Thursday 28 March 2024

Raiders’ Hildebrand robs Blades with 41-save sizzler

Prince Albert upsets Saskatoon 4-3 in Game 1

Raiders G Max Hildebrand stops Blades captain Trevor Wong.
Max Hildebrand should have been hauled away by the Saskatoon Police Service for grand larceny.

However, Saskatoon’s top cop in Patrick Nogier is now the chief of the Prince Albert Police Service, so that means Hildebrand has the freedom to be as heroic as he wants as a goalie. On Thursday night at the SaskTel Centre, Hildebrand was sensational making 41 saves helping his heavy underdog Prince Albert Raiders down their archrivals in the host Saskatoon Blades 4-3.

Most of the 6,757 spectators in attendance exited the building in stunned silence outside of the sizable contingent that came down from Prince Albert to support the Raiders. The win allowed the Raiders to take the opening contest in a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs against the Blades. The two sides go at it again in Game 2 on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Max Hildebrand (#30) makes a pad save on Egor Sidorov.
The Blades enter the series having finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 50-13-2-3 record. The Raiders came into the series capturing eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 31-32-2-3 mark. Prince Albert placed 14th in the WHL’s overall standings.

The two sides started out Thursday’s game playing fairly evenly. With 8:41 remaining in the first, the Blades held a slim 5-4 edge in shots on goal.

Max Hildebrand made 41 saves to power the Raiders to victory.
The host side proceeded to on come with huge pressure forcing Hildebrand to make a number of big saves. On one sequence in a short time span, Hildebrand stoned Blades centre Lukas Hansen on a wraparound, robbed left-winger Hudson Kibblewhite at the right side of the goal and put up a wall on right-winger Vaughn Watterodt from the front of the Raiders net.

With 20.2 seconds remaining in the first, the Blades finally broke through on the scoreboard. While working on the power play, Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov got the puck on the right side boards from offensive –defenceman Tanner Molendyk.

Sidorov skated just pass the right faceoff dot and snapped home the game’s opening goal to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

Max Hildebrand pushes a puck out of the way of harm.
From that point, it appeared the Blades were going to roll.

Just 59 seconds into the second, Blades import star right-winger Alexander Suzdalev found himself alone at the left side of the Prince Albert net. Suzdalev slid a shot between the legs of Hildebrand to put the hosts up 2-0.

On the play, Suzdalev got one handed clipped in the face by the stick belonging to Raiders star left-winger Sloan Stanick. Stanick was given a double minor for high sticking which will be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The first half of the double minor was eaten up on Suzdalev’s goal as a delayed penalty tally. The Blades were unable to increase their lead on the second half of the double minor.

The Raiders proceeded to put the brakes on the Blades momentum with a huge push back. At the 8:41 mark of the second, Raiders 18-year-old centre Aiden Oiring fired a midrange shot past Blades star netminder Austin Elliott to cut the Blades lead to 2-1. Oiring’s drive was the Raiders seventh shot on goal of the contest.

Max Hildebrand, left, and Sloan Stanick share a fun moment.
With 9:07 remaining in the second, Raiders 19-year-old defenceman Easton Kovacs floated a long shot from the left boards that deflected off a Blades skater past Elliott to even the score 2-2. Kovacs’ tally came on the Raiders eighth shot of the game.

A short time later, the Raiders found themselves on the power play after the Blades were penalized for having too many men on the ice. On that power play, Raiders star right-winger Ryder Ritchie wired the go-ahead goal past Elliott to put the visitors up 3-2. An initial shot taken by Stanick deflected off a Blades player to Ritchie in a prime scoring spot, and Ritchie made no mistake in giving the Raiders the lead.

The Blades attempted to push back.

The Raiders and Blades engage in a scrum.
Early in the third, Molendyk placed a shot on the Prince Albert goal through a screen that Hildebrand was somehow able to see and make a glove save on to keep the Raiders in the lead. A short time later, Hildebrand turned away Blades veteran winger Tyler Parr on a prime scoring chance after Parr made a slick toe-drag move.

At the 8:13 mark of the third, the Raiders pushed their edge out to 4-2 scoring on the power play. Ritchie took a shot from the right side of the Blades net that Elliott stopped, but Raiders 19-year-old right-winger Niall Crocker popped home the rebound from the front of the Saskatoon net to give the visitors their two-goal edge.

Egor Sidorov fires home the Blades first goal on Thursday.
The Blades didn’t give up and continued to press their attack against Hildebrand, who continued to protect the fort. That included Hildebrand robbing Molendyk, who was alone in front of the Prince Albert net when Saskatoon was working on a fifth power-play chance.

With Elliott pulled for an extra attacker, Blades 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright got the puck over to Sidorov at the right wing. Sidorov skated to the top of the right faceoff and snapped home a shot to the top right corner of Prince Albert net to cut the Raiders lead to 4-3 on his team’s 40th shot on goal.

Hildebrand proceeded to slam the door from there. That included making three big saves inside the final 10 seconds of the third, when the Blades again had Elliott pulled for an extra attacker.

Alexander Suzdalev had the Blades second goal on Thursday.
With 5.7 seconds remaining in the third, Hildebrand swallowed up a close in drive from Wong. After the Blades won the ensuing faceoff, Hildebrand turned away Wong again from the right side of the Prince Albert net.

The rebound of that shot came to Blades star centre Fraser Minten in front of the Prince Albert net. Minten was denied by Hildebrand, who covered the puck for another faceoff in the Prince Albert zone with 1.3 seconds remaining in the third.

The Raiders won that draw and burned of the rest of the third period clock holding on to the puck behind their own goal.

Elliott turned away 16 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades.

Ryder Ritchie had a goal and an assist for the Raiders.
A bigger concern for the Blades in goal is that Elliott looks to have followed a not so good tread from last year’s post-season. In the 2023 WHL Playoffs, Saskatoon advance to the Eastern Conference Championship Series falling to the Winnipeg Ice.

The Blades won a first round series against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats in seven games and a second round series against the Red Deer Rebels in seven games. The Blades trailed the Rebels 3-0 and became just the third team in the history of the WHL rally back from that type of series deficit to win the set.

Elliott was the Blades starting goalie at the beginning of both those series falling behind the Pats 2-0 and the Rebels 3-0. To turn the tide, the Blades began starting Ethan Chadwick to get both those series in goal, and Elliott ultimately came back to get the Game 7 wins to finish off those sets.

Aiden Oiring had the Raiders first goal on Thursday.
Before the start of the 2023-24 campaign, the Blades dealt Chadwick to the Everett Silvertips electing to pair rookie Evan Gardner, who turned 18-year-olds in late January, as a backup to Elliott as the starter.

Gardner improved a tonne as the season went along appearing in 30 games posting a 21-5-2 record, a 1.91 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and four shutouts. He has the lowest goals against average in the WHL and the best save percentage on the circuit.

Elliott still had a great regular season for the Blades appearing in 43 games posting a 29-8-3 record, a 2.39 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and four shutouts.

Still, the Raiders got championship level goaltending from Hildebrand in Game 1, and Elliott wasn’t on that level in that contest. You have to wonder if the Blades will turn to Gardner as the series goes on.

The Raiders begin celebrating their win on Thursday.
Overall on an objective front, the Blades should have won Game 1 against the Raiders on Thursday and should have scored more goals than they did.

Hildebrand ensured none of those things came to pass, and now the Raiders have some extra real belief they can create some major misery for their archrivals.

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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Wednesday 27 March 2024

Believe – It’s déjà vu to 2011 as Raiders enter post-season

Blades RW Egor Sidorov battles past Raiders LW Sloan Stanick.
When the Prince Albert Raiders were seemingly the biggest of underdogs, Bruce Vance and his team in the club’s business office might have done their most memorable work.

Back in March of 2011, the Raiders entered the WHL Playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 31-36-2-3 record after having missed the post-season in the three previous campaigns. They would face their archrivals in the Saskatoon Blades in a best-of-seven first round series.

The Blades put up their best regular season in team history going 56-13-1-2 to finish first overall in the WHL standings. With all-world centre Brayden Schenn being the big trade deadline acquisition for Saskatoon, it was a foregone conclusion that the Blades were going to sweep the series.

Vance and the Raiders business office came up with the simple playoff slogan, “Believe.” The slogan was introduced with a clip of the United States 4-3 upset victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

The video went to a graphic showing the first round matchup between the Raiders and Blades and asked the question, “Do you believe?”

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

Saturday 23 March 2024

Flowers and milestones come to Blades to close regular season

Tensions rising with Raiders on cusp of playoff series

The Blades mob Egor Sidorov (#19) after he scores his 50th goal.
The flowers and milestones came to the Saskatoon Blades in bunches.

On Saturday night before a season high 13,004 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Blades blanked their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 5-0 in the final WHL regular season game of the 2023-24 campaign for both clubs. It was a night that was beyond memorable for “The Bridge City Bunch” as rare special moments seemingly poured in.

First, the night began with the Blades being presented the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for locking up first place overall in the WHL standings for the fifth time in team history. Saskatoon officially clinched first overall one night earlier with a 5-1 victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert.

Fans cheer Egor Sidorov getting his 50th goal of the season.
With Saturday’s win, the Blades complete their regular season schedule posting a 50-13-2-3 record in topping the WHL standings. That marked the third time in team history the Blades have won 50 or more games in a regular season with the other two occasions coming in a 72-game regular campaign.

The Blades first won 50-or-more games back in the 1982-83 season when they topped the WHL standings with a record of 52 wins, 19 losses and one draw. They set their franchise record for wins in a season at 56 back in the 2010-11 campaign when they placed first overall with a 56-13-1-2 mark.

Trevor Wong (#38) enjoys recording his 100th point.
Blades captain Trevor Wong collected one goal and one assist to hit the 100-point plateau for the first time in his WHL career. He concluded the regular season posting 101 points coming off 15 goals and a WHL leading 86 assists to go with a plus-22 rating in the plus-minus department.

He became the first Blades player to hit the 100-point barrier in a regular season since three Blades pulled off that accomplishment back in the 1995-96 campaign. In the 1995-96 campaign, centre Mark Deyell led the Blades and the WHL with 159 points coming off 61 goals and 98 assists.

Blades players embrace Trevor Wong (#38) after he gets his 100th point.
Right-winger Frank Banham, whose number 39 was recently retired by the Blades, finished second in team and league scoring with 152 points coming off a team record 83 goals 69 assists. Centre Clarke Wilm was the third Blades player to hit the 100-plateau in 1995-96 with 110 points coming off 49 goals and 61 assists.

Also on Saturday, Blades star import right-winger Egor Sidorov got his team’s final goal with 35.3 seconds remaining in the third period. That tally gave Sidorov 50 goals on the campaign. He became the first Blades player to score 50-or-more goals in a season since Deyell and Banham put up their goal totals in the 1995-96 campaign.

The Blades receive the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy.
Blades rookie goaltender Evan Gardner, who turned 18-years-old in late January, stopped all 27 shots he faced to pick up his fourth shutout of the season. In 30 appearances with the Blades, Gardner posted a 21-5-2 record, a 1.91 goals against average, and a .927 save percentage to go with his shutouts. His goals against average and save percentage topped the WHL.

The night ended with the Blades honouring three overage players in Wong, left-winger Easton Armstrong and defensive-defenceman Charlie Wright. All three were given special personalized art paintings at the end of the game.

Egor Sidorov recorded 50 goals and 88 points in the regular season.
The night’s festivities allowed the Blades, who have won three straight, to enter the post-season on the highest of high notes.

While Saturday’s game was the last regular season game for the Blades and Raiders before they meet in a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs, the contest was highly competitive.

The Blades opened the game’s scoring at the 6:29 mark of the opening frame working on the power play on tally from 18-year-old centre Rowan Calvert.

Calvert was positioned in front of the Prince Albert net and tried to deflect home a shot from the right point by import right-winger Alexander Suzdalev. The deflection shot was stopped by Raiders rookie goalie Nathan Preston, but Calvert potted the rebound for his 10 goal of the season that put the host side up 1-0.

Trevor Wong finished the regular season recording 101 points.
Just 42 seconds into the second, the Blades increased their edge to 2-0 when star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong slipped home a shot from a bad angle at the right side of the Prince Albert net into the Raiders goal. On the play, Preston drifted a ways out of his crease and was brushed into by Blades star centre Fraser Minten and was unable to recover to prevent the Saskatoon tally.

The Blades helped Wong achieve hitting the 100-point plateau at the start of the third while working on the power play. Off the opening faceoff for the frame, Armstrong took the draw for the Blades and drove the puck into an open space on the left wing.

Wong raced on to the puck and jetted into the Prince Albert zone. Just as he entered the left faceoff circle, Wong wired home his 15th goal of the season to the top left corner of the Prince Albert goal to put the Blades up 3-0 just six seconds into the stanza. 

Justice Christensen (#7) disrupted numerous shots for the Raiders.
That tally was Wong’s 100th point of the campaign, and he was pretty happy to say the least during the celebration.

At the 11:52 mark of the third, Minten collected his 22nd goal of the campaign putting a shot home between Preston’s legs to push the Blades advantage out to 4-0.

Throughout the contest, the Blades had been doing their hardest to get Sidorov to 50 goals for the season. The Raiders seemed intent on spoiling that venture, which included seeing offensive-defenceman Justice Christensen block at least three of the winger’s shots. Often, the Raiders players would knock Sidorov to the ice after he taken a shot.

Rowan Calvert (#23) scores the Blades first goal on Saturday.
It could be argued the attention the Raiders paid to Sidorov was great than what the NFL’s New England Patriots paid to Chicago Bears iconic running back Walter Payton way back in Super Bowl XX played on January 26, 1986. While the Patriots were successful at stopping Payton, the Bears won that contest 46-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Blades seemingly last chance to get Sidorov to 50 goals came during a late third period power play. On that man advantage, Wong and Wright got the puck to Sidorov.

Easton Armstrong had a goal and two assists for the Blades.
Sidorov skated down the blue-line and floated an accurate off speed shot from the left point through a screen setup by Armstrong for goal number 50 with 35.3 seconds remaining in the frame to round out the 5-0 final score in favour of the host side. It was the ninth shot on goal Sidorov had in the contest.

On the season, Sidorov posted 50 goals, 38 assists, 88 points and a plus-eight rating. His goals, assists and points totals are career highs.

Armstrong finished the contest collecting two assists to go with his goal.

Preston turned away 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. The Raiders finished the regular season with a 31-32-2-23 record to sit eighth overall and hold the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Grady Martin (#28) and Morgan Tastad (#52) start to go at it.
Saturday’s clash was the 10th head-to-head encounter between the Blades and Raiders and Saskatoon claimed victory in eight of those contests. Tensions been the two sides got high on the ice in the third period resulting in three separate fights.

Just 15 seconds into the third, Raiders veteran defenceman Terrell Goldsmith faced Blades veteran forward Tyler Parr in one bout. With 5:24 remaining in the third, Raiders overage centre Turner McMillan and Blades veteran defenceman Grayden Siepmann went at it in another bout.

After the third period buzzer sounded, Raiders sophomore left-winger Grady Martin went at it with Blades rookie defenceman Morgan Tastad.

Those fights likely foreshadowed more ill feeling that will come up between the two sides in the post-season. Game 1 of the series between the Blades and Raiders is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

The Blades enjoy some post-game fun on Saturday.
While the post-season head-to-head battles are up next, Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre belonged to the Blades.

They got to relish the rewards from a spectacular regular 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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Friday 22 March 2024

Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy runnin’ back to Saskatoon

Blades lock up first overall in WHL

The Blades begin to celebrate a first overall finish in the WHL.
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - For the first time in 13 years the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy is runnin’ back to “The Bridge City.”

On Friday before 3,049 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, the visiting Saskatoon Blades dumped their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders 5-1 in the second last WHL regular season contest for both sides of the 2023-24 campaign. With the win, the Blades improve 49-13-2-3 and lock up first overall in the WHL regular season standings to claim the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy. They will have home ice advantage through the WHL Playoffs.

The last time the Blades finished first overall in the WHL was back in the 2010-11 campaign when they posted a 56-13-1-2 record. The 56 victories are a Blades franchise record for wins in one regular season.

The Blades begin to mob netminder Austin Elliott after their win.
Overall, the Blades have finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings five times. They are still in search of their first WHL championship entering the circuit back in its inaugurals season in 1966-67.

With the loss, the Raiders fell to 31-31-2-3, but they were able to still clinch the final playoff berth locking up an eighth place finish in the Eastern Conference. Out in Swift Current, the host and Central Division champion Broncos outlasted the Calgary Hitmen 7-6.

Hitmen fell to 27-31-8-1 and were eliminated from post-season contention as they are locked into a ninth place finish in the Eastern Conference.

Brandon Lisowsky scored twice for the Blades on Friday.
As for Friday’s game between the Raiders and Blades, the Raiders jumped ahead 1-0 scoring just 95 seconds into the opening frame on a goal from 18-year-old centre Aiden Oiring. Raiders star 20-year-old left-winger Sloan Stanick centered the puck from the left corner to the Saskatoon zone to Oiring in front of the net. Oiring wired home his 21st of the season to give the Raiders their one-goal edge.

After the host side went ahead, the Blades responded with a big push back going ahead 3-1 heading into the first intermission. 

At the 7:25 mark of the opening frame, Blades 19-year-old left-winger Rhett Melnyk fired a shot through a screen to even the score at 1-1.

Egor Sidorov (#19) tries to get past Sloan Stanick.
Just under two minutes later with the teams playing four-versus-four hockey due to coincidental penalties, Blades star offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk wired home a shot from the front of the net after receiving a beauty setup pass from star import right-winger Egor Sidorov to put the visitors up 2-1. The tally was Molendyk’s 10th goal of the campaign.

Blades 18-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii completed the surge tallying at the 11:35 mark of the opening frame to put the visitors up 3-1.

With 7:19 remaining in the first, Raiders captain Eric Johnston engaged Blades star centre Fraser Minten in a fight. The short bout ended with Johnston getting the take down.

Aiden Oiring had the Raiders lone goal on Friday.
The Blades continued bringing the pressure in the second outshooting the Raiders 20-7 in the frame. Thanks to the play of Raiders star 19-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand, the Blades were limited to picking up just one goal late in the frame.

With 2:28 remaining in the second and working on the power play, Blades star 19-year-old winger Brandon Lisowsky scored backdoor at the right side of the Prince Albert net after receiving a pass from the left point by 20-year-old rearguard Charlie Wright. That tally allowed the Blades to go ahead 4-1, which caused the Raiders faithful to be fairly quiet for the rest of the contest from that point onward.

At the 13:29 mark of the second, Raiders rookie 17-year-old defenceman Doogan Pederson was given a double minor for slew-footing, and that infraction will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Blade and Raiders combined for 60 penalty minutes on Friday.
Lisowsky would add his second of the contest in the third to round out the 5-1 final in favour of the Blades. 

The NHL Entry Draft selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs now has 42 goals on the season for the Blades.

Hildebrand turned away 32 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. 

Austin Elliott stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades.

Sidorov finished the night picking up a pair of assists for the Blades. He now has career highs in goals (49), assists (38) and points (87).

Tanner Molendyk scored for the Blades on Friday.
The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon to close out their respective regular season schedules. They have met nine times this season, and the Blades have won seven of those head-to-head encounters.

With Friday’s results in the books, the Blades and Raiders know they are now locked in to meet in a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs. Game 1 of that series is set for this coming Thursday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

It is highly likely the intensity in the rivalry between the two sides will be cranked up to new heights over the next two weeks. The two clubs combined for 60 penalty minutes in Friday night’s encounter.

The Blades celebrate their win on Friday night.
For the moment, the Blades are relishing what is there most memorable win at the Art Hauser Centre with their win on Friday that clinched first place overall in the WHL standings.

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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Wednesday 20 March 2024

Lisowsky delivers in OT, Blades on cusp of clinching first overall

Hitmen manage to stay alive in WHL post-season race

The Blades celebrate an OT winner from Brandon Lisowsky (#8).
Brandon Lisowsky’s 40th goal of the season couldn’t have come at a bigger time for the Saskatoon Blades.

On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades found themselves going to overtime locked in a 3-3 tie with the visiting Calgary Hitmen in a WHL regular season encounter. In the three-versus-three extra session, Blades star center Fraser Minten stole a pass from a Hitmen player just inside the Calgary blue-line.

Minten got the puck to Lisowsky springing the 19-year-old star winger in on a breakaway. Lisowsky roofed home the winner to the top left corner of the Calgary goal giving the Blades a 4-3 victory just 65 seconds into overtime to the delight of the 4,271 spectators in attendance.

The overtime winner was Lisowsky’s second goal of the night and 40th of the campaign. That marks the first time the Port Coquitlam, B.C., product hit the 40-goal plateau in his WHL career.

Brandon Lisowsky scored twice for the Blades on Wednesday.
On the campaign, Lisowsky has 40 goals, 38 assists, 78 points and a plus-25 rating in the plus-minus department. All of those statistics are career highs. 

With the win, the WHL leading Blades improve to 48-13-3-2. They just need two more standing points over their final two regular season games to lock up first overall in the WHL for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign. That can quickly be accomplished with one more win.

Saskatoon sits three points up on the B.C. Division champion Prince George Cougars (47-15-1-3) and five points ahead of the U.S. Division champion Portland Winterhawks (46-15-3-1).

The Blades will get their first chance to clinch top spot on the major junior circuit on Friday, when they travel to Prince Albert to face their archrivals the 31-30-2-3 Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). Those two clubs close their respective regular season schedules facing each other on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Carter Yakemchuk had a goal for the Hitmen.
As for Wednesday’s clash with Calgary, the Hitmen got the early jump on the Blades. Just 2:29 into the opening frame, Hitmen import 19-year-old left-winger Maxim Muranov ripped home a shot low shot to the left side of the Saskatoon net and stick side on Blades netminder Evan Gardner to give the visitors a 1-0 edge. The tally was Muranov’s 22nd tally of the campaign.

The Blades came with a push back after the Hitmen went ahead which included Lisowsky getting robbed at point blank range by the right side of the Calgary net by Hitmen netminder Ethan Buenaventura.

The opening 20 minutes was fairly evenly played as the Hitmen exited the frame with their 1-0 lead and holding a 13-11 edge in shots on goal.

The Hitmen came out with some jump to start the second period getting the first three shot on goal in the frame.

Easton Armstrong had a goal for the Blades.
The Blade got their legs going after they went on the power play, even though they were unable to score with the man advantage. After the power play ended, Blades 18-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii was sprung on a breakaway but he was turned away by Buenaventura.

With 3:11 remaining in the second, the Blades evened the score at 1-1 on a power-play goal by star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong. Armstrong received a pass in front of the Calgary goal from Blades captain Trevor Wong and slid a shot home into the right low corner of the Hitmen net for his 33rd tally of the campaign.

At the close of the second period, the Blades held a 25-20 edge in shots on goal.

Just 51 seconds into the third, Hitmen star offensive-defenceman Carter Yakemchuk fired home a shot from the left point for his 28th goal of the season to put the Hitmen back out in front 2-1.

Maxim Muranov netted 22nd goal of the season.
At the 4:32 mark of the third, Wong wired home his 14th goal of the campaign from the front of the Calgary net to once again even the score at 2-2.

The Blades proceeded to jump ahead 3-2 with 5:40 remaining in the third period, when Lisowsky tipped home a point shot from offensive-defenceman Tanner Molendyk for a power-play marker.

With 64 seconds remaining in the third, Hitmen left-winger Connor Dale, who turned 19-years-old in January, slipped home a bad angle shot from the left side of the Saskatoon net to even the score 3-3 and force overtime.

That set the stage for Lisowsky to come through with his winner in the extra session.

Gardner stopped 22 shots to pick up his 20th win in goal for the Blades, who are rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings. Buenaventura turned away 43 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Hitmen.

The Blades celebrate their win on Wednesday night.
The Hitmen saw their record move to 27-30-8-1 as they sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Calgary sits four points back of the Raiders for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the conference.

In order for the Hitmen to be able to stay alive in the race to make the WHL Playoffs, they need to win their final two regular season games and the Raiders must lost their final two regular season games in regulation. If that happens, a standings tiebreaking game would be held at a date to be determined in Prince Albert as the Raiders are guaranteed to finish with more wins than the Hitmen.

The Hitmen get back at it on Friday when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex). Those two squads close their respective regular season schedules facing each other on Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 6 p.m. local time.

Raiders rock Regina 5-1, sit one point from playoff clinch

Ryder Ritchie had a goal and two assists for the Raiders.
The Prince Albert Raiders were on a mission, and it spelled doom for the Regina Pats.

On Wednesday night before 2,447 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders rocked the visiting Pats 5-1 in a WHL regular season clash. The win allowed the Raiders to end a three-game losing streak and improve to 31-30-2-3 to strengthen their grip on eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

Combined with the Calgary Hitmen falling 4-3 in overtime to the WHL leading Blades in Saskatoon on Wednesday, the Raiders need to earn one more point in the standings to lock up a berth in the WHL Playoffs. Prince Albert sits four points up on the Hitmen (27-30-8-1), who are ninth overall in the conference.

The Raiders with have their first chance to clinch a post-season berth on Friday when they host their archrivals in the Blades (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). Those two clubs close their respective regular season schedules facing each other on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

In order for the Hitmen to be able to stay alive in the race to make the WHL Playoffs, they need to win their final two regular season games and the Raiders must lost their final two regular season games in regulation. If that happens, a standings tiebreaking game would be held in at a date to be determined in Prince Albert as the Raiders are guaranteed to finish with more wins than the Hitmen.

The Hitmen get back at it on Friday when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex). Those two squads close their respective regular season schedules facing each other on Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 6 p.m. local time.

As for Wednesday’s encounter between the Raiders and the Pats, the Raiders stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the first period with goals coming from the sticks of offensive-defenceman Justice Christensen, 18-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube, star 17-year-old right-winger Ryder Ritchie and 18-year-old centre Aiden Oiring. The tallies from Dube and Oiring came on the power play.

The Raiders held a 16-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

Oiring again tallied on the power-play at the 5:52 mark of the second. That tally was also the sophomore’s 20th goal of the campaign marking the first time he has hit the 20-goal plateau in his WHL career.

The Pats finally hit the scoreboard with 5:07 remaining in the third, when captain Tanner Howe scored on the power play to round out the 5-1 final score in favour of the Raiders.

Max Hildebrand stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Ritchie had a pair of assists to go with his goal. Christensen had a helper to go with his tally.

Kelton Pyne turned away 32 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats, who fell to 22-38-4-2 as they play out the string.

The Pats return to action on Friday when they return home to face the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

Broncos claim first division title since 2001

The surprising Swift Current Broncos are WHL division champions for the first time since 2001.

On Wednesday, the Broncos downed the visiting Red Deer Rebels 6-3 at the InnovationPlex before an overjoyed crowd of 2,371 spectators. The win allowed the Broncos to improve to 39-21-4-2 to lock up first place in the WHL’s Central Division.

Wednesday’s win marked the first time the Broncos have won a division title since they claimed first in the East Division back in the 2000-01 campaign, when they posted a record of 43 wins, 20 losses, seven ties and two overtime losses. The Broncos made it to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series in that campaign falling in six games to the Rebels, who went on to win the WHL title and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

Swift Current never did win a division title in the club’s last WHL championship winning season in 2017-18. In that campaign, the Broncos finished second overall in the WHL and second in the East Division behind the Moose Jaw Warriors, who posted a 52-15-2-3 mark. The Broncos eliminated the Warriors in seven games in a second round series in the 2018 post-season.

The Broncos did actually win the Central Division title on one other occasion back in the 1995-96 campaign, when they posted a record of 36 wins, 31 losses and five ties. Swift Current fell in six games in a first round series to Red Deer.

In Wednesday’s meeting between the Broncos and Rebels, it appeared for a time in the opening frame the Rebels would be spoilers. Rookie import centre Samuel Drancak, who turned 18-years-old in February, scored on the power play at the 6:33 mark for the Rebels to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

With 48 seconds remaining in the first, Broncos breakout left-winger Clarke Caswell was sprung on a breakaway and he slipped home a low shot to the left side of the Red Deer net to even the score at 1-1.

Red Deer held a 17-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

At the 11:43 mark of the second, Broncos veteran 20-year-old defenceman Ryan McCleary fired home a shot from the left slot for his 11th tally of the season to put the host side up 2-1. McCleary completed a crisp passing play from Caswell and star centre Conor Geekie.

Broncos star centre Mathew Ward tallied at the 5:37 mark of the third to put the Broncos up 3-1. Just 18-seconds later, Ward’s linemate in star right-winger Josh Filmon netted his 27th goal of the season to push Swift Current’s advantage out to 4-1.

That led to the third ending with a crazy final eight minutes. With 7:42 remaining in the third, Rebels right-winger Talon Brigley scored his 20th of the campaign to cut the Broncos lead to 4-2.

Following that tally, Broncos 18-year-old centre Connor Gabriel scored for the host side to push the Broncos lead out to 5-2. Red Deer scored again with 3:10 remaining in the third thanks to a power-play goal from right-winger Jhett Larson that trimmed Swift Current’s lead to 5-3.

Just four seconds later, Broncos star right-winger Connor Hvidston put the puck into an empty Rebels net for his 27th goal of the season to round out the 6-3 final score in favour of the host side.

Reid Dyck stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos. Rhett Stoesser turned away 21-of-26 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels (33-24-3-6).

With Wednesday’s results, the Rebels got locked into a best-of-seven first round playoff series with the Medicine Hat Tigers (36-2-3-5-2). The Tigers will have home ice advantage being locked into fourth overall in the Eastern Conference, while the Rebels are locked into fifth overall.

The Broncos return to action on Friday when they host the 27-30-8-1 Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

The Rebels get back it on Saturday when they host the 25-37-3-1 Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium).

The Broncos had a rocky beginning to the 2023-24 campaign. They started 9-9-1 under head coach Devan Praught. On Nov. 14, 2023, Praught was suspended for violating WHL Standards of Conduct for an on ice incident at practice on day earlier.

Taras McEwen was named the interim head coach. Praught, who is 36-years-old, would never return to coach the Broncos as he and the team later agreed to mutually part ways.

With the 33-year-old McEwen behind the bench as interim head coach, the Broncos have posted a 30-12-3-2 mark. McEwen’s father, Brad McEwen, was the Broncos head coach and general manager when they won the East Division title in 2000-01. Brad McEwen currently scouts for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.

The Broncos are slated to move to the East Division before the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

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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Scoreboard anxiety watching for everyone involved with Raiders

Niall Crocker celebrates a goal for the Raiders on March 8.
We’ve hit that point in the WHL where people are constantly checking their mobile devices for scores.

In days of not so long ago, people would be checking the statistics pages of newspapers, listening to late night radio or tuning into late night local television sports segments to see scores and get standing updates. When you hit the final week of the WHL regular season, it becomes scoreboard anxiety watching time.

As far as the Prince Albert Raiders go, there is likely some scoreboard anxiety watching going on from players, coaches, management and staffers. It will be at different levels depending on who you talk to. For the fans, you likely can expect there will be lots of anxiety scoreboard watching going on.

Going into their final three regular season games, the Raiders (30-30-2-3) sit eighth and hold the final playoff position in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. They need to earn four points in the standings over their final three games to lock up a berth in the WHL Playoffs.

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

Sunday 17 March 2024

Veteran besties put special cap on Stingers U Sports title win

Concordia downs Varsity Blues 3-1 in championship tilt

The Stingers celebrate winning a U Sports championship.
Rosalie Begin-Cyr and Emmy Fecteau added a fairy tale capper to their U Sports careers.

On Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the pair were on the ice for a third period power-play as their Concordia University Stingers held a 2-0 lead over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the title game of the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship tournament. Fecteau, who is the Stingers 24-year-old captain, got the puck to third-year centre Zoe Thibault.

Thibault drove to the net with the puck and made a drop pass to Begin-Cyr, who wired home a power-play goal through a screen to put the Stingers up 3-0 at the 5:10 mark of the frame. That tally allowed the Stingers to cruise to a 3-1 victory to take the Golden Path Trophy as U Sports champions in a contest played before 1,196 spectators.

The Stingers raise the Golden Path Trophy.
“I think it is the best way to finish your career as a university (player) and as a senior,” said Begin-Cyr, who is the Stingers star right-winger. “We had a great team, and I think it was like we expected from the beginning.

“We wanted to finish better than last year, so it was perfect.”

Fecteau was pleased to Begin-Cyr score her power-play goal in the third period as the two have been basically forever hockey teammates dating back before their time with the Stingers.

“I’m very happy,” said Fecteau, who is a star centre for the Stingers. “It has been 15 years that I have been playing with Rosalie (Begin-Cyr).

Rosalie Begin-Cyr had a goal and an assist for the Stingers.
“She is also my roommate. We’ve been living together for seven years, so I was really pumped for her.”

The Stingers appeared in the U Sports title for the third straight year on Sunday. The Stingers won the championship in 2022 downing the Nipissing Lakers 4-0 in the event’s final, when the tournament was held in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Last year, the Stingers fell 4-3 in overtime in the U Sports title game to the Mount Royal Cougars, when the tournament was held in Montreal.

Begin-Cyr, who is 25-years-old, and Fecteau were part of the winning experience in 2022 and the disappointment in 2023. Playing in their final campaign with the Stingers, they did not want to repeat the experience from a year ago.

Emmy Fecteau had an assist for the Stingers.
Begin-Cyr exhausted her U Sports eligibility playing her fifth-year in 2023-24. Fecteau is in her fourth-year of eligibility, but she will be completing her teaching English as a second language program and is planning to move on to the next step in her life whether it be with the PWHL or the working world.

Both players said the loss to the Cougars helped drive the team to return to the U Sports title game and win it this season.

“It was a good motivation,” said Begin-Cyr, who had an assist to go along with her goal. “From the beginning of the year, it was really like our motivation.

“It was a tough loss.”

Emilie Lussier scored the Stingers first goal on Sunday.
“I think we wanted to show who Concordia is, and we worked so hard to be here today in the final of the championship and to win,” said Fecteau. “We worked for each other.

“It was team first all the way, and it paid off.”

The Stingers posted a perfect 25-0 record in the regular season in 2023-24 and captured the Reseau du Sport Etudiant du Quebec title. They entered the U Sports championship tournament as the top seed.

At the title tourney, the Stingers blanked the host and eighth seeded U of Saskatchewan Huskies 4-0 in a quarter-final on Thursday and slipped past the OUA champion and fourth seeded University of Waterloo Warriors 3-1 in a semifinal on Saturday.

Jessymaude Drapeau (#15) banks home the Stingers second goal.
In Sunday’s final, the Stingers got out to a hot start. Just 69 seconds into the opening frame, Stingers first-year left-winger Emilie Lussier collected the rebound of her own shot at the left side of the Varsity Blues goal. She quickly tucked home a second shot to give the Stingers a 1-0 lead.

At the 8:19 mark of the First, Stingers third-year left-winger Jessymaude Drapeau skated just below the icing line at the right side of the Varsity Blues net. Drapeau, who would be named tournament MVP, deflected the puck from that spot off the pads of Varsity Blues netminder Erica Fryer into the Toronto net to push the Stingers lead out to 2-0.

Jessymaude Drapeau celebrates scoring for the Stingers.
Varsity Blues head coach Vicky Sunohara thought the Stingers game speed at the start might caught her squad a little off guard.

“I think that we were pretty surprised with the pace,” said Sunohara, whose squad was playing their third game in three days. “I thought that we had a slower start, which we talked about that they are a strong team, a fast team, and they transition well and that we need to go from the drop of the puck.

“Playing three games in three days is tough. Our team was ready, but I thought that we were back on our heels a little bit for the first few shifts.”

In the second, the Stingers had a glorious chance to increase their lead while working on the power play. Lussier received a backdoor feed at the right side of the Varsity Blues goal, but Fryer slid across the crease to rob the Concordia forward.

Taylor Delahey had a big chance to score early in the third.
With about two minutes remaining in the second, the Stingers broke into the Varsity Blues zone on a three-on-one break. Lussier came up the left wing with the puck and passed it across the face of the Toronto goal to linemate Zoe Thibault. Fryer again slid across the crease of her net to rob Thibault.

Early in the third, the Varsity Blues had a big chance to get a traction goal when first-year centre Taylor Delahey got in along on the Stinger goal. She tried to put a low shot into the net, but Stingers netminder Jordyn Verbeek came up with a kick save.

Shortly after Verbeek’s save on Delahey, Begin-Cyr potted her power-play goal for the Stingers to increased Concordia’s lead to 3-0.

Erica Fryer, right, makes a big stop for the Varsity Blues.
The Varsity Blues kept trying to battle back. With Fryer pulled for an extra attacker, third-year defender Emma Potter scored for the Varsity Blues with 46.8 seconds remaining in the third to cut the Stingers lead to 3-1. Potter’s tally proved to be too little, too late as the 3-1 score in favour of the Stingers held up as the contest’s final outcome.

Verbeek stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Stingers. Fryer turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Varsity Blues.

Stingers HC Julie Chu shouts instructions from the bench.
“Getting to nationals itself is hard,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “We talked about how honoured we are to be here to have earned that opportunity.

“Getting to win is definitely something we don’t take for granted. We know there are tremendous teams that are here at nationals. For us, it is a huge accomplishment.

“It is something that we take a lot of pride in. If we would have lost today, there is a lot of pride in that locker room and a lot of pride for the journey that we took to be able to be the team that we are today win or lose. That is what we try to focus on with our players.”

The Stingers enjoy a goal from Rosalie Begin-Cyr, centre.
The Varsity Blues were making their first appearance in the U Sports title game since losing the 2003 championship final 5-4 in overtime to the University of Alberta Pandas, when the championship tourney was held in Regina.

Toronto went into this year’s tournament as the sixth seed. The Varsity Blues placed second in OUA East at 19-8-1 and fell in OUA final 2-1 in overtime to the visiting Warriors on March 9.

At the U Sports championship tournament, the Blues slipped past the AUS champion and third seeded University of Brunswick Red 2-1 in a quarter-final on Friday. In a semifinal on Saturday, the Varsity bested the Universite de Montreal Carabins 2-1 after taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0.

The Stingers faithful cheer on their team.
“It is amazing that we are playing, and we’re still playing on March 17th,” said Sunohara. “We talked about that.

“It means you have had a pretty successful season. We have a lot veterans that really, really work hard and put their heart and soul into coming to the rink and competing every day. They’ve started something special.

“We have 13 graduating this year, so they’ve really contributed and put the program in a great place for first years and young ones to come in and say, ‘Hey, this is what the expectations are.’ This is the culture that they’ve built.”

Sunday’s win marked the fourth time the Stingers have won the U Sports championship. Concordia also captured the U Sports title the first two times it was contested in 1998 and 1999, when U Sports was known as the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CIAU). 

Captain Emmy Fecteau receives the Golden Path Trophy.
The first win in 1998 also came against the Varsity Blues by a 4-1 final score, when the Stingers claimed the national title as the host squad.

Begin-Cyr and Fecteau said it was special to win the U Sports title once again.

“Winning is always great,” said Begin-Cyr. “We like winning, and that is part of hockey.

“It is not easy to win, but at the end of the way that is why we play hockey to win.”

“It feels great,” said Fecteau. “I have no words to describe it.

“I’m so happy. I’m so proud of my teammates. I’m very happy.”

In Sunday’s bronze medal game, the Carabins slipped past the Warriors 2-1 after taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0 in Sunday’s bronze medal game.

The Stingers enjoy lifting up the Golden Path Trophy.
Sunday’s consolation final saw the Canada West Conference champion and second seeded UBC Thunderbirds down the host Huskies 4-1.

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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