Blades fading from WHL playoff race with a whimper

Hitmen depart SaskTel Centre with 5-4 overtime win

Carson Focht (#19) celebrates his third period equalizer for the Hitmen.

    It was a great night for booing, if you were a fan of the Saskatoon Blades.

    On Friday night, it seemed like almost the worst case scenario played out to extremely hamper the Blades hopes of returning to the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2013. Playing before 3,579 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades dropped a 5-4 decision in overtime to the Calgary Hitmen, who sit second last in the entire WHL.

    Sophomore right-winger Tristen Nielsen netted his first career WHL hat trick and an assist, and he capped his three-goal night scoring the overtime winner for Calgary.

Tristen Nielsen, left, slips home an overtime winner for the Hitmen.

    The hosts held leads of 3-1 and 4-3 before coming out on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

    To make matters worse, the Blades lost ground to the two clubs they were hoping to catch for a playoff spot. 

    Out in Prince Albert, the host Raiders won their eighth straight game downing the WHL leading Moose Jaw Warriors 6-4. 

    In Brandon, the host Wheat Kings dumped the Swift Current Broncos, who sit second overall in the WHL, by a 6-3 score.

    The Wheat Kings improved to 36-26-3-2 to hold the first wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a nine-point edge on the Blades. 

The Hitmen pour off their bench to mob Tristen Nielsen

    The Raiders improved to 31-25-9-2 to sit in the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with a five-point edge on the Blades. The Blades saw their record move to 32-31-3-1 with the extra time setback.

    All three of those squads have five games remaining on their respective regular season schedules. The Blades and Wheat Kings will go at it on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Saskatoon could win all of its final five regular season games and still miss the playoffs. The Blades have collected just three points in the standings in their last six games including Tuesday’s 6-5 win at the SaskTel Centre over the Edmonton Oil Kings, who sit last in the entire WHL, and the overtime setback to the Hitmen on Friday.

Tristen Nielsen had his first career WHL hat trick on Friday.

    Back on February 19, the Blades downed the Oil Kings in Edmonton 3-2 in overtime. With 61 regular season games in the books, the Blades had a 31-27-2-1 record and held the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with an eight-point edge over the Raiders, who were 23-25-9-2 at the time. The Raiders had two games in hand on the Blades.

    Saskatoon was two points behind the Wheat Kings for the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, as Brandon had a 31-23-3-2 record at that time. The Wheat Kings had two game in hand on the Blades.

    The Blades were sitting pretty going into their last 11 regular season games. Instead of going on one last surge to secure a post-season spot, the Blades have slumped at the worst possible time. Anything they have accomplished in the regular season seems to be going up in smoke with a whimper.

    When they beat the Oil Kings on Tuesday, the Blades had stretches were they were playing to not lose the game instead of playing to win the game.

Gage Ramsay scored the Blades first goal on Friday night.

    That storyline repeated itself on Friday night, but this time the Blades did lose, and it was a game they shouldn’t have lost.

    Just 1:48 into the contest, the Blades scored on a beauty two-on-one rush. Centre Logan Christensen sped down the right wing and fed a pass across the front of the Hitmen goal to linemate Gage Ramsay, who tapped home the puck into an open cage to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

    Nielsen netted his first goal of the game just 50 seconds after Ramsay’s tally to even the score at 1-1.

    Shortly past the midway point of the opening frame, right-winger Josh Paterson netted his 30^th goal of the season for the Blades and Russian import defenceman Mark Rubinchik netted his third of the season to put Saskatoon up 3-1.

    Before the first period ended, the Hitmen tied the contest up at 3-3 scoring two short-handed goals on the same Blades power play.

Mark Kastelic had a short-handed goal for the Hitmen.

    Centre Mark Kastelic got the first shorty for the Hitmen and Nielsen notched his second of the contest after a video review determined his laser shot to the top corner of the Saskatoon net did go into the goal.

    From that point, the Blades were playing on their heels and seemed to be hoping for a break to pull out the win. After being outshot 12-6 in a scoreless second period, the Blades seemed to get the break they were looking for, when overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr wrapped home his 36^th goal of the season to give Saskatoon a 4-3 lead just 41 seconds into the third period.

    The edge would be short-lived.

    At the 8:35 mark of the third period, Hitmen centre Carson Focht got the puck alone in front of the Saskatoon net, and he deked Blades goalie Nolan Maier with a backhand to forehand move to pot the equalizer to tie things up at 4-4.

Braylon Shmyr scored his 36th goal of the season on Friday night.

    Nielsen completed the Calgary comeback scoring on a breakaway with a low shot at the 1:58 mark of overtime.

    Maier turned away 30 shots in goal for the Blades. Nick Schneider, who is in his overage season, turned away 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Hitmen, who improved to 21-36-8-2.

    At the moment, it feels like the entire Blades team has hit the wall. They appear to be playing scared and with fear about what they are going to lose as opposed playing free and easy without fear.

    It does take a certain will to make the playoffs and another step up in that same will to remain in them. That might be one lesson the Blades still need to learn with being a younger team.

The Blades playoff hopes have faded over their last six games.

    At the moment, the Blades have to decide how they want to be remembered over their last five regular season games. If they emulate their play from their last six outings, the final memory they will leave the faithful in “The Bridge City” from the 2017-18 campaign won’t be a good one.

    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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Pretty or gritty - Huskies need to keep finding ways to win

Abby Shirley (#27) celebrates scoring for the Huskies.

    It doesn’t matter if it is pretty, gutty or both, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team has to keep finding ways to win.

    On Saturday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the Huskies won their third straight downing the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns 3-1 playing both pretty and gutty. This season, goals have come at a premium more than ever in U Sports’ Canada West Conference for women’s hockey, and it seems the first team to score will win the game via a shutout.

    The Huskies are going to have to duplicate their effort from Saturday for the rest of the campaign as the 2017-18 season hits the home stretch with the playoffs approaching. The win over the Pronghorns featured a lot of positives.

    The biggest positive was the fact the Huskies came from behind to win the game. At the 8:42 mark of the second, Pronghorns centre Kyra Greig scored a gritty goal in close to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Jessica Vance has been stellar in goal for the Huskies.

    The Pronghorns have played a number of gritty games this season and are battling to get into a playoff position. The Huskies had controlled the majority of the play to that point in time, and you had to wonder if the visitors were going to steal a win.

    In the opening 20 minutes, the Huskies outshot the Pronghorns 14-6, and the host side had a lengthy list of quality scoring chances. Pronghorns netminder Alicia Anderson stood on her head to ensure the hosts weren’t able to get ahead.

    Shortly before Greig’s goal in the second, Huskies defender Madison Colbow unloaded a point blast that hit Anderson and slowly trickled just wide of the Pronghorn’s net.

    With the 3:36 to play in the second, the Huskies tied the contest in a pretty fashion. Huskies feisty forward Brooklyn Haubrich broke into the offensive zone on a two-on-one rush with star captain Kaitlin Willoughby.

    Haubrich fed a nice pass across the front of the goal to Willoughby, who roofed the equalizer past Anderson to force a 1-1 tie.

Brooklyn Haubrich set up a beauty goal for the Huskies.

    At the 3:53 mark of the third, the Huskies went ahead 2-1 in gutty fashion when a bad angle shot by rookie right-winger Abby Shirley from the left boards of the offensive zone found its way past Anderson.

    From that point, the Pronghorns came with a huge push back playing desperate and keeping the Huskies pinned in their own zone.

    Huskies sophomore netminder Jessica Vance slammed the door making 18 saves in total to ensure the slim edge held up. Inside of the final two minutes of the third, Vance had to slide across her crease to deny Pronghorns defender Mattie Apperson, who pinched down to the right post of the Huskies net for a golden scoring chance.

    Following that stop, Willoughby iced the contest with an empty-net goal with 37 seconds to play. With her two goals, Willoughby moved to within a point of catching Danny Stone for second on the Huskies all-time career regular season scoring list.

The Pronghorns react to a goal by Huskies captain Kaitlin Willoughby.

    Willoughby now has 48 goals and 57 assists for 105 career regular season points. Stone, who played for the Huskies from 2008 to 2013, had 57 goals and 49 assists for 106 career regular season points. Both are grads from the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team.

    On Saturday night, Willoughby played one of her best games of the season and likely should have finished with a monster night in the points department.
    However, the 2017-18 campaign is the season of the goalie in the Canada West Conference and passing Stone will have to wait.

Kaitlin Willoughby, right, scored twice for the Huskies on Saturday night.

    Anderson turned away 26-of-28 shots to take the setback in goal for the Pronghorns, who fell to 5-11-2 to sit last in the eight team Canada West and five points back of the U of Calgary Dinos for the conference’s final playoff berth.

    The Huskies improved to 11-6-1 to sit third overall in Canada West, with seven of those 11 victories coming by shutout. The top four positions in the Canada West standings are separated by just six points, so they can change on a game by game basis.

    The Dogs will get back at it again this coming Friday and Saturday, when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the U of Manitoba Bisons, who top Canada West with a 13-4-1 record.

    The green and white are capable of defeating every team in the conference, so the upcoming contests with the Bisons provide another couple of opportunities to find ways to pull out wins.

Dogs win streak ends in Lethbridge

Logan McVeigh had a goal for the Huskies on Saturday night.

    The U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team fell just short of making a comeback to keep their six game winning streak alive.

    On Saturday night in Lethbridge, the host U of Lethbridge Pronghorns built a 3-0 edge and held on to a 4-2 victory in a U Sports regular season match at the Nicholas Sheran Arena. The Pronghorns victory brought an end to the Huskies winning streak.

    Dalton Sward gave the Pronghorns a 1-0 lead in the first period. Ryon Moser and Ryan Chynoweth each netted singles in the second period to extend the Pronghorns advantage to 3-0.

    The Huskies attempted to rally in the third. Michael Sofillas scored just past the midway point of the frame to cut the Pronghorns lead to 3-1. Logan McVeigh scored for the Dogs with 1:15 to play in the third to further trim the Pronghorns advantage to 3-2.

    Connor Sanvido scored into an empty net inside of the final minute of the third to seal U of L’s victory.

    Jordon Cooke turned away 23 of 26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Garret Hughson stopped 34 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pronghorns.

    The Huskies fell to 14-3-1, but they still sit second overall in the Canada West Conference two points behind the 15-2-1 U of Alberta Golden Bears. The Golden Bears were in Winnipeg and dropped a 5-4 overtime decision and a 3-1 setback on Friday and Saturday respectively to the U of Manitoba Bisons.

    The Pronghorns improved to 8-9-1 to sit in a three-way tie for fourth overall in Canada West with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the Mount Royal University Cougars, who are both 8-9-1.

    The Huskies return to action this coming Friday, when they host the Bisons (11-5-2) at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

Hometown heroes power Blades to seventh straight win

Gage Ramsay (#20) and Cameron Hebig, centre, powered the Blades.

    Gage Ramsay and Cameron Hebig gave their families and friends a Saturday night to remember at the SaskTel Centre.

    The two Saskatoon products combined on three goals to help their hometown Blades slip past the Kootenay Ice 4-2 in a WHL regular season clash before 3,241 spectators. The victory was the Blades seventh in a row and 10^th in their last 11 games.

    Ramsay, who is a 19-year-old winger, netted the Blades first two goals at the 3:07 and 12:46 marks of the first period, and Hebig picked up assists on both of those tallies.

    Saskatoon exited the first period with a 3-0 lead, when 18-year-old right-winger Josh Paterson picked up his 20^th goal of the season with 2:47 to play in the frame.

    Hebig, who is the Blades star overage centre, netting his 30^th goal of the season at the 8:33 mark of the third to give Saskatoon a 4-0 lead, and Ramsay drew an assist on that marker.

Keenan Taphorn and Brett Davis netted singles late in the third for the Ice.

    Netminder Nolan Maier, who is a 16-year-old rookie, won his 10^th straight start in goal for the Blades making 27 saves. Bailey Brkin took the setback starting in goal for the Ice turning away 14-of-17 shots and was pulled after the first period. Duncan McGovern turned away 13-of-15 shots playing the rest of the way in relief for Kootenay.

    The Blades improved to 21-17-2-1 to hold the first wildcard playoff position in the WHL’s Eastern Conference two points ahead of the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats (20-19-3). The Prince Albert Raiders (15-17-6-2) are trying to catch the one of either the Blades or the Pats for a wildcard berth. The Raiders trail the Blades and Pats by seven and five points respectively in the standings.

    Prince Albert has two games in hand on Regina and one game in hand on Saskatoon.

    The Ice fell to 18-21-3 to sit second in the WHL’s Central Division.

    The Blades return to action on Sunday, when the travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings.

    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’ Maier shows he isn’t your ordinary 16-year-old

Yorkton product starting to make a mark in Saskatoon’s goal

Nolan Maier is growing with the Blades as a 16-year-old rookie.

    Nolan Maier has had a baptism in fire to start his WHL career.

    The Yorkton, Sask., product was added permanently to the roster of the Saskatoon Blades on Nov. 14 after playing goal for Team Canada Black at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge held jointly in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C. In three appearances, Maier posted a 1-2 record, a 3.02 goals against average, a .917 save percentage and one shutout. He had the best save percentage among netminders who started three or more games.

    As a 16-year-old goalie with the Blades, Maier was slated to see apprentice type action playing goal behind 19-year-old veteran Ryan Kubic. Maier had played his first regular season game with the Blades on Oct. 7 against the Pats in Regina, and he made 34 saves and gave up seven goals in a 7-3 loss to this season’s Memorial Cup hosts.

    Still, Maier made some big saves, and you could see why the Blades selected him in the second round and 25^th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. During the pre-season and that first regular season outing, you could tell Maier had talent, and all he lacked was experience playing in the WHL. He started the campaign in the junior A ranks with the Yorkton Terriers.

    When WHL clubs have a 16-year-old rookie goalie on their roster, those teams try to get that puck stopper’s feet wet and gradually working him into a more active role. Besides learning the league, 16-year-old goalies like all 16-year-old players are adjusting to living away from home usually for the first time and juggling high school studies with hockey responsibilities.

    WHL teams usually want all 16-year-old rookies to gain experience with the league and temper expectations on those players, especially if they are a high Bantam Draft pick.

Nolan Maier made 48 saves in a shutout of the Portland Winterhawks.

    The Blades best plans took a turn shortly after Maier returned to Saskatoon in November. Kubic went down with a knee injury, and Maier was pushed into the starting role.

    He has started the last eight straight games for the Blades and is blossoming right before the team’s eyes.

    Maier has statistics that are typical for a 16-year-old netminder. In 10 appearances, he has posted a 3-5 record, a 4.03 goals against average, a .890 save percentage and one shutout.

    The quality of his play has improved pretty much each time he has taken the ice to play goal for the Blades.

    The first obstacle was to get Maier, who stands 6-feet and weighs 168 pounds, his first career win. The Blades accomplished that on Nov. 24 at the SaskTel Centre, when they scored three times in the last 1:56 of the third period to erase a 5-3 deficit and down the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5.

    With his first win nailed down, Maier’s next challenge came playing every contest on the team’s five-game road trip through the WHL’s U.S. Division. He stopped 171-of-185 shots over those five contests for a .924 save percentage. The Blades posted a 2-3 record, but Maier gave Saskatoon a realistic chance to win every time out.

    His most impressive performance came last Sunday in Portland, when he made 48 stops in a 4-0 win over the host Winterhawks. The Winterhawks top the WHL’s Western Conference with a 20-8-1 record and are rated fourth in the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 rankings.

    Maier has played big when the Blades have needed him to, and he performed well beyond what a 16-year-old rookie should. Still, he is a 16-year-old rookie, and he will likely face some adversity. It would still be wise to temper expectations.

Logan Maier has started eight straight games for the Blades.

    Kubic is listed as being out day-to-day with a knee injury, so Maier’s string of starts might be close to an end. If Maier does keep his run of consecutive starts for the Blades going, the team in front of him can feel confident the young netminder is improving rapidly, and he gives the club a chance to win every night even against the toughest teams in the league.

    The Blades (11-15-2-1) return to action on Saturday when they host the Kamloops Blazers (13-15-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. That contest is the team’s “Girls Rock Game,” and it features a girl empowerment talk from Claire Hanna, who is a former member of Canada’s national women’s volleyball team and a sports reporter for Global Saskatoon. Hanna’s talk is slated to run from 5:30 to 6 p.m. pre-game at the SaskTel Centre.

    On Sunday at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel, the Blades host the arch-rivals the Prince Albert Raiders in their annual “Teddy Bear Toss” game. Spectators are invited to throw stuffed animals on to the ice surface after the Blades score their first goal.

Blades hand down injury update, make trade

The Blades traded Joel Grzybowski to the Victoria Royals.

    Heading into action this weekend, the Blades posted an injury update on Friday.

    While 19-year-old goalie Ryan Kubic is listed as out day-to-day with a knee injury, the Blades have three forwards on their injury list including 17-year-old Michael Farren (shoulder, day-to-day), 19-year-old Gage Ramsay (groin, slated to return after Christmas break) and 19-year-old Caleb Fantillo (knee, 6-to-8 weeks).

    Big kudos to the Blades for releasing this information. Players usually receive a lot more get well wishes from the fans, when the fans know what a players’ injury is. The players can feel less guarded in letting information slip, and it allows them up to more freely represent the team during community appearances.

    In Fantillo’s case, he is a fan favourite, so news of his injury will give team supporters that much more initiative to wish him a speedy recovery.

    Besides the injury update, the Blades traded 18-year-old netminder Joel Grzybowski to the Victoria Royals for 18-year-old goalie Hunter Arps. Arps, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 165 pounds, was playing in the junior A ranks with the Melfort Mustangs posting a 6-1-1 record, a 2.66 goals against average, a .903 save percentage and one shutout in 10 appearances.

    Grzybowski, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 172 pounds, saw action in six games for the Blades this season posting an 0-1-1 record, a 4.31 goals against average and a .841 save percentage. He appeared in three games with the Battlefords North Stars in the junior A ranks posting a 3-0 record, a 2.32 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.

Huskies quartet to face Canada’s world junior prospects

Kendall McFaull, left, and Jordon Cooke deserve pro shots.

    A quartet from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team are hoping to give the prospects for Canada’s world junior team a stiff test and maybe gain some interest from the professional ranks in the process.

    Netminder Jordon Cooke, defenceman Kendall McFaull, who is the Huskies captain, and forwards Josh Roach and Logan McVeigh will join a U Sports all-star team that will face the prospects looking to crack Canada’s world junior roster in a two game series. The U Sports all-stars will arrive in St. Catharines, Ont., for a training camp beginning on Monday. They will face the prospects for Canada’s world junior team in live game action on Wednesday and Thursday.

    Cooke, McFaull, Roach and McVeigh have all played a key part in helping the Huskies post a 13-2-1 record to sit second in the Canada West Conference. The Huskies are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

    Cooke has posted an 11-2 record, a 2.34 goals against average, a .917 save percentage and two shutouts so far this season. His 54 career regular season victories ranks second on the Huskies all-time career list.

    McFaull is in his fifth year with the Huskies and has posted four goals, three assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department in 15 games.

    Roach is also in his fifth campaign with the U of S and has posted nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-14 rating to lead Canada West in scoring. His nine goals is a career high and his 26 points matches a career high achieved last season.

    McVeigh is in his third year with the Huskies and has posted six goals, 15 assists and a plus-six rating.

    All four are worthy of earning a professional contract and a spot on the U Sports all-star team. They should give Canada’s best major junior players all they can handle.

    This season’s world juniors run Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Buffalo, New York.

    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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Tigers take Blades to school

Blades D Libor Hajek, left, and Tigers RW Max Gerlach battle for the puck.

    What started out as a tough day for the Saskatoon Blades off the ice didn’t get any easier on the ice.

    At around 3 p.m., the Blades sent out a tweet on social media to announce that former captain Bruce Gordon, who was battling pancreatic cancer, had passed away. The retired 28-year veteran of the Saskatoon Police Service was 54-years-old.

    The Blades honoured Gordon during a magnificent pre-game ceremony before 7,460 spectators at the team’s home opener just seven nights earlier back on Sept. 22. When it came time to play on Friday night, news of Gordon’s passing was still making its way among the 2,457 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.
    A moment of silence was held for Gordon before Friday’s game.

    Saskatoon proceeded to find out you don’t get any breaks in a rough spot when you play one of the WHL’s elite franchises. The visiting Medicine Hat Tigers came in, rolled out to a 6-0 edge after two periods and cruised to a 6-2 victory.

Max Gerlach had two goals and two assists for the Tigers.

    The Tigers also happen to be the first WHL club Gordon played for, and he helped the Tigers advance to the WHL Eastern Conference championship series during his rookie campaign in 1979-80. Gordon came to the Blades in a trade early in the 1980-81 season and remained with the Saskatoon club through the end of the 1981-82 campaign.

    The Blades roster is still on the younger side, and they were taken to school on Friday night by a visitor that plays at a high level night in and night out.

    The Tigers were a step ahead of the Blades all night. Medicine Hat got the puck deep in the Saskatoon zone, and the Tigers forwards forechecked the Blades defenders hard.

    Medicine Hat’s players didn’t exactly get physical in the corners. They were on top of the Saskatoon skaters using stick checks to cause turnovers and making it miserable to for the Blades to advance the puck up the ice.

    When the Tigers had the puck, their up tempo offensive style hit top gear. Medicine Hat’s players seem to just throw the puck around almost with a high comfort level knowing their passes were going on to be on the tape of the stick of an open teammate.

Captain Mark Rassell (#27) score twice for the Tigers.

    Just 6:33 into the first period, the Tigers assumed a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals from star 19-year-old right-winger Max Gerlach. Gerlach’s second tally came off a Blades giveaway.

    The Blades did have some fight in the opening 20 minutes holding a 9-8 edge in the shots on goal department. Saskatoon wasn’t able to find that one moment of traction to turn the game around, and the Tigers buried them in the second period.

    Working on the power play, Tigers overage captain Mark Rassell scored on the back door of the Saskatoon goal to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead at the 6:51 mark of the second. Exactly one minute later, Tigers defenceman Cole Clayton fired home a point shot to put the visitors up 4-0.

Gage Ramsay, left, netting the Blades second goal in the third period.

    At the 10:09 mark, the Tigers were working on another power play, and left-winger Ryan Jevne did his best imitation of Regina Pats superstar Sam Steel driving home a set-up pass from the left corner boards on the edge of the faceoff circle to give Medicine Hat a 5-0 lead.

    That tally chased Blades starting goaltender Ryan Kubic from the net. He made 11 saves on 16 shots.

    Joel Grzybowski, who is an 18-year-old rookie, turned aside 15-of-16 shots in a relief effort for Saskatoon. Rassell beat the Hafford, Sask., product on a breakaway with 13 seconds to play in the second period.

    Gerlach had helpers on two of the Tigers four goals in the second stanza.

Goaltender Michael Bullion (#30) freezes the puck for the Tigers.

    In the third, the Tigers were content to dump the puck into the Blades zone and proceed to forecheck and trap. The visitors still got 13 shots on goal in the final frame.

    Saskatoon got a little burst of momentum scoring two goals 49 seconds apart from each other coming from the sticks of Chase Wouters and Gage Ramsay to cut the Medicine Hat lead to 6-2. The Tigers called a timeout after the second Blades goal to settle things down. The hosts were unable to muster anymore chances to get closer on the scoreboard.

    Overage netminder Michael Bullion turned away 21 shots to help the Tigers improve to 2-1. Medicine Hat travels to Prince Albert on Saturday to face the Raiders.

The Tigers celebrate their 6-2 victory over the Blades.

    The Blades return to action on Saturday, when they host the Calgary Hitmen at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Having fallen to the Swift Current Broncos 5-2 in their home opener, the Blades are 0-2 having falling to two teams that expect to be among the WHL’s best this season. While the Blades don’t have the combination of talent and experience the Broncos and Tigers have, the Saskatoon side has to come to the rink and play at a higher pace to cut the drawback of that factor down.

    If the Blades don’t play at a higher pace, there will be a few more 6-2 scores in favour of the opposition in the future.

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

A star-crossed home farewell for Blades

Saskatoon pulls out 5-3 win, eliminated from WHL playoff race

Jesse Shynkaruk (#14) salutes the SaskTel Centre crowd.

    After his Saskatoon Blades won their home finale, Jesse Shynkaruk had trouble holding back the tears.

    Before Friday night’s game started at the SaskTel Centre against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders, the Blades were still alive in the WHL playoff race, but they didn’t have control of their own destiny.
    The overage centre popped in his team’s first goal off a speedy rush in the first period to force a 1-1 tie with the Raiders.

    The Blades shot out from that point going ahead 4-1 in the second period and ultimately held on for a 5-3 victory.

    To stay alive, the Blades needed the Calgary Hitmen to fall in Cranbrook, B.C., on Friday night to the host Kootenay Ice, who sat last in the entire WHL. While the Blades were pulling out a victory before 10,030 spectators on home ice, the Hitmen were dumping the Ice 6-1.

    With the win over the Ice (14-45-10-2), the Hitmen improved to 29-32-8-2 to lock up eight place overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and clinch the conference’s final wildcard post-season berth.

    The Blades improved to 28-34-7-2 with their victory, but the reality hit post-game that they would play only one more contest in the 2016-17 campaign. The Blades and Raiders, who fell to 20-44-5-2, will both close their regular seasons in another head-to-head encounter on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Braylon Shmyr brings the puck up ice for the Blades.

    During a post-game media scrum, Shynkaruk stopped once while answering questions, composed himself, apologized and continued to answer queries. Having been released by the Moose Jaw Warriors at the conclusion of last season, Shynkaruk was without a WHL home until his hometown Blades listed him.

    With the Blades, he had by far his best WHL season netting career highs in goals (31) and assists (25) in 57 regular season appearances at the conclusion of Friday’s action.

    “I am going to have to say goodbye to all those guys in a couple of days, and it is going to be really tough,” said Shynkaruk. “(I made) a bunch of friendships that will last forever, and I think that is the part I will miss the most.

    “To be honest, I don’t think anyone gave us much of a chance at the start of the year. With all the adversity we faced with injuries, I think this team over performed amazingly. I am really proud of every single guy in that room.”

    The Blades will miss the post-season for the fourth consecutive year having last made the playoffs in 2013, when they hosted the Memorial Cup. Unlike the previous three campaigns, the Blades were still alive in the race to make the playoffs going into their second last regular season game. During the three previous non-playoff years, the Blades were accustomed to playing out the string at this stage of things.

Michael Farren, left, celebrates his goal with Chase Wouters.

    With Saskatoon up 4-1 heading into the second intermission, Blades head coach Dean Brockman said his side kind of knew that the Hitmen were up big on the Ice in Cranbrook, B.C., even if they didn’t know what the exact score was. The bench boss was still pleased his squad came out with the win in front of their biggest home crowd of the season.

    “Obviously with all these people in the building, you want to put on a show,” said Brockman. “Certainly, our guys they knew what the stake of the game was.

    “We wanted to win it. Certainly, we kind of knew what our destiny was going to be. I give our guys a lot of credit for staying in it as long as they did.”

    Overage winger Cavin Leth gave the Raiders an early 1-0 lead before Shynkaruk netted the equalizer for the host side. In the second period, the Blades exploded out for three straight goals to go ahead 4-1 with singles coming from Braylon Shmyr, Michael Farren and Gage Ramsay.

Blades goalie Logan Flodell deals with traffic from the Raiders.

    The Raiders put a scare into the hosts, when forwards Parker Kelly and Spencer Moe netted singles to cut the Blades lead to 4-3 with 11:21 to play in the frame.

    Josh Paterson sealed victory for the Blades scoring into an empty net with one second to play.

    Logan Flodell turned away 36 shots to pick up his 22^nd win of the season in goal for the Blades. Nicholas Sanders started in goal for the Raiders and turned away 11-of-14 shots before being pulled at the 6:21 mark of the second period. Ian Scott stopped 10-of-11 shots finishing the contest in relief and officially taking the loss in goal for Prince Albert.

    Following the game, Shynkaruk went back out on to the ice with overage Blades teammates Bryton Sayers and Markson Bechtold for one final bow.

Jesse Shynkaruk brings the puck up ice for the Blades.

    “We went out there together,” said Shynkaruk. “I saw my family up there and knew that I am not going to be back.

    “A little bit of emotions came. It is tough holding them back.”

    He added he would try to put on one last big effort in his final WHL game on Saturday.

    “Usually the emotions aren’t pouring out of you on game 71,” said Shynkaruk. “(I am going to) go out there and work hard for every single guy in that room for our last game, and hopefully make it a good one.”

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

Battling Blades take feisty encounter with Rebels

Blades D Jackson Caller, left, engages with Rebels C Michael Spacek.

    It was a rare rowdy Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre that saw tensions escalate between the Saskatoon Blades and the visiting Red Deer Rebels.

    The 4,211 spectators in attendance got to witness all sorts of fireworks in the third period of a WHL contest between the two teams that included a shouting match between the each clubs’ coaches from the edge of their benches, a couple of big collisions that resulted in two Blades players being helped off the ice and a big scrum at game’s end.
    When the dust settled, the Blades skated away with a 4-2 victory, which ended a four game losing streak.

    “For us, it is about winning,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “It is about the composure. We stopped the four-game losing streak, and really, that is what we should be talking about.

    “For us, it is a huge win. Hopefully, we haven’t lost too many pieces of the puzzle. We’ve fought through that adversity all year.”

Rebels HC, GM and owner Brent Sutter yells at the Blades bench.

    Tensions rose as Saskatoon held a 3-1 edge with 10:41 to play in the third period. The trigger came when Blades defenceman Jake Kustra went down after taking a hit from Rebels winger Cameron Hausinger, who is a former Blade, by the left corner boards of the Saskatoon zone. Kustra had to be taken off the ice by stretcher, and Hausinger was given a major penalty for checking to the head and a game misconduct.

    The replay in the building showed that Kustra slipped and was placed in a vulnerable position, when he was trying to avoid Hausinger’s hit.

    As Kustra was being tended to on the ice, Rebels head coach, general manager and owner Brent Sutter hopped up on the edge of his team’s bench to engage in a shouting match with Blades assistant coach Ryan Keller and Brockman. Building security moved in to ensure the spectators didn’t get involved.

Blades AC Ryan Keller and HC Dean Brockman yell at the Rebels bench.

    Most of the power play from Hausinger’s infraction was later wiped out, when Blades winger Caleb Fantillo received a double minor for high sticking.

    With 29.6 seconds to play and Saskatoon holding a 4-2 edge, Rebels defenceman Colton Bobyk nailed Blades star winger Braylon Shmyr with a high hit dropping Shmyr to the ice. Saskatoon defenceman Evan Fiala tried to engage Bobyk, but was only able to get in a slash before the officials jumped in. Both rearguards were given 10-minute misconducts, and Fiala received a minor for slashing.

    After being tended to by the trainers, Shmyr managed to leave the ice for the Saskatoon dressing room under his own power.

    “Anytime you see one of your own guys go down whether it be a clean hit or not it is always tough to watch,” said Blades centre Jesse Shynkaruk. “We’re on the bench there, and it is tough seeing Kusy (Kustra) get dragged off and Shmyrsie (Shmyr) too.

A scrum occurs by the Rebels net in the second period.

    “The boys battled, and we won it for those two guys tonight. It was all for them.

    “It was a little tense. We kind of got into it with the other team there. We just have to draw attention back to the game and finish off the last 10 minutes.”

    The game ended with a big scrum ensuing by the left corner boards in the Saskatoon zone. The highlight was a jawing match between Rebels centre Michael Spacek and Blades defenceman Jackson Caller.

    The officials broke the scrum up before it could escalate, and no penalties were assessed.

    As far as scoring went, Shynkaruk scored twice and had an assist for the Blades, while Shmyr and Gage Ramsay netted singles. Austin Glover and Evan Polei responded with singles for the Rebels. Polei was involved in a second period fight with Blades winger Lukus MacKenzie.

Blades S Evan Fiala mixes it up with Rebels captain Adam Musil.

    Logan Flodell made 22 stops to earn the win in goal for the Blades (21-26-5-1). Lasse Petersen took the loss starting in goal for the Rebels (23-22-5-3) turning away just three-of-six shots. He was pulled at the 10:22 mark of the opening frame.

Riley Lamb stopped 20-of-21 shots playing in relief for Red Deer.

    “All of us were definitely worked up when Kusy (Kustra) got hit,” said Flodell. “I think we settled down and played pretty well.

    “We got the win and killed off the penalties. It was good.”

    After the game, Brockman was still trying to piece together the shouting match with Sutter.

    “I am not even sure exactly what started or what happened,” said Brockman. “Tempers are pretty high at that point. It is obviously a pretty emotional game and that can happen.

The Blades celebrate their victory over the Rebels.

    “After the bad hit, I mean tempers are obviously going to fly. Hockey is a game of emotion and physicality.
    “To be honest, I am looking down my bench to see who I have to put out next. I didn’t see the first hit, and I didn’t see the hit on (Braylon) Shmyr either.”

    With the win, the Blades move into eighth place and currently hold the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. They sit a point ahead of the Calgary Hitmen (19-24-7-2), but the Hitmen have a game in hand.

    The Blades return to action this coming Friday, when the host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Rebels return home to Red Deer to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday.

Suspensions could be on the horizon

    The WHL office could possibly issue suspensions for actions that went down in Saturday’s clash between the Blades and Rebels.

    The major penalty for checking to the head given to Hausinger and the double minor for high sticking assessed to Fantillo will be automatically reviewed by the league for further discipline.

    The Blades could send a tape to the league office asking for supplemental discipline for Bobyk over his high hit on Shymr, which wasn’t penalized.

    From what I saw on the replays, I don’t believe Hausinger or Fantillo will be suspended, but there could be a suspension to Bobyk for head contact. With that said, the league has access to various camera angles besides the replays that were shown in the building, so any outcome is possible.

    Richard Doerksen, who is the WHL’s vice-president of hockey, is usually pretty bang on when it comes to issuing or not issuing suspensions.

    The Blades didn’t have any injury updates on Kustra or Shmyr after the game.  

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

Grinder turns scorer, MacKenzie delivers winner in Blades rally

Lukus MacKenzie celebrates scoring the winner for the Blades.

    You have to love it when the hard working grinder steps into the spotlight.

    On Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre, gritty 17-year-old left-winger Lucus MacKenzie of the Saskatoon Blades resembled the team’s former high scoring captain Derek Hulak for a moment. With the Blades locked in a 2-2 tie with the visiting Red Deer Rebels and killing a penalty, MacKenzie saw a Rebels player fumble with the puck near the Red Deer blue-line.

    MacKenzie zipped in and picked up the puck to create a short-handed breakaway opportunity. The Calgary product sniped a smart shot low to left side of the Red Deer goal past netminder Lasse Petersen to put the hosts up 3-2.

    Tally was just the sixth goal of the season for MacKenzie, and it stood up as the winner. The Blades later added an empty-net goal to seal a 4-2 victory before 3,173 spectators.

    “I was thinking change first, but I saw the guy bobble it there,” said MacKenzie. “I knew I had the speed to kind of get a chance there, so I gambled and it paid off.

    “I know how to make a goalie slide, and that is what I try to do on breakaways. I just opened him up and slid it through there.”

Blades D Evan Fiala battles Rebels LW Evan Polei (#10).

    Following his breakaway short-handed winner, MacKenzie put on an exuberant celebration. Back in 2014, the Blades selected MacKenzie in the third round and 60^th overall in the WHL Bantam Draft after he tallied 21 goals and 45 assists in 59 games with the Edge School bantam prep team in Calgary.

    So far in his WHL career, MacKenzie, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 198 pounds, has become known for his work ethic and his commitment to battle. Noticeable offensive outbursts like his goal on Saturday have been rare.

    “It was nice to get rewarded there,” said MacKenzie, who was a plus-two in the plus-minus department. “We were battling all game. We never quit. It was good to get that one for the team.

    “I just go hard. I try to get the crowd fired up and the team fired up. That is what I try to do.”

Blades RW Lukus MacKenzie looks for an opening in the offensive zone.

    Saturday’s encounter was a physical contest that could have swung either way. The Blades got the only goal in the first period, when 16-year-old rookie winger Michael Farren slipped home his fourth goal of the season early in the frame to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

    In the second, the Rebels went ahead 2-1 thanks to a pair of tallies from overage left-winger Evan Polei. Polei tipped home a knuckleball point shot to tie things up at 1-1, and he slipped home a backhander later in the frame to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

    Saskatoon drew even at 2-2 at the 2:18 mark of the third, when Gage Ramsay fired home the equalizer through a screen while working on the power play. That set the stage for MacKenzie’s heroics that put the Blades on top for good.

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman was pleased to see MacKenzie break through on the scoresheet.

Jesse Shynkaruk charges up ice for the Blades.

    “I thought he has been working hard the last few games,” said Brockman. “He got rewarded.

    “He had a great chance in the second period that he didn’t bury. He was persistent and stayed with it and got his goal.”

    Overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk scored into an empty net with 16.7 seconds to play in the third. Logan Flodell made 20 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (17-22-5-1). Petersen turned away 19 of 22 shots to take the loss in goal for the Rebels (20-18-4-2).

    With the win, the Blades pull into a tie for eighth place overall and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with the Edmonton Oil Kings (18-22-3-1). Both teams have 40 points in the standings, but the Oil Kings have a game in hand.

The Blades salute the crowd after their 4-2 win over the Rebels.

    Brockman said it is important for his squad to win contests now in the push for a playoff berth noting the intensity of games in the regular season will pick up in February and March.
    The bench boss was pleased with the come-from-behind win against the Rebels. Saturday marked the fourth time this season the Blades rallied for a victory after entering the third period trailing on the scoreboard.

    “It is important that you comeback on teams,” said Brockman. “When we got that goal early (in the third), I felt the momentum switched for us.

    “In order to climb in the standings, you have to win games. You have to do all the catching now.”

    The Blades return to action on Wednesday, when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m. local time at the SaskTel Centre.
    The Rebels travel to Swift Current on Sunday to take on the Broncos at 4 p.m. local time at the Credit Union i-Plex.

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

Blades pull off major road upset of Pats

Jesse Shynkaruk celebrates an OT winner with his Blades teammates.

    REGINA - The stars were supposed to be lined up against the Saskatoon Blades.

    Despite playing one of their best games of the season, the Blades went into overtime locked in a 1-1 tie on Saturday against the host Regina Pats before a sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators at the Brandt Centre. The Pats entered the day tied for the overall lead in the WHL standings and were rated first in the Canadian Hockey League top ten rankings.

    The Blades began the night sitting six points back of a playoff spot.

    With the Pats being loaded with offensive talent, a three-on-three overtime session should have favoured the host side.

    Instead, the Blades got control of the puck on a gritty faceoff win in the extra session, and winger Braylon Shmyr and defenceman Libor Hajek teamed up to send overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk into the Regina zone with speed on an odd man rush. Shynkaruk blew home the winner on a wrist shot 35 seconds into the frame to give a thrilling 2-1 victory for the visitors.

Jesse Shynkaruk breaks into the offensive zone for the Blades.

    “To get the two points tonight felt amazing for the team. We know if we put that effort in each and every night we are going to win a lot of games this year. It was just huge clawing back too.”

    Early on, it seemed like things might not go the Blades way. Just 92 seconds into the contest, Pats left-winger Robbie Holmes netted his first of the season to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

    From there, the Blades found their legs, and the Pats, who were playing their sixth game in eight days, were looking a bit sluggish. Regina entered the first intermission with a 1-0 edge and a 13-12 lead in shots on goal.

    The pesky underdog Blades wouldn’t go away, which caused the home crowd to feel a little bit tense. Shynkaruk almost picked up the equalizer, but he rang the post on a backdoor feed.

Winger Braylon Shmyr drives hard to the net for the Blades.

    The visitors would tie things up at 1-1 with 2:16 to play in the second period, when centre Gage Ramsay slipped home the equalizer through a screen.

    Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock had concerns about how the game was going, especially with the fact his club dumped the Swift Current Broncos 8-1 the previous night at home.

    “Six games in eight days takes a toll not so much physically as mentally,” said Paddock. “I thought our players that played so good last night, which was everybody, tonight they were half a step to a full step behind. It could be for varying reasons.

    “Our high end players did not play smart enough in situations where the game is tight for whatever reason. When the game is different, you just have to do things different. Our good players I thought let us down.”

Blades goalie Logan Flodell blocks a shot into the air.

    Early in the third, the Blades rang a possible go-ahead tally off the post.

    After that chance, the Pats seemed to get more jump after going on a power play with under seven minutes to play in the frame. At times, the Blades were scrambling in their zone, but goaltender Logan Flodell stood his ground. He turned away 39 shots to help his club improve to 12-18-2.

    That set the stage for overtime, where the Blades took the win on the first shift.

    “For us, we didn’t want to go into the shootout,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “They have some pretty dangerous players.

    “We stressed the urgency to try to win it as quickly as possible. Guys responded to it.”

    Tyler Brown turned away 29 shots to take the loss in goal for the Pats, who fell to 21-2-6. The Pats were missing forwards Sam Steel and Austin Wagner, who left for the main training camp for Canada’s world junior team in Boisbriand, Que.

    The Blades were missing a number of key players to injury including standout forwards Cameron Hebig and Mason McCarty along with captain Wyatt Sloboshan.

Blades centre Gage Ramsay circles behind the Regina net.

    “I certainly give our guys a lot of credit for battling through what we had to battle through,” said Brockman. “I thought we had a consistent work ethic.

    “Everybody was up and positive on the bench. You are really happy. When you can beat these guys, you should be happy.”

    The Blades return to action on Sunday when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Pats, who finished playing six games in eight days, return to action Friday, when they travel to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors.

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