Saskatoon aims for series win after trailing
set 3-0
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| Trevor Wong leads the Blades with 19 points in the playoffs. |
The Red Deer Rebels will do whatever they can to derail a potential history making moment.
On Tuesday, the two sides will collide in a winner take all Game 7 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The winner moves on to face the Winnipeg Ice in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Championship series.
The Ice topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. They advanced to the Eastern Conference title series having downed the Warriors in Moose Jaw 8-2 on Monday to claim Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series taking the set 4-2.
As for the series between the Blades and Rebels, it was expected to be a tight one. The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Rebels finished fifth in the overall WHL standings and topped the Central Division with a 43-19-3-3 mark.
Many thought the series would go to six or seven games, but no one could have predicted it going to a Game 7 in the way it did. The Rebels took the first three games of the series to lead the set 3-0, but the Blades rebounded with three straight win to tie the set at 3-3.
The Blades are trying to become just the third team in WHL history to come back and win a best-of-seven series 4-3 after losing the first three games of the set.
Dating back to the WHL’s start in 1966-67, only two teams have rallied back to win a best-of-seven series having trailed the set 3-0. The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before rallying back to claim that first round series 4-3.
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| Jayden Grubbe leads the Rebels with 15 points in the playoffs. |
Current Rebels head coach Steve Konowalchuk was the head coach of the Thunderbirds in 2013 when they lost their 3-0 series lead to the Rockets. Konowalchuk would guide the Thunderbirds to a WHL championship in 2016-17 before departing to the NHL to become an assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks.
The Blades have actually rallied back from being down 3-0 in a best-of-seven series to tie it up at 3-3 for the second time in team history.
Back in 1990, Saskatoon trailed the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-0 in a second round series in that year’s WHL Playoffs before rallying back to tie the set at 3-3. In a series deciding Game 7 in Lethbridge, the Blades fell 4-3 in overtime with defenceman Neil Hawryluk netting the winning goal for the Hurricanes. Of course, the current edition of the Blades will try to one up their club from the 1990 post-season by getting a Game 7 win.
Going back to their first round seven game series win over Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats, the Blades have won four straight contests in this WHL post-season where they have faced elimination.
Star centre Trevor Wong leads the Blades in post-season scoring with 19 points coming off five goals and 19 assists. He has points in his last five consecutive games posting two goals and seven assists over that stretch of time.
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| Egor Sidorov has 18 points in the playoffs. |
Captain Jayden Grubbe tops the Rebels in post-season scoring with 15 points coming off two goals and 13 assists. Star centre Kai Uchacz is second in Rebels scoring in the playoffs with 13 points coming off nine goals and four assists. Mats Lindgren leads all Rebels defencemen in post-season scoring with nine points coming off two goals and seven assists.
The starting goaltenders for each side might not be known until game time. In their three straight wins to tie the series, the Blades have used both Ethan Chadwick and Austin Elliott. Chadwick picked up the wins in Games 4 and 5, while Elliott was in net for the series tying victory in Game 6.
Kyle Kelsey has been the Rebels starter for the entire post-season until he was pulled during his club’s 6-3 loss in Game 5 on Friday at the SaskTel Centre. Chase Coward started Game 6 on Sunday for the Rebels, where they dropped 5-3 decision on home ice.
During the series, the Blades and Rebels have developed a legitimate rivalry. The players on the two teams have shown a real dislike for each other resulting in the series having a snarl to it.
The Blades will be without gritty right-winger Justin Lies for Game 7 as he will be sitting out the third game of a three-game WHL imposed suspension for a head shot he threw on Rebels star left-winger Kalan Lind in the Blades 4-2 win in Game 4 on Wednesday. Lind has been out with a head injury since that hit.
The Rebels faced league discipline on Monday for shenanigans that occurred in the final minute of the Blades 5-3 victory in Game 6 in Red Deer on Sunday. Rebels right-winger Jhett Larson was suspended for one game for receiving a fight instigator penalty in the final five minutes of that contest. The Rebels as a team were fined $500 due to one of their players receiving an instigator penalty inside the final five minutes of that Game 6 setback.
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| Kai Uchacz has nine goals and 13 points in the playoffs. |
Over the past three games, the Blades are 5-for-14 on the power play, and they’ve allowed the Rebels to score on 1-of-10 chances with the man advantage. The Blades have successfully killed off their last nine consecutive penalty killing situations.
As of Monday night, the Blades had sold over 8,000 tickets for the Game 7 clash with the Rebels. Those in attendance might ultimately see one of the Blades most memorable days in franchise history, but don’t expect the Rebels to go away quietly.
T-Birds, Blazers battle for Western
Conference title, other notes
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| The Thunderbirds have had a stellar 2022-23 campaign. |
The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.
The Blazers, who are hosting this year’s Memorial Cup tournament, finished second overall in the Western Conference and third overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-13-4-3 mark. The B.C. Division champions were rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.
Seattle swept away the Kelowna Rockets 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series and the Prince George Cougars 4-0 in a best-of-seven WHL Western Conference semifinal series. Kamloops swept the Vancouver Giants 4-0 in the first round and the Portland Winterhawks 4-0 in the other Western Conference semifinal series.
The two clubs open their best-of-seven Western Conference title series on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington.
The Thunderbirds and Blazers met in last year’s Western Conference Championship series. That series went to a deciding Game 7, and it was claimed 3-2 by the Thunderbirds at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops. The Blazers led the series 3-2, before the Thunderbirds closed the set out with two straight wins.
Seattle went on to fall in the WHL Championship Series in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
- For those who purchased a $99 playoff pass to guarantee their seat for all Saskatoon Blades home games for the WHL Playoffs, they are feeling really good about their purchase. When the Blades host the Red Deer Rebels in Game 7 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the SaskTel Centre, it will be the Blades eighth home post-season game. If you attended all eight of those post-season home games on a playoff pass, you have spent about $12.50 getting into each contest.
- So far in the WHL Playoffs, the Seattle Thunderbirds have the top power play going 11-for-25 for a 44 per cent success rate. The Moose Jaw Warriors have the second best power play going 10-for 23 for a 43.5 per cent success rate. The Kamloops Blazers sit third going 16-of-39 on the power play for a 41 per cent success rate.
- Star centre Logan Stankoven and star defenceman Olen Zellweger have been on fire for the Kamloops Blazers recording 21 points each in their team’s eight post-season games. Stankoven has recorded his 21 points on 10 goals and 11 assists. Zellweger has his 21 points coming off seven goals and 14 assists.
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