Who will be the 20’s in 21 and 22
One thing was abundantly clear on day one of Saskatoon Blades Training Camp. They’re in a bit of a pickle heading into the 2021-22 season. They currently have five overage players listed.
Let’s start with a big piece of this puzzle. Goaltender Nolan Maier is entering his fifth and final season with the royal blue and gold. Hailing from Yorkton, SK, Maier managed to eclipse former NHLer Tim Cheveldae to become the club’s all-time leader in wins. He will look to add to that total this season after posting a 12-3-2 record in the Regina bubble last season.
As we move forward in the puzzle it is a mystery.
Hulking defenseman Rhett Rhinehart is noticeably absent from training camp. He is currently in Colorado preparing for the Avalanche development camp that runs from September 12th to the 14th. He then heads to Arizona to compete in a rookie tournament from September 17th to the 20th. No question this will be a good experience for Rhinehart who will be looked upon to log some heavy minutes this upcoming season.
Shifty forward Tristan Robins was second on the team in scoring last year and the Blades are hopeful he returns for his final campaign. Robins was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft, signed an entry-level contract, and managed to play in two games late last year with San Jose Barracuda, the Sharks AHL affiliate. He will be attending the Sharks camp and competing against fellow teammate Rhinehart in the rookie tournament. There is also a chance that Robins remains with the Sharks in the preseason and potentially stays in their pro system. He has been an over-a-point-per-game player the past two seasons and wore an “A” on last year’s team.
Rounding out the list of overage players are Calgary-born forwards Blake Stevenson and Evan Patrician.
Patrician was acquired at the 2020 trade deadline when the Blades sent Eric Florchuk and a seventh-round pick to Vancouver, the Blades also received a 2020 first-round draft pick and a 2021 second-round pick. Patrician has good size and plays a control game. He has yet to score into double digits in his five-year WHL career. Blake Stevenson was acquired from Tri-City just this past February for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2023 WHL Bantam Draft. He performed well for the Blades in the bubble, notching 14 points in 24 games.
All five of these players are competing for a total of three spots. The WHL allows each team to carry a maximum of three overage players. Let’s just do some quick math, shall we? Five minus three is two. That means the Blades will have some tough decisions to make. The obvious is if Robins stays in San Jose’s pro system, that reduces the number to one. If he returns, it’s back up to two. Looking at the needs of the club and strength of position, it’s hard to see the Blades cutting Maier, Robins, or Rhinehart.
That leaves Stevenson and Patrician as the odd men out. Ideally, the Blades would want to trade a player to try and get a prospect or future pick in return and also to extend those player’s overage season. If that fails, unfortunately, they would likely land in Junior A for the remainder of their season. Regardless of the outcome, the Blades will ice the team they feel has the best opportunity to succeed in the upcoming season.
(Photo – Stephen Jeffrey)
Shania Twain, Friday and Scrimmages
You know you’re back in a hockey rink when you hear the familiar songs from Shania and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I was at Sasktel Centre getting set up to watch the scrimmages Friday and when the music started up, it made me stop in my tracks and soak it in for a minute. The music was shortly followed by the sound of pucks hitting the ice, players yelling, the ice cracking as players make their cuts, and all the posts and crossbars being pummeled over and over. Saskatoon Blades Training Camp is back!
The Blades, in a touching tribute to long-time locker room attendant Bobby Kirkness, named the three squads after his close family members. Kirkness passed away last week after a courageous battle with cancer. The teams were named Meagan, Rhonda, and Brennan and a decent number of spectators came out to see the action on Friday.
Looking at the teams, the Blades did a good job of balancing the lineups with a solid mix of veterans, sophomores, and rookies. From a quick glance it’s apparent the Blades are wanting to get a jump on the preseason by establishing some early chemistry.
On Team Rhonda, veterans Tristen Robins, Kyle Crnkovic, and newly acquired winger Brendan Lee had plenty of jump. They played a simple north and south style, moving the puck quickly, creating scoring chance after scoring chance. Although it’s training camp the puck finds Brendan Lee often. It’s easy to see why the Blades traded for the American-born winger.
Something noticeable happened after the stoppage of the first period of the second scrimmage. Both teams came out into the second frame flying. The physicality picked up and both teams started to dig in more with closer checking, crisper passes, and intense puck battles. The direction likely came from coaches and management that the intensity needed to be picked up. The layoff for some players really showed early on, the rust of not playing in competitive games during the pandemic was somewhat painful early on.
After the players started to settle in you could see the play develop more clearly, as you would in a normal game situation. More communicating on the ice, players creating space, and using the walls to move the puck. Every team had effective lines that pushed the offense and created more medium and high danger chances. Looking up and down the rosters there are plenty of sophomores who will be looking to take on larger roles, namely, Brandon Lisowsky, Carter Streek, Sammy May, and Hayden Smith. A few factors that remain to round out the preseason team are import forwards Yegor Sidorov and Moritz Elias, who did not arrive in time for the Saskatoon Blades Training Camp, who are expected to arrive by September 20th.
Saturday, Reflection, Separation, and the Kirkness Cup
Saturday morning for the most part feels like a normal Saturday morning. Wake up, grab a cup of coffee and get on the phone to see what I missed from overnight. Not lost on us is the 20-year reminder of 9/11. One Saskatchewan connection from that horrible day was Garnet “Ace” Bailey, who was on American Airlines Flight 175. That flight originally departed from Boston, heading to Los Angeles where Bailey was the Director of Pro Scouting for the LA Kings.
The flight was overtaken by Al-Qaeda terrorists and eventually crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Bailey who was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, played his junior hockey for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the mid-’60s. He also carved out a 10-year pro career spent mostly in the NHL with various clubs. His legacy lives on through the Kings’ organization and his charity the Ace Bailey Children’s Foundation, raising money to help hospitalized infants and children. He was 53.
As the day progressed and keeping those affected close to our thoughts, the game we all love continued as day two of the scrimmages began.
Day two of the Saskatoon Blades Training Camp had a completely different feel to it right off the hop. You could feel the intensity as the first game progressed. There were five penalties called, in comparison to the paltry three in four combined games from day one. Most were stick infractions as players were defending their space, creating turnovers, and in a few instances, being too aggressive. The biggest hits of camp were dished out as well, the veterans started to take over the physical play and separate themselves from the rookies and invitees.
Arguably the most competitive battle in camp is for the back up goaltender spot. Ethan Chadwick, the 17-year old from the Bridge City, SK has backstopped the Saskatoon Contacts the last two seasons. The third-round pick from the 2019 Bantam Draft, has looked solid all camp. Strathmore, AB product Austin Elliot has also looked the part. The one-time longshot selected in the 12th round of the 2019 Bantam Draft, made terrific stops and seemed to bail out his team on the regular. These two should get a long look in preseason action and the team may elect to stay with the three in the short term as the season begins.
The two late games provided some further insight into the next few weeks’ worth of preseason games. On the injury front, one key defenseman went down with what will hopefully be considered short term injury. Tanner Molendyk ran into an opposing player in the defensive zone, tripping over their stick and twisting his hip and subsequently his left knee. He was able to get up under his own strength and skate off but quickly retreated down the tunnel. The Blades have seven returning defensemen, eight including Rhett Rhinehart.
Two days of Saskatoon Blades Training Camp culminated in the Kirkness Cup being awarded, to what really was the best team all weekend, Team Meagan. A 16-year old heavy blueline, played sound defensive hockey and moved the puck up the ice effectively. Veterans Blake Stevenson, Evan Patrician and Brandon Lisowsky did the Yeoman’s work on offense, scoring the bulk of their goals. Recently signed forward Mikhail Volotovskii turned some heads during camp. He found himself in the mix quite often in the offensive zone and is positionally sound. Lastly, overage goalie Nolan Meier looked like a brick wall, he was pitching no hitters all weekend.
Now that the Saskatoon Blades Training Camp has concluded, next up for the Blades is preseason action. The Edmonton Oil Kings will have some fresh faces, (see story below) roll into Saskatoon for a set of games this Friday and Saturday. The first round of cuts are expected as soon as Monday, we will start to see what the shape of this lineup will look like as the Regular Season starts, October 1st.
Edmonton Oil Kings sign six players to WHL Standard Player Agreements
