Warriors’ Yager breaks Blades hearts with OT winner

Moose Jaw takes WHL’s Eastern Conference final opener 4-3

The Warriors mob Brayden Yager after their OT win on Friday.

Late great Saskatoon StarPhoenix sports editor Doug McConachie would shaken the hands of any Moose Jaw Warriors fans on Friday night and told them they are supporting a great team.

Game 1 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series between the visiting Warriors and the host Saskatoon Blades was a post-season classic on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre. McConachie would have enjoyed Friday’s contest between the Warriors and Blades even if the visitors skated away with the biggest highlight of the night that was provided by a Saskatoon area product.

With the two sides locked in a 3-3 tie in overtime, Warriors star centre Brayden Yager roofed a midrange shot from the front of the Saskatoon net to the top right corner of the goal at the 12:34 mark of the extra session to give Moose Jaw a 4-3 victory. 

Blades centre Lukas Hansen processes his team’s OT loss.

Big cheers went up from the sizable contingent of Warriors fans among the 8,973 spectators in attendance in an attempt to resurrect the spirit of team’s former rowdy home rink the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, which was also known as “The Crushed Can.”

Most of the spectators who were in attendance were cheering faithfully for the Blades. While they no doubt were disappointed by the end result on the scoreboard, they would have to admit Friday’s clash was an outstanding game.

The two sides engaged in a lot of back and forth play. The atmosphere in the building was great with fans often exchanging competing cheers.

Blades 19-year-old star import right-winger Egor Sidorov thrilled with a pair of goals. Warriors captain and offensive-defenceman Denton Mateychuk showed great presence controlling play on the ice recording a pair of assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

Brayden Yager scored the OT winner for the Warriors on Friday.

The host side would get the first good initial jump in the contest.

Just 3:05 into the first period, the Blades broke through on the scoreboard on a goal from 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright. Wright got the puck at the left point, showed great patience, crept down close to the top of the faceoff circle and wired an off-speed shot past Warriors star netminder Jackson Unger.

The Blades continued to pour on the pressure, but Unger stood his ground. Before the midway part of the frame, he made a couple of slick glove saves off Blades left-winger Misha Volotovskii and captain Trevor Wong.

Saskatoon held a 12-3 edge in shots on goal with 10:50 remaining in the opening frame.

Egor Sidorov had a pair of goals for the Blades on Friday.

Before the frame ended, the Warriors came with some push back. Star 20-year-old right-winger Atley Calvert had a close in chance on goal, but he put a shot over top of the Saskatoon goal.

With 3:01 remaining in the first, Blades breakout rookie netminder Evan Gardner had to come up big for the hosts. Warriors 19-year-old defenceman Kalem Parker had a couple of close in chances on the Saskatoon net, but Gardner came up with two big stops.

The rebound of the second shot went off to the left side of the Saskatoon net to Warriors veteran left-winger Brayden Schuurman. Schuurman tried to put the puck into the open side of the net, but he was denied by the right toe of Gardner.

In the second, Sidorov continued his hot play from the final two games of his club’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Red Deer Rebels recording six goals and two assists in those outings. Just 1:59 into the second frame of Friday’s game, Sidorov circled in the Moose Jaw zone and fired a midrange shot from just above the top of the left faceoff circle home to put the Blades up 2-0.

Charlie Wright had the Blades first goal on Friday.

The game’s momentum suddenly swung just 14 seconds later when Schuurman scored for the Warriors to cut the Blades lead to 2-1. Warriors centre Lynden Lakovic had the puck in the left corner of the Saskatoon zone and made a drop pass to Schuurman in all alone in front of the Saskatoon net.

Schuurman tucked home his third of the post-season to trim the Blades lead to one goal. The line of Schuurman, Lakovic and right-winger Rilen Kovacevic might have been the forward unit that had the strongest game between the two sides on Friday.

Just under six minutes later, the Warriors evened the score at 2-2 when Calvert deflected home a shot in front of the Saskatoon net taken by Warriors star centre Matthew Savoie midrange from the left side of the goal.

Denton Mateychuk had a pair of assists for the Warriors.

Following Calvert’s tally, dueling chants of “let’s go Warriors” and “let’s go Blades” broke out between the two fan bases in attendance.

Late in the second, Blades star centre Fraser Minten was denied twice on a rush into the Moose Jaw zone, and Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky was unable to tuck home the puck at the left of the Moose Jaw net with Unger sprawled out.

With just under a minute to play in the second, Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus wired a shot off the crossbar of the Saskatoon net as the visitors just missed a chance to take their first lead in the contest.

Just moments into the third, Kovacevic jetted into the Saskatoon zone on a breakaway. He tried to put a shot to the top right corner of the net, but he was robbed by a glove save from Gardner.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

With 4:02 remaining in the third, Warriors finally went ahead on the scoreboard when Savoie roofed a shot from the front of the Saskatoon net to the top left corner of the goal to put the visitors up 3-2. Savoie continued to live up to his reputation of being a clutch performer in the post-season building off of what he did in the WHL Playoffs the previous two years as a member of the Winnipeg Ice.

Despite falling behind on the scoreboard the Blades didn’t go away.

With 87 seconds remaining in the third and Gardner pulled for an extra attacker, it was vintage Sidorov as the star right-winger one-timed home a shot from the right wing to force a 3-3 tie and overtime. 

Brayden Schuurman scored the Warriors first goal on Friday.

The tally was Sidorov’s second goal of the contest as he continued to live up to his reputation as being a clutch performer in the post-season built in last year’s and this year’s WHL Playoffs.

Early in overtime, Blades defenceman Grayden Siepmann got stopped on an offensive rush, when his drive was swallowed up by Unger. 

That set the stage for Yager, who was having a fairly quiet night, to come through as the overtime hero for the visitors.

Gardner turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Unger stopped 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors.

Alexander Suzdalev, left, is checked by Matthew Savoie.

During the regular season, the Blades topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Saskatoon advanced through the first two rounds of the WHL Playoffs with an 8-1 mark.

The Warriors finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark. Moose Jaw advanced through the first two rounds of the WHL Playoffs with an 8-1 mark.

The two sides split their six head-to-head encounters in the regular season without having to go to extra time.

The Warriors celebrate their OT victory on Friday.

The two sides go at it again in Game 2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. If Game 1 was any indication, fans should have their popcorn at the ready for Game 2 and be ready to be entertained.

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

-------

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.

Sweet WHL Eastern Conference title sweep for Ice

Winnipeg advances to league championship series

The Ice celebrate Briley Wood’s winning goal on Wednesday.

The Winnipeg Ice withstood the hurricane they expected was coming.

On Wednesday night, the Ice were trying to capture the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship by sweeping the host Saskatoon Blades out of the best-of-seven conference final at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades, who were down 3-0 in the series, came out on fire and gave every last bit of gas they had in playing their 18^th post-season contest in 34 days.

The host side jumped ahead 1-0 in the opening frame to excite the 5,638 spectators in attendance, but the Ice evened things at 1-1 heading into the first intermission. The Ice led 2-1 after 40 minutes only for the Blades to even the score at the 2:45 mark of the third.

Ice captain Carson Lambos, left, gets a conference title trophy.

At the 6:19 mark of the third, unlikely heroes came through for the Ice in left-winger Carson Latimer and centre Briley Wood. Latimer had the puck at the left side boards in the Saskatoon and fed a pass to the front of the net to Wood. Wood deflected the puck past Blades netminder Austin Elliott to put the visitors up 3-2.

The Ice were able to close out things defensively from there and make that 3-2 score hold up as the game’s final. With the win, the Ice sweep the Eastern Conference Championship Series 4-0.

“It is a great accomplishment,” said Ice captain Carson Lambos, whose club lost last year’s Eastern Conference final to the eventual WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings in five games. “I think a lot of guys in our room ending last season the way we did it was pretty disappointing.

The Ice are pictured with the Eastern Conference title trophy.

“It left a sour taste for a long time. To get to where we are right now, it is a great feeling, but at the same time, we haven’t accomplished our main goal. We still have a lot of work to do.”

With the series win over the Blades, the Ice advance to the WHL Championship Series to host the winner of the best-of-seven Western Conference Championship Series between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Kamloops Blazers. The Thunderbirds lead that series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Thursday in Kamloops.

If the Blazers prevail in that series, the Ice will earn a berth in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – as the WHL representative. The Blazers host the Memorial Cup tournament from May 26 to June 4 at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, so the WHL’s Eastern Conference Champion would make that event, if Kamloops makes the WHL final.

Blades players digest their Eastern Conference final loss

Ultimately, the Ice would like to win the WHL title and move on to capture the Memorial Cup as their main goal. Still, Ice head coach James Patrick was pumped his team won the Eastern Conference title on Wednesday.

“Right now, I feel proud of the group,” said Patrick. “Last year, we had a good playoff run.

“We didn’t get past this round. From that point on, we talked about what we had to do to be a better playoff team to play the game the right way to be stronger. We made a commitment in the off-season and during the season.

The Ice and Blades shake hands at the conclusion of their series.

“We spent more time in the gym. It was could we get stronger as the year went on, because you know come playoff time it is 50/50 battles. It is paying the price.”

As for the Blades, they went into Game 4 with optimistic hopes. When they faced the Red Deer Rebels in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Blades fell behind 3-0 in that set. In Game 4 of that series in Red Deer, the Blades trailed 2-0 after the first period and 2-1 after the second frame. Saskatoon was 20 minutes away from having its season come to an end.

Defensive partners Tanner Molendyk and Aidan De La Gorgendiere hug.

The Blades rallied to take Game 4 by a 4-2 score and ultimately came back to claim a series deciding Game 7 by a 5-2 score again at the SaskTel Centre before 9,489 spectators. Saskatoon joined the 1996 Spokane Chiefs and the 2013 Kelowna Rockets as the only teams to lose the first three games in a best-of-seven series and rally to take the set.

Saskatoon went into Wednesday’s game having won five straight contests in the current WHL post-season where they faced elimination from the playoffs. The streak included four straight wins against the Rebels and a 4-1 victory in Game 7 of a first round series against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats.

The Blades celebrate a goal by Aidan De La Gorgendiere (#5).

That streak came to an end on Wednesday, but Blades head coach Brennan Sonne loved how his team went down fighting.

“Every ounce of gas that those guys had in the tank they used,” said Sonne. “That tank is completely dry.

“There is no hanging heads in shame at all. (It is) the opposite. (I am) completely and absolutely utterly proud of this team.”

In Wednesday’s encounter, the Blades open the game’s scoring with 4:52 remaining in the first when captain and offensive-defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere fired home a point shot on a delayed penalty call on the Ice. The 1-0 lead marked the first time in the series the Blades were ahead on the scoreboard in the series.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere played his final game for the Blades.

The advantage lasted for three minutes and 32 seconds.

The Ice pulled even at 1-1 scoring on a power play with 1:20 remaining in the first period. Ice star centre Matthew Savoie wired a shot off the crossbar and the rebound was collected by Ice star right-winger Connor McClennon. McClennon tucked the puck into the left side of the Saskatoon net for the equalizer.

Winnipeg exited the opening frame holding an 11-8 edge in shots on goal. The Ice jacked up the pressure in the second holding a 16-4 advantage in shots on goal in the frame, but the visitors only exited the stanza with a 2-1 edge.

Connor McClennon scored twice for the Ice on Wednesday.

The Ice go-ahead goal came when some fatigue was coming over the Blades skaters. Ice standout defenceman Graham Sward had the puck at the right point in the Saskatoon zone, and he fed a pass to McClennon who was somehow alone in front of the Saskatoon net.

McClennon’s initial shot from point blank range was stopped by Elliott, but the Winnipeg winger banged home the rebound from his own shot to give his squad a 2-1 advantage. Patrick was pleased to see how well his squad responded after falling behind on the scoreboard and was impressed by the battle that the opposition presented.

“I felt that this was the best game that they (the Blades) had played,” said Patrick. “I give the Blades all the credit in the world for the resiliency, the no quit and what they had to do to get to this coming back from the deficits they did.

Trevor Wong got a positive bounce third period goal.

“I felt at the start of the series they looked tired. They had some beat up bodies, and they had some injures. I felt this was the toughest game.

“This was what it was like playing them all year long.”

Even after falling behind going into the third period, the Blades didn’t pack it in and kept fighting. At the 2:45 mark of the third, utility player Spencer Shugrue fired a shot from the point that deflected off Blades star centre Trevor Wong at the right side of the Winnipeg goal and found its way into the visitor’s net to tie things up at 2-2.

That set the stage for Latimer’s and Wood’s heroics just under four minutes later. Patrick was pleased to see Latimer and Wood deliver in the clutch.

Graham Sward had an assist for the Ice on Wednesday.

“I think the depth that has been a big part of our success,” said Patrick. “When you have a guy like Carson Latimer who can play anywhere in the lineup, we kind of had him playing with (Conor) Geekie and moved him down to (Briley) Wood.

“The two of them made the big play at the right time.”

Elliott stopped 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Hauser turned away 16 shots to pick up the win in net for the Ice.

“We did come out hard,” said De La Gorgendiere, who graduated from the junior ranks with the Blades loss on Wednesday. “I feel like we were pretty desperate tonight.

“Aussie (Austin Elliott) was awesome for us. He made some huge saves to keep us in that game. Obviously, we find a way to get a power play or two there.

Austin Elliott made 33 saves in goal for the Blades on Wednesday.

“Everything is still pretty fresh to me right now. I thought our work was there and our desperation. That is all you can really ask for.”

The Blades were without solid defensive-defencemen Blake Gustafson and Ben Saunderson once again as they were both injured in the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Rebels. Saskatoon was also without star import right-winger Egor Sidorov with an undisclosed injury suffered in the club’s Game 2 loss to the Ice.

Had fatigue and injuries not been a factor for the Saskatoon side, it was expected the series between the Blades and Ice would be a competitive one on paper.

Zach Benson distributes the puck for the Ice.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Saskatoon appeared in the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 1994. 

The Ice won their first conference title since 2011, when the franchise was still the Kootenay Ice located in Cranbrook, B.C. The Ice franchise also claimed the WHL title in 2011.

The Ice celebrate their win on Wednesday.

While the Blades overcame a lot of adversity to get to this point and tried hard to get past the adversity they faced in the series with the Ice, De La Gorgendiere still had difficulty digesting the season came to an end.

“I’m pretty emotional right now,” said De La Gorgendiere. “It is pretty fresh.

“Our team battled every single night. We go to war with each other every single night, and we love doing it. I was just upstairs, and I was telling (Blades play-by-play voice) Les (Lazaruk) how much I love these guys in our room.

“I’ve been here for five years now, and it is tightest team I’ve played for. It was pretty special what we did coming back from down 3-0 there in the Red Deer series. It is tough right now it really is tough.”

The Ice were without 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson, who was injured in Game 5 of the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Moose Jaw Warriors. 

The Blades salute their fans at the SaskTel Centre on Wednesday.

While the Ice had a lot less adversity in the injury and fatigue department to overcome than the Blades, Lambos said having a tough battle with Saskatoon to close out the Eastern Conference final will help the Ice in the rest of their post-season push.

“This is what it is going to look like moving forward,” said Lambos. “(There are going to be) tight games and there is not going to be a lot of scoring especially five-on-five.

“Special teams are huge. That is what it was tonight. To have a tough game was really good for us I think.

“Even our second round, a lot of games with Moose Jaw were tight. We had our backs against the wall there at times. It is definitely helpful to go through some adversity, because it is not going to be smooth sailing here.”

Blades’ Sonne named WHL coach of the year

Blades HC Brennan Sonne is the WHL coach of the year.

Saskatoon Blades head coach Brennan Sonne was feted with an honour a bench boss with the team hasn’t claimed in 29 years.

On Wednesday, the WHL announced Sonne was winner of the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the WHL coach of the year. The last Blades bench boss to pick up that honour was Lorne Molleken back in the 1993-94 campaign when the club advanced to the WHL Championship Series falling in seven games to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.

The 36-year-old Sonne is in his second season as the Blades head coach. Under Sonne’s guidance, the Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record, and they were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Blades collected 101 standings points marking the fifth time since the club was formed in 1964 they’ve recorded 100-or-more standings points in team history.

“I am very honoured to receive the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy,” said Sonne in a release. “It is truly an organizational award starting with the players.

“This season we’ve had a group of dedicated teammates, fantastic leadership and a work ethic you wouldn’t believe. To management who does everything they can to help these players and us as a staff, a pleasure to work with every day; to my wife, my parents, brothers and in-laws, such a great group of people beside me.

“I would like to thank Mitch Love, Jay Varady and Kevin Constantine for teaching me how to be a coach.”

Blades HC Brennan Sonne tracks the play on the ice.

In one of his previous coaching stops, Sonne was an assistant coach with the Everett Silvertips from 2014 to 2017, and he worked with Constantine and Love. As a left-winger with the Silvertips from 2005 to 2007, Sonne was coached by Constantine and Varady.

Unfortunately for Sonne and his Blades, their season came to an end on Wednesday night a number of hours after the coach of the year announcement. The Blades fell 3-2 at the SaskTel Centre in Game 4 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series to the Winnipeg Ice. The Ice swept the best-of-seven set 4-0.

After that loss, Sonne said sadness over the result in Game 4 against the Ice was the prevailing emotion.

“Hockey is all about the team in my opinion, so I’d feel this way whether it was me or anyone else on this group that got an individual award,” said Sonne. “While it is awesome, but hockey is a team sport, and that is why I love it so much.

“That is why I am not a golfer or a tennis player or have any interest in individual sports. That is why I love team sports so much. It is actually a very sad moment that this group is done, because this team has been such a pleasure to coach.

“I’m really proud and my head will not hang or anything, (but) it is a very sad moment. That is how I kind of feel. It is nothing to do with me at all it is sad that this team is over.”

Also on Wednesday, the WHL announced Bil La Forge, who is the general manager of the Seattle Thunderbirds, was named the winner of the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy as WHL executive of the year.

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

-------

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.

No Fear - Blades and their fans should just go for it

The Blades take the ice for Game 7 versus the Pats on April 10.

At this point in the WHL Playoffs, you might as well go after it with no fear.

The Saskatoon Blades and their fans should do everything possible to make the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series something they will never forget. 

The Blades will host Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively for a 7 p.m. start both nights against the powerful Winnipeg Ice.

The Ice lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 taking the first two contests in Winnipeg this past Friday and Saturday. Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Saskatoon is appearing in the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 1994.

How long ago was 1994?

Jean Chretien was the Prime Minister of Canada, Bill Clinton was the President of the United States, Mark Messier captained the New York Rangers to their first Stanley Cup final win since 1940, the MLB season wasn’t completed due to a players’ strike with the Montreal Expos in first place and the British Columbia Lions won the Grey Cup over a Baltimore team that went by the name CFLers.

Fans cheer on the Blades at the SaskTel Centre.

The popular video game systems of the time saw Super Nintendo going against the Sega Genesis. In Canada, the most popular video game was likely NHL ’94.

In the music world, 1994 was best remembered for death of Nirvana founder, lead vocalist, guitarist and primary song writer Kurt Cobain died by suicide.

The Blades that year were lead in scoring by left-winger Andy MacIntyre, who had 89 points coming off 54 goals and 35 assists. Saskatoon’s roster included the likes of Derek Tibbatts, Paul Buczkowski, Trevor Hanas, Frank Banham, Mark Deyell, Clarke Wilm, Rhett Warrener and the now late Wade Belak.

The Blades were propelled by the heroics of veteran netminder Norm Maracle. During the 1993-94 regular season, Maracle recorded a 41-13-1 record, a 2.76 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and two shutouts. He was named the a WHL first team Eastern Conference all-star, the WHL’s top goaltender, a CHL first team all-star and the CHL’s goaltender of the year.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre, which was then known as Saskatchewan Place, used to give out a cheer of “Norm” like the one given to the Norm Peterson character in the sitcom Cheers.

Saskatoon claimed a 4-1 series victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 1994 Eastern Conference final before falling in the WHL Championship Series in a series deciding Game 7 to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.

Spencer Shugrue has become “Mr. Game 7” for the Blades.

Basically, 29 years ago was a long time ago. For Blades fans, it did feel like an eternity since the team advanced the WHL’s final four in the post-season. While the Blades may have their backs to the wall against the Ice, you still don’t want to miss out on enjoying the moment, if you are fan of the Saskatoon side.

The current roster of the Blades has turned out to be a gutsy one. They trailed Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats 2-0 in a first round series and rallied to take that set in a series deciding Game 7 by a 4-1 score at the SaskTel Centre before a sellout crowd of 14,768.

The Blades found themselves in a tougher spot in their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Red Deer Rebels. The Blades trailed that series 3-0, and in Game 4 in Red Deer, they trailed 2-0 after the first period and 2-1 after the second frame. Saskatoon was 20 minutes away from having its season come to an end.

The Blades rallied to take Game 4 by a 4-2 score and ultimately came back to claim a series deciding Game 7 by a 5-2 score again at the SaskTel Centre this time before 9,489 spectators.

Along the way, Blades utility player Spencer Shugrue picked up the nickname “Mr. Game 7” for collecting three goals and an assist in those two Game 7 wins.

The Blades also joined the 1996 Spokane Chiefs and the 2013 Kelowna Rockets as the only clubs to lose the first three games in a best-of-seven series and rally to take the set.

The Blades current Blades have received big game performances from various players on their roster including the likes of Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov, Brandon Lisowsky, Conner Roulette, Jordan Keller, Jayden Wiens, Justin Lies, Vaughn Watterodt and Lukas Hansen. Netminders Ethan Chadwick and Austin Elliott have come up with big wins at different times in the post-season.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere has played big minutes for the Blades.

In the series win over the Rebels, the Blades saw solid defensive-defencemen Blake Gustafson and Ben Saunderson go down with injuries, and both were not available for the first two games of the series for the Ice. Captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, Tanner Molendyk, Charlie Wright and Shugrue played like warriors skating for most of the minutes on defence in the first to contests against the Ice to protect Under-18 AAA call up Morgan Tastad and Tomas Zizka from bad matchups against a powerful and deep Winnipeg side.

The foursome of De La Gorgendiere, Molendyk, Wright and Shugrue wore down in those games, but they gave everything they had and that is all you can ask.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne and is staff is trying to find the way to guide their team through this latest adversity, but it might be too tall of an order to ask for.

Even with that in mind, the Blades players should rip it out and go hard with no fear. If they are overmatch due to fatigue and injuries, at least they know they gave what they could and did the best they could do.

The Blades fans have been loud and engaged through this post-season run. Even if the Blades are going to be overmatched, they should do their best to give their side a home ice edge.

They should great the team with a huge cheer when they take the ice at the start of the contest and feel free to try and bring the noise level up in the SaskTel Centre to the level of some of the loudest rinks in the NHL. The SaskTel Centre is designed similar to the former home of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers in the Northlands Coliseum, and it holds in noise really well like the Oilers old home rink once did.

Justin Lies (#43) and Ben Saunderson (#2) thank the fans on April 10.

When the Blades make their runs to ultimately falling in Game 7 of the WHL final in 1992 and 1994 with Lorne Molleken as head coach and Daryl Lubinieki as general manager, the people of Saskatoon packed the building’s then 11,330 seat configuration making it one of the toughest places to play on the WHL circuit.

In the current moment, the people of Saskatoon have a chance to relive those days. 

Like the players, the fans should feel free to bring everything they have, so there are no regrets when it came to seeing the Blades this deep in the post-season.

Anthem singer Lehner enjoying Blades run

Katelyn Lehner sings the national anthem on April 10.

One person who is soaking every moment of the Saskatoon Blades playoff run is local country music artist and guest anthem singer Katelyn Lehner.

The Blades brought Lehner in to sing the national anthem starting with their March regular season sold out home dates against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats. If you check out Lehner’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts where she promotes her music, you can see she is having fun with her association with the Blades. She even got to read out the starting lineup for the team before one of their post-season contests.

In her life outside of singing, Lehner was an elite level track and field athlete. At the post-secondary level, she first became a member of the University of Calgary Dinos Women’s Track and Field team in 2013 and joined the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Track and Field team for two seasons from 2017 to 2019. She has also coached the sport in the past.

While she has been located in Saskatoon for some time, she is originally from Prince Albert and graduated from St. Mary High School located in that centre in 2013. As a youngster growing up, Lehner did sing the national anthem for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders on occasion.

With that noted, it has been really cool to see her dive in with enthusiasm in her anthem singing role with the Blades.

Raiders fans may come to cheer ex-players with Ice

Vladislav Shilo in action for the Ice on March 14.

When the Saskatoon Blades host Games 3 and 4 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship series, they might see a few ticket buyers show up from Prince Albert to cheer on the visiting Winnipeg Ice.

The fan presence from Prince Albert will be due to the fact that the Ice have two former players from the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in import right-winger Vladislav Shilo and left-winger Carson Latimer. Both players were popular in Prince Albert during their stays with the Raiders.

Shilo was with the Raiders for the entire 2021-22 campaign appearing in 58 regular season contests recording nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points. He played three regular season games for the Raiders this season before being traded to the Ice.

In 66 regular season appearances with both the Ice and Raiders, Shilo has 26 points coming off 12 goals and 14 assists. In 12 post-season games with the Ice, Shilo, who turned 20-years-old in March, has eight points coming off three goals and five assists.

Latimer started his WHL career with the Edmonton Oil Kings and was dealt to the Raiders on December 1, 2021. In 44 regular season contests he played for the Raiders in 2021-22, Latimer posted 32 points coming off 12 goals and 20 assists.

He appeared in 31 regular season games with the Raiders this season recording 28 points on 10 goals and 18 assists before being traded to the Ice on December 31, 2022. Latimer, who turned 20-years-old in January, appeared in 22 regular season games with the Ice posting four goals and eight assists before suffering an injury.

The 2021 NHL Entry Draft selection of the Ottawa Senators got back into the lineup for the Ice’s last seven post-season outings collecting one goal and one assist.

Besides the support for Shilo and Latimer, there will also be some people coming in from Prince Albert to support Ice head coach James Patrick. Way back when the Raiders were in the junior A ranks, Patrick played one season in “Hockey Town North” in 1980-81 as an offensive-defenceman before eventually going on to a lengthy playing career in the NHL.

During that 1980-81 campaign, Patrick appeared in 59 regular season games posting 82 points coming off 21 goals and 61 assists. He helped the Raiders win the Centennial Cup as junior A national champions, and after that campaign, he was selected in first round and ninth overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.

Current Ice play-by-play voice Brian Munz was the Raiders play-by-play voice for four-and-a-half season from 1999 to 2004, and he will likely have friend from Prince Albert come down to visit with him when he is not on the air calling games.

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

-------

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.

Ice blue-liners give Blades the blues in Game 1

Saskatoon falls 3-0 in WHL Eastern Conference final opener

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brad Lambert leads the Thunderbirds in post-season scoring.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jared Davidson topped the Thunderbirds in regular season scoring.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-------

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.

Heckling part of life in major junior hockey

Raspberry treatment can hurt worse depending on situation

Giorgio Estephan in action for the Hurricanes in the 2017 WHL playoffs.

    For as long as major junior hockey has existed or junior hockey for that matter, heckling has been part of the game, and it will be part of the game for the foreseeable future.

    Depending on the situation, the raspberry treatment can hit deeper to the core.

    When the Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes advanced to meet each other in the best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference championship series, one of the big plot lines that came to mind revolved around a blockbuster trade the two teams made with each other on Jan. 9, which was one day before the WHL’s trade deadline.

    In that deal, the Hurricanes sent star overage captain Giorgio Estephan, star 19-year-old netminder Stuart Skinner and winger Tanner Nagel, who turned 20 in late January, to the Broncos.

    In exchange, the Broncos sent overage star netminder Logan Flodell, rookie centre Logan Barlage, who turned 17 in early January, sophomore centre Owen Blocker, who turned 18 in late March, sophomore defenceman Matthew Stanley, who turned 20 in early February, a first round selection and a third round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a future conditional second round pick in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft to the Hurricanes.

    The on ice battle has been intriguing. The Broncos entered the series as favourites having finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 48-17-5-2 record, while the Hurricanes were 16^th overall with a 33-33-6 mark.

    The Broncos lead the series 3-2 taking all three games held in Swift Current by a one-goal margin each time out. The Hurricanes won both contests held in Lethbridge by respective 5-1 scores. Game 6 is set for Monday at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge with a 7 p.m. local time start.

    The other main compelling story has been the fact Estephan and Skinner have been the targets of heckles during the games held in Lethbridge. Social media lines have contained sizable debate about the treatment both players have received in their former WHL home rink on whether it is warranted or not.

Stuart Skinner in action with the Hurricanes in 2017.

    As far as Hurricanes fans are concerned, there are some that say Estephan and Skinner shouldn’t be heckled and others are fine with what has gone down.

    I remember a visit I once had with former Saskatoon Blades owner Jack Brodsky. He told me that the fans paid money for the ticket, and if they don’t like the product they see on the ice, they have a right to “boo” or voice their displeasure with the product. The context of that visit did focus on the hometown fans being critical of the home team.

    For myself, I am good with fans booing or heckling players on the ice. I realize the players can range in age from the 15-year-old call up to the overager that just celebrated his 21^st birthday. Major junior is supposed to help prepare players for life in the professional ranks, and dealing with hecklers is part of that training too.

    If you don’t learn how to deal with that in rinks with 5,000 spectators, how do you deal with that in professional rinks with 18,000 spectators?

    Historically in major junior hockey, there have been players who have relished being the villain in opposition rinks like Sean O’Connor when he played for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Tanner Shultz when he played for the Blades or Derek Dorsett when he played for the Medicine Hat Tigers. They are looking forward to the hecklers on the road.

    Of course, there is a line. Fans shouldn’t do anything that physically harms a player, yell something derogatory based on race or scream you wished a certain player was dead.

    In the case of Estephan and Skinner, it feels like an unwritten code of respect has been broke. Of course, hockey is full of unwritten codes.

    Both were selected in the WHL Bantam Draft by the Hurricanes and played in Lethbridge for an extended time. Estephan, who was picked fourth overall in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, was with the Hurricanes for four-and-a-half seasons, and Skinner, who was selected 17^th overall in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, played there for three-and-a-half seasons. They were in Lethbridge long enough to establish lifelong connections.

    On top of that, both joined the Hurricanes during a dark era, when the team missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons from 2009-10 to 2014-15. After the Hurricanes went 12-55-2-3 in the 2013-14 season, it seemed a death watch was surrounding the team. The Hurricanes existence in Lethbridge was called into question at times.

Giorgio Estephan in action for the Broncos in this year’s WHL playoffs.

    Lethbridge was not a prime destination in the WHL, and it seemed like players that were there couldn’t wait to leave.

    Things started to change when the Hurricanes hired Peter Anholt as the club’s assistant general manager before the start of the 2014-15 campaign. The veteran coach and hockey executive became the team’s head coach and general manager halfway through that campaign.

    Before the start of the 2015-16 season, he stepped back as head coach and made the inspired move to hire Brent Kisio for that role.

    On the players’ front, Estephan and Skinner were part of a group along with former Hurricanes captain Tyler Wong who wanted to be part of the solution in turning the team around. They played a huge part in helping the Hurricanes top the Central Division in 2015-16 with a 46-24-1-1 record.

    In 2016-17, they helped the Hurricanes post a 44-21-4-3 mark to sit seventh overall in the league. They helped the Hurricanes win two seven game series in the playoffs to advance to the WHL Eastern Conference championship series falling to the Regina Pats in six games.

    Wong graduated after that campaign, and Estephan and Skinner worked to assist a reloading Hurricanes club during the first half of this past season. They were not asking to be traded, and when an opportunity to make the deal with the Broncos came about, the Hurricanes gained players that could help in the present along with players and assets to be of aid in the future.

    Both Estephan and Skinner are pretty good persons too.

    Skinner sounded off on the Hurricanes fans following the Broncos 5-1 loss in Lethbridge in Game 4 last Wednesday. For everything they did in Lethbridge, the fan heckles Estephan and Skinner received in their playoff return to Lethbridge felt at least uncomfortable.

    Fans have the right to boo and give the raspberries to who they want, but in this case, it feels wrong. It feels like an unwritten hockey code was broken.

Stuart Skinner in action for the Broncos in this year’s WHL playoffs.

    In another case, netminder Tyler Brown backstopped the Pats into the WHL Championship series last year, where they fell in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds. He was dealt by the Pats to the Blades in a blockbuster trade on Jan. 10.

    Brown had been the target of distain from a sizable group of Pats fans on social media and sports talk radio, when the team hovered around .500 for the first half of the season. When Brown returned to Regina with the Blades on Jan. 24, he was given a standing ovation and a video tribute.

    Of course, the big difference was Brown never did play against the Pats in the post-season.

    When the playoff series between the Broncos and Hurricanes wraps up, here is hoping the Lethbridge fans that got on both Estephan and Skinner remember what they did do for the Hurricanes and tip the cap to both whey they return to Lethbridge in the future.

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

-------

    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.