Wednesday, December 7th, 2016 – 7:00pm at SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, SK
Saskatoon Blades (11-17-2-0 – 24pts)
5th – East Division 9th – Eastern Conference
PP – 25/142 = 17.6% (17th in WHL)
PK - 87/123 = 70.7% (22nd in WHL)
Calgary Hitmen (9-14-2-0 - 20 points)
5th – Central Division 10th – Eastern
Conference
PP – 17/114 = 14.9% (19th in WHL)
PK – 91/119 = 76.5% (15th in WHL)
Tonight… The Saskatoon Blades will look to carry over the momentum from last night after a
huge 4-3 come from behind win in the shootout over the Moose Jaw Warriors. Chase Wouters
(3rd) and Jesse Shynkaruk (8th) both scored for the Blades in the final two minutes sending the
game to overtime tied 3-3. Braylon Shmyr scored in the 1st round and rookie Michael Farren
beat Warriors netminder, Zach Sawchenko, in his first career shootout attempt with a dazzling
move. Both Michael Farren and Kolten Olynek both had two assists on the two late goals from
the Blades, while Brock Hamm stopped 33/36 shots faced and 4/5 in the shootout. As for the
Calgary Hitmen tonight will be their 4th game in 6 nights as they wrap up a road trip through
the prairies. The Hitmen were unsuccessful in both Swift Current and Moose Jaw, but came
away with a 3-2 win last night over the Prince Albert Raiders.
In the hunt… This will be Saskatoon’s first meeting of the season with the Calgary Hitmen, who
also find themselves in the hunt of a playoff spot. Calgary is coming off a 3-2 victory last night
over the Prince Albert Raiders, and sit just 4 points behind the Blades in the Eastern
Conference. Calgary also has 5 games in hand over the Blades, as both teams have an
even .400 win% this season.
Dach It Up… The 2nd overall pick in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, 2001 F Kirby Dach, will be
making his home debut tonight for the Blades. Dach suited up for the Blades last Friday in
Edmonton for just his 2nd career WHL game. Dach registered 1 assist and finished the night
with a +1 rating for his 1st career WHL point. The Fort Saskatchewan native is playing in his 2nd
year of Midget AAA with the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers of the AMHL after posting over a
point a game last season as an under ager. Through 12 games this season with the Rangers,
Dach has 4 goals and 12 assists.
Filling The Void… Since the injury to Blades leading scorer Mason McCarty, Saskatoon has
been chipping in as a unit. In the last 5 games, the Blades have scored a total of 12 goals
coming from 7 different players. Braylon Shmyr had back-to-back two goal nights on
November 25th & 26th, with contributions from Sloboshan, Ramsay, Shynkaruk (2),
Christensen, Fantillo, and Wouters (2) coming on the recent road trip through Alberta and last
night in Moose Jaw.
The Kids Are Hot… Michael Farren had 2 assists last night along with the game winner in the
shootout. The 16 year old winger seems to score in bunches though, as he followed up his first
career goal on Nov. 1st vs Seattle with a 2 goal performance versus the Regina Pats in his next
game on Nov. 4th. Farren now has 9 points in 21 games played this season. Chase Wouters is a
mature 16 year old who earned a Silver Medal with Team Canada Black last month at the
World U17 Challenge. Wouters has proven he is capable of playing in all situations, and in his
last 3 games, the young pivot has 2 goals and a +2 rating.
Sophomore Spurt… ’99 born forward, Logan Christensen has been getting better and better as
the season progresses. The 2014 30th overall pick already has 7 goals and 11 points this season,
on pace to quadruple his 4 goals last season as a 16 year old rookie. Christensen has 4 points, 4
PIM, and an even +/- rating in his last 6 games.
Looking Ahead… The Blades continue to build for the future, as Monday they announced the
acquisition of a 2019 6th round pick in exchange for goaltending prospect, Dorrin Luding (99).
In the recent weeks the Blades have acquired a conditional 1st, along with 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th,
and 7th round draft picks spread out of the next few years in exchange for ’96 F Ryan
Graham, ’99 F Cam Hausinger, ’00 D Jonny Tychonick, and ’99 G Dorrin Luding.
Young Blood… The Blades currently have 7 rookies on their roster including 2015 1st round
pick Chase Wouters, 2016 7th overall CHL import draft pick Mark Rubinchik, and 2000 born
listed forward, Michael Farren.
Roster breakdown: 14 Forwards, 8 Defenseman, 2 Goalies
Age Breakdown: 1996 – 3 | 1997 – 7 | 1998 – 5 | 1999 – 7 | 2000 – 2
The way they became Blades…
Round
1st
2nd
3rd
Euro
List
Trade
#
1
3
2
2
5
Player (Overall - Year)
Wouters(19th - 2015),
Kustra (34th - 2014), Christensen(30th - 2014), Paterson(25th - 2014)
Hebig(56th – 2012), MacKenzie(60th – 2014)
Hájek (2nd - 2015), Rubinchik (7th - 2016)
Shynkaruk, Olynek, Farren, Hamm, Michaud
Leslie, Sayers, McCarty, Sloboshan, Ramsay, Shmyr, Flodell, Fantillo, Caller,
10
Henderson
Road Warriors… The Blades have played 20 of 30 games on the road so far this season. It’s
been a grueling schedule so far, as the Blades have travelled 12,976km. Saskatoon found early
success on the road, but as of late have enjoyed playing at home winning the last 2/4 played
inside SaskTel Centre. If the trend continues, the second half of the season should see better
results.
Home: 4-5-1-0
Road: 7-12-1-0
2016-17 TEAM RECORDS
1-goal games
2-goal games
3-plus-goal games
Scoring first
Opponent scoring first
Leading after 2 periods
Trailing after 2 periods
Tied after 2 periods
Overtime Record
Shootout Record
Out-shooting opponent
Out-shot by opponent
Shots are even
vs. BC
vs. US
vs. Central
vs. East
5-2-2
5-2-0
1-12-0
9-2-0
2-15-2
7-1-1
1-14-0
3-2-1
1-2
1-0
3-1-0
7-14-2
1-2-0
2-3-0
1-2-0
3-5-2
5-7-0
2016-17 RECORD by MONTH
Month
Games
Record
Home
Road
September
3
1-2-0-0
0-1-0-0
1-1-0-0
October
12
6-5-1-0
2-1-1
4-4-0-0
November
13
3-9-1-0
2-3-0
1-6-1
December
11
1-1-0-0
0-0-0-0
1-1-0-0
January
12
0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0
February
12
0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0
March
9
0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0
Totals
72
11-17-2-0
4-5-1-0
7-12-1-0