Showing posts with label Ethan Anders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethan Anders. Show all posts

Sunday, 28 February 2021

Tigers trounce Rebels 7-2 for Ridley’s 4,000th call

Bob Ridley calls a Tigers playoff game in March of 2019.
With their icon in broadcast booth celebrating a milestone that will likely never happen again, the Medicine Hat Tigers ensured the night went as perfectly as possible.

Just 36 seconds into their WHL regular season clash with the visiting Red Deer Rebels at the Co-op Place, overage defenceman Cole Clayton fired home a point shot to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. By the 13:07 mark of the opening frame, the Tigers advantage surged to 4-0.

Medicine Hat rolled to a 7-2 victory from that point.

The win put the icing on the cake on a milestone night for Bob Ridley, who has been the only play-by-play voice the Tigers have had since the modern version of the club began play in the 1970-71 season.

On Saturday, Ridley called his 4,000th game as the team’s play-by-play voice. The total includes 3,568 of the Tigers 3,569 regular season games, the club’s one standings tiebreaker game, all of their 411 games in the WHL playoffs and all 20 of their contests in the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Tigers won the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 1987 and 1988.

No one has called more games as the play-by-play voice of one team in the sport of hockey as Ridley has. He drove the Tigers team bus over most of that stretch as well.

At the moment, it would take someone calling 80 games a season for 50 seasons to just equal Ridley’s total of calling 4,000 games.

Before Ridley called his 4,000th game on Saturday, the WHL announced they had created the Bob Ridley Award For Media Excellence to be presented annually to a member of the radio, television and print journalism industry in recognition of their outstanding contributions to sports journalism and the WHL.

Ridley was named the inaugural winner of the honour and was presented with the award by WHL commissioner Ron Robison during a special ceremony at Co-op Place on Saturday afternoon.

As for Saturday’s game itself, a special tribute video was played at the Tigers home rink before puck drop. Video messages were played from numerous Tigers alumni during breaks as Saturday’s contest moved along.

On social media lines, tribute messages poured in before, during and after the game.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, Saturday’s game was played without fans in attendance. It would have made the night even more perfect, if Ridley could have received a standing ovation from a sold out building.

That development allowed all of the Tigers fans and just overall hockey fans the chance to listen to Ridley call the game on CHAT 94.5 FM either on the radio waves in Medicine Hat and area or online around the world.

The 76-year-old product of Vulcan, Alta., was at the top of his game flanked by long time colour commentator Barry Prins, who sat in the neighbouring booth.

Listeners were able to quickly get drawn into the contest with Clayton’s goal 36 seconds into the game, which allowed Ridley to break into his classic call, “He scooorrrrrrrres!”

Just under three minutes later, Tigers overage captain Ryan Chyzowski struck on the power play to give the host side a 2-0 lead.

Right-winger Lukas Svejkovsky scored on a breakaway at the 12:11 mark of the first to increase the Tigers advantage to 3-0. Just 56 seconds later, Tigers 16-year-old rookie centre Oasiz Wiesblatt stole the puck from a Rebels player at the Red Deer blue-line, broke into the offensive zone and roofed a shot past Rebels netminder Byron Fancy.

The tally was Wiesblatt’s first career WHL goal.

Fancy was pulled after that tally having stopped 8-of-12 shots sent his way. Overager Ethan Anders played the rest of the contest in relief turning away 18-of-20 shots sent in his direction.

Red Deer did attempt to battle back. Overage centre Chris Douglas scored for the Rebels with 1:34 remaining in the second to trim the Tigers lead to 4-1.

Rebels 18-year-old defenceman Chase Leslie netted a single at the 4:22 mark of the third to further cut the Tigers lead to 4-2.

Rookie left-winger Brayden Boehm, who turned 17-years-old in January, restored order for the Tigers netting his first career WHL goal at the 12:08 mark of the third. Boehm converted a backdoor pass from linemate Caleb Willms to give the hosts a 5-2 advantage.

Red Deer pulled Anders for an extra attacker with about three minutes to play in the third, which allowed Tigers overage centre Brett Kemp to score into an empty net to increase the home side’s edge to 6-2.

Noah Danielson, an 18-year-old centre, added a single to round out the scoring in the 7-2 victory for Medicine Hat.

Garin Bjorklund stopped 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers.

Clayton had three assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department to go with his goal.

Saturday’s contest was the Tigers home opener in a campaign that started late and was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tigers improved to 2-0 with the win, while the Rebels fell to 0-1-1. Medicine Hat beat the Rebels 5-4 in overtime at the Westerner Park Centrium in Red Deer on Friday.

The Tigers are slated to return to action this coming Friday, when they travel to Edmonton to face the Oil Kings (2-0).

While the Tigers had a great game on the ice Saturday, the night belonged to Ridley. He will always be “the Dean” of major junior hockey broadcasters, and one day there should be a place for him in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Originally, Ridley’s 4,000th game call was slated to take place on Saturday, March 14, 2020 at Co-op Centre in a regular season clash against the Swift Current Broncos. That moment was expected to be high point for the Tigers, who were skating through their 50th season in the 2019-20 campaign.

Of course, the 2019-20 WHL campaign was paused on March 12, 2020 before being ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic leaving Ridley’s games called total stuck at 3,998.

With the WHL’s Central Division returning to play with the circuit’s five Alberta-based teams, Ridley was able to make his 4,000th game broadcast a reality on Saturday with the Tigers skating through their 51st season.

The fact that Ridley’s 4,000th broadcast has now happened does give a moment where you have those warm and fuzzy feelings inside.

It was such a welcome development to once again hear Ridley call Tigers games, and for him to close Saturday’s broadcast with his classic, “We bid you all a very pleasant good night.”

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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Saturday, 23 March 2019

Belarusian duo lifts Raiders past Rebels in Game 2

Sergei Sapego celebrates his first goal Saturday with Dante Hannoun (#17).
    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders Belarusian duo proved to be too much for the Red Deer Rebels to handle.
    On Saturday before a standing room crowd of 3,152 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, winger Aliaksei Protas and defenceman Sergei Sapego, who are both from Belarus, each had two goals and an assist to lift the host Raiders past the Red Deer Rebels 6-4 in Game 2 of their first round WHL playoff series.
    With the win, the Raiders lead the best-of-seven set 2-0. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer with a 7 p.m. local time start.
    Protas, who is a rookie who turned 18-years-old in early January, was pumped to experience two wins in his first two post-season games in the WHL.
Aliaksei Protas scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.
    “I am so excited about that,” said Protas, who was a plus-three in the plus-minus department on Saturday. “You just play fast, play physical like how we can.
    “We just win for fans and for us.”
    The Raiders looked dominant in the first period jumping out to a 3-1 lead. Sapego, who is in his second WHL campaign, netted both of his goals in the opening frame, while Protas had his first tally.
    Chris Douglas had the lone reply for the Rebels.
    “We play very well,” said Sapego, who was a plus-four on Saturday. “We just make sure just minimum penalties and just keep working.
    “We just try and play hard shift by shift.”
    Overage centre Dante Hannoun picked up assists on all three Raiders goals in the first period finishing the contest with the three helpers and a plus-three rating.
Sergei Sapego drives home his first of two goals on Saturday.
    “Obviously, it was a good one,” said Hannoun. “We just put the first game behind us.
    “It is a new day and a new game. We came in and prepared ourselves the right way.”
    The game’s momentum changed at the 3:50 mark of the second, when Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason received a major penalty for checking from behind and a game misconduct for a hit on Rebels winger Cameron Hausinger. Leason’s hit will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.
    Rebels overage winger Brandon Hagel scored near the end of the five-minute power play to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2. Hagel evened things up at 3-3 at the nine-minute mark of the second shortly after Leason’s infraction expired.
Brandon Hagel had a hat trick for the Rebels on Saturday.
    With the scored tied up at 3-3, Raiders captain Brayden Pachal blew home a point shot through a screen from the point to give the Raiders a 4-3 edge.
    Before the second period ended, the Raiders could have increased the lead, when defensive defenceman Jeremy Masella was hauled down on a breakaway by Rebels centre Josh Tarzwell. Masella wasn’t able to score on his penalty shot.
    At the 2:08 mark of the third, Protas tapped home a loose puck in the crease of the Rebels goal to put the Raiders up 5-3 and give the host side a push to close out the game.
    Protas said his third period goal was important, because it helped counter the momentum the Rebels gained from scoring on the power-play. Red Deer went 3-for-5 with the man advantage in the contest.
    “It was big a goal,” said Protas of his second tally of the night. “We just tried to bring it back and just score and just keep playing our way.”
Dante Hannoun (#17) had three assists for the Raiders on Saturday.
    Rookie right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt put the Raiders up 6-3 in the third before Hagel netted his third goal of the night to round out the scoring in the contest.
    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was pleased with how his side dealt with the changes in momentum on Saturday.
    “A win is a win,” said Habscheid. “We faced some adversity.
    “We got up early, which was good. They got that power play to make it 2-1. I thought a key point again was Sapego’s goal, that bank shot in the first to make it 3-1.
    “We got into a little penalty trouble in the second. We had to overplay some guys. I thought in the third they dug in and obviously did real well in the third.”
Raiders D Jeremy Masella (#3) jets off on a second period breakaway.
    Ian Scott made 19 saves in goal for the Raiders, who topped WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record. Ethan Anders turned away 25 shots in goal for the Rebels, who finished eighth overall in the Eastern Conference in the regular season at 33-29-4-2.
    Habscheid liked the effort his squad received from Sapego at both ends of the ice.
    “He is a multidimensional player,” said Habscheid. “He plays good offence, but he is gritty.
    “He is tough to play against. He has been important for us.”
    Habscheid thought Protas’s level of play has risen in the post-season.
The Art Hauser Centre faithful cheers one of the Raiders goals.
    “He is a big guy,” said Habscheid. “He is smart.
    “He has done real well. In the playoffs, it is a whole different game, and he has really embraced the playoffs.”
    Habscheid said he didn’t think the second period infraction to Leason should have been called a major penalty noting Hausinger was out for the ensuing power play. The bench boss thought Hausinger embellished the hit he received.
    Habscheid added that Hagel came by and taunted the Raiders bench after one of his goals, which helped get the host side fired up along with the team’s fans. 
The Raiders and Rebels scrum it up in the third period.
    Hausinger was booed almost every time he touched the puck after Leason was kicked out of the contest, while Hagel received heckles as well.
    The veteran coach said the response from the crowd gave his side some extra jump.
    “They are smart hockey fans,” said Habscheid. “They are hardcore fans.
    “They know the game. They saw Hausinger came right out and then they saw that Hagel was taunting our bench. They (the fans) pick up on those things, and it makes a difference for us.”
The Raiders celebrate their Game 2 win on Saturday night.
    As the series shifts to Red Deer, Hannoun said his club has to enter Game 3 looking to play their best game of the series.
    “We’re just focused one game at a time,” said Hannoun. “Every game in front of us, we just have to focus on what we need to do, and we have to bring our A-game.”

    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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Saturday, 13 October 2018

Leason brings back the magic in Raiders victory

Brett Leason scored a creative winning goal for the Raiders.
    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Brett Leason pulled off a move that Mike Modano likely never tried with the Prince Albert Raiders.
    With the Raiders locked in a 1-1 draw with the visiting Red Deer Rebels at the Art Hauser Centre, Leason tried a calculated dump into the Red Deer zone. The talented right-winger dumped the puck into the corner of the Rebels zone on a rush and the dump in came right back to him, when he skated to the front of the Red Deer net.
    The 19-year-old product of Calgary, Alta., quickly blasted home his seventh goal of the season to put the host side up 2-1. That score held up as the final as the Raiders send home an appreciative standing room crowd of 2,706 at their 2,580 seat facility home happy.
    “I saw the D (defenceman) had a bad gap, so I figured that was the time to use it,” said Leason, who was a plus-two in the plus-minus department on the night. “It worked out well.
The Raiders celebrate Brett Leason’s winning goal.
    “I never practiced that. It was my first try, and it worked pretty well. It is all good.”
    Leason’s move impressed veteran Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, who has seen his share of creativity during his time in the sport of hockey.
    “He (Leason) is a talented guy,” said Habscheid. “He is a skilled guy. He has the mojo going, and when that happens, you try things.
    “He is the type of player that can pull off things like that. He has had a good year. He is very intelligent.
    “He is gangly. He kind of moves all over. He is gifted with the puck. That was obviously a huge goal.”
    A gifted point producer coming up through the minor hockey ranks in Calgary, Leason was selected in the third round and 50th overall in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft by the Tri-City Americans. Buried among the Americans forward group, he was traded in the early stages of last season to the Raiders.
Brett Leason had a goal and an assist in the Raiders win on Saturday.
    Leason, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 199 pounds, has jumped out to a hot start this season leading the Raiders in scoring with seven goals and 12 assists helping them post a 9-1 record. The Raiders are also rated second in the CHL Top 10 rankings.
    In 54 regular season games with the Raiders last season, Leason recorded 15 goals and 17 assists. Habscheid said Leason’s game has steadily progressed upwards, since he joined the Raiders.
    “I think he has improved a lot,” said Habscheid. “He plays much faster, and that is what we wanted from him.
    “We knew he had the skill. People questioned his skating, but we want him to play fast. He was committed to that, and he worked on that.
    “Now, he plays as fast as anybody out there. With the size and strength and skill that he has, he is tough to handle.”
    Backed a huge contingent of family in the stands, Leason said he is in the best groove he has ever had during this time in the WHL.
Sean Montgomery scored the Raiders first goal on Saturday.
    “My confidence level is pretty high,” said Leason, who is playing in his third full season on the major junior circuit. “I’m playing good hockey.
    “With the team of course 9-1, it (his confidence) is up really high right now.”
    Leason said he wants to keep playing well to make his family proud. His father, Darryl, and uncle, Michael, were stars with the Regina Rams in both the Canadian Junior Football League and in U Sports in the 1990s and early 2000s. While Brett excels at a different sport, he wants to do as well in hockey as Darryl and Michael did in football.
    “They were definitely big names growing up, so I want to try and perform like they did,” said Brett Leason. “I’m working on that.”
    The Raiders struck 68 seconds into Saturday’s tilt. With the Rebels defence having collapsed down on their goal, Leason found centre Sean Montgomery with a pass at an open side of the Red Deer net, and Montgomery potted his second tally of the season for a 1-0 lead.
Ethan Anders makes one of his 25 saves in goal for the Rebels.
    The Rebels drew even at 1-1 at the 4:07 mark of the first, when captain Reese Johnson powered home a one-time feed from linemate Josh Tarzwell.
    From there, the goalies on both sides took over. Ian Scott turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders included stoning Tarzwell at point-blank range late in the third period.
Ethan Anders stopped 25 shots taking the setback in goal for the Rebels (5-3-1).
    Scott received some great help from his defencemen, which included a couple of big shot blocks from Raiders 19-year-old rearguard Jeremy Masella late in the third period.
Ian Scott makes one of his 28 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.
    Leason said it was great to get a win in front of the big crowd that came out to the Art Hauser Centre after the Raiders posted a 3-1 record playing their previous four straight games on the road.
    “Playing in front of a crowd like that, it was good,” said Leason. “We were going the whole time. I’d like that to continue.
    “It definitely gets us going. When the crowd was chanting there, everyone was just feeling it.”
    The Rebels return to action this coming Friday, when they travel to Edmonton to face the Oil Kings.
    The Raiders return to action on Sunday, when they travel to Saskatoon to face the Blades (7-2) at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. There is a good chance the Raiders will bring a healthy contingent of fans down to “the Bridge City.”
The Raiders and Rebels scrum it up in the third period.
    Habscheid hopes the Raiders followers know that they do have a positive impact on the team. 
    In the third period, the cheer of the Raiders faithful help give the atmosphere more of a playoff feel. 
    The bench boss was happy to see the big crowd out at the team’s home rink on Saturday night.
    “We really appreciate it,” said Habscheid. “Especially in this day and age, you look at all the sports the entertainment dollar it is tough to get.
    “We appreciate the people coming to the rink and spending it with us. It certainly helps our players for sure. We’re a smaller franchise and to get that kind of support helps not only the franchise itself but more importantly our players.
The Raiders salute the crowd at the Art Hauser Centre.
    “They come home, and they’ve worked hard to get a decent record and we’re ranked whatever that is worth. It is nice to have the people come out and appreciate the kids the way they do and it certainly helps them on the ice.”

    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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Friday, 12 October 2018

Gerlach regains sharpshooting form in Blades OT win

Max Gerlach (#9) is embraced by Chase Wouters (#44).
    Max Gerlach was thankful his hex around the net was a short one.
    After going goalless and pointless over a span of five games, the 20-year-old product of Flower Mound, Texas, returned to his sharpshooting form in the nick of time for the Saskatoon Blades.
    With the Blades training the visiting Red Deer Rebels 2-1 on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, Gerlach wired home his second goal of the contest with 15.3 seconds to play in the third period to knot the score up at 2-2 and force overtime. 
    In overtime, Gerlach took a feed from linemate Josh Paterson and wired home his hat trick goal to the top left corner of the Rebels net with 76 seconds to play in the extra frame to deliver the Blades to a 3-2 victory in the WHL regular season contest played before 3,239 spectators.
    Looking back at his string of goalless games after Friday’s win, Gerlach recalled a bit of bad luck he had around the net with Paterson on the ice, when the Blades downed the Oil Kings in Edmonton 5-3 on Oct. 3.
Max Gerlach fired home a hat trick for the Blades on Friday night.
    “Things weren’t just going in,” said Gerlach. “I noticed a couple of pucks were flying off my stick and kind of bobbling.
    “Even in Edmonton, I kind of had an empty net and Patty (Josh Paterson) kind of skated in front of me and blocked it. I was dealing with a little bit of adversity, but we were still getting the wins on the road, so it wasn’t too big of a concern.
    “I’m just glad I could help out tonight.”
    Gerlach started the campaign netting four goals and two assists in the Blades first three regular season games. The stretch of going pointless in five games followed.
    Blades head coach Mitch Love noticed that Gerlach started to get a bit over anxious.
Rebels goalie Ethan Anders stops Blades captain Chase Wouters (#44).
    “I know Max (Gerlach) was pressing a little bit in terms of trying to find the back of the net,” said Love, whose Blades won their fourth straight game. “He had an early hot start to his year and then things dried up for him a little bit.
    “Again, guys like him find the back of the net. Hopefully, that is a confidence builder for him.
    “Guys that find the back of the net like him tend to kind of go on bits of streaks. Hopefully, that is something that he continues to do.”
    Returning to action after being off for a stretch of five straight days, the Blades fell behind 1-0 to the Rebels just 51 seconds into the contest when Russian import forward Oleg Zaytsev fired home his fourth of the season.
Captain Reese Johnson breaks down the ice for the Rebels.
    From there, the two squads engaged in a lot of back and forth action up and down the ice for most of the game.
    At the 7:10 mark of the second period, the Blades tied things up at 1-1 working on a five-on-three power play, when Gerlach sniped home his first of the contest.
    The Rebels went back in front 2-1 at the 10:50 mark of the second on a power-play goal from overage right-winger Jeff de Wit. That set the stage for the dramatics inside of the final minute of the third period and overtime.
    The Blades have won all three of their home outings to date, but they’ve needed come-from-behind efforts in their last two contests at the SaskTel Centre including Friday’s clash with the Rebels. Back on Sept. 29, the Blades trailed the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 2-1 heading into the third period before rallying for a 4-3 victory after a tiebreaking shootout.
    Love would prefer to pull out wins without having to pull out any comeback type heroics.
Blades RW Max Gerlach, right, eludes the check of Rebels RW Jeff de Wit.
    “It has been back to back home games here where we’ve been down going into the third period,” said Love. “I’m not sure we want to put ourselves in that position too often.
    “Good hockey teams find ways to win, and we’ve been fortunate the last couple of nights on home ice to do that. We don’t want to get in the habit of that. We’re going to have to definitely tighten up a few things here and find a way to play 60 minutes.”
    Nolan Maier made 23 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades, who improved to 7-2. Ethan Anders turned away 34 shots in goal for the Rebels, who saw their record move to 5-2-1.
    Gerlach said the Blades are happy with their record after nine games, but his squad still has a lot of room to improve, which is typical in the early stages of a campaign.
Kirby Dach turns up ice for the Blades.
    “I think the coaching staff is moderately happy with us,” said Gerlach. “I think there are lots of things that we can get better at like our start and just playing a full 60 minutes.
    “You could see when we kind of took care of things late in the second and kind of the third period, we’re a team that definitely had a lot of skill and speed up front. Our backend is great back there too, and we have two great goaltenders. I think if we can piece together 60 minutes every single night we can be one of the top teams in the league this year.”
    The Rebels now travel to Prince Albert to face the Raiders (8-1) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, travel to Saskatoon on Sunday to face the Blades at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
    That encounter will be the Blades next game, and Love is expecting another big battle in that contest.
The Blades celebrate their overtime victory on Friday night.
    “We will get back in here tomorrow after a good night’s rest and try to correct a few things heading into that game,” said Love. “Again, they (the Raiders) are a very good hockey club that we are going to be battling with all year long for the division.
    “We’re going to have to be at our best on Sunday, and a lot sharper than I thought tonight.”

    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.
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Wednesday, 31 January 2018

Rebels’ Anders relishes first WHL shutout

Ethan Anders directs a loose puck away from the Rebels goal.
    Ethan Anders couldn’t wait for the last 14.2 of Wednesday’s WHL contest in Saskatoon to elapse.
    The 17-year-old rookie netminder was on the cusp of collecting his first career WHL shutout as his Red Deer Rebels held a 2-0 edge over the host Blades. With 67 seconds to play in the third, 17-year-old sophomore left-winger Josh Tarzwell had scored into an empty net to give the Rebels a two-goal lead.
    With 14.2 seconds to play in the third, Anders was staring down a defensive zone faceoff. As it was highly unlikely the Blades would score twice in that timespan to force overtime, Anders mind became consumed with holding on to get the blank.
    “That was really nerve-racking,” said Anders. “I was hoping R.J. (Reese Johnson) would win that faceoff there, and he did.
    “We got it out, which was like super nice to get that first shutout for sure.”
Ethan Anders tracks the play in his own zone.
    The Regina, Sask., product turned away 33 shots to pick up his first career WHL regular season shutout. The 2-0 victory before 2,821 spectators at the SaskTel Centre marked the first time the Rebels had shutout an opponent in the 2017-18 campaign.
    In their second season since hosting the Memorial Cup in 2016, the Rebels are going through a rebuild icing a younger roster. Including Anders, Red Deer utilized eight players in their 17-year-old season of eligibility and three players in their 16-year-old seasons of eligibility on Wednesday night.
    The Rebels could have hit the ice with an even young roster had they not scratched two 16-year-old rookie forwards.
    Due to utilizing such a young group, the Rebels have taken their lumps this season, but they have won their last two straight and four of their last five to improve to 14-25-9-3. They sit nine points behind the Kootenay Ice (23-24-3) for third in the WHL’s Central Division and a playoff berth.
    As the season progresses, Anders said he really likes how the young Rebels are coming together, and he gave the 18 skaters that played in front of him on Wednesday night big props for the shutout.
G Ethan Anders and the Rebels defence stop Blades RW Josh Paterson.
    “The boys played really good in front of me,” said Anders, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 186 pounds. “They liked kept the shots down and allowed low quality chances, so it was good.
    “It has been a tough start. We went on a bit of like a little skid there, but we are starting to play a lot better. The team is working harder for a full 60, and it is just really good for sure.”
    Last season, Anders starred for the Tisdale Trojans in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League posting a .922 save percentage, a 2.48 goals against average and two shutouts in 26 regular season game appearances. Having gone unselected in the WHL Bantam Draft, the Rebels listed Anders halfway through last season.
Tyler Brown turned away 24-of-25 shots in goal for the Blades.
    He said it has been a lot different playing in the WHL compared to midget AAA, and he loved the fact Rebels head coach, general manager and owner Brent Sutter kept having faith and putting him back in goal no matter what happen.
    “It has been a bit of an adjustment for sure, but Brent (Sutter) has been playing me lots,” said Anders. “I am kind of more adapted to the league now than I was at the start of the year.
    “I am feeling more comfortable when I step in the net for sure.”
    The Rebels went ahead 1-0 just 1:49 into Wednesday’s contest, when a point shot from sophomore 17-year-old defenceman Jacob Herauf got past overage Blades netminder Tyler Brown. That was the only shot that beat Brown, who turned away 24-of-25 shots putting in a solid effort between the pipes for Saskatoon.
Rebels D Dawson Barteaux gets control of the puck in his own zone.
    Anders went to work playing a sound technical game. There were some dangerous moments.
    In the first period, a mid-range shot by Blades feisty forward Caleb Fantillo went off Anders glove and over top of the Red Deer goal.
    Anders had to deny Blades centre Chase Wouters in close in the first period and right-winger Josh Paterson in tight during the third period.
    Besides giving credit to his teammates, Anders said Rebels goaltending coach Taylor Dakers, who starred for the Ice from 2003 to 2007, has been a huge help.
    “We will go out a little bit early (before practice) just to work on some little things he saw in games he didn’t like,” said Anders. “After practice, he will keep us a little bit just to work on little things, and it has definitely helped my game.”
    As for another bonus, Anders collected his first shutout with about six to eight family members in attendance on Wednesday night.
Ethan Anders (#31) celebrates his shutout with Riley Lamb.
    “It was really nice to get the shutout in front of them for sure,” said Anders. “It was nice to go up there (to the concourse) and chat with them after.”
    The Rebels move on to face the WHL leading Warriors (39-8-1-2) in Moose Jaw on Friday night.
The Blades fell to 25-24-2-1 with the setback. They sit in the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a three point edge over the Prince Albert Raiders (20-20-8-2). The Raiders have two games in hand on the Blades.
    Saskatoon sits four points back of the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats (26-22-5) for the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with one game in hand. The Raiders sit seven points behind the Pats with three games in hand.
    The Blades and the Raiders go at it on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    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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