Priestner made all the right trade deadline moves for Blades

Hayden Harsanyi is a big pick up for the Blades.

In the 2024-25 campaign, Colin Priestner has dealt with problems you like to have, when it comes to a WHL roster.

Last season, Priestner, who is the general manager and president of the Saskatoon Blades, oversaw a load up that allowed his squad to top the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark. In the post-season, the Blades advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series and fell in an epic seven-game set that saw six contests go to overtime to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

While the Blades graduated a large number of key players like Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov, Charlie Wright, Easton Armstrong, Fraser Minten and Alexander Suzdalev, they came into the current campaign returning a pretty good group of players that include long time star veterans Brandon Lisowsky and Tanner Molendyk along with sophomore 18-year-old netminder Evan Gardner. Plus, a number of returning veterans like captain Ben Saunderson, Tyler Parr, Rowan Calvert and Grayden Siepmann made big strides forward in their respective games.

Newcomers like Ben Riche and rookies Cooper Williams and import David Lewandowski gave the Blades more of a contribution than expected. All of those factors saw the Blades sit in a position where they were leading the WHL’s East Division and often the Eastern Conference for most of the first half of the season. They still top the East Division with a 22-14-2-3 mark.

Priestner was faced with a tough decision as the WHL’s trade deadline of this past January 9 at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time approached. He could run with the roster he had and see if the Blades could go on another long run in the WHL Playoffs.

He was also faced with the fact he had traded a lot of the Blades first, second and third round selections in WHL Prospects Drafts in upcoming years. He was looking to replenish some of those assets, so the team doesn’t take a longer term drop in the standings.

Hunter Laing was a recent addition by the Blades via the trade route.

Also in the WHL, there is the adage that anyone can be traded for as long as one trading partner really wants a player and wants to pay a price for that player. Priestner got some trade offers he couldn’t refuse, especially when it came to three of his best veterans. He also made some deals that worked well for his club and the respective trading partner.

On January 2, the Blades completed a major trade with the Victoria Royals. In that deal, they sent Lisowsky, who is a 20-year-old left-winger and one of their all-time greats, 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.

The next big deal was made on January 6. The Blades dealt Molendyk, who is a 19-year-old defenceman, and 19-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii to the Medicine Hat Tigers for centre Hayden Harsanyi, defenceman Jack Kachkowski, first and second round selections in the 2025 Prospects Draft, third and fourth round picks in the 2026 Prospects Draft and a fifth round selection in the 2028 Prospects Draft. Harsanyi and Kachkowski both recently turned 18-years-old.

On January 8, Blades sent Riche, who is a 19-year-old centre, to the Prince George Cougars in exchange for 18-year-old centre Hunter Laing, 15-year-old prospect defenceman Luke Dumas, a first round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft and fifth round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft.

Back on June 6, 2024, the Blades acquired Riche from the Victoria Royals in exchange for gritty 20-year-old left-winger Vaughn Watterodt. Watterodt is no longer with the Royals and now plays for the Mount Royal University Cougars Men’s Hockey Team in the U Sports ranks. In 37 regular season games with the Blades, Riche had been the team’s leading scorer recording 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points to go with a plus-18 rating. His totals in goals, assists and points are all career highs.

When Riche was acquired in exchange for Watterodt, no one thought Priestner would ultimately be able to trade the breakout forward for the assets the Blades received.

The Blades acquired Tanner Scott in a trade on January 2.

With the deals Priestner made, he was able recover draft capital for the Blades. Also, Harsanyi, Kachkowski and Laing will help the Blades in the current day and future seasons. Harsanyi has two goals and two assists in three games so far with the Blades, and he looks like he has the potential to be a big time player.

On the trade front, Priestner did a job that was worthy of the work done by Kelly McCrimmon, who is the current general manager of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. During a lengthy stretch as owner, general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, McCrimmon built a legendary reputation for making masterful moves.

Priestner has ensured the Blades will be in the mix in continuing to be a strong team this year and for the upcoming seasons that are yet to come.

Rush 4-1 for first time since 2018, other notes

Ryan Keenan scored four goals for the Rush last Saturday.

The reload or reset appears to be paying off for the Saskatchewan Rush.

Last Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the host Rush downed the Las Vegas Desert Dogs 15-9 in an NLL regular season clash. The victory allowed the Rush to improve to 4-1 for the first time since 2018, when the last won the NLL championship. The Desert Dogs fell to 1-5 with the setback.

Captain Ryan Keenan led the Rush with four goals. He also had a pair of assists for a six-point night.

Zach Manns continued his impressive campaign recording eight points off three goals and five assists. Austin Shanks had six points coming off three goals and three assists, while Robert Church had five points on a pair of goals and three assists. Clark Walter added a pair of goals, while Ryan Barnable had a single for the Saskatchewan side.

Frank Scigliano made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Rush.

Since the NLL returned to action in 2022 following stoppages due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Rush have posted 8-10 records for three straight seasons and missed the post-season in each of those campaigns. They last made the playoffs in 2019, which was the final campaign the NLL completed before not being able to host post-season action in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

The Rush return to action this coming Saturday when they travel to Mississauga, Ont., to face the 0-5 Toronto Rock at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

• Kamloops Blazers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston sits sixth on the WHL’s all-time list for career head coaching victories with 579 wins. He needs three more wins to equal Marc Habscheid for fifth on the all-time list with 582 victories. Habscheid piled up his victory total working behind the bench of the Blazers, the Kelowna Rockets, the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise and the Prince Albert Raiders.
• Spokane Chiefs star right-winger Andrew Cristall leads with WHL scoring race with 72 points coming off 31 goals and 41 assists to go with a plus-28 rating in the plus-minus department. Cristall was acquired by the Chiefs in a blockbuster trade with the Rockets on January 8. In 28 games with the Rockets this season, Cristall recorded 60 points on 26 goals and 34 assists to go with a plus-22 rating. In his first three games with the Chiefs, Cristall has 12 points coming off five goals and seven assists to go with a plus-six rating.
• The Everett Silvertips continue to lead the WHL’s overall standings with a 30-5-3-3 mark.
• On January 6, star defenceman Caden Price was traded by the Rockets to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a blockbuster trade. Price wrote a heartfelt letter to salute to the folks in Kelowna. That can be found by clicking right here.
• On Thursday, January 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on the Saskatoon Ultimate Disc-Sport Society. A great upbeat atmosphere is present when Saskatoon Ultimate Disc-Sport Society events happen at the Complex. That piece can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by pictures from the CRIIIO Women’s Cricket Festival, which was a first for Saskatchewan as a province. It also includes photos from baseball, football, softball, skating, speed skating and skiing. 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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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 shake Royals 5-4 in OT on Lisowsky’s winner

Brandon Lisowsky (#8) celebrates his OT winner on Saturday.

Brandon Lisowsky delivered the blow in overtime that allowed the Saskatoon Blades to finally knockout the Victoria Royals.

In a WHL regular season clash on Saturday night, the Blades and Royals were locked in a 4-4 tie early in overtime at the SaskTel Centre. On a faceoff in the Royals zone, Blades star centre Fraser Minten won a draw clean getting the puck to Lisowsky at the top of the faceoff circle.

On a set play, Lisowsky quickly wired home his 22^nd goal of the season to deliver the Blades to a 5-4 victory to the delight of the 5,794 spectators in attendance on a frigid night in Saskatoon. The temperature outside the Blades home rink was -36 C.

Fraser Minten set up the OT winner for the Blades on a faceoff win.

Lisowsky’s goal, which was his fifth winner of the season and came 20 seconds into overtime, allowed the Blades to put away a Royals team that seemingly wouldn’t go away. The Royals, who were closing out a five-game road trip against foes from the WHL’s East Division, trailed 4-1 at one point in the second period and cut the gap to 4-3 before the second intermission.

The Blades dominated play in the third period allowing the Royals to have only one shot on net. The Victoria side made that shot count.

With 35 seconds remaining in the third period, the Royals had netminder Ryan Tamelin pulled for an extra attacker, and they got the equalizer. Royals recently acquired 20-year-old right-winger Tyson Laventure centred a pass from behind the Saskatoon net to rookie centre Logan Pickford, who was positioned in front of the goal.

Logan Pickford celebrates scoring an equalizer for the Royals.

Pickford, who turned 18-years-old this past Monday, fired home his second tally of the contest and seventh of the season to even the score at 4-4 and force overtime. For a moment, it looked like Pickford, who is a Saskatoon product, was going to write a special homecoming story for himself.

His equalizer set the stage for Lisowsky to play the role of hero for the Blades in overtime.

The win allowed the Blades, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, to improve to 28-8-2-2 to sit alone in first place in the overall WHL standings. The Royals, who have gone into extra time in six of their last seven games, remained second in the B.C. Division as their record moved to 23-14-3-3.

Alexander Suzdalev score the Blades first goal on Saturday.

Saturday’s game marked the first time the Blades hit the ice with their potential regular roster since passing of last Wednesday’s WHL trade deadline. The Blades entered the contest with just two defencemen out with upper body injuries in 18-year-old veteran Carter Herman (week-to-week) and rookie Morgan Tastad (day-to-day), who turned 18-years-old last Wednesday.

The Blades healthy scratches were a trio of rookies in 16-year-old defenceman Brayden Klimpke, 16-year-old right-winger Hudson Kibblewhite and 17-year-old right-winger William James.

Saskatoon’s roster got a big boost with the return of 18-year-old star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk. Before Saturday’s clash with the Royals, Molendyk last suited up for the Blades in a 4-2 victory at home against the Red Deer Rebels on December 8, 2023.

Tanner Molendyk returned from injury to score for the Blades.

Following that win against the Rebels, Molendyk joined Canada’s world junior team, but never got to play in the main tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden. He suffered a fractured wrist in Canada’s 6-2 win over Switzerland in a pre-tournament game on December 22, 2023.

In Saturday’s outing with the Blades, Molendyk, who was selected in the first round and 24^th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and has a signed entry-level contract with the Predators, looked sound. He posted a goal and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department.

The Blades looked like they were poised to potentially roll the Royals jumping out to a 2-0 lead and holding a 14-7 edge in shots on goal after the game’s opening 20 minutes.

Tanner Scott had a goal for the Royals on Saturday.

At the 8:07 mark of the first, Royals 17-year-old right-winger Escalus Burlock gave the puck away in his own zone to Blades star import left-winger Alexander Suzdalev. Suzdalev promptly buried the gift into the back of the Victoria net to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

With 5:34 remaining in the first, Molendyk recorded his tally one-timing home a setup pass from defensive partner Ben Saunderson to push the Blades lead out to 2-0.

Just 95 seconds into the second, Pickford scored his first goal of the contest by golf chipping home a loose puck in front of the Saskatoon net to cut the Blades lead to 2-1.

Dawson Pasternak scored for the Royals on Saturday.

At the 6:15 mark of the second, the Blades pushed their advantage out to 3-1 lead thanks to a power-play goal from 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright on a mid-range shot. Just 71 seconds later, Blades star 20-year-old left-winger Easton Armstrong showed some sweet hands tucking home his 21^st goal of the season to give a host side a 4-1 advantage.

The Royals proceeded to counter with a push back. Star 20-year-old right-winger Dawson Pasternak scored with an off-speed shot on the power play and 19-year-old left-winger Tanner Scott popped home a loose puck in the crease of the Saskatoon net to cut the Blades lead to 4-3 heading into the second intermission.

From there, Pickford netted his equalizer for the Royals with 35 seconds remaining in the third and Lisowsky recorded the winner for the Blades just 20 seconds into overtime.

Charlie Wright scored on the power play for the Blades.

Austin Elliott stopped 14 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Ryan Tamelin turned away 33 shots to take the setback in net for the Royals. Tamelin, who stands 6-foot-8 and is 17-years-old, was making his first career WHL start having spent most of the 2023-24 campaign with the Okanagan Hockey Academy’s Under-18 Prep Team.

Import right-winger Egor Sidorov had a pair of assists for the Blades in the win.

The Blades return to action on Sunday, when they host the 15-20-4-2 Regina Pats (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Royals, who have four extra time losses and a regulation setback to show from their five-game road trip through the East Division, get back at it this coming Saturday when they host the Kamloops Blazers (4 p.m. local time, Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena).

The Blades celebrate their OT win on Saturday.

In the coming weeks, the Blades could potentially juggle their lines and defensive pairs in order to find the combinations that have the best chemistry production. Still as was seen on Saturday, it is a good sign they are able to find ways to win even when a foe grudging doesn’t want to give up a knockout blow.

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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.