Ice blue-liners give Blades the blues in Game 1

Saskatoon falls 3-0 in WHL Eastern Conference final opener

Ben Zloty scoring the winning goal for the Ice on Friday.

When you go almost three months between playing games head-to-head, a great team’s underrated players can catch a strong foe off guard.

In Game 1 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series, Winnipeg Ice offensive-defencemen Ben Zloty and Carson Lambos reintroduced themselves to the Saskatoon Blades. Zloty and Lambos each had a goal as the Ice blanked the visiting Blades 3-0 on Friday before 1,613 spectators at the Wayne Fleming Arena to open the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final.

Friday’s encounter marked the first time the two sides met since February 4, when the Blades posted a 3-2 regular season victory over the Ice at the SaskTel Centre.

When one looks at the Ice roster, it is easy to be memorized by the talent in the club’s forward group consisting of the likes of Zach Benson, Matthew Savoie, Connor McClennon, Conor Geekie, Owen Pederson and Zack Ostapchuk. With that noted, the Ice are at their best when their defence is quarterbacking the contest.

Zloty and Lambos rank among the top defenders in the WHL, because they can do it all. Their strong play in the defensive zone often gets overlooked, because they are so strong at the offensive side of the game.

When either Zloty or Lambos gets the puck even if it is deep in their own zone, it seems they have command with a presence of what the Winnipeg side wants to do on offence like Tom Brady quarterbacking the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL.

Carson Lambos scored the Ice’s third goal on Friday.

It should come as no surprise that Zloty, who turned 21-years-old in late February, led the WHL in defencemen scoring during the regular season. In 64 regular season appearances with the Ice, Zloty posted 81 points coming off 13 goals and 68 assists to go with a plus-67 rating in the plus-minus department.

Lambos, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild and turned 20-years-old in January, had a strong campaign posting 48 points coming off 12 goals and 36 assists to go with a plus-60 rating in 61 regular season appearances with the Ice.

The poise of Zloty and Lambos seems to run off on the rest of the Ice’s defensive unit including solid 19-year-old veterans like Graham Sward and Karter Prosofsky and 16-year-old dynamo Jonas Woo. Sward, Prosofsky and Woo can all motor up ice fearlessly with the puck. If they are on the ice with Zloty and Lambos, the supporting trio seamlessly looks after the defensive end allowing the team’s main point producing defenders to look after the offensive end.

Woo and Zloty teamed up to account for the Ice’s first goal at the 14:39 mark of the first period. Woo got the puck to Zloty at the left point in the offensive zone and allowed Zloty to go to work from there.

Zloty circled with the puck to the top of the right faceoff circle and put home a backhander through a screen to give the Ice a 1-0 lead. The tally was the first of the post-season for Zloty to go with 15 assists to sit second in defenceman scoring in the WHL Playoffs with 16 points.

With 4:28 remaining in the first, the Blades went on the power play after Benson took a minor infraction for hooking. Early in the power play, Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov got a prime scoring chance wiring a shot on goal from the right slot, but he was robbed by the glove had of Ice netminder Daniel Hauser.

Egor Sidorov had a good chance to score on a first period power play.

Shortly after that scoring chance, the Ice had a huge scoring opportunity with 3:55 remaining in the first when Ostapchuk had a short-handed breakaway.  As Ostapchuk closed in on the Saskatoon goal, he was hacked by Blades star centre Trevor Wong on the backcheck.

The officials awarded Ostapchuk a penalty shot. On the penalty shot, Ostapchuk wire home a shot blocker side on Blades netminder Ethan Chadwick to push the host side’s advantage out to 2-0 for the rare short-handed penalty shot marker.

While the Ice had a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission, the opening 20 minutes was played fairly evenly with the hosts holding a 10-8 edge in shots on goal.

The Ice came out of the gates controlling play in the second period. At the 7:45 mark of the second, Savoie got the puck top Lambos at the left point. Lambos carried the puck just inside the blue-line of the Saskatoon zone and floated home an off-speed point shot to put the hosts up 3-0.

The tally was the first of the post-season for Lambos, who also has four assists to go with a plus-10 rating in 11 contests.

The Blades would get two power play chances before the second period came to a close, but the visitors weren’t able to find a traction goal. Early in the third period, the Blades went on the power play for the fourth and final time of the contest but still weren’t able to put a puck past Hauser.

Ethan Chadwick made 25 saves in goal for the Blades on Friday.

The Ice had one power-play chance in the game, but the Blades were able to kill that penalty off. In the post-season the Blades have currently killed off 12 consecutive opposition power plays.

With three minutes to play in the third, the Blades pulled Chadwick for an extra attacker. The Ice appeared to get an empty-net goal with 28.3 seconds remaining in the third from import right-winger Vladislav Shilo. The goal was waved off after a video review after it was determined the Ice were offside on the rush into the Saskatoon zone.

Hauser stopped all 16 shots he faced to pick up his first shutout of the current post-season. Chadwick turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

The Blades were without 20-year-old defenceman Blake Gustafson and 18-year-old rearguard Ben Saunderson on Friday as they were both injured in the team’s second game Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Red Deer Rebels. Black ace Morgan Tastad, who turned 17-years-old in January, dressed for his first career WHL post-season contest to allow the Blades to have six defencemen.

Tastad played most of the 2022-23 campaign with the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 AAA team. In 41 regular season appearances with the Contacts, Tastad had three goals and 24 assists.

Gritty right-winger Justin Lies returned to the Saskatoon lineup after serving a league imposed three-game suspension. Lies was suspended for a head shot he threw on Rebels star left-winger Kalan Lind in the Blades 4-2 win in Game 4 of that series.

The Ice got to enjoy a Game 1 win over the Blades.

The Ice’s biggest scratch was 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson. Winnipeg elected to dress 17-year-old rookie rearguard Ashton Cumby for his second career post-season contest.

The Ice topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice. The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The series resumes on Saturday with Game 2 at the Wayne Fleming Arena for a 4 p.m. start local time. In that contest, we will see if the Blades are able to adjust to the Ice defence led by Zloty and Lambos who love to activate and get into the play offensively.

T-Birds, Blazers to open Western Conference final, other notes

Brad Lambert leads the Thunderbirds in post-season scoring.

The Seattle Thunderbirds and Kamloops Blazers are set to get it on.

The two powerhouse clubs open their best-of-seven Western Conference title series on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. Game 2 of the series is slated for Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Accesso ShoWare Center.

The Thunderbirds and Blazers met in last year’s Western Conference Championship series. That series went to a deciding Game 7, and it was claimed 3-2 by the Thunderbirds at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops. The Blazers led the series 3-2, before the Thunderbirds closed the set out with two straight wins.

Seattle went on to fall in the WHL Championship Series in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

The Blazers, who are hosting this year’s Memorial Cup tournament, finished second overall in the Western Conference and third overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-13-4-3 mark. The B.C. Division champions were rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Seattle swept away the Kelowna Rockets 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series and the Prince George Cougars 4-0 in a best-of-seven WHL Western Conference semifinal series. Kamloops swept the Vancouver Giants 4-0 in the first round and the Portland Winterhawks 4-0 in the other Western Conference semifinal series.

The Thunderbirds have been off since April 19, when they closed out their series with the Cougars with an 8-2 victory in Game 4 of that series in Prince George. The Blazers have been off since April 20, when they close out their series with the Winterhawks with a 10-4 victory in Game 4 in Portland.

Jared Davidson topped the Thunderbirds in regular season scoring.

Centre Jared Davidson topped the Thunderbirds in regular season scoring with 82 points coming off 38 goals and 44 assists to go with a plus-41 rating in the plus-minus department in 60 appearances. Centre Brad Lambert leads the Thunderbirds in post-season scoring with 16 points coming off two goals and 14 assists to go with a plus-nine rating in six appearances.

Star centre Logan Stankoven topped the Blazers in regular season scoring with 97 points coming off 34 goals and 63 assists to go with a plus-36 rating in 48 appearances. Stankoven and star defenceman Olen Zellweger share the Blazers team lead in post-season scoring at 21 points in the team’s eight playoff outings.

Stankoven has recorded his 21 points on 10 goals and 11 assists to go with a plus-12 rating. Zellweger has his 21 points coming off seven goals and 14 assists to go with a plus-17 rating.

The star netminders for both sides have had strong post-seasons. Thomas Milic has played every minute of the playoffs in goal for Seattle winning all eight of his starts posting a 1.13 goals against average, a .953 save percentage and one shutout. Dylan Ernst has played every minute in of the playoffs in goal for Kamloops winning all eight of his starts posting a 1.80 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and three shutouts.

If the Blazers win the series against the Thunderbirds, the winner of the Eastern Conference Championships Series between the Winnipeg Ice and Saskatoon Blades will earn a berth to the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Blazers last appeared in the WHL Championship Series in 1999 falling in five games to the Calgary Hitmen.

• When the Saskatoon Blades fell 3-0 to the host Winnipeg Ice on Friday in Game 1 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series, it marked the first time long time Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk called a game in a conference final. He has been the Blades play-by-play voice since the start of the 1994-95 campaign. Lazaruk’s hometown is Winnipeg, and he had a lengthy sports broadcast career there before becoming the Blades play-by-play voice.
• The Blades purchased a billboard on Pembina Highway in Winnipeg welcoming Lazaruk back to his hometown. A couple of others on social media added that the welcome home billboards for Lazaruk are up in a couple of other locations in the city.
• Four WHL officials will work the upcoming International Ice Hockey Fedaration World Championship, which will run May 12 to 28 in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Nevada. The four WHL officials heading to worlds include referees Adam Bloski and Mike Langin and linespersons Brett Mackey and Tarrington Wyonzek.
• The Saskatoon Blades appearance in this year’s WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series marks the first time they’ve gone this far in the WHL post-season since 1994. In 1994, the Blades took the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series 4-1 over the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Blades fell in the WHL Championship Series in seven games to the Kamloops Blazers, who went on to win the Memorial Cup. In 1994, the Swedish group Ace of Base had the best selling album in the United States that year with “The Sign.” The album’s title track “The Sign” was the best selling single in the United States in 1994.

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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Ice and Rebels on fire early in WHL campaign

Matthew Savoie is one of the Ice’s best known stars.

The Winnipeg Ice and Red Deer Rebels are the slam dunk teams to beat in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

Actually, a strong case can be made that they are the teams to beat in the entire WHL, but the Seattle Thunderbirds, Portland Winterhawks and Memorial Cup hosting Kamloops Blazers in the Western Conference might have something to say about that.

Still, the Ice and Rebels have been impressive in the early going. On Saturday at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, the Ice downed the visiting Tri-City Americans 5-4 for a 10^th straight win to improve to 15-1.

While the Ice were taking care of the Americans, the Rebels were in Moose Jaw overcoming a 2-0 lead by the host Warriors to pull out a 4-2 victory at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. 

The win allowed the Rebels to open the 2022-23 campaign with a 15-0 mark, and their 15 straight wins is a franchise record for consecutive victories. The old record of 14 straight wins was posted by the Rebels in the 2001-02 campaign.

The Ice are currently rated second in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings, while the Rebels are rated third.

Between the Ice and Rebels, the Ice have had slightly the more remarkable start. The Winnipeg side opened the campaign playing 13 straight games on the road posting a 12-1 record.

Captain Jayden Grubbe has 18 points for the Rebels this season.

The extended road swing was necessary, because major infrastructure work was being completed at the Wayne Fleming Arena on the University of Manitoba campus. Earlier this year, the U of M received federal funding to replace the ice plant, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for the Max Bell Centre, which the Wayne Fleming Arena is a part of.

Saturday was the third contest of a 10-game home stand for the Ice. The Americans, who fell to 7-9, gave the Ice a good battle. The hosts overcame an early 1-0 deficit, burst out to a 5-2 lead and held on for the 5-4 win.

Connor Dale, who is a 17-year-old rookie centre, netted his first two career WHL goals for the Ice. Winnipeg received singles from Ty Nash, Connor McClennon and Vladislav Shilo. Jake Sloan had a pair of goals for the Americans, who received singles from Ethan Ernst and Adam Mechura.

Dawson Cowan, who is another 17-year-old rookie, made 28 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Ice. Nick Avakyan turned away 29 shots to take the setback in net for the Americans.

Winnipeg’s best known stars in Matthew Savoie, Zach Benson, McClennon and Owen Pederson didn’t have to carry the day to help their side get a win. Savoie, McClennon and Pederson each had one assist in the victory, while McClennon’s tally was his only point of the contest.

Ice star defenceman Ben Zloty and captain Carson Lambos didn’t register any points against the Americans. Zloty had an even rating in the plus-minus department, while Lambos was a plus-two. Winnipeg’s roster is so deep that Zloty and Lambos just have to be steady to allow their side to pull out a win.

Zach Benson can pile up the points for the Ice.

Ice star 18-year-old goalie Daniel Hauser was given a rare night off. Hauser has won all 11 contests he has appeared in this season posting a 2.35 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and one shutout.

The Ice are paced behind the bench by an outstanding head coach in James Patrick, who is a former standout NHL defenceman.

The Rebels in their 15-0 start have won eight contests at home and seven on the road. They are in pursuit of a really old WHL record for most consecutive wins to open a season.

The record for most consecutive wins to open a season currently sits at 22 victories, and it is held by the 1967-68 Estevan Bruins. The Bruins won the league title that season.

Against Moose Jaw on Saturday, the host Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a first period tally from star 17-year-old centre Brayden Yager and a power-play goal at the 3:06 mark of the second frame from 19-year-old steady centre Atley Calvert.

Kai Uchacz and Jase Isley each scored twice to help the Rebels rally back to victory. Uchacz potted his second marker into an empty net.

Connor Ungar, who is in his 20-year-old season and is a former member of the Rebels, turned away 24-of-27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Warriors, who fell to 9-6.

Kalan Lind is one of the Rebels highly skilled younger players.

Kyle Kelsey, who is an 18-year-old rookie, stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in the Red Deer net.

Uchacz, Isley and Kelsey are a trio of older players who are having breakout seasons with the Rebels. Uchacz is a 19-year-old centre who has 15 goals and four assists so far this season. Uchacz’s 15 tallies are already a career high.

Isley, who is a 20-year-old centre, has nine goals and five assists so far this season for the Rebels. He needs just 12 more points to equal his career high for points in a season.

Kelsey has won his first 10 career games in goal for the Rebels posting a 1.80 goals against average, a .935 save percentage and one shutout.

Red Deer 19-year-old captain Jayden Grubbe has four goals and 14 assists, and he needs 17 points to match his career high. Kalan Lind, who is a 17-year-old centre, has two goals and 13 assists in attempting to follow up a strong 16-year-old campaign.

Import Finish defenceman Christoffer Sedoff is having another strong campaign leading all Rebels blue-liners with 16 points coming off one goal and 15 assists. Hunter Mayo, who is an 18-year-old defenceman, is finding his groove offensively posting seven goals and three assists.

The Rebels are having all their success with the limited services of star 20-year-old centre Ben King. King has appeared in just five games netting five goals and five assists.

Carson Lambos ensures things stay calm in the Ice’s back end.

The Vernon, B.C., product was taken in the fourth round and 107^th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks, and he was returned to Red Deer in early October after getting a lengthy training camp stay with the NHL club. 

King was injured in the Rebels 3-0 home ice victory over the Prince Albert Raiders on October 22 and is listed as being out indefinitely with a lower body injury.

The Rebels are hoping King could potentially be back in six to eight weeks from the time he was injured.

For the longest time, Rebels general manager and owner Brent Sutter seemed to be challenged when it came to finding someone take over the head coach title he also held with the club. 

Before the start of the 2021-22 campaign, Sutter was able to bring on Steve Konowalchuk to be the head coach in Red Deer.

Konowalchuk guided the Seattle Thunderbirds to a WHL title in 2016-17 as head coach, and he is showing he is still one of the best bench bosses in major junior hockey.

Now, things are going to get even more interesting in the young WHL campaign. The Ice and Rebels are both off until Tuesday, when they will face each other at the Wayne Fleming Arena at 7 p.m. Winnipeg time. The two sides will go at it again on Wednesday at the same venue with the same local start time.

Hunter Mayo is breaking out offensively for the Rebels.

Those two contests are can’t miss heavyweight tilts. If one side is able to sweep both games, that club will be viewed as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.

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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Ice set to win now, Oil Kings paying price going all in

Connor McClennon zips up ice for the Winnipeg Ice.

The Winnipeg Ice are the team to beat in the WHL, while the Edmonton Oil Kings are showing the consequences of going all in.

As all the teams in the WHL approach their respective 10-game marks, it is starting to become clear which clubs will be the teams to beat. The Ice top the list of the teams to beat, and they happen to be listed first in the CHL Top 10 rankings.

Last season, the Ice finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 53-10-3-2 record. They advanced to the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series falling in five games to the eventual WHL champion Oil Kings.

The Ice roster is stocked with returnees from last year like Matthew Savoie, Zach Benson, Connor McClennon, Conor Geekie, Ben Zloty, Carson Lambos and Daniel Hauser. They have solid youngsters like defenceman Jonas Woo, who turned 16-year-old in November and played every game in the Ice’s playoff run last season.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click the link right here.

Raiders big underdogs versus Ice in WHL Playoffs

First round series classic David versus Goliath match up

Evan Herman and the Raiders are set for the playoffs.

Marc Habscheid is well aware of the daunting task his Prince Albert Raiders face in the first round of the WHL Playoffs.

On Friday, the Raiders open a first round best-of-seven series against the Ice in Winnipeg (7 p.m. local time, Wayne Fleming Arena). On paper, the series is a classic David versus Goliath matchup.

The Ice finished first overall in the WHL posting a 53-10-3-2 record and are rated second in the CHL Top 10 rankings. Winnipeg posted a 13-0-1-1 record in the month of March playing those 15 contests in a span of 28 days.

The Ice were an impressive 18-1-1-1 in their 21 regular season outings leading into the post-season.

The Raiders posted a 28-35-4-1 mark to finish eighth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and take the conference’s final playoff berth. Prince Albert had to win its last two straight games to sneak into the playoffs.

“We’re up against it,” said Habscheid, who sits fifth on the WHL’s career regular season head coaching wins list with 582 victories. “We know that.

“We’ll just figure out a way and try and get it done. Like I said, we’re up against it. They’re a good team.”

Due to challenges relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, no WHL Playoffs were held in 2020 and 2021 and there was no Memorial Cup tournament to crown a CHL champion in either of those years also.

When the WHL Playoffs were last held in 2019, the Raiders captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. During that post-season, the Raiders created the most memorable moment in the history of their storied home rink – the Art Hauser Centre.

The 2019 WHL Final between the Raiders and the Vancouver Giants went to a series-deciding Game 7. With 1:35 remaining in overtime, overage centre Dante Hannoun scored to deliver the Raiders to a 3-2 victory.

During the 2018-19 campaign, the Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2. The Raiders had a deep team where they could roll all four forward lines, had a stellar starting six on defence and received a CHL goaltender of the year award winning performance from Ian Scott.

Keaton Sorensen wants his squad to focus on team play.

This season the Ice are the deep team that can roll four lines, have seven strong options to use on their six defensive spots and have received superstar goaltending from Daniel Hauser, who turned 18-years-old in January.

The Raiders are skating through a transition type reload year. They captured a post-season berth due to the fact their team play has improved as the campaign has gone on.

To close the regular season, the Raiders faced basically two must-win games when it came to making the playoffs. They played arguably their two best games of the campaign downing the Broncos in Swift Current 4-1 last Friday and dumping the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-1 last Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre.

“I’ve said it all year we’ve got a good group, a hard working group,” said Raiders veteran left-winger Evan Herman. “(We have) a bunch of great guys in there.

“I’m just super excited that we got those two must wins. That is just more experience now going down the road as we head into playoffs here.”

Raiders veteran centre Keaton Sorensen said his squad showed how strong they can be when they are focused on team play in their two regular season ending wins.

“When everybody is rolling and everybody is doing their jobs, it is really important,” said Sorensen. “When we just keep to the structure, it all works out.”

The Ice had eight players put up 50 or more points during play in the regular season, while the Raiders only had one skater hold that distinction.

Centre Matthew Savoie led the Ice in scoring with 90 points coming off 35 goals and 55 assists. He had a plus-54 rating in the plus-minus category.

Veteran right-winger Connor McClennon topped the Ice with 43 goals to go along with 38 assists and a plus-46 rating. Veteran left-winger Mikey Milne appeared in all of the Ice’s 68 regular season contests posting 38 goals, 43 assists and a plus-56 rating.

Captain Reece Vitelli led the Raiders in scoring this season.

Veteran defenceman Ben Zloty led all Ice rearguards in scoring recording eight goals, 56 assists and a plus-38 rating in 62 regular season appearances.

In goal, Hauser posted a 34-3-1 record, a 2.00 goals against average, a .914 save percentage and eight shutouts. The Chestermere, Alta., product’s shutout total was tops in the WHL, and he equaled Kamloops Blazers star Dylan Garand for the most goaltending victories on the circuit.

The Ice get steady guidance from head coach James Patrick, who played defence for the Raiders way back in the 1980-81 campaign when they were still in the junior A ranks and won the Centennial Cup as national junior A champions.

Overage captain Reece Vitelli led the Raiders in scoring with 51 points coming off of 25 goals and 26 assists to go with a plus-five rating. Herman topped the Raiders with 28 goals to go along with 19 assists appearing in all the team’s 68 regular season games.

Sloan Stanick, who is an 18-year-old right-winger, posted 49 points coming off of 22 goals and 27 assists appearing in 66 games between the Regina Pats and the Raiders. The Raiders acquired Stanick in a trade early in the season with the Pats.

Veteran 19-year-old defenceman Landon Kosior led all Raiders blue-liners in scoring collecting 18 goals and 27 assists appearing in all of the Raiders 68 games. Standout rearguard Nolan Allan, who has a signed entry-level contract with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, had a strong campaign for the Raiders recording seven goals and 34 assists in 65 appearances.

Import netminder Tikhon Chaika, who became the Raiders starter as an 18-year-old rookie, improved steadily as the season progressed. He posted a 22-21-4 record, a 2.79 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and three shutouts.

Chaika was named the WHL’s goaltender of the week for the week ending on Sunday for his performance in the Raiders last two regular season wins.

In the eight head-to-head regular season meetings between the Raiders and Ice, the Raiders were able to win three of those contests. Sorensen believes his team can make some noise against the Ice.

“I think we have good chances when everybody comes to play and everybody is focused and everybody knows the structure,” said Sorensen. “We’re a good team, and the easy part of the year is over and the hardest part starts now.”

With star right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt out for the rest of the campaign due to injury, the Raiders have no holdovers who were regulars from the 2018-19 WHL Championship winning season. Herman and Allan are the only current Raiders who saw action in regular season games during that league title winning season.

The Raiders aim to play spoiler against the Ice.

Herman saw some of the Raiders post-season games in that 2019 championship run, and he remembers the home crowd at the Art Hauser Centre giving the Prince Albert side a lift. The speedy winger said the Art Hauser Centre faithful have been giving the club an energy boost throughout the season, and he expects that will continue when the Raiders play at home in this year’s WHL Playoffs.

“In (2019), it (the Art Hauser Centre) was an unbelievable place to be, and it still is,” said Herman. “The fans here, I don’t have a work to describe how awesome they are for us.

“You know what? I think we look forward to playing in front of them every night. We’ll I guess we will continue to see that here as we move on now.”

Pats’ Bedard exits WHL campaign with a roar, other notes

Connor Bedard posted 51 goals and 49 assists for 100 points this season.

Regina Pats 16-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard turned heads nationally one last time before his 2021-22 WHL campaign came to an end.

On Sunday playing before 5,545 spectators at the Brandt Centre, Bedard collected two goals and three assists to power the Pats a 7-4 victory over their archrivals in the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors in the regular season finale for both sides. The North Vancouver, B.C., product finished the campaign posting 100 points coming on 51 goals and 49 assists to go with an even rating in the plus-minus department in 62 appearances.

The Pats finished the regular season with a 27-36-3-2 record to sit two points back of the Prince Albert Raiders for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Warriors finished fourth overall in the Eastern Conference with a 37-24-4-3 mark.

Bedard became the youngest player to ever score 50 goals in one WHL regular season. There were stories about his performance on Sunday by a number of national media outlets.

Before Sunday’s game, Bedard took home a number of Pats team awards including player of the year, the Torchey Schell top scorer award and the three star award.

On Monday, the accolades kept coming for Bedard. He was named the WHL’s player of the week for the week ending on Sunday.

He was also named to Canada’s roster for the world under-18 hockey championship tournament, which begins on Saturday and runs through to May 1 in Landshut and Kaufbeuren, Germany.

• Red Deer Rebels overage left-winger Arshdeep Bains led the WHL in scoring during the regular season with 112 points coming off 43 goals and league high 69 assists. He also posted a plus-35 rating. Bains finished seven points ahead of teammate in 19-year-old centre Ben King. King collected 105 points on 52 goals and 53 assists to go with a plus-36 rating. King’s goal total was a league high.
• Pats left-winger and Prince Albert product Tanner Howe had a stellar 16-year-old season with the Pats. Howe recorded 69 points coming off 27 goals and 42 assists to go with a plus-three rating in 64 appearances. He made Canada’s roster for the world under-18 hockey championships. Howe claimed the Pats Nick Papas rookie of the year team award.
• Victoria Royals 17-year-old defenceman and Clavet, Sask., product Kalem Parker earned a spot on Canada’s roster for the world under-18 championships. Parker appeared in 66 games this season with the Royals posting two goals and 18 assists.
• The Swift Current Broncos had six players named to Canada’s roster for the world under-18 championships. The Broncos contingent included four forwards in Josh Davies, Josh Filmon, Mathew Ward and Connor Hvidston. Defenceman Owen Pickering and netminder Reid Dyck will also suit up for the Canadian side. The Broncos have a seventh player heading to under-18 worlds as defenceman Rayan Bettahar will play for Germany.
• I have to admit it is fun seeing the excitement of a couple of young sportswriters as the WHL Playoffs near. Kyle Kosowan will be covering his first WHL post-season covering the Prince Albert Raiders for the Prince Albert Daily Herald. Logan Lehmann will be working his first WHL post-season writing about the Saskatoon Blades for the team’s website. For an old veteran like me, I enjoy seeing that first time excitement again. I hope both of them enjoy the moment in the present.
• The WHL Playoffs officially begin with one game on Thursday. The Lethbridge Hurricanes will travel to Edmonton to face the Oil Kings in Game 1 of a best-of-seven first round series at 7 p.m. local time at Rogers Place. The Oil Kings finished second overall in the WHL with a 50-14-3-1 record, while the Hurricanes were seventh overall in the Eastern Conference with a 33-30-4-1 mark.

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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WHL leading Ice right the ship

Winnipeg ends slump with 6-0 victory over Blades

Connor McClennon (#94) dangles in the offensive zone for the Ice.

Any thoughts of about the demise of the Winnipeg Ice evaporated into the air.

Coming into Wednesday’s WHL regular season game against the host Saskatoon Blades at the SaskTel Centre, the Ice topped the overall WHL standings and were rated first in the CHL Top 10 Rankings. In their previous four outings heading into Wednesday’s game, the Ice weren’t living up to their record or high rating having lost three times in regulation.

Two of those losses included falling 6-2 at home to the Blades on December 4 and dropping a 4-1 decision to the Raiders in Prince Albert on Tuesday.

Owen Pederson (#17) makes a hit on the forecheck for the Ice.

Actually, the Ice had only won twice in their previous six contests heading into Wednesday having dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime at home to the Raiders on November 28 to start their recent struggles.

On Wednesday, the Ice righted the ship scoring three goals in a dominant first period and rolled to a 6-0 victory over the Blades to disappoint most of the 2,516 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. The convincing win allowed the Ice to improve their WHL leading record to 24-4-1.

“We were definitely fired up to play this one after being on a little bit of a skid for the last (six),” said Ice 17-year-old star centre Matthew Savoie. “Losing last night in P.A. really got us fired up.

“I just think the mentality coming into this game was must win, and we were really fired up today.”

Jakin Smallwood breaks into the offensive zone for the Ice.

Just 3:31 into the opening frame, the Ice drew first blood when left-winger Owen Pederson slipped home a shot five-hole on Blades netminder Nolan Maier.

Savoie said that first tally helped his team hit another gear.

“I thought the first shift from each line was really energetic,” said Savoie. “We came out with a physical mentality with the bounce back from last game.

“I thought the start was really key for our group tonight. Pedey’s goal just got us going.”

Jack Finley had a goal and an assist for the Ice.

The Ice upped their advantage to 2-0 just over six minutes later when star right-winger Connor McClennon wired a shot from the left slot past Maier.

Before the opening frame ended, the Ice went up 3-0 after tallying on the power play. Overage right-winger Jakin Smallwood made a smart pass in the centre ice zone to spring Savoie on a rush down the left wing.

Savoie burst down the wing, made a deke around a defenceman and snapped his 17^th of the season past Maier.

“I kind of just got on the ice a little bit late,” said Savoie, who had an assist to go with his goal on Wednesday. “Smallsy (Smallwood) kind of just had the puck in the neutral zone and made a good bump pass to me.

Matthew Savoie scores a power-play goal for the Ice.

“I kind of just went full speed and caught the D-man a little flat footed. I just put it through his triangle and tried to shoot it around the other side. Fortunately, it went in.”

Winnipeg held an 18-8 edge in shots on goal after an impressive showing in the first period.

The Blades pushed back really well in the second period. Early in the frame, Blades sophomore 17-year-old defenceman Pavel Bocharov rang a shot off the post.

That set the tone for the host side in the second as the Blades controlled territorial play holding a 12-6 edge in shots on goal.

Ben Zloty is a skilled offensive-defenceman for the Ice.

Sophomore 17-year-old Ice netminder Daniel Hauser put up a wall in front of the Winnipeg net allowing the visitors to take their 3-0 lead into the third.

The Ice regained control of the contest early in the third when 17-year-old centre Connor Geekie wrapped home his 10^th goal of the season to give the visitors a 4-0 lead.

With 4:54 remaining in the third, Pederson scored on the power play to complete a two-goal night to increase the Ice edge to 5-0.

The Ice rounded out the scoring when 19-year-old power forward Jack Finley tipped home a point shot from offensive-defenceman Ben Zloty with 2:04 remaining in the third.

Jonas Woo made his WHL debut for the Ice on Wednesday.

Finley finished the game netting an assist to go with his goal recording his first two points as a member of the Ice since being acquired in a trade with the Spokane Chiefs on December 6. Finley had been the Chiefs captain and had attended the selection camp for Canada’s world junior team.

Smallwood finished the contest collecting three assists.

Maier turned away 27 shots to take the setback goal for the Blades (14-12-1). Hauser stopped 28 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Ice (24-4-1).

The shutout was the third of the season for Hauser.

When the dust settled, Savoie said Wednesday’s game was the performance his club needed to get things back on track again.

Ice G Daniel Hauser stops a shot that came through a screen.

“After a loss, you always want to play the next day and get back out there to bounce back,” said Savoie, who leads the WHL in scoring with 47 points coming on 17 goals and 30 assists. “I think playing the very next day after a loss was good for our group.

“I thought we came out good today.”

The Blades now play the Raiders twice before both those clubs go on a Christmas break. The sides meet Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre to start a home-and-home series and conclude that series with a 7 p.m. encounter on Saturday at the SaskTel Centre.

Jack Finley (#26) celebrates his first goal with the Ice.

That Saturday game will be the Teddy Bear Toss night for the Blades.

The Ice travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings on Friday (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place). That is the first game of a home-and-home series between those two sides.

They go at it again on Saturday in Winnipeg at 7 p.m. at the Wayne Fleming Arena before they depart on their respective Christmas breaks.

Savoie said the Ice just have to continue being themselves in order to go into the Christmas break on a high note.

“We just have to keep sticking to our system,” said Savoie. “When things don’t go right, you just go back to the step one and go back to the simple details for us.”

Zach Benson drives up ice for the Ice.

NOTES – Jonas Woo made his WHL debut with his hometown Ice on Wednesday. The Ice selected the 15-year-old defenceman in the first round and 18^th overall in the WHL Prospects Draft that was held online last Thursday. He was a plus-one in the Ice victory.

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the Ice acquired 17-year-old Italian import right-winger Alessandro Segafredo from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for 18-year-old Czech import defenceman Martin Bohm and a sixth round selection in the 2024 WHL Prospect Draft.

The Ice celebrate their 6-0 victory on Wednesday.

Segafredo had three goals, seven assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department in 19 games with the Thunderbirds. He wasn’t able to suit up for the Ice on Wednesday.

Bohm had two assists and plus-10 rating in 15 games with the Ice.

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.