The Saskatoon Blades swung a big deal Wednesday as the Western Hockey League headed towards it’s annual trade freeze.
The Blades dealt their captain Wyatt Sloboshan, defenceman Nolan Reid and a third round pick to the Spokane Chiefs for defenceman Evan Fiala and centre Markson Bechtold.
Bechtold is 20, which meant that the Blades also released Kolten Olynek to free up an overage spot for Bechtold.
The move makes the Blades older and bigger. Fiala is six-foot-four, hails from Clavet, Sask. and played his midget hockey with the Saskatoon Contacts. Bechtold is six-foot-one and is the son of longtime Briercrest College coach John Bechtold in the ACAC.
Fiala is 19 and Bechtold is 20, compared to Sloboshan, who is 19 and Reid who is 18.
The Swift Current Broncos also dealt 19-year-old forward Tyler Adams and a draft pick to Seattle for 17-year-old prospect MacKenzie Wright who began the season in the BCHL.
Pats lose four to WJC camps
The high-flying Regina Pats (21-2-6-0) had their lowest-scoring outing of the season as the Saskatoon Blades beat them 2-1 in overtime. The Pats opened the week with an 8-1 win over Swift Current.
Tyler Brown has made nine straight starts in goal as Jordan Hollett remains shelved.
The Pats spent the week without Filip Ahl (Sweden), Sergey Zborovskiy (Russia), Sam Steel and Austin Wagner (both Canada) as they attended their respective world junior camps. Steel and Wagner were released and are back in the fold for this weekend’s home-and-home with Moose Jaw.
Going streaking
Jayden Halbgewachs is on a 10-game goal-scoring streak and Brayden Burke is on a 10-game point streak as the Moose Jaw Warriors (19-7-4-1) continued to solidify their hold on second place in the division. 
Moose Jaw beat Prince Albert Raiders three times this week: 7-3 in the Art Hauser Centre, 5-4 in a shootout and 4-1 at home. However, the Warriors surrendered four unanswered goals in a 5-3 loss to the Blades.
Noah Gregor has scored the game-winning goal in three straight wins for the Warriors and has five game-winners on the season.
Long-time assistant coach Mark O’Leary has taken the reigns since head coach Tim Hunter joined Canada’s staff for the world juniors. Scott King, The Warriors assistant coach/coordinator, player development is also currently behind the bench.
Broncos back to winning ways
After taking one on the chin to the Pats, the Swift Current Broncos (16-10-3-4) picked up a point in a 5-4 overtime loss to Lethbridge and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win in Kootenay.
The Broncos scored three goals in the third period to erase a 4-1 deficit against the Canes.
Swift Current welcomed Glenn Gawdin back against the Ice after he had missed 17 games due to injury.
Wheaties happy to be home
The Brandon Wheat Kings’ (13-14-4-0) eight-game road trip came to a merciful end Saturday. Brandon has scored one goal or fewer in six straight games and finished 1-6-1-0 while vacating Westman Place. 
The Wheat Kings ended the trip with a 6-1 loss in Red Deer one night after losing 5-1 in Edmonton.
Brandon remains short-staffed. Kale Clague cracked the Canadian roster for the world juniors, while forwards Nolan Patrick, Tanner Kaspick, Linden McCorrister and Zach Russell are all injured.
There was a glimmer of good news as the Wheat Kings suggested that Patrick would be back on the ice when the team returns from the holiday break with an eye towards a return early in the new year.
The pre-season favourite to be selected first overall in the National Hockey League draft, Patrick has only played five games so far this season.
Blades pick up five points out of three games
The decision to trade their captain and shake things up in Saskatoon is even more perplexing given the way the Blades (13-18-3-0) have been playing of late.
The Blades rode a 39-save performance from Logan Flodell past the Pats 2-1 and then rallied from 3-1 down to beat Moose Jaw 5-3 at home.
They finished the week with a 3-2 overtime loss to Edmonton as Flodell made 43 saves and outstanding once again.
The Blades are 3-1-1-0 in their last five as they remain in touch of a wild card spot.
Raiders pick up three points
Even if they are playing well, the Prince Albert Raiders (7-24-1-1) know that their margin for success will be thin.
The Raiders have scored the fewest goals-per-game in the WHL this season and losing leading scorer Simon Stransky and defenceman Vojtech Budik to the Czech world junior team haven’t helped matters.
Austin Glover scored the overtime winner in a 4-3 win over Edmonton on Tuesday after earning a point with a comeback 5-4 shootout loss in Moose Jaw. The Raiders also dropped two games in regulation to the Warriors.
Nicolas Sanders was very sharp as he made 32 saves in the shootout loss. Ian Scott stopped 32 shots in their win and made 42 saves a night later in a 4-1 loss in Moose Jaw.
