Friday 26 January 2018

Caller finds offensive groove with Blades

Defensive defenceman developing all-around game

Jackson Caller has 10 points in his last 15 games for the Blades.
    Jackson Caller still gets surprised when he scores.
    The 18-year-old sophomore defenceman with the Saskatoon Blades slipped home a shot at the 9:20 mark of a WHL regular season clash with the Edmonton Oil Kings at the SaskTel Centre on Friday night to give his team a 3-0 lead. After the goal went in, Caller was looking around to see who had scored and didn’t realize he had netted his third of the year.
    “I just kind of sprung down the right side there, and luckily it got past the defenceman there,” said Caller. “I just shot it on net, and luckily, it took a funny bounce and went in there.”
    The goal put a cap on a strong night for the Kamloops, B.C., product, who posted a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department to help the Blades skate away with a 5-0 victory before 3,309 spectators.
    Known as a defensive-defenceman, Caller’s offensive game has been rounding into form. 
    Since the Blades returned from the WHL’s Christmas break, he has posted two goals and eight assists in 15 games.
Jackson Caller (#52) weaves his way into the offensive zone for the Blades.
    On the season, Caller has three goals, 17 assists and a minus-four rating in 49 games. Besides playing regular shifts against the oppositions’ top forward units, Caller has found himself playing the point on the Blades power play on a more regular basis.
    He said he is surer of himself in the offensive zone.
    “Confidence is a huge thing,” said Caller. “I’ve been a lot more comfortable out there jumping in the play and getting shots through.
    “Offence is coming, which is nice. It is good for the team. It feels great just to contribute to the team, so I want to keep doing that moving forward.”
Michael Farren (#27) had a goal for the Blades.
    The Blades received singles from Josh Paterson and Max Gerlach to go along with Caller’s tally in building their 3-0 lead. Gerlach’s tally came on the power play.
    The opening surge chased Oil Kings starting goalie Josh Dechaine at the media break of the opening frame from the Edmonton net. He stopped just five of eight shots sent his way.
    Todd Scott turned away 17-of-19 shots playing almost 50 minutes the rest of the way in relief.
    Saskatoon’s advantage grew to 4-0 with 2:57 remaining in the second period, when rookie centre Kirby Dach found sophomore right-winger Michael Farren. Farren proceeded to pot his fourth goal of the season. Dach had two assists on the night.
    Overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr sealed the win netting his 99th career WHL regular season goal in the third period.
Netminder Nolan Maier covers up the puck in a shutout performance.
    Blades rookie netminder Nolan Maier, who has had a stellar campaign and turned 17 earlier this month, stopped 20 shots to pick up his second career shutout.
    The Oil Kings fell to 13-28-5-2 with the loss.
    With the Blades having won just two of their previous eight games heading into action on Friday, head coach Dean Brockman said the win was big for his club, even though the Oil Kings have had their struggles.
    “At this time of year, they are all must wins,” said Brockman. “It doesn’t matter who you play, whether they are below us or above us in the standings.
Kirby Dach had two assists for the Blades.
    “Now, there are 22 games left, and really, that is our playoff push. We have to start thinking that mentality right now.”
    The Blades pulled out the convincing win minus two of their most experienced defenceman. Overage captain Evan Fiala sat out a one-game league imposed suspension for taking a cross-checking major penalty in the Blades 7-3 loss to the Pats in Regina on Wednesday night.
    Saskatoon was also without 19-year-old rearguard Dawson Davidson due to illness.
    Due to the fact Fiala and Davidson weren’t available, the Blades played with five regular defenceman and moved winger Logan Christensen to the back end.
    Caller said the younger defensive group that hit the ice had a solid game for the Blades, and he liked his club’s overall effort.
    “It was huge to get back on track here,” said Caller. “It was a good win tonight.
    “Guys were going. Guys were moving their feet and finishing checks. That is what we like to see and moving forward we have to keep doing that.”
    The Blades improved to 24-23-2-1 with the win to hold the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a four point edge over the Prince Albert Raiders (19-20-7-2). The Raiders have two games in hand on the Blades.
The Blades salute the SaskTel Centre crowd after their win.
    Saskatoon is four points back of the first wildcard position held by the Pats (25-20-5).
Brockman hopes the good vibes from Friday will carry over for the Blades into their game on Saturday, when they host the Prince George Cougars at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
    “It feels good,” said Brockman. “I think we lacked confidence in that room.
    “Since the (WHL trade) deadline, we haven’t done what we think we can do. For us, to get a win and to get the win the way we did I think it is really important. Now, we just have to take that confidence going into tomorrow.”
    The Blades return to action Saturday, when they host the Prince George Cougars (18-24-4-3) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Vance topples Thunderbirds for a third time

Jessica Vance picked up her seventh shutout of the season on Friday.
    Jessica Vance seems to have the number of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds women’s hockey team.
    On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the 20-year-old sophomore netminder made 13 saves to back her University of Saskatchewan Huskies to a 2-0 victory over the Thunderbirds, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. In the current campaign, Vance had started all of the Huskies three regular season encounters with the Huskies, and she has come out victorious on each occasion.
    The Prince Albert, Sask., product leads the Canada West Conference in individual shutouts by a goalie at seven. The Huskies have won three straight, and Vance has posted shutouts in each of those contests.
    As a team, the Huskies have 10 shutouts to lead Canada West. In the 93 regular season games played in the 2017-18 campaign in the Canada West Conference in women’s hockey, the eight teams on the circuit have combined for 46 shutouts.
    Third-year defender Leah Bohlken scored in the second period to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead on Friday, and fifth-year forwards Kori Herner and Kennedy Harris picked up assists on the play.
    Third-year defender Emma Nutter scored on a power play in the third period to round out the scoring for the host side. Fifth-year defender Kira Bannatyne and Herner picked up assists on Nutter’s tally.
    With the win, the Huskies improve to 15-7-1, while the Thunderbirds fell to 16-5-2.
    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

UBC’s Hewitt stones Huskies

Sam Ruopp scored for the Huskies on Friday.
    Fifth-year goalie Matt Hewitt walled off the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.
    On Friday night at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C., Hewitt stopped 40-of-41 shots fired his way to back his University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a 5-1 victory over the Huskies, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Friday’s encounter marked the first time the Thunderbirds managed to beat the Huskies in the three head-to-head regular season meetings between the two sides in 2017-18.
    The Thunderbirds, who have won five in a row, led 2-0 after the first period and 4-0 after the second period before posting their 5-1 victory. The Huskies saw their four-game winning streak snapped due to the setback.
    Michael Stenerson recorded two goals and an assist for the Thunderbirds. He scored his second tally into an empty net with 2:05 to play in the third period.
    Nick Buonassisi, Carter Popoff and Matt Revel all had singles for UBC.
    Sam Ruopp had the lone reply for the Huskies. Jordon Cooke turned away 13-of-17 shots to take the setback in the U of S goal.
    The Thunderbirds improved to 13-9-1 with the win, while the Huskies fell to 18-4-1. The Huskies trail the University of Alberta Golden Bears (19-3-1) by two points for first place in the Canada West Conference.
    The Huskies and Thunderbirds go at it again on Saturday in Vancouver.

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