McSweeney’s WHL Community Collective: Saskatoon Blades
The Western Hockey League strives to promote and foster a welcoming environment in communities close to our 23 teams in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Each club has the creative freedom to allow its players and staff to work with the organizations and groups that they are most passionate about. The end goal is to create and maintain long-lasting relationships and ongoing partnerships within their community.
Through the McSweeney’s WHL Community Collective, we aim to highlight these outstanding initiatives done by each club throughout the season.
Saskatoon, Sask.- Zach Olsen is trying his best to keep the external noise to a minimum.
It’s easy to go down a rabbit hole of rankings, scouting reports and social media comments in your NHL Draft year.
Nearly a dozen NHL squads have already been in contact with the upstart Saskatoon Blades winger, who, for the record, is ranked 43rd among all North American skaters.
Still, the 17-year-old is brimming with anticipation as he continues a career-best season, posting 26 points (13G-13A) in 49 contests and looking to Blades teammates who have been through the same process for guidance.
“A guy like Evan (Gardner) definitely comes straight to mind,” Olsen said. “He went through pretty much the same journey me and Cooper (Williams) are going through right now. So I know we kind of lean towards him whenever we have questions and whenever we need advice.”
Gardner, a veteran netminder and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, is a mentor in more ways than one.
Olsen and Gardner both live with Type 1 diabetes.
“I got super, super sick,” Olsen recalled. He was diagnosed when he was in the second grade. “My parents noticed even weeks before that, that something was going on with me. I wasn’t acting like myself. I was drinking lots and lots of water, going to the bathroom a lot, and so one day, my mom decided that it’d be best if we take me to the Children’s Hospital. They ended up running some tests and found out that I have Type 1 diabetes. So it was definitely scary at first, kind of learning what diabetes is, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to play hockey.”
After some reassurance from doctors, Olsen charged through the hockey ranks, winning a CSSHL Championship with Calgary’s Edge School in 2023-2024 and being selected by the Blades in the second round of the 2023 WHL Draft.
Monitoring his health has simply blended into his daily regimen.
“It’s kind of just part of my routine,” Olsen shrugged. “Get up, check my blood sugar, if it’s high, then I have to do a little bit of insulin. And then for breakfast, take more insulin there, and then kind of just monitor it throughout the day.
Before and after games, I think, is when it affects me the most. I know before games, I try really hard to stay on top of my numbers so my blood sugar will be good going into the game. Usually, after games, your adrenaline is super high, so your blood sugar will usually be high after games. I don’t really want to do a full correction after, because then my blood sugar will just drop right down low. So kind of just balancing it like that.”
Gardner, 20, has been a strong advocate for diabetes awareness during his time in the Bridge City and raised $4,650 for Diabetes Saskatchewan last season by auctioning off a custom goalie mask.
This year, the pair teamed up with U9B Comets player Eva Houle to share their stories at Chief Whitecap School.
Ultimately, they hope the students learn more about the disease and understand that it doesn’t need to hold them back from their dreams.
“It was super special,” Olsen added. “I know when I was that little, I wasn’t as keen to share my story as she was, so it was definitely super cool to see how passionate she was about it and getting her story out there and teaching other people.
I hope it just inspires them. I know when I first got diagnosed, I was super scared. I didn’t know if I’d be able to play hockey. So I hope kids who are getting diagnosed, they can look at that and know that they won’t be stopped by diabetes.”
Olsen, along with teammates Cooper Williams and Brayden Klimpke, will represent the Blades at the upcoming WHL Prospects Game presented by Showpass.
In the meantime, the group will continue to march toward the WHL postseason in hopes of qualifying for a seventh consecutive year.
Saskatoon (25-21-3-1) sits third in the East Division and returns to action on Friday, February 6, when they visit the Regina Pats (16-24-5-1).
