Fate keeps Raiders in playoff chase after loss to Pats

Connor Bedard (#98) had two goals and an assist for the Pats.

A playoff berth is a pot of gold to the Prince Albert Raiders that is frustratingly fingertips out of reach.

On Saturday, the Raiders had a golden chance to seize a little bit more control as far as the chase for the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference is concerned, but that opportunity fell through their fingers. They dropped a 5-3 decision to Pats before 5,123 spectators at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

Even with that setback, the Raiders are still alive in the hunt for a playoff berth with two games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Raiders received a huge assist from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who downed the visiting Calgary Hitmen 5-1 at the Enmax Centre on Saturday night.

That win by the Hurricanes, who improved to 31-30-4-1, locked them into a seventh place overall finish in the Eastern Conference and a first round best-of-seven series against the 47-14-3-1 Edmonton Oil Kings, who are guaranteed of first place finish in the Central Division.

In the race for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, the Swift Current Broncos (26-34-5-2) currently sit in eight spot with 59 standings points. The Hitmen (25-32-6-2) sit one point behind the Broncos in ninth place overall.

The Pats (26-34-3-2) and Raiders (26-35-4-1) both sit two points behind the Broncos and one point behind the Hitmen. Regina is 10^th overall and Prince Albert is 11^th overall in the conference.

The Broncos have one game remaining on their schedule, while the Hitmen and Pats both have three games remaining in their respective regular season slates.

If two teams finish tied in points for eighth in the conference, a standings tiebreaking game will be held to determine who moves on to the post-season.

Evan Herman scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

The bunch up in the standings for that final playoff berth means there will be a lot more scoreboard watching over the final eight days of the regular season.

The Raiders also dropped a 2-0 heartbreaker to the Blades in Saskatoon on Friday, with the Blades scoring twice inside the final eight minutes of the third. A win in that contest would have drastically helped the Raiders chances in the post-season chase.

In Saturday’s clash between the Raiders and Pats, 16-year-old right-winger Tanner Howe scored short-handed with 3:56 remaining in the third period to give the Regina side a 1-0 lead.

Just 2:45 into the second period, Raiders left-winger Cale Sanders netted a short-handed goal of his own to even the score at 1-1.

Before the second ended, the Pats got goals from 16-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard and rookie right-winger Borya Valis to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Valis’s tally came on the power play.

Just 1:44 into the second, Raiders veteran centre Evan Herman scored to cut the Pats lead to 3-2. At the 3:59 mark of the third, Raiders left-winger Keaton Sorensen was awarded a penalty shot after being tripped up on a breakaway.

Sorensen proceeded to hit the crossbar on the penalty shot attempt with a backhander.

Bedard scored his second of the game with the Pats working on the power play at the 6:46 mark of the third to push Regina’s advantage to 4-2.

Just 40 seconds later, Herman netted his second of the contest to cut the Pats lead to 4-3.

Pats captain Logan Nijhoff sealed the 5-3 victory with an empty-net goal with 1:40 remaining in the third. Bedard picked up an assist on Nijhoff’s goal to finish with a three-point night.

On the season, Bedard sits fifth in WHL scoring with 92 points coming on 49 goals and 43 assists appearing in 59 games for the Pats.

Logan Nijhoff had an empty-net goal for the Pats.

Howe, who is a Prince Albert product, had a pair of assists to go with his goal for a three-point night.

Kelton Pyne, a 16-year-old netminder who joined the WHL Pats after spending most of the season with the Regina Pat Canadians under-18 AAA team, made 24 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Regina side. Import rookie Tikhon Chaika turned away 13-of-17 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

The Pats return to action on Thursday when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Ice (7 p.m. local time, Wayne Fleming Arena).

The Raiders get back at it on Friday when they travel to Swift Current to face the Broncos (7 p.m., Innovation Credit Union i-Plex).

Ice clinch first in WHL’s Eastern Conference, other notes

Jakin Smallwood had a goal and two assists for the Ice.

The Winnipeg Ice put the race for first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference on ice.

On Saturday playing before 1,681 spectators at the Wayne Fleming Arena, the Ice downed the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 6-1 to lock up first place in the Eastern Conference. The Ice, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, improved to 50-10-3-2 with the win.

Winnipeg needs to earn just one more point in the standings to clinch first overall in the WHL.

Overage right-winger Jakin Smallwood potted his 24^th goal of the season at the 6:20 mark of the first to give the Ice a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers evened the score at 1-1 with a goal by overage right-winger Carter Chorney at the 6:40 mark of the second.

From that point, the Ice dominated the rest of the way taking a 3-1 lead into the second intermission before rounding out the game’s scoring with three tallies in the third. Cole Muir and Chase Wheatcroft each scored twice for the Ice, while Jack Finley netted a single.

Smallwood had two assists to go along with his goal, while Wheatcroft had one helper to go with his two tallies.

Daniel Hauser made 16 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Ice. Garin Bjorklund turned away 38 shots to take the setback in net for the Tigers (11-51-3-1).

The two sides go at it again on Sunday at 5 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

• The Oil Kings locked up first place in the WHL’s Central Division with a 6-4 victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. Oil Kings centres Justin Sourdif and Dylan Guenther each had two goals and two assists in the win. Edmonton improved to 47-14-3-1 with the win, while the Rebels fell to 44-18-2-2.
• The Brandon Wheat Kings won their fifth in a row downing the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 after taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0. Wheat Kings centre Nate Danielson, who had an assist in regulation, had the lone goal in the shootout. The Brandon win tightens the race for fourth in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage for a first round playoff series. The Saskatoon Blades (37-26-3-1) and Warriors (36-23-3-3) each have 78 standings points. Saskatoon sits fourth due to having more wins, while the Warriors are fifth. The Wheat Kings (35-25-3-2) sit sixth in the Eastern Conference three points back of both the Blades and Warriors. The Warriors and Wheat Kings, who both have two games in hand on the Blades, face each other again on Tuesday in Brandon.
• Rebels overage left-winger Arshdeep Bains leads the WHL in scoring with 105 points coming on 39 goals and a league high 66 assists appearing in all the Rebels 66 games. He has a three-point lead over teammate in 19-year-old centre Ben King and Kamloops Blazers centre Logan Stankoven. King recorded his 102 points on a league leading 50 goals and 52 assists appearing in all the Rebels 66 games. Stankoven posted his 102 points on 44 goals and 58 assists appearing in 57 games for the Blazers.
• Blazers netminder Dylan Garand leads the WHL in goaltending wins at 33. Garand has appeared in 43 games this season posting a 33-8-1 record, a 2.15 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and four shutouts.
• I put together new content for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex’s Howe Happenings blog that went live on Saturday. I created a piece called “Sawi makes surprise burst on to football scene – Running back thankful friends prompted him to try sport.” That piece focuses on Holy Cross High School Crusaders football team running back Charles Sawi naming an out of nowhere rise to standout status. Sawi has an extremely bright football future. That article can be found by clicking right here. I also created a photo round up that 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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Tigers’ Wiesblatt sinks Raiders with first career WHL hat trick

Medicine Hat halts four-game skid with 6-4 win

Oasiz Wiesblatt (#7) reacts to scoring his hat trick goal.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Oasiz Wiesblatt had his best WHL outing to date in the rink his older brother has had numerous big games in.

On Saturday night, the 17-year-old left-winger scored his first career hat trick in the major junior ranks to power his Medicine Hat Tigers to a 6-4 regular season victory over the host Prince Albert Raiders before 2,155 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre.

With the Tigers and Raiders locked in a 4-4 tie after 40 minutes, Wiesblatt scored his second of the night on a perfectly executed two-on-on break to put the visitors in front 5-4.

Oasiz Wiesblatt scored his first career WHL hat trick on Saturday.

Tigers 19-year-old right-winger Brendan Lee broke down the left wing of the Prince Albert zone on the two-on-rush and fed a pass across the front of the Raiders net to Wiesblatt. Wiesblatt quickly converted that pass knocking home a goal past a sprawling Raiders import netminder Tikhon Chaika to give the Tigers a one-goal edge at the 3:33 mark of the third.

The Raiders responded by pressing hard for the equalizer, but Wiesblatt sealed the win for the Tigers scoring his hat trick goal into an empty net with 1:31 remaining in the third to round out the 6-4 final.

The win allowed the Tigers, who are having a rare rebuilding campaign and sit last overall in the WHL, to end a four game losing streak and improve to 8-25-3-1. One night earlier, the Tigers dropped a 9-2 decision to the Blades in Saskatoon.

The Tigers celebrate Oasiz Wiesblatt’s first goal on Saturday.

The Raiders fell to 15-21-1-1 having lost their third in a row.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said the outcome of Saturday’s clash with the Tigers was disappointing for his side.

“Obviously, we played a team below us in the standings, and we are fighting for points when we can get them,” said Habscheid. “Give credit to them.

“You can tell they lost 9-2 the other night, because they came in with a purpose. They were hungry. They were more hungry than us early for sure.

“We missed some assignments on some goals. Some goals went in that I didn’t like, and we let the score go.”

Wiesblatt seemed focus on having a good night in the rink his older brother Ozzy calls home. Ozzy is a star 19-year-old centre for the Raiders, who helped them win a WHL championship in 2019.

Evan Herman had two goals and an assist for the Raiders.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, Ozzy missed third straight contest after being injured in Prince Albert’s 7-3 victory over the Rebel in Red Deer this past Monday. He was injured in the second period of that contest after being on the receiving end of a rough hit from Rebels defenceman Christoffer Sedoff.

Sedoff was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct on the play and later received a one-game suspension from the WHL office.

As for Oasiz Wiesblatt, he turned heads early on Saturday scoring a goal on a sick looking play to give the Tigers a 1-0 edge at the 11:58 mark of the first period.

With the Tigers working in the offensive zone, center Noah Danielson made a smart pass to Wiesblatt to get him in alone coming up the right side of the Prince Albert goal.

Brendan Lee had a goal and an assist for the Tigers.

Wiesblatt went forehand to backhand and put a home a backhanded shot flying thru the air after getting upended by Raiders veteran star defenceman Nolan Allan.

The Raiders proceeded to even things up at 1-1 just under four minutes later when centre Evan Herman roofed home a power-play goal from the left wall.

The two sides went full out playing firewagon 1980s style hockey in the second period.

Lee scored at the 4:03 mark to put the Tigers up 2-1. Just 18 seconds after that tally, Herman netted his second of the contest to even the score at 2-2.

Raiders left-winger Zachary Wilson put the host side up 3-2 at the 6:04 mark of the second, and Tigers 19-year-old centre Noah Danielson evened things up at 3-3 at the 11:03 mark.

Zachary Wilson scored for the Raiders on Saturday.

With 3:06 remaining in the second, Raiders centre Harrison Lodewyk stole the puck from a Tigers defenceman and scored to put the Raiders up 4-3 with a shot close in at the left side of the Medicine Hat goal.

Tigers Russian import defenceman Gleb Ivanov tallied with a point shot to even the contest at 4-4 heading into the second intermission.

Habscheid thought his team played a little too loose over large stretches of Saturday’s outing.

“We just played (crappy) for a lot of the game,” said Habscheid. “Our structure, I don’t know what out structure was, because there wasn’t much of it.

Members of the Raiders and Tigers engage in a scrum.

“We cheated on the game early. That was disappointing, because we talked about that this morning. We talked about the trap (game) and about looking past and all those things.

“We just cheated the game at home, and we paid for it.”

Following the goal gusher in the second, the stage was set for Wiesblatt to score twice in the third to give the Tigers their second win in three meetings with the Raiders this season.

Herman said the equalizer the Tigers scored late in the second and Wiesblatt’s go-ahead tally early in the third tilted the contest in favour of the visitors.

“The game is about ups and downs,” said Herman, who had an assist to go along with his two goals. “We have to stay as level headed as we can throughout the whole game, and ultimately at the end find a way to end.

Carson Latimer fires a shot on goal for the Raiders.

“Good teams find ways to win. Our culture here is a winning culture. That is what the Raiders are.

“We really look to protect that. We look to do that every night.”

Chaika turned away 21-of-26 shot to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Garin Bjorklund stopped 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers.

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Regina to face the Pats (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Tigers also get back at it on Tuesday when they host the Saskatoon Blades (7 p.m. local time, Co-op Place).

Going forward, Herman said Saturday’s setback should serve as a reminder for his Raiders that they can’t take team in the WHL lightly.

The Tigers celebrate their victory on Saturday.

“We have to be ready to play every night,” said Herman. “This is a good league.

“There are no bad teams in this league. I think next time we need to just be ready.”

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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Rhinehart’s big night paces Blades to 9-2 romp over Tigers

The Blades celebrate a short-handed goal from Rhett Rhinehart (#41).

The Saskatoon Blades were in good hands with Rhett Rhinehart.

The 20-year-old defenceman came up with a monster game posting a pair of goals, an assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department as his Blades bashed the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 9-2 in a WHL regular season clash played before 2,713 spectators on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre.

Rhinehart was playing his first contest since the Blades fell 4-1 at the SaskTel Centre back on January 1. The Lloydminster product has been on the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List, but ultimately only missed two games.

Rhett Rhinehart had two goals and an assist on Friday.

He thought he got better as Friday’s game went on.

“It was pretty good,” said Rhinehart. “It was a little tough at first.

“It was my first game in three weeks. I was just kind of getting my legs back under me at first. Playing lots of minutes kind of helps you get into it.”

Rhinehart’s return was a welcome one as the Blades found themselves short staffed on defence due to fact four regulars were out due to COVID-19 protocols in captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, Marek Schneider, Tanner Molendyk and Ben Saunderson.

Saskatoon played with four natural defencemen with Rhinehart being paired with Charlie Wright, while rookie Ryan Nolan was paired with sophomore Spencer Shugrue. Centre Mikhail Volotovskii was moved to defence to help out the four natural blue-liners.

Rhett Rhinehart logged a lot of minutes on the Blade blue-line on Friday.

The Blades were also without head coach Brennan Sonne, who was isolating at home due to COVID-19 protocols. Associate coach Ryan Marsh ran the Blades bench along with assistant coach Dan DaSilva and goalie coach Jeff Harvey.

Rhinehart said it was important for the Blades defencemen to play smart, and he thought that helped him be on the ice for about half the game.

“It is definitely pretty gruelling,” said Rhinehart. “You’re going the whole time.

Oasiz Wiesblatt score to put the Tigers up 2-0 early on Friday.

“You get on the bench, and then you are going on in the next 40 seconds. You don’t get a lot of rest, so at points you have to conserve your energy and kind of just not really pace yourself, but take your points when you think you want to go a little harder.”

The Tigers got a quick jump in Friday’s clash jetting out to a 2-0 lead.

On an odd man rush into the Saskatoon zone, Tigers right-winger Carter Chorney charged down the right wing and passed the puck across the front of the Blades net to overage centre Logan Barlage.

Barlage quickly blasted home his eighth goal of the season and first as a member of the Tigers to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the 3:24 mark of the opening frame. The Tigers acquired Barlage from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a deal that was made before last Monday’s WHL trade deadline.

Kyren Gronick (#27) celebrates putting the Blades up 3-2.

The Tigers increased their advantage to 2-0 just 2:02 later scoring on the power play. Tigers right-winger Teague Patton passed the puck from the left corner of the Blades zone across the face of the Saskatoon goal to linemate Oasiz Wiesblatt, who tapped home his fifth of the season into an open cage.

Almost as quickly as the Tigers got the jump out of the gate, the Blades turned the momentum of the contest around.

Just past the midway point of the opening frame, Shugrue sprung overage centre Tristen Robins on a breakaway into the Medicine Hat Zone. Robins snapped his 19^th goal of the season past Tigers netminder Garin Bjorklunk to cut the Medicine Hat lead to 2-1.

The Blades evened things up at 2-2 scoring just 18 seconds later, when centre Jayden Wiens slipped home a mid-range shot.

Jayden Wiens had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

Saskatoon then jumped in front 3-2 when right-winger Kyren Gronick tipped home a point shot from centre Trevor Wong with 24.2 seconds remaining in the first for a power-play tally.

Wiens liked how his squad was able to respond quickly after falling behind 2-0 early.

“We’re a team that is not going to quit, even from a tough start like here tonight,” said Wiens. “I think it shows the character of the guys and just the no quit attitude for this group and the resiliency, so that is a good thing to see.”

The Tigers got out to a solid jump to start the second holding a 7-1 edge in shots on goal over the first 8:30 of the frame. The visitors were unable to solve Blades 17-year-old rookie netminder Ethan Chadwick.

Tristen Robins had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

The Blades proceeded to increase their edge to 4-2 at the 9:56 mark of the second period, when Rhinehart fired home a power-play goal through a screen in front of the Medicine Hat net.

The Tigers looked like they were going to have a good chance to change momentum when Nolan was penalized for hooking with 3:46 remaining in the second.

On that kill, the Blades scored a pair of short-handed goals coming 31 seconds apart from each other to push their lead up to 6-2.

Robins netted the first short-handed goal for his second tally of the night and 20^th goal of the season. Rhinehart potted the second short-handed goal and his second of the night coming off a rare offensive rush up the right wing.

Ethan Chadwick made 28 saves in goal for the Blades.

“He (Rhinehart) really stepped his game up,” said Marsh. “He had been off on a little bit of a layoff based off of COVID.

“Coming back in, I was a little bit concerned with us being a little bit short, and him not having played in the last few games. I just thought as the game went on he just got better and better. He played really well for us.

“He stepped up in all situations. He did a really good job on our power play getting some opportunity there with some guys that were out. I thought he was a horse out there on our penalty kill as well, and he was a real leader for us tonight.”

Following Rhinehart’s goal that put the Blades up 6-2, the Tigers pulled starting netminder Garin Bjorklund, who stopped 10-of-16 shots sent his way. He took the setback in goal for the Tigers as they fell to 7-25-3-1 having lost their last four in a row.

Noah Boyko had three assists for the Blades on Friday.

Beckett Langkow played the rest of the way in relief for Medicine Hat turning away five-of-eight shots sent his way.

Just 51 seconds into the third, the Blades netted their third power-play goal of the night, when Wiens netted his second goal of the contest tipping home a point shot from defenceman Charlie Wright.

The Blades proceeded to round of the contest’s scoring with Gronick scoring his second power-play goal of the night and Nolan netting his first career WHL regular season goal.

Nolan was acquired by the Blades from the Tigers in a blockbuster three-team trade that involved the Prince George Cougars on December 27, 2021.

Ryan Nolan scored his first career WHL goal on Friday.

Rhinehart said he was proud of everyone who played on the Blades short staffed back end on Friday night.

“Those guys were really awesome, and we had Misha (Mikhail) Volotovskii help out on the back end as well to give us an extra man for a little bit of help there,” said Rhinehart. “Obviously, Ryan Nolan scored his first Western League goal against his old team was a pretty special moment.

“He made sure that he enjoyed that one.”

Chadwick stopped 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades, who improved to 20-14-1-1 with their third straight victory.

Robins, Wiens and Gronick each picked up a single assist to go with their respective two-goal nights. 

Egor Sidorov (#19) shows off some fancy stick work.

Wong and right-winger Noah Boyko each picked up three assists on Friday for the Blades.

The Blades return to action on Saturday when they host the Winnipeg Ice (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Tigers also get back at it Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to face the 15-20-1-1 Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Marsh said his Blades will have their hands full on Saturday playing an Ice team that leads the WHL’s overall standings with a 29-5-2 record.

The Blades enjoy their big win on Friday night.

“It is a huge challenge,” said Marsh. “They are really a high-powered offensive team.

“We need to reset. We need to clean a few things up from a defensive standpoint and do some things off the rush. We have to get our rest and recovery tonight and be ready to go to battle.

“We have to play a Blades brand of hockey tomorrow, where you are outworking the opposition and taking care of business away from the puck. We are going to need everyone in all four lines, our six defencemen and (our goalie) making key saves to have success tomorrow.”

“Girls Rock Night” returned on Friday night

Keely Shaw, Brigette Lacquette and Emmarae Dale are saluted.

On Friday, the Saskatoon Blades brought back their traditional “Girls Rock Night.”

The Blades were unable to hold that night last season as they played an abbreviated 24-game schedule in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

With the Blades once again being able to host home games with fans this season inside a scheduled 68-game regular season, they are trying to get back to holding a number of traditional theme nights they held before the COVID-19 pandemic clamped down on North America back in March of 2020.

On Friday, the Blades had three special guests at their game in Brigette Lacquette, Keely Shaw and Emmarae Dale.

Lacquette played defence for Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team and is currently a scout for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.

The ceremonial faceoff of the Blades “Girls Rock Night.”

Shaw won a bronze medal in cycling at the 2020 Paralympics that were actually held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

Dale just graduated from the Saskatoon Hilltops after playing linebacker for them last season. Dale is the first female to play games in the CJFL.

She is a veteran player of the Saskatoon Valkyries of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League.

The trio took part in a pre-game speaking engagement designed for all ages. They also participated in a ceremonial pre-game faceoff, where they were introduced individually and given big cheers by the 2,713 spectators in attendance.

Following those festivities, the Blades would go on to down the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 9-2.

Pillar trade a first class move by Blades, Blazers

The Saskatoon Blades don’t mind waiting for a major roster addition, especially when a health situations needs to work itself out.

Before the WHL’s trade deadline this past Monday, the Blades acquired 19-year-old forward Josh Pillar from the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for a conditional third round selection in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft and a conditional second round pick in the 2024 Prospects Draft.

Pillar, who stands 6-feet and weighs 179 pounds, posted 11 goals, 20 assists and a plus-four rating in 29 games with the Blazers this season. In 183 career regular season games with the Blazers, Pillar has 43 goals, 83 assists and a plus-20 rating.

He was selected in the fourth round and 127^th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

At the time the trade was made, Pillar was at home in Warman, Sask., recovering from a private medical situation. As Warman is located along Saskatoon’s northeast border, management on both teams in conjunction with Pillar’s family agreed it was best for Pillar to be close to home. The Blades and Blazers did the classy thing and made this trade a reality.

Blades general manager Colin Priestner and Blazers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston both deserve a tonne of praise for the work they put in to make this trade a reality to get Pillar to his home stomping grounds.

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

Bob Ridley calls a Tigers playoff game in March of 2019.

With their icon in broadcast booth celebrating a milestone that will likely never happen again, the Medicine Hat Tigers ensured the night went as perfectly as possible.

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

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

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

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

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

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

People tend to throw around GOAT status all the time in sports, and it’s often debated, but it’s safe to say, there will never be another Bob Ridley. He is one-of-a-kind.
The man is truly a legend.
Congrats Mr. Ridley on your 4,000 game milestone.@tigershockey @TheWHL https://t.co/dUFTWiCgXi

— Jason Hills (@hillsyjay) February 28, 2021

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

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

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

Earlier today, WHL Commissioner Ron Robison unveiled the Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence & presented it to the @tigershockey legend.

WATCH 🎥 pic.twitter.com/qNRePDNFnB

— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 28, 2021

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

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

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

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

Congrats to Bob Ridley on an amazing accomplishment!

Rebels take on @tigershockey tonight in The Hat in a rematch of last evening’s entertaining affair!

Puck drop at 7:30 on @1067RewindRadio and WHL Live https://t.co/L84ZnrjARo

— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) February 27, 2021

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

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

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

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

The tally was Wiesblatt’s first career WHL goal.

Just in case you didn't know, there is another Wiesblatt who is also REALLY GOOD at hockey. His name is Oasiz. 🐯 pic.twitter.com/qlhU0GSr8G

— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 28, 2021

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

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

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

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

Willms > Boehm > 🥅 = 👌 pic.twitter.com/N5FtdpUqMW

— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 28, 2021

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

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

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

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

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

A few more photos from the second period! @tigershockey @Rebelshockey @TheWHL @MedicineHatNews #medhat pic.twitter.com/TnLlXooA9c

— Ryan McCracken (@MHNMcCracken) February 28, 2021

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

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

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

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

TIGERS WIN!!!

The Tigers sweep the home and home series by a score of 7-2 on Bob Ridley Night! pic.twitter.com/0S7RXuZiZY

— Medicine Hat Tigers (@tigershockey) February 28, 2021

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

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

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

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

Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins on getting the win in Bob Ridley's 4,000th game tonight:

"I think the night was Bob Ridley Night," said Desjardins. "I think what he accomplished tonight overshadowed the game for sure. I'm glad that his 4,000th game was a win."#WHL #Tigers

— Scott Roblin (@CHATTVRoblin) February 28, 2021

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 best Tigers 6-5 in 1980s style rivalry tilt

The Blades and Tigers scrum it up at the end of Friday’s game.

    It felt like old times at the Saskatoon Arena in the late 1980s.

    Back in that era of the WHL, the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers had quite the heated rivalry. A lot of the heated tensions were due to the fact the two sides met in league semifinal playoff series in 1987 and 1988.

    Those series were ultimately won by the Tigers, who advanced on to win the WHL title and the Memorial Cup title as CHL champions in both of those years.
    Medicine Hat claimed the 1987 series in seven games, when the Blades still played in the Saskatoon Arena, and the Tigers swept the 1988 series, when “the Bridge City Bunch” made their first post-season run playing out of the SaskTel Centre.

    On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers engaged in a WHL regular season clash that would have been worthy of the battles from that era.

    There were huge momentum swings, lots of goals, timely saves by goalies, one spirited fight and huge scrum at the end of the contest. It was a game that was all over the map.

Tigers C Ryan Chyzowski, left, fights Blades C Jayden Wiens.

    When the dust settled, the Blades skated away with a 6-5 victory before 3,156 spectators. The fans got their money’s worth and gave the Blades a fairly loud salute at night’s end.

    The unpredictability of the night started in the first period. The Blades carried the play in the opening frame outshooting the Tigers 17-7, but the Tigers came away holding a 1-0 lead.

    Tigers captain James Hamblin tucked home the game’s opening goal on a breakaway in the first.

    Medicine Hat escaped the first holding the end on the scoreboard thanks to the play of netminder Garin Bjorklund. He turned away Blades defenceman Nolan Kneen on a partial breakaway and robbed Saskatoon centre Tristen Robins with a glove stop in the opening 20 minutes.

The Blades and Tigers engaged in a few exchanges on Friday.

    Just 35 seconds into the second, Tigers defenceman Daniel Baker jetted in down the right wing and roofed home his 10^th goal of the season to put the visitors up 2-0.

    At the 11:37 mark of the second, centre Baxter Anderson scored to put the Tigers up 3-0, and it seemed that the visitors were going to cruise from there.

    From that moment, it was time to cue the comeback for the Blades thanks mainly from an offensive explosion coming from their forward line of left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, Robins, and right-winger Martin Fasko- Rudas. They combined for four goals and seven assists.

    Crnkovic posted a goal and four assists. Robins had his first career WHL hat trick. Fasko-Rudas had three helpers.

    Just 70 seconds after Anderson’s goal, Robins netted his first of the contest to cut the Tigers lead to 3-1. 

Tristen Robins had a hat trick for the Blades on Friday.

    Crnkovic potted his 12^th of the season just a little over three minutes later to further trim the Tigers advantage to 3-2.

    With 1:22 remaining in the second, the Blades benefited from a positive type bounce you would see in an old building like the now demolished Saskatoon Arena.

    The puck was in the Tigers zone with the Blades working the power play. The Tigers tried to clear the puck around the glass, but the puck hit a stanchion and deflected to the front of the Medicine Hat goal to Blades captain Chase Wouters.

    Wouters promptly fired the gift into the Medicine Hat net to even things up at 3-3. The tally was Wouters 20^th goal of the season marking the first time the 19-year-old hit that mark in his WHL career.

    The Blades kept rolling going up 5-3 at the 1:55 mark of the third with goals coming from feisty left-winger Riley McKay and Robins netting his second of the contest.

Kyle Crnkovic had a goal and four assists for the Blades on Friday.

    Bjorklund was pulled from the Medicine Hat goal at that point turning away 26-of-31 shots he faced. Mads Sogaard turned away four-of-five shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

    Shortly after the Blades went up by two goals, Saskatoon centre Jayden Wiens, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 139 pounds, engaged Tigers centre Ryan Chyzowski, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 170 pounds, in a spirited fight.

    Wiens ended getting the take down for the win in front of a huge ovation from the Saskatoon faithful.

    With the crowd still buzzing from the fight, the Tigers scored seven seconds after the resumption of play with left-winger Corson Hopwo getting his 10 goal of the season. That tally cut the Blades advantage to 5-4.

    Robins completed his hat trick a little over two minutes later to give the Blades a 6-4 advantage.

    Shortly after Robins third tally, the Tigers went on a power play, and Blades netminder Koen MacInnes had to turn away seven shots to ensure the hosts got the two-minute kill.

James Hamblin had the Tigers first goal on Friday.

    MacInnes made a huge sprawling kick save on the kill to rob Tigers star left-winger Cole Sillinger of a sure goal.

    Still the Blades weren’t out of the woods. Tigers left-winger Nick McCarry scored with 4:54 remaining in the third to cut the Blades lead to 6-5.

    With about a minute remaining in the third, Tigers defenceman Eric Van Impe wired a shot off the crossbar of the Blades goal.

    The host side held the fort the rest of the way to preserve their third straight victory. After the final seconds of the game expired, both teams engaged in a big scrum around the Saskatoon goal.

MacInnes made 28 saves to allow the Blades to improve to 23-18-1-2.

    The Tigers fell to 29-14-1-1 with a second straight loss.

The Blades enjoy their win on Friday night.

    The Blades are back at it on Saturday, when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

    The Tigers return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Prince Albert to face the defending WHL champion Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

    If anyone forgot how fun the WHL can be, a reminder about how exciting and unpredictable major junior hockey can be was delivered on Friday night when the Blades slipped past the Tigers.

    Hopefully work of the encounter will attract a few more bodies to come sit in the stands.

    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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Desjardins still a perfect fit in Tigers’ saddle

Willie Desjardins is back behind the Tigers bench as HC and GM.

    The empathy poured out of Willie Desjardins for a fallen opponent, because he too has been on the wrong side of a blowout score.

    The legendary head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers saw his squad bomb the host Saskatoon Blades 11-3 in a WHL regular season clash before 2,632 spectators at the SaskTel Centre on Tuesday. The win allowed Desjardins’ Tigers to improve to 21-8-1, while the Blades fell to 14-14-1-2.

    While Desjardins’ Tigers are known for their high-flying, skilled and exciting offensive style, the 62-year-old veteran bench boss thought things just snowballed on the opposition.

    “Everything we shot went in,” said Desjardins. “If you look at the chances, they were probably pretty even tonight.

Cyle McNabb had a hat trick and an assist for the Tigers.

    “We wouldn’t be dominating them. They went out and they would work hard and they would get scored on. It gets pretty deflating after a period of time.

    “They have a good organization. They have some really quality players. This was a tough night for them.”

    With that said, Desjardins is happy to be back behind the bench of the Tigers after being away from the club for nine seasons. The Tigers owners and brothers, Darrell and Brent Maser, brought Desjardins back into his old roles this past May as the club was set to embark on its 50^th anniversary season.

Cole Sillinger had three assists for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    During his first run with the team from 2002-2010, Desjardins cemented himself as “the” Tigers head coach and took on the general manager’s role before the start of the 2005-06 campaign. Under Desjardins guidance over that stretch, the Tigers posted a 323-176-60 regular season record and won WHL titles in 2004 and 2007.

    He departed the team to take on coaching stints in the NHL, AHL and one season with Canada’s senior national team, which won bronze at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Last season, Desjardins was the interim head coach of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings before making his homecoming to the Alberta centre with a population around 62,000 people and the Tigers.

    “Medicine Hat is a great city,” said Desjardins. “I like the franchise a lot.

    “For me, it is always great when you can be part of this franchise. More than that, I have a really good group of guys and a great staff. It has been nice for me to come into something like that.”

Garin Bjorklund made 20 saves in goal for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    Desjardins said Medicine Hat has always been great to him, his wife, Rhonda Carlson, their sons, Brayden and Jayce and daughter Sheehan. While the family was away, they always ensured to maintain roots in “the Gas City.”

    “We always kept our house, so we were always there in the summers,” said Desjardins. “It wasn’t like we had ever left.

    “It wasn’t like we had ever been gone from Medicine Hat. We were there every year back for the summers, so we were always part of it.”

    Desjardins took over a Tigers team that posted a 35-27-4-2 record last season and fell 4-2 to the Edmonton Oil Kings in a best-of-seven first round playoff series. The Tigers were reloading for what they hoped would be another breakout season, and Desjardins said he walked into a good situation.

Bryan Lockner scored a pair of goals for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    “I think we have a good group of guys,” said Desjardins. “I think we have good structure.

    “I think we have a good staff here. I think (assistant coaches) Joey (Frazer) and Ryan (Smith) do a great job with them. I think they’ve brought a lot of structure from last year that I was able to walk into, and that is important.

    “I think people are probably surprised at how many goals we scored. Our ‘D’ weren’t noted for being offensive ‘D.’ They were known for being pretty defensive, but they’ve found a way to contribute offensively this year.”

    Desjardins also inherited 16-year-old standout rookie left-winger Cole Sillinger. Sillinger had three assists in Tuesday’s win and has piled up 11 goals, 17 assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department in 25 regular season games in the current campaign.

Tigers HC and GM Willie Desjardins give instructions to his players.

    Sillinger played for Team Canada White at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge that ran Nov. 2 to 9 in Medicine Hat and Swift Current, Sask.

    “The thing I say about Sillinger and the biggest compliment is you don’t even treat him as a 16-year-old,” said Desjardins. “He plays heavy, a heavy game.

    “He plays like an 18-year-old the way he plays. I think he has been good. He has missed some games for the under-17s, but when he has been here, he has been very good for us.”

    While Desjardins saw that he had a good hand coming back to the Tigers, he didn’t expect the season to start out as well as it has.

    “It surprised me a little bit, and I think the thing for us is it is just one game at a time,” said Desjardins. “We’ve been beaten badly by some teams, so it is not like we haven’t had our share of games like this.

Tigers captain James Hamblin had five assists on Tuesday.

    “We lost 5-0 at home (to the Everett Silvertips on Saturday). We lost 4-0 at home (to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Nov. 19). Those are big losses at home as well, so it was a tough one for the Blades, but we’ve had that in our rink.

    “We have a long ways to go to be a top team.”

    As for Tuesday’s game itself, the Tigers stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first period.

    The surge chased Blades starter Nolan Maier from the Saskatoon goal. He stopped 7-of-12 shots sent his way.

    Koen MacInnes started the second period for Saskatoon and played the rest of the way in relief. He turned away 20 of 26 shots sent in his direction.

The Tigers celebrate a goal from Lukas Svejkovsky (#20).

    The Tigers held an 8-2 edge after the second period and cruised to their 11-3 victory from there.

    Right-winger Cyle McNabb, who was traded to the Tigers by the Blades on Nov. 26, had a hat trick and an assist for the Medicine Hat side. Lukas Svejkovsky and Bryan Lockner each had two-goal nights for the Tigers, while Brett Kemp, Ryan Chyzowski, Elijah Brown and Daniel Baker all had singles.

    Tigers captain James Hamblin picked up five assists in the romp.

    The Tigers played their fourth line of left-winger Nick McCarry, centre Baxter Anderson and right-winger Noah Danielson a tonne in the third period.

    Captain Chase Wouters had a pair of goals for the Blades, while 16-year-old rookie Jayden Wiens netted a single.

    Garin Bjorklund stopped 20-of-23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. Associate player call up Evan Fradette was inserted in net at the media break with 9:05 remaining in the third period and stopped two shots in his relief appearance.

Daniel Baker scored a goal for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    The Tigers travel to Prince Albert on Wednesday to face the defending WHL champion Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

    The Blades are back in action on Friday when they host the Kamloops Blazers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    As the Tigers march through their 50^th season, Desjardins said he isn’t one to look too far ahead. With that noted, he is looking forward to Bob Ridley potentially reaching 4,000 games called near the end of the regular season.

    Tuesday’s game marked the 3,965^th game Ridley has call as the Tigers play-by-play voice in the regular season, one standings tiebreaking game, the WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament. Ridley has been the team’s only play-by-play voice, and he has only missed one game.

Overager D Parker Gavlas patrols the Tigers back end.

    In 1972, Ridley was assigned by the CHAT radio and television outlet in Medicine Hat to go to Saskatoon to cover the national women’s curling championships. A Medicine Hat rink was the Alberta champion representative, and that squad was skipped by Polly Beaton.

    The foursome had a lead named Terry Kope, who was the wife of the station’s general manager.

    Due to that connection, Ridley was dispatched to Saskatoon and had to miss calling one Tigers regular season game. Ridley drove the Tigers team bus for most of his career too.

    “I think it is a real accomplishment for Bob Ridley,” said Desjardins “What he has done in this game is incredible.

    “How does anybody go 3,900 and some games and only miss one game? Like surely he can be sick sometime along the line or whatever, but never. He wasn’t sick.

Tigers RW Cyle McNabb is stopped on this backhand attempt.

    “He is a big part of the 50 years.”

    Desjardins credited the Maser family for being a big part of the Tigers success as the team owners. Darrell and Brent inherited the team from their late father, George.

    George was part of the ownership group that founded the Tigers in 1970 with Rod Carry and Joe Fisher. George became the sole owner in 1979, and the Tigers have remained owned by the Maser family since that time.

    “The Masers are a great family,” said Desjardins, who was the captain of the 1982-83 U Sports national champion University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team. “They’ve had the franchise the whole time.

The Tigers celebrate their win on Tuesday night.

    “I can’t say enough about them and what they’ve brought to Medicine Hat.”

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

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.