2023-24 Blades brought Saskatoon together

Fans came to SaskTel Centre in droves for playoff run

Fraser Minten gives a souvenir stick to a fan at a May 3 home game.

In an agonizing defeat, the Saskatoon Blades fans ensured their team got a thank you.

On May 7, the Blades faced the Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 7 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series and a campaign high crowd of 13,240 spectators poured into the SaskTel Centre. The teams would go to overtime locked in a 2-2 tie. It marked the sixth time the two sides went to overtime in what has been viewed as the greatest post-season series ever played in the history of the WHL.

Just 36 seconds into overtime, Warriors 17-year-old sophomore right-winger Lynden Lakovic drove down the right wing into the Saskatoon zone. From a bad angle, Lakovic backhanded the puck toward the Saskatoon net.

Warriors star overage right-winger Atley Calvert drove towards the Saskatoon net while being covered by Blades utility winger Tyler Parr. The puck from Lakovic’s backhand deflected off Parr’s skate into the Saskatoon net to deliver the Warriors to a 3-2 victory in the extra session.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Warriors went on to sweep the WHL Championship Series 4-0 over the Portland Winterhawks. Moose Jaw is currently playing in the Memorial Cup tournament in Saginaw, Michigan, that determines a CHL champion.

In the Game 7 encounter between the Warriors and Blades, Moose Jaw had a sizable contingent of supporters that filled five fan busses that made the jaunt to Saskatoon. When Lakovic’s OT winner went in, the Warriors fans in attendance broke into a joyful, cloud nine type of feeling celebration.

After the initial momentum of the celebration of the Warriors fans died down, the Blades supporters, who filled the vast majority of the building, showered down a salute to their heroes who were trying to process at that point what happened.

Following the traditional post-series handshakes, the Warriors were presented with the Eastern Conference championship trophy and departed the ice to the applause of their fans that gathered around their bench area.

Some of the signs Blades fans brought out at warmups.

Once the Warriors departed, the Blades did a sticks raised lap to salute their supporters in attendance and the fans returned their own heartwarming salute. Captain Trevor Wong, who had just played his final career WHL game, skated around giving applause to the fans and motioning to the chest that he took them to heart.

Some of the Blades players would linger on the ice for a lengthy stretch processing the end of their campaign before finally making their way to the team’s dressing room.

In the days that followed, fans were phoning into radio shows and commenting on various public forums that they were proud of the team. They were saying everyone with the team from players, coaches and management could hold their heads high for how they played in the post-season run and especially in the epic series clash with Moose Jaw.

The reaction was much different compared to post-season runs the Blades made in the early 1990s. When the Blades made the WHL Championship Series in 1992 and 1994 and lost both of those trips in seven games to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers, the fans were proud of those runs, but there was an undercutting undertone.

Trevor Wong salutes the SaskTel Centre crowd on May 7.

You would have fans phoning into sports call in shows, TV shows and sending feedback to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix newspaper that then general manager Daryl Lubiniecki was the lead weight that was holding the Blades back. Throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s, Lubiniecki was with the Blades full-time mainly as the general manager, and the team won about 60 per cent of its games and made numerous long runs in the WHL Playoffs.

The long runs didn’t result in any WHL titles or Memorial Cup championships. Back in those days, the general manager of the Blades in Saskatoon was usually treated like the general manager of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders as being hated by the fans, or at least the ones that were vocal and there were a lot of those.

If you run into Lubiniecki these days, he often makes jokes of the fact the fans wanted him to be fired when he was the Blades general manager. He adds in the present day everyone in Saskatoon loves him now, and he always gets a warm reception when he attends Blades games as a fan.

When Mike Priestner’s family bought the team before the start of the 2013-14 campaign, team management put an emphasis on attracting new fans and creating links to the community. That continued as the Blades were moved under the umbrella of the newly created Sask Entertainment Group with the Priestner family having purchased the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush in May of 2021 and an expansion franchise in the Western Canadian Baseball League in March of 2023 that has become the Saskatoon Berries, who just embarked on their inaugural season.

Charlie Wright was reliable on the back end for the Blades.

The Blades faithfully kept up their school visits, visits to minor hockey teams as guest coaches and various other works in community outreach. That has resulted in the team drawing more new and younger fans with their long post-season runs the past two seasons, and those fans have fallen in love with the team.

In 2022-23, the Blades averaged 4,506 spectators per game over 34 home dates and 8,780 spectators per contest over 10 home post-season dates. 

During the 2023-24 campaign, the Blades averaged 5,166 spectators per game over 34 home dates and 9,332 spectators per contest over nine post-season home dates.

The Blades average attendance for the regular season was the highest it had been since the team drew an average of 6,040 spectators to 36 home dates during the 2012-13 campaign, when the club hosted the Memorial Cup tournament. The squad’s post-season average attendance figures are believed to be the best they have been since those runs in 1992 and 1994 to the WHL final, when capacity at the SaskTel Centre was configured for around 11,300 spectators for hockey games.

The new supporters carry their fandom in a more healthy way. They usually have busy lives and that includes families who have children working their way through minor hockey. For those members of the Blades faithful, jaunts to the SaskTel Centre for Blades games are a break from those lives.

Easton Armstrong became a Blades fan favourite in 2023-24.

For the young kids at the games, they see players like Wong, Egor Sidorov, Brandon Lisowsky, Fraser Minten, Easton Armstrong, Vaughn Watterodt, Alexander Suzdalev, Tanner Molendyk, Charlie Wright, Ben Saunderson John Babcock, Evan Gardner and Austin Elliott as their heroes. Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said it has been cool to drive to work in the mornings and see kids going to school wearing Blades jerseys and Blades gear.

Blades general manager Colin Priestner said he had fans coming up to him in the concourse during the Game 7 loss to the Warriors passing on thank you messages for the post-season run.

It should be noted the Blades do have a good block of legacy fans that follow the team through thick and thin. There are some legacy fans that base the happiness of their lives around the Blades winning or losing and do moan the fact that the team has never won a league title or a Memorial Cup since being formed in 1964. The grips on that front have faded more to the background.

Reminders that the Blades have never won a league title or a Memorial Cup come loudly from the fans of the club’s archrivals in the Prince Albert Raiders. Raiders fans ensure that those non-successes by the Blades are always remembered.

Egor Sidorov had 50 goals and 88 points in the 2023-24 regular season.

Still, the 2023-24 campaign was a special one for the Blades. They topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record for 105 standings points. Saskatoon won 50 or more games in a regular season for just the third time in team history and hit 100 or more standings points for the sixth time since the franchise first hit the ice in 1964.

Wong led the Blades in regular season scoring with 101 points coming off 15 goals and 86 assists. Sidorov had a memorable campaign setting career highs in the regular season for goals (50), assists (38) and points (88).

Wong hitting 100 points and Sidorov collecting 50 goals marked the first time Blades players had realized those accomplishments since the 1995-96 campaign.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Blades took out the Raiders in five games in the first round and swept the Red Deer Rebels 4-0 in a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Brandon Lisowsky has been a consistent point producer.

Tonnes of great memories were made.

Any sadness that came resulted from the realization that an end of an era likely had come for a core group of Blades players. 

Wong, Armstrong and Wright were in their 20-year-old seasons and have now exhausted their major junior eligibilities.

It is expected Minten, Sidorov, Lisowsky and Suzdalev will all be in the professional ranks next season. They all have NHL entry-level contracts and will be in their 20-year-old seasons. 

Molendyk could be back as a 19-year-old player, but there is a very real chance the Nashville Predators could elect to keep him in the NHL.

Wong, Sidorov and Lisowsky were basically one of the Blades forward lines for the last three straight seasons. It will be different not seeing them together on the ice together as a unit wearing the “Pac-Man” jerseys.

With all that in mind, there are lots of young child aged fans that attended games at the SaskTel Centre over the past two seasons that will remember watching this generation of Blades as a childhood highlight years from now.

The Blades celebrate an OT victory on May 3.

These were “smile because they happened” times in Saskatoon that brought a lot of much needed good feelings to the city in a world today when it seems there is lots to complain about in seemingly every walk of life.

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 had memorable 2023-24 campaign with bittersweet end

Members of the Blades dwell on the end of their season on May 7.

All involved with the Saskatoon Blades thought they would be preparing right now to play in the Memorial Cup tournament.

Instead of competing for a CHL championship, they are coming to the realization they had a spectacular campaign in 2023-24 that came to a heartbreaking end. The Blades topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record for 105 standings points. Saskatoon won 50 or more games in a regular season for just the third time in team history and hit 100 or more standings points for the sixth time since the franchise first hit the ice in 1964, which was two seasons before the WHL was formed.

For large stretches of the campaign, the Blades top the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings and were rated sixth in the final edition of those ratings.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Blades downed their archrivals in the Prince Albert Raiders in five games in a first round series and swept the Red Deer Rebels in four games in an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Blades proceeded to play in an epic Eastern Conference Championship Series against the Moose Jaw Warriors that went to seven games with six contests being decided in overtime. The six overtime games played in one seven game series is a WHL record.

Trevor Wong salutes the SaskTel Centre crowd on May 7.

The series deciding Game 7 of that set was played on Tuesday, May 7, before a campaign high crowd of 13,240 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades and Warriors went to overtime locked in a 2-2 tie. The contest had a devastating end for the host side.

Just 36 seconds into overtime, Warriors 17-year-old sophomore right-winger Lynden Lakovic drove down the right wing into the Saskatoon zone. From a bad angle, Lakovic backhanded the puck toward the Saskatoon net.

Warriors star overage right-winger Atley Calvert drove towards the Saskatoon net while being covered by Blades utility winger Tyler Parr. The puck from Lakovic’s backhand deflected off Parr’s skate into the Saskatoon net to deliver the Warriors to a 3-2 victory in the extra session.

The Warriors went on to sweep the WHL Championship Series 4-0 over the Portland Winterhawks. Moose Jaw begins playing at the Memorial Cup tournament in Saginaw, Michigan, taking on the OHL’s host Spirit on Friday at the DOW Event Centre (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Blades after losing what many consider was the best post-season series in the history of the WHL were left to wonder about what might have been.

Charlie Wright goes for a final lap at the SaskTel Centre on May 7.

Captain Trevor Wong, who exhausted is major junior eligibility with the Game 7 loss to the Warriors, came to the Blades in a trade with the Kelowna Rockets on September 28, 2021, which sent centre Colton Dach to the Rockets. Wong was thankful he got to be a member of the Blades for three full seasons and that owner and governor Mike Priestner and general manager and president Colin Priestner had been outstanding to him since his arrival in Saskatoon.

“It is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my hockey career so far,” said Wong, who led the Blades in regular season scoring with 101 points coming off 15 goals and 86 assists. “I can’t thank the organization in CP (Colin Priestner) and Mike (Priestner) and the coaching staff and teammates who brought me in when I was 18.

“I was pretty bummed out when I got traded to be honest not knowing much about Saskatoon and coming to the cold. Just being a Blade is everything to me and embracing the culture and what it means to truly be a Blade and not just on the ice but being a great person in the community and being a great teammate. The organization here wants to build great men and not just hockey players.

“I thought I have kind of embraced it. I’ve tried to put it throughout the boys and throughout the locker room to the younger guys.”

Easton Armstrong processes the end of his WHL career on May 7.

Along with Wong, dependable defenceman Charlie Wright and star left-winger Easton Armstrong also used up their major junior eligibility playing out the 2023-24 campaign as 20-year-olds. Wright was a career member of the Blades joining the squad on a full-time basis in his 16-year-old season. Armstrong was acquired in a trade with the Wenatchee Wild early in the 2023-24 campaign.

Colin Priestner was proud of work everyone with the franchise did for the team. He admits the conclusion of the campaign was bittersweet.

“The run we went on is something you dream of,” said Priestner. “It just ended in kind of a nightmare.

“To think of how close we got, and I still feel like we have the best team in the country I truly do. I feel like we deserved to win (in Game 7 versus the Moose Jaw Warriors). I feel like we were in an unbelievably great series with another great team.

“I feel like we outplayed them substantially (in Game 7) and out chanced them on a two-to-one ratio. For whatever reason, it goes off one of our player’s skates and in and that is it. The plug is just pulled so fast from the season.”

The Blades welcomed lots of new fans to the SaskTel Centre.

The Blades have been strong in each of the past two seasons. In the 2022-23 campaign, the Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 mark. In the WHL Playoffs, they won two series in seven games over Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats and the Rebels before being swept in the Eastern Conference Championship Series 4-0 by the Winnipeg Ice.

Saskatoon has drawn more new and younger fans with their runs the past two seasons. In 2022-23, the Blades averaged 4,506 spectators per game over 34 home dates and 8,780 spectators per contest over 10 home post-season dates. During the 2023-24 campaign, the Blades averaged 5,166 spectators per game over 34 home dates and 9,332 spectators per contest over nine post-season home dates.

Priestner said it has been amazing to a younger generation of fans who have fallen in love with the team come out to games and the people of Saskatoon and area get excited for the team. He was in awe seeing the 13,240 spectators that came out for their Game 7 campaign ending loss to the Warriors.

“You see there are 13,000 people there, and people were coming up to me in the concourse and saying thank you so much for this run,” said Priestner. “I just wish that I was able to deliver a championship to these people in this city, because everybody believed in us.

Egor Sidorov had 50 goals and 88 points in the 2023-24 regular season.

“We did everything we could to bring this city a championship, and they deserved it. They supported us like unbelievably.”

The Blades hit the ice with a number of stars that included import right-winger Egor Sidorov, left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, centre Fraser Minten, defenceman Tanner Molendyk and netminders Evan Gardner and Austin Elliott. Blades fans took a number of other players to heart who brought a high level effort to every game including forwards Vaughn Watterodt, Rowan Calvert, Lukas Hansen, Parr, Misha Volotovskii and William James along with defencemen Ben Saunderson, John Babcock, Grayden Siepmann, Nicholas Andrusiak and Morgan Tastad.

Sidorov, who played his third full season with the team, had a memorable campaign setting career highs in the regular season for goals (50), assists (38) and points (88).

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said the biggest thing for him that stood out for the 2023-24 squad was how tight the players were.

“They just care about each other,” said Sonne. “They love each other.

Fraser Minten was a big play performer for the Blades.

“They’re brothers. That is what produces the heart – the level of heart you see. The lack of quit.

“They just don’t stop, so that is probably the biggest thing.”

Sonne said it has been a joy to see the players truly enjoy becoming part of the community of Saskatoon and the surrounding area.

“I’m the hockey coach of a junior team, so the hockey side is obviously the main focus,” said Sonne. “But, me and our staff, ownership and management, our priority is helping young men grow into be great citizens, husbands, fathers and I will say this group, these 20-year-olds, the guys graduating from this program are like the best of the best citizens.

“They’re going to be the leaders of our society in the future.”

While the Blades wish they could have pulled out a victory in Game 7, Wong was pleased his squad went down fighting.

“I think as a team we’re very proud of ourselves,” said Wong. “Six games went to overtime in a seven game series.

The Blades react to their season coming to an end on May 7.

“It could have gone either way, and one bad bounce kind of our season is over just like that. We’re very proud of the way we pushed back and played the whole game. We’re very proud of what we accomplished this season.

“There are no heads hanging, because we are proud of ourselves.”

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Epic finish to epic series as Warriors take conference title

Lakovic morphs into “Mr. OT” for Moose Jaw

Lynden Lakovic, top left, reacts to scoring his OT winner.

Lynden Lakovic will be “Mr. OT” forever to the city of Moose Jaw.

On Tuesday night playing before a campaign high crowd of 13,240 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the 17-year-old sophomore right-winger gave what was arguably the greatest WHL post-season series ever played a fitting finish. In a series deciding Game 7 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series, Lakovic’s Moose Jaw Warriors went into overtime locked in a 2-2 tie with the host Saskatoon Blades.

That marked the sixth time both clubs went to overtime to decide a game in the series, which is a record for the WHL. Just 36 seconds into overtime, Lakovic drove down the right wing into the Saskatoon zone. From a bad angle, Lakovic backhanded the puck toward the Saskatoon net.

Warriors fans cheer their team’s OT winning goal.

Warriors star overage right-winger Atley Calvert drove towards the Saskatoon net while being covered by Blades utility winger Tyler Parr. The puck from Lakovic’s backhand deflected off Parr’s skate into the Saskatoon net to deliver the Warriors to a 3-2 victory in the extra session.

The Game 7 win on Tuesday allowed the Warriors to take the series 4-3 and capture their second Eastern Conference title in team history with the first coming back in 2006. When his latest overtime winner went in, Lakovic said it was a euphoric moment.

The Warriors celebrate their Game 7 OT win.

“It was just pure excitement,” said Lakovic. “I know you probably want like a cool celebration or something, but you can’t really just think of anything.

“So many things are going through your head. You just get so excited you just want to hug all the guys, because without them you wouldn’t be here. I do it for them.”

Lakovic also had the overtime winner in the Warriors 4-3 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in Moose Jaw on Sunday. He also had an extra time winner back on March 30 in a Warriors 5-4 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in Game 2 of an opening round series at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

The Warriors celebrate with players who were scratched and coaches.

Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk said it was cool that Lakovic has come through in multiple big moments in overtime.

“That is awesome,” said Mateychuk. “That is great to see.

“He has been here for a couple of years now. He came in as a young guy and kind of fit in right with our top nine pretty much. He has been a great player for us.

“He doesn’t shy away from those moments, which is great to see.”

With the Eastern Conference title win, the Warriors advance to face the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL Championship Series. The Winterhawks claimed the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series in six games over the Prince George Cougars.

The Blades react to their Game 7 overtime loss.

Portland closed out the Western Conference final on Monday with a 2-1 victory over the Cougars in double overtime in Game 6 at the CN Centre in Prince George. Standout left-winger Josh Davies scored the winner at the 5:40 mark of the second extra session for the Winterhawks.

Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

In Tuesday’s Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, the Blades came firing out of the gates to the huge roars of the crowd holding a 7-1 edge in shots on goal over the first 6:39 of the opening frame. Warriors star netminder Jackson Unger stood tall, which included stopping a good backhand chance from Blades gritty left-winger Vaughn Watterodt at the right side of the Moose Jaw net.

The Blades and Warriors go through traditional post-series hand shakes.

The Warriors took the wind out of the home crowd’s sails with 6:25 remaining in the opening frame with a positive bounce goal. Warriors offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker took a shot from the point that was deflected by left-winger Ethan Semeniuk in front of the net.

Semeniuk’s deflection hit the right post of the Saskatoon goal, deflected off the back of the leg of Blades breakout rookie netminder Evan Gardner and went into the net. That tally gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead. The officials video reviewed that goal and concluded it was a goal.

Denton Mateychuk (#5) receives the Eastern Conference title trophy.

The Warriors finished the frame with a good surge of chances. When the first period ended, the Warriors held a 1-0 lead, while the Blades had a 9-7 edge on shots on goal.

The Warriors came with pressure to start the second holding a 5-2 edge in shots on goal in the first 10:15 of the frame. At that point, the Blades found another gear and outshot the Warriors 15-4 through the rest of the stanza.

With 7:38 remaining in the second, Blades standout overage left-winger Easton Armstrong roofed a backhand shot past Unger to even the score at 1-1. Armstrong’s goal brought the crowd at the SaskTel Centre back to life.

Warriors fans salute their team’s Eastern Conference title win.

Blades captain Trevor Wong thought his squad played a sound game despite coming up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

“We played real well I thought,” said Wong, who exhausted his WHL eligibility with Tuesday’s loss. “It was a pretty complete game.

“I thought we took over in the O-zone a bunch of times. Moose Jaw, they’ll counter attack you quick if you make one mistake. We knew that, and it happened to us.

“We can’t think about that, because I thought we played a real good game.”

Lynden Lakovic has three OT winners in the 2024 WHL Playoffs.

The two sides started out playing cautiously in the third, which resulted in no shots on goal for the first 3:20 of the stanza. At that point, the pace picked up.

With 9:47 remaining in the third, the Warriors big stars came through in centre Brayden Yager and right-winger Jagger Firkus. Yager stole the puck behind the Saskatoon net from Blades 19-year-old defenceman Ben Saunderson.

After making the steal, Yager centred a pass to the front of the net to Firkus. Firkus buried his 12^th of the post-season to put the Warriors in front 2-1. The sizable contingent of Warriors fans in attendance roared their approval.

That tally would not hold up as the winner.

Easton Armstrong (#27) had the Blades first goal on Tuesday.

With 3:07 remaining in the third, Watterodt positioned himself midrange in front of the Moose Jaw net and blew home the equalizer to the top left corner of the goal that forced a 2-2 tie. The crowd at the SaskTel Centre exploded with their loudest cheers to that point in the campaign.

Wong said the Blades have been great at bouncing back this season when things have gone wrong.

“It was kind of all year,” said Wong. “We’re a resilient team.

“We knew we weren’t out of it when they scored that one. I thought we kind of carried the play most of it. It was huge for Vaughner (Watterodt) to step up there, but that is kind of how we were all year.

Trevor Wong played his final WHL game on Tuesday.

“Guys would step up like that in big moments. That was a huge goal. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done, but it just kind of shows the character that we have in that room just pushing back there.”

The Blades actually had the first chance to score in overtime. Shortly after the extra session started, Warriors star centre Matthew Savoie gave away the puck in his own zone to Blade star import right-winger Egor Sidorov.

Sidorov put a quick shot on goal that Unger had to make a smart glove save on. The Warriors would win the ensuing defensive zone faceoff and start the rush that resulted in Lakovic’s winner.

“I’m just really sad,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne. “We had a staff, a group, a team of players that just worked so hard to be in this position completely dedicated all in.

Fraser Minten breaks into the offensive zone for the Blades.

“I’m just really sad that the result didn’t go our way.”

Gardner turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Unger stopped 37 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors.

Sonne believed his club came with a big effort on Tuesday.

“I thought we played really hard tonight,” said Sonne. “I thought we played really, really hard tonight.

“I thought we put ourselves in a good position. We left it all out there.”

Going into the Eastern Conference Championship Series, it was expected the Blades and Warriors would put on a battle, and the series greatly exceeded those expectations that were set at the outset.

Vaughn Watterodt celebrates his third period equalizer.

During the regular season, the Blades topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Warriors finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark.

The two sides split their six head-to-head encounters in the regular season without having to go to extra time. 

In the Eastern Conference final, the Warriors claimed the series 4-3 with six contests going to overtime. Each side won three contests in extra time.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary was proud of what his players were able to accomplish with the series win.

Blades fans cheer Vaughn Watterodt’s third period equalizer.

“I think it is such a tight group,” said O’Leary. “We said it all along they just don’t want to let each other down.

“Whether you give up a tough goal late there or you get scored on early like a couple of games ago. There is just nothing that fazes this group. They are just destined for big things, and we saw it here tonight.”

It is believed that only two other series in the WHL post-season have ever had five overtime finishes. 

Jackson Unger made 37 saves for the Warriors on Tuesday.

That included the 2008 Western Conference Championship Series that saw the Spokane Chiefs down the Tri-City Americans in seven games. The Chiefs would go on to with the WHL title and capture the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

The first round series in 2013 between the Kelowna Rockets and the Seattle Thunderbirds also had five overtime games. The Rockets won that series in seven games after the Thunderbirds opened the set winning three straight overtime contests.

Lakovic said his team’s conference title series win over the Blades felt special.

“We made WHL history tonight I think with six of the seven games going to overtime,” said Lakovic. “It doesn’t get any closer than that.

The Warriors are pictured with the Eastern Conference title trophy.

“I think I said this last time (after Game 6) if these teams were to play 10 series I bet you there would be a different winner each time. I think this definitely did feel like a championship series.”

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Sidorov strikes in clutch time again for Blades

Scores OT winner to even series with Warriors 2-2

Egor Sidorov (#19) celebrates his OT winner for the Blades.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Egor Sidorov renewed his reputation of being “Mr. Clutch” for the Saskatoon Blades.

On Wednesday night playing before 4,643 spectators at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, Sidorov’s Blades were locked in a 4-4 tie in overtime against the host Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 4 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Blades were applying pressure in the Moose Jaw zone and 19-year-old right-winger Rilen Kovacevic had a chance clear the puck out of his zone down the right side boards by the blue-line.

Kovacevic tried to tip the puck out of his zone, but Blades star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky made a sweeping check with his stick and knocked the puck high in the air to Sidorov, who was alone in front of the Moose Jaw net. Sidorov put a deke on Warriors star netminder Jackson Unger and tucked home a forehand shot to give the Blades a 5-4 victory at the 3:29 mark of the extra session.

The Blades pile on top of Egor Sidorov after he scores in OT.

After scoring his extra time winner, Sidorov, who leads the WHL with 13 goals this post-season, proceeded to celebrate by rolling around on the ice before he was mobbed by his teammates who poured off the Saskatoon bench.

The win allowed the Blades to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2. In the four games of the set played so far, three of them have been decided in overtime. The series returns to Saskatoon for Game 5 on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

“It was a great backcheck by (Brandon) Lisowsky,” said Sidorov, who has four game-winning goals in the current post-season. “It was a great backcheck.

Blades fans in Moose Jaw celebrate their team’s OT win.

“He just pass me puck. Honestly, it was in my head to go between my legs, but after, I was no. I was going to fake backhand and go forehand goal.

“That was a big game. It was huge for us win. We just have to keep going.”

Warriors captain and star offensive-defenceman Denton Mateychuk said Wednesday’s loss was a tough result to swallow. He thought his team showed great resiliency battling back from deficits of 3-0 and 4-2 to tie the contest.

“It is obviously a bit of a disappointment to let that one slide away after how we battled back after the first period,” said Mateychuk. “There were a lot of good things that came out of that game.

Egor Sidorov has four game winning goals in the post-season.

“It just stings a little bit.”

The Blades came out of the games on fire. Just 14 seconds into the first period, Blades star centre Fraser Minten put a shot on goal from the left boards in the Moose Jaw zone.

Unger got a piece of the shot causing the puck to fall and sit loose in the crease in the Moose Jaw goal. Lisowsky swooped in and popped home the loose puck to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Just 53 seconds later, Blades star captain Trevor Wong jetted into the Moose Jaw zone on a rush. He set up just inside the right faceoff circle, used Mateychuk as a screen and blew home his fourth of the post-season to push Saskatoon’s advantage out to 2-0.

Brandon Lisowsky had a goal and two assists for the Blades.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary called a time out immediately after the Blades second goal to settle his troops down.

A short time later, the Warriors went on the power play, but they weren’t able to get a traction moment. The Blades were strong on the kill. The Warriors best scoring chance came when offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker put a shot through a screen that was gloved by Blades breakout rookie netminder Evan Gardner.

After that kill, the Blades extended their lead to 3-0 at the 8:32 mark of the opening frame. Blades offensive-defenceman Ben Saunderson put a shot on goal from the point that was deflected home by import right-winger Alexander Suzdalev.

Brayden Yager had two goals and one assist for the Warriors.

“I loved our start,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne, who team finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark. “That is what I am talking about the desperation that we had.

“It went away because of circumstances, but I loved our start. That was our best start of playoffs.”

The Warriors got a traction moment at the 12:06 mark of the opening frame when star right-winger Brayden Yager slipped home a shot from the point right when a Moose Jaw power play expired to cut the Blades edge to 3-1.

With 3:06 remaining in the first, Yager had the puck on the left wing in the Saskatoon zone and passed it across the front of the net to star right-winger Jagger Firkus. Firkus ripped home his 10^th of the post-season to further cut the Blades lead to 3-2.

Jagger Firkus had a goal and two assists for the Warriors.

Just 58 seconds later, Blades star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk fired home a shot from the point to give Saskatoon a 4-2 edge heading into the first intermission. After 20 minutes, the Blades led 4-2, but the Warriors had a 12-7 edge in shots on goal.

The offence kept coming in the second. Just 64 seconds into the frame, Yager tucked home his second of the night at the right side of the Saskatoon net to cut the Blades advantage to 4-3.

The Warriors evened the score at 4-4 at the 9:57 mark of the second on a tally from right-winger Rilen Kovacevic. Kovacevic collected rebound in front the Saskatoon net from a point shot taken by Warriors overage import right-winger Martin Rysavy and potted home the equalizer.

Trevor Wong had the Blades second goal on Wednesday.

Mateychuk said the Warriors had belief that they could rally back and tie the game.

“I think it shows the heart that we have in our room,” said Mateychuk, whose club outshot the Blades 14-6 in the second period. “Everybody in there wants to win, and that is a really good thing.

“Having a better start I think everybody knows that. You can’t give up three goals in the first eight minutes. We’ll learn from that and be ready to go Friday.”

The third period was a scoreless frame with the teams finishing tied 8-8 in shots on goal.

With 10:54 remaining in the third, the Blades had arguably their best chance to score when overage star left-winger Easton Armstrong was stoned twice at the left side of the Moose Jaw by Unger.

Alexander Suzdalev had the Blades third goal on Wednesday.

Yager had a chance to net his third of the night with 6:50 to play in the frame, but he was denied by Gardner’s glove hand.

That set the stage for Sidorov come through with the winner in overtime.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary was pleased his squad rallied back to tie the game but said the stumble out of the gate in the first period hurt his club.

“I’m just really disappointed in the start,” said O’Leary, whose team finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark. “The goals were one thing.

“I just thought we stood around and watched. For as big as this game was and as excited as we were about the opportunity, it is just disappointing with the start. Again, they did what they always do.

Tanner Molendyk had the Blades fourth goal on Wednesday.

“They punch back. It was great to battle ourselves back into the game. At the end of the day, you can’t start like that and expect to get a bounce late.”

Gardner stopped 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Jackson Unger turned away 19 shots to take the extra time setback in net for the Warriors.

Lisowsky had a three-point night for the Blades collecting his goal and two assists. He also had a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department.

Yager had an assist to go with his two goals for a three-point night, and Firkus had a pair of helpers to go with his marker.

Sidorov has loved the battle his club has shown in the series, which has been extremely competitive.

Rilen Kovacevic had the Warriors fourth goal on Wednesday.

“We are not tired,” said Sidorov. “There are two great teams playing each other, so that is a good experience.”

The Blades did hit the ice on Wednesday without veteran defenceman John Babcock due to an undisclosed injury. Blades utility winger Tyler Parr returned to action after missing seven games due to an undisclosed injury.

Looking back at the first four games of the series so far, Sonne believes it has been a great one for the fans. Due to being in the series as a bench boss, Sonne said it has been challenging on his heart.

“I’m in the emotions,” said Sonne. “I’m in the room. I’m with the guys.

“I’m doing all the video, so just imagine me stepping out of that and I’m not the coach anymore. If I’m a fan, I’m really enjoying this. As a coach, I’m going to have to get an EKG (electrocardiogram) actually is what is going to have to happen.

The Blades head off the ice after their win on Wednesday.

“As a fan, I think this is entertainment to the max, and I think the province is probably enjoying this quite a bit.”

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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Which goalie will be “the guy” in Blades versus Warriors?

WHL’s Eastern Conference final opens on Friday

Evan Gardner covers up a puck in goal for the Blades.

How bad does each goalie want it?

It might be unfair to just look at the guys playing between the pipes when it comes to a hockey playoff series, but the reality is the netminders are the first players anyone checks out when a team wins or loses in the post-season. When it comes to the conference championship round in the WHL Playoffs, a goalie making one or two impossible saves usually makes the different in which team moves on and which club heads into the off-season thinking about what might have been.

This year’s WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series features two clubs in search of their first league title as the Saskatoon Blades take on the Moose Jaw Warriors. The best-of-seven series begins on Friday with Game 1 set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

This also marks the first time the Eastern Conference final will be an all-Saskatchewan battle since 1993. Back in 1993, the Swift Current Broncos swept away the Regina Pats and advanced to win the WHL title.

In the 2023-24 campaign, the Blades finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and are 8-1 advancing through the first two rounds of the post-season. Saskatoon was also rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Warriors placed fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark and are also 8-1 in advancing through the first two rounds of the post-season.

Saskatoon is in the Eastern Conference final for a second straight year. Moose Jaw is in the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2012.

Jackson Unger became the Warriors starting goalie this season.

Both teams are loaded at forward.

The Blades front end features captain Trevor Wong, who had 101 points in the regular season coming off 15 goals and 86 assists, star right-winger Egor Sidorov, who has 50 goals and 88 points in the regular season and star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, who had 42 goals and 80 points in the regular season.

Saskatoon’s other top players up front include star centre Fraser Minten, who is a big prospect of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Alexander Suzdalev, star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong, while Vaughn Watterodt, Lukas Hansen and Rowan Calvert provide great depth.

The Blades will be without Armstrong for the first two games of the Eastern Conference final as he finishes out a four-game suspension for receiving a charging major and a game misconduct in the Blades 2-1 overtime win over the Red Deer Rebels at home on April 14. 

Armstrong was given his infractions in Game 2 of the series with the Rebels after he bowled over Red Deer netminder Chase Wutzke.

The Warriors counter with 19-year-old star centre Jagger Firkus up front, who lead the WHL in regular season scoring with 126 points coming off 61 goals and 65 assists. Atley Calvert, who is a 20-year-old centre, had 47 goals and 95 points in the regular season for the Warriors, while centre Brayden Yager, who turned 19-years-old in January, had 35 goals and 95 points in the regular season.

Moose Jaw’s other top players up front include savvy veteran Matthew Savoie, Brayden Schuurman and Czech import Martin Rysavy, while Lynden Lakovic, Pavel McKenzie, Rilen Kovacevic and Ethan Semeniuk provide sound depth.

Trevor Wong posted 101 points in the regular season.

Both squads are sound on defence.

The Blades have no problem rolling out a group of seven on the back end in Tanner Molendyk, Charlie Wright, Ben Saunderson, John Babcock, Grayden Siepmann, Nicholas Andrusiak and Morgan Tastad. The Warriors counter with captain Denton Mateychuk, Kalem Parker, Lucas Brenton, Connor Schmidt and Czech product Vojtech Port.

In goal, the starters for both teams weren’t WHL starters a season ago. All eyes will be focusing to see how they handle the bright lights of the Eastern Conference final.

Evan Gardner had an outstanding breakout rookie campaign for the Blades. Gardner, who turned 18-years-old in January, appeared in 30 regular season games for the Blades posting a 21-5-2 record, a 1.91 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and four shutouts. The Fort St. John, B.C., product’s goals against average was the lowest in the WHL and his save percentage topped the circuit.

In the WHL Playoffs, Gardner has appeared in eight games for the Blades posting a 7-0 record, a 1.66 goals against average, a .928 save percentage and one shutout.

Unger is in his third season with the Warriors, and he has improved as he has carried the starter’s load in the 2023-24 campaign. In 54 appearances in the regular season, Unger, who turned 19-years-old in January, posted a 35-15-2 record, a 3.08 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and three shutouts. 

In nine appearances in the WHL Playoffs, Unger has posted an 8-1 record, a 3.29 goals against average, a .903 save percentage.

Jagger Firkus topped the WHL in regular season scoring.

If Gardner struggles, the Blades can turn to a star backup in Austin Elliott. Elliott, who is 19-years-old, was the Blades starter through the regular season and started the first game of the post-season dropping a 4-3 decision to the Prince Albert Raiders at the SaskTel Centre.

If Unger falters, the Warriors would have to turn to 17-year-old rookie Dimitri Fortin or have to dress 19-year-old veteran Evan May.

Going into Eastern Conference final, one would have to give the Blades the edge in net with Gardner’s performance this season and the fact the Blades can turn to Elliott if need be.

Still, the opportunity is there for the netminders on either side to create a reputation at the WHL level of being a championship level clutch puck stopper. Now we get to see who will be “the guy” in net and take their game to the next level.

Cougars, Winterhawks battle for Western Conference title

Zac Funk led the WHL with 67 goals in the regular season.

The heavyweight showdown that was expected at the start of the WHL Playoffs will take place in the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series.

The Prince George Cougars will face the Portland Winterhawks in a best-of-seven set to determine who advances to the WHL Championship Series. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the CN Centre in Prince George.

The Cougars finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 49-15-1-3 mark and have gone 8-1 in the post-season. Prince George topped the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Winterhawks finished third overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 mark and have won all eight of their outings in the post-season. Portland was rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Cougars are making their first appearance in the Western Conference final since 2007. The Cougars franchise has won one WHL title coming back in 1981, when the club was located in Victoria.

Since setting up shop in Portland on June 11, 1976, the Winterhawks have been one of the WHL’s most storied teams winning three league titles in 1982, 1998 and 2013. They also captured the Memorial Cup as CHL champions on two occasions in 1983 and 1998.

This will be Portland’s first appearance in the Western Conference final since 2015.

The Winterhawks were the original Edmonton Oil Kings franchise that existed in the Alberta capital from 1950 to 1976. During those years as the Oil Kings, the franchise claimed WHL titles in 1971 and 1972. The franchise won Memorial Cup titles in 1963 and 1966 before the WHL played its inaugural campaign in 1966-67.

Gabe Klassen had 106 points in the regular season.

Zac Funk, who is the Cougars 20-year-old star right-winger, topped the WHL regular season with 67 goals and finished second in scoring with 123 points. Forwards Riley Heidt, Terik Parascak and Ondrej Becher give the Cougars high end firepower up front.

Hudson Thornton, who is 20-years-old, topped the Cougars in defence scoring with 74 points coming off 18 goals and 56 assists.

Joshua Ravensbergen has had a breakout season as a 17-year-old rookie netminder for the Cougars. In 38 appearances in the regular season, Ravensberger posted a 26-4-2 record, a 2.46 goals against average, a .907 save percentage and six shutouts.

Star 20-year-old centre Gabe Klassen led the Winterhawks in regular season scoring with 106 points coming off 35 goals and 71 assists. James Stefan, Nate Danielson and Josh Davies give the Winterhawks explosive firepower up front.

Star 19-year-old defenceman Luca Cagnoni topped the WHL in defence scoring during the regular season with 90 points coming off 18 goals and 72 assists.

Jan Spunar, who is the Winterhawks star Czech import netminder, has had a stellar campaign. In 35 appearances in the regular season, he posted a 25-6-3 record, a 2.12 goals against average, a .913 save percentage and two shutouts.

Due to the distance between Prince George and Portland, the Western Conference Championship Series will be conducted in a two-three-two format. The Cougars host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7, while the Winterhawks host Games 3, 4 and 5.

Overall, this series has the potential to be an all-time classic.

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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