Today’s Gameday Preview: Thursday December 27th, 2018

The Christmas break is over for six teams today as the WHL returns to action tonight with three games.

Feature Game of the Night: Raiders @ Blades 7 PM CST

The Raiders (31-2-0-1) are back in action looking to continue rolling over teams in the second half of the season. For the Blades, they’ve already beat the Raiders once this season, and look to do it again with a PA squad missing some key parts in their goaltender Ian Scott, and leading scorer Brett Leason who are with Canada at the World Junior Championships.

The Raiders play Saskatoon in their third meeting of the season tonight, after dropping their last decision to the Blades back on December 9th. Way back when Ian Scott and Brett Leason were with the team, so the question for the squad tonight will be if they can rally the troops to take on a tough and skilled Blades team.

The 18-year-old Donovan Buskey has been out of the spotlight to to say the least. The backup goaltender has played eight games so far this season, posting an undefeated 7-0 record. This is Buskey’s first season with PA after being dealt from Spokane for a sixth round pick in 2020 on August 31, 2018.

The Saskatoon Blades (21-10-4-0) locker room is full and ready to go looking to event the season series between the two Eastern clubs at two. Before the break, Saskatoon dropped an overtime decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings by a 6-5 score. Last time the Blades played the Raiders, defense was key as they only beat Scott once. Tonight should be a different story for the home squad.

Who to watch:

  • Ozzy Wiesblatt- PA- (7G, 9A) The Rookie has four points in his last four, including his 2nd multi-point game of his WHL Career
  • Chase Wouters- SAS- (5G, 10A) Has four points in his last three games, including two goals

Likely Starters:

  • Donovan Buskey- PA- (3.461 GAA, .854 SV%) Allowed four goals on ten shots and was then pulled in his last start vs. SC
  • Nolan Meier- SAS- (2.800 GAA, .909 SV%) Allowed six goals on 31 shots in his last start vs. BDN

Other games:

Swift Current Broncos (6-25-1-1) @ Moose Jaw Warriors (17-8-4-1)

  • Second meeting of the season. Last time MJ beat SC 5-4 on October 6th.

Regina Pats (9-24-0-1) @ Brandon Wheat Kings (15-10-3-3)

  • Brandon has won both meetings so far this season.