From Blades to Sharks, Robins follows father’s footsteps

Tristen Robins was a second round NHL Entry Draft pick.

At times, it seems like the hockey Gods have predetermined Tristen Robins’ path through the game.

That path sees Tristen following in the footsteps of his father, Trevor Robins. The one big difference between the two is Tristen is a high-scoring centre, while Trevor was a solid puck stopping goalie.

For three seasons from 1989 to 1992, Trevor, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 179 pounds, played in the WHL for the Saskatoon Blades. He was named to the WHL’s Eastern Conference first all-star team in 1991-92, which was a campaign where the Blades advanced to the WHL Championship series and fell in a series deciding seventh game to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.

Tristen Robins is a star with the Blades.

As for Tristen, it appeared at first his WHL career was going to be with the Regina Pats, who selected him in the fourth round and 76^th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft.

On January 8, 2018, Tristen’s WHL rights were acquired by the Blades in a blockbuster trade. In that trade, Tristen, defenceman Dawson Davidson and a first round selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft went to the Blades in exchanged for import Czech defenceman Libor Hajek.

The Pats acquired Hajek in order to load up their roster as the host of the Memorial Cup tournament in May of 2018.

Tristen, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 173 pounds, has played two full seasons with the Blades. He shot up to star status this past campaign piling up 33 goals, 40 assists and a plus-16 rating in the plus-minus department in 62 regular season games.

On Wednesday, the hand of fate saw Tristen once again follow in his father’s hockey footsteps. 

Tristan Robins led the Blades with 73 points last season.

At the NHL Entry Draft that was via video conference call from the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, the San Jose Sharks picked Tristen in the second round and 56^th overall.

The Sharks happened to be the first professional team Trevor signed with.

Following the 1991-92 season, Trevor was traded by the Blades to the Brandon Wheat Kings, who had finished last in the entire league with a record of 11 wins, 55 loses and six ties. Brandon is the hometown of the Robins family.

With Trevor starting in goal as an overager, the Wheat Kings shot up to fourth overall in the WHL with a record of 43 wins, 25 losses and four ties. He was again named to the WHL’s Eastern Conference first all-star team.

Tristen Robins followed his dad’s footsteps to the Blades.

Trevor ended up signing a free agent contract with the Sharks.

In his second season as a professional in 1994-95, Trevor was called up from the International Hockey League’s Kansas City Blades to the Sharks, who dealing with injury problems in goal. Trevor spent about three months going up and down between the two teams but ultimately never saw action in and NHL game.

One day, Tristen, who is 18-years-old, might be able to one-up his father and hit the ice for an NHL game.

This was first time Tristan was eligible for the NHL Entry Draft due to his birthday being in November. Players need to be born on or before September 15 the year they turn 18-years-old to be eligible for the NHL Entry Draft.

Tristen Robins is following his dad’s footsteps to the Sharks.

Tristan will be playing in his 19-year-old season in the 2020-21 WHL campaign, which is targeted to start late on Dec. 4 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

The NHL is targeting to start its regular season on January 1, 2021.

As an 18-year-old sophomore, Tristen kept turning more and more heads of NHL scouts. He was rated 134th among North American Skaters in the midterm ranking put out by NHL Central Scouting.

Tristen Robins (#11) celebrates one of his 33 goals last season.

Tristen leaped up to the 86th spot among North American skaters on the final NHL Central Scouting rankings. His stock continued to rise resulting in a second round draft selection.

The 2019-20 WHL campaign was ultimately ended on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but had Tristen been able to participate in the playoffs for a second straight year, he might have further increased his draft stock.

Tristen helped the Blades post a 34-24-2-3 record to officially lock up a playoff berth before the season was halted.

He has the skating, puck handling, shooting and hockey sense abilities few have. Tristen has also been a perfect representative for the Blades in the community.

It would not be a surprise to see Tristen put all of those characteristics on display in the NHL some day. He has the potential to make the Sharks brass look very wise for selecting him.

Tigers G Garin Bjorklund was picked by the Capitals.

The NHL Entry Draft concluded on Wednesday with teams selecting players in rounds two through seven. Over the draft’s two days, 28 players from the WHL were picked up NHL clubs.

Left-winger Cross Hanas of the Portland Winterhawks was the first WHL player taken in Wednesday’s NHL Entry Draft proceedings going in the second round and 55^th overall to the Detroit Red Wings. The Highland Village, Texas, product posted 22 goals, 27 assists and a plus-20 rating in 60 games with the Winterhawks.

Of some of the other various notables, Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Daemon Hunt was taken in the third round and 65^th overall by the Minnesota Wild. The Brandon, Man., product was limited to 28 games this past season due to a skate cut injury to his arm.

Hunt had 15 assists in those games and was playing for the Warriors when the campaign was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brandon’s Ben McCartney (#22) was picked by the Coyotes.

Kamloops Blazers goalie Dylan Garand was selected in the fourth round and 103^rd overall by the New York Rangers. The Victoria, B.C., product posted a 28-10-3 record, a 2.21 goals against average, a .921 save percentage and four shutouts in 42 games last season with the Blazers.

Medicine Hat Tigers right-winger Lukas Svejkovsky was taken in the fourth round and 108^th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

The Point Roberts, Wash., product recorded 18 goals, 20 assists and a plus-38 rating in 52 games split between the Vancouver Giants and Tigers. The Tigers acquired Svejkovsky via a trade.

Portland Winterhawks left-winger Jaydon Dureau was selected in the fifth round and 147^th overall. The White City, Sask., product recorded 19 goals, 51 assists and a plus-41 rating in 61 regular season games.

Tristen Robins (#11) celebrates a Blades win with Riley McKay.

Tigers netminder Garin Bjorklund was picked in the sixth round and 179^th overall by the Washington Capitals. The Grande Prairie, Alta., product posted a 20-5-1 record, a 2.91 goals against average, a .897 save percentage and one shutout last season as a 17-year-old rookie.

Wheat Kings left-winger Ben McCartney was selected in the seventh round and 204^th overall by the Arizona Coyotes. The Macdonald, Man., product collected 25 goals, 36 assists and a plus-eight rating in 61 games last season for the Wheat Kings.

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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Wytinck’s OT winner caps playoff style desperate effort by Wheat Kings

WHL leading Raiders do some soul searching after setback

The Wheat Kings celebrate Zach Wytinck’s OT winner.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Zach Wytinck was pumped to give his Brandon Wheat Kings a just result after a big desperate effort.

    On Friday night before a standing room crowd of 2,848 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the 19-year-old veteran defenceman drove home the overtime winner to deliver his Wheat Kings to a 5-4 victory over the host Prince Albert Raiders in a WHL regular season contest.

    At the 3:08 mark of overtime, Wytinck got the puck at the point from teammate Chad Nychuk, skated to a midrange point in front of the Prince Albert net and drove home the deciding goal.

    “Obviously, it is a pretty crazy ending to the game (with) lots of back and forth action and goals,” said Wytinck. “We wanted to get the extra point obviously.

Zach Wytinck gets set to skate in to score his OT winner.

    “I think we played a really good game leading up to that point. I just got a good pass at the blue-line and kind of walked in. They backed off a little bit, and I tried to put it on net.

    “Luckily, it ricocheted in, and that is a big two points for our team.”

    The win was a second in the row for the Wheat Kings, and they will take all the victories the can get at this point in the campaign. They improved to 25-22-3-4 but still six points behind the Calgary Hitmen (29-21-4-1) and the Red Deer Rebels (29-20-4-1) for the two wildcard and final playoff berths in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    The Wheat Kings have a game in hand on the Hitmen.

    Against the Raiders, who still lead the overall WHL standings with a 46-7-1-2 mark, Wytinck believed his side played like they were in a post-season game.

    “I think we had a really good win,” said Wytinck. “Our desperation level was really high, and that is where it needed to be.

    “You look at the standings. We can’t waste time. We have to get wins.

Zach Wytinck reacts to scoring his OT winner.

    “That is really exciting for our group that we’re playing with that desperation level and doing what it takes to win.”

    The setback was a tough one for the Raiders to take as two third period leads slipped through their fingers.

    The two sides entered the final frame locked in a 2-2 tie.

    At the 2:48 mark of the third, import centre Aliaksei Protas potted his 10^th goal of the season to give the Raiders a 3-2 advantage.

    Brandon tied things up at 3-3 at the 8:43 mark of the third off an unassisted goal from centre Caiden Daley that seemed to come out of nowhere.

    With 6:35 remaining in the third, Raiders star left-winger Parker Kelly drove home a power-play goal, which was his second tally of the night, to give the Raiders a 4-3 advantage.

Parker Kelly said he needed to play better after the Raiders loss.

    Just 15 seconds later, Brandon tied things up 4-4 on a bit of a strange tally. Wheat Kings left-winger Cole Reinhardt threw a bad angled shot on the Prince Albert net and a slow scramble ensured where the Raiders player seemingly just stood around.

    Wheat Kings star right-winger Luka Burzan got the puck by an open right side of the Prince Albert net and made no mistake burying the equalizer.

    Kelly finished the game with a pair of goals and an assist, but he was a minus-two in the plus-minus department. 

Ben McCartney (#22) celebrates scoring for the Wheat Kings.

    The Camrose, Alta., product was on the ice for four of Brandon’s five goals including Burzan’s equalizer and the overtime winner, and that didn’t sit well with the Raiders standout, who is one of the team’s assistant captains.

   “I thought we were all pretty soft tonight myself included,” said Kelly. “It wasn’t a very great defensive game for us, and ultimately, that is what it comes down to.

    “We have to change some stuff in our D-zone if we want to make a deep playoff run. I thought we were really easy to play against. I have to change myself too.

    “I was really soft tonight. Ultimately, it comes down to leadership doing their job and figuring things out.”

Aliaksei Protas scored a third period goal for the Raiders.

    Sean Montgomery had the Raiders other tally on Friday. Ben McCartney and Reinhardt had singles for the Wheat Kings over the game’s first 40 minutes.

    Boston Bilous made 23 saves to take the overtime setback in goal for the Raiders. Jiri Patera turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in net for the Wheat Kings.

    With the Raiders being rated second in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings, Kelly said opposing team’s aren’t going to give his club any free passes.

    “Every team we’re playing against right now, they’re gunning for us,” said Kelly. “It has been like that all year.

    “Every team we play is also pushing for playoffs. We need to start using this as practice for playoff games, because if we take our foot off the gas pedal, I don’t know if we will be able to get it back on the time playoffs come.”

Luka Burzan scored to allow the Wheat Kings to force overtime.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid gave the Wheat Kings full marks for the win.

    “They have a good team,” said Habscheid. “(Wheat Kings owner) Kelly McCrimmon always has a good team.

    “This is no different. They played hard tonight. They played physical, and I thought we just wanted to play river hockey.

    “There were some of our key guys that weren’t very good tonight.”

    The Raiders and Wheat Kings go at it again on Saturday at Westoba Place in Brandon at 7:30 p.m. local time. Habscheid his team basically has to regroup in the simplest of ways.

   “(We) just have to feel sorry for ourselves today, and tomorrow is a new day,” he said.

    NOTES – The Raiders honoured Habscheid for picking up his 500^th WHL career regular season coaching victory as a head coach before Friday’s game. Habscheid accomplished the milestone when the Raiders downed the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 6-5 last Saturday.

Head coach Marc Habscheid and the Raiders look to regroup for Saturday.

    In a pre-game ceremony on Friday, Habscheid was presented with a jacket and a framed display that contained the game puck and scoresheet from his 500^th win.

   The Raiders were still without star right-winger Brett Leason and star netminder Ian Scott, who are both listed as day to day with lower body injuries.

    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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Harsch fitting in with Blades, nets goal in 5-2 win

Reece Harsch was recently acquired by the Blades via a trade with Seattle.

    Saskatoon Blades newcomer Reece Harsch showed how important it was to play to the whistle.

    On Sunday before 3,627 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Harsch was skating in just his third game with the Blades as they took on the Brandon Wheat Kings. Harsch, who is a 19-year-old defenceman, was acquired in a trade last Wednesday with the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for 17-year-old defenceman Zach Ashton and a fifth round selection in the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft.

    With the Blades locked in a 1-1 tie in the first period with the Wheat Kings, Harsch found an opportune time to score his first goal with his new club.

    Left-winger Riley McKay, who is the Blades agitator, took a cross check behind the Wheat Kings goal from Brandon defenceman Vinny Iorio, and the officials were set to blow the whistle on a delayed penalty call as soon as a Brandon player touched the puck.

Reece Harsch scored his first goal with the Blades on Sunday.

    The Wheat Kings players on the ice seemingly stopped, when Iorio’s cross check occurred. Blades centre Josh Paterson had the puck at the left side of the Brandon goal, and he slipped a pass across the front of the net to Harsch, who pinched down from the point.

    Harsch skated to the Brandon net untouched and slipped a shot past Wheat Kings netminder Jiri Patera to give the Blades a 2-1 lead. Saskatoon ultimately skated to a 5-2 victory in the WHL regular season clash.

    “It was pretty special,” said Harsch, who has three goals and eight assists in 31 games played between the Thunderbirds and Blades this season. “It was a nice pass by Patty (Josh Paterson).

    “It was great vision by him. I was just able to slip it through the arms of him (Patera). What do you know, it went in.”

    Following his goal, Harsch realized something else must have happened on the play. Since McKay wasn’t hurt, Harsch’s goal was celebrated and the focus returned to the game.

The Blades celebrate Reece Harsch’s first period goal.

    “I didn’t really notice it until after I was just looking at the net to see if the puck actually went in,” said Harsch, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 198 pounds. “Then, I looked up and I just saw McKay laying on the ground.

    “I’m not really too sure what happened actually.”

    Harsch played three-and-a-half seasons with the Thunderbirds before arriving in Saskatoon. During his time in Seattle, he helped the Thunderbirds win a WHL title in the 2016-17 campaign and qualify for the Memorial Cup tournament, which was held that season in Windsor, Ont.

Goalie Jiri Patera (#33) makes one of his 32 saves on Sunday.

    With Saskatoon having finished a stretch of playing three games in three days on Sunday, Blades head coach Mitch Love said Harsch brought everything that was expected from a veteran presence. Saskatoon lost 19-year-old defenceman Nolan Kneen to a lower body injury in Friday’s 2-1 overtime win over the Regina Pats, which added extra significance to Harsch’s arrival.

    “He (Harsch) is a very calming influence back there,” said Love. “He doesn’t seem to be rattled by too much.

    “He is an experience guy who has been to a Memorial Cup and won a league championship here. I am sure there is not a lot that gets to him. That is the way he plays the game.

Nolan Maier makes one of his 27 saves in goal for the Blades.

    “He has definitely helped our back end, especially this weekend.”

    Harsch’s play has also impressed Blades captain Chase Wouters.

    “I thought he (Harsch) has played really well,” said Wouters. “He is a really good addition to the back end.

    “He is a right-handed shot that like to get pucks up early, and he is a big body out there. He helps us a lot.”

    “He won the championship there (in Seattle). He adds a piece to our group that we don’t have.”

    Harsch said he has been accepted really quickly into the group the Blades have.

    “It is awesome,” Harsch. “It is a little different coming to a (new) team. I only knew a couple of guys.

Max Gerlach scored the Blades first goal on Sunday.

    “Guys were so nice. They’ve been really helpful for me.”

    In Sunday’s contest, the Wheat Kings got a quick jump on the host side with left-winger Ben McCartney scoring 53 seconds into the contest to take a 1-0 lead.

    The Brandon lead didn’t last. Just under three minutes later, Blades overage right-winger Max Gerlach potted his 24^th goal of the season to tie things up at 1-1.

    Harsch then potted his tally to give the Blades a 2-1 edge. With 43.3 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Wheat Kings star right-winger Luka Burzan scored on a two-man advantage to even things up at 2-2.

    From there, the Blades slowly took control of the game.

    At the 3:27 mark of the second period, the Blades jumped ahead 3-2, when Paterson slid home a goal underneath Patera.

Luka Burzan had the Wheat Kings second goal on Sunday.

    Saskatoon extended its advantage to 4-2 at the 7:45 mark of the third period, when right-winger Zach Huber knocked home a loose puck in the crease of the Brandon goal.

    Blades star netminder Nolan Maier made a sensational kick save on a breakaway by McCartney. Saskatoon import defenceman Emil Malysjev rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 33.8 seconds remaining in the third.

    After going ahead in the second period, Blades 17-year-old rookie defenceman Majid Kaddoura left the game for a short time, when he was hit by Wheat Kings right-winger Baron Thompson. Thompson received a major penalty for checking to the head and a game misconduct, and that play will be automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

    Kaddoura actually got cut on the play by his own stick. He finished the game after getting stitched up.

Zach Huber (#19) scores to put the Blades up 4-2 in the third period.

    Maier made 27 stops in goal for the Blades, who sit third overall in the WHL at 25-12-5. Patera turned away 32-of-36 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings (16-15-3-3).

    “I really liked how our guys battled tonight,” said Love, whose team has played seven games in 11 days since returning from the WHL Christmas break. “I think it was evident.

    “We had a few guys leave the hockey game in stretches just because they put themselves in the battle. That was the big message going into today’s hockey game of just playing the game the right way the way we want to play with structure and what not.

    “At the same time, we just needed to be more competitive and have a little bit more fight, especially against a team that was sitting here waiting for us. I was very proud of our guys and our effort, and we are going to try and build off of that.”

The Blades celebrate their 5-2 win on Sunday.

    The Wheat Kings return home to host the Portland Winterhawks at 7 p.m. local time at Westoba Place.

    The Blades return to action on Tuesday when they host the Seattle Thunderbirds at 7 p.m. local time at the SaskTel Centre.

    Harsch said he has lots of good memories from his time in Seattle, and it will be strange for himself to face the Thunderbirds so soon after being traded to Saskatoon.

    “It is going to be different,” said Harsch. “I’ve been wearing that jersey for three-and-a-half years.

    “Now coming in and seeing all these familiar faces, it is going to be different, but it is going to be pretty special.”

    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.