Blades’ MasterCard Memorial Cup Season Underway
To say it’s a big year for the Saskatoon Blades is an understatement. After all, the opportunity to host the MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament doesn’t exactly come around all that often.
The City of Saskatoon was selected to host the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament, meaning the Blades, who just began their 47th season in the Western Hockey League, already know they will be there for the Canadian Hockey League’s marquee event in May 2013.
It’s the second time the City of Saskatoon has been awarded the right to host the tournament, having hosted in 1989.
“Obviously, it’s a pretty unbelievable opportunity,” said Blades’ forward Lukas Sutter, whose father, Rich Sutter, won a WHL Championship with the Lethbridge Broncos in 1983 and went on to a lengthy NHL career. “To know that you’ll have the opportunity to play in the tournament is something we all dream of.”
Though the Blades already know they will be there when the tournament starts, the goal for any tournament host team is not to get there by simply being the host team, but to earn their berth by winning the League championship.
Putting together a squad capable of capturing a WHL championship has been the goal of Blades’ head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken right from the get-go. Already boasting a veteran lineup who had established themselves as one of the WHL’s elite teams over the last two seasons, Molleken has added a few notable pieces in hopes of strengthening the Club to compete with the WHL’s titans.
“We are looking good,” said 19-year-old defenceman Dalton Thrower, who leads a strong defence corps featuring Colorado Avalanche first-round draft pick Duncan Siemens, solid veterans Darren Dietz and Connor Cox, and defensive shutdown man Matt Pufahl.
“I think we have a really strong top-six defencemen on the team, and our offense is very good too with our top six forwards.
“Obviously, we have some things to work on, but I think once we get ourselves together and gel as a team, we will be a very strong club this season,” said Thrower, himself a second-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens.
Goaltending won’t be a problem for the Blades. 19-year-old Russian netminder Andrey Makarov, who just recently signed with the Buffalo Sabres, has proven more than capable of providing top-level goaltending.
Up front, the likes of Sutter – a feisty Winnipeg Jets prospect – veterans Josh Nicholls, Matej Stransky, and Brent Benson have been there in each of the last two seasons in which the Blades posted a combined 96 wins. Joining them are veterans Shane McColgan, a former Kelowna Rocket, and Brenden Walker, a former Brandon Wheat King, who have both proven their ability to put up numbers in the WHL and who both have experience at previous MasterCard Memorial Cup tournaments.
“We got a couple guys with some Memorial Cup experience in McColgan and Walker, and they are both tremendous players,” said Sutter, who is coming off a 28-goal campaign last season. “Having that kind of experience at your disposal is invaluable and only makes you better.
“You look at our top defencemen, and they are as good as any in the WHL, and our core group of forwards has been together for a few years, so we’ve been able to grow together,” he added.
The Blades kicked off their Memorial Cup season splitting a home-and-home series versus the improved Prince Albert Raiders. The Raiders will be just one of many teams in the WHL looking to take a bite out of the Memorial Cup hosts. As good as they look on paper, the Blades know the season will be long and not without challenges. To get to the Memorial Cup tournament through the ‘front door’, as WHL champions, the Blades will need to beat some very stiff competition, such as the defending WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings, who are once again top contenders.
“We are going to have a target on our back all year,” said Thrower. “We all know that we will be a strong team this season, and we know that other teams will try and knock us down, whether it’s on the road or in our own building.
“As for the Oil Kings, we all know they are a good team and the defending champs but, at the end of the day, we have to be better than them if we are going to get where we want to go,” he said.
Hosting a Memorial Cup tournament naturally brings more pressure. While the Saskatoon Memorial Cup tournament organizing committee has its hands full preparing to host the junior hockey world and put on a memorable event for the community, the Blades have the pressure of living up to the expectation of being a top team capable of playing with the CHL’s best.
Both Sutter and Thrower insist the team has its focus not on what awaits them in May, but on their day-to-day tasks.
“Just take things one step at a time,” said Thrower. “We know it’s going to be a very long season, but our main priority is going to be winning our next game, and taking it one game at a time.”
For more on the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup, visit www.mastercardmemorialcup.ca