Blades start 5-0-1 in bubble

Kyle Crnkovic and the Blades are rocking the Regina bubble.

The bubble life seems to suit the Saskatoon Blades just fine.

Playing in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina, the Blades have jumped out to a 5-0-1 start to begin their abbreviated 24-game regular season. They lead the WHL’s East Division that contains the circuit’s five Saskatchewan clubs and two Manitoba squads.

A bubble is being utilized for regular season play in the East Division due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

The 2020-21 campaign is basically a developmental season, and the Blades are maximizing their opportunity to get back in the ice.

In their latest outing on Monday, the Blades downed the Brandon Wheat Kings in a high scoring 6-4 affair.

The Saskatoon side was paced by left-winger Kyle Crnkovic had two goals and an assist, while left-winger Colton Dach had one goal and two assists.

Crnkovic experience a milestone as he picked up his 100^th career regular season point in the win. In 124 career regular season games with the Blades, Crnkovic has 35 goals and 66 assists for 101 points.

Wyatt McLeod, Blake Stevenson and Caiden Daley rounded out the scoring for the Blades.

Right-winger Lynden McCallum led the way for Brandon offensively with two goals and an assist, while Ben McCartney and Nolan Ritchie had singles.

Koen MacInnes stopped 29 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Ethan Kruger turned away 22-of-27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings (3-2-1).

Chase Wouters is playing in his final season with the Blades.

The Blades scored their final goal into an empty net.

During their 5-0-1 start, the Blades have benefitted from timely offence and strong play from their defencemen and goaltending. The Blades have allowed two or fewer goals in four out of their six outings.

Offensively, the scoring has been fairly spread out through the Blades lineup. Stevenson, Crnkovic, Tristan Robins and Evan Patrician are tied for the team lead in goals at three.

Stevenson tops the Blades in scoring with three goals and four assists for seven points to go with a plus-five rating in the plus-minus department.

Crnkovic, Robins and Dach have six points each. Daley and captain Chase Wouters each have five points, while 16-year-old rookie left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, Alex Morozoff and Rhett Rhinehart each have four points. Rhinehart is the leading scorer among all Blades defencemen.

Veteran netminder Nolan Maier, who turned 20-years-old in January, has continued his star play. The Yorkton, Sask., product has won all four of his starts posting a 1.74 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.

MacInnes, who is in his second season with the Blades, has a win and an overtime setback in his two starts posting a 2.98 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.

Blades head coach Mitch Love and his staff have to be enjoying how things have come together in the team game for their hockey club. Of course, the Blades coaches are always looking for ways to allow their players to improve.

For the players individually, they have to be happy that they are creating good video footage for scouts.

Wouters and Daley, who are both centres, and McLeod, who is a defenceman, are playing through their overage campaigns. They are looking to leave a final good impression on professional scouts or potentially create an opportunity with a Canadian university team at the U Sports level.

Colton Dach has six points in six games for the Blades.

Robins is a 19-year-old centre who has a signed NHL Entry Level contract with the San Jose Sharks, and he trying to show the Sharks they were wise to select him in the second round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and sign him.

Veterans like Crnkovic, Maier and Rhinehart are trying to show professional teams they have been overlooked.

Dach is trying to make a good impression for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft and Lisowsky is showing he has the potential to obtain star status in the WHL sooner than later.

Last season, the Blades had locked up a playoff berth with a 34-24-2-3 record before the remainder of the 2019-20 campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Blades so far are showing they were ready to take that next step. They return to action today taking on the Swift Current Broncos (8 p.m., 98.3 Cool FM).

Overall, it is great the Blades have been able to hit the ice in 2020-21 to show what they’ve got.

SJHL cancels rest of 2020-21 season, other observations

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League cancelled the rest of its 2020-21 campaign on Tuesday.

The junior A hockey circuit had hoped to complete its 2020-21 season playing in a bubble format in Weyburn. A total of seven of the circuit’s 12 teams were committed to completing the season including the Estevan Bruins, Flin Flon Bombers, Kindersley Klippers, Humboldt Broncos, Melfort Mustangs, Nipawin Hawks and Weyburn Red Wings.

The Government of Saskatchewan has denied the circuit’s return to play plan and had asked the SJHL to wait another two to three weeks before revisiting the plan. Concerns were raised about the rise of COVID-19 variant cases in Regina including the B.1.1.7 variant that was first found in the United Kingdom.

Weyburn is about 100 kilometres southeast of Regina. The Government of Saskatchewan announced a number of tighter restrictions for Regina and area on Tuesday in an attempt to curve the spread of variant cases.

The rise of variant cases and the fact the COVID-19 vaccination program in Saskatchewan is still in the more beginning stages was enough to bring an end to the SJHL’s plans. There were also concerns that one of the two hotels that was going to house teams in Weyburn was still going to be open to the public.

The SJHL last hit the ice for regular season play on Nov. 23, 2020.

Red Wings head coach and general manager Rich Pilon told 650 CKOM on Tuesday that a COVID-19 testing program that included weekly tests was planned for the proposed bubble environment in Weyburn.

The SJHL has said it now plans to focus on conducting a complete 2021-22 campaign.

Of course, the obvious disappointment from players and personnel from the SJHL surfaced regarding Tuesday’s announcement.

Some cried foul that the WHL is playing and the SJHL won’t play.

By the looks of things, the SJHL didn’t have timing on its side. COVID-19 variants weren’t a concern when the WHL’s East Division began playing in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

At the moment, COVID-19 variants are a concern, and that affected the plans for the SJHL.

While the development sucks for the SJHL, this shows an example of how quickly things can still change in these COVID-19 pandemic times.

• Last Friday, Saskatoon Blades long time volunteer dressing room attendant Bobby Kirkness made it to Regina to see the Blades down the Prince Albert Raiders 3-1 in a WHL regular season game played in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre. Kirkness, who is battling stage 4 liver and pancreatic cancer, watched the game from the stands. Following the game, both teams skated towards the location Kirkness was sitting, gathered together inside the Blades end and raised their sticks as one in salute. It was one of the most heartwarming and classiest moments in the rivalry between the Blades and Raiders. The Blades posted a story of that moment on their website, and it can be found by clicking right here.
• On Monday, the Swift Current Broncos downed the Prince Albert Raiders 5-2 in a WHL regular season game played in the East Division bubble at the Brandt Centre in Regina. The win allowed the Broncos to stop a 23 game losing streak that dated back to last season. The Broncos, who are 1-5 this season, are still going through a massive rebuild after loading up with a skilled veteran roster in 2017-18 to win the WHL championship and appear in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. Even during their losses this season, the Broncos have put forth a good effort on the ice.
• Regina Pats 15-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard has points in each of his first six WHL regular season games with the world’s oldest major junior franchise. On Tuesday, Bedard picked up an assist in the Pats 8-3 loss to the Winnipeg Ice playing in the East Division bubble at the Brandt Centre in Regina to keep his consecutive games point streak alive. Bedard has five goals and five assists over the Pats first six games. The North Vancouver, B.C., product was the first player to be granted exceptional player status to play in the WHL on a full-time basis as a 15-year-old.
• On Monday, Brandon Wheat Kings centre Nolan Ritchie was named the WHL player of the week for the week ending March 21, 2021. Ritchie posted three goals and four assists in three games in the WHL East Division bubble at the Brandt Centre in Regina for the week of the award. The Wheat Kings posted a 2-1 record in those games.
• On Monday, Everett Silvertips goaltender Dustin Wolf was named the WHL’s goaltender of the week for the week ending March 21, 2021. For the week of the award, Wolf won both his starts via shutout turning away all 40 shots he faced.
• On Monday, the CFL announced the list of players who have been invited to take part in the league’s virtual combine. The invitees include three members of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team in defensive backs Nelson Lokombo and Josh Hagerty and centre Connor Berglof. Along with the three Huskies, two members of the University of Regina Rams football team have also been invited to take part in the virtual combine including running back Kyle Borsa and linebacker Robbie Lowes.
• Tickets are on sale for the March jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the remaining draw dates are Wednesday, March 31, April 30 and May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• On Monday, the NHL regular season contest between the Montreal Canadiens and the visiting Edmonton Oilers had been postponed after Montreal forwards Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were added to the NHL’s COVID protocol list. On Tuesday, the NHL announced the Canadiens have had their games through Sunday postponed. The league said it is expected the Canadiens will be able to reopen their facilities for practice this coming Monday pending COVID-19 test results over the next few days.
• In the world of sports entertainment, All Elite Wrestling has emerged as a true competitor to the WWE. AEW was founded on Jan. 1, 2019 and has a great two-hour show that airs on TNT in the United States and TSN in Canada called AEW Dynamite. The episode on March 17, 2021 closed with what was known in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a hardcore match between Dr. Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa. AEW called it an unsanctioned lights out match. It also marked the first time a women’s match was the main event on an AEW broadcast show. The match has gathered rave reviews from those the follow the sports entertainment world since it aired, and it might go down as the match of the year. The full match can be found on Youtube by clicking right here.
• With the emergence of AEW, it appears the WWE is beginning to push its boundaries once again. After the WWE bought out WCW in 2001, it pretty uncontested when to came to sports entertainment wrestling shows. Most independent promotions didn’t have the resources WWE had. As a result, WWE started to move back towards more PG programming that families could watch. That has noticeably changed over the last few months involving the storyline feud with Bray Wyatt, who is also known as The Fiend, and Alexa Bliss going against Randy Orton. In a pay per view held on Dec. 20, 2020, Orton burned The Fiend alive after a match. On the Jan. 25 episode of RAW, Orton interfered in Bliss’s match against Asuka for the WWE RAW Women’s title. Orton took out Bliss with his RKO finishing move costing her the title. The video of that moment on the WWE Youtube account nearly had five-million views in a week and currently has over seven-million views. The WWE usually tries to avoid moments where a male performer takes out a female performer. Bliss, who has supernatural powers in the storyline, tormented Orton for months resulting in an intergender match at the WWE Fastlane pay per view this past Sunday. Bliss won the match by raising The Fiend from the dead, and The Fiend took out Orton. Bliss proceeded to get the win the suggestive “straddle mount pin seen round the world.” The WWE used to do things like this on a regular basis during its Attitude Era that ran from 1997 to 2002, which included a period of intense competition against WCW from 1997 to 2000. Of course, Bliss’s straddle pin was done for the shock value. Orton’s wife, Kim, didn’t take to kindly to “the Moment of Bliss” involving her husband. On Sunday night, Kim put out a post on Twitter tagging Bliss which said, “You might have just F*&%ed up little girl.” The tweet reaction got a lot of play on the more tabloid media sites that cover the sports entertainment wrestling industry.
• Another reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is still here happened to come from the WWE. On Monday, Charlotte Flair, who is viewed as the WWE’s greatest female performer, announced she hadn’t been on any of the company’s shows lately as she is at home battling COVID-19. Last Friday, WWE pulled Flair’s image off graphic advertisements for Wrestlemania 37 coming up on April 10 and 11.

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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