Blades bash Pats 9-1

Sidorov scores 100^th goal of WHL career in win

Egor Sidorov scored his 100th career WHL regular season goal.

Winning Wednesday was a check the box night for the Saskatoon Blades.

Score a season high nine goals – check.

Have goals come from eight different players – check.

Have at least 16 out of 18 skaters register one point – check.

Have no players end up with a negative rating in the plus-minus department – check.

Have your goalie post a save percentage over .950 – check.

Score on over 25 percent of your power play chances – check.

Hudson Kibblewhite scored twice for the Blades on Wednesday.

Go perfect on the penalty kill – check.

Continue to lead the overall WHL standings – check.

And for a bonus, help star import right-winger Egor Sidorov achieve a milestone scoring his 100^th career WHL goal in regular season play – check.

It was pretty safe to say almost all the 3,625 spectators at the SaskTel Centre went home happy on Wednesday night aside from the supporters that came out to back the opposition. The host Blades, who are rated first in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings, rocked their traditional rivals the Regina Pats 9-1 in a WHL regular season clash.

Misha Volotovskii scored the Blades second goal on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s game marked the last head-to-head encounter between the two sides in the current regular season. The Blades won six of the eight head-to-head meetings with the Pats.

It was about as great of a night as you could have gotten for the host side. The Blades, who improved their WHL leading record to 34-9-2-3, outshot the Pats 37-31, converted on 2-of-6 power plays and successfully killed off all three penalty killing situations they faced.

Even a league leading club hopes to have a few nights during a regular season like this. It is pretty safe to say everyone on the Blades roster came away with something positive to talk about from this game.

Egor Sidorov (#19) celebrates his 100th career regular season goal.

The Blades opened the game’s scoring just 2:22 into the opening frame on a goal from 16-year-old rookie centre Hudson Kibblewhite. Kibblewhite tipped home a point shot from star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk for his fourth goal of the campaign to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

The officials went to a video review to determine if Kibblewhite deflected home his tally with a high stick, but they determined the goal was good.

A little over six minutes later, the Blades pushed their lead out to 2-0 after 18-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii scored with a spin around backhand shot for his sixth goal of the season.

Vaughn Watterodt scored early in the second period for the Blades.

Moments later, the Blades almost added another goal to their tally, but a drive from 18-year-old right-winger Rowan Calvert was denied by the glove hand of Pats netminder Ewan Huet.

After Huet stopped Calvert, the Pats gained momentum and fired a barrage of shots at Blades rookie netminder Evan Gardner. Gardner was up to the challenged and kept the visitors off the scoreboard.

The momentum then swung back to the host side before the opening frame came to an end. With 24.1 seconds remaining in the first, Sidorov drove down the right wing and snapped a host shot past Hue to give the host side a 3-0 advantage.

It was one of those tough nights for Kelton Pyne and the Pats.

Sidorov’s tally was his 37^th of the season and his 100^th of his regular season career in the WHL. At night’s end, Sidorov had recorded 100 goals, 74 assists and a plus-35 rating in 157 career regular season games in the WHL all played with the Blades. He had a pair of assists to go with his milestone goal on Wednesday.

The Pats pulled Huet after the first period. He turned away 7-of-10 shots to take the loss in net for the Pats, who fell to 17-24-4-2. Kelton Pyne played the final two periods for the Pats in relief turning away 21-of-27 shots he faced.

The onslaught continued in the second. Blades 19-year-old glue guy right-winger Vaughn Watterodt scored at the 4:19 mark of the second and star 19-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky tallied on the power play to put the hosts up 5-0.

Brandon Lisowsky scored a power-play goal for the Blades.

Lisowsky scored his 29^th goal of the season from the left side of the Regina net after receiving spin-o-rama backhand pass from 21-year-old linemate Easton Armstrong.

With 1:56 remaining in the second, Armstrong scored his 26^th goal of the season to push the Blades advantage out to 6-0.

The Pats got a highlight at the 7:38 mark of the third period when 16-year-old rookie left-winger Corban Almen scored on a breakaway off a nice deke to cut the Blades lead to 6-1. Almen is from Saskatoon, so his tally helped perk up the family and friends he had in attendance on Wednesday.

The Blades goal barrage resumed after Almen’s tally.

Corban Almen had the Pats lone goal on Wednesday.

Just 83 seconds later, Kibblewhite scored his second of the night popping home a rebound from a shot taken by Calvert to give the Blades a 7-1 advantage. With 4:44 remaining in the third, 19-year-old defenceman Ben Saunderson netted his fifth goal of the season, and star 19-year-old centre Fraser Minten popped a power-play goal with 60 seconds left in the frame to round out the 9-1 final score in Saskatoon’s favour.

Gardner stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. In 20 appearances with the Blades this season, Gardner, who turned 18-years-old on January 25, has posted a 12-5-2 record, a 2.07 goals against average, a .923 save percentage and two shutouts in his debut campaign in the WHL.

Tyler Parr had a pair of assists for the Blades on Wednesday.

Molendyk and left-winger Tyler Parr each had a pair of assists for the Blades. Saunderson, who had an assist to go with his goal, finished the contest with a plus-five rating.

The Pats return to action on Friday when they host the 23-18-3-2 Swift Current Broncos (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Blades also get back at it on Friday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre). The Tigers lead the Central Division with a 29-14-3-1 record.

The Blades celebrate their win on Wednesday.

The Blades, who have won three in a row, know most nights aren’t going to materialize like Wednesday’s win over the Pats did. Still, it is always good to have outings where seemingly everything goes right, because it feels like all the hard work put in up to that point in the campaign is paying off.

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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Minten rescues Blades in OT

The Blades celebrate an OT winner from Fraser Minten.

Fraser Minten skated into hero’s role for the Saskatoon Blades.

On Sunday night with his Blades locked in a 2-2 tie in a WHL regular season contest with the visiting Swift Current Broncos at the SaskTel Centre, Minten shot into the highlight reels. Taking the puck behind his own net from veteran defenceman Ben Saunderson, Minten went coast-to-coast with the puck.

After crossing into the Swift Current zone, Minten passed the puck to himself through Broncos winger Mathew Ward to get a break in alone on the visitor’s net. Minten proceeded to slip a nifty backhand shot between the legs of Broncos netminder Reid Dyck for his second tally of the night to lift the Blades to a 3-2 victory to the delight of the 3,919 spectators in attendance.

Fraser Minten scored two goals on Sunday for the Blades.

The win allowed the Blades, who are rated second in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings, to continue to top the WHL’s overall standings improving to 33-9-2-3.

The victory was a gutty one for the Blades due to a scheduling quark. The Blades, who wore special fan designed jerseys on Sunday, were playing their third game in three nights. The Broncos were playing their first contest in eight days have last skated on Saturday, January 20, when they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Warriors in Moose Jaw at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

The Broncos record moved to 22-18-3-2 with the extra time setback to remain sixth overall in the Eastern Conference.

Conor Geekie scored twice for the Broncos on Sunday.

In Sunday’s clash, the Broncos got the jump on the Blades scoring at the 8:12 mark of the first period. Broncos star centre Conor Geekie swept home a shot from the front of the Blades goal to give the visitors or a 1-0 edge.

After Geekie’s tally, the Blades started to find their legs. While working on the power play, Blades star left-winger Easton Armstrong, who is playing his final season of WHL eligibility, scored a gritty goal whacking home a backhand shot from the front of the Swift Current net to even the score at 1-1 with 1:32 remaining in the opening frame. The Blades outshot the Broncos 14-6 in the first period.

The Blades kept rolling in the second but were kept at bay by Dyck. With 2:55 remaining in the second, Minten wired home a low midrange snapshoot past from the front of the Broncos goal past Dyck to give the Blades a 2-1 lead. Saskatoon held a 10-6 edge in shots on goal in the second.

In the third period, it appeared fatigue was setting in for the Blades as the frame marched on, and the Broncos seemed to be able to free wheel a little bit more. 

The Blades celebrate their OT win on Sunday.

With 5:13 remaining in the third, Geekie drove down the left with of the Blades zone with the puck, cut across the front of the Saskatoon net and slipped a backhand shot home to even the score at 2-2 and ultimate force overtime.

That set the stage for Minten to come through with his third game-winning goal of the campaign.

Austin Elliott made 20 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Dyck turned away 31 shots to take the extra setback in net for the Broncos.

Armstrong had an assist to go with his goal for a two-point night.

The Broncos return to action on Wednesday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

The Blades also get back at it on Wednesday when they host the 17-23-4-2 Regina Pats (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Spencer allows Pats to escape Calgary with OT win

Tye Spencer had the OT winner for the Pats on Sunday.

Tye Spencer’s three-point night allowed the Regina Pats to steal an overtime victory in Calgary.

On Sunday playing before 7,851 spectators at the Scotiabank Saddledome, Spencer collected a pair of goals including the overtime winner as the Pats downed the host Calgary Hitmen 4-3 in a WHL regular season clash. At the 3:33 mark of overtime, Pats captain Tanner Howe sprung Spencer into the Calgary zone on a breakaway. The 19-year-old right-winger tucked home a backhand shot to deliver victory to the Regina side.

The Pats victory was aided by the fact netminder Ewan Huet had a huge night making 49 saves.

Regina jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals coming from left-winger Sam Oremba. Oremba netted his first goal at the 3:07 mark of the first period and his second tally 44 seconds into the second frame with the Pats working on the power play.

Just 53 seconds after Oremba’s second marker, Hitmen offensive-defenceman Carter Yakemchuk scored the host side’s first goal to cut the Regina lead to 2-1. The Pats would hold on to their 2-1 advantage heading into the second intermission despite the fact the Hitmen held a 33-20 edge in shots on goal after 40 minutes.

At the 4:29 mark of the third with the Pats working on the power play, Spencer scored his first goal of the contest to push the visitor’s advantage out to 3-1.

Just 2:11 after Spencer’s power-play goal, the Hitmen cut the Regina lead to 3-2, when Yakemchuk potted his second goal of the contest, which was his 20^th goal of the season.

With 3:41 remaining in the third, Hitmen 16-year-old rookie right-winger Ben Kindel scored on a wraparound to tie the contest up at 3-3 and force overtime.

That set the stage for Spencer, who is from Saskatoon, to come through with his overtime winner.

Alex Garrett turned away 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hitmen.

Howe finished the night recording three assists for the Pats. Kindel had an assist to go with his goal.

The Hitmen’s record moved to 19-18-6-1 with the setback and allowed them to move to sit alone in eighth place and hold the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with 45 standings points. Calgary sits one point ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders (20-23-1-3) with three games in hand.

The Pats improved to 17-23-4-2 with the win. They sit 10^th overall in the Eastern Conference and five points back of the Hitmen. The Hitmen have two games in hand on the Pats.

The Pats return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Saskatoon to face the 33-9-2-3 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Hitmen get back at it on Friday when they travel to Edmonton to take on the Oil Kings (7 p.m. local time, Rogers Place).

Rivalry Series match on for Feb. 7 in Saskatoon, other notes

An Emily Clark hockey card.

For the first time since 2018, the SaskTel Centre will get to play host one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.

On Wednesday, February 7 at 7 p.m., Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team will face the United States in Game 5 of the Rivalry Series. The U.S. leads the 2023-24 edition of the seven-game series 3-1 heading into Game 5 in Saskatoon.

Canada took Game 4 of the set 3-2 after a tiebreaking shootout back on December 16, 2023 at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena in Sarnia, Ont. Last season, the U.S. won the first three games of the series, but Canada rallied back taking the last four contests to capture the series win.

Canada’s roster will feature power forward and 28-year-old Saskatoon product Emily Clark. Clark has one goal over the first four games of the series. She is an assistant captain with Ottawa’s team in the PWHL and has played two games with the Ottawa side.

Clark is an alumna of the Saskatoon Stars Female Under-18 AAA Hockey Team.

The last time Canada and the U.S. played against each other in Saskatoon was back on November 10, 2018 in the championship game of the 4 Nations Cup tournament held at the SaskTel Centre. The U.S. claimed a 5-2 victory in that encounter.

Clark wasn’t able to play at that 4 Nations Cup due to an injured left leg.

• Be prepared to be bombarded with everything Taylor Swift for the next two weeks as the NFL’s post-season nears a close. With the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Ravens in Baltimore 17-10 in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, that means you will hear all sorts of talk about Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce, who is the Chiefs star tight end. The Chiefs, who are the defending Super Bowl champions, will play the San Francisco 49ERS in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, February 11. It will be the most watched Super Bowl of all-time.
• Riding a four-game winning streak, the Portland Winterhawks sit alone in first place in the WHL’s U.S. Division with a 31-11-2-1 record. The Winterhawks are two standings points ahead of the 30-15-1-2 Everett Silvertips. Portland has three games in hand on Everett. The Winterhawks downed the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 4-1 on Sunday.
• I was back in the pages of the Prince Albert Daily Herald this past week. On Wednesday, I was in the Daily Herald with a column on how the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders started to fall in the standings when 17-year-old star right-winger Ryder Ritchie went down to injury due to a knee-on-knee hit. That piece can be found by clicking right here. On Friday, I was in the pages of the Daily Herald with a piece featuring Prince Albert Northern Bears alums Kate Ball and Jasper Desmarais, who now play for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team. Ball and Desmarais reflected on a magical 2016-17 season with the Bears where they won the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey Championship and appeared in the Esso Cup female national championship under-18 AAA championship tournament. The piece on Ball and Desmarais can be found by clicking right here.

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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Sonne smashes down hammer, Blades roar to 3-2 win

Blades HC Brennan Sonne instructs his player on Saturday.

Brennan Sonne was mad as hell, and he wasn’t going to take it anymore.

The Saskatoon Blades head coach was not happy with the performance of his team early in their WHL regular season clash with their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday night. Just 29 seconds into the contest, Raiders 19-year-old right winger Niall Crocker scored a gritty goal from the front of the Saskatoon net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

At the 6:28 mark of the first, Blades import star right-winger Egor Sidorov took an interference penalty when he picked Raiders standout defensive-defenceman Terrell Goldsmith with a shoulder check that sent the 18-year-old regard to the ice. When the officials gave that interference minor to Sidorov, the stoppage for the infraction allowed the first media timeout of the opening frame to be held. The Blades were holding a 4-2 edge in shots on goal at that point in the contest.

The Raiders enjoy a Niall Crocker goal 29 seconds into the game.

During media timeout, Sonne ripped into his team with the riot act tearing into them for a subpar effort to that point. Sonne’s tirade could be heard echoing through the SaskTel Centre for all of the 5,650 spectators in attendance to hear.

Also added to the frustration was the fact the Blades fell 5-4 to the Raiders after a tiebreaking shootout one night earlier at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. The Blades held a 4-2 lead and a 28-11 edge in shots on goal in that contest before the Raiders rallied back to claim victory.

When Sonne was blasting his players on Saturday during that first media timeout, all the Blades skaters were gathered around their coach listening intently. The bench boss’s message was received.

Niall Crocker gave the Raiders an early 1-0 lead on Saturday.

From that point onward, the Blades proceeded to outscore the Raiders 3-1 to claim a 3-2 victory and the host side held 29-7 edge in shots on goal for a final shots on goal advantage of 33-9. Had it not been for a spectacular 30 save performance from Raiders star goaltender Max Hildebrand, the final outcome on the scoreboard might have been worse.

When the dust settled, the rivalry between the two sides had cranked up to a higher intensity level. Both sides threw some hard hits at each other that borderline could have had worse results had they been closer to the boards.

Overall, Sonne’s tirade showed there are still times when a coach can still go off on his players over a lack of effort and the players still respond. The Blades, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, improved to 32-9-2-3, and they continue to lead the WHL’s overall standings.

Easton Armstrong scored for the Blades to force a 1-1 tie.

Public displays where Sonne went off on his players like he did during the first media timeout in the first period on Saturday are rare. Sonne, who was last season’s WHL coach of the year, is an intense coach and his passion can be visible.

He is also a coach who is very under control and is continually learning, which is why the Blades were 38-26-3-1 in his first season with the team in 2021-22 and 48-13-4-3 in his second campaign with the club last season. The Blades advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series in 2022-23 falling in a series sweep to the Winnipeg Ice.

After Sonne laid down the law during the first media break in the opening frame on Saturday, the Blades proceeded to get the Raiders pinned in their own zone. They got a pair of power plays just after the 10-minute mark of the opening frame and fired a barrage of shots at the Prince Albert net, which were turned away by Hildebrand with some assistance from some scrambling Raiders defencemen.

A scene from one of a number of scrums on Saturday night.

Despite all the pressure from the hosts, the Blades didn’t crack on to the scoreboard until there was 1:48 remaining in the frame. With the Blades again applying pressure in the Prince Albert zone, Saskatoon 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright fired a shot from the point that was deflected home by star left-winger Easton Armstrong to even the score at 1-1. The tally was Armstrong’s 24^th goal of the season as he skates though his final campaign of major junior eligibility.

The two sides went into the first intermission locked in a 1-1 tie with the Blades holding a 15-3 edge in shots on goal.

The Blades and Raiders engage in a battle on the boards.

The Blades express continued to roll in the second period holding a 15-2 edge in shots on goal, but it looked like their train was going to be derailed by a brick wall in Hildebrand until near the end of the frame.

With 90 seconds remaining in the second, Blades offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk blew home a point shot through a screen with his team working on the power play to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. 

Blades star 19-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky recorded his 200^th career WHL regular season point picking up an assist on Molendyk’s tally.

In 205 career WHL regular season games, Lisowsky, who was selected in the seventh round and 218^th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, has recorded his 200 points on 107 goals and 93 assists to go with a plus-46 rating in the plus-minus department.

Tanner Molendyk gave the Blades a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal.

Early in the third, the pot likely got stirred between the two sides with a moment that will be remembered in their final three regular season meetings. At the 1:41 mark of the third with teams playing four-versus-four hockey due to offsetting penalties, Sidorov blew into the Prince Albert zone and wired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle for his 36^th goal of the season to increase the Blades advantage to 3-1.

Following the tally, Sidorov skated around the Prince Albert goal and proceeded to do a chicken dance celebration looking straight at Hildebrand. After the Raiders beat the Blades on Friday night in Prince Albert, Hildebrand did a chicken dance celebration at the end of the game to celebrate victory after making the final stop in the tiebreaking shootout. 

Max Hildebrand covers up to make one of his 30 saves.

The Raiders were playing that game as a one night rebrand as the Cobra Chickens.

After the Blades went ahead 3-1, the contest got a lot more tight in the checking department. The Raiders held a slim 4-3 advantage in shots on goal in the third.

With the 3:18 remaining in the third and the Blades working on a power play, Raiders star left-winger Sloan Stanick stole the puck from the Blades back end at the Prince Albert blue-line. 

Stanick jetted down the ice on a breakaway and roofed a short-handed goal past Blades netminder Austin Elliott to cut the Saskatoon lead to 3-2. 

Egor Sidorov (#19) does a chicken dance celly after his goal.

The tally was the first short-handed goal the Raiders had scored as a team on the season.

While the Blades had controlled play for almost the game’s entirety, there was still a realistic chance the Raiders could rally back and steal away victory. 

After Hildebrand was pulled for an extra attacker, the visitors applied pressure in the Saskatoon zone, but were never able to find the equalizer. The Blades shut things down defensively to get the win.

Elliott stopped seven shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades.

Sidorov was given a 10-minute misconduct at the end of the game for an unsportsmanlike engagement with the Prince Albert side.

Sloan Stanick scored a short-handed goal for the Raiders.

The Raiders fell to 20-23-1-3 with the loss and remained tied with the 19-18-5-1 Calgary Hitmen for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with 44 standings points. The Hitmen have four games in hand on the Raiders.

The Blades return to action on Sunday when they host the 22-18-2-2 Swift Current Broncos (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders get back at it on Wednesday when they return home to host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades celebrate their win on Saturday.

In Saturday’s clash between the Blades and Raiders, the game’s turning point came when Sonne blasted his players during the first media timeout in the first period. When used with the correct timing, a coach going off and public yelling out his players can still create a favourable outcome.

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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What a thrilling comeback!

Raiders rally past Blades 5-4 after tiebreaking shootout

The Raiders celebrate their 5-4 (SO) win on Friday night.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Like a textbook match by The Undertaker in WWE, the Prince Albert Raiders came back seemingly from the dead to pull out victory.

On Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders, who were rebranded as the Cobra Chickens for a one night promotion, appeared to be dead in the water taking on their archrivals in the WHL leading Saskatoon Blades. After 40 minutes of play, the Blades were up 4-2 and held a 28-11 edge in shots on goal.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Raiders found a new higher gear in their skating legs. Raiders feisty 18-year-old centre Aiden Oiring scored at the 6:31 mark of the third period to cut the Blades to 4-3.

Aiden Oiring scored the Raiders third goal on Friday.

Working on the power play and with netminder Max Hildebrand pulled for an extra attacker, Raiders 20-year-old centre Turner McMillen popped home the equalizer during a net scramble at the left side of the Saskatoon goal with 40.3 seconds remaining in the third to force a 4-4 tie and overtime.

Following a scoreless overtime period, the two sides went to a tiebreaking shootout. In the three round shootout, star import right-winger Egor Sidorov scored for the Blades. Star 20-year-old left-winger Sloan Stanick and 19-year-old import left-winger Krzysztof Macias tallied for the Raiders to give the host a 2-1 win in the tiebreaking session and a 5-4 victory in the WHL regular season contest.

After stopping Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky on the final attempt in the shootout, Hildebrand did a sort of a chicken dance as he was mobbed by his teammates. The 2,709 Raiders faithful in attendance at the 2,580 seat building soaking in the playing of “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon” by The Guess Who as the host side brought an end to a five-game losing streak.

Turner McMillen (#27) celebrates scoring the equalizer for P.A.

“It is a big character win,” said Raiders rookie centre Oli Chenier, who turned 17-years-old on Friday. “We showed that we really can compete with anyone in this league tonight.

“If we play a full 60 (minutes), I don’t think a lot of teams have a chance with us. It is just up to us to show up prepared for every game.”

The Raiders opened the game’s scoring tallying on the power play just 2:41 into the opening frame. Raiders winger Brayden Dube had the puck on the left wing boards and centred a pass to Chenier in front of the Saskatoon net. Chenier tipped the puck home to give the host side a 1-0 edge.

Chenier was pumped to score on his birthday.

Max Hildebrand (#30) covers a loose puck during a net scramble.

“I couldn’t ask for a better gift right there,” said Chenier. “That was really good to start off the night like that.”

The Blades evened things up at 1-1 scoring a power play of their own with 8:04 remaining in the first, when veteran centre Tyler Parr snuck in a shot from the front of the Prince Albert net.

With 3:36 remaining in the opening frame, Stanick circled from the right boards to the front of the Saskatoon goal and blew home his 20^th tally of the season to give the hosts a 2-1 edge.

The Blades controlled a lot of the zone play in the opening 20 minutes outshooting the Raiders 12-5 in the frame.

Brandon Lisowsky scored twice for the Blades on Friday.

At the 4:08 mark of the second, the Blades evened the score at 2-2 when Lisowsky slipped home his 27^th goal of the season from a bad angle from the left side of the Prince Albert net.

The Blades proceeded to go ahead for the first time on the night when star 20-year-old left-winger Easton Armstrong snapped home his 23^rd goal of the tally of the season from the front of the Prince Albert net to give the visitors a 3-2 edge. With 5:37 remaining in the second, Lisowsky scored on the power play to account for their second tally of the contest to push the Blades edge out to 4-2.

Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt said the players said to themselves in the second intermission they weren’t going to give up. They made a renewed commitment to get back into the contest.

Easton Armstrong scored the Blades third goal on Friday.

“It is a character builder,” said Truitt. “It is a lesson, and our guys just seemed to rise to the occasion at times against a very good team.”

In the third period, the Raiders outshot the Blades 14-11 on their way to getting goals for Oiring and McMillen to pull even on the scoreboard. McMillen, who is from Cairevale, Sask., played two seasons for the Prince Albert Mintos Under-18 AAA team from 2018 to 2020 before embarking on his junior career.

After playing a little over four seasons with the Kelowna Rockets, McMillen was released this past October, and he moved to the junior A ranks joining the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins. The Raiders added McMillen to their roster on January 8.

McMillen said he remembered everything with his equalizer as just being a blur. He remembered hearing the crowd at the Art Hauser Centre sounding really loud and was pumped to help the Raiders get the comeback win.

Oli Chenier scored the Raiders first goal on Friday.

“I love it here,” said McMillen, who had an assist to go with his goal. “I love the city.

“It was definitely one of my favourite rinks. I can say that again. The fans are amazing.”

Hildebrand stopped 41 shots in goal for the Raiders over 65 minutes and two-of-three shooters he faced in the shootout. The Raiders improved to 20-22-1-3 with the win and remained tied with the Calgary Hitmen (19-18-5-1) for eighth place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 44 standings points. The Hitmen have three games in hand on the Raiders.

Evan Gardner turned away 21 shots in net for the Blades over 65 minutes and turned back one-of-three shooters in the shootout. The Blades, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, continued to top the WHL’s overall standings as their record moved to 31-9-2-3.

Raiders mascot PIMS hangs with the Art Hauser Centre faithful.

The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Overall, Truitt was proud of how his players rallied to pull out the come-from-behind victory.

“It was no easy task,” said Truitt. “It was a bit of an emotional game.

“The emotions were up 2-1 and were down 4-2 and comeback to 4-4. To do it against this team, you respect your opponent there is no doubt. There is a reason why they are ranked number one.

The Raiders salute their fans after Friday’s win.

“They’ve got a deep, deep lineup and good players all over the place. I have to give our guys a lot of credit here tonight for coming back the way they did.”

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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Lalor hits milestone, Huskies win sixth straight

Sophie Lalor scored her 10th goal of the regular season on Saturday.

Sophie Lalor became a member of “Club 10.”

On Saturday night, Lalor became the first member of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team to hit the 10-goal plateau in regular season play in four years. The fourth-year winger scored the Huskies first goal in a 2-1 U Sports regular season victory over the visiting MacEwan University Griffins before 450 spectators are Merlis Belsher Place.

The win was the sixth straight for the Huskies, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings.

Lalor netted her milestone goal with a power-play marker at the 11:18 mark of the first period, which gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the contest. With the tally, Lalor finished the night having recorded 10 goals and eight assists to go with a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department appearing in all of the Huskies 22 regular season games.

The Penticton, B.C., product’s 10 goals and 18 points are career highs. Her eight assists equals a career high set back in the 2019-20 season.

Before Lalor hit the 10-goal mark, the last Huskies player to score 10-or-more goals in one regular season was heart-and-soul forward Bailee Bourassa back in the 2019-20 campaign. In 2019-20, Bourassa appeared in all of the Huskies 28 regular season games recording 12 goals, seven assists and a plus-five rating.

Offensive-defender Isabella Pozzi, who is in her fifth season of U Sports eligibilty, picked up the lone assist on Lalor’s power-play goal against the Griffins. With the helper, Pozzi now has career highs in goals (four), assists (eight) and points (12) this season to go along with a plus-six rating.

The Huskies outshot the Griffins 18-7 in the opening 20 minutes, but the visitors managed to send the contest into the first intermission locked in a 1-1 draw. At the 14:41 mark of the first period, forward Joie Simon netted the equalizer for the Griffins with rookie defender Ali Macaulay picking up the lone assist on the play.

Sophie Lalor has career highs in goals (10) and points (18).

The teams played through a fairly even second period with the Huskies holding a 12-11 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

At the 9:13 mark of the third, Huskies third-year winger Kelsey Hall potted her seventh goal of the season that held up as the winner in the Huskies 2-1 victory. The tally was Hall’s third game winner of the campaign.

On the season, Hall has career highs in goals (seven), assists (six) and points (13) to go with a plus-four rating appearing in all the Huskies 22 regular season games.

Rookie forward Ava Bergman picked up the lone assist on Hall’s goal. The helper was Bergman’s first career regular season point in U Sports play. She has appeared in six regular season contests for the Huskies in the current campaign.

Colby Wilson made 20 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Brianna Sank turned away 34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Griffins.

With the win, the Huskies improve to 16-4-1-1 to sit fourth in the Canada West Conference. The lowest they can finish in the Canada West standings is fourth, which means they will have home ice advantage for at least one series in the conference playoffs. The Huskies will host the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship Tournament from March 14 to 17 at Merlis Belsher Place.

The Huskies sit two standings points behind the defending U Sports champion Mount Royal University Cougars (18-4) for third in the conference and four standings points back of the U of Alberta Pandas (18-2-1-1) for second in the conference. The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds top the Canada West standings with a 20-1-1-2 mark.

The Griffins fell to 3-20-1 with the loss and sit last in the nine-team Canada West.

Isabella Pozzi picked up an assist on Saturday.

The Huskies return to action on Friday when they travel to Edmonton to take on the Pandas (7 p.m. local time, Clare Drake Arena).

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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Blades will be fun to watch for rest of 2023-24 campaign

The Blades celebrate a win over the Pats this past Sunday.

Brennan Sonne will get to be the hockey equivalent of the “mad scientist” offensive coordinator you would see in football for the next little bit.

The Saskatoon Blades head coach has a wonderful mix of skilled and good character players to work with for the rest of the current 2023-24 WHL campaign. The Blades sit first overall in the WHL with a 29-8-2-2 record, and they were rated first in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday. That marks the first time the Blades have topped the CHL Top 10 Rankings this season.

Over a little past the first half of the regular season, Blades general manager Colin Priestner did a fantastic job of solidifying the team’s roster through the trade route. All trades came to a conclusion for the current campaign when the WHL’s trade deadline passed at 4 p.m. Saskatchewan time on January 10.

Priestner was able to add assistance around a solid core group of players in the likes of captain Trevor Wong, Brandon Lisowsky, Egor Sidorov, Vaughn Watterodt, Tyler Parr, Lukas Hansen, Tanner Molendyk, Charlie Wright, Ben Saunderson and Austin Elliott. The biggest additions via the trade route include forwards Fraser Minten, Easton Armstrong, Alexander Suzdalev and defenceman John Babcock.

Fraser Minten in action for the Blades this past Sunday.

Babcock was acquired on trade deadline day in a three-way deal with the Kelowna Rockets and Edmonton Oil Kings. The Blades sent a second round selection in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft and a fourth round pick in the 2026 Prospects Draft to the Rockets and second round Prospects Draft pick in 2026 to the Oil Kings.

The Rockets sent Babcock, who is a sound 19-year-old defensive-defenceman, to the Blades and 17-year-old defenceman Ismail Abougouche to the Oil Kings. The Oil Kings sent 18-year-old defenceman Carter Kowalyk and a fourth round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft to the Rockets.

Saskatoon had to make some give ups to acquire Suzdalev from the Regina Pats on December 31, 2023 and Minten from the Kamloops Blazers on November 24, 2023. In those two deals, the Blades dealt away three roster players, one list player and six Prospects Draft selections. That included sending the Blazers first round picks in 2024 and 2025 Prospects Drafts and the Pats a first round selection in 2026 Prospects Draft.

Alexander Suzdalev in action for the Blades this past Sunday.

With those moves, the Blades were able to get Minten, Suzdalev and a sixth round pick in the 2025 Prospects Draft.

The Blades didn’t have to give up near that much to get Armstrong from the Wenatchee Wild on October 10, 2023. Due to the fact Armstrong is a 20-year-old, the Blades set the Wild a third round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft and a conditional sixth round pick in the 2027 Prospects Draft.

Saskatoon acquired 19-year-old defenceman Grayden Siepmann in a significant trade with the Calgary Hitmen on October 10, 2023 and 19-year-old defenceman Nicholas Andrusiak in a deal with the Red Deer Rebels for a fifth round pick in the 2025 Prospects Draft on December 12, 2023. Siepmann and Andrusiak have been solid and consistent since joining the Blades, and their experience has shown through.

With world juniors having wrapped up on January 5, the trade deadline in the rearview mirror and Molendyk having returned from healing up a fractured wrist, this past weekend was the first time the Blades had pretty much everyone on their roster available to be used. They were without two defencemen due upper body injuries in 18-year-old veteran Carter Herman (week-to-week) and rookie Morgan Tastad (day-to-day), who turned 18-years-old on January 10.

Egor Sidorov in action for the Blades this past Saturday.

Both Herman and Tastad can be everyday players, so they will add greatly to the Blades back end depth when they return.

In a 5-4 overtime win over the Victoria Royals this past Saturday and a 6-1 triumph over the Pats this past Sunday both at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades coaches mixed up their forward lines, especially in the clash with the Royals. The line of 19-year-old left-winger Rhett Melnyk, 18-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii and 18-year-old right-winger Rowan Calvert was the one unit that stayed together.

For the victory over the Pats, the Blades coaches put imports Suzdalev and Sidorov together on a line. The two had a strong pre-existing friendship before Suzdalev came over to the Blades. Wong centred the line with Suzdalev playing left wing and Sidorov on right wing.

Still, the Blades coaches have a number of line combinations to tinker with in order to find which forward units have the best chemistry.

For the next week, the Blades should be well tested due to the fact the number one rating in the CHL Top 10 Rankings should see them be a target foes get up a little extra for. The Blades are back at it on Wednesday, when they travel to Red Deer to take on the 22-13-1-4 Rebels (7 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium).

John Babcock plays for the Blades this past Saturday.

To the credit of the Blades coaches and management, they aren’t getting ahead of themselves. They know having a strong roster doesn’t guarantee success or a long playoff run. They just focus on what they have to do that day to their best of their abilities, and so far good results have followed.

Going forward, this will be a fun Blades team to watch. So far this season, the Blades have done a good job drawing younger fans who are often players on minor hockey teams in Saskatoon and area as the team has averaged 4,972 spectators over 18 home dates. The ground work the Blades players put in for years with elementary school visits and making guest coach appearances with minor hockey teams is paying off.

The youngsters bring a good healthy enthusiasm that creates a great atmosphere to the games. It is evident those Blades players on the ice are their heroes.

If you follow the lead of the youngsters as a ticket buyer, the SaskTel Centre is going to be a great place to be.

Rivalry Series game set for Feb. 7 in Saskatoon, other notes

Emily Clark walks out to the SaskTel Centre in November of 2018.

For the first time since 2018, the SaskTel Centre will get to play host one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.

On Wednesday, February 7 at 7 p.m., Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team will face the United States in Game 5 of the Rivalry Series. The U.S. leads the 2023-24 edition of the seven-game series 3-1 heading into Game 5 in Saskatoon.

Canada took Game 4 of the set 3-2 after a tiebreaking shootout back on December 16, 2023 at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena in Sarnia, Ont. Last season, the U.S. won the first three games of the series, but Canada rallied back taking the last four contests to capture the series win.

Canada’s roster will feature power forward and 28-year-old Saskatoon product Emily Clark. Clark has one goal over the first four games of the series. She is an assistant captain with Ottawa’s team in the PWHL and has played two games with the Ottawa side.

Clark is an alumna of the Saskatoon Stars Female Under-18 AAA Hockey Team.

The last time Canada and the U.S. played against each other in Saskatoon was back on November 10, 2018 in the championship game of the 4 Nations Cup tournament held at the SaskTel Centre. The U.S. claimed a 5-2 victory in that encounter.

Clark wasn’t able to play at that 4 Nations Cup due to an injured left leg.

• Saskatoon product Berkly Catton is having a sensational sophomore WHL season playing centre for the Spokane Chiefs. Appearing in all the Chiefs 39 games this season, Catton has posted 64 points coming off 27 goals and 37 assists to go with a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department. Catton turned 18-years-old on Sunday. Entering play on Wednesday, he sits seventh in the WHL’s scoring race.
• Gavin McKenna is having an outstanding rookie season playing left wing for the Medicine Hat Tigers. In 36 games with the Tigers, McKenna has 52 points coming off 17 goals and 35 assists. McKenna turned 16-years-old on December 20, 2023. Due to his December birthday, McKenna will play two more full more seasons in the WHL before becoming eligible for the NHL Entry Draft in 2026.
• On January 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on 16-year-old Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club skater Melissa Scutchings, who skated in the Canada Winter Games that ran February 18 to March 5, 2023 across Prince Edward Island. The piece on Scutchings can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that shows photos of some of the facilities at the Complex on January 3 when warm weather winter conditions still existed. The photo roundup also showed fun at the Indoor Training Centre. That post can be found by clicking right here.

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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Blades pound Pats 6-1, continue to top WHL standings

The Blades celebrate a goal from Tanner Molendyk (#24).

The Saskatoon Blades gave a glimpse of the potential they have.

On Sunday before 4,955 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, they romped past their traditional big city rivals the Regina Pats 6-1. The win was the third in a row for the Blades, and they have now earned standings points in each of their past 18 games posting 14 wins, two overtime losses and two shootout losses over that stretch.

The Blades are one game away from equalling the franchise record for the longest standings point streak. The club’s last regulation loss came back on November 22, 2023 with a 6-2 setback against the Silvertips in Everett.

Saskatoon collected standings points in 19 straight contests back in the 2012-13 campaign with an 18-game winning streak and an overtime loss in a season where the Blades hosted the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.

Blades RW Egor Sidorov (#19) cuts in on the Pats net.

With Sunday’s win, the Blades improved to 29-8-2-2 and continue to lead the WHL’s overall standings. They sit three standings points ahead of the 29-12-0-1 Prince George Cougars.

The Blades, who are rated second in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings, are still experimenting with line combinations and defensive pairs after cementing their roster at the WHL trade deadline that passed last Wednesday,

In Sunday’s victory over the Pats, the Blades opened the scoring at the 2:13 mark of the first on a vintage power-play goal from star import right-winger Egor Sidorov. Positioned at the right side of the Regina net, Sidorov, who was playing in his 150^th career WHL regular season game, one-timed home a setup pass from Blades captain Trevor Wong to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Brandon Lisowsky had a goal and an assist for the Blades.

The Blades weren’t able to increase their advantage heading into the first intermission despite holding a 15-7 edge in shots on goal.

Just 18 seconds into the second, the Blades pushed their advantage out to 2-0. Blades star right-winger Brandon Lisowsky took the puck away from a Pats defender behind the Regina net on the forecheck and passed the puck from the right corner to the top of the right faceoff circle to linemate Easton Armstrong.

Armstrong blew home his 22^nd tally of the season to give the Blades their two-goal edge.

At the 3:10 mark of the second, Blades star netminder Austin Elliott misplayed  the puck behind his own net, which caused the puck to go bouncing all over the place. During the scramble, the puck came out in front of the Blades net, and Pats 17-year-old rookie defenceman Kolten Bridgeman popped home the loose disk for his first career WHL goal to cut the Blades lead to 2-1.

Easton Armstrong scored for the Blades on Sunday.

Just 82 seconds later, the Blades restored their two-goal edge. After star centre Fraser Minten took the puck away from a Pats player at the right side boards in the Regina zone, he passed the puck across the front of the Regina net to Lisowsky. Lisowsky, who was playing in his 200^th career WHL regular season contest, snapped home is 23^rd goal of the season from the left side of the Regina net to give the Blades a 3-1 lead.

The Blades struck again at the 11:09 mark of the second thanks to a benefit of a positive SaskTel Centre bounce. Blades star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk fired a shot from the right point that missed the net.

Kolten Bridgeman scored his first career WHL goal on Sunday.

The puck deflected off the boards behind the Regina net right to Blades centre Misha Volotovskii, who was positioned by the left side of the Pats net. Volotovskii popped home his fifth goal of the season off Pats defenceman Tyson Buczkowski to increase the Blades lead to 4-1.

In the third, Blades 19-year-old left-winger Rhett Melnyk tipped home a point shot from rearguard Ben Saunderson at the 4:11 mark of the frame. Just 2:01 later, Molendyk wired home a shot from the right point to round out the 6-1 final in favour of the host side. He finished the night recording three points off his goal and two assists.

Rhett Melnyk scored for the Blades in the third period.

Austin Elliott stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Ewan Huet turned away 32 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats (15-21-4-2).

Blades 17-year-old rookie netminder Evan Gardner was slated to start Sunday’s contest. He encountered a medical issue before the opening faceoff and was ruled out for the game. Gardner wasn’t on the Blades bench at any point in the win over the Pats.

The Pats return to action on Friday when they return home to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Blades get back at it on Wednesday, when they travel to Red Deer to take on the 22-13-1-4 Rebels (7 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium). That will be the first of four straight the Blades will now play on the road.

The Blades salute the crowd at the SaskTel Centre on Sunday.

They will continue to try and reach their potential and make the 2023-24 WHL campaign a special one for “The Bridge City.”

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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