Blades rally past Wheat Kings

Chiasson nets winner and two helpers for Saskatoon

Jake Chiasson had a goal and two assists for the Blades on Sunday.

A spark seemingly out of nowhere triggered a comeback victory for the Saskatoon Blades.

On Sunday evening at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades found themselves in stuck quicksand trailing the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 2-0 late into the second period of a WHL regular season contest. 

With 1:53 remaining in the second, Blades steady 19-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright popped home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone for his fourth goal of the season to cut the Wheat Kings lead to 2-1.

The Blades built momentum after Wright’s tally and rolled off three goals in the third to pull out a 4-2 victory to the delight of most of the 4,038 spectators in attendance. 

Sunday’s game marked the second time the Blades came back to win a game after trailing on the scoreboard entering the third period. On the season, the Blades entered the third period trailing on the scoreboard on 13 occasions.

The win allowed the Blades to improve to 33-12-3-1 to remain one point ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors (32-16-0-3) for third overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Warriors downed the Hitmen in Calgary 2-1 on Sunday to remain one point back of the Blades. Saskatoon has three games in hand on Moose Jaw.

The Wheat Kings opened the game’s scoring with just 2.5 seconds remaining in the opening frame when 19-year-old left-winger Brett Hyland slid home a backhand shot for his 23^rd goal of the season. At the 6:34 mark of the second, the Wheat Kings extended their lead to 2-0 when 20-year-old centre Nolan Ritchie netted his 19^th tally of the campaign.

At that point, Wright proceeded to score shortly before the end of the second to trigger the Blades rally.

Saskatoon pulled even at 2-2 at the 7:28 mark of the third on Jordan Keller’s first of two goals on the night. The 17-year-old rookie centre collected the rebound of a point shot taken by Wright at the right side of the Brandon goal popped home his eight of the season to erase the Brandon lead.

Blades 19-year-old left-winger Jake Chiasson, who came to the Saskatoon in a deal with the Wheat Kings right before the WHL’s trade deadline on January 10, picked up an assist on Keller’s equalizer.

Egor Sidorov had an assist for the Blades on Sunday.

Chiasson netted the winner on a beauty play at the 11:58 mark of the third with the Blades working on the power play. Blades star centre Trevor Wong passed the puck from the left side boards of the Brandon zone to Chiasson, who was at the doorstep of the Wheat Kings net.

Chiasson toe dragged the puck between his legs roofed home his 14^th goal of the season to the top right corner of the Brandon net to give the Blades a 3-2 advantage. Blades captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere also picked up an assist on the go-ahead goal.

Just 1:43 later, Keller drove hard in close to the right side of the Brandon net and powered home his second goal of the contest to round out the 4-2 final in the Blades favour. Chiasson picked up an assist on the insurance tally to finish the contest with one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department.

Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov also had an assist on Keller’s second tally.

Frustration proceeded to set in for the Wheat Kings. With 5:19 remaining in the third, Wheat Kings tough guy left-winger Matthew Henry hit De La Gorgendiere from behind into the boards.

The officials gave Henry a charging minor and a 10-minute misconduct. In 45 games with the Wheat Kings this season, Henry, who is an 18-year-old rookie, leads the WHL with 115 penalty minutes, has no points and is a minus-six.

Ethan Chadwick made 26 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Nicholas Jones, who is an 18-year-old rookie, turned away 27 shots to take the setback in net for the Wheat Kings (19-22-7).

The Wheat Kings sit five points behind the 21-21-7-1 Medicine Hat Tigers for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Brandon has two games in hand on Medicine Hat.

Saskatoon had 20-year-old defenceman Blake Gustafson back in action on Sunday after he missed the team’s 3-2 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Ice on Saturday due to illness. The Blades took the ice with a full complement of 18 skaters on Sunday, but they still have a lengthy injury list.

Jake Chiasson (#61) gives a souvenir hockey stick to a young fan.

The injury list included netminder Austin Elliott and centres Jayden Wiens and Josh Pillar due to lower body injuries. Also out were wingers Tyler Parr, Conner Roulette and Justin Lies with upper body injuries.

The Blades dressed associate player call up Evan Gardner as the backup netminder. The 16-year-old Gardner has been playing with the Rink Hockey Academy’s under-18 team in Kelowna, B.C.

The Blades return to action on Tuesday when they host the 8-37-3 Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Wheat Kings are off until Friday when they host the Oil Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

Coyotes return Guenther to WHL, other notes

Dylan Guenther in action for the Oil Kings in January of 2022.

The powerhouse Seattle Thunderbirds just became even stronger and likely the top favourite to win the WHL championship.

On Sunday, the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes assigned 19-year-old right-winger Dylan Guenther to the Thunderbirds. Guenther appeared in 33 games with the Coyotes posting six goals, nine assists and a minus-seven rating in the plus-minus department. The Coyotes selected Guenther in the first round and ninth overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

Guenther’s WHL rights were held by his hometown Edmonton Oil Kings. The Oil Kings dealt Guenther’s WHL rights to the Thunderbirds in a deal right before the WHL’s trade deadline on January 10.

In that trade, the Oil Kings sent Guenther’s rights, the rights to prospect forward Jordan Ramsay, who turned 16-years-old on January 24, and an eighth round selection in the 2023 WHL Prospect Draft to the Thunderbirds. In exchange, the Thunderbirds sent the rights of prospect forward Koji Gibson, who will turn 16-years-old on March 10, and a fourth round selection in the 2024 Prospect Draft to the Oil Kings.

The Thunderbirds also included six conditional Prospect Drafts selections in the deal including a second round pick in 2023, a sixth round pick in 2024, a fourth round pick in 2025 and first, fourth and fifth round picks in 2026. On Sunday, the Thunderbirds confirmed all six of those selections were transferred to the Oil Kings now that Guenther has been assigned back to the WHL.

Last season, Guenther had a memorable campaign with the Oil Kings, who selected him first overall in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. Appearing in 59 regular season games, Guenther posted 45 goals, 46 assists and a plus-51 rating in the plus-minus department. In 16 games in the WHL playoffs, Guenther recorded 13 goals, eight assists and a plus-12 rating.

 In 2021-22, the Oil Kings finished second overall in the WHL standings with a 50-14-3-1 record. In the WHL playoffs, the Oil Kings captured a league championship posting a 16-3 record. Guenther was unable to play for the Oil Kings in the Memorial Cup tournament that crowns a CHL champion due to sustaining a knee injury in Game 3 of the WHL final.

The Oil Kings eliminated the Thunderbirds in six games in the 2022 WHL final. This season, the Oil Kings sit last in the entire WHL with an 8-37-3 record.

The Thunderbirds sit first overall in the WHL’s Western Conference and second in the circuit’s overall standings with a 36-9-1-1 record after downing the visiting Spokane Chiefs 3-1 on Sunday. Seattle has a stacked roster that includes 10 players who have either been drafted or signed with an NHL team.

Guenther did play for Canada at this past world juniors. In the gold medal game played on January 5 in Halifax, Guenther had two goals including the overtime winner and an assist as Canada downed Czechia 3-2.

Playing in all of Canada’s seven games at that event, Guenther recorded seven goals and three assists for 10 points. He tallied six goals on the power play, which was record for most power play goals by a Canadian at one world juniors.

The Coyotes had loaned Guenther to Canada for world juniors.

Guenther could potentially debut for the Thunderbirds on Friday when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m. local time, accesso ShoWare Center).

• On Sunday, 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard scored his 45^th goal of the season to give the visiting Regina Pats a 1-0 lead over the host Tigers in Medicine Hat. The Tigers responded with five straight goals to post a 5-1 victory. Pavel Bocharov, Kurtis Smythe, Rhett Parsons, Dallon Melin and Oasiz Wiesblatt all netted singles for the Tigers. The Tigers drew a season high 6,178 spectators to Co-op Place for the clash with Bedard and the Pats.
• Star offensive-defenceman Olen Zellweger scored with 22.4 seconds remaining in the third period to lift the host Kamloops Blazers to a 4-3 victory over the Victoria Royals. The Royals held a 3-1 lead early in the second period before the Blazers rallied with three straight goals to pull out the victory. The Blazers improved to 31-10-4-2 riding a four game winning streak to sit first in the B.C. Division. They officially clinched a berth in the WHL Playoffs with Sunday’s victory. The Memorial Cup hosting Blazers drew 4,920 spectators in their win Sunday over the Royals.
• The Prince Albert Raiders posted a 3-2 record on their five-game road trip through the B.C. Division that concluded with a 4-0 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday. The Raiders outshot the Rockets 51-23 in the setback. With a 19-27-3 record, the Raiders sit nine points back of the 21-21-7-1 Medicine Hat Tigers for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders have a game in hand on 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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Victory falls through Raiders’ grasp again

Wheat Kings rally for 5-4 win after tiebreaking shootout

The Wheat Kings celebrate a shootout winner from Tyson Zimmer (#25).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders were lamenting the one that got away for a second straight game.

On Friday night playing before 2,234 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders held a 3-2 lead going into a third period. After the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings tied things up at 3-3, the Raiders got ahead 4-3 with 8:18 remaining in the third.

The Wheat Kings tied things up at 4-4 on a power play and proceeded to take the WHL regular season encounter 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout.

Brett Hyland had a goal and two assists for the Wheat Kings.

The Wheat Kings took the shootout 2-1 with right-winger Tyson Zimmer potting the winner in the third round.

In Prince Albert’s previous outing last Saturday, the Raiders led the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 3-2 going into the third period. The Hurricanes proceeded to score three goals inside the final six minutes of the third frame to prevail 5-3.

 “We deserved better,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, whose team’s record moved to 2-7-0-1. “We should have won.

“We should have won the last two games. We got one point out of four, so that is disappointing. A couple of goals they scored we probably gave it to them.

Kaiden Guhle had three assists for the Raiders.

“We made a couple of glaring errors, and it ended up in our net. We also need a save.”

Friday’s game started with Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt laying a big crowd pleasing hit on Wheat Kings captain Ridley Greig early in the first period.

The Raiders proceeded cash in on that energetic start going ahead 2-0 on goals from Remy Aquilon and Reece Vitelli.

Before the opening frame ended, the Wheat Kings answered back pulling even at 2-2 with goals coming from Zimmer and Belarusian import Zakhar Polshakov. Those tallies came 19 seconds apart from each other.

The host side got the only goal of the second period. At the 10:56 mark of the frame, Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders picked up a loose puck at the left side of Brandon net, and he put the puck home into an cage to give Prince Albert a 3-2 lead.

Remy Aquilon had two goals for the Raiders.

The hosts ran into penalty trouble to close out the second frame too. At the 12:11 mark of the second, Aquilon received a double minor for checking from behind for a hit he threw on Greig behind the Prince Albert net. Greig was helped off the ice and didn’t return.

The double minor by Aquilon will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Wheat Kings were unable to score on those chances with the man advantage.

With 2:53 to go in the second, Raiders 17-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker received a slashing minor, and Brandon was unable to score on that power play.

Nolan Ritchie had a goal for the Wheat Kings.

After the penalty expired, Crocker emerged from the penalty box and was sprung on a breakaway after receiving a stretch pass coming from the Raiders zone. Crocker ended up firing the shot wide of the Brandon goal.

“Our forwards have to score,” said Habscheid. “Everybody wants to score.

“You just have to play the right way.”

At the 4:38 mark of the third, Wheat Kings left-winger Brett Hyland scored to even the score at 3-3. Hyland had two assists to go along with his goal for a three-point night.

With 8:18 remaining in the third, Aquilon fired home a point shot for his second tally of the night to put the hosts up 4-3.

When it appeared the Raiders were going to close out the contest, rookie Belarusian import forward Vladislav Shilo took an untimely roughing penalty with 3:56 remaining the frame to put Brandon on the power play.

Niall Crocker eyes up a shot on a breakaway he would miss.

The Wheat Kings capitalized on this chance when left-winger Nolan Ritchie knocked home a rebound opportunity to even the score at 4-4 with 3:40 remaining in the frame.

Despite the fact Brandon tied the contest for a third time, Aquilon thought the players on his squad didn’t get emotionally down.

“The guys did a good job of keeping it up, especially the older guys trying to make sure to just shake it off,” said Aquilon. “It is definitely not the one we want to give up late in the third there.”

Before overtime came around, the Raiders were able to go on the power play, but failed to score. They were 0-for-5 with the man advantage in the contest.

Tyson Laventure had an assist and six shots for the Raiders.

“Obviously, special teams can win or lose you games,” said Raiders 18-year-old right-winger Tyson Laventure, who had an assists and six shots on goal in the setback. “Obviously, we went 0-for-5 which didn’t help.

“They got a goal on their power play, which ended up tying the game and giving them the win. We have to be better on the power play in the future for sure.”

The Raiders had a 4-1 edge in shots on goal through the scoreless three-on-three five-minute overtime period.

In the tiebreaking shootout, captain Kaiden Guhle scored for the Raiders, while Hylund and Zimmer responded for the Wheat Kings to give them the win.

Tikhon Chaika stopped 18 shots on goal over 65 minutes for the Raiders and one of three shooters in the shootout. Ethan Kruger turned away 33 shots on net over 65 minutes for the Wheat Kings (5-6) and two of three shooters in the shootout.

Ethan Kruger made 33 saves over 65 minutes for the Wheat Kings.

Guhle collected three assists and posted a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department for the Raiders in the setback.

These two teams go at it again on Saturday at Westoba Place in Brandon, Man., at 7 p.m. local time.

Laventure said his team needs take advantage of chances to close out games, when his squad has a lead in the third period.

“Obviously our last couple of games we’ve been going into the third period with the lead and having it with less than 10 minutes left,” said Laventure. “We just have to finish those off.

The Wheat Kings celebrate their win on Friday night.

“We can’t be giving up games in the last 10 to five minutes in the game. We have to look to close one out tomorrow.”

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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