BLADES’ VOICE LAZARUK RELFECTS ON MILESTONE

Fans of the Saskatoon Blades know it well.  The ‘Hey, Ho, Let’s Go!’ call from radio play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk is as synonymous with Blades’ hockey as Bernie Federko, Wendel Clark and Gerry Pinder. 

For nearly 20 years, Lazaruk has been the voice of the Blades.  On Saturday, February 15^th, Lazaruk called his 1,500^th game for the Club – a 4-1 victory over the Rebels in Red Deer, AB.  Having reached the impressive milestone, Lazaruk reflected on the many miles he’s traveled and the thousands of hours he’s spent on the air talking all things Blades.

“The ride so far has been a very enjoyable one,” said Lazaruk.  “In my career, a lot of people would say I’ve kind of worked backwards.  I’ve gone from being in a university situation in Brandon in the early 80’s to moving to Winnipeg and doing a lot of color commentary for the Winnipeg Jets in the early 90’s.

“We moved to Saskatoon with hopes of maybe getting back to the NHL, but I’ve found that Saskatoon has been such a wonderful place to live and work, and I found that working within the Western Hockey League, meeting all the characters over the years, the trainers, coaches, general managers, and the players, has been so much fun,” he said.

Calling 1,500 games over a 20-year span in the WHL, Lazaruk has certainly seen the highs and lows of the Blades.  Naturally, it’s the high moments that really stick out in Lazaruk’s mind.

“I’ve called three double overtime playoff wins over the years, one being in 1995 when Clarke Wilm scored at Credit Union Centre versus the Swift Current Broncos.

“Then, there was back-to-back games in the 2002 playoffs against the Brandon Wheat Kings where Justin Kelly came out of the penalty box to score on a breakaway in Game 4, then two nights later it was Ryan Keller who scored in double overtime to win the game,” he reminisced.

“Following Frank Banham through his great scoring run in 1995-96, scoring 83 goals to break Gerry Pinder’s record was a great story because that was a record that went back to the Blades’ infancy…to see that record fall was a thrill,” said Lazaruk.  “And, of course, a real big one happened this past May when the Blades beat the eventual Memorial Cup champion Halifax Mooseheads in the tournament, which was one of the greatest games the Blades have played in terms of being able shut down that powerhouse team.”

Lazaruk also has enjoyed the pleasure of seeing many talented young players come through the Blades organization and move on to great careers in the NHL.  Names like Mike Green, Devin Setoguchi, Braden Holtby, Darcy Hordichuk and Brayden Schenn are just a few who Lazaruk has seen come through the Blades’ system and move on to the highest levels of the game.

“To see these guys come in as shy, wide-eyed 16-year-olds who aren’t sure what to expect, and watch them develop into confident young men who have grown physically and emotionally to where they’ve moved on to the NHL like a Mike Green, a Devin Setoguchi or a Darcy Hordichuk is pretty remarkable,” he said.

“But, it’s not only the guys who move on to the NHL or pro leagues, but the guys who move on to the business world like a Trent Adamus, who is a very good lawyer here in Saskatoon,” he said.  “Trent’s a guy who came in as a rookie, had a great time playing for the Blades, and moved on to university using the WHL education package, and now is enjoying tremendous success outside of hockey.”

Now in his 19^th season calling Blades games, Lazaruk still recalls vividly that very first broadcast.  It didn’t exactly go smoothly.

“I may be one of the most memorable ones,” said Lazaruk of his September 23, 1994, inaugural broadcast.  “CJWW had never done sports play-by-play, in terms of hockey, and we inherited the rights to the Blades games from the former CFQC 600.

“Not only did we inherit the rights, we also inherited their old equipment.  One of the pieces was an old Sport 3 mixer, and most guys who have been around will know about having to set it up, plug it all in, dial it up and make sure it gets back to the radio station.  I remember we tested it over and over again to make sure it was working, and that I knew how to set it up,” he said.

“So, we get to the Brandt Centre in Regina, which was known then as the Agridome, and I set it all up and…nothing.  We had no power coming out of the thing, no signal…we were hooped.  I didn’t know what to do.

“Fortunately, Paul Edmonds was still doing Pats’ games back then and he happened to know someone who could get a hold of guys at CKRM in Regina, and they were able to bring us a whole new setup, patch us in and get us going.  By the time we were on the air, there was five minutes left in the second period and the game was already practically over.  The Blades ended up winning the game 8-3,” said Lazaruk.