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Blades Host Pats Wednesday

Posted by Les Lazaruk on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 08:12:00 PM.

The Contest: Saskatoon Blades (11-19-1-0) vs Regina Pats (21-13-0-1)...7:05 p.m. at Credit Union Centre.

The Log: The Blades started with a 3-10-1-0 record in their first 14 games…nine of them on the road, including the five-game U.S. Division road trip in which the Blades went “oh-fer”. In that time, they were out-scored 52-35 by the opposition. Since then, the Blades are 8-9-0-0 and have been out-scored 51-38. Between a 2-15-1-0 road record and not having won a game, in six starts, against Western Conference teams…throw in only scoring an average of 2.34 goals per games…and you have a pretty good idea why the Blades sit 15 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference…while being tied for last place with Red Deer.

This is the final week of games before the Christmas break for the Blades. After tonight, Saskatoon travels to Brandon Friday and hosts Kelowna Saturday. The Blades first game after Christmas is in Prince Albert on December 27^th.

The Blades' home record is 9-4-0-0…including two consecutive victories at the C.U.C. in which they’ve out-scored the opposition 7-2. The Blades’ last home loss was November 17^th, 2-1 vs Calgary.

This is the third of eight games this season between the Blades and the Pats.

October 5 at S'toon; 7-3 Blades: Five unanswered third period goals propelled the Blades to victory. Gillies 2+3=5, GWG; Fiala 2+2=4; Shots 39-35 S’toon.

November 9 at Regina: 5-2 Pats: Pyett 2+1=3, GWG; Kraus 0+3=3; Shots 35-28 Regina.

The next game between these teams is Saturday, December 29^th at Credit Union Centre.

The Blades' record in December is 1-2-0-0.

The Blades are 0-1 in overtime…1-0 in the shootout.

Today and Yesterday: At 11-19-1-0 after 31 games, the Blades are 6 points ahead of last year's team (8-22-0-1). In game 32 last year, the Blades beat Moose Jaw 6-1 at home to run their record to 9-22-0-1.

The Infirmary: The Blades have lost 68 man-games to injury or illness so far this season. Out of the line-up tonight will be 1988 C Justin McCrae (groin pull, missing a 3^rd straight game, status day-to-day); 1987 C Chris Durand (shoulder, 8^th game, after Xmas); 1990 RW Kevin Philp (broken jaw, wires come out Friday, 7^th game, 2-4 weeks); 1990 D Brendon Wall (broken jaw, 27^th game, 2-4 weeks). Also not available, 1989 W Colton Gillies (at Canada’s World Junior Camp);

Going Good: 1987 LW Ondrej Fiala, drafted by Minnesota Wild in 2^nd round of 2006 NHL draft, missed Friday in Brandon with the flu. Was on 5-game points streak (2+7=9). Fiala has 3 insurance goals, tied for 10^th in the WHL. 1991 D Stefan Elliott is 6+14=20 for the season, tied for 10^th in rookie scoring in the WHL.

Going Bad: 1990 C Gaelan Patterson is goal-less in 23 games; 1989 LW Jordan Braid is point-less in 20 games; 1990 C Travis Toomey is goal-less in 18 games and point-less in 10 games; 1988 C Mike Reich has yet to record a point in 9 games as a Blade since being acquired from Vancouver…overall is point-less in 17 games; 1989 RW Kirk Belyk is goal-less in 13 games, point-less in 12 games; 1988 LW Garrett Klotz is point-less in 11 games.

Special Teams: The Blades were 0-for-4 on the power play Friday at Brandon, ending a string of 5 straight games with at least 1 power play goal scored. Saskatoon killed off 3 of 4 Wheat Kings power plays on Friday. Prior to the Brandon PPG, the Blades had killed off 17 straight opposition man-advantages. The Blades have been short-handed 26 more times than they have been on the power play this season (191-165).

Attendance: The Blades have drawn 53,365 fans to 13 games for an average of 4,105 per game.

4 Comment(s) | Leave a Comment

Comments

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BAH HUMBUG..
from Kurtis on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 09:04:05 PM
Hopefully not too many fans read this blog because if they did they would not be encouraged to come out to see Blades games. Yes Les, we know it does not look good but do you have to cram it down our throats??? According to you we have only a couple of goods and whole lot of bads so lets just stay home and eat Christmas Pudding with Georgie Porgy. It is painfully obvious that we can't seem to put the puck in the net but those scoreless and pointless players you pointed out have seen limited ice time up until the last few games. Before all the injuries most of these guys were getting only a few shifts a game so...settle down and pour yourself a rum spiced eggnog. It is quite possible that too much negativity has gotten us to this point and we don't really need more of the same. We can't look back so lets look forward. And Les... you better be good or your going to find coal in your stocking on Christmas morning.!. HO, HO, HO!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BAH HUMBUG..

from Kurtis on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 09:04:05 PM

Hopefully not too many fans read this blog because if they did they would not be encouraged to come out to see Blades games.

Yes Les, we know it does not look good but do you have to cram it down our throats???

According to you we have only a couple of goods and whole lot of bads so lets just stay home and eat Christmas Pudding with Georgie Porgy. It is painfully obvious that we can't seem to put the puck in the net but those scoreless and pointless players you pointed out have seen limited ice time up until the last few games. Before all the injuries most of these guys were getting only a few shifts a game so...settle down and pour yourself a rum spiced eggnog. It is quite possible that too much negativity has gotten us to this point and we don't really need more of the same. We can't look back so lets look forward. And Les... you better be good or your going to find coal in your stocking on Christmas morning.!. HO, HO, HO!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hey Kurtis...
from Les on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 12:09:26 AM
Maybe the players read this entry and saw that they need to start pitching in...Reich got his first point as a Blade and Zahn scored his first WHL goal as the Blades beat Regina 3-2 in OT. When your record is 12-19-1-0, there aren't as many "goods" as "bads"...that's the fact. I'm not cramming anything down anyone's throat. That's your perception...others might see it as, "Wow, I didn't know the lack of scoring was so deep!" As for most of these guys getting only a few shifts, in a 60-minute game...you're saying that Gillies, McCrae, Durand, Fiala, Hulak...the top two lines...are getting about 25 minutes of ice time each, leaving about 10 minutes for the third and fourth lines. Would that be about right to you? I disagree and would say the top two lines get about 20 minutes each, leaving about 12-13 minutes for the third line and 7-8 minutes for the fourth. The third line definitely gets enough time to make things happen, I'll agree the fourth liners have it tough...but this team scores just as much on the power play as it does at even strength and most of the better teams have a 2-1 ratio of goals scored at even strength to power play! And, "too much negativity has gotten us to this point". That's rich, blame the media-broadcaster for a team's woes! As I say, for every person, such as yourself, who says I'm too negative or too hard on the team, I can assure there's at least one person who says I'm too easy on them! As for the rum-spiced eggnog, good idea, I deserve a drink!

Hey Kurtis...

from Les on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 12:09:26 AM

Maybe the players read this entry and saw that they need to start pitching in...Reich got his first point as a Blade and Zahn scored his first WHL goal as the Blades beat Regina 3-2 in OT.
When your record is 12-19-1-0, there aren't as many "goods" as "bads"...that's the fact. I'm not cramming anything down anyone's throat. That's your perception...others might see it as, "Wow, I didn't know the lack of scoring was so deep!"
As for most of these guys getting only a few shifts, in a 60-minute game...you're saying that Gillies, McCrae, Durand, Fiala, Hulak...the top two lines...are getting about 25 minutes of ice time each, leaving about 10 minutes for the third and fourth lines. Would that be about right to you? I disagree and would say the top two lines get about 20 minutes each, leaving about 12-13 minutes for the third line and 7-8 minutes for the fourth. The third line definitely gets enough time to make things happen, I'll agree the fourth liners have it tough...but this team scores just as much on the power play as it does at even strength and most of the better teams have a 2-1 ratio of goals scored at even strength to power play!
And, "too much negativity has gotten us to this point". That's rich, blame the media-broadcaster for a team's woes! As I say, for every person, such as yourself, who says I'm too negative or too hard on the team, I can assure there's at least one person who says I'm too easy on them!
As for the rum-spiced eggnog, good idea, I deserve a drink!

(no subject)
from Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 12:40:50 AM
I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for Reich or Zahn to admit to "pitching in" because of your post Les....I am sure I would pass out long before that!! It is a little narcissistic on your part but that's ok...It is your Blog so "Blog what you want to"...just watch that rum-spiced eggnog, it's not good for the waistline!!

Rudolph...
from Les on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 11:35:46 AM
Your nose is red because of the rum-spiced eggnog, right!? By the way, the comment you refer to was sarcastic, not narcissistic.

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