GAME 12 PREVIEW | Saskatoon Blades at Calgary Hitmen – Oct. 25, 2026
Blades hit midway point of Alberta road trip in first meeting against Hitmen
The Saskatoon Blades (6-4-1-0) visit the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday for a 4:00 p.m. MT start against the Calgary Hitmen (7-5-0-0)
Tonight’s contest is the second game of three on Saskatoon’s Albert road trip. The Bridge City Bunch dropped the opening game of the swing 3-2 to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday at Rogers Place.
“Some defensive lapses that cost us,” said Blades Head Coach Dan DaSilva. “At the end of the day, that’s the tale of the tape. That’s the story of the game. It doesn’t matter at the end of the day if you play a perfect game, if you give up those looks, it’s not going to help you. So, we’ve got to be better defensively.”
Saskatoon’s 1-3-1-0 on the road this season and 0-2-0-0 against Central Division teams. Tonight’s the first of four meetings between the Blades and Hitmen this season. Saskatoon went 2-2-0-0 against Calgary last year and were outscored 7-14.
Discipline has been a strength for the Blue and Gold the past two games. The Blades were only short-handed once in Friday’s contest and didn’t commit a single infraction the game prior on Wednesday at home against the Everett Silvertips.
It’s a homecoming game for four Blades; 19-year-old captain Brayden Klimpke, 18-year-old alternate captain Cooper Williams, 2007-born forward Hayden Harsanyi, and 16-year-old goaltender Max Hartel. Tonight’s also the first of two final regular season visits ever in the Scotiabank Saddledome’s farewell season.
Standings
The Good Guys
Williams is on a three-game point streak (2G, 1A) after scoring the opening goal versus Edmonton. The Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick is tied for the team-lead in goals at six alongside forwards Hunter Laing and Kazden Mathies. Williams is also tied for the team-lead in scoring with 15 points in 11 games alongside Mathies and captain Brayden Klimpke.
20-year-old defenceman Tyrone Sobry scored his first goal of the season on Friday to tie the game against Edmonton midway through the third period. The Saskatoon product has a goal and three assists in 11 games this season.
Mathies enters tonight on a team-high six-game point streak (3G, 7A). The Martensville, SK product recorded a helper on Williams’ opening goal of the game in Edmonton. Mathies is scoring at 1.36 points per game, nearly a whole point higher than his career-high last season of 0.54 points per game.
The Opposition
The Hitmen are the reigning WHL In-Season Cup Holders after a 5-2 victory last night against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Calgary forward Carter Sanderson leads the Western Hockey League (WHL) in goals with 14 ten games.
