Blades keep rolling despite setback
By Aaron Bell
It’s pretty safe to say that the Saskatoon Blades let their guard down for 20 minutes. It’s a lesson that coach Lorne Molleken hopes won’t need to be repeated.
The Blades were riding an 18-game winning streak and led the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-0 after two periods. They looked like they had number 19 in the bag but the Warriors weren’t ready to surrender. They scored four straight – including a pair of powerplay goals – in a little under eight minutes and then capped the shocking win 45 seconds into overtime.
It was a pretty clear message that no one is going to give the Blades anything they don’t earn themselves.
“Sometimes throughout the course of the year, when you do take a step backwards, you learn from it,” Molleken told The Saskatoon StarPhoenix on Monday. “The lesson learned is you have to stay focused for 60 minutes, you have to compete for 60 minutes and, if not, you’re not going to win many hockey games.”
The Blades streak – which stretched from the end of January until Sunday – helped establish them as one of the top teams in the Canadian Hockey League. Win number 18 – a 4-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday was also Molleken’s 600th career victory. He became just the second coach in WHL history – following Ken Hodge – to reach that milestone.
Molleken is in his 13th season behind the Blades’ bench – he had a four-year tenure in the 1990’s and returned in 2004 after nine seasons in the AHL and NHL as well as one year with the Regina Pats.
“I’ve been real fortunate to have worked for such a great organization in Saskatoon for so many years,” said Molleken. “The faith that the Brodsky family, in particular Jack, has put in me to do what we think is necessary to be successful is something I can’t say thanks enough about.”
The Blades are the host team for the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup and when they started the season with just two wins in their first nine games, Molleken knew they had some work to do.
Since then, the Blades have blossomed into one of the top teams in the league and are fighting with the Calgary Hitmen for second place in the Eastern Conference.
“We’ve got a good group of young men here,” Molleken said. “This year has been one where in the first part we faced all kinds of adversity.
“There was some real, real long nights. Give them a lot of credit. They stuck with it and worked through it and have become a pretty good hockey club right now.”
The 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup is May 17-26 and can be seen across the country on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.