praise for outgoing starting star
quarterback in the humble Jared Andreychuk. Andreychuk became the first
Hilltops quarterback to start and win three straight CJFL championship games
posting a perfect career 9-0 post-season record. He also was a member of a
Hilltops CJFL championship team in 2012 as the backup quarterback.
He was named the most valuable player of the Prairie
Football Conference this past season, and on Saturday, he claimed the Drs.
Landa-Doig Award as the Hilltops most outstanding graduate. During the banquet,
the Hilltops players often chanted “MVP” or called out “Goat” for greatest of
all-time for Andreychuk because of his accomplishments.
He took all the praise with a bit of an embarrassed smile.
Also at the banquet, Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant gave a
good shout out for the efforts of this blog in covering his team. The shout out
was big time appreciated.
On Sunday, the Hilltops made rounds with the Canadian Bowl
trophy at the Santa Claus parade held in downtown Saskatoon. During the odd
moment, star running back Logan Fischer brought the trophy over to groups of
children for them to see and touch.
The Hilltops were one of three Saskatoon-based teams at the
parade with championship hardware. The Saskatoon Valkyries brought their
championship trophy for winning the Western Women’s Canadian Football League,
and the Saskatchewan Rush brought the Champion’s Cup for winning the National
Lacrosse League title.
Like the Valkyries and Rush, the Hilltops are likely to make
a number of rounds to various stops in the city with their CJFL championship
trophy.
Back in the Express with Huskies Zary
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| Captain Lauren Zary (#13) speeds up ice for the Huskies. |
I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week
with a cover story on Lauren Zary, who is the captain of the University of
Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.
Zary is in her fifth and final year of eligibility and
joined the Huskies after playing for Brown University in the National
Collegiate Athletic Association. Before joining the post-secondary ranks, Zary
was a star with the Saskatoon Stars midget AAA team.
The story seemed to be well-timed one. On Friday night at
the ancient Rutherford Rink, Zary had a goal and three assists as the Huskies
downed the University of Calgary Dinos 5-3. The Huskies followed that game up
by blanking the Dinos 2-0 on Saturday night at Rutherford.
With the wins, the Huskies, who are rated ninth in the U
Sports top 10 rankings, improved to 9-3 to sit second in the Canada West
Conference standings.
The U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team split a pair
of road games on the weekend in Calgary. On Friday, they downed the U of
Calgary Dinos 5-0. On Saturday, the Dinos claimed a 2-1 decision after a
tiebreaking shootout against the Huskies.
With those results, the Huskies mens’ team, who are rated
third in the U Sports top 10 rankings, saw their record move to 8-2-2 to sit
second in Canada West.
The Huskies hockey teams return to action this coming
weekend against the U of Manitoba Bisons.
The Huskies women’s team hosts the Bisons this Friday and
Saturday at 7 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively at Rutherford. The Huskies men’s
team travels to Winnipeg to face the Bisons this Friday and Saturday.
The Saskatoon Express cover story on Zary can be found here.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
