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| Kirby Dach is enjoying his first foray into the WHL playoffs. |
When the Blades eliminated
the Warriors in Moose Jaw 4-3 in overtime on March 27, Dach scored a sick
coast-to-coast short-handed goal with 4:25 remaining in the third period. The
tally put the Blades ahead 3-2 for a short time.
That play is ingrained
in the star centre’s memory.
“It was pretty
exciting obviously,” said Dach, who turned 18-years-old in January. “The game
was tied 2-2, and they were on the power play.
“I was out there to
do a job on the penalty kill. I saw my opening, and I kind of just chipped it
along the wall a couple of times and just took off. The goalie was kind of
caught in a spot, where he didn’t know if he was going to come out and play the
puck, or if he was just going to stay in his net and wait for me to come.
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| Kirby Dach is a highly touted prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. |
What Dach failed to mention was who he went around from the Warriors on the play.
On his coast-to-coast effort, Dach passed the puck to
himself around first Warriors star captain and defenceman Josh Brook and
another Warriors star defenceman in Jett Woo to spring himself on a breakaway.
Dach tucked home his third of the playoffs on a smart deke move past Moose Jaw
netminder Adam Evanoff to give the Blades the lead.
After the Warriors
scored to force overtime, Blades Norwegian import winger Kristian
Roykas-Marthinsen had the honours of scoring the series winner at the 4:36 mark
of the extra session to give Saskatoon the win and a 4-0 series sweep.
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| Kirby Dach can battle in the tough areas on the ice. |
He said his team
wants to make more great memories in the second round. In a best-of-seven WHL
Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Blades will face their archrivals the
Prince Albert Raiders in a heavyweight tilt. The Raiders topped the WHL regular
season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record, while the Blades finished
fourth overall with a 45-15-8 mark.
The Raiders were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings, while the Blades were an honourable mention.
The Raiders were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings, while the Blades were an honourable mention.
“Obviously, we have
a big task ahead of us with Prince Albert in the second round,” said Dach, who
stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 195 pounds. “We’re excited for it, and we’re ready
to go to battle.”
Game 1 of the series
is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. Game 2
will be held Sunday at 6 p.m. at Art Hauser.
The series switches
to Saskatoon for Game 3, which will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel
Centre.
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| Kirby Dach had 73 points in 62 regular season games with the Blades. |
He knows he will be
a target of boos and fan heckles in Prince Albert along with his linemate in
left-winger Riley McKay, who likes to stir the pot on the ice with his feisty
style of play.
“Obviously, they
have a pretty good fanbase up there,” said Dach. “They are pretty loud and
rowdy, and they get in your face, because that rink is so small.
“They are almost on
top of you, when you are playing the game. As a player and as a competitor,
those are the games you want to be in at this time of the year, because you are
trying to prove to yourself and to your teammates and to the people in the
stands that you deserve to be there that it is not going to be a cakewalk for
P.A. They kind of have to come through us.”
With that said, Dach said his team has a big challenge in taking on the Raiders.
“They won the Scotty Munro this year, and they’ve been the greatest team this year in the Western Hockey League,” said Dach, who was named an assistant captain with the Blades in January. “We have a tough task ahead of us.
With that said, Dach said his team has a big challenge in taking on the Raiders.
“They won the Scotty Munro this year, and they’ve been the greatest team this year in the Western Hockey League,” said Dach, who was named an assistant captain with the Blades in January. “We have a tough task ahead of us.
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| Kirby Dach, left, can slip past the WHL’s best blue-liners like Jett Woo. |
Blades head coach
Mitch Love has enjoyed working with Dach this season and has been impressed
with how well Dach has handled the attention that comes with being a top NHL
prospect.
“He is a mature kid,”
said Love. “You can see he has been well raised in terms of handling such a
spotlight for a young man, which isn’t an easy thing.
“In terms of the
hockey side of things, he has been a true pro. He comes to the rink wanting to
get better whether it is in the gym or on the ice or in practice. He has been
very coachable.
“He is on a mission. He knows what he needs to try to get done.”
“He is on a mission. He knows what he needs to try to get done.”
Love said Dach’s
compete level is always high in games regardless of who the Blades are playing.
“You can never do
things no matter how skilled you are without a little bit of compete in your
game,” said Love. “We stressed that as a team all the time.
“He brings a high
level of that. He goes to the greasy areas. He goes to the hard areas to score
goals and try to get pucks back.
“Not every kid wants
to do that. He has done a real good job of that. It is actually been something
I’ve watched increase as the year has went on.”
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| Kirby Dach (#77) mans his spot to congratulate teammates after wins. |
“It just adds that
much more intensity and compete to your game,” said Dach. “You’re do or die
every night. You’re trying to win.
“You are doing it
for everybody in that dressing room. You’re doing it for the guy beside you,
and the guy across from you. You are one big family in there, and you are
fighting for your lives.
“It is a lot of fun
so far, and we’re not done yet.”
Raiders/Blades series to air on Sportsnet
 |
| Raiders D Brayden Pachal (#8) scrums it up with Blade D Dawson Davidson. |
The WHL and
Sportsnet made the announcement about the television schedule on Wednesday.
Game 1 of the series from the Art Hauser Centre will be shown on Sportsnet 360
on Friday at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
Game 2 will air on
Sportsnet from Art Hauser on Sunday at 6 p.m. Saskatchewan time. Game 3 will be
shown from the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
This has to be
viewed as a big thing for the WHL, because two of its best teams will gain more
exposure playing against each other nationally. A national audience should see
some pretty outstanding action.
The Raiders finished
first overall in the WHL regular season standings at 54-10-2-2. The Blades
finished fourth overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 45-15-8
record.
Back in the Express with Gerlach
 |
| Max Gerlach scored 42 goals in the regular season for the Blades. |
Gerlach is nicknamed
the “Texan Sniper” due to his outstanding shot and for being from Flower Mound,
Texas.
In each of his four compete seasons in the WHL, Gerlach has netted 30-or-more goals in each of those campaigns.
In each of his four compete seasons in the WHL, Gerlach has netted 30-or-more goals in each of those campaigns.
This season Gerlach
hit career highs in goals (42) and points (74). He hit the 40-goal plateau or
the first time in his WHL career this season.
He is well known in
the Blades for a joke he often pulls in media scrums.
The story on Gerlach
can be found by clicking right here.
Officials nail review calls in Tigers versus
Oil Kings
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| Linesman Chad Huseby, right, and his crew had a good night last Sunday. |
The crew included
referees Adam Byblow and Kyle Kowalski and linesmen Deion Foster and Chad
Huseby with Curtis Scherger manning the video goal judge spot. Former veteran
referee Devin Klein was in the house as the supervisor for the officials.
Before 2,872
spectators at the Canalta Centre, the officiating crew faced three different goal
video review situations, and they got each of those calls right.
The first came on
the first Tigers goal of the second period, which gave the host side a 2-1
edge. On the play, Tigers captain James Hamblin and Oil Kings netminder Todd
Scott bumped into each other behind the Edmonton net, when Scott was trying to
play the puck.
The two raced around
opposite sides of the goal to get in front of the net, and Hamblin tipped home
a tally. Scott went down on his own slipping on the ice as the goal went in.
The officials tried
to determine if there was incidental contact on the play that could nullify the
tally. As Hamblin and Scott bumped behind the net and had adequate time to set
up in front of the goal, the officials correctly ruled the goal should stand.
 |
| Conner McDonald’s point shot was correctly called a goal. |
Following the review,
the officials correctly ruled that the point shot from Oil Kings defenceman
Wyatt McLeod did go straight in and the goal stood up.
The Oil Kings
equalizer scored by defenceman Conner McDonald just 31 seconds into the third
period to tie things up at 3-3 was also reviewed. McDonald’s shot hit the post
of the Tigers net, bounced off the pad of Tigers import netminder Mads Sogaard
and just trickled across the goal-line of the Medicine Hat.
The officials went
to video review to check of the puck crossed the goal-line and correctly ruled
that it did allowing the goal to stand.
Edmonton ultimately
won the contest 4-3 in overtime and claimed the best-of-seven series 4-2.
It was nice to see
the officials have a good game, and in particular, it was nice to see Byblow
have a good game. Not sure if I was bad luck for Byblow, who is a veteran
official, but it seemed like he struggled about the last five times I saw him
officiate a game and the fans were really getting on him.
He is a good guy,
and I was hoping to see him have a game, where he wasn’t noticed. Like players,
officials can go through funks where they struggle too.
When the first goal
went to a review, there was worry on my part the crew that night would get the
call wrong.
Normally, officials
don’t have to go to video review on three different goals in one night. The
fact they got all of those calls correct was sweet to see.
Due to reviews,
Byblow was noticed but in a good way.
While some WHL fans
might not want to believe it, Byblow had a good game that night, so hopefully
that gives him some good positive momentum for the rest of the playoffs.
On another side
note, Klein is well respected in Medicine Hat for his ability to coach
officials.
Canalta Centre is a beautiful place
 |
| The Tigers salute their fans after their playoff elimination on Sunday. |
The Tigers moved
into their beautiful new home rink that seats 6,016 spectators before the start
of the 2015-16 campaign. While the team has played four complete seasons out of
that facility, fans in Medicine Hat are still nostalgic for the club’s old home
facility in The Arena.
The Tigers played in
The Arena from their inception in the 1970-71 season through to the 2014-15
campaign spanning a total of 45 seasons. Over that time, the Tigers won five
WHL championships and two Memorial Cup titles playing out of that building.
The Arena contains a
tonne of memories including Brennan Bosch scoring arguably the most famous
tally in the history of the WHL with his double overtime winner in the fog to
give the Tigers a 3-2 victory in Game 7 of the 2007 WHL Championship series.
Of course, the team’s
new rink doesn’t have the memories the old facility has.
With that said, it feel special to see the storied Tigers playing in a modern facility. While only 2,872 spectators watched the Tigers bow out of the WHL post-season with a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 6 of their first round series with the Edmonton Oil Kings last Sunday, you got the feeling the Canalta Centre could be an intimidating place to play in as the visitor when full.
With that said, it feel special to see the storied Tigers playing in a modern facility. While only 2,872 spectators watched the Tigers bow out of the WHL post-season with a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 6 of their first round series with the Edmonton Oil Kings last Sunday, you got the feeling the Canalta Centre could be an intimidating place to play in as the visitor when full.
 |
| The fans at the Canalta Centre give the Tigers a final salute on Sunday. |
Even the press box
seating is sweet. You feel like you are on top of the action, and you can get
some great photos from press row. Medicine Hat News sports reporter Ryan
McCracken has taken some outstanding photos from that vantage point over the
years.
Had the Tigers made
it to the WHL Eastern Conference final in 2017 after finishing second overall
in the regular season with a 51-20-1 record, fans in the Hat would have had
their first long playoff run in the new building to reflect on and begin
creating memories that mirrored those from The Arena.
I admit I too miss
The Arena. Having covered the Tigers as a beat writer for the Medicine Hat News
from 2004 to 2014, the team’s old rink will always be special to me.
Still, believe there
will be bright days for the team playing inside the Canalta Centre.
Off to P.A. on Thursday
Check back here to
Stanks’ Sermon on Thursday.
I will be heading to
Prince Albert to check in with the Raiders before their second round WHL
playoffs series with the Saskatoon Blades. A post will be coming that day.
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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