Blades 6 Pats 2

The Blades found themselves lacking against the Pats this season, falling behind in the season series 2 games to 1. Saskatoon worked hard tonight to bring up those stats with a 6-2 win and a now even versus the Pats as they look forward to two more regular season games with the Queen City.

Right off the hop Teigan Zahn and Shayne Neigum set the pace for the first period; 15 seconds in they dropped gloves for the first of two battles tonight. Following that the two Blades imports, Marek Viedensky and Matej Stransky, scored 24 seconds apart. Jake Trask notched another goal for Saskatoon and the Blades went into the dressing room with a 3-point lead, outshooting the Pats 23-11 in the first.

Point-leader in the Blades-Pats series, Jordan Weal, put the visiting team on the board at 13:16 of the second period. Duncan Siemens scored on the powerplay and one minute later Curtis Hamilton picked up his 17th goal of the season as Schenn received his third assist of the night. Stanford made another 11 saves, including some impressive acrobatics as he stacked the pads and kicked away a sure thing.

Mid-way through the third period Neigum was given credit for a Pats goal, after a shot that rebounded from a save by Stanford was pushed in by Siemens as he uncontrollably slid into the net. Trask continued to rack up the points with another Blades goal to top off the night and the home team dominated 6-2.

The Blades continue their 5-game homes stand on Saturday when they take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes at 7:05 in Credit Union Centre.

(courtesy SaskatoonBlades.om)
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

On the air tonight!

I'm back! I'll be in the booth tonight working alongside Dan Plaster for the Pats and Blades tonight from CUC.

I'll be on the Pats broadcast which begins at 6:35pm with the Press Box Sports Bar pre-game show and puck drop at 7:05pm on 620 CKRM and online at www.620ckrm.com.

Talk to you then!

Blades game day: vs Regina

(courtesy SaskatoonBlades.com)

Tonight’s game is the fourth of six regular season meetings between the Saskatoon Blades (39-10-0-2) and the Regina Pats (18-25-6-1). Despite their wide gap in points and positioning in the Eastern Conference, the Pats have beaten the Blades in 2 of the 3 previous meetings this season, including a 4-3 Shoot-out win over Saskatoon in the last meeting back on Jan 13^th in Regina. That night the Pats jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead and then relied on goaltender Matt Hewitt to secure them the win as he was forced to make 59 saves on 62 shots in order to pick up the “W”.

The Blades are lead offensively against the Pats by Marek Viedensky who has collected five points (3G 2A) in the three games vs. Regina this year. After Viedensky; Stefan Elliott (1G 2A), Curtis Hamilton (1G 2A), and Josh Nicholls (3A) round out the top 4 scorers against the Rebels. For the Pats; Jordan Weal has 6 points (4G 2A) vs. the Blades this season.

Blades Last Game

The Saskatoon Blades won a wild-scoring and wildly-entertaining contest Tuesday…out-scoring the Red Deer Rebels 7-5 in front of 5,184 fans at Credit Union Centre. The top two teams in the Eastern Conference squared off in a see-saw struggle that included a couple of first period fights while scoring goals from all lengths and angles off beleaguered netminders Steven Stanford of the Blades and Darcy Kuemper of Red Deer. Brayden Schenn scored twice, including a power play goal 58 seconds into the third period that broke a 3-3 tie. Josh Nicholls followed that up 16 seconds later and the Bridge City Bunch would not be caught the rest of the way in winning their sixth straight game and ending the Rebels’ 11-game winning streak. Darian Dziurzynski, Dalton Thrower, Chris Collins and Jake Trask also tallied for the 39-10-2 Blades who, with 80 points, now lead the Eastern Conference by five points over Red Deer. Saskatoon also holds two games in hand.

Blades Banter

- King Size Match-up – tonight’s game will be of interest to the LA Kings who will have 2009 first round pick Brayden Schenn and 2010 third round pick Jordan Weal facing off against each other for the first time this season. Weal and Schenn finished 3^rd and 4^th respectively in WHL scoring last season giving the Kings a tremendous pair of prospects for the future of their club. Weal is currently ranked 9^th in the league in scoring this year with 63 points and Schenn is putting up an average of 1.875 points a game which is tops in the WHL this season.

- Last Wednesday, the CHL announced their week 18 Top 10 rankings which are voted upon by a panel of NHL Scouts. This week’s rankings have the Blades ranked 3^rd in the CHL behind the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Mississauga St. Mike’s Majors.

By The Numbers

- Brayden Schenn’s 2^nd goal last night was the 100^th regular season goal of his WHL career. The 19 year old LA Kings prospect has 273 points in 203 career games. Since joining the Blades, Schenn has been held off the score sheet just once and has 11 points (5G 6A) in 6 games played.

- The Saskatoon Blades enter tonight’s game on a season high six game winning streak. During that time, the Blades have outscored their opponents 33 to 17. The Blades PP has also seen a dramatic turnaround and has been clicking at a 31.0% success rate over the last 6 games (9 for 29).

- With 63 points, Josh Nicholls has moved into a 10^th place tie for scoring in the WHL. The 18 year old Toronto Maple Leaf prospect, who will be playing in his 185^th career game tonight, also leads the Blades in goals scored (25) and power-play goals scored (7).

- Stefan Elliott was a +2 in last night’s 7-5 win over Red Deer which raised his season total to an impressive +40 mark. Elliott is ranked 2^nd in the league in +/- this season behind only Brendon Kichton of the Spokane Chiefs.

Blades 7 Rebels 5

The final regular season meeting between the top two teams in the Western Hockey League was a back and forth struggle. In the end it was a physical battle en route to the Blades 7-5 win and 3-1 domination of the season series against the Rebels.

The first period between the two rivals lived up to the expected intensity level. Darian Dziurzynski opened up the scoring, with a short-handed slap shot from the Blades’ side of centre ice that beat goaltender, Darcy Keumper. 23 second later, the Rebels’ Andrej Kudrna put a PP goal in from the mouth of the Blades’ net. Schenn scored directly before back-to-back scraps took place off the next two face-offs. The fights featured Dziurzynski taking on Josh Cowen and Lukas Sutter battling the Rebels’ Locke Muller. Ness evened up the score to finish off the eventful period at 2-2.

In the second, top prospect, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, scored to give the Rebels their first and only lead of the night. Saskatoon D-man, Dalton Thrower, picked the right time to score his sixth goal of the season; he tied the game at 3-3. The Rebels had an opportunity with a 2-man advantage in the final minutes of the period but couldn’t get past goaltender, Steven Stanford.

The Blades jumped out to a 2-point lead at the beginning of the third with Schenn scoring his second goal of the night and Josh Nicholls chipping in with one 16 seconds apart. Colin Archer closed in the gap with another Rebels goal. The back-and-forth continued as Chris Collins scored his 15^th goal of the season, followed by Daulton Siwak for the Rebels. Still one point behind in the last minute, the Rebels pulled their netminder, Kuemper, and Jake Trask found the open net to put the game on ice. The Blades outshot the Rebels 37-23 and beat the top contender 7-5.

The Blades play the Regina Pats tomorrow night at home in the CUC, puck drops at 7:05.

Huskies move up in CIS Top 10

MEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. UNB (19-4-0) / 179 pts (17) / (1)
2. McGill (22-1-2) / 143 (1) / (2)
3. Western Ontario (19-1-4) / 135 / (3)
4. Alberta (13-5-2) / 124 / (4)
5. Saskatchewan (13-7-0) / 98 / (7)
6. Saint Mary's (14-9-1) / 97 / (5)
7. StFX (14-9-1) / 77 / (NR)
8. UPEI (12-8-3) / 45 / (6)
9. Manitoba (11-5-4) / 43 / (8)
10. Nipissing (16-7-3) / 12 / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Carleton (11), Calgary (10), Wilfrid Laurier (7), Acadia (3), Lakehead (3), UQTR (3).

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Other Huskie Top 10 notes:

- Men's basketball remains steady at #3 while women's basketball received every first place vote to remain at #1.

- Women's track and field is at #7 for another week while the men's team moved into #7 after previously being ranked 10th.

- The women's hockey team remains outside the top 10 again this week.

SJHL RBC January players of the month

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Braeden Adamyk (Kindersley)

The Klippers have made a race of it in the Sherwood Conference thanks to great play from several players including Adamyk. The 20 year old from Neepawa, Manitoba had 13 goals and 12 assists in 14 games this month as Kindersley made a statement as to where they want to be at the end of the season.

HONORABLE MENTION: Johnny Calkins (Kindersley), Travis Eggum (La Ronge), Jesse Mireau (Melfort)

DEFENCEMAN OF THE MONTH – Josh Roach (Humboldt)

The 1992 born defenceman from Saskatoon saw a lot of former teammates go this year as the Broncos start building a team for the 2012 RBC. One player that didn’t have to worry about going anywhere because he is a keystone to the Humboldt future is Roach. His play has drawn the attention of many scouts and he didn’t disappoint those scouts during January by showcasing his complete skills.

HONORABLE MENTION: Kurt Leedahl (Kindersley), Cody Folstad (Battlefords), James Howden ( Notre Dame)

GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH – Russell Abbott (Notre Dame)

The 1991 born goaltender from Mill Bay, B-C is keeping the Hounds in the playoff chase. Abbott had a spectacular month of January in which he went 6-3-1 while posting a goals against average of 2.14 and a save percentage of .933 with a shutout. His play is one reason why Notre Dame is chasing Melville right to the end for the last playoff spot in the Sherwood Conference.

HONORABLE MENTION: Charles Corsi (Melfort), Sean Cahill (Kindersley)

ROOKIE OF THE MONTH – Eli Lichtenwald (Nipawin)

It hasn’t been a great year for the Hawks, but head coach Doug Johnson has a talented group of rookies including the 1992 born forward from Saskatoon. Lichtenwald has seen increased ice time in January with the trades of players like Matthew Spafford and Jonathan Ceci. He answered the bell by providing quality minutes and registering nine points in 11 games.

Monday morning water cooler

Good morning and welcome to the final day of January. How was the first month of 2011 for you? The the month started off great ringing in the new year and here's hoping that it ends well today.

The weekend was fantastic and this should be a pretty fast paced week with tons going on so let's get to this morning's column.

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The Huskie men's hockey team may be the best team in Canada West.

With the Alberta Golden Bears having a so-so start to 2011 there were questions going around that maybe they weren't the top dogs in the CWUAA. Some were saying that the title of best in the west belonged to either Calgary or Saskatchewan. Last week you could have said that Calgary had the inside track after their sweep of Alberta but I don't think too many people are humming that tune this morning.

The Huskies dominated the scoreboard at Rutherford this weekend beating the Dinos 6-3 on Friday night at 3-0 on Saturday to move into a tie for second place and just two points back of the Bears.

A couple of notes for the Huskies:

- five on five they were dominate and didn't allow a single goal against. All three Calgary goals came on the power play while the Huskies added a pair of shorthanded goals on Friday night.

- Huskies goaltender Ryan Holfeld posted his first CW shutout on Saturday night and in 5 games has a 4-1 record with a 1.59 GAA and a sparkling .944 sv %.

- Kyle Bortis was held of the score sheet Saturday night bringing his league leading 6 game point streak to a halt. Bortis put up 13 points (9g 4a) during the streak and now is averaging a point a game on the season.

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The Huskies are tied with the Manitoba Bisons for second place in Canada West. The Bisons picked up just 2 points against the Regina Cougars and failed to take advantage of the opportunity to pull even with Alberta.

Calgary is now just two points up on both Lethbridge and UBC for the fourth and final playoff spot after the Pronghorns swept the UBC Thunderbirds.

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The defenses were hung out to dry on Sunday in both the NHL All-Star game and the Pro Bowl.

Team Lidstrom and Team Stall put on an offensive show scoring 21 goals between them in a 11-10 win for team Lidstrom while over in Hawaii MVP DeAngelo Hall and the NFC earned a 55-41 win over the AFC.

Patrick Sharp was named NHL All-Star MVP.

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Here's some old school fun Global's Kevin Jesus pointed out to us on Twitter:

@GlobalJesus: Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Apparently Facebook.... and joining her? OREGON TRAIL!!!!

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My Tennessee Titans have decided to say goodbye to longtime coach Jeff Fisher. The Titans and Fisher decided to go their separate ways this past week and it has me starting to think of possible replacements. I'm a Jon Gruden fan and I'm not sure what his contract status is but I'd support him in Tennessee.

The Titans have also said that they plan to trade QB Vince Young. They'll have a small window once a new CBA is signed to trade him before a big bonus kicks in. I like Young and part of me still hopes he's in Tennessee next year but I can't see it.

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Speaking of the NFL, who do you like in the Super Bowl this Sunday? I like what the Packers have done with their opportunity but my money is on the Steelers.

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In a CBC-NHLPA poll of 318 players, Ron Wilson was the overwhelming choice a coach you would least like to play for. To be fair, not many people liked playing for Scotty Bowman but look at what he accomplished.

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Here's a question from sports humor columnist Cam Hutchinson:

If forced, which one would you give up: 1 smartphone; 2 family; 3 laptop; 4 television; 5 vehicle?

It makes you think. A person could likely go without TV because you can get everything on the computer now anyway. If you give up the laptop can you still have an i pad?

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Here's a shot of the TSN crew doing a little tail-gating before the NHL All-Star game in North Carolina.

The shot was posted by Ryan Rishaug (pictured from L to R with Brent Wallace and Darren Dreger).

The best part about social media like Twitter is getting to see TV personalities when the camera isn't rolling.



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Fans trying to watch the NHL All-Star game took to social media sites and message boards when the game was delayed due to an extra end in curling.

CBC missed the player introductions as well as the anthems while it stayed for the finish of the curling game.

This brings up a couple interesting observations and thoughts that I have on the subject:

- First, there is apparently going to be a bidding war happening in the near future for NHL rights in Canada including Hockey Night in Canada and I can't imagine that the NHL is too impressed with the CBC missing the beginning of the All-Star game.

- Secondly, I do understand what the CBC was doing. Would they cut away from the finish to an overtime game between, lets say, Calgary and Edmonton for other programming?

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Do you think Phil Mickelson is a good guy? I did but apparently his peers on the PGA tour call him FIGJAM... F--- I'm Good Just Ask Me.

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More Cam Hutchinson via Twitter:

@camhutchinson

Parking for the Super Bowl will cost up to $900 ... how can Jerry Jones charge that and keep a straight face? #superbowl #nfl #cowboys

@camhutchinson

the dirtiest things we touch in a day: 1. desk; 2. kitchen sponge; 3. cell phone; 4. makeup; 5. handbag ... 6. lady gaga ... #yxe #ladygaga

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Congrats to Amber Holland and her rink for winning the Saskatchewan Scotties yesterday in Outlook. Holland becomes the first team from SK to win back to back provincial titles since Sherry Anderson in '94-'95.

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That's all for this morning. Have a great week!

dd

Huskies game night: vs Calgary

SASKATOON -- The Saskatchewan Huskies hit the ice tonight after a 13 day layoff which saw them fall from 2nd in Canada West into a tie for 4th with UBC.

The Huskies will welcome the surging Calgary Dinos into Rutherford tonight who are coming off a weekend sweep of the league leading Alberta Golden Bears.

I'll be taking in this one from Rutherford tonight and will provide updates via Twitter for you so you can follow along with the game at Twitter.com/DarrenDupont.

Here's tonight's game story courtesy of this morning's Star Phoenix:

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Walker Wintoneak and Derek Hulak won't be feeding each other the puck this weekend as they were accustomed to doing with the Saskatoon Blades.

Trash talk is likely another story. Been there, done that.

Just for old time's sake, Chris Durand, Ryan Funk and Michael Kaye -other former Blades on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies hockey team -will add their tuition's worth when Wintoneak comes to town tonight as the newest member of the Calgary Dinos.

"It'll be interesting," said Wintoneak. "It'll be an ex-Blades alumni game pretty much. It'll be fun.

"I've been talking to Hulak throughout most of the year. We talk back and forth. No (trash) yet, but there definitely will be -both ways."

Saskatchewan (11-7-0) plays host to Calgary (11-6-2) in a Canada West conference series. Game time is 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday at Rutherford Rink.

Despite playing just five games since joining the Dinos after Christmas, Wintoneak has four goals and five assists for nine points.

"I'm doing OK," he said of his instant success in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. "I just had help from playing down south in the Central League. I was on the ice for pretty much all of December. The (CIS) guys were off since the end of November. The extra three weeks helped."

Hulak has one goal and two assists for three points in four games since joining the Dogs at Christmas.

"It's going to be a little different," Hulak said when asked about playing against his former Blades linemate. "We did it a little bit in the Central League, but it's always weird when you play against somebody you used to play with. You think about it after the game or a little bit during the day, but come game time, you're playing another team and you've got no friends on the ice.

"He's definitely a guy we've got to key on. He's a tremendous player. He's always been underrated. I had the privilege of not only playing with him, but also on the same line as him. I've got nothing but great things to say about the guy. He's a great guy, one of my best friends, and he's a heck of a hockey player."

Both players were toiling in minor pro this season, but neither had an American Hockey League contract and the financial security that goes with it. So they elected to make use of the generous Western Hockey League scholarship program at the CIS level.

Wintoneak, a native of Thunder Bay, Ont., chose Calgary over both his former hometown and his more recent town, Saskatoon.

"Lakehead (University in Thunder Bay) was interested because, obviously, I'm from there; I was thinking about Saskatoon since I had been playing junior there," said Wintoneak. "But I've got a lot of friends out (in Calgary). I like the program. They've got Cory Cross and Brad Isbister as assistant coaches and with their help and (head coach) Mark (Howell) just wanted to let

me know that this wasn't the end of my career, that you can always move on. I thought they'd maybe be the best for me to move on to the next level after my (CIS) career is done."

Howell says Wintoneak's addition has been huge, as has Aaron Richards, a former Dinos captain who has been cleared to play the second half.

"It's added a lot of depth," Howell said. "We had the (Reid) Jorgensen line with (Brock) Nixon and (Torrie) Wheat to start the year. I think teams could really key on those guys. This gives us two (scoring lines), but our third line has more opportunities to generate offence, too."

While a two-game sweep of league leading Alberta Golden Bears was big for Calgary last weekend, this weekend "could be just as big or even more because if we don't keep it up, last weekend becomes a waste pretty fast," said Wintoneak.

"UBC is right on everybody's tails, trying to get in. Same with Lethbridge. This weekend will be pretty big for both teams."

Funk, a rookie defenceman with the U of S, relishes the chance to play against an old teammate.

"I haven't talked to (Wintoneak) and I'm not sure if Derek has, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has," said Funk. "It'll be interesting. It'll be fun.

"That's the great thing about hockey. You can be great friends off the ice, but on the ice you have that respect for each other, but you still battle hard against each other."

Said Hulak: "It's a huge weekend. We all realize that. We just want to accept whatever roles we have and do whatever we can to help the team win."

For Wintoneak, this won't be his first time at Rutherford.

"I went last year actually to watch a game," he said.

Probably with Hulak.

CANADA GETS WIN

Canada opened with a 2-1 shootout victory over Finland on Thursday at the Winter Universiade women's hockey competition in Erzurum, Turkey.

Finland scored first and held the lead until Marieve Provost of the University of Moncton scored with one minute and 29 seconds to play in the third period. In the shootout, University of Western Ontario's Ellie Seedhouse scored on Canada's fifth attempt.

Breanne George of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies is playing with Canada.

Canada plays Slovakia today.

dzary@thestarphoenix.com

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

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See you at the rink tonight!

Blackhawks/Oilers to invade Bridge City

The Credit Union Centre and Saskatoon Blades in association with The Chicago Blackhawks are pleased to announce that Chicago will host one of their pre-season home games in Saskatoon on September 20, 2011 at 7:00 pm. The exhibition game will be against the Edmonton Oilers

This year’s game will feature the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions, Chicago Blackhawks, against the young, exciting Edmonton Oilers. Chicago’s visit will mark the first appearance of a regular six team to Saskatoon.

“The Edmonton Oilers look forward to returning to Saskatoon for a match-up against Chicago,” said Steve Tambellini, the General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers. “ We know we have a lot of Oiler fans in Saskatchewan and are excited to play Chicago in Saskatoon.” Both teams expressed how excited they are to bring the game to Saskatoon, a city so passionate about hockey.

Hockey operations staff from both teams spoke at the press conference this afternoon via conference call. Including, Steve Tambellini, Edmonton Oilers General Manager, and Kevin Cheveldayoff, Assistant General Manager of the Chicago Blackhawks. Cheveldayoff explained that he has already been approached by players with roots in the Western Hockey League that stated they are definitely playing in this exhibition game.

Tickets will go on sale this week, with the first pre-sale going to Saskatoon Blades season ticket holders tomorrow, January 27th. After which, tickets will be opened up to all other pre-sale outlets, including the Blades E-blast. To sign up and get your pre-sale information go to www.saskatoonblades.com/page/enews. Pre-sale tickets include a ticket to the Blades home-opener in September.

The general public can purchase tickets on February 4, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. Ticket prices are $37.50 to $97.50 (plus service charges) and are available through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.ca and by calling (306) 938-7800 or 1-800-970-7328.

Huskies fall one spot in bye week

CIS MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. UNB (17-4-0) / 178 pts (16) / (1)
2. McGill (21-0-2) / 156 (2) / (2)
3. Western Ontario (17-1-4) / 130 / (4)
4. Alberta (13-5-2) / 126 / (3)
5. Saint Mary’s (13-7-1) / 104 / (5)
6. UPEI (12-6-3) / 82 / (7)
7. Saskatchewan (11-7-0) / 60 / (6) *
8. Manitoba (10-4-4) / 60 / (8) *
9. Calgary (11-6-2) / 34 / (NR)
10. Lakehead (14-7-1) / 21 / (10)

* Saskatchewan was awarded the higher ranking over Manitoba based on number of higher-placed votes. Other teams receiving votes: Acadia (13), StFX (12), UQTR (10), Nipissing (3), Carleton (1).