More work still awaits Blades

WHL club takes baby steps, misses playoffs again

Blades captain Nick Zajac looks dejected after a Wheat Kings goal.

    The Saskatoon Blades might be a perfect case study to show how long a rebuild normally takes in the Western Hockey League.

    A charter member of the WHL, the Blades entered the 2015-16 campaign with hopes of returning to the playoffs. Instead, they ended up missing the post-season for a third straight year – first for the team - after hosting the Memorial Cup tournament in 2013.

    While they are still one of the youngest squads in the league, the Blades jumped out to a 7-4-3 start and comfortably held a playoff spot posting 9-7-3 mark going into action on Nov. 20, 2015. From there, they went on a down stretch posting one win in 10 games.

    Going into the WHL Christmas break, the Blades record sat at 14-19-3, and they were two points out of a playoff position. They kept slowly slipping further and further out of the playoff picture, but did manage to play meaningful games in early March.

    Saskatoon finished with a 26-42-6 record to sit 20^th overall in the 22 team league with 56 points. Had they been able to earn 10 more points in the standings, they would have held down the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

Connor Gay led the Blades in scoring with 72 points.

    Still, they improved upon last season’s 19-49-2-2 mark and a 16-51-2-3 record posted in the 2013-14 campaign. After hosting the Memorial Cup, the cupboard was close to being empty, so a return to post-season action was expected to take some time.

    Even with all that in mind, the Blades hard their hearts set upon making the post-season at the start of the 2015-16 campaign. To some degree, it felt like the 2015-16 season was an opportunity that was missed.

    The double blue’s struggles occurred because they could never find consistency in goal or on defence. Saskatoon product Brock Hamm was the starter posting a 21-26-3 record, a 4.02 goals against average, a .885 save percentage and one shutout. Parker, Colorado, product Evan Smith finished as the back-up posting a 2-9 record, a 5.75 goals against average and a .843 save percentage.

    Looking at those statistics, one could see the Blades were going to be hard pressed to win games. Both netminders had their moments when they looked great, but they also had too many moments when it appeared the confidence was gone.

    The goalies didn’t have much help from the defensive unit. The Blades play from their defensive unit was as erratic as the play of their netminders.

Colton Waltz one of the more steady rearguards for the Blades.

    All the Blades regular defencemen had minus ratings in the plus-minus department. Overager Colton Waltz had the best campaign statistically recording five goals, 25 assists and a minus-five rating in 65 regular season games, but much of those stats were built playing 34 contests with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Waltz was acquired shortly before the WHL’s trade deadline.

    Payton McIsaac, who was a midget AAA call up from Fort Saskatchewan, had a plus-four rating in 10 appearances for the Blades to go along with an assist.  The second round selection in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft has a good chance to be part of the Blades on a full-time basis next season as a 16-year-old rookie.

    Saskatoon couldn’t do much to strengthen both of those departments via the trade route due to the fact goaltending and defence on average wasn’t as strong this season in the WHL as it has been in the past. Had both of those units just been slightly more productive, the Blades might have made up the 10 points they needed to get into the post-season.

    Up front, the Blades probably received what they could have out of their forward unit. Connor Gay, Cameron Hebig, captain Nick Zajac and Ryan Graham all netted 20 or more goals. Gay topped the team in scoring as an overager with 25 goals and 47 assists. Hebig battled injuries, but he still piled up 26 goals and 43 assists in 59 contests.

Head coach and GM Bob Woods has more retooling to do with the Blades.

    The Blades also had too many games in 2015-16 where their work ethic just disappeared. It seemed like the stench from the struggles from the previous two campaigns started to rear its head this season. If the opponent jumped out to a quick two-goal edge, the Blades folded way too often and lost by a convincing outcome.

    In 2014-15, it seemed like the work ethic was always there, even though the team was outmatched on most nights.

    With that in mind, head coach and general manager Bob Woods and assistant coach Dean Brockman both just finished their second seasons with the club. Both are capable hockey men and need to continue the progress that has been made.

    The Blades still pulled in 8,932 spectators for their final regular season game on Saturday, which they won 3-2 over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. Saskatoon’s average attendance of 4,377 was still down from the past two seasons, but was 12^th overall in the league.

    “The Bridge City” bunch is getting there. A light at the end of the tunnel is visible. Playoffs may be a reality in 2017.

Ridley to call 3,700^th game

Bob Ridley calls a game at The Arena in Medicine Hat.

    When the Medicine Hat Tigers appear in their first standings tiebreaker game, their iconic play-by-play voice will hit another milestone.

    Bob Ridley, who has been the WHL team’s play-by-play voice since the club’s inception in 1970, will call his 3,700^th career game when the Tigers host the Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time at the Canalta Centre. He has called 3,291 of the 3,292 games the Tigers have played in the regular season, all of the club’s 388 games in the WHL playoffs and all 20 contests the team has played in the Memorial Cup tournament.
    Tuesday’s match will mark the first time Ridley has called a tiebreaking game in his career.
    It is believed that no one in Western Canada has called more hockey games as the play-by-play announcer for one team at the amateur or professional level than Ridley has.

    The Tigers and Oil Kings both recorded 65 points in the WHL standings to finish in a deadlock for eighth overall in the Eastern Conference and the conference’s final playoff berth. The Tigers were 30-37-3-2, while the Oil Kings were 29-36-6-1. Medicine Hat earned home ice advantage due to having more wins.

    The winner of that contest travels to Brandon on Thursday to meet the Wheat Kings in Game 1 of a best-of-seven first round playoff series. Brandon topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the league with a 48-18-4-2 record.

    The Tigers have made the WHL playoffs for the last 13 consecutive years and advanced to the second round in 12 of those appearances.

Shirley in the Express

Sophie Shirley in action last year for the Saskatoon Stars.

    I recently caught up with local hockey standout Sophie Shirley for a feature story in the Saskatoon Express.

    The 16-year-old forward was spent the 2015-16 campaign as a rookie with the Notre Dame Hounds squad that plays in the Junior women’s Hockey League. She was also a member of Canada’s team that won a silver medal at the under-18 world’s in January in St. Catharines, Ont.

    Last season, Shirley helped the Saskatoon Stars win their first Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League title and a bronze medal at the Esso Cup national championship tournament. Her Express feature story 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.

Why not the Wheat Kings?

Brandon set to challenge for a WHL title

Kelly McCrimmon has built another championship contender in Brandon.

    They are arguably the favourite road team on the WHL circuit among hotel and restaurant staffs.

    When the Brandon Wheat Kings come to down, they dress to impress and carry themselves with a class that matches their look. Hotel and restaurant staffs for years often compliment the players for how well-mannered, nice and personable they are.

    Excitement usually follows when Wheat Kings head coach, general manager and owner Kelly McCrimmon phones to make a reservation. Road businesses want the Wheat Kings to come to town.

    Those intangibles have been some of the key reasons as to why the Manitoba’s only major junior franchise finds itself contenting for a WHL title on a regular basis going back to the start of the 1992-93 season. Since that campaign, the Wheat Kings have won more than 40 games 15 times. The good habits and culture they create off the ice translates to a good culture and habits on the ice.

    Going into the 2015-16 campaign, the Wheat Kings were viewed as a favourite to possibly challenge for another WHL title. While they won’t match their blistering league leading 53-11-4-4 record from last season, the Wheat Kings have been steady.

    In the current campaign, teams like the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Kelowna Rockets and Victoria Royals have all had surges at different times that have allowed them to float to the top of the league standings.

Reid Duke (#27) battles for a draw for the Wheat Kings.

    The Wheat Kings hovered near the top of the WHL’s East Division for about the first two-and-a-half months of the campaign and have remained in the division lead since returning from the Christmas break. After downing the Blades 5-1 in Saskatoon on Friday night, the Wheat Kings have earned points in their last nine games coming off seven wins and two extra time setbacks.

    They improved to 44-18-4-2 to sit two points ahead of the Lethbridge Hurricanes (45-21-1-1) for top spot in the Eastern Conference. Brandon also sits two points behind the Victoria Royals (45-16-3-3) for first overall in the league. The Wheat Kings also broke into the Canadian Hockey League’s top ten rankings this week in the 10^th spot.

    During a season where the consensus among scouts is that defence and goaltending across the WHL isn’t as strong as it normally is, the Wheat Kings might be able to finally capture their first league title since 1996.

    While they have piled up outstanding records in the regular season, the league title has eluded the Wheat Kings including last season, where they were swept away in the WHL final by the Rockets.

Jordan Papirny is loaded with playoff experience in goal.

    This season, the Wheat Kings forward group is as solid as ever. Centre Jayce Hawryluk leads the team in scoring with 42 goals and 56 assists, while 17-year-old sophomore centre Nolan Patrick has impressed with 40 goals and 57 assists. Due to where his birthday falls, Patrick, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 195 pounds, isn’t eligible for the NHL Entry Draft until next year.

    Brandon’s back end is anchored by overage captain Macoy Erkamps, who has 13 goals, 55 assists and a plus-43 rating in the plus-minus department. Russian rearguard Ivan Provorov has also provided an offensive spark with 19 goals and 48 assists to go along with a plus-58 rating. Before the WHL trade deadline, the Wheat Kings also acquired overage defenceman Mitchell Wheaton, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 223 pounds, from the Blades to beef up their physical presence.

    The Wheat Kings back end has more parts than most other teams in the league to get the job done.

In goal, 19-year-old Jordan Papirny has carried the load as a starter and has been solid. He has posted a 28-17-6 record, a 2.69 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and five shutouts. Other netminders have better numbers, but Papirny has a tonne of post-season experience.

Ivan Provorov has 67 points on defence.

    Before 4,396 spectators at the SaskTel Centre on Friday, the Wheat Kings showed how opportunistic they can be going 3-for-7 on the power play, while adding a short-handed marker. The short-handed goal was a backbreaker for the Blades, as Hawryluk scored with 1.8 seconds to play in the second to give Brandon a 3-1 lead.

    The tally came just over two minutes after Blades captain Nick Zajac potted his 20^th of the season to pull the host side to within one.

    Hawryluk also picked up a power-play goal in his two-goal night. Patrick, John Quenneville and Erkamps all potted singles for Brandon. Papirny made 29 stops to earn the win in goal.

    Brock Hamm turned away 43 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades. Saskatoon fell to 25-39-4 to officially be eliminated from playoff contention for the third year in a row.

    The Wheaties appear to be ready for a long playoff run. With the good habits they have developed off and on the ice, all they need are some breaks to go their way in the luck department and that elusive third WHL title in team history might finally fall into their grasp.

Gold Wings pull even with Stars

Chantal Burke (#39) made 42 saves to earn a shutout win against the Stars.

    The Saskatoon Stars saw their 13 game winning streak in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs come to an end on Friday night in Weyburn at the hands of the Esso Cup hosting Gold Wings.

    Gold Wings forward and University of Saskatchewan Huskies recruit Bailee Bourassa scored 48 seconds into a second overtime period to give her side a 1-0 victory over the Stars, who are the defending SFMAAAHL champions. Chantal Burke made 42 saves to earn the win in goal for Weyburn, while Emma Johnson turned away 41 shots to take the loss in goal for the Stars.

    With Weyburn’s win, the best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series between the two clubs is tied 1-1. Game 3 of the series is set for Sunday at 4:45 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena in Saskatoon.

    The other best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series between the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats and the Prince Albert A & W Bears is also tied 1-1.

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

Stars roll into break

Abby Shirley fires a shot on goal for the Stars.

    The Saskatoon Stars kicked things back into high gear before heading into an extended break.

    On Saturday and Sunday, the Stars convincingly swept a two-game series against the visiting Melville Prairie Fire taking the encounters by respective scores of 6-2 and 8-0 at the Agriplace Arena.     The victories were big bounce back efforts for the defending Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League champs, who dropped a 3-2 decision at home to the Prince Albert A & W Bears back on Jan. 24 in their last outing before facing Melville.

    The sweep allowed Saskatoon to improve to 22-4 and move into a position to be on the cusp of locking up first place in the SFMAAAHL and home ice advantage throughout the league’s post-season. The Stars conclude the regular season by traveling to Battleford to play the Sharks (3-18-2) on Feb. 20 and 21, and would clinch first by winning just one of those two contests.

    The Stars will know if they need to earn any wins at all in order to secure stop spot in the league before they hit the ice on Feb. 20. Only the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats (15-5-2) could finish ahead of the Stars in the league standings, but the Wildcats need to win all of their final six games in regulation to have a chance at that distinction.

    Swift Current will have finished its regular season schedule before the Stars hit the ice on Feb. 20. The Wildcats do complete their regular season schedule on Feb. 20, but their home encounter that day against the Weyburn Southern Range Gold Wings starts six hours and 45 minutes before the Stars game does.

Anna Leschyshyn drives to the net for the Stars.

    The SFMAAAHL awards three points in the standings for a regulation win, two points for an extra time win and one point for an extra time loss. Saskatoon has 64 points coming from 20 regulation wins and two extra time victories.

    Swift Current has 47 points with all their wins coming in regulation along with two points from extra time setbacks. If the Wildcats won their remaining six games in regulation, they would finish with 65 points in the standings.

    Mackenna Parker and Danielle Girolami had big nights in Saturday’s 6-2 victory over Melville. Parker had a pair of goals and an assist, while Girolami had three assists.

    Grace Shirley, Julia Rongve, Joelle Fiala and Kianna Dietz had singles. Emma Johnson made 26 saves to earn the win in goal.

    Regan Nichol and Cheyanne Fishley replied for the Prairie Fire (7-15-1), while Macey MacDonald made 43 stops taking the loss in net.

    In the Stars 8-0 win on Sunday, Abby Shirley had a pair of goals, while Willow Slobodzian, Hollie Coumont, Grace Shirley, Girolami, Jordyn Gerlitz and Anna Leschyshyn had singles. Jordan Ivanco made 26 saves to earn her first shutout of the season in goal for Saskatoon.

    Ashlyn Taillon made 51 stops to take the loss in net for the Prairie Fire.

    Last season, the Stars topped the league’s regular season standings with a 25-3 record.

Blades rally for La Loche, support girl fighting cancer

    When the Saskatoon Blades want to organize something special, they definitely knock it out of the park.

    On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the player from the Blades and the visiting Regina Pats stood shoulder to shoulder at the centre ice circle to honour four victims who were killed in a Jan. 22 shooting In La Loche. The Blades staff created a display featuring pictures of the victims Drayden Fontaine, Dayne Fontaine, Adam Wood and Marie Janvier. Six people from La Loche, whose family members were receiving medical care in Saskatoon, also took part in the pre-game ceremony.

    A total of 30 people from La Loche were guests of the Blades.

    The pre-game ceremony included a song of healing performed by drummer Marc Okicitow before Michelle Dubois sang O Canada. The video of the ceremony was special to see, and it can be found right here.

    The pre-game tribute definitely overshadowed the fact the host Blades came away with a 7-3 victory in captain Nick Zajac’s 300^th career regular season game.

    The Blades will continue efforts to be a force in the community on another front during their game Tuesday against the Prince George Cougars (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre). Along with M.D. Ambulance, the local WHL club will be raising money for Grade 2 student Naomi Lendvay and her family, as young Lendvay is fighting stage four pediatric cancer. Funds will be raised through a jersey auction and the 50/50 draw.

    Spectators will also receive a special hockey player card of Lendvay.

    If Lendvay is feeling well enough, she will drop the puck for a pre-game ceremonial faceoff. The Blades put together a video of Lendvay’s story, and it can be found here.

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

Christmas comes early for Blades

Double Blue earns huge upset victory over Rockets

The SaskTel Centre scoreboards flashes the final of the Blades upset win.

    The Saskatoon Blades gave themselves an early Christmas present.

    On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades entered their final contest before the WHL’s Christmas break as huge underdogs against the league leading and defending league champion Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets were also rated fourth in the Canadian Hockey League's top ten rankings. After falling behind 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes, the hosts side roared back to pull out a well-earned 5-3 victory before an appreciative crowd of 3,997 spectators.

    “They are a pretty phenomenal hockey team,” said Blades overage right-winger Connor Gay. “They are team that is quite offensive, and I think we stuck to our game tonight.

    “We played good defence, and I couldn’t be happier that we won tonight.”

    The Rockets came into “the Bridge City” with two big absences as centres Nick Merkley and Rourke Chartier were both in Finland trying to crack the final roster for Canada’s world junior team. Kelowna was also without forward Tomas Soustal, who is trying to earn a spot on the Czech Republic’s team for world juniors, and left-winger Calvin Thurkauf, who will be part of Switzerland’s team at the world juniors.

    Despite the fact that foursome was overseas, the Rockets jumped ahead 2-0 on a pair of tallies coming off the stick of WHL scoring leader Tyson Baillie, who potted his first marker on a breakaway. While Kelowna held a 2-0 edge after first frame, Blades played at an even pace with the visitors.

Blades rearguard Mitch Wheaton, right, helps with the teddy clean up.

    Just 67 seconds into the second, the Blades were finally rewarded for their effort, as centre Wyatt Sloboshan scored to cut the gap to 2-1. Sloboshan’s goal triggered a flood of stuffed animals to get thrown on to the ice surface due to the fact Saskatoon was holding its teddy bear toss promotion.

    After the stuffed animals were cleared away, the Blades momentum continued to roll with goals coming from the sticks of captain Nick Zajac and stand out centre Cameron Hebig, which gave the hosts a 3-2 edge.

    The lead didn’t last long as five seconds later Rockets left-winger Justin Kirkland put a floater past Saskatoon netminder Evan Smith, who was making his first start with the Blades after being acquired in a trade with the Victoria Royals on Dec. 10.

    Before the second period ended, the Blades jumped back ahead 4-3. While working on a power play, Sloboshan got the puck down low by the right side of the Kelowna goal after a greasy bounce off the boards, and Vanscoy product made no mistake potting his second of the contest.

    After jumping out to a 7-4-3 start, the Blades hit a big slide starting on Nov. 15. Saturday marked the fifth time Saskatoon has won since that date as their record improved to 13-17-3. During the skid, they often couldn’t recover after giving up the first goal of a game, so Gay was pleased his side erased a two-goal deficit on Saturday.

    “There has been lots of talk about us obviously deflating after the first couple of goals get let in,” said Gay. “Lately, I think we’ve been really trying to stay positive and fighting back in games. Lately, it has been working out.

    “You never want to be down in a hockey game. If you are down, you have to stay positive and you have to work hard to get back in the game, and that is what we did.”

    Gay added another power-play goal at the 7:31 mark of the third to put Saskatoon up 5-3. Smith made 27 stops to pick up the win in goal.

    Star netminder Jackson Whistle turned away 28 shots taking the loss in goal for the Rockets, who fell to 25-9-1 but remain first overall in the WHL.

Evan Smith made 27 saves to earn his first win in goal for the Blades.

    “Our guys believe they can win any game,” said Blades head coach and general manager Bob Woods. “Last year we probably didn’t think that way. Now, we believe that.

    “We probably put a little bit more pressure on ourselves, because our expectations are higher than they have been. There is nothing wrong with that. I think that is a great step for our guys.

    “We want to have success, and we are not happy if we don’t. That to me is the type of environment you want to have especially with your young guys.”

    The Blades sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, and they trail the 14-19-3 Edmonton Oil Kings by two points for eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth. Saskatoon finished last in the entire WHL each of the past two seasons after hosting the 2013 Memorial Cup.

    Woods said wins like the one his squad earned over the Rockets help his players gain confidence, but he cautioned his squad still has a lot of room for improvement.

    “We are the type of team that still has a lot of growing pains,” said Woods. “We are the youngest team in the league, and I hate always bringing that up, but it is a fact.

    “There are lots of things for us to learn. We just have to keep going and take in every experience and build on it. The second half is going to be a tough go.

    “Hopefully, we are in some meaningful games and have a chance to battle for that last playoff spot.”

    The Blades and Rockets both return to action on Dec. 27. Saskatoon travels to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders, while Kelowna heads to Kamloops to take on the Blazers.

    NOTES – In the second period of Saturday’s game, Rockets defenceman Cal Foote received a major penalty and a game misconduct for a head check. That play will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a suspension.

    Whistle stopped Blades right-winger Mason McCarty on a penalty shot late in the third period.

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

Blades make strides, more work ahead

The Blades bench during a stoppage in play.

    They finished last in WHL, but the 2014-15 season for the Saskatoon Blades can't be considered a write off.
    Still rebuilding from hosting the 2013 Memorial Cup and making a blockbuster trade to get Brayden Schenn for a run in the 2011 playoffs, the Blades were going to hard pressed to make the WHL playoffs. On ice, a modest goal would be to build on the 16-51-2-3 record the team posted in the 2013-14 campaign. They did better that mark in a modest fashion with a 19-49-2-2 finish.
    In the second season under the ownership of Edmonton product Mike Priestner and his management group, the team started to set more building blocks to steer the club back into the direction of being a contender and ensuring the Blades brand stays relevant in the community.
    The biggest sign of success came from the fact 8,929 people came to the Sasktel Centre to watch the Blades final regular season home game on March 20, which they lost 3-1 to the Medicine Hat Tigers. I know the cynics will say the only reason attendance was that high was due to the fact there was a guaranteed 50/50 pot set at $51,000, which saw spectators Ross Wiebe and Carly, his daughter, walk away with a prize of $67,207.50.
    Still, the fact was 8,929 came to watch a final regular season game, when the Blades had been playing out the string for about three weeks with no hope of making the playoffs.

Blades centre Wyatt Sloboshan battles for a draw.

    As a charter member of the WHL in 1966, the Blades have seen their share of excellent seasons and really bad campaigns. In past campaigns where the final regular season home game had no meaning due to the fact the Blades would miss the post-season, it was common for about 2,300 to attend that last game. Out of the 2,300 that came, it usually felt like half the crowd didn't really want to be there.
    That wasn't the case with the final regular season home game for this season. All you had to do was look into the stands, and you realized the 8,929 spectators in attendance wanted to be at the Sasktel Centre that night. There was a good atmosphere in the building.
    Besides having a strong draw for their final regular season home game, the Blades drew 6,718 spectators to their second last regular season home date on March 14, when they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings, who finished first overall in the WHL.
    Overall, the Blades averaged 4,563 spectators for their 36 home contests, which was a slight drop in average attendance from the 4,719 spectators that came to games in the 2013-14 regular season. Those numbers are still good for two non-playoff years.
    The Blades management and office staff put in a lot of ground work over the course of the season to engage the community, and those efforts appear to be paying off. Over the past eight years, Saskatoon proper has seen a population increase of about 50,000, so there is also an untapped base to go after.

The Blades break out of their own zone.

    It seemed like every game this season the Blades had some promotion going to make coming to the rink fun. One of the more enjoyable ones was likely a Las Vegas style kind of event they put on in January. Overall, it is starting to feel like the Sasktel Centre is the place to be again in Saskatoon on Blades game nights.
    The Blades also had a new head coach and general manager in Bob Woods this season and a new assistant coach in Dean Brockman. While the wins didn't pile up for a roster that was the youngest in the WHL, the work ethic of the players was there night in and night out. On most nights, the Blades players gave those that came out to see them perform an honest effort.
    They also appear to have been successful in setting up a good culture around the dressing room. While the setback stockpiled, players still wanted to be at the rink. Actually, a number of players the Blades traded away to stock up WHL Bantam Draft selections didn't actually want to leave.
    They wanted to stay in Saskatoon to help turn the team's fortunes around, but they also understood there is a business aspect to the league. If deals could be made to help the club in the future, they will be made.
    Junior hockey is the first level where players can feel the sting of the business side of the game. With that said, the Blades did their part to lessen the sting of that business blow.

The Blades celebrate a goal.

    That was shown on the night 18-year-old defenceman and local product Nelson Nogier made his return to the Bridge City. Nogier spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Blades, and he was the poster boy team player, who was huge in representing the club in the community. He was also the WHL's scholastic player of the year in 2013-14.
    He was dealt to the Rebels just before the Christmas break in a blockbuster trade.
    When he made his return to play in the Sasktel Centre on Feb. 18, the Blades honoured him in a pre-game ceremony. He was presented his old game jersey in a glass case, an amazing looking framed action photo, and he took the ceremonial faceoff.
    The ceremony sent a message to any player looking to join the Blades that they will always be respected, if they come in and give an honest effort. It makes players want to play for the Blades, and it makes parents hope their kids get to go play for the Blades.
    On the ice, the Blades appear to have some pieces of the puzzle in place. Netminders Nik Amundrud and Brock Hamm look like they could be a solid tandem, when they return as 18-year-old sophomores.
    Veteran defenceman Brycen Martin, who was picked up in trade with the Swift Current Broncos, is a solid part on the back end, and he has the ability to quarterback the power play. Yorkton product Jake Kustra played seven games as a 15-year-old call up, and he appears able to provide a spark.
    Up front, 17-year-old rookie Wyatt Sloboshan potted 10 goals and 21 assists in 49 regular season game for his hometown WHL club. He has some sound potential heading into his 18-year-old campaign.

The Blades salute the Sasktel Centre faithful

    Left-winger Nick Zajac is heading into his overage campaign and should provide some good leadership next season showing young players the ins and outs of the league.
    With all that said, the Blades were still last in the entire 22-team WHL. They scored the third fewest goals at 195, gave up the most goals against at 309 and finished with nine straight losses.
    The returning players have to work on their games and get stronger and faster physically. Woods also has to keep finding ways to keep improving the overall talent level.
    The Blades still have a lot more work to do in order to become an elite WHL club. If they keep following the current rebuilding blueprint they have drawn up, they should get rewarded in the long run.

    If you have any comments about this blog, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.