“Acknowledge Him!” – Blades’ Maier becomes WHL’s all-time goaltending wins king

Goalie Nolan Maier begins celebrating his WHL career wins record.

Nolan Maier stands alone on the mountain top as the WHL’s goaltending wins king.

On Friday night, Maier made 20 saves to backstop the Saskatoon Blades to a 2-0 victory over their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders before 4,802 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. The victory allows the Yorkton, Sask., product to sit alone in top spot on the WHL’s career regular season wins list with 121 triumphs.

The overage star netminder passed Corey Hirsch and Tyson Sexsmith for first on the all-time wins list. Hirsch and Sexsmith now sit tied for second on the WHL’s career regular season wins list with 120 victories.

Hirsch picked up his 120 victories playing four seasons with the Kamloops Blazers from 1988 to 1992. Sexsmith collected his 120 wins over five seasons with the Vancouver Giants from 2005 to 2009. He also had one non-decision relief appearance for the Medicine Hat Tigers late in the 2004-05 campaign.

The Blades mob netminder Nolan Maier after Friday’s win.

In Friday’s clash between the Blades and Raiders, Maier was in awe of the moment when the game clock hit zero and everyone in the building was on their feat saluting his accomplishment.

“It was surreal,” said Maier, who stands 6-feet and weighs 172 pounds. “It is a moment I will never forget.

“I’m just so happy that I was able to do it at home and just against our rivals. It almost brings a certain sentimental value to it too. It is pretty amazing.”

When the game clock hit zero, the Blades players poured off their bench and mobbed Maier in a scene that looked like the celebration of a championship win.

Nolan Maier (#73) gets a hug from Trevor Wong (#38).

“It was a little excessive,” said Maier with a laugh. “It looked like we won the Stanley Cup.

“They (his teammates) were pretty excited, and I think that is awesome just to have a big group of brothers in there and just how they’ve supported me all year. It has been awesome. I couldn’t ask for anything better from them.”

Maier joined the Blades on a full-time basis as a 16-year-old rookie in November of 2017. He has appeared in 215 career regular season games with the Blades posting a 121-72-18 record, a 2.90 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and 12 shutouts.

Members of the Blades faithful cheer Maier’s record accomplishment.

Along with those statistics, Maier has played 12,549 career minutes in goal for the Blades and made 5,753 career saves.

Maier’s career shutout, games played, minutes played and saves totals are all Blades franchise records.

For the veteran puck stopper, he was happy to capture the WHL’s career regular season wins record playing his whole major junior career with the Blades, who played a tribute for him at game’s end.

Blades players watch a tribute video for Nolan Maier.

“I think that is what makes it so much special for me to be able to do it with the same team and under the same management and a few different coaches,” said Maier, who was selected in the second round and 25^th overall way back in the then 2016 WHL Bantam Draft by the Blades. “For most of it, it was kind of all the same.

“It means everything, and everyone here is just a huge part of my family, especially (Blades owner) Mike (Priestner) and (Blades general manager) Colin (Priestner) and (Blades associate general manager) Hilty (Steve Hildebrand) and now (Blades head coach) Sonnes (Brennan Sonne) and (Blades associate coach) Marshy (Ryan Marsh) and everyone and especially (Blades goalie coach) Harv (Jeff Harvey). I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him.

Nolan Maier cuts a piece of the net from his record win.

“It is just unbelievable the support I’ve had here.”

Sonne was proud to see Maier take sole possession of the WHL’s career regular season wins record. The bench boss said when you reflect on all the netminders who have come through the WHL during the history of the league it makes Maier’s accomplishment look that much more impressive.

“I mean think of the goalies, right,” said Sonne. “It is phenomenal.

“I’m not going to say anything that would even do it justice. It is incredible. It is awesome.

“We are so happy for him.”

Maier made his first big save of the night when the Blades were working on a power play about seven-and-a-half minutes into the opening frame. Raiders overage captain Reece Vitelli had a short-handed breakaway, but he was stoned by Maier, who swallowed the puck in his midsection.

Nolan Maier embraces his teammates after cutting a piece of the net.

With about 2:31 remaining in the first, the Blades had their best scoring chance of the frame, when right-winger Noah Boyko was robbed close in by the left side of the Prince Albert goal by the glove had of Raiders rookie import netminder Tikhon Chaika.

The teams played a tight checking opening 20 minutes where the shots on goal were tied 6-6. The second frame was a tight checking one too, even though the Blades had a 10-8 edge in shots on goal in that stanza.

Nolan Maier stops Raiders captain Reece Vitelli (#15).

The Blades had the best scoring chance in the second near the middle part of the period, when defenceman Tanner Molendyk was denied close in by Chaika with a shot coming close in on the left wing off a two-on-one break.

With the game remaining scoreless after 40 minutes, Maier said he did get some antsy feelings.

“I think those thoughts creep into your head,” said Maier, who has three shutouts this season. “As a goalie, you try not to worry about it.

“It is a cliché, but near the end going into the third 0-0, I knew we just needed one. Once we got that one I knew it was going to happen.”

Nolan Maier makes a stop on a screen shot.

With 9:21 remaining in the third, Raiders defenceman Tayem Gislason drew a double minor for high sticking. The infraction will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

Near the tail end of the first half of that power play, Blades rookie import right-winger Egor Sidorov banged home a shot from the front of the Prince Albert goal to give the host side a 1-0 lead with 7:43 remaining in the frame.

From that point, the Blades skaters did a solid job of clamping things down defensively, and the Raiders didn’t have any real solid scoring chances.

Egor Sidorov (#19) had a goal and an assist for the Blades.

With 1:59 remaining in the third, Blades centre Trevor Wong backhanded home an insurance goal during a net scramble over top of a fallen Chaika. That sealed the 2-0 win for the host side. Sidorov picked up an assist on Wong’s tally.

Wong, who joined the Blades in a trade with the Kelowna Rockets right before the start of the regular season, said it was important to the players on his team to do their part to help Maier get the WHL career regular season wins record.

“He (Maier) is kind of the role model for this whole organization, and a lot of our guys look up to him,” said Wong. “I’m pretty new here, but I could already see since the day I got here by the way he carries himself and just the way he treats others he is a class act.

Egor Sidorov (#19) celebrates scoring for the Blades.

“It was huge that we got it done for him.”

Chaika turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders.

The Blades improved to 37-26-3-1 with the win, and they moved one point ahead of the 36-23-3-2 Moose Jaw Warriors for fourth place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The fourth place club in the conference will have home ice advantage for a best-of-seven first round playoff series against the fifth place squad.

The Brandon Wheat Kings sit sixth overall in the conference with a 34-25-3-2 record and are five standings points behind the Blades and four standings point back of the Warriors. The Wheat Kings won their fourth straight game on Friday downing the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 6-3.

Tanner Molendyk controls the puck in the offensive zone.

The Blades have one game left on their regular season schedule, while both the Warriors and Wheat Kings have four contests remaining on their respective regular season slates.

The Blades are off until this coming Friday when they close out their regular season schedule against the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Saskatoon still has five regulars on the injury list. Defenceman and captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere is out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

Overage star centre Tristen Robins, who is the Blades captain for the rest of the current season, is out day to day with an upper body injury and the same goes for veteran centre Josh Pillar.

Trevor Wong scored the Blades second goal on Friday.

Rookie centre Lukas Hansen is week-to-week with an upper body injury, and utility player Spencer Shugrue is day to day with a lower body injury.

Overage defenceman Rhett Rhinehart returned to the Blades lineup from an upper body injury for Maier’s milestone win.

Sonne said his Blades need the time off before their next contest.

“It feels like so long where we’ve played three games a week and that is just taxing,” said Sonne. “We’re not like an older team either.

“We’re a younger team, so it is just even more so. We just get back at 5:30 in the morning (on Thursday) from Lethbridge (after a 6-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Wednesday night), and these guys are getting up to go to school. This has been getting taxing.

Raiders G Tikhon Chaika stops a screen shot.

“They need a few days off, so it is a really good thing.”

The Raiders fell to 26-34-4-1 with the setback to remain 10^th in the Eastern Conference. They sit two points behind the 26-34-5-2 Swift Current Broncos for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Prince Albert is one point behind the 25-31-6-2 Calgary Hitmen for ninth in the Eastern Conference. The Raiders are two points ahead of the 25-34-3-2 Regina Pats.

The Broncos have one regular season game remaining, the Raiders have three contests left on their slate and the Hitmen and Pats each have four games remaining on their respective schedules.

Nolan Maier made 20 saves on Friday night.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes (30-30-4-1) officially locked up a playoff berth with their 5-4 overtime setback to the Rebels in Red Deer on Friday. 

The Hurricanes sit seventh overall in the Eastern Conference.

The Raiders return to action on Saturday when they travel to Regina to take on the Pats (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

With sole possession of the WHL’s career regular season wins record under his belt, Maier said his milestone win to sit alone as the record holder will be a night he always remembers.

Nolan Maier (#73) is saluted by his teammates.

“Easily, this will be the highlight of my life, especially just to do it here in front of my fans and lots of family and friends I have here,” said Maier. “I couldn’t have wrote it any better.”

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