U Sports hockey a hidden gem in Canada’s sports scene

The U of S Huskies and Mount Royal University Cougars battle it out.

The Rodney Dangerfield leagues in hockey are those that exist in U Sports.

While it might not totally be accurate to say the men’s and women’s hockey leagues that make up U Sports get no respect, they don’t get the overall love they likely deserve. The coaching in U Sports hockey is as good as you will find anywhere in the sport, and the athletes train at an elite level, are highly skilled and some of the best you will find in the 18 to 26 age group.

It can be argued that the hockey played in U Sports might be the best hockey you will find played at the amateur level in Canada.

On the men’s side the bulk of the rosters for most teams are made up of former players from one of the three major junior leagues that play under the CHL umbrella in the OHL, QMJHL and WHL. Often, those players join their U Sports teams as 21-year-olds and are mature players.

A lot of the top scorers from the CHL don’t automatically move on to the professional level. They will often go the university route to obtain a degree in order to pursue a fallback career before trying to pursue a professional hockey playing career.

In the WHL, players get a year of tuition, compulsory fees and textbooks paid for at a post-secondary institution for every season they spend on that major junior circuit. Players who don’t get drafted by an NHL team or sign with an NHL club as a free agent often decide to go the post-secondary route.

Joelle Fiala in action for the Thunderbirds.

The level of play in U Sports is really high due to the experience of the players. New players find out everyone knows systems play really well, and when you start a rush up ice, everyone is where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to be.

In the major junior ranks, there is constant learning going on with that aspect of the game.

The thing you won’t find in the U Sports ranks that you will in the major junior ranks are players who are first round NHL Entry Draft selections, or players that will become first round NHL Entry Draft selections. On other words, you won’t find Regina Pats phenom centre Connor Bedard or Moose Jaw Warriors star centre Brayden Yager on a U Sports roster.

You will find former CHL stars and standouts on U Sports rosters like WHL alums Riley Sawchuk, Riley Stotts, Jakin Smallwood, Matt Fonteyne, Connor Hobbs, Jared Dmytriw and Carl Tetachuk.

On the women’s side, the bulk of the rosters are made up of the top players that graduate from Canada’s female under-18 AAA ranks right out of high school. Unlike the men’s side, there is no major junior level in Canada for women’s hockey.

The women’s U Sports ranks are missing who would be the equivalent of the first round NHL Entry Draft selections in the female game. Those players usually flock to the NCAA Division I ranks in the United States.

You won’t see Saskatoon products Sophie Shirley or Emily Clark in the U Sports ranks. Shirley is playing through her final season with the University of Wisconsin Badgers having been part of two NCAA championship winning teams in 2019 and 2021.

Jared Dmytriw in action for the Huskies.

Clark also played her university level career with the Badgers and was a member of the NCAA championship team during her final campaign in 2018-19. Clark is best known as a veteran with Canada’s Senior National Women’s team being a part of gold medal winners at worlds in 2021 and 2022 and the Winter Olympics in 2022.

With that noted, players have come back from the NCAA Division I ranks to play in the U Sports women’s ranks. High scoring forward Amy Potomak decided she didn’t want to finish up her university eligibility with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

 The Aldergrove, B.C., product chose to be closer to home and is finishing her final campaign of college eligibility with the Trinity Western University Spartans in Langley, B.C.

Joelle Fiala, who is a forward that plays a gritty and high scoring game, played her first two seasons with the Robert Morris University Colonials. 

After Robert Morris University elected to suspend both its men’s and women’s hockey programs in May of 2021, Fiala, who is from Clavet, Sask., elected to return to Canada and play for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the U Sports ranks.

Many stars and standouts from Canada’s female under-18 AAA ranks remained in Canada and flourished in the U Sports ranks like Tatum Amy, Madison Willan, Hannah Koroll, Abby Soyko and Camryn Drever.

Men’s and women’s U Sports teams will play some of the best hockey seen in Canada often before very little fanfare. Among the 18 teams that make up the Canada West Conference in men’s and women’s play, only five squads averaged more than 300 spectators per game for the 2022-23 regular season that just wrapped up.

Camryn Drever in action for the Huskies.

Those teams include the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, the University of Alberta Golden Bears, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the University of Calgary Dinos on the men’s side along with the U of S Huskies Women’s Team.

The Huskies Men’s Team had the top attendance in Canada West averaging 1,290 spectators per game.

With playoffs set to begin this coming weekend, chances are those attendances should have a little bit of an increase.

With all that noted, those that haven’t seen a U Sports men’s or women’s hockey game are missing out. Those that have made those contests have gotten to witness something special on a nightly basis.

Towriss gets Kinsmen Sportsman of the Year nod, other notes

Brian Towriss keeps piling up accolades.

The accolades are still coming for Brian Towriss.

Back on February 3, the retired University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team head coach was officially recognized as the Kinsmen Sportsman of the Year for 2021. He was one of three Sportsmen of the Year who were honoured at the 61^st annual Saskatoon Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner that was held at TCU Place.

The dinner was held for the first time since February of 2020 after being cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

Towriss, who was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017, guided the Huskies as head coach from 1984 to 2016. During that time, Towriss posted a 167-96-1 regular season record and a 29-22 post-season record for a 196-118-1 combined slate.

He guided the Huskies to 11 Canada West Conference titles and three Vanier Cup titles as U Sports champions coming in 1990, 1996 and 1998.

Towriss played defensive tackle for the Huskies from 1974 to 1977. He was an assistant coach with the Huskies from 1980 to 1983 before becoming the team’s head coach.

Dave Moore was named the Sportsman of the Year for 2020 for his lifetime work as a softball umpire and a curling volunteer. Derek Bloski took the honours as the Sportsman of the Year for 2022 for his lifetime work as a hockey official and coach and softball coach.

The U of S Huskies Football Team was named the Kinsmen Team of the Year for 2022. The Huskies topped the Canada West Conference regular season standings with a 7-1 mark, won the Canada West title for a second straight year and advanced to the Vanier Cup for a second straight year.

The Huskies fell in the 2022 Vanier Cup 30-24 to the University Laval Rouge et Or at Western Alumni Stadium in London, Ont. In the 2021 Vanier Cup played at Stade Telus – Universite Laval in Quebec City, Quebec, the Huskies dropped a 27-21 decision to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs.

Emily Clark, who is a veteran forward with Canada’s Senior National Women’s Hockey Team, was named the Kinsmen Athlete of the Year for 2022. In 2022, Clark helped Canada win gold at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, in February.

An Emily Clark hockey card.

At the women’s worlds hosted in late August and early September in 2022 in Herning and Frederikshavn, Denmark, Clark helped Canada win gold at that tourney for a second straight year. This past January, Clark was named Sask Sport’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2022.

Also at the Kinsmen dinner, the Kinsmen Lloyd Saunders Athletic Scholarship Awards were given to soccer player Sophie Lavallee and football player Dawson Lennea.

The $2,000 scholarship is designated to further the recipient’s education at the post-secondary level. Outstanding high school athletic involvement, community involvement and community service are some of the key selection criteria.

Lavallee graduated from Holy Cross High School in June of 2022. In her Grade 12 year at Holy Cross, she was captain of the Crusaders senior girls’ soccer team and led them to city and provincial championships in an undefeated season. Lavallee is attending MacEwan University studying arts and science and is a member of the Griffiths Women’s Soccer Team.

Lennea graduated from Bishop James Mahoney High School in June of 2022. Besides playing football, Lennea also took part in hockey, curling, cross country running, track and field, gold and badminton. He was a member of the Saints Football Team at Bishop James Mahoney.

After his high school graduation, Lennea is continuing his education at the U of S studying in arts and science and is a member of the Huskies Football Team.

The annual Saskatoon Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner brought in a trio of Toronto Blue Jays players as special guests in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alek Manoah and Jordan Romano. Beside the MLB players, Sportsnet broadcaster Jamie Campbell was brought in as a special guest as well.

Other special guests included Saskatchewan born and raised pitchers Andrew Albers and Dustin Molleken, who both pitched in the MLB, along with Brayden Lenius and Derrick Moncrief, who play with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

• On Monday, the WHL announced that former Brandon Wheat Kings head coach, general manager, governor and owner Kelly McCrimmon was named the recipient of the WHL Governors Award. McCrimmon joined the Wheat Kings as an assistant general manager in 1988-89. He became a part owner of the team in 1992-93 and the team’s sole owner in 2000-01. He sold the team following the 2019-20 campaign. McCrimmon is currently the general manager of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
• Lukas Dragicevic has turned into the player to watch for the WHL’s Tri-City Americans. The 17-year-old defenceman leads the Americans in scoring with 59 points coming off 13 goals and 46 assists to go with a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department. Dragicevic, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 181 pounds, sits second in scoring among WHL defencemen. The Richmond, B.C., product is rated 12^th among North American Skaters in the NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings.
• On February 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happening blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on baseball player and Saskatoon product Nolan Machibroda signing with the MLB’s Minnesota Twins. That piece can be found by clicking right here. I also created a photo roundup that mainly highlighted the busy activity happening at the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval and the Indoor Training Centre. That piece 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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Raiders bash Broncos 4-1

P.A. won’t be a pushover down stretch of WHL campaign

The Raiders celebrate a second period goal by Niall Crocker (#20).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – If you are going to play the Prince Albert Raiders during the home stretch of the WHL campaign, you better be prepared to battle.

The young reloading Raiders might be sitting 11^th among the 12 teams in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and nine points out of a playoff spot, but they aren’t going to mail any games in. On Saturday night, the Raiders hosted the Swift Current Broncos at the Art Hauser Centre, and the Broncos entered the regular season clash holding a playoff spot.

By night’s end, the Broncos dropped to 24-22-1-2 and fell out of a playoff spot sliding to ninth in the Eastern Conference. They sit one point behind the Medicine Hat Tigers (22-22-7-1) with three games in hand. Prince Albert has one game in hand on Medicine Hat.

Keaton Sorensen (#20) had a goal and two assists for the Raiders.

In Saturday’s clash with the Broncos, the Raiders overcame a bit of a sluggish start in the first period giving up the game’s first goal before going on to cruise to a 4-1 victory to the delight of the 2,343 spectators in attendance at the team’s storied home rink. The host side improved to 20-28-3 with the win.

Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt said it is in forefront of his team’s mind that they have to come out, battle and give an honest effort every night.

“You never want to be (an easy out),” said Truitt, whose team fell 4-0 to the Broncos in Swift Current one night earlier. “We said that right from the get go that we want our players to be excited and dedicated and to learn the right way.

Niall Crocker had a goal and an assist for the Raiders.

“Those guys have learned the right way, and no matter who we play, we want to make sure that we are playing to the best of our capabilities. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. If you don’t put that effort in, you’re not going to give yourself the chance.

“Our guys are doing a good job. This is very eerie feeling from last year, when we were nine or 10 points out of the playoffs with about this many games left and we got in on the last day. There is no quit in there, and that is what we want to strive for.”

The Broncos opened the scored just 34 seconds into the first period. After the Raiders coughed the puck up in their own zone, Broncos 19-year-old Caleb Wyrostok wired home his 16^th of the season to give the visitors a one-goal edge.

Caleb Wyrostok had the Broncos lone goal on Saturday.

Just past the midway point of the first, the Raiders evened the score a 1-1, when 17-year-old left-winger Harrison Lodewyk banged home a gritty goal during a net scramble.

With 1:51 remaining in the first, Raiders centre Hayden Pakkala was given a boarding major and a game misconduct for a hit he threw on Broncos 20-year-old defenceman Sam McGinley. The infraction will trigger an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension for Pakkala. McGinley was able to stay in the game.

Prince Albert’s penalty kill on the five-minute power play for Swift Current was stellar, and the Broncos had all sorts of trouble setting up for any quality shots.

Ryder Ritchie had a goal and an assist for the Raiders on Saturday.

A short time after killing off the major infraction, the Raiders went ahead at the 4:04 of the second on a beauty goal by standout 16-year-old rookie right-winger Ryder Ritchie. Ritchie was sprung seemingly on a breakaway into the Swift Current zone, but was caught up by a pursuing Broncos defender.

The Calgary, Alta., product toe dragged the puck around the Broncos defender, drove in on the Swift Current net and snapped home his 14^th tally of the campaign to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead.

Just over four minutes later the Raiders extended their advantage to 3-1 scoring on the power play. Raiders overage centre Keaton Sorensen had the puck behind the Swift Current net and fed a pass on to the tape of the stick of linemate Niall Crocker, who was positioned in front of the goal. Crocker quickly fired home the puck to give the hosts their two-goal edge.

Max Hildebrand stopped 33 shots in goal for the Raiders.

“Obviously, we weren’t happy about last night,” said Crocker. “We went into Swift Current, and I think they beat us in all areas.

“We were obviously frustrated with that. It was a great response game from us. Everyone was working today and blocking shots and getting pucks out.

“It was just a great performance there.”

At that point, the Raiders were carrying the momentum, and rookie 17-year-old defenceman Justice Christensen nailed Broncos star centre Mathew Ward with big open ice hit, when Ward had entered the Prince Albert zone in a rush.

With 56.2 seconds remaining in the third, Sorensen fired home his team leading 18^th goal of the season from the front of the Swift Current net to ultimately round out the 4-1 final. Right-winger Gabe Ludwig slid a smart pass from the left corner of the Swift Current to Sorensen in front of the net to allow the overager to give the host side a three-goal lead.

Evan Herman, right, fires a shot on goal for the Raiders.

Sorensen finished the night posting one goal, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

Crocker said the Raiders are gaining confidence as a group, and he believes his club has improved a tonne overall as the season has gone on.

“It has been awesome seeing the development,” said Crocker, who had an assist to go with his goal. “Guys like (Justice) Christensen today just throwing the body everywhere.

“You can’t really get around that guy. Marty (Grady Martin) is making smart plays everywhere and (Seth) Tansem. All our young guys are stepping up, and it is definitely huge for us.”

Gabe Ludwig had an assist for the Raiders on Saturday.

The Broncos tried to mount a push back in the third holding a 12-6 edge in shots on goal for the frame, but they weren’t able to cut in the Raiders lead.

Max Hildebrand had a stellar night stopping 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Reid Dyck turned away 17 shots to take the setback in net for the Broncos.

Ritchie had an assist to go along with his goal.

Hildebrand said his team takes pride in not being an easy out.

“We love the way we play,” said Hildebrand. “We love this rink, and our fans, they juice us up every night.

“That is our style of play. We’re gritty and we like to battle. That is all it is.”

The Raiders huddle around their bench during a timeout.

The Broncos get back it on Tuesday when they travel to Brandon to take on the 21-22-7 Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Raiders return to action on Friday when they host Connor Bedard and the 25-22-2-1 Regina Pats (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Truitt said it has been great seeing the improvement in his young team, and he wants his squad to keep improving as the WHL campaign hits its stretch run.

“As a coach, that is what you want to see,” said Truitt. “You want to see guys develop and get better.

The Raiders celebrate their win on Saturday.

“You talk about Aiden Oiring, you talk about Ryder Ritchie, you talk about Seth Tansem and it goes on and on to (Grady) Martin and (Cole) Peardon. Those guys have really come along, and that is a real testament to those guys. They’ve come into a new league or a new team, and they have to learn our way and they have.

“They have embraced it. They’re finding success that way, so it is great to see.”

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

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Raiders make B.C. trip most memorable part of 2022-23 so far

Landon Kosior in action for the Raiders on December 27, 2022.

It would be understandable if the Prince Albert Raiders and their fans got a little greedy thinking the team could have won all the games on their B.C. Division road trip.

Still, the Raiders posted a 3-2 record on a trip that saw them play those five games over eight days with extensive travel through the mountains. For the reloading Raiders youthful roster, it was a big accomplishment to post a 3-2 mark.

It also isn’t a stretch to say that the Raiders played well enough they could have won every contest on that trip. The Raiders won the first three games of the swing against the Prince George Cougars, Victoria Royals and Vancouver Giants outscoring those foes 14-5. The Prince Albert side dropped the last two games falling 6-4 to the Memorial Cup hosting Blazers in Kamloops on Friday and a 4-0 decision to the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday.

In the loss to the Blazers, the Raiders held a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes and were up 4-3 at one point in the second period. The Blazers scored late in the second and netted the only two goals in the third to pull out the win.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click the link right here.

Blades blank Oil Kings 4-0 for third straight win

Saskatoon heads into B.C. road trip on high note

The Blades celebrate a goal from Egor Sidorov (#19).

The Saskatoon Blades did what they were expected to do before heading on their road trip through B.C.

On Tuesday night playing before 2,767 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades blanked the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings 4-0 in a WHL regular season clash. The victory allowed the Blades to extend their winning streak to three games thanks to winning every outing on a three-game home stand. They improved to 33-12-3-1 to sit third in the Eastern Conference and fifth in the WHL’s overall standings.

After downing the WHL leading Winnipeg Ice 3-2 on Saturday and dumping the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-2 on Sunday in the first two contests of the home stand, the Blades faced a mental test taking on the Oil Kings who sit last in the entire WHL. The Oil Kings went all in last season to win the WHL championship, but the cost was that they entered a huge rebuilding season in the current campaign.

Conner Roulette (#34) breaks into the offensive zone for the Blades.

With the loss to the Blades, the Oil Kings fell to 8-38-3 after finishing second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings last season with a 50-14-3-1 mark.

The players on the Saskatoon side could have gotten caught in a trap of looking past their foes on Tuesday. Instead, the Blades methodically posted a sound win that saw them outshoot the Oil Kings 44-21. Saskatoon won all four regular season meetings with Edmonton in the current campaign by a combined score of 19-2.

In Tuesday’s encounter, the Blades broke through on the scoreboard at the 6:41 mark of the opening frame. 

Brandon Lisowsky scored the Blades first goal on Tuesday.

While working the puck in the Edmonton zone, Blades captain and offensive-defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere had the puck to the left of the Oil Kings net and fed a pass across the face of the goal to Blades star winger Brandon Lisowsky at the doorstep of the right side of the net.

Lisowsky tapped the puck home for his 27^th goal of the season to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

With 2:10 remaining in the opening frame, Blades right-winger Vaughn Watterodt took a double minor for high sticking. The infraction will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension. Edmonton wasn’t able to score on the four minutes of power-play time.

Lukas Hansen scored the Blades second goal on Tuesday.

Just a short time after the kill, Blades 17-year-old centre Lukas Hansen drove home his eighth tally of the season on a midrange shot from the front of the Edmonton goal to give the hosts a 2-0 at the 3:29 mark of the second. Blades star left-winger Conner Roulette picked up his first of two assists on the night off Hansen’s goal. Roulette had missed the Blades four previous games with an upper body injury.

Roulette played a big part in helping the Blades extended their advantage to 3-0 with 1:51 remaining in the second. Breaking into the Edmonton zone on a two-on-one break, Roulette burst down the left wing with the puck, fed a pass across the front of Oil Kings goal to star import right-winger Egor Sidorov, who buried his 30^th marker of the season.

Egor Sidorov scored his 30th goal of the season on Tuesday.

With his goal, Sidorov now has points in his last seven consecutive games recording five goals and three assists over that stretch.

Blades 19-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright rounded out the game’s scoring netting his fourth marker of the season driving home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle with 6:38 remaining in the third. Wright converted a nice little setup pass from rookie left-winger Smyth Rebman, who turned 17-years-old on January 6.

Wright has two goals and five assists in his last seven games.

Ethan Chadwick stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. The shutout was the second of the season for the Saskatoon product, and both Chadwick’s shutouts have come against the Oil Kings.

Ethan Chadwick made 21 saves to earn the shutout win.

Kolby Hay, who is one of Edmonton’s few holdovers from last season, turned away 40 shots to take the setback in goal for the Oil Kings.

Hay and the Oil Kings will try to move on in short order returning to action on Wednesday when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the 32-16-0-3 Warriors (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

The Blades now embark on a five game road trip through the B.C. Division. The trip begins Friday when the Blades travel to Kamloops to take on the Memorial Cup hosting Blazers (7 p.m. local time, Sandman Centre). The Blazers top the B.C. Division with a 31-10-4-2 record and are rated ninth in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings.

Smyth Rebman had an assist for the Blades on Tuesday.

Saskatoon’s next home game is in 17 days. At that time, the Blades will take on their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday, February 24 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Going into the B.C. road trip, the Blades got more good news on the injury front to go along with Roulette’s return on Tuesday. Rookie 18-year-old netminder Austin Elliott dressed as the Blades backup goalie after missing two games with a lower body injury.

The Blades injury list consists of centres Jayden Wiens and Josh Pillar due to lower body injuries and right-wingers Tyler Parr and Justin Lies due to upper body injuries. Blades 17-year-old sophomore left-winger Mikhail Volotovskii was added to the injury list after suffering an upper body injury in Sunday’s win over the Wheat Kings.

Volotovskii is listed as day-to-day, while Wiens, Pillar and Lies are all listed as week-to-week. Parr is out indefinitely.

The Blades celebrate their win on Tuesday.

Saskatoon healthy scratched 16-year-old associate player netminder Evan Gardner. Gardner had been playing with the Rink Hockey Academy’s under-18 team in Kelowna.

With the three straight wins, the Blades are heading into their B.C. road trip with some good momentum. Now, all their focus and good energy turns towards a heavyweight showdown with the Blazers on Friday, which could potentially be a display of the WHL at its best.

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 rally past Wheat Kings

Chiasson nets winner and two helpers for Saskatoon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Egor Sidorov had an assist for the Blades on Sunday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coyotes return Guenther to WHL, other notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Coyotes had loaned Guenther to Canada for world juniors.

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

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

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

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Blades’ Chadwick puts WHL leading Ice on ice

Blades G Ethan Chadwick (#33) stops Ice C Zach Ostapchuk (#20).

After stealing 3-2 a victory against the visiting and WHL leading Winnipeg Ice, Saskatoon Blades hometown netminder Ethan Chadwick made certain to show the team’s mascot some love.

On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, Chadwick stopped 34 shots including multiple quality scoring chances to allow the Blades to escape a WHL regular season clash against the Ice with a victory. After being mobbed by his teammates after the win, Chadwick came out of that celebration and immediately skated over to give Blades mascot Poke Check a big hug.

Chadwick’s superhuman performance came at a big time for the Blades, who were short staffed having been bitten hard by the injury bug. The Blades took the ice on Saturday with 17 skaters, which is one short of the full complement of 18.

Ethan Chadwick (#33) hugs Blades mascot Poke Check.

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

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

The 4,405 spectators in attendance at the SaskTel Centre seemed aware of the Blades manpower situation. When time expired in the third period, the fans gave the Blades a rousing and warm ovation.

Ethan Chadwick makes one of his 34 saves on Saturday.

Chadwick put the exclamation point on the win with his play specifically in the third period. The two sides entered the third period locked in a 2-2 draw as a prelude to the excitement to come.

At the 3:21 mark of the third, Blades standout left-winger Jake Chiasson fired home a shot from the left faceoff dot in the Winnipeg zone to give the host side a 3-2 lead. Chadwick ensured that score held up as the final outcome of the contest.

During the final three minutes of the third, Chadwick at times looked like Hockey Hall of Fame netminder Dominik Hasek with the way he was maneuvering in his net doing everything possible to keep the puck out of the Saskatoon goal.

Ethan Chadwick, left, covers the puck while getting a snow shower.

Overall, Chadwick’s play proved key throughout the contest in giving the Blades a chance to win.

The Ice drew first blood just 3:17 into Saturday’s game off a deflection tally from overage right-winger Connor McClennon. McClennon tipped home a point shot from 19-year-old veteran defenceman Graham Sward to allow the visitors to take a 1-0 lead.

Ice 17-year-old rookie defenceman Ashton Cumby picked up a secondary assist on the play for his first career point in the WHL.

The Blades skaters help Ethan Chadwick (#33) defend the team’s net.

The Ice brought a tonne of pressure in the opening 20 minutes holding a 14-5 edge in shots on goal, but they weren’t able to increase their 1-0 advantage as Chadwick slammed the door in front of the Saskatoon net.

The Blades battled back with some push back in the second. They were able to get the puck deep into the offensive zone on a frequent basis and were more aggressive on their forecheck causing the Ice to spend frequent periods pinned in their own zone.

Jake Chiasson scored the winner for the Blades on Saturday.

With 7:41 remaining in the frame, the Blades went on the power play with a two-man advantage for two minutes due to Ice defenceman Karter Prosofsky taking a hooking penalty and McClennon being assessed a boarding infraction.

The host side tallied 50 seconds into the two-man advantage evening the score at 1-1, when star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky one-timed home a shot from the right slot for his 26^th goal of the season. Blades star centre Trevor Wong fed a beauty pass to Lisowsky allowing the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL Entry Draft selection to score for Saskatoon.

Just 67 seconds later with the Blades still working on the power play, Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov broke in on the Winnipeg goal on a two-on-one break. He fired a shot that Ice netminder Daniel Hauser got a piece of but the puck trickled into the net to give the Blades a 2-1 advantage.

Connor McClennon, right, scored twice for the Ice on Saturday.

With 4:31 remaining in the second, the Ice found themselves having a two-man advantage after the Blades ran into some penalty trouble. Just 20 seconds after Blades 20-year-old captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere was given an interference minor, his standout defensive partner Tanner Molendyk, who turned 18-years-old on Friday, cleared the puck over the glass and was given a delay of game infraction.

Just 23 seconds into the five-on-three power play, McClennon one-timed a laser beam shot from the point for his second goal of the contest and 30^th tally of the season to even the score at 2-2. Star left-winger Zach Benson fed a great pass to McClennon for the one-timer. The Ice weren’t able to capitalize on their remaining power-play time.

Brandon Lisowsky scored the Blades first goal on Saturday.

That set the stage for Chiasson to score the winner early in the third and Chadwick to come through with heroics to allow the Blades to pull out victory.

With the win, the Blades improved to 31-12-3-1 to move one point ahead of the 31-16-0-3 Moose Jaw Warriors for third overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Saskatoon has three games in hand on Moose Jaw.

Hauser turned away 21 shots to take the setback in net for the Ice, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 rankings. The Ice fell to 37-7-1, but they still sit first in the WHL’s overall standings.

The Ice were also playing short-handed taking the ice with 17 skaters. Defenceman Wyatt Wilson was out with a lower body injury, right-winger Easton Armstrong was injured in the Ice’s 7-6 overtime victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Friday and 20-year-old left-winger Owen Pederson was out due to illness.

The Blades celebrate their win on Saturday.

Pederson’s absence was a big one, because he is one of the star players on the Ice. He has 21 goals and 33 assists in 43 games with the Ice this season.

With that noted, the Ice still had numerous high end players to lean on in McClennon, Benson, Matthew Savoie, Conor Geekie, Zach Ostapchuk, Ben Zloty and captain Carson Lambos.

Outmatched on paper, the Blades were still able to gut out the win and claimed two of the six head-to-head regular season meetings with the Ice in the current campaign.

The Blades return to action on Sunday when they host the 19-21-7 Brandon Wheat Kings (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Ethan Chadwick flips a souvenir stick to the fans.

The Ice get back at it on Wednesday when they return home to host the Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m. local time, Wayne Fleming Arena).

If Chadwick can keep repeating Saturday’s stellar performance, he will buy the Blades time to return players back to action from the injury to help the team’s depth for the stretch run leading to the post-season.

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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The WHL’s golden season of the 17-year-old

Circuit’s NHL Entry Draft prospects deep in high end talent

Connor Bedard leads the WHL in goals (44), assists (46) and points (90).

The mid to late 1980s era of the WHL is often romantically remembered as a golden era for ultra-passionate followers of the circuit.

That time was viewed as a moment in league history when you seemingly couldn’t miss a game, because every team had a star you had to see. In particular, the quartet of Theo Fleury, Trevor Linden, Mike Modano and Joe Sakic were worth the price of admission alone in any contest they were skating in.

Fleury was piling up points and agitating opponents with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Linden at a young age was a clutch power forward and team leader with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Modano was making magic skating circles around everyone lighting up scoreboards for the Prince Albert Raiders. Sakic was proving he was “no ordinary Joe” filling nets for the Swift Current Broncos.

Of course, all of those players went on to spectacular careers in the NHL becoming overall legends in the game along the way.

With that noted, the current day of WHL might have the most high end depth alone in just one age group that hasn’t been seen since the 1980s. That group would be the 17-year-old players who were born in 2005. Some of those players have already turned 18-years-old due to having a birthday in January or today, February 1.

The unquestioned top player in the current group is Regina Pats captain Connor Bedard. He is a generational talented that is the consensus pick to go first overall in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. 

Oliver Tulk in action for the Hitmen last season.

The upcoming NHL Entry Draft will be held June 28 to 29 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bedard leads the WHL in goals (44), assists (46) and points (90), while posting a plus-30 rating in the plus-minus department in 36 regular season games. 

On Wednesday night, Bedard and the Pats helped the Calgary Hitmen attract 17,223 spectators to their home rink in the Scotiabank Saddledome to mark the highest attendance for a WHL contest this season. The game was shown before a national television audience on TSN.

Bedard didn’t disappoint. The North Vancouver product had a goal and picked up an assist on gritty centre Braxton Whitehead’s second tally of the contest, which forced a 5-5 tie with 33.8 seconds remaining in the third period.

The contest went scoreless through a three-versus-three overtime period to a tiebreaking shootout. Bedard scored the only goal in the shootout on a sick deke to a forehand shot to give the Pats the win in the tiebreaking session and a 6-5 victory in the game.

On the other side, the Hitmen have a fun draft eligible centre to watch in Oliver Tulk, who turned 18-years-old on January 19. Tulk, who plays feisty standing at 5-foot-8 and weighing 172 pounds, had an assist in Wednesday’s setback. He sits second in Hitmen team scoring with 42 points coming off 19 goals and 23 assists in 47 regular season games.

While it is pretty much a certainty Bedard is skating through his final days as a major junior player before joining the NHL next season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was joined there by some others in the WHL’s current 17-year-old class.

Just a 45-minute drive west on the Trans-Canada Highway, the Pats archrivals in the Moose Jaw Warriors have Saskatoon area product Brayden Yager on their roster. 

Brayden Yager has 56 points this season for the Warriors.

Yager, who turned 18-years-old on January 3, has turned heads as skilled centre that can play both ways. In 49 games with the Warriors, Yager has 20 goals, 36 assists and a plus-six rating.

Before moving to the WHL ranks, Yager played a number of seasons together with another Saskatoon area product in centre Riley Heidt, who is staring in his 17-year-old season with the Prince George Cougars. 

Heidt sits 10^th in the WHL scoring race with 60 points coming off 19 goals and 41 assists in 44 regular season games with the Cougars.

Yager and Heidt applied to get exceptional player status to play in the WHL on a full-time basis as 15-year-olds along with Bedard going into the 2020-21 campaign. 

Bedard was the only one of the three granted exceptional player status, but all three skated as 15-year-olds in the WHL playing a shortened regular season in a bubble style format due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

The Winnipeg Ice, who top the WHL’s overall standings with a 36-6-1 record, have a deep team that is paced by 17-year-old left-winger Zach Benson. Benson sits second in the WHL scoring race with 69 points coming off 27 goals and 42 assists, while posting a plus-43 rating in 42 games.

Out in Kelowna, 17-year-old left-winger Andrew Cristall has been piling up the points for the Rockets. In 36 regular season games, he has 62 points coming off 26 goals and 36 assists to go with a plus-14 rating. 

Zach Benson sits second in WHL scoring this season with 69 points.

Cristall has been out with a lower body injury since suiting up for the Rockets in a 5-1 setback to the Blazers in Kamloops on January 7, but his return status is listed as day-to-day.

On the back end, the Rockets have another good youngster that is a must-see player to watch in 17-year-old defenceman and Saskatoon product Caden Price. 

Price has five goals and 19 assists playing in 44 regular season games with the Rockets. He is rated 30^th among North American Skaters in the NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings.

Along with Price, the Saskatoon Blades have a good young rearguard to watch in 17-year-old Tanner Molendyk. Molendyk has six goals, 20 assists and a plus-26 rating appearing in 45 regular season games for the Blades.

He is rated 36^th among North American Skaters in the NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings. Molendyk is a sound shutdown defender, and he can wheel up ice and go coast to coast to lead an offensive rush.

The potential is there for any of these draft eligible prospects to end up in the NHL next season depending on which team drafts them and how much improvement they make by the time NHL training camps open. 

Time will tell if this group of young star has the impact in the NHL like Fleury, Linden, Modano and Sakic did.

Tanner Molendyk has 26 points for the Blades this season.

At the moment like in the mid to late 1980s, the WHL is enjoying another golden era where seemingly each team has a must see star.

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.