Tigers buck Broncos 4-3, capture final WHL post-season berth

The Tigers celebrated a berth in the WHL Playoffs on Saturday.

The Medicine Hat Tigers weren’t going to be denied by an opponent who had their number for most of the season.

On Saturday, the Tigers hosted the Swift Current Broncos at Co-op Place in a win and you’re in showdown for the final post-season berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and the final remaining berth in the WHL Playoffs. Entering the final regular season contest for both clubs, the Broncos had won six of the previous seven head-to-head encounters between the two sides.

This time the Tigers overcame a hot start by the Broncos to pull out a 4-3 victory before 4,506 spectators. The win allowed the Tigers to improve to 30-29-8-1 to finish eighth in the Eastern Conference and capture the conference’s final playoff berth.

Swift Current fell to 31-33-1-3 to finish ninth in the Eastern Conference and three points back of the Tigers for the conference’s final playoff position.

The Broncos forced Saturday’s winner take all clash for the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference posting a 3-1 victory over the Tigers on Friday at the InnovationPlex in Swift Current.

Swift Current got out to a quick start in Saturday’s clash at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat. Just 3:16 into the first period, Broncos star 18-year-old right-winger Connor Hvidston netted his 21^st of the season to put the visitors up 1-0.

Just under five minutes later while working on the power play, Broncos centre Josh Davies, who turned 19-years-old on Friday, netted his 20^th goal of the season to give the visitors a 2-0 edge. The shots on goal were finished tied 10-10 when the first period came to a conclusion.

The Tigers turned the tables on the Broncos in the second surging ahead 3-2 holding a 16-4 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

Oasiz Wiesblatt scored the Tigers second goal on Saturday.

Just 14 seconds into the second, 18-year-old left-winger Tyler MacKenzie netted his 18^th goal of the season to cut the Broncos lead to 2-1. At the 7:52 mark of the second with Medicine Hat working on the power play, Tigers 18-year-old centre Oasiz Wiesblatt netted his 26^th goal of the season to even the score at 2-2.

With 4:25 remaining in the second, the Tigers jumped ahead 3-2 on a power-play goal from 20-year-old right-winger Dallon Melin. Tomas Mrsic, who is a rookie left-winger who turned 17-years-old in late February, had the puck at the right side boards and passed the puck across the front of the Swift Current goal to defenceman Dru Krebs, who turned 20-years-old in February.

Krebs fed a pass across the face of the Broncos net to Melin, who converted the backdoor tap to give the host side a one-goal edge.

At the six-minute mark of the third, right-winger Brayden Boehm, who turned 19-years-old in January, had the puck in the left corner of the Swift Current zone. He centred a pass to linemate in rookie centre Cayden Lindstrom, who one-timed home his 19^th goal of the season to push the Tigers lead out to 4-2. Lindstrom, who turned 17-years-old in February, posted 19 goals and 23 assists for 42 points to go with a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department in 61 games with the Tigers this season.

The Broncos didn’t go away. Just after a power-play opportunity expired at the 10:26 mark of the third, Broncos star right-winger Josh Filmon, who turned 19-years-old on March 18, potted his 47^th goal of the campaign to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3.

Late in the frame, Broncos 17-year-old left-winger Brady Birnie hit a goalpost, and that was how close the visitors game to scoring the equalizer that forced overtime.

The Tiger proceeded to hold the Broncos off the scoreboard for just their second head-to-head victory between the two sides this season.

Tigers 15-year-old left-winger and associate player call up Gavin McKenna had a pair of assists in the win. In 16 appearances with the Tigers, McKenna, who was selected first overall in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, posted four goals, 14 assists and a plus-seven rating. McKenna played most of the 2022-23 campaign with the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy Under-18 prep team located in the Medicine Hat area.

Tyler MacKenzie scored the Tigers first goal on Saturday.

Beckett Langkow stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. Reid Dyck turned away 26 shots to take the setback in net for the Broncos.

The Broncos are still looking for their first playoff berth since 2018, when they loaded up with a veteran roster to win their third WHL championship since the franchise relocated from Lethbridge to Swift Current for the start of the 1986-87 campaign.

The Tigers return to the WHL Playoffs after finishing last in the entire league in 2021-22 with an 11-53-3-1 record.

Medicine Hat will be heavy underdogs taking on the Winnipeg Ice in a first round best-of-seven series. The Ice topped the WHL standings with a 57-10-1 record. Game 1 of the series between the Tigers and Ice is set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg.

Blades hit 100-point plateau for fifth time

Trevor Wong scored twice for the Blades on Saturday.

The Saskatoon Blades hit a rare milestone in their last outing of the regular season.

On Saturday, the Blades traveled to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors in the final regular season contest for both teams. The visiting Blades doubled up the host Warriors 6-3 to disappoint most of the 3,786 spectators at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

With the win, the Blades concluded the regular season posting a 48-15-4-1 record for 101 standings points. That marks just the fifth time in team history dating back to the team’s creation in 1964 the Blades have recorded 100-or-more standings points in a campaign.

The Blades won the most games and posted the most points in a season since going 56-13-1-2 in the 2010-11 campaign. Saskatoon’s 56 wins and 115 standings points from that campaign are both club records.

In Saturday’s clash with the Warriors, the Blades jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes on goals from star right-winger Brandon Lisowsky and hard-working centre Jayden Wiens.

At the 3:08 mark of the second with Moose Jaw working on a power play, Warriors star right-winger Atley Calvert netted his 39 goal of the season to cut the Blades lead to 2-1. The Warriors evened the score at 2-2 at the 9:23 mark of the second on a goal from 20-year-old defenceman Logan Dowhaniuk, with Calvert picking up an assist on that tally.

Before the second ended, the Blades surged back in front 4-2 with goals coming from the sticks of 19-year-old left-winger Justin Lies and rookie 17-year-old right-winger Rowan Calvert.

At the 8:42 mark of the third, Atley Calvert potted his 40^th goal of the season for the Warriors, who were working on the power play, to cut Saskatoon’s lead to 4-3. That was as close as the Warriors would come to making a comeback.

Blades star centre Trevor Wong scored 55 seconds later to give the Blades a 5-3 edge. Wong added a second tally scoring into an empty net with less than 55 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 6-3 final score.

Rowan Calvert had the winning goal for the Blades on Saturday.

Wong topped the Blades in scoring this season with 86 points coming off 27 goals and 59 assists to go with a plus-23 rating in the plus-minus department appearing in all the team’s 68 games. Lisowsky had an assist to go with his goal and finished the campaign with career highs in goals (38), assists (33), points (71) and plus-minus (plus-17).

Right-winger Jake Chiasson and utility player Spencer Shugrue each had a pair of assists for the Blades on Saturday.

Ethan Chadwick stopped 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Jackson Unger turned away 25-of-30 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors, who fell to 41-24-0-3.

The Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL and second in the Eastern Conference. In the conference playoff format used by the WHL, the two division winners are given the first and second seeds in the first round. From the second round onwards, the teams are reseeded by standings points.

In the Eastern Conference, the Winnipeg Ice took top spot in the conference, the overall WHL standings and the East Division. The Red Deer Rebels (43-19-3-3) topped the Central Division and finished third overall in the Eastern Conference. They will be the top two seeds in the first round of the playoffs.

That means the Blades will face Connor Bedard and the Regina Pat in a first round best-of-seven series in the WHL Playoffs. Game 1 of that series set for this coming Friday at 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre. The Pats finished sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 34-30-3-1 mark.

The last time the Blades and Pats met in the post-season came back in the 2006 WHL Playoffs, where the Blades claimed a best-of-seven first round series 4-2.

The Warriors finish fourth overall in the Eastern Conference and will face the fifth place Lethbridge Hurricanes (36-26-3-3) in a best-of-seven first round series. Game 1 of that series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

Raiders close with 5-3 win over Pats, other notes

Sloan Stanick (#23) had a hat trick on Saturday.

Sloan Stanick closed the 2022-23 campaign for the Prince Albert Raiders by outshining Connor Bedard in the Regina Pats home rink.

On Saturday, Stanick had a hat trick for the Raiders to power them to a 5-3 victory past the Pats to the disappointment of most of the sellout crowd of 6,499 spectators at the Brandt Centre. The contest concluded the regular season schedules for both squads.

For the Raiders who had already been eliminated from WHL post-season contention, the win allowed them to halt a three-game skid and improve to 28-37-3. The Raiders finished 11^th in the 12 team Eastern Conference and 18^th overall in the 22 team WHL.

Prince Albert got close to shutting out Bedard, who is the Pats 17-year-old phenom centre, for the contest. Bedard netted the game’s final goal with five minutes remaining in the third period. The North Vancouver, B.C., product finished the regular season leading the WHL in goals (71) and points (143) to go with a plus-39 rating in the plus-minus department in 57 appearances.

In Saturday’s clash between the Raiders and Pats, the Raiders drew first blood with 3:21 remaining in the opening frame on a power-play goal from 17-year-old centre Aiden Oiring, who netted his 12^th tally of the season. Defenceman Easton Kovacs and 16-year-old rookie right-winger Ryder Ritchie picked up assists on the tally.

In the second, Stanick, who is the Raiders star 19-year-old left-winger, went to work scoring at even strength at the 10:23 mark and short-handed at the 12:44 mark to put the visitors up 3-0. Those tallies allowed Stanick to his the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his WHL career.

Pats star import defenceman Stanislav Svozil scored at the 2:59 mark of the third to cut the Raiders lead to 3-1.

Just 76 seconds after Svozil’s tally, Stanick completed his hat trick to put the Raiders up 4-1. At the 8:54 mark of the third, Raiders overage captain Evan Herman potted his 18^th goal of the season to increase the visitors’ edge to 5-1.

Landon Kosior had 63 points this season for the Raiders.

Star 17-year-old left-winger Tanner Howe and Bedard replied with singles for the Pats to round out the game’s scoring.

With his hat trick, Stanick finished up the 2022-23 campaign as the Raiders leading scorer posting 64 points coming off 31 goals and 33 assists to go with an even rating appearing in 67 games. Landon Kosior, who is the Raiders star 20-year-old offensive-defenceman, finished second in team scoring with 63 points coming off 17 goals and 46 assists to go with a plus-three rating in 60 appearances.

Ritchie finished the contest recording a pair of assists for the Raiders. He finished third in team scoring with 55 points coming off 20 goals and 35 assists in 61 appearances.

Import netminder Tikhon Chaika stopped 29 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Kelton Pyne turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats.

The Pats finish sixth overall in the Eastern Conference with a 34-30-3-1 mark and will face the Saskatoon Blades (48-15-4-1) in a best-of-seven first round playoff series. Game 1 of that series set for this coming Friday at 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.

The last time the Blades and Pats met in the post-season came back in the 2006 WHL Playoffs, where the Blades claimed a best-of-seven first round series 4-2.

The Raiders finished 10 points behind the Medicine Hat Tigers (30-29-8-1) for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

• The Winnipeg Ice topped the WHL overall standings with a 57-10-1 mark and their 57 wins and 115 standings points are both team records. The Ice’s old records of 53 wins and 111 standings points were set last season when they went 53-10-3-2 to finish first overall in the WHL.
• The Seattle Thunderbirds finished second overall in the WHL with a 54-11-1-2 mark and their 54 wins and 111 standings points are both team records. The Thunderbirds old records of 52 wins and 111 standings points were set back in the 1989-90 season. In 1989-90, the Thunderbirds finished second overall in the WHL with a record of 52 wins, 17 losses and 3 ties.
• Prince George Cougars star centre and Saskatoon product Riley Heidt, who turned 18-years-old on Saturday, finished fifth in the WHL scoring race with 97 points coming off 25 goals and 72 assists appearing in all his teams 68 regular season games. Heidt’s assists total of 72 tied for tops in the league with Regina Pats 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard.

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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The return of the Tigers

Medicine Hat poised to turn heads in WHL again

The Tigers have picked up some big wins this season.

Are Medicine Hat Tigers ready to mix it up with the WHL’s elite once again?

Last season, the Tigers found life tough in the first full campaign back after the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were cut short and didn’t have any post-season play due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world. In 2021-22, they thumped down to last place in the entire WHL with an 11-53-3-1 record.

For the storied Tigers, the 11 wins was the lowest total for a season since the birth of the modern version of the franchise in 1970-71. That win total was even surpassed during the severely shortened bubble season of 2020-21, when the Tigers posted a 14-8-0-1 record.

The thud the Tigers experienced in the 2021-22 campaign was totally unexpected by anyone who had been associated with or has followed the team. Way back in the 2002-03 season, the Tigers made the WHL Playoffs with a record of 29 wins, 34 losses, two ties and seven overtime losses to end drought of having missed the post-season for five straight years.

In the 2003 WHL Playoffs, the Tigers advanced to the second round where they fell to the Red Deer Rebels in a tough seven-game series. From that season, the Tigers shot out to a run where they were consistently one of the WHL’s top teams and were still in the playoffs often winning a round in reloading years.

WHL Championships came in 2004 and 2007 along with Eastern Conference final appearances in 2006, 2011 and 2014. You always had to be aware of the Tigers, who are a franchise that has was five WHL crowns and two Memorial Cup titles as CHL champions in its history.

The Tigers have sent countless players to the NHL ranks including Tom Lysiak, Lanny McDonald, Morris Lukowich, Pete Peeters, Kelly Hrudey, Murray Craven, Trevor Linden, Chris Osgood, Rob Niedermayer, Josh Green, Jason Chimera, Jay Bouwmeester, Joffrey Lupul, Clarke MacArthur, Cam Barker, Kris Russell, Darren Helm, Derek Dorsett, Tyler Ennis, Emerson Etem, Mads Sogaard and Cole Sillinger.

It did seem strange to see the Tigers bottom out in 2021-22 and finish in the basement of the WHL first time since posting a record of 15 wins, 53 losses and three draws in the 1998-99 campaign. It is not usual to see the Tigers go through total rebuilds that are experienced at one time by all major junior clubs often in a cyclical nature.

Andrew Basha had four goals for the Tigers on Saturday.

The best part for the Tigers is the fact they are owned by brothers Darrell and Brent Maser, and their family has been part of Tigers ownership dating back to the team’s first season. They’ve seen the waves come and go and aren’t going to panic.

You can expect they would be more than understandable about the unique circumstances the team let alone the world have faced since March of 2020. They follow what they’ve always done in having good hockey people run the team and allowing them to run the team.

The team’s legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins is still there, and if you let Desjardins do his thing, you can see the Tigers rise to prominence once again. 

This season with a young roster, the Tigers are getting to a point where other WHL teams have to look over their shoulders and be aware what is happening in Medicine Hat. If opposing WHL clubs underestimate the Tigers, they do so at their own peril.

On Saturday, a Co-op Place record attendance of 6,405 spectators turned out to see the host Tigers face 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats. The Tigers rolled to a 7-0 victory in a banner night.

Sophomore 17-year-old left-winger Andrew Basha scored four goals for the Tigers, which is career high for most goals in a game. Beckett Langkow, who is an 18-year-old netminder, made 17 saves for his first career WHL shutout.

Gavin McKenna, who is a 15-year-old associate player call up, scored his first career WHL goal and picked up an assist. The Tigers took McKenna with the first overall pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, and he has put up 37 goals and 38 assists in 26 games with the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy’s under-18 Prep team.

Oasiz Wiesblatt leads the Tigers in scoring with 57 points.

Since that academy team is located in the Medicine Hat area, McKenna has played in 12 games this season with the Tigers collecting one goal and nine assists to go with a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

Rhett Parsons and Tomas Mrsic hand singles for the Tigers. Bogdans Hodass had three assists for Medicine Hat, while Oasiz Wiesblatt and Brendan Lee each had a pair of assists. Wiesblatt leads the Tigers in scoring with 57 points coming off 24 goals and 33 assists.

Drew Sim went the distance in goal for the Pats making 33 saves in a tough night for his squad. Bedard was held to three shots on goal and posted a minus-two rating.

With the win, the Tigers improved to 27-26-8-1 to sit seventh in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and three points behind the sixth place 31-27-3-1 Pats. At the moment, Medicine Hat still isn’t a lock to make the WHL Playoffs.

The Swift Current Broncos (28-29-1-3), Calgary Hitmen (26-27-5-3) and Brandon Wheat Kings (26-28-8) all sit tied for eighth in the Eastern Conference and the conference’s final playoff berth just three standings points back of the Tigers.

The Tigers have wins over the Winnipeg Ice (51-9-1), Kamloops Blazers (44-11-4-2) and Red Deer Rebels (41-17-3-3) who sit first, third and fifth respectively in the WHL’s overall standings at the conclusion of play Saturday. Medicine Hat has absorbed some drubbings too, which is standard for young teams to experience.

If they hold on to their playoff position, you can bet the Tigers are one team the WHL’s top clubs do not want to see. It would be surprising for the Tigers to have a long post-season run in 2023, but they are capable of producing a first round upset.

Beckett Langkow made 17 saves for his first career WHL shutout.

We might already be witnessing “the return of the Tigers.”

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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Sidorov snipes OT win for Blades against Tigers

Saskatoon downs Medicine Hat 4-3 for fourth straight victory

Egor Sidorov (#19) celebrates scoring the OT winner for the Blades.

Egor Sidorov has developed a knack for being in the right place at the right time for the Saskatoon Blades.

On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the import right-winger was having kind of a quiet night as his club took on the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. In the third period, Sidorov started to put together consecutive dangerous offensive shifts as the two clubs went into overtime deadlocked at 3-3 in a WHL regular season clash.

At the 1:11 mark in the extra session, Sidorov was positioned in front of the Medicine Hat net, when he received a setup pass from Blades centre Jayden Wiens. Sidorov proceeded to dangle around a Tigers checker and sniped home a shot to the low left side of the Medicine Hat goal to deliver the host side to a 4-3 victory to the delight of 3,106 spectators.

Egor Sidorov leads the Blades with four game-winning goals.

The tally was Sidorov’s only goal of the contest, but it was his team leading fourth game winner of the season. While he missed 11 games due to injury, Sidorov, who stands 6-feet and weighs 180 pounds, is still one of the Blades top offensive threats.

He has at least one point in each of the eight games he has appeared in so far this season posting nine goals and nine assists to go with a plus-10 rating. The 18-year-old is following up on a solid rookie campaign in 2021-22 that saw him record 23 goals and 12 assists in 58 regular season games.

Since joining the Saskatoon side, Sidorov quickly became a fan favourite amongst the Blades faithful. The support has only increased as Sidorov decided to live in Saskatoon year round due to the political situation involving his home country of Belarus.

Egor Sidorov has 18 points in eight games for the Blades.

With Belarus supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, Sidorov is in a situation where he doesn’t know when he will ever return home. Sidorov had been with the Blades for six months when Russia started its invasion of Ukraine this past February.

Sidorov and the Blades organization know that the skilled forward runs the risk of not being able to return to Canada, if he does return home to Belarus. As a result, Sidorov’s billet family and the Blades team have become a much closer extended family.

When Sidorov is on the ice, it feels like all the worries outside the team environment go away. He wears his heart and enthusiasm for the game on his sleeve. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Sidorov has the most fun on the ice in pretty much every game he plays.

Jayden Wiens had an assist on the Blades OT winner.

Friday’s encounter with the Tigers ended up being one of those fun back-and-forth games that was made for television.

The teams played through a feeling out style and tight checking first period with the Blades holding a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. Right-winger Brendan Lee had a good early chance to score for the Tigers, but his close in shot was turned away by a pad stop from Blades netminder Ethan Chadwick.

The Blades had their best chance to score inside the final minute of the first 20 minutes. While working the power play, Sidorov got the puck at the right boards, cut to the front of the net and fired a shot through a screen that was turned away by Tigers netminder Beckett Langkow.

Brendan Lee had a goal and an assist for the Tigers.

That late first period power play came due to the fact Tigers right-winger Brayden Boehm received a double minor for slew-footing. That infraction will trigger an automatic review for a possible suspension by the WHL office.

Business picked up offensively in the second.

The Tigers broke through at the 6:11 mark of the frame on an offensive zone rush. After entering the Saskatoon zone, Lee chip passed the puck past the Blades defence putting linemate Andrew Basha in the clear. Basha quickly buried his sixth of the season to put the visitors up 1-0.

Just 41 seconds later, the Blades evened the score at 1-1, when right-winger Vaughn Watterodt fired home a shot through a maze of players for his fourth goal of the season.

Blades RW Vaughn Watterodt, left, and Tigers RW Dallon Melin jockey.

At the 10-minute mark of the second, the Blades went ahead 2-1 on a great effort by Mikhail Volotovskii. Volotovskii got into the Medicine Hat zone on a partial break. The sophomore 17-year-old centre fended off Boehm and fired home to the top right corner of the Medicine Hat net to give the hosts a one-goal edge.

Just 10 second after that goal, Blades left-winger Justin Lies and Tigers defenceman Rhett Parsons engaged in a short fight. Both players threw about two punches at each other before falling to the ice.

Andrew Basha scored the Tigers first goal on Friday.

They were each given fighting majors and kind of surprising game misconducts. In that situation, that was a signal by the officials to both teams they weren’t going to tolerate any scraps that night.

With 2:18 remaining in the second, the Tigers were able to even the score at 2-2 thanks to a positive bounce play. Medicine Hat centre Tyler Mackenzie took a stride over his own blue-line and shot the puck into the Saskatoon zone.

The puck deflected off the boards behind the Saskatoon net out to Boehm, who was positioned in front of the Blades net after rushing into the offensive zone. Boehm quickly wired his eighth goal of the season past a handcuffed Chadwick to put the visitors on even terms.

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

At the 1:27 mark of the third, the Blades went back in front 3-2 scoring on the power play as star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky one-time home a setup pass form linemate Trevor Wong.

The Tigers didn’t go away. Just 2:29 later, the visitors scored on the power play to even the score 3-3, when Lee one-timed home a setup pass from 17-year-old centre Oasiz Wiesblatt.

That set the stage for Sidorov to come through with his winner in overtime.

Chadwick made 16 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades, who improved to 15-4 with a fourth straight victory. Langkow turned away 21 shots to take the extra setback in net for the Tigers, whose record moved to 6-9-4-1.

Ethan Chadwick makes a glove save for the Blades.

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

The Tigers return to action on Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the 7-12-2 Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades are off until next Friday, when they host the Winnipeg Ice (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

While the contest against the powerhouse Ice will be the Blades biggest challenge of the season, you can expect Sidorov will take that as another opportunity to get out on the ice and have fun soaking in the game he loves. His positive outlook helps give great levity to pressure packed situations during games.

The Blades celebrate their OT win on Friday.

If Sidorov keeps piling up the points, you have to believe NHL scouts are going to come calling. If Sidorov ends up with an NHL club, it would be an ultimate feel good moment.

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’ Maier equals WHL career wins record

Netminder makes 20 saves in 4-0 victory over Tigers

Nolan Maier tied the WHL regular season career wins record at 120.

It was a terrific Tuesday night in Medicine Hat for Nolan Maier.

The Saskatoon Blades star overage netminder made 20 saves in a 4-0 win over the host Tigers before 1,880 spectators at Co-Op Place. With the win, Maier equals the WHL record for career regular season goaltending victories at 120.

Maier shares the career goaltending wins mark with Corey Hirsch and Tyson Sexsmith.

Hirsch picked up his 120 victories playing four seasons with the Kamloops Blazers from 1988 to 1992. Sexsmith collected his 120 wins over five seasons with the Vancouver Giants from 2005 to 2009. He also had one non-decision relief appearance for the Medicine Hat Tigers late in the 2004-05 campaign.

Maier entered Tuesday’s action tied with Jordan Papirny for second on the WHL’s all-time career regular season wins list with 119 victories. Papirny picked up his 119 career regular season wins playing five seasons in the WHL from 2012 to 2017 with the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Swift Current Broncos.

Maier joined the Blades on a full-time basis as a 16-year-old rookie in November of 2017. The Yorkton, Sask., product has appeared in 213 career regular season games with the Blades posting a 120-71-18 record, a 2.90 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and 11 shutouts.

Along with those statistics, Maier has played 12,429 career minutes in goal for the Blades and made 5,702 career saves.

Maier’s career shutout, games played, minutes played and saves totals are all Blades franchise records.

Kyle Crnkovic had a goal and an assist on Tuesday.

In Tuesday’s clash with the Tigers, the Blades netted their first goal with 1:41 remaining in the first period, when defenceman Ryan Nolan and star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic teamed up to spring standout right-winger Brandon Lisowsky on a breakaway.

Lisowsky snapped home his 33^rd goal of the season stick side on Tigers 18-year-old netminder Beckett Langkow for the 1-0 lead.

At the 8:28 mark of the second, Blades rookie import right-winger Egor Sidorov roof home his 22^nd tally of the season to the top right corner of the Medicine Hat net to give the Blades a 2-0 advantage. Sidorov’s scoring chance on his goal came after he collected the rebound from a shot taken by Nolan.

Just 54 seconds later, Blades 19-year-old right-winger Noah Boyko backhanded home a rebound from his own close in first shot to extend Saskatoon’s advantage to 3-0.

Inside the final two minutes of the second, Maier denied Tigers left-winger Oren Shtrom on a drive from the right slot. The rebound went to Shtrom’s linemate in Noah Danielson, but Maier’s sprawling right pad stuffed Danielson’s shot attempt.

Early in the third, Tigers 16-year-old rookie left-winger Andrew Basha wired a shot off the post of the Saskatoon goal. A short time later, Maier denied Tigers 17-year-old rookie left-winger Steven Arp on a backhand shot from the front of the Saskatoon net.

The Blades rounded out the 4-0 final in their favour at the 6:39 mark of the third. Nolan sprang Crnkovic on a breakaway on a long flip stretch pass, and Crnkovic backhanded home his 38^th tally of the season.

Langkow turned away 20 shots to take the setback in goal for the Tigers (11-49-3-1).

Brandon Lisowsky scored for the Blades on Tuesday.

The Tigers are locked into finish last in the entire WHL and will continue to play out the string on Friday, when they travel to Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westman Place).

With the win, the Blades improve to 36-25-3-1 to remain in contention to get home ice advantage for a first round playoff series.

They trail the 36-23-3-2 Moose Jaw Warriors by one point for fourth place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and the right to have home ice advantage in the first round of the post-season. Moose Jaw has a game in hand on Saskatoon.

The Wheat Kings jumped back into contention for that fourth place spot after winning their third straight game downing the visiting Regina Pats 5-4 at Westman Place on Tuesday night. Brandon improved to 33-25-3-2 to continue to hold sixth place in the conference six points behind Moose Jaw and five points behind Saskatoon.

The Wheat Kings have one game in hand on the Warriors and two games in hand on the Blades.

Saskatoon still has six regulars on the injury list. Defenceman and captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere is out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

Overage star centre Tristen Robins, who is the Blades captain for the rest of the current season, is out day to day with an upper body injury and the same goes for veteran centre Josh Pillar and overage defenceman Rhett Rhinehart.

Rookie centre Lukas Hansen is week-to-week with an upper body injury, and utility player Spencer Shugrue was out day to day with a lower body injury.

Egor Sidorov scored for the Blades on Tuesday.

The Blades return to action on Wednesday, when they travel to Lethbridge to take on the 29-30-3-1 Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, Enmax Centre).

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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Rhinehart’s big night paces Blades to 9-2 romp over Tigers

The Blades celebrate a short-handed goal from Rhett Rhinehart (#41).

The Saskatoon Blades were in good hands with Rhett Rhinehart.

The 20-year-old defenceman came up with a monster game posting a pair of goals, an assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department as his Blades bashed the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 9-2 in a WHL regular season clash played before 2,713 spectators on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre.

Rhinehart was playing his first contest since the Blades fell 4-1 at the SaskTel Centre back on January 1. The Lloydminster product has been on the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List, but ultimately only missed two games.

Rhett Rhinehart had two goals and an assist on Friday.

He thought he got better as Friday’s game went on.

“It was pretty good,” said Rhinehart. “It was a little tough at first.

“It was my first game in three weeks. I was just kind of getting my legs back under me at first. Playing lots of minutes kind of helps you get into it.”

Rhinehart’s return was a welcome one as the Blades found themselves short staffed on defence due to fact four regulars were out due to COVID-19 protocols in captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, Marek Schneider, Tanner Molendyk and Ben Saunderson.

Saskatoon played with four natural defencemen with Rhinehart being paired with Charlie Wright, while rookie Ryan Nolan was paired with sophomore Spencer Shugrue. Centre Mikhail Volotovskii was moved to defence to help out the four natural blue-liners.

Rhett Rhinehart logged a lot of minutes on the Blade blue-line on Friday.

The Blades were also without head coach Brennan Sonne, who was isolating at home due to COVID-19 protocols. Associate coach Ryan Marsh ran the Blades bench along with assistant coach Dan DaSilva and goalie coach Jeff Harvey.

Rhinehart said it was important for the Blades defencemen to play smart, and he thought that helped him be on the ice for about half the game.

“It is definitely pretty gruelling,” said Rhinehart. “You’re going the whole time.

Oasiz Wiesblatt score to put the Tigers up 2-0 early on Friday.

“You get on the bench, and then you are going on in the next 40 seconds. You don’t get a lot of rest, so at points you have to conserve your energy and kind of just not really pace yourself, but take your points when you think you want to go a little harder.”

The Tigers got a quick jump in Friday’s clash jetting out to a 2-0 lead.

On an odd man rush into the Saskatoon zone, Tigers right-winger Carter Chorney charged down the right wing and passed the puck across the front of the Blades net to overage centre Logan Barlage.

Barlage quickly blasted home his eighth goal of the season and first as a member of the Tigers to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the 3:24 mark of the opening frame. The Tigers acquired Barlage from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a deal that was made before last Monday’s WHL trade deadline.

Kyren Gronick (#27) celebrates putting the Blades up 3-2.

The Tigers increased their advantage to 2-0 just 2:02 later scoring on the power play. Tigers right-winger Teague Patton passed the puck from the left corner of the Blades zone across the face of the Saskatoon goal to linemate Oasiz Wiesblatt, who tapped home his fifth of the season into an open cage.

Almost as quickly as the Tigers got the jump out of the gate, the Blades turned the momentum of the contest around.

Just past the midway point of the opening frame, Shugrue sprung overage centre Tristen Robins on a breakaway into the Medicine Hat Zone. Robins snapped his 19^th goal of the season past Tigers netminder Garin Bjorklunk to cut the Medicine Hat lead to 2-1.

The Blades evened things up at 2-2 scoring just 18 seconds later, when centre Jayden Wiens slipped home a mid-range shot.

Jayden Wiens had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

Saskatoon then jumped in front 3-2 when right-winger Kyren Gronick tipped home a point shot from centre Trevor Wong with 24.2 seconds remaining in the first for a power-play tally.

Wiens liked how his squad was able to respond quickly after falling behind 2-0 early.

“We’re a team that is not going to quit, even from a tough start like here tonight,” said Wiens. “I think it shows the character of the guys and just the no quit attitude for this group and the resiliency, so that is a good thing to see.”

The Tigers got out to a solid jump to start the second holding a 7-1 edge in shots on goal over the first 8:30 of the frame. The visitors were unable to solve Blades 17-year-old rookie netminder Ethan Chadwick.

Tristen Robins had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

The Blades proceeded to increase their edge to 4-2 at the 9:56 mark of the second period, when Rhinehart fired home a power-play goal through a screen in front of the Medicine Hat net.

The Tigers looked like they were going to have a good chance to change momentum when Nolan was penalized for hooking with 3:46 remaining in the second.

On that kill, the Blades scored a pair of short-handed goals coming 31 seconds apart from each other to push their lead up to 6-2.

Robins netted the first short-handed goal for his second tally of the night and 20^th goal of the season. Rhinehart potted the second short-handed goal and his second of the night coming off a rare offensive rush up the right wing.

Ethan Chadwick made 28 saves in goal for the Blades.

“He (Rhinehart) really stepped his game up,” said Marsh. “He had been off on a little bit of a layoff based off of COVID.

“Coming back in, I was a little bit concerned with us being a little bit short, and him not having played in the last few games. I just thought as the game went on he just got better and better. He played really well for us.

“He stepped up in all situations. He did a really good job on our power play getting some opportunity there with some guys that were out. I thought he was a horse out there on our penalty kill as well, and he was a real leader for us tonight.”

Following Rhinehart’s goal that put the Blades up 6-2, the Tigers pulled starting netminder Garin Bjorklund, who stopped 10-of-16 shots sent his way. He took the setback in goal for the Tigers as they fell to 7-25-3-1 having lost their last four in a row.

Noah Boyko had three assists for the Blades on Friday.

Beckett Langkow played the rest of the way in relief for Medicine Hat turning away five-of-eight shots sent his way.

Just 51 seconds into the third, the Blades netted their third power-play goal of the night, when Wiens netted his second goal of the contest tipping home a point shot from defenceman Charlie Wright.

The Blades proceeded to round of the contest’s scoring with Gronick scoring his second power-play goal of the night and Nolan netting his first career WHL regular season goal.

Nolan was acquired by the Blades from the Tigers in a blockbuster three-team trade that involved the Prince George Cougars on December 27, 2021.

Ryan Nolan scored his first career WHL goal on Friday.

Rhinehart said he was proud of everyone who played on the Blades short staffed back end on Friday night.

“Those guys were really awesome, and we had Misha (Mikhail) Volotovskii help out on the back end as well to give us an extra man for a little bit of help there,” said Rhinehart. “Obviously, Ryan Nolan scored his first Western League goal against his old team was a pretty special moment.

“He made sure that he enjoyed that one.”

Chadwick stopped 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades, who improved to 20-14-1-1 with their third straight victory.

Robins, Wiens and Gronick each picked up a single assist to go with their respective two-goal nights. 

Egor Sidorov (#19) shows off some fancy stick work.

Wong and right-winger Noah Boyko each picked up three assists on Friday for the Blades.

The Blades return to action on Saturday when they host the Winnipeg Ice (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Tigers also get back at it Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to face the 15-20-1-1 Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Marsh said his Blades will have their hands full on Saturday playing an Ice team that leads the WHL’s overall standings with a 29-5-2 record.

The Blades enjoy their big win on Friday night.

“It is a huge challenge,” said Marsh. “They are really a high-powered offensive team.

“We need to reset. We need to clean a few things up from a defensive standpoint and do some things off the rush. We have to get our rest and recovery tonight and be ready to go to battle.

“We have to play a Blades brand of hockey tomorrow, where you are outworking the opposition and taking care of business away from the puck. We are going to need everyone in all four lines, our six defencemen and (our goalie) making key saves to have success tomorrow.”

“Girls Rock Night” returned on Friday night

Keely Shaw, Brigette Lacquette and Emmarae Dale are saluted.

On Friday, the Saskatoon Blades brought back their traditional “Girls Rock Night.”

The Blades were unable to hold that night last season as they played an abbreviated 24-game schedule in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

With the Blades once again being able to host home games with fans this season inside a scheduled 68-game regular season, they are trying to get back to holding a number of traditional theme nights they held before the COVID-19 pandemic clamped down on North America back in March of 2020.

On Friday, the Blades had three special guests at their game in Brigette Lacquette, Keely Shaw and Emmarae Dale.

Lacquette played defence for Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team and is currently a scout for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.

The ceremonial faceoff of the Blades “Girls Rock Night.”

Shaw won a bronze medal in cycling at the 2020 Paralympics that were actually held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

Dale just graduated from the Saskatoon Hilltops after playing linebacker for them last season. Dale is the first female to play games in the CJFL.

She is a veteran player of the Saskatoon Valkyries of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League.

The trio took part in a pre-game speaking engagement designed for all ages. They also participated in a ceremonial pre-game faceoff, where they were introduced individually and given big cheers by the 2,713 spectators in attendance.

Following those festivities, the Blades would go on to down the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 9-2.

Pillar trade a first class move by Blades, Blazers

The Saskatoon Blades don’t mind waiting for a major roster addition, especially when a health situations needs to work itself out.

Before the WHL’s trade deadline this past Monday, the Blades acquired 19-year-old forward Josh Pillar from the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for a conditional third round selection in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft and a conditional second round pick in the 2024 Prospects Draft.

Pillar, who stands 6-feet and weighs 179 pounds, posted 11 goals, 20 assists and a plus-four rating in 29 games with the Blazers this season. In 183 career regular season games with the Blazers, Pillar has 43 goals, 83 assists and a plus-20 rating.

He was selected in the fourth round and 127^th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

At the time the trade was made, Pillar was at home in Warman, Sask., recovering from a private medical situation. As Warman is located along Saskatoon’s northeast border, management on both teams in conjunction with Pillar’s family agreed it was best for Pillar to be close to home. The Blades and Blazers did the classy thing and made this trade a reality.

Blades general manager Colin Priestner and Blazers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston both deserve a tonne of praise for the work they put in to make this trade a reality to get Pillar to his home stomping grounds.

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.