Game Day: Blades vs. Hitmen

Saskatoon Blades vs. Calgary Hitmen 

Tonight’s game is the second of four regular season meetings this season between the Saskatoon Blades (29-9-0-1) and the Calgary Hitmen (12-24-2-1).  In the first meeting between these two clubs this season, back on October 31^st in Calgary, Stefan Elliott scored the game winning goal with one minute remaining in regulation time and Curtis Hamilton iced the game with an empty net marker 50 seconds later as the Blades defeated the Hitmen by a score of 5-3.   

Josh Nicholls leads the Blades in scoring vs. the Hitmen this season having picked up 3 assists in their only meeting against Calgary thus far.  In goal for the Blades, tonight’s probable starter Adam Morrison has a 3-1 career record vs. the Hitmen including one win this season.

For the Hitmen, Tyler Fiddler and Cody Sylvester each have picked up a pair of points in the lone game vs. the Blades this year.  Saskatoon product Jimmy Bubnick, who is 2^nd on the Hitmen in goals scored with 14, scored against the Blades in their first meeting of the season.  In addition to Bubnick, the Hitmen line-up features one other Saskatoonian in Carter Berg.    

Blades Last Game  

Two streaks ended Sunday night in Swift Current. The Broncos played their first home game in a month, after going 3-7-1 in 11 consecutive road games…including going winless in their last six outings. The home cooking agreed with Speedy Creek as they scored the first three goals, then withstood a third period rally to beat the Saskatoon Blades 4-2. It was the end of a five-game winning streak for the Bridge City Bunch. Josh Nicholls and Brent Benson scored for the 29-9-0-1 Saskatoon Blades. The Blades outshot the Broncos 39-21 including 13-5 in the final twenty minutes when they managed to beat Mark Friesen twice but despite tremendous pressure in the final 2 minutes of the game, they could not beat him for a third time.  Swift Current would ice the game with an empty net marker as time expired in the game.  With his goal, Brent Benson extended his personal best point streak to 5 games. 

Blades Banter   

– Tonight will be the last game that Tim McGauley will be allowed to dress for the Saskatoon Blades until his current team (Regina Pat Canadians) are eliminated from the playoffs. McGauley was the Blades 1^st round bantam pick this past season and due to his age, 5 games is the maximum number of games he is eligible to play.    

– The 2^nd segment of the Inland Steel 3 Stars has been announced and thanks to collecting 3 first stars and 2 second stars through games 19-36, Curtis Hamilton has been named the Blades 2^nd segment winner.  Overall this season, Marek Viedensky leads the Inland Steel 3 Star Awards category by having been named the games 1^st star four times and the 2^nd star three times. 

By The Numbers

– Stefan Elliott will be playing in his 250^th career WHL regular season game tonight.  Elliott is also one point away from collecting his 200^th career point.  Once Elliott hits the 200 point mark in his career, he will become just the 2^nd Blades defenseman in franchise history to have reached that milestone.  Pat Price (1970-73) currently holds the record for career points by a blades defenseman with 239.    

– The Saskatoon Blades have an 11-1 record vs. teams from the WHL’s Central Division.  This stat is impressive in the fact that while the Blades lead the Eastern Conference, the next three spots are occupied by Central Division teams.   

– Josh Nicholls and Darian Dziurzynski are tied for the team lead in goals scored with 19 markers a piece. That mark has them both tied for 16^th in the league in that stat category.  Nicholls, a Toronto Maple Leaf prospect, leads the Blades in scoring with 47 points this season.      

– The Saskatoon Blades enter tonight’s game riding a 9 game home winning streak.  During that time the Blades have outscored their opponents 44-20. 

Blades Roster – As of Jan 3, 2011