Competitive Career Not Over Yet for Wenatchee Wild Alumnus Saylor
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – After playing in 116 North American Hockey League games from 2010 to 2012, Wenatchee Wild alumnus Blake Saylor is having more fun than you can imagine playing hockey for a team that you’ve probably never heard of.
The former Wild standout has played for the last four years for the Vail Yeti, a Senior A club in the Mountain Hockey League, a loose confederation of senior teams in the western United States. Saylor and most of his teammates come from the Denver area and travel into Vail for the weekend to play in front of raucous crowds and face opponents that can include anyone up a Holy Cross alumni team or the Fire Department of New York City. Most of Vail’s games are home games, and many of the players on the Yeti roster – and those they play against – come in with NCAA Division I experience. Wenatchee alum Matt Cope was among those on the roster alongside Saylor this past season.
“We play a very similar schedule to a college, two games over a weekend,” said Saylor. “It’s cool – it’s super competitive. There’s fighting, it’s full-contact, and we had a winning record last year. The program is only going to continue to grow – we’re trying to draw talent there, and it’s great because guys that are done with hockey, they still want to play at a high level and play in a league that’s competitive. That’s the place to do it, especially since Vail is kind of like Wenatchee. It’s beautiful, you have the mountains around you and there are a ton of activities. It’s great that I have the opportunity to play up there.”
Saylor’s time on the ice in Vail is the continuation of a long love of the sport that began before his fifth birthday in the Denver suburb of Littleton, watching the Mighty Ducks movies and stepping onto the ice at the suggestion of one of his dad’s coworkers. He won a national peewee championship and rose as far as bantams in Littleton, before leaving home to move to the Midwest at 14 years old to attend Culver Military Academy, where he would star on both the school’s hockey and lacrosse teams.
The sport became far more serious for Saylor with his move to Culver, where he helped lead the school to Indiana state championships in both sports, earning all-state lacrosse honors twice and serving as a senior captain on that team during its 2010 state title season. He says going to Culver also built a new level of discipline and intentionality in him and the students around him.
“They hold you to such a high standard,” said Saylor. “We’re waking up every single day, and you have to make sure your room is squared away. You have to make sure you look right, that your uniform is correct, so it’s having pride in everything you do and holding yourself to a higher standard. I just tried to learn from my peers, and really carry myself that way. The skills that I learned from Culver, I’ve carried with me even into raising a family now.”
While at Culver, he also made his college choice, committing to the Air Force Academy following his upcoming junior career. That decision helped lead him to Wenatchee, which was already establishing a strong pipeline into the Falcons’ program. He jumped right in to start the 2010-11 season with the Wild, earning an alternate captain’s spot in his first year with the team before being named Wenatchee’s captain the following year. He notched 31 points over those 116 games, and helped Wenatchee to 70 regular-season wins over his two years with the Wild. After unpacking all of the facts and figures, though, the memories made off the ice are still the ones that stick out. Not the least of those memories was looking into the Town Toyota Center stands and seeing mom Kathy and his four older sisters at many of his games.
“They were always at the games, and they’re the best cheer squad,” said Saylor. “There were a lot of players that I had the opportunity to hang with, and connect with, and they’re still lifelong friends. [Brandon] Jaeger is coming out with his family to stay with our family. Those relationships run deep, and I’m still really close with a lot of players. Wenatchee is such a special place because the hockey is your focus when you’re there, but we couldn’t do anything without the help of our billet families. I had Pam Arena and Rodney Arena as my billets, and I stay in touch with them – I sent them pictures of my daughter when she was born, and we sent pictures of my wedding because they weren’t able to attend. Those relationships run really deep, and I think that’s what’s so unique about playing in Wenatchee.”
Saylor returned to his home state to attend the Air Force Academy in 2012, returning briefly to his roots in lacrosse and walking on with the Falcons for their 2014 season. He moved on to Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado after two years in Colorado Springs, earning a finance degree and playing for two seasons with the Skyhawks’ ACHA Division III hockey club. He excelled in his two years of college hockey, including a 45-point season during his junior year in 2014-15.
“That’s what’s great about the hockey community, is that’s where I grew some of my best relationships,” said Saylor. “People were in my wedding from that team that I played on. It wasn’t the highest level of hockey, but when you love the game, as long as you’re out there, then you’re all good. Hockey is definitely where my best memories are, and it makes me happy being out there.”
Today, Saylor is building a family of his own with wife Annalise, after the two first met at the Valentine Bar in Nashville, where each claims to have seen the other first. The two moved to Denver and married in October of 2021.
“I am very blessed to have Annalise as my wife and my best friend,” said Saylor. “She is the best mother, loves hockey and can get along with anyone.”
Saylor is working in the Denver area as an account executive with cloud-based communication company RingCentral. He and his wife have already introduced the sport to a new generation within their family, thanks to 14-month-old daughter Frankie.
