Blades rally past Wheat Kings

Chiasson nets winner and two helpers for Saskatoon

Jake Chiasson had a goal and two assists for the Blades on Sunday.

A spark seemingly out of nowhere triggered a comeback victory for the Saskatoon Blades.

On Sunday evening at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades found themselves in stuck quicksand trailing the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 2-0 late into the second period of a WHL regular season contest. 

With 1:53 remaining in the second, Blades steady 19-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright popped home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle in the offensive zone for his fourth goal of the season to cut the Wheat Kings lead to 2-1.

The Blades built momentum after Wright’s tally and rolled off three goals in the third to pull out a 4-2 victory to the delight of most of the 4,038 spectators in attendance. 

Sunday’s game marked the second time the Blades came back to win a game after trailing on the scoreboard entering the third period. On the season, the Blades entered the third period trailing on the scoreboard on 13 occasions.

The win allowed the Blades to improve to 33-12-3-1 to remain one point ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors (32-16-0-3) for third overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Warriors downed the Hitmen in Calgary 2-1 on Sunday to remain one point back of the Blades. Saskatoon has three games in hand on Moose Jaw.

The Wheat Kings opened the game’s scoring with just 2.5 seconds remaining in the opening frame when 19-year-old left-winger Brett Hyland slid home a backhand shot for his 23^rd goal of the season. At the 6:34 mark of the second, the Wheat Kings extended their lead to 2-0 when 20-year-old centre Nolan Ritchie netted his 19^th tally of the campaign.

At that point, Wright proceeded to score shortly before the end of the second to trigger the Blades rally.

Saskatoon pulled even at 2-2 at the 7:28 mark of the third on Jordan Keller’s first of two goals on the night. The 17-year-old rookie centre collected the rebound of a point shot taken by Wright at the right side of the Brandon goal popped home his eight of the season to erase the Brandon lead.

Blades 19-year-old left-winger Jake Chiasson, who came to the Saskatoon in a deal with the Wheat Kings right before the WHL’s trade deadline on January 10, picked up an assist on Keller’s equalizer.

Egor Sidorov had an assist for the Blades on Sunday.

Chiasson netted the winner on a beauty play at the 11:58 mark of the third with the Blades working on the power play. Blades star centre Trevor Wong passed the puck from the left side boards of the Brandon zone to Chiasson, who was at the doorstep of the Wheat Kings net.

Chiasson toe dragged the puck between his legs roofed home his 14^th goal of the season to the top right corner of the Brandon net to give the Blades a 3-2 advantage. Blades captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere also picked up an assist on the go-ahead goal.

Just 1:43 later, Keller drove hard in close to the right side of the Brandon net and powered home his second goal of the contest to round out the 4-2 final in the Blades favour. Chiasson picked up an assist on the insurance tally to finish the contest with one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department.

Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov also had an assist on Keller’s second tally.

Frustration proceeded to set in for the Wheat Kings. With 5:19 remaining in the third, Wheat Kings tough guy left-winger Matthew Henry hit De La Gorgendiere from behind into the boards.

The officials gave Henry a charging minor and a 10-minute misconduct. In 45 games with the Wheat Kings this season, Henry, who is an 18-year-old rookie, leads the WHL with 115 penalty minutes, has no points and is a minus-six.

Ethan Chadwick made 26 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Nicholas Jones, who is an 18-year-old rookie, turned away 27 shots to take the setback in net for the Wheat Kings (19-22-7).

The Wheat Kings sit five points behind the 21-21-7-1 Medicine Hat Tigers for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Brandon has two games in hand on Medicine Hat.

Saskatoon had 20-year-old defenceman Blake Gustafson back in action on Sunday after he missed the team’s 3-2 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Ice on Saturday due to illness. The Blades took the ice with a full complement of 18 skaters on Sunday, but they still have a lengthy injury list.

Jake Chiasson (#61) gives a souvenir hockey stick to a young fan.

The injury list included netminder Austin Elliott and centres Jayden Wiens and Josh Pillar due to lower body injuries. Also out were wingers Tyler Parr, Conner Roulette and Justin Lies with upper body injuries.

The Blades dressed associate player call up Evan Gardner as the backup netminder. The 16-year-old Gardner has been playing with the Rink Hockey Academy’s under-18 team in Kelowna, B.C.

The Blades return to action on Tuesday when they host the 8-37-3 Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Wheat Kings are off until Friday when they host the Oil Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

Coyotes return Guenther to WHL, other notes

Dylan Guenther in action for the Oil Kings in January of 2022.

The powerhouse Seattle Thunderbirds just became even stronger and likely the top favourite to win the WHL championship.

On Sunday, the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes assigned 19-year-old right-winger Dylan Guenther to the Thunderbirds. Guenther appeared in 33 games with the Coyotes posting six goals, nine assists and a minus-seven rating in the plus-minus department. The Coyotes selected Guenther in the first round and ninth overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

Guenther’s WHL rights were held by his hometown Edmonton Oil Kings. The Oil Kings dealt Guenther’s WHL rights to the Thunderbirds in a deal right before the WHL’s trade deadline on January 10.

In that trade, the Oil Kings sent Guenther’s rights, the rights to prospect forward Jordan Ramsay, who turned 16-years-old on January 24, and an eighth round selection in the 2023 WHL Prospect Draft to the Thunderbirds. In exchange, the Thunderbirds sent the rights of prospect forward Koji Gibson, who will turn 16-years-old on March 10, and a fourth round selection in the 2024 Prospect Draft to the Oil Kings.

The Thunderbirds also included six conditional Prospect Drafts selections in the deal including a second round pick in 2023, a sixth round pick in 2024, a fourth round pick in 2025 and first, fourth and fifth round picks in 2026. On Sunday, the Thunderbirds confirmed all six of those selections were transferred to the Oil Kings now that Guenther has been assigned back to the WHL.

Last season, Guenther had a memorable campaign with the Oil Kings, who selected him first overall in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. Appearing in 59 regular season games, Guenther posted 45 goals, 46 assists and a plus-51 rating in the plus-minus department. In 16 games in the WHL playoffs, Guenther recorded 13 goals, eight assists and a plus-12 rating.

 In 2021-22, the Oil Kings finished second overall in the WHL standings with a 50-14-3-1 record. In the WHL playoffs, the Oil Kings captured a league championship posting a 16-3 record. Guenther was unable to play for the Oil Kings in the Memorial Cup tournament that crowns a CHL champion due to sustaining a knee injury in Game 3 of the WHL final.

The Oil Kings eliminated the Thunderbirds in six games in the 2022 WHL final. This season, the Oil Kings sit last in the entire WHL with an 8-37-3 record.

The Thunderbirds sit first overall in the WHL’s Western Conference and second in the circuit’s overall standings with a 36-9-1-1 record after downing the visiting Spokane Chiefs 3-1 on Sunday. Seattle has a stacked roster that includes 10 players who have either been drafted or signed with an NHL team.

Guenther did play for Canada at this past world juniors. In the gold medal game played on January 5 in Halifax, Guenther had two goals including the overtime winner and an assist as Canada downed Czechia 3-2.

Playing in all of Canada’s seven games at that event, Guenther recorded seven goals and three assists for 10 points. He tallied six goals on the power play, which was record for most power play goals by a Canadian at one world juniors.

The Coyotes had loaned Guenther to Canada for world juniors.

Guenther could potentially debut for the Thunderbirds on Friday when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m. local time, accesso ShoWare Center).

• On Sunday, 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard scored his 45^th goal of the season to give the visiting Regina Pats a 1-0 lead over the host Tigers in Medicine Hat. The Tigers responded with five straight goals to post a 5-1 victory. Pavel Bocharov, Kurtis Smythe, Rhett Parsons, Dallon Melin and Oasiz Wiesblatt all netted singles for the Tigers. The Tigers drew a season high 6,178 spectators to Co-op Place for the clash with Bedard and the Pats.
• Star offensive-defenceman Olen Zellweger scored with 22.4 seconds remaining in the third period to lift the host Kamloops Blazers to a 4-3 victory over the Victoria Royals. The Royals held a 3-1 lead early in the second period before the Blazers rallied with three straight goals to pull out the victory. The Blazers improved to 31-10-4-2 riding a four game winning streak to sit first in the B.C. Division. They officially clinched a berth in the WHL Playoffs with Sunday’s victory. The Memorial Cup hosting Blazers drew 4,920 spectators in their win Sunday over the Royals.
• The Prince Albert Raiders posted a 3-2 record on their five-game road trip through the B.C. Division that concluded with a 4-0 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday. The Raiders outshot the Rockets 51-23 in the setback. With a 19-27-3 record, the Raiders sit nine points back of the 21-21-7-1 Medicine Hat Tigers for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders have a game in hand on the Tigers.

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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Raiders’ Chaika picks up first WHL shutout

Tikhon Chaika earned his first shutout win in the WHL.

Import rookie Tikhon Chaika enjoyed his brightest day in his young WHL career on Wednesday night.

The 18-year-old netminder from Minsk, Belarus, made 26 saves to pick up his first career WHL shutout as his Prince Albert Raiders downed the Hitmen in Calgary 1-0 in a regular season clash played before 4,080 spectators at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Chaika, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 161 pounds, is going through a growing pains type of season that is understandable for an import rookie, who has to learn a new language and culture on top adjusting to a new hockey league.

As the season has gone on, his statistics are becoming a little more solid. In 33 appearances with the Raiders this season, Chaika has a 13-14-2 record, a 2.98 goals against average and a .900 save percentage to go with his one shutout.

The Raiders got their lone goal at the 12:45 mark of the first period on a gaff by Hitmen Belarusian import right-winger Anton Astashevich. Astashevich had the puck in his own zone and tried to make a cross-ice pass to a teammate.

Astashevich’s pass was picked off by Raiders centre Evan Herman. Herman broke in alone on the Calgary net and put a backhand shot past Hitmen netminder Brayden Peters.

Peters had a solid night himself making 25 saves to take the setback in goal as the Hitmen lost their eighth straight game to fall to 18-23-5-2.

The Raiders have won two straight contests to improve to 19-26-2-1.

They were without 19-year-old defenceman Trevor Thurston, who was sitting out the first of a five game league imposed suspension. Thurston was suspended for picking up a charging major, a cross-checking major and two game misconducts in the Raiders 4-1 victory over the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Monday.

Raiders HC Marc Habscheid picked up a milestone on Wednesday.

Prince Albert’s win on Wednesday unofficially marked the 573^rd career regular season head coaching victory for Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. The win total includes Habscheid’s time with the Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets, and the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise. Habscheid’s first season holding a WHL team’s head coaching duties came in the 1997/98 campaign with the Blazers.

With that total, Habscheid passes Mike Williamson to sit alone for fifth on the WHL’s all-time career regular season wins list. Williamson collected his 572 regular season head coaching victories working behind the bench of the Portland Winterhawks, Calgary Hitmen and Tri-City Americans from the 1999-2000 campaign to the 2017-18 campaign.

Habscheid now trails Lorne Molleken for fourth place on the WHL’s all-time career regular season wins list. Molleken piled up 626 wins working behind the bench with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Saskatoon Blades, Regina Pats and Vancouver Giants during a period of time that spanned from 1989 to 2016.

Don Hay holds the record for career WHL regular season head coaching victories at 750. Hay collected his win total working behind the bench of the Kamloops Blazers, Tri-City Americans and Vancouver Giants during a period of time that spanned from 1992 to 2018.

The Raiders return to action on Friday when they travel to Red Deer to take on the 31-15-2-1 Rebels (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 900 CKBI).

Blades drop 6-5 OT heartbreaker in Brandon

Trevor Wong scored twice for the Blades on Wednesday.

Saskatoon Blades weren’t able to hold off a determined Brandon Wheat Kings side.

Holding a 5-4 lead entering the third period of a WHL regular season game at Westoba Place in Brandon, Man., the Blades had their hands full protecting their edge against a Wheat Kings side that carried play in the third frame. With 89 seconds remaining in the stanza, Wheat Kings 19-year-old centre Nolan Ritchie potted his 20^th goal of the season and second tally of the night to force a 5-5 and send the contest to overtime.

With less than six seconds remaining in overtime, Wheat Kings 20-year-old offensive defenceman Chad Nychuk potted the winner to deliver the host side to a 6-5 victory.

Vincent Iorio, Riley Ginnell and Marcus Kallionkieli all netted singles for Brandon.

Trevor Wong scored twice for the Blades, while Vaughn Watterodt, Kyren Gronick and Kyle Crnkovic netted singles.

Crnkovic, who is the Blades veteran star left-winger, continues to lead the WHL in scoring with 74 points coming off of 33 goals and 41 assists.

The Wheat Kings led 2-0 and 4-2, before the Blades scored three goals to close out the second period to take a 5-4 lead. That set up the dramatics late in the third period and in overtime.

Ethan Kruger stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings (26-15-3-2). Nolan Maier turned away 24 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Blades (27-18-2-1).

The two sides will go at it again on Friday in Brandon (7 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 600 CJWW).

Elsewhere in the WHL on Wednesday night, the Regina Pats blanked the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 2-0, and the Winnipeg Ice slipped past the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 3-2.

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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