Is playoff created rivalry in store for Blades and Rebels?

Two squads battle again in round two of WHL post-season

Fraser Minten (#16) and Ollie Josephson (#17) in action.

Will a rivalry be born between the Saskatoon Blades and Red Deer Rebels?

For the second straight year, the two sides will do battle in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series in the WHL Playoffs. Coming into this year’s series, the Blades topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They took down their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 in a first round series.

The Rebels had an up and down regular season finishing fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and eighth overall on the circuit with a 33-26-3-6 mark. They took out one of their biggest rivals in the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1 in a first round series.

The Blade and Rebels open up their series on Friday with Game 1 set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Game 2 is slated for Sunday at 4 p.m. at SaskTel. In the four regular season encounters between the two squads, each side won twice.

The Saskatchewan Rush have Saturday occupied at SaskTel as they host the San Diego Seals at 7 p.m. in NLL regular season action. That caused the first two games of the series between the Blades and Rebels not to be played on consecutive nights.

Last year when the Blades and Rebels met in an Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Rebels jumped out to a 3-0 series lead. The Blades rebounded winning the last four games of the series to take the set 4-3. In the process, the Blades became just the third team in the history of the WHL to fall behind 3-0 in a best-of-series and rally back to win the set.

Egor Sidorov can pile up goals for the Blades.

While both teams have gone through some regular junior hockey turnover from last season, both squads return a sizeable group of players from last year. The Blades have 12 players on their roster from a season ago, while the Rebels have 14 returnees from the 2022-23 campaign.

Some of the Blades returnees include captain Trevor Wong, star import right-winger Egor Sidorov, star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, gritty left-winger Vaughn Watterodt, utility forward Tyler Parr, star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk, 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright, standout 19-year-old rearguard Ben Saunderson and 19-year-old star netminder Austin Elliott.

Some of the Rebels returnees include captain Kai Uchacz, star centre Kalan Lind, hard-working centre Ollie Josephson, Czechia import right-winger Frantisek Formanek, gritty right-winger Dwayne Jean Jr., gritty left-winger Jhett Larson, gritty right-winger Talon Brigley, offensive-defencemen Mats Lindgren and Hunter Mayo, gritty defenceman Jace Weir and netminder Rhett Stoesser.

In a different twist, Blades 19-year-old defenceman Nicholas Andrusiak was actually playing for the Rebels in last year’s post-season. He came to the Blades in a trade on December 12, 2023 that saw a fifth round selection in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft go to the Rebels.

There are enough returnees on the ice that the potential of personal battles being triggered on the ice from a season ago are high. The ingredients are there to create a rivalry between the Blades and Rebels due to the encounters in the post-season.

Kai Uchacz is the Rebels high scoring captain.

While the Blades eliminated a physical team in the Raiders in round one, Saskatoon will see an even more physical side in Red Deer. The Rebels have more experience and a little more skill than the Raiders did.

In the opening round of the playoffs, the Rebels eliminated a team in the Tigers that likes to play with lots of skill and put up offence and transition fast up and down the ice. The Blades style of team mirrors that of the Tigers, but the Blades have more experience and a little more skill than the Medicine Hat side did this season.

Due to the Rebels physical play, it is common that their post-season series will have some high tension moments. 

By tradition, the Rebels are a team that will grind and grind and grind and never give up in a game even if they are down by like a 6-1 score. That never surrender battle has been a Rebels constant since Brent Sutter became the owner on May 11, 1999.

Last year, some of the Blades fans seemed caught off guard with the physical and high tension aspects that occurred in a series with the Rebels. For some of the Blades faithful, their dislike for the Rebels was bigger for a short time than their dislike for the Raiders.

On the coaching front, Brennan Sonne is back as the Blades head coach from a year ago. He was named the WHL’s coach of the year last season and was named the WHL’s East Division’s coach of the year again this season.

Trevor Wong is the high scoring captain for the Blades.

The Rebels were guided by veteran bench boss Steve Konowalchuk a year ago. He resigned from the Rebels in May of 2023 looking to find a situation that worked better for his family life. His permanent residence at the time was still Seattle, Wash., where he served as Seattle Thunderbirds head coach from 2011 to their WHL title winning season in 2017.

Derrick Walser was the Rebels head coach for most of the 2023-24 campaign. He and the Rebels mutually parted ways after a 7-5 loss at home to the Swift Current Broncos on March 1.

With eight games remaining in their regular season, the Rebels named good guy coach Dave Struch as the club’s interim head coach. Struch is best known for his WHL coaching stays with the Regina Pats that ran from the start of the 2014-15 campaign to November of 2021 and with the Blades that ran from the 2006-07 campaign to the 2013-14 campaign.

As a player, Struch played centre for the Blades for four seasons from 1988 to 1992. In 253 career regular season games with the Blades, Struch posted 134 goals and 151 assists for 285 points.

The Blades head into this year’s series with a little more depth than a season ago. Star centre Fraser Minten, star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong, star right-winger Alexander Suzdalev, defensive-defenceman John Babcock and breakout rookie netminder Evan Gardner were all big additions from a season ago.

During the regular season, Gardner posted a 21-5-2 record, a 1.91 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and four shutouts.

Hunter Mayo puts up points from the Rebels back end.

The Rebels biggest additions have been overage defensive-defenceman Elias Carmichael and breakout rookie netminder Chase Wutzke. During the regular season, Wutzke posted a 19-10-4 record, a 2.82 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and one shutout. Wutzke’s shutout win was a 36-save gem in a 5-0 victory over the Blades in Saskatoon on February 27.

On the injury front, Parr went down for the Blades with a leg injury in their Game 4 win over the Raiders. Gardner and Armstrong didn’t play the final two periods of the Blades series clinching victory over the Raiders in Game 5.

Of course, the Blades aren’t tipping their hand on the status of any of those three for Game 1 versus the Rebels.

In the series versus the Rebels, the attrition rate could be a factor that determines the series outcome. A realist will expect this series to be a physical war.

DuPont gets exceptional status to play in WHL, other notes

Landon Dupont in a promo picture. (Photo by Jenn Pierce, WHL)

Landon DuPont is on his way to being “the next big thing” in the WHL.

On Monday, the WHL announced on behalf of Hockey Canada and Hockey Alberta that DuPont has been granted Exceptional Player Status and is eligible to play in the WHL on a full-time basis beginning with the 2024-25 campaign. The Calgary product, who is a skilled defenceman, will turn 15-years-old on May 28.

DuPont is eligible to be selected in the WHL Prospects Draft set to be held online on May 9, 2024. The Everett Silvertips currently hold the first overall selection in the Prospects Draft.

Players looking to achieve Exceptional Player Status must possess a level of mental, social and emotional maturity that belies his age along with hockey skills that greatly exceed those of other elite level players both in their age group and among player several years older.

The Exceptional Player Status process was administered by Hockey Alberta with a Hockey Canada special evaluation panel which reviewed DuPont’s hockey and academic documentation. The process also assessed DuPont’s level of maturity.

“It is such an honour for me to receive Exceptional Player Status from Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada,” said DuPont in a release. “I would like to thank my family, all of my coaches, trainers, advisors and most of all, my teammates through my entire hockey journey for helping me get to this point.

A second Landon DuPont promo shot. (Photo by Jenn Pierce, WHL)

“I’m excited to continue my development in the WHL and will work hard every day to continue to improve.”

DuPont becomes the first defenceman and second player in the history of the WHL to be granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada. Connor Bedard, a phenom centre, was the first to be granted Exceptional Player Status to play in the WHL in 2020. The North Vancouver, B.C., product played three seasons with the Regina Pats before joining the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks this season.

On top of that, DuPont, who is a right shot blue-liner, becomes the ninth player in CHL history to be granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada.

Dupont, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 170 pounds, spent the 2023-24 campaign playing for the Edge School U18 Prep squad in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League where he recorded 62 points (19G-43A) in 30 regular season games to finish third in CSSHL U18 scoring. His 62 points led all blue-liners and established a new CSSHL U18 Prep single-season scoring record for defencemen.

DuPont added another 16 points (5G-11A) in five playoff games tying the CSSHL U18 Championship scoring record held by former Edmonton Oil Kings and Seattle Thunderbirds star Dylan Guenther. The defenceman was named CSSHL U18 Prep Championship MVP and helped Edge capture the CSSHL U18 title.

• The WHL U.S. Priority Draft is slated for May 8, and it will be conducted online. The Regina Pats have the first overall selection in that draft.
• Prince Albert Raiders import left-winger Krzysztof Macias was given a two-game suspension by the WHL on Tuesday for receiving a major for head checking and a game misconduct in the Raiders 6-2 loss to the Blades in Saskatoon on April 5. That loss in Game 5 of a best-of-seven first round series brought the Raiders campaign to an end. The two-game suspension will carry over to the 2024-25 regular season, if Macias is back in the WHL as a 20-year-old.
• On Tuesday, the WHL suspended Wenatchee Wild defenceman Jonas Woo for a slashing major and a game misconduct he took in the Wild’s 4-2 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna on Sunday. That loss in Game 6 of a best-of-seven first round series brought the Wild’s campaign to an end. The suspension will carry over to the 2024-25 regular season, when Woo begins his 18-year-old campaign.
• The WHL Eastern Conference semifinal between the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Swift Current Broncos begins Friday night in Moose Jaw. The Warriors finished second overall in the Eastern Conference with a 44-21-0-3 mark, while the Broncos were third overall in the Eastern Conference and tops in the Central Division with a 40-22-4-2 mark.
• The WHL Western Conference semifinal between the Prince George Cougars and the Kelowna Rockets begins Friday in Prince George. The Cougars finished first in the Western Conference and the B.C. Division with a 49-15-1-3 mark, while the Rockets were fifth in the Western Conference with a 33-30-4-1 mark.
• The WHL Western Conference semifinal between the Portland Winterhawks and Everett Silvertips begins on Friday in Portland. The Winterhawks finished second in the Western Conference and tops in the U.S. Division with a 48-15-4-1 mark, while the Silvertips were third overall in the Western Conference with a 45-18-2-3 mark. Due to scheduling conflicts in Everett, this series will be played in a two-three-two format with the Winterhawks hosting the first two and the last two games of the set.
• Former Saskatoon Blades gritty right-winger Justin Lies is having an outstanding 20-year-old campaign in the junior A ranks with the Flin Flon Bombers, who are the only Manitoba squad that plays in the SJHL. Lies, who is from Flin Flon, played in 55 regular season contests recording 41 goals and 35 assists for 76 points. In eight post-season contests, Lies has nine goals and five assists for 14 points. The Bombers finished first overall in the SJHL with a 44-9-2-1 mark and have advanced to the league championship series in the SJHL Playoffs. They face the winner of a semifinal series between the Melfort Mustangs and the Humboldt Broncos.  
• I love the passion of the Prince Albert Raiders fans. I hope that never chances in “Hockey Town North.”
• There are a tonne of young guys in the media doing outstanding work on the WHL circuit. Some of those guys include Nathan Reiter of the Prince Albert Daily Herald, Prince Albert Raiders play-by-play voice Nolan Kowal, James Tubb of the Medicine Hat News, Medicine Hat Tigers play-by-play voice Gino De Paoli, Ian Gustafson of the Red Deer Advocate and Regina Pats play-by-play voice Dante De Caria. With team communications staffs, Kyle Kosowan, who is the manager of communications and media relations with the Raiders, and Tanner Chubey, who is the Saskatoon Blades communications manager, have been outstanding too. I’ve found it fun being the old veteran with this group on the circuit.
• On Tuesday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a piece on the excitement the local football community had over the fact flag football will be a sport in men’s and women’s play at the 2028 Olympic Games. That piece can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that showed fun from the Playground To Pros camp and other happenings on the Complex grounds. 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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