Blades juggle roster, close to cementing 20-year-olds

The Blades traded Justin Lies on June 6.

The Saskatoon Blades have put in some early work to clear up how their roster will look this coming season.

The 2022-23 campaign turned out to be one of the best the Blades have had in some time. They finished fourth overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 48-13-4-3 record.

Saskatoon advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 1994 falling in four games to the Winnipeg Ice. In a WHL Eastern Conference semfinal series in the 2023 playoff run, the Blades fell behind 3-0 to the Red Deer Rebels before rallying back to take the series 4-3. The Blades joined the 1996 Spokane Chiefs and the 2013 Kelowna Rockets as only teams to fall behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series and rally back to take the set in WHL history.

Naturally, the Blades in a perfect world would like return as many players as possible from last season who gained valuable experience from that post-season run. Plus, the rosters of the clubs that finished first to third overall in the WHL regular season in the Ice, league champion Seattle Thunderbirds and Kamloops Blazers are going to look a lot different this season due to their decisions to load up.

The Ice do have the potential to bring back seven core players from their 2022-23 team in Daniel Hauser, Jonas Woo, Zach Benson, Evan Friesen, Carson Latimer, Conor Geekie and Matthew Savoie, but there will be a lot of changes around that group.

With that noted, the Blades have to deal with their share of the cyclical nature of junior hockey. Gone due to graduation having exhausting their major junior eligibility playing out there 20-year-old seasons are captain and offensive-defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere, defenceman Blake Gustafson and centre Josh Pillar.

One of the decisions the Blades had to make was in between the pipes. Did they want to return two goalies in their 19-year-old seasons in Austin Elliott and Ethan Chadwick?

The two netminders rotated starts for pretty much the entire campaign last season. Elliott appeared in 37 regular season games in 2022-23 posting a 25-6-3 record, a 2.20 goals against average, a .911 save percentage and two shutouts. He was named a second team WHL East Division all-star and was named to the CHL’s all-rookie team.

Chadwick appeared in 34 regular season contests in 2022-23 posting a 23-9-2 record, a 2.61 goals against average, a .899 save percentage and two shutouts.

On May 11, the Blades traded Chadwick to the Everett Silvertips for a second round selection in the WHL Prospects Draft that was held that day and originally belonged to the Kamloops Blazers and a fourth round pick in the 2025 Prospects Draft. Saskatoon used the second round selection to pick 15-year-old netminder Ryley Budd, who played with his hometown Calgary Northstars Under-15 AAA team last season.

The Blades traded Conner Roulette to the Chiefs on May 31.

In 20 regular season appearances in the Alberta Elite Hockey League, Budd posted an 8-10 record, a 3.34 goals against average, a .916 save percentage and two shutouts.

With that move, Elliott will likely be the Blades starter next season and a younger goalie in their system will be an apprentice backup. Chadwick will have a good shot to be the Silvertips start for the upcoming campaign.

After trading Chadwick, the Blades started to narrow down the players that could take the three 20-year-old spots they are allowed on their roster. Upon being eliminated from the 2023 WHL Playoffs, the Blades had seven potential players that could fill those 20-year-old spots.

On May 31, they dealt right-winger Conner Roulette to the Spokane Chiefs for a second round selection in the 2024 Prospects Draft and a third round pick in the 2027 Prospects Draft. Appearing in 60 regular season games in 2022-23 with the Blades, Roulette collected 24 goals and 38 assists for 62 points to go with a plus-19 rating in the plus-minus department.

On June 3, the Blades traded rugged right-winger Justin Lies to the Victoria Royals for a conditional third round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft. Lies appeared in 56 regular season contests for the Blade in 2022-23 posting career highs in goals (nine), assists (14), points (23) and plus-minus (plus-six).

Having completed those two moves, the Blades are down to five potential players who could fill their three 20-year-old spots. Out of that group, left-winger Jake Chiasson has a signed three- year NHL entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers and could potentially be assigned to one of the Oilers’ minor professional affiliates.

Chiasson played 70 regular season games in 2022-23 split between the Blades and the Brandon Wheat Kings posting 20 goals and 38 assists. The Blades acquired Chiasson in a trade on January 10.

If Chiasson is assigned in the Oilers system, the Blades would be down to four potential players that could fill their three 20-year-old spots. Skilled centre Trevor Wong is highly likely to fill one of those spots as he topped the Blades in regular season scoring in 2022-23 posting 86 points coming off 27 goals and 59 assists to go with a plus-23 rating appearing in all the club’s 68 regular season contests.

Defenceman Charlie Wright seems like a solid choice to fill a second 20-year-old spot. Appearing in 66 regular season contests with the Blades in 2022-23, Wright posted career highs in goals (eight), assists (32), points (40) and plus-minus (plus-33).

That would leave the third spot to go to either centre Jayden Wiens or utility player Spencer Shugrue, who are both popular in the Blades dressing room. Wiens battled an injury during the regular season being limited to 42 games, where he posted 17 goals, 10 assists and a plus-one rating.

The Blades dealt Ethan Chadwick to the Silvertips on May 11.

Shugrue mainly played defence last season, but his versatility to play up front or on the back end has become valuable. In 55 regular season appearances in 2022-23, Shugrue collected one goal, six assists and a plus-two rating.

In the 2023 WHL Playoffs, Shugrue earned the nickname “Mr. Game 7” for his heroics in the team’s two Game 7 victories over Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats and the Rebels collecting three goals and an assist in those clutch performances.

Unless a deal comes up the Blades can’t turn down, they will likely sit on their 20-year-old situation as is until training camp comes around.

With all that noted, they’ve done well to find good potential landing spots for Chadwick, Roulette and Lies for the upcoming campaign.

Valkyries receive bye in WWCFL playoffs, other notes

QB Alex Eyolfson (#15) and her Valkyries had this weekend off.

For a second straight year, the Saskatoon Valkyries have advanced to the final four of the WWCFL Playoffs thanks to a forfeit victory.

This past Tuesday, the Valkyries, who topped the WWCFL’s Prairie Conference with a 4-0 record, were informed the Winnipeg Wolfpack, who were 0-4 in the regular season, were forfeiting their WWCFL quarter-final to the Saskatoon powerhouse squad. The Wolfpack also forfeited a quarter-final contest last season to the Valkyries, who advanced on to win their seventh WWCFL championship.

The Valkyries and Wolfpack met in a regular season contest on May 28 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Saskatoon blanked Winnipeg 59-0 in a game that was called at halftime due to injuries that had piled up for the Wolfpack.

The Valkyries weren’t the only squad to advance in the WWCFL post-season thanks to a forfeit win. This past Thursday, the Lethbridge Steel, who were 0-4 in the regular season, informed the Edmonton Storm, who were 2-1 in the regular season, they were forfeiting their quarter-final contest to club from the Alberta capital. That contest had originally been scheduled for a 2 p.m. local start in Edmonton on Saturday.

With the forfeit win, the Storm advance to the WWCFL’s Western Conference Championship game to take on the Calgary Rage, who posted a 3-0 record in the regular season. This contest will be played on either Saturday, June 17 or Sunday, June 18 in Calgary at a place and time to be announced.

The Storm and Rage met once in the regular season with the Rage pulling out a 33-14 victory way back on April 29 in Calgary. The two sides were to have played on May 20 in Edmonton, but that contest was outright cancelled due to heavy smoke from the wildfires burning all over Western Canada.

The only quarter-final game that was played came on Saturday as the Winnipeg-based Manitoba Fearless traveled to Regina to face the Riot at Mosaic Stadium. Both squads were 2-2 in regular season play.

The Riot downed the Fearless 26-13 to advance to play the Valkyries in the WWCFL’s Prairie Conference Championship game. That contest will be played at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on either Saturday, June 17 or Sunday, June 18 at a time to be announced.

The Valkyries head into that contest having won their last 25 games overall including two forfeit victories. Saskatoon’s last loss came seemingly a lifetime ago back on June 24, 2018 falling 14-10 in the WWCFL Championship Game to the Riot in Regina at Mosaic Stadium.

This year’s WWCFL Championship Game will be hosted in Saskatoon on Saturday, June 24 at 2 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium. The Valkyries need to beat the Riot in the Prairie Conference final in order to play in the WWCFL final as the host squad.

• On Thursday, the junior A Battlefords North Stars, who are the defending SJHL champions, announced they had signed head coach and general manager Brayden Klimosko, who is 35-years-old, to a five-year contract extension. Klimosko joined the North Stars before the start of the 2018-19 campaign as head coach and took on duties as the general manager before the start of the 2019-20 campaign. This past season, the North Stars top the SJHL regular season standings with an impressive 48-5-2-1 record. They rolled through the SJHL Playoffs posting a 12-1 record to claim the league championship and advance to the national junior A Centennial Cup Championship Tournament in Portage la Prairie, Man. The North Stars advanced to the title game of the Centennial Cup tournament falling to the Alberta-based Brooks Bandits 4-0. The Bandits have won the Centennial Cup the last three times it has been awarded.
• On Thursday, Rob Vanstone received his Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for his extraordinary leadership and service to local sports. Vanstone had worked full-time for the Regina Leader-Post as a sports writer and columnist from late July 1987 to this past February. He left the Leader-Post to join the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders as their Senior Journalist and Historian. When it comes to the sports scene in Regina, Vanstone has covered it all. His stories on minor sports were as good as the ones he would produce on the Roughriders and WHL’s Regina Pats. The effort he gave to all the stories and columns he wrote was outstanding. He was a deserving recipient of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal.
• On June 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a piece on Callie Steen, who is a rising star in track and field. Steen is finishing up her Grade 12 year at Hanley Composite School in Hanley, Sask., and she has committed to join the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks Women’s Track and Field team in the NCAA Division I ranks this fall. The piece on Steen can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that shows the track and field season in top gear and the spring season at the Complex rolling on. That post can be found by clicking right here.

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

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Ice big line bashes Blades again

Saskatoon faces playoff elimination for sixth time

The Ice celebrate a goal from Zach Benson, centre.

The big line of the Winnipeg Ice floats like butterflies and stings like bees.

They have the Saskatoon Blades on the ropes in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. Now the question is can the Ice put the Blades down for the count?

The two teams that played the Blades in the WHL Playoffs before the Ice weren’t so lucky.

On Tuesday playing before 6,058 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Ice froze the Blades out of their home rink 5-1 holding a 34-18 edge in shots on goal. With the win, the Ice lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final 3-0. They can close things out in Game 4 on Wednesday set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Ice C Matthew Savoie (#93) shields the puck from Blades C Trevor Wong.

Winnipeg benefited once again from a strong performance from its top line consisting of centre Matthew Savoie, left-winger Zach Benson and right-winger Connor McClennon. They combined for three goals and four assists in the win. The line of Savoie, Benson and McClennon accounted for three of the first four goals scored by Winnipeg.

“I played with them a little bit last year and quite a bit this year,” said Savoie, who had a goal and two assists on Tuesday. “We’ve built a tonne of chemistry off the ice, and I think it just translates to on the ice.

Zach Benson had a goal and an assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

“We’re all so close. I think we just feed off the energy we bring. It is a lot of fun playing with those two for sure.”

Benson and McClennon each had a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s win.

The trio followed up on an impressive performance in Game 2 of the series this past Saturday in Winnipeg at the Wayne Fleming Arena, which the Ice claimed 6-2. In that contest, Savoie, Benson and McClennon combined for five goals and five assists in that victory.

With the loss, Saskatoon will face elimination from the WHL Playoffs for a sixth time. The current roster of the Blades has shown that it can be gutsy winning their five previous elimination games.

Connor McClennon had a goal and an assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

“We’ve had a lot of biggest games of the year this year,” said Blades gritty right-winger Justin Lies. “The mindset is just go out and work hard and fight to keep this together, just fight for another day and another road trip with the boys.

“No one is quitting in there, so we’re just going to go work our hardest. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Blades went to a series deciding Game 7 against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats in the first round of the WHL Playoffs. Saskatoon took that contest by a 4-1 score at the SaskTel Centre before a sellout crowd of 14,768.

Justin Lies scored the Blades lone goal on Tuesday.

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. 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.

Ben Zloty had three assists for the Ice on Tuesday.

“For us, we still get to come to the rink tomorrow,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne. “We’re still together.

“The strength of our team is heart and no quit and how close they are. When you get in these situations, that becomes tested immensely. We’ve passed that test a few times.

“I don’t think it is any different tomorrow, because as long as you’re breathing, you are fighting. We’re still breathing, so we are going to keep fighting.”

As for Tuesday’s clash between Saskatoon and Winnipeg, the Ice got rocking early scoring on the power play at the 2:46 mark of the opening frame to account for the first goal of the contest. McClennon had the puck at the left side boards in the Saskatoon zone and took a shot that deflected off Blades offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk right to Savoie in front of the goal. Savoie fired the puck home for his 11^th tally of the post-season to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Owen Pederson had a goal and an assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

Just over seven minutes later, the Ice’s top line struck again thanks to a positive bounce. Savoie was trying to pass the puck to the front of the Saskatoon net from the right corner of the Saskatoon zone.

Savoie’s pass deflected off Molendyk’s stick high in the air and landed perfectly for Benson to attempt a midrange shot from the front of the Saskatoon net. Benson drove home a shot between the legs of Blades netminder Ethan Chadwick to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.

Just 45 seconds later, the Ice pushed their edge out to 3-0 with a goal from one of their other standout lines. Ice centre Zack Ostapchuk had the puck at the left side of the Saskatoon net and made a spinning backhand pass to centre the puck to linemate Evan Friesen.

Vladislav Shilo (#15) weaves his way past two Blades players.

Friesen wired home a midrange shot through a maze of bodies to give the visitors their three-goal edge. Winnipeg exited the opening frame with that 3-0 advantage holding a 12-5 edge in shots on goal.

“It was a bit of a different game,” said Ice head coach James Patrick. “I thought we had an outstanding first period and we just rode that to the win.

“Obviously, our power play is really clicking. I just thought we had a couple of really good shifts down low. The Ostapchuk line has been pretty effective.

“They’ve been our most effective line in the offensive zone.”

Just 73 seconds into the second period, the Ice’s top line scored for the second time on the power play. Savoie had the puck for a potential midrange shot from the front of the Saskatoon net.

Evan Friesen had a goal for the Ice on Tuesday.

He passed the puck to Benson on the right wing. Benson fed a pass across the face of the Saskatoon net to McClennon at the left side of the goal, and McClennon promptly buried his 11^th of the playoffs. Patrick was pleased with what his top line was able to do with the man advantage.

“Obviously on the power play, I thought they were outstanding,” said Patrick. “Zach Benson missed some time for us, and I think it has taken him awhile to get up to speed.

“He is our best player this year, and he creates more scoring chances than any other player on our team. He is getting back to that form. The three of them, they all bring something different.

Blades RW Mikhail Volotovskii (#17) looks to get by an Ice defender.

“McClennon is a top end goal scorer. Savoie is as explosive a player there is. They have good chemistry.”

At the 5:40 mark of the second, the Blades showed some push back. Lies got a pass in the centre ice zone from star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, drove into the Winnipeg zone and fired home a midrange shot to the top left corner of the Winnipeg net using star Ice defenceman Carson Lambos as a partial screen for star Ice netminder Daniel Hauser. Lies tally cut the Ice advantage to 4-1.

Blades G Ethan Chadwick (#33) reached to cover a loose puck.

“There were shifts in the second where we spent offensive zone time, got heavy, drew some penalties and got some momentum just going back to the no quit of our team,” said Sonne. “I’m encouraged that there is no quit.”

With 7:51 remaining in the second, Ice import left-winger Vladislav Shilo thought he put home a shot for the visitors, but the officials ruled no goal on the play. The officials went to a video review and ruled the puck did not cross the goal-line when it was under Chadwick.

During the second, it appeared Chadwick might have injured his right wrist at some point in the frame. He was pulled after the second period concluded having stopped 20-of-24 shots sent his way to take the setback in goal. Austin Elliott turned away 9-of-10 sent his way playing the third period in relief.

With 2:31 remaining in the third, the Blades pulled Elliott for an extra attacker. Unfortunately for the host side, hardworking centre Jayden Wiens took a roughing minor with 2:06 remaining in the frame, which meant the Blades had to put Elliott back in goal for the rest of the period.

Blades C Jayden Wiens (#9) skates the puck out of traffic.

The Ice rounded out the game’s 5-1 final as standout left-winger Owen Pederson, who turned 21-years-old in late March, scored on the power play with 33.5 seconds remaining in the frame. Pederson fired a shot on goal from the front of the Saskatoon net that Elliott got a piece of before the puck flipped through the air into the goal. Pederson had an assist earlier in the contest to finish with a two-point night.

Hauser turned stopped 17 shots to pick of the win in goal for the Ice, who have won six straight post-season games. Star offensive-defenceman Ben Zloty had three assists for the Ice.

Ice RW Connor McClennon (#94) puts a shot through the crease.

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.

Due to the injury absences and the fact the Blades have played 17 post-season games in 33 days, fatigue is showing on the Saskatoon side. If everyone was healthy, this was expected to a competitive series on paper.

Zach Ostapchuk had a beauty assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

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.

At the moment, the Blades have been outscored 14-3 in their three losses to open their series with the Ice.

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.

With all that noted, Patrick said his Ice are taking the approach that the Blades are down but not out. The Ice bench boss said you have to respect the battle that comes from the Saskatoon side.

Daniel Hauser, left, and Easton Armstrong celebrate the Ice win.

“What they’ve done the last two series I think the whole league has taken notice,” said Patrick. “We certainly have.

“We respect the hell out of them for what they accomplished being down 3-0 and the way they played coming back. They were a real resilient bunch, so I give them credit for that. I continually remind my team of that.”

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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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.

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Blades will live on in WHL lore thanks to 3-0 series comeback

The Blades celebrate Spencer Shugrue’s winning goal on Tuesday.

The best of the Saskatoon Blades came out when their season was potentially 20 minutes from ending.

On April 19, the Blades were down 3-0 in their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Red Deer Rebels, and the Rebels were holding a 2-1 lead in Game 4 on home ice at the Peavey Mart Centrium after two periods. In the first three games of the series, the Rebels clamped things down defensively in those third periods to close out victories, so it was hard for any objective person to think Game 4 was going to be any different.

The only people that would have believed the Blades were going to pull out that contest were the Blades players, coaches, management and staff along with ultra-passionate fans that see everything with rose coloured glasses. Red Deer held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes in that contest, and Blades captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere scored on a power play in the second to pull the visitors to within 2-1.

In a span of four minutes and three seconds coming before the nine minute mark of the third, the Blades rolled off three straight goals coming from the sticks of Jayden Wiens, Brandon Lisowsky and Tanner Molendyk. Throw in a 34 save performance from Saskatoon product Ethan Chadwick in goal, and that 4-2 advantage in favour of the Blades held up as the game’s final score.

While the Rebels still held a 3-1 series lead following Game 4, it felt like the complexion in the series changed. You could see in the eyes of the Blades players and coaches that they had belief that this series wasn’t over.

The Blades faithful cheer on their team on Tuesday.

Last Friday in Game 5 in Saskatoon, the Blades stormed their way to a 6-3 victory while outshooting the Rebels 31-17. The hosts drew their lowest attendance of the post-season but still a good crowd of 5,908 spectators to the SaskTel Centre. The fans were engaged with what was happening on the ice, and following that contest, it felt realistic that the Blades could win two more games to take the series.

Game 6 held this past Sunday back in Red Deer against a Rebels side that was truly refocused was going to be a hard one for Saskatoon to get. The Blades received a huge traction moment 34 seconds into the contest from star import right-winger Egor Sidorov.

Sidorov stole the puck at the left side boards in the Red Deer zone from Rebels star 20-year-old right-winger Ben King. Sidorov wheeled behind the Red Deer goal with King in pursuit and scored on a one-handed wraparound to give the visitors a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game.

The Rebels came with a huge push back and held 12-2 edge in shots on goal at one point in the first period. Blades star centre Trevor Wong scored with 3:36 remaining in the opening frame, and Saskatoon exited the opening 20 minutes with a 2-0 despite being outshot 16-6.

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

The Blades built a 4-1 lead at one point in the second, but the Rebels got one back near the end of the frame and a goal with 7:47 remaining in the third to cut Saskatoon’s advantage to 4-3. Blades hard-working centre Jayden Wiens scored an empty-net goal with 1:52 remaining in the third to seal a 5-3 victory. Netminder Austin Elliott made 35 saves to ensure the Blades pulled out victory.

The Rebels also had to lament a number of turnovers that resulted in Blades goals.

Following that win, Blades head coach Brennan Sonne told the team’s longtime play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk, “Nothing is going to distract us from making history simple as that.”

This past Tuesday 9,489 spectators made their way to the SaskTel Centre to see if the Blades could be the third team in the history of the WHL to lose the first three games in a best-of-seven series and rally back to win the set 4-3. After Katelyn Lehner finished singing the national anthem, the cheers at that point leading to the opening faceoff were the loudest they had been in some time for that point in a Blades game.

After puck drop, the fans stayed engaged with the contest. They even had a hex chant going for Rebels netminder Kyle Kelsey. Usually, there are never such chants for the opposing team’s netminder inside SaskTel Centre.

The building became quiet after Rebels defenceman and Saskatoon product Hunter Mayo scored for the visitors. Just 2:35 later, the noise picked up as star left-winger Conner Roulette replied for the Blades to force a 1-1 tie.

Tanner Molendyk (#24) enjoys a goal with Egor Sidorov in Game 4.

Blades utility player Spencer Shugrue proceeded to ensure he would be cemented with the nickname “Mr. Game 7.”

He scored at the 5:41 mark of the second to give the Blades a 2-1 lead. That was short-lived as Rebels left-winger Ryker Singer replied just 1:54 later to even the score at 2-2.

At the 4:29 mark of the third, Shugrue added his second goal of the contest to put the Blades up 3-2, and that held up as the winner. Roulette popped his second of the contest and Vaughn Watterodt scored into an empty net to round out a 5-2 victory for the Blades.

Elliott made 23 saves to earn the win in goal for the Blades. Kelsey turned away 23-of-27 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels.

The Blades received a lengthy and deserved salute from their faithful in attendance. The players applauded the fans for their enthusiasm and a few went right to the boards to thank their faithful up close.

The series between the Blades and Rebels was expected to be a tight one, and it ultimately was. The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Rebels finished fifth in the overall WHL standings and topped the Central Division with a 43-19-3-3 mark.

Ethan Chadwick had a huge Game 4 performance.

On top of coming back to win a best-of-seven series after dropping the first three games in the set to complete the reverse sweep, the Blades also advanced to the Eastern Conference Championships Series for the first time since 1994.

They will face the Winnipeg Ice, and Game 1 of that series is set for Friday at the Wayne Fleming Arena in the Manitoba capital at 6 p.m. local time. 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.

No matter what happens during the rest of the post-season, the Blades will skate away with a special distinction. Any time a team falls behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series in the WHL Playoffs, the Spokane Chiefs of 1996 and the Kelowna Rockets of 2013 are brought up as the two teams that rallied back to win a best-of-seven series 4-3 after dropping the first three games of that set.

The current Blades will be mentioned along with the 1996 Chiefs and the 2013 Rockets to now share that accomplishment.

Following the Blades Game 7 win on Tuesday, De La Gorgendiere said it hadn’t set in that his Blades team will be brought up with the 1996 Chiefs and the 2013 Rockets any time a WHL club falls behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series as the group of three teams that erased that series deficit to win the set.

Austin Elliott earned wins in Game 6 and 7 over the Rebels.

There were times after Tuesday’s game concluded and when leaving the rink that night it felt surreal that the Blades had pulled off that rally. On Wednesday, a surreal feeling hit another level when a few Blades fans went on social media to note a number of people in the fan base hadn’t been born the last time the team was in the Eastern Conference final in 1994.

In 1994, the Blades eliminated the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-1 in the Eastern Conference final before falling 4-3 in the WHL final to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.

The current Blades have found that special will that is needed to win in the post-season. Including their seven-game first round series win over Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats, the Blades have faced elimination five times and won each of those contests.

When their backs are against the wall, the current Blades players realize they don’t want to go their separate ways and raise their level of play in order to stay together. They have built a family feeling with the various team activities they have done away from the rink over the course of the entire 2022-23 campaign.

In the Eastern Conference final, the Ice will be the favourites. You can count that the Blades won’t go down without a fight, and their fight might be good enough they advance to the WHL Championship Series.

The Blades celebrate their series comeback win over the Rebels.

The Blades epic and historical series comeback over the Rebels should be celebrated, but it would not be a surprise if more high points were to come as the post-season moves on.

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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Blades living shades of 1990 against Rebels

Saskatoon trims Red Deer’s series lead to 3-2

The Blades celebrate Tanner Molendyk’s first goal on Friday.

The Saskatoon Blades are reliving the spirit of 1990.

When the dust ultimately settles in their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Red Deer Rebels, “The Bridge City Bunch” hopes to do one win better in the best-of-seven set.

On Friday night before an appreciative crowd of 5,908 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades downed the Rebels 6-3 holding a 31-17 edge in shots on goal in a spirited effort to take Game 5 of the series. Saskatoon’s victory cut the Rebels lead in the set to 3-2 with a second straight victory. Friday’s contest was by far the most physical out of the five games the two sides played to date.

Saskatoon’s win forces a Game 6 of the series set for Sunday back at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer for a 2 p.m. local start time. If the Blades win that contest in Red Deer, they will force a series deciding Game 7 on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere had the winning goal for the Blades.

The Blades are one win away from erasing a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series for the second time in team history.

Back in 1990, Saskatoon trailed the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-0 in a second round series in that year’s WHL Playoffs before rallying back to tie the set at 3-3. In a series deciding Game 7 in Lethbridge, the Blades fell 4-3 in overtime with defenceman Neil Hawryluk netting the winning goal for the Hurricanes.

This year, the Blades are trying to become the third team in the history of the WHL to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series to win it 4-3.

Egor Sidorov scored twice on the power play for the Blades.

Dating back to the WHL’s start in 1966-67, only two teams have rallied back to win a best-of-seven series having trailed the set 3-0. The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before rallying back to claim that first round series 4-3.

In Friday’s clash between Red Deer and Saskatoon, the Rebels visibly came out with a game plan to be more physical. The Blades matched the physicality of their Alberta foes. This contest had much more of a feisty edge to it compared to the first four games of the series.

The Rebels got a little too undisciplined with their physical effort and the Blades special teams were back playing to their stellar regular season form took advantage. Saskatoon converted 3-of-6 power-play chances and killed off all three power-play opportunities the Rebels had.

Kai Uchacz had a pair of goals for the Rebels on Friday.

During the regular season, the Blades had the fourth best power play in the WHL converting on 73-of-265 chances for a 27.5 per cent success rate, and they had the third best penalty killing unit on the circuit killing off 202-of-245 opposition power-play opportunities for an 82.4 per cent success rate.

The Blades scored the winning goal on a power play that came on an undisciplined Rebels penalty. Late in the second period with the teams locked in a 3-3 tie, Rebels defenceman Nicholas Andrusiak hit Blades star winger Jake Chiasson from behind on open ice by the boards at the Saskatoon blue-line.

Andrusiak was given a minor penalty for interference with 2:23 remaining in the second period. On the ensuing power play, Blades captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere scored with 24.8 seconds remaining in the second to give the host side a 4-3 lead. De La Gorgendiere was trying to make a pass from the right side of the Red Deer goal to a teammate on the other side of the net.

Ollie Josephson had the Rebels third goal on Friday.

The puck hit a stick and deflected back to De La Gorgendiere, who quickly buried a shot for his second goal of the post-season and second tally in his second straight contest.

In the third, Blades hard-working centre Jayden Wiens knocked home the rebound of his own backhand shot to give his squad a 5-3 advantage at the 5:41 mark of the frame.

With 7:26 remaining in the third, the Blades were working the puck down low in the Red Deer zone. Blades right-winger Vaughn Watterodt flipped a high pass across the face of the Red Deer net that offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk knocked home in mid air for his second goal of the contest to round out the 6-3 final.

Tanner Molendyk had a pair of goals for the Blades on Friday.

The play went to a video review to see of Molendyk knocked the puck home with a high stick, but the officials confirmed the goal was good.

While Molendyk closed the game’s scoring, he also opened the scoring in the contest at the 5:39 mark of the first period. On a rush into the offensive zone, Molendyk wheeled to the left faceoff dot and ripped home a shot to the top right corner of the Red Deer net to give the Blades a 1-0 edge.

The opening 20 minutes of Friday’s contest was straight out of the 1980s with lots of goals and banging in the physicality department.

Friday’s contest featured a few scrums between the Blades and Rebels.

Rebels star centre Kai Uchacz evened the score at 1-1 at the 11:08 mark of the first slipping a shot between the legs of Blades netminder Ethan Chadwick.

Just 61 seconds later, Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov slid a shot through screen from the right wing boards for the Blades first power-play goal to give the hosts a 2-1 advantage.

Just under five minutes later, Uchacz banged home a rebound at the right side of the Saskatoon net for his second tally of the contest to even the score at 2-2.

With 1:57 remaining in the first, Sidorov scored his second power-play goal to give the Blades a 3-2 lead. Sidorov faked a Rebels defenceman down the ground and wired home a shot to give the hosts their one-goal edge.

The SaskTel Centre faithful cheer on the Blades.

Following Sidorov’s second marker, the Rebels pulled starting netminder Kyle Kelsey. Kelsey stopped 4-of-7 shots sent his way.

Heading into Friday’s game, Kelsey was the only goalie the Rebels used in their previous nine contests in this year’s WHL Playoffs. In those nine games, Kelsey had posted a 7-2 record, a 1.93 goals against average, a .928 save percentage and one shutout.

Veteran Chase Coward, who turned 20-years-old in January, played the remainder of Friday’s game in relief in goal for the Rebels. He turned away 21-of-24 shots fired his way and was the netminder of record who took the loss in goal for the Rebels.

Just 88 seconds into the second, Rebels centre Ollie Josephson tapped home a loose puck in the crease of the Saskatoon goal to once again even the score at 3-3.

The Blades celebrate a goal from Jayden Wiens (#9).

That set the stage for De La Gorgendiere to score his winner and the Blades to seal the win in the third. De La Gorgendiere had a pair of assists to go with his goal.

Sidorov had an assist to go with his goal. Blades star centre Trevor Wong had three assists in the victory.

Chadwick stopped 14 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades.

Friday’s game ended with a big scrum occurring in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone as time expired. The officials dished out two minor penalties from that scrum including an unsportsmanlike conduct infraction to Rebels right-winger Craig Armstrong and a cross-checking infraction to Blades right-winger Lukas Hansen.

Originally, it was expected that this would be a tight series going in between the Blades and Rebels. 

The Blades celebrate their win on Friday.

The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Rebels finished fifth in the overall WHL standings and topped the Central Division with a 43-19-3-3 mark.

The series has played out to be a tight one but not in a way that was expected with the Rebels winning the first three games and the Blades now claiming the last two contests. In the process, the players on the two teams have developed a dislike for each other creating a little snarl in the series.

Now all attention turns to Game 6 on Sunday in Red Deer. Will the Blades take another step in their pursuit of history or will the Rebels finally slam the door on the series for good?

This series has become a must-watch spectacle.

WHL suspends Blades’ Lies for hit on Lind

Justin Lies in action for the Blades on Wednesday.

The WHL’s department of discipline has Saskatoon Blades hard-working and rugged right-winger Justin Lies watching games from the stands for the foreseeable future.

On Friday, the WHL announced Lies has been suspended for the head check major and game misconduct he received for his hit on Red Deer Rebels star left-winger Kalan Lind, who turned 18-years-old in January. The length of the suspension is still to be determined.

Lies’ head check major and game misconduct penalties were assessed at the 3:24 mark of the first period in Game 4 of the WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the two clubs on Wednesday. The game was scoreless at the time. The Rebels led 2-0 after the first, 2-1 after the second and fell by a 4-2 final at game’s end.

Lind was taken to Red Deer Regional Hospital on Wednesday and released later that same night. He did not make the trip to Saskatoon, but the Rebels posted a message on Twitter from Lind on Thursday wishing his teammates well from his billet home.

The Blades acquired Lies in a trade with the Vancouver Giants before the current season began back on August 31, 2022. With the Blades, Lies has been the model teammate and a gritty hard working player that plays tough but within the rules.

In 56 regular season games with the Blades, Lies posted career highs in goals (nine), assists (14), points (23) and the plus-minus department (plus-six). Lies had appeared in the Blades first 11 games of their current post-season run posting one goal, one assist and a minus-one rating.

In his previous three seasons with the Giants, Lies was suspended twice for a total of six games, and that could play a part in the WHL’s final decision on his suspension length.

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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