💡 GIVEAWAY: Foam light-up sticks (first 1,000 fans)

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Meet the Wenatchee Valley’s nonprofits on the concourse before & during the game!

🏒 14U & 15O team recognition prior to game

KNOW YOUR FOE:

After winning nine of 11, the Blades have cooled off along with the weather in the Pacific Northwest, with four losses in five games on their first U.S. Division road trip in two years. Tristen Doyle sent the Blades to the dressing room with momentum on a power play goal with 18 seconds to go in the first period Friday, but the Seattle Thunderbirds put the hammer down with five goals in the third period en route to a 5-1 win. Antonio Martorana scored two goals just 2:15 apart, tying things up 81 seconds into the third, and earning the eventual winner at 3:36 of the period. He would add an assist, while Coster Dunn finished with three assists and Ashton Cumby took home two of his own. Doyle extended his scoring streak to four straight games, while Brayden Klimpke and Jordan Martin find themselves in a nine-way logjam for sixth in the WHL in scoring among defensemen. Friday’s loss was Saskatoon’s first when leading after two periods, after winning the first seven in that situation.

WE C YOU THREE:

Wenatchee has three players on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary Players to Watch list ahead of the NHL Draft this coming summer, with all receiving “C” grades as likely fourth- or fifth-round draft picks. Forward Caelan Joudrey was announced to the list last Monday, along with goaltender Tobias Tvrznik and defenseman Darian Rolsing, earned “C” ratings from NHL Central Scouting, projected as fourth- or fifth-round draft picks this coming summer. The last time the Wild or ICE team had three players on the watch list was the 2019-20 season.

A GRADE “A” CHANCE:

Boston Tait will be absent for a short spell after being called to join Canada’s best Under-17 hockey players as part of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia, and he was announced Saturday morning as one of the team’s alternate captains for the tournament. Tait will play for the Canada Red team, and is one of 19 WHL players to be chosen for the tournament. The 44 players picked to represent Canada came from a pool of 80 players, including Tait, who earned invitations to Canada’s U17 Program of Excellence summer camp. Two pool-play games await Sunday against Finland and Tuesday against the United States, before three days’ worth of place games to determine the finish for the six competing teams.

KILLER INSTINCT:

The Wild penalty kill continues to be among the WHL’s best, with six kills in a row – the club has gone five straight games without giving up multiple power play goals, completing 21 of its last 23 kills. The penalty kill has climbed to 87.5 percent for the season, tied for second in the league.

CC TO THE WW:

Wenatchee completed its first in-season trade of 2025-26 this week, sending a 2029 draft pick to the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for 2007-born defenseman Caden Campion – the second-year junior blueliner played six games in the Lilac City, registering a goal against the Wild on October 10. He split the 2024-25 season in the BCHL with Chilliwack and Alberni Valley, and led his Los Angeles Jr. Kings club to a national 15O title in 2023.