GAME DAY: Blades @ Raiders

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals Game #4 @ P.A. Raiders

Tonight’s game is Game #4 of the best-of-seven Quarter Final series between the Eastern Conference’s #1 ranked Saskatoon Blades and the #8 ranked Prince Albert Raiders.  The home teams have held court thus far in the series with the Blades winning game #1 and #2 in Saskatoon by scores of 8-1 and 5-2 respectively and the Raiders winning last night in the Art Hauser Centre by a score of 6-3.    

The Blades will once again be looking for a strong effort from all four lines tonight as they thrive on a balanced scoring attack.  10 different Blades have scored goals thru the three games played thus far.  17 year old forward Matej Stransky leads the Blades in playoff scoring with 5 points (2G 3A) followed closely by Nicholls, Schenn, Collins, Hamilton and Stefan Elliott with 4 points each.   Special teams haven’t played much of a factor in this quarter final series yet as both teams have scored just once on the PP and neither team has notched a shorthanded goal. 

Game #3 Recap: 

The Prince Albert Raiders got a much better effort from their top players Wednesday night as they defeated the Saskatoon Blades by a score of 6-3.  For the second straight game, the Raiders dominated play in the first period, out-shooting Saskatoon 22-6…and leading 2-0. Igor Revenko scored twice, Jonathan Parker chipped in with three assists and Justin Maylan had a goal and a helper as all three members of Prince Albert’s top line picked up their first scoring points of the series. Mark McNeill, Brandon Herrod and Jordan Rowley also scored in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,868. Josh Nicholls, Chris Collins and Matej Stransky replied for the Blades, who were out-shot 50-40.

Game #2 Recap: 

The Raiders owned the territorial advantage plus the shot clock in the 1^st period out-shooting the Blades 16-5 yet trailed 1-0 thanks to Brayden Schenn’s first of two goals! Saskatoon out-shot Prince Albert 31-17 over the final 40 minutes to record a 5-2 triumph. Darian Dziurzynski, Josh Nicholls and Curtis Hamilton also scored for the Blades in front of 5,743 fans.  Ex-Raiders’ goaltender Steven Stanford shone again, making 31 saves, including all 16 in the first frame. Shane Danyluk and Antoine Corbin scored the P.A. goals.

Game #1 Recap:

The Blades made an emphatic statement to the P.A Raiders and 8,144 fans at CUC the first game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final series Saturday night. Seven different players scored goals, 13 different players collected at least one scoring point and Steven Stanford shut down the P-A offence when need be as the Bridge City Bunch rolled to an 8-1 triumph. Dalton Thrower scored twice with singles from Matej Stransky, Brayden Schenn, Stefan Elliott, Darren Dietz, Josh Nicholls and Brent Benson. The 17-year-old Czech rookie Stransky added three assists in his first W-H-L playoff game while he and his line-mates Benson and Chris Collins were all +4 for the game.

BLADES NEWS & NOTES & NUMBERS

– Line-mates since they were put together with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo, Curtis Hamilton and Brayden Schenn continue to put up impressive numbers.  Both Schenn and Hamilton enter tonight’s game riding 5 game point streaks.  Schenn has picked up 4 goals and 4 assists in that time while Hamilton has scored twice and added 4 helpers.    

– Including the last couple games of the regular season, Josh Nicholls has now scored at least one goal in 5 consecutive games for the Saskatoon Blades.  The 5 game streak matches the longest consecutive goal scoring streak the Blades have had all season. 

– Despite giving up 4 goals last night to the Raiders, Blades netminder Steven Stanford continues to post strong numbers.  Stanford has a save percentage of 93.1% as he has stopped 108 of 116 Raider shots fired at him through three games and 179 minutes played.

 

Blades Roster – As of Mar 31, 2011

#	FORWARDS (13)	POS	SH	HT	WT	HOMETOWN	D.O.B.	NHL DRAFT
8	Bews, Levi	RW	R	6’0	193	Longview, AB	04/10/1994	Eligible 2012
9	Olsen, Ryan	C	R	6’2	180	Delta, BC	03/25/1994	Eligible 2012
11	Collins, Chris	C	L	6’1	183	Calgary, AB	04/18/1992	Eligible 2011
13	Hamilton, Curtis	LW	L	6’3	206	Kelowna, BC	12/04/1991	EDM 2nd 2010
14	Stransky, Matej	RW	R	6’2	195	Ostrava, CZECH REP.	07/11/1993	Eligible 2011
19	Viedensky, Marek	C	R	6’3	208	Handlova, SLOV	08/18/1990	SJ 7th 2009
20	Nicholls, Josh	RW	R	6’2	186	Tsawwassen, BC	04/27/1992	TOR 7th 2010
21	Schenn, Brayden	C	L	6’1	192	Saskatoon, SK	08/22/1991	LA 1st 2009
23	Sutter, Lukas	C	L	6’0	202	Lethbridge, AB	10/04/1993	Eligible 2012
25	Elliott, Alex	LW	L	6’0	184	Pincher Creek, AB	12/26/1993	Eligible 2012
26	Dziurzynski, Darian	LW	L	6’1	206	Lloydminster, AB	03/30/1991	Eligible 2011
27	Benson, Brent	C	L	5’11	187	Weyburn, SK	04/13/1993	Eligible 2011
29	Trask, Jake	C/RW	R	6’0	183	Saskatoon, SK	08/31/1991	Eligible 2011
#	DEFENCE (8)	POS	SH	HT	WT	HOMETOWN	D.O.B.	NHL DRAFT
2	Sohn, Tanner	D	L	6’1	185	Medicine Hat, AB	03/11/1991	Eligible 2011
3	Cox, Connor	D	L	5’11	185	Lethbridge, AB	07/18/1992	Eligible 2011
4	Zahn, Teigan	D	L	6’3	210	Bethune, SK	01/04/1990	TB 7th 2010
5	Siemens, Duncan	D	L	6’3	200	Sherwood Park, AB	09/07/1993	Eligible 2011
6	Elliott, Stefan	D	R	6’1	192	N. Vancouver, BC	01/30/1991	COL 2nd 2009
24	Stipancik, Tommy	D	L	6’2	180	Vancouver, BC	09/10/1994	Eligible 2012
44	Dietz, Darren	D	R	6’1	190	Medicine Hat, AB	07/17/1993	Eligible 2011
47	Thrower, Dalton	D	R	6’0	195	N. Vancouver, BC	12/20/1993	Eligible 2012
#	GOALTENDERS (2)	POS	SH	HT	WT	HOMETOWN	D.O.B.	NHL DRAFT
30	Morrison, Adam	G	L	6’3	187	White Rock, BC	02/09/1991	PHIL 3rd 2009
35	Stanford, Steven	G	L	6’1	188	Calgary, AB	09/10/1990	Eligible 2011