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| The Blades give a final salute to the SaskTel Centre crowd on Sunday. |
Way back on
Sept. 20, 2018, I typed a column that said the Blades would make the WHL
playoffs in 2018-19. I said I had a gut feeling the Blades would have a playoff
spot locked up when March 2019 begins. You can even check that piece out by
clicking right here.
Having
missed the playoffs for five straight seasons, I was expecting followers of the
team to be so jaded they would fall down with laughter.
Instead,
that prediction was greeted mostly with silence, which might have been a more
scary reaction. The playoff drought that included two heartbreaking near misses
in 2016-17 and 2017-18 seemed to quell most enthusiasm for the team.
It seemed
people were waiting for the tangible result of a post-season playoff berth before
showing any interest in the squad.
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| Kirby Dach is one of the Blades biggest stars. |
Saskatoon
had the seventh most points in the 12-team Eastern Conference, which meant two
teams with records worse than the ones the Blades had made the post-season.
I thought
the nucleus was in place for the team to make a leap upwards in the standings.
The Blades made a bigger leap than I had imagined.
Fast
forward to this past Sunday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades were eliminated
from the post season dropping a 6-3 decision to their archrivals, the Raiders,
in Game 6 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series before 10,521
spectators.
Following
the contest, the Blades received a salute from the crowd including a nod of
respect from most of the large contingent of Raiders followers.
Along the
way the Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings
with a 45-15-8 record to qualify for the post-season for the first time since
2013, while picking up honourable mention status in the final CHL Top 10
rankings. They officially locked up a playoff berth on Feb. 23 with a 4-3 win
after a tiebreaking shootout over the Kootenay Ice at the SaskTel Centre.
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| Nolan Maier ensured the Blades had solid play between the pipes. |
The Blades
bowed out to a Raiders team that topped the WHL standings at 54-10-2-2 and were
rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.
How crazy was
this Blades season?
Last Oct.
25, the Blades acquired a left-winger named Gary Haden, who was in his
19-year-old season, in a trade with the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for
forward Logan Christensen, who was also in his 19-year-old season. The deal at
the time didn’t raise too many eyebrows as both had relatively average major
junior careers to that point in time.
Haden went
on to become “Uncle” Gary in Saskatoon posting 30 goals, 32 assists and a
plus-23 rating in 55 regular season games with the Blades. In his first nine
games of the campaign with the Tigers, Haden posted one goal, two assists and
was a minus-four.
The
Airdrie, Alta., product became a fan favourite and one of the Blades most
well-known players.
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| Emil Malysjev made huge strides in his rookie season with the Blades. |
Alanna
Priestner, who is the wife of Blades general manager Colin Priestner, helped
use those nicknames and catch phrases to create novelty T-shirts for six of the
team’s players in Haden, Kyle Crnkovic, Kirby Dach, Max Gerlach, Riley McKay
and Nolan Maier. The T-shirts became hot sellers and in the process that
inventive move helped make them more household names in the city.
The Blades
had the skill on the ice to back everything up. On Monday, it was announced
that three Blades members cracked NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings.
Dach, who
stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 195 pounds, was rated third among North American
skaters. The skilled centre finished third in team scoring recording 25 goals,
48 assists and a plus-15 rating in 62 regular season games.
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| Chase Wouters provided the Blades with stellar leadership as captain. |
Maier, who
stands 6-feet and weighs 173 pounds, was rated 22nd among North
American goaltenders. He posted a 36-10-6 record, a 2.64 goals against average,
a .910 save percentage and four shutouts in 53 regular season games.
The
Yorkton, Sask., product was invited to join Canada’s men’s team for the under-18
worlds that start Thursday and run through to April 28 in Ornskoldsvik and
Umea, Sweden.
Dach,
Malysjev and Maier will all be entering their respective 18-year-old campaigns
next season.
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| “Uncle” Gary Haden became a fan favourite with the Blades. |
Right-winger
Max Gerlach was second in team scoring with 42 goals, 32 assists for 74 points.
He was a plus-seven appearing in all of the Blades 68 regular season games.
Defenceman
Brandon Schuldhaus showed he was the ultimate pro. Acquired in a trade last
Oct. 2 with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Schuldhaus appeared in 61 regular season
games with the Blades posting eight goals, 23 assists and a plus-15 rating.
Chase
Wouters became the team’s charismatic captain, and he has two more years of
eligibility remaining. He got the playoffs started in style scoring the
overtime winner to give the Blades a 3-2 victory over the Warriors in Game 1 of
their first round series at the SaskTel Centre.
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| The Blades celebrate a goal from Ryan Hughes (#53). |
Ryan Hughes
proved to be a slick right-winger acquired in a Jan. 10 trade with the Portland
Winterhawks. In 61 regular season games split between the Winterhawks and
Blades, Hughes recorded 30 goals, 39 assists and a plus-13 rating.
Defenceman
Nolan Kneen was another astute acquisition arriving from the Kamloops Blades
last Nov. 26. In 55 regular season games split between the Blazers and Blades,
Kneen posted six goals, 39 assists and a plus-24 rating.
Colin
Priestner and his staff have to be given huge credit for assembling the Blades
roster. During the season, Priestner added seven players via that trade route
that bolstered the defence and created more depth on the forward lines.
Out of all
the Blades staffers, Priestner had to have felt the biggest sense of relief
that this season came to pass. The same likely goes for his father, Mike, who bought the team before the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
The reward finally came from all the rebuilding
that took place in the previous five non-playoff years.
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| Kyle Crnkovic turned heads with his play as a rookie. |
Love joined
the Blades after spending the previous season as an assistant coach and
assistant to the general manager of the Everett Silvertips. He was on the
Silvertips staff for a total of seven seasons.
It seemed
there were few veteran staffers from other WHL teams that tried to test the
youthful duo on the gamesmanship front noting Priestner is 35-year-old and Love
is 34-years-old. Both showed they have some veteran savvy on that front.
The rest of
the Blades coaching staff played a key role in the team’s results this season.
Associate coach Ryan Marsh played a huge part in shaping the club’s play on the
ice. Returning assistant coaches Ryan Keller and Jerome Engele and returning goalie
coach Tim Cheveldae all added their positive influences.
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| The fans poured into the SaskTel Centre in big numbers in the playoffs. |
Off the
ice, the Blades worked a big group game getting into the community with various
events.
All the
hard work finally paid off with more people arriving at the SaskTel Centre. For
the longest time, it appeared the Blades would have their worst average
attendance since posting a franchise worst record of seven wins, 52 losses, 11
ties and two overtime setbacks in 2003-04.
A surge at
the gates in late regular season games helped the Blades avoid that distinction
as they drew an average of 3,911 spectators for their 34 home regular season
dates. That was a slight improvement from the average attendance of 3,851
spectators per game the club drew for 36 home dates in 2017-18.
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| HC Mitch Love and his staff have given great guidance to the players. |
In
Saskatoon, the Blades have been rejuvenated.
Of course,
the composition of the Blades roster next season will have a different
composition than this past season. The team leadership has to remind fans that
every season writes its own story.
There will
be times that factors out of team’s control like injuries can derail a season.
At the
moment, all the excitement with the Blades feels new again. The team brought
back its traditional blue and gold Pac-Man look before the start of the 2017-18
campaign believing these good times were around the corner.
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| The Blades gained new life in a big way in 2018-19. |
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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