Lisowsky delivers in OT, Blades on cusp of clinching first overall

Hitmen manage to stay alive in WHL post-season race

The Blades celebrate an OT winner from Brandon Lisowsky (#8).

Brandon Lisowsky’s 40^th goal of the season couldn’t have come at a bigger time for the Saskatoon Blades.

On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades found themselves going to overtime locked in a 3-3 tie with the visiting Calgary Hitmen in a WHL regular season encounter. In the three-versus-three extra session, Blades star center Fraser Minten stole a pass from a Hitmen player just inside the Calgary blue-line.

Minten got the puck to Lisowsky springing the 19-year-old star winger in on a breakaway. Lisowsky roofed home the winner to the top left corner of the Calgary goal giving the Blades a 4-3 victory just 65 seconds into overtime to the delight of the 4,271 spectators in attendance.

The overtime winner was Lisowsky’s second goal of the night and 40^th of the campaign. That marks the first time the Port Coquitlam, B.C., product hit the 40-goal plateau in his WHL career.

Brandon Lisowsky scored twice for the Blades on Wednesday.

On the campaign, Lisowsky has 40 goals, 38 assists, 78 points and a plus-25 rating in the plus-minus department. All of those statistics are career highs. 

With the win, the WHL leading Blades improve to 48-13-3-2. They just need two more standing points over their final two regular season games to lock up first overall in the WHL for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign. That can quickly be accomplished with one more win.

Saskatoon sits three points up on the B.C. Division champion Prince George Cougars (47-15-1-3) and five points ahead of the U.S. Division champion Portland Winterhawks (46-15-3-1).

The Blades will get their first chance to clinch top spot on the major junior circuit on Friday, when they travel to Prince Albert to face their archrivals the 31-30-2-3 Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). Those two clubs close their respective regular season schedules facing each other on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Carter Yakemchuk had a goal for the Hitmen.

As for Wednesday’s clash with Calgary, the Hitmen got the early jump on the Blades. Just 2:29 into the opening frame, Hitmen import 19-year-old left-winger Maxim Muranov ripped home a shot low shot to the left side of the Saskatoon net and stick side on Blades netminder Evan Gardner to give the visitors a 1-0 edge. The tally was Muranov’s 22^nd tally of the campaign.

The Blades came with a push back after the Hitmen went ahead which included Lisowsky getting robbed at point blank range by the right side of the Calgary net by Hitmen netminder Ethan Buenaventura.

The opening 20 minutes was fairly evenly played as the Hitmen exited the frame with their 1-0 lead and holding a 13-11 edge in shots on goal.

The Hitmen came out with some jump to start the second period getting the first three shot on goal in the frame.

Easton Armstrong had a goal for the Blades.

The Blade got their legs going after they went on the power play, even though they were unable to score with the man advantage. After the power play ended, Blades 18-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii was sprung on a breakaway but he was turned away by Buenaventura.

With 3:11 remaining in the second, the Blades evened the score at 1-1 on a power-play goal by star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong. Armstrong received a pass in front of the Calgary goal from Blades captain Trevor Wong and slid a shot home into the right low corner of the Hitmen net for his 33^rd tally of the campaign.

At the close of the second period, the Blades held a 25-20 edge in shots on goal.

Just 51 seconds into the third, Hitmen star offensive-defenceman Carter Yakemchuk fired home a shot from the left point for his 28^th goal of the season to put the Hitmen back out in front 2-1.

Maxim Muranov netted 22nd goal of the season.

At the 4:32 mark of the third, Wong wired home his 14^th goal of the campaign from the front of the Calgary net to once again even the score at 2-2.

The Blades proceeded to jump ahead 3-2 with 5:40 remaining in the third period, when Lisowsky tipped home a point shot from offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk for a power-play marker.

With 64 seconds remaining in the third, Hitmen left-winger Connor Dale, who turned 19-years-old in January, slipped home a bad angle shot from the left side of the Saskatoon net to even the score 3-3 and force overtime.

That set the stage for Lisowsky to come through with his winner in the extra session.

Gardner stopped 22 shots to pick up his 20th win in goal for the Blades, who are rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings. Buenaventura turned away 43 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Hitmen.

The Blades celebrate their win on Wednesday night.

The Hitmen saw their record move to 27-30-8-1 as they sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Calgary sits four points back of the Raiders for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the conference.

In order for the Hitmen to be able to stay alive in the race to make the WHL Playoffs, they need to win their final two regular season games and the Raiders must lost their final two regular season games in regulation. If that happens, a standings tiebreaking game would be held at a date to be determined in Prince Albert as the Raiders are guaranteed to finish with more wins than the Hitmen.

The Hitmen get back at it on Friday when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex). Those two squads close their respective regular season schedules facing each other on Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 6 p.m. local time.

Raiders rock Regina 5-1, sit one point from playoff clinch

Ryder Ritchie had a goal and two assists for the Raiders.

The Prince Albert Raiders were on a mission, and it spelled doom for the Regina Pats.

On Wednesday night before 2,447 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders rocked the visiting Pats 5-1 in a WHL regular season clash. The win allowed the Raiders to end a three-game losing streak and improve to 31-30-2-3 to strengthen their grip on eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

Combined with the Calgary Hitmen falling 4-3 in overtime to the WHL leading Blades in Saskatoon on Wednesday, the Raiders need to earn one more point in the standings to lock up a berth in the WHL Playoffs. Prince Albert sits four points up on the Hitmen (27-30-8-1), who are ninth overall in the conference.

The Raiders with have their first chance to clinch a post-season berth on Friday when they host their archrivals in the Blades (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). Those two clubs close their respective regular season schedules facing each other on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

In order for the Hitmen to be able to stay alive in the race to make the WHL Playoffs, they need to win their final two regular season games and the Raiders must lost their final two regular season games in regulation. If that happens, a standings tiebreaking game would be held in at a date to be determined in Prince Albert as the Raiders are guaranteed to finish with more wins than the Hitmen.

The Hitmen get back at it on Friday when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex). Those two squads close their respective regular season schedules facing each other on Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 6 p.m. local time.

As for Wednesday’s encounter between the Raiders and the Pats, the Raiders stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the first period with goals coming from the sticks of offensive-defenceman Justice Christensen, 18-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube, star 17-year-old right-winger Ryder Ritchie and 18-year-old centre Aiden Oiring. The tallies from Dube and Oiring came on the power play.

The Raiders held a 16-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

Oiring again tallied on the power-play at the 5:52 mark of the second. That tally was also the sophomore’s 20^th goal of the campaign marking the first time he has hit the 20-goal plateau in his WHL career.

The Pats finally hit the scoreboard with 5:07 remaining in the third, when captain Tanner Howe scored on the power play to round out the 5-1 final score in favour of the Raiders.

Max Hildebrand stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Ritchie had a pair of assists to go with his goal. Christensen had a helper to go with his tally.

Kelton Pyne turned away 32 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats, who fell to 22-38-4-2 as they play out the string.

The Pats return to action on Friday when they return home to face the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

Broncos claim first division title since 2001

The surprising Swift Current Broncos are WHL division champions for the first time since 2001.

On Wednesday, the Broncos downed the visiting Red Deer Rebels 6-3 at the InnovationPlex before an overjoyed crowd of 2,371 spectators. The win allowed the Broncos to improve to 39-21-4-2 to lock up first place in the WHL’s Central Division.

Wednesday’s win marked the first time the Broncos have won a division title since they claimed first in the East Division back in the 2000-01 campaign, when they posted a record of 43 wins, 20 losses, seven ties and two overtime losses. The Broncos made it to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series in that campaign falling in six games to the Rebels, who went on to win the WHL title and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

Swift Current never did win a division title in the club’s last WHL championship winning season in 2017-18. In that campaign, the Broncos finished second overall in the WHL and second in the East Division behind the Moose Jaw Warriors, who posted a 52-15-2-3 mark. The Broncos eliminated the Warriors in seven games in a second round series in the 2018 post-season.

The Broncos did actually win the Central Division title on one other occasion back in the 1995-96 campaign, when they posted a record of 36 wins, 31 losses and five ties. Swift Current fell in six games in a first round series to Red Deer.

In Wednesday’s meeting between the Broncos and Rebels, it appeared for a time in the opening frame the Rebels would be spoilers. Rookie import centre Samuel Drancak, who turned 18-years-old in February, scored on the power play at the 6:33 mark for the Rebels to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

With 48 seconds remaining in the first, Broncos breakout left-winger Clarke Caswell was sprung on a breakaway and he slipped home a low shot to the left side of the Red Deer net to even the score at 1-1.

Red Deer held a 17-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

At the 11:43 mark of the second, Broncos veteran 20-year-old defenceman Ryan McCleary fired home a shot from the left slot for his 11^th tally of the season to put the host side up 2-1. McCleary completed a crisp passing play from Caswell and star centre Conor Geekie.

Broncos star centre Mathew Ward tallied at the 5:37 mark of the third to put the Broncos up 3-1. Just 18-seconds later, Ward’s linemate in star right-winger Josh Filmon netted his 27^th goal of the season to push Swift Current’s advantage out to 4-1.

That led to the third ending with a crazy final eight minutes. With 7:42 remaining in the third, Rebels right-winger Talon Brigley scored his 20^th of the campaign to cut the Broncos lead to 4-2.

Following that tally, Broncos 18-year-old centre Connor Gabriel scored for the host side to push the Broncos lead out to 5-2. Red Deer scored again with 3:10 remaining in the third thanks to a power-play goal from right-winger Jhett Larson that trimmed Swift Current’s lead to 5-3.

Just four seconds later, Broncos star right-winger Connor Hvidston put the puck into an empty Rebels net for his 27^th goal of the season to round out the 6-3 final score in favour of the host side.

Reid Dyck stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos. Rhett Stoesser turned away 21-of-26 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels (33-24-3-6).

With Wednesday’s results, the Rebels got locked into a best-of-seven first round playoff series with the Medicine Hat Tigers (36-2-3-5-2). The Tigers will have home ice advantage being locked into fourth overall in the Eastern Conference, while the Rebels are locked into fifth overall.

The Broncos return to action on Friday when they host the 27-30-8-1 Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

The Rebels get back it on Saturday when they host the 25-37-3-1 Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium).

The Broncos had a rocky beginning to the 2023-24 campaign. They started 9-9-1 under head coach Devan Praught. On Nov. 14, 2023, Praught was suspended for violating WHL Standards of Conduct for an on ice incident at practice on day earlier.

Taras McEwen was named the interim head coach. Praught, who is 36-years-old, would never return to coach the Broncos as he and the team later agreed to mutually part ways.

With the 33-year-old McEwen behind the bench as interim head coach, the Broncos have posted a 30-12-3-2 mark. McEwen’s father, Brad McEwen, was the Broncos head coach and general manager when they won the East Division title in 2000-01. Brad McEwen currently scouts for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.

The Broncos are slated to move to the East Division before the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

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

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Rebels’ Bains nears WHL scoring title with four-point night

Red Deer runs over Hitmen 8-3 at Scotiabank Saddledome

Arshdeep Bains leads the WHL in scoring.

Arshdeep Bains almost has the Bob Clarke Trophy in his grasp.

On Wednesday, the Red Deer Rebels overage left-winger collected two goals and two assists to power his squad to an 8-3 WHL regular season victory over the host Calgary Hitmen before 4,323 onlookers at the Scotiabank Saddledome. With that effort, Bains now seemingly has an insurmountable lead when it comes to being awarded the Bob Clarke Trophy as the WHL’s regular season scoring champion.

Appearing in all the Rebels 67 games to date, Bains has 110 points coming off 42 goals and a league high 68 assists. He leads linemate in 19-year-old centre Ben King by seven points for top spot in the scoring race.

King, who sits second in the WHL scoring race, has also appeared in all of the Rebels 67 games to date piling up 103 points coming off a league high 52 goals and 51 assists. He scored twice in Red Deer’s win over Calgary on Wednesday.

Kamloops Blazers third-year centre Logan Stankoven sits third in the WHL scoring race posting 102 points coming off 44 goals and 58 assists appearing in 57 games.

The last member of the Rebels to win the WHL scoring title was centre Justin Mapletoft back in the 2000-01 campaign, when Red Deer won the WHL title and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions. That season, Mapletoft piled up 120 points coming off 43 goals and 77 assists appearing in 70 regular season games for the Rebels.

The Rebels have one game remaining on their regular season schedule, while the Blazers have two games remaining on their regular season slate.

Against the Hitmen on Wednesday, the Rebels led 2-0 after the first period, held a 4-2 advantage after the second frame and pulled away to post the 8-3 final in the third.

Dallon Melin scored twice for the Rebels, while Jace Weir and Kai Uchacz netted singles.

Zac Funk scored twice for the Hitmen, who received a single from Blake Stevenson.

Chase Coward stopped 27 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels. Brayden Peters started and took the setback in goal for the Hitmen turning away 28-of-34 shots sent his way before being pulled at the 7:30 mark of the third period.

Ethan Buenaventura played the rest of the way in relief stopping one-of-three shots sent his way.

The Rebels improved to 45-18-2-2 with the win and are locked into finishing third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Red Deer closes its regular season schedule on Saturday hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium).

Arshdeep Bains has 42 goals and 68 assists this season.

The Hitmen, who have lost three straight, fell to 25-34-6-2 to remain ninth overall in the Eastern Conference. Calgary trails the 26-34-5-2 Swift Current Broncos by one point for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Hitmen close their regular season schedule on Sunday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (2 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome). When Calgary hits the ice for that contest, they could potentially already be eliminated from playoff contention.

The Broncos close their regular season schedule on Friday when they host the 26-35-4-1 Prince Albert Raiders (7 p.m., Innovation Credit Union i-Plex). If the Broncos win that contest, they will eliminate both the Hitmen and Raiders from playoff contention.

The Raiders, who are 11^th overall in the Eastern Conference two standings points back of the Broncos, have two games remaining on their regular season schedule. After playing the Broncos in Swift Current on Friday, the Raiders return home to close their regular season schedule against the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

If the Raiders win both their remaining regular season games, they will eliminate the Hitmen and Broncos from playoff contention.

The 26-34-3-2 Regina Pats sit 10^th overall in the Eastern Conference two points back of the Broncos. Regina closes its regular season schedule playing three games in three days.

The Pats take on the Winnipeg Ice, who have locked up first overall in the WHL with a 51-10-3-2 record, on both Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in Regina. Those two contests were originally scheduled for Thursday and Friday night in Winnipeg, but they were rescheduled and shifted to Regina due to severe bad weather in southern Manitoba.

The Ice close their regular season schedule with those two contests and will be treated as the home team in those games including having the last line change.

After the two head-to-head contests with Winnipeg, the Pats close their regular season schedule on Sunday hosting their archrivals the Moose Jaw Warriors (4 p.m., Brandt Centre). The Warriors sit fourth overall in the Eastern Conference with a 37-23-3-3 record after downing the Wheat Kings in Brandon 5-2 on Tuesday.

The Saskatoon Blades, who sit fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 37-26-3-1 record, could potentially pass the Warriors for fourth in the conference and have home ice advantage for a best-of-seven first round WHL playoff series.

The Blades close their regular season schedule on Friday hosting the 35-26-3-2 Wheat Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre). If the Blades win that contest and the Warriors lose their final two regular season games in regulation, Saskatoon would take fourth place in the conference.

The Warriors travel to Lethbridge on Friday to face the Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, Enmax Centre). Moose closes its regular season against the Pats on Sunday.

Ben Kings has 52 goals and 51 assists this season.

Moose Jaw just needs one standings point in its final two outings to lock up fourth in the conference.

The Wheat Kings would leap from sixth to fifth overall in the Eastern Conference if they win their final two regular season games.

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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First time a charm in shootout for Raiders’ Kosior

Prince Albert rallies for victory over Hitmen

Landon Kosior reacts to scoring in a tiebreaking shootout.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - Landon Kosior capped a Prince Albert Raiders comeback victory cashing in on a personal WHL first.

On Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre, Kosior’s Raiders entered the third period training the visiting Calgary Hitmen 3-2. The Raiders tied the game 3-3 in the third to send the contest to overtime.

After a scoreless three-versus-three overtime period, the game went to a tiebreaking shootout where the Raiders were shooting first. The Raiders held a 1-0 edge in the tiebreaking session after two rounds after star 19-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt score on the team’s second shot attempt.

Kosior was picked to shoot for the Raiders in the third round. The 19-year-old defenceman, who is in his third WHL season, would be taking his first career attempt in the shootout.

Landon Kosior had a big blocked shot for the Raiders.

The Regina, Sask., product snapped home a shot glove side on Hitmen netminder Ethan Buenaventura to clinch a 2-0 win in the tiebreaking session and give the Raiders a 4-3 outright victory in the WHL regular season contest to the delight of the 2,115 spectators in attendance.

“I was excited,” said Kosior, who team was picked up a win for the first time this season when trailing after two periods. “Any time you can be relied on like that by your coach, it is always exciting.

“I think I just made the most out of it and took it as a boost of confidence and made a good shot.”

Kosior was pumped his shootout goal clinched the win for his squad.

“It was nice to get that,” said Kosior, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 189 pounds. “I saw Ozzy (Wiesblatt) kind of do the same thing (with the snap shot glove side).

The scene after Landon Kosior scores his shootout clincher.

“I went out there with the mindset that if it was open I would take that.”

Besides scoring the shootout clincher, Kosior was in on a couple of other big plays for the Raiders.

On the Raiders tally that tied the contest 3-3 with 8:16 to play in the third period, Kosior picked up a second assist on that play. He made a backhand pass to his defensive partner on that shift in Remy Aquilon on the right point.

Aquilon put a shot on goal that was tipped home by left-winger Keaton Sorensen for the equalizer.

Tikhon Chaika stops a shot in the tiebreaking shootout.

Right before the buzzer that ended the three-versus-three overtime session, Kosior blocked a shot from Hitmen rearguard Keegan Slaney to preserve the 3-3 tie and cause the contest to move to the shootout.

“I just saw the puck come out in front,” said Kosior, who has four goals and 11 assists appearing in all 25 of his team’s games this season. “I just saw a guy all alone.

“I knew on the clock there wasn’t much time left, so I just gave it everything I could to block it.”

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Kosior has taken his game up to another level, and the bench boss was pleased to see the veteran defenceman come up with big plays in big moments.

Cale Sanders celebrates scoring the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

“He (Kosior) has been good,” said Habscheid. “There was a time all of a sudden the light switch went on for him.

“He laughs about it. He agrees. He is a really talented player not only for our team but in the league.

“He is a good two-way player. He is smart. He makes good passes, and his defensive game has come up quite a bit. He is a really important guy.”

The Raiders got out to a good start in Saturday’s game. At the 4:16 mark of the opening frame, Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders wired home a shot to the top right corner of the Calgary goal on a rush up the right wing to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

The clean up after the Raiders toque and mittens toss goal.

As Saturday’s contest was the Raiders toque and mittens toss night, the spectators rained down toques and mittens to the ice along with teddy bears and other stuffed animals. The Raiders weren’t selling teddy bears at Saturday’s game, but fans were allowed to bring teddy bears and stuffed animals to the contest to throw on the ice.

All the items collected will go to Prince Albert area charities.

“Honestly, I forgot about it,” said Sanders about what was to happen when the Raiders scored their first goal on Saturday. “When I scored, I was like, ‘Oh. I guess I scored it.’”

A short time later, Hitmen centre Riley Fiddler-Schultz netted his 13^th goal of the season to even the score at 1-1.

Raiders captain Reece Vitelli potted his ninth of the season just under three minutes later to give the hosts a 2-1 edge heading into the first intermission.

Keegan Slaney (#7) scored for the Hitmen on Saturday.

In the second, the Hitmen got singles from centre Oliver Tulk and Slaney to take a 3-2 advantage into the second intermission.

That set the stage for the Raiders comeback the rest of the way.

“We know that we didn’t have our best game out there, but we did crawl back in the third,” said Sanders. “We had a great third and out battled them.

“We had to get a goal and we did. We came through in the third, and that is all that matters.”

Tikhon Chaika stopped 28 shots over 65 minutes and both shooters he faced in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (10-13-1-1). Buenaventura turned away 22 shots over 65 minutes and stopped one of three shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback in net for the Hitmen (11-9-2-2).

The Raiders celebrate their victory on Saturday night.

With Hitmen having downed the Blades in Saskatoon 4-2 on Friday night to enter Saturday’s game with some good momentum, Habscheid was pleased his Raiders found a way to pull out the comeback victory.

“When you are not above .500, any victory is good,” said Habscheid. “The comeback is nice.

“Calgary has been playing well. They’ve score a lot of goals, and they beat Saskatoon last night. We knew they were coming in really confident, and they are a good team.”

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Winnipeg Ice (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Hitmen return to Calgary and get back at it on Wednesday on home ice when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

Habscheid gets friendly one up on Stajan

Marc Habscheid points out directions during a stoppage.

Prince Albert Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was happy to get the friendly upper hand on one of his former world junior players.

On Saturday, the Raiders downed the visiting Calgary Hitmen 4-3 after a tiebreaking shootout at the Art Hauser Centre. One of the Hitmen’s assistant coaches is Matt Stajan, who joined the staff of Calgary’s WHL franchise before the start of the current campaign.

When Habscheid coached Canada’s entry at world juniors that were held jointly between Halifax and Sydney, N.S., in the 2002-03 season, Stajan was one of forwards on the Canadian side.

Saturday’s game was the first meeting of the current campaign between the Raiders and Hitmen.

It was also the Raiders toque and mittens toss game, and the fans could throw teddy bears or other stuffed animals on the ice after the Raiders first goal. All the items collected will go to Prince Albert area charities.

Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders netted the toque and mittens toss goal at the 4:16 mark of the first period.

That allowed Habscheid and Stajan to have a visit.

Marc Habscheid, centre, works the Raiders bench on Saturday.

“Just a little sidebar here, but it was fun for me, because Matt Stajan was on the other team,” said Habscheid. “I talked to him at the teddy bear break.

“He was my last choice at the world juniors in Halifax, and now he is on the bench across from me. It tells me two things. One, that world juniors Matt said was about 20 years ago, and two, I’m old I guess.”

Canada won silver at that world juniors in the 2002-03 campaign.

Following that world juniors, Stajan would go on to play 1,003 regular season games in the NHL spread over 15 seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames collecting 146 goals and 267 assists. He last suited up in the NHL for the Flames in the 2017-18 campaign.

Habscheid was happy to see Stajan decided to get into coaching after his playing days wrapped up.

“It was good to see him,” said Habscheid. “It just goes to prove how precious every day is and how fast time flies.

“Matt is a heck of a guy, and it is good to see that he is in coaching, because he’ll make a good coach.”

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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