Blades enter hostile territory with Brandt Centre faithful

Pats aim to ride energy of raucous home crowd

The Pats and Blades resume their playoff series in Tuesday.

The Saskatoon Blades won’t be taking any sledgehammers to the ice for the resumption of their playoff series with the Regina Pats.

Entering their best-of-seven WHL first round playoff series with the Pats, the Blades had the role of favourites having finished fourth overall in the WHL with a 48-15-4-1 mark and being rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Pats finished sixth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 34-30-3-1 record.

In the first two games of the series played at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, the Pats claimed a 6-1 victory in Game 1 on Friday and 6-5 triumph in overtime in Game 2 on Sunday. Pats 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard was in on eight of the Pats 12 goals posting five goals, three assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department. The North Vancouver, B.C., product was named the WHL’s player of the week for the week end on Sunday.

The series resumes in Regina with Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at 7 p.m. each night at the Brandt Centre. The Pats home rink can be one of the toughest buildings to play in during the WHL Playoffs, especially if the Regina faithful believes their team can do something special.

Going into the atmosphere, the Blades will be viewed as WWE villains by the Pats faithful. With that in mind, Blades head coach Brennan Sonne doesn’t think his club has to do anything out of character.

Connor Bedard has eight points in two post-season games.

“I don’t think that is on our mind,” said Sonne. “We’re not going to be Triple H or anything like that – The Undertaker.

“That is my era – “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. I think we’re just going to go in there and try and be as gritty and competitive as we can.”

The sledgehammer was the preferred weapon of Triple H to use in the storybook world of the WWE Universe. Sonne prefers to see his squad display more of that playoff battle they showed in their overtime loss in Game 2, where they outshot the Pats 47-19.

“There are a whole bunch of different words you can use a lot of synonyms – grit, desperate, playoff mode, competitive,” said Sonne. “Whatever one you want to use, that is our main focus.

“That is the main thing we have to bring now. There are adjustments we need to make obviously special teams wise here and there. The main thing is us being gritty like we were tonight.”

The experience of what lies ahead isn’t lost of the Pats best player, who is also the best junior aged hockey player in the world. Bedard can’t wait to get on the ice to see the Brandt Centre’s post-season atmosphere.

Vaughn Watterodt has a goal and three assists in two playoff games.

“I’m pretty fired up,” said Bedard, who squad could be playing before a sell out crowd of 6,499. “I’ve watch some highlights and games from obviously the runs that the Pats have had in their great history.

“For us, it is a lot of guys that haven’t experienced that in our own building. We’re super excited for that. Our fans have been unreal all year, so we’re pretty grateful for them every night.

“We’re pretty excited to see what they bring when they come on Tuesday.”

Tuesday’s game will mark the first time the Pats have played at home in the post-season since falling 3-0 in the title game of the 2018 Memorial Cup 3-0 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on May 27 of that year. The experience of playing at home in the post-season will be a new one for all the current Pats.

“It is going to be my first experience playing in a playoff game at the Brandt,” said Bedard. “We’re pretty excited for that.

“We’re focused on what we have to do and how we’re going to play. Obviously, the fans are always going to give you an extra kick when you are playing in front of them for sure.”

Blades RW Egor Sidorov and Pats RW Ty Spencer battle for the puck.

Pats all-time great head coach and general manager John Paddock has seen a number of memorable nights in the post-season at the Brandt Centre including the Pats journey to the WHL Championship Series in 2017, where they fell in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Pats topped the WHL standings in 2016-17 with a 52-12-7-1 record and had a huge home backing when they advanced to the second round of the playoffs in 2015 and 2016.

Paddock is expecting the atmosphere for Tuesday’s game will also be a memorable one.

“It will be loud and good,” said Paddock. “It is an old arena that basically needs to be replaced, but the seating capacity of it and how it was built is as good as there is in junior hockey.

“You can get 6,400 people in there in a tight area, so it is a great building to play in. It is a great building for fans to be in when it is a full house for sure.”

As for the Blades, Sonne said his side is just focused on getting a win on Tuesday to start extending the series. He said his team gained some belief with how they played in Sunday’s overtime loss.

Intensity between the Pats and Blades could continue to heat up.

“We’re just saying ‘that’,” said Sonne. “‘That.’ If we can outshoot a team 47-19 with that kind of work and compete, why would we panic?

“That is how I feel. Let’s do that. That is what we need to do, and we will be OK.”

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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U.S. President gets COVID-19, QMJHL plays, mixed messages are maddening

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan celebrate a Memorial Cup win in 2018.

Maybe The Onion will go out of business?

The satirical media company has to be challenged to come out with stories that are more outrageous than what real life presents.

As life goes on currently in the world, one keeps constantly asking themselves, “Is this real thing?”

The frequency that question keeps getting asked in one’s head seems to increase as the second, minutes and hours swiftly move on.

Late Thursday night or early Friday morning depending on what time zone you live in, news broke that United States President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday, Trump was moved to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., just outside of Washington, D.C.

At some point on Friday, Trump received a dose of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ duel antibody, which is an experimental antibody cocktail.

Since the middle of March, the world has been caught in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Trump has downplayed the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic for months and hadn’t be taking precautions to avoid getting COVID-19.

Even with all that in mind, it still seemed surreal that that whole COVID-19 situation with Trump was playing out the way it currently is.

You were asking yourself, “Is this actually real?”

While the Trump situation was playing out in the United States, up in Canada the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League kicked off its 2020-21 regular season.

Six games were played in centres in the province of Quebec without fans on Friday night. This is happening at time when the province of Quebec is increasing lockdown measures to combat COVID-19.

On Friday, provincial authorities in Quebec announced the province had 1,052 new cases of COVID-19. On day earlier on Thursday, Quebec officials announced the province had 933 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths due to the virus.

Still, they are playing major junior hockey, which is the most elite of the junior hockey levels.

With all that noted, two QMJHL games were played in the province of New Brunswick on Friday with limited but sizable crowds. As a Friday, New Brunswick reported there were only five active COVID-19 cases in the province.

In Bathurst, N.B., the host Acadie-Bathurst Titan slipped past the Saint John Sea Dogs 4-3 in overtime before 1,372 spectators at the Centre Regional K.C. Irving, which holds 3,524 spectators for hockey.

The Oil Kings are second in the CHL Top 10 rankings.

In Moncton, N.B., the host Wildcats dropped a 4-2 decision to the Charlottetown Islanders before 2,278 spectators at the Avenir Centre, which seats 8,800 spectators.

Oh, the Quebec provincial government is considering subsidizing the 12 QMJHL clubs based in that province with $20-million. Last week, Quebec education minister Isabelle Charest said she would like to see the circuit ban fighting before the province gave any money.

On Wednesday, the QMJHL did roll out tougher rules with regards to fighting. Anyone involved in a fight gets a five-minute major and a 10-minute misconduct as opposed to just the major penalty alone. After accumulating three fights in a season, a player will get a one-game suspension and receive another one-game suspension for each additional fight.

There is still no word if the QMJHL squads received any money from the Quebec government.

Also on the hockey front back on Tuesday, the Spengler Cup hockey tournament, which is held annually in Davos, Switzerland usually from Dec. 26 to 31, was cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When you look at all those developments, you ask yourself, “Can this all be happening at close to the same time?”

To add to the craziness of the current time, the Canadian Hockey League announced its pre-season Top 10 rankings. The CHL is the umbrella the three major junior circuits of the WHL, OHL and QMJHL play under.

At the present time, the WHL and OHL aren’t slated to take the ice for regular season action until December.

The Sherbrooke Phoenix of the QMJHL checked in at the top spot. The WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings, Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks were listed second, sixth and ninth respectively.

The Brandon Wheat Kings and Prince Albert Raiders were honourable mentions. That isn’t bad considering none of those WHL clubs have held a practice for the 2020-21 campaign.

On the statistical front, Worldometer, which keeps really accurate number counts, stated there were 1,033,330 deaths due to COVID-19 in the world this year at the time this post went life. In comparison, Worldometer states there have been 1,271,167 deaths in the world this year due to AIDS/HIV, 1,020,751 deaths due to road traffic accidents, 810,877 suicides, 741,715 deaths due to malaria, 636,778 deaths due to water related diseases, 369,614 deaths due to seasonal flu and 233,724 deaths due to mothers giving birth.

There are still some out there who say as many people die of the seasonal flu as have died of COVID-19, but someone COVID-19 deaths worldwide surpass those of the season flu by over 640,000 so far this year.

Also, most of the world is taking precautions to combat COVID-19 and a death total of over 1-million has still occurred. Who knows what that total would be if there were no precautions noting how easily COVID-19 is transmitted, and the lingering health issues some have continued to have after their battle with COVID-19.

The Raiders are an honourable mention in the CHL rankings.

The skeptics do ask what about deaths due cancer. There have 6,210,397 deaths worldwide due to cancer, but a person can’t be infected with cancer interacting with a person that has that disease.  COVID-19 can be transmitted person to person through interaction.

Overall, the mixed messages that keep coming out from all walks of life in the current world are maddening.

In order to combat a pandemic like COVID-19, you need most of the public to be on the same page. 

At the moment, society is not in this together, and these crazy surreal moments that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely destined to continue.

Canada West delays January start decision, other notes

Will Evan Fiala and the Huskies return to action in January 2021?

Teams that are hoping to jump into action for the winter semester in the Canada West Conference will have to wait a little longer to find out if there will be a season.

Originally, the conference, which plays under the U Sports umbrella, was expecting to announce on Oct. 8 if there will be regular season play in the winter semester starting in early January of 2021. On Friday, the Canada West Conference announced the final decision to play during the winter semester has been pushed back to November 2.

The sports that are looking to resume play in January of 2021 include men’s and women’s basketball, hockey and volleyball along with rugby women’s 7s. Canada West Championships are still planned in the winter semester for men’s and women’s curling, swimming, track and field and wrestling.

All fall team competitions in the Canada West Conference were cancelled in June, while the conference championships for cross-country running and later golf were subsequently cancelled. All the cancellations are due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canada West Conference golf championships, which were slated to start Friday in Kelowna, B.C., were the last fall sport that got cancelled with that announcement coming down on Sept. 22.

The Canada West Conference included the University of Saskatchewan Huskies program and the University of Regina Athletics program.

• On Tuesday, the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos announced at their annual general meeting that the community owned franchise lost $791,000 for the 2019-20 campaign. Steven Mah of the Southwest Booster has the story on the breakdown of the Broncos losses and that piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On Tuesday, the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors announced at their annual general meeting that the community owned franchise lost $391,299 for the 2019-20 campaign. Randy Palmer of MooseJawToday.com has the story about those losses and that piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On Wednesday, Hockey Edmonton announced Steve Hogle will be that organization’s new general manager. Hogle served as the president of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades from 2013 to 2019. He still serves as an alternate governor for the Blades.

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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Sports teams closer to families in social media age

The Estephan and Gennaro families enjoy the Broncos’ WHL title win.

    It was one of the coolest sights when the Swift Current Broncos won the WHL championship back in May.

    During the post-game celebration, you looked around and saw all the players and coaches had their families on the ice surface with them at the Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current. Everyone was enjoying the moment, and snapping pictures on their phones.

    The vibe was real positive, and the thought that runs through one’s head is, “This is great.”

    For myself the next day, it hit me that the players were really close with their families. That thought had run through my mind on a number of different occasions during the last four sports seasons.

Broncos family members took lots of pictures of WHL title memories.

    That Broncos celebration happened on May 13. Just two weeks later on May 27 at the Memorial Cup tournament in Regina, I was on the ice surface of the Brandt Centre, when the Acadie-Bathurst Titan celebrated winning major junior hockey’s biggest prize.

    The celebration was almost a carbon copy of the one the Broncos had, when they won the WHL crown.

    I believe the strengthened family links is one of the good things that developed from the social media age. Players and coaches are in contact more with their families due to platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Titan family members flooded into Regina for the Memorial Cup.

    In circuits like Canada’s major junior hockey ranks, most players leave their homes to travel to a new centre to pursue their sport. Before social media existed, players’ family members back home didn’t learn about what was happening in that players’ life unless there was a phone conversation or a letter was mailed away.

    I can remember the days when players arrived at WHL training camps in August, and they wouldn’t see their families again until the Christmas break. Often, the news of what was happening in a player’s life was limited.

    With social media, the families back home have instant news about the life of a player, who is living away from home.

Families and friends cheer on the Pats in the 2017 WHL playoffs.

    The communication through social media makes family members more engaged with the life of a player. That engagement creates extra motivation for family members to make road trips to see the player play live.

    During the 2017 WHL playoffs, I worked a large number of games involving the Regina Pats, who advanced to the WHL Championship series that year. I saw the Pats play more than any other hockey team in the 2016-17 campaign.

    I hit a point I was recognizing the family members of the Pats players, when the Pats played on the road. I was impressed how many family members physically followed the Pats from centre to centre through that run.

Hilltops safety James Vause (#24) enjoys a PFC title win with his family.

    I remember one father of a Pats player coming up to me after a game in Swift Current and passing on a thank-you for covering the Regina team’s games.

    My experience was almost exactly the same this past WHL post-season covering games involving the Broncos. I couldn’t believe how many of the players’ families followed the Broncos all over the place.

    In past eras, families were present in the lives of the players but not to the extent I am seeing now.

    When I was a beat writer for the Medicine Hat News covering the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, I remember the families of the Tigers team that won the 2007 WHL title frequently being present in the rink.

    When the Tigers won Game 7 of the 2007 WHL Championship series 3-2 in double overtime at The Arena in Medicine Hat, I don’t remember the players’ families being present on the ice for the post-game celebrations.

The “Chippendads” cheer the Huskies women’s basketball team in 2016.

    I remember interviewing Tigers goalie Matt Keetley and watching Keetley point into the crowd and say how happy he was to see his family in the spot he pointed to.

    At that point in time, Facebook was in its infancy. Twitter wasn’t very well known and Instagram and Snapchat didn’t exist.

    Following that Tigers victory in 2007, it seemed like everyone want to get to the post-game party as quick as possible.

    When the Broncos and Titan won their respective WHL and CHL titles this past season, it seemed like everyone wanted to soak in those moments with their families, and no one wanted to leave the rink. You would also see people racing to post photos of the moment on their Instagram accounts.

The Willoughby family enjoys time together after a Huskies win.

    In both cases, it seemed like all the players on the Broncos and Titan had quickly snuck in and out of their dressing rooms to get their phones during their respective victory celebrations.

    I haven’t just noticed this in major junior hockey. I have covered the Saskatoon Hilltops the last four Canadian Junior Football League seasons, and the Hilltops players, coaches and staff are really connected with their families. The Hilltops have won the CJFL title for the past four straight seasons, and it seems like the family members have been present every step of the way including road games and team practices.

    I see it with teams in U Sports. During each of the past four seasons, it was common to see family members of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams sitting all over the Rutherford Rink at every game.

Kianna, left, and her mom Kim Dietz enjoy the Stars SFMAAAHL title win.

    The fathers of the players of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team have become mini-celebrities at games sitting together court side and becoming known as the “Chippendads.”

    During my time at the University of Regina in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I remember players from U Sports athletic teams always being pumped to go out and party after the Saturday night game, which usually closed the action for the weekend. Now players in U Sports head off to spend the post-game doing something with their families.

    In the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League, players’ families follow teams on that circuit in droves. The parent and family groups that back the Prince Albert Northern Bears, Saskatoon Stars and Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats are outstanding.

Roughriders DL Jordan Reaves, right, with dad, Willard.

    Even during my limited interactions with the CFL, it seems the families are more present. I remember interacting with members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2005, and it seemed the players couldn’t wait to go out and party after the game was done.

    There was a lengthy period of time in the late 1990s to the middle of the 2000s where I would always see members of the Roughriders or other CFL teams out for a party after games.

    During my interactions in the current day, players on the Roughriders are more focused with meeting up with their families after games and going out for a post-game meal at a nice restaurant.

    In pretty much all cases at each of these levels of sport, the families that are supporting the players are all awesome. They are all great and positively supportive of the players.

    I’ve had experience with bad parents and families during my time covering sports, but almost all the experiences in recent years have been outstanding.

    I hope players, coaches and staff members of sports teams can remain as connected to their families in the future similar to what I have seen in the present and at least in the past four years.

Back in the Express with FIBA tourney advancer

Nolan Brudehl, left, and Michael Lieffers celebrate and OT win last year.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with an advancer story for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters basketball event.

    For the second straight year, a FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters basketball stop is being held in downtown Saskatoon. Last year, the local Team Saskatoon entry advanced to the tournament final before falling 21-14 to Team Ljubljana.

    The Team Saskatoon squad containing Michael Linklater, Michael Lieffers, Nolan Brudehl and Steve Sir will be back for this year’s tournament, which is set for July 21-22 in downtown Saskatoon to be held in conjunction with Taste of Saskatchewan. 

Michael Linklater (#4) drives into the open for Team Saskatoon.

    Linklater, Lieffers and Brudehl were all members of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball team that won the U Sports national title in 2010. Sir is based out of Edmonton, Alta., and travels to join the other three.

    The tourney features teams from around the world, and it drew big crowds last year, especially when Team Saskatoon hit the court. It is expected big crowds will turn out again this year.

    My story on the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters basketball even can be found 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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    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.

Sam will always be the “Man of Steel” for the Pats

Sam Steel will always be one of the Pats all-time greats.

    If you made any type of joke about how Sam Steel wasn’t the best interview subject, you automatically felt bad about it, because he was that good of a guy.

    During his time with the Regina Pats, the star centre’s actions always spoke way louder than his words. When it game to talking to the media in post-game interviews, he was more of a quiet person, but his skills in that department greatly improved as his WHL career progressed.

    With the Pats, the Sherwood Park, Alta., product morphed into a superhero. He became “The Man of Steel” with all the big plays he made for the Pats.

    In 258 career regular season games with the Pats, Steel piled up 123 goals, 215 assists for 338 points and a plus-78 rating in the plus-minus department. His career assists total rates sixth all-time and points total 10^th all-time in the history of the Pats.

Pats captain Sam Steel (#23) breaks past a Titan defenceman Adam Holwell.

    Steel, who stands 6-feet and weighs 184 pounds, appeared in 44 career WHL playoff games with the Pats collecting 18 goals, 39 assists and a plus-18 rating. At the Memorial Cup tournament that wrapped up on Sunday in Regina, Steel topped the tournament in scoring with two goals and 11 assists in five games.

    He claimed the Stafford Smythe Trophy as tournament MVP and was named to the event’s all-star team at forward.

    Steel played with great skill and a great heart. You could see his passion for the game on a nightly basis.

Sam Steel plays to honour his late older brother Patrick.

    The 20-year-old plays to honour his older brother, Patrick, who suddenly passed away at age 18 on November 9, 2011. Patrick was a forward in the junior A ranks with the Canmore Eagles of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, and he was found dead in his billet family’s home due to an undetected heart problem.

    From that tragedy, Sam paid tribute to Patrick assuming the mantra: Finish the play.

    Sam Steel became an easy player to cheer for. He also did everything right on and off the ice.

    I have had some friends in Regina who grew up in Moose Jaw cheering for the Warriors, who are the Pats bitter rivals. Those friends admitted that their children have grown up cheering for the Pats, and it feels wrong expect for the fact they look up to Steel so that makes everything OK.

Sam Steel makes a pass in the offensive zone.

    One friend, who has been a lifelong Warriors fan, has brought her son out to numerous Pats fans functions to see Steel. That friend told me it was impossible to hate Steel.

    At those functions, Steel will be the first player to arrive, sign autographs for every young fan that comes to meet him. He will have short visits with the young fans and show genuine interest in their lives. After two hours has elapsed and he has fulfilled every autograph request, he is the last Pats player to leave.

    It is like he is too good be true, but that is who he is.

    On the ice, you almost don’t know where to start with all the big games he had. Steel was part of a core group of players that included Adam Brooks, Chase Harrison, Connor Hobbs and Tyler Brown who helped the Pats win five series in the WHL playoffs from 2015 to 2017 and advance to the WHL Championship series in 2017 falling in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Together, they were the boys next door.

    To show how magical a time it was for the history Regina major junior franchise, the Pats won a total of three playoff series from 1994 to 2014.

From left, Sam Steel, Nick Henry and Cale Fleury celebrate a goal.

    During the 2016-17 campaign, Steel was named the MVP of the WHL and topped the CHL in scoring with 50 goals and 81 assists. On March 14, 2017 when the Pats locked up first place in the WHL regular season standings with a 5-4 win over the Saskatoon Blades at the Brandt Centre, Steel had a chance to take a rip shot on goal on a two-on-one break for his 50^th tally of the season, but he made a beauty setup pass to defenceman Josh Mahura for a goal near the end of the second period.

    When you saw Steel make plays like that, you realized why the Anaheim Ducks selected him in the first round and 30^th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

    In the second of the 2017 WHL playoffs, the Pats were in Swift Current trailing the host Broncos 3-1 in Game 6 needing a win to force Game 7. Brown, who was the Pats star goalie, made a big breakaway stop on Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin to keep the Pats in the game, and Steel sparked the offence.

Sam Steel (#23) drives hard to the net for the Pats.

    With 1:24 to play in the second period, Steel sent a beauty pass across the face of the Broncos goal to a pinching Mahura, who scored to cut the Broncos edge to 3-2. Few players could have made the pass on that play that Steel did down low around the Swift Current net.

    From that spark, the Pats tied things up at 3-3 before the second period ended and pulled out a 5-3 victory. Steel netted two goals in the Pats 5-1 victory in Game 7 of that series with the Broncos held in Regina.

    Steel kept piling up the memorable games this season being named the team’s captain at the start of the campaign in which the Pats were celebrating their 100^th anniversary and hosting the 100^th Memorial Cup. He appeared in 54 regular season contests with the Pats posting 33 goals, 50 assists and a plus-27 rating.
    On Jan. 5, he helped Canada win gold at world junior hockey championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

Sam Steel sits sixth all-time in career assists for the Pats.

    The Pats finished seventh overall in the WHL with a 40-25-6-1 record. Regina fell in a tough seven-game first round series to the Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL at 48-17-5-2 and won the league championship.

    Steel had big moments in that series. With the Pats facing elimination in Regina in Game 6 on March 31, Steel had a goal and two assists to power the Pats to a 7-2 victory to force a series deciding Game 7.

    In Game 7 on April 2 in Swift Current, Steel had helpers on both Pats goals as they dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Broncos. The Pats embarked on a 45-day layoff to prepare for the Memorial Cup.

    At the Memorial Cup, no one is going to forget the night Steel piled up five assists in a 6-5 round robin victory over the Broncos on May 23. He equaled the record for most assists in one game at the Memorial Cup dating back to when it started to be played in a tournament format in 1972.

Sam Steel sits 10th all-time in career points for the Pats.

    He shares that mark with Dan Hodgson of the Prince Albert Raiders from 1985 and Jonathan Drouin of the Halifax Mooseheads from 2013.

    In the tournament’s semifinal clash with the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs, Steel had the winning goal and an assist in a 4-2 victory. He picked up his assist setting up Jake Leschyshyn for an easy empty-net tally with 5.2 seconds to play.

    The Pats ultimately fell 3-0 in the Memorial Cup title game to the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The Titan claimed their first CHL championship with their victory over the Pats.

    While the Pats were heavily outplayed in the first two periods of that contest, Steel rang a shot off the goalpost in the second period and was robbed by the glove had of Titan netminder Evan Fitzpatrick in the third period.

    Coming out accept the Stafford Smythe Trophy from CHL president David Branch, Steel had tears in his eyes and was fighting to keep his composure. It was heartbreaking to see him like that.

Sam Steel looks to fire a shot on goal on the power play for the Pats.

    With a three-year NHL entry-level contract signed with the Ducks, it is unlikely Steel will return to the WHL for an overage campaign. That trophy presentation was likely that last thing he took part in wearing a Pats jersey as an active player.

    During the post-game media scrum, Steel talked about how great it was to be part of the city of Regina and how proud he was to be a member of the Pats. The reality of what happened still hadn’t sunk in.

    “I’m not sure what to think right now,” said Steel. “It is just tough.

    “Unbelievable group of guys. Even when we lost out and we were going through the training process, there was not one guy who complained.

Sam Steel, left, received the Stafford Smythe Trophy from David Branch.

    “I think it showed this tournament. We made each other proud for sure. I couldn’t be happier with the group of guys.”

    During a media availability on Tuesday, Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock said Steel has been a main part of his memory during his time with the team. Paddock became the Pats head coach and general manager before the start of the 2014-15 campaign, which was Steel’s 16-year-old rookie season with the club.

    “Four years have flown by,” said Paddock. “I think the ultimate compliment for him was he was a no maintenance guy.

    “It doesn’t matter how good he is to us, but it matters that you never have to worry about him. You need that kind of guy.

    “It is hard, but it is time. It is time for him to move on, and it is time for him to play pro. We still have a good core of guys, but he is sort of the easy guy to poster child that kind of guy in the organization, because that is what he was for us.”

The spectators at the Brandt Centre give Sam Steel one final ovation.

    Every team in the major junior ranks wishes they had a poster child type player like Steel, who could do it all. The Pats have to count themselves as being a pretty lucky team.

    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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100th Memorial Cup will be best remembered for great hockey

Titan LW Liam Murphy (#61) and Pats G Max Paddock dive at the puck.

    REGINA, Sask. – The biggest uncontrollable variable came through in spades at the 100^th edition of the Memorial Cup.

    During the eight games of the tournament that ran from May 18 and wrapped up on Sunday in Regina to determine supremacy in the Canadian Hockey League, the hockey was outstanding. Now two days after the event wrapped up, the biggest memory you take away was how tight the competition was.

    Out of the eight games, five of them were decided by one goal, while two were decided by two goals with the winning club registering an empty-net tally on each of those occasions.

    Sunday’s championship final turned out to be the contest with the biggest margin of victory as the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan blanked the host Regina Pats 3-0, and that contest included an empty-net goal by Titan right-winger Ethan Crossman with 30.3 seconds to play.

Captain Sam Steel brings the puck up ice for the Regina Pats.

    On top of that, all of those games were shown on national television via Sportsnet providing great exposure to the CHL game.

    You would be hard pressed to find a more compelling Memorial Cup. The WHL champion Swift Current Broncos went 0-3 and every loss came via a one-goal margin.

    Despite being tired and beat up due to playing a record 26 games in their run through the WHL playoffs, the Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-17-5-2 record, could have conceivably been on the winning side of any or all of their games.

    Had they not given up two short-handed goal in their tournament opener against the Titan on May 19 surrendering leads of 2-1 and 3-2, the Broncos wouldn’t have been on the short end of a 4-3 overtime setback.

Colby Sissons and the Broncos didn’t get enough breaks at the Memorial Cup.

    A win in that game could have reversed their fortunes for the event overall. If Broncos star right-winger Tyler Steenbergen came out that contest without sustaining a concussion on an awkward, second period hit, that would have made a big difference for Swift Current too.

    The OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs were likely the most consistent club at the Memorial Cup. The Bulldogs downfall came from the fact they weren’t able to score even with having talented player like star centre Robert Thomas.

    In four tournament games, the Bulldogs, who finished third overall in the OHL’s regular season with a 43-18-4-3 record, posted a 2-2 mark at the Memorial Cup. They outshot their opponents 169-112 in those contests, but were outscored by their opponents 10-9.

Robert Thomas and the Bulldogs didn't get enough goals in Regina.

    The Bulldogs only scored more than two goals once in any of their outings when they downed the Titan 3-2 on May 22.

    Hamilton fell 4-2 in the tournament semifinal contest to the Pats last Friday despite having a 46-24 edge in shots on goal. The Pats sealed that win with an empty-net goal from Jake Leschyshyn with 5.2 seconds to play in the third period.

    In the championship final, the Pats, who were seventh overall in the WHL with a 40-25-6-1 regular season record, did have a real shot to win the game against the Titan, who finished second overall in the QMJHL regular season with a 43-15-8-2 mark.
    In the second period of that contest, right-winger Jared Legien and star captain Sam Steel both rang shots off goalposts.

Defenceman Josh Mahura, right, fires a shot on goal for the Pats.

    After 40 minutes, the Pats were down 1-0 and had been outshot 36-11, so had one or both of the goalpost shots by Legien or Steel have gone in, the storyline of that came could have played out differently.

    The Pats came out on fire in the third period of that contest holding a 17-8 edge in shots on goal. Steel had the best chance to tie things up, but he was robbed on a shot from the left slot by the glove hand of Titan netminder Evan Fitzpatrick.

    That set the stage for Titan captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel to set up centre Samuel Asselin for a goal to put the Titan up 2-0 with 6:58 to play in the third. Victory was then sealed with Crossman’s empty netter.

Jake Leschyshyn brings the puck up ice for the Pats.

    Most Memorial Cups have good drama, but the drama and excitement in this year’s event was above and beyond normal.

    In one of about every five Memorial Cups, you often encounter a situation where one team is heads and shoulders about everyone else like in 2010 in Brandon, Man. That Memorial Cup is viewed as one of the best run tournaments, but the dominating storyline was the romp of the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires.

    The Spitfires flattened the host Wheat Kings and the WHL champion Calgary Hitmen by a combined score of 15-5 before needing overtime to outlast the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats 4-3. In the championship final, the Spitfires made short work of the Wheat Kings in a 9-1 triumph.

Defenceman Noah Dobson wins a battle along the boards for the Titan.

    At the 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer, Alta., the OHL champion London Knights won all three of their round robin games by a score of 20-5. That event ended with an off the charts exciting final, when the Knights rallied back from a 2-1 third period deficit to pull out a 3-2 overtime victory on Matthew Tkachuk’s winner to down the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 3-2.

    The last three of the eight games at the tournament in Regina were all sellouts at 6,484 tickets sold for each night. All of those contests featured the host Pats.

    Over 6,000 tickets were sold for five out of the eight games in Regina. The lowest total of 5,678 sold for the opener on May 18, when the Pats downed the Bulldogs 3-2.

Samuel Asselin had the Titan’s Memorial Cup insurance goal.

    Fanfest was popular. It seemed like it was hit and miss with large gatherings at the Brandt Celebration Zone even with the outstanding musical acts that were brought in.

    The Pats owners expect to swallow a $2-million loss financially for hosting the Memorial Cup mostly due to providing a $3-million hosting fee to the CHL. They said they never expected to make money on the event.

    Regina Leader-Post star sports columnist Rob Vanstone reported the hosting fee for next year’s Memorial Cup to be hosted in Halifax, N.S., by the Mooseheads is believed to be $1-million less than the fee spent to host the tournament in Regina.

    The host committee for the Memorial Cup in Regina brought in the Eagles to perform during an open ceremonies on May 17, and about 27,000 seats were sold for that event.

    The Pats owners could have scaled things back, but they wanted to put on a memorable event and stuck to their guns. To be honest, this year’s Memorial Cup had a lot of cool things attached to it.
    Away from the rink, the hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Regina saw great spinoffs from the fact the Memorial Cup was held in the Saskatchewan capital.

    While there are always things to learn along the way, the 100^th Memorial Cup in Regina overall will go down as a success.

The Titan pose for the tradition team picture with the Memorial Cup.

    The big thing that made it a success was the product on the ice. When you come to the Memorial Cup, you want to see exciting hockey.

    All eight games that were played at the event in Regina delivered exciting hockey in droves. It will likely be a number of years before all the games in another single Memorial Cup tournament can duplicate the great display of hockey that took place in Regina.

    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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Titan top them all, capture 100th Memorial Cup

The Titan celebrate winning the Memorial Cup.

    REGINA, Sask. – The team from the Canadian Hockey League’s smallest market has laid claim to major junior hockey’s biggest prize.

    On Sunday at the Brandt Centre, the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan downed the Regina Pats 3-0 to win the Memorial Cup, which was being contested for the 100^th time. The win was a first for the Titan in franchise history, which dates back to 1969.

    The Titan have been playing out of Bathurst, New Brunswick, since 1998. According to the 2016 Canadian census, Bathurst has a population of just over 15,500, which makes it the smallest market in the CHL.

    “It is indescribable,” said Titan overage defenceman Adam Holwell. “Winning the President Cup (QMJHL champions) was unbelievable.

Defenceman Adam Holwell departs the CHL as a Memorial Cup winner.

    “(It is) the same feeling this time except we get to celebrate it without having to worry about a game the next week. It is going to be fun.”

    The Titan finished the Memorial Cup tournament with a 3-1 record, while the Pats, who were the host squad for the event, finished at 3-2. Acadie-Bathurst had been off since Tuesday after wrapping up the round robin portion of the tournament with a 3-2 setback to the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs. 

    The Titan, who downed the Pats 8-6 in a round robin clash on May 20, finished first in the round robin portion of the tournament.

    Regina entered Sunday’s contest fresh off a 4-2 tournament semifinal win on Friday against the Bulldogs.

    “We played a really good 60 minute,” said Titan head coach Mario Pouliot. “We did the good thing during the four days off, and our players were fresh mentally and physically too.

Adam Holwell (#13) celebrates scoring the winning goal for the Titan.

    “Tonight at the start of the game especially in the first two periods, we had a lot of energy, and we were playing our identity. We were fast. We counterattacked them.

    “We were using our speed. (I am) just proud too of all the players. It is a great accomplishment right now.”

    Acadie-Bathurst pinned the Pats inside their own zone for much of the first two periods.
    Titan overage defenceman Adam Holwell wired home a shot from on top of the right faceoff dot in the Pats zone to give his side a 1-0 lead with 3:50 to play in the first period.

    He never thought his tally would be the game winner.

    “That is going to sound cool, when I tell my kids that I shot it bar down,” said Holwell. “It is unbelievable.”

Netminder Max Paddock makes one of his 41 saves for the Pats.

    The Titan increased their pressure in the second period and held a 16-0 edge in shots on goal for the frame nine minutes in. Pats 17-year-old rookie netminder Max Paddock had a spectacular outing to keep his club in the game.

    Early in the second, Paddock stoned Titan right-winger Ethan Crossman on a dangerous rush and later robbed the Sackville, N.B., product with a huge glove save.

    Despite being outshot 24-6 in the second, the Pats had chances to get on the board as right-winger Jared Legien and star captain Sam Steel both hit the post on respective shots.

    Those efforts engaged the sellout crowd of 6,484, who started up chants of “go Pats go.”

    After being outshot 36-11 over the first 40 minutes, the Pats hit high gear in the third searching for the equalizer forcing Titan star netminder Evan Fitzpatrick to come up with a number of big stops.

Star captain Sam Steel had some big scoring chances for the Pats.

    Fitzpatrick stoned Pats left-winger Robbie Holmes in close and later turned away Czech import defenceman Libor Hajek on a slot shot.

    Steel had a golden opportunity to score on a rebound chance but was denied when Fitzpatrick flashed the leather for a big glove save.

    “I just try to really just track the puck,” said Fitzpatrick. “No matter if I am getting one shot or 10 shots or whatever, I just try to do my job knowing that my team is going to be there to help me out.”

    The Titan weren’t able to expand their edge until there was 6:58 remaining in the third period, when centre Samuel Asselin converted to beauty set-up pass from captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel to give Acadie-Bathurst a 2-0 edge.

    Crossman sealed with the win with an empty-net goal with 30.3 seconds to play in the third.

Evan Fitzpatrick makes 28 saves to get the shutout for the Titan.

    Fitzpatrick made 28 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Titan. Paddock turned away 41-of-43 shots to take the setback in goal for the Pats.

    “I am speechless right now,” said Fitzpatrick. “It is icing on the cake here. We won the (QMJHL) title, and now we are national champions.

    “It is amazing. We have a great support system here. We have a lot of parents and a lot of fans and a great support system back in Bathurst.”

    The Titan finished second overall in the QMJHL’s regular season standings with a 43-15-8-2 record and went 16-4 in the playoffs.
     The Titan took the QMJHL Championship series in six games with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

    The Pats, who have won the Memorial Cup three times, finished seventh overall in the WHL with a 40-25-6-1 regular season record playing out of the league’s ultra-competitive East Division.

The Titan react to winning the Memorial Cup.

    They were eliminated in the first round of the WHL playoffs in a tough seven game series against the Swift Current Broncos. 

    The Broncos won the WHL title and went 0-3 in the round robin portion of the Memorial Cup and didn’t qualify for the event’s playoff round.
    WHL teams have won only one of the last 10 Memorial Cup tournaments.

    Steel has a signed three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks, and it is unlikely the Sherwood Park, Alta., product will return to the Pats for an overage season.
    He played a key part in helping the Pats reach last year’s WHL Championship series, which they dropped in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Pats were outstanding that season finishing first overall in the WHL at 52-12-7-1.

    While he was dejected after Sunday’s loss, Steel said he would reflect on his four seasons in Regina fondly.

Titan Defenceman Olivier Galipeau takes a lap with the Memorial Cup.

    “It’s been unbelievable since the day I was drafted,” said Steel. “It’s just been great to be a part of this city, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

    “They’ve given me everything throughout my junior career and just really proud to be a Pat.”

    As for the Titan, Sunday’s game will be something their players will always remember.
    Fitzpatrick, who had a 2.96 goals against average and a .906 save percentage for the Titan in the Memorial Cup, loved soaking in the celebrations on ice comparing it to when the Titan clinched the QMJHL title series at home on May 13.

    “I went through this once in Bathurst, and now this a bigger stage and a bigger title, it is amazing,” said Fitzpatrick. “To have my family come out and everyone else who is around, it is special.”

Steel named tournament MVP

Sam Steel, left, receives the Stafford Smythe Trophy from David Branch.

    Regina Pats star captain Sam Steel was named the MVP of the Memorial Cup tournament.

    He topped the tournament in scoring with two goals and 11 assists appearing in all of Regina’s five games to be awarded the Stafford Smythe Trophy as tournament MVP, and he was named to the event’s all-star team at forward. Due to the fact he has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks, Steel will likely not be back in Regina next season for his overage campaign.

    During the regular season, Steel appeared in 54 games with the Pats piling up 33 goals, 50 assists and plus-27 rating in the plus-minus department. He added one goal and 10 assists in the Pats seven games in the WHL playoffs.

    He helped Canada win gold at the last world juniors, which wrapped up in early January in Buffalo, N.Y.

    In his WHL career, Steel has appeared in 258 regular season games piling up 123 goals, 215 assists and a plus-78 rating. He ranked sixth all-time on the Pats list for career regular season assists and his 338 regular season points rates 10^th all-time.

    The Pats had two other representatives on the tournament all-star team including netminder Max Paddock and defenceman Josh Mahura.

    The Memorial Cup champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan placed three players on the tournament all-star team including defenceman Noah Dobson and forwards Jeffrey Truchon-Viel and Samuel Asselin.

Heponiemi wins CHL’s sportsmanship award

Broncos star left-winger Aleksi Heponiemi won a major CHL award.

    Swift Current Broncos star left-winger Aleksi Heponiemi won the CHL’s sportsman of the year award on Saturday.

    The product of Tampere, Finland, appeared in 57 regular season games for the Broncos piling up 28 goals, 90 assists and a plus-42 rating in the plus-minus department. He only had 28 minutes in penalties for the campaign. Heponiemi’s 90 assists were a Broncos record for one regular season.

    He played for Finland in the last world juniors that wrapped up in January in Buffalo, N.Y.

    Heponiemi was selected in the second round and 40^th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

All of the CHL’s major awards were handed out on Saturday in Regina.

    Players from the WHL claimed two other major awards. Carter Hart of the Everett Silvertips was named the goaltender of the year and centre Jayden Halbgewachs of the Moose Jaw Warriors took the top scorer award piling up 70 goals and 59 assists playing in all of the Warriors 72 regular season games.

    QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada had two award winners with Alexandre Alain taking the scholastic player of the year award and Alex Barre-Boulet claiming the player of the year award.

    As for the other award winners, Andrei Svechnikov of the OHL’s Barrie Colts won the top prospect award, Garrett McFadden of the OHL’s Guelph Storm took the humanitarian of the year award, Alexis Lafreniere of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic captured the rookie of the year award and Nicolas Hague of the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads took the defenceman of the year award.

    Drew Bannister, who is the head coach of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, was named the winner of the Brian Kilrea coach of the year award.
    On Sunday, the CHL announced the 2004-05 London Knights were appointed the CHL’s team of the century following a fan vote in celebration of the 100th Memorial Cup. The Knights went 59-7-0-2 in the regular season, won the OHL title and the Memorial Cup.
    During the 2004-05 regular season, the Knights set a CHL record posting a 31 game undefeated streak.

    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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