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| The Blades celebrate Braylon Shmyr’s winning goal. |
Saskatoon Blades head coach Dean Brockman was still
processing a surprising turn of events for his hockey club moments after they
happened.
On Friday night at the SaskTel Centre, the host Blades
looked dead and buried on a couple of occasions against the visiting Brandon
Wheat Kings. After the Wheat Kings took a 4-1 lead into the second
intermission, it seemed they would roll on to a sixth straight victory.
Then, the unthinkable happened. The Blades scored three
straight goals in the final 1:56 of the third period to pull out a 6-5 victory.
“Personally myself and I know our staff I want us to be
even-keel,” said Brockman. “There is still time left on the clock.
The Calgary, Alta., product thought the Wheat Kings looked
rattled after he scored the equalizer to tie things up at 5-5. Shmyr said there
was a sense that the next shot the Blades threw on net would go in before he
ultimate netted the winning goal.
Overage netminder Logan Thompson turned away 37 shots to
take the loss in goal for the Wheat Kings (14-7-0-1).
On Wednesday in Swift Current, the Blades held a 4-1 lead
heading into the third period against the host Broncos. The Broncos rallied
with three goals in the third to send the game into overtime and claimed a 5-4
victory after a tiebreaking shootout.
Saskatoon’s next home game is Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. at the
SaskTel Centre against the Kamloops Blazers.
Huskies get Bears star Ball to commit, fall
to Mount Royal
The U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team picked on
a prized recruit from the local area.
Forsberg powers Dogs past Cougars
First-year winger Alex Forsberg came through in the clutch
for the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team on Friday night.
The Blades proceeded to net a pair of power-play goals to
pull to within 4-3 before the first six minutes of the third period had
expired. The host side’s momentum run appeared to have expired when Wheat Kings
overage left-winger Evan Weinger scored his hat trick goal on a power play with
6:06 remaining in the frame to give Brandon a 5-3 lead.
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| Braylon Shmyr had a hat trick and an assist for the Blades. |
With netminder Nolan Maier pulled for an extra attacker, Blades
Czech import defenceman Libor Hajek wired home a mid-range shot to cut the
Wheat Kings lead to 5-4. Just 53 seconds later, Blades overage left-winger Braylon
Shmyr scored on an individual rush to pull the Blades even with the Wheat Kings
at 5-5. The equalizer was Shmyr’s second goal of the game and of the period.
Shmyr wasn’t done there. With 18.5 seconds to play, he came
hard with speed at the Brandon net on another individual rush and lifted home
his hat trick goal and the winning tally past Wheat Kings netminder Logan
Thompson to put the Blades up 6-5 and send the 3,886 spectators at the SaskTel
Centre into bedlam.
 |
| Libor Hajek had a key goal in the Blades comeback victory. |
“You just have to make sure that you are ready for it. It
will feel good after I sit down and think about it, but it is a good feeling.”
Shymr had points on four of the five Blades goals in the
third. With the Blades down 4-1 entering the frame, he picked up an assist on a
power-play goal by overage star centre Cameron Hebig at the 5:05 mark to make
the score 4-2 in Brandon’s favour. Hebig’s tally was his 20th goal
of the season.
Just 26 seconds later, Shmyr potted his first of the night
to pull the Blades to within 4-3. That set the stage for the dramatics in the
final 6:06 of the third.
“That felt amazing knowing that we’re struggling to get “Ws”
and knowing that we close in at the end,” said Shmyr. “It gave me goosebumps
knowing that we got that “W.””
 |
| Evan Weinger (#25) celebrates his hat trick goal for the Wheat Kings. |
“All the momentum was on our side,” said Shmyr. “We took
full advantage of it. We didn’t quit.”
The Wheat Kings built a 4-1 lead over the first two frames
on the strength of Weinger’s first two tallies of the night and singles coming
from the sticks of Connor Gutenberg and Ty Lewis. Weinger had a helper on
Gutenberg’s goal to record four points on the night.
Brad Goethals had the lone reply for the Blades over the
first 40 minutes of the game before the frantic comeback ensued.
 |
| Wheat Kings goalie Logan Thompson makes a stop under duress. |
Nolan Maier, who is a 16-year-old rookie, made 26 stops to
earn his first career WHL regular season win backstopping the Blades
(9-12-2-1). The Yorkton, Sask., product was given the hardhat after the game as
the Blades hardest working player.
“It feels great,” said Maier. “I wouldn’t have been able to
do it without Shmyrsy (Shmyr).
“He really kept us in it with the help of Libor (Hajek). It
is great to get my first win, and I am excited to get more.”
The Blades have come off a wild three-game stretch, where
they collected four points in the standings against powerhouse clubs. On
Tuesday in Moose Jaw, the Blades trailed the host Warriors 6-2 in the third
period but rallied to send the contest to overtime locked in a 6-6 tie. The
Warriors scored in the extra session to pull out a 7-6 win.
 |
| Blades goalie Logan Maier picked up his first career WHL victory. |
Brockman was pleased his side could pull out a comeback
victory on Friday against the Wheat Kings.
“It has been a crazy week actually,” said Brockman. “I’m
proud of our guys, because they showed a lot of resiliency.
“You need these examples that you can have that fight and
will to come back and win games like this.”
The Blades now head off on a five game road trip through the
WHL’s U.S. Division. The trip begins this coming Tuesday in Kennewick, Wash.,
against the Tri-City Americans.
 |
| The Blades pour on to the ice to celebrate their comeback win. |
The Wheat Kings travel to Swift Current on Saturday to face
the Broncos.
Shmyr is looking forward to a final regular season jaunt
with his Blades teammates through the United States after the high of Friday’s
win.
“It is definitely a boost of confidence going into the
States,” said Shmyr. “They are a tough division down there.
“I am just going to take full advantage of it. It is a
couple of weeks long, but it is going to feel like two days. I am just going to
make the most of it and have a good road trip.”
Huskies get Bears star Ball to commit, fall
to Mount Royal
 |
| Bears star Kate Ball is the Huskies newest recruit. |
On Thursday, the Huskies announced Saskatoon product Kate
Ball, who plays for the defending Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League
champion Prince Albert Northern Bears, has committed to joining the U of S
women’s hockey team for the start of the 2019-20 campaign. The skilled
16-year-old centre, who stands 5-foot-5, put up 15 goals and 15 assists in 28
regular season games with the Bears, who posted 22-6 record last season.
Ball added three goals and two assists in helping the Bears
win nine straight post-season games to claim the squad’s second SFMAAAHL title
in team history.
So far this season in her sophomore SFMAAAHL campaign, Ball
has six goals and nine assists helping pace the Bear to a 10-3 start. Ball is
the niece of Sheldon Ball, who played quarterback first with the Saskatoon
Hilltops of the Canadian Junior Football League and then five seasons with the
U of Saskatchewan Huskies football team from 1998 to 2002. Sheldon had a length
run as the Hilltops offensive coordinator once his playing days concluded.
On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, the Huskies
lost their third in a row falling 2-0 to the visiting Mount Royal University
Cougars.
Rookie forward Andrea Sanderson scored her first career U
Sports regular season goal late in the second period to give the Cougars a 1-0 edge.
Sophomore forward Anna Purschke scored into an empty net inside of the final
minute of the third to round out the game’s scoring.
Rookie Emily Severson turned away 29 shots to earn her first
career U Sports regular season shutout to pick up the win in goal for the
Cougars (4-9).
Jasey Book turned away 22 of 23 shots to take the setback in
goal for the Huskies (7-5-1). U of S failed to score on three power-play
opportunities.
The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 5 p.m. at
Rutherford.
Forsberg powers Dogs past Cougars
 |
| Alex Forsberg had a goal and an assist for the Huskies. |
With the Huskies locked a 1-1 tie early in the third period
against the host Mount Royal University Cougars at the Flames Community Arena
in Calgary, Forsberg helped set up a goal from fifth-year forward John Lawrence
to put the Huskies up 2-1. Forberg potted his fourth of the season with 7:56
remaining in the frame to give the Huskies a 3-1 edge.
Brad Kennedy scored for the Cougars with 3:15 to play in the
third to cut the Huskies edge to 3-2.
The visitors hung on the rest of the way ensure the 3-2
score held up as the final in the U Sports clash.
The two clubs traded goals in the second period with Jesse
Lees scoring for the Cougars and captain Kendall McFaull replying for the
Huskies.
Taran Kozun turned away 26 shots to pick up the win in goal
for the Huskies (10-2-1). Cam Lanigan turned away 31 shots to take the setback
in goal for the Cougars (6-6-1).
The two teams go at it again on Saturday in Calgary.
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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