Blades vault to top of WHL’s East Division with win over Pats

Rowan Calvert scored his 23rd goal of the season on Tuesday.

For one night at least, the Saskatoon Blades are back on top of the WHL’s East Division.

On Tuesday night, the Blades downed the Pats in Regina 6-3 in a WHL regular season contest before a crowd of 2,380 spectators at the Brandt Centre. That win to start a three-game road trip allowed the Blades to improve to 34-21-3-4 and jump back into first place in the East Division.

The Blades, who has won their last three straight, sit one standings point ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders (34-22-5-1) and two standings points in front of the Brandon Wheat Kings (33-22-4-3). Both the Raiders and Wheat Kings were idle on Tuesday night. All three of those squads have six games remaining on their respective regular season schedules, so it is a sprint to capture the East Division banner.

Last season, the Blades finished with a 50-13-2-3 mark to top the WHL’s overall standings. In the post-season, the Blades advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series and fell in an epic seven-game set that saw six contests go to overtime to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

Going into the current campaign, the Blades weren’t expected to challenge for first in the division. They occupied first place for most of the first half of the regular season.

Leading up the WHL’s trade deadline on January 9, the Blades unloaded stars Brandon Lisowsky, Tanner Molendyk and Ben Riche to stock up on draft capital and add solid younger players. The Blades dealt a lot of high draft selections during a load up last season.

After the trades leading up to this season’s trade deadline, the Blades held first in the East Division for a large part of January before falling out of top spot before the end of the month. They were not expected to crawl back into first in the division, but they did just that on Tuesday.

Before departing on their current road trip, Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said his squad had been hearing the doubters.

“That has been motivation for us all year long,” said DaSilva. “With the guys we had before and the guys we have now, it has still been the same.

Evan Gardner picked up his 20th win of the season on Tuesday.

“We try and focus on getting better every single day and proving people wrong. We’re motivated by the naysayers, the haters and the non-believers, because we have a lot of belief in this group and that room, and they have it too. It would be special.”

Against the Pats on Tuesday, the Blades exploded out to a 3-0 inside the final 5:15 of the opening frame. The Blades got goal coming off the sticks of breakout rookie centre Cooper Williams, who turned 17-year-olds in February, 17-year-old rookie defenceman Brayden Klimpke and standout left-winger Rowan Calvert.

Calvert’s goal came with 45.4 seconds remaining in the first and it was his 23^rd tally of the season.

In the second, the Blades extended their lead to 4-0 when star right-winger Tyler Parr netted his 20^th goal of the campaign. He tipped home a point shot from 17-year-old rookie defenceman Isaac Poll.

Just 1:36 later, the Pats halted the flood as 17-year-old sophomore left-winger Julien Maze scored on the power play to trim the Blades lead to 4-1.

With 2:37 remaining in the second, Blades rookie import left-winger David Lewandowski, who turned 18-years-old in February, scored on a wraparound to push the Blades lead out to 5-1. Just one minute later, Pats 19-year-old right-winger Caden Brown answered back scoring for the host side to trim the Blades advantage to 5-2.

Saskatoon jumped up 6-2 at the 6:18 mark of the third as 20-year-old defenceman Grayden Siepmann scored on the power play with a midrange shot. That tally was Siepmann’s 10 goal of the campaign, which set a new career high for the veteran rearguard.

Pats 16-year-old rookie right-winger Zachary Lansard scored with 6:19 remaining in the third to round out the 6-3 final score in favour of the Blades.

Evan Gardner stopped 25 shots to pick up his 20^th win of the season in goal for the Blades. Ewan Huet turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats, who fell to 15-40-5-3.

The Blades return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings (5 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

Grayden Siepmann scored his 10th goal of the season on Tuesday.

Both those squads will be scoreboard watching too, because the Raiders travel to Lethbridge on Wednesday to take on the 40-19-2-2 Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

The Pats are off until Saturday when they host the Swift Current Broncos (6 p.m. local time, Brandt Centre).

When the final sprint to the end of the regular season ends, DaSilva would like to see his squad still holding on to top spot in the East Division.

“It is a goal of ours to clinch that division title,” said DaSilva. “At the end of the day, our main goal is to focus on getting better every single day.

“That is what we’ve done as the season goes on. You can see that with our group.”

Goldsmith injured in fight, game suspended

A scary scene involving Tri-City Americans defenceman Terrell Goldsmith saw a WHL regular season contest be suspended on Tuesday in Kennewick, Washington.

The host Americans were taking on the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Toyota Center. The Thunderbirds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the contest came to a halt a short time after the first intermission ended.

Just 65 seconds into the second period, Goldsmith, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 218 pounds, faced Thunderbirds 19-year-old defenceman Ashton Cumby, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 216 pounds, in a staged fight. During the fight, Cumby hit Goldsmith with a punch that knocked the Americans rearguard out.

Goldsmith fell face first to the ice, and he was quickly attended to by the trainers of both teams. The veteran blue-liner was taken to hospital by ambulance and the game was suspended and never resumed after the bout.

The WHL sent out a release late Tuesday night stating Goldsmith is alert, responsive and was receiving medical attention. The league said the contest between the Americans and Thunderbirds would be rescheduled at a later date.

Goldsmith, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Utah Hockey Club, has suited up in 56 games with the Americans this season recording four goals, 12 assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department. The Fort St. James, B.C., product spent his first four WHL campaigns with the Prince Albert Raiders appearing in 185 regular season games recording 10 goals and 20 assists. Goldsmith was traded to the Americans on July 24, 2024.

The WHL said further updates on the condition of Goldsmith will be provided as they are available.

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Lodewyk powers Raiders with Gordie Howe hat trick

Prince Albert knocks off visiting Pats 5-2

Harrison Lodewyk (#29) celebrates his Gordie Howe hat trick goal.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - Harrison Lodewyk admitted he was oblivious at first to the fact he got a Gordie Howe hat trick.

On Wednesday night playing before 2,395 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the 19-year-old centre picked up one goal, one assist and one fighting major to power his Prince Albert Raiders past the visiting Regina Pats 5-2 in a WHL regular season clash. The win allowed the Raiders to improve to 26-15-3-1 to push their lead for first place in the East Division to four points over the idle Saskatoon Blades (23-16-3-3).

With the Raiders holding a 2-0 lead on the Pats in the second period of Wednesday’s contest, Lodewyk already had an assist coming on his club’s first goal and a fight. On a rush into the offensive zone, Lodewyk drove down the left wing to the net.

Harrison Lodewyk had a goal, an assist and a fight on Wednesday.

A linemate in 20-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker came with the puck down the right wing and put a pass across the face of the Regina net to Lodewyk. Lodewyk converted the backdoor tap to put the Raiders up 3-0 at the 10:36 mark of the frame and complete the Gordie Howe hat trick in the process.

“It didn’t pop in my mind right away,” said Lodewyk, whose goal ended up being the game winner. “I was just happy that my teammates made a great play, and I got the goal.”

The Red Deer product said he decided against trying anything fancy, which ultimately helped him get the goal to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick.

Harrison Lodewyk (#29) takes down John Babcock (#5).

“I was thinking maybe I’ll just pull it back and go backhand there, but then I know that is not my game,” said Lodewyk, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 193 pounds. “I just thought why don’t I just redirect it and hope for the best there.”

Lodewyk picked up his assist on the Raiders opening goal at the 13:34 mark of the opening frame that was banged home from the front of the Regina net by 19-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube. The tally was Dube’s 22^nd goal of the season and it came off the rebound of a Lodewyk shot.

With 4:28 remaining in the first, Lodewyk engaged Pats 20-year-old defenceman John Babcock in a fight. The bout was a quick one with both players throwing about a couple of shots each before Lodewyk got the take down.

Raiders HC Jeff Truitt, centre, returned after a medical leave.

“He (Lodewyk) does a lot of things for us,” said Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt. “He is a leader in our room.

“He is a guy who is one of the hardest workers that you’ll ever meet. He is very effective on the ice, faceoffs and penalty kills. He has got responsibilities that way.

“He can pitch in on the offence. He does a lot of everything. He is probably a very underrated player in our league.”

The feistiness of the contest continued early in the second period as Pats 17-year-old defenceman Reese Hamilton took down Raiders rookie left-winger Ethan Bibeau, who turned 18-years-old on January 1, with a high stick. Raiders rookie 18-year-old defenceman Linden Burrett immediately engaged Hamilton in a fight.

Brayden Dube scored the Raiders first goal on Wednesday.

Just over four minutes after that fight, the Raiders went ahead 2-0, when rookie 16-year-old right-winger Ty Meunier had the puck at the left side of the Regina net roofed home his 10^th marker of the campaign to the top right corner of the goal. Meunier converted a sweet setup pass from 16-year-old rookie right-winger Riley Boychuk on the play.

Lodewyk would record his Gordie Howe hat trick goal just 40 seconds after Meunier’s tally. The veteran, who has been with the Raiders since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, was pumped to pick up that milestone on Wednesday.

“It was pretty awesome,” said Lodewyk. “I mean you don’t go into a game hoping for those things.

Reese Hamilton, left, and Linden Burrett engage in a fight.

“You’re just hoping for the win and do the things you need to do to be successful. You’ve got to love the results.”

Before the second period ended, the Pats battled back with left-wingers Cohen Klassen and Keets Fawcett picking up singles to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2 heading into the second intermission.

Just 38 seconds into the third, Raiders had to kill off a double minor assessed to 20-year-old right-winger Rilen Kovacevic for high sticking.

Shortly after that kill, Raiders 18-year-old centre Evan Smith tipped the puck home from the front of the Regina net to give the host side a 4-2 advantage. Smith got his stick on a smart setup pass from linemate Oli Chenier to record his first goal as a member of the Raiders since being acquired in a trade with the Red Deer Rebels.

Ty Meunier had the Raiders second goal on Wednesday.

Raiders star centre Aiden Oiring rounded out the game’s scoring picking up his 20^th goal of the season with 2:28 remaining in the third period.

With 90 seconds remaining in the third, Boychuk picked up a double minor for high sticking, which the Raiders were able to kill off. The double minors for high sticking given to Kovacevic and Boychuk will be automatically review by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

Max Hildebrand stopped 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Ewan Huet turned away 32 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats (13-27-4-2).

Raiders 19-year-old defenceman Matteo Fabrizi picked a pair of assists in the win.

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Evan Smith (#21).

Wednesday’s game mark the first time Truitt was working behind the Raiders bench as head coach after missing 15 games for a medical leave to have eye surgery.  

He said it felt real good to be back behind the bench for his Prince Albert side.

“That is where you’re most comfortable is behind there and operating things and reading the game that way,” said Truitt. “The kids make it easy.

“It is just junior hockey. Sometimes, it gets a little hairy at times, but I like the way that we managed the puck, especially later on in the game. At times, we let teams back in.

“We didn’t let them back in. The two points is what we needed, and we got it.”

Aiden Oiring had the Raiders fifth goal on Wednesday.

With Wednesday’s game in the books, the Pats return to action on Friday when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Raiders get back at it on Saturday when they host the Wenatchee Wild (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Truitt is looking forward to his team’s next game, and he said things are feeling normal for him now that he is back coaching.

“You’ve done it for so long that you get back in a comfort area, and that is where it is,” said Truitt. “You have prepared for the last couple of days the same way that we always have.

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

“Then, we have our meetings, and you are on the bench and you’re reading off of things and making sure that you’re getting the right guys out at the right time as much as you can. It wasn’t like it was totally different, but it just feels right.”

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Blades bash Pats 9-1

Sidorov scores 100^th goal of WHL career in win

Egor Sidorov scored his 100th career WHL regular season goal.

Winning Wednesday was a check the box night for the Saskatoon Blades.

Score a season high nine goals – check.

Have goals come from eight different players – check.

Have at least 16 out of 18 skaters register one point – check.

Have no players end up with a negative rating in the plus-minus department – check.

Have your goalie post a save percentage over .950 – check.

Score on over 25 percent of your power play chances – check.

Hudson Kibblewhite scored twice for the Blades on Wednesday.

Go perfect on the penalty kill – check.

Continue to lead the overall WHL standings – check.

And for a bonus, help star import right-winger Egor Sidorov achieve a milestone scoring his 100^th career WHL goal in regular season play – check.

It was pretty safe to say almost all the 3,625 spectators at the SaskTel Centre went home happy on Wednesday night aside from the supporters that came out to back the opposition. The host Blades, who are rated first in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings, rocked their traditional rivals the Regina Pats 9-1 in a WHL regular season clash.

Misha Volotovskii scored the Blades second goal on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s game marked the last head-to-head encounter between the two sides in the current regular season. The Blades won six of the eight head-to-head meetings with the Pats.

It was about as great of a night as you could have gotten for the host side. The Blades, who improved their WHL leading record to 34-9-2-3, outshot the Pats 37-31, converted on 2-of-6 power plays and successfully killed off all three penalty killing situations they faced.

Even a league leading club hopes to have a few nights during a regular season like this. It is pretty safe to say everyone on the Blades roster came away with something positive to talk about from this game.

Egor Sidorov (#19) celebrates his 100th career regular season goal.

The Blades opened the game’s scoring just 2:22 into the opening frame on a goal from 16-year-old rookie centre Hudson Kibblewhite. Kibblewhite tipped home a point shot from star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk for his fourth goal of the campaign to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

The officials went to a video review to determine if Kibblewhite deflected home his tally with a high stick, but they determined the goal was good.

A little over six minutes later, the Blades pushed their lead out to 2-0 after 18-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii scored with a spin around backhand shot for his sixth goal of the season.

Vaughn Watterodt scored early in the second period for the Blades.

Moments later, the Blades almost added another goal to their tally, but a drive from 18-year-old right-winger Rowan Calvert was denied by the glove hand of Pats netminder Ewan Huet.

After Huet stopped Calvert, the Pats gained momentum and fired a barrage of shots at Blades rookie netminder Evan Gardner. Gardner was up to the challenged and kept the visitors off the scoreboard.

The momentum then swung back to the host side before the opening frame came to an end. With 24.1 seconds remaining in the first, Sidorov drove down the right wing and snapped a host shot past Hue to give the host side a 3-0 advantage.

It was one of those tough nights for Kelton Pyne and the Pats.

Sidorov’s tally was his 37^th of the season and his 100^th of his regular season career in the WHL. At night’s end, Sidorov had recorded 100 goals, 74 assists and a plus-35 rating in 157 career regular season games in the WHL all played with the Blades. He had a pair of assists to go with his milestone goal on Wednesday.

The Pats pulled Huet after the first period. He turned away 7-of-10 shots to take the loss in net for the Pats, who fell to 17-24-4-2. Kelton Pyne played the final two periods for the Pats in relief turning away 21-of-27 shots he faced.

The onslaught continued in the second. Blades 19-year-old glue guy right-winger Vaughn Watterodt scored at the 4:19 mark of the second and star 19-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky tallied on the power play to put the hosts up 5-0.

Brandon Lisowsky scored a power-play goal for the Blades.

Lisowsky scored his 29^th goal of the season from the left side of the Regina net after receiving spin-o-rama backhand pass from 21-year-old linemate Easton Armstrong.

With 1:56 remaining in the second, Armstrong scored his 26^th goal of the season to push the Blades advantage out to 6-0.

The Pats got a highlight at the 7:38 mark of the third period when 16-year-old rookie left-winger Corban Almen scored on a breakaway off a nice deke to cut the Blades lead to 6-1. Almen is from Saskatoon, so his tally helped perk up the family and friends he had in attendance on Wednesday.

The Blades goal barrage resumed after Almen’s tally.

Corban Almen had the Pats lone goal on Wednesday.

Just 83 seconds later, Kibblewhite scored his second of the night popping home a rebound from a shot taken by Calvert to give the Blades a 7-1 advantage. With 4:44 remaining in the third, 19-year-old defenceman Ben Saunderson netted his fifth goal of the season, and star 19-year-old centre Fraser Minten popped a power-play goal with 60 seconds left in the frame to round out the 9-1 final score in Saskatoon’s favour.

Gardner stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. In 20 appearances with the Blades this season, Gardner, who turned 18-years-old on January 25, has posted a 12-5-2 record, a 2.07 goals against average, a .923 save percentage and two shutouts in his debut campaign in the WHL.

Tyler Parr had a pair of assists for the Blades on Wednesday.

Molendyk and left-winger Tyler Parr each had a pair of assists for the Blades. Saunderson, who had an assist to go with his goal, finished the contest with a plus-five rating.

The Pats return to action on Friday when they host the 23-18-3-2 Swift Current Broncos (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Blades also get back at it on Friday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre). The Tigers lead the Central Division with a 29-14-3-1 record.

The Blades celebrate their win on Wednesday.

The Blades, who have won three in a row, know most nights aren’t going to materialize like Wednesday’s win over the Pats did. Still, it is always good to have outings where seemingly everything goes right, because it feels like all the hard work put in up to that point in the campaign is paying off.

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 pound Pats 6-1, continue to top WHL standings

The Blades celebrate a goal from Tanner Molendyk (#24).

The Saskatoon Blades gave a glimpse of the potential they have.

On Sunday before 4,955 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, they romped past their traditional big city rivals the Regina Pats 6-1. The win was the third in a row for the Blades, and they have now earned standings points in each of their past 18 games posting 14 wins, two overtime losses and two shootout losses over that stretch.

The Blades are one game away from equalling the franchise record for the longest standings point streak. The club’s last regulation loss came back on November 22, 2023 with a 6-2 setback against the Silvertips in Everett.

Saskatoon collected standings points in 19 straight contests back in the 2012-13 campaign with an 18-game winning streak and an overtime loss in a season where the Blades hosted the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.

Blades RW Egor Sidorov (#19) cuts in on the Pats net.

With Sunday’s win, the Blades improved to 29-8-2-2 and continue to lead the WHL’s overall standings. They sit three standings points ahead of the 29-12-0-1 Prince George Cougars.

The Blades, who are rated second in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings, are still experimenting with line combinations and defensive pairs after cementing their roster at the WHL trade deadline that passed last Wednesday,

In Sunday’s victory over the Pats, the Blades opened the scoring at the 2:13 mark of the first on a vintage power-play goal from star import right-winger Egor Sidorov. Positioned at the right side of the Regina net, Sidorov, who was playing in his 150^th career WHL regular season game, one-timed home a setup pass from Blades captain Trevor Wong to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Brandon Lisowsky had a goal and an assist for the Blades.

The Blades weren’t able to increase their advantage heading into the first intermission despite holding a 15-7 edge in shots on goal.

Just 18 seconds into the second, the Blades pushed their advantage out to 2-0. Blades star right-winger Brandon Lisowsky took the puck away from a Pats defender behind the Regina net on the forecheck and passed the puck from the right corner to the top of the right faceoff circle to linemate Easton Armstrong.

Armstrong blew home his 22^nd tally of the season to give the Blades their two-goal edge.

At the 3:10 mark of the second, Blades star netminder Austin Elliott misplayed  the puck behind his own net, which caused the puck to go bouncing all over the place. During the scramble, the puck came out in front of the Blades net, and Pats 17-year-old rookie defenceman Kolten Bridgeman popped home the loose disk for his first career WHL goal to cut the Blades lead to 2-1.

Easton Armstrong scored for the Blades on Sunday.

Just 82 seconds later, the Blades restored their two-goal edge. After star centre Fraser Minten took the puck away from a Pats player at the right side boards in the Regina zone, he passed the puck across the front of the Regina net to Lisowsky. Lisowsky, who was playing in his 200^th career WHL regular season contest, snapped home is 23^rd goal of the season from the left side of the Regina net to give the Blades a 3-1 lead.

The Blades struck again at the 11:09 mark of the second thanks to a benefit of a positive SaskTel Centre bounce. Blades star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk fired a shot from the right point that missed the net.

Kolten Bridgeman scored his first career WHL goal on Sunday.

The puck deflected off the boards behind the Regina net right to Blades centre Misha Volotovskii, who was positioned by the left side of the Pats net. Volotovskii popped home his fifth goal of the season off Pats defenceman Tyson Buczkowski to increase the Blades lead to 4-1.

In the third, Blades 19-year-old left-winger Rhett Melnyk tipped home a point shot from rearguard Ben Saunderson at the 4:11 mark of the frame. Just 2:01 later, Molendyk wired home a shot from the right point to round out the 6-1 final in favour of the host side. He finished the night recording three points off his goal and two assists.

Rhett Melnyk scored for the Blades in the third period.

Austin Elliott stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Ewan Huet turned away 32 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats (15-21-4-2).

Blades 17-year-old rookie netminder Evan Gardner was slated to start Sunday’s contest. He encountered a medical issue before the opening faceoff and was ruled out for the game. Gardner wasn’t on the Blades bench at any point in the win over the Pats.

The Pats return to action on Friday when they return home to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Blades get back at it on Wednesday, when they travel to Red Deer to take on the 22-13-1-4 Rebels (7 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium). That will be the first of four straight the Blades will now play on the road.

The Blades salute the crowd at the SaskTel Centre on Sunday.

They will continue to try and reach their potential and make the 2023-24 WHL campaign a special one for “The Bridge City.”

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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