Friday 31 December 2021

Finding path forward was a big challenge in 2021

The Hilltops raise the PFC championship trophy.
As I sit at the keyboard on the final day of 2021, I don’t know what to write.

When it comes to tackling a year-end column, my plan seemed to change as this month went along. If I typed this column up four weeks ago, it likely would have been a lot more upbeat.

Like everything during these times with the world still stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this column will likely be a roller-coaster.

Due to these crazy times, I didn’t think it was appropriate to type out a top 10 cools things post I saw during the year. If I do such a post in future years, I’m not sure what look it will take.

I will note the highlight of the year didn’t come from the sports front. The highlight was attending my niece’s wedding in Jasper, Alta., on September 4.

The weekend was a good one on the family front. I don’t want to get into too much detail there as most of my family aren’t public figures, but on the need to know front, that wedding weekend was an outstanding weekend.

For 2021, the goal was just to find a way forward. I couldn’t describe what that looked like.

Basically, you are trying to follow your gut as you navigate the world.

One thing that was always in the back of my mind was to be aware that setbacks could occur at any time even after progress was made depending on developments on the COVID-19 pandemic front.

The biggest challenge for me and one I am still mindful of is navigating the fact that everyone is out to satisfy their selfish needs. I wrote in my year end post for 2020 that I’ve become a little more jaded in general when it comes to dealing with people.

All set for my niece’s wedding in Jasper.
I wrote people are basically out trying to be their best versions of Professional Football Hall of Fame diva receiver Terrell Owens.

Basically, you see people out there saying, “Teams is spelled M, E, me. Me. I’m the greatest. Me!”

If I was more jaded in general when it can to dealing with people thinking they were selfish in 2020, I’ve pretty much accepted that is the norm in 2021. In general, people just see the world through their own personalized world view and more and more they will not change or adjust that view.

If people are in a position of power, they use and abuse that position of power to help make their own life situation better.

Unfortunately when I apply those jaded observations to how most things unfold in the world, it always makes everything line up in the big picture of why things happen the way they do.

On the sports reporting front, I think one of the big things I’ve had to adjust to was that fans went back to acting like they did before the COVID-19 pandemic really sunk its claws into the world in March of 2020. In North America, the first pauses due to the COVID-19 pandemic took place on March 11, 2020.

Living in Saskatoon, the most obvious example came from watching fans of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders react to the fortunes of their team.

The CFL lost its entire 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was no certainty the circuit was going to return to the field. When the Roughriders hit the field at Mosaic Stadium to open their regular season schedule on August 6, the honeymoon was on.

A sellout crowd of 33,350 spectators watched the Roughriders down the visiting British Columbia Lions 33-29. As the Roughriders started out 3-0, the prevailing feeling among fans was that everyone was thankful to be able to go to a CFL game again.

By early October when the Roughriders found themselves sporting a 5-4 record, the honeymoon was definitely over. 

It seems everyone is their own best version of Terrell Owens.
It was easy to find commentary that the quarterback sucks, the coaches all suck, the general manager sucks and everyone seems to get ripped including the ball boy.

The Roughriders defence seemed to get the least criticism outside of comments of not coming through in the clutch.

Saskatchewan ultimately finished the regular season with a 9-5 record and fell in the West Division final to the eventual Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In recent days, the fan uproar about the International Ice Hockey Federation’s world junior tournament in Edmonton and Red Deer getting cancelled after three days of games due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been all over the place.

The ragehol is real.

Rightly or wrongly, I find I have developed the ability to tune all that noise out pretty quickly.

It did surprise me how fast those normal fan reactions returned.

In the case of the Roughriders season, you wouldn’t have known a season as missed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ultimately for the fans, the fact a team wins or loses a game or an event gets cancelled doesn’t directly affect their lives unless they allow those things to affect their lives. At the end of the day, those developments don’t alter how fans pay the bills or put food on the table.

On July 11, all public health restrictions in Saskatchewan were lifted. Ultimately, mask mandates and proof of vaccination requirements would be install in the province on October 1.

People liked to beat up Cody Fajardo (#7) and the Roughriders.
At the time of July 11, it felt like numerous people rushed to declare the COVID-19 pandemic as being over. Actually, there are a number of people that still believe it is over.

During July when things were progressing more like normal, opportunities started to come up to get back into covering the sports scene.

I actually admit I was hesitant to get back on that track. It was always in the back of my mind that you could start covering various local teams and leagues and things could still change suddenly and fall off track.

I took a lengthy break from writing on this blog this year, because I felt like I got mentally unhealthy always writing about cancellations and dealing with constant rage people had regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

To be honest, I’ve lost a few friendships and associations over differing views with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, where that factor was the only deal breaker. There are times I’ve allowed myself to feel sad over that development.

In getting back in the swing of things on the sports reporting front, I took a measured approach about what I was going to do. I haven’t jumped back into covering all the teams and circuits I once did.

Part of that came due to the fact I’ve become more present in the home and with family during the pandemic.

On the sports front, I decided to get back covering the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and the WHL as a league. On the WHL front, the focus has been on covering the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades.

I decided to keep a smaller focus, so I don’t get dragged down with all the waves every league deals with in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mason Ochs (#73) and the Hilltops had big moments in 2021.
For me, it was extremely good to get back to covering the Hilltops, Raiders, Blades and the WHL. Working games involving those teams felt so good for me mentally.

I always feel like I am in a good place when I am in the building or stadium covering those games.

After missing the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was fun to see the Hilltops win the PFC final for a seventh consecutive season. The Hilltops downed the Thunder in Regina for the PFC title 29-9 on November 14 at Mosaic Stadium.

The Hilltops weren’t able to win a seventh consecutive CJFL title as they fell in a CJFL semifinal contest 17-14 to the host Rams at McLeod Stadium in Langley, B.C., on November 20. The Rams advanced on to with the Canadian Bowl as CJFL champions.

The Hilltops made history as linebacker Emmarae Dale became the first female to play games in a CJFL season. Unfortunately, she aged out after one campaign.

Hilltops all-time great left tackle Mason Ochs, right tackle Jonathan Chisholm and boundary cornerback Jared Giddings all returned for a fifth and final season with the team. They were integral in keeping the Hilltops vibe and culture intact coming off a missed season.

I did start to branch into going to a handful of University of Saskatchewan Huskies football and hockey games as U Sports got going.

It was a thrill to be at Griffiths Stadium on November 20, when the Huskies football team downed the University of Manitoba Bisons 45-17 to capture the Hardy Cup as Canada West Conference champions.

The Huskies advanced to the U Sports title game – the Vanier Cup – for the first time since 2006. They fell 27-21 to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in that championship clash on December 4 at Stade Telus – Universite Laval in Quebec City, Quebec.

It has been great being back on the WHL circuit again.
The Huskies had a number of good guys return after their 2020 campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic including quarterback Mason Nyhus, running back Adam Machart, utility player Colton Klassen, receiver Yol Piok, right tackle Nick Summach, defensive end Riley Pickett and defensive back Charlie Ringland.

It was great to see those players take the Huskies program back to heights that hadn’t been seen in 15 years.

With the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 playing a major factor on the world stage in recent weeks, it feels just uncertain what is going to happen in 2022. Most provinces in Canada have added a number of public health orders in recent weeks.

On the overall COVID-19 front, I decided to check Worldometer to figure out how many people in the world died from it in 2021. In 2020, Worldometer total deaths from COVID-19 to be just over 1.82-million for that year.

At the time this post went life, I calculated from Worldometer’s information that 3.63-million people died of COVID-19 in 2021. Knowing people, they are going to spin those facts in any direction they like.

I post that number to show the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, even though most of the United States seemingly acts that way, while most of the rest of the world has some sort of restrictions to deal with COVID-19.

Like the past 22 months, the challenge seems to be the same. You try to adjust the best you can to the changes that are out of your control that COVID-19 has an effect on.

You ultimately have to follow your gut to find the best path forward.

The Huskies raise the Hardy Cup as Canada West champions.
As love or hate him and always winning NFL head coach Bill Belichick says, “It is on to Cincinnati.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Thursday 30 December 2021

Lisowsky hatty powers Blades to 6-4 victory over Raiders

Brandon Lisowsky celebrates his hat trick goal.
Brandon Lisowsky was on fire, and that was a welcome development for the Saskatoon Blades.

On Thursday night, Lisowsky potted three goals to power his Blades to a 6-4 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders to the delight of most of the 2,729 spectators in attendance at the SaskTel Centre.

The hat trick was the second of the season for Lisowsky, who scored three times in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw on December 14.

On the season, Lisowsky, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 167 pounds, has 19 goals and seven assists in 32 games.

In Thursday’s clash between the Blades and Raiders, the contest had some jerky ebbs and flows that saw the two sides combine for 10 goals on 37 total shots.

Brandon Lisowsky has two hat tricks for the Blades this season.
Both teams started out kind of playing each other cautious over the opening 15 minutes. The Raiders broke thru on the scoreboard with 4:06 remaining in the first period.

With the Blades working on the power play, the hosts were trying to break out of their own end.

Raiders star center Ozzy Wiesblatt intercepted a pass at the Saskatoon blue-line and broke into the Blades zone on a breakaway. He snapped a short-handed marker past Blades star overage netminder Nolan Maier to give the visitors their 1-0 edge.

Ozzy Wiesblatt had the Raiders first goal on Thursday.
The Raiders extended their lead to 2-0 at the 2:18 mark of the second on a goal from defenceman Landon Kosior. Kosior pinched down from the point to the front of the Saskatoon net, received a pass from left-winger Evan Herman and popped home his eighth of the season.

The Blades proceeded to even things up 2-2 heading into the second intermission thanks to Lisowsky scoring his first two goals on the night.

The Port Coquitlam, B.C., product potted his first goal on the power-play banging home a rebound from a shot taken by linemate Jayden Wiens.

Lisowsky bagged his next marker scoring on a shot from close in front of the Blades net after converting a nice setup pass from 17-year-old right-winger Kyren Gronick coming from behind the Prince Albert goal.

The Raiders bench checks out the replay of a disallowed goal.
With under 50 seconds to play in the second, the Raiders thought they went ahead 3-2, when 18-year-old left-winger Sloan Stanick snapped a shot past Blades star overage netminder Nolan Maier.

The Blades coaches challenged that the play was offside, and the officials ruled the play was indeed offside after video review causing the goal to be disallowed.

The replay in the building showed Raiders centre Hayden Pakkala was unable to keep the puck onside while holding it at the Saskatoon blue-line.

Just 34 seconds into the third, the Blades jumped ahead 3-2 on a tally from captain Aiden De La Gorgendiere. De La Gorgendiere received a pass on the Prince Albert zone, skated into the left slot and wired a shot past Raiders netminder Tikhon Chaika.

Sloan Stanick (#23) jets up ice for the Raiders.
Lisowsky proceeded to net his hat trick goal to extend the Blades lead to 4-2 at the 5:59 mark of the third. Working hard on the forecheck in the Prince Albert zone, Lisowsky took the puck from a Raiders player in front of the Prince Albert net and blasted home his 19th of the season.

Just 46 seconds after that tally, the Blades struck on the power play, when Wiens tipped home a point shot from De La Gorgendiere to the top corner of the Prince Albert goal.

Following that tally, the Raiders pulled Tikhon, who stopped 15 of 20 shots sent his way. He took the setback in goal for the Raiders (12-17-1-1).

Cole Tisdale played the rest of the way in relief stopping one of two shots sent his way.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere had a key goal for the Blades.
Blades star centre Tristen Robins beat Tisdale on a sick deke move to put the hosts up 6-2.

The Raiders attempted to make a comeback as import left-winger Vladislav Shilo scored with 3:06 remaining in the third and 17-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker potted his second marker of the season with 1:23 remaining in the third to cut Saskatoon’s lead to 6-4.

Maier stopped 11 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (17-13-1-1).

The two archrivals have met six times this season with each side claiming three wins. At the moment, these squads aren’t slated to meet again until well into the new year on March 11, 2021.

Since returning from the WHL Christmas break, both the Blades and the Raiders have each played three games in four nights, and overall both teams haven’t looked sharp in the defensive end and in goal resulting in those clubs being involved in high-scoring games.

The Blades celebrate their victory on Thursday.
Both squads would likely welcome at least four consecutive days of practice to be able iron things out on the defensive end and in net. For the moment, the two sides have a fairly quick turnaround before taking the ice again.

The Blades return to action on Saturday when they host their traditional New Year’s Day game against the 23-8-2-1 Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders get back at it on Sunday when they host the Oil Kings (6 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Following those games with the Oil Kings, the Blades and Raiders will get an adequate practice stretch that will allow them to sharpen up on the defensive end and in goal.

Raiders ink Ritchie to WHL player agreement, other notes

The Prince Albert Raiders have both of their first round picks in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft locked up.

On Thursday, the Raiders signed forward Ryder Ritchie to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The Raiders selected Ritchie in the first round and 14th overall in the WHL Prospects Draft held on December 9.

Ritchie, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 145 pounds, has a pair of goals and five assists in six games with Kelowna’s Rink Hockey Academy Under-18 prep team. He is the son of former NHLer Byron Ritchie.

The Raiders now have their top four picks from the WHL Prospects Draft held on December 9 signed to WHL Standard Player Agreements including their other first round selection in forward Cole Peardon, who was picked 13th overall. They also previously signed forward Grady Martin (second round, 32nd overall) and defenceman Seth Tansem (second round, 43rd overall).

  • On Thursday, the WHL announced that all team activities were paused for the Swift Current Broncos after the number of players on their CHL COVID-19 Protocol List grew to four. The Broncos home game on Thursday against the Winnipeg Ice and their scheduled home contest on Friday against the Regina Pats have been postponed.
  • Bailey Peach had a monster game for the Victoria Royals on Thursday night. The 20-year-old left-winger was in on every Royals goal posting a hat trick and four assists as the Royals downed the visiting Vancouver Giants 7-3. The Royals, who have won three straight, improved to 12-13-4, while the Giants fell to 14-16-1.
  • Garin Bjorkland, a 19-year-old netminder, made 41 saves on Thursday helping the Medicine Hat Tigers down the visiting Calgary Hitmen 3-2. The Tigers received a pair of goals from 17-year-old left-winger Tyler MacKenzie in improving to 6-19-3-1, while the Hitmen fell to 12-12-3-2.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Tuesday 28 December 2021

Rebels outlast Blades in crazy high-scoring contest

Red Deer takes tiebreaking shootout 2-1 and game 7-6

The Rebels celebrate Talon Brigley’s shootout winner.
It was one of those nights that kept the fans on the edge of their seats and could potentially give coaches heart attacks.

On Tuesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the goals came in bunches like in the 1980s as the Red Deer Rebels downed the host Saskatoon Blades 7-6 after a tiebreaking shootout in a WHL regular season contest played in front of 2,741 spectators.

The Rebels took the tiebreaking shootout 2-1 with 16-year-old right-winger Talon Brigley scoring in the fourth round. Rebels 20-year-old centre Liam Keeler had Red Deer’s first tally in the tiebreaking session, while Blades star centre Tristen Robins had Saskatoon’s marker in the shootout.

There was lots of frantic action around the nets in Tuesday’s game.
Tuesday’s offensive fireworks came likely from the fact both teams started associate player call ups in net.

The Rebels, who were playing their first game since returning from their WHL Christmas break, did not have their star puck-stopping tandem available for Tuesday’s contest in 19-year-old Connor Ungar and 18-year-old Chase Coward.

Ungar was listed as being out with an undisclosed injury, while Coward is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

As a result, 17-year-old Justen Maric, who plays for the Edmonton Gregg Distributors Canadian Athletic Club under-18 AAA team, started his first career WHL game playing goal for Red Deer. 

Ben King had two goals and an assists for the Rebels.
Maric turned away three-of-six shots and was pulled after the first period.

Chase Wutzke took over in the Red Deer goal in making his WHL debut. The 15-year-old Debden, Sask., product, who plays for the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 AAA team, was greeted by cheers from family and friends in attendance.

Wutzke turned away 12-of-15 shots to playing the second, third and overtime periods for the Rebels and three of four shooters in the shootout. He picked up his first career WHL win helping the Rebels improve to 21-9-1.

Overall, Wutzke is a recent addition to the Rebels, who selected him in the second round and 40th overall in the WHL Prospects Draft held on December 9.

Tristen Robins had a goal and five assists for the Blades.
With the Rebels being forced to dress two associate player call ups to play goal, the Blades elected to give 17-year-old associate player call up Austin Elliott his second career WHL start. Elliott is filling in for Blades backup goalie Ethan Chadwick, who is out day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Elliott, who plays junior A for the Notre Dame Hounds of the SJHL, turned away 24-of-29 shots playing the first and second periods for the Blades.

He was pulled for 20-year-old star veteran Nolan Maier at the start of the third frame. Maier turned away 12-of-13 shots playing the third period and overtime and two of four shooters in the shootout.

Kyle Crnkovic had three goals and two assists for the Blades.
Maier took the overtime setback in goal for the Blades, whose record moved to 16-13-1-1. The Yorkton, Sask., started for the Blades on Monday in a 4-1 victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert, and the Saskatoon side was originally trying to give Maier the night off on Tuesday.

Ultimately, the challenges both sides faced in goal created a situation that allowed both clubs to burn out the bulbs on the scoreboard.

The Blades opened the scoring at the 7:07 mark of the first period, while working on the power play. Stationed in the left slot, Robins one-timed a setup pass from rearguard Charlie Wright to give the host side a one-goal edge.

Liam Keeler had a goal for the Rebels on Tuesday.
Just 17 seconds later, the Rebels evened the score at 1-1, when 19-year-old star centre Ben King converted a tick-tack-toe passing play from Arshdeep Bains and Jhett Larson. King knocked home the puck from in close at the left side of the Saskatoon net.

Just 1:18 after that tally, the Blades went ahead 2-1, when star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic wristed home a shot from the point.

With 3:02 remaining in the first, the Blades struck again on the power play, when 17-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky tipped home a point shot from captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere.

The second period was a wild one that attempted to knockout the scoreboard. 

Jace Isley scored the Rebels fifth goal on Tuesday.
Brigley scored to cut the Blades edge to 3-2, but the Blades replied with two straight goals to push their advantage to 5-2 as Crnkovic scored his second of the contest and Jayden Wiens potted a single on a power play.

The Rebels proceeded to score three straight to even things up at 5-5. Bains, Keeler and Jace Isley all netted singles for Red Deer in that offensive run that evened the score.

With 6.8 seconds remaining in the second, the Blades jumped back in front 6-5, when Crnkovic potted his third of the night on a backhand shot from the left side of the Red Deer net. The Chestermere, Alta., product had two assists to go with his hat trick.

Blake Stevenson looks for a scoring chance for the Rebels.
Robins made a nice pass across the face the Red Deer goal to set up Crnkovic for his third tally of the night. That set up was the fifth assist of the contest for Robins.

De La Gorgendiere finished the night collecting three assists for the Blades.

At the 10:42 mark of the third, the Rebels evened things up at 6-6 scoring on the power play.

Rebels right-winger Blake Stevenson took a shot from the right boards that deflected off the boards behind the Saskatoon net right to King at the left side of the goal. King popped home the equalizer into an empty cage for his second tally of the night.

King had an assist to go with his two goals on Tuesday.

In overtime, Wutzke came up with three clutch saves to prevent the Blades from pulling out the win including turning away Blades defenceman Rhett Rhinehart close in off a backhand shot.

The Rebels celebrate their win on Tuesday.
Defenceman Kyle Masters had the Rebels best chance to score in overtime when he wired a shot off the post of the Saskatoon goal.

That set the stage for the dramatics of the tiebreaking shootout, where Red Deer pulled out the win.

With the crazy victory under their belts, the Rebels return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the 12-15-1-1 Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades will try and get back in the win column on Thursday when they host the Raiders (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

As for Tuesday’s clash between the Blades and Rebels, the fans definitely got full value for their ticket purchases on that night.

Blades, Tigers, Cougars combine on massive three-way trade

Kyren Gronick made his debut for the Blades on Tuesday.
The Saskatoon Blades, Medicine Hat Tigers and Prince George Cougars combined on a massive three-team trade on Tuesday involving six players and five WHL Prospects Draft selections.

In the deal, the Blades received 17-year-old right-winger Kyren Gronick from the Cougars, 17-year-old defenceman Ryan Nolan from the Tigers and a fourth round selection in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft from the Tigers.

Gronick, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 180 pounds, played 21 games for the Cougars this season posting three goals and six assists. The Regina, Sask., product made his debut for the Blades on Tuesday as they fell 7-6 after a tiebreaking shootout to the Red Deer Rebels at the SaskTel Centre.

Gronick was held without a point in his first game with the Blades.

Nolan, who stands 6-feet and weighs 156 pounds, appeared in eight games this season with the Tigers and didn’t register any points.

The Tigers received 19-year-old right-winger Brendan Lee from the Blades, 17-year-old defenceman Pavel Bocharov from the Blades and fifth round selection in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft from the Cougars in the deal.

Lee, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 187 pounds, skated in 30 games for the Blades this season posting five goals and six assists.

Bocharov, who stands 6-feet and weighs 178 pounds, appeared in 30 games for the Blades this season collecting one goal and six assists.

The Cougars received 17-year-old left-winger Cayden Glover from the Tigers, centre Carlin Dezainde, who turns 17-years-old on Wednesday, from the Tigers, a conditional second round selection in the 2023 WHL Prospect Draft from the Tigers, a third round pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft from the Blades and a seventh round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft from the Blades.

Glover, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 186 pounds, has appeared in 15 games for the Tigers this season collecting three goals and two assists.

Dezainde, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 161 pounds, has appeared in 21 games for the Tigers collecting two assists.

The WHL trade deadline for the current campaign is January 17, 2022.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Monday 27 December 2021

Blades role players run wild over Raiders

Rowan Calvert (#23) celebrates scoring his first career WHL goal.
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Saskatoon Blades supporting cast ran wild over the Prince Albert Raiders.

In the first game after the WHL Christmas break for both sides on Monday night, two players from the Blades scored their first goals of the season and two players tallied their second markers of the campaign to power the visitors to a 4-1 victory over the Raiders. The result disappointed most of the 2,340 in attendance at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre.

“It was the first game back, and it looked that way,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “Both teams I thought were OK only they were a little bit better than us.

“I thought the coaching was rusty. I thought our players were rusty and a lot of rust. Their depth outplayed ours I guess, but that happens sometimes.

Rowan Calvert was playing for the Blades as an AP call up.
“The first game back is a tough game, but they found a way to get her done, and we didn’t.”

The Raiders came out of the gate carrying the early momentum, but were held off the scoreboard by Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

Early in the frame, Maier swallowed up a mid-range drive from Raiders rearguard Landon Kosior.

Maier proceeded to turn away Raiders left-winger Keaton Sorensen on an in close chance and then on a backhand shot Sorensen directed on goal after a coast-to-coast rush while working on the power play.

After killing two straight penalties that included a stretch of being down two men for 46 seconds, the Blades jumped ahead 1-0 when 16-year-old sophomore defenceman Tanner Molendyk snapped a shot past Raiders import rookie netminder Tikhon Chaika with 4:27 remaining in the frame. The tally was Molendyk’s second goal of the season.

Landon Kosior had a power-play goal for the Raiders.
Habscheid thought that sequence of events had a sizable impact on how the game played out.

“That was the TSN turning point for sure,” said Habscheid. “If we score there (on the power plays), we get a little bit of extra life.

“If they kill it, they get some life. They get that break and away they go with a nice shot. The first goal especially was important because it gave one team life and the other team was kind of limping around a bit.”

At the 8:22 mark of the second, the Blades went ahead 2-0 when 16-year-old right-winger Rowan Calvert scored his first career WHL regular season goal.

Standing in close at the right side of the Prince Albert net, Calvert, who is an associate player call up, received a pass from behind the net from linemate Jayden Wiens. Calvert, who is playing for his hometown Moose Jaw Warriors under-18 AAA team, quickly popped the puck into the goal to give his Blades a two-goal edge.

Tanner Molendyk scored the Blades first goal on Monday.
With about 3:30 remaining in the second, Raiders right-winger Carson Latimer nailed Wiens with a big hip check.

A few seconds later, Blades 19-year-old right-winger Josh Paulhus engaged Raiders 18-year-old rookie left-winger Vladislav Shilo in a spirited fight. Paulhus received a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, a fighting major and a 10-minute misconduct, while Shilo received a fighting major.

On the ensuing power-play, left-winger Sloan Stanick hit Kosior with a backdoor pass, and Kosior drove home his seventh goal of the season from the left slot to cut the Blades lead to 2-1.

Kosior believed the fight and the resulting goal turned the momentum back to the Raiders.

Raider LW Vladislav Shilo, left, fights Blades RW Josh Paulhus.
“I thought that was huge,” said Kosior. “For him (Shilo) to step up like that and fight like that, he did great.

“I thought that really gave us a big boost in momentum. To get a power play out of it and a goal was huge.”

Just when it seemed the Raiders had momentum on their side, Blades centre Spencer Shugrue snapped home a dagger at the 6:47 mark of the third period to give the visitors a 3-1 lead. Shugrue intercepted a pass in the Prince Albert zone from a Raiders defenceman and put home his second of the season for a two-goal edge.

Shugrue, who is normally a defenceman, was playing centre as the Blades were short-handed up front as they were missing import forwards Egor Sidorov and Moritz Elias.

Spencer Shugrue had a key insurance goal for the Blades.
Saskatoon also had three team members added to the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List before Monday’s game.

Kosior thought his team needed to show a little more resiliency after Shugrue scored to put the Blades up 3-1 in the third.

“I think it deflated us a bit, but we can’t let that happen to us,” said Kosior. “We just have to keep moving forward.

“We can’t let a goal affect us like that.”

With 4:47 remaining in the third, the Raiders went on the power play, and they pulled Tikhon for an extra attacker too for a six-versus-four skaters advantage.

Carson Latimer works with the puck in the offensive zone.
The Blades proceeded to ice the game with 4:21 remaining in the third, when 18-year-old rearguard Charlie Wright had the puck in his own zone and banked a long clear off the boards that found its way into the Raiders net to round out the 4-1 win. The tally was Wright’s first goal of the campaign.

Chaika turned away 15-of-18 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders (12-15-1-1). 

Maier stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (16-13-1).

The Raiders were playing without star 19-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt, who is out day-to-day with an upper body injury.

The Blades celebrate their win on Monday.
The Blades return to action on Tuesday when they host the 20-9-1-1 Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders play host the Rebels on night later on Wednesday night (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Habscheid is looking forward to using the practice on the Raiders off day on Tuesday to further shake out the rust from the Christmas break.

“You just get guys moving the puck and getting playing again,” said Habscheid. “That is the way it is.

“This is always a tough game. It is a tough game for both. We had the home game, and they didn’t.

“They just seemed to want it a little bit more.”

WHL releases COVID-19 Protocol List

WHL team members aim to stay off the WHL COVID-19 Protocol list.
About 65 minutes before the first of Monday’s five scheduled WHL games hit the ice, the WHL office announced a WHL COVID-19 Protocol list.

The list is similar to one used in the NHL.

The WHL list displays the number of players and hockey operations staff that have tested positive for COVID-19 for each team. Unlike the NHL list, no names are given on the WHL list.

For Monday’s contest that saw the Saskatoon Blades down the Raiders in Prince Albert 4-1, the Blades had three team member test positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Raiders didn’t have any team members on the COVID-19 list.

The testing for Monday’s list was done as all players and personnel returned to their clubs from the WHL Christmas break.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Friday 24 December 2021

WHL reaching Christmas break a big accomplishment

More pandemic hurdles unavoidable coming out of holidays

The Ice celebrate scoring a goal in a win on December 15.
During these crazy times in the world, simple milestones in the sports world are big accomplishments.

For the WHL, it was a big accomplishment for the league to play thru to its Christmas break with the world still in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Due to the pandemic last season, the WHL played an abbreviated campaign that saw nine of its 22 clubs play a full shortened 24-game schedule. Only two teams played less than 20 games, but looking back, it was quite an accomplishment for the circuit to get an abbreviated season in.

In 2019-20, the regular season was going like clockwork like any other campaign until the COVID-19 pandemic got its claps on North America in March of 2020. That season was the last time the WHL got to hold a Christmas break until the current campaign.

On March 12, 2020, the 2019-20 season was stopped and the remainder of the regular season and the entire post-season was ultimately cancelled.

The 2018-19 campaign is the last time the WHL and Canada’s other two major junior circuits that play under the CHL umbrella in the OHL and QMJHL played a complete season that concluded with a club winning the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

It should be noted too that schedule disruptions have been held to a minimum in the WHL. The Spokane Chiefs had to adjust three games on their schedule after they had two players test positive for COVID-19.

Some teams in the Western Conference had to make some minor scheduled adjustments due to bad weather, which included heavy rains in B.C. in November that caused slides, flooding and washouts.

Across the WHL, it is standard to have a few games each season reschedule due to bad weather as teams are traveling across four provinces and two states in the United States.

Connor McClennon (#94) in action for the Ice this season.
In order to help get this season played to a completion, the WHL decided that for the current campaign that there would not be any cross conference play. As a result, teams in the Eastern Conference are just playing teams in the Eastern Conference, while teams in the Western Conference are just playing Western Conference foes.

Overall, it has been great that followers of the league have been able to focus mainly on the action on the ice.

So far, the Winnipeg Ice have been the team that has turned the most heads leading the WHL’s overall standings with a 25-5-1 mark. They are rated first in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings.

The Ice have the top three scorers in the WHL. Centre Matthew Savoie is the WHL scoring leader with 50 points coming on 17 goals and 33 assist to go with a plus-23 rating in the plus-minus department.

Right-winger Connor McClennon is second league scoring with 45 points coming on 23 goals and 22 assists to go with a plus-26 rating. Winger Mikey Milne is third in the WHL scoring with 42 points coming on 20 goals and 22 assists to go with a plus-29 rating.

The Edmonton Oil Kings are right on the heels of the Ice posting the WHL’s second best record at 22-6-2-1 and are rated second in the CHL Top 10 rankings. Edmonton was likely robbed the most of post-season glory due to the fact there were no playoffs in 2020 and 2021.

The Oil Kings were the top team in the Eastern Conference in each of the past two seasons, and they topped the WHL overall standings in last season’s abbreviated campaign.

They made a blockbuster trade on December 1 with the Prince Albert Raiders to acquire star defenceman Kaiden Guhle, who might be the best junior aged rearguard in the world. Guhle is currently the captain of Canada’s world junior team.

At the moment, it seems like the race to be the top squad in the Eastern Conference is a two-horse one between the Ice and Oil Kings.

Kaiden Guhle was traded from the Raiders to the Oil Kings on Dec. 1.
The surprising Red Deer Rebels have been a feel good story sitting third in the Eastern Conference with a 20-9-1-1 record after finishing last in the conference last season.

Of course, the top squads in the Western Conference can’t be discounted. The Everett Silvertips lead the Western Conference with a 21-6-2-1 record and are rated fifth in the CHL Top 10 rankings.

The Kamloops Blazers top the B.C. Division with an 19-8 record. They finished first in the B.C. Division each of the past two seasons and were robbed of potential lengthy post-season runs due to the fact playoffs were nixed.

The Seattle Thunderbirds earned honourable mention status in the CHL Top 10 rankings as they’ve surged to a solid 18-7-3 mark.

Due to the fact there is no cross-conference play in the WHL, you aren’t totally sure how the teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences stack up to each other head to head.

While the WHL campaign on the ice is creating a lot to be excited about, the COVID-19 pandemic is the elephant in the room. The emergence of the Omicron variant has seen new restrictions and public health orders get implemented across Canada the past couple of weeks.

Ontario, Quebec and B.C. have been hit especially hard with rising levels of new COVID-19 cases.

Saskatchewan is the only province that hasn’t installed new public health orders. Teams in the B.C. Division dealt with capacity restrictions at times leading up to the Christmas break.

At the moment, teams in B.C., Alberta and Manitoba have to deal with 50 per cent capacity restrictions coming out of the break. In those three provinces, only the Prince George Cougars were dealing with capacity restrictions going into the break.

 It is likely this might be the start of new hurdles the WHL will face going forward along with all other sports bodies in Canada.

The Oil Kings celebrate a goal from Dylan Guenther (#11).
In the United States, it seems like most of the country there acts like the COVID-19 pandemic is over. The focus there seems to be to push through a live like there is no COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the rest of the world is navigating various restrictions and public health orders.

At the moment, the WHL regular season is set to restart on Monday with five games. It is possible there could be positive COVID-19 tests coming out of the break, which could throw a wrench into things.

You can expect the WHL will do its best to try and adjust. If the regular season can be completely completed, that would be another huge accomplishment in these crazy times.

World juniors could make Bedard catch fire

Connor Bedard (#98) in action for the Pats this season.
The upcoming world juniors might be just the thing that allows Regina Pats phenom centre Connor Bedard to catch fire.

The North Vancouver, B.C., product is one of the few 16-year-olds to ever make Canada’s roster for a world juniors. This season’s world juniors will be held jointly in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., and start Sunday and run thru to Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

Canada opens play in the preliminary round on Sunday at Rogers Place in Edmonton against Czechia (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN). Czechia is the name the Czech Republic now goes by.

Bedard played full time in the WHL’s abbreviated campaign last season as a 15-year-old underage player. In 15 games with the Pats, he piled up 12 goals, 16 assists and a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department.

At the under-18 worlds that ran from April 26 to May 6 in Frisco and Plano, Texas, Bedard helped Canada win gold and piled up seven goals, seven assists and a plus-12 rating in seven games.

This season as a 16-year-old sophomore in the WHL, Bedard has faced a lot tougher checking. The Pats lack depth in their lineup, which allows opponents to focus on Bedard.

Even with the extra attention, Bedard has 14 goals and 10 assists in 24 appearances with the Pats before departing to the main selection camp for Canada’s world junior team. It is still an impressive accomplishment when any 16-year-old in the WHL can average a point per game.

Bedard’s crazy point totals last season might have set expectations a little too high for this season.

With that noted, Bedard deserves to be on Canada’s world junior team. At the moment, he is not expected to take on a lead role, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him cash in on the chances he gets.

If Bedard averages a point per game in this high caliber competition, it would give him a boost when he returns to the Pats. That might be enough of a spark that could see Bedard create the outrageously high point totals he produced last season.

Raiders new mascot PIMS a star on the rise, other notes

PIMS the Parrot is the Raiders new mascot.
The Prince Albert Raiders might have a hit on their hand with their new mascot in PIMS the Parrot.

The Raiders unveiled PIMS during their final home game before the WHL Christmas break, when they fell 3-2 to the visiting Saskatoon Blades on December 17 at the Art Hauser Centre.

The name PIMS gives a nod to the fact the Raiders have traditionally handled themselves well in the rough aspects of the game of hockey. Since first taking the ice in 1971, the Raiders toughness has shown through in players like Les Jack, Lorne Schmidt, Tim Mostowich, Ken Thompson, Dave Manson, Ken Baumgartner, Darin Kimble, Reid Simpson, Troy Hjertaas, Steve Kelly, Scott Hartnell, Grant McNeill, Harrison Ruopp, Jeremy Masella and Justin Nachbaur.

The new mascot takes over for the old Riley the Raider pirate type mascot.

PIMS has an adorable cartoon kind of look, which kids should love. A parrot is also seen as a pirate’s best friend, so it is crazy to think no one thought to make a parrot the Raiders mascot until now.

Way back in the day, the Raiders once had a bear mascot named Bert the Bear.

PIMS was meant to debut last season, when the Raiders skated thru their 50th campaign. Of course, the Raiders played their abbreviated 24-game schedule last season in a bubble environment in Regina without fans in attendance.

The Raiders brought PIMS out this season now that they are playing back at the Hauser in front of fans.

PIMS should serve the Raiders well in the years to come.

  • On Monday, Edmonton Oil Kings star defenceman Kaiden Guhle was named the captain for Canada’s world junior team. Guhle helped the Raiders in a WHL title in 2019 and was traded to the Oil Kings on December 1. Oil Kings left-winger Jake Neighbours was named an assistant captain along with forward Cole Perfetti, who is playing for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
  • On Wednesday, 19-year-old Kamloops Blazers goaltender Dylan Garand signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the New York Rangers. In 19 games this season with the Blazers, Garand has posted a 15-4 record, 1.85 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and two shutouts. He is currently playing for Canada’s entry at world juniors.
  • Netminder Connor Ungar is having a breakout campaign with the Red Deer Rebels. The 19-year-old Calgary, Alta., product has appeared in 15 games posting an 11-2-1 record, a 2.06 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and one shutout. Ungar stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 197 pounds. He was also the WHL’s goaltender of the week going into the Christmas break. Ungar has not been drafted by an NHL team, so you have to think he has turned at least a couple of heads somewhere.
  • A pair of Saskatoon area products are having strong 16-year-old sophomore seasons in the WHL. Centre Brayden Yager has appeared in 27 games for the Moose Jaw Warriors posting 14 goals, 13 assists and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department. Centre Riley Heidt has appeared in 25 games for the Prince George Cougars and posted seven goals, 12 assists and a minus-one rating. The grads of the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 AAA team are definitely players to watch over the next few years in the WHL.
  • Just for the Christmas season, feel free to check out my post on “The Raccoons On Ice,” which I wrote on December 24 of last year. It used to air on a regular basis on CBC in the 1980s during the Christmas season, but these days, it is a lost Canadian Christmas time classic. The post on “The Raccoons On Ice” can be found by clicking right here.
  • I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and hope the holiday season treats you all well.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Regular milestones like first goals always special in WHL

Tayem Gislason scored his first WHL goal last Saturday.
Sometimes the best memories in a WHL season come from regularly occurring milestone moments.

One of those moments comes from scoring your first career goal in either regular season or post-season play. Pretty much everyone who plays in the WHL remembers their first goal in a meaningful game.

In the Prince Albert Raiders final contest before they headed off for their WHL Christmas break last Saturday, Tayem Gislason experienced that special milestone.

With the Raiders locked in a 1-1 draw with the host Saskatoon Blades at the SaskTel Centre, Gislason, who is playing in his second WHL campaign, put a point shot on goal through a screen that ended up inside the Saskatoon net.

That tally gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead with 7:46 remaining in the third period and stood up as the winner after Prince Albert added two empty-net goals to round out a 4-1 victory. Gislason’s tally was his first career WHL goal, and it came in a timely spot.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click the link right here.

Saturday 18 December 2021

Raiders’ Gislason gets early Christmas souvenir

Defenceman’s first career WHL goal comes up a winner

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Tayem Gislason (#5).
Tayem Gislason picked up a special milestone as an early Christmas gift.

On Saturday night, the 18-year-old defensive-defenceman scored his first career WHL goal. As an extra bonus, Gislason’s tally ended up being the winner as his Prince Albert Raiders downed the host Saskatoon Blades 4-1 in a WHL regular season clash played before 4,004 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

With the two sides locked in a 1-1 tie and 7:46 remaining in the third period, Gislason fired home a point shot through a screen to put his side in front 2-1.

“It felt really good,” said Gislason, who is skating through his second season with the Raiders. “We were working them for a long time in the O-zone in the second and third there.

Tayem Gislason scored his first career WHL goal on Saturday.
“I just got lucky that it was me who scored. I had a lane, and I saw we had a guy in front. I just threw it on net and hoped for the best.

“I thought it got tipped by someone else, but it ended up being mine.”

Following that tally, Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt and left-winger Evan Herman sealed victory for the visitors scoring empty-net goals inside the final 95 seconds of the third.

Saturday’s clash was the last contest for both sides before going into their respective WHL Christmas breaks.

Going into that break, Gislason was pumped to get his first WHL tally, and now he has a goal puck and a story to tell to family and friends when he returns home to Winnipeg, Man.

Tayem Gislason is known as a defensive-defenceman.
He was also happy to finally tally a goal after going goalless last season appearing in 23 contests of the Raiders abbreviated 24-game campaign.

“It just feels good like a weight off the shoulders,” said Gislason, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 181 pounds. “It was exciting.”

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was pleased to see Gislason get rewarded with his first career WHL goal. Habscheid said his sophomore defender made the smart and non-difficult play in throwing a puck on net when a screen was set up allowing the Raiders rearguard to pick up a goal where the puck had enough juice to cross the goal-line.

“He (Gislason) is a good kid,” said Habscheid, whose team has won six of their last nine games. “He is a defender, and then he gets the game winner like that, so guys are happy for him.

Tikhon Chaika stopped 26 shots for the Raiders.
“He just shot it, and it kind of banked around a little bit. I don’t think it touched the back of the net, but it really doesn’t matter.”

As for the rest of Saturday’s game, the teams played through a fairly tight checking first 40 minutes where the shots on goal were tied 16-16.

On the physical front, Blades defenceman Rhett Rhinehart put on a big hit driving Raiders rearguard Nolan Allan into the boards late in the first period.

In the second period, Raiders defenceman Terrell Goldsmith flattened Blades captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere with an open ice hit.

While the game was scoreless after 40 minutes, Gislason said his Raiders felt like they were on the cusp of breaking thru with a goal.

Misha Volotovskii, right, netted the Blades teddy bear goal.
“We were in their zone pretty much the whole second period,” said Gislason, whose squad had a 10-6 edge in shots on goal in the second frame. “We just said we’ll get one eventually.

“We just have to keep doing what we are doing.”

The Raiders did indeed break thru on the scoreboard at the 3:57 mark of the third period while working on the power play. During a net scramble, Raiders veteran defenceman Landon Kosior pinched down from the point, collected a loose puck and wired it to the top corner of the Saskatoon goal to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Just under three minutes later, the Blades evened the score at 1-1. Blades centre Misha Volotovskii had the puck at the right side of the Prince Albert net, and he snapped a shot past Raiders netminder Tikhon Chaika

The clean up after the Blades teddy bear toss goal was scored.
As Saturday’s contest was the Blades Teddy Bear Toss game, Volotovskii’s goal caused teddy bears and other stuffed animals to rain down to the ice from the stands. The tally was the second goal of the season for the 16-year-old rookie.

The teddy bears and stuffed animals were collected to give out to Saskatoon and area charities.

That set the stage for Gislason to score his winner.

With the Raiders holding a 2-1 edge, the Blades thought they might have evened the score during a frantic net scramble around the Prince Albert net that resulted in a stopped with 1:47 remaining in the third when Chaika covered the puck.

Misha Volotovskii has two goals as a 16-year-old rookie.
The officials went to a video review to see if the Blades had scored and ruled no goal due to the fact the puck did not cross the goal-line.

The Raiders promptly followed up scoring their two empty-net goals to seal the win.

Nolan Maier turned away 22 of 24 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades (15-13-1). Chaika stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (12-14-1-1).

Saturday’s game concluded a home-and-home series between the two sides, where the Blades pulled out a 3-2 win over the Raiders in Prince Albert on Friday thanks to a screen point shot goal from De La Gorgendiere.

The Blades thought they scored during this mad scramble.
Habscheid was glad his club was able to split the series after falling on Friday thanks to Saturday’s win.

“It is a win,” said Habscheid, whose team has won three out of the four head-to-head encounters with the Blades this season. “The last game before the Christmas break and guys are thinking about going home, and it is tough to get their focus.

“I thought they did a good job. It was a close game, and I though both goaltenders were pretty good. It could have went either way.

“They got the bounce last night, and we got it tonight.”

The Raiders celebrate their victory on Saturday.
Both teams return to action when they face each other once again on Monday, December 27 at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Gislason was happy his team heads into the Christmas break on a high note and notes netting his first WHL goal was a nice bonus too.

“It is going to be really good,” said Gislason. “We have good energy going into the break.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.