Covering sports in 2023 was a grind but still fun

Connor Bedard jets past a checker from the Blades in April.

Boxing Day proved to be a perfect day to repair drawers on a dresser that sat broken since the first week of October.

Often, these types of projects break into a four hour or even a total day ordeal. The repair in this instance went easy and only took an hour.

Next brings the question of why it took so long to get to that repair?

Welcome to life when you are involved in the sports world in Canada.

The schedule was so busy on that front the repairs to the dresser kept always being dropped on the priority list. I finally got to the repair on Boxing Day.

This isn’t a new phenomenon in the sports world. I’ve got friends involved in that world who have had like a load of lumber and sheets of drywall sitting in their basements for three years waiting to be used for renovations that never seem to get done.

You start to wonder if there were any regrets about buying the building materials in the first place.

When you are involved in sports in Canada, it becomes a life consuming thing. Schedules are never normal with that world either outside of the fact there are set phases to the seasons in sports.

When pressures build to focus more on aspects outside of life in the sports world when you are involved in the sports world, it can make being in the sports world a grind.

For me, 2023 was a grind being in the sports world. I still enjoyed it, but it was a grind.

Things were going smoothly for the first two and a half months of 2023. About eight days into March, I ended up getting COVID-19, and it spread to the whole household. I missed covering the last two weeks of the 2022-23 WHL regular season.

The Blades enjoy a Game 7 series winner from Spencer Shugrue (#26).

The best part for my household and myself was the fact the COVID-19 battle was like dealing with a bad flu with extreme fatigue at the start. For the first five days after getting COVID-19, I slept 19 hours each day, and I had never felt that exhausted in my life.

Unfortunately, that seemed to set an ominous tone that prevailed for the rest of the year.

After the battle with COVID-19 wrapped up, I was ready to cover the WHL Playoffs, and I was ready to go when the post-season arrived. When I am covering WHL games, I am in my happy place.

The 2023 playoffs were memorable. I worked the exciting seven game series between the Saskatoon Blades and at the time 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats.

The Blades claimed the series deciding Game 7 at home 4-1 before a sellout crowd of 14,768 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. Bedard was outstanding in the series recording 10 goals, 10 assists and a plus-eight rating.

In the second round of the post-season, the Blades dropped the first three games of their series with the Red Deer Rebels and proceeded to rally back to take the set 4-3. They took Game 7 of the series at home by a 5-2 score before 9,489 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

In the process, the Blades became the third team in the history of the WHL to fall behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series only to rally back and take it 4-3. The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before rallying back to claim that series 4-3.

Utility player Spencer Shugrue became “Mr. Game 7” for the Blades collecting three goals and an assist in Saskatoon’s two series deciding Game 7 wins.

The Blades would be swept by Winnipeg Ice 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Championship Series. In the WHL Championship Series, the Ice fell 4-1 to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Spencer Shugrue (#26) became “Mr. Game 7” for the Blades.

The Thunderbirds made it to the title game of the Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion, which was held in Kamloops, B.C. Seattle was blanked 5-0 in the championship game by the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts, who were guided head coach, general manager and hockey legend Patrick Roy.

I piled up the road kilometres working games in Regina, Red Deer and Winnipeg. In working the first two games of the WHL final in person in Winnipeg, I saw the Ice win their final game as the Winnipeg Ice. They beat the Thunderbirds 3-2 in the opening game of the WHL Championship Series held before 5,531 spectators at the Canada Life Centre, and the Ice weren’t able to get another win for the rest of that set.

That was the first time I was in the building to work games in the WHL Championship Series since 2019. It was also the first time I’ve been in the building to work games in the WHL Championship Series since the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the sports schedules in 2020 and the first half of 2021 and hung ominously over the sports world for the second half of 2021 and the first half of 2022.

When I was in Regina, Red Deer and Winnipeg in the 2023 WHL Playoffs, it felt great, because the focus was on hockey. I also got good extended family time in during my stay in Winnipeg.

When I got off the road, it seemed there would be a mini-crisis in my life away from the sports world. There were times I was asking myself if I should have even left Saskatoon for the road. Looking back, the road was a reprieve.

After returning home from Regina covering Games 3 and 4 of the series between the Pats and Blades, I was immediately jumped with something after getting off the road in my life away from the sports world.

My reaction was, “I was only gone two days! How can life be so terrible?”

The Blades attracted massive home crowds during 2023 WHL Playoffs. 

The best part was all these mini-crisis would pass after two days and seem like nothing two weeks later, but going through those day after day with those around you freaking out was draining.

The football front was fun as the Saskatoon Valkyries won their eighth WWCFL title in June and the Saskatoon Hilltops claimed their 23^rd CJFL championship in November.

The Valkyries blanked the Calgary Rage 40-0 in the WWCFL title game played at Griffiths Stadium to conclude the campaign with a perfect 8-0 record. The pressures of life outside the sports world seemed to subside during the Valkyries season. The Valkyries have a great bunch, and I enjoyed being around that bunch.

Shortly after Hilltops season got going in August, it seemed the uncontrollable pressures from outside the sports world cranked up again. The Hilltops as always were outstanding to deal with. I’ve covered them and the Valkyries regularly since moving to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014.

The Hilltops posted a perfect 12-0 campaign and won the Canadian Bowl contest that determines a CJFL champion 17-10 over the host Westshore Rebels at Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria. The contest was played in rains that fell in Biblical proportions.

The Hilltops had a historic campaign. In 12 games, they gave up just 76 points, which was their lowest total overall for a season dating back to 1949.

Hilltops defensive end Riece Kack had a memorable performance in the CJFL semifinal win over the OFC champion St. Clair Saints, who are from Windsor, Ont., in October at SMF Field. Kack pile up six sacks to set a new record for a CJFL playoff game. He actually became the first player to register six sacks in any CJFL contest be it regular season, playoffs or CJFL championship game.

Emmarae Dale (#45) makes a big hit on defence for the Valkyries

Still in the department of being honest, the pressures from life outside the sports world affected the fun I had covering the Hilltops during their season. If felt like a greater grind than covering the WHL Playoffs. The factors that were there had nothing to do with the team and were out of my control.

I know there were at least three times for me covering games I actually drifted to looking forward to the season being over. That had never happened to me in any time in my life when I was dealing with football. It did happen in the first full WHL season in 2021-22 with regular play after navigating the wrenches of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that came from mental fatigue from the pandemic.

Anyways, I just gutted and grinded all that out.

When the Hilltops played the Rebels for the 2023 CJFL title, I covered that contest remotely watching it online at the home office. I knew the Hilltops were going to come back that night, and I was hoping to go to the social function to celebrate that night when they got home.

The best I felt for that season was the 30 minutes after the Hilltops won the CJFL title. The pumped up elation of a championship win was there.

Unfortunately, technical problems with the computer, social media and the Internet threw a bucket of water on my joy. All of that was out of my control, and I was ready to punch a few computer screens.

I got a short write thru up before midnight that the Hilltops had won. By the time I posted the finished version of my column on the Hilltops winning their 23^rd CJFL title, it was 8 a.m. the next morning. I gutted and grinded through getting that done, but enjoying the Hilltops accomplishment lasted for 30 minutes after the CJFL title game wrapped up.

The Valkyries raise the WWCFL championship trophy.

Life away from the sport world saw the stress become much lower starting a week after the Hilltops season ended and has continued as I write this piece.

Trigger warning: politics

The next part of this column I have to throw up the trigger warning as I will be talking about politics.

Living in Canada these days, talking politics can get you fired from jobs and has gotten people fired from jobs.

Be it world, national, provincial or civic politics, I have never talked more about politics in my life away from the sports world as I have in this past year. To be honest, I don’t like the political world, and I don’t like the extremes on both the right and the left that seem to dominate that world. I see myself as the “common sense” Canadian that appears to no longer have a place and is no longer wanted in that world.

The Government of Canada has gotten their hands into tinkering with the sports and media worlds that have both been my life since 1996. That actually hasn’t bothered me that much in the grand scheme of things, and I find you just adjust to things as they come up like with the various government policies that came up in the COVID-19 pandemic.

I believe the next election federally and elections on the provincial and civic levels will be one issue referendums. 

To me, that referendum will be do you believe issues with the environment are bad enough that elected governments must be given basically a blank cheque to run up deficits as big as they want to handle this issue.

Homes and gasoline vehicles in Canada are way more efficient than they were in the 1970s and 1980s. I know for those on the extreme left that will never be enough, and they would like to see the elimination of gasoline vehicles of all sorts and gas in general in Canada.

The Government of Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his minister of environment and climate change in Steven Guilbeault are in my judgment “all in” on tackling the environment issue to the point they should be allowed to do everything and anything on that front.

Riece Kack (#47) makes a record sack for the Hilltops.

According to Statista, Canada had the 10^th highest carbon tax rate in the world as of March 31, 2023 among the 25 countries at that time that were listed with carbon taxes with Iceland having two rates. The United States, India, Russia and China were not listed as having any carbon taxes at that time. China runs a Chinese national carbon trading scheme.

Guilbeault has been a climate activist since age five and was a member of Greenpeace Canada from 1997 to 2007. In 2001, Guilbeault and British activist Chris Holden scaled Toronto’s CN Tower.

After getting to a height of 340 metres, the pair unfurled a banner that read, “Canada and Bush Climate Killers.”

Guilbeault and Holden were arrested and charged with mischief. The stunt cost the CN Tower Corporation an estimated $50,000, and Guilbeault was sentenced to one year’s probation and the court ordered him to pay a portion of the costs.

To me, Guilbeault is an activist with an agenda, and I doubt very much he would or will consider anyone with a viewpoint that is opposite his. Anyone with an opposing view would be dismissed as being wrong.

In my view, the city government in Saskatoon views the environment issue as being the big issue.

In the end, I believe all this will add up to continuing inflation and putting lots of financial pressures on everyone in Canada in 2024. I don’t see the political world getting better in 2024, and if you don’t believe me, just search any political issue on Platform-X formerly known as Twitter to see the nasty keyboard fights.

Even if you don’t have an interest in the political world, the decisions made in that world will influence and change the worlds you interact in.

Getting pictured with the Canadian Bowl was a highlight in 2023.

For myself as I have done since March of 2020, the goal will be to try and adjust the best I can and stay as healthy physically and mentally as I can. There is only so much I can control, and everything else is going to play out as it is going to be.

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 juggle roster, close to cementing 20-year-olds

The Blades traded Justin Lies on June 6.

The Saskatoon Blades have put in some early work to clear up how their roster will look this coming season.

The 2022-23 campaign turned out to be one of the best the Blades have had in some time. They finished fourth overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 48-13-4-3 record.

Saskatoon advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 1994 falling in four games to the Winnipeg Ice. In a WHL Eastern Conference semfinal series in the 2023 playoff run, the Blades fell behind 3-0 to the Red Deer Rebels before rallying back to take the series 4-3. The Blades joined the 1996 Spokane Chiefs and the 2013 Kelowna Rockets as only teams to fall behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series and rally back to take the set in WHL history.

Naturally, the Blades in a perfect world would like return as many players as possible from last season who gained valuable experience from that post-season run. Plus, the rosters of the clubs that finished first to third overall in the WHL regular season in the Ice, league champion Seattle Thunderbirds and Kamloops Blazers are going to look a lot different this season due to their decisions to load up.

The Ice do have the potential to bring back seven core players from their 2022-23 team in Daniel Hauser, Jonas Woo, Zach Benson, Evan Friesen, Carson Latimer, Conor Geekie and Matthew Savoie, but there will be a lot of changes around that group.

With that noted, the Blades have to deal with their share of the cyclical nature of junior hockey. Gone due to graduation having exhausting their major junior eligibility playing out there 20-year-old seasons are captain and offensive-defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere, defenceman Blake Gustafson and centre Josh Pillar.

One of the decisions the Blades had to make was in between the pipes. Did they want to return two goalies in their 19-year-old seasons in Austin Elliott and Ethan Chadwick?

The two netminders rotated starts for pretty much the entire campaign last season. Elliott appeared in 37 regular season games in 2022-23 posting a 25-6-3 record, a 2.20 goals against average, a .911 save percentage and two shutouts. He was named a second team WHL East Division all-star and was named to the CHL’s all-rookie team.

Chadwick appeared in 34 regular season contests in 2022-23 posting a 23-9-2 record, a 2.61 goals against average, a .899 save percentage and two shutouts.

On May 11, the Blades traded Chadwick to the Everett Silvertips for a second round selection in the WHL Prospects Draft that was held that day and originally belonged to the Kamloops Blazers and a fourth round pick in the 2025 Prospects Draft. Saskatoon used the second round selection to pick 15-year-old netminder Ryley Budd, who played with his hometown Calgary Northstars Under-15 AAA team last season.

The Blades traded Conner Roulette to the Chiefs on May 31.

In 20 regular season appearances in the Alberta Elite Hockey League, Budd posted an 8-10 record, a 3.34 goals against average, a .916 save percentage and two shutouts.

With that move, Elliott will likely be the Blades starter next season and a younger goalie in their system will be an apprentice backup. Chadwick will have a good shot to be the Silvertips start for the upcoming campaign.

After trading Chadwick, the Blades started to narrow down the players that could take the three 20-year-old spots they are allowed on their roster. Upon being eliminated from the 2023 WHL Playoffs, the Blades had seven potential players that could fill those 20-year-old spots.

On May 31, they dealt right-winger Conner Roulette to the Spokane Chiefs for a second round selection in the 2024 Prospects Draft and a third round pick in the 2027 Prospects Draft. Appearing in 60 regular season games in 2022-23 with the Blades, Roulette collected 24 goals and 38 assists for 62 points to go with a plus-19 rating in the plus-minus department.

On June 3, the Blades traded rugged right-winger Justin Lies to the Victoria Royals for a conditional third round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft. Lies appeared in 56 regular season contests for the Blade in 2022-23 posting career highs in goals (nine), assists (14), points (23) and plus-minus (plus-six).

Having completed those two moves, the Blades are down to five potential players who could fill their three 20-year-old spots. Out of that group, left-winger Jake Chiasson has a signed three- year NHL entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers and could potentially be assigned to one of the Oilers’ minor professional affiliates.

Chiasson played 70 regular season games in 2022-23 split between the Blades and the Brandon Wheat Kings posting 20 goals and 38 assists. The Blades acquired Chiasson in a trade on January 10.

If Chiasson is assigned in the Oilers system, the Blades would be down to four potential players that could fill their three 20-year-old spots. Skilled centre Trevor Wong is highly likely to fill one of those spots as he topped the Blades in regular season scoring in 2022-23 posting 86 points coming off 27 goals and 59 assists to go with a plus-23 rating appearing in all the club’s 68 regular season contests.

Defenceman Charlie Wright seems like a solid choice to fill a second 20-year-old spot. Appearing in 66 regular season contests with the Blades in 2022-23, Wright posted career highs in goals (eight), assists (32), points (40) and plus-minus (plus-33).

That would leave the third spot to go to either centre Jayden Wiens or utility player Spencer Shugrue, who are both popular in the Blades dressing room. Wiens battled an injury during the regular season being limited to 42 games, where he posted 17 goals, 10 assists and a plus-one rating.

The Blades dealt Ethan Chadwick to the Silvertips on May 11.

Shugrue mainly played defence last season, but his versatility to play up front or on the back end has become valuable. In 55 regular season appearances in 2022-23, Shugrue collected one goal, six assists and a plus-two rating.

In the 2023 WHL Playoffs, Shugrue earned the nickname “Mr. Game 7” for his heroics in the team’s two Game 7 victories over Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats and the Rebels collecting three goals and an assist in those clutch performances.

Unless a deal comes up the Blades can’t turn down, they will likely sit on their 20-year-old situation as is until training camp comes around.

With all that noted, they’ve done well to find good potential landing spots for Chadwick, Roulette and Lies for the upcoming campaign.

Valkyries receive bye in WWCFL playoffs, other notes

QB Alex Eyolfson (#15) and her Valkyries had this weekend off.

For a second straight year, the Saskatoon Valkyries have advanced to the final four of the WWCFL Playoffs thanks to a forfeit victory.

This past Tuesday, the Valkyries, who topped the WWCFL’s Prairie Conference with a 4-0 record, were informed the Winnipeg Wolfpack, who were 0-4 in the regular season, were forfeiting their WWCFL quarter-final to the Saskatoon powerhouse squad. The Wolfpack also forfeited a quarter-final contest last season to the Valkyries, who advanced on to win their seventh WWCFL championship.

The Valkyries and Wolfpack met in a regular season contest on May 28 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Saskatoon blanked Winnipeg 59-0 in a game that was called at halftime due to injuries that had piled up for the Wolfpack.

The Valkyries weren’t the only squad to advance in the WWCFL post-season thanks to a forfeit win. This past Thursday, the Lethbridge Steel, who were 0-4 in the regular season, informed the Edmonton Storm, who were 2-1 in the regular season, they were forfeiting their quarter-final contest to club from the Alberta capital. That contest had originally been scheduled for a 2 p.m. local start in Edmonton on Saturday.

With the forfeit win, the Storm advance to the WWCFL’s Western Conference Championship game to take on the Calgary Rage, who posted a 3-0 record in the regular season. This contest will be played on either Saturday, June 17 or Sunday, June 18 in Calgary at a place and time to be announced.

The Storm and Rage met once in the regular season with the Rage pulling out a 33-14 victory way back on April 29 in Calgary. The two sides were to have played on May 20 in Edmonton, but that contest was outright cancelled due to heavy smoke from the wildfires burning all over Western Canada.

The only quarter-final game that was played came on Saturday as the Winnipeg-based Manitoba Fearless traveled to Regina to face the Riot at Mosaic Stadium. Both squads were 2-2 in regular season play.

The Riot downed the Fearless 26-13 to advance to play the Valkyries in the WWCFL’s Prairie Conference Championship game. That contest will be played at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on either Saturday, June 17 or Sunday, June 18 at a time to be announced.

The Valkyries head into that contest having won their last 25 games overall including two forfeit victories. Saskatoon’s last loss came seemingly a lifetime ago back on June 24, 2018 falling 14-10 in the WWCFL Championship Game to the Riot in Regina at Mosaic Stadium.

This year’s WWCFL Championship Game will be hosted in Saskatoon on Saturday, June 24 at 2 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium. The Valkyries need to beat the Riot in the Prairie Conference final in order to play in the WWCFL final as the host squad.

• On Thursday, the junior A Battlefords North Stars, who are the defending SJHL champions, announced they had signed head coach and general manager Brayden Klimosko, who is 35-years-old, to a five-year contract extension. Klimosko joined the North Stars before the start of the 2018-19 campaign as head coach and took on duties as the general manager before the start of the 2019-20 campaign. This past season, the North Stars top the SJHL regular season standings with an impressive 48-5-2-1 record. They rolled through the SJHL Playoffs posting a 12-1 record to claim the league championship and advance to the national junior A Centennial Cup Championship Tournament in Portage la Prairie, Man. The North Stars advanced to the title game of the Centennial Cup tournament falling to the Alberta-based Brooks Bandits 4-0. The Bandits have won the Centennial Cup the last three times it has been awarded.
• On Thursday, Rob Vanstone received his Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for his extraordinary leadership and service to local sports. Vanstone had worked full-time for the Regina Leader-Post as a sports writer and columnist from late July 1987 to this past February. He left the Leader-Post to join the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders as their Senior Journalist and Historian. When it comes to the sports scene in Regina, Vanstone has covered it all. His stories on minor sports were as good as the ones he would produce on the Roughriders and WHL’s Regina Pats. The effort he gave to all the stories and columns he wrote was outstanding. He was a deserving recipient of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal.
• On June 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a piece on Callie Steen, who is a rising star in track and field. Steen is finishing up her Grade 12 year at Hanley Composite School in Hanley, Sask., and she has committed to join the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks Women’s Track and Field team in the NCAA Division I ranks this fall. The piece on Steen can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that shows the track and field season in top gear and the spring season at the Complex rolling on. That post 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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29 years in the making – Blades unique playoff run memorable

Provided great follow for stellar regular season

The Blades salute their fans at the SaskTel Centre on Wednesday.

It will go down as the “I’m Still Standing” playoff run for the Saskatoon Blades.

When the Blades business brass were putting together plans for game day presentation for the 2022-23 campaign, it is highly unlikely anyone could foresee how fitting the decision would be to make Elton John’s hit tune from 1983 the club’s victory song. No one could have thought the Blades would win five games where they faced elimination from the WHL Playoffs and playing “I’m Still Standing” would be the perfect conclusion for the night’s events.

The Blades entered the post-season having put together a 48-15-4-1 record to sit fourth overall in the WHL regular season standings and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the WHL Playoffs, the Blades eliminated Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats in an exciting seven game first round series, came back down 3-0 to take out the Red Deer Rebels in a seven game Eastern Conference semifinal series before being swept 4-0 by the Winnipeg Ice in the Eastern Conference final.

Blades fans cheer their team's Game 7 win over the Pats on April 10.

In total, the Blades played 18 post-season contests in the span of 34 days. The series comeback against the Rebels ensures that this edition of the Blades will be remembered forever.

They joined the 1996 Spokane Chiefs and the 2013 Kelowna Rockets as the only teams to lose the first three games in a best-of-seven series and rally to take the set. Any time a team falls behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven WHL post-season series, the 2023 Blades will be mentioned alongside the 1996 Chiefs and the 2013 Rockets as the teams that rallied back to win a series from that type of deficit.

The scene after Trevor Wong scores an empty-net goal versus the Pats.

Overall, the Blades made their longest playoff run in 29 years. The last time they were in the Eastern Conference final was in 1994, when they eliminated the Brandon Wheat Kings in five games before falling to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers in the WHL final.

Going into the post-season, there were no thoughts about the Blades making their longest in the WHL Playoffs in 29 years. The single dominant storyline was the Blades versus Bedard.

Spencer Shugrue became “Mr. Game 7” for the Blades.

The Blades final two regular season home games were played against the 17-year-old phenom centre and the Pats. In the current seating configuration for the SaskTel Centre, the Blades sold out both of those contests with 14,768 spectators turning out for each of those games. 

That figure goes down as a Blades home attendance record, and those games were the first sellouts for the team in the SaskTel Centre’s current seating configuration.

Regina claimed the first encounter 4-2 on March 19, while Saskatoon took the second meeting 3-2 on March 24. The sellouts in contests involving Bedard were not a surprise.

Pats C Connor Bedard weaves his way through the Blades.

Bedard’s brand took a huge jump upwards since returning from this past world juniors held in Halifax, N.S., and Moncton, N.B. At that event, Bedard set numerous Canadian team records helping Canada take the gold medal final 3-2 in overtime over Czechia this past January 5 in Halifax. Once he was back in the WHL, any game that involved Bedard was usually sold out and sometimes set a building attendance record.

In the seven games against the Blades, Bedard did his best to win that first round series by himself posting 10 goals, 10 assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department. He was in on 20 of the Pats 26 goals.

The highlights of every game of that series were shown nationally on TSN and Sportsnet often just showing Bedard’s plays with the final score. Still, the series was getting national attention.

Egor Sidorov (#19) starts celebrating scoring an OT winner.

The Pats won the first two games of the set in Saskatoon. In Game 3 in Regina, it appeared the Blades were going to make a quick post-season exit. At the 9:39 mark of the third period, Bedard scored to give the Pats a 3-1 lead and the sellout crowd of 6,499 spectators at the Brandt Centre was rocking.

Just 53 seconds later, import star right-winger Egor Sidorov scored for the Blades to cut the Pats lead to 3-2. Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky netted the equalizer with 27.2 seconds remaining in the third to force a 3-3 tie and overtime. At the 5:19 mark of overtime, Sidorov got the puck deep in the Regina zone, drove around Pats star import defenceman Stanislav Svozil, cut across the front of the Pats goal and tucked home the winner to give the Blades a 4-3 victory.

Jake Chiasson scored a big OT winner for the Blades.

On night later in Game 4 at the Brandt Centre, Blades star left-winger Jake Chiasson scored the winner in overtime to give the Blades another 4-3 after again rallying from a 3-1 deficit in the contest. The Blades claimed Game 5 at home and the Pats took Game 6 at home to set up a winner take all Game 7.

In Games 1, 2 and 5 at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades drew respective crowds of 10,265 spectators, 10,598 fans and 12,098 onlookers. For Game 7 held on April 10, the Blades would get a sellout crowd to cement their post-season attendance record at home at 14,768 spectators. The host side was facing elimination from the post-season for the first time and skated away with a 4-1 victory.

Pats F Connor Bedard (#98) and Blades F Justin Lies (#43) shake hands.

The joy of the series win against the Pats didn’t last long. In an Eastern Conference semifinal series against Red Deer, the Rebels were poised, businesslike, hard-working and paid great attention to systems play claiming the first three games of the series outscoring the Blades 11-4. Saskatoon’s players looked like they were skating through quicksand trying to work their way up ice against the Rebels.

In Game 4 in Red Deer, it appeared this time the Blades would bow out of the post-season. The Rebels held a 2-0 lead after the first period and were up 2-1 going into the second intermission. Saskatoon was 20 minutes away from playoff elimination.

Egor Sidorov, left, and Tanner Molendyk celebrate a goal in Red Deer.

The Blades proceeded to roll off three straight goals in the third coming off the sticks of hard-working centre Jayden Wiens, Lisowsky and offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk to pull out a 4-2 victory. Following that rally up with wins in Games 5 and 6, the Blades were set to host Game 7 against the Rebels on April 25.

The two clubs were tied 2-2 going into the third period of Game 7, and the Blades rolled off three consecutive goals before a raucous and appreciative crowd of 9,489 spectators.

Blades utility player Spencer Shugrue cemented the fact he would be known as “Mr. Game 7” scoring two goals including the winner in that victory over the Rebels. Shugrue scored his team’s first goal in their Game 7 first round series win over the Pats and assisted on Chiasson’s game and series winner in that contest.

Blake Gustafson was injured in the series win over Red Deer.

While the Blades made history in their 3-0 series comeback against the Rebels, it wasn’t all good news. Saskatoon lost solid defensive-defencemen Blake Gustafson and Ben Saunderson to injuries in the series against the Rebels. Both weren’t available to play in the series against the Ice.

It wasn’t a good situation as the Ice topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Blades dressed Black ace Morgan Tastad, who turned 17-years-old in January, and import rookie Tomas Zizka on the back end. Tastad played most of the 2022-23 campaign with the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 AAA team. In 41 regular season appearances with the Contacts, Tastad had three goals and 24 assists.

The Blades celebrate a series winning goal by Spencer Shugrue (#26).

Zizka suited up for 32 regular season games for the Blades recording two assists and a plus-six rating. Both Zizka and Tastad played limited minutes.

As a result, captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, Molendyk, Charlie Wright and Shugrue played the bulk of the action it the four games against the Ice.

The Blades proceeded to lose Sidorov to injury in Game 2 against the Ice. Once the Blades back home to host Games 3 and 4 of that set, it was obvious the team was wearing down.

They tried to make one last push in Game 4 on Wednesday. The Blades got out to a good start and De La Gorgendiere opened the contest’s scoring at the 15:08 mark of the first period.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere looks to start a rush for the Blades.

The Ice evened the score at 1-1 heading into the first intermission and the teams were tied at 2-2 early in the third. Centre Briley Wood scored the game and series winner at the 6:19 mark of the third to deliver the Ice to a 3-2 victory before 5,638 spectators.

The Blades received a warm final salute before leaving to their dressing room. The WHL careers of De La Gorgendiere, Gustafson and centre Josh Pillar all came to an end as they were playing out their 20-year-old seasons.

Throughout the playoffs, the Blades received timely big saves from netminders Ethan Chadwick and Austin Elliott. Star centre Trevor Wong topped the team in scoring with 21 points coming off six goals and 15 assists.

Blades HC Brennan Sonne was the WHL’s coach of the year.

Sidorov was second in team scoring with nine goals and 10 assists. De La Gorgendiere was third in team scoring and topped all Blades defencemen with 17 points coming off three goals and 14 assists.

Throughout the post-season, the Blades received gritty performances from Wiens, Vaughn Watterodt, Lukas Hansen, Jordan Keller and Justin Lies in the forward group.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne was named the WHL’s coach of the year, and he long with his staff ensured the team’s players always believed they could rally past whatever adversity they faced. Over the entire campaign, Colin Priestner cemented himself as one of the league’s elite level general managers for his work on all fronts with the club.

The Blades and Ice shake hands after the Eastern Conference final.

The best part about the whole playoff run was that people in Saskatoon started talking about the Blades more than they had in arguably a decade. It became more frequent to see children around town wearing Blades jerseys.

Time will tell if the good vibes and Blades themselves will remain in the minds of the casual fans. 

The team still has to keep putting in the work to keep getting those casual followers out to games.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere hugs a teammate at the Blades bench.

At this moment, the people in Saskatoon are pumped about the memories the Blades gave to the city. They came through with unique moments that many never be replicated in the future.

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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No Fear - Blades and their fans should just go for it

The Blades take the ice for Game 7 versus the Pats on April 10.

At this point in the WHL Playoffs, you might as well go after it with no fear.

The Saskatoon Blades and their fans should do everything possible to make the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series something they will never forget. 

The Blades will host Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively for a 7 p.m. start both nights against the powerful Winnipeg Ice.

The Ice lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 taking the first two contests in Winnipeg this past Friday and Saturday. Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Saskatoon is appearing in the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 1994.

How long ago was 1994?

Jean Chretien was the Prime Minister of Canada, Bill Clinton was the President of the United States, Mark Messier captained the New York Rangers to their first Stanley Cup final win since 1940, the MLB season wasn’t completed due to a players’ strike with the Montreal Expos in first place and the British Columbia Lions won the Grey Cup over a Baltimore team that went by the name CFLers.

Fans cheer on the Blades at the SaskTel Centre.

The popular video game systems of the time saw Super Nintendo going against the Sega Genesis. In Canada, the most popular video game was likely NHL ’94.

In the music world, 1994 was best remembered for death of Nirvana founder, lead vocalist, guitarist and primary song writer Kurt Cobain died by suicide.

The Blades that year were lead in scoring by left-winger Andy MacIntyre, who had 89 points coming off 54 goals and 35 assists. Saskatoon’s roster included the likes of Derek Tibbatts, Paul Buczkowski, Trevor Hanas, Frank Banham, Mark Deyell, Clarke Wilm, Rhett Warrener and the now late Wade Belak.

The Blades were propelled by the heroics of veteran netminder Norm Maracle. During the 1993-94 regular season, Maracle recorded a 41-13-1 record, a 2.76 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and two shutouts. He was named the a WHL first team Eastern Conference all-star, the WHL’s top goaltender, a CHL first team all-star and the CHL’s goaltender of the year.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre, which was then known as Saskatchewan Place, used to give out a cheer of “Norm” like the one given to the Norm Peterson character in the sitcom Cheers.

Saskatoon claimed a 4-1 series victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 1994 Eastern Conference final before falling in the WHL Championship Series in a series deciding Game 7 to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.

Spencer Shugrue has become “Mr. Game 7” for the Blades.

Basically, 29 years ago was a long time ago. For Blades fans, it did feel like an eternity since the team advanced the WHL’s final four in the post-season. While the Blades may have their backs to the wall against the Ice, you still don’t want to miss out on enjoying the moment, if you are fan of the Saskatoon side.

The current roster of the Blades has turned out to be a gutsy one. They trailed Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats 2-0 in a first round series and rallied to take that set in a series deciding Game 7 by a 4-1 score at the SaskTel Centre before a sellout crowd of 14,768.

The Blades found themselves in a tougher spot in their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Red Deer Rebels. The Blades trailed that series 3-0, and in Game 4 in Red Deer, they trailed 2-0 after the first period and 2-1 after the second frame. Saskatoon was 20 minutes away from having its season come to an end.

The Blades rallied to take Game 4 by a 4-2 score and ultimately came back to claim a series deciding Game 7 by a 5-2 score again at the SaskTel Centre this time before 9,489 spectators.

Along the way, Blades utility player Spencer Shugrue picked up the nickname “Mr. Game 7” for collecting three goals and an assist in those two Game 7 wins.

The Blades also joined the 1996 Spokane Chiefs and the 2013 Kelowna Rockets as the only clubs to lose the first three games in a best-of-seven series and rally to take the set.

The Blades current Blades have received big game performances from various players on their roster including the likes of Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov, Brandon Lisowsky, Conner Roulette, Jordan Keller, Jayden Wiens, Justin Lies, Vaughn Watterodt and Lukas Hansen. Netminders Ethan Chadwick and Austin Elliott have come up with big wins at different times in the post-season.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere has played big minutes for the Blades.

In the series win over the Rebels, the Blades saw solid defensive-defencemen Blake Gustafson and Ben Saunderson go down with injuries, and both were not available for the first two games of the series for the Ice. Captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, Tanner Molendyk, Charlie Wright and Shugrue played like warriors skating for most of the minutes on defence in the first to contests against the Ice to protect Under-18 AAA call up Morgan Tastad and Tomas Zizka from bad matchups against a powerful and deep Winnipeg side.

The foursome of De La Gorgendiere, Molendyk, Wright and Shugrue wore down in those games, but they gave everything they had and that is all you can ask.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne and is staff is trying to find the way to guide their team through this latest adversity, but it might be too tall of an order to ask for.

Even with that in mind, the Blades players should rip it out and go hard with no fear. If they are overmatch due to fatigue and injuries, at least they know they gave what they could and did the best they could do.

The Blades fans have been loud and engaged through this post-season run. Even if the Blades are going to be overmatched, they should do their best to give their side a home ice edge.

They should great the team with a huge cheer when they take the ice at the start of the contest and feel free to try and bring the noise level up in the SaskTel Centre to the level of some of the loudest rinks in the NHL. The SaskTel Centre is designed similar to the former home of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers in the Northlands Coliseum, and it holds in noise really well like the Oilers old home rink once did.

Justin Lies (#43) and Ben Saunderson (#2) thank the fans on April 10.

When the Blades make their runs to ultimately falling in Game 7 of the WHL final in 1992 and 1994 with Lorne Molleken as head coach and Daryl Lubinieki as general manager, the people of Saskatoon packed the building’s then 11,330 seat configuration making it one of the toughest places to play on the WHL circuit.

In the current moment, the people of Saskatoon have a chance to relive those days. 

Like the players, the fans should feel free to bring everything they have, so there are no regrets when it came to seeing the Blades this deep in the post-season.

Anthem singer Lehner enjoying Blades run

Katelyn Lehner sings the national anthem on April 10.

One person who is soaking every moment of the Saskatoon Blades playoff run is local country music artist and guest anthem singer Katelyn Lehner.

The Blades brought Lehner in to sing the national anthem starting with their March regular season sold out home dates against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats. If you check out Lehner’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts where she promotes her music, you can see she is having fun with her association with the Blades. She even got to read out the starting lineup for the team before one of their post-season contests.

In her life outside of singing, Lehner was an elite level track and field athlete. At the post-secondary level, she first became a member of the University of Calgary Dinos Women’s Track and Field team in 2013 and joined the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Track and Field team for two seasons from 2017 to 2019. She has also coached the sport in the past.

While she has been located in Saskatoon for some time, she is originally from Prince Albert and graduated from St. Mary High School located in that centre in 2013. As a youngster growing up, Lehner did sing the national anthem for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders on occasion.

With that noted, it has been really cool to see her dive in with enthusiasm in her anthem singing role with the Blades.

Raiders fans may come to cheer ex-players with Ice

Vladislav Shilo in action for the Ice on March 14.

When the Saskatoon Blades host Games 3 and 4 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship series, they might see a few ticket buyers show up from Prince Albert to cheer on the visiting Winnipeg Ice.

The fan presence from Prince Albert will be due to the fact that the Ice have two former players from the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in import right-winger Vladislav Shilo and left-winger Carson Latimer. Both players were popular in Prince Albert during their stays with the Raiders.

Shilo was with the Raiders for the entire 2021-22 campaign appearing in 58 regular season contests recording nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points. He played three regular season games for the Raiders this season before being traded to the Ice.

In 66 regular season appearances with both the Ice and Raiders, Shilo has 26 points coming off 12 goals and 14 assists. In 12 post-season games with the Ice, Shilo, who turned 20-years-old in March, has eight points coming off three goals and five assists.

Latimer started his WHL career with the Edmonton Oil Kings and was dealt to the Raiders on December 1, 2021. In 44 regular season contests he played for the Raiders in 2021-22, Latimer posted 32 points coming off 12 goals and 20 assists.

He appeared in 31 regular season games with the Raiders this season recording 28 points on 10 goals and 18 assists before being traded to the Ice on December 31, 2022. Latimer, who turned 20-years-old in January, appeared in 22 regular season games with the Ice posting four goals and eight assists before suffering an injury.

The 2021 NHL Entry Draft selection of the Ottawa Senators got back into the lineup for the Ice’s last seven post-season outings collecting one goal and one assist.

Besides the support for Shilo and Latimer, there will also be some people coming in from Prince Albert to support Ice head coach James Patrick. Way back when the Raiders were in the junior A ranks, Patrick played one season in “Hockey Town North” in 1980-81 as an offensive-defenceman before eventually going on to a lengthy playing career in the NHL.

During that 1980-81 campaign, Patrick appeared in 59 regular season games posting 82 points coming off 21 goals and 61 assists. He helped the Raiders win the Centennial Cup as junior A national champions, and after that campaign, he was selected in first round and ninth overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.

Current Ice play-by-play voice Brian Munz was the Raiders play-by-play voice for four-and-a-half season from 1999 to 2004, and he will likely have friend from Prince Albert come down to visit with him when he is not on the air calling games.

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 will live on in WHL lore thanks to 3-0 series comeback

The Blades celebrate Spencer Shugrue’s winning goal on Tuesday.

The best of the Saskatoon Blades came out when their season was potentially 20 minutes from ending.

On April 19, the Blades were down 3-0 in their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Red Deer Rebels, and the Rebels were holding a 2-1 lead in Game 4 on home ice at the Peavey Mart Centrium after two periods. In the first three games of the series, the Rebels clamped things down defensively in those third periods to close out victories, so it was hard for any objective person to think Game 4 was going to be any different.

The only people that would have believed the Blades were going to pull out that contest were the Blades players, coaches, management and staff along with ultra-passionate fans that see everything with rose coloured glasses. Red Deer held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes in that contest, and Blades captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere scored on a power play in the second to pull the visitors to within 2-1.

In a span of four minutes and three seconds coming before the nine minute mark of the third, the Blades rolled off three straight goals coming from the sticks of Jayden Wiens, Brandon Lisowsky and Tanner Molendyk. Throw in a 34 save performance from Saskatoon product Ethan Chadwick in goal, and that 4-2 advantage in favour of the Blades held up as the game’s final score.

While the Rebels still held a 3-1 series lead following Game 4, it felt like the complexion in the series changed. You could see in the eyes of the Blades players and coaches that they had belief that this series wasn’t over.

The Blades faithful cheer on their team on Tuesday.

Last Friday in Game 5 in Saskatoon, the Blades stormed their way to a 6-3 victory while outshooting the Rebels 31-17. The hosts drew their lowest attendance of the post-season but still a good crowd of 5,908 spectators to the SaskTel Centre. The fans were engaged with what was happening on the ice, and following that contest, it felt realistic that the Blades could win two more games to take the series.

Game 6 held this past Sunday back in Red Deer against a Rebels side that was truly refocused was going to be a hard one for Saskatoon to get. The Blades received a huge traction moment 34 seconds into the contest from star import right-winger Egor Sidorov.

Sidorov stole the puck at the left side boards in the Red Deer zone from Rebels star 20-year-old right-winger Ben King. Sidorov wheeled behind the Red Deer goal with King in pursuit and scored on a one-handed wraparound to give the visitors a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game.

The Rebels came with a huge push back and held 12-2 edge in shots on goal at one point in the first period. Blades star centre Trevor Wong scored with 3:36 remaining in the opening frame, and Saskatoon exited the opening 20 minutes with a 2-0 despite being outshot 16-6.

Spencer Shugrue has become “Mr. Game 7” for the Blades.

The Blades built a 4-1 lead at one point in the second, but the Rebels got one back near the end of the frame and a goal with 7:47 remaining in the third to cut Saskatoon’s advantage to 4-3. Blades hard-working centre Jayden Wiens scored an empty-net goal with 1:52 remaining in the third to seal a 5-3 victory. Netminder Austin Elliott made 35 saves to ensure the Blades pulled out victory.

The Rebels also had to lament a number of turnovers that resulted in Blades goals.

Following that win, Blades head coach Brennan Sonne told the team’s longtime play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk, “Nothing is going to distract us from making history simple as that.”

This past Tuesday 9,489 spectators made their way to the SaskTel Centre to see if the Blades could be the third team in the history of the WHL to lose the first three games in a best-of-seven series and rally back to win the set 4-3. After Katelyn Lehner finished singing the national anthem, the cheers at that point leading to the opening faceoff were the loudest they had been in some time for that point in a Blades game.

After puck drop, the fans stayed engaged with the contest. They even had a hex chant going for Rebels netminder Kyle Kelsey. Usually, there are never such chants for the opposing team’s netminder inside SaskTel Centre.

The building became quiet after Rebels defenceman and Saskatoon product Hunter Mayo scored for the visitors. Just 2:35 later, the noise picked up as star left-winger Conner Roulette replied for the Blades to force a 1-1 tie.

Tanner Molendyk (#24) enjoys a goal with Egor Sidorov in Game 4.

Blades utility player Spencer Shugrue proceeded to ensure he would be cemented with the nickname “Mr. Game 7.”

He scored at the 5:41 mark of the second to give the Blades a 2-1 lead. That was short-lived as Rebels left-winger Ryker Singer replied just 1:54 later to even the score at 2-2.

At the 4:29 mark of the third, Shugrue added his second goal of the contest to put the Blades up 3-2, and that held up as the winner. Roulette popped his second of the contest and Vaughn Watterodt scored into an empty net to round out a 5-2 victory for the Blades.

Elliott made 23 saves to earn the win in goal for the Blades. Kelsey turned away 23-of-27 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels.

The Blades received a lengthy and deserved salute from their faithful in attendance. The players applauded the fans for their enthusiasm and a few went right to the boards to thank their faithful up close.

The series between the Blades and Rebels was expected to be a tight one, and it ultimately was. The Blades finished fourth in the overall WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 record and were rated 10^th in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Rebels finished fifth in the overall WHL standings and topped the Central Division with a 43-19-3-3 mark.

Ethan Chadwick had a huge Game 4 performance.

On top of coming back to win a best-of-seven series after dropping the first three games in the set to complete the reverse sweep, the Blades also advanced to the Eastern Conference Championships Series for the first time since 1994.

They will face the Winnipeg Ice, and Game 1 of that series is set for Friday at the Wayne Fleming Arena in the Manitoba capital at 6 p.m. local time. The Ice topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

No matter what happens during the rest of the post-season, the Blades will skate away with a special distinction. Any time a team falls behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series in the WHL Playoffs, the Spokane Chiefs of 1996 and the Kelowna Rockets of 2013 are brought up as the two teams that rallied back to win a best-of-seven series 4-3 after dropping the first three games of that set.

The current Blades will be mentioned along with the 1996 Chiefs and the 2013 Rockets to now share that accomplishment.

Following the Blades Game 7 win on Tuesday, De La Gorgendiere said it hadn’t set in that his Blades team will be brought up with the 1996 Chiefs and the 2013 Rockets any time a WHL club falls behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series as the group of three teams that erased that series deficit to win the set.

Austin Elliott earned wins in Game 6 and 7 over the Rebels.

There were times after Tuesday’s game concluded and when leaving the rink that night it felt surreal that the Blades had pulled off that rally. On Wednesday, a surreal feeling hit another level when a few Blades fans went on social media to note a number of people in the fan base hadn’t been born the last time the team was in the Eastern Conference final in 1994.

In 1994, the Blades eliminated the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-1 in the Eastern Conference final before falling 4-3 in the WHL final to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.

The current Blades have found that special will that is needed to win in the post-season. Including their seven-game first round series win over Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats, the Blades have faced elimination five times and won each of those contests.

When their backs are against the wall, the current Blades players realize they don’t want to go their separate ways and raise their level of play in order to stay together. They have built a family feeling with the various team activities they have done away from the rink over the course of the entire 2022-23 campaign.

In the Eastern Conference final, the Ice will be the favourites. You can count that the Blades won’t go down without a fight, and their fight might be good enough they advance to the WHL Championship Series.

The Blades celebrate their series comeback win over the Rebels.

The Blades epic and historical series comeback over the Rebels should be celebrated, but it would not be a surprise if more high points were to come as the post-season moves on.

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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