GAME DAY PREVIEW: Blades look to carve out win at home vs ICE
Kootenay ICE (23-26-3-0) at Saskatoon Blades (25-25-2-1) |
Date | Time | Place | Tuesday, Feb. 6th | 7:00 p.m | SaskTel Centre |
Tickets | Click here |
Video Stream | WHL Live |
Radio | 92.9 The Bull FM | Pre-Game Show w/ Les Lazaruk @6:30pm |
Mobile App | Apple | Android |
Live Stats | Click Here |
Next Home Game | Saturday, February 10th, 7:00pm vs Prince Albert Raiders |
Social Media | @BladesHockey | Facebook | Instagram |
It’s Toonie Tuesday at SaskTel Centre! Buy one ticket and get the second for just $2.00! Also enjoy $2 pop and popcorn from the concession all night!
Tonight – The Saskatoon Blades will try and snap out of their 2 game slide and get back into the win column and back into a playoff spot. The Blades are currently tied with Prince Albert for 53pts, but the Raiders have 1 game in hand meaning they currently own the last wild-card spot. This is the 3rd meeting between the Blades and ICE this season with each team winning once. It’s also the first ever WHL meeting between the top 2 bantam draft picks from 2016; Peyton Krebs (1st overall, Kootenay) and Kirby Dach (2nd overall, Saskatoon).
The opponent – The ICE come into tonight’s game looking to snap a 3 game slide. It’s the first of a 4 game road trip through the East Division for Kootenay, who now sit just 6 points ahead of the Red Deer Rebels for 3rd in the Central Division. The ICE will also likely be without netminder Duncan McGovern who was assessed a match penalty in the 3rd period of a game on Saturday against Swift Current. As a result, Kootenay has called up 16-year-old Jesse Makaj, who was selected 23rd overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, 2 spots ahead of Nolan Maier.
For Saskatoon – The Blades have scored just 2 goals in their last 2 games, so they’ll need to break through offensively. This might start with being responsible without the puck and tightening up in the d-zone first. The Blades, like any team, are best when they dictate the pace… something they allowed their opponents to do in the last two games. As Mark Rubinchik said last week, “we can’t allow teams to come in here and take points, this is our house,”
The lineup – Once again the Blades have a mostly healthy roster to assemble tonight’s lineup. The best players in each of the last two games have been goaltenders Tyler Brown and Nolan Maier so either would be a good option for tonight. Friday night in Prince Albert saw a different looking top line as right-wingers Max Gerlach and Josh Paterson swapped spots but a different look could appear again tonight after a less than pleasing outcome against the Raiders.
Injury report:
F Caleb Fantillo – upper body, day-to-day
Download & view the full game notes: game notes vs KTN feb6