Blades beat down Rebels

Saskatoon gets feisty in key victory over Red Deer

Wednesday night became third period fight night in Saskatoon.

The Saskatoon Blades showed their feisty side dominating on the ice and in the extra-curricular activities.

The Blades top line of centre Trevor Wong, import right-winger Egor Sidorov and left-winger Brandon Lisowsky combined for four goals and five assists in a convincing 5-2 WHL regular season victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Wednesday night. The Blades outshot the Rebels 38-10 and stood tall in all the rough stuff before 2,934 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

The main event of the night came at the 7:59 mark of the third period when the Blades were holding a 5-1 advantage on the scoreboard and a 31-6 lead in shots on goal and working on a power play.

Jhett Larson (#23) goes after Brandon Lisowsky (#8).

Frustration took over for the Rebels as left-winger Jhett Larson, who turned 19-years-old in early February, jumped Lisowsky. Larson proceeded to whale away on Lisowsky, who tried to shield himself showing no intention of wanting to fight.

Wong, who is the Blades leading scorer, tried to jump in to pull Larson away from Lisowsky. At that point, all the skaters got in on the action and a major scrum happened. From that scrum, two big fights resulted breaking out of the pack of players.

Blades 19-year-old centre Jayden Wiens, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 144 pounds, was faced off trading punches with Rebels 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ollie Josephson, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 177 pounds.  

Quentin Bourne (#28) fights Egor Sidorov (#19).

Sidorov, who stands 6-feet and weighs 180 pounds, was paired up throwing fists against Rebels 16-year-old defenceman Quentin Bourne, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 155 pounds.

The Blades skaters got the better in both clashes that saw all four players get some decent shots in. The officials jumped in to separate things in both bouts, when the players started slowing up throw fists and started holding each other a little more.

A huge amount of penalties resulted from those extra-curricular activities. Lisowsky was given interference minor, Wong a game misconduct for being a third man in, and both Wiens and Sidorov received fighting majors and game misconducts.

Egor Sidorov had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

Larson, Josephson and Bourne were each given fighting majors and game misconducts.

After the high emotions that were on display with those fights, the final 12:01 of the third played out in a fairly tame fashion. Rebels import right-winger Frantisek Formanek scored at the nine-minute mark of the third with the teams playing four-versus-four action for a short stretch to round out the 5-2 final in favour of the Blades.

While the Rebels scored quickly after the stoppage with the multiple fights in the third, they never seemed to be in a position to be a real threat to make a comeback attempt. For almost Wednesday’s entire contest, the Rebels seemed to be uninterested and listless with their effort on the ice.

Brandon Lisowsky had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

The Rebels uninspired performance was surprising given that the result of Wednesday’s encounter with the Blades could play a major part with regards to the playoff picture in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The win allowed the Blades to improve to 39-13-4-1, while the Rebels fell to 38-17-1-3.

The Rebels are locked in first place in the Central Division holding a 12-point standings lead over the Lethbridge Hurricanes (31-21-3-3). The Blades sit second in the East Division sitting 14 points back of the WHL leading Winnipeg Ice (48-8-1).

In the first round of the WHL playoffs, the division winners in each conference are awarded top seeds in their respective conference brackets. In the second round, the seeds in the conference brackets are determined by standings points.

Jayden Wiens had a goal for the Blades.

The Blades currently sit second in the Eastern Conference overall standings with a lead of three standings points over the Rebels. At the moment, the Blades would have home ice advantage if they should meet the Rebels in a best-of-seven playoff series.

Saskatoon won three out of the four head-to-head regular season clashes with Red Deer to help create a lead in the Eastern Conference standings. Unlike the Rebels, the Blades were on point and played well in Wednesday’s clash.

The tone of how Wednesday’s game would play out was set in the first period. The Blades came out and dominated the first period holding a 13-0 edge in shots on goal.

Trevor Wong had three assists for the Blades on Wednesday.

The hosts were only able to score once when Sidorov fired home a power-play goal from the right faceoff circle at the 12:38 mark of the frame. The only fire Red Deer showed in the opening frame came at the 9:22 mark of the stanza when Rebels scoring leader Kai Uchacz, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 193 pounds, engaged Wiens in a fight after a puck battle along the boards.

The Rebels started the second period looking like they would mount a push back getting two quick shots on goal. After that initial push, the Blades got the puck back in the Red Deer zone and Sidorov buried his second of the contest to give the hosts a 2-0 at the 1:21 mark of the frame.

Just over three minutes later with the Blades working on the power play, Sidorov fired a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that was tipped in by Wiens to increase Saskatoon’s advantage to 3-0.

Kai Uchacz (#19) tangles with Jayden Wiens (#9).

With 3:11 remaining in the second, the Rebels looked like they were going to get some life once again when 19-year-old right-winger Craig Armstrong scored on his team’s fourth shot on goal of the contest to cut the Blades lead to 3-1.

Just 20 seconds later, Lisowsky found himself on a breakaway, and he snapped home his 30^th goal of the season to the low left corner of the Red Deer net to push the Blades advantage out to 4-1.

Early in the third, Blades netminder Ethan Chadwick made a glove stop to rob Rebels left-winger Talon Brigley on a breakaway opportunity.

Following that stop, Lisowsky, who was selected in the seventh round and 218^th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, added his second of the contest scoring on the power play at the 3:55 mark of the third to give the Blades a 5-1 lead. That set the stage for the rest of the third to play out as it did.

The Blades celebrate a goal from Brandon Lisowsky (#8).

Sidorov and Lisowsky each finished with a pair of goals and one assist. Sidorov picked up the Gordie Howe hat trick as he had his fight with Bourne to go along with his points.

Wong had three assists for the Blades, while Blades captain and offensive-defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere, who turned 21-years-old in February, had  a pair of helpers for the host side.

Chadwick stopped nine shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Rookie Kyle Kelsey turned away 19-of-23 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels.

Chase Wutzke, who is a 16-year-old rookie, relieved Kelsey, who turned 18-years-old in January, at the start of the third period. Wutzke turned away 14-of-15 shots sent his way.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere had two assists on Wednesday.

The Rebels were missing three key players from their lineup. Import offensive-defenceman Christoffer Sedoff, who turned 21-years-old in February, was sitting out the final contest of league imposed four-game suspension. Sedoff was given the suspension after receiving a checking to the head major penalty and a game misconduct in his club’s 4-1 setback on home ice on February 20 to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Star centre Kalan Lind, who is a highly touted prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, is week-to-week with an upper body injury. Rookie netminder Rhett Stoesser, who was having an outstanding season, suffered a lower body injury in a practice near the middle of February that required surgery. Wutzke was called up from the roster of the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 AAA team to replace Stoesser for the rest of the campaign.

The Blades celebrate their win on Wednesday.

The Rebels return to action on Friday when they travel to Brandon to take on the 23-26-8 Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Blades also get back at it on Friday when they host the 35-21-0-3 Moose Jaw Warriors (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre). Saskatoon has won two straight and six times in its last seven outings.

As the WHL regular season plays to a conclusion, Wednesday’s win over the Rebels might play out to be a significant one in the grand scheme of things for the Blades.

Blades to set single game attendance record with Bedard visit

Connor Bedard, (#98) rushed up ice on Nov. 13, 2022.

The presence of Connor Bedard is going to allow the Blades to set a new team record for single game attendance.

On Wednesday, the Blades announced they will set a new single game team attendance record when they host Bedard and the Regina Pats on Sunday, March 19 at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades single game record attendance of 12,588 spectators came back on February 9, 2013 when they downed the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-2.

The Blades said ticket sales for the Pats upcoming visit on March 19 have surpassed the attendance record game against the Hurricanes.

The Blades will also host Bedard and the Pats on Friday, March 24 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre, and over 11,500 tickets have been sold for that contest.

Bedard leads the WHL in goals (54) and points (114) to go along with a plus-34 rating in the plus-minus department in 45 appearances this season. The 17-year-old phenom centre’s 60 assists are the second most in the WHL this season.

The North Vancouver, B.C., product’s brand took a big jump upward after he set numerous Canadian team records at this past world juniors held in Halifax, N.S., and Moncton, N.B., Canada won gold taking the gold medal final 3-2 in overtime over Czechia this past January 5 in Halifax.

Barring something unforeseen, Bedard will be the first overall selection in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft which will be held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 28 to 29. He is rated first among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s Mid-Term Rankings.

Connor Bedard leads the WHL in scoring with 114 points.

Since returning from world juniors, Bedard has been attracting season high crowds for the Pats opponents on the road as well as sellouts and near sellouts at the Pats home rink in Regina in the Brandt Centre.

“Connor (Bedard) is an incredible player that comes along once every generation,” said Blades president, general manager and co-owner Colin Priestner in a release. “As a league, we’re extremely fortunate Connor chose the WHL as his path, because his star power has brought thousands of new fans to come see our product from across the country, and he’s been an outstanding ambassador for our game.”

Also on Wednesday, the Blades announced they will be selling a playoff pass for all their post-season home games for a second straight year. For $99, ticket buyers can guarantee their seat for the entire post-season, and the Blades could potentially play 16 post-season games at home.

If the WHL Playoffs were to start today, the Blades would have home ice advantage for a best-of-seven first round series against Bedard and the Pats. It is a decent possibility that a first round series between the Blades and Pats could materialize.

The last time the Blades and Pats met in the post-season came in a best-of-seven first round series in 2006 claimed by Saskatoon 4-2.

When the Blades made it to the WHL final in 1992 and 1994, the SaskTel Centre was configured to hold a capacity of around 11,310 spectators at that time.

A SaskTel Centre record crowd of 15,192 cheer the Rush on May 21, 2016.

The National Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Rush hold the record for the top two single event attendance records for a sporting event in the history of the SaskTel Centre. The Rush drew a SaskTel Centre record 15,192 spectators on May 21, 2016 for their 12-9 victory over the Calgary Roughnecks in Game 2 of a best-of-three West Division semifinal series that they swept 2-0.

On June 4, 2016, the Rush drew the second highest attendance for a sporting event at the SaskTel Centre when 15,182 spectators saw them down the Buffalo Bandits 11-10 in Game 2 of the best-of-three NLL Championships Series. The Rush swept the series 2-0 to claim their second NLL title after having relocated to Saskatoon following their first NLL title victory in Edmonton in 2015.

The Rush claimed victory in dramatic fashion in their win over the Buffalos on June 4, 2016 to capture that year’s NLL championship. With that contest locked in a 10-10 tie with 12 seconds to play, Rush defenceman Jeff Cornwall ran coast-to-coast to score a breakaway goal to deliver the host side a league championship in thrilling style.

At that time, the Rush were owned by Bruce Urban. Urban sold the Rush to what is now known as the Saskatoon Entertainment Group owned by Mike Priestner and his son Colin on May 10, 2021. That move brought the Rush and Blades under the same ownership.

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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