Fun with photos

Garth Knittig (#59) dives in for a TD for the Hilltops.

    Defensive lineman touchdowns always make great photos.

    Anyway how saw big old Garth Knittig fly through the air like a bird in the 2017 PFC final for the Saskatoon Hilltops would know that was true. 
    The defensive tackle, who was dubbed “the Delisle Destroyer,” looked like a stout thick building standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 285 pounds getting some serious air time taking the ball on a short-yardage plunge and diving in over top of the Regina Thunder defence from a yard out.

    Knittig’s score came with 96 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and it put the Hilltops up 36-24 over the Thunder. The score would be cemented as the final outcome of the contest at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on Oct. 22, 2017.

    Before Knittig’s touchdown, the Hilltops were holding on to a 29-24 lead against their Regina rivals late in the fourth quarter and wanted to ensure the Thunder didn’t have a chance to pull out any last minute heroics.

    On Knittig’s goal-line short-yardage score, he actually wasn’t supposed to get the ball. He was in the Hilltops short-yardage offensive package to be a blocking fullback.

    Hilltops star quarterback Jordan Walls didn’t hear the play call correctly and was supposed to hand off to a regular ball carrier. He also didn’t question what he heard, because Knittig was a strong, tough and hard-working defensive tackle.

    Everyone in the Hilltops huddle would have been in favour of getting Knittig into the end zone. Little did anyone know, Knittig could run the one-yard dive play as well as Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen, who was an all-time NFL great with the Los Angeles version of the Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Garth Knittig gets set on defence in the 2017 PFC final.

    After that win, the Hilltops advanced on to win a fourth straight CJFL title.

    The image of Knittig’s score in that PFC final is one of the many photos I have captured over the years I enjoy looking at. Since I started this blog in late August of 2014, readers have constantly said they like the photos I have posted.

    Readers might not always like what I have to write, but I don’t think I have ever received a bad word regarding a picture I have posted. Most of those pictures have been from sports events that I have covered.

    Actually, I have usually received great feedback from my picture taking at sporting events. The first photos I ever took came from the second school year I worked at the University of Regina student news paper, The Carillon, in 1997-98.

    I shot a tonne of photos during my time at the Prince Albert Daily Herald from 2001 to 2004.

    I then went through a period of time where I didn’t shoot extensively. When I joined the Medicine Hat News in September of 2004, I was brought on to be a WHL beat writer that covered the Medicine Hat Tigers.

    While I did write about other sports, my main focus was on the Tigers and stories on the WHL league front.

    When I first got to the news, we had a deep editorial staff with three talented photographers. I wasn’t needed to fill that role.

The Hilltops celebrate winning the PFC title in 2017.

    During my time there, the News was sold to Glacier Media and the budget cut era began to take hold at that outlet. I took up shooting photos once again during the 2010-11 hockey season and have kept doing that craft since then.

    I actually like shooting photos more than I do writing.
    During these days that pass under the cloud of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it seems doom and gloom can overcome life.

    I figured I would share 10 more photos in no particular order I have taken over the years that look cool. I saw on my Instagram account I have posted at the moment 1,299 photos I have taken that I really like.

    That volume makes it hard to cut down to a handful of favourities. I figured this could be a fun post I could do on continuing basis even after the pandemic ends.

    With all that said, I hope you enjoy the first batch of photos I have collected for this post. 

Hannoun’s Game 7 OT winner gives WHL title to Raiders

    This will go down as the most iconic photo I have ever taken.

    Overage centre Dante Hannoun (#17) reacts to scoring the overtime winner for the Prince Albert Raiders in Game 7 of the WHL Championship series played on May 13, 2019 at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    Hannoun’s goal gave the Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. It also gave the defining moment in the history of the Raiders legendary home rink in the Art Hauser Centre.

Rams’ Hughes the Huskies in the dust

    University of Regina Rams running back Neal Hughes was one of that program’s all-time top playmakers before going on to a 10-year CFL career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

    Before he won two Grey Cup rings with the Roughriders, Hughes blasts away from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies defence in this photo take on Sept. 15, 2001. He ran the ball 17 times for 141 yards and scored two touchdowns and caught six passes for 80 yards and a major score.

    The Rams won the Hall of Fame game 31-21 before 7,238 spectators on the frozen concrete of Taylor Field.

Smith’s joyful Ruthy moment with Huskies

    Chloe Smith only played two seasons for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, but that was enough time to carve out a memorable moment.

    In this photo taken on Feb. 24, 2018, Smith (centre) celebrates scoring the winning goal for the Huskies who downed the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 2-1 in Game 2 of a Canada West semifinal series. She was in her rookie season with the Huskies when she scored this goal.
    The win allowed the Huskies to sweep the best-of-three series 2-0.

    Smith’s tally goes down as the final U Sports women’s playoff series winner scored at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

Shirley so good at age 15 with Stars

    So good, so young.

    Sophie Shirley is pictured in action here for the Saskatoon Stars at age 15 during a Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League semifinal series against the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats at the Agriplace Arena.
    At the time standing just 5-foot-4, Shirley weaved her magic piling up 12 goals and 12 assists helping the Stars win all nine of their league playoff games in 2015 and capture their first Fedoruk Cup as SFU18AAAHL champions.

    She finished second SFU18AAAHL regular season scoring with 22 goals and 17 assists in 27 games.

    Now standing 5-foot-9, Shirley is a star centre with the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team and a member of Canada national women’s development team. She helped the Badgers win an NCAA national title in 2019 and has a decorated list of accomplishments in hockey having just turned 21-years-old.

Huskies’ Machart follows Riley to the end zone

    Running back Adam Machart rocked and rolled for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in 2019.

    In this picture taken on Sept. 6, 2019, Marchart follows the block of left guard Mattland Riley in the Huskies homecoming game against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at Griffiths Stadium.

    Machart had a big night carrying the ball 15 times for 134 yards and scoring two touchdowns. He caught an additional five passes for 39 yards in a 40-7 Huskies victory before 6,278 spectators.

    That was the beginning of a huge campaign for Machart. He set a new Huskies team record for most rushing yards in a season piling up 1,334 yards on 156 carries, where he scored eight touchdowns.

    Machart also caught 20 passes for 204 yards and scored three majors through the air. His 1,538 all-purpose yards were a new Huskies team record for one regular season.

    Riley would be selected in the first round and seventh overall by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL Draft held this past April 30.

Cornwall blows roof of SaskTel Centre for Rush

    Jeff Cornwall gave the Saskatchewan Rush a dream finish to their first campaign playing out of the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

    On June 4, 2016, Cornwall, who is a Rush defender, scored a on a coast-to-coast rush with 12 seconds to play in the fourth quarter to break a 10-10 tie with the Buffalo Bandits and put the Rush ahead 11-10 sending 15,182 spectators into delirium. That 11-10 score held up as the final in Game 2 of the National Lacrosse League Championship Series.

    The Rush swept the best-of-three set 2-0 to capture their second NLL title in team history. Their first came the previous season in what was their final campaign based in Edmonton.

    This photo shows the Cornwall (centre in front) celebrating his winning goal in 2016. I like the zoomed out photos of this moment the best, because they show how crazy the SaskTel Centre crowd was.

Moskaluke performs on Canada in 2017

    Just to show I can take pictures of happenings outside of the sports world, I had to throw in this picture of Jess Moskaluke.

    In this picture, Moskaluke is performing at Diefenbaker Park in Saskatoon on Canada Day of 2017. I guess it wouldn’t be much of an admission to say I love taking pictures of Jess Moskaluke performing in concert.

    I’ve only done that twice in my life. I hope I will have another opportunity to take pictures of her in action in the future.

    She has quite the stage presence, and of course, a fantastic singing voice.

Steel’s all-heart goal celebration for the Pats

    Sam Steel represented everything that was good about the WHL’s Regina Pats.

    The star centre gave his heart and soul to the historic major junior team every time he stepped on the ice.

    This picture was taken on April 17, 2017, and it was of Steel’s celebration in scoring the Pats first goal in a series deciding Game 7 of a second round playoff series against the Swift Current Broncos.      This picture shows Steel was locked into performing heroics with the Pats.

    He finished the night with two goals in a 5-1 Pats victory. The Pats trailed in the series 3-1 before pulling out three straight wins to take the set.

    It still marks the only time in the post-season the Pats have rallied back to win a series in which they trailed 3-1.

Caller versus Loewen

    This at the moment goes down as my best photo from a hockey fight, but the fight actually wasn’t as good as the photo was.

    On Dec. 9, 2017, the Saskatoon Blades hosted the Kamloops Blazers in a WHL regular season game at the SaskTel Centre. At the 11:45 mark of the first period, Blades 18-year-old defenceman Jackson Caller fought Blazers powerhouse 19-year-old left-winger Jermaine Loewen.

    Moments before this fight, Loewen had driven Caller’s defensive partner, Evan Fiala, hard into the boards.

    Caller, who stood 6-foot-2 and weighed 189 pounds, hung in a little bit with Loewen, who stood 6-foot-4 and weighed 221 pounds. Loewen overpowered Caller and won the fight without dispute.

    The fight was one-sided, but an early still made the bout look more competitive than it was. The Blazers took the game 4-1.

Willoughby plays hero for Huskies

    Kaitlin Willoughby had a number of big moments for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, but one picture I took of her goes down as an all-time classic.

    This photo taken on Jan. 21, 2017 shows Willoughby celebrating her overtime winner that gave the Huskies a 5-4 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a U Sports regular season game at the ancient Rutherford Rink.

    Willoughby’s tally was a highlight reel one that saw her speed down the left wing in the Thunderbirds zone, cut to the net and snipe the winner top corner past diving Thunderbirds defender Kelly Murray and netminder Amelia Boughn.

    Willoughby, who was in her fourth season with the U of S at the time of this photo, finished as the Huskies second all-time leading scorer with 50 goals and 61 assists for 111 points in 132 regular season games.

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

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Drama at the end overshadows rest of Blades season

The Blades salute the SaskTel Centre crowd on Saturday night.

    At the end, it almost didn’t feel like the Saskatoon Blades won 35 games in the 2017-18 regular season.

    The Blades enjoyed their best campaign since the hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013 posting a 35-33-3-1 record to actually have the seventh most standings points in the WHL’s 12 team Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, the drama at the end of the season will be what most onlookers remember. The last impression at the moment seems to override everything else that happened.

    When all of the WHL games on Feb. 19 had wrapped up, the Blades had an eight point lead over the Prince Albert Raiders for the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blades were two points behind the Brandon Wheat Kings for the first wildcard position. The Blades had 11 games remaining on their regular season schedule including seven home dates, while the Raiders and Wheat Kings had 13 contests each to play.

The Blades released Dean Brockman as head coach on Sunday.

    Having downed the Oil Kings in Edmonton 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 19, the Blades returned to the SaskTel Centre to play the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats on Feb. 23. Saskatoon took a 4-0 lead at the 7:47 mark of that contest before the wheels fell off. Regina roared back for a 7-5 victory with call up Jacob Wasserman playing goal.

    That started an eight-game stretch where the Blades posted a 1-6-1 record to be eliminated from making the playoffs for a fifth straight year. The Blades won their last three straight to post a 4-6-1 record in their final 11 outings. The Raiders went 9-2-0-2 including nine straight wins in their last 13 games to leap into the second wildcard spot, and the Wheat Kings held the first wildcard spot going 9-4 in their final 13 contests.

Blades GM Colin Priestner speaks to the media early in the season.

    A similar story occurred in the 2016-17 campaign. The Blades held a three-point edge over the Calgary Hitmen for the last playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference near the tail end of that campaign. The Blades won one of their final five games, while the Hitmen claimed five of their last six regular season contests to vault into a playoff berth.

    Saskatoon closed the 2017-18 campaign on Saturday with a 5-4 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders before 9,624 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. Following that contest, Blades head coach Dean Brockman met with general manager Colin Priestner for about an hour.

    On Sunday morning, the Blades announced Brockman had been relieved of his duties effective immediately with two years left on his contract. At the media availability that afternoon, Priestner said at the end of the hour long talk he had with Brockman on Saturday night it became clear the team was going to part ways with the 50-year-old veteran bench boss.

Braylon Shmyr (#23) had 37 goals and 51 assists this season.

    Brockman had been the Blades head coach for the past two seasons and was an assistant coach in the two campaigns before that.

    Priestner said the fact that the Blades faltered at the end of each of the past two seasons to fall out of a playoff position was the reason for the move on the coaching front.

    The social media reaction to the development in the following days from the public was fairly toxic.

    Most threw support behind Brockman as being the sound hockey guy with a solid 17-year background in the junior A ranks with the Humboldt Broncos from 1997 to 2014. Brockman started as an assistant coach and assistant general manager before becoming the head coach and general manager in 2004. During Brockman’s years in Humboldt, the Broncos won the Royal Bank Cup for junior A supremacy in 2003 and 2008.

Blades captain Evan Fiala recently signed a pro contract.

    Priestner is viewed as the non-hockey background guy until he came on board with the Blades when his father, Mike, bought the team from Jack Brodsky before the start of the 2013-14 campaign. Colin has been the Blades general manager for the past two seasons taking on that role when the former head coach and general manager Bob Woods departed for the NHL ranks.

    After the Blades hosted the Memorial Cup in 2012-13, the team was pretty much devoid of assets, and the new ownership and management expected a long rebuild.

    In each of the past two seasons, the pressure was on the squad to show the lengthy rebuild was good enough to result in a playoff berth.

    For the most part, the Blades did see positive results on the ice from their lengthy rebuild, and it could be argued they have come out of their funk. They were hexed by the current rules for making the playoffs.

    Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the top three teams in the East and Central Divisions and the two best remaining records after those clubs qualify as wildcards entries to make up the Eastern Conference’s eight squads that advance to the post-season.

Tyler Brown was brought in to be a positive influence.

    Due to the fact the Blades finished sixth in the East Division, they were on the outside looking in as far as the playoff picture was concerned. The East Division this season was arguably the toughest division the WHL ever saw in its history.

    With the record the Blades had, they would have made the playoffs in 2016-17 and 2015-16 under the current rules. Under the rules used in the 2013-14 campaign that had a formula where the top eight teams in each of the WHL’s two conferences advanced to the post-season, the Blades would be moving on to take part in a best-of-seven first round series.

    Instead, they finished three points back of the Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blades will watch two teams they bested in standings points in the Lethbridge Hurricanes (33-33-6) and the Red Deer Rebels (27-32-10-3) go at it in the first round of the playoffs to see one of those clubs make the second round.

Centre Kirby Dach is one of the Blades bright young stars.

    Going forward, the Blades do have a sound roster. They lose overagers Braylon Shmyr, Evan Fiala and Tyler Brown.

    Shmyr, who was a star left-winger, topped the Blades in scoring with 37 goals and 51 assists. Fiala was the team’s captain and a solid defenceman, who recorded seven goals, 13 assists and a minus-two rating in the plus-minus department. On Wednesday, Fiala signed a contract with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, who are based in North Charleston, South Carolina.

    Brown built his reputation during a stellar run playing goal with the Pats, and after being acquired by the Blades in a deal before the WHL trade deadline on Jan. 10, he acted as a positive influence on rookie standout Nolan Maier.

    In Maier, the Blades will have a 17-year-old sophomore in 2018-19 that might be one of the top five goalies in the league. They will return a good group on defence in Jackson Caller, Seth Bafaro, Randen Schmidt, Dawson Davidson, Jake Kustra and possibly Russian import Mark Rubinchik.

Nolan Maier will be looking to build off a stellar rookie campaign.

    They have skill up front in Kirby Dach, Eric Florchuk, Max Gerlach, Josh Paterson, Chase Wouters and Michael Farren. Dach, who will enter his 17-year-old season, and Florchuk, who will enter his 18-year-old campaign, have the potential to be the best in that group.

    With that said, the fallout at the end of the season will be something that is hard to forget. Colin Priestner likely backed himself in a position where the team’s next head coach hire will have to be a known name that has had success in the major junior ranks or higher levels of hockey.

    It is uncertain if the new head coach will want to inherit the staff of current assistant coaches. Of that group, Bryce Thoma and Ryan Keller are under contract for the next two seasons.

    At the moment, it isn’t a stretch to say it will be challenging to sell season tickets. Even this past season, the Blades had to work hard to sell tickets and attendances over 4,000 were viewed as a big success.

Josh Paterson had a breakout campaign for the Blades.

    If the Blades gamble on a younger coach that doesn’t have a proven background in the major junior ranks or higher, it will likely be even more challenging to sell season tickets.

    When the regular season ended, everyone on the team should have likely gone through a cooling off period of at least a week before making any decisions.

    Now, the remaining staff has to make the best with the cards they have in their hands.

    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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Post-season chase hits last sprint for Blades

Blades C Josh Paterson (#61) checks Raiders D Zack Hayes.

    The Saskatoon Blades post-season chase is all going to come down to one last gasp sprint.

    Looking to make the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2013, the Blades (31-29-2-1) are tied for the second wildcard berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with the Prince Albert Raiders (27-25-9-2) at 65 points. Both teams are six points back of the Brandon Wheat Kings (33-25-3-2) for the first wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference. All three of those teams have nine game remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

    The Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats (33-25-5-1) sit one point ahead of the Wheat Kings and seven points ahead of the Blades and Raiders for third in the WHL’s East Division. The Pats have eight games remaining on their regular season schedule.

    Over the next 16 days, these four clubs could end up shuffling into various positions.

For the Blades, they are looking to get a big monkey off their back. They have matched their standings point total from last season, but they want another big sign to show their rebuild since hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013 is paying off.

Rookie Nolan Maier has been stellar in goal for the Blades.

    It has taken a lot of work to get to this point.

    Last season, the Blades were agonizingly close to a post-season berth. Entering their fifth last game of the 2016-17 campaign, they led the Calgary Hitmen by three points for the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Blades won only one of their final five games and were knocked out of a playoff position by the Hitmen, who won five of their last six outings.

    The Blades would love to ensure they make good on their chance this year. They begin their last stretch tonight, when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (31-25-6) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Saskatoon won’t see Regina down this final stretch. The Blades will face the Wheat Kings once in Brandon on March 13 and the Raiders in Prince Albert on March 16 and in Saskatoon March 17.

    The Wheat Kings have the toughest final stretch playing the WHL leading Moose Jaw Warriors (47-13-1-2) four times and the Swift Current Broncos (45-14-4-1), who sit second overall in the WHL standings, twice.

    The Raiders will see the Warriors twice and the Broncos once. The Pats don’t have any games remaining against the Warriors and finish the regular season playing the Broncos twice.

    The Blades travel to Moose Jaw on Saturday to take on the Warriors and see the Broncos one last time on March 14 in Swift Current.

Braylon Shmyr (#23) is enjoying his most productive WHL campaign.

    While there will be lots of chances for the Blades to gain ground in the standings, they have to take care of their part and win. If they don’t win, all the scoreboard watching or possible breaks from other results won’t matter too much.

    The Blades do have the roster to make their final sprint a success. Rookie netminder Nolan Maier, who turned 17-years-old in early January, has had a stellar first campaign posting a 22-13-0-1 record, a 3.11 goals against average, a .903 save percentage and two shutouts. He gives the blue and gold a chance to win night in and night out.

    Overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr is set to eclipse 80 points for the first time in his WHL career topping the Blades in scoring with 33 goals and 46 assists. Right-winger Max Gerlach and centre Josh Paterson both have 27 goals on the campaign and have a high likelihood of hitting the 30-goal plateau.

Captain Evan Fiala has anchored the back end for the Blades.

    Sophomore centre Chase Wouters has turned in a breakout campaign netting 17 goals and 29 assists.

    On the back end, the Blades have the personnel capable of closing out tight games in captain Evan Fiala, Dawson Davidson, Jackson Caller, Mark Rubinchik, Jake Kustra and Seth Bafaro.

    Head coach Dean Brockman and his staff will get their players the information they need in adjustments to have success.

    The Blades have the ability to seize that last playoff spot. They should relish this moment and just go after it without fear.

    The current Blades have a golden chance to leave their mark by helping the franchise end its post-season drought.

Clark will be in the house for tonight’s Blades game

    The Blades will have a special guest on hand for tonight’s game who has become a hometown Olympic hero.

    Emily Clark will be in attendance at the SaskTel Centre fresh of helping Canada’s women’s hockey team earn a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. The power forward, who was a former star with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team, was the youngest player on the Canadian team at age 22 and the only Saskatchewan born player on the Canadian roster.

    During the second intermission, Clark will be signing autographs at the SportsClips autograph station on the concourse. Posters of Clark will be provided.

    At the Winter Olympics, Clark had a goal in Canada’s semifinal win over the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

    Tonight’s contest is also the Blades “Shaker Night,” and the team will be raising awareness, funds and food for the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre. Fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the game as a donation, and if possible, a box of macaroni and cheese.

.@emclark13 stopped by today to visit her pal @Evan_Fiala

Did you know Evan & Emily train together in the off-season?

You'll be able to meet Emily tomorrow night at our game! 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/ZAHTg3zVEm

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) March 1, 2018

    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.

Caller finds offensive groove with Blades

Defensive defenceman developing all-around game

Jackson Caller has 10 points in his last 15 games for the Blades.

    Jackson Caller still gets surprised when he scores.

    The 18-year-old sophomore defenceman with the Saskatoon Blades slipped home a shot at the 9:20 mark of a WHL regular season clash with the Edmonton Oil Kings at the SaskTel Centre on Friday night to give his team a 3-0 lead. After the goal went in, Caller was looking around to see who had scored and didn’t realize he had netted his third of the year.

    “I just kind of sprung down the right side there, and luckily it got past the defenceman there,” said Caller. “I just shot it on net, and luckily, it took a funny bounce and went in there.”

    The goal put a cap on a strong night for the Kamloops, B.C., product, who posted a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department to help the Blades skate away with a 5-0 victory before 3,309 spectators.

    Known as a defensive-defenceman, Caller’s offensive game has been rounding into form. 

    Since the Blades returned from the WHL’s Christmas break, he has posted two goals and eight assists in 15 games.

Jackson Caller (#52) weaves his way into the offensive zone for the Blades.

    On the season, Caller has three goals, 17 assists and a minus-four rating in 49 games. Besides playing regular shifts against the oppositions’ top forward units, Caller has found himself playing the point on the Blades power play on a more regular basis.

    He said he is surer of himself in the offensive zone.

    “Confidence is a huge thing,” said Caller. “I’ve been a lot more comfortable out there jumping in the play and getting shots through.

    “Offence is coming, which is nice. It is good for the team. It feels great just to contribute to the team, so I want to keep doing that moving forward.”

Michael Farren (#27) had a goal for the Blades.

    The Blades received singles from Josh Paterson and Max Gerlach to go along with Caller’s tally in building their 3-0 lead. Gerlach’s tally came on the power play.

    The opening surge chased Oil Kings starting goalie Josh Dechaine at the media break of the opening frame from the Edmonton net. He stopped just five of eight shots sent his way.

    Todd Scott turned away 17-of-19 shots playing almost 50 minutes the rest of the way in relief.

    Saskatoon’s advantage grew to 4-0 with 2:57 remaining in the second period, when rookie centre Kirby Dach found sophomore right-winger Michael Farren. Farren proceeded to pot his fourth goal of the season. Dach had two assists on the night.

    Overage left-winger Braylon Shmyr sealed the win netting his 99^th career WHL regular season goal in the third period.

Netminder Nolan Maier covers up the puck in a shutout performance.

    Blades rookie netminder Nolan Maier, who has had a stellar campaign and turned 17 earlier this month, stopped 20 shots to pick up his second career shutout.

    The Oil Kings fell to 13-28-5-2 with the loss.

    With the Blades having won just two of their previous eight games heading into action on Friday, head coach Dean Brockman said the win was big for his club, even though the Oil Kings have had their struggles.

    “At this time of year, they are all must wins,” said Brockman. “It doesn’t matter who you play, whether they are below us or above us in the standings.

Kirby Dach had two assists for the Blades.

    “Now, there are 22 games left, and really, that is our playoff push. We have to start thinking that mentality right now.”

    The Blades pulled out the convincing win minus two of their most experienced defenceman. Overage captain Evan Fiala sat out a one-game league imposed suspension for taking a cross-checking major penalty in the Blades 7-3 loss to the Pats in Regina on Wednesday night.

    Saskatoon was also without 19-year-old rearguard Dawson Davidson due to illness.

    Due to the fact Fiala and Davidson weren’t available, the Blades played with five regular defenceman and moved winger Logan Christensen to the back end.

    Caller said the younger defensive group that hit the ice had a solid game for the Blades, and he liked his club’s overall effort.

    “It was huge to get back on track here,” said Caller. “It was a good win tonight.

    “Guys were going. Guys were moving their feet and finishing checks. That is what we like to see and moving forward we have to keep doing that.”

    The Blades improved to 24-23-2-1 with the win to hold the second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a four point edge over the Prince Albert Raiders (19-20-7-2). The Raiders have two games in hand on the Blades.

The Blades salute the SaskTel Centre crowd after their win.

    Saskatoon is four points back of the first wildcard position held by the Pats (25-20-5).

Brockman hopes the good vibes from Friday will carry over for the Blades into their game on Saturday, when they host the Prince George Cougars at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    “It feels good,” said Brockman. “I think we lacked confidence in that room.

    “Since the (WHL trade) deadline, we haven’t done what we think we can do. For us, to get a win and to get the win the way we did I think it is really important. Now, we just have to take that confidence going into tomorrow.”

    The Blades return to action Saturday, when they host the Prince George Cougars (18-24-4-3) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Vance topples Thunderbirds for a third time

Jessica Vance picked up her seventh shutout of the season on Friday.

    Jessica Vance seems to have the number of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds women’s hockey team.

    On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the 20-year-old sophomore netminder made 13 saves to back her University of Saskatchewan Huskies to a 2-0 victory over the Thunderbirds, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. In the current campaign, Vance had started all of the Huskies three regular season encounters with the Huskies, and she has come out victorious on each occasion.

    The Prince Albert, Sask., product leads the Canada West Conference in individual shutouts by a goalie at seven. The Huskies have won three straight, and Vance has posted shutouts in each of those contests.

    As a team, the Huskies have 10 shutouts to lead Canada West. In the 93 regular season games played in the 2017-18 campaign in the Canada West Conference in women’s hockey, the eight teams on the circuit have combined for 46 shutouts.

    Third-year defender Leah Bohlken scored in the second period to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead on Friday, and fifth-year forwards Kori Herner and Kennedy Harris picked up assists on the play.

    Third-year defender Emma Nutter scored on a power play in the third period to round out the scoring for the host side. Fifth-year defender Kira Bannatyne and Herner picked up assists on Nutter’s tally.

    With the win, the Huskies improve to 15-7-1, while the Thunderbirds fell to 16-5-2.

    The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rutherford.

UBC’s Hewitt stones Huskies

Sam Ruopp scored for the Huskies on Friday.

    Fifth-year goalie Matt Hewitt walled off the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    On Friday night at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C., Hewitt stopped 40-of-41 shots fired his way to back his University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to a 5-1 victory over the Huskies, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings. Friday’s encounter marked the first time the Thunderbirds managed to beat the Huskies in the three head-to-head regular season meetings between the two sides in 2017-18.

    The Thunderbirds, who have won five in a row, led 2-0 after the first period and 4-0 after the second period before posting their 5-1 victory. The Huskies saw their four-game winning streak snapped due to the setback.

    Michael Stenerson recorded two goals and an assist for the Thunderbirds. He scored his second tally into an empty net with 2:05 to play in the third period.

    Nick Buonassisi, Carter Popoff and Matt Revel all had singles for UBC.

    Sam Ruopp had the lone reply for the Huskies. Jordon Cooke turned away 13-of-17 shots to take the setback in the U of S goal.

    The Thunderbirds improved to 13-9-1 with the win, while the Huskies fell to 18-4-1. The Huskies trail the University of Alberta Golden Bears (19-3-1) by two points for first place in the Canada West Conference.

    The Huskies and Thunderbirds go at it again on Saturday in Vancouver.

    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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Brain cramps do in Blades, Pats cash in with 7-3 win

Sam Steel (#23) and Evan Fiala (#47) were part of Wednesday’s drama.

    The Saskatoon Blades need to play just a little bit smarter.

    For one of the few times this season, the Blades hurt themselves with unforced errors that piled up. The errors prevented “the Bridge City Bunch” from having a chance to have any success against the Regina Pats on Wednesday night at the Brandt Centre.

    The Pats, who are hosting the Memorial Cup in May, cashed in on the Blades mistakes to the tune of a convincing 7-3 victory before 5,454 spectators.

    The bulk of the problems for the Blades came in the second after Pats winger Nick Henry scored at the 4:43 mark of the frame to give the host side a 3-1 edge.

    Shortly after that goal, Blades 18-year-old defenceman Jake Kustra took a tripping penalty by hacking down one of the Pats players along the boards. It was a penalty that didn’t need to be taken, but the Blades killed that infraction off.

    That kill was followed by Saskatoon left-winger Gage Ramsay getting dinged for playing without a helmet. His helmet came off with the play deep in the Regina end, but the 19-year-old decided to drive to the net instead of skating to the bench.

    By now, everyone in the WHL should know you have to skate immediately to the bench, if your helmet comes off during play, and Ramsay was penalized during a moment when his side wasn’t even on the defensive.

    Things continued to pile up on the ensuing kill. Veteran Blades right-winger Josh Paterson crossed the red-line with the puck, but he didn’t clear it into the Regina zone. Instead, he had the puck stolen from him by Pats captain Sam Steel.

    Steel transitioned the play up ice to offensive defenceman Josh Mahura to create a two-on-one. Mahura fed a nice pass across the front of the Saskatoon to goal to left-winger Jesse Gabrielle, who scored on the backdoor chance to give the Pats a 4-1 edge at the 10:51 mark of the second.

Gage Ramsay took a costly penalty by playing without a helmet.

    The Blades went back to the kill a short time later, when rookie defenceman Randen Schmidt took an interference penalty behind the play.

    The Pats scored on that ensuing power play to go up 5-1 on a snipe from left-winger Jared Legien, and things got worse from there for the visitors.

    Blades captain Evan Fiala proceeded to drive Legien hard into the boards behind the Saskatoon net, which started a scrum. Steel skated in to face Fiala, and Fiala got his stick up and cross checked Steel in the face. Fiala then ended up in a fight with Pats centre Matt Bradley.

    Bradley came away with a fighting major.

    Fiala was accessed a major for fighting, a major for cross checking and a game misconduct. The cross checking major will trigger an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension on Fiala.

    At that point, the Blades were done in with their self-inflicted damage.

    Saskatoon did try to battle back. Right-winger Max Gerlach scored inside of the final minute of the second and added his second of the night 32 seconds into the third to cut the Pats lead to 5-3.

    Just 41 seconds after Gerlach’s second goal, Pats right-winger Cameron Hebig scored on a point drive through a screen to put the hosts up 6-3. Hebig would get his second of the night short-handed at the 12:31 mark of the third.

    Mahura and Czech import defenceman Libor Hajek had singles for the Pats in the first period, while Chase Wouters had the lone reply for the Blades in the opening 20 minutes.

    Steel had five assists to surpass 300 points in his WHL career. In 237 career regular season games, Steel has 107 goals and 196 assists for 303 points.

    The Sherwood Park, Alta., product seems to have developed some good chemistry playing with Hebig, who was acquired by the Pats in a deal with the Blades before the WHL’s trade deadline on Jan. 10.
    Hebig, who had an assist to go along with his two goals, went past 200 points in his WHL career. In 244 career regular season games split between the Blades and Pats, Hebig has 91 goals and 111 assists for 202 points.

    The Pats were 3-for-6 on the power play, while the Blades were 1-for-7 with man advantage. Saskatoon has won four of the six head-to-head meetings with Regina this season.

    Overage netminder Tyler Brown made 38 saves to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Brown was acquired by the Blades in a deal with the Pats that included Hebig before the WHL’s trade deadline on Jan. 10. Brown has made two starts for Saskatoon, but the Blades had less than stellar efforts in both those outings resulting in lopsided losses.

Cameron Hebig scored twice for the Pats.

    For the Blades, it would be good to get Brown his first win with the team to ensure the results of his first two starts don’t become some sort of mental hurdle.

    Ryan Kubic turned away 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pats, who improved to 25-20-5 to sit in the first wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a six point edge over the Blades. Saskatoon has a game in hand on Regina.

    The Blades fell to 23-23-2-1 to sit in the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with a four point edge over the Prince Albert Raiders (18-20-7-2). The Raiders have two game in hand on the Blades.

    Wednesday’s encounter provided a lot of footage for Blades head coach Dean Brockman and his staff to use for teaching purposes. 

    It is hard to give any opponent in the WHL multiple gifts and expect to come out on the winning end of things.

    The Blades return to action on Friday, when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings (13-27-5-2) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Blades take part in impressive school visit

Jackson Caller, left, and Evan Fiala speak to students on Monday.

    On Monday, the Saskatoon Blade captain Evan Fiala and his defensive partner Jackson Caller made one of the more serious school visits I have ever seen.

    Fiala and Caller visited Silver Heights School along with Saskatoon Police Service officers Mike Johnson and Kelly Rainville as part of Project Face-off. With this program, those four visited East Hastings in Vancouver, B.C., which is one of Vancouver’s roughest neighbourhoods.

    The four shared their experience of their visit and talked about the importance of making correct decisions in life and surrounding yourself with good supportive people. They mentioned a few of the people they met in the East Hastings neighbourhood weren’t your stereotypical “bad guys.” They said a number of the people in East Hastings were persons who once had good lives and ended up in that position due to a major life setback.

    Besides that observation, they talked about the disgusting settings some of the people were living in, which included seeing really large rats.

Mike Johnson, left, and Kelly Rainville talk to school students.

    Before the four spoke, they showed a video of them touring East Hastings to the students.

Fiala and Caller told the students they were able to stay on their paths to the WHL due to focusing on hockey and hanging out with friends that had similar aspirations. They said that helped give them the discipline to stay away from people who wanted to do something not wise and other possible not wise situations.

    In this now the 19^th season I have covered the WHL, I have seen a few school visits, but this is the first one I went to involving the Blades. The stories and the subject matter was heavy, but it was delivered in an impactful way.

    After the presentation, four little girls came up to Fiala. One played hockey with one of the local Huskies Prospects teams, and she excitedly said she wanted to follow through with her dream of playing for the Saskatoon Stars Female Midget AAA team on day. It was a pretty sweet moment considering Fiala’s younger sister, Joelle, is one of the Stars star forwards.

    The Blades made tonnes of these community appearances over the season and worked hard to stay connected with the community. Monday’s visit to Silver Heights School was a perfect example of that.

Back in the Express with Johnston

Kieran Johnston will run at the K of C Indoor Games.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with an advancer story for the Knights of Columbus Saskatchewan Indoor Games that was focused around Kieran Johnston.

    The 22-year-old is in his second season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Track and Field team. Johnston told a story about what it was like to race Ashton Eaton, who won the decathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Eaton would win the decathlon title again at the 2016 Olympics.

    Johnston raced Eaton at the 2015 K of C Indoor Games and admitted to be star struck.

    Besides talking about that race, Johnston discussed how he stepped away from sports all together for a time and came back once he realized he missed the sports. The graduate of Saskatoon’s Evan Hardy Collegiate shared what his hopes were with the Huskies this season.

    The story on Johnston can be round 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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Blades winning streak falls due to hectic schedule

Saskatoon goes down gutty playing third game in 48 hours

Chase Wouters and the Blades were in tough on Sunday.

    The WHL schedule maker might have gained an assist in bringing the Saskatoon Blades winning streak to an end.

    On Sunday, the Blades played their third game inside of 48 hours over a three day span, when they traveled to Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings for a 4 p.m. engagement. Saskatoon had a seven game winning streak intact going into Brandon.

    After downing the Kootenay Ice 4-2 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon on Saturday night, the Blades stepped off the ice at around 9:20 p.m., and proceeded to eat, load up the bus and head out to Brandon. They arrived in Brandon at about 5 a.m. on Sunday and rested up as much as they could for a contest that was less than 11 hours away.

    The Wheat Kings came into the game having Saturday off after defeating the visiting Swift Current Broncos 3-2 in overtime on Friday night at Westman Place.

    Going into Brandon to win against the Wheat Kings is difficult at the best of times, but it is almost near impossible under the circumstances the Blades were facing.

    As has been the case all season, the Blades brought all that they could on that night, and the found themselves locked in a 3-3 tie after winger Chase Wouters scored his second of the night at the 11:32 mark of the third. All of a sudden, a Wheat Kings victory was by no means a given.

    Still, the expected Brandon victory in that scenario came to pass. Ty Lewis, who is Brandon’s 19-year-old star winger, scored his second goal of the night with 1:56 to play in the third to give the Wheat Kings a 4-3 lead. Centre Stelio Mattheos scored his 29^th goal of the season into an empty net 47 seconds later to seal a 5-3 victory for the host side before 3,051 spectators at Westman Place.

    The Wheat Kings improved to 27-12-0-1 with the win, while the Blades fell to 21-18-2-1 as their seven game winning streak came to an end. Both teams are currently holding playoff positions.

Ryan Kubic made 25 saves in goal for the Blades.

    Brandon took a 3-1 lead in the first period off of Lewis’s first goal of the contest and singles from the sticks of Connor Gutenberg and Tanner Kaspick. Star overage winger Braylon Shmyr had the lone reply for Saskatoon in the opening 20 minutes.

    While the Blades were down, they didn’t pack it in. Wouters scored his first of the night in the second period to cut the Wheat Kings lead to 3-2. Brandon only held an 18-15 edge in the shots on goal department over the first 40 minutes despite being more rested than Saskatoon.

    Fatigue finally caught up to the Blades in the third period. Wouters managed to tie the contest in the third, but the Wheat Kings carried play in the frame holding a 12-3 edge in shots on goal.

    The Blades needed one more positive bounce somewhere to escape with victory, but it never came. Ryan Kubic turned away 25-of-29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Logan Thompson stopped 15 shots to pick up the win in the Wheat Kings net.

    Defensive defenceman Jackson Caller had assists on all three Saskatoon goals.

    All WHL teams face hectic parts in their schedules, but hopefully situations like the Blades faced this past weekend become less of a norm next season, when the regular season schedule shrinks from 72 games to 68 contests for each club.

    While four fewer games might not seem like a big decrease, it will create more situations were teams play on a Saturday night and get to be off until Wednesday. Playing three games in less than 48 hours increases the chances a player could be injured in the third game just due to fatigue. If you can lessen the chances of doing that, it is always a good thing.

Jackson Caller had three assists for the Blades on Sunday.

    In the current day of the WHL, players seem to be more connected with their families thanks to social media. When teams play on Saturday and proceed to be off until Wednesday, a large number of teams make Saturday a non-curfew night. Players in the current day often spend those nights going out for dinner at a nice restaurant with their families and having a quality visit.

    When the 68-game regular season schedule comes into effect, it should provide a few more chances to play on Saturday and be off until Wednesday.

    You won’t be able to loosen up all the hectic parts of the WHL schedule, but the 68 game regular season schedule should ensure there are less moments where teams play three times in less than 48 hours. That small move should do wonders for competitive balance.
    The Blades return to action on Wednesday, when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    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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