Blades outgun Rebels 8-5

Saskatoon takes commanding 3-0 series lead on Red Deer

Ben Saunderson (#2) battles on the boards. (Photo: Taylor Lachance)

It hadn’t been this easy to score since the original Woodstock in 1969.

On Tuesday night at the Peavey Mart Centrium, the goals came in bunches as the Saskatoon Blades faced the host Red Deer Rebels in Game 3 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. The game was an entertaining one for the 4,411 spectators in attendance, but it was also likely a nightmare for the coaching staffs of both teams.

When the dust settled, the Blades skated away with an 8-5 victory and a seventh straight win in the WHL Playoffs. With the win, the Blades take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Saskatoon will attempt to close out the series in Game 4 set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

Game 3 began with a surprise as associate player call up Taylor Tabashniuk, who turned 17-years-old in March, started the contest in goal for Red Deer. Tabashniuk was playing his first career WHL game in either the regular season or post-season. He played this season with the Regina Pat Canadians under-18 AAA team before joining the Rebels.

Peyton Shore suited up as the Rebels backup goalie as an associated player call up. Shore, who is 15-years-old, played this season for the Rink Hockey Academy’s Under-17 team in his hometown of Winnipeg, Man.

The Rebels had to dress the associated player call ups as both of their regular netminders were out of the lineup. Second-year netminder Rhett Stoesser was out due to an undisclosed ailment. Stoesser has yet to dress for a game in the series against the Blades.

Breakout rookie puck stopper Chase Wutzke was out with an undisclosed injury. In the Blades 2-1 overtime victory in Game 2 on Sunday in Saskatoon, Wutzke was bowled over by Blades overage star left-winger Easton Armstrong on an offensive rush at the 5:59 mark of the third when the contest was tied 1-1.

Armstrong was given a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct. On Monday, he was suspended by the WHL with the length of the suspension to be determined.

Tanner Molendyk (#24) controls the puck. (Photo: Taylor Lachance)

Wutzke finished Game 2 playing heroically making 47 saves in the extra time setback.

In Game 3, the Rebels were thwarted on the first scoring chance of the contest just 13 seconds into the game. Rebels gritty left-winger Carson Birnie backhanded centred a pass from the right wing of the Saskatoon zone to the front of the Blades net to Rebels star centre and captain Kai Uchacz.

The puck deflected off Uchacz’s skate towards the Saskatoon net, but Blades breakout star rookie netiminder Evan Gardner made a sharp stop to keep the game scoreless. No one could have suspected the goal gusher that was to come at that time.

Shortly after that stop, the flood of goals started. Just 2:36 into the opening frame, Blades 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright fired home a shot from the left faceoff dot to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

The Rebels responded 14 seconds later when overage winger Carson Latimer, who was a one-time member of the Prince Albert Raiders, slid home a low shot to the right side of the Saskatoon net to even the score at 1-1. The officials video reviewed the tally and confirmed the goal did indeed count.

At the 7:31 mark of the first, Blades centre Rowan Calvert fired home a shot from the left faceoff circle to put the visitors back in front 2-1. 

Just 20 seconds later, Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov blew down the right wing and got in alone on the Red Deer net. He snapped home a shot to the low left side of the Red Deer goal to give the Blades a 3-1 advantage.

With 8:24 remaining in the first, Birnie scored a short-handed goal off a midrange shot from the right wing boards to cut the Blades lead to 3-2.

The offensive surge continued in the second. Just 2:16 into the frame, Rebels second-year defenceman Quentin Bourne, who was playing right wing, fired home his first career WHL goal in either the WHL regular season or post-season to even the score at 3-3.

Kai Uchacz (#19) gets tied up. (Photo: Taylor Lachance)

The Blades jumped back out in front 4-3 just 41 seconds later on the smart play by captain Trevor Wong. Rebels offensive-defenceman Mats Lindgren was slow to get possession of a loose puck in his own zone, and Wong stole the puck right out from under the rearguard. Wong quickly snapped a shot past Tabashniuk to give the visitors a one-goal edge once again.

With the teams playing four-versus-four hockey due to off-setting penalties, Sidorov scored his second of the contest to push the Blades lead out to 5-3.

As is a traditional Rebels trait, they didn’t quit. With 4:58 remaining in the second, Rebels star winger Kalan Lind scored on a wraparound to cut the Blades lead to 5-4.

After Lind’s goal, the Blades elected to pull Gardner. He stopped 16-of-20 shots sent his way. Austin Elliott turned away 16-of-17 shots playing the rest of the way in relief and would end up picking up the win in goal for the visitors.

Following the goaltender change, Sidorov proceeded to complete his hat trick tallying with 1:25 remaining in the second to give the Blades a 6-4 advantage heading into the second intermission.

The Blades pushed their edge out to 7-4 at the 6:27 mark of the third. Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky received a smart pass in the left slot from Wong and fired home his third of the post-season to give the visitors their three-goal edge.

At that point, the Rebels appeared to be sinking in quicksand. With 10:42 remaining in the third, Rebels import right-winger Frantisek Formanek pitch forked Blades defensive centre Lukas Hansen in the gut.

Formanek was given a major penalty for spearing and a game misconduct. His infraction will be automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Rebels proceeded to show more resilience as gritty left-winger Talon Brigley elected to make the highlight reels. While working the kill for Formanek’s major, Brigley took the puck away from Sidorov in the Red Deer zone.

Talon Brigley had a sweet goal. (Photo: Taylor Lachance)

Brigley jetting down the ice into the Saskatoon zone down the left wing, put a spinorama move on Blades offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk and roofed home a shot to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net for a short-handed goal to trim the visitor’s lead to 7-5. The Blades finished 1-for-4 on the power play in the contest, while giving up two short-handed goals.

A short time after Brigley’s goal, Uchacz had a dangerous chance to score, but he was stopped by Elliott, who was able to freeze the puck. Blades head coach Brennan Sonne called a timeout after that chance to settle his players down and get them to refocus for the rest of the frame.

With 3:13 remaining in the third, the Rebels pulled Tabashniuk for an extra attacker. Hansen scored his first of the post-season into an empty net with 1:20 remaining in the third to round out the 8-5 final in favour of the Blades.

Tabashniuk turned away 31-of-38 shots to take the setback in goal for the Rebels.

Wong collected three assists to go with his goal for a four-point night. Lisowsky had a pair of assists to go with his goal for a three-point night.

If the Blades are able to wrap up the series in Game 4 on Wednesday, they will ensure the Eastern Conference Championship Series will be an all-Saskatchewan battle for the first time since 1993. The winner of the series between the Blades and Rebels will face the winner of the other Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Swift Current Broncos.

On Tuesday, the Warriors downed the Broncos 5-3 in Swift Current in Game 3 of that series to take a 2-1 lead in that set.

Back in 1993, the Broncos swept the Regina Pats 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Championships Series. Swift Current advanced to the WHL Championship Series where they got past the Portland Winterhawks in seven games.

Coming into the series between the Blades and Rebels, the Blades were tabbed as the favourites. They topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They took down their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 in a first round series.

The Blades celebrate their win. (Photo: Taylor Lachance)

The Rebels had an up and down regular season finishing fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and eighth overall on the circuit with a 33-26-3-6 mark. They took out one of their biggest rivals in the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1 in a first round series.

Last year when the Blades and Rebels met in an Eastern Conference semifinal, the Rebels claimed the first three games of the set, and the Blades rallied back to take the next four games to take the series 4-3. The Blades became just the third team in this history of the WHL to face an 0-3 deficit in a best-of-seven series to rally back to take the set 4-3.

The Rebels face a bigger challenge to rally back to win this year’s series than the Blades did a year ago. Red Deer will try to make a series comeback, but it appears the Blades have way too much in their favour to let this one slip away.

Huge thanks to Lachance for photo help

A big thank you goes out to Red Deer Rebels team photographer Taylor Lachance for the first five photos that appear in this post.

He did a tremendous job with these photos. The WHL has a tonne of talented team photographers, and they do an outstanding job of capturing memorable moments on the major junior circuit.

Armstrong’s suspension could linger for Blades, other notes

Easton Armstrong in action on Sunday for the Blades.

Everyone on the Saskatoon Blades might be holding their collective breath with regards to how long Easton Armstrong’s latest suspension could run.

On Monday, the WHL suspended Armstrong for a length still to be determined for receiving a charging major and a game misconduct in the Blades 2-1 overtime victory over the Red Deer Rebels in Game 2 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series. Armstrong, who is the Blades star overage left-winger, was suspended for bowling over Rebels breakout rookie netminder Chase Wutzke at the 5:59 mark of the third period, when the contest was tied 1-1.

Wutzke finished that contest making 47 saves in a heroic performance. He missed the Rebels 8-5 setback in Game 3 on Tuesday in Red Deer against the Blades with an undisclosed injury.

Armstrong’s suspension on Monday marks the third time in the last two seasons where he has been suspended by the WHL. In the Blades 3-2 regular season victory over the Broncos in Swift Current on February 10, Armstrong was given a major penalty for goaltender interference and a game misconduct resulting in a two game suspension.

In February of 2023, Armstrong served a two-game suspension for receiving a charging major and a game misconduct as a member of the Winnipeg Ice.

The WHL is likely evaluating Armstrong’s status as a repeat offender before offering an official ruling on his latest suspension.

Armstrong was acquired by the Blades in a trade very early in the 2023-24 campaign with the Wenatchee Wild. In 62 regular season games played between the Wild and Blades, Armstrong had career highs in goals (34), assists (22), points (56) and plus-minus rating (plus-24).

In six post-season games with the Blades, Armstrong has posted five goals, three assists and a plus-four rating.

• Offensive-defenceman and captain Denton Mateychuk had a pair of goals including the winner and an assist to power the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 5-3 victory over the Broncos in Swift Current in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday. The Warriors took a 2-1 lead in the set. Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the InnovationPlex in Swift Current.
• Left-winger Matteo Danis score 82 seconds into overtime to deliver the Prince George Cougars to a 4-3 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna in Game 3 of a Western Conference semifinal series. With the win, the Cougars lead the series 3-0. Prince George will try to close out the set in Game 4 on Wednesday set for 7 p.m. local time at Prospera Place in Kelowna.
• The Portland Winterhawks are leading their Western Conference semifinal 3-0 over the Everett Silvertips. They will try to close out the set in Game 4 on Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett. The Winterhawks took Game 3 of the series 4-3 in overtime in Game 3 on Monday. Offensive-defenceman Carter Sotheran had the overtime winner for the Winterhawks. The series between the Winterhawks and Silvertips has faced the challenge of having to schedule around events at Everett’s rink.

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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Rebels push back against Blades expected in Game 2

Blades D Grayden Siepmann battle Rebels LW Carson Birnie.

Dave Struch thought his Red Deer Rebels entered the second round of the WHL’s post-season with a thud.

On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Rebels interim head coach saw his team drop a 4-1 decision to the host Saskatoon Blades in Game 1 of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. In that contest, the Blades held a 24-17 advantage in shots on goal and a 38-24 advantage in faceoffs won.

The two sides go at it again in Game 2 on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Struch said his club has to have a lot better effort in Game 2 and the rest of the best-of-seven set in order to be a threat to take the series.

“I would hope that we play a more physical game along the way,” said Struch. “I would hope that our game gets a lot better, so we can give them a challenge.”

Coming into this series, the Blades were tabbed as the favourites. They topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They took down their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 in a first round series.

Rebels RW Kalan Lind (#13) gets the puck on the backcheck.

The Rebels had an up and down regular season finishing fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and eighth overall on the circuit with a 33-26-3-6 mark. They took out one of their biggest rivals in the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1 in a first round series.

Since taking over behind the Rebels bench with the team having eight games remaining in the regular season, Struch believes his players have shown good resiliency. He saw some positives in Game 1, but he knows there is lots of room for improvement.

“With the way that they play, they try to get outnumber situations with the long rims,” said Struch. “I thought that we did a good job there.

“We kept the outnumber situations to a minimal. The counters for us I think that when we counter as slow as we did we’re not going to get enough offence. Those are things we have to get better at getting into Sunday.”

Fraser Minten had a big night in Game 1 Friday for the Blades.

While the Blades won Game 1, head coach Brennan Sonne said that contest didn’t play out structurally like his club though it would.

“It wasn’t crazy off what we expected to be coming, but I definitely predict there will be some adjustments,” said Sonne. “The lessons learned (on Friday) I thought we were very committed in certain areas like shot blocking was great (on Friday) for us.

“Lessons learned I think are structural. Game 1s are a little bit of a feeling out process. You’re seeing what they did all week.

“We’re trying to do what we did all week, and then you make little tweaks from here. Now, it is our turn as coaches to do our job.”

Game 1 of the series wasn’t all that physical outside of a big first period hit Blades rookie defenceman Morgan Tastad put on Rebels star right-wing Kalan Lind. There also weren’t that many scrums after the whistle, and Blades star centre Fraser Minten said his squad is trying to avoid engaging in extra-curricular activities.

“For us, that is intentional,” said Minten. “We don’t want to get into that stuff.

Hunter Mayo looks to start a rush for the Rebels.

“We feel we can out skill team and out skate teams. That is how we win. We don’t win by fighting after whistles and pushing and shoving.

“We just stay away from that and play hockey.”

Minten had a big night for the Blades in Game 1 collecting two goals, one assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He also won 18-of-24 faceoffs. Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky had one goal and one assist. Veteran defenceman Grayden Siepmann had a pair of assists for Saskatoon.

The Rebels big line of centre and captain Kai Uchacz, left-winger Frantisek Formanek and Lind had a relatively quiet night. They each had just one shot on goal. Left-winger Carson Birnie had the Rebels lone goal.

Also, the Rebels lack of puck possession was affected by the fact the Blades won 61.3 per cent of the faceoffs in Game 1, which helped keep the line of Uchacz, Formanek and Lind at bay.

Minten believes the Blades have to repeat a lot of the little things they did right in Game 1 in Game 2 like success in the faceoff circle.

“We just have to do it again,” said Minten. “We have to get ready and get prepared.

Egor Sidorov works in the offensive zone for the Blades.

“It will be a new game right from the start. We just have to go out and play like we can.”

NOTES - The Blades were without utility winger Tyler Parr with a leg injury and star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong with an undisclosed injury in Game 1. In the series opener, the Rebels were without overage defenceman Elias Carmichael with a lower body injury. Carmichael has yet to appear in the 2024 WHL post-season. Red Deer was also without second-year netminder Rhett Stoesser due to an undisclosed ailment.

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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Minten muscles Blades to 4-1 win in Game 1 over Rebels

Star centre gets three points, wins 18-of-24 faceoffs

The Blades celebrate a first period goal by Fraser Minten (#16) on Friday.

Fraser Minten is doing his best to ensure no one will ever forget about him playing in the WHL.

The Saskatoon Blades star 19-year-old centre did his best to lay claim to being the circuit’s most complete player on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre. Minten had a pair of goals, an assist and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department in powering the Blades to a 4-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels in the opening game of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the two sides.

Along with his offensive production, Minten won 18-of-24 faceoffs and had a big shot block in the third period when Rebels were trying to press to get even on the scoreboard. When the game finished, Minten received a big salute from the 8,355 spectators in attendance.

Fraser Minten had two goals and an assist on Friday.

Minten said he went into Friday’s game feeling refreshed as the Blades had six days off since eliminating their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders in the opening round of the post-season.

“Having a week off, you have lots of energy in the legs,” said Minten. “Starting at home is always nice, so we’re just feeding off the energy of the crowd and the boys.

“It was lots of fun right from the start tonight. There were just results tonight. I try to do that every night.

“There were lots of times in the first round where I would have six or seven shots on net, and they just hit a post or hit the blocker and just miss. It was just an inch or two on the results tonight.”

Fraser Minten won 18-of-24 faceoffs for the Blades on Friday.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne thought Minten had a great outing in Game 1 on Friday.

“I really liked his game,” said Sonne. “I thought he was a driver.

“I think he is always a driver, but there are times he just takes it to this level that is really difficult for anyone to play against honestly. Probably Swift Current at home (in a 3-2 overtime win on January 28) would be another example, but I just thought he was very man like and pro like tonight.”

Minten opened the scoring for the Blades at the 8:32 mark of the first, when he deflected home a point shot from 19-year-old defenceman Grayden Siepmann. Minten’s deflection slipped past Rebels breakout rookie netminder Chase Wutzke and slowly entering the Red Deer net.

Grayden Siepmann had a pair of assists for the Blades on Friday.

After that tally, Blades rookie defenceman Morgan Tastad proceeded to make the highlight reels leveling Rebels star right-winger Kalan Lind with a big open ice hit with 6:53 remaining in the frame.

A short time after that hit, the Rebels had a huge chance to pull even on the scoreboard. Rebels 19-year-old offensive-defenceman Mats Lindgren pinched down to the doorstep on the left side of the Saskatoon net.

Lindgren received a perfect setup pass for a backdoor tap, but he was robbed by a sprawling Blades breakout rookie netminder in Evan Gardner.

“His (Gardner’s) lateral movements tonight I thought were very crisp and sharp,” said Sonne. “He was very steady for us.

Carson Birnie scored for the Rebels in the second period.

“I think we can help him out in a few areas. We gave up some chances on our faceoffs in our defensive zone that we need to clean up so we can help him there too. When he had to, I just thought he worked really hard laterally.”

With 5:13 left in the first, the Blades thought they went up 2-0, when a shot from 18-year-old centre Rowan Calvert floated past Wutzke. The officials disallowed the goal ruling correctly the Blades were offside on the play and that ruling held up after a video review.

The opening 20 minutes was more of a feeling out frame for both teams where the Blades held a 6-3 edge in shots on goal.

The Rebels proceeded to even the score at 1-1 on a goal from left-winger Carson Birnie at the 5:29 mark of the second. On the play, Rebels overage winger Carson Latimer tipped a point shot from Lindgren on to the Saskatoon net, and the tip chance was stopped by Gardner. The puck rebounded to the left of the Saskatoon net to Birnie, who popped home the equalizer.

Vaughn Watterodt scored the winning goal for the Blades on Friday.

The Blades would jump back in front 2-1 just 3:30 later. Minten circled down the right side of the Red Deer zone and centred the puck loose in front of the Red Deer net. Hard-working veteran Blades left-winger Vaughn Watterodt jammed home the loose puck to give the host side a one-goal edge.

With 6:58 remaining in the second, the Blade struck on the power play to push their edge out to 3-1. Blades 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright was working with the puck at the left point and sent a pass to the right faceoff circle to Minten. Minten one-timed home his second of the contest to give the Blades their two-goal edge.

Evan Gardner stopped 16-of-17 shots in goal for the Blades.

Minten said it was key for his side to respond scoring twice after the Rebels tied the game to start the second.

“That was a big part of the game,” said Minten. “They came out pretty aggressive and with some energy at the start of the second.

“We were a little bit flat to start. After that goal, you could sense that they were pushing. They were getting some momentum.

“Those were big goals for us.”

Early in the third, the Rebels appeared to have a huge chance to get back into the contest. Just two minutes into the frame, Blades offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk was given a double minor for high sticking. That infraction will be automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

Mats Lindgren works the puck in the offensive zone for the Rebels.

The Rebels weren’t able to score on the four minutes of power play time.

Shortly after the power play ended for the visitors, the Rebels continued to press in the Saskatoon zone. During a long string of pressure, Minten came up with a big shot block, and Gardner turned away the visitors twice on a frantic net scramble situation.

Blades star 19-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky sealed the win scoring into an empty net with 48.9 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 4-1 final in favour of the host side.

Gardner made 16 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Wutzke turned away 20-of-23 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels.

Brandon Lisowsky scored an empty-net goal for the Blades.

Lisowsky had an assist to go with his goal. Siepmann finished with a pair of helpers for the Blades.

Rebels interim head coach Dave Struch thought Friday’s contest was a bit of a bland game.

“I’m not sure it was a top end playoff game by either team,” said Struch. “They played their game for sure.

“I think that we got off to a bit of a slow start. I was hoping that we’d finish a little bit more checks along the way. You could tell by the shots we got premier shots, but we didn’t get any secondaries to give ourselves an opportunity.

HC Brennan Sonne gives directions from the Blades bench.

“I think for the most part it was just a vanilla game. I don’t think there was any type of rivalry there at all. It was more like a start of a season.”

On the injury front, the Blades were without utility winger Tyler Parr with a leg injury and star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong with an undisclosed injury.

The Rebels were without overage defenceman Elias Carmichael with a lower body injury. Carmichael has yet to appear in the 2024 WHL post-season. Red Deer was also without second-year netminder Rhett Stoesser due to an undisclosed ailment. Taylor Tabashniuk, who played this season for the Regina Pat Canadians under-18 AAA team, dressed as Red Deer’s backup goalie as an associate player call up.

Interim HC Dave Struch checks out play from the Rebels bench.

Friday’s win also marked the first time the Blades claimed a Game 1 of a WHL post-season series since downing the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 in overtime on March 22, 2019 in a first round series. The Blades ultimately swept that best-of-seven set 4-0.

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Blades and Rebels is set for Sunday at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Sonne said the Blades have their plan already in motion to prepare for that contest.

“I’m going to talk to the players actually and get their feedback,” said Sonne. “We do have ice tomorrow, but based on some of the feedback, we’ll adjust the plan for tomorrow.

The Blades enjoy their win on Friday night.

“They have a half hour. They know whether it is a win or a loss that is us. We have our emotions for a half hour, and then we turn the page and get ready for the next one.”

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Rebels all business in 5-2 win over Blades in Game 2

Red Deer leads WHL Eastern Conference semi 2-0

The Rebels celebrate a goal from captain Jayden Grubbe (#9)

Poised, businesslike and hard-working.

It was type performance one comes to expect out of the Red Deer Rebels when they are at their best under the ownership of Brent Sutter. Sutter serves as the team’s general manager and president, while the performance of the players is under the tutelage of veteran head coach Steve Konowalchuk, who currently has the Rebels playing up to a lofty traditional standard.

On Sunday playing before 6,156 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Rebels built a 4-0 lead and downed the host Saskatoon Blades 5-2 in Game 2 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series holding a 20-16 edge in shots on goal. With the win, the Rebels now hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven set. They took Game 1 of the series 3-1 on Friday.

The Blades clear away the puck during a net scramble.

Games 3 and 4 are set for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at 7 p.m. both nights at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer.

On Sunday, the Rebels were keenly focused on their systems play and pretty much suffocated the life out of the Blades and the enthusiasm of the host side’s fans in the building. Red Deer clogged up the centre ice zone taking away the Blades tendency to go for stretch passes. Saskatoon found it tough sledding to go up ice.

In the defensive zone, the Rebels played with poise and had good spacing. The Blades players were often kept to the outside and seemed to second guess what they wanted to do when it came time to pass the puck.

Ben King had a goal and three assists for the Rebels on Sunday.

In the offensive zone, the Rebels set up a strong forecheck that kept the Blades pinned for numerous stretches in their own zone. When the Rebels had the puck in the offensive zone, they moved it around with confidence and shot it with purpose once it was in a prime scoring area.

Seeing how well the Rebels played shouldn’t come as a surprise from a club that is coached by Konowalchuk. Konowalchuk had a lengthy NHL career as left-winger with the Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche from 1992 to 2006, and he served as the head coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds for six seasons from 2011 to 2017. He guided the Thunderbirds to a WHL championship in his final season with the club in 2016-17.

Jhett Larson had a goal and two assists for the Rebels on Sunday.

Following that WHL title, Konowalchuk moved on to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks in 2017-18 and served as a scout for the New York Rangers from 2018 to 2021. He was brought back to the WHL by Sutter on June 8, 2021 to serve as the head coach of the Rebels.

Konowalchuk is the type of bench boss Sutter had been looking to pass the head coaching roll to after holding that job title for the majority of the time he owned the Rebels since buying them in 1999. Konowalchuk’s teams traditionally play with good structure, discipline, poise and tenacity, which made him a perfect fit to be the Rebels head coach.

Jayden Grubbe had a goal and two assists for the Rebels on Sunday.

On Sunday against the Blades, the Rebels showed how strong they can be when they are focused on being their best. Even with their strong outing on Sunday, the Rebels are always looking for ways to improve and get better.

The opening 20 minutes started in a more tight checking fashion as the two sides were tied 4-4 in the shots on goal department.

Early in the second, Rebels captain Jayden Grubbe had a great chance to score close in on the right side of the Saskatoon net, but he was robbed by the glove hand of Blades netminder Austin Elliott. That was just a sign of the avalanche of momentum to come.

Hunter Mayo chases down a loose puck for the Rebels.

The Rebels broke through on the scoreboard at the 7:53 mark of the second. While working on the power play, Grubbe and defenceman Mats Lindgren got the puck over to star 20-year-old left-winger Ben King, who was positioned above the left faceoff dot.

King took his time and roofed home a power-play marker to give the Rebels a 1-0 lead. After that tally, the Rebels were off and running.

Just seconds later, Rebels centre Craig Armstrong drove a shot from the front of the Saskatoon net off the crossbar. The visitors didn’t dwell on the near miss.

The Rebels struck again 1:49 after King’s goal. On a rush into the Saskatoon zone, right-winger Jhett Larson and King combined to get the puck to star import offensive-defenceman Christoffer Sedoff, who was speeding down the left wing. Sedoff blew home a shot to the top right corner of the Saskatoon goal to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead.

Christoffer Sedoff had a goal for the Rebels on Sunday.

With 7:50 remaining in the second, Grubbe won a board battle in the left corner of the Saskatoon zone. He proceeded to get the puck to Larson at the top of the left faceoff circle. Larson fired home a shot to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead.

After that goal was scored, you could hear a pin drop in the Blades home rink.

Follow that Rebels tally, the Blades pulled Elliott. Elliott stopped 9-of-12 shots fired his way to take the setback in the Saskatoon net. Ethan Chadwick turned away 4-of-6 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Rebels kept on coming in the third. At the 3:38 mark of the frame, rookie left-winger Carson Birnie fired home a midrange shot to give the visitors a 4-0 advantage.

Carson Birnie had a goal for the Rebels on Sunday.

The Blades got on the scoreboard at the 9:48 mark of the third with a power-play goal from star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky to cut the Red Deer lead to 4-1.

Grubbe added a goal just under three minutes later to round out the game’s scoring to give the Rebels a 5-1 edge. With 5.9 seconds remaining in the third, Blades 19-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright scored on a four-on-three power play to round out the 5-2 final in favour of the Red Deer side.

The Rebels forward unit of King, Grubbe and Larson had a banner night. King finished with a goal and three assists, while Grubbe and Larson each posted a goal and two assists.

HC Steve Konowalchuk has the Rebels playing in strong form.

Blades star centre Trevor Wong picked up helpers on both Saskatoon goals.

Kyle Kelsey stopped 14 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels.

Going into the series, few would have expected the Rebels to win the first two contests on the road in Saskatoon. 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 Rebels finished fifth in the overall WHL standings and topped the Central Division with a 43-19-3-3 mark.

The Blades took three out of the four regular season encounters between the two sides. In the two regular season clashes played at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades claimed a 6-2 win on January 7 and a 5-2 triumph on March 1.

Trevor Wong had a pair of assists for the Blades on Sunday.

In the post-season, it would have been viewed as big for the Rebels to get a split in the first two games in Saskatoon. Red Deer’s 3-1 win in Game 1 could have gone either way. For the Rebels to follow up with an impressive 5-2 win in Game 2 on Sunday, it was head turning.

To make matters worse for the Blades, their captain and star overage offensive-defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere didn’t play the third period. The Blades have also been without steady 20-year-old defenceman Blake Gustafson for the first two games of the series with an undisclosed injury.

Saskatoon has the potential to get back in the series. The Blades lost the first two games of their first round series at home to Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats before rallying for a 4-3 series victory.

The Rebels celebrate their Game 2 win on Sunday.

With that said, the Rebels are a different beast. They are sound defensively and benefit from having a touch more experience than the Pats had.

On the surface, it is going to be much bigger challenge for the Blades to comeback in the series against the Rebels than it was to rally against the Pats.

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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