Wheat Kings’ Flamand flattens Blades with four-point night

First game after Lisowsky tough for Saskatoon

Nolan Flamand (#91) celebrates his second goal on Friday night.

As the Saskatoon Blades made a trade to help their future, it looks like they will deal with expected rough spots in the present.

On Thursday, the Blades completed a major trade with the Victoria Royals. In that deal, they sent one of their all-time greats in 20-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky and a fifth round selection in the 2028 WHL Prospects Draft to the Royals for 20-year-old left-winger Tanner Scott, a second round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft and a second round pick in the 2026 Prospects Draft.

In 29 games with the Blades this season, Lisowsky sat second in Blades team scoring with 43 points coming off 22 goals and 21 assists to go with a plus-13 rating in the plus-minus department. In 256 career regular season games with the Blades, Lisowsky recorded 143 goals and 125 assists for 268 points to go with a plus-68 rating. The Port Coquitlam, B.C., product sits inside the top five for career regular season goals in the history of the Blades.

Nolan Flamand had two goals and two assists on Friday night.

Scott appeared in 25 games with the Royals this season recording six goals and 10 assists for 16 points to go with a plus-four rating. In 245 career regular season games with Victoria, Scott recorded 54 goals and 88 assists for 142 points.

With the Blades having loaded up last season having topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark and advancing to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series falling in a heartbreaking seven-game set to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors, the trade of Lisowsky allowed Saskatoon to recover some draft capital.

This season, the Blades with the help of Lisowsky have been sitting first in the WHL’s East Division and have led the Eastern Conference for various stretches in what has been a relatively surprising campaign. At the start of the 2024-25 campaign, Saskatoon was expected to content for a spot in the post-season, and few expected the Blades to battle for first in their division or their conference.

Tanner Scott scored for the Blades on Friday.

On Friday night playing before 4,121 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades took the ice for the first time after the Lisowsky trade taking on the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. The game was tight after two periods with the Wheat Kings holding a 3-2 lead on the scoreboard and a 20-19 edge in shots on goal.

The visitors stormed away in the third posting a 6-2 victory holding a 35-25 advantage in shots on goal. Wheat Kings standout 20-year-old centre Nolan Flamand, who is from Saskatoon, powered the Brandon side with two goals, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

The loss was a second in a row for the Blades, who still lead the WHL’s East Division with a 20-12-2-2 mark. The Wheat Kings improved to 18-11-3-2 with the win, and they along with the 19-12-3 Prince Albert Raiders sit three points back of the Blades for the division lead. The Wheat Kings and Raiders each have a pair of games in hand on the Blades.

Tanner Scott (#29) celebrates his first goal with the Blades.

The Wheat Kings came out of the gate on fire outshooting the Blades 10-3. Just 5:13 into the opening frame, the visitors jumped in front 1-0 on a goal from 18-year-old defenceman Dylan Ronald. Ronald received a drop pass at the right point from 19-year-old centre Matteo Michels and put home a smart shot past Blades star netminder Evan Gardner.

The Blades got their legs going near the end of the first recording the last six shots on goal for the frame. Wheat Kings netminder Alex Garret came up with a big glove save on Blades right-winger Hudson Kibblewhite, and inside the final 20 seconds of the first, Garret robbed Blades right-winger Zach Olsen on a tip attempt in from of the Brandon net.

Grayden Siepmann had a goal for the Blades on Friday.

The Wheat Kings held a 10-9 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

Brandon would recapture the moment at the start of the second. Just 34 seconds into the frame, Wheat Kings 20-year-old right-winger Marcus Nguyen jetted through the Blades checkers and ripped home his 19^th of the season from the front of the Saskatoon net to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.

At the 9:10 mark of the second, Brandon jumped up 3-0 on Flamand’s first tally of the night. Flamand put a shot on net from just to the right of the Saskatoon goal. Gardner got a piece of the shot, but the puck just trickled over the goal line pushing the Wheat Kings advantage to 3-0.

Jaxon Jacobson (#9) shields off Cooper Williams (#25).

The officials checked that tally via video review, and it was quickly confirmed the puck from Flamand’s shot did cross the goal line for Brandon’s third marker.

Following that tally, the Blades coaches elected to pull Gardner for backup Ethan McCallum. Gardner turned away 14-of-17 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. McCallum turned aside 15-of-18 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Blades proceeded to get some traction after the goaltending change. With 6:29 remaining in the second while working on the power play, Scott got the puck at the right side of the Brandon net and put a backhand shot into an empty cage for his first tally as a member of the Blades. That tally cut the Wheat Kings lead to 3-1.

Dylan Ronald had a pair of goals for the Wheat Kings.

Just 57 seconds later, 20-year-old Blades defenceman Grayden Siepmann put home a point shot through a screen to cut Brandon’s edge to 3-2. Breakout star centre Ben Riche picked up assists on both Saskatoon goals.

Brandon proceeded to wrestle back momentum early in the third and never looked back from there. Working on the power play at the 2:13 mark of the third, the rebound from a shot taken by Wheat Kings 18-year-old left-winger Caleb Hadland came out to Flamand at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Flamand potted his second of the contest into an empty cage to push the Wheat Kings lead out to 4-2.

Ronald picked up his second of the night and 17-year-old right-winger Joby Baumuller added a power-play goal to round out the scoring for the Wheat Kings the rest of the way. Nguyen had an assist to go along with his goal.

Marcus Nguyen had a goal and an assist for the Wheat Kings.

Garret stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings.

Out in Victoria on Friday night, Lisowsky picked up an assist on the overtime winner as the host Royals slipped past the WHL leading Everett Silvertips 2-1. The Royals improved to 19-11-3-4 with the win and sit two points back of the B.C. Division leading Prince George Cougars (21-10-3-2). The Cougars have a game in hand on the Royals.

The Silvertips still lead the WHL’s overall standings as their record moved to 28-5-3-1.

As the WHL’s trade deadline on January 9 at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time approaches, one has to wonder if the Blades will get another trade offer or two that is too good to pass up in order to collect more draft assets. For those that have watched the WHL for an extended period of time, they know that is one of the realities with life on that circuit after a team has a season with a load up.

Joby Baumuller had a power-play goal for the Wheat Kings.

You can bet Blades general manager Colin Priestner and rest of the Blades brain trust do not want to go through a lengthy rebuild like what happened after the Saskatoon franchise hosted the 2013 CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. 

The Priestner family headed by Colin’s father, Mike Priestner, bought the Blades from Jack Brodsky after that event. Saskatoon would go on to miss the post-season for five straight campaigns before returning to the WHL Playoffs in 2018-19.

With Friday’s clash between the Wheat Kings and Blades in the books, the Wheat Kings return to action on Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to face the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Ben Riche had a pair of assists for the Blades on Friday.

The Blades get back it on Saturday when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

Coming into this season, Lisowsky, who was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and went unsigned, was the last remaining member on a Saskatoon line that included Trevor Wong at centre and import Egor Sidorov at right wing. That trio was the Blades top forward unit for most of three seasons spanning from 2021 to 2024.

Both Wong and Sidorov graduated from the Blades following the club’s elimination in last year’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. Wong now plays for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team in the U Sports ranks, and Sidorov skates for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, who are the affiliate of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.

The Wheat Kings celebrate their win on Friday night.

Now that Lisowsky is no longer with the Blades, it feels like chapter on era in the franchise’s history has come that much more to a close. Still, the time that Lisowsky played with the Blades will always be something the team’s faithful can smile about because it happened.

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

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Blades lock up second in WHL’s Eastern Conference

Saskatoon downs desperate Wheat Kings 3-2

Blades LW Justin Lies hands a souvenir stick to a birthday girl.

Starting in the second round of the WHL Playoffs, the Saskatoon Blades picked up a victory on Saturday night that could prove crucial.

Playing before 3,887 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades slipped past a desperate visiting Brandon Wheat Kings side 3-2 in a WHL regular season clash. The win allowed the Blades to improve to 46-14-4-1 to lock up second place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

In the conference playoff format used by the WHL, the two division winners are given the first and second seeds in the first round. From the second round onwards, the teams are reseeded by standings points.

In the Eastern Conference, the WHL leading Winnipeg Ice (54-9-1) have top spot in the conference and the East Division locked up. The Red Deer Rebels (42-18-3-3) have secured first in the Central Division and are cemented as the third place team in the Eastern Conference.

Justin Lies had the winning goal for the Blades on Saturday.

Thanks to finishing second in the Eastern Conference, the Blades would have home ice advantage for any post-season meetings with the Rebels.

The Blades current total of 46 wins marks the most victories the club has posted in a season since posting a team record 56 victories in 2010-11, when the squad put up a 56-13-1-2 mark to finish first in the WHL.

Saskatoon is also guaranteed a fourth place finish in the WHL’s overall standings. The Blades, who have three games remaining on their regular season schedule, could potentially still finish third in the circuit’s overall standings, but Saskatoon trails the Memorial Cup hosting and B.C. Division champion Kamloops Blazers (47-11-4-2) by three points for third overall. The Blazers have four regular season contests left to play.

Blades C Trevor Wong, left, battles Wheat Kings RW Evan Groening.

The setback put a big dagger in the Wheat Kings post-season hopes as they fell to 26-32-8 with a fourth straight loss to sit 10^th overall in the Eastern Conference with two games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Wheat Kings trail the Calgary Hitmen (28-28-5-3) by four points for eighth place in the Eastern Conference and the conference’s final playoff berth. The Hitmen need to earn one more standings point in their last four regular season games to eliminate the Wheat Kings from playoff contention.

In Saturday’s clash between the Blades and Wheat Kings, Saskatoon jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a goal from 19-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright at the 9:13 mark of the opening frame and a power-play goal from 21-year-old left-winger Josh Pillar at the 12:34 mark of the first.

Jake Chiasson had a pair of assists for the Blades on Saturday.

Blades 19-year-old left-winger Jake Chiasson picked up assists on both goals after signing a three-year NHL entry-level contract earlier in the day with the Edmonton Oilers.

The Wheat Kings battled back to even the score at 2-2 heading into the first intermission. Right-winger and Saskatoon product Nolan Flamand netted the Wheat Kings first tally with 2:12 to play in the opening frame. 

Rookie left-winger Caleb Hadland, who turned 17-years-old on March 6, potted the equalizer with 43.7 seconds remaining in the first to force the 2-2 draw. Right-winger Evan Groening picked up assists on both Brandon goals.

With 3:56 remaining in the second, Blades 18-year-old left-winger Justin Lies netted his eighth goal of the season which stood up as the winner in Saskatoon’s 3-2 victory. 

Charlie Wright has the Blades first goal on Saturday.

Lies’s tally was set up by some great work by Blades 17-year-old rookie right-winger Rowan Calvert.

Calvert intercepted a Wheat Kings pass in the right corner of the Brandon zone. He quickly fed a pass to the front of the Brandon goal to Lies, who buried the winner.

Lies played a strong two-way game for the Blades in being named the first star of the contest. After being named the first star of the contest at game’s end, Lies gave a souvenir stick to a birthday girl in the crowd.

In the third, the Wheat Kings showed their desperation outshooting the Blades 11-4 in the frame.

Netminder Ethan Chadwick turned away all 11 shots he faced in the third and 23 shots over the whole contest to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Nicholas Jones turned away 23 shots taking the setback in net for the Wheat Kings.

The contest ended with a big scrum when time expired in the third period. 

The Blades celebrate their victory on Saturday night.

The officials handed out penalties to only two players giving Blades right-winger Vaughn Watterodt, who turned 19-years-old in February, and Wheat Kings 20-year-old left-winger Calder Anderson double minors for roughing and 10-minute misconducts.

The Blades return to action on Sunday when they host 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats (33-28-3-1) in a highly anticipated match up at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. Bedard leads the WHL in goals (69), assists (71) and points (140).

The Wheat Kings get back at it on Friday, when they host the Ice (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

Raiders eliminated from playoff contention, other notes

Tikhon Chaika made 23 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.

It took seemingly death by 1,000 paper cuts to bring the Prince Albert Raiders post-season hopes to an end, and they were officially brought to an end on Saturday.

On Saturday, the Raiders played the second of a three games in three nights road trip falling to the WHL leading Ice 4-1 in a regular season clash played before 1,746 spectators at the Wayne Fleming Arena. The game was 45 minutes late in starting due to the Raiders bus encountering mechanical issues, while traveling from Brandon to Winnipeg. The Raiders opened their trip on Friday in Brandon downing the host Wheat Kings 4-3.

The Raiders were eliminated from playoff contention with their loss to the Ice and the Calgary Hitmen blanking the Tigers in Medicine Hat 2-0 on Saturday night. Prince Albert fell to 27-35-3 to sit 11^th in the Eastern Conference and can no longer move into eighth in the conference to take the conference’s final playoff berth.

The Hitmen sit eight in the Eastern Conference and hold the conference’s last playoff berth improving to 28-28-5-3.

Landon Kosior had an assist for the Raiders on Saturday.

The win for the Ice improved their winning streak to six games as they continue to top the WHL’s overall standings with a 54-9-1 mark. The Ice sit two points ahead of the Seattle Thunderbirds (52-9-1-2), and both clubs have four contests remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

The 54 wins are a new franchise record for the Ice for most victories in one season. Their previous record was set last season, when the Ice topped the WHL standings with a 53-10-3-2 mark.

In Saturday’s clash between the Raiders and Ice, the teams played through a scoreless opening 20 minutes. Ice star centre Zack Ostapchuk opening the game’s scoring at the 10:26 mark of the second to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

Ice increased their advantage to 4-0 in the third with singles coming off the sticks of Evan Friesen, Ben Zloty and Connor McClennon. McClennon’s goal was his 44^th tally of the season and he had an assist to go with his goal.

Carter Anderson had the Raiders lone goal on Saturday.

Ice star centre Matthew Savoie had three assists in the win.

Carter Anderson, who is an 18-year-old left-winger, netted the Raiders lone reply coming with 4:28 remaining in the third to round out the 4-1 final score. Raiders star offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior, who is in his 20-year-old season, picked up the lone assist on Anderson’s goal.

Star netminder Daniel Hauser stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Ice. Import netminder Tikhon Chaika turned away 23 shots to take the setback in the Raiders net.

The Ice had won all five head-to-head meetings with the Raiders this season.

The two sides go at it again on Sunday at 5 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

• The Saskatoon Blades will set a new SaskTel Centre single game team attendance record when they face Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The Blades, who have sold out that clash with the Pats, won’t break the SaskTel Centre’s record attendance for a single sporting event. That record will continue to be held by the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush, who pulled in 15,192 spectators on May 21, 2016 for their 12-9 victory over the Calgary Roughnecks in Game 2 of a best-of-three West Division semifinal series that they swept 2-0. The Rush are able to hold a party alley in one of the SaskTel Centre’s vehicle entrances leading to the venue’s playing surface. At Blades games, the vehicle entrances leading to the playing surface are usually filled with rink attendants and the team’s game night staff. There is also part of one section of seats that can’t be used for the building’s configuration for hockey games, but can be used for lacrosse games. Due to missing that party alley and being unable to use part of one section of seats, the attendance at Sunday’s game isn’t expected to surpass 15,000.
• Due to being able to use floor seating, the SaskTel Centre’s record attendance for a single event comes from a concert. On September 15, 2018, Metallica drew a record attendance of 16,874 spectators for their concert that night. The band dedicated their performance of “Nothing Else Matters” to those who died in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash on April 6, 2018.
• After 32 regular season home games, the Saskatoon Blades are averaging 3,865 spectators a game. That number will go up as the Blades final two home games on Sunday and this coming Friday are against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats.
• The Regina Pats officially locked up a berth in the WHL Playoffs with their 7-3 over the Warriors in Moose Jaw in a game played before 4,965 spectators at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. Pats 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard had a hat trick, three assists and posted a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department in that contest.
• The U.S. Division champion Seattle Thunderbirds (52-9-1-2) need to earn just two more standings points in their last four games to lock up first overall in the Western Conference.

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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