Saskatoon Blades

The Saskatoon Blades are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Eastern Division of the Western Hockey League, formerly the Western Canadian Hockey League (WCHL). They are based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, playing at the 15,195-seat SaskTel Centre.

Saskatoon Blades
City	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
League	Western Hockey League
Conference	Eastern
Division	East
Founded	1964
Home arena	SaskTel Centre
Colours	Royal blue and gold
Owner(s)	Mike Priestner
General manager	Colin Priestner[1]
Head coach	Mitch Love
Website	www.saskatoonblades.com

History

The Saskatoon Blades were founded in 1964 as part of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and transferred leagues in 1966–67 with the foundation of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, which included the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The WCHL renamed itself the Western Hockey League in 1978 with the inclusion of some US based teams. Of the seven original WCHL franchises, the Blades are the only team to have never relocated or left the league (the Regina Pats returned to the SJHL from 1968 to 1970). Players ages range from 16 to 20 years of age, many of them still attending high school, and most come from other parts of Canada, the United States and Europe, to develop into potential professional National Hockey League prospects.

The Blades spent a number of seasons at the original Saskatoon Arena and there, developed many of the top professional players and coaches of their day, such as Bernie Federko, Wendel Clark, Mike Babcock and Brayden Schenn. In the early 1990s, the team was one of the strongest in the league and made it to the league finals twice, losing to the Kamloops Blazers in both 1992 and 1994. The Blades have not returned to the final round of the playoffs since despite several successful regular seasons, including winning the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy in 2010–11 as the regular season champions. Since then playoff success has been rare, and as of 2016 the Blades have the longest playoff drought in the CHL, having not made the playoffs since 2013. The Blades also hold the dubious distinction of having the longest championship drought in the Canadian Hockey League, having never won the WHL Championship or Memorial Cup in their entire history.

The Blades were owned by the Brodsky family for 37 years[2] On August 27, 2013, the team was sold to Go Auto owner Mike Priestner for a reported $9 million.[3] Throughout their existence the team has had a fierce rivalry with the Prince Albert Raiders, although recently the team has placed more of a focus on its growing competition with Regina Pats. Before the start of the 2005–06 season, the Blades retired their long-time mascot Helmutt, an anthropomorphic dog whose name was a pun on the word helmet, in favor of a mascot that would appeal to younger fans. Helmutt was replaced by Poke Check, a yeti, at the Blades home opener that season. He has since remained the team's mascot, and also appears at community events throughout Saskatoon. Just before the 2017–18 season, the team brought back the "Pac-Man" logo and jersey with the gold and royal blue colours due to popular demand and the simple retro look.

Memorial Cup

The Saskatoon Blades have hosted the Memorial Cup twice in their existence. The first came in 1989, a year after the team began playing at Saskatchewan Place (now SaskTel Centre). As the host city they were allowed to play in the tournament independent of their season standing, and were joined in the competition by the WHL Champion Swift Current Broncos, OHL Champion Peterborough Petes and QMJHL Champion Laval Titan. In a surprising twist in the tournament the Blades finished first overall in the round robin with a 2–1 record, including a 5–4 victory over the Broncos, who had a 14-game undefeated streak dating back to the start of the WHL playoffs. Despite their unexpected strong performance and an automatic berth in the Cup Final, the Blades ultimately lost to the Broncos in overtime.

The Blades would again host the Memorial Cup in 2013, which included the Portland Winterhawks, London Knights and the eventual champion Halifax Mooseheads. The Blades finished the round robin with a 1–2 record (their lone win coming over the Mooseheads), and lost to the Knights in the tiebreaker. The Blades' goaltender, Andrey Makarov, won the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the outstanding goalie of the tournament.

Highlights

The Blades have the distinction as one of the longest running teams in Major Junior Hockey never to have won the league championship.

In the 2008–09 season, the Saskatoon Blades made history by tying a WHL record for most road wins in a single season (28) with the 1999–00 Calgary Hitmen. In that season, the Blades went on to win their first East Division Championship since 1994.

With a 5–3 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on March 9, 2011, the Blades clinched first place in the Western Hockey League and earned themselves the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the WHL's champion with the most points earned during the regular season. However, they lost out in the second round of the WHL playoffs.

During the 2012–13 season, the Blades broke a team record by winning 18 consecutive games from late January until early March.

NHL alumni

Bernie Federko is the only former Blade in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

• Dennis Abgrall
• Brent Ashton
• Blair Atcheynum
• Mike Babcock
• Frank Banham
• Wade Belak
• Ryan Bonni
• Bob Bourne
• Dave Brown
• Murray Brumwell
• Jeff Buchanan
• Lindsay Carson
• Blair Chapman
• Kelly Chase
• Rich Chernomaz
• Tim Cheveldae
• Wendel Clark
• Pat Conacher
• Barry Cummins
• Kirby Dach
• Larry DePalma
• Bruce Eakin
• Stefan Elliott
• Jerry Engele
• Martin Erat
• Garnet Exelby
• Bernie Federko
• Micheal Ferland
• Perry Ganchar
• Michael Garnett
• Randy Gilhen
• Colton Gillies
• Brian Glynn
• Lee Goren
• Mike Green
• Mike Greenlay
• Marc Habscheid
• Libor Hajek
• Bill Hajt
• Curtis Hamilton
• Neil Hawryliw
• Dale Henry
• Bob Hoffmeyer
• Bill Hogaboam
• Braden Holtby
• Doug Horbul
• Darcy Hordichuk
• Randy Ireland
• Grant Jennings
• Terry Johnson
• Kevin Kaminski
• Ryan Keller
• Dean Kennedy
• Anton Khudobin
• Orest Kindrachuk
• Ralph Klassen
• Joey Kocur
• Roger Kortko
• Don Kozak
• Dave Kryskow
• Milan Kytnar
• Lane Lambert
• James Latos
• Kirby Law
• Grant Ledyard
• Curtis Leschyshyn
• Dave Lewis
• Ron Loustel
• Steve MacIntyre
• Keith Magnuson
• Norm Maracle
• Richard Matvichuk
• Chris McAllister
• Brad McCrimmon
• Todd McLellan
• Jim McTaggart
• Bill Oleschuk
• Dave Parro
• George Pesut
• Warren Peters
• Gerry Pinder
• Pat Price
• Aaron Rome
• Terry Ruskowski
• Larry Sacharuk
• Don Saleski
• Terran Sandwith
• Cory Sarich
• Brayden Schenn
• Nikita Scherbak
• Bobby Schmautz
• Scott Scissons
• Devin Setoguchi
• Brent Severyn
• Duncan Siemens
• Todd Simpson
• Brian Skrudland
• Randy Smith
• Martin Sonnenberg
• Brent Sopel
• Lee Sorochan
• Daryl Stanley
• David Struch
• Todd Strueby
• Ken Sutton
• Ryan Tobler
• Rocky Trottier
• Tony Twist
• Shaun Van Allen
• Russ Walker
• Rhett Warrener
• Fred Williams
• Clarke Wilm
• Mark Wotton
• Trent Yawney

Retired numbers

• 7 – Gerry Pinder
• 7 – Brent Ashton
• 10 – Brian Skrudland
• 12 – Bob Bourne
• 22 – Wendel Clark
• 15 – Bernie Federko

Coaches

Saskatoon Blades Logo 1983/84 – 1992/93

• Burns McDonald – 1964–65
• George Agar – 1964–70
• George Senick – 1969–70*
• Jackie McLeod – 1970–79
• Jerry Engele – 1979–80
• Lorne Frey – 1980–81
• Daryl Lubiniecki – 1981–84
• Marcel Comeau – 1984–89
• Terry Ruskowski – 1989–91
• Bob Hoffmeyer – 1991*
• Lorne Molleken – 1991–95
• Donn Clark – 1995–98
• Willie Desjardins – 1998*
• Brad McCrimmon – 1998–2000
• Kevin Dickie – 2000–04
• Jamie Reeve – 2003–04*
• Lorne Molleken – 2004–13
• Dave Struch – 2013–14
• Bob Woods – 2014–16
• Dean Brockman – 2016–18[4]
• Mitch Love – 2018–present[5]

*interim (regular head coach fired, sick or suspended)

Current roster

Updated June 26, 2020.[6]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Drafted
16		Kyle Crnkovic	LW	L	18	2017	Chestermere, Alberta	Eligible 2020
34		Colton Dach	LW	L	17	2018	Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta	Eligible 2021
21		Caiden Daley	C	R	20	2020	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Undrafted
5		Aidan De La Gorgendiere	D	L	18	2017	Langley, British Columbia	Eligible 2020
17		Martin Fasko-Rudas	LW	R	20	2020	Banska Bystrica, Slovakia	Undrafted
19		Zach Huber	RW	R	20	2018	Millarville, Alberta	Undrafted
41		Kjell Kjemhus	LW	L	19	2019	Grande Prairie, Alberta	Undrafted
4		Radek Kucerik	D	L	18	2019	Kyjov, Czech Republic	Eligible 2020
30		Koen MacInnes	G	L	18	2017	Burnaby, British Columbia	Eligible 2020
73		Nolan Maier	G	L	19	2016	Tacoma, Washington	Undrafted
20		Alex Morozoff	LW	L	19	2019	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Undrafted
23		Evan Patrician	C	R	19	2020	Calgary, Alberta	Undrafted
45		Braden Plaschewsky	C	L	18	2017	Calgary, Alberta	Eligible 2020
41		Rhett Rhinehart	D	R	18	2020	Lloydminster, Alberta	Eligible 2020
11		Tristen Robins	C	R	18	2018	Brandon, Manitoba	Eligible 2020
24		Matthew Sanders	D	R	19	2019	Calgary, Alberta	Undrafted
37		Randen Schmidt	RW	L	20	2017	Regina, Saskatchewan	Undrafted
55		Marek Schneider	D	R	17	2018	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan	Eligible 2021
9		Jayden Wiens	C	L	17	2018	Carrot River, Saskatchewan	Eligible 2021
44		Chase Wouters (C)	C	R	20	2015	Lloydminster, Alberta	Undrafted
47		Charlie Wright	D	L	16	2018	Olds, Alberta	Eligible 2022

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
1966–67	56	25	24	7	–	288	271	57	5th Overall	Lost quarter-final
1967–68	60	20	31	9	–	260	362	49	7th Overall	Lost quarter-final
1968–69	60	24	35	1	–	195	271	49	3rd West	Lost quarter-final
1969–70	60	18	41	1	–	202	282	37	4th West	Lost quarter-final
1970–71	66	29	36	1	–	295	299	59	3rd West	Lost quarter-final
1971–72	68	37	28	3	–	312	258	77	2nd East	Lost quarter-final
1972–73	68	46	11	11	–	323	184	103	1st East	Lost final
1973–74	68	30	29	9	–	283	272	69	4th East	Lost quarter-final
1974–75	70	38	22	10	–	344	244	86	1st East	Lost final
1975–76	72	43	19	10	–	390	269	96	1st East	Lost final
1976–77	72	30	30	12	–	317	290	72	2nd East	Lost preliminary round
1977–78	72	20	50	2	–	340	460	42	4th East	Out of playoffs
1978–79	72	26	32	14	–	385	398	66	2nd East	Lost East Division final
1979–80	72	27	40	5	–	331	382	59	7th East	Out of playoffs
1980–81	72	22	47	3	–	297	427	47	8th East	Out of playoffs
1981–82	72	44	26	2	–	450	343	90	3rd East	Lost East Division quarter-final
1982–83	72	52	19	1	–	467	303	105	1st East	Lost East Division semi-final
1983–84	72	36	36	0	–	347	350	72	7th East	Out of playoffs
1984–85	72	29	41	2	–	309	378	60	6th East	Lost East Division quarter-final
1985–86	72	38	28	6	–	381	360	82	4th East	Lost East Division semi-final
1986–87	72	44	26	2	–	369	282	90	2nd East	Lost East Division final
1987–88	72	47	22	3	–	381	294	97	1st East	Lost East Division final
1988–89	72	42	28	2	–	366	335	86	2nd East	Lost East Division final; Lost Memorial Cup final
1989–90	72	33	34	5	–	325	354	71	4th East	Lost East Division semi-final
1990–91	72	29	41	2	–	309	363	60	7th East	Out of playoffs
1991–92	72	38	29	5	–	315	260	81	3rd East	Lost final
1992–93	72	42	27	3	–	311	236	87	3rd East	Lost East Division semi-final
1993–94	72	49	22	1	–	326	229	99	1st East	Lost final
1994–95	72	41	23	8	–	324	254	90	3rd East	Lost East Division semi-final
1995–96	72	29	42	1	–	314	351	59	4th East	Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
1996–97	72	18	48	6	–	227	344	42	6th East	Out of playoffs
1997–98	72	25	39	8	–	263	327	58	4th East	Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
1998–99	72	16	49	7	–	184	291	39	6th East	Out of playoffs
1999–00	72	34	27	8	3	216	223	79	2nd East	Lost Eastern Conference semi-final
2000–01	72	19	43	5	5	193	265	48	5th East	Out of playoffs
2001–02	72	27	37	5	3	216	257	62	4th East	Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
2002–03	72	40	27	5	0	234	205	85	3rd East	Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
2003–04	72	7	52	11	2	140	279	27	5th East	Out of playoffs
2004–05	72	37	23	6	6	234	215	86	2nd East	Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
Season	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
2005–06	72	41	25	2	4	232	217	88	2nd East	Lost Eastern Conference semi-final
2006–07	72	27	41	2	2	174	231	58	6th East	Out of playoffs
2007–08	72	29	34	3	6	182	229	67	5th East	Out of playoffs
2008–09	72	49	18	3	2	283	195	103	1st East	Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
2009–10	72	46	19	3	4	258	227	99	2nd East	Lost Eastern Conference semi-final
2010–11	72	56	13	1	2	310	213	115	1st East	Lost Eastern Conference semi-final
2011–12	72	40	29	1	2	268	250	83	2nd East	Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final
2012–13	72	44	22	2	4	280	221	94	1st East	Lost Eastern Conference quarter-final; Lost Memorial Cup tie-breaker game
2013–14	72	16	51	2	3	207	317	37	6th East	Out of playoffs
2014–15	72	19	49	2	2	195	308	42	6th East	Out of playoffs
2015–16	72	26	42	4	0	219	318	56	6th East	Out of playoffs
2016–17	72	28	35	7	2	190	248	65	5th East	Out of playoffs
2017–18	72	35	33	3	1	237	276	74	6th East	Out of playoffs
2018–19	68	45	15	8	0	259	190	98	2nd East	Lost Eastern Conference semi-final
2019–20	63	34	24	2	3	211	197	73	4th East	Cancelled

WHL Championship history

• 1972–73: Loss, 2–0–3 vs Medicine Hat
• 1974–75: Loss, 3–4 vs New Westminster
• 1975–76: Loss, 1–2–4 vs New Westminster
• 1991–92: Loss, 3–4 vs Kamloops
• 1993–94: Loss, 3–4 vs Kamloops

Team records

Team records for a single season

Statistic	Total	Season
Most points	115	2010–11
Most wins	56	2010–11
Most road wins (Tied WHL record)	28	2008–09
Most home wins	32	2010–11
Most goals for	461	1982–83
Fewest goals for	140	2003–04
Fewest goals against	184	1972–73
Most goals against	460	1977–78

Individual player records for a single season

Statistic	Player	Total	Season
Most goals	Frank Banham	83	1995–96
Most assists	Bruce Eakin	125	1981–82
Most points	Bernie Federko	187	1975–76
Most points, rookie	Lane Lambert	114	1981–82
Most points, defenceman	Pat Price	95	1973–74
Best GAA (goalie)	Ed Humphreys	2.57	1972–73
Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in Saskatchewan

References

1. http://saskatoonblades.com/article/new-leadership-team-ready-to-go
2. http://www.saskatoonblades.com/article/blades-to-honour-brodsky-family-this-weekend.
3. "Blades Introduce New Owner And Staff". saskatoonblades.com. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
4. http://saskatoonblades.com/article/bob-woods-to-nhl-dean-brockman-new-head-coach
5. "Tough and ready: Mitch Love embraces challenge of coaching the Blades". The StarPhoenix. 30 May 2018.
6. "WHL Network". Western Hockey League. Retrieved 2020-06-26.

External links

• Official website