Laing finds his offensive groove in Saskatoon

Blades lock up berth in WHL Playoffs with 4-1 win over Raiders

Hunter Laing reacts to scoring his second goal on Saturday.

Hunter Laing discovered that “Runnin’ Back To Saskatoon” is turning out to be the best thing for his WHL career.

The 18-year-old right-winger came to “The Bridge City” in a blockbuster trade on January 8. Laing was dealt by the Prince George Cougars along with 15-year-old prospect defenceman Luke Dumas, a first round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft and fifth round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft to the Blades in exchange for 19-year-old centre Ben Riche.

On Saturday playing before 5,330 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Laing scored twice to power the host Blades to a 4-1 victory over their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders. The win allowed the Blades to improve to 33-21-3-4 to officially clinch a berth in the WHL Playoffs.

Hunter Laing has five goals and one assist in his last three games.

Since arriving in Saskatoon, Laing has recorded 13 goals, five assists and a plus-five rating in the plus-minus department in 21 games with the Blades. That includes the five goals and one helper he has put up in his last three outings. In the 36 games he played in the 2024-25 campaign with the Cougars, Laing posted 10 goals, 12 assists and a plus-seven rating.

“I think I’m just having a lot more confidence,” said Laing, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 209 pounds. “I’m playing with two great guys with Coop (Cooper Williams) and Lew (David Lewandowski) there.

“I think everything is just clicking. I’m enjoying myself right now.”

Hunter Laing came to the Blades in a trade on January 8.

Last season, Laing played his first full season in the WHL. He suited in 66 regular season games with the Cougars collecting 11 goals and 14 assists. The product of Kelowna, B.C., showed well enough that the Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round and 170^th overall in the last year’s NHL Entry Draft.

With the Blades, Laing has shown he has a good set of hands working magic around the net to score goals. He is also getting more opportunities to contribute offensively on a younger Blades roster compared to the veteran heavy unit the Cougars are carrying.

“I think the coaches in P.G. trusted me,” said Laing. “I think here they trust me even more to be a guy that can put the puck in the net and be an offensive guy.

The Blades and Raiders engaged is some rough stuff on Saturday.

“I’ve kind of just taken that opportunity and just kept rolling with it.”

The Raiders came out of the gates strong getting the first five shots on goal of the contest. After that initial flurry, the Blades proceeded to carry momentum for an extended time.

Saskatoon opened the game’s scoring while working on the power play at the 7:47 mark of the opening frame thanks to Laing’s sweet hands. Williams, who is a rookie centre, fired a shot on goal that was deflected home by Laing to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

Growing up through the minor hockey ranks, Laing has always been a player who could put up points offensively.

Ethan McCallum made 40 saves for the Blades.

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said the team’s coaching staff is working with Laing to bring that aspect of his game more to forefront in the WHL.

“We knew that he (Laing) had that capability,” said DaSilva. “He knows that he has the soft hands.

“He is a very smart player with an extremely high hockey IQ. He puts himself in really good position that he can finish. You saw that tonight.

“His hand-eye coordination, his deflection goals are crazy. That first goal tonight was unbelievable just to get a piece of that.”

Max Hildebrand stopped 31-of-34 shots in goal for the Raiders.

With 5:08 remaining in the first, things got a little heated resulting in a short fight by Raiders 18-year-old defenceman Tyrone Sobry and Blades 16-year-old right-winger and associate player call up Kohen Lodge, who has skated for his hometown Red Deer Chiefs under-18 AAA team this season.

The opening frame ended with Raiders star left-winger Tomas Mrsic pinning Williams to the ice. Mrsic received a minor for roughing, which the Raiders killed off at the start of the second.

The Blades pushed their lead out to 2-0 with 7:01 remaining in the second on a power-play goal from Williams. Williams took a shot from the left faceoff circle that deflected in off back checking Raiders centre Evan Smith.

The Blades celebrate a goal from Cooper Williams (#25).

At the time of the goal, the Blades were holding a 26-11 edge in shots on goal after having five straight power plays.

From that moment, the Raiders got some momentum as they got four straight power plays. Blades netminder Ethan McCallum stood his ground and ultimately made 40 saves in the game to pick up the win in the Saskatoon net.

That allowed Laing to add a dagger goal to seal the outcome of the contest with 6:58 remaining in the third. On a rush into the Prince Albert zone, Laing received a nifty backhanded pass from import centre Frantisek Dej, jetted towards the right side of the Raiders net and slipped home his second of the contest to push the Blades advantage out to 3-0.

Brayden Klimpke had a pair of assists for the Blades.

DaSilva appreciated Laing’s finish on his third period tally.

“It was a great big goal for us,” said DaSilva. “He (Laing) is a heck of a hockey player.

“You can see why he is drafted. Calgary saw something in his with the size and the skill. He is a great teammate.

“The guys love him. He has fit in here so well with our group.”

Blades veteran right-winger Tyler Parr, who turned 20-years-old in January, scored the rare short-handed empty-net goal with 70 seconds remaining in the third. While still on the penalty kill, the Blades tried their hardest to get McCallum his first shutout of his WHL career.

Tyler Parr had a short-handed, empty-net goal for the Blades.

With 15.8 seconds remaining in the third, sophomore right-winger Oli Chenier one-timed home a power-play goal from the left side of the Saskatoon net to break up McCallum’s shutout bid and round out the 4-1 final score in favour of the Blades. McCallum admitted he wanted to hold on to the shutout, but he had already shrugged it off when it didn’t happen.

“Obviously, you’re a little upset in the moment, because you’re battling so hard, especially with the six-on-four at the end there,” said McCallum. “You’re just trying to work your butt off, but at the same time, you’re not thinking about it too much.

Grayden Siepmann had a pair of assists for the Blades.

“Just when that goal goes in, it is not a huge deal. I’ve played enough games in this league where I’m just going to be patient with it.”

Max Hildebrand turned away 31-of-34 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders, who fell to 34-22-5-1. Raiders import defenceman Vojtech Vochvest was helped off the ice after blocking a shot late in the first period. He came back for a little bit but wasn’t on the Raiders bench for the third period.

Blades 17-year-old rookie defenceman Brayden Klimpke and 20-year-old rearguard Grayden Siepmann each finished with two assists.

The Raiders still sit first in the WHL’s East Division with a one standings point lead over the Blades and the idle Brandon Wheat Kings (33-21-4-3). The Blades and Wheat Kings each have one game in hand on the Raiders.

Frantisek Day had an assist for the Blades.

Brandon sits second in the division holding the standings tiebreaker over Saskatoon with three wins and three extra time losses in the six head-to-head meetings between the two squads. The Wheat Kings are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Calgary to take on the 40-15-3-3 Hitmen (2 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

The Blades get back at it on Tuesday when they travel to Regina to take on the 15-39-5-3 Pats (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Raiders return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Lethbridge to take on the 34-22-5-1 Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

With the WHL’s regular season nearing an end, Laing is excited to be in a final sprint for first place in the East Division with his team.

“It is getting close for sure,” said Laing. “We made a jump there.

The Blades celebrate their win on Saturday night.

“Every game is huge for us. We’ve got a couple of games against Brandon and P.A. We’ve got to keep it going here.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------                                                                   

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.