Finally - All WHL Divisions are back in business

Connor Zary in action for the Blazers on December of 2019.

The WHL was able to do the impossible.

When the circuit paused its 2019-20 season back on March 12, 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, there was no certainty as to when the major junior league would hit the ice again.

That pause evolved into the cancelation of the rest of the 2019-20 campaign overseen under the CHL umbrella, which the WHL is a part of.

With the WHL’s 22 teams being spread across four Canadian provinces in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia along with the states of Washington and Oregon in the United States, the prospects of the WHL returning for any type of 2020-21 season seemed daunting.

The WHL had to work with the governments and health authorities in four Canadian provinces and two states in the United States in order to get the circuit going again on the ice. There were days it seemed the odds of winning the main prize of a Lotto Max jackpot were better than that of the WHL coming back for 2020-21.

Ultimately, the WHL came up with the idea of each member club playing a shortened 24-game regular season, which would be held for developmental purposes. All games are being played without fans in attendance and competition is restricted to in division play.

The Swift Current Broncos were moved from the Central Division to the East Division for the abbreviated season to the play the WHL’s four other Saskatchewan-based clubs and the circuit’s two Manitoba-based teams in a bubble format at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The Central Division hit the ice on February 26. The East Division followed on March 12 and the U.S. Division got in gear on March 18.

Friday marked the first contests played in the B.C. Division with games held in bubble environments at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops and Prospera Place in Kelowna. 

The Rockets were back in action on Friday.

The Kamloops Blazers downed the Vancouver Giants 7-3 in Kamloops, while the Kelowna Rockets blanked the Victoria Royals 5-0 in Kelowna.

Friday would be the first time all four division in the WHL were allowed to be active for regular season games since March 11, 2020.

On Saturday, the Prince George Cougars took on the Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre. When the Cougars took the ice in their 5-4 setback, it meant every team in the WHL has played at least one game in the abbreviated 2020-21 regular season.

It has to be considered a miracle that all WHL teams were able to get back into action. Still, the return to play hasn’t been easy.

All players, coaches and trainers are taking part in weekly testing. On Friday, the WHL announced it had administered 4,094 COVID-19 tests from Feb. 12 to March 26 with only one positive result. From March 20 to this past Friday, the WHL administered 1,002 COVID-19 tests with all results coming back negative.

The 17 Canadian based teams are using private PRC testing provided by DynaLIFE. The five teams in the United States have taken part in private antigen testing.

The WHL is playing this developmental campaign at a sizable financial cost to its member teams. Back during their virtual annual general meeting on Jan. 18, the community owned Lethbridge Hurricanes estimated they expected to lose $1.3-million, if they hit the ice for an abbreviated 24-game regular season that was played without spectators.

With all that said, the WHL has created an opportunity for their players to get fresh game video footage that can be studied by scouts from the NHL, other professional leagues and the U Sports ranks.

Fans have been able follow games on radio broadcasts, check out livestreams or view highlights are various league and team social media platforms.

The Blazers are celebrating a lot of goals early this season.

On Friday, it had to feel good again for league followers that Kamloops star centre Connor Zary was again doing Connor Zary things posting three assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department in the Blazers win over the Giants.

Sophomore 17-year-old right-winger Matthew Seminoff had a big night too for the Kamloops side collecting two goals and one assist to go with a plus-three rating. Thanks to his late December birthday, Seminoff isn’t NHL Entry Draft eligible until 2022.

In Kelowna on Friday, the Rockets played a solid team game in their shutout of the Royals. Veteran centre Alex Swetlikoff paced the Rockets with a pair of goals, while veteran netminder Cole Schwebius made 19 saves to pick up the shutout win.

While WHL supporters are pumped they can follow game action in the league again, the realization shouldn’t be lost that it is amazing these contests are even happening at all.

WCBL still in COVID-19 shadow, other notes

If anyone thought the COVID-19 pandemic was over, developments from the Western Canadian Baseball League say otherwise this week.

As vaccines for COVID-19 continue to roll our across Canada, it seems like a sizable portion in society is treating the pandemic like it is over.

The WCBL continues to plot out a plan for a 2021 season, and it is trying to adjust for various restrictions that are expected to be in place well into summer.

The WCBL is wood bat summer league containing team stocked with college eligible players, and its season typically runs from the last week of May with playoffs ending about the second week of August. Regular season action usually wraps up at the end of July.

The circuit’s 2020 campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, the league announced it plans to go ahead with a 2021 campaign with teams fielding roster containing just players from Canada. Typically, the rosters of WCBL clubs are stocked with a sizable number of players born in the United States.

The Alberta based Okotoks Dawgs with two teams, the Lethbridge Bulls, Sylvan Lake Gulls and Edmonton Prospects have committed to play in 2021.

The Fort McMurray Giants and the Medicine Hat Mavericks are still discussing whether they will play or not. Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News reported on Friday that the Mavericks home stadium – Athletic Park – is slated to undergo renovations this summer.

As a result, the Mavericks are dealing with having to play a 2021 campaign in the smaller Jeffries Park, which is also located in Medicine Hat.

Also on Thursday, the WCBL announced that the circuit’s four remaining Saskatchewan-based teams in the Moose Jaw Miller Express, Regina Red Sox, Swift Current 57s and Weyburn Beavers along with the Brooks Bombers in Alberta have decided to opt out of a possible 2021 campaign and will look forward to returning in 2022.

During a Zoom press conference call, WCBL commissioner Kevin Kvame said the Saskatchewan based Yorkton Cardinals and Melville Millionaires ceased operation as of December.

On Thursday, the Red Sox issued a press release that expanded on why the Saskatchewan teams in the WCBL elected not to play. The circuit submitted a return to play plan to the Saskatchewan Health Authority that requested a gradual increase in attendance throughout the season going up to 100 per cent of capacity for July 1.

The Red Sox release said that the SHA is enforcing a maximum capacity of 25 per cent for the upcoming season at the moment.

The released added, “Player and staff testing protocols will need to be in place at an estimated cost of $40,000 per team, as well as quarantine costs amounting to $2,000 per player. Interprovincial travel continues to be restricted, and the US/Canada border remains closed at this time.”

The statement continued by saying the Alberta clubs that have decided to play with just Canadian players will still be subjected to quarantine, testing and border restrictions.

By the looks of what the WCBL is dealing with, it is realistic to expect minor sports competition this coming summer will likely lean more to being played with teams just traveling within provincial boundaries like they did last summer.

At the moment, interprovincial competition, which would obviously be needed for national championship competitions, still might not happen this coming summer.

• On Friday, the Prairie Junior Hockey League junior B circuit in Saskatchewan cancelled the reminder of its 2020-21 campaign due to provincial restrictions brought in to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The PJHL’s last regular season game was held Nov. 26, 2020 when the Saskatoon Quakers beat the Saskatoon Westleys 8-4.
• On Friday, netminder Dustin Wolf broke the Everett Silvertips team record for longest shutout streak. In the Silvertips 4-0 start to their WHL regular season schedule, Wolf posted shutouts in his team’s first three wins. His shutout streak came to an end Friday, when he was beaten by Portland Winterhawks right-winger Simon Knak at the 13:16 mark of the second period of Everett’s 2-1 overtime victory at the Veteran Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Wolf set a Silvertips record for longest consecutive shutout streak lasting 216 minutes and 27 seconds. The previous record of 195 minutes and 12 seconds was held by Carter Hart, who now plays for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.
• On Saturday, netminder Aerin Frankel of the Northeastern University Huskies women’s hockey team was named the winner of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I women’s hockey. In 23 overall games with the Huskies, Frankel posted a 20-2-1 record, a 0.81 goals against average, a .965 save percentage and nine shutouts. She backstopped the Huskies to the NCAA championship game, where they fell 2-1 in overtime to the University of Wisconsin Badgers on March 20.
• The WHL regular season record for longest shutout streak belongs to Chris Worthy playing for the Flin Flon Bombers in 1967-68. Worthy set the mark for playing most consecutive games picking up a shutout at four, and in the process, he set the record for most consecutive minutes of playing shutout hockey at 265 minutes and 13 seconds. Worthy’s records still have a chance to stand for a lengthy amount of time.
• Speaking of long time records, Medicine Hat Tigers left-winger Boyd Anderson set the WHL regular season records for the fast four goals and fastest five goals on October 7, 1972 in a game against the Flin Flon Bombers at The Arena in Medicine Hat. In the third period of the Tigers 10-1 win, Anderson scored four goals in a span of two minutes and 35 seconds. A short time later, he added a fifth tally, and all five goals were scored in a record time of three minutes and seven seconds. In the current day of hockey, individual players top out getting eight or nine shots on goal for a game. Imagine scoring five times on five shots in a span of 3:07. Anderson’s records may never be broken.
• During the abbreviated 2020-21 WHL regular season, it has been great to hear familiar play-by-play voices over the radio again. Of course, it has been sweet to hear Bob Ridley call games again as the play-by-play voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers. In order of seniority, it has also been great to once again here Les Lazaruk calling Saskatoon Blades games, Phil Andrews calling Regina Pats contests and Trevor Redden calling Prince Albert Raiders games. When you hear those play-by-play voices doing their thing, it feels that much more normal again.
• On Saturday the Edmonton Oil Kings ran their WHL regular season record to 9-0 downing the Calgary Hitmen 5-2 at the Seven Chiefs SportsPlex in Calgary. Star left-winger Jake Neighbours led the way for the Oil Kings with two goals and an assist.
• On Saturday, Paul Figler, who is the founder of the DUBNetwork that is dedicated to covering the WHL, wrote a column on the difficulties people were having with the WHL’s new streaming service to watch games online. Figler’s opinion piece was a good one, and it 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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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.

U.S.A. breaks Canada’s heart in world juniors gold medal clash

A TV screen shows U.S. player enjoying a world juniors title win.

The United States has Canada’s number in gold medal games at the world junior men’s hockey championships.

On Tuesday playing in a bubble environment before no fans at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta., the United States blanked Canada 2-0 in the championship game at world juniors. World juniors were played in a bubble environment due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

In the five times the United States and Canada have met in the gold medal game at world juniors, the U.S.A. has now won the last four of those encounters in a row.

The loss was a tough pill for Canada to take. Canada had won gold one year earlier at the world juniors when they were held in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

Through the preliminary, quarter-final and semifinal rounds, Canada had a 6-0 record outscoring its opponents 41-4. Canada, which topped Group A in the preliminary round, hadn’t trailed in any of its games at world juniors until hitting the gold medal game.

Coming into world juniors, Canada was a favourite to win gold. That favourite status increased when a number of other traditionally strong teams lots key players due to positive COVID-19 tests before entering the bubble in Edmonton.

The United States arrived in the bubble minus five players due to positive COVID-19 tests in Robert Mastrosimone, Alex Vlasic, John Beecher, Thomas Bordeleau and goalie Drew Commesso.

The U.S.A. dropped its first preliminary round game on Christmas Day by a 5-3 score to Russia. The United States rebounded to captured first place in the tougher Group B in the preliminary round with a 3-1 record and ultimately closed the event with six straight wins.

Connor Zary in action for the Blazers in 2019.

Going into the gold medal game, United States star forward Trevor Zegras said he didn’t believe Canada had faced a test as tough as one his side was going to bring. Zegras has a swagger that is comparable to that of Michael Irvin, who was a star receiver for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys three Super Bowl winners in the 1990s.

The United States came out ready to back Zegras’s assessment. The U.S. players came out with a start where they figuratively punched the Canadian side in the mouth.

The opening frame was played at a break neck pace with the United States holding a 13-9 edge in shots on goal. At the 13:25 mark of the first, the United States jumped ahead 1-0, when forward Alex Turcotte tipped home a point shot from rearguard Drew Helleson.

Zegras collected a second assist on that tally.

The opening U.S.A. goal marked the first time through the whole tournament including exhibition play where Canada trailed on the scoreboard. Canada would never get ahead on the scoreboard on this night.

After the opening 20 minutes, the United States came out blazing to open the second period and got the Canadian players running around in their own zone. A shot from the point by United States forward Arthur Kaliyev hit the back boards and came to rest at the back of the left side of the Canadian net.

Zegras calmly collected the loose puck and quickly tucked it behind Canadian netminder Devon Levi for a 2-0 lead. Levi had shifted to the right side of his goal expecting the puck to come out on that side.

Despite the jump the United States got, Canada still had a chance to get some traction before the second frame ended, and the first chance came in an unexpected spot.

Just after the midway point in the second period, the Canadian side was short-handed after forward Jakob Pelletier took a hooking penalty.

On the United States power play, Levi stoned Kaliyev on back-to-back big mid-range chances.

Bowen Byram in action for the Giants in 2019.

Following those saves, Canada got down ice on a short-handed rush. Off the rush, Canadian offensive-defenceman Bowen Byram cut across the front of the United States goal and put a backhand shot off the post.

Inside of the final two minutes of the second, United States netminder Spencer Knight turned away Canadian forward and Saskatoon product Connor Zary, who is a star with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, on a point-blank range try.

Had Canada capitalized on one of those chances, they possibly could have gotten the players on the United States side to start getting nervous and grip their sticks a little tighter.

The United States closed out the game with a textbook defensive effort in the third period. While Canada had a 15-1 edge in shots on goal in the frame, that statistic was a bit misleading, because most of those chances came from the outside.

It didn’t feel like the United States had lost control of the game in that frame.

With just over two minutes remaining in the third, Canadian forward Dylan Holloway had the best chance to score for his size in the stanza, but his close in shot was turned away by Knight.

Knight turned away 34 shots in goal for the United States to pick up his third shutout of the tournament. Levi made 19 stops to take the setback in net for Canada.

Zegras led the event in scoring piling up seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in the seven games the United States played. He was named the tournament’s MVP and was placed on the tournament all-star team.

Levi, Byram, who is a star with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, and Dylan Cozens, who is a star centre with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, were named to the tournament all-star team from Canada. Cozens topped Canada in scoring with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in seven games.

Also named to the all-star team were German forward Tim Stutzle and Finland defenceman Ville Heinola. Finland downed Russia 4-1 in the bronze medal game held earlier in the day on Tuesday.

Dylan Cozens in action for the Hurricanes in 2019.

While Canada didn’t win, the Canadian team’s journey to the gold medal game at world juniors provided some normalcy over the holiday season for the Canadian team’s fans. Judging by social media, it is safe to say a sizable portion of Canada’s population took in Tuesday’s gold medal game.

Still, it was a contest and a night that belonged to the United States – country that ultimately showed its depth in the game and its swagger.

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.

WHLers storm on to Canada’s world junior team roster

Guhle, Schneider and WHL alum Dach to chase gold medal

Kaiden Guhle in action for the Raiders last season.

In world juniors that will be like no other, fans of the WHL will have lots of reasons to watch Canada chase a second straight gold medal.

On Friday, Hockey Canada announced its 25-player roster for the world junior tournament, which will run in a hub city bubble format from Dec.25 to Jan. 5, 2021 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta. Teams are slated to arrive in Edmonton on Sunday and quarantine for five days before beginning practices on Dec. 18.

The hub city bubble format is being used due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

Team Canada is wrapping up selection camp activities in Red Deer, Alta. The Canadian team roster that will play in Edmonton contains nine current WHL players and one WHL alum, who was loaned to the Canadian side by an NHL team.

Kirby Dach, who is a centre with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, was the WHL alum that was loaned to Team Canada. Dach was a star with the Saskatoon Blades from 2016 to 2019 before being selected in the first round and third overall by the Blackhawks in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

The 19-year-old Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., product appeared in 64 regular season games with the Blackhawks last season posting eight goals, 15 assists and a minus-one rating in the plus-minus department.  

Kirby Dach in action for the Blades in 2018-19.

Dach, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds, suited up for nine post-season games with the Blackhawks recording one goal, five assists and a plus-three rating.

Due to the NHL playoffs being conducted in a hub city format, Dach is the only player on the Canadian roster who has experience with what his team is going to deal with. The Blackhawks played all of their games in the last NHL post-season in Edmonton.

Defenceman Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants and centre Dylan Cozens from the Lethbridge Hurricanes are part of the group of six returnees from Canada’s gold medal winning entry at the last world juniors, which were held in Ostrava in the Czech Republic. Both are in their 19-year-old junior seasons.

Byram, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 197 pounds, appeared in 50 regular season games with the Giants last season posting 14 goals, 38 assists and a plus-19 rating. Cozens, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 198 pounds, suited up for 51 regular season games with the Hurricanes last season recording 38 goals, 47 assists and a plus-23 rating.

Braden Schneider in action for the Wheat Kings last season.

Kaiden Guhle, who is an 18-year-old defenceman for the Prince Albert Raiders, is one of the many newcomers to the Canadian side. He appeared in 64 regular season games last season posting 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-23 rating.

Guhle, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 209 pounds, has past international experience playing in Hockey Canada’s program. 

He was a captain for Canada Red at the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, where he picked up three assists in six games. That event was held in Quispamsis and Saint John, New Brunswick.

He was an alternate captain for Canada’s silver medal winning team at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he posted one assist in five games. That event was played in Breclav in the Czech Republic and Piestany in Slovakia.

Joining Guhle on the back end is Prince Albert product Braden Schneider, who is 19-year-old defenceman with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Schneider, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 207 pounds, appeared in 60 regular season games with the Wheat Kings last season recording seven goals, 35 assists and a plus-nine rating.

Kaedan Korczak in action for the Rockets last season.

Also suiting up on the blue-line is Yorkton, Sask., product Kaedan Korczak, who is a 19-year-old defenceman with the Kelowna Rockets. 

Korczak, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 192 pounds, suited up for 60 regular season games for the Rockets last season posting 11 goals, 38 assists and a plus-seven rating.

Saskatoon product Connor Zary, who stands 6-feet and weighs 177 pounds, is the final player with Saskatchewan ties to earn a spot on Canada’s roster. 

Zary, who is a 19-year-old centre with the Kamloops Blazers, appeared in 57 regular season games last season recording 38 goals, 48 assists and a plus-30 rating.

Rounding out the WHL player representation on the Team Canada roster is 19-year-old centre Peyton Krebs of the Winnipeg Ice, 18-year-old goaltender Dylan Garand of the Blazers and 19-year-old netminder Taylor Gauthier of the Prince George Cougars.

Blades head coach Mitch Love, Blades assistant coach Tyler Dietrich and Giants head coach Michael Dyck will all serve as assistant coaches for Canada. Moose Jaw Warriors general manager Alan Millar is part of Team Canada’s management group.

Connor Zary in action for the Blazers last season.

Calgary Hitmen assistant and goaltending coach Jason LaBarbera is the goaltending coach for Canada. Edmonton Oil Kings head athletic therapist Brian Cheeseman is a therapist for the Canadian side.

In these crazy times, Friday’s roster announcement for Team Canada was an upbeat day for Canadian fans who follow world juniors. No matter what wrenches get thrown into the event from the COVID-19 front, Canadians will tune into world juniors in droves, especially when Canada is playing.

With numerous parts of Canada observing stricter lockdown measures through the Christmas season, world juniors should have quite the captive audience.

If Canada repeats as a gold medal winner, you can expect an outpouring from joy from Canadian fans on Jan. 5, 2021. For fans of the WHL, a Canadian gold medal win at this would junior tournament will feel that much more sweet.

NHL all about speculation, other notes

A Brayden Point card.

If you follow all the speculation that is swirling around the NHL right now, you would probably not get anything else done your day-to-day life.

As the days of December 2020 drift away, it becomes more obvious that the NHL isn’t going to begin its upcoming season on its original targeted start date of Jan. 1, 2021. The continuing surge of new COVID-19 cases in Canada and the United States will likely see certain to that.

With the initial rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines to come in a limited form, the world in North America is still several months away from returning to normal.

It was announced on Friday the closer of the border between Canada and the United States for all non-essential travel currently goes to Jan. 21, 2021.

Most areas of Canada are observing stricter restrictions and lockdowns to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Some areas of the United States have brought in stricter COVID-19 restrictions too.

If Canadian NHL teams were supposed to hold training camps to prepare for a Jan. 1, 2021 start, players from outside the country would already have to be arriving in Canadian cities to quarantine for 14 days.

So far, the NHL hasn’t officially announced any new plans. That has lead to lots of speculation.

So what might the upcoming NHL season look like?

On Tuesday, Frank Seravalli of TSN said that outlet’s sources have said the NHL’s targeted start date is now Jan. 13, 2021 with a 56-game regular season. The start date and regular season length haven’t been confirmed, but they seem to be reasonable expectations.

On Tuesday during an online interview with The Maccabi USA Sports Show, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said realignment would likely be necessary because of travel restrictions between Canada and the United States.

“There are a lot of things we have to do to return to play,” said Bettman. “For us to return to play, we’re not going to play 82 games, obviously, and we have travel issues because of the restrictions at the border between Canada and the U.S.

“You can’t go back and forth, so we’re actually going to have to realign. If everything stays the way it is, we’re probably going to have to have a Canadian division and realign in the U.S., and we’re trying to focus on dealing with all of those challenges.”

The nugget of a Canadian division has many NHL fans in Canada in an excited frenzy.

It wasn’t that long ago when the Tampa Bay Lightning captured their second Stanley Cup title with a 2-0 Game 6 championship series win over the Dallas Stars in the hub city of Edmonton on Sept. 28. That contest officially concluded the 2019-20 NHL campaign that had a wrench thrown into it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sports media outlets in Canada can have a field day with all the speculation. The crew at The Rod Pedersen Show in Regina, Sask., must loved the fact they have this as one of many subjects to endlessly talk about.

 NHL fans might be best to take a “they will play when they play” approach. They should avoid spending too much time dwelling on all the possibilities.

• On Wednesday, I went live with a new piece on the Howe Happening blog, which supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I wrote an introductory piece to the sport of Nordic skiing thanks to the help of the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On Wednesday, I put together a post of the coolest and sweetest photos of construction projects taking played at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex taken by operations manager Johnny Marciniuk. Marciniuk can take the bulk of the credit for the work there. That post can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, Planet S Magazine announced its results in its annual “Best of Saskatoon” contest. People can vote for the city’s best in various categories. Pat McKay of CTV Saskatoon was voted Best Sports Reporter. It was a cool nod as McKay has been a general assignment news reporter who does some sports stories since returning to CTV Saskatoon early in the year from CTV Winnipeg as a sports reporter. Due to the restructuring of CTV across Canada, that media outlet has very few just dedicated sports reporters. Before leaving for a short stint in Winnipeg, McKay had a great run as a sports reporter at CTV Saskatoon, when there was a dedicated sports reporter spot there. Knowing the public has fond memories of McKay’s work as a sports reporter, could CTV Saskatoon bring back that type of dedicated position for him? As the old cliché goes, this might be a case of giving viewers what they want. They have spoken with their votes.

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.

Blazers’ Zary earns all-star and NHL Central Scouting accolades

Connor Zary is one of the WHL’s top players.

    Connor Zary had a great week when it came to collecting accolades.

    The skilled 18-year-old centre had a stellar 2019-20 WHL campaign with the Kamloops Blazers piling up 38 goals, 48 assists and a plus-30 rating in the plus-minus department in 57 regular season games.

    On Tuesday, Zary was named a WHL Western Conference first team all-star. On Wednesday, Zary was rated 15^th among North American skaters in the final ranking released by NHL Central Scouting, which means the Saskatoon product could potentially be a late first round selection in the NHL Entry Draft.

    Zary, who stands 6-feet and weighs 180 pounds, is eligible for this year’s NHL Entry due to his late September birthday. The NHL Entry Draft was originally slated to be held June 26-27 in Montreal, Quebec, but it has been postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to a date that has yet to be announced.

    Back in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, the Blazers selected Zary in the second round and 37^th overall. He played his 15-year-old season in 2016-17 with the Saskatoon Contacts in the midget AAA ranks piling up 27 goals and 18 assists in 36 regular season games.

Connor Zary had 86 points in 57 games with the Blazers.

    Zary proceeded to crack the WHL ranks with the Blazers as a 16-year-old rookie in 2017-18. Skating through a campaign where he dealt with living away from home for the first time and juggling his high school studies in a new school, Zary had sound numbers posting 11 goals and 18 assists in 68 regular season games.

    He proceeded to have a breakout campaign as a 17-year-old sophomore in 2018-19 recording 24 goals, 43 assists and a plus-18 rating in 63 regular season games.

    After falling 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Victoria Royals, Zary played for Canada at the world under-18 hockey championships held in April of 2019 in Ornskoldsvik and Umea, Sweden.

    He had four goals and three assists in seven games at that event.

    In his third campaign with the Blazers in 2019-20, Zary took another step upwards in his game.

    He was invited to take part in the main training camp for Canada’s world junior team last December as an injury replacement player. While he was cut from Canada’s final roster, Zary is still eligible to play at world juniors for the upcoming season, so he gained valuable experience from last year’s invite.

    On top of having great personal numbers, Zary helped the Blazers mathematically lock up first place in the WHL’s B.C. Division with a 41-18-3-1 record before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the last 11 days of the WHL regular season and the entire post-season for all major junior clubs under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella.

Connor Zary could be a late first round NHL Entry Draft pick.

    That marked the first time the Blazers had won the B.C. Division title since the 2011-12 campaign.

While the Blazers and Zary won’t have a chance to put together a special post-season run, he left no doubt he is one of the WHL’s top players.

    Zary wasn’t the only Saskatoon product to be named a Western Conference first team all-star. Adam Beckman, who is a Saskatoon product that is an 18-year-old left-winger with the Spokane Chiefs, cracked the Western Conference first all-star team after a stellar campaign.

    Beckman, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 174 pounds, topped the WHL in goals (48) and points (107) appearing in 63 regular season games. He had a plus-44 rating to go along with his point totals.

    Last year, Beckman was selected in the third round and 75^th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL Entry Draft, and he has signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Wild.

    Rounding out the Western Conference first all-star team was Seth Jarvis of the Portland Winterhawks at forward, Ty Smith of the Spokane Chiefs and Johnny Ludvig of the Winterhawks on defence and Everett Silvertips netminder Dustin Wolf in goal.

    Prince Albert Raiders Belarusian import centre Aliaksei Protas was named a WHL Eastern Conference first team all-star. Protas posted 31 goals, 49 assists and a plus-37 rating in 58 regular season games.

Braden Schneider was a first team WHL Eastern Conference all-star.

    He was selected in the third round and 91^st overall in last year’s NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals and has signed an NHL entry-level contract with that club.

    Prince Albert product Braden Schneider made the Eastern Conference first all-star team playing defence for the Brandon Wheat Kings. Schneider had seven goals, 35 assists and a plus-nine rating skating in 60 regular season games with the Wheat Kings.

    Schneider is rated ninth among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings.

    Also named to the Eastern Conference first all-star team are James Hamblin of the Medicine Hat Tigers and Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes at forward, Calen Addison of the Hurricanes on defence and Jiri Patera of the Wheat Kings in goal.

    On Monday, the WHL announced is its second team all-stars for the Eastern and Western Conference.

    Prince Albert Raiders netminder Max Paddock cracked the second all-star team for the Eastern Conference. 

Max Paddock was a second team WHL Eastern Conference all-star.

    In 48 regular season games split between the Regina Pats and Raiders, Paddock posted a 23-16-8 record, a 2.65 goals against average, a .915 save percentage and five shutouts.
    The Pats traded Paddock to the Raiders on Jan. 9.

    Prince Albert product and overage Edmonton Oil Kings centre Riley Sawchuk was named a second team Eastern Conference all-star as well. Sawchuk topped the Oil Kings in scoring with 25 goals and 51 assists in 64 regular season games.

    Rounding out the second all-star team for the Eastern Conference were Mark Kastelic of the Calgary Hitmen and Peyton Krebs of the Winnipeg Ice at forward, and Alex Cotton of the Hurricanes and Matthew Robertson of the Oil Kings on defence.

    The WHL Western Conference second team all-stars were Eli Zummack of the Chiefs, Bryce Kindopp of the Silvertips and Zane Franklin of the Blazers at forward, Jake Christiansen of Silvertips and Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants on defence and Joel Hofer of the Winterhawks in goal.

    The NHL Central Scouting final rankings included healthy representation from the Raiders and Saskatoon Blades.

Kaiden Guhle could be a first round NHL Entry Draft selection.

    Raiders defenceman Kaiden Guhle was rated eighth among North American skaters and was the highest rated WHL player on that list. Raiders right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt was ranked 19^th, defenceman Landon Kosior was listed 98^th and centre Ilya Usau came in at 108^th among North American skaters.

    Right-winger Tristen Robins was the highest rated Blades player among North America skaters coming in at the 86^th spot. The Blades were also represented on the North American skaters list by defenceman Rhett Rhinehart at the 151^st spot, rearguard Aiden De La Gorgendiere at the 197^th spot and left-winger Kyle Crnkovic at the 208^th spot.

    Blades netminder Koen MacInnes rated 22^nd among North American goalies.

NLL cancels remainder of regular season, playoffs up in air

Rush captain Chris Corbeil raises the Champion’s Cup in 2016.

    It will be a longer wait before fans of the Saskatchewan Rush can enjoy the energy of one of their games again.

    On Wednesday, the National Lacrosse League cancelled the remainder of its regular season games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NLL first suspended regular season play back on March 12.

    A released put out by the NLL on Wednesday said the league is looking at a number of scenarios to return to play when all stakeholders and health officials deem to possible.

    The NLL is still hoping to get a post-season in. The Calgary Roughnecks won the National Lacrosse League Cup as NLL champions last season.

    When the NLL suspended play, the Rush sat first in the West Division with a 7-3 record. They last played on March 7, when they thumped the Vancouver Warriors 17-7 at the SaskTel Centre.

Mark Matthews raises the National Lacrosse League Cup in 2018.

    The Rush began playing in Saskatoon at the start of the 2016 campaign after moving from Edmonton, Alta.

    Since they began calling Saskatchewan home, the Rush had won the NLL title on two occasions including their first campaign based out of Saskatoon in 2016 and 2018. The Rush locked up the NLL championship on both occasions at home.
    They won the Champion’s Cup in 2016, which was the NLL’s old championship trophy. The Rush captured the National Lacrosse League Cup in 2018, when it was awarded as the league’s title trophy for the first time.

    The Rush have provided loads of excitement and sports highlights during their time in Saskatchewan. It would be uplifting if they can find away to provide more thrills later this year in some sort of post-season.

Trudeau’s “normality” quote anxiety inducing, other notes

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a statement during his morning address that will likely be anxiety inducing for many people regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Trudeau said early on the shutdowns that are in place around the country will be the new normal until a vaccine is found for COVID-19. There have been various mainstream media reports that have said a vaccine for COVID-19 could be a 12 to 18 months away.

    A reporter questioned Trudeau if he envisioned multiple waves of shutdowns and how can the country handle the multiple waves of shutdowns. The response did not help with regards to anxiety over how the world is right now over COVID-19.

    “Normality as it was known before will not come back full on until we get a vaccine for this,” said Trudeau. “That could be a very long way off.”

    Trudeau did try to close his answer to that question with a thought that might be a little more upbeat.

    “Once we get through this first wave, we will have developed both tools and habits that will allow us to be much more resilient and resistant to further outbreaks and spreads,” said Trudeau.

    The way Trudeau gave his answers it does put the thought into the mind that the current lockdowns could be in place for some time. It greatly increases the fear that life before all the shutdowns started happening in North American on March 11 might not come back at all.

    If there are shutdowns for 12 to 18 months, life will be vastly different on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic than it was before it and the sports world is included in that. That normal that was known on March 10 will likely be gone forever in that scenario.

    When something like that Trudeau quote comes up in these times, one has to take a step back and take a deep breath. You do have to have something like Trudeau said in the back of your head, because there is some truth to that statement.

    Still, you can’t dwell on it, because there is so much uncertainty with regards to COVID-19.

    You have to remember to take things one day at a time. Even dwelling on how things could be two months from now is not healthy.

    It was also a reminder to set limits on how much time one spends checking out news programs and social media lines. Spending too much time follow those platforms is not good for mental health either.

    With that noted, that quote provided a huge bump in the road to my morning on top of some computer problems. I believe I was able to get over it quickly as I ventured into projects for the day.

• The Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association executive council met on Sunday to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the programs and activities run by the sport body. The SHSAA produced a frequently asked questions and COVID-19 response document that said all SHSAA schedule sports that were to take place until the end of June 30 have been cancelled. That brings an official end to the SHSAA’s 2019-20 season. The SHSAA had been slated to run championships in badminton and track and field. The spring portions of golf and cross country running were also brought to an end along with all spring football camps. The SHSAA document said further update on fall activity programs would be available at the end of June.
• On Wednesday, the WHL announced Portland Winterhawks centre Jake Gricius was named the Western Conference humanitarian of the year and Calgary Hitmen centre Riley Fiddler-Schultz was the Eastern Conference humanitarian of the year. The WHL is rolling out its player awards online and on its web platform.
• On Thursday, the WHL announced Kamloops Blazers netminder Dylan Garand was named the Western Conference scholastic player of the year and Regina Pats left-winger Jacob Brook was named the Eastern Conference scholastic player of the year.
• Saskatoon Blades overage feisty left-winger Riley McKay signed a one-year AHL contract with the Rockford IceHogs on Thursday. The IceHogs are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. McKay posted 19 goals, 19 assists, 93 penalty minutes and an even rating in the plus-minus department in 62 regular season games with the Blades. McKay’s goals and assists totals were career highs for his time in the WHL.

    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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Clouston charges full steam ahead with Blazers

Blazers head coach Shaun Clouston checks out his notepad.

    Shaun Clouston has always looked towards the opportunity that lies ahead.

    After he was released as head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers on May 30 so the Tigers could bring back Willie Desjardins into both roles one day later, Clouston wasn’t sitting on the outside looking in for long as far as the WHL was concerned.

    On June 17, the 51-year-old Viking, Alta., product was hired as the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers. Clouston found himself taking over a team that was one the rise and appeared to be nearing a position to take off.

    Last season, the Blazers finished locked in a tie for the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Western Conference with the Kelowna Rockets as both teams sported identical 28-32-6-2 records.

    The Blazers proceeded to down the Rockets 5-1 in a standings tiebreaker game in Kamloops. After getting passed the Rockets, the Blazers put up a fight before falling 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Victoria Royals.

The Blazers celebrate a goal from Daylan Kuefler, centre.

    Serge Lajoie, who was the Blazers head coach, mutually parted ways with the club on April 11, which created a head coaching vacancy.

    Clouston stepped into that role and there has been no looking back.

    On Friday before 3,517 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blazers downed the host Saskatoon Blades 5-2 in a WHL regular season contest.

    That win allowed the Blazers to improve to 20-9-2-1 to continue to sit first in the B.C. Division, while the Blades fell to 14-15-1-2 posting three regulation setbacks and an overtime loss over their last four games.

    Thanks to the Blazers strong start, Clouston became the 17^th bench boss in the history of the WHL to pick up a milestone 400^th career regular season win. He picked up the milestone victory on Oct. 25, when the Blazers downed the Royals in Victoria 2-1.

Ryan Hughes had a goal for the Blazers on Friday.

    “It has been really good,” said Clouston. “It is always challenging to have change.

    “I’ve been in one spot for so long, it was 16 years, so it was a big move. It has been very enjoyable right from kind of the first meeting with (Blazers general manager) Matt Bardsley I felt real comfortable. I felt like it was going to be a good spot.

    “Then, I met Donny Moores our president and got the same sense. Ever since I accepted the job, it has been eyes forward and get excited about the opportunity instead of looking in the rear view mirror, and it has been great.”
    As the season has gone on, Clouston was joined on the Blazers staff by his younger brother, Cory, who became a Blazers assistant coach.

    With Friday’s win, Shaun Clouston improved his career regular season coaching record to 411-290-52. He was the head coach of the Tri-City Americans in 2002-03, but was released after 60 games, when the Americans posted a record of 16 wins, 39 losses and five ties.

Connor Zary had a goal and an assist for the Blazers on Friday.

    He joined the Tigers as an assistant coach under Desjardins before the start of the 2003-04 campaign and would spend the next 16 seasons in the Hat.

    Clouston was promoted to associate coach before the start of the 2005-06 campaign. Working with Desjardins, Clouston experienced WHL championship victories with the Tigers in 2004 and 2007.

    Before the start of the 2010-11 season, Clouston took over the role of head coach, when Desjardins departed to become the associate coach of the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

    In August of 2012, Clouston took on the duties as Tigers general manager to go along with his duties as head coach. He held both roles until his separation with the Medicine Hat side.

Max Martin gives the Blazers WHL title winning experience.

    Clouston proceeded to find a comfortable landing spot in Kamloops, and he is enjoying his time in the B.C. centre.

    “It is a great city,” said Clouston. “Obviously, I have visited there a number of times as a coach over the years.

    “I have some good memories of my playing days.”

    One of those memories came when Clouston played in his final season in the WHL back in the 1988-89 campaign as captain of the Portland Winterhawks. In those days, the WHL was a 14-team circuit as opposed to the 22-team circuit of the current day.

    Back in 1988-89, the Winterhawks were part of the six-team West Division, and they played the Blazers frequently.

Captain Zane Franklin gives the Blazers strong leadership.

    In the playoffs, the Winterhawks downed the Blazers in a best-of-nine West Division final 5-3 to advance to the WHL Championship series. In the best-of-seven WHL final, the Winterhawks were swept by the eventual Memorial Cup champion Swift Current Broncos.

    When the Winterhawks eliminated the Blazers in the West Division final, the series clinching win came in Kamloops.

    “I remember coming in the night before,” said Clouston. “I remember going to movies.

    “I remember spending a lot of time in Kamloops. I always thought it was a nice city. I got to spend some time there in August with my family.

    “We did lots of site seeing and hiking and exploring. It is a real nice part of the world.”

Rayce Ramsay made 28 saves in goal for the Blazers on Friday.

    Besides doing some site seeing, Clouston spent some time getting to getting to know the players he was inheriting. He accomplished a lot of that over the phone, but was able to meet some of the players in person too.

    On the ice, the style Clouston’s Blazers play a style that is pretty much a carbon copy of the Tigers teams he oversaw.

    The Blazers like to transition up the ice with speed and skill. Skilled forwards like star centre Connor Zary and left-winger Orrin Centazzo are utilized on the penalty kill with the hope they will be able to create turnovers and score a short-handed tallies to go along with killing off infractions.

Montana Onyebuchi gives the Blazers back end toughness.

    Kamloops has the best penalty kill in the league at 87.6 per cent and has scored the second most short-handed goals at seven.

    “I think we are a team that is growing,” said Clouston. “I think we have some potential.”

    Zary, who is in his 18-year-old campaign, is the Blazers most well-known star, while Clouston added that overage left-winger Ryan Hughes has been a big early season trade pick up from the Blades.

    Clouston said overage captain Zane Franklin has been stellar for the Kamloops side and the Blazers have greatly benefited by picking up overage defenceman Max Martin in an early season trade with the Prince Albert Raiders.

    Martin was a key contributor to helping the Raiders finish first overall in the WHL regular season standings and capture the WHL championship last season.

    “I think we have real good leadership,” said Clouston. “I think Zane Franklin is a guy that is real confident and keeps the guys on task.

    “Max Martin is a guy that he has been through it. He knows how to win. If you watch him play, he is just steady.

Blazers HC Shaun Clouston gives direction to his players.

    “He has patience, he has poise (and) he competes. If there something to be said, he says it. He has been really, really big for us.”

    As for Friday’s game itself, the Blazers broke through at the 6:29 mark of the opening frame, when rookie 17-year-old left-winger Daylan Kuefler snuck a weird angle goal past Blades star netminder Nolan Maier. Kuefler’s goal came on his team’s second shot of the game.

    The Blades evened things up at 1-1 with 4:41 remaining in the second period on a controversial tally. Breaking into the offensive zone down the right wing, Blades winger Tristen Robins toe dragged around a Blazers defenceman and sent a pass to linemate Alex Morozoff.

Daylan Kuefler jets up ice for the Blazers.

    Morozoff directed the puck into the Saskatoon goal with his foot, but the goal stood up after a video review.

    The game didn’t stay on even terms for long. With 1:52 remaining in the third, Centazzo chipped the puck up to Zary.

    Zary, who is a Saskatoon product, got partially in alone on the Saskatoon goal and potted his 20^th tally of the season to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

    At the 2:48 mark of the third, Hughes collected a high loose puck at the left side of the Saskatoon goal and potted his 14^th tally of the campaign to give Kamloops a 3-1 advantage.

Orrin Centazzo, right, celebrates his short-handed goal.

    Centazzo scored an even-strength tally and a short-handed marker to put the visitors up 5-1.

    Blades right-winger Zach Huber netted the game’s final goal with 1:36 remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final in the Blazers’ favour.

    Huber also engaged rugged Blazers defenceman Montana Onyebuchi with 11.2 seconds remaining in the third period.

    Zary had an assist to go along with his goal and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department as he played his first game back with the Blazers one day after being cut from make the final roster for Canada’s world junior team.

    Clouston expected Zary to have a big night after being cut by Team Canada.

    “He has responded a bunch of times,” said Clouston. “He has a lot going for him this season, a lot to prove.

    “It is a big year for him, and he is handling it great. He is a competitor. He plays with passion.

    “He shows up and competes every night.”

Blades RW Zach Huber fights Blazers D Montana Onyebuchi.

    Maier stopped 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Saskatoon product Rayce Ramsay turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in net for the Blazers.

    Ramsay, who is the Blazers backup goalie, picked up his third win of the campaign in seven appearances. Clouston was pleased with how the WHL rookie netminder performed on Friday.

    “He (Ramsay) has a couple of shutouts at home, but he has struggled a little bit on the road,” said Clouston. “He needed this one.

    “We needed him to be good especially early. It was really nice to see him be rewarded. There have been some challenging stretches for him, and it was a big night for him in front of his hometown crowd.”

    The Blazers travel to Prince Albert on Saturday to face the defending WHL champion Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). 

Quinn Schmiemann controls the puck on the back end for the Blazers.

    That contest will be the Raiders “Teddy Bear Toss” game, so those attending the game in P.A. will be able to throw stuffed toys on the ice when the Raiders score their first goal.

    The Blades return to action on Sunday, when they host the Raiders at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.      That contest will be the Blades “Teddy Bear Toss” game, so those attending the contest in Saskatoon will be able to throw stuffed toys on the ice when the Blades score their first goal.

    The items collected at the “Teddy Bear Toss” games on both centres will be distributed to local hospitals and charities in their respective centres.

    When the Blazers play in Prince Albert, it will be the final stop on a six-game road trip playing all of the WHL’s East Division teams. The Blazers players from Saskatchewan and Alberta have had a large contingent of family and friends following them on this swing.
    While there is still a long way to go in the current campaign, Clouston said the club’s current road swift has been a great team building experience.

The Blazers celebrate their win on Friday night.

    “I think the guys really enjoy it,” said Clouston. “We have lots of friends and family at all the games.

    “I think it gives us a little spark and jump. Sometimes you worry that guys will try to be too fancy or too creative, but no, we’ve done a real good job. The guys are excited to be out here even though it is minus 30 C or whatever it is.

    “They are enjoying it. They are having some fun. It has been a good trip.”

    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.