NEXT GAME:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Question three is picking up some steam…”Why didn’t Lorne Molleken make a bigger effort to acquire a goal-scorer or third 20-year-old before the trade deadline?” My question back to you is, ‘How do you know he didn’t?’ The answer is he did try hard, had offers out on the table for several top-end scorers or 20s that could’ve helped. Ask the Western Conference head coach, who vetoed a three-team deal, that his G-M was prepared to pull the trigger on, that would’ve brought the Blades a very useful 20-year-old forward, why he did so. Or, ask Moose Jaw G-M Chad Lang why he didn’t accept any of Saskatoon’s trade overtures with the Warriors…for any one of Joel Broda (who ended up in Calgary) or Riley Grantham or Ian Duval (both of whom ended up in Kelowna). I’d be willing to bet that he wasn’t anxious to trade within his division, although he may wish he had the player the Blades were willing to part with who ended up having a tremendous season. From a Saskatoon perspective, sometimes the best trades are the ones that aren’t made…although that’s a hard sell for some fans at this moment!

 

       That leaves me to ponder the future…and I dare say the Blades are well-positioned with their list of players for a shot at the playoffs and a deeper post-season run in 2009-2010 than they have been for several seasons. Yes, I know, you’ve heard that before…even from me after a first round playoff loss in 2003 (only 7 wins the following season, yikes!!)…but this time the list shows 16 ultimate returnees and an excess of 20-year-olds that can be used to help fill holes on the roster for next season.

 

       One of those areas might be in goal, although the players on the team tell me they have full confidence in Adam Morrison inheriting the starter’s role from Eastern Conference nominee for Top goaltender Braden Holtby. Morrison only played 13 games but got a fair amount of interest from N-H-L scouts heading into the draft.

 

       On defence, Colin Joe departs after great 20-year-old service, coming over from Kelowna. Back for sure are Teigan Zahn, Stefan Elliott, Jyri Niemi and “Super Sub” Brendon Wall. Duncan Siemens and Dalton Thrower are cinches to be on the roster as rookie 16-year-olds in the fall while Sam Klassen and Ryan Funk are 20-year-old possibilities.

 

       Up front, guaranteed to be back are Gaelan Patterson, Curtis Hamilton, Travis Toomey, Burke Gallimore, Darian Dziurzynski, Charles Inglis, Josh Nicholls and Jamie Crooks. Brent Benson is a certain 16-year-old rookie after registering 52 points, tied for eighth in Saskatchewan AAA Midget scoring with Notre Dame, and 10 points more so far in the playoffs as his Hounds’ team is off to the Telus Cup. The battle for other two or three other rookie spots will be very intense at training camp. The 20-year-old possibles are captain Derek Hulak, Walker Wintoneak, Chris Langkow and Milan Kytnar.

 

       The latter came over from Kelowna and went from 9 goals, 13 assists and 22 points with the Rockets to 27-37-64 with the Blades and brought a compete level that would rival Martin Erat. The skill level and scoring touch are a bit shy of the Nashville Predator and former Blade, but his intensity and desire to play and will to win are Marty Erat all over again! He is the “X” factor in the off-season. If the Edmonton Oilers sign him and turn Kytnar pro, that’s the way the puck bounces. However, if the Oilers choose not to ink the Slovakian…and no other N-H-L team does, look for Molleken to try and convince him to come back for one more season, making life very interesting for all the 20s in the mix. Even if Kytnar isn’t back, there’ll be five players to choose three from to fill the “overage” roster spots. If you had asked me back in September who I thought would be the Blades’ trio of 20-year-olds for 2009-2010, I’d have said Hulak, Langkow and Klassen. Now, I’m glad I don’t have to make the decision!!

 

       Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, it’s time to wait for next season. Sure, that's another “next year” for a franchise going into Year 44 of its major junior existence without a championship. But, the quality of returnees creates legitimate hope for next season...and seasons to come...as opposed to falling into a two or three season downturn and missing the playoffs.

  

 

       Which Lethbridge Hurricanes’ team is the real one after splitting the opening two games of a best-of-seven W-H-L Eastern Conference quarter-final series with the Blades in Saskatoon over the weekend?

       I think you may get part of the answer before the weekend as the Bridge City Bunch and the ‘Canes play Games 3 and 4 in this Southern Alberta city on Tuesday and Wednesday. The split means a guaranteed Game 5 on Saturday at Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon.

      “It was almost a reverse situation here (in Saturday’s 5-2 loss compared to Friday’s 5-1 victory),” summed up Blades’ General Manager and Head Coach Lorne Molleken, “I thought Lethbridge, at the start of the game, had an extra step to their stride and certainly we couldn’t counter that for the most part. (Zach) Boychuk and (Dwight) King were real good for them and we didn’t really get enough good opportunities on (goaltender Juha) Metsola to create some goals or create more opportunity.

       “We just need to learn from this, put it behind us and get ready for Tuesday night.”

       Saturday’s game showed why many believe this series will be the best one of the opening round of the WHL playoffs. The 28-point difference in the standings between the East Division-champion Blades (with 103 points) compared to the seventh seeded Hurricanes (with 75 points) is slashed to almost nothing because of two major factors.

       The first is playoff experience. The series started with the Lethbridge roster having 318 games worth of WHL post-season experience, compared to just 57 for Saskatoon. Only six Blades’ players had participated in the playoffs compared to 13 returnees to the Lethbridge side…plus another three players acquired from other teams that have had some time in the “second” season.

       The second factor is “star power”. The highest of four NHL draft picks on the Saskatoon roster is defenceman Jyri Niemi…in the 3^rd round by the New York Islanders. Lethbridge has three first round draft picks (Boychuk, forward Kyle Beach and defenceman Luca Sbisa) plus a second rounder (defenceman Eric Mestery). Plus forwards Dwight King and Colton Sceviour are 4^th round selections from 2007.

       The ‘Canes were supposed to be a contender for a division and conference championship while the Bridge City Bunch were supposed to be scratching and clawing just to get into the playoffs.

       Talk about your reversal of fortunes!

       But, as this is written, the series is 1-1 and a long ways from over. The Blades have two factors in their favour…one, being depth and balance. The second is their road record…a WHL-record tying 28 wins during the regular season!

       “We knew it was going to be a long, tough battle against a real good team,” said Molleken, “It’s a situation now that it is a new season and we’re hoping that our success on the road during the regular season will carry over into the playoffs.”

       I said before the series started that I thought this set would see the first two games split in Saskatoon and the next two games in Lethbridge also being split…meaning a 2-2 series coming back for Game 5 Saturday at Credit Union Centre.

       We’ll see how good of a prognosticator I am come Thursday morning.

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       Juha Metsola was in full gear, taking shots this morning, as the Lethbridge Hurricanes went through an optional practice at Credit Union Centre ahead of tonight's opening game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final series with the Saskatoon Blades. While G-M Roy Stasiuk said yesterday that the 19-year-old Finn likely wouldn't play tonight, methinks this has "Game-Time Decision" written all over it.

       Just one question, if Metsola does, indeed, have a concussion...does he not have to sit out at least one full week in accordance with W-H-L rules? If so, he'd be out for tonight and tomorrow's second game, but only the 'Canes can answer the concussion question with regards to Metsola. Now that it's playoffs, that's highly unlikely to happen. Plus, only the league can clarify that rules from the regular season carry on into the playoffs!

       This will be the fourth post-season match-up between the Blades and 'Canes begins at Credit Union Centre. Saskatoon has won two of the previous three playoff sets...11 wins to five overall.

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       Courtesy of the WHL media site…here’s all the numbers you could ever hope to take in with regards to the match-up…

How the 2 teams match up

Saskatoon Blades

 

Lethbridge Hurricanes

 

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       In the grand scheme of life…and hockey…it won’t, as an event, rival Paul Henderson’s goal that gave Canada the 1972 “Summit Series” over the Soviet Union.

       However, if you’ve followed the highs and lows of the Saskatoon Blades in the last 15 years (during which there have been mostly lows), you may be able to tell the story in another 15 years, with suitable gusto, as to where you were and what you were doing when Stefan Elliott scored with 6.4 seconds remaining in the third period of last Friday’s 5-4 shootout loss in Prince Albert…the goal that clinched a first place finish in the East Division for the Bridge City Bunch for the first time since 1994.

       “There’s no question…I was a little concerned with seven seconds left…with six seconds left, I felt pretty darned good that we had got the point and got that thing clinched,” beamed Blades’ president Jack Brodsky when talking about the roller coaster of emotions he felt while watching at Art Hauser Centre that night. “It’s been something we’ve been facing for weeks, talking about what our ‘Magic Number’ was, and it did feel pretty darned good to get that done and I’m really proud of our guys and the way they played in the last part of the game to make that happen…and just the job that everyone has done all year long!”

       That “Magic Number” sat at three points going into the final week of the regular season…and was still three points after Saskatoon dropped a 4-3 decision in Moose Jaw on Tuesday. However, Swift Current did the Blades a huge favour on Wednesday by doubling Saskatoon’s dogged pursuer for the East Division banner throughout the second half of the season, the Wheat Kings in Brandon 4-2. It was the Broncos’ first win in eight meetings against the Wheaties this season, leaving Saskatoon needing just the one point in the standings…which they got courtesy of Elliott’s dramatics!

       As it turned out, even if Brandon had beaten Swift Current, the Blades would’ve still won the division, thanks to their season-ending 5-4 triumph over the Raiders on Saturday at Credit Union Centre. The Bridge City Bunch ended up with a 49-18-3-2 record for 103 points, easily qualifying them for the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

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       Bring on the Hurricanes! Saskatoon will meet Lethbridge in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final series, opening Friday at Credit Union Centre. The ‘Canes are the defending Eastern Conference champions and finished seventh in the Eastern Conference this season with a record of 35-32-3-2. Here's how the entire series schedule looks...The Blades have all hands on deck for the post-season…no injuries. Defenceman Teigan Zahn will return to the line-up for Game 1 after missing the final eight games of the regular season with a hand injury while goaltender Adam Morrison suited up as the back-up Friday in Prince Albert and was between the pipes Saturday at home against the Raiders. In the end, Saskatoon finished with 87 man-games lost to injury or illness during the regular season. I'll hope to post more of a preview before Friday.

Blades Player-of-the-Week: It may have been his only scoring point for the week, but sophomore defenceman Stefan Elliott’s pennant-clinching goal in P.A. on Friday, March 13 will forever be remembered in Blades’ franchise history. The 18-year-old North Vancouver, B.C. product had a solid campaign with 16 goals and 39 assists for 55 points…tied for the sixth most by a WHL blueliner and sixth most on the Saskatoon roster.

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