Blades grad Shynkaruk would be great add to hockey Huskies

Jesse Shynkaruk (#14) celebrates scoring a goal for the Blades last season.

    Jesse Shynkaruk and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team would be a great match for each other, if that ultimately comes to pass.

    The 21-year-old centre exhausted his WHL eligibility last season playing for his hometown Saskatoon Blades. He had a breakout year netting career highs in goals (31), assists (25) and points (56) in 58 regular season games. Shynkaruk came through in the clutch as 10 of his tallies ended up being game winners.

    In his first three major junior seasons split between the Kamloops Blazers and Moose Jaw Warriors, Shynkaruk appeared in 196 regular season games recording 23 goals and 25 assists.

    Recently, Tyler Wawryk, who is the Blades manager of communications and community relations, caught up with Shynkaruk and inquired if the speedy forward was going to join the Huskies. Shynkaruk said he was one of three players battling for two spots on the Huskies.

    It would be great if both Shynkaruk and the Huskies could make things work out. Shynkaruk did so well last season with the Blades you almost wish he had one more season to play in the major junior ranks.

    With that said, a number of factors come into play when it comes to a major junior player joining a U Sports team. Thanks to two strong recruiting classes from the past two seasons, the Huskies have a fairly deep team. They came up just short of winning a Canada West title and dropped a 5-3 decision to the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in the U Sports championship game.

    Shynkaruk, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 171 pounds, would bring a number of good intangibles to the Huskies. One is the fact he would likely really appreciate being on the team. Heading into training camp last season, Shynkaruk was without a major junior home after being released by the Warriors.

    Had he not made the Blades as a walk on player, the likelihood was high Shynkaruk’s time in major junior hockey would have been over.

Jesse Shynkaruk (#14) sets up for a scoring chance for the Blades.

    With the Blades, Shynkaruk rediscovered some of offensive touch from his final midget AAA season, when he netted 22 goals and 29 assists in 43 regular season games with the Saskatoon Contacts in the 2012-13 campaign. Shynkaruk helped the Blades make a serious push for a playoff berth.

    The Blades ultimately finished ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and five points back of a playoff berth with a 28-35-7-2 record. Shynkaruk became a fan favourite, and he was also a good representative for the team at community events.

    When the Blades were on the road, he consistently left a good impression with the media that worked in other WHL cities. That has to be viewed as impressive, because Shynkaruk doesn’t get to interact with media members in other WHL centres on a regular basis like he does with the media members in Saskatoon. He always left a good impression with the hometown media members as well.

    After his final home game on March 17 when the Blades downed the archrival Prince Albert Raiders 5-3, Shynkaruk gave a heartfelt final post-game press scrum to the media in attendance. From that press scrum, it was easy to tell Shynkaruk generally cared about what was going on.

    Under the WHL scholarship plan, Shynkaruk doesn’t have to play with a U Sports team to use the four years of paid post-secondary schooling he has earned. If he wanted to, he could just attend a post-secondary institution and focus just on classes.

    For every season a player plays in the WHL, that player receives a scholarship package that sees all his tuition, compulsory fees and textbooks paid for a school year. Shynkaruk has four school years of paid tuition, compulsory fees and textbooks to use.

    As it stands, Shynkaruk would be a great addition to the Huskies or any other U Sports team. The hometown fans have to hope he will wear the “green and white” in the fall.

Blades pump out Monday updates

    For a little over a month the Saskatoon Blades have been pumping out Monday updates on their website, and they have been pretty well done.

    Tyler Wawryk, who is the team’s manager of communications and community relations, has been crafting the updates. The writing part reflects a style you once saw in WHL notebooks, which were commonly produced in mainstream media outlet newspapers. With these outlets often being cut to one or two staffers, the WHL notebook is rarely seen these days.

    The Blades update gives a roundup of various happening with the team and the club’s alums. The notebook points are usually accompanied by graphics.

    With most mainstream outlets in Canada having undergone severe cuts, the pressure falls on teams like the WHL’s Blades to do more coverage on themselves through their own website and social media platforms. The same holds true for every high level competitive sports program in Canada that is not an NHL franchise.

    Ultimately, Canadian sports leagues need to follow the lead of NFL teams, which have been covering themselves on a league and individual franchise basis for at least two decades. The NFL was pretty much the first league that did a lot of media coverage on itself on the Internet in the late 1990s.

    While most to almost all Canadian elite sports teams or groups do not have anywhere near the money the NFL brings in, the cold reality is they have to cover themselves, if they want to have a bigger presence in the public. Fans will read and view what is posted.

    The Blades have done a good job in trying out different tweaks on their website and social media platforms. The Monday update is a nice addition. I imagine creating all this content makes Wawryk extremely busy, so here is hoping he can keep it up.

    The last Monday update can be round here.

Love the vintage look

The date for our home opener is set! Friday, September 22nd vs the @SCBroncos #RiseWithUs pic.twitter.com/MxFBQSDc2x

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) June 26, 2017

    When the Saskatoon Blades put out their Twitter post announcing their home opener against the Swift Current Broncos, you had to love the graphic that contained the classic logos.

Braylon Shmyr looks to make a pass for the Blades.

    Actually during the off-season, the Blades have gone full out using their vintage blue and goal “Pac-Man” logo that was the team’s primary look through the 1980s and early 1990s. The team’s website was changed to use the retro blue and gold colour scheme as a primary look as well.

    The Blades have used the retro jerseys with the old “Pac-Man” logo as an alternate for some time. Among the team’s fans, that has always been the most popular look, and there has been a longing to make the retro jerseys the club’s full-time look once again.

    While official word hasn’t come yet, it seems with all the hints this will come to pass.

    Actually over the last decade, a number of pro teams in all sports and major junior teams have reverted to a past look, which has been received with a lot of praise. The Blades face one of those teams opening the regular season against the Broncos on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Before the start of the 2014-15 campaign, the Broncos ditched their black and blue modern looking jerseys for their classic blue, green and white look with the horseshoe, bucking bronco logo. The Broncos had this look when the franchise returned to Swift Current in 1986 after spending 12 seasons in Lethbridge. The switch to the retro look has been popular with Broncos fans.

Tyler Steenbergen zips into the offensive zone for the Broncos.

    This past season, the look was part of many pieces coming together for a Broncos revival. Other things that have powered the revival is the fact Sheldon Kennedy, who was the captain of the Broncos 1989 Memorial Cup winner, has been back to Swift Current a number of times in recent years and labelled as a real Canadian hero for his public work on the child advocacy front over the years.

    The small city also built a beautiful monument to remember players Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff who died in a team bus crash on Dec. 30, 1986.  The monument is located near the crash site on the outskirts of town.

    All of these things have come together to give the Broncos a new level of support the team likely hasn’t seen in some time. The Credit Union i-Plex, which is the Broncos home rink, was likely the loudest building in the WHL playoffs last season. Swift Current advanced to the second round and lost a heartbreaking seven-game series to the Regina Pats.

    It is always cool when a team brings a popular past look back into the future.

Brooks showing small guys can still play

Adam Brooks signed with the NHL’s Maple Leafs

    Recently graduated Regina Pats captain Adam Brooks had a moment which seemed at one point in time it might not come to pass.

    On Thursday, Brooks signed a three year NHL entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 21-year-old Winnipeg product was selected in the fourth round and 92^nd overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Leafs.

    Brooks graduated from the Pats as one of the club’s most beloved heart and soul players. Over five seasons, he played in 317 regular season games collecting 119 goals and 216 assists. His 335 career regular season points make him the 10^th all-time leading scorer in Pats history.

    The skilled centre stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 175 pounds, and for a while, it seemed like the NHL started drifting away from players that didn’t stand at least 6-feet in height and be at least 200 pounds in weight.

    Brooks topped the WHL in scoring as a 19-year-old in 2015-16 netting 38 goals and 82 assists playing in all 72 regular season games. Despite his stellar season and being arguably one of the top three forwards in the league, it was conceivable Brooks might not be drafted. The fact the Leafs picked him was a big milestone.

    He returned to Regina to captain the Pats as an overager collecting 43 goals and 87 assists to finish a point behind teammate Sam Steel for the WHL scoring lead. Brooks helped the Pats top the WHL’s overall standings at 52-12-7-1 and advance to the WHL Championship series, where they fell 4-2 in a best-of-seven set to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

    The fact Brooks signed NHL contract is another big milestone. With the Leafs having Mike Babcock as head coach, Brooks a real look to one day make the NHL.

    His story has to give confidence to other players that are short in stature. In this year’s NHL Entry Draft, the Edmonton Oilers selected Spokane Chiefs winger Kailer Yamamoto in the first round and 22^nd overall. Yamamoto, who turns 19 in September, stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 146 pounds. Despite being small, he piled up 42 goals and 57 assists in 65 regular season games this past season with the Chiefs, who are his hometown WHL team.

    The winger established himself as one of the WHL’s most exciting players. He might get to duplicate his accomplishments in the professional ranks one day.

Getting Semenko a piece of video history

Dave Semenko, back row centre, in an old Oilers team picture.

    The world let along the sport of hockey lost one of its best characters on Thursday when famed Edmonton Oilers enforcer Dave Semenko passed away from pancreatic cancer at age 59.

    I never met Semenko, but I was still sad to hear of his passing. I also got a chuckle remembering the various colourful interviews he did over the years.

    In a round-about way, I helped contribute indirectly of getting him a piece of hockey history. During my first year living in Medicine Hat cover the WHL’s Tigers in the 2004-05 campaign, I met former Tigers and Winnipeg Jets standout Morris Lukowich at an old timers’ charity game.

    I had a VCR copy of the last contest ever played in the history of the World Hockey Association, when the host Winnipeg Jets defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the WHA title series to win the Avco Cup. Lukowich was a member of that winning Jets team.

    When I handed him the tape in order to get the cover autographed, he asked if that tape really had a copy of the game on it. I said it did, and he asked if I could mail him a copy of that tape to his place. I made a copy of that game and sent it to Lukowich.

    Later on that season, I ended up calling Lukowich for a throwback story for the Medicine Hat News. When the interview was done, we ended up talking about that tape. Lukowich thanked me for sending it to him.

    Having a few video machines at his place to use for coaching, Lukowich told me he made copies to send to all his former Jets teammates and coaches. He then told me he made a copy and sent it to Semenko, who was on that Oilers team that lost to the Jets.

    I laughed and couldn’t believe it. The Jets won that contest in a 7-3 romp at the old Winnipeg Arena, and I thought Lukowich might have been trying poke some fun at the legendary pugilist.

Lukowich laughed and said they were good friends. He added Semenko scored the final goal in that contest, which was the final goal ever in the history of the WHA. Lukowich thought it would be a nice keepsake.

    With that knowledge, I contributed to delivering a memory to Semenko about one of his historic hockey moments.

Huskies duo completes Banff Marathon

Congrats to @willowtree92 and @lilmisskittylik on completing the Banff Marathon 42.2 KM Full Marathon in a time of 4:25:30. pic.twitter.com/DAhapYUOXV

— UofS Women's Hockey (@HuskiesWHKY) June 21, 2017

    Lauren Zary and Kaitlin Willoughby showed their athletic prowess isn’t limited hockey, and they went to Banff to display that fact.

    Back on June 18, the pair completed the Banff Marathon. Zary, who just exhausted her eligibility with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, crossed the finish line in four hours, 25 minutes and 30 seconds, and Willoughby, who is a star centre entering her final season with the Huskies, finished officially one second back of Zary.

    For anyone to complete a race that is 42.2 kilometres in length is impressive, so a big congratulations is passed on to the pair. Both Zary and Willoughby accomplished something most people in the world won’t do. As an added bonus, they did it in the scenic mountain terrain of Banff.

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

Blades inch closer to being playoff participant

The Blades celebrate a 4-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels on Feb. 4.

    For the fourth straight year, the Saskatoon Blades will not take part in the WHL playoffs, but this year’s post-season miss is more painful than the previous three.

    The Blades season game to an end last Saturday with a 5-1 setback to the archrival Raiders in Prince Albert. Saskatoon finished the 2016-17 campaign with a 28-35-7-2 record to sit five points behind the Calgary Hitmen (30-32-8-2) for eighth overall in the WHL’s Eastern conference and the conference’s second and final wildcard berth for the post-season.

    Entering their fifth last game of the season, the Blades were three points ahead of the Hitmen for the last playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. The Blades won only one of their final five contests, while the Hitmen went on a tear winning five of their final six outings.

Braylon Shmyr led the Blades in scoring with 66 points.

    When the WHL post-season began on Friday, the Blades were again on the outside looking in.

    Had maybe two or three more breaks gone the Blades way, they may have very been participating in the post-season for the first time since 2013. The biggest obstacle the team faced was the injury bug, as a number of the club’s top players spent lengthy stretches on the shelf with various ailments.

    The most noticeable absence was star centre Cameron Hebig, who missed the entire campaign with an upper body injury. The local product was the Blades second leading scorer in 2015-16 netting 26 goals and 43 assists in 59 regular season games. Had Hebig been available for all or parts of this past season, the Blades likely would have sat comfortably in a playoff position.

    On top of Hebig’s absence, Braylon Shmyr, who topped the Blades in scoring with 35 goals and 31 assists in 66 appearances, missed time due to a concussion. Overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk missed about 14 games with an upper body injury. The local product still finished second in team scoring with career highs in goals (31) and assists (25) appearing in 58 games.

Jesse Shynkaruk potted a career 31 goals with the Blades.

    Right-winger Mason McCarty was out for about 35 games with a leg injury and he managed to record 21 goals and 16 assists in 45 appearances. That just scratched the surface of the Blades injury woes for the campaign. Injuries were a big factor in the Blades scoring the third fewest goals in the league at 190.

    Big credit has to be given to head coach Dean Brockman and assistant coaches Ryan Keller, Bryce Thoma and Jerome Engele for holding the ship together. Still, Brockman has visions of bigger things.

    “We fought through a lot of injuries and adversity, and we never used that as an excuse, and I still don’t want to use it as an excuse,” said Brockman. “I am proud of our team for what they accomplished.

    “Did we get to where I want to get to? Every year I want to win a championship to be honest with you. If you don’t do that I don’t find it successful.

    “Is a bit unbelievable to think that way all the time? You have to have something to strive for.”

Logan Flodell was named a WHL second team Eastern Conference all-star.

    Brockman is taking the right approach. At the start of the season, you want to have winning a championship as your goal, because it helps give the team clarity of purpose. When teams work their hardest to achieve that goal, it helps create conditions were players seem to achieve things beyond their abilities.

    Due to all the injuries, the Blades were constantly having to place younger players higher on the depth chart and have them play roles they weren’t expected have yet or in some cases maybe ever have. Players like forwards Chase Wouters and Michael Farren, who were in their 16-year-old seasons, performed beyond their limits and gained experiences that will help them in the future.

    The same goes for forwards Josh Paterson and Logan Christensen and defenceman Jackson Caller, who all completed their 17-year-old seasons.

Libor Hajek signed an NHL entry-level contract with Tampa Bay.

    Forward Kirby Dach impressed in his call ups from the Fort Saskatchewan Boston Pizza Rangers midget AAA team netting six goals and four assists in 19 contests with the Blades. The second overall selection in last year’s WHL Bantam Draft will play his 16-year-old rookie season with the club in the upcoming campaign.

    As far as guiding the improvement was concerned, Blades general manager Colin Priestner loved how Keller handled the skill development and power play. Priestner applauded how Thoma handled the defence. On top of everything, the general manager was impressed how calmly Brockman handled the difficulties.

    “He (Brockman) had adversity every day to deal with, and didn’t make excuses,” said Priestner. “He really had that next man up philosophy.

Chase Wouters is one of the Blades youngsters that has a bright future.

    “If we lose a player for a month, six months or whatever it was, he wouldn’t show that despair to the players. He kept a very even keel with the players and the coaches. I think that allowed us to be successful.”

    The individuals that had the biggest success were goaltender Logan Flodell and import defenceman Libor Hajek. Flodell established himself as a legitimate number one starter during his 19-year-old campaign. The Regina product was named a second team WHL Eastern Conference all-star posting a 22-20-4 record, a 2.81 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and three shutouts.

    Hajek signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning after netting four goals and 22 assists in 65 games with the Blades this past season in his 18-year-old campaign. 

Jackson Caller logged a tonne of minutes as Blades rookie defenceman.

    The Lightning selected Hajek in the second round and 37^th overall in last year’s NHL Entry Draft. He is currently with the Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate the Syracuse Crunch.

    At the moment, the Blades have a glut of possible overagers returning next season with six players battling for three spots. The potential returnees include Flodell and fellow netminder Brock Hamm along with defenceman Evan Fiala. Shmyr, McCarty and Hebig are also in that mix.

    The obvious man out is likely Hamm due to the stellar campaign Flodell had.

    With that said, the Blades will return three really good overagers next year. If they can find players or a way to generate more goals next season, a post-season appearance has an extremely high likelihood of being a reality.

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

A star-crossed home farewell for Blades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Braylon Shmyr brings the puck up ice for the Blades.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blades goalie Logan Flodell deals with traffic from the Raiders.

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

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

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

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

Jesse Shynkaruk brings the puck up ice for the Blades.

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

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

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

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

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

Pats capture WHL regular season title, Blades wonder what might have been

Caleb Fantillo (#39) looks out to the ice after the Blades loss.

    REGINA - The Saskatoon Blades did their best to try and spoil the party for the Regina Pats.

    They stormed out to a 3-1 lead after the first period in a WHL clash on Tuesday night at the Brandt Centre. From there, the Pats staged a classic comeback to skate away with a 5-4 victory and lock up first place overall in the WHL regular season standings for the first time since they last won the Memorial Cup in 1974.

    While the Pats, who improved to 49-12-7-1, celebrated winning the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy to the delight of 4,695 spectators, the Blades were left to ponder how much closer they are getting to the end of their campaign.

    Saskatoon dropped to 27-34-7-2 to fall perilously close to being eliminated from playoff contention.

    Entering the night, the Blades could potentially catch either the Red Deer Rebels or the Calgary Hitmen to move into a playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Rebels (29-28-8-4) clinched a playoff berth with an 8-3 romp over the Tigers in Medicine Hat.

The Pats salute their fans after Tuesday’s game.

    The Hitmen (28-31-8-2) led the Blades by three points in the standing for eighth place overall in the Eastern Conference and the conference’s final wildcard berth. Calgary just needs to earn two more points in the standings to clinch the conference’s final playoff berth and can do just that in a road clash against the Rebels in Red Deer on Wednesday. The Rebels sit four points ahead of the Hitmen in the standings.

    “It (the Blades dressing room) is pretty deflated right now,” said Blades overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk. “Not too many words were said after that one especially giving up a two-goal lead.

    “We are not out of it yet technically, but it seems like the odds are pretty well stacked against us. We need pretty much a miracle to get into playoffs. We are not out of yet.

    “We will see what Calgary does and go from there.”

    In the opening 20 minutes, Caleb Fantillo, Dryden Michaud and Josh Paterson all netted singles for the Blades, while Nick Henry replied for the Pats.

Jesse Shynkaruk weaves into the offensive zone for the Blades.

    The tallies from Michaud – the first of his WHL career - and Paterson came 28 seconds apart from each other near the end of the first period and broke a 1-1 tie.

    The Pats regrouped and came at the Blades in waves in the second. Jeff de Wit started the rally for the hosts, and star centre Sam Steel buried his 49^th of the season off a giveaway from Blades import defenceman Libor Hajek to tie things up at 3-3.

    With 1:44 to play in the second, Steel sent a beauty pass to pinching defenceman Josh Mahura on a two-on-one break to put the Pats up 4-3.

    “A team like that, you can’t give them any momentum,” said Shynkaruk. “They ran with it and got a couple of quick ones. We were kind back on our heels, and it kind of went from there.”

    In the third, Pats star offensive defenceman Connor Hobbs blasted home his 29^th of the season from the point while working the power play to extend Regina’s advantage to 5-3 with 4:38 to play.

Blades rookie Dryden Michaud, centre, celebrates his first WHL goal.

    Still, the Blades didn’t go away and had a chance to rally back, when the Pats encountered penalty troubles. Working on a two-man advantage with the goalie pulled, Blades winger Michael Farren converted a passing play from Shynkaruk and Braylon Shmyr to cut Regina’s lead to 5-4 with 1:17 to play.

    Saskatoon continued to work on the power play through to the end of the frame but couldn’t find the equalizer.

    Logan Flodell turned away 30 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades. Tyler Brown turned away 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Pats.
    Regina captain Adam Brooks picked up three assists in the win.

    Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock was pleased to see his club lock up first overall and home ice advantage through the entire WHL playoffs.

    “I think any time that happens everybody is obviously extremely happy,” said Paddock. “You think about it after you achieved it.

Sam Steel netted his 49th goal of the season and two assists for the Pats.

    “There is lots more we obviously want to do. As (assistant coach) Dave (Struch) just said in there, it is really hard thing to be the best team after 72 games.

    “It doesn’t mean a lot. You get some sort of trophy, but it is not what you are ultimately playing for.”

    Paddock of course was hinting at winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions and capturing the Memorial Cup for major junior supremacy.

    Last season with the Rebels, de Wit was part of team that advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series and played in the Memorial Cup tournament as the host squad.

    On WHL trade deadline day back on Jan. 10, de Wit was dealt along with Mahura from the Rebels to the Pats to help Regina make a long post-season run, and the gritty forward, who celebrated his 19^th birthday on Tuesday, was happy to help the Pats lock up first overall in the WHL.

Josh Mahura works the point on the power play for the Pats.

    “I knew how deep this team was and the type of skill they had,” said de Wit. “Coming here, I just wanted to contribute and play my best hockey.

    “I’ve done that for the most part, and it is pretty exciting to clinch league.”

    For the Blades, they are forced to mull over three straight losses against two very tough teams. Before falling to the Pats on Tuesday, the Blades dropped both games of a home-and-home series with the Swift Current Broncos, who are 38-21-4-6, this past weekend. Saskatoon played good enough to win one or even all of its last three games.

    “It is frustrating for sure,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “It is disappointing. It is frustrating.

    “You can use a lot of different words to describe it. Really, it is all about lessons. For some of the younger guys that get into this position where you need wins and you need to win games at this time of the year it is a great experience for them.”

Pats captain Adam Brooks works magic in the offensive zone.

    Brockman said the Pats have a team that is at a more advanced stage than his side.

    “They’ve got how many wins for a reason, and they won the league for a reason,” said Brockman. “Certainly, they should have that ability to get to that level.

    “We are close to being out of the playoffs, so I mean certainly it is the tale of two different teams for sure.”

    The Pats return to action Wednesday, when they host the Broncos at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    The Blades return home to host the Prince Albert Raiders (20-43-5-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    “Whatever happens, we have to play hard in front of our home fans – give them something to come out to,” said Shynkaruk. “(We need to) finish the season hard.”

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

Raiders full of potential

Parker Kelly celebrates scoring a goal for the Raiders.

    The Prince Albert Raiders might see better days sooner than later.

    Here is hoping they don’t abandon their rebuilding plan.

    Last season, optimism was high in “Hockey Town North” after the Raiders finished second in the WHL’s East Division with a 38-26-7-1 mark. Their campaign came to an end in the first round of the playoffs, when the Moose Jaw Warriors took a best-of-seven opening round series 4-1.

    The 2015-16 campaign marked the third time since 2005 the Raiders finished with a winning record. There was hope locally the “Green and Gold” could extend the success of that season into something more.

    At the start of this season, the Raiders stumbled out of the gate. On top of slow start, overage winger Reid Gardiner, who led the Raiders in scoring last season with 43 goals and 49 assists, stuck for the first half of the current campaign in the professional ranks with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.

Ian Scott has impressed playing goal for the Raiders.

    With those developments, the Raiders elected to go young and build for future seasons. Currently, their roster contains three players in their 16-year-old years, eight in their 17-year-old years and eight in their 18-year-old years.

    The Raiders have taken their lumps, which is shown by the fact they have the second worst record in the WHL at 18-42-5-2. With that said, the rebuild is already showing some results as the Raiders are 10-8-2 over their last 20 games. Actually, they are the team you don’t want to play right now, because they can play spoiler for those clubs that are battling for a playoff spot or post-season positioning.

    On Tuesday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert, you could see the Raiders are coming around. They dropped a 4-2 decision to the visiting Swift Current Broncos in what was a very good hockey game.

Winger Cole Fonstad has a big upside for the Raiders.

    The two teams were locked in a 2-2 draw in a spirited back-and-forth affair going into the final minute of the third period. Broncos winger Tyler Steenbergen scored the winner with 57.9 seconds to play in the third, and the visitors added an empty-net goal to seal the final outcome.

    In defeat, the Raider showed off a lot of good signs. First, goaltender Ian Scott, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 168 pounds, showed he could be something special stopping 30-of-33 shots fired his way.

    Scott, who is in his 17-year-old season, has made a lot of hard saves all season and turned heads when the Raiders were in their worst downswings.
    The Calgary product is rated second among all North American goaltenders in the midterm rankings released by NHL Central Scouting just pass the middle of January.

    Winger Parker Kelly, who is also in his 17-year-old campaign, potted both Raiders goals and is two goals shy of the 20-goal mark.

Czech product Simon Stransky leads the Raiders in scoring.

    Wingers Cole Fonstad and Spencer Moe, who are both in their 16-year-old seasons, had a lot of spirited shifts. You wonder how much better they will be with one or two off-seasons of training under their belts to get stronger and faster.

    Besides those young players, the Raiders could potentially return Czech winger Simon Stransky for two more seasons.
    On a more veteran Raiders team as a rookie last season, Stransky had 19 goals and 43 assists in 62 regular season games. He leads the Raiders in scoring this season with 19 goals and 25 assists in 52 regular season games.

    The defensive pairing of Zack Hayes and Max Martin looks like a solid one with both players in their 17-year-old seasons.
    Hayes, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 212 pounds, is rated 152^nd among North American skates in the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings.

Brayden Pachal has gained an increased role on the Raiders blue-line.

    Actually, the Raiders have a nice base on the blue-line of four players in their 17-year-old seasons and two in their 18-year-old years that they could potentially progress along to be a very tough unit.

    While the announced attendance on Tuesday was 1,886 with a lot of visible no-shows due to bad weather, those that came created a pretty good atmosphere in the building.

    Prince Albert has a solid general manager in Curtis Hunt, who has had a long association with the WHL. The players are already starting to play a nice structured team game under veteran head coach Marc Habscheid and veteran associate coach Dave Manson.

    Basically, the Raiders need to stick to the plan. While they are playing spoiler to wrap up this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they became a force next season.
    NOTE - The Raiders will host a special pre-game ceremony before their match against the Brandon Wheat Kings on 7 p.m. Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. The NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs will be delivering the original banner that hung in the Air Canada Centre honouring Johnny Bower to his hometown of Prince Albert.
    During the NHL’s opening night this season, the Maple Leafs unveiled new banners that now hang in their rink honouring 18 of their former players who have had their numbers retired. The originals are being delivered to each player’s hometown. Bower’s is the 10th banner to be delivered as part of the tour, and it will be presented by Maple Leafs alum Ron Ellis. 

Blades riding high after impressive road wins

Centre Jesse Shynkaruk hit the 30-goal mark with the Blades.

    The Saskatoon Blades have jacked things up in their playoff push.

    After two big wins on a mini two-game road swing, excitement about the possibility of the Blades making the post-season for the first time since 2013 has to be at a big high. On Tuesday, the Blades rolled into Red Deer and downed the host Rebels 2-1 in overtime.
    Overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk potted both of Saskatoon’s goals to give him his first 30-goal campaign of his WHL career that spans four seasons. Netminder Logan Flodell made 35 stops to pick up the win in the Blades goal.

    That victory set the stage for a dream night on Wednesday in Calgary. Playing the host Hitmen in a contest that was shown live on Shaw, the Blades exploded out to a 6-0 lead and closed the contest out with an impressive 6-2 victory.

    Those wins allowed the Blades to improve to 27-31-7-2 and vault past the Hitmen for eighth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and hold the conference’s second wildcard berth for the post-season. The Hitmen fell to 25-31-8-2 to sit three points behind the Blades in the standings with a game in hand.

Kirby Dach had a big goal against the Hitmen.

    The Blades victory on Wednesday impressed on a number of fronts. First, the Blades took advantage of the fact the Hitmen elected to start netminder Cody Porter, who hadn’t played since Jan. 6 due to an upper body injury.

    Porter looked rusty and was pulled after giving up four goals on 13 shots. Two of those goals against were the result of strong hustle from the Blades combined with rust from Porter.

    Saskatoon’s first goal came at the 5:08 mark of the opening frame, when Porter was a bit careless playing the puck behind his own goal. Centre Kirby Dach, who the Blades selected second overall in last year’s WHL Bantam Draft, stole the puck from Porter and quickly potted the game’s first tally into an empty cage.

    The Blades fourth goal of the contest that chased Porter was almost carbon copy of their first tally, but winger Josh Paterson made the steal and score this time. To add insult to injury, Paterson’s goal was a short-handed marker.

    While the Blades have won most of their games this season with hard work and grit, Wednesday’s contest provided the rare chance to see how they would react to playing with a huge lead. When Paterson scored to put them up 4-0, there was still 7:33 to play in the second period.

    For a moment, you had to wonder how the Blades would react to holding such a big edge. Could they keep playing hard to finish the game off, or would they go into a shell thinking the game is over and let Calgary back into the contest?

Logan Flodell backstopped the Blades to two big wins.

    The “Double Blue” proceeded to finish off the win. They scored twice in the third to build a 6-0, and Calgary responded with a pair of tallies in garbage time.
    Flodell, who has been sensational all season, had a more quiet night making 16 saves to pick up the win in goal.

    With five games remaining on their schedule, the Blades are so close to a post-season berth they can almost taste it. Going into their second last home game on Friday when they host the Swift Current Broncos (35-21-4-6) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre, you have to think there has to be a little more excitement among the locals in Saskatoon about the Blades playoff push.

    You can bet the steady diehards that are at each and every game will be gitty. The confidence in the Blades dressing room has to be at an all-time high too. You almost wish they could drop the puck for the upcoming game with the Broncos right at this very moment.

Superstition of trophy touching is stupid

Brennan Yadlowski, right, avoids touching the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

    The University of Alberta Golden Bears men’s hockey team raised a few eyebrows from anyone that remained at the ancient Rutherford Rink on Sunday night, when the players decided to avoid touching the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

    That night, the Golden Bears downed the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies 6-3 in Game 3 of the best-of-three Canada West championship series to take the set 2-1. The U of A captains accepted the Canada West championship banner, but captain Brennan Yadlowski wouldn’t touch the Canada West championship trophy. He posed for a picture with presenter Merlis Belsher.

    The Golden Bears were mimicking a superstition that has existed in the NHL for years, where team members avoid touching the conference championship trophies to show their goal is to capture the Stanley Cup.

    In the WHL, teams often avoid touching the conference championship trophy, but they will still parade around the rink with the WHL championship trophy, the Ed Chynoweth Cup, despite earning a berth to the Memorial Cup championship tournament.

    U of A has won the Canada West championship 14 times in the last 17 years, so the Golden Bears players can feel superstitious if they want. They go to the University Cup national championship tournament almost on an annual basis and have won the U Sports national title 15 times in their history.

    Still, I think electing to not touch the Canada West championship trophy is stupid. Canada West is a good league, and it is always hard to win the conference title. You should take full joy in winning your league.

    On top of that, university national championship tournaments are a different beast. This will be the third straight year in U Sports where both the men’s and women’s national championship hockey tournaments will be decided in an elite-eight single elimination format.

    The elite-eight format is built to allow for upsets, so a great hockey team can be done in a squad with a hot goalie and a slick goal scorer. At least in a best-of-three series, you have the leeway to have a bad game or lose a fluke game.

    I still say touch the conference championship trophy. Sidney Crosby does it, and he has two Stanley Cup rings.

Follow Drinnan’s Taking Note blog

    For those looking to a one stop shop blog to catch a roundup of all the major news involving the WHL, you should check out Gregg Drinnan’s Taking Note blog.

    Drinnan, who is a former sports editor with the Regina Leader-Post and the defunct Kamloops Daily News, has covered the WHL since the early 1970s and his insight and knowledge of the league can’t be matched anywhere. His blog can be found 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.

Point still important in big playoff picture for Blades

Blades goalie Brock Hamm holds off the Silvertips.

    The Saskatoon Blades have reached the point where they never like to lose, but when you are trying to cement a playoff berth, any point you can get in the standings is important.

    On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades were looking to extend their winning streak to four games taking on the Everett Silvertips, who are rated eighth in the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10 rankings. The two teams battled to a legitimate even 1-1 stalemate though 60 minutes of regulation time and a five-minute three-on-three overtime period.

    In a four-round tiebreaking shootout, the Silvertips prevailed 2-1 to take the contest 2-1 before 2,935 spectators. Riley Sutter netted the winner in the shootout for the Silvertips, who also received a goal from Orrin Centazzo in the tiebreaker session. Jesse Shynkaruk had Saskatoon’s lone goal in the shootout.

The Blades and Silvertips scramble in front of the Everett net.

    The win allowed the Silvertips, who have won three in a row, to improve to 34-12-8-2 and move a point ahead of the idle Seattle Thunderbirds (36-16-3-2) for first place in the WHL’s U.S. Division.

    The Blades saw their record move to 23-26-5-2. The point they earned in the standings allowed them to sit three points up on the idle Calgary Hitmen (20-26-8-2) for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    While the Blades expectations of themselves have increased despite the face they are missing six regulars due to injury, they still must be mindful of the bigger picture.

    Saskatoon is trying to nail down its first playoff berth since 2013, when the Blades hosted that year’s Memorial Cup. After three years of missing the post-season, the Blades are sitting in a playoff position as of Feb. 15. They were nowhere near such a spot this late in a campaign during the last three years.

Centre Kirby Dach (#77) gets set in the offensive zone for the Blades.

    On paper, you wouldn’t expect the Blades to match up well against a team like the Silvertips. The fact Saskatoon earned a point against Everett is big, because a number of other teams in the WHL’s Eastern Conference playoff chase wouldn’t be able to say the same thing.

    The Blades have beaten some of the WHL’s elite teams this season including the Regina Pats, who top the WHL’s overall standings, and the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers. Against the Silvertips, it appeared the Blades were poised to send another elite team down to defeat.

    Saskatoon opened the scoring in the clash with Everett in the first period, when underage centre Kirby Dach deflected home a point shot from Blades overage defenceman Bryton Sayers.

Riley Sutter (#14) wins a draw for the Silvertips.

    At the 14:04 mark of the second period, the Silvertips tied things up at 1-1, when overage left-winger Dominic Zwerger netted his 23^rd goal of the season.

    For most of the night, the goalies stole the show. Silvertips netminder Carter Hart, who played for Canada’s world junior team this season, turned away 30 shots over 65 minutes of play to allow the Silvertips to have a chance to win in a shootout.

    Blades netminder Brock Hamm, whose WHL career has shown a resurgence since the start of last December, stopped 28 shots over 65 minutes of work. Had Hamm bested Hart, it would have marked his biggest personal win of the season.

The Silvertips celebrate their victory after a tiebreaking shootout.

    As long as the Blades keep collecting points in the standings, they put that much more pressure on the Hitmen to keep pace. Saskatoon will try to increase its hold on the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference when they travel to Cranbrook, B.C., on Friday to face the Kootenay Ice.

    Every small step the Blades take in increasing their point total in the standings gets them that much closer to hitting the ice in the post-season.

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

Battling Blades take feisty encounter with Rebels

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Blades celebrate their victory over the Rebels.

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

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

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

Suspensions could be on the horizon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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