Game Day: Saskatoon vs. Prince Albert
SASKATOON BLADES vs. PRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS
Tonight’s game is the fourth of eight regular season meetings this year between the Saskatoon Blades (17-6-0-1) and the Prince Albert Raiders (9-14-2-2). The Blades have defeated the Raiders in 2 of the 3 previous meetings by scores of 3-2 on September 24th here in Saskatoon and 6-5 the following night in Prince Albert. Last night in P.A., the Raiders defeated Saskatoon by a score of 3-1.
Four different Blades share the team lead in points vs. the Raiders this season. Josh Nicholls (2G 1A), Marek Viedensky (2G 1A), Lukas Sutter (1G 2A), and Dalton Thrower (1G 2A) all have collected 3 points each in the 3 games played vs. P.A. Steven Stanford has picked up both wins vs. P.A. this year, posting a 3.50 GAA and a 90.8% save percentage in those games. For the Raiders, Brandon Herrod has been a Blade killer this season having collected 6 points (5G 1A) vs. Saskatoon already. 17 year old netminder Eric Williams has a 1-1 record vs. the Blades and has posted a 2.38 GAA and an impressive 94.5% save percentage in 75 minutes played vs. the Bridge City Bunch.
BLADES NEWS & NOTES
– Immediately following tonight’s game the Saskatoon Blades will board the bus and embark on their BC Division road swing. The 5 game trip, which is the Blades longest road trip of the season, will start Tuesday November 30th in Vancouver and conclude with a game in Prince George on December 7th.
– Stefan Elliott tied a franchise record on Tuesday night when he collected the game winning goal vs. Swift Current. Elliott is now tied with 2 other Blades (Dean Holoien and Lawrence Sacharuk) for career GWG by a defenseman with 12. Elliott, who is tied for 2nd in the league in goals by defenseman with 8, leads the entire WHL with 6 game winning goals this season.
– On Wednesday the Canadian Hockey League announced that the Saskatoon Blades have once again been ranked 6th overall in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week ten of the 2010-11 season. The weekly rankings of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.
By The Numbers
– Tuesday’s win over the Swift Current Broncos was the Saskatoon Blades 1500th win in their 47 year franchise history. The club now has an all-time record of: 1500 wins – 1476 losses – 209 ties – 32 Overtime losses – 18 shoot-out losses.
– Steven Stanford won his 10th game of the season this past Tuesday when the Blades defeated the Broncos 6-2. Stanford has posted an impressive 10-1 record this season and is ranked 6th in the league with a 2.62 GAA and 5th in the league with a 92.0% save percentage.
– Curtis Hamilton is tied for 10th overall in league scoring with 33 points. The 19 year old 2nd round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers has collected points in all but 7 games this year for the Blades and has collected 2 or more points in ten games this season.
– Home Sweet Home- The Blades currently hold the league’s best home record at 9-1-0-1. The Blades have outscored their opponents 48-31 on home ice. Curtis Hamilton leads the blades scoring charge at home with 10 of his 13 goals this season being scored at the Credit Union Centre.
