When the Saskatoon Blades picked second overall in 2016, they needed a real game-changer. Since hosting the Memorial Cup back in 2013, the team had no first-round Bantam Draft picks to speak of, trading away the rights to draft players like Stelio Mattheos and Ty Smith during the season they had hosting duties.
Not shocking was the fact that the Blades had stumbled since that season and have yet to return to the playoffs.
In order to right the ship, they would need a player who could make an impact right away and develop into a star in the league.
They got just that in St. Alberta, Alberta center Kirby Dach.
Dach got into 19 games as a 15-year-old and potted six goals to go with four assists for 10 points.
He describes his assets and what he brings to the ice in detail.
“I’d say I’m a good center-man who can play in all three zones. I’ve more of a pass-first player but at the same time, I’ve got a good shot. This year, I’ve scored a few more goals than I did last year and I’ve proved that I can be a goal scorer. I’m a pretty good play-maker and like to create space for my line mates out on the ice and do well along the boards, protecting the puck. I’ve got pretty good vision and hockey IQ,” Dach said.
Then as a 16-year-old, Dach played key minutes on a team that just fell short of the playoffs again. He had 46 points in 62 games.
“Last year, I was a little nervous and didn’t quite know what to expect from the league even though I had played some as a 15-year-old. Coming in this year, I knew what the league was about and wanted to come in with a hot start and help my team win. We did that. Then we kind of got off track for a little bit and are back on track now. We need to keep going.”
Dach and the Blades would have made the playoffs, if not for the format allowing the Central Division three playoff spots, despite the Blades having a better record than two of those teams.
They had to play a lot of games against three loaded teams in their division as well, but Dach believes his team got a lot out of those match ups.
“I think we grew as a team with the pressure late in the season to make the playoffs. With Swift Current, Moose Jaw and Regina those were three power houses in our division and we saw hem a lot. It was a good measuring stick for us to see where we are at. I think we are headed in the right direction. The next couple years should be our years and if we just keep moving forward and playing our style of hockey we will be okay.”
This season, Dach has compiled 42 points in 33 games, good for 12th in the league and second in his age group behind Dylan Cozens.
His Blades are second in the East Division with a 20-10-3-0 record through 33 games.
“I think we’ve had some pretty good team success. I’ve had a good year individually as well, but all the credit goes to my line mates. My coaches also out me in a position to succeed. They’ve trusted me to play in different spots and it has worked out.”
With his team already 12 points ahead of the first non-playoff team, Dach has his sights on returning the Bridge City Bunch back to the playoffs. With a strong group of teammates that looks very possible.
“There is obviously a big group of young people here with myself, Chase Wouters, Eric Florchuk and Nolan Maier but we also have good veteran leadership with Josh Paterson – who has been in the league four or five years, Dawson Davidson, Max Gerlach and Brandon Schuldhaus are some older guys who are helping to mature our younger guys in a lot of ways. We really wanted to change the culture here and put the Saskatoon Blades back in the playoffs.”
Prior to the season, Dach helped Hockey Canada’s U18 team win gold at the Hlinka Gretzky tournament. He had seven points in five games.
“It was in my hometown and I had lots of family and friends there. We had a really good team. We knew coming into the tournament that we could win gold and we just trusted each other to do our jobs. There was a couple scares there but we were calm and collected and if something went wrong we just went out on the next shift and kept playing. Whenever you are wearing that Canadian logo on your chest it is special. You just want to win gold.”
The summer was a joyous one for the Dach family in a lot of ways as the Blades chose Kirby’s younger brother Colton Dach with the sixth overall pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft.
“Anytime you can have your brother on the same team as you that is big for you and your whole family. It’s less travel for our parents and when something is not going right we can always talk to each other. He was one of my best friends growing up so I was very excited when he got picked.”
Kirby looks forward to a possible call up this season for his brother, like he had when he was 15.
“We played one game in the preseason where we were on the same line and we played pretty well so that would be pretty cool to do again. ”
The number three-ranked prospect for the 2019 NHL Draft by ISS Hockey, HockeyProspect.com and Future Considerations has plenty of personal success in his past, present and future, but right now he just really wants the Blades back in the promised land that is the playoffs.
“I’m focused on helping the team and be successful. We sat down with the core group and we know we have a team-first mentality. If we want to get this team back to the playoffs.”
