Blades Head To Edmonton For Battle With Oil Kings
The Saskatoon Blades play their third game in three days this weekend as they travel to Edmonton to meet the Oil Kings. The game marks the third meeting of the season between these teams this year.
Last Game Recap
The Saskatoon Blades dropped a 3-2 decision last night on home ice to the Kamloops Blazers, seeing their losing streak slide to 9 games. The Blades opened the scoring in the game, with Nathan Burns netting his 15th of the season at 9:36 of the first period on the powerplay. Kamloops scored the next two before Nolan Reid netted his first career WHL goal in the third period to tie the game up at two. In the end, a Carson Bolduc shot deflected off a Blades defenceman and in at 8:19 of the third, with that goal standing up as the winner. Taran Kozun took home first star honours, making 38 saves in net for the Blazers. Troy Trombley was beaten 3 times on 41 shots in the Blades goal.
2013-14 Season Series
Tonight’s game marks the third of four regular season meetings between the Blades and Oil Kings in 2013-14. It also marks the first time that these teams will have met in Edmonton. The Blades hold a 1-1-0-0 record against Edmonton this season, with the final meeting between these teams going on March 2nd, 2014.
October 5th – Oil Kings 3 Blades 5 – Graeme Craig scored twice in the final 7:01 while Troy Trombley had 37 saves in goal
December 10th – Oil Kings 3 Blades 1 – Nikita Scherbak had the lone Blades goa; Troy Trombley had 46 saves in goal
Making An Impact
Saskatoon Blades defensive prospect Nolan Reid made a big impact during his short two-game stint with the team this weekend. The 15 year old Deer Valley, Saskatchewan product netted his first career WHL goal last night against Kamloops after picking up an assist in his first career WHL game the night before against Regina. Reid was the Blades first selection, 41st overall, in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft. Reid is spending the 2013-14 season playing Midget-AAA with the Notre Dame Argos and is currently the highest scoring defenceman in the Saskatchewan Midget-AAA Hockey League with 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 23 games.
Scherbak And Nogier Make Top Prospects Game
The Blades will be represented at the 2014 CHL/NHL Top Prospects game in Calgary in January as it was announced that Nikita Scherbak and Nelson Nogier have been selected to play in the prestigious event. Nogier is currently in his second WHL season, putting up 6 points, 20 PIMs and an even plus-minus rating in 35 games this season. Scherbak is a WHL rookie, leading that league-category in scoring while putting up 20 goals and 46 points in 34 games. Both players were previously listed by NHL Central Scouting, Scherbak as an ‘A’ skater and Nogier as a ‘B’ skater for the 2014 NHL Draft.
Upcoming Schedule
Saskatoon Blades @ Prince Albert Raiders – December 27th
Prince Albert Raiders @ Saskatoon Blades – December 28th
Swift Current Broncos @ Saskatoon Blades – January 1st
Injury List – 42 man games lost to injury
Logan Harland – Upper Body
Brett Stovin – Lower Body
The puck drop goes tonight at 4:00PM local time in Edmonton, 5:00PM Saskatchewan time. If you can’t watch the game live and in person, you can see it on WHL Live, listen along on 92.9 The Bull or follow @bladeshockey on Twitter for all the updates.
Following the game, the Blades will head back to Saskatoon for their final game before the Christmas break. The Blades play host to the Kelowna Rockets on Tuesday, December 17th. The Blades have a special ticket offer that night as kid’s get into the game for only $5! You can go ahead and get tickets for that game here.