Blades, Warriors series has some underlying fan angst

The Blades and Warriors have played an outstanding series.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Some fans of the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors mirror Peyton Manning in the AFL Championship game from the NFL’s 2006 season.

That NFL conference title match featured Manning’s Indianapolis Colts taking on the visiting New England Patriots quarterbacked by Tom Brady. At that point in time, Brady had three Super Bowl rings and had never lost to Manning and the Colts in the post-season. Manning had yet to quarterback a team to a Super Bowl title.

With a minute remaining in the game, Colts running back Joseph Addai scored a touchdown on a three-yard run to put Indianapolis up 38-34 with one minute remaining in the contest.

Manning feared too much time was left on the clock for Brady. After the Colts scored to go ahead, Manning actually said a prayer to God asking for this one time that Brady doesn’t make game-winning drive for the Patriots. Brady ultimately was intercepted on the Patriots final drive and the Colts won the contest 38-34 and would go on to triumph in Super Bowl XLI.

Currently in the 2024 WHL Playoffs, the Blades and Warriors are going at it in the league’s best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Blades lead the series 3-2 and four of those contests having gone to overtime.

Game 6 is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in Moose Jaw. Over the first five games of the set, the Blades and Warriors have been playing arguably one of the greatest post-season series the WHL has ever seen.

With that said, there seems to be an underlying feeling of angst among some of the fans of both teams. The angst comes from the fact both teams are searching for their first WHL title and Memorial Cup title, which goes to the CHL champion.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Blades were formed in 1964 and were a charter member of the WHL in 1966. In their history, the Blades have never won a league championship or a Memorial Cup.

The Blades have appeared in the WHL final five times and have come away empty handed on each trip. In the those five trips, the Blades went to a series deciding Game 7 with the set locked in a 3-3 tie and weren’t able to bring a WHL title to Saskatoon.

The Blades made the 1989 title game of the Memorial Cup tournament as the host team and fell 4-3 in overtime to the Swift Current Broncos with Tim Tisdale scoring the winning goal for “Speedy Creek.”

The Warriors franchise played in Winnipeg for four seasons before moving to Moose Jaw in 1984. They Warriors have never won a WHL title or a Memorial Cup title. The franchise’s only appearance in the WHL final came in 2006, when they were swept away by the Vancouver Giants.

A previous Moose Jaw entry in the WHL in the Canucks won the league title in the circuit’s inaugural season in 1966-67.

Fans of both the Blades and Warriors are hoping that 2024 will finally be the one time their team wins one or both the WHL title or the Memorial Title to become CHL champions. When something goes wrong for either side, some fans go through a doomed reaction reflecting on being empty handed when it comes to WHL and Memorial Cup titles.

For the Blades, they have a lot of newer fans and have attracted a lot families with kids to their games thanks to ground work of getting into the community including through elementary school visits and being guest coaches for minor hockey teams. 

Fans at the Moose Jaw Civic Centre cheer on the Warriors.

The kids in those families have greatest time in the world at the Blades home rink in the SaskTel Centre, and the parents are usually pleased their kids are having a good experience.

No matter what happens in the post-season, that group of fans will see the playoff run as being memorable.

The Blades also have legacy fans too who have supported the team for decades. Some of those fans have a higher chance of basing their happiness about the season around the Blades winning one or both the WHL and Memorial Cup titles.

There are legacy fans that will be positive for the Blades no matter what ups and downs come the club’s way. Still, those fans really deep down hope 2024 will be the one time the Blades pull it all out.

The Warriors are an institution in Moose Jaw. It feels like everyone in “the Friendly City” is a legacy Warriors fan.

From 1984 to 2000, the Warriors kind of almost had a lovable loser image similar to that of the MLB’s Chicago Cubs, which the Cubs carried for a lengthy stretch. Over the span of time, the Warriors posted winning records on just four occasions.

Despite that, their legendary former home in the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, which was best known as “The Crushed Can,” was packed with a raucous bunch of supporters. When you played the Warriors at “The Crushed Can,” you were playing against the Warriors and their fans. The noise the fans made came at opposing teams with force.

Kalem Parker (#8) is checked by Fraser Minten.

You also had to form an admiration on some level for Warriors fans, because the losing seemingly wouldn’t drive them away for long. If they did go away, they came back to “The Crushed Can” when just even the smallest positive thing happened for the team. You wondered what Moose Jaw would look like if the Warriors did manage to win WHL and Memorial Cup titles.

Since the start of the 2000-01 campaign, the Warriors have been one of the WHL’s better franchises and at times they have been one of the circuit’s elite franchises. 

They moved into a new home in the Moose Jaw Events Centre at the start of the 2011-12 campaign and finished first in the WHL’s regular season standings in 2017-18 with a 52-15-2-3 mark.

The championship still didn’t come in the post-season.

While the hockey between the Blades and Warriors in this year’s Eastern Conference Championship Series has been beyond epic, some fans will seemingly be bothered or take it too hard when their team doesn’t win. The most visible sign of being bothered usually manifests in blaming losses on the officials.

At times, it seems like the fans on both teams and bond over their shared belief the officials can’t do anything right. With that said, you have to respect the passion the fans have.

Due to the fact the Blades and Warriors are searching for their first WHL and Memorial Cup titles, fans on both sides likely believe their team will win this series, because they are not facing someone with a winning pedigree.

The Blades press around the Warriors net.

Had the Medicine Hat Tigers been made it to the Eastern Conference final and managed to take a 3-2 lead on either the Blades or Warriors, some fans of either the Blades or Warriors would be certain the Tigers would close out the series, because they’ve won the WHL title five times and captured the Memorial Cup on two occasions. There would be a feeling teams like the Tigers are destined for those accomplishments and teams like the Blades and Warriors are not.

Honestly, you hope the fans of the Blades and Warriors get to see their teams win WHL and Memorial Cup titles one day. At the moment, those clubs are giving an incredible show.

No matter who wins this series, hopefully the fans on the winning side will have empathy for the fans on the losing side. They might not be mirror images of each other, but the fans of the Blades and Warrior do share a lot of commonalities.

Cougars have new life in Western Conference final

Keaton Dowhaniuk scored for the Cougars on Thursday.

The heavyweight showdown between the Prince George Cougars and Portland Winterhawks is back on in the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series.

For a moment, it looked like the Winterhawks were going to skate away with a series victory. Due to the lengthy travel between Prince George and Portland, the series is being conducted in a two-three-two format.

The Cougars finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 49-15-1-3 mark, while the Winterhawks were third overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 48-15-4-1 record. That meant the Cougars would host the first two games and the final two contests of the series.

After the two sides split Games 1 and 2 in Prince George, it appeared the Winterhawks home ice advantage would be too much for the Cougars to overcome. Last Monday, the Winterhawks took Game 3 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland 4-1.

The Winterhawks followed that up claiming a 5-2 victory to take Game 4 of the series on home ice last Wednesday along with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. It seemed like it was academic the Winterhawks would take Game 5 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum last Thursday.

At the 7:03 mark of the first period of Game 5, 20-year-old star centre Gabe Klassen scored to give the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead. It appeared at that point the party was going to be on in Portland. Since the Winterhawks moved to Portland on June 11, 1976, they have won three WHL titles and two Memorial Cup crowns becoming CHL champions.

Riley Heidt and the Cougars have new life in the post-season.

After Klassen’s goal, the Cougars proceeded to play their best game of the post-season. Cougars skilled 19-year-old right-winger Koehn Ziemmer scored twice before the first period ended to give Prince George a 2-1 lead.

Hunter Laing added a single in the second period to push the Cougars edge out to 3-1. Ondrej Becher, Borya Valis and Keaton Dowhaniuk added singles for the visitors in the third to round out an impressive 6-1 victory. Valis’s tally came on a penalty shot.

Joshua Ravensbergen stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Cougars. Jan Spunar turned away 31 shots to take the setback in net for the Winterhawks.

The Cougars romped to victory in Game 5 with their two biggest stars in Riley Heidt and Zac Funk being held pointless.

With the next two games of the series set for the CN Centre in Prince George, the Western Conference title is up for the taking. Game 6 is slated for Monday at 7 p.m. local time at the CN Centre. If the Cougars win Game 6, a series deciding Game 7 will be held on Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time at the CN Centre.

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

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Rysavy, Unger push Warriors to 3-1 victory in Game 3

Blades trail WHL’s Eastern Conference final 2-1

Martin Rysavy celebrates scoring for the Warriors.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. - Martin Rysavy got a monkey off his back and Jackson Unger turned away the push back.

Those two developments allowed the Moose Jaw Warriors to slip past the Saskatoon Blades 3-1 on Tuesday night before 4,483 spectators at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in Game 3 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. With the win, the Warriors take a 2-1 in the best-of-seven set.

Entering Tuesday’s contest, Rysavy had gone five straight games without scoring a goal. The overage import left-winger had some tough luck in the Blades 3-2 overtime win in Game 2 on Saturday in Saskatoon. He missed a couple of golden opportunities to put the puck in the net which stuck in his head.

Martin Rysavy ended a five game goal scoring drought on Tuesday.

With the Warriors and Blades locked in 1-1 tie in the third period, Rysavy wasn’t going to miss his chance to get over his string of bad luck.

On a rush into the Saskatoon zone, a shot by Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus rebounded to Rysavy. With Blades breakout rookie netminder Evan Gardner sprawled out after making the initial stop on Firkus, Rysavy potted his fourth of the post-season into an open cage to put the Warriors in front 2-1 at the 7:14 mark of the frame and that goal held up as the winning tally.

Jackson Unger made 31 saves in goal for the Warriors on Tuesday.

“Obvious, I was frustrated after the second game in Saskatoon,” said Rysavy. “I had chances to score.

“I hit one crossbar. I missed an empty net there in the first. I was really frustrated that is why today I kind of made sure when I saw the rebound I’m just going to slap it as hard as I can to the net.

“I just don’t want to miss it anymore. It was an important goal.”

After the Warriors went ahead, the Blades came with an intense push back firing 10 shots on goal over the final 10:20 of the third. Warriors star netminder Jackson Unger had to come up with a major stop on Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov with about 6:44 remaining in the frame.

Grayden Siepmann scored to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

Unger followed that stop with the save of the game that likely prevented the two squads from going to overtime for the third consecutive contest. Blades import right-winger Alexander Suzdalev put a backhand shot towards the Moose Jaw net from inside the right faceoff circle.

The puck deflected off Warriors defenceman Kalem Parker to a pinching Blades 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright in the left slot. Wright fired the puck to what appeared to be an open cage, but Unger made a diving glove stop to keep the Warriors ahead on the scoreboard. The Calgary product finished the contest making 31 saves to pick up the win in goal.

With 73 seconds remaining in the third and Gardner pulled to give the Blades an extra attacker, Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk sealed the victory. The star offensive-defenceman got the puck in his zone and made a long bank off the boards clear where the puck found its way into the Blades empty net to round out the 3-1 final score.

Evan Gardner stopped 29-of-31 shots in goal for the Blades.

“I didn’t like our first 40 minutes,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne. “Our players didn’t either.

“It was just a billion turnovers and lack of dig in, especially in the offensive zone. It was just one and done, one and done, one and done. I thought it was better in the third.

“We finally found a little bit of desperation. We know we can comeback in games, but you can’t play 20 minutes of a game or 18 minutes of a game.”

Over the three games played in the Eastern Conference final so far, Unger has stop 93-of-100 shots fired his way. He believes has found his groove, and he wants to continue coming through for his Warriors.

Atley Calvart (#23) scored the equalizer for the Warriors.

“Every game from now on is the biggest game of the year and in some of our careers,” said Unger. “I think there is everything to play for.

“We can’t let off the gas no matter what. As the games go on, we are getting closer and closer to where we want to be. We have to be at our best.”

Moose Jaw had the first big chance to score in Tuesday clash just under eight minutes into the opening frame. Warriors 20-year-old star right-winger Atley Calvert had the puck at the right side of the Saskatoon net and put a shot through the crease area for a missed chance. At around the midway point of the first, the Warriors held an 8-4 edge in shots on goal.

Fans at the Moose Jaw Events Centre cheer on the Warriors.

The Blades broke through on the score board at the 10:50 mark of the opening frame when 19-year-old defenceman Grayden Siepmann floated a seeing-eye shot from the point home to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The goal was Siepmann’s first in the 2023-24 campaign.

“Through all the ups and downs, you just keep shooting,” said Siepmann, who has posted one goal, six assists and a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department in the Blades 12 post-season games. “It is good to finally get that one off my back.

“I feel like I am getting more confident out there. It is only going to go up.”

Atley Calvert had one goal for the Warriors on Tuesday.

The Warriors came with a big push back and outshot the Blades 18-9 in the opening frame. After the Blades went ahead, Gardner came up with a big save on Warriors right-winger Rilen Kovacevic on a rush down the right wing and he turned away Warriors star centre Matthew Savoie on the one-timer to keep the Blades ahead on the scoreboard going into the first intermission.

Just 3:43 into the second, the Warriors evened the score at 1-1 thanks to a slick power-play goal from 20-year-old right-winger Atley Calvert. Calvert had the puck low by the right side of the Saskatoon net, and he banked the puck home shooting it in off the skate of Blades star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk for the equalizer.

Jagger Firkus (#27) had a pair of assists for the Warriors on Tuesday.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said it was that his players continued to carry a top level effort and weren’t derailed by the fact the Blades scored first.

“It is important and not just in playoff time,” said O’Leary. “You work towards that all season long.

“It is a dress rehearsal over the course of the season, and our guys have shown that all season long that if bad things happen or circumstances change it doesn’t change what we do. The standard doesn’t change. Responsibilities don’t change.

“Tonight was another good example of that.”

That set the stage for the third where Rysavy scored the winner and Mateychuk scored into an empty-net. The Blades outshot the Warriors 16-5 in third, but Unger ensured the host side came away with the win.

Charlie Wright just missed getting a clutch goal for the Blades.

Gardner turned way 29-of-31 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

Firkus picked up a pair of assists for the Warriors in the win.

The two sides go back at it for Game 4 set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. Looking towards Game 4, Sonne wants his club to do a better job at winning puck battles.

“I mean there will be some structural points that I have to go watch right now,” said Sonne, whose club topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark. “To this day and I would love to hear from other coaches, but to this day, I have yet to find a structure thing that covers for loosing puck battles.

Denton Mateychuk (#5) scored an empty-net goal for the Warriors.

“If you know of one, let me know. As of right now in the hockey world, I’ve never heard of one. It is pretty simple.

“We have to be desperate at the get go.”

O’Leary said his club needs to be a touch sharper on a number of little things to have success against a strong team like the Blades.

“They check well,” said O’Leary, whose team finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark. “They do a great job though the neutral zone.

“Certainly in front of their net, they block a lot of shots. We need to continue to stick with it and not get frustrated and stay patient in terms of generating offence. There were some things in the third period there that we need to clean up.

The Warriors celebrate their win on Tuesday night.

“Our D-zone coverage, we can tighten things up in front of Jackson (Unger). We expect more of the same tomorrow. We just need to make sure that they see our best.”

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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