Blades winning streak falls due to hectic schedule

Saskatoon goes down gutty playing third game in 48 hours

Chase Wouters and the Blades were in tough on Sunday.

    The WHL schedule maker might have gained an assist in bringing the Saskatoon Blades winning streak to an end.

    On Sunday, the Blades played their third game inside of 48 hours over a three day span, when they traveled to Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings for a 4 p.m. engagement. Saskatoon had a seven game winning streak intact going into Brandon.

    After downing the Kootenay Ice 4-2 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon on Saturday night, the Blades stepped off the ice at around 9:20 p.m., and proceeded to eat, load up the bus and head out to Brandon. They arrived in Brandon at about 5 a.m. on Sunday and rested up as much as they could for a contest that was less than 11 hours away.

    The Wheat Kings came into the game having Saturday off after defeating the visiting Swift Current Broncos 3-2 in overtime on Friday night at Westman Place.

    Going into Brandon to win against the Wheat Kings is difficult at the best of times, but it is almost near impossible under the circumstances the Blades were facing.

    As has been the case all season, the Blades brought all that they could on that night, and the found themselves locked in a 3-3 tie after winger Chase Wouters scored his second of the night at the 11:32 mark of the third. All of a sudden, a Wheat Kings victory was by no means a given.

    Still, the expected Brandon victory in that scenario came to pass. Ty Lewis, who is Brandon’s 19-year-old star winger, scored his second goal of the night with 1:56 to play in the third to give the Wheat Kings a 4-3 lead. Centre Stelio Mattheos scored his 29^th goal of the season into an empty net 47 seconds later to seal a 5-3 victory for the host side before 3,051 spectators at Westman Place.

    The Wheat Kings improved to 27-12-0-1 with the win, while the Blades fell to 21-18-2-1 as their seven game winning streak came to an end. Both teams are currently holding playoff positions.

Ryan Kubic made 25 saves in goal for the Blades.

    Brandon took a 3-1 lead in the first period off of Lewis’s first goal of the contest and singles from the sticks of Connor Gutenberg and Tanner Kaspick. Star overage winger Braylon Shmyr had the lone reply for Saskatoon in the opening 20 minutes.

    While the Blades were down, they didn’t pack it in. Wouters scored his first of the night in the second period to cut the Wheat Kings lead to 3-2. Brandon only held an 18-15 edge in the shots on goal department over the first 40 minutes despite being more rested than Saskatoon.

    Fatigue finally caught up to the Blades in the third period. Wouters managed to tie the contest in the third, but the Wheat Kings carried play in the frame holding a 12-3 edge in shots on goal.

    The Blades needed one more positive bounce somewhere to escape with victory, but it never came. Ryan Kubic turned away 25-of-29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Logan Thompson stopped 15 shots to pick up the win in the Wheat Kings net.

    Defensive defenceman Jackson Caller had assists on all three Saskatoon goals.

    All WHL teams face hectic parts in their schedules, but hopefully situations like the Blades faced this past weekend become less of a norm next season, when the regular season schedule shrinks from 72 games to 68 contests for each club.

    While four fewer games might not seem like a big decrease, it will create more situations were teams play on a Saturday night and get to be off until Wednesday. Playing three games in less than 48 hours increases the chances a player could be injured in the third game just due to fatigue. If you can lessen the chances of doing that, it is always a good thing.

Jackson Caller had three assists for the Blades on Sunday.

    In the current day of the WHL, players seem to be more connected with their families thanks to social media. When teams play on Saturday and proceed to be off until Wednesday, a large number of teams make Saturday a non-curfew night. Players in the current day often spend those nights going out for dinner at a nice restaurant with their families and having a quality visit.

    When the 68-game regular season schedule comes into effect, it should provide a few more chances to play on Saturday and be off until Wednesday.

    You won’t be able to loosen up all the hectic parts of the WHL schedule, but the 68 game regular season schedule should ensure there are less moments where teams play three times in less than 48 hours. That small move should do wonders for competitive balance.
    The Blades return to action on Wednesday, when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    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 put Thunderbirds on ropes

Seattle’s mental toughness faces huge test in WHL finals

The Wheat Kings mob Jayce Hawryluk (#8) after his OT winner.

    BRANDON, Man. – Jayce Hawryluk potted one of those ugly overtime winners that drove a dagger through the hearts of the Seattle Thunderbirds.

    With the host Brandon Wheat Kings locked in a 2-2 tie in overtime with the Thunderbirds in Game 2 of the WHL championship series on Saturday night, Hawryluk had the puck in the right corner of the Seattle zone. The Roblin, Man., product tried to hit linemate Nolan Patrick with a backdoor pass for a scoring chance. 

    Hawryluk’s pass banked off the inside of one of the pads of Thunderbirds goaltender Landon Bow and bounced into the Seattle goal 6:56 into extra time. The marker gave the Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory before 5,621 delirious onlookers at Westman Place, which seats 5,102.

Ethan Bear gave Seattle a short-lived lead.

    Brandon takes a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which moves to Seattle for Game 3 on Tuesday. The Thunderbirds aren’t dead as they also host Game 4 on Wednesday and a potential Game 5 on Friday, but they are on the ropes. Saturday’s loss has to be a tough pill to swallow, as even the winning goal scorer himself admitted he wasn’t trying to put the puck in the net with his pass attempt.

    “I was trying to hit Patrick backdoor,” said Hawryluk. “I saw him going in. It caught a fortunate bounce.”

    That positive bounce marked the second straight overtime victory for the Wheat Kings, who took Game 1 a night earlier by a similar 3-2 outcome. Brandon centre Tanner Kaspick netted the winner in the series opener, when he showed great hand-eye coordination in knocking a puck out of the air into the Seattle net.

    Seattle’s mental psyche is being tested like it never has before in the 2016 post-season. Over the first three rounds of the WHL playoffs, the Thunderbirds won 12 out of 13 games. Now, they have lost two straight overtime games in a battle for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, and they drop two contests they could have won, if they had just a couple of breaks go their way.

Jayce Hawryluk finds a way to come through for Brandon.

    On Saturday, the Thunderbirds never trailed until Hawryluk’s winner went in. Seattle led 1-0 and went up 2-1, when a point shot from defenceman Ethan Bear found the back of the Brandon goal. Donovan Neuls scored Seattle’s first marker just a minute into the second period.

    The Wheat Kings, who were swept out of last year’s WHL title series by the Kelowna Rockets, found a way to get it done, and that has ultimately made the difference so far in this year’s league title series.

    Just 81 seconds after Neuls’s goal, Patrick wired home his 12^th of the post-season on a two-on-one break to tie things up at 1-1. Patrick’s goal came when the Thunderbirds were on the power play.

    After Seattle went up 2-1, Wheat Kings left-winger Tyler Coulter netted the equalizer with 5:20 to play in the third to force a 2-2 score.

    Wheat Kings goaltender Jordan Papirny proved to be a Thunderbirds nemesis making 37 stops to earn the win in goal for Brandon. Bow, who had a stellar night outside of Hawryluk’s winner, turned away 36 shots to take the loss in goal for Seattle.

The Thunderbirds couldn't crash in a potential winner late in the third.

    Right now, the Wheat Kings, who have won 14 of their 18 post-season games, have to be feeling they can overcome every obstacle that comes their way. Some doubt has to be creeping in the minds of the Thunderbirds, who don’t have a whole lot of history of recent long playoff runs.

    Game 3 is a must win for the Thunderbirds. If the Thunderbirds fall, a sweep will likely be in the cards for the Wheat Kings.

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

The magic of "right now" revisited in Brandon

Wheat Kings gave home faithful a night to remember

The Wheat Kings celebrate a goal from Nolan Patrick.

    If you were inside Westman Place in Brandon on Friday night, you couldn’t help but be swept up in “the now.”

    In an age where one is bombarded with social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it seems like people forget to interact with or even enjoy the actual real world around them. It feels like people keep seeking instant gratification of getting a tidbit of information in 140 characters or getting a post out there about something they have on their mind.

    For those that saw the Brandon Wheat King play at Westman Place on Friday night, you were reminded that the real world can still be a cool place to be.

    A total of 5,605 spectators packed into the Wheaties home rink that seats 5,102, and they had to admit they saw something special when the home side claimed the WHL Eastern Conference title with a 5-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. A couple of days later, you get a better appreciation for how cool it was to be focused on the current moment over a period of three hours.

    The Wheat Kings entered Game 5 leading the best-of-seven series 3-1. There was an excitement in the air throughout Brandon and the atmosphere in Westman Place moments before game time was giddy. People decked out in Brandon jerseys and #Goldrush T-shirts were anticipating the Wheat Kings would win the conference title that night and advance to the WHL championship series for a second straight year.

The "Gold Men" celebrate the Wheat Kings conference title win.

    During the singing of O Canada, the crowd gave an emphatic yell of the words “true north” and from that moment on you could feel the passion of the Manitoba-based hockey fan.

    The Wheat Kings fed off the energy of the home crowd, and for the first seven minutes of the game, the Rebels rarely got out of their own zone.

    The visitors were able to withstand that opening surge scoring the first goal of the contest and exiting the first period with a 2-1 edge. The Rebels were only delaying the inevitable.

    Just 86 seconds into the second period, Wheat Kings star centre Nolan Patrick drove hard to the net and converted a nice setup pass from linemate Jayce Hawryluk to tie things up at 2-2. The tally was Patrick’s second of the contest.

    He potted his hat trick goal with 3:41 to play in the second to put the hosts up 3-2. As hats rained down to the ice, it hit you that the 17-year-old Winnipeg product was indeed having one of those spectacular individual performances in a big playoff game that you would always remember. It would be the item that led almost all the media reports about that night’s game.

The Rebels could not stop Nolan Patrick (#19) of the Wheat Kings.

    Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 195 pounds, Patrick has the physical dimensions for a forward that are an NHL scouts dream to go along with his exceptional skill.

    Due to his late in the year birthday, Patrick isn’t draft eligible until next year, which made his performance on Friday night look that much more amazing. Patrick’s big night also came from playing inside of Brandon’s system, and his stellar chemistry with his linemates produced the offensive outburst.

    With 47.2 seconds to play in the second, Patrick became the setup man. He assisted on John Quenneville’s short-handed goal to put the Wheat Kings up 4-2.

    Brandon’s momentum continued in the third when netminder Jordan Papirny stoned Rebels captain Luke Philp on a breakaway. The Wheat Kings proceeded to go up 5-2 with 7:52 to play, when Patrick hit pinching defenceman Kale Clague with a beautiful back door feed, and Clague roofed home a goal during a period of four-on-four play.

Part of the 5,605 at Westman Place begin to celebrate the Wheat Kings win.

    The celebration started. With 5:30 to play in the third, the fans pulled a classic and started singing the “Goodbye” song to the Rebels. If anyone in the rink was dealing with worries regarding work or their home life, those worries were far from their minds at that moment.

    The party hit a fever pitch when the final seconds expired and the Wheat Kings poured off their bench to mob Papirny.

    Some laughs ensued during the presentation of the WHL Eastern Conference championship trophy. To superstitiously avoid bad luck, Wheat Kings captain Macoy Erkamps ensured he didn’t touch the trophy and snuck his hand underneath it to shake the hand of WHL vice-president of hockey Richard Doerksen.

    Big cheers erupted a couple of times, when the Wheat Kings players raised their sticks to salute the fans.

    The people in Westman Place that night were enjoying a big community moment they would always remember. All that mattered was right now, and it was a pretty good place to be.

Random observations – Valkyries get youth infusion

Valkyries newcomer Emmarae Dale takes down a Storm ballcarrier.

    There are a lot of new young faces among the Saskatoon Valkyries women’s football team this season.

    The Valkyries have 27 new players on their roster this season. A large number of the newcomers appear to be coming from the girls’ flag football league that exists in the Bridge City.

    With the newcomers on the field, the Valkyries opened their 2016 campaign on Saturday downing the Edmonton Storm 30-17 in an exhibition tilt. Like a lot of early season football, the Valkyries had their moments when they looked good and other moments when you could tell some improvement was needed.

    Under head coach Jeff Yausie and his staff, the Valkyries always improve a huge amount as the season goes along, and you can expect this campaign will be no different.

    The Valkyries open their Western Women's Canadian Football League regular season this coming Sunday on road in Winnipeg against the Wolfpack, and their regular season home opener is set for May 15 at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field against the Manitoba Fearless.

• I wonder how many people are anxious to get their next Saskatchewan Rush hit. The local National Lacrosse League team won’t play again at the SaskTel Centre until May 21^st at 7:30 p.m., when they host Game 2 of the Western Final. The Rush topped the Western Division standings with a 13-5 record. They have played in front of crowds of over 10,000 in each of their last six home games, which included drawing 15,027 to their final regular season home game on April 16, when they downed the Colorado Mammoth 11-8. I suspect a few people will avoid a lake trip during the May 21^st weekend.
• I have a feeling that the magical 2015 Major League Baseball season for the Toronto Blue Jays will be a one off. The 2015 campaign came out of nowhere, and it was the Jays first post-season appearance since they won their last World Series in 1993. From 1985 to 1993, the Jays made the playoffs on a frequent basis. They currently don’t have that type of history and it might be showing in their 12-14 start. Expect them to miss the playoffs entirely this year.
• Expect the best-of-seven WHL championship series between the Wheat Kings and Seattle Thunderbirds to be must watch TV. Both clubs have exciting and talented rosters. Game 1 from Brandon is set for Friday at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Sportsnet. Shaw takes over the rest of the way starting with Game 2 on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
• It would be sweet of the Saskatoon Blades are successful in getting an inner city outdoor rink built in Saskatoon. One of those classic Canadian experiences is playing shinny on an outdoor rink during winter. I believe that type of facility would be well used. If you build it, the people will come.

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

Patrick seals Eastern Conference title deal for Wheat Kings

Nolan Patrick (#19) had five-points on Friday for the Wheat Kings.

    BRANDON, Man. - Nolan Patrick might have cemented his status as a playoff hero for the Brandon Wheat Kings.

    The 17-year-old centre from Winnipeg had a dream game on Friday night. The sophomore posted a hat trick and a pair of assists to power the Wheat Kings to a 5-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels before 5,605 spectators at Westman Place. The win allowed Brandon to win the WHL Eastern Conference championship for a second straight year as they eliminated the Rebels in the best-of-seven set 4-1.

    “It is obviously nice to get those numbers, but my linemates were unbelievable,” said Patrick, who isn’t NHL Entry Draft eligible until 2017 due to a late birthday. “Jayce (Hawryluk) made a great play on my second goal there.

    “John (Quenneville) made a great pass on my third goal there, so I had to pretty much put it into an empty net. They were unbelievable all night, and I think everyone contributed tonight.”

    Patrick came through at timely points in the contest. After Rebels right-winger Jake DeBrusk gave the visitors a 1-0 edge with a tipped in goal at the 7:16 mark of the first, Patrick wired home a wrist shot to tie things up at 1-1 just past the midway point of the opening frame.

    The Rebels, who will host the Memorial Cup championship tournament in May, managed to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission off a gritty goal from left-winger Evan Polei. That tally created another opportunity for Patrick to make an impact.

Nolan Patrick celebrates his hat trick goal with his teammates.

    Just 86 seconds into the second period, he drove hard to the Red Deer goal and converted a nice set-up feed from Hawryluk to tie things up at 2-2. With 3:41 to play in the second, Patrick potted the game winner after receiving a beauty pass from Quenneville across the face of the Red Deer net.

    With 47.2 seconds to play in the second and Red Deer on the power play, Patrick proceeded to set up Quenneville for his 13^th tally of the post-season to give Brandon a 4-2 edge.

    In the third, Patrick helped account for the final dagger slipping a beautiful back-door feed to pinching defenceman Kale Clague, who roofed home a marker that put the Wheat Kings up 5-2. The final Brandon goal came during a stretch of four-versus-four play due to offsetting penalties.

    “He (Patrick) was special tonight,” said Wheat Kings head coach, general manager and owner Kelly McCrimmon. “He was really good.

    “I’m not so sure the nicest play of the night might have been the assist on the fifth goal. It was a great play by Kale Clague to read it. It was a great play by Nolan (Patrick) to get it to him.

    “The goals were really timely. We were down after one, so we needed to get that first one. I thought (Jayce) Hawryluk made a really good play to Nolan (Patrick) on the tieing goal there.”

Jayce Hawryluk (#8)  helped Nolan Patrick have a big night.

    Patrick has a bit of family pedigree that could help foreshadow hockey success. His father, Stephen, was a star right-winger for the Wheat Kings from 1978 to 1981, which included helping Brandon capture a WHL championship in 1979. Stephen played 250 regular season games in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques in the early to just past the middle part of the 1980s.

    Nolan’s uncle, James Patrick, had a lengthy NHL career that spanned 1,280 games from 1984 to 2004 patrolling the blue-line for the Rangers, Hartford Whalers, Calgary Flames and Sabres.

    During the 2015-16 campaign, Nolan Patrick, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 195 pounds, had a break out year in Brandon appearing in all 72 of the Wheat Kings regular season games collecting 41 goals and 61 assists.

    Quenneville was pumped to see Patrick take his game up to another level on Friday.

    “It was incredible,” said Quenneville. “There is no secret of what kind of player he is.

    “He took the game over all by himself, and he was the man. Having a guy like that step up for you is what you need at playoff time and what a job he did tonight.”

    It wasn’t just Patrick’s play that allowed Brandon to advance to the WHL’s championship series. With the Wheat Kings holding on to a 4-2 edge early in the third, 19-year-old veteran goalie Jordan Papirny stoned Rebels captain Luke Philp on a breakaway to prevent the visitors from gaining any traction.

Goalie Jordan Papirny had a key third period save for the Wheat Kings.

    Papirny made 24 stops on Friday to allow Brandon to capture the WHL Eastern Conference title. Rylan Toth turned away 26 shots to take the loss in the Red Deer net. The Rebels are off until May 20, when they open up the Memorial Cup tournament with a clash against the club that wins the Ontario Hockey League title.

    The Wheat Kings, who are in search of their first WHL title since 1996, battled the Seattle Thunderbirds in a best-of-seven league title series. The Thunderbirds, who last appeared in the WHL final back in 1997, swept away the defending WHL champion Kelowna Rockets to take the Western Conference title.

    Game 1 of the WHL championship series is set for this coming Friday at 8 p.m. Brandon time.

Patrick believes the Wheat Kings are most battled tested after beating the Rebels this year than after downing the Calgary Hitmen in last year’s Eastern Conference championship series in five games.

The Wheat Kings salute the fans at Westman Place.

    “I think this series was a lot better test than it was last year,” said Patrick. “I know this series was the same 4-1 as last year, but I think the games were a lot tighter this year.

    “That was a better team to play before the finals. They were a great test for us, and hopefully, we can keep carrying this on to the finals.

    “We have a lot of guys that know what it takes to win, and a lot of positive voices in the room who can help us in tight games. We have positive guys to get us through these games.”

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