NHL post-season brings much needed fun and entertainment

A Matthew Tkachuk card.

    It feels so great to be hooked into the NHL hockey world now more than ever.

    On July 28, the NHL resumed its 2019-20 campaign after being on pause since March 12 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with three exhibition tilts. Skating in the hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto with no fans in either building, NHL teams played a short exhibition schedule to prepare for post-season action.

    On Aug. 1, the NHL post-season opened in those hub cities with 16 teams taking part in a qualifying round that consisted of eight series that were best-of-five in length.
    As those games went on, eight clubs that comprised the top four overall spots in the regular season standings in the Eastern and Western Conferences played round robin games for seeding.

    The eight qualifying round series gave fans the NHL playoff fix they needed in spades. It was so easy to get wrapped up in storylines.

    Calgary Flames left-winger Matthew Tkachuk shined as the punk type pest as the Flames took out the Winnipeg Jets in four games in Edmonton.

    The Jets came unglued in the first game of the series, when their star centre Mark Scheifele was injured on a hit attempt from Tkachuk.

A Mark Scheifele card.

    Tkachuk was trying to finish a check and Scheifele turned awkwardly, avoided most of the contact and was lost for the rest of the series with an Achilles injury.

    After the Flames won Game 1 by a 4-1 score, Jets head coach Paul Maurice went off on Tkachuk saying the Flames forward tried to kick at Scheifele’s Achilles.
    Maurice was pulling classic gamesmanship, because even though Tkachuk is a punk, it is hard to imagine he would have time to even think about intentionally injuring Scheifele on that play with a kick.

    The posturing by Maurice led to the Jets pulling out a 3-2 win in Game 2. However, it seemed the Jets continued to be too distracted by Tkachuk and combined with the injuries piling up on the Winnipeg side, the Flames sealed the series with respective 6-2 and 4-0 victories.

    What makes Tkachuk more infuriating to play against is he puts up good statistics on top of being an agitator. He had a goal and an assist and was a plus-three in the plus-minus department in four games against the Jets.

    Tkachuk appeared in 69 regular season games with the Flames in 2019-20 piling up 28 goals and 38 assists.

A Connor McDavid card.

    The time off the NHL had from March to July provided some unpredictability when the post-season got underway too. That resulted in two of the NHL’s biggest names in Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby getting eliminated in the qualifying round.

    In McDavid’s case, you also expected deep down the superstar centre would have a good series, but his Edmonton Oilers would still get knocked out of the playoffs.

    The Oilers proved they are the modern day “weak-kneed wimps” and couldn’t be saves by McDavid piling up five goals and four assists. They were eliminated by the 12-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in four games.

    In a normal season, the Blackhawks, who were the final Western Conference team placed in the post-season, wouldn’t have a sniff of the playoffs. Still, they had been improving during a reloading year with steady star veterans and young guns that were ready to take off.

    On the veteran side, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane showed a pedigree that allowed the Blackhawks to win three Stanley Cup titles in the 2010s. Chicago netminder Corey Crawford rounded back into his post-season best form.
    Young 19-year-old centre Kirby Dach established that he could be a force with the Blackhawks piling up four assists and a plus-three rating. 

A Sidney Crosby Card.

    The graduate of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades threw some big hits and executed tough defensive assignments against the Oilers biggest stars.

    Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins were done in by a tough goalie in Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price.

    Price stopped 126-of-133 shots fired his way for a .947 save percentage as the Canadiens, who were the 12^th seed in the Eastern Conference, took out the Penguins in four games.

    Crosby did collect a pair of goals and an assist for the Penguins in the series loss.
    Then there was the Toronto Maple Leafs. Loaded with young stars, they still couldn’t find a way to produce a long playoff run playing a back-and-forth qualifying series with the Columbus Blue Jackets that went to a series deciding Game 5.

    The Maple Leafs series with the Blue Jackets was the only qualifying series to go the distance. In that Game 5 that was played Sunday in Toronto, Blue Jackets netminder Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves in his team’s 3-0 shutout win to take the series 3-2.

    For haters of the Maple Leafs, Sunday was an annual day of joy and celebration.

    Overall, the qualifying round of the NHL playoffs allowed the mind for a few hours to get immersed in the familiar ritual of following hockey playoffs.

    No matter who you follow, it was fun to have that back in life again, and here is to the rest of the NHL playoffs going off without a hook.

Hurricanes are good for the NHL playoffs, other notes

We the North Carolina pic.twitter.com/qxiwgkg2t8

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) August 5, 2020

    It is so great to have the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL playoffs.

    The staffers that work in their communications, social media and marking departments are the best. The Hurricanes swept the New York Rangers 3-0 in a best-of-five qualifying series. Before taking Game 3 of the set 4-1 on Aug. 4, the Hurricanes put up a beauty tweet on Twitter.

    Playing in the hub city of Toronto, the Hurricanes on Aug. 4 walked past the lighted up sign of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors to get to the ice surface. The Raptors won last year’s NBA title.

    Hurricanes Twitter showed video of their players walking by that Raptors sign and put up the caption, “We the North Carolina.”

    It was funny.

    Of course, it played off the Raptors slogan, “We the North.”

    Still, it is those type of little things from Hurricanes Twitter that make the NHL playoffs that much more fun.

The Hurricanes made David Ayres famous.

    The Hurricanes have hit a few homers in the last couple of years. They made emergency backup goalie David Ayres famous after he dressed for the Hurricanes on Feb. 22 and entered their regular season game after both regular Carolina netminders went down with injury.

    The 42-year-old Ayres turned away eight of 10 shots sent his way picking up a regular season win as the Hurricanes beat the host Maple Leafs in Toronto 6-3.

    Following that contest, Ayres went on seemingly a hero’s tour across North America.

    Last season, the Hurricanes advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship series and sold a tonne of T-shirts with a “bunch of jerks” written on them after long time hockey commentator Don Cherry used that line to describe that hockey club.

    As the playoffs move along, you wonder what the Hurricanes office crew will come up with next.

• Phase 2 of the confusing 2020 NHL Draft Lottery goes Monday at the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, N.J. The first overall pick for the NHL Entry Draft tentatively scheduled for Oct. 9 and 10 is still up for grabs. Left-winger Alexis Lafreniere of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic is expected to be the first overall selection.
• On Friday, the NHL’s Washington Capitals loaned centre Aliaksei Protas to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League to start the 2020-21 campaign. Last season, Protas topped the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in scoring with 31 goals and 59 assists for 80 points in 58 regular season games. He had a plus-37 rating in the plus-minus department. Protas is eligible to return to the Raiders for his 19-year-old season. The start of the WHL’s regular season has been pushed back to Dec. 4 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Protas is expected to be recalled when activities start for the 2020-21 season in the NHL or WHL.
• I had a pair of stories appear on the newly created Howe Happenings blog that was created for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. The post “Aiming for new future heights building on a storied past” about the evolution of the Gordie Howe Sports Complex Management Corporation can be found by clicking right here. The story “McCullough’s day at Bob Van Impe” about Devon McCullough’s glorious win at softball worlds in 2015 can be found by clicking right here.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Ayres NHL story shows people identify with the regular guy

David Ayres, left signs an autograph for a young fan.

    It might not be an exaggeration to say that David Ayres is the most famous goaltender in North America at the moment.

    After appearing in just one half of one NHL regular season game, Ayres is arguably more well-known than Vegas Golden Knights star netminder Marc-Andre Fleury or even retired Hockey Hall of Fame member Patrick Roy, who won four Stanley Cup rings in his NHL career.

    Ayres’ tale proves how much fans of sports and the general public still identify with the ordinary guy. His story is still seemingly getting more and more cemented in the collective conscious of the public.

    The Whitby, Ont., product became famous on February 22 for having to enter an NHL regular season game to play goal for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. 

The line was long to see David Ayres, left, on Friday night.

    After the Hurricanes starting and backup goalies were injured, the 42-year-old Ayres fulfilled his role as the emergency backup entering the contest in the second period with the visitors holding a 3-1 edge.

    He allowed goals on the first two shots he faced and turned away the next eight shots in a 6-3 victory for the Hurricanes. With that result, Ayres became the first emergency backup goaltender to earn an NHL win.

    At age 42 years and 194 days, he became the oldest goaltender to win his NHL regular season debut.

    He is the operations manager for the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ont., and is best known for being a Zamboni driver.

    Ayres had a kidney transplant in 2004, which has allowed him to live his life to the fullest. His mother, Mary, was the donor.

David Ayres, right, is pictured with some minor hockey players.

    While he has been a practice goalie with the Leafs and the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, Ayres basically lived out the story of being the regular guy to come in off the street to play a sport at the highest professional level and earn success against people who play every day in “The Show.”

    The general public gravitates to that story. Over most of the time professional sports have existed, fans have often carried that illusion that they too could be on that athletic stage if only they caught a break.

    It recalls a lengthy period of time when professional athletes showed up to training camp to get in shape. Often during the off-season, athletes would let themselves go and either lounge on a beach or go party and socialize.

    In a past era that wasn’t really that long ago, professional athletes often held another occupation in the off-season to pay the bills to go along with the income they made playing their sport. This used to include players in the NHL.

David Ayres speaks at the press conference on Friday in Saskatoon.

    Back in that not so long ago but seemingly forgotten era, professional athletes seemed more connected to the general public, and the general public could make a connection of seeing a professional athlete as an everyday person.

    That perception changed in the early 1990s when year-round training started to come into vogue for both professional athletes and elite amateur athletes. On the professional side in leagues like the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL, the million dollar contracts most of those athletes were seemingly making by the end of the 1990s seemed to put those athletes in a position where they don’t connect to the general public like they once did.

    In the current era of about the last 10 years, elite amateur athletes feel intense pressure to specialize in one sport. When they do that, it further shrinks their circle of friends and contacts.

Professional athletes and elite amateur athletes in the current day work at their sports like full-time professionals.

Saskatoon’s media outlets flocked to David Ayres’ press conference.

    The general public, at least in North America, can’t identify with those professional and elite amateur athletes, because most in the general public have never put that type of work into a sport. Most in the general public still view sports in one respect as children’s games.

    At the moment, that is the biggest problem sports in North America faces because the general public can’t truly identify with the highs and lows professional athletes and elite amateur athletes experience. A sizable disconnect is there resulting interest and attendance challenges for most sports.

    When a professional athlete or an elite amateur athlete equates winning a major championship to being a life highlight like a wedding day or the birth of a child, those in the general public can’t understand that.

Sarah Ayres has kept her husband, David, on schedule.

    People in the general public understand weddings or child births. Those are experiences most in the general public commonly share.

    People in the general public can’t identify with the significance of what it is like to win a major championship, because an extreme few have been in that position or have put in the work to be in that position.

    Most people in the general public have played some sort of sport at the recreational level, and they can identify with the story of Ayres. That is why Ayres’ story has taken off, and he is now making appearances seemingly everywhere.

    His wife, Sarah, is tasked with planning out her husband’s schedule.

    David Ayres went to Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Hurricanes are based. He was made an honourary citizen of the state and Feb. 25 was named “David Ayres Day” in Raleigh.

    On Friday and Saturday, Ayres appeared in Saskatoon to great fanfare.

    A Friday afternoon press conference event at Wendel Clark’s Classic Bar and Grill attracted representation of pretty much all the media outlets in Saskatoon. In the current budget cut era Canada’s mainstream media outlets are working under, that is an accomplishment.

    Ayres looked like a person who was in shape standing six-feet and a cut 201 pounds, so that spoiled the notion he might be a Homer Simpson like looking dude.

David Ayres waves to the SaskTel Centre crowd on Friday.

    Still, his following was there. When Ayres signed autographs at the Saskatoon Blades WHL game during the first intermission on Friday night, the lineup circled around a third of the concourse of the SaskTel Centre.

    The autograph seekers acted like they encountered Wayne Gretzky or Mark Messier when they played for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s.

    On Saturday, Ayres took part in practice for the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush stepping into the net to play goal.

    He proceeded to take part in festivities at the Rush game that night.

    Due to the fact he was the recipient of a kidney transplant, Ayres is trying to use his newfound fame to raise awareness of organ donation.

    It was fitting the Blades game on Friday was their Suits Up, which was used to raise proceeds to donate to Saskatoon’s Kidney Foundation Branch.

David Ayres, second from right, appears at Friday’s ceremonial faceoff.

    Among the newfound fame that is seeing book and movie deals come his way, Ayres continues to hold down the stereotypically image of being the well-mannered and polite Canadian.

    At some point, the excitement over Ayres story will run its course, but it should still serve as a lesson for current professional and elite amateur athletes.

    That lesson is you still need to be connected to the general public in order to make your sport grow. The fans, ticket buyers and merchandise buyers from the general public ultimately make it possible for you to do what you do.

Jack of all trades pic.twitter.com/vWPhsytZh3

— 🇨🇦Sarah Ayres🇨🇦 (@35Ayres) March 7, 2020

    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.

“Crank” up the party – Blades lock up playoff berth

Kyle Crnkovic celebrates his OT winner for the Blades on Friday.

    Kyle Crnkovic officially got the playoff party started for the Saskatoon Blades.

    On Friday night playing before 4,478 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades entered overtime locked in a 1-1 tie with the visiting Regina Pats. The host side went on the power play 29 seconds into the extra session, when Pats right-winger Riley Krane was given a minor penalty for tripping.

    Working on the power play, Crnkovic received a backdoor pass from linemate Tristen Robins by the right side boards in the offensive zone. Crnkovic quickly wired a shot on goal putting the puck in short side on Pats netminder Spencer Welke.

    The left-winger’s tally just 74 seconds into the extra session gave the Blades a 2-1 victory in the WHL regular season clash. 

Kyle Crnkovic came up clutch for the Blades on Friday.

    Saskatoon improved to 32-24-2-3 and officially locked up a berth in the WHL playoffs for the second straight year.
    “It felt like we were at like one (standings) point is all it took, and it felt like we were there forever,” said Crnkovic. “To have that now and secure a spot, now it is just trying to work our way up (the standings).

    “It is just trying to work our way up now and just keep playing hard.”

    The Blades had to battle through a tough break that went against them late in the third period. The hosts were nursing a 1-0 lead, and it looked that score would ultimately be the final result.

    With 43.5 seconds remaining in the third, a point shot from Pats defenceman Ryker Evans deflected up high into the air as a maze of bodies engulfed the crease area of the Saskatoon goal causing a net scramble.

Logan Nijhoff scores the late third period equalizer for the Pats.

    During the scramble, Krane ended up on top of Blades netminder Nolan Maier, and Maier’s catching glove got caught in Krane’s skate. When the puck came down, Pats left-winger Logan Nijhoff backhanded home the equalizer that forced a 1-1 tie.

    The officials went to a video review to determine if there was goaltender interference or incidental contact on the goalie to possibly disallow the goal but ruled Nijhoff’s tally was good.

    “There is not really much to say,” said Maier. “I don’t want to get too much into it.

Logan Nijhoff celebrates scoring the late third period equalizer for the Pats.

    “My glove was caught in his (Krane’s) skate and someone was on me and I couldn’t really move. The puck was able to find the back of the net. I like how the guys responded.

    “The guys were really positive on the bench. They were all awesome with me just trying to keep me under control and not kind of over think or get off my game. It is good.”

    Blades head coach Mitch Love was pleased with how his team bounced back after the Pats tied the game.

    “I thought our guys did a good job of resetting themselves, because it was a little emotional there at the end,” said Love. “I’ll be honest I wasn’t real thrilled with the call.

Tristen Robins picked up an assist on the Blades OT winning goal.

    “I had seen it and seen the overhead. It wasn’t just the incident. It was the few incidents leading up to it during the game that I felt like our goalie was being interfered with.

    “That is an argument for another day, but our guys stayed with it. We were composed. We earned that opportunity in overtime on the power play and got one past the young kid (Welke).”

    The Blades came out with good jump in the opening 20 minutes outshooting the Pats 16-11. With that noted, the Pats had the best scoring chance in the opening frame when left-winger Cole Dubinsky wired a shot off the post of the Saskatoon net.

    With 3:59 remaining in the second, the Blades took advantage of a positive bounce break. 

Spencer Welke makes one of his 37 saves in goal for the Pats.

    After the Pats coughed the puck up at their own blue-line, Blades rookie centre Colton Dach quickly fired home a shot from the right point that handcuffed Welke to give the host side a 1-0 edge.

    In the third, Robins had a huge chance to net an insurance goal for the Blades, but he fired a shot off the crossbar of the Regina goal.

    That set the stage for the dramatics at the end of the third period and overtime.

    Maier stopped 32 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Welke turned away 37 shots taking the overtime setback in his second career WHL start for the Pats as an associate player call-up.

    The Pats record moved to 21-33-5-2.

    Welke was playing for the Prince Albert Mintos, who have been eliminated from the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs. 

Nolan Maier (#73) held the fort in goal for the Blades.

    The Pats, who have been eliminated from contention for the WHL playoffs, have announced Welke will remain on their roster for the rest of their regular season schedule.

    The Pats were without their two regular goalies as Donovan Buskey is listed day-to-day with a hamstring injury, while Danton Belluk is out day-to-day with an upper body injury. The Pats had a backup goalie dressed and sitting on the bench who was not listed on the gamesheet.

    “Give the kid (Welke) credit over there,” said Love. “He is an AP goalie that played real well for them.

Ryker Evans controls the puck in the offensive zone for the Pats.

    “It was tight checking game on both sides, which has kind of been the season series so far.”

    Regina also scratched left-wingers Carter Massier with and upper body injury and Cole Carrier with an undisclosed ailment.

    Pats overage left-winger Robbie Holmes was sitting out the first of a four-game league imposed suspension, and right-winger Carter Chorney was sitting out the first of a three-game league imposed suspension. Holmes and Chorney were suspended for their actions in a melee that occurred at the end of a Pats 7-4 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors in Regina on Tuesday.

Colton Dach had the Blades first goal on Friday.

    Injuries were also piling up for the Blades. Overage defenceman Scott Walford is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury and right-winger Randen Schmidt is also out with an upper body injury with his return timetable still to be determined.

    The Blades lost defenceman Rhett Rhinehart and right-winger Evan Patrician in Wednesday’s 4-3 setback at home to the Calgary Hitmen with undisclosed injuries.

    As a result, defenceman Marek Schneider, who is in his 16-year-old season, dressed for his sixth regular season game as an associate player call-up. Schneider was playing for the Mintos, and he is eligible to remain with the Blades for the rest of the 2019-20 campaign.

    Brandon Lisowsky, who is a 15-year-old left-winger, made his WHL regular season debut for the Blades. 

Nolan Kneen controls the puck for the Blades.

    The Blades selected Lisowsky in the first round and ninth overall in last year’s WHL Bantam Draft.

    Maier said the Pats always play his club hard and gave credit to Pats head coach Dave Struch for having his side ready.
    In their four head-to-head meetings this season, the Blades and Pats have gone to extra time three times and have each posted two wins.

    “That is just their culture in Regina,” said Maier. “Dave Struch is really committed to their hard work.

    “They give us a battle every night. It never changes with them. We know what we are going to get when we play the Regina Pats.

    “They just never quit, and they work hard all the time. That is all the credit to Dave Struch.”

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. from the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The Blades celebrate their overtime win on Friday.

    Love is expecting his club to be better in the second half of this weekend’s home-and-home series as opposed to last weekend’s home and home series against the Prince Albert Raiders.
    Last Friday, the Blades downed the Raiders 4-2 at the SaskTel Centre before getting dumped 3-0 one night later by the Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    “We learned our lesson that way last weekend,” said Love. “That was mentioned to our group.

    “We have to make sure we remember what that was like. I think our start will be important in their building and just an opportunity to learn from last weekend. I’m intrigued to see where our team is at heading into tomorrow night.”

Ayres special guest at Blades Suits Up game

David Ayres, right, is pictured with a minor hockey team from Rosthern.

    The Saskatoon Blades brought in now famous NHL emergency backup goaltender David Ayres for their WHL Suits Up to Promote Organ Donation on Friday.

    Ayres became famous on February 22 for having to enter an NHL regular season game to play goal for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. After the Hurricanes starting and backup goalies were injured, the 42-year-old Ayres fulfilled his role as the emergency backup entering the contest in the second period with the visitors holding a 3-1 edge.

    He allowed goals on the first two shots he faced and turned away the next eight shots in a 6-3 victory for the Hurricanes. With that result, Ayres became the first emergency backup goaltender to earn an NHL win.
    At age 42 years and 194 days, he became the oldest goaltender to win his NHL regular season debut.

David Ayres, second from right, appears at the a ceremonial faceoff.

    He is the operations manager for the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ont., and is best known for being a Zamboni driver.

    Ayres had a kidney transplant in 2004, which has allowed him to live his life to the fullest.

    At the Blades Suits Up game, Ayres took part in the ceremonial faceoff before the contest, and he signed autographs during the first intermission. The line up to get his autograph was a lengthy one.

    For the Suits Up game, the Blades wore special Hockey Night in Canada themed jerseys and the coaches wore old school baby blue Hockey Night in Canada blazers. Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk also wore one of the old school baby blue Hockey Night in Canada blazers.

    The jerseys and blazers were auctioned off in a blind auction.

    All the proceeds raised from Friday’s game will be donated to Saskatoon’s Kidney Foundation Branch.

Burtney gets WHL Distinguished Service Award

Bernie Burtney, right, receives a WHL Distinguished Service Award.

    Long time Saskatoon Blades off-ice official Bernie Burtney was named a recipient of the WHL Distinguished Service Award on Friday night.

    Burtney was presented with his award by WHL commissioner Ron Robison in a pre-game ceremony before Friday’s WHL regular season contest that saw the host Blades down the Regina Pats 2-1 in overtime.

    Burtney is currently the off-ice officials supervisor for the Blades, and he has said this will be his final season working Blades home games.

    For about the past 30 seasons, Burtney has become a key figure in the Blades off-ice game operations. He is responsible for scheduling, interviewing, hiring and management of all off-ice officials at Blades home games.

    Burtney has conducted himself in a professional manner going above and beyond the normal requirements for the voluntary role. He rarely misses a game and shows up to the rink well in advance to prepare.

    During his time workings Blades home games, Burtney has consistently provided a welcoming atmosphere for off-ice officials and makes sure all are briefed and ready to perform their duties on arrival.

    The WHL Distinguished Service Award was introduced back in 2004 and is presented annually to individuals who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes on behalf of WHL franchises. In doing so, those individuals have made an extraordinary contribution at the club and league level over an extended period.

    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.

Hitmen delay Blades’ playoff clinch party

Focht gets goal, assist in 4-3 Calgary victory

Carson Focht jets up ice on a goal-scoring rush.

    Carson Focht and the Calgary Hitmen sank the Saskatoon Blades post-season clinching party for at least a couple of nights.

    The veteran centre was happy his side found a way to gut out a 4-3 victory in a WHL regular season contest on Wednesday night before 3,063 spectators at the SaskTel Centre over the host Blades. Calgary’s victory came one night after being on the receiving end of an 8-3 drubbing at the hands of the defending WHL champion Raiders in Prince Albert.

    With Hitmen and Blades locked in a 2-2 tie on Wednesday, Focht scored a key turning point goal at the 5:52 mark of the third period. The fifth round NHL Entry Draft selection of the Vancouver Canucks blew down the left wing and wired a close in shot short side over the shoulder of Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

    Just over three minutes later, the Hitmen extended their edge to 4-2, when overage defenceman Dakota Krebs wired home a shot from the point.

The Hitmen celebrate a goal from Carson Focht.

    While it seemed the visitors appeared to be in complete control, Blades Slovakian import right-winger Martin Fasko-Rudas banged home a gritty goal from the front of the Hitmen net to cut the visitor’s lead to 4-3 with 72 seconds remaining in the third.

    The Hitmen gutted out some nervous moments from that point including mucking up a defensive zone faceoff in the final seconds to hold on for the win.

    “I think these are games that we want to be in,” said Focht, who had an assist to go along with his goal. “At this point in the season, I think it is a good test every night to see where our group is at.

    “I think tonight really showed that we can play a full 60 minutes. We believe that this is a winning team. We’ve had some ups and downs throughout the season, but we’re definitely a really resilient group.

Carson Focht had a goal and an assist on Wednesday.

    “We show that on a daily basis, so I have a lot of faith in all those guys in that room.”

    The win allowed the Hitmen, who have a playoff spot secured, to improve to 35-22-4-1.

    The Blades fell to 31-24-2-3, and they still need to pick up one more point in the standings to clinch the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    Wednesday’s game got off to a bit of scary start, when Blades right-winger Zach Huber hit Hitmen centre Riley Fiddler-Schultz into the curved part of the glass near the Blades bench just 1:38 into the first period.

    Fiddler-Schultz went down and the athletic trainers for both teams immediate jumped on to the ice to help the Calgary forward. Fiddler-Schultz was moving all his extremities and was helped off the ice by a stretcher.

    Huber came over to check on Fiddler-Schultz and all the Hitmen came off their bench to wish their teammate well.

    “You definitely never want to see a guy get injured like that,” said Focht. “It is just a hockey play.

    “It wasn’t dirty, but you just hate to see a guy go down like that. I thought we really rallied for him, and we had him in our minds thinking that we want to get this done for him tonight.”

Blades D Nolan Kneen hits Hitmen captain Mark Kastelic.

    The Blades proceeded to jump ahead 1-0 scoring at the 2:56 mark of the opening frame, when 16-year-old rookie centre Jayden Wiens collected the rebound of a point shot taken from overage defenceman Nolan Kneen and popped home his second of the campaign.

    The hosts nearly extended their edge a short time later, but a drive by 18-year-old centre Tristen Robins was knocked wide of the Calgary goal by Hitmen netminder Brayden Peters.

    The Hitmen proceeded to get some traction, when left-winger Cael Zimmerman backhanded home the rebound of one of his own shots from point blank range past Maier. That tally evened the score a 1-1 at the 6:55 mark of the opening frame.

    Focht picked up his assist on Zimmerman’s goal.

Dakota Krebs scored a goal for the Hitmen.

    The Hitmen took a 2-1 lead with 3:03 remaining in the second period on a power-play tally from captain Mark Kastelic. After Maier stopped a point shot from Hitmen star offensive defenceman Jeff Woo, the puck sat loose in front of him in the crease.

    Kastelic poked the puck through Maier’s legs and into the goal.

    The Blades evened the score at 2-2 with 1:24 remaining in the second. Right-winger Caiden Daley received a long bank stretch pass off the boards from import Czech defenceman Radek Kucerik, and Daley got in alone, cut across the front of the Hitmen net and tucked home the equalizer.

    Focht admitted his third period goal was fun to score.

    “I just picked up loose puck back in my zone and just ended up skating it all the way up,” said Focht. “I saw the defender was a little flat footed, so I tried to make a move on him and then just tried to beat the goalie.”

Hitmen RW Kyle Olson, centre, stops a shot in the final seconds of the third.

    After his team built a 4-2 advantage only to see the Blades cut the gap to 4-3 with 72 seconds remaining in the third, Focht was pleased his squad sealed the win from that point.

    “I’m not too sure how that third one went in, but it did,” said the Regina, Sask., product. “I thought we did a good job of responding and just really locking it down in those final minutes.”

    Maier turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Peters stopped 29 shots to get the win in net for the Hitmen.

    Focht is hoping his team can have a long playoff run. On his family side of things, his younger sister, Lauren, recently became the all-time leading scorer for the Regina Rebels female midget AAA team.

The Hitmen celebrate their win on Wednesday.

    The Rebels have the makings to be one of those teams that could appear in the championship game of the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament in late April in Prince Albert, Sask. Carson said his mom keeps him well informed of how Lauren is doing and that the siblings are pulling for each other to do well.

    “Obviously, both of us want to play as long as we can this year, and I think we are on good teams to do that,” said Carson Focht. “It is definitely not a rivalry between us, but it is good that her team is doing well.”

    The Blades return to action on Friday when they host the Regina Pats (21-33-4-2) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Hitmen are back at it on Friday when they travel to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers (38-19-2-1).

Ayres set to appear at Blades Suits Up game

A memory we'll all have forever pic.twitter.com/LUxqs8o3Wr

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

    The Saskatoon Blades will be bringing in now famous NHL emergency backup goaltender David Ayres for their WHL Suits Up to Promote Organ Donation on Friday.

    Ayres became famous on February 22 for having to enter an NHL regular season game to play goal for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. After the Hurricanes starting and backup goalies were injured, the 42-year-old Ayres fulfilled his role as the emergency backup entering the contest in the second period with the visitors holding a 3-1 edge.

    He allowed goals on the first two shots he faced and turned away the next eight shots in a 6-3 victory for the Hurricanes. With that result, Ayres became the first emergency backup goaltender to earn an NHL win.

    At age 42 years and 194 days, he became the oldest goaltender to win his NHL regular season debut.

    He is the operations manager for the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ont., and is best known for being a Zamboni driver.

    Ayres had a kidney transplant in 2004, which has allowed him to live his life to the fullest.

    At the Blades Suits Up game, Ayres will be dropping the puck for the ceremonial faceoff, and he will be signing autographs during the first intermission.

    For the Suits Up game, the Blades will be wearing special Hockey Night in Canada themed jerseys and the coaches will be wearing old school baby blue Hockey Night in Canada blazers. The jerseys and blazers will be auctioned off in a blind auction.

    All the proceeds raised from Friday’s game will be donated to Saskatoon’s Kidney Foundation Branch.

    The Blades will host the Regina Pats in their suits up game on Friday set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Blades to honour Molleken on March 21

    When the Saskatoon Blades close their regular season schedule on March 21, they will honour one of the all-time greatest to hold the roles of head coach and general manager in the history of the franchise.

    Before the Blades host their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders on March 21 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre, they will honour former long time head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken. Molleken’s name will be added to the Builders Banner and raised to the rafters of the SaskTel Centre.

    Molleken will be on hand for a special pre-game ceremony at ice level that will reflect on some of the great memories and moments from his time in Saskatoon. The 63-year-old will be joined by his family, former staff members, former players and friends.

    Molleken’s first stint with the Blades ran from 1991-92 to 1994-95 where he served as the team’s head coach. He guided the Blades to the WHL Championship series in 1992 and 1994. In both those appearances, the Blades fell in a series-deciding Game 7 to the Kamloops Blazers, who advanced on to win the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

    Molleken departed to the professional ranks and served as head coach of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks in the 1999-2000 campaign.

    He returned to the Blades for the start of the 2004-05 campaign becoming the team’s head coach and general manager. He held the head coach role until the end of the 2012-13 campaign and stayed on as the general manager for the 2013-14 season.

    After leaving the Blades, Molleken served as head coach of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants for most of the 2015-16 campaign.

    Molleken is the Blades all-time leader in head coaching victories at 539 and winning percentage at .591.

    I did a story on Molleken when he returned to Saskatoon as the Giants head coach on October 4, 2015. That piece can be found by clicking right here.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Oilers will always have a big following in Saskatchewan

The Oilers mingle at their bench during a timeout.

    The Edmonton Oilers will always have a sizable following in Saskatchewan.

    During Wednesday’s 4-0 NHL pre-season victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, a large gathering of 10,387 spectators were on hand at the SaskTel to see captain Connor McDavid and his Edmonton bunch. The Oilers star attraction didn’t disappoint netting a pair of goals and an assist to send almost all of a partisan crowd, who were mostly decked out in Oilers gear, home happy.

    The Oilers following in Saskatchewan has been entrenched for a few decades. The team build a huge fanbase during the 1980s and early 1990s, when the Oilers captured the Stanley Cup five times in seven years from 1984 to 1990.

    During that time, the Oilers were often labeled Western Canada’s team. Due to hitting the ice with players the likes of hockey icons Wayne Gretzky, who was part of the Oilers first four Stanley Cup wins, and Mark Messier, it was easy to identify with the team that was on television on a regular basis every April and May thanks to those championship playoff runs.

    Oilers netminder Laurent Brossoit enjoyed seeing the support his team gets from Alberta’s eastern provincial neighbour.

    “That is nice to have a couple of provinces that considers us their home team,” said Brossoit. “It is definitely a nice feeling. It is a lot of support for us.”

    Saskatoon product and rugged defensive defenceman Eric Gryba has always enjoyed his homecomings during his NHL career, and he noted there is a bit of an extra attachment when he returns home as a member of the Oilers.

    “Any time I come home and play in my hometown (before) a lot of friends and family is always a special thing,” said Gryba. “Obviously, the crowd is excited to have the Oilers in town.”

The Oilers and Hurricanes get set for a faceoff.

    While the Oilers haven’t won a Stanley Cup title in 27 years, a lot of fans in Saskatchewan still have an attachment to the team’s glory days. When the club is in a down stretch, the jerseys will sometimes be placed in the closet, but they are always ready to be brought out for that next memorable playoff run.

    Oilers fever hit a high pitch in the province in 2006, when the team advanced to the Stanley Cup finals only to fall 3-1 in a series deciding Game 7 to the Hurricanes. During that playoff run, many fans that weren’t alive to see the Oilers 1990 victory got to indulge in what appeared to be a team of destiny out of nowhere run.

    Edmonton proceeded to miss the post-season for the next 10 straight years.

    Last season, the Oilers returned to the playoffs posting a 47-26-9 record in the regular season. They eliminated the San Jose Sharks 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round series and fell 2-1 in a series deciding Game 7 to the Anaheim Ducks in the second round.

    Thanks to that run where they came up a win short of qualifying for the NHL’s Western Conference championship series, the support for the Oilers is gaining momentum again. With McDavid under contract for the next nine years, hope is high the new cast of characters that make up the current Oilers can bring home another Stanley Cup championship win.

    During a public autograph session that was part of the Royal University Hospital Foundation’s Celebrity Golf Classic last June, the players that received the most autograph requests were Gryba and Oilers starting netminder Cam Talbot. You could tell the run in the 2017 NHL playoffs was fresh on the minds of the fans.

    In Saskatchewan, there will always be strong followings for the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs due to the NHL’s historic Original Six days.

    Thanks to the Stanley Cup runs from 1984 to 1990 and the sprinkling of playoff marches that have occurred since, the Oiler will always have a big backing locked down too in “the Wheat Province” too.

Other thoughts from Wednesday’s NHL stop in Saskatoon

The Oilers skate off the ice after saluting the fans at the SaskTel Centre.

    The fans that attended Wednesday’s NHL pre-season game at the SaskTel Centre got to see a good show.

    While a 4-0 score in favour of the Edmonton Oilers might say otherwise, the Carolina Hurricanes had a number of solid chances to score. After outshooting the Oilers 13-4 in the second period, Carolina looked poised to rally from a 2-0 deficit. Connor McDavid scored twice inside of the final 10 minutes of the third to seal Edmonton’s victory.

    I have seen the NHL pre-season games that have been held in Saskatoon annually for the last four years. Last year’s game that saw the Ottawa Senators down the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime was the most exciting of the four.

    The games that have been held each of the past two years were far better than the ones I saw in 2014 and 2015. The contests the past two years were held late in the pre-season, and teams hit the ice with lineups that more resembled the ones that would be used in the regular season.

    The games in 2014 and 2015 definitely weren’t worth paying ticket prices ranging from $59.50 to $112 including fees to go see.

·         Hurricanes defenceman Haydn Fleury looked like an all-world player during his WHL days with the Red Deer Rebels, which wrapped up following the 2015-16 campaign. The sophomore pro looked ordinary trying to defend McDavid on a one-on-one rush on the Oilers fourth goal on Wednesday. McDavid seemed to toy with Fleury and cause the rearguard to move into position where he screened netminder Cam Ward. Fleury isn’t the first and won’t be the last player to look ordinary going against McDavid.

·         Wednesday’s attendance of 10,387 was quite a bit higher than the 7,541 that saw the Oilers play in Saskatoon in 2015. McDavid suited up for that 2015 contest, picking up an assist in a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. Back then, McDavid was going through the paces of his rookie campaign.

·         Defenceman Eric Gryba of the Oilers and Trevor Carrick of the Hurricanes engaged in a late third period fight. Carrick managed to get some decent shots in, but the bout ended quickly after it started when the pair slipped down to ice.

·         Way less media from Edmonton attended Wednesday’s game compared to past years, when the Oilers came to Saskatoon. Outside of the crew putting together contest for the Oilers website, only one Edmonton based reporter was present during post-game interviews. In past years, a number of members from the Edmonton media were on hand. There were no appearances this year by legendary Edmonton sportswriters Jim Matheson and Terry Jones, who are both first class guys. It was another sign of Canada’s worse than skeleton crew media cut era. On the bright side, all of Saskatoon’s local outlets were represented.

·         I covered Wednesday’s game for The Canadian Press. My story for that wire service can be found right here.

Anthem protests didn’t have to happen

Some fans have burned their NFL gear over anthem protests.

    The sports world, especially the professional sports world, has been overwhelmed with protests regarding the United States national anthem, and the recent wave didn’t need to happen.

    A year ago, Colin Kaepernick, who was then the quarterback of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, at first sat and later kneeled during the playing of the U.S. national anthem to protest social injustice – primarily inequality and police violence against blacks. Issues involving race have always been a huge elephant in the room in the United States. Canada has its racial issues too, but arguably, they are not as wedge oriented as those in the United States.

    A number of other players joined Kaepernick when he started doing his protest, but the story really died down to the point it was pretty much off the radar at the start of the current NFL season.

    That changed last Friday, when U.S. President Donald Trump made a speech to supporters in Huntsville, Ala., and attacked players who kneeled in protest of the U.S. national anthem.

    Trump said, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”

    He followed with a storm of inflammatory tweets. When NFL games rolled around on Sunday, there were massive protests that included over 200 players sitting or kneeling during the U.S. national anthem. Most teams locked arms in standing for the U.S. national anthem.

    In the CFL on Sunday, the Saskatchewan Roughriders locked arms during the Canadian national anthem before their 15-9 loss to the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium as a show of support to the NFL players in the U.S.

    Since Trump’s speech last Friday, the anthem protest story seems to rise again with each passing hour with another story containing a different angle. It really feels like this is a story that is out of control. Had Trump not said what he said last Friday, life in the professional sports world and the overall sports would have gone on as normal.

    Now, you have two camps. You have those that kneel and lock arms to peacefully protest during the U.S. national anthem for Kaepernick’s original cause of protesting social injustice and police violence against minorities.

    You have the other camp that believe the peaceful protests during the U.S. national anthem show disrespect for the United States flag and military. The peaceful anthem protests were never about the United States flag or military.

    That same scenario goes for Canada and the Canadian flag and military.

    The two sides seem to keep escalating each other up, where you have fans burning jerseys or other team gear. The fact Trump, who started all this in the first place, keeps stoking the fire on this subject also doesn’t help.

    For myself, I will support anyone that feels moved to the point they believe it is necessary to make a peaceful protest during the national anthem in the United States or Canada like what has happened in the last five days. If someone wants to just stand at attention during the national anthem in the United States or Canada, I support that action too. Freedom of expression is a right in both countries.

    In the amateur sports world, I know a large number of teams who are serious when it comes to standing at attention for the national anthem, and it has become part of something those teams have always done. If they do anything else, it feels weird. Those teams should feel free to continue what they have always done.

    Had Trump not stoked the subject up last Friday, the divisiveness that followed would not have happened.

RIP Hugh Hefner (1926-2017)

A 2010 documentary on Hugh Hefner.

    On Wednesday, Hugh Hefner, who was the founder of Playboy magazine, died at the age of 91 at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California.

    Due to Hefner’s age, his passing isn’t a shock. It still feels surreal due to the impact he had on culture in North America and the world during his life. It seems everyone likes to relive the joke that they checked out Playboy for the articles as opposed to the naked female centerfolds, but Hefner’s life impact expanded beyond that publication.

    Before Playboy was published, talking about sex in North America was locked in the puritan sense in that you didn’t talk about or acknowledge it at all. He helped society break free from that where the attitude toward sex became more free.

    What often doesn’t get discussed is that Hefner had a huge impact in advocating for free speech, civils rights and social justice causes, and he was way ahead of his time in advocating for those things on a number of fronts.

    Back in 2010, filmmaker Brigitte Berman produced the documentary entitled, “Hugh Hefner Playboy, Activist and Rebel.”

    The film does a fantastic job of telling the story of Hefner’s life. The majority of the interviews are with his supporters, but there are also interviews from his detractors and went into detail about the adversities he faced.

    Hefner spoke freely about his adversities. His supporters note Hefner always carried himself like a gentleman.

    The best part of the film was it was shot when Hefner was in his mid-80s, and he was still really vibrant. Judging from social media posts from people that were close to him, age finally caught up to Hefner on the health front in recent years. If you find a copy of Berman’s documentary, it is a must to check out in my opinion.

    I believe Hefner made the world a better place and did a great job in living life to the fullest.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.