Blades Looking For Redemption in Brandon
The Contest: Saskatoon Blades (9-13-1 for 19 points, 5th in East Division, 8th in Eastern Conference) vs Brandon Wheat Kings (11-7-3 for 25 points, 4th in East Division, 7th in Eastern Conference)…7:30 p.m. at Westman Communications Group Place. The broadcast on 92-9, THE BULL starts at 7:00 with The Cutting Edge Pre-Game Show and the play-by-play at 7:30 p.m. with Les Lazaruk.
The Match-Up: It’s salvage time, once again, for the Bridge City Bunch. For the fourth straight week, the Double Blue will attempt the third and final game of the week after losing the previous two games. Tonight’s game will finish off the first of two, three games-in-three nights slates this season. It’s also the third of five consecutive games against East Division rivals for the Blades, who are 3-5-0 against the East to this part. The Wheaties bring a four-game winning streak into tonight, out-scoring opponents 20-8 during the run. Tonight is the third of four straight home games for Brandon and the seventh of eight home dates in nine games.
Last night, an early video review that went against Saskatoon started the downward spiral in an 8-1 loss to the Wheat Kings. What appeared to be an all-important opening goal, just 4:19 into the contest, turned out to be a rung cross-bar by former Wheat King Braylon Shmyr on video. By the end of the opening frame, the Wheaties led 2-0 on a pair of power play goals…and there was no coming back for the Bridge City Bunch. Reid Duke scored four times to pace the Wheaties. Josh Paterson scored the only goal for the Blades, ending Jordan Papirny’s shutout bid with 1:05 left in the third period. It was a tough night for early-season goaltending sensation Logan Flodell, who went the distance and allowed all eight goals. Brandon out-shot Saskatoon 44-33. The Wheat Kings were 5-for-6 on the man advantage while the Blades were 1-for-3.
The Players to Watch
BLADES:
Logan Christensen – The lone Manitoban on the Bridge City Bunch roster. The Morden product has already eclipsed his goal output from his freshman campaign with five in 23 games after scoring four times in 61 games as a 16-year-old. Christensen has connected three times on the power play and scored the winning goal on October 1 in Kootenay.
Josh Paterson – The 17-year-old Edmonton native notched the lone Double Blue goal last night. The sophomore centre also scored the Blades’ lone goal on October 29 in Prince Albert. But, that power play tally was the only goal of the contest as Saskatoon nipped the arch-rival Raiders 1-0.
BRANDON:
Reid Duke – The winger has recorded points in 12 of 14 games since returning to the Wheat Kings from the A-H-L’s Hartford Wolf Pack, the top affiliate of the N-H-L’s New York Rangers. The 20-year-old Calgarian has 12 goals…two of them short-handed…amongst 24 points and a +14 rating.
Kale Clague – The 18-year-old defenceman has made an impact with the Wheaties since returning from the camp of the Los Angeles Kings. The Lloydminster product has 17 points, including four goals, in 13 games. The Kings selected Clague in the second round of the 2016 N-H-L Draft…51st overall.
The Special Teams
BLADES: PP – 20/112, 17.9% (16th in WHL); PK – 71/99, 71.7% (21st in WHL)
Brandon: PP – 25/93, 26.9% (4th in WHL); PK – 86/110, 78.2% (12th in WHL)
The Blades Yesterday and Today: Saskatoon is 9-13-1 for 19 points after 22 games in the 2016-17 season. Last year after 22 games, the Blades were 9-11-3 for 21 points, after the Bridge City were topped 5-2 in Calgary. In Game 24 last year, the Double Blue ended a four-game losing streak by out-lasting the Broncos 5-4 in overtime in Swift Current, their record improving to 10-11-3 for 23 points.
The Streaks and Milestones: LW Braylon Shmyr, a former Brandon Wheat King, is three points away from 100 for his W-H-L career (45 goals, 52 assists for 97 points).
The Line-up and Breakdown: The Blades roster stands at 25 players…2 goaltenders, 8 defencemen and 15 forwards. Of the 26 players, the W-H-L considers 20 of them to be veterans and five to be rookies. By birth year, the roster number breaks down this way…
1996: 4 (Bryton Sayers, Ryan Graham, Jesse Shynkaruk, Kolten Olynek)
1997: 7 (Mason McCarty, Cameron Hebig, Wyatt Sloboshan, Braylon Shmyr, Brock Hamm, Logan Flodell, Jordan Henderson)
1998: 5 (Gage Ramsay, Libor Hajek, Nolan Reid, Caleb Fantillo, Dryden Michaud)
1999: 8 (Jantzen Leslie, Jake Kustra, Mark Rubinchik, Cameron Hausinger, Lukus MacKenzie, Logan Christensen, Jackson Caller, Josh Paterson)
2000: 2 (Michael Farren, Chase Wouters)
The Way They Became Blades:
Bantam Draft (8) – Wouters (1st-2015), Kustra (2nd-14), Christensen (2nd-14), Paterson (2nd-14), Hebig (3rd-12), MacKenzie (3rd-14), Graham (5th-11), Hausinger (7th-14).
Import Draft (2) – Rubinchik (2016), Hajek (15)
List (4) – Shynkaruk, Olynek, Farren, Hamm, Michaud
Trade (10) – Leslie, Sayers, McCarty, Sloboshan, Ramsay, Shmyr, Flodell, Fantillo, Caller, Henderson
This Date in Blades History: November 19, 2011…Andrey Makarov made 43 saves to back-stop the Bridge City Bunch to a 2-1 victory in Red Deer. It was the sixth consecutive of what turned out to be eight straight wins for the Double Blue and improved their record to 16-6-1 after the Saturday night victory at the Enmax Centrium. After surrendering the opening goal, the Blades got tallies from Dalton Thrower and Lukas Sutter for the triumph.
