Laing on fire for Blades

Winger scores twice in win over Raiders, leads WHL in scoring

Hunter Laing (#27) celebrates his second of two goals on Saturday.

Hunter Laing has the proverbial chip on his shoulder and is on a mission in his final WHL campaign.

Over the summer, the 20-year-old Saskatoon Blades star right-winger saw the Calgary Flames allow his NHL signing rights to expire on June 1. Laing had been selected in the sixth round and 170^th overall by the Flames in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

After the Flames elected not to sign Laing, the skilled forward, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 210 pounds, was able to re-enter the NHL Entry Draft held this past June 26-27 in Buffalo. He went unselected there, which means he is a free agent when it comes to the professional level of the game.

Hunter Laing leads the WHL in scoring with nine points.

Returning to the Blades for his final season in the major junior ranks, Laing has started the young 2026-27 campaign on fire. In his first four games of the season, the Kelowna, B.C., product has taken the lead in the WHL scoring race with nine points coming off five goals and four assists.

On Saturday, Laing’s sweet hands were on display as he scored a pair of goals in the team’s regular season home opener before 7,379 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. Laing’s efforts allowed his Blades to post a 5-2 victory over their archrivals in the Prince Albert Raiders and also claim both games in a home-and-home series to improve to 2-1-1.

Following Saturday’s game, Laing said the fact he went unsigned by the Flames and is a professional free agent is in the back of his mind.

Hunter Laing is a free agent when it come to professional hockey.

“It obviously sucked when I found out,” said Laing. “I used that as motivation this summer, and it kind of helped me out doing the extra work and extra reps.

“It is definitely on my mind to prove people wrong this year, and that is what I’m going to keep doing.”

Just 19 seconds into Saturday’s game, Laing was attempting to give a spark to his team by engaging Raiders star 18-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson in a fight. Both are best known for their scoring and not for throwing punches.

The bout was a short one and kind of produced a moment where one could have a laugh. Sivertson threw an overhand right that missed and his momentum carried himself to the ground. Laing looked befuddled at the scene, and the officials jumped in to break things up.

Hunter Laing wants to prove he can play at the next level.

Sivertson and Laing were both given fighting majors for their efforts.

For the rest of the night, Laing showed what he is best known for, which is his sweet hands around the opposition net. With the two sides locked in a 1-1 tie at the 14:47 mark of the second, Laing picked up a rebound from a shot taken by Blades defenceman Jack Lavallee at the right side of the Prince Albert net.

Laing skillfully moved the puck around fallen Raiders star import netminder Michal Orsulak and tucked home a backhander to give the Blades a 2-1 lead.

With the Blades up 3-1 at the 6:36 mark of the third, Laing received a pass at the left side of the Raiders net from Blades star 18-year-old centre Cooper Williams while working on the power play. Laing toe dragged the puck around Orsulak putting it into the right side of the net to give the Blades a 4-1 lead.

Hunter Laing (#27) celebrates his first goal on Saturday.

“You’re always trying to contribute for the boys,” said Laing. “You’re trying to do what it takes to win, and you score goals in the crease.

“I’m a big guy. I love being in the crease, (because) that is where you score goals. I’m lucky they went in.”

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said it has been noticeable how much Laing has increased the intensity in his game.

“He (Laing) is a big man,” said DaSilva. “He has got a great set of hands, and he is looking like he is really determined this year to take his game to the next level.

“He can finish absolutely. He is getting those goals around the net. He will still get his goals where he comes down the win and rips on top shelf too using his shot, but he just looks more determined to prove that he belongs at the next level next year.

Riley Boychuk scored to give the Raiders an early 1-0 lead.

“He is winning his puck battles, he is harder on pucks, he is more competitive, and obviously, he had a fight at the start of the game too to try and set the tone early. I really like where his game is at right now, and we need that to continue from him.”

At first, it looked like the Raiders were going to spoil things for the Blades in their home opener. Just 1:49 into the first, Raiders 18-year-old centre Riley Boychuk collected a rebound at the right side of the Blades net from a shot by linemate Owen Corkish and popped the puck home into an empty cage to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Prince Albert took that lead into the first intermission despite being outshot 11-6.

Just 1:52 into the second period, Blades import left-winger David Lewandowski brought the puck down the right wing and put a backhand pass across the face of the Raiders net to linemate in 19-year-old centre Hayden Harsanyi. Harsanyi converted the backdoor tap to even the score at 1-1.

Hayden Harsanyi (#6) keeps the puck from Owen Corkish.

After Laing put the Blades up 2-1 with his first tally of the contest, Lewandowski found the back of the net at the 2:23 mark of the third, when he collected a rebound at the right side of the Raiders net from a shot taken by 19-year-old import right-winger Hutzinger Kostantin to pop home his second of the campaign.

With his two-point effort on Saturday, Lewandowski now had two goals, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department. He returned to the Blades on Friday morning after attending training camp with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers to help his WHL side sweep the home-and-home series with the Raiders. Lewandowski said it was natural to jump right back into things with the Blades.

“It is not unusual,” said Lewandowski. “We have a lot of games here anyway, so it is just another day, another game and keep going.”

David Lewandowski had one goal and one assist for the Blades.

Following Laing’s second tally that put the Blades up 4-1, Raiders 17-year-old left-winger Connor Howe fired home a mid range shot on a power play to trim the Saskatoon advantage to 4-2 with 5:10 remaining in the third.

Blades 19-year-old left-winger Kazden Mathies rounded out the game’s scoring with the rare short-handed empty-net goal with 11.9 seconds remaining in the third.

So far this season, the Blades lead the WHL with 18 goals scored. Laing said the team has been playing with good chemistry having returned 12 players from last season and re-acquiring 20-year-old defenceman Tyrone Sobry in an off-season trade with the Prince George Cougars.

Kazden Mathies (#77) gets hugged by Brayden Klimpke after a goal.

“When you have a team with chemistry, it is always good,” said Laing. “You can play with anyone on this team, and we’re all good players.

“I think we can play all four lines and six-D. It is a good thing, and that makes a good team.”

Martin Psohlavec stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Michal Orsulak turned away 24-of-28 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders, who fell to 1-3.

The Raiders get back at it on Wednesday when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades return to action on Friday when they host the Rebels (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Before the Blades turn their attention to Rebels, Laing admitted his squad was going to take a little time enjoying beating the Raiders two straight after losing six-of-eight regular season meetings in 2025-26 and being swept in four straight in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in the 2026 WHL Playoffs.

Hunter Laing gives a souvenir stick to a young fan.

“The vibes are good,” said Laing. “You know, the boys love beating P.A.

“They’re our rivals, so it is always nice beating them. We owe them from last year still, so it was nice to get the win. We’re going to reset and focus for next week.”

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“So what do you want to talk about?” – Raiders and Blades had it all on a feisty Friday

The Raiders and Blades engage in a game-ending scrum.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – You can always count on the Prince Albert Raiders and the Saskatoon Blades to come through with a classic rivalry game.

Friday night’s game at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre had pretty much everything you would come to expect from a clash of arch-enemies. There were saves, goals, punches thrown and of course some controversy.

The controversy came with 2:56 remaining in the third period when Raiders star Brandon Gorzynski was given a slashing minor with the combatants locked in a 2-2 tie. Gorzynski was given the infraction working his way into his own zone on the backcheck and made a move to swat the puck off the stick of Blades 19-year-old import rookie right-winger Yegor Gusev.

Brandon Gorzynski was victimized by a tough break penalty call.

Definitely from an overall Raiders perspective you could say the call was really chintzy. 

From a Blades perspective, you could lean into the argument that Gorzynski’s light stick swat was a slash, but a break was likely gained on that call. When you get a break, you never question it, and you never apologize if you get a win out of it.

That is exactly what happened. On the ensuing power play, Blades star left-winger David Lewandowski wired home a shot from the just off centre parallel to the top of the left faceoff circle for the goal that gave the visiting Blades a 3-2 victory before a mostly disgruntled standing room crowd of 2,819 spectators at the Raiders 2,580-seat home rink.

David Lewandowski delivered a winning goal for the Blades.

After Lewandowski’s tally, the Raiders nearly sent the game to overtime. With 28.7 seconds remaining in the third, Raiders standout centre Maddix McCagherty attempted a wraparound to an open left side of the Saskatoon net with Blades import rookie netminder Martin Psohlavec sprawled in his crease. Psohlavec managed to reach out his blocker to make a game-saving stop.

The 18-year-old product of Ostrov, Czechia, was mostly sensational in his WHL regular season debut making 26 saves to pick up the win in goal for the visitors, who improved to 1-1-1. Psohlavec returned to the Blades earlier this week after attending training camp activities with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. He had been at Blades training camp and took part in winning one pre-season game before departing to Philadelphia.

Maddix McCagherty almost had an equalizer.

When the final buzzer sounded on Friday, a huge scrum took part in the left corner of the Saskatoon zone, which also saw someone in the crowd throw a water bottle onto the ice.

After the officials separated the players on both sides, the Blades celebrated their win departing the ice surface to a series of boos, which is the norm when they pull off victories at the Hauser. During the three star selections, Psohlavec and Lewandowski, who returned to the Blades Friday morning after taking part in training camp activities with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, took polite small laps after being named the respective first and second stars in the building.

You were kind of expecting them to potentially embrace the WWE villain role like netminder Nolan Maier and feisty left-winger Riley McKay did in a Blades 3-2 victory at the Hauser way back on December 27, 2019. In that contest, Maier and McKay were the respective first and second stars in the building, and they went out making big laps of the ice surface with smiles on their faces applauding the booing crowd.

Martin Psohlavec made 26 saves to win his WHL regular season debut.

While Raiders fans can come away from the night saying they were robbed, the Blades were deserving of the victory. The hosts came out strong in the scoreless opening frame getting the first eight shots on goal and holding a 13-6 edge in that department after 20 minutes. Psohlavec made his presence felt in that frame making a number of robbery type stops.

Over the final two periods, objective persons would have to give the edge in play to the Blades, especially in the third frame when the visitors had a 16-7 edge in shots on goal. The Raiders controlled the game in the opening stanza and that control slipped out of their grasp in the second and third periods.

Connor Howe had a goal for the Raiders.

Even with that development, the scoring swung back and forth.

With exactly eight minutes remaining in the second, the Blades struck on the power play working on a two-man advantage. Working the puck on the point, Blades captain and star defenceman Brayden Klimpke fired a seeing-eye shot and the puck rebounded to Blades 19-year-old left-winger Kazden Mathies in front of the Prince Albert net.

Mathies put home a backhand shot to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

The Raiders would even the score at 1-1 working on a power play of their own. With 15.7 seconds remaining in the second, Raiders 17-year-old left-winger and fan favourite Connor Howe slipped home a point shot through a screen for the equalizer.

Jack Kachkowski had a positive-bounce goal for the Blades.

At the conclusion of the second, Howe engaged Blades 19-year-old defenceman Jack Kachkowski in a crowd-pleasing fight. The two players traded hard shots before Howe came through with rapid hard shots to bring Kachkowski down to the ice.

Just 2:02 into the third, the Raiders went ahead 2-1 thanks to a rookie mistake by Psohlavec. Raiders 17-year-old right-winger Ben Harvey got the puck in the right slot rushing towards the Blades net and Psohlavec came out to poke check him.

Psohlavec missed with the poke check, and Harvey curved around him and slid the puck into an empty Saskatoon cage to give the host’s their one-goal edge. For the longest time, it appeared that tally would be the Blades undoing.

Connor Howe and Jack Kachkowski go at it in a fight.

The visitors proceeded to benefit from a positive bounce with 6:01 remaining in the third. At that moment in the game, Kachkowski had the puck in the left corner of the Prince Albert zone and made a centering pass to the front of the Raiders net. The puck deflected off the skate of Raiders defenceman Hubert Clarke into the Prince Albert goal to force the contest into a 2-2 tie.

That set the stage for the dramatics inside the final three minutes of the third.

Import star netminder Michal Orsulak had a solid night making 29 saves taking the setback in goal for the Raiders (1-2).

The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. That contest will be the regular season home opener for the Blades.

Martin Psohlavec, left, enjoys his first WHL regular season win.

Including the pre-season, Saturday’s game will mark the fifth time the Raiders and Blades have gone head-to-head this month. There will likely be more fireworks coming in that encounter that could exceed the pyrotechnics the Blades use in their pre-game festivities.

NOTES – Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald was absent from Friday’s game and will miss Saturday’s game in Saskatoon due to personal reasons. In McDonald’s absence, Raiders assistant coaches Cole Bell and Conor Yawney are assuming co-head coaching duties. The Raiders asked that McDonald’s privacy be respected at this time.

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Oil Kings’ Holinka hammers Blades with hat trick

Edmonton evens series with Saskatoon 2-2

The Oil Kings celebrate a hat trick goal from Miroslav Holinka (#92).

Miroslav Holinka is becoming the Edmonton Oil Kings version of Connor McDavid.

On Wednesday, the 20-year-old import centre showed why he has become one of the WHL’s superstars. In Game 4 of a best-of-seven first round playoff series against the host Saskatoon Blades, Holinka fired home a hat trick and was a plus-two in the plus- minus department to power the Oil Kings to a 5-2 victory to disappoint most of the 4,834 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

With the win, the Oil Kings even the series at 2-2. Game 5 is set for Friday at 6 p.m. local time for Rogers Place in Edmonton. Game 6 is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Miroslav Holinka was on fire for the Oil Kings on Wednesday night.

Holinka, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, came into Wednesday’s contest having posted two goals, two assists and an even rating in the previous three games of the set. He nearly doubled his offensive output for the post-season in one contest.

Oil Kings head coach Jason Smith said Holinka gave his squad the boost they needed to even the series with the Blades.

“He is an experienced player in this league,” said Smith. “He is a 20-year-old guy, and he has expectations to play well and lead our team.

“His game tonight was outstanding, and it was a 200-foot game. He played well on both ends. He was out on the penalty kill and did a real good job.

Lukas Sawchyn had one goal and two assists for the Oil Kings.

“That is what you need from good players is good effort.”

Thanks to his hat trick performance, Holinka’s line had a great night. On Wednesday, Holinka for most of the contest centred a forward unit that contained rookie left-winger Kayden Stroeder, who turned 17-years-old in early March, and star veteran right-winger Lukas Sawchyn.

Stroeder finished with two assists and a plus-one rating, while Sawchyn posted one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating.

“They’re really skilled players,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “They are some of the best players in the league.

Kayden Stroeder had a pair of assists for the Oil Kings.

“They can make you look silly, if you’re not playing the body on them. I thought tonight we made it too easy on them and kind of let them off the hook a little bit. We’ve been doing a really good job on those guys.

“They are high-end players. They are going to have their nights, (and) they are going to get their looks. We’ve got to try and do a better job of limiting those looks and being more physical on them.”

At the 7:34 mark of the first period, Holinka opened the game’s scoring firing home a shot from the left slot to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

With 5:39 remaining in the first, Blades 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies had a loose puck deflect off his skate from a rebound in front of the Edmonton net to even the score at 1-1.

Before the first came to an end, the Oil Kings would go back in front by scoring on the power play with 1:16 remaining in the stanza on a highlight reel effort by Holinka. Holinka skated through the Blades defence up through the centre of the Saskatoon zone and put home a close in backhand shot for his second of the contest to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

Kazden Mathies had the Blades first goal on Wednesday.

Sawchyn said it is a blast to play on the same line as Holinka, especially when the Czech product makes plays like he does like on his second tally on Wednesday.

“He (Holinka) is a great player and super smart,” said Sawchyn. “He can pretty much throw from anywhere on the ice, so it is fun giving him the puck.”

At the 4:29 mark of the second, the Oil Kings top line rushed into the Saskatoon zone, and Stroeder dropped a smart pass to veteran star right-winger Lukas Sawchyn. Sawchyn fired a perfect snipe to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net to push the Oil Kings lead to 3-1.

The Blades would answer back with 4:27 remaining in the second with a goal from star right-winger Hunter Laing. Laing tapped home a puck at the left side of the Edmonton net after receiving a cross crease feed from veteran defenceman Tristen Doyle to cut the Oil Kings lead to 3-2.

Hunter Laing had the Blades second goal on Wednesday.

Just when the Blades seemed to have the momentum, Holinka would complete his hat trick at an absolute dagger of a time. After catching the Blades on a bad line change, Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett received a cross ice pass at the left side of the Saskatoon net from Sawchyn.

Blades star netminder Evan Gardner made a sprawling save but the puck rebounded out to Holinka at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Holinka popped home his hat trick tally with 21.5 seconds remaining in the frame to make the Oil Kings advantage sit at 4-2.

Mathies said his squad has to do a better job at playing against Holinka’s line.

“I think we have to be hard on them and not allow them to make just like the cute plays,” said Mathies. “We have to play physical and close the gap on them as quick as you can, so they can’t make those plays.”

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Blades made a big push in the third outshooting the Oil Kings 14-7 in the frame, but they weren’t able to put any pucks past Oil Kings veteran netminder Ethan Simcoe. Saskatoon even got to work on a four-minute power play as Oil Kings centre Andrew O’Neill picked up a double-minor for slew-footing. That infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL Office for a possible suspension.

Oil Kings import right-winger Adam Jecho scored into an empty net with 2.2 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final score in favour of the visitors.

Tristen Doyle had a slick assist for the Blades.

Gardner turned away 23-of-27 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Ethan Simcoe stopped 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings. 

The Oil Kings are without 17-year-old rookie netminder Parker Snell with an undisclosed ailment. Associate player call up Elias Mitrikas, who is a 15-year-old who played for the North Shore Warriors Under-18 Prep Club, dressed as Edmonton’s backup netminder.

The Oil Kings finished third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and fifth in the circuit’s overall regular season standings with a 45-18-3-2 mark. The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark.

During the regular season, Saskatoon was a club that was consistently inconsistent. The Blades were able to go out and pick up victories against the top teams in the league and would turn around and lose to squads that missed the post-season and were at the bottom of the overall standings.

Landon Hanson sets to shoot in the offensive zone for the Oil Kings.

At the moment, the Blades have shown they can compete at the same level as the Oil Kings. DaSilva is confident in his group going into Game 5, and he believes his players will be better than they were in Game 4.

“I think that we lacked a little bit of bite in our game,” said DaSilva. “It was not the game that you’ve seen from our group through three games in the series.

“They are a good team, (and) we knew they were going to push back. They were going to have their best effort here tonight. They didn’t want to be going home down 3-1.

“It is a best of three series. Anything can happen. We feel comfortable playing in Roger’s Place.”

Smith said his Oil Kings didn’t expect the series against the Blades would be a short one. As the two clubs head into the deep waters of the series, Smith said his squad will just focus on the next game.

The Oil Kings celebrate their Game 4 win on Wednesday.

“I think we kind of talked about it from the start of the playoffs that it is a game by game reset,” said Smith. “You’ve got to be prepared to play hard games.

“It is going to be very competitive, and you’ve got to be emotionally and physically involved in it to wear through it.”

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Blades’ sheriff Calvert hauls in Warriors’ Wutzke

Saskatoon sinks Moose Jaw 5-2

Chase Wutzke, left, battles Rowan Calvert for the puck.

Rowan Calvert played the role of sheriff when Chase Wutzke tried to get away with grand larceny.

In a WHL regular season clash on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, Wutzke, who is the star 19-year-old netminder for the Moose Jaw Warriors, looked for the longest time that he could potentially steal win despite his team being badly outplayed by the host Saskatoon Blades. Ultimately, Wutzke was handcuffed by Calvert, who is the Blades standout 20-year-old left-winger.

Calvert scored the Blades first goal, and with his side holding a slim 3-2 lead entering the third period, the long time WHL veteran closed out the contest completing a hat trick performance to give the Blades a 5-2 victory before a happy gathering of 4,843 spectators. He also now has exactly 30 goals on the campaign marking the first time he has hit the 30-goal plateau in his WHL career.

Chase Wutzke makes one of his 43 saves on Friday.

Wutzke deserved a better fate than being on the wrong end of the scoreboard, as he turned away 43-of-47 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors.

The win was the second straight for the Blades who improved to 32-25-4-2 as they continue to build towards playing in the WHL Playoffs sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors fell to 21-34-5-2 to remain ninth in the Eastern Conference just, one standings point behind the Red Deer Rebels (23-34-2-2) for eighth place and the final post-season berth in the Conference. Red Deer has one game in hand on Moose Jaw.

The Blades stormed out of the gates in the first period holding a 20-3 edge in shots on goal. They exited the opening 20 minutes only holding a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal coming from Calvert.

Rowan Calvert had a hat trick to power the Blades to victory.

Calvert was working in his office right in front of the Moose Jaw net banging home a loose puck for his 28^th tally of the campaign. At the time of that tally, the Blades were holding a 7-1 edge in shots on goal.

While Wutzke was holding the fort in the opening frame making 19 saves for the visitors, Blades star netminder Evan Gardner, who turned 20-years-old in late January, had to come up with a big stop at the end of the stanza. With 47.3 seconds remaining in the first, Gardner swallowed up a close in chance from Warriors import left-winger Jan Trefny.

Rowan Calvert (#23) celebrates the first of his three goals.

At the 5:05 mark of the second, the Blades pushed their lead out to 2-0 when star sophomore centre Cooper Williams burst up the middle of the Moose Jaw zone in through traffic, got in a lone and roofed home a backhand shot for his 21^st goal of the campaign.

Just 39 seconds later, the Warriors 20-year-old star defenceman Aiden Ziprick fired home a point shot for a power-play goal that cut the Saskatoon lead to 2-1.

At that point, Wutzke was the main reason the contest didn’t get away from Moose Jaw. He would turn away Blades star import right-winger David Lewandowski, who was in alone on the Warriors net and attempted a backhand shot.

Wutzke would then stone Blades 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies in close and reject Blades 17-year-old rookie centre Ben Bowtell on another in tight opportunity. Mathies would then get a breakaway opportunity only to be denied by a left pad stop by Wutzke.

Chase Wutzke (#35) stones David Lewandowski.

With 1:46 remaining in the second, the host side would break onto the scoreboard again. Blades 19-year-old import left-winger Elias Pul cut across the face of the Moose Jaw net and popped home a backhander for his 10^th goal of the campaign to push the Blades lead out to 3-1.

That two-goal edge didn’t last long. Just 42 seconds later, Warriors standout 20-year-old left-winger Pavel McKenzie was sprung on a breakaway and he fired a mid-height shot stick side on Gardner to trim the Saskatoon edge to 3-2. That tally was the 17^th marker of the season for McKenzie.

The Blades took that slim 3-2 advantage into the second intermission while holding a lopsided 35-10 edge in shots on goal.

Cooper Williams had the Blades second goal on Friday.

At the start of the third, Wutzke proceeded to come up with big saves on Blades rookie import left-winger Dustin Willhoft and Bowtell.

Saskatoon then proceeded to get the dagger tallies to lock down the win. With 2:59 remaining in the third and working on a power play, Williams had the puck in the right faceoff circle in the Moose Jaw zone and put a shot pass towards the Warriors goal. Calvert deflected the puck home for his second goal of the contest and 29^th marker of the campaign.

Just 23 seconds later, Calvert completed his hat trick firing a puck from his own zone into an empty Moose Jaw net for his 30^th goal of the season to round out the 5-2 victory for the Blades. Calvert finished with nine goals in the Blades six encounters with the Warriors in the current regular season, and that included Friday’s hat trick performance and a hat trick in a win back in December.

The Blades celebrate a hat trick goal from Rowan Calvert (#23).

Gardner stopped 14 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. The victory was the 24^th of the season for Gardner, which is a new career high in that department.

McKenzie had an assist to go along with his goal.

With his hat trick, Calvert now has goals and points in three consecutive games recording five goals and one assist over that time.

The only bad news the Blade encountered came shortly after they went ahead 4-2, when 18-year-old sophomore defenceman Isaac Poll tried to check McKenzie into the boards, when McKenzie was rushing into the Saskatoon zone. While pinning McKenzie into the boards, Poll accidently drove his own head into the glass and went down on the ice.

Poll, who has a lengthy history with injuries, was helped off the ice and didn’t return.

The Warriors get back at it on Saturday when they return home to face the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m., Temple Gardens Centre).

The Blades celebrate their win on Friday night.

The Blades are off until this coming Friday when they host the Swift Current Broncos (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

“The Bridge City Bunch” will be looking to build off of strong performances in their past two outings as they only have five more regular season games remaining before entering the 2026 WHL Playoffs.

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“Blades jinx” haunts Rebels

Saskatoon sweeps season series with Red Deer

The Blades celebrate a second period goal from Rowan Calvert (#23).

While being consistently inconsistent has been the Saskatoon Blades forte in the 2025-26 WHL campaign, one thing they can consistently do is beat the Red Deer Rebels.

On Wednesday playing before 3,307 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades edged the Rebels 3-2 in a back-and-forth contest that was the final regular season meeting between the two sides in the current campaign. With the win, Saskatoon swept the season series with Red Deer taking all four head-to-head encounters between the two sides in regulation time. Overall dating back to last season, the Blades have won seven straight games against the Rebels.

Rowan Calvert had the Blades first goal on Wednesday.

Lots of players on both sides had good games in Wednesday’s clash, but the performance of two reliable veterans in 20-year-old standout left-winger Rowan Calvert and star netminder Evan Gardner, who turned 20-years-old in late January, put the Blades over the top.

On the scoresheet, Calvert recorded one goal – his 27^th of the season – and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department. Well above what was seen in the statistical department, he was steady and reliable playing a 200-foot game.

When it came to defensive responsibilities, Calvert was always in the right position. When the Rebels pulled breakout 18-year-old rookie netminder Matthew Kondro for an extra skater inside of the final two minutes of the third, Calvert played a key part with his positioning in allowing the Blades to hold on to their 3-2 lead at the end of the contest.

Evan Gardner made 33 saves for the Blades on Wednesday.

Calvert and the Blades shutdown unit basically kept the Rebels pinned in their own zone for about the final 44 seconds of the third to preserve their one-goal victory.

Gardner made 33 saves to pick up the win in the Saskatoon net in another stellar outing. The puck stopper, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, earned his 23^rd victory of the campaign to match his career high for wins in a season set in the 2024-25 campaign.

The Blades were able to ride out times when the Rebels carried the momentum and rally with push backs. Any adversities that came up, the Saskatoon side was able to overcome them. Saskatoon has done this a number of times this season, but they haven’t been able to do that over a consistent long stretch of contests.

Matthew Kondro made 33 saves for the Rebels on Wednesday.

The Rebels, who are battling for their playoff lives, came out with a big push after downing the Raiders in Prince Albert 4-3 on Tuesday. Against the Raiders, the Rebels entered the third period trailing 3-1 before rolling off three straight goals to pull out the victory. It was a huge win for Red Deer as the Raiders sit second overall in the WHL and are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

On Wednesday against the Blades, the Rebels hit the scoreboard first just 1:55 into the opening frame, when 17-year-old left-winger Cameron Kuzma roofed home a power-play goal with a drive from the top of the left faceoff circle for his 10^th tally of the season. Red Deer would hold a 17-12 edge in shots on goal after 20-minutes but was unable to expand the 1-0 lead due to the work of Gardner.

Cameron Kuzma scored the Rebels first goal on Wednesday.

The Blades came with a big push back in the second frame. At the 8:39 mark of the second, Blades 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies attempted to score on a wraparound only to be stopped by Kondro.

The rebound went out to Calvert close in at the right side of the Red Deer net, and Calvert popped the puck home to even the score at 1-1. Calvert’s tally came during a stretch when the two sides were playing four skaters versus four skaters due to off-setting penalties.

At the 15:14 mark of the second, Blades star sophomore centre Cooper Williams, who turned 18-years-old in February, intercepted a pass by a Rebels player in the Red Deer zone. Williams proceeded to skate into the left corner of the Red Deer zone and centred a pass to 19-year-old import left-winger Elias Pul. Pul wired home his ninth goal of the campaign to put the Blades in front 2-1.

Poul Anderson had the second goal for the Rebels on Wednesday.

During their pushback in the second, the Blades held a 15-7 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

The Rebels didn’t go away and showed their traditional no quit will in the third. Just 77 seconds into the frame, Rebels 18-year-old right-winger Poul Anderson wired home his 19^th goal of the campaign from the top of the right faceoff dot in the Saskatoon zone to even the score at 2-2.

Saskatoon wasn’t shaken by that change in momentum. With 5:07 remaining in the third, Blades star import right-winger David Lewandowski fired home a lazer shot from the point for a power-play goal that put the host side up for good at 3-2.

David Lewandowski had the winning goal for the Blades.

Kondro turned away 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Rebels.

With the win, the Blades ended a two-game skid improving to 31-25-4-2 to remain solidly sixth overall in the Eastern Conference. The Rebels fell to 23-33-2-2, but they still continue to hold a one point lead over the Moose Jaw Warriors (21-33-5-2) for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Red Deer has one game in hand on Moose Jaw.

The Blades return to action on Friday when they host the Warriors at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

The Rebels also get back at it on Friday when they travel to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers (7 p.m. local time, Co-op Place).  

The Blades celebrate their win on Wednesday.

Over their final six games of the regular season, the Blades will try to find the consistency they had during their first 12 contests of the regular season, when they jumped out to a 9-3 start. They can potentially be a handful for whoever they face in the post-season, if they can find the consistency to play well over a longer stretch.

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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Hurricanes rock Blades with third period surge

Berge nets two in 4-2 win to end 12-game road skid

The Hurricanes celebrate a second goal from Owen Berge (#29).

Matt Anholt just wants his Lethbridge Hurricanes to win the day.

The Hurricanes first-year head coach, who has been with the team since the 2018-19 campaign, knows his squad is in a rebuilding stage after making it to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series last year. In the 2024-25 campaign, the Hurricanes finished sixth overall in the WHL with a 42-21-3-2 record and loaded up with trades to make their long post-season run.

Due to massive graduations on their roster, the Hurricanes have taken their lumps in 2025-26 as they go through a rebuild. They are looking for good signs and breakthroughs like the one they had on Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre against the host Saskatoon Blades.

Owen Berge had a pair of goals for the Hurricanes.

The two teams entered the third period of a WHL regular season clash locked in a 1-1 tie, and the Hurricanes exploded for three straight goals. Owen Berge, who is a 19-year-old centre, started the surge with a pair of tallies and left-winger Gavin Lesiuk, who turned 18-years-old near the middle of January, potted a single to give the visitors a 4-1 lead.

The Hurricanes would proceed to pull out a 4-2 victory before 4,397 spectators. The win allowed Lethbridge to improve to 16-35-0-1 and also end a 12 game losing skid on the road.

Before Saturday’s win over the Blades, the Hurricanes last road win came on November 18, 2025, when they slipped past the Royals in Victoria 4-3. Lethbridge entered Saturday’s game having been blanked 6-0 one night earlier against the powerhouse Raiders in Prince Albert.

Gavin Lesiuk celebrates scoring a goal in the third period.

“I think, when wins are hard to come by, every win is good,” said Anholt. “I think our guys really dug in tonight after losing a hard game last night in P.A.

“As good as P.A. is, it is still no fun to get blown out, obviously, in any sort of game. It was a really good job by our guys, but especially our leadership group to get the guys back in order and come in and get a greasy road win.”

At the 5:59 mark of the third, the Hurricanes started their surge working on the power play and pouncing on a Blades miscue. Blades 18-year-old defenceman Isaac Poll had the puck behind his net and threw a clearing attempt up the centre of the ice.

Berge intercepted the clear, skated down in front of the Blades net, and wired home a shot to the top right corner of the cage to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead. He proceeded to score his second of the night at the 11:32 mark of the third potting home a rebound at the left side of the Saskatoon net that came from a long distance drive from 17-year-old rookie right-winger Easton Daneault. That tally pushed the Hurricanes lead out to 3-1.

Matteo Fabrizi, left, and Tyler Parr engage in a fight.

Just 50 seconds after Berge’s second tally, Lesiuk was forechecking the Saskatoon zone, and he stole the puck from Blades 19-year-old defenceman Tristen Doyle. Lesiuk jetted into the left faceoff circle and drove a shot to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net to make the Hurricanes advantage stand at 4-1.

With 5:54 remaining in the third, Blades defenceman Jack Kachkowski, who turned 19-years-old near the middle of January, drove into the Lethbridge zone down the left wing and put a pass across the face of the Hurricanes net to Blades overage captain Tyler Parr positioned by the right post. Parr tapped the puck home into an empty cage to trim the Hurricanes lead to 4-2.

The Blades thought they had a goal with 1:14 remaining in the third coming off the stick of 20-year-old star right-winger Rowan Calvert. Calvert put a shot on net that was stopped by the left pad of Hurricanes 18-year-old netminder Koen Cleaver, but then Cleaver was driven into the net by a mass of bodies that surrounded the net. The officials blew the play dead and ruled no goal.

Hudson Kibblewhite (#22) scored the Hurricanes first goal.

Saskatoon was not able to score in the 74 seconds that remained on the clock, which allowed Lethbridge to pick up the win.

Anholt said his Hurricanes didn’t do anything fancy in the third period surge.

“I would say it was just the overall battles,” said Anholt. “We just probably won maybe a little more than we were winning in the second and the first, especially at the end of the first more so.

“Just some of those simple little battles, especially between the blue lines, you win those battles and you usually are going to lead to O-zone time. You look at any of our goals, even our power-play goal, there is always maybe a little sequence of events that led to that. It is just those little battles that lead to good stuff, and I think our guys dug in a little more in the third.”

Koen Cleaver made 33 saves in goal for the Hurricanes.

The contest began with a spirited fight just 22 seconds into the opening frame between Parr and Hurricanes 20-year-old defenceman Matteo Fabrizi. Parr, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 192 pounds, and Fabrizi, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 240 pounds, engaged in a long and feisty bout that finally ended with Fabrizi getting a takedown.

At the 7:32 mark of the first, the Hurricanes opened the scoring of Saturday’s game on a goal from 18-year-old centre Hudson Kibblewhite. Kibblewhite, who is a former member of the Blades, tipped home a point shot in front of the Saskatoon net that came off the stick of 18-year-old defenceman Carsen Adair.

Kazden Mathies had the Blades first goal on Saturday.

With just under nine minutes to play in the first, the Blades just missed getting the equalizer as Calvert drove a shot off the post.

Saskatoon came out flying in the second holding a 14-3 edge in shots on goal for the frame. The Blades evened the score at 1-1 scoring on the power play at the 10:23 mark of the second period.

Blades star 17-year-old centre Cooper Williams had the puck at the left side boards in the Lethbridge zone and passed the puck across the face of the Hurricanes net to 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies. Mathies controlled the puck at the right side of the Lethbridge net and quickly potted his 15^th of the campaign for the equalizer.

Cooper Williams set up the Blades first goal.

That set the stage for the third period to play out as it did starting with the Hurricanes three-goal surge.

Evan Gardner turned away 16 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades (26-22-3-1). Cleaver stopped 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Hurricanes.

“Honestly, the biggest goal for us is just trying to win the day and try to get better every day as an individual and then hopefully that makes us better collectively,” said Anholt. “Every practice, that has kind of been the mentality and just being competitive, being even competitive against yourself and trying to improve every day in the gym, on the ice and all that stuff.

The Blades thought they scored with 1:14 remaining in the third.

“I think we’ve seen some really good strides by a lot of guys, and Gavin Lesiuk is one of those young guys that has obviously had a really good game tonight. He is one of many on our team right now, because we’re so young. (We’re focused on) just winning the day and trying to compete every day.”

The Blades get back at it on Saturday when they host the Regina Pats (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Hurricanes are off until Friday when they return home to host the Everett Silvertips (7 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

Anholt said he reminds his players on his young team that the experiences they are picking up will be valuable down the road.

The Hurricanes celebrate their win on Saturday.

“That is kind of the ebbs and flows of the WHL,” said Anholt. “We’re a young team right now, but we won’t be a young team soon.

“All of a sudden, we’ll be an old team, because a lot of these guys will grow up together. Right now, we’re just trying to take lessons. For example P.A., you take lessons from even how good they are and what makes them successful.

“Everett has got a lot of similarities to that P.A. team, where they play fast and they’re deep and they get on you. It is going to be a really hard challenge on Friday. I’m happy that we’re at home, so we can at least set some matchups.”

Blades great Maracle fighting cancer, funds being raised

A Norm Maracle hockey card.

Saskatoon Blades all-time great netminder Norm Maracle is fighting Burkitt Lymphoma, which is a very aggressive and fast-moving cancer of the B cells – a type of white blood cells.

Maracle, who is 51-years-old, recently received this cancer diagnosis. A GoFundMe page was set up about five days ago to raise funds to help him and his family through this challenging time.

Maracle played goal for three seasons for the Blades from 1991 to 1994. He was with the club for arguably the team’s most memorable three-year stretch.

As a 17-year-old rookie in the 1991-92 campaign, Maracle appeared in 29 games with the Blades posting a record of 13 wins, six losses and three ties, a 3.41 goals against average, a .946 save percentage and one shutout. In the post-season, Maracle started the majority of the Blades games as they advanced to the WHL Championship Series falling in seven games to the Kamloops Blazers, who moved on to capture the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

Maracle, who stood 5-foot-10 and weighed 205 pounds in his playing days, went into his second season with the Blades as their main starter in the 1992-93 campaign. During the regular season, Maracle appeared in 53 games posting a 27-18-3 record, a 3.27 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and one shutout. The Blades fell in a best-of-seven conference semifinal series to the Regina Pats in five games.

The 1993-94 campaign was a stellar 19-year-old season for Maracle. He appeared in 56 regular season games for the Blades posting a 41-13-1 record, a 2.76 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and two shutouts. He proceeded to once again backstop the Blades into the WHL Championship Series where they again fell in seven games to the Blazers, who went on to win the Memorial Cup.

For the 1993-94 campaign, Maracle was named the winner of the Del Wilson Trophy as the top goaltender in the WHL and he claimed honours as the CHL’s goaltender of the year along with being named a CHL first team all-star.

During Blades games, it was common for Blades fans to scream out “Norm” like in the television show Cheers, when Maracle took the ice.

After his time with the Blades, Maracle moved on to a lengthy professional career that ran from 1994 to 2012 that included playing in 66 NHL regular season games split between the Detroit Red Wings and the Atlanta Thrashers.

For those looking to help Maracle in his battle with Burkitt lymphoma, the link for his GoFundMe page can be found by clicking right here.

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

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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.