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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