PREVIEW: Wheat Kings @ Blades – Oct. 17th
BRANDON WHEAT KINGS @ SASKATOON BLADES
Saturday, October 17th – 7:00 PM
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, SK
It’s a special night at SaskTel Centre where the Blades welcome Sportsnet anchor, Evanka Osmak for Girls Rock night! Check out all the storylines and stats headed into thonight’s game!
OFF THE TOP: The Blades (3-1-3-0) play host to the Brandon Wheat Kings (5-1-0-2) on Girls Rock Night. The Blades have had six days off since their last game, a wild 6-5 win against the Swift Current Broncos last Sunday. Three goals were scored in the last 90 seconds, with Connor Gay scoring a PP goal with 20 seconds remaining to give the Blades the win.
LAST TIME OUT: This is the first meeting of the year between the Blades and Wheat Kings. Last season the Blades managed just one win in 8 games against Brandon. The lone win coming via overtime in late November in Brandon. The Blades did also lose a game in overtime, making their record against the Wheat Kings 1-6-1-0 in total last year. Saskatoon was outscored 36-19 in the season series.
MARTIN CONTINUES TO DAZZLE: After another two point effort last weekend against Swift Current, Brycen Martin now has nine points in seven games this year. He sits tied for 6th in scoring amongst defenceman in the WHL. The former 2nd overall pick is solidifying the Blades back end in a very important year for Martin as he looks to earn a pro contract from the Buffalo Sabres.
“CZECH” IT OFF THE LIST: Blades rookie d-man Libor Hajek has cracked the top 30 on both Sportsnet, and Craig Button’s early season draft rankings for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Libor made the list at #24 on Sportsnet’s list (rankings by Damien Cox) and comes in at #30 on Craig Button’s. The Czech Republic native has had an impressive start to the season with four assists in seven games while being a very relied upon shut down presence.
BRIGHT FUTURE: Earlier this month, the WHL released the rosters for the 2015 U16 Western Canada Challenge Cup. The Blades will be represented very well at this event with five prospects being selected to represent their provinces. Jonny Tychonick, Payton McIsaac, and Chase Wouters will represent Team Alberta. Matthew Mosher will represent Team B.C. while Tyler Lees will play for Team Saskatchewan. 16-year old centre Josh Paterson has also been selected to compete for Team Canada at the 2015 World U17 Hockey Challenge at the start of November.
INJURY REPORT: 16-year old defenceman Anthony Bishop remains sidelined with a hand injury which he suffered in the second to last pre-season game against the Broncos in a fight. Bishop has started skating lightly recently, still with a cast on however.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS: The Blades released 1997-born goaltender Jake Morrissey following last Friday’s game against Swift Current.
UP NEXT: Saskatoon embarks on their out-of-province road trip of the season as they swing out to Alberta. The team faces Edmonton on Tuesday, Red Deer on Wednesday, Kootenay on Friday, and Medicine Hat next Saturday.
MILESTONES:
Cameron Hausinger scored his first career WHL goal last Sunday vs. Swift Current.
Logan Christensen scored his first career WHL goal last Sunday vs. Swift Current.
Nick Zajac sits at 39 career goals and 69 career assists.
Cameron Hebig sits at 79 career points.
Tonight marks Connor Gay’s 175th career WHL game.
AGE BREAKDOWN:
3 – 20 year olds, 3 – 19 year olds, 6 – 18 year olds, 5 – 17 year olds, 5 – 16 year olds.
GEOGRAPHICAL BREAKDOWN:
8 – SK, 7 – AB, 2 – MB, 2 – B.C., 1 – Alaska, 1 – Russia, 1 – Czech Republic
LEADING SCORERS:
Cameron Hebig: 7GP-6G-7A-13PTS
Connor Gay: 7GP-3G-7A-10PTS
Brycen Martin: 7GP-1G-8A-9PTS
Nick Zajac: 7GP-4G-4A-8PTS
Ryan Graham: 7GP-4G-3A-7PTS
Wyatt Sloboshan: 7GP-2G-4A-6PTS
SPECIAL TEAMS:
PP: 9/36 – 25.0% (9th)PK: 29/37 – 78.4% (11th)
